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3of the House of Capulet. 5GRegory: A my word wee'l not carry coales. 6Greg. No, for then we should be Colliars. 7Samp. I mean, if we be in choller, wee'l draw. 10Samp. I strike quickly, being mou'd. 11Greg. But thou art not quickly mou'd to strike. 12Samp. A dog of the house of Mountague, moues me. 14Therefore, if thou art mou'd, thou runst away. 15Samp. A dogge of that house shall moue me to stand. 16I will take the wall of any Man or Maid of Mountagues. 18kest goes to the wall. 23Greg. The Quarrell is betweene our Masters, and vs (their men. 26Maids, and cut off their heads. 27Greg. The heads of the Maids? 29Take it in what sence thou wilt. 30Greg. They must take it sence, that feele it. 32And 'tis knowne I am a pretty peece of flesh. 35the House of the Mountagues. 38Gre. How? Turne thy backe, and run. 40Gre. No marry: I feare thee. 41Sam. Let vs take the Law of our sides: let them begin. 44which is a disgrace to them, if they beare it. 45Abra. Do you bite your Thumbe at vs sir? 46Samp. I do bite my Thumbe, sir. 47Abra. Do you bite your Thumb at vs, sir? 48Sam. Is the Law of our side, if I say I? Gre. No. 50I bite my Thumbe sir. 51Greg. Do you quarrell sir? 52Abra. Quarrell sir? no sir. 54Abra. No better? Samp.Well sir. 56Gr. Say better: here comes one of my masters kinsmen. 65Hindes? Turne thee Benuolio, looke vpon thy death. 67Or manage it to part these men with me. 70Haue at thee Coward. Fight. 71Enter three or foure Citizens with Clubs. 73Downe with the Capulets, downe with the Mountagues. 74Enter old Capulet in his Gowne, and his wife. 75Cap. What noise is this? Giue me my long Sword ho. 76Wife. A crutch, a crutch: why call you for a Sword? 78And flourishes his Blade in spight of me. 79Enter old Mountague, & his wife. 812. Wife. Thou shalt not stir a foote to seeke a Foe. 82Enter Prince Eskales, with his Traine. 90And heare the Sentence of your mooued Prince. 54 The Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet. 99Your liues shall pay the forfeit of the peace. 105Once more on paine of death, all men depart. Exeunt. 106Moun. Who set this auncient quarrell new abroach? 114Who nothing hurt withall, hist him in scorne. 117Till the Prince came, who parted either part. 118Wife. O where is Romeo, saw you him to day? 119Right glad am I, he was not at this fray. 132And gladly shunn'd, who gladly fled from me. 144Vnlesse good counsell may the cause remoue. 145Ben. My Noble Vncle doe you know the cause? 146Moun. I neither know it, nor can learne of him. 147Ben. Haue you importun'd him by any meanes? 155Or dedicate his beauty to the same. 157We would as willingly giue cure, as know. 160Ile know his greeuance, or be much denide. 162To heare true shrift. Come Madam let's away. Exeunt. 164Rom. Is the day so young? 165Ben. But new strooke nine. 167Was that my Father that went hence so fast? 168Ben. It was: what sadnes lengthens Romeo's houres? 173Rom. Out of her fauour where I am in loue. 175Should be so tyrannous and rough in proofe. 178Where shall we dine? O me: what fray was heere? 187This loue feele I, that feele no loue in this. 189Ben. No Coze, I rather weepe. 190Rom. Good heart, at what? 191Ben. At thy good hearts oppression. 192Rom. Why such is loues transgression. 196Doth adde more griefe, to too much of mine owne. 203Ben. Soft I will goe along. 204And if you leaue me so, you do me wrong. 206This is not Romeo, hee's some other where. 207Ben. Tell me in sadnesse, who is that you loue? 208Rom. What shall I grone and tell thee? 209Ben. Grone, why no: but sadly tell me who. 212In sadnesse Cozin, I do loue a woman. 213Ben. I aym'd so neare, when I suppos'd you lou'd. 215Ben. A right faire marke, faire Coze, is soonest hit. 219From loues weake childish Bow, she liues vncharm'd. 221Nor bid th'incounter of assailing eyes. 224That when she dies, with beautie dies her store. 225Ben. Then she hath sworne, that she will still liue chast? 226Rom. She hath, and in that sparing make huge wast? 228Cuts beauty off from all posteritie. 232Do I liue dead, that liue to tell it now. 233Ben. Be rul'd by me, forget to thinke of her. 234Rom. O teach me how I should forget to thinke. 244Where I may read who past that passing faire. 351Enter Capulets Wife and Nurse. 352Wife Nurse wher's my daughter? call her forth to me. 355Where's this Girle? what Iuliet? 357Iuliet. How now, who calls? 359Iuliet. Madam I am heere, what is your will? 56 The Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet. 363my daughter's of a prety age. 364Nurse. Faith I can tell her age vnto an houre. 368I haue but foure, shee's not fourteene. 369How long is it now to Lammas tide? 370Wife. A fortnight and odde dayes. 393crying, & said I: to see now how a Iest shall come about. 397Old La. Inough of this, I pray thee hold thy peace. 405Iule. And stint thou too, I pray thee Nurse, say I. 408liue to see thee married once, I haue my wish. 411How stands your disposition to be Married? 412Iuli. It is an houre that I dreame not of. 414say thou had'st suckt wisedome from thy teat. 420The valiant Paris seekes you for his loue. 422the world. Why hee's a man of waxe. 423Old La. Veronas Summer hath not such a flower. 424Nurse. Nay hee's a flower, infaith a very flower. 425Old La: What say you, can you loue the Gentleman? 432Find written in the Margent of his eyes. 434To Beautifie him, onely lacks a Couer. 440By hauing him, making your selfe no lesse. 441Nurse. No lesse, nay bigger: women grow by men. 442Old La. Speake briefly, can you like of Paris loue? 443Iuli. Ile looke to like, if looking liking moue. 445Then your consent giues strength to make flye. 450beseech you follow straight. Exit. 451Mo. We follow thee, Iuliet, the Countie staies. 452Nurse. Goe Gyrle, seeke happie nights to happy daies. 456Rom. What shall this speeh be spoke for our excuse? 457Or shall we on without Apologie? 461Skaring the Ladies like a Crow-keeper. 463Weele measure them a Measure, and be gone. 464Rom. Giue me a Torch, I am not for this ambling. 465Being but heauy I will beare the light. 466Mer. Nay gentle Romeo, we must haue you dance. 469So stakes me to the ground, I cannot moue. 471And soare with them aboue a common bound. 475Vnder loues heauy burthen doe I sinke. 477Too great oppression for a tender thing. 479Too rude, too boysterous, and it pricks like thorne. 485Here are the Beetle-browes shall blush for me. 487But euery man betake him to his legs. 492The game was nere so faire, and I am done. 494If thou art dun, weele draw thee from the mire. 496Vp to the eares, come we burne day-light ho. 497Rom. Nay that's not so. 501Fiue times in that, ere once in our fine wits. 503But 'tis no wit to go. 504Mer. Why may one aske? 505Rom. I dreampt a dreame to night. 506Mer. And so did I. 507Rom. Well what was yours? 508Mer. That dreamers often lye. 509Ro. In bed a sleepe while they do dreame things true. 554Turning his side to the dew dropping South. 556Supper is done, and we shall come too late. 562By some vile forfeit of vntimely death. 564Direct my sute: on lustie Gentlemen. 569Ser. Where's Potpan, that he helpes not to take away? 570He shift a Trencher? he scrape a Trencher? 572hands, and they vnwasht too, 'tis a foule thing. 576Susan Grindstone, and Nell, Anthonie and Potpan. 579for, in the great Chamber. 581Be brisk awhile, and the longer liuer take all. 590She Ile sweare hath Cornes: am I come neare ye now? 596 Musicke plaies: and the dance. 599And quench the fire, the Roome is growne too hot. 6052. Capu. Berlady thirty yeares. 609Some fiue and twenty yeares, and then we Maskt. 6123. Cap. Will you tell me that? 613His Sonne was but a Ward two yeares agoe. 616Ser. I know not sir. 624And touching hers, make blessed my rude hand. 58 The Tragedie of Romeo and Iuliet. 626For I neuer saw true Beauty till this night. 627Tib. This by his voice, should be a Mountague. 630To fleere and scorne at our Solemnitie? 632To strike him dead I hold it not a sin. 637To scorne at our Solemnitie this night. 638Cap. Young Romeo is it? 639Tib. 'Tis he, that Villaine Romeo. 649An ill beseeming semblance for a Feast. 652Cap. He shall be endu'rd. 657You will set cocke a hoope, youle be the man. 658Tib. Why Vncle, 'tis a shame. 660You are a sawcy Boy, 'ist so indeed? 662You must contrary me, marry 'tis time. 665Ile make you quiet. What, chearely my hearts. 669Now seeming sweet, conuert to bitter gall. Exit. 673To smooth that rough touch, with a tender kisse. 675You do wrong your hand too much. 678And palme to palme, is holy Palmers kisse. 679Rom. Haue not Saints lips, and holy Palmers too? 680Iul. I Pilgrim, lips that they must vse in prayer. 682They pray (grant thou) least faith turne to dispaire. 684Though grant for prayers sake. 686Thus from my lips, by thine my sin is purg'd. 687Iul. Then haue my lips the sin that they haue tooke. 689Giue me my sin againe. 691Nur. Madam your Mother craues a word with you. 692Rom. What is her Mother? 699Rom. Is she a Capulet? 700O deare account! My life is my foes debt. 701Ben. Away, be gone, the sport is at the best. 702Rom. I so I feare, the more is my vnrest. 705Is it e'ne so? why then I thanke you all. 707More Torches here: come on, then let's to bed. 712Nur. The Sonne and Heire of old Tyberio. 713Iuli. What's he that now is going out of doore? 714Nur. Marrie that I thinke be young Petruchio. 715Iul. What's he that follows here that would not dance? 718My graue is like to be my wedded bed. 720The onely Sonne of your great Enemie. 724That I must loue a loathed Enemie. 725Nur. What's this? whats this? 727Of one I dan'st withall. 728 One cals within, Iuliet. 730Come let's away, the strangers all are gone. 736With tender Iuliet matcht, is now not faire. 746Temp'ring extremities with extreame sweete. 748Rom. Can I goe forward when my heart is here? 749Turne backe dull earth, and find thy Center out. 751Ben. Romeo, my Cozen Romeo, Romeo. 753And on my life hath stolne him home to bed. 754Ben. He ran this way and leapt this Orchard wall. 771That in thy likenesse thou appeare to vs. 772Ben. And if he heare thee thou wilt anger him. 779I coniure onely but to raise vp him. 782Blind is his Loue, and best befits the darke. 793That meanes not to be found. Exeunt. 795But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? 804She speakes, yet she sayes nothing, what of that? 809To twinckle in their Spheres till they returne. 815See how she leanes her cheeke vpon her hand. 817That I might touch that cheeke. 826And sailes vpon the bosome of the ayre. 827Iul. O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? 830And Ile no longer be a Capulet. 831Rom. Shall I heare more, or shall I speake at this? 846Hence foorth I neuer will be Romeo. 848So stumblest on my counsell? 853Had I it written, I would teare the word. 855Of thy tongues vttering, yet I know the sound. 856Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague? 857Rom. Neither faire Maid, if either thee dislike. 858Iul. How cam'st thou hither. 867Therefore thy kinsmen are no stop to me. 868Iul. If they do see thee, they will murther thee. 871And I am proofe against their enmity. 872Iul. I would not for the world they saw thee here. 876Then death proroged wanting of thy Loue. 877Iul. By whose direction found'st thou out this place? 882I should aduenture for such Marchandise. 60 The Tragedie of Romeoand Iuliet. 895So thou wilt wooe: But else not for the world. 904Which the darke night hath so discouered. 906That tips with siluer all these Fruite tree tops. 909Least that thy Loue proue likewise variable. 910Rom. What shall I sweare by? 915Rom. If my hearts deare loue. 924Come to thy heart, as that within my brest. 925Rom. O wilt thou leaue me so vnsatisfied? 926Iuli. What satisfaction can'st thou haue to night? 927Ro. Th'exchange of thy Loues faithfull vow for mine. 929And yet I would it were to giue againe. 940Stay but a little, I will come againe. 943Too flattering sweet to be substantiall. 951And follow thee my Lord throughout the world. 954I do beseech theee Within: Madam. 957To morrow will I send. 958Rom. So thriue my soule. 959Iu. A thousand times goodnight. Exit. 962But Loue frõ Loue, towards schoole with heauie lookes. 969With repetition of my Romeo. 970Rom. It is my soule that calls vpon my name. 972Like softest Musicke to attending eares. 976Shall I send to thee? 977Rom. By the houre of nine. 979I haue forgot why I did call thee backe. 980Rom. Let me stand here till thou remember it. 982Remembring how I Loue thy company. 984Forgetting any other home but this. 990So louing Iealous of his liberty. 991Rom. I would I were thy Bird. 996That I shall say goodnight, till it be morrow. 997Iul. Sleepe dwell vpon thine eyes, peace in thy brest. 1002From forth dayes pathway, made by Titans wheeles. 1004His helpe to craue, and my deare hap to tell. Exit. 1005Enter Frier alone with a basket. 1019None but for some, and yet all different. 1023But to the earth some speciall good doth giue. 1025Reuolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse. 1027And vice sometime by action dignified. 1032Being tasted slayes all sences with the heart. 1036Full soone the Canker death eates vp that Plant. 1039What early tongue so sweet saluteth me? 1048Or if not so, then here I hit it right. 1049Our Romeo hath not beene in bed to night. 1050Rom. That last is true, the sweeter rest was mine. 1051Fri. God pardon sin: wast thou with Rosaline? 1053I haue forgot that name, and that names woe. 1054Fri. That's my good Son, but wher hast thou bin then? 1061My intercession likewise steads my foe. 1063Ridling confession, findes but ridling shrift. 1071That thou consent to marrie vs to day. 1072Fri. Holy S. Francis, what a change is heere? 1075Not truely in their hearts, but in their eyes. 1077Hath washt thy sallow cheekes for Rosaline? 1079To season Loue that of it doth not tast. 1083Of an old teare that is not washt off yet. 1085Thou and these woes, were all for Rosaline. 1087Women may fall, when there's no strength in men. 1088Rom. Thou chid'st me oft for louing Rosaline. 1089Fri. For doting, not for louing pupill mine. 1090Rom. And bad'st me bury Loue. 1092To lay one in, another out to haue. 1095The other did not so. 1101To turne your houshould rancor to pure Loue. 1102Rom. O let vs hence, I stand on sudden hast. 1103Fri. Wisely and slow, they stumble that run fast. 1108Ben. Not to his Fathers, I spoke with his man. 1110saline torments him so, that he will sure run mad. 1112ter to his Fathers house. 1113Mer. A challenge on my life. 1114Ben. Romeo will answere it. 1115Mer. Any man that can write, may answere a Letter. 1123Ben. Why what is Tibalt? 1130immortall Passado, the Punto reuerso, the Hay. 1141Ben. Here comes Romeo, here comes Romeo. 1147and Harlots: Thisbie a gray eie or so, but not to the purpose. 62 The Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet. 1153Mer. The slip sir, the slip, can you not conceiue? 1155such a case as mine, a man may straine curtesie. 1157strains a man to bow in the hams. 1159Mer. Thou hast most kindly hit it. 1160Rom. A most curteous exposition. 1161Mer. Nay, I am the very pinck of curtesie. 1164Rom. Why then is my Pump well flowr'd. 1170Soly singular for the singlenesse. 1171Mer. Come betweene vs good Benuolio, my wits faints. 1173Swits and spurs, or Ile crie a match. 1177with you there for the Goose? 1179thou wast not there for the Goose. 1180Mer. I will bite thee by the eare for that iest. 1181Rom. Nay, good Goose bite not. 1183It is a most sharpe sawce. 1184Rom. And is it not well seru'd into a Sweet-Goose? 1186an ynch narrow, to an ell broad. 1188to the Goose, proues thee farre and wide, abroad Goose. 1193vp and downe to hid his bable in a hole. 1194Ben. Stop there, stop there. 1195Mer. Thou desir'st me to stop in my tale against the (haire. 1196Ben. Thou would'st else haue made thy tale large. 1199indeed to occupie the argument no longer. 1200Enter Nurse and her man. 1203Mer. Two, two: a Shirt and a Smocke. 1207Mer. Good Peter to hide her face? 1208For her Fans the fairer face? 1209Nur. God ye good morrow Gentlemen. 1210Mer. God ye gooden faire Gentlewoman. 1213Dyall is now vpon the pricke of Noone. 1214Nur. Out vpon you: what a man are you? 1216That God hath made, himselfe to mar. 1222him: I am the youngest of that name, for fault of a worse. 1225Very well tooke: Ifaith, wisely, wisely. 1227I desire some confidence with you? 1228Ben. She will endite him to some Supper. 1229Mer. A baud, a baud, a baud. So ho. 1230Rom. What hast thou found? 1232that is something stale and hoare ere it be spent. 1239Rom. I will follow you. 1244that was so full of his roperie? 1257good quarrell, and the law on my side. 1266fered to any Gentlewoman, and very weake dealing. 1270Lord, Lord she will be a ioyfull woman. 1274take it, is a Gentleman-like offer. 1277Be shriu'd and married: here is for thy paines. 1278Nur. No truly sir not a penny. 1279Rom. Go too, I say you shall. 1280Nur. This afternoone sir? well she shall be there. 1285Must be my conuoy in the secret night. 1287Farewell, commend me to thy Mistresse. 1289Rom. What saist thou my deare Nurse? 1291may keepe counsell putting one away. 1292Ro. Warrant thee my man as true as steele. 1299so, shee lookes as pale as any clout in the versall world. 1300Doth not Rosemarie and Romeo begin both with a letter? 1305would do you good to heare it. 1306Rom. Commend me to thy Lady. 1307Nur. I a thousand times. Peter? 1309Nur. Before and apace. Exit Nurse and Peter. 1316Driuing backe shadowes ouer lowring hils. 1321I three long houres, yet she is not come. 1327Vnwieldie, slow, heauy, and pale as lead. 1329O God she comes, O hony Nurse what newes? 1330Hast thou met with him? send thy man away. 1331Nur. Peter stay at the gate. 1333O Lord, why lookest thou sad? 1334Though newes, be sad, yet tell them merrily. 1336By playing it to me, with so sower a face. 1338Fie how my bones ake, what a iaunt haue I had? 1340Nay come I pray thee speake, good good Nurse speake. 1341Nur. Iesu what hast? can you not stay a while? 1342Do you not see that I am out of breath? 1344To say to me, that thou art out of breath? 1346Is longer then the tale thou dost excuse. 1349Let me be satisfied, ist good or bad? 1356waies wench, serue God. What haue you din'd at home? 1358What saies he of our marriage? what of that? 1359Nur. Lord how my head akes, what a head haue I? 1360It beates as it would fall in twenty peeces. 1363To catch my death with iaunting vp and downe. 1364Iul. Ifaith: I am sorrie that thou art so well. 1365Sweet sweet, sweet Nurse, tell me what saies my Loue? 1368And I warrant a vertuous: where is your Mother? 1369Iul. Where is my Mother? 1370Why she is within, where should she be? 1376Is this the Poultis for my aking bones? 1377Henceforward do your messages your selfe. 1378Iul. Heere's such a coile, come what saies Romeo? 1379Nur. Haue you got leaue to go to shrift to day? 1389But you shall beare the burthen soone at night. 1390Go Ile to dinner, hie you to the Cell. 1391Iui. Hie to high Fortune, honest Nurse, farewell. Exeunt. 1394That after houres, with sorrow chide vs not. 1398Do thou but close our hands with holy words. 1400It is inough. I may but call her mine. 1405And in the taste confoundes the appetite. 1407Too swift arriues as tardie as too slow. 64 The Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet. 1413And yet not fall, so light is vanitie. 1414Iul. Good euen to my ghostly Confessor. 1415Fri. Romeo shall thanke thee Daughter for vs both. 1416Iul. As much to him, else in his thanks too much. 1422Receiue in either, by this deere encounter. 1427I cannot sum vp some of halfe my wealth. 1430Till holy Church incorporate two in one. 1431Enter Mercutio, Benuolio, and men. 1435hot dayes, is the mad blood stirring. 1440er, when indeed there is no need. 1441Ben. Am I like such a Fellow? 1444soone moodie to be mou'd. 1464Mer. The Fee-simple? O simple. 1465Enter Tybalt, Petruchio, and others. 1466Ben. By my head here comes the Capulets. 1467Mer. By my heele I care not. 1468Tyb. Follow me close, for I will speake to them. 1469Gentlemen, Good den, a word with one of you. 1471something, make it a word and a blow. 1476Tib. Mercutio thou consort'st with Romeo. 1484Or else depart, here all eies gaze on vs. 1485Mer. Mens eyes were made to looke, and let them gaze. 1486I will not budge for no mans pleasure I. 1488Tib. Well peace be with you sir, here comes my man. 1489Mer. But Ile be hang'd sir if he weare your Liuery. 1491Your worship in that sense, may call him man. 1493No better terme then this: Thou art a Villaine. 1497Therefore farewell, I see thou know'st me not. 1499That thou hast done me, therefore turne and draw. 1504As dearely as my owne, be satisfied. 1506Alla stucatho carries it away. 1507Tybalt, you Rat-catcher, will you walke? 1508Tib. What woulds thou haue with me? 1513hast, least mine be about your eares ere it be out. 1514Tib. I am for you. 1515Rom. Gentle Mercutio, put thy Rapier vp. 1516Mer. Come sir, your Passado. 1520Forbidden bandying in Verona streetes. 1525Is he gone and hath nothing? 1526Ben. What art thou hurt? 1528Where is my Page? go Villaine fetch a Surgeon. 1529Rom. Courage man, the hurt cannot be much. 1533I warrant, for this world: a plague a both your houses. 1537tweene vs? I was hurt vnder your arme. 1538Rom. I thought all for the best. 1540Or I shall faint: a plague a both your houses. 1542I haue it, and soundly to your Houses. Exit. 1549And in my temper softned Valours steele. 1553Which too vntimely here did scorne the earth. 1555This but begins, the wo others must end. 1557Ben. Here comes the Furious Tybalt backe againe. 1558Rom. He gon in triumph, and Mercutio slaine? 1560And fire and Fury, be my conduct now. 1565Either thou or I, or both, must goe with him. 1568Rom. This shall determine that. 1573If thou art taken: hence, be gone, away. 1574Rom. O! I am Fortunes foole. 1575Ben. Why dost thou stay? 1578Citi. Which way ran he that kild Mercutio? 1579Tibalt that Murtherer, which way ran he? 1580Ben. There lies that Tybalt. 1582I charge thee in the Princes names obey. 1585Prin. Where are the vile beginners of this Fray? 1589That slew thy kinsman braue Mercutio. 1593For bloud of ours, shed bloud of Mountague. 1595Prin. Benuolio, who began this Fray? 1613Of stout Mercutio, and then Tybalt fled. 1619This is the truth, or let Benuolio die. 1623And all those twenty could but kill one life. 1625Romeo slew Tybalt, Romeo must not liue. 1627Who now the price of his deare blood doth owe. 1634My bloud for your rude brawles doth lie a bleeding. 1636That you shall all repent the losse of mine. 1638Nor teares, nor prayers shall purchase our abuses. 1640Else when he is found, that houre is his last. 1642Mercy not Murders, pardoning those that kill. 1648And bring in Cloudie night immediately. 1664Come gentle night, come louing blackebrow'd night. 1669And pay no worship to the Garish Sun. 66 The Tragedie of Romeo and Iuliet. 1679Now Nurse, what newes? what hast thou there? 1680The Cords that Romeo bid thee fetch? 1681Nur. I, I, the Cords. 1682Iuli. Ay me, what newes? 1683Why dost thou wring thy hands. 1685We are vndone Lady, we are vndone. 1686Alacke the day, hee's gone, hee's kil'd, he's dead. 1687Iul. Can heauen be so enuious? 1689Though heauen cannot. O Romeo, Romeo. 1690Who euer would haue thought it Romeo. 1692That dost torment me thus? 1697I am not I, if there be such an I. 1699If he be slaine say I, or if not, no. 1700Briefe, sounds, determine of my weale or wo. 1708To prison eyes, nere looke on libertie. 1710And thou and Romeo presse on heauie beere. 1713That euer I should liue to see thee dead. 1714Iul. What storme is this that blowes so contrarie? 1715Is Romeo slaughtred? and is Tybalt dead? 1718For who is liuing, if those two are gone? 1720Romeo that kil'd him, he is banished. 1723It did, it did, alas the day, it did. 1724Nur. O Serpent heart, hid with a flowring face. 1725Iul. Did euer Dragon keepe so faire a Caue? 1734In mortall paradise of such sweet flesh? 1737In such a gorgeous Pallace. 1740Ah where's my man? giue me some Aqua-vitae? 1748O what a beast was I to chide him? 1751Iul. Shall I speake ill of him that is my husband? 1753When I thy three houres wife haue mangled it. 1754But wherefore Villaine did'st thou kill my Cozin? 1761All this is comfort, wherefore weepe I then? 1774Which moderne lamentation might haue mou'd. 1780In that words death, no words can that woe sound. 1781Where is my Father and my Mother Nurse? 1783Will you go to them? I will bring you thither. 1785When theirs are drie for Romeo's banishment. 1789But I a Maid, die Maiden widowed. 1791And death not Romeo, take my Maiden head. 1795Ile to him, he is hid at Lawrence Cell. 1797And bid him come, to take his last farewell. 1803And thou art wedded to calamitie. 1805What is the Princes Doome? 1807That I yet know not? 1810I bring thee tydings of the Princes Doome. 1814Not bodies death, but bodies banishment. 1817Much more then death: do not say banishment. 1819Be patient, for the world is broad and wide. 1826And smilest vpon the stroke that murders me. 1827Fri. O deadly sin, O rude vnthankefulnesse! 1830And turn'd that blacke word death, to banishment. 1831This is deare mercy, and thou seest it not. 1842Still blush, as thinking their owne kisses sin. 1844And saist thou yet, that exile is not death? 1845But Romeo may not, hee is banished. 1848But banished to kill me? Banished? 1853To mangle me with that word, banished? 1854Fri. Then fond Mad man, heare me speake. 1855Rom. O thou wilt speake againe of banishment. 1858To comfort thee, though thou art banished. 1862It helpes not, it preuailes not, talke no more. 1863Fri. O then I see, that Mad men haue no eares. 1865When wisemen haue no eyes? 1874Taking the measure of an vnmade graue. 1877Good Romeo hide thy selfe. 1880Mist-like infold me from the search of eyes. 1887What simplenesse is this: I come, I come. 1890Whence come you? what's your will? 1894I come from Lady Iuliet. 1897Where's my Ladies Lord? where's Romeo? 1899With his owne teares made drunke. 1906Why should you fall into so deepe an O. 1908Nur. Ah sir, ah sir, deaths the end of all. 1909Rom. Speak'st thou of Iuliet? how is it with her? 1912With blood remoued, but little from her owne? 1914My conceal'd Lady to our conceal'd Loue? 1918And then downe falls againe. 1928The vnreasonable Furie of a beast. 1932I thought thy disposition better temper'd. 1933Hast thou slaine Tybalt? wilt thou slay thy selfe? 1935By doing damned hate vpon thy selfe? 1936Why rayl'st thou on thy birth? the heauen and earth? 68 The Tragedie of Romeo and Iuliet. 1938In thee at once, which thou at once would'st loose. 1946Killing that Loue which thou hast vow'd to cherish. 1951And thou dismembred with thine owne defence. 1953For whose deare sake thou wast but lately dead. 1955But thou slew'st Tybalt, there art thou happie. 1957And turn'd it to exile, there art thou happy. 1962Take heed, take heed, for such die miserable. 1971Then thou went'st forth in lamentation. 1974Which heauy sorrow makes them apt vnto. 1977To heare good counsell: oh what learning is! 1978My Lord Ile tell my Lady you will come. 1979Rom. Do so, and bid my Sweete prepare to chide. 1981Hie you, make hast, for it growes very late. 1982Rom. How well my comfort is reuiu'd by this. 1990Giue me thy hand, 'tis late, farewell, goodnight. 1994Enter old Capulet, his Wife and Paris. 1998And so did I. Well, we were borne to die. 2001I would haue bin a bed an houre ago. 2003Madam goodnight, commend me to your Daughter. 2005To night, she is mewed vp to her heauinesse. 2008In all respects by me: nay more, I doubt it not. 2012But soft, what day is this? 2017Will you be ready? do you like this hast? 2023And there an end. But what say you to Thursday? 2025I would that Thursday were to morrow. 2028Prepare her wife, against this wedding day. 2032Enter Romeo and Iuliet aloft. 2037Beleeue me Loue, it was the Nightingale. 2043I must be gone and liue, or stay and die. 2047And light thee on thy way to Mantua. 2048Therefore stay yet, thou need'st not to be gone. 2050I am content, so thou wilt haue it so. 2052'Tis but the pale reflexe of Cinthias brow. 2056Come death and welcome, Iuliet wills it so. 2057How ist my soule, lets talke, it is not day. 2060Straining harsh Discords, and vnpleasing Sharpes. 2062This doth not so: for she diuideth vs. 2067O now be gone, more light and it light growes. 2068Rom. More light & light, more darke & darke our woes. 2073The day is broke, be wary, looke about. 2074Iul. Then window let day in, and let life out. 2075Rom. Farewell, farewell, one kisse and Ile descend. 2080Ere I againe behold my Romeo. 2083That may conuey my greetings Loue, to thee. 2084Iul. O thinkest thou we shall euer meet againe? 2086For sweet discourses in our time to come. 2090Either my eye-sight failes, or thou look'st pale. 2092Drie sorrow drinkes our blood. Adue, adue. Exit. 2099Lad. Ho Daughter, are you vp? 2100Iul: Who ist that calls? Is it my Lady Mother. 2101Is she not downe so late, or vp so early? 2102What vnaccustom'd cause procures her hither? 2103Lad. Why how now Iuliet? 2104Iul. Madam I am not well. 2105Lad. Euermore weeping for your Cozins death? 2106What wilt thou wash him from his graue with teares? 2109But much of griefe, shewes still some want of wit. 2110Iul. Yet let me weepe, for such a feeling losse. 2114I cannot chuse but euer weepe the Friend. 2116As that the Villaine liues which slaughter'd him. 2118Lad. That same Villaine Romeo. 2121And yet no man like he, doth grieue my heart. 2122Lad. That is because the Traitor liues. 2124Would none but I might venge my Cozins death. 2125Lad. We will haue vengeance for it, feare thou not. 2130And then I hope thou wilt be satisfied. 2140Vpon his body that hath slaughter'd him. 2141Mo. Find thou the meanes, and Ile find such a man. 2142But now Ile tell thee ioyfull tidings Gyrle. 2144What are they, beseech your Ladyship? 2145Mo. Well, well, thou hast a carefull Father Child? 2148That thou expects not, nor I lookt not for. 2149Iul. Madam in happy time, what day is this? 2153Shall happily make thee a ioyfull Bride. 2155He shall not make me there a ioyfull Bride. 2161Rather then Paris. These are newes indeed. 2163And see how he will take it at your hands. 2168How now? A Conduit Gyrle, what still in teares? 2169Euermore showring in one little body? 2176Thy tempest tossed body. How now wife? 2177Haue you deliuered to her our decree? 2180I would the foole were married to her graue. 2182How, will she none? doth she not giue vs thanks? 2189But thankfull euen for hate, that is meant Loue. 2191How now? Chopt Logicke? what is this? 2192Proud, and I thanke you: and I thanke you not. 70 The Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet. 2196Or I will drag thee, on a Hurdle thither. 2199Lady. Fie, fie, what are you mad? 2201Heare me with patience, but to speake a word. 2204Or neuer after looke me in the face. 2205Speake not, reply not, do not answere me. 2212You are too blame my Lord to rate her so. 2214Good Prudence, smatter with your gossip, go. 2220For here we need it not. 2221La. You are too hot. 2233I am too young, I pray you pardon me. 2234But, and you will not wed, Ile pardon you. 2236Looke too't, thinke on't, I do not vse to iest. 2242Trust too't, bethinke you, Ile not be forsworne Exit. 2244That sees into the bottome of my griefe? 2248In that dim Monument where Tybalt lies. 2250Do as thou wilt, for I haue done with thee. Exit. 2252O Nurse, how shall this be preuented? 2258Vpon so soft a subiect as my selfe. 2259What saist thou? hast thou not a word of ioy? 2264Or if he do, it needs must be by stealth. 2274As liuing here and you no vse of him. 2275Iul. Speakest thou from thy heart? 2277Or else beshrew them both. 2283To make confession, and to be absolu'd. 2284Nur. Marrie I will, and this is wisely done. 2285Iul. Auncient damnation, O most wicked fiend! 2292If all else faile, my selfe haue power to die. Exeunt. 2293Enter Frier and Countie Paris. 2294Fri. On Thursday sir? the time is very short. 2296And I am nothing slow to slack his hast. 2297Fri. You say you do not know the Ladies mind? 2298Vneuen is the course, I like it not. 2301For Venus smiles not in a house of teares. 2307May be put from her by societie. 2308Now doe you know the reason of this hast? 2309Fri. I would I knew not why it should be slow'd. 2310Looke sir, here comes the Lady towards my Cell. 2312Par. Happily met, my Lady and my wife. 2313Iul. That may be sir, when I may be a wife. 2314Par. That may be, must be Loue, on Thursday next. 2315Iul. What must be shall be. 2316Fri. That's a certaine text. 2317Par. Come you to make confession to this Father? 2318Iul. To answere that, I should confesse to you. 2319Par. Do not denie to him, that you Loue me. 2320Iul. I will confesse to you that I Loue him. 2321Par. So will ye, I am sure that you Loue me. 2323Benig spoke behind your backe, then to your face. 2324Par. Poore soule, thy face is much abus'd with teares. 2326For it was bad inough before their spight. 2327Pa. Thou wrong'st it more then teares with that report. 2329And what I spake, I spake it to thy face. 2330Par. Thy face is mine, and thou hast slaundred it. 2331Iul. It may be so, for it is not mine owne. 2333Or shall I come to you at euening Masse? 2334Fri. My leisure serues me pensiue daughter now. 2335My Lord you must intreat the time alone. 2338Till then adue, and keepe this holy kisse. Exit Paris. 2340Come weepe with me, past hope, past care, past helpe. 2344On Thursday next be married to this Countie. 2349And with his knife, Ile helpe it presently. 2362If what thou speak'st, speake not of remedy. 2365As that is desperate which we would preuent. 2371And if thou dar'st, Ile giue thee remedie. 2383To liue an vnstained wife to my sweet Loue. 2401And then awake, as from a pleasant sleepe. 2412Shall Romeo beare thee hence to Mantua. 2415Abate thy valour in the acting it. 2416Iul. Giue me, giue me, O tell not me of care. 2419To Mantua with my Letters to thy Lord. 2424Seruing men, two or three. 2426Sirrah, go hire me twenty cunning Cookes. 2429Cap. How canst thou trie them so? 2434time: what is my Daughter gone to Frier Lawrence? 2437A peeuish selfe-wild harlotry it is. 2442Where haue you bin gadding? 2448Henceforward I am euer rul'd by you. 2450Ile haue this knot knit vp to morrow morning. 2453Not stepping ore the bounds of modestie. 72 The Tragedie of Romeo and Iuliet. 2456I marrie go I say, and fetch him hither. 2458All our whole Cittie is much bound to him. 2461As you thinke fit to furnish me to morrow? 2462Mo. No not till Thursday, there's time inough. 2464Weele to Church to morrow. 2465 Exeunt Iuliet and Nurse. 2472Ile play the huswife for this once. What ho? 2476Since this same way-ward Gyrle is so reclaim'd. 2477 Exeunt Father and Mother. 2483Which well thou know'st, is crosse and full of sin. 2485Mo. What are you busie ho? need you my help? 2491In this so sudden businesse. 2493Get thee to bed and rest, for thou hast need. Exeunt. 2495God knowes when we shall meete againe. 2498Ile call them backe againe to comfort me. 2499Nurse, what should she do here? 2501Come Viall, what if this mixture do not worke at all? 2502Shall I be married then to morrow morning? 2507Because he married me before to Romeo? 2509For he hath still beene tried a holy man. 2513Shall I not then be stifled in the Vault? 2515And there die strangled ere my Romeo comes. 2528That liuing mortalls hearing them, run mad. 2531And madly play with my forefathers ioynts? 2532And plucke the mangled Tybalt from his shrow'd? 2534As (with a club) dash out my desperate braines. 2538Romeo, Romeo, Romeo, here's drinke: I drinke to thee. 2539Enter Lady of the house, and Nurse. 2541Take these keies, and fetch more spices Nurse. 2542Nur. They call for Dates and Quinces in the Pastrie. 2553All night for lesse cause, and nere beene sicke. 2555But I will watch you from such watching now. 2556 Exit Lady and Nurse. 2559Enter three or foure with spits, and logs, and baskets. 2560Fel. Things for the Cooke sir, but I know not what. 2561Cap. Make hast, make hast, sirrah, fetch drier Logs. 2562Call Peter, he will shew thee where they are. 2564And neuer trouble Peter for the matter. 2566Thou shalt be loggerhead; good Father, 'tis day. 2570Nurse, wife, what ho? what Nurse I say? 2727Lifts me aboue the ground with cheerefull thoughts. 2731That I reuiu'd and was an Emperour. 2733When but loues shadowes are so rich in ioy. 2735Newes from Verona, how now Balthazer? 2736Dost thou not bring me Letters from the Frier? 2737How doth my Lady? Is my Father well? 2739For nothing can be ill, if she be well. 2740Man. Then she is well, and nothing can be ill. 2746Since you did leaue it for my office Sir. 2747Rom. Is it euen so? 2748Then I denie you Starres. 2750And hire Post-Horses, I will hence to night. 2755Leaue me, and do the thing I bid thee do. 2756Hast thou no Letters to me from the Frier? 2757Man. No my good Lord. 2760And hyre those Horses, Ile be with thee straight. 2775Were thinly scattered, to make vp a shew. 2779Here liues a Caitiffe wretch would sell it him. 2781And this same needie man must sell it me. 2783Being holy day, the beggers shop is shut. 2786App. Who call's so low'd? 2794Doth hurry from the fatall Canons wombe. 2796Is death to any he, that vtters them. 2802The world affords no law to make thee rich. 2803Then be not poore, but breake it, and take this. 2804App. My pouerty, but not my will consents. 2805Rom. I pray thy pouerty, and not thy will. 2808Of twenty men, it would dispatch you straight. 2812Then these poore compounds that thou maiest not sell. 2814Farewell, buy food, and get thy selfe in flesh. 2816To Iuliets graue, for there must I vse thee. 2818Enter Frier Iohn to Frier Lawrence. 2819Iohn. Holy Franciscan Frier, Brother, ho? 2821Law. This same should be the voice of Frier Iohn. 2822Welcome from Mantua, what sayes Romeo? 2823Or if his mind be writ, giue me his Letter. 2831So that my speed to Mantua there was staid. 2832Law. Who bare my Letter then to Romeo? 2835So fearefull were they of infection. 2842Iohn. Brother Ile go and bring it thee. Exit. 2851Enter Paris and his Page. 2860Giue me those flowers. Do as I bid thee, go. 2862Here in the Churchyard, yet I will aduenture. 2868Nightly shall be, to strew thy graue, and weepe. 2872To crosse my obsequies, and true loues right? 2873What with a Torch? Muffle me night a while. 2880And do not interrupt me in my course. 2892Then emptie Tygers, or the roaring Sea. 2895Liue and be prosperous, and farewell good fellow. 2897His lookes I feare, and his intents I doubt. 2901And in despight, Ile cram thee with more food. 2906To the dead bodies: I will apprehend him. 2908Can vengeance be pursued further then death? 2909Condemned vallaine, I do apprehend thee. 2920A mad mans mercy bid thee run away. 2922And apprehend thee for a Fellon here. 2923Ro. Wilt thou prouoke me? Then haue at thee Boy. 2924Pet. O Lord they fight, I will go call the Watch. 2926Open the Tombe, lay me with Iuliet. 2931He told me Paris should haue married Iuliet. 2932Said he not so? Or did I dreame it so? 2935One, writ with me in sowre misfortunes booke. 2936Ile burie thee in a triumphant graue. 2939This Vault a feasting presence full of light. 2940Death lie thou there, by a dead man inter'd. 2949And Deaths pale flag is not aduanced there. 2950Tybalt, ly'st thou there in thy bloudy sheet? 2953To sunder his that was thy enemie? 2956Shall I beleeue, that vnsubstantiall death is amorous? 2958Thee here in darke to be his Paramour? 2962Heere's to thy health, where ere thou tumblest in. 2964Thy drugs are quicke. Thus with a kisse I die. 76 The Tragedie of Romeo and Iuliet. 2977Thy drugs are quicke. Thus with a kisse I die. 2978Enter Frier with Lanthorne, Crow, and Spade. 2980Haue my old feet stumbled at graues? Who's there? 2981Man. Here's one, a Friend, & one that knowes you well. 2985It burneth in the Capels Monument. 2987And there's my Master, one that you loue. 2990Fri. How long hath he bin there? 2991Man. Full halfe an houre. 2992Fri. Go with me to the Vault. 2993Man. I dare not Sir. 2996If I did stay to looke on his entents. 2997Fri. Stay, then Ile go alone, feares comes vpon me. 2998O much I feare some ill vnluckie thing. 3001And that my Maister slew him. 3004The stony entrance of this Sepulcher? 3006To lie discolour'd by this place of peace? 3007Romeo, oh pale: who else? what Paris too? 3009Is guiltie of this lamentable chance? 3011Iul. O comfortable Frier, where's my Lord? 3013And there I am, where is my Romeo? 3021Stay not to question, for the watch is comming. 3022Come, go good Iuliet, I dare no longer stay. Exit. 3024What's here? A cup clos'd in my true lo:es hand? 3029To make me die wth a restoratiue. 3032Watch. Lead Boy, which way? 3034Then ile be briefe. O happy Dagger. 3035'Tis in thy sheath, there rust and let me die Kils herselfe. 3040Go some of you, who ere you find attach. 3043Who here hath laine these two dayes buried. 3048We cannot without circumstance descry. 3051We found him in the Churchyard. 3052Con. Hold him in safety, till the Prince come hither. 3053Enter Frier, and another Watchman. 3056As he was comming from this Church-yard side. 3057Con. A great suspition, stay the Frier too. 3060That calls our person from our mornings rest? 3061Enter Capulet and his Wife. 3062Cap. What should it be that they so shrike abroad? 3063Wife. O the people in the streete crie Romeo. 3065With open outcry toward out Monument. 3066Pri. What feare is this which startles in your eares? 3071Seeke, and know how, this foule murder comes. 3076O wife looke how our Daughter bleedes! 3079And is misheathed in my Daughters bosome. 3081That warnes my old age to a Sepulcher. 3084To see thy Sonne and Heire, now early downe. 3087What further woe conspires against my age? 3088Prin. Looke: and thou shalt see. 3090To presse before thy Father to a graue? 3097Bring forth the parties of suspition. 3102My selfe condemned, and my selfe excus'd. 3103Prin. Then say at once, what thou dost know in this? 3105Is not so long as is a tedious tale. 3111For whom (and not for Tybalt) Iuliet pinde. 3117Or in my Cell there would she kill her selfe. 3124Being the time the Potions force should cease. 3131Till I conueniently could send to Romeo. 3134The Noble Paris, and true Romeo dead. 3139But (as it seemes) did violence on her selfe. 3143Vnto the rigour of seuerest Law. 3144Prin. We still haue knowne thee for a Holy man. 3145Where's Romeo's man? What can he say to this? 3148To this same place, to this same Monument. 3151If I departed not, and left him there. 3152Prin. Giue me the Letter, I will look on it. 3153Where is the Counties Page that rais'd the Watch? 3154Sirra, what made your Master in this place? 3159And then I ran away to call the Watch. 3164Came to this Vault to dye, and lye with Iuliet. 3169Haue lost a brace of Kinsmen: All are punish'd. 3177As that of True and Faithfull Iuliet. 3179Poore sacrifices of our enmity. 3183Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished.

2019-04-22T03:06:56Z

http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/doc/Rom_F1/complete/

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The greater part of people in America are insured by personal insurance firms by means of their companies, adopted second by the federal government. These two sources of payment merged account for shut to eighty% of the funding for well being care. The “Out-of-Pocket” payers slide into the uninsured as they have chosen to carry the threat of health care price independently. When we look at the quantity of funds every of these teams spends on wellness treatment every year, the pie shifts dramatically. The government at the moment pays for forty six% of national health care expenses. How is that achievable? This will make a lot more sense when we examine every single of the payors separately. A choose part of the inhabitants chooses to carry the threat of health care expenses on their own relatively than buying into an insurance policy prepare. 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When it comes to private insurance policies, there are two primary sorts: Price-for-Service insurers and Managed Care insurers. These two groups technique spending for care extremely differently. This team makes it reasonably basic (imagine it or not). The employer or personal buys a wellness program from a private insurance policies organization with a described established of rewards. This advantage package will also have what is known as a deductible (an sum the affected person/specific have to spend for their well being care companies ahead of their insurance policy pays anything at all). After Surrogacy in Georgia is achieved, the health strategy pays the expenses for providers offered through the overall health treatment method. Frequently, they will pay out a maximum price for a service (say $100 for an x-ray). The program will require the person to pay a copayment (a sharing of the expense in between the well being plan and the personal). A standard sector standard is an 80/20 split of the payment, so in the situation of the $a hundred x-ray, the well being plan would shell out $eighty and the client would shell out $twenty…bear in mind those annoying medical charges stating your insurance did not include all the expenses? This is exactly where they occur from. Yet another downside of this product is that overall health treatment suppliers are both financially incentivized and lawfully sure to execute far more exams and processes as they are paid added expenses for every single of these or are held lawfully accountable for not buying the tests when items go mistaken (known as “CYA or “Cover You are A**” medication). If ordering more checks provided you with more legal defense and more compensation, wouldn’t you get anything justifiable? Can we say misalignment of incentives? Now it will get mad. Managed care insurers pay out for care although also “handling” the care they shell out for (really clever title, right). Managed care is outlined as “a set of tactics employed by or on behalf of purchasers of overall health care benefits to deal with health care fees by influencing client care choice making through scenario-by-scenario assessments of the appropriateness of care prior to its provision” (two). Yep, insurers make health-related decisions on your behalf (sound as frightening to you as it does to us?). The unique concept was pushed by a desire by businesses, insurance policy companies, and the general public to control soaring well being treatment fees. Isn’t going to seem to be doing work very yet. Managed care teams either give medical care straight or agreement with a choose team of wellness treatment suppliers. These insurers are more subdivided dependent on their own personalized management variations. You could be familiar with numerous of these sub-types as you’ve experienced to decide on in between then when selecting your insurance policy. Desired Provider Organization (PPO) / Distinctive Company Business (EPO):This is the closet managed treatment will get to the Payment-for-Provider design with a lot of of the identical traits as a Payment-for-Support plan like deductibles and copayments. PPO’s & EPO’s agreement with a established record of suppliers (we’re all familiar with these lists) with whom they have negotiated set (read through discounted) costs for care. Sure, individual physicians have to demand significantly less for their providers if they want to see individuals with these insurance policies plans. An EPO has a smaller and more strictly regulated listing of medical professionals than a PPO but are in any other case the very same. PPO’s control costs by requiring preauthorization for several providers and next views for key techniques. All of this aside, many customers really feel that they have the best sum of autonomy and flexibility with PPO’s. 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Email marketing platforms like Mail Chimp generally aids by providing customizable themes that people could make modifications to. Include the emblem, handle and contact facts of your organization with hyperlinks to cultural sites and your company website. Develop strong matter lines to further compel viewers in to opening your e-mails, contain beautiful headlines, and advantage/feature pushed content. The content of your email should be engaging but short, with huge concentrate on often functions or advantages that are useful to email readers. Furthermore, the email should also contain a good text to image percentage, managing out the complete visible aspect. Email is popular method to connect and contact clients and is acknowledged by many people. Most consumers see it as typical training to offer their email address to a business entity when they make a obtain online. But when a business has an email address of a customer or possibility, just how can email marketing benefit the business enterprise? To cultivate your organization you will need to build a set of e-mails of equally consumers and prospects. The best way to complete get the email of a prospective client is to provide something of price for free as a swap for their email address. If a possibility offers you their email address it shows that they are enthusiastic about your organization and want to hear more from you. Email marketing is one of the very most, if not probably the most, effective types of marketing. Email marketing still likes an increased ROI (return on investment) than any other Ethical Evergreen Wealth Formula 2.0 reviews method. The transformation charge for email marketing is demonstrated to be 4% to 7% over time. That is because a possibility needs to see your information 7 to 8 situations before they trust you enough to get something. 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Driving schools might help small people are more alert to proper driving techniques and etiquette. Driving schools take care of almost anything that has to deal with driving; from training the students about driving different cars, to training about the motors and also about defensive driving. Numerous about joining a driving school is that by joining at a competent driving school you can decrease the tickets and fines you receive, and you might also reduce your auto insurance premiums. Nevertheless the problem is how to locate a qualified or perhaps a good driving school? Remember that the most effective driving school can be one that has been encouraged for your requirements by a friend or relative. You can even rely on the local automobile insurance dealer or contact people protection company in your state. Even with selecting a driving school, you will find certain points that you need to enquire about, that might support you choose if that driving school is for you. The driving instructor ought to be your first concern. Ask just how long your trainer has been a driving instructor. The instructor must have the ability to give you mixed and incorporated tuition providing both theoretical and sensible training. Ask about the vehicles they choose, how old they are and in the event that you will have a person grab service. It’s also advisable to find out about their charges or if they’ve savings for stop booking. Locating a great driving school is the first step in City Driving School permit that is required in all the countries of the entire world to manage to drive an car for the reason that country. Learning to get may be easy, but being allowed to operate a vehicle could be the essential thing. Provided the character of driving and the potential hazards of speed, it’s no wonder that driving regulations are very strict. Certainly, finding one can be an achievement and an occasion to celebrate. 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The ARWU is revealed by the Institute of Higher Education and learning at the Shanghai Jiao Tong College and numerous indicators of educational or study performance are employed to create the rating, these incorporate extremely cited researchers, articles or blog posts indexed in significant citation indices and staff successful Nobel Prizes. There are 20-a few French universities in the Word’s Prime-five hundred universities (2008). The Top-five universities in France are: 1. University of Paris 6 (ranked forty second in the globe) two. University of Paris eleven (rated 49th) three. Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris (73rd) four. University of Paris seven (101-151) and College of Strasbourg(101-151). The University of Paris six has been the best university in France considering that 2003, when the ARWU was very first printed. Universities in France are predominantly public establishments. Curiously, the greatest learners go to the ‘Grandes Ecoles’ [‘Grand Schools’] (a increased training establishment outside the house the mainstream framework of the general public universities method). While the universities are open up to all pupils who finish their large school training (with a ‘Baccalauréat’), the ‘Grandes Ecoles’ call for an added entrance examination which is very competitive. In comparison to French universities, the ‘Grandes Ecoles’ are fairly tiny institutions. For example, the University of Paris six (ranked 42rd in the globe) has thirty,000 students even though the Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris (ranked 73rd in the world) only has two,000 learners. In comparison to other OECD international locations, France has an typical density of leading universities (.four universities per one million inhabitants in France compared to .four for OECD international locations as a total. It is hanging to notice that nine out of the 23 universities (39%) that show up in the ARWU are positioned in Paris. The historic University of Paris was founded in the mid twelfth century, In 1970 it was reorganized as 13 autonomous universities (University of Paris I-XIII). The university is often referred to as the Sorbonne or La Sorbonne. yüksek lisans are now in essence unbiased of every single other. In spite of this link, and the historical ties, there is no College of Paris technique that binds the universities at an tutorial degree. The college rankings across the nations and the planet are outlined by thinking about several things. Of system, it is the powerful college, the intelligence of the students and the scholarly excellence that occur 1st to estimate the rankings. Next the campus, the ambiance, the services that the universities offer you the pupils and the involvement of the institutions in generating the new researchers, engineers, academics and physicians of the potential are judged to incorporate the names of the Universities amongst the toppers. Although, it is a quite complex and demanding process to select the prime 10 best universities in the planet since how an American University can be the best between the universities in China and vice-versa! On the opposite, it is fairly tough to organize a difficult fight among the Ivy League institutes with that of the century-outdated educational institutes of the European countries, specially United kingdom -The Excellent Britain. Even yüksek lisans of California is counted by numerous amongst the top ten, but it is not an Ivy League. Then how can any individual judge that the excellent point out university is anyhow inferior to the Ivy Leagues? Here is the record of the leading ten best universities in the Planet following counting and judging the numbers of the college members who are Nobel Laureates. Winners of Philosophical Culture, Winners of the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, users of the Nationwide Academy of Science, MacArthur Fellows and the significantly prestigious Pulitzer Prize winners of the wonderful universities. Harvard University is a yardstick to evaluate the analysis requirements of other folks. This is one of the premier properties of schooling that has been at any time challenged. Located in the Cambridge, US the University was established in 1636. The school designed its money from $four.six billion to $twenty five.8 billion in the previous 15 a long time under the leadership of Jack Mayer. Besides fiscal wealth, the true treasures of the Leading College are the 47 Nobel Laureates, forty eight Pulitzer Prize winners, 32 Heads of Condition it has developed from its law, health care and business colleges. The university offers on its Widener Library – the world’s best tutorial library with over six million volumes of textbooks of various disciplines. Located in the heart of the Californian Silicon Valley, the Stanford College was launched in 1891. This is the world’s second very best study and teaching college focused to supplying the greatest high quality education to acquire leadership through the seven educational institutions- Humanities & Sciences, Enterprise, Engineering, Regulation, Drugs, Education, and Earth Sciences. Given that its foundation back in 1861, MIT slowly has turn into the world’s preeminent heart of scientific lookups and instructing. The Faculty features on the legions of experts and engineers it has created. There are 80 Nobel Laureates, 43 McArthur Fellows, 28 winners of Countrywide Medal of Technologies and Innovation, 56 National Medal of science winners. Berkeley is one particular of the elite universities throughout the world. Far more than 350 packages are offered to 36,000 college students and the university is greatest recognized for the PhDs it creates every year. There are seventy seven Fulbright Students, 39- Associates of the American Philosophical Culture, 32 MacArthur Fellows, and 22 Nobel Laureates and amid the Nobel laureates 8 of them are present school customers. Started in 1209, Cambridge is a single of the world’s oldest establishments. It has constantly been 1 of the greatest rivals of its modern Oxford. It is really tough for the US university toppers universities to give a hard struggle from the overseas. There are over 18,000 learners throughout 135 nations around the world and there is a file of earning 80 Nobel Prizes by their school. Today it’s! 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Finances are always securing their get a grip on around us. We are continually in the struggle to develop funds to supply for anything or the other. You will find answers around the globe for your financial need. However, the one which most readily useful suits them is particular loans. Copyright © territerri.com - All Rights Reserved.

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Since Mauricio Macri's appointment as President of Argentina on December 2015, the country has become appealing for foreign investors. There is a sense of optimism about the state of the country, particularly in some industry sectors. Since President Macri took office, a couple of the measures taken reflect this optimism, for example the elimination of foreign exchange restrictions and the negotiations with the holdouts of the outstanding public external debt, with which, after 15 years of open fighting, Argentina has finally reached an agreement. These measures, together with tighter regulation of the economy, have generated an optimistic atmosphere in the Argentine market as the country is expected to receive a flood of new investment in the coming years, as a result of the confidence that the new government has instilled, and the return to a trusted market economy after the 2001 bottomless crisis and more than a decade of populism. In addition, in August 2015 a new Unified Civil and Commercial Code entered into force, which superseded the Civil and Commercial Codes that had been in force in the country for the 150 years. As only two years have passed since the implementation of this new Code, its impact is yet to be analysed. In 2017, the Argentine energy sector continued to receive more attractive incentives from the government than in previous years. In particular, regarding the renewable energy sector, the government tendered various construction projects, focusing on solar energy and wind energy generators. Eighty-eight projects were allocated for a total of 2,043MW. limits on applicable percentage of royalties (applicable cap: 3 per cent 'mine mouth'). The industry is therefore optimistic because of the positive political changes affecting mining since the change of administration. foreign nationals may not own any land that includes permanent and important bodies of water, or any land located in a border security zone. In 2016, Decree 820/17 was enacted by the government, which made the limitations for the purchase of rural real estate by foreign nationals a little more flexible. This Decree is expected to be amended in the near future. In September 2016, Law No. 27,271 was enacted. This law created an inflation-adjusted unit called the UVA, an instrument for savings, loans and investments for natural and legal persons or for the public sector, to be used for the long-term financing of the acquisition, construction or extension of real estate property in Argentina. This law also modified Article 2210 of the Civil and Commercial Code, establishing a new term of duration for mortgages of 35 years. The mortgage system in Argentina was virtually non-existent until mid 2017. However, with Law No. 27,271 and some other regulations issued by the Central Bank, national and private banks began to grant 30-year mortgage loans in Argentine pesos for housing. They have been flooded with requests from prospective residential property purchasers, which has resulted in a rise in house prices. This has been one of the main developments taking place in the real estate market because many paradigms have changed, not only in developers' minds and in the legal structuring of real estate projects, but also in the purchasers' minds because new opportunities to participate in the market now exist. assignment in guarantee of the rights of those real estate developments implemented through trusts or construction corporations. Communication A 6250 was enacted with the aim of creating a friendlier environment for the financing of real estate projects for developers, but so far has not achieved this. In any event, many measures are being taken by the authorities to support the development of projects in Argentina. • 15 per cent income tax on the sale of real estate (except for housing) has replaced the tax on the transfer of real estate (Law No. 23,905). • extension of the tax transparency regime (controlled foreign companies rules) to the trusts, foundations and similar entities as well as to companies and other entities from a foreign country, as long as they meet certain requirements. • a mechanism for recovery of VAT technical credit balance is issued, under special circumstances, for entities developing public services activities. • implementation of the mutual agreement procedure provided in the treaties to avoid double taxation signed by Argentina and advance pricing agreements for international transactions. • amendments to the special regime to drop tax evasion charges, which will be only applicable to cases of evasion (simple and aggravated) and illegal use of tax benefits. • The reassessment may be performed in the first fiscal year after the Law was enacted (i.e., ending 31 December 2018). As mentioned in Section I, the Argentine project finance sector is no stranger to financial and political risks. Once beset by military dictatorships, Argentina has had a democratically elected government since 1983, and has adhered to a system of representative democracy ever since. Politically, Argentina has been, with some exceptions, stable for the past few decades; economically, it has experienced both surging growth and daunting setbacks. Therefore while political risks are minor, Argentina's recent economic history has left a legacy of regulations that continue to dramatically affect project finance and construction contracts. The most salient example arose as part of the Law of Convertibility in 1991: a prohibition on indexation of contracts and payments. A valuable tool used by private parties to manage changes in price levels, indexation involves writing into a contract an upward adjustment of nominal payments based on standardised inflation rates. With this law, the government prohibited indexed contracts, including all manners of currency updates, cost variations, and debt restatements. Although the prohibition on indexation was specifically promulgated in tandem with the Law of Convertibility, the prohibition on indexation inexplicably remained even after the Law was scrapped in 2002, and technically continues today. With inflation safely ensconced in the Argentine financial landscape, the architects of project finance and construction contracts have become creative with legally permissible methods to stem rising costs notwithstanding this prohibition. The most frequently used methods include price escalations and a combination of fixed and variable prices. For example, a three-year lease may provide for a fixed increase in rent each subsequent year, such as US$100 for the first year, US$125 for the second and US$155 for the third. While this may seem like indexation, Argentine courts have confirmed that these price escalations do not fall foul of the law. In addition, investments in construction projects often involve a combination of fixed down payments and subsequent instalments that vary in cost based on the expense of construction materials. Indeed, because of the prohibition on indexation, gradual inflation is difficult to compensate for in construction contracts except in the manner described above. The next question becomes whether force majeure clauses can be invoked in cases of hyperinflation. While no legal codes exist to that effect, the answer is almost certainly no. In Argentina, force majeure clauses are permissible, but their applicability is limited to situations in which the events are extraordinary and unpredictable. In Argentina's case, hyperinflation is not an extraordinary occurrence; it has happened several times before, and could undoubtedly happen again. As a result, the majority view is that an inflation crisis – even a crisis of hyperinflation – constitutes an expected phenomenon that does not merit the exercise of a force majeure clause. The message is clear: inflation is a foreseeable evil for Argentinians, and prudent parties ought to invoke other measures to manage the risk. Similarly to elsewhere in the world, security interests in Argentina can be obtained through pledges and security assignments, and be ensconced in trusts or tucked into mortgages. When it comes to pledges, Argentina has a two-tiered system of ordinary and registered pledges. The ordinary pledge functions as one would expect: the debtor physically transfers the pledged property into the possession of the creditor or into the custody of a third party. Unlike the previous Civil Code, which required the creditor to sell the asset in a court-administered auction, disclaiming self-help remedies to foreclose on a pledge, the new Unified Civil and Commercial Code does not require necessarily a court-ordered foreclosure procedure, since it enables the parties to agree on the creditor keeping the pledged property if a default occurs, as well as on a private sale of the asset. If nothing is specified in the contract, the creditor can choose from any of the possibilities foreseen in the Code. When a security interest takes the form of a registered pledge, the debtor retains possession of the property instead of transferring it to the creditor. As Law 12,962 describes, that pledge must be filed with the Registry of Pledges, through either a public deed or an authenticated private instrument, before the pledge becomes enforceable against third parties. When that act of registration occurs, the creditor must also decide whether the pledge will be 'fixed' or 'floating'. If the pledge is fixed, then the registration only encompasses the particular asset and nothing more. In contrast, if the pledge is floating, the creditor captures any changes the asset may undergo while it is registered and any additional assets that derive from those changes. The choice between a fixed and registered pledge has another consequence: jurisdiction. If a fixed pledge is chosen, the assets fall under the jurisdiction of the Registry of Pledges where they are located. In contract, floating pledges fall under the jurisdictional wing of the Registry of Pledges located where the debtor is domiciled. Trusts, security assignments, and mortgages round out the various forms of security interests. Crucially, when property is placed in a trust, the secured assets are protected from the prying fingers of a debtor's other creditors. Argentina expressly regulated trusts in 1995 with the enactment of Trust Law 24,441, imbuing trusts with one key quality: limited liability for the trustee. Moreover, the Trust Law also establishes that trust property will be treated separately from property belonging to either the trustee or trustor. Largely because of these two protections, trusts have become a popular component of project finance transactions in Argentina since the Trust Law was enacted. Notwithstanding this, the new Unified Civil and Commercial Code has amended a high percentage of the legislation applicable for international transactions, including the Trust Law. However, the key matters of this law remain unchanged. Security assignments share some characteristics with trusts, but differ in that assigned assets are generally limited to rights or credits. Trusts are free from this limitation, and can encompass most forms of assets, including movable property and real estate. Mortgages, for their part, grant security interests over real estate, ships and aircraft, and usually secure the principal amount plus accrued interest. Created by means of a notarised deed, a mortgage only becomes valid in relation to third parties once it is registered with the Public Real Estate Registry in the jurisdiction in which the property lies. Indeed, registration is obligatory to ensure the validity of most security interests. Mortgages and registered pledges must be catalogued – and fees paid – which are calculated on the basis of the total value of the secured asset. Certain descriptions must also be included. When registering mortgages, the value of the collateral security must be specified in the deed; if that step is overlooked the entire mortgage risks being invalidated in accordance with Section 2189 of the Unified Civil and Commercial Code. Similarly, the value of the collateral must also be noted when registering a pledge, in addition to information regarding the applicable interest rate and the method of repayment. Finally, when executing a mortgage, notary public fees must of course be paid as well. In accordance with Public Works Law, contractors are required to deposit 1 per cent of the total cost of the project in order to submit their proposal and must maintain their tender within the time limit set in the basis of this tender. Pursuant to such regulation, this deposit may be instrumented by one of the following types: cash, certified check, public debt securities issued by the federal or provincial governments, bank guarantee, surety insurance, or demand note. Surety insurance may be used both in public and private contracting and can undergo different forms, such as: (1) bid bond that ensures the bidder on a contract will enter into the contract and furnish the required payment and performance bonds if awarded the contract; (2) performance bond that ensures the contract will be completed in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract; (3) down payment or collection that ensures that the policyholder will use the advance payments received for the material supply; or (4) funds for reparation orders. The process of foreclosing on a pledge differs depending on whether the pledge is ordinary or registered. As mentioned in Section IV, the new Unified Civil and Commercial Code does not necessarily require a court-ordered foreclosure procedure for ordinary pledges, since it enables the parties to agree that the creditor will keep the pledged property if a default occurs, as well as on a private sale of the asset. If nothing is specified in the contract, the creditor can choose from any of the possibilities foreseen in the Code. Instead, if the pledge is registered, the foreclosure process varies in accordance with whether the secured party is classified as a financial entity under the Financial Entities Law No. 21,626, as decreed by the Central Bank. If the secured party does not fall under the mantle of financial entity, then the lender must pursue a judicial foreclosure proceeding similar to that described below for mortgages. If the lender is a financial entity, then the court's presence is circumscribed. Mortgages are foreclosed upon through either a summary proceeding in court that ends with the public auction of the property, or a speedier, more simplified process in which the creditor can assume a greater role. In the traditional judicial proceeding, the property is sold to the highest bidder at auction (the lender is permitted to bid on the property as well), as long as the debtor does not offer any successful defences. After the sale, the proceeds are deposited in a bank under court order, and the creditor's claim is satisfied against such proceeds. This traditional foreclosure process can take anywhere from one to two years from start to finish. If a debtor is insolvent, the procedures differ yet again depending on whether it decides to pursue a judicial reorganisation or a bankruptcy proceeding. The reorganisation procedure can only be instigated by the individual or corporate debtor in question, who must file a petition for relief under the Bankruptcy Law together with evidence of both its inability to satisfy debts – and ability to reorganise. Once this petition has been filed, all claims by unsecured creditors are in effect stayed, although creditors may proceed with claims related to mortgages and pledges if and only if they give notice to the bankruptcy court. That is to say, the creditor will have to request admittance of his or her credit and collateral to the relevant court. Bankruptcy proceedings, on the other hand, can be commenced either voluntarily by the debtor or involuntarily by his or her creditors. In contrast to the reorganisation process, the debtor is not allowed to manage its own assets; a trustee is appointed as administrator in its place. All creditors – including preferred creditors – must submit evidence of their claims to the debtor's trustee. Certain creditors do retain an advantage, however, when it comes time to distribute the debtor's assets. Creditors with a lien over a particular secured asset are granted a special preference by law, which entitles them to priority over the proceeds from the sale of that asset. In addition, Section 239 of the Bankruptcy Law provides for the subordination of debt, with the result that senior creditors will be paid before subordinated lenders. It is important to note, however, that lenders will not incur liabilities if project assets are foreclosed upon. Beyond the litany of usual permits needed for a particular building project, Argentina has one licensing requirement that applies specifically to foreign citizens and companies. That is to say, foreign nationals who wish to acquire land in a 'border security zone' must seek special permission from the National Commission of Security Zones to complete their purchase. Generally speaking, these zones encompass land that lies within 150km of Argentina's borders, or within 50km of the sea. This permission is typically granted within about six months. It is worth noting, however, that local companies controlled by foreign nationals are deemed to be 'foreign companies' for the purposes of this legislation, in contrast to standard corporate legislation. Moreover, this licensing requirement applies even if a foreign company decides to acquire shares in a local company that already holds land in a security zone; if management of the local company shifts into foreign hands, permission from the National Commission of Security Zones must be granted before the transaction can proceed. With the amendment of the Constitution in 1994, environmental legislation – and sanctions for environmental violations – has increased in tandem. As stated in Section 41 of the Argentine Constitution: 'All inhabitants are entitled to the right to a healthy and balanced environment fit for human development […] and shall have the duty to preserve it.' Furthermore, the Constitution requires that a person or company who damages the environment has the 'obligation to repair it according to law'. If a person believes that his or her environmental rights are being infringed, he or she can file a Section 43 summary proceeding (an amparo) for immediate injunctive relief. Environmental legislation exists not only at the federal level in Argentina, but at the provincial level as well. At the federal level, Congress has the power to set forth minimum standards legislation for the protection of the environment, which is applicable throughout the country. Conversely, the provinces may establish supplementary legislation to these minimum standards either by enacting more stringent regulations or by passing their own environmental regulations in areas in which the federal government has not established such minimum standards. Certain environmental legislation specifically prescribes criminal penalties for environmental transgressions (e.g., the National Hazardous Wastes Law No. 24,051 and the Buenos Aires Special Wastes Law No. 11,720 hold representatives of companies liable for environmental damages caused by the activities of their companies, to the extent of their participation in the action). Further, some courts have invoked Section 200 of the Criminal Code regarding crimes against public health to sanction people who release hazardous substances into the environment. Otherwise, administrative sanctions, injunctive relief or civil penalties usually accompany environmental offences. Public-private partnerships (PPPs) have not been as popular in Argentina as in other Latin American countries in the past decade. However, Law No. 27,328 was enacted in 2016, which establishes the terms and conditions for PPPs, and in February 2017, Decree 118/2017 was enacted, implementing Law 27,328. This legislation governs PPPs in Argentina and was implemented in anticipation of the big flow of investment in infrastructure that is expected in the country in the next few years. This is a positive step because the lack of investment in infrastructure in the country in the past 15 years means that the rules governing investment can be established for the first time with a view to protecting both the interests of the state and the private parties involved. Indeed, during the past months, several projects have been drafted and fields of action identified (e.g., road construction issues), which means that there are likely to be big opportunities for PPP investments in, among others, highways, railways, hospitals, schools and jails. According to the Business Associations General Law No. 19,550, foreign companies may only engage in 'isolated' activities in Argentina if they are not registered in the country. Although an exact definition of isolated is not provided by the law, a project finance transaction would likely not fall under its scope. Thus, in order to perform regular activities in Argentina, the foreign company has to register either a branch or a local subsidiary. If it fails to do so – and carries out 'regular' activities nonetheless – the company assumes the risk that its activities will be unenforceable and its representative held jointly liable. Therefore, it is advisable that project finance transactions be organised locally. The most convenient forms of legal entities for foreign investors include the stock corporation, limited liability company and the branch. Whereas the first two forms limit the liability of the shareholders with respect to third parties, when the entity is organised as a branch, the foreign parent company can be held liable for its activities. Consequently, project companies are usually organised as a stock corporation, both to limit liability and invoke the favourable tax treatment of corporations. With the exception of investments in certain sectors, including rural land, energy and broadcasting, foreign investors are granted the same rights under the Argentine Constitution as local investors, and may invest in any economic or productive activity. In terms of taxation, foreign investors are also treated largely the same as locals: they, too, must pay federal, state and municipal taxes, although dividend payments are immune from taxation. But there exists one salient difference: profits from the sale of shares in an Argentine company are not taxed as income if the seller is a non-resident investor. From 2007 onwards, many foreign exchange restrictions were set concerning the entrance of funds into the country and their transfer abroad. Fortunately, since December 2015 these restrictions, which limited foreign investment in Argentina, have been relaxed by the new government. Argentine courts do not jealously guard their jurisdictional power. Parties to a contract can choose to submit to the jurisdiction of a foreign court as long as there is a connection to the chosen jurisdiction and the dispute is pecuniary. There is an exception to this openness, however: Argentine courts claim exclusive jurisdiction over debtors domiciled in the country. If the debtor's domicile is abroad, insolvency proceedings in Argentine courts will only touch those assets held in the country. With regard to the choice of law, contractual parties are generally free to choose which laws will govern their agreements. The major caveat is that foreign law will not be accepted if it flouts Argentine public policy. As a consequence, disputes involving bankruptcy, tax, criminal, and labour laws will be governed by the Argentine public policy laws corresponding to those areas. Specifically, Argentine law shall also govern rights and legal actions related to real estate and movable property located permanently in the country. Foreign judgments and arbitral awards, for their part, are enforceable in Argentina, either in accordance with international treaties or the Unified Civil and Commercial Code. If a country has signed a treaty with Argentina regarding foreign judgments, those procedures will prevail; if not, the Unified Civil and Commercial Code shall apply in federal court. (Each province has its own rules for enforcement of foreign judgments in its local courts.) Article 517 of the Code sets out several requirements that a foreign judgment must meet in order for it to be enforced in Argentina. The judgment must have been issued by a competent court, as determined by Argentine law; be final and valid in the foreign jurisdiction, and later authenticated according to Argentine law; and cannot conflict with Argentine public policy, or with a prior or contemporaneous judgment in Argentine courts. Finally, the defendant must have undergone due process of law, including a proper summons and a chance to defend itself. Once all those prerequisites are fulfilled, a number of procedural requirements must also be satisfied before enforcement can occur. The petitioner must file a statement proving that the aforementioned legal requirements are satisfied; all documents in a foreign language must be translated into Spanish by a translator registered in Argentina; a copy of the foreign judgment must be notarised and filed with the appropriate Argentine court; and all pertinent documents must be authenticated by the Argentine consulate located in the foreign court's jurisdiction. Finally, a 3 per cent court tax will have to be paid upon enforcement. The enforcement of foreign arbitral decisions follows the same framework. As long as both the legal and procedural steps are fulfilled, the foreign arbitral award will be accepted by Argentine courts. If a treaty applies, however, its procedural and substantive requirements take precedence. Notably, Argentina has been bound by the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the New York Convention) since 1988. This chapter should be taken as a mere outline of the project finance landscape in Argentina. While the legal framework does not differ much from other Latin American countries, decisions regarding investments in public works have been unusually politicised in Argentina in recent times. Argentina's prior governments did not pursue PPPs unless they were to achieve a particular political outcome. This has started to change with the policies that are being implemented by the current government we suggest removing this text (as described in Section VIII). There is expected to be a boom in project finance investment in the coming years as infrastructure grows, and mining and energy technology advances. Future projects are likely to involve not only the creation of new structures, but also the maintenance of existing structures. As described, the government has taken the required measures to facilitate this, which have led to marked optimism in the business community and many steps are being taken to implement huge infrastructure projects through PPPs. Many positive changes are expected in this new business environment.

2019-04-18T21:20:14Z

https://thelawreviews.co.uk/edition/the-projects-and-construction-review-edition-8/1172572/argentina

Friends... I'm taking a little break today. I was putting together a giveaway post for today, but yesterday got a little out of hand. Halle and I ended up at the Dr's office and turns out our muchkin has a bit of an eye infection. Nothing serious, and our Dr said that it doesn't really give her any problems and should clear up in a week. However, I'm still feeling bad for our little girl. Afterwards, I made a run by our favourite butcher's to pick up dinner. B and I have been going there since it opened and have come to know the owner and his sister. I didn't see him when I arrived but his sister was in, and she was excited to see our little girl. However, I was taken aback when she told me that her brother was taken from us on July 8th - rather suddenly. I delivered the news to B right away and we were both feeling awful... needless to say, I wasn't in the mood to do much blogging - so my giveaway post will have to wait until next week. - Create a Nursery for our Little Girl - DONE! - Create a Proper Master Bedroom - DONE! - Okay, well, the room itself is not 100% completed, but it's a much better master bedroom than it was before and we definitely accomplished a lot including adding some personal artwork and making our own headboard! - There may not be doors yet, but B started adding trim to the room when we were working on some laundry room projects not too long ago. Still a lot left to be done, but we're happy that progress is being made on this room once again! - We were definitely far too ambitious to think that we would landscape both areas this year. The backyard pretty much needs a complete overhaul, but at least we got some great landscaping done out front this year! - Complete Closet in Front Entrance - DONE! - This was happily one of the first things we crossed off of our to-do list for this year! You can check out the reveal of our front entrance interior right here. - B started this when he added some shelving to our large kitchen pantry. It's definitely helped with storage, especially with the abundance of baby stuff we're not storing in the kitchen. I am however, unsure about how much better we can make it without renovating the entire kitchen... which is further down the line than we would like. - Complete Siding - DONE! - Paint Front Door - DONE! - Paint Aluminum Siding - DONE! - Get New Mailbox up - DONE! - You can check out what I've shared about this project so far, right here. - Get Our Personal Artwork Framed - DONE! So not too bad really! Of the 17 items on our list, we've completed 5, started 5, have 1 coming along very soon, and 6 that still need to be addressed... and we do hope we can cross off our list at some point this year. I consider this to be very successful since I was pregnant January - July... and we still managed to complete some stuff after Halle arrived! The best part about things not being crossed off of our list yet?... There's still a lot more to blog about! Do you have a to-do list that you've been trying to tackle this year? How successful have you been so far with your projects? Since I shared my latest project post this morning, I had to take some time this afternoon to post a little about our weekend. Halle spent a good portion of the day doing this... which made our trip so very easy! As we left for another year, my Dad snapped a family photo of us (even though you can really only see Halle's hand in this photo... she was asleep and we didn't want to wake her up for the photo) in front of the Prince's Gates. We'll have to get another one next summer! What fun things did you get up to this past weekend? Any traditions you have to end the summer? Happy Monday friends! I hope you all enjoyed the weekend and that all of my readers who were affected by Irene are safe and sound. As I promised, I have a new project to share with you this morning. The other week I got an email from the Home Depot Team, asking if I would be interested in working on a creative project with them. Of course I would! What was even better was they were looking for me to work on a project that would add style and function to a student's space. Perfect, since I'll be back at my night classes on September 14th and we've been working on sprucing up my laundry room / office space in the basement recently. For a total of $44 (and change... our receipt went for a walk) - under budget! It sat like this in our kitchen for two days (some things came up around here) and on Sunday morning B was kind of enough to get the first coat of paint on with a brush. I know... it's not in my office and there is nothing written on it yet. The next step is to let the chalkboard paint cure for 3 days before we can write on it. That actually works quite well as it means I'll be able to start using it for the beginning of September! I'm so happy with this project and the materials were definitely within a student's budget! Even if you didn't have $44 to spend on it, it would be easy to buy regular painter's tape for less (I decided to use Frog Tape in order to get cleaner lines). I'll be back on Thursday with the final board in my office all filled out and ready to run! Thanks again to the Home Depot for asking me to work with them - I had a lot of fun working on this project and I know it will be extremely useful to me when I'm back in my classes! Have you completed any back to school projects, or do you have any that you're finishing up now - either for you or your little one's? I'd love to hear how you stay organized when back to school season hits! Did you get a look, last Friday, at the first preview of Caitlin's new fabric line! I'm in love already and so excited to see a new fabric every Friday until the line launches in October! A lovely post on Monday over at Verdigris Vie, showing this beautiful home on Martha's Vineyard. Loving all of it, but was particularly inspired by these rustic looking built-ins! Oreo Peanut Butter Dip! Are you kidding me? No, I certainly don't NEED it... but man would I love to try it! YUM! Doing some last minute summer entertaining this weekend or next? Look no further than Sugar and Charm for some beautiful table setting inspiration! Let's not forget how lucky we are! I'm very much looking forward to this weekend! Tomorrow B and I plan on taking the munchkin to the CNE (at least for a little bit). It's always been a tradition in my family to visit every summer (I only ever missed it when I lived away for University), and I'd like to make it a tradition for her as well! Sunday, a couple of my girlfriends are coming by for a visit and to check out our reno's - it's been a while since they've been at the house, so should be a nice visit! I was hoping to share a new project with you today, however, it's taking a little longer than planned (I guess most things do when you have a baby, huh?). So, you'll have to come back on Monday to see what I've been up to. Today, instead, I want to share with you a new monthly sales event that is being introduced by HomeSav... TODAY! These monthly Designer Picks events will feature a selection of products and brands, that will be selected by a guest designer. Beautiful, right? - So what are you waiting for? Head on over to HomeSav and start shopping... and of course sign up if you haven't yet! They always have great items on offer for 30 - 80% off retail - what's not too love? Autumn is just around the corner... we're talking, less than a month away. This summer sure has flown by. B and I figure it has a lot to do with the fact that we spent most of the summer waiting anxiously for our little girl to arrive. In any case, Autumn is just about here and it's time to start getting ready for it! The past couple of years, B and I haven't done too much in the way of Autumn decorating. Now that I'm playing stay at home Mommy to Halle, I hope to accomplish a bit more Autumn decorating this year and tackle some of the projects that I've put up on my Pinterest. Would love to do something like this in oranges and reds! My only concern is... how well does felt stand up to the weather conditions that we get? Will a wreath like this hold up for a couple of months in the elements? I've already started to stock up on red, orange and yellow paint chips from Home Depot! And who doesn't want to bring a little of the outside in as well at this time of year!? What a simple idea, with some branches and little tags! Spend October or November (depending on which Thanksgiving you celebrate), writing down what your thankful for! This is something maybe we can make a tradition with Halle. We always pick up a bunch of tiny pumpkins at the pumpkin patch and just use a drill to make a hole big enough for the votive! Instant candle holder! Love it! It's a project I originally saw in Style at Home magazine, and knew it would be great in our front entrance! We could use a box for hanging keys, maybe mount some photos in another and switch our seasonal decor in others... depending on how many we make. Yup - lots I'd like to do this season - we'll see if it all gets done on top of the other stuff we plan on tackling... you know, like our bathroom renovation. Have you been pinning any fun projects that you just haven't had the time to tackle yet? Baby girl is so long - she'll take after her Daddy! We have her 1 month appointment this afternoon and I'm interested to find out how much she really has grown in both length and weight! No footprints to share right now - she'll get those done when Daddy is home from work (and softball) later tonight. If you missed it this morning, be sure to check out my post from earlier today - we have a brand new reno coming up soon and I'm sharing our first details! It's not a big space, and it doesn't have much storage, so we want to utilize the space the best we can, and on a rather tight budget, as I am currently down to half of my salary while on maternity leave. With that in mind, B and I have started to collect inspiration, talk finishes, pick up stuff here and there and of course, put together a budget. At this point, we have a rough idea of how we want the layout to work, after all, we are pretty limited with space. So, when the opportunity has come up to grab pieces for our renovation, we've been all over it! The first item that we acquired, you may remember we won through a giveaway that Janice hosted way back in April. It was the beautiful Victorian Two Handle Widespread Faucet from Delta. It came in chrome, and B and I knew it would be perfect for our new bathroom. Gorgeous, right? What makes it even better is that the wonderful people at Delta hooked us up and sent us the matching Victorian Monitor 14 Series Tub and Shower trim in chrome! We're so happy that we'll have these two beautiful coordinating pieces from Delta in our gorgeous new bathroom! And that's not all that we've got so far! My cousin works at a transport company, and one of their customers had ordered a bunch of tubs for a hotel project they were working on. However, when they showed up it was not what they needed, so we were able to score a brand new American Standard tub for only $165!! As for the rest of the main fixtures, we plan on using the low flow toilet that we already have, since we purchased it when we moved into our home two years ago. The vanity will all be brand new! We plan on recruiting my father to build it for us, and I've been pinning lots and lots of inspiration pictures - we have some really great ideas (hopefully he can keep up with our "demands"). So there you have it - our next big reno... that we plan on undertaking with a baby who is only a few months old, B working full time, and me back in my classes one night a week (I start back September 14th). Are we crazy!? Yes! Do we love it!? Absolutely! Do you have any major renovations planned for this fall... or any major renovations you wish you could tackle this fall? Tonic Living has to be one of my favourite fabric stores! Not only is it Canadian, but the customer service is always great, shipments are fast, and their selection is fantastic and fun! Of course with our little peanut here, I haven't had much time to stalk their website recently. So, the other day when it was drizzly and overcast, I thought what better thing to do than look at some pretty fabric!? How cute is this bunting fabric? Would look so fabulous in a nursery, kids room or even a playroom! I'm actually already brainstorming a project that will allow me to add this to Halle's nursery! This one is just so soft and beautiful. I love the light blues and greens in it... I actually think my garage sale chair from last spring might look gorgeous in this... we'll see. It's gorgeous and the price is fantastic. I'd love to see a nursery done with this fabric - that gorgeous pink and the hint of green! Perfection... and a bonus that it's such a steal of a price! A beautiful floral with a fantastic combination of blue and pink... and some pretty little birdies! Again - a fantastic price! Another fun and colourful design! This would look so great in a kid or teens room - maybe even a fun project for the student who is off to university and needs to spruce up their dorm a little bit! I know we would've loved some fun window treatments back in our day! Finding any great fabric designs or sources around these days? Where is your favourite place to shop for fabric? I may be a little tired as someone kept me up a little more than usual last night (but I guess it still wasn't as bad as it could've been). However, I must say I'm enjoying my morning. It's a gorgeous Saturday and the neighbourhood is so quiet - all I can hear are the birds in the yard. My new favourite photo of her. She started smiling yesterday (just in time to absolutely win everyone over at the office). I tried snapping a picture on my Blackberry as we were leaving for our visit, but it was too slow and this was the end of a huge smile. Sadly... she hasn't shared any of her adorable gummy smiles with her Daddy yet. She was too tired yesterday and pretty much slept the rest of the afternoon... and evening. Hard to believe that she's four weeks today... and yes, I kind of just wanted a reason to share another adorable photo of our little girl. Kara's Party Ideas always shares the best party themes - I love checking them out. Last Friday she shared this adorable "tiny themed" first birthday party and it looks so cute! Something for me to store away for 11 months from now maybe? A short list, and not surprising as this week seemed to fly by. We have a family filled weekend ahead. Tomorrow B has a softball tournament, so Halle and I are going to go along to cheer him on. We love watching him play softball. Sunday I have a baby shower in my hometown, so B will be accompanying me and we'll spend some time with my parents, my brother and his fiance as well. So looking forward to all of this family time... and I'm hoping to finally get back into my parents pool if the weather permits! Enjoy your weekend... after all, there are not many summer weekends left (sorry, it had to be said). You may remember that back at the start of June, I had posted about how I wanted to make the switch in our kitchen and replace my Grandmother's old dining table, with a nice round table. At the time that I posted that, B had actually already picked up a round table that I had found on Craigslist, for $40, and stashed it away in our garage. So, last month while B's parents were visiting this was one of the project's that his wonderful father started working on for us. Since we wanted the table to be more white, and B didn't want to paint it, it took numerous coats to get the table looking exactly as we wanted it. So after many, many coats of stain and a bunch of coats of clear coat, the table was looking fabulous and in our kitchen (finally!). The leaf is in, which of course doesn't give a true representation of how the round table fits into the space. It's also a hard area to photograph because we don't get much light with the big tree in our yard. Right now, we're both just happy to have a kitchen table again. Keep your eyes out... hopefully I'll be able to get some updated kitchen photos soon!

2019-04-26T15:41:31Z

http://first-time-fancy.blogspot.com/2011/08/

! This is NOT a method of direct communication with Mary's Little Shop Of Flowers for purposes of ordering or rectifying problems. Thank you for your kind review. The pennies in the vase help the Tulips who love copper last longer. Just as I ordered. The arrangement was beautiful. This is a great place to get flowers for any occasion. I have only ordered twice but both times my wife loved the arrangement. The last time she said they were beautiful. Thanks so much for the review. We love what we do and we love to see the expressions of joy on the recipients faces. Thanks again. Thank you for your review. We are so glad she loved her arrangement. Both receive to gushed about the flower arrangements they received. Just exactly what I was looking for. Thanks. So glad they enjoyed their flowers. Thank you for allowing to be a small part of their special day. Awesome bouquets that never disappoint. Thank you. Thank you for your order and the awesome review. We look forward to your next order. So glad you loved your arrangement. I ordered flowers from my wife for Valentine's Day on line which was straight forward. I then ended calling to make a change. The gentleman I talked to took care of what I needed and was very pleasant. When the flowers were delivered, as promised, my wife said they were beautiful and was truly impressed. I am glad I found this shop. Thank you for your wonderful review. We love what we do and want the people who receive their flowers to love them too. So glad we were able to be a small part of her Valentine's Day. Gorgeous bouquet cheered my sister who has 2 broken legs! My birthday flowers were absolutely beautiful. The arrangement was full of many different types of flowers that were expertly arranged. I truly enjoyed them. We are so glad the arrangement was beautiful. We are so sorry for your loss but thank you for allowing us to be a small part of your husbands service. Very very pleased with my order. The Funeral easel was beautiful and big for the cost. Highly recommend. The arrangement I received for my birthday was breathtaking. I had to smile whoever I looked at it. Thank you for your artistic work! So glad the arrangement you received is beautiful. We are so glad to be a small part of your special day! Thanks for your review. The flowers I ordered for the lobby at my work are absolutely gorgeous! They turned out even bigger and prettier than the pictures online. I will definitely order from this flower shop again! thank you! how do I unsubscribe from emails? You are most welcome. Thank you for your order! Happy Holidays! I was pleased with the arrangement that was sent. It was also on time. love my arrangements every time! sunflowers are my absolute favorite! Very beautiful arrangement at a reasonable price and delivered on time. Thank you. The recipient of the flowers was very pleased with the beautiful arrangement. Thank you! Thank you for your kind remarks we appreciate you thinking of us when you need flowers. Great job! Flowers arrived without hassle and looked pretty and fresh. Thank you for thinking of our shop. We appreciate your business. Loved the arrangement (it was beautiful) and speedy delivery service. However, I did notice that along with the flowers came little tiny spiders that kept crawling out of the flower bouquet. Not good. Flower arrangement is beautiful! I got voicemail from you while I was at work, and I called hubby to bring it in from porch(since I was at work). My daughter & I have been using you for years, & we are always pleased with your quick service & wonderful creative arrangements. Great service. Our church has used this florist in the past, so I was familiar with their level of service. I have used the website to place orders as well as calling in. Have never been disappointed with their product or service. Have recommended to others. The arrangement was beautiful. I would use Mary's Little Shop again. Thank you for placing your order with us. We look forward to hearing from you the next time you nerd flowers. I received the most beautiful flower arrangement. My daughter in FL uses Mary's Shop whenever she send me flowers and they are always beautiful. The flowers I received for Mother's Day were beautiful and they smell so good. My son wanted them delivered on Friday and they were. They have a wonderful reputation. We love this company! My son made a big order mistake. They were quick to respond to us and fix the problem. The flowers were beautiful and ready so fast. I would recommend this company to anyone for any occasion. The customer service is 10 stars and 3 thumbs up, they put their customers before their pocket books. I was so pleased with them I will use them again and tell all my friends. THANK YOU, Mary's little shop of Flowers!! Great service. Ordered from another city. Customer service very friendly and helpful to make sure all went smoothly. Thank you! Easy to order. Good communication. My friend was thankful. The basket was beautiful and delivered perfectly. Thanks so much. Beautiful arrangement and great service! We ordered online from out of state, so a little nervous. No need! Birthday girl was surprised and happy! That's what counts. Ordering was easy, but more importantly, the flowers were beautiful. Beautiful arrangement and spot on delivery! Birthday girl was ecstatic! Thank you! The flower arrangement was beautiful, & the service was excellent. I highly recommend Mary's! Well done. Everyone liked the flowers. Very please with the service. Order and had delivered the same day. Very fast service and the arangement was very nice. Would definitely order from them again. The floral arrangement was beautiful. There were two sides to the arrangement which was perfect. Also lots of flowers and color. I especially loved the tiny gold confettti on the Hydrangea. The most beautiful arrangement I have ever received. Mary's always does beautiful work, but this one was off the charts fabulous! The flowers were great but she broke up with me....so yeah. I ordered a monument cone for my father's grave. The ordering was easy which I appreciate. I love the arrangement that was purchased for me by a friend. The personnel that delivered them was very friendly and helpful. I would be using this floral shop for now on. Great service. Beautiful arrangements. Super pleased, and will shop here again. Thanks so much. I was out of the country and unavailable, and ordered flowers to be delivered. As always, you did a great job! I continue to be impressed and appreciative of your great work. YOUR FLORAL ARRANGEMENTS ARE SPECTACULAR! THEY ALWAYS HAVE VERY UNIQUE FLOWERS. I LOVE THEM. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. Product delivered timely and as-described. Very pleased. She absolutely loved the arrangement! She sent pictures everywhere and even posted on Facebook. Thank you for helping me brighten my sister's day! Outstanding! They communicated with me to clarify my order and then knocked it out of the park with a beautiful arrangement! I will certainly use them again. Not the cheapest, but the best. Absolutely worth it. Mary's Little Shop of Flower's never disappoints. Thanks for the great service and beautiful flowers. Love Mary's Little Shop of Flowers!! Great service and the flowers were gorgeous! So nice to know you can order from out of town and get a beautiful arrangement. The flowers were delivered as promised and incredibly beautiful. My Mama loved them! `Thanks Mr. Glaze for your review, next time you call ask about out Crystal Club. The flowers I ordered for my mother-in-law were beautiful. They were exactly like the picture I saw. Delivered promptly and lasted a very long time. I will not use any other company but Mary's Little Shop of Flowers. We are so proud that your mother-in-law enjoyed her flowers we love what we do and we design from the heart. Thanks for allowing us to be a part of her special day. We appreciate your kind review and are pleased she enjoyed the flowers. We have a saying here at Mary's "You walk in as a customer and leave as a client. We love what we do and want our clients to be happy. The recipient said the flowers were beautiful. I was also happy that she received the flowers the day and time I requested. Thank you for your review. We love to hear from our clients and the recipients are happy. Thanks so much. Delivery was on time and the flowers were outstanding, my wife loved them. The recipient was very pleased with both the arrangement and the flowers selected. Mary and her team did a great job! Flowers were absolutely beautiful - could tell this is a company who cares about what they send out. The person I spoke with at Mary's Little Flower shop were very friendly and helpful. My company has found our new Florist !!! Lovely, just lovely. Every arrangement and plant I receive is arranged to perfection and what I love the most is how unique each one is from the other. Thank you. I always have the recipient send me a picture of what they received. Even though it wasn't quite what I ordered (that's always a bit disappointing), it was lovely. Great flowers at a reasonable price. The recipients were very happy with their arragements. The arrangement was so beautiful! My friend just loved them. Thank you for making something that made her feel so special! The arrangement was to be delivered December 23rd, but arrived on the 24th. The arrangement, as always, was beautiful. the sunflower arrangement is just beautiful! thank you. Great arrangement, and prompt delivery. Mary's does a great job. Mary created three sunflower arrangements for a family reunion brunch we hosted at Strata. She is a true artist! We were extremely pleased with her work! Everyone in attendance loved the effect. Thanks you Mary. We will call upon you again! Mary is not a florist. She is a FLORAL ARTIST and one of the best! I received a gorgeous arrangement from a friend that is indescribably fragrant and beautiful. When I need flowers for any occasion, I think of Mary's Little Shop of Flowers and no one else. Jill liked the flowers, and they got there when they were supposed to! They lasted a week or so I'll use Marys again. The flower arrangement was lovely the flowers very fresh and fragrant. Handwriting on the card could have been a little better, but that's only a minor thing. I'm still enjoying the arrangement very much! Just recently began using MARY'S LITTLE SHOP OF FLOWERS floral business. Three for three. Beautiful, beautiful, wedding anniversary arrangement. Thank you. Thank you, thank you for yet another amazing and beautiful arrangement. Just a note: it would be nice to include a small packet of the preservative to maintain the roses. Otherwise just beautiful. Excellent service, courtesy and beautiful arrangements. I ORDERED FLOWERS FOR OUR ANN.NOT ONLY WERE THEY ON TIME THEY WERE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL ARRANGEMENT I'VE EVER SEEN, YOU'VE GOT A NEW CUSTOMER &PROBABLY PICKED UP A FEW MORE AT HER OFFICE. THANKS ALOT. Mary and Michael are ARTISTS! I have been using them for over 10 years and have never once been disappointed! I normally call to order but I must say that the online ordering was easy and wonderful! Thanks for being so dependable and custom service oriented! Absolutely the most beautiful arrangement I have received in a very long time. Quite elegant I might say. Thank you for making my special day even more amazing. The flowers coordinated beautifully with others ordered by for the open house. Thanks again for your service and uniqueness in the floral world. Very helpful and professional. Called me immediately when selection was not available and offered great alternate suggestions. Very pleased. Shortly after placing my order online, I was contacted by the shop. The item selected online was not available for same day delivery, but they proposed a lovely substitute for the same price. Our work colleague was complimentary of the selection. Thanks for the customer service! I placed order on line. Flowers were delivered as presented ontime. Very pleased with quality and service. I love love love your flower arrangements. My children, although they live all over the country, use your shop to send me flowers for B-day, Christmas, etc because they know you always send beautiful flowers. Thank you so much. ERing was so excited to get the flowers they were beautiful. Y'all did a great job. I have been dealing with you folks for years, and I am never disappointed. Besides, you have given me the distinction as a "Rock Star" at her school, and I have a reputation to uphold! Thanks again. Loved the online ordering! Fastest order I have ever placed! Beautiful!!! We love your arrangements! We wouldn't order from anyone else in Houston! They notified me that their delivery truck broke down and asked if it would be all right if they delivered the flowers the next day. i agreed, realizing that these things happen. They said they would upgrade the flowers a bit. I do not know what the original flowers looked like, but my sister-in-law showed me the bouquet that was delivered the next day, and it was gorgeous. I would definitely use this shop again! My daughter received a flower arrangement for her birthay. The arrangement was awesome but the flowers only lasted 3 days. A little disappointed about that but I will definitely use them again. I live out of the area and always use Mary's to send flowers to my mom who lives nearby. They are always fresh and last a long time, will continue to use Mary's! When my daughter sends me flowers - she always orders them from you. I'm always very satisfied with the arrangements you send. They're beautiful and long lasting. The flowers were placed on my front porvh under shade.They were gorgeous & filled well up with water. So pleased with promptness and care taken to leave the arrangement I only wish it had come with a preservative. Otherwise, I am well pleased! Mary's has always provided consistently beautiful and unique arrangements. Their service is courteous and timely, and I couldn't "survive" without their reminders of upcoming occassions. Love 'em! As always the arrangement was spectacular and in beautiful condition. Everyone at school always wants to know where my flowers come from! The arrangement of exotica flowers (birds of paradise, protea, mini yellow orchids) is just beautiful -- one of the prettiest floral arrangements I've seen -- and brought real delight. Love the vase and the draped & knotted green ribbon, too. Excellent job. I have used and recommended Mary's for many years and will continue for many more. The excellent personal service and high quality of plants and arrangements that Mary and Michael provide are hard to find. Thank you and keep up the good work! The sunflower arrangement that I received was the most beautiful arrangement I have ever seen. The flowers were HUGE and tall and quite impressive. I received so many compliments at my office. Thanks so much! Re: English Ivy for Beverly Wise from Peter and Sharon Munn ordered 2/6/2011 delivered to Earthman Resthaven 2/7/2011 - This is in followup to my survey this morning. Within a very few minutes of receiving my email directly to Mary's, a representative contacted me, discussed my comments, and recitified the situation to my complete satisfaction. I value excellent customer service as much as I do product, and I shall continue to use Mary's and to let all of my friends and family know what superb customer service they have. Therefore, I have changed my rating from a 1 to 4. 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2019-04-22T02:02:51Z

https://www.themaryslittleshopofflowers.com/reviews.php

- To empower the Haitian health care professional to practice better medicine, so that the level of care for the Haitian patient can be raised and this impact may last beyond our physical stay in the country. With these principles in mind, immediately after our last visit in February 2012 to Justinien Hospital, we began preparing our next trip. That preparation included the selection of a convenient date, the recruitment of volunteers and the collection and shipment of supplies. The project met with an unprecedented enthusiasm and in no time, we were able to assemble the largest group of volunteers so far, that came from eight different states. We selected the second week of November, representing a window between the presidential election and Thanksgiving. In keeping with our previous observations, we wanted to continue to address the inordinate number of casualties resulting from road accidents and acts of violence by developing a program of “Advanced Trauma Care Management Course” in Haiti. After a dry run in February 2012, we wanted to start expanding the program and provide certifications to interested individuals all over the country. After discussion with our experts in the matter, we also had a vision that eventually the Haitian Ministry of Health could mandate this course for all individuals involved in acute care in Haiti. During the AMHE Annual Convention of July 2012, we had further discussions with Dr. Ginette Lubin, current president of the Association Medicale Haitienne (Haitian Medical Association) and Dr. Claude Surena, outgoing president of the AMH. The then Dean of the State University of Haiti School of Medicine showed a lot of interest in integrating this trauma course in the curriculum of the graduates about to go on to their social service assignments. Preparations were therefore initiated to provide this formation both in Port-au-Prince and in Cap-Haitien. An Ad Hoc committee was created and included Drs. Dany Westerband, Anne Lihau-N’Kanza, Maxime Coles, George Angus and Earvin Douyon. These individuals were all instrumental in making this project a reality. Dr. Westerband contacted an administrator of the American College of Surgeons, who donated to the project and shipped directly to the Medical School in Port-au-Prince 50 ATLS textbooks, while Dr. Golden collected used ATLS textbooks from the North Shore LIJ Surgical residents to be donated to the course participants in Haiti. Dr. Westerband also drafted the curriculum of the course, while Dr. Lihau-N’Kanza was in charge of selecting, purchasing and/or leasing the manikins needed for the courses. In a conference call, the ideal number of participants for each site was agreed upon and this was communicated to the Dean Jean-Claude Cadet, MD in Port-au-Prince and Dr. Guerline Roney in Cap-Haitien. These two physicians also took on the task of reserving an appropriate venue for the courses in these locations. On the other side, Drs. Dufresne and Thelusmond designed the curriculum for the Resuscitation and Acute Cardiac Management Course. They purchased the BLS/ACLS textbooks and an EKG machine, as well as a cardiac defibrillator that was obtained through the efforts of Drs. Jean-Claude Compa, Bordes Laurent, Roger Belzie and Francois Brutus. Both machines were donated to the Justinien Hospital at the completion of the course. In addition, Dr. Ziegelbaum and I solicited material contributions and monetary support for the project from multiple donors. With the valuable assistance of Carol Olsen, RN of the Smith Institute of Urology, we accumulated six pallets worth of medical equipment and material. Dr. George was of great help in organizing the shipment and coordinating the pickup with Pilot Freight Company. Unfortunately, hurricane Sandy delayed the pickup of the merchandises that were shipped down to Cap-Haitien via the Haiti Shipping Lines. Thus, the pallets were not in Cap-Haitien at the time of our arrival. We also collected $7250.00, which helped to partially cover the bills for the EKG machine, the instructional materials for the Cardiac Course, the lease of the Trauma manikins and the shipment of these items to Haiti. We are still looking for more donations to pay for the transport from Miami to Cap-Haitien. The news of our arrival in Cap-Haitien was greeted with excitement both by the leadership at the hospital and the residents of the different services. The residents were encouraged to submit a wish list of lectures. We received requests from General Surgery, Internal Medicine and Urology and all the participants agreed to meet these demands. In addition, I wanted to introduce for the first time the concept of Journal Clubs in the education of these residents, as a way to develop a critical approach of the medical literature and to maintain up-to-date medical knowledge. Dr. Golden was given the responsibility to select and discuss appropriate articles, while this task was assigned to Dr. George in Urology and Dr. Surapaneni for Internal Medicine. The respective services in Haiti also selected a group of surgical cases to be performed during our stay. The Academic program was thus established and shared with all involved stateside and in Haiti. Lastly, the most difficult task consisted in booking this large group on Flights from the US to Port-au-Prince and from Port-au-Prince to Cap-Haitien as well as reserving lodging both in Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitien. Drs. Margarett Osselyn-Abraham and Ghislaine E. Auguste got the ground transportation covered in Port-au-Prince as well as the hotel reservations for the trauma instructors. Dr. Roney was up to the task as well with the arrangements in and out of Cap-Haitien. Despite last minute cancellations and last minute additions to the group, as well as unanticipated developments in Cap-Haitien, we were all set and ready to go a week before the pre-determined date of departure on November 10, 2012. Or so we thought, until the unexpected showed its ugly face. Dr. Dufresne was injured in a car accident. Dr. Lihau N’Kanza’s mother-in-law passed away on November 8, 2012, but this incredible family agreed to postpone the funeral until Anne returned from her mission in Haiti. To top it off, on the eve of our departure, we received news of torrential rains and neighborhood flooding in Cap-Haitien as well as possible anti-governmental rioting, causing one of our members to defect. As the night was approaching, we had to contact the people on the ground in Cap-Haitien and exchange e-mails with every member of the group who was still in the US. This wonderful and dedicated group of physicians and nurses were unflappable and decided to forge full speed ahead, except for a preliminary halt in Port-au-Prince in order to reevaluate the situation in Cap-Haitien. The text message from Dr. Andrew Tyan still remains engraved in my memory:”Why should we turn our back, when they need us the most”. Thus, by Sunday November 11, 2012, the trauma team, including Maxime Coles, MD, Anne Lihau-N’Kanza, M.D., Erwin Douyon, MD and later on Dany Westerband, MD was on the ground in Port-au-Prince, inspecting the venue and ready to start the course the following day, while the rest of the team flew to Cap-Haitien. Finally, the mission seemed set to go on as scheduled. Only to find out that there had been a death during a hazing ceremony at the State School of Law and Economics and the students were enraged. They set up barricades to block access to their school, ipso facto blocking access to the medical school juxtaposed to the Law School. That did not deter our trauma instructors who were guided around the obstacles and eventually made it to the auditorium of the medical school. The course was set afoot, albeit with some significant delay and a significant reduction in the number of attendees. In the middle of the course, a mob of 20 to 30 angry Law students all of a sudden entered the classroom and demanded that one of the instructors who had been photographing scenes of the demonstration delete his pictures. Cooler heads prevailed and the course resumed. As the group switched to the practical sessions with the dummies, another angry mob rushed the practice tables, with the clear intention to disrupt what they believed to be an exam. This time, the assistant dean intervened and defused the situation. The next day, the mob of Law students tried to break in and smash the instructors’ laptops. Again, the vice-dean had to calm the situation. From then on, the course went on without a hitch. The participation and the interest were deemed extraordinary and 35 certificates of attendance were distributed at the end of the course to 4 attendings, 6 residents and 25 interns. The team of instructors is extremely grateful to Dean Cadet and vice-dean Vilsaint as well as Mrs. Alexandre and the other members of the staff who were of tremendous help during the program. Thanks to them, the participants were treated to nice collations during the coffee breaks and two copious lunches. We want to express our gratitude to them for making the experience successful despite unexpected and difficult circumstances. Meanwhile, the bulk of the team landed in Cap-Haitien in the middle of the day, under a still cloudy sky, but the situation was clearly not as bad as was reported by the news outlets. Still the mud patches and the piles of debris and garbage were evident. We all took residence at the Auberge du Picolet and those who wished to do so, rushed immediately to visit the formidable Fortress CITADELLE located at about 30 minutes from the City. We barely managed to finish exploring it and did not have a chance to visit the Ruins of the Sans-Souci Palace, due to darkness. At the hotel, a delicious welcome dinner was awaiting, courtesy of Drs. Jean Geto Dubé and Guerline Roney. As a result, the academic sessions could not get started. By the third day, it was imperative to at least carry out the journal club. Dr. Golden did an outstanding job, with a detailed PowerPoint presentation that was moderated by Dr. Loubeau. It led to some serious discussions with the surgical residents and interns. Dr. Jasmin also presented a lecture on Traumatic Colon Injuries. I never had a chance to present my lecture on Management of Retroperitoneal hematomas, Duodenal and Pancreatic Injuries, but downloaded the slides for the residents. They all successfully achieved the goals of the course and were awarded a certificate of completion of “Le Cours Avancé de Prise en Charge des Traumatisés” de l’AMHE. Following a parallel schedule, our two cardiologists conducted ward rounds with the resident and the attending staff every morning. During the first two afternoons, they provided an advanced course on the management of different cardiac events, with detailed instructions on the diagnosis and the control of diverse types of arrhythmias. There were 16 attendees, including residents and attending staff. They performed a large number of echocardiograms, providing information heretofore unknown to the staff. When the news got out that they were in town, patients came from several adjacent towns and villages for consultations. Our cardiologists also traveled to the Sacred Heart Hospital in Milot, run by CRUDEM. They were able to make a significant difference in the care of all these patients. On the third day, Dr. Tyan gave a two-hour lecture to the medical staff on “How to read a plain Chest X-Ray and plain Abdominal Films.” The residents and interns in medicine also had a Journal club during which they discussed a series of articles selected by Laalitha Surapaneni, MD, our medical resident. Again, the interest, judged by the questions, was extremely elevated. The rest of the week continued on the same high note, with participation in the outpatient clinics. The success of their visit was quite evident when the Urology staff organized a separate farewell reception for them. In addition, the entire staff of interns and residents came to the hotel and made sure they were photographed with the two stars of the week. I would not be surprised if they asked for autographs. Our two gynecologists arrived only in the middle of the week, but made their presence felt. Dr. Guillaume presented a lecture on “Anovulatory Menstrual Cycles.” They assisted the residents during a cesarean section and performed a hysterectomy for large myomas. In the operating room, Dr. Livingstone was a pillar of support and managed some difficult unstable patients despite the lack of the minimum that he would have expected in an operating room, such as intravenous hydralazine or Beta-Blockers for my parotidectomy patient, whose systolic blood pressure rose to nearly 200 as she was weaned from the anesthetic agents. He ran four cardiac arrest codes during the week being successful in three instances. He also lectured the anesthesiology resident and the CRNAs on various techniques of nerve blocks. Still in the Operative Suite, our two nurses progressively inserted themselves in the system and talked about a different approach to operative nursing. They talked about proper identification of the patients, pre-operative time out, the importance of having nurses scrub on the cases and a better management of the stocks. Mrs. Guerrier, the OR Head nurse, explained to them that after completing a peri-operative nursing course in France, she tried to implement some changes, but it was very difficult to get the other members of the staff or the administration to cooperate. Therefore, she stopped trying. The idea of counting instruments and sponges before and after surgery was ridiculed by the surgical residents who claimed that there had never been a case of retained sponge in a patient. Interestingly enough, on the last day, I saw a slide presentation of films from the director of Radiology at Justinien and low and behold, there it was, a case of retained lap pad in a Justinien patient. Obviously, the effort needs to be pursued. Dr. Patricia Loubeau delivered a masterful and thought provoking lecture at the Justinien School of Nursing, entitled: “Social Marketing and Public Health” that was well received. Obviously, there are always two sides of a story. The other side is that the residents went on strike despite the fact that the administration has been doing its best to improve the care at the Pediatric Service, by allocating more money for oxygen tanks, examining cloves etc… We are hoping that the two sides will sit down face to face and work out their differences. Meanwhile, our medical resident Dr. Surapaneni spent the better part of the week helping the interns in pediatrics. She also took the time to establish an inventory of all the material and supplies in stock in Pediatrics. This cache contained useful medications, instruments and supplies. Their existence was unsuspected. The stock was itemized and some of it was delivered to the other services where they were needed. Mrs. Michele Jasmin, an experienced NICU nurse, gave strong support to the pediatric staff during these trying moments. Finally, on the last day of the Mission, several members of the AMHE team sat down with Dr. Dubé, at his request for a debriefing. We expressed to him our gratitude for making this visit possible, first by supplying a mini-bus for our transportation from the airport to the hotel and for the daily trip to and from the Hospital, second by providing us with a delicious lunch every day at the hospital, as well as a lunch for the individuals attending the TRAUMA course. We then had a frank discussion about the obstacles he deals with at the helm of the largest health care facility of the North of the country. One of the main issues affecting the hospital is the lack of revenues. As the contributions from the Ministry of Health are insufficient to cover the operating costs of the institution, the administration has to generate an income that traditionally comes from the pharmacy, the clinical laboratory, the radiology division and the morgue. Dr. Dubé reported that until recently the hospital was losing nearly 40% of the income derived from the pharmacy. One of the common schemes was carried out by hustlers who would hang around the pharmacy and whenever a patient would present with a prescription, they would intercept it, obtain an exoneration from the administration and pocket the cost of the drug. The hospital has to resort to charging the patients for everything, from the simplest lab test to a flat fee for the use of the operating room suite. Even then, the patients who can afford to pay for their care manage to get their fees waived through their connections. Thus, only the patients without a connection must pay for everything or risk not to receive any care. Under Dr. Dubé, a valiant effort is being made to clean up and improve the finances of the hospital. This has not gone over well, since he is being vilified both in the hospital and across town by those who used to profit from these shady deals. We suggested that every employee of the hospital be given an ID badge, as a sine qua non condition to circulate within the hospital. That measure along with the hiring of security agents would limit access for the undesirable hustlers, allow better control of the staff and restrict the excessive flow of individuals who crowd the hospital daily. Dr. Dubé informed us that they were exactly in the process of issuing two types of badges, a green one for the employees of the Ministry of Health and a red one for the employees under contract. We hope that these policies will be firmly enforced and eagerly await the results. We also remarked on the decrepit appearance of several pavilions of the hospital, which are still as they were in 1925, when the Red Cross undertook the last major overall of the hospital. For example, the OR Suite with two regular rooms and one minor surgery room is clearly inadequate to meet the needs of the different surgical services. There is no ceiling scialytic light in the minor surgery room, no functioning anesthesia machine, an electric cautery or a suction machine that would allow to convert that room into a regular Operating room. We also discussed the bad state of the leaky roof. We suggested that if there were a cost estimate for the roof, the AMHE would consider taking on such limited repair programs. Dr. Dubé informed us of an expected grant from the World Health Organization/Pan American Health Organization earmarked to improve Gynecological services that will be used in part to add a second floor to the OR suite and expand the operative capacity of the hospital. Next, we addressed an issue that has been in the forefront of our preoccupations from the days of the first AMHE visit, that of the respect of human dignity in the facility. Once again, we observed patients being uncovered in the middle of the wards, under the gawking eyes of visitors and other patients of the opposite gender I must add, since male patients are often hospitalized in the Women’s ward, when the Men’s ward is filled. I observed a female patient being wheeled from the pre-operative examining room to the operating room with her chest totally uncovered. These repeated observations convinced us that there was a desensitization to the notion of human dignity. This observation applies to everyone from the porter to the attending physicians, including the nurses and the residents. Dr. Dubé replied that there was a need to address that issue both in medical and nursing schools and to have a discussion with all the employees as well. We feel that this issue must be revisited at every opportunity and must be considered a quality improvement parameter. Connected to the same matter, we observed patients lying in beds with dirty sheets on the wards and a patient who had bled vaginally before a cesarean section being asked to lie on a cover that was heavily stained with her blood. The porter changed the sheet when we protested, but we feel that this attitude connotes a lack of respect for a fellow human being. We were told that the Hospital had no sheets and that the patients were responsible for bringing sheets from home, because of unending stealing of the sheets that used to be provided by the hospital. We repeated the offer made last year by Dr. Jean-Bernard Poulard to donate a supply of bed sheets and covers, offer that can be revisited provided the hospital makes an effort to control the distribution, the laundry and the preservation of these sheets. Finally, we decried the lack of participation of the surgical residents in this opportunity that was given to them to participate in rare operations such as a parotidectomy that I performed with one of the attending at Justinien or the hydroceles that Dr. Ziegelbaum performed with Dr. Romain, one of the North Shore/LIJ surgical residents. Even though, a hydrocele is considered a common, run of the mill procedure, we know that there is always something to be learned when the procedure is being done by a surgeon with a different approach, even if it is just to compare techniques. Overall, we believe that the Vth AMHE Medical mission to Haiti was a success. We have now 53 new physicians certified in the administration of advanced care to trauma victims and 16 new physicians capable of managing cardiac emergencies, in addition to whatever medical resources were already available in the country. We introduced the concept of Journal Club in the Justinien residency curriculum as a tool for developing critical learning and for updating medical knowledge, instead of repeating traditions passed from one generation to the next, even if they may no longer be relevant. Finally, we presented a dozen of lectures, which is a far cry from our previous series or from our prepared list for this visit, but as I mentioned earlier, an unexpected change in the schedule prevented us from delivering all the lectures requested by the residents. We sincerely thank Dr. Florence Guillaume, Dr. Raymond, Dr. Jean-Claude Cadet, Drs. Dube, Coq, Roney, Joseph, Zephyr, Desir, Cyril and Carmelle Leconte, Barella, Damas, Compere, as well as all the residents from the different services for their cooperation and for opening up their door to an honest discussion about the present and future health of our compatriots. We also want to include Dr. Ginette Riviere Lubin and Dr. Claude Surena for facilitating the communications. We hope to be able to extend the Trauma and cardiac training programs to other parts of the country and eventually form local educators that will diffuse this knowledge to the entire nation. To share our knowledge with compassion and respect is and will remain our motto, until every single Haitian woman, man or child can obtain decent health care. At last, I have to mention the ultimate kindness of Dr. Roney who presented every single member of the team with a gift, a product of the local arts and crafts. This gesture touched us, since we felt that thanks were due to her and her team. It is no surprise that every single member of the AMHE Team reported that he or she had a great experience and pledged to return next year.

2019-04-23T13:51:08Z

http://amhe.org/journal/?page_id=553

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2019-04-21T22:38:19Z

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The absence of the I allele of the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) gene has been associated with higher levels of circulating ACE, lower nitric oxide (NO) release and hypertension. The purposes of this study were to analyze the post-exercise salivary nitrite (NO2 -) and blood pressure (BP) responses to different exercise intensities in elderly women divided according to their ACE genotype. Participants (n = 30; II/ID = 20 and DD = 10) underwent three experimental sessions: incremental test - IT (15 watts workload increase/3 min) until exhaustion; 20 min exercise 90% anaerobic threshold (90% AT); and 20 min control session without exercise. Volunteers had their BP and NO2 - measured before and after experimental sessions. Despite both intensities showed protective effect on preventing the increase of BP during post-exercise recovery compared to control, post-exercise hypotension and increased NO2 - release was observed only for carriers of the I allele (p < 0.05). Genotypes of the ACE gene may exert a role in post-exercise NO release and BP response. The systemic arterial hypertension (SAH) has committed about two thirds of elderly population in several countries [1, 2]. Being considered a cardiovascular risk factor that may be associated with endothelial dysfunction and thus with a low endothelial dependent vasodilatation [4, 5]. The treatment of SAH includes pharmacological therapy and lifestyle changes, such as physical activity enrollment and nutritional habits re-education . Among cardiovascular benefits of exercise, the post-exercise blood pressure reduction has been considered an important tool for blood pressure (BP) control [7–15]. The protective effect of exercise in lowering blood pressure may be mainly due vasodilatation substances induced vascular resistance reduction after exercise . During physical exercise the increased blood flux lead to mechanical vessel stress and thus an endothelial NO release . The NO is involved with vascular tonus regulation and its release has been associated to post-exercise BP reduction (e.g. post-exercise hypotension - PEH), which may even be influenced by genetic characteristics . Hypertensive people would benefit from PEH as a non-pharmacological adjunct to the SAH treatment. However, Hagberg et al. highlighted that approximately 25% of the hypertensive individuals do not present PEH, what could be partially explained by genetic variations. Studies about the insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) and its associations to functional, metabolic and cardiovascular phenotypes have been documented [20–22], including SAH [10, 23]. The absence of I allele of ACE gene (e.g. individuals D/D) has been associated with higher levels of circulating ACE [24–26] leading to an increased angiotensin II (ANG II) concentration, reduced bioavailability of bradykinin and thus to a lower NO release [27, 28]. We hypothesized that in respect to ACE gene, the D/D carriers would present lower NO release during exercise and thus both lower vasodilatation and reduced post-exercise blood pressure reduction than those with the I allele. Furthermore, once the endothelial release of NO is dependent on both metabolic and mechanical stress (shear stress) , it was also hypothesized that aerobic exercise of a greater intensity would result in a higher NO release and thus to elicit a greater post-exercise BP reduction in elderly hypertensive women. Therefore, the purposes of this study were to analyze the post-exercise NO and blood pressure responses to different exercise intensities in elderly women with or without the I allele of ACE gene, as well as to investigate if the NO release and post-exercise hypotension in this population would be influenced by of the I/D polymorphism of ACE gene. Due to factors such as age and gender affect blood pressure responses, this report poses a contribution by standardizing these variables in our sample. In the initial phase of this study 268 elderly women (≤ 60 years-old) clinically diagnosed with hypertension were genotyped for the I/D polymorphism of ACE gene. The diagnosis of hypertension in this sample was performed in 2005 and confirmed in 2006/2007 at the medical department of the University according to IV Brazilian Hypertension Guidelines (2006) following procedures previously described by Moraes et al. (2008) . From these initial volunteers, thirty elderly women (70.5 ± 6.0 years, 60.4 ± 8.5 kg, 153.3 ± 6.3 cm and 25.7 ± 3.0 kg/m2) diagnosed with mild hypertension and whose pharmacotherapy consisted only on diuretics as hydrochlorothiazide and indapamide (not interfering with the RAS) were selected to enrolled in a local program for SAH treatment which included regular physical activity and recommendation of a balanced food intake. After recruitment, participants were allocated into two different groups according to the presence (II and ID) or absence (DD) of 287 pairs of base. Participants of both groups (II/ID and DD) randomly underwent to three experimental test sessions on non-consecutive days, inter a spread with at least 48-hours apart. After giving a written consent, each volunteer was first submitted to a resting electrocardiogram, and exercise tests were performed under cardiologist's supervision. The study was approved by the local ethical committee (process nº CEP/UCB 63/2008). All 268 women had a blood collection for the determination of their I/D polymorphism of ACE gene. After that, 30 volunteers were selected according to their availability to underwent to testing protocol, their ACE genotype (individuals with and without the I allele of ACE) as well as considering the exclusion criteria (e.g. use of medicines that would interfere on RAS). Before each experimental session, all volunteers remained on resting for 20 minutes, and blood pressure (BP) was measured every five minutes, being the average considered the resting BP. Experimental design consisted in an incremental test session, one session at 90% of anaerobic threshold and another session without exercise (control session). After all sessions, the volunteers remained in the laboratory for recovery during one hour. In this time span, the post-exercise BP was measured every 15 min, and the mean of these measures was considered. NO was inferred from the measurement of nitrite (NO2 -) in saliva [31–34]. For this analysis, saliva was collected during resting before exercise (or control) in all testing days (PRE), immediately after exercise (IAE) and concomitantly to BP measurements throughout the recovery period. The saliva was collected through a cotton swab. Total DNA was isolated from peripheral blood according to standard procedures. The insertion(I)/deletion(D) polymorphism in the human ACE gene (rs4646994) was determined by inspection of the electrophoretic profile of polymerase chain-reaction (PCR) products, and performed as described by Marre et al. with modifications . Either the 490 bp (I allele) or the 190 bp (D allele) products were amplified using primers: 5′-CTGCAGACCACTCCCATCCTTTCT-3′ and 5′-GATGTGGCCATCACATTCGTCAGAT-3′, which flank the polymorphic site. Reaction tubes contained 100 ng DNA, 10 mmol/L Tris-HClpH8.3,75 mmol/L KCl, 3.5 mmol/L MgCl2, 0,2 mmol/L dNTP, 20 pmol of each primer, 0.5 μg of purified chicken albumin and 1 U of Taq DNA polymerase (Phoneutria®, Minas Gerais, Brazil) in a final volume of 25 μL. After 1 min of hot start at 80 °C and an initial denaturation for 2 min at 94 °C, the amplifications were done for 30 cycles of 40 s at 94 °C, 45 s at 64 °C and 50 s at 72 °C followed by a final 5 min extension at 72 °C. Inspection of DD subjects was carried out using oligonucleotides (5′-TGGGACCACAGCGCCCGCCACTAC-3′ and 5′-TCGCCAGCCCTCCCATGCCCATAA-3′) specific to amplify a 335 bp fragment of the insertion sequence. In brief, DNA was amplified for 30 cycles with denaturation at 92 °C for 40 s, annealing at 63 °C for 40 s, and extension at 72 °C for 40 s. All PCR products were separated by electrophoresis on 2% agarose gels containing ethidium bromide at 50 μg/ml, visualized by using CCD camera (Vilber Lourmat®, Eberhardzell, Deutschland), examined using the gel analysis software enclosed (Photo Capt 1D), and confirmed by visual inspection. The volunteers performed a maximal incremental test (IT) in cycle ergometer (Lode Excalibur, Netherlands) that consisted in 1-min warm-up at 0 watts followed by a pace of linear, incremental gradient in 15 watts every 3 minutes stage. The test was terminated due volitional exhaustion, incapacity of maintaining 60 rpm or if any cardiovascular-related risk was detected by cardiologist. In each stage of IT, a blood sample was withdrawn from earlobe to assess blood lactate concentration [Lac]. Measures of rate of perceived exertion (RPE) as well as ventilation (VE), oxygen uptake (VO2) and carbon dioxide production (VCO2) (Cortex Metamax, Leipzig, Germany) were performed at the end of each stage. The AT intensity was determined by assessing the ventilatory threshold (disproportional increase in the ventilatory equivalent for oxygen (VE/VO2) in relation to ventilatory equivalent for dioxide carbon (VE/VCO2) and the [Lac] turnpoint (workload corresponding to deflection point where the concentration of blood lactate increased disproportionally). The AT was considered the mean workload (watts) between ventilatory and lactate thresholds. Participants underwent to a constant load exercise test at intensity corresponding to 90% AT. During the 20 min exercise at 90% AT, expired gases were measured continuously and the RPE were asked at the 10th and at the end of exercise. This intensity was chosen due to benefits on blood pressure and cognitive performance observed in other studies in elderly individuals [11, 35]. During control session the volunteers remained in resting for 20 min instead of exercising. However, all measurements were the same as those performed during a constant load exercise session. In the incremental test on cycle ergometer, blood samples were drawn and expired gases were collected during the last 20 seconds of each incremental stage. The blood was collected in microcapillary heparinized tubes and deposited in microtubes containing 50 μL of sodium fluoride (1%) for [Lac] measurements through an electrochemical analyzer (YSI 2700, YSI, Inc., Yellow Springs, OH, USA). Expired gases were collected breath by breath (Cortex Metamax, Leipzig, Germany). For the 90% AT and CONT groups, blood collection occurred at the 10th and 20th minutes; however gas measurement occurred during the whole 20 min span. During the all sessions, the heart rate (HR) (Polar s810i®, Kempelle, Finland), a 15 point RPE scale and blood pressure (BP) (Microlife BP3AC1-1, Berneck, Switzerland) were determined. All resting and post-exercise BP measurements were made according to the procedures of JNC 7 on the participant's left arm while they were seated with their feet on the ground and arm resting comfortably at the level of the heart. Saliva was collected with a cotton swab (Salivette Sarstedt®, Nümbrecht, Germany) which was chewed for one minute. Then it was centrifuged according to the manufacture instructions and stored in -20°C for latter analysis. Dosage of nitrite (NO2 -) a NO metabolite [31–33] was done through the Griess' colorimetric method22. Briefly, N-(1-naphthyl)-ethylenediamine (NED) (Sigma®- Aldrich, St. Louis, USA) was prepared at 0.1%, whereas sulfanilamide (Sigma®) at 1%, both with phosphoric acid at 2.5% as diluent. Saliva (50 μL) and the Griess' reagent (50 μL) were mixed and placed in microplates. Absorbance was measured at 450 nm, in Versamax tunable® (Molecular Devices, Sunnyvale, California, USA), and sodium nitrite (NaNO2 -) was used as a standard. The data were analyzed in the Microplate® software. Saliva samples of only 28 (II/ID - n = 18, DD - n = 10) elderly women were processed due technical problem in collecting procedures of two volunteers that unable to run the analyses. An exploratory analysis was used to verify data normality and then descriptive statistics were performed. Data are presented as means (± standard deviation) for BP and means (± standard error of mean) for NO2 -. In addition, the delta variations (absolute variation from rest to post-exercise values) were calculated for comparison. Student's t-test and One-Way ANOVA for repeated measures were used to compare experimental sessions. The Tukey test was adopted as a post hoc to identify differences. The level of significance was set at p ≤ 0.05. The general characteristics of the volunteers and power output, aerobic fitness, heart rate, metabolic variables and RPE results of IT and 90%AT according to the genotypes of the investigated groups are presented on table 1. General characteristics and descriptive data of the studied groups of carriers or non-carriers of "I" allele of ACE gene (n = 30). I/D-I/I and D/D - angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) genotype; BMI - body mass index, SBP - systolic blood pressure, DBP - diastolic blood pressure, NO2 - - nitrite concentration, VO2peak: peak oxygen consumption reached in IT; VO2: oxygen consumption; HRpeak: peak heart rate reached in IT; HR: heart rate; [Lac] peak: peak lactate concentration reached in IT; [Lac]: lactate concentration; RPE peak: peak rate of perceived exertion reached in IT; RPE: rate of perceived exertion. The systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) are presented on table 2 as related to the studied ACE genotype groups. Since the data did not present any significant differences for the resting values (P > 0.05), the delta variation results (post-exercise values minus resting values) was also used to analyze variation among sessions. Blood Pressure results at pre and post-sessions as well as the post-exercise delta variation in relation to pre-exercise resting for the ID/II and DD groups. IT - Incremental Test session, 90%AT - 90% of anaerobic threshold session, CONT - control session. *p < 0.05 to rest in the same session; †p = 0.06 to rest in the same session; ‡p < 0.05 to Cont in the same group, #p < 0.05 to D/D in the situation. During the post-exercise recovery from IT the SBP values (table 2) were significantly lower than pre-exercise resting for the II/ID group both for the IT and 90%AT sessions. These variations when analyzed in delta were significantly lower (p < 0.05) to control session and to D/D groups in the same circumstances. The DBP and MAP on the control sessions present differences (p < 0.05) or at least a trend to it (p = 0.06) for the D/D group for DBP, from the rest to 1 h Mean recovery time. The delta variation of MAP presented significant negative values for the IT and 90%AT sessions being significant different (p < 0.05) to the control delta variation. The NO2 - (table 3) presented a significantly higher (P < 0.01) values immediately after experimental session at IT (IAE) and a trend to be higher (P = 0.08) at the 90%AT session too (Figure 1) in comparison to resting on the group that presented the I allele of ACE gene. Nitrite (NO2 -) concentrations in rest and immediately after experimental session in groups separated by ACE genotypes (ID/II - n = 18; DD - n = 10). IT - incremental test session, 90% AT - session at 90% of anaerobic threshold, CONT - control session, NO2 - - nitrite, IAE - immediately after experimental session. *p < 0.01 in relation to rest in the same session; † p = 0.08 in relation to rest in the same session. Mean (± SEM) delta variation of NO 2 - (nitrite) for IT (Incremental test), 90% AT (90% of anaerobic threshold) and CONT (control) sessions performed by ID/II (n = 18) and DD (n = 10) genotypes of ACE gene. * p < 0.05 in relation to D/D group on IT session. The delta variation of NO2 - presented significant differences (p < 0.05) with a higher NO2 - release after IT for the II/ID group when compared to DD group as shown in Figure 1. This study analyzed the BP responses after different exercise intensities and the NO2 - release as related to ACE genotypes in elderly women. The main findings were that both the exercise intensity and the presence of I allele of ACE gene may interfere on NO2 - liberation and post-exercise hypotension (PEH) occurrence in hypertensive elderly women. PEH occurred for the SBP among carriers of the I allele only. Also, those I carriers presented lowered post-exercise blood pressure levels in relation to the DD group. Despite the intensity of the exercise sessions, both intensities were effective for lowering the resting values of BP whereas these values increased in the control session, without exercise. The fact that only elderly women that had the I allele presented PEH of SBP after both exercise sessions (table 2) is probably due to the fact that D/D homozygote presents almost twice as higher the angiotensin converting enzyme activity when compared to the insertion homozygote [24, 25]. The role of ACE is mainly to convert angiotensin I to angiotensin II. This last action are related to an increased sympathetic tone induced arteriolar constriction and release of aldosterone from supra-renal cortex [22, 37, 38] which, in turn acts in kidneys, leading to potassium excretion, salt reabsorption and water retention. All those effects may elevate the BP, and in theory would interfere in the post-exercise BP achievement. Additionally, the fact that DD individuals present a higher circulating level of ACE may lead to a higher activity of ANG II that may further blind the vasodilation induced by bradykinin and thus influence the BP values . This mechanism causes a negative impairment on the endothelial dependent dilation, once it reduces the bioavailability of NO what, in turn, would be the reason of non significant post-exercise blood pressure reduction for the D/D group in any experimental session of the present study. The findings of PEH of SBP in present study, for the group that presented the I allele, were similar to others studies. Pescatello et al. (2007) analyzed the BP response after high and low calcium ingestion and after two sessions of low and moderate exercise intensity, and verified in the intensity corresponding to 60% VO2 max, the I allele carriers that had low calcium ingestion presented PEH of higher magnitude for the SBP. However, for the DBP no ACE genotypes interactions were found. For the present study, besides the main effect on SBP, the exercise also presented a protective effect on post-exercise DBP and MAP despite the genetic profile compared to control (table 2). Blanchard et al. (2006) verified for 14 h the ambulatory BP in adult men at the same intensities studied by Pescatello et al. (2007) and the results were contradictory to ours, presenting increases in the mean of 14 h in the SBP and DBP for all experimental sessions (60% VO2max, 40% do VO2max and control) despite the genetic combinations of RAS, however the exercise sessions had benefits when compared to control. Moreover, they found benefits of post exercise SBP 14 h after light exercise session (40% VO2max) with lower values for the DD homozygote but not for the I allele group. These distinct results may be either related to gender differences, because some studies suggest that associations between BP and genotype DD of ACE gene are only significant in men showing some effect on the BP [40, 41], or to age differences, because in present study the sample was composed by elderly people, that presents different endothelial responses when compared to youngsters . The BP increase in the control session can be partly explained from the waiting time (60 minutes) until the end of data collection procedures, that may have produced some degree of distress that may have contributed to the augmentation observed. Zimmerman & Frohlich related that acutely, stress episodes have been shown to increase blood pressure by increasing cardiac output and heart rate but without affecting peripheral resistance. In addition, even moderate stress has been found to increase levels of catecholamines, cortisol, vasopressin, endorphins and aldosterone, which may in part explain the increase in blood pressure. This may not have occurred in the experimental session (90% AT) due to the protective effect of exercise in situations of acute stress, as observed by MacDonald et al. . Furthermore, the increase in BP even with the non-significant of NO2 - (p > 0.05) augmentation in the DD group may be due to overlap of complementary input signals, with a probable prevalence of humoral and neural mechanisms in blood pressure control. Studies [45–47] have reported that individuals carrying the DD genotype have higher levels and activity of the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), which therefore could result in a greater increase in blood pressure by increasing the conversion of angiotensin I to II, causing vasoconstriction and also enhancing water and sodium reabsorption by the kidneys, increasing blood volume and blood pressure. The trends of a higher exercise intensity to be more effective on inducing PEH (table 2) are in accordance to former results in our laboratory, but on individuals with type-2 diabetes . The possible role of exercise intensity on the present study was demonstrated for the results of NO release as well (table 3). The NO2 - results of this study reinforce the important role of the NO on reducing BP, as already demonstrated by other authors [2, 42, 48]. Nevertheless, Lauer et al. (2008) showed that elderly, when compared to youngsters, has endothelial dysfunction being harder in increase plasmatic NO2 - in response to exercise. However, it was interesting to demonstrate in our research that in elderly population the ability to increase NO2 - may be intensity-dependent, and may be associated to genetic characteristics with the DD group not presenting significant changes in NO2 - and these findings together are the main contribution of the present study. Tanriverdi et al. (2005) verified that flux mediated dilation response in athletes presenting that II, was higher than ID and DD genotypes, being the homozygote D with the worst response to flux mediated dilation, what corroborates with our results (no PEH and lower NO2 - release for the DD group). The increased liberation of the NO2 - after exercise sessions may occurs due to shear stress in the blood vessels what stimulates the endothelial NO formation [50, 51]. The fact that NO2 - being significantly higher only after the IT session, on the I/D - I/I group, may also be due to exercise at higher intensity to promote a more significant shear stress , even for elderly that may be predispose to endothelial dysfunction and low NO release [42, 53, 54]. The study limitations were not measuring the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) what could represent the endothelial dependent activity and, consequently, a possible PEH. However, some authors [31–33] verified that the NO2 - in saliva predicts the plasmatic NO2 - concentration that is one of better eNOS activity indexes . Another limitation of this study was the lack of ACE measurement in the elderly participants; however some authors [24, 25] observed higher values of this activity with homozygote D when compared to other ACE genotypes. The II/ID individuals, but not the DD group, presented PEH for SBP in both experimental exercise sessions. However, both groups had a protective effect of aerobic exercise on preventing the increase of DBP and MAP during post-exercise period. The endothelial responses of NO to exercise were only presented by the ID/II ACE genotype group and, similarly to PEH, seemed to be influenced by exercise intensity. Therefore, the ACE genotype seems exert a role in the NO release and BP response during post-exercise recovery in elderly women. Any extrapolation of these results to other gender or age strata requires caution. and Herbert G Simões contributed equally to this work. nitric oxide (NO), blood pressure (BP), systemic arterial hypertension (SAH), post-exercise hypotension (PEH), insertion/deletion (I/D), angiotensin II (ANG II), renin-angiotensin system (RAS), nitrite (NO2 -), resting before exercise (or control) in all testing days (PRE), immediately after exercise (IAE), blood lactate concentration ([Lac]), maximal incremental test (IT), rate of perceived exertion (RPE), ventilation (VE), oxygen uptake (VO2), carbon dioxide production (VCO2), ventilatory equivalent for oxygen (VE/VO2), dioxide carbon (VE/VCO2). Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico (CNPq) and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES). HAPS, SRM, CBS, CSGC and HGS participated in the design of the study. HAPS, SRM, CBS, WBN and VNO performed the data collection. HAPS, SRM performed the statistical analysis. HAPS, SRM, MMS, RYA, FSE, OTN and HGS wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

2019-04-25T16:36:41Z

https://bmccardiovascdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2261-11-71

I was lying in bed this morning sometime between 6am and 6.20, when a thought came to my mind. How can I be so sure of the time, I hear you ask: well, the clock had struck six and the alarm at 6.20 had not yet gone off so I can reasonably say that this was the time the thought struck me. I was reflecting on a conversation I recently had with a young Polish lady who lives in Magherafelt. Her name is Ola and Ola made the point that in Poland the seasons are well defined, there is a clear difference between winter, spring, summer and autumn. From here I moved to thinking about the structure of our year as Catholics and how the structure of the year affects our lives. We are now, the week after Easter Sunday, when you are reading this, in the season of Eastertide, having just left the season of Lent. You see, if you have structure in your life, as all the modern psychologists make a big deal about, as if no one ever knew it before them, the structure helps give your life meaning. in a County Mayo field. The Irish farmer knows what to do in each season of the year; he has certain tasks to do in winter, then he does others in spring when the ground begins to dry; in the summer, if we have one, he brings in the silage and in the autumn he harvests what he has sown. This yearly cycle gives order and meaning to an agricultural existence and experience tells the farmer that there are tasks best suited for each season. The Church year is divided into seasons as well. We begin with Advent, the time of waiting for the birth of the Lord. Then we have Christmastide, and after Christmastide we move into Ordinary Time. Sometime in February we enter the season of Lent, which we have just come out of and then we move into the current season, Eastertide which stretches right up to Pentecost before we move again into Ordinary Time, lasting to the Feast of Christ the King, the last Sunday of the Church year. What is all this about; why does the Church bother with all the seasons malarkey? For the same reason as the farmer has his seasons: at certain times of the year the Church wants us to reflect on particular aspects of the life of Jesus. At the moment we are supposed to be thinking about the Resurrection, which is the whole foundation of our faith. During Christmas time we are given the chance to reflect about what the coming of the baby Jesus means in our life. In life too there are seasons. At the moment the people of South Korea are having a season of sorrow. Imagine receiving text messages from your daughter as she is caught below deck in a sinking ship: there could be nothing in this world worse than that. Three hundred children taken out of any society at one go would have a devastating effect. God knows how the people of their home town shall ever get over it. For these people, grieving the loss of their children, the Passion of Jesus has real resonance this year. Looking into the abyss of years of pain and sorrow at the loss of whole families, they must feel that their season of sorrow shall never end. Then in life we have the seasons of joy. On Easter Monday I am going to a wedding when two young people shall start out on the journey of life together as man and wife. The future looks bright with the hope of children and watching them grow up and all that goes with married life. You couldn’t help but wish them all the best. Life is a wonderful journey. The older we become the more we should reflect on life; young people are too busy living it to be bothered with reflection, they have families to rear and careers to pursue, as well as houses to maintain. The very word ‘journey’ itself tells you that there is something special about life. For the modern secular society life is not a journey because in a secular society the human person has no innate dignity. For the secularist the human is simply another animal to be used to produce something; Sunday opening makes perfect sense when you are a secularist, it is just another day to make money. Secular society is what has taken away the lunch break and the half day opening. Do you remember the half day opening, the day when shops in a village took a half day off so that the shopkeeper could attend to things other than his business? In Coalisland, Wednesday was the half day while Stewartstown, three mile away, took Thursday as the half day. Shops closed for lunch, people slowed down and rested, old Mr X was entitled to have his dinner and snooze. If man is only an animal you can work him seven days a week, 365 days a year, the way you would work a horse. When you read this something inside of you recoils at the idea of it. Have you ever thought what produces this reaction? It is the fact that deep inside you know that men and women are much more than animals and have a dignity that no animal can ever aspire too. Even the ancient Jews knew this, when they were writing down their creation stories over a thousand years before the birth of Christ. They knew life was a journey, a succession of seasons and most of all they knew there was something very special about mankind; we were above the animals and made for a totally different destiny. There is something very special about the ‘week’ when you think about it. A day is the length of time that it takes the earth to spin once on its axis; the month is dictated to us by the moon and a year measures one full orbit of the earth around the sun. All these measurements come to us from nature; only the week has been given to us by God; six days shall we work and on the seventh we shall rest. We are not animals, we are more than animals, we were made in God’s image and we have a destiny; even the ancients knew this. When you are preparing for a journey, especially a long journey which is going to take a considerable amount of time, the first thing you have to do is figure out where you are going to rest. I was talking to my neighbour last week and he was telling me that he was heading down to Cork. “Will you stop at all,” says I. “Ah, yes, we have a couple of places where we stop off for something to eat and to stretch the legs,” said the neighbour. My neighbour, wise man that he is, knew that he needed to rest on his journey and he also knew that he needed food for his journey. As a Catholic did you ever stop to think what is the food that God gives us for the journey through life, the food that will sustain us even in the season of sorrow, such as those families in Korea are going through, or the food which makes the season of joy so special, as happens at a wedding. The secular world is taking so much away from us and what is sad is that we are letting it. But deep inside we all know that we are not just animals, chattels of rich men who want to use us only as units of production. When you begin to think about it, describing life as a journey has some other implications. What separates a journey from a Sunday afternoon spin in the car? When you go out for a spin you have no destination in mind; you are aimlessly driving around looking to see what the neighbours a bit further afield are doing to their houses and gardens. “Oh, I see so and so has built a new conservatory at the side of the house. I didn’t hear about that, I’ll have to tell Mary when I get home about this,” is the type of conversation that you hear when you are out for a spin. A journey is a different kettle of fish altogether, it has a definite starting point and a definite end; you set off from A and head towards B. My neighbour left Clady and pointed his car towards Cork, and every turn he took on the road was taken in order to bring him nearer to his destination. When we speak of life as a journey, we must have a definite starting point and a definite destination in mind. The starting point is obviously birth: figure out the destination for yourself. Perhaps you want to be a millionaire, but where do you go when you have the first million made? Or maybe you want to be a film star, but even John Wayne must have gotten used to seeing his face on the big screen. If you have no destination in mind then you are not on a journey, you are out for a Sunday afternoon spin. God, the promise of heaven and the resurrection that we celebrate this week, all give our life a definite end and destination. That is why the seasons of the Church year, the feasts and Sunday’s are so important; these are the times when we are supposed to think about what is going on in life. If you have not thought about death and resurrection, about the horrors of life as shown in Korea and God’s answer to these issues, then you have missed the whole purpose of Easter, and it has probably been no more than a holiday to you; a rest for a workhorse. Here we are seeing the real difference between those who embrace the secular life and the life of the believer. For the secularist, seasons are times only to take rest from work in order to increase productivity in the next season; days and weeks are the aimless passing of time, ever leading towards oblivion. For the Christian, a season is a time to reflect on something very important and to try to enter into the experience of that season. For example, during Holy Week, which we have just left, it is natural that we think of the passion of Christ and what he went through as he approached Good Friday. We should also have applied this to our own lives and reflected what it meant for the poor people of Korea who are mourning the death of so many children. The passion of the Lord has a lot to say to us about those times in our own lives when we are suffering and anxious, and it is a fool who never reflects upon these things. And now we are into what the Church calls the Octave of Easter. This is because the resurrection is such a huge feast that one day is not enough for it; we need eight days to celebrate the rising of Jesus from the dead! Did you know that technically speaking, every Sunday is a feast of the resurrection? The resurrection is so important in the life of the Church that it has a feast every week! Because, like my neighbour who heads out to Cork, the resurrection is a very human and real part of our final destination; it is the promise that God makes to his people. In the final analysis life without the resurrection has no meaning. The promise that after this life there is another life where we shall have our bodies, be together with God and those we love, enables us in some small way to make sense of the world around us. It is the destination on a sometimes horrible journey, as the people of Korea know, and it is also the destination of a beautiful joyful journey, as my friend who got married last week knows. The seasons of the Church year offer us hope and should give us the courage to go on in life, living always in anticipation of better days to come. They are beacons in an otherwise mundane life. The poor old secularist has Sunday as a day of rest for a workhorse, a mindless producer with no real end except oblivion. He will tell you that no God could allow all this badness to happen. Jesus knew a thing or two about badness, betrayal, pain and suffering; and so did his mother Mary. But he kept going towards his destination and in the end the Father had a wee surprise for us all. I’m still a big child at heart. I think I’ll follow the God of surprises and leave the know-all secularist to be a workhorse; it will pay better dividends in the end! Did you ever stop to think about the money that businesses spend on advertising logos? Everyone knows the Niké tick, the Jaguar car badge and the Coke Cola sign with the long leg of the first ‘C’ running underneath the words. Even religions have their symbols; Buddhism is symbolized by a serene wee man sitting meditating in the lotus position. Judaism has the ‘Star of David’ and Islam has the Star and Crescent. What have we got, what is the great symbol of our faith? It’s a dead man hanging on a cross, nails through his hands and feet and a crown of thorns on his head. If there is one thing you can say about the Catholic Church, it is that it does not run away from the pain of the world; it holds sorrow and pain right up in front of us, reminding us that this world is full of trouble and strife but that somewhere in the middle of all this God is with us. I mention this because by now we are right into the heart of Holy Week, the week leading up to the greatest feast of the church, Easter Sunday. Easter Sunday is the day that promises us that if we go through the cross holding on tight to God we will always come out the other side. It is the great hope to the Catholic that somehow this world does not win, even though the evil and badness of the world always appears to be on top. We are back to that favourite topic of mine, the poor old atheist, the man who when they put him in the coffin, is all dressed up with nowhere to go! What is his answer to pain, what is his answer to suffering and grief? Last week I went to see a film called Noah. We all know the story; Noah is told by God to build an ark and take in two of all kinds of animals because there is going to be a flood which will wipe out all life. There are some good actors in the film: Russell Crowe plays the lead, Anthony Hopkins plays the part of Noah’s grandfather, Methuselah, who we are told in the Bible lived to the ripe old age of 969. Emma Watson, who was the young female star of the Harry Potter movies, stole the show and let everybody see that she is an actress of some stature. Most of the religious critics have complained that the film plays fast and loose with the Genesis account, adding all sorts of distracting and fantastic elements to the well-known story. In the midst of all of this, and no doubt in part because of it, “Noah” took in $44 million on its opening weekend. As you could guess from their names Aronofsky and Handel are both Jewish and to understand the film you need to know a little more than the biblical account of the flood. In the Jewish faith there is a whole host of extra stories and incidents that we don’t have in our Christian tradition. These stories and traditions fill out the basic story the we get in the Book of Genesis. So what is the film really about? Like all good films the story is one of good and evil. Evil in this case is remarkably modern and would go down well with the Green Movement. Man has destroyed the world; he has turned it into an industrial wasteland. There is even one scene, when the men are trying to storm the ark, where they are using modern sheets of tin as cover. Noah is protected by ‘Watchers,’ huge stone men who are really benign angels who looked after good people after the fall of Adam. They were not supposed to do this and for their sin God encased them in bodies of stone. If you ask me, they sound remarkably like our guardian angels that we all pray to every morning. Noah is not sure what God wants of him. He obeys God to the best of his ability and on one of the main themes of the film he gets the whole thing wrong. But more on that later. The world has become a wasteland and Noah is living on what he can scrape from this barren earth. Eventually he sets out on a journey, in obedience to God’s will as he sees it, and goes to visit his old grandfather Methuselah. Methuselah gives him a seed, the last seed from the Garden of Eden, and Noah heads off to find what God wants of him. Eventually Noah realizes that God wants him to build an ark but Noah lives in a treeless barren wasteland where there are no weeds let alone timber. In a beautiful scene he plants the seed and instantly a whole wonderful forest grows and flourishes. Well, not quite. The leader of mankind is Samyaza, an arrogant git who clearly and openly defies God, saying that mankind has a right to use the world and people in any way it wants, since man was given dominion over the world by God. The week we are in, Holy Week, is God’s answer to Samyaza’s arrogance. Man is a mess and needs God’s help to cope with the pressures of life around him. But the film reveals a few home truths about mankind that some of us don’t like to face: there is good and bad in all of us—we can use good ideas to hide our selfish desires—the use of force, even by good men, to get their own way. There are also some very revealing insights which bring us right up to Holy Week. The serpent was the animal used by the devil to tempt Adam and Eve. But even the serpents or snakes came into the ark. It was as if God had forgiven them. This scene of the snakes entering the ark, reminded me of the fact that Jesus gave Judas Holy Communion at the first Mass on Holy Thursday night, before Judas betrayed him. That is something we seldom think about when deciding to judge people. There are some beautiful tender scenes in the film. The evil men come and kill the Watchers but then we see that the Watchers are really angels and as soon as they die, beams of light leave this world and go to heaven. It is as if their task on earth is complete. Then there is the big mistake that Noah makes. Noah decides that it is God’s will that mankind should die out. When the character played by Emma Watson becomes pregnant, Noah decides that he has to kill the child as soon as it is born. I won’t tell you what happened but no pro abortionist could watch the climax of this scene and still hold with abortion. As Noah speaks the film shows the Big Bang, the evolution of the universe, the forming of the earth and the evolution of man. It is so well done and shows in a clear way that the story of Genesis is not meant to be taken literally but makes perfect sense when seen for what it is, a story by simple people to explain how the world came to be. Noah is supposedly a film about something that happened thousands of years ago but it is the most modern and up to date film you shall ever see. It is the eternal story of man’s struggle with his own arrogance and his defiance of God. There are always people who believe we can do what we want and there are always those who hold that God is God and that we are subject to his laws. You could change the scenery to modern day New York or London or anywhere. You could change the characters with ease and you could write the story about any major city in Europe. The story of Easter is something similar. Jesus came and he walked among men and they didn’t like it. The vested interests, the Pharisees and the Chief Priests, decided that it was better for one man to die than for the whole Jewish nation to be destroyed. But what kind of a reception would Jesus get today? How long do you think it would be before the vested interests in oil, food production and the stock market would want rid of him? Perhaps he may even tell us to turn the other cheek and let the Orangemen march where they want. Or perhaps he might even ask us to give 10% of our income to the poor (after tax, mind you) or drive a smaller car so that you could throw a few quid to Trocaire. Jesus got three years to preach in Roman times. He mightn’t get three months now. And there is a bit inside all of us that would want to stone him. That is the great thing about the film Noah; it shows each one of us that we are not simply good or bad, but that we are a mixture of each. The film is meant to leave you feeling uncomfortable and so it does. The story of Holy Week is the same; which one of us can’t identify with the person of Peter who denies Jesus three times, or the other apostles who run away at the first sign of trouble. For all his faults, Noah was a good man, while poor old Samyaza died in his arrogance, cursing God and man. Samyaza is the man who rejects God and decides that he can do what he wants. He is master of his destiny and for a long time he appears to the lord of all he surveys. But in the end his life is just a shallow charade, an image of a life, not a real life at all. Noah, he is more like your average person, getting it right some of the time but more often than not, making a mess of things. He is like all of us who are parents; we are not quite sure what we doing when we are trying to raise these children but we are doing the best we can and we hope that it all turns out right in the end. Aronofsky and Handel confront us with that part of our life that most of us want to hide from, our humanity. Noah is a brilliant film and the big screen production adds to the depth of the story. If you are looking for the story you read in the Bible you won’t find it here, but you will find a reflection of yourself and every man. All great stories reflect the battle of good and evil that goes on inside every person on this earth. This week’s story, the story of Holy Week, is the greatest of them all. Evil appears to win, even to the extent of killing the Son of God. But God has one last trick up his sleeve. It is called Easter Sunday morning. And thank God for it, for without Easter Sunday we would all have no hope. We have moved into April, the fourth month of the year already. Time goes faster as you get older. Something I seldom stop to think about is that every day that goes by is a day nearer to the ‘big meeting day’ of me and God. All these days are passing by, the clock is ticking down and I am not aware of it. Hmnn, so what went on in the world this week of note? Something struck me very forcefully and I think it is the first time we have really seen evidence of it: the emergence of a new superpower. The people of a superpower come to believe that the whole world revolves around them. Think back fifty years when we still had the last vestiges of the British Empire and the attitude of the Englishman to everyone around him. He was superior in his mind and he thought that all races were beneath him. Then we had the loud mouthed Yanks that we all loved to hate. One of the big problems of the Catholic Church that I experienced in the US for the short time I lived there was that some Americans thought that Rome should turn to them to ask what the Church believed. This attitude was particularly evident in American nuns. Now, in this past couple of weeks, we have seen the emergence of the arrogant Chinese person, who believes that a horrible plane tragedy should not happen to them. They refuse to believe their people are dead, they shout about how everyone lies to them and they can’t accept that Malaysia may have simply been out of their depth and were doing the best they could. For the next 100 years we are going to have to put up with a new arrogant race before they fade away and another country takes their lace. It is just the nature of being a superpower. At least Ireland will never become a superpower, thank God. We all witness the arrogance of the Free State elite when they are broke and begging; can you imagine what they would be like if they actually did have a few bob? Finally a few cracks are beginning to show in the cosy little mob in Dublin 4; the Garda commissioner has had to resign. Oops, sorry, the Garda commissioner is going to spend more time with his family. Families are a handy thing. A politician can ignore it while he is building his career and when his career begins to backslide he can decide to make amends and spend some time with his loved ones. The idea that his family should have been his priority all along never seems to dawn on politicians. Back to the Garda commissioner; he is out of a job and sitting at home reading the papers. “The commissioner had been under severe pressure for the past two months since his appearance at the Public Accounts Committee. At the committee meeting, he had described as ‘disgusting’ the actions of garda whistleblowers in downloading and disseminating personal and sensitive data from the garda's PULSE computer system. There had been ongoing calls for Mr Callinan to withdraw that remark. It appears that if you were ‘in the know’ down there you could get your penalty points dropped. I have no idea whether or not this was done in genuine cases where a degree of latitude would be appropriate or if it was another example of Free State cronyism, but the fact that it was not open and above board was the main issue. Alan Shatter is entitled to his opinion about the Garda, but there are many who would disagree with his assessment. I wonder how many Northerners had their penalty points taken off. But the day after Callinan resigned the really big news came out: the Garda had been illegally taping telephone conversations between prisoners and solicitors for years. The sequence of events is brilliant. Callinan had shown no hint of resigning and was insisting that he would not resign. Then Enda the Red sent a senior civil servant, no less than the Secretary General of the Department of Justice, to visit Callinan late at night but we are not told what he said. Whatever Callinan heard from the civil servant, he decided to resign the next morning. That afternoon the news about the recording of conversations broke. Imagine a country where the legal process is held in such contempt by the very people who are supposed to be upholding the law. Suspect/solicitor confidentiality is one of the cornerstones of any legal system but the Garda admit to having a system in place for recording their conversations. The bit that annoys me is that Shatter and Co speak the same dribble that we used to hear Unionists at during the troubles; the police can do no wrong and anyone who calls their behaviour into question is a subversive. The experience of the people of Ireland, north and south, is that police are as liable to corruption and wrong doing as any other section of the community and they need to be held closely to account. This does not mean that we believe all police are bad but their position and the inability of anyone to hold them to account can lead to abuses of their position. Human frailty hits every sector of life. Did you ever wonder what the real problem is with the Free State? It is like a spoilt child that never seems to have grown up. Perhaps it suffers from some sort of post imperial syndrome that prevents it from being able to function properly as a society. If you look at Africa and all the corruption in the post British colonial countries, where democracy has never really been able to gain a foothold, you see a lot of similarities with the Free State: corruption, a dominant caste, super rich and super poor, huge regional inequality, foreign companies taking all the natural resources, cronyism between the bankers, developers and the politicians and most of all, when all goes wrong, they run begging to their old masters. It appears to me that a democracy has to grow up and mature. The Free State is at that rebellious stage where they want to leave home but can’t afford too so they spend their time causing problems in the home (the EU) by overspending and using the family credit card or good name. At that age it is everybody’s fault bar theirs, they don’t believe in God and all respect for people and their property is gone. “There has been a significant increase in the number of kidnappings, burglaries and robberies over the five years between 2008 and 2012, according to figures published by the CSO today. Ireland is becoming very modern, very up to date; but it is also becoming very divided between the rich and the poor. The rich live a life where all these things, Garda recording telephone conversations and most of the crime, does not affect them. They live far away from where these events take place; Dublin 4 wouldn’t have that many burglaries. “The Liffey,” says the other lady. The institute in question is St Columcille Institute of Christendom College, USA. The aim of the college is to educate the Catholic leaders of tomorrow. It is good to see Ireland and its faith held in such high esteem. America would need some good Catholic leaders. I wonder if Obama is thinking of turning. Well, at least he went to visit the Pope; you never know. The Church’s communiqué after the meeting was slightly different from that of the media. "In the context of bilateral relations and cooperation between Church and State, there was a discussion on questions of particular relevance for the Church in that country, such as the exercise of the rights to religious freedom, life and conscientious objection, as well as the issue of immigration reform," the communiqué stated. The big point for discussion is that nurses and doctors should be able to refuse to do an abortion on grounds of religious belief; Obama’s new health bill in America denies them that right. The problem here is that when we say a person cannot object on religious ground then we are making human law more important than God’s law. That is never the case! Archbishop Romero knew this. He died for it and soon he is to be made a saint. He was shot dead on March 24th 1980 because he believed that God’s law came before man’s law. Humans are always trying to make themselves greater than God. But I got a surprise on Saturday morning. At midnight on Friday last homosexual marriage became legal in England and a host of marriages took place during the night to celebrate this great event. I got up Saturday morning hoping to see some news about the missing plane and all there was on the headlines was a group of men getting married. Let’s be clear, if the state wishes to change the law and redefine marriage from being between a man and a woman to simply being between two people, then fair play to it; the state can do that if it wants. But what was the surprise I got on Saturday morning? Well, I went to Mass in Magherafelt and to my surprise God was still God; he had not gone away, you know. The secularist never seem to learn this. From the very beginning of the Catholic faith the world has tried to destroy it: the Jewish authorities tried to kill Jesus but he rose again, the Roman Empire tried to suppress the faith and in the end had to embrace it, Henry VIII tortured and killed anyone who wouldn’t follow his new faith but the Catholic Church is still strong in England while history now sees Henry as a figure of scorn. The English brought in the penal laws in Ireland and the French made their country the first totally secular state in the world. In both countries the Catholic faith is still strong. So here I am sitting in the chapel with an image in my head of four men standing smiling and having photographs taken as they all hold flowers; who was marrying whom I don’t know. In front of me was an altar and on that altar was the Holy Sacraments and in a moment of clarity it all became clear to me. Let man’s law be man’s law. If the state legalises homosexual marriage then so be it. They have done worse, they have legalised the killing of the unborn and still God is God. President Obama and his office shall pass away; secularism shall come to an end, the human race shall eventually die out and even this world will pass away, and still God will be God. Only then will we see and fully understand the foolishness of man!

2019-04-22T22:47:59Z

http://www.laywhispers.com/bearing-witness/archives/05-2014

Footage of postwar Berlin showing Wilhelmstraße, Berliner Stadtschloss, Friedrich der Große, Berliner Dom, Brandenburger Tor, Funkturm Olympiastadion and Märzfeld. From 1837 two buildings together housed the Prussian Interior Ministry, which Hermann Goering assumed control of in 1933. Through it he controlled the Prussian police force numbering 50,000 'auxiliary policemen', mostly recruited form the SA and ϟϟ and used to persecute opponents. On November 1, 1934 it was merged with the Reich Interior Ministry headed by Wilhelm Frick who was responsible for drafting many of the "Gleichschaltung" laws that consolidated the Nazi regime and was instrumental in passing laws against Jews such as the notorious Nuremberg Laws, in September 1935. He was succeeded in the post in 1943 by Himmler. Annex of the former Reich Ministry of the Interior at Dorotheenstraße No. 93, later used by the GDR Ministry of Justice and now by the Bundestag. The building was constructed from 1935 to 1937 to a design by Konrad Nonn who had been a NS party member and activist of the Kampfbund Deutscher Architekten und Ingenieure. It was one of the first government buildings erected by the Nazis. [Chancellor Konrad] Adenauer's chief personal aide is Dr. Hans Globke, State Secretary of the Bonn Chancellery. Though not a member of the Nazi Party, he was a high official of the Nazi Interior Ministry and co-author of a legal interpretation of the 1935 Nuremberg racial laws. Those laws, defining a Jew as anyone with a Jewish grandparent, laid the legal basis for the persecution of all Jews in Germany. Wilhelmstrasse, site of the Third Reich's most important ministries and embassies. Apart from the Air Ministry, all the major public buildings along the Wilhelmstrasse were destroyed by Allied bombing during 1944 and early 1945. The Wilhelmstrasse as far south as the Zimmerstrasse was in the Soviet Zone of occupation, and apart from clearing the rubble from the street little was done to reconstruct the area until the founding of the DDR in 1949. The communist DDR regime regarded the former government precinct as a relic of Prussian and Nazi militarism and imperialism, and had all the ruins of the government buildings demolished in the early 1950s. In the late 1950s there were almost no buildings at all along the Wilhelmstrasse from Unter den Linden to the Leipziger Strasse. In the 1980s, apartment blocks were built along this section of the street. Site of the former headquarters of the Reich Colonial office, set up to reclaim the colonies lost through the treaty of Versailles. Wilhelmstrae 64 then and in 2007. Built by Carl Vohl in 1903, the building used to be the liaison office of the Prussian king and the kaiser to the government, housing the Privy Civil Cabinet of the Prussian king and German Emperor. During the Weimar Republic the building served as part of the Prussian Ministry of State. Between 1922 to 1932 Prussian Minister President Otto Braun of the Social Democrat Party lived and worked here. From 1932 to 1933 the president of the Prussian Council of State (and future West German chancellor) Konrad Adenauer, used this as his apartment whilst serving as a Centre Party politician and chief mayor of Cologne. Upon taking power, this is where Hitler put Ribbentrop's office and the Nazis' liaison office, both under the authority of deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess who was made responsible for ensuring that all laws, statutes, regulations, promotions and so forth conformed to National Socialist ideology. After his mysterious flight t0 Scotland in 1941, Martin Bormann took over. After the war the building's damage was repaired and the building was used as a student residence. Until 1970 the East German State Secretariat for Professional Schools was based here, followed by the East German state publishing house until the demise of the DDR in 1990. It now serves as the Berlin office of the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection. Under the Nazis the Prussian Ministry of Justice was merged with the Reich Ministry of Justice and headed by Franz Gürtner who was responsible for coordinating jurisprudence in the Third Reich. Detesting the cruel ways of the Gestapo and SA in dealing with prisoners of war, he protested unsuccessfully to Hitler, nevertheless staying on in the cabinet, hoping to reform the establishment from within. Instead, he found himself providing official sanction and legal grounds for a series of criminal actions under the Hitler administration. His successor, Otto Thierack, forwent any pretence of legality and simply began handing undesirable groups over to the ϟϟ having come to an understanding with Heinrich Himmler that certain categories of prisoners were to be, to use their words, "annihilated through work". Lengthy paperwork involved in clemency proceedings for those sentenced to death was greatly shortened and, at his personal instigation, the execution shed at Plötzensee Prison in Berlin was outfitted with eight iron hooks in December 1942 so that several people could be put to death at once by hanging. At the mass executions beginning on 7 September 1943, it also happened that some prisoners were hanged "by mistake". Thierack simply covered up these mistakes and demanded that the hangings continue. The building was demolished in 1950 after having been badly damaged during the war, and today the site serves as the embassy of Afghanistan. The Reich Ministry of Science and Public Education in July, 1943 and the site today. It was headed by Bernhard Rust who had tried to bring the school system into line with Nazi ideology whilst discharging those regarded as politically or racially "undesirable" from scientific and research work. The building received minimal damage during the war and in August 1945, some of its rooms were set aside for the German Central Authority for Public Education. In October 1949 upon the official creation of the DDR, this became the East German Ministry of Public Education. From 1963 until 1989 the ministry was headed by the wife of East Germany's last Head of State, Margot Honecker. From 1970 until the dissolution of East Germany in 1990 it housed the East German Academy of Educational Science. Today it serves as offices for members of the Bundestag. [t]he most interesting example of Berlin‟s impassive popular mood was the attitude toward the tightly closed British Embassy which is just around the corner from the Adlon. There it stands, with gilded lions and unicorns upon its portals. I had rather expected that this diplomatic seat of the arch-enemy would attract some attention, especially on a Sunday, when this part of town was thronged with outside visitors. Yet, though I watched closely for some time, I never saw a soul give the building more than a passing glance, much less point to it or demonstrate in any way. Originally this was the site of a palace built in 1735 and obtained by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and had been the residence of the Hohenzollern princes until the revolution in 1918. The Reich Ministry for Food and Agriculture (RMEL) from 1919 to 1945. It had been bombed during the war, after which the office became the Federal Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Forests under the communist authorities. It was finally demolished in 1962 and remained vacant until the mid 1980s when the East Germans began building high-rise apartment blocks. Standing among the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin, designed by architect Peter Eisenman and engineers Buro Happold and consisting of a 19,000 square metre site covered with 2,711 stelae arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field. Incredibly, the company employed to produce anti-graffiti coating for the blocks was Degussa, a big German chemical company, which once owned Degesch- the firm that produced the Zyklon B used to gas Jews in concentration camps. My students in 2016 standing among the stelae which vary in height from eight feet to just under sixteen feet and three feet wide, supposedly designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere; a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human reason. A 2005 copy of the Foundation for the Memorial's official English tourist pamphlet, however, states that the design represents a radical approach to the traditional concept of a memorial, partly because Eisenman did not use any symbolism. An attached underground "Place of Information" holds the names of all known Jewish Holocaust victims, obtained from the Israeli museum Yad Vashem. They are found underground- not marked prominently, not easy to find, and not integral to the display. it would be impossible to know what the structure is meant to commemorate; there’s nothing about these concrete slabs that signifies any of the words of the title, except, perhaps, “memorial”—insofar as some of them, depending on their height, may resemble either headstones or sarcophagi. So it’s something to do with death. And as for the title itself—which murdered Jews? When? Where? Does the list include Rosa Luxemburg, who was killed in Berlin by rightist thugs in 1919, or the foreign minister Walther Rathenau, also killed here by rightist thugs, in 1922? Or Isaac Babel and Osip Mandelstam, who died in Soviet captivity? Or, pardon my sarcasm, Claude Lanzmann’s uncle, who was killed in Paris by his jealous mistress? Easyjet was forced to apologise after fashion photographs shot at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin were published in its in-flight magazine. In the pictures, models pose in designer clothes among the concrete blocks of the "Field of Stelae". The budget airline said it was unaware of the images until they appeared in the magazine, which is published by a company called INK whose relationship with Easyjet was under review. Men cruising men. At the Berlin Holocaust Memorial. Note the man bottom left who stripped off. Despite, this, Grindr's CEO Joel Simkhai has declared himself to be "deeply moved" by how app members "take part in the memory of the holocaust" The Foreign Office was [...] not a hoard of resistance. It was also no retreat of old-ministerial bureaucrats, who, under a bad government, would not abandon their country and simply continue their ministry. There was also no targeted infiltration by national socialists, which was not necessary at all. What was more characteristic of AA was the "self-equalisation. An antidemocratic and an anti-Semitic consensus prevailed among the officials in the Wilhelmstrasse and the Hitler government. The most aristocratic diplomats represented the traditional upper-class anti-Semitism, which was less radical than the genocidal anti-Semitism of the national socialists. But both wanted to overcome the "plague of peace" of Versailles and make Germany a great power again. There were only differences in the assessment of the risk of war. Nothing is left of it today, but the Reich Aviation Ministry can be seen in the background. In 1939 the office issued a formal statement about the so-called Jewish question as a factor of foreign policy. Among other things, "[t]he realisation that Judaism in the world will always be the implacable opponent of the Third Reich forces the decision to prevent any strengthening of the Jewish position. A Jewish state [ie: British Palestine] would, however, bring a legal system of international law to world Jewry. " The research results published in October 2010 by the independent historian commission, convened by the then Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer in 2005, show that "after the attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941, the Foreign Office took the initiative to solve the 'Jewish question' at European level. Eckart Conze (historian and spokesman of the commission) said in a 2010 interview that the Foreign Office "was actively involved in all measures of persecution, deprivation, expulsion and extermination of the Jews from the beginning... The target 'final solution' was already very early recognisable." After the end of the Second World War, a number of leading members of the Office in the so-called Wilhelmstraßen process. Then and now as seen from Voßstraße. It had been built in 1884-86 by Boeckmann architects as a residential building. In 1925 the house was extended and fitted to the neighbouring German Railway Company. Today it is the only house of the old Voßstraße still existing. With the founding of the Ministry of Aviation on May 5, 1933, the Reichsverkehrsministerium lost the jurisdiction over the Department of Aviation. The Department of Motor Transport and Shipping was divided into two separate departments as Erich Klausener became head of the shipping division. After Klausener's assassination during the so-called Röhm-Putsch on June 30, 1934, the division received a new department head with Max Waldeck at the beginning of 1935. In the same year, the two railway divisions were merged after the head of the administrative department had retired. As of March 20, 1935, the Reichsverkehrsminister (Minister of Transport and Transport) was named "The Reich and Prussian Transport Minister" after the corresponding tasks had been taken over from the Prussian Ministry of Transport. Added to this were other transport tasks from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Agriculture. The Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (Reichsbahn Company) was placed under the Act for the Reorganisation of the Reichsbank and the German Reichsbahn Act (Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft) on 30 January 1937, and received the name "Deutsche Reichsbahn". The Reichsbahn committees were taken over to the ministry as department head in the rank of ministerial directors. Until the end of the Second World War the structure changed only insignificantly. In the operational and construction department E II was the unit 21 "mass transport", which from 1940 was responsible for the organization and timetable of the special trains for the deportation of Jews from Germany ordered by the ϟϟ. This meant that the Reichsverkehrsministerium was responsible for a substantial part of the Holocaust. At the western entrance to the subway station "Kaiserhof" at Berlin, Wilhelmplatz (today station "Mohrenstraße", line U2); built 1908 after a design by Alfred Grenander, destroyed in 1936. For some years a regular daily meeting had taken place in the Propaganda Ministry on the Wilhelmplatz in Berlin, attended by Goebbels, senior officials of the RMVP and liaison and media staff from other ministries, the Party Chancellery and the Wehrmacht. These press conferences would normally begin at 11.am (although the time could vary from 10.00 am to noon) and lasted for half an hour to forty-five minutes. Goebbels dominated proceedings and the only other regular speaker was the OKW liaison officer who would give a brief account of developments at the front(s). The ministerial conference was very much a platform for Goebbels to perform. The Minister would use the 'conference’ to provide guidelines and detailed instructions for the implementation of German propaganda. It was not intended to offer a dialogue with journalists. As Goebbels widened the scope of his brief during the war the conference expanded from twenty in attendance gradually increasing after the invasion of Russia to fifty or sixty persons. Wilhelmplatz was built over during the German Democratic Republic era. The Czech Embassy is visible in the foreground of the picture whilst the historic statues have since been reinstated. A member of the Hitlerjugend on a street sign where Wilhelmstrasse intersects with Wilhelmplatz, and as it appeared after the war. Directly across the street is this memorial to Georg Elser, who had concealed a time bomb in the Bürgerbräukeller, set to go off during Hitler's speech on 8 November. The bomb exploded, killing seven people and injuring sixty-three, but Hitler escaped unharmed; he had cut his speech short and left about half an hour early. Elser was arrested, imprisoned for 5 ½ years and executed shortly before the end of the war. at a window of the Kaiserhof, Rohm was keeping an anxious watch on the door from which Hitler must emerge. Shortly after noon a roar went up from the crowd: the Leader was coming. He ran down the steps to his car and in a couple of minutes was back in the Kaiserhof, As he entered the room his lieutenants crowded to greet him. The improbable had happened: Adolf Hitler, the petty official's son from Austria, the down-and-out of the Home for Men, the Meldeganger of the List Regiment, had become Chancellor of the German Reich. The bronze statue of Leopold I shown with my students during my 2016 Bavarian International School trip was moved in 2005 to its current location on Wilhelmplatz. The NSDAP leader was often in Berlin, where since February 1931 he regularly stayed in a suite at the legendary Hotel Kaiserhof at 4 Wilhelmplatz (formerly Ziethenplatz), across the street from the Reich Chancellery. The hotel was the first luxury hotel in the city, opened in 1875 and three years later one of the showpieces of the 1878 Congress of Berlin, which took place under the leadership of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Since the early 1920s, the hotel management had sympathized with the right‑wing nationalist forces operating against the Weimar state, so it was no coincidence that the top floor of the hotel turned into the NSDAP’s provisional headquarters. The Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda (Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda – RMVP), was established by a presidential decree, signed on 12 March 1933 and promulgated on the following day, which defined the task of the new ministry as the dissemination of ‘enlightenment and propaganda within the population concerning the policy of the Reich Government and the national reconstruction of the German Fatherland’. In June Hitler was to define the scope of the RMVP in even more general terms, making Goebbels responsible for the ‘spiritual direction of the nation’. Not only did this vague directive provide Goebbels with room to out-manoeuvre his critics within the Party; it also put the seal of legitimacy on what was soon to be the ministry’s wholesale control of the mass-media. Nevertheless, Goebbels was constantly involved in quarrels with ministerial colleagues who resented the encroachment of this new ministry on their old domain. Standing in front of the site in 2007. Currently serving as the German Federal Ministry of Health and Social Security, this is where Goebbels was in charge of the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda (RMVP) was responsible for the content-related control of the press, literature, fine arts, film, theatre, music and broadcasting. The part of the building visible here behind my students is the Marschall House, converted by Karl Reichle in 1934 to serve as the entrance area to the Ministry of Propaganda. The walled up archways and windows of today were originally passageways to the main building of the Ministry of Propaganda. The ministry was re-established shortly after the "seizure of power" by the Nazis as the central institution of Nazi propaganda. It was in the Cabinet Hitler under the direction of Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, who exerted control of all German mass media and cultural workers through his ministry and the Reich Chamber of Culture built in the fall of 1933. No one who lived in Germany in the Thirties, and who cared about such matters, can ever forget the sickening decline of the cultural standards of a people who had had such high ones for so long a time. This was inevitable, of course, the moment the Nazi leaders decided that the arts, literature, the press, radio and the films must serve exclusively the propaganda purposes of the new regime and its outlandish philosophy. Not a single living German writer of any importance, with the exception of Ernst Juenger and Ernst Wiechert in the earlier years, was published in Germany during the Nazi time. Almost all of them, led by Thomas Mann, emigrated; the few who remained were silent or were silenced. Every manuscript of a book or a play had to be submitted to the Propaganda Ministry before it could be approved for publication or production. During and after the war, the three arched windows at the front are still recognisable amidst the ruins. In 1890 Das Preussische Kriegsministerium at Leipzigerstrasse 5 was enlarged by the construction of an huge extension in Wilhelmstrasse. During the Weimar Republic it contained the offices of the Reich Defence Ministry. In 1933 the newly-formed Reich Aviation Ministry headed by Goering moved into it, at which point he ordered the complex destroyed and a monumental new building designed by Ernst Sagebiel constructed on the site, housing 2000 rooms. Historians have devoted considerable attention to Hitler’s plans for the rebuilding of Berlin, but they have rarely acknowledged their effect on both the face of tourist Berlin and the meaning of a visit to the capital between 1933 and 1945. Yet it is impossible to overestimate the degree to which Berlin’s new buildings – among them, the Reich Chancellery, the Reich Sport Field, the Reich Ministry of Transportation and the Reich Aviation Ministry – became key sights for visitors to the city. Model of the entire complex and site today. On February 2, 1933, the Ordinance on the Reichskommissar for Aviation was issued, ordering a Reichskommissar for the aviation ministry. This was a first step towards establishing an air force. In addition to the army and the navy, it would become a part of the Reichswehr. The Reichskommissar for aviation was responsible for the planning and development of aviation, directly subordinate to the Reichskanzler. To this end, he received from the Reich Ministry of Transportation and the Reich Ministry of the Interior power over all civilian aviation and air defence. To serve as Reichskommissar Hitler appointed the Jagdflieger of the First World War, Nazi politician and Prussian Minister of the Interior Hermann Goering. In January 1935, Goering laid the cornerstone of the new Air Ministry. It would occupy a four-hundred-thousand-square-foot site off the Leipziger Strasse. Hitler personally checked each façade in plaster miniature. Its central longitudinal block and side wings would house four thousand bureaucrats and officers in its twenty-eight hundred rooms. Throughout 1935 the country’s finest architects and sculptors chiselled at heroic reliefs with motifs like “Flag Company,” designed by Professor Arnold Waldschmidt of the Prussian Academy of Fine Arts. The Berliners made smug comments about this extravagance- “Pure and simple, and hang the expense!” was one; “Just humble gold” was another. As well as to the 2007 film Mein Führer - Die wirklich wahrste Wahrheit über Adolf Hitler (Mein Führer: The Truly Truest Truth About Adolf Hitler), the centre photo showing perhaps incongruously the flags of the EU and German state. The Main Hall (Ehrensaal) inside then and now. Three days after Reichskristallnacht in November 1938, Goering held a conference here (now the Euro Hall) wherein it was resolved that a thousand million Reichsmarks would be demanded from German Jews to pay for the damage caused by the pogrom. “The swine will think twice,” he said, “before they inflict a second murder on us.” But the unthinking and needlessly destructive mode of revenge that Goebbels had selected outraged him. As his limousine made its way through the shards in Berlin the next morning, November 10 he got fighting mad and called a terse meeting of the Nazi party leaders at the Air Ministry building. Walther Darré heard Göring call the pogrom “a bloody outrage.” The field marshal lectured them all on their “lack of discipline.” He reserved his most pained language for Dr. Joseph Goebbels. “I buy most of my works of art from Jewish dealers,” he cried. Goebbels rushed yelping to the Führer’s lunch table but found little sympathy. Hitler had spent the night in Munich issuing orders to stop the outrages and sending out his adjutants to protect Jewish businesses like Bernheimer’s, the antique dealers. Himmler was also furious with Goebbels for having made free with the local SS units to stage the pogrom. The building from the Nazi-era in 2007. The Reich Aviation Ministry remains the only major surviving public building in the Wilhelmstrasse from the Nazi era at Wilhelmstraße 81-85, south of the Leipziger Strasse, a huge edifice built on the orders of Hermann Göring between 1933 and 1936 based on a design by Ernst Sagebiel, who shortly afterwards rebuilt Tempelhof Airport on a similarly gigantic scale. One writer has described it as "in the typical style of National Socialist intimidation architecture." It ran for more than 250 metres along Wilhelmstraße, partly on the site of the former Prussian War Ministry that had dated from 1819, and covered the full length of the block between Prinz-Albrecht-Straße and Leipziger Straße, even running along Leipziger Straße itself to join on to the Prussian Herrenhaus, the former Upper House of the Prussian Parliament. It comprised of a reinforced concrete skeleton with an exterior facing of limestone and travertine (a form of marble). With its seven storeys and total floor area of 112,000 square metres, 2,800 rooms, seven kilometres of corridors, over four thousand windows, seventeen stairways, and with the stone coming from no fewer than fifty quarries, the vast building served the growing bureaucracy of the Luftwaffe, plus Germany’s civil aviation authority which was also located there. Yet it took only eighteen months to build, the army of labourers working double shifts and Sundays. The first thousand rooms were handed over in October 1935 after just eight months' construction. When it had been finally completed, four thousand bureaucrats and their secretaries were employed within its walls. This building escaped major damage during the war. As one of the few intact government buildings in central Berlin, it ended up being occupied by the Council of Ministers of the new German Democratic Republic in 1949. As such it was at the centre of the popular demonstrations during the workers' uprising of June 17, 1953. During the war. Ironically, this was the one building in Berlin not bombed from the air. After the war, the building housed the Soviet Military Administration, followed in turn by the National Economic Commission. On October 7, 1949, the German Democratic Republic was founded in the Great Hall.. Up until 1989 the building served as the East German House of the Ministries, with the complex bordering the Berlin Wall (see below). From 1991 to 1995 the building was used by Treuhand Anstalt, the trustee organisation for the privatisation of former DDR state enterprises. Since 1999 it has housed the German Ministry of Finance. The central Monument in memory of the 1953 Uprising in the East German Democratic Republic is represented by a groundfloor relief, surrounded by a low barrier, created by Wolfgang Rüppel. The groundfloor monument, in Leipziger Straße at the corner of Wilhelmstraße in front of the Federal Ministry of Finance (officially named the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus) and an older wall-mounted plaque on the façade itself. Remarkably, Max Lingner's 3- metre by 24-metre long mural "Aufbau der Republik" (Building the Republic) is allowed to remain in situ. (Photos from my 2012 school trip on the anniversary of the uprising). After the war, the slightly damaged building of the RLM was initially used by the Soviet military administration (SMAD). Later, the German Economic Commission (DWK) and then the State Plank Commission and the Economics Council of the DDR obtained parts of the building. It served as the meeting place of the German People's Council, which on October 7, 1949 founded the DDR by establishing the constitution and established itself as a provisional Volkskammer. After the establishment of the DDR, various trade ministries of the economy were accommodated in the complex. The building was now officially designated as the House of Ministries. Between the years 1950 and 1953 the monumental painting portrait and landscape painter Lingner in the northeastern pillar precinct replaced the previous large-format stone relief of marching soldiers of the Wehrmacht with the weaving hook crosses of the sculptor Arnold Waldschmidt shown above incorporating tiles from Meissner porcelain were created. The image of a restrained new beginning after the war originally conceived by the artist was revised several times at the request of the President of the Council of States, Walter Ulbricht and the Prime Minister, Otto Grotewohl, in order to present an euphoric departure of the working class. Lingner had had to revise it no fewer than five times, so that it ultimately bore little resemblance to the first draft. Originally based on family scenes, the final version had a more sinister look about it, a series of jovial set-pieces with an almost military undertone, people in marching poise and with fixed, uniform smiles on their faces. Lingner hated it (as well as Grotewohl's interference) and refused to look at it when going past. With a degree of irony, the building became the focal point a year later of the Uprising of 1953 in East Germany when, on June 17, 1953 a demonstration took place in front of the building. Today, the "monument to the events of the seventeenth of June nineteen hundred fifty-three", designed by Wolfgang Rüppel serves to commemorate the first demonstration against Soviet rule in the Eastern bloc. The Abgeordnetenhaus von Berlin is the state parliament for the German state of Berlin according to the state's constitution. The parliament is based at this building on Niederkirchnerstraße, which until 1934 was the seat of the Abgeordnetenhaus (House of Representatives), the second chamber of the Preußischer Landtag. Goering used it as an officers' club connected to the Air Force on the same block as his own Ministry. On the evening of March 11, 1938 Göring held a banquet at the Haus der Flieger. He took advantage of the intermissions between the artists’ performances to brief the British Ambassador Henderson and the Czechoslovakian Envoy Mastny on the events in Austria. He did not refrain from giving his word of honour that no like measures were being planned for Czechoslovakia. After midnight in the Chancellery, Hitler accepted the first congratulatory notes on bringing about a turn in the Austrian situation. The new exhibition and documentation centre with the redesigned historic grounds were opened to the public on May 7, 2010 according to a prize-winning design by the architect Ursula Wilms (Heinle, Wischer und Partner, Berlin) and the landscape architect Heinz W. Hallmann (Aachen) on the site of the GESTAPO headquarters on Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse. The Reich’s Main Security Office (Reichssicherheitshauptamt- RSHA) – Nazi Germany’s central authority, established on September 27, 1939, with the aim of coordinating the Nazi terror system during the war. It consisted of the former Main Security Police Office (Hauptamt der Sicherheitspolizei) and the Main SD Office (SD-Hauptamt). It brought together and controlled all the SD’s and state’s repressive bodies. Headed by Heydrich, the RSHA answered to Himmler. Following the former's death, the RSHA was run by Himmler personally until 1943 when it was taken over by E. Kaltenbrunner. The RSHA comprised seven departments: personnel, organisation and administration, security services (SD), internal and external affairs, the Gestapo, criminal police, and others. In February 1944 one of the SD departments was put in charge of Abwehr (counter-intelligence). under hideous torture in the Gestapo dungeon in the Prinz Albrechtstrasse in Berlin Colonel von Hofacker broke down and told of Rommel’s part in the conspiracy. "Tell the people in Berlin they can count on me,” Hofacker quoted the Field Marshal as assuring him. It was a phrase that stuck in Hitler’s mind when he heard of it and which led him to decide that his favourite general, whom he knew to be the most popular one in Germany, must die. The boundary between the American and Soviet zones of occupation in Berlin ran along the Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse, so the street soon became a fortified boundary, and the Berlin Wall ran along the south side of the street, renamed Niederkirchnerstrasse, from 1961 to 1989 shown here in 1990 and today in 2018 with my students from Bavarian International School. To their right is the Martin Gropius Bau which was a museum in 1945 and which suffered extensive damage during the battle, mainly due to its close proximity to the Gestapo building, which had a large courtyard that opened onto the side of the Bau. At dawn on April 29th 1945, Colonel Antonov’s 301st Soviet Rifle Division assaulted the Gestapo Headquarters and managed to capture it after heavy fighting, pouring thousands of rounds from the windows of the museum into the courtyard. The return fire from the SS defenders is clearly visible on the side wall and plasterwork of the Bau. An SS counter attack forced the Soviet troops to withdraw, leaving seven inmates who had survived a massacre of prisoners on April 23rd still confined to their cells. The last two photos show the Bau as it was at the end of the war with the Gestapo building visible on the left and a comparison shot from 2019. The Topography of Terror exhibition now occupies the site of the Gestapo HQ. Above ran the Berlin wall and on top was the Airforce HQ and later the Federal Ministry of Finance. On August 13, 1961 the construction of the wall began, which would eventually consist of a barrier system over 150 kilometres in length, built to stop the flood of refugees from East to West shown during its construction and during my 2011 class tour of Berlin. A mere two months earlier at an international press conference held on June 15 at the House of Ministries across the road, today serving as the Federal Ministry of Finance, Walter Ulbricht famously declared, “No one has any intention of building a wall!” By the fall of 1961, over 2.6 million people had managed to escape across the border between the two sectors. The 200 metre long remnant of the wall here at Niederkirchnerstrasse marked the border between the districts of Mitte (East) and Kreuzberg (West), separating the two sides of Niederkirchnerstrasse and Zimmerstrasse from one another along their entire length. The border strip here was only a few metres wide, and buildings like the one that now houses the Berlin House of Representatives and today’s Federal Ministry of Finance were integrated into the inner wall. The building then and what's left the site today. The buildings on the Prinz-Albrecht site were partly destroyed during the war or demolished after the war. In the 1970s, among other things, a building rubble company and an autodrome for driving license-free driving used the area. At the beginning of the 1980s, several initiatives were launched to build a memorial on the site. In 1987, the Museum Project Topography of Terror was created. On the premises of the former Prinz-Albrecht-Straße 8, now Niederkirchnerstraße 8, the museum strives to document the Nazi terrorist apparatus. The Prinz-Albrecht-Palais was located in the immediate vicinity of Wilhelmstrasse 102, which became the headquarters of the security service (SD) of the ϟϟ from 1934 onwards, and from 1939 onwards also the Reichsicherheitshauptamt (RSHA). The former Hotel Prinz-Albrecht on Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse 9 was, from 1934 the seat of the "Reichsführung ϟϟ". This building ensemble is today called "Prinz-Albrecht-Gelände" and the documentation centre on Niederkirchnerstraße 8 is one of the state museums in Berlin. Remains of the house prison in the cellar of the secret state police have been preserved and are now under monument protection. They are publicly accessible as part of the exhibition topography of the terror. Between 1933 and 1945, about 15,000 political prisoners were imprisoned and interrogated in prison cells. The prison was infamous for its torture methods and for many detainees through the station to the concentration camps. The bombed out shell of the Gestapo-ϟϟ headquarters, 1945 which had been defended by Henri Fenet, the surviving 'Charlemagne' battalion commander. On the right one can see the prison cell windows of the Gestapo gaol in the south wing of the building facing the inner courtyard on Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse 8, in 1945, temporarily walled up after damage caused by bombs. Colonel Antonov's 301st Rifle Division began its assault in earnest at dawn on 29 April, not long after the newly married couple in the Fuhrer bunker had retired. Two of his rifle regiments attacked Gestapo headquarters on the Prinz-Albrechtstrasse, a building which had been heavily damaged in the 3 February air raid. In the now standard tactic, a03mm heavy howitzers were brought forward to blast open a breach at close range. Two battalions stormed in and hoisted a red banner, but the Soviet accounts fail to reveal the fact that after fierce fighting and heavy casualties they were forced to withdraw that evening by a ferocious Waffen SS counter-attack. The Russians had no idea whether any prisoners of the Gestapo remained alive inside. In fact, there were seven left who had been specially spared from the horrendous massacre which had taken place on the night of 23 April. Excavated cells from the basement of the Gestapo headquarters in 1948 and today showing images of political prisoners from the Gestapo archives. This served as an expansion of the Gestapo "house prison" in the basement of the south wing of Prinz-Albrecht-Straße 8, which was established in 1933 with twenty cells and expanded in 1936 by seventeen single cells and a community cell. Somewhat later, the prisoners' residence and waiting room located between the cells was upgraded to an air-raid-proof shelter. Speer had rejected this new development of the site, wanting instead to design the north-south axis not only as a street of ministries and administrative buildings, but to be used for private and commercial buildings. The Nazis' persecution and extermination policy was not only controlled bureaucratically from this area, but the Einsatztruppen were selected for subsequent mass murders of Jews and political opponents - here at this site interrogations and torture took place. Since the in-house prison was designed for only about fifty prisoners, the length of stay of the prisoners was limited- either they died as a result of torture and detention, or they were sent to other prisons and concentration camps. The excavated cells behind the museum with the Reichsluftfahrtministerium in the background.

2019-04-19T07:08:55Z

https://www.tracesofevil.com/2010/01/reich-aviation-ministry-and-gestapo.html

All Writing & Content © Nick Kushner Unless Noted Otherwise. 2002 AD. A, relatively, old essay / discourse of mine after delving into the occult for a couple of years. Written in the last quarter of 2002 in a literature college course I hated but attempted to make the best of. In a sense it set the tone for what would become The NACHTKABARETT a little less than 2 years later. To my knowledge, now as well as then, this is an approach and parallelism to Nietzsche's philosophy which has not been touched upon. BY A SINGLE ACT OF CREATIVE ADAPTATION. As given by Hermes Trismegistus, Lord of Wisdom, unto Maria Prophetissa, sister of Moses. It can be said that the man who hates religion the most is often the most spiritual of individuals in that he is living of his own convictions since he is the one who is not satisfied with the limits society has set upon him. Similarly he who is living by his own convictions is oftentimes one who is more prone to analyze nature and more importantly his own self. A key example of an individual as such would undoubtedly be Friedrich Nietzsche. He is a man who arguably coined the phrase "God is Dead" and wrote such books as The Antichrist. Nietzsche was a reactionary atheist yet an atheist who took to himself a new religion; he viewed man as something that "should be overcome." Many historians and propagandists have distorted this philosophy to meet their own schemes and as fodder for their own political motives yet Nietzsche's teachings bear striking parallels to another type of philosophical and spiritual approach, the modern Western occult. As such, when read metaphorically and symbolically it is apparent that there are many underlying occult significances and themes in the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche's 1883-1885 "novel" of a philosophical thesis, Thus Spake Zarathustra, demonstrates the epitome of what his Übermensch is. Übermensch, which translates to Superman or Overman, is defined in Thus Spake Zarathustra and the methods and path to its attainment is outlined. The staple of this philosophy is "based on the force of the empowerment of the individual Will, or consciousness" (Flowers, 114). This power of the individual Will is a staple, if not the very root, of much of Nietzsche's work however for the sake of this author's argument the rubric will revolve around the definition and path outlined in Thus Spake Zarathustra. "God is dead", cried Nietzsche in the opening chapter of Thus Spake Zarathustra. This does not represent the destruction of the aspirant towards the greater good or the higher existence but to the contrary, the expiration of the ruling god of the complacent. The operative word when dealing with Nietzsche is "complacent" or "the herd" as he very often referred to the masses as being. If god is a shepherd, Nietzsche would advocate that the select enlightened few lay waste the pasture walls and fight in the wild free land so that they shall survive on their own by their own pride, abilities and willfulness, by their Will they shall succeed. It is a cry for a new era where we aren't slaves to a god that doesn't exist, an era where our independent Will will take us to greater heights rather than submission and forfeiture of that Will. "What is the great dragon which the spirit no longer wants to call lord or God? The great dragon is called 'Thou Shalt'. But the spirit of the lion says 'I Will!'" (Nietzsche, 55). Instead of following God, as is the root of Christian spiritualism, Nietzsche illustrates that the differentiation between his philosophy and that of the "Great Dragon" of Christianity is that the attainment of the Übermensch is to become at one with God through the empowerment of the individual will instead of its submission in the name of the aspirant's spiritual goal. "I teach you the Superman. Man is something that should be overcome. What have you done to overcome him? All creatures hitherto have created something beyond themselves: and do you want to be the ebb of this great tide, and return to animals rather than to overcome man?" The crime we commit against ourselves, humanity and the preservation of the human intellect is that we don't aspire beyond ourselves. Undoubtedly bitter against Christianity for which he blames this ethos of submission over attainment, the Dead God Nietzsche proclaims is the death of our will to complacency and given way to the rise to our Will To Power. The irony that Nietzsche evidently didn't realize is that this treatise of the death of religion and the ascension of the Will is in actuality deeply spiritual, or at least in all probability he didn't plan on his philosophy having such deep-rooted spiritual connotations in the true sense of the word. For example, the closing of each chapter's "Thus Spake Zarathustra" is akin to a mass' "So Let It Be Done." This spirituality is absolutely divorced from the Christianity of the herd, it is a spirituality of the Qabalah, the staple of virtually all modern Western occult philosophies revolve around. Whereas Nietzsche spoke of a symbolic ascension of the soul or the Will the study and practice of Qabalah is that of a the actual ascension of the soul by mean of the Will. The study of Qabalah is one which has endured much longer than Christianity. It is not a religion per se nor a book of commandments but a way of thought and action, specifically thought and intent motivating action and the reaction that ensues. It is a process by means of which ascends the soul beyond our earthly state towards eventual unity with God, the highest plane of existence. "This state of total realization is obtained by balance and the raising of consciousness up through all levels of Existence to the source itself" (Halevi, Introduction). It is a goal that "only the man of deep devotion and conscious intention can sustain such a vision" (Halevi, 210). Akin to that of Nietzsche's Übermensch "these studies were considered highly secret; and yet, as with all esoteric doctrines, they remained concealed not because anyone hid them but because they were simply unintelligible to anyone who had no interest in the upper worlds" (Halevi, 17). The will of the individual must be ready and able to accept their own personal responsibility of their freedom and that they alone are responsible for the well being of the soul. "Yes, even when he commands himself: then also must he make amends for his commanding. He must become judge and avenger and victim of his own law" (Nietzsche, 137). The speculative Qabalah, which concerns the abstract philosophical doctrines on the nature of God, the universe and man; and the practical Qabalah which involves magical practices intended to produce specific results. The first seeks a transformation of the soul in accordance with the will of God, the second seeks a transformation in accordance with the will of man. Three Books Of Occult Philosophy, Henry Cornelius Agrippa. Trans. D. Tyson. Ed. Again, we see the idea of will and how it is integral to the process of transformation, both of the soul and man as well as an outline of a higher purpose of being. For Nietzsche, it is the Superman, "Man is a rope, fastened between animal and Superman, a rope over an abyss. A dangerous going-across, a dangerous wayfaring, a dangerous looking-back, a dangerous shuddering and staying still" (Nietzsche, 43). A spiritual voyage is echoed throughout these two passages, man being the voyager and the rope as the vessel just as society is the unforgiving and damning abyss below which one does not cross over readily as they curse your solitary feat. The Journey, "that is why it is sometimes called 'the Place of Dead', or where the sense of individuality may cease to be, because the Qabalist has passed beyond the fleshy estate" (Halevi, 214). Qabalistically this journey represents the ascension of the soul towards God, however, the Nietzschean equivocation of this journey represents man moving closer and closer to attaining the Übermensch. The further across the rope man travels the further distant and the further alien are those ideals and boundaries set forth for him in the state of Man. The further across the rope man voyages represents his greater independence and greater strengthening of his Will to do so, just as the soul's devotion, intent and ability is strengthens as it reaches the higher states. "Such spiritual excursions to the various stages of ascension were described in terms of Heavenly Halls, the Throne of God, and, in one work, a description of the Divine Adam and his dimension" (Halevi, 18). "The teaching is complete and perfect, although it wears many garments" (Halevi, 16). This is true in that in the grand, or Divine scheme, everything is related. One of these garments that the teaching may be disguised in is the pursuit of Alchemy. Almost as old as Qabablistic study, Alchemy is yet another esoteric pursuit which holds striking similarities to both Nietzsche and the Qabalah. Although the method of attainment has yet again been changed, the goal of the alchemist remains the same as that of the Qabalist "since the true alchemist was a special kind of person, probably too intellectual in many ways, who was seeking what he considered a higher goal than the facets of life". Alchemy is an occult study whose entire basis is also shaped around the theme of transformation. On a surface level, the transformations that are undergone are the transformations of metals and there are seven specific metals, each assigned a planetary likeness, which are dealt with in Alchemy, the Sun as gold, the Moon as silver, Mercury as quicksilver, Mars as iron, Venus as copper, Saturn as lead and Jupiter as tin. "Yet for the alchemist there was a fascination which led him on. The journey of exploration was not so much a chemical process as a search for the inner meaning of the whole material universe" (Burland, 1). Through the use of these metals the transformations of such occurs during their mixing. Mercury can be coagulated to slow its movement and any other can be made molten, in doing so to create an amalgamation that hardens and takes on new characteristics and properties. Early Alchemists, particularly when the practice of Alchemy was at its height in the Middle Ages, did not have modern scientific tools and methods nor did they have a modern set of elemental rules in dealing with the mixture and manipulations of such metals. Instead of formulas being used to illustrate change, paintings and etching with highly symbolic references were made to illustrate the metals and their changing properties. The dualities of nature such as the Sun and Moon were represented to illustrate this process as well as their combinations such as Mercury representing the hermaphrodite, the duality as one, unified as a whole was most significantly the most important of all Alchemical elements. To understand the mind and aspirations of the Alchemist we must also "think ourselves back to the position of the intelligent man viewing changes in things and changes in himself, and focusing his mind not so much on the details of the individual changes as on the idea of change" (Taylor, 7). The changes caused in Alchemical practice by the Alchemist were examples or allegories of the Great Work as to not think of a sublimation of Mercury as an individual act but part of the whole where this is one step in the elevation of one's soul to Übermensch. The wise old man with his crucibles and furnaces also had his learned books which served to guide him in his experiments. He was impressed with the need to develop his own personality until he was in touch with the whole of creation. The final revelation of the secret came with such suddenness. The alchemist firmly believed that a power from above had enlightened him at the moment when he was fit to receive the knowledge. The making of gold was thought of as a seal of approval set on a lifetime of work and study. A lifetime worth of study and process far exceeds the material value of gold unequivocally but it wasn't the material value that was sought after by the Alchemist, the day to day ritual of toil, sacrifice, study and transformations became his ritual, his furnace as his altar. Through his manipulations of the metals he is able to transform himself by proxy by taking on the role of the Creator to become as one, unified with God. For the alchemist his Great Work represented "man is a rope, fastened between animal and Superman, a rope over an abyss" (Nietzsche, 43). Teetering on the brink of madness the closer the alchemist achieves in creating gold the closer he is to becoming the Übermensch, being one and the same next to God where, "the seer has ascended the seven steps of wisdom. This could be explained by some modern mathematicians as a picture of ascent into muti-dimensional existence at stages rising beyond our three-dimensional world" (Burland, 25). The transcending of the laws of intellect which is madness in the ordinary man, genius in the Overman who hath arrived to strike off more fetters from our understanding. The savage who cannot conceive of the number six, the orthodox mathematician who cannot conceive of the fourth dimension, the philosopher who cannot conceive of the Absolute – all these are one; all must be impregnated with the Divine Essence [...] and give birth to their idea. 777 And Other Qabalistic Writings Of Aleister Crowley. Aleister Crowley. Thus the Übermensch is beyond man in all facets of comprehension and being as he has, as stated, transcended to a higher level than man as well as the beyond the comprehension of the ordinary man. As Crowley states further to illustrate the comprehension of the uninitiated and unenlightened, "The secrets of the Adepts are not to be revealed to men. When a man comes to me and asks for the Truth, I go away and practise teaching the Differential Calculus to a Bushman; and I answer the former only when I have succeeded in the latter" (Crowley, xii). Despite that Nietzsche would have considered one viewing his work as religion as a blasphemy, it is often that the individual who desires no followers is on the path to a higher existence. Although on a surface level Nietzsche's writings bear little similarity to any type of spiritual path it is our duty as intellectuals to view life metaphorically and symbolically and find the underlying hidden truth for ourselves as well as for the sake our selves. If there is a one true path to enlightenment the path will not be written in plain English, it will not be spelled out because it is not something that everyone deserves to know, it must be earned. It is one that must be lived first hand, and living life first hand by one's own firm convictions, not to follow the complacent herd is the philosophy of Nietzsche. If the process not be done that way then the process will fail as the adept must be able to comprehend and accept this higher existence else he be damned to repeat his life again. This is much akin to the concept of reincarnation and karma, as our soul is born unto lower levels of existence, such as an insect or a boar, if that life is lived to the fullest extent and knowledge of oneself and the world is able to be comprehended then each successive life will progress and ascend upwards into existences which are higher than the previous, assuming we earn that ascension by our practices and experiences. With that said it would not in the least be a stretch to equate Nietzsche's Übermensch with the obtainment of Nirvana. Just as Buddhism and Yoga can be argued for, the path to occult and spiritual enlightenment and attaining Übermensch are two different methods of attaining the same common goal. 1. Agrippa, Henry Cornelius. Three Books Of Occult Philosophy. Trans. D. Tyson. Ed. J. Freake. Llewellyn Publications: Minnesota, 1998. 2. Burland, C.A. The Arts Of The Alchemists. Weindenfeld and Nicholson: England, 1967. 3. Crowley, Aleister. 777 And Other Qabalistic Writings Of Aleister Crowley. Ed. I. Regardie. Samuel Weiser, Inc.: Maine, 2000. 4. Flowers, Stephen E. Lords Of The Left Hand Path. Runa-Raven Press: Texas, 1997. 5. Halevi, Z'ev Ben Shimon. The Way Of Kabbalah. Samuel Weiser, Inc.: Maine, 1976. 6. Nietzsche, Friedrich. Thus Spake Zarathustra. Trans. R.J. Hollingdale. Penguin Books: Maryland, 1972. 7. Taylor, F. Sherwood. The Alchemists. Arno Press: New York, 1974.

2019-04-20T16:55:45Z

http://www.nachtkabarett.com/NietzscheOccult

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"Fees" means the applicable fees for each Service and any applicable Taxes. The Fees for each Service are set forth in Master Services Agreement Contract Number 270 between Getac and other party. "Instance" means a virtual machine instance, configured and managed by Customer, which runs on the Services. "Services" means the services including content sharing, new partners registration, deal registration, lead sharing to partners, MDF management, salesforce integration, online training, multi-region support and co-branded template. Services also include all services as set forth in Master Services Agreement Contract Number 270 between Getac and other party. "Taxes" means any duties, customs fees, or taxes (other than Getac’s income tax) associated with the purchase of the Services, including any related penalties or interest. If You have any questions or concerns regarding this Agreement, please contact us at alvis.t.lin@getac.com.tw.

2019-04-24T20:48:31Z

https://partners.getac.com/?eid=terms_and_conditions

The Indian aviation sector may see a sharp rise of 7.3% in airfares next year, according to a new industry survey. The fifth annual Global Travel Forecast, published by Global Business Travel Association and Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT), also predicts that India will become the world’s largest aviation market by 2025, with airports operating beyond capacity. International Air Transport Association (IATA) Director General and CEO Alexandre de Juniac has hailed domestic growth in India, but warned that the country still faces infrastructure challenges.In a wide-ranging interview with the Press Trust of India, de Juniac welcomed another month of strong domestic growth and said that the Indian government's role was to be commended. "The Indian government has a vision for aviation in India. There is a clear aviation policy which reflects a national development strategy that appreciates aviation’s role," he said. India registered double-digit domestic air passenger growth for the 45th straight month in May even though volumes have fallen in recent months, airlines' according to IATA. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said the country's Revenue Passenger Kilometre (RPK) -- a measure of passenger volumes -- rose 16.6 per cent in May. Passenger demand has continued to be supported by strong growth in the number of airport connections within the country too; 22 per cent more airport-pairs are scheduled to operate in 2018 compared to last year," IATA said. Passenger numbers in India have consistently seen double-digit growth over the past few years, significantly outperforming the global average. India is predicted to be among the top three passenger aviation markets by 2026, according to Maneesh Jaikrishna, Vice President, Indian Subcontinent, Eastern & Southern Africa, SITA. In an interview Jaikrishna stated that India will become the third largest aviation market in terms of passengers by 2026 and by the year 2020, passenger traffic at Indian airports is expected to increase to 421 million from currently being at 308.75 million in 2017-18. Recent orders from India, which is the fastest growing aviation market in the world after US and China, according to jet manufacturers Airbus SE and Boeing Co, puts the country ahead of China in the narrow-body aircraft order book. India, which has the third-largest aircraft order book after the US and China, now has more narrow-body orders than China, aviation consultants CAPA India said in a recent report. Acumen Aviation © 30 July All Rights Reserved. Boeing through its subsidiary Aviall, announced 27 July it signed an exclusive agreement with Sabena technics to distribute its Vigiplane security monitoring system for aircraft on ground. Under this agreement, Aviall will provide exclusive supply chain distribution support for Vigiplane in North America. Using the latest technologies, Vigiplane offers 24/7, 360-degree monitoring for aircraft on ground and is accessible from all mobile devices. Its high-definition cameras operate autonomously from aircraft systems and are monitored through a secure, cloud-based server. The device, which does not require any certification or cabin modification, can be easily and quickly installed on all aircraft types. Boeing and Jeju Air celebrated the delivery of the airline's first direct-buy Next-Generation 737-800 aircraft on 23 July during a ceremony at the Seattle Delivery Center. With this delivery Jeju Air will become the first low-cost carrier (LCC) in Korea to own and operate a Next-Generation 737-800. Boeing 23 July released its 2018 Pilot & Technician Outlook, projecting demand for 790,000 pilots over the next 20 years. This represents double the current workforce and the most significant demand in the outlook's nine-year history. The demand is being driven by an anticipated doubling of the global commercial airplane fleet — as reported in Boeing's Commercial Market Outlook — as well as record-high air travel demand and a tightening labor supply. Delta Air Lines and its partner Aeromexico will connect the city of Detroit with Queretaro starting September 17, 2018, creating a bridge between these two major industrial cities. This is the 13th route launched under the Joint Cooperation Agreement (JCA) between both airlines, strengthening the power of the network in the transborder market. JetBlue with its pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), announced 27 July the ratification of a four-year contract. With 98% of eligible pilots voting, 74% cast ballots in favor of the agreement. The contractual terms, including market competitive pay rates, per diems and 401(k) provisions, will be effective August 1, 2018. Negotiations began in 2015 and have been guided by the National Mediation Board (NMB) since 2017. KLM Royal Dutch Airline will begin operating flights to the city of Boston (BOS) in the United States from the start of the 2019 summer schedule. KLM will operate a three weekly service between Amsterdam and this new destination on the North-East coast of the United States. The service will be operated with an Airbus A330-300. Trans States Airlines announced 28 July that it has entered into a three-year agreement with United Airlines to operate at least seven additional Embraer 145 aircraft under the United Express regional service brand. The additional aircraft are the beginning of a long-term commitment to growing the airline's United Express program. The first seven aircraft will be phased into revenue service starting in October of this year, with all aircraft in service by January of 2019. China Eastern Airlines marked 10 years of nonstop cross-Strait operations in early July. According to data China Eastern operates 101 weekly cross-Strait services from 19 destinations in mainland China to four destinations in Taiwan. The airline has an accumulated more than 9000 flights and more than 1.5 million passengers. China's home-developed Y-12 versatile plane has started to carry the domestic short haul civil transport in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, according its developer. The Nenjiang Mo'ergen airport started operations last Friday, opening flights between the Nenjiang City and the provincial capital Harbin, as well as the cities of Mohe and Heihe on the China-Russia border. Delta launched services between Shanghai Pudong International Airport and its hub in Atlanta on 20 July, the airline’s busiest day of the summer. Delta Flight 185, operated by one of Delta’s Boeing 777-200LR aircraft. Delta celebrated with an inaugural reception for important members, including Delta CEO, Ed Bastian, at the Delta Air Lines Museum. Delta also set up a customary gate party for customers of flight 185 before its takeoff. Gulfstream Aerospace handed over a Gulfstream G550 tailored for in-flight medical care to the Beijing Red Cross Emergency Medical Center during a ceremony this week at the aircraft manufacturer's headquarters in Savannah, Georgia. Li Libing, director of the Beijing Red Cross Emergency Center, showcased the aircraft during the July 25 ceremony and also indicated an interest in adding a similarly equipped Gulfstream G650ER to its fleet, Gulfstream said. Revenue Management Systems announced that it has been selected to provide Tibet Airlines with its state-of-the-art revenue management, inventory control, and reporting tools. airRM will enable Tibet Airlines to identify sales opportunities, maximize passenger revenues, closely control pricing, and analyze performance. Tibet Airlines is the fifth and most recent addition to RMS’s customers in the Chinese market. They join Beijing Capital Airlines, Chengdu Airlines Shandong Airlines and China United Airlines. Boeing and GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) announced that they have reached an agreement for 35 additional 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighters at the 2018 Farnborough International Airshow. The deal, which includes 20 firm orders and an option for 15 more, would take GECAS' 737-800BCF order book from 15 to 50 and enable GECAS to serve the growing express air cargo market. The commercial aircraft leasing and financing arm of General Electric is the launch customer of the new 737-800BCF. It took delivery of the first converted jet in April and leased it to a Swedish cargo carrier. GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) and Oz Management have closed on an aircraft portfolio purchase, STARR 2018, structured with the inclusion of a dedicated asset manager for equity investors. The transaction will allow GECAS to sell a portfolio of aircraft to Start Ltd., which is financing the acquisition through 144A debt and equity. The portfolio includes 24 in-production Boeing and Airbus aircraft. The aircraft are on lease to 16 airlines in 15 countries with a total appraised value of approximately $700 million. A multi-year agreement between GECAS and an Oz affiliate will allow the affiliate to serve as an asset manager for current and potential future transactions. Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) confirmed 25 July that it has delivered one ATR 72-500, MSN 785, to CSA Czech Airlines on lease. Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) confirmed 25 July that it has delivered two Embraer E195, MSNs 19000247 and 19000237, to LOT Polish Airlines on lease. Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) and GE Aviation signed a memorandum of understanding for a ten-year TrueChoiceTM Flight Hour agreement for its CF34-10E engines fleet. Under the agreement, NAC will offer GE Aviation-provided maintenance, repair and overhaul services to its CF34-10E lessees. SMBC Aviation Capital announced 13 July that Philippine Airlines (PAL) has added its first Airbus A350 XWB MSN 0221 to its fleet. The A350-900 XWB, which is the first of two to be delivered to Philippine Airlines on sale and leaseback includes the financing of Pre-Delivery Payments. SMBC Aviation Capital, together with Airbus and Philippine Airlines celebrated receipt of the aircraft at the Airbus facility in Toulouse. The aircraft will now be deployed on the airline’s long-haul routes including between Manila and New York, thus allowing the airline to fly all year round between the two destinations. EI-GEW Airbus A330-203 c/n 472 I-Fly Air Test at Mexico City 20/05/18 in all white colours Tempus Tour decals prior delivery ex PT-MVG. EI-GGK Boeing 737 MAX 8 c/n 64606 Air Italy Delivered Farnbourgh-Milan Malpensa 19/05/18. EI-SIG Airbus A320-251N c/n 8333 SAS Airlines Delivered Hamburg Finkenwerder-Stockholm Arlanda 26/07/18. HZ-AS37 Airbus A320-214 c/n 4394 Saudi Arabian Airlines Ferried Jeddah-Sofia 17/07/18 for GECAS. N791AS Boeing 737-490(F) c/n 28886 ASL Airlines Air Test at Smith Reynolds Airport 18/07/18 prior delivery. N797AS Boeing 737-490(F) c/n 28892 ASL Airlines Ferried Dothan-Smith Reynolds 20/07/18 after freighter conversion for paint prior delivery. OY-YCE ATR72-212A(600) c/n 1471 Nordic Aviation Capital Ferried Billund-Mönchengladbach 04/07/18. RP-C8994 Airbus A320-233 c/n 749 Philippines AirAsia Ferried Clark International-Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International-Dubai World Central-Cairo International-Shannon-Cotswold Airport 22-24/07/18 for part-out & scrap. SP-HAU Airbus A321-231 c/n 864 Small Planet Airlines Polska Delivered Ostava-Warsaw 24/07/18 ex G-OZBL. SU-ALA Airbus A330-243 c/n 326 Air Leisure Ferried Kiev-Cairo 23/07/18 after wet-lease to Fanair ex EI-FSG. VP-BDQ Boeing 777-212 c/n 28529 Standard Chartered Avn Finance Ferried Victorville-Lagos 18/07/18 ex EI-FLD. VP-BUB Airbus A330-223 c/n 1002 Norwind Airlines Delivered Teruel-Moscow Sheremetyevo 25/07/18 ex EI-ESA. Ashish Saraf, who had been serving as vice president – Industry Development, Strategic Partnerships and Offsets, since 2015 at Airbus India, focusing on ‘Make in India’ initiatives, is now the head of the helicopter division of Airbus India to lead its initiatives across the civil, defence and parapublic rotorcraft markets. Saraf, whose appointment is effective July 1, 2018, is based in New Delhi; he takes over from Xavier Hay who leaves India after six years to take over new responsibilities. Boeing and Jet Airways confirmed that the Indian carrier placed an order for an additional 75 737 MAX 8 airplanes during a signing ceremony at the 2018 Farnborough International Airshow. The order, valued at $8.8 billion at current list prices, was previously posted as unidentified on Boeing's Orders and Deliveries website. This order for an additional 75 MAX airplanes helps the Indian carrier expand its network to meet surging demand in the fastest-growing aviation market in the world. GKN Fokker Elmo and the State of Maharashtra (India) have signed an MOU for investment in a second manufacturing facility for wiring interconnection systems in India at the Farnborough Airshow. The new site, a fully-owned GKN Aerospace business, is located in Pune in the state Maharashtra and is scheduled to come on line in the fourth quarter of 2018. Production will start in the first quarter of 2019, the work force is expected to grow to 800 in 2027. New Delhi and Mumbai International Airports will soon be operating environmentally friendly Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) TaxiBot vehicles. IAI's agreement with Delhi-based KSU Aviation includes the first phase of the contract to carry out controlled trials at the airports till end 2018. The second phase includes delivery of 38 additional vehicles within four years to the two airports. Indian airlines are moving towards the international market in search of better returns as the intensifying fight for a bigger share of the world’s fastest growing domestic market drives down profits, says a recent report by Reuters. A data report from the travel firm Rome2Rio, says that, India is among the cheapest domestic airlines market in the world, with an average fare of 13 cents per kilometer flown, less than half the 27 cents per km average in China and the United States of America (US). Promotional offers on a two-hour flight from Mumbai to Delhi, such as, USD 50 one-way tickets, are easier to find, and for the airlines that are expected to take delivery for more than 500 aircraft in the next five years, the pressure on profits and fares are also increasing. The Indian airlines market is growing by 30 pc. Acumen Aviation © 23 July All Rights Reserved. BOC Aviation (BOCA), via a Cayman-based subsidiary, agreed to purchase 17 A320neo and A321neo aircraft from Airbus for approximately US$2.2 billion at list prices. BOC Aviation expects to take delivery of the aircraft in 2020 and 2021, and deliver them to an airline customer. The transaction will be funded through cash on hand, the proceeds of loans or other borrowings by BOCA and/or cash generated from the company's business operations. According to a report Aviation Week 20 July stated Air China and Sichuan Airlines will each begin receiving Airbus A350s early in August following delayed Chinese validation of the type’s airworthiness certification. China Aircraft Leasing Company (CALC) announced that it has selected CFM International’s advanced LEAP-1A engine to power 17 firm and up to 50 option new Airbus A320neo family aircraft. In addition, the leasing company finalized an order for CFM56-5B engines to power three firm, nine option Airbus A320ceo aircraft. These two agreements are valued at $550 million U.S. at list price. Cathay Pacific will commence a new non-stop service to Seattle on 31 March 2019, becoming the only airline that will directly link Hong Kong with the fastest-growing city on the west coast of the United States. Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Officer Rupert Hogg said the Seattle route, which will be operated by the Airbus A350-900 aircraft, underscores the airline’s expansion strategy to connect new destinations not otherwise served from Hong Kong – and to link its home, one of the most innovative cities in Asia, with tech hubs the world over. A strategic partnership and mutual promotion mechanism was established as Etihad Aviation Group (EAG) CEO Tony Douglas and Jiangsu Provincial Overseas Cooperation and Investment Company Limited (JOCIC) Chairman Luo Hua inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during Chinese President Xi Jinping's three-day state visit to the United Arab Emirates. The MoU signifies that EAG will provide the companies investing in the China-UAE Industrial Park with preferred air transportation and cargo rates on the routes and services between China and other cities on Etihad Airways entire network. JOCIC and the companies of the China-UAE Industrial Park also designate Etihad Airways as their preferred airline. SKYTRAX announced the winners of the 2018 SKYTRAX World Airline Awards during a coveted ceremony at The Langham Hotel in London. Hainan Airlines was named a SKYTRAX Five-Star Airline for the eighth consecutive year, in addition to being awarded Best Business Class Amenities, Best Airline China, and Best Airlines Staff in China designations. After joining the roster of SKYTRAX World's Top 10 Airlines for the first time in 2017, the airline moved up the rankings to claim eighth place this year, becoming the first mainland China-based airline to win the honour for the second year in a row. Hainan Airlines and BBC Global News signed a major new deal at a special signing ceremony at the BBC's headquarters in London to celebrate their partnership. Yufei Wang, Vice President, Branding, Hainan Airlines and Jim Egan, CEO, BBC Global News, spoke about the significance of this strategic commercial partnership which will see BBC StoryWorks, the award-winning content marketing division of BBC Global News, produce digital and video content for Hainan Airlines to mark the launch of its new route and the beauty of its destinations. Boeing and two undisclosed airlines have reached agreements to buy a total of 15 787-9 Dreamliners valued at $4.2 billion per current list prices, the company announced at the 2018 Farnborough International Airshow. One of the airlines would become a new 787 customer. The second airline is adding more 787s to their Dreamliner fleet. Both commitments will be reflected on Boeing's Orders and Deliveries website once they are finalized. Boeing and British Airways announced a commitment for three 777-300ER (Extended Range) airplanes. British Airways will take the 777s on an operating lease with a leasing company. The carrier is one of the world's largest operators of the long-range jet, operating 58 777-200ER and 777-300ER airplanes across its global network. Boeing and Hawaiian Airlines announced the companies finalized an order yesterday for 10 787-9 Dreamliners, valued at $2.82 billion at list prices. The deal also includes purchase rights for 10 additional 787s. Hawaiian announced in March that it had selected the 787-9 Dreamliner to serve medium to long-haul routes, signing a letter of intent for the aircraft. Boeing and Novus Aviation Capital, announced its first direct agreement with Boeing for up to four 777-300ERs (Extended Range) at the 2018 Farnborough International Airshow. The commitment carries a list-price value of $1.44 billion and will be reflected on Boeing's Orders and Deliveries website once it is finalized. Boeing and an unidentified customer reached an agreement during the 2018 Farnborough International Airshow for an additional 100 737 MAX airplanes, the company announced. The commitment carries a list-price value of $11.7 billion and will be reflected on Boeing's Orders and Deliveries website once it is finalized. Boeing and four customers have signed commitments for a total of 93 737 MAX airplanes, including a carrier that has committed to 40 of the high-capacity version of the MAX 8 airplane. The commitments, valued at nearly $11 billion at current list prices, were announced at the 2018 Farnborough International Airshow. The agreements will be reflected on Boeing's Orders and Deliveries website when they have been finalized. The four unidentified customers hail from the airline and airplane leasing industries. Delta Air Lines and WestJet have signed a definitive agreement to create a comprehensive transborder joint venture arrangement that will offer customers an extensive route network within the U.S. and Canada. "Delta's future is global and together with WestJet, we can augment the two airlines' capabilities and bring together our strengths in this important trans-border market," said Ed Bastian, Delta's CEO. "Combined, we will be able to offer more destinations to customers with an integrated network, superior airline products, improved airport connections and significantly enhanced frequent flyer benefits. The JV will provide an unmatched passenger experience for customers travelling between the U.S. and Canada." GE Aviation and its joint CFM International received more than $22 billion (USD) in orders and commitments for its jet engines and services at the 2018 Farnborough Air Show. Engine orders and commitments included more than 850 LEAP and CFM56 engines, 250 CF34 engines, close to 100 GE90-115B engines and almost 50 GEnx engines. Pobeda has agreed with Boeing for the order of 15 B737 MAX 8 aircraft, with delivery from autumn 2019. According to the carrier's development strategy, by 2020, its fleet should consist of 45 aircraft. Avolon announced 13 July the delivery of one A320Neo to Air India. This is the twelfth Avolon aircraft on lease to Air India. Boeing and GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) announced today that they have reached an agreement for 35 additional 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighters at the 2018 Farnborough International Airshow. The deal, which includes 20 firm orders and an option for 15 more, would take GECAS' 737-800BCF order book from 15 to 50 and enable GECAS to serve the growing express air cargo market. Following the delivery last week of Okay Airways’ first leased Boeing 737 MAX 8, GECAS signed another contract with Okay Airways for the purchase-and-leaseback with pre-delivery payment financing of two Boeing 737 MAX 8s. The aircraft, fitted with CFM LEAP-1B engines, are scheduled for delivery in July and September 2019. GECAS welcomed 16 July Hongtu Airlines’ to the GE Pavilion in Farnborough to commemorate the agreement to lease four A320neo’s from GECAS’ skyline orderbook when they enter service beginning in the first quarter of 2019. Goshawk Aviation Limited has placed a firm order for 20 A320neo. Goshawk has an owned, managed and committed fleet of over 220 aircraft including the direct order with Airbus. Goshawk has more than 120 Airbus aircraft in its portfolio (A320 Family including NEO, A330 Family including NEO and A350-900). Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) confirmed 13 July the delivery of one ATR 72-600, MSN 1492, to AirSWIFT on lease. TrueNoord has closed a senior secured debt facility of US$ 500 million. The facility will be deployed to refinance part of the existing TrueNoord portfolio of Embraer, Bombardier and ATR aircraft. The remaining part of the debt facility will be used as a warehouse for future business development and fleet expansion. EI-FJI Boeing 737-8JP c/n 37817 Jeju Air Ferried East Midlands-Budapest 18/07/18 after paint. EI-GGK Boeing 737 MAX 8 c/n 64606 Air Italy Delivered Paine Field-Shannon-Farnbourgh 12/13-07/18. G-DRTE Boeing 737-8K5 c/n 28228 Jet2 Delivered Lasham-Manchester 17/07/18 ex EI-RUH. G-DRTF Boeing 737-85P c/n 28387 Jet2 Delivered Bournemouth-Manchester 18/07/18 ex EI-RUI. OE-LCF Airbus A321-211 c/n 1966 Anisec Luftfahrt Delivered Toulouse/Francazal-Lourdes-Norwich 13/07/18 for paint into Level colours ex D-ABCF. OE-IAD Boeing 737-4M0(F) c/n 29203 ASL Airlines Delivered Shannon-Liege 17/07/18 ex N496CS. OE-LCP Airbus A321-211 c/n 6629 Anisec Luftfahrt Delivered Bratislava-Vienna 13/07/18 after paint ex HB-JOV. OO-SBA Airbus A321-231 c/n 2730 flyVLM Delivered Dublin-Brussels 12/07/18 in all white colours ex G-ZBAF. OY-YBN ATR72-212A(500) c/n 785 Nordic Avition Capital Ferried Billund-Prague 16/07/18 on lease to CSA Czech Airlines.

2019-04-24T01:51:51Z

https://acumen.typepad.com/acumen_aviation_blog/2018/07/index.html

I really had to go back and check when I last shared a health update because it does not feel like it’s been a month already! These weeks have gone by so fast, and because of that, I have not kept very good track of how I’ve been doing. Eesh. Overall Health: Fatigue and Fibro have both eased, even before my nutrient IV last week! In between the awful bouts of pain, I’ve had times of almost excess energy. Strange. And wonderful. I’ve been steadily adding my supplements/vitamins back in. Although I did realize that Resveratrol (2/day) causes upset stomach for me! Less than 24 hrs on it and I was having the same problems that I had a few months ago. I cut back to 1/day and am fine again. So. Shrug. Nov 29- started 21day workout challenge. Dec 16- tired all day, oddly energetic late evening. Two clonidine for migraine. Minimal fibropain until evening, left calf cramped. Mood good. Migraine: These are still daily – and pretty intense every day, but I feel like they are responding to treatment better lately. Sleep: I’m still getting just about 7 hours exactly with 2 or 3 wakings in the night. Most nights I am completely exhausted but have to wait til I can get the pain down to a decent level to go to bed. Sometimes my naps ruin going to bed at a halfway decent hour and other nights I’m still falling asleep on the couch at 9pm. Memory/Brain Fog: After a full month on Turmeric instead of Neuroflam, I think it’s working – at the very least I haven’t noticed a big decrease in my memory. The only thing is that I have had a shorter attention span lately. I’m not sure if that has to do with this or just fatigue? Vision: There hasn’t been any vision loss this month – huzzah! But I have had semi-frequent blurring. TMJ: This has stayed the same – I’m attributing it to the fact that I haven’t been to my bodywork doctor in about four months. It pops painfully most every day and aches so that my teeth hurt daily. Fibromyalgia: I’m happy to report that this has eased slightly. I think it’s because of the extra thing we added to my nutrient IV last time. (of course, I cannot remember what it was called, but it was specifically to see if it helped with inflammation in the joints/the awful aching) My left calf is still tense/self flexing throughout the day and I’ve been getting cramps in my feet/calves again. I’m glad that they haven’t started again in my hands/elbows though. Ice is still the current magic treatment – be it on my calves or neck. If I’m resting, I’ve got one on me. Mood: Even though I’m only taking 2 Xiao Chai Hu Tang a day (instead of my previous 4), this has stayed good. Digestion: This has also been good (well, for me). BUT. As I said at the beginning of this post – I did realize that Resveratrol (2/day) causes upset stomach for me! Less than 24 hrs on it and I was having the same problems that I had a few months ago. I cut back to 1/day and am fine again. So. I’m glad that I realized it quickly. And that’s it for this month! I’m remaining hopeful that this coming year will be full of further improvements. So much so that even I can’t miss them. Heh. Happy Holidays and I’ll see you again next week with this month’s Book Reviews! P.S. Did you see this post – How Much More Will Chronic Illness Steal From Me? that I wrote on the emotional side of living with chronic illness? This one, Chronic Illness Silence, I wrote this time last year about how hard it is to share about what chronic illness sufferers go through. This one , The Dark Before the Dawn, is a late night conversation on pain. P.P.S. For a more upbeat tone, go check out Hesitant Fate, just a short story I wrote from a writing prompt. P.P.P.S. Watch next month for my Top Reads and Top Posts of 2018! How much more will Chronic Illness steal from me? As a girl, I never used to think about growing older. Oh I did in the sense of ‘what do I want to be when I grow up’ and that sort but I never thought past that. Who does when you’re twelve years old and running around barefoot with your pigtails slapping your shoulders? But with the passage of time, my looking ahead has changed. As it does for everyone. Dreams shift with the wind-blown sand. Hopes are shattered like glass. Sunrises fill your eyes and heart with fire. Now, instead of career goals and adventures waiting in the future, I look past the busy years to the slow rocking of a chair on a porch. I picture myself sitting there, a blanket on my lap and a long braid down my shoulder. My eyes are dimmed but I can see well enough to read a favorite novel from time to time. I think about myself, white-haired and worn out. And wonder. I wonder what will I have done in the intervening years? Will I have struggled against this disease that whole time, being relegated to wishing and hoping but stuck fighting just to stay alive? Or will the miracle that I’ve been praying for, finally happen, and I am able to move forward. Move toward a dream. Or two. Or even three. I will have lived a full life, whether I am chronically ill for the whole length of it, or if I am able to beat it to a large enough degree that I can DO. Do the things that I dream of doing. Do things that I haven’t even thought of. But there’s a fear deep inside of me. A fear that I rarely acknowledge. For what’s the use of pulling something out for the light of day that you can’t do anything about? But here I am, dusting it off and showing it to you. There’s a fear deep inside that even though I am fighting and will continue to fight, Lyme will have stolen so many years from me that it’ll be too little too late…All we have is this one life, we don’t get a do-over. Already it has taken 13 years – my whole adult life – how much more will it steal? Will the old woman in the rocking chair have been there since she was in her thirties? Will life continue to pass by in a sort of haze- being a part of it but still very much on the outskirts? I am better able to commiserate with people my grandparents age, than with my own. Deadlines at work and stress over obnoxious coworkers? I have to go back to almost ten years ago to be able to identify with that. Trying to navigate parenting a young one? Thanks to my health, we haven’t even been able to try for any kids of our own. Unable to remember that important thing and not sure which doctor to try next? That I understand and have recent experience with. Are you trying to gauge which medication/supplement/treatment is helping or not? Yep, right there with you. And while I can laugh about this reality, shoved deep down inside is that fear that it will never change. And if it never changes, how will I react to that fact? I have survived these past few years by simply not thinking about it – by focusing on the fact that I have made progress in healing. Obviously that’s not a bad thing, focusing on the positive. But I know that this fear that is hidden away is going to rear its ugly head eventually and completely. freeze. me. Like it’s done in the past. I know it will again. Along with that fear is the realization that even while fighting Lyme, I can still have a full life. I can still chase a few dreams and make wonderful memories. Just like I’ve been doing the past 13 years. I finished Culinary School. Traveled overseas and across country. Fell in love. Married. Moved a few times. Gained new friends and nieces and nephews. Picked up an old hobby. Started and finished writing a novel. Etc, etc, etc. So I share this fear of mine with you not as someone without hope. But as someone that is trying to acknowledge, and share, the hidden things, the secret things that go on in someone living with chronic illness. Just because there may be healing going on, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t a basket full of fears and worries still waiting to be dealt with. Hello friends! Thanks for coming by SGL for today’s update on my health. Just a quick intro for anyone new here – I have been diagnosed with Lyme Disease along with some lovely friends – like Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, TMJ, Chronic Migraines and a handful of other stuff. The co-infections of Lyme are brutal. Brutal, I tell ya. I think I can accurately say that I’m on the road to health – it’s just a switchback, up and down type of road. If you want to read a bit more – go check out my About Me page. But for now, I’ll dive into the update – hoping that this time next year I’ll be able to see even more improvements in my health. Overall Health: Fatigue to the max lately. Fibropain as well. I’m sure that not having an IV for almost two months (!!) has a lot to do with how badly I was flaring in October. Since then, my fatigue and fibro have continued to be intense but it is a bit less – and I’m hoping that getting them regular again will keep chipping away at it. Oct 15- exhausted, brain fog, nap in afternoon helped but by evening whole body ached and hard to get to sleep. Severe pain. Oct 31- seems that when I limit my iberogast as well, that my stomach is some better. Today was the best day in weeks for it, although water still tastes awful and I’ve still got some iron breath. Fatigue has been very present past few days, did get to the grocery store this am before it hit. Fibropain still present in joints but not as severe. Nov 8- woke up at 4am till 730, slept again till 93pam. Weary but feel pretty good. minimal attention span. Migraine: Some days I’m thinking about how much better this area is and then others I’m struggling to keep the pain down to a survivable level. Sleep: This hasn’t changed much at all – still needing an ice pack most every night, and typically change it out at least once. It would be nice if sleep actually helped my fatigue. Memory/Brain fog: I am doing something scary – I’m going to see if taking Turmeric pills has the same result as taking the Neuroflam. I’m hoping it does because as much as I love the Neuroflam, it is at least $60 a bottle. (Turmeric/curcumin is a main ingredient in the Neuroflam) My attention span has been spotty often lately. Augh. Vision: First – I haven’t had any visual auras! I’m very relieved by this. Thing do get blurrier than they should at times. TMJ: This has increased in popping and pain. I’m attributing it to the fact that I haven’t been to my bodywork doctor in about three months. It pops painfully most every day and aches so that my teeth hurt daily. Fatigue: Such a big struggle still – but since my IV I have been able to struggle through getting things done a little more during the day. Unexpected naps have been happening regularly though. Blink once and it’s an hour later. my only pic from my last IV! we did a push on everything which makes it SO much faster! Fibromyalgia: Such a main point of pain. It’s a constant burning, tingling, throbbing in my limbs, as well as occasional cramping in my feet, calves and hands. The overall aching has been keeping me up late at night, unable to get to sleep. I’m still on ice at least once each day, but it’s typically a pretty fair bit of swapping out ice packs. I’ve continued using the Tens Unit on my legs as well as using Mg lotion. Mood: This has stayed pretty good lately – although I do feel like some of that might be that I’m just not thinking about anything serious. Digestion: I almost forgot to add this and it was SUCH a problem for over a month. My digestion was so bad that even water tasted awful. I finally figured out that my stomach was needing a rest from all of the supplements/vitamins that I’ve been taking for so long. I cut it down to five or six a day – instead of the… forty (probably more) a day I was taking. It took only a few days for it to start helping and now I’m slowly adding things back in. It’s nice to not be taking so many pills but I can tell that I definitely need more than what I’m currently on. To read where I was at last year in this journey- click here – it’s also when my doctor first uttered the most beautiful three words she’s ever said to me. Well, folks, over a week ago I was thinking about the little improvements that have been happening and realized how nice it was to be able to see them! And then, if you saw my FB or IG posts, you know that last tuesday I crashed and burned harder than I have in months. OY, but isn’t that how it goes? It doesn’t take away (fully) from the improvements but it takes away some of the optimism. I do want to look at where I was at this time last year though to maybe get some of that optimism back…hopefully. So let’s get to it! Overall Health: Flaring severity has decreased. Brain fog has eased. Fibromyalgia has increased. I’m still exhausted and completely tired of fighting for my health. I’m READY to move on to the next thing in my life to focus on – like becoming a published author maybe? After a blood test last month, we learned that : my LDL’s are high, my adiponectin is high (dr wrote ‘fat burn’ next to it =) ), Omega-3s are low and that I most likely have SIBO. My doctor has thought that before but with the results of this test, we’ve decided to work on treating it. I’ve started Resveratrol (2/day), Bearberry (1/day), increased Iberogast to 14 drops/day. Aug 16. Started DIM Detox, 1/day today only? Feel pretty good, tired. Napped. Worked on book! Low migraine late am. Fibropain shoulders down, minimal in wrists and hands. Aug 20- energy in am, minimal pain until early afternoon. Migraine and fibromyalgia flared pretty bad in evening, as has been usual. Aug 24- fatigue has eased and flaring in the evening has calmed down as well. Still some brain fog, fibromyalgia in joints/just all around aching that’s pretty painful and distracting. increased Iberogast to 14 drops/day last week. Am increasing liver, seeing if it helps with fatigue. THESE above are ALL Sept dates!!! Migraine: These have been both marginally better, and much worse. — While I have had a slight decrease in severity some days, I also had a visual aura this past week so I feel like it evens out in the end. Sleep: my doctor had me start taking 5Htp to help with my sleep (among other things) and it did help – a lot – I was waking less during the night, sleeping longer and feeling a wee bit more rested. The problem was that it was causing nightmares and messing up my stomach a lot. I have since gone off of it because the stomach stuff was just too rough. So, I’m back to seven hours tops of sleep with multiple wakings. With frequently needing an ice pack or heating pad. Memory/Brain fog: The answer is the same as last month – Neuroflam. It is a lifesaver. Not that I’m clear of either memory problems or brain fog but they aren’t so …debilitating now. Vision: As I said, I had one vision loss this week, although it didn’t progress fully it was the worst I’ve had since June/July. I was able to halt the full nuclear migraine that follows though. TMJ: While it still isn’t popping too much, I would say this has increased lately because it aches SO OFTEN and my teeth just hurt frequently. Fatigue: This has either been calm enough that I’ve been able to do minimal things (light cleaning, dog park, slow walks,etc) off and on thru the day or it has just hit me hard that I’ve been stuck on the couch for days on end. Fibromyalgia: Once again, the biggest pain the past month. Well, along with the fatigue. There’s just a constant burning, tingling, throbbing in my limbs anymore, as well as occasional cramping. The cramping had disappeared for a few weeks but now it’s back occasionally. The overall aching has been keeping me up later at night, unable to relax enough to get to sleep. I’m still on ice at least once each day, but it’s typically a pretty fair bit of swapping out ice packs. I have been using the Tens Unit on my legs this past week and it helps so much! I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. Weight Loss: YES! It’s not much but I’m pleased with any. Mood: Thankfully this has evened out again! I am going to admit something to you right away – I’m starting this but have no idea when it’ll get finished and posted! With my OH’s graduation and party on Sunday, my parents coming into town today and donation boxes/a dog park run to do before they get here, I’m just not sure how much of this I’ll actually get written today. But, “Well begun is half done”. **Update: It’s now July 30th and I am just now getting back to this post! The party has been thrown (along with a second one beginning of this month) the parents have come and gone, along with another couple of guests, many dog park runs have occurred and I’m woefully behind on so much that I’ve intended to do. But, this is step one in getting back on track! Overall Health: I have been a bit better this month. Fatigue has still been a major problem. My back seized up early one morning and it took almost two weeks before it stopped hurting. I’ve seen some improvement in my every-few-weeks flaring, which has been such a relief. May 14 saw bodywork Dr. Worked on whole left side. May 15 saw main Dr. Going to start neuroflam. Also went major grocery shopping today. Was worn out in afternoon, dehydrated, some brain fog. Took detox bath in evening, wiped me out. May 16- woke up with severe fatigue. Slept again until noon. Joints achy and a 7 migraine. Fatigue isn’t so severe this afternoon. May 18- a better day. Was able to do some light cleaning, cooking, etc. Migraine didn’t hit till later afternoon and then harder in evening. First evening in at least a week that my hip hasn’t hurt and my calf hurts half as bad. Fatigue isn’t near as bad but still underlying. May 23- took Abby to the park, went to get my hair cut and to two stores.. Worn out and a migraine trying to come in evening. Hip didn’t hurt though! May 24- woke up early with bad migraine and very hungry. Had a snack and slept again. Migraine was still bad when I woke up, but early afternoon it has eased some. Strong fatigue today. May 25- woke up feeling better enough that I drove to Eugene in the afternoon. Hit with 8 migraine in the evening, and Soo hungry but ice, clonidine and food kept it from increasing. Took a short nap around 8pm. May 30 – fibropain flaring all week. In hands especially tonight, maybe because I worked in yard this am. Migraine flaring up to an 8 but then stopping. Fatigue hit hard yesterday, easing off today. –have been ‘seeing’ things in the corner of my eye. A bit of heart pounding. Fingers hurting/have to focus to straighten all the way. June 3- severe migraine out of the blue in evening. Vision gone in left eye. Debilitating. Day 15. June 4- recovery day and keeping the pain down. June 5 – fighting migraine down. Hit hard in evening. To a level 9. IV today, glutathione push. June 6- pretty good today. Upset stomach in late am and late evening. Clonidine keeping migraine down. Some fibropain. June 11-fatigue hit hard all day. Migraine tried to flare throughout the day. Took 2 naps. June 13- decent fatigue but was able to get up and putter around the house as well. Took a long nap. detox bath in the evening. Have been struggling with bad fatigue for a week and a half. One vision loss migraine. June 26th iron and nutrient IV. July 20- back still hurting (a week and a half now) mainly on left side. Possible kidney moved down again? * I’ve been on the DIM Detox since the end of May and I have slowly but steadily seen an improvement in my mid-month flaring like we were hoping! I did have to cut back to 1/day after increasing to 2/day and having a flare but it’s helping!!! Migraine: These have slowly decreased from May to end of July. I haven’t had a ‘nuclear migraine’ (aka, vision loss/debilitating) since beginning of June. They are still daily, of course – finish? Sleep: This hasn’t changed much other than, with the fatigue, I’m needing more naps. Not every day, thankfully, but a lot of times when I do nap, it’s a few hours before I wake up. Which then makes it hard to get to bed before midnight… I am glad that I still don’t need melatonin to get to sleep like I did for so long! Memory/Brain Fog: This was a big enough of a struggle that I started taking Neuroflam (thankfully I can get it for about $30 cheaper than this amazon price). To experiment, I have been off of it for a few weeks…and I think it really was helping. OY. I was hoping to save that money but anything that helps with mental clarity is worth it. I’ve been so foggy that sitting down and writing (either on here or on my book) has been such a trial that I just haven’t done it. Sadly. It took at least half an hour to get the needle in to a good vein this time. Second try with the Iron push. Verdict? Doesn’t kick the fatigue. Vision: Since the beginning of June, I haven’t had full vision loss but I have had some minor sparkles, spots or blurriness. I have been able to attribute them to exhaustion or hunger. When they have been tied to the oncoming of a severe migraine, I’ve been able to halt it from fully forming. Fibromyalgia: Ahhh, joint aches. Self-cramping. Sporadic tingling. Pain that is trying to claw its way out of my body. This has increased over the months and I’m thinking that it’s due to the fact that I’ve been having cane sugar occasionally. As well as starch. I am okay with never feeling the need to move just because the pain is so bad. TMJ: This is one thing that has eased off and stayed down, mostly. My teeth will still ache and my jaw is almost always tender to the touch. It doesn’t pop too often. Fatigue: This has been a doozy for a while now. My last two IV’s, we’ve gone without the glutathione and done Iron and nutrients but it’s not kicking the fatigue like the glutathione. OY. Weight Loss: I was doing good on this for about a month and then…I stopped working out and more lax on what I would eat. I’ve started working out again though so I’m hopeful I can start losing some again! Mood: Overall, this has been good- even- calm. A few times a month (?) it goes more wacky than it normally would. Bladder: since May, I haven’t had any other …strange behaviors in this quarter. I follow Aubrey on Instagram and just had to share this bit of humor. If you want more frequent updates on my health journey – as well as Abby adventures, crochet projects and whatnot – follow me on Instagram! *Disclaimer: I will say though, that I tend to share more…. real-life photos there than I do here. I only share a portion of them here on SGL. I have gotten some comments on my ‘death/zombie’ photos and such – if you don’t want to see pictures of someone in chronic, debilitating pain, I suggest you don’t follow me on IG. or Facebook, heh. I know it can be hard to see and read about, but this is my life and the life that so very many people are living. We didn’t ask for this. If you don’t like it, and there’s nothing wrong with that, please don’t make critical comments about our hard days – even if you mean them in jest. They still wound us. I appreciate each one of you that follows my blog, IG or Facebook. I’m sharing this post – a Letter to Lyme Disease – that is especially fitting for me lately. I hope you’ll take the time to click over and read it as it speaks to what those of us with chronic pain go through emotionally as well as physically. Once again, I am so glad I do these updates! It helps so much in keeping track of where I’ve been – and where I am. While I have been frustrated lately on just how expensive all my treatment is – how come insurance just won’t cover lyme treatments?! – I have to admit that it is all worth it. Out of curiosity, I brought up last year’s update and the difference is striking. I don’t take melatonin or theanine to sleep anymore – ever! While my fibromyalgia is still painful, I can crochet pretty much as long as I want and it doesn’t get to the point of making me cry/scream. I no longer have disassociation. I am able to keep up with housework better overall. The things that I started taking/increased are all some of my favorites now – St. John’s Wort, Butterbur/Petadolex, iron supplement, etc. I have decreased the ceanothus to once a week though because I react to it so strongly. Mar 22- fatigue and migraine today. Crashing in evening with fibropain and migraine. Two or three clonidine. Mar 24 – fuzzy brain and fatigue. Migraine hard to calm down throughout the day. April 8th- a little fuzzy brained all weekend. Fatigue too. Some cramping. April 9- took one drop clonidine am. Mega fatigue hit late morning. Bad migraine early afternoon and most of rest of day. Started SAT. Have mostly forgotten to take daily liver the past week. Haven’t noticed any difference? Fatigue has eased although it is still present. Brain fog is the same. Was busier this past week odd than have been in a while and have not CRASHED like I thought I would. Sensitive to smells and loud noises. April 23rd- started Mineral complex again. Migraine off and on all day. Energy even though I’ve been tired and took two naps. Was a productive day. April 28 – woke up feeling pretty good, fatigue eased. Front of neck still hurt but eased as day progressed. Took Abby to the park with start of migraine but eased by evening. Went to movie, took 3 clonidine before and during. Didn’t crash like I expected to afterward. Migraines: While I haven’t had any level 10’s (and just a few times of a hint of my vision going), these have been bad. And have often not responded to anything I do to get them down. And then other days, one clonidine is all I need. Very back and forth. Sleep: I am able to sleep longer than normal – up to 8 hours some nights! It’s been so nice. But. I have been waking up more often to use the bathroom. Memory/Brain Fog: this has increased, frustratingly. Quite often, I won’t realize how bad it is until I leave the house. Vision: Like I mentioned above, I had a few times of vision loss. But it was very minimal – the sparklers in my left eye that is the precursor to it, and then nothing else. Fibromyalgia: This is just bad enough to be obnoxious but not debilitating. My left calf is always tense/hurting. My joints ache frequently and have had some random stabbing pain in my palms or base of feet. TMJ: The front of my neck has HURT so much these past weeks. Even going to the bodywork doctor didn’t help it like it normally does. My jaw isn’t popping quite as much but my teeth still ache frequently. Fatigue: This has eased….most days, thank goodness. I do think the H2PLX has helped a lot. I tried going off my iron supplement and while I didn’t think at first there was any difference, there was. (it got to the point that I’d fall asleep mid-project…or almost fall asleep in the checkout line at the grocery store.) I now am taking it most every day again. Weight Loss: I have been able to lose a tiny bit! Mood: This has calmed back down again and I am so very thankful for that. Bladder: Ahhhh, this one. This one has me a bit baffled. All of a sudden last week, I was needing to use the bathroom about every 10 minutes. And I’d wake up about 5 times a night. GAH. I don’t know why either. Thankfully it’s calmed down but it’s still more…active than it should be. ~ Check out It’s the Lyme Life – may 2017 and Encouragement for living with Chronic Illness (the start of a 4- part series) for more!

2019-04-19T00:29:45Z

https://thestartofagoodlife.com/tag/chronic-fatigue/

Butler House and Trading Station (Former), Mangonui. Copyright: Heritage New Zealand. Taken By: Martin Jones. Date: 21/09/2018. Butler House and Trading Station (Former), Mangonui. 1847 or earlier portion of Butler House, with pre-1852 rear lean-to and harbour beyond – looking northeast. Butler House and Trading Station (Former), Mangonui. Pre-1858 rear addition to Butler House, looking northwest. Butler House and Trading Station (Former), Mangonui. Butler Drying Rack. Extent includes the land described as Allot 1 Sec 2 Vill of Mangonui (RT NA509/128), Allots 2, 4-8, and 10 Sec 2 Vill of Mangonui (RT NA509/127), and Allot 9 Sec 2 Vill of Mangonui (RT NA509/129), North Auckland Land District and the building and structures known as Butler House and Trading Station (Former) thereon including the main residence and the burial ground. It also includes trees including the pohutukawa, the magnolia, and the olive. (Refer to map in Appendix 1 of the List entry report for further information). Butler House and Trading Station (Former), at the mouth of Mangonui Harbour, has special significance as an early colonial trading post connected with Māori, Pākehā and overseas commercial networks. Established in circa 1847 by Captain William Butler (1814-1875), a former whaler, the trading station is particularly important for the strength of its links with the American-based South Pacific whaling fleet, which increasingly used Mangonui after the Northern War (1845-6). Whaling was an important global industry at this time due to the demand for whale oil as lighting. Retaining a wide variety of remains dating to an early period in the country’s post-1840 history, Butler House and Trading Station (Former) includes a well-preserved residence initially built in 1847 or earlier; extensive in-ground archaeological remains linked with use as a trading station; a burial ground; and notable early trees. As well as having special value for its potential to provide public education about early colonial commerce and domestic life, it forms a key part of a notable historical and cultural landscape at the mouth of the Mangonui Harbour that demonstrates shifts from pre-1840 Māori control of the landscape to the emergence of colonial Mangonui as the administrative centre of the Far North. Butler House and Trading Station (Former) is situated at the southern end of Waikeke peninsula, within the rohe of Ngati Kahu. Widely settled in pre-European times, lands bordering the Mangonui Harbour formed a significant food production area for Māori communities. From the early nineteenth century, these communities traded produce and goods directly with visiting whaling ships, which sought supplies on their way to and from nearby hunting grounds. In 1840, whaling captain William Butler set himself up as an intermediary in this process, establishing an initial trading post at Paewhenua Island in the south-eastern part of the Mangonui Harbour. In circa 1847, Butler moved his home and business to Waikeke, closer to deep-water anchorage at the inner entrance to the harbour. This coincided with an increase in port activity at Mangonui with large numbers of whaling vessels visiting the harbour over the next decade, and colonial infrastructure emerging on the opposite side of the entrance to regulate trade. Butler’s new complex was well established by 1852, when a station that included a bonded store and other facilities, as well as his home, formed a major focal point for buying and selling goods with Māori, settlers and whalers. As the business expanded through the decade, Butler extended his residence - Butler House - from a small two-up, two-down timber cottage of Georgian influence into a more rambling, ten room structure. As well as being as a place of reception and entertainment for visiting whaling captains and others, the dwelling was the focus of family life for Butler, his wife Eliza and an increasingly large number of children. Associated trees were planted and a family cemetery established by 1856. Butler’s commercial activities shifted to Mangonui, on the opposite side of the harbour entrance, after a European township was formally established there in the 1860s. Following his death and burial in the family cemetery in 1875, the property was rented to tenants. Occupants included Hubert Dacre, a former sportsman of note from Auckland, who subsequently purchased the property in 1921 and made limited alterations to the house. In 1970, the property was bought by Lindo and Laetitia Ferguson and their family who fully restored the residence, supported archaeological investigations, and established a whaling museum at the property. Butler House and Trading Station (Former) has high historical significance for the strength of its connections with the activities of the nineteenth-century whaling trade in the South Pacific, and as a notable point of contact between this global enterprise, early colonial entrepreneurship and Māori engagement in support and supply. It directly reflects immediate post-1840 relations between Māori and Pākehā, in which the supply of whaling ships shifted from direct provisioning by Māori to those mediated by early settler businesses. Butler House and Trading Station (Former) has importance as a place that reflects the shifting power structures at Mangonui. The location of the place is linked to the growing importance of the colonial government at Mangonui before the township was formally established and the increased Pākehā dominance over commerce that developed during the period when Mangonui was a significant whaling port. The place also has historical significance through its links to William Butler as an early settler and important local figure in the development of Mangonui and to later owners such as Hubert Dacer and Lindo Ferguson, a former Auckland politician, who was important in the restoration and conservation of the place. Butler House and Trading Station (Former) has aesthetic significance for its secluded nature, which allow feelings of proximity and connection with the past. Its location immediately beside the Mangonui Harbour - integral to its historic functioning as a trading station - enhances these aesthetic qualities through the immediate connection of the place to the harbour and the entrance as well as the township. The place also has aesthetic value for the visual appeal of its main residence and the extent to which its interiors, in particular, demonstrate the patina of age. Butler House and Trading Station (Former) has high archaeological significance for the extent, nature and quality of surviving material within the place that particularly relates to its use as a trading station servicing the Pacific whaling fleet in the 1840s and 1850s. Especially notable elements include an unusually well-preserved residence dating from 1847 or earlier; in-ground archaeological deposits that encompass the remains of buildings related to the trading station; and a burial ground that includes headstones and other nineteenth-century material. Artefactual evidence retrieved from excavations from the place has included buttons, clay pipes, and glass bottles. The place also has archaeological value for containing sites linked with pre-European Māori occupation; and as a key part of a much wider archaeological landscape of importance which includes adjacent pā sites, ovens, midden, and terraces. Butler House and Trading Station (Former) has architectural significance as well-preserved example of an early colonial homestead of Georgian influence. It directly reflects successive expansion of early colonial residences as circumstances and affluence change and the place has a well-preserved interior layout. Butler House and Trading Station (Former) has special significance for the extent which it reflects New Zealand’s connections with the international whaling trade in the mid-nineteenth century, and especially Mangonui’s emergence as a centre for the supply of the South Pacific whaling fleet as a direct consequence of the Northern War (1845-6). Commercial activity associated with the exploitation of New Zealand’s natural resources by overseas enterprises was an important feature of the early colonial period. The place is more generally significant for the extent to which it reflects the importance of maritime commerce in early, post-1840 New Zealand, and particularly that linked with the development of initial settler communities; local trade between Māori and Pākehā; and connections to global products. The place was a meeting point for multiple groups who were reliant on trade networks. The place also has high value for the extent to which one of its major components, Butler House, reflects the importance of domestic life within this commercial context, being a major and highly visible component of the trading station and its use. The place reflects an early stage in development of Mangonui as a European centre, which by the 1860s had become the administrative centre for the far north. The place is significant for the closeness and length of its connections with Captain William Butler, a Pākehā whaler and trader who was a notable figure in the development of early colonial commerce in the far north of New Zealand, especially in relation to the whaling trade. Butler was a particularly significant figure in the development of Mangonui from the early 1840s onwards, acting as a magistrate, pilot and harbourmaster in addition to his trading activities, and in the 1860s becoming Mangonui’s first elected member of the House of Representatives. The place also has some significance for its connections with Lindo Ferguson, a deputy mayor of Auckland City Council, who undertook major restoration work of Butler House and its wide site in the 1980s and 90s. It also has an association with Hubert Dacre, a local dentist who had been a prominent sportsman in his youth, and who lived in the place with his family between 1912 and 1939. Butler House and Trading Station (Former) has special value for the extent of its potential to provide information about a variety of matters of importance in the study of early colonial New Zealand, including the activities of the South Pacific whaling fleet; local and global commerce; early entrepreneurship involving both Māori and Pākehā; and the operation and layout of 1840s and 1850s trading stations. Its value in this regard is enhanced by the variety, well-preserved nature and comparative rarity of the remains at the place that may reveal significant further information, which include an extremely well-preserved mid-nineteenth century residence; extensive in-ground archaeological remains and associated artefacts; and other elements such as early trees and a burial ground. Systematic investigation of Butler House, in particular, can additionally provide knowledge about early colonial construction and materials; appearance including décor; and domestic layout and activity. The surviving early fabric includes rare or unusual remaining features such as a hinged louvred window in its front verandah and a smoke-blackened ceiling in its back kitchen. Catalogued wallpaper samples collected during renovation works have considerable potential to provide information about the nature and evolution of interior decoration. The place has strong potential to provide further information about ancestral Maori use of the peninsula and harbour before and during the use of the place as a trading station through the use of archaeological assessment and investigation. Butler House and Trading Station (Former) has special or outstanding significance for its potential to provide information about early colonial trade and commercial enterprise during this period, which connected local Māori communities and international business networks. It especially has potential for public education about the activities and reach of the South Pacific whale trade, an early example of a globalised business activity affecting New Zealand. The special or outstanding ability of the place to provide education about these matters is particularly conveyed through its extensive, well-preserved and varied remains, including Butler House; the visual and other aesthetic appeal of the place; and its use as a museum that is open and promoted to the public. Having been established within a few years of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi / The Treaty of Waitangi (1840), Butler House and Trading Station (Former) has special significance for its connections with a very early period in New Zealand’s colonial history. The house dates to 1847 or earlier with 1850s additions, and its associated trading station - of which extensive archaeological remains survive - was used from at least the late 1840s onwards. The place also contains widespread evidence of Māori use prior to European settlement. Butler House and Trading Station (Former) has special significance for forming a key part of a notable historical and cultural landscape at the entrance to the Mangonui Harbour, which contains a large number of ancestral Māori archaeological sites connected to the strategic importance of the peninsula including a major pa immediately to the west of the place; a number of notable colonial and later buildings at Mangonui township, a very short distance to the south of Butler Point; and the Mangonui Harbour itself. Part of the key importance of Butler House and Trading Station (Former) is its articulation of activity that connects occupation of the wider Māori landscape with the emergence and development of Mangonui township as a major centre for whaling supply and also government administration for the Far North of New Zealand. Butler House and Trading Station (Former) has special significance for forming a key part of a notable historical and cultural landscape at the entrance to the Mangonui Harbour, and for the extent which it reflects New Zealand’s connections with the international whaling trade in the mid-nineteenth century, and especially Mangonui’s emergence as a centre for the supply of the South Pacific whaling fleet as a direct consequence of the Northern War (1845-6). Having been established within a few years of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi / The Treaty of Waitangi (1840), Butler House and Trading Station (Former) has special significance for its connections with a very early period in New Zealand’s colonial history. Butler House and Trading Station (Former) has special value for the extent of its potential to provide information about a variety of matters of importance in the study of early colonial New Zealand, including the activities of the South Pacific whaling fleet; local and global commerce; early entrepreneurship involving both Māori and Pākehā; and the operation and layout of 1840s and 1850s trading stations. Butler House and Trading Station (Former) has special or outstanding significance for its potential to provide information about early colonial trade and commercial enterprise during this period, which connected local Māori communities and international business networks. Butler House and Trading Station (Former) is located on the tip of the peninsula previously known as Waikeke at the north side of the Mangonui Harbour within the rohe of Ngati Kahu. Stories connected with the eastern section of Muriwhenua of Doubtless Bay and Mangonui uncover a complex history for the tribe known as Ngati Kahu. A number of ancestral waka are associated with this area including: Ruakaramea, Mamari (Mamaru), Takitimu and Tinana. Ruakaramea was said to have landed at Mangonui. Mangonui was a strategically important place in the history of Ngati Kahu, being near the traditional pathway that linked the Mangonui Harbour to Whangaroa and inland travel networks. Of the recorded Pā sites around Mangonui two are located at the tip of Waikeke, one of these is Rangitoto, on the north side and the other is located adjacent to the subject property overlooking the inner harbour. This is a reflection of the site’s location at the harbour mouth and the importance of controlling access from the coast. Excavations of well-preserved Pā at Waikeke have found evidence of Māori occupation from the fourteenth to the late eighteenth century during which period Mangonui was a satellite centre of commerce in the north with a wide range of abundant resources which were exploited by local Māori. There are a number of recorded midden and oven sites reflecting the extensive occupation at and around the subject property. The area was once clothed in native trees used for utilitarian construction purposes by ancestral Māori. A number of local specimens retain immense cultural significance including a giant coastal Pohutukawa reputed to be over 500yo. Coinciding with the arrival of increasing numbers of Europeans from around the turn of the 19th century, the local population declined due to the introduction of new diseases and the continued northward expansion of Ngapuhi who were equipped with firearms. Disputes also broke out between Ngapuhi and Te Rarawa from the south in the Ngati Kahu rohe. Local Māori developed highly successful direct trading relationships with the European settlers and whalers who came to Mangonui. In the early decades of the nineteenth century trade at Mangonui was primarily a barter system through which Māori exchanged a range of produce including firewood, pork, potatoes, kumara, pumpkin, corn, and fruit for goods such as gunpowder, flints, fishhooks, knives and metal tools, blankets, tobacco pipes, beads and mirrors with settlers and whalers. In 1840 it was noted that Māori settled at Oruru ‘supplied dozens of vessels, chiefly whalers, with potatoes and corn, besides all the settled white population’ and that they had sold more than 200 tons of potatoes specifically. The Bay of Islands and Mangonui were an important connection in the international whaling trade. Whale products were in high demand with a wide range of uses including for lighting in which the oil was an essential component. In 1812 New Zealand’s waters were considered to be the best in the South Pacific for whaling and, while early ships came for short periods of a few weeks, by 1827 whaling stations were being established around the country by men from Australia and Europe. By the 1830s American whalers were visiting New Zealand in larger numbers than British whalers. The main port frequented by whalers in these years was Kororareka until it was sacked in 1845 during the conflict between Hone Heke and the colonial government. Mangonui became favoured as an alternative port as it was a sheltered deep water harbour that was less affected by the fighting than Kororareka and also didn’t have a customs collector until later in the decade. During this period the shore whaling industry was in decline having peaked in the 1830s and Mangonui was the one of the closest ports to ongoing whaling activity at Three Kings whaling grounds. Mangonui was also an important centre for other trading industries during the nineteenth century with flax as well as kauri timber and gum being processed, traded and exported from there. In 1840 Captain William Butler (1814-1875), the master of the whaling barque Nimrod, settled permanently at Mangonui. Butler had obtained a number of properties around Mangonui after his first visits to the area in 1838. These properties included a farm at Oruru and Paewhenua Island in the southern part of the harbour where he established his home which contained two dwelling houses, outhouses, sawpits, stock and 40 acres of ground fenced in and in part cultivated. A trading relationship developed between local Māori and Butler, who set up a trading station on the island in the early 1840s dealing in timber, cattle, and general trading between whalers, settlers and Māori. Butler sourced some goods including firewood, kauri gum, flax, pork, vegetables and fruit from Māori and supplemented these with goods that he was able to produce at Paewhenua. Butler was also becoming an important figure in the growing settler community. Butler married Elizabeth (Eliza) Merritt in April 1840 and was authorised to act as Magistrate mainly to ‘control the behaviour of whaling crews in port and organising the apprehension of deserters’ in which he coordinated efforts with local Māori. He was also appointed as Surveyor General and Chaplain by Hobson, and represented Mangonui in the forming of the New Zealand Banking Company, which closed in 1845. Butler and his family were among the few settler families to return to Mangonui following the Oruru war in 1843 during which time they temporarily evacuated to Kororareka and two of their buildings on Paewhenua were burnt down. The first European land purchase at Mangonui was by Ranulph Dacre, a timber trader and merchant, in 1831. Thomas Ryan, one of Dacre’s crewmen, settled at Mangonui on Dacre’s land working as a sawyer. In 1838 Ryan obtained Waikeke and sold part of the peninsula to Butler in 1845. Butler moved to his new property shortly afterwards in c.1847 and was advertising his re-established trading station to whaling ships in 1848. The move to the peninsula coincides with the beginning of an active colonial government presence at the settlement following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. Most importantly for trade was the 1848 appointment of a magistrate, William White, with responsibilities which included the collection of customs and other duties. By 1850 Butler was firmly established on the peninsula while White investigated the overlapping land claims of settlers at Mangonui which had been unresolved since they were first investigated in 1843. Butler formally purchased his house site from the Crown and then purchased most of the land now known Butler Point in 1852 at public auction. Butler had established a complex of buildings at the point by this year which included Butler House and four other timber buildings which were likely associated with his trading activities, notably one of these buildings was probably a bonded store which Butler had been authorised to build in 1851. Three of the commercial buildings were located south of Butler House and one was north. Also north of the House was a fenced area possibly used for keeping stock. Butler House is reported to have been brought to the Point from Paewhenua Island on rollers and floated across the harbour. In 1852 the house was a two-up, two-down one and a half storey building with an eastern verandah overlooking the harbour. The interior was comprised of a parlour, ground floor bedroom with stairs to the upper level and two small rooms. The trading station at the Point was well placed to take advantage of the increased port activity at Mangonui in the late 1840s through the 1850s. Records of whaling boats visiting the harbour indicate that there was a significant increase in American whalers visiting during this period which subsequently decreased from the 1860s. The station was located closer to the entrance of the harbour than Paewhenua Island and, as one of the main landing places, had deep water anchorage for visiting ships. The station was also near the new customhouse established in the late 1840s on the opposite side of the harbour entrance. Butler was still reliant on produce and goods traded from Māori who evidently transported goods to the Point on waka and camped on the foreshore when whaling boats came into port. The trading station was very successful through the 1850s and the Butler family prospered. In 1852 Butler was reported to be the only merchant at the port and he expanded his enterprise over the decade including constructing additional buildings at the southern tip of the Point. An archaeological excavation of these buildings found a range of artefacts including clay pipes, bottles, and buttons that date usage of this part of the station to the 1850s and mid to late 1860s. The excavation also found copper nails that were associated with boat building and repairs. Mangonui was noted for being a good anchorage to have whaling boats repaired and refitted during the period when the trading station was operating. The station supplied provisions to whaling ships in exchange for oil and whale bone and provided storage facilities where whalers could leave barrels of oil temporarily. Butler also grew his business through importing and exporting goods on his own boats. He imported goods including tobacco, spirits, and other merchandise and exported flax, kauri gum, timber, and produce to the Bay of Islands, Auckland, and Sydney. Butler also attempted to diversify his operation into whaling. He invested in a whaling venture from 1859 with a number of other investors however the enterprise lost money with only a small number of barrels of oil being obtained each voyage and the desertion of the Māori and Pākehā crew. In 1863 Butler’s trading station was described as consisting of several buildings namely a “shop, stores, including Bonded Store, Stockyard, [and a] Bowling Alley”. Butler’s operation dominated trade in Mangonui which resulted in Maori finding it difficult to compete and profit in commercial ventures. In addition to his business interests Butler was appointed Pilot for Mangonui Harbour in 1851 and Harbour Master in 1857 and was involved in the construction of a new multi-denominational place of worship in 1860. Along with the trading station, Butler House was integral to the functioning of Butler Point. William and Eliza had nine of their thirteen children after the family moved to the Point and the house was expanded significantly by 1858. The expansion was completed in multiple phases. First was a narrow single storey lean-to extension at the rear of the 1847 house that is likely associated with a layout reorganisation of the house as the staircase replaced the earlier access arrangement from the downstairs bedroom. This extension may have been completed before 1852 and a further room was also added between this extension and the front bedroom. The next phase of development added a second one and a half storey building behind the lean-to. This building also had a stair that is accessed from the lean-to and incorporated a large living room on the ground floor. A further structure with a pentice roof was built onto the back of the main extension that includes the kitchen and an additional room. The family also planted a number of plants and trees around the house including a magnolia on the south side of the house and an olive tree on the north side. Eliza provided support for whalers’ wives when they came into port including providing accommodation when required and assisting with childbirth. The Butler’s also hosted many visitors to Mangonui and the house was the social centre in the district. A burial ground was created at the property by the family where they buried William and Eliza’s sons Richard (1852-1856) and George (1850-1869) and grandson Francis (1870-1870). The burial ground was not only used for family burials. It is reported that Mary Ann Williard, the wife of a whaling captain, who died in childbirth was buried in an unmarked grave at the point and there are unverified stories that unnamed sailors were also buried at the Point in early years. In the 1860s Mangonui was formally laid out and established as a town. It was the administrative centre of the far north with government buildings and businesses being established around the customhouse opposite Butler Point. Butler was granted an allotment of land at the new township where he built a large building and likely shifted some of his trading interests to during the 1860s while he expanded his land holdings at the point. The trading station at the point continued operation through the 1860s and 70s. William Butler was elected as the first representative for Mangonui in the House of Representatives between 1861 and 1866. While representing Mangonui Butler may have stepped down from running the trading station day to day and temporarily left the settlement between 1863 and 1864. Butler advertised the business and house for lease while he was in Auckland but it is unknown if a tenant was found. Butler declined to stand again represent Mangonui after parliament was relocated to Wellington, returning instead to Butler Point until his death in 1875 following complications related to an accident. He was buried at Butler Point in the family cemetery beside his sons and grandson. William Butler’s will stipulated that his property should be undivided and, after attempts to sell part of the land to raise money for his widow were refused by the courts, Eliza rented out the house and grounds and moved to Grafton, Auckland with her younger daughters. The trading station at the point was likely closed around the time of Butler’s death and the buildings were demolished as none of the Butler’s sons were in a position to continue the business. The first known tenant of Butler House was Captain John Leslie Chapman. Chapman had been appointed to replace Butler as Pilot of the Port of Mangonui after the former’s death and lived at the house in the years before his own death in 1884. In 1895 Edward James Holmes, a farmer who had previously had a farm east of Butler Point, and his family rented the home for a number of years. At this time the house was falling into disrepair and the upstairs floors were ‘in a dangerous state’. Holmes youngest son, Edward Cheselden Holmes, died in 1900 and was also interred at the cemetery on the grounds. In 1905 the Theophilius Wake and his wife reportedly occupied Butler point with plans to improve the property and adapt it for viticulture. Wake left Mangonui shortly after unsuccessfully contesting the 1905 parliamentary election and Mogford suggests that Butler House may have been temporarily occupied by a Māori family before it was rented in 1912 to Hubert Henry Dacre, a dentist previously from Auckland. Hubert Dacre was the grandson of Ranulph Dacre who had given up his early land purchase at Mangonui in the late 1830s.. Hubert was a prominent sportsman who represented both Auckland and Wellington in rugby and helped found the reformed North Shore Football Club in 1891. Also secretary of the Auckland Swimming Club, he won competitions such as the Amateur Swimming Championship of Wellington in 1894 and was later remembered as ‘one of the best and most powerful swimmers in New Zealand’. Dacre established himself as a dentist in Mangonui district in 1908 and for a time had his practice rooms at the Mangonui Store (List No. 2584, Category 2) opposite Butler Point. Following the death of Eliza Butler in 1919, Butler Point was able to be sold and Dacre purchased the land in 1921. Dacre made a number of changes to the place including replacing the shingle roof with corrugated iron for weather proofing and an extension that was built onto the kitchen to hold a gas plant for a new cooker. Dacre planted an orchard in the grounds, landscaped the garden with shell paths and cared for the original plantings of the Butler family. Butler House continued to be a family home during the period it was owned by the Dacre family. The youngest son of Hubert and his wife Florence was born in Mangonui in 1916 and grew up at the Point. After Hubert Dacre died in 1939, Butler Point was purchased by Robert and Mary Marchant who had been employed as caretakers by Dacre. The house and grounds fell into disrepair over the next decades and stock roamed over the former store site. In 1964 there were three buildings at the property, the House, an old shed and a wool shed which was located at the southern end. Parts of the house were rotted and requiring repairs. The Marchants sold the property in 1970 to Dr Lindo Ferguson and his wife Laetitia. The Marchants and their daughter continued living at Butler House after the sale and following Mary’s death a memorial stone was placed for her in the burial grounds. Lindo Ferguson, a former deputy mayor of Auckland City Council, had a long involvement in heritage issues in the city and along with his family was keen to repair and restore Butler House and the wider property. The repairs included rebuilding the chimneys with bricks from the recently demolished bakery at Mangonui, replacement of the battens and the corrugated iron was replaced with shingles as had been originally used. The house was also reblocked and the floors levelled including the kitchen which was replaced with a kauri floor above a concrete apron. The outside privy was restored while an updated internal bathroom was installed inside the house. The other internal rooms were also restored. Wallpaper samples were collected and catalogued during the restoration of the house. Lindo and Laetitia retired to a new house they built at the property and established a whaling museum alongside the restored homestead. Butler House and Trading Station (Former) is located on the peninsula at the east side of the Mangonui Harbour mouth. The place is approximately 300m across the water from Mangonui township on the south side of the harbour mouth and overlooks the harbour. The place is part of a large pre-European archaeological landscape including a kaianga that was later fortified as a Pa immediately to the west of the place (O04/56) and another Pa in the northern part of the peninsula (O04/16). Other sites on the peninsula include midden (O04/447, O04/651, O04/652, O03/653) and terraces (O04/58, O04/466, O04/472). At Mangonui a large concentration of colonial buildings associated with the early township have been identified including Penny Cottage (pre-1856, List Number 3895, Category 2), St Andrew’s Church (1875, List Number 452, Category 2), Old Oak Hotel (1861, List Number 451, Category 2), Barrett Cottage (1875, List Number 3894, Category 2). Butler House and Trading Station (Former) is comprised of a large site that includes a number of buildings such as Butler House, a 1980s house designed by Miles Warren, a museum building and some recent outbuildings associated with the museum, macadamia processing, and the restoration of the Butler House in the 1980s-90s. The site also includes recorded and unrecorded archaeological sites. The recorded sites include midden (O04/469), terraces (O04/471), ovens (O04/578), and a historic store (O04/470) which was part Butler’s trading station. The unrecorded sites were observed along the shoreline and included midden, hangi stones, and brass objects which potentially date to the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. The site also includes a burial ground. There are a large number of native and introduced trees at the site with particularly notable trees being a magnolia beside Butler House and a olive tree north of the house that were planted by the Butlers and the large pohutukawa which is believed to be over 500 years old. Butler House is a timber building that was constructed in multiple phases. The exterior is mainly clad with pit sawn kauri beaded weatherboards with a shingle roof. The earliest part of the building is the eastern section which was mainly constructed c.1847 and a series of extensions were added on the west side of the building. These were constructed during the 1850s. The house has a mixture of sash, casement windows with two horizontal pivot windows in the upper level of the 1847 part of the house. The fabric is mostly original with a small amount being replaced during the restoration of the house in the 1980s and 90s. The house has three chimneys which were re-built with bricks from the old Mangonui bakery which was demolished during the 1980s. This section of Butler House is comprised of a one and a half storey two-up, two down cottage with a full width verandah at the front and two small lean-tos, behind. The cottage has a gable roof which extends over the front and back at a shallower angle. There is a hinged louvre window in the south verandah wall. The interior of the structure is laid out with the front door opening onto the parlour with a bedroom on the north side. The earliest lean-to is accessed from the parlour and contains a passage with stairs leading to the upstairs bedrooms and joins the early part of the house to the rear structure. The later of these lean-tos contains a modernised bathroom which is accessed from the passage and from the bedroom. Evidence of changes as part of this series of extensions is evident in this part of the house with external doors and doorsteps into the bathroom, a covered four pane window from the passage wall beside the bathroom, marks in the floor and skirting board in the bedroom indicating the original location of stairs to the upper floor, and exterior weatherboards enclosed in passage. The weatherboards show little wear suggesting the lean-to and stairs could have been added fairly soon after construction. There are a number of fittings that appear to have replaced earlier arrangements. The interior lining boards appear to be pit sawn kauri. The arrangement of the rafters is an early technique that in which they are lapped over at the apex. The battens in the roof space appear to have been reused from a fire damaged building. The later part of the house is joined to the front of the house through the passage. This section also has a one and a half storey structure with a gabled roof that is a shallower pitch than the 1847 section. Cuts visible in the eastern exterior wall suggest an earlier window arrangement that has been removed. The on the west side of the main 1850s structure is another addition with a pentice roof. This addition, unlike the rest of the building is clad with vertical weatherboards. Internally this part of the house is primarily comprised of a large dining room downstairs, kitchen in the rear addition and two further rooms, one of which opens onto the garden through French doors known as ‘the flat’. The kitchen still has a fireplace and blackened ceiling. The interior is generally also primarily pit sawn kauri with some boards showing evidence of being circular sawn which are potentially associated with further changes to the internal structure. The stairs to the upper floor are also accessed from the lean-to passage and part of the stairwell contains circular sawn kauri boards. There are two rooms upstairs which are lined with mainly pit sawn boards and some circular sawn board that are associated with rosehead nails. Some furniture which belonged to the Butlers and Dacres is present in the house, notably remaining is a wooden table in the dining room and a drying rack in the kitchen which were owned by the Butlers. Butler House and Trading Station (Former) had close links to the international whaling trade through the 1840s and 1850s during a time when shore based whaling had declined and was an important place of local trade between Maori and Pakeha settlers in this period. Fyffe House was first constructed in the 1840s and expanded in the 1850s and 60s. The house was initially built as a small cottage. The owner was Fyffe House was actively whaling while living at the property and the place is the first shore based whaling station in Kaikoura. Fyffe House was later a farming property after the decline of shore whaling. Matanaka Farm is the oldest farm in Otago established c.1840. The place was started by John Jones who had interests in whaling vessels working in New Zealand from the 1830s. As whaling declined the farm became a supplier of produce for the developing settlements of Waikouaiti and Dunedin. John Jones also had a shop which was located in Dunedin (not listed). There are also a number of whaling stations around the country that were involved in the global whale trade around the country. These include Whalers Cottage (List No. 5386, Category 2) an 1860s house intended to provide on-shore accommodation for whalers visiting Pitt Island, and Kakapo Bay (not listed) where a whaling station was founded in 1929 by John Guard who has been credited with founding on-shore whaling in New Zealand. One of the earliest remaining commercial buildings in the centre of Auckland is this bonded warehouse which opened in 1864 and was in operation until the business collapsed in the 1880s. The oldest remaining building related to commerce in Tauranga. The bond store was built and opened in 1883. Many early residential buildings were linked to the activities of the CMS including: Kerikeri Mission House, 1821, (List No. 2, Category 1); Te Waimate Mission House, 1831 (List No. 3, Category 1); and The Retreat, 1850-2 (List No. 70, Category 1). Other early houses include Howell’s Cottage, 1837-8 (List No. 2540, Category 1) a timber house which was built by Captain John Howell; Subritzky-Wagener House, 1860-2, (List No. 80, Category 1) built for the Subritzky brother in mud and stud construction. The oldest surviving residential building in Auckland is Acacia Cottage, 1841, (List No. 525, Category 1) which was relocated in 1920, the oldest Auckland residential building still on its original site is Hulme Court, 1843 (List No. 19, Category 1). Construction or relocation of Butler House. Magnolia planted. More trading station buildings constructed. Butler House extended to largest extent. Shingle roof replaced with corrugated iron. Restoration of house, some replacing of timber, chimneys rebuilt. Construction of Museum and associated buildings. Excavation of Store site at Butler Point. Butler House is constructed from Kauri timber with a shingle roof and brick fireplaces and chimneys. Janice Mogford, The Butler House, Mangonui 1847-1990, Mangonui, 1992. A fully referenced New Zealand Heritage List report is available on request from the Northland Office of Heritage New Zealand.

2019-04-20T10:25:07Z

http://www.heritage.org.nz/the-list/details/0447

minuteKEY Introduction video from minuteKEY on Vimeo. New machine is being released to the world that might make key duplication a simpler experience for consumers. The minuteKEY self service machine is specifically designed to be simple and easy to operate, offering a limited array of home and office keys in standard brass or designer keyblanks. This revolution in the key duplication market will change the face of the hardware/key duplication market, speed up consumer wait times and in all likelihood reduce costs as well. It is my understanding that Walmart is soon to be trialling these in select stores. Time for the updated search results that led searchers to this site. February 2011 Top Ten search terms across multiple search engines. Schlage Securekey Problems takes the lead this time but it was a close race with Kwikset Smart Key Problems not so far behind. These indices might also indicate that more consumers are experiencing problems with Schlage Securekey products than Kwikset Smartket Products, but that is not a given. Koowy, our article about a small piece of software that we have been involved with as a beta tester has taken third this time. Pocket Door Locks, continue to be an often sought for term, that also lead people here. Sales are through the roof for the product and no wonder. We are expecting replenishing supplies through in a few months, but there will likely be a price rise due to all worldwide costs having increased significantly. Meroni, the highly respected European lock manufacturer gets a mention too. We are expecting hard copy samples very soon. One of the last remaining independent lock manufacturers left in Italy, Meroni is well known across the continent for it's quality and consistency. The above video shows a clear example of how and why window security film is a necessary and wise investment. Protecting property is one of the principle intentions that locksmiths provide. In many neighborhoods across America, residence's front doors are the primary entry point that burglars attack. Secondly, windows are another entry point that burglars attack. Doors that include glass in them or in the sidelights, next to the door, are often only single pane light windows, that can be easily smashed by a would-be intruder and the front door deadbolt turnbutton can be easily unlocked. In most towns across America, the local AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction) is usually the local fire marshal or building inspector. These AHJ's base their decisions on the policies and provisions tabled in the International Building Code and ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), Life Safety Codes and insurance company requirements. Many consumers think that it is okay for them to install double cylinder deadbolts to their primary entrance doors. In most cases this is a fallacy. The law, as determined and judged by the local AHJ, requires all primary entrances in dwellings to use single cylinder deadbolts. The fire departments frown heavily on the use of double cylinder deadbolts because they are a severe impediment to residents easily escaping a fire or emergency. I am asked often and repeatedly by customers to install double cylinder locks. Most often I will refuse and explain in detail why, according to the above. Once explained, the customer usually agrees that complying with the law is far more beneficial and life sustaining than having an insurance claim denied for failing to comply, or worse still facing a possible negligent homicide charge from authorities, simply by having double cylinder door locks installed. So, how do we find a solution that will keep everyone happy? Window security film is definitely the answer. Applying window security film to your vulnerable glass windows can prevent the incidence of smashing entry. It makes your residence comply with the building code, life safety codes, ADA and also sometimes insurance companies may offer a percentage discount on your premium. The security of our families, colleagues, properties is of ultimate importance to us all. Alarm systems cannot protect, they can only inform. How can we feel secure and protected? Shattergard is a product that is especially designed to be installed on windows to prevent the windows from shattering. A new package is being developed to provide this product through the locksmith channel, effectively reducing the price for this ultimate security protection product and providing homeowners, residents and shopkeepers with increased security while still complying with all local rules, laws and ordinances. Door closers have been around for a great many years, providing the ability to automatically return a door to the closed position. Door closers are a very intelligent piece of technology that are often quite expensive. Spring loaded hinges have been around for a little while, but are starting to find their feet in an already crowded door closer market. The intelligence of using a spring loaded hinge makes complete sense, doesn't it? Replaces the existing hinges on doors. Is hidden. Gives the self closing ability without the extra expense and hardware of a door closer. Works on all types of swinging doors including commercial, industrial, residential, hotels, dormitories, gates etc. anywhere a need arises for a self closing door. It is advised to always use at least 2 spring loaded hinges on a door to minimize the strain on just one hinge. Many of the newer types of hinges are tension adjustable, to modify the closing speed and latching action. They are easily installed, usually directly in place of existing hinges. They come in multiple sizes and finishes. They comply with ANSI codes and some are even fire rated to UL listings. There are all sorts of hinges for different applications and with the ability to not have a purpose door closer, can greatly enhance the aesthetic appearance of an entry. Not surprisingly, they are significantly less expensive than purpose built door closers. Service and parts are minimized because they are a very low tech idea. There are very few moving parts meaning replacing worn or broken springs are significantly cheaper than purchasing a new door closer when the fluid leaks or the arm breaks or the adjustment screws cannot be loosened or tightened anymore. I know what I'll be recommending in future. A very interesting and unique security product recently released is making the instances of home invasion virtually impossible. The OnGuard product is a combination of solid materials that when installed correctly virtually renders your door impenetrable. Installed simply and easily by anyone, it is one of the more cost effective security protection devices you will find today. A Madison WI judge has seen fit to convict a dual citizen of both Israel and the USA, for felony ID theft and other related charges. The defendant was also denied a last minute request to leave the USA to return to Israel to care for his ailing father. The charges against Burlin were detailed in May 2009 Wisconsin State Journal articles that tracked his company’s use of phony addresses to attract lockout victims to expensive emergency service, using false names to file negative comments about competitors and putting Capitol Lock and Security, a competitor, up for sale on the Internet. In interviews, Burlin explained that the use of multiple addresses and business names was part of his marketing strategy. The pending civil charges seek unspecified restitution, forfeitures and costs. Koowy, the new version of the classic video web communication system Mebeam, is back in use. Now with improvements to the back end and an additional HD quality P2P GUI, allowing high-quality one on one video web conferencing via desktop/laptop. It is suggested that you maintain a fast connection. I tested it this morning using my Samsung Epic 4G connected to wifi. While it still is waiting for the Android 2.2 update (Froyo), it still works reasonably well. You still cannot transmit video from the mobile though. We'll see what happens when and if the 2.2 update ever gets released. The picture below shows it in action. On your desktop, the HD p2p connection quality is superb. Being flash based, allows less demand on RAM, although does require broadband for best results. Once the mobile version is perfected, an app will be developed to take care of the backend. This will show the world, the true purpose of mobile video communication and make it accessible to absolutely everyone with a smartphone. You can choose to send chat messages to your network, with the included chat function. As the largest Bilock Extreme Security dealer in the mid-west, we are now producing limited numbers of our Hybrid Cal-Royal/BilockGrade 3 deadbolt. By replacing the standard cylinder that comes with the LSD-01, with a Bilock Extreme Security Cylinder and 2 keys, we can offer a totally bump proof and virtually pick proof lock with keys that cannot be duplicated for about $140.00 (depending on the color). Yes, it is comparably expensive, but your property is worth it is it not? Dont be fooled by other advertisers claims that their comparison product is pick proof or bump proof or copy proof. There is tons of media out there that proves they are not, but Bilock is the real deal. Pictured here is a map of the Creve Coeur, MO municipality and the statistics of crime reported in the source below. from the Creve Coeur Police Department. The Creve Coeur Police Department is well known in the west county region for it's effectiveness on reigning in crime. They are a credit to their funding. In February 2011, according to the picture here, there were 265 incidents reported to police. These incidents include at least 200 alarm responses that police attended. Police attended to 5 incidents where they wrote Breaking & Entering as the incident. Police attended to 16 incidents where they wrote Property Crime as the incident. Police attended to 39 incidents where they wrote Theft as the incident. There are many reasons that crimes occur. Many of the incidents can be prevented by increasing your security preparedness. An alarm system is one method, but prone to many false alarms. Police attend to monitored alarm calls, but there is usually a cost, borne by the homeowner or resident. Often police will allow 1 or 2 a year free, but regular false alarms add up to significant manpower hours, that are billed to residents. Cost effective security products like door frame strengtheners and quality deadbolt locks are essential to improving the security of your properties. Often these small purchases can protect you and prevent crimes like break and enter. Equally as important are key control systems. Key control systems, restrict the ability of authorized key holders to duplicate keys. Many incidents are happening because owners or managers are unaware of who may have a copy of their key. Preventing unauthorized access to your property significantly reduces crime of opportunity. Choosing the suitable key lock for your door is a process that doesnt really require much thought however, sometimes it can be rather daunting to sort through the literally thousands of options in the marketplace. Many customers choose to source their information online these days and there are many and varied opinions out there offering personal, sometimes biased opinions on what to choose. For these reasons, I decided to write an article about the key points to consider when choosing the suitable lock for your chosen door. Is the door a front or rear primary entrance? - Many AHJ's (authorities having jurisdiction) require dwellings to comply to the international building code, when considering the form and function of a desired key locking product. - A primary entrance is usually considered the feature point of entry into a dwelling. - Authorities having jurisdiction are usually the local fire marshal or local government building inspector. Is the door construction, metal, wood or another material? - Different entrances can be built from different materials, sometimes due to fire regulations or distances to or from another entry point or due to the types of materials or objects stored within that entrance. - There are different grades of hardware measured by ANSI (American National Standards Institute), that are designed to guide people to choosing the suitable quality product that meets or exceeds the customers desires, the building code bylaws, life safety codes or ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) bylaws. The three common grades are Grade 1 (high quality commercial use), Grade 2 (medium quality commercial and residential use) and Grade 3 (low quality residential use). - Matching the unique style, color or ambience of a doorway is sometimes an important consideration to customers, intent on maintaining a certain status quo of their chosen entrance/s. There are many differing options available to choose from and many hundreds of different manufacturers that make similar or slightly different variations of the same product. Is the ability to limit who can duplicate keys of importance? - Many customers are unaware who has a copy of their keys. Restricting or controlling who can be authorized to duplicate your keys can protect you from potential loss. A key that can be duplicated at any hardware or key cutter means that you cannot control access to your doors. -Locksmiths have been producing key control products for many years that provide the consumer with a level of protection that other hardware suppliers cannot. - There are different functions provided by different models of locks, tailored to many discerning requests. Sometimes it is vital and important for a key lock to only be operated on the outside. Sometimes it is important to be operated from inside too. Sometimes a push or turn button is desired inside, that locks the outside handle. Sometimes a lock is requested that the key can only be withdrawn when locked. - With so many variables, it is important that you explain your desire to the locksmith to allow them to offer suitable solutions. - Securing double doors requires making the inactive leaf (one door) to be closed and secured prior to the active leaf being able to be locked. There are many choices of product designed to secure the inactive leaf, like surface mounted bolts, flush mounted bolts etc. - Securing a door with a key lock is often only half the battle against would be unauthorized users. In many cases, the actual door frame and jamb (where the door closes into) are constructed from light grade, thin materials that offer very little to no protection from kicking or ramming. - Securing the hinge side of a door is sometimes of value too. Installing hinge bolts can prevent a door from being removed when locked after having the loose pin in the hinges withdrawn. - The increasing discussion online about the truth behind the perceived security of key locking systems has led many well known manufacturers to attempt to offer products tailored to combat these known covert entry techniques. Truth be told, there are very few products that can be considered bump or pick proof or even resistant. - Whether or not lock bumping or lock picking is a consideration for the average customer, depends sometimes on the statistics of crime, measured by statisticians. It is very difficult, even for a trained forensic investigator to determine if a key lock has been bumped or picked, with absolute accuracy. - Many authorities, who measure the statistics of crime, often find that instances of lock bumping or lock picking are far too few to measure accurately. Moreover, crime statistics tend to indicate that entrances being defeated are often the result of door frame failure (kicked or pried open), windows smashed or pried or doors being left unlocked. In most places your trained local locksmith is often the best person to consult about suitable options tailored to your individual needs or desires. Most often a locksmith that is affiliated with a known professional organization, has proven credentials supporting their training. Weeding the professionals from the wannabe's is sometimes a difficult task. Choosing your professional is accompanied by risks, but often the best recommendations are those of your neighbor or friend. Checkable references/testimonials from third party online agencies are often considered a worthwile guide to helping you choose your preferred vendor.

2019-04-21T02:40:56Z

http://locks210.blogspot.com/2011/03/

Our travel dreams are much easier to achieve if we prepare thoroughly. These suggestions will help you enjoy your journey easier to delight in. Do not anticipate an airline will make you as comfy as necessary on an air travel. If you think they will come in useful, a blanket and a pillow to be comfortable while flying, you need to bring your very own on board with you. Don’t go hungry! Bring your very own healthy treats to see to it you have some food that you delight in during the flight. Long air travels throughout continents can be demanding. You can avoid this by taking an air travel that gets to your destination at the same time of morning you usually get up.) and rest as much as you can en route to your destination. Get up sensation refreshed to face the day! Whether you’re driving across country or hanging out at a beach rental home, bluetooth portable mini speakers make it more fun than ever to rock out on the road. If you’re taking a trip someplace where you’ll require tickets, learn if online tickets are offered, and print them ahead of time. The cost for such a service is worth the time you save avoiding the lines. If it is someplace like a park with lengthy lines for admittance, you will not need to wait in line to get in, either. There are those that have great car skills and know everything about them. Most people do not. If the second group is where you fall, you will find help here. If you are purchasing a new vehicle, you should Learn how to drive at Driving Lessons Greensborough. Keep your budget price in mind, and don’t let the salesman sell you a car that costs more than you want to pay. Keep in mind that you will be having to pay off your car, not the dealer. Bring in an impartial mechanic before purchasing used. If they say no, leave. You want someone who has an impartial opinion and is doing things in your best interest. Discuss cars with people in your life that you trust. Are they happy with the car choices they made? How well would they say the car has held its value? Have they heard of any other vehicles that might be better? This is a great way to get a lay of the land before you begin your car shopping. This golf wedge has 3 grinds for different types of swing condition and shot. This 3 grinds are very unique that will surely suit your playing style. S-grind is the best feature of this golf wedge. It suits swings from moderate to sweeping attack angles, different shot types and conditions like firm, soft and normal. This golf wedge is also featured with progressive groove optimization. A smoother spin transition from iron to wedges is created with the help of this feature. Australia is one of the favourite holiday destinations of many people. Australia attracts a large chunk of tourists every year. If you are planning to head off to travel around Australia, then you must select the best type of car to make your holiday a memorable one. Choose the type of car depending on the places you want to travel in Australia because the landscape of Australia is very large and beautiful. In this guide, you will go through some important information that includes Nissan X-trail review. Here is a list of steps to how to choose best car for your family to tour within Australia. One of the most important things to consider is to decide the place where you want to travel in Australia. You can choose from two options. If you want to travel on road – either go through main highways and sealed roads, or travel on rough four-wheel drive roads. If you plan to travel on unsealed roads, then go for Sedans. Though an all wheel drive is a better option, but unsealed roads can efficiently be handled by Sedans. If you plan to travel on 4WD tracks, opt for an all wheel drive or a dedicated 4WD. Select the cars with long range fuel tanks, if you want to travel remotely. After deciding which type of car you need, whether a sedan, a dedicated four wheel drive or all wheel drive, all you need to do is to decide your towing capacity. First decide whether to tow a larger full van, pop top, small caravan or a camper trailer, because the capacity of towing largely depends on it. You can easily tow a van with a car, instead of buying a new car for travelling around Australia. The tow capacity of your car needs to be decided by you. 3.2 tonnes is the towing capacity of Nissan Patrol Manual, whereas 2 tonnes is the towing capacity of X-trail. A ball weight capacity must also be understood by you. 3 tonne is the towing capacity of the Mitsubishi Pajero, but 180 kg is the ball weight of this car which is not enough to carry caravans. Knowing both the weight and ball weight of a car is important. Consider GVM, ball weight and tow capacity of the car. Research on the car after finalizing which car you want to purchase and its towing requirements. Nissan X-trail is one of the many cars that fulfil almost all of the features that you want to have in a car for your travels. Los precios son siempre razonables y la calidad del servicio 24 horas. Contacta con los cerrajeros 24h de cerrajerostarragona.cloud. Como miembro de la red de la cerrajería se compromete a garantizar intervenciones de calidad y a respetar los procedimientos de postventa y la ética empresarial. Football is one of the most popular sports nowadays. There are huge numbers of people who take immense interest in playing football. Football gloves are the most needed accessories of football. Protective gear is required by football, which is considered as a contact sport. Along with padding, cleats and helmets, football gloves also play a major role in improving your performance in the field. Football gloves provide hand protection so that injuries can be prevented. They also help the players to perform better. Visit www.tbreview.com to buy best football gloves. Players can easily catch the ball if they wear football gloves. Your grip on the ball can also be improved with the help of football gloves. Though, football gloves are commonly worn by defensive backs, receivers, running backs and linemen, but they are worn by all players. Selection of football gloves mostly depend on your playing positions. An extremely wide variety of football gloves are available in the market. First you go to different websites like Kmart and Sears or Walmart . The second thing you do is to search for the item that you want to purchase . Then you click on the one that you want to purchase. There will be a bunch of stuff come up under that category then you click on the one that you want to purchase. Then it will ask you to create an account first before counting purchasing your best family tent. Then you will have created an account with one of their website in order to pay for your item so they can have the right shipping address on file and also so they can have the right credit or debit card into on file . With account on a website you will have to be sign in and order to be able to pay for you item. Some websites will let you checkout as a guess and not make you to have account with the website. When setting up account online to purchase a item online you first have to enter your first and last name and put your state and zip code , city ‘ a course your shipping address , your credit card or debit card info . First thing you will have to do is click on the tent you want and add it to the shopping cart then click on the purchase tab on the website and then before you checkout and pay with a debit card or a credit card . Relax and have fun in the Yarra Valley! Are you thinking of throwing a party for your friends? Are you going to have a family union? Are you searching for a location for a formal business meeting? If the answer is yes for any of the questions, then you must be searching for the perfect location for this. Also, it is likely that this location must be very scenic and peaceful. Then, what about a winery? Wineries are places where orchids are harvested and wine is prepared. Often, these places are surrounded by greenery and natural beauty. So, they can prove to be very entertaining for your guests. Many travel agencies can offer you their services for touring these regions. One of the best winery in Victoria is the Yarra Valley winery. So, here is a little information about Yarra Valley Winery Tours. Touring the Yarra Valley The Yarra Valley region is famous all over the world due to its many diverse types of wineries. It is also home to a number of acclaimed restaurants, whose food can literally make your mouth water. Also, the scenic quotient of the place is high, which means that you’ll be able to enjoy stunning views from wherever you go. All of you do some exercise or the other, for instance running, jogging, cycling, walking etc. to keep yourselves agile and active. LED vest for running, as the name suggests, is meant for usage while one is running under poor visibility conditions, be it day or night. These vests provide safety for motorcycle riders too. Easy to wear and visible up to half a mile distance, this gadget is the most preferred among men and woman all over the world. There are several points worth considering while you purchase this item. The LED vest with light transmission fiber optics provides 360 degree ultra-high visibility in your dusk and night time activities. There are two LED wristbands and 5 bright LED lights which will increase visibility in night time sports. You could be seen by cars when running, bicycling or walking. It increases the safety under low light conditions. They are light in weight, weighing only 4.8 oz. They run on rechargeable battery. Once charged it can last up to 12 hours. There are three modes of operation and this is possible at the touch of a button. Slow, bright steady lighting and fast flashing gives greater visibility. They are available with highly adjustable sizes. They are unisex with all comforts meant for simple use. Its snug fit helps the gadget stay with the body while you are in motion. You could use it on a t-shirt or jacket. The wristband can be worn on wrist, ankle or arm. The vest has 4 x CR2032 3V and wristband has 2 x CR2016 3V lithium coin batteries. Buy LED Light Reflective Safety Vest and 2 LED Slap-On Wristbands on Amazon.com They provide greater visibility while running, walking or cycling without wearing a bulky reflective jacket. They are extremely simple in design. You are easily spotted by the motorists any time during day or night. Even a head lamp or running light cannot provide this type of eye catching visibility. They are made of light weight material; as a result your exercise activity is never hampered while using them. The fabric and buckle are made of high quality material and the stitching is very professional with a view to provide the user years of free use. The wristband is very tight and does not fade with distance, as it has 5 LED lights. This gadget is also very durable. Locking of exchange rate: Foresight plays a very important factor while locking in an exchange rate, because if not planned properly you may end up losing thousand or if luck favours you earning extra couples. For this, you require acumen that has experience with the varying trends and exchange rates. The long boards are termed as the sidewalk surfing. These types of boards are similar to that of skateboarding. However if in case you are new to the long boarding there are so many different things that you need to keep in mind. One of the most common difference is the length of the boarding, with the majority of boards are come with the decks that can be measuring between 64 cm and 190 cm. This size of long boards makes it comfort to reach higher speedway less efforts and also these boards are ideal for slalom and downhill racing. Generally these types of boards are fitted with softer, larger wheels that can able to offer much smoother ride. Even it is also possible to buy and assemble the longer board individual parts, it would be highly advisable for the new comers to begin with complete long board rather than assembling the parts of the board. You can find plenty of manufacturers who can offer high quality complete long boards. One of the best sources to buy your long boards is the online shops where you can buy the boards at affordable prices. The online shops also allow you to avail discounts and offers on long board purchasing. Things to about longboards After you purchase the longboards from the reliable service provider, take it out for the first time to try it and select quiet regions with flat surfaces as possible. In addition this you need to consider the safety gears such as gloves, pads and helmets. When it comes to longboards for beginners, it is very important to learn its basic and also fundamentals of the board controls prior to progressing onto the board dancing or complicated maneuvers, The most important techniques to master all the carving. How do you start your career as a bartender? Have you decided to be a professional barman or bartender, and have been searching good schools for that purpose? So, firstly, the role of a bartender should be known well. Basically, bartenders are those professionals who are engaged in making, serving and also delivering beverages in legal bars. Other terms used for bartenders are barman, mixologist, barkeep or even barmaid. Their job also includes the maintenance of a bar. The most important thing is that this is a very simple task that can be done by everybody. No higher qualification or degree is required for this job. The income is not also little. Some training is required. Many schools or institutes are providing this training in the different countries of the world. However, a good institution and skilled faculty can train and make someone well capable for this job. Such type of helpful agency is BartenderTraining.ca which supplies important information like a full list of excellent bartender training centers in the different areas of Canada, valuable advices and tips for this purpose and also some fundamentals aspects of beverages. Therefore, it can surely be helpful to interested students. Hire limousine services to impress! Do you have a dream of having a posh car? Have you ever wondered how nice it would be if you come out of your home and find a swanky car waiting for you? Well what if your dream was to come true? Yes! Your dream can come true. You can now hire a limousine anywhere in Melbourne. It would be a sheer bliss if you take your loved ones for a show in a posh hotel in a luxurious limo. You might be thinking it would too expensive. Well it might be definitely costly if you have to pay for security payment, insurance check and accidental cover. But, if you choose the limo hire services provided in Melbourne you can save on a lot of money. Limo Hire Melbourne is your one stop solution for the premium limo services in the city. You can hire whichever limo you dream of. It may be a white limo or even a fleet of black limos for a couple of days. You can also hire limos for parties, anniversaries, casino trips, concerts, dining events, day trips, wine tours, bachelorette parties, weddings and so on. Just as this device gets the power back up, it immediately detects where on the golf course is a person, and what golf course he/she is playing the game. The screen is huge, wide, and the digital marks and numbers are easy to read. There is no presence of any bells or whistles, which can distract the player’s attention. It is quick in registering the exact and accurate distance on all the parts of the golf course. This device is really inexpensive in the way that it uses the GPS system, and yet it is cheap and affordable. Why should a person use golf rangefinder? What are the facilities provided by this device? Unless you take fair purchases for transport needs, there are not any needs associated with having out your current business due to the elevated moving costs charged by quite a few flight companies. Quite a few do not acquire regulate travelers. Such tickets differ from services to services. Doing a research allows an individual to have an apparent thoughtful about these types of services as well as their charges. Book your current ticket on the web with a listed company. These kinds of consolidators have access to be able to offer such tickets. Book them through non-peak times. In the course of peak periods, your current tickets tend to be sold with higher fees when compared with normal consequently providing simply no scope for negotiation. You should travel during your peak period, and book the ticket ahead in time. This can help you keep away from your own last minute rush any time your current prices have hiked. Always be with regular online persons. Get in touch with a variety of business websites, enabling anyone to acquire discount tickets. You should sign in a flyer system and make an effort as much to be able to utilize the institution that you should join in that fryer program which helps enable anyone for getting discount as well as cheap ticket costs. Any time a person utilize institution you enrolled in their program, you may get simple steps regarding each travel so that you can make. Utilize these points for you to buy tickets. You will furthermore utilize the simple steps in order to obtain ticket fees decrease. This helps enable an individual in order to travel with cheap expenses, as a result maximum benefit for the business. Make the company flight corporation your standard tourist and the firm will upgrade an individual even without having points, which is really highly recommended so that you can stick to help sole service to leap your benefits. Getting cheap company class airfares is usually flexible. Regardless of whether a person limit yourself to help were made dates, a person would be required to cooperate and settle for a good high price. One’s dates will probably fall with a great day whenever ticket costs are usually the uppermost. Parents want that their children to be able to play comfortably, securely, and safely in their surroundings. However, this is not easy when you’re on the move. Nevertheless, for every parent, help is at hand with a pack and play. It’s not an easy task to choose the best pack and play for your kid, considering the numerous choices that are available to you. Also, an incorrect choice is capable of resulting in needless pressure for you and the child. So, read on to know how you and your child can benefit from an amazing parenting toolbox. What makes pack and play useful? A secure playing area: When a child is playing, every parents primary concern is making sure that their child’s safety. Keeping a watch on them is surely the best method. However, this cannot be done always. So, a pack and play becomes practically useful. These parenting toolboxes are naturally designed to ensure the maximum safety while the child is playing. To make sure of its security, they undergo rigorous tests. So, you can put the child in the pack and play and completely be assured that everything will be all right. You might be one of those that are recently planning to go to Cyprus. The best Cyprus taxi is something you must be considering when travelling the place. The car is still the preferred way to go around when travelling Cyprus. Renting a car is ideal for you if you know the roads. You have to drive on your left side when travelling Cyprus you might not be familiar with. In order to get to the bottom of the city, a taxi is the number one way for many tourists. The moment you trip Cyprus and prefer to go around the taxi, you may use Cyprus taxi software to select licensed taxi company, which uses a professional driver. The reasons are various. Most licensed taxi operators are confident in English. They know their roads. Most experienced drivers know the local region. They know all the ways of the island. Find the licensed taxis, as they will charge you according to the local law given the government authority. They use meter. High tariffs come in some evenings and holidays, as a result it is better to check your trip corresponds with a national holiday. In Cyprus, there is no good public transportation you can choose. Therefore look forward to use a taxi in Cyprus. Occasionally a bus may be a good choice. A typical taxi in Cyprus is very comfortable with a clean leather interior. You never run in style. Most taxies are found in black or white color. It is easy to find most of the major cities in the busy station in a taxi. Rather than relying on a meter, before agreeing to increase, leave the destination. Golf is an exceptionally popular sporting event in Florida. This is the reason numerous people look for golf packages. There are more than one thousand people and as well individual greens in Florida State. Many vacation visitors worry experience more than a few of the best golfing all over the globe on the superbly preserved environment friendliest. When finding a great way to spend your vacation, the first option could be finding the best places for Florida golf vacations. This article will help you find the top notch place you can enjoy a great holiday. Golfing is an enormous activity and pastime for a lot of individuals these days. People are taking pleasure in on the golf course. A few of them are part of a group, when others simply play with family or friends for fun and perform. Unluckily, a lot of would be keen on playing golf through the whole year, but the typical Do not wait months for the summer. It is better to plan golf to your next holiday. Many people are opting golf vacation destinations for their upcoming vacations. There are plentiful choices offered for vacationers in spite of their liking or financial plan. Many of the state’s courses are connected to resorts therefore offering such package deals. Are you a Chicago-based investor? Do you want a good investment company for maximum profits? Do you want some good investment advice from someone who has vast knowledge in the field? Then you can seek the help of Matthew Goldhaber. He has a large amount of experience in the field of investing. If you seek his help, you’ll surely be able to understand the job more and will reap large profits at once. Who is Matthew Goldhaber? Matthew Goldhaber is the senior vice president (SVP) of the greater Chicago area of the famous investment company called Fisher Investments. He has been serving the company in the area of greater Chicago since 2007. He is a very successful investor too and has a lot of experience in the field. He even helps newbies in the field by reassessing the investment strategy of the investor, and then he checks if Fisher Investment can help the investor gain their goal in the market with relative ease. He is presently living in the Lake Forest region of Chicago with his family. He studied business at the Indiana University and got his MBA degree from University of Chicago. Wanting a party organised sometime? Look no further! So, you’re having an upcoming event and all stressed out on looking for the right persons to manage the show. Well don’t stress and leave the rest to the best event hire Sydney company . These people specialize in providing hiring of tables and chairs, table linen and glassware, audio equipment and party lighting, staging and dance floorings, marquees and stalls, chocolate fountains, fairy floss and popcorn machines, just a few to mention. Moreover, whatever the event may be such as an engagement party, a wedding, a fair, a huge magnitude event, a festival or a small house gathering, the range of paraphernalia can be hired. Even expenses spent on delivery are saved. A one stop event hire shop is required in saving precious time and irritations of going from one supplier to the next. Well, in preparing a successful event, a lot of steps are involved. Begin with the number of guest’s invitations and most importantly a budget allocated on each guest. Knowing how to meet the expenses, allows one to go ahead with further plans. Depending on the occasion, a location point is very much important too. If it’s a birthday party with a small gathering, the home is best considered. If it’s an outdoor or work event in a public area, the company workplace, a community hall or a function centre is feasible. If the occasion is an outdoor event one needs a marquee organised to keep safe from the rain and the weather depending on the season of the year. Moreover, guests don’t like travelling to far off places, so choosing one nearby helps in commuting properly. For most students, the best places to study abroad can be quite a liberating and exciting experience. This offers them a way to explore and discover interesting academic opportunities that can have a positive impact to their personal life. After all, it is not everyday that students get to have that big break from their mundane schedules, so having that rare chance to study in another country is always a welcomed change. Take Up Additional Courses While you may be fairly contented with the usual courses you take up back home, having impressive electives from a college or university abroad is always a great change that you may want to experience. In fact, international internships offer you an excellent chance to gain additional experience that you may not receive in your own country. If you are interested in agriculture or sustainable development, then a visit to Asian countries such as Thailand or Vietnam may be a good way to enrich your knowledge and skills in these fields. Marine biology students can also expand their potentials by studying in Australia, where they can also be engaged in programs that will go perfectly well with their course in their home country. There are different varieties of caravans for sale in the market. The various options give the opportunity for people to choose from a myriad of options. The accessories that come along with the vehicle differ according to the model. It is always a tedious to select a specific model due to the availability of many choices. Nevertheless, there is a chance to decrease the confusion by gathering information about these vehicles. Considering the requirement and the factors will be helpful for an individual to choose a quality vehicle. The caravan gives the likelihood to accommodate a larger number of people in a single vehicle. Considering this option will be helpful in deciding the size of the caravan. The next critical element to examine is the storage space within the vehicle. The interior of the vehicle relies on the size and careful designing of the kitchen and the rooms. People often look for a vehicle that has a comfortable kitchen with the presence of a gas system. A good kitchen will give the opportunity to cook within the vehicle during the travel without depending on external sources, such as restaurants. Every vehicle owner that aspires for a fulfilling automotive repair service must first locate a high quality auto shop. Usually, the quality of services offered is the hallmark of such an auto shop. Hence, people find a reason to visit the place again and again because it’s the best auto shop which offers the best service quality. So, at any time when an auto service is required, there’s no need to look around for an auto repair service that’s in the neighbourhood. Unfortunately, a lot of people find it difficult to locate one without knowing the features of such a good auto shop. Nevertheless, in Goodyear AZ, there’s no difficulty in locating the new shop of Champs Family Automotive. As a matter of fact, for Goodyear auto repair, Champs Family Automotive is the appropriate choice since it meets all the essentials of a great auto shop. With more than 15 years in the automotive industry, the ASE qualified mechanics are able to perform every auto maintenance services. Over the years with the experience achieved by repairing various vehicles and customer service, these technicians have improved their skills and have also enriched their knowledge. Therefore, they are best capable of taking care of the clients high prospective standards. Moreover, clients can expect the much needed value for money auto repair services without much delay. Nonetheless, Champs Family Automotive provides an all-inclusive auto and repair services as well. So, services such as auto repairs, brake repairs or oil changes, are provided at this one stop auto shop. On the whole, the quality of service is dependent on the quality of the technician employed. At Champs Family Automotive, every repair job is carried out by certified technicians. An efficient and quality technician provides an excellent performance at work. As a result, clients are satisfied with the excellent service standards. For any repair work, a congenial environment is necessary. And accordingly, the auto shop offers a great environment with quality technicians that work as a team. High quality service standards are possible since every challenge is met completely by the team for all possible repairs without any delay.

2019-04-19T10:28:42Z

http://www.ectel2010.org/

Homeworld Description: Sanctuary was built as a deep-space battlestation, to protect the massive titanium deposits on the 04C asteroid field. During the Alarei-Human war, it was refitted to serve as a ballistic missile silo, refueling station for warships, and shipyard. The station itself spans over two hundred kilometers in length, with the capacity to house hundreds of fighter squadrons and the facilities necessary to repair battleship-size vessels. Its thick armor and advanced point defenses were built to spec to protect it from the asteroid field, but in time, they were modified to serve as effective defensive systems against ships. Numerous kinetic batteries and missile silos cover the exterior of the station, and a set of reaction control thrusters allow it to remain in sync with the rest of the asteroid field. It is the home of the fleet, and houses over fifty million people; one eighth of the population. Its primary power source are the six Helium-3 fusion reactors, two on the main superstructure and one on each extension. Hydroponics facilities produce food and oxygen, but the station relies on the three hundred million plus people living in ships nearby to supply it with anything more than the essentials. Political System: The government of the United Systems is divided into the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary branches with a clear separation of powers. The Executive branch is the President of the United Systems, who is elected into office through a complex voting process; each of the 51 fleet divisions (Asteroid Miners, US Navy, US Marines, Hydroponics, Medical, etc.) votes for a set number of representatives in Congress, and for the President through Electoral College. Each President can serve two consecutive four-year terms. He holds supreme executive authority, is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, can authorize the use of strategic nuclear weapons, can declare states of emergency, and oversees meetings of the Council of Commanders. The Council of Commanders is a weekly (or more frequent if needed) meeting of ship captains and commanding officers, military and civilian, which works in cooperation with Congress to act as a legislative power. Judiciary power is usually left at the discretion of ship captains and security forces for minor crimes, but crimes such as felonies are handled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the US Navy Military Police, and judged by the Supreme Court. The government is housed on Sanctuary, the heart of the fleet. Economic System: Social Capitalism with a single currency, the US Dollar, available in both electronic, card and (polymer) paper bills. Ship captains have supreme authority to regulate the economies of their ships if needed, and are encouraged to take measures such as rationing food, water and medication. Free healthcare is provided by dedicated ship doctors in each vessel's infirmary, but various hospital ships provide access to advanced equipment and medications otherwise unavailable. Jobs are handled like in any other capitalist nation, although unemployment is at very low levels. Simply put, there is dire need for more labour: even the advanced USC robotics aren't enough to deal with all the tasks that need doing in the fleet. Education is free, and all children must attend higher education to ensure they can be productive fleet citizens. The largest field of work is, unsurprisingly, engineers, with the military, mining and science sectors falling closely behind. Culture: Naturally for a people that is born, lives and dies in ships, the Captain undoubtedly holds the position with the most prestige. A Captain has supreme authority in his ship, although he does have superiors, and handles all day-to-day operations. The method for picking captains is different; military captains are appointed by the Council of Admirals, while civilian captains rise through the ranks of their ship. More often than not, however, military captains are simply XOs who were promoted to the position and given their own ship as their command. Large part of USC culture is enclosed spaces. After centuries of living in cramped ships, and with overpopulation being a major issue, each person can have a very small space dedicated to themselves. Military crews exercise hot-bunking, while civilians get small accommodations for them and their family. Public messhalls, store districts and showers on each ship make the inhabitants of the fleet very outgoing and sociable, as there is simply no way to avoid one's fellow shipmates. History: What once was the United States of America became the United Systems Coalition in 2100, a union of the sovereign nations of the USA, Canada, various countries of South America and Israel, along with their colonies and stations. The new superpower was the single biggest contributor to world defense, and officially owned half of the United Nation's vessels, the Albert Einstein Shipyards and numerous smaller launch facilities on various planets. The United Systems Military was the first military of Sol to construct the beast known as a Titan, officially the U.S.S. Enterprise SCVN-01. It was also the first to veto the Alarei Treaty, and the first to commence attacks on Alarei territory. What had begun as a devastating loss with the destruction of the Einstein Shipyards had turned into an unquestionable victory; the Alarei homeworld was in ruins, and the remaining council races had signed the armstice. Unfortunately, the victory did not last for long; during Black Wednesday, Alarei ships penetrated Sol defense and launched a ruthless attack on human major cities. The USS Enterprise and much of the fleet was annihilated along with the Ronald Reagan Shipyards in orbit of Jupiter, where it had docked to rearm and resupply. Naturally, the USC retaliated, turning its nuclear weapons on the rest of the Alarei colonies. While it had succeeded in wiping out its adversary, it had done so with considerable loss. So when the Human Civil War came, it was left unable to defend its major holdings in Sol. With much of the mainland destroyed, the government fled to the secretive base known as 'Sanctuary', taking most of the remaining fleet with it. While a small contingent of troops and vehicles was left to guard major cities such as Vancouver and New York, or what was left of them, the USC fled. For the next few hundred years, a large civilian fleet gathered in orbit of Sanctuary: survivors of the holocaust of Sol who had ships with jump drives, freighters, refinery ships. The vast asteroid field was exploited to its fullest, with its materials going towards the repair of damaged vessels, extensions to the station, or the construction of new warships. The original goal was to retake Sol, but after centuries of barely surviving, the goal became to protect the future of the human race and American civilization. Officer Service Uniform A comfortable BDU for use by officers of all departments of the United Systems Military. Comes in Navy Blue, Army Green and Air Force Olive Drab. Battle Dress Uniform A uniform for use by enlisted personnel or officers when needed. Comes in all available camouflage patterns. Marine Honors Uniform Ceremonial uniform worn exclusively by the US Marines. Service Dress Uniform Ceremonial and formal uniforms worn by the USM. Deck Work Uniform Worn by service crews, engineers and deckhands. Colt 2311 Service Pistol 11.43×23mm Caseless Semi-Automatic Railgun 22rnd Magazine Powerful sidearm that can accept a variety of attachments. Standard issue for the US Army. IMI Black Kite 12.7x33mm Caseless Semi-Automatic Railgun 12rnd Magazine Destructive weapon that can pierce even the thickest of conventional body armor. Extremely accurate. G12 Battle Rifle 7.62x51mm Caseless Semi-Automatic Gauss Gun 30rnd Magazine Destructive battle rifle with scope. Standard issue in the United States Army. G17 Battle Rifle 7.62x51mm Caseless Automatic Railgun 60rnd Magazine Standard issue Marine rifle, accepts a variety of attachments. G22 Battle Rifle 12.7x99mm Fusion Automatic Gauss Gun 20rnd Magazine Destructive .50 caliber battle rifle, used against personnel. Barrett G82 AMR 12.7x99mm HEIAP Semi-Automatic Gauss Gun 10rnd Magazine Destructive .50 caliber anti-materiel rifle. Colt S12 AMR 12.7x113mm HEIAP Semi-Automatic Gauss Gun 5rnd Magazine Ultimate instrument of destruction. G44 DMR 7.62x51mm Caseless Burst Gauss Gun 30rnd Magazine Designated marksman rifle with 1, 2 or 3 round bursts. M263 Squad Automatic Weapon 7.62x51mm Caseless Automatic Gauss Gun 200rnd Belt Outdated belt-fed machinegun, usually fit with reflex sight. R278 Relativistic SAW 0.7x5.2mm RKP Automatic Gauss Gun 300rnd Block State-of-the-art kinetic energy weapon, with muzzle velocities of 0.2c and light projectiles. M222 Heavy Machinegun 12.7x99mm Caseless Automatic Gauss Gun 1000rnd Block Destructive minigun. D14 Recoiless Rifle 20x46mm HEIAP Automatic Gauss Gun 10rnd Block Anti-tank weapon. D18 Missile Launcher D1-Class Missile Automatic ML 6-pack Pod Ultimate anti-tank, anti-aircraft and anti-infantry weapon. General Motors G110 'Tomcat' Jeep Built with mobility in mind, the 'Tomcat' excells at transporting small amounts of personnel and equipment throughout the battlefield, or ferrying heavier vehicles and weapons. Its fusion reactor and electrical motors give it as much speed as the heavier M44, or even more if pushed past normal operating limits, and the vehicle is so modular that it can be mounted with virtually any weapon. Anti-Infantry, Anti-Tank and Artillery units, along with Anti-Aircraft and minelayer varients make daily apperances throughout the Confederation; in fact, the G4c, pronounced Geforce, is a civilian version very popular with the rich and vehicle enthusiasts. General Motors G115 ATV The G5 was designed to provide a fast response vehicle which could also protect its occupants from both environmental hazards and hostile forces. Each of these units is airtight and contains a compartment shielding system, allowing one or more seats to be quarantined or decontaminated while the vehicle is in move. Powerful electroreactive armor and a weapon mount make it a deadly foe in the battlefield, and with a powerful electrical engine running on fusion, it can ferry vehicles as heavy as tanks behind it when needed. Often, these jeeps are used to carry artillery out to the field. GDLS M27 IFV Recongising the need for a light infantry fighting vehicle to support orbital drops in areas that tanks could not reach, the DoD picked the M27 for the Advanced Infantry Fighting Vehicle Competition a decade ago. Many of the fast, hydrogen-powered units have been built since then, complete with their 40mm Gauss Cannon, .50 Caliber Railgun and missile pods. GDLS M29 'Stinger' The Stinger is one of the most modular vehicles in existance. While its primary purpose is to provide fast transport for marine and army units, tank destroyer, missile launcher, anti-aircraft, mortar and howitzer varieties have been designed and produced. GDLS M44 'Hornet' The Hornet was specifically designed for high-risk extraction and insertion missions, having a significant advantage in speed over most Army vehicles; a hydrogen combustion engine. Whereas electrical motors and fusion reactors are more reliable and can run for years without recharge, Hydrogen Combustion Engines are capable of delivering enormous engine power to the vehicle, easily allowing the Hornet to outrun even the fastest of military-grade interceptors. It has a set of jet boosters on its back for emergency acceleration and decceleration, an inertial dampener, decceleration boosters underneath it to ease leaps and is armed with two rocket launchers and a 4.7mm Gauss minigun. Its last feature is a dynamic camouflage system. M51A1 'Badger' APC Where the M29 Stinger was designed to offer a balance between speed, armor and weapons, the Badger focuses on obliterating anything that gets between its crew and their objective. Its armor plates were taken directly from the M100 'Mammoth' and sized down for optimal anti-tank defense, and its 12.7x99mm Gauss Gatling can cover entire areas in a solid wall of lead within a matter of microseconds. A powerful 40mm Gauss Cannon on its main turret provides 360-degree coverage with heavy weapons, and a missile and grenade launcher pod can offer fire and artillery support. M51A2 'Superbadger' IFV Built on the versatile M51 chassis, the Superbadger excells at fast attack and guerilla tactics. It can support infantry on the field, suppress enemy combatants or patrol large areas while remaining largely undetected, thanks to dynamic camouflage and a heatsink system. M100 'Mammoth' MBT The M10 'Mammoth' is the main battle tank unit of the United Systems Military, sporting an impressive arsenal of weapons and armor. Albeit slower than most tanks of its size, it can withstand several direct hits from anti-armor weaponry and missiles, and its energised hull plating easily shrugs off anything under a 40mm round. Its primary weapon is made out of two complimentary 120mm Gauss Cannons, two under-barrel 12.7mm Rail Chainguns, two eight-pod rocket launchers, a deployable 12.7mm Rail Autocannon and a missile launcher pod. Inertial dampeners allow the unit to accelerate and deccelerate with ease, and its powerful plasma fusion reactors give it the energy required to fire its weapons non-stop, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Each unit is capable of replicating ammunition on-site if required, although this process drains the reactor, and the vehicle can store enough ammunition for weeks of fighting. M110 'Prowler' MBT The M110 is a newer advancement of the M100, with a reduced size and weapons arsennal serving to make room for its oversized Plasma Fusion Reactor. The reactor was originally taken from one of the abandoned jump drive projects of the Navy, and gives the tank its main advantage; two devastating rail cannons which can not only penetrate any obstacle before them, but can also reach orbit and damage enemy spaceships. This gives the M11 an anti-aerial and artillery role as well, but leaves it at the disadvantage of being slow, unmanueverable and vulnerable; its only defense is a 5.56x45mm rail machinegun, other than the rail cannons that is. X120 Series MBT Part of the Modular Main Battle Tank contest, the X120 was designed to be the absolute pinnacle of modular weapons. Its armament can be changed in less than two minutes, giving it its infamous 'Shapeshifter' nickname. M88 'Stingray' The Stingray is a modular chassis that has been used in mobile command center, ISBM carrier, tank destroyer, artillery, hospital and vehicle recovery platforms. M93 'Shelly' MLRS A modular missile launcher system that is in use as both an artillery, anti-aircraft and direct combat unit. M180 'Sherman' MBT The Sherman is a middleground between the Mammoth and the Superbadger. Fast enough to outrun other tanks, strong enough to take them down. It uses a single cannon of the same type as the Mammoth, together with the same coaxial machinegun, but has an increased amount of rocket pods and an additional remote autocannon. M190 'Hammer' MBT An upgrade of the Sherman, the Hammer has an oversized power core to be able to use its 400mm Siege Cannon. In addition, a pair of smaller 40mm anti-materiel railguns can devastate enemy combatants and vehicles alike. The M195 is an artillery variant of the same chassis. M200 'Panther' HBT The Panther Heavy Battle Tank is a device of nightmares. Its massive 500mm Supersiege Cannon can take down buildings in a single shot, and numerous rocket launcher, grenade launcher, machinegun and autocannon systems, along with impressive armor, make it a true fortress. Its downside is its speed, as the unit can not both fire its main weapon and keep up with vehicle convoys at the same time. AM-06 'Minuteman' Light Attack Mech Although the AM-06 is not the newest or greatest combat machine ever built by the United Systems, it serves its purpose expertly: with a proprietary General Dynamics Higgs Field Manipulation Drive, it can lower its mass sufficiently to re-enter planets and land with the assistance of only a few minor solid rocket boosters, which are detached from the vehicle after their burn has been completed. It comes armed with a 20mm Gauss Chaingun on one arm, a plasma torch right above the barrel, two missile-launcher ports on either side of the canopy and a heavy lifting arm capable of crushing small vehicles into tincans. It is small enough to fit inside a large corridor, which makes it an excellent choice for urban environments. AM-08 'Hourman' Light Attack Mech The AM-08 uses a very strange and meaningless name, but it can beat respect into anyone who mocks it. Although it is not designed for planetary re-entry, it wields heavy firepower, including a 20mm Tri-Rail Gatling, a heavier 60mm Gauss Cannon, a plasma fusion torch, two multi-ordinance launch pods that can fire grenades, rockets and missiles, and of course, heavy armor. It is slightly larger than the AM-06, but it can still participate in urban combat with ease. BM-11 'Rifleman' Main Battle Mech The classic, ever-present mech warrior of the United Systems Army and Marine Corps. The BM-11's operating principle is simple: cram as big of a cannon into as small a mech as possible. The result is a mech twice the size of the AM-08 with two gigantic 120mm Gauss Cannons, with two underslung Hybrid Railguns (railguns that supercharge their projectile to give it an outer shell of plasma as it leaves the barrel, and that can melt through armor.) Not one, not two, not three but four missile and grenade pods are located in a rectangle formation around the canopy, while a set of plasma fusion torches provides close-range defense. LM-07 'Longbow' Artillery Mech The Longbow exceeds at one thing, and one thing only: long-range artillery support. A single 240mm Rail Artillery Cannon attached to its back can be deployed, using the ground as a means to dissipate recoil, and a series of high-capacity long-range missile tubes ensure that any friendly forces can receive instant artillery support from afar. A gigantic antenna on the top of the vehicle can generate an intense electromagnetic field around it, jamming any missiles that approach and scrambling targeting systems. HM-18 'Titan' Heavy Battle Mech The Titan is the King of Mechs. Its 30mm Gatling Railguns can tear apart enemy infantry, aircraft and light armor, while the two fusion plasma torches can incinerate anything within a fifty meter range with a cloud of ionized gas. Aside from the numerous rocket and grenade launchers throughout the vehicle, its 120mm Cyclic Railgun can destroy heavy tanks with just a few shots, and the weapon can be converted into a 360mm Octo-Rail Artillery Cannon for the purposes of destroying enemy entrenchments and mechs. Lockheed Martin F-36 'Cobra' MKVI The Cobra has been in service since before the Alarei wars, and is one of the most adaptable fighter platforms in USAF. It is powered by several hydrogen combustion reactors and has a thermal radiation battery as a reserve, and uses a trio of General Electric CG-103 Magnetoplasmadynamic Engines combined with a General Dynamics X-2b Inertial Dampener as its main form of propulsion. The fighters have two built-in 12.7x99mm Rail Machineguns on their wings and two fuselage-mounted 40mm Gauss Cannons, and can be fit with numerous missiles, drones and weaponry. The wings are usually folded until their firepower is needed, or the fighter is in atmospheric flight mode. Boeing FA-12 'Falcon' MKI Built as a replacement for the Cobra, only a single squadron of FA-12 fighters has been built so far, housed aboard the USS Carentan. The fighter could not beat the modular nature of the Cobra, but proved to be superior in space fighter duties when faced against multiple hostiles thanks to its heavy armor and turret-mount weapons. Due to operational and manufacturing costs, the Cobra Mark VII has been given the funding that would go to FA-12 construction. Regardless, the squadron "White Falcons" aboard the Carentan claim they would never change their fighter for any other. Lockheed Martin FA-36 'Cobra' MKVII The Cobra VII is an experimental fighter based on the Cobra series, featuring the latest advanced technologies in the modular Cobra design. The hull has been redesigned to have a more aerodynamic, compact and stealthy shape, and advanced RADAR-absorbing materials have been used to render the craft invisible to low-strength scanners. The weapons philosophy has been changed. Up until the Mark VI, Cobras had to deploy a set of vulnurable wings to launch missiles. In the VII, missiles are housed inside the spacecraft. Lockheed Martin B-1 'Talon' MKIII Talons are built for speed and stealth. The fighters rely on complex sensor-jamming systems and radiation-absorbant materials to get to the target undetected and release their payload, tactical or strategic, followed promptly by leaving. They are more often than not used to bombard enemy capital ships with anti-subsystem torpedoes, but can carry nuclear ordinance if needed. Some editions are built with jump drives. Lockheed Martin B-2 'Supertalon' The Supertalon is a jump-capable strategic bomber designed specifically for the deployment of nuclear weapons on enemy territory. It includes stealth systems, much like the Talon, and can carry up to twenty MXV-082 MIRVed nuclear warheads or fourty MXV-112 non-MIRV continent-buster weapons. Lockheed Martin S-14 'Raven' Ravens are stealth strike fighters designed to be deployed from supercarriers, go under enemy RADAR and cripple military installations or attack important gunships while remaining covert. SR-77 'Blackbird' Blackbirds are the ultimate stealth recon fighters. They can jump deep behind enemy lines, and using the proprietary General Dynamics Reactionless Motion Drive (TM) can move without producing any emissions. Their advanced heatsinks allow them to not only cover their jump signature, but to remain in stealth mode for days without having to vent the heat. CH-48 'Chetco' VTOL The Boeing CH-48 is named after the people of Chetco, a native Oregon tribe, and is the Space capable offspring of the CH-47 Chinook. It is an ancient vehicle, having served in both the Civil War and the Alarei War, and most of them are used as civilian cargo transports within the fleet, but military versions still exist for the transport of sensitive materiel because of the ship's heavy armor and huge cargo hold. Up to two main battle tanks, or fourty troops, can fit comfortably inside the hold of a CH-48. It is powered by microfission batteries, and uses a Buzzard scoop to use as reaction mass, giving it an almost unlimited range. Sometimes, the transports are refitted with an FTL drive to ferry cargo between Sanctuary and Earth. UH-101 'Raptor' Gunship The Raptor is an agile utility craft that serves as a jack of all trades. Cargo and troop transport, ECM, ECCM, sensor tracking, force insertion, recon, drone carrier, planetary and asteroid surveys and combat craft; there is no role that the Raptor can't do with the right tools in its arsenal. They are hybrid craft, using both hydrogen fuel cells for short bursts of fighter-level agility, and a fusion reactor for long-distance travel and recon. It is fitted with an FTL drive and military-grade heatsink, and can be armed with railguns, missiles and nuclear torpedoes, amongst a range of equipment. UH-77 'Inuit' Lander The UH-77 is named after the Canadian Inuit, part of Canadian heritage in the USC, and is built as a force insertion craft. Its missile pods can clear the path for ground forces to land in, and its railgun can devastate other dropships in dogfights. It is faster and more agile than the Chetco, and can be fitted with an FTL drive to allow it to travel faster than light. It also supports cloaking modules, heavier weapons, mech compartments and weapons of mass destruction. AH-12 'Slingshot' Gunship The Slingshot is the exact opposite of the Chetco. Agile and armed, it is meant to provide cover for ground troops with a huge arsenal of weaponry, such as rail cannons, missiles and artillery turrets. It can carry a small squad of marines inside it, for rapid deployments, and is fueled by hydrogen fuel cells to give it unpararelled agility when it comes to assault gunships. The Hastings-class started as a battleship-sized carrier, but after an extensive refit, both of the class's vessels were converted into capital ships. Supercarriers are the basis of the Coalition's combat doctrine, and serve as mobile command centers for the battlegroups they command. They are almost always refered to as "the Flagship", as they house a battlegroup's Admiralty Board. The vessels also house many families, and have services such as an extensive hospital, a playground and a school. It is interesting to note that half of the hangar bays on the pods are inverted in relation to the ship's artificial gravity. A smaller gravity generator serves to ensure the fighters land properly and remain attached to the landing corridor while the deck crews move them into the elevators, where they are reversed and moved to the hangar deck. The Hastings-class's most important weapon, aside from its flight wing, is the nuclear ship-to-ship torpedoes it is capable of launching. Aside from a carrier and a warship, the Hastings-class is also a mobile fighter factory. The USS Dauntless was once an experimental battleship, focusing on gathering as much firepower as possible on a single vessel. Following a refit, the Dauntless was moved up to Capital Ship size and given the designation of Dreadnought. Almost as big as a Hastings supercarrier, the Dauntless-class has a much smaller crew thanks to increased automation proceedures. It would be negligent to not mention the 'Aries' Artillery Battery, a device that spans the entire length of the ship. When aligned and charged, it can devastate any vessel in two shots. Much smaller than the Hastings-class, Freedom-class carriers are nevertheless capable of hosting almost as many fighters as their larger brothers. Their role is that of a carrier and support ship, and they barely have any weapons. Those they do have are more often than not used to suppress enemy fighter squadrons or missile barrages. They excel at remotely repairing other ships thanks to their dedicated drone bays, which they have in a much larger quantity than any other battleship or capital in the fleet.

2019-04-24T16:46:15Z

http://generalroleplay.forumotion.com/t12-united-systems-coalition-usc

Looking for a summer job that takes you out of the ordinary and lands you in the middle of South Dakota’s natural resources? Consider a seasonal job with Game, Fish, and Parks. There are a variety of opportunities that offer life experiences working hand-in-hand with parks and wildlife. The normal summer season is mid-May through Labor Day. Some employees may work earlier or later. Most positions involve outdoor work and physical labor. GFP Supervisors will contact those applicants they wish to interview. Interviews will begin in February. Not all applicants will receive an interview, but all applicants will be notified in writing of the outcome of their application. These popular positions fill quickly, so please check out the following instructions and get your application submitted as soon as you can. Come and enjoy South Dakota’s great outdoors with us! Housing is the responsibility of the employee, unless otherwise noted. Transportation to and from work and associated costs is the responsibility of the employee. Positions may require employees to work holidays, weekends and irregular or rotating shifts. Some positions require specific licenses or certification as listed on the job description. Use a State of South Dakota Seasonal Application form. MAC Users:Please complete the form using Adobe Reader. Save the blank application to your computer. Open the application (file ->Open). Applications are also available at any SD Department of Labor and Regulation Job Service Office and any job site listed. Photocopies are acceptable. All applications must be sent to the address or e-mail address listed on that announcement. Only one application is needed to be considered for the positions listed below. You must include the requisition number for your application to be processed. Please list on the application the position you are applying for. Be specific in completing the application form. List any relevant licenses or certificates (e.g. driver’s license, CDL, CPR, pesticide/herbicide applicator certification, etc.) as well as any equipment or office equipment you are able to operate. Please include both the beginning and ending dates you are available for employment. It is essential that your mailing address is complete including apartment number, box number, lot number, as well as street, lane, avenue, etc. if applicable. Applicants requiring application materials in an alternate format or assistance with the application process may contact the Bureau of Human Resources at 605.773.3148 (VOICE/TYY). Position Description: Under the direct supervision of a Regional or District Park Manager and the guidance of an assigned Park Ranger as mentor, the seasonal Park Ranger enforces park regulations, boating laws, conservation laws, and criminal laws to ensure compliance, protect public resources and promote public safety. Maintains public relations with the general public, park visitors, landowners, concessionaires, business owners and other agencies to ensure departmental activities are implemented and understood and to provide comprehensive customer service. The incumbent will also perform a variety of administrative support functions to assist the park managers with park operations and performs other duties as assigned. This position involves boating-safety duties and monitoring aquatic recreation to promote safety on the water. Qualifications: Applicants must be 21 years of age by the date of employment and meet all requirements for a law enforcement officer for South Dakota. All applicants must be certified as a law enforcement officer in South Dakota. The incumbent will be required to pass firearms and PPCT (defensive tactics) proficiency tests and meet department minimum qualification standards. Background investigations will be conducted on all successful applicants prior to employment and pre-employment drug testing is required. First aid, CPR, EMT, or first responder certificates are desirable. A valid driver’s license is required. Housing is provided at some locations. Uniforms and law enforcement equipment are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress. This position requires employees to work holidays, weekends, and irregular or rotating shifts. The normal summer season is mid-May through Labor Day. All applicants must attend the Park Ranger Training held in Pierre in May. Some employees may work earlier or later. Seasonal employees are paid only for hours worked; no paid time off or benefits. Minimum salary: $17.00 per hour (S05). Locations: Department of Game, Fish, and Parks – Numerous positions available statewide; requires one application. Indicate on the application form above the position title, your location choices. Applications must be submitted on the Seasonal Parks Law Enforcement application form. *Campground/Gate Attendant: Assists in the overall operation and maintenance of assigned campgrounds and day use facilities including but not limited to, cleaning comfort stations and cabins/lodge, collecting camping fees, selling park passes, cleaning fire grates, managing the reservation system and providing information to the public. Requirements: Money handling experience is helpful. Ability to work independently, manage time well, and work in a variety of weather conditions out of doors. Uniforms are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. Minimum salary: $9.92 per hour (S02). *Parks/Ground Maintenance: Assists with maintenance of buildings and grounds within the park including but not limited to, mowing campgrounds and day use areas, shoreline clean-up and tree removal and operating equipment such as chain saws, tractors, skid loaders, mowers, weed eaters, and trucks. Requirements: Ability to work independently, manage time well, and work in a variety of weather conditions out of doors. Uniforms are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. *Naturalist/Program Coordinator: Develops, promotes, and presents programs on natural and cultural resources, and environmental education. Duties may include staffing the visitor centers, selling publications, developing and presenting day and evening programs, coordinating special events, and presenting living history demonstrations. Requirements: Experience and interest in teaching, public speaking, and working with children and adults is desirable. Uniforms are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. Minimum salary: $10.62 per hour (S03). *Crew Leader: Job site supervisor for seasonal work crews and inmates performing general maintenance and project work. Duties may include working directly with seasonal employees performing building and grounds maintenance work and operating a variety of equipment including trucks, mowers, and tractors. Requirements: Supervisory experience is helpful. Ability to work independently, manage time well, and work in a variety of weather conditions out of doors. Uniforms are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. *Seasonal housing available (trailer house). *Lead Maintenance/Campground Worker: Primary responsibilities include being the lead worker in the Park Manager’s absence. Constant contact with the public will be maintained throughout the performance of duties. A lead worker must maintain a professional image by actions and appearance. Other duties include collection and recording of monies from self-sell license stations, and maintenance of grounds, buildings, and facilities. Other duties as assigned. ONLY ONE APPLICATION IS NEEDED TO BE CONSIDERED FOR THE POSITIONS LISTED BELOW. YOU MUST INCLUDE THE REQUISITION NUMBER FOR YOUR APPLICATION TO BE PROCESSED. PLEASE LIST ON THE APPLICATION THE POSITION* YOU ARE APPLYING FOR. *Gate Attendant: Assist in customer service duties along with the maintenance of assigned campgrounds and day use facilities including but not limited to selling park entrance licenses, cleaning comfort stations, collecting camping fees, managing the reservation system, and providing information to the public. *Campground Attendant: Assist in the overall operation and maintenance of assigned campgrounds and day use facilities including but not limited to cleaning comfort stations, collecting camping fees, cleaning fire grates, managing the reservation system and providing information to the public. *Parks/Ground Maintenance Worker: Assists with maintenance of buildings and grounds within the park and access areas, including mowing, weed whipping, spraying, watering, and operating equipment such as mowers, tractors, skid loaders, weed sprayers and trucks. Requirements: Ability to work independently, manage time well, and work in a variety of weather conditions out of doors. Uniforms are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. Minimum salary: $9.92 per hour (S02). *Campground Security: Work directly with the general public and department rangers to provide nighttime security of the park area for all visitors. Duties may include assisting department managers and rangers in the enforcement of park rules and regulations. Assist in the selling of entrance licenses and camping permits. Monitoring entrance license and camping permits for compliance. Requirements: Interest in park management, public safety, and law enforcement is helpful. Ability to work independently, manage time well, and work in a variety of weather conditions out of doors. Uniforms are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. *Campground Attendant: Assist in the overall operation and maintenance of assigned campgrounds and day use facilities including but not limited to cleaning comfort stations, collecting camping fees, cleaning fire grates, managing the reservation system and providing information to the public. Other duties as assigned. Requirements: Money handling experience is helpful. Ability to work independently, manage time well, and work in a variety of weather conditions. Uniforms are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. *Parks/Ground Maintenance Worker: Assists with maintenance of buildings and grounds within the park, including mowing, weed whipping, spraying, watering, and operating equipment such as mowers, tractors, skid loaders, weed sprayers and trucks. Other duties as assigned. Requirements: Ability to work independently, manage time well, and work in a variety of weather conditions. Uniforms are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. Minimum salary: $9.92 per hour (S02). *Campground Supervisor: Primary responsibilities include being the working supervisor of Gate Attendants and Park Maintenance workers in the Park Manager’s absence. Constant contact with the public will be maintained throughout the performance of duties. A supervisor must maintain a professional image by actions and appearance. Other duties include supervision, training, and assistance to gate attendants and park workers, collection and recording of monies from self-sell license stations, campground security, and maintenance of grounds, buildings, and facilities. Other duties as assigned. Requirements: Supervisory experience is helpful. Ability to work independently, manage time well, and work in a variety of weather conditions. Uniforms are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. *Program Coordinator: Develops, promotes, and presents programs on natural and cultural resources, and environmental education. Duties may include developing and presenting day and evening programs for all ages, coordinating special events, and presenting living history demonstrations. Programs are held at Palisades State Park, Big Sioux Recreation Area, Beaver Creek Nature Area, and Lake Vermillion Recreation Area. Other duties as assigned. *Parks/Ground Maintenance Worker: Assists with maintenance of buildings and grounds within the park, including mowing, weed whipping, spraying, watering, and operating equipment such as mowers, tractors, skid loaders, weed sprayers and trucks. *Program Coordinator: Develops, promotes, and presents programs on natural and cultural resources, and environmental education. Duties may include staffing the visitor centers, selling publications, developing and presenting day and evening programs, coordinating special events, and presenting living history demonstrations. *Park Attendant: Responsibilities include alternating between Front Desk Attendant and Campground Attendant. While working as Front Desk, the primary responsibility is to be the initial contact person for park visitors and to provide a positive image of the park and the State Park System through actions and appearance. Campground Attendants primary responsibility is assisting in the overall operation and maintenance of the campgrounds. Duties of both attendants include: collecting entrance license revenues and camping permit fees, registering campers, answering visitors questions, firewood sales, keeping of records on park attendance, custodial and maintenance of park grounds, buildings, and facilities. Also may include office duties such as answering the phone, assisting the secretary, etc. and other duties as assigned. Requirements: Money handling and customer service experience is helpful. Ability to deal with the public and unpleasant situations, work independently, manage time well, and work in a variety of weather conditions. Skills in carpentry, plumbing, and vehicle/equipment maintenance are helpful. Schedule: 32-40 hours a week. Mostly nights, weekends, and holidays. May thru Labor Day, weekends until October 30. Requirements: Skills in operating, maintaining, and repairing equipment such as mowers, grass trimmers, tractors, weed sprayers, and trucks. Skills in carpentry, plumbing, small engine repair, and vehicle and equipment maintenance are preferred. Ability to perform strenuous physical labor, work independently, manage time well, and work in a variety of weather conditions. Schedule: 32-40 hours a week. Mostly weekday hours, however weekend/evening/holiday hours may be necessary. *Campground Supervisor: Primary responsibilities include being the working supervisor of Gate Attendants and Park Maintenance workers in the Park Manager’s absence. Constant contact with the public will be maintained throughout the performance of duties. A supervisor must maintain a professional image by actions and appearance. Other duties include supervision, training, and assistance to gate attendants and park workers, collection and recording of monies from self-sell license stations, and maintenance of grounds, buildings, and facilities. Other duties as assigned. Requirements: Supervisory experience is helpful. Ability to work independently, manage time well, and work in a variety of weather conditions. Uniforms are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. *Naturalist/Program Coordinator: Develops, promotes, and presents programs on natural and cultural resources, and environmental education. Duties may include developing and presenting day and evening programs for children as well as adults (i.e. Arts and Crafts activities, movies at amphitheater, programs for scout groups, etc.), as well as coordinating special events. Along with those duties, fill needed shifts in the office or campground, and assist with various duties as needed during times of high use. Requirements: Experience and interest in teaching, public speaking, and working with children and adults is desirable. All seasonal employees report to work at Newton Hills. The Lake Alvin, Union Grove and Good Earth State Park shifts will have some time spent at Newton Hills before leaving and after returning. Uniforms are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. *Campground Attendant: Assist in the overall operation and maintenance of assigned campgrounds and day use facilities including but not limited to managing the reservation system, collecting camping fees, providing information to the public, cleaning comfort stations, and, cleaning fire grates. *Campground Supervisor: Primary responsibilities include being the working supervisor of Campground Attendants and Park Maintenance Workers in the Park Manager’s absence. Constant contact with the public will be maintained throughout the performance of duties. A supervisor must maintain a professional image by actions and appearance. Other duties include supervision, training, and assistance to campground attendants and park workers, collection and recording of monies from self-sell license stations, and maintenance of grounds, buildings, and facilities. Other duties as assigned. *Seasonal housing is available. The charge is $4.50 a day for dorms and cabins. Campsites are available for $4.00 a day. *Entrance Station Attendant; Meet and greet visitors coming into Custer State Park and provide information on the Park and the surrounding Black Hills. Sell entrance licenses and collect associated fees. Open, close, and keep facilities clean and orderly. Requirements: Ability to work with park visitors and associated staff. Work independently standing for long periods of time and in a variety of weather conditions. Ability to work with money, balance books, and operate a computer POS system. *Entrance Station Crew Leader: Oversee the day to day operations of one Entrance Station in Custer State Park. Maintain needed supplies, materials, and literature at the entrance station. Provide support to staff by answering their questions, providing direction, and acting as liaison between staff and supervisor. Meet and greet visitors coming into the Park and sell park entrance licenses. Requirements: Ability to provide direction to co-workers and maintain a positive work environment, oversee the trading of entrance licenses with staff. Work in a variety of weather conditions, standing for long periods of time. Operate POS program. *Campground Attendant: Assist in the overall operations and maintenance of one or more campgrounds and day use areas in Custer State Park. Clean comfort stations, day use area facilities and fire grate. Interact with park guests, providing them information on the Park and surrounding area. Requirements: Ability to work independently. Operate the POS system, collect revenues, and interact with park visitors and staff/volunteers. *Campground Supervisor: Lead seasonal campground team and/or volunteers. Assist with campground maintenance tasks. Assist with cleaning one or more campgrounds and day use areas. Interact with park guests, providing them information on the Park and surrounding area. Requirements: Supervisory experience is preferred. Ability to work independently, provide work direction to co-workers and maintain a positive work environment. Operate the POS system, collect revenues, and interact with park visitors and staff/volunteers. *Naturalist: Develop, promote, and present programs on the natural and cultural resources of Custer State Park. Duties may include staffing visitor centers, sell publications, develop and present day and evening interpretative programs, coordinate special events, living history demonstrations, and cleaning and maintaining facilities. Requirements: Appropriate educational background. Experience in teaching, public speaking, and with adults and children in an outdoor setting to enhance the educational goals of Custer State Park. *Naturalist Crew Leader: Develop, promote, and present programs on the natural and cultural resources of Custer State Park. Duties may include staffing visitor centers, sell publications, develop and present day and evening interpretative programs, coordinate special events, living history demonstrations, and cleaning and maintaining facilities The lead position is also responsible for additional administrative duties that may include; posting information on park bulletin boards, functioning as “on-call” during certain days of the week, coordinating guest speakers for Speaker Series under guidance of a Park Naturalist, and circulating information to various locations. Requirements: Ability to provide direction to co-workers and maintain a positive work environment. Appropriate educational background. Experience in teaching, public speaking, and with adults and children in an outdoor setting to enhance the educational goals of Custer State Park. *Visitor Center Conservation Technician- Assist in the overall daily operations and maintenance of the parks two visitor centers, and education center. Clean bathrooms, floors, and main areas of each facility. Assist with maintenance of the buildings and the grounds which includes but it not limited to mowing, weed whipping, watering and operation of equipment such as mowers, tractors, and trucks. *Resource Technician: Assist with controlling and monitoring noxious weeds by chemical, biological, cultural, and mechanical means according to Integrated Weed Control Plan. Use of pickup mounted sprayer, ATV mounted sprayers, and backpack sprayers. Use of hand-held GPS units to map weed infestations and bio-control sites. Assist in collection of rangeland data, plant identification skills helpful. Requirements: Experience or knowledge of Range Management preferred. Weed applicator certification required, may be obtained after beginning of employment. *Resource Technician Crew Leader: Lead seasonal crews and inmates performing work to control and monitor noxious weeds. Assist in collection of rangeland data, plant identification skill required. Requirements: Experience or knowledge of Range Management preferred. Weed applicator certification required, may be obtained after beginning of employment. Supervisory experience is helpful. Ability to work independently, manage time well, and work in a variety of weather conditions out of doors. Uniforms are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. *Ground Maintenance Team: Assist with maintenance of buildings and grounds within the Park including mowing, weed whipping, spraying, watering, and operating equipment such as mowers, tractors, skid loaders, weed sprayers, and trucks. Requirements: Ability to work independently, manage time well, and work in a variety of weather conditions out of doors. Valid driver’s license. *Technician for Water and Wastewater Systems: Assist with the daily operation, maintenance and record keeping for the six waste water systems throughout the park. Collect water samples for testing. Chlorinate water systems as needed to specifications. Requirements: Ability to work independently, manage time well, and work in a variety of weather conditions out of doors. Valid driver’s license. Appropriate background in equipment operation, ability to take and maintain accurate records for all work completed. *Mickelson Trail Crew: Perform general trail maintenance of the 111 mile Mickelson Trail. Have appropriate knowledge of equipment operation to perform tasks along the trail. Clean and maintain facilities along the trail. Requirements: Ability to work out doors in all kinds of weather. *CSP Trail Crew: Perform general trail maintenance of the 50 miles of trails in Custer State Park. Have appropriate knowledge of equipment operation to perform tasks along the trails. Clean and maintain facilities along the trails. *Custer State Park Fire Tower/Radio Dispatch Operator – Maintain watch over Custer State Park in Mt. Coolidge Fire Tower while also serving as Custer State Park radio dispatch operator. Operate radio, telephone, and computer equipment and receive reports from park employees on issues, fires, medical and law enforcement emergencies and non-emergencies. Work with campgrounds to look up reservations on POS system. *Seasonal housing may be available (camper). *Crew Leader: Job site supervisor for seasonal work crews performing general maintenance and project work. Duties may include working directly with seasonal employees performing building and grounds maintenance work and operating a variety of equipment including trucks, mowers, and tractors. Other duties as assigned. *Campground/Grounds Attendant: Assist in the overall operation and maintenance of assigned campgrounds and day use facilities including but not limited to cleaning comfort stations, collecting camping fees, cleaning fire grates, managing the reservation system and providing information to the public. *Seasonal housing available (trailer house at Angostura and camper at Sheps Canyon near shop). *Facility Maintenance Worker: Assist with cleaning of buildings and grounds within the park including modern and basic restroom facilities, picnic shelters, fish cleaning stations, camping cabins, lodge and litter. Requirements: Utilization of modern cleaning products and tools, power washers and sprayers, and how to stock supplies. *Parks/Ground Maintenance Crew Leader: Job site supervisor responsible for the general park grounds, building and campground upkeep. Responsibilities include but are not limited to building cleaning, mowing, spraying, and operating equipment such as mowers, tractors, skid loaders, weed sprayers and trucks. Responsible for assigning and directing personnel and equipment and for completing and inspecting projects. Requirements: Supervisory experience is helpful. Ability to work independently, manage time well, and work in a variety of weather conditions out of doors. Uniforms are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. Minimum salary: $10.62 per hour (S03). *Visitor Center/Campground Attendant: Assist in the overall operation and maintenance of assigned campgrounds and day use facilities including but not limited to cleaning comfort stations, collecting camping fees, cleaning fire grates, managing the reservation system and providing information to the public. *Visitor Center/Campground Crew Leader: Job site supervisor for the Visitor Services at Fort Sisseton Historic State Park. Duties may include but are not limited to working directly with seasonal staff and volunteers conducting tours, maintaining the visitor center and museum, cleaning, managing the reservation system, planning and coordinating special events, and running the gift shop. Will be responsible for assigning and directing personnel and volunteers for completing these tasks. Requirements: Supervisory experience is helpful. Effective communication skills experience and or interest in history or public relations, and be enthusiastic about working with a wide range of people is desired. Uniforms are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. *Festival Parks/Ground Maintenance Worker: Varying hours and days between Mid-April thru Mid-June. Assist with the maintenance of buildings and grounds to prepare for the June Festival. Responsibilities include but are not limited to cleaning buildings, setting up stages and grounds, general maintenance and operating equipment such as tractors, skid loaders, and trucks. Requirements: Ability to work independently, manage time well, and work in a variety of weather conditions out of doors. Valid driver’s license required. *Festival Gate Attendant: Works at the park’s entrance welcoming guests to the parks, collecting entrance license revenues and camping permit fees, managing the reservation system and providing information to the public. Assist with daily maintenance activities that may include cleaning comfort stations, cabins, or lodges. Requirements: Money handling experience is helpful. Ability to deal with people, to work independently, and work in a variety of weather conditions out of doors. Valid driver’s license required. *Crew Leader/Campground Supervisor: Primary responsibilities include being the working supervisor of Gate Attendants and Park Maintenance workers in the Park Manager’s absence. Constant contact with the public will be maintained throughout the performance of duties. A supervisor must maintain a professional image by actions and appearance. Other duties include supervision, training, and assistance to gate attendants and park workers, collection and recording of monies from self-sell license stations, and maintenance of grounds, buildings, and facilities. Other duties as assigned. *Crew Leader: Primary responsibilities include being the working supervisor of Gate Attendants and Park Maintenance workers in the Park Manager’s absence. Constant contact with the public will be maintained throughout the performance of duties. A supervisor must maintain a professional image by actions and appearance. Other duties include supervision, training, and assistance to gate attendants and park workers, collection and recording of monies from self-sell license stations, and maintenance of grounds, buildings, and facilities. Other duties as assigned. Parks/Ground Maintenance: Assists with maintenance of buildings and grounds within the park including but not limited to, mowing, trail maintenance, tree removal, building maintenance and operating equipment such as mowers, weed eaters, chain saws, gators, and trucks. *Seasonal housing available at West Bend (trailer house). *General Maintenance Worker: Work outdoors at area parks, maintenance duties include: maintenance buildings, trails, grounds that will include mowing, cultivating, weeding, refuse collection, cleaning, janitorial duties, fencing, painting, cutting trees, and firewood splitting. Requirements: Ability to work in a variety of weather conditions. Day shifts and some weekend work and holidays. Uniform shirts are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. *Gate Attendant: Work primarily at park entrance office greeting customers, selling entrance licenses, camping permits, answering questions, and entry into computer sales system. This position will also be utilized for some general maintenance duties. Requirements: Position requires the ability to enthusiastically greet people and deal with problems in a positive way. Alternating day and night hours, as well as weekend and holidays. Money handling experience is helpful. Uniform shirts are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. *Campground Supervisor: Work outdoors within area parks. Fee collection, campgrounds, and park maintenance are the primary areas of work. Employees will need to complete work in all areas of the park. Duties include but not limited to selling entrance licenses, camping permits, meeting and greeting the public, janitorial work, pickup garbage, clean fire grate ashes, and assisting in the education of the public relating to park rules and behavior. Requirements: Ability to work on your own late into the evening. Ability to interact with campers and other visitors during evening shift informing them of park rules and hours of operation. Evening hours primarily and weekends. Money handling experience would be helpful. Uniform shirts and provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. Sprayer is responsible for controlling and monitoring noxious weeds throughout the district using an ATV with a sprayer unit in the back for application purposes. Applicant should be comfortable working outside, alone, early hours, and with noxious weed control chemicals while driving over varying terrain. Plant identification skills helpful but not required. Other job duties would include mowing, refuse collection, janitorial duties, and other general buildings and grounds maintenance responsibilities as part of the general maintenance team. Requirements: Valid Driver’s License and Weed applicators certification. License can be obtained after beginning of employment. Minimum salary: $10.62 per hour (SO3). *General Maintenance Worker: Work outdoors at area parks. Maintenance duties include: maintenance of buildings, trails, & grounds: to include mowing, weeding, refuse collection, cleaning, janitorial duties, fencing, painting, tree trimming, and preparing firewood. Requirements: Ability to work in a variety of weather conditions. Day shifts and some weekend work and holidays. Uniforms shirts are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. *Campground Supervisor: Work either at park entrance (Gate) office greeting customers, selling entrance licenses & camping reservations, answering questions, with product entry into computer sales system. Other CG Supervisors, work outdoors within area parks. Fee collection in campgrounds and some general park maintenance are the primary areas of work. Employees will need to complete work in all areas of the park. Duties include but not limited to selling entrance licenses, camping reservations, meeting and greeting the public, janitorial work, pickup garbage, clean fire grate ashes, and assisting in the education of the public relating to park rules and behavior. Requirements: Position requires the ability to enthusiastically greet people and deal with problems in a positive way. Positions can work both, day and evening shifts, as well as weekend and holidays. Money handling experience is helpful. Uniform shirts are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. *Crew Leader: Job site team-leader for seasonal work crews performing general maintenance work. Duties include building and grounds maintenance, janitorial duties, planting, weeding, mowing, fencing, and operating a variety of equipment including trucks, mowers, and tractors. Requirements: Team-leader for personnel and equipment as to accomplish assigned tasks. Completion and inspection of various district projects required. Day shifts and some weekend work and holidays. Uniform shirts are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. *Program Coordinator: Specific duties include: organizing and facilitating scheduled park programs and events; ability to attend a state-wide coordinator training that is conducted early summer after Memorial Day; ability to work under limited supervision developing and conducting new or established programs within your district’s park settings; ability to maintain a flexible schedule to meet the needs of scheduled events; a task oriented, well organized individual capable of networking with local businesses to conduct a variety of programs throughout the park. Requirements: Interest in recreational programming, or education or a combination of education and experience. Work outdoors in a variety of weather. Uniforms are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. *Campground Attendant: Work primarily at park entrance office greeting customers, selling entrance licenses, camping reservations, answering questions, and entry into computer sales system. This position will also be utilized for general maintenance and custodial duties. Requirements: Position requires the ability to enthusiastically greet people and deal with problems in a positive way. Alternating day and night hours, as well as weekend and holidays. Customer Service and money handling experience is helpful. Uniform shirts are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. *General Maintenance Worker: Work outdoors at area parks. Maintenance duties include: maintenance of buildings, trails and grounds. Tasks will include mowing, planting, weeding, cleaning, janitorial duties, fencing, painting, cutting trees, and firewood splitting. Custodial Maintenance Worker: Assist with cleaning of buildings and grounds of our area parks, including modern and basic restroom facilities, picnic shelters, fish cleaning stations and camping cabins. Requirements: Knowledge and utilization of modern cleaning products and tools, power washers and sprayers, and how to stock supplies. Alternating between weekday and weekend shifts while working with a crew. Valid driver’s license required. *Crew Leader: Job site supervisor for seasonal work crews performing general maintenance work. Duties include building and grounds maintenance, janitorial duties, planting, weeding, mowing, fencing, and operating a variety of equipment including trucks, mowers, and tractors. Requirements: Responsible for directing personnel, quality control and equipment to accomplish assigned tasks to parks standards. Day shifts and some weekend work and holidays. Uniform shirts are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. *Naturalist/Program Coordinator: Specific duties include: organizing and facilitating scheduled park programs and events; ability to attend a state-wide coordinator training that is conducted early summer after Memorial Day; ability to work under limited supervision developing and conducting new or established programs within your district’s park settings; Mostly Weekend and Holidays shifts to meet the needs of scheduled events; a task oriented, well organized individual capable of networking with local businesses to conduct a variety of programs throughout the park. Requirements: Interest in recreational programming, or education or a combination of education and experience. Work outdoors in a variety of weather. Uniform shirts are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. Schedule: 32-40 hours a week. Mostly weekday hours, however weekend, evening, and holiday hours may be necessary. Requirements: Responsible for directing personnel and equipment to accomplish assigned tasks. Completion and inspection of various district projects required. Day shifts and some weekend work and holidays. Uniform shirts are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. *Trail Attendant: This position is primarily out on the trail checking on users, help people that need assistance for any reason, and perform minor maintenance functions. Maintenance is conducted on foot equipped with small tools to be able to fix things such as broken boards, washouts, signs, etc. Requirements: Ability to work independently, manage time well, and work in a variety of weather conditions out of doors, have good customer service skills and willing to work the Education Center. Uniforms are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. *Campground Attendant: Assist in the overall operation and maintenance of assigned campgrounds and day use facilities including but not limited to collecting camping fees, managing the reservation system, providing information to the public, cleaning comfort stations, cleaning fire grates, mowing, and weed whipping. *Crew Leader: Job site supervisor for seasonal work crews performing Campground Attendant and general maintenance work. Duties may include, but not limited to managing the reservation system, collecting camping fees, providing information to the public, cleaning comfort stations, cleaning fire grates, and working directly with seasonal employees performing building and grounds maintenance work including operating a variety of equipment including trucks, mowers, and tractors. *Seasonal housing available at Pelican Lake (camper). *Campground Supervisor: Primary responsibilities include being the working supervisor of Campground Attendants in the Park Manager’s absence. Constant contact with the public will be maintained throughout the performance of duties. Duties may include, but not limited to managing the reservation system, collecting camping fees, providing information to the public, cleaning comfort stations, cleaning fire grates, and working directly with seasonal employees performing building and grounds maintenance work including operating a variety of equipment including trucks, mowers, and tractors. Requirements: Ability to work independently, manage time well, and work in a variety of weather conditions out of doors. Uniforms are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. Must be at least 18 years of age. *Program Coordinator: Develops, promotes, and presents programs on natural and cultural resources and environmental education. Duties may include staffing the visitor centers, selling publications, developing and presenting day and evening programs, coordinating special events, and presenting living history demonstrations. *Public Water Access (PWA) Ground Maintenance Worker: Assists with maintenance of public water access areas throughout northeastern South Dakota, including mowing, weed whipping, spraying, tree trimming and operating equipment such as mowers, tractors, skid loaders, weed sprayers, road groomers, trucks and pulling trailers w/heavy loads. Overnight travel throughout the region is required occasionally up to three nights a week. *Front Desk Attendant: Assist in customer service duties along with the maintenance of assigned campgrounds and day use facilities including but not limited to selling park entrance licenses, cleaning restrooms, collecting camping fees, managing the reservation system, and providing information to the public. *Custodial Maintenance Worker: Assist with cleaning of buildings and grounds within the park including modern and basic restroom facilities, picnic shelters, fish cleaning stations and camping cabins. *Custodial Maintenance Crew Leader: Job site supervisor for seasonal custodial work crews and inmates performing facility and grounds cleaning. Duties may include working directly with seasonal employees performing building and grounds cleaning. Perform minor facility repairs. *Maintenance Crew Leader: Job site supervisor for seasonal work crews and inmates performing general maintenance and project work. Duties may include working directly with seasonal employees performing building and grounds maintenance work and operating a variety of equipment including trucks, mowers, and tractors. *Campground Ranger: Work directly with the general public and department Rangers to provide nighttime security of the park area for all visitors. Duties may include assisting department managers and rangers in the enforcement of park rules and regulations. Assist in the selling of entrance licenses and camping permits. Monitoring entrance license and camping permits for compliance. Assist with the cleaning of buildings and grounds. Requirements: Interest in park management, public safety and law enforcement is helpful. Ability to work independently, manage time well, and work in a variety of weather conditions out of doors. Uniforms are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license required. *Naturalist/Program Coordinator: Specific duties include: organizing and facilitating scheduled park programs and events; ability to attend a state-wide coordinator training that is conducted early summer after Memorial Day; ability to work under limited supervision developing and conducting new or established programs within your district’s park settings; ability to maintain a flexible schedule to meet the needs of scheduled events; a task oriented, well organized individual capable of networking with local businesses to conduct a variety of programs throughout the park. Position purpose: Assist fisheries managers and biologists with management and research activities on Missouri River reservoirs. Primary duties: Assist in fish spawning and stocking operations, fish population sampling using gill nets, trap nets, seines and electrofishing, and angler use and harvest surveys. Assist with data entry and equipment maintenance. Essential requirements: Valid driver’s license, the ability to perform strenuous physical labor, and the ability to work nights and weekends. Ability to communicate effectively with the public. Beneficial abilities: Operation and maintenance of boats, motors, and trailers, basic vehicle and equipment maintenance, knowledge of fisheries management principles and techniques, fish identification and basic computer operation. Habitat Technician: Provides technical assistance to habitat managers in tree planting, cultivation, fence construction, weed control, prescribed burning, and habitat plantings. May serve as lead worker on projects. This position may assist Fisheries Managers with capture surveys and Wildlife Damage Managers with various projects. Requirements: Knowledge of and experience in land management techniques and equipment, fencing equipment, and spraying equipment. Must be able to perform strenuous physical labor. Ability to work out of doors in a variety of weather. Uniforms are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Valid driver’s license. Provide technical assistance to habitat managers in tree planting, cultivation, fence construction, weed control, prescribed burning, and habitat plantings. May serve as crew leader or lead worker on projects. Requirements: Knowledge of and experience in land management techniques and equipment, fencing equipment, and spraying equipment. Technician must be able to perform strenuous physical labor. Technician must be able to work out of doors in a variety of weather. Uniforms are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Technician must have a valid driver’s license. Ability to obtain a SD Commercial Applicators License. Position to start approximately April 8th and end around October 15th. Position purpose: Assist fisheries managers and biologists conducting a variety of fisheries management and research activities on waters in Management Region II and on Missouri River reservoirs. Technician will work with fisheries staff during normal scheduled activities conducting fish population surveys, fish spawning, trap and transfer of fish, fish stocking, sampling fish utilizing netting and electrofishing equipment, analyzing age and growth, data entry, and equipment maintenance. In addition, technician will be assigned to occasionally assist with game management surveys and wildlife habitat work. Requirements: Technician must be able to complete strenuous activities in an outdoor environment in al weather conditions and be able to work in and operate boats and outboard motors. Technician will be overtime eligible, but the normal work schedule will be 40 hours per week. Technician must be available to complete night and weekend work when requested and to accompany fisheries crew on overnight trips. Technician will receive pay for hours worked and be eligible for travel reimbursement when working away from home workstation, but not eligible for other compensation or benefits. Requirements: Knowledge of and experience in land management techniques and equipment, fencing equipment, and spraying equipment. Technician must be able to perform strenuous physical labor. Technician must be able to work out of doors in a variety of weather. Uniforms are provided and employees must comply with uniform dress code. Technician must have a valid driver’s license and ability to obtain a SD commercial applicator license. Position to start: Approximately April 9th and end around October 15th. Habitat Technician: Provides technical assistance to habitat managers in food plot planting, tree planting and cultivation, native grass seeding, fence construction, weed control, and posting property boundaries. May serve as lead worker on projects. Position purpose: Assist the GFP southeast area fisheries management team with fisheries management, fisheries research, aquatic habitat, aquatic access and aquatic invasive species activities on southeastern South Dakota waters. Primary duties: Fish spawning and stocking operations, fish population sampling using gill nets, trap nets, seines and electrofishing, aquatic habitat improvement, fishing access improvement, data entry, lab work, creel surveys, Aquatic Invasive Species outreach, and equipment maintenance. Essential requirements: Valid driver’s license, the ability to perform strenuous physical labor, and the ability to work nights and weekends.

2019-04-24T22:04:25Z

https://bhr.sd.gov/job-seekers/seasonal/gfp/

Då var det måndag! Dagen har inte varit perfekt tyvärr… Men bara att ta nya tag I guess, ska filma en video! Imorgon kommer troligtvis Sara över, kommer bli väldigt kul! Vi har inte varit på ett tag eftersom vi båda haft mycket att göra. Fick reda på idag att vi ska ha ett engelska nattionella muntligt imorgon, vi får hoppas på det bästa! Btw så var det väldigt kul att ni gillade inlägget om rökning, gläder mig! Nu är det Mars och ja jag ska göra en Februari favoriter, vet bara inte riktigt när än men det kommer! Något annat som händer denna månad är… Kan ni gissa? Jo, jag fyller ju år! Hanna (storasyrran) kommer komma och har inte sett henne sedan jul så jag saknar henne mycket! Hur hög är Boppan? Kan du inte göra ett riktigt hästigt inlägg med en massa info om Boppan? Hur hög hon är och så. Du & din familj kam ju vara med i familjen annorlunda, för ni är väldigt många i eran familj, 8 st. Snälla loves<3 Ta en titt! 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2019-04-20T17:06:20Z

http://misslisibell.se/2014/03/03/mandag-5/

Ruconest is a C1 esterase inhibitor [recombinant] indicated for the treatment of acute attacks in adult and adolescent patients with hereditary angioedema (HAE). Limitation of Use: Effectiveness was not established in HAE patients with laryngeal attacks. Initiate treatment with Ruconest under the supervision of a qualified healthcare professional experienced in the treatment of HAE. Appropriately trained patients may self-administer upon recognition of an HAE attack. The recommended dose of Ruconest is 50 U per kg with a maximum of 4200 U to be administered as a slow intravenous injection over approximately 5 minutes. If the attack symptoms persist, an additional (second) dose can be administered at the recommended dose level. Do not exceed 4200 U per dose. No more than two doses should be administered within a 24 hour period. Store Ruconest in the original carton and protect from light prior to reconstitution. Do not use after expiration date on the product vial label. Water for Injection is not included in the Ruconest package. Use aseptic technique to reconstitute, mix the solution, and to combine the reconstituted solution from more than one vial ( see Reconstitution [ 2.3] and Administration [ 2.4]). Do not mix or administer Ruconest with other medicinal products or solutions. Discard all partially used vials after treatment. Sterile Water for Injection (diluent) - At least 14 mL per vial of Ruconest requiring reconstitution. Commercially available vial adapter and syringe luer lock or large bore needle. If using a syringe with vial adapter, use a new vial adapter for each vial of Ruconest and diluent. The procedures below are provided as general guidelines for the reconstitution and administration of Ruconest. Ensure that the Ruconest vial and diluent vial are at room temperature. Remove the flip caps from the Ruconest and diluent vials. Treat the vial stoppers with the antiseptic wipe and allow to dry. Using the syringe/needle or syringe/vial adapter, withdraw 14 mL of sterile water for injection from the diluent vial. Remove the syringe and transfer the diluent to the Ruconest vial. Add the diluent slowly to avoid forceful impact on the powder. Swirl the vial slowly to mix and avoid foaming. Repeat this procedure using another 14 mL of diluent and a second vial of Ruconest. If the same patient is to receive more than one vial, the contents of multiple vials may be pooled into a single administration device (i.e., syringe). Inspect Ruconest visually for particulate matter and discoloration after reconstitution and prior to administration. The reconstituted solution should be colorless, clear, and free from visible particles. Do not use if the solution is cloudy, colored, or contains particulates. Ruconest vial is for single-use only. Use the reconstituted product immediately, or within 8 hours stored at 36ºF - 46ºF (2º - 8ºC). Discard partially used vials. Do not mix Ruconest with other medicinal products. Administer Ruconest by a separate infusion line. Use aseptic technique when administering Ruconest. Follow recommended venipuncture guidelines for initiating intravenous therapy. Administer Ruconest by slow intravenous injection over approximately 5 minutes. For self-administration, provide the patient with instructions and training for intravenous injection outside of a clinic setting so patients may self-administer Ruconest upon recognition of symptoms of an HAE attack ( see Patient Counseling Information [ 17]). After administration, immediately discard any unused product and all used disposable supplies in accordance with local requirements. Ruconest is available as a lyophilized powder for reconstitution for injection in a single-use 25 mL glass vial. Each vial contains 2100 U of rhC1INH. Ruconest is contraindicated in patients with a history of allergy to rabbits or rabbit-derived products. Ruconest is contraindicated in patients with a history of life-threatening immediate hypersensitivity reactions to C1 esterase inhibitor preparations, including anaphylaxis. Severe hypersensitivity reactions may occur [see Patient Counseling Information (17)]. The signs and symptoms of hypersensitivity reactions may include hives, generalized urticaria, tightness of the chest, wheezing, hypotension, and/or anaphylaxis during or after injection of Ruconest. Should symptoms occur, discontinue Ruconest and institute appropriate treatment. Because hypersensitivity reactions may have symptoms similar to HAE attacks, treatment methods should be carefully considered. The serious adverse reaction in clinical studies of Ruconest was anaphylaxis. The most common adverse reactions (≥ 2%) reported in all clinical trials were headache, nausea, and diarrhea. The Ruconest clinical development program evaluated a combined total of 940 administrations in 236 subjects (symptomatic and non-symptomatic). In clinical studies, a total of 205 symptomatic HAE patients received treatment with Ruconest for a combined total of 650 acute angioedema attacks. Among these HAE patients, 83 were treated for a single HAE attack and 122 were treated for multiple attacks. Three randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials (RCTs) were conducted in which 137 patients experiencing acute HAE attacks received Ruconest (either an initial 50 U/kg or 100 U/kg body weight dose) or placebo (saline solution). Table 2 shows all adverse reactions (ARs) in the RCTs, compared with the placebo group. MedDRA: Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities, version 15.0. ** Events only occurring in placebo patients are not listed. In a total of seven RCT and OLE studies, 205 patients experiencing acute HAE attacks were treated with Ruconest for a total of 650 HAE attacks. Included in this population were 124 patients who were treated at the 50 U/kg dosage strength for one or more attacks. Table 3 shows adverse reactions in ≥ 2% of patients in any Ruconest group for the integrated dataset combining all seven RCT and OLE studies in patients experiencing acute HAE attacks. As with all therapeutic proteins, there is potential for immunogenicity. Pre- and post-exposure samples from 205 HAE patients treated for 650 acute attacks with Ruconest were tested for the antibodies against plasma-derived C1INH or rhC1INH and for antibodies against host-related impurities (HRI). Testing was performed prior to and after treatment of a first attack and subsequent repeated attacks at 7, 22 or 28, and 90 days after Ruconest treatment. Prior to the first exposure to Ruconest, the frequency of anti-C1INH antibodies varied from 1.2% to 1.6% of samples. After the first exposure, the frequency of anti-C1INH antibodies varied from 0.6% to 1.0% of samples tested. After repeated exposures, the frequency of anti-C1INH antibodies varied from 0.5 to 2.2% of samples tested. The frequency of anti-HRI antibodies was 1.0% in pre-exposure samples, and after the first exposure varied from 3.5% to 4.6%. After repeated exposure, the frequency of anti-HRI antibodies varied from 5.7% to 17% of samples. At least 10% of subjects formed a specific antibody response to Ruconest after five treated HAE attacks. No anti-C1INH neutralizing antibodies were detected. Observed anti-C1INH and anti-HRI antibodies were not associated with adverse clinical findings. The detection of antibody formation is highly dependent on the sensitivity and specificity of the assay. Additionally, the observed incidence of antibody (including neutralizing antibody) positivity in an assay may be influenced by several factors including assay methodology, sample handling, timing of sample collection, concomitant medications, and underlying disease. For these reasons, comparison of the incidence of antibodies to Ruconest with the incidence of antibodies to other products may be misleading. Pregnancy Category B. Studies performed in rats and rabbits at doses up to 12.5 times the human dose of 50 U/kg could not exclude an effect on embryofetal development. There are, however, no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. Because animal reproduction studies are not always predictive of human response, Ruconest should only be used during pregnancy if clearly needed. The safety and efficacy of Ruconest administration prior to or during labor and delivery have not been established. Use only if clearly needed. It is not known if Ruconest is excreted in human milk. Because many drugs are excreted in human milk, caution should be exercised when Ruconest is administered to a nursing woman. The safety and efficacy of Ruconest were evaluated in 17 adolescent patients (13-17 years of age) treated for 52 HAE attacks. Eight out of 17 (47%) adolescent patients experienced adverse reactions. No serious adverse reactions were reported in these patients. The most common reactions (occurring in at least 2 patients) were: abdominal pain, headache, and oropharyngeal pain. The clinical studies of Ruconest included seven patients older than 65 years. The clinical studies included an insufficient number of patients in this age group to determine if they respond differently from younger patients. Ruconest is a recombinant analogue of human complement component 1 esterase inhibitor for intravenous injection. Ruconest is purified from the milk of transgenic rabbits, and supplied as a sterile, preservative-free, white/off-white lyophilized powder for reconstitution for injection. One U of rhC1INH activity is defined as the equivalent of C1 esterase inhibiting activity present in 1 mL of pooled normal plasma. Ruconest is a soluble, single-chain glycoprotein containing 478 amino acids, with a molecular mass of 68 kDa, of which approximately 22% comprises oligosaccharide structures. The primary and secondary structures of the molecule and target protease selectivity are consistent with those of plasma-derived C1 esterase inhibitor. Each vial of Ruconest contains 2100 U of rhC1INH, 937 mg of sucrose, 83.3 mg of sodium citrate dihydrate and 1.0 mg of citric acid monohydrate. After reconstitution with 14 mL of sterile Water for Injection, each vial of Ruconest contains 150 U of rhC1INH per 1 mL in a 20 mM sodium citrate buffer with a pH of 6.8. Ruconest does not contain preservatives and each vial is for single use only. Ruconest is purified from the milk of transgenic rabbits. The rabbits are maintained in a closed colony that is controlled and routinely monitored for specific pathogens. The skimmed milk is screened for adventitious contaminants prior to further manufacture. The manufacturing process has been validated to demonstrate adequate capacity for removal and/or inactivation of viruses ( Table 4). Ruconest contains less than 0.002% of host-related impurities. e Not tested because SD chemicals are present in the starting material. C1 esterase inhibitor (C1INH) is a normal constituent of human blood and is one of the serine protease inhibitors (serpins). The primary function of C1INH is to regulate the activation of the complement and contact system pathways. Regulation of these systems is performed through the formation of complexes between the protease and the inhibitor, resulting in inactivation of both and consumption of the C1INH. C1INH exerts its inhibitory effect by irreversibly binding several proteases (target proteases) of the contact and complement systems. The effect of Ruconest on the following target proteases was assessed in vitro: activated C1s, kallikrein, factor XIIa and factor XIa. Inhibition kinetics were found to be comparable with those observed for plasma-derived human C1INH. Administration of Ruconest increases plasma levels of functional C1INH activity. The complement component (protein) C4 is a substrate for activated C1. Patients with HAE have low levels of C4 in the circulation; Ruconest shows a dose-dependent restoration of complement homeostasis of C4 in HAE patients. A dose of 50 U/kg of Ruconest increases plasma C1INH activity levels to greater than 0.7 U/mL (the lower limit of normal) in HAE patients. The pharmacokinetics of Ruconest was evaluated in a study of 12 asymptomatic HAE patients (dose ranged from 6.25 U/kg to 100 U/kg). Pharmacokinetics evaluation was performed by non-compartmental analysis, using functional C1INH levels. Following administration of Ruconest (50 U/kg) in asymptomatic HAE patients ( Table 5), the mean Cmax was 1.2 U/mL, and the elimination half-life was approximately 2.5 hours. The clearance of Ruconest was nonlinear (clearance decreased with increasing dose) over the dose range of 25-100 U/kg. Studies have not been conducted to evaluate the PK of Ruconest in special patient populations, identified by race, age (pediatric or geriatric), or the presence of renal or hepatic impairment. No animal studies have been conducted to evaluate the effects of Ruconest on carcinogenesis and mutagenesis. Fertility was not evaluated in animal studies. Single- and repeat-dose studies of up to 14 days in rats, dogs, and cynomolgus monkeys with daily doses of Ruconest up to 80 times the human dose (50 U/kg) were conducted. In a 14-day monkey toxicology study of intravenous doses up to 2000 U/kg twice daily, increases in AST and ALP were observed at doses of 500 U/kg and higher. No histopathological correlates were observed in the liver and the increases in liver enzymes were reversible. Histologic findings included changes in the size of thymic cortex and medulla, and microvacuoles in the epithelial cells lining the renal tubules. The renal tubular vacuolation was dose dependent, but was not accompanied by other histological changes in the kidney. This finding was only partially reversible at the highest dose level of 2000 U/kg twice daily. It was concluded that the NOAEL of Ruconest was 1000 U/kg twice daily in this species. There were no adverse findings in a safety pharmacology study in dogs and a local tolerance study in rabbits. It is concluded that preclinical toxicology data for daily doses up to 40 times the proposed human dose of Ruconest (50 U/kg) do not indicate a safety concern for the use of Ruconest in humans. Embryo-fetal studies have been conducted in rabbits and rats at a dose of Ruconest 12.5 times the human dose of 50 U/kg. In rats, no malformed fetuses were observed. In rabbits, an increase in the incidence of fetal cardiac vessel defects was observed (1.12% [2 cases] in the treatment group compared to 0.03% in historical controls). These defects are considered to be a chance finding, but a Ruconest-related effect cannot be excluded. The safety and efficacy of Ruconest for treatment of acute angioedema attacks in patients with HAE was established in Study 1, a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial (RCT) which included an open-label extension (OLE) phase; and supported by the results of 2 additional RCTs and 2 additional OLE studies. The safety and efficacy of Ruconest in the treatment of acute attacks in patients with hereditary angioedema were demonstrated in a placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized study (Study 1). Supportive evidence of effectiveness is provided by two double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled studies (Studies 2 and 3). Evidence for the efficacy of repeat treatment of HAE attacks is provided from the open-label extensions (OLE) of each of the three randomized studies. Study 1 was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that included an open-label extension (OLE) phase to assess the efficacy and safety of Ruconest 50 U/kg in the treatment of acute attacks in patients with HAE. Seventy-five (75) adults and adolescent patients were randomized (3:2) to receive Ruconest 50 U/kg (N = 44) or placebo (N = 31). Patients ranged in age from 17 to 69 years of age; 63% were female and 37% were male; 96% were Caucasian. The primary efficacy endpoint was the time to beginning of relief of symptoms, assessed using patient-reported responses to two questions from a Treatment Effect Questionnaire (TEQ). The TEQ required patients to assess the severity of their attack symptoms at each affected anatomic location, using a seven-point scale (“much worse” to “much better” [TEQ Question 1]), and whether their symptoms had begun to decrease notably since receiving the study medication (“yes” or “no” [TEQ Question 2]). To achieve the primary endpoint, a patient had to have a positive response to both questions along with persistence of improvement at the next assessment time (i.e., the same or better response). Rescue treatment with Ruconest was available for patients who did not experience the beginning of relief at 4 hours after study drug administration, or earlier to patients who experienced life-threatening oropharyngeal-laryngeal angioedema symptoms. If a patient received a medication which could have impacted the efficacy evaluation or open-label Ruconest as rescue medication, prior to achieving beginning of relief of symptoms, the time to beginning of relief of symptoms was censored at the last assessed time prior to medication use. In the RCT phase, the median time to beginning of relief of symptoms was statistically significantly shorter in patients treated with Ruconest 50 U/kg compared with patients treated with placebo as assessed by the TEQ; ( Table 6, Figure 1). Values that are not estimable are displayed as ‘- ’. Among several planned subgroup analyses, descriptive statistics showed that in US patients a median time to beginning of relief of symptoms with persistence at the primary attack location (based on TEQ) was 98 minutes [95% CI:(45, 240); n=22] for those receiving Ruconest and 90 minutes [95% CI: (50, -); n=16] for those receiving placebo. The hazard ratio for time to the beginning of relief of symptoms in this subpopulation was 1.20 [95% CI: 0.48 to 3.01] for patient receiving Ruconest as compared with patient receiving placebo. Non-US patients receiving Ruconest had a median time to beginning of relief of 90 minutes [95% CI: (63, 120); n=22] and non-US patients receiving placebo had a median time to beginning of relief of 334 minutes [95% CI: (150, -); n=15]. The hazard ratio for the non-US subgroup was 4.82 [95% CI: 1.58 to 14.72] for patients receiving Ruconest compared to placebo. Examination of gender subgroups suggested a larger treatment effect in men than women. For women receiving Ruconest, the median time to beginning of relief was 113 minutes [95% CI: (63, 151); n=28], and for women receiving placebo, the median time to beginning of relief was 105 minutes [95% CI: (60, 334); n=19]. The hazard ratio for women receiving Ruconest versus placebo was 1.22 [95% CI: 0.60 to 2.48]. For men receiving Ruconest, the median time to beginning of relief was 75 minutes [95% CI: (45, 210); n=16], and for men receiving placebo, the median time to beginning of relief was 480 minutes [95% CI: (150, -) n=12]. The hazard ratio for men receiving Ruconest versus placebo was 3.94 [95% CI: 1.23 to 12.68]. No plausible biological explanations for the regional or gender subgroup effects were found. One possible explanation is a larger-than-expected placebo response among US women. None of the subgroup confidence intervals were adjusted for multiplicity. Because almost all of the patients were Caucasian and were between 18 and 65 years of age, race and age subgroup analyses were not considered meaningful. Among patients who achieved relief within 4 hours, there were 4 (27%) patients in the placebo group who had a relapse of their symptoms within 24 hours as compared with 1 (3%) in the Ruconest group. The proportion of patients who received Ruconest as rescue medication was greater in patients randomized to placebo (13 of 31 patients; 42%) than in patients randomized to Ruconest (5 of 44 patients; 11%). The efficacy of Ruconest 50 U/kg for different anatomical locations of HAE attacks is summarized in Table 7. In the OLE phase of Study 1, patients were treated with open-label Ruconest 50 U/kg for repeated attacks of HAE. Forty-four patients who completed the RCT phase were enrolled into the OLE phase where they were treated for a total of 170 attacks. In this phase, the median time to beginning of relief of symptoms was 75 minutes (95% CI: 64, 90), consistent with the results of the RCT phase of the study ( Table 6). Results were also comparable across attacks, suggesting that the efficacy of Ruconest 50 U/kg was maintained over repeated attacks of HAE. In the OLE phase of Study 1, 5/170 (3%) attacks received a second dose of Ruconest 50 U/kg. In Study 2 (North American RCT), patients were randomized to receive a single administration of either Ruconest 50 U/kg (N=12), Ruconest 100 U/kg (N=13) or placebo (N=13). Patients ranged in age from 17 to 66 years of age; 74% were female and 26% were male; and 92% were Caucasian. In Study 3 (European RCT), patients were randomized to receive a single administration of either Ruconest 100 U/kg (N=16) or placebo (N=16). Patients ranged in age from 17 to 71 years of age: 53% were female and 47% were male; and 100% were Caucasian. Patients scored their symptoms using a visual analog scale (VAS) ranging from 0-100 mm. A VAS decrease of > 20 mm compared with baseline with persistence of the improvement at two consecutive time points was considered the onset of relief in Studies 2 and 3. In both Study 2 and 3, the efficacy of Ruconest in the treatment of acute angioedema attacks was demonstrated by significantly shorter times to beginning of relief of symptoms based on the VAS (Figure 2). In open-label extension studies of Study 2 and 3, 119 patients were treated with Ruconest for a total of 362 acute angioedema attacks. As observed in Study 1, the efficacy of Ruconest was maintained for repeat attacks. Sulikowski T, Patston PA. The inhibition of TNK-t-PA by C1-inhibitor. Blood Coagul Fibrinolysis. 2001 Jan;12(1):75-7. Chandler WL, Alessi MC, Aillaud MF, Henderson P, Vague P, Juhan-Vague I. Clearance of tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) and TPA/plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) complex: relationship to elevated TPA antigen in patients with high PAI-1 activity levels. Circulation. 1997 Aug 5;96(3):761-8. Huisman LG, van Griensven JM, Kluft C. On the role of C1-inhibitor as inhibitor of tissue-type plasminogen activator in human plasma. Thromb Haemost. 1995 Mar;73(3):466-71. Gurewich V, Pannell R. Recombinant human C1-inhibitor prevents non-specific proteolysis by mutant pro-urokinase during optimal fibrinolysis. Thromb Haemost. 2009 Aug;102(2):279-86. Caliezi C, Wuillemin WA, Zeerleder S, Redondo M, Eisele B, Hack CE. C1-esterase inhibitor: an anti-inflammatory agent and its potential use in the treatment of diseases other than hereditary angioedema. Pharmacol Rev. 2000 Mar;52(1):91-112. German Medical Profession’s Drugs Committee [Arzneimittelkommission der deutschen Arzteschaft]. Severe thrombus formation of Berinert ® HS [Schwerwiegende Thrombenbildung nach Berinert ® HS]. Deutsches Ärzteblatt. 2000 April 2000; 97(Heft 15): A-1016. Horstick, G, Berg O, Heimann A, Gotze O, Loos M, Hafner G, et al. Application of C1-esterase inhibitor during reperfusion of ischemic myocardium: dose-related beneficial versus detrimental effects. Circulation. 2001 Dec 18;104(25):3125-31. Ruconest is supplied in single-use 25 mL glass vials with a stopper (siliconized chlorobutyl rubber) and a flip-off seal (aluminum and colored plastic). Each carton contains one single-use vial. Each vial contains 2100 U rhC1INH lyophilized powder for reconstitution for injection. Shelf life: 48 months when stored at 36ºF - 77ºF (2ºC - 25ºC). Each vial of Ruconest should be reconstituted with 14 mL Water for Injection (not supplied). The reconstituted solution contains 150 U/mL rhC1INH and is clear and colorless. Each vial of Ruconest is for single use only. Ruconest contains no preservative. Any product that has been reconstituted should be used immediately, or within 8 hours stored at 36ºF - 46ºF (2ºC - 8ºC). Discard partially used vials after treatment. Advise the patient to read the FDA-Approved patient labeling (Product Information and Instructions for Use). Patients being treated with Ruconest should receive the following information and instructions. This information is intended to aid the patient in the safe and effective use of Ruconest. Advise female patients to notify their physician if they are pregnant or intend to become pregnant during the treatment of acute attacks of HAE with Ruconest. Advise patients to notify their physician if they are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. Inform patients of the risks and benefits of Ruconest before prescribing or administering it to the patient. Signs and symptoms of allergic hypersensitivity reactions, such as hives, urticaria, tightness of the chest, wheezing, hypotension and/or anaphylaxis experienced during or after injection of Ruconest ( see WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS/Hypersensitivity [ 5] ). Ruconest ® is a registered trademark of Pharming Intellectual Property B.V. Product protected by U.S patent Nos. 7,067,713 and RE43691. Please see www.Ruconest.com for patent information. This leaflet summarizes important information about Ruconest. Please read it carefully each time before using Ruconest. There may be new information provided. This information does not take the place of talking with your healthcare provider, and it does not include all of the important information about Ruconest. If you have any questions after reading this, ask your healthcare provider. Ruconest is an injectable medicine that is used to treat acute angioedema attacks in adult and adolescent patients with Hereditary Angioedema (HAE). HAE is caused by a shortage of a protein called C1 esterase inhibitor, that is present in your blood and helps control inflammation (swelling) and parts of the immune system. A shortage of C1 esterase inhibitor can lead to repeated attacks of swelling, pain in the abdomen, difficulty breathing and other symptoms. Ruconest contains C1 esterase inhibitor. Who should not use Ruconest? You should not use Ruconest if you have a known or suspected allergy (hypersensitivity) to rabbits or rabbit-derived products. You should not use Ruconest if you have experienced life-threatening immediate hypersensitivity reactions, including anaphylaxis, to Ruconest or to any other C1 esterase inhibitor product. Ruconest is not indicated for use in children under the age of 13 years. What should I tell my healthcare provider before using Ruconest? have an allergy to rabbits since this can put you at high risk of a serious allergic reaction with Ruconest. These allergy symptoms could include runny nose, itchy nose, sneezing, coughing, wheezing, difficulty breathing or watery eyes when you are near rabbits. are pregnant or planning to become pregnant. It is not known if Ruconest can harm your unborn baby. are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. It is not known if Ruconest passes to your milk and if it can harm your baby. Tell your healthcare provider and pharmacist about all of the medicines you take, including all prescription and non-prescription medicines such as over-the-counter medicines, supplements, or herbal remedies. Ruconest will be slowly injected into your vein (intravenous injection). Before injection, the Ruconest powder must be dissolved using sterile Water for Injection. The dose will be determined based on your weight. Most of the time a single dose of Ruconest is enough to treat an attack, but a second dose may be needed. What are the possible side effects of Ruconest? Like all medicines, Ruconest can cause side effects, although not everybody gets them. In clinical studies, the most severe side effect reported in a person who received Ruconest was a severe allergic reaction in a subject who was allergic to rabbits. If any of the side effects get serious, or if you notice any side effects not listed in the leaflet, please inform your healthcare provider or pharmacist. You can also report side effects to the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch or contact Pharming Healthcare Inc. at 1-800-930-5221. You can ask your healthcare provider for information about Ruconest that is written for healthcare providers. Do not use Ruconest for a condition for which it is not prescribed. If you would like more information, talk to your healthcare provider. You can ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist for information about Ruconest that was written for healthcare professionals. For more information go to www.Ruconest.com or call 1-800-930-5221. Use aseptic (sterile) technique when preparing and administering Ruconest. Step 1: Assemble supplies from medication box on a clean flat surface. Sterile Water for Injection (diluent), 14mL per vial of Ruconest to be reconstituted. Needle-free, vented or non-vented vial adapters (or large bore needle). Use a new vial adapter for each vial of Ruconest and diluent. Discuss this section with your healthcare provider to ensure that the correct dose of Ruconest is administered. The dose of Ruconest and volume (mL) of reconstituted solution to be administered is based on body weight show in the chart below. No more than 2 vials may be combined for a single dose. The procedures below are provided as general guidelines for the reconstitution of Ruconest. Step 1: Ensure that the Ruconest vials and the diluent vial are at room temperature (range of 68°F - 77°F or 20°C - 25°C). Wipe the vial stoppers with the antiseptic wipes provided and allow to dry for 30 seconds. Do not blow on the stoppers after wiping. Do not touch the stopper with your hands, or allow it to touch any surface. Step 3: Peel back the covers from the clear plastic vial adapter packages. Leave the adapters in their packages. Step 4: While holding the adapter in its package, place the first adapter over the diluent vial and press down until the device snaps into place. Leave the package on the adapter until you are ready to attach the syringe. Step 5: Now, place a 2nd adapter over a Ruconest vial and press down until it snaps into place. Repeat if your dose requires a 2nd Ruconest vial. Step 6: Lift the package away from the diluent adapter. Step 7: Remove syringe from package and withdraw sterile water for injection from the diluent vial. With vial on a flat surface, attach syringe to adapter on diluent vial by rotating syringe clockwise. Turn diluent vial upside down and slowly withdraw either 14 mL (if using 1 Ruconest vial) or 28 mL (if using 2 Ruconest vials) of diluent into syringe by gently pulling back on the plunger. There will still be some diluent left in the vial. Place the diluent vial back on a flat surface and detach syringe by gently pulling the syringe and rotating counterclockwise. Step 8: Transfer the diluent to the Ruconest vial. Remove the package from the adapter connected to one of the Ruconest vials. Attach the syringe holding the diluent to the adapter on the Ruconest vial by inserting the tip into the adapter opening while firmly pushing and rotating the syringe clockwise. Slowly press 14 mL of diluent into the Ruconest vial. Add the diluent slowly to avoid forceful impact on the powder. Note: Leave the syringe attached to the vial after adding the diluent. Step 9: Swirl the vial to mix. Do this slowly to avoid foaming. Repeat Steps 8 and 9 if you are using a second Ruconest vial. Remove syringe from the first Ruconest vial prior to attaching to the second vial. Step 10: Inspect Ruconest vial(s) visually. After reconstitution and prior to administration, inspect the Ruconest vials visually for particulate matter and discoloration. The reconstituted solution should be colorless, clear, and free from visible particles. Do not use the vial if it looks cloudy, contains particles, or has changed color. Step 11: With the syringe still connected to the Ruconest vial, turn the vial upside down. Slowly withdraw your dose of Ruconest by gently pulling back on the plunger. Once you have withdrawn your dose, turn the vial right side up and place on a flat surface. Disconnect the syringe by gently pulling and rotating counterclockwise. Step 12: Repeat Step 11 and withdraw additional reconstituted Ruconest from the second Ruconest vial (if needed). Withdraw only as much as is needed based on your body weight. Disconnect the syringe, for use as described in the next section. Your healthcare provider will teach you how to safely administer Ruconest. It is important that you inject Ruconest directly into a visible vein. Do not inject into surrounding tissues or an artery. Once you learn how to self-administer, follow the instructions provided below. The reconstituted solution should be used within 8 hours and should be cooled but not be frozen. Thoroughly clean a table or other flat surface using one or more of the antiseptic wipes. Step 3: Prime the infusion set. To prime (fill) the infusion tubing, connect the syringe filled with Ruconest to the infusion set tubing and gently push on the syringe plunger to fill the tubing with Ruconest. Step 4: Prepare the approved IV injection site. Apply a tourniquet above the site of the infusion. Prepare the injection site by wiping the skin well with an antiseptic wipe, beginning at the center and working outward in a circular motion. Allow the site to dry. Follow the instructions provided by your healthcare provider. Take off the needle sheath. Hold both wings of the butterfly between the thumb and the index finger with the obliquely cut (slanted) opening of the butterfly needle pointing upward. Insert the butterfly needle of the infusion set into your vein (insert as flat to skin surface as possible). Use sterile gauze and tape or transparent dressing to hold the needle in place. Gently pull back on the syringe plunger and check to see if blood is in the tubing. If there is blood present, then the needle is in a vein. If there is no blood, remove the needle and repeat this step using a new needle, new administration tubing, and a different injection site. Note: Inject Ruconest slowly over approximately 5 minutes. Step 6: Cover the injection site and clean up. Withdraw the butterfly needle along the line that it was inserted. Cover the injection site with a bandage, holding pressure on the site for a few minutes. Dispose of all unused solution, empty vials, and used needles and syringe in an appropriate container used for medical waste. The procedures below are provided as general guidelines for after the infusion of Ruconest. Record each injection into treatment journal. Record the lot number from the Ruconest vial label. Enter the date and time of your injection. This Patient Package Insert has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. Product protected by U.S. patent Nos. 7,067,713 and RE43691. See prescribing information for directions for use.

2019-04-24T17:52:34Z

https://www.drugs.com/pro/ruconest.html

Wellness Coaches: How’s the Free Toolkit Working? – Are you using the Calendar’s action steps to plan your year? – What business changes did you make after taking the Success Quiz? – Anything else you’d like added to the calendar itself or included in the whole toolkit? – How are YOU using any of the components of the Toolkit? Let us all hear your feedback and jot a comment below. P.S. Since assembling the 2012 Calendar, I discovered another great resource I’ll be adding to my own reading list! Join me in reading the newest, just-released book by Wellcoaches CEO Margaret Moore: Organize Your Mind, Organize Your Life:Train Your Brain to Get More Done in Less Time. What a gift for us personally, for our businesses, and for our clients! Thanks for this one, Margaret! Comments Off on Wellness Coaches: How’s the Free Toolkit Working? Yes, the end of the year is an important time for reviewing the “hard” data of your business results. Yes, you do need to check out the P&L, look at goals met, goals unmet, market trends, social media results, and other hard numbers that measure overall business success. You know this and you do this. So how about taking time for a “soft” review of your business as well? Each year at this time, you’ll find me spending quiet time with a mug of tea, a notebook and a pen, and a smile of delight on my face. You would have found me this way this morning, sitting in my favorite overstuffed chair, wearing my favorite old jeans and doing a “soft” review of 2011 for WellnessCoach.com I used a process for this review that I adore. The process I used for a “soft” end-of-year review was presented to me many years ago in a Four-Fold-Way® workshop by cultural anthropologist and author Angeles Arrien, Ph.D. I am grateful for such a powerful tool and honored to use it to review my personal and professional life each year. It is with great respect for Dr. Arrien’s work that I present her “Year-End Journal Questions” process below. I invite you to join me in this wonderful way of looking at your own life and business at this time of the year. Where have (you, your relationships, your business, your community) been strengthened this year? What has softened in _____this year? What has deepened (integrated or fallen into place) this year within me, my relationships, my work, or my community? What has opened (what’s new, what have I learned, where am I being stretched) this year within the nature of my relationships, my work, my community and myself? What’s CALLING to be strengthened in (me, my relationships, my business, my community) in the upcoming year? What’s CALLING to be softened in_____in the upcoming year? What’s CALLING to be deepened (integrated) this upcoming year within myself, my relationships, my work, and my community this upcoming year? What’s CALLING to be opened (learned, started, acquired, stretched) within my nature this upcoming year with regard to me, my relationships my work and my community? I believe we decide to become entrepreneurs not only for the great contributions our businesses can make to the world – and not only to generate profit, but also for the way our businesses will in fact deepen us and help us grow on every level. Doing this exercise for myself and my business, I see that I have grown stronger, been softened, deepened and learned so much this last year as a result of my entrepreneurial journey that my heart is singing. My business is calling me forth to do even more meaningful work in the year ahead. May you also enjoy doing a “soft” review of your business this season and see how much you have grown personally as a result. Please stop by and let me know how it goes. *Angeles Arrien, Ph.D., as a cultural anthropologist, researched, created, and synthesized the Four-Fold Way® program. It’s currently used in medical, academic, and corporate environments. Angeles is also an award-winning author, educator, and consultant to many organizations and businesses. Her Four-Fold Way book has been translated worldwide into ten languages. Angeles lectures and conducts workshops internationally, bridging cultural anthropology, psychology, and comparative religions. Her work reveals how perennial wisdoms are relevant to our families, professions, and our relationship to the Earth. She is the President of the Foundation for Cross-Cultural Education and Research. You can learn more about Angeles and her work at: http://www.AngelesArrien.com Her seminal work is also presented in her book, The Four-Fold Way. Thank you for joining us and “sitting down” to the “WellnessCoach.com table” for our annual post of Thanks, Appreciation and Gratitude. Our 2011 Cornucopia contains a list of and links to the inspirational quotes, books, music, DVDs and resources that we appreciate for having touched our lives this year. We hope they’ll touch yours. Please enjoy the feast. A Handbook for Living We featured this in our free Toolkit’s 2011 Wellness Coach’s eCalendar this last year because of the beauty of the Dalai Lama’s message – “…happiness is the purpose of life.” Re-reading it again this year, we appreciated it even more…we think you’ll appreciate it also. • Music: Never Be Daunted is a fabulous song by Jaymay (from her album Long Walk to Never). We first discovered it in the soundtrack of the movie HappyThankYouMorePlease (listed above) and then went out and bought the single from itunes. We love the lyrics that ask, “…what are you so afraid of?” and appreciate Jaymay’s reminder to “never be daunted.” You can find the entire album in the itunes store. Did Lucy Ricardo Stop to Ask? Remember the “I Love Lucy” episode where Lucy worked in the candy factory wrapping chocolates? Remember how the conveyor belt shot so many chocolate candies out that Lucy couldn’t keep up and so she popped handfuls of them into her mouth? Even if you’re too young to have seen the original episode or never saw the rerun, can’t you just picture that scene in your mind’s eye? Well, I remind you of this image not just for a trip down memory lane but to draw a comparison to our busy lives. With To Do lists a mile long, email messages and in-boxes filled to overflowing, we too struggle to keep up. And as we do we can lose sight of what’s important. Maybe it’s been awhile since you’ve taken time to clarify your values. Maybe it’s been awhile since you put together or revised your life plan, business plan, or marketing strategy. Maybe you’ve never put them together at all. Why not schedule an appointment with yourself to do so or at least to begin? The appointment doesn’t have to be formal. It could even be an hour at a coffee shop or a few hours in the garden, where you spend time mulling over and identifying what’s important. Time for you to stop the chocolate conveyor-belt of life and regroup. The plans don’t have to be formal either, if that’s what’s stopping you. Just start somewhere. I think it’s important to begin and end each day with regroup time. “Bookends” I call it. “Bookends” are comprised of two daily segments. First is a brief time in the morning where you name what is most important for the day—not just the Doing, but the Being. Second is a break before retiring for the night to check in and ask yourself: Was I able to focus on what’s important? What did I do that helped me do so? What got in the way? How can I change that in the future? What will I have to say “Yes” to and what will I have to say “No” to, so that I can keep on track? So I ask, are you willing to become a disciple of what is important to you? Beyond naming what’s important, are you acting on it? And if not now, then when? Try this: Try my Bookend exercise tomorrow. It only takes 10 minutes in the morning and another 10 minutes before bed. To prepare, put a pen and pad of paper on your nightstand or elsewhere beside your bed tonight, so it is waiting for you tomorrow morning. Set your alarm so that you awaken 10 minutes before your usual wake-up time. Take a moment to sit up, stretch and greet the day. Now think about the attitude or state of Being that you want to bring forward into your day today. Examples: Appreciation, Confidence, Self-Compassion. Write down that state of Being you want to focus on today. Now think about the area of your life and/or business that is of most importance to you right now. Of all the To Do’s that are before you today, which action is going to further your progress in that area or deepen your learning? Example: writing or drafting a business plan. Write that action on your notepad. Take another moment to contemplate how you will integrate the Being and Doing focus that you have listed. Imagine that you are placing that value or state of Being right into your heart and will carry it with you as you take the important action(s) you need to take today. Example of how this could look: Writing a business plan while Being in a state of Self-Compassion could mean I pour myself a cup of tea and sip it while I write the plan, extend self-compassion by not insisting the plan be perfect, and turn off the ringer on my phone so I am not disturbed. Reminder: It is more important that you remember you can always return to that state of Being throughout the day, than it is that you give yourself a new mandate to try and stay in that state. Being mindful that you have let your focus slip from, say Self-Compassion, you can apply the 4-step centering process I use and teach my clients: Stop, Breathe, Notice, Choose ™ and gently bring yourself back to your desired state of Being as you Do the next important task in your day. Write a few sentences about the exercise for the day. How did it go? What worked well? Where were you able to stay in the state of Being you selected and/or return to that state when you veered off the path? What did you learn? What will you do differently if faced with similar circumstances? Extend appreciation to yourself for your commitment to What’s Important. Once you put this exercise into action, leave a comment and let me know how it went. Comments Off on What’s Important? What Can Wellness Coaches Learn From Black Widow Spiders? I had big plans for getting you out a post this week to help you grow your wellness coaching business. Life had other plans it seemed. My husband was bitten by a black widow spider this week…in more than one place on his ankle. It’s not pretty. It’s not been an easy week. Initially, I struggled against the change in plans. Then I surrendered. Now, my commitment to making the most of what’s presented to me brings me here to the page. So here’s a post after all. Those of you who’ve read my blog for ages, know that I’m a big fan of using metaphor. Those of you who are new here will see that trend soon enough. Today, I’m using the blessed black widow spider to help you thrive in and grow your business as a Wellness Coach. It’s not a long post, and it’s certainly not complicated. It’s simple really. It’s meant to spark your thinking, to invite you to consider…to stop just for a moment and take stock. 1. Sometimes you just can’t plan it all. Surrender. Be flexible and open. Often what’s presented to you turns out better than what you’d planned. 2. Deal with what’s right in front of you. 4. You are much more creative and resourceful than you realize. You can trust this. How will you put these “lessons from spiders” to work in your business? Let us know! Comments Off on What Can Wellness Coaches Learn From Black Widow Spiders? We’re big fans of doing whatever you can to protect your business. One of the ways you can do this is to form a legal structure or entity. Now before you click off the page, run away, or give in to the voice of well-meaning but uninformed friends and even misinformed professionals who’ve mistakenly said, “Corporate structures and other entities are not for you”, please take a breath and keep reading. Since going into business for yourself was one of the most important decisions you’ve ever made, and assuming you want your Wellness Coaching Business to be a profitable, growing asset and not just a hobby, then it makes sense you’ll want to protect it. As business owners ourselves, we know first-hand that having a properly formed corporation (or limited-liability company or partnership) is the foundation of a healthy enterprise. We’ve seen our business grow and thrive because we took the time to protect it. We hope you’ll consider doing the same. Here in the U.S., an entity will help your business take advantage of the government’s intention to support entrepreneurship. Without such a structure, you’ll pay more in taxes and expose your well-earned assets to the IRS, to creditor attacks, and frankly anybody who’s adamant about slapping you with a fat and unfounded lawsuit. Most importantly, setting up an entity will help your business do what a business is intended to do – retain more income so that it can further serve its purpose in the world. You can go to your state government’s website and find the filing papers and instructions for setting up all types of partnerships, corporations or limited liability companies (LLC’s). But before you go that route, we strongly encourage you to get professional advice and help with this vital step in establishing your Wellness Coaching Business. Deciding when to set up an entity, which type of entity to establish given your services and products, which state your entity should be in, and sorting through the paperwork all by yourself can be a recipe for disaster or at the least, a good deal of confusion. The right advice and direction will save you tons of time, get you going in the right direction, prevent headaches and set a solid foundation for your business. We’ve got great advisors for our business, and we’d like to open our roll-a-dex to you. We’re not saying there aren’t other entity specialists out there, but we’ve been around the block and couldn’t be happier with our advisors. We use Sage International, Inc.*, located in Reno, Nevada. They’ve been a part of our business life for more than 12 years and know their stuff. They can set up entities in all 50 states (plus Guam, I hear). You can visit their website at http://www.sageintl.com and read about the various advantages and disadvantages of each entity type or visit their store and pick up a copy of their best-selling book Incorporate and Get Rich. And the coolest thing is you can call Sage to schedule a FREE 30 minute consultation at 1-800-254-5779. Deciding to form your Wellness Coaching Business was a giant step. Now take the next step and call an entity expert. It’s time to protect and assure the wellness of your business. Growing a strong, healthy Wellness Coaching business is not all that different from growing a strong healthy crop. A good farmer knows to prepare the soil, choose the right seeds, provide the best fertilizer, manage the irrigation, and harvest when it’s time. A good farmer also knows to avoid mistakes that will compromise a good harvest. Do you know the mistakes to avoid as you grow your Wellness Coaching Business? Most of the Wellness Coaches we’ve worked with through the years make one or more of the following mistakes and wonder why they have trouble growing their businesses. Do you need to correct any of these mistakes in your own business? First identify which mistakes you’ve made, then find out how to correct those mistakes in Part II. 1. Failure to define market or niche: This mistake is made by the Wellness Coach who’s trying to be all things to all people and fears choosing a specialty or target market. No target market means no one knows who to send your way. 2. No vision, mission, goals or revenue model: The coach making this error has no direction or business plan and hasn’t defined success in personal terms…there’s been no decision as to whether to grow a business that can run itself when you’re away (a “B” as Robert Kiyosaki describes in his book Cash Flow Quadrant) or to stay as a self-employed solo-preneur (an “S” in the Kiyosaki model). 3. Guilty of the “Lone Ranger” syndrome: In this case, the Wellness Coach tries to do everything without help. There is no team – no bookkeeper, attorney, CPA, assistant, and no business coach. Feel stretched in too many directions wearing too many hats? Yup, that’d be this mistake. 4. No wellness plan for the Wellness Coach: This mistake finds you consistently not walking your talk, overworking, not living in “wellness” as you define it and thinking that you’ll get to it for yourself “someday”. What does this have to do with growing a business? Everything! Watch how long Wellness Coaching (and all) businesses last when owners fail here! 5. Fear and avoid the competition: Wellness Coaches making this mistake stay far away from the competition, wouldn’t consider partnering with others and have no clue how to pursue joint ventures. 6. Failure to leverage content: Wellness Coaches making this error work “hard” not “smart” and keep reinventing the wheel. (i.e. give presentations but fail to record them with audio or visual to “repurpose” later on.) They forget to think continuously about leveraging all content provided to clients. 7. Non-effective website or blog: This mistake includes websites or blogs that are “brochures” only, non-interactive sites, and sites not converting traffic to leads or sales. It also includes the error of simply not having a website or blog at all. 8. No social media presence: Wellness Coaches not visible in the social media world are making a giant mistake. The error includes not having a Twitter, Facebook, and/or Linkedin account and/or having only inactive accounts and not regularly participating. 9. Not providing your market what it wants: Assuming you have targeted a market, this mistake finds Wellness Coaches providing services and products that they want to produce and provide, rather than offering what the market wants. There’s been no market research or interaction, and focus is more on getting clients than it is on giving. 10. Undervalued services and products: This mistake stems from a fundamental lack of belief in what you offer. It includes viewing yourself as a “starving artist”, being afraid to ask for money, fearing clients will jump ship if you ever raise prices and not charging top dollar for your products and services. Inherent in any error, mistake or oversight is an opportunity waiting to be taken. This premise underlies our belief that it’s a good idea to take a quarterly S.W.O.T. (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) inventory of your Wellness Coaching Business. Consider any of the 10 mistakes above as a current weakness in your business AND a key to a future opportunity as described below. Which of the following opportunities await your business right now? 2. Get clear on your business strategy. Write an overall business plan. Read Robert Kiyosaki’s book, Cash Flow Quadrant and decide which business direction you want to go…a solo-preneur Wellness Coach practice, a Business that can run itself, something in between. Spend time writing your mission, vision, values and goals. Use our FREE planning and action calendar to help guide you in your Wellness Coaching business success. 3. Get a team…now! Even if you choose the self-employed solo-preneur business model and don’t hire other coaches to work for you, you do need a team. Rally your colleagues and get a mastermind group together, making them your Board of Directors. Immediately hire a business coach, preferably one who knows the Wellness Coach business well. Hire a part-time bookkeeper, virtual assistant for a few hours a week, and a CPA to do your taxes. If you think you can’t take this opportunity yet, think again. It is critical to your business success. 6. Leverage your content. Repurpose something you have already produced. Transcribe an audi0-taped talk you gave and turn it into a pdf document you give away for free on your website. Have a friend do a video of your next presentation and put it up on YouTube. Write an article and submit it to an association and also post it on your blog. Pull together your past blog posts into an e-book. Make everything count. Haven’t produced anything to leverage? Hmm…when would now be a good time to start? 7. Update that website or blog. Be sure your website has a client-capturing element…a place where visitors give you a name and email in exchange for a free article or other product. (In the spirit of transparency, this is an opportunity we have missed and will need to address right away!) Hire a great web wizard to help you do this. Update your content, clear out irrelevant links, update your profile, add an audio welcome. Remember the goal of the site is not just to look great – it needs to work for you…it needs to welcome clients, give them many resources and reasons to return, and many reasons for them to tell others about the community you have created. Make your website sing. Make it interactive. Make it effective. 8. Develop a social media presence. We won’t go into the how to’s here. We think the bigger picture and important stuff’s covered in The New Relationship Marketing book by Mari Smith. Read it. Do your homework and take a step. Get a Twitter account. Join Linkedin. Step into the Facebook world. Overwhelmed? Take baby steps. Start small and be consistent. If it’s too much for your plate, hire someone for a few hours to begin the journey for you. Give us a shout and we’ll give you some names of social media rockstars who can help. 9. Give ‘em what they want. Time to do some market research. Start giving those in your market what they want and need, not what you think they should want or assume that they need. Put a poll on your website. Make calls. Engage in conversations and ask questions. Listen more than talk during your next interaction with a potential client. Give free content in exchange for someone taking a short survey. It’s all in the giving…and you need to give away the right stuff. 10. Step up and charge what you’re worth. Are you undercharging for the incredible Wellness Coaching and results you know you deliver? Are you afraid to ask for what you want? Are you trading your time for money but haven’t a clue how to put together an information product? There are wonderful resources out there to help you with all of this. You can work with someone who’s skilled at helping you do the inner work that has you getting in your own way. You can read a book, take a class, take a teleclass or attend a retreat to help you create your first product. Browse the web, check out your favorite on-line or live bookstore or give us a call and we’ll get you referrals for any or all of it. Just take the first step today! Okay, we’ll stop here so you can get started! Opportunity awaits!

2019-04-24T13:53:30Z

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While I don’t blog a lot personally, I tend to write posts about major life transitions (like this one and this one). So here’s one more. One that I’m very excited for. From 2010-2012 my commute took almost 3 hours round trip. Every day. So when I started looking to leave that job, one of my criteria was ideally to find a job with a shorter commute. Of course the most important things are the job itself and the company, but finding something where I could spend more time at work and with my family was also important. When I connected with the team at Ektron, I knew it was a good fit. It got me back to a horizontal technology, and helping people build great websites. It also fit my product marketing sweet spot, providing lots of opportunities to work on the things I love to do. Plus it was a much shorter commute in terms of time. I’d cut my commute time in almost half. It was a long drive from home to the office in my opinion but well worth it. I’ve racked up more than 21,000 miles over the past year plus making the commute. Shortly after I started at Ektron, I had the opportunity to expand my scope and skills by taking on responsibility for both product and inbound/content marketing. Now I’ve been creating content to drive marketing results for a long time, (longer than I’m going to share here), but having the chance to build my skills and our team to use content to help prospects find us, engage and convert was extremely exciting. Over the past year, I’ve seen the power of content, and found religion – great content, in my opinion, is the foundation of almost all marketing today. Without that content, your marketing efforts are less impactful and more expensive. And who wants that? Content marketing has become one of, if not the hottest concepts in marketing today. The Google Trends below support that. At the same time, content management (Ektron’s core business) is a much tougher business proposition. Content management is from dead, as everyone needs it, and most people already have it, but it can be a long, tough sell. While I was building my content marketing skills and having become truly convinced that this was the way forward, I had the opportunity to meet and work with the world’s leading content marketing evangelist, Joe Pulizzi, from the Content Marketing Institute (CMI). If you know anything about Joe, or CMI, you know that orange is their official color. And content marketing is taking off. So the way I see it, orange is the new black. Sorry, just had to get that in there. Joe and I chatted about ways I could help CMI grow. It was pretty exciting to me. The job built on what I loved to do and would also give me an opportunity to develop new skills. In a super hot space. And I wouldn’t have to commute. At all. As much as I loved the people at Ektron, and was excited about some of the cool stuff the company was working on, I knew that all these journeys happen for a reason. 21,000 miles later, I knew that joining the CMI team was the next stop on this roadtrip. Today’s my first day at CMI. The 5 steps and 3 seconds it took to walk from my kitchen to the office was the best commute I’ve seen in well, ever. The daily journey will be much shorter, but extremely exciting. I can’t wait to get behind the wheel. As I wrote about in my last post, I’ve been working on finding my next career destination that allowed me to follow my passion. This post answers the question of where that is going to be for me. Way back in the days before the Internet, if you can even imagine that, before big box retailers put the squeeze on small, local shopkeepers and made price the driving decision factor in many sales, customer experience mattered. It mattered because those experiences in a local retailer were based on relationships. The retailer frequently lived in the same town as they buyers and knew them personally, by name. The retailer knew that repeat business, from loyal customers, was the key to a long term, thriving business. So they took pride in building and keeping that relationship strong. Over the past 20-30 years as new technology and market forces have emerged, some would argue that the personalized buying experience of old has disappeared. I don’t think it’s disappeared entirely, but as more consumers have more buying choices, and the ability to find sellers without regard to geography, size or other factors, finding the lowest price drives a significant number of purchasing decisions. However, a great experience can still be a major differentiator, and allow a seller to maintain a premium price, or simply win and keep more business. Many of the great brands today do that. Starbucks, who can sell a commodity, coffee, at significantly higher prices than many of its competitors is a classic example. Yes, some of the products cost more to produce, but Starbucks places a premium on delivering a great buying experience, from the music in the store to how you pay. Premium hotels like the Ritz Carlton help justify their price points because of exceptional customer service, doing everything in their power to make guests happy and keep them coming back. I’m sure anyone reading this can think of at least one exceptional customer experience in their past that helped them either choose a vendor or stay loyal to one. About 10 years ago, while working at Macromedia, and had been working on things like content management, personalization, and Rich Internet Applications. The web was still really in it’s infancy at that point, but the company tagline was “Experience Matters.” We believed that rich, quality, customer-focused web experiences allowed companies to differentiate themselves so they could win and keep more business. Some of you may remember that – here’s a white paper about what a great online experience was like back then. However, that was only the tip of the iceberg when it came to online customer experience. The ability to truly connect all your digital customer touchpoints, measure return, and quickly and easily make changes that have impact just wasn’t there in 2003. Marketo and Hubspot didn’t even exist, smartphones (and the app revolution) were only used by a sliver of the population. Tablets were either pills or pads of paper. Fast forward to the end of 2012, and here we are, in my opinion, at a seminal point in online experiences. In the past few years, almost everything in marketing has become measurable and you are truly able to connect the front end of a website (where those experiences matter) with your CRM system, your marketing automation system, your social networks, your content management system, and just about anything else you can think. There has never been a more exciting time to be a marketer. Because of the interconnected nature of all the systems that empower online marketing, you can now fulfill that vision that Macromedia put forth at the beginning of the century. Now more than ever, can you not only have a great customer experience online, but you can measure and adjust to optimize your results. Those results aren’t just about acquiring more customers, but they are about building loyalty and keeping customers. Tying that all together now has it’s own category – Digital Experience Management. And the foundation of it all? Content. Content fuels great experiences on a website or in a mobile app. Content empowers your email campaign. Content provides the way you will get found by a prospect, and how that prospect will learn about your goods and services. Content helps your customers make the most of your products and boosts loyalty. Content helps those customers share your brand and your products with their social connections. Now back in the day, when I worked on content management, personalization and helping companies create great online experiences I was extremely passionate about the technologies I marketed and who my customers were. Add in all the new amazing things that are now possible that stem from a content management system, and that only will increase my level of excitement and focus. So that’s where this path is leading me. I’m going to help Ektron grow and acquire customers for Web Content Management and Digital Experience Management. I’ll be helping companies create great online experiences – experiences that matter. I can’t wait to get started. A few months back, I woke up with an odd feeling. Something wasn’t right. Ok, it wasn’t just one morning, it had been coming on for a while. But I finally figured out what it was. I was missing my passion. Now I’m passionate about a bunch of things. My family, music and photography to name a few. I’ve always been lucky enough to work for companies where I’ve been passionate about my customers and the products I marketed. As much as I enjoyed working at Bullhorn, I knew I no longer had that passion. Now don’t get me wrong, working at Bullhorn has been great. I’ve enjoyed learning about and marketing cloud computing, applicant tracking, CRM, helping the company grow 40%, and get acquired by a private equity firm. I’ve enjoyed learning about the complexities and nuances of recruitment firms and this niche industry. Agency recruiters can sometimes have a bad rep, but I’ve met many of them over the past 3 years that are truly invested in helping companies find great people and people find great jobs. In my time at Bullhorn, the recruiters using the Bullhorn platform have placed ~2.4 million people in jobs. That’s amazing, and I’m thrilled to have been a part of it. But when I woke up and realized that the passion for recruitment wasn’t there, the fire had gone out, I knew exactly why I woke up with an odd feeling. It was my gut instinct. It was reaching up from inside, and socking me in the stomach. There it was. It was telling it me that it was time to find something new, something that would rekindle that fire, something where I’d jump out of bed in the morning and couldn’t wait to get to work. So I set out on the path. I realized that I’ve had that passion in the past, working for companies that provide technologies 1 or 2 layers down in the stack, something that helps an organization build or deliver an app or experience, as opposed to a technology that is used almost exclusively by business users. Working for companies like that was where I learned about how software works. Selling and marketing to customers that fit that profile was where I had that passion. My end goal was clear. Find a great opportunity at a company that provides software to that enables their customers to build something awesome. Now that that journey is coming to a close, I want to reflect for a bit. I had the pleasure of getting reconnected with some of the great folks I’ve worked with in the past, to share the advice and guidance. I was able to learn about a bunch of exciting companies that I didn’t know a lot about before, and meet some great people working at those companies. That has been a wonderful part of the past few months. I was also able to meet and work some great recruiters both on the corporate and agency side of things. That also has been a great part of the past few months. Now I did go through a few odd interviews, where it was very clear that the organization culture didn’t align with what I was looking for or that the company had no idea how to manage a hiring process. I also had a number of candidate experiences that, if you are a recruiter reading this, let me digress from the point of this post for a bit, to give you one piece of advice as someone who has been engaged in a job search for a bit – invest in candidate experience. If you aren’t a recruiter, you can skip the next two paragraphs — It doesn’t matter if you work in corporate HR or for a firm, I really think that those that have jobs to fill need to do a much better job following up with people that apply to work at your company. Take the time to let them know that you did in fact, receive your resume, that you did in fact at least scan it, and what the status of that person’s candidacy was. I would say that a great majority of the jobs I applied for, even when a recruiter sought me out, simply went dark. Even if the role has been filled, or if the applicant is not a fit, find a way to follow up. No response at all is not a way to respect a potential future employee, as well as someone who could someday become a customer. If I’m presented with an opportunity to buy some of the software for firms that couldn’t take the time to actually follow up with me, I’ll certainly apply that experience to how I think about the company, and assume that same lack of consideration might apply elsewhere, perhaps in the sales or suppor process. But back to the point of this post – passion. As I went down this path, to find that passion again, I found a number of opportunities where I knew I could be passionate about the company, the team, the products and the customers. All of these opportunities had a few common threads – they are technologies that are adopted across industries and make the creation of online experiences faster and/or better. I’m very pleased that I’ve found one opportunity that connects what I’ve been passionate about in the past with some new areas that I know I’ll be passionate about going forward. I can’t wait to get started. I’ll be jumping out of bed to start my first day, and I fully expect every morning after that. I’ll tell you a bit more about it in my next post. I’ll end this post with a sincere thank you to everyone at Bullhorn and all the customers that I interacted with over the past 3 years. I learned a ton from you, and I hope you learned even just a fraction as much from me. It was a pleasure and honor. I’ll be rooting for all of you, just from a far. I was recently chatting with David Mendels, who works at Brightcove. David mentioned that he thought it would be interesting to create a map of all the startups that have been fueled by people who worked at Allaire. I agreed that this would be interesting too, so I took at a stab at it in the picture below. My general guidelines were that someone at one of the companies on this map had to work at Allaire before the Macromedia acquisition. Those individuals could have stayed on at Macromedia, or even through to the Adobe acquisition, but if they left and wendtto a startup, I tried to capture it here. I’m sure I’m missing a bunch of companies. If you have some updates I should make let me know in the comments, via email, linkedin, facebook, smoke signals, whatever. And if we’re not already connected, feel free to drop me a line on twitter @jwall. You can see the full size version of the map here. Update: April 24, 2012 – Jeff Tapper and Rob Rusher mentioned that a few folks left Allaire, Macromedia, Adobe to go work at consulting startups like Digital Primates and Universal Mind. I’ll add those in as soon as I can. In the last days Verizon completed their work to bring FIOS to our street. All of a sudden we go from basically no choice for Internet tv and phone to having a choice. Woo hoo! This seems to be a hot topic in the neighborhood, so I can only assume that its a hot topic in places where you are lucky enough to have these options. One of my neighbors asked me for my thoughts and I figured it makes sense to share those here too. Now I’ve had Comcast in a few different locations and Verizon FIOS for about 6 months before we lived where we do now. I’ve also done a bunch with FIOS at my in laws house in the past few months. So intend to think I’m pretty well informed. The differences in each service are subtle in my opinionand in general they are very very similar. My overall recommendation is go with whomever will give you the best deal. That said here are the pros of switching to FIOS that I can see. 1) Multi-room DVR – For us having one DVR to set and being able to watch from any room is a nice feature to have. We tend to watch most things on DVR and starting downstairs and continuing upstairs is something we like. However, if you currently have multiple DVRs and are taping multiple shows on different DVRs at the same time, then switching to the FIOS multi-room DVR may be a limit and not a pro. 2) Speed. Download speeds are, as far as I can tell, comparable on both services, but my perception is that FIOS may be just a bit faster on download. If you are ever uploading large files, comcast maxes out at 5 MB and FIOS can give you 25 MB. But this is really only a difference if you are uploading large files (like a movie). That said, FIOS is much newer technology and I’d imagine that over time the speed advantage will improve with FIOS. 3) Price – If you have cell phones on verizon, you can bundle this with your FIOS plan and save 10/month. its not a lot, but its something that Comcast can’t match. 4) Network access. Both companies give you a router to connect your computers to their network. FIOS includes a wireless router as part of that and Comcast doesn’t. Depending on your home setup, this may be useful, or may be a hassle. I do a bunch of stuff to keep my network locked down, so the FIOS router is a bit of hassle, but once I have it all setup its not an issue. Comcast has a few small advantages when it comes to mobile apps. 1) If you have an ipad or iphone the comcast mobile apps I think are a bit better as you can get your home voice mail easily on an iphone with comcast and you can watch a number of shows on demand on iphone and ipad with comcast. I don’t believe you can do that with FIOS. 2) No digging. FIOS requires that they run a line from the street to your house. They do this by digging a trench in your yard and it may also need to go under your driveway or walkway. They are pros at this but I am a bit skeptical that they can run that line under my walkway without some issues around leveling. I haven’t ever had FIOS when they had to do this, but its something you should be aware of. 3) No big box in your basement or side of your house. FIOS requires a large box (probably 1 foot wide by 2-3 feet high by 3-6 inches deep) that centralizes the services to be installed. Its basically like a brain for your system, and comcast doesn’t have this. The FIOS install is long and complicated as a result. But that box is what makes the multiroom dvr possible for example. – that there are definitely some differences in on demand, specifically which shows are on which services. But I don’t have a lot of detail here. – Signal quality overall is a good one to explore more. the FIOS rep said that FIOS is higher quality at 1080i. But I haven’t noticed a significant difference. Again though because FIOS is newer technology, I would expect them to have the advantage over time. – Last thing to mention is to look at the difference in HD channels. there are a few differences, but nothing major in my opinion. Did I miss anything? Did I get anything wrong? If so let me know. Google Calendar of events via RSS? My job is very close to the major convention center in Boston. I’ve noticed that when I leave work and get on public transportation that if there is a major event at the convention center, that the public transportation line I take, the silver line, is extraordinarily jammed. Now you’d think that the MBTA, who runs the system here, would figure this out and add some more buses so people like me didn’t have to cram on top of other folks to make sure we can catch our train home on time. But that’s not what this is about. Because of this, I realized that I need to be more aware of big events at the convention center, so I can give myself a bit more time to catch my train on those days. It turns out the convention center has a good schedule of events online, but that isn’t something is easily viewable in a calendar format. Luckily they have a RSS feed too. So then I thought to myself, “Self, wouldn’t it be great if you could see this as a dedicated calendar, perhaps via Google Calendar.” That’s where I manage the rest of my non work events, so it just seemed logical. I wanted to simply create a new calendar, add the RSS feed of events, and have Google figure it out. But Google Calendar doesn’t enable that. I searched for a while to figure out if I was missing something, but I wasn’t. It seems there are a lot of people that want to do this though, so I figured I’d document my solution here. I learned that you can create a Google Calendar via an iCal URL. So then all I needed to do was figure out how to convert the RSS Feed to iCal. Here’s what I did. 1) I found this useful site to convert the RSS Feed to iCal. 4) I pasted the URL of the iCal feed into the “Add Feed” window that popped up. 5) That’s pretty much it. I had to make a few other tweaks to Google Calendar, like changing the name of the calendar. But if you want to see it, or use it, it’s here for all. Now I wish that Google would let me control permissions on the calendar like it does for native Google Calendars but that’s a pretty minor request. Overall, I’m happy I solved my problem quickly, and hope that others will benefit too. Like many people, I’ve been thinking about the year to come, especially since I’m kicking off the new decade with a new job, and a new place to live. I’m also looking back at all the amazing things that have happened over the past 10 years, and a lot of people are doing that at well. But I haven’t seen a list of the top technologies of the past decade that have gone mainstream and changed how people live or work. – Technology could be created or available in the 1990’s, or earlier, but didn’t go mainstream until the 2000’s. – Mainstream means that people that aren’t technology geeks first and foremost are using it. If you parents use it, grandparents use it, then I consider it mainstream. If you have a friend or acquaintance that doesn’t work in technology, or spend their waking hours playing technical support for friends and family, and they are using the technology then I categorize it as mainstream. – Changing how people live or work. Well that’s kinda obvious. But for the purpose of this post, I’ll include it if it changed how I live or work. And without further ado, here’s the list, in no particular order. Some of the commentary may be a bit obvious, but I’m trying to document how my life has changed, and perhaps in 10 years, look back on this post with fond memories. – Broadband. In the late 1990’s, I still had to dial up to get connected to the internet. But at the dawn of the new decade, broadband started hitting the streets and always on fast connections became a way of life. – Wifi – Huge. Absolutely changes the way I work and live. Increases the impact of broadband significantly. I don’t have to worry about where I put my computer in my house. I can use it anywhere. I can take my laptop with me anywhere I work and not have to worry about finding a connection. I can take my computer with me to a coffee shop, a library, and be productive. And how do I know its mainstream, again that’s obvious, but my litmus test is my parents now have it in there house. Now that’s not for them to use just yet, but its there if I want it. If we only had wireless battery recharging, that would be awesome. -Bluetooth – Like wifi, a very big deal. Wireless headsets and mice help free us from the cords. I don’t have bluetooth integrated from my phone to my car, but thats a high impact technology right there. – DVR – A game changer. I think you could get a Tivo in the 1990’s, but this definitely went mainstream in 2000’s. I’ll record shows even if I’m home when they are on, just so I don’t have to watch commercial. I can now watch 3 hours of network/cable TV with commercials in 2 hours. Pause a show and return in a few mins – that’s just huge, especially when you have a 4 year old who can interrupt whatever you are watching at any time. Needless to say, this also has massive implications for the advertising market. – On demand television- this was more or less available in the 90’s as pay per view, but its changed how consume television. With the combo of on demand and DVR I can pretty much watch what I want when I want. Now the question of is there anything good on is another story entirely. – Netflix – Its like an extension to on demand. This game changer has rendered the video store obsolete. – MP3’s and digital music – In 1997, on my cross country trip we had a mix of tapes and CDs. But we needed a special adapter for the tape player in the car to be able to connect to a portable CD player. Turns out that didn’t work, but that’s another story. As the early 2000’s rolled around digital music became prevalent, and for me, by the mid 2000’s, my historic tape and CD collection was gone. It was all digital. (Man, burning 400+ CDs took a long time). On a related note, in the mid 1990’s I had my car broken into and some of my favorite tapes and CDs were stolen. I was pretty upset as some the mixed tapes I made in college were really hard to replace. But fast forward to today, and now its all backed up, so the likelihood of losing any of my music is very low. Makes me think that in addition to in home backup, I really should get an online backup service like Carbonite. What’s also interesting here is that in the 1990’s most people had VCRs and the DVD was starting to come into people’s lives. Like any media for music or video, it seems to have about a 10 year lifespan. Records were around for a long time, but then we cruised through 8-track, tapes, CDs. Video went from VHS, to DVD and now to blu-ray, but I’m sure that will all be gone in 10 more years for a completely digital on demand world. – GPS – You could get a GPS in a rental car in the early/mid 1990’s. But it didn’t become mainstream, with many car’s having it as an option or standard, and included on smartphones until the 2000’s. Printed maps – gone. AAA Triptiks (which I used extensively in my 1997 trip across the united states), done. – Smartphones – These were around in the mid/late 1990’s. And in the 1990’s Palm had a major market of 3rd party apps. So what we have today is nothing new in my opinion, except that the phones are faster, smarter, better and include wifi and GPS. . But the smartphone didn’t go mainstream until the mid late 2000’s. Its mainstream in my book because my mother is considering getting an iPhone so she can play games. – Online banking – This was around in the early/mid 1990’s. Today, I assume most people pay their bills online, but I know a number of folks that prefer to write and mail checks. Online banking took a chore of managing bills that took people a chunk of time each week or month, down to a few seconds and clicks. I think many people will say that this isn’t as impactful as some of the technologies above, but its definitely mainstream and definitely a game changer. I’m hoping that in the next 10 years, I won’t ever need to get a bill or statement by mail. – Digital photography and video – This is a late breaking addition after I originally published the post. Thanks to Peter Conrad for helping me realize I overlooked a huge one. This has completely changed how we take pictures, how we develop film (we don’t) and how we store our memories. The biggest change for me at the end of this decade though is video. When my son was born in 2005, I had a digital camera for taking still photographs and a tape based recorder for video. I took a few early videos, but the conversion to digital was a major hassle, so I took mostly still photos. Now I take videos first and pictures 2nd, mostly on my phone. I wish I had better quality on my phone but that will happen over time. Wow, that is just an amazing list. In spite of all the crazy things that happened to us over the past 10 years, it was simply a mindblowing decade for technology. Technology to watch for in the 2010’s. These are things that I see as major life changers in the next 10 years, and I expect them to all go mainstream. – Person to person payments – You can do this today a bit, but its hard and costly. I know banks have dabbled in this, Paypal is working on it and with new payment systems like Square, I think this will be a reality very soon. The big question is, will you carry cash at all in 10 years? – Wireless battery recharging – I’m not talking about the ability to charge a device by placing it on a special mat. That’s very cool don’t get me wrong. It cuts the wires for the most part. I’m talking about a device to charge, or maintain power without any cords and without being on a special pad. Its wifi for charging. I want it and expect to see it in the next 10 years. So what did I forget? What are you looking forward to in the next decade?

2019-04-20T16:32:17Z

https://jonwall.org/

My crowd source campaign is edging nearer. I’m in the midst of preparing email lists, editing the prelaunch 30″ video, doing motion graphics for the pitch piece, and making sure the message is consistent and uniform. When I started imaging what to provide on the accompanying Blu-ray disc, I knew that I would have to include a bunch of my high-resolution audio tracks. That’s easy. But what else would draw curious audio enthusiasts to the disc accompanying “Music and Audio: A User Guide To Better Sound”? That’s when I thought that including a few comparisons would be compelling. I find it difficult to accept that a listener would be able to clearly perceive a difference in fidelity between two different cables, formats, sample rates, word length, power cords, or whatever if they were not able to instantly switch between the things being compared. Does anyone really believe that having a 30-60″ (optimally…it could be a lot more) gap between the playback of configuration 1 and configuration 2 is tenable? There are just too many variables to consider in doing a comparison this way. Is your head in exactly the same place, are you in the same spot in the song, and is your frame of mind the same? Having a completely equipped professional studio makes doing comparisons much easier. I can stream digital data from a single source or two identical digital players and route them to a couple of inputs on my control room monitor system or a couple of input channels. Then it’s very simple to hit a noiseless button to choose one or the other source. This is how I do my comparisons. I’m listening along and simply switch back and forth between the options. Depending on what’s being compared…sometimes I hear a change and sometimes I don’t. Under most circumstances this ability to switch quickly and without any noise or level drop is difficult. I remember assisting with the research study just before the Christmas holiday last year. I had everything set up in my laptop DAW to switch between the lo-res and high-res files…instantly and on command. But they organization balked at compensating me for the project so they reverted to playing the files in sequence. It contributed to the results being meaningless…the participants rated the MP3s as the best sounding as often as the actual high-res files. The Blu-ray disc format provides a unique capability. It is possible to have high-resolution PCM files on multiple audio “tracks” and then switch between them by pressing the AUDIO button the remote. I use this capability to allow customers to switch between the three different mixes available on my Blu-ray discs. As most of you know, my releases have a traditional 2.0 stereo mix and two different 5.1 surround mixes called “stage” and “audience”. What if instead of different mixes, I place different formats on each of the available audio tracks. Users could use the AUDIO button and instantly compare a 256 kbps MP3 file against a CD res file, and a true high-resolution file. I’m planning on using the same technique to compare a heavily mastered file vs. an unmastered file. Don’t take my word for it. Listen for yourself and see if you and your system can hear any differences between these comparisons. Then Frank from an audiophile society back east wrote to say that the members of his group wouldn’t be interested in a Blu-ray disc because they don’t have a Blu-ray player in their main music room. He mentioned maybe 5 out of 60 members might be properly equipped to take advantage of the “Music and Audio” A User Guide to Better Sound” Blu-ray disc. I don’t want my target audience to miss out on this opportunity. What can I do? I’m happy to allow customers or supporters to download the files but they wouldn’t have the ability to do an instant comparison. So I’m curious how many of you would be able to play a Blu-ray disc in the proper environment? I keep trying to improve the landing page for the approaching Kickstarter campaign at “Music and Audio: A User Guide To Better Sound“. There are a few videos of me giving the keynote address at the recent Newport Show. Please add your name to the list. So far I’m just shy of 200…I’d love to get to 500 or more by the end of the weekend. Thanks. Mark, I would definitely be interested in a blu-ray disc if it allowed the comparisons you mention. Why wouldn’t you have an Oppo or similar device as part of your system? I certainly find a large number of audiophiles have an Oppo in their setup. A blu ray disc would work fine for me. Looking forward to your launch. I’ve been able to play Blu-ray discs in both my home theater and 2 channel setups for a couple of years now. The audiophile society dudes are behind the times! My OPPO 93 will handle the Blu-Ray disk!! That crowd is a lost cause. The rest of us, who consider our theaters places to bask in great music – as well as films, would welcome your disk. I wouldn’t let one audiophile organization determine your direction. There are those of us who have embraced the Blu-ray format and I’m sure the other audiophiles will too when they feel the content is compelling enough. The cost of entry for Blu-ray is very low these days. And what is your focus? Sell to the finicky audiophile crowd or provide the only Blu-ray disk on the market that accurately educates the average listener to what Hi-res audio really can do and what ripped mp3 files are not? I have everything needed to play just about any file on my main system with HD Video so for me it wouldn’t be a problem. Many audiphiphiles have only a dedicated two channel setup so for them it would be a issue. My setup can do up to 7.1 if I bother to run a few more cables and speakers but I doubt any of the analog guys would be interested even in the 2 channel digital version on the disk. Some will be able to play a CD version I spoke but it is a interesting problem. I think most of the folks interested in your disk should be able to play it or they probably wouldn’t be checking and reading your posts here. Good luck with it and I’m looking forward to what you release. Foobar2000, a free music player, can do ABX test for two files. You don’t have to worry about it. That said, sadly Blu-ray is not what people want these days…. Most of computers (especially laptops) these days do not have any optical media drive installed at all. Microsoft also stopped support on DVD playback on their newest OS, Windows 10. Blu-ray playback support is completely out of question. People just do not want to buy Blu-ray, Mark… I am such a extreme exception who actually buys a Blu-ray ‘audio’ disc, but I am the only one…. none of my friends, family members and colleagues buy Blu-ray media. See the leftmost example? You make a nice usb card for kickstarter supporters. I like this idea…thanks for the suggestion. That’s why you should run Linux. Time to stop letting big brother Wiindoz control your computer options. Sorry for double post… But like this one would be great for ‘reward’ for the kickstarter campaign. Count me in for the USB card. I have an OPPO BDP-93 connected to a 5.1 sound system. The front speakers cover the full frequency range, but the center and rear speakers don’t (down to about 140 Hz is all). I do not use LFE. I for one would like a Blue-Ray disc ! If you’re keeping track Mark, I have a Linn stereo system at home set up in the only space it will fit. No room for a speaker system that would show off the abilities of what your recordings offer. I can play a blu-ray disk in my home theater/music system. I am interested & setup to test, some aspects. I have some limitations. My BluRay player is limited to 24 bit 48000hz. My speakers are capable of 18-30000hz [Including Sub]. Unfortunately my preamp cuts out @ 20000hz.. In theory, I shouldn’t notice much difference above CD quality, but your recordings are more alive than most recordings. I also enjoy ” Chris Botti Live in Boston” on BluRay. It stands out, as do your recordings. I agree that quick switching is the most effective comparison. I often wonder how a purchaser can determine which components are better, when they often test in varying environments. I wonder how much age affects our appreciation of High Resolution music. I can still hear 14000hz, but that will decline. Hi Mark. On the subjective side, if a listener cannot discern the differences between speaker cable, interconnects and mains cables then their powers of perception are IMV void having a high class front end source such as your hires music productions. Synergy exists when everything comes together in a 2+2 =4 world, something the magazines fuel to constantly change items of hardware to achieve. I would argue strongly that joining equipment up with basic stranded copper (read mains flex) is not optimal and it appears you are not convinced that by swapping out the throw away interconnects that come with low end gear is worthwhile? There are other items such as equipment stands that also influence (IMO) the musical outcome and once experienced, there really is no going back, just like your recordings, they stand out. As you are mates with Ray Kimber, get him to sort you for some studio feeds, you may be in for some pleasant surprises! Stick with the Blu-Ray disc, if folk don’t have a Blu-Ray player then surely if they’re interested enough they could borrow one perhaps ? That’s what I’ll be doing, plus I’ll get someone else to do the switching to approximate a blind test of the different formats. It’s not ABX double blind testing etc but it’ll suffice for me with my modest setup. But keep the files available for download as an option for anyone unable to beg, borrow or steal a Blu-Ray player. I have purchased my second blu-ray player, an Oppo 103D (from Shelley’s in Santa Monica), and find it to be an astonishing player. It also plays files from thumb drives. I downloaded some SACD demo files from 2L in Norway and was treated to the best sound I have ever heard on my system. I think most audiophiles have never heard a good 5.1 or 7.1 etc. system. Any blue ray player will be a very good CD player and cost no more (or much less) than an “audiophile quality” CD player. If you want music to break in speakers, cables, etc, just play the soundtrack from “Avatar” twice. It will make quite a difference on new gear. Regular DVD sound is very good also. Keep smiling, Boomer Bill BTW you can buy used CDs and DVDs from Amazon and save a ton of moola. Maybe these ‘audiophiles’ aren’t interested in comparing different files at all. It might reveal something, that they don’t want to know. I appreciated Frank sharing his perspective on the Blu-ray issue. You may recall my reply last week, in which I said I could appreciate the difference between 16/44.1 and 24/92 material with my great system in my great listening room. As you alluded to in your response, I should have mentioned that this only applies to material with a high res provenance. But yes, I do have a Blu-ray player in that room (its the Oppo 103D that I stream all my high res music through). So i would be able to play your Blu-ray disc in my serious listening environment. And I would think that any ‘serious’ audiophile who spends the sort of cash on their gear that such people usually spend, would have a Blu-ray player somewhere in the house and should be willing to at least temporarily relocate it to their serious listening room in order to facilitate the instant switch comparison that you are considering providing on the Blu-ray disc. I certainly would be, and I urge you to include this functionality! I’ll make sure to include these items on the BLu-ray. Maybe there are other things that readers would like to see on the disc. I’ll put my hand up, I have a Bluray player in my main listening room, which is also my home cinema, it is getting on a bit in age now and cannot do this new fangled 3D stuff but it still pleases me. In my main media room I have an OPPO-103D connected by HDMI to an Anthem Statement D2v a/v processor. With this configuration switching between different audio formats works, but it is not instantaneous, there is about 1 second of silence whenever the audio is switched. For music, it is much easier to switch formats/mixes with Pure Audio discs since a video monitor is not required. As a download file option, you could create a high-resolution file that is a mix of switching between the different formats converted back to the high-resolution bit depth and sampling rate. This wouldn’t allow the end user to select when the switching happens, but it would provide instant switching. I’ve done this in the past…it’s less than ideal but does work. The use of Foobar with the building A|B switching was suggested. I think that’s a good idea. >how many of you would be able to play a Blu-ray disc in the proper environment? I would, and I think this would be very interesting to try! Yes, I have a 5.1 multichannel system with a Samsung Bluray player so I could enjoy the BluRay disc. Think I’d prefer the Mixes over the Format configuration although both are mainly novelty configs and how many times are you going to play with it? So a hard call really. Although I don’t consider this system to be my high res system, my Computer Server-Emotiva DC-1 DAC and Senn HD 650 phones serve that purpose, I am surprised that so few have a BluRay 5.1 system in their media room. I would have guessed that more home setups would have swung over to a combined Audio/Video system in todays world? Blu-ray would work for me. Perhaps some direction on blue ray players is in order. I’m sure many have HT setups that from an audio perspective are “low Fi “. I believe Frank is correct, that fewer than 20% of audio enthusiasts use BR. I really appreciate your efforts.Sound is so objective. Without the ability to compare audio files quickly and seamlessly, we can’t possibly hear these subtle differences. I have a Blu-ray player and I’m in! The answer at our house is that in our music room we play all our CDs through a Blu-ray player (to which I’ve attached a tiny monitor that allows me to see the track numbers). We run both our computer files and our disks through a Peachtree DAC. I do have some Blu-ray audio-only disks, including the recently reissued Solti “Ring,” but I still prefer HD downloads because to me the sound seems more transparent and airier, with more venue space around the instruments and singers. Even though I have the Solti both on Blu-ray disk and on the equivalent download, it’s the download that I almost always play. If the files come from the same master, there shouldn’t be any sonic differences between the disc and downloads. Have you compared any of my tunes or albums this way? James – If you are using a direct coax connection to your Blu-Ray player, the output will be downsampled to 48/16. You can use a device such as the KanexPro HDMI Audio Extractor to extract the audio stream without the downsampling. This is a real issue, Mark. It appears to be widely accepted that the Oppo units downsample material from SACDs, Blu-ray etc discs for digital output via coax or optical. http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f8-general-forum/oppo-bdp-95-issue-bluray-audio-disc-12781/ Apparently, its a licencing issue, rather than technical, so I guess all of the Blu-ray players will do the same – perhaps this is a fatal flaw in your otherwise great idea. They don’t downsample the digital output for streamed high res material, or when reading from an attached drive. But how to achieve the instant switch with these? All Blu-ray players are mandated to downconvert the S/P DIF output. The best way to do the tests would be to use the internal DACs or get the Kanex Pro deembedder. Me and my Oppo BDP-105 can hardly wait to get our hands on your BluRay. Is it not possible to simply change the resolution of a music file by including different resolutions within a single file? I’m envisioning a single file with cut and paste of differing resolutions. If, for instance, I wanted to compare MP3 with CD, could I not edit the CD rip by replacing parts of the song with the MP3 version? Wouldn’t this allow for seamless playback without any breaks in the soundtrack? I discovered this training program called ‘The Golden Ears Challenge’ designed to train audio product engineers at Philips to recognize various flaws in audio reproduction. It includes the ability to instantly switch between audio samples. You may be able to ‘borrow’ some ideas for your BluRay project. I wrote about the Phillips program a week or so ago…it’s very telling. In my opinion this should not be an issue. The top rated consumer grade Blu-Ray players for the past two years, new retail cost, are less than $150 and you can get them refurbished online for under $75.00. The digital outputs of the device drive a good quality DAC, which then feeds the appropriate analog inputs on the amp or preamp. Should be quite a simple upgrade. The DAC also might not be needed should any of the groups are using a preamp or receiver with a free optical input. Upgrading to something like the Oppo with a fine analog output stage is a choice as well and those can be had for under $1,000. Based on the cost of what many of these folks spend for interconnects and other components this also should be an insignificant cost. There are a few BD players in the consumer grade end that have analog outputs as well, but, I always consider those to be sub-quality sound-wise; digital output to a nice DAC is preferred. Bring on the BD, I am anxious to hear the end results of your project. For me it is a great new hearing from you on the Blu-Ray disc track options that will accompany the book. Now I will be able to do immediate comparisons using my OPPO 105D. If you intend to attend the RMAF in Denver, next October, I will have the opportunity to buy the book. I’m a serious audiophile with 3 systems in the 3 locations my wife & I spend parts of the year. They range in value from $7K – $30K. All have quality CD playback and the main one also has vinyl. As a member of two audio clubs I have heard several higher bit rate digital playback formats. Many times, but not all, I am impressed with the incremental realism. But I have not migrated to any of these formats because the improvement is not great enough to justify spending money better spent on new CD’s & new/used vinyl when there is too much variety offered & disturbing variability in these higher bit formats. I don’t own a Blu ray player, just 3 old fashion DVD players mostly used when my granddaughter visits, so will not be able to experiment at home auditioning your apparently well designed presentation. Hopefully media producers will eventually migrate to one format (or multiple formats) that one simple box (preferred), or box + external DAC, will allow those like myself to migrate toward improved sonics when enough media is available. I didn’t address downloads or streaming because at this point I have no need for them in addition to what I’m quite satisfied with. Hopefully your pioneering work along with others will help get us to the next level. I, and some of my friends, are able to afford only one room for audio-visual: so our home-cinema is also our music listening room. And since some A/V processors are nowadays of audiophile quality, we have a music environment that is good enough for cinema. Therefore, we have a Blu-ray player in our listening room. After reading through the comments, I have 2 more comments on the Blu-Ray disc. Blu-Ray coax audio output is downsampled. To hear a difference in the formats you must be using either the output of the DVD player DAC or the HDMI output connected to either an A/V processor or to an Audio Extractor. DVD discs support up to 96/24 PCM, so audio switching from 44.1/16 up to 96/24 should be possible with a DVD disc on a standard DVD player. This is an important item to consider. Thanks for bringing it up. I wrote a couple of posts about the Kanex Pro. I recently bought a blu-ray player but I don’t use its disk spinning capabilities. I prefer to plug in a USB hard drive of either ripped BD material or ripped/downloaded audio. The blu-ray player is plugged into a Naim DAC via coax. The cool thing about Blu-ray disc players is their ability to play multiple audio streams and seamlessly switch. I have an Oppo 105D at the heart of my system. Would love the Blu-Ray! Please do go forward with your project ! I for one would love to compare through my Oppo 103 into my Meridian system that is 96/24 it would really be an interesting listen and challenge for my aged ears. Another +1 vote here from a reader with a high-quality multi-channel system and an Oppo universal player. I bought the Oppo mostly for SACD and DVD-A, but would acquire your proposed test disk in a New York minute. As you know, a lot of the Stereophile (etc. etc.) crowd don’t believe in any sort of A/B testing anyway, and wouldn’t be interested in your project regardless. Don’t let Luddite rejection of Blu-Ray decks ruin it for the rest of us. I’m definitely going to be authoring a Blu-ray disc…and I like the idea of a USB card. I currently also am preparing a listening session to finally decide what is more adequate for increasing the sound resolution: upsampling or oversampling. Although I don’t giva what you’re all set to do, well, good luck as well. I have an Oppo 103 & think your idea about Blu-Ray is excellent. I could do the Blu-Ray….. I would love to hear your comparison Blue-ray disk as I am equipped with a Blue-ray player attached to my system. It would be interesting for sure. My system is a combined music listening/home theatre setup. So yes, I’d love a Blu-Ray with the functionality you describe. Having said that, I see mention of a USB card in the comments. That would be even better for me, since it should work great with a HTPC. The Usb idea is great. For those of us without great internet access its a fantastic option not just for the book but for all albums. I’m open to the USB on anything AIX releases…just let me know. I am I guess one of them ‘audiophiles’ but quite a grounded one! I also have quite modest funds and mostly buy gear second hand. I do though have a Panasonic DMO-BD80 blu-ray player that I can connect to my hi-fi (part of which is a 1980’s Krell KSA-100). Q1 – surely the built in DAC’s (and associated circuitry) of bluray players are of varying quality and a poor one would negate any benefit of the recorded material? Q2 – I have an external DAC capable of handling files up to 32bit and 193khz which accepts optical and coaxial inputs (my bluray has both of these). Could I use this with bluray? As a recent discoverer of this website I realise I have a lot to re-learn after years of mis-information spouted from the audio press!! The quality of the DACs will matter but as audiophiles I don’t think we’re dealing with complete garbage with our gear. The DACs on the Oppo BDP-105 are really great and would work for these comparisons. As for the other question, the S/P DIF outputs are downconverted in all Blu-ray players…you’ll need to use the HDMI output with an audio deembedder. “Going to be a terrific package, Mark…assuming the audiophiles you are targeting have either a Blu-ray equipped surround system or, less likely, a BD player as a source in their dedicated 2-channel systems assuming they have the luxury. First I would like to say that, as you can see, I made no disparaging comments on the use of BD in either an audio or video context. Perhaps my using the word “listeners” would have been better than “audiophiles”, a word which unfortunately has acquired the connotation of “snobbery” in some minds. We ARE in fact an “audio” society with a greater interest in listening to recorded music in almost every conceivable format (including Edison wax cylinders!) than the equipment used which is, more often than not, modest in cost. My goal was to provide Mark with market feedback on the use of BD for audio playback from a large group of potential purchasers of Mark’s upcoming BD and book. “The test of the machine is the satisfaction it gives you. There isn’t any other test. If the machine produces tranquility it’s right. If it disturbs you it’s wrong until either the machine or your mind is changed.” Robert M Pirsig. Frank, thanks for clarifying. I certainly didn’t mean to cast any negative aspersions on you or your group. I was glad you wrote with you take on the whole Blu-ray issue. As a result, I will be presenting the tracks on USB stick. And thanks for the quote from one of my favorite books…cheers. No offense taken. Not sure what percentage of your total readership the “+1’s” for BD represent but I congratulate you on the wide acceptance of your BD/book release represented here and hope it is a success both aurally and financially. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was a huge impact on this music loving, guitar playing, motorcycle riding, young man. The left and right brain need to cooperate. I have an OPPO 105D. Would enjoy the Blu Ray disk to use for a A/B comparison test. Great idea. Another here with an OPPO 105 that would be interested in this disc. On another note, I only recently read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and was struck by how dated the motorcycle technology was at the time it was written. I say this as a motorcycle enthusiast who started riding during the era described in the book, and have witnessed and marveled at the technology progression of both motorcycles and audio over these many years. I owned 6 Hondas in my youth…from a lowly Honda 50 to a 750. Loved riding along the coast of Lake Michigan in the summer.

2019-04-20T12:50:28Z

http://www.realhd-audio.com/?p=5124

Kenya safari is an unforgettable experience. Wherever you go in Kenya, you will find the spectacle of wild nature. Kenya’s treasures are the relevant part of National Parks, National Reserves, and Private Reserves. Kenya is a country with 43 tribes. This is at the same time an added value and an issue. It is an added value because great cultural differences create a society, where many opportunities are available. It is a problem because the rivalry sometimes creates some issues. Are you ready to discover Kenya with us? Kenya safari is waiting for you. Neighboring countries: Ethiopia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia. Kenya territory is divided in counties for the administration but for to understand better the geography we need to considerate the provinces. In total the provinces are eight: Central, Coast, Eastern, Nairobi 5. North Eastern, Nyanza, Rift Valley, Western. I will illustrate the major attractions imagining a safari, so will start now from the top of Rift Valley we will go down in the south direction up to meet Tanzania border. Then we will do another imaginary itinerary up to cover all the Parks and reserves. One of most important is the Rift Valley, at the top, there is the Lake Turkana, fascinating place in the desert. Famous because of his blue waters, and for to a site where was discovered some important hominin fossils. Like the famous Turkana boy, the oldest is the Australopithecus Anamensis, discovered by Meave Leakey and has been dated 4 million years ago. In the lake, there are many Nile crocodile and quantity of fishes. Fauna includes zebras, gazelles, topis and reticulated giraffe. It is the biggest salted water lake in the world, and the world biggest desert permanent lake. If you desire to visit Lake Turkana, we suggest using a flight service. So you don’t need to stay days in travel in the desert. However, if you like the adventure, it is a good idea to go by road, but using a trustable agency. In case, if you want to go alone or with a car driving you, take information about the security of the road. Up to Lake Baringo usually, there is no problem. Beyond, up to Turkana sometimes can be tribal troubles. So is better to ask at the authority, KWS is good for this. Your Kenya safari can now move in the south direction looking for places more civilized. The first place you will find is Lake Baringo. Beautifull place, the lake as Lake Turkana don’t have any emissary, so the level is floating between decades. It is inhabited by the tribes of Pokots, Tugens, Endorois, and Ilchamus but there are even more other tribes in the urban centers. Presents in the lake are the crocodiles and hippopotamus. More than four hundreds birds species are recognized and in the lake, there is fish abundance. The watercolor is depended on the season but never is transparent. activity suggested is the visit of Pokot traditional village, one of the smallest tribes in Kenya. Another activity is to explore the lake by boat, it is a very nice experience. Finally is one of the only two lakes of fresh water in Rift Valley. A good reason for to visit Lake Baringo is the low numbers of tourists presents. Can follow your Kenya safari with a short journey, in around 40 km by road you will meet Lake Bogoria. Lake Bogoria is a traditional tourist destination, it is saline and alkaline water and is alimented by two rivers and quantities of hot springs. Characteristics of the lake are the Geiser presence, to see the Bogoria Gaisers is related to the water level. But the main attraction is the seasonal arriving of millions of flamingoes, creating a spectacular landscape. In Lake Nakuru National Park there are white and Black rhinoceros. We arrive now in the highlands of Kenya. The Lake Nakuru National Park is the more important lake of Kenya. The alkaline lake guesses pelicans and the flamingoes, and around the lake, there is the National Park. Here you can meet, for the first time on your safari, some of the important wild animal species present in Kenya. There are the white rhinoceros, followed by the black rhinoceros, Hyppoes, buffaloes, Giraffes, hyenas, waterback, leopards, cheetahs, baboons and so on. This is one of the two premium parks in Kenya, the other is Amboseli. It is even like a sanctuary, it has fenced for to prevent poaching. After just around 20 kilometers on the Nakuru-Nairobi road, we meet the Lake Elmenteita. It is a beautiful place but it pay the nearly with Lake Nakuru so tourism is small here. Fauna is limited to the zebra, gazelles, warthogs, and elan. It is very nice to stay and rest in the peaceful lodges around the lake, in a serenity atmosphere looking the Lake landscape. Lake Naivasha, on Crescent Island, is possible to do a safe walking safari. Other some kilometers and your Kenya safari will meet the last lake on the road, the Lake Naivasha. It is the second Lake of the two with fresh water. This is the reason because the farmers have started to produce here cut flowers, one of the major resources of the country. The Lake guess 400 species of birds and the relative distance from Nairobi make Naivasha a bird watching sanctuary. It is present even a great population of Hyppoes. From July to October in Masai Mara, there is the great migration of wildebeests. Now your Kenya safari requires a long and uncomfortable trip up to Masai Mara. Especially the last part of the trip is in real African offroad. So if you don’t like this be patient and look outside the beautiful landscape of the African nature. Or, if you prefer, from Naivasha you can take a flight for Masai Mara. Masai Mara is not a park, Is National Reserve. It is a very nice reserve and is famous because of the great migration of the wildebeests. It is part of the Serengeti transnational ecosystem. Characteristic are the lions which the males with has a large mane. Present in the park all the big five, elephant, rhinoceros, buffaloes, lions and leopards. So now we go back to Nairobi, from where we can start for another imaginary itinerary. Provinces of Nairobi, Central, North Eastern. This new itinerary, start discovering the beauty of Samburu. For a long time this reserve it was considered secondary from the tourism. Now in the area, there are a lot of conservancy and reserves. Many of these were been instituted in recent years, for to protect flora and fauna from poachers and uncontrolled grazing. The reserve is very nice and is seated at around 1000 mt of altitude. The reserve guesses elephants, buffaloes, hippos, gazelles, impalas, waterbuck, giraffes, lions, leopards, cheetahs and many more. Your Kenya safari maybe can pass now to visit the Mount Kenya National Park. It is a nice park and is visited by thousands of tourists any year. The main attraction is the mountain. Mount Kenya has 3 main peaks, the Batian 5199 mt, the Nelion, 5189 mt, the Lenana Point 4985. Batian and Nelion can be summited by climbers whit experience. The point Lenana is the more visited because don’t require specific climbing attitude, but just energy in the legs and good acclimatization. Undervalued acclimatization is a common mistake, and probably you can’t arrive at the summit. Now we want to introduce you another park visited by a smaller number of tourists. The reason probably is in the nature of the park. The park is set in the Aberdare Mountain Range in an altitude variable between 2.100 and 4.300 mt. It is a mountain park and so it is different from the open savannah. Looking for wildlife is not very easy but any encounter is a joy and surprise. To see the elephants in the forest on the slopes of the mountain is a unique emotion. In the Aberdare National Park, there are elephants, leopards, wild dogs, rhinoceros, elan, bongos, African golden cats. Your Kenya safari starts now for a new itinerary, and it starts from Nairobi, the capital city, which offers many opportunities for to approach wildlife. The main attraction is the Nairobi City Park. The only park in the world where is possible to see the lions from the city. Another opportunity if have free time is the giraffe center. If you can please visit the David Sheldrick Orphanage, you can see and meet the baby elephants who lost the mother to the poachers or shepherds. An elephant takes soil shower in Amboseli National Park. Amboseli is the symbol of Kenya safari, it is the second of two premium parks in Kenya. Is an iconic park, is seated at the foot of the Kilimanjaro. To be honest is not possible to see the Kilimanjaro every day or for the whole day. Anyway, when you can see it the landscape is wonderful. In Amboseli, you can sight elephants, buffaloes, lions, leopards, cheetahs, impala, gazelles, giraffes, hyenas, wildebeests and many more. Tsavo ecosystem is the largest park in Kenya. It is split into two parts called Tsavo West and Tsavo East and they are separated by the Mombasa Nairobi Highway. Tsavo West is beautiful especially for the scenery absolutely amazing. It suffers a little bit the same problem of Aberdare, to watch the wildlife is not easy like in Tsavo East, because of the vegetation. But we remarked the absolute beauty of the Park. is possible to sight elephants, hippos, hyenas, buffaloes, cheetah, lions, leopards and so on. An elephant in Tsavo East whit the typical red skin because of the red soil of Tsavo. Your Kenya safari arrives the last spectacular park in Kenya. Is the largest and the oldest of the Kenya parks. it is a semi-arid area and is extended up to 100 km from the ocean. Characteristics are the elephants red colored because they use the red soil of Tsavo for to take shower. In the park over the large elephant’s population the are buffalos, caracal, African wildcat, cheetah, dik-dik, eland, gazelle, genet, giraffe, spotted hyena, striped hyena, rock hyrax, impala, black-backed jackal, side-striped jackal, kudu, leopard, lion, banded mongoose, oryx, black rhinoceros, serval, warthog, waterbuck, zebra. When you finish your Kenya safari is possible and suggested to have some days in the Indian Ocean banks. Spectaculars white sands beaches waiting for you for relaxing under Africa’s sun. The main Attraction on the cost bank is Diani Beach, Mombasa, Watamu, Malindi, Lamu. In the recent years, Diani and Watamu have increased their popularity. The offer is various, from the simple room in villa to the five stars boutique resorts. All the requests can be satisfied. Requests are increasing for Lamu, the oldest Swahili town in Kenya. Lamu every year present two festivals, in March between 14 to 18 there is the Lamu Yoga Festival. Dedicated to the yoga lovers in a unique scenery. In November the Lamu Cultural Festival. Five are the Marine Parks: Kisite-Mpunguti Kiunga Malindi Mombasa Watamu where you can do your Kenya safari blue. Safari blue is an excursion organized with the boats in the marine parks. You can do snorkeling and depend on the season, to watch the dolphins. Usually, the organization will serve the dinner sea fish based and you can have a very nice experience. An indo-pacific sailfish caught in Watamu Kenya. Another activity popular in the Kenya coast is the deep sea fishing. There are available more agencies that organize this with different level of boats. The main fishes caught are the tuna and the Indo-Pacific sailfish. Two the events in Kenya about the fishing game: 27 -28 January Delamere fishing competition Kilifi, 3 – 4 March Marlin Championship Watamu. Do you need help to organize your Kenya safari? send an email and our experts will help you, is free of charge. Like for Tanzania, we suggest you three itineraries that cover a large percentage of the requests. Breakfast early in the morning and start from Nairobi to Lake Nakuru National Park. Entry in the park and start game drive. Lake Nakuru is Premium Park in Kenya, is possible to see flamingos and even many other of the 400 species studied. You can sight buffalo, rhinoceros white and black, lions, cheetah, leopards, giraffes and many other not listed here. During the game drive, at lunchtime, you will take lunch box in a picnic area. After lunch, last game drives up late afternoon. We’ll exit from the Park and go to Lake Elmenteita for dinner and overnight. Breakfast very early in the morning, and start for Masai Mara National Reserve. We’ll arrive in around 5 hours at your Lodge. Check in, lunch and small rest. Around 15.30 starting for afternoon game drive. Masai Mara is one of the more important natural reserves in the world. It is possible to sight the famous big five: Elephant, Rhino, Buffalo, Lion, and Leopard. But many other are the species of mammal presents, you can see Cheetah, Thomson’s and Grant’s gazelles, impala, Caracal, Genet, Zebra, Masai Giraffe, Serval, Hippo and so on. The quantity of species is great but the characteristic, present only in Masai Mara, is the concentration of this animals in a relatively small area. It is not enough, from July up to October Masai Mara is a theater of the Great Migration of the wildebeests. A large heard of Wildebeests, Zebras and Gazelles migrate from Serengeti to Masai Mara every year. At the end, they will go back to Serengeti. In this migration, they need to cross the Mara River inside Masai Mara. It is the dramatic moment of their trip, crocodile, lions, and cheetah waiting for their lunch. In the evening you will go back to the Lodge where you will stay for dinner and overnight. In the morning, breakfast at 7 and then, start the morning game drive. The game drive can be up to lunch time when you go back to the Lodge. After Lunch, small resting and then afternoon game drive up the evening. At the exit time, you’ll go back to the lodge, for dinner and overnight. Early in the morning breakfast and start for the last game drive. You’ll go back to the lodge at 12. After lunch start for Nairobi where you’ll arrive in around 5 hours. The safari will finish at your hotel or at the airport according to your program. In case of your flight is starting early the program can be changed according to the organizer. Starting in the morning from Mombasa airport or from your hotel. Drive to Tsavo East National Park where you’ll arrive at lunchtime. Check in at the Camp you chose. Lunch and small rest in the afternoon. Around 15.30 you will start the afternoon game drive, up to the evening. According to the exit time, you’ll go back to the camp. Tsavo East is the biggest National Park in Kenya. It is even, one of the more important natural reserves of the African continent. Is possible to see the majestic elephant of Tsavo with his red skin. The skin is red because the soil of Tsavo is red. The elephants use the soil, for to protect they self from parasites, and African sun. After breakfast start for Amboseli National Park, where you’ll arrive lunch time. Check in at the Camp chosen, and lunch at the camp. After lunch afternoon resting. Around 16 starts for the afternoon game drive. At the exit time will go back to the camp, for dinner and overnight. After breakfast starts the full day game drive. Amboseli is famous in the world because is the park of Kilimanjaro mountain. It is the highest peak of Africa, so is even one fo the seven summits, the highest mountains of the seven continents. Amboseli is premium Park like Nakuru. It is possible to see all the big five and many other mammals. There is even a seasonal lake, so in some moments of the year, is possible to see the elephant bathing. During the game drive at lunchtime, lunch box will be in a special area. It is for to permit safe picnic with a spectacular view. In the evening you’ll go back to the camp, for dinner and overnight. Breakfast very early and start for Tsavo West National Park. You will cross the majestic lava flow of Shetani. In Tsavo West is possible to sight mostly of the wild African wild animals: elephants, buffalos, zebras, impala, gazelles, hyena, rhino, leopard, cheetah, and lions. One important attraction in Tsavo East is Mzima Springs. A spring very big, with very clean transparent water. It is very nice to watch the hippos swimming in this water. At the Mzima Springs, you’ll take the lunch box. In the afternoon second game drive in the park. According to the exit time will go to the Lodge where you will stay for dinner and overnight. In conclusion, early in the morning, after breakfast starts for the last game drive in Tsavo East National Park. At lunchtime, you’ll go to take lunch in Voi. After lunch start for your final destination, Diani Malindi, Watamu or Mombasa if you need to take flight for your country.

2019-04-20T10:13:09Z

https://www.wildanimalsinwildlands.com/kenya-safari-big-five-paradise/

Thales, according to gossipy Plato, was walking abstractedly, watching the stars, when he fell into a well. I did that a few weeks ago, being preoccupied with the most elevated thoughts when I suddenly found myself lying at the bottom of the well of the NHS. This made me think about several things which no doubt have long been blindingly obvious to fellow citizens who keep their eyes closer to the ground. In late January I developed a condition called colitis. This is an inflammation of the colon, which shows up as diarrhoea and wind. It can be treated, but since the symptoms could indicate other (and maybe more serious) diseases, the doctors like to get a clear diagnosis before they start. It would be flattering to suppose that it was stress-induced, and the consequences of my selfless labours for peace: all those times I’ve trundled back from Paddington to Worcester station, arriving after midnight having eaten nothing all day but a BR sandwich and an END cup of tea. Unfortunately the boot might have been on a more swollen hoof. For in mid-January I had just flown out as a guest of the Indian Government to an exalted international conference in New Delhi in memory of Indira Gandhi. A little group of us flew out together, Air India, first class: Michael Foot, Jean Floud, William Radice, with Sir Richard Attenborough in pursuit. It was my pleasure to travel with my old friend and newly-minted Dame, Iris Murdoch. I’ve never travelled first before, and well! Cocktails, champagne, caviar, lobster ... Young Dame Iris, by the way, took all as her customary due – no gastronomic problems for her. However fast asleep she seemed to be, she had a preternatural seventh sense to catch the wine waiter passing by. That was just the start. Imagine the fare in New Delhi for a global conference of amazingly good and wise persons discussing ‘Towards New Beginnings’ at the highest universal level. Generous hospitality, with ministerial banquets night after night. Lunch with the Prime Minister. Exotic foods on every side. And then Air India, first class, back home! Maybe my condition was self-inflicted. Or it could have been that conference. Colitis can be set off by an allergy. Just think of all those exotic and not always compatible intellectual spices thrown together: Bella Akhmadulina and Chinua Achebe, Régis Debray and Mulk Raj Anand, President Bok of Harvard and Mr Yuri Zhukov, Chairman of the Soviet Peace Committee, Simone Veil and Germaine Greer. Interesting and able people all ... well, some. But thrown together without preparation and in pompous session we did worse than a good graduate seminar. Very large rhetoric about universal human ends tends to leave wind in the bowels. Why did I go? Partly because I admire India’s non-alignment, and because of my father’s friendship with Jawaharlal Nehru. (According to family tradition, Indira, when at Oxford before the war, was married in a private civil ceremony in a sari borrowed from my mother.) And partly to give the British Council one in the eye. The Council has always struck my name off invitation lists and refused any help to me, sometimes with gratuitous rudeness. In 1985 my wife and I were invited to teach for a few weeks at the University of Nanjing, whose history faculty specialises in British studies. The Council not only refused any help with our fares (which we had to pay in full ourselves) but saw fit to pass on a message from their adviser, the Cultural Attaché in Beijing, to tell the Thompsons that their visit was unnecessary as enough British historians were already visiting China. When we got to Nanjing we found that this same adviser was writing to the history faculty, urging it to invite a scholar much junior to us in our own field, whose visit (it seems) was necessary. However, through some extraordinary slip (perhaps mistaken identity), the Council had for the first time invited me, last autumn, to lecture in India. I accepted with pleasure, since I was working on my father’s Tagore papers and needed to consult Bengali scholars and Indian libraries. A few weeks later my invitation was rudely cancelled, in a letter from a clerk saying they had run out of money. A number of distinguished Indian historians were kind enough to make public their protest to the Council. It was a pleasure to fly into New Delhi, just at that moment, without benefit of the British Council’s permission. My offer to help organise a jumble sale for the Council has not yet been taken up. I contributed my own bit of wind to the conference, which brings me back to my interesting post-Delhi condition, which I didn’t get around to taking to my GP until the end of the first week in February, soon after my 63rd birthday. The GP had to make tests. A week for that. And when these proved negative, a week for other tests. My not unusual condition (as yet undiagnosed) was confused by the false trail of its onset on return from India, which suggested possible amoeba or tropical disease. After two weeks I was referred to the Worcester Royal Infirmary for an appointment with a consultant surgeon who had patched me up for other things before. I sat down to wait. And lay down. Work was difficult for more than an hour or two a day. Most foods gave me nausea and I was digesting none. I started vomiting and my GP gave me anti-nausea pills. In just over two weeks (11 March) my appointment came through. I was examined, and referred for a barium meal and X-ray as well as more tests. A further nine days for that, and on 20 March I presented myself for the results. The consultant told me, kindly, that I had acute ulcerating colitis and should come into hospital at once. It seems that I was quite ill (a ‘very severe’ case). I had lost three stone and was dehydrated. It had taken six weeks to gain admission to hospital and I felt as if I was going down like the westering sun. I went into the surgical ward and waited on a drip for 72 hours for an operation. It seems that Nature has provided us with more entrails than we need, and quite a lot can be taken away and the system still be put back together. No doubt the consultant, a very skilful surgeon, would have pulled it off, but in view of my weak condition he might have found things against him. He called in the consultant physician to try a medical remedy. This consultant, highly-regarded for his skill and concern for his patients, with a steep dosage of steroids and watchful monitoring by his team brought me round the corner, and in four days I was transferred from the surgical to the medical ward. I was put into some order in less than a fortnight, and tipped out on my own home lawn on April Fool’s Day, like a rather weak Easter bunny. The prognosis seems good, and I can count myself a most fortunate person and one of the successes of the NHS. I like the National Health Service. I think it’s a fine organisation and that British medicine is in good shape. Of course there are awful problems, perhaps in Greater London most of all, where the Thatcherite corrosion of societal bonds is worst. But we must do justice to what is still there. Over the decades my family has passed through the usual hazards and occasions of life by courtesy of the NHS: the death of parents, the ailments and accidents of children and grandchildren, our own problems. My wife has had rougher experiences than I, but, over all, in four decades of living in industrial West Yorkshire and the West Midlands, we’ve found the NHS to be a humane and professional service. GPs have been attentive and sometimes much more; emergencies efficiently handled; resources improved. Provincial hospitals have been getting better. (They needed to.) Small events have brought me into them from time to time. Gone are the stale airs of discipline and Poor Law that still lurked in the old Halifax General thirty years ago – and the accompanying religiosity which could victimise those who replied on an admission card that their religion was ‘none’. My wife was once admitted in misery with a baby in double pneumonia: the shocked admissions officer thought she had answered ‘nun’. After that the baby’s oxygen-tent was haunted by ghouls demanding that the infant be christened lest he escape this world without an immortal soul. Hospital doctors are becoming more courteous. This was commented on by fellow patients of my own age: ‘It’s not like the old days – they talk to you now as if you was an equal.’ ‘You know that consultant? He really listens to what you says.’ There were also, in one of my wards, more women doctors than men – a distinct humanisation and a lessening of the oppressive sense of male professional hierarchy of the old days. I can’t talk about medical expertise and technologies. But from the moment that I entered hospital I never felt that I was not getting the best treatment available. One was aware of path labs and microbiology and X-ray and every kind of scanner humming away. Most of the private health schemes are cons and parasites on the technologies and resources of the NHS. Most of them tip their patients obligatorily into the NHS for their first six or twelve weeks’ treatment. Except for the clinics of the exceedingly rich, the NHS has far greater resources than a private service could compete with. The National Health Service is a decent way of dealing with health, and an effective one also. It’s a good deal better than my casual experiences of what happens in the United States. Ten years ago I got a bad boil on my bottom in Pittsburgh. I asked my colleagues to recommend a GP but was told that there wasn’t such an animal – I must decide first if I wanted antibiotics or a surgeon. Well, I couldn’t see my own bottom to diagnose it, but I decided it would be quickest to get the boil lanced. The surgeon charged $1500 (a night in a nursing-home and his own attentions) plus an anaesthetist’s fee. The next day he stood over me, trying to persuade me into other unneeded operations. He even complained because he could not make out a medical case for removing my prostate. That is what I mean by an indecent system. Of course, sick people can be utterly self-absorbed. When I was quite ill I was sometimes infuriated beyond measure by some error in nursing or foible in hospital routine. But these grumps are trivial beside the real exercises in care and skill. Perhaps because I did come through OK, and am back on my own lawn, I am disposed to give the NHS the best possible of references. There remains, however, that small problem. There was the six weeks’ delay between presenting myself and getting into hospital, and that little blip of crisis when I awaited surgery and lay in the cold air of the well. In my second week in hospital a retired foundryman a little older than myself was admitted to the next bed. He had a complaint which had been troubling him for two weeks and which the GP could not diagnose. On the previous Saturday he had become concerned that his condition was worsening and he asked his GP to arrange a consultation ‘on the private’. This was done, at the physician’s house in the evening, and, as a result, he was admitted to hospital on Monday morning. The consultant’s fee was reasonable: £30. ‘No problem,’ the patient said. In effect, this £30 paid for a private latchkey into hospital. If in other respects his history had been similar to mine he would, by the use of this latchkey, have cut out three to four weeks of waiting around and getting weak. But, from the moment of admission, the treatment would be NHS, public, nothing private at all. This puzzles me. I don’t think it’s dreadful that a conscientious consultant should also have some private practice. And why shouldn’t people spend a little extra on their own health? Indeed, if it came to the push, I suppose I could have bought a latchkey myself. I was browsing in a bookshop the other day and came across a book by one Roger Scruton about Thinkers of the New Left. It included biographical notes on these Thinkers, of whom I turned out to be one. To my excitement, I found myself described as a man of ‘considerable wealth’. This was welcome news, and I must write to this Scruton to find out where this wealth is and how I can get hold of it. Perhaps he knows of some fortune about to come to me? Because all that I know is that my net income from all sources – that is, literary and some lecture fees (and I have no other sources) – in 1985-6 was £8,653.62 before tax. That is not poverty, but it is not, I think, what is normally regarded as ‘considerable wealth’ by characteristic figures in Mrs Thatcher’s Britain, such as directors of Guinness and the like. Perhaps even Mr Scruton does a little better? But I find on scanning the dust-jacket that this Scruton is a philosopher, who need not pay regard to inconvenient things like facts. He is engaged in loftier heuristic exercises. In fact, I know why some in the academic community have for years been telling each other that I am stinking rich. It has this much to it: fifteen years ago a legacy enabled us to buy a large old house in Worcestershire, with room for two studies, all our books and papers, and mortgage-free. We are lucky and we know it. But the other part is this: the fury of certain academics, including some historians at the venomously ideological history faculty of my old university, Cambridge, that I should be able to go on writing history without a job and without their permission. They thought that when I found that I must leave Warwick that would shut me up. Even friendly academics resent anyone who drops out of the profession to become a writer. Again and again I’ve been told, in envious tones: ‘I’d love to write full-time like you, but ... ’ The ‘but’ implies that they are both more deserving and less fortunate than I. They do not have my ‘considerable wealth’. Some of them may have an odd notion of what being a working writer involves. They imagine it as being one continuous sabbatical, with all expenses paid from some inexhaustible source and with leisure to research and write all the books one had ever imagined – while, of course, drawing the equivalent of a professional salary as reward. In fact, they could be writers like me if they were ready to risk it. What it required in my case was a good start – a house and an earning book (The Making of the English Working Class); the cashing of my superannuation; my wife’s salary as a university lecturer – and her contribution to our income has been larger than mine; and, every three or four years, generously-paid and rewarding spells teaching at different American universities. In those years our income has shot up and we have dug ourselves out of the red. I do not know that writing is harder work than university teaching. Both can be hard, but they run according to different rhythms. One is only irritated when one’s acquaintance show that they suppose that a writer’s life is a soft option, a sort of half-employ, by busting in at any time of day, supposing one can always lay work aside. And the world more widely assumes one is a kind of public service, to be granted expenses at the most, and to be turned on on demand like a water-faucet in the public street. I do not know that the trade of writers is soft. It is a nervously taut, self-driven kind of life. How often, in these past fifteen years, have I looked up and seen the dawn against my study windows? Sit making marks on paper through the night? Writing is not spacy sabbaticals strung end to end but cobbling a patchwork livelihood from reviews, articles, royalties, lectures. It can mean lying at the bottom of a well, with no sick-pay and with no superannuation to come, and wondering if Karl Miller would take a piece on all that? I’m not moaning, just repelling envious scrutoneers. But even if I can’t lay hands on that ‘considerable wealth’ I dare say I could scrape together £30 for a consultant’s fee. Of course I could. The trouble is that, in honour and in principle, I couldn’t and I can’t. The notion that Edward Thompson is dedicated to avoiding fuss will surprise my old acquaintance, not least any survivors of the leadership of the British Communist Party of 1956 or Lord (‘Flash Harry’) Butterworth, late of Warwick University. I have made one or two public fusses in my day. But a fuss about one’s private convenience – a claim to privilege – is different. There entered here a taboo. And any claim to priority in matters affecting the chances of life was taboo most of all. It was not just the discipline of war, whether active service or being bombed and rationed, when the young, above all, gave priority to the injured, the sick, the children and the old. It was far wider than that. In that almost-democratic, half-anti-Fascist time, the chances of life were shared; in 1941-45 this island was fanned by strange airs of égalité, when the pursuit of private privilege seemed contemptible. And this most of all for the socialist young, who went to the polls in 1945 to vote Labour, Commonwealth, Communist, ILP. The Health Service, even more than the nationalisation of the pits, expressed the spirit of that time and extended it forward into the future in institutional form. It was designed by the ablest and most socialist minister in Labour’s post-war government. And it expresses in transparent form the first of socialist egalitarian principles: to each according to his or her needs. Of course things are never as simple as that. But the lay person supposes that, in the chances of health and life, medical science is able to determine priorities according to criteria of need, and that no other consideration need enter. In this way the NHS replaced the vocabulary of class with that of citizenship. I’ve sometimes been surprised to find out how much I care about this. A few years ago I was at a small Manhattan party. It was a time when everyone was being some sort of ‘Marxist’, and most of them were also into ethnic health and food fads and shrinks. Somehow their conversation got around to the British Health Service, which they were running down. They supposed I would join in. Horror stories were exchanged – one young woman knew this man whose uncle had had to wait EIGHT MONTHS for a simple operation to remove a really painful bunyon and ... I suddenly found myself to be shaking with anger. Wasn’t it right, I asked incoherently, that this uncle should wait in a queue if resources wouldn’t go round and if his need was less than other needs? They looked at me aghast. For them the criterion for judging a service could only be its capacity to satisfy the demands of the consumer. They could scarcely understand that there could be other criteria. Between the assertion of the individual’s right to ego-fulfilment and the notion of the pursuit of the common good, American and British ‘radicalism’ derive from very different sources. The NHS is also, in a different professional tradition, a service. You go in, you get the best treatment they can give, and at the end of it there is no bill! Of course, your NI contributions and taxes have paid for that. But it is really nice that it is free. No one makes you feel guilty if your share of the service has been greater than others. One might think up much grander socialist structures, although one might be advised to find out if they worked before exchanging them for what we have. Two or three years ago a friend of mine, a lifelong socialist, slipped and broke her ankle in socialist Budapest. To get it X-rayed and excellently set, as an out-patient in a leading hospital, required influence at a High Party Level. Even odder, the translator who accompanied her through the corridors took her through a series of imposts: the tip was so much at admissions, so much to the nurse, so much to the porter who wheeled her chair. Can one imagine tipping a nurse or a porter in our NHS? One is not supposed to say anything good about British things these days, and writing all this down makes me feel old. I have to say that I find the NHS to be both decent and humanely socialist, but I dare say it won’t last much longer. Every tree we planted in those almost-democratic years is coming under the axe. What makes me feel old, also, is the realisation that what I had thought to be widely-held principles are now little more than quaint survivals among the least flexible of my generation. We had supposed, quite fiercely, that one didn’t try to bend the rules. If people wanted to pay for convenience or for extras – good spectacles or special dentures or nursing-home deliveries or convalescent comfort – we could go along with that. But access to the essential resources of the service must be ruled by égalité. And we believed that professional people (those who were socialists) should be loyal to this most of all. For if they started buying private latchkeys, then the whole system would start to get fouled up with the double standards and hierarchies of class. Times and manners have changed. The generation which fought for the NHS, and which now has come to that stage of life where they need it most, must jostle with the assertive anti-moralistic young. Everyone is into latchkeys, technicians and skilled workers as well. If my wife and I and a few friends want to hold out for old ‘principles’ no one is going to stop us. But I have to recognise now that such a stiff-backed sense of honour could cost even risk to one’s life. And if we still choose to be like that, can one possibly make the same choice for another – a child or a grandchild? And by what right? One is left with a ‘principle’ that the young can’t even understand, which is ineffectual (unless self-damaging), and which is really a private notion of honour. Or a stuffy habit of the old. And I suddenly can see the survivors of that socialist age-cohort as historical reliques, like the old Covenanter in The Heart of Midlothian. Those of us who stay loyal to the old imperatives and taboos – the oaths of égalité – are a goldmine for the oral historian, and Raphael Samuel will collect us as specimens in a nostalgic book. Not many did stay loyal, though, to the oaths of 1942 or 1945. Most proved adaptable. We’ve all adapted a bit. Which reminds me that I neglected to congratulate the young Dame on the new handle added to her name. The neglect was studied. One had supposed, in those old Covenanting days, that serious writers did not accept that kind of handle from the state – and least of all from a mean and malevolently philistine government like this. How could Iris Murdoch have forgotten the oaths of yesteryear? I would be glad to see her honoured by the public or by her peers. But is it an honour to carry a warrant of approval from Mrs Thatcher? Oh well, never mind, Dame Iris. I’ve blurted it out because no one else would dare. Or perhaps no one else notices these metamorphoses of cultures and moralities any more? The times I was remembering have long been wrapped up. Today they snigger at égalité and the whole business of state is to conspire against the common good. But for a few more years, since my generation needs it for its terminal episodes, let the National Health Service survive.

2019-04-20T00:34:37Z

https://www.lrb.co.uk/v09/n09/ep-thompson/diary

How Much Revenue from Limiting Deductibility? One unattractive aspect of having certain expenditures be deductible in the U.S. tax code is that any deduction is worth more to someone in a higher tax bracket. Thus, when it comes to typical deductions like the mortgage interest deduction, the deduction for state and local taxes, the deduction for charitable contributions, or the deduction for large out-of-pocket health care expenditures, someone in a 35% tax bracket saves 35 cents off their tax bill for each $1 of deductible expense, while someone in a 15% tax bracket saves only 15 cents off their tax bill for each $1 of deductible expense. Of course, the two-third of taxpayers who don't have enough of these specific expenses to make it worthwhile to itemize their deductions just take the standard deduction, and get nothing extra off their tax bill for these expenses. Proposals are always kicking around to reduce deductibility, by limiting the tax savings from a deductible expense to say, 28% or even 15%. How much revenue might such proposals raise? What about limiting deductibility to 28%? [A] proposal from the Obama Administration ... would limit the benefit of itemized deductions to 28 percent. .. Thus, for example, an additional $100 of itemized deductions would save a taxpayer in the 35 percent bracket only $28 rather than $35. The 28 percent limitation on itemized deductions would raise an estimated $288 billion over the next ten years compared with current law ... Relative to current policy, the proposal would raise $164 billion. The 5.3 million affected households in the top quintile would see their taxes go up by an average of about $2,900. The average tax increase for the 697,000 affected households in the top 1 percent would be about $13,300. Almost all of the tax increase—99.8 percent—would fall on households in the top quintile of the income distribution—those with cash incomes greater than $111,000. ... The top 1 percent would bear 61 percent and the top 0.1 percent would pay a little more than one-third." What about limiting deductibility to 15%? The Congressional Budget Office does a regular report called "Reducing the Deficit: Spending and Revenue Options." In the March 2011 report, Revenues--Option 7 is ""Limit the Tax Benefit of Itemized Deductions to 15 Percent." CBO estimates that this change could raise $1,180 billion over the next 10 years relative to current law, which is roughly four times as much as the 28% limitation would raise. The CBO doesn't do a distributional analysis, but this change would only affect those who already itemize deductions, and would have by far its largest effect on those with higher incomes. Of course, there are justifications for the existing tax deductions, and reasons and history behind the justifications, and interest groups behind it all. But in a situation where all the meaningful options for long-term deficit reduction are going to be painful in one way or another, limiting deductibility has some advantages. It would raise revenue from those with higher incomes without increasing the marginal income tax rates, or part of the revenue could even be used to reduce the top marginal rates. Limiting deductibility also reduces the role of the federal government in certain aspects of the economy like providing incentives for greater mortgage borrowing. It should be in the mix of possibilities. For a related post several weeks ago, see "Tax Expenditures: One Way Out of the Budget Morass." dollar didn’t have reserve status, it would have collapsed a long time ago." "In China today, half of GDP is in the form of fixed investment, while consumption is only 35 percent – and falling. That is not sustainable because no country can productively invest half its GDP for very long. Historically, every case of over-investment – the Soviet Union, East Asia in the 90s – has ended in a hard landing." The recovery in the Asian emerging markets has been a “V” [rather than a “U”] because their financial fundamentals were much sounder and they don’t have balance sheet problems comparable to the U.S. and Europe. In some countries, though, that recovery’s now leading to overheating. therefore Asia is in danger of both goods and asset inflation." "Tim Geithner and others say they’re in favor of a strong dollar. But we actually need a weaker dollar, maybe 15 percent on a trade-weighted basis. Think about it rationally. Because of the asset bubble collapse, domestic demand is going to be anemic. So in order to maintain growth even close to potential, we need to reduce our trade deficit. How do you reduce this trade deficit? We have to have more private and public savings – but that’s going to slow down domestic demand even more. Therefore we need a weaker exchange rate to gradually improve the trade balance." capacity is currently not used. Why would you want to do a lot of investment where there is excess capacity?" A standard pattern in economic growth is that a rise in per capita GDP is accompanied by a larger share of the population living in urban areas. Thomas Nechyba and Randall Walsh describe the U.S. experience in a Fall 2004 article on "Urban Sprawl" in my own Journal of Economic Perspectives: "Only slightly more than 5 percent of the U.S. population lived in urban areas in 1790, a figure that had tripled by 1850 and surpassed 50 percent by 1920. By the 2000 Census, 79 percent of all Americans lived in areas designated as “urban” by the Census Bureau. But the trend toward urbanization is international, as the UNFPA noted in its 2007 State of World Population report on the theme: "Unleashing the Potential of Urban Growth." "In 2008, the world reaches an invisible but momentous milestone: For the first time in history, more than half its human population, 3.3 billion people, will be living in urban areas." The McKinsey Global Institute has published a couple of interesting reports on global urbanization recent months. "Urban world: Mapping the economic power of cities," came out in March 2011. the same. ... Today, major urban areas in developed regions are, without doubt, economic giants. Here are predictions from McKinsey on the world's top 25 cities in 2025, ranked by GDP, per capita GDP, GDP growth, and Total population. Cities in blue are in the developing world, and they dominate the last two columns. Cities in economic terms are bundles of economies of scale and agglomeration. For example, cities can act as a hub for economies of scale in production and lower transportation costs. They can provide a density of potential workers, employers, and customers, in a way that reduces risk for all parties and enables a greater division of labor. They can facilitate spillovers of information and skills, and serve as a breeding ground for entrepreneurship. However, the power of scale and agglomeration have a negative side, as well. The cost of living and especially housing is typically higher in cities. Agglomeration can lead to pollution and stress on infrastructure, including congested transportation facilities and issues in providing water and electricity. Urban networking can can also facilitate criminal activity. Cities often create extremes of wealth and poverty rubbing shoulders, which can create political and social stresses. (For an exposition of cities along these lines, see Edward L. Glaeser's article "Are Cities Dying" in the Spring 1998 issue of the Journal of Economic Perspectives, which is too far back to be freely available on-line, but can be downloaded if you have access to JSTOR). The McKinsey Global Institute makes this point as well: "As urban centers grow, they benefit from agglomeration—or economies of scale—that enable many industries and service sectors to have higher productivity than they do in a rural setting. It is also much less expensive to provide goods and services in concentrated population centers. Our research indicates that the cost of delivering basic services such as water, housing, and education is 30 to 50 percent cheaper in concentrated population centers than it is in sparsely populated areas. Very large cities attract the most talent and inward investment, and they are often at the center of a cluster of smaller cities, which creates network effects that spur economic growth and productivity." But as McKinsey also argues that while huge cities are engines of economic growth, they can become so large that their diseconomies begin to slow them down. The largest future growth may not be in the largest cities: "Contrary to common perception, megacities have not been driving global growth for the past 15 years. In fact, many have not grown faster than their host economies, and we expect this trend to continue. We estimate that today’s 23 megacities will contribute just over 10 percent of global growth to 2025, below their 14 percent share of global GDP today. Instead, we see the 577 fast-growing middleweights in the City 600 contributing half of global growth to 2025, gaining share from today’s megacities." The McKinsey Global Institute has takes up these issues of how the cities can contribute to growth, but also how the size of cities can limit their growth, in a series of reports, including a February 2009 report on cities in China, and an April 2010 report on urbanization in India. "Cities are critical to Latin America’s overall economy. The region’s 198 large cities—defined as having populations of 200,000 or more—together contribute over 60 percent of GDP today. The ten largest cities alone generate half of that output. Such a concentration of urban economic activity among the largest cities is comparable with the picture in the United States and Western Europe today but is much more concentrated than in any other emerging region. China’s top ten cities, for instance, contribute around 20 percent of the nation’s GDP." "Yet Latin America has already won a large share of the easy gains that come from expanding urban populations. Today, many of Latin America’s largest cities are grappling with traffic gridlock, housing shortages, and pollution, all symptoms of diseconomies of scale. For the region’s largest cities to sustain their growth, they need to be able to address challenges not only to their economic performance but also to the quality of life experienced by their citizens, sustainable resource use, and the strength of their finances and governance." "Between 2007 and 2025, we expect the region’s top ten cities to display below-average growth in both population and GDP, while the rest of Latin America’s large cities are likely to expand their populations at an above-average rate. These cities are projected to generate almost 40 percent of the region’s overall growth between 2007 and 2025, almost 1.5 times the growth the top ten cities are expected to generate. What accounts for this shift in the balance of economic power? In Latin America’s largest cities, signs of diseconomies of scale such as congestion and pollution have started to outweigh scale benefits, diminishing the quality of life they can offer citizens and sapping their economic dynamism. At the same time, economic liberalization across the region has reversed the centralizing bias that concentrated economic activity in the largest cities. The more decentralized economic approach has given middleweight cities a boost. These medium-sized urban centers lag behind larger cities in their per capita GDP today, but many have not yet run into the diseconomies of scale faced by larger cities." High textbook prices are modest problem in the context of soaring costs of higher education, but many of the costs of tuition and room and board are more-or-less concealed from many students, while textbook costs are in their faces and their pocketbooks. According to a recent short story in the Chronicle of Higher Education, 7 in 10 Students Have Skipped Buying a Textbook Because of Its Cost, Survey Finds." The article refers to a survey done by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group of 1,905 students at a range of 13 campuses. "Separate analyses from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group have found that textbook costs are typically comparable to 26 percent of tuition at state universities and 72 percent of tuition at community colleges." “Annual per student expenditures on textbooks can easily approach $700 to $1,000 today." “Increasing at an average of 6 percent per year, textbook prices nearly tripled from December 1986 to December 2004, while tuition and fees increased by 240 percent and overall inflation was 72 percent." "While many factors affect textbook pricing, the increasing costs associated with developing products designed to accompany textbooks, such as CD-ROMs and other instructional supplements, best explain price increases in recent years." "U.S. college textbook prices may exceed prices in other countries because prices reflect market conditions found in each country, such as the willingness and ability of students to purchase the textbook." Economics textbooks are not exempt from these trends, of course. Take a look at prices for the best-selling and best-known introductory economics textbooks. A copy of the full-year, micro and macro version will typically list at more than $200, although students can often get discounted copies at sellers like Amazon.com for about $170-$180. My solution is my own introductory textbook, "Principles of Economics." The second edition of this text is out this fall through Textbook Media, Inc. The pricing works this way: $17 for access to an online e-textbook which has search, notes, and chat options, but that can't be printed; $22 for the e-textbook along with the ability to print out PDF files of the chapters; and $33 for the e-textbook along with a black-and-white printed softcover version of the book. Textbook Media is a small company. It has no sales force to knock on the doors of professors and take them to lunch. It sponsors no junkets. The book is printed in black and white. But it does have e-textbook functionality, a workbook of problems and answers, a test bank, and some other add-ons. If you want a micro or a macro split, they are available. Of course, I think the content and exposition of the book is excellent on its own merits. But given the issue of soaring textbook prices, the price alone should make it worth a look. ADDED: Arnold Kling at Econlog responds with a tough-minded comment about college faculty in a post titled "But Why Would Greg Mankiw Adopt?": "I can see why students would have an incentive to adopt a cheaper textbook. But professors, and particularly professors who author competing textbooks, have no such incentive. And they are the ones who drive adoption." Unrequited Economic Optimism from the Congressional Budget Office? The Congressional Budget Office has just published its August 2011 "The Budget and Economic Outlook: An Update." Although the language of the report is concise and unemotional, many elements of the report seem to me to carry a message that the worst of our economic travails are over. However, the report also points out that its economic forecasting and analysis was completed in early July, and the economy has had some worse-than-expected news since then. Here, I'll start with optimism, and then finish with the more grim recent economic news. The CBO believes that the bursting bubble of housing prices has just about run its course. This figure shows two housing price series: Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index. As CBO explains: "The FHFA index covers only homes financed using mortgages that have been purchased or securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. TheS&P/Case-Shiller index also includes sales financed with mortgages that do not conform to the size or credit criteria for purchase by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac." But the CBO is predicting that for the country as a whole, housing prices are soon going to start rising again. The good news here is that the bad news is diminishing. The first figure shows the ratio of unemployed people to job openings. After the 2001 recession, the ratio of unemployed to job openings rose to almost 3:1, before falling back to 1.5:1 in about 2007. Then during the recession, the ratio took off and reached almost 7:1, before now falling to about 4.5:1. The second figure shows net job gains in recent months, which aren't large, but are better than a sharp stick in the eye. The third figure shows that the unemployment rate peaked at 10.1% in November 2009, but was down to 9.1% by July 2011. The CBO projections are for the unemployment rate to fall modestly to 8.5% by fourth quarter 2012, and then to fall more rapidly. Much of business investment just replaces worn-out capital. Net investment takes total investment and subtracts out the depreciation of existing capital, so that it is only looking at the addition to the capital stock. During the recession, many firms were postponing this new investment, but the CBO predicts that a bounceback is near. potential output) by 2017." As with the unemployment rate, the forecast here is for modestly good news in 2012, followed by much better news in 2013 and after. Is all this too optimistic? The CBO makes a point of emphasizing that its economic forecasts were completed in early July. Since then, the European debt crisis has exploded, the federal government seemed unable to grapple seriously with debt issues and raising the debt ceiling, the stock market fell, economic statistics were released suggesting that the recession was deeper than previously believed, and more. Some of the figures above have little break in the line between present data and the forecast: the forecasts are based on the earlier uncorrected data, which after revision was worse than previously known. At least for me, it's a natural reaction to look at these CBO forecasts that economic turnaround and catch-up are around the corner and roll my eyes in disbelief. Pessimism seems so worldly-wise; optimism seems so naive. But if the CBO is correct, whoever is elected president in 2012 is going to look like a miracle worker for the economy--mainly because by 2013 the U.S. economy will finally be escaping the sluggishness of the Long Slump and experiencing a robust economic recovery. a distinguishing characteristic of the U.S. economy." Molloy, Smith and Wozniak offer evidence that the decline in U.S. mobility is a very broad-based--and not a trend that has been made notably worse by the recent woes in the U.S. economy and housing market. They write: "By most measures, internal migration in the United States is at a 30-year low. Migration rates have fallen for most distances, demographic and socioeconomic groups, and geographic areas. The widespread nature of the decrease suggests that the drop in mobility is not related to demographics, income, employment, labor force participation, or homeownership. Moreover, three consecutive decades of declining migration rates is historically unprecedented in the available data series. The downward trend appears to have begun around the 1980s, pointing to explanations that should be relevant to the entire period, rather than specific to the current recession and recovery—that is, the decline in migration is not a particular feature of the past five years, but has been relatively steady since the 1980s." In an article by Jens Ludwig, Jeffrey R. Kling and Sendhil Mullainathan in the Summer 2011 issue of my own Journal of Economic Perspectives, called "Mechanism Experiments and Policy Evaluations," they introduced me to the "metallic rules" of the eminent sociologist Peter H. Rossi. The rules come from Rossi's 1987 article,“The Iron Law of Evaluation and Other Metallic Rules,” Research in Social Problems and Public Policy, vol. 4, pp. 3–20. The article is pre-web, and the publication is not easily available, but David Roodman at the Center for Global Development tracked down the article a couple of years ago, and posted an excerpt summarizing the rules on his Microfinance Open Book Blog. Rossi died in 2006; a brief obituary and some remembrances from colleagues are available at the website of the American Sociological Association. A dramatic but slightly overdrawn view of two decades of evaluation efforts can be stated as a set of “laws,” each summarizing some strong tendency that can be discerned in that body of materials. Following a 19th Century practice that has fallen into disuse in social science, these laws are named after substances of varying durability, roughly indexing each law’s robustness. This law means that the more technically rigorous the net impact assessment, the more likely are its results to be zero—or no effect. Specifically, this law implies that estimating net impacts through randomized controlled experiments, the avowedly best approach to estimating net impacts, is more likely to show zero effects than other less rigorous approaches. In the late 1950s, epidemiologists believed that a fetus was a “perfect parasite” that was “afforded protection from nutritional damage that might be inflicted on the mother.” The placenta was regarded as a “perfect filter, protecting the fetus from harmful substances in the mother’s body and letting through helpful ones.” Nonchalance existed with regard to prenatal nutrition. During the 1950s and 1960s, women were strongly advised against gaining too much weight during pregnancy. During the baby boom, “pregnant women were told it was fine to light up a cigarette and knock back a few drinks.” Roughly half of U.S. mothers reported smoking in pregnancy in 1960. But what if the nine months in utero are one of the most critical periods in a person’s life, shaping future abilities and health trajectories—and thereby the likely path of earnings? This paper reviews the growing literature on the so-called “fetal origins” hypothesis. The most famous proponent of this hypothesis is David J. Barker, a British physician and epidemiologist, who has argued that the intrauterine environment—and nutrition in particular—“programs” the fetus to have particular metabolic characteristics, which can lead to future disease." 1) There's a long-standing argument in the social sciences about nature vs. nurture, but arguments over genetic influence are getting a lot more complex these days than what I learned back in grade-school about Gregor Mendel and his pea plants. The current subject of epigenetics explores how the same genes can lead to different characteristics. As Almond and Currie write in this context about fetal effects: "[T]he hypothesized effects reflfl ect a specific biological mechanism, fetal “programming,” possibly through effects of the environment on the epigenome, which are just beginning to be understood. The epigenome can be conceived of as a series of switches that cause various parts of the genome to be expressed—or not. The period in utero may be particularly important for setting these switches." 2) While this literature is still young and growing, it could turn out to be true that one of the most important ways to help children is to help their pregnant mothers. Almond and Currie write: "[O]ne of the most radical implications of the fetal origins hypothesis may be that one can best help children (throughout their life course) by helping their mothers. That is, we should be focusing on pregnant women or perhaps even women of child-bearing age if the key period turns out to be so early in pregnancy that many women are unaware of the pregnancy. Such pre-emptive targeting would constitute a radical departure from current policies that steer nearly all healthcare resources to the sick, i.e., the “pound of cure” approach. That said, the existing evidence is not sufficient to allow us to rank the cost-effectiveness of interventions targeted at women against more traditional interventions targeted at children, adolescents, or adults." "Divide the world into a “rich” region, where one billion people earn $30,000 per year, and a “poor” region, where six billion earn $5,000 per year. Suppose emigrants from the poor region have lower productivity, so each gains just 60 percent of the simple earnings gap upon emigrating—that is, $15,000 per year. This marginal gain shrinks as emigration proceeds, so suppose that the average gain is just $7,500 per year. If half the population of the poor region emigrates, migrants would gain $23 trillion—which is 38 percent of global GDP. For nonmigrants, the outcome of such a wave of migration would have complicated effects: presumably, average wages would rise in the poor region and fall in the rich region, while returns to capital rise in the rich region and fall in the poor region. The net effect of these other changes could theoretically be negative, zero, or positive. But when combining these factors with the gains to migrants, we might plausibly imagine overall gains of 20–60 percent of global GDP." Of course, Clemens goes into considerably more depth in the article, and argues that gains of this magnitude are plausible given the studies that have been done and the current state of knowledge of this area. I would emphasize further that many studies of migration look either at effects on those in the receiving country, or on those in the sending country, but somehow seem to leave out the gains to the migrants themselves--which may well be the dominant part of a broad social welfare calculation. 2) Remittances sent back to their country of origin by migrants now top$300 billion per year. Dean Yang discusses this point in "Migrant Remittances," along with going into more detail on why remittances are sent and how they are used. Yang offers this striking figure comparing the level of remittances over time to official development assistance, foreign direct investment, and portfolio investment. He writes: "But since the late 1990s, remittances sent home by international migrants have exceeded offifi cial development assistance and portfolio investment, and in several years have approached the magnitudes of foreign direct investment flows." Yang also provides a table showing which countries depend most heavily on remittances, including 22 countries where remittances are more than 10% of GDP. investment and expertise from the global Indian diaspora. The problem of ‘brain drain’ has been converted happily into the opportunity of ‘brain gain’ ..." and Canada in the 1950s and 1960s." I'm the managing editor of the Journal of Economic Perspectives, published by the American Economic Association. It's an academic journal, but it's meant to be a journal that's readable by those who have some background in economics--like those who took several undergraduate courses in college in the subject. The AEA makes all of the articles the journal freely available on-line to all, and the Summer 2011 issue is now available. I'll comment on the specifics of some of these articles over the next week or so, but here's the table of contents for the issue. Again, all of these articles are available on-line at the JEP website. The Strategy, Policy, and Review Department of the IMF published a paper on "Changing Patterns of Global Trade" on June 15. I think students of economics often get a good sense of how international trade can benefit all nations participating, but at least at the intro level, they often get a less good sense of the actual patterns of international trade. One emphasis of the report is on longer global supply chains. Here are a few patterns and facts. 1) The share of foreign content embedded in gross exports is rising. A country can import certain goods or services, use them in production, and then export them again. The share of foreign value-added in exports measures this process, and it has been steadily rising since the 1970s. Here's a table combining several studies, showing a rise in foreign value-added in exports from 18% in 1970 to 24% in 1990, 27% in 1995, and 33% by 2005. This is a sign of longer global supply chains and rising global interconnectedness. 2) For some countries, gross exports can be less useful as a measure of what the country produces for export than the domestic value-added content of exports. This figure shows gross exports as the dark line for each country, and domestic value added as the shaded line--the difference between the two is foreign value-added that is re-exported. For a number of countries like Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, there's a big gap between the two. 3) The rise in foreign value-added in exports varies across countries and across industries. Here's a table I compiled out of statistics in the report. In China and Japan, the share of foreign-value added almost doubled from 1995 to 2005--which is a signal of the Asian regional economy becoming much more integrated, with inputs often crossing borders several times at different stages of production. The rise in foreign value-added as a share of total exports is noticeable but lower in the U.S. and Germany. If one looks just at the rise in foreign value-added as a share of exports in the high technology sector, these patterns are even more pronounced. 4) World trade has tripled since the 1950s. trade rising to more than 20 percent of global GDP in 2008." Although the growth in world trade over time looks bumpy but more-or-less continual, the type of trade is changing. The growth in trade in the 1950s and 1960s was often a result of lower tariffs, for example. But in recent years, the growth in trade stems from an increasingly interconnected web of countries, who often are producing increasingly similar products. 5) Trade in higher technology goods has led the rise in international trade. intensive export structures generally offer better prospects for future economic growth. Trade in high-technology products tends to grow faster than average, and has larger spillover effects on skills and knowledge-intensive activities. The process of technological absorption is not passive but rather “capability” driven and depends more on the national ability to harness and adapt technologies rather than on factor endowments." Marco Lagi, Karla Z. Bertrand and Yaneer Bar-Yam of the New England Complex Systems Institute have a working paper up about "The Food Crises and Political Instability in North Africa and the Middle East." This figure tells the heart of the story. The black line shows the two recent spikes in global food prices, one in 2008 and one in 2011. The vertical red lines show the dates of various food riots and/or civil disruptions, with the number of deaths shown in parentheses.Of course, food prices aren't the only factor in causing such disruptions, but the fact that such riots and disruptions essentially vanished in 2009 and 2010, in the time period between the two price spikes, is nonetheless striking. Thanks to the Instapundit website for the pointer to this study. I've posted a couple of times recently on the subject of the global spike in food prices in 2008 and again in 2011 (see here and here). I've also posted a couple of times in the last few months on how unemployment and poor economic conditions have contributed to political unrest in the Middle East (for example, here and here). "However, a major change in the relationship between the credit rating agencies and the U.S. bond markets occurred in the 1930s. Bank regulators were eager to encourage banks to invest only in safe bonds. They issued a set of regulations that culminated in a 1936 decree that prohibited banks from investing in “speculative investment securities” as determined by “recognized rating manuals.” “Speculative” securities (which nowadays would be called “ junk bonds”) were below “investment grade.” Thus, banks were restricted to holding only bonds that were “investment grade”—in modern ratings, this would be equivalent to bonds that were rated BBB– or better on the Standard & Poor’s scale. With these regulations in place, banks were no longer free to act on information about bonds from any source that they deemed reliable (albeit within oversight by bank regulators). They were instead forced to use the judgments of the publishers of the “recognized rating manuals”—which were only Moody’s, Poor’s, Standard, and Fitch. Essentially, the creditworthiness judgments of these third-party raters had attained the force of law." "In the following decades, the insurance regulators of the 48 (and eventually 50) states followed a similar path. State insurance regulators established minimum capital requirements that were geared to the ratings on the bonds in which the insurance companies invested—the ratings, of course, coming from the same small group of rating agencies. Once again, an important set of regulators had delegated their safety decisions to the credit rating agencies. In the 1970s, federal pension regulators pursued a similar strategy." "The Securities and Exchange Commission crystallized the centrality of the three rating agencies in 1975, when it decided to modify its minimum capital requirements for broker-dealers, who include major investment banks and securities firms. Following the pattern of the other financial regulators, the SEC wanted those capital requirements to be sensitive to the riskiness of the broker-dealers’ asset portfolios and hence wanted to use bond ratings as the indicators of risk. But it worried that references to “recognized rating manuals” were too vague and that a bogus rating fifi rm might arise that would promise AAA ratings to those companies that would suitably reward it and “DDD” ratings to those that would not." valid for the determination of the broker-dealers’ capital requirements. Other financial regulators soon adopted the NRSRO category and the rating agencies within it. In the early 1990s, the SEC again made use of the NRSROs’ ratings when it established safety requirements for the commercial paper (short-term debt) held by money market mutual funds." "Taken together, these regulatory rules meant that the judgments of credit rating agencies became of central importance in bond markets. Banks and many other financial institutions could satisfy the safety requirements of their regulators by just heeding the ratings, rather than their own evaluations of the risks of the bonds." White goes on to discuss how the NRSRO category has evolved over time, and how Congress more-or-less bludgeoned the Securities and Exchange Commission into allowing some additional NRSROs in the last decade. His article, written in 2010, also points out that one reason why the housing bubble spread through mortgage-backed securities and into the banking system was that the NRSRO's like Standard & Poor's gave some of that debt a tremendously misguided AAA rating. Far too many banks and bank regulators just accepted that rating, although S&P and the other credit rating agencies had no particular history or expertise in evaluating these somewhat complex financial instruments based on subprime mortgage debts. White and others have long argued that while it's perfectly fine to have firms which sell their expertise and opinions about the riskiness of bonds, there's no reason to anoint some of them in such a way that banks and bank regulators legally outsource judgment and prudence to them. Maybe S&P is wrong to downgrade the U.S. credit rating. But after it whiffed so spectacularly and totally missed the riskiness of the subprime-related mortgage backed securities, it's seems a bit unsporting to turn around and criticize them for being too vigilant now. And if the U.S. government doesn't like the power wielded by S&P--well, it has only itself to blame for bestowing so much of that power in the first place. Can Bernanke Unwind the Fed's Policies? The Federal Reserve has taken five main policy steps since the financial crisis started to become apparent in late 2007. I supported each of those five steps when they were taken, given the economic situation at the time. But the recession and financial crisis were largely over in June 2009, even if what followed has been an unpleasantly stagnant recovery. The Fed needs to be clear that as conditions warrant, it will be willing to unwind its earlier policies. Thus, when the Fed Open Market Committee announced last week on a 7-3 vote that it would extend its near-zero federal funds interest rates for the next two years, it seemed to me a misstep. Narayana Kocherlakota, who moved from a position as professor of economics at the University of Minnesota to become President of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, took the unusual step of explaining publicly why he dissented, and even recording a short video clip of his explanation, which is posted at the Minneapolis Fed website. But I'm getting ahead of the story. Here are the Fed's five main policy steps since 2007. 1) From May 2006 through September 2007, the federal funds interest rate was about 5%. As the financial crisis began to become apparent in fall 2007 and as the recession started in December 2007, the Fed cut the federal funds rate to 2% by April 2008, where it remained until September 2008. This change can be thought of as the standard Fed reaction to a recession. As Rick Mishkin, who was a member of the Fed Board of Governors at the time, notes an article in the Winter 2011 issue of my own Journal of Economic Perspectives, even in late summer 2008 mainstream forecasters like the Congressional Budget Office were predicting only a short, shallow recession. Rick wrote: " In summer of 2008, when I was serving on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, there was even talk that the Fed might need to raise interest rates to keep inflation under control." 2) When the financial crisis hit with hurricane force in September 2008, the Fed then took the federal funds target rate down to near-zero. As noted earlier, at its August 9 meeting last week, the Open Market Committee voted to keep this interest rate target for two more years, at which time the policy of a near-zero federal funds rate would have lasted about five years. the Commercial Paper Funding Facility (CPFF); the Money Market Investor Funding Facility (MMIFF); the and Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF). For a readable overview of these efforts aimed at teachers of economics, this is a good starting point. From my point of view, the key fact about all these agencies is that they have all been closed down. Thus, I consider them a success. They helped to assure that short-term credit was available during a financial crisis, and then they went away. 4) The Fed started buying mortgage-backed securities early in 2009. At this time, in the depths of the financial crisis, the high level of uncertainty over what these securities were truly worth was in danger of making the market for these securities illiquid, which in turn could have made the financial crisis even worse. As the New York Fed explains: "The FOMC directed the Desk to purchase $1.25 trillion of agency MBS [mortgage-backed securities]. Actual purchases by the program effectively reached this target. The purchase activity began on January 5, 2009 and continued through March 31, 2010. ... On August 10, 2010, the FOMC directed the Desk to keep constant the Federal Reserve’s holdings of securities at their current level by reinvesting principal payments from agency debt and agency MBS in longer-term Treasury securities. As a result, agency MBS holdings will decline over time." 5) The Fed started buying and holding new Treasury debt. The Fed has always held some Treasury debt as part of its normal operations, and in particular as part of carrying out its open market operations and buying and selling bonds. But that amount swelled from about $480 billion back in summer 2008 to about $1.6 trillion now. The Federal Reserve now holds more in U.S. Treasury debt than the China and Japan combined. While the plan to purchase more Treasury debt known as QE2 (that is, "quantitative easing part 2") officially stopped at the end of June, as noted a moment ago, the Fed is now moving from holding mortgage-backed securities to holding Treasury debt, in such a way that its overall holdings of financial securities does not decline. Overall, here's where the Fed stands in unwinding the crisis-driven policies enacted since 2007. The many short-term lending facilities have been phased out. The ownership of mortgage-backed securities is being phased down. What is not yet being phased down are the ultra-low interest rates and buying Treasury securities. I'm not brash enough to say just when these policies should be reversed, but I do know this: A central bank can't just keep pumping out money and credit until unemployment is back to normal levels and hearty growth has resumed. At that point, the central bank has overreacted, potentially by a lot. When the Fed decides that it is time to change these policies, the U.S. probably won't be at full employment and resurgent growth--and so its decision is certain to be controversial. Here's a graph showing the effective federal funds interest rate since the 1950s, using the ever-helpful FRED website at the St. Louis Fed. Notice that when recessions (the shaded bars) occur, the Fed typically cuts this interest rate, but then when recovery has begun, it raises the rate again. But now the federal funds rate has been at a rock-bottom near zero for more than two years, and in its August 9 meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the rate near-zero until summer 2013. Kocherlakota of the Minneapolis Fed explained his dissent from the policy this way: "I believe that in November , the Committee judiciously chose a level of accommodation that was well calibrated for the prevailing economic conditions. Since November, inflation has risen and unemployment has fallen. I do not believe that providing more accommodation—easing monetary policy—is the appropriate response to these changes in the economy." From an outsider's point of view, it sure looks as if the Federal Reserve action at its August 9 meeting was a response to headlines from the week before: headlines about the difficulties in hashing out an agreement to raise the federal borrowing ceiling, headlines about Standard & Poor's downgrading the credit rating of the federal government, headlines about the stock market falling. But monetary policy decisions setting expectations for the next couple of years shouldn't be responding to yesterday's headlines. As one looks at the federal funds interest rate over time, other troubling issues become apparent. One is that the federal funds interest rate has been gradually moving downward, a step at a time, since it was raised sky-high to stop the inflation of the 1970s. With the federal funds rate at near-zero, this process of stepping interest rates lower and lower has now stopped. Another concern is that the Bank of Japan has run a near-zero interest rate for more than a decade, while failing to stimulate its economy. There is a possible theoretical argument--far from proven, but still a concern--that an economy can get stuck in a situation with near-zero interest rates and stagnant growth. In this kind of model, explained for example by James Bullard of the St. Louis Fed, "Seven Faces of `The Peril'", a central bank can't wait for a full recovery before raising interest rates, because the hyper-low near-zero interest rates are part of what's blocking the economy from resuming growth. I wouldn't advocate a sharp or immediate rise in the federal funds interest rate. But I would have voted with Kocherlakota against committing to two more years of near-zero rates. After all, part of what encouraged so much overborrowing in the years leading up to the financial crisis was that the Fed kept interest rates so low for a couple of years after the end of the 2001 recession. The answer to a financial crisis rooted in overborrowing is not to encourage the next wave of overborrowing! The Fed should be thinking about when and how it could get the federal funds target rate up into the 1-2% range--which after all seemed a reasonable interest rate when the economy was in an actual recession back in 2008. Having the Fed buy Treasury debt starting in 2009 during the worst of the financial crisis and its aftermath was a fully defensible decision. I sometimes say that it's generally a bad idea to shoot torrents of water at high speed through an office building--but if there's a fire, it's a policy that can make sense. During an emergency, steps that wouldn't make sense at other times sometimes need to be taken. But the recession has now been over for a couple of years. If the U.S. government wishes to run continuing large deficits, it needs to start facing the economic consequences of doing so. The Fed is already helping the federal government to borrow this money by holding interest rates so low, and in time will probably help the federal government further by creating some inflation to reduce the real value of what has been borrowed. It's time for the Fed to back away from being the actual default buyer for new federal debt. This step doesn't require any big announcement, only that the Fed refrain for now from announcing a QE3 program for buying more Treasury debt. If another financial crisis surfaces, after all, the Fed should try to hold something in reserve. Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney put together a background paper for a Hamilton Project conference called "A Dozen Economic Facts About Innovation." Why is innovation and increased productivity important? Two of the main measurable reasons are how it increases incomes and life expectancy. It may be that the worst economic event to befall the U.S. economy in the last 40 years is not relatively recent shock of the Great Recession, terrible though that has been, but the productivity slowdown that hit in the early 1970s. Greenstone and Looney write: "If TFP [total factor productivity] had continued growing at the pre-1973 trend and that productivity gain were reflected in workers’ compensation, compensation could be 51 percent higher, or about $18 per hour more than today’s average of $35.44 per hour. This calculation highlights that small changes in innovation and annual TFP growth lead to large differences in long-run standards of living." Economic growth and innovation have also helped to generate longer life expectancies, partly through reductions in infectious disease, but also through better diets and cleaner water and sanitation. The gains in health have huge value. Kevin Murphy and Robert Topel estimated the long-term value of gains in health in a 2006 article in the Journal of Political Economy (pp. 871-904).From their abstract: "Cumulative gains in life expectancy after 1900 were worth over $1.2 million to the representative American in 2000, whereas post-1970 gains added about $3.2 trillion per year to national wealth, equal to about half of GDP. Potential gains from future health improvements are also large; for example, a 1 percent reduction in cancer mortality would be worth $500 billion." Here's a Greenstone-Looney figure on gains in life expectancy and reductions in infectious disease. One of the most striking areas of innovation in recent years, of course, is the electronics industry. Here's a graph showing what it would have cost to buy the computing power of an iPad 2 over recent decades. Notice that the vertical scale is a logarithmic graph: that is, it is descending by powers of ten as the price of computing power halves and halves and halves over and over again. What's to be done to improve the prospects for innovation and economic growth for the future? There is a broad productivity agenda of improving human capital, investing in plant and equipment, and getting America's financial and budgetary problems under control. But there is also a more narrow technology-focused agenda. For example, every politician in the U.S. talks has been talking about the importance of technology for decades--but government spending on research and development has actually been sinking. Corporate spending on R&D has taken up some of the slack, but government R&D is far more likely to be focused on the basic research that generates new industries, not the tightly-focused process companies often use to update their products. Another issue is to have America's higher education system focus more heavily on the so-called STEM fields: that is, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The share of total U.S. degrees being granted in these fields has fallen since the mid-1980s, and compared to other countries, the U.S. higher education system grants a lower proportion of its degrees in STEM fields. A final issue is to improve the U.S. patent system. There are lots of subtle issues about what kind of innovation deserves a patent, or what doesn't, and how much a patent is really worth in an intellectual property showdown. But at a more basic level, a slow patent system is less useful for everyone--and the time to get a decision from the U.S. Patent Office has been rising. "Not that many years ago, a lot of middle-class Americans felt as if they had built a close and personal relationship with Mr. or Ms. Economy (depending on your gender preference). The rules of the relationship were clear: Get skills and training, and after spending young adulthood sampling jobs, buckle down to a long-term career choice. Borrow heavily to buy a house early in life, and then benefit from rising house prices. Save for the long term by putting money in the stock market. Do these things, the understanding was, and the Economy would reciprocate -- with rising income, reasonable job security and a comfortable retirement. Of course, no long-term relationship is perfect. The Economy might occasionally lash out: perhaps with a dot-com boom, followed by a stock market crash, a recession and higher unemployment. Many of us misbehaved in this relationship, too. Sometimes we ran bloated credit cards bills and didn't save the way we should have. Yet even in the hard times, this relationship was supposed to be long-term. But in this grim and prolonged aftermath of the Great Recession of 2007-2009 -- some economists are calling it the Long Slump -- millions of Americans are feeling that they have been dumped by the economy." Can Later Retirement Ages Save Social Security and Medicare? Social Security and Medicare have both made promises about future benefits that their current sources of financing won't allow them to keep. If we moved back the retirement age, would it fix these programs? Short answer: moving back the retirement age could have a large effect in addressing the financial problems of Social Security, but would have a much smaller effect in helping Medicare. For Social Security, the website of the Office of the Chief Actuary has estimates of the cost savings from a wide variety of proposals. Proposal C2.6, for example, reads: "Increase the normal retirement age (NRA) 3 months per year starting in 2017 until reaching 70 for those attaining age 62 in 2032. Then increase the NRA 1 month every 2 years thereafter. Note that the NRA would increase from 66 to 67 faster than under current law. Increase the earliest eligibility age (EEA) from 62 to 64 at the same time the NRA would increase from 67 to 69; that is, for those attaining age 62 in 2021 through 2028. Keep EEA at 64 thereafter." Those who will be 62 in 2032 are currently about 41 years old. Telling them now that early retirement will be 64 for them, instead of 62, and that normal retirement will be 70 for them, instead of the 67 years for this group in current law, seems to me completely reasonable. This change alone doesn't fix Social Security completely, but it would close about 70% of the projected funding gap for the program over the next 75 years. For federal spending, the older age of eligibility saves $31.1 billion for Medicare. However, a number 65 and 66 year-olds who were not eligible for Medicare would lack health insurance, and thus would be eligible for either Medicaid or for subsidized insurance under the new "health exchanges" in the health care legislation that President Obama signed into law in 2010. In addition, those 65 and 66 year-olds wouldn't be paying premiums into the Medicare system. After these offsets are taken into account, overall federal spending would be reduced by only $5.7 billion. "In addition, costs to employers are projected to increase by $4.5 billion in 2014 and costs to states are expected to increase by $0.7 billion. In the aggregate, raising the age of eligibility to 67 in 2014 is projected to result in an estimated net increase of $3.7 billion in out-of-pocket costs for those ages 65 and 66 who would otherwise have been covered by Medicare." "Medicare Part B premiums would increase by three percent in 2014, as the deferred enrollment of relatively healthy, lower-cost beneficiaries would raise the average cost across remaining beneficiaries." A key underlying issue here, of course, is that health care spending tends to rise with age. Pushing back the age of Medicare eligibility affects the relatively health group a little above age 65, but it doesn't affect the health care bills of the more aged, and so it offers relatively small cost savings for the Medicare program. In a study from last year, Gerald F. Riley and James D. Lubitz report on ""Long-term trends in Medicare payments in the last year of life" (Health Services Research, April 2010, 45(2):565-76). They point out that Medicare spending on those who die in a given year is much higher than on those who survive the year: in 2006, Medicare spending in 2006 on those who died in that year was $38,975, while Medicare spending in 2006 on those who survived the year was $5,993. Their estimates show that 25-30% of all Medicare spending is on patients in their last year of life, and that this number hasn't changed much over time, and isn't much affected by adjusting for changes in age or gender of the elderly over the last 30 years. The Dispute over "Core Inflation"

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http://conversableeconomist.blogspot.com/2011/08/

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Retinopathy of prematurity in small-for-gestational age infants compared with those of appropriate size for gestational age Dhaliwal CA, Fleck BW, Wright E, Graham C, McIntosh N, Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition. In: 2008; 94(3):F193–5. doi . Perinatal growth characteristics and associated risk of developing threshold retinopathy of prematurity Allegaert, Vanhole, Casteels, Naulaers, Debeer, Cossey, et al, Journal of American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (JAAPOS). In: 2003; 7(1):34–7. doi . Is being small for gestational age a risk factor for retinopathy of prematurity? A study with 345 very low birth weight preterm infants Filho JBF, Valiatti FB, Eckert GU, Costa MC da, Silveira RC, Procianoy RS, Jornal de Pediatria. In: 2009; 85(1):48–54. doi . Incidence of and risk factors for neonatal morbidity after active perinatal care: extremely preterm infants study in Sweden (EXPRESS): Morbidity in extremely preterm infants The EXPRESS Group. Acta Paediatrica.2010;99(7):978-92. Neonatal outcomes of small for gestational age preterm infants in Canada Qiu X, Lodha A, Shah P, Sankaran K, Seshia M, Yee W, et al, American Journal of Perinatology. In: 2012; 29(02):87–94. doi . Analysis of risk factors for progression to treatment-requiring ROP in a single neonatal intensive care unit: is the exposure time relevant? Giannantonio C, Papacci P, Cota F, Vento G, Tesfagabir MG, Purcaro V, et al, The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine. In: 2012; 25(5):471–7. doi . The influence of gestational age on the dynamic behavior of other risk factors associated with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) Fortes Filho JB, Eckert GU, Valiatti FB, dos Santos PGB, da Costa MC, Procianoy RS, Graefe’s Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology. In: 2010; 248(6):893–900. doi . Arterial oxygen fluctuation and retinopathy of prematurity in very-low-birth-weight infants York JR, Landers S, Kirby RS, Arbogast PG, Penn JS, Journal of Perinatology. In: 2004; 24(2):82–7. doi . Is patent ductus arteriosus a risk factor for retinopathy of prematurity? Gonzalez Viejo I, Ferrer Novella C, Pueyo Royo V. An Pediatr.2010;74(1):25-30. Neonatal and neurodevelopmental outcomes of very low birth weight infants with histologic chorioamnionitis Hendson L, Russell L, Robertson CMT, Liang Y, Chen Y, Abdalla A, et al. The Journal of Pediatrics.2011;158(3):397-402. Perinatal systemic inflammatory response syndrome and retinopathy of prematurity Sood BG, Madan A, Saha S, Schendel D, Thorsen P, Skogstrand K, et al, Pediatric Research. In: 2010; 67(4):394–400. doi . Chronic chorioamnionitis is the most common placental lesion in late preterm birth Lee J, Kim J-S, Park JW, Park C-W, Park JS, Jun JK, et al. Placenta.2013;34(8):681-9. PURPOSE: To study the incidence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in a neonatal intensive care unit in Croatia and obtain information on risk factors associated with ROP. There have been limited studies on ROP in Croatia where the screening for ROP and its treatment is still insufficient and not introduced in many intensive care units. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This retrospective study included 247 premature infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of University Hospital Split, over a 5-year period between January 2012, and December 2016. In this paper the relationship between clinical risk factors and the development of ROP was analyzed. RESULTS: The overall incidence for ROP was 23,9 % (59 infants), for Type 1 ROP was 9,3% (23 infants); for Type 2 ROP was 14,6% (36 infants). Median gestational age (GA) and birthweight (BW) were significantly lower among infants with ROP versus those without ROP (29: 23-34 vs. 31: 23-34,p<0,001 and 1,180:630-2,000 vs. 1485:590-2000, p<0,001 respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that only BW (p=0,029) and small for gestational age (SGA) (p=0,045) predicted the development of ROP. CONCLUSION: Birth weight and small for gestational age were the most significant risk factors for developing ROP. In comparison with studies from highly developed countries, infants with a much wider range of gestational age and birth weights are developing Type 1 ROP. Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is the most widely recognized cause of visual impairment after preterm birth. It is defined as a proliferative disorder of the developing retinal blood vessels in preterm infants which may lead to poor visual acuity or blindness . Approximately 50 000 children worldwide are blind due to retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), and many more have significant visual disturbances . The proportion of blindness as a result of ROP varies greatly among countries, being influenced by level of neonatal care and by the availability of effective screening and treatment programs ,. Although knowledge about the pathogenesis of ROP has increased considerably, a lot is still unknown concerning the factors that initiate and promote the progression of this disease. The classic risk factors for ROP include low gestational age, low birth weight, and exposure to an oxygen rich environment ,,. Numerous epidemiologic studies have suggested additional risk factors for ROP disease and its severity ,,. These include multiple birth, maternal preeclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction, mechanical ventilation, need for blood transfusion, the presence of patent ductus arteriosus, intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), pulmonary insufficiency and male gender among others ,,,. Prevalence varies by population, though it is estimated overall between 10–25% and incidence between approximately 50–70% in infants weighing less than 1500 grams at the time of birth ,,,,. In highly developed, industrialized countries (i.e. those ranked highly by the United Nations Development Programme [UNDP] on the basis of their Human Development Index [HDI]), the population of premature infants who are currently at risk for the advanced stages of ROP that requires treatment is extremely premature, with birth weights almost always < 1000 g ,. However, data from Latin America and the Former Socialist Economies of Eastern Europe showed that infants with much wider range of birth weights are developing severe ROP (ROP type 1), than in highly developed countries. Some of the possible reasons include increasing survival of premature infants, often with suboptimal standards of neonatal care and low implementation of screening and treatment of ROP . Croatia is a former socialist country of southeastern Europe (i.e. with HDI ranking in the range 31–100). The screening and treatment of ROP are still insufficient and not introduced in many intensive care units in Croatia . Although significant advances have been made in perinatal care, ROP remains a serious complication in prematurely born individuals. Information on the population of infants, who develop treatable ROP in Croatia, is required to develop screening programs that include all premature infants who are at risk. The aim of the current retrospective study was to identify the incidence of ROP and the associated risk factors of ROP in the second largest Croatian neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in southern Croatia, from January 2012 to December 2016. This was a retrospective study in which we reviewed the medical records of all infants born from 23- to 36-weeks of gestation who were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of University Hospital Split from January 1, 2012 to December 30, 2016, which is a Level III nursery in southern Croatia. Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the University Hospital Split Ethics Committee (Nr.2181-147-01/06/M.S.-17-2). Out of 1025 premature infants admitted during the 5-year study period, 247 (24, 1%) infants who met the criteria to enter screening for ROP by pediatric ophthalmologists were included in the study. Excluded were infants with major congenital malformation, chromosomal anomalies and infants who died before eye examinations could be performed. Eye examinations were performed on infants who met the following criteria recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): birth weight (BW) ≤ 1500 g or gestational age (GA) ≤ 32 weeks; and BW between 1500 g and 2000 g or GA >32 weeks if there was an unstable clinical course (as defined by the attending neonatologist), or/and need for cardio respiratory support. Infants born with gestational age of 27 weeks or less were first examined at 31 weeks postmenstrual age. Beyond 27 weeks gestational age, the first examination was performed 4 weeks after birth. The examination was performed under topical anesthesia using 0.5% tetracaine eye drops and supportive oral sucrose. Pupils were dilated using a topical administration of one drop of 0.5% tropicamide (“Mydriacyl”, Alcon Laboratories, U.K limited) at 15 minutes intervals 3 times before examination. Indirect ophthalmoscopy was performed using a binocular indirect ophthalmoscope and 20 diopter lens. An infant speculum and scleral depressor were also used to perform the examination. If no ROP was detected, eye examinations were continued every 2 weeks until vascularization had reached Zone 3. The follow-up examinations for infants with ROP were carried out every 1 to 2 weeks, but some infants were examined as frequently as twice per week depending on the zone and severity of ROP. ROP status was documented using the International Classification of ROP, including stage, zone, and extent of disease and presence or absence of plus disease . All infants requiring treatment were transferred to Department of Ophthalmology University Hospital Split for the procedure and most were readmitted to our department following treatment. Indication for treatment (type 1 ROP) was determined following the Early Treatment for Retinopathy of Prematurity Study criteria are: Zone I–any stage ROP with plus disease or Zone I–stage 3 ROP without plus disease, or Zone II–stage 2 or 3 ROP with plus disease . During NICU care, all infants on supplemental oxygen were carefully monitored by continuous pulse oximetry in order to maintain oxygen saturation between 90% and 95%. No increase or decrease in target pulse oximetry has been performed after identification of any stage of ROP. No eye shields were used except when infants were receiving phototherapy. For purposes of data analysis, the terms ‘type 1’ and ‘type 2’ ROP were used to differentiate eyes with significant changes of ROP that require treatment (type 1) from eyes with significant changes that do not require treatment but must be carefully monitored (type 2) . Screened patients were divided into three groups: Group of infants without ROP, group with a mild form of ROP (Type 2 ROP) and group with a severe form of ROP treated with laser (Type 1 ROP). Infants were placed in one of five gestational age and birth weight groups for purposes of comparison. These groups were assigned based on the results of other studies for ease of comparison and to provide an even distribution of data obtained in this study. The following perinatal-neonatal and demographic variables were extracted from the database for comparison of screened infants who had ROP and those who did not: gestational age (GA), birth weight (BW), small-for-GA (SGA) status, gender, Apgar score, intraventricular hemorrhage ≥ 2, patent ductus arteriosus sepsis and severe apnea and blood transfusion. Respiratory data recorded included the presence of chronic lung disease, days on synchronized intermittent positive pressure mechanical ventilation (SIPPV), days on continuous positive airway pressure ventilation (CPAP) and the duration of oxygen therapy in days (SIPPV, CPAP and administration of supplemental oxygen to the patient in the incubator at the concentration greater than the air). We also analyzed perinatal variables, including presence of multiple gestations, cesarean section delivery, maternal preeclampsia, maternal chorioamnionitis and maternal administration of steroids. Very low birth weight (VLBW) was defined as infants with birth weight < 1500 g; extremely low birth weight (ELBW) was defined as infants with birth weight < 1000g. GA was ascertained based on last menstrual period and early ultrasonographic data. SGA was defined as a birth weight for GA below the 10th percentile . IVH was graded according to Papile’s classification . Sepsis was diagnosed based on a positive blood culture. Patent ductus arteriosus was diagnosed clinically and confirmed by 2-dimensional echography. Severe apnea was defined as absence of spontaneous breathing >20 seconds, associated with desaturation or bradycardia requiring more intervention than stimulation alone (temporary manual ventilation by Neopuff) . Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) was defined as oxygen dependency beyond 36 weeks corrected age in association with chest radiographic findings of persistent hazy opacification or cyst-like pattern of density and lucency . Chorioamnionitis was confirmed by pathohistological evidence of placental inflammation. Adequate antenatal administration of betamethasone was defined as the completion of 2 doses of betamethasone given 12 hours apart with the second dose administered more than 24 hours prior to delivery. For each infant who had ROP, the age at which ROP was first detected, the maximum stage of ROP and laser therapy were recorded. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software (version 17.0; SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL). To assess the significance of proposed ROP risk factors univariate analysis was conducted with evaluation of odds ratios and confidence intervals and with appropriate significance of P < 0.05. To control all the variables of interest and estimate the independent risk factors for incidence of ROP, multivariate logistic regression was used. From July 2006 to July 2010, 247 infants fulfilled the inclusion criteria, having complete clinical data and were included in this analysis. For the entire cohort, the overall incidence of any ROP was 23.9 % (59 of 247 infants), the incidence of Type 1 ROP was 9.3% (23 of 247 infants); the incidence of Type 2 ROP was 14.6% (36 of 247 infants). Among infants with ROP, type 1 was detected in 39% (23 of 59 infants), type 2 was detected in 61% (36 of 59 infants). In all infants with ROP both eyes were affected. The median GA for the entire cohort was 31 weeks (range: 23-34 wk). Median GA age for infants without ROP was 31 weeks (range 23-34wk) and for those with any ROP was 29 weeks (range: 23-34 wk) (p < 0.001). The median age for infants with Type 1 ROP was 27 weeks (range 23-34 wk) and for type 2 ROP was 30 weeks (range 25-34) (p=0.002). Forty percent (25 of 62 infants) of extremely premature infants (≤ 28 GW) had any type of ROP. Thirty-two percent (19 of 59 infants) with ≥ 31 weeks of gestation had any type of ROP. Distribution of incidence of ROP by gestational age is displayed in table 1. Table 1: Distribtion of ROP by Gestational Age. The median overall birth weight (BW) was 1460 g (range: 590-2000 g). Median birth weight of infants without ROP was 1485g (range 590-2000) and median BW of infants with any Type of ROP was 1180 g (range: 630-2000 g) (p < 0.001). Median BW with type 1 ROP was 1020 g (range: 630-2000 g) and with type 2 ROP was 1395g (range 700-1920) (p=0.043). Forty-six percent (18 of 39 infants) with extremely low birth weight (≤ 1000 g) had any type of ROP. Twenty-nine percent (17 of 59 infants) with > 1500 grams had any type of ROP. Distribution of incidence of ROP by birth weight is displayed in table 2. Table 2: Distribtion of ROP by Birth Weight. The median age at which ROP was detected was 34 weeks post-conception (range, 32 to 37 wk). Results of univariate analysis of maternal and postnatal factors for ROP are shown in table 3. Table 3: Univariate analysis of risk factors (no ROP v. any ROP). The incidence of maternal preeclampsia (p=0.693), multiple births (p=0.906), delivery by cesarean section (p=0.315), chorioamnionitis (p=1.0) and antenatal betamethasone use (p=0.378) were not significantly different between infants who developed any stage of ROP and those who had not developed ROP (Table 3). Gender (p=0.249), intraventricular haemorrhage (p=0.977), sepsis (p=0.644) and blood transfusion (p=0.907) and BPD (p= 0.073) were not significantly different between infants who developed any stage of ROP and those who had no ROP. Twenty-five percent of the studied infants (62 of 247 infants) were SGA. There was no significant difference in the incidence of ROP between SGA and no SGA infants (p=0.652). The odds of developing ROP decrease by 1.7 times at each increase to a higher birth weight category (p < 0.001). Infants who developed any-stage ROP were more likely to have gestational age < 31 weeks (p < 0.001; OR 2.8), PDA (p=0.034; OR=2.5), severe apnea (p=0.001; OR=2.6) and 1 minute Apgar score < 6 (p < 0.01; OR=2.2) compared with infants without ROP. Infants with ROP also were more likely to require supplemental oxygen > 14 days (p < 0.001; OR=3.2), > 1.5 days of invasive mechanical ventilation (SIPPV) (p=0.004; OR=2.4), > 2 days of non invasive ventilation (CPAP) (p < 0.001; OR=3) than infants without ROP. Results of the multiple logistic regression analysis are shown in table 4. Table 4: Results of multivariate logistic regression analysis (no ROP v any ROP). *SGA= small for gestational age; ROP = retinopathy of prematurity; OR = odds ratio; CI = confidence interval. In these analysis birth weight (OR, 1.65; CI, 1.05-2.6) and SGA (OR, 2.45; CI1.02-5.9) were identified as factors associated with ROP. Independent variables were all those which were in univariate analysis significantly associated with ROP and those that were considered as clinically important independent variables (chorioamnionitis, sepsis, SGA and apnea). Results of univariate analysis of maternal and postnatal factors for infants with type 1 ROP (Type 1, severe ROP requiring surgery) and type 2 ROP (Type 2, ROP not requiring any surgery) are shown in table 3. Seventy-nine percent (16 of 23) of infants with Type 1 ROP were born to mothers with chorioamnionitis, as opposed to 33% (12 of 36) infants with Type 2 ROP. Type 1 ROP was significantly associated with chorioamnionitis (p=0.008; OR=4.6). The incidences of maternal preeclampsia (p=0.063), multiple births (p=0.097), delivery by cesarean section (p=0.938), and antenatal betamethasone use (p=0.894) were not significantly different between infants who developed type 1 ROP and those who developed Type 2 ROP as is shown in table 5. Table 5: Univariate analysis of risk factors (Type 1 ROP v. Type 2 ROP). Infant gender (p=0.347), 1 minute Apgar score (p= 0.225), IVH ≥ gr.2 (p=0.781), birth weight groups (p=0.195), intrauterine growth (p=0.715), blood transfusion (p=0.907) severe apnea (p=0.379), BPD (p=0.130), SIPPV ventilation >3 days (p=0.373) and CPAP ventilation > 3 days (p=0.718), were not significantly associated with increasing the severity of ROP (Table 4). Infants who developed type 1 ROP were more likely to have had gestational age < 29 weeks (p < 0.001; OR=6.8), sepsis (p < 0.001; OR=18), persistent ductus arteriosus (p < 0.018; OR=5.9) and prolonged need for oxygen support > 29 days (p < 0.039; OR=3.2) compared with infants with type 2 ROP. The odds of ROP 1 compared to non ROP was 4.4 times higher (95% CI: 1.6-12.2) (p=0.005) in infants with sepsis than in infants without sepsis. The odds of ROP 1 compared to non ROP was 2.6 times higher (95% CI: 1.02-6.6) (p=0.045) in infants from mothers with chorioamnionitis than in those without chorioamnionitis. This is the first population-based study in Croatia that evaluated both the incidence and risk factors of retinopathy of prematurity in a tertiary care unit. Our results indicate that the overall incidence of any ROP for the entire cohort was 24% with 9% of infants having severe ROP reqiuring surgery. The incidence and severity of ROP increased inversely to gestational age and birth weight. The reported incidence of ROP in the past decade has varied worldwide, ranging from 10% in highly developed countries such as Australia and New Zealand to 45.8% in moderately developed countries such as Taiwan ,. However, the incidence of ROP varies considerably not only in different populations and races but also among countries with similar neonatal intensive care facilities . Thus, in another Croatian study, ROP at any stage was reported in 23.3% and severe ROP in 8.8 % of infants with GA < 32 weeks . Other studies reported a wide variation in the incidence of ROP which might be partly due to differences in the proportions of infants at high risk of ROP who survive when born at an early gestational age ,,. In our study severe ROP was found in more mature infants with birth weight > 1500 grams and gestational age ≥ 31 weeks. The broader range of birth weight and gestational age make our study results more similar to data from moderately developed than to highly developed countries ,. The presence of severe ROP in larger, more mature infants in our study can’t be simply explained by the overuse of uncontrolled oxygen delivery. We are aware that neonatal care is compromised as a result of lack of medical resources and skilled personnel mostly due to financial constraints. Croatia is a moderately developed former socialist economy of southeastern Europe, with a recent experience of war. During the war and the postwar period in Croatia, the share of preterm births increased. However, strict implementation of screening for ROP in NICU Split resulted in maximum yield of ROP diagnosis at a median of 34 weeks postmenstrual age (range, 32 to 37). These findings were in accordance with a number of other reports that showed an age of onset of ROP between 32 and 35 weeks post-conception ,. There have been numerous investigators in the literature who studied the perinatal comorbidity risk factors for ROP. The factors which influenced the development of ROP in these studies have been recognized as connected to ROP in our study as well ,,, . Using the results of univariate analysis, we identified that gestational age, birth weight, patent ductus arteriosus, 1 minute Apgar score lower than 6, severe apnea, and number of days on invasive, non invasive mechanical ventilation and duration of oxygen therapy, were all associated with an increased risk of ROP. However, multivariate analysis identified that only birth weight and SGA were significant independent risk factors for ROP. Both factors are related to the extent of immaturity of retinal neural and vascular development at birth, and therefore the retinal vulnerability to insult . Results of several studies have suggested that being small for gestational age at birth is associated with an increased risk for retinopathy of prematurity ,,. However, some other findings suggest that SGA increases the risk for retinopathy of prematurity only in infants older than 29 weeks gestational age at birth ,,. We found that severity of respiratory disease, evidenced by prolonged need for oxygen requirement (more than 14 days), need for synchronized intermittent positive pressure ventilation > 1.5 days, and continuous positive pressure ventilation > 2 days had significant impact on developing of any type of ROP (p=0.004; p < 0.001; p < 0.001 respectively). A number of previous reports clearly demonstrated the causal effects of these factors on the development of ROP even in more mature infants ,,,. In our study, infants who developed any ROP also had 1 minute Apgar score lower than 6 (p=0.010) and suffered from significantly more episodes of severe apnea than those without ROP (p=0.002). They also have statistically significantly higher rate of PDA, compared to those without ROP (p=0.034). The first minute Apgar score was detected as a factor that affects the occurrence of ROP among premature infants in study of Khalesi et al.. Multiple episodes of apneas requiring bag and mask ventilation may produce fluctuations in oxygen concentrations, which have previously been recognized as associated with risk of retinopathy of prematurity ,. However, there is paucity of literature regarding the effect of PDA, yielding different results. Higgins et al reported that infants with ROP of stage 2 or more were more likely to have RDS, BPD and PDA while Viejo at al., found that presence of PDA does not increase the risk of developing ROP or its severity ,. In the second part of the study we have expanded our research in order to identify risk factors associated with the development of type 1 ROP. By using univariate logistic regression analyses between the groups with type 1 (n=23) and type 2 (n=36) ROP, we found that presence of patent ductus arteriosus (p=0,018), gestational age lower than 29 weeks (p=0.001) and duration of oxygen therapy > 29 days (p=0.039) were significantly associated with severe ROP. However, in the multivariate analysis, no significant risk factors were associated with severe ROP, The present results emphasized the association of histologic chorioamnionitis (p=0.008) and infant septicemia (p < 0.001) with development of severe ROP. It is interesting that these factors were not found as important for predicting development of any type of ROP. But, subsequent univariate analysis between the groups with type 1 ROP (n=23) and non-ROP (n=188) revealed that infants with sepsis and histologic chorioamnionitis had a higher chance (4.4 and 2.6 more times respectively) of developing severe ROP than to remain without any type of ROP. Some of the studies investigating histologic chorioamnionitis as a risk factor for ROP also reported an association with ROP only in univariate analyses ,. The increased risk for ROP associated with chorioamnionitis and neonatal infection might be partly due to systemic inflammation, which could act synergistically with hyperoxia to mediate the effects of placenta infection ,. We acknowledge the limitations of our study. Our screening criteria were more inclusive than the recent American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation for screening at gestational age less than 30 weeks and birth weight less than 1500 g . We are aware that this could have increased the number of unaffected patients and subsequently underestimated the incidence of ROP. However, our study results showed that more mature infants with birth weights > 1500 g and/or GA > 31 weeks developed threshold ROP. These findings confirm that screening criteria for inclusion of patients should be created to suit the specificities of the region in which they are supposed to be implemented. The infants who were affected by severe ROP in our study showed a mixture of first and second epidemic risk factors (inadequately monitored oxygen, and the extreme prematurity). We showed that severe ROP has been diagnosed not only in ELBW, but also in more mature infants, who did not fall within widely acceptable criteria for screening in highly developed countries. The clinical implications of these findings indicate that the improvement of strategies for the treatment of premature infants and associated clinical conditions are needed so that the “third epidemic” can be avoided in the future. Mirjana Vucinovic is the leading researcher who designed and executed this study and wrote the manuscript. Ljubo Znaor participated in drafting the article and revising it critically. Vesna Capkun made a substantial contribution to analysis and interpretation of data. Ana Vucinovic made a substantial contribution in drafting and design of the article. Julijana Bandic participated in collecting the data and drafting the article.

2019-04-23T13:53:39Z

https://www.gratisoa.org/journals/index.php/IPCC/article/view/1258

PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAIDThe Jewish Press Group of Tampa Bay, Inc.The Jewish Press Group of Tampa Bay, Inc. Jewish Press of Pinellas County P. O. Box 6970 Clearwater, FL 33758-6970KNOW continued on PAGE 15ADVERTISEMENT www.jewishpresspinellas.com VOL. 32, NO. 17 ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA MARCH 23 APRIL 5, 2018 20 PAGES See inside for details. WIN SHOW TICKETS Jewish Press Online Ticket Contest WIN SHOW TICKETS Jewish Press Online Ticket Contest Passover the Festival of FreedomFirst Seder Friday, March 30 Join our page @ www.facebook.com/jfed.pinellas Meet This Guy, Did you know?one of the featured individuals in the Humans of Tel Aviv photography exhibit that will delight at the April 15th Israel Independence Day Celebration. Whats his story? Attend to nd out! Federation Jewish Heritage Funding, matched by the State of Floridas Arts & Culture Division: $48,000. rfntb The Jewish FederationOF PINELLAS & PASCO COUNTIES, FL nntbb fnn fnf DO GOOD EVERYWHERE. FROM ANYWHERE. fIsrael turns 70 this year! A 70th anniversary is traditionally marked with gifts of platinum, known for its strength and rarity, and holding higher esteem than gold or other metals. While a number of Israeli collectible medals are minted in platinum, its not mined in Israel. Tidbits you (probably)dont know about PassoverMy Jewish Learning via JTA news service1. In Gibraltar, theres dust in the charoset. The traditional charoset is a sweet Passover paste whose texture is meant as a reminder of the mortar the enslaved Jews used to build in ancient Egypt. The name itself is related to the Hebrew word for clay. In Ashkenazi tradition, it is traditionally made from crushed nuts, apples and sweet red wine, while the tiny Jewish community of this small Peninsula takes the brick symbolism to another level, using the dust of actual bricks in their recipe. 2. Arizona Is a hub for matzah wheat. increasingly sourcing wheat for their Passover matzah from farmers in Arizona. Excessive moisture in wheat kernels can result in fermentation, rendering the harvest unsuitable for Passover use. allows for a stricter standard of matzah production. Rabbis from New York travel to Arizona in the days leading up to the harvest, where they inspect the grains meticulously to ensure they are cut at the precise moisture levels. 3. At the Seder, Persian Jews whip each other with scallions. Many of the Passover Seder rituals are intended to re-create the sensory experience of Egyptian slavery, from the eating of bitter herbs and matzah to the dipping of greenery in saltwater, which symbolizes the tears shed by the oppressed Israelites. Some Jews from Iran and Afghanistan have the tradition of whipping each other with green onions before the singing of Dayenu. 4. Karaite Jews skip the wine. Karaite Jews reject rabbinic Judaism, observing only laws detailed in the Torah. Thats why they dont drink the traditional four cups of wine at the Seder. Wine is fermented, and fermented foods are prohibited on Passover, so instead they drink fruit juice. (Mainstream Jews hold that only fermented grains are prohibited.) The Karaites also eschew Israels 70th birthday bash offers something for all It will be an afternoon of speeches, food, family fun, photographic art, music and festivities when the Pinellas/ Pasco Jewish community celebrates the 70th anniversary of the birth of Israel on Sunday, April 15 in Largo. Hosted by the Jewish Federation of Pinellas and Pasco Counties, the free celebration will be held at the Creative Pinellas/Pinewood Cultural Center, 12211 Walsingham Road, Largo, from 1 to 4 p.m. One of the featured guests will be Israeli photographer Erez Kaganovits, who will talk about an exhibit of his work, ISRAEL continued on PAGE 17 A sampling of the photographic exhibit that will be on display at the event. 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Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Danny Ayalon will be guest speaker at a free Jewish National Fund breakfast for Israel  on Tuesday May 1 from 9-10 a.m. at the Bryan Glazer Family JCC in Tampa. Ayalon was born in Tel Aviv in 1955, viewing himself as the product of the ingather ing of the exiles, the intersection between the Jewish Diasporas of East and West, Sephardic and of Israels reestablishment. His father came to Israel from Algeria before the War of Independence in 1948 and fought in the Golani Brigade. His mother immigrated there in 1937 from Poland, escaping the Holocaust, in which members of her extended family perished. She also fought in the War of Independence in Jerusalem and was wounded in battle. Ayalon served in Israels Foreign Service for more than 20 years, beginning in Panama, and then the UN mission in New York. He was political adviser to three different prime ministers: Ehud Barak, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Ariel Sharon. In 2002, he was named Israels ambassador in the U.S., serving in that capacity for four years. During my ambassadorial tenure, Israel-US relations increased and improved, with American support of Israel reaching an all-time high in many areas, Ayalon writes on his website. Upon retirement from the diplomatic service in 2006, he joined Nefesh BNefesh, an organization committed to revitalizing Aliyah, and the Or Movement for settlement in the Negev and the Galilee, both issues he believes should be top national priorities. Thats not but a Zionist imperative and also a moral obligation upon us and future generations, he says. In February 2009, he was elected a member of the Knesset and soon after was named deputy foreign minister, serving in the parliament until 2013. Among his many pursuits since then, Ayalon has served as a visiting professor of foreign policy at Yeshiva University. He recently founded The Truth About Israel, a attempts to delegitimize Israel and strengthen its political status and image. Chair for the breakfast program is Lynne Merriam. RSVPs are requested to jnf.org/ tampabreakfast by April 20. Dietary laws will be observed. The JCC is at 522 N. Howard Ave., Tampa.JNF breakfast to feature former Israeli Ambassador Ayalon Danny Ayalon Florida Gov. Rick Scott has signed a bill that prohibits state agencies and local governments from contracting with companies that are boycotting Israel. Scotts bill-signing ceremony Wednesday, March 21, at the Or lando Torah Academy, a Jewish day school, also allowed him to highlight the $2 million that was included in the state budget to allow such schools to harden security against terrorist and other potential attacks. Funding will be used to help provide upgrades such as video cameras, fences, bulletproof glass, alarm systems and other safety equipment.  Last year, the state legislature approved more than $650,000 for security at Jewish day schools. The governor touted the states strong relationship with Israel in signing the anti-BDS legislation. with our ally Israel. In 2016, I was proud to sign legislation that prohibited the state, or administration, from investing in companies that boycott Israel. Today Im proud to sign HB 545, an important piece of legislation that builds on our efforts by prohibiting any state agency and local governments from contracting with companies that boycott Israel, said Scott. In 2016, Gov. Scott signed legislation that prohibits the State Board of Administration from investing in companies that boycott Israel. Gov. Scott also supported the U.S. Embassy moving from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In December, he led a delegation of Florida business and education leaders on a second trade mission to Israel. During the 2011 mission, Scott signed the Florida-Israel Memorandum of Understanding Agreement between Space Florida and Israel, to support research, development and aerospace and technology projects. Floridas total economic development and trading partnership with Israel exceeds $283 million a year.Students from the Orlando Torah Academy look on as Gov. Rick Scott signs a bill that prohibits public entities from dealing with companies that boycott Israel. Scott signs pro-Israel bill; touts $2m in budget for Day School securityCorrectionCongregation Beth Am in Tampa is sending 11 teens and three chaperones to the March for Our Lives in Washington. D.C. on March 24. Temple Bnai in Clear water is sending eight teens and three chaperones; Temple Beth-El in St. Petersburg is sending four teens and two chaperones and Temple Ahavat Shalom in Palm Harbor is sending one teen. A story in the March 9 issue of the Jewish Press contained incorrect numbers for how many people were going to the march from each congregation. Temple Bnai Israel ClearwaterPassover Yizkor: On Friday, April 6 at 10:30 a.m. there will be a memorial service in the temple chapel in conjunction with Temple Beth-El in St. Petersburg. Tot Shabbat: Bring the little ones for a special Shabbat service that is tailored for the children on Saturday, April 7, from 10-11 a.m. Cinema Caf: Take in a movie on Sunday, April 8 at 1 p.m. at the temple. Turn Left at the End of the World on the Moroccan and Indian communities in Israel through a funny and heartwarming coming of age story, will be shown. Popcorn and non-alcoholic beverages are provided. There is no charge for members and friends. Theater excursion: The Adults at Leisure group will visit the Francis Wilson Playhouse on Sunday April 8 at 2 p.m. to see the comedy Once in a Lifetime Tickets are $26. Call the theater at (727) 446-1360 to reserve your seats. For more information call Linda Goldman at (727) 536-7076. Trivia Night: Tickets are on sale for Trivia Night on Saturday, April 21 at 5:30 p.m. The cost is $36 for adults and $18 for kids. Tickets include dinner and two drinks. Bible study: Explore the Second Book of Samuel and discover a unique period of Jewish history. Rabbi Daniel Treiser leads the classes on Wednesdays from 7-8 p.m. There is no fee for members; $30 for non-members for the year. Adult playtime: Play mah jongg, Mexican Train Dominoes or Bridge on Thursdays at 1 p.m. Join active seniors and play the game of your choice. Coffee and cake is served. For more information, contact Linda White at linda33217@gmail.com or (727) 688-0626. Sunday funday: Preschoolers and their parents can enjoy playtime on Sunday, April 29 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. when the children can meet one another and engage in fun activities. for full schedule and pricing information at (727) 531-5829.Cong. Beth Shalom ClearwaterUnited Faiths Walk of Peace: Everyone is invited to walk, talk, connect, and strive for peace on Sunday, April 8 at 2 p.m. Meet at John R. Lawrence Pioneer Park, 400 Main St., Dunedin, and walk together for about 2 miles through on peace from a variety of faith leaders. The rabbis from Congregation Beth Shalom will be participating. For more information, go to www. UnitedFaithsWalkofPeace.org. Couple to be honored: A youth scholarship Shabbat honoring Dr. Avery and Claire Stiglitz, will be held on Saturday, April 14 at 9 a.m. Movie time: Join Jews from across the globe When the Smoke Clears, which shows how a group of wounded Israeli solIsraeli organization JerusalemU, will be shown on Wednesday, April 18 at 7 p.m. at the synagogue. Happy Birthday, Israel: A musical Shabbat is planned for Friday, April 20 at 6:30 p.m. to celebrate Israels 70th birthday. The event includes a dinner at $18 for adults and $10 for children 12 Talmud classes: On Mondays and most Wednesdays, explore ancient legal tradition with Dr. Priscilla Nathanson The class is open to all levels of knowledge. The Monday class is held after minyan from 10 11:15 a.m. and the WednesLox & Learn: Led by Rabbi David Weizman, explore the weekly Torah portion every Thursday following minyan. Breakfast begins at 9:45 a.m. and the study session at 10 a.m. Haftarot study: This study will be led by Johanna Bromberg in the synagogue library on Wednesday, April 11 at 10 a.m. Meditation series: Rabbi Danielle Upbin, leads a course that combines guided meditameets next on Thursday, April 5 at 2 p.m. These sessions offer the Jewish tools to nurture selfgrowth and spiritual awareness. New participants Yoga Shacharit: Open to all levels, join in a blend of gentle yoga and chant from the Jewish tradition on Saturday, April 7 at 9:15 a.m. Wear comfortable clothes for movement. Bring your own mat and towel.Chabad of ClearwaterTorah and tea: Rebbetzin Miriam Hodakov leads a Torah and Tea exclusively for women on Wednesdays at 11:15 a.m. There is no charge to attend. RSVP to MiriamHodakov@ gmail.com or (727) 265-2770. Pray, eat, watch video: On Sundays from 9-10 a.m., feed your body and soul with a bagel short video presentation. There is no charge, and everyone is welcome. Study groups: Probe the ideas and issues presented in each weeks Torah portion on Mondays from 7-8 p.m. The Torah studies classes offer timely lessons for living. The class is free. Tanya class: A new weekly Tanya class, A Tale of Two Souls, meets on Saturdays from 10:15-11 a.m. The Tanya offers a roadmap for emotional healthy living. The in-depth study will ask such questions as What is a soul? What is our purpose here on earth? The class is free.Temple Beth-El St. PetersburgBreaking bread: The congregation will celebrate the end of Passover with pizza and beer on Friday, April 6 at 6 p.m. Seniors lunch and learn: The SAGE (Seniors for Arts, Growth and Education) group will meet on Monday, April 16 at 11 a.m. in the all-purpose room at the temple to hear Cantor Pamela Siskin discuss Israel Then and Now. Following lunch, Beth Gelman, the executive director at the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg, will be the guest presenter. There is no cost for the program. Lunch will be $8 or you can bring your own. RSVP to Cantor Siskin at prsiskin@gmail.com. Daystar lunch making: Help feed the homeless and families at the Daystar Life Center by gathering in the social hall on Sunday, April 8 at 9:30 a.m. to schmooze and make sandwiches for folks at Daystar. Sisterhood to meet: The Sisterhood will hold a general membership meeting on Sunday, April 15 from 10 a.m. to noon in the temple All members and prospective members are welcome. RSVP by April 1 to Pamela Katz-Alston at pamelannkatz27@gmail.com or call (727) 502-7108. Mitzvah Day: The congregation will be distributing toiletries and clothing to the needy, as well as performing other acts of kindness on Mitzvah Day on Sunday, May 11 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event will begin with a light breakfast and an orientation before teams are formed and sent out into the community to do good deeds that include beach or nature park cleanup, painting rooms, light housekeeping, making food and a sing-a-long for the elderly. For more information, call (727) 347-6136.Chabad of St. PetersburgMoshiach meal: Join in a traditional Moshiach meal on the last day of Passover, Saturday, April 7 at 7:15 p.m. The Haftorah reading for this day describes the promised future era of universal peace and divine perfection. A meal will be served, complete with salmon, salads, wine and matzah. All are welcome and there is no charge. RSVP is appreciated at info@ChabadSP.com. Womens Book Club: Chaya Korf leads a roundtable discussion every Tuesday from 10:3011:30 a.m., about the book for this year, Towards a Meaningful Life, by Simon Jacobson. The group PAGE 6 JEWISH PRESS of PINELLAS COUNTY MARCH 23 APRIL 5, 2018 Congregations PINELLAS COUNTYReformTemple AHAVAT SHALOM 1575 Curlew Rd., Temple BETH CHAI DAVID Temple BETH-EL Congregation BNAI EMMUNAH 57 Read Temple BNAI ISRAEL ConservativeCongregation BETH SHALOM Congregation BETH SHOLOM Congregation BNAI ISRAEL OrthodoxCHABAD of CLEARWATER CHABAD JEWISH CENTER OF GREATER ST P ETERSBURG CHABAD of PINELLAS COUNTY Road, Palm Harbor, 34683 PASCO COUNTY ConservativeBETH TEFILLAH/JCC OF WEST PASCO OrthodoxCHABAD OF WEST P ASCO HERNANDO COUNTY Reform Temple BETH DAVID Religious Directory Shabbat and Passover Candle Lighting Times Take a peek into any preschool classroom and you will likely see a crowd of darling little children all gathered in one corner of the room where the dress-ups are kept. Hats, scarves, suits, skirts, shoes, costume jewelry, boas and other articles of clothing, help children to engage in playacting and to escape into a world of make-believe in which they can become anything or anyone they want to be. A recent article in Very Well Family magazine tells us that by using their imagination, preschoolers can gain vocabulary skills ing, especially when it happens with other children, encourages taking turns, cooperation, and socialization. Taking on another persona and dramatically telling a story, brings the event to life in a way we might not otherwise experience through a simple reading. Play acting should not solely be the domain of preschoolers. At this time of year, Jews throughout the world join with family, friends and strangers around tables laden with mostly edible props. Using the Haggadah as our script, we engage in a form of role play by re-telling the story of our miraculous redemption from servitude in Egypt. And although most of us will Give props to the Passover storyBy RABBI LEAH M. HERZ Director of Spriritual Care, Menorah Manor Rabbinically Speaking Rabbinically Speaking Rabbinically Speaking Rabbinically Speaking Rabbinically Speaking Rabbinically Speaking not be costumed during our Seders, we will nevertheless do our best to convey the story of the Exodus according to the commandment that we see ourselves in the narrative. This is not a tale about something that happened thousands of years ago to someone else in a place far, far away. This is a story that we are to experience as if happening in real time, right here and right now. Our props take on mixed with wine becomes mortar for bricks. Salt water morphs into the bitter tears of slavery. We sing. We dip. We lean. We praise. We talk about the types of slavery that still exist in our world today. We do all that we can to transform ourselves into the lead acPeople. We can all learn a lot from preschoolers. This year may we too let down our guard and allow our imaginations to run free so that we might experience yeztiat mitzrayim, the coming out of Egypt, in a deeper and more meaningful way. Wishing all a Siesen Pesach. The Rabbinically Speaking column is provided as a public service by the Jewish Press in cooperation with the Pinellas County Board of Rabbis. Columns are assigned on a rotating basis by the board. The views expressed in the column are those of the rabbi and do not necessarily of the Jewish Press or the Board of Rabbis. others; those considering adopting Judaism as their faith, and those who are already Jewish who wish to enhance their knowledge of Judaism. New students are welcome anytime. Cost is $100 per person or couple, for non-members; free for temple members. Misfortune and grief: An adult education class is underway on Tuesdays at 11 a.m. with Rabbi Klein focusing on misfortune and grief. He will attempt to provide tools from the social sciences and from our Jewish tradition that will help us cope with our own suffering and help us assist others in dealing with theirs. He will use, as primary text the book, Option B, by Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandburg. 8811 to join.Cong. Bnai Emmunah Tarpon SpringsIntroduction to Judaism: This class is offered at the synagogue on Mondays and Tuesdays from 5-7 p.m. weekly through May, except on April 30. Learn about Israel: A class titled Israels Milestones and Their Meanings will be offered on Mondays April 2, 9, 16, 23 and May 7 and 14 from 7-9 p.m. This class is in celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the state of Israel and is a course designed by the Shalom Hartman Institute. The course will include video lectures from the Hartman faculty. JCC of West Pasco Port RicheyUnderstanding prayer: A class focused on the history, meaning, and relevance of Shabbat service prayers meets on Wednesdays through May at 7 p.m. Knowledge of Hebrew is not required. There is no fee, and all are welcome.Chabad of West PascoClasses with the rabbi: Rabbi Yossi Eber will teach classes on Mondays at 7 p.m. The classes alternate between Torah study and the Tanya. Pray, eat, watch video: On Sundays from 9-10 a.m., feed your body and soul with a bagel and will be a short video presentation. There is no charge, and everyone is welcome. Tanya class: A new weekly Tanya class, A Tale of Two Souls, meets on Saturdays from 10:15-11 a.m. The Tanya offers a roadmap for emotional healthy living. The in-depth study will ask such questions as What is a soul? What is our purpose here on earth? The class is free.Temple Beth David Spring HillArt show: Temple Beth David will host its third annual Nature Coast Art Show on Saturday and Sunday, April 7-8. There will be an artists reception from 4:30-8 p.m. Saturday with an evening of refreshments and conversations with the artists. Previewing and pur chasing available art can be done at this time. The show and sale will continue on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free to the public. There will be food, a silent auction, and original artworks by emerging and professional artists from Floridas Nature Coast. For more information, call Barb at (352) 686-7034. Torah study: Rabbi Paul Schreiber conducts Torah study classes on Mondays at 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. Free for members and $5 per class for non-members. Judaism class: A free Judaism conversion class will be held on Saturdays at 1 p.m., conducted by Rabbi Schreiber. Talmud for beginners: This class, already under way, is held every Wednesday at 8 p.m., except for the third Wednesday of the month. It is free for members and $5 per class for non-members.Chabad of Spring HillTorah studies: The com munity is invited to attend Torah study classes on Wednesdays from noon to 1 p.m. The classes, taught by Rabbi Chaim Lipszyc, are not sequential, so drop-ins are welcome. Bagesl will be served. The For more information, call Ro Kerschner at (352) 746-6258. Some of you who met me probably heard me speaking about my familys heritage my mother was born in Germany and my dad was born in Israel but grew up in Morocco. Given that background, my brothers and I grew up with two different cultures in our household. A lot of the traditions I was accustomed to were so entwined in my life that only when I grew up did I realize which tradition belonged to which background. But one thing I can tell you for sure when it came to food, the Moroccan side was always clearly present and if I had to compare it with the east European food, it almost always won (with the exception of Cremeschnittean amazing European cake). Both of my grandmothers were cooks in their profession at one point of their lives and later on my mom joined the tradition, becoming the kibbutz main chef. Needless to say, I was never the skinniest girl in class. Both my mom and her mother (who was born in Europe), at some point of their lives, decided to adopt the rich, colorful and tasty Moroccan cuisine into their kitchen because once you taste it, all you want to do is just keep on eating it. I can go on and on about the food event which happens every year, when Moroccan food culture stands out all across Israel the Mimouna. Mimouna is the name for a big feast that is celebrated at the end of Passover and the beginning of spring. After eight days of observing Passover, most Jews happily put down their matzot and reach for the leavened breads, pasta, cookies, and other foods that had been forbidden during the holiday. At that time, the Moroccan-Israelis will begin the celebration of Mimouna. They, too, will begin to eat hametz (leavened foods), but unlike others, they make a party out of it with food, music, dancing, and sometimes even costumes. The Mimouna started as a tradition in Morocco that came to symbolize good relations with the Muslim neighbors. Jewish families in Morocco gave or sold their leavened foods to their Muslim neighbors for the duration of the holiday and when Passover ended, they invited their neighbors into their homes for a feast. Moroccan Jews who immigrated to Israel in the states early days brought the celebration with them, and it has grown ever since. Today Mimouna is a national holiday in Israel with big family or public outdoor parties that begin at sundown and often last into the next day. Frequently, politicians attend the celebrations, and it is a badge of honor to have a member tion. One of the traditions that Israelis kept for the celebration of the Mimouna is open doors. People are free to come and join the feast without any invitation or any announcement in advance. Some people make a night out of it going from one Mimouna to the other throughout the whole night. Now, once you go inside a house that is hosting a Mimouna the one thing you go running to is the food table. It is a beautiful sight a colorful table covered with traditional and less traditional jams, marzipans, nut cookies, candied fruit and stuffed dates. The most recognized food and cooked in a greased frying pan until it is yellowbrown in color. It is usually eaten warm and prepared on site, normally spread with butter, honey, syrup, jam, walnut, pistachios or dried fruits. Besides that, there will be dablas (North African fried ribbons of rolled dough in Many traditional Mimouna tables are set with symbols wheat for a full harvest; a hamsa, or hand-shaped amulet, to ward off evil; and honey and dates for sweetness. As a child, I remember loving Pesach just because I knew that by the end of it, my parents are taking my brothers and me for an hour-long drive only to get to my grandparents house and celebrate the Mimouna. The house was always full with people, the table was always colorful and the food was always sweet and comforting. JEWISH PRESS of PINELLAS COUNTY MARCH 23 APRIL 5, 2018 Congregations Mor About Israel Mor About IsraelYAEL MORIsrael Shlicha [Emissary] Yael, in costume, with her aunt, Karin Rauch, from Germany at a Mimouna celebration.Celebrating the end of Passover in an oh so sweet way in Israel Yael Mors yearlong visit to the community is sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Pinellas and Pasco Counties. She can be reached at (727) 530-3223 or by email at yael@jewishpinellas.org www.sartorialinc.com (727) 290-6783 Affordable Made-to-Measure Dresswear Linen & Silk World Class Shirts, Jeans, Tees, Performance Wear 400 Beach Drive NE Unit 169 Downtown St. Petersburg will share strategies for not only discovering where your true meaning lies, but also in actually making it a part of your daily life. Coffee, fruit and homemade pastries will be served at these free sessions. Walkins are welcome. RSVP to Chaya@ ChabadSP.com. Lunch and Learn: Women are invited to share an hour of camaraderie, inspiration and delicious lunch at a Lunch and Learn session at the Chabad Jewish Center on Tuesday, April 17 at noon. There is no charge for the event. RSVPs are appreciated but not necessary. To RSVP: Chaya@ChabadSP.com or call (727) 344-4900.Cong. Bnai Israel St. PetersburgPassover BBQ: Leave the Passover cooking to someone else for the night at CBIs annual Passover BBQ hosted by the Mitzvah Mens Club on Wednesday, April 4 at 6p.m. On the menu are hot dogs, hamburgers and chicken or grilled vegetables. Sides include garden salad, potatoes, all the matzoh you can eat, assorted condiments, dessert and beverages. Cost is $20 per adult, $10 per child. RSVP to Alan Gross at (727) 327-0100 by Friday, March 30. Walk-in availability will be limited. Celebrating Israel with food: Join in a Kabbalat Shabbat service on Friday, April 20 at 6 p.m. followed by Got Shabbat? Israeli-style dinner for those with reservations. Then come back Saturday, April 21 at 9 a.m. for Shabbat services, followed by an Israelistyle kiddush. Cost for the dinner is $20 per person and children eat free. RSVP by Friday, April 13 to Pam Askin at (727) 381.4900 or Beatles-themed Shabbat: Come dressed. in your grooviest clothes and celebrate as the Kabbalat Shabbat service is set to Beatles melodies on Friday, April 27 at 6:30 p.m. Arrive at 5:30 p.m. for a Beat Bugs style jam session for families with young children with Maureen prior to the service. Come together after the service for a casual Shabbat dinner and build a Yellow Submarine sandwich (vegan & gluten-free options available). Cost for dinner is $5 per person or $10 per family; RSVP by Friday, April 20 to Liz Sembler at lizsembler@ aol.com or (727) 381-4900. Dinner is open to all ages and hosted by the CBI Jewbilees (the synagogues Baby Boomers social group). Talmud Made Easy: On Tuesdays, March 20 at 5 p.m., Steve Wein will lead a study of Talmudic text and selected commentaries. All materials will be provided. The class involves textual analysis, lively discussion and is open to all. The class is free; no previous knowledge is needed. 381-4900 or info@cbistpete.org for details.Temple Ahavat Shalom Palm HarborPoker tourney: The Brotherhood will sponsor the 2nd Annual Texas Hold em Poker Tournament on Saturday, April 7 at 7 p.m. The evening will include food, drinks and prizes for the winners. Buyin is $40. For more information or to RSVP, contact Scott Alalof at (904) 994-3820 or visit http:// ahavatshalom.org/navigation-3/ brotherhood. Toddler time: There will be an hour of activities incorporating music, literacy, Judaics and snacks for children ages 1-4 on Sunday, April 8 at 10 a.m. Tots are invited to bring a special adult with them. Lunch n learn: Congregant Susan Segal teaches a Torah study class on Thursdays from noon to 1:15 p.m. Bring a lunch, and of course, opinions. No prior knowledge or attendance is required. The class will use the bookThe Torah: A Womans Commentary. Judaism basics: An Introduction to Judaism class is offered on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. This class, taught by Rabbi Gary Klein is appropriate for nonJewish spouses and significant TRAVEL AGENCY, INC.4300 Central Avenue, St. PetersburgDUGGARMemberAmerican Society of Travel AgentsEugenia K. Duggar, CTCDirector of OperationsTerry W. CoxAssistant Manager Hy Pvr r rnrs rv! PAGE 12 JEWISH PRESS of PINELLAS COUNTY MARCH 23 APRIL 5, 2018 Organizations The Jewish Burial Society of Pinellas County, Inc. would like to recognize and send a heartfelt thank you to the Federations, families, Synagogues and Temples that helped fund our Hurricane Irma cleanup. Over the past 6 months, your commitment to Chapel Hill Memorial Park has helped us come a long way with repairing, replacing and replanting. Were still accepting additional Thank You! Thank You! www.chapelhillmemprk.orgThe Jewish Burial Society of Pinellas County Inc. dba Chapel Hill Memorial Park Diane Cohen Congregation Bnai Israel Dr. Mark and Judi Gordon David and Pati Gross Anita Helfand Beverly Helie-Pollack Sam and Sandy Janofsky Jewish Federation of North America Jewish Federation of Pinellas and Pasco Counties, FL Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago Anne and Robin LaMaire Rabbi Jacob and Joanne Luski Howard Miller Doug and Joan Negretti Dr. Marc and Laurie Reiskind David and Teddi Robbins Maurice A. Rothman and Thelma P. Rothman Family Foundation Sharlene Sakol Dr. Harold and Joyce Seder Greg and Liz Sembler Mel and Betty Sembler Shumaker, Loop, & Kendrick, LLP Dr. Mike and Sandy Slomka Tampa JCCs and Federation Inc. Temple Beth-El Jim and Vicki Trombly UJA-Federation of New York Ralph Wescott The Jewish Burial Society of Pinellas County Inc. dba Chapel Hill Memorial Park your commitment to Chapel Hill Memorial Park has helped us come a long way with repairing, replacing and replanting. Were still accepting additional SUSHI TUESDAY 6 pm close Reservations recommended DRINK SPECIALS 4 pm 6 pm $5 House Wine $5 Single Shot well drinks or martinis Floral Design Studio 6700 Central Ave., St. Petersburg local and worldwide delivery Weddings Events Bar/Bat Mitzvahs Redman Steele 727.343.1020 RedmanSteeleFlorist.net HadassahMah jongg fundraiser: The Lylah Pinellas Chapter of Hadassah will have a fundraising mah jongg event on Wednesday, April 25 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Countryside Country Club, 3001 Countryside Blvd., Clearwater. The event will include a salad buffet luncheon and the cost is $25 per person. To make arrangements for payment and to RSVP contact Lynne Brubaker at lynnebru@aol.com or (727) 782-3086. If you can, bring your card and your game.JWIFor the kids: Jewish Women International North Pinellas will enjoy brunch as they hold a fun draiser for the Childrens Home on Sunday, April 22 at 10:30 a.m. with a Table for Two demonstra tion by Chef Warren Caterson The event will be at East Lake Woodlands Country Club, with valet parking. The cost is $38 per person. For more information, con tact Amy Richman at richman. amy52@gmail.com or (727) 5430108. Meet Rabbi Dani: On Tuesday, April 24 at 7 p.m., learn how a girl from Great Neck, NY, becomes a rabbi of today. JWI will welcome Rabbi Danielle Upbin associate rabbi and prayer leader at Congregation Beth Shalom in Clearwater, as guest speaker. Ordained from Jewish Theo logical Seminary, she holds a BA in political science, and is cur rently president of the Pinellas County Board of Rabbis. She is an educator and trainer of all things Jewish, a professionally trained singer and yoga instructor. She is married to Rabbi David Weizman, senior rabbi at Beth Shalom, and is mother of four children. All are welcome. For more information, contact Lynn Brodsky (727) 787-6154Genealogical SocietyThe Jewish Genealogical Society of Tampa Bay will meet on Sunday April 8 at 2 p.m. at Gulf Coast Jewish Family & Community Services, 14041 Icot Blvd., Clearwater, for a hands-on working session for individual research using the Internet and library resources of the organization. Experienced society mentors will be on hand to provide guidance and assistance. Free access to Ancestry.com and to MyHeritage. com (Premium), will be offered on several computers and available for use. Attendees are asked to bring their own research materials and information and their own laptop computer if they have one. A presession social with refreshments and library access begins at 1:30 p.m. For information about the organization or directions to the meeting, call Bruce Hadburg at (727) 796-7981.Young Adults#Gather offers a mix of social and interactive activities designed to help young adults connect. It is open to young adults of all faiths and backgrounds. For more information or to RSVP for any #Gather events, visit: www.bry anglazerfamilyjcc.com/gather or contact Lisa Robbins at lisa.rob bins@jewishtampa.com or (813) 769-4723. Flavor tripping: The #Gather group will meet Monday, April 9 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at 81 Bay Brewing Company, 4465 W. Gandy Blvd, Tampa, to experience the miracle berry from West Africa that turns tart and savory foods denly tastes like lemonade. Cheese tastes like frosting. Vinegar tastes like apple juice. The cost is $5 for members and of beer will be available for $5. Spin class: Join in a high-energy spin class with other #Gather members at the Glazer JCC on Monday, April 23 at 6:30 p.m. This is free for members and $7 for guests and includes access to the entire JCC for the day. Pedal through hill climbs, sprints and interval training with motivational music to help push you through the challenge. Cool down with a smoothie by the pool together. Reserve your bike today. Job-LinksMonday Morning Links: Free sessions of Monday Morning Links are offered at the Jack Roth Center for Career Development at TampaBay-Job-Links, 4100 W. Kennedy Blvd., Suite 206, Tampa from 9:30 11 a.m. On April 2 the topic is Whats Your Nonverbal Communication Saying? On April 9 the topic is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Job Seekers and on April 16 the topic is How to Work the Room at a Networking Event or Job Fair. Monday Morning Links is supported by the Vinik Family Foundation. Job-search aids: The next Success workshop will be Thurs day, April 5 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The topic is Steps to Negotiate a Job Offer and on April 12 it is Mastering Change and Transition. The workshops are free for TampaBay Job-Links full program participants and $15 for guests. Reservations required for all programs. T To RSVP, call (813) 344-0200, email RSVP@TBJL.org. Support groupsAlzheimers caregiver group: Menorah Manor offers a support group meeting in the Sam son Nursing Center at Menorah Manor, 255 59th St. N., St. Peters month from 3:30-5 p.m. For more information, call Gwen Kaldenberg at (727) 302-3750. JEWISH PRESS of PINELLAS COUNTY PAGE 13 MARCH 23 APRIL 5, 2018 www.MenorahManor.org 240 59th Street North, St. Petersburg FL 33710 AL#10306 Personalized Support Respite Stays Available Large Private Apartments Life Enriching Programs SPRING SPECIAL!$2,500 Community Entrance Fee Waived AND $500 OFF Monthly Rental for 1st 6 MonthsOFFER EXPIRES APRIL 30, 2018Call 727.302.3800 to schedule a tour and ask about a free 2 night trial! Street North, St. Petersburg FL 33710 This coupon is not valid in combination with any other coupon, special, promotional offer or team member discount. Coupon only valid at the Whole Foods Market Carrollwood, Clearwater and Tampa locations. No duplications, copies, facsimiles or mobile coupons will be accepted. This coupon may not be used towards the purchase of a Whole Foods Market Gift Card. No cash value. Please, only one coupon per household per day. Coupon good for $10 off total one-time purchase of $50 or more. Coupon valid through 4/8/2018. Mon. Fri. 6:00 am Noon Sat. & Sun. 6:00 am 1:00 pmBoiled & Baked the traditional way at the same location for over 30 years!1871 Gulf To Bay Blvd. (Clearwater)~ Next to Clearwater High School ~(727) 446-7631 JP A feature-length documentary, GI Jews: Jewish Americans in World War II, will air nationwide on PBS stations on Wednesday, April 11 at 10 p.m. 550,000 Jewish Americans who served their country in all branches of the military during World War II. Filmmaker Lisa Ades (American Experience: Miss America) brings the struggles of these brave men more personal war to liberate loved ones in Europe. After years of battle, these pioneering servicemen and women emerged transformed: more profoundly American, more deeply Jewish, and determined to GI Jews premieres April 11 on PBS (check local listings) in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day following day on pbs.org and PBS apps. GI Jews features more than 25 original interviews with veterans who speak candidly about the impact served in the Army; Henry Kissinger, a refugee from Nazi Germany who was drafted into the Army; Carl Reiner, the son of Jewish immigrants, who traveled vices Entertainment Unit; the late Bea Cohen, who the 1st infantry division and was the cantor at a Jewish service in Aachen, Germany, broadcast by NBC in 1944. While Jewish Americans relationship to the Holowell-known saga of World War II to life in a new way who produced and directed the documentary. In addition to battling the enemy, Jewish Americans fought a second, more private battle against antiSemitism within the ranks. They sought to observe their religion far from home while enduring slurs and even violence from their fellow servicemen. These Jewish Americans were often felt forced to prove their courage and patriotism. Fighting together they forged deep friendships across religious lines and learned to set aside their differences for the greater good. In the aftermath of the Holocaust, Americas Jewish community was now the largest in the world, and by the end of World War II, the United States had begun to embrace its Jewish citizens as true Americans. With their new responsibility as international leaders, many Jews became passionate about postwar culture Film on PBS documents service of Jews during World War II From the documentary GI Jews, which will air in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day. JEWISH PRESS of PINELLAS COUNTY PAGE 15 MARCH 23 APRIL 5, 2018 727.789.2000 Obituaries 12905 Wild Acres Rd. Largo, FL 33773 Serving the Pinellas County Jewish Community since 1968The Jewish Burial Society of Pinellas County Inc. dba Chapel Hill Memorial Park is a 501 (c) (3) non-prot corporation licensed by the State of Florida 6366 Central Avenue St. Petersburg Fl 33707DAVI D C. GROSSFUNERAL HOMES727.381.4911Reform Conservative OrthodoxTHE JEWISH FUNERAL HOME OF PINELLAS COUNTY830 N. Belcher Road Clearwater, Fl 33765 Michael, Mandi, David, Pati and Steven Gross Happy Passover! Freedom Deliverance Reflection Freedom Deliverance Reflection EDWARD CLARK, 94, of Gulfport died March 7. Born in Boston, he was a veteran of the United States Army and was stationed in the Philippines as a store manager for Zayre Department Store. Survivors include his wife of 70 years Marilyn; son and daughter-in-law, Larry Clark and Ellen Moss; daughter and son-in-law, Diane and Russell Cantwell; two sisters, Rhoda Silverman and Helen Irving; two grandsons and a great-granddaughter. (David C. Gross Funeral Homes, St. Petersburg Chapel) HAROLD HAFTEL, 92, of Tarpon Springs, died March 13. Born in Brooklyn, his family moved to Flemington, NJ where they had a chicken farm. He studied agriculture in Pennsylvania and worked for the Department of Agriculture. In the 1960s he was sent to Dunedin to be the inspector of HP Hood & Tarpon Springs to build a chicken farm for his father and brought his parents to Florida. The 40 acres eventually became an orange grove. He was one of Shalom in Clearwater, when services took place in a storefront, and he rethe years he also supported Temple kibbutz and discovered the Weizmann Institute of Science, where he learned about drip irrigation being developed in Israel and used the technology in his own orange grove. He became a maInstitute and sat on its board. Active within the community, he was a memthe Jewish Federation. He also volunteered for the Rotary Club and picking up donated eyeglasses at local libraries. He was one of the recipients of the the Jewish and general community. (David C. Gross Funeral Homes, Clearwater Chapel) EARL WALLACE SKIP MOORE JR. Clearwater, died March 16. He was born and raised in Parsons and Elkins, WV, and lived many years in Baltimore and Virginia Beach moving to Clearwater 10 years ago. He served in the United States Navy. Later he became a licensed electrician in Maryland. He worked in corporate sales for many years and then became a business owner with multiple retail locations throughout Virginia. In recent years, he held the position of Fleet Captain for the Clearwater Yacht Club. Survivors include his wife Sharon Nusman Foster; son Earl Chip Moore III (Lisa Guzzardo); step-sons, Samuel Foster (Leigh Ferguson), Richard Yarrow (Debra), Brian Yarrow (Robin); two grandchildren and six step-grandchildren. The family suggests memorials to Suncoast Hospice. (David C. Gross Funeral Homes, Clearwater Chapel) MACK MITCHELL SHUMAN of St. Petersburg, died March 13. KNOWother staples of the traditional Seder, including the Seder plate and charoset. Their maror (bitter herbs) is a mixture of lemon peel, bitter lettuce and an assortment of other herbs. Israeli Jews observe only one Passover Seder, unlike everywhere else where traditionally two Seders are held, one on Known as yom tov sheni shel galuyot literally the second festival day of the Diaspora the practice was begun 2,000 years ago when Jews were informed of the start of a new lunar month only after it salem. Because Jewish communities outside of Israel were often delayed in learning the news, they consequently couldnt be sure precisely which day festivals were meant to be observed. As a result, the practice of observing two Seder days was instituted just to be sure. Some progressive Jews have adopted the practice of including an orange on the Seder plate as a symbol of inclusion of gays, lesbians and other groups marginalized in the Jewish community. The story goes that the practice was instituted by the feminist scholar Susannah Heschel after she was told that a woman belongs on the synagogue bimah, or prayer podium, like an orange belongs on a Seder plate. But according to Heschel, that story is false. In that apocryphal version, she said, a womans words are attributed to a man, men is erased. Isnt that precisely whats happened over the centuries to womens ideas? In truth, the idea occured after a visit to a university where some students had been putting bread crusts on the Seder plate as a symbol of protest against the exclusion of women, gays and lesbians. Heschel liked the idea but instead proposed an alternative that did not bring hametz onto the seder table. The orange was to be consumed and the seeds spit out representing the rejection of homophobia. The 16th American president was shot at Fords Theatre on a Friday, April 14, 1865, which coincided with the fourth night of Passover. The next morning, Jews who wouldnt normally have attended services on the holiday were so moved by Lincolns passing they made their way to synagogues, where the normally celebratory Passover services were instead marked by acts of mourning and the singing of Yom Kippur hymns. American Jews were so affected by the presidents death that Congregation Shearith Israel in New York recited the Kaddish usually said only for Jews on Lincolns behalf. For many Seder participants, the highken piece of matzah that the Seder leader hides and the children search for; the pera small reward. Most scholars believe the word for dessert. Others say it refers to a kind of post-meal revelry common among thing eaten at the Seder. Donald Trumps new national security adviser John Bolton is a hawk who has said military strikes may be inevitable as a means of preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Naming Bolton suggests that Trump is ready to pull out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal by May 12, the deadline to waive sanctions. The agreement trades sanctions relief for a rollback of Irans nuclear program. Bolton is a staunch opponent of the deal, as is Mike Pompeo, the CIA chief Trump just nominated to replace Rex Tillerson as secretary of state. Bolton has said on multiple occasions that striking Iran to stop it from going nuclear may be inevitable. I dont make any disguise of the idea that ultimately it may take an Israeli strike against Irans nuclear program to stop it, he told the conservative Washington Free Beacon in August. Tillerson and outgoing national security adviser H.R. McMaster both dont like the deal but counseled against pulling out of it because Iran is complying with its narrow strictures, and leaving would remove whatever leverage the United States has with its allies to pressure Iran outside the deals tis, the defense secretary, as the opposes leaving the deal. Bolton has close relations with the pro-Israel community stemming from his success in 1991 in getting the United Nations to rescind its Zionism is racism resolution. Bolton at the time was the assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs under nominated Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations in 2005 and named him acting ambassador. Bolton never cleared the Senate nominating process, in part because of his hawkishness on because subordinates at the State Department emerged to describe him as an abusive boss. Bolton under the younger Bush had been the undersecretary of state for arms control and international security affairs. Pro-Israel groups, including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, at the time broke with their protocol against endorsing a nominee and lobbied for Boltons Bolton was forced to step down from the U.N. post. McMaster got along well with his Israeli counterparts, but angered some on the right wing of the pro-Israel community because of reports that he blocked Trumps recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital. Trump ultimately recognized Jerusalem in December and announced plans to open a temporary embassy there in May. Morton Klein, who heads the hawkish Zionist Organization of America, called Bolton a spectacular choice to lead the NSC. He understands the Arab Islamic war against Israel and the West, Klein tweeted. Bolton is a patriot and an ardent clear thinking Iran Deal. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-CA, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, was alarmed by Boltons appointment. Its hard to escape the disquieting conclusion that the mass exodus of the adults from this Administration is putting our nations security at risk, he tweeted. Ambassador Boltons hawkish and conspiratorial thinking will only make matters dangerously worse. In February, Bolton wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal urging the United States to use force to solve the nuclear standoff with North Korea.New Trump advisor is Iran hawk, close to pro-Israel groupsHe was born in Baltimore. Survivors daughter and son-in-law Meredith and Paul Leonhirth; stepdaughter, Tanya Tostado; and four grandchildren. The family suggests memorials to Temple Hospice. JEWISH PRESS of PINELLAS COUNTY PAGE 17 MARCH 23 APRIL 5, 2018 Weekly Kosher Shabbat Dinners Traditional Jewish holiday Celebrations Private Van Service 250 58th Street North, St. Petersburg, FL 33710 Ad sponsored by Benjamin Tower FoundationStudio and one bedroom apartments are available through rental programs that offer affordable housing to seniors living on a limited income. Daily Activities 24 Hour Front Desk Coverage Reserved Parking Activities, Activities, Activities Weekly Kosher Shabbat Dinners Traditional Jewish holiday Celebrations Private Van Service 250 58th Street North, St. Petersburg, FL 33710 Ad sponsored by Benjamin Tower FoundationStudio and one bedroom apartments are available through rental programs that offer affordable housing to seniors living on a limited income. Daily Activities 24 Hour Front Desk Coverage Reserved Parking Activities, Activities, Activities Wishing you a Happy Passover! Wishing you a Happy Passover! Wishing you a Happy Passover! Wishing you a Wishing you a Happy Passover! Wishing you a Happy Passover! Wishing you a Humans of Tel Aviv, that will be on display throughout the day. My goal is to give people around the world an inside look into the rich and remarkably diverse lives of Tel Avivians and showcase Israeli multiculturalism and its vibrant civil society, Kaganovits said. Kaganovits photos reach as many as 500,000 people per month including many in the Arab world through his blog, which he began in 2012. Accompanying each photo is a brief story about the person he has captured with his camera. What I love most about this project is that I can reach people in a way that Im not forcing my ideas upon others, but rather simply taking a photo, telling a story, and letting it speak for itself, the photographer said. You can see religious Orthodox Jews, Muslims and Christians alongside gays, lesbians, and transsexuals; you can see refugees sophisticated people from Rothschild Boulevard, Kaganovits explained in an interview with Israel21c.org. A variety of other speakers also will be on hand to remind folks of the importance of the Jewish state and what the nation faces as it continues to grow and bloom. Rabbi Ed Rosenthal of Hillels of the Florida Suncoast will speak about the challenges Jewish students face on college campuses around the Tampa Bay area when speakers and student groups voice positions against Israel. Two authors will discuss their Jewish-themed books. Roslyn Franken of Seminole will talk about her book, Meant To Be: A True Story of Might, Miracles and Triumph of the Human Spirit. It is a love story about how her mom, who survived Nazi concentration camps, and dad, who was in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, met and fell in love. Author Lynda Lippman-Lockhart of St. Petersburg will also speak about her book, The Laundry Room, which is a tale of Israeli resistance in 1946, two years before the state of Israel was created. Both authors will be available for sales and signings of their books. Another speaker, Eric Lynn of St. Petersburg played a large role during the Obama administration in getting approval and funding for Israels Iron Dome rocket defense system. Lynn will discuss his work on the project, which is credited with saving hundreds of civilian lives. For musical entertainment, Rabbi Danielle Upbin of Congregation Beth Shalom of Clearwater will lead a sing-a-long, accompanied on guitar by Blake Lenett, a congregant at Beth Shalom. Food will be complimentary with traditional Israeli and Jewish food, provided by Jo-Els Delicatessen and Marketplace of St. Petersburg. For the kids there will be a bounce house, an archeological dig, face painting, balloon art and Walsingham Rd.SEMINOLE BLVD. 113th St. / Ridge Rd.ULMERTON RD.Starkey Rd.Heritage VillageWalsingham ParkTAMPA Walsingham Rd. E W N SLARGOPINEWOOD CULTURAL PARK Botanical Gardens LARGO MALL BEACHES 12211 Walsingham Rd. Largo, FL 33778More information about the Israel Independence Day celebration can be found on the Federations website, www.jewishpinellas.org or by calling (727) 530-3223.ISRAEL Photographer Erez Kaganovits, creator of the Humans of Tel Aviv exhibit, will be at the Pinellas Israel Independence Day event on Sunday, April 15. the opportunity to make Israeli For all ages, there will be Krav Maga self defense demonstrations and Israeli dancing. A committee of individuals representing synagogues and agencies has worked to create a day of fun and celebration for everyone, said Maxine Kaufman, the Federations director of arts, culture, and education. This is a very special year for Israel, and were bringing together the entire community in recognition of this big event. The venue will offer both indoor and outdoor space, some of it under tents, for the festivals activities, so folks can get out of the heat if needed. The celebration is being sponsored by the Florida Arts and Culture Division.

2019-04-19T11:20:49Z

http://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00032765/00182

Most online marketers probably know what Fiverr is all about. Fiverr is the $5 marketplace and that’s how it got its name. Online marketers underestimate how this amazing platform can help grow their business. They believe you can’t get something worthy by just spending $5. If Fiverr isn’t that great you will not find service providers earning up to 100,000 reviews on their gig. Yes, there was a gig that has such massive reviews. You definitely know that this kind of service is beneficial to people and that’s why they keep coming back to order. Even recently I’ve ordered a gig with over 1000 active orders, meaning the seller is currently working on these orders. So before you say Fiverr is a waste of money you need to take a look at the reviews the seller has. If you find a seller with at least 100 reviews and with at least 4+ star rating, you definitely know it’s a service you want to order if that’s something that will help you as an online marketer. You can benefit a lot from Fiverr, right from logo design which is an important part of any business, to fixing your website problems or building and setting up a new website, video commercials and much more. The sky is the limit when it comes to using Fiverr. There are a lot of services you don’t know exist on Fiverr unless you visit the categories there. Like I’ve said the key to using Fiverr is to make sure that the seller has some positive reviews. And not only that you should use a gig once before making conclusions on Fiverr services. Fiverr has really changed recently because they’ve upgraded their pricing model. Fiverr is known for their low price services and that’s why everyone loves them. But as a result of this they ended up with a lot of poor quality services. Now at Fiverr sellers can set pricing at their own terms. This means more quality services since a lot of freelancers wanted to work at Fiverr but due to low pricing they couldn’t join or they can’t offer much to buyers. Now you can find sellers offering services at $50, $100, $200 and much more. And you know that these services with reasonable rates offer the best solution to businesses and online marketers. Instead of searching online to find expensive services with fake testimonials why not give Fiverr a try since sellers can’t fake reviews and testimonials. A seller on Fiverr can’t fake 1000’s of positive reviews. By now if you’re the type of online marketer that believes Fiverr services are junk you probably understand it might help your online marketing efforts. The beauty of this website is that you don’t really need to invest a lot from the start. You just need to start small so that you can figure out whether the quality of the service is actually what you’re looking for or not. If things are good you can upgrade with extras. Almost every seller I’ve come across on Fiverr has extras. Extras are like up-sells or I can say an extension of the service you’re buying. Let’s demonstrate with an example. Let’s say you’re ordering logo design for your business. The seller will offer to design the logo for just $5 or $10 on average. But at this price he’ll only send you the image file that’s either PNG or any other image format, but it’s not going to be in editable format. So in order to get the PSD or SVG and other editable file formats you have to order extras. A seller can offer to give you PSD format for an extra $10, or $20 bucks. For gig extras also the seller can also offer to make unlimited revisions until you’re satisfied, unlike when you order the basic gig which will only give you one revision. And we all know that when it comes to graphic design a lot of revisions are needed before the design meet the buyer’s needs. So basically you now understand that Fiverr isn’t just a poor freelancing website. If you’re willing to invest more you’ll definitely get the best services like any other freelancing website out there. This article we’ll be talking about the important Fiverr services which every online marketer need to be using to promote their business online. So far we’ve just show you the benefits of using Fiverr and why you need to use it for your business. But before listing the Fiverr services you need as an online marketer, you need to understand more on how this website work and what makes it different from other freelance websites. We’ll also share some tips that will help you come up with the right Fiverr gig that offer the best services. On your typical freelance website out there you’re hiring a freelancer to work for you, but at Fiverr you’re buying a service. But there are sellers on Fiverr too that offer themselves for hire such data entry or virtual assistants. You’ll find a seller saying “I’ll do data entry for 3 hours for only $10” or “I’ll be your virtual assistant for one hour at $5”. But basically with Fiverr you’re buying a service not hiring a freelancer. Just like any other freelance website out there, you can find a lot of low quality providers. Fiver isn’t an exception; you’ll find a lot of spammers on this website. You can find a seller that promise to place your advert on his 100,000 fans on social media. Later on you’ll find that there is no single active user on his fan page. That’s why it’s important to choose your gigs wisely. One of the best ways to find good gigs on Fiverr is to take advantage of the tools they offer and also trust your instinct. So let’s sort out how find these quality gigs for whatever service you’re looking for. Every time someone orders a gig on Fiverr he is given the option to rate and leave a review for the seller. Sellers can be rated from 1-5 and also can leave a short sentence review. Any seller you want to work with you have make sure they have enough reviews that prove they can deliver what their gig is talking about. You have to be careful though because Fiverr reviews and ratings aren’t standard as other reviews websites like Amazon. On Amazon even 3 start rating is great but on Fiverr you have look for 4.5 out of 5 star rating. On Fiverr most buyers won’t bother to leave a negative review on a service seller even if he did a low quality job. And that’s because $5 or $10 isn’t that much to them. So I can tell you that buyers have this habit of leaving positive reviews even if a gig didn’t deliver to their expectation. So with that said you should look for gigs that have 100’s if not thousands of reviews. But a seller with just 10 reviews even if it’s a 5 star rating all of them, it’s not something you should fall for. When you see few reviews with perfect rating you know it’s something that has been set up. As there are a lot of competitions on Fiverr most sellers from the beginning pay people to come and review their services. One good option that Fiverr offers is sorting reviews by the negative reviews. This means even if the seller has a lot of positive review you can check all the negative reviews at once. This will give you an idea of the negative side of the gig. Whether you’re ordering a logo gig or article writing gig you want to make sure the seller you’re going to choose showcases some samples on the gig page. This will help you know the skill level and quality of the seller. You also have to be careful with this because most sellers have the habit of uploading their best samples. You might see attractive logo or graphic design samples but when you order you get something worse. That’s why it’s always a good idea to try the service once before placing bulk order. All in all you just have to make sure that you view some samples especially when ordering content writing services because on Fiverr most of the writers aren’t native while some use content writing spinners. Imagine someone offering to write 5×500 words articles for just $5. You know they’re push button generated articles. Another important point you might consider even though it’s not necessary but I found that most sellers with video promo on their page provide the best services. With videos you can see this people in action regarding the job they promise to deliver when you order. And the confidence with which they present themselves will tell you they’re good at what they do. When you see a seller with good positive reviews and with a good video presentation on the gig page you know they’re trust worthy. Now we’ve seen how to choose the right gigs on Fiverr, we’ll move on to share some gigs to avoid at all cost, because they won’t help you at all in your online marketing campaigns. If care isn’t taken they’ll do harm to your business. When you see a gig says “I’ll do SEO to rank your website on Google” you know it’s a joke. Even SEO consultants that charge hundreds to thousands of dollars for ranking websites on Google don’t guarantee first page ranking because there are a lot of factors involved like the competition of the keywords and how well your competitor pages are optimized. How could you possibly imagine someone promising first page ranking for $5 or $10! But you might ask why do such gigs have hundreds or thousands of reviews? Nobody orders such gigs for their websites; they’re used on web 2.0 websites. These websites mostly are authority websites and are well established on Google. Even spam links can favor their pages. Online marketers also use such gigs to optimize their YouTube videos and it’s working for them. But under no circumstances you should order these types of gigs on your personal websites and blogs. So how do you know the seller is selling automated Backlinks? When a gig says something like “I’ll build 1000 high PR domain Backlinks” you know that’s definitely auto generated links. Nothing can ruin your website reputation in eyes of search engines other than this kinds of auto generated Backlinks. There are some Backlinks sellers on Fiverr that might be worthy of looking and most of them are manually generated. There are a lot of precautions and factors to consider before buying manual link building on Fiverr. But for the bulk Backlinks that are only five or ten bucks, you know you’re screwing your website. These are also very popular gigs on Fiverr and I wonder why they got lots of reviews. These kinds of gigs are not only deceptive but also spam. You’ll find a lot of gigs promising to submit your press release or article to 100’s of top directories. Not knowing that these directories are created by the sellers or the websites are considered as spam by Google bots. Even the powerful article directories like ezinearticles have lost their shine these days. You can neither get traffic nor build quality links. So stay away from such gigs. This is also another fake service you need to avoid; in fact these services should be banned on Fiverr. It’s funny you find a lot of people on Fiverr claiming “I’ll add 1000 real Facebook or twitter followers to your account”. Another interesting part is it will be done in 24 hours! You know that nothing is real here because he will use a tool consistently to add the same ghost followers to each buyer that orders his gig. If you however just want the number of followers to increase on your social account you can order such kind of gigs but for real engagement you won’t even get a real click to or views to your posts. These are some few services online marketer falls for on Fiverr. There are many funny gigs out there that even your gut can tell you it’s a fake service. So please be aware of them at all cost. Now let’s go on and share some of the best Fiverr services every online marketer need to be using in order to improve their online marketing campaigns. As an online marketer you always need more content. Online marketing is all about content marketing. Fiverr has more than enough when it comes to content writing. You can find writers from any part of this world. For $5 you can have a native writer to put together 200-500 words of unique content for your website. It can be a blog post or press release and the best part is most sellers can deliver this service fast. Remember as a rule of thumb always order one article before placing orders in bulk. Also check reviews first before investing your little $5. Seller’s writing samples can be deceptive. They showcase the best content as sample and can later outsource the task to a poor writer. Mrproofreading is one of the best writers on Fiverr that will give you unique and SEO friendly content for your website or blog. He’s a native English speaker with thousands of reviews. He knows how to hook your customers; this means if you want to people something you can rely on this gig. This is also another great writer that will give you 500 words unique content for your website. He has lots of repeated clients and will give you full copyright on all the content your order. Content is 100% original and pass copyscape, this gig is great because there is unlimited revisions, this means even if you’re not satisfied you can request for some corrections. Every business starts with a logo and it plays an important part in any business. People can forget your business name but hardly forget you logo image. As an online marketer chances are you’re not a good graphic designer, so you want to outsource this task on Fiverr because there 100’s of sellers that can design awesome logo for just $5. If you’re looking for a perfect logo design for your business this is one of the gigs you should check on Fiverr. You’ll get professional logo concepts and you’ll get source files. You’ll get high quality images with transparency. Not only that you’ll get unlimited revisions and your order will be processed fast. When you order this gig you’ll get not one but up to three logo designs so that you can choose the right one that fit your business. And the best part is you get unlimited revisions for all the three logos. You’ll get unique design just like you’ll get when you order one logo. Instead of staying all day trying to create a fancy image for your social media accounts why not outsource it on Fiverr. There are great image editors on Fiverr and also very cheap. This gig is your one stop for all your social media images. For $5 this gig will take care of all your motivational, inspirational, and healthy or whatever quotes you want to be designed. You’ll get high resolution images and your logo or company name can be added all the time. This is one of the best gigs when it comes to social media images. This is the second best gig for social media images. You get designed animated gif banners, backgrounds or any web related website design with this gig. The basic gig also starts at $5. He can design your Facebook, Twitter or YouTube covers with your logo on it. Who doesn’t want to monetize their website for more revenue? The best way to monetize your website traffic is by placing banner ads. Creating a banner by yourself will consume a lot of your time. It’s time to use Fiverr and get an expert create that attractive banner for you. If you want generate clicks and sales from your ads, you should definitely try out this gig. This gig comes with unique approach and design in order to capture prospect’s attention. You’ll get beautiful banners for your blogs, landing pages and social media ads. This is another perfect gig that gives you professional graphic banner ads for use in your online marketing channels. He’s a top rated seller from UK and has over 10 years of experience when it comes to graphic design. Check the gig to see what they can deliver to you; I am sure you won’t get disappointed. This is also one of the popular services offered on Fiverr. This service has its own sub category. You’ll find different accents that are willing to create a video on your behalf without spending much. For as low as $10 you find a spokesperson for up to 1 or 2 minutes. Whatever product or service you have you can find someone on Fiverr that will speak your message. Are you looking for the perfect video commercial? If yes, this gig is for you. This is a great gig for those that want someone to speak their message out. You can provide the background you want and the images you want to be added to the video. Remove any guess work and order this gig now for all your video commercials. This is another good spokesperson that’s easy to work with. If you’re looking for someone that’s professionally dressed you should give this gig a try. Just get your script ready and order this gig, you’ll be glad you did. We all know that whiteboard videos sell like hot cakes these days. A lot of online marketers have seen increase in conversion by adding whiteboard videos on their sales and landing pages. It’s time to take advantage of the cheap services on Fiverr that are offering whiteboard videos. Get the best whiteboard animation videos for your business. This guy has a unique gig for video animations and you’ll get a fast turnaround. You’ll provide a written script and special instructions. And also the logo or the voice you want for the videos. This is another excellent gig for creating attention grabbing videos. You can go ahead and check the samples on his gallery and you’ll understand this is the right gig for video animation. If you’re not satisfied you can request for revisions, so you have nothing to lose. This is another time consuming task every online marketer should outsource on Fiverr. Any repetitive task need to be outsourced if you really want to maximize your online income. At cheap rates you can find sellers that are willing to upload content with images and whatever instructions you might have. Instead of staying all day posting content on your wordpress blog why not allow this gig do the job for you! Not only on wordpress, you can as well order this gig if you want to post content on any website. He can also proofread and edit your content before publishing so as to ensure error free content on your website or blog. If you want your content to be submitted on your blog through various online channels you can count on this gig. Supply your articles or press release and it will be submitted to you desired websites. Are you having a lot of WordPress problems that take you hours or you have to visit the wordpress forum and wait days before you get answers to your problems. WordPress problems arise especially if you using a lot of scripts and plug-ins on your blog. A lot of sellers on Fiverr can fix most of the common wordpress problems for only $5. If your wordpress start showing you error messages or you failed to install plugins, head over to Fiverr and get it fixed. With this gig you can fix anything regarding your wordpress, like installing wordpress, data base connection error and internal serve error, just to name a few. You should contact the seller so that you know what package to order because there multiple packages. This is also another wordpress pro on Fiverr that can handle all your wordpress problems within short time. This gig doesn’t stop at fixing wordpress error messages, he can also customize your CSS and PHP files and can also design a new wordpress for you. You can definitely give this gig a shot for your wordpress customization needs. As an online marketer you sometimes want to add multiple data on a website or maybe you want to extract the data from another website. Fiverr has a lot of cheap data entry experts. You’ll find sellers that are willing to do data entry for up to 3 hours at just $5. Outsourcing data entry tasks is a real time saver for online marketers. Think of any data entry job and this gig can do it for you. This include web research, data entry, data mining, word/excel typing, wordpress data entry and just anything else that comes in your mind can be outsourced with this gig. The seller has a proven track of record. So this means there is nothing to be afraid of before ordering this gig. The basic gig order is for up to 4 hours of data entry work. Make sure to discuss with the seller on the nature of the job before placing your order. For online marketers research never ends. And this is the best gig to handle research and data entry task. If you want to scrape data from multiple websites you need to try out this gig. They’re one of the best Fiverr gigs for the job. At some point you’ll always want to edit your graphics, from your business logo to eBook covers or banners. There are Photoshop experts on Fiverr and can do whatever Photoshop edits you want. Instead of wasting a lot of hours trying to make simple edits to your graphics, it’s better to outsource the task for only $5. With over 10,000 reviews and five star rating you know this is a gig to count on when it comes Photoshop retouching. Order this gig for any image editing task. Price starts from only $5 but you do have to contact seller for the appropriate pricing of your edits. Order this gig for any image retouching you want such as changing background of an image, whitening teeth of pictures, retouching the skin and much more. This is another great service for retouching images. If you’re looking to add different materials to your images you should check this gig. Bob has more than 20 years of experience and he’s on Fiverr to offer his services at affordable rates starting from $5 only. One of the important components of any video is its thumbnail. When it comes to YouTube your thumbnail is what separates you from your competitors. You have to creative to come up with the right YouTube thumbnail. On Fiverr you’ll find a lot of gigs offering this service and you’ll benefit a lot as an online marketer. This gig has served a lot of powerful YouTubers when it comes to creating attention grabbing thumbnails. The success of your videos hugely depends on thumbnails and that’s something you don’t want to mess with. Order this gig to get the best quality thumbnails for your videos. You’ll get different formats for your images like Ai, PSD and more. If you’re looking for the best thumbnail you won’t regret ordering this gig. This seller took the challenge to create 3 professional and high quality thumbnails for your videos. He has five star rating and thousands of positive reviews. With so many years of experience in graphic designs you’ll get the best thumbnails quickly and easily. Order and you won’t get disappointed. If you have eBooks or you’re just offering free report on your website you need an eBook cover. Coming up with the right eBook cover can be time consuming. You’ll find the best e-cover designers on Fiverr starting at just $5. Having over 16,000 reviews, this seller has proven to be one of the best eBook cover designers on Fiverr. Very creative and has access to over 50 million stock photos to design your eBook cover the way you want. For the basic gig the seller offers, you’ll get a 3d mockup and will get unlimited revisions until you’re satisfied. You definitely need this gig for your eBook cover designs. This is also another good seller on Fiverr with a good track of record. Having over 18 years experience in the field, you know it’s someone that knows what they’re doing. With this gig you’ll get awesome covers and comes with unlimited revisions in case you’re not satisfied. Even if you’re going to record all your videos with camera you’ll need professional intro and Outros for your videos and Fiverr is your best friend when it comes to creating these intros and Outros. As you might already know you only have a few seconds to hook your visitors on your videos. The first step is having a smart intro to your videos. This gig is meant to design professional intros and outros for your videos with ease and without spending much out of your pocket. Whatever ideas you might have, let them out and the seller will design a modern and professional intros and outros for your videos. This is another full time graphic designer that will design cool and eye-catching intros for your videos. You have the option to choose your custom colors until you’re 100% satisfied. You can have your logo or whatever image you want to be added to the videos. This gig is one of the best animation services on Fiverr. This is also another time consuming task. Most people might consider using rev.com, but Fiverr is a lot cheaper. So if you have hundreds of hours of audio files that need to be transcribed you should head over to fiver to find the best gig in that category. For only $5 this seller will transcribe up to 8 minutes of your audio or video files. Order this gig to transcribe YouTube videos, interviews, podcasts and anything you just want to transcribe. Why spend hours when someone can do it cheap. The seller has more than 20 years of experience in this field; you don’t need to worry about quality. This is another good seller on Fiverr when it comes to transcription. The seller has more than 2000 happy customers and has transcribed thousands of hours of transcription. This gig can transcribe whatever you have and bring it back to you fast. And finally we’re closing the list with keyword research. Keyword research is important for any online campaign. There are a lot of Fiverr sellers that can do this job perfectly. You just provide your seed keyword and they’ll give you a list of profitable keywords that will help you drive more traffic to your website. Want to get the best keywords that are easier to rank? This gig is all you need. Stop wasting time using keywords that are difficult to rank. Order this and get the most profitable keywords ideas that will bring in more traffic to your website. With thousands of positive reviews this seller will give you a list of 200 best keywords for your online marketing campaigns. You can specify your country or URL you want the keywords ideas to be generated from. You’ll get in-depth information like traffic estimate, SEO competition, PPC competition and the level of difficulty. There are a lot of gigs online marketers can benefit from when it comes to using Fiverr. You just have to be careful and make sure that any gig you choose doesn’t hurt your online marketing campaigns. If you’re into link-building, then check out 15 Best Link Building services to buy on Fiverr and read about if Guest Posts are safe to buy on Fiverr.

2019-04-23T08:57:37Z

https://mrwebcapitalist.com/15-best-fiverr-gigs-for-online-marketers/

Comment: Thanks so much for all the buttons, loads more than 10! and also for the cute little felt embellishments, did you make them? Also I LOVE the amazing postage stamp on the front of the package I am going to have to frame it. Cheers! Comment: Thank you so much! This one made it! and thanks for the wonderful chocolate - it was one of those days and it is hitting the spot! LOL! Comment: Thank you, Miet! Very interesting how Belgian lace is made. Comment: Dank je wel voor de erg leuke kaart. Ik vind dit zo knap gemaakt, ik zo er helemaal van in de knoop raken. Een fijne zomer en happy swapping! Comment: Holy Zeus! I wasn't expecting all this at all - now I feel bad for what I sent out - Demeter. Thank you so very very much - wow. Comment: Thanks for the beautiful postcard with that special stamp on it. Comment: Hi, thanks for the colourful magnets! I like them very much, they make my fridge brightly!! Comment: Thank you for brightening my day! I loved the package and will enjoy sharing the chocolates with my family. I especially like the green key ring! Comment: What a fun bunch of erasers; thanks so much!!! Comment: What a great package! Love the thimble, tea bags and yummy chocolate. Thank you so much. I wish I could give you more hearts! Comment: Miet...I love my new 'springtime' pincushion. So cute! and thanks for the yummy chocolate...I must have one now. Comment: Thank you so much and the chocolate well that is a fav or mine and love the beads! You really are a great swapper - oh yes I love the thimble number 381! Comment: Thank you so much for the cute pens! :) And I can't wait to try the chocolate! Comment: what an adorable pincushion - I love the little flower pins too !! especially the chocolate and heart shaped goodies are appreciated - thank you very much !!! Comment: What a wonderful package, Miet! Thank you so much. I love it all especially the fabric and the chocolates. Many years ago, my borther had a penpal from Belgium and years later when they were in college, he came to visit and he brought Chocolate - mmmm!!! That was the last time I had Belgium chocolate...it's delicious. Many, many thanks! Comment: Thanks Miet for the really beautiful mapcards!!!! I love them!!! Comment: I loved the wooden buttons. The hearts are for the chocolate. Unfortunately, it is summer in NZ and it all melted, amazingly, the buttons did not get smudge. Comment: Thank you for all the buttons and for the Chocolates, those were great!!! Comment: These teas sound so unique. And I love the coaster! Comment: Thank you so much :) I received them this morning and have had two already! Thank you for the coaster as well. Comment: Thank you for the most wonderful angel! She arrived today. The package was totally mangled, but she survived very well! I am going to hang her by my sewing machine in my craft area! Thank you for the extras, too! I love the little star candles and felt pieces! The candy is yummy, too! Thank you for a great package! Comment: After a month travelling the tea arrived yesterday!!!! Thanks for all dear Miet, especially for the bunch of extra empty teabags... I hate the postal service at Xmas time!!! Happy New Year for you! Comment: What a beautiful heart, I love it! And the chocolates were an unexpected surprise, you are wonderful! Comment: I received my beautiful angel today, Christmas Eve. Thank you so very much for doing such a wonderful job and putting so much love into making my little treasure. I was so thrilled to get your package. I enjoyed all the other lovlies too. May your Christmas be heavenly. Smiling sassycat. Comment: Thank you for the wonderful teas and the coaster. I received the second envelope long before the first one arrived.... love the postal system:-) I can't wait to try the teas! Comment: Thank you for the AWESOME pencils, they are *perfect*! And thanks for the chocolate too! Comment: such fun stuff! I love it... thanks and happy holidays! Comment: Wow, I absolutely love the ornaments. That snowman is adorable. Thank you for sending me a great package and I will enjoy the chocolates! Comment: Wow oh Wow! Thank you! I love the little beaded angel you made, and all the extra goodies in the box! The pinecone snowman ornie, the gum, candy, tea and cute little buttons. What a terrific box! Thanks! Comment: Thanks! a lovely selection of teas, so many I haven't tried yet, thank you! Comment: thanks so much for the great variety of teas! I can't wait to try the love tea. how cute with the hearts all over it! And thanks for the beautiful coaster with the butterflies!! Comment: Thank you, thank you! I loved the magnets and they are proudly displayed on my fridge. The chocolates were an extra special treat - much appreciated! Comment: Awesome! It made me crave for chocs! Belgian chocs are very, very expensive in Malaysia. But I have tasted them and they are great! Thanks for the card! Comment: Nice selection. Love the coaster! Comment: As usual, a really good tea selection!! Thanks dear Miet! Comment: What a sweet pincushion. Love the red. Thank you for the chocolates. Comment: Thanks! I love it! Comment: Thank you!! The buttons are so lovely! I will be deffintly making things from these and the chocolate is delicious! Comment: Beautifully made brooches, I love the pink and green one especially...thanks for the beads too! Comment: Thanks for the tea and for the pretty coaster - I brought it to work, and it makes me smile when I look down! Comment: Thank you for a great tea selection and the coaster! Comment: I loved my package! The coaster is so cute, and the tea will be delicious! Thank you!! Comment: thanks so much for both brooches and the paper. How sweet! Thank you so much!! Your birthday is the same as mine!! Comment: Thank you very much, Miet, for your teabags and extra. I´m very happy. Comment: Hi Miet! Thanks for the cute pack, I am really enjoyed! Have a nice day! Comment: Thanks, love the tea !! Comment: The chocolates on the postcard looks so yummy I was nearly drooling when i pulled it out of my mailbox. Love that you included a note on the back explaining it as well. Thanks a lot! Comment: thank you for great tea, hope it is this swap, as there was not the name in swap:). Comment: As usual i love your selection and your extras!!! Hugs to my belgian tea friend!!! Comment: Wow, I'm so impressed by huge effort you put into making the plastic bag yarn and crocheting the 3 lovely bags and pouches. Thank you so much! Comment: As always, a swap with extra - thank you! Comment: Lovely ancient building, thank you! Comment: My grandmother was from Germany, so I love getting things from Europe. I really like the elf one! Comment: beautiful vintage photo...thanks ever so much! Comment: Thank you for your package! Extra teas and a coaster was nice :) I'm having a flu so I'm going to have some tea right away. Comment: Awesome! Thanks for the card! Comment: Thanks for the teas, Miet! They look great! I really appreciate it! Comment: Miet,Thank you for a wonderful package. I love the teas. The thimble is very special to me since our daughter took the Chunnel to Brugges last winter. Comment: Beauitful castle pc! Thank you. Next time please be sure to put the swap name on the pc as I m in so many of these swaps it is hard to tell them apart. :) Thanks. Comment: thank you so much for the yummy smelling teas! and thank you for reading my profile! i love fruity teas! and the felt coaster is so pretty! Comment: Thank you very much for the tea (including the extra 2 bags!) and the butterfly coaster. It's too pretty to actually use as a coaster, though; I'll probably hang it in my studio. The strawberry tea smells really good! I can't wait to try it! Thank you for such a fun package! Comment: Thanks for the tea (including the extra 2 bags!) and the cooster. I think the "Love Tea" looks really fun! :-) My husband thinks it is really cool to get teas from other countries, so we really appreciate the tea you sent. And the stamps on the envelope were very pretty, too. Comment: Thanks a lot for the great selection of tea and also for the coaster. Comment: Thank you for your postcard, I love it. Comment: Thank you! The brooch is lovely! And the little treasures you added are wonderful. I like how you made the little purse out of recycling plastic bags. I will enjoy the teas and the pretty seed beads as well! Thank you! Comment: Miet - Thank you very much for the excellent selection of teas and the beautiful felt tea coaster...I love it!! "Heart" for you!!! Comment: Thank you so much for the pincushion and all of the fabulous extras!I wish I could give you more than one heart for this! I absolutely adore the colorful pincushion (and making it from a jar lid was a great idea). Thanks again! Comment: Thank you very much for the lovely rose coaster and all the yummy teas which are new to me. Happy Swapping! Comment: The envelope arrived this morning a bit damaged but as always i love your selection and the coaster! Thanks my friend and my best wishes from Spain!!! Comment: Thank you! I'm alwasy glad to have you as a swap partner so I can have more coasters! Comment: Thanks Lamazon! lovely teas and a super cute coaster- thanks!! Comment: The funniest pens i have ever seen. Thank you very much! Comment: Thank you so much for all the teas, this brand is delicious! Comment: yum! these are all new teas to me. :) i can't wait to try the HOT LOVE (raspberry vanilla) tea. mmm.... and thank you for the pretty pink rose coaster. i'll take it to work with me. it'll help brighten up my work space while i enjoy my yummy teas. thank you so much! Comment: Thanks for the coaster! Comment: Wish I could give two hearts! Comment: What a fantastic package. I love everything you sent but the bag you made from grocery bags is my favorite. I am taking it to work to show off your work. I know they will be as impressed as I am. Thank you! Comment: Thanks for the great package. I adore the crocheted purse - what a marvelous way to use plastic bags! The extras you sent were also perfect for me, thank-you. Comment: Thank you for the teas and the pretty rose coaster! They - the teas- smell yummy! Comment: thank you for a special package with extra teas and the coaster. I love it!!! Comment: Thank you! They smell so lovely. P.s. Im in love with your name. Comment: Thanks for the coasters. I reaaly enjoy them. Comment: Thank you for the yummy teas! Comment: Thanks for the delicious-looking teas and the lovely coaster- so sweet of you! Comment: Hello! Thanks for the great teas and for the yellow butterfly cut-out! Comment: Thanks! If we keep joining the same tea swaps, pretty soon I'll have a complete set of those coasters. :) hehe. Comment: Thanks for the extras! Comment: thanks for the beads!! Comment: I just got your tea bags, thanks a lot!!! I loved to receive yogui teas, I have been wanting to try them for a really long time.and what a thoughtful gift that beaituful coaster was!! i loved it thank you!!!pd awesome stamps!!! Comment: the teas all sound great, and the coaster is so cute...thanks! Comment: Thank you for the teas and the coaster was a nice touch, also loved the laarge flower postage stamp. I have saved it in my scrap book. Comment: What a super-fun package to open! So many things to enjoy and I don't know where to start. First I guess, did you make the purse of recycled bags? It's such a good idea and attractive too; is it knit or crocheted? [I do neither and now wish I did]. It's all a super set of choices -of course the chocolate is just the icing on the cake! Each item, really was so well chosen. A ton of hearts to you. Response: I'm soooooooo glad you liked it all :o))I made yarn with shoppingbags and crocheted the purse .I love to recycle . Comment: thanks for the great package and the extra teas! Comment: I love the coasters you always send along with tea! Thank you. Comment: Thanks for all the wonderful smelling tea goodness! You were really generous and you also sent that coaster so you're definitely getting a heart :) I can't wait to get tasting! Comment: The crocheted bag is amazing..I wish I was as talented as you! Thank you for the wonderful items! Comment: Bedankt voor de lekkere thee en de leuke onderlegger!! Comment: Hi Miet, thank you very much for all your teas, extra gift and very nice stamps. Comment: Wow!! This was a lot of tea. Thanks also for the coasters and all the chocolate. Yum! Comment: What a gorgeous pillow! So well made. And thanks for all the Belgian chocolates-what awesome extras! You're a great swapper!!! Comment: Thank you so much for the lovely assortment and the pretty coaster too!!! Comment: Thank you for the teas and the teabag coaster. Comment: thank you for the hearts package! i love everything you sent. this truly brightened my day! Comment: thanks, I <3 your selection and the coaster! Comment: Thanks- very interesting picture! Comment: Thank you for the beautiful card of lace making. I have Belgium window curtains (my mother bought when I was a child) hanging in my home now. Comment: Thank you so much for all the great teas!! Also, thank you for the chocolates! They were really good!!! Comment: Thanks for the nice selection of teas and the cute extra coaster!!! Comment: Thanks not only for the great selection of teas, but also for the very cute spoons! Comment: Thanks, this is my first ever swap-bot item I've received. Comment: I could give you another heart too if i could! Teas are wonderful and you sent me one of my favourite teas :) Thank you! Comment: Hallo Miet. Hoe klein de wereld is ... Al kwam de kaart uit België, hij verdient absoluut een ster. Echt leuk zo'n oude foto, 'k zou niet weten waar ik zo'n exemplaar zou kunnen vinden. Nog bedankt ! Comment: Thanks a lot for your teabags and chocolate, mňam, mňam. Comment: thank you for the teas.....and chocolate!!!! Comment: Thanks a lot for the tea and the extra :) Love it all! Comment: Bedankt voor de thee, ken er maar 1 of 2 van en de tasonderlegger, die is al in gebruik! Comment: Miet! Thank you kindly for the delicious-looking tea assortment. I am going to try one of the strawberry teas right now. Thanks for being so sweet to read my profile and send me such a generous number of stamps. (I especially like the farm animal ones). You were so thoughtful and kind to do so! My husband especially appreciated the chocolate :) (and I do too). If I could give you more than one heart, I would! Comment: Your package arrived today -- you were SO generous with the teas (they look fabulous!) and the extra chocolates. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Comment: You are too sweet the chocolates were a wonderful treat, thank you!!! Comment: I AM SO SURPRISED!!! I almost drop my eyes when I reseived your package, so much different kind of tea and those absolutely beatyful teaspoons!!Thank you so much! If you ever like to have teaswap with me, please let me know! Comment: Thanks so much! Cheers! Comment: Thanks for your wonderful selection of teas and the cute xmas ornament!!! Comment: What a beautiful castle! Looks like tons of fun! Thank you. Comment: Thanks for the great Christmas card. I have never received on in a foreign language before. It was so cool!! Comment: What a cute assortment of items! The magnets are like nothing I've ever seen. Thank you so much! Comment: Thank you for the magnets, notepads, pen, and gum. Comment: Oh my gosh, what a wonderful package full of snowman goodness! I absolutely love everything, thank you so very much! I'm covered in snowmen this year and loving every bit of it! Multiply the number of hearts a hundredfold and it might come close to what I want to give you! Comment: Thanks for the delicious teas and the coaster! Comment: I was so glad to hear from you again. Comment: Thanks! Such cute ornaments! Comment: Wow! Thanks for the yummy teas and the coaster! Now I have matched pair of coasters from you! :) The vanille tea is wonderful! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Comment: Thanks for the great tea and the cute coaster. Comment: Thanks so much for a great selection of teas,I can't wait to try them! I love the mug coaster,the colors are great. Comment: Great postcard. Thank you! Comment: Thanks for the special selection of nice tea bags and the extra stuff! Comment: I love the package: many new teas, the lovely mug coaster and a scout stamp! THANKS! Comment: Wow! Double the tea, a tea coaster, and my favorite flavors too--I can't thank you enough! Comment: Beautiful bookmarks, thank you! And the stamp on the envelope was very fun, too! Comment: Thanks for your nice selection of teas and for the extras!! Comment: GREAT swap!!! Fabolous tea and a nice present extra! Thank you a lot!!! Comment: Thanks for the wonderful cards and chocolates. Comment: Thanks for all the nice cards and the chocolate was an added bonus! My husband likes it very much. I can only eat a very little of it myself. Comment: Thanks for your lovely package! Comment: Thank you so much for all the tea and the coaster, I was so happy to receive on because now I can drink my tea in my bedroom without having to worry about spilling on my furniture! Comment: Nice generous selection of teas! I love my coaster too! Thanks so much Miet! Comment: beautiful card, thank you! Comment: Thank you! I loved the tea and the sweet gift! Comment: Thanks I loved what you sent! Comment: what a great surprise!!!!!!! I wish I could give more hearts for the so big collection of napkins and for the wanderful stamps. Thank you so much. Comment: What a great package! The pen is beautiful, and I'm going to have a lot of fun with those beads, and it was all just great. Thank you very much! Comment: My friends and I laughed over teas named "Hot Love" and "Sweet Kiss", thanks so much for making our day. Great selection of teas, nice extra gift. This was great. Comment: Wow! Thanks for the abundance of yummy teas! They smell wonderful! Even the cat was sniffing the envelope! I can't wait to taste them all! Comment: I got my wonderful package this week and I love everything! Thank you so much for all the cute and wonderful things! You rock! Comment: Wild I got teas from you in Tea Swap #10 and hwere we are again. :)More great teas, and now I have matching coasters. I hope that one day I end up sending to you. Comment: I love the coaster! Thanks for the awesome swap! Comment: You're an amazing swapper, very thoughtful and kind. The extras, as well as the resend were so sweet and the teas were fantastic! (yes, i've sampled them all already! haha) You were the first person to send me a package where the postage was as enthralling as the goodies inside! I loved every bit from the outside in. I'd give you a handful of hearts if i could. Comment: Thank you! What a great selection. Comment: I love swapping with you! You always go above and beyond. Thank you so much for not 3, but 6 magnets! Wow! I love the turtle one especially, and the butterflies. They are all very cute. Thank you lots. Comment: A beautiful collection I'll be adding to my display cabinet soon :) And so much tea! It all looks so lovely, which to choose? Comment: What a wonderful package! Thank you so much. Comment: What a wonderful package Miet, you've been very generous, thank you so much. There was so much in it for my scrapbooking and I love the 3D-Knipvel decoupage! A pity I can only give one heart, you deserve more! Comment: Hi Miet. What a fantastic parcel I received from you this morning! I am just so impressed and I will find the items very useful. Thank you so much. Lindy. Comment: WOW! THANK YOU so much! Sent a necklace, earrings and a BUNCH of Belgian chocolates! WAY more than required, and right from my desires! Thank you for being an excellent swapper. I hope you receive a wonderful package also! Comment: Thanks for the postcard with all the pictures. It was great. Thanks for being so thoughtful in picking it out. Have read alot about Belgium but never had a chance to visit there. Comment: Thanks so much for the neat bookmarks! I love them! Also, thanks for the chocolate. Unfortunately, it got all melty inside my metal mailbox in the hot Florida sun. But they are currently getting firm again in my refrigerator. Thanks again. Comment: Thank you so much for such a wonderful package!! You sent so many nice things. I wish I could give you many, many more hearts and a big hug! Comment: thank you so much!! i love the necklaces (yes yes i got two of them) thanks for the chocolate as well!! your great! Comment: Super sweet to re-send when the first package was lost. The package had many more magnets than were required, and one was super awesome and had moving parts. Thanks! Comment: Awesome Teas!!! And I love the extra, the coaster!!! Thank you so much!! Comment: I got it today, thank you very much!so many cool handmade items. I love it! Comment: yay Miet! the teas are good and the coaster was a nice surprise. Comment: What a cool mailing! Love the 7 bookmarks from Austria and Belgium. Comment: Not only did she send a wonderful package but also has sent a couple of lovely postcards a mini surprises after the swap. Thankyou. Comment: Lots of lovely colored goodies...I couldn't believe my eyes!!!! thanks so much Miet!!!! sooo sweet! Comment: Miet-- thanks for the wonderful package--the coaster is so lovely, the stickers & extra treats were most welcome. You sent it early--I had it a good week before the swap end date. You're a great swapper! Comment: She sent fast and more than she was asked to. Thanks a lot!! Comment: Just beautiful napkins, and extras too! Comment: Well, I didn´t actually got it - yet - but Miet was very nice sending it again when they got lost in the mail - for the second time =(. Sorry for so much trouble, Miet. Thanks. Comment: Thanks a lot, they're all adorning my refridgerator. Comment: Thank you so much Miet for the lovely teacup and the tea's and cookies. -------------------------------------- Today i get a surprise from Miet. She sent me a new teacup because the first one was a little bit broken in the mail. Thank you Miet you are a great swap-partner. Comment: Wonderful teas that I can't get here. Thanks also for the chocolate...Yum! Comment: Great package, lovely napkins (incl. extra napkins) and interesting tea. Comment: Incredible ornaments. A thank you note will be coming your way. Comment: Thank you so much. I received 2 beautiful brooches instead of just 1 and Miet took the time to check my color preferences!

2019-04-21T10:42:04Z

http://www.swap-bot.com/account/ratings.php?type=hearts&id=lamazon

In the 1937 edition of the New England Quarterly (vol. 10, no. 2), Thomas H. Johnson provides a background to the newly published works of Edward Taylor. At his death on June 24, 1729 (age 87) the first minister in the town of Westfield, Massachusetts. He had been born in England in 1644 and arrived in New England on July 5, 1668. After completing his time at Harvard in 1671 (being somewhat older than his classmates). He thereafter went to the frontier to minister. He seems to have had exposure to George Herbert at the very least in terms of a poetical inspiration. He left behind a four hundred page morocco-covered bound quarto volume of carefully copied verse. Taylor left instructions that none of is writing were allowed to be published. Taylor willed his library to his son-in-law Isaac Stiles. The volume poetry seems to have been included in that disposal. The volume then made it to the Ezra Stiles, president of Yale. From there it came to Stiles’ nephew Henry Taylor who presented the volume to Yale (1883). And finally it was published by Thomas Johnson when he discovered the manuscript in the Yale library. The poems published in the New England Quarterly were the first poems published from Taylor’s manuscript. But cannot now unscrew Love’s cabinet. Say not this is a niggard’s complement. To send thee th’cabbinet, and pearl together. Paraphrase: The poet desires to send to God some gift as recompense for great gift (the glorious robes) he has received. But he cannot open himself and find something separate to give: he cannot separate his affection from himself — and so he gives himself with his affection. 29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. A note on “niggard”: unfortunately, some people are confused by the the Middle English nyggard, stingy, miser. It has nothing to do with the racial slur. That thou hast brought out of thy grave for thine? They do outshine the sunshine, grace the rose. I leap for joy to think, shall these be mine? Clothed with the sun, and crowned with twelve stars. Paraphrase: The poet who is “naked”(except perhaps a winding sheet) and a “blot”. The poet whose bell should chime the Lord’s praise hears the bell toll his own death. Here he naked looks upon the Lord’s grave (who died for him). The Lord arising from the grave brings glorious robes to clothe the poet –and such robes are for all who wait upon the Lord’s wars. Biblical and Doctrinal Allusions: This stanza describes perhaps the crown jewel of protestant — particularly evangelical (in its classic since, not in the vague, not terribly Christian sense used in the United States) Christianity: penal substitutionary atonement. Put as plainly as possible: sinful human beings exchange their sin and shame for Christ’s glory. Christ bears their sin into his grave and gives to them the glory he has earned in overcoming death. 9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, 2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. 1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. They are given white robes and are told to waiting until the remaining martyrs (from the wars?) are fulfilled. Such wars are obviously not political wars of any sort. Allusions in contemporary pastoral work. I cannot say for certain what particular books Taylor had in possession. But, the Puritan ministers of Taylor’s age and before had a tendency to use certain common tropes. This particular trope of receiving a robe is well-attested prior to Taylor and it appears in Jonathan Edwards, in the same location as Taylor and somewhat later than Taylor. Why then should we be afraid of death? For then there shall be a further degree of glory of the soul, and after that a further degree of body and soul, when our bodies shall be conformable to the glorious body of Christ, when they shall be spiritual, as it is in 1 Cor. 15:44. I beseech you, therefore, let, us learn this to comfort ourselves against those dark times of dissolution, when we shall see an end of all other glory. All worldly glory shall end in the dust, and lie down in the grave; when we must say that ‘rottenness is our father,’ and the ‘worm our mother,’ Job. 17:14. We can claim no other kin in regard of our body, yet then we shall be more glorious in regard of our souls. Christ shall put a robe of glory upon us, and then afterward we shall be more glorious still. Richard Sibbes, “The Excellency of the Gospel Above the Law”, in The Complete Works of Richard Sibbes, ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart, vol. 4 (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; W. Robertson, 1863), 287. Published originally in 1639. Richard Sibbes, “The General Resurrection” in The Complete Works of Richard Sibbes, ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart, vol. 7 (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; W. Robertson, 1864), 326. Published 1629. This suffering state of the church is in Scripture represented as a state of the church’s travail, John 16:20–21 [“… ye shall weep and lament.… A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come”]. And Rev. 12:1–2 [“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun.… And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered”]. What the church is in travail striving to bring forth during this time, is that glory and prosperity to the church that shall be after the fall of Antichrist, and then shall she bring forth her child.3 This is a long time of the church’s trouble and affliction, and is so spoken of in Scripture, though it be spoken as being but a little season in comparison of the eternal prosperity of the church. Hence the church under the long continuance of this affliction cries out, as in Rev. 6:10, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, [dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth].” And we are told that, “white robes [were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled].”4 So in the twelfth [chapter] of Daniel, sixth verse, “How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? Jonathan Edwards, “Sermon Twenty,” in A History of the Work of Redemption, ed. John F. Wilson and John E. Smith, vol. 9, The Works of Jonathan Edwards (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 1989), 373–374. They do outSHINE the SUNSHINE, GRACE the ROSE. There are three accented syllables in a row bridging the pause. The “outshine” and “sunshine” repetition is interesting: the repetition of vowels and consonants makes it difficult to say the words quickly. The slight variation creates a rhyming effect. The use of a cretic (‘-‘) in the final foot brings the entire movement to a stop (this is underscored by the period at the end of this line). It puts great emphasis upon the glory of the robes given. The robes are brighter than the sun, more beautiful than a rose. Such is the glory which Christ gives His. This is the key movement of Christianity: the merit lies all and solely in Christ. It is all borrowed glory; and once given, the glory acts to transform. Aches seeing how my thoughts in snick-snarls run. While I instead of any, am all blot. Paraphrase: I am taken by many lesser glories, a work of art, beauty in nature (it should be noted there here is an example of nature being seen as beautiful by a man living on the edge of a dangerous wilderness — and before the Romantics), my heart is taken with the glory. My thoughts become overwhelmed with these lesser sights. But all such glory is nothing compared with God’s glory; while I am on who is marked by the utter absence of glory. Snick-snarl: What a wonderful phrase. An essay entitled, ” The Lincolnshire Dialect in the Eighteenth Century” defines it as follows, “Snick Snarl, a, curling up (particularly burnt leather). [Wright defines as “a tangle in thread etc.”].” http://www.cantab.net/users/michael.behrend/repubs/lincs_dialect_18c/pages/main.html It’s one of the words that sound like its meaning. Scansion: The third and fourth line have a jerky movement which slows the reading and forces attention on the meaning: The first word “pour” has an uncertain weight. It could be read POUR out or Pour OUT. The phrase “o’reflowing glory: oh!”, while regular o’reFLOWing GLORy, OH, has an interesting effect based upon the assonance the repetition of O, including OR, twice. It is impossible to say the phrase quickly. One must to even say the words. It is made more difficult to pronounce because the scansion is regular, “overflowing glory” would much easier and quicker. Another interesting movement runs from line 3 to 4, “OH! my HEART/ACHES, the emphasis thus thrown on “aches”. Which has the idea of effulgence or radiance. If there is an “overflowing glory” and effulgence of glory in the creature, how much more glory in the Creator. My soul stark naked, rolled all in mire, undone. Thy Bell may toll my passing peale to Hell. Nor Dead than I. Hence oh! the Judgment Day. Paraphrase: It is true, I am completely backward, undone, almost unreal. And I have a sad tale to tell. I was completely without any righteousness of my own (naked, explained below) and on my way to Hell. There has never been a man more ruined, more deserving of judgment than me. This parallels the language of Revelation 19 where the garments are given (or not as the case may be) to make on fitting to present at the eschatological joy. 22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. This usage combines both the picture of clothing the unworthy and the dead being naked (implied of the son, albeit figurative). Thus, Taylor’s use of being naked (which will be matched in the fourth stanza by Christ providing robes to the naked poet) has deep roots in Christian thought. We are called to a feast, but can only attend if we are properly dressed. If we come without the necessary robes (the righteousness of Christ), we will be rejected. To come to this feast and to be clothed as to be as one who was dead but now is alive. To refuse to understand our need is to be still dead and naked. The bell: the bell which was to chime the praise of Christ here appears to be toll the death knell of the poet. Pillard: I cannot find a reference beyond the French which means looter or spoiled. Poor ruined one may be an appropriate gloss. Scansion: One notable rhythm: NONE in their winding sheet more naked stay. The heavy accent on the first syllable acts like a double underscore. That “none” sounds like a bell toll. As the funeral proceeds, the bell tolls out “NONE, NONE” — this is the chief of sinner. Their clappers, or their cell-ropes want even now? Or those that can thy changes sweetly ring? What is a scar-fire broken out? No, no. The bells would backward ring if it was so. This poem will speak to the poet’s inability to rightly praise God, he “cannot unscrew [open] love’s cabinet” (which holds his love and praise). It begins with this strange discussion of bells. (That image of bells will appear later as possibly tolling the poet’s death). Paraphrased: Why should these bells lack a clapper or rope when they should being playing in praise to you? The rhythm is regular until the final turn of line three “even now”. That accent on the first syllable of “EVen” forces one to stop and underscores the point: At this moment — when I should be praising — I cannot. Bread of the Presence. Loaves of bread placed on a special table in the sanctuary or Holy Place of the tabernacle and later in the temple. Two other terms in the OT are used to describe the “bread of the Presence,” which means bread that has been set before the Lord’s face (Ex 25:23, 30; 35:13; 39:36; 1 Kgs 7:48; 2 Chr 4:19). The term “showbread” (kjv shewbread) refers to the arrangement of the bread in rows on the table (1 Chr 9:32; 23:29; 28:16; 2 Chr 2:4; 13:11; 29:18). The term “continual bread” refers to its perpetual offering (Nm 4:7). David W. Wead, “Bread of the Presence,” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 379. By referring to the “shewbread” being on the Lord’s table, it is most likely that Taylor is referring to Lord’s Supper. Thus, here at the moment where I am contemplating the great gift of God, I find that my praise lacks voice. Robert Nares Glossary (1859) of idioms and phrases of Shakespeare and contemporaries explains “scar-fire” as “scar-fire or scarefire: an alarm of fire. The cry fire! fire!” It could also refer to the fire itself. Than by one to hazard all. Could mean there was a question as to whether a fire had broken out, or an alarm of fire. Either would support the meaning. Why cannot the poet praise God? Is it because some fire had broken out and destroyed the bells? No, that would be impossible. The “backward” will be picked up in the next stanza. The poet begins with a seemingly impossible scene: a King of unsurpassed glory who blazes like the sun (whose crown a bunch of sunbeams was). Even his throne is made of life (sat on a cushion all of sunshine clear). The palace itself is a mass of precious stones. Prize such as in his favor shrine me would. Now, if there were such a place, he would desire the honor and fellowship of that king (I should prize such as in his favor shrine me would). Of precious stones; and to this king also. With brighter beams than e’re the sun let fall. This stanza continues on with the imagery from the throne room of heaven in Revelation 4 & 5 and the depiction of heaven in chapters 21-22. The Lord gives us access unto this throne. It is interesting in this poem that it is the “words” in particular which are embellished and brighter than the sun. The words of Christ — whose is the Word of God — are what grants access to this throne. In John 6:48, Peter says that Christ has the words of eternal life. In John 15:3, Jesus says that the disciples are clean because of the word he has spoken. The topic is too big for this discussion, but it is present here. More blockish than a block, as blockhead, stand. On toys, they snail-like move to kiss thy hand. That would above the Milky Way me guide. Here he notes the common complaint of all who being to realize the astounding grant of God in Christ: What could be more wonderful than access to God? But, the things which most easily excite my affections are bauble, “toys”. What stupidity to treasure toys when endless beauty and glory can be had for the reception? His despair now turns to God: Why should this even be? What is the aim of God in letting such a fool access to such wonder? What aim’st at, Lord? [What do you aim at] that I should be so cross. My mind is leaden in thy golden shine. Doth touch it with it smutting leaden lines. What shall an eagle t’catch a fly thus run? Or angel dive after a mote inth’sun? My presence, my words, my hand can only make things dirty (smutting). An eagle wouldn’t chase down a fly. An angel wouldn’t chance dust — why this with me? And thus, he turns the fire of his poem upon himself: I should be wracked with sorrow and tears at my evil. I can see this is true of me, and yet the tears are missing. I have this knowledge: but not the affections. I should attack myself for this foolishness – but I can’t. I can’t. Mine eyes, Lord, shed no tears but ink. My hand works, are words, and wordiness. though from thy glorious self they’re stole away. His heart is set upon the tokens and marks of the world — which are just, at best stolen glory. Here he poem makes a turn: repentance. The genius — if you will — of Christianity is that it both shows human beings our poverty and foolishness — our depravity and then it leads us to desire to be free: but we are not freed by our personal effort, but by the gracious work of God. To garnish o’re this worthy work of thine. In sacred flames, I to thee offer would. Examine what affections we have to God: for it is affection that makes a Christian. Richard Sibbes, The Complete Works of Richard Sibbes, ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart, vol. 6 (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; W. Robertson, 1863), 10. And lead me to thy Father’s house above. Thy grace’s storehouse make my soul I pray. Thy praise shall then wear tassels of my love. I’ll be the golden trumpet of thy praise. Make a man who can praise you; transform me (lead me) and dress me in love for you and I’ll praise you. The desire to praise Christ — who is worthy of such praise is the hope of the Christian. This is not a servile praise but honest joy. We praise many lesser things — and our greatest moments of joy are in those moments we praise. The previous post on this poem may be found here. And shall I be his spouse? How good is this? But not too good to be believed by me. This stanza repeats the theme of the previous two stanzas: the wonder that God should love human beings; that Christ should join himself to such as us. There are two movements which must take place to fully appreciate what the poet does here: the first is to fully understand what he does in the poem itself. The second is to move past our natural prejudice in favor of ourselves. And shall I be his spouse? The them of this section is the sheer improbability that Christ should love the poet. There are three aspects of this: First, there is the comparison of Christ to a king and the poet to a loathsome creature. Second, the reference to “being tumble all in sin.” Third, that such a one should be brought into intimate relationship. a MITE, FLY, WORM, ANT, SERpent, DEVil is. The lien can only be read very slowly and then tails off. The idea picks up in the third line OR can be, which comes along as an afterthought. Of these vermin, ants, worms, and serpents appeared in the previous stanza. We miss the horror here if we don’t stop to realize what life is like without houses which are sealed against the weather, and screens, and traps, and poisons, and medicines and antidotes. Imagine being invested with mites or worms and being unable to rid your body of the beasts infecting you. Imagine ants and flies getting into and spoiling all of the food which you could have. Imagine fearing that a snake would strike unaware and kill. And most moderns could not imagine any sort of devil that did not exist only in horror movies and was capable of being driven off with a crucifix. When you read this line, you must have a sense of disgust, fear and an uncanny horror. 4 For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. 5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity. 6 Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man. We fail to understand what is happening here as long as we think of sin solely in terms of discrete actions. Yes, sin entails discrete acts of sin. But is also a status offense (as such things are called in the law). It is like being an illegal alien in a country: the status is an offense even without additional bad acts. The Mosaic covenant aims at this concept by the matter of being ritually clean or unclean. Many things which were morally neutral were unclean. Likewise inanimate objects could be “holy” because they were dedicated to God. To be tumbled in sin is to be subsumed it: to be repulsive, unclean. We see in this a hint at why “belief” is at the core of receipt of justification, right standing with God. To believe this gift is to receive it with joy and thankfulness. It is not a bare historical opinion that some event took place. It is a joyful reception of something marvelous being offered. And street pure gold, like to transparent glass. How saints and angels ravished are in glee. 18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. 19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; 20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. Meter: Note in the first line there is the standard iamb, followed by a trochee which forces attention upon the I: would GOD I in that GOLden CITy WERE. It is his presence in the place which is emphasized in the meter. And pave the golden street with greater light. But I poor snake crawl here, scare mud walled in. Reference “I poor snake crawl here”. I an ironic reference to Genesis 3:1 where the Serpent (Satan) appears as a snake to tempt Eve. Genesis 3:15 makes reference to the “seed/offspring of the serpent”. Being subjected to the Fall and the Curse, human beings have now been brought low. Meter: “Story/Glory”, end the first and third lines. The line scan 11 syllables with a feminine rhyme on the 10 & 11th syllables. Paraphrase: The story of the poet’s salvation (his coming to this city) of such a marvel that if it were known, it would impart a greater glory to the place than is possible in the mere stones and gold. Those things are beautiful, but the story of the poet’s salvation is greater still. With it in songs, they saint and angels sing. Meter: In the first line of the phrase “blunt tongue” again creates a pair of accented syllables by running a trochee after an iamb. The effect is jarring, underscoring the bluntness of his tongue. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Paraphrase: The poet is unable to sing in any manner worthy of God’s glory (much less saints made perfect or the angelic world). Therefore, he will “spell” his story: he will write it out in this poem. His hope is that by spelling it out, an angel may over his story and bring the story back to heaven where the angel’s far greater abilities will make it possible to recount the story (given in this poem) in a song worthy of God’s gory.

2019-04-25T12:50:06Z

https://memoirandremains.com/tag/edward-taylor/

2005-04-28 Assigned to MOBILE PRODUCTIVITY, INC. reassignment MOBILE PRODUCTIVITY, INC. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: BEARD, CALEB J., ROBERTSON, JOHN MICHAEL, ROGERS, KEVIN B. 2011-01-06 Assigned to WELLS FARGO CAPITAL FINANCE, LLC, AS AGENT reassignment WELLS FARGO CAPITAL FINANCE, LLC, AS AGENT SECURITY INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: AUTO POINT, INC., INDENTIFIX, INC., INTERNATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE TECHNICIANS' NETWORK, INC, MOBILE PRODUCTIVITY, INC., SERVICE REPAIR SOLUTIONS, INC. 2016-02-04 Assigned to MOBILE PRODUCTIVITY, LLC reassignment MOBILE PRODUCTIVITY, LLC CERTIFICATE OF CONVERSION AND NAME CHANGE Assignors: MOBILE PRODUCTIVITY, INC. A graphical user interface is configured to display information related to diagnosis and/or repair of various objects, such as automobiles. The GUI displays relevant reference information, of any type, next to procedure steps of a selected diagnostic or repair procedure. Advantageously, reference information from multiple sources may be automatically selected for display in the GUI according to a current task that is selected by the user. Accordingly, a technician viewing the GUI does not need to access any other reference information, valuable man hours are spared, and efficiency increases. In one embodiment, the layout and immediate availability of relevant reference information may also increase the learning capabilities of the viewing technician. Thus, the layout of information in the GUI as described herein may facilitate increased employee productivity and increased employee learning. This invention relates generally to management of information useful in diagnosing and repairing various objects, and more particularly to improved user interfaces for viewing and managing information related to vehicles. In the automotive repair industry, access to information regarding particular specifications of automobiles may be important, and sometimes essential, for properly diagnosing a symptom of an automobile and determining an appropriate repair procedure. Currently, many automobile manufacturers publish specification manuals that include detailed information regarding one or more automobiles. These manuals typically include a table of contents, multiple chapters directed to various portions of the automobiles, and an index. A technician at an automobile repair shop may use these specification manuals extensively in identifying symptoms and performing repair procedures. In the recent past, many of the automobile specification manuals have been made available in an electronic format, such as in Adobe pdf format, so that users may store the manuals on a computer and view portions of the manual on a display device, as necessary. However, searching of these electronic specification manuals is generally limited, or, in some cases, not possible at all. Thus, the user typically must view the index or table of content portion of a manual on a display device in order to determine which pages of the electronic specification manual contain the desired information. Systems and methods for allowing the information in electronic specification manuals to be more easily and comprehensibly available to a user are desired. Information that may be relevant to a particular diagnostic or repair procedure may be found in multiple locations within a specification manual. Thus, locating all of the information that may be relevant to a given procedure (including both diagnostic and repair procedures) is often complex and time consuming. Similarly, information that may be relevant to a particular system, or subsystem, of an automobile may be found in multiple locations within a specification manual, in multiple specification manuals, or in other reference materials, including materials that are available on the Internet. Accordingly, improved systems and methods for organizing the information contained in these various reference materials and providing the information to a user, such as via a graphical user interface (GUI), are desired. A typical automobile repair shop may, for example, use a specification manual for a certain make and model of automobile in order to diagnose symptoms of a subject automobile. During the diagnosis, certain reference information, such as the location of particular electrical components, the manufacturer's suggested torque settings, or instructions for using a particular tool referred to in the diagnosis procedure, may not be located on the same page as the diagnosis procedure. In fact, the reference information may be in another book or another section of the specification manual, for example. In either case, additional effort and time is required for the technician to locate the desired reference information. Accordingly, improved systems and methods for displaying related information, such as in a GUI on a display device, are desired. In addition, improved systems and methods for updating a GUI with information obtained from various sources according to the current task being performed by the technician are desired. In one embodiment, a computer executable program executing on a computing device is configured to generate a graphical user interface including information related to a vehicle. The graphical user interface may comprise a procedure pane including procedure information, wherein the procedure information comprises a plurality of sub-procedures describing respective steps of the procedure, and the computer executable program is configured to display one of the plurality of sub-procedures in the procedure pane in response to communication with an input device. The graphical user interface further comprises a reference pane including selectable reference information tabs, each of the reference information tabs being related to the displayed one of the plurality of sub-procedures, wherein the reference information tabs are updated in response to changing which of the one of the plurality of sub-procedures is displayed. In another embodiment, a method of displaying information on a display device of a computing system, wherein the information is related to an object, comprises receiving an input from a user of the computer system indicating a selected object, receiving an input from the user indicating a selected procedure related to the selected object, allocating a total display area of the display device into two non-overlapping panes, namely, a procedure pane and a reference pane, displaying in the procedure pane information related to performing the selected procedure on the selected object, and displaying in the reference pane information related to the selected object and the selected procedure. In another embodiment, information for display on a portable computing device comprises task information displayed in a task pane and reference information displayed in a reference pane, wherein the task and reference information are concurrently displayed on the portable computing device. A method of selecting information for display comprises selecting a vehicle on which to perform a procedure, wherein the procedure is selected from the group comprising a diagnostic procedure and a repair procedure, receiving one or more symptoms from an input device, and determining the procedure that is to be performed on the vehicle based on the selected vehicle and the one or more symptoms. In another embodiment, a portable computing device has a display configured to concurrently display a procedure pane including procedure information related to a procedure that may be performed on an automobile, wherein the procedure information comprises a plurality of sub-procedures related to steps of the procedure, and the display is configured to display one of the plurality of sub-procedures in the procedure pane in response to communication with an input device, the procedure pane further comprising one or more selectable items each associated with a respective sub-procedure, and a reference pane including one or more reference information tabs each corresponding to a particular piece of reference information that is related to the displayed one of the plurality of sub-procedures, wherein the one or more reference information tabs are updated in response to changing which of the plurality of sub-procedures is displayed. In another embodiment, a computer executable program executing on a computing device is configured to generate a graphical user interface including information related to a procedure, wherein the graphical user interface comprises a first pane displaying vehicle information regarding a specific vehicle, a second pane displaying procedure information, wherein the procedure information comprises information for performing a procedure on the specific vehicle and is selected from the group comprising a repair procedure and a diagnostic procedure, and a third pane displaying reference information regarding the specific vehicle, wherein the vehicle information, the procedure information, and the reference information are each related to the procedure and are each concurrently displayed on a display device. In another embodiment, a method of updating a database with information regarding a plurality of procedures corresponding to a vehicle symptom comprises receiving information from one or more vehicle service centers rating one or more of the plurality of procedures according to the effectiveness of the respective procedures in reducing the vehicle symptom, ranking the plurality of procedures according to the information received from the one or more vehicle service centers, and providing a highest ranked procedure to a vehicle service center in response to a request for a procedure corresponding to the vehicle symptom. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the top-level components used in an exemplary system for converting data from one or more formats into a known useful format. FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating modules that are included in the information management module of FIG. 1. FIG. 2B is a perspective view of an exemplary computer system. FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating the movement of data that is received from various information sources in the generation of knowledge streams. FIG. 4 is block diagram illustrating a data store configured so that labels may be more easily updated according to the rules. FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method of updating an automotive repair and/or diagnosis database with information regarding the usefulness of particular repairs and/or diagnosis procedures. FIG. 6 is a simplified diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of information in a graphical user interface (“GUI”). FIG. 7 is an exemplary GUI including the configuration of panes as discussed above with respect to FIG. 6. FIG. 8 is a simplified diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of information in a GUI. FIG. 9 is a simplified diagram of a GUI including two primary panes, specifically, a repair order/task information pane and a solution/search/reference information pane. FIG. 10A is an exemplary GUI that is configured similar to the layout of the simplified GUI of FIG. 9. FIG. 10B is a partial screen shot illustrating the task information pane when the RO list tab is selected. FIG. 10C is a partial screen shot illustrating the task information pane when the RO in progress tab is selected. FIG. 10D is a partial screen shot illustrating the task information pane when the Scan/Oscope tab is selected. FIG. 10E is a partial screen shot illustrating an exemplary display of the reference information pane when the solutions button is selected. FIG. 10F is a partial screen shot illustrating an exemplary reference information pane when the search button is selected. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method of selecting information for display, and displaying the selected information, on a display device. The term “module,” as used herein, means, but is not limited to, a software or hardware component, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), which performs certain tasks. A module may advantageously be configured to reside on an addressable storage medium and be configured to execute on one or more processors. Thus, a module may include, by way of example, components, such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components and task components, processes, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuitry, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. The functionality provided for in the components and modules may be combined into fewer components and modules or further separated into additional components and modules. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the top-level components used in an exemplary system for converting data from one or more formats into a known useful format. As shown in FIG. 1, multiple reference information sources 102 are each in data communication with an information management module 105. In one embodiment, each of the reference information sources provides information regarding automobile specifications to the information management module 105. For example, Reference Information Source A may contain data regarding a Ford automobile, Reference Information Source B may contain data regarding a Toyota automobile, and Reference Information Source C may contain data regarding a Mitsubishi automobile. In one embodiment, one or more of the reference information sources 102 provides scanned images of specification manuals. In another embodiment, one or more of the reference information sources 102 provides digital character data, such as ASCII text, that corresponds to the text information in a specification manual. In this embodiment the reference information source 102 may also include images, such as may be stored in jpg (Joint Photographic Experts Group) format, that correspond to images included in a specification manual. The information management module 105 is configured to receive data from multiple reference information sources 102, in various formats, and convert the information into a known format that may be stored in a data store 104 and accessed by a user interface. The information management module 105 is coupled to the data store 104, which is configured to store the converted information in the known format. Because all of the data is stored in a known format, users may more easily search information from multiple specification manuals and access the information with a single interface. As will be described in further detail below, the data stored in the data store 104 is advantageously tagged so that pages of a specification manual that may be relevant to a specific diagnostic procedure, repair procedure, or system of the automobile may be easily located and transmitted to the user. FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating modules that are included in the information management module 105 of FIG. 1. In one embodiment, each of the modules illustrated in FIG. 2A is located at the same location and interface with one another via direct data cable connections or a wired or wireless local area network (“LAN”), for example. In another embodiment, one or more of the modules illustrated in FIG. 2 are located remote from the other modules and communicate with the document manager 115 via a wide area network (“WAN”), such as the Internet. In another embodiment, the modules illustrated in FIG. 2A are each software objects stored on a single computing device. As shown in FIG. 2A, the exemplary information management module 105 includes a document manager 115 coupled to each of the other illustrated modules. In an advantageous embodiment, the document manager 115 comprises a computing device running an operating system, such as a PC, MAC, or LINUX based operating system. The document manager 115 is advantageously configured to communicate with various devices and receive input in various formats. In addition, the document manager 115 is configured to output information to various devices and in various formats. FIG. 2B is a perspective view of an exemplary computer system 200. In one embodiment, the document manager 115 comprises a computing device, such as the computer system 200. In addition, each of the users, such as an automobile repair shop, comprises one or more computing devices that are similar to the computer system 200. The exemplary computer system 200 comprises a display 210 coupled to a computer 220. The computer system 210 may be coupled to one or more computing devices via any type of networking connection. A plurality of user input devices may be coupled to the computer 200, such as a keyboard 230 and a mouse 240. The user input devices may also include a touch screen, joystick, trackball, and microphone, for example. The peripheral devices listed above, and any other available peripheral devices, may be coupled to the computer 110 via wired or wireless connections, and the computer 220 may be coupled to a network via a wired or wireless connection. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the technology, the computer system 200 as described herein is not limited to the device illustrated in FIG. 2, but may be, for example, a personal digital assistant (PDA), cellular telephone, pager, or any computing device configured to display text, images or sounds (signs) to a user. In the embodiment of FIG. 2B, a portable computing device 250 is in communication with the computer 220 via a wireless communication link. In one embodiment, the portable computing device 250 comprises a notebook or tablet computer. In another embodiment, the portable computing device 250 comprises a personal digital assistant (PDA), a cell phone, or any other suitable electronic device comprising a display and an information processor. In an advantageous embodiment, the data generated by the information management module 105 may be accessed by the computer system 200, which may be located at an automobile repair shop, for example. Returning to FIG. 2A, the Data conversion modules 1 10 are each configured to receive data from one or more different data sources, such as information providers at Mitsubishi, Honda, Ford, General Motors (“GM”). For example, one of the data conversion modules 110 may be configured to receive automobile specification data in XML format from Mitsubishi Motors, while another data conversion module 110 may be configured to receive automobile specification data in PDF format from Ford Motors and yet another data conversion module 110 is configured to receive automobile specification data in another format from GM. In an advantageous embodiment, the data conversion modules 110 convert the received information into a known format and classify portions of the information into one or more of several views. In one embodiment, these views include a table of contents view, a type view, and an extracted view. The table of contents view indicates the hierarchal organization of pages included in the specification manual. In one embodiment, each of the pages of a specification manual is stored in a database. An identifier for each of the pages may then be stored in a separate page list, and references to the identifiers of these pages may be organized in various manners. Each of these various organizations of pages, or organizations of page identifiers, comprises a page view. For example, a table of contents view may contain section headings included in the specification manual along with a pointer to the identified pages stored in a storage device. Thus, the table of contents view provides a sequential hierarchy of the information contained in a specification manual. In one embodiment, a type view classifies pages of the specification manual into page types, which may include, for example, component, diagnostic, and special tools pages. The type view may further classify the pages into procedures so that by accessing the type view, a user may determine all pages that relate to a particular procedure category. For example, a type view may classify pages into one of multiple different procedure types, such as DTC trouble shooting procedures, component inspection procedures, or repair procedures. Thus, a user may easily locate all circuit diagrams, for example, by accessing the circuit diagram section within the type view of a manual. In one embodiment, many of the pages in the table of contents view are also referenced in the type view. For example, in one embodiment the table of contents view includes all pages, while the type view includes a subset of the pages in the table of contacts view. Thus, identifiers for many pages may be included in multiple views and the identified pages may be located from different views. For example, a specification manual may be converted by the data conversion module 110 to include a special tools view, including an identifier for a page dealing with the use of an oil filter removal tool. The identifier for this same page may also be listed in the table of contents view as a subtopic of an engine care section of the specification manual, for example. In another embodiment, identifiers for some pages of the specification manual are included in an extracted view, which further classifies content on the pages. For example, portions of a procedure page in the type view may be classified as (1) steps in the procedure or (2) reference information that is specific to that procedure. In some instances, the data received from a data source identifies pages that correspond with each of the views used by a particular data conversion module 110. In this embodiment, the pages may be classified into one or more views according to the data received from the data source. In another embodiment, the data received from the data source does not include any information that classifies pages into views. Thus, in this embodiment, the pages are analyzed, by machine and/or human recognition, in order to classify the pages into one or more views. The information management module 105 also includes a data store 125, which may be any type of storage device, such as a hard drive or optical storage device. The information stored on the data store 125 may be organized and physically stored on data store 125 according to any methods known in the art. When the various views, discussed above, are generated from the data received from one or more data sources, the views are stored in the data store 125. The data store 125 is advantageously electronically coupled to the other modules of the information management module 105 so the views may be accessed by any of these modules and so that additional information may be stored and accessed on the data store 125. Rule engine 120 is configured to receive the pages that have been accessed by the data conversion modules 110 and to classify the pages into one or more categories. The rule engine assigns tags or labels to each page in the page store. The tags reflect the various categorizations of each page. These tags are later used by the knowledge stream assembly module 130. In one embodiment, pages received from the data conversion modules may be classified into one or more of three groups, namely, global reference information, system reference information, or procedure descriptions. Global reference information may include, for example, pages including information that a user will want to access no matter what task they are working on. For example, pages including contact information for the vehicle manufacturer and information regarding translation of a VIN number into a model number may be classified as global reference information. System reference information is information that relates to a particular automobile system, such as the transmission, engine, or brakes, for example. In one embodiment, subsystems, such as fuel injection, heating/cooling, and electrical subsystems related to an engine, for example, may also be included as automobile systems. Thus, the pages from the various specification manuals may be categorized at varying levels according to the systems, or subsystems, to which the information relates. Procedure descriptions generally describe a diagnostic, maintenance, or repair procedure (referred to herein generally as procedures). Typically, these procedures have specific steps for performing the procedures, and may also have pieces of reference information within them that are specific to each procedure. For example, repair procedures included in many specification manuals are organized into tables that include steps to be taken in performing each procedure. In one embodiment, a procedure description is in the form of a table or a list. In other embodiment, the procedure descriptions are organized in other formats known in the art. A symptom extraction module 190 is coupled to the document manager 115 and is configured to identify symptoms for which diagnostic procedures may be relevant. The association of symptoms to a specific procedure may be useful in further categorizing those pages into a more granular view of the data. A knowledge stream assembly module 130 is coupled to the document manager 115. After the data pages have been categorized using the above-described modules, the knowledge stream assembly module compiles the pages into multiple enhanced procedure lists, referred to herein as “knowledge streams.” In one embodiment, the knowledge stream assembly module 130 processes the categorizations of the rules engine 120 in order to generate knowledge streams. For example, all categorized data that is relevant to a specific procedure may be combined into a knowledge stream including the procedure itself with steps of the procedure having links to all of the reference information related to that step, or the entire procedure. Further details regarding the generation and content of knowledge streams are included below with reference to FIG. 3. An export module 195 is coupled to the document manager 115 and is configured to change the format of the data maintained in the data store 125 according to the various requirements of users. For example, some users request that knowledge streams, or other data, be formatted for viewing on a portable device with specific dimensions, while other users may request knowledge streams in other formats and may also request copies of all specification manual pages referenced in a knowledge stream. In one embodiment, the pages, or other data, requested by users is converted by the export module 195 and stored in a data store 135 until retrieved by the requesting user. For example, the requested data may be formatted for storage as one or more XML documents. In another embodiment, the converted data may be stored in the data store 135 even after the requesting user has retrieved a copy of the data. Thus, the data may be retrieved by other users that request the same data in the same format. This may be advantageous, for example, if a chain of automobile repair shops require data in a particular format. In this example, by storing the converted data in the data store 135, the data may be accessed by any of the chain of repair shops without the need to reconvert the same data. When a requesting user receives the requested data, such as a knowledge stream (discussed in further detail with respect to FIG. 3), the user may manipulate the data for presentation on one or more display devices. For example, portions of the requested data may be extracted for viewing in separate panes that are presented on a display device. FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating the movement of data that is received from various information sources in the generation of knowledge streams. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the process has been divided into steps performed by the data conversion module 110, the rule engine 120, the knowledge stream assembly module 130, and the symptom extraction module 190. While methods are described below with respect to specific modules, any of the steps illustrated in FIG. 3 may be performed by any of the other illustrated modules, or any other component of the information management module 105. In a step 105, data from a data source is received by the data conversion module 10. As described above, the data may be in one of many different formats and may be received from various data sources. In one embodiment, pages of a specification manual are received by the data conversion module 110 in a graphic format, such as in PDF, JPG, or TIF format. For purposes of illustration, the description below often refers to classification of pages, referring to pages of an automobile specification manual. However, any reference herein to a page should be read to cover any other data, such as a portion of a page or electronic data. Continuing to a step 115, the data conversion module 115 classifies portions of the data into one or more of several views. In one embodiment, each page of a specification manual is included in one or more views. In one embodiment, these views include a table of contents view, a type view, and an extracted view. In another embodiment, additional, or fewer, views may be used in categorizing received data. Moving to a step 122, the rule engine 120 classifies and labels data, such as pages or portions of pages, into one or more classifications. These classifications may then be stored in the data store 125 for access by other modules of information management module 105. As described above, in one embodiment, pages may be classified into one or more of three classifications, namely, global reference information, system reference information, or procedure descriptions. In one embodiment, rules are applied to the content of the received data, such as on a per page basis, in order to categorize and label each page, or portion of a page, properly. In one embodiment, automatic rules, manual rules, and inherited rules may each be used to classify data. In an advantageous embodiment, the automatic rules are applied first, followed by inherited rules, and then manual rules. Thus, after application of the automatic rules, data that was not classified automatically may be classified according to manual or inherited rules. Each of these rule types is described further below. In addition, other types of rules may also be applied to the received data. Automatic rules are typically applied by a computing device without the need for human input. For example, in one embodiment, an automatic rule includes an algorithm that identifies certain features on a page, assigns a score for each of these features, and based upon the total of the scores for the page, determines that the page should be classified into a particular category. Automatic rules may be generated by a human or by artificial intelligence training, for example. In either case, automatic rules are able to automatically take a piece of content, analyze the content, and determine one or more labels that should be applied to the content. Automatic rules may be defined to identify certain features of a procedure description, for example, so that a procedure description may be automatically identified. For example, if a symptom table, which is basically a table with a list of symptoms, includes a link to a particular page, the automatic rules may score the particular page as including a procedure description. If the word “procedure” appears in bold letters in a heading position, the data may get another score indicating that the data includes a procedure description. Other scores may also be assigned to a page indicating that the page is another category of information, such as a symptom table, for example. After the rules are applied to a page, the scores are summed and the page is categorized based on the various sums. In one embodiment, threshold score totals for categorizing data into a specific category are established. For example, if four scores indicate that data contains a procedure description, and no other category received more than one score, the data may be categorized as containing a procedure description. In a similar manner, other categories may be assigned to data based upon common features that are in each type of information. In another embodiment, automatic categorization of pages, such as categorization of pages as procedure descriptions, may be performed by the data conversion module 110. In one embodiment, information that cannot satisfactorily be classified automatically may be classified manually by a person. For example, if a page has not been classified by an automatic rule, a person may view the page on a computer display device and determine the appropriate label, or labels, that should be applied to the page. This process generates a manual rule that the system can reapply in the future. Thus, the manual rule generation effort must be performed only once for a particular data set. Inherited rules are a collection of manual rules applied to a new data set. In one embodiment, the system automatically determines which rules from the collection are productive within the new data set. The inherited rules look for sections of data that correspond with data that has already been categorized. The section of data, such as a page, a portion of a page, or multiple pages, may then inherent the same classifications as the data that was previously categorized. For example, if a set of classification rules is developed that applies to the specification manual for the 2003 Galant, the system may determine that some of the classification rules are applicable to the specification manual for the 2004 Galant. Thus, portions of the data from the 2004 Galant manual may be categorized using the categorizations that were used for the 2003 Galant manual. In an advantageous embodiment, inherited rules that apply to particular data are determined automatically so that manually generated rules may be used to categorize any portions for which inherited rules are not appropriate. In one embodiment, inherited rules are developed based on the analysis of multiple manuals and the determination of structures that are common across the analyzed manuals. Accordingly, the common structures in multiple manuals may be used to generate a template for inheritable rules. After the data pages have been categorized using the above-described processes, a knowledge stream assembly module 130 generates multiple enhanced procedure lists, referred to as Knowledge Streams, based on the page categorizations received from the data conversion module 110 and rule engine 120. At this point, all pages are labeled as a complete process description, a step in a process, a piece of reference material related to a particular process, a piece of reference information related to a particular system in the automobile, or a piece of reference information that is generally related to an automobile, for example. The knowledge stream assembly module 130 accesses these categorizations in order to generate knowledge streams. In a step 135, the knowledge stream assembly module 130 generates global reference information for use in all knowledge streams. In one embodiment, a knowledge stream may be directed specifically to global reference information so that a user may retrieve any global reference information from a single knowledge stream. The global reference information may also be compiled for use in other knowledge streams. In a step 140, the knowledge stream assembly module 130 generates system reference information for use in one or more knowledge streams. For example, all information regarding a transmission system may be compiled for use in one or more knowledge streams. This exemplary compilation of transmission system information may include links to other similar procedures relating to the transmission system. As described above, a system may be either a broad system of the automobile, such as transmission, engine, or electrical, or system may include a subsystem, such as fuel injection, power seats, or brake pads, for example. Thus, depending on the level of granularity to which the information management module 105 is set, information regarding fewer or more automobile systems may be generated at step 140. In a step 150, the knowledge stream assembly module 130 collects procedure description information for use in creating knowledge streams. In one embodiment, a procedure description is linked to information regarding a specific system by identifying a procedure as applying to that system. In one embodiment, the data that has been categorized as a procedure description may be further categorized. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3, at a step 160, steps of a procedure are processed and at a step 170 reference information included in a procedure description is processed. In one embodiment, steps 160 and 170 categorize the entire procedure description, or portions of the description, as either steps to be performed in a repair or diagnostic procedure, or as reference information. Thus, the data that is categorized as a procedure description in step 150 may be split into more narrow categorizations. For example, one type of reference information may include probable cause information, such as a list of things that might have caused the condition that is being diagnosed. Another type of reference information may be Diagnostic Trouble Codes (“DTC”), which is information read from an automobile's computer. Continuing to a step 180, data that is categorized and processed by the previous steps, is combined into knowledge streams. As noted above, a knowledge stream may include a procedure itself, along with steps of the procedure, and include links to reference information corresponding to specific steps, or corresponding to the entire procedure or the automobile in general. In one embodiment, knowledge streams are organized in a hierarchical structure. For example, a top level of the hierarchy may identify the specific knowledge streams, as well as other information that may help to identify the knowledge stream, such as a type of the knowledge stream. In a next level of the hierarchy, a number of folders may be linked to each knowledge stream, where the folders contain the various content items associated with the knowledge stream. For example, a knowledge stream may contain individual steps in a process, pieces of reference information that are specific to a procedure, reference information for a system, and global reference information. Thus, by selecting a particular knowledge stream, various informational items may be easily retrieved by the user. FIG. 4 is block diagram illustrating a data store 405 configured so that labels may be more easily updated according to the rules. In the past, pages were typically associated directly with one or more labels for that page. However, if one of the rules responsible for applying a label to a page was changed so that a label for a page should be changed, there was no easy way to update labels based on the current rules. As shown in FIG. 4, the data store 405, which may be a data base, for example, stores a page list, rules associated with each page, and labels for each of the pages, as generated by the rules. In one embodiment, the page list includes an identifier for each page, where the actual pages are stored separately. The page references stored in the page index may be viewed according to one or more views, which may also be stored in the data store 405. Advantageously, rules are generated for classification of particular pages (listed in the page index) so that a page may be classified according to the generated rules. Because rules are generated and stored, rather than just the specific classifications for the pages, these rules may be applied to subsequent pages, thus reducing the effort required to classify subsequent pages. For example, related pages, such as pages of a specification manual for a different year of the same model automobile, may be classified using the same rules. Accordingly, rules may be generated once and applied multiple times to a collection of pages if necessary. This approach accommodates the need to regenerate the base data (as changes are made, etc.) without losing the labeling effort that has already been performed. FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method of updating an automotive repair and/or diagnosis database with information regarding the usefulness of particular repairs and/or diagnosis procedures. More generally, the method illustrated in the flow chart of FIG. 5 may be applied to updating a database with information indicating the usefulness of particular informational items by users. In block 510, a technician inspects an automobile. The technician may inspect various components of the vehicle based upon, for example, information provided by an owner of the vehicle or standard checkup items. The technician typically inspects at least one component of the automobile and records the status of that component. For purposes of illustration, FIG. 5 will be described with specific reference to inspection and diagnosis of automobile brakes. However, the systems and methods described herein are not only applicable to brake systems, but may be applied to any component that may be analyzed, diagnosed, and serviced. With reference to an exemplary automobile brake inspection, a technician may analyze and record brake fluid levels, brake pad thickness, and caliper wear, for example. The technician may then record observations relating to each of these items in various formats. For example, in one embodiment, the technician simply notes whether the item is within allowable specifications or if the item needs further diagnosis and/or repair. In another embodiment, the technician records more exact data for each item, such as an estimate of the brake fluid level and a thickness of the brake pads. Moving to a block 520, the results of the inspection performed by the technician are entered into a computing device. The computing device may be one of many devices, but advantageously is a mobile device that is configured to communicate with a central computer. For example, in one embodiment a tablet computer or a personal digital assistant (“PDA” ) may be used by a technician to enter the inspection data. With respect to the above example of automobile brake inspection, the technician may enter one or more inspection results for each item inspected. For example, in one embodiment, the technician enters a thickness of brake pads, such as 2 mm. In another embodiment, the technician may simply note that the pads require repair and/or further diagnosis or that the pads are of an acceptable thickness. After the inspection results are entered into the computing device, the results are advantageously transmitted to a central computer, typically having greater storage and processing capabilities than the computing device. Transmission of the results may be performed either via a wired or a wireless link and may be accomplished using any available communication protocol. Next, at a block 530, one or more diagnostic and/or repair procedures are selected, based upon the inspection results and the acceptable specifications for the inspected items. In one embodiment, the central computer determines the one or more diagnostic and/or repair procedures that should be performed by the technician. In another embodiment, a mobile computing device that the technician uses to enter the inspection results may be configured to determine the one or more diagnostic and/or repair procedures. In any case, the one or more determined procedures are advantageously displayed to the technician on the computing device. In an advantageous embodiment, the displayed information includes specific steps to be performed in completing the one or more procedures. For example, if the central computer or the technician computing device determines that a brake pad is too thin, the determined procedure may be to replace the brake pad. Thus, the technician is informed of this diagnosis on the technician computing device. In addition, the technician may also be provided with specific steps to be performed in replacing the brake pad. Moving to a block 540, the recommended procedure is performed by the technician. For example, the brake pad is replaced by following the procedure provided on the technician computing device. Continuing to a block 550, an effectiveness of the performed procedure is reported. The effectiveness of some procedures may be determined by the technician immediately after performing the procedure, while the effectiveness of other procedures may not be determined until after the automobile has been returned to the owner and the vehicle has operated for a period of time. In either case, an effectiveness determination is entered into either the technician computing device, the central computer, or any other computing device that is in communication with the central computer. For example, if a particular procedure does not remedy the diagnosed symptom, a poor rating may be assigned to the procedure. Likewise, if a particular procedure does remedy the diagnosed symptom, an excellent rating may be assigned to the procedure. These ratings may be numerical, ranging from 1 to 10 or 1 to 100, for example, or composed of alphabetic ratings, such as A-F, for example. Any other rating system may also be used in conjunction with the described systems and methods. Proceeding to a block 560, the effectiveness of the performed procedure is recorded in a database. In an advantageous embodiment, the diagnosis for which the procedure was recommended is also recorded in the database. The central computer, or other computing device, may then analyze the effectiveness of the recommended procedure with respect to the diagnosis that caused the procedure to be recommended. If multiple procedures have been performed in response to the same or similar symptoms, the central computer may then determine which procedures are the most effective for remedying the symptoms. In this way, the effectiveness of multiple procedures for treating a diagnosed symptom may be rated. Thereafter, the database that stores recommended procedures linked to diagnoses may be updated so that the most effective procedure for each diagnosed symptom is provided to the technician as the most effective procedure. In one embodiment, the technician is provided with multiple choices for procedures to perform in response to a diagnosis. For example, the technician computing device may list up to three procedures that have the highest effectiveness rating for a diagnosed symptom. The technician may then have the opportunity to select one of the procedures and, in response to the selection, may be presented with a knowledge stream for the selected procedure, or a list of steps to perform in completing the procedure. FIG. 6 is a simplified diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of information in a graphical user interface (“GUI” ) 600. While the configuration of information illustrated in FIG. 6 may be used for display of information related to any object, the GUI 600 illustrates information related to a vehicle, such as an automobile. The exemplary GUI 600 includes a vehicle information pane 610, task information pane 620, and reference information pane 630. The arrangement of information as illustrated in FIG. 6 advantageously provides a viewer with various types of information that are each related to a particular task. For ease of description, FIG. 6 is described below with specific reference to display of information related to vehicles. However, the display configuration and methods for displays discussed herein are expressly contemplated for use with information related to any object. The vehicle information pane 610 contains information regarding a particular vehicle that is being diagnosed, repaired, and/or otherwise inspected. For example, the vehicle information pane may contain a make, model, year, and options of an automobile. The vehicle information pane 610 may further include customer information, such as address, phone number, and prior repair orders and invoices. Thus, a user viewing the GUI 600 may view many types of information regarding the vehicle under inspection. The task information pane 620 contains information regarding a particular task (referred to herein also as a procedure) that may be performed on the vehicle indicated in the vehicle information pane 610. The procedures that may be displayed in the task information pane 620 include, for example, diagnostic and repair procedures. Thus, the task information pane 620 may include multiple steps that may be performed in diagnosing a symptom and may later display multiple steps in repairing a particular diagnosed symptom. For example, if a user is an automobile repair technician, the task information pane 620 may include steps for diagnosing a problem with an automobile's brake system. The steps may be divided into several sub steps, or categories, that may be iteratively displayed in the task information pane 620. The reference information pane 630 contains various types of reference information, from various reference sources, that is related to the currently displayed task information for the vehicle indicated in the vehicle information pane 610. For example, if the task information pane 620 includes a diagnostic procedure for checking a leaking dump valve of an automobile, the reference information pane 630 may display reference information indicating the proper method for removal and installation of a hydraulic control unit. As another example, if a repair procedure is displayed in the task information pane 620, the reference information pane 630 may display items such as wiring diagram or special tool information that may be useful for completion of the indicated task. In one embodiment, the task information pane 620 includes one or more buttons or tabs that may be selected in order to display particular reference information in the reference information pane 630. In particular, a button or tab may be labeled to indicate a type of reference information that is available for viewing, such as symptom help, components/tools, system info, and general info. Thus, the user may determine which type of reference information may be most useful in completing the task and may select one or more of the types of reference information available with respect to a particular task. Because every technician has unique training and experience, not every technician requires the same reference information. Accordingly, the buttons and/or tabs located in the task information pane 620 advantageously allow each technician to determine which types of reference information they would like to view in order to more efficiently complete the task. The configuration of information as shown in exemplary FIG. 6 provides information that typically may only be found in multiple information sources. For example, a typical automobile repair shop may use a specification manual for a certain make and model of automobile in order to diagnose symptoms of a subject automobile. During the diagnosis, certain reference information, such as the location of particular electrical components, the manufacturer's suggested torque settings, or instructions for using a particular tool referred to in the diagnosis procedure, may not be located on the same page as the diagnosis procedure. In fact, the reference information may be in another book or another section of the specification manual. In either case, additional effort and time is required for the technician to locate the proper reference information. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the relevant reference information, of any type, is advantageously displayed next to the procedure steps. In an advantageous embodiment, the reference information is automatically updated as the information in the task information pane 620 is changed. Accordingly, a technician viewing the GUI 600 does not need to access any other reference information, valuable man hours are spared, and efficiency increases. In addition to reducing effort and time required to locate relevant reference information, the layout and immediate availability of relevant reference information may also increase the learning capabilities of the viewing technician. In particular, because the technician is not required to shift their mental focus from the task indicated in the task information pane 620 to the more menial task of locating reference information that may be helpful or required to complete the task, the technician is more likely to understand and retain the task information and the related reference information. In this way, the layout of information as illustrated in FIG. 6 may increase employee productivity by increasing employee learning capacity. FIG. 7 is an exemplary GUI 700 including the configuration of panes as discussed above with respect to FIG. 6. In particular, FIG. 7 includes a vehicle information pane 710 a task information pane 720 and a reference information pane 730. In the exemplary GUI 700, the vehicle information pane indicates that the information in the vehicle information pane 710, the task information pane 720, and the reference information pane 730 is related to a Ford E-series 2004 vehicle. The vehicle information pane 710 also includes a customer concerns/request portion 712, wherein a customer's concerns, along with the status of resolving each concern, may be tracked. A technician's symptoms portion 714 is linked to the customer concerns/request portion 712 and includes a technician's notes related to the particular customer concern. A task type menu 716 lists one or more tasks that may be selected for display in the task information pane 720. In one embodiment, the available tasks listed in the task type menu 716 include DTC troubleshooting; symptom troubleshooting; remove, replace, install, and repair; service, adjust and clean; and test, check and inspect. In other embodiments, additional types of tasks may be included and the task types may be further divided into more task types. A system menu 717 lists one or more systems, or subsystems, of the vehicle on which the task selected in the task type menu 716 may be performed. For example, if the symptom troubleshooting task is selected in the task type menu 716, the system menu 717 may list vehicle systems on which knowledge streams for symptom troubleshooting are available. These systems may include, for example, exhaust system, support system, engine, steering system, power train, electrical system, coolant system, fuel system, and brake system. In one embodiment, the system menu 717 may also include subsystems, such as, muffler, tailpipe, fuel tank, shock absorbers, coil springs, drum brake, fuel line, accelerator, brake pedal, distributor, differential, master break cylinder, disk brake, transmission, spark plug wires, exhaust manifold, engine, radiator, alternator, coolant reservoir, intake manifold, batteries, break line, and steering wheel. In one embodiment, the system menu 717 is populated with selectable items in response to the selection of a task type from the task type menu 716. Thus, for each task type there may be different systems that are displayed in the system menu 717. In one embodiment, the systems that are displayed in the system menu 717 are those systems for which task information is available on the currently selected vehicle. For example, in the embodiment of FIG. 7, a Ford E-Series 2004 vehicle is selected. If a remove, replace install and repair task type is selected in the task type menu 716, the system menu 717 may display, among other systems, manual transmission and automatic transmission. However, if another vehicle is selected that is not available with a manual transmission, the system menu 717 may not display manual transmission as a selection option. In another embodiment, the systems displayed in the system menu 717 for a selected task type are the same for any vehicle, but only certain systems are selectable by a user. In the embodiment of FIG. 7, the task information pane 720 includes information for repairing soft/excessive brake pedal travel. In one embodiment, the specific task display in the task information pane 720, e.g., “soft/excessive brake pedal travel . . . ” is selected from a list of one or more tasks related to the selected task type and the selected system. As illustrated in FIG. 7, a first procedure in this particular task is titled “Check for leaking dump valve.” One of the steps in this procedure includes, “Remove the rubber caps from the two HCU low pressure accumulators.” In an advantageous embodiment, as a result of having selected a specific task, the reference information pane 730 displays relevant reference information. For example, in the illustration of FIG. 7, the reference information pane displays information regarding the removal and installation of a Hydraulic Control Unit. As shown in FIG. 7, the reference information pane 730 includes multiple tabs 732A-732D, which may be selected in order to change the type of reference information displayed. For example, if the user selects the components/tools tab 732B, the reference information pane 730 will be updated with information regarding special tools that are relevant to the procedure for repairing soft/excessive brake pedal travel. In one embodiment, the reference information tabs 732 may be automatically updated, or added to, based upon the information displayed in the vehicle pane 720 and/or the task information pane 720. For example, various steps of a task that are displayed in the task information pane 720 may have specific reference information that is relevant to the particular step. Accordingly, as the information in the task information pane 720 changes, such as by moving from one step to another in a procedure, the reference information tabs 732 may be automatically updated to include additional tabs corresponding to relevant reference information. The tabs 732 may then be selected in order to display the corresponding reference information in the reference information pane 730. FIG. 8 is a simplified diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of information in a GUI 800. While the configuration of information illustrated in FIG. 8 may be used for display of information related to any object, the GUI 800 illustrates information related to a vehicle, such as an automobile. In the embodiment of FIG. 8, a task information pane 810 is located next to a reference information pane 820. The GUI 800 does not include a separate pane for vehicle information. However, in one embodiment, the vehicle information may be displayed in a separate window, or in either the task information pane 810 or reference information pane 820 when selected. For example, the vehicle information may be displayed on a display device as an alternate to display of the task information pane 810 and the reference information pane 820 as shown in FIG. 8. Similar to the embodiments discussed above, the GUI 800 updates the reference information according to the currently displayed task information. Accordingly, the user is provided with reference information that may otherwise only be found in multiple separate reference manuals. Because the relevant reference information is easily available to the user, the user's focus on the displayed task is maintained and the user's comprehension of the task may be enhanced. FIG. 9 is a simplified diagram of a GUI 900 including two primary panes, specifically, a repair order/task information pane 910 (also referred to herein as a task information pane) and a solution/search/reference information pane 920 (also referred to herein as a reference information pane). In the embodiment of FIG. 9, the two primary panes are divided by an adjustable divider 930 that may be moved in either direction to change the sizes of the primary panes. FIG. 10A is an exemplary GUI 1000 that is configured similar to the layout of simplified GUI 900. For ease of illustration, FIGS. 9 and 10A will be described together below. As shown in FIG. 10A, the GUI 1000 includes a task information pane 910, a reference information pane 920, and adjustable divider 930 in the same orientation as FIG. 9. Referring to both FIGS. 9 and 10A, a repair order/task navigation pane 950 may include one or more tabs, buttons, or other selection indicator, related to repair orders, tasks, and diagnostic information from a scanning device, such as a PicoScope. The navigation pane 950 may include other tabs that may be selected in order to display various types of information in the task information pane 910. With reference to FIG. 10A, the repair order/task navigation pane 950 includes a repair order (“RO” ) list tab 952, an RO in progress tab 954, a task/completion chart tab 956, and a scan/oscilloscope (Oscope) tab 958. In the embodiment of FIG. 10A, each of the tabs 952, 954, 956, and 958 initiate display of different types of information in the task information pane 910. For example, in the specific illustration of FIG. 10A, the task/completion chart tab 956 is selected. Accordingly, task information is displayed in the task information pane 910. However, if RO list tab 952 is selected, the task information pane 910 will display a list of one or more repair orders that have been entered into the database. FIG. 10B is a partial screen shot illustrating the task information pane 910 when the RO list tab 952 is selected. If RO in progress tab 954 is selected, the task information pane 910 will display a list of one or more customer concerns/requests, along with corresponding technician's symptoms for each concern/request. FIG. 10C is a partial screen shot illustrating the task information pane 910 when the RO in progress tab 954 is selected. Finally, if the Scan/Oscope tab 958 is selected, the task information pane 910 displays information regarding available diagnostic tests. FIG. 10D is a partial screen shot illustrating the task information pane 910 when the Scan/Oscope tab 958 is selected. As shown in exemplary FIG. 10D, two diagnostic tests, a car code scan tool application and a PicoScope application, are available for use. Referring again to FIGS. 9 and 10A, a task information navigation pane 960 includes tabs, buttons, or other navigation indicators, allowing the user to navigate task information displayed in the task information pane 910. As illustrated in FIG. 1OA, the task information navigation pane 960 includes several groups of selectable buttons. Notably, the task information navigation pane 960 includes multiple task step tabs 962. In the embodiment of FIG. 10, task step tabs the labeled 1-11 are illustrated. The task step tab 962A corresponding to a task step tab 3, is selected in the GUI 1000. Accordingly, the task information pane 910 displays information regarding a third step in the selected task. The user may jump to any numbered step in the task by selecting the corresponding task step tab 962. Referring again to FIGS. 9 and 10A, a solution/search/reference navigation pane 970 includes one or more tabs, buttons, or other selectable indicators that allow the user to select a type of information for display in the solution/search/reference information pane 920. With reference to FIG. 10A, this pane includes a solutions button 972, a search button 974, and a reference button 976. In one embodiment, the solutions button 972 selects for display in the reference information pane 920, a list of possible tasks that may be performed on the selected vehicle for the selected symptoms. FIG. 10E is a partial screen shot illustrating an exemplary display of the reference information pane 920 when the solutions button 972 is selected. In one embodiment, the search button 974 selects for display in the reference information pane 920 one or more search fields that may be used to search the database of procedures. FIG. 10F is a partial screen shot illustrating an exemplary reference information pane 920 when the search button 974 is selected. Referring again to FIG. 10A, when a reference button 976 is selected, information related to one of multiple types of reference information is displayed in the reference information pane 920. In one embodiment, the reference type navigation pane 980 indicates the type of reference information displayed in the reference information pane 920 when the reference button 976 is selected. With specific reference to exemplary FIG. 10A, reference button 976 is selected and a task is selected for identifying fluid leaks. Accordingly, the software application locates reference information related to the task of identifying fluid leaks, which includes a fuel injection line routing diagram, such as displayed in FIG. 10A. In one embodiment, the diagram displayed in the reference information pane 920 of FIG. 10A may be selected for display by selecting an electrical/diagrams button 984 from the reference type navigation pane 980. If other types of reference information are desired, the other reference type navigation buttons 981 - 987 may be selected. In one embodiment, if no reference information of the type selected in the reference type navigation pane 980 is available, the particular reference type navigation button will not be selectable by the user. Advantageously, the reference information displayed in the reference information pane 920, of any type available, relates to the current task information displayed in the task information pane 910. Accordingly, the user may more easily visualize the procedures necessary to complete a task using all available reference information. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method of selecting information for display, and displaying the selected information, on a display device. In one embodiment, the method of FIG. 11 is performed by a computer system 200 (FIG. 2) located at an automobile repair shop. In an advantageous embodiment, the computer system 200 includes the portable computing device 250 that is wirelessly coupled to the computer 220. In this embodiment, the portable computing device includes a display on which the procedure and reference information is displayed. Alternatively, the method of FIG. 11 may be performed by the document manager 115 or any other computing device that has access to the information generated by the document manager 115. For ease of description, exemplary FIG. 11 is described as performed by a computer system 200 located at an automobile repair shop, wherein the task and reference pane are displayed on a portable computing device 250 that is in communication with the computer 220. In this embodiment, the completion of the various method steps may be performed solely by the portable computing device, the computer 210, or by a combination of the portable computing device 250 and the computer 210. Those of skill in the art will also recognize that the method may be performed by other computing devices or combinations of computing devices. Starting at a block 1110, an input is received indicating a selected object. As noted above, the object may be any object on which procedures, such as diagnostic or repair procedures, may be performed. In an exemplary embodiment, the object comprises a vehicle. In one embodiment, a user selects a particular make, model, and year of an automobile using an input device, such as a keyboard 230 and/or a mouse 240 that is coupled to the computer 220. In another embodiment, the user enters information into the portable computing device 250 using a stylus, keypad, keyboard, or microphone of the portable computing device. For example, the user may select a 1998 Ford Mustang by navigating one or more pull-down menus displayed on the portable computing device 250. Alternatively, the input device may be an on-board diagnostic (OBD) system scanning tool connected to an OBD connector of an automobile. In this embodiment, the OBD system scanning tool may determine the make, model, and year of the automobile and provide this data to the computer system 200 via the portable computing device 250, for example. Moving to a block 1120, an input is received at the portable computing device 250 indicating a procedure that has been selected. In one embodiment, the procedure is automatically selected based on information received from an OBD connector of the selected vehicle. In another embodiment, a procedure, such as a diagnostic or repair procedure is selected by the user based on one or more symptoms of the vehicle. In one embodiment, the user of the computer system 200, such as an automobile technician, enters one or more symptoms of the automobile into the portable computing device 250 that is wirelessly coupled to the computer system 200 and the computer system 200 determines one or more procedures that may be performed on the automobile. Alternatively, this determination may be performed entirely by the portable computing device. The user may then select a specific procedure from the recommended procedures that are selected by one or more devices of the computer system 200. Continuing to a block 1130, a display area of the display device, such as an LCD screen of the portable computing device 250, is allocated for concurrent display of the task pane and the reference pane. For example, the portable computing device 250 that is carried by the automobile technician may be horizontally divided into two panes, such as is illustrated in FIG. 10A. The area of the panes may be automatically adjusted by the computing device that is displaying the panes or, alternatively, may be manually adjusted by the user of the portable computing device 250. In one embodiment, the panes may be displayed on any other computing device, such as the display device 210. Next, in a block 1140 the portable computing device 250 displays procedure information in the procedure pane (which is synonymous with task pane). For example, FIG. 10A illustrates a task pane 910 that displays a task step and multiple task step tabs 962. As explained above, the task pane 910 displays information regarding a particular procedure that may be performed on the automobile. The user may move from one task step to another by selecting a corresponding task step tab 962. Alternatively, the user may jump to a next step by selecting a next step link 963, such as the next step link 963 labeled “Go to Step 4” in FIG. 10A. In one embodiment, the next step link 963 is included as a portion of the task step information. In one embodiment, a particular task step may include more than one next step link 963 for selection by a user. Using the methods described above, the user may navigate between multiple task steps in various manners. Proceeding to a block 1150, the portable computing device 250 displays reference information in the reference pane, such as the reference pane 920 of FIG. 10A. As explained above, the reference pane 920 displays information that is related to the information currently displayed in the task pane 910 and the selected vehicle. Thus, the reference information contains information that may be useful to the technician in completing the selected procedure. The reference information may include information regarding symptoms, components, tools, system info, and general info, for example. In one embodiment, the user may select from multiple reference information items that are related to the current procedure and/or task step. Accordingly, the user may determine which type of reference information may be most useful in completing the task and may select one or more of the types of reference information available with respect to a particular task. Because every technician has unique training and experience, not every technician requires the same reference information. Accordingly, the buttons and/or tabs located in the reference pane 920 advantageously allow each technician to determine which types of reference information they would like to view in order to more efficiently complete the task. In one embodiment, the reference pane 920 includes a toolbar 990 that displays reference information tabs 992 that are currently available for selection by the user. Any of these tabs 992 may be selected by the user in order to change the display of reference information in the reference pane 920. In another embodiment, the toolbar 990 also includes a history of the reference information that has previously been displayed. As illustrated in FIG. 10A, for example, reference information related to “FUEL INJECTION LINE” is currently displayed in the reference pane, while reference information tabs 992 correspond to “Component Locations”, “SMU-REVISED FUEL SYSTEM”,” and “TSBs” reference information. These additional reference information tabs 992 may correspond to reference information that has previously been displayed in the reference pane 920 and/or the tabs 992 may correspond to additional reference information that is related to the information currently displayed in the task pane 910. Thus, the user may easily re-display a reference information item that has already been viewed by clicking on the appropriate tab 992 in the toolbar 990. By displaying task and reference information as described above, the graphical user interface displays information that may reduce the time required to perform a selected procedure. For example, the automatic display of reference information related to the specific procedure or sub-procedure that is currently displayed in the task pane reduces the need for the technician to locate the reference information in another source. In addition, the display of reference information that is related to the information in the task pane reduces the need for the technician to memorize or otherwise become familiar with the reference information. Much of the reference information may be information that is infrequently used by the technician and, thus, requiring the technician to commit the reference information to memory or locate the reference information in one or more reference materials may reduce the efficiency and increase the time required to complete the procedure. Specific parts, shapes, materials, functions and modules have been set forth, herein. However, a skilled technologist will realize that there are many ways to fabricate the system of the present invention, and that there are many parts, components, modules or functions that may be substituted for those listed above. While the above detailed description has shown, described, and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to various embodiments, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions, and changes in the form and details of the components illustrated may be made by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the invention. a reference pane including selectable reference information tabs, each of the reference information tabs being related to the displayed one of the plurality of sub-procedures, wherein the reference information tabs are updated in response to changing which of the one of the plurality of sub-procedures is displayed. 2. The computer executable program of claim 1, wherein the reference information displayed in the reference pane is updated in response to selection of one or the selectable reference information tabs, each of the reference information tabs being associated with different reference information. 3. The computer executable program of claim 1, wherein the graphical user interface is displayed on a portable computing device wirelessly coupled to a computing system. 4. The computer executable program of claim 1, wherein the procedure information is selected from the group comprising: an inspection procedure, a diagnostic procedure, and a repair procedure. 5. The computer executable program of claim 1, wherein the graphical user interface comprises one or more tabs that, when selected by the input device, initiate change of the sub-procedure displayed in the procedure pane. 6. The computer executable program of claim 1, wherein the information displayed in the reference pane is automatically updated in response to a change in the sub-procedure displayed in the procedure pane, wherein the information displayed in the reference pane is related to the sub-procedure displayed in the procedure pane. 7. The computer executable program of claim 1, wherein the reference pane comprises a history window including one or more selectable areas corresponding to respective information that has previously bee n displayed in the reference pane. 8. The computer executable program of claim 1, wherein the procedure pane and the reference pane are generally rectangular shaped. 9. The computer executable program of claim 1, wherein the first procedure and reference panes are horizontally aligned side by side in the graphical user interface. 10. The computer executable program of claim 1, wherein a link included in the procedure pane indicates a change in reference information displayed in the reference pane. 11. The computer executable program of claim 1, wherein a link included in the procedure pane indicates a change in the procedure information displayed in the procedure pane. displaying in the reference pane information related to the selected object and the selected procedure. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the display device is disposed in a portable computing device. 14. The method of claim 12, wherein the selected procedure comprises a plurality of sub-procedures. updating the information in the reference pane in response to receiving the input indicating the one sub-procedure. 16. The method of claim 12, wherein the object comprises a vehicle. 17. The method of claim 12, wherein the selected procedure comprises a repair procedure that may be performed on the selected object. 18. The method of claim 12, wherein the selected procedure comprises a diagnostic procedure that may be performed on the selected object. determining the procedure that is to be performed on the vehicle based on the selected vehicle and the one or more symptoms. 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of selecting is performed by a user interacting with the portable computing device. 21. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of selecting is performed by the portable computing device in response to information receive from an OBD connector of the vehicle. a reference pane including one or more reference information tabs each corresponding to a particular piece of reference information that is related to the displayed one of the plurality of sub-procedures, wherein the one or more reference information tabs are updated in response to changing which of the plurality of sub-procedures is displayed. 23. The portable computing device of claim 22, wherein the selectable items are selected from the group comprising tabs, buttons, icons, and menus. 24. The portable computing device of claim 22, wherein the portable computing device is selected from the group comprising a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and a cell phone. a third pane displaying reference information regarding the specific vehicle, wherein the vehicle information, the procedure information, and the reference information are each related to the procedure and are each concurrently displayed on a display device. providing a highest ranked procedure to a vehicle service center in response to a request for a procedure corresponding to the vehicle symptom.

2019-04-24T04:46:44Z

https://patents.google.com/patent/US20060161313A1/en

While engaged with the brahmanas who were too much involved in the performance of Vedic sacrifices, Krishna and Balarama also saw that the cowherd men were preparing a similar sacrifice in order to pacify Indra, the King of heaven, who is responsible for supplying water. As stated in the Caitanya-caritamrita, a devotee of Krishna has strong and firm faith in the understanding that if he is simply engaged in Krishna consciousness and Krishna’s transcendental loving service, then he is freed from all other obligations. A pure devotee of Lord Krishna doesn’t have to perform any of the ritualistic functions enjoined in the Vedas; nor is he required to worship any demigods. Being a devotee of Lord Krishna, one is understood to have performed all kinds of Vedic rituals and all kinds of worship to the demigods. One does not develop devotional service for Krishna by performing the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies or worshiping the demigods, but it should be understood that one who is engaged fully in the service of the Lord has already fulfilled all Vedic injunctions. In order to stop all such activities by His devotees, Krishna wanted to firmly establish exclusive devotional service during His presence in Vrindavana. Because He is the omniscient Personality of Godhead, Krishna knew that the cowherd men were preparing for the Indra sacrifice, but as a matter of etiquette He began to inquire with great honor and submission from elder personalities like Maharaja Nanda. After hearing this, Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in the presence of His father and all the elder cowherd men of Vrindavana, spoke in such a way as to make heavenly King Indra very angry. He suggested that they forgo the sacrifice. His reasons for discouraging the sacrifice performed to please Indra were twofold. First, as stated in the Bhagavad-gita, there is no need to worship the demigods for any material advancement; all results derived from worshiping the demigods are simply temporary, and only those who are less intelligent are interested in temporary results. Second, whatever temporary result one derives from worshiping the demigods is actually granted by the permission of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is clearly stated in the Bhagavad-gita: mayaiva vihitan hi tan. Whatever benefit is supposed to be derived from the demigods is actually bestowed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Without the permission of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one cannot bestow any benefit upon others. But sometimes the demigods become puffed up by the influence of material nature; thinking themselves all in all, they forget the supremacy of the Personality of Godhead. In Srimad-Bhagavatam it is clearly stated that in this instance Krishna wanted to make King Indra angry. Krishna’s advent was especially meant for the annihilation of the demons and protection of the devotees. King Indra was certainly a devotee, not a demon, but because he was puffed up, Krishna wanted to teach him a lesson. He first made Indra angry by stopping the Indra-puja, which had been arranged by the cowherd men in Vrindavana. Maharaja Nanda and other elder members argued that without satisfying the predominating god one cannot derive any good result simply by material activities. This is actually the fact. For example, it is sometimes found that in spite of first-class medical help and treatment by a first-class physician, a diseased person dies. It is concluded, therefore, that first-class medical treatment or the attempts of a first-class physician are not in themselves the cause for curing a patient; there must be the hand of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Similarly, a father’s and mother’s taking care of their children is not the cause of the children’s comfort. Sometimes it is found that in spite of all care by the parents, the children go bad or succumb to death. Therefore material causes are not sufficient for results. There must be the sanction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Nanda Maharaja therefore advocated that in order to get good results for agricultural activities, they must satisfy Indra, the superintending deity of the rain supply. Lord Krishna nullified this argument, saying that the demigods give results only to persons who have executed their prescribed duties. The demigods cannot give any good results to the person who has not executed the prescribed duties; therefore demigods are dependent on the execution of duties and are not absolute in awarding good results to anyone. So why should one care about them? Krishna identified Himself with the vaisya community because Nanda Maharaja was protecting many cows and Krishna was taking care of them. He enumerated four kinds of business engagements for the vaisya community, namely agriculture, trade, protection of cows and banking. Although the vaisyas can take to any of these occupations, the men of Vrindavana were engaged primarily in the protection of cows. In this statement, Lord Krishna practically described the whole economy of the vaisya community. In all communities in human society—including the brahmanas, kshatriyas, vaisyas, sudras, candalas, etc.— and in the animal kingdom—including the cows, dogs, goats, etc.—everyone has his part to play. Each is to work in cooperation for the total benefit of all society, which includes not only animate objects but also inanimate objects like hills and land. The vaisya community is specifically responsible for the economic improvement of the society by producing grains, by giving protection to the cows, by transporting food when needed, and by banking and finance. From this statement we learn also that although the cats and dogs, which have now become so important, are not to be neglected, cow protection is actually more important than protection of cats and dogs. Another hint we get from this statement is that the candalas, or the untouchables, are also not to be neglected by the higher classes and should be given necessary protection. Everyone is important, but some are directly responsible for the advancement of human society and some are only indirectly responsible. However, when Krishna consciousness is there, then everyone’s total benefit is taken care of. The sacrifice known as Govardhana-puja is observed in the Krishna consciousness movement. Lord Caitanya has recommended that since Krishna is worshipable, so His land—Vrindavana and Govardhana Hill—is also worshipable. To confirm this statement, Lord Krishna said that Govardhana-puja is as good as worship of Him. From that day, Govardhana-puja has been going on and is known as Annakuta. In all the temples of Vrindavana or outside of Vrindavana, huge quantities of food are prepared in this ceremony and are very sumptuously distributed to the general population. Sometimes the food is thrown to the crowds, and they enjoy collecting it off the ground. From this we can understand that prasadam offered to Krishna never becomes polluted or contaminated, even if it is thrown on the ground. The people, therefore, collect it and eat with great satisfaction. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, therefore advised the cowherd men to stop the Indra-yajna and begin the Govardhana-puja in order to chastise Indra, who was very much puffed up at being the supreme controller of the heavenly planets. The honest and simple cowherd men, headed by Nanda Maharaja, accepted Krishna’s proposal and executed in detail everything He advised. They performed Govardhana worship and circumambulation of the hill. (Following the inauguration of Govardhana-puja, people in Vrindavana still dress nicely and assemble near Govardhana Hill to offer worship and circumambulate the hill, leading their cows all around.) According to the instruction of Lord Krishna, Nanda Maharaja and the cowherd men called in learned brahmanas and began to worship Govardhana Hill by chanting Vedic hymns and offering prasadam. The inhabitants of Vrindavana assembled together, decorated their cows and gave them grass. Keeping the cows in front, they began to circumambulate Govardhana Hill. The gopis dressed themselves very luxuriantly and sat in bull-driven carts, chanting the glories of Krishna’s pastimes. Assembled there to act as priests for Govardhana-puja, the brahmanas offered their blessings to the cowherd men and their wives, the gopis. Thus performing the Govardhana-puja sacrifice, all the inhabitants of Vrindavana followed the instructions of Krishna, the son of Vasudeva, and afterwards they returned to their respective homes. by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Krishna has declared in the Bhagavad-gita that the worshipers of the demigods are not very intelligent. He has also declared that one has to give up all kinds of worship and simply concentrate on Krishna consciousness. Krishna’s invoking the anger of Indra and later on chastising him is a clear indication to His devotees that those who are engaged in Krishna consciousness have no need to worship any demigod, even if it is found that the demigod has become angry. Krishna gives His devotees all protection, and they should completely depend on His mercy. Indra cursed the action of the inhabitants of Vrindavana and said, “By defying the authority of the demigods, the inhabitants of Vrindavana will suffer in material existence. Having neglected the sacrifice to the demigods, they cannot cross over the impediments of the ocean of material existence.” Indra further declared, “These cowherd men in Vrindavana have neglected my authority on the advice of this talkative boy who is known as Krishna. He is nothing but a child, and by believing this child, they have enraged me.” Thus he ordered the Samvartaka cloud to go and destroy the prosperity of Vrindavana. “The men of Vrindavana,” said Indra, “have become too puffed up over their material opulence and are overconfident due to the presence of their tiny friend, Krishna. He is simply talkative, childish and unaware of the complete cosmic situation, although He is thinking Himself very advanced in knowledge. Because they have taken Krishna so seriously, they must be punished. They should be destroyed with their cows.” In this way Indra ordered the Samvartaka cloud to go to Vrindavana and inundate the place. Thinking in this way, Lord Krishna immediately picked up Govardhana Hill with one hand, exactly as a child picks up a mushroom from the ground. Thus He exhibited His transcendental pastime of lifting Govardhana Hill. Lord Krishna then addressed His devotees, “My dear brothers, My dear father, My dear inhabitants of Vrindavana, you can now safely enter under the umbrella of Govardhana Hill, which I have just lifted. Do not be afraid of the hill and think that it will fall from My hand. You have been too much afflicted from the heavy rain and strong wind; therefore I have lifted this hill, which will protect you exactly like a huge umbrella. I think this is a proper arrangement to relieve you of your immediate distress. Be happy along with your animals underneath this great umbrella.” Being assured by Lord Krishna, all the inhabitants of Vrindavana entered beneath the great hill along with their property and animals, and they all appeared to be safe. All the men loaded their valuables on carts and slowly left with their cows and other paraphernalia. After they had cleared out everything, Lord Krishna very slowly replaced Govardhana Hill exactly in the same position as it had been before. When everything was done, all the inhabitants of Vrindavana approached Krishna with feelings of love and embraced Him with great ecstasy. The gopis, being naturally very affectionate to Krishna, began to offer Him yogurt mixed with their tears, and they poured incessant blessings upon Him. Mother Yasoda, mother Rohini, Nanda and Balarama, who is the strongest of the strong, embraced Krishna one after another and, from spontaneous feelings of affection, blessed Him over and over again. In the heavens, different demigods from different planetary systems, such as Siddhaloka, Gandharvaloka and Caranaloka, also began to show their complete satisfaction. They poured showers of flowers on the surface of the earth and sounded different conchshells. There was beating of drums, and being inspired by godly feelings, residents of Gandharvaloka began to play on their tambouras to please the Lord. After this incident, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, surrounded by His dear friends and the animals, returned to His home. As usual, the gopis began to chant the glorious pastimes of Lord Krishna with great feeling, for they were chanting from the heart. pita-mata—father and mother; mari’—killing; khao—you eat; eba—this; kon—what kind of; dharma—religion; kon bale—on what strength; kara—do; tumi—you; e-mata—such; vikarma—sinful activities. Everyone can understand that we drink the milk of cows and take the help of bulls in producing agricultural products. Therefore, since our real father gives us food grains and our mother gives us milk with which to live, the cow and bull are considered our father and mother. According to Vedic civilization, there are seven mothers, of which the cow is one. Therefore Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu challenged the Muslim Kazi, “What kind of religious principle do you follow by killing your father and mother to eat them?” In any civilized human society, no one would dare kill his father and mother for the purpose of eating them. Therefore Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu challenged the system of Muslim religion as patricide and matricide. In the Christian religion also, a principal commandment is “Thou shalt not kill.” Nevertheless, Christians violate this rule; they are very expert in killing and in opening slaughterhouses. In our Krishna consciousness movement, our first provision is that no one should be allowed to eat any kind of flesh. It does not matter whether it is cows’ flesh or goats’ flesh, but we especially stress the prohibition against cows’ flesh because according to sastra the cow is our mother. (A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Sri Chaitanya Charitamrta Adi-lila 17:154. text and purport). “According to the Vedic social system, as soon as one takes birth he becomes indebted to so many persons. We are indebted to the rishis, or great sages, because we derive knowledge from their transcendental writings, such as the Srimad-Bhagavatam, compiled by Srila Vyasadeva. The authors of the scripture know past, present, and future, and we are urged to take advantage of such invaluable knowledge. Thus we are indebted to the sages. We are also indebted to the demigods, for they manage the affairs of the universe, supplying it with every essential—sunshine from the sun-god, Surya; moonshine from the moon-god, Candra; air from Vayu; and so on. Each element is controlled by a particular demigod. Actually, Hindu is not a religion. Hindu is a name given by the foreigners. The religion is, of India, varnasrama-dharma, following the institution of four varnas and four asramas. That is varn… Or sanatana-dharma. Sanatana-dharma means eternal, eternal religion. Religion of human being is one. That is called sanatana. A living entity is described as sanatana. Mamaivamso jiva-bhuto jiva-loke sanatanah. In the Bhagavad-gita you’ll find sanatanah, and Krishna is also addressed in the Eleventh Chapter as sanatanas tvam. And there is another place, or spiritual world, which is also called sanatana. In the Bhagavad-gita you’ll find, paras tasmat tu bhavo ’nyo ’vyakto ’vyaktat sanatanah. So this sanatana term is very important. The living entity is sanatana and God is sanatana and the spiritual world is sanatana, and the process by which your lost relationship with God established and you go back to home back to Godhead, that is called sanatana-dharma. Sanatana-dharma. That is our eternal relationship with God.” (A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. 15th January 1974. Srimad Bhagavatam lecture SB 1:16:19. Hawaii). Govardhana Puja triggered one of the most known and beautiful of Krishna’s pastimes. More information, photos and videos on Govardhana in our Archive. By subscribing you help us in our researches to offer you always more and better.

2019-04-23T16:05:11Z

https://www.isvara.org/archive/govardhana-puja-go-puja/

Jill makes it happen! My house was on the market for over 30 months without a single offer, and Jill was my 3rd agent. She sold it within 60 days of taking on the listing! Jill is very aggressive in her advertising and promotion of your property, and she sends copies of the print ads that she places. Jill has an incredible attention to detail and very effective communications. She responds to texts immediately, and to emails within an hour or so. She was quite skilled in the offer negotiation, ensuring that we maximized the selling price.Whether you have a challenging house to sell like I did, or a highly desirable property, I give Jill my highest recommendation! Jill is a very hard worker and energetic in getting things accomplished. She handles any small problems that might come up coolly and professionally, extinguishing any small fires, most times behind the scenes so the seller has little or no worries. She’s extremely pleasant to work with. She came highly recommended to me by my sister, who also used Jill to sell her home and also find her a new one. Mike Killian our realtor and the office of Jill Stehnach were amazing during our home buying experience. During the whole process I felt as if Mike Killian only had one client, us. Anytime I had questions or concerns he was a quick phone call away. Quick to respond, and always willing to say when he needed more information and came back with detailed correct answers rather than making guesses. I will be recommending them to anyone who asks for a realtor, and will be definitely contacting them when it comes to sell. I absolutely recommend Jill as an agent for anyone looking to buy or sell a home. We had the pleasure of meeting her when we listed our home in Sewickley/Bell Acres. She was very knowledgeable about the market in our area and expertly guided us regarding pricing, timing, etc. She was ready to go as soon as we made a decision to list the house with her and had the photographer scheduled the next day. The listing pictures turned out great and included drone aerial shots that showcased the outdoor space and lot. This was important to us as the outdoor space and lot views is what drew us to the home when we purchased it. Once listed, we were under contract within a few days. Jill’s experience and knowledge were so helpful as we continued through negotiations and eventually to the close. She was always extremely responsive to any questions that we had and kept us well informed throughout the entire process. Her confidence and positive attitude made the entire process less stressful. In all, we had a great experience with the sale of our home and Jill and her team played a huge role in that. I had the pleasure of working with Jill on the sale of my home. Jill is extremely knowledgable in real estate and her expertise got me a great offer within 5 days of listing my home. Jill was super responsive, very professional and an advocate for me in the sales process. This was the first time I have sold a home and she made the process super easy and simple! I would highly recommend Jill. Jill came highly recommended when we decided to list our house in Bell Acres. There are many realtors based in Sewickley, so it was hard to make a decision, but after all our research and inquiring with friends, Jill was who we decided to go with. What an excellent decision we made. JIll was very prompt in responding to us and we started the process the very next day. We started out a bit high and Jill worked with us on our timeline when we decided to break price. Her team was also very helpful and professional while holding the open house(s) and during showings. She was very thorough with all the paperwork and even handled the signing for us while we we out of town. I would highly recommend Jill for your buying and selling of a home. She is very pleasant and professional. It was a smooth transaction from beginning to end! Our decision to work with Jill on the sale of my elderly father's home, was the right one! She made us feel right at ease with her knowledge of the local real estate market and her caring attitude. She was thoughtful, thorough and easy to communicate with...a great listener! Always looking out for my Father's best interest and going the extra mile to insure that he felt secure through his decision making process.We recommend Jill to anyone who appreciates a realtor they can trust to get the job done!Well done Jill!!! I listed my house with Jill and within 4 days the house was sold. We had several offers and she was able to help me make a decision that was best for me. I always felt Jill was one step ahead of me in that she prepared me to be ready for each phase of selling my home. She was timely in all communications and her team was very professional. I was unable to be home for a showing and Jill actually came and walked my dog so that it could happen! Those little supports made a difference. Jill knows so much about the market and the process in detail, I just felt very supported and respected. I would work with Jill again for sure! Jill Stehnach and her team member Mike Killian formed a best-in-class pair in assisting us locate and negotiate a good deal for our dream house in Sewickley. Jill has such good instincts with the market, anticipated our concerns, always was so well prepped by doing her homework in advance, and truly sought to understand us in the search for the house. She negotiated fairly, but firmly and was results oriented, and we really derived benefit from that. Aside from her sharp business acumen, her calm and self-effacing attitude, and authentic genuineness stood out in her field. Her colleague Mike brings a master engineer's mind and a wealth of experience for how to practically assess the road ahead with buying and renovating any home. His ability to understand people is similarly sharp. On top of exhibiting their complimentary strengths, my wife and I believe the top reason why they are so impacting and successful with clients is that Mike and Jill really go the extra mile each time, every opportunity. They do the right things, both little and big, to achieve the mark in the eyes of their clients. Hats off to them for their super level of commitment to their trade. You will be very pleased if you select them to be your BHHS buying agent. Jill is so wonderful to work with. She is very knowledgable and is there for her clients throughout the entire process. She made buying and selling our home a joy. We had a great experience working with her and Mike Killian! Highly recommend both of them. This is our third time working with the team buying a home and selling a previous property. Mike is very knowledgeable and helpful, especially in the Sewickley area. Jill sold our home in Sewickley and we were very pleased with her knowledge, marketing and communication. She is an excellent agent and a true professional.Jill provided us with an honest assessment of our home and helped us come up with a plan pre-listing.What we liked most about Jill is that while she is not pushy at all, she really gets things done and we knew she was in total control. Jill helped me sell my townhouse and was amazing! She answered all my first time seller questions and she (and her team) were extremely communicative and helpful. Cannot recommend her enough! I can't imagine a realtor who works harder than Jill! She and her assistant Mike worked with us to sell our house for many months. They held numerous open houses, listed our home in every conceivable place and really went way beyond the call of duty to help us. They were amazingly responsive as well as genuine and honest with their advice. In addition, they are just lovely people. I would never want to sell or buy a house without them! Jill helped us work through two different houses. We are incredibly satisfied with the process and where we ended up. We ended up with a fair deal and were able to close in a timely manner. Jill helped us out in a turning market. We were able to sell our home before we moved this avoiding renting it. Her knowledge of the area and current happenings helped us change our price and get an offer. She also is persistent and stayed on top of potential buyers. Thanks Jill! Jill is an exceptionally talented real estate lady who is not only knowledgeable about home locations, pricing, and quality, but is also an excellent listener who exceeds performance to please clients. I have had the pleasure of knowing Jill for many years as she sold two homes for me and aided me in purchasing another.Jill went the extra mile by answering my many questions about the home, taxes, documents, financial arrangements, to paint consultant etc. Jill Stehnach is a Real Estate Super Star! Jill sold our unique home and she possesses the skills, knowledge, and experience to deal with every unforeseen circumstance that we encountered through the entire sales process. During a few difficult stages, Jill was the last one that updated us at night and the first one contacting us in the early morning. Rumor has it that she never sleeps! I could not imagine selling my home with any other agent.Jill Stehnach does work harder for you! Jill was very professional, and found just the right home for us quickly. She was very patient, and gave us great information, so we could make the most informed decision. We are not the easiest couple to work with, either. Jill handled our quirks with grace and good communication. Count on Jill to get the deal done. Out of my seven moves, Jill was far and away the most professional and assistive agent that I have ever worked with. She is more than an agent, she has become a friend of the family. Whether buying or selling, I cannot express how strongly I recommend working with Jill. Jill could not show us the condo, but she had a co-worker show it to us. This worked out very well since we put an offer in on it. Jill worked us through the purchase agreement and represented us very well. She worked with the seller agent to ensure we had the correct information and any of our requests were met. She did a final walkthrough of the house the day before closing, and that was very helpful. This was an enjoyable experience! Initially Jill could not show us this condo so she made arrangements to have her co-worker show it to us. This was good since we would not have gotten to make an offer if we were shown later. We had done a lot of the "research" on the house ourselves, so we really didn't need her expertise in this area. She helped us with the purchase agreement and ensuring that everything was done with the other realtor. She was a great resource for us in this area. She was very welcoming when we got to the closing and let us do a final walkthrough. This was great! Jill is such a talented real estate agent. She found us our perfect home and was so helpful the entire way through. As first time homebuyers, we were very new to all legal paperwork and she did a fantastic job explaining everything and communicating with us. I would recommend Jill to anyone, she is the best. We were on a tight schedule, moving to Pittsburgh from Louisiana with only a couple of short trips to find a home. Jill gave us a tour of the area, showed us a bunch of homes, and we felt confident about our choice - this neighborhood is wonderful, and the house is great! Jill has a lot of knowledge of Pittsburgh and the local architecture, and did an excellent job of guiding us through the inspection and title process from afar. I have worked with Jill twice, once in 2013 when my home first went on the market and again in 2014. I have found Jill's professionalism, knowledge of the market, and responsiveness to be excellent at all times. I would recommend her without a doubt to anyone looking to begin a real estate transaction, whether it is to purchase or to sell a home. Jill is a fantastic realtor. She knows where to list your house for it to sell. She quickly reaches out to her network of agents to see if there is a good fit for your house and a buyer. In our situation there was a great fit and we had a showing on our house and an offer the same day before our listing even hit the market. Through the process the buyer was asking for "out of the box" items to be fixed and Jill was able to negotiate a fair solution to appease the buyer. On the other side for the house that we purchased she was nice enough to set up a showing and she had a lot of background on the house since she had shown it when it was listed previously. We talked about a fair offer and she was realistic on what would be accepted by the seller. She is very in tune with the market and how the other agents guide their clients on the selling and buying of homes in our market. I refer everyone I know who is looking to buy or sell to Jill. She responds to your questions/concerns at all times of the day/night and provides what you need in a timely fashion. From driving around town when Jill's name is on the sign in front of a house it does not sit long. I see signs for other realtors in yards for extended period of times, but not hers. The first meeting we had with Jill was at a home she was showing. She was on time despite, unbeknownst to us, having been in a fairly serious accident earlier in the day. This same commitment carried through in a very easy, fun and quick process to the closing on our first family home, which we love. We would recommend Jill for, among many other things, her professionalism and deep knowledge of the area. We contacted Jill not knowing her at all to purchase a property. She showed us the space and we ended up engaging her to sell our house. Jill knows the business and provides top shelf services. The attention to detail in the marketing literature and the on line presentation were the best. She represented us in both the sale and purchase and drove the process to close. She is a true pro, creates an air of trust and we would strongly recommend her. Working with Jill was wonderful. She is efficient and energetic. Very positive and down to earth. She is easily accessible and returns phone calls or emails very promptly. This was the easiest real estate transaction I have ever experienced. She truly is a professional! Jill was exemplary in her service with us. Very knowledgeable about the area. She was very helpful, especially as it was our first home purchase and we live out of the country. We couldn't have hoped for anything more. She is the best! Marketed home in numerous publications. Home sold very quickly. Jill negotiated us a great selling price. She kept us updated on the sale and purchase of our homes. Just purchased another home with Jill and will use her the next time around. Jill was an absolute professional. She was knowledgeable about the market and what we needed to do to prepare for the sale. She was quick to respond and a pleasure to work with. She was the real estate agent that helped me buy a new home. She was highly professional and helpful throughout the entire process. For instance she showed me many houses during the snowy, winter days and even though I have been late a few times she was still patient and showed me the house. Jill was our agent for selling our house and helping us find a new one. Jill did more advertising in more varied media than any other agent offered and our house sold two days after we listed it. She brought in over 20 potential buyers to view our house during that short time period and her connections with other local real estate agents were extensive. We had an unusually difficult time closing on our new house but her expertise in the real estate process saw us through a difficult time. I would recommend her for selling and buying without reservations. Jill is dedicated to her clients & is always responsive to their needs. She provides a great marketing plan for each and every home she represents. She loves her job & it shows! Jill answered our many questions as first time home buyers and spent a lot of time with us. She is excellent at what she does, listens attentively, has a wealth of knowledge, and is personable and personal. I highly recommend her. She also helped sell our home and that was an equally pleasant and trouble-free experience for us. Wonderful attention to details. She took the time to learn our wants, needs, and tastes. She was patient throughout the process and made sure that we understood as much about the house, property and circumstances as possible. Her assistance in providing our education and helping us understand comparisons that were truly important in guiding the negotiation process. Jill was very aggressive in her advertising and sold our house in twelve days! I would recommend her to sell your home or to assist you in buying a home. Jill listed our home for $140,000 and it sold for $137,000 in less than two weeks. She prepared a booklet with pictures in a couple of days and and also listed us zillow and trullia and in two newspapers all in less than a week. Jill is the consummate real estate professional. She made the listing process easy, and her creative marketing approach was outstanding. Jill kept us well-informed all along the way, and effectively advocated on our behalf with interested buyers. She has extensive knowledge of both the local market as well as the profiles of potential buyers. We would recommend her highly. Jill Stehnach is a rare find in the realty world today. She is incredibly knowledgeable in her field and knows this area inside and out. Jill is honest and acts as a true advocate for her clients. She is not one to pressure her clients and leaves them to make decisions while providing them with a solid foundation of information to make an informed decision. Jill is dedicated, punctual, flexible, and easy to work in tandem with her customers to reach their goals while staying within their budget. Jill Stehnach has been a pleasure to work with in helping us to look at possibilities and explore our options. We have referred people to her in the past and plan to continue to do so in the future. Thank you Jill for keeping both closings smooth as well. Your professionalism helped make it clear that you were working for us and we really appreciate that. But also your personal touch helped us feel safe knowing we were in the right hands through the months. Kathy & I wish you and your family continued success for years to come. We will stay in touch. All the Best, Bill & Kathy. 'Ben and I just wanted to write to you both to thank you so much for assisting us in finding our new house. After having some bad experiences with other real estate firms, it was a breath of fresh air to deal with agents as understanding & honest as yourselves. We know we weren't the easiest of clients to please but you took the time to truly understand our needs and wants! You weren't just interested in selling us a house but rather you were committed to finding us a HOME. Ben & I (and the kids) are thrilled with our decision and we just can't wait to move in. So thank you for your professionalism & most of all, your patience. We appreciate all you did for us. And finally thank you for making our first purchase in the USA a good experience. We certainly will have no hesitation in recommending you to our friends!! As a first time home buyer, Jill made the journey fun and a great learning experience. She demonstrates great professionalism and is very knowledgeable. Jill is quick to respond to emails and voicemails and no question is too big or too small. She takes time to explain all of the available options as well as listen to understand the buyer's needs so that they can find the best property for you. I highly recommend Jill Stehnach for your real estate needs. Working with Jill Stehnach has been an absolute pleasure. She makes finding the right home for you her number one priority. Jill did a lot of research and worked really hard to find a place that had everything I was looking for. She really made me feel comfortable during the whole process of buying my first house. She did a great job of explaining the market and never pressured me to make a decision. I will definitely work with Jill again in the future. I would highly recommend Jill Stehnach to anyone who is buying or selling. I could not have asked for a better Realtor.

2019-04-21T10:37:38Z

http://jillstehnach.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Testimonials

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I have frequently highlighted BC’s loser pays system where a losing litigant is typically ordered to pay costs to the opposing side. Reasons for judgement were released this week by the BC Supreme Court, Vancouver Registry, demonstrating that this result can be harsh and is typically unyielding to factors such as sympathy and financial hardship. The plaintiff says that the defendants should be denied their costs on the basis that his life was permanently and catastrophically altered by the event of January 21, 2006 and his future care and financial support are now in jeopardy. Mr. Laktin argues that the costs of a five-week trial will impose an onerous financial burden, which the plaintiff lacks the means to satisfy. I accept that Mr. Laktin is in difficult financial circumstances, and that an order requiring him to pay costs to the defendant will be a real and heavy burden for him. While I have a great deal of sympathy for the plaintiff, the case law clearly establishes that the unfortunate personal circumstances and financial hardship of a litigant are not, standing alone, factors warranting a departure from the general rule that costs follow the event: Morris at para. 36; Chen at para. 11;Vesuna v. British Columbia (Transportation), 2011 BCSC 1618 at para. 8. In Robinson v. Lakner (1998), 159 D.L.R. (4th) 191, the Court of Appeal, reversing the decision of the trial judge who had limited the costs payable to the successful defendant to $1,500 because the plaintiff was in difficult financial circumstances, held at para. 5, that “financial hardship in itself is not a sound basis for departing from the usual rule with respect to costs”. In Cowherd v. Fraser Valley Health Region et al, 2004 BCSC 698 at para. 5, Madam Justice Ballance cited Brown v. Blacktop Cabs Ltd. (1997), 43 B.C.L.R. (3d) 76 (C.A.); Zelenski Estate v. Fairway(1998), 60 B.C.L.R. (3d) 76 (C.A.); Churchland v. Gore Mutual Insurance Co. (unreported), September 23, 1999, No. S09912, Vancouver (S.C.); and Robinson for the principle that “in general, the unfortunate personal circumstances and characteristics of a litigant are not to be taken into account by the court in exercising its discretion in making an award of costs”. In Morris at para. 38, Madam Justice Ker concluded that the court is unable, on any principled basis to take the plaintiff’s financial circumstances into account in determining whether to award costs. To conclude otherwise would undermine the rationale underlying Rule 14-9 and would likely lead to the promotion of litigation rather than to promote the “winnowing” function described by Hall J.A. in Catalyst Paper. It would lead to a collapse of the general principle discussed in the authorities and result in the unacceptable proposition that costs in each case would be measured not by a party’s success but by the personal financial circumstances of the litigants. I conclude that there are no special circumstances in this case that would warrant a departure from the general rule that costs should follow the event. Accordingly, the defendant, City of Vancouver, will have costs of this action at Scale B, together with its reasonable disbursements. A short but interesting exchange can be found at the end of reasons for judgement recently published by the BC Supreme Court, Chilliwack Registry, discussing loser pays costs and a Plaintiff’s financial circumstances. MR. KENT-SNOWSELL: Costs, My Lord? THE COURT: I am not going to order costs because of Ms. Hunstad’s financial situation. If you want to make some submissions on that, I will consider it, but I don’t think they are appropriate in the circumstances. MR. KENT-SNOWSELL: I will seek instructions. Earlier this year I highlighted a judgement addressing whether a litigant blogging about witnesses during the course of a trial, and referenceing ‘fat bottomed girls’ in the process, amounted to witness intimidation. Reasons for judgement were released today (Mainstream Canada v. Staniford) by the BC Supreme Court, Vancouver Registry, dealing with the costs consequences following the underlying trial. . . . During the trial, Mr. Staniford relaunched the GAAIA website, this time using a service provider outside of Canada. During his cross-examination, Mr. Staniford proclaimed that he would not be stopped by an injunction pronounced in this action. Shortly before the trial, and after the witness lists had been exchanged, Mr. Staniford accused the Ahousaht First Nation of accepting “blood money” from Cermaq in one of his Facebook postings. Mr. Staniford looked on the trial as an opportunity to get his message out, and he did not hold back. For example, in Internet postings during the trial, Mr. Staniford demeaned and mocked the physical appearance of three of Mainstream’s witnesses, Mary Ellen Walling, Leanne Brunt and Dr. Gallo. Mr. Wotherspoon brought the comments concerning Ms. Walling and Ms. Brunt to my attention when court was convened the morning of January 26, 2012. The matter was discussed in court and was framed (appropriately) as an issue of Mr. Staniford victimizing Mainstream’s witnesses by his insulting comments. Mr. Staniford was present during the discussion. Despite that, Mr. Staniford then repeated his comments about Ms. Walling and Ms. Brunt outside court for an interview that was published on YouTube. During his testimony, Mr. Staniford attempted to justify his comments about Ms. Walling and Ms. Brunt as being “very complimentary,” and said he thought Ms. Walling should be “flattered” at being labelled a “fat-bottomed girl.” The notion that Mr. Staniford would ever pay a sincere compliment to Ms. Walling is, itself, laughable and entirely unbelievable. In another Facebook posting during the first week of the trial, he compared the trial to a kangaroo court…. By engaging in the conduct I described, Mr. Staniford demonstrated his disrespect for witnesses and his disdain generally for the court and the judicial process. Although I consider Mr. Staniford’s misconduct in connection with the trial to be serious and clearly deserving of censure, I think that depriving the defendants of all of their costs of the action is too severe, given the dollar amounts likely involved for a 20-day trial. I have concluded that an appropriate order is that the defendants have 25% of their assessed costs and disbursements. (There should be only one set of costs for both defendants.) Depriving the defendants of 75% of their assessed costs and disbursements, in my view, reflects appropriate condemnation of Mr. Staniford’s misconduct. I’ve written many times about the BC Supreme Court’s “loser pays” system which generally requires a losing litigant to pay for the winner’s costs and disbursements. If a lawsuit is started on a child’s behalf and on reaching adulthood they take over the claim themselves can the former litigation guardian still be exposed to loser pays costs consequences? The answer is yes as was demonstrated in reasons for judgement released this week by the BC Supreme Court, Vancouver Registry. Although Bird J.A.’s comments on the liability of litigation guardians for costs in Miller were dicta, they were considered dicta. Bird J.A. concluded that an infant ratifying the action after attaining the age of majority does not inherit and replace the litigation guardian’s liability for costs. I have seen nothing in the authorities that lends support to the position that a defendant’s possible entitlement to costs from a litigation guardian disappears when the infant reaches majority. I expect that subsequent to Miller, litigation guardians starting actions (and filing affidavits at the time) understood their potential liability for costs and the fact that it continued at least up to the infant’s majority. Rule 20-2(12) and (13) do not suggest that the filing an affidavit upon attaining the age of majority removes any possible past liability of the litigation guardian for costs. While it is true that a possible adverse costs order may deter a person from suing as a litigation guardian, there are also policy reasons that support awarding costs in favour of successful defendants. In any event, I think the underlying law has been clear for more the 50 years that a litigation guardian assumes potential liability for costs if he or she starts an action as a litigation guardian and is not successful. Accordingly, my conclusion is that Shawne McIlvenna, the plaintiff’s former litigation guardian, is responsible for the costs that I have already ordered, up to February 27, 2009, when the plaintiff filed his affidavit of majority. .. As previously discussed, a Plaintiff’s financial circumstances is not relevant when assessing “loser pays” costs consequences following trial in the BC Supreme Court (subject to the different analysis that applies when pre-trial formal settlement offers have been made). Reasons for judgement were released last week by the BC Supreme Court, Vancouver Registry, demonstrating this. The third basis for his application is that he is unemployed and experiencing difficult financial circumstances. While no evidence is before the Court to establish precisely what his present situation is, I will accept that it is not good. I have genuine sympathy for this plaintiff. I am sure that the requirement to pay costs to the defendant will be a real burden for him in his circumstances. Indeed, I expect that it is frequently the case that there are substantial discrepancies between the means of parties to litigation. Unsuccessful litigants are not infrequently in difficult financial straits, and orders for costs can exacerbate that situation. However, I am unable to conclude that an order requiring him to pay the defendant’s costs, in accordance with the relevant tariff, $11,000, would be so “unfair and inappropriately punitive” to make the order sought. There are no special circumstances in this case which warrant an order for reduced costs or relieving the plaintiff from paying the defendant’s costs. Tags: Loser pays, Mr. Justice Williams, RUle 14, Rule 14-1, Rule 14-1(9), Staley v. Squirrel Systems of Canada Ltd. As previously discussed, Section 10 of BC’s Workers Compensation Act operates to generally strip you of your right to sue if you are injured in the course of your employment by someone else in the course of their employment. If this defence is raised and succeeds in a personal injury lawsuit the claim will be dismissed exposing a Plaintiff to ‘loser pays’ costs consequences. Reasons for judgement were released this week by the BC Supreme Court, Victoria Registry, demonstrating this reality. In this week’s case (McKay v. Marx) the Plaintiff was injured in a 2005 collision. His vehicle was rear-ended by a Fed Ex vehicle. The Plaintiff sued for damages. There was no dispute that the Defendant was in the course of employment when the crash happened. The defendant argued that the plaintiff was also a ‘worker’ and therefore his right to sue was stripped away. The issue was sent to WCAT for determination who ruled that the Plaintiff was indeed a worker. The circumstances in which the plaintiff found himself are unfortunate and they garner some sympathy. However, the authorities explicitly prohibit this court from denying costs by exercising discretion out of a sense of fairness or sympathy or a comparison of the relative economic strength of the parties. In summary, the defendants successfully pled a s. 10 Workers Compensation Act defence and are thus the substantially successful party ?? the winner of the event. The evidence as presented falls short of demonstrating such reprehensible conduct on the part of the defendants that would allow the court, in the exercise of its discretion, to depart from the general rule. Accordingly, the defendants are entitled to costs. Section 3 of BC’s Negligence Act reduces a Plaintiff’s entitlement to costs recovery to the same proportion as a Plaintiff’s degree of fault following a collision. Reasons for judgement were released last month by the BC Supreme Court, Vancouver Registry, addressing the factors a Court can consider in deviating from this typical result and further finding that pre-trial borrowing is irrelevant to the Court’s analysis. In last month’s case (Gowler v. Ngo) the Plaintiff was injured in two motor vehicle collisions. Following a 13 day trial a Jury found the Plaintiff 50% at fault for the first of the collisions. Damages of $250,000 were assessed and these were cut in half to take the Plaintiff’s degree of fault into consideration. The Plaintiff’s costs for proceeding to trial were over $100,000. Neither party beat their pre-trial settlement offer leaving the Court to apply section 3 of the Negligence Act. The factors to take into account in considering the court’s discretion are discussed in my decision in Moses v. Kim, 2007 BCSC 1820. I will talk about the Court of Appeal decision in a moment, but I will ask that the reasons for judgment, if they are reproduced, will now include paragraph 13 of the Moses v. Kim decision. In my view, in this case the most important factors are the costs of proving damages for an injury of this type, the fact that there is a very significant claim for disbursements, and the fact that the amount of the award is $125,000 and the costs claimed are about $104,000. Mr. Mussio asked me to take into account some borrowing that Mr. Gowler did prior to the trial. In my view, that is not a factor I can take into account, nor can I take into account the legal fees, based on the decision of the Court of Appeal in the Moses v. Kim case. Looking at all the applicable factors, in my view it would be unjust to award the plaintiff only 50 percent of his costs. That is because his award would be so diluted by the need to pay his disbursements that he would not have a sufficient recovery. However, it is not a case where Mr. Gowler’s damages were so significant as in the Moses case. Looking at the cases and all the applicable factors, in my view, the appropriate award is that the plaintiff should recover 65 percent of his costs. Reasons for judgement were released this week by the BC Supreme Court, Vancouver Registry, confirming that Third Party’s are not immune from BC’s ‘loser pays’ system. The first issue is whether Lombard should be held liable to the plaintiff Ms. Danicek for the costs of the trial. The third party, on its own application became a party to and actively defended the action, and by so doing made itself subject to the jurisdiction of this court as to costs. I see no reason why the plaintiff should not have judgment against the third party as well as against the defendants, for its costs computed in the manner aforesaid. The purpose of an award of costs is to indemnify successful litigants; deter frivolous proceedings and defences; encourage parties to deliver reasonable offers to settle; and discourage improper or unnecessary steps in litigation: see Skidmore v. Blackmore (1995), 122 D.L.R (4th) 330, at para. 37. My conclusion is that the plaintiff is entitled to her costs in respect to Phase 1 of the trial against Lombard. It was Lombard that decided to contest liability and quantum. Ms. Danicek’s position was upheld on each of these issues. Quantum far exceeded the settlements she had reached with Mr. Poole, Alexander Holburn and the other third parties. Lombard was not, ultimately, liable for the judgment against Mr. Poole. This was because of the conclusion reached in the second phase of the trial that the Lombard policy did not provide coverage. But that was not the issue in Phase 1 of the trial. (There was evidence relevant to the coverage issue adduced at trial. That is because witnesses were called at the first phase who had evidence to give in respect to the second phase.) The issues decided in Phase 1 were liability of Mr. Poole and quantum of damages. In my view having in mind the principle of an award of costs, costs should be awarded against Lombard in respect of Phase 1 from the time that it filed a statement of defence. The plaintiff was substantially successful on the issues involving Lombard in that part of the trial. If a BC Supreme Court Judgement is silent with respect to costs following trial the default Loser Pays system kicks in as a result of Rule 14-1(9). Reasons for judgement were released last week by the BC Supreme Court, Vancouver Registry, discussing this default position. The plaintiff’s res judicata argument has previously been considered and rejected by this court. In Graham v. Great West Life et al., 2004 BCSC 1544, Sinclair Prowse J. considered the argument that silence in earlier reasons for judgment regarding costs is tantamount to an order that there will not be an order for costs. After reviewing the authorities she found that if reasons are silent, by operation of Rule 57(9), there is a presumption that costs will follow the event unless either party objects to the order being framed in that manner, in which case an application for costs should be made to the court. The present Rule 14-1(9) contains the same presumption.

2019-04-24T11:02:53Z

http://bc-injury-law.com/blog/tag/loser-pays

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Complete the online logbook loan form to see if you are eligible. A HPI check will clearly show a loan present as a ’Bill of Sale Agreement’. A rule was introduced that requires all Rogate V5 lenders to register any current loans against a vehicle with companies such as HPI. If for any reason you find that there is already a loan against your vehicle which was not visible on a HPI chekc then you are entitled to a reimbursement of up to £30,000 under the HPI guarantee. You’ll need to provide several forms of documentation before your loan can be approved. The most important of these are your valid photo identification and your V5 documents, or logbook, as these will prove that you are the rightful owner of the car you want to use as security. You should also provide a current MOT, proof of insurance, and a copy of your most recent utility bill (in your name) to prove your Rogate residency. You will also need to prove your able to afford the repayments. i.e. with payslips or bank statements that show your income. Taking out a loan when you’ve bad credit score is tough for many Rogate customers. Because of the bad credit score, major loan lenders like banks are less likely to approve your loan application. Rogate V5 lenders might be able to provide a more feasible option despite the bad credit. Although you will still have to experience a credit check, V5 lenders can be more understanding to bad credit scores; as responsible Rogate V5 lenders, they will have to assess the loan applicant’s ability to repay the loan, and their vehicle’s value to ensure that the loan can be guaranteed. Are Rogate Logbook Loans a good idea for me? If your circumstances mean that you have been refused a loan elsewhere then applying for this type of V5 loan could help you borrow the money you need. By using your car, van or motorbike as security, V5 loans are more feasible to Rogate residents who have less-than-perfect credit scores, or simply need to release some quick money from the value of their car. If you own your car and can afford the repayments then a V5 loan may be a good idea. Those who are self employed or have a bad credit history in Rogate can benefit from the V5 loans; they will need to prove that they are able to make the repayments. As part of responsible lending, it’s important for Rogate V5 loan applicants to prove that they have the ability to make prompt repayments to avoid losing possession of their car. Since different people have different situations, get in contact today to discuss your particular needs. You could get a loan of £250 – £50,000, with approval on the same day! Elsted Logbook Loans could be taken on Cars, Vans and Motorbikes. Apply now for a quote, it only take a few minutes. Our V5 lenders accept applications from the majority of the UK mainland, that means your local area is covered. At Coney Hall, our sole aim is to put you in touch with a leading UK provider of Elsted logbook loans. Our free service is convenient, and in many cases you can get your loan decision on the same day. Compare our lenders to other market competitors like Elsted Cash Converter Logbook Loans, Wonga and QuickQuid. If you would like to find out more information about Elsted logbook loans, then simply complete the form at the top of the page to hear direct from a leading UK logbook loan provider. They will be able to advise on any queries you may have, and provide a quote direct. Please also note that as an intermediary website, we are not qualified to offer advice about Elsted logbook loans or any policies you may have taken out. Please contact the loan provide direct for further information. Looking for logbook loans in Elsted on cars over 8 years old? Looking for logbook loans in Elsted on cars over 10 years old? Elsted Logbook loans are secured against your vehicle and are subject to affordability. Missed payments may result in additional fees and/or the repossession of your vehicle. Over 18s only, T&Cs apply. Why Elsted Logbook Loans Online? The age of your car isn’t a concern… if it has value then there’s a good chance you could lend against it! You may find other Elsted lenders refuse to lend against older cars (typically over 8 years), in fact you may have been refused a loan before for this reason. This isn’t the case when you lend against a car’s value rather than it’s age, and since the loans can vary from £250 right up to £50,000 you’ll find most car models can be borrowed against. Enter your car model online to enquire. If you’re in Elsted and self-employed then you are probably aware how difficult it can be to get a personal loan of any sort as most money lenders want to see regular guaranteed income to cover payments. Logbook Loans use your vehicle as collateral which means you might still be eligible for a loan as it reduced the risk to a logbook lender. However, it’s important to remember though that as part of responsible lending you will need to prove to the lender that you can cover the repayments. Can a Elsted Businesses Get a V5 Loan? If you’ve got any questions about Elsted logbook loans then you may well find the answer in the list of FAQs we have compiled below. If not then please get in touch via our form and we’ll happily advise further. How do Elsted Logbook Loans work then? The theory of borrowing against your car is an easy one… use your car’s V5 title document as security to borrow against the value of your car. You can lend anything up to 80% of the car’s value up to a maximum of £50,000. The logbook loan application process is simple, and this type of v5 loan is popular among Elsted residents as they are often accessible to those with poor credit scores (Due to CCJ’s) as the vehicle is used as security. Once your loan is repaid, you receive your V5 document back and carry on driving the car as normal. One requirement of taking out Elsted V5 Loans is that you can prove to the lender that you can afford the repayments. It’s part of a responsible lending approach, this helps to ensure you do not default on any loan payments. Therefore even if you are unemployed in Elsted, but can still prove you can afford the repayments then you may be eligible for a loan. Complete the online logbook loan form to see if you are eligible. A HPI check will clearly show a loan present as a ’Bill of Sale Agreement’. A rule was introduced that requires all Elsted V5 lenders to register any current loans against a vehicle with companies such as HPI. If for any reason you find that there is already a loan against your vehicle which was not visible on a HPI chekc then you are entitled to a reimbursement of up to £30,000 under the HPI guarantee. You’ll need to provide several forms of documentation before your loan can be approved. The most important of these are your valid photo identification and your V5 documents, or logbook, as these will prove that you are the rightful owner of the car you want to use as security. You should also provide a current MOT, proof of insurance, and a copy of your most recent utility bill (in your name) to prove your Elsted residency. You will also need to prove your able to afford the repayments. i.e. with payslips or bank statements that show your income. Taking out a loan when you’ve bad credit score is tough for many Elsted customers. Because of the bad credit score, major loan lenders like banks are less likely to approve your loan application. Elsted V5 lenders might be able to provide a more feasible option despite the bad credit. Although you will still have to experience a credit check, V5 lenders can be more understanding to bad credit scores; as responsible Elsted V5 lenders, they will have to assess the loan applicant’s ability to repay the loan, and their vehicle’s value to ensure that the loan can be guaranteed. Are Elsted Logbook Loans a good idea for me? If your circumstances mean that you have been refused a loan elsewhere then applying for this type of V5 loan could help you borrow the money you need. By using your car, van or motorbike as security, V5 loans are more feasible to Elsted residents who have less-than-perfect credit scores, or simply need to release some quick money from the value of their car. If you own your car and can afford the repayments then a V5 loan may be a good idea. Those who are self employed or have a bad credit history in Elsted can benefit from the V5 loans; they will need to prove that they are able to make the repayments. As part of responsible lending, it’s important for Elsted V5 loan applicants to prove that they have the ability to make prompt repayments to avoid losing possession of their car. Since different people have different situations, get in contact today to discuss your particular needs. You could get a loan of £250 – £50,000, with approval on the same day! East Harting Logbook Loans could be taken on Cars, Vans and Motorbikes. Apply now for a quote, it only take a few minutes. Our V5 lenders accept applications from the majority of the UK mainland, that means your local area is covered. At Coney Hall, our sole aim is to put you in touch with a leading UK provider of East Harting logbook loans. Our free service is convenient, and in many cases you can get your loan decision on the same day. Compare our lenders to other market competitors like East Harting Cash Converter Logbook Loans, Wonga and QuickQuid. If you would like to find out more information about East Harting logbook loans, then simply complete the form at the top of the page to hear direct from a leading UK logbook loan provider. They will be able to advise on any queries you may have, and provide a quote direct. Please also note that as an intermediary website, we are not qualified to offer advice about East Harting logbook loans or any policies you may have taken out. Please contact the loan provide direct for further information. Looking for logbook loans in East Harting on cars over 8 years old? Looking for logbook loans in East Harting on cars over 10 years old? East Harting Logbook loans are secured against your vehicle and are subject to affordability. Missed payments may result in additional fees and/or the repossession of your vehicle. Over 18s only, T&Cs apply. Why East Harting Logbook Loans Online? The age of your car isn’t a concern… if it has value then there’s a good chance you could lend against it! You may find other East Harting lenders refuse to lend against older cars (typically over 8 years), in fact you may have been refused a loan before for this reason. This isn’t the case when you lend against a car’s value rather than it’s age, and since the loans can vary from £250 right up to £50,000 you’ll find most car models can be borrowed against. Enter your car model online to enquire. If you’re in East Harting and self-employed then you are probably aware how difficult it can be to get a personal loan of any sort as most money lenders want to see regular guaranteed income to cover payments. Logbook Loans use your vehicle as collateral which means you might still be eligible for a loan as it reduced the risk to a logbook lender. However, it’s important to remember though that as part of responsible lending you will need to prove to the lender that you can cover the repayments. Can a East Harting Businesses Get a V5 Loan? If you’ve got any questions about East Harting logbook loans then you may well find the answer in the list of FAQs we have compiled below. If not then please get in touch via our form and we’ll happily advise further. How do East Harting Logbook Loans work then? The theory of borrowing against your car is an easy one… use your car’s V5 title document as security to borrow against the value of your car. You can lend anything up to 80% of the car’s value up to a maximum of £50,000. The logbook loan application process is simple, and this type of v5 loan is popular among East Harting residents as they are often accessible to those with poor credit scores (Due to CCJ’s) as the vehicle is used as security. Once your loan is repaid, you receive your V5 document back and carry on driving the car as normal. One requirement of taking out East Harting V5 Loans is that you can prove to the lender that you can afford the repayments. It’s part of a responsible lending approach, this helps to ensure you do not default on any loan payments. Therefore even if you are unemployed in East Harting, but can still prove you can afford the repayments then you may be eligible for a loan. Complete the online logbook loan form to see if you are eligible. A HPI check will clearly show a loan present as a ’Bill of Sale Agreement’. A rule was introduced that requires all East Harting V5 lenders to register any current loans against a vehicle with companies such as HPI. If for any reason you find that there is already a loan against your vehicle which was not visible on a HPI chekc then you are entitled to a reimbursement of up to £30,000 under the HPI guarantee. You’ll need to provide several forms of documentation before your loan can be approved. The most important of these are your valid photo identification and your V5 documents, or logbook, as these will prove that you are the rightful owner of the car you want to use as security. You should also provide a current MOT, proof of insurance, and a copy of your most recent utility bill (in your name) to prove your East Harting residency. You will also need to prove your able to afford the repayments. i.e. with payslips or bank statements that show your income. Taking out a loan when you’ve bad credit score is tough for many East Harting customers. Because of the bad credit score, major loan lenders like banks are less likely to approve your loan application. East Harting V5 lenders might be able to provide a more feasible option despite the bad credit. Although you will still have to experience a credit check, V5 lenders can be more understanding to bad credit scores; as responsible East Harting V5 lenders, they will have to assess the loan applicant’s ability to repay the loan, and their vehicle’s value to ensure that the loan can be guaranteed. Are East Harting Logbook Loans a good idea for me? If your circumstances mean that you have been refused a loan elsewhere then applying for this type of V5 loan could help you borrow the money you need. By using your car, van or motorbike as security, V5 loans are more feasible to East Harting residents who have less-than-perfect credit scores, or simply need to release some quick money from the value of their car. If you own your car and can afford the repayments then a V5 loan may be a good idea. Those who are self employed or have a bad credit history in East Harting can benefit from the V5 loans; they will need to prove that they are able to make the repayments. As part of responsible lending, it’s important for East Harting V5 loan applicants to prove that they have the ability to make prompt repayments to avoid losing possession of their car. Since different people have different situations, get in contact today to discuss your particular needs. You could get a loan of £250 – £50,000, with approval on the same day! Buriton Logbook Loans could be taken on Cars, Vans and Motorbikes. Apply now for a quote, it only take a few minutes. Our V5 lenders accept applications from the majority of the UK mainland, that means your local area is covered. At Coney Hall, our sole aim is to put you in touch with a leading UK provider of Buriton logbook loans. Our free service is convenient, and in many cases you can get your loan decision on the same day. Compare our lenders to other market competitors like Buriton Cash Converter Logbook Loans, Wonga and QuickQuid. If you would like to find out more information about Buriton logbook loans, then simply complete the form at the top of the page to hear direct from a leading UK logbook loan provider. They will be able to advise on any queries you may have, and provide a quote direct. Please also note that as an intermediary website, we are not qualified to offer advice about Buriton logbook loans or any policies you may have taken out. Please contact the loan provide direct for further information. Looking for logbook loans in Buriton on cars over 8 years old? Looking for logbook loans in Buriton on cars over 10 years old? Buriton Logbook loans are secured against your vehicle and are subject to affordability. Missed payments may result in additional fees and/or the repossession of your vehicle. Over 18s only, T&Cs apply. Why Buriton Logbook Loans Online? The age of your car isn’t a concern… if it has value then there’s a good chance you could lend against it! You may find other Buriton lenders refuse to lend against older cars (typically over 8 years), in fact you may have been refused a loan before for this reason. This isn’t the case when you lend against a car’s value rather than it’s age, and since the loans can vary from £250 right up to £50,000 you’ll find most car models can be borrowed against. Enter your car model online to enquire. If you’re in Buriton and self-employed then you are probably aware how difficult it can be to get a personal loan of any sort as most money lenders want to see regular guaranteed income to cover payments. Logbook Loans use your vehicle as collateral which means you might still be eligible for a loan as it reduced the risk to a logbook lender. However, it’s important to remember though that as part of responsible lending you will need to prove to the lender that you can cover the repayments. Can a Buriton Businesses Get a V5 Loan? If you’ve got any questions about Buriton logbook loans then you may well find the answer in the list of FAQs we have compiled below. If not then please get in touch via our form and we’ll happily advise further. How do Buriton Logbook Loans work then? The theory of borrowing against your car is an easy one… use your car’s V5 title document as security to borrow against the value of your car. You can lend anything up to 80% of the car’s value up to a maximum of £50,000. The logbook loan application process is simple, and this type of v5 loan is popular among Buriton residents as they are often accessible to those with poor credit scores (Due to CCJ’s) as the vehicle is used as security. Once your loan is repaid, you receive your V5 document back and carry on driving the car as normal. One requirement of taking out Buriton V5 Loans is that you can prove to the lender that you can afford the repayments. It’s part of a responsible lending approach, this helps to ensure you do not default on any loan payments. Therefore even if you are unemployed in Buriton, but can still prove you can afford the repayments then you may be eligible for a loan. Complete the online logbook loan form to see if you are eligible. A HPI check will clearly show a loan present as a ’Bill of Sale Agreement’. A rule was introduced that requires all Buriton V5 lenders to register any current loans against a vehicle with companies such as HPI. If for any reason you find that there is already a loan against your vehicle which was not visible on a HPI chekc then you are entitled to a reimbursement of up to £30,000 under the HPI guarantee. You’ll need to provide several forms of documentation before your loan can be approved. The most important of these are your valid photo identification and your V5 documents, or logbook, as these will prove that you are the rightful owner of the car you want to use as security. You should also provide a current MOT, proof of insurance, and a copy of your most recent utility bill (in your name) to prove your Buriton residency. You will also need to prove your able to afford the repayments. i.e. with payslips or bank statements that show your income. Taking out a loan when you’ve bad credit score is tough for many Buriton customers. Because of the bad credit score, major loan lenders like banks are less likely to approve your loan application. Buriton V5 lenders might be able to provide a more feasible option despite the bad credit. Although you will still have to experience a credit check, V5 lenders can be more understanding to bad credit scores; as responsible Buriton V5 lenders, they will have to assess the loan applicant’s ability to repay the loan, and their vehicle’s value to ensure that the loan can be guaranteed. Are Buriton Logbook Loans a good idea for me? If your circumstances mean that you have been refused a loan elsewhere then applying for this type of V5 loan could help you borrow the money you need. By using your car, van or motorbike as security, V5 loans are more feasible to Buriton residents who have less-than-perfect credit scores, or simply need to release some quick money from the value of their car. If you own your car and can afford the repayments then a V5 loan may be a good idea. Those who are self employed or have a bad credit history in Buriton can benefit from the V5 loans; they will need to prove that they are able to make the repayments. As part of responsible lending, it’s important for Buriton V5 loan applicants to prove that they have the ability to make prompt repayments to avoid losing possession of their car. Since different people have different situations, get in contact today to discuss your particular needs. You could get a loan of £250 – £50,000, with approval on the same day! Petersfield Logbook Loans could be taken on Cars, Vans and Motorbikes. Apply now for a quote, it only take a few minutes. Our V5 lenders accept applications from the majority of the UK mainland, that means your local area is covered. At Coney Hall, our sole aim is to put you in touch with a leading UK provider of Petersfield logbook loans. Our free service is convenient, and in many cases you can get your loan decision on the same day. Compare our lenders to other market competitors like Petersfield Cash Converter Logbook Loans, Wonga and QuickQuid. If you would like to find out more information about Petersfield logbook loans, then simply complete the form at the top of the page to hear direct from a leading UK logbook loan provider. They will be able to advise on any queries you may have, and provide a quote direct. Please also note that as an intermediary website, we are not qualified to offer advice about Petersfield logbook loans or any policies you may have taken out. Please contact the loan provide direct for further information. Looking for logbook loans in Petersfield on cars over 8 years old? Looking for logbook loans in Petersfield on cars over 10 years old? Petersfield Logbook loans are secured against your vehicle and are subject to affordability. Missed payments may result in additional fees and/or the repossession of your vehicle. Over 18s only, T&Cs apply. Why Petersfield Logbook Loans Online? The age of your car isn’t a concern… if it has value then there’s a good chance you could lend against it! You may find other Petersfield lenders refuse to lend against older cars (typically over 8 years), in fact you may have been refused a loan before for this reason. This isn’t the case when you lend against a car’s value rather than it’s age, and since the loans can vary from £250 right up to £50,000 you’ll find most car models can be borrowed against. Enter your car model online to enquire. If you’re in Petersfield and self-employed then you are probably aware how difficult it can be to get a personal loan of any sort as most money lenders want to see regular guaranteed income to cover payments. Logbook Loans use your vehicle as collateral which means you might still be eligible for a loan as it reduced the risk to a logbook lender. However, it’s important to remember though that as part of responsible lending you will need to prove to the lender that you can cover the repayments. Can a Petersfield Businesses Get a V5 Loan? If you’ve got any questions about Petersfield logbook loans then you may well find the answer in the list of FAQs we have compiled below. If not then please get in touch via our form and we’ll happily advise further. How do Petersfield Logbook Loans work then? The theory of borrowing against your car is an easy one… use your car’s V5 title document as security to borrow against the value of your car. You can lend anything up to 80% of the car’s value up to a maximum of £50,000. The logbook loan application process is simple, and this type of v5 loan is popular among Petersfield residents as they are often accessible to those with poor credit scores (Due to CCJ’s) as the vehicle is used as security. Once your loan is repaid, you receive your V5 document back and carry on driving the car as normal. One requirement of taking out Petersfield V5 Loans is that you can prove to the lender that you can afford the repayments. It’s part of a responsible lending approach, this helps to ensure you do not default on any loan payments. Therefore even if you are unemployed in Petersfield, but can still prove you can afford the repayments then you may be eligible for a loan. Complete the online logbook loan form to see if you are eligible. A HPI check will clearly show a loan present as a ’Bill of Sale Agreement’. A rule was introduced that requires all Petersfield V5 lenders to register any current loans against a vehicle with companies such as HPI. If for any reason you find that there is already a loan against your vehicle which was not visible on a HPI chekc then you are entitled to a reimbursement of up to £30,000 under the HPI guarantee. You’ll need to provide several forms of documentation before your loan can be approved. The most important of these are your valid photo identification and your V5 documents, or logbook, as these will prove that you are the rightful owner of the car you want to use as security. You should also provide a current MOT, proof of insurance, and a copy of your most recent utility bill (in your name) to prove your Petersfield residency. You will also need to prove your able to afford the repayments. i.e. with payslips or bank statements that show your income. Taking out a loan when you’ve bad credit score is tough for many Petersfield customers. Because of the bad credit score, major loan lenders like banks are less likely to approve your loan application. Petersfield V5 lenders might be able to provide a more feasible option despite the bad credit. Although you will still have to experience a credit check, V5 lenders can be more understanding to bad credit scores; as responsible Petersfield V5 lenders, they will have to assess the loan applicant’s ability to repay the loan, and their vehicle’s value to ensure that the loan can be guaranteed. Are Petersfield Logbook Loans a good idea for me? If your circumstances mean that you have been refused a loan elsewhere then applying for this type of V5 loan could help you borrow the money you need. By using your car, van or motorbike as security, V5 loans are more feasible to Petersfield residents who have less-than-perfect credit scores, or simply need to release some quick money from the value of their car. If you own your car and can afford the repayments then a V5 loan may be a good idea. Those who are self employed or have a bad credit history in Petersfield can benefit from the V5 loans; they will need to prove that they are able to make the repayments. As part of responsible lending, it’s important for Petersfield V5 loan applicants to prove that they have the ability to make prompt repayments to avoid losing possession of their car. Since different people have different situations, get in contact today to discuss your particular needs. You could get a loan of £250 – £50,000, with approval on the same day! South Harting Logbook Loans could be taken on Cars, Vans and Motorbikes. Apply now for a quote, it only take a few minutes. Our V5 lenders accept applications from the majority of the UK mainland, that means your local area is covered. At Coney Hall, our sole aim is to put you in touch with a leading UK provider of South Harting logbook loans. Our free service is convenient, and in many cases you can get your loan decision on the same day. Compare our lenders to other market competitors like South Harting Cash Converter Logbook Loans, Wonga and QuickQuid. If you would like to find out more information about South Harting logbook loans, then simply complete the form at the top of the page to hear direct from a leading UK logbook loan provider. They will be able to advise on any queries you may have, and provide a quote direct. Please also note that as an intermediary website, we are not qualified to offer advice about South Harting logbook loans or any policies you may have taken out. Please contact the loan provide direct for further information. Looking for logbook loans in South Harting on cars over 8 years old? Looking for logbook loans in South Harting on cars over 10 years old? South Harting Logbook loans are secured against your vehicle and are subject to affordability. Missed payments may result in additional fees and/or the repossession of your vehicle. Over 18s only, T&Cs apply. Why South Harting Logbook Loans Online? The age of your car isn’t a concern… if it has value then there’s a good chance you could lend against it! You may find other South Harting lenders refuse to lend against older cars (typically over 8 years), in fact you may have been refused a loan before for this reason. This isn’t the case when you lend against a car’s value rather than it’s age, and since the loans can vary from £250 right up to £50,000 you’ll find most car models can be borrowed against. Enter your car model online to enquire. If you’re in South Harting and self-employed then you are probably aware how difficult it can be to get a personal loan of any sort as most money lenders want to see regular guaranteed income to cover payments. Logbook Loans use your vehicle as collateral which means you might still be eligible for a loan as it reduced the risk to a logbook lender. However, it’s important to remember though that as part of responsible lending you will need to prove to the lender that you can cover the repayments. Can a South Harting Businesses Get a V5 Loan? If you’ve got any questions about South Harting logbook loans then you may well find the answer in the list of FAQs we have compiled below. If not then please get in touch via our form and we’ll happily advise further. How do South Harting Logbook Loans work then? The theory of borrowing against your car is an easy one… use your car’s V5 title document as security to borrow against the value of your car. You can lend anything up to 80% of the car’s value up to a maximum of £50,000. The logbook loan application process is simple, and this type of v5 loan is popular among South Harting residents as they are often accessible to those with poor credit scores (Due to CCJ’s) as the vehicle is used as security. Once your loan is repaid, you receive your V5 document back and carry on driving the car as normal. One requirement of taking out South Harting V5 Loans is that you can prove to the lender that you can afford the repayments. It’s part of a responsible lending approach, this helps to ensure you do not default on any loan payments. Therefore even if you are unemployed in South Harting, but can still prove you can afford the repayments then you may be eligible for a loan. Complete the online logbook loan form to see if you are eligible. A HPI check will clearly show a loan present as a ’Bill of Sale Agreement’. A rule was introduced that requires all South Harting V5 lenders to register any current loans against a vehicle with companies such as HPI. If for any reason you find that there is already a loan against your vehicle which was not visible on a HPI chekc then you are entitled to a reimbursement of up to £30,000 under the HPI guarantee. You’ll need to provide several forms of documentation before your loan can be approved. The most important of these are your valid photo identification and your V5 documents, or logbook, as these will prove that you are the rightful owner of the car you want to use as security. You should also provide a current MOT, proof of insurance, and a copy of your most recent utility bill (in your name) to prove your South Harting residency. You will also need to prove your able to afford the repayments. i.e. with payslips or bank statements that show your income. Taking out a loan when you’ve bad credit score is tough for many South Harting customers. Because of the bad credit score, major loan lenders like banks are less likely to approve your loan application. South Harting V5 lenders might be able to provide a more feasible option despite the bad credit. Although you will still have to experience a credit check, V5 lenders can be more understanding to bad credit scores; as responsible South Harting V5 lenders, they will have to assess the loan applicant’s ability to repay the loan, and their vehicle’s value to ensure that the loan can be guaranteed. Are South Harting Logbook Loans a good idea for me? If your circumstances mean that you have been refused a loan elsewhere then applying for this type of V5 loan could help you borrow the money you need. By using your car, van or motorbike as security, V5 loans are more feasible to South Harting residents who have less-than-perfect credit scores, or simply need to release some quick money from the value of their car. If you own your car and can afford the repayments then a V5 loan may be a good idea. Those who are self employed or have a bad credit history in South Harting can benefit from the V5 loans; they will need to prove that they are able to make the repayments. As part of responsible lending, it’s important for South Harting V5 loan applicants to prove that they have the ability to make prompt repayments to avoid losing possession of their car. Since different people have different situations, get in contact today to discuss your particular needs.

2019-04-20T14:55:41Z

https://www.coneyhall.co.uk/tag/logbook-loans-in-gu31/

MUCH sooner than I was lead to believe... And judging from the patch we got yesterday, WAY too soon. There is still only one game mode, 3 maps and 18 ish mechs. Right now there is some oddball error with the server, that after apx 5 minutes of play, it starts to LAG badly. Eventually freezing your mech in position untill you disconnect from the match. This happen is about 40% of the matches. Something to do with the Crytek Upgrade. We have decided to push Open Beta back. We agree that the game's current state of stability is not allowing us to get the latest experience across to new and veteran players alike. This is a short push back on the date and will depend on the stability and playability of the build. The instability (lag to completely dead FPS) has been identified and we will put out a fix tonight. We also want to make sure this fix works on the Live game servers so you will get a new patch very soon. The developers at PGI are all veteran game players. Many of us were or still are competitive gamers and truly know the feeling of a great match played between two equally matched teams. Reduce the maximum # of players in a group to 4. This means when players form a group, they will only be able to add 3 people. When that group launches, they will be put in a bucket. The match maker will then fill the rest of the 8 player team with 4 PUGs or any partial groups that are looking for a match at that moment. The same will happen for the other team. Matches will still be 8v8 but instead of playing against 8 people in an organized premade, you will see a max of 4. Now before you light your pitchforks, we know that this does not address all the issues and that 8-player groups are the mainstay of community and organized team-play. This is why we move to Phase 2 VERY soon after Phase 1. Players will be able to convert their 4-player group to an 8-player group similarly to how World of Warcraft’s group to raid conversion works. With a click of a button, a group leader can convert a 4-player group to 8-players and invite 4 more players to the group. There is a limitation to this however. If the group leader decides to convert to an 8-player group, they MUST have 8 players in order to launch. (i.e. you cannot launch a game with 5,6 or 7 players). In addition to that, your 8-player group will be matched to another 8-player group ONLY. This does reduce the change of finding a match quickly but at the same time 8-players teams will finally be matched to other 8-player teams exclusively. At some future date we will also want to include the ability to challenge a specific 8-player team to a match in a competitive/eSport manner. But as stated, this will be coming at a later date. We have been examining the various ranking systems in other games/structured tournament play etc. This includes ELO, TrueSkill and others. Our current plan is to use a hybrid system that uses the mentality of ELO with a weighting system that we’ve determined that drives down to player effectiveness/skill in a match. In order for this to work properly, we will need to do heavy pre-release testing before it goes live to the community and hence the amount of time to get it implemented. We currently cannot go into detail as to how this system will work because we are not going to over-promise something that may change during implementation. We will try to keep you as up to date on this as possible. No patch yesterday, so the open beta will be pushed back at least a week it appears. -I am also betting on some kind of minor nerf to gauss, such as increased recycle time. -Hoping for a minor decrease in LRM damage, currently at 2 per missle and a little over powered. I can see how taking a PPC hit would add some fuzz to your targeting systems. That could be some nice flavor. I thought LRMs had greater range because they carried a smaller warhead and more fuel. SRM 20 with double+ the range is wrong on so many levels. GR is a superior weapon in so many ways: headcapper, long range, and low heat. It's only real drawbacks are it's weight and use of ammo. I can see where a longer recycle could help with balance. In Invasion, even I won't drive a Flea. I hope they have some use in MWO. With some balance, it could be fun. An established team of Locust/Fleas taking on a pick-up team of Heavy/Assaults could really show the advantage of communication over "big toys". I'd like to see that fight. I am resurrecting a term that we used to describe max engine lights in MW4... Lag Armor. When moving max speed you can see the hit to them on your screen, but they don't show to take damage. They have literally moved beyond the point where they are drawn on the screen. I added a pair of med lasers to the build, specifically to "lag lead" the Jenners and Ravens, so I could find out EXACTLY how far forward I had to aim to actually register damage to them, then I can tap them with the pair of gauss and really ruin their day. 3 extra heat sinks, engine comes with 8 for a total of 11. Allows 4 shots of med laser on most maps before having to cool. I have been practicing head shots, I have the exact hit locations down for Awesome, Catapult (these are easy out to 750 meters) Dragon, Centurion, and Hunchback, (smaller hitbox, 80% at 400 meters) The Atlas is a pain, it's hitbox is half of the left eye, I generally don't even try I just side torso them. The lights... I just pray to register the damage. Tuesdays patch has been delayed yet again, supposedly due sometime today... I'll let you all know when and if it arrives. With the current mechanics, one jump jet moves you as far as 100 would. No real aiming required, just get a lock, either by LOS or via spotter, be within 1000 meters of target and let em fly. I have only used all the ammo once, and you can fire for two minutes solid before heating. The only drawback is LRM's have a 180 meter minimum range, so anything that gets closer than that can rip you apart without fear. This chassis is also the one used for the most cheeseball build currently used in game, the 6 streak 2 cat. Same process of missile lock before firing them, but if you chain fire them, the resulting shake from the impact renders the target unable to target anyone for return fire. It takes a while to kill someone with it, but it is enough to totally disrupt them, and make them useless on the field. I don't have a build for one, it's too cheesy, even for me. Ok, the patch is in. As are DHS, Endo steel and Ferro Fiber armor. With this patch we lost all mechs in inventory, but were refunded all XP (both Mech specific and General) as well as 75% of all C-bills earned since last wipe. So, I had a stockpile of 65 million waiting. Collisions and falling temporarily removed, was not working as intended. Phase one of matchmaking added, no more 8 man premade team drops, now limited to 4 man only. They reconfigured the mech lab with tabs, switching between tabs causes you to pay for any changes at that time, so switching things around can get very expensive if you don't pay attention. The Advanced zoom module is extremely low quality, very pixelated image and almost unusable. It also drops your standard zoom to 0 when closing it. Double Heat Sinks have been reported to have an issue (have not tried them myself yet) where the engine retains single heat sinks when swapping over. Much better, the "Lag Armor" of the lights is vastly reduced, I am back to legging Jenners at 500 meter range, however the lack of falling and collisions make them more firece up close. They can now run through your legs and constantly chew at rear armor. It seems more stable over all, with no loss of performance. One of the biggest complaints now is the cost of repair and rearm, with all the expensive tech, even a win can cause you to run at a loss, with ammo, XL's and Endo/FF. Monday Oct. 29th - New Mechs, New Toys, Open Beta! We wanted to give you an update on how everything is going, and to thank you for being here with us! Firstly: Open Beta is on schedule and will be beginning quite soon (12 noon PDT, Monday!) This means we’re very close to getting the final phases of the main beta features coming in. On that as well, Open Beta is our final reset. Once it happens, we will not be resetting everything again. We will be resetting C-Bills, MC, XP, GXP, Mechs, and inventory. The only thing you’ll keep is your friends list. However, if you have a Founders pack, everything will be added from that pack. Also anything you’ve purchased (with MC) will be added back. The limit on 8-man premades hasn't gone through. We were running 8-man teams all last night with no issues. I'll try loading it after work on Monday. We'll have to see how well it runs on this machine. I could barely handle XCOM. I hope MWO will run better. I took the test Awesome out 12 times or so, and I've done 48 combined damage OVERALL. Apparently I can't even find the enemy to shoot at them. When I do find them, I die before I can return any kind of fire. I'll try MWT, but this hasn't been any fun for me at all. I have done a little better than that although it took me until my fifth match before I got my first kill (things improved once I doscovered the "r" key).I have been having some problem with my joystick so atm I am mouse limited which I am not enjoying much/ Done about 12 matches now and am approaching the 1 million C-Bill mark. Am I better getting a mech I can customise early or am I better off waiting for a better chassis? and if so what would you recommend as the first chassis to go for? I am feeling a little Ping crippled here in Oz though - Im normally at something around the 250 ms mark. Use MC to buy the Yen Lo Wang. Gives you a 30% C-bill increase. Follow your team, shoot what they shoot. Play with an organized group. Pugs are all sorts of terrible. Also, I may try MWO here soon. Does anyone know what the basic/recommended requirements are? I would hate to download the MWO game and just see the game stall since my system is too slow. I'm not sure the people joining Open Beta have MC Fei? But, yeah a lot of the people you are facing are in Lances with other experienced players or the like, so don't get too discouraged. The trial mechs currently available S U C K. I have been using the Centurion 9AL. I find myself an assault and shadow him. The Awesome has too little LRM ammo, and too few heat sinks to be viable, and the Dragon just doesn't seem much better. As to Bob's question, you are better off getting a mech of your own, as you can't earn any XP in trial mechs. XP is used to unlock efficiencies on specific chassis and general XP unlocks modules. I would suggest a Jenner with your ping, you would be damn near unstoppable. Save enough for a large XL engine, with the current net code and >200 ping you will be able to circle strafe assaults to rubble. I will grind my way up to a Hunchback, then use it to grind for my Atlas. I miss my Atlas. Henry, the controls are not all that intuitive, and learning how to target enemies, and getting the hang of the dual reticule also takes time. The reticule has a small circle inside the cross-hair, the circle is all arm mounted weapons, the cross-hair torso mounted. Arm mounted weapons can be used above, below and farther in side arc than your torso weapons will travel. It takes a bit to get comfortable with it, if the circle is dragged beyond the torso cross-hair you will see a line drawn back to the center, firing any torso mounted weapons will not hit the target under the circle. Use the R key to target enemy mechs, this will cycle through all detected targets (those in your LOS and those that are being targeted by team mates) The red triangle above the enemy mech is hollow if no one has it as an active target, it's filled in if you or a team mate has it targeted. LRM's and Streak SRM will only track to targets you have selected and "locked" this is indicated by a large red reticule. (Streaks will ONLY fire with a lock, LRM's will dumbfire to the reticule location without lock) To lock on a mech, select the target with the R key, and hold reticule over target for apx 3 seconds. (You will see yellow concentric circles while you are locking them in) If you loose the lock while missiles are in flight, they will track to it's last known position. If you regain lock while missiles are in flight they will attempt to re-track. LRM's have a 180 meter minimum range, they do not arm under that, and will harmlessly bounce off the target under 180 meters. They also have a max range of 1000 meters and explode upon reaching max range. ALL missiles have splash damage, so firing LRM's into a group of enemies does damage to those around the target, firing SRM's into the ground under a mech does leg damage to it. AC's have a bit of a lag between when you pull the trigger and when they actually fire, they also have travel time, so you will need to lead targets. Lasers are not hit scan weapons, you must hold them on target to deal max damage. When firing lasers you can literally draw lines in them and spread damage. This can be good or bad, by spreading out damage it will take longer to kill them, but if you see a weak side torso, you can drag the lasers to it and hope to take it off. To group your weapons, use the arrow keys to select individual weapons (up and down) left and right to select the number group. Use the right control key to select or deselect the group. weapons will fire from number keys as well so if you have a 3 button mouse but want small lasers in group 4, Hit number 4 to fire them. The highlighted vertical bar is mouse button one, so move that back to position one. Backslash is the Alpha Fire key... Not much use since heat is always an issue. The Z key has a two stage zoom, use it to get a clearer picture of your target for lasers and AC/Gauss. N is night vision, and H is thermal. Thermal is VERY useful. I wouldn't be so discouraged if I were able to fight semi-effectively. So far, I haven't been able to hit anything, much less get any kills of my own. That's what has me discouraged. Win or lose, at the end of the fight, I'm the only one still showing 0 damage done. Last night (and probably for the next week I assume) there were TONS of premade teams running. They will always stomp the regular pick up gamers. Again, the trial mechs blow chunks. Not much you can do about it, and it will take at east 20 wins to afford the basic Commando... A lot more to get into a decent mech, then have to grind more to customize it. All the while, you will be up against Founders, with better equipment, teams with better equipment and comms, with preset roles and standard battle plans. You will have to learn to do a lot of building/rock hugging, especially when people start getting the $$ for missile boats. If I could damage someone before dying, I wouldn't feel so bad. Getting beat by someone with better gear isn't so bad, but I want to at least ding their paint before I fall. Maybe if I joined a team, where I could follow directions and do SOMETHING useful, that might help, too. I think I'm still running into walls and getting stuck in places where I then get shot. Turn-based, I'm pretty good. Real-time, not so much. I've used the onboard mic and speakers in my laptop for voice in LotRO. Does it work similarly for MWO, or does it take different gear? 1. It auto-allocates crits for structure/endo et al. Is it possible to re-distribute these. If there is I can't find it. 2. Is it possible to sell excess components? BTW I am now using a Catapault A1. Removed the JJ and reduced to 13 HS. I have additional ammo and 4x SSRM2. I am now broke so a long grind to getting an XL engine for it. Also a quick question of MWO good manners. Is it rude to DC if you get blown out of your cockpit in the opening moments (as A CPTL pilot I seem to attract attention ). If you do bail do you still get your cash? Actually reduced the ammo - now only got 1 ton off SSRM2 for the 4 launchers and went back to the default for the LRMS - I think having an AMS is more important. Bob_CK wrote: A couple of quick questions. 1) kinda... If you want to add somthing to a side torso, just add it, any endo/ferro in white will be moved to another empty slot. 2)yes, on the RHS you see the list of available parts, if you own one there will be a drop down arrow on it, click this then it will show how many you own, click one and at bottom center will be a sell button. Manners, you are totally fine disconnecting after a death. Not before. The A1 with 6 SSRM2 is nasty, and total cheeseball. If you chain fire them, the shake it gives to the target is enough to keep them from firing. There is still a bug with JJ, if you have one, you can jump full distance, anything more is unneeded as it will not increase jump distance. My A1 had 11 tons LRM ammo (1980 rounds) and 6 LRM 5 with DHS and an engine to move it at 71 kph. It was cheesy, but a mass killer. Henry wrote: If I could damage someone before dying, I wouldn't feel so bad. The game has a voice component, C3. It can be enabled in options but you need to download it seperatly to get it to run with the game.

2019-04-21T22:46:48Z

http://capcon.forumotion.net/t936-mwo-open-beta-announced

Author contributions: Liu XH, Yang YW and Dai HT contributed equally to this work; Ye ZQ designed research; Liu XH and Yang YW performed research; Dai HT and Cai SW contributed new reagents or analytical tools; Chen RH analyzed data; Liu XH and Yang YW wrote the paper. Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China. Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All procedures involving animals were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China. The animal protocol was designed to minimize pain or discomfort to the animals. Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declared no conflicts of interest in this study. AIM: To determine the potential protective role of adiponectin in intestinal ischemia reperfusion (I/R) injury. METHODS: A rat model of intestinal I/R injury was established. The serum level of adiponectin in rats with intestinal I/R injury was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The serum levels of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α were also measured by ELISA. Apoptosis of intestinal cells was detected using the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling assay. The production of malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) and villous injury scores were also measured. RESULTS: Adiponectin was downregulated in the serum of rats with intestinal I/R injury compared with sham rats. No significant changes in the expression of adiponectin receptor 1 and adiponectin receptor 2 were found between sham and I/R rats. Pre-treatment with recombinant adiponectin attenuated intestinal I/R injury. The production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α, in rats with intestinal I/R injury was reduced by adiponectin pre-treatment. The production of MDA was inhibited, and the release of SOD was restored by adiponectin pre-treatment in rats with intestinal I/R injury. Adiponectin pre-treatment also inhibited cell apoptosis in these rats. Treatment with the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling pathway inhibitor, compound C, or the heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) inhibitor, Snpp, attenuated the protective effects of adiponectin against intestinal I/R injury. CONCLUSION: Adiponectin exhibits protective effects against intestinal I/R injury, which may involve the AMPK/HO-1 pathway. Core tip: Serum adiponectin was downregulated in the rat model of intestinal ischemia reperfusion (I/R) injury, and adiponectin pre-treatment attenuated intestinal I/R injury in rats. While the underlying mechanism of adiponectin-induced protection against intestinal I/R injury is not fully understood, the results of the present study suggest that the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)/heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) signaling pathway may be involved in this process. Therefore, adiponectin and components of the AMPK/HO-1 signaling pathway may be promising targets in the treatment of intestinal I/R injury. Intestinal ischemia reperfusion injury (I/R), a critical complication in patients with trauma and after liver and intestinal transplantation, is associated with high morbidity and mortality[1-3]. Interruption of the blood supply may cause tissue damage. However, restoration of blood flow does not relieve tissue damage but leads to additional injury. Previous studies have shown that oxidative stress, the inflammatory response, and cell apoptosis are involved in I/R injury, which leads to multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and acute respiratory distress syndrome[5-9]. Extensive research has been conducted to develop effective treatments for I/R injury that regulate oxidative stress and the inflammatory reaction. Adiponectin, also referred to as gelatin-binding protein-28 (GBP28), ACRP30, AdipoQ, or apM1, is a hormone secreted mainly by adipocytes. As a serum protein similar to C1q, adiponectin is exclusively produced in adipocytes. Adiponectin exerts its function primarily via two membrane receptors, adiponectin receptor-1 and -2 (AdipoR1/2), which interact with AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR). In addition, previous studies have reported that adiponectin exhibited anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptosis effects and regulated the metabolism of glucose and lipid[11-13]. Interestingly, a number of studies have also reported the role of adiponectin in protection against I/R injury in myocardial, cerebral, liver, and renal tissues[14-17]. However, the effects of adiponectin in intestinal I/R have not been confirmed. The present study aimed to investigate the potential role of adiponectin in protecting against intestinal I/R injury based on a rat model of I/R injury. Rat adiponectin was cloned into the pET30 vector (Novagen, Darmstadt, Germany) as described previously. The DNA constructs were then transfected into competent Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) (Takara, Shiga, Japan). Isopropyl-1-thio-b-D-galactopyranoside was used to induce the expression of His-tagged adiponectin at 37 °C. Recombinant His-tagged fusion protein was isolated from the cytoplasm and purified using a His Bind resin column (Novagen). All animal experiments were approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China. Female Wistar rats were randomly grouped and underwent surgery to induce intestinal I/R injury. There were five rats in each group weighing 180-230 g. The rats were deprived of food and received only water 12 h prior to laparotomy. The rats were anesthetized by intraperitoneal injection of ketamine (50 mg/kg) and xylazine (5 mg/kg). A midline laparotomy was performed, as previously described, before equilibration for 30 min. The superior mesenteric artery was identified and isolated, and an atraumatic microvascular clamp (Roboz Surgical Instruments, Rockville, MD, United States) delivering 85 g of pressure was used to block blood flow in the mesenteric artery in rats in the intestinal I/R injury group. Intestinal ischemia was identified by the pale color of the intestine. After intestinal ischemia for 45 min, the clamp was removed to allow reperfusion for different time periods. When the color of the intestine returned to pink, the intestine was assumed to be reperfused. At the end of reperfusion, an approximately 10 cm segment of the small intestine 10 cm from the appendix was harvested for follow-up experiments. As a control, the sham group (sham) was subjected to the same surgical intervention but without superior mesenteric artery occlusion. The body temperature of the animals was maintained throughout the surgical procedure using a water-circulating heating pad. Rats in the adiponectin pre-treatment group (IR + adiponectin) received a tail vein injection of recombinant adiponectin at different concentrations (0.25, 0.5, or 1 mg/kg) 30 min before the establishment of intestinal I/R, as mentioned above. To determine the possible pathway involved in the protective effects of adiponectin, the IR + adiponectin (1 mg/kg) group received an intraperitoneal injection of 20 mg/kg compound C (Millipore, Cambridge, MA, United States) or 50 μmol/kg Snpp (Sigma, St. Louis, MO, United States). Serum adiponectin level in rats was determined using a rat enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit (R&D Corp., Minneapolis, MN, United States) according to the protocol described previously. Sections of the small intestine were homogenized and the supernatant was collected by centrifugation to measure the levels of cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, in intestine tissues. The levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in intestine tissues were determined using a commercial ELISA kit (USCN, Wuhan, China). Small intestine tissues were homogenized in 1.5% cold KCl solution at a ratio of 1:10 (weight:volume). The lipid peroxide level in the supernatant was measured according to the method described previously. Absorbance of the reaction was measured at 532 nm (Shimadzu UV-1700, Kyoto, Japan). The lipid peroxide level was expressed as nmol of malondialdehyde (MDA) per mg of tissue protein. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was evaluated using a commercially available kit (Cayman Chemical, Ann Arbor, MI, United States) according to the protocol described in a previous report. SOD activity was expressed as unit (U) per mg protein. One U of SOD activity was defined as the amount of enzyme needed to inhibit 50% dismutation of the superoxide radical. The small intestine tissues were homogenized and lysed in radio immunoprecipitation assay buffer [50 mmol/L Tris·HCl, pH 7.4, 150 mmol/L NaCl, 1% NP-40, 0.5% sodium deoxycholate, and 0.1% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)] incorporated with phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (Forevergen, Guangzhou, China). Isolated total proteins were separated by 10% SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and transferred to polyvinylidene fluoride membranes. The membranes were then incubated with primary antibodies and then horseradish peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibodies (Santa Cruz, Dallas, TX, United States). Bands were visualized using an enhanced chemiluminescence kit (Pierce, Rockford, IL, United States). The following antibodies were used in Western blot analysis: anti-caspase 3, anti-AMPK, anti-pAMPK, anti-heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1), anti-GAPDH antibodies (Cell Signaling, Beverley, MA, United States), anti-Adipo 1 (Abcam Inc., Cambridge, United Kingdom) and anti-Adipo 2 (Abcam Inc.). Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL)-positive cells in the sections of jejunum which had undergone ischemia for 45 min and reperfusion for 3 h were detected by TUNEL assay using a Cell Death Detection kit (Roche Applied Science) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Intestinal mucosal lesions were graded as described previously. Briefly, grade 0 was defined as normal mucosal villi. Grade 1 was defined as the development of subepithelial Gruenhagen’s space, usually at the apex of the villous, often with capillary congestion. Grade 2 was described as extension of the subepithelial space with moderate lifting of the epithelial layer from the lamina propria. Grade 3 was defined as massive epithelial lifting with a few denuded villi. Grade 4 was defined as denuded villi with exposed dilated capillaries, and Grade 5 was defined as digestion and disintegration of the lamina propria, hemorrhage, and ulceration. The data obtained from independent experiments were expressed as mean ± SD. Differences among groups were analyzed by analysis of variance followed by the least significant difference method to determine statistical significance. A P value < 0.05 was defined as statistically significant. The serum levels of adiponectin in rats in the sham group and the intestinal I/R group were determined and compared by ELISA. A gradual decrease over time (1, 2, 3, 6, and 12 h after reperfusion) was observed in the serum level of adiponectin in the I/R rats compared with that in the sham group (Figure 1A). The lowest level of serum adiponectin was detected 3 h after reperfusion. At 12 h after reperfusion, the serum adiponectin level partially recovered. No significant decrease in the expression of AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 was detected in the intestinal tissues of rats with intestinal I/R based on western blot analysis (Figure 1B). The evaluation of intestinal mucosal lesions showed significantly increased villous injury scores in rats with I/R injury (1, 2, 3, 6, and 12 h after reperfusion) compared with that in the sham group (Figure 1C and D). Figure 1 Adiponectin levels in rats in the sham and ischemia reperfusion injury groups. A: ELISA was used to determine the adiponectin serum levels in the sham and ischemia reperfusion (I/R) injury rats. Data are presented as mean ± SD obtained from five independent experiments; B: Western blot analysis of the expression of adiponectin receptor 1 and adiponectin receptor 2 in the small intestine of rats with I/R injury; C: Hematoxylin-eosin staining of the small intestine at different time points after I/R injury; D: Villous injury scores of C. Necrosis was the major damage after intestinal I/R. N: Colon tissue in normal control rat. aP < 0.05 vs sham. To investigate the effects of adiponectin on the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, the rats were pre-treated with recombinant adiponectin 30 min before laparotomy. The rats were randomly divided into three subgroups, which were pre-treated with adiponectin at different concentrations (0.25, 0.5, and 1 mg/kg). Sham and I/R rats were used as controls. To assess the inflammatory response to I/R injury, the serum levels of IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α were measured by ELISA. As shown in Figure 2A, the serum levels of IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α in the rats with I/R injury were significantly higher than those in the sham group. In addition, pre-treatment with recombinant adiponectin significantly reduced the serum levels of IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α in a dose-dependent manner. Figure 2 Adiponectin attenuated ischemia reperfusion injury in rats. A: The expression levels of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, MDA, and SOD, and the villous damage score. The data are expressed as mean ± SD obtained from five independent experiments; B: TUNEL/Hoechst staining was performed to assess the effects of adiponectin treatment on cell apoptosis. Nuclei were stained with Hoechst (blue staining). Apoptotic nuclei were identified by TUNEL staining (green). aP < 0.05 vs sham, bP < 0.05 vs IR, cP < 0.05 vs 0.25 mg/kg group, dP < 0.05 vs 0.5 mg/kg group. SOD: Superoxide dismutase; MDA: Malondialdehyde. Consistent with the ELISA results, the level of MDA and villous injury scores in the I/R injury group were significantly higher than those in the sham group. Pre-treatment with recombinant adiponectin partially restored the level of MDA and villous injury scores. In addition, the SOD level was reduced in the I/R injury group and showed a decrease in the group pre-treated with adiponectin. TUNEL staining was performed to investigate the effects of adiponectin on apoptosis in intestinal tissues undergoing I/R injury. As shown in Figure 2B, marked cell apoptosis was observed in intestinal tissues in the I/R injury group, but almost no apoptosis was found in the sham group. In addition, intestinal cell apoptosis in the I/R injury group was reduced by pre-treatment with adiponectin. The rats that received pre-treatment with recombinant adiponectin followed by intestinal I/R injury showed a statistically significant decrease in TUNEL-positive cells in intestinal tissues compared to rats with intestinal I/R injury without pre-treatment with recombinant adiponectin. The protective effect of adiponectin against apoptosis of intestinal cells in rats with intestinal I/R injury was dose-dependent (Figure 2B). Taken together, these results suggest that adiponectin was protective against intestinal I/R injury by inhibiting the apoptosis of intestinal cells and the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. AMPK, AKT, and signal transducer and activator of transcription-3 have been reported to be associated with adiponectin-mediated effects[23,24]. To determine the potential underlying mechanism responsible for the reduction in intestinal I/R injury, the expression levels of AMP, p-AMPK, and HO-1 were determined by western blot. As shown in Figure 3A, no significant difference in phosphorylated AMPK (p-AMPK) expression was observed between the sham and I/R groups. However, following adiponectin pre-treatment, AMPK was active and the level of p-AMPK was increased. No significant change in total AMPK level was found among the groups. Furthermore, the increased level of p-AMPK was partially abrogated by compound C, an AMPK inhibitor. Similar results were also found for the expression of HO-1, which was suggested to be activated by adiponectin in renal I/R injury. Rats administered adiponectin following I/R injury showed a higher level of HO-1 than the I/R group (Figure 3A), which was partially reversed in the compound C treatment group, indicating that the protective role of adiponectin in I/R may be via the AMPK/HO-1 pathway. Figure 3 AMPK inhibition attenuated ischemia reperfusion injury. A: Western blot analysis of the expression of p-AMPK and HO-1; B: Western blot analysis of the expression of cleaved caspase 3; C: The serum levels of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, MDA, and SOD and the villus damage score. Compound C: AMPK signaling pathway inhibitor; Snpp, HO-1 inhibitor. Adipo: Adiponectin; Compo. C: Compound C; The data are expressed as mean ± SD obtained from 5 independent experiments. aP < 0.05 vs sham, bP < 0.05 vs IR, cP < 0.05 vs IR + adiponectin. I/R: Ischemia reperfusion; HO-1: Heme oxygenase 1; SOD: Superoxide dismutase; MDA: Malondialdehyde. In addition, to confirm that the anti-apoptotic role of adiponectin is associated with the AMPK signaling pathway, the expression of cleaved caspase 3 was determined. As shown in Figure 3B, significant upregulation of cleaved caspase-3 was observed in the I/R rats compared with the sham rats. The upregulation induced by I/R was diminished by pre-treatment with adiponectin, compound C, and the HO-1 inhibitor (Snpp). Among these groups, the adiponectin group showed the lowest cleaved caspase 3 level. Finally, as shown in Figure 3C, adiponectin-mediated I/R injury protection was partially abolished by compound C and Snpp. Increased levels of IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α, increased production of MDA and SOD, and a higher villous injury score were seen in the IR + adiponectin + compound C and IR + adiponectin + Snpp groups compared with the IR + adiponectin group. These findings confirmed the involvement of the AMPK/HO-1 pathway in the protective role of adiponectin in intestinal I/R injury. Previous studies have demonstrated that adiponectin plays an important role in preventing I/R injury[14-17]. However, whether adiponectin functions in the prevention of intestinal I/R injury is unknown. In the present study, we provide evidence that adiponectin is protective against intestinal I/R injury in rats. IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α are important pro-inflammatory cytokines and are regarded as molecular markers of inflammatory responses in human cells. In the present study, increased serum levels of IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α were observed in rats with intestinal I/R injury. Interestingly, adiponectin reduced the serum levels of IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α in rats with I/R injury, indicating that adiponectin has anti-inflammatory effects in intestinal I/R injury. The production of free radicals and oxidants are dramatically increased during ischemia and reperfusion[7,9,27]. Increased levels of oxidative stress markers such as MDA (an indicator of lipid peroxidation and free radical-induced cellular damage) were observed in I/R injury, accompanied by reduced scavenging ability against oxidative injury, such as low activity of SOD[3,8]. Consistent with previous studies, increased MDA production and reduced activity of SOD were observed in the rat model of intestinal I/R injury. Reduced MDA and increased SOD levels were found in rats with I/R injury that received pre-treatment with adiponectin. These results suggest that adiponectin pre-treatment inhibited oxidant generation, maintaining a higher level of antioxidant activity in rats with I/R injury than in rats without adiponectin pre-treatment. Intestinal villi have been reported to be susceptible to I/R injury and are involved in cellular necrosis. In the present study, we found that adiponectin pre-treatment attenuated villi damage in the rat model of I/R injury, indicating the therapeutic application of adiponectin in intestinal I/R injury. However, the underlying mechanisms should be investigated further. AMPK plays an important role in mediating the production of adenosine triphosphate and fatty acid oxidation. In addition, it has been reported that adiponectin activated AMPK signaling in cat cardiomyocytes in vitro and protected against heart I/R injury in mice via an AMPK-dependent pathway. Based on previous studies, we hypothesized that adiponectin may also protect against intestinal I/R injury through the AMPK signaling pathway. In the present study, an increased level of phosphorylated AMPK was detected in rats with I/R injury that received adiponectin pre-treatment compared to the sham group, which supports our hypothesis. HO-1, also known as heat shock protein 32, is a stress inducible protein involved in the protection against cellular injury. Previous studies have shown that adiponectin upregulated HO-1 expression and exerted beneficial effects in the protection of renal I/R injury[25,31]. It has also been reported that increased HO-1 expression by adiponectin played an anti-apoptotic role in iron-induced liver injury. The present study showed that the expression of HO-1 was increased in rats with intestinal I/R injury and adiponectin pre-treatment. These results support the involvement of HO-1 in cellular injury protection. In addition, a previous study suggested that the anti-apoptotic effect of AMPK mediated by HO-1 may provide an important adaptive response to preserve endothelial cell viability during metabolic stress. Here, we found that the expression of p-AMPK and HO-1 was inhibited by compound C, suggesting that the AMPK-HO-1 signaling pathway was involved in the protective effects of adiponectin against intestinal I/R injury. AdipoR is involved in various biological effects of adiponectin, and is closely related to obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. In different tissues, the expression levels and the regulating factors of AdipoR are different. Adiponectin receptor expression is elevated in colorectal carcinoma but not in gastrointestinal stromal tumors. The expression of placental adiponectin is increased during pregnancy in the rat, while Adipo R2 shows the opposite pattern. In this study, protein levels of Adipo R1 and Adipo R2 in the I/R and I/R + adiponectin groups did not change significantly, while p-AMPK and HO-1 increased in the I/R + adiponectin group compared to the I/R group which are consistent with the results of Chen et al and Cheng et al. However, it is unclear whether it is Adipo R1, AdipoR 2, or their combination that have an effect on the protein level of p-AMPK and HO-1. Perhaps the function of AdipoR is not dependent on the protein level in intestinal I/R injury. In the future, we intend to conduct experiments to understand further this mechanism. In summary, we showed that serum adiponectin was downregulated in the rat model of intestinal I/R injury, and adiponectin pre-treatment attenuated intestinal I/R injury in rats. While the underlying mechanism of adiponectin in protection against intestinal I/R injury is not fully understood, the present results suggest that the AMPK/HO-1 signaling pathway may be involved in this process. Therefore, adiponectin and components of the AMPK/HO-1 signaling pathway may be promising targets in the treatment of intestinal I/R injury. It has been reported that adiponectin protects against ischemia reperfusion (I/R) injury in several tissues. This study aimed to determine the potential protective role of adiponectin in intestinal I/R injury. Previous studies have shown that oxidative stress, the inflammatory response, and cell apoptosis are involved in I/R injury. Interestingly, a number of studies have also reported the role of adiponectin in protection against I/R injury in myocardial, cerebral, liver, and renal tissues. However, whether adiponectin functions in the prevention of intestinal I/R injury is unknown. This study showed that serum adiponectin was downregulated in the rat model of intestinal I/R injury, and adiponectin pre-treatment attenuated intestinal I/R injury in rats. While the underlying mechanism of adiponectin in protection against intestinal I/R injury is not fully understood, the results of this study suggest that the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)/heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) signaling pathway may be involved in this process. Therefore, adiponectin and components of the AMPK/HO-1 signaling pathway may be promising targets in the treatment of intestinal I/R injury. Adiponectin and components of the AMPK/HO-1 signaling pathway may be promising targets in the treatment of intestinal I/R injury. Intestinal I/R injury is a critical complication in patients with trauma and after liver and intestinal transplantation, and it is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Adiponectin, also referred to as gelatin-binding protein-28, ACRP30, AdipoQ, or apM1, is a hormone secreted mainly by adipocytes. The title is short, conclusive, and reflects the content of the study. The abstract is clear with obvious delineation between the various parts.

2019-04-19T10:43:10Z

https://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/full/v21/i47/13250.htm

Before Local 5362 there was CUPE Local 1550. CUPE Local 1550 included the Health Sciences Centre (HSC), CancerCare Manitoba (CCMB) and Diagnostic Services of Manitoba (DSM). In 2015 DSM bargaining unit left to join with Local 4214 that united all DSM CUPE members. In the spring of 2017, the Conservative government of Manitoba announced bill C29, the Health Care Bargaining Unit Restructuring Act. This act will set out to lower the amount of health care bargaining units from close to 200 down to 50 by making 4 rural health authorities (Eastern, Southern, Northern and Western) as well uniting all of the bargaining units within the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and 2 “province wide” employers – CCMB and DSM. Within each of these 7 employer groups there would be 7 bargaining units. Due to the coming restructuring of the WRHA, CUPE proposed to merge all 21 of their WHRA Locals into one large local. This is how Local 204 originated. HSC was one of those 21 units, so they separated from Local 1550 to join with 204. CCMB remained Local 1550, but due to the huge change in the local structure and Local 1550 being associated with HSC and not CCMB, the members requested a local number change from National. This was granted and our charter for Local 5362 was received in November 2017. Below is the Local 1550 website front page prior to the change. Note: Local 204 will be in the process of instituting their own communications systems shortly. Until then, CUPE Local 1550 will continue to send out information to the HSC unit, using the 1550 email addresses, email system and website on behalf of Local 1550. Please watch for updates coming soon. ATTENTION Local 204 – HSC Members. Please see the notice below regarding CUPE/Employer information sessions. This was emailed out to the HSC members who have submitted their email addresses. If you did not receive this through email as of 21 October 2017, please check your spam box or re-submit your email address. ATTENTION HSC CUPE MEMBERS! Did you work any OT over a break? Please read below. Please see the update below regarding the ongoing employment changes at HSC. CUPE Local 1550 is organizing a rally to show support for the HSC workers who will be losing their jobs and for those who will be facing losing their full-time EFTs and being reduced to part-time. We will also be showing our solidarity to ALL Health Care workers in Manitoba who have or will be facing job loss or EFT decreases due to all of the cuts. We will have pamphlets ready to hand out to the passing foot traffic explaining what some of the cuts are, including working short, hiring freezes and of course position deletions. This Rally will be held in front of the Women’s Hospital from 11:00 – 1:30 on Thursday, September 21st. CUPE’s news release on September 12th told us that at HSC there are going to be approximately 111 jobs lost as well almost that many full-time jobs will be reduced to part-time jobs. At the time of that release not all information had been received by CUPE to make a final analysis. We are still receiving information in little bits at a time. We also know that many Unit Clerks and Unit Assistants will be losing their positions as the hospitals move to replace them with the dual trained Nursing Assistants! There will be cuts and changes to EFTs at all of the other hospitals in Winnipeg. CancerCare Manitoba has not seen these kinds of position deletions due to the government’s mandate. That does not mean that there won’t see any cuts or deletions in the future. There has been a clamp down on hiring and filling positions.Part-time and casual staff are being used like full-time, to the point that people are unable to plan their vacations or usage of banked OT or stat time because there are not enough part-timers or casuals with available hours to cover these requests. We have until November 15th to complete vacation scheduling but a number of staff are having difficulties getting these requests approved because there is not enough staff to allow for coverage. When staff are on vacation or are sick many of people are having to double up their workloads and do extra duties so that their own work falls behind. Come join us as we show our solidarity to all health care workers and protest these cuts that affect us all as we make the public aware of all that is happening and how these cuts will also affect them. The results of this election will not be known on September 20th as the ballots from all 21 of the Local 204 facilities will be counted at the same time at a different time and location. Please see the attached posters for the Local 204 Elections! Included is the election information and we also have the campaign materials from the candidates running for President: Debbie Boissonneault (Grace Hosp, Local 1599) and John Boyd (Seven Oaks Hosp, Local 2509). The Position of Unit Lead Shop Steward is up for election. Liam McCann and Belinda Raposo are running for this position. At this time, neither candidate has submitted any election materials. The ballots of this election will be counted as soon as all HSC Local 204 members in the room at 4:30 pm have had the opportunity to vote. CUPE News Release regarding HSC Cuts for Support Workers and Local 204 Elections! Please visit the CUPE Provincial Health Care Council website phcc.cupe.ca to get all of your elections information. There will be elections for Table Officers and Trustees on September 20th as well, some units will be having elections for Unit VP and Lead Stewards. Please watch for further information regarding the cuts. CUPE will have info tables set up in HSC in the MS Mall on Wednesday, September 13th and on Monday, September 18th. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to stop in at any time between the hours of 9 – 4. Please watch for notices of an upcoming rally! We’ve had a rally earlier in the summer but now that we know how the CUPE Members at HSC will be affected, we need come out in droves to show the Pallister Government how we feel about these cuts and the total disrespect for Health Care Support Workers Professionals (we are professional in what we do). The Nurses were guaranteed that “there is a job for every nurse”. We demand fair treatment. Pallister guaranteed “No Cuts to front line workers”. Let’s tell Pallister that WE are FRONT LINE WORKERS! He broke his promise by cutting our jobs. Please share this with others who may not have received this information. If you know someone who believes that they have submitted their email address to us and they are not receiving these emails, please have them look into their “spam” or “junk” boxes. If the email is not there, please email cupe1550@gmail.com and type in the body of the email their name and their preferred not work email. Some handwritten emails have been discarded as we could not read the writing on them. So that in this time of constant news releases and updates, HSC CUPE Members please rest assured that until Local 204 has all of their communication pieces intact and has been given time to get the new website going, CancerCare Manitoba CUPE Members will ensure that their comrades at HSC continue to receive all of their information in a timely manner. We will continue to post all information necessary for HSC CUPE Members as well as use our email systems to get as much information out to you all in as timely a manner as possible. We are all in this fight together! Please see the notice below regarding the Employment Security notice for CUPE HSC Members. These are the changes brought about by the unreasonable cuts being imposed by the Pallister PC government. CUPE Local 1550 – CancerCare Manitoba has a new Executive! This Executive will not take effect until approximately October 1st. All were nominated and elected by acclimation. We do still need a one year and three year Trustee. Thank-you and congratulations to all of you who have allowed yourselves to be nominated and elected! The formatting needs to be fixed, but as these are draft for reading purposes only. Please bring any comments to the meeting or call our Local office at 204-987-2873. Please be sure to tell Patricia (our Admin Assistant) that you are a CCMB Member! Please note the time of the meeting, 5:00 pm. As we do not have anything in place at this time to hold meetings electronically, we need to allow time for our whole Membership to get to our McDermot site especially as the items on the agenda are very important. As CCMB grows and we accept 13 new members from the Community Cancer Clinics and Hub we will have to get used to allowing for travel time for the approximately 75 members who will be assigned away from MCC. We do have limited parking for those members coming in from St. Boniface and Screening Programs. Great for car-pooling! Please see the bulletins below. There is one for the HSC Members Local 204 as well as a general bargaining (or non-bargaining) update for everyone. Local 204 will be doing their by-law voting a little different than the norm as all of the locals have yet to come together into one general meeting. At this time it was thought that it was better and more effective to post the by-laws online for the members to view and to email in comments rather than to try and bring all 7000 members together. You will be able to vote on them at the end of August. A notice will go out later this week with that date and time. CCMB will be holding a special meeting at the end of August to vote on the by-laws in the traditional manner. We will meet, go over the by-laws, make any changes within the room and then vote on them. When we hold this meeting, there will be several other items on that agenda so keep watch for this. Come join us as CUPE Members from Health Sciences Centre and CancerCare Manitoba come out to protest the Pallister Government and all of their cuts. In just a few months we have seen a wide swath of cuts throughout all of healthcare in Manitoba. Pallister promised more long-term care beds – he put a freeze on those. This causes a back-log in our emergency rooms as they help care for this population. This also puts a squeeze on our medicine beds as they are used more often for long term care. Pallister will close down the Emergencies at Seven Oaks and Victoria General in order to open up Urgent Cares, he is completely closing the Urgent Care at Misericordia and the Emergency at Concordia. People living near both of these hospitals will not have any kind of urgent or emergent care in their neighbourhoods. What will that do to HSC and CancerCare? It will put more demands on our services. Many cancer patients go to the Concordia cancer unit and their Emergency. They will now have to start attending the Emergency department at HSC as well as the urgent care clinic at CCMB. This will put an extra burden on these resources as well as cause prolonged wait for care for people who are already very ill. If shovels are not already in the ground – no new building! – Pallister already put a stop to the new CancerCare building. Lunch and rest areas have been taken away to make office space, a library changed into a new department, there are workers hiding out in “closet” spaces in HSC, SMD and elsewhere. – At HSC as more people come through the doors of an already cramped space in emergency you have to wonder where will they all fit? As they close down operating rooms throughout the WRHA to have them come to HSC -where will they be put. This is a solid building. The walls are not elastic and cannot stretch to accommodate the expected increase in patient flows. – All of this while vacancy management is in place and we are all working short staffed and carrying heavier burdens than ever. Come join us to protest these cuts to our health services. Not only are we as healthcare workers affect but so are our patients! Place Patients First – and stop the cuts. Enough is Enough! You voted resoundingly YES to separate from Local 1550 and merge into Local 204 woth the other 21 WRHA CUPE Locals! There were 40 people in attendance at the meeting who were eligible to vote and the vote was 36 YES, 3 NO and 1 spoiled ballot. Over time the HSC Members will start to receive information regarding the organization of their new Local and CCMB Members will be receiving information as to how to reform Local 1550. Until the actual physical split between the 2 bargaining units, the Local will operate as status quo. Our Members will not notice any difference on the shop floor. Please see the letter below regarding the move to merging all 21 CUPE Locals within the WRHA into one large local. This moves comes as the Pallister Government is soon to enact Bill 29, which talks to merging the WRHA as one employer, working with fewer Bargaining Units and Collective Agreements. All HSC Members will soon be seeing postings telling them to come out and vote on this measure. Those postings will list the date, time and place of the vote. PLEASE NOTE: This is not a vote to change unions but to merge with other CUPE Locals. This will NOT stop your CUPE Membership. CCMB Members, you will not be eligible to vote (UNLESS you also work at HSC). CCMB, being a province wide employer group is separate from the WRHA. With this planned merger, HSC and CCMB will separate from each other. CancerCare Manitoba Members will continue to be Local 1550 while the HSC Members will join the Members of the other 20 CUPE Locals within the WRHA. We will be holding info tables and sessions over the next two (2) weeks to answer questions. These tables will be held throughout HSC and at various times in order to reach out to all shifts including those on the weekends. We will also be holding noon hour meetings at CCMB at all 3 sites to discuss facing this Bargaining Unit. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Local office. Total votes cast: 478; 1 ballet was spoiled for a total of 477 counted out of 2954 members for a 16.15% turnout. We have been asked a number of times what the vote count was. This local has a practice of not releasing that information as that often causes more divisiveness rather than helping to heal any riffs that may have happened during the election. Jamie Johnston has been elected as Vice-President. Congratulations to both candidates for a well run campaign! On Tuesday, April 30th, CUPE Manitoba worked with CUPE Local 1550 to host a BBQ in the community for the Members of our Local. It was a beautiful day for a bbq. We gave away over 1000 hotdogs, chips and juice boxes that day. When we chose this day for the bbq little did we know that we would be able to have the help of our National President Paul Moist. He just happened to be in Winnipeg at this time so he volunteered his time (and muscle) to help move tables and equipment as we set up for the event. He also stayed to greet our Members and serve them a hotdog. Kelly Moist, the President of CUPE Manitoba worked together with our Table Officers to plan this event so that this truly was a co-hosted event of CUPE Manitoba and Local 1550. Margaret even had the company Jenna the Administrative Assistant for CUPE Manitoba to go on the “off site” tour. We delivered lunch to the CancerCare Members who work at our units at St. Boniface Hospital as well as the breast/cervical/colon screening programs across the street from Misericordia Hospital. Jodi made the trip to the HSC offsite group at Wellington so that they could also enjoy some lunch. Unfortunately our National Representative Shannon McAteer was away on vacation. So, for the day we received the help from two National Reps! Alex McClurg and David Jacks were on hand all day providing help where needed. We also had the enthusiastic hotdog serving help in the person of Marion Moist. She was able to fill in while Jodi and Margaret were out travelling to the offsite groups. We even had help from a Member from CUPE Local 500, WRHA group serve up lunch. Mylin jumped right in and helped out until our travelling Table Officers were back at the tables and ready to serve. Local 1550 President with Mylin, a hardworking volunteer from the CUPE Local 500, WRHA group. One of the busiest people of the day was Butch, one of our Housekeepers. His diligence in breaking down boxes, collecting garbage and wiping tables was an enormous help. With his help we were able to keep to our timeline with the City of Winnipeg to have our garbage ready for pick up at 1:30. Butch our very busy volunteer. Cleans while working as a Housekeeper with a CCMB assignment and volunteers to clean up for the Local! Behind the scenes the Local’s Administrative Assistant Patricia worked as hard as everyone else. She moved tables, hauled things up and down the stairs, sliced onions and managed to keep control of our office. Of course, our Table Officers were busy throughout this adventure from planning, set up and serving. We even had the opportunity to visit with Levy Abad the Filipino music, songwriter and activist as well as with the Hon. Flor Marcelino the Minister of Multiculturalism and Literacy, The MLA for the Logan Constituency. We have new Collective Agreements for both of our Bargaining Units. Unfortunately, DSM will now be transitioned over to Local 4214 with the rest of Diagnostic Services of Manitoba Inc. Our Local’s bargaining units are now made up of the Support Workers from Health Sciences Centre and CancerCare Manitoba. The new updates are now uploaded. Please follow the link below.

2019-04-20T03:06:55Z

https://5362.cupe.ca/about-us/local-1550-historical-archive/

Well, I’ve had quite the adventure. Six days, alone, in New York City, my first vacation in several years and my first time in the city since the early 2000s. I visited four museums, attended three operas, and saw just about every major sight in the city. All told, it was a very successful trip with few snags. I love New York! I imagine the thought of being alone in New York is terrifying to some. Actually, I didn’t feel afraid once. I had no negative encounters. This isn’t to say they don’t happen, but if you’re careful where you wander, no one bothers you. I didn’t see any bad apples anywhere I went (and I covered a lot of turf). There are other tourists and regular folk everywhere, and more cops available than you see at home. There are moms and kids walking the street and riding the subway, even at night. So did I get to do everything on my list? Almost. In some cases the weather didn’t cooperate, in others, my energy level fizzled. I did a lot of walking. Living here is wonderful exercise, even though public transportation will get you anywhere (except the Metropolitan Museum of Art. For that, you have to wander Central Park for several hours). I didn’t get to the top of Rockefeller Center to see the city at night from above; I didn’t do the night time boat ride around the tip of Manhattan. I didn’t go to the Bronx Zoo. Standout moments? Seeing the Statue of Liberty’s face up close. Mimi’s death in La Boheme. The memorials to the dead at the 9/11 Museum. Standing on the Brooklyn Bridge, looking out over the city, while listening to Neil Diamond’s poetic reminisces about it in Brooklyn Roads. Seeing my friend Michael again. I didn’t even spend much money here. Many of the attractions are free, I ate cheaply, and a few things I paid for in advance. The best deals in New York? The Statue of Liberty (boat ride, pedestal and museum access, and Ellis Island museum for $18) and the subway (I rode it all week, and all over, on a 7-day MetroPass for $30. I didnt take a cab once). So now it’s back to my mundane, everyday life. Jarring as it will be after this magical week of sights and sounds and stimulation, it’s a welcome return. The conveniences of home have their own special attraction, and life becomes stale no matter where you live. That’s why we need to get out of our elements periodically, to get a fresh perspective on life. We return a little bit changed, a little more knowing, a little more open to possibilities. Mind you, I haven’t been taking this advice lately. My life is extremely routine, but I broke free for a week and it was wonderful. My NYC breakfast spot, and a description of me in the summer? Tomorrow I start my 39th, and next to last, college course before finishing my degree, which I began almost thirty years ago. I went into business for myself right after high school graduation, then spent about ten years working slowly on college credits while running it. Since I didn’t need a degree being my own boss (and the one I pursued wasn’t even in business), I went solely for personal interest and satisfaction. I like learning and am naturally curious about things. I stopped school after finally getting my associate’s in 1996, but picked up the mantle again three years ago because I was bored (instead of working sixty-hour weeks as I had for many years, I was down to forty). Also, the new availability of online learning appealed greatly to the introvert in me. Online class is great for introverts. I participate more in online classes, via discussion boards, than I would in live classes, because live classes are dominated by extroverts. That’s where they thrive. Online is where I thrive. It’s not unlike Facebook, where I am more social than I tend to be in real life. So yes, I strongly applaud online school, as it allows those of us who are quieter and more reserved to “chime in” in a way that works for us. Actually, you can’t shut me up on the class discussion boards, and it’s an area of every course I’ve taken where I have gotten very high participation marks. What’s more, classmates tend to appreciate my carefully rendered feedback. None of this is to say that I cannot participate in class discussions in real life, but new people and environments make me uncomfortable and it takes a while to warm up to them. Even once I do, I am always more verbose with the written word than I ever have been with the spoken, so I can really shine online. I’ve always done well in school, whether live or online, because I am observant of things others don’t notice and am hyper-focused on the written and spoken word, introvert qualities that serve one well in learning. I take things very literally, and am always finding errors in instructions and written texts (I have found many professors’ syllabi to be riddled with errors and lack of clarity – and these people have advanced degrees). A life in academia may have suited me, and I may have pursued it were it not for my hesitance to go to college after high school, which was a little intimidating. Running my own business appealed to me more as it gave me lots of control, and if there’s one thing I like it’s the freedom of having control over my life. But now it has all come full circle. I no longer have that control and work for the Man, and in four months I will have a college degree in English literature and poetry. Yes, I know, not the most marketable of degrees, but it is the subject area that interests me the most. My intent was not to get a marketable degree, but to get a degree period, and to also satisfy personal interest along the way. It has been a nice journey, for the most part (I could have done without the Statistics courses, even though I aced them). If it were not for the expense, I would continue on to a master’s. We’ll see. Is online school easier than live school? I’ve done both and see little difference. I spend a good twenty hours a week on classwork – three hours a day – which includes reading, writing papers, tests, and the discussion boards, which are very time-consuming (reading the daily posts of twenty other students and responding to many of them in a qualitative way). The coursework is the same as that given in live classes, and the online curriculum is fully accredited by the regional college board. So aside from not having to drag myself to a physical location and being able to do my work at midnight if I so choose, there is little other difference – except that the courses are accelerated. What live classes cover in sixteen weeks, we cover in eight. So it can feel a little rushed (this was never more true than in my recent Western Civ class, where we covered 4000 years in two months). Now, as for that poetry degree, I am aware that some do not consider it a “real” degree, much as they do not consider online classes “real” college. It seems the discipline of poetry is viewed as requiring no more skill than ruminating in a diary. To them, I would say this: try writing a poem that a respected literary journal would publish. Then come laugh at me. Fact is, professional writing of any kind – fiction, non-fiction, poetry, screenplays – is hard work. While poetry may not be highly valued, or even understood, in today’s world, it is the highest expression of our language. I enjoy the linguistic and creative challenge it poses, the introspection it requires, and the possibility of moving someone else with something I’ve written. That is reward enough for me. After a long day at work, where I interact with many people and juggle many responsibilities, I am usually exhausted – not so much physically (though this is certainly possible), but mentally. I run out of steam. I lose the social energy that I muster to do my job, and look forward to some peace and quiet. Recharge time. It is a must for most introverts, and lack of it can make me quite irritable and cranky. It is somewhat akin to not getting any sleep. Our introvert brains are wired differently than those of extroverts, studies have shown, and mine often needs down time, STAT. This need not involve sleep – for me, it rarely does, though occasional naps can be helpful. Recharging for me can involve internet-surfing, reading, writing, working a puzzle, doing something out in the yard or around the house, watching a show, listening to music. None of these activities require me to speak or expend social energy, though they do require my attention (in the case of puzzles, considerable attention). This does not weary me like having to be social does. When I am low-energy, uttering a single sentence can feel like delivering a monologue, and answering a phone call is out of the question – much less making one. Also, having to repeat myself is especially annoying at these times. I know this may not make much sense to many people, but it’s really a matter of energy overwhelm and social tolerance levels . If I’ve had to expend more social energy than usual on a particular day, or for longer periods of time, the overreaction to stimuli can be extreme. Those who have known me for a long time have certainly seen this effect in me, and it may seem Jeckyll-and-Hydeish if I have been overtaxed on some social occasion. It doesn’t go over well with mates, and I have lost many this way. I reach a point where my social energy drains and I get very quiet and pull inward. This is my cue that it’s time to go, which I sometimes ignore either to be polite or – yes, even still – because I tell myself I should stick it out and hang in there a bit longer for the sake of those around me. This is rarely a good idea, but it is the conditioning I have come to adopt living in an extroverted world. It took me a long while to recognize this and take care of my need for being with my own thoughts after socializing, but it is vital to my peace of mind and quality of life, even if it does mean a life of relative solitude. I do usually enjoy and value the time I spend with people, and in fact often ruminate on it fondly afterwards. I need time to assimilate social contact into my experience and to reflect on it. It’s all part of the deal. It must have been an introvert who said “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” The Phrase Finder reports that this sentiment originates with the Roman poet Sextus Propertius, about whom little is known. However, poets are certainly good candidates for introversion, and Propertius is a man after my own heart (that phrase originates in the Bible). I’ve never much cared for the telephone. I’ve always found it rather intrusive and annoying, an interrupter of solitude. It has no consideration for whatever I might be in the middle of. I don’t usually look forward to calls, either making or receiving them. I will frequently let the answering machine or voice mail field a call if I am even mildly occupied, and will definitely never answer if I don’t recognize the number – salesman, ninety percent of the time. Fact is, I usually consider talking on the phone a waste of time unless there is a particular purpose for the call. I don’t like chit-chat, it does nothing for me but bore me to death. Friends have grumbled at times that I don’t call them. I stopped having a landline several years ago, and reluctantly have a cell phone mainly for emergencies and other absolute necessities (it is hard to function in modern life without a phone number). I am not tethered to my cell phone like most people nowadays – you won’t catch me on it in a store, subjecting everyone around me to the one-sided blathering of my otherwise private conversation, and I would never use it while being cashed out. People don’t like it when clerks do this to them, so what makes them think clerks are any different? It’s rude, on either side of the transaction. It’s treating the other person like they’re not important enough to merit your brief attention. Is phone-aversion an introvert thing? Do most people perk up at the sound of a ringing telephone, at the mysterious allure and potential of the unknown call? Judging by the smart-phone and texting addiction of the younger generation, I’d have to say “yes,” absolutely. Constant contact is king. I can understand extroverts loving the telephone, since they crave contact and being social. I see people at work who spend their entire break talking on their cell phones, while I usually spend mine reading. These same people are on the phone the minute their shift is over, and they also usually arrive for work talking on the phone. They surreptitiously whip out their phones during work, checking Facebook or texting. What did people do before cell phones, I often wonder, since it seems they can’t function or feel secure unless conversing with someone 24/7? Was it only a decade ago that people had to walk around – gasp! – totally disconnected? When they couldn’t call home from the store to recite every flavor of ice cream available to see which one they should buy? Oh, and do we need milk? How much of these conversations have any meaning? Does anyone care that your favorite song just came on the radio? Granted, cell phones come in very handy at times (like the milk query), but some people take it way too far, providing their unseen cohort with a blow-by-blow accounting of their every move. I’ve noticed that people tend to share more on the phone with the other party than they likely would were they standing right next to them. It must be the fear of silence. Silence during a phone conversation is unacceptable, whereas it is perfectly alright in person. Why is phone silence not allowed? Might there be an insecurity about whether the other person is still there? Is it because time is money on some calls? Is it because we feel stupid holding a phone and not saying anything? Whatever the reason, I suspect it has a large part to do with my dislike of the telephone – it abhors silence and demands non-stop talking, which is pretty much my idea of hell. Blogs. Do people actually read them in today’s endlessly busy and distracted world? I will soon find out. But whether anyone reads or not, I have always found writing to be an endeavor that mostly benefits the author. If others benefit as well, then that is an added bonus – and a gratifying one. This blog will be loosely structured with many topics, all from my particular perspective. Therefore, it would seem prudent to share a little about myself. I am a 48-year old single gay male living in Eastern Connecticut, where I was born during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 (the famous “missiles of October”). I was a somewhat troubled, melancholy, lonely child who often felt like I was living in a semi-autistic fog, and those old feeling states have occasionally plagued me into adulthood. I am a lifelong introvert, something I haven’t really appreciated about myself until recently. It was a bit of a revelation when I read the textbook definition of introversion and almost every trait rang true. I am overwhelmed easily by too much contact or stimulation. I recharge my batteries by being alone, and strongly crave alone time after a few hours of being social. I usually abhor chitchat, cell phones, cocktail parties and interviews. I don’t like being interrupted or put on the spot, because it can take an introvert time to focus and I need time to process my thoughts and form a response. I express myself much better on paper than in person. I have been praised since grade school for my writing skills. I have few friends, and the few relationships I have that I enjoy are the deeper ones. I dislike surface contact. Things have to have meaning and make sense or I have little patience for them. I’m a good listener, provided what I’m hearing has some depth. I am drawn to introspection and reflection. I am also a lifelong entrepreneur, having started my own business when I was 18 and keeping it for almost 30 years. Working for myself appealed to me greatly as I dislike authority figures and taking orders. I am self-motivated and don’t need someone barking at me. Since I now work for someone else (long story for future post), I have to endure some barking. Hence the bumper sticker on my car: “Wag More. Bark Less.” Praise goes much further than criticism, yet seems seldom used in the average workplace. Some interests/passions of mine include music (symphonic, esp. Beethoven and Tchaikovsky; opera (Puccini, Gilbert & Sullivan); Neil Diamond, who I have seen in concert a dozen times and whose music I have a deep affinity for; reading (a true introvert passion! Love Shakespeare, Dickens, King, Koontz, Preston/Childs); American history, the presidency, quantum physics and the true nature of “reality,” consciousness studies, metaphysics, and basically the notion that we create our own reality. I greatly admire those who manage to creatively express themselves in ways that others relate deeply to – especially, those who take their pain and torment and create something divine (Tchaikovsky, Beethoven). I consider Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to be the greatest work of art I have ever experienced, and have a separate blog posting about it. As Robert Bly observed, “where your wound is, that is where your genius will be.” Tchaikovsky is another hero in this department. I hope you enjoy my posts and find something that strikes a chord or two in you. To quote a passage from my favorite movie, Shadowlands, “we read to know we’re not alone.” I hope I make you feel less alone.

2019-04-25T06:58:45Z

https://fullwithtomorrow.wordpress.com/tag/introverts/

In this article Microsoft Windows IT Pro MVP, Rory Monaghan details his Windows 10 migration checklist. He details the steps you need to consider and the tools he recommends to help you complete a successful migration. Before structuring a Windows 10 project, you must first define your minimal viable product. What does a successful end product look like? You need to keep some important factors in mind. While a desktop migration project is a good time to transform your end-user experience, time is now against you. Microsoft has revealed the pricing for extended Windows 7 patches. If you are a Pro customer, the price is pretty steep. If you an Enterprise customer it’s still nothing to scoff at. If you haven’t started your migration work yet, you may not be able to complete 100% of the work before Windows 7 End of Life in January 2020 but even getting to 80% will lower the cost to your organization significantly next year and in the future. Time and resources are always the biggest constraints. You obviously have limited time with the Windows 7 EoL just months away, if you do not have a large team to complete the project, you’ll also have limited resources meaning a full desktop transformation may not be possible at this time. Your minimal viable product may not feature transformative tech like a modern profile management solution, standardization on 64-bit across the entire company, significant security, modern application delivery, hardening, etc. There are still some quick wins and various things you can do as part of the migration to set yourself up for transformation down the road. If you have some critical legacy applications that you need to bring forward that are 16-bit, you may not have time to find a suitable path forward for these right now. This may prevent you from standardizing on 64-bit Windows 10. However, in order to make the most of modern hardware, it is still a good goal in the future to standardize on 64-bit and make a plan for your 16-bit applications. You will need to gather a list of your applications for your migration anyway. You will also need to test applications and remediate any that do not work. Through the course of this project, you will be able to identify your 16-bit applications either through manual testing or by using an application compatibility tool like AppDNA, you can then set those aside for a future project to standardize on 64-bit. If you do have 16-bit apps that just won’t work on Windows 10 or even today do not work on Windows 7 and require you to run these on an unsupported legacy OS, you could consider a container tool like Droplet Computing to help make these at least a little more agile. In some cases, it’s not just 16-bit components that prevent adopting a 64-bit OS. Some organizations need to run old peripherals that do not have 64-bit drivers. Some applications will work on 64-bit but the vendor does not officially support 32-bit, depending on the application and the organization, this could also require keeping a 32-bit OS. Another piece of the 64-bit puzzle will be UEFI. Standardizing on UEFI now will not only help modernize your desktops at a low level right now but will also help with 64-bit. Legacy BIOS used Master Boot Record which is 32-bit and limits the number of partitions and partition size allowed and in general, it limits the type of drives and drive size that can be used and much more. Legacy has become dated with hardware vendors favoring UEFI for several years now. If you haven’t already switched to UEFI, you should now. It should be part of your MVP. Before you can really begin with creating your Windows 10 image, you’ll want a list of hardware you will support for your Windows 10 rollout. You will want to ensure you gather any and all drivers required by those hardware sets. If you are an Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo or Microsoft hardware shop AND an SCCM user, you should check out the great Driver Automation Tool by Microsoft MVP, Maurice Daly. You should also identify any and all peripherals in use in the organization to ensure the vendors certify and support these on Windows 10 e.g. printers, scanners, signature pads, etc. While it may be too late to consider significant security hardening and bringing in products like Credential Guard, Device Guard, etc. there are a few areas worth considering. Are user local admins today? Do they really need to be? As recently as 5 years ago some organizations felt caught in a trap by having users as local admins rather than figuring out if they could work as standard users. Applications have improved considerably in that time. You should be able to make that leap now if you have not already. Did you turn on User Access Control (UAC) in Windows 7 or Windows 8? If not, this could be the right time to do it. This one is a little more risky for those with old applications. I would be willing to bet at this point, the vast majority of your applications will work without issue with UAC on. If they will not, your application compatibility analysis tools should tell you and if you are using AppDNA in particular, it gives you pretty specific instructions on how you can shim the applications to get suppress the UAC prompts. Some of the obvious security considerations here will be around anti-virus. Will you continue to use what you have today or use this time to switch to an alternative? Firewall and disk encryption alternatives may also be worth considering at this point but I strongly suggest you have these points addressed and in place before beginning your pilot phase of the project. Recently, Microsoft’s Chris Jackson posted an article advising customers to no longer use Internet Explorer as their default browser. In the article, Chris doesn’t recommend any specific browser to move to but does let the readers know that using Enterprise Mode with Edge is an option. Microsoft also recently announced they will be changing to a browser using a Chromium base in future which looks like an end to Edge, at least in its current form. In a previous article, I discussed the state of the browser in enterprise IT and more specifically discussed deploying Chrome. It’s evident that users want and the enterprise needs a suitable modern browser. You should decide what browser that will be and how you will manage it and test as part of your Windows 10 rollout. If your current standard browser is Internet Explorer 10 or earlier, you may find you have a lot of work to do with bringing your web apps forward to IE11 or a modern browser. This one is likely for the End User Computing team as they will be aware of what should and should not be in the image but it’s important to define this early to begin the work while the project is still getting formalized. You also need to decide a few things e.g. What version of Windows 10 will the base image use? v1803? v1809? At the time of this posting, the majority of Windows 10 enterprise users are migrating from v1709 to v1803. You will also want to define what bloat should be taken out of the Windows 10 image e.g. games and applications your user won’t need and shouldn’t have. What applications will get into the image? I typically put Microsoft products that are required by all users into the image for patching purposes and to expedite how long it takes to re-image a machine. The apps that go into your image will be unique to your organization. If you are taking the opportunity to deploy Office 365, you’ll want to ensure you are testing this too. I am not a huge advocate for application compatibility tools. The reporting can be inaccurate. However, for the purposes of bulk loading your applications and getting a high-level overview of the level of effort required makes it worth the effort, in my opinion. You can also leverage this data for weeding out your 16-bit applications, applications that are likely to trigger UAC prompts, etc. All of which will help with the Windows 10 migration. AppDNA can also report on whether an application is suitable for application virtualization and show applications that likely won’t work in a multi-user shared environment like RDSH etc. The end result is also a database of all of your applications, you can actually identify all applications that install files or registry into user locations which can be a big help in the future when rolling out a modern profile management solution like AppSense. With AppDNA, you could also automatically convert your applications to App-V while performing the application compatibility analysis. It doesn’t mean you have to use or deploy the App-V application but doing this conversion can help slim down your desktop in future, expedite migrating applications into RDSH and even potentially for a quick conversion to Microsoft’s new MSIX format which supports automated conversion from App-V as they shared the same universal applications standards. Once the MVP has been defined, the End User Computing team should get started on creating the Windows 10 image. Once the decisions are made, you can set the scope of your project with the above guidelines for your minimal viable product. Before beginning the project work, you should carry out your project planning. You’ll want to gather a team spanning many different departments. You’ll need your field technicians who will support the rollout in your offices, you’ll need your End User Computing team with skills including image and build creation, application packaging and deployment. They should know the operating system very well. You may want to engage liaisons who can help with data rationalization and department outreach. It’s also important to engage with the leadership of these departments and the Windows 10 project stakeholders. Your decided minimal viable product will likely determine some of the tooling you will use. You may need to acquire some of the tools, you may already own them. If you have a locked down well-managed environment, you can likely get away with pulling your application list from your current deployment tool e.g. SCCM. Otherwise, you’ll want to use something like Microsoft’s Upgrade Readiness tool, Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit, ACT Collectors or LakeSide SysTrack. If you have a large set of applications and a big team to manage, a tool like Migration Studio can really help with coordinating the project and managing parallel work streams. If you decided to change anti-virus or any other critical piece, you’ll want to get these tools in place too. Upgrade Readiness, Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit and LakeSide SysTrack. Realistically, if you are just starting your Windows 10 migration now you are already up against it time-wise. In a medium to large sized organization, you will need several dedicated resources to get the majority of your PCs and Laptops upgraded to Windows 10 by January 2020. If you do not have the resources, this could define your strategy. The correct way to execute a Windows migration is to gather a list of your applications, which you could do with Upgrade Readiness tool, ACT Collectors or LakeSide SysTrack. You would then rationalize that list of applications e.g. does the organization really need 5 different PDF Creators? Why not bring it down to 1. It’s less work for your packaging team and will likely lead to cost savings. You have legacy versions of Java or Flash out there, are they really required? If so, why bring those forward? Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit can also gather some limited application related information and some very useful hardware level data. If you do not have the people to complete this type of work you may have to rely on each department to provide you a list of the applications they require in order to do their jobs. You can then ensure this is something you already deployed to them via your software distribution tool today e.g. SCCM. If you did, you can just ensure they get that same package deployed to them on their new Windows 10 desktop and can test with that. It’s far from ideal but for small teams may be the only approach that’s feasible. Based on the MVP and the strategy defined, you will want to map out each work item that must be completed for the project and assign a resource. Microsoft Project is an old favorite for Project Plans or you might use a more modern 3rd part app, that is up to you. You will want to have weekly project meetings as a group to ensure you are operating like a well-oiled machine. Communication is of vital importance for a successful project. You should also consider setting up an e-mail Distribution List for all involved in the project. Slack or Microsoft Teams can also be useful along with Migration Studio for real-time communication and checkpoints. You will need to identify departments that are good candidates to be your first Windows 10 users. It is very important to have all of the pieces in place for your MVP to ensure what these initial pilot groups are testing is representative of what all users will get. Remember, it’s also a way for you to test our your overall process and ensure it works well before proceeding with other departments. To be successful you should ensure the first users in these pilot groups that get Windows 10 cover all relevant roles in that department e.g. if a department has level 1, 2 and 3. Ensure you get people of each level. If people have different work they do, make sure you get them too. Determine the other department you’ll be migrating after the pilot and what dates you plan to migrate them. It’s important to do this early because you may need to account for certain time constraints per department e.g. in healthcare some hospitals are busier in winter months than summer, finance departments are busy at the end of fiscal quarters and years, etc. You don’t want to disrupt the business. You should have already started creating your image and working on it before the project planning formally began. At this point, you should have all of the drivers relevant for the hardware you’ll be deploying on and you should know what apps will be part of your build. You’ll want to get a sample of all of the different hardware you’ll be deploying to and test on each. It is also very important to test data migration. If you use AppSense today on Windows 7, you may opt to migrate your user’s data using that. Otherwise, you may use Microsoft’s User State Migration Tool as part of your build process. You may want to publish a simple web page with an introduction to your new Windows 10 experience for users. You’ll also want to print a short Quick Start Guide to leave at each PC for your end users. Of course, next day support should be in their area to field any questions they might have but training material is always helpful both in the short and long term. If you are well managed and intend to just refer to the packages and applications in your distribution tool today, you should export that list and ideally, get metrics on the apps that have the most deployment and highest utilization. If not all apps in your organization are deployed via SCCM or another tool. You should deploy Upgrade Readiness tool, ACT Collectors or LakeSide SysTrack and gather a list of the applications on your users’ machines today and gather info on utilization to know which are the highest impact apps. It’s a good idea to deploy these tools pretty widely in the organization and to leave them out there for 2-4 weeks collecting data. Optionally, you could just deploy these tools to each department as you tackle them for your deployment. E.g. We want to upgrade HR in 6 weeks. Let’s deploy the tool now. Gather the data and go from there. If you detect applications that are not being utilized, you should talk to your department and determine if the application is required or not. If you detect multiple different applications that provide the same function e.g. PDF Creator you should talk to each department using these and determine if you can standardize on just one. The end result ideally is a shorter list of applications for you to deploy and test and hopefully fewer with application compatibility issues that require remediation. Take your rationalized list of applications and run them through a tool like AppDNA. This will let you assign your packaging resources appropriately. You should be able to see which applications will require significant remediation efforts or even those that will just not work at all. The good news is that your application compatibility analysis should not show too many big roadblocks. Microsoft has done a relatively good job assuring that your desktop application that works on Windows 7 today will work on Windows 10. The big exception will be if you use all 32-bit Windows 7 today and try to move to 64-bit. You may have a tougher time than others. With Windows End of Life looming as I stated, you may not be trying to transform the desktop much due to lack of time and resources. In which case, you can hopefully just deploy the package you already use today on Windows 7. Some application may require repackaging and remediation. This effort is usually the most complex and time-consuming part of a desktop migration project. DO NOT underestimate the level of effort required here. Ensure you leave enough time to get the apps complete for each department. You should consider bringing in extra help for this work. It’s also worthwhile documenting any issues encountered per app and organizing all package, source media and documentation so you have them in future when attempting to transform the end user experience. With a well-tested image, successful pilot and applications past the rationalization, analysis, packaging and remediation phase you should be ready to start rolling out Windows 10 to the masses. If you have multi-casting (which pretty much everyone does, you should verify with your Network Admins to be sure) you should be able to roll out to entire department relatively quickly. You shouldn’t deploy to too many departments at once. Only deploy to as many departments as you can provide next day support to. When the migration is complete. Hold a final meeting to discuss lessons learned and further work required based on discoveries made during the migration effort. Rory is Algiz Technology’s CTO Americas. A man of many talents, he’s a Microsoft Windows IT Pro MVP, international speaker and contributes to the online App-V community via his blog: Rorymon.com. Source One Technology provides desktop support services to schools, businesses, churches, and nonprofits across Milwaukee, Waukesha, Kenosha and Racine counties. Get in touch now to see how we can help you with your cloud migration and application security.

2019-04-23T22:45:08Z

https://www.sourceonetechnology.com/windows-10-migration-checklist/

As our knowledge of the complexity of gene architecture grows, and we increase our understanding of the subtleties of gene expression, the process of accurately describing disease-causing gene variants has become increasingly problematic. In part, this is due to current reference DNA sequence formats that do not fully meet present needs. Here we present the Locus Reference Genomic (LRG) sequence format, which has been designed for the specific purpose of gene variant reporting. The format builds on the successful National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) RefSeqGene project and provides a single-file record containing a uniquely stable reference DNA sequence along with all relevant transcript and protein sequences essential to the description of gene variants. In principle, LRGs can be created for any organism, not just human. In addition, we recognize the need to respect legacy numbering systems for exons and amino acids and the LRG format takes account of these. We hope that widespread adoption of LRGs - which will be created and maintained by the NCBI and the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) - along with consistent use of the Human Genome Variation Society (HGVS)-approved variant nomenclature will reduce errors in the reporting of variants in the literature and improve communication about variants affecting human health. Further information can be found on the LRG web site: http://www.lrg-sequence.org. In 1993 Ernest Beutler wrote an eloquent letter to the editor of the American Journal of Human Genetics highlighting the deficiencies of the systems then used to describe DNA variants . That same year, the editor of Human Mutation invited Arthur Beaudet and Lap-Chee Tsui to produce a nomenclature for variants in genes and proteins . From these simple beginnings, the last 17 years have borne witness to the steady development of the nomenclature used to describe sequence variation that is now maintained under the auspices of the Human Genome Variation Society (HGVS) [3, 4]. To some, the present nomenclature may seem like an arcane art-form jealously guarded by zealots. This may have been a valid criticism in the past, but advances in human genetics mean that embracing the nomenclature fully is now essential. With the completion of the human genome sequence, the number of known variants has expanded dramatically, with many identified as being associated with medical conditions. For such variants, especially in the clinical setting, the need to describe them systematically is paramount [5–7]. A crucial element of variant nomenclature is the reference DNA sequence with respect to which a variant is described. Ideally, the sequence should have been submitted to a primary DNA sequence database and be identified by an accession number and its version. For the most part, this requirement is complied with nowadays, though the quality of the sequence data is sometimes questionable. For some genes, the de facto reference sequences were established before the advent of high-throughput sequencing technologies. Intron and intergenic sequence data were often less reliable than those of the exons for these legacy sequences due to the deficiency of read-depth coupled with the lack of corroboration of the DNA sequence against a corresponding protein. At the start of the millennium, recognizing the need for higher quality reference data, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) established a database of curated non-redundant reference sequences of genomes, transcripts and proteins known as RefSeq [8, 9]. Until recently, most human genomic DNA sequences represented in RefSeq have been of genomes rather than individual genes. Consequently, the reporting of variants in genomic DNA coordinates using RefSeq genomic contig sequences has been cumbersome, especially if the gene of interest lies on the reverse strand. For example, the human COL1A1 gene is the reverse complement of bases 13535609 to 13553152 in the RefSeq record NT_010783.15. Beginning in 2007, RefSeq has been extended to embrace reference sequences for individual genes through the creation of RefSeqGene records . Many authors still prefer to report intronic sequence variants in terms of cDNA coordinates (for example, c.2451+77C>T, or the now deprecated format, IVS36+77C>T), even though the nomenclature to do so is somewhat awkward. However, the use of cDNA coordinates is permitted with RefSeqGene reference sequences. In spite of these welcome developments, users of these sequences must be aware of the update policies of public sequence databases. There are two types of modification to a public sequence record: changes to the sequence, or changes to the annotation or description of that sequence. The latter type of change is reflected only by a change to the modification date of the record, and will be changed if the gene symbol changes, citations associated with the record change, or the position of features (such as the coordinates of exons) within that sequence are revised. The former type of change - that is, to the sequence itself - results in the incrementing of the version of the sequence. For example, the sequence of the desmoglein 2 gene, DSG2, was revised from version NG_007072.1 to version NG_007072.2 in December 2007. In May 2008, re-interpretation of the mRNA coding regions of the sequence of NG_007072.2 resulted in a change of version number for the corresponding RefSeq mRNA record for DSG2 from NM_001943.2 to NM_001943.3 though no change to the RefSeq protein record NP_001934.2 was necessary. The RefSeqGene genomic DNA record and the RefSeq protein record both retained the same version numbers as before, but the RefSeq mRNA record version was incremented. Anecdotal evidence, especially from journal editors, suggests that these issues are poorly understood by researchers who fail to mention the version number of reference sequences that they have used as the basis for reporting sequence variants. Variant reports that do not clearly define the version of the used reference sequence might have ambiguous interpretations. Failure to fully embrace the issues surrounding versioning of reference sequences can lead to inconsistency of variant descriptions from one generation of patients to the next. An individual testing positive for a given variant today may have children who, years later, wish to seek genetic counseling and be tested for that same variant. To avoid any misunderstanding or confusion by the counselor and the staff of the diagnostic laboratory, it is essential that changes to reference DNA sequences are closely monitored by these parties to militate against the possibility of a change of description for the tested variant (see Box 1 for a hypothetical example). Nomenclature problems because of reference sequence versioning. Another limitation is that current reference sequences may not represent all transcripts that arise through the use of distinct transcription start sites, alternative splicing, or polyadenylation signals (Box 2). Currently, genomic reference sequences do not necessarily record all of the known mRNAs, focusing instead on information concerning the single most abundant mRNA. Ideally, a reference sequence for a gene would include all relevant spliced transcripts necessary for variant reporting, reducing the risk that an effect of the variant on an alternatively spliced transcript might be missed. Genes with multiple spliced transcripts. A further limitation is that the present annotation scheme does not take account of well-established legacy numbering schemata that are in use at present, or have been used in the past, to number features such as exons or amino acids. The globins and the collagens provide excellent examples of legacy systems (Box 3). Ideally, reference sequences would be annotated in a fashion that would allow for verification of variants reported using either legacy or HGVS-compliant nomenclatures. To address these limitations, a meeting sponsored and organized by the multi-institute European Union-funded GEN2PHEN project was held, with representatives of GEN2PHEN (Genotype-To-Phenotype Databases Project), European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) and NCBI in attendance, to discuss the specification for stable reference genomic DNA sequences better suited to the task of reporting variants. The participants were geneticists, bioinformaticians, clinicians and Locus-specific Database (LSDB) curators. In advance of the meeting, a survey was conducted by GEN2PHEN with the help of the HGVS to assess the views of the curators of LSDBs. The primary goal of the meeting was to create a universally acceptable standard: a new specification for human genomic DNA reference sequences that would address the shortcomings of non-standardized reporting resulting from a variety of issues. These include the lack of universally agreed genomic reference sequences for some genes even though mRNA, expressed sequence tag and genomic assembly records already exist. Sometimes, there are DNA sequence inconsistencies between existing ad hoc genomic reference sequences (where no RefSeqGene record has yet been created) and their NCBI RefSeq mRNA sequence counterparts. Inconsistent and incomplete (and sometimes outdated and inappropriate) annotation of existing ad hoc reference sequences and missing annotation of clinically relevant transcripts is an additional problem. Present sequence record systems do not provide support for legacy amino acid and exon numbering schemes. Finally, the new standard needed to address the lack of understanding of the significance of 'versioning' of sequence data. The principles guiding the discussions with respect to the specifications for genomic reference sequences were threefold. First, the sequences need not represent real alleles of genes: they can be composites that provide a practical working framework for the reporting of variants. Second, research or diagnostic laboratories, LSDB curators, mutation consortia, and so on that have a direct interest in given genes will have the final say in defining the sequences and their annotation. Third, stability of the sequences, their core annotation, and their identifiers is essential to ensure consistency of variant reporting over time frames of many decades. The agreed solution was the concept of an LRG (Locus Reference Genomic) , which builds on the initial ideas from NCBI for RefSeqGene. LRGs will only be created in response to demand from the community which, in practice, is likely to be from LSDB curators or from diagnostic laboratories. LRGs are not restricted to protein coding genes, but will be created for any region of the genome within which sequence variation needs to be recorded, including regulatory regions that encode RNAs. However, the mitochondrial genome is explicitly excluded as its sequence (RefSeq NC_012920.1) and variation is already managed by MitoMap . The LRG system provides a genomic DNA sequence representation of a single gene that is idealized, has a permanent ID (with no versioning), and core content that never changes (that is, nucleotide sequence, transcripts, exons, start and stop codon positions). This core annotation will be known as the 'fixed-annotation layer'. Although LRGs are created for single genes, some might encompass all, or part, of overlapping or adjacent genes, as currently happens with RefSeqGene records. The LEPRE1 (leucine proline-enriched proteoglycan (leprecan) 1) LRG (LRG_5) also includes part of the C1orf50 (chromosome 1 open reading frame 50) gene, which is encoded on the opposite strand. A separate LRG will be created for C1orf50 if there is a request from the community. Additional annotations, known as the 'updatable-annotation layer', that may change with time (each item carrying its own date stamp) will provide ancillary information about a gene. Such annotations will include details of additional transcripts and information for mapping the LRG sequence onto genome assemblies (for example, currently NCBI 36 and Genome Reference Consortium Human (GRCh) 37) as well as cross-referencing of features in the fixed-annotation layer to legacy coordinate systems. More than one LRG can be created for a region of interest, should the need arise. If essential changes to any of the core sequence data are required, such as the need to include a newly discovered upstream exon, a new LRG record will be generated with a new ID. Sequence variants may be validly expressed with reference to the original LRG (which will not be retired) or to its replacement. An LRG provides a stable sequence and numbering system against which samples can be compared and variation be reported. Although annotation is provided, the LRG is not intended to aggregate and report all known variants. Variation will be reported using HGVS nomenclature and the use of an LRG as the reference standard supports all coordinate systems: using genomic DNA coordinates, LRG_1:g.8463G>C is equivalent to NG_007400.1:g.8463G>C; using coding DNA coordinates, LRG_1t1:c.572G>C is equivalent to NM_000088.3:c.572G>C; using protein coordinates, LRG_1p1:p.Gly191Ala is equivalent to NP_000079.2:p.Gly191Ala. As a feature of the LRG project, the coordinate system of a RefSeqGene that matches an LRG will be so indicated and will not be changed. LRGs afford three key improvements in comparison with RefSeqGene records. LRGs provide a 'one-stop' sequence record for a gene (with a single accession number) comprising sequences for the gene itself, all of the transcripts essential for the reporting of sequence variants, and the corresponding predicted proteins translated from each transcript. The locking of the sequences within the LRG means that 'version-control' is not an issue in the reporting of sequence variants. No sequence (genomic DNA, mRNA or protein) within the fixed layer will ever be changed or removed. Finally, the inclusion of the necessary data facilitates reference to features, such as exons or amino acids, using legacy numbering or naming schemes. NCBI continues to identify genes of clinical interest and create RefSeqGene records . In March 2010, RefSeqGene sequences were available for more than 2,800 genes and many of these are already in use in LSDBs. To ease the transition towards the use of LRGs, they will be created from any pre-existing RefSeqGene record. The goal is to maximize the similarities. When a RefSeqGene record is assigned an LRG accession, it means that the sequence, transcripts, proteins and exons are identical for that version of the RefSeqGene and the LRG. In other words, it will make no difference if variants are reported in LRG or RefSeqGene coordinates. XML was chosen for exchanging and storing LRGs because of its ease of extensibility and validation as well as its natural hierarchical structure, which lends itself well to the nature of the information in LRGs. There are numerous existing programmatic tools for defining, validating, parsing and transforming XML. The XML schema is defined using Relax NG and is available on the EBI FTP site . XSLT style-sheets have been produced that will transform the XML into more user-friendly HTML or plain text. These are also available from the FTP site. The LRG file has separate XML sections for the fixed-annotation and updatable-annotation layers. Within the tags for the fixed layer are the genomic sequence and transcripts that define the LRG, together with the corresponding cDNA sequence, amino acid sequence and exon coordinate markup. The updatable section contains database cross-references, reports of any overlapping LRGs, detailed information on how the LRG maps to the human genome assembly and information to map systematic exon and amino acid coordinates onto their legacy equivalents. LRGs will be compiled and maintained by the NCBI and EBI. This will ensure that the data contained in LRGs are accurate and consistent with data in other existing sequence records. The key involvement of these organizations means that the LRG format has an assured long-term future on which users can rely beyond the end of the GEN2PHEN project. The LRG website provides access to existing LRG records and mechanisms for requesting new LRGs. Before making a request, it is advisable that users familiarize themselves with the complete LRG specification , which is available on the LRG website, and feedback is invited on any aspect of the specification. To facilitate viewing of LRGs, Ensembl [20, 21] has adapted their browser. NCBI supports displays of LRG sequences and reported variants using client software (NCBI Genome Workbench ) and the graphical sequence viewer . Use of these tools facilitates integration of LRG data variant data in dbSNP (NCBI Database of Genetic Variation) [24, 25]. The NGRL Universal Browser (National Genetics Reference Laboratory, Manchester;) already provides a graphical view of LRGs with the ability, for some genes, to display tracks linked to dbSNP and to appropriate LSDBs. A major issue with variant curation is how DNA sequences might be visualized to make the process simpler and less prone to error. Journal editors and referees are well aware of the frequency with which authors report variants erroneously. Ideally, a browser will be developed that will integrate fully with the commonly used LSDB systems, such as LOVD (Leiden Open Variation Database) [27, 28], UMD (Universal Mutation Database) [29, 30] and MUTbase (Maintenance and Analysis of Mutation Databases on the World Wide Web) [31, 32], allowing curators and submitters to automatically generate standards-compliant variant descriptions using the LRG sequences as a reporting reference standard. Tools such as Mutalyzer [33, 34], both in its standalone form and through the API used by the LOVD variant database system, have made the process of correctly naming variants relative to all annotated transcripts and protein isoforms much simpler, but more sophisticated variant-visualization systems would be a welcome development. Just as with Mutalyzer, such systems would parse the annotated features of reference DNA sequences to provide the necessary visual cues to help generate an HGVS-nomenclature-compliant description of any variant. Ideally, such a system would incorporate cross-checking with legacy numbering systems. To achieve this, a robust and comprehensive feature-annotation scheme with a controlled vocabulary will be essential. The LRG specification does not specifically entail the production of a dedicated sequence browser, but producing one that uses LRG sequences would facilitate the successful adoption of LRGs. To this end, the LRG XML schema is fully open and has version control, allowing any party, commercial or public, to develop visualization tools. The LRG specification is the culmination of considerable debate among those participating in the project and has also been fashioned by the advice of external commentators. Most of the proposals have been accepted readily, but two in particular have been controversial. The first is the proposal to allow addition of transcripts to the fixed-annotation layer. The argument is that this amounts to versioning and does not solve the existing version problem. Versioning is an issue with traditional reference sequence records because the actual sequences differ from version to version for records with the same accession number. In the fixed-annotation layer of the LRG, the sequence data for the genomic DNA, the transcripts and their translation products will never be changed or removed. Consequently, a variant description such as LRG_13:g.8290C>A will always remain valid and will not be subject to misinterpretation. Likewise, the proposal to allow more than one LRG for the same gene region has also provoked similar arguments about versioning. If it is no longer possible to describe a sequence variant in terms of an existing LRG, it might be necessary to create a totally new LRG with a uniquely different number (for example, LRG_1275 instead of the existing LRG_89). The original LRG will not be 'retired' and it will remain valid to describe variants with respect to that sequence record. Creation of additional LRGs for an existing gene or genomic region will only be considered in the most exceptional circumstances and each will be cross-referenced with the other in the updatable annotation layer. Finally, queries have been raised about the ability of LRGs to support the reporting of copy number variation (CNV). LRGs are no less well suited to the task of CNV description than existing reference sequence records. Requests will be considered for the creation of a new LRG representing a particular allele with respect to CNV and we will work with the requesting party to achieve the best practicable solution to represent the allele. Again, this will only be considered in the most exceptional circumstances. The issues that have been raised during the development of the LRG specification are the subject of a frequently asked questions (FAQs) page, accessible from the LRG home page. In the absence of any proposals of alternative solutions to deal with these issues, we feel that LRGs provide a pragmatic solution to the needs of LSDBs and clinical laboratories with respect to reporting sequence variants in a stable fashion. Initial discussion of the need for improved reference sequences suited to the task of curation of variants in LSDBs took place at the first general assembly meeting of the GEN2PHEN project in January 2008. Immediately following that meeting, a survey was distributed to LSDB curators through the HGVS and the results were analyzed in March 2008. In April 2008, a two-day workshop was held at EBI to formulate the specification of an improved reference sequence that is now known as Locus Reference Genomic (LRG). Creation of the formal LRG specification began in May 2008 and several versions were produced in response to internal discussion and to feedback elicited through the HGVS. The current version (version 12) was agreed in June 2009. Creation and revision of the LRG XML schema began in March 2009 (currently at version 1.6) and the first LRG records were created in June 2009. At present, LRGs have been finalized for ten genes and a further four await final approval. Requests have been received for approximately 90 additional genes and these are currently in production. We invite enquiries concerning the creation of additional LRGs. Access to further information and to LRG sequence records is available at . A search facility is provided and there is a link to frequently asked questions (FAQs). Specific links are provided to request technical support, to request the creation of new LRGs and to allow feedback on the LRG specification. We are grateful for the help of the Human Genome Variation Society in distributing the survey that was used in the initial development of the LRG specification. We are also grateful to those who responded to the survey and those who provided feedback on drafts of the specification. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement number 200754 - the GEN2PHEN project. The manuscript was drafted by RD with contributions from FC, GP and AD. The manuscript was edited by RD, PF, FC, CB, HL, PEMT, JTdD, AD and DRM. RD, PF, CB, HL, PEMT, JTdD, EB, AJB and DRM participated in the conceptual basis and design specification of LRGs. AD gathered and represented the views of a group of potential users and developed an illustrative example of the requirement for LRGs. GP and FC defined and implemented a format for LRG files. PF, FC and DRM coordinated implementation of the LRG informatics infrastructure. AA, RET, WMM, YC, and PL implemented the software and infrastructure for the project. GD developed the NGRL LRG browser. PEMT and JTdD tested the LRG format for compatibility with existing software tools. BWV designed and implemented the LRG website. RD wrote the FAQs on the LRG website.

2019-04-20T17:12:46Z

https://genomemedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/gm145

Bliss Body Yoga’s teachers are compassionate, knowledgeable, caring and committed to their own personal growth as teachers and the growth of their students. All instructors are certified with either 200 or 500 hours of teacher training and are Registered Yoga Teachers (RYTs) with Yoga Alliance. Colby is the founder of Bliss Body Yoga. Her intention is to provide a safe, nurturing, fun and relaxing space for students to practice yoga. Colby was first turned on to yoga in 2003 after years of rigorous training in classical ballet. Yoga proved to be a natural transition from dance, but offered stress relief and a powerful integration of body and mind that she had never experienced before. Colby’s passion for movement inspires her classes that incorporate fluid and creative sequencing. Her classes are playful and challenging, yet students will leave feeling pampered and restored. She teaches Gentle Flow, Flow, Yin, Restorative and Prenatal yoga classes. Colby completed her 200-hour certification in 2009 with Don and Amba Stapleton at the Nosara Yoga Institute in Costa Rica. In July 2012, she completed her 500-hour advanced training with Tranquil Space Yoga in Washington, D.C. She has received additional training in Yin, Restorative & Prenatal Yoga. After discovering first-hand how yoga can transform by reducing anxiety and stress, give clarity of mind, and promote healthful living, Kristen is inspired to bring the joy of yoga to others. She dove in head-first into Blue Lotus’ 285 hour teacher training program (earning her RYT 200 certification) and has delved into teaching flow yoga. Her flow classes guide students’ movement with each breath, bringing focus within, quieting the mind, and strengthening body and spirit. She enjoys teaching beginners and experienced yogis alike; offering modifications so that all levels can participate. Yoga does not require flexibility, just a willingness to learn and coming to the mat as you are. Autumn was first introduced to yoga through her dance training, while she was working on her MFA in dance from the University of Maryland. She maintained a casual practice for a few years after graduation before deciding to learn all she could about yoga (completing her 200-hr certification with Stephanie Keach of Asheville Yoga Center in 2011). After training, Autumn jumped right into teaching and has since found yoga to be so much more than a workout; it is a way of life. In Autumn’s Flow Yoga or Power Flow classes you can expect to work up a sweat to upbeat music and leave feeling challenged with a transformed outlook on the world. In addition to teaching at Bliss Body Yoga, Autumn is on faculty at North Carolina State University (teaching dance, yoga, and gymnastics), and she directs the Raleigh-based multimedia modern dance group Code f.a.d. Company. Autumn is also certified as an ACE Group Fitness Instructor, Zumba Instructor, and PaddleYoga Teacher, and she is currently pursuing her 500-hour Yoga Teacher Certification. Zach started teaching in January 2011 as a way to learn more about Yoga and also as an excuse to spend more time in the studio. Since then he has taught at many different spaces from outdoor events, gyms, yoga studios, and corporate offices. His training was in Anusara which has a focus on alignment and working the poses in a therapeutic way, in every class he offers cues in the poses to help bring students out of pain and show them how good their bodies are meant to feel. The idea that we are made to feel good, mentally, emotionally, and physically, is a basic teaching that Zach brings to all of his classes. Using years of study in anatomy, kinesiology, Tantra, and the lessons that come from reflecting on life Zach has the ability to guide his students through a class that is both rigorous and supportive, hard and soft, always seeking to find the balance in the middle. His classes are open to all who come with an open mind and heart and a desire to know themselves deeper. Rachel’s passion for yoga was fueled by different schools all over the world. Most recently, she returned from Koh Samui, Thailand where she completed a 500-hour Ashtanga-based teacher training. This incredible and intense schooling increased her worth as a teacher by broadening her knowledge base and stabilizing her personal practice. Rachel also received a 200-hour teacher training at New York City’s Prana Flow infused Sonic Yoga. In addition she earned a Kid’s Yoga Teacher certification from New York’s big-hearted, industry leading, Karma Kid’s Yoga. Lastly, she received a Mom and Baby Teacher certification from the experienced Joythi Larson in New York City. Rachel loves the transformative power of yoga on her mind, body, and spirit. She believes the practice will allow you to transcend to a level of higher awareness giving birth to a healthier, happier, and truly free and loving life. Tina has always been a teacher at heart. She began 13 years ago teaching preschool in a tiny school in Vienna, VA. Tina then moved to Raleigh, had two children who became her greatest teachers, and that is when she found yoga. She received her yoga teacher training from Blue Lotus in 2013, her Little Flowers YTT in 2015, and her mindful schools training in 2016. She has been teaching kids yoga ever since and recently began her journey teaching mommy and me yoga. She is forever grateful for this space to connect, learn and grow together as moms. Barbara began practicing yoga in 2001, after many years of commitment to exercise as a way of maintaining physical and emotional well-being. While primarily seeking to increase her flexibility and spinal health, she became passionate about yoga when she discovered its deeper benefits – reducing stress, expanding mental flexibility and cultivating resilience in the face of life’s challenges. Barbara completed the 285-hour and 300-hour teacher training at Blue Lotus Yoga and Movement Arts in Raleigh. She has also completed Level 1 of Judith Lasater’s Restorative Yoga Relax and Renew ® training program. As a clinical psychologist with over 25 years of experience, Barbara is particularly drawn to sharing the ways yoga enhances emotional health. In her Restorative class you will find an opportunity to unwind physically and mentally, and discover the healing qualities of a supportive yoga practice. Wendy has been guiding students in yoga since receiving her RYT 200 certification from Raleigh NC Yoga in 2014. With an extensive history in leading fitness classes, both in Australia and the USA, Wendy was drawn to yoga as an accompaniment to her active lifestyle. However, the benefits of yoga became so profound that she knew she needed to share this insight with others. Wendy’s goal is to encourage students to understand and appreciate how wonderful their bodies are and the joy and benefits of nurturing both their physical and emotional health. With the greatest respect for breath and the synchronization of movement to it, her passion lies in leading gentle flow, yin and restorative based yoga classes that encourage self-awareness and provide a balance between busy, active lifestyles and the need to restore equanimity. Wendy has been guiding students in yoga since receiving her RYT 200 certification from Raleigh NC Yoga in 2014. With an extensive history in leading fitness classes, both in Australia and the USA, Wendy was drawn to yoga as an accompaniment to her active lifestyle. Rochelle began her yoga journey in the late 1990s as a means of exercise. She quickly learned yoga provides much more than stretching and strengthening, and continued to practice for grounding, balancing, and stress relief. Yoga is now an integral part of her life, daily routine, and spiritual practice. Rochelle is a speech and language pathologist working with children with disabilities, and a life coach working with adults in transition. Yoga informs her work with these groups, as she uses yogic practices for calming and focusing, and for raising core energy levels. She is passionate about energy work, and has training in Reiki and Theta Healing. She enjoys bringing energy movement and awareness into her classes, and sharing her love of yoga and its many benefits with others. She completed Bliss Body Yoga’s 200 hour teacher training, and is thrilled to be teaching at the studio. Rochelle began her yoga journey in the late 1990s as a means of exercise. She quickly learned yoga provides much more than stretching and strengthening, and continued to practice for grounding, balancing, and stress relief. Meghan began a steady and dedicated yoga practice in 2008, drawn to the mat in a search for stronger self-awareness. In 2011, she completed a 100-hour training program with Cindy Brewer, in 2012 she completed a 220-hour training with Kristen Cooper, and is currently enrolled in a 500-hour training with the Carolina Yoga Company. Yoga has become integral to Meghan’s life for self-acceptance and improvement, and to connect with people in genuine and compassionate ways. From teaching in her local community to volunteering in orphanages in India, her intention is always to promote loving kindness and self-love in her students and in the people around her. In addition to teaching yoga, she is also training to become a massage therapist to continue to assist others in deepening their well-being. Meghan is thrilled to be a part of the beautiful community at Bliss Body Yoga. Rachel Leblang is a Michigan native and graduated from Western Michigan University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Japanese Language Studies. She was first introduced to yoga on a bet with her friend. Because she lost, she had to attend a 5:30 a.m. heated power vinyasa class. During that class, she fell in love with the asanas and the physical side of yoga. Several years later, while living in Japan, she had the opportunity to study the philosophical and historical aspects of yoga as well. She completed her 200 hour yoga teacher training in Hawaii with the Yogacara Teacher Training program. Rachel’s classes feature slow, intentional movement with an emphasis on breath and body awareness. Rachel Leblang is a Michigan native and graduated from Western Michigan University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Japanese Language Studies. Mary strives to teach her yoga classes engaging a balance between physical challenge and emotional freedom. Her teaching is very precise and she draws upon extensive training in yoga anatomy and a background in social work. Mary studies with Tias and Surya Little of Prajna Yoga in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Drawing from Buddhist tradition, Prajna incorporates yogic anatomy, chanting, meditation, dharma talks, and asana into the teachings. She is very excited and honored to not only teach students, but also to guide teachers as well. This journey brings Mary so much each and every day and she feels blessed to share this ancient tradition. Kelly began practicing yoga over 10 years ago, but it became a staple in her life in 2014. Beginning with Iyengar yoga, she found that the alignment based practice helped to increase her body awareness as well as decrease aches and pains she was experiencing. In 2015 Kelly found vinyasa yoga, and the meditative movement not only continued to help with body awareness, but also created a peaceful mind. She fell in love with the calmness it created both on and off the mat in her life. She completed the Bliss Body Yoga 200-hour teacher training and currently teaches pre-natal, yin, beginner and vinyasa classes. Her passion lies with helping individuals feel their bodies both inside and out and explore the connection between yoga on the mat and in life. Kelly began practicing yoga over 10 years ago, but it became a staple in her life in 2014. From a young age, Madeline has always been drawn to the practice of yoga. As a way to turn inward, she enjoys the balance it provides as a young professional in today’s world. With a passion for health and wellness, Madeline strives to teach her yoga classes in a way that allows students to find the balance they need – whether that be from strength poses, quieting the mind in restorative or simply focusing on breath. Madeline completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training at Bliss Body Yoga and truly believes in choosing to live joyfully. She has also received training in Prenatal & Postnatal Yoga from Whole Momma Yoga. Madeline hopes students leave her class feeling inspired with a heightened connection to mind, body and spirit. From a young age, Madeline has always been drawn to the practice of yoga. As a way to turn inward, she enjoys the balance it provides as a young professional in today’s world. Jen grew up as a dancer and swimmer and was always active, spending lots of time outdoors. Jen became a mom in 2003, the same year her mother was diagnosed with stage 3-C ovarian cancer. She had been taking yoga classes here and there, but found refuge and peace in the practice as she juggled taking care of her sick mother and nursing and caring for her newborn daughter. By 2005, Jen was practicing with her second daughter in her belly and was fully in love with yoga. When her daughters Sofia and Eliana were 3 and 5 years old, she began looking for kids yoga classes for them and came up empty. So she decided to become a teacher herself. She is a registered children’s yoga teacher (RCYT) and completed trainings with Karma Kids in NYC, YogaKids and Mini Yogis. In 2008, she became a Registered Yoga Teacher in the Prana Flow Yoga style studying with Carson Efird. In 2015, Jen completed her 300 hour Yoga Teacher Training with Shiva Rea. Ellie first found the joy of movement as a four year old in ballet class. She found yoga and tai chi in high school and mindfulness-based stress reduction as a grown-up and all of these practices have provided her important tools for riding the waves of life. Ellie has been teaching since 2002. Her early yoga experiences and initial 200-hour teacher training were influenced by Kripalu and Integral styles, and her classes are laid-back, breath-focused, and mindful, with at least a little dose of humor. Yoga and meditation were important in managing her pregnancy and labor, which led her to begin training in and teaching prenatal yoga in 2015. She completed a 16-hour prenatal yoga teacher training at Asheville Yoga Center in 2015 and an 80-hour training at Blue Point Yoga Yoga in Durham in 2016. She looks forward to sharing movement and mindfulness practices to help mothers find comfort and connection during the amazing transition to parenthood. Ellie first found the joy of movement as a four year old in ballet class. She found yoga and tai chi in high school and mindfulness-based stress reduction as a grown-up and all of these practices have provided her important tools for riding the waves of life. Jen began practicing yoga over a decade ago and was hooked from her very first vinyasa class. The desire to deepen her practice and understanding of yoga led her to enroll in the teacher training program at Blue Lotus Yoga. Jen completed the 200 hour training in 2009, Therapeutic Yoga Training in 2013 and the 300 hour advanced training in 2015. Since becoming a certified instructor, Jen has been passing on the blessing of vinyasa, gentle and restorative yoga to adults and children in the Raleigh area. Jen also brings her yoga knowledge along with her understanding of art to children by creating and teaching yoga, meditation and art journaling classes, series and workshops for kids of all ages. Sara attended her first yoga class in 2011 and fell in love with the practice. After she began practicing more regularly at Bliss Body Yoga in 2014, she desired to deepen her own practice and learn more about all the aspects of Yoga (not just the physical postures). She graduated from Bliss Body’s 200-hour teacher training in 2017. While she loves all types of yoga classes, she is most drawn to restorative yoga as a way to manage stress by calming the body and mind. She has seen a positive change in her own life since practicing yoga and restorative regularly. Sara is honored to be a part of the Bliss Body community and to be a part of guiding students in their yoga journey. Sara attended her first yoga class in 2011 and fell in love with the practice. Megan was first introduced to yoga by her grandmother when she was 6 years old, but didn’t become a regular practitioner until 2015. She came to yoga again at a difficult and transitional time in her life, finding that the mind-body connection and present moment awareness were the tools she’d been searching for. Since then, Megan has fallen in love with the practice and enjoys exploring how the different types of yoga serve us in different ways. Megan completed Bliss Body Yoga’s 200 Hour Teacher Training and is excited to have found a place that she can truly call home.

2019-04-20T06:25:49Z

https://blissbody-yoga.com/teachers/

First, it is helpful to create a plan, a shopping list of your needs. This will help to keep you more focused and organized, especially if you are buying all new pieces for your home. Many clients are surprised by the amount of pieces needed just for the "first layer" of pieces to allow your home to be functional to fit your needs and lifestyle. I recommend starting with a few key pieces that compliment the architecture and design period of your home. There are many ways to break these rules, but if you are not skilled at this, here are some helpful hints so you may select the appropriate pieces for many styles of architecture, focusing on modern, mid-century, and craftsman homes. The architecture of homes in the Pacific Northwest, as well as the rest of the country is changing fast. Modern homes are becoming more popular and often owners are moving from a home that is more traditional, craftsman or another design style. I recommend starting with your sofa. It should be the anchor of the room, the simpler, the better. Often modern homes have large open spaces and it is key to select a sofa that is the right scale. If your living room is larger with taller ceilings, a larger scaled sofa is often required. Wider arms, deeper seat, and lower back to emphasize the taller ceilings. A simple, modern sofa will allow you to take the other pieces in any direction you want. A modern space is like a gallery. It can house almost anything, making any piece look good. Typically I recommend 2-3 lounge chairs depending on the room. I like to mix the pieces, often selecting a modern simple chair and mixing it with a more sculptural chair. The accent chair can be a completely different period; Victorian, Mid-Century, Art Deco, or Early American. Choose something that fits your personal style. The tables too can be a mix of design styles and materials. The coffee table should be scaled to compliment the sofa. Typically I like the coffee tables to also be simple. This allows the accessories to be the focus of the table. Fill in the other tables to compliment the coffee table material. If the coffee table is metal and/or glass, mix in at least 1 wood table. If the coffee table is wood, then a metal, lacquer, glass, or concrete table is recommended. The side and occasional tables can also have detail, be more sculptural, especially if they are mixed with simpler pieces. For the rug, you can go a few ways, but I often recommend one of the following: a textured rug or a more vintage/traditional rug. This will add warmth to the often colder feel of architecture. For the accessories and lighting, apply the same rule of thumb as the furniture by mixing simpler pieces with more unique sculptural ones, mixing materials, scale, and design periods. I always recommend including some pieces that are personal to you, an heirloom from your grandparents, a piece found on a trip, anything you respond to personally. Art is very important in modern architecture. The walls are often white or a pale tone, calling out for some statement pieces. If you prefer more neutral, subtle or black and white art, then scale is important. I love a large scaled piece in a room, especially over-scaled pieces. If you like color, mix a few neutral pieces with more colorful ones to help maintain focus, allowing the room to not overwhelm. A colorful piece of art can make a huge statement, even if it is small. The height of art in modern architecture is also important and this is where I often see mistakes in client's homes. Art in modern homes should be hung slightly lower than typical. I usually have the center line of the pieces at about 58", rarely lower and occasionally an inch or two higher depending on your ceiling heights. Simple window coverings work well in modern architecture. I typically recommend a solar shade, a simple roman shade or floor to ceiling, often wall to wall, ripple folded drapery if you want more coverage, softness and to help absorb sound. Typically I use a fabric color that is close in color to your walls, keeping the focus on the view, not the window coverings. Since a dining room contains less opportunity to mix in design styles, it is more important to get the mix right with a few pieces, applying the same rules as the living room. A simple dining table looks great with more sculptural dining chairs. If you combine a simple, modern table with simple modern chairs, then the light fixture above the table and/or sconce in the room should be more interesting, with some detail and a material that is different yet compliments the materials in the table. If the table is more sculptural, a simple, modern light fixture works well, keeping the focus on the table. If you have room, adding a shelving unit, armoire or taller piece in the room helps create interest through height and materials. Again, apply the same rules of thought as the living room and dining room. Start with a modern bed. Often I like a taller headboard, 72" or so depending on the ceiling height, or a lower headboard than typical, around 36", to emphasize the ceiling height. This allows you to mix in a night stand to compliment the bed. I prefer nightstands that are wider than typical, 30" minimum. It gives you more surface area for a lamp and other items you may keep in your bed like a tablet, photos, etc. It also looks more sophisticated. If your night stands are also simple, a bedside lamp that is more interesting and sculptural works well. If you have space, add a bench or lounge chair to give you a place to sit, read, put on your shoes, or just for show. Nothing warms up a bedroom more than a plush, textured rug. It is soft on your feet, and gives the room texture and interest. The recommended direction for furniture mentioned above is also relevant when selecting furniture pieces for a mid-century home, however, the mix of furniture can become more difficult. Often mid-century homes have more wood than other design styles; wood floors, walls, cabinets, ceilings, and trim are common in the architecture. I prefer to use less wood pieces in the furniture, only allowing wood to be the accent, not the focus of the furniture. If you like wood furniture, I would then recommend mixing the wood finishes. I am a fan of mixing woods, although your mother may have told you never to mix more than two, you can mix up 4 types. The easiest way to do this is to mix a light, medium and dark wood together for contrast and then you can also mix in a stained wood like grey, black or other tones. If you want to keep it simple and have warmer wood tones in the architecture, mixing in grey stained woods or darker woods works well to not allow the wood tones to become overpowering, and it is more interesting. The sofa in a living room of a mid-century home should also be simple, however, can have more detailing. A button tufted back, biscuit tufting throughout, thinner arm, seat and back cushion, or even just a simple, thin, leg that is slightly taller than other sofas. These details are typical in mid-century design. Pairing the sofa with open armed chairs, a mix of a taller upholstered back with a shorter, slat back chair is a simple mix but very interesting. If you have room for a third chair, it can be the wild card. Deco, American Gothic and 70's Brazilian furniture compliments mid-century furniture well. If your living room has a lot of wood planes (walls, floor and/or ceiling), I recommend the coffee table is metal, glass, stone, resin, concrete, anything that is not wood. A hammered bronze table will compliment the warm tones, but add contrast and interest in the mix. Like modern design, the side and occasional tables should also be a mix. A darker or lighter stained wood than the wood in the architecture. A stone table will add warmth and compliment the wood as well. If it is a marble table, the veining will add visual interest. I love adding a flat weave rug in a mid-century home. They are very easy to find these days, vintage or new, and are available in many pattern types from geometric, herringbone, solid, or global inspired. Patterns influenced from India, Africa and Japan are great compliments to mid-century designs. I love mixing in lighting with a range of materials in mid-century homes. A lamp with a ceramic base and burlap shade, a floor lamp with an aged metal base and metal shade, an over scaled deco inspired table lamp, or sconces with an overall modern design with bubble glass. Accessories can be a mix of mid-century designs, modern designs, and earlier periods. I love a pottery collection on a table, some vintage books on a shelf, and geometric stone bookends. Anything to continue the layers of warmth in the space mixed with less warm materials like glass, cooler metals and lighter tones to finish it off. Modern and geometric art in subtle tones looks great in a mid-century home as well as vintage portrait paintings and black and white architectural photos. Similar to modern design, a simple table or one with a geometric sculptural base looks great in a mid-century home. Also a table with an elegantly curved pedestal base like the Saarinen Table and a marble top helps to tone down the overall warmth and add a mix of materials and pattern though the veining of the marble. Like the sofa in the mid-century living room, upholstery detailing is important for your dining chair; a channel tufted back, contrast welting, or a fully upholstered leather chair, like Bellini's Cab chair. Adding a modern tiered chandelier for a sculptural element or a simple drum shade if you already have a lot if visual interest in the room is a great way to provide lighting and design in your dining room. Be sure to check the scale of the fixture to make sure it is sized appropriately for both your table and the room. More often, you are safer going larger than smaller. A dining room with too small of a fixture looks cheap and odd. Often ceiling heights are lower than typical in mid-century bedrooms. Because of this, I prefer a lighter scaled bed with a shorter headboard. I love using upholstered beds, with a bit of detail such as contrast top stitching, channel or biscuit tufting, in mid-century homes again, to break up the wood and warmth. Depending on the size of the room, often bedrooms are smaller in these homes and require a smaller bedside table. I love to mix in metal or glass tables, often round or even a non-matching pair for interest. Swing arm sconces work well in a smaller space too, as well as larger spaces. These are handy for reading, as well as clearing the surface of the bedside table, which is necessary, especially if the tables are not large. If there is room, a nice lounge chair or bench helps add interest and possibly a sculptural element. If you want something more unique, a hanging chair is unexpected and relaxing. As mentioned before, I love flat weave rugs in mid-century homes. Most are made in wool and can be a bit itchy on the feet but now there are softer options out there, in cotton, mohair, or synthetic blends, that feel great when you first get out of bed. Keep the window coverings simple. Most often I will use floor to ceiling ripple fold drapery, for black out and beauty. Craftsman Homes are by far the most popular homes in the Pacific Northwest. This is where I see the most mistakes made in home design and furnishings. Like mid-century homes, there is often a lot of wood used throughout the home. Take this into consideration when selecting furniture and finishes. I prefer painted wood in craftsman homes, especially trim, doors and any wainscot/paneling. You can match the trim color to your walls for a modern twist or go the more classic route, paint the trim white or a contrasting neutral such as dark grey. Walls are often painted in yellow, red or other warm tones, but rarely looks right since often the wood used in these homes are very yellow in coloring. I tend to paint the walls and trim white, a neutral that has a green tint to compliment the warmth, or the always classic white. Wallcovering is also a great way to add subtle interest and texture to a craftsman home. Typically I stay away from most vinyl wallcovering, except in bathrooms, or paper wallcovering, occasionally used in powder rooms or bedrooms. I prefer to use natural woven wall coverings like grasscloth or linen, however, currently I use a lot of wool, herringbone, or velvet wall coverings for a more sophisticated element that still is causal. Many styles of sofas compliment a craftsman style home, but I typically like to refer to the sofas you would have seen in the homes when they were first built, pieces from approximately 1910s to the 1940s whether it is Craftsman/Mission, Art Deco, or 40s which is a simpler, more curvaceous often more feminine version of Art Deco. Chesterfield sofas are great if you want a cozier, masculine feel, often covered in leather or velvet. Another sofa style I like to use in these homes is a Frank Sofa. Although it is an Art Deco sofa, the simple style compliments the classic details in the architecture, and you can add interest by adding a contrast welt to the sofa. Chairs can often be a companion to the sofa, or more open and/or sculptural to add visual interest. The upholstery should be in contrast to the walls. Dark if you have light walls, light if you have dark walls. Typically I prefer the sofa to contrast and fill in with color or neutrals with the chairs. I love to mix in metal tables, especially aged brass or copper with patina. Anything that shows age, whether it is new or vintage. Utilizing unique pieces, re-purposed as tables also looks great in these homes, whether it is a trunk, wire spool, sculptural found object base with a glass top, there are many ways you can take this. For lighting, I recommend using more classic, period lighting, typical to original lighting in the home. Shops like Rejuvenation and School House Electric have great options for this type of design. Rugs can also go several directions. I typically use a flat weave with a geometric design, occasionally something more global or tribal. Typically I use simple roman shades for the window coverings, allowing a lot of the trim in the space to be more exposed. Modern art compliments craftsman architecture well and is less expected. If your furniture is a mix of styles, simple. geometric, even solid color canvases look great in a visually busier space. They help to calm down the room instead of being overstimulating. Also, if you feel the need to add an accent wall color, I suggest doing through the art, not a paint color. You can also have a lot of fun with the pieces in the dining room in a craftsman home. Since most dining tables are wood, I often will use a painted or stained wood table, something with little detail, carving in the wood or an unusual leg or pedestal base style. The dining chairs, often are simple, can be fully upholstered with a subtle detail such as nailheads along the perimeter, or an open back chair, allowing you to see more of the table. The fixture can remain a period piece to continue the consistency of the other fixtures throughout the home or make more of a statement. In the 30s and 40s, there were many sculptural glass chandeliers made, that compliment this design period and can make a bold statement. If there is room for a sideboard or a hutch, I tend to compliment the table but take these pieces more simple if the table has a lot of detail or use a piece with more interest if the table is simple. Reusing unusual pieces like an apothecary cabinet or a turn of the century shelving unit from a hardware store can add interest and a unique spin to the room. Craftsman bedrooms have a lot of opportunity to have fun and mix in some great styles. I love using a modern, simple four poster bed with an upholstered headboard for softness. Mix the bed with a pair of vintage chests, possibly with a painted design or contrast material on the drawer front. It could even be a campaign chest or a trunk, but make sure not to duplicate too much if you have these elements in adjacent rooms. Classic bedside lamps always look great next to a modern bed. They can be ceramic, glass or a metal, something different than the bed material which would most likely be wood or metal. A plush, almost fur like rug will add softness and give the space a more luxurious feel. I prefer these in white or a light neutral, to keep the space more casual, complimenting the architecture. Of course there are many other solutions not mentioned above as ways to compliment the architecture of your home. However, the guide above will help to keep you focused and organized as well as point you in a direction for the selection of your furniture, rugs, wall treatments/coverings, lighting, window coverings and art which can be overwhelming due to the plethora of options to consider these days. If this is still overwhelming, please refer to my previous blog post, 9 Reasons to Hire an Interior Designer, and have a professional help you. Not only will you benefit financially, your home will have a unique personal design, that fits not only the architecture of your home, but you and your family as well. Are you inspired now to find your new modern home, mid-century home or craftsman style home? The Warmack Group can help you find just the right place to make your own.

2019-04-21T03:07:55Z

https://www.warmackgroup.com/blog/How-To-Furnish-And-Accessorize-Your-Home-Based-On-Its-Architecture

The question is, quite often, broached by a lot of people about the Islamic legal view-point on celebrating the anniversary birthday (Mawlid) of the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), keeping vigil in the meantime, and extending peace greeting to him, etc., such as what is quite often done on the feasts (Mawalid). be upon him) as well as in observing his tradition. It is established as valid that the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: (If anyone introduces into this affair of ours anything which does not belong to it, it is rejected.) In another tradition he said: (You must observe my own precepts [Sunnah], and the precepts of the Rightly Guided True Caliphs after me. Let all of you abide by them, and cling stubbornly to them, and beware of novelties, since each novelty is a heresy, and each heresy is an error). Both traditions involve a strong admonition against bringing about and acting on the strength of heresies. Allah - glory be to Him - says in His Glorious Quran: (And so take what the Apostle assigns to you, and deny yourselves that which he withholds from you). He-glory be to Him-also says: (then let those beware who withstand the Apostle's order, lest some trial should befall them, or a grievous Penalty be inflicted on them). The Almighty - praise be to Him - also says: (Verily in the Apostle of Allah ye have a good example for him who looketh unto Allah and the Last Day, and remembereth Allah much). He says too: (The vanguard [of Islam] the first of those who forsook [their homes] and of those who gave them aid, and [also] those who follow them in [all] good deeds, - well- pleased is Allah with them, as are they with Him: for them hath He prepared Gardens under which rivers flow to dwell therein for ever: that is the supreme Felicity). Allah also says: (This day I have perfected your religion for you Islam as your religion). The verses to that effect are numerous. To bring about such birthday celebrations (Mawalid) purports that Allah-praise be to Him-has not yet completed the religion to this nation, and that the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did not announce what should be observed by the nation, till those later people came up, and introduced into the Religion of Allah what Allah has not sanctioned, on the pretence that this matter enables them to get close to the consent of Allah, despite the fact that it, sure enough, involves a serious menace, and an opposition to Allah-praise be to Him-as well as to His Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) at a time when the Almighty Allah-glory be to Him- had perfected the religion for His human beings, and completed His favour upon them. As also the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had fulfilled his plain true mission, and left no means leading to paradise, and keeping away from the Fire without being elucidated. It is established as valid in the authentic Hadith (traditions) that 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr -may Allah be pleased with both of them-passed on a report where in the Apostle of Allah-peace be unto him-said: (Never was a Prophet sent out by Allah without being assigned the task of guiding his people to the best of what he teaches them, and warning against the malice of what he teaches them)-Muslim transmitted it in his Sahih. Consider the fact that our Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is, no doubt, the most distinguished, and the Seal of the prophets; let alone the fact of his precedence with respect to information and guidance. If birthday celebrations (Mawalid) were considered religious, and sanctioned by Allah -praise be to Him-the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would have expounded the matter to the people, or done it himself in his lifetime; or his companions-may Allah be pleased with them- would have performed it themselves at least. Since celebrations such as these were never performed, it has become known that they have absolutely nothing to do with Islam. The matter of such celebrations is rather one of the evil innovations against which the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) admonished his people, as it was demonstrated in the aforesaid traditions. There are many other traditions to that effect, such as the saying of the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in the course of a Friday sermon: (and now to our topic: the best speech is that of the Qur'an, and the best guidance is that of Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and the most wicked matter is that of heretic innovations, and each heresy is an error). Imam Muslim transmitted it in his Sahih. Verses and traditions about this matter are a great many. A group of scholars has declared rejection of, and warning against such celebrations as these (Mawalid), in pursuance of the aforementioned evidences and their likes. Some later scholars, however, were at variance with the others, and approved of such celebrations, provided they are free from such reprehensible actions as being immoderate in their view about the characteristics of the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and the company of men and women, and using musical instruments, and such other things as rejected by the immaculate Revelation, and still they held them to be good innovations. The Islamic legal standard is to refer the case at issue among people to the Scripture (Quran) of Allah and the precepts (Sunnah) of His Apostle Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) Allah glory be to Him- also says: (O he who believe, obey Allah, and obey the Apostle, and those charged with authority among you. If ye differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to Allah and his Apostle, if ye do believe in Allah and the Last Day: That is best, and most suitable for final determination). The Almighty also says: (Whatever it be wherein ye differ, the decision thereof is with Allah). We have referred this matter, to wit, Mawalid celebrations, to the Scripture of Allah-glory be to Him- and found out that it enjoins on us the duty of obeying the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in what he brought forth, admonishes us against what he prohibited us from doing, and informs us that Allah-glory be to Him- has perfected the religion for this nation. Since this sort of celebration is not part of what the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did brought forth, it has nothing to do with the religion Allah perfected for us, and enjoined us therein to obey the Apostle. We have, too, referred the matter to the precepts (Sunnah) of the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and found therein that he never performed such a thing, nor enjoined on us to do it, and neither did his companions - may Allah be pleased with them. We have, thus, learned that such a matter has nothing whatsoever to do with religion, and that it is rather a kind of heretic innovations, and imitation of the people of the Scripture-Jews and Christians- in their festivals. Such being the case, it becomes quite clear for any person possessed of the least power of mental perception, the desire to know the truth as well as being fair in seeking it, that birthday celebrations (Mawalid) have nothing to do with Islam; yet they are rather some kinds of heretic innovations that Allah-glory be to Him- and His Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) enjoined us to abandon and to be cautious of. Any sensible person should not be dazzled by the great number of people doing such a thing in all countries, since truth is not to be recognized through the numerousness of doers, but it is recognized through the Islamic legal evidences, as the Almighty Allah says on Jews and Christians: (And they say: "None shall enter Paradise unless he be a Jew or Christian." ...Those are their [vain] desires. Say: "Produce your proof if ye are truthful). The Almighty also says: (Wert thou to follow the common run of those on earth, they would lead thee away from the Way of Allah). Furthermore, most of these (Mawalid) - heretic as they are- are not quite free from other reprehensible actions, such as the company of men and women, use of songs and musical performances, drinking alcoholic beverages and narcotics as well as other evils. Besides, there may occur what is more tremendous; that is, gross polytheism through exaggeration and exceeding the proper characteristics of the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) or those of others of holymen, as well as invoking him, appealing to him for aid, petitioning him, and believing that he is cognizant of the Unseen, and such other atheistic things as practiced by lots of people in the course of their celebrating the Mawlid of the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and of others of the so-called holymen. In the authentic hadith, the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: (Beware of exceeding the proper limits of religion; since people, earlier on, were perished with this matter). He (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said: (Do not lavish praise on me, as did the Christians with the Son of Miriam. Only I am a human being. Say the Servant and the Apostle of Allah). AI-Bukhari excerpt it in his Sahih from the account of 'Omar-may Allah be pleased with him. The remarkable and astonishing thing about the matter is that lots of people attend actively to these innovated celebrations and uphold them, while they fail to do what Allah made incumbent upon them such as attending Friday and congregational prayers. In spite of it, they pay no attention to them. Neither do they think they had committed a gross vile deed. This is due, beyond doubt, to weakness of faith and lack of discernment as well as to copiousness of various trespasses and sins reigning over the hearts. May Allah favour us and all Muslims with the grace of safety from these evils. Among other things, some of them think that the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) attends the mawlid. They, therefore, rise in honour of him with pin arms. This is a sort of patent falsehood and the vilest ignorance, as the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) shall not rise out of his grave before the Day of Judgment, neither does he contact any human beings nor does he attend their meetings. He is rather abiding in his grave until the Day of Judgment, with his soul quite settled with his Rub highly elevated in the Eternal Abode, as Allah-glory be to Him-says in the Quranic Chapter "AI-Mu'minoun": (After that, at length, ye will die. Again, on the Day of Judgment, will ye be raised up). The Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: (I am the first, whose grave will split on the Day of Judgment, and then I shall be the first intercessor, and the first to be granted the right of interceding). May Allah grant us, along with all Muslims, success in comprehending his religion and maintenance of it. May He, too, favour us all with sticking fast to the Sunnah and caution against the heresy. Allah is All-kind and Magnanimous, and may peace and blessing of Allah be unto our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his companions. ANNIVERSARY NIGHT OF ISRA' AND MI'RAJ. The event of Isra' and Mi'raj is, beyond doubt, one of the great prodigies of Allah denoting the truthfulness of His Apostle Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and the lofty position which Allah-glory be to Him- gas granted him. It is, as well, an evidence of the surpassing Omnipotence of the Almighty and His Exaltedness-glory be to Him-above all His human beings. The Almighty Allah says: (Glory be to [Allah] who did take His Servant for a Journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, whose precincts we did bless, -in order that we might show him some of Our Signs: for He is the one who heareth and seeth [all things].) It has been transmitted in uninterrupted succession that the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was ascended into the Heavens, the gates whereof were opened for him, until he passed through the seventh firmament when his Rub addressed him of what he willed, and enjoined upon him the five prescribed prayers. The Almighty Allah had previously prescribed them at first as fifty prayers, but our Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) continued to demand easing, till the Almighty made them only five prayers. As duties they are only five, yet they are still fifty as far as recompense is concerned, since a good deed is worth the tenfold of it. Praise be to Allah for all His favours. The night wherein the event of Isra' and Mi'raj occurred had not been particularized in the authentic Hadith. All that was in this concern, according to the scholars of Hadith, has not been asserted as valid by the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Such is the extensive judiciousness of the Almighty Allah that He made people forget it. Even if its particularization had been asserted, Muslims should have not favoured it with any devotional services whatsoever. They are not permitted to celebrate its anniversary, since the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and his companions -May Allah be pleased with them- never did it. Neither did they favour it with certain acts of devotion. Should such celebration of the Night be a licit matter, the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), would have expounded it to the nation, either by word or by deed. And if such a thing had occurred, it would have been known and become common, and the companions-may Allah be pleased with them- would have transmitted it to us. They, in fact, passed on from their Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), everything Muslims are in need of. Never were they remiss with regard to religion, nay, they were out strippers to every good. Should celebration of this anniversary Night were licit, they would have been the first to do it. The Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), is most sincere in guiding people. He most truly fulfilled his mission, and performed his noble duty. If the glorification and celebration of that Night had something to do with Islam, the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), would have never neglected it. Neither would he have concealed it. And since nothing of such a matter have ever occurred, it has become known that glorification and celebration of that Night has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with Islam, because the Almighty Allah has perfected for this nation its religion, completed His favour upon it, and rebuked the innovators who introduce in religion that which Allah had not allowed. The Almighty-glory be to Him- says in the Quranic Chapter Al-Ma'ida: (This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed my favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion). [5:3]. Allah -may He be exalted- also says in Chapter ALShura: (What! Have they partners [godhead], who have established for them some religion without the permission of Allah? Had it not been for the Decree of Judgment, the matter would have been decided between them [at once]. But verily the wrongdoers will have a grievous Penalty). Warning against heresies, and declaring that they are errors by way of reminding the nation of their gruesome peril, and estranging people from committing them, have been established as valid in the authentic Hadith of the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). It has been asserted as valid, among other traditions, in both Sahih Muslim and Sahih Al-Bukhari, on the authority of A'isha -may Allah be pleased with her- that the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), said: (If anyone introduces into this affair of ours anything which does not belong to it, it is rejected). In another version by Muslim, the Prophet said: (Whoever performs a deed inconsistent with our principles, it will be rejected). Muslim transmitted in his Sahih, on the authority of Jabir-may Allah be pleased with him- that the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), was always used to saying in his speech on Fridays: (and now to our topic; the best speech is that of the Quran, and the best guidance is that of Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and the most wicked matter is that of heretic innovations and each heresy is an error). It is reported in the Sunan (precepts) on the authority of AI-'irbad ibn Sariah-may Allah be pleased with him-who said: the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) gave us an eloquent exhortation that scared the hearts, and shed tears from the eyes. We said: O Apostle of Allah, it looks as if it were a farewell exhortation. Admonish us. Hethen said: "I enjoin you to fear Allah, and to hear and obey your commander even if he were a slave; for those of you who live after me will see great disagreement. You must therefore follow my Sunnah and that of the rightly guided Caliphs. Hold to it, and stick fast to it. Avoid novelties; for every novelty is an innovation, and every innovation is an error). The traditions to that effect are numerous. Caution and intimidation against heresies have been established as a matter of fact, on the authority of the companions of the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and the pious ancestors thereafter. Such was the case only for its being an unnecessary addition to religion, a prescription of something novel without the permission of Allah, and an imitation of the adversaries of Allah, as did the Jews and the Christians with regard to making additions to their religion, and inventing what was beyond the permission of Allah, since that act of theirs was attended by their being prejudicial to Islamic religion, and accusing it of lack of perfection. This matter is quite known to be rife with a great deal of gross corruption, ignominious file actions, contradiction with the saying of the Almighty Allah: (This day I have perfected your religion for you....), and an obvious contrast to the traditions of the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), that caution against, and estrange from heresies. I hope that the aforementioned evidences are quite enough for the truth seeker to reject this heresy, namely, that of celebrating the anniversary Night of 'Isra' and Mi'raj, and to caution against it, considering that it has absolutely nothing to do with Islam. In view of the fact that Allah has enjoined the duty to give Muslims sincere advice, to elucidate the divine prescription for them, and to proscribe concealing of knowledge to them, I decided to call the attention of my Muslim brethren to this heresy which became so rife in a lot of countries that some people deemed it pertaining to religion. We ask Almighty Allah for the betterment of all Muslims, to grant them success in comprehending the religion, and to give us, along with them, success to abide by truth, maintain it, and relinquish what is incompatible with it. He -glory be to Him- is the omnipotent Lord of it. May peace and blessings of Allah be unto His Servant and Apostle, our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his companions. THE ISLAMIC LEGAL VIEWPOINT ON CELEBRATING THE ANNIVERSARY OF MID-SHA'BAN NIGHT. The Almighty Allah says: (This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed my favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion). [V:3]. Allah also says: (what! Have they partners [in godhead], who have established for them some religion without the permission of Allah)[XLII:21]. It is established as valid in both Sahih Muslim and Sahih AI-Bukhari, on the authority of A'isha -may Allah be pleased with her- that the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), said: (If anyone introduces into this affair of ours anything which does not belong to it, it is rejected). In another version by Muslim, the Prophet said: (Whoever performs a deed inconsistent with our principles, it will be rejected). Muslim transmitted in his Sahih, on the authority of Jabir-may Allah be pleased with him- that the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), was always used to saying in his speech on Fridays: (and now to our topic; the best speech is that of the Quran, and the best guidance is that of Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and the most wicked matter is that of heretic innovations and each heresy is an error). The verses and traditions to that effect are numerous. They distinctly prove that Allah-glory be to Him- has perfected for this nation its religion, and completed his favour upon it. The Almighty Allah ha not taken His Prophet unto Him except after he had fulfilled his plain mission, and expounded to the nation all the words and deeds such as were prescribed by Allah. He (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), had made it clear that all what people after him innovate, either by words or by deeds, and attribute to Islam, shall be considered a rejected heresy, even if it is done with good intention. The companions of the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), were acquainted with such a matter, and so were the scholars of Islam afterwards, in such a manner that they rejected and admonished against heresies, as was the case with all who compiled books on glorification of Sunnah and rejection of heresies, such as ibn Waddah, AI-Tartushi, Abu Shamah, and other. Among the heresies brought about by some people is that of celebrating the anniversary of mid-Sha'ban Night, and favouring its daytime with fasting. There are no reliable evidences of such a matter. It is true that there have been transmitted some traditions (Ahadith) on the merit of the Night, but they are too vulnerable to rely upon. As to what has been said concerning the merit of performing prayers in that Night it is entirely spurious, as is the opinion of so many learned men. A portion of such opinion is going to be mentioned later on, Allah willing. There are also traditions that have been transmitted on the authority of some ancestors of Syria and others, with regard to the merit of the Night. The majority of the well-known authorities are or the opinion that it is heretic to celebrate it, that all the traditions pertaining to its merit are vulnerable, and that some of them are spurious. Among those who admonished against the matter is AI-Hafiz Ibn Rajab in his book "Lata'if El-ma'aref" (Nice Lore) and in other books. The vulnerable traditions are only valid on the religious observances the basis whereof has been established by true evidences, whereas celebrating the anniversary of mid-Sha'ban Night, on the other hand, is too lacking for true basis to heed the vulnerable traditions. This significant rule was stated by AI-Imam Abul Abbas Shaikhul-Islam ibn Taymia-may Allah have mercy upon him. I am going, O my reader, to cite what has been said on this issue by some learned men, in order that you may be fully aware of it. The consensus of the scholars-may Allah have mercy upon them- is that we must refer such an issue as we differ in to the Scripture of Allah-glory be to him- and to the precepts (Sunnah) of the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). It is the opinion expressed by both or by one of them that constitutes the Divine Law that ought to be followed, whereas we, on the other hand, should reject what goes contrary to them. Any acts of devotion such as were not mentioned by the Quran and the Sunnah are to be considered heresies that should not be pursued, to say nothing of preaching and approving of them. One of them is that it is desirable to commemorate the Night congregational in mosques. It was the habit of Khalid Ibn Ma'dan, Luqman Ibn 'Amer, and others on the occasion to be richly clad, to be perfumed with incense, to colour the edges of their eyelids with Kohl, and to keep vigil during their Night. Ishaq Ibn Rahawaih agreed with them on the matter, saying that it was not heretic to keep a congregational vigil during the Night. The other opinion purports that it is reprehensible to congregate during the Night in the mosques for prayers, narratives, and invocations, despite the fact that it is not detested that one may perform one's prayers individually. The opinion is based on the authority of AI-Awza'iy; imam, jurisprudent, and scholar of the Syrian people, and it comes fairly close to the truth, Allah willing, until he said: (We have known no words of Imam Ahmad on the mid-Sha'ban Night. As for the desirability of keeping vigil during the Night there are, on his authority, two accounts emanating from another two accounts of his, on keeping vigil in both feast Nights. In one account he find it undesirable to keep congregational vigil in both feast Nights, as it has never been transmitted that either the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), or his companions did so, while he in the other account, finds it desirable to keep vigil, since one of the followers, namely, Abdul Rahman ibn yazid Ibn AI-Aswad kept such a vigil. Such being the case with the feast Nights, it is likewise the same case as to the mid-Sha'ban Night, in view of the fact that such an act has not been established as valid, either on the part of the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), or on that of his companions-may Allah be pleased with them-at the same time when it has been established on the part of a group of followers of the eminent Syrian jurisprudence). Here is the conclusion of the purport of what was said by AI-Hafiz Ibn Rajab-may Allah have mercy upon him. The statement purports a declaration of his, that it has been established as valid that either the Prophet peace be unto him- nor his companions -may Allah be pleased with them-did such a thing in the mid-Sha'ban Night. As to what AI-Awza'iy-may Allah have mercy upon him-maintained on the desirability of keeping vigil individually during that Night, and as to this opinion being quoted by AI-Hafiz Ibn Rajab it is an odd and vulnerable saying, since whatever matter the legitimacy whereof was not established through religious legal evidences, a Muslim is not allowed to introduce into the religion of Allah, no matter whether he did it individually or congregationally, and whether he did it secretly or openly, due to the general saying of the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), (Whoever performs a deed inconsistent with our principles, hid deed will be rejected) and the like of evidences demonstrating rejection of and cautioning against heresies. The Imam Abu Bakr AI-Tartushi-may Allah have mercy upon him-said in his book "AI-Hawadeth Wal-Bida"' [Events and Heresies]: (Ibn Waddah, based on Zaid ibn Aslam, said : "We have never come up with anyone of our sheikhs or jurisprudents who made a special meritorious consideration to the mid-Sha'ban Night, or even took into account the saying of Makhoul"). Ibn Abi Mulaikah was told that ziad AINumairi had said the recompense for the mid-Sha'ban Night is as much as that of the Night of Power (Qadr), but Ibn Mulaikah commented: should I have heard him and had a stick in my hand I would have beaten him. Ziad was a storyteller. The scholar AIShawkany-may Allah have mercy upon him-in his work "AI-Fawa'id AI-Majmou'ah" (Collected Benefits) said verbatim: (a tradition: O Aly! Whoever performs a hundred-raka'at prayer in the mid-Sha'ban Night, and reads in each rak'ah the opening Chapter of the Quran and the Chapter of AlIkhlas ten times, Allah shall provide for all his needs ...etc). It is a spurious tradition, and such is its declared version with the credit its doer gets, that no sensible man can doubt its spuriousness, especially that its informants are unknown. It has been transmitted in a second and third version the purport whereof is entirely fictitious, let alone the unknown nature of its transmitters. AI-Shawkany said too in his work "AI-Mukhtasar' (The Synopsis): (The tradition on the mid-Sha'ban prayers is untrue. According to Ibn Hibban out of the speech of 'Ali, "Let yourself keep vigil in the mid-Sha'ban Night, and let yourself keep fasting on its daytime"). This is a vulnerable saying: He also said in his work "AI-La'ali" (The pearls): (A hundred rak'at in the mid-Sha'ban Night, with reading Ikhlas Chapter ten times a rak'ah, and so forth. This tradition, narrated by AI-Dailamy and others, is spurious. Furthermore, most of its transmitters in the three versions are anonymous as well as feeble). He also said: the tradition of performing twelve rak'at with reading Ikhlas Chapter thirty times a rak'ah is spurious as also the tradition of performing fourteen rak'at. Such was the so-called tradition that it beguiled a group of jurisprudence as the author of "AI 'Ihia"' (Revival of Religious Sciences) and others, as well as so many exegetists. The prayers of the Night that is the mid-Sha'ban Night have been reported in various respects, all of which are untrue and fictitious. This is not contrary to the account of Tirmizy, on the authority of `A'isha'a report, on the visit of the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), to Baqi'graveyard, and the descending of the Lord to our world's heavens in the mid-Sha'ban Night, adding that the Almighty Allah grants His pardon to as many people as the number of hairs on the sheep of kalb Tribe. It is the invented prayers in that Night which is the topic of the narrative. However, the account reported by `A'isha is discredited by weakness and interruption. Likewise, the tradition of 'Aly as already mentioned on keeping vigil at the Night, vulnerable as it is, as we have already said, does not contradict the fact that these prayers are fictitious. AI-Hafiz A]-"Iraqi said the tradition on the mid-Sha'ban prayers is trumped up against the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), quite as it is a lie fabricated against him. AI-Imam AI-Nawawy, in his work "AI-Majmou"', said: (Prayers known as the desiderata prayer, consisting of twelve rak'at to be performed at a time between Maghreb prayer and 'Isha' prayer, at the night of the first Friday of Rajab, as well as performing a hundred-rak'at prayer in the mid-Sha'ban Night, both of them are objectionable heresies. One has not to be duped by their being mentioned in the work of Qout EIQuloub as well as in "'Ihia' Uloum Eddine" (Revival of the Religious Sciences). Nor should one be fooled with the tradition therein, since the matter is, in its entirety, groundless. Nor, too, should one be deceived by imams to whom the matter appeared doubtful, and then accordingly they compiled some papers on their desirability, namely, of both the desiderata and the mid-Sha'ban Night prayer, since they are only blunderers in that respect. AI-Shaikh AI-Imam Abu Muhammad Abdul Rahman Ibn Isma'il AI-Maqdisi compiled a valuable work invalidating both prayers, wherein he did such a good thing as to be commendable. So much is the talk of learned men on the question that we cannot cite. Should we have cited all that we have come to know of their talk our discussion would have been too long. Perhaps the truth-seeker may content himself with that we have mentioned. In consideration of the afore-cited verses and traditions as well as the discussions of the learned men, it becomes clear for the truth-seeker that celebrating the mid-Sha'ban Night by performing prayers or such like, and by favouring its daytime with fasting is a reprehensible heresy according to most scholars, since it is of no origin whatsoever in the immaculate Religion, nay, it belongs to what was introduced into Islam after the era of companions-may Allah pleased with them. It will be enough to convince the truth-seeker about this matter and the like, if he acquaints himself with what the Almighty Allah says: (This day I have perfected for you your religion), and other verses to the same effect, as well as the tradition of the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), purporting that (If anyone introduces into this affair of ours anything which does not belong to it, It is rejected) and the like of traditions. In Sahih Muslim, on the strength of Abi Hurairah's account, the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), said: (Let not yourself favour the Friday night and no other night with keeping vigil, nor do you favour its daytime and no other days with fasting, except that you are in the course of a prescribed fasting). If it was permissible to favour some nights with some acts of devotion, the Friday night would have been worthier than any other night; since its day is the best day the sun has shone on, according to the authentic Hadith of the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). In as much as the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), admonished against favouring it and no other night with keeping vigil, it has become a proof of the inadmissibility of the other nights, with all the more reason, being favoured with some acts of devotion, except on the strength of a true evidence demonstrating such favour. Since it is licit to keep vigil, and to put oneself out in the Night of Qadr as well as in the Ramadan nights, the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), called the attention thereto, and urged people to keep vigil during them by so doing it himself, as it was reported in both Sahih Muslim and Sahih Bukhari that the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), said: (Whoever keeps vigil in Ramadan out of faith, and seeking the reward of Allah, Allah shall forgive him his earlier sins, and whoever keeps vigil in the Night of Rajab or the Night of isra' and Mi'raj with celebration or some acts of devotion, the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), would have guided people thereto, or would have done it himself. Should such a matter have occurred, it would have been transmitted to people by the companions-may Allah be pleased with them. Neither would they have concealed it from people, considering the fact that they are the second-best advisers to people after the prophets-(Peace and blessings of Allah be upon them), and may Allah be pleased with the companions of His Apostle. You have thus previously known, on the strength of neither the Apostle of Allah nor his companions, that they made a merit of the first Friday Night of Rajab, nor of the mid-Sha'ban Night. It has been learned, thereupon, that to celebrate both nights is a heresy that was introduced into Islam. To favour them with some acts of devotion is equally considered a reprehensible heresy, and so is the night of the 27th of Rajab, which is held by some people to be the night of Isra' and Mi'raj. It is not permissible accordingly either to celebrate or to favour it with any devotional services, due to the foregoing evidences. Such would be the judgment if its date was determined. Why shouldn't it be so since the authentic statements of the scholars purport that such a date is unknown. As to the report of whomsoever that it is the night of the 27th of Rajab, it is a false account with no origin whatsoever in the authentic Ahadith (Traditions). May Allah grant us, along with all Muslims, success in maintenance of and abiding by the Sunnah as well as caution against its transgressors. Allah is All-kind and magnanimous. May peace and blessings of Allah be unto His Servant and Apostle, our Prophet Muhammad, as unto all his family and companions. From Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz to every Muslim who happens to be acquainted with this statement may all Muslims be protected by Allah with Islam-and may He guard us as well all Muslims against the evil of the lies fabricated by the ignorant rabble-rousers, Amen. I have known of a few words reportedly written by a Sheikh Ahmad, attendant of the Sacred Shrine of the Prophet ENTITLED (This is an admonition from Al-Madina AI-Munawara, by Sheikh Ahmad attendant of the Sacred Shrine of the Prophet.) In these words he says: "I was sitting up late at a Friday night, reciting the Glorious Quran. Having finished reciting the Holy Attributes of Allah, I was prepared for going to bed, when I saw Sayyedina Muhammad the Apostle of Allah-with his radiant countenance, (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who brought to us the Quranic verses and the holy orders of the Shari'a as mercy to the universe, He said: "O sheikh Ahmad" I replied, "Here I am -Labbaik-O messenger of Allah, O noblest creature of Allah." He said to me, "I am so ashamed of the vile deeds of people that I could meet neither my Lord nor the Angels, since from Friday to Friday, a hundred and sixty thousand people died without faith in Islam. Then the Prophet reportedly mentioned some of the sins committed by people, adding that this admonition is mercy bestowed upon them by the Almighty. The Prophet then reportedly alluded to some portents of the Day of Judgement till he said, "Tell them this admonition, O Sheikh Ahmad, since it is transmitted by the Pen of the Almighty from the Guarded Tablet. He who writes and communicates it from country to country and from place to place shall have a palace builtfor him in the Heaven, but in case he does not do such an act he is to be deprived of my intercession on the Day of Judgement. And whoever writes it, Allah shall enrich him if he is poor, settle his debts if he is indebted, or pardon him and his parents if sinful; thanks to the blessings of this admonition. He who does not write it, his face shall blacken both in this world and in the Hereafter. Sheikh Ahmad then swore thrice by the name of Extolled Allah that he says the truth, and that if he was a liar, he would die as an infidel. He concluded that whosoever believes it, shall be delivered from the torment of the Fire, and who denies it shall become an atheist). (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), as he was prepared for going to bed, and not while actually sleeping. That is to say, the vision of the Prophet appeared to him while being in a state of wakefulness. The liar claimed in this admonition a lot of things, which are among the most lucid lies, and the most obvious falsehoods, against which I am going soon to caution you, Allah willing. I have been warning against them, during the last years, and have explained to the people that these things are the most vivid lying, and the most distinct untruth. Having been informed with this recent handbill, I was reluctant to write anything about it, for its clear untruthfulness as well as for the great deal of boldness on the part of its fabricator in the field of lying. I could not conceive that its falsehood could fool anyone possessing the least power of mental perception or sound disposition. Yet several brethren informed me that it fooled many people among whom it was rife, and some of them gave it their credence. On this account, I saw that it was the duty of persons such as myself to write about it, so as to throw light upon its falsehood, as well as to demonstrate that it was invented against the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), so that no one may be deceived by it, and whoever considers it of those cognizants and faithful, or those possessed of sound disposition and sound mind, should come to know that it is nothing but pure lying and falsehood in many respects. I have inquired of some relatives of Sheikh Ahmad about this lie of admonition ascribed to him. They replied that it is invented against Sheikh Ahmad, adding that he by no means, said it, and that the so-called Sheikh Ahmad had died quite long ago. Supposing that the so-called Sheikh Ahmad or anyone of even much higher standing than he, had in fact claimed that the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), appeared to him in a vision during sleep or wakefulness, and assigned to him this admonition, we would be convinced that he is a liar, or that it was the Devil rather than the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), that told him so in many respects. Among other things, the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), after his death, never appears in a vision to a wakeful person. He, of the ignorant Sufis, who claims that he sees, while being vigilant, the vision of the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), or that the vision attends the (Mawlids) or the like, would have been guilty of the foulest error, and have been exceedingly obscured. He would also have made a big mistake, and have gone against the Quran, the Sunnah, and the consensus of scholars; due to the fact that the dead never rise out of their graves in this world save on the Day of Judgment; as has been mentioned by Allah in connection with the attributes of believers: (And then at length you will certainly die: and again on the Day of Judgment you will be raised up) [XXII: 15-16]. Thus Allah had informed us that the resurrection of the dead would take place on the Day of Judgment, and not in this world. Whosoever holds an opinion contrary to this is either an obvious liar or an obscured blunderer, who has failed to perceive the truth recognized by our pious ancestors, and pursued favourably by the companions and followers of the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). As for the second aspect, the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), never said untruth, either during his lifetime or thereafter. This admonition goes openly counter to his Shari'ah in many respects such as follows. The Prophet -peace unto him-might be seen during sleep, and he to whom he appears in his holy figure during slumber has actually seen him, since the Devil never finds visual expression in the shape of the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), as has been stated in the authentic holy prophetic traditions. The whole consequence, however, depends upon the faith of the visioner, his truthfulness, honourable record, correctness, creed, trustworthiness, and whether he saw the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), in his own countenance, or not. If it even happened that a tradition was imputed to the Prophet -peace unto him- as being said by him during his lifetime, and it came down to us not through the equitable and reliable sources of good reputation, it would not be an authoritative and reliable tradition. Supposing that the tradition was transmitted through the reliable equitable sources of good reputation, yet it happened to be in conflict with another tradition which was passed on by a better and more reliable memoriser, and the difference was too enormous to reconcile both traditions, one of them must be abrogated and ineffective, and the other is abrogative and valid wherever possible and in conformity with its conditions. Should this be impossible, and both traditions could not be reconciled, the one passed on by the less memorizing and less equitable source must be discarded and considered anomalous as well as invalid. Just imagine how much less is an admonition whose transmitter who reported it from the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), is anonymous, not to mention the fact that his impartiality and trustworthiness is unknown. Such being the case, it deserves to be rejected without consideration, ever though it is devoid of anything incompatible with the Revelation. And how much less, if the admonition contains many points demonstrating that it is invalid and trumped up against the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and comprising the start of a new creed unheralded by the Almighty Allah. The Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), said: "He who imputes to me something, which I have not said, let him settle down in the Fire." The man who invented this lie against the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), said what the Prophet did not say, and invented against him an open and grave lie. How proper for him this severe threat is, and how more deserving of it he is, unless he hastens to turn to Allah in repentance, and announces publicly that he had fabricated this admonition against the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), since whoever publicizes untruth imputing it to religion, his repentance is not true unless it is announced publicly and made clear, so that people might know that he retracted his lie and refuted himself. Allah-glory be to Him- says: (Verily, those who conceal the clear Signs and the Guidance which we have sent down, after we have made it clear for the people in the Book, they are the ones cursed by Allah and cursed by the cursers. Except those who repent and make amends and openly declare [the Truth, which they concealed]. These it is whom I will accept their repentance. And I am the One Who accepts repentance, the most Merciful). In this holy verse, Allah-praise and glory be to Him- made it clear that he who conceals any part of the Truth his repentance of this shall not be right, save after correction and exposition. Allah -praise and glory be to Him - has perfected the true religion for his human beings, and brought about for them His grace by sending us His Apostle Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), as well as the perfect Revelation He sent down with him. Allah made him die only after consummation and demonstration; as Allah glory be to Him- says: (This day I have perfected your religion for you and completed My favour unto you, and have chosen for you as religion AI-Islam). The calumnious inventor of this admonition has come in the fourteenth century, with his desire to start a new creed for the people, with the result that whoever adopts this creed shall be admitted to Paradise, while he who does not shall be deprived of it and settle down in the Fire. He wants to assign this invented admonition a position even greater and higher than the Quran; since he claims that he who writes and communicates it from country to another country, or from place to another place shall have a palace built for him in Heaven, and whoever does not, shall be deprived of the intercession of the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), on the Day of Judgment. Verily, it is of the vilest lying, and of the most obvious indications that this admonition is invented, and its author is impudent and bold in lying, since he who writes the Glorious Quran, and communicates it from country to another country or from place to another place, shall not have this favour, unless he acts on the strength of the Glorious Quran. Then how does the writer of this lie and its communicator from country to another country enjoy this favour, while on the other hand, he who does not write the Quran, nor communicates it from country to another country shall not be deprived of the intercession of the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), as long as he has faith in him, and adheres to his Religion. Suffice it to mention this only piece of calumny in this admonition to prove its untruthfulness, the deceit of its propagator as well as his impudence, stupidity, and ignorance of the guidance brought about by the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). This admonition comprises, aside from what has been already mentioned, several other points, all of which demonstrate its untruthfulness and falsehood. And even if its inventor had sworn, a thousand times or more, that it is true, although he had invoked the greatest torment and exemplary punishment upon himself that he is truthful, he was not so, and neither was the admonition. Rather it is, by Allah (twice), of the most abominable lying and the vilest falsehood. We ask Allah -praise and glory be to Him- and make the angels attending to us as well as him who knew of this writing to be witnesses that this admonition is false and fabricated against the Apostle of Allah-peace be unto him. Such a testimony with which we shall meet out Lord-glory be to Him- and may Allah disgrace him who wrote it, and treat him with what he deserves. The falsehood and untruthfulness of the admonition is demonstrated by many points other than the aforementioned. First of these points is the liar's statement (since from Friday to Friday a hundred and sixty thousand people died Without faith in Islam), because this is a pretence to know unseen matters. As to the Apostle (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), the Revelation ceased to be sent down upon him after his death. Considering the fact that the Apostle during his lifetime was not to know the divine secrets, how then is he to know them after his death; because Allah-glory be to Him-says: (Say: "I tell you not that with me are the Treasures of Allah, nor do I know what is hidden"), and says: (Say: None in the Heavens or on earth, except Allah knows what is hidden). In the authentic Hadith, it is reported that the Prophet-peace be unto him- said : (On the Day of Judgment, I assume the defense of some men by saying : "O Lord, (but they are) my companions, my companions". Then I will be told, "Verily, you do not know what heresy they brought about after your death." Then I will say as the virtuous man said "And I was a witness over them whilst I dwelt amongst them; when Thou didn't take me up Thou wast the Watcher over them, and Thou art a witness to all things). Secondly: among the points indicating its falsehood and untruthfulness is the author's contention that: (He who writes it, Allah shall enrich him if he is poor, settle hid debts if indebted, or pardon him as well as his parents if sinful; thanks to the blessings of this admonition) etc. Surely, this is of the foulest lying, and of the most manifest proofs, that the inventor of this admonition is a liar and impudent towards Allah and Him human beings; since these three matters do not come about by merely copying the Glorious Quran. Then how do they occur to him who copies this untruthful admonition? Rather, this wicked liar wants to dupe people, and to set their hopes on this admonition, so that they may write it, become attached to this so-called favour, and abandon the reasons that Allah prescribed to mankind, and made them the proper means of richness, discharged of debt, and pardon of sins. May Allah keep us away from the reasons of disappointment, and submissiveness to the Devil, and to evil inclinations. deceit of its author. How can a man sane in mind, deem it permissible that he who does not write this admonition brought about by an anonymous man in the fourteenth century (of Higrah) who trumped it up against Allah's Apostle-peace be unto him- and who claims that he who does not write it, his face shall blacken both in this world and in the Hereafter, and that he who writes it shall be rich after poverty, free from debts after being lost in them, and shall have his sins forgiven. Praise be to Allah, what a big lie! Both evidence and reality confirm the deceit of this liar, his gruesome boldness against Allah, and his shamelessness in front of Allah and people. There were too many people who did not write it, yet their faces did not blacken, and here is a large crowd of people, innumerable save by Allah, who wrote it a lot of times, but their debt was not settled and their poverty did not come to an end. May Allah guard us against the deviation of hearts as well as the prevalence of sins. These are attributes and requitals which the holy Revelation did not bring about for him who does not copy the greatest and most meritorious book, namely, the Glorious Quran. How, then, does it occur to him who copies a falsified admonition comprising a variety of untruths as well as several kinds of infidelity. Glory be to Allah, how Clement He has been, towards the man who was daring with Him to lie. Fourthly: Among the points demonstrating that this admonition being of the most untruthful falsehoods and the most vivid lying is the statement, (Whoever gives credence to it, shall be delivered from the torment of the Fire, and whoever denies it, shall be an atheist). This, too, is of the most terrible boldness in deceit, and the most foul untruth. The liar calls upon all people to believe in his lie, claiming that thus they shall be saved from the torment of the Fire, and that whoever denies it shall be an atheist. What a prodigious terrible lie this liar has told against Allah. He, by Allah, said nothing but untruth. And it is rather he who believes it that deserves to be an atheist, than he who denies it; since it is a lie, untruth and completely unfounded falsehood. We ask Exalted Allah to be a witness for its untruthfulness as well as its falsifier's deceit; since he is willing to prescribe to the people what is not authorized by Allah, and to introduce into their religion what is alien to it, despite the fact that Allah had perfected and completed the religion for this nation, about fourteen centuries before this calumny was fabricated. Light and render His religion victorious, even though the devils and their followers of the unbelievers and atheists (enemies of Allah) may detest it. As to the emergence of various evils mentioned by the slanderer, that indeed is a matter of fact against which the Glorious Quran and the Immaculate Sunnah, both of them being full of divine guidance and sufficiency, had extremely warned. We ask Allah for the betterment of Muslims, and to bless them with the favour of observance of truth, of rightness and of turning to Allah-praise be to Him- in repentance of all sins, as He is most Merciful and omnipotent. As for what was mentioned, however, about the portents of the Day of Judgment, the traditions of the Prophet have illustrated what shall be of those portents. The Glorious Quran, too, has indicated some of them. He who wants to know that, shall find it in its proper place in the works of scholars possessed of sound knowledge and true faith. People are in no need for an explanation from such a liar, who mixes up truth with falsehood. Allah is quite sufficient for us, and what a perfect trustee He is. There is no power and no strength save that of Allah, the all-Exalted and the all-Great. Praise be to Him, Lord of the worlds, and peace be unto His devout servant and Apostle, truthful and honest as well as unto his family, companions, and those following him with good faith, until the Day of Judgment.

2019-04-22T12:30:01Z

http://www.islambasics.com/book/5196

It must be obvious by now that I’ve completely dropped the ball on my “Week in Review” posts. Not that I don’t want to keep up with them, just that I have an intention vs. initiation ratio imbalance. That’s fancy talk for “lazy”. I’ve got a few photos in the camera and a couple of updates to write. Nothing earth shattering. Right now I’m thinking about some of my dear friends who are not having happy times. I wish I could fix all of your problems and make the world give you only that which is wonderful. Instead, I will pass along some smiles, compliments of Mother Nature. The Poblanos have been producing some fine specimens. If this one doesn’t make you laugh, then your mind is not sufficiently in the gutter. I know it’s not much help, but it’s the best I can do on short notice. Remember, you deserve the best and nothing less. Week in Review – Ready, Set, Grow! I’ll warn you in advance, this post is long. But if you hang in there you will find a veggie creature that gave me a chuckle. I think it’s worth the read. I don’t know how I’d ever keep up with this if anything really happened. Every time I step outside I want to take more pictures, then I have another post on my hands. Now that I have some readers (thanks to all of you), I feel the push to keep it going. Special thanks this week goes to my dear old friend, Dori. Your comments tell me that you are just the same thoughtful, encouraging, beautiful person who took me under her wing that first day of school in a new and frightening place. Thanks for still being there! I’m ready for a change from the garden doom and gloom and happy to say that I have some verdant hope to offer. Most of the past two weeks has been spent problem solving. AJ is working like a full-time mechanic to keep us on the road with our “pre-owned” vehicles. Personally, we prefer to think of them as “future classics”. We like the older cars because…no car payment; also because they are more durable and easier for him to work on. When he takes a break from fixing and maintaining, he isn’t happy unless they are also clean. I know it sounds obsessive, but it’s essential to keep us rolling. Yesterday was “Atomic Grow™ Sunday”. This is the first season that I’ve had a substantial garden. I could have taken a class or read some books and done it right from the start; but that is too easy and I would certainly have lost interest. I’m more of the “test the water by jumping in” type person, so I just planted anything and everything I could squeeze into the small space, with little regard to planting or growing season guidelines. As I am learning, summer in Central Florida is a challenging time for gardeners. Most of what I am trying to grow is supposed to be done or winding down. Heat, and insects become overwhelming for most gardeners this time of year. Well, as long as a green leaf survives, I’m not giving up on these plants. It sounds kind of crazy to say it, but I feel as though I know them personally. Yes, I even talk to them! I know the feel and texture of each plant. I think that if you blindfolded me and handed me a cutting, I could identify most of them by touch. I know where to look for the most troublesome pests, and spend a good deal of time exposing and eradicating them. I imagine that I can hear a soft whisper of “Thank you” from my green friends. The pickleworms, cabbage loopers, squash bugs and aphids are causing me the most grief. Atomic Grow™ is not a pesticide. Although it is said that insects can’t handle the sugars created by the plants, the aforementioned critters seem to have no problem munching on mine. I have resigned myself to my twice daily “critter patrol”, but the aphids are the most troublesome. Fortunately, Atomic Grow™ works wonders when directly applied to aphids. You’ve got to respect ants. They are brilliantly designed and organized. I’m in awe of the “Rancher Ants” in my garden. I don’t know what kind they are, really; but they are bonafide ranchers; and they are raising herds of sweet, juicy aphids on my vegetable plants! The ants drink the aphid excretions or “honeydew”, sometimes actually milking them. They carry their livestock from plant to plant and protect them from predators; even going so far as to destroy ladybird eggs. In the winter, the ants carry aphid eggs into their nests where they are nurtured in optimal temperatures. These ranchers have been doing a fine job on my cucumber plant. I know that when a plant is swarming with ants there will be plenty of aphids sucking the life out of it. Yesterday I shut down the Cucumber Ranch. Here is a closeup, showing the adults and babies. They look so cute and fresh. I almost wish I were an ant so I could enjoy some aphid honeydew; but since I’m not, they must die. I mixed up a batch of Atomic Grow™ and went to work. Atomic Grow™ affects their chitin layer (skin), and causes them to dry up. In order for it to work, you must apply it to all areas of the plant; with special attention to the leaf bottoms and new tips, where aphids congregate. The ants went crazy and took off. The spray has an effect on ants, too; but there are so many that it doesn’t take long for them to return. Jim Shellenback from Atomic Grow™ recommends spraying every five days when pests are so active. I can see why, because it is a constant battle. Most of the aphids are gone. Of the ones remaining, most are dead and drop off with the brush of a finger. I did find a couple still alive, and I suspect that the ants have begun bringing them back. Still, a huge difference! I think that a couple of applications is all it will take to deplete the ants’ backup stock. I have used Atomic Grow™ to eliminate aphids on my peas and beans with great success. In addition to aphid control on the cucumbers, I applied Atomic Grow™ to the entire garden. I also watered everything with a vinegar solution to work towards balancing the soil pH. Looking back at the abuse I have given this garden, I am more and more convinced that Atomic Grow™ is a main factor in keeping most of it alive. As always, I awoke to find things looking better after the spray. Take a look. This celery was croaking two weeks ago. The pale leaves you see were much worse, and many were actually white from chlorosis. The foliar applications of Manganese Sulfate, Iron Sulfate and Atomic Grow™ have made a marked improvement. The color is starting to seep back into the leaves. Here is a closeup of a celery plant. The mottled leaves were white before the treatments. Ditto for this red pepper plant. Still showing chlorosis, but many times better than before. The Italian parsley never got very pale, but it has sent out a swath of new growth this week. Attention: Veggie Creature coming up! The Poblano plants are responding especially well. See that dark green? That’s all new. Does it remind you of this? OK, enough of that silliness. Check out the watermelon vine! Baby watermelons! After the spray treatments, the watermelon sent out spurts of new growth, covered in male and female flowers. I have learned that it takes an average of eight visits by a bee to pollinate a female watermelon flower. Because they are nondescript and only open for a single day, the chances of pollination are very limited. I have recently begun experimenting with hand pollination by picking a male flower, removing the petals and rubbing the pollen onto the female flower. It really works. In addition to this little beauty, I have two more which I believe may come to fruition. The carrots are much greener and putting out new growth. At the seed swap I heard it told that tomato season is coming to an end. Apparently it is too hot. Please don’t say this out loud in my garden. I just counted 55 tomatoes on these plants in The Oasis, and upwards of 100 cherry tomatoes on the plant in O2. Stepping outside to count them was like walking into a pizza oven, but I’m keeping them watered and crossing my fingers. Oh, and by the way…the leaf spot fungus is all but gone; thanks to Atomic Grow™. Here is my latest project: “Tomato Alley”. Eight heirloom plants (two each of Cherokee Purple, Indian Stripe, Black Krim and Brandywine ) from seeds given to me by Suzanne Malone. The end bucket has two Okra seeds (again, fingers crossed). This is an experiment in growing delicate tomatoes under the worst of conditions. I have chosen the smallest of each type to treat with Atomic Grow™. It will be interesting to see the difference between the treated and control plants, and if any of them survive at all. Smokey now accompanies me on my morning and afternoon rounds. Here is the papaya that Mike Whitlow gave us. It is also responding well to the treatments. I was happy to discover a new predator on the Cherry Tomato plant. I moved in for a closeup and didn’t see this Green Lynx Spider, Peucetia viridans (Hentz) until I was very close. Trusting her camouflage, she didn’t budge, as I grabbed the camera for a couple quick shots. The wind was blowing, so I’ll have to find her on a calm day and get some better photos. These spiders are a mixed blessing, as they eat destructive moths and beneficial bees and wasps, alike. Here is how The Oasis looks today (overgrown and somewhat messy). The muskmelon vines are barely hanging on. It’s a race to ripeness for these three melons. And then I wonder if they will taste OK. Time will tell. Remember the baby bananas? They are slowly growing. And here are their counterparts from the other stand. This flower is much larger, and appeared immediately after the spray treatments. This first hand has eight bananas and we hope there are more to come. Well, there it is! I’m finally caught up on my regular posts. The next thing you see from me will be all about Atomic Grow™ and how you can get some for your own garden, lawn or even house plants. This is really a bit of catching up for the last two weeks. When I finish this post I am going straight to the garden to do some more stuff. Changes have taken place, and I will share them later. When we got back from Jacksonville I couldn’t wait to check out the garden. This is an outdated shot, now; but the Poblanos were getting bigger. We needed a salad so I did a mini-harvest. I selected one of the carrots I had transplanted. It had a nice big top, but when I pulled it up, this creature was revealed. Sorry for the bad focus. Lesson learned? Don’t transplant carrots. The salad was good with Chives, Cilantro, Cherry Tomatoes, Celery, Carrot and Carrot Creature all freshly picked. This is what AJ has looked like for the past two weeks. That is, when he hasn’t been on the phone dealing with insurance companies, parts stores and our financial matters. Here he is fixing the battery tray on the truck. Here he is changing the brakes on the Mercedes. He has fixed so many things that we can’t even remember them all. I’m sure he has sweat at least five gallons worth in the hot Florida sun. Smokey the cat, does not work so hard. He just finds various ways to look silly. Remember the little bird poop look-alikes? This one ate up the whole dill plant it was on. I caught it going for a stroll as I was vacuuming the garden. Lucky thing it was so colorful or I might have accidentally sucked it up. When they go for a stroll, that means only one thing happens next. I relocated this one to my potted dill plant, where it nibbled a little more and then built a silk hammock. It stayed like this for the entire day. The next morning I found this lovely green chrysalis. I’ve raised a number of these beauties (sometimes right on my desk), but I’ve yet to capture the moment they transform from caterpillar to chrysalis. Maybe next time… The fun part is what follows. In a week or two the chrysalis will turn transparent. This is the signal to get the camera ready for the emergence. Afterward I’ll post a specific page for this guest and disclose its identity to those who don’t already know. Here’s another guest I discovered last night. Wish I could give some perspective as to how huge this thing was. I saw it from halfway across the yard. My heart jumped at the thought of being invaded by two inch monster mosquitoes. Perhaps that is an exaggeration, but it was at least 1.5 inches tall. I got closer and was relieved to see that it was a Robberfly; so named because they often mimic their prey and attack when the victim unwittingly approaches. I had never seen one like this, before. After moments on the internet I discovered that it is Diogmites sp., or “The Hanging Thief”; known for hanging by its front legs while eating its prey. These crazy looking flies are predatory and eat a number of intimidating insects, including bees, wasps and dragonflies. Here is a site with some great Robberfly shots, including the hanging behavior. This past Wednesday I went back to the Funky Chicken Farm for a seed and plant cutting swap. Suzanne Malone gave a great tutorial on growing and collecting seeds from your garden. I met a lot of great people and saw a couple of whom I had met before, including Carol (who was at the previous meetup) and John Rogers, AKA “Bamboo John”. I explained to John that I had killed the bamboo cuttings he had given us. He generously offered to let us come get new cuttings. This time I won’t subject them to lime overdose. I got a lot of seeds and some cuttings, which you will see in my upcoming posts (provided I can keep them alive). I am still working towards a page listing all of my seeds. Allan Sr. and Barney the poodle came to stay with us last night. They brought steak and booze; so we had a pre-Father’s Day celebration. Good times and good company! AJ has become “The Pina Colada King”, having perfected a Pina Colada recipe that helps dull the pain. It just takes two of these tropical delights to brighten things up for a while. I’m sure I’ve got a lot more to say, but the garden beckons…the garden and a “Rum Punishment” as AJ has named his new favorite cocktail. Check back tomorrow for the rest of the Week in Review. The day I vacuumed the garden. One of the recurring themes of this blog is “Creative Solutions”. One of the solutions to our hot, sandy, weedy yard was the Gravel Project (Parts 1, 2, 3 & 4). That was a huge undertaking, and a remarkable transformation. Instantly, everything was better. The yard was cooler, no more tracking in piles of sand on our shoes, and the garden held moisture and kept the plants from getting overheated. It also discouraged the armadillo who had been leaving dozens of holes every night. The gravel had telltale craters the first couple of nights, and after that the nosey nuisance moved on to greener pastures. We even had a great time “beachcombing” our yard for the most interesting and complete fossilized shells. Little did I know how much trouble those shells were about to cause. I planted things, and things grew. However, a lurking problem slowly reared its limey head. A common theme began to appear in many of the plants. Leaves were turning pale (sometimes completely white), beans and peppers had strange spots on the older leaves. As more and more leaves yellowed, I began to notice that the veins were still dark green. Using this clue, it was easy to find the most likely cause of these symptoms: Manganese deficiency. I’ll be honest with you. Heretofore, I haven’t given much thought to soil science and the importance of proper pH. When we spread the limestone gravel, I did briefly contemplate the consequences of alkalinizing the soil; but didn’t imagine how much trouble it could cause. Although I didn’t have the soil tested (I plan to do so in the near future), it seemed fairly obvious that if you put down a layer of alkaline limestone, and you get extreme symptoms of high soil pH, that there is a correlation. I had spent hours researching the various maladies in my plants, only to find that most of the symptoms, fit the description of Manganese deficiency to a “T”. Cucumber with yellowing leaves and dark green veins. This is an older leaf that also has insect damage. Watermelon with same symptoms. Actually, the watermelon with its cracking, brittle, yellow leaves is what finally clued me in. I found a website showing the exact problem in commercial watermelon with Manganese deficiency. Various tomato leaves, with dark veins and crinkled new growth. Poblano Pepper. Leggy and droopy, in addition to the mottled leaves. Another symptom of Manganese deficiency. Red Pepper. New growth was all white. Celery. It appears wilted because it is wet. Outside growth was pale yellow, almost white. Once I found out what was happening I had to devise and schedule a plan of action. Manganese and Iron deficiencies occur when the soil becomes so alkaline that the plants are unable to absorb the minerals that are present within the soil. It’s like going to an “All you can eat” buffet just after having your jaw wired shut. With very little money in the budget and a busy schedule, I devised the quickest and least labor-intensive way to salvage the garden. Chances were that if the plants were deprived of Manganese that they were also low on Iron. The quickest fix is a foliar application of both Manganese Sulfate and Iron Sulfate. Walmart didn’t even have such products and Home Depot only had them in large bags, totaling over $40.00. A look at the liquid combination fertilizers revealed a couple of brands with some Manganese and Iron, along with a bunch of other things I didn’t really want (including Nitrogen). They were also fairly pricey. “Come on! All I want is a small container with two things.” Imagine a beam of light shining down and illuminating this bottle. It didn’t exactly happen, but that’s what it felt like at the time. A quick glance at the label showed that this had the two ingredients I was looking for, in higher concentrations than the other fertilizers. From what I had read, Magnesium deficiency wasn’t likely a problem, but adding Magnesium wouldn’t harm anything. The best part was that this bottle cost less than $6.00. I paid up, and crossed my fingers. Before I could apply this treatment, I had to remove the gravel from around all of the plants. Enter the handy-dandy Shop-vac! That’s right folks. I’m sure the neighbors thought I had finally come unhinged as I spent the next three hours vacuuming up all of the gravel from around the plants. I can assure you that putting it down was much easier! The plants appeared battered and confused. As the sun went down, I assured them that it was for their own good. The next day I hurried to finish my work and got busy spraying the Chelated Palm Nutritional on everything. All the while a secret doubt nagged me that I may be committing herbicide. There were more steps to correcting the damage caused by the limestone, but I didn’t want to overdo it, so I waited until the next morning to see the results. The following morning I was greeted by some very happy plants. I kid you not, things were already greener. The carrots had greened up so much that I was actually shocked. This was no instant cure, but the results looked promising. The foliar application was like triage. It didn’t solve the problem, it only gave the plants a good dose of what they desperately needed. The long-term solution is to acidify the soil. My research pointed to infusions of organic material and applications of the liquid solution to the soil, in addition to the leaves. I knew this needed to be done, but I was still looking for a quicker fix. Vinegar seemed like a possible solution, so I googled around and found that, indeed it was. First, I did my overdue application of Atomic Grow™ and then I added a cup or so of white wine vinegar to a gallon of water and sprayed that into the soil. Another restless night was followed by another green morning. The plants looked even better, and many of them (including the seemingly dormant carrots) had sprouted new growth. Now I had a mulch problem. I have a long-term solution (which I am still formulating), but I needed to get something on the soil to hold in the moisture and continue acidification. I raked up some dried ficus leaves from a neighbor’s yard and mulched around the plants. It is messy and not particularly attractive, but it does the job for now. A day or two later I added the Chelated Palm Nutritional to the soil. Things have improved greatly, as you’ll see in my next “Week in Review” post. Everything is green. The yard is packed with baby grass, and the garden is growing fast. If you read Things are a bit Spotty, you may recall that I was having a fungal issue with the tomatoes. I’m calling it Grey Leaf Spot until someone tells me otherwise. Last year this stuff completely ravaged my tomato plant to the point that I had very little yield. Last week I treated the plant with Atomic Grow™ and trimmed off the terminal branches. I left a few of the branches with the initial stages of yellowing to see what would happen. One week later, the leaves are virtually unchanged and it appears that the fungal invasion has been stopped in its tracks. The new growth is green and healthy. I’m not going to go overboard with excitement, but things look promising! I know I said I would make my next Atomic Grow™ application yesterday. I reserve the right to change my mind, and so I have declared Sundays to be “Atomic Sunday”. I will make the application this afternoon and post some quick photos. There are some new guests in the garden (one for which I have planted a specific herb), and I will not be spraying that plant because I want to encourage the guests. Sorry for the vagueness, but I think I’ll let you watch them progress and see who can guess what they are. Their momma dropped them off on Friday, so stay tuned for some baby pictures this afternoon. Here is the Oasis this weekend. Doesn’t everything look happy? A closer shot of some of the herbs. This is my first year with celery. I’m learning about self-blanching and how celery needs to be grouped together. I had thinned out the clump and moved some plants to outside areas. They are easily identified because they turned pale yellow. The central clump is still green. I guess we will wait and watch to see how they turn out. The cherry tomato plant has officially reached tree status in my book. It is upwards of 5′ tall and growing by leaps and bounds. If it didn’t make those yummy tomatoes I’d think it were a weed. The succulent garden is doing great. Notice that green grass in front? Over the course of the week our banana flower has opened up and exposed the first hand of six bananas. AJ explained to me that this is only the beginning. Each layer of the pod will open up in succession and reveal another hand. He estimates five or six more to come. This has been the highlight of my week. The poblano peppers got off to a rocky start, but now they are loaded with babies. Can I have more than one highlight? The Marketmore 76 cucumber has exploded in size. And I found three new babies on a single branch. I’ve got to keep my eye out for those pickleworms. They are not allowed to eat our cucumbers. The muskmelon took a beating from the winds this week. The older leaves are fairly shredded, but there is so much new growth that it hardly matters. This plant is loaded with babies. Dead frog walking. Yes, here is another Cuban Tree Frog. This one has set up housekeeping inside one of the bamboo stakes. The stake has filled with water, thus forcing froggie to poke out of the top in the daylight. These are nocturnal frogs, so you can see its determination to stay home. I was able to get extremely close and the frog didn’t budge. I’m still building the fortitude to round up and kill these invasives. I even bought some Benzocaine to put them gently to sleep before popping them into the freezer. AJ is promoting the idea of just stomping on them. Is he mean or what? Actually, it would probably be the most humane way. I just don’t think I could do it. For now I am building a collection of photographs for their memorial. Eat up little froggie; your days are numbered! I’ll leave you with “Gravel Cat”, Jorgi. Check back later for a harvest update and some shots of the baby guests.

2019-04-22T00:34:37Z

https://trailerparkqueen.wordpress.com/tag/poblano/

Notice is hereby given in terms of section 13 of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act 32 of 2000) that the Matzikama Municipality hereby amends the By-Law relating to Trading days and –hours for the sale of liquor in Matzikama Municipality Area, promulgated in the Western Cape Provincial Gazette no’s. 7339 of 12 December 2014 and 7623 of 3 June 2016, as follows: To provide for the control of undertakings selling liquor to the public in order to ensure a safe and healthy environment in the Matzikama municipal area; to provide for days and hours of trade in liquor by licensed undertakings that sell liquor to the public; and to provide for matters related thereto. (1) In this By-law, unless the context indicates otherwise; "Act" Means the Western Cape Liquor Act, 2008 (Act 4 of 2008), as amended read together with relevant Regulations; "Agricultural zoned areas" means an area predominately zoned agriculture or any other equivalent zoning, with purpose to promote and protect agricultural activity on a farm as an important economic, environmental and cultural resource, where limited provision is made for non-agricultural uses to provide owners with an opportunity to increase the economic potential of their properties, without causing a significant negative impact on the primary agricultural resource; "Appeal Tribunal" means an Appeal Tribunal established in terms of Section 25(1) of the Act; "Authority" means the Western Cape Liquor Authority established by Section 2(1) of the Act; "bar" - any open bar or any part of licensed premises exclusively or mainly used for the sale and consumption of liqour which shall include any counter or barrier accross which drink is or can be served to the public or in relation to any hotel, pub or tavern, includes any part of the hotel, pub or tavern that is used principally or exclusively for the sale, supply or consumption of liquor; "bus" see "motor vehicle" "business premises" means a property on which business is conducted and may include a restaurant, pub, bar or taverns or other building with similar uses, but exclude a place of entertainment, guest accommodation establishment, hotel, sports and community club; "Business zoned areas" means an area predominantly zoned general business in terms of the Zoning Scheme, with the purpose to promote economic activity in a business district and development corridor, and includes a wide range of land uses such as business, residential and community uses; "Council" means the Municipal Council of the Municipality as elected; "designated liquor officer" means a person designated as such in terms of Section 73(1) of the Act; "Exceptional circumstances" means any circumstances which is not made provision for in this By-Law. "farmstall" means a building or structure which does not exceed 100m² in floor space, including storage facilities, where a farmer sells products produced and processed on his farm (in other words not products produced and processed on his farm), whether to his own employees or to the general public. "guest accommodation establishment" means premises uses as temporary residential accommodation for, and includes the provision of meals to, overnight guests for compensation and includes a backpacker’s lodge, a bed-and-breakfast establishment, guest house and guest farm or lodge, as well as facilities for business meeting, conferences, events or training sessions of resident guests, but exclude a hotel; "hotel" means a property used as temporary residential accommodation for overnight guests where lodging or meals are provided for compensation, and includes: (a) a restaurant or restaurants forming part of a hotel; (b) Conference and entertainment facilities that are subservient and ancillary to the dominant use of a premises as a hotel; (c) Premises which are licensed to sell alcoholic beverages for consumption on the property, but excludes an off-consumption facility, guest accommodation establishment, dwelling house or dwelling unit; "Industrial zones" means an area predominantly zoned industrial that accommodate all forms of industry, but do not include noxious or hazardous trade risk activities; "karaoke" - a form of interactive entertainment during which an amateur singer sings with recorded music using a microphone. "licensee" means any person who is licensed to sell liquor in terms of the Act and includes any licensed premises, business, outlet or land use activity from which liquor is sold; "liquor" means liquor as defined in Section 1 of the Act; "Liquor License Tribunal" means the Liquor Tribunal as defined in Section 1 of the Act; "rural business or neighbourhood business area" means an area predominantly zoned local business or mixed use or any other equivalent zoning, with the purposes to accommodate low density commercial and mixed use development serving local needs of convenience goods, personal service or small scale business nature or serve as an interface between general business, industrial and adjacent residential area; "Matzikama Municipality" means the Matzikama Municipality established by the Establish Notice published in Provincial Notice No. 481 of 2000, as amended, and "Municipality" has a corresponding meaning; "micro-manufacturer" - a producer of liquor who in a calendar year does not produce more than the prescribed volume. "motor vehicle" means a vehicle designed or adapted for propulsion or haulage on a road by means of fuel, gas or electricity, including a trailer or an agricultural or other implement designed or adapted to be drawn by such vehicle and include vehicles designed or adapted to transport passengers; "neighbourhood" means a part of a town where people live; "night club" means any place of entertainment which may generate noise from karaoke, amplified or live music or revelry, and includes a theatre, amusement park and dance hall; "Off-consumption license" a license entitling the licensee to sell liquor for consumption only away from the licensed premises and "off-consumption" has a corresponding meaning; "Official" means any person authorized by the Authority to perform the function of an officer under this By-law and includes any member of the South African Police Services and any person appointed in terms of the Act; "On-consumption license" - a license entitling the licensee to sell liquor for consumption only on the licensed premises and "on-consumption" has a corresponding meaning. "person" means a natural person or a juristic person which may include— (a) a licensee or any person in charge or managing the licensed premises for the purposes of the sale of liquor; (b) any body of persons corporate or unincorporated, (c) any company incorporated or registered as such under any law or any village management board, or like authority. "premises" includes any place, land, building or conveyance or any part thereof which is registered or which is seeking to be registered to trade in liquor; "place of entertainment" means a place used predominantly for commercial entertainment (which may operate on a daily basis or as schedule) which may attract relatively large numbers of people, operate outside normal business hours or generate noise from music or revelry on a regular basis, and includes a cinema, theatre, amusement park, dance hall, gymnasium, facility for betting, gambling hall, karaokebar and night club; "place of recreation" means a sport field, amusement park or similar public place intended for communal recreation, mainly in the open air; "registered premises" means premises on or from which a licensee conduct his or her business; "Residential zoned area" means an area predominantly zoned Residential 1, 2 or 3 or any other equivalent zoning, with the purpose of accommodate predominantly single-families in low and medium density neighbourhoods, as well as higher densities living accommodation and which include controlled opportunities for home employment, additional dwellings and low intensity mixed use development; "Responsible Manager" means a manager that will take overall responsibility for the processing of liquor license application and appeals; "restaurant"- Any premises where the sale and supply of food to the public for consumption on the premises is the principal purpose of business which may include a bar/pub (where the supply of liquor is for on-consumption only); "room service facility" means a mini bar of self-help facility or the consumption of liquor in guest rooms and call-up service for resident guests; "sell" includes supply, exchange, offer for sale, display for the purpose of sale or authorize, direct, or allow a sale; "selling hours" means the time during which a licensee is allowed to sell liquor in terms of the annexure; "small holding or rural area" means an area predominantly zoned Agriculture or any other equivalent zoning, with the purpose to accommodate smaller rural properties that may be used for agricultural purposes, but may also be used primarily as places of residence in a more country or rural setting; "sparkling wine" means an effervescent wine resulting from the fermentation of grapes, whether by natural or artificial processes, and includes Champagne; "Special event" – a fundraising event (organised from time to time) in aid of an educational / welfare organisation, any exhibition, sports meeting, cultural gathering or artistic performance; "Sports and Community club" means premises or facility used for the gathering of community or civic organization or associations, sports clubs or other social or recreational clubs run mostly not for profit and may include community service clubs and community centres or similar amenities, but excludes a night club; "Specific business" means a business use of a particular nature but within Zoning scheme regulations promulgated in terms of Sections 7 &amp; 8 of the Land Use Planning Ordinance, 1985 (No 15 van 1985) (definitions) or replacement By-Law with applicable content and that is prescribed for a specific site by the Council; "standard trading" means trading days and trading hours as contemplated in Sections 4 and 5 of this By-law, and excludes extended trading days and hours that may be approved by the Municipality in terms of Section 6 of this By-law; "tavern" – a place whose main business purpose is the supply/serving of liquor and various forms of entertainment and serving of snacks (not sitting down meals). "temporary license" refer to Section 48 of the Act "tourist facility" – amenities for tourists such as lecturer rooms, restaurants, gift shops, and restrooms permitted by die Council as a consent use, but does not include overnight accommodation; "trading days" means the days on which liquor may be sold during trading hours; "trading hours" means the hours during which liquor may be sold during trading days; "undertaking" means a business involved with the sale of liquor to the public; "winery" includes premises or facilities which are used in the production of wine and such premises and facilities include facilities for crushing grapes and fermentation and aging of wine, tasting rooms, barrel and storage rooms, bottling rooms, tank rooms, laboratories or offices and other accessory or ancillary facilities incidental to the production of wine, which may include: (a) Restaurants and other food services; or (b) Subsidiary retail facilities to tours or visitors "zoned" means zoned and zoning as the case may be in terms of the applicable zoning scheme or any applicable law and "zoning" has a corresponding meaning; "zoning scheme" means the zoning scheme applicable to the area in force with the area of jurisdiction of the Matzikama Municipality. (2) In this By-law, unless the context indicates otherwise, any word or expression to which a meaning has been assigned in the Act has that meaning read together with the applicable Land Use Scheme Regulations and the By-Law relating to streets, public places and the Prevention and suppression of nuisances. The Municipality, acting in terms of the powers granted to it in the Act, adopts this By-law with the aim of regulating the hours during which liquor may be sold and matters related thereto. This By-law applies to all premises, situated within the area of jurisdiction of the Municipality, on which a business in the trading of liquor; (a) Those selling liquor to the public of consumption on the licensed premises; (b) Those selling liquor to the public of consumption off the licensed premises; and (c) Those selling liquor to the public of consumption on and off the licensed premises. (1) A licensee may sell liquor for consumption on the licensed premises on the following days and hours: (a) on any day of the week, with the exception that places of entertainment, sports bars, taverns/bars, pubs, and nightclubs will not be allowed to trade on closed days for instance Sundays, Good Friday, Christmas day and other religious days; or (b) during the hours of trade as set out in the Annexure. (2) A licensee who sells liquor for consumption on licensed premises may not allow any consumption of liquor on the licensed premises at a time when the sale of liquor is not permitted. (3) Despite the provisions of this By-law, a licensee as contemplated in subsection (1), may serve sparkling wine: (a) From 08:00 to 00:00 for seven days a week; and (b) As part of a meal; and (c) To guests that are part of an organized function where admittance is controlled. (4) A hotel or guest accommodation establishment licensed to sell liquor for consumption on the licensed premises may provide access to a pre stocked bar facility inside each private suite or room for the enjoyment of a guest occupying such private suite or room. Such hotel or guest accommodation establishment is prohibited restocking such bar facility during the hours the establishment is not allowed to trade in liquor. (2) No undertaking may sell liquor in excess of 150 litres in one day to any person who is not in possession of a valid liquor license in terms of the Act and a (an approval for the specified business) business permit in terms of the Municipal by-laws. (1) Any licensee may, upon payment of the required fee (as set out in the approved yearly tariff schedule of the Municipality), submit a written application to the Municipality to extend the trading days and hours in respect of licensed premises. (2) The Municipality may approve or refuse an application for an extension of trading days and hours. (3) No rights accrue to any person who has submitted an application for extension of trading days and hours before the proof of written approval is received from the Municipality by such person. (4) The Municipality may, upon written notice to the applicant, impose conditions for trade during extended days and hours. (5) The Municipality must, before approving an application for the extension of trading days and hours, consider factors which may include, inter alia— (a) outcome of community consultation and whether it is in the public interest to approve and grant an extension of trading days or hours; (b) the proximity of the licensed premises to surrounding residential zoned area, cultural, religious and educational facilities; (c) the planning and zoning requirements of the Municipality; (d) where applicable, the validity of a business license issued in terms of the Businesses Act of 1991 (Act No. 71 of 1991); (e) the potential impact on the surrounding environment; (f) previous suspension, amendment or revocation of extended trading days and hours; (g) the validity of the Liquor license; (h) reports from the Western Cape Liquor Authority; and (i) a motivation from the applicant dealing with the facts mentioned above and the impact of— (i) the risks to and nuisances on the surrounding community; (ii) mitigation measures to assist the control of risks and nuisances; and (iii) possible benefits of extended liquor trading hours and days on the surrounding community. (1) An authorized official may, upon delivery of a written notice to the licensee or person in charge, immediately suspend extended trading hours for a maximum of 7 working days for the non-compliance of a condition in terms of the Act, this By-Law or any conditions of the liquor license. (2) The written notice as contemplated in subsection (1), must specify the reasons and the timeframes in which such suspension of extended trading days and trading hours will be in effect. (3) The written notice as contemplated in subsection (1), must call on the licensee to supply written reasons within 48 hours to the Municipal Manager on why the extended trading hours should not be revoked. (4) The authorized official must, in writing, report such suspension to the Municipal Manager. (5) Council or its delegate must, upon consideration of the suspension report of the authorized official and the representation by the licensee— (a) determine trading hours and days in respect of the business and may impose such conditions as it may deem fit; and (b) report any decision to confirm, amend or revoke the extended hours of trade to the Western Cape Liquor Authority. (6) No person may continue selling liquor to the public during the period in which the extended days and hours of trading in liquor have been suspended, amended or revoked. (1) An authorized official may prevent or seize the illegal sale of liquor— (a) where liquor is sold from a premises where the sale of liquor is not permitted in terms of the Municipal zoning scheme; or (b) where liquor is sold in contravention of this By-law; or (c) where liquor is sold outside the hours and days as specified by this By-law or the conditions, imposed by the Western Cape Liquor Authority or the Municipality, in respect of that business; and (d) cause the temporary closure of the premises and / or seize any liquor on the premises in accordance with the Standard Operating Procedure on Impoundment of the Municipality and the Search and Seizure provisions as contemplated in the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977 (Act No. 51 of 1977). (2) Where the sale of liquor is prevented and liquor is seized as contemplated in subsection (1), the Municipality may recover any costs incurred by the Municipality from the licensee. (1) The licensee or person in charge must ensure that inside the business, to the satisfaction of the Municipality, a certificate issued by the Municipality stating the zoning or land use for purposes of this By-law and stating the approved hours of trade; are prominently displayed. (2) The licensee or person in charge must ensure that on the outside of the business, to the satisfaction of the Municipality, the following are prominently displayed on the front door or window of the premises in characters not less than five centimetres in height: (i) the hours of trade of the business as approved by the Municipality; and (ii) the liquor license number under which the business trade. (1) Licensees must ensure that the licensed premises meets and complies with all environmental, planning, safety laws and that the conditions imposed by the Municipality are adhered to. (2) The licensee or person in charge must ensure that reasonable and adequate safety and security measures are in place for the protection of the public/clients of the likened premises by ensuring, amongst others but not limited to, that— (a) the storage of goods and equipment and the condition of the premises and any structure thereon do not cause a danger to the safety of patrons inside the premises; (b) the premises adheres to the requirements of the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act, 1977 (Act 103 of 1977), and any other permission granted or by-law promulgated by the Municipality; and (c) there is adequate lighting on the outside of the premises where the public/clients and staff access and exit the licensed premises. Right of admission to liquor premises is reserved and no weapons or sharp objects are permitted inside on consumption liquor premises. A safe should be available at all times on consumption liquor premises in case persons in possession of guns or sharp objects need access to the premises. (1) Any person selling liquor to the public must take all reasonable steps to ensure that noise from the liquor premises remain within the walls of such liquor premises at all times. (2) Any person selling liquor to the public must take reasonable steps to ensure that the residents of the surrounding community are not unreasonably affected and inconvenienced by noise or other nuisances emanating from the premises. (3) The licensee remains liable and responsible for all land pollution and littering within the liquor premises. The licensee is also responsible for all land pollution and littering outside the liquor premises flowing from the licensed premises. The liquor premises and surrounding areas must be kept clean at all times. (4) There shall be no loitering by patrons outside the liquor premises and all sales and consumption of liquor shall be confined to the liquor premises. (1) Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with any— (a) provision of this By-law; (b) condition or instruction served in connection with this By-law; or (c) written notice from an authorised official, (d) on conviction, and subject to penalties prescribed in terms of any other law, is guilty of a first, second and/or third category offence. (2) A person who is guilty of an offence may be sentenced up to a maximum of two (2) years imprisonment and/or a fine and/or community service. (3) A court which sentences any person to community service for an offence in terms of this By-law must impose a form of community service which benefits the environment and/or community if it is possible for the offender to serve such a sentence in the circumstances. Any by-law relating to trading days and -hours for sale of liquor in Matzikama Municipality Area in so far as they apply in or have been assigned to Matzikama Municipality area hereby repealed as far as they relate to matters provided for in this By-law. This By-law shall be called the Amended By-law relating to liquor trading days and -hours for sale of liquor in Matzikama Municipality Area, and shall come into operation on the date of publication thereof in the Provincial Gazette Extraordinary. License in terms of Section 36 of the Act for micro-manufacturing and sale of liquor for consumption both on and off the premises. License in terms of Section 36 of the Act for the sale of liquor for consumption on the premises where liquor is sold. Guest accommodation establishment 10:00 – 00:00 (see Section 4) Closed days are included for trading only to overnight guests. Business premises (includes a restaurant, pub, bar, taverns) 10:00 – 00:00 (see Section 4) Closed days except Sundays between 14.00 and 17.00, are excluded for trading except in restaurants. Specific business 10:00 – 00:00 (see Section 4) Closed days except Sundays between 14.00 and 17.00, are excluded for trading except in restaurants. Place of entertainment (includes a cinema, theatre, amusement park, dance hall, gymnasium, facility for betting, gambling hall, karaoke bar and night club) 10:00 – 00:00 (see Section 4) Closed days are excluded for trading. Place of recreation (sport field, amusement park or similar public place) 10:00 – 00:00 (see Section 4) Closed days are excluded for trading. Sports &amp; community club (for special events mostly not for profit which requiring temporary licenses excluding night clubs) 10:00 – 00:00 (see Section 4) Closed days are excluded for trading. Hotel (includes accommodation, restaurant, certain entertainment / conferences and consumption on the property) 10:00 – 02:00 (see Section 4) Closed days are excluded for trading except accommodation and restaurant as well as bar facilities, only to overnight guests. Business premises (includes a restaurant, pub, bar, taverns) 10:00 – 00:00 (see Section 4) Closed days except Sundays between 14.00 and 17.00 are excluded for trading except in restaurants. Specific business 10:00 – 00:00 (see Section 4) Closed days except Sundays between 14.00 and 17.00 are excluded for trading except in restaurants. Business premises (includes a restaurant, pub, bar, taverns) 10:00 – 02:00 (see Section 4) Closed days except Sundays between 14.00 and 17.00 are excluded for trading except in restaurants. Specific business 10:00 – 02:00 (see Section 4) Closed days except Sundays between 14.00 and 17.00 are excluded for trading except in restaurants. Hotel (includes accommodation, restaurant, certain entertainment / conferences and consumption on the property) 10:00 – 02:00 (see Section 4) Closed days are excluded for trading except accommodation and restaurant facilities as well as bar facilities only to overnight guests. Business premises (include a restaurant, pub, bar, taverns) 10:00 – 02:00 (see Section 4) Closed days except Sundays between 14.00 and 17.00 are excluded for trading except in restaurants. Guest house accommodation establishment 10:00 – 02:00 (see Section 4) Closed days are included for trading only to overnight guests. License in terms of Section 36 of the Act for the retail sale of liquor for consumption off the premises where liquor is sold. License in terms of Section 48 of the Act for the sale of liquor for consumption on the premises where liquor is sold. Note: Determine of application of applicable location category. Where the location category as set out above is unclear or in dispute or difficult to determine or areas are not zoned homogenously (e.g. a business zoned premises in the middle of a residential area) then the actual zoning, consent use or departure rights of the subject licensed premises will take precedence in order to determine the category. Description in annexure is only explanatory. Definition is regulatory.

2019-04-20T14:12:47Z

https://matzikama.openbylaws.org.za/za-wc011/act/by-law/2018/amended-liquor-trading-days-hours-sale-of-liquor/eng/

2016 proved to be an especially challenging year, with a deeply divisive presidential campaign in the United States and chaos and conflict spreading through various regions of our world. As I write these reflections in late 2017, national and global conditions remain tumultuous, destabilizing, and unpredictable. I offer some thoughts about these challenges in the essay below. This year, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund lost two Rockefeller family leaders who profoundly shaped the character and work of this foundation over many decades. David Rockefeller, who died in March at age 101, was the last surviving founder of the RBF. All of the Rockefeller brothers and many other family members have left their mark on the Fund but no single individual has contributed more to our story than David, starting with our founding in 1940, when he was just 25 and a recent Harvard graduate. We have also been inspired by the dedication of David’s niece, Abby O’Neill, who passed away in May. Abby served on our board for nearly 40 years, six of them as the first woman to chair the board. She was the vitally important generational bridge, helping to lead the transition of leadership from the brothers’ generation to that of her and her cousins. I hope you will read the brief tributes to these two remarkable individuals that are hosted on RBF.org. All of us at the Fund are determined to carry the legacies of their work with us far into the future. Abby M. O'Neill, left, and David Rockefeller, right. Photos courtesy of the Rockefeller Archive Center. Humankind faces unprecedented challenges from global warming, nuclear proliferation, terrorism, declining trust in government, eroding faith in democracy, and extreme economic inequality, as well as profound questions arising from advances in technology, social media, and artificial intelligence—to name just a few. The institutions and systems on which we have relied, in some cases for centuries, and in others for decades, seem increasingly anachronistic and, therefore, unable to manage the nature and pace of global developments. Compounding matters, the United States, at least for the time being, seems unwilling to play the kind of leadership role global conditions demand of a great nation. We are confounding our friends and allies and comforting many who oppose our democratic values. We are less inclined to work through cooperative multilateral structures and more intent on pursuing selfish assertions of national interest. This is a recipe for national decline and deeper international chaos in the decades ahead. The nature of the challenges we face is such that we cannot rely on outmoded ideas or ineffective institutions. What worked in the past is simply inadequate for a just future. As Peter Drucker wrote in 1980, “the greatest danger in turbulent times is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday’s logic.” So, what is the logic of the future? This is a profound question and the answer, or, more likely, the answers will come from diverse sources and iterative thinking. So, it is with requisite humility that I offer these thoughts about some of the elements of a logic for the future with an emphasis on the leadership responsibilities of the United States. First, we must embrace the reality of global interdependence and recognize that notions of independence—whether national, institutional, or individual—must accommodate the realities of our reliance on others, including governments, multilateral institutions, poly-lateral networks (government-business-civil society), economic actors, and, perhaps above all else, nature. In this century, few will thrive unless many do, and none will thrive if human activity pushes our fragile planet beyond sustainable boundaries. Interdependence also requires us to adjust our conceptions of state sovereignty. Nation-states remain essential structures for organizing and governing human society, but, in the future, sovereignty must both be moved to lower levels of governance in certain spheres of responsibility and entrusted to higher levels of collaborative structures for others. Some public needs can best be managed locally, but global challenges can only be addressed transnationally. For the United States, this means we must dispense with exaggerated assumptions about our capacity to dominate the global stage. Despite remaining the richest and most powerful nation on Earth, the character and scale of the global challenges we face are beyond the capacity of any single nation to manage. We must give up notions of being the “indispensable nation” in favor of working to be an indispensable partner in meeting global challenges from climate change, to migration, to conflict resolution. Although conceptions of national sovereignty and independence remain relevant, they are insufficient in an age of deepening interdependence and the imperative of collective action. In an era of declining trust, institutions of governance must adhere to new standards of transparency and accountability. Citizens must have access to information and the power to participate in decision making, directly or through legitimate representation. This is a devilishly difficult problem as more and more fatefully important decisions are made by leaders and institutions far distant from, and often totally inaccessible to, the people whose lives will be directly impacted by their actions. Our notions of citizenship must be redefined beyond the legal requirements of national status to embrace and assert the opportunity for all members of a community to share in the life of their communities and accept responsibility to think and act locally, regionally, and globally. In this century, it simply will not be true that to be a global citizen is to be a citizen of nowhere, as some political leaders have declared. The practice of democratic citizenship requires knowledge, values, and skills—the “habits of the heart,” as de Tocqueville observed. Continuous access to reliable information is the essential sustenance of civic knowledge. The explosive growth of new technologies and social media have radically transformed the way billions of people receive and share information. But as is disturbingly evident, the quality of information available online often fails to meet basic standards of accuracy and documentation. The extent of abuse and manipulation of social media in efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. elections is only now being revealed. It is, therefore, essential that as we expand the benefits of hyper-connectivity, we manage the flow of information to distinguish between intentional manipulation, unsupported falsehood, lively debate, and evidence-based knowledge. The future demands that we reinvent capitalism for the sake of the planet and the life it sustains. Capitalism has produced great wealth and helped lift hundreds of millions from poverty. But it has also produced deep and growing inequality within many societies and eroded local cultures, traditions, and livelihoods. Industrial capitalism, with its reliance on fossil fuels, has heated the planet nearly to a point of no return with potentially catastrophic consequences for all forms of life, and financial capitalism has pushed income and wealth inequality to levels not seen since the Gilded Age. The United States, as the most successful free market economy in global history, has a singular responsibility to help lead the effort to devise a new logic of low-carbon, high-equity prosperity. The logic of the future must be based on a new global ethos of fairness, sharing, and caring. But only if the United States leads by example can we hope that others may follow. How can we encourage movement toward a more just society worldwide if we permit injustice to flourish at home? Closing our borders to refugees, ignoring the structures of prejudice and bigotry in our society, and permitting the concentration of economic power in our politics and governance weakens us as a nation and impedes our credibility as a global leader. In these turbulent times, backward-looking efforts to restore greatness are doomed to fail. We have the potential to achieve greatness in the future if we acknowledge and understand both the triumphs and shortcomings of our history, if we jettison outmoded ideas and systems, and if we work collaboratively with others to solve problems and generate greater justice, equity, mutual respect, and planetary sustainability. Although the Fund’s portfolio experienced recovery from the 2008 economic recession through 2014, the portfolio experienced a decline in 2015 due to volatile investment performance in a market where no major asset class was able to provide meaningful returns. In 2016, the Fund’s portfolio remained consistent, finishing the year at approximately $832 million, reflecting the net impact of annual performance of 4.4 percent and total spending of approximately $46 million in expenditures that count toward the minimum distribution requirement, plus $4 million* for investment management expenses. Despite portfolio fluctuations, the Fund’s level of grants spending has exceeded its payout requirements since the 2008 recession, generating excess distributions of approximately $15 million from 2012 through 2016. Although these carry-forward credits could be applied over a five-year period against future IRS spending requirements, the Fund’s long-term philanthropic commitments compelled it to minimize reductions in its programmatic spending. This excess spending was approved by the trustees, as the Fund sought to balance the challenges of a reduced portfolio against the programmatic needs of the Fund’s mission. * This figure does not include all fees paid to investment managers. It excludes the Fund’s share of underlying management and incentive fees from alternative investment funds, private equity funds, and fund of funds, where investment fees are not directly invoiced, but rather netted against investment performance. † Exclusive of investment-related expenditures and excise taxes. Each year, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund is required by law to distribute 5 percent of its endowment for charitable purposes. Since 2014, we have been working to align the rest of our portfolio with our mission to help build a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world. Over the years, the Fund’s efforts to implement mission-aligned investing policies have evolved and deepened, and the Fund has carried out a series of steps over a multiyear timeframe. The Fund’s Mission-Aligned Investment Efforts statement details our selection of market-grade impact investments that advance our mission and program initiatives, as well as the larger strategy of mission-aligned investments, whereby we seek full alignment between our portfolio and the Fund’s mission. This mission-aligned investment lens includes divesting from fossil fuels, investing using environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria, and leveraging our role as a shareholder in strategic ways to advance our mission. For the most current information about our endowment, divestment efforts, and commitment to mission-aligned investing, visit the Finance section of our website. DFA International Sustainability Core March 2014 $ 21,534,957 Global Equity Developed Markets except U.S. Total spending for 2016 was $46,039,000, reflecting a decrease of approximately $1.3 million from total spending in 2015 of $47,426,000. This decrease was primarily attributable to decreased grantmaking from donor contributions. When excluding core operating costs of The Pocantico Center from the RBF’s spending figures, grants represented 72 percent of the RBF’s spending in 2016, which is consistent with previous years. In addition to the $30.1 million in grant payments, the Fund spent a combined total of $2.5 million to further support grantees and other nonprofit organizations through program-related expenditures, conferences, and public programs at The Pocantico Center; other conferences and special events; and direct charitable activities. Spending on grantmaking and administration at the Fund’s headquarters, and operations in Southern China and the Western Balkans accounted for 91 percent of total spending, and The Pocantico Center for 9 percent. * Includes grant payments and employee matching gifts. ‡ Includes direct charitable activity and program-related administrative costs; excludes investment-related expenses. The Fund’s combined administrative and capital expenses, net of estimated investment-related expenses and excluding Pocantico operations, totaled $9,818,000 in 2016. Personnel costs (salaries and employee benefits) accounted for 66 percent of total administrative expenses, largely consistent with both 2014 and 2015. Since the 2008 recession, the cumulative increase in the Principal Fund administrative budget through 2016 is about 11 percent, while absorbing modest salary adjustments, an expansion of trustee engagement activities, technology enhancements to support Fund-wide operations, and inflationary increase in certain line items—demonstrating restraint or reduction in other cost categories where possible, while maintaining core operations. In 2016, the Fund awarded 297 grants, totaling $28.9 million. This amount differs from the grants paid figure ($30.12 million) as some grants are payable over more than one year. These figures vary each year depending on a number of factors, especially the funds available for grantmaking. The Fund began the year with approximately 29 percent of the overall grantmaking budget committed for payment on grants awarded in prior years; this figure is consistent with the Fund’s general pattern of grantmaking. In addition, figures include contributions received from external sources used to support the Fund’s grantmaking. In total, the Fund drew on $4.9 million in contributions from individuals and other foundations to support 2016 grantmaking for the Fund’s Southern China and Western Balkans programs, as well as grantmaking in Egypt. It should be noted when comparing 2016 grantmaking to 2015’s that the Fund entered 2015 with a significantly lower percentage of its budget committed and received higher external contributions than is typical, all of which allowed for higher levels of grantmaking than usual for the Fund in recent years; overall grantmaking in 2016 was consistent with the Fund’s typical levels of grantmaking activity. Grants categorized as ‘Other’ primarily reflect the Fund’s support of nonprofit and philanthropic infrastructure organizations, as well as the RBF’s Travel and Learning Fund at the Institute for International Education. Approximately 28 percent of the grants awarded in 2016 were for two or more years. The average grant size for 2016 was $95,161, slightly lower than 2015’s average of $97,173. Also consistent with previous years, new grantees received 21 percent of grants awarded in 2016, and of grants awarded to previous grantees, 33 percent were for new purposes. The grantmaking described here is in addition to approximately $1.76 million included in the ‘Total Spending’ section which supported activities that further the Fund’s grantmaking but do not take the form of grants, including consultancies and conferences. Thirty-five percent of all grant dollars awarded in 2016 was for general support to assist grantees in meeting core operating needs. This represents a two percent increase from 2015. General support has consistently constituted 20 to 30 percent of the Fund’s annual grantmaking, but varies year to year within programs, depending on program strategy and the nature and size of requests from grantees. Organizations based in the United States were awarded 69 percent of grant dollars approved in 2016, a six percent decrease from 2015. The Fund’s international programs are committed to supporting indigenous organizations as much as possible. Comparably, 59 percent of the Fund’s 2016 support was for grantmaking with a focus outside of the United States. This figure differs from the percentage awarded to U.S. organizations since grants may be awarded to a U.S.- headquartered organization for its work overseas. The Pocantico Center has served as a venue for conferences and meetings on critical issues related to the Rockefeller Brothers Fund’s mission since 1994. It has also become a community resource, offering public access through lectures, cultural events, and a series of educational programs focused on the Pocantico Historic Area’s buildings, gardens, and collections of decorative and fine art. A public visitation program is offered annually from May through October. In collaboration with the Culpeper Arts & Culture program, The Pocantico Center also hosts residencies to a growing number of artists and shares the creative process with the public through on-site performances, readings, exhibits, various artist interactions and learning opportunities. The Pocantico Center is managed by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund as part of its agreement with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In 2016, The Pocantico Center held 52 conferences and meetings, plus ten internal staff or trustee meetings, and 55 public programs. Of the 62 conferences and meetings held, 26 were directly related to the Fund’s grantmaking programs. Fifty-two artists, including composers, playwrights, choreographers, and dancers, participated in 13 residencies at The Pocantico Center in 2016. In addition, 35,723 people visited the Pocantico Historic Area in 2016. The Fund’s 2016 staff total was 66, which included 45 full-time and 21 part-time employees. Of these part-time employees, one worked in Programs; one worked in the Office of the President; one worked in Finance and Operations; and two part-time and 17 hourly employees provided operations and maintenance support to The Pocantico Center. The combined hours of these Pocantico staff members (part-time and hourly) are equal to approximately 6 full-time positions. The Fund filled three vacancies in 2016. The average tenure of RBF employees in 2016 was 11.5 years. In 2016, certain services of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund’s Human Resources, Operations, Accounting, and Information Technology departments were shared with the David Rockefeller Fund, the Rockefeller Family Fund, and the V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation. In addition, the Human Resources and Accounting departments provided support to the American Conservation Association, Asian Cultural Council, Environmental Grantmakers Association, Rockefeller Archive Center, and the Trust for Mutual Understanding. These organizations reimbursed the RBF for their share of these services. In 2016, 59 percent of the RBF staff self-identified as White, 17 percent Black or African-American, 14 percent Hispanic or Latino, 7 percent Asian or South Asian, and 3 percent Two or More Races. Women represented 80 percent of the staff. The 2016 RBF board consisted of 17 trustees, eight of whom are members of the Rockefeller family, including five from the fifth generation. Of these 17 trustees, 82 percent are White, 12 percent Asian or South Asian, and 6 percent Black or African-American. ESG: Environmental, Social, and Governance, the three main areas of concern in measuring the sustainability and ethical impact of investments. Direct Charitable Activities: Activities that are classified as administrative expenses, although they represent charitable activities (e.g., technical assistance and board service) carried out directly by RBF staff. Donor contributions: When a donor prefers to work through the RBF, the Fund may accept contributions that are consistent with its philanthropic mission and enhance or complement its grantmaking. Read the full donor contributions policy. Impact (investment related): Investment mandates that have a measurable impact on issues that align with the mission of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Program-Related Expenditures: Non-grant expenses for activities that support the RBF’s grantmaking. This includes expenses such as consultancies and various expenses associated with convenings of the Fund. Spending: Expenditures that count toward satisfying the minimum IRS distribution requirement. Under IRS regulations, a private foundation generally must distribute at least 5 percent of the market value of its investments to support its mission. This amount for the Fund includes grants, program-related expenses, conferences and events, administration costs, and core operating and maintenance costs of The Pocantico Center.

2019-04-24T05:57:50Z

https://www.rbf.org/about/2016-annual-review

There are three iron ranges in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, these are the Gogebic, Marquette and Menominee Ranges. The Gogebic was the last of the three great iron ore fields opened in the Upper Peninsula and northern Wisconsin. Beginning in 1848 with Dr. A. Randall, federal and state geologists had mapped the ore formations almost perfectly long before any ore was mined. One geologist, Raphael Pumpelly, on the basis of his studies in 1871, picked out lands for purchase, which years later became the sites of the wealthy Newport and Geneva Mines. The first mine to go into production was the Colby. In 1884 it shipped 1,022 tons of ore in railroad flat cars to Milwaukee. By 1890 more than thirty mines had shipped ore. The Gogebic Iron Range extends for 80 miles from Lake Namekagon, Wisconsin, in the west, to Lake Gogebic in Michigan, in the west. Nathaniel D. Moore uncovered ore deposits in the Penokee Gap near Bessemer in 1872, but it was not until 1884 that the first iron ore shipment was made. The Gogebic Range area experienced an initial speculative boom in the mid-1880s, and saw recurring booms and busts from 1884 to 1967. The area of greatest production was in the Ironwood, Michigan/Hurley, Wisconsin area. Some important producers in this area included the Norrie mine, Aurora mine, Ashland mine, Newport mine, Bonnie mine, Davis mine, Geneva mine and Pabst mine in Ironwood. The Bessemer/Ramsay/Wakefield area had the Yale mine, Ramsay mine, Anvil/Palms mine, Sunday Lake mine, Castile mine, Brotherton mine, Wakefield mine, Mikado mine, Tilden mine, Colby mine, Asteroid mine, Plymouth mine and other smaller producers. For decades in the late 19th century and into the 1920s, the Gogebic was one of the nation’s chief sources of iron. Iron from the Gogebic Range helped to fuel the industrial boom in the Midwest during these years. Mining was winding down in 1930s with mines beginning to close, amid a national economy also suffering from the Great Depression. The result was widespread economic devastation in the Gogebic Range. Credit for the discovery of iron is given to Richard Langford, a trapper and hunter, who claimed to have seen red ore outcropping from the roots of an overturned tree south of the present city of Bessemer in 1879 or 1880. Langford presented samples of ore to Captain N. D. Moore who formed a mining company and began extensive exploratory work. By 1884, this ore location, known as the Colby Mine, began to produce commercial iron ore. In May, 1882, iron was discovered near Wakefield by George A. Fay, who had been prospecting between Ramsey and Lake Gogebic in 1881 and 1882, and the discovery became the famous Sunday Lake Mine. During that same year, A. L. Norrie began exploring land which was later known as the Norrie Mine in the city of Ironwood. The Norrie formed the nucleus of the large group of mines which later was operated by the Oliver Mining Company under the collective title of the Norrie-Aurora Mines. The early explorers and prospectors on the Gogebic Range experienced the particular hardships of a land devoid of roads or even passable trails. Supplies had to be packed overland from Ontonagon or were brought by boat from Ontonagon to Ashland to the mouths of the Montreal and Black rivers. However, soon after the opening of the range for mining, the railroad made its initial entrance. The Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western Railroad had begun a line that was to run from Milwaukee to Ontonagon, and by 1883 the railroad had reached Watersmeet, a few miles across the Wisconsin line into Michigan. With the fabulous riches of the Gogebic Range becoming more well-known, the company diverted its attention and extended the railway line into the new mining district during the summer of 1884. The first ore from the range came out of the Colby, and 1,022 tons were loaded onto flat cars in October of 1884, sent to Milwaukee, and then transshipped by barge to Erie, Pennsylvania. By 1910, three separate railway lines served the Gogebic Range, and approximately four million tons of iron ore were being shipped annually. The Marquette Iron Range was the first Michigan iron range to be discovered and developed. The Marquette Range had been of interest to geologists since the early 1840s when Michigan's first State Geologist, Dr. Douglas Houghton, conducted a systematic scientific analysis and exploration of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. He published his findings in a lengthy report, detailing the locations of minerals in the Lake Superior area. Although he was not aware of the quantity of iron ore deposits in the area, Houghton did state that iron deposits were to be found on or near the south shore of the lake. Houghton's findings were substantiated and enlarged by the activities of William A. Burt, a United States Deputy Surveyor. Burt, in attempting to establish the east-west line between townships 47 North and 48 North, approximately one mile south of Teal Lake, noted strange variations in his magnetic compass needle. When using Burt's own invention, the solar compass, no variations were observed. Searching for the cause of this disturbance, the surveying party discovered deposits of iron ore, or hematite. In 1845, the search for iron ore began in earnest, and the first major discovery was made near the present site of Negaunee. The men of the search party formed the Jackson Mining Company on July 23, 1845, and iron mining in Michigan officially began. A furnace producing wrought iron from iron ore was erected on the Carp River, and it was there that the first metallic iron was made. The first blast furnace, built near the Jackson Mine, went into operation in April of 1849. On July 7, 1852, the Marquette Iron Company shipped six barrels of ore to New Castle, Pennsylvania, the first shipment of Lake Superior ore via the lakes. However, shipping was constantly hampered by the rapids on the St. Mary's River at Sault Ste. Marie. Governor Stevens T. Mason had proposed a canal around this natural obstacle as early as 1837; however, no action was taken until 1852 when Congress officially authorized the construction of the vitally important canal. Initial work began June 4, 1853, and the canal was completed in April of 1855, thus removing one of the major deterrents to successful mining in the Lake Superior region. The development of roads and railroads in the Marquette Range also spurred mining activity and speculation. Until 1864, the Jackson, the Cleveland, and the Lake Superior companies were the only shippers of iron in the district. The Civil War increased the need for Lake Superior iron, and the volume of shipments began a steady increase, with additional mines opening on the range toward the end of the Civil War. In 1861, the output for the Marquette Range was 120,000 tons; by 1868, annual figures had reached a half million tons; and, by 1873, the range produced over one million tons of ore, a figure that steadily increased through the turn of the 20th century. Capitalists from Cleveland played a key role in the development of the Marquette Iron Range, and the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company had acquired a controlling interest on the Range by 1890. The last of the three Michigan iron ranges is the Menominee Range, one of six iron ore ranges adjacent to Lake Superior. About two-thirds of the iron ore produced in the United States comes from these ranges. Three of them are in Michigan and three in Minnesota Mesabi, Cuyuna and Vermillion). Part of the Menominee Iron Range extends into parts of northern Wisconsin. Of these six ranges, the Menominee is the second to have been developed, with the Marquette Range being the oldest. The Menominee Range is situated mainly in the valley of the Menominee River, which lies on the boundary between the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and northern Wisconsin. The fact that iron was located here seems to have been known before the Civil War, but active mining dates back only to the 1870s. In 1846 William A. Burt, the discoverer of the Marquette Iron Range, during his linear land survey, noted signs of iron ore in the Crystal Falls area. In 1849, federal geologist J.W. Foster was sent by Dr. Charles T. Jackson to investigate the reports of iron ore on the Menominee River. His reports listed significant finds of large beds of ore in Section 30, Township 40 North, Range 30 West, near Lake Antoine. Almost two years later, Foster was joined by J.D. Whitney and through a geological survey they together confirmed Burt’s report of the Crystal Falls district. In 1866, two timber speculators from Menominee named Thomas and Bartley Breen located iron deposits near what is now Waucedah, Michigan. In 1972, this site became know as the Breen Mine and marked the first mining in the district. Soon after, Milwaukee Iron Company geologist and chemist Dr. Nelson P. Hulst began conducting extensive prospecting on the Breen property and a property that would later be known as the Vulcan Mine. The Breen Mine was opened in 1872, and other locations opened soon afterward. But in the fall of 1873, the development of the mine was slowed when the effect of the national economic panic hit the Menominee Range and all preparation for mining ceased. By 1874, due to the prior prospecting of Hulst, it became evident that mining was a valuable venture and plans were back on track. However, they would be again delayed until 1877, when the Chicago and Northwestern Railway Company completed a railroad stretching from Quinnesec to Escanaba, easing shipping problems. During this year, the Breen and Vulcan mines shipped 10,405 tons of ore. Active shipments, however, had to await construction of a branch of the Chicago and North Western Railroad from Powers, Michigan, on the main line of the Peninsular Division, which reached the district in 1877. The best outlet for the range was at Escanaba, on Little Bay De Noc of Lake Michigan, to which the North Western Railroad constructed a direct line. The Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad also penetrated the region and shipped ore over the Escanaba and Lake Superior line until it reached a pooling agreement for shipment over the North Western. Numerous mines were opened at Vulcan, Norway, Iron Mountain, and Iron River, Michigan, and at Florence, Wisconsin. The best known producer was the Chapin Mine at Iron Mountain, which produced nearly 26 million tons of iron ore from its opening in 1879 to its closing in 1934. The Chapin mine is home to the largest steam-driven pumping engine in the United States. The Chapin Mine Pumping Engine (Cornish Pump) was patterned after the ones used in Cornwall in the deep tin and copper mines. Edwin Reynolds, chief engineer for the E.P. Allis Company (now the Allis-Chalmers Co.) of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, designed the steam engine in 1890. The engine's high pressure cylinder has a 50-inch bore, and the low pressure cylinder is 100 inches in diameter. The flywheel is 40 feet in diameter, weighs 160 tons, and had an average speed of only 10 revolutions per minute. The drive shaft to the flywheel is 24 inches in diameter. The engine itself rises 54 feet above the floor of the room. The designers estimate the weight to be 725 tons over all. The pumping equipment utilized a reciprocating motion to a line of steel rods extending 1,500 feet down into the mine, with eight pumps attached at intervals of 170 to 192 feet along the rods. Each of the pumps forced the water to the next higher pump and finally out to the surface of the mine. As the engine was designed to run slowly, the pumps had a capacity of over 300 gallons per stroke of the pistons. At ten revolutions per minute, this meant over 3,000 gallons of water poured out through a 28-inch pipe every minute. A total of 5,000,000 gallons of water could be removed from the mine each day. At that time the pump's estimated cost was nearly $250,000. After only a few years of successful operation, the giant pumping facility was moved from the "D" shaft of the Chapin Mine. More than a million tons of the best grade ore found in the entire mine was discovered directly below the pump, so it was essential that it be moved for excavation. In 1898 the pump was dismantled and stored away until 1907 when it was reassembled on the "C" shaft of the Chapin Mine. The pump operated here until 1932 when the Chapin Mine permanently closed its doors. During the twentieth century, high grade ore, originally so plentiful on all three iron ranges, became less available and less profitable to mine. The cost of underground mining became more prohibitive, and the owners of Michigan's mines began to search for other methods of tapping the iron riches of Lake Superior. Many of the mining operations, such as the Lake Superior Iron Company, were absorbed by larger corporations. Between World War I and World War II, the total tonnage of iron ore shipped fluctuated drastically: in 1920, Michigan shipped over eighteen million tons of ore. In 1921, 1931, 1932, 1933, and 1934 Michigan shipped less than half that amount. Extensive development of low grade ores and open pit mining began after World War 11, and a relatively new process, agglomeration, then began to yield an iron ore concentrate that contained about sixty-five per cent iron compared with fifty-six to sixty per cent from the average underground workings of the high grade ore. The first commercial agglomeration plant began operation in 1952. By 1964, four plants had been opened, and by 1969 only three underground mines were still in operation. Agglomeration, a process that separates iron ore and waste rock and then roasts the particles until they form small pellets or balls, kept Michigan's iron industry in a strong competitive position and is contributing another chapter in the seemingly endless history of Michigan's iron ranges. In 1845 individuals from Jackson, Michigan started the first mine in Negaunee Michigan. The next mines that started in the following years were The "Cleveland" and "Lake Superior Mine", Located in Ishpeming. With more and more mine starting in the area, the "Iron Cliffs Mining Company" started the "Barnum" mine in 1867, just north of the "Lake Superior" Mines This mine operated very successfully for many years. In the late 1870's The "Iron Cliffs Company" started some exploratory work to the north. Using a diamond drill to take core samples, the company started two holes. The Hole Numbered "A" in Section 10 on the high ground over looking the swamp of Ishpeming, was begun on March 15th 1877. On February 15th 1878, after going seventy-six feet through surface material and reaching a depth of 628 feet with no occurrence of ore found, the drilling was halted. During that time another diamond drill test was already being performed a short distance away to the west. The drill hole number "B", started on June 1st 1877. The drill proceeded to have 74 feet of surface material then continue till ore was discovered at a depth of four hundred to four hundred sixty feet down. Number "B" was completed in July of 1878. In the years to come, the two exploratory drill holes became mine shafts and the new operation was called the "New Barnum" In the Early 1880's, a New Engine house and Boiler House were constructed and a set of wooden shaft houses stood at either end of the property, along the shores of local Lake Bancroft. In 1886 The "New Barnum" name was changed to the "Cliff Shaft", however the mine would always be known by the miners that worked there as the "Barnum mine". In May of 1891, the Iron Cliffs Mining Company merged with the Cleveland Mining Company to form the Cleveland-Cliffs Mining Company. The President of the new merger was William Gwinn Mather. The Cliffs Shaft became one of the principle mines to Cleveland-Cliffs. This new mine worked continually and successfully long after the "Old Barnum" open pit operation to the south closed in 1897. In 1919 the old wooden head frames needed to be replaced, and "William G. Mather" decided that the appearances of the shaft houses needed to be a factor in their construction. A famous architect named, George Washington Maher designed a 97 foot tall concrete "Egyptian Revival" Obelisk to be placed at both the A and B shafts. These structures would become icons of mining for the company and the area of Ishpeming. The old mine needed to be modernized by the 1950's. In the early winter of 1955 a new shaft was placed into service. This Shaft designated as the "C" Shaft, was located between the older two shafts and was marked by a 174 foot tall structure. The Sweden designed head frame contained three of Americas first Koepe hoist systems. The system worked on a counterweight system, which each skip or cage was balanced with a counter weight, and the hoist cables passed over shive wheels rather than on and off a large drum. Also the hoists were located directly above the shaft. The "A" and "B" shafts were taken out of service in the same year. Even with the new operations the mine passed into its final year of operation. On December 22nd 1967 the Cliffs Shaft mine closed. This ended the longest operation of an underground iron mine in the world. With the ground breaking of the "Old Barnum" pit in 1867 to the last hoist of a skip full of ore on a Friday afternoon in 1967, the operations for this small location in the far north of Michigan operated for a hundred years. The test shafts of "New Barnum" mine had become the expansive operations of the "Old Cliffs Shaft". The mine had produced 27 Million tons of high grade ore, and had extensive workings below Ishpeming to a depth of 1357 feet. Lake Superior Iron Mine - Marquette Co., MI. Bailing skip - Hamilton Shaft, Chapin Mine - Iron Mnt. Ludington Mine C Shaft - Iron Mnt. Davidson No.1 Mine - Mineral Hills, Iron Co.

2019-04-24T14:23:44Z

http://miningartifacts.homestead.com/Michigan-Iron-Mines.html

Murph (Co. Galway): Well what to say, I have never seen him play and only read the stories but how do you describe him in a few words. Yep, that sums it up for me. Stephen Thornton: Congratulations on receiving this award, thoroughly deserved. Wish I'd had the chance to see you play as you are revered by so many. Andy Brown (badbear): Congratulations Jimmy. I never actually got to see you in the claret and blue but having talked to you and heard the stories from parents and friends it's a well deserved honour. I know you will be saying the all team deserve it not just me because that's the type of guy you are a true gent. Brian Sagar: I last saw Jimmy McIlroy as we both walked towards the Turf in time for the match when all the ex Clarets were coming to pay their respects/tribute to Brian Miller shortly after his untimely death. I just said something like "Hello! sad day eh?" and told Mr Mac how big Dusty and me played football together in Hapton as kids and went on the same train to school. He listened and we agreed that Brian was one of the good guys. We shook hands, and went our different ways into the ground, and I just felt so proud. Jimmy Mac looked fit enough to still play ball. He was our hero, great to watch, and whenever you think about him you also think "If only he still did play for us". But most importantly he is a really nice man, and I really hope he enjoys his big day. Brian Sellers: Thanks Jimmy for wonderful memories of a fantastic era for Burnley Football Club. You are a true ambassador for the club and your honour is richly deserved. I was very fortunate enough to see you in action during the late 50's and until your departure to Stoke in '63. It is hard to put into words what you and the team meant to the supporters of Burnley Football Club during those vintage years of League Champions, FA Cup finalists and wonderful European evenings on the Turf. Probably the best example I can give relates to my father who was a lifelong Burnley fan. When he heard the news of your departure he was so incensed, upset and shocked, he vowed never to pass through a Turf Moor turnstile again and, despite my best efforts during the 'Adamson era' he kept to his word. Jimmy, you leave many lasting memories of how the 'wonderful game' should be played. I can still vividly recall you with the ball at your feet by the opposition corner flag surrounded by 2, 3 or even 4 defenders. Moments later, following a shimmy or two and magic footwork you would be bearing down on goal, leaving the defenders in your wake. Then there was the penalty taking where you almost seemed to mesmerise the opposition goalkeeper, like a rabbit trapped in car headlights. Three or four steps up to the ball, a sway of the hips to leave the keeper rooted to his spot and you would stroke the ball into the bottom corner of the net. Absolutely brilliant. Thanks Jimmy and enjoy your day. Dale Scott: I was 16 when I first began following Burnley coming over from Bradford.Jimmy McIlroy was my boyhood hero. In those days you could buy rubber stick on soles to mend your shoes, and I had McIlroy's name in nails in them for when I went to school.I was proud he was my idol. He was a classy player , always passing on the ground, as was - and still is - Burnley's style. To see him send Ray Pointer and John Connelly away with those beautiful through balls was a joy to behold. I went all over the north of England on my Lambretta scooter to see him and the rest of a wonderful Burnley team in the snow, rain and fog and was worth every mile. And I was there on the terraces at Maine Road to see us win the Championship. No young person could have had a better role model than gentleman Jim. The prima donnas of today aren't fit to tie his bootlaces. Thank you sir, and congratulations on your award. Howard Fothergill: Jimmy Mac my childhood hero. How I enjoyed watching him torment defences, a marvellous player in a very good team. They were great days and nights at Turf Moor with Jimmy Mac centre stage. He was and still is a credit to the club, a real gentleman and a thoroughly nice guy. God bless you Jimmy and thank you for all the pleasure you gave. Andy Woodward (Exmouth): Jimmy, I am thrilled to hear that you have been granted this much deserved honour. I was born the year we won the First division championship so I never saw you play for Burnley in anger (John Angus' testimonial apart) but my mum still talks about you. There is no doubt that you were a truly great player and from what I have seen and heard over the years a truly great man. I am sure that you are enjoying this season as much as the rest of us and lets hope we can end it in the promised land and that we can also see you arise Sir Jimmy with another long over due honour. Peter Brunskill: I had the privilege of meeting Jimmy on my first day at school almost 50 years ago and afterwards saw him play many times. Rosehill was a football mad school and we went though the traumas of his transfer together. Sadly his loss led to the subsequent decline of the club, yet throughout all Jimmy has remained a man of dignity and honour. He has forgotten more about football than most people ever knew, and continues to set the standard for today's Burnley players to emulate. There has never been a greater player in Claret and Blue and no finer person has ever worn the shirt. The honour of Freedom of Burnley is overdue and well deserved, just the knighthood to go now. John Rigby: Long overdue and much deserved of the Greatest Claret of them all!! Congratulations from a lifelong fan in Cape Town, South Africa. Shaun (irish_claret): Even though I never had the privilege to see you play, I encounter many occasions when it is clear to me that you are the embodiment of all that is great about Burnley Football Club. Wherever I travel in the world, the mention of Burnley Football Club always bring the same response... ah, Jimmy McIlroy. Alan Green of the BBC said the following in this week's "Irish Examiner", "......... it was terrific to be reminded of the Irish connection to the town for it was announced last week that Jimmy McIlroy is to be given the freedom of the borough. Jimmy, one of the nicest men I've ever met in football, is still beloved in Burnley. And it is true Jimmy, you are one of the nicest men in football and very much beloved of not just the town of Burnley but the whole Clarets' diaspora. Steven Heaton: Jimmy Mac - I never saw him play but I was fortunate enough to meet him several times. The most recent time was at the Supporters Groups Player of the Year Evening, I was even fortunate enough to be able to sit next to him. I found him to be such a gentleman, and a wonderful person. I only wish I had been fortunate enough to have been able to see him play. What a legend!! I hope you really enjoy your day. All the best. Steve Ashley: A fabulous footballer in his playing days and a true gentleman, an absolute pleasure to talk to nowadays. Jimmy McIlroy a Burnley legend on and off the pitch, an honour well deserved. Tony Armstrong: You continue to be an inspiration to the town. Very pleased for you and not before time !!! John Devitt: I wish to offer my personal congratulations to Jimmy McIlroy for the well deserved honour which is being bestowed on him this evening. I had the privilege of being a spectator at a number of matches during the late fifties and the championship year when Burnley were a really great team. At that time Chelsea were the subject of music hall jokes by the celebrity radio comedians. How times change and all because of TV and money ! I look back now and believe that Burnley supporters were truly spoilt in terms of the quality football entertainment which was put on by the Clarets then. The combination of the two Jimmies - McIlroy and Adamson was the brains and driving force for the team's success. They played with great vision and their ball skills and creativity would put to shame many of today's so called mega stars and overpaid prima donnas. I just hope that the current economic downturn brings some commonsense into the game and a level playing field where smaller clubs can compete on sporting merit instead of waving a cheque book. Daniel Fitton: Congratulations to a legendary player and a legendary gentleman! I am not old enough to have seen Jimmy in his playing days. However, like many fans of my age watching the TV footage of him terrorising defenses we can imagine the excitement he brought to the terraces of the turf. I have been lucky enough to meet Jimmy on a number of occasion as a lad when he was writing the sports articles for the paper. I was the Lowerhouse Cricket Club scorer and whether he came down to a game, or I called through the results, he was always a top man. Always friendly, always had a story to tell, and will ALWAYS be a Burnley legend. Gerard Bradley: Congratulations and thankyou for the memories. In my mind's eye I can still see you in the right wing corner of the cricket field end doing a shimmy and then bursting through past defenders to centre for someone to score. You have been a great, gentlemanly ambassador for the town and the club and long may that continue. Scott Atkinson: Jimmy, Jimmy, oh Jimmy Mac, when are you coming back! I wish I'd seen you play in the flesh, but I don't need to have to appreciate what a LEGEND you were and what an INSPIRATION you continue to be. Simon Chamberlain: Thank you for your fantastic contribution to our town and football club over the years. You will always be a legend and deserve the highest accolades. Arthur Leeming: CONGRATULATIONS JIMMY on your award of freedom of the borough. I never saw you play having started watching the clarets in 1966. You will go down in history as THE GREATEST Burnley player of all time . Enjoy your night on Tuesday - lets hope its a Clarets victory for you. Tim Redman: Well done Jimmy. I was born 8 years after Jimmy last played for the clarets so obviously never saw him play but there has never been any doubt in my mind that Jimmy Mac is the greatest claret of them all. Gareth Lane (ClaretGaz): Many congratulations Jimmy on a fantastic achievement that you thoroughly deserve. Unfortunately I'm not old enough to have witnessed your talents but have heard many great stories from my dad about how special you were. I was even at a wedding once and got talking to Ronnie Clayton who described you as his toughest opponent! Dave Alty: I have supported and watched Burnley since being a young teenager way back in 1958. I was very fortunate to have seen most of the home games in the Championship winning season. Like a lot of the young fans my favourite player was Ray Pointer, however the outstanding player of a brilliant side was the inside-right Jimmy McIlroy. He was superb and an absolute joy to watch. Jimmy still lives in the town and can be seen at home games in the James Hargreaves Stand. My congratulations and best wishes to Jimmy Mac on receiving this great honour by the Borough of Burnley. Very well deserved. David Couch: Congratulations Jimmy - very well deserved. I am 66 yrs old now and watched you throughout your career. There is no one who has played for the Clarets who has given me more pleasure. With best wishes for your health and future. Les Leaver: Have a great day Jimmy Mac you deserve this accolade for all you have done for this proud and great club. I am a follower of 43 years but now live in Florida so I don't get to games now I listen and watch when ever I can an I am excited about this year. Phil Richardson: You gave me such pleasure with your delightful skills. This award to you today is well and truly deserved. You are as ever a gentleman. Bernard Daley: Congratulations Jimmy. The best Burnley footballer ever and a true gentleman. Whenever I have passed you in the street to say hello, as a child in the 60s or as an adult, you have always been gracious enough to return the complement even though you have no idea who I am. You are a very, very nice man. John Lingard: 29th August 1959 was my first visit to Turf Moor, the start of a lifetime sentence. In those days Burnley had a good following in Littleborough and to a 14 year old this was growing up. Turf Moor was a sea of green with little claret and blue on display. The pitch was a lush green for the only time in the season, soon to turn brown and muddy as autumn rains took hold; the stands were painted green as were the spectator barriers and fences of the Longside. Out there on the pitch the finest XI to don the claret and blue was taken apart by a modest West Ham. We lost 1-3 after an early John Connelly strike cutting in from the right wing at the Beehole End. The West Ham fullbacks ominously included one John Bond! However that day I fell in love and was hooked by the Burnley number 8 - Jimmy Mac. What a player! The finest to ever grace the Turf without doubt. Deceptively fast, an incisive finisher when he wanted to be, master of the slowly struck penalty after sending the keeper (Springett) the wrong way, the original short-corner maestro, Mac had it all. Often with thigh heavily bandaged he took teams apart and I well remember him roasting England fullback Don Howe of West Brom when injury forced him to take berth on the right wing. His many excellent performances over the years are too numerous to recall. In that fine championship winning side of 1960, Mac, along with Jimmy Adamson, was both the creative engine and "icing on the cake". We were all amazed and mightily distressed when Bob Lord butchered him in his prime and sold him to Stoke. Why? What for? Since then Jimmy McIlroy, an Ulsterman, has led a mature and dignified life within the town he now calls home. It is most fitting that Burnley is finally honouring and recognising its finest son. A true gentleman, Jimmy Mac, we salute you! Bob Clegg: I was fortunate to watch the great man play in his hey days for Burnley and Northern Ireland. I will never forget the feeling I had when I found out he had been transferred to Stoke. This was my worst moment in football. However the great man still goes to Burnley and must be pleased with the way we are playing now. Congratulations on your award. It should have come sooner. Martin Dempsey: Many many thanks for signing what is probably one of my prized possessions, that is, 'Right inside football' the copy of your own book published by the sportsman's book club in 1962.This really is a fascinating and wonderful insight into the game and how it was to progress and change. Your influence goes without say at BFC but this is well worth a read by anyone seriously interested in the game. All the very best and much deserved recognition from all Clarets everywhere. Bryden Holden: One of the greatest footballers to ever grace the hallowed ground of Turf Moor and a true gentleman as well. Congratulations Jimmy on an honour you most definitely deserve and one you should have received a lot earlier in your life. Enjoy the day and know all Clarets think this award is fully justified and that you deserve it. HERO! HERO! HERO! David Baxter: We used to sing the following song to acclaim the mesmerising Irish magician. All the team's a better team thanks to McIlroy. And so say all of us. Congratulations. HolyCustard: Jimmy McIlroy, a true Burnley legend and fully deserves his special day. Best wishes and all the very best. George & Susan Grimshaw: Jimmy, you have been a credit to our football club and to our town. Your name will be spoken for many more years to come and rightly so. You were born too early to "enjoy" the mega bucks earned by today's players, but none of these current stars can hold a candle to you as a gentleman and role model you will be unequalled. Lee & Brooklyn Cross: As a Burnley fan of 36 years of age I never had the chance to see "Jimmy Mac" play and my dad was only 10 when he left Burnley. Speaking to some of the older fans and reading books I can only imagine what a player he must have been back then and how he would have been if he was born in this era with better pitches, equipment and fitness levels. Funny thing how so many ex-players have still stayed in the area after they stop playing the game either with Burnley or come back from another team. All the best and well deserved to a great player on and off the field. Chris Bradley: A class act and the best Burnley player in my lifetime. Anth Pearson: You were my first hero. Whenever I recite my 'best ever Burnley eleven', "Jimmy Mac" is always first on the list. It's you I build my team around It's because of you that I still support Burnley 50 years later. Thanks for all the memories. Tony Lee: I have supported Burnley since I was a little lad (I was born in the town but moved away when I was six). To me Jimmy Mac certainly was the greatest player to wear the claret shirt and it was a privilege to see him play, unfortunately only in away matches in the London area. I remember particularly the superb match at Tottenham, Spurs 4 Burnley 4. A tremendous match with marvellous players on both sides. Jimmy, you were my idol - and you still are. Many congratulations - if anyone deserves the freedom of the town, you do. Pete Ellis: I would just like to convey my very best wishes to arguably the best player to ever pull on a CLARET shirt. I witnessed some of his sublime skill for real and it just left you speechless, there wasn't anything he couldn't do with a football, and the pleasure he gave us Burnley supporters was immense. So God bless and all the very best Jimmy Mac, it's the very least you deserve and thank you. Joe Nick: Many congratulations Jimmy, I've been following the Clarets for 50 years, and you're, 'without question', the best Burnley player I've ever seen. Thanks for all the great entertainment and I hope you'll enjoy tonight's game, because this is one of the best Burnley sides for a long time, playing the kind of football that, I know, you'll appreciate. Keith Nuttall: Not before time for Jimmy Mac, the very best Burnley player to ever wear the claret and blue shirt. Jeff Nutter: Thanks for many hours of wonderful memories. I can still see you taking short corners, dragging defenders out, nutmegging them and then crossing for others to score. Football has never been the same since. For me you were the best footballer ever. Many congratulations on your latest honour. Brian Dobney: I watched you as a kid Jimmy...you were brilliant. Still got your autograph that my dad got for me when I was about 11. (I'm 57 now). We all mourned when you were sold. I worked alongside you somewhat (was in Circulation) in your newspaper days. You deserve your award. Congratulations Mr. Mac. I could say much more. Mark Leach: Good luck Jimmy and Well Done. I was born in 63 but through my formative years I heard wonderous stories of your skill and ability from my Great Grand parents, Grand parents and my Mum. It's great you have been honoured in this fashion. I though you got the Freedom of the Town the night we played Hamburg at the Turf. David Wilkinson: "Mac the knife" would slice through any defence. Faithful to theTurf through and through. Shabbily treated at the end. He often played carrying an injury but was still magic. Time after time he would cut through a defence to reach that dead ball line to feed superb crosses into the box. A legend but modest. Magical memories!! Congratulations and good health. Best Wishes for the future. Have a great day. Michael Timberlake: I have been a lifelong supporter of Burnley Football Club and watched my first game in 1958, when Burnley F.C. were one of the top teams in the country. During those fifty years I have purchased many replica Burnley shirts but the 'replica shirt' I most remember is the first one I received from my grandfather as a Christmas present about fifty years ago. That shirt had a number eight on the back because the number eight shirt in the Burnley team was worn by my favourite player Jimmy McIlroy !! It was a pleasure to watch you play in those days and it has been a pleasure to meet you on several occasions since then. Congratulations on receiving the Freedom of the Borough. a thoroughly deserved accolade for the best player in the history of Burnley Football Club. P.S. My father was one of the many supporters who refused to visit Turf Moor again after Jimmy McIlroy had been sold to Stoke City in the early sixties!! Les: Hope you enjoy your day and many more of them. I am one of the fortunate few left perhaps who saw you play many times and queued up for your autograph after the game. I can remember that you would only sign once settled in your car (possibly a Singer Gazelle or similar) and only if we formed an orderly queue around the car. The secret was t find out where you had parked it. Once again congratulations and enjoy. Patrick & Barbara Spencer: On a Tuesday evening in August, 1957 my cousin and I were taken on a Wildes coach trip from Barnoldswick to watch Burnley play Preston at Turf Moor. That night we were treated to an exceptional exhibition of high quality football orchestrated by the Burnley inside right Jimmy McIlroy, and from that game we became dedicated lifelong Clarets. For the ensuing five or so years we were privileged to witness and marvel at his outstanding football skills, where he was able to totally dictate and control the pace and direction of each game utilising his unquestionable vision. Whilst Adamson was organising his solid defence it was McIlroy who was the genius and creator for the Robson and Pointer goals, which came in abundance. Without a doubt, the wizardry and flair provided by McIlroy was the catalyst for making Burnley into the best club in the land and the envy of all other teams. In over a half a century of watching football I place Jimmy McIlroy alongside the two other outstanding players I have been lucky enough to watch ie. Tom Finney and George Best. Jimmy McIlroy is probably the greatest player to wear the claret and blue of Burnley and furthermore he is the Club's finest ambassador. An unquestionable legend. Alan Bolton: A worthy honour for a real gentleman and a great footballer. Anthony McNee: Well done Jimmy , have a great day and evening. I've seen some good players (and bad!!!) in my time supporting Burnley, the only regret I have is not seeing you play. I'm sure you would have walked into this current Burnley side!!! Tony Levine: As a Burnley supporter living in London I had the privilege of seeing you play against the Capital's teams in the First Division and, of course, the Wembley Final. The team you played in (late 50's early 60's) was a great one containing many international representatives but for me you were the guile and the midfield skill; the play-maker, the heart of the team. You are always remembered and admired. Dermot Martin: To Sir Jimmy. Long overdue. Pride of Burnley and pride of Belfast. Clive Leah: Congratulations and good luck for the future. As a young boy growing up in the Rosehill area of Burnley in the 1950s we were privileged to have quite a few Clarets stars around us and I remember that you lived on the road opposite Rosehill school. As I recall there was a little park at the bottom of Moorland Road/Reynolds Street where we used to play football and I vividly remember you joining in for a while one day. Ray Pointer and Jimmy Robson often did...much to the disgust of the "Parky ". Those happy days are indelibly etched in my memory and I distinctly remember the adulation for you of my father (now 95 ) who still talks fondly of "Jimmy Mac " and who never went to Turf Moor again after you were transferred. As I too get older those happy days become more important and I thank you for your huge part in formulating those wonderful memories. Abs Orton: I'm an ex Rawtenstall lad only 3 years younger than you. I left the area in'57 for a whole career in the Royal Navy. You and your fellow team mates, Adamson, Pilkington, etc (not forgetting Mr Jock Winton) proved and inspiration to me as a schoolboy, and as an adult. Congratulations on your special day, and thank you for your amazing talent and dedication to our team and the game. Derek: Jimmy Mac, not only a great football player, a great man too. Good luck Jimmy, you gave me many hours of pleasure watching you from the terraces and on the training ground in the hay days of the clarets when I was a junior player at the club. Tom O'Brien: I would like to congratulate Jimmy McIlroy on his latest honour and it goes without saying that this is long overdue. I spent many hours at Turf Moor as a schoolboy notably. I was privileged to start supporting Burnley in 1959 when Jimmy used to come along to St James the Less school in Rawtenstall and coach us every Tuesday (come rain, snow or whatever). Jimmy was and still is a gentleman and deserves all the accolades he is receiving. Mick Simmons: Congratulations Sir Jimmy you well and truly deserve this recognition. It is well overdue. Dave Thomas: When Burnley 'lost' the title which was within their grasp at the end of season 61/62 it was the result of winning just one game out of the last ten. Up to then we were a dazzling football side, and had scored 90 goals already. What is seldom mentioned is that of those last ten stuttering games, Jimmy Mac missed five of them with injury. If only... the two biggest words in football. It is reasonable to suppose that if only he had been fit during those last games, another title would have come Burnley's way. That's how important he was. Jimmy Mac - my boyhood hero. Roger Cunliffe: Congratulations - A fitting tribute to a talented star. Mike Sagar: Congratulations Jimmy, you deserve it. You were my hero as a young kid in my formative years watching the Clarets. You were the reason I followed Stoke when you left, and you are the reason why I returned to the fold, just as you have. I'll be standing up at half time giving you one hell of a cheer. Chris Redman: It is not possible to describe the sheer joy and privilege of watching the Clarets football in the late 50's and early 60's. Jimmy was of course the catalyst, sheer genius, his skill often defied belief, as you often couldn't believe what you were seeing! But more than that Jimmy is still as ever, a wonderful, shy, unassuming perfect Irish gentleman, and he so richly deserves this accolade which his adopted town is bestowing. Thank you Jimmy for what you have brought into my life and the lives of so many. Andrew Nixon: To the greatest Claret of them all. On this very special day, I would like to wish Jimmy Mac all the best and to thank him for his efforts in the Claret and Blue. I saw you play for the Clarets for many years and you were the best without any doubt. In fact, you were so good that you overshadowed so many other excellent Burnley players. Thank you for the exciting play. Thank you for the memories. Thank you for staying so loyal to our fabulous club and the town. It's been a pleasure ! Roy Asten: Congratulations Jimmy, you more than deserve this honour, I am old enough to have watched you play in the 50s. There was never a more accomplished, midfielder, ever to grace Turf Moor. Ian Gregory: Congratulations on your special day. You were the undoubtedly the star of a team that brought success to the club which fans from the 70's onwards can only dream of. Should my generation of supporters (now in my 40's!) be able to pick one player from the list of Burnley greats who we regret never having seen play "live", I'm sure you'd be top of the list for 99% of them. Phil Sagar: With the exception of in my opinion George Best the greatest footballer of all time our Jimmy would be the greatest Irishman ever to play the beautiful game. David Lancaster: I was 12 years old at the time when Burnley won the first division title. Needless to say, Jimmy McIlroy was my favourite player. And "Right Inside Soccer" still has pride of place on my bookshelf. Many people have spoken about Jimmy as a person as well as a footballer. That echoes for me. When I was about 10 or 11, and living in Nelson, I was visiting my uncle, who lived near the McIlroy's house in Rosehill. My uncle pointed out Jimmy's house. I said I'd like to get Jimmy's autograph but my uncle said I shouldn't disturb him in his home. But the next time I was in Rosehill (and not with my uncle) I did knock on the door. I'm amazed in retrospect about the politeness with which Jimmy addressed this young lad (me) and gave me his autograph, instead of telling me not to disturb him at home. Not only a great footballer, but also a gentleman. Ian McLennan: I first became a Burnley fan, aged nine, after the FA Cup final defeat to Spurs. In my school (in Reading), I was known as the Burnley fan. Charles Buchan's Football monthly and newspaper articles about Burnley FC, were my food and drink. One man stood out then and when he left, I cried (no one knows that, so shhh!). I cannot begin to describe my turmoil at that time - probably, my first bereavement experience. Wherever I go now and football is talked about, everyone my age knows of the Burnley team of the time and happily reel off their names - and they are not Burnley fans. They also single out one man for a special mention. Congratulations and thank you Jimmy 'Burnley' McIlroy. One and the same thing to many and now it is official! Phil Sagar: My father is in hospital and not very well, and when we sit and talk about our love for Burnley Football Club one player puts a twinkle in his eye. You sir. John Woolley: A marvellous footballer and a pure gentleman. I am lucky enough to be old enough to see him from when I was six in 1958 till when Jimmy left in 1963. He was a key man in an excellent team. He could dribble past anybody and was an excellent penalty taker to mention just two aspects of his play. I remember him once tormenting Alan Hodgkinson of Sheffield United - Hodgkinson seemed to be diving all over the place on the goal line and all Jimmy was doing was standing over the ball on the penalty spot just wiggling his hips. I met him once or twice coming home from Rosehill - always the kindest of individuals. I won't be at the match tonight. I hope you have a lovely evening and are able to celebrate it watching a team play some of the football nearly up to the standard of that set by yourself in those bygone years. Mark (DingleDangle): Congratulations Jimmy on being given the Freedom of Burnley. Richly deserved and very long overdue. Gary Ingham: Although I was born in 1966 I obviously didn't see you play, but thanks to my father and grandfather and the magic of television I have realised what a great player and a legend you are. You are quite rightly deserving of this award. You opened a Christmas fair on Sunday where you asked my 3 year old son if he supported Burnley. When we got home I told him all about you and when he grows up he will know just who spoke to him when he was at that Christmas fair. PS thanks for the autograph Jimmy. Gary Jenkins: Congratulations Jimmy on your achievement. Unfortunately I wasn't old enough to see you play, but my Dad always spoke about what a superb player you were for us, and that you were the greatest player to ever wear the claret and blue jersey. Having met you several times at your home, I would just like to say what a down to earth person you are, who always has time to speak to the fans and sign autographs, and I wish you all the best for the future. Mark Williams: Congratulations on a long overdue honour, Jimmy. Like many, I am of an era that never had the privilege to witness the great team of the late 50s and early 60s, so have to make do with tales from parents, late grandparents and more senior Clarets fans that I know. One thing that remains constant in the tales of this era, is that not one of them has ever said anything less than you were the greatest player they have ever seen play for Burnley. I had the honour of meeting you in the mid 90s when I worked at the club for a few years, had a chat and you autographed a programme for someone I knew. The thing I can vouch for first hand, is that you are a true gentleman. May you enjoy many more years watching the Clarets and hoping that success comes our way once again. Mike Davies: The joy of reaching 65 is 3 fold. I watched and can still remember England winning the World Cup, Burnley beating City in1960 and watching Jimmy Mac from when he first played for us, even watching him score for Stoke against Newcastle when they were thrashed 5-2 in 1963. My best memory was in 1959-60 when an injured Mac played on the wing against WBA with his right arm strapped to his side making one if not the two goals that gave us a 2-1 win after being 1-0 down. Thanks for the wonderful memories and well done. It should be the freedom of Lancashire. Newell Thornton (Toronto): I was a juvenile season ticket holder at Turf Moor back in the 60's and stood on the terraces on a stool my father made for me to watch Jimmy McIlroy demonstrate his truly amazing footballing skills. I still remember the thrill of watching him knife through those defences. I was also standing on my stool to watch him at Wembley in the 1962 cup final. I feel privileged to have seen Jimmy play so many times and heartily endorse this recognition of a great gentleman and footballer.

2019-04-22T20:30:12Z

http://www.clarets-mad.co.uk/feat/edz8/jimmy_mcilroy__your_messages_of_congratulations_421153/index.shtml

The Maseno Mission Hospital, a few single-level buildings clustered below a hill in southwest Kenya near Lake Victoria, is accessed by a dirt road that passes a school President Obama's father attended. There are adult male and adult female medical wards and pediatrics and obstetrics units—about 40 beds in all—and buildings for basic radiology and laboratory services, records, pharmacy, and administration. The verdant surroundings, songbirds and vervet monkeys playing in the trees belie the suffering inside. During the 3 weeks when my wife, a retired registered nurse, and I volunteered there in 2010, we felt amply rewarded by being able to effectively manage many disorders, yet frustrated and saddened that we could not do more. We were amazed by the great resilience manifested by the people as well as their warmth and hospitality. Nominally sponsored by the Anglican Church of Kenya, the hospital hobbles along on a little church support, minor government assistance, donations from the US and United Kingdom, and fees collected from patients. The administrators try hard to collect payments, even refusing release of deceased patients until the family pays the hospital bill. Until his recent departure from Kenya, Gerry Hardison, MD, a retired San Diego gastroenterologist, had worked for more than a decade caring for patients and attracting US medical students and residents for temporary assignments and was responsible for much of the care being as good as it was. I decided to volunteer at his hospital because he welcomed assistance and I wanted to work in Africa. In preparation, I participated in a 1-week HIV/AIDS program at the University of California, San Diego. I also contacted a recent medical school graduate who had worked there. She gave me a positive report and emphasized, "The main thing is not to expect what you are used to here." I was prepared for this, as I had done medical work in 2 other underserved areas, St Lucia and the West Bank (Palestine), but many of the challenges in Kenya differed markedly from those experiences. At Dr Hardison's request, I brought some donated elastic stockings and biopsy needles, but after arriving I realized the hospital lacked other basic equipment that I could have supplied, such as soap, thermometers, and workable syringes. Dr Hardison's masterful clinical skills acquired in another age accomplished much with only plain x-ray examinations and simple laboratory procedures. He applied his abilities to adults and children and used a briefcase-sized ultrasound machine to extend his examination of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis and to measure fetal head size. Working with him, I discovered that I could examine babies, treat burns, and do spinal taps and other procedures that had been dormant skills for 40 years. I was impressed that so many diagnoses could be made without consultants and modern diagnostic tools such as computerized tomography. To inform physicians and nurses who may be interested in working at a similar hospital, I comment on some of the challenges for practitioners in such settings. Much of my description exemplifies Paul Farmer's broad concept of structural violence: social and economic inequality that underlies illness and suffering.1 Despite these realities, I found that great satisfaction can come from such work, even if viewed as a glass half empty in contrast to what could be accomplished with fewer obstacles. Although the illnesses of many patients resemble those seen in the US, I include some brief case descriptions of illnesses or disease stages that are more common in Africa and inextricably linked to the physical environment, poverty, and cultural milieu. Although Kenya is one of the more prosperous African countries, its gross domestic product of only $740 per capita is 1.6% of that of the US,2 and nearly everyone in the Maseno area struggles to survive. Subsistence agriculture in worn-out soil containing Striga, a corn-killing weed, is ubiquitous. Most homes have a dung floor and lack indoor plumbing, and obtaining safe water can be daunting. Very few people have electricity. High unemployment and low wages are the norm, and alcoholism and abuse of women are common. It is one of the most troublesome areas in Africa with regard to HIV, and the small Maseno outpatient clinic had about 5000 registered cases. Among the numerous Kenyan tribes, the Luo and Luyia are most populous in the Maseno area. Intertribal animosity prevails. In response to our comment that we had worked among the Luo, a Nairobi taxi driver told us, "They are bad people." This type of bias and the privileges enjoyed by the Kikuyus, the nationally dominant tribe, have fomented postelection, intertribal violence resulting in many casualties. These issues also affect hiring at the hospital and sometimes impair relations between staff and patients. Some patients speak their tribal language, English, and Swahili—the lingua franca of East Africa. However, other patients know only one or two of these languages. It was sometimes necessary for our Swahili-speaking Luo nurse assistant to translate my questions from English to Swahili for a patient's family member, who then translated them into Luyia for the patient. The patient answered in Luyia, which the family member translated to Swahili for our nurse, and the nurse finally related the answer to me in English. This process caused difficulty in obtaining medical histories and, of course, added to the cultural barrier between the patients and me. Some local terms were useful in assessing stool from patients with diarrhea: magi (watery), ugi (semiformed), and ugali (formed—ugali is a food staple in Kenya!). Transportation difficulties and pervasive poverty have major effects on health care. Roads are poor, most people have no car, and many walk, bicycle, or hire a "bicycle taxi," sitting behind the operator. Matutus (minibuses) are the main motorized transportation for most people. They are accessible but lack seatbelts, are often crowded, and are frequently involved in collisions that cause many injuries and deaths. Patients with chronic illness usually purchase only a few days of medication before discharge and cannot obtain more. Thus, proper treatment and monitoring of hypertension, diabetes, and other chronic disorders rarely occur; treatment of acute disease, especially infectious disease, is most effective. Long-term treatment of HIV is an exception, as an American agency provides drugs, some of which are taken to remote villages by motorcycle. Also, antituberculosis therapy is fairly accessible, as three medications are conveniently combined into a single tablet at low cost. Patients may go without surgical procedures they need because they lack the few hundred dollars needed to pay for them; for example, an impoverished, elderly woman with a fractured hip returned to her village untreated. Generally, health care is poor in Kenya. Childhood immunization and use of insecticide-treated bed nets to prevent malaria is far from universal. Roadside clinics and tiny hospitals with only a few beds often treat patients on the basis of a deficient evaluation that leads to incorrect diagnosis and shotgun therapy. Combined antibiotic and antimalarial therapy is frequently administered to febrile children. Provincial hospitals are supposed to accept poor patients, but it is common knowledge that many are turned away or not treated properly. There seemed to be few performance standards for practitioners. Nurses' administration of medications and documentation of drugs given and vital signs were unreliable. Dr Hardison often measured patient temperatures with his own glass thermometer. However, these deficiencies must be viewed in light of the circumstances: some of the staff struggle with HIV themselves, child care is lacking, and home life is rough. For example, one nurse often brought her preschool-aged child to the hospital to play on her ward while she worked, and another nurse came to work with a forehead laceration inflicted by her husband. While surgeons repaired an inguinal hernia, I saw the anesthesiologist walk out of the operating room and remain absent temporarily. Some of the better physicians and nurses leave to accept work elsewhere for a higher salary. One of the greatest contrasts with American medicine that I noticed was a detached attitude toward relieving pain. Not only did patients accept untreated pain more readily than patients in the US, but often nurses did not independently give medication for pain. I think life is so difficult, suffering and death so common, and individual empowerment so limited that acceptance of one's own pain occurs routinely and relieving others' pain has little priority. Our hospital lacked running water, soap, and towels for hand washing, so we used alcohol gel. Electricity could stop unpredictably, such as when the power company shut off electricity after incorrectly concluding that the hospital had missed paying a bill, and paraffin (kerosene) lanterns were available for such occasions. Syringes were poor. The plunger often detached from the rubber tip while medication was drawn, leaving the tip in the barrel before the drug was completely drawn for injection. Potable water was a major issue. As there was no connection with a water supply, cisterns stored rainwater collected from the hospital roofs, from which it was pumped into containers (Figure 1). Although the dark sediment in the water contained bird and monkey excrement as well as ordinary dirt, it was made into coffee and tea after boiling and chemical disinfection. Fortunately, there were competent technicians to promptly perform basic x-ray examinations and laboratory tests, including some special tests needed by HIV patients. Tissue can be examined by a pathologist in Nairobi, but weeks may pass before a report arrives. The pharmacy dispenses basic medications, depending on what is in supply. Since the pharmacy keeps no records of intake and dispensing, theft cannot be identified. There is no blood bank: any blood for transfusion must be obtained from a family member. I never saw a follow-up visit planned for after discharge—patients who feel better are unlikely to return anyway—and there was rarely any information about long-term outcomes, even for patients sent to the provincial hospital. From an educational viewpoint, the variety of diseases I saw in a mere 3 weeks greatly exceeded what I had seen during any similar period in my entire medical career. This was a condensed version of medical school. Almost without exception, patients presented with a more advanced stage than presenting patients in the US. Therefore, physical findings were not subtle and were often of greater value than the history, in contrast to much medical practice in the US. We did not long for advanced diagnostic techniques, although some diagnoses were presumptive. The hospital had some 30-year-old textbooks that were more appropriate for our practice than newer ones—physical findings have not changed, and findings of computerized tomography and specialized laboratory tests are irrelevant in that setting. The books refreshed my memory of diseases I had forgotten and taught me about ones I had never known anything about. I rounded twice a day on an average of about 20 patients with a resident from Tennessee who had trained in both adult medicine and pediatrics; the latter training was especially valuable, as I am an adult gastroenterologist. A 13-year-old boy presented after 1 week of progressive swelling of the left calf. He had a fever (38.6°C) and a tender, enlarged left calf. Blood count revealed a hemoglobin of 10.9 g% and leukocyte count of 15,100/mm3 (81% neutrophils). After 2 days of antibiotic therapy, the leg became fluctuant anteriorly below the knee. A surgeon incised the area, drained more than 100 milliliters of pus, and placed a drain in the cavity. He recovered rapidly. Most tropical pyomyositis, a skeletal muscle infection of hematogenous origin, is caused by Staphylococcus aureus, and it usually occurs in people who are otherwise healthy, in contrast to the immunocompromised state of most patients in temperate regions. I had never heard of this disease. A 9-year-old, HIV-positive girl came from another facility, where she had presented 2 days before with vomiting, mental changes, severe headache, and fever. No cerebrospinal fluid analysis was done, and she worsened after receiving 3 doses of quinine and 1 dose of ceftriaxone. On arrival at Maseno, she was febrile (38.8°C), pale, and weak and had nuchal rigidity. Her hemoglobin was 10.2 g% and her leukocyte count was 14,000/mm3 (86% neutrophils). A blood smear tested negative for malaria, and her spinal fluid was cloudy with >1000 leukocytes/mm3 (84% neutrophils), gram-positive cocci, 28 mg% glucose, and no cryptococci or acid-fast bacilli. She recovered with intravenous ceftriaxone and hydrocortisone. Childhood meningitis is common and, as in this case, sometimes mistakenly treated as malaria. Cryptococcal meningitis occurs in HIV-positive patients. One woman had received a course of antifungal therapy for her initial episode but stopped maintenance therapy, suffered a recurrence, and required a second course along with withdrawal of spinal fluid twice to improve her headache. A 14-year-old orphaned girl cut a heel on glass 9 days before admission. The wound had been sutured elsewhere, and tetanus toxoid was administered; no tetanus immune globulin was given. Two days before admission, muscle spasms occurred. She received diazepam, phenobarbital, and quinine. On transfer, examination revealed fever (38.5°C), trismus, and spasm of neck and back extensors (opisthotonus, Figure 2). We gave her ceftriaxone and diazepam and contacted the provincial hospital—we had no mechanical ventilator, which would likely be needed soon, or tetanus immune globulin. Initially, transfer was refused, but we insisted and provided transport there. We received no outcome report. It is my understanding that tetanus is virtually 100% fatal in Africa. I wish parents who decline immunizations for their children could hear about this case and about the case of the second adolescent I saw with tetanus, whose entry wounds were bites from "jiggers," a common insect. Her grandmother had carried her into the hospital on her back and had diagnosed tetanus, a tragic reflection of the common occurrence in that region of an easily preventable disease. She also went to the provincial hospital, but we received no report. Tetanus must kill many Africans every day. A 61-year-old man reported he had had anorexia, fever, diaphoresis, cough, and headache for 1 month. Examination revealed fever (38.5°C), tachycardia, tachypnea, and coarse inspiratory rales in the left axilla. Hemoglobin was 8.6 g% and leukocyte count was 7000/mm3. Chest x-ray showed extensive opacification of the left lung. His HIV test result was positive and his serum Cryptococcal-antigen test result was negative. Acid-fast bacilli were found in the sputum. He rapidly became afebrile after starting antituberculosis therapy. Tuberculous pneumonia is much more common in Africa than in the US, and I saw patients with extrapulmonary tuberculosis, including cervical lymphadenitis (scrofula) and bone involvement. A 35-year-old woman was admitted after 2 months of cough and diaphoresis. Two years earlier, an invasive, intraductal carcinoma had been excised from her left breast; surgical margins tested positive. Six months before admission, a mass became visible on the breast, and she started chemotherapy but stopped after 2 months because she did not have the $250 required to continue. One week earlier, the result of an HIV test was positive. Examination revealed rales throughout her chest and hepatomegaly. Her left breast was replaced by a large ulcerated tumor. The right breast also had a mass. Chest x-ray showed bilateral fluffy infiltrates. Her sputum tested negative for acid-fast bacilli. Mercifully, she died 2 days later. We suspected that additional surgery had been advised after the initial resection and that she could not afford it. The appearance of the poorly treated breast cancer is unforgettable. A 27-year-old woman was hospitalized because of several hours of chest pain, generalized abdominal pain, and headache. Examination revealed costochondral tenderness and generalized abdominal tenderness. Blood count, electrocardiogram findings, and abdominal ultrasound findings were normal. I suspected functional pain and asked a nurse from her tribe to chat with her outside the hospital. After half an hour, she told me that the patient had problems interacting with her mother-in-law. She further told me that women there do not tell each other about such problems ("African women can't talk about it."), fearing retribution, and that some women with interpersonal conflict commit suicide. I suspect that somatization is underdiagnosed in Africa at least as often as in the US, despite the dominance of organic disease. Manifestation of mental anguish as physical symptoms is probably a universal human reaction to circumstances as varied as the reasons for Tolstoy's unhappy families, depending on the cultural context. A 43-year-old woman reported a 13-year history of enlarging neck mass, 1 week of leg swelling, and 3 days of dyspnea and orthopnea. She had a giant, grapefruit-sized goiter, bibasilar rales, decreased breath sounds, a holosystolic murmur of mitral insufficiency, hepatomegaly, and lower-extremity edema. Chest x-ray showed pulmonary edema. Ultrasonography confirmed hepatomegaly and revealed a few nodular, calcified areas in the thyroid. We treated her congestive heart failure with furosemide and spironolactone. It is almost unthinkable that in the US a goiter would not have been removed before reaching this size. A 27-year-old woman complained of abdominal pain that had started 2 days earlier in the epigastrium and moved to the lower abdomen. She had vomited 1 day before and had noted menstrual spotting 3 weeks earlier. Initially, her blood pressure was 100/70 mm Hg, and she had generalized abdominal tenderness. Within a few hours, her blood pressure was 90/50 mm Hg and her pulse was 110 beats per minute. Her hemoglobin was 6.3 g%. The urine test result for human chorionic gonadotropin was positive. Ultrasound examination revealed intra-abdominal fluid and a mass near the uterus. Needle aspiration of the abdomen yielded blood that did not clot. Surgery revealed a 2.5-L hemoperitoneum, and the surgeon successfully managed her ruptured ectopic pregnancy but did not return to see her postoperatively. Ironically, this patient's condition was diagnosed as promptly as some similar cases would have been in the US, after delays due to specialist consultation and imaging procedures. Generalists in developing countries perform ultrasonography and find that it confirms diagnoses at low cost and saves lives. However, if this patient had not been able to pay the surgeon, she likely would have died untreated. A 66-year-old man had experienced oral pain onset when eating 10 months earlier, and painful ulcers later developed on his trunk and extremities. Examination revealed oral ulcers and multiple, large cutaneous ulcers with peripheral collapsed bullae (Figure 3). The Nikolsky sign was present. We treated his severe pemphigus vulgaris with high-dose prednisone and applied glucocorticoid cream to the lesions every day and covered them with autoclaved, Vaseline-soaked gauze. The oral lesions disappeared, and the skin ulcers showed evidence of early, peripheral healing and became less painful. After about 10 days, we discharged him with prednisone. Before leaving, this gentle, thankful man told me, "Wherever you go, remember Africa." I was saddened to learn months later that he died. Details are lacking, but sepsis is suspected. He had consulted a dermatologist in Kisumu, but it is likely that no glucocorticoid-sparing drug was available or he could not afford it. There were many other disorders. Notably, we treated babies and young children for falciparum malaria nearly every day using reliable intravenous quinine. The World Health Organization had recently announced that much of a supply of a major alternative, an artemisinin derivative, that had been provided to some African countries had been diluted, so that the doses on the labels were unreliable. Only 1 patient succumbed to malaria, a 2-year-old girl with a hemoglobin level of 3 g% who died within minutes of arrival, before we could start treatment. Many adults have a positive result for malaria on blood smear and their partial immunity, due to multiple childhood episodes, prevents severe symptoms; no patient older than 18 years was hospitalized for malaria during our stay. An extraordinarily dedicated Irishman named Desmond was working with a faith-based organization and usually arrived at the hospital in the afternoon with a patient suffering from AIDS, typically quite debilitated. Desmond had provided transportation from the patient's village. We decided whether the patient could be helped in the hospital or should be transported back home, often to die soon. Obstetrical care was especially deficient, as evidenced by exsanguination of a woman after vaginal delivery; the woman had previously undergone a cesarean section. This event is nearly unheard of in the US. The exact cause of bleeding was not determined, and pharmacologic therapy was not given. Unfortunately, Dr Hardison's broad skills did not include deliveries, but he would have had little time to manage them anyway. Burns occurred when children tipped over lit lanterns, spilling burning kerosene on themselves. My wife and I cared for a 10-year-old orphaned girl with kerosene burns on her abdomen and extremities with daily debridement and application of silver sulfadiazine cream. Another memorable case was a young man with acute psychosis whose hallucinations responded to chlorpromazine. I heard of cases of blindness caused by drinking changa, a home brew to which antifreeze is sometimes added. The patient who admonished me to remember Africa probably did not know that I would retain such vivid memories of my experiences. I think the reason I recall them so clearly is that I had to step out of my customary, narrow medical track and depend on myself more than I did in San Diego. And, of course, the focus in Africa was more intense—there was little else to do but take care of patients—and the context and maladies were quite foreign. Of course, I could not help but wonder what measures would most improve the lives of these people. Better governance and more equitable distribution of resources are required. Then more people could have improved sanitation, electricity, and clean water. Until such changes occur, chance will determine the quality of life for many, including the quality of their medical care. More than three years later, I still wonder what has happened to my patients. I'm sure the adolescents with tetanus died, but did the children with meningitis suffer permanent cognitive effects? Did the burned girl get a fatal infection after going home? Also, how many of the cheerful children I saw walking to a nearby school each morning will survive malaria or get tetanus or HIV? Despite these lingering worries, I highly recommend this type of experience. I had doubts about my ability to help both pediatric and adult patients with unfamiliar diseases in a foreign setting with restricted resources. I am sure many readers have the same concerns, but basic skills, energy, access to needed information, and the flexibility to adapt to reduced conveniences and technology can broaden our abilities beyond the narrower responsibilities most of us have. The experience helped me realize that no matter how great my deficiencies were, many patients would do worse without me. Dr Hardison once said to me, "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." I think my efforts helped many patients. No matter what your medical specialty or experience, you can serve in Africa and find some of the greatest professional fulfillment of your career. I thank my wife, Karen, for helping make our experience in Africa so rewarding and for her helpful editorial comments. I thank anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. 1. Farmer P, Sen A. Pathologies of power: health, human rights, and the new war on the poor. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press; 2003. 2. The Economist pocket world in figures. London, UK: Profile Books Ltd; 2012.

2019-04-26T15:36:10Z

http://www.thepermanentejournal.org/issues/2013/fall/5540-africa.html

When you test and track your website, you can find out where you’re best customers are coming from and what changes you should make. When you track, you can examine these factors and when you test you can try to change some of these factors. Tracking means you look at where the traffic is coming from and testing means you’re changing what’s on your page once they arrive. To track, use Google Analytics. You sign up with Google Analytics, you paste a small block of code on your site and now you can see how many people come to your site, where they come from, and what they do on your page. You can also use AWStats which is a free tool inside of the cpanel backends in your webhost. You test your site and with this you use Google Website Optimizer. What you do here is set up two versions of your opt-in page. Version A might have one headline. Version B will have a different headline and Google Website Optimizer will make sure to send half of the traffic to page A, half of the traffic to page B, and figure out which one of those made more people sign up. And if there is even a small improvement, for example, if one page makes ten out of every 100 people sign up and the other page makes 15 out of every 100 people sign up. That might be significant enough to keep the changes and now if thousands of people happen to sign up on that opt-in page over time, that amounts to a large number of subscribers, and once you have a winner you can repeat and test it against a different headline. And, that ‘s how you test and track. Use Google Analytics and AWStats to find your traffic sources and Google Website Optimizer to improve your webpage conversion. You can try all the latest greatest traffic fads that you want but forums and blogs will get you visitors to your site over and over forever. A forum is a message board where people go to start conversations and reply to them, and a blog is a journal where one person adds posts to a website and the visitors can come and leave comments. But they are both sites that are regarded highly in the search engines and contain lots of content which means that many of them are high traffic sites. Lots of people are on these sites at any given time. If you can have even a few links from those sites to yours, you can capture a small piece of a very big pie. The easy way to get a link to your site is from a forum and not all forums are created equally. But the good ones allow you to place a signature link underneath every post you make. What happens is you register for an account at a forum that you can add to the discussion. You find people asking questions or speaking about subjects that you know about, and you help. You answer questions, you give advice. You are not there to promote yourself. You simply add to the discussion. After you make about 25 of these posts which might take a day or two, it’s time to edit your profile. And, many of these forums will allow you to place a bit of text or a text link underneath every single post you make on that forum or message board. And, if you go to a forum and you see that a lot of people have this link under their name, it’s a good place to sign up and start talking because now you have a extra link back to your site for every message you have left there. If you have 50 posts, that is 50 links back to your site. You can have a signature link. You can place a special offer if the forum allows it and if the forum has Chitika or Adsense ads, you can run a ad campaign and target that specific site that every page of that site links back to you. Blogs are slightly different. With a blog, one person posts, many people comments and there are a few ways to get links to your site. Many people wrongly believe that having a link from a blog is not worth it because it is usually a nofollow link. Meaning that search engines are told not to count it and increase the ranking if a good site links to it but that doesn’t matter because we’re trying to get regular human visitors on a blog to click back to us. And, that means that if you leave a blog comment and type in your url with the comment, every comment that you leave means a link back to your site. Fifty comments means fifty links. You can write a blog post and submit it to that blog owner as a guest blog post, and at the bottom have an “about the author” box and link back to your site. You can give them banner ads or a site target, their domain name if they have an adsense ad. But that’s how to get links back and traffic from forums and blogs. The bottom line is that you should be sending your traffic back to some kind of an opt-in page, and look at how much of that traffic comes from a particular site. If you see that you get a lot of clicks, opt-ins and sales from a particular message board or blog, repeat it. It means go back and devote more time to posting on that forum or blog because that brings you in some subscribers and money. When you set up your signup form for your autoresponder, you usually have a choice of single opt-in which is also called unconfirmed opt-in and double opt-in which is also called confirmed opt-in. Let’s make sure you understand the difference and you know which one you should use. Single opt-in means there is no confirmation email. Someone comes to you to your webpage, you offer them a free gift. They type in their name and email address, and their immediately redirected to that free gift. And, they are also immediately placed on your email subscriber list. The problem with this is that any person can type in any email address and that person will be added to your list but someone was playing a joke and adding someone else to your autoresponder. The alternative is double opt-in which is where someone needs to confirm to receive the gift. They come to your site, they see they want the gift. They type in their first name, their email address, they click send but instead of receiving the gift right away they are shown a message that says to check their email inbox for a confirmation link. They go to their email program, they get the mail. They see that message and they have to click on a very special link to get redirected to the gift. And now, and only now are they placed on your list of email subscribers. The advantage to this is that you have a cleaner list and you can prove basically that anyone who chose to join actually does have control over that email account. But the problem with this is that it’s a very confusing process for someone to take. Before they filled in a form and clicked the gift, now they fill in the form, check their email, click a link and finally, collect the gift and there are many places where you could lose them. They might not think to check their email. They might check their email and the confirmation message does not appear right away. A number of things can happen but either way you should give people something to do while they wait. Which means that if you have a single opt-in and unconfirmed process, give them the download gift but afterwards send them to your sales letter where they can possibly buy something. If you have a double opt-in, instead of showing them the usual “check your email and confirm your opt-in message,” send them to your sales letter with a box at the top saying “Check your email to confirm your subscription.” That way they always end up no matter what at your sales letter, there is no dead end. Now comes the question, should you use single unconfirmed opt-in or double confirmed opt-in, And, the answer is use single opt-in whenever possible because it’s easier on your subscribers and you’ll build a list faster that way. Remember that most autoresponders will handle email bounces which means if someone types in a fake email address, it would automatically remove that. And, all emails come with an unsubscribe link and keeps a record of the IP address and location where someone joined your list. That way even if someone places a spam complaint, you can prove that someone somewhere joined your list. If you don’t yet have an email responder service to build a list of email subscribers, you need to sign up for an account right away but getting an account is not enough. You need to also set-up a signup form but if you place a signup form on any old webpage, the average person is not going to know to fill in their information unless they really want to hear from you again. Let’s make it as easy as possible and create a full forced opt-in page which is a page where there’s nothing else people can do other than to sign up for your mailing list, and that’s it. There are no links to say “no thanks.” There are no links to other sites. There is nothing someone can do on this page but sign up for your mailing list and collect a free gift. To make your forced opt-in page convert a little bit better, you can create several of them and welcome particular visitors from a certain traffic source. If you have Joe Smith as one of your affiliates, you can have that opt-in page say, “Welcome Joe Smith Subscribers.” If you’re promoting on a real estate forum, you can have that particular landing page say, “Welcome Real Estate Forum Visitors.” But it helps to customize your offer based on how people ended up on your landing page or forced opt-in page. And, all that’s left is to promote that gift at the forum you want, from your blog or on someone else’s site. But not only do you need to have an autoresponder account set-up and you create a form and put it on a webpage, but also promote this on forums, blogs or othere websites. If you really want to have a list of subscribers in your autoresponders that are eager to get your messages, who read what you say, click on what you tell them to go to, and buy. You need to have a list of buyers. Having that freebie list built from forced opt-in pages and blog opt-in pages are great but nothing beats a buyers list. To build this kind of list, you need to have a list from the right crowd. Make sure people sign up or opt-in after purchase, introduce yourself, and tell them about your other offers. It’s one thing to send traffic to a forced opt-in page where there’s nothing for sale, where they only have to their name and email address. But it’s another thing to send people to your site, have them buy the first time they see your sales letter, and get them to opt-in afterwards. And, a really great source of traffic for this is from message boards or forums because you can contribute lots of good information, get people to know they can trust you, by that time they click over to your they know you and they are ready to buy, and now you’ve built a new subscriber from that buyer. The same thing could be true on Facebook or Twitter if you do enough one-on-one interaction. Now, the easy way to build a list of buyers is to get people to buy and place an email opt-in form on your download page. Somebody clicked, they bought, they downloaded now they are signing up for updates and depending on your autoresponder and payment processor, for example, Aweber and PayPal. You can set things up so that when somebody pays you money, they are automatically subscribed to your mailing list. And, now you have these ultra qualified buyers who you can use to get testimonials from, get feedback or even tell them about your future offers. But you can’t do that unless you send them messages to those buyers. Make sure as soon as they get on this buyers list, you introduce yourself. You tell them who you are. You tell them how they can get to that download and what other kinds of things you offer and over time, promote your other offers and explain why because they bought this product. Product number two is perfect for them as well. Even for large membership site, you don’t have to spend tons of time taking care of your members and adding in new content. In fact it is very easy and tempting to overload your members by updating too much and piling too much into that site. All you need to maintain a membership site is about one hour per week. And here’s how I would structure it, 30 minutes for content, 20 minutes for promotion, and 10 minutes for maintenance. With the membership site, one big piece per week is all you really need. This might be 30 minutes making a video, or an audio, or a handful of articles, but you can compress a lot of good information into one single block of time, then, that’s good enough. Hence, what you can do then is have one big piece and cut it up into smaller pieces like, 15-minute interviews or fifteen minute halves. You can take your one 30-minute video and add an assignment to the end of the video that drips out a few days later. You can add a checklist or places you were able to brag about, what you have done or a quick start guide a few days after that. But if you just have one chunk of content every week, you can then build on that. And 30 minutes is good enough. An hour of content recording is good if you want to have a higher priced membership site, but basically, 30 minutes of recording video content. But content is not enough, you also need to promote your site and get new members in to replace the ones that drop out every now and then. So spend 20 minutes doing something to get either one new member in or one new person to promote. This might mean posting a special offer on a forum, contacting someone new to be an affiliates or even just e-mailing your subscribers and talking to people one on one and asking them, what will it take to get them inside of your membership site. And for the remaining 10 minutes added every week, you do need to just check in and make sure that everything is okay with your membership site. Some people may not know this, that they can grab their lost password and need to tell them the password. Some people might have left comments or forum posts that you need to moderate and make them live or even respond to people who have asked questions or run across problems. You also might tweak your membership site theme, or plug-ins, or structure for those few minutes because we are always improving, because you don’t have to set-up your membership site perfect the first time, just get something out there and improve it incrementally as it goes on. When you have a monthly membership site, people will drop out from time to time, sometimes in their control, sometimes it’s not. But you can take a few preventive measures to make sure that if they have a choice, your members will stay inside your site as long as possible. Be upfront about your rebilling, announce what content is ahead, and keep in touch with your members using e-mail follow-ups. It just is common sense on your sales letter to tell people what amount they will be charged every month and how much will they be charged. But far too many people skip this step. If you’re offering a hundred dollar per month membership site then tell people that when they buy they will be billed $100 immediately, and then $100 every 30 days until they cancel. You would be amazed that people who get confused about this. They might think that it’s free now but they won’t be charged until 30 days, or that they will be billed every 31 days, or on the first of the month, so you need to tell them ahead of time this is exactly what you’re being charged. And this is a good reason to avoid trial offers, or up sells, or forth-cut nudie when a monthly membership site is concerned. Tell them what and when they will be billed and bill them in exchange for the content or the services inside of the membership site. And once you were inside the membership site, tell them what content is coming. Will you be providing two audio files per month, What day of the month will they be played out, Tell them and let them expect it. Even if you say it on the sales letter, it really can’t hurt when they log in to the site to see what’s coming up and you might actually save a few cancellations. What if one of your customers sees that they have been billed, logs in to cancel, but then notices that if they just wait a few more days they would have access to a video that they really want. Make it simple and tell your members what content is ahead. But you can’t expect them to keep logging in and checking in, can you, That is why you should also keep in touch with e-mail follow-ups. Tell them what’s coming out tomorrow. Tell them what you just posted, tell them what you posted last week, but think of an excuse to contact those members at least once per week either telling them about new content or asking them to participate in some way. Every blog post you have in your membership site could be an excuse to mail. Every comment someone leaves in a blog post could be an excuse, every form post, or apply in a form post can be an excuse to mail as well. So get your paying customers to log back into your membership site so that they actually consume what they are paying for. And those are some easy ways to keep people or retain members in your membership site. Be upfront about the price and the rebilling, announce content that’s coming up, and keep in touch about your e-mail responder about what content you just added. And the thing you need to know about outsourcing anything especially membership sites is that you do not have to outsource the entire thing. And I’m not even sure that everything can be outsourced at all. I trust myself. I trust myself to make my own videos, or make my own connections, or get my own traffic, but I am okay with outsourcing the non-creative items. For example, if I make a video and I want to add a transcript, I trust other people to make transcripts out of those videos. If I am running low on membership site content, I trust many other marketers who offer resell rights to have decent content, and I have no problem purchasing resell rights from others to use as content inside the membership site. I am fine with buying a design or a WordPress theme or paying someone to have graphics made for me, but I still want to make my own videos and do my own promotions. Outsource the non-creative laborious stuff that takes you a lot of time and do the creative parts on your own. And also, make sure that you automate most of your membership site software as possible. For example, with a software like wish list member, you can automate not just a part really were they buy but also the security which cuts off their access when they cancel. If someone loses their password, WordPress will take care of resetting their password or e-mailing a new one to them. A lot of the tasks that go towards maintaining your membership site are not that difficult and you can devote just an hour a week towards making sure everyone who has cancelled is cancelled, anyone who asked for a password has a new one, and anyone whose payment didn’t go through is taken care of. But, don’t think about outsourcing or membership site outsourcing as an all or nothing choice. You can outsource the things that take you too long or that you don’t want to do and leave the creative stuff to yourself.

2019-04-20T19:04:42Z

http://crackingentrepreneurcodebook.com/2018/03/

In this Colorín Colorado Meet the Experts interview, filmmaker Ken Schneider offers a behind-the-scenes look at Speaking in Tongues, a documentary about dual-language education that he directed with Marcia Jarmel. Ken shares some of the personal experiences that led him and Marcia to make Speaking in Tongues, as well as in-depth profiles of the students and families featured in the film. He also discusses reactions to the documentary and suggestions for individuals who wish to host their own screening. In part II of our interview, Ken shares his own families' experiences with dual-language education and talks about what it's like for parents who may not speak the language(s) their children are learning in an immersion program. The full transcript of Part I & II is available below, and this podcast can also be downloaded from our Meet the Experts iTunes page. Lydia: Welcome to this podcast from Colorín Colorado, a bilingual website providing information for parents and educators of English language learners. I'm your host, Lydia Breiseth, and in this installment of our Meet the Experts interview series, you'll get a behind-the-scenes look at Speaking in Tongues, a documentary about dual-language education directed by Ken Schneider and Marcia Jarmel. The film follows four students from San Francisco enrolled in different dual-language programs. Ken stopped by our offices recently to talk about Speaking in Tongues, and he started by sharing some of the personal experiences that led him and Marcia to make the film. Ken: 10 years ago, our eldest son was ready to go to kindergarten and we had to make the first momentous decision of our educational career as parents, and we did a core values check-in and then decided we really wanted our kids to have the gift of multilingualism, which was the one thing we could not give them at home. So we toured various schools, Spanish, Mandarin, and Cantonese language schools, and put him in a Cantonese dual-immersion public school. When we told our community, friends and loved ones about this, we received in response, one of two responses, either "Hmm, interesting," or, "Why Chinese?" And we marveled at that and thought that maybe there was some fear of the unknown, maybe a little veiled racism. And then four years later, in the year 2004, we sent our second son to the same school. And universally the response we got was, "Chinese, how wonderful." And we marveled at this again and assumed that, since we hadn't changed and the school hadn't changed, that what had changed was the culture and that maybe the culture was actually evolving in its attitude around dual-language education. In the early years of being a parent of a dual-language kid, we were really just appreciating it all, and then at a certain point, we noticed that inside the classroom was this interesting, it was almost a new melting pot of America. There were people like ourselves whose kids were in the program because the parents wanted the kids to become global citizens. There were…parents who put their kids in there because they thought it would elevate their academic achievement. There were parents who put their kids in there because the parents themselves had lost their heritage language to assimilation, and they recognized that if they didn't educate their child in their heritage language, then not only the linguistic but also the cultural line in their household would be severed. There were people who were new immigrant families who felt that dual language was the best way to integrate their kids into American culture while maintaining their home language. So, in this melting pot, we saw what we felt were some of the pressing issues in our culture today: academic achievement, immigrant integration, learning new languages as a 21st-century skill, and out of that came the seeds of Speaking in Tongues. Julia (Julian's mom): "It's about being a good world citizen. You see what's going on everywhere else, within America and even outside of America." Maria (Jason's mom): "Para que él esté mejor preparado cuando el esté grande, que busque un trabajo mejor, va a tener doble oportunidad si habla los dos lenguas." Jenny (Kelly's mom): "I can speak maybe 10 words of Chinese. So I didn't really feel qualified to pass on the language. And I knew by the time they had kids, it would be pretty much lost." Ijnanya (EJ, Durell's mom): "It's a way out and also a way in. This will introduce him to more things. He'll have more options." Ken: When we started making the film, of course, we were so fascinated by our own kids' experience at our own school that we thought we're going to make a profile of the school because we thought it would be interesting to look at language through the lens of Chinese, which for many people is not as fraught as looking at the Spanish-language programs, which have been perceived by many Americans to have been a failure. Ultimately we realized that to really take on language we had to look at not only American-born kids learning Chinese but also non-native English speakers learning English while raising their own mother tongue to academic levels, and we knew we had to contend not just with Chinese, which many people associate with globalization and job opportunities, but also that we had to look at Spanish acquisition, at immigrants from our southern border, and out of that potentially very complicated story, we decided to focus on four kids, each of whom represented a different gradation of this story of language acquisition. So, the intent is really to put on the same plane somebody like my own child, an American-born Caucasian kid who is learning a second language and becoming a global citizen, with an immigrant from another culture who is mastering English while continuing study in their mother tongue. Those are really the same thing. The idea is that wherever you start from, regardless of your home language, regardless of your class or your ethnicity, learning in a multiple language is an asset. It's an asset for you, for your family, for your community and, we would argue, it's an asset for the country. EJ: "I think people are a little skeptical about how it works. People say that, you know, if their children are learning 90% in Chinese, how are they going to learn English, who's going to talk to them, but I'd rather Durell have something different in his background, rather than just regular kindergarten." Ken: So, we have four kids profiled in Speaking in Tongues and the first one is a kindergartener named Durell. He is an African American boy living in public housing. He has a single mom and his mom had the vision to put him in a Mandarin immersion program. Durell is doing quite well in the program. He reads, writes, and speaks Mandarin, and his challenge is that when he goes back home to his community, there are no other models for kids who are studying Chinese or studying any second language for that matter. He's a bit on an island, and in his class as well there's not many African Americans, just one or two others, and most African-American families we spoke to from his neighborhood are not willing to put their kids in that program. They see it as a potential burden and what they really want is their kids to be successful, and for most families we talked to success means completing, graduating school, not necessarily acquiring a second or third language. So, Durell is a pioneer and he and his mom and the school are hoping that his example will encourage other African Americans across class to sign up for language immersion programs. Jason: "I think I'm a typical normal kid. My family speaks Spanish, but I can speak two languages. I like rock, the Beatles, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple." Laura (Jason's teacher): "I think it's a social thing, as kids get stronger and stronger in English, their social alliances and ties sometimes change. If Jason did not attend this kind of school, he would definitely lose the Spanish, all of his writing and reading and Spanish skills would be gone, definitely." Ken: There's a fifth grade boy named Jason Patiño. Jason's parents are Mexican immigrants. They have no education in any language. Now typically, Jason would be in an English-only classroom and his Spanish would never exceed the level of his parents uneducated Spanish. His parents had the courage to put him in a Spanish immersion program which means that he is learning content, academic content, in both English and Spanish. He can read and write in Spanish which his parents cannot and his level of spoken Spanish, now he's in ninth grade, already exceeds that of his parents. So, Jason will be an ambassador and a liaison from his parents into their community, and there's confusion about this. Many people say, "Well, isn't Jason's English going to be diminished because he's spending so much time on Spanish?" Actually, it's just the opposite. It's not an either/or — it's a both/and. Because Jason is continuing to learn in his home language, Spanish, his English will actually exceed that of his counterparts who are in English-only classrooms. There's some pretty good data about that. Jason's dad, José, is a central Mexican immigrant with no education. He has a lot of inherent intelligence and integrity and he and his wife, Maria, put Jason and his two younger brothers in Spanish immersion for this very reason: they wanted him to be successful both in the language of their adopted country and in their mother tongue. José can't imagine a scenario in which they didn't share Spanish. The Spanish, your native tongue, after all, is your language of deep emotion. It's your language of family heritage. It's the language where you hear the stories of your family and your heritage and your country, in some cases of your religion and if the parent speaks that but the child doesn't, there's a chasm which you can never cross and parents like José and Maria recognize that. Kelly: "It's kind of harder to say stuff in Chinese, because I usually speak English and some things I don't know how to say in Chinese and she doesn't understand me, but I also like speaking to her in Chinese because I can practice my language with her and she always tells me if I say something wrong so she can help me fix it." Ken: Our third kid is a girl named Kelly Wong and Kelly's grandparents speak Cantonese but her parents lost it due to shame and their desire as young people to assimilate, to become white, to become American, to not be called by their grandmother in Chinese in front of their other friends and Kelly is bringing Cantonese language and culture back into the household. Julia: "Julian came home one day and he said, 'Mom, I'm Chinese, aren't I?' And I didn't quite know how to respond to that, I didn't want to burst his bubble and say that he wasn't Chinese. But you know I thought that was really great that he thought he was part of this and he didn't see himself as any different than the other children there, who were obviously Chinese." Julian: "It's fun to be just part of a language, be part of a culture. I personally want to go to China. I'm definitely looking forward to just go there and see if my language skills are worth a hoot." Ken: Our fourth kid is in the film he's an eighth grader, now he's a college senior and his name is Julian Edis. He's a Caucasian American. He speaks Mandarin and Cantonese as well as English. He reads and writes all three languages and in eighth grade he went with a school trip to China, spoke Chinese, made a Chinese speech, had various adventures in Beijing in the south and is poised to be a successful 21st-century American. It would have been great to make a film like 28 Up by Michael Apted where we would follow somebody over time, have a longitudinal study. Those films are hard to make, they're hard to fund, and we decided to make a basically a composite character; Durell the kindergartener, Kelly the fifth grader, Jason the sixth grader, Julian the eighth grader, and so what you see is what it's like from your first day of kindergarten when somebody's speaking a strange language to you until you graduate middle school, where you can travel to China and navigate your way through the market and bargain. Lydia: I then asked Ken how he and Marcia found the dynamic students and families that we get to know throughout the film. Ken: The dirty little secret of documentary is a word that is usually associated with Hollywood: casting. Marcia Jarmel and I, my co-producer and partner by the way, when we make films, we are making character-driven documentaries, and what that means is that characters come first and if there are any issues, the issues are embedded in the character's stories, not the other way around. So, we cast about looking for characters who are both compelling on camera, and that includes their families by the way, because we knew we wanted to go home with each of our characters, and we also look for people whose character arcs would tell stories and would reflect issues. So, Durell in a sense is an advertisement that this can work for anybody because often times people say "Oh, these are boutique programs that appeal to middle class people with lots of resources," and what not. Well, Durell's family shows that what you really need is, you need will and an involved parent and you can be successful and each of the kids is reflective, representative of another side of this language immersion portrait. We found these kids by choosing schools first. In San Francisco, there's about 16 schools that have some language-immersion component. We met with principals, we met with teachers, we did a lot of research, we went to schools without the camera and once we knew what we were looking for, the characters revealed themselves. During the filming there were two moments that come to mind where we really felt like we're in some transcendent moment and that we had captured on film. The first one is a very simple moment. We are interviewing Durell and his mother in their home and his mother is recounting the story of how they were shopping at Nordstrom's and how Durell translated for an elderly Chinese woman and she at first had not paid any attention to him, but when he translated for her because her English was lacking, she responded by saying in her broken English "You speak Chinese better than my grandchildren. One day you'll be Ambassador to China." And that to me was a perfect metaphor for language immersion. A really magical moment happened after Jason's graduation, Jason being our Mexican-American boy from an immigrant family; we interviewed his father, José, and he could not contain his emotions. It was his first child to graduate anywhere and we're talking about a fifth-grade graduation here and José was overcome with emotion, and not just the pleasure of bringing a child to this point which is a real parenting rite of passage, but also that he knew that his son was going to be okay in the world. He had English, he had Spanish, he was skilled, he was going to make it. Lydia: As we prepared for the interview, Ken mentioned that a number of scenes hadn't made it into the film. I asked him to tell us about the material that had been left on the cutting room floor. Ken: The cutting room is lousy with good stories and this is always a tough moment when you let go of some of your favorite stories in the film. One we really wanted to tell but just barely glanced by is the story of integration. Durell's story in particular offers the possibility of using the language immersion program as a way to integrate the classroom. It has been complicated because very few other members of Durell's community, that is African Americans, have signed up for this program and we explored it more in-depth why that is and that unfortunately is in the cutting room floor but it will be on our website very soon. We also had a deeper exploration of the brain which will also be on our website because there's some very interesting brain research on particularly about the young brain which is very supple and can take in new languages and the young brain which is exposed to new language early will then be able to speak that language without an accent, and if you learn a language at age 12 or 13 or 14 which is when most Americans actually do learn a language in school, I wouldn't say it's too late but the optimal window has begun to close, so we had a more of an explanation of that story on the cutting room floor. Lydia: Given the wide range of opinions surrounding dual-language learning, I asked Ken what reaction to the film had been like. Before we hear from him though, we'll hear from community activist and professor Dr. Ling-chi Wang. Dr. Ling-chi Wang: "I think it's really kind of ironic that in America, in the past, we tried everything that we can possibly do through our educational process to purge the linguistic ability of the children of different language backgrounds as they enter into the school district, and then succeed in purging, whether it be Chinese, Spanish, or French, or whatever language, and then when they get to college level, then we spend millions in college education to try to teach some college students the same languages that we succeeded in purging out of our children. Imagine if we are able to capture these assets and retain them and then use them. America is really linguistically the richest country in the world." Ken: People respond very differently to dual language depending on who's taking it. So, for example, no one I spoke to resists the idea of an American-born Caucasian kid learning a foreign language. If it's an American-born Asian American kid, for example, many people think, well, that kid should learn Chinese at home. That's the domain of the family. If it's a Latino kid who is born abroad and immigrated here, there's widespread resistance to that child learning in Spanish even while they're also acquiring English. So, yeah, people respond very differently and I think there's a lot of confusion there. I think there's great debate about integration and people when they look at Spanish bilingual programs, Spanish dual-language programs they see this through the overlay of their feelings of integration in our southern border. When you talk about Chinese acquisition, people think of job opportunities. When you mention Arabic immersion, which has been attempted in one or two communities in the country but has been protested widely, people bring their opinions about Arabic, the Middle East, and about Muslims into that discussion. So, I think people…I think Americans are still warming up to the idea of having languages as an asset, and we're working to educate the country on this very issue. We've got this big outreach campaign now for Speaking in Tongues and communities around the country are showing it and I mean around the country, every region. This is not a border issue, it's not a New York, Miami, Houston, L.A. issue anymore, and communities are using it to open up discussions and in some cases to create a measured discussion where before there was only heat. So for example, in Lake Tahoe, California the suggested opening of a new Spanish-immersion school raised incredible ire from half the community and discussion was stopped. A group came in and brought our film and created a series of town hall-type meetings and now there's a more measured discussion. In Utah, who has the most new Chinese-immersion programs of anywhere in the country, the state superintendent of schools is using a customized, Utah-centric version of the film to travel around the state and gain support for this program because they recognize that multilingualism is a fundamental 21st-century skill. The other thing is that right now there's great discussion around educational reform. There's a very prominent film called Waiting for Superman which is making a big splash. I think there's confusion about where and when and how the public schools do and do not succeed, and I think our film and the programs it profiles represent something to reach for, not something to react against and it's not a panacea. There is no single panacea, you know, poets in the schools and arts in the schools and all that, they're all essential building blocks, but I think that the language-immersion education could and should be part of this national dialogue on what is the role of the public schools in the 21st century. Lydia: In addition to the great behind-the-scenes information on Speaking in Tongues, Ken also offered some ideas for people who are interested in hosting their own screening of the film. Ken: Educators, parents and advocates who have been hosting screenings in their communities have started with our website, where there's a lot of resources on our website. I would recommend to them that they start to bring together the stakeholders in their communities so people who are most against this idea and people who are most for it and try to use the film to create a dialogue, because the film is about stories, it's about success stories of kids who are in various language-immersion programs, and I think that community advocates have to start thinking about what to reach towards, not necessarily what to react against. Lydia: As we reached the end of Part I of the interview, Ken talked about what he and Marcia would be working on next. Ken: So, our next film is about a young man who, as part of his Bar Mitzvah rite of passage, has to do a community service project and he chooses to collect baseball equipment, he's an avid baseballer, and send it to Cuba, and he chooses Cuba not for any political reasons but because his Grandpa, who was a Holocaust refugee, was refused entry into the U.S. but was sheltered by Cuba during World War II and this young man who is 13, now 14, finds that sending the equipment to Cuba quite literally requires an act of Congress, and so the film is in part coming of age story, part road movie, and part geopolitical mystery. Lydia: This brings us to the end of Part I of our interview with Ken Schneider. In Part II, Ken talks about his children's dual-language program. Learn more about Speaking in Tongues and find out how you can host your own screening of the film at www.speakingintonguesfilm.info. Thank you for listening to this Colorín Colorado podcast, made possible by the American Federation of Teachers and public broadcasting station WETA. Additional support is provided by the Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. To listen to part two of the interview with Ken, visit www.colorincolorado.org. Lydia: Welcome to this podcast from Colorín Colorado, a bilingual website providing information for parents and educators of English language learners. I'm your host, Lydia Breiseth, and this is part II of our interview with filmmaker Ken Schneider. He and partner Marcia Jarmel are the creators of Speaking in Tongues, a documentary about dual-language education. You'll hear Ken talk about his own families' experiences with a dual-language program, as well as a brief segment from the documentary itself. Ken: Well, you have to remember that a kindergartener has no other experience of school but the one they're in. So, our kids' kindergarten experience was that 90% of their lessons were given in Chinese and somewhere around November my older son said to me "Daddy, did you go into kindergarten?" And I said, "Yeah" and he said "Well, was your kindergarten in English or Chinese?" And that was a reminder that his whole frame of reference was this little life experience he'd already had, so to him it wasn't unusual or strange or different, just, it was. And because they start learning from day one of kindergarten in the target language which in their case was Cantonese, they learned it almost like any of us learn our mother tongue: grownups talking at them, and within the first few days of school he was singing simple Chinese songs. They were trying to teach us Chinese characters and words and I was neck and neck with them for the first three days. After that, he pulled away and I've been left in the dust ever since. Our kids by the end of eighth grade are trilingual in Mandarin, Cantonese, and English. Other kids are bilingual in either English and Spanish or French or Hmong or whatever that target language is, but I think because they start from the first day of kindergarten, it's not strange or unusual to them. Julian: "I've been studying in a Chinese-immersion program for nine years. Probably the understanding started to set in half-way through first grade. We got our Chinese names, we started to actually converse in Chinese in the class. We took all our math classes up to seventh grade were in Chinese, science they taught us in Chinese up to fifth grade." Phil (Julian's dad): "We needed constant reassurance from the early teachers and administrators that we wouldn't have to help him with homework or, you know, there wouldn't be problems at home because we couldn't speak it." Ken: There's some cross-cultural challenges as parents. We don't always have access to some of the communities in our school who are native Chinese speakers. Some of those cultural barriers take more time to cross. People always ask, "Well, how can you be involved in your kids' school? You can't help them with homework." but actually it's really not an issue. We help them with math. We help them with their English homework which in the immersion model it increases year by year. So, for example, at my kids' school they start at 90% Chinese, 10% English and by fourth grade it's 50/50. So, there's plenty of ways we can be involved. We can go on field trips with them. We can make snack. We can, you know, staple papers, whatever, and it's been a cross-cultural experience not just for our kids but also for us as parents and we have met people and been to people's homes who normally we might not think we had natural affinities with. Lydia: This brings us to the end of Part II of our interview with Ken Schneider. In part 1, Ken offers a behind the scenes look at Speaking in Tongues. Learn more about the film and find out how you can host your own screening at www.speakingintonguesfilm.info. Thank you for listening to this Colorín Colorado podcast, made possible by the American Federation of Teachers and public broadcasting station WETA. Additional support is provided by the Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. To listen to part I of the interview with Ken, visit www.colorincolorado.org. Ken Schneider is the co-director of Speaking in Tongues, a documentary about dual-language education that he filmed with Marcia Jarmel.

2019-04-20T16:38:49Z

http://colorincolorado.org/ken-schneider

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2019-04-25T11:48:44Z

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TIANSHU 2 Piece Sofa Slipcover Stretch Couch Cover For Sofa Stylish Jacquard Furniture Covers Sofa Light Gray. How to care your slipcovers? Hand wash or machine with cold water; Hang dry; No bleach; No ironing. TIANSHU sofa cover makes your sofa more stylish, clean, comfortable and durable! 2 piece design, Stay in place. Stretchy Thick fabric. Stretched material for perfect fit, not easily deformed and durable. What's the advantage of our slipcovers? Comfortable stylish, bring a new style to your sofa and make it looks new and amazing. Hand wash or machine wash with cold water; Hang dry; No bleach; No ironing. Perfect choice for both leather and fabric sofa furniture, breathable, long-lasting, no fading, no pilling, smooth and wrinkle free. Sofas without arms; Sofas without gap between seat and backrest and armrest; Sofas with a same height on arm and back. We are so confident to say that it is never a mistake to choose TIANSHU! Kids and pets always get the couch dirty and hard to clean it? Just try our products and if you don't absolutely love them, please us an e-mail, then we will your full price or you a new one WITHOUT ASKED! The elastic bottom keeps the sofa covers better covering the whole couch even though it shifts all over. 2-piece TIANSHU Sofa Cover; Installation Instruction; 12-Months No Risk Money Back; Efficient Response Within 24 hours. What kind of sofa is not suitable? Protect your sofa from stains, spills, wear and scratch, great for homes with kids and pets. How to measure your sofa? Please measure The width of backrest, then choose the suitable sofa slipcover's size. Chair (1 seat), 31", 45", Loveseat (2 seat), 57", 73", Sofa (3 seat), 73", 93". XL Sofa (4 seat), 93", 116". Chair (1 seat), fits sofa up to 31", 45". Loveseat (2 seat), fits sofa up to 57", 73". Sofa (3 seat), fits sofa up to 73", 93". XL Sofa (4 seat), fits sofa up to 93", 116". Iisutas Stretch Couch Covers Sofa Slipcovers Fitted Cover Seat Furniture Protector With Two Pillow Case 70 90 Sofa Tree Branch. Materials: 92% polyester and 8% spandex fabric Eco-friendly, durable and stylish. Household Necessary: Shields and protects your furniture from spills, stains, wear and tear to prevent it from getting ruined. Steps 1: Position the slipcover over the sofa with the label at the back Steps 2: Pull the fabric evenly over the sofa, and push white sponge cylinders in spaces between the cushions, shaping the cover to the sofa and keeping fabric tight Steps 3: Tilt the sofa up and find elastic ties. Pull the side ties together and tightly Steps 4: Put the sofa down and pll cover tight, pulling any excess fabric to the back Steps 5: Enjoy your newly covered sofa! It's a wonderful way to change a room, protect your sofa and impress your guset without spending a lot of money. Our sofa slipcover is made of 92% polyester and 8% spandex fabric which is soft and firm. Some foam strips or rolled up balls of fabric that you use to hold in place, push them down and under as far as you can, willhold in place. It is great for homes with children and pet dogs, or for anyone seeking an economical solution for furniture protection. Pull the front and back ties together tightly and tie. This sofa cover applicable to sofa which there is a gap between seat with backrest and armrest. Soft fabric makes for a comfortable feel and transforms your old sofa into new looking. Easy Care: Easy to set up and pick up; machine washable on cold and air dry; wash alone to prevent fading, Do Not Beach. To ensure a better fit, the first thing we recommend you to do is to measure the width of your sofa back as the picture indicates. The instructions are as follows: Chair-1 seater fits the back of furniture from 35", 54", wide. Loveseat fits the back of furniture from 54", 70", wide. Sofa-3 seater fits the back of furniture from 70", 90", wide. Sofa-4 seater fits the back of furniture from 90", 110", wide. Driftaway Marley 100 Waterproof Furniture Protector Quilted Sofa Cover For 3 Seats Cushion Couch Dog Couch Cover Slip Cover Throw For Kids Pets Cats Dogs Machine Washable Red Sofa. Not recommended for leather furniture. Upgrade 100% waterproof / water resistant backing provide the real waterproof feature, protects your furniture from stains, rips, smells, etc. Stay In Place Silicon rubber anti-slip backing help stay in place better Thick elastic strap to help prevent sliding Under the cover, there are 3 TUCK-IN TABS to help the cover stay in right position. CLASSIC DESIGN: You will be attracted by the elegant / simple red color and design because it's perfect for any style of house and space with sofa / love seat / chair. EASY CARE SATISFACTION GUAREANTEED: Machine washable for easy care and maintenance, separately in cold water on the gentle cycle, air dry, do not bleach. It's perfect for homes with children and pets! Keep your furniture safe Drift Away 100% Waterproof Quilted Furniture cover protects your furniture from spills, stains, dirt, grime, wear and tear. Perfect for homes with kids and pets. Made of 100-percent polyester microfiber, the Marley furniture protector offers not only a luxuriously soft hand feel, but it also provides breathability, wrinkle-resistance, and long-lasting strength. Our furniture protector comes with a diamond-style pattern of quilting, which offers added visual dimension, plus helps to keep the polyester filling evenly dispersed. B) Overstretching strap may cause strap to break. FITS MOST FURNITURE STAYS IN PLACE: Sofa furniture protector fits sofa with seat width 64", 68", our love seat furniture protector fits most loveseat with seat width 40", 44", our chair furniture protector fits armchairs or recliner with seat width 18", 22". Features slip resistant backing, 7", tucking pads thick adjustable elastic strap to help prevent sliding. TIPS: A) please measure according to Guide before purchasing. Furniture Fix Set Of 18 Support For Sagging Sofa. Just place Furniture Fix under the cushion for instant firmness. Lift and fix your sagging upholstery. Experience renewed comfort. Customizable to lift and fix sagging upholstery of any size. Fix your sofa, couch, sagging mattress and more with Furniture Fix. Simple to assemble, interlocking panels give your furniture the lift and like-new firmness you've been wanting, saving you hundreds or even thousands of dollars over new! Sani Sticks Drain Cleaner and Deodorizer Non-Toxic, Enzyme Formula to Eliminate Odors and Helps Prevent Clogged Drains Septic Tank Safe 24 Pack, Lemon. Sags Away Sagging Cushion Support Insert Sofa Couch or Chair Extend Furniture Life (Extreme Regular (1.5") x 18", x 20"). Furniture Fix - Set of 6 - Support for Sagging Chair. Evelots Sagging Cushion Support for Sofa Couch Loveseat. Furniture Fix - Set of 12 - Support for Sagging Love Seat. Sags Away Sagging Cushion Support Insert Sofa Couch or Chair Extend Furniture Life (Severe Regular (1") x 18", x 20"). Sags Away Sagging Cushion Support Insert Sofa Couch or Chair Extend Furniture Life (Severe Large (1") x 20", x 27"). Bandwagon Sagging Love Seat Support. Sags Away Sagging Cushion Support Insert Sofa Couch or Chair Extend Furniture Life (Extreme Large (1.5") x 20", x 27"). Sagging Sofa Cushion Support Seat Saver. Each panel measures approximately 19", x 4.5", x 1 / 2". Stylish Furniture Cover Protector 2 Piece Stretch Sofa Slipcover For 4 Seater Cushion Couch Loveseat Sofa Cover Extra Large No Slipping Living Room Furniture Covers Oversize Sofa Chocolate. Using mild laundry detergent. The slipcover fit the sofa so suitable and they are your precious private customize home decoration. 85% Polyester, 15% Spandex Jacquard Fabric Elastic cord sewn on bottom made the stretch fabric covers more uniform style: Give furniture a whole protection and compacted effect Anti-wrinkle Slip Resistant: two piece construction with elastic corners, strapless, and a better fit because of high strethy fabric. TWO PIECES CONSTRUCTIONS: Smart slipcover with separate seat cushion cover. High elasticity, soft and anti-wrinkle, durable and long lasting. Wash separately at gentle cycle. STAY IN PLACE: Best choice for both leather / fabric sofa furniture, our patented two piece structure has elastic corners which make a better fit and perfect stretch to all edges, smooth and wrinkle free. EASY CARE: Machine washable in cold water. Tuck the extra fabric into the gap between the back and sitting cushions. Protect your furniture from spills, stains, wear and tear to prevent it from getting ruined. Do not bleach and iron. They are good protectors for homes with kids, soft and durable fabric makes for a comfortable feel. Add luxurious and refresh decor to your sofa furniture. Features Soft Material: High quality stretchy and comfortable materials. Moreover, relieve your housework to just wash the cushion cover frequently. Turquoize's jacquard covers will bring your sofa a new look. STRETCH FIT: Turquoize's sofa covers are made of 85% Polyester / 15% Spandex Fabric with Small Checks Jacquard Pattern. By covering your cushion separately, not only can tuck the extra fabric under the cushion, but also the bouncing back is definitely solved. No more slipping and constant tucking Easy to Install: Just easily slip on (Installation Instructions More Options Available in a vast array of colors: Grey, Chocolate, Dark Cyan, Khika, Wine 3 Size choosable: Chair / 1 Seater (measure furniture back width from 32", to 47"). Loveseat / 2 Seater (measure furniture back width from 57", to 66"). Sofa / 3 Seater (measure furniture back width from 72", to 88") High recommended make measurement before Warm These sofa / furniture covers are only workable for those sofas with gap between seat and backrest and armrest Machine washing with cold water, do not bleach, tumble dry low and no iron. Fit most 4-seater-sofa- back width from 92", (233 cm) to 113", (287 cm). Melissa Doug Childs Sofa Pink Plush Childrens Furniture Exclusive. Give pint-sized kids the perfect pint-sized comfy spot to curl up with a favorite stuffed animal, book, game, or activity a cozy place they can call their own! A comfy spot kids can call their own. Kid-sized sofa, ideal for toddlers and preschoolers. Sturdy construction and quality materials make this furniture that will last. Perfect for reading or snuggling. Available in several colors and fabrics to fit any with any home d cor. Sturdy construction and quality materials. Our fun and functional furniture is sized just for toddlers and preschoolers! 35.4", L x 20.4", W x 18.3", H. Form Fit Slip Resistant Stylish Furniture Shield Protector Featuring Velvet Plush Fabric Magnolia Collection Strapless Slipcover Sofa Grey Solid. It's great for homes with children and pets, or for anyone seeking an economical solution for furniture protection. FITS MOST FURNITURE: Our slipcovers are one-size-fits-most. Our slipcovers combine style with function for the perfect look and feel. We recommend measuring your furniture before purchasing. Available in a variety of solid colors that will freshen up any home d cor! PROTECT: This slipcover shields and protects your furniture from spills, stains, wear and tear to prevent it from getting ruined. Choose from a variety of attractive colors. LIGHTWEIGHT, COMFORTABLE AND EASY CARE: Features lightweight fabric in a super soft 95% polyester and 5% spandex velvet plush material for ultimate comfort. STAYS IN PLACE: This slipcover is conveniently STRAPLESS and SLIP RESISTANT with an ELASTICIZED BOTTOM, which means that there are no straps needed to secure it in place and it stays exactly where you want it to without shifting or moving. Benefits - Shields and protects furniture from everyday mishaps, including spills, stains, dirt, grime, wear and tear - Strapless and elasticized on the bottom so that it stays in place without shifting or moving - Super soft and lightweight velvet plush material made of 95% polyester and 5% spandex - Affordable prices that fit any budget - Beautiful printed patterns to complement any d cor Available in a Variety of Colors and Sizes Our slipcovers are one-size-fits most. Easy Care Stain resistant and machine washable for your convenience. Stain resistant and MACHINE WASHABLE for your convenience. A must-have for homes with children and pets! Magnolia Collection Strapless Velvet Plush Slipcover Preserve your furniture and brighten your home's decor. Baby Teething Toys - BPA Free Silicone - Easy to Hold, Soft, Bendable, Highly Effective Elephant Teether, Best for Freezer, Cool 3 6 12 Months 1 Year Old Baby Shower Gifts. Great Bay Home Modern Velvet Plush Strapless Slipcover. Twisty Pins for Upholstery, Slipcovers and Bedskirts 50 / pkg. MIULEE Pack of 2, Velvet Soft Soild Decorative Square Throw Pillow Covers Set Cushion Cases Pillowcases for Sofa Bedroom Car 18 x 18 Inch 45 x 45 cm. (Sofa, Walnut Brown). Form Fit Stretch, Stylish Furniture Cover / Protector. Phantoscope Set of 4 New Living Series Coffee Color Decorative Throw Pillow Case Cushion Cover 18", x 18", 45 cm x 45 cm. Gale Collection Brand. (Sofa, Silver Cloud). (Chair, Wild Dove Grey). (Sofa, Wild Dove Grey). Easy-Going Stretch Recliner Slipcovers, Sofa Covers, 4 Pieces Furniture Protector with Elastic Bottom, Straps, Couch Shield with Pocket, Polyester Spandex Jacquard Fabric Small Checks (Recliner, Dark Gray). Attmu Clear Heads Twist Pins for Upholstery, Slipcovers and Bedskirts, 0.75 Inches, Set of 50. They're designed to fit most sofas up to 90 inches wide, most loveseats up to 68 inches wide, most armchairs up to 40 inches wide and most recliners up to 40 inches wide. Those are the widest measurements, which means that they'll also fit slightly smaller furniture. Our Sofa Slipcover fits most sofas up to 90 inches wide, our Loveseat Slipcover fits most loveseats up to 68 inches wide, our Chair Slipcover fits most armchairs up to 40 inches wide and our Recliner Slipcover fits most armchairs up to 40 inches wide. PLEASE MEASURE BEFORE PURCHASING. Gorilla Grip Original Slip Resistant Sofa Slipcover Protector Seat Width Up To 70 Suede Like Patent Pending 2 Straps Hook Couch Cover For Kids Dogs Pets Sofa Taupe. CAN I PUT THIS COVER IN THE WASHING MACHINE? Thick padding in the middle offers a cozy and comfortable cover that will protect your furniture time and time again. NOT ALL FURNITURE PROTECTORS ARE CREATED EQUAL! Additionally, before first use we recommend pre-washing the cover. Our cover helps to protect against messy pet hair and dirt or crumbs. WILL THIS PROTECTOR REPEL PET HAIR AND STAINS? A detailed measuring guide can be found in our product photos. Selecting the right size protector is key to ensuring a secure, neat fit. WARNING: Strap should not be stretched to exceed seat width 10 in. 10-Year No Asked Warranty: If you are at all with your product, please us (through if past the standard window) and we will be happy to assist you. They may react with the PVC backing and result in damage to your furniture. Simply wash in your washing machine on cold and air dry (no dryer). Additionally, wash before first use following instructions on the wash label on the inside of your protector. Our non-slip protector works great on both fabric and leather furniture. EASY USE AND CARE: Our non-slip protector works great on both fabric and leather furniture and is easy to set up! Some materials are pre-treated. CAN I USE THIS ON LEATHER FURNITURE? Do not use on furniture treated with additives, cleaners, or conditioners. SOFT AND COMFORTABLE: Our micro-suede top is super soft to the touch. Check with furniture manufacturer and retailer before use. Simply throw in the washing machine air dry. Over-stretching strap can result in strap breaking and snapping back at you! HOW CAN I BE SURE THE PROTECTOR WILL STAY SECURE? PAWLAND Wooden Freestanding Foldable Pet Gate for Dogs, 24 inch 4 Panel Step Over Fence, Dog Gate for The House, Doorway, Stairs, Extra Wide, White. Tuck Grips Slipcover Tuck Grips - Set of 4. Easy Spirit Women's Romy Walking Shoe. MAYTEX Pixel Ultra Soft Stretch 2 Piece Loveseat Furniture Cover Slipcover, Sand. Tuck Grips Slipcover Tuck Grips - Set of 5. Philips Norelco Electric Shaver 5100 Wet Dry, S 5210 / 81. LG DP 132 H All Multi Region Code Region Free DVD Player Full HD 1080 p HDMI Up Converting Div X, USB Plus, Xvid, PAL / NTSC with Remote. MAYTEX Mills Pixel Ultra Soft Stretch 2 Piece Furniture Cover, Sand Sofa Slipcover. Pleasant Hearth 20", Electric Crackling Natural Wood Log. Gorilla Grip Original Velvet Slip Resistant Luxurious Chair Slipcover Protector, Seat Width Up to 23", Patent Pending, 2", Straps / Hook, Armchair Furniture Cover for Pets, Dogs, Kids (Chair: Beige). As each piece of furniture is unique, MEASURE your furniture prior to purchasing. Our seat widths are (measure from inside of arm to arm), Sofa Oversized (up to 78"), Sofa (up to 70"), Loveseat (up to 54"), Recliner (up to 26") and Chair (up to 23"). Not only does our protector have our exclusive GORILLA GRIP non-slip backing, it also two 2", thick metal reinforced adjustable elastic straps and two seat anchors. Our luxurious, premium covers have our GORILLA GRIP backing and two 2", thick straps to help reduce the need for adjustments on fabric or leather furniture. PERFECT FIT: Easily measure inside of arm to inside of arm. Sofa Oversized (78"), Sofa (70"), Loveseat (54"), Recliner (26") and Chair (23"). Detailed arm, front, back, and strap measurements in photos. RHF Anti Slip Sofa Cover For 3 Cushion Leather Sofa Slip Resistant Furniture Protector Couch Cover For Dogs Features Anti Slip Pad And Adjustable Elastic Strap Sofa Dark Grey. This is intentional as a waterproof cover will just result in the liquids rolling onto the floor. Can I put this in the washing machine? PROTECT: Protects furniture from stains. It saves you from the hassles of everyday life. EASY CARE: Machine wash (cold) and dry (cool). Works for LEATHER sofa! This is machine washable and dryer safe. Features anti-slip pad and elastic strap to help prevent sliding. The Rose Home Fashion Sofa Cover protects your furniture from pet hair and stains. See MEASURING GUIDE in photos. Great for homes with kids and pets. If you are looking for great and cost-effective way of re-inventing the function and protect your sofa, this is the way! Yes, it will protect your furniture from hair and dirt. Yes, it is perfect for fabric covered furniture. While it will help a little with liquids, this is not water proof. STAYS IN PLACE: No More Sliping Around! Will it protect my furniture? We want you to be happy. Twisty Pins for Upholstery, Slipcovers and Bedskirts 50 / pkg. 4 Pack of Buffalo Hornz Small Long Lasting 100% Natural Water Buffalo Horn Dog Chews. Glield Extend 20", to 78", Adjustable 4-Piece Under Sofa, Mattress, Bed Sheet Fitted Fastener, Long Strap Clip Bands BDJ 01. You can find a detailed measuring guide in the photos or measure the seat width as follows: Sofa extra-wide: seat width up to 78", Futon: seat width up to 70", Sofa: seat width up to 68", Love seat: seat width up to 54", Chair and a half: seat width up to 48", Loveseat small: seat width up to 46", Oversized recliner: seat width up to 30", Chair: seat width up to 21", Is this recommended for fabric covered furniture? PLEASE MEASURE BEFORE PURCHASING: See measuring guide in photos. PERFECT FIT: Seat Width (Sofa) up to 68", (Sofa: Extra-Wide) up to 78", (Love Seat) up to 46", (Futon) up to 70", (Recliner: Oversized) up to 30", (Recliner) up to 23", (Chair) up to 48". Ameritex Sofa Cover With Anti Skip Dog Paw Print 100 Water Resistant Quilted Furniture Protector Slipcover For Dogs Children Pets Sofa Slipcover For Leather Couch Pattern1 Green Sofa. Features a sanitized protective finish and odor prevent to keep your furniture looking and smelling fragrant. 5-LAYERS MATERIAL: This premium quilted furniture protector is constructed with multi layers fabric. They rest directly on top of your existing furniture to shield it from spills, stains and those special messes only kids and pets can make Since you don't have to wrap them over furniture, they are just as easy to take off when you want to show off the original look of your sofa. No matter what type of upholstery fabric covers your sofa, pets, children and daily use may damage it. Quilted construction adds a layer of extra comfort. PROTECT WITHOUT SACRIFICING COMFORT - Our furniture cover provides the protection you need without sacrificing. 100% SATISFACTION, TRY OUR PRODUCT RISK-FREE - Product quality and satisfaction are our priority, you can try our furniture protector risk-free as your is backed by our money back in case you are not with the product you receive simply get in touch with us for a replacement or a full we are just a message away! The choice is yours! Silicon rubber puppy paw design, keeps in space firmly better. After years of accumulating dirt, your sofa will look dingy, stained and dull. Chemicals free and ECO friendly, high safety to kids and pets. Soil and snag-resistant covers are also easy machine care What makes us the best choice? non slip backing - silicon rubber puppy paw design Quick set up, simply place over your furniture Machine washable 100% Water resistant Durable quilted texture Fit most types of furniture Product features: Upholstery Material: Polyester Pieces One Piece Product Care: Machine washable What are you waiting for? Dirt, dust and debris cling to any upholstery and typically will not budge until you clean them away. By using the right protection, you can keep your sofa looking good for years to come Our anti-skid quilted furniture cover offers a five layers of protection with great look! Additionally it features a storage pocket on both sides, perfect for your remote control. Now you can maintain your sofa long-term! ANTI-SKID: Compare the normal slipcover, this innovated sofa cover has more highlights on stay in place. 100% WATERPROOF: Crafted from unique fabric and specially technology, highlights on against spills, pets fur, stains, and normal wear and tear or any possible mess and accidents. Suitable for every style of furniture (leather or cloth sofa), dress your room in sophistication and ultimate elegancy. Kenley Pet Sofa Couch Cover Pet Proof Furniture Protector From Cats Dogs Waterproof Clear Plastic Shield Covers For Couch Recliner Love Seat Outdoor Patio Furniture Cat Claw Scratch Deterrent. Made of thick, waterproof plastic, this furniture protector is designed to be long lasting. Sofa and furniture protector from cat scratches, claws, urine, hair and more. Can be used for recliners, love seats, outdoor and patio furniture. Ideal couch cover during renovations or painting work. Couch covers for cats can be particularly valuable as your furry pet's sharp claws, hair and urine can wreck a couch quickly. Tried and tested to prevent cat scratching damage. For example, if your pets are mistreating your couch, simply put the sofa cover on when you go to bed and remove it in the morning or after you from work. some seasons of life can destroy your couch in seconds. Easy to use daily Sitting on a plastic wrapped couch is no fun, so choose this couch cover that's simple to put on and off when you need it. Keep your couch safe and clean with this furniture protector. Clear waterproof plastic covers for furniture 96 x 42 x 40 in. Keep your couch clean Muddy footprints, splashes of paint, cat scratches, renovation dust, pet hair, potty training accidents, cat pee. It can be used with any appropriately sized couch, small or large, and is also suitable for outdoor furniture. If your cat is struggling with appropriate behavior, perhaps due to illness or age, a couch cover can be a life saver. FURZY Flea and Tick Prevention Collar for Cats 13", Length 100% Natural Essential Oil Formula Effective Repellant Waterproof 8 Months Protection. Calily Life Organic Arabica Coffee Scrub with Dead Sea Minerals, 24 Oz. Furniture Sofa / Couch Cover (1 Pack) protects during moving 152", x 45". Joy Grace 100% Bamboo Wood Butler Serving Tray with Handles - Breakfast / Coffee Table Tray, Decorative Ottoman Tray, Serving Platter for Party, 17", 13". 40 Realistic Palm Leaves for Tropical Jungle Theme Party, Hawaiian Luau Party Supplies Decorations. Low Light Environment Clear Vision Black 24 Month Warranty. Mayershop Catch Ball Paddle Game-with 2 Ball / Small / Normal Size, 2 Adjustable Paddle Made Plastic Flexible Form Fitting Durable and Soft Materials More Confortable for Kid Catch Ball Game. Uboxes Set of 2 (76 x 46") Chair Covers 2 MIL Heavy Duty Polyethylene to Protect Items From Dust Dirt and Spills From Dust Dirt and Spills. Plastic Couch Cover For Pets Cat Scratching Protector Clawing Deterrent Heavy Duty Water Resistant Thick Clear Vinyl Sofa Slipover For Moving And Long Term Storage. Plastic Recliner Armchair Cover for Pets Cat Scratching Protector Clawing Deterrent Heavy Duty Thick Clear Vinyl Chair Slipcover Waterproof Plastic Furniture Covers for Storage and Moving. Power Bear Binoculars (12 x 25) Compact Ultra Sharp Binoculars Nature, Birds, Outdoors, Concerts, Operas, Games, and More! The furniture protector is 96 in (244 cm) wide, 42 in (107 cm) high and 40 in (102 cm) deep. TOYABR 2 Piece Jacquard Stretchy Fabric Sofa Cover Living Room Polyester Sofa Slipcovers Fitted Couch Protector For Furniture Gray Sofa. Step 2: grab elastic band corner with back mark, cover it down the back of sofa. There are 11 colors that meet your multiple needs. It's great for homes with children and pets, or for anyone seeking an economical solution for furniture protection. Due to the shooting light, filming angle and chromatic aberration displayed on the screen, the object may be slightly different from the photos, all are subject to the phisical product. The role of sofa slipcovers: This basic slipcover shields and protects your furniture from spills, stains, wear and tear to prevent it from getting ruined. You don't have to worry that the cover will shift. Step 1: tuck the excess fabric into corners, smoothen the fabric on all surface. EASY TO CLEAN: You can use the washing machine to save time and energy so that you can enjoy the good time with your family and friends. This sofa cover fits many sizes of sofa. It is an economical and practical method. Do not use bleach and wash it with same / similar colours. And known as sofa protector. Washing method: EASY CARE: machine wash (cold) and dry (cool). Concise designs and various colors, traditional and modern home decoration styles are very suitable. The bottom of the slipcover features an elastic strap that prevents sliding. Pull draped fabcric over the seat area. OCCASION: It can be used in various places, such as bedroom, living room, hotel, homestay. FEATURES: It protects your sofa from pet scratches, stains and dust, keeping your sofa fresh. The size of sofa covers: Please measure the width of your sofa back, then choose the suitable size. 1 seat: 32-47 inch Chair -2 seat: 57-70 inch Loveseat -3 seat: 72-92 inch Sofa Instruction for installation: Step 1: hold the 4 corners, straighten the elastic band, find the back mark. MATERIAL: Stretchy jacquard fabric, 85% polyester and 15% spandex, safe and healthy, not easy to fade, doesn't pill, excellent flexibility and ductility, giving you a comfortable experience. SIZE COLOR: Please measure the width of your sofa back, then choose the suitable sofa slipcover's size. Chair (32", 47"), Loveseat (57", 70"), Sofa (72", 92"). Easy Going Stretch Micro Fiber Sofa Slipcovers 2 Piece Sofa Covers Furniture Protector With Elastic Bottom 2 Piece Couch Shield Super Soft Fabric Couch Slipcovers Sofa Camel. Various colors are prepared, you can choose the color you like to cover. EASY INSTALLATION: Check the installion guide carefully, it can be finished within 10 minutes by one person. HIGH QUALITY MATERIAL: 20% spandex 80% polyester, with high elasticity, softness and abrasion resistance. The brand's goal: to make homes more comfortable. Easy-Going brand household, the factory has been developing and producing high-quality environment-friendly household articles for ten years. EASY CARE: Machine washable, wash at temperature around 30 degrees Celsius, mild laundey detergents are please do not belach. Warm Tips 2 pcs slipcover can effectively protect pets from damaging the sofa and the fabric is strong and durable. FURNITURE PROTECTOR: Protect your sofa from daily wear and stains. EASY TO CLEAN: Perfect fitness for sofa, easy to clean. The slipcover is stretchy and elastic, ironing is not allowed, because after ironing, the elasticity get worse. Night Lights for Kids Teddy Bear 7 Colors Change with Remote 3 D Nightlight Help Kids Fell Safe at Night or As A Gift Idea for Women or Girls by Easuntec (Teddy Bear Heart). Hair Scrunchies Elastic Ponytail Holder - 18 Pcs Hair Elastics Ties include Chiffon Flower Hair Bands Shiny and Velvet Scrunchies for Women or Girls, 18 Assorted Colors Scrunchies. HERHILLY Womens Winter Warm Socks - Thick Soft Solid Color Cotton Crew Socks 5 Pack (5 Pack Style B 1). Dragon Touch Dash Cam 3", LCD 1080 P Full HD Dash Camera for Cars Dashboard Camera, 170 Wide Angle Car Recorder with G-Sensor, WDR, Loop Recording, Parking Monitor (D 1). Wireless Router 1200 mbps Long Range Wifi Router Ac High Speed Dual Band Router with 4 Lan Ports for Home Office internet Restaurant Alexa with Wifi Extender for 2.4 ghz. Synziar FS 01 Storage Lids 4 Pieces Air-Tight Food Containers Set BPA Free, 1, White. DIMENSIONS Chair Slipcover: Fit Total sitting area is 25.5", Loveseat Slipcover: Fit Total sitting area is 46.5", Sofa Slipcover: Fit Total sitting area is 66", Oversized Sofa Slipcover: Fit Total sitting area is 78", Recliner Slipcover: Fit Total sitting area is 23", Wing Chair Slipcover: Fit Total sitting area is 29", Please measure before purchasing; See measuring guide in photos for a list of all measurements. More details please refer to the measurement guide in photo, please measure before purchasing. Tastelife Slipcover 1 Piece Thickened Stretch Fabric Furniture Protector Cover For Sofa Loveseat Chair Couch Cover Sofa Grey. It's not only great for homes with children and pets, but also transforms your old sofa into new looking. which can suit all standard sofa. Our slipcover is thickened (280 gsm), while others is 200 gsm. Ideal fit: Our sofa slipcover features highly elastic and anti-wrinkle suit for more sofa style, form fitted for 1 cushion couch. Snacks and Drinks accidentally fell on the sofa and spread-Naughty children jump on the sofa with shoes wearing-Annoying pet paw prints and drop hair ruined your sofa-Sofa has Faded and peeled badly and looks ugly Don't worry ANYMORE with a sofa cover from Tastelife! Machine Wash Cold, Do Not Beach, Tumble Dry Low, Not Ironing. Also, no harm can appear to the slipcover even if your pet play on it. Materials: This material is not sticky to pet hair, and it's very strong. Easy to set up and easy to clean. Our slipcover is very elastic. How to choose the size? Easy-Going Stretch Slipcovers, Covers, Furniture Protector with Elastic Bottom, Anti-Slip Foam, 1 Piece Couch Shield, Polyester Spandex Jacquard Fabric Small Checks (Sofa, Dark Gray). 1 seat: Chair length between 29", to 45", 2 seat: Loveseat length between 51", to 67", 3 seat: Sofa length between 71", to 90". Sofa (70-90 inch), Loveseat (51-67 inch), Chair (29-45 inch). PLEASE DO MEASURE BEFORE PURCHASING. Sofa Cover Protector Furniture Protector Prevent Water With 2 Inch Elastic Straps Sofa Protector For Pets Sofa Covers For Living Room Couch Cover 75Inch X 110Inch Burgundy Beige Sofa. Highlights Crafted from 100% soft quilted reversible microfiber that is filled in rich PP cotton wadding, gentle and durable Double use. Reversible sewing way will add more luxurious and stylish to your furniture. FITS WELL: One-size-fits-most. UNIQUE DECOR: The beautiful quilted sofa protector is crafted from textured faux cotton material, 85 gsm weight surface for velvety feeling, lofty cotton wading filled microfiber, add designs and gorgeous styles. Prevent damp and mold from your chair and sofa. EASY CARE: Machine washable for easy care and maintenance, separately in cold water on the gentle cycle, do not use bleach. Kindly though our innovated material has featured water prevent, but it is not water proof, we suggest you remove it within 3 minutes after accident. FULL PROTECT: Perfectly against pets, children, spills, stains, wear and tear, protect your furniture cushion from liquid, food and even animals. This VERSAILTEX functional furniture slipcover protects furniture from stains, pet hair, spills, wear and tear, protect your furniture cushion from liquid, food and even animals. Ideal for homes with babies, kids, and shedding cats or dogs as a pet couch protector. VERSAILTEX Chair Slipcover Chair Covers, Chair Covers for Living Room Armchair Slipcover Furniture Protectors for Sofas, Reversible with 2", Wide Adjustable Straps (Chair: Burgundy / Tan). VERSAILTEX Sofa Cover Reversible Couch Slipcover Furniture Protector, 2 Inch Wide Elastic Strap, Machine Washable, Slipcover for Pets, Dogs, Kids (Sofa: Gray / Beige). H. Slipcover is reverse side with stylish trimming, add more colorful looking to your decor Give your home an instant makeover without the hassle and extra cost Fitted Dimensions Please use a fabric or soft tape measure so you can move around and get your accurate sizes: Chair: 75", x 65", (sitting area width 22") Recliner: 79", x 68", (sitting area width 24") Love Seat: 75", x 90", (sitting area width 46") Sofa: 75", x 110", (sitting area width 66") Oversized Sofa: 86", x 132", (sitting area width 78") Diverse Colors Available in 5 vogue pattern colors: Burgundy / Tan, Grey / Beige, Brown / Beige, Stone Blue / Beige, Taupe / Beige Non Slip Our sofa covers a new version straps (2 inches wide with dual clasps on each side for personalized use), adjustable and easy to put on and off Strong metal locker and high spandex elastic to keep your cover stay in place more firmly, no worry for slip again Care Instructions Machine washable for easy care, separately in cold water on the gentle cycle, do not use bleach Kindly it is not recommended for leather sofa. STAYS IN PLACE: Throw away the cheap straps, this luxurious sofa cover use upgraded 2", wide adjustable elastic straps with metal locker, strong and long lasting, fitted most types sofa whateven how thick the sofa back is, prevent sliding and keep slipcover in space firmly. 5 measures options armrest), Chair - 75 by 65 Inch; Recliner - 79 by 68 Inch; Love Seat - 75 by 90 Inch; Sofa - 75 by 110 Inch; Oversized Sofa -86 by 132 Inch, and 5 reversible colors available: Burgundy / Tan, Grey / Beige, Brown / Beige, Stone Blue / Beige, Taupe / Beige. Turquoize Couch Sofa Slipcover Furniture Protector 100 Waterproof With Anti Skip Little Dog Paw Print Machine Washable Cover Perfect For Pets And Kids Sofa 75 X112 Taupe. Do not wash with other clothes. Silicon rubber of puppy paw print on backing, firmly keep your cover on sitting area, even on the leather sofa, hassle free for slip again. ANTI-SKID: Compare the normal slipcover with straps, this innovated sofa cove has more highlights on stay in place. High recommend for both LEATHER and fabric sofa furniture. FULL WATERPROOF: Use high carftwork and technology, this beautiful quilted slipcover is exceed and provide the real waterproof feature, keep your sofa furniture clean and new, enjoy the fun time with your pets and kids in your family room. Do not use bleaches. EASY CARE: Machine washable for easy care and maintenance, separately in cold water on the gentle cycle, do not use bleach. YES, It has a waterproof layer called TPU inside that should stop the liquid. GREAT PROTECT: Keep furniture safe from pets hair / fur, stains and dirt, spills and stains, maintain your chair / couch / recliner / sofa fresh look and aesthetic appeal. You are lucky to find us: TURQUOIZE brand luxurious and functional sofa cover. FAQWill this prevent urine / water / tea from soaking through onto the sofa? Use light detergents and dry naturally for best results You are always to us freely for any enquiry or suggestion during experience, we provide friendly, easy-to-reach support and no risk policy for you. Do not use fabric softener. This is a real water-proof slipcover which will bring unprecedented feeling and give your furniture 100% protection from spills, pets pees, stains and other accident. the surface fabric is not water-resist, it will soak immediately instead of liquid running down causing more floor trouble. Gorilla Grip Original Slip Resistant Sofa Slipcover Protector, Seat Width Up to 70", Suede-Like, Patent Pending, 2", Straps / Hook, Couch Cover for Kids, Dogs, Pets (Sofa: Taupe). VERSAILTEX 100% Waterproof Recliner Protector Non-Slip Furniture Cover for Recliner Chair, Sofa Protector Stay in Place Protect from Pets Spills Wear and Tear (Recliner: Taupe)- 79 inch x 68 inch. VERSAILTEX 100% Waterproof Chair Cover for Dining Room Living Room Non Slip Furniture Protector Water Resistant Micro Fabric Pet Cover Slipcovers (Chair: Taupe) Thick Durable - 75", X 65". VERSAILTEX 100% Waterproof Couch Covers for Sofa Plush Couch Protectors from Cats Scratching Furniture Protector for Dogs Cats Protect from Pets, Spills, Wear and Tear (Sofa: Taupe)- 75", x 112". VERSAILTEX 100% Waterproof Furniture Protector Cover Pet Friendly Premium Couch Covers with Non Skid Backing, Quilted and Soft, Protect from Pets, Spills, Wear (Chair and a Half: Taupe)- 75", X 90". GORILLA GRIP Original Reusable Leak Proof Furniture and Chair Pad for Incontinence (21 x 21) Oeko Tex Certified, Machine Washable, Absorbent Soft Pads for Chairs, Beds, and Wheelchairs (4 Pack). VERSAILTEX Full Waterproof Oversized Sofa Covers for Living Room Furniture Protector Soft Cotton Finish Crafted Slipcovers Protect from Pets Spills Wear (Oversized Sofa: Gray) 86 inch x 132 inch. H. VERSAILTEX 100% Waterproof Sofa Cover for Pets Couch Covers for Living Room Premium Furniture Leather Sofa Protector Features Protect from Pets Wear and Tear (Oversized Sofa: Taupe)- 86", X 132". Chair: Height 75", width 65", 22", arm rest on each side), sitting area is 21", Loveseat oversize: Height 75", width 98", 22", arm rest on each side), sitting area is 56", Sofa: Height 75", width 112", 22", arm rest on each side), sitting area is 54", Sofa Oversize: Height 86", width 132", 27", arm rest on each side), sitting area is 78", Recliner oversize: Height 91", width 84", 27", arm rest on each side), sitting area is 30", High Features Made of 5 layers construction materials, functional and fashionable, front side is extra soft box stitches microfiber fabric, feel very comfortable and plump Backing with 100% water-proof craft, silicon rubber prints provide leakage protection and keep cover in space firmly Machine washable. PERFECT FIT: Size guidelines for sofa back width x length: 68-inches x 39-inches, seat width x length: 68-inches x 22-inches, arm width x length: 22-inches x 22-inches, please measure before purchasing, longer over the back to stay in place better. Sweet Melodi Round Solid Wood Furniture Sofa Chair Couch Loveseat Cabinet Replacement Legs With Special Installation Parts Perfect For IKEA Or US Made Furniture Black Color 12 Inches 4 Pcs. Best for USA made furniture or DIY furniture, not only update the furniture beautifully, change it to more classic style, but also providing more warm and lightful atmosphere for home. Simple and creative ways to design accessories that can be adapted to different mounting types of furniture legs. Made of solid hardwood with walnut finish, which highlight the grain beautifully, one plastic glide are super strong and durable. Simple and creative ways to design accessories that can be adapted to different mounting types of furniture legs What you get with each Sweet Melodi 4 classic replacement furnitue legs. can easily be installed in less than 5 minutes. 28 Furniture leg fitting screw. Kindly The wood is a naturally occurring material, every wooden leg is unique, variations in colors, texture and grain pattern are normal. 4 Plastic glides for protecting the floor 4 Furniture leg accessories iron plate. Beautifully finished in hard walnut finish, strong and durable. Changes in color, texture and texture are normal, each sofa leg may be slightly different in the photo presentation, displayed on the website. Update the furniture fantastically in less than 5 minutes. Product Black Color 12 Inches, set of 1 Item weight: 63 OZItem material: Solid Hardwood Features and Benefits: Classic design, highest quality affordable round furniture legs. Height: 12", Top width: Bottom width: 1.4", raise up the furniture to a more desirable height, Make furniture more comfortable. Sweet Melodi Round Solid Wood Furniture Sofa Chair Couch Loveseat Cabinet Replacement Legs 6 Inches Set Of 4. Made of solid hardwood with dark walnut finish, which highlight the grain beautifully, 4 plastic glides and 4 felt pad are super strong and durable. Best for USA made furniture or DIY furniture, not only update the furniture beautifully, change it to more classic style, but also providing more warm and lightful atmosphere for home. Product weight: 25 OZItem material: Solid Hardwood Features and Benefits: Classic design, highest quality affordable round furniture legs. Update the furniture fantastically in less than 5 minutes. 4 Plastic glides for protecting the floor. Beautifully finished in a dark walnut finish, strong and durable. Kindly The wood is a naturally occurring material, every wooden leg is unique, variations in colors, texture and grain pattern are normal. 6", Solid Wood Furniture Sofa / Chair / Ottoman Tapered Legs Walnut Finish 5 / 16", Bolt - Set of 4. Choice Parts - 5 Inch Dark Walnut Plastic Tapered Sofa Legs, Set of 4. Anwenk Leg Mounting Plates, Furniture Leg Attachment Plates Industrial Strength T-Plate 5 / 16", (M 8) Sofa Legs with Hanger Bolts, Screws Strengthen Weak Furniture Repair Damaged Sofa Couch Seat, Set of 4. Leg Daddy 5 / 16", T-Plate Sofa Leg Attachment Plates, Set of 4. With the USA furniture standard 5 / 16", hanger bolt, the most common size hanger bolt for American furniture, make sure to measure your attachment point, screw carefully. USA furniture standare 5 / 16", hanger bolt for easy and quick installation. Height: 6", Top width: Bottom width: 1.4", raise up the furniture to a more desirable height, can easily be installed in less than 5 minutes. With the USA furniture standard 5 / 16", (8 mm) hanger bolt, please carefully check the hanger bolt size on your present leg to assure that our new furniture legs will be compatible. Ostepdecor Multi Size Pet Dog Couch Rectangular Soft Quilted Furniture Protectors Covers For Sofa Loveseat ONE Piece Backing And Armrest Sold Separately Grey 43 W X 63 L 110 X 160Cm. Good aslo for Leather couch! The item is not only used for sofa cover, but also for baby play mat, bedroom rug, floor pad, window bench mat etc. EASY CARE: Wash separately, Machine washable (cold), do not bleach. MATERIAL: Super-soft short floss on the front side, Anti-slip silicon particles on the reverse side, Polyester fill. PROTECT YOUR COUCH, SOFA, LOVESEAT AND CHAIRS from pets, spills, stains. Sofa Size reference: 1.28", Width Series fits for sofa width equal or less than 24". Refer to length, please add extra 4", 8", longer than actual sofa length. 2.36", Width Series fits for sofa width between 24", to 32". Refer to length, please add extra 4", 8", longer than actual sofa length. 3.43", Width Series fits for sofa width above 32". Refer to length, please add extra 4", 8", longer than actual sofa length. Armrest Size Reference: Two sizes for choice: 28", x 28", 36", x 36", please measure and choose suitable size to match. Backrest Size Reference: Two sizes for choice: 28", x 28", 36", x 36". Backrest width below 32", recommend folding the 28", x 28", rectangular cover to trianglular shape shown in the picture. Backrest width below 32", recommend folding the 36", x 36", rectangular cover to trianglular shape shown in the picture. PLEASE MEASURE BEFORE PURCHASING, by PIECE but not set, NOT backrest and armrest, each part was separately, good for your adjustable sectional sofa furniture. HOW TO CHOOSE: Recommend to choose 28", Width to fit sofa width equal or less than 24", 36", Width to fit sofa width between 24", to 32", and 43", Width to fit sofa width above 32". For length, please add extra 4", 8", long to tuck in the sides, Width and Length better longer than short. Armrest and backrest size recommend choosing 28", x 28", or 36", x 36". AUJOY Stretch Large Sofa Cover Water Repellent Couch Covers Dog Cat Pet Proof Couch Slipcovers Protectors XL Sofa Light Gray. What size sofa cover should I choose? Then wipe it off by dry towel, while don't leave the dew drops on the cover too long, if it will be leaking more or less. 100% Satisfaction Normally you will enjoy our pet furniture protectors, while if you have any concerns or you just want to please feel free to to us on AUJOY Service Team is 24 hours every day. However, before purchasing you must read our installation guide that we have mentioned in the listing picture. We have explained the Measuring Guide of the couch slipcover in the product pictures and please refer to it. Because of the design of the high stretch, which make it is applicable to most sofa, sofa and comfortable materials. In addition, our cover is Pet friendly, we have taken use of the full-coverage cover for you, it will be a perfect protect from pet's hair, footprints and various stains. PROTECTION: Pet friendly, our full-coverage dog sofa cover is a perfect protector from dog and cat scratches, footprints and various stains! The high quality fabric is no fading, no pilling, and durable for long term usage. Please wipe the liquids drops on the furniture cover by a duster cloth or sponge immediately when the liquids inadvertently spilled on the slipcover, then your sofa will not get wet. When the liquid inadvertently has been spilled on the cover, just take it easy, the dew drops will be formed on the surface of our sofa cover in a short time so that it will not penetrate on your sofa. If you have any confuses about how to install it, you can with me directly, I will be happy to serve for you in 24 hours. Really freshen up your sofa and living room! Installation Guide of furniture slipcover is displayed in the product pictures, please follow our guide to install the slip covers. Or if your sofa is too old, don't need to a new one, just take our cover, it can freshen your sofa up and give you a different visual effect. HIGHLY STRETCHABLE: Made by 95% polyester and 5% spandex stretchy Jacquard fabric, the design of high elastic which make our fitted sofa protectors best suitable for many types of sofas. The Jacquard modern style will give your sofa a totally new look! Great for those who are seeking the shields for furniture. Wash Guide of the dog sofa slipcover: Machine Washable, do not bleach, not ironing. You should read it clearly and then install it as our guide, as long as you install it follow our steps, it will get fit. How to protect my sofa by this sofa cover? Unique Water Repellent fabric make 100% protection from wet stains, spills and any accidents, especially for kids and pets. Firstly you should find a measuring tape to measure your back of sofa size (we have provide the measuring guide in the listing photo in detail) and then to choose the suitable size for your furniture. Chair (31", 46") Love seat (55", 69") Sofa (71", 91") XL Sofa (91", 110") How can it be a good fit with my sofa? WATER REPELLENT: (Not 100% waterproof) Creative Water-repellent Full Coverage Couch Covers, providing your sofa a full Protection against wet stains, spills and any accidents, especially for homes with kids, dogs and cats. DIMENSIONS: CHAIR (31-46"), LOVESEAT (55-69"), SOFA (71-91"), XL SOFA (91-110"), AUJOY pet covers are suitable for various small or large armchairs and couches, you just need to measure your sofa's Backrest before purchasing! Gorilla Grip Original Velvet Slip Resistant Luxury Sofa Furniture Slipcover Protector Seat Width Up To 70 Patent Pending 2 Straps Hook Couch Furniture Cover For Pets Dogs Kids Sofa Chocolate. Some materials are pre-treated. Simply throw in the washing machine and air dry. However, because leather furniture does have a smoother surface, you may find that additional adjustments may be necessary. Will This Protector Repel Liquids? You can find a detailed measuring guide in our product photos. Simply wash in your washing machine on cold and air dry (no dryer). Selecting the appropriate size protector for your furniture is key to ensuring a secure, neat fit. These covers will help to protect your furniture from hair and dirt - time and time again. VELVET, VELVET, VELVET! Can I Put the Protector in the Washing Machine? Do not use on furniture treated with additives, cleaners, or conditioners. How Can I Be Sure the Protector Will Stay Secure? We strongly recommend measuring your furniture prior to purchasing. EASY USE AND CARE: Our non-slip protector is super easy to set up! They may react with the PVC backing and result in damage to your furniture. Check with furniture manufacturer and retailer before use. Over-stretching strap can result in strap breaking and snapping back at you! Our cover is waterproof and will help keep liquids off of your furniture. 10-Year No Asked Warranty: If you are at all with your product, please us (through if past the standard window) and we will be happy to assist you. Before first use we recommend pre-washing the cover. There is one strap to wrap around the back of your furniture and one for under the seat area. Plus, thick padding in the middle adds to your comfort level. The cover's smooth, silky velvet is soft to the touch and is so cozy and comfortable, you'll never want to another furniture protector ever again! Each piece of furniture is unique and we want you to be thrilled with the fit. Can I Use the Protector on Leather Furniture? Sofa Shield Original Patent Pending Reversible Loveseat Slipcover, Dogs, 2", Strap / Hook, Seat Width Up to 54", Washable Furniture Protector, Couch Slip Cover for Pets, Kids (Love Seat: Chocolate / Beige). Gorilla Grip Original Slip Resistant Recliner Slipcover Protector, Seat Width Up to 26", Suede-Like, Patent Pending, 2", Straps / Hook, Furniture Cover for Kids, Dogs, Cats, Pets (Recliner: Coffee). Our seat widths are as follows (measure from inside of arm to arm), Sofa Extra Wide (up to 78"), Sofa (up to 70"), Loveseat (up to 54"), Recliner (up to 26") and Chair (up to 23"). Not only does our protector have our exclusive GORILLA GRIP non-slip backing, it also two 2", thick metal reinforced adjustable elastic straps and two seat anchors. PERFECT FIT: For your best fit, easily measure inside of arm to inside of arm. Sofa Oversized (78"), Sofa (70"), Loveseat (54"), Recliner (26") and Chair (23"). Detailed arm, front, back, and strap measurements in photos. WARNING: Strap should not be stretched to exceed seat width 10 inches. DESIGNED TO STAY IN PLACE: These luxurious covers have our original Gorilla Grip backing and two patent pending 2", thick straps that help to reduce the need for adjustments on furniture. YESHOME Sofa Cover Slipcovers Quilted Upgrade Anti Slip Couch Covers Waterproof Sofa Protector With Elastic Strap Furniture Cover For Dogs And Cats Pet Sofa Oversized Brown. EASY CARE WARRANTY Machine washable and air dry, 1-Year Manufacturer's Warranty and we always stand behind to support you whenever you are. Colors Available in 3 rich solid patterns, Navy, Brown, Gray. STAY IN PLACE Anti-slip slicon dot is good at prevent sliding, The elastic strap makes it fixed on the furniture which prevent slipping down frequently as others do. But the surface fabric will be wet, but not leak into the couch. Our material with special treatment named slicon dot is good at prevent sliding, meanwhile, we added the TPU material in the centre part to make our sofa slipcover waterproof. great for homes with babies, kids, dogs and pets. H-height, W-width Machine washable for easy care. Material Durable and comfy, heavy weight with microfiber 100% polyester and filling. WATER-PROOF TPU material inside is preventing liquid leak into the couch. Measuring To ensure a great fit, we HIGHLY RECOMMEND measuring your individual style of furniture before with our measuring guide in the photo. YESHOME Improved Sofa Cover, slipcovers, Quilted Anti-slip Couch Covers with Waterproof Innovative Design Our sofa protector couch cover freshen up your home d cor and protect your furniture, they are the perfect combination of stylish and function. Sauder Caraway Floor Cabinet in soft white. Dimensions Total width of sofa slipcover measures always from arm to arm: Loveseat: 76", H x 98", W Suitable for loveseat with seat up is equal or less than 54". Sofa: 76", H x 112", W Suitable for sofa with seat up is equal or less than 68". Recliner Oversized: 91", H x 84", W Suitable for sofa with seat up is equal or less than 30". Sofa Oversized: 86", H x 132", W Suitable for sofa oversized with seat up is equal or less than 78". Please Measure Before Purchasing: See Measuring Guide in Photos before PREMIUM PROTECTION Our Sofa Cover, couch slipcovers protect your furniture from liquids, pet fur, food, dirt, acarid, bacteria and any possible accidents. GREAT FIT 4 sizes are available in three stylish colors, gray, brown and navy: Recliner Oversized suit for seat width up to 30", Love Seat: suit for seat width up to 54", Sofa: suit for seat width up to 68", Sofa Oversized: suit for seat width up to 78". BOWERBIRD Clear Toy Blockers For Furniture Stop Things From Going Under Couch Sofa Bed And Other Furniture Suit For Hard Surface Floors Only 3 2 Inch High. and super easy to use. Non-residue tape technology makes the blockers removable and washable. Stick to hard surface floor. Fix on hard surface floor such as hardwood, marble, tile, vinyl, etc. Block toys, balls, dust from rolling under couch. No harm to your floor. Such as hardwood, marble, tile, vinyl, etc. Clear and free cutting. X-Protector Grippers Premium 36 pcs 1 Best Non Slip Pads Rubber Feet Floor Protectors for Keep in Place Furniture Stoppers, Black. Smartsticks Rawhide Free Dog Chew, Made With Real Chicken, Vegetables And Peanut Butter - SBPB-00237. Dreambaby Banister Gate Adaptors, Silver. 3.2", H 16", L 5 pieces. Clear and free cutting for any length. 3.2", H size for the gap above 3", and cuttable for lower gap. Place the blockers 1", 2", inward the edge of your couch to get the best performance of both blocking and Concealing.

2019-04-22T16:29:48Z

http://www.topfurniturepieces.com/best-23-furniture-couches-sofas

According to Samuel Moyn, literature on the history of human rights has proliferated in the last three decades; a subject which hitherto had drawn very little attention. My own book, Three Conceptions of Human Rights is one of these histories, which was later supplemented by two articles in the Journal of Constitutionalism and Human Rights. The most recent of these articles is, among other, critical of Moyn’s own attempt of such a history in his book The Last Utopia. This article gives an outline of ‘my’ history of human rights and my critique of Moyn. Studying the origin of documents such as the French declaration of 1789 and UN declaration of 1948 is no simple matter. The provisions of these documents are elaborated collectively in complex ways and shaped by multiple influences, which can be difficult to disentangle. The provision concerning habeus corpus surely originates in the English Middle Ages and so forth. We have not tried to disentangle all these influences, but instead focused on the conception of rights discernable in these declarations. The conception of rights implicit in these declarations tells us something about the philosophical attitude guiding these texts independently of how they were produced. What we have then endeavoured to do is to trace the origin of these conceptions of rights in order to insert them into their philosophical and societal context. This analysis allows us to conclude that human rights in the sense used in the 1789 declaration could not originate in the Greek and Roman antiquity. Such a conception of human rights is guided by the desire to give the individual a wider liberty implemented through individual permissions called rights and protected by the duties of others to respect these. Even though concerns for liberty was not absent from ancient Greece, such a concern was not articulated philosophically, and there is no reason to believe it sparked later concerns for liberty. We argue that such a concern was revived and articulated philosophically due to the encounter between Christianity and Greek-Roman philosophy in the first centuries of our era. The fixed rules of the Decalogue served as background obligations for the definition of permissions, which the canon lawyers of the 12th century renamed as rights. Human rights in the sense of the 1948 declaration would originate in a different tradition. While this tradition relies indirectly on Greek-Roman philosophy and in particular Aristotle, the actual elaboration of such a human rights theory is a recent phenomenon, even though antecedents can be found in Edmund Burke. Here rights are conceived as instruments for the good life and human perfection. In the 1948 declaration this idea is expressed as the development of human personality. We have rights in this sense because otherwise we cannot perfect ourselves, which is our duty. Rights and duties are thus two sides of the same coin. Since rights serve perfection, we call this a perfectionist conception of rights. The main thrust of the above-mentioned book has in this way traced two traditions of philosophical thought proposing each their understanding of human rights. The significance of these two traditions goes beyond the question of rights and touches on the role of morality in human life. Do humans have limited social obligations towards each other in order to ensure peaceful co-existence, while it is left to their own judgement how they should live their lives, or is moral perfection an essential aim of social life thus enabling man to realize its humanity? In the first case, rights protect the desire of individuals to live their own life, and in the second case, rights protect peoples endeavour to live a moral life. We call this last kind of theories moralizing, while the first ones are permissive. In our book we have recounted how rights came to serve these very different functions, and we will here shortly summarize our findings. Moral philosophy in Greek and Roman antiquity is with few exceptions perfectionist. Most theories profess a species of eudaimonism. The key question was happiness, but they generally assumed that individual happiness was inextricably related to man’s moral perfection. Being moral and acting morally was also the objective interest of every man. The general assumption was that moral action had to be determined in the particular circumstances, hence the name circumstantialism for these kinds of theories, though it was possible to devise rules of thumb which should be embodied in man as virtues giving him the right disposition towards action. Different from these are theories issuing in universal and inflexible act prescriptions. All ethical theories have some aim or guiding concern, but these aims or concerns can issue in particular prescriptions for acting (act prescriptions) depending on the circumstances as the antique theories generally did or ask people to follow inflexible rules (universal act prescriptions), which was unknown in Greek and Roman moral philosophy. Plato diverges somewhat from the general scheme common to Antiquity, making reason the key notion. He is still rather sceptical about universal and simple rules. How happiness was related to virtue and reason could then be explained in different ways and from there stems the various philosophical schools which thrived at different times in the Greek and Roman world. The antique world-view assumed that the world was reasonable and intelligible for man. This view was seriously challenged after the emergence of Christianity and this brought about an important rupture which changed the basis for philosophical reflection radically. The Judeo-Christian God was a commanding god demanding obedience from the believers. The idea that certain universal act-prescriptions had to be followed was foreign to Greek-Roman philosophy, which was thoroughly circumstantialist. Still, Christian apologists had to defend their religion within the terminology of Greek-Roman philosophy. For this purpose Platonism was a particularly convenient intellectual structure. Identifying God with the One allowed Christianity entry into the Greek-Roman culture, but the commands of God could not be ignored. The distinction between law and counsel made it possible to combine both considerations. In this way we got a distinction between two different kinds of obligation. Different authors could emphasize this or that obligation, but any Christian author somehow had to find a place for the law. The authority of Scripture had to be accommodated to Greek-Roman philosophical reasoning, since Scripture itself was presented as supported by reason. Different solutions could make the synthesis between Greek-Roman philosophy and the Judeo-Christian religion work. For Western Christendom Augustine is the central figure. Inspired by his reading of Paul, Augustine developed a notion of permission, which could highlight the notion of Christian liberty. He wrote against those who make out of anything disadvantageous a sin. We can do many things without sin, which are not necessarily the best thing to do. Here we can glimpse our cluster of concepts: a law forbidding and commanding certain things leaving other things to everyone’s own judgement. These things are permitted even though certain things are necessary to achieve perfection, but everyone is not strictly obliged to seek perfection. When Augustine wrote this during 419–420 the Roman Empire had only recently become officially Christian. Many other communities still co-existed with the Christian communities. The context is, therefore, one of intra-communitarian dispute about doctrine, since Augustine is here responding to a certain Pollentius having trouble with Augustine’s limitation of divorce to the sole case of adultery. When the canon lawyers of the 12th century made Augustine’s permission into an ius the context was, of course, very different. The Christian Church was now an independent government institution with its own laws and courts and judges to maintain it. Ius was a much-used term in Roman law, but rarely used in a subjective sense as belonging to an individual (one example is D. 35.2.1. pr.). Exactly how canon lawyers came to equate ius with permission, we do not know, but this use is well established. That Augustine influenced them is well attested, since many of them refer explicitly to Paul and Augustine. These lawyers equated the moral prescriptions of the Bible with natural law. Natural law was conceived as a collection of more or less general prescriptions. They add the idea of permissive natural law conceived as consisting of everything you can equitably do. There is some discussion about whether this is natural right proper, but the idea of a space of liberty, where the agent is not subjected to compelling prescriptions is well and truly there. Later authors will deduce from this that property and government belong to the permitted area, since the prescriptions of natural law say nothing about them, and the idea that they need the consent of everybody lies at hand. We do not know exactly when this deduction was made for the first time, but it is clearly present in the works of William of Ockham. In between, however, we have seen a surge in Aristotelian thought on moral philosophy due to new translations. The influence of Aristotle is pervasive, but his ideas on moral and political philosophy is not followed by John Duns Scotus and William of Ockham (among others) opting instead for a position closer to that of Augustine. This is not the case with Thomas Aquinas who becomes the principal champion of Aristotelian moral and political philosophy. The challenge he faces is then to reconcile the general rules of the Decalogue with Aristotelian circumstantialism. Thomas’s solution is quite ingenious, but we argue that in the end he cannot give to the Decalogue its full significance. Thomas maintains certain inflexible act-prescriptions as a limit on the pursuit of the common good. His theory retains, however, the basic tenets of Aristotelian circumstantialism. Since agreement with some inflexible act-prescription is not a sufficient criterion for the goodness of the action, which has to be made for a good purpose as well, the pursuit of the common good will therefore dominate. The distinction between strict and loose duties becomes senseless in Thomas’s theory. When all actions should further the common good, and for this reason there can be no genuine indifferent acts (an act which are neither morally commanded nor forbidden), this again implies that there can be no domain sheltered absolutely from public intervention, and this fits well with a conception of rights, which vary with the interest of the common good. This Christianized Aristotelianism was to have an immense influence, but other more orthodox Augustinians like Ockham were worried about this influence. They felt that divine omnipotence was imperilled by this Aristotelian influence. If it was not possible to discard Aristotle completely, Ockham, taking the lead from Duns Scotus, gave Aristotelianism a stronger Augustinian imprint by emphasizing the divine will and the contingency of the created world. Although Ockham radicalized Scotus in many respects, he remained, on the whole, within the same overall perspective. Ockham probably developed his ideas on rights, property and government from canon law sources. In short, the distinction between strict and loose duty makes it possible to envisage individual liberty in terms of permissions within a eudaimonistic structure with beatitude as the highest end. Permissions are then conceived as rights within the limits of the act-prescriptions of natural and divine law. Other matters are left to the individuals’ own decisions, which include property and government. However, government when once settled cannot be revoked except in extreme cases. The point of this theory was not to empower individual members of the society politically, but rather to bolster the claims of the temporal power against the papal claims of omnipotence. This theory gave the temporal power an independent source of legitimacy, and this was again part of Ockham’s own quarrel with the pope about evangelical poverty. Ockham’s position and arguments were taken up again by the Conciliarists, but to a different purpose. Their target was not so much the pope as the papacy. They challenged papal primacy within church government and claimed that final decisions belonged to a general council. The focus had changed, but the basic theoretical construct remained the same. At the Reformation the cluster of concepts, consisting of individual rights as permissions, the supererogatory, property and government based on consensus and the common good as common interest, goes through a major change due to the redefinition of the term ‘sin’. Since the task of government was generally seen as peaceful coexistence and repression of mortal sin, and sin became a much more comprehensive term, the task of government was accordingly greatly enhanced. There was now much larger room for state intervention, and Reformation governments could decide about morality and manners. In this way, what would count as the task of government has also changed. After having initially endorsed this view, John Locke eventually went back on this move making matters outside natural law to no business of government, but now the context had changed, since different (if not all) religious communities were now living together. The duties of religion were now considered a private matter. Morality and manners, which were supervised by the Catholic Church before the Reformation, were now left to religious communities, between which people could choose. The area outside government action thus acquires a different content by this difference of context, since people now have greater liberty to choose their religious affiliation. We argue that this Lockean view greatly influenced the drafters of the 18th century declarations of rights. In the American context Locke was important, but it is disputed how important he was. Recent scholarship tends, however, to reinstate the importance of Locke. What makes Locke so important for us is the way he distanced himself from earlier Protestant political philosophy. Outside the concentric rings of natural and divine law, the Protestant prince could legislate according to his best judgement. Locke, on the contrary, limited the role of the prince to particular functions, and thus re-created a space of liberty for the individual. This solution was implemented in the American declarations (Virginia declaration and the Declaration of Independence) with Locke as the most probable inspiration. Even if this thesis is disputable, it is quite clear that these declarations are focused on freedom deploying a permissive conception of rights, and this is the most important point for our thesis. We can draw the same conclusion regarding the French declaration of the rights of man and the citizen, and as such link the 18th century declaration to the Augustinian-Ockhamistic tradition. However, while the rights language of permission and the consent theory of government formerly served to bolster the secular power against the spiritual power, the same language now serve to bolster the individual against the secular power. While the Americans used it against their colonial master, the French used it against their sovereign master, the King. Again, we have argued that Locke was particularly influential in implementing this solution. This solution was not met with universal approbation. Both during the drafting process and after the adoption, the French declaration was severely criticized. Most of the critique is derived from a moralizing theory proposing an end, which makes inflexible act-prescriptions impossible or unfeasible. On this kind of theory it is not possible to have a fixed and stable space of liberty. Their critique concerns partly the impossibility of conferring eternal and indefeasible rights on individuals, partly the undesirability of abandoning people to their own egoism. The best-known critics are Edmund Burke, Jeremy Bentham and Karl Marx. The theories of Burke and Marx have been described as perfectionists, since they harbour a positive ideal about human perfection, while this is not true about Bentham’s utilitarianism. Bentham and Marx reject the rights of man altogether, while Burke is not unwilling to use this term, though in a perfectionist sense. Strong forces were working against human rights as they were understood in the 18th century. The Catholic Church remains critical, and the Church will eventually adopt their own concept of human rights inspired by Thomism and corresponding to the special sense Burke gave to human rights. Different forms of Marxism and Socialism remained hostile to human rights, considered as a species of bourgeois ideology. Some trends within socialism, for example Jean Jaures in France, adapted the human rights discourse to Socialist goals. However, human rights in the 18th century sense is still important in non-utilitarian liberal thought. Different forms of utilitarianism or more broadly non-perfectionist circumstantialism reject human rights or give them some subordinated role in their system as rules of thumb or guidelines. More historically minded or social science inspired approaches would also be sceptical about human rights. The ‘rebirth’ of human rights in the 20th century was not a ‘rebirth’ of human rights in the 18th century sense, but more like the culmination of the perfectionist version of human rights whether it was of Thomistic or Socialist inspiration. These two versions seemed to converge towards one another, and after the Second World War a short-lived perfectionist consensus produced the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 (UDHR). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights outlines the moral foundation for the contemporary international human rights regime. We argue that some of the rights in the UDHR, i.e. the economic, social and cultural (ESC-) rights, make no sense if they are understood as permissive rights, but these rights can very well be understood as perfectionist rights. Since a perfectionist end implies a perfectionist conception of rights and such an end is present in the declaration, we conclude that these rights should be understood as perfectionist rights. Other rights in the UDHR could, however, be understood as permissive rights. Since all the rights in the declaration are not permissive rights, it is difficult to understand the end of the UDHR as the delimitation of a space of liberty, but a perfectionist end would not be incompatible with a mixture of permissive and perfectionist rights, since some kinds of liberty could seem necessary to fulfil the end. In that case the perfectionist end of the UDHR would command all the rights, and the permissive rights should be used responsibly to attain this aim. The examination of the drafters’ views as expressed in the summery records consolidates this interpretation of the text, even though it has to be explained as an overlapping consensus between two types of perfectionism. Full blown perfectionism would consist in a very dense conception of perfection, that is, a conception which gives very detailed and comprehensive prescriptions about how to live one’s life. This kind of perfectionism would have a strong moral dimension implying that social virtues are an integrated part of perfection. Social liberal perfectionism would focus on real freedom dissatisfied as they are with the formal freedom of the liberalists. Man should be made capable of effective use of his freedom, and this implies that he should possess certain qualities such as education, free time, means, health, etc. This kind of perfectionism would tend to be less dense, and do not suppose any moral dimension. The attachment of the individual to society would be due to some kind of social contract. The first conception was attributable to the Chinese representative, P. C. Chang, and some Latin American representatives, while the other conception was attributable to representatives from North America and Europe. It was, however, not possible to situate all the drafters precisely in relation to these conceptions, but there were good reasons to think that the large majority of representatives were somewhere between the two positions. The UDHR was soon to be criticized from a liberal point of view. The economic, social and cultural rights had no place in liberal theory. These rights were not considered as real human rights. Only civil and political rights could claim to be real human rights. In order to avoid controversy and rally as large a following around human rights as possible, the human rights militancy of the 70s focused on subjects as torture, forced disappearances, arbitrary arrests on which there was wide agreement. We argue against Samuel Moyn that this movement did not deploy a whole new conception of human rights. The difference between UDHR and the 18th-century declarations of rights does not lie in the existence of a special tie to the state, as Moyn claims, but in their basic philosophical assumptions. We argue that the UDHR has a much larger potential for internationalization than older declarations focused on freedom. This means that this potential was present in 1948, but it leaves the question open why it did not unfold until the 70s. Our explanation goes in two steps; firstly, as Moyn also notes, the major reason for this delay was the Cold War. Internationalism seemed less realistic faced with a seemingly insurmountable ideological gap. We argue that other philosophical assumptions more akin to those of the 18th century in the guise of Reinhold Neibuhr and the Realist School in international relations came into the forefront forcing internationalism into the defensive. Institutionalism within international relations theory should be taken as an expression of a new effort to open the way to internationalism on the eve of the Cold War period. Secondly, human rights activism was minimalist and focused on a few fundamental and widely consensual rights, and it did not embrace the full program of the UDHR. Moyn explains this situation and its success by the failure of alternative utopias, and there is much to say for this explanation, but why the human rights ONG’s eventually adopted the whole perfectionist program of the UDHR is not principally due to a pressure for giving answers to all questions necessary for a new ‘utopia’. We suggest that working within the UN framework, intellectual coherence would anyway oblige them to do so. Our two traditions are thus still at work towards the end of the 20th century. Niebuhr and the Realists assume a conception of morality very much akin to that behind the 18th century declarations, even though they have a more ambiguous relation to the declarations themselves. For them, the determination of the actual rights is not so evident, and especially Niebuhr considers this determination as a matter of dispute, where morality and self-interest are difficult to disentangle. The other strand has triumphed through the perfectionism of the UDHR, whether it is of Thomistic, Socialist, Confucian or other inspiration, and the momentum seems presently to be in its favour. The West has traditionally been very much focused on fixed rules when promoting human rights internationally, which seems wholly incongruous with the UDHR, while the so-called Global South has insisted on the indivisibility and interrelation of human rights, assuming that some kind of practical reason has to decide how they support or depend on each other or how supposed conflicts between them should be solved. This was rammed home at the Vienna conference in 1993, and this battle has largely been lost by those in the West who still cherishes the idea of fixed rules. Though fixed rules leave little flexibility for maximization or optimization of an accumulative end, and continuous adaptation to changing circumstances would be more efficient in this case, the social distribution of capabilities can, however, induce some people to adapt more than others, and rigid rules can protect persons by fixing lines of protection that cannot be overruled. This idea has often been criticized as a particular Western idea stemming from an individualist society and sometimes imputed to Christianity. It would seem that this study support this idea. The permissive conception of rights has been traced back to developments in early Christianity. The Decalogue of the Mosaic religion as they were assimilated by Christianity made it possible to establish the conceptual apparatus consisting in interdictions, commands, permissions and counsel. One could then say that Christianity played a crucial role for the development of human rights. But the Qur’an allows of the same kind of interpretation. Just like Augustine speaks about prescription, interdiction, permission and advice, Muslim scholars speak about the obligatory act (wajib, fard), the prohibited act (haram, mahdhur), the permitted act (mubah, halal, ja’iz) and the recommended act (mustahab, mandub, sunnah). Islamic law also embraces the principle of legality, such that actions which are not prohibited are permitted. Other observers even emphasize the existence of a notion of right in early Islamic jurisprudence. So why did human rights not develop in the Muslim world? If human rights are associated, as they are here, with the particular move that bolsters the individual against the state, and not with the move bolstering secular powers against the spiritual power, then we will have to note that these rights did not develop in the Christian world for 1700 years. It is thus not probable that they were indissolubly linked to Christianity, if nobody actually thought about this for 1700 years. What actually made Locke reinvent the space of liberty and Enlightenment thinkers turn this liberty against the reigning power as a special prerogative of the individual, has probably something to do with developments in contemporary society. Our cluster of concepts is not essentially Christian, but developed in Christianity because of contingent factors such as the combination of Roman law and church government; the dispute between secular and spiritual powers and individualistic conceptions of man. Nor do they seem to be related to any metaphysical or epistemological principle. Ockham subscribed to voluntarism while Locke adhered to intellectualism. They adopted a species of nominalism, but Duns Scotus preferred realism. A Platonic view of epistemology against an Aristotelian conception makes no difference. A teleological or mechanical conception of nature is all the same, when it comes to our cluster of concepts. What then allowed this cluster to persist in spite of changing philosophical inclinations? Important spiritual or material interests must have brought this about. With respect to the Middle Ages we will point to a strong religious interest in maintaining Christian liberty which relieves men from ceremonial prescriptions and leaves them to strive after perfection of their own free will. There was an important material interest in keeping the social order clear from church and religion. These interests in freedom and the independence of secular society were an important background for the development of human rights, but they were essentially related to neither Christian theology nor philosophy. They were related to the existence of fixed rules and the dispute between secular and spiritual power. The first you could find in Islam and other religions, while the second seems more particular to Western Europe. We have travelled a lump of human history stretching from Plato to the aftermath of the Second World War. Our account of this period must inevitably be a very concentrated one. Why work on such a long stretch of time? The concepts and terms we are using to speak about ethical and political questions often have a long history. We do not assume this history to be a smooth and simple one. Terms get new meanings or maybe plural meanings. Concepts are carried by new terms or become part of them, or they enter into new associations with other concepts, which change their significance or functions. We do not assume that terms and concepts have followed each other from the ‘beginning’ to the ‘end’. This is a complicated story, which is wholly contingent and riddled with ruptures and displacements. We do not assume that certain concepts and terms had to appear or develop in a particular way. We only endeavour to map their presence at specific moments. We establish the framework, which will allow us to study the use of terms and concepts more specifically in their concrete environment. We consider it important to have the big picture, for example when we have to compare thinkers from different periods. It is important to know that the term ‘sin’ has changed its meaning with Luther and the consequences this has for the proper functions of the state, when we compare Luther with the Conciliarists. This gives a particular edge to subsequent Protestant political philosophy, which otherwise might have gone unnoticed, since they use the same conceptual apparatus as the Conciliarists. These kinds of ‘movements’ are easier to see in the big picture. The big picture also makes it easier to see whether terms and concepts forged in one period are still pertinent in a later period. We are sometimes so used to a particular conceptual scheme that we are not aware that changes in some other context leave them without a raison d’être. This has to some extent happened with the rule-based moral theory, which persisted without its foundation in divine command, and the raison d’être somehow had to be reinvented. These kinds of disruptions are easier to spot in the big picture. What we do is to map their presence in texts. What meets us in the first place is the terms (words and phrases) and we will have to determine their precise meaning in these texts and the concepts they might carry with them. Since we are mainly dealing with abstract and technical terms in mainly scholarly texts, we have to determine their meaning in their theoretical context. The term ‘common good’ would, for example, mean something different in the Augustinian-Ockhamistic tradition than in the Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition. In the first tradition the common good is the haphazard common interest of contingent societies, while the second tradition conceives the common good of a particular society as an integral part of the common good of an objective and universal society. Establishing the big picture will not exempt us from a contextual determination of the meaning of the particular term. However, in order to extract the abstract sense of the terms, we neither have to establish their perlocutionary nor their illocutionary sense, and neither their ideological role nor their social function or justification. Nonetheless, this extraction of meaning from the theoretical context does involve an elaborate reconstruction of the theory in question as far as this is possible. So far we have only considered two of the three conceptions. The first two conceptions studied are what John Rawls would call comprehensive conceptions. The force of the third conception should then consist in being a non-comprehensive conception: i.e. a minimal standard of decency accepted by different comprehensive conceptions. This conception is defined by the fact that it allows more than one coercive normative order, and for this reason we call this conception pluralist in regard to politics. This means that human rights are not thought to exhaust the possibility for coercive measures in the state. Other normative claims can legitimately be enforced beside those of human rights. This has some implications for how we consider the function of government and consequently for democracy as a form of government. From the point of view of perfectionism it is the object of government to deploy the practical reason which will determine the decisions or enact the rules necessary for making people more perfect. From the point of view of classical liberalism it is the object of government to enact the rules necessary to protect freedom. In both cases positive rights coincide with human rights. In the third conception this is not necessarily the case. Government should, of course, enforce human rights, but these are not exhaustive, so it is somehow left to the government to fill out the rest. In some sense we are back to Protestant political philosophy here, where the prince could fill the space left over by divine and natural law. Apparently, it seems less controversial to revive this theory today, when the prince has been replaced with democracy. What would then be the function of human rights today according to this theory? The third conception is an umbrella conception, so it can be fleshed out in various ways according to how human rights are justified, which functions are assigned to them and how the individual rights are defined. We would suggest that their function is to establish the conditions for the exercise of autonomy and individual protection against the vagaries of collective decisions. Conceived in this way, human rights allow democratic institutions a vast field within which they act freely. They are not just left with some details to settle concerning the implementation of a political project set out in advance. It is for democracy to make a choice between different political projects, and in this way human rights stand above ordinary political divides. This also means that human rights become an external standard with respect to the constitution and ordinary legislation. Human rights become the standard according to which these should be judged. If human rights should express an actual universality, we must bring them down to a value that is likely to rally a broad consensus. We proposed autonomy, since it relates to the formation of opinion. It ensures that everyone can make up their own opinion and decide knowingly without pressures or restrictions in terms of information. This value is essentially that of the Enlightenment. This does not mean we did not know before. Socrates is a shining example to the contrary and Dumont believes that he finds it in the ancient Indian religion of the Vedas, however, the philosophers of the Enlightenment strongly advocate this idea from the 17th century onwards. If this value seems likely to rally around it a broad consensus, it is because it is a prerequisite for any discussion, and discussion is a prerequisite for any thoughtful consensus. So to all those who agree to submit to the vagaries of discussion and participate in the game of persuasion, autonomy should be an acceptable basis. This is fortunately a very large portion of the overall world population, and those are the members of the world public opinion that we must persuade. These people consider themselves as independent and for that reason they gather information and consider the arguments for and against. They constitute the future of human rights. What really matters is that people consider themselves as independent and that they see human rights as their guarantee for being able to continue to be so. The effort to promote human rights must therefore concentrate on public opinion; protect, expand and enlighten it. Such a conception could serve as a base for the re-interpretation of the existing UN regime. The existing regime suffers from incoherence due to the fact that the covenants were supposed to implement the UDHR, which we have argued is perfectionist, but they are doing this with a traditional legal vocabulary which is dependent on a permissive conception of rights. This has created many troubles with how to cope with ESC-rights within such a conception. These rights simply do not work as permissive rights and they cannot therefore be considered as non-derogable or non-justiciable. In a perfectionist perspective all rights are derogable according to what would fit the common good and all rights are justiciable as long as this would promote the common good. In this perspective there are no fixed rules and every virtue is enforceable if this proves expedient. In order to conserve fixed rules and thus give personal autonomy a convenient protection one should take the existing civil and political rights (ICCPR) and combine them with the core ESC-rights as outlined by the UN, which seems susceptible of immediate enforcement. These rights could be conceived as human rights according to the third conception. Aldeeb Abu-Sahlieh, Sami A. (2006). Introduction à la société musulmane, Fondements, sources et principes, Paris : Eyrolles. Augustine (1982). ‘De Conjugiis Adulterinis’, in S. Aurelii Augustini Opera Omnia, Patrologia Latina 40. Reimpression of 1857 edition. Turnhout: Brepols. Baderin, Mashood A. (2003). International Human Rights and Islamic Law, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Bentham, Jeremy (2002). The Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham, Rights, Representation, and Reform: Nonsense upon Stilts and other Writings on the French Revolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Brunschwig, Jacques (1996). »Stoïcisme ancien », in Dictionnaire d’éthique et de philosophie morale, Vol. 2 : 1856-1864. Burke, Edmund (1968). Reflections on the Revolution in France. London: Penguin Books. Dihle, Albrecht (1982). The Theory of Will in Classical Antiquity, Sather Classical Lectures 48, Berkeley 1982. Dumont, Louis (1985). Essais sur l’individualisme Paris : Éditions du Seuil. Huyler, Jerome (1995). Locke in America. The Moral Philosophy of the Founding Era. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. Jacobsen, Mogens Chrom (2011). Three Conceptions of Human Rights. Malmö: NSU-Press. Jacobsen, Mogens Chrom (2014). ‘Ideology and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights’, in Journal of Constitutionalism and Human Rights, Avril 2014: 8–30. Locke, John (2008). Two Treatises of Government. Cambridge Texts in the History of political Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Luther, Martin (1889). “De votis monasticis Martini Lutheri iudicium” (1521), in D. Martin Luthers Werke, kritische Gesammtausgabe, Vol. 8. Weimar : Hermann Böhlau. Moyn, Samuel (2010). The Last Utopia. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Moyn, Samuel (2011). ‘The First Historian of Human Rights’, in The American Historical Review, Vol. 116, No. 1: 58–79. Niehbuhr, Reinhold (1948). The Nature and Destiny of Man, Volume II; Human destiny. London: Nisbet & Co. Ltd. Plato (1982). Republic I. Vol. 5. Loeb Classical Library 237. Cambridge Mass.: Harvard University Press. Rawls, John (1996). Political Liberalism, New York: Columbia University Press. Weigand, Rudolf (1967). Die Naturrechtslehre der Legisten und Dekretisten von Irnerius bis Accursius und von Gratian bis Johannes Teutonicus, München: Max Hueber Verlag. William of Ockham (1992). A Short Discourse on Tyrannical Government, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Zuckert, Michael P. (1994). Natural Rights and the New Republicanism. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Part of the text is taken – but somewhat modified – from a second edition of my book, Three Conceptions of Human Rights, which is in course of publication. For precise and extensive references, please refer to Jacobsen, 2011, 2014, 2016. Plato, 1982: 425 c-e, p. 363. Augustine, 1982: PL 40, 459–462, I.14-17.15-19. DG II C. XXVIII, c. 8. Thomas Aquinas, ST. Ia IIae 18 a. 4 co. Huyler, 1995: 1–28; Zuckert, 1994: 18–25, 150–166, 305–319. Moyn, 2010 : 130 ff. Moyn, 2010 : 218 ff. Moosa, 2004: 5 ff. In fact Moosa argues that the concept of right elaborated in the first period of Islam makes certain inherited notions of ethics incompatible with modern notions of human rights. Those who consider the Islamic understanding of rights compatible with modern notions have difficulties in explaining how they abandon the presumptions of traditional Islamic jurisprudence. He believes there is no way out, so that one has to accept a quantum shift. Rawls, 1996: 140, 154–155, 175.

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https://nome.unak.is/wordpress/volume-11-no-3-2016/conference-proceeding-volume-11-no-3-2016/human-rights-question-origins/

Visionary and passionate leaders of the past in physical therapy education have achieved many remarkable successes for the profession. Although there is an uncertain future in health care and higher education, there will be opportunities for leaders to imagine innovative models and new strategies that can better align with the changing demands of practice. Specifically, this profession “seeks to transform society by optimizing movement to improve the human experience”. To achieve this vision, graduates of physical therapy programs must be capable of functioning side-by-side with their colleagues while adapting in times of sea change. Such an all-encompassing transformation will require leaders who are empowered to create new synergies and partnerships, can anticipate and navigate change within a rapidly shifting landscape, welcome and embrace uncertainty, and are willing to challenge the status quo and time-honored traditions to advance physical therapy education and the profession. Jody S Frost, PT, DPT, PhD, FNAP. Dr. Frost is an Education Consultant and Facilitator with expertise in strategic planning, educational assessment, consensus building, professionalism, interprofessional professionalism, interprofessional education, and leadership fellowship/training programs. After 25 years, Dr Frost retired as the Lead Academic Affairs Specialist and founding Program Director, American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) Education Leadership Institute Fellowship. She facilitated initiatives in physical therapy academic/clinical education, clinical performance assessments, professionalism and related assessments, interprofessional education, and higher education leadership. Her publications and many invited presentations are reflective of these areas of expertise. She received APTA’s Education Section President’s Award, Liaison International Leadership Award and was recently named the 2018 Pauline Cerasoli lecturer. Dr Frost is a manuscript reviewer for the Journal of Physical Therapy Education and Physiotherapy Theory and Practice and serves on the ABPTRFE Accreditation Services Committee. Dr Frost currently serves as President-elect of the National Academies of Practice (NAP) and was a founding member and former Vice Chair of NAP’s PT Academy. In addition, she has served as a Community Moderator for the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education since 2015. She founded the Interprofessional Professionalism Collaborative representing 12 health professions and an assessment organization, which is focused on the development and testing of an Interprofessional Professionalism Assessment and tool kit. She Dr. Frost received her bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from Ithaca College, masters in counseling and personnel studies from Rowan University, PhD from Temple University, and DPT from Marymount University. She was a tenured faculty member, Director of Clinical Education, and Assistant Chair at Temple University with past experiences as Physical Therapy Department Director, practitioner, clinical educator and coordinator at pediatric and orthopedic/sports medicine facilities. She currently resides in southern Maryland. Academic Dishonesty in Physical Therapy Education: Do Faculty and Learners Agree? Academic dishonesty in higher education has become an increasing concern among faculty and administrators. Additionally, there is evidence to support that characteristics associated with acts of academic dishonesty may carry over into the workplace. This presents significant concerns across all career paths, particularly those that involve the care of another individual, although there is limited research specifically on academic dishonesty within physical therapy education. The presenters will share the results of a recent survey of physical therapy programs in the Southeast that compared the responses of faculty and students, and found significant differences in their perspectives of what constitutes acts of academic dishonesty. The presenters will discussion the findings in the context of previous literature. Better understanding both perspectives will help faculty and learners to create an environment that lends itself to a lower incidence of such acts. This conversation can lay the foundation for future discussions regarding potential strategies to minimize academic dishonesty within physical therapy education. Paul Salamh: Dr. Paul Salamh is an assistant professor in the Krannert School of Physical Therapy at the University of Indianapolis. He is an educator, clinical researcher, and physical therapist in the areas of musculoskeletal and sports medicine. His passions include bringing research and practice into the classroom to promote critical thinking among learners. He received his BS in health sciences from Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania in 2003, his DPT from Duke University in 2007 and his PhD from Nova Southeastern University in 2015. He completed the first faculty development residency in the country at Duke University in 2016. Dr. Salamh has over 25 peer-reviewed publications, he is a manuscript reviewer for 11 peer-reviewed international journals and sits on the editorial board for the Journal of Clinical Trials in Orthopedic Disorders. Dr. Salamh was the awarded The President’s Volunteer Service Award by the President Obama in 2011, is the recipient of the Achievement of Distinction-Outstanding Research Manuscript Award given by the sports physical therapy section of the APTA in 2013, and recently received the Duke University Emerging Leader Alumni Award in 2017. Kyle Covington: Dr. Covington is assistant professor and Director of Assessment and Evaluation for Duke University's Doctor of Physical Therapy Program. Additionally, he serves as the primary educational consultant for Duke Global Medicine’s AiME project, focused on advancing medical education globally through sustainable delivery methods of high quality health professions education. He completed his PhD studies at North Carolina State University in 2015 focusing on Educational Research and Policy Analysis in Adult Education. In 2004 he graduated from Duke University’s Doctor of Physical Therapy Program. He received his bachelor of sciences degree from Wake Forest University in Health and Exercise Science. He has extensive experience in clinical education and didactic curriculum and program development with a concentrated interest in integrated collaborative learning models. He currently serves the Doctor of Physical Therapy Division as the Director of Assessment and Evaluation. His research interests focus on professional development in the clinical learning partnership between instructors and students and on best practices of education in the health professions. He is an instructor for the APTA's Credentialed Clinical Instructor Program. He has held several offices in the North Carolina Physical Therapy Association and is currently one of the delegates to the American Physical Therapy Association’s national House of Delegations and President of the state association. Additionally, Dr. Covington is a board certified neurologic specialist and continues to practice in the outpatient neurologic specialty clinics in the Duke Health System. Chad Cook : Dr. Cook is professor at Duke University, the program director of the Doctor of Physical Therapy division with a category A appointment in the Duke Clinical Research Institute. He is a clinical researcher, physical therapist, and profession advocate with a long-term history of clinical care excellence and service and 17 years of academic experience. His passions include refining and improving the patient examination process and validating tools used in day-to-day physical therapist practice. He received his BS in Physical Therapy from Maryville University (St. Louis) in 1990 and PhD (2003) from Texas Tech University. Dr. Cook received fellowship status at the American Academy of Orthopedic Manual Therapy in 2006. Dr. Cook has published over 210 peer reviewed papers and has keynoted in 6 continents and numerous countries. He has two textbooks in their 2nd edition and a third textbook in its first edition. Dr. Cook has a long-standing history of service roles as an editor-in-chief or associate/special topics editor for multiple journals including JOSPT and BJSM. Dr. Cook has won numerous awards locally at Duke for teaching, is the 2009 Baethke-Carlin award winner for the American Physical Therapy Association, is the 2008 recipient of the Helen Bradley career achievement award, is the 2005 winner of the J Warren Perry Distinguished Authorship Award, and was the 2017 Pauline Cerasoli lecturer. In addition, Dr. Cook is also the 2011 winner and was the 2012 and 2013 cowinner of the AAOMPT Excellence in Research Award. Anne Thompson : Dr. Anne Thompson is an associate professor and the director of the Armstrong State University Doctor of Physical Therapy Program. She is also the department head for Rehabilitation Sciences. Dr. Thompson earned a BS in Psychology from the College of William and Mary, MS in Physical Therapy from Duke University, and Doctor of Education from Georgia Southern University. She is a certified Clinical Instructor Trainer and holds the credential of Advanced Clinical Instructor. She also teaches continuing competency courses regularly on ethics and jurisprudence. She also has an extensive background in clinical administration, including hospital, outpatient, and corporate physical therapy practices. Within the university, she served as the Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs (2010-12), chair of the SACS Reaffirmation Committee (2007-13), and Interim Dean of the College of Health Professions (2014-15). Dr. Thompson is very active in the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). She served as Vice President of the Physical Therapy Association of Georgia (PTAG) from 1998-2002 and as President from 2005 - 2008. She is currently a member of the Georgia State Board of Physical Therapy. She is an elected member of the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy (ACAPT) Nominating Committee. Additionally, she is a member of the APTA sections for Education, Acute Care, and Clinical Electrophysiology and Wound Care. She continues clinical practice in wound and acute care. Amanda Beaty : Ms. Beaty is a member of the Duke Doctor of Physical Therapy Class of 2018. She has enjoyed co-leading the Duke DPT Neuro-Geriatrics Special Interest Group, Duke DPT United, and serving on the Duke AHEAD Learner Advisory Board. In her first career, Ms. Beaty was a researcher and lab manager in the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, as well as a dance instructor and performer. Her professional interests include movement disorders, stroke rehabilitation, and innovation in interprofessional clinical education. Ms. Beaty holds an MS in Environmental Science from the University of Virginia and a BS in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Physical therapists in academia and at the clinical sites are often challenged by ethical situations in their multiple roles as educator, consultant, researcher, clinician, and administrator. The intersection between the academic institution and the clinical sites adds further complexity to the challenges and may add legal issues to the mix. In this session, the speakers will present cases based on real contemporary situations and will challenge participants to reach decisions that lead to moral potency to benefit students, faculty, patients, clinical sites, and the profession. The APTA Code of Ethics, AAUP Statement on Professional Ethics, and legal constraints of FERPA and ADA will impact the discussion. Cases will cover a variety of topics, including clinical supervision, delegation, boundary issues, academic integrity, research, clinical practice, confidentiality, legal requirements, and secondary reporting. How do we all strengthen our profession by not only knowing what is right but ultimately doing what is right? Nancy Kirsch, PT, DPT, PhD, FAPTA, is a professor and program director at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. She is past president of the New Jersey Chapter, APTA, and served on APTA’s Ethics and Judicial Committee and Reference Committee. She currently serves on the New Jersey Board of Physical Therapy and is on the Board of Directors of the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy. Cathy Hinton, PT, PhD, is professor of physical therapy at Belmont University. She is past president of the Tennessee Physical Therapy Association and served on APTA’s Ethics and Judicial Committee. She has worked on several task forces appointed by the Tennessee Board of Physical Therapy, and was consultant for the state in evaluation of complaints filed with the board. The human body produces chemicals under certain conditions that help control pain and other physiologic processes. Two primary examples involve the production of the endogenous opioids and the endogenous cannabinoids. Throughout history, exogenous natural (plant-based), semisynthetic, and synthetic chemicals have been administered to mimic the effects of the endogenous opioid and endocannabinoid systems. The purpose of this presentation is to address how the opioid and endocannabinoid systems work within the body, and how opioid and cannabinoid drugs can affect their respective systems. Attention will be focused on how these medications affect pain pathways, and how they also influence areas of the brain associated with reward, pleasure, and the potential for addiction. This session will encourage discussion about how these drugs can impact physical therapist practice, and how clinicians can educate and inform their patients and clients about the positive and negative effects of these drugs. Charles D. Ciccone, PT, PhD, FAPTA: Charles Ciccone currently holds the rank of Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York. He received his BS in Physical Therapy from Ithaca College in 1975, and his PhD in Physiology from Rutgers University in 1983. After receiving his bachelor's degree in physical therapy, Dr. Ciccone practiced clinically for several years. His primary clinical interest was in the rehabilitation of people with neurologic disorders, amputations, and spinal cord injuries. At Rutgers, his research focused on the physiological and pharmacological regulation of renal and cardiovascular function during exercise and in certain disease states. As a faculty member at Ithaca College, his primary teaching areas include pharmacology, physiology, and evidence-based physical therapist practice. Dr. Ciccone is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association, and he currently serves as a member of the Editorial Advisory Group of PT in Motion. He also served for 20 years as an Editorial Board Member and Associate Editor for Physical Therapy (Journal of the American Physical Therapy Association). Dr. Ciccone’s primary area of scholarship is pharmacology, and he has had extensive experience integrating pharmacology with physical rehabilitation. He has published articles on various aspects of the physiological response to drug therapy, and he is the author of Pharmacology in Rehabilitation, a textbook designed for rehabilitation specialists. He has likewise compiled a resource for students and clinicians titled Davis’s Drug Guide for Rehabilitation Professionals. Dr. Ciccone has done numerous presentations on the impact of drug therapy on rehabilitation, and he is currently involved in research to determine the clinical implications of prescription and over-the-counter drug use in patients receiving physical therapy. A new frontier in healthcare is the cultivation of leadership and coaching skills that enhance employee engagement, motivation, morale, and individual and team innovation and performance. This presentation will explore the model of transformational leadership (four elements – idealized influence, inspirational motivation, individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation) and the alignment with professional coaching competencies that enable connection, creativity, growth, and development. Designed for all members of ACAPT and their clinical partners, it will include a novel model for self-transformation, including an experiential practice. SPECIAL NOTICE! Please open the presentation handout to follow along as there was a technology glitch at about the 45 minute mark and the slides disappeared. You can hear most of the narration, but won't be able to see the slides. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope you will still be able to enjoy this session. In order to obtain your certificate for attending this webinar, you will need to complete the course evaluation. Once you have done so, a "certificate" button will appear and you will be able to print your certificate. Pain is more than physical sensation resulting from tissue damage. It is a complex process of perception that includes the interaction of sensory information, cognition, and emotion. Because some patients do not improve with interventions targeting peripheral structural impairment alone, treatment strategies that address all factors influencing a patient’s pain experience are needed, such as mindfulness training. For patients in pain, mindfulness training has been shown to improve function and mood and reduce pain intensity, opioid craving, and health care utilization. Mindfulness may promote pain relief through improved body awareness, cognitive and emotional regulation, and reduced stress reactivity. In addition, when mindful, patients experience pain as a sensation in flux rather than a self-defining, fixed state. Mindfulness training combined with pain neurophysiology education provides patients with skills to reverse maladaptive pain processing by the nervous system and promotes their active role in managing pain. This session will present the evidence for the role of mindfulness in relieving pain and improving function. Attendees will practice mindful breathing, body scan, and movement, and learn how mindfulness helps patients self-regulate reactions to pain and stress. Carolyn McManus, PT, MS, MA: has specialized in the care of people with persistent pain throughout her over 30-year career. She joined the staff in the Outpatient Rehabilitation Department at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle in 1998 where she designed and is an instructor for Swedish’s Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Program, an 8-session group program that offers patients instruction in mindful awareness, body awareness, gentle yoga and additional stress and pain reduction strategies. She also developed and teaches a class on pain science for patients with chronic pain. In addition, she is a research associate at the Puget Sound VA Health Care System in Seattle where she provides veterans instruction in mindfulness meditation in onging research. She was a mindfulness instructor for the Group Health Center for Health Studies’ pioneering research on mindfulness and back pain published in the Journal of the American Medical Association 2016;315(12):1240-9. She is a course instructor for Herman and Wallace, providing professional continuing education training on the topic of mindfulness-based pain treatment. She is an author and national speaker, and has previously presented at NEXT and CSM conferences. She earned a Master’s degree in physical therapy in 1980 from Duke University and a Master’s degree in psychology in 1991 from Antioch University. She has practiced mindfulness meditation for 30 years. In a recent report, more than one-third of US respondents reported typically sleeping 7 hours in a 24-hour period. Up to 40% of older adults report poor sleep quality or chronic fatigue. Insufficient sleep health is associated with a number of chronic diseases and conditions including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and depression. Sleeping less than 7 hours negatively affects concentration, memory, work, driving, and financial management. Many of the interventions used to improve sleep behavior are noninvasive and can be managed by physical therapists. Faculty members at The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) have developed and validated a health-focused care model for promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors (including optimal sleep health) as part of standard physical therapist clinical practice. Critical steps in the model include anticipating population needs, determining need for lifestyle change, collaborating with patients and clients, using lifestyle behavior change interventions (including appropriate referral), and assessing lifestyle behavior change outcomes. Session presenters will explore common sleep disorders reported by older adults and the health consequences experienced from them. They will also apply the UAB Health-Focused Physical Therapy Practice Model to management of sleep health for older adult patients and clients. David Morris: Professor and Interim Chair in the Department of Physical Therapy and Training Coordinator for the Constraint Induced Therapy (CI Therapy) Research Program at The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He teaches coursework related to professional practice issues, neurorehabilitation strategies, and the physical therapists role in health promotion and wellness in the entry-level Doctor of Physical Therapy, PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences and Certificate in Health Focused Care for PTs and OTs Programs. He has conducted numerous professional education sessions and continuing education courses regarding teaching and physical therapy practice in the US and abroad. Morris is a Past-President of the Aquatic Physical Therapy Section and Alabama Chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association. He was a 2009 recipient of the Lucy Blair Service Award from the American Physical therapy Association, 2012 APTA Legislative Commitment Award, and the 2012 Marilyn Gossman Award for Professionalism in PT from the Alabama Chapter of the APTA. Diane Clark: Associate Professor and Director of the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program at The University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Clark teaches topics related to pathology, integumentary repair, clinical decision-making and professionalism. Her research interests include health literacy and mobility in acute and intensive care settings. Interested in wellness, health promotion and prevention, she practices in pro bono settings working with individuals who are uninsured and underinsured and who have multiple chronic health conditions which involves collaborative care. Donald Lein: Assistant Professor and Director of Clinical Education at The University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Physical Therapy. Research interests include osteoporosis care and prevention, computer-tailored messaging, physical therapist’s belief and practice of health literacy and health promotion in clinical practice, and the use of physical modalities in physical therapy care. In addition to his clinical education responsibilities, he helps teach basic clinical skills, physical modalities, musculoskeletal interventions, and health promotion. He also provides PT services in the multidisciplinary UAB Osteoporosis Treatment and Prevention Center. Musculoskeletal pain is one of the most common reasons to seek healthcare and failure to understand its nature and complexity can lead to continued suffering of those we treat. The individual training to be a physical therapist or the practicing physical therapist can grow frustrated with pain management options because traditional instruction falls short on providing an adequate understanding of pain. The American Physical Therapy Association’s #ChoosePT campaign provides direction and resources for physical therapists and patients interested in safe chronic pain management. However, before physical therapists are seen as the ideal providers for musculoskeletal pain there is a need for gaining a broader understanding of pain. The overall goal of this course is to provide content that allows the learner to gain a “transformed understanding” of pain that is consistent with Institute of Medicine guidelines. Webinar content will follow a “Top 10” format, emphasize practice implications, and use musculoskeletal pain examples from selected studies reported in the peer-review literature. This course addresses basic pharmacology concepts including drug nomenclature and how the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates and approves drugs in the USA. Implications of FDA guidelines for rehabilitation specialists will also be discussed. Pharmacokinetic concepts will then be addressed, including methods of drug administration, absorption, distribution, storage, and elimination. This content area concludes with a discussion of how specific factors can alter pharmacokinetic variables, and how altered drug disposition can have an impact on patients receiving physical rehabilitation. This course is designed for hospital/health systems rehabilitation department administrators, and APTA Chapter Board of Directors and legislative/practice affairs committee chairs with interest in the patient direct access model. The Wisconsin Physical Therapy Association implemented an initiative to promote hospital/health systems adoption and implementation of the patient direct access to physical therapist services practice model. Over a 3 year timeframe these efforts resulted in the number of state of Wisconsin hospitals/health systems approving this practice model, increasing from 28 to over 75 facilities. This course will describe the direct access adoption initiative including strategies, resources, benefits, challenges and lessons learned. Bill Boissonnault, PT, DPT, DHSc, FAPTA, is executive vice president of professional affairs for APTA. Until recently, he was a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and senior physical therapist at the University of Wisconsin Hospital/Clinics. He earned a bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a master’s degree and doctor of health sciences degree from the University of St Augustine, and a doctor of physical therapy degree from the Institute of Health Professions-Massachusetts General Hospital. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists. He has published numerous articles related to patient direct access to physical therapist services, consulted with more than 70 hospitals and clinics regarding implementation of Wisconsin’s direct access model, and served on the WPTA task force for promoting the adoption of the model. Dennis H. Kaster, PT, is vice president of WPTA and chair of the WPTA Autonomous Practice Committee. Until recently, he was director of rehabilitation services within a large Wisconsin health care system, where he had been for 19 years. He earned a bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse. He is a board-certified specialist in orthopaedic physical therapy. Kaster spearheaded the implementation of the physical therapist direct access model in a 6-hospital health care system. He has assisted more than 70 hospitals with implementation of direct access, including working concurrently with 33 hospitals within a rural hospital cooperative. The main purpose of this educational session is to provide clinical and academic instructors with practical strategies for engaging the Generation Y physical therapy student. Generation Y students are known to be tech-savvy, feedback-dependent, kinesthetic and visual learners. This session will explain characteristics of Generation Y which have an impact on the learning experiences in physical therapy curriculums and clinical education. Each characteristic will be followed-up with a practical strategy for participants to implement in their academic or clinical education programs. Participants will learn communication and teaching skills to enhance learning experiences in the classroom and clinical setting. Angela Holland, PT, DPT, GCS is Director of Clinical Education/Assistant Professor University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences – Department of Physical Therapy. Dr. Angel Holland is a native of Clarksville, AR and completed her undergraduate Biology degree from Oklahoma Christian University, followed by her Masters in Physical Therapy from Hardin Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. She later completed her Clinical Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Arcadia University. She has been a physical therapist for over 18 years, where she has spent the majority of her career in the field of home health and served as the Director of Therapy for a home health agency in Northwest Arkansas. Dr. Holland has also served as a documentation auditor since 2009. She is an ABPTS Board Certified Clinical Specialist in Geriatrics. In 2014, Dr. Holland was hired by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences as the Director of Clinical Education, where she developed the curriculum for the clinical education program for the Doctor of Physical Therapy program. Besides her role of Director of Clinical Education at UAMS, she is an assistant professor and teaches courses in Professional Issues, Documentation, Administration and Management, Teaching & Learning, and Clinical Reasoning. She serves as the Associate Director for Interprofessional Education for the Northwest Campus of UAMS. She serves on the Nominating Committee for the Clinical Education SIG for the Education Section of APTA. Her areas of research include learning styles of Generation Y students, professional learning communities, and faculty/leadership development. She enjoys presenting continuing education courses and faculty development workshops to enhance teaching strategies related to the learning styles of the Generation Y student. She is currently an Ed.D. candidate in Adult and Lifelong Learning at the University of Arkansas. Aside from her professional life, she enjoys spending time with her husband and 3 children.

2019-04-23T08:11:22Z

http://learningcenter.apta.org/student/Catalogue/CatalogueCategory.aspx?id=abbb7487-9f55-444c-9012-4cccf6d1c7f2

Unlike other machine learning algorithms, convolutional neural networks are capable of automatically learning features from sequence data, support multiple-variate data, and can directly output a vector for multi-step forecasting. As such, one-dimensional CNNs have been demonstrated to perform well and even achieve state-of-the-art results on challenging sequence prediction problems. In this tutorial, you will discover how to develop 1D convolutional neural networks for multi-step time series forecasting. How to develop a CNN for multi-step time series forecasting model for univariate data. How to develop a multichannel multi-step time series forecasting model for multivariate data. How to develop a multi-headed multi-step time series forecasting model for multivariate data. Photo by Banalities, some rights reserved. This is where a model is required to make a one week prediction, then the actual data for that week is made available to the model so that it can be used as the basis for making a prediction on the subsequent week. This is both realistic for how the model may be used in practice and beneficial to the models, allowing them to make use of the best available data. The walk-forward validation approach to evaluating predictive models on this dataset is provided below, named evaluate_model(). The train and test datasets in standard-week format are provided to the function as arguments. An additional argument, n_input, is provided that is used to define the number of prior observations that the model will use as input in order to make a prediction. Two new functions are called: one to build a model from the training data called build_model() and another that uses the model to make forecasts for each new standard week, called forecast(). These will be covered in subsequent sections. We are working with neural networks and as such they are generally slow to train but fast to evaluate. This means that the preferred usage of the models is to build them once on historical data and to use them to forecast each step of the walk-forward validation. The models are static (i.e. not updated) during their evaluation. This is different to other models that are faster to train, where a model may be re-fit or updated each step of the walk-forward validation as new data is made available. With sufficient resources, it is possible to use neural networks this way, but we will not in this tutorial. The function below, named summarize_scores(), will display the performance of a model as a single line for easy comparison with other models. Convolutional Neural Network models, or CNNs for short, are a type of deep neural network that was developed for use with image data, such as handwriting recognition. They are proven very effective on challenging computer vision problems when trained at scale for tasks such as identifying and localizing objects in images and automatically describing the content of images. They are a model that are comprised of two main types of elements: convolutional layers and pooling layers. Convolutional layers read an input, such as a 2D image or a 1D signal using a kernel that reads in small segments at a time and steps across the entire input field. Each read results in an interpretation of the input that is projected onto a filter map and represents an interpretation of the input. Pooling layers take the feature map projections and distill them to the most essential elements, such as using a signal averaging or signal maximizing process. The convolution and pooling layers can be repeated at depth, providing multiple layers of abstraction of the input signals. The output of these networks is often one or more fully-connected layers that interpret what has been read and maps this internal representation to a class value. Convolutional neural networks can be used for multi-step time series forecasting. The convolutional layers can read sequences of input data and automatically extract features. The pooling layers can distill the extracted features and focus attention on the most salient elements. The fully connected layers can interpret the internal representation and output a vector representing multiple time steps. The key benefits of the approach are the automatic feature learning and the ability of the model to output a multi-step vector directly. CNNs can be used in either a recursive or direct forecast strategy, where the model makes one-step predictions and outputs are fed as inputs for subsequent predictions, and where one model is developed for each time step to be predicted. Alternately, CNNs can be used to predict the entire output sequence as a one-step prediction of the entire vector. This is a general benefit of feed-forward neural networks. An important secondary benefit of using CNNs is that they can support multiple 1D inputs in order to make a prediction. This is useful if the multi-step output sequence is a function of more than one input sequence. This can be achieved using two different model configurations. Multiple Input Channels. This is where each input sequence is read as a separate channel, like the different channels of an image (e.g. red, green and blue). Multiple Input Heads. This is where each input sequence is read by a different CNN sub-model and the internal representations are combined before being interpreted and used to make a prediction. A CNN for multi-step time series forecasting with univariate input data. A CNN for multi-step time series forecasting with multivariate input data via channels. A CNN for multi-step time series forecasting with multivariate input data via submodels. We will not focus on the tuning of these models to achieve optimal performance; instead we will sill stop short at skillful models as compared to a naive forecast. The chosen structures and hyperparameters are chosen with a little trial and error. In this section, we will develop a convolutional neural network for multi-step time series forecasting using only the univariate sequence of daily power consumption. Given some number of prior days of total daily power consumption, predict the next standard week of daily power consumption. This is a good start. The data in this format would use the prior standard week to predict the next standard week. A problem is that 159 instances is not a lot for a neural network. This only impacts the training data, the test problem remains the same: predict the daily power consumption for the next standard week given the prior standard week. Next, we can define and fit the CNN model on the training data. We will use a model with one convolution layer with 16 filters and a kernel size of 3. This means that the input sequence of seven days will be read with a convolutional operation three time steps at a time and this operation will be performed 16 times. A pooling layer will reduce these feature maps by 1/4 their size before the internal representation is flattened to one long vector. This is then interpreted by a fully connected layer before the output layer predicts the next seven days in the sequence. We will use the mean squared error loss function as it is a good match for our chosen error metric of RMSE. We will use the efficient Adam implementation of stochastic gradient descent and fit the model for 20 epochs with a batch size of 4. The small batch size and the stochastic nature of the algorithm means that the same model will learn a slightly different mapping of inputs to outputs each time it is trained. This means results may vary when the model is evaluated. You can try running the model multiple times and calculating an average of model performance. Data must have this shape when making predictions for the test set and when a final model is being used to make predictions in the future. If you change the number of input days to 14, then the shape of the training data and the shape of new samples when making predictions must be changed accordingly to have 14 time steps. It is a modeling choice that you must carry forward when using the model. This means that we have the observations available for the prior week in order to predict the coming week. These are collected into an array of standard weeks, called history. Next, we need to retrieve the last seven days of daily total power consumed (feature number 0). We will parameterize as we did for the training data so that the number of prior days used as input by the model can be modified in the future. The forecast() function below implements this and takes as arguments the model fit on the training dataset, the history of data observed so far, and the number of inputs time steps expected by the model. That’s it; we now have everything we need to make multi-step time series forecasts with a CNN model on the daily total power consumed univariate dataset. We can see that in this case, the model was skillful as compared to a naive forecast, achieving an overall RMSE of about 404 kilowatts, less than 465 kilowatts achieved by a naive model. A plot of the daily RMSE is also created. The plot shows that perhaps Tuesdays and Fridays are easier days to forecast than the other days and that perhaps Saturday at the end of the standard week is the hardest day to forecast. Re-running the example with this change first prints a summary of the performance of the model. In this case, we can see a further drop in the overall RMSE, suggesting that further tuning of the input size and perhaps the kernel size of the model may result in better performance. Comparing the per-day RMSE scores, we see some are better and some are worse than using seventh inputs. This may suggest a benefit in using the two different sized inputs in some way, such as an ensemble of the two approaches or perhaps a single model (e.g. a multi-headed model) that reads the training data in different ways. In this section, we will update the CNN developed in the previous section to use each of the eight time series variables to predict the next standard week of daily total power consumption. We will do this by providing each one-dimensional time series to the model as a separate channel of input. The CNN will then use a separate kernel and read each input sequence onto a separate set of filter maps, essentially learning features from each input time series variable. This is helpful for those problems where the output sequence is some function of the observations at prior time steps from multiple different features, not just (or including) the feature being forecasted. It is unclear whether this is the case in the power consumption problem, but we can explore it nonetheless. We will use 14 days of prior observations across eight of the input variables as we did in the final section of the prior section that resulted in slightly better performance. Finally, the model used in the previous section does not perform well on this new framing of the problem. The increase in the amount of data requires a larger and more sophisticated model that is trained for longer. With a little trial and error, one model that performs well uses two convolutional layers with 32 filter maps followed by pooling, then another convolutional layer with 16 feature maps and pooling. The fully connected layer that interprets the features is increased to 100 nodes and the model is fit for 70 epochs with a batch size of 16 samples. The updated build_model() function that defines and fits the model on the training dataset is listed below. We now have all of the elements required to develop a multi-channel CNN for multivariate input data to make multi-step time series forecasts. We can see that in this case, the use of all eight input variables does result in another small drop in the overall RMSE score. For the daily RMSE scores, we do see that some are better and some are worse than the univariate CNN from the previous section. The final day, Saturday, remains a challenging day to forecast, and Friday an easy day to forecast. There may be some benefit in designing models to focus specifically on reducing the error of the harder to forecast days. It may be interesting to see if the variance across daily scores could be further reduced with a tuned model or perhaps an ensemble of multiple different models. It may also be interesting to compare the performance for a model that uses seven or even 21 days of input data to see if further gains can be made. We can further extend the CNN model to have a separate sub-CNN model or head for each input variable, which we can refer to as a multi-headed CNN model. This requires a modification to the preparation of the model, and in turn, modification to the preparation of the training and test datasets. Starting with the model, we must define a separate CNN model for each of the eight input variables. The configuration of the model, including the number of layers and their hyperparameters, were also modified to better suit the new approach. The new configuration is not optimal and was found with a little trial and error. The multi-headed model is specified using the more flexible functional API for defining Keras models. We can loop over each variable and create a sub-model that takes a one-dimensional sequence of 14 days of data and outputs a flat vector containing a summary of the learned features from the sequence. Each of these vectors can be merged via concatenation to make one very long vector that is then interpreted by some fully connected layers before a prediction is made. As we build up the submodels, we keep track of the input layers and flatten layers in lists. This is so that we can specify the inputs in the definition of the model object and use the list of flatten layers in the merge layer. When the model is used, it will require eight arrays as input: one for each of the submodels. This is required when training the model, when evaluating the model, and when making predictions with a final model. We can achieve this by creating a list of 3D arrays, where each 3D array contains [samples, timesteps, 1], with one feature. The updated build_model() function with these changes is listed below. When the model is built, a diagram of the structure of the model is created and saved to file. Note: the call to plot_model() requires that pygraphviz and pydot are installed. If this is a problem, you can comment out this line. The structure of the network looks as follows. Next, we can update the preparation of input samples when making a prediction for the test dataset. We must perform the same change, where an input array of [1, 14, 8] must be transformed into a list of eight 3D arrays each with [1, 14, 1]. The forecast() function with this change is listed below. We can tie all of this together; the complete example is listed below. We can see that in this case, the overall RMSE is skillful compared to a naive forecast, but with the chosen configuration may not perform better than the multi-channel model in the previous section. We can also see a different, more pronounced profile for the daily RMSE scores where perhaps Mon-Tue and Thu-Fri are easier for the model to predict than the other forecast days. These results may be useful when combined with another forecast model. It may be interesting to explore alternate methods in the architecture for merging the output of each sub-model. Size of Input. Explore more or fewer numbers of days used as input for the model, such as three days, 21 days, 30 days and more. Data Scaling. Explore whether data scaling, such as standardization and normalization, can be used to improve the performance of any of the CNN models. Learning Diagnostics. Use diagnostics such as learning curves for the train and validation loss and mean squared error to help tune the structure and hyperparameters of a CNN model. Vary Kernel Size. Combine the multichannel CNN with the multi-headed CNN and use a different kernel size for each head to see if this configuration can further improve performance. In this tutorial, you discovered how to develop 1D convolutional neural networks for multi-step time series forecasting. Hi Jason, thanks for the tutorial. One naive question: for last complete code, how to make prediction fixed / reproducible ? I tried “from numpy.random import seed” “seed(1)”, but the scores are still varied when running twice. Great article – thank you for the code examples. I really enjoy looking at your work since I’m trying to learn ML/DL. Question – what if I wanted to forecast out all of the variables separately rather than one total daily power consumption? This would be a multi-step multi-variate problem. I show how in my book. I would recommend treating it like a seq2seq problem and forecast n variables for each step in the output sequence. An encoder-decoder model would be appropriate with a CNN or LSTM input model. Thank you for the response Jason. Which one of your books are you referring to? Hi. When you increase the number of training example by overlapping your data, do you not run the risk of overfitting your model? You are essentially giving the model the same data multiple times. It may, this is why we are so reliant on the model validation method. Why do you want to use capsule networks? They seem fringe to me. Thank you – I have purchased your ebook. Thanks for your support Jim. For the multi channel model (using 8 inputs, with 2 convo layers pooling , 1 convo and pooling), you actually get an error when using n_input = 7. Do you have any idea? Negative dimension size caused by subtracting 3 from 1 for ‘conv1d_55/convolution/Conv2D’ (op: ‘Conv2D’) with input shapes: [?,1,1,32], [1,3,32,16]. Perhaps the configuration of the model requires change in concert with changes to the input? Thanks Jason, i believe that the feature map is too small for the layers, which resulted in the error. Also, one point to note is that my multi channel model is not doing as well as your example. (stochastic). However, it is actually doing worst than the single variable model with n_input = 21! In the first example with the univariate CNN in evaluate_model function you wrote “history = [x for x in train]”. Why? Shouldn’t be something like “history = [x for x in test]” since we want to evaluate the model? Yes, but we need input for the first prediction of the test set, which will/may come from the end of the training set. hi jason! how to download “household_power_consumption.zip” ? because when i click that, the website cannot be open. As my understanding, song classification is a case of Time Series data right? Can you write a topic about that? Hi Jason, as always great tutorial ! I had a question concerning the multi-head CNN, would it be a good idea to use different CNN architecture instead of using the same one ? It really depends on the problem. Perhaps try it and compare results. I noticed that loss was very high during training.Loss must approach 0 in some task. Ideally, but this is not always possible or even desirable if the model is overfitting. After normalizing features,loss approach 0. If normalizing features,how to invert scaling for actual and forecast in Walk-Forward Validation. I am very doubtful about this, especially the CNN model in this post. If you use sklearn to normalize, it offers an inverse_transform() function to returns data to the original scale. If you scale manually, you can write a manual function to invert the transform. Hi Jason, thanks for these examples. Do you see a difference between the results in using multi-channel vs multi-head CNN for multi-variate data? What is your recommendation on using these 2 different approaches? Try both, see work works for you. I like multi-head with multi-channel so that I can use different kernel sizes on the same data – much like a resnet type design. Hi Jason, do you have any recommendations on when multi-channel and when multi-head approach would be better? I recommend using multi-channel and compare it to multichannel on multi-heads to allow the use of different kernel sizes. Can you provide link of code how time series data can be converted to image form for input to CNN? Anf how to convert in 2D? Sorry, I don’t have an example of this. There is no need, a 1D CNN can operate on the data directly and performs very well! Thank you for this tutorial and for the book version as well. I tried to plot observations against predictions for a given time step with the date in the x-axis but couldn’t get it right. Could you please help with that. Thank you! Sorry, I don’t have the capacity to review and debug your code. Perhaps try posting your code and error to stackoverflow? I even provide a forecast function for you in the tutorial. Perhaps I still don’t understand the problem that you are having? Hi Jason, thank you so much for your tutorial. it helped me a lot.. I have tried this code on my data (speed data during a sequence of time) and it works very well. However, i need to run Resnet on the same data, i have replaced the def ‘build_model’ by a residual block but it did not work. Please, have you idea what should i change in your code to have residual neural network ?? if you have already an example, it will be great.. Thanks a lot for your support. Thanks for the great tutorial! I wonder if the multivariate channel approach is applicable for high-dimensional data, e.g. for 100 variables that could effect the outcome? Yes, it might be effective. Try it and see? I am working on it but I get confused about the “history” you are using. I don’t get why you don’t just use the test data to predict y_hat_sequence. To me it seems like you append sample i of the test set to history (line 117 in the first 2 examples) and then you predict on the last 7 days of history, which is sample i of the test set. Please tell me where the error in reasoning is.. I am using walk-forward validation, which is a preferred approach for evaluating time series forecasting models. Hi.. I used 70/30 for train and test to predict forecast on my data using CNN. How can I predict day ahead or hour ahead prediction. Should I use walk forward validation? Walk forward validation is really only for evaluating a model. You fit the model on all available data and make a prediction via model.predict(). I am currently trying to apply the Multi-step Time Series Forecasting With a Univariate CNN and i am facing troubles with the batch size and input shapes. My data are very few at the moment, 30 days of 1440 timesteps each day of a sensor measurement . my goal is to predict another day , so another 1440 timesteps. The input_shape i am using is (30, 1440 , 1) so on the Conv1D layer i put on input_shape = (1440, 1). Then basically i followed your instructions on how to structure the rest of the network to see how it works but i get an error when i run it ( with any number of batch size). Is it something obvious that i am doing wrong? Should i use different shapes? Thank you in advance for your time and your extremely helpful tutorials i have used before. Apologies if it is something obsolete or something out of your knowledge. 953 # Prepare validation data. 788 check_batch_axis=False, # Don’t enforce the batch size. The error suggests a mismatch between the shape of your data and the expected shape of the model. You can reshape the data or change the expectation of the model. I’m coming from your tutorial on Multivariate, multi-step (e.g. 20 day loopback) time series forecasting using LSTM neural networks. I’d like to compare the LSTM results to the CNN results here. Do you mind explaining how I could use the reframed data from that example to apply to apply to this example here for daily prediction? You can use data with the same structure for evaluating RNNs and CNNs directly.

2019-04-24T17:52:42Z

https://machinelearningmastery.com/how-to-develop-convolutional-neural-networks-for-multi-step-time-series-forecasting/

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Tall sliding fence supports crown molding up to 6-5/8" nested and base molding up to 6-1/2" vertically against the fence while easily sliding out of the way for bevel cuts. 0-48 degree with positive stops at 0, 33.9, 45 and 48 degree both left and right allowing user to flip the saw not the material. Back fence design delivers ability to cut 2 x 10" dimensional lumber at 90 degrees and 2 x 8" at 45 degrees. Precise miter system and machined base fence support, innovative gearbox and belt-drive design for increased cutting capacity. Lightweight, head lock-down pine and built-in carrying handle. Cam lock miter handle with detent override. Designed for use with No.DW7187 Adjustable Miter Saw Laser System which delivers visibility of the cutting path. STANDARD EQUIPMENT: carbide blade, dust bag, blade wrench. SPECIFICATIONS: 15.0 amps, 3,600 RPM no load speed, 12" blade diameter, 5/8 or 1" arbor size, 6-1/2" vertical capacity baseboard against fence, 6-5/8" vertical capacity crown molding vertically nested, 8" horizontal capacity baseboard lying flat (10" with back fence), 6-1/2" horizontal capacity crown molding lying flat, 2 x 8" (2 x 10" with back fence) left and right for 45 degree bevel cut capacity (dimensional lumber), 2 x 8" (2 x 10" with back fence) for 90 degree cross-cut capacity (dimensional lumber), 2 x 8" (2 x 10" with back fence) max width for 90 degree cross-cut capacity, 4 x 6" dimensional lumber max height for 45 degree miter cut capacity, 2 x 6" (2 x 8" with back fence) dimensional lumber max width for 45 degree miter cut capacity. 44 lbs. tool weight. Stand Not Included. 15 AMP motor tackles tough cutting jobs with ease. Zero rear clearance slide system. Ergonomic upfront bevel lock for quick and easy adjustments of bevel angles. Tool-less, adjustable laser marker for cutting accuracy. Positive stops with miter detent override for faster transitions between miter angles. Equipped with LED light for added visibility. 0-60 degree miter angle to the right and 0-55 degree miter angle to the left, 0-48 degree bevel angle range to the right and left. STANDARD EQUIPMENT: saw, 10" TCT saw blade, dust bag, 13 mm wrench, and vice assembly. SPECIFICATIONS: 15 AMP belt driven motor, pivoting fence, no-load speed of 3,200 RPM. Utilizes 20 volt Max Battery pack which provides on average, 183 cuts of 2x4 pine or 275 cuts of 3-1/4 pine baseboard. Integrated XPS cross system provides adjustment free cut line indication for better accuracy and visibility. Capacity to cut up to 3-5/8" nested crown and 3-1/2 base vertically. Will cut 2x8 lying flat. Adjustable stainless steel miter detent plate with 11 positive stops improves productivity and ensures cutting accuracy. Oversized bevel scale makes bevel angle adjustments accurate and easy. Compact, lightweight design (31.6 lbs) allows for easy transport and storage. Cam lock miter handle delivers quick and accurate miter angles. Precise miter system and machined base fence support optimized durability and cutting accuracy. 7-1/4" blade diameter. No load speed: 3750 rpm. Includes battery, charger, carbide blade, user's guide, blade wrench and material clamp. Large cutting capacity in a compact design and less weight at only 43.7 lbs. for job site portability. Powerful 13.0 amp direct drive motor requires less maintenance and delivers 4,300 rpm. Cuts up to 12" at 90 degrees and 8-1/2" at 45 degrees. Linear ball bearing system engineered to deliver "dead-on" accurate cuts. Rear handle bevel lock is easily accessible and adjusts 0-45 degrees (left and right) with positive stops at 0 degrees, 45 degrees (left and right). Soft start feature for smooth start-ups. Ergonomic rubberized D-handle design for better fit and added comfort. Large precision machined aluminum base supports material for more efficient cutting. Electric brake for maximum productivity. See-thru blade guard system for greater visibility of blade and line of cut. Oversized trigger switch for better fit, added comfort and easier operation. Includes extension wings for supporting long work pieces. Ideal for baseboard and crown molding installation, finish carpenters, cabinet and furniture makers, wood floor installers, deck builders, general contractors and more. Includes: (1) 10" 40T Miter saw blade, (1) triangle rule for miter saws, (1) vice assembly, (1) dust bag assembly, (1) extension wing and (1) wrench 13mm. The DHS716 12" (305mm) 120 volt Max Compound Miter Saw with top handle delivers power and cutting capacity with the portability and convenience of a cordless tool. Flexible power for corded or cordless use. CutLine Blade positioning system delivers adjustment free cutline indicator. Includes the 12" Compound Miter Saw, blade, blade changing wrench, dust bag and a 120 volt AC adapter (Batteries And Dual Port Fast Charger Sold Separately). 45 degree bevel cut capacity; 45 degree miter cut capacity; 90 degree cross-cut capacity. Arbor size: 5/8" (1") IN. Weighs only 44 lbs. Cross cut positive stop for optimal cutting position. XPS Laser Compatible. Tall sliding fence for optimized material support. Bevel detent system with 7 hard stops gives you accurate, repeatable cuts. Adjustable stainless steel miter plate. Cam lock miter system. Sliding fence that supports up to 6" base molding to the left of the blade & up to 3 1/2" to the right of the blade. Machined base fence insures blade perpendicularity to fence. SPECIFICATIONS: Blade Diameter: 10"; Bevel Capacity: 0 degrees - 48 degrees; Miter Capacity: 60 Degrees left, 51 degrees right; Crosscut Capacity at 0 degrees: 2" x 14"; Crosscut Capacity at 45 degrees: 2" x 12"; Vertical Capacity: 6" base molding, 6-1/4" crown molding; Amps: 15 amps; Net Weight: 51 lbs. Stand Not Included. Large cutting capacity in a compact design with less weight at only 57.9 lbs. Powerful 15.0 amp direct drive motor requires less maintenance and delivers 3,200 rpm. Large-sized aluminum base improves stability of material for efficient cutting. Unique 2-steel rail sliding system offers a reduced footprint for operation flush against a wall. The innovative direct-drive gearbox and guard system is engineered for increased vertical cutting capacity of baseboard (5-1/4?), crown molding (6-5/8? nested), and crosscut a 4" x12" at 90 degrees. The saw miters 0 to 60 degrees left and right, with positive stops at 0, 15, 22.5, 31.6, 45 and 60 degrees (left or right). The bevel lock allows for easy access and quick adjustments from 0 to 48 degrees (left and right). Includes: (1) 10" x 5/8?60T Micro-polished Miter saw blade, (1) triangle rule, (1) vertical vice, (1) dust bag, (1) Hex wrench. Positive angle stoppers for easy adjustment of teeth, turn table position for miter cutting (at the right and left of the 0-degree center setting, at 15,22.5, 31.6 and 45-degree settings). High sub fence. Legibly labeled angle scale and bevel scale. High dust collecting performance. Splinter guard, also serving for cut alignment. Electronically controlled soft start and constant speed for smooth, accurate cutting, fine surface finish and low noise operation. Poly V-belt and motor driving system for longer service life. STANDARD EQUIPMENT: 1 each: Vise Assembly, dust bag, 10mm box wrench, 255mm (10") TCT saw blade. SPECIFICATIONS: 10" diameter, 120V, 12 Amp, 1,400W max. output, 3,800 RPM, soft start and speed control. Max cutting capacities: 0-degree (right angle), miter cut 45-degree (left/right), miter right 57-degree, bevel cut 45-degree (left), bevel cut 45-degree (right), miter left/right 45-degree plus bevel left 45-degree, miter right 45-degree plus bevel right 45-degree. Miter cutting range: 0-45 degree left, 0-57 degree right. Bevel cutting range: 0-45 right and left. 20-3/4W x 41-1/2"L x 24-1/4"H. 43 lbs. tool weight. Double parallel link arm design dramatically reduces vibration and noise, for extremely accurate cuts. Exclusive tool-free blade clamps, On-off switch, electronic variable speed, flexible dust blower and blade-tensioning lever are all located on the front upper arm. Arm design pivots from the back of the saw to the front and lifts so blade can be easily threaded through the material for inside cuts. Unique arm design keeps the blade perpendicular to the work. Oversized, cast-iron table provides excellent material support and bevels 45 degrees left and right. Specs: Motor 1.3 amp rating, 120V AC. 400-1,750 cutting strokes per minute. Table size 16" x 23-3/4". Weighs 56 lbs. Meets OSHA standards, CSA approved and U.L. Listed. Stand Not Included. 12 AMP belt driven motor with soft start and overload protection. Adjustable laser guide for precise cutting. Soft Start feature reduces noise and recoil during start-up. Electronic speed control keeps RPMs constant as load varies. Linear ball bearing slide system for precision and durability. Left and right positive stops on miter gauge located at 0, 15, 22.5, 31.6, and 45 degrees. Dust collection system collects 100% more dust than previous models. STANDARD EQUIPMENT: saw, 10" TCT saw blade, dust bag, 10 mm box wrench, and vice assembly. SPECIFICATIONS: 12 AMP belt driven motor, pivoting fence, no-load speed of 3,800 RPM. Milwaukee Powerstate brushless motor provides more corded cutting performance, power, more run-time and longer life. Dual Bevel with 9 detents and easy access bevel lever. Top and side carrying handles for maximum portability. Detent override for easily setting miter locations outside of detents. The RedLink Plus Electronic Intelligence enables advanced communication between your batteries and tools, allowing for unmatched levels of performance, protection and productivity. Easy access to change blade. Durable RedLithium battery pack delivers more run-time, power and longer battery life with up to 400 cuts per charge. Maximum miter capacity 50/60. Includes: M18 Fuel Dual Bevel Sliding Compound Miter saw, (1) M18 RedLithium High Demand 9.0 battery pack, (1) M18 and M12 Rapid charger, (1) Blade Wrench, (1) Carbide Tipped Blade, (1) Clamp and (1) Dust bag. Adjustable stainless steel miter detent plate with 10-positive stops delivers repeatable accuracy and worksite durability. Tall sliding fence supports crown molding up to 6-5/8" nested and base molding up to 6-1/2" vertically against the fence while easily sliding out of the way for bevel cuts. Single lever action double bevel design allows saw to easily bevel left and right 0-48 degree with positive stops at 0, 22.5, 33.9 and 45 degree in both directions permitting user to flip the saw and not the material. Back fence design delivers ability to cut 2 x 16" dimensional lumber at 90 degrees and 2 x 12" at 45 degrees. Precise miter system and machined base fence support deliver increased cutting accuracy. Innovative gearbox and belt-drive design for increased vertical cutting capacity. Miters 60 degrees to the left and 50 degrees to the right. Dual horizontal steel rails with clamping mechanism and linear ball bearings. Camlock miter handle with detent override. Compact and lightweight design for quick, easy transport and storage. For use with No.DW7187 Adjustable Miter Saw Laser System which delivers visibility of the cutting path. STANDARD EQUIPMENT: carbide blade, dust bag, blade wrench. SPECIFICATIONS: 15 amps, 3,800 RPM no load speed, 12" blade diameter, 5/8 or 1" arbor size, 6-1/2" vertical capacity baseboard against fence, 6-5/8" vertical capacity crown molding vertically nested, 16" horizontal capacity baseboard lying flat, 11-1/4" horizontal capacity crown molding lying flat, 2 x 14" (2 x 16" with back fence) 45-degree bevel cut capacity (dimensional lumber), 2 x 14" (2 x 16" with back fence) for 90-degree cross-cut capacity (dimensional lumber), 16" for 90-degree cross-cut capacity (max width), 2 x 12" max width for 45-degree miter-cut capacity (max height), 2 x 12" for 45-degree miter-cut capacity (max width). 53 lbs. tool weight. Stand Not Included. 120 volt Max Double Bevel Sliding Compound Miter Saw with CutLine delivers capacity, accuracy, power, ease of use and the durability of a corded tool with the portability and convenience of a cordless tool. CutLine blade positioning system delivers accurate line of sight to be cut. Includes the 120 volt AC adaptor. (60 Volt Max Lithium Ion Batteries And Fast Charger Sold Separately). The Miter Angle Digital Readout provides repeatable accuracy to 0.1 degree. Miter Angle Fine Adjust with Detent Override makes it simple to dial in precise miter angles. Dual Integral Jobsite Lights fully illuminate the work piece and cut line from either side of the blade. The powerful 15.0 Amp, 3.3 Max HP Direct Drive Motor provides increased power for high performance cutting in hard lumber. Constant Power Technology with Soft Start maintains constant cutting speed under load and decreases start up head movement. The Integral Dust channel captures up to 75 percent of the dust and debris cut. SPECIFICATIONS: Amps: 15.0; No Load Speed: 3,200 RPM; Blade Diameter: 12"; Arbor Size: 5/8" or 1"; Miter Range: 55 degrees Left to 60 degrees Right; Bevel Range: 48 degrees Left to 48 degrees Right; Miter Stops: Left-0 degrees, 15 degrees, 22.5 degrees, 31.6 degrees, 45 degrees, 55 degrees; Right-0 degrees, 15 degrees, 22.5 degrees, 31.6 degrees, 45 degrees, 60 degrees; Bevel Stops: Left-0 degrees, 15 degrees, 22.5 degrees, 33.85 degrees, 45 degrees, 48 degrees Right-0 degrees, 15 degrees, 22.5 degrees, 33.85 degrees, 45 degrees, 48 degrees. Tool Weight 65 lbs. INCLUDES: Carbide Tipped Blade; Dust Bag; Blade Wrench. The 12" (305mm) 120V max compound miter saw delivers the power and cutting capacity that end users have come to expect from Dewalt corded miter saws with the portability and convenience of a cordless. Run time up to 289 cross cuts in baseboard along with the best in class vertical capacity against sliding fence. Tool height 26"; Tool length 32"; Tool weight 44 lbs. No load speed 3,800 rpm. Kit includes: (1) 12" (305mm) Compound miter saw, (1) Dual port fast charger, (1) blade, (1) 120V AC adapter, (2) 60V Max Lithium Ion batteries, (1) blade change wrench and (1) dust bag. This double bevel sliding compound miter saw offers flexible power options; corded for unlimited run time or cordless for portability powered by Dewalt brushless motor technology. Accuracy is delivered through adjustable miter scale with 11 positive stops and visibility bevel scale the CutLine blade positioning system. Up to 289 cross cuts in 3-1/4" base molding. Compact design weighs only 56 lbs. Includes: (1) DHS 790 Miter saw, (1) Dual port fast charger, (2) 60 volt Max Lithium Ion batteries, (1) blade wrench, (1) 12" blade, (1) DCA 120 volt Max corded power supply and (1) dust bag.

2019-04-25T04:57:36Z

http://www.hensondistributing.com/category-s/452.htm

Member States undertake to introduce legislation, making such provision as may be necessary for penalties against persons who, in their State, furnish or cause to be furnished a document which is untrue in a material particular in support of a claim in another Member State that goods should be accepted as eligible for Community tariff treatment. The penalties applicable shall be similar to those applicable in case of untrue declarations in regard to payment of duty on imports. A Member State may deal with the offence out of court, if it can be more appropriately dealt with by a compromise penalty or similar administrative procedure. (b) if, on the evidence available, the proceedings would not be justified. The information required pursuant to paragraph 4 of Article 84 shall be rendered in writing and shall be such as the Competent Authority may require. For the purposes of carrying out his investigations, the Secretary-General may seek such additional information as he considers to be relevant. Replies to the enquiries by the Secretary-General should be sent by telex, telefax or other similar means of communication. The Competent Authority shall ensure that no more extraregional materials are used in production for purposes of Common Market treatment than are authorised by the Secretary-General. The Competent Authority shall make available to the Governmental authority or authorised body nominated for his State under paragraph 1 of Rule 8 such information as may be necessary for this purpose. The Member States agree to cooperate fully with the Secretary-General in the foregoing provisions of this Rule. 1. The importing Member State may as necessary require further evidence to support any declaration or certificate of origin furnished under Rule 8. or other charge which may be payable; provided that where goods are subject to any import restrictions or prohibitions, the stipulation for delivery under security shall not apply. 3. Where, under paragraph 1 of this Rule, a Member State has required further evidence to be furnished, those concerned in another Member State shall be free to produce it to a governmental authority or an authorised body of the latter State, who shall, after thorough verification of the evidence, furnish an appropriate report to the importing Member State. 4. Where it is necessary to do so by reason of its legislation, a Member State may prescribe that requests by the authorities of importing Member States for further evidence from those concerned in the Member State shall be addressed to a specified governmental authority, who shall after thorough verification of the evidence furnish an appropriate report to the importing Member State. 5. If the importing Member State wishes an investigation to be made into the accuracy of the evidence which it has received it may make a request to that effect to the other Member State or States concerned. 6. Information obtained under the provisions of this Rule by the importing Member State shall be treated as confidential. A claim that goods shall be accepted as eligible for Community tariff treatment shall be supported by appropriate documentary evidence or origin and consignment. The evidence of origin shall consist of a certificate given by a Governmental authority or authorised body nominated by the exporting Member State and notified to the other Member States together with a declaration completed by the exporter of the goods. The governmental authority or the authorised body shall obtain a declaration as to the origin of the goods given by the last producer of the goods within the Community. The authority or body shall satisfy themselves as to the accuracy of the evidence provided; where necessary they shall require the production of additional information, and shall carry out any suitable check. If the authorities of the importing Member State so require, a confidential indication of the producer of the goods shall be given. Nominations of authorised bodies for the purpose of this Rule may be withdrawn by the exporting Member State if the need arises. Each Member State shall retain, in regard to its imports, the right of refusing to accept certificates from any authorised body which is shown to have repeatedly issued certificates in an improper manner, but such action shall not be taken without adequate prior notification to the exporting Member State of the grounds for dissatisfaction. In cases where the Member States concerned recognise that it is impracticable for the producer to make the declaration of origin specified in paragraph 2 of this Rule, the exporter may make that declaration in such form as those Member States may for the purpose specify. The certificate and declaration provided for in this Rule shall be in the form prescribed by COTED from time to time. COTED may decide that further or different provisions concerning evidence of origin or of consignment shall apply to particular categories of goods or classes or transactions. Where for purposes of assessing Customs duties a Member State treats goods separately from their packing, it may also, in respect of its imports consigned from another Member State, determine separately the origin or such packing. Where paragraph 1 of this Rule is not applied, packing of any sort shall be considered as forming a whole with the goods for the purposes only of the application of the percentage value-added conditions. No part of any packing required for the transport or storage of goods shall be considered as having been imported from outside the Community when determining the origin of the goods as a whole. For the purposes of paragraph 4 of Article 84 goods shall be treated as having undergone a process of repair, renovation or improvement if the performance of such process within the Community does not result in a change of the form or character of the goods. The cost of repair, renovation or improvement shall refer to the cost of all materials which are used plus the costs involved in effecting the repair, renovation or improvement, excluding freight, other transport charges, insurance and other shipping costs. Decisions of competent Organs taken under this Treaty shall be subject to the relevant constitutional procedures of the Member States before creating legally binding rights and obligations for nationals of such States. The Member States undertake to act expeditiously to give effect to decisions of competent Organs and Bodies in their municipal law. COTED shall monitor and keep under review the implementation of the provisions of this Article and shall convene a review conference of Member States within five years from the entry into force of this Treaty. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned Heads of Government have appended their signatures to this Treaty. Signed by for the Government of the Republic of Haiti on the day of 2002. (e) rights contingent on establishment, provision of services and movement of capital in the Community. After the entry into force of this Treaty a State or Territory of the Caribbean may, if Conference so determines, accede to this Treaty. Accession shall be on such terms and conditions as Conference decides and shall take effect one month following the deposit of the instrument of accession with the Secretariat. Reservations may be entered to this Treaty with the consent of the signatory States. This Treaty may be amended by the unanimous decision of the Parties. An amendment shall enter into force one month after the date on which the last instrument of ratification is deposited with the Secretariat. This Treaty shall enter into force on the deposit of the last instrument of ratification by the States mentioned in paragraph 1 of Article 3. This Treaty and any amendments thereto shall be subject to ratification by signatory States in accordance with their respective constitutional procedures. Instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Secretariat which shall transmit certified copies to the signatory States. This Treaty shall be open for signature on the 5th day of July 2001 by the States mentioned in paragraph 1 of Article 3. Conference may admit any Caribbean State or Territory to associate membership of the Community on such terms and conditions as Conference thinks fit. Conference may designate any Organ or Body of the Community to negotiate agreements for the achievement of the objectives of the Community. Conference may delegate to the Secretary-General the conclusion of agreements, particularly technical assistance agreements, on behalf of the Community. The Headquarters Agreement concluded between the Caribbean Community and Common Market and the Government of Guyana on 23 January 1976 shall continue to govern relations between the Community and the host country. The Protocol on Privileges and Immunities concluded by the Member States in connection with the Caribbean Community and Common Market shall govern relations between the Community and such Member States. The Community shall have full juridical personality. Every Member State shall in its territory accord to the Community the most extensive legal capacity accorded to legal persons under its laws including the capacity to acquire and dispose of movable and immovable property and to sue and be sued in its own name. In any legal proceedings, the Community shall be represented by the Secretariat. The Community may also conclude agreements with States and International Organisations. The Member States agree to take such action as is necessary to give effect in their territories to the provisions of this Article and shall promptly inform the Secretariat of such action. Where in this Treaty provision is made for notification to an Organ of the Community, such notification shall be effected through the Secretariat. (l) to give effect to international obligations including treaties on the avoidance of double taxation, but only if such measures do not constitute arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination between Member States where like conditions prevail, or a disguised restriction on trade within the Community. Measures taken by the Member States pursuant to paragraph 1 shall be notified to COTED. The Community Council shall take appropriate measures to co-ordinate applicable legislation, regulations and administrative practices established in accordance with Article 44. (c) as preventing any Member State from taking any action in pursuance of its obligations for the maintenance of international peace and security. Each Member State undertakes to employ its best endeavours to complete the constitutional and legislative procedures required for its participation in the regime establishing the Court as soon as possible. The Member States shall, to the maximum extent possible, encourage and facilitate the use of arbitration and other modes of alternative disputes settlement for the settlement of private commercial disputes among Community nationals as well as among Community nationals and nationals of third States. Each Member State shall provide appropriate procedures in its legislation to ensure observance of agreements to arbitrate and for the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards in such disputes. A Member State which has implemented the 1958 United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards or the Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law shall be deemed to be in compliance with the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article. Judgments of the Court shall constitute legally binding precedents for parties in proceedings before the Court unless such judgments have been revised in accordance with Article 219. The Rules of Court established by the President of the Court in accordance with Article XXI of the Agreement shall apply in the exercise of the original jurisdiction of the Court. The Court shall, in the exercise of its Original Jurisdiction, be competent to revise its judgment on an application made in that behalf. An application for the revision of a judgment of the Court in the exercise of its original jurisdiction may be made only when it is based upon the discovery of some fact of such a nature as to be a decisive factor, which fact was, when the judgment was given, unknown to the Court and to the party claiming revision: provided always the ignorance of that fact was not due to negligence on the part of the applicant. Proceedings for a revision shall be opened by a judgment of the Court expressly recording the existence of the new fact, recognising that it has such a character as to lay the case open to revision, and declaring the application admissible on this ground. The Court may require previous compliance with the terms of the judgment before it admits proceedings for a revision. The application for a revision shall be made within six months of the discovery of the new fact. No application for a revision may be made after the lapse of five years from the date of the judgment. The Court shall have the power to prescribe, if it considers the circumstances so require, any interim measures that ought to be taken to preserve the rights of either party. 1. The Court, in exercising its original jurisdiction under Article 211, shall apply such rules of international law as may be applicable. 2. The Court may not bring in a finding of non liquet on the ground of silence or obscurity of the law. 3. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not prejudice the power of the Court to decide a dispute ex aequo et bono if the parties so agree. The Member States agree that they recognise as compulsory, ipso facto and without special agreement, the original jurisdiction of the Court referred to in Article 211. In the event of a dispute as to whether the Court has jurisdiction, the matter shall be determined by decision of the Court. The Member States, Organs, Bodies of the Community, entities or persons to whom a judgment of the Court applies, shall comply with that judgment promptly. Where a national court or tribunal of a Member State is seised of an issue whose resolution involves a question concerning the interpretation or application of this Treaty, the court or tribunal concerned shall, if it considers that a decision on the question is necessary to enable it to deliver judgment, refer the question to the Court for determination before delivering judgment. Any party to a dispute may institute proceedings in accordance with the Rules of Court governing Original Jurisdiction. The Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to deliver advisory opinions concerning the interpretation and application of the Treaty. Advisory opinions shall be delivered only at the request of the Member States parties to a dispute or the Community. (d) applications by persons in accordance with Article 222, concerning the interpretation and application of this Treaty. For the purpose of this Chapter, “national courts” includes the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. The expenses of the arbitral tribunal, including the fees and subsistence allowances of arbitrators and experts engaged for the purposes of a dispute, shall be borne equally by the Member States parties to the dispute unless the arbitral tribunal, taking into account the circumstances of the case, otherwise determines. Where a third party intervenes in the proceedings, the party shall bear the costs associated with the intervention. Where proceedings have commenced, the arbitral tribunal may, on its own initiative or on the request of a party to the dispute, seek information and technical advice from any expert or body that it considers appropriate, provided that the parties to the dispute so agree and subject to such terms and conditions as the parties may agree. A Member State which is not a party to a dispute, on delivery of a notification to the parties to a dispute and to the Secretary-General, shall be entitled to attend all hearings and to receive written submissions of the parties to a dispute and may be permitted to make oral or written submissions to the arbitral tribunal. Subject to the relevant provisions of this Chapter, the arbitral tribunal shall establish its own rules of procedure. The procedures shall assure a right to at least one hearing before the arbitral tribunal as well as the opportunity to provide initial and rebuttal written submissions. The arbitral tribunal’s hearings, deliberations and initial report, and all written submissions to and communications with the arbitral tribunal, shall be confidential. The arbitral tribunal may invite any Member State to submit views orally or in writing. 5 The award of the arbitral tribunal shall be confined to the subject matter of the dispute and shall state the reasons on which it is based. Where the parties cannot agree on the interpretation or implementation of the award, either party may apply to the arbitral tribunal for a ruling within thirty days of the award. The term of the arbitral tribunal shall come to an end unless an application for a ruling has been received, in which case it shall continue for such reasonable time, not exceeding thirty days, as may be required to make the ruling. Decisions of the arbitral tribunal shall be taken by a majority vote of its members and shall be final and binding on the Member States parties to the dispute. Each of the Member States parties to a dispute shall be entitled to appoint one arbitrator from the List of Arbitrators. The two arbitrators chosen by the parties shall be appointed within fifteen days following the decision to refer the matter to arbitration. The two arbitrators shall, within fifteen days following the date of their appointments, appoint a third arbitrator from the List who shall be the Chairman. As far as practicable, the arbitrators shall not be nationals of any of the parties to the dispute. Where either party to the dispute fails to appoint its arbitrator under paragraph 1, the Secretary-General shall appoint the arbitrator within ten days. Where the arbitrators fail to appoint a Chairman within the time prescribed, the Secretary-General shall appoint a Chairman within ten days. Where more than two Member States are parties to a dispute, the parties concerned shall agree among themselves on the two arbitrators to be appointed from the List of Arbitrators within fifteen days following the decision to refer the matter to arbitration and the two arbitrators shall within fifteen days of their appointment appoint a third arbitrator from the List who shall be the Chairman. Notwithstanding paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 4, Member States parties to a dispute may refer the matter to arbitration and consent to the Secretary-General appointing a sole arbitrator from the list who shall not be a national of a Party to the dispute. (c) comply with the Code of Judicial Conduct governing the behaviour of judges of the Court. The term of an arbitrator, including that of any arbitrator nominated to fill a vacancy, shall be five years and may be renewed. A Member State party to a dispute may, with the consent of the other party, refer the matter to an arbitral tribunal constituted in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter. The fees and expenses of a conciliation commission shall be borne by the Member States parties to the dispute. The conciliation proceedings shall be deemed to be terminated when a settlement has been reached, when the parties have accepted or one party has rejected the recommendations of the report by notification addressed to the Secretary-General, or when a period of one month has expired from the date of transmission of the report to the parties. A conciliation commission shall report within three months of its constitution. Its report shall record any agreements reached and, failing agreement, its conclusions on all questions of fact or law relevant to the matter in dispute and such recommendations as a conciliation commission may deem appropriate for an amicable settlement. The conclusions or recommendations of a conciliation commission shall not be binding upon the parties. A conciliation commission shall, unless the Member States parties to the dispute otherwise agree, determine its own procedure. A conciliation commission may, with the consent of the parties to the dispute, invite any Member State to submit its views to the commission, orally or in writing. The report and recommendations and decisions of the commission regarding procedural matters shall be made by a majority vote of its members. The Member States parties to the dispute may, by agreement applicable solely to that dispute, modify the procedure referred to in paragraph 1. A conciliation commission shall hear the Member States parties to the dispute, examine their claims and objections, and make proposals to the parties with a view to reaching an amicable settlement. A conciliation commission may draw to the attention of the Member States parties to the dispute any measures which might facilitate an amicable settlement of the dispute. (h) in disputes involving more than two parties having separate interests, or where there is disagreement as to whether they are of the same interest, the parties shall apply sub-paragraphs (a) to (f) in so far as may be possible. A List of Conciliators shall be established and maintained by the Secretary-General. Every Member State shall be entitled to nominate two conciliators, each of whom shall be a person enjoying the highest reputation for fairness, competence and integrity. The names of the persons so nominated shall constitute the List. If at any time the number of conciliators nominated by a Member State is less than two, the Member State concerned shall be entitled to make such nominations as are necessary. The name of a conciliator shall remain on the List until withdrawn by the Member State which made the nomination and where a conciliator has been appointed to serve on any mediation or conciliation commission, the conciliator shall continue to serve on such commission until the completion of the relevant proceedings. The term of a conciliator, including that of a conciliator appointed to fill a vacancy, shall be five (5) years and may be renewed. Where Member States parties to a dispute have agreed to submit the dispute to conciliation under this Part, any such Member State may institute proceedings by notification addressed to the other party or parties to the dispute. (b) treat any confidential or proprietary information exchanged in the course of consultations on the same basis as it is treated by the Member State providing the information. A Member State shall enter into consultations upon the request of another Member State where the requesting Member State alleges that an action taken by the requested Member State constitutes a breach of obligations arising from or under the provisions of this Treaty. Where a request for consultations is made pursuant to paragraph 1, the requested Member State shall enter into consultations within 14 days of the receipt of the request or a mutually agreed period. (b) the consultations fail to settle the dispute within 45 days of the receipt of the request for consultations or the dates mutually agreed, the requesting Member State may resort to any mode of dispute settlement including arbitration and adjudication. Requests for consultations shall be in writing. The request shall state the reasons for the consultations and identify the measure at issue and the legal basis for the complaint. The Secretary-General shall be notified of any request for consultations. Consultations shall be confidential and without prejudice to the rights of the Member States in any further proceedings. However, before resorting to further proceedings, the Member States shall employ their best endeavours to settle the dispute. In cases of urgency including those concerning perishable goods, the requested Member State shall enter into consultations within 3 days of the receipt of the request, and where such consultations are not entered into, the requesting Member State may resort to arbitration and adjudication. Where consultations under paragraph 7 fail to settle the dispute within 7 days of the receipt of the request for such consultations, the requesting Member State may resort to arbitration and adjudication. Whenever a Member State, other than the consulting Member States, considers that it has a legitimate interest in consultations being held pursuant to this Article, such Member State may notify the consulting Member States and the Secretary-General, within 10 days after the date of the circulation of the request for consultations, of its desire to be joined in the consultations. Such Member State shall be joined in the consultations, provided that the requested Member State agrees that the claim of legitimate interest is well-founded and based on similar facts and circumstances. In that event, the Member States concerned shall notify the Secretary-General. If the request to be joined in the consultations is not granted, the applicant Member State may request consultations under paragraph 1 of this Article. 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2019-04-25T00:05:00Z

https://treaty.caricom.org/author/alyssa/

I drew a couple of these a while back, and I’m posting them now both to fire discussion and because I’m too lazy to write anything new. Here’s the neck of Apatosaurus, my own reconstruction based on Gilmore (1936), showing the possible paths and dimensions of continuous airways (diverticula) outside the vertebrae. Here’s figure 4 from Lovelace et al. (2007), which first got me thinking about pneumatic traces on the ventral surfaces of the centra and what they might imply. You can see pneumatic spaces between the parapophyses in Supersaurus (A) and Apatosaurus (C) but not in Barosaurus (B). How bulky you make the neck depends mainly on how much muscle you think was present (which of course depends on how heavy you think the neck was…). Here I was just trying to get the relationships right without worrying about bulk, but it’s worth considering. The volume of air inside the vertebra was dinky compared to the probable volume of air outside. In Apatosaurus, either of the canals formed by the transverse foramina has almost twice the cross-sectional area of the centrum. A fair amount of this has been superseded with better data and prettier pictures by Schwarz et al. (2007), so don’t neglect that work in any ensuing discussion (it’s free, fer cryin’ out loud). And have a happy Thanksgiving! Lovelace, D.M., Hartman, S.A., and Wahl, W.R. 2007. Morphology of a specimen of Supersaurus (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Morrison Formation of Wyoming, and a re-evaluation of diplodocid phylogeny. Arquivos do Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro 65(4):527-544. Schwarz, D., Frey, E., and Meyer, C.A. 2007. Pneumaticity and soft−tissue reconstructions in the neck of diplodocid and dicraeosaurid sauropods. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 52 (1): 167–188. Mike asked me to add the labeled version of Nima’s brachiosaur parade, so here you go. Click to embiggen. I was lucky enough to see the Supersaurus mount this weekend. Consider me blown away! Out of curiosity, is there currently any general consensus on the kind of muscle mass required to move those necks, or are there too many variables to consider to have any kind of uniform idea? To clarify, what are the minimum realistic estimates that you’ve come upon? Taking bets on who the T. rex it about to land on. It depends on how much forward momentum it has. That was quite a hop. Tor, so far as I know no work has been done on how much muscle sauropod necks carried, and all published restorations so far rely on intuition. As you can see in a previous post, that intuition has varied quite a bit between different authors. Matt’s version in this post is a better match for Daniela’s than Greg’s. – Pick a well-known and well represented neck, e.g. that of the Diplodocus carnegii holotype CM 84. – For the first vertebra, calculate how much muscle is needed to support the head plus the relevant length of plumbing. – For the second vertebra, calculate how much muscle is needed to support the head and first vertebra plus the relevant length of plumbing. – And so on until you’ve done the whole neck. Needless to say, once you start to think about this in any detail, there are a hundred reason why it’s harder than it sounds. I still think it might be worth attempting, if only to attract the criticism that might make a second version useful. But since I have so much else going on right now, I happily put this idea in the public domain: anyone who wants to take a stab, please feel free. Which “Pleurocoelus” is that in the figure? Is it meant to represent the Maryland material, or one of the western specimens? It’s the child of a long-distance interracial relationship between the two types! I got some ideas from Greg Paul’s painting of Pleurocoelus having his rear bitten by Acrocanthosaurus on a muddy floodplain. He sent me a photocopy of that painting a long time ago, and I think that’s been pretty much the default Pleurocoelus shape ever since – long arms, long torso, but a shorter neck than Brachiosaurus, and probably with a gentler slope… though there’s plenty of speculation to go around. Mostly I stick to the classic vertical “swan neck” for brachiosaurs but in the case of the more titanosaur-like ones such as Pleurocoelus and Cedarosaurus, I make a little exception. These guys might form a sub-family within Brachiosauridae – the “Pleurocoelinae” or something like that, based on their wider-gauge limbs and other features that are more titanosaurian than the rest of the family (which I call the “Giraffatitanae”). 1. It should be obvious to all right-thinking people that this is the single greatest piece of artwork ever executed by anyone, anywhere, at any time in history. The only way it could ever be improved upon would be if more brachiosaurs were discovered and incorporated into a new draft. Here’s the deal on Pelorosaurus. First, its nomenclatural history is all mixed up with Cetiosaurus brevis, as recounted in detail by Taylor and Naish (2007:1559-1560). That is, happily, being sorted out as a by-product of the ICZN petition on Cetiosaurus (Upchurch et al. 2009). Once the Commission accepts the petition (and there’s no reason it shouldn’t), C. oxoniensis will be type species of Cetiosaurus, and the only-distantly-related species “Cetiosaurus” brevis will need to be removed to a separate genus, for which the available name Pelorosaurus is the obvious choice. Confusingly, this means that the species generally known as Pelorosaurus conybeari will become Pelorosaurus brevis (well, it will revert to that name really) as the species “C.” conybeari was a junior objective synonym of “C.” brevis. This means that the type specimens of the species (and hence the genus) will be the four proximal caudals formally known as “Cetiosaurus brevis” and the humerus that was the founding specimen of the genus Pelorosaurus (which had no species at that time) will either be a referred specimen, or will be added to the holotype since it is most likely part of the same individual. OK, on to the next point! 3. Nima wrote that he drew “Brachiosaurus (B. brancai HMN XV2 in this case – no I am not calling it Giraffatitan. Deal with it!)”. Sorry but this is just plain wrong. Giraffatitan is not Brachiosaurus as I think I’ve demonstrated pretty convincingly. If you do insist on referring to Giraffatitan as a species of Brachiosaurus, and if you consider genera to be monophyletic, then it’s likely that half your other brachiosaurus are also species of that same genus. B. and G. are very different. What’s sadder is that by considering them congeneric (and by drawing genera rather than species), Nima denied himself the opportunity of showing the big proportional differences between them (Taylor 2009)). 4. I guess the idea that the Archbishop is bigger than Giraffatitan must come from something I wrote at some point: if so, sorry to have misled you. The Archbishop is actually if anything a little smaller than Giraffatitan (and, I think, with a proportionally shorter torso). Can you please point me to where I made the misleading statement so I can fix it? Where can I read more about this? I always heard the Texan specimens were middle-sized sauropods; certainly the Glen Rose tracks aren’t that huge. It would make sense that Texas would have giant sauropods though! The scale of Brachiosaurs is very interesting, however I have two objections to these calculations. Breviparopus not be a footprint similar to Macronaria by Parabrontopodus on the distance of both legs, the hand shape and direction of their nails. Nougaredi Brachiosaurus was 4 sacral vertebrae 1.3 feet long, which corresponds to a larger sauropod that Sauroposeidon. These are the scales so far led Brachiosauridae compared. The tables will get updated as new evidence or new specimens are discovered. The English to Spanish translator changed the data in my previous message. Brachiosaurus nougaredi was 4 sacral vertebrae which reached 130 centimeters in length total. But as noted previously on SV-POW!, the sacrum of “Brachiosaurus” nougaredi is very strangely proportioned — much longer than B. altithorax, but much narrower, too. This alone is reason enough to be very doubtful of its brachiosaurid identity. I’d need to see the material, though, or at least some good figures, before committing further. Now to clarify a few points; I do not deny that Brachiosaurus and Giraffatitan are different in many ways. I read your paper and it’s a truly excellent paper, all the points are well-argued. And the skeletal definitely shows Brachiosaurus altithorax was a different-looking animal. However my ‘Brachiosaur Parade’ was mainly intended to show the different maximum sizes and likely appearances of an array of brachiosaurs, not to compare major morphological differences between two of them. I used the more classic term Brachiosaurus because it’s still more popular for “B” brancai, and I’m still a bit loath to call it by a different name… guess that’s the Bakker in me coming out. My comment that “I’m not calling it Giraffatitan” was not meant as a jab at anyone, but rather a humorous reluctance to discard the more popular name for a creature that most depictions of “Brachiosaurus” have been based on. Yes I may be wrong but I think time will bear that out. On the more serious side, I don’t fully agree that if the two were the same genus, that other brachiosaurs would also be in that genus… for one thing, the Archbishop is considerably different from both of them in many features of the vertebrae, including length-height proportion. For another, the wider-gauge Pleurocoeline forms from the early Cretaceous vary considerably from “Brachiosaurus” remain of any sort. Finally the inclusion of those cervicals in the skeletal which are referred to “Brachiosaurus sp.” seems to indicate that this is still a genus with much left to be discovered about it, so it may be in a state of taxonomic flux for a while. I think B. brancai may still have some merit, and judging by how evolution sometimes happens in strange unexpected ways, even the best cladistics analysis can sometimes be off. (not that I’m implying yours is off, but even cladistics inevitably has its limitations). As for the Archbishop, I didn’t make it significantly bigger OR smaller than Giraffatitan in the actual piece – I simply gave it a longer neck. I don’t doubt that some individuals may have grown bigger than Giraffatitan (perhaps even bigger than XV2). But since this restoration was intended to show “maximum” expected sizes, I did scale it up a little bit. As for Pelorosaurus, the fact that this taxon is so tangled up with Cetiosaurus and some probably Titanosaur stuff made me consider not even drawing it! But then I figured, there is SOME Brachiosaur material in there somewhere, and the name itself is better known than say, Eucamerotus or Ornithopsis, so I figured I’d put reasonable-sized Pelorosaurus representing the brachiosaurid material in there. I suspect that the B. nougaredi sacrum may have been laterally crushed, which would account for at least some of its reported narrowness. If it’s not a brachiosaur, I don’t see what else it could be considering the narrowness of the thing… and I don’t even know if the ilia were found with it. So yes, I admit the Breviparopus figure is so far very speculative, however I wanted to make sure that this speculation was executed with style – and with maximum accuracy based on what’s known about brachiosaurs. If it was a brachiosaur, this is what it may well have looked like. I see so many artists drawing not just speculative but even COMPLETELY known sauropods (i.e. Diplodocus) with all sorts of blatantly wrong things like hand hooves, elephant-padded hands, plantigrade feet and multiple hand claws, passing it off as “real lifelike dinosaur” and NOT even admitting the necessary caveats that their work is very fanciful and may not be totally accurate (I agree with Darren’s post on TetZoo, this is a real problem and more PhDs publishing dinosaur books should correct their artists where necessary)… so I’d much rather my speculative Breviparopus become the iconic image of that genus than theirs, for the sake of respecting the actual science and evidence. Breviparopus is a narrow footprint, so it would be different than those in the Macronaria. It may be of a similar Diplodocidae Apatosaurus by the shape and number of fingers with nails. Interesting, but that seems a bit odd, Rexisto… If the remains were destroyed in WWII, then how did Lapparent describe “B” nougaredi as late as 1960? Lapparent was French and he dug up the sacrum in Algeria back in 1960 when the French still had a big presence there. It was not found by Lydekker, so I can only guess you’re referring to another giant dinosaur that actually got bombed in WWII… perhaps “Aegyptosaurus sp.” but that was Stromer, not Lydekker. And I don’t know if Lapparent published any pictures of the sacrum at all. To my knowledge the only super-huge sauropod that Lydekker had to his name is Argyrosaurus. Which is still in good shape (actually I’m surprised how many huge bones have been referred to it over the years). As for Breviparopus – I know this is nitpicking, but the footprints are not narrow at all, the handprints are – and while it may have narrow hands for a sauropod, I doubt it’s a diplodocid for a couple of reasons. First, diplodocid thumb claws were long, and attached to the hand well above ground level due to the shortened 1st metacarpal (same with camarasaurids). They would not leave thumb claw prints at all, or perhaps a tiny dot separated from the manus print at most (made the tip of the claw). So the presence of Breviparopus’ short thumb claw prints attached to the manus print makes it far more likely that this was a small-clawed Brachiosaur than anything else. It must have been a very weird braciosaur indeed, with super thin hands (but brachiosaur hands are already slender and elongated, so it is possible) and also some manus prints are a good bit wider than the others, indicating that some of the apparent “narrowness” is due to the walls of the prints having collapsed inward due to their original wetness (the same effect appears in the pes prints too). Second, if the early cretaceous dating estimate is to be believed, then diplodocids were already extinct by then (though rebbachisaurids and dicraeosaurids were not, but they were nowhere near big enough to have made the Breviparopus prints). *A size and age roughly similar to Sauroposeidon and the Wealden brachiosaur – this was a time when brachiosaurs flourished and diplodocids were dust. *And it’s also in Africa, a macronarian stronghold, not to mention it was found in the same general region as “Brachiosaurus” nougaredi. The case for a brachiosaur identity is looking good. Not perfect, but certainly good. Thanks for answering and for correcting me, actually answered so fast that apparently made several mistakes. Not that describes Lydekker nougaredi Brachiosaurus, but Lapparent. Apparently the remains were destroyed, as the holotype of other dinosaurs as with Spinosaurus. I was not sure, but the pieces really are lost. Lapparent if you have some photos of the sacrum in the official publication which describes the species. However, it is the fossil in the land and without a clear background. The narrowness which I mean that of Breviparopus not exactly on the mark, but the distance to one another. For example, we know that Macronaria had a wide body and its traces (Sauropodichnus, Brontopodus, “Ultrasauripus” were far apart. While not Macronaria of sauropods were in a very narrow line (Parabrontopodus, Breviparopus, Polyonichnus). Some authors, whose appointment I need to include in this message but still pending at the moment include Breviparopus footprints in the family and subfamily Diplodocidae Apatosaurinae, by the shape of the hand, nails, separation of the traces walking and the corresponding time. The hand is not shaped like a horseshoe, a characteristic of Brachiosauridae, but crescent-like features of Diplodocidae and other primitive sauropods. The nails of the feet point forward, while those of Brontopodus point Parabrontopodus and sideways. Breviparopus not have the characteristic Brontopodus heel, a taxon associated with Titanosauriformes and Brachiosauridae. Breviparopus is estimated as belonging to the Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous. The Rebbachisauridae can also compete as potential perpetrators of this taxon, or even more primitive group. Brachiosaurus nougaredi is belonging to the Albian – Cenomanian and does not correspond to the time it was Breviparopus Upper Jurassic or Neocomian. Thanks Matt for elucidating these important airways! The questions arise, did they contain different gas mixtures? and where/how were they connected/patent? As discussed previously, acoustic resonance effects can be surmised within these chambers: possibly with functional amplification for both vocalisation and audition (humming and appreciating). It is worth considering release of NO from mucosa lining these chambers. NO is “Not combustible but enhances combustion of other substances”. If present with oxygen and ammonia, might a flammable, even self-igniting, mixture arise? One must then ask, was ignition intracorporeal, leading to expiration (in either sense!), or extracorporeal, following expiration of the gas mixture? On this point, the literature is inconclusive and not even clearly indicative. This may be due to very short timescale of the phenomenon, rarity of its occurrence, impracticability of close observation, and prompt demise of any proximal witnesses. The muscles you show enclosing these chambers would provide for these: distension inflation, expansion on ignition, and elastic recovery thereafter, ejecting the combustion gases (I surmise) forwards; whether orally or nasally (or through novel autapomorphic de novo orifice or orifices), is not here discussed. The long neck of sauropods is thus seen to serve multiple linked roles: as incendiary reservoir, directable nozzle, and health-and-safety feature (keeping emitted combustibles and the resulting conflagration safely remote from its own body). I suggest that the immediate sequelae of such ignimission would be a prudent backing away, turning away, or triumphant rearing.. up, up and away.. Wait a minute…. only FOUR sacrals? Brachiosaurs normally have five. And given this length it was still strangely narrow… if you had the fifth sacral, it would be even MORE oddly proportioned. My best guess here is that these sacrals LACK the sacral ribs or only contain part of them, and were not measured at their widest point. This is why the measurements seem so long and narrow. I can only assume that no trace of the Ilia was found, otherwise the specimen would be a lot wider. The only thing I would trust here is the combined length of the 4 sacrals, since with different levels of damage and lack of ribs, their individual widths could well be incomplete and non-diagnostic. And if it’s a total length of 130cm, then I’d assume the average length of a sacral is 32.5 cm (divide 130 by 4)….. so adding the fifth sacral could feasibly add another 32cm to the thing. This would make for a length of 162 cm, which is insanely big. Certainly big enough for a creature that made 90cm wide footprints. As for Rebbachisaurids in the Cretaceous… none of them got that big, so it’s doubtful. Furthermore, one of the right footprints distinctly shows the claws sweeping sideways as in Brontopodus. The foot claws had some flexibility in all neosauropods, though they were not prehensile. The claw print angle depends on what the creature was pushing against with each foot. In any case, I was not making the case that Breviparopus was similar to Brontopodus – I merely said it was probably a brachiosaur, I said nothing about it being a Pleurocoeline brachiosaur. If anything, it was a derived Giraffatitanoid. The crescent hands do not disprove the brachiosaur theory, they merely indicate this animal had narrow hands that were modified differently from Brontopodus. This is not necessarily an exclusively non-macronarian trait. In fact, diplodocid hands when properly assembled tend to be more curved than this also. And the narrow gauge does not contradict a brachiosaur origin either. Most “classic” brachiosaurs had narrow gauge and deep torsos. Only the Pleurocoelines had wider torsos and more titanosaur-like trackway gauge. 1. thumb claw print attached to hand print – meaning the thumb claw was attached at ground level – NOT a diplodocoid or a camarasaur. 2. narrow gauge – NOT a titanosaur or a Pleurocoeline brachiosaur. 3. it’s too late to be a diplodocid, and far too big to be a rebbachisaur or dicraeosaur. It may be Aptian in age to the Albian is not too far off. However dating these things is a major headache in itself, so I’m not claiming to have the final say on any of this. Breviparopus and B. nougaredi may not be the same animal, but they were of similar size, in the same area, in the same geologic period. If the epochs are really so far apart, perhaps they could be ancestor and descendant. But a diplodocid, I think not. You’re making a lot of interesting points here and in other SV-POW! comments, but I do wish you’d document some of your assertions. For example, where does the ideas that only “pleurocoeline” brachiosaurs left wide-gauge track come from? This is a new idea to me, and contradicts (for example) Henderson’s (2006) study of sauropod gait mechanics in which he used Giraffatitan (“Brachiosaurus brancai” of his usage). By the way, if we’re erecting subgroups of Brachiosauridae, then we should not use the term “Giraffatitanoid”, as it alludes to the group “Giraffatitanoidea”, whose -oidea ending implies a superfamily, which would be more inclusive than the family. We could use Giraffatitaninae, which would be a subfamily name and therefore fit neatly within Brachiosauridae, or an ending not covered by the ICZN yielding an explicitly unranked name such as Giraffatitania. BUT if this group includes Brachiosaurus proper, then as this is the type genus of the containing family it would be mandatory under the ICZN to name the containing subfamily after that genus, too, hence Brachiosaurinae (and it would be at least polite to do this even if using an unranked name). BUT^2 the phylogenetic structure — and indeed membership — of Brachiosauridae is so poorly known at this stage that naming and defining subgroups is way premature anyway. As it happens, at least two separate phylogenetic studies of basal titanosauriforms are currently under way, so hopefully we’ll know much more about brachiosaur relationships in a few years. I suggest that we should leave the definition and naming of any brachiosaurid subgroups to the people currently slogging through that hard phylogenetic work. All that said: good point about the “B.” nougaredi sacrum length being likely more reliable than its width. It’s definitely time someone restudied that material. Why are the arteria inside pneumatic diverticuli? isn´t that an odd position? They’re not really inside pneumatic diverticula so much as surrounded by them, if that makes sense. The arteries are there first, and the diverticula form by following the arteries, which they come to surround. This is a pretty late comment, I know, but I recently got a hold of Lapparent’s paper which includes the only known photos of “Brachiosaurus” nougaredi, and I just got a chance to look at it closely today – it turns out I was correct about the sacrum width measurement being skewed… sort of. The measurement of only 80 cm for the sacrum is due to the fact that the sacrum is heavily eroded (not laterally crushed as i had earlier suspected), and most of the left side is gone. The left sacral ribs are broken and very worn down. Lapparent’s measurement of 80cm seems to have been taken near the second or third sacral vertebra (the first sacral is the one that’s missing, or mostly missing – there’s a tiny piece of it at the sacrum’s front end). In any case, even at its widest point, the remaining sacrum is still very eroded on the left side, and still not much more than 80cm wide. The right side however is in better shape, and can be used to restore the shape of the sacrum. Based on the photos, if you assume a length of 130 cm for what remains of the sacrum, the width also comes out to 80cm (again, if you only consider what remains of the sacrum.) I’m working on a scale diagram of the sacrum using Greg Paul’s Giraffatitan skeletal as a guide, and so far it’s getting clear that the original “B. nougaredi” sacrum was a good bit wider than 80cm – roughly around 100cm at the existing second sacral, and as much as 140 cm (estimated) at the first sacral (including the sacral ribs). Interestingly the neural arches of the sacrum are all gone too. The photos show the sacrum laying flat in the ground, with what looks like the neural canal itself exposed (Lapparent mentions the neural canal in the paper too, though my French is not good enough to translate the commentary). If the neural arches simply eroded away that’s one thing… but some of the right sacral ribs look to have a higher elevation that what’s left of the central column – which could (and this is a really big guess here) mean that this was a juvenile animal with unfused sutures in the sacrum. That’s an unlikely but pretty scary possibility, if this was an immature animal then the adult size would be nothing short of legendary. Nima, it sounds like you have much better photos than the ones I’ve seen in Plate II of Lapparent 1960. Could you send me copies, please? I have the same photos I think… they’re pretty grainy but the detail is somewhat visible and it’s possible to see the broken/missing areas. I will send you the copies soon. I’ll also send a version I quickly modded to show the bounds of the bones. BTW, have you had a chance to take a look at my initial “fix” of the Archbishop drowning scene?

2019-04-19T01:11:42Z

https://svpow.com/2009/11/24/more-out-than-in/

2006-10-25 Assigned to MICROSOFT CORPORATION reassignment MICROSOFT CORPORATION ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: BRILL, ERIC D., RICHARDSON, MATTHEW R. The relevancy of search results are improved by exploiting changes in data related to information access. Parameter varying aspects of parameter varying data associated with document access are leveraged to provide enhanced ranking of document. As an aspect of the parameter varies, a rank can be accomplished, producing multiple ranks for a given set of parameter varying data. Parameters such as time, user preferences, popularity, and/or user demographics and the like can be utilized as parameter varying data. Thus, in general, single or multiple varying aspects of the parameters can be employed to produce a set of ranks comprising one or more rankings of document. This technique can be employed with static rankers, dynamic rankers, and/or ranker training data and the like to produce higher relevancy search results, increasing user satisfaction. This application is related to co-pending and co-assigned U.S. applications entitled “USING POPULARITY DATA FOR RANKING,” client reference MS314180.01, filed on Nov. 3, 2005 and assigned Ser. No. 11/266,026 and is incorporated herein by reference. Communication networks, such as the Internet, allow users from different locations to access data from anywhere in the world. Because of the vastness of the amount of information, users typically employ search engines to find relevant information. This allows the vast amounts of data to be easily accessible to users in any location by simply entering a search query. Results of the query are then returned to the user in a search result list. Typically, these lists are ranked solely on the search query entered by the user. Most users base their selection of a search engine on speed and relevancy. Thus, search engines strive to return search query results in the fastest manner possible while maintaining high relevancy. A search request can appear in a variety of formats. The user can use keywords, a phrase, or any combination of words depending on the content they are seeking and the location of the search. Search results are returned according to some correlation between the terms entered by the user and the terms associated with a document, for example. When several documents exist that relate to the same or similar terms, there must be some technique in place to order or prioritize the pages to give the user an idea of which pages are better or perhaps more relevant to the users search. The prioritizing of the search results is generally referred to as ‘ranking’ of the search results. The ranking of documents can be accomplished after a user has entered search terms. This type of ranking is known as ‘dynamic ranking.’ Dynamic ranking usually yields relevant search results but utilizes precious response time to determine appropriate results. To minimize the response time, ‘static ranking’ can be employed. Static ranking determines probable search results before a user enters a search term. This reduces the response time after entry of a search query. However, some relevancy may be lost due to errors in predicting what results a user might be searching for. Thus, a search engine continuously seeks a balance between responsiveness and relevancy to maintain user satisfaction. Parameter varying aspects of parameter varying data associated with document access are leveraged to provide enhanced ranking of documents. As an aspect of the parameter varies, a rank can be accomplished, producing multiple ranks for a given set of parameter varying data. Parameters such as time, user preferences, popularity, and/or user demographics and the like can be utilized as parameter varying data. Thus, in general, single or multiple varying aspects of the parameters can be employed to produce a set of ranks comprising one or more rankings of documents. By recognizing and employing variances in the data, a search engine can supply a user with more appropriate search results. This technique can be employed with static rankers and/or dynamic rankers to produce higher relevancy search results, increasing user satisfaction. It can also augment training data for rankers to increase their performance. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a document ranking system in accordance with an aspect of an embodiment. FIG. 2 is another block diagram of a document ranking system in accordance with an aspect of an embodiment. FIG. 3 is an illustration of an example incorporation of parameter varying rank utilized in a search engine in accordance with an aspect of an embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a method of ranking documents in accordance with an aspect of an embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a method of employing parameter varying ranking to determine static rankings in accordance with an aspect of an embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a method of employing parameter varying ranking to determine dynamic rankings in accordance with an aspect of an embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a method of employing parameter varying ranking to augment training data for document ranking in accordance with an aspect of an embodiment. FIG. 8 illustrates an example operating environment in which an embodiment can function. With the instances provided herein, the relevancy of search results is enhanced by exploiting varying aspects of parameter varying data to improve the ranking process of documents. Data that varies given a certain parameter such as, for example, time, is employed to provide at least one rank result based on, for example, an aspect of time (e.g., seconds, minutes, hour, day, week, month, time of day, etc.). In this manner, sets of ranks can be provided for data splits based on the selected aspect of time intervals. This enables the ranking of the documents to be more relevant based on the chosen aspect such as, for example, time. The sets of ranks can then be utilized by static rankers, dynamic rankers, and/or as training data for rankers and the like to improve their performance. Thus, a user who searches for “croissant ” in the morning hours can be returned search results relating to breakfast foods that employ croissants. Likewise, a user who searches for croissants in evening hours can be provided with search results related to dinner recipes that include croissants. Other parameters can include, but are not limited to, user demographics, user preferences, and/or popularity and the like. In general, parameter varying aspects can be exploited as long as there is parameter varying data that is associated with document access. A document ranking system 100 is illustrated in FIG. 1. It utilizes a parameter varying ranking component 102 that obtains parameter varying data 104 and provides parameter varying rank 106. The parameter varying data 104 is generally associated with document access. Thus, data related to users who access online content is commonly employed. Parameters such as, for example, time, user demographics, user preferences, and/or popularity data and the like can be utilized. Aspects of these parameters can be used by the parameter varying ranking component 102 to split the parameter varying data 104 and then each data split can be processed to provide a parameter varying rank 106 for the split. “Documents” can be located, for example, on the Web, on an intranet, and/or on a local computing device and the like. Documents can include, but are not limited to, entities such as HTML, images, videos, papers (PDF, Microsoft Word, etc.), and/or presentations and the like. Typically, this produces a set of parameter varying ranks that can be employed when a particular parameter varying aspect is exploited to improve search result ranking. Such as with the croissant example given above, for example, a time of day aspect can be utilized to rank croissant related documents differently based on this aspect. Thus, preferred search engine results by users searching for croissants in the morning can influence future searches by users searching croissants in the morning. Similarly, users who reside in New Hampshire and search on “Berlin” may not be seeking information on Berlin, Germany. Thus, demographic information such as, for example, location can be utilized to provide sets of ranks for users based on an aspect of location. Therefore, the New Hampshire user may receive Berlin, N.H. results higher in a provided search result ranking. Aspects can vary greatly and are not limited by instances provided herein. For example, other aspects of location or geography can include, for example, Midwest, New England, United States, North America, people above a certain elevation, certain latitudes, and/or longitudes and the like. Other demographics that can be utilized include, but are not limited to, age, gender, race, and/or income and the like. In a similar fashion, many aspects of other parameter varying data 104 can be utilized by the parameter varying ranking component 102 to enhance the parameter varying rank 106 for that aspect. It can be appreciated that the instances disclosed herein afford great flexibility in both the type of parameter varying data 104 and/or the aspect that can be leveraged to provide increased ranking performance. FIG. 2 illustrates a document ranking system 200 that employs a parameter varying ranking component 202 that obtains parameter varying data 204 and provides parameter varying rank 206. The parameter varying ranking component 202 utilizes a receiving component 208 to obtain the parameter varying data 204 and a ranking component 210 to rank the parameter varying data 204 based on a parameter varying aspect. The receiving component 208 can obtain the parameter varying data 204 from a variety of sources but, typically, obtains it from a search engine and the like. The receiving component 208 can also function to sort and/or derive different sets of data from a mixed set of parameter varying data 204. It can also be utilized to process the parameter varying data 204 to determine which parameter is varying within the data 204. It is not uncommon for the parameter varying data 204 to have more than one parameter which varies the data. Thus, the receiving component 208 can facilitate in providing the parameter varying data 204 to the ranking component 210 and/or provide a subset of the parameter varying data 204 based on a desired parameter and the like. The ranking component 210 processes the parameter varying data 204 and/or a subset based on a data split of a parameter varying aspect. Thus, the ranking component 210 can provide one or more parameter varying rank 206 based on the parameter varying aspect. The parameter varying ranking component 202 can accept optional inputs such as, for example, desired parameter 218 and/or desired aspect 220. This allows a user and/or a system (e.g., search engine, computing platform, etc.) to influence the receiving component 208 and/or the ranking component 210 to provide the parameter varying rank 206 based on the optional inputs 218, 220. The parameter varying rank 206 provided by the parameter varying ranking component 202 can be utilized, for example, in a dynamic ranker 212, a static ranker 214, and/or training data 216. One can appreciate that output from a static ranker can be utilized in a dynamic ranker and, thus, the parameter varying rank 206 can be utilized directly and/or indirectly by the dynamic ranker 212 (either through direct input and/or indirect input via a static ranker and the like). The training data 216 is typically utilized to train a dynamic and/or static ranker model to enhance its performance. Thus, by utilizing the parameter varying rank 206 in the training data 216, both types of rankers 212, 214 can be improved indirectly via their models. An illustration 300 of an example incorporation of parameter varying rank utilized in a search engine is shown in FIG. 3. This example, for illustrative purposes only, provides multiple static ranks 302 dependent on parameter varying data 304 and, possibly, other data 306. A static ranker 308, in this example, incorporates techniques disclosed herein to provide the multiple static ranks 302 based on the parameter varying data 304. A rank selector 310 then utilizes parameter information 312 to determine which static rank to provide to a dynamic ranker 314 when a user query 316 is provided. This is one of many possible uses of parameter varying rank provided by instances disclosed herein. It can be appreciated that FIG. 3 can be redrawn to incorporate parameter varying data 304 directly into the static ranker 308 and/or the dynamic ranker and the like. The instances disclosed herein substantially enhance the performance of both static and dynamic rankers. By definition, static ranking refers to ranking documents before the user has submitted a query to the search engine and dynamic ranking refers to ranking after the user has submitted a query. Static ranking of documents is beneficial because it allows selecting of which pages on the web should be in a search engine index, determination of how often to refresh those pages, ordering of the index for good search engine efficiency, and as an input to a dynamic ranker. Instances herein exploit the fact that the rank of documents can actually vary over time. For example, on the weekends, sites about movies may be more important. In the morning, it may be news sites and in the evening, restaurants, depending on the user's needs, etc., throughout the day. A rank that adjusts to the importance of a page based on, for example, an aspect of, for example, time such as the time of day, day of week, etc. can make a search engine more relevant and/or more efficient. The time varying data can be included directly in a rank computation and/or it can be a summary and/or statistics derived from that data and included in the computation. Thus, this can be accomplished, for example, by using time varying data, particularly user behavior data such as user click-throughs, how often users visit a page, etc., to affect the rank in order to make it vary by time and/or some other parameter. There are many ways to create a parameter sensitive rank. One way is to utilize user behavior data such as, for example, how many people visit a given page (or set of pages, or domain) in a certain time period (i.e., parameter varying aspect) (e.g., in the morning, or on Monday, etc) to affect the rank. Other data types can be utilizes as well, including popularity data. If the rank directly incorporates popularity data, the time varying nature can be a direct result of filtering the popularity data according to a specified time period (e.g., data from users on Monday) and computing a rank using just that subset of data. In this way, one can immediately compute multiple ranks, each depending on a particular time period. If the behavior data is not directly used in a rank, it can still be used in a training process. By observing how the behavior data varies across different time sets (like how many people visit a site on Monday vs. any day), the (behavior-less) rank can then be adjusted to have similar qualities. For example, if news sites are viewed much more on Monday than on any other day, then that factor can be added into the rank without actually including the behavior data directly in the rank. Specifically, a time varying static rank can be used for selecting which documents to crawl, how often to re-crawl those pages, ordering the pages in the index (e.g., for search engine efficiency), and/or as an input to a dynamic ranker and the like. These, except the last, directly affect a search index itself This implies the search engine has multiple indexes, for example,—one for each time period it wants to represent. For example, it can have a weekday morning index, weekday afternoon index, and weekday evening index, and then one more index to cover the entire weekend; any splitting of time (i.e., parameters) is reasonable and the number of splits is typically limited only by the amount of space in memory and/or on disk. By having a time varying static rank (i.e., a parameter varying static rank) as a feature to a dynamic rank, it implies a time varying dynamic rank (i.e., a parameter varying dynamic rank). For example, a time-varying dynamic rank can include, but is not limited to, such things as directly inputting a time of day and/or day of week as features into the dynamic ranker, etc. In view of the exemplary systems shown and described above, methodologies that may be implemented in accordance with the embodiments will be better appreciated with reference to the flow charts of FIGS. 4-7. While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the methodologies are shown and described as a series of blocks, it is to be understood and appreciated that the embodiments are not limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may, in accordance with an embodiment, occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from that shown and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks may be required to implement the methodologies in accordance with the embodiments. In FIG. 4, a flow diagram of a method 400 of ranking documents in accordance with an aspect of an embodiment is shown. The method 400 starts 402 by obtaining parameter varying data related to document viewing by users 404. The parameter varying data can be obtained from a variety of sources but, typically, it is obtained from a search engine and the like. Generally, when users utilize a search engine, the search engine stores parameters related to their searches. A user can also enter in additional information about themselves and/or it can be obtained indirectly through behavior and/or through other means such as “signing on” and/or entering personal information for security purposes and/or to purchase items online and the like. Parameters such as, for example, time, user demographics, user preferences, and/or popularity data and the like can be utilized. A parameter varying aspect of the parameter varying data is then employed to provide ranking of documents 406, ending the flow 408. Aspects can vary greatly and are not limited by instances provided herein. For example, aspects of location or geography can include, for example, Midwest, New England, United States, North America, people above a certain elevation, certain latitudes, and/or longitudes and the like. Other demographics that can be utilized include, but are not limited to, age, gender, race, and/or income and the like. Typically, this produces a set of parameter varying ranks that can be employed when a particular parameter varying aspect is desired to be exploited to improve search result ranking. Turning to FIG. 5, a flow diagram of a method 500 of employing parameter varying ranking to determine static rankings in accordance with an aspect of an embodiment is depicted. The method 500 starts 502 by obtaining parameter varying rankings 504. The parameter varying rankings can be obtained from parameter varying rank processes described herein. The parameter varying rankings typically produce a set of multiple ranks that can be utilized based upon a desired parameter varying aspect. The parameter varying rankings are then employed to determine static rankings for a search engine 506, ending the flow 508. Static rankings are rankings that are obtained before a user has entered a search term. Static rankings help to bolster correct indexing and/or help to improve search engine efficiency and the like. By utilizing the parameter varying rankings, the static ranking performance is substantially improved because the static rankings now provide a set of rankings that can be indexed based on a parameter varying aspect. This allows higher relevancy to be obtained while increasing efficiency. Ultimately, higher user satisfaction is also obtained due to the increased relevancy. Looking at FIG. 6, a flow diagram of a method 600 of employing parameter varying ranking to determine dynamic rankings in accordance with an aspect of an embodiment is illustrated. The method 600 starts 602 by obtaining parameter varying rankings 604. The parameter varying rankings can be obtained from parameter varying rank processes described herein. The parameter varying rankings typically produce a set of multiple ranks that can be utilized based upon a desired parameter varying aspect. The parameter varying rankings are then employed to determine dynamic rankings for a search engine 606, ending the flow 608. Dynamic rankings are rankings that are obtained after a user has entered a search query. By utilizing the parameter varying rankings, the dynamic ranking performance is substantially improved because the dynamic rankings now have increased relevancy due to their dependency on a parameter varying aspect of a user and/or search query and the like. This allows higher relevancy to be obtained while increasing efficiency (unnecessary searching of non-relevant information is substantially reduced). Ultimately, higher user satisfaction is also obtained due to the increased relevancy provided to the user. Referring to FIG. 7, a flow diagram of a method 700 of employing parameter varying ranking to augment training data for document ranking in accordance with an aspect of an embodiment is shown. The method 700 starts 702 by obtaining parameter varying rankings 704. The parameter varying rankings can be obtained from parameter varying rank processes described herein. The parameter varying rankings are then employed to augment training data for document ranking 706, ending the flow 708. The training data is typically utilized to train a dynamic and/or static ranker model to enhance its performance. Thus, by utilizing the parameter varying rankings in the training data, both types of rankings can be improved indirectly via their models. For example, even if the parameter varying data is not directly used in a ranking, it can still be used in a training process. By observing how the parameter varying data varies across different parameter varying aspects (like how many people visit a site on Monday vs. any day), the ordinary ranking can then be adjusted to have similar qualities. For example, if news sites are viewed much more on Monday than on any other day, then that factor can be added into the ranking via the training model to impact rankings on Mondays. FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a sample system 800 with which embodiments can interact. In general, instances disclosed herein can reside in remote locations and interact via a communication means. The system 800 further illustrates a system that includes one or more client(s) 802. The client(s) 802 can be hardware and/or software (e.g., threads, processes, computing devices). The system 800 also includes one or more server(s) 804. The server(s) 804 can also be hardware and/or software (e.g., threads, processes, computing devices). One possible communication between a client 802 and a server 804 can be in the form of a data packet adapted to be transmitted between two or more computer processes. The system 800 includes a communication framework 808 that can be employed to facilitate communications between the client(s) 802 and the server(s) 804. The client(s) 802 are connected to one or more client data store(s) 810 that can be employed to store information local to the client(s) 802. Similarly, the server(s) 804 are connected to one or more server data store(s) 806 that can be employed to store information local to the server(s) 804. It is to be appreciated that the systems and/or methods of the embodiments can be utilized in document rank facilitating computer components and non-computer related components alike. Further, those skilled in the art will recognize that the systems and/or methods of the embodiments are employable in a vast array of electronic related technologies, including, but not limited to, computers, servers and/or handheld electronic devices, and the like. employing a parameter varying aspect of the parameter varying data to rank the document. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the parameter varying data comprises time varying data and the parameter varying aspect comprises a time varying aspect. utilizing the time varying data to provide time varying static ranking of documents. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the parameter varying data comprises user demographic varying data and the parameter varying aspect comprises a demographic varying aspect. utilizing the parameter varying data to provide static ranking of documents. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the parameter varying data comprises individual user varying data and the parameter varying aspect comprises an individual user varying aspect. utilizing parameter varying data to construct multiple document ranks. utilizing the parameter varying data to provide dynamic ranking of documents. incorporating the parameter varying data directly into the ranking of the documents. incorporating the parameter varying data into training data utilized for ranking the documents. 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the parameter varying data comprises popularity varying data and the parameter varying aspect comprises a popularity varying aspect. 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the parameter varying data comprises user preference varying data and the parameter varying aspect comprises a user preference varying aspect. a ranking component that determines a rank for the document based on, at least in part, a parameter varying aspect of the parameter varying data. 14. The system of claim 13, the parameter varying data comprising user demographic, user preference, popularity, and/or time varying data and associated aspects. 15. A static ranking system that employs, at least in part, the system of claim 13 to determine document ranking. 16. A dynamic ranking system that employs, at least in part, the system of claim 13 to determine document ranking. 17. The system of claim 13, the ranking component provides multiple static rankings based on the parameter varying aspect of the parameter varying data. means for utilizing the varying aspect in determining a rank for a document employed in a static and/or dynamic search result ranker. 19. A device employing the method of claim 1 comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of a computer, a server, and a handheld electronic device. 20. A device employing the system of claim 13 comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of a computer, a server, and a handheld electronic device.

2019-04-23T06:40:40Z

https://patents.google.com/patent/US20080104049A1/en

The purpose of this publication is to raise awareness about the Saugahatchee Creek Watershed, including its geography, ecology, history and future course. The report has been compiled with input from a diverse stakeholder group, including representatives of government, industry, academia and community organizations. It was written as part of a project to develop a comprehensive Saugahatchee Creek Watershed Management Plan, called SWaMP. The project was funded through a Clean Water Act Section 319(h) nonpoint source grant provided by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4. All interested persons are invited to become personally involved with SWaMP in an effort to restore and protect the Saugahatchee Creek Watershed. The following stakeholders, referred to as the SWaMP Group, were the primary contributors to this report: Auburn University Fisheries Department Alabama Water Watch City of Auburn City of Opelika Lower Tallapoosa Clean Water Partnership MeadWestvaco, Inc. Natural Resources Conservation Service Save Our Saugahatchee, Inc. WestPoint Stevens, Inc. The citizen group, Save Our Saugahatchee, conducting a cleanup of Saugahatchee Creek, April 2000 Cover photos: Top left: Covered bridge formerly at Hayes Mill Crossing, PHOTO: Lee County Historical Society. Top right: Turtles on a rock at Golden Mill Bridge. Bottom center: Saugahatchee Creek at Lee County Road 65. Unlabeled photos and graphics are from the Alabama Water Watch program at Auburn University. Alabama is divided into several physiographic regions based on its diverse geology. Nearly all of the Saugahatchee Creek Watershed is in the Piedmont Region (see map below). Piedmont soils are relatively infertile and high in clay (especially red clay) content. This is why Saugahatchee Creek water is often red when sediment enters the creek during heavy rainfalls. People have inhabited the Saugahatchee Watershed since prehistoric times. Early in the historic era, the indigenous groups were collectively called the Upper Creeks. Names of three major towns in the watershed were derived from the Creek Indian language (see map below). The name &quot;Saugahatchee,&quot; meaning &quot;rattling river,&quot; also came from the Creeks. Several variations of this name have been used: Saugahatchie, Sougahatchee, Souchaghatchee, Sowkeehatchee, Sougohatche. Europeans began exploring the area as early as the 16th century. The Spanish explorer, Hernando De Soto, passed a few miles south of what is now Loachapoka around 1520. In the first half of the 19 century, settlers moved into the watershed in large numbers. The Treaty of Cusseta ceded the Creeks' land to the United States in March 1832. Conflicts between the Creeks and the newly arrived settlers increased and this resulted in the forced movement of the majority of the Creeks to allotted land in Oklahoma in late 1836. In this same year Loachapoka became home to European settlers. The towns of Auburn (founded in 1839) and Opelika (founded in 1854) grew rapidly, but Loachapoka became the early center of commerce when the railroad from Montgomery came in 1845. As a result, Loachapoka became much larger than Auburn in the 19th century. Other people rightfully point to the fact that our rapidly growing population and its accompanying urban development have more recently impacted the creek with increased sediments and excess runoff of nutrients and other contaminants from the landscape. Thus, the answer to whether the creek has become better or worse depends on one's perspective, the type of impact, and the timeframe. RIVER OTTER, Lontra canadensis , is found throughout most of the Saugahatchee Watershed. AMERICAN ALLIGATOR, Alligator mississippiensis, occurs in the Saugahatchee Creek, and is regularly seen by canoeists. It is a federally and state protected species. Land use in the Saugahatchee Watershed has undergone dramatic changes over the last two centuries, particularly in recent years. The maps above depict land use of the Saugahatchee Watershed derived from Landsat Satellite images. Analysis of the two images revealed significant changes in land use from 1993 to 2001. These changes are presented as a percent of the whole Saugahatchee Watershed in the table to the left. Note that the greatest changes were in Forest (decline of 17%), Transitional Land (increase of 10%) and Urban (increase of 4%). Although much of the forest decline may be temporary, and this land may be replanted in trees, the urban growth will have a lasting effect on watershed condition. What will the watershed map look like in the future? Two-thirds of the Saugahatchee Watershed is covered by forests which filter and purify water, conserve soil, and enhance wildlife. Much of this forestland is in a regular 40-50 year harvest-replant cycle. Transitional Lands on the land use maps consist mostly of harvested areas and areas in the early stages (1-3 years) of regrowth. The proper use of Forestry Best Management Practices (BMPs) outlined in Alabama's Best Management Practices For Forestry (www.forestry.state.al.us/bmps.htm) should reduce sediment and nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) loading from forestlands into Saugahatchee Creek, however, education and vigilance are required to make the benefits of BMPs a reality. Urban centers impact water quality by such things as storm water runoff and soil erosion from construction sites. By decreasing tree cover to make room for homes and paved roads (impervious surfaces), water infiltration decreases and runoff often increases. Urban centers also have demanding water needs and produce large volumes of wastewater. As rapid growth continues in the Saugahatchee Watershed, water demands will increase. Agriculture in the Saugahatchee Watershed has undergone a dramatic transition in the past 100 years from row crop production (primarily cotton and corn) to pine plantations and pastureland, used for livestock grazing and hay production. In its heyday, cotton occupied as much as 30,000 acres (22%) of the Saugahatchee Watershed. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has developed extensive resources to promote the implementation of Agriculture BMPs that minimize environmental impacts of agricultural activities (www.al.nrcs.usda.gov/technical). More recently, agricultural lands are turning into subdivisions, shopping malls and parking lots. As a result of the 2000 census, the Opelika-Auburn area was designated a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) indicating that the area now has a population exceeding 100,000. Growth projections estimate that the population in the Opelika-Auburn MSA will increase by 56% from 2000 to 2025 (source: Center for Business and Economic Research, University of Alabama, 2001). Urban sprawl or Smart Growth? ­ How can Planning Commissions, City Councils, developers, contractors and landowners lessen the negative impacts of urban development on the watershed? With increased population comes increased water consumption and wastewater. Saugahatchee Creek already has two segments impaired by excess nutrients, and stricter discharge regulations (TMDLs) are being developed by ADEM. The cities of Auburn and Opelika, therefore, need to consider alternatives for treating and discharging wastewater to the Saugahatchee. Alternatives include additional facilities, advanced treatment to remove nutrients and moving some treated wastewater from the Saugahatchee to Chewacla Creek (discharge moved from the North Auburn Wastewater Treatment Plant to the South Auburn Plant). The equivalent of about 1,150 dump truck loads of sediment empties into Saugahatchee Creek each year (Auburn University study). Will new erosion and sediment control ordinances and efforts of the ALOA (City of Auburn, Lee County, City of Opelika and Auburn University) Citizen Advisory Group be sufficient to reduce the amount of sediment entering the Creek? Granite is a raw material that is abundant in the Saugahatchee Watershed and has been quarried in the past. A new granite quarry was established in 2003 about 2.5 miles west of Loachapoka. This quarry is permitted by the state to operate to within approximately 50 feet of Saugahatchee Creek. How will quarries and mining affect stream water quality and quantity? An increasing amount of the Saugahatchee Watershed is being blanketed with asphalt, concrete and metal (parking lots, roads, driveways, buildings). These materials are impervious surfaces that do not allow water to infiltrate into the soil. As impervious surfaces increase across the watershed, the volume of runoff following a rain event also increases. This increased runoff can cause flooding and increased erosion/sedimentation as well as extensive damage to roads, bridges, stream channels, and habitat of fish and other aquatic organisms. Alternative materials, such as permeable concrete parking areas, are beginning to be installed in the watershed. The southeastern U.S. is a hotspot for plant and animal biodiversity. Alabama is home to about 3,400 plant species, 73 amphibians, 81 reptiles, 420 birds, 180 mussels (59% of North America's mussel species), 320 freshwater fishes (one-third of fishes in the lower 48 states) and 60 mammals. Many of these plants and animals are found in the Saugahatchee Watershed. As urban/suburban development swells municipal boundaries into rural areas, plant and animal habitat shrinks. Soil eroded from barren lands washes into streams and disrupts the habitat of fishes and other aquatic creatures. Invasive species, such as Asian carp, Asian clams and exotic plants (Salvinia molesta, giant water fern) have all been accidentally introduced into Saugahatchee Creek and threaten native species. TALLAPOOSA DARTER, Etheostoma tallapoosae, is found only in the Tallapoosa Basin and occurs in Saugahatchee Creek. Industry. Following are descriptions of what these groups are doing to protect the Saugahatchee Watershed. S.O.S. member, Cindy Mirarchi, demonstrates a watershed model called an Enviroscape to teach citizens about runoff and water pollution. Average alkalinity at nine sites from the headwaters to Yates Lake, S.O.S. data (220 measurements, 1997-2001), documented effects of industrial/municipal discharges on the creek. Average alkalinity increased five-fold from site 1 to site 3, downstream of Pepperell Branch, and several stream miles were required for recovery to normal levels. Vertical lines on bars represent the range of values. Hosting an annual presentation by AWW staff to discuss citizen and agency watershed data to determine if stream water quality is getting better or worse. Dissolved oxygen trend (blue dashed line). Dissolved oxygen levels at the North Donahue Bridge site on Saugahatchee Creek have improved over the past eight years (www.alabamawaterwatch.org, click on `Water Data' link). The City recently constructed the Tacoma Street and White Street Bioretention Facilities. These ponds catch storm runoff and then utilize soil, plants and trees to filter pollutants from the water. The City assisted with the Lee County Water Festival to educate 4th grade students about the importance of conservation of water resources. Approximately 1,500 students attended the first year. The City also expanded its Earth Day celebration to a full week of activities to provide citizens with information and activities related to conservation of our environment. City of Opelika The City of Opelika and its planning jurisdiction encompass much of the headwaters of Saugahatchee Creek. The employees, citizens and associated stakeholders of Opelika are committed to sustainable preservation, which is reflected in four protective efforts: 1) Wastewater treatment. Opelika's wastewater treatment facilities protect water quality throughout the headwaters of Saugahatchee Creek. The wastewater treatment professionals carefully monitor their facilities for maximum efficiency to insure compliance with federal and state water quality standards. 2) Drinking water. The Opelika Utilities Board continues its watershed protection initiatives to guarantee safe, clean drinking water for generations to come. About two-thirds of the city's drinking water comes from Saugahatchee Lake, which lies on the northwest side of town. 3) Storm water management. Opelika partnered with the City of Auburn, Lee County, Auburn University, ADEM and public stakeholders to develop Erosion and Sediment Control (ESC) standards that reduce sediment deposition into local streams. ESC standards are now required for all development in the Saugahatchee headwaters. 4) Management of development. The City has proactively advanced local watershed protection by strengthening development standards in its Subdivision Regulations. These standards protect water quality beyond the city's political boundaries to its three-mile extended planning jurisdiction. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) The NRCS is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that works at the local level to help people conserve soil, water and other natural resources on private lands. The NRCS works with citizens in local Soil and Water Conservation Districts to establish conservation priorities. Activities of the NRCS include: Assisting landowners with water quality improvement projects through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) (www.al.nrcs.usda.gov/programs). Providing technical assistance to landowners to help develop conservation systems uniquely suited to a community or individual farms or ranches (www.al.nrcs.usda.gov/technical). Providing environmental and conservation education programs and materials to students and teachers at schools in the Saugahatchee Watershed. Sponsoring the annual Lee County Water Festival, an interactive educational learning experience consisting of hands-on activities for all fourth-graders in the county. NRCS's Ruby Raindrop visits local school to educate children about water conservation. WestPoint Stevens, Inc. (WPS) In 1948, Pepperell Manufacturing (later WPS) and the City of Opelika jointly participated in the construction of Saugahatchee Lake to supply water to both the city and WPS Opelika Finishing Plant. In August 2005, WestPoint Home, Inc. (WPH) purchased the assets of WPS and continues to use Saugahatchee Lake as the major source of its process water in Opelika. Currently, all three WPH facilities send their domestic wastewater to the City of Opelika for treatment. A portion of the industrial discharge from the Opelika Finishing and Grifftex plants also goes to the city, while the bulk of the industrial discharge from WPH Opelika Finishing Plant and Opelika Mill is treated onsite and discharged into Pepperell Branch. Non-contact cooling water from Grifftex and all storm water from the entire complex are also discharged into Pepperell Branch. WPS continued to improve the efficiency of its wastewater treatment plant, and has recently upgraded cold weather treatment efficiency and color removal. In June 2004, tertiary treatment was added in the form of a twostage constructed wetland system to further improve treatment efficiency and nutrient removal. WPS also took steps to protect the Pepperell Branch corridor downstream of their facility by establishing an environmental buffer zone along a 1.5-mile section of Pepperell Branch. This formal covenant will prevent any further development from encroaching on the riparian zone of Pepperell Branch in this area. WPS partially funded a comprehensive study of Saugahatchee Creek that was conducted by the Auburn University Fisheries Department, to assist ADEM in the development of a TMDL for stream protection. WPS was a charter member of the Lower Tallapoosa River Clean Water Partnership, S.O.S. and the SWaMP group. WPS hosted tours of its wastewater treatment facility for numerous groups and worked closely with S.O.S. on issues that affect the watershed. MeadWestvaco, Inc. MeadWestvaco owns and manages approximately 14,000 acres of forest (about 10% of the total acreage) in the Saugahatchee Watershed to provide pine pulpwood for the production of packaging coated board. The company adheres to Alabama's Forestry Best Management Practices (BMPs), and is a certified member of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. MeadWestvaco's efforts to protect water quality include: Tree harvests are designed to leave undisturbed streamside management zones (SMZ) along intermittent and perennial streams to provide buffers that filter runoff, prevent stream sedimentation and provide stream shading. Loggers are trained to avoid disturbing soil inside SMZs. Harvesting activities are monitored by foresters to ensure compliance with BMPs. Stream crossings and roads are designed, constructed, and managed to prevent soil movement into streams. After-harvest inspections are conducted to ensure that skid trails are properly reclaimed, and that no extensive patches of bare soil remain exposed. Throughout harvest and regeneration, woody residue and organic matter are left on the sites to reduce erosion from bare soil, maintain soil nutrient sources and enhance habitat diversity for wildlife and plants. More than a dozen major scientific studies have been conducted in the Saugahatchee Watershed by universities and government agencies. Early studies focused on heavy metals (lead, mercury, cadmium and others), DDT and other persistent pesticides (Bayne et al. 1983. Final Report on A Study of the Effects of Environmental Contaminants on Wildlife Populations). Although heavy metals and persistent pesticides were not a problem in the Saugahatchee Creek at that time, high nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), excessive amounts of organic waste from municipal and industrial (point source) discharges and low dissolved oxygen (DO) were reported in the upper reaches of the creek. Current concerns are focused on nonpoint source pollution (runoff from fields, streets, parking lots), particularly erosion and sedimentation, high concentrations of nutrients and organic matter, and low DO. The Auburn University Fisheries Department conducted a comprehensive two-year study during 2001-02 to determine nutrient and sediment loading in Saugahatchee Creek (see report at www.alearn.info/natural-resources/ riversandstreams.php). Findings included: 38 low DO readings (&lt; 5 ppm, the minimum level of DO to support healthy fish and wildlife populations) were recorded in tributaries and the creek, mostly in the upper watershed. Total phosphorus (TP, an important nutrient that promotes proliferation of algae) and total suspended solids (TSS, primarily eroded soil in the water) increased stepwise from the headwaters downstream to Yates Lake (see graph at left). TP was mostly from point sources in the upper watershed, but was from both point and nonpoint sources in the lower watershed. TSS (sediment) was almost entirely from nonpoint sources throughout the watershed. Total phosphorus (TP) and total suspended solids (TSS) loads measured at eight sites on Saugahatchee Creek during 2001-02. Error bars equal ± standard deviation. 1 metric ton = 1.1 US ton. ADEM sites (Yates-1, Yates-2) are shown on Yates Lake (graph on next page). Analysis of a plant pigment called chlorophyll a (an estimator of algal biomass and the trophic state or enrichment of a waterbody) showed that concentrations in the Saugahatchee Embayment were markedly higher than in Yates Lake. The elevated algal biomass in the embayment, along with high levels of organic matter and low dissolved oxygen, are the primary reasons why this section of the Growing season chlorophyll a concentrations measured in Yates Lake dam Saugahatchee Creek is on forebay (ADEM site Yates-1) and in the Saugahatchee Embayment (ADEM site Yates-2, see map on previous page). 2004 average is of AU and ADEM data, all ADEM's 303(d) list. others are ADEM data. Vertical lines crossing points represent the range of values. At the Saugahatchee Embayment, the flow of the creek slows and the stream nutrients (phosphorus and nitrogen) are expressed biologically as algae. An algal plume may be seen extending from the embayment into Yates Lake (photo at left). Algal biomass at Yates dam forebay from 1990-2004 has been relatively stable (blue line on graph above), in the lower mesotrophic range (moderate nutrient levels) while the Saugahatchee Embayment values (green line above) have been in the eutrophic range (nutrient-rich with turbid, green waters). Major sources of organic matter in the creek are discharges from industrial and municipal wastewater treatment plants. Organic matter (or organic enrichment) can be estimated by measuring the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of the water. As organic matter decays in water, BOD depletes the stream and lake of dissolved oxygen, which can stress fish and other aquatic organisms. As the population of Auburn and Opelika increases, so does the volume of treated wastewater discharged into Saugahatchee Creek, which in turn has caused increased BOD (see graph at right). Four-year trend in BOD in Saugahatchee Creek measured at Lee County Road 188. 2001-02 averages are of AU data, 2004 is of ADEM data. Vertical lines crossing points represent the range of values. Alabama Clean Water Partnership (ACWP) The ACWP was created in 2000 to coordinate stakeholders for the restoration and protection of river basins statewide in accordance with the Clean Water Act. The ACWP is a coalition of public and private sectors, companies, civic organizations and governing bodies working together to protect and preserve water resources and aquatic ecosystems. Management plans for the major river basins are being developed that represent the diverse interests of all stakeholders. The basin plans will also include several sub-basin plans. For example, the Tallapoosa Basin Plan is made up of the Upper, Middle, and Lower Sub-basin Plans. The Saugahatchee Watershed Management Plan (SWaMP) was developed as a more specific component of the Lower Tallapoosa Sub-Basin Plan. Saugahatchee Watershed Management Group The stakeholder group began meeting in February 2004 to develop a Saugahatchee Watershed Management Plan (SWaMP). The first draft of the Plan was completed and submitted to ADEM in February 2005. Other agencies, such as the Soil and Water Conservation District, Alabama Forestry Commission and Alabama Department of Public Health, are expected to join the SWaMP group and all stakeholders are welcome to participate. Goals of SWaMP Group meeting. PHOTO: Jacob McLean the plan are to reduce nutrient and sediment loads into Saugahatchee Creek in order to restore stream water quality to healthy levels for people, fish and wildlife. Funding to implement the Plan is being pursued from several sources, including ADEM and members of the SWaMP group. All watershed management plans that are implemented with EPA/ADEM funds must address nine elements listed below. These elements provide assurance that nonpoint source pollution load reductions will be achieved, and that public funds to address impaired waters are used effectively. All of these elements have been incorporated into SWaMP. 1. Identification of causes and sources of water pollution problems. 2. Development of load (nutrient and/or sediment) reduction estimates needed to restore the waterbody's water quality. 3. Description of nonpoint source pollution management measures needed in the watershed. 4. Estimation of technical and financial assistance needed to achieve load reductions. 5. Development of an adequate information/education component to the plan. 6. Establishment of an implementation schedule. 7. Establishment of measurable milestones to determine if nonpoint source management measures are yielding desired load reductions. 8. Development of criteria for determining if load reductions are being achieved. 9. Development of a stream and/or lake water quality-monitoring component. The Plan is divided into three general categories of action strategies for watershed management: 1. Assessment/Evaluation of Problems, 2. Rural Strategies, and 3. Urban Strategies. Install stream gages to measure daily flow, along with in-stream nutrient and sediment loading. Analyze streambed sediments from the headwaters of Saugahatchee Creek downstream to Yates Lake to determine nutrient content and sources. Assess condition of urban streams and the potential for remediation if impairments are found. Identify and install terraces, ponds and other structures on farms and pastures for erosion control and reduction of nutrient runoff. Conduct workshops for county employees on BMPs for unpaved road maintenance. Conduct study-tours for private landowners to demonstrate proper forestry BMPs. Conduct lawn care and landscaping workshops for training in the reduction of sediment, pesticide and nutrient runoff into streams. Revitalize urban forests, especially restoring stream bank vegetation that protects water quality. Establish pilot projects of bioretention ponds and rain gardens for the treatment of storm water runoff. of government, industry and the community. steps that are cost-effective and lead to measurable improvements in water quality. of elected officials with the authority to institutionalize a sustainable watershed management plan. What is the future for the Saugahatchee Creek Watershed? We know that population growth will increase for several years, leading to significant changes in the watershed. The creek will continue to be vital for the development of Auburn, Opelika and other communities within the watershed, providing drinking water, wastewater treatment, irrigation, recreational opportunities, and other important functions. Decisions made today will affect the condition of the watershed in the future. What is in the future of Saugahatchee Creek?

2019-04-23T08:34:40Z

http://www.readbag.com/aces-dept-fisheries-natural-resources-documents-saug-creek

Marijuana is also known as weed, tea, reefer, pot, marihuana, and grass. In crude form, the drug is composed of the flowers and leaves of various plants in the Cannabis genus. As such, the term cannabis is sometimes used interchangeably with marijuana - although the former specifically refers to its plant genus that comprises of C. sativa, C. Indica, and C. Ruderalis. That said, marijuana tends to vary greatly in terms of potency. This often depends on the strain/variety, as well as how and where it is grown, stored, and prepared for use. Either way, its active ingredient is THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which is present in every part of both the female and male plants. However, the greatest concentration of THC is found in the cannabin (or resin) at the flowering top of female plants. Another powerful form of marijuana is hashish. It is made from a collection of dry resin and is close to 8 times as strong as most of the weed that is smoked in the US. That said, marijuana is mostly used for its pleasure giving effects. The plant can grow to about 16 feet or 5 meters tall although most of the strains that are grown for their intoxicating effects are usually short stemmed and highly branched. Pot has one of the longest histories of use by human beings. However, most ancient cultures did not grow marijuana for its intoxicating effects. Rather, they would use it as herbal medicine - a trend that might have started around 500 BC in Asia. In America, the history of marijuana cultivation dates as far back as the early colonialists, who would grow hemp for rope and textiles. In the 20th century, however, racial and political factors came into play, leading to the criminalization of the drug in the country - a trend that has been changing with the legalization of marijuana in some states. It is believed the origins of the hemp or cannabis plant evolved in Central Asia from where people introduced it to Europe, Africa, and (eventually) the Americas. At the time, hemp fiber had commercial applications in the manufacture of rope, sails, paper, and clothing, while people took its seeds as food. Since hemp tends to grow fast and easy to cultivate (and because it has so many uses), it was grown widely throughout colonial America as well as in most of the Spanish colonies of the Southwest. In fact, farmers in the Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Virginia colonies were legally required to grow it at the time. The early hemp plants, however, had low levels of THC - the chemical that is responsible for the mind-altering effects of marijuana. However, there is evidence showing that some ancient cultures understood the psychoactive effects of the plant. Among these cultures were those that might have cultivated several varieties of cannabis to ensure that they would produce higher THC levels. These plants would later be used in healing practices and religious ceremonies. In fact, burned marijuana seeds have been unearthed in some graves of shamans in Siberia and China dating as far back as 500 BC. Sir Willian Brooke O'Shaughnessy - an Irish doctor who was studying in India - discovered in the 1830s that extracts of cannabis were useful in lessening vomiting and stomach pain in cholera patients. After that, other doctors started using the drug for this purpose, and experimenting on it. By the turn of the century, many doctors' offices and pharmacies in the US and Europe sold cannabis extracts for the treatment of a variety of ailments, including but not limited to stomach and digestion problems. Later, scientists discovered that the THC in marijuana was the source of its medicinal properties. Since THC is a psychoactive compound that comes with mind-altering effects, it was also found to interact with the areas of the brain that can promote hunger and lessen nausea. Today, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has approved two drugs that contain this compound, which are now prescribed as Syndros and Marinol pills for the treatment of nausea arising from chemotherapy as well as the loss of appetite experienced by AIDS patients. One of the earliest recordings of the recreational use of marijuana was by Herodotus, a historian in ancient Greece. He recorded and described an incidence involving a group of Iranian nomads from Central Asia - the Scythians - where they were inhaling smoke from the smoldering flowers and seeds of the cannabis plant. Apart from the above, the purified form of the drug that is typically smoked through a pipe - hashish - was used widely in parts of Asia and the Middle East by around 800 AD. The rise in popularity of marijuana corresponded with the widely spreading Islamic religion in the region. This could be because the Quran specifically prohibits the use of intoxicating substances like alcohol but does not mention cannabis. In the US, the recreational use of marijuana did not come about until the early years of the 20th Century. The common belief is that the recreational practice of smoking weed could have been introduced by the Mexicans that immigrated to the country during and after the Mexican Revolution. Eventually, the practice found its way into mainstream American culture. However, the social unrest and massive rates of unemployment of the Great Depression were to stoke American resentment of the Mexican inhabitants. It also fueled public fear that weed was an evil substance. As a direct result, and in keeping with the Prohibition era which viewed all intoxicants in a bad light, 29 states outlawed the drug by 1931. In 1937, the federal government passed its first law to criminalize cannabis around the country. Otherwise known as the Marijuana Tax Act, this law imposed stringent excise taxes on the sale, transfer, and possession of every hemp product. By so doing, it effectively criminalized every use of the plant, apart from its industrial applications. The first person to be prosecuted under this Act was Samuel Caldwell, a 58-year-old farmer who was arrested and charged for selling cannabis a day after the Act was passed. He was eventually sentenced to 4 years of hard labor. Despite this, people continued growing industrial hemp throughout the Second World War. Eventually, its domestic cultivation was widely encouraged especially after the Philippines - one of the major sources of hemp fiber - was taken over by Japanese forces. However, the last hemp fields in the US were planted in Wisconsin in 1957. In 1970, President Richard Nixon signed the Controlled Substances Act into law as part of the nationwide War on Drug. This Act effectively repealed the earlier Marijuana Tax Act. Instead, it classified cannabis as a Schedule I substance - alongside ecstasy, LSD, and heroin. This classification meant that marijuana came with a high potential for addiction and abuse and that it had no medical uses. In 1972, the Shafer Commission (or the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse) wrote a report recommending the partial prohibition of the drug, as well as lowering the penalties for people found in possession of small marijuana amounts. However, the findings of the report were largely ignored by President Nixon and the establishment at the time. In 1996, California passed the Compassionate Use Act. By so doing, it effectively became the first US state to officially legalize the medicinal use of marijuana by people with chronic or severe illnesses. Today, 29 states, Washington DC, and the US territories of Puerto Rico and Guam allow the limited medical use of cannabis. As of January 2018, Washington DC and 9 other states have legalized the recreational use of the drug. This was after Washington and Colorado became the first states to legalize this form of use in 2012. Due to these laws, adults above the age of 21 can now use marijuana without a medical prescription in Oregon, Vermont, Nevada, Massachusetts, Maine, California, and Alaska. However, US federal law still views marijuana as an illegal substance. As a direct result, the evolving legal status of the drug has been the subject of ongoing news and controversy both in the country and around the globe. The checkered legal status of marijuana is mostly as a result of the effects of marijuana, both physical and mental. The short term effects of the drug may include mood changes, increased appetite, heightened sensory perception, and euphoria. Although some people experience a happy and pleasant high after they use marijuana, others can experience panic, fear, and anxiety. These negative effects tend to be more common for people who use marijuana in excess or if the batch they are using is unexpectedly potent. In recent decades, the amount of THC in cannabis has dramatically increased. For instance, the average content of THC in marijuana confiscated in the 1990s was 4%. It grew to about 12% by 2014, with some strains of the drug containing levels of THC that were as high as 37%. The earliest written record of marijuana use is from 2727 BC from Shen Nung, a Chinese emperor. Additionally, Ancient Romans and Greeks were also familiar with the drug. In the Middle East, the use of cannabis spread all through the Islamic regions stretching to North Africa. Eventually, in 1545, it found its way to the Western Hemisphere. At the time, the Spaniards imported the cannabis plant to Chile where it would be used to create fiber. Hemp, a form of cannabis, was also grown on many North American plantations for use in manufacturing paper, clothing, and rope during the colonial period. The legalization of marijuana - especially for medical uses - is a controversial subject. This is mostly because the therapeutic properties of the drug are still being questioned and scrutinized. Also referred to as hash, hashish is the most potent and concentrated form of marijuana. It contains very high levels of the chemical THC, and is made by drying the resins of the cannabis plant before compressing them into various forms, such as sticks, cakes, and balls. Today, Afghanistan, Pakistan, North Africa, and the Middle East produce the largest volumes of hashish. People use the drug by breaking pieces of hash before placing them in pipes for smoking. This is a refined oily extract from the cannabis plant. The oil varies greatly in color depending on the technique used for refinement - ranging from dark brown to amber. The average content of THC in hash oil is around 15%, and people usually mix the oil with marijuana and tobacco for smoking. Hemp was one of the very first fiber plants to be commercially grown and used - way before the widespread application of cotton. Historically, it might have originated in Central Asia. In India and the Middle East, hemp was mostly used for religious purposes and in natural medicine. Later, it found its way to Europe where people used it as fiber. Eventually, the plant got to the Americas where it became popular as a raw material for paper, clothing, and rope. The cannabis plant has been used across the globe for many years, as shown by evidence derived from the regions where prehistoric man lived to Viking Ships and China. In a recent report, Barney Ward describes the origins of marijuana use as starting in Asia thousands of years ago before finding its way to other regions of the globe - including the United States and the Americas. In the pre-modern period, marijuana was widely used spiritually and medicinally. For instance, medieval Germans and the Vikings would use the drug for toothaches and as a pain relief medication during childbirth. While studying the history of marijuana, it is vital that you distinguish between the main subspecies of cannabis. Cannabis Sativa, in particular, comes with psychoactive properties. On the other hand, hemp (or Cannabis Sativa L, named after Carl Linnaeus, a famed botanist) does not have any psychoactive properties and was historically used to manufacture products like fuel, clothing, and oil. Another psychoactive species is Cannabis Indica. It was first identified by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, a French naturalist. The most uncommon species was named Cannabis Ruderalis by D.E. Janischevisky - a Russian botanist - in 1924. It is now believed that the cannabis plant evolved in the Central Asian steppes, particularly in the regions that now comprise Southern Siberia and Mongolia. However, its use dates back more than 12,000 years ago - effectively placing the plant among the oldest cultivated crops on the face of the Earth. It is highly likely that the cannabis plant flourished in the largely nutrient-rich dumping sites used by prehistoric man. Burned seeds of the plant have additionally been found in the Kurgan burial sites of Siberia, which date back to around 3000 BC as well as some of the tombs of nobles buried in the Xinjiang regions of Siberia and China dating to around 2500 BC, which included relatively large quantities of psychoactive marijuana that was mummified. As such, it is highly likely that both psychoactive marijuana and hemp were widely used in Ancient China. However, the first recording of the medicinal use of the drug dates to about 4000 BC noting that the herb was largely used as a surgical anesthetic. Stories also say that one Chinese emperor - Shen Nung - used the drug in 2737 BC. The drug might have found its way from China when coastal farmers took it to Korea around 2000 BC (or even early). This is according to Archeology in Korea, a book detailing findings of the plant in the area. From 2000 BC to 1000 BC, the plant found its way to the South Asia subcontinent after Aryans invaded the region. The Aryans were a warrior group with an archaic Indian-European language. With time, the drug was used widely in India, where people celebrated it as one of the 5 kingdoms of herbs that get rid of anxiety. It was also described in an ancient Sanskrit Vedic poem titled the Science of Charms. The cannabis plant might have found its way to the Middle East anywhere between 2000 BC and 1400 BC. The Scythians, an Indo-European nomadic group, were recorded using the drug. They may have carried it into Ukraine and southeast Russia because they occupied these territories for many years. Germanic tribes, on the other hand, brought marijuana into Germany from where it spread to Britain over the 5th Century as a result of the Anglo-Saxon invasions of the time. Some cannabis seeds have additionally been found in Viking ships remains that date back to the mid-9th century. In the next centuries, the drug migrated to other regions of the globe - traveling all through Africa and getting to South America around the 19th century. Afterwards, it was carried north and eventually reached North America. After its relatively long trip all through both the pre-modern and the modern worlds, the cannabis plant eventually got to the United States around the turn of the 20th Century. The plant arrived from Mexico in the Southwest US where it was carried by Mexican immigrants escaping the Mexican Revolution of 1910 to 1911. Most of the early prejudices against the drug were largely racist fears of the Mexicans who smoked marijuana, an idea that was promulgated in some of the reactionary newspapers of the time. Mexicans were often blamed for smoking the drug, and eventually seducing children and engaging in property crimes and murderous sprees. Interestingly, American law did not recognize the differences between Cannabis Sativa and Cannabis Sativa L. Instead, Utah became the first state to outlaw the plant in 1915. By 1931, marijuana was illegalized in 29 states. When Harry Aslinger was appointed as the first commissioner of the FBN - the Federal Bureau of Narcotics - in 1930, he took up the fight against marijuana and tried to make it illegal in every American state. As a result of his efforts - among those of others - the Marijuana Tax Act was passed in 1937. It effectively put marijuana under the DEA's (Drug Enforcement Agency) regulation and criminalized the possession of the drug all through the country. Today, marijuana is still classified as a Schedule II controlled drug by the federal government - alongside LSD and heroin. This indicates that it has a high potential for addiction and abuse, and that there are no acceptable medical uses for the drug. The classification also asserts that there is no safe level of marijuana use. Mentioned in a Chinese herbal record that dates back to 2700 BCE, cannabis has long been considered to be valuable as a sedative, an antibiotic, an antidepressant, an anesthetic, and an analgesic. Almost most people used to take it externally - through smoking or as a balm - others would administer the tips of the cannabis plant (particularly during the 19th Century) internally for the treatment of angina pectoris and gonorrhea. That said, the effects of marijuana vary greatly, mostly depending on the amount and the strength consumed, the setting you take it in, and the particular experiences of the users. However, its psychological effects predominate its physical effects, and many users experience mild euphoria after taking marijuana. The drug also leads to alterations in judgement and vision, which can result in distortions of space and time. Acute intoxication, on the other hand, occasionally tends to induce psychosis, paranoid reactions, extreme mood changes, depression, anxiety, and hallucinations. These adverse effects can last anywhere from 4 to 6 hours. The physical effects of the drug include dryness of the throat and mouth, red eyes, a moderate increase in heartbeat, tightness in the chest (if you smoke the drug), muscular incoordination, unsteadiness, and drowsiness. Chronic use may or may not lead to physical dependence and is of controversy. Many people claim to experience extreme discomfort when withdrawing from marijuana as well as extreme emotional and psychological withdrawal symptoms. However, it is evident that the drug is psychologically habituating and may lead to dependence and addiction. Around the world, the use of hashish and marijuana as intoxicants has raised many social and medical questions - some of which are still under scientific investigation. The drug was first studied in the mid-1960s after THC was synthetically isolated and produced. At the time, most researchers focused on identifying the long- and short- term physical effects of the drug. During the last years of the 20th century and in the early 21st century, research showed that marijuana (and THC) has various therapeutic effects. Scientists also showed that these drugs were useful in helping glaucoma patients lower their internal eye pressure. It was also found to be useful in alleviating vomiting and nausea as caused by the drugs used in chemotherapy treatments for cancer and AIDS. Today, marijuana is medically certified as useful for reducing muscle pain as a result of multiple sclerosis, as well as in preventing epileptic seizures. In the 1980s, scientists and researchers also discovered that certain mammals - including humans - has a receptor for THC (and THC-related chemicals) inside the brain. This finding showed that the brain can naturally produce a substance very similar to THC for performing a couple of functions that are similar to those of THC. The substance was eventually found and called anandamide - from the Sanskrit word ?nanda for bliss. The international trade in hashish and marijuana was officially controlled in 1925 following the International Opium Convention. By the 1960s, most countries had officially enforced strict restrictions on the use and trafficking of these two drugs and imposed severe penalties for the illegal supply, sale, and possession of marijuana. Starting in the 70s, some jurisdictions and countries started reducing the penalties for possessing small quantities of the drug. One such example is The Netherlands, where the government tolerates the sale of relatively small amounts of weed. Around the same time, other European countries started debating the decriminalization of soft drugs, including but not limited to marijuana. In the US, some states passed laws in the late 70s and early 80s to legalize or fund research on the medical uses of marijuana. However, some of the statutes eventually lapsed or were later repealed. In the 1990s, renewed decriminalization efforts led to marijuana being legalized for medical uses in several states, including Washington DC, Oregon, Nevada, Colorado, California, Arizona, and Alaska. However, the US Supreme Court ruled in 2001 against the use of medical marijuana. Later the same year, Canada also passed a law that eased the previous restrictions on the drug. These new regulations by Canada allowed the licensing of marijuana farmers to allow them to produce the drug for use by individuals with chronic diseases and terminal illnesses. In 2009 Eric Holder, the US Attorney General, issued new guidelines for use by federal prosecutors in the states where medical marijuana had been legalized. This shift in policy stipulated that federal resources were to be primarily focused on the prosecution of the illegal trafficking and use of marijuana. It effectively rendered the cases of medical application - in which people who were in possession of marijuana are in compliance with the laws of various states - less prone to legal investigation. Apart from the legalization of medicinal marijuana, many states passed different decriminalization laws during the late 20th and early 21st centuries. These laws imposed some penalties - apart from jail time - for possessing small amounts of the drug. As a direct result, most offenders found guilty had to pay civil fines as punishment. Washington DC and Colorado officially became the first US states to legalize the recreational use of the drug. This was after citizens largely voted in favor of such legislation in 2012.

2019-04-24T17:49:54Z

https://www.drug-rehabs.org/research/Detailed-History-of-Marijuana.htm

Based on what we have learned as leading website designers and eCommerce developers, we have produced this essential checklist for setting up your eCommerce store right the first time. Ensure you have all these steps covered to give you the best chance of success. The first step is to decide what you’re going to sell. You can sell an individual product, a range of products or even a service. Researching the product you intend to sell is critical for success. Know whether you will make the product yourself, or whether you will import it from third-party suppliers. Will you compete on price or quality? Which of your products or services has the greatest profit margin for you to earn? Do you offer a money-back guarantee, warranty or express shipping? Ensuring that your know your business inside-out in theory, will give you a greater chance of succeeding in practice. Research the market to understand whether people would actually want to buy your product. Free tools such as Google Adwords Keyword Tool will allow you to view how many people search for specific terms or products each month, giving you an idea of general demand for your business. Have an idea of who your target customer audience is and what their needs are. In understanding your target audience’s problem (and how your product is a solution), you can differentiate yourself from competitor businesses. Ensure your eCommerce website addresses itself as a solution clearly as this will enhance your message and increase your chance of purchase. Once you have chosen your product, your model and know your market, you need to decide on your business information. What will be your store name? What will be your company name? It is recommended that you take the necessary procedures to set your business up as a professional, legal company to avoid nasty lawsuits down the track. Set up a new, merchant bank account for the business that is kept completely separate from your personal account to effectively manage your business finances from day one. The final part of getting up and running is deciding on your store policies. Consider how many days purchasers will have to return unwanted items or whether this will be unlimited. Will you ship internationally? What pricing structure will exist for shipping? Domain name and hosting is essential to any website. Your domain name should reflect your ecommerce store name and should be easy to spell, so that visitors can find your website hassle-free. Avoid strange spelling and numbers or symbols within your domain name as these are difficult to explain and type into an address bar. As part of your ecommerce website, you can choose to manage your own web hosting, or choose an option whereby your website design company manages your hosting on your behalf. For flexibility, managing hosting yourself is a better option and will generally be cheaper. Avoid incredibly cheap hosting as this can often indicate shared servers that result in slow website speeds and can negatively impact on your SEO (your website’s ability to rank in the organic search results). Decide whether you will have a public phone system whereby users can contact your business directly. If you choose to have a phone, have a plan in place for international callers and also times-of-day that your phones will be monitored / answerable. If you do not wish to have a phone, and only receive contact via email or online, beware that this can decrease your level of customer service, however it will be easier to manage. Weigh up the option that suits your business the best and ensure the proper processes are in place for the benefit of your customers. Unless you are making your own products, you will likely be purchasing stock from a distributor/supplier. You will need to arrange a place to store your inventory such as a warehouse or storage centre. Ensure that you look to the future of your business when choosing options, as well as the present. Take into account how much your business will scale when deciding on the storage space that you may need. An alternative to holding your own stock is drop-shipping, whereby when an order is made through your eCommerce store, you request the ordered item from a third-party distributor who ships directly to the customer that made the purchase. Drop-shipping allows businesses to avoid having to hold and store their own stock. This is particularly useful and cost-effective if you have products that are dependent on “seasons” and trends such as fashion apparel, where you do not want to purchase and have to store too many of a particular item that will soon be out-of-fashion. When starting any business, new bank accounts should always be created that are dedicated to the business. They should be in your business’ name. For tax and accounting reasons, never mix personal and business bank accounts. Try to keep all expenses and earnings separate from day one. This is critical to any successful business. To accept credit card payments, as an eCommerce website in Australia you will need a merchant account for processing. Shop around for the best deal as different institutions charge different fees. PayPal offers a full-service solution for accepting payment, however they take a percentage of each transaction that is made via your store. With all the previous decisions made, you now need to decide on the prices that you will sell your products for. Unfortunately, there is no magical formula, however, at a base level you should aim to break even – that is, earn enough money from each sale to pay for the stock, marketing and expenses that you have previously incurred. If you’re model is to be competitive on price within your market, you may find that you run some product sales at a loss. Additionally, you may have certain products that are ‘high margin’ products, whereby the profit you make on each sale is drastically higher than what you purchased the stock for. Once live, don’t be scared to amend your pricing to see what works and what customers are willing to spend without affecting the number of sales that you receive. When starting to create your eCommerce website design, understand that it stands as your store front. Whilst the aesthetic design of a website is important, the flow of an eCommerce design is critical to conversion. Ensure that your store policies and contact details are easily visible. Highlight your strengths such as a longer returns policy or free express shipping to entice customers to purchase. Your e-commerce website designer will also be able to advise on design elements that will help increase conversion rates and enhance user experience. When choosing a web design company to develop your eCommerce website, have an idea of the functionality you require now and in the future. It is recommended that you choose a Content Management System (CMS) platform, whereby you can edit your website content and manage your products yourself without the help of a web design company that will likely charge you for such changes. Ensure that your website design will be responsive for mobile devices, so that it will be effective regardless of whether visitors are viewing from a smartphone, tablet or desktop computer. Ensure that the checkout process, in particular, is easily usable on mobile devices. The more effort you put into the display of your products, the greater your chance of succeeding online. Consider your eCommerce store as the shelves of a physical, retail store – tidy, informative and easy-to-find products are beneficial to a good customer experience. Include product descriptions and quality images of all your products for sale. Include weight and measurements if relevant. The more info, the better! An SSL certificate is used to encrypt parts of your website that collect personal information from your website users. This prevents third-party websites (and scammers or fraudsters) being able to take advantage of your customers’ sensitive information, particularly credit card details. SSL’s are necessary for any eCommerce business. Like a merchant account, shop around for the best price SSL vendors. Once your website is live, you need to have a plan for how you will gain website visitors. A critical element of traffic is Search Engine Optimisation – optimising your website so that it appears higher in the search engines for keywords that are relevant to your business and product range. Fortunately, when it comes to internet marketing, you have a few options. You can also use Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising which allows your business to appear at the top of the search engines for relevant keywords where, when you receive a website visitor through your ad, you are charged a fee for that visitor. Whilst SEO is a long-term strategy, PPC can be a cost-effective method of traffic acquisition for brand new businesses. Website analytics is an incredibly under-valued tool for effective website management. Web analytics programs such as Google Analytics (which is free), allow you to monitor how visitors use your website, including what pages they view, how much time they spend and what products are most likely to sell. You can also track which particular marketing efforts have had the greatest effect on sales, making it an invaluable tool for deciding where to spend future marketing investment. Ensure that proper analytics tracking is in place on your website from launch, your eCommerce website developer will be able to easily install this tracking code for you. Before customers actually purchase anything, there can be numerous questions that they ask, such as shipping queries, payment options and stock. To save time, you can document any frequently asked questions to serve as an FAQ page on your website. Alternatively, you may require a dedicated customer service centre to handle any incoming requests. So that customers can actually purchase from you, you need to decide on what payment options you will offer. Credit card is the most popular method as they are instant. Once the transaction is complete, you can ship the order immediately. Alternative payment methods include bank cheques, wire transfer and or purchase orders. Know the implications of each payment method before choosing which ones to offer. If you decide to accept international orders, you need to have the appropriate processes in place to be able to charge for purchases and ship overseas. International shipping is more expensive and should be factored in as an additional cost. Each country also has restrictions on what can be imported and exported – ensure that you have policies in place for each particular country to avoid any issues. Unhappy customers are unfortunately inevitable in any kind of business. To avoid any conflict, include as much information on orders as possible (such as updates on when an order will be shipped etc). Be up-front about your return, shipping and store policies and ensure that you stick to them regardless of the customer. Following this checklist and ensuring you have a solid plan in place before you begin will ensure you set yourself up for success. If you’re ready to discuss your requirements further get in touch with us for an obligation free quote. We’ve been developing ecommerce websites for more than 10 years, so we know our stuff. In fact, we’ve developed more than 1000 ecommerce websites for businesses throughout Australia. Woocommerce is the ecommerce arm of the most used website platform in the world - WordPress. And it is now one of the most trusted and preferred ecommerce platforms. You and your ecommerce website will be spending a lot of time together! So you need the backend functionality and content management system to be robust, intuitive and simple to use. Running an ecommerce business is a very hands on process. So our service doesn’t stop when we deliver your website. We offer support for the life of your business. Ecommerce businesses can grow very fast and you need a web design company that understands that and an ecommerce platform that can grow with you. Woocommerce and Wordpress code is exceptionally clean and the CMS has functionality to make Search Engine Optimisation easy and very effective for getting results. A pretty website is good, but a pretty website that sells is even better. At Magicdust, we’re a website design company who gives you both – high quality web design that generates results. Since 2006, we’ve been developing e-commerce websites for over 4,000 clients. Needless to say, we’ve designed thousands of successful e-commerce websites since then and we’re now Australia’s go-to ecommerce website development company. We work intimately with each of our clients to understand their business, their customers and their competitors and offer a product that is going to deliver. We take a data-driven approach to ecommerce and mobile website design and offer our advice and guidance to help our customers create the ultimate online stores. Our eCommerce platform is designed specifically to help businesses run a successful ecommerce website. It’s built on top of one of the best content management systems available – WordPress. With the help of WordPress development, full control of your products is a mouse-click away. With feature-packed ecommerce software, you will find everything that you need to run a successful online store – from sales data and analytics through to product management and promotions. Access every nitty-gritty detail of your store without the need for a web developer, to create an online experience that sells. From the home page through to order confirmation, we design for results. Every Magicdust website is designed and developed with Search Engine Optimisation in mind – after all, you need website visitors to get website sales. Additionally, our eShop platform integrates with recognised payment, shipping and marketing solutions to create a customer experience that encourages immediate purchase. Our online marketing team are also available to help with conversion rate optimisation and reduce cart abandonment on your website. Never lose a sale again. Offering web design Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne wide for over 4,000 clients, Magicdust is focused on providing a local and personalised service. Our in-house team of web designers and developers have extensive experience with over 6,300 corporate websites. Magicdust are 100% Australian owned and operated, so we’re able to provide your company with reliable onshore technical support and hosting for your website. Q: What is an ecommerce website? An ecommerce website is one that facilitates the buying and selling of goods or services online through some form of digital transaction. Ecommerce websites typically use an online payment service to make this happen, such as WooCommerce, PayPal or Google Wallet. Q: How do I build an ecommerce website? There are a number of online payment solutions that offer very good out of the box functionality and security. They are usually not difficult to implement on a website, least of all WordPress websites, for which there are plugins – like the extremely popular WooCommerce – that can be installed in one click and set up with relative ease. That said, building an ecommerce website that runs quickly and efficiently often requires fine tuning that is best left in the hands of an experienced ecommerce developer or agency. Q: Which is the best ecommerce website platform? The best ecommerce website platform involves a combination of WordPress (a content management system) and WooCommerce (an ecommerce plugin). Together, they offer a powerful ecommerce solution, with the ability to adapt and support a variety of complex requirements. WooCommerce is also fast and intuitive, well designed, extremely robust and highly scalable. Q: What is an ecommerce solution? An ecommerce solution is a third party online payment service that allows website owners to sell goods and services on through their website. Popular ecommerce solutions include WooCommerce, Magento and Shopify. Q: How much does it cost to develop an ecommerce website? The cost of developing an ecommerce website will depend on the scale and complexity of the project, though it generally requires more work than a standard brochure website and is therefore more expensive. Costs start at around $5,000 and can reach upwards of $100,000 for large-scale projects with complex requirements and extensive customisation. Q: What is a good ecommerce website? Good ecommerce websites need to be well-designed, fast and secure. On a good ecommerce website, a user will be able to browse and purchase products in a way that is easy and intuitive. They also need to feel as though they can trust the brand and the website, which means that your design must look credible and professional. Q: How do I add ecommerce to my website? There are many out of the box payment solutions that companies can integrate into the website. WordPress users, for example, can install the WooCommerce plugin – one of the most popular ecommerce platforms on the web. For an ecommerce website that is fast, functional and secure, it may be best to enlist the help of a professional ecommerce developer or agency. Q: What is ecommerce web hosting? Ecommerce web hosting is a web hosting package that is designed to support the requirements of an ecommerce website. Ecommerce websites need a secure hosting environment, the ability to load quickly and guaranteed uptime.

2019-04-25T01:01:14Z

https://www.magicdust.com.au/ecommerce-websites/

It came up during a documentary on the jumbo jet. While reviewing the handful of 747 accidents caused by airframe failings, the narrator mentioned that the United Airlines 747-122 – which had lost its cargo door out of Honolulu on February 24th, 1989 – was repaired and returned to service. That’s not surprising in itself. Alarming as the post-accident images appear, the actual damage to the airplane wasn’t that severe. The fact that Capt. David Cronin and his crew could bring the flight to a successful landing is testimony to the airframe’s fundamental integrity, as well as their teamwork and skill. Nope, I was just curious about what became of United Airlines’ N4713U after the media intensity surrounding that fateful night. Was it was still flying? At the very least, I thought I’d find a story that got more and more “interesting” as the airliner aged. . . And I wouldn’t be disappointed. But first, let’s back-track a little. United Airlines Flight 811 departed Honolulu for Auckland, New Zealand just before 2 in the morning on February 24th, 1989. As it climbed through 22,000 feet the forward cargo door opened into the airstream and was torn off with a large piece of the aircraft skin immediately above. This caused floor damage in the main cabin where the door’s hinge beam was torn away, accompanied by an explosive decompression. Almost instantly, nine Business Class passengers were either torn or blown out of the airplane, eight of them still strapped in their seats. Debris damaged the right wing, flaps, and horizontal stabiliser; the vertical stabiliser; and both right-side engines. The fact that debris entered the No.4 engine shows just how forcible the explosive decompression had been. Captain Cronin initiated an emergency descent while turning the plane back toward Hawaii on its two left-hand engines. Fourteen minutes later he made a successful landing despite the damaged flaps, and the aircraft was evacuated. In repeated simulator tests after the event, United check pilots were unable repeat Cronin’s feat. The resulting investigation found that the cargo door latch pins showed signs of wear indicating the door had been ‘out of rig’ or not properly aligned for some time. There was also a history of problems with the forward and rear cargo doors on the airplane, including repeated latching, sealing and lock indication issues from December 1988 up until the in-flight failure. The final report implicated United, Boeing and the FAA for not pursuing upgrades to the cargo door locking mechanism more vigorously, after a run of similar incidents, near incidents and fatal accidents involving wide-body jets over preceding years. Controversially, the report also suggested that ground staff had improperly latched and/or check ed the door before departure – a finding that was overturned after further investigation and recovery of door sections from the ocean floor almost a year later. Whether the cause was mechanical, electrical, human or cumulative may never fully be known. But by the time of the Honolulu incident she was 18½ years old and had accumulated 58,815 hours over 15, 028 flight cycles. In that time, there hadn’t been any significant incidents or damage – although there was a fairly typical history of age-related corrosion, fatigue cracks, and the engine troubles that plagued all early 747s. After the Flight 811 incident, United made the decision to repair the aircraft and return it to service. Although the damage certainly looked shocking, it was far from substantial. Apart from the main beam that the cargo door had been hinged to, none of the affected metal was structural. Flying surface leading edges, fuselage hoops, floor beams, stringers and skin could all be spliced in or replaced. On 1 September 1989, United secured the new registration N4724U for #19875, although a Service Difficulty Report was filed for N4713U on September 15th, indicating the aircraft was still wearing her old registration while at United’s San Francisco maintenance base mid-month. Regardless, the old girl went back to work for United on October 3rd, 1989 and continued on without any serious problems. Although that’s not to say her second life was trouble free. On the April 2nd, 1990 the No.4 engine had to be shut down 90 minutes out of Narita, Japan, due to a failed fuel pump, and the airplane crossed the Pacific on her three remaining JT9Ds. And on October 22nd, 1990 the aircraft left tyre tread on the runway at LAX after departing for Narita, and had to land in Japan under an amber alert. Another amber alert followed at London Heathrow on June 16th, 1991, due to a No.3 hydraulic system failure; and on July 7th, 1991 the aircraft had to dump fuel and return to Honolulu after the No.4 engine overheated during climb, refused to idle, and had to be shut down by pulling the fire handle. The left main gear failed to deploy, then deployed but wouldn’t lock, on approach to San Francisco on September 1st, 1991; engines failed for various reasons every year or so; and the No.2 left leading edge flap failed to retract during climb on December 17th, 1996, for no detectable reason. Worse than all those systems failures though, the aircraft was now demonstrably past her prime and the cracks were starting to show. Literally. Scheduled inspections would turn up the usual fatigue cracking and corrosion of various parts – because that’s what scheduled inspections are for. Next, the right wing’s inboard trailing edge panel came loose and separated during takeoff on June 24th, 1994. The aircraft had to return to the airport and have the panel, the fore-flap and a damaged trailing edge mid-panel replaced before it could return to the air. A fortnight later, on July 5th, the outer trailing edge flap of the same wing stuck at 7º during climb out, and N4724U had to make another return to the airport for repairs. Finally, the plane was in mid-flight on June 15th, 1996 when a large crack was noticed on the main upper skin panel of the left wing. By the time the flight ended, the panel was cracked and delaminated right across it’s span-wise width. By now approaching 83,000 hours in the air, #19875 was at the end of her profitable service with United. On January 9th, 1997 she was flown to Las Vegas and parked in storage. Normally when an old jet goes into the boneyard, it comes out in pieces. #19875 had a far more promising turnaround – United sold her to the fledgling Air Dabia on March 18th, 1997. Air Dabia was a short lived airline based in The Islamic Republic of Gambia, a sovereign sliver of Western Africa that lies along both banks of the Gambia River and is virtually surrounded by Senegal. It’s national identity goes back to the days when the river was a portal for European slave traders. The airline’s owner was multi-millionaire Foutanga Dit Babani Sissoko, a Gambian national with an uncertain past. He was apparently born in the Saharan nation of Mali, in a village called Dabia, sometime around 1945. That story at least fits with the name he chose for his airline. But the source of his vast fortune was a mystery. Rumours ranged from textile trading in India to finding hugely valuable diamonds in the spoil heaps of Liberian mines. More likely, he’d trafficked arms to various African governments. He was allegedly a personal friend of Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, and he certainly had close ties to the government of Senegal as well as The Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, who’d seized power in a 1994 military coup. Sissoko established Air Dabia as a charter operation, to ferry Gambia’s muslim faithful to and from the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca. He’d already purchased a pair of old Boeing 727s during 1996, allegedly beating down the vendors price by $315,000 through the negotiating tactic of having Gambian authorities confiscate the delivery pilot’s passport and hold him under house arrest until a deal was struck. But by the time he took ownership of United’s retired N4724U and acquired the Gambian registration C5-FBS for it, Sissoko was in trouble himself. In July 1996 two of his operatives purchased a pair of Bell UH-1 “Huey”s from a Miami broker, and prepared them for shipment to Gambia. Because the de-fanged Hueys could easily be converted back into their original gunship configuration, US Customs required a special export license. The men tried to export the choppers anyway and were detained. They then tried to grease the rails by offering one of the agents special treatment at some of Sissoko’s casinos and resorts, and then a $30,000 cash bribe. Unless they were the world’s best-paid removalists, the cash had to have come from Sissoko. So at the end of August 1996 Sissoko was arrested by Interpol in Geneva, Switzerland, to face US federal charges of bribery and violating export regulations. He spent two months in a Swiss jail cell contemplating extradition then, in late October, agreed to front the US Federal Court in Miami. The case ran through to sentencing in March 1997 where, through a plea bargain, Sissoko was handed four months in jail (less time served in Switzerland) and four months’ house arrest in his rented Florida condo. Using his carefully groomed network of political contacts, he still managed to delay the jail time until November 1997. But to cut a long story short, Sissoko was very definitely based in Florida (at the Federal Court’s insistence) when he took delivery of his “new” jumbo that April. The aircraft was flown from Las Vegas to Miami and readied for its transfer to Banjul, the capital of Gambia. There, US cabin crew, who’d joined the new airline on the promise of generous pay rates (which they would never see) watched in amazement as the jet’s main cabin was stuffed with boxes and containers, before a handful of Sissoko’s coterie took their seats for the trans-Atlantic hop. The old 747 duly departed but, over an hour out of Banjul, a 10m panel separated from the upper surface of the starboard wing and collided with the horizontal stabiliser before falling away. The honeycomb interior of the wing’s skin was left exposed until C5-FBS landed in Gambia. There, when the flight attendant learned that Air Dabia planned to repair the wing with speed tape, she decided to quit. Two other Air Dabia pilots quit with her. It would take the trio a week to get out of Gambia, using consular assistance and tickets they had to buy for themselves. Several other Air Dabia employees would need consular assistance to get out of Africa after quitting, and would suffer local police and military harassment before they could escape. None would get the wages they’d been promised. There’s a rumour that one Air Dabia flight crew became so frustrated with not being paid that they took $100,000 they’d been provided for fuel and repairs, abandoned their 727, and walked away. Our 747 meanwhile, began her new life carrying Hajj pilgrims to and from Mecca – with no rest for her cabin crew. They flew directly from Banjul to Bamoko in Mali, and then back and forth between Bamoko and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia for three solid days. The flight attendants never got off the plane, snatching sleep in spare seats or on the galley floor, and the plane never received any maintenance. After 72 hours they were given an 8-hour break, then re-boarded #19875 for a flight to Brazzaville in Congo to pick up Mali nationals fleeing the civil war in neighbouring Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo). The crew were told the Government of Congo would kill the Mailnese if they weren’t rescued. So despite the promises of only carrying Hajj pilgrims, and despite landing in a raging storm that still didn’t drown out the sound of nearby gunfire, they loaded 800 passengers onto the 400 seat jumbo and took off. Once again, Boeing’s robust engineering carried #19875 through. Later the same crew would work a solid 6-day stretch carrying Hajj pilgrims, and were only saved from another trip to Brazzaville on May 19th, 1997, when engine problems grounded C5-FBS in Dakar, Senegal. More crew decided to quit. They too would face harassment from Air Dabia staff and Gambian police before US consular staff helped them begin their journey home, still unpaid. Exactly what happened to #19875 next is a little hazy. Presumably she continued to fly Hajj pilgrims between Western Africa and Mecca, along with whatever errands Sissoko’s high-level friends requested, for the next few months. She turned up at Edinburgh Turnhouse Airport in the UK in late October 1997, for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Scotland’s capital – providing a grandiose if somewhat tatty entrance for the representatives of Africa’s smallest nation. By November 1997, however, the 28-year-old airplane was back in the USA, and was listed as stored at Opa-Locka airport, just north of Miami, in February 1998. Worse, in January of 1998 a complaint was filed by the Dubai Islamic Bank alleging Sissoko had bought his jumbo with funds that were stolen from the bank using black magic. As a result of that action, C5-FBS was repossessed in February of 2000. Meanwhile, Sissoko had been allowed to leave the US after only one of his four months of house arrest, and was living in mansion in Mali – fighting extradition to Dubai, with all his international assets frozen. At some point, presumably shortly after the seizure, #19875 was flown by her court-appointed owners to Plattsburgh International Airport (formerly Plattsburgh AFB) in the far northeast of New York state for an overhaul. But by now, her luck had well and truly run out. The company that had managed her recovery went out of business and all maintenance work ceased after her number 4 engine had been removed. Later, the maintenance company pulled out of the airport and left her behind. So by the end of 2001 the venerable first generation jumbo had progressed from ‘orphaned’ to ‘abandoned’ and she was left on the Plattsburgh ramp to await her fate. That fate would amount to little more than establishing sufficient ownership for her to be sold as scrap. It took over a year for the legal niceties to be completed, but in June 2003 the axe finally fell. Boeing msn 19875/89 – United’s shiny new ‘Friend Ship’ jumbo N4713U of 1970; the 747-122 that survived an explosive decompression out of Honolulu in 1989 and carried most of her complement back to earth on two remaining engines; N4724U, which rose from the accident to carry thousands more passengers around the world; and C5-FBS that became a tool for one man’s plutocratic exploitation and neglect – was torn apart where it stood at Plattsburgh International Airport, NY. The epitaph. Can you tell? So what became of United Airlines’ N4713U? Well, scattered to the trade winds is the short answer – a diaspora of reconditioned parts and recycled aluminium. I’d be intrigued to hear the long answer though, if anyone can tell me more details. I’m sure there are parts of the airplane in service even today; and others that are in a warehouse somewhere, still waiting for their second, third – or is it fourth? – life. As well as to all the good people who built, flew, crewed and maintained B747-122 msn 18975 through her long career with United Airlines and Air Dabia. You know who you are. You’re awesome. This article now has a sequel. Well, a prequel. Check out Requiem For An Airliner (1) for a flight aboard N4713U when she was brand new; plus Requiem For An Airliner (2) to learn about her post-accident repair at Honolulu. Riveting post (no pun intended)! The abuse these airplanes take is almost inconceivable — and that’s with an airline which provides the proper maintenance. Without appropriate TLC, they turn on you pretty quickly. It strikes me that jumbos built in the early 70s flew for a quarter of a century. The ones today seem to last only a few years before they’re parked in favor of a more fuel efficient model. There’s no shortage of late model 744s out there, baking away in Mojave, Pinal, Victorville, and elsewhere. I’ll tell you what, reading through the SDRs, those early 747s were falling apart from the day they came off the line! No disrespect to Boeing’s engineering, of course; they were advancing the technology on best available knowledge. But issues like the cargo door latching (which was specifically a wide-body problem) and engine mount cracking caused a number of accidents, some with appalling loss of life. Add the ongoing engine flameouts and general fatigue cracking, and those birds really did need constant care and feeding. As a quick example, msn 20083/153 (as N93119, TWA Flight 800) erupted off Long Island due to ageing issues in 1996, while msn 19754/80 was still hauling freight out of LAX (as Kalita Air N712CK) in 2011. And then, while I fully appreciate the business realities, that photo of it looking like a beached and stripped whale carcass is truly morose. I flew 712 CK originally at PAA then Polar Air before Kalttia Air if l recall it went in service in 1970 it’s last flight was December 2008. Hi Robert. Your aircraft was delivered on August 4th, 1970 – but to United Airlines as N4704U. Line number 60 (msn 19754), she then became Clipper Belle of the Sea in December 1985 before conversion a freighter for Polar Air in August ’94 – with a new tail number N854FT. Kalitta got her in September 02,and flew her as N712CK until she went into storage. The old girl was broken up in April 2013 at Oscoda, Michigan. I hope your memories of her are all happy ones! Thanks again! Another fun read. Thank you for the read. During my years of flying, it’s. possible that I flew on this Airplane. I remember when this airplane had difficulties out of Honolulu. You’re most welcome. By all accounts she was ‘good as new’ when the repair work was finished. I have an interview with one of the repair crew, which I am writing up to publish in the next few weeks. Thanks for the info l recall PAA bought the A/C from UAL to have a additional Craft A/C with cargo doors. Strange flying the A/C with three airlines and in addition l watched it depart MEM December 2008 for OSC and to be used as. Organ donor .l retried from Kalitta Air 12/2008 myself. The old girl still flew as well as it did when l first flew it at PAA loved that plane never let me down. This article reminds of flights with large passenger overloads in emergencies, it’s not unique. Witness World Airways 727 in Viet Nam at the end of the war, with some 300 onboard. Another little know example took place in the Middle East in 1949. A friend, here in Reno, is a retired Flying Tiger Line 747 Captain, Elgen Long. He has written a book about 9 flights he made as a navigator, from RAF Aden to Tel Aviv in 1949 in an Alaska Airlines DC-4 with 100 passengers on board. All the seats were removed, which saved some weight, plus the passengers had almost no luggage and were of small stature. They were nomadic bedouin jews who’s tribe had lived in the deserts of Yemen for a 1000 years. They were fleeing Arab persecution during the 1st Israeli/Arab war. It’s a fascinating book with a lot of aviation details. All the flights were entirely over the Red Sea, except for the last few miles from Aqaba to Tel Aviv. Eventually, many thousands of these refugees were ferried to Israel and today their decedents number over 300,000, and include some very senior members of Israeli society. As a result of these flights the FAA pulled Alaska’s operating certificate for some time. Thanks John. These ’emergency overload’ stories seem to have been a part of aviation almost since the airplane first went went to war. Certainly since airlift became a practical science. There were also numerous evacuations in the early days of WW2, with various tales of overloaded B-24s and C-47s in particular. Elgen Long’s book certainly sounds fascinating, and I hope people who read your comment will be inspired to order a copy. I’d also be interested in sharing an excerpt as a post on airscape, if Captain Long is up for it. I’ll follow up with you directly. I was working in the Training Center of United Airlines when the cargo door blew out on Flight 811. The scuttlebutt among the instructors was that the situation Capt. Cronin handled was as difficult to address, if not more difficult, than the one Capt. Haynes faced five months later in Sioux City, Iowa. The UAL Maintenance engineers concluded that the nose of the aircraft was close to breaking off the fuselage and the crew reached Honolulu in time. The Vice President of Operation, James Guyette, made the call to repair the airframe. He said the cost to repair was more than anticipated and scraping the airframe might have been the better decision. The airframe from the forward cargo door to the nose was replaced with a retired Air India 747. During my final years with United I flew N-2413U (N-4724U) several times. The “old bird” was good to me and I didn’t notice anything that different from the other B-747-122s on the line at the time. It’s always a pleasure to be corrected by someone with first-hand knowledge of an event, and I had no idea just how much of the original bird was replaced. It must have been a massive undertaking. It’s good to hear that she flew true once returned to service, and perhaps I could have been a little clearer that her ongoing squawks weren’t really ever anything out of the ordinary for an ageing first-generation jumbo. Flew her at United after repair and she was magnificent. Good story. Thanks Keith. While I’m sure they were far from routine at the time, the aircraft’s subsequent squawks all seem to have been “fair wear and tear” for the type – certainly no reflection against United’s repair works. I believe the captain out of honolulu was Scotty Devine. Do you mean after the incident? There’s a big hole in my story, between when Capt. Cronin landed back at HNL and when the aircraft appeared in the United shop at SFO. I’d love to know what happened there – I suspect it’s a whole story in its own right. It was concluded that an electrical fault had caused the hook shaft drive motor to rotate toward the unlock position. A new procedure bulletin came out on a weekend while I was in 747 Capt school at DENTK. It required that after the doors were shut, CBs for those motors in the below deck electrical bay be pulled by maintenance. I made a copy of it. Monday morning, just before push back in the SIM, I queried ” Cargo doors CB’s pulled?” After asking twice, the IP tapped me on the shoulder, “What the h— are you talking about”!!? I handed back to him a copy of the bulletin. He was a great instructor, but I got a little private kick out of catching him not up to date. It was only pure luck that I saw the bulletin so soon after it came out. I also flew this old girl several times, not knowing any difference, until a S/O happened to mention who she was. Thanks for sharing. There seems to be universal approval of the work done by United SFO repair crews. A large job, very well done. Thank you very much David. I am pleased you enjoyed this history! I remember every detail of this flight like it was yesterday. I will be in touch at my earliest on how I can share the photos and log book copy. Might be later this evening as I have an original painting to get finished before the end of the daylight here in the studio. There was a lot written in the press when we built the new studio and a Google type search of Rick Broome Boeing 727 Studio will bring up a number of different stories. The sad thing was the idiot neighbors who thought we were going to build a studio inside a trashed out junk airliner. Every Boeing pilot who has seen our display is amazed at how clean and almost brand new everything is. No doubt to have taken a worn out 727-200 series and brought it up to the condition of our display piece would have cost several million dollars. Also I have another story about working on United Boeing 727-022QC N7434U on 17 January 1969, when I was a flight line A&P at LAXMM. This I will share soon too. Tragic; really tragic …. I was part of the UAL ALPA accident investigating team for the cargo door blow off. An interesting part of the story was related to how the door locks had backed off to the point to allow the door to blow off. As mentioned the ground crew was considered part of that. Much later a maintenance crew at JFK was in the cargo compartment when the door opened but they could find no one who had operated the door controls. After the door was closed again one of them again leaned against the wire bundle to the door operating mechanism and the door again opened. When the wire bundle was removed frayed wires were found. When we inspected the the cargo recovered door sure enough there were frayed wires. NTSB backed off their consideration that the ground crew was part of the cause. Thanks for the extra insights, Robert. I remember the NTSB’s change of focus from the time, and I think everyone was kind of pleased and relieved to see the ground crew exonerated. In June 1989 I was transferred from Okinawa to Hickam AFB, HI. This aircraft was sitting on the ramp when I arrived, and sat there for several months it seemed. Then one day it was gone! I wondered what happened to it and am pleased to have had the opportunity to read “The Rest Of The Story” of what happened to it over later years. Thanks for that opportunity. My pleasure, Donald. And thank you for stopping by. Actually, you raise a fascinating point – can anyone fill in the details of how the airliner got from Hawaii to SFO??? VNE=VMO ( at 16500′) = 365Kts. So you were flying at Barbers pole + 45 Kts ??? I was hoping your article would reach some of the maintenance personnel who accomplished the extraordinary task of repairing N-7413 on the ramp at PHNL. They didn’t miss anything, not a rivet, cable, or wire. They were great. I hope it does too. And I hope they get in touch. As you say, there’s a great story there that deserves to be told. Great news! I spent a very enjoyable hour today chatting with Robert Butler, who was part of the UAL team that repaired N4713U at Hickam. I’ll be able to publish his side of the story as a follow-up post soon. Sissoko also had a beautiful ex-Continental 727 5V-TPA , bought in Las Vegas…. the two additional he bought in 1996 were worn out, an ex-TWA (backwards switches) 5V-TPB, and particularly the ex-Northwest/ex-Dominicana piece of junk 5V-TPC… Other captains advised that it should be used only for parts and that he’d been WAY overcharged, so he detained the slimy Smyrna used plane-lot dealer until getting a refund of part of it. I’ll bet she had a lot of baling wire and duct tape holding her together. I’ve got a few hours in these old gals and believe me, they all need a lot of help to keep airborne. The third tier airlines don’t put a lot of emphasis on preventative maintenance. It’s more “Fly the wings off of them and then see if we can sell them to the bigger fool”. I’m pleased to add that I have now published the ‘untold story’ of N4713U’s six-month repair at Hickam AFB, before she was returned to SFO and then revenue service. Ha! What a great movie that would be! The plot certainly has plenty of outrageous twists… We might be struggling to identify a hero though.

2019-04-21T23:01:18Z

https://airscapemag.com/2016/05/23/united-flight-811/

Building a uHTS laboratory communications from the frontier. Through sheer commercial need to conduct HTS reliably, rapidly and economically, science and technology have partnered to move laboratories from semi-automated craft guilds to industrialised uHTS research operations. To the benefit of both the pharmaceutical and HTS technology industries, today's researcher, tasked with setting up or revamping an HTS laboratory, is faced with a variety of choices from a wide variety of established vendors. The benefit of high-throughput screening (HTS) as a drug discovery tool has been demonstrated, and leads propagating from HTS laboratories have successfully enriched clinical research programmes (1). As compound screening libraries have grown larger and the number of targets to be screened has increased, so has the desire to achieve faster throughputs during HTS campaigns. This need has spurred pharmaceutical companies to incorporate ‘ultra’ high throughput screening (uHTS) technologies that enable more rapid screening of compound libraries, in excess of 100,000 samples per day. Interestingly, other nontraditional drug discovery operations have been affected by the success of big pharma uHTS operations: uHTS strategies and technologies have been adopted not only by most major pharmaceutical companies, but also in several biotechnology and academic settings (2,3). Although the success of uHTS is dependent on many factors, one that is obvious is the careful selection of an appropriate robotic screening platform. Unfortunately to the uninitiated, this is only one step of a process; equally important is the consideration of lab infrastructure and processes coordinated with the uHTS campaign. For example, a particular platform may generate assay results at the rate of >100,000/day during the course of a robotic campaign. However, if a massive ‘off-line’ cell or compound plating effort was required prior to the robotic screening campaign, this must also be considered in throughput calculations. Recently the author of this article had the opportunity to create a uHTS laboratory at the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in Palm Beach County, Florida. Using this experience as a guide, the purpose of this article is to summarise the ‘state-of-the art’ in uHTS operations, and elucidate important supporting automation that is necessary to sustain lab productivity. In some cases, shortcomings of current technologies or areas of further development are discussed. One decision facing the uHTS lab director is whether campaigns should be performed in a miniaturised format, the 1536-well format being the most popular. Indeed, uHTS campaigns performed in the 1536-well format are more economical and rapid than their 384-well format counterparts, and as a result less FTE labour is required to achieve comparable productivity (Figure 1). It is important to note that miniaturisation is not required to achieve uHTS conditions: Throughputs of greater than >100,000 samples per day can be achieved with automation that specialises in 384-well format, and for some campaigns it is possible to reduce assay volumes down to 10-20 μL/well4. Although 1536-well format assays can be performed in 2 to 10 μL/well assay volumes, the incremental cost savings vis-à-vis 384-well format assays may be less important to some lab managers. Until recently, equipment that specialised in the 1536-well plate format was scarce. At the turn of this century, the majority of uHTS campaigns performed in 1536-well format used equipment and facilities that were originally designed for processing 384-well format plates. This often resulted in data that was subject to artifacts, and propagated the belief that the advantages of miniaturised uHTS campaigns came at the cost of lower data quality. Although the belief was well founded, the introduction of more reliable liquid handling and detection technologies for 1536- well format plates has largely diminished this concern (5). With proper scientific expertise, comparable results are obtained between the formats, even in challenging assays. If a lab director is saddled with a legacy of older but functional and reliable HTS equipment and competent personnel, it may be unnecessary to upgrade to a miniaturised format. However, shrinking consumable, reagent and personnel budgets may predicate reorganising a lab to perform miniaturised uHTS. Additionally, labs that employ scarce biologicals may also be attracted to the economy of the miniaturised format, even if their compound library is relatively small. Several vendors sell fully-automated HTS robotic platforms (Table 1). Although a smaller group of these vendors have established themselves as experts at manufacturing 1536-well format uHTS platforms, almost all others are capable of constructing a uHTS capable platform at a customer’s behest. The majority of vendors specialise in bespoke automation platforms that shuttle plates to peripheral liquid handlers and detectors made by the vendor itself, or integrated third party equipment specified by the customer. A minority has dedicated engineers that design and manufacture bespoke equipment to a customer’s specification. Currently, some vendors of specialised 1536 automation prefer to base pricing on the value to the customer rather than the cost required to produce the automation itself, but in general the capital outlay required for a uHTS platform is within the grasp of most departmental budgets. The goal of a uHTS robotic platform is obvious, but automation employed to achieve this goal varies from vendor to vendor. Most vendors have incorporated anthropomorphic robotic arms to move microtiter plates around the platform (Figure 2a); less common but equally up to the task are platforms that incorporate SCARA, gantry and track-based technologies. This presents an important caveat to the customer who is deciding which particular platform to purchase, especially if there is no substantial difference in price. Ultimately, vendors should be chosen that can demonstrate they have the competence to build a platform that balances flexibility and reliability to the satisfaction of the customer. Once specifications are agreed upon, testing cycles and milestone payments can be determined to the satisfaction of both parties. Vendors who do not agree to such an arrangement should be more closely investigated. Another practice to be wary of is the peddling of ‘vapour-ware’, ie hardware with which the vendor has no experience. In the cases of manufacturing a completely customised platform or dealing with a newly established vendor, this cannot be avoided, and care must be taken to select the right partner before commissioning the project. Difficult assay protocols such as SPA bead dispensing, plate washing (Figure 2c) and FLIPR assays6 that once remained in the domain of 384-well format have now been successfully miniaturised and automated. Some popular protocols remain refractory, due to engineering and software challenges. Examples are radioactive filter binding assays, which at the time of writing have just been successfully miniaturised to 384-well format and gene-expression assays that require modification of protocol steps based upon intermediate data. Although high-content screening (HCS) assays can be miniaturised, it is difficult to achieve uHTS on a platform that integrates HCS instrumentation. This is due to the time required to focus, acquire and analyse the well images produced by the HCS instrument. Although solutions to these problems, especially in the case of HCS instrumentation, are on the horizon, laboratories whose livelihood depends upon execution of these assays should take a ‘wait-and-see’ policy to miniaturisation and uHTS. The importance of facilities requirements have long been acknowledged in laboratories that specialise in 1536-well format assays; sophisti-cated environmental controls are critical to prevent evaporation of assay reagents from microtiter plates and promote test compound stability. Borrowing technologies used for semiconductor- processing clean rooms, a modern uHTS facility incorporates an HVAC system that maintains temperature, humidity and particulate concentrations within 10% of desired set points (Figure 3). The facility requirements for uHTS laboratories have increased with the demand to automate a wider variety of assays. It is now increasingly popular to automate assays that are either sensitive to environmental contamination or employ reagents that are potentially hazardous to the laboratory technician. Therefore, it is important to consider potential facility requirements even if assays are only in 96 or 384-well format. There have been three major approaches to address the more complex facilities requirements listed above. The first and most obvious has been to dedicate an automation platform to a particular assay format, and govern its safe operation by drafting standard operating procedures. This has been particularly effective for platforms that execute radioactivity-based assays, since a large body of literature exists to effectively guide the safe use of radioactive materials. In cases where relatively non-hazardous assay reagents (eg, a BSL-1 mammalian cell line, RNAi sample, PCR reaction components) need to be protected from airborne contamination, a popular and economical secondary approach is to place the relevant automation in an environmentally controlled enclosure (Table 2). With significant but straightforward modifications, the same enclosures can contain potentially hazardous particulate or remove toxic solvent fumes. A minor drawback of these enclosures is that access to the robotic platform is severely limited, hampering maintenance and troubleshooting efforts. A third approach is to locate the automation within a room specialised for the assay performed. This is especially popular for infectious disease research. Although costly, this approach maximises automation productivity and guarantees the highest level of safety. Maintaining a screening library remains one of the most labour intensive and expensive aspects of any uHTS operation. In most operations, the fate of compounds must be managed not only within the screening laboratory, but also among external collaborators. In the case of therapeutic group collaborators, custom automation may not only be required to rapidly locate and retrieve the requested samples, but also to provide them in an ‘assay ready’ format, eg dilutions of compounds in a 384- well plate. Medicinal chemistry support adds additional requirements, including determination of sample purity or structure identification, and also the process of registration and incorporation of newly-synthesised samples into the compound collection. Compound management technologies can be divided into three major categories: the consumables necessary for physical storage of the samples, the hardware and software that interfaces with these consumables, and instrumentation necessary to determine the purity and structure of the compounds themselves. Although an effective compound management operation does not necessarily require full automation, several well-established automation vendors have now specialised in providing modular, scalable compound management systems with integrated sample tracking databases (Table 3). Throughput standards have not been formally developed for compound management automation but most systems are capable of processing samples at the rate of 104 samples/ day. Although this is slow when compared to the throughput of even an HTS platform, it is usually sufficient to support cherry-picking efforts in a uHTS laboratory. The most popular consumable used in compound management automation is the ‘tube rack’. Similar in footprint to a microtiter plate, the typical tube rack consists of separable, individually barcoded compound vials to which powdered or solvated sample is added. The 96-well format tube rack remains a popular format, most likely due to its ease of manipulation by both manual and automated means, and its ability to store relatively large sample volumes (~1.5 mL). For operations that do not require large volumes of sample or lack storage space, 384- tube racks have been developed. However, the advantages of this format are offset by the inability of long term compound storage once the tube seal is compromised. Currently, no 1536-tube racks are available. However, some companies have devised technical innovations to store and access compounds in 1536-well microtiter plates. In these cases, a specialised lid is used to seal the microtiter plate and minimise solvent evaporation/hydration during long term storage; the lid is removed by custom automation when it is necessary to access the contents of the plate, and replaced for long term storage. Although samples within the plate will eventually succumb to degradation, this is balanced by the fact that a relatively small amount of sample is sacrificed, especially for the 1536-well format, and the lids themselves are reusable. In many operations, the reusable-lid technology is popular among robotics operators, since little or no manual labour is spent unsealing or resealing compound plates between HTS campaigns. As mentioned above, another attractive feature is the small amount of space occupied by a library in 1536-well format: in one instance, more than 700,000 samples can be stored in an online incubator (Figure 2d). Several compound vendors and brokers can solvate, reformat and store compound libraries on a fee-for-service basis. Costs for services vary widely based on the number of copies made, but in all cases are significantly cheaper than the capital equipment and FTE costs associated with compound reformatting. Currently, this presents attractive outsourcing options for companies that lack the physical space or budget to set up a compound management group. Outsourcing of compound management operations will continue to grow, perhaps even attracting companies that must downsize their internal operations. Most compound vendors are able to resupply previously purchased compounds to customers at fixed costs. Although less prevalent, it is not hard to imagine that several companies will also offer ‘cherry-picking’ services for a customer’s stored compound library in the near future. In hit-to-lead efforts, analytical instrumentation is essential for quality control of compounds produced by medicinal chemistry efforts. Identical instrumentation can be used to assess the quality of screening libraries7. Although NMR methods can be employed, currently liquid chromatographymass spectrometry (LC-MS) platforms remain the gold standard for determining compound purity and mass of screening collections8. Regardless, both methods consume significant amounts of sample for analysis, and suffer tremendously from throughput concerns, maximally at 103 analyses/ day. The development of LC-MS analytical techniques and technologies to increase sample throughput has been hampered by the inherent serial nature of LC-MS sampling and the time required to interpret resulting chromatograms and spectra. Significant developments have been made to increase sample throughput (parallel LC columns, incorporation of MUX technology) and automate compilation and interpretation of results. However, LC-MS technology still lacks innovations necessary to fully integrate into a uHTS effort. Although several pharmaceutical companies have invented and still maintain proprietary in-house databases for the management of HTS data, this is due largely to the fact they required information management long before any commercial solutions were available. Nowadays, several vendors have turnkey HTS databases which obviate the need and expense of developing an in-house solution. Most of these vendors offer sophisticated products that support assay registration, compound registration and management, plate barcode tracking, data review and analysis, report generation and SAR tools. If customisation is required, vendors can develop specific applications, or write bridging software code that allows a competitor’s software to interface with their product. Because of the nature of the software development process, and the production of ever-faster computing technology, it is a relatively straight-forward process to tailor commercially available HTS database software to the needs of a particular operation and keep the software and hardware on the ‘cutting edge’. In addition, all competitive databases have incorporated the data storage and visualisation needs of scientists downstream of the HTS process, allowing one product to be used across the drug discovery organisation. Areas of future database technology development will most likely focus on the facilitation of interdisciplinary analyses on functional genomic, proteomic, DMPK/clinical and HTS data, simplified presentation of compound quality control information, and summarisation and indexing of HCS data. One important and overlooked benefit of miniaturisation is the effect it has on uHTS laboratory operations. Most tangible are the reductions in space required for consumables storage and the amount of effort involved marshalling the resources necessary to implement and sustain a uHTS campaign. Since a proportionally smaller amount of time is spent staging the smaller quantities of microtiter plates and reagents, logistics become simplified for the lab manager. Productive facilities with both uHTS and compound management capabilities can be contained in smaller spaces, and staffed with fewer people. With the plethora of standardised technologies that perform uHTS operations in 1536-well format, and the increasing accessibility of technologies, screening labs in the future will undoubtedly be very different. As costs for uHTS systems decrease, smaller drug-discovery companies and academic research labs with sufficient know-how will be able to leap-frog the expense and effort associated with equipping 384-well format operations. Instead they will be able to partner directly with experienced automation providers and consultants to set up turnkey 1536-well uHTS operations. Dr Peter Hodder currently heads the Lead Identification Department at Scripps in Palm Beach County, Florida. This centralised ultrahigh throughput screening (uHTS) laboratory supports Scripps’ intramural drug discovery efforts, as well as NIH-funded Molecular Library Screening Network goals and collaborative efforts with external partners. The department also manages Scripps’ 600,000-member smallmolecule HTS library. Dr Hodder heads a consulting service for researchers who wish to set up HTS and uHTS laboratories. 1Wynne, G,Aherne, EM and Workman, P. Breast Cancer Research, 2002, 4:148-154. 2 Austin, CP et al. Science, 2004, 306: 1138–1139. 3 Chanda, SK, Caldwell, JS. Drug Discovery Today, 2003, 8(4): 168-174. 4 Garyantes,TK. Drug Discovery Today, 2002, 7(9): 489-490. 5 Hodder, PS. European Pharmaceutical Review, 2005, 2: 47-55. 6 Hodder, PS et al. Journal of Biomolecular Screening, 2004, 9(5): 417-426. 7 Bing,Y. Modern Drug Discovery, 2004, 7(2):30-34. 8 Kerns, EH et al. Combinatorial Chemistry and High Throughput Screening, 2005, 8(6):459-466.

2019-04-19T07:11:22Z

https://www.ddw-online.com/screening/p148311-building-a-uhts-laboratory-communications-from-the-frontier--winter-05.html

I've been assigned the front seat in our class this week. The speaker for the past several days wanted to use me as an example. He had me stand up. I was expecting the typical response when someone sees me standing close to them for the first time. It came. His head went up, and back as he tried to match my eyes. "Woah, you are a big boy aintcha!" He asked me to shake his hand. Now I've been raised to shake hands with a firm grip. And that's what I did. He mentioned "you see Chad has a firm grip, it shows he's a manly man. It communicates in our greeting something." he reached over, and we bumped and rubbed foreheads. he held my hand and walked with me. his hand briefly touched my palm. and we interlocked two knuckles and then snapped. Apparently no snapping sound is the same as a weak handshake in America. The class sort of laughed each time he did different things which may or may not have been embarrassing. Honestly, the funny thing to me, was that none of it was embarrassing. In fact, for a while now I've been considering the fact that I feel often like hugging people, and the only reason I don't is because I feel it might make them uncomfortable to have a man my size, hug them. It was a good class. Challenging, but good. Before walking into this entire calling, I really felt as if I didn't have a lot of experience. I consider myself naive. But my prayer to God during this training has been that He would help my heart and my head learn the things He has to teach me. Each day, when I'm grappling with a hard issue or thought, an example from my life comes to mind, it jsut sort of pops in there, and I see it in a whole new light. It is amazing to me, that a memory long since forgotten, can surface, to teach your heart the truth of something the teacher is trying to express. IT is doubly impressive when you realize you hadn't thought of that experience in that way before and you gain a new insight. I boast in the Lord here, because it isn't mean recalling these memories but it is instead the Holy Spirit who brings these to mind, and it is very encouraging to know that God is taking a personal interest in our training in a daily way. Training is going well. There are a lot of issues and concepts required as preparation to go and be quality representives of Christ and America. I'm grateful that we have this training available to us and it's really shaping us and challenging us, preparing us and encouraging us. I'm specifically not going into detail about what is being taught for the primary reason that some of it requires deep processing, which doesn't lend itself to a blog format. One of the interesting quirks of this campus is that people donate things. When people donate, they donate whatever their heart tells them to, and so these odds emails pop up from time to time. For example, every day there is a table that has free, day old bread on it. We've had some very good bagles and sourdough the past few days because someone(s) keep donating bread. It's great! There is a boutique where you can pick up free items. It is very much like a thrift store, used shoes, and clothing. Items which are very useful when you have a need. Acclimating to this culture of supply is one of the fun unexpected quirks of living this lifestyle. I gotta say, I didn't even know there was such a thing, but I'll be very interested in attending if my schedule permits! one of our assignments during our intercultural training, is to attend an "ethnic" church. Our family assignment was a local Baptist church. We entered as the only white skinned people in the church. I should start by saying, I absolutely loved it! The approach I am taking to developing a relationship would be first, to be seen, to be known, and to participate. I entered the church with my family with the attitude of being involved, and I believe a smile, a good attitude and humility can go a long way to fitting in. I didn't approach with the idea that I knew anything, and that I would suspect judgement on everything I saw until I could come to a conclusion with enough data on it. I greeted people I met with a smile, and if they offered their hand I shook it. I found it a welcoming place and I enjoyed the service greatly. I was looking for ways to serve the church specifically during announcements. Honestly I didn't see any multimedia involved and therefore instantly realized my technical skills would not be helpful in serving. So I listened for other areas. One announcement was that there was a canned food drive coming up and they would appreciate contributions. That is a very easy way that I can demonstrate my desire to serve. Until I find out their need though, it'll be hard to find a deeper way to serve. I observed many things using the attitude that my learning is my responsibility. I noticed the women wore very decorative hats. This is something that I am not used to and I found it very pleasant. I think my new favorite word is "glory" as pronounced by the Reverend Johnson. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire service. It has been a long while since I've enjoyed going to church that immensely. I enjoyed the flow of the service, the way that singing, praising, worship, thankfulness and prayer intermingled in a community sharing way. It was all I could do to keep from embarrassing myself by belting out an Amen here or there. I felt controlling myself until I got the flow of the service was the best idea, but by the end I was quietly muttering my "Amen"s. I enjoyed how the reverend took the time to pray before his sermon quietly as the choir led us in song. Regardless of the pomp, I felt he had the time to truly seek out what the Spirit would have him say. Ironically, the two main themes of the sermon were seemingly directed at me. The symbolic theme of "shoes" was humorous since I had forgotten my nice dress shoes and socks and was thinking "I was hoping this whole morning no one would look down at my shoes". The second "faithfulness" echoes something I had recently blogged, and that is "God is faithful to us, but He asks us to be faithful to Him." At a time when I feel God's faithfulness is at an all time high to my family, and I've been encouraged to be faithful in return by my personal study, I realize, that the emotional approach to this service gave me an experience that will fortify me to stand strong for God in the near future. There was one brief moment of culture shock and that was it. When we sat down, my daughter said "why is everyone wearing black?" And then my son said, in earshot of everyone near us "black is the worst color." My thoughts were, "oh please son, they're gonna think you got that from your daddy." Graciously God allowed him to continue, "because it covers up all the other colors they're wearing." The lady in front of us turned around and said to my children, "See honey, I'm wearing green underneath." It was a good moment. In California, everyone is very worried about being politically correct. But in this church, one lady took an innocent comment as jsut that, an innocent comment. My children don't see skin color, and she knew it. They saw coat color. They saw they were in red and white and pink and no one else was. God bless them. Between my shoes and that comment I could have been very nervous, but I wasn't, and that's because I felt the Spirit of God in that place. After the service we shared our observations. My wife noted that in some ways the church was more formal than our Calvary home, in other ways less. For example, everyone wore suits, and the Reverend wore a robe, people were only permitted to enter during certain breaks if they were late. But on the other hand, people could sing out songs as they felt led, people could stand, sit, shout Amen, and hold hands during prayer. My daughter asked "I didn't understand why they said "Amen" at the end of every sentence." I told her, "Amen" means I agree and that when the pastor ends a sentence with "AMEN?" he is inviting us to agree with him out loud about what he jsut said. He's saying "God is good, do you agree with me?" "AMEN! Yes we agree with you!" She turned to my mom "hey mom, tonight we should have spaghetti, Amen?" and my son replied "Tomorrow we should have pizza for dinner amen?" At one point in the service, one of our co-visitors little boy wandered free up the isle, up in front of the reverend around towards the side and off into a corner. It was hilarious. A single little white child 4 years old wandering free, feeling no nervousness or lack of fitting in. They called the children up so the Rev. could speak with them. My kids went up with only a small amount of prodding and then were guided off after the talk to their children's thing. They made friends in there pretty easily. We were definitely aware that we didn't quite fit in completely, but we felt as if we belonged. It will take a few weeks to learn the traditions, but we'll get there. As we plan to return. The church was very friendly, and I think that feeling was much more not knowing the traditions of the church and much less the color of our skin. yesterday training was very interesting. We were given the assignment of making up rules for our cultures, simulating those cultures as small groups, and then visiting other cultures and hosting other cultures. It taught us a lot of about how easy it is to view differences as negatives. In some ways we didn't fall prey to the negative impressions but in other ways we did. Honestly this exercise encouraged us more that we're prepared for this than it did to discouraged us that we are not mentally prepared for culture differences. This morning, the kids waited at the bus stop in the freezing cold for 20 minutes, until we realized "perhaps the bus isn't coming" We called the school, "sir, the school is closed today" in a polite southern drawl. What now? We still have class to go to. This never happens in the silicon valley. So today we're attempting to juggle watching the kids with both of us in class and giving our 8 minute oral presentations. The phone jsut rang, grown-up school is starting an hour late, but they are working on something for the school age kids. So that is good. Another day, another way to remain flexible. Being flexible takes different amounts of energy for different personality types. Probably the most important part of being a missionary is to remain flexible. You come across and live in tight quarters with people from all over the U.S. here, and all over the World in PNG. We're about to head out and try and get oriented, but thus far the view is beautiful (we came in at night). We've moved out of California successfully thanks to the help and prayers of you all. We have a small 2 bedroom apartment that we're acclimating to and unpacking into. Thus far this place feels like a little cabin in the woods, Arnold, CA or perhaps even up in Oregon. The trip here was guided by God the whole way. When we pulled up to the airport at 8:30am, nearly 2 hours early for our flight, we found out our flight was cancelled. We were able to book passage with seats near each other on another flight leaving 15 minutes later. Within 20 minutes that flight was empty. Had we not arrived earlier than expected, we'd have missed our connection. In Dallas we had to rush to our connecting gate, but we made it in time to board, and in enough time to buy some food for what our kids dubbed as "linner" which we later ate on the plane. As we were boarding I noticed my daughter's boarding pass had the wrong name on it, we were stopped at the gate, but luckily this was remedied in under a minute, and we got on. My daughter was slightly confused when I jokingly said to her "for the next ten minutes your name is Rachel Estrada." Once off the plane we made our way to the luggage area and found that our ride was there and had already picked up our bags and put them on a cart. We loaded it up into a suburban with a trailer, they had cool water in a chest in the truck waiting for us, and they took us to our new apartment. What a great greeting! One of our luggage boxes was damaged but nothing was missing. Overall, it was a good trip. What makes it good, is our attitudes. What makes our attitudes is the knowledge that these trivial things don't matter a whole bunch, but how you react to them does. God is faithful, very very faithful. wow, what a crazy 24 hours. we've moved out of the house after a decent bit of energy. PLEASE pray that the trucking company arrives in time. Weather has already made them miss their schedule by 2 days. They are scheduled to arrive at 9am friday, and that is about the absolute latest they can arrive. One of the things we have to do before leaving for PNG is sell my car. My car has been a reliable little Ford, but I have been treating it like what it was, a temporary stop gap. I've put new tires on it, new radiator, refreshed the A/C, kept fluids in it, but did the bare minimum that I could. IT is a 1998 Ford Contour with 70k miles on it. Not my favorite car. But it was cheap. Tomorrow I intended to sell it to a used car lot, but alas that shall never be. I had a doctor appointment this morning, and last night I noticed the battery light was on. I had replaced the battery in the summer of this year so I assumed I could fix the problem later, perhaps with a trickle charge. I went to the doctor's and my ipod kept cutting out. Then after the doctor's (an appointment which was completely unecessary) I drove towards work. I say towards because I didn't make it. My ipod wasn't dying out, it was my stereo. On the highway, my electrical started blinking in and out and I suddenly lost all RPM's. I wasn't accelerating even though my foot was all the way down on the gas. So I tried to get off the highway. Feeling it unwise to cut off a big rig without having any way to speed up, but seeing a hill coming up and knowing I had to get to the shoulder, I did my best, and got to an "okay" spot. I stopped and hit my hazards, which apparently weren't showing because the electrical was failing. Smoke proceeded from under the hood. Guessing the battery died while I was driving, meant that my alternator wasn't working. I called AAA. WE had a premium membership for many years, two of them in fact, until I realized that I never used mine. So we renewed only 1 this year under my wife's name. I kept her expired card, she kept her original. Thankfully AAA was benevolent and towed me for free.. within 5 miles of where I work. "Transmission's out." said the driver who arrived surprisingly fast. I doubted his diagnoses. We were already driving, getting on the highway, and the driver says "where to within 5 miles or else I have to charge you." I replied " a junk yard." he explained he couldn't do that. Given all of a whole ten seconds to think, I defaulted to "My dad's work." Knowing full well that he'd say yes without even thinking, and be the most helpful person in this situation. I gave a moment's thought to the burden I might be posing on him, and that was it. I knew he wouldn't mind at all, if anything I minded giving him yet another thing to have to deal with today. That's how my dad is, he'd drop anything he was doing to help family. So, 10 seconds from his parking lot, I call him on the cell, which was choppy, and all he heard was "coming by your work....in a towtruck." and he replied "okay, yes." I'm rather sure he didn't know what he was saying yes to, and I'm sure it didn't matter. The driver was very helpful, and talkative, and soon left. Here I was a 33 year old man, about to embark on this huge task which will take me away from my dad, and yet, I was coming to him much like I had when I was 16 and I wrecked his truck. Relying on dad again to help me with a vehicle. It felt good to know I had that safety net. It felt scary to know I would soon be without that safety net nearby. When they've been broken down" And I thought to myself about how this day could have gone, how worse it could have been. Really I'm not put out or upset or anything. We have a lot of things to do this week, and today, final details to handle. And yes, this threw a monkey wrench into the works. Finally the day had worn down, and we got into bed. PHEW! we did it... and then... our daughter began throwing up at midnight. BUT praise God, we're in our hotel room, with only smaller little things left to do before our plane flight out. During this time of stress God has somehow protected us from feeling overwhelmed, and has enabled us to get everything done. Our adult congregation hosted a nice little "going away party" for us tonight. I can tell you I was really hoping it wouldn't be a tear jerking kind of time. And it wasn't. It was a good night of fellowshiping, talking, and trying to tell people how truly excited we are about what God is having us do. There is something very faith building when you know that God has called you to do something. You have no idea of your immediate future but you know you're where God wants. Thankfully no one asked me to do a speech. Although, if they had, this is the speech I would have done, impromptu of course (-;. Here is the abridged version, sans the jokes that would only work in person. --Ten years ago, my wife suggested we attend an "adult congregation" class. I replied "Sunday school is for kids. Why would I want to go?" But I went because she made good sense and I was hoping it would be a way to make common friendships as she was new to the Bay Area. Over the years there have been a lot of good times together. The better part of my character has been shaped there in large part by the experiences I've had with people in this room. Looking back I can see how God intended me to walk through those doors into this class and how He has used it to His glory. The interesting thing, is that jsut as God planned for us to come through those doors to join you, He also planned way back when, for us to walk out those doors to leave you. It could seem like a sad thing. It does feel sad to realize you won't be spending as much time face to face as you're used to, but our eyes are set on God's kingdom. And that's why this isn't a goodbye party, it's a going away party. We're going away, but it's not goodbye. Everyone here has contributed to God's glory in the very fact that we've spent time with you and seen God through you in some way or another and have been inspired to give back to God because of that. This is fellowship, this is what God intended for all of us to do. To lift each other up. We're excited about the stories we're going to share that God is doing in our lives. And we're very excited to hear the praises everyone of you have and will lift up to God for the rest of our lives together. Today we added a google earth movie and a PNG F.A.Q/Stats that I threw together for Kendal who is going to present to our childrens' classes next week. Well we're packing. For weeks we've been packing but now we're in the: furniture leaving, boxes everywhere, stage. It's great! WOW there's THAT much dust back there? hehe. Last night we came across a really nice lady who's a bit down on her luck financially and happened to be looking for precisely what we were giving away. Couches, dining room table, and a computer desk. The shipping company is supposed to come on Jan 10 to pick up our belongings going to PNG. From there, each member of this family will be living out of 2 suitcases each until we see our stuff again. We train to learn some intercultural and technical skills. We fly to PNG on March 17! There are so many things to do between now and then that we have to keep a clipboard jsut to keep track of them. In the middle of it, we're trying to make time to spend with the kids and with family and friends to help everyone ease into the transition. Please pray for a smooth transition for everyone. We are seeing the kids needing a little more attention and care right now, they don't realize it, but we can see they need an extra hug or cuddle time or lego making time or whatever and it's because they see things going into boxes. They really are brave and resilient. Please pray for their emotional state as they transition. Especially Calvin he's very sensitive at 5. Right now, we need coverage in prayer, it's very easy to get stressed out with the packing, then get saddened at the goodbyes and be emotionally spent right around the time our kids will need us most. We believe that our kids will respond to any situation with the same attitude and energy that we exude, they reflect us. So we need to avoid the temptation of short tempers, avoid the desire to do all those things that one does when you get pressured. Thank you very much for your prayer. I'm hoping to keep the blog up while in North Carolina and I am attempting to make a photo/video travel log.

2019-04-21T22:00:45Z

http://gng2png.blogspot.com/2007/01/

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2019-04-21T18:55:39Z

http://www.ga-healthnetwork.com/french/images/work/nkcqkdnuii353.htm

Christopher Paul Curtis’ first novel, The Watsons Go to Birmingham, was awarded both a Newbery Honor and a Coretta Scott King Honor. His second novel, Bud, Not Buddy, won the Newbery Medal and the Coretta Scott King Award in 2000. He is also the author of the Golden Kite Award-winning Bucking the Sarge, Mr. Chickee’s Funny Money, and Mr. Chickee’s Messy Mission. These titles are all available on audio from Listening Library. As a first-generation freeborn black, 11-year-old Elijah Buxton had no direct experience with slavery. That changes, however, when a thief steals money set aside for freeing a friend's enslaved family. Elijah sets off rapidly in pursuit, leaving behind his Canadian home and crossing into dangerous American territory, where he encounters terrifying evidence of the grievous human cost of slavery. History is made palpable in this novel by Newbery Medal winner Christopher Paul Curtis. Floating up like a bubble through layers of history, buoyed with hope and comic energy…Elijah of Buxton tells the story of Elijah Freeman, the first freeborn child in the historic Elgin Settlement, a village of escaped slaves in Canada…As in his previous novels, Curtis is a master at balancing the serious and the lighthearted: as Langston Hughes said of the blues, "not softened with tears, but hardened with laughter." He has already received a Newbery medal and an honor for two novels rooted in the experience of black Americans: "The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 and Bud, Not Buddy. His latest book is another natural award candidate and makes an excellent case, in a story positively brimming with both truth and sense, for the ability of historical fiction to bring history to life. Elijah of Buxton 4.1 out of 5 based on 0 ratings. 90 reviews. Newbery winning author Christopher Paul Curtis has written 2 of my favorite historical novels, "Bud, Not Buddy" and now "Elijah of Buxton". I'd recommend both these books to anyone, but especially to kids aged 8-12.Elijah is a free-born boy growing up in the real town of Buxton, Ontario, a place where former slaves lived in relative safety before the Civil War. When a thief steals the money intended to buy a slave family's freedom, Elijah sets off in pursuit to get the money back. On his journey, he must avoid bounty hunters looking for runaway slaves to take back to the US. Determined to do the right thing, Elijah is optimistic, resourseful, and very brave. Elijah of Buxton is a hero for youngsters of all ages. Elijah of Buxton is laugh out loud humor and powerful history combined in one book. Christopher Paul Curtis has written another powerful story to make us understand history clearer. Mr. Curtis is able to bring the characters to life with each page. You can feel the joy and pain the slaves, freedmen and former slaves feel in the style Mr. Curtis writes. I recommend this book to all teachers for the classroom, history buffs and avid readers. In the Newberry Medal winning story, Elijah of Buxton, Elijah is a cowardly eleven year old living in a free settlement in Canada. He is the first child born free in the settlement of Buxton. During the celebration Elijah Freeman threw up on Fredrick Douglas, who was considered to be the smartest man who had ever escaped from slavery. Elijah is an excellent worker and fisher, but is very afraid of snakes and other simple things in life. The preacher, who carries around a pistol everywhere he goes, says that his talent of fishing is a true gift from above. When Mr. Leroy, who is a friend of Elijah's, earns enough money to buy his family out of slavery, the preacher, who was thought to have been a friend, steals his money. Elijah sets off and crosses the American border into Michigan to hunt the preacher down and get Mr. Leroy's money back. Although the story progresses slowly, and younger readers may become bored very quickly, Christopher Paul Curtis does a great job at introducing almost everybody in Buxton. He makes you feel like your right in the story, experiencing everything the main character (Elijah) goes through and all of his adventures. This was the best book I have ever read, thank you Christopher Paul Curtis. Very intresting book!! I love that this book has cliff hangers and lots of suspense that makes you not want to put the book down!! I highly reccomend buying this book!! I really lov books lik the/ wastons go to birmingham-1963.but ths book is really cool too!!!!!!!!!!! The colloquial language of this book may make it challenging for some students to read, but Mirron Willis does a beautiful job in the audio version of engaging the audience and making the common language charming. Elijah is an incredibly likeable character who is very optimistic, humourous and courageous. Through his tale, he brings Canadian history alive. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would easily recommend it to classes studying Slavery and the role of the Canadian underground railway. Elijah is an 11-year-old boy, or as he likes to say, a ¿nearly 12-year-old boy¿ who more than anything in the world, wants the grown-ups around him to realize that he is no longer a little boy and should not be treated that way. He has grown up free in Buxton, Canada, across the river from Detroit, Michigan. His parents escaped slavery in the United States and fled to Canada where Elijah was born. The story takes place in the very real town of Buxton, Canada which was a settlement created for escaped slaves in the early 1860s.Elijah¿s mother had always called him ¿fra-gile¿ but he wants to prove to her and to everyone else that he is not. He has always been a sensitive child, given to crying easily and is wise beyond his years. His parents hved always told him to trust his instincts and not to believe everything that he has been told or has overheard. As much as he wants to be considered grown-up, he is often confused by the things that the adults around him say and do, especially the man everyone calls the Preacher. As Elijah says, ¿He ain¿t atall like a common preacher that¿s got a church or nothing, but he tells anyone that will listen that he¿s the Right Reverend Deacon Doctor Zephariah Connerly the Third, and that he¿s the most educated, smartest man anywhere `round.¿ (p. 3) The Preacher is constantly coming up with new schemes that are supposedly ¿for the good of the settlement¿ and that he wants Elijah to help him with. Finally, in a life or death situation, Elijah finds himself having to choose between what the Preacher wants him to do and what he thinks is right.Overall, I enjoyed this book but it didn¿t really grab my attention until chapter 5. The character development was a bit meandering and the child¿s amazing insights into life were a bit difficult to believe. This was the first time I had ever listened to an audiobook. While it was nice to listen to it while driving, it did not lend itself to marking pages or taking notes for the assignment I was reading it for. There was also the difference of 9 hours of listening time versus 2-3 hours of reading time. The narrator on the CD, a distinguished African American actor, did not have a Southern accent and his reading of the book in Elijah¿s dialect was a bit stilted and awkward, which was a distraction. I also checked out the book to compare the 2 experiences and overall, I found reading the book to be much more engaging. But I am definitely a visual learner and find it much easier to focus when I'm reading. In 1859, eleven-year-old Elijah, the first free-born child in Buxton, Canada, a haven for slaves fleeing the American South, uses his wits to try to bring to justice the lying preacher who has stolen money that was to be used to buy a family's freedom.Setting: Buxton is located on Lake Erie near Windsor, ON, and used as a drop off on the Underground Railroad. Christopher Curtis' Elijah of Buxton interests me. This book is a great historical fiction on racism from a thrid person point of view.The theme in this story talks about courage. The courage of Elijah to face all his fears of failure or events. His best friend is now in misery caused by a former slave stealing his money for bringing his family out of captivity. He knows that his friend has waited long for all this money and is very important to him. He decides to go and help a friend when he is down. And off course his friend would have done the same for him. The point of view that this whole story is given is unique and more interesting. It is fairly rare that the story is told from third person and this just gives a more special twist to the story. Hearing the voice of the character telling it. This story relates a lot to racism, slavery and i can infer that the setting of this story takes place around the 1600s because that was the time of slaves and racism. This story makes me think about the events throughout history on racism and race separation. Elijah of Buxton is the first child born into freedom in Buxton, Canada. Elijah is a very active young boy who has many talents, but doesn't have much courage. A slave steals from Elijah's friend who has been saving money to rescue his parents so Elijah goes on this journey to America to prove his courage and to find the slave who stole from his friend. On his adventure, Elijah discovers the horrible things his family had experienced before they were free. I really enjoyed really this book and would recommend it being in a classroom for teachers to share with their students. Children can learn a great deal from this book. Zach GonzalesElijah of Buxton is about a boy named Elijah who was the first free-born in the town of buxton, and he is famous just for that. Elijah had many friends and many adventures, though many people think he's just a "fra-gile" boy. But a former slave steals the money from one of Elijah's friends who has been saving money to buy his family out of slavery in the south. Since that happened it is up to Elijah to find the thief and get back the money. It's a very dangerous journey, and he could be risking his own life. This book is a historical fiction. I think this book is fantastic and I recommend this to people who loves adventures. This book also has 12 A.R. points. Elijah of Buxton would be a great book for children in grades 5 and up. This book is a newbery medal winner. The dialect in this book makes the reading more fun because it is set back in the 1800's after the civil war in Canada and the words and wording of the book really show the reader what it was like in that time period. Elijah is the only true free slave in Buxton, Canada, which is near the American Border. Buxton was full of runaway slaves. ELijah is a smart and intellectual boy and a lot of the people in the community come to him for help with writing and reading. Elijah is also excellent at chunking rocks and catching fish, but he is scared of snakes. Elijah is faced with many adventures including going into America to try and help Mr. Leroy buy his family back. Once he is in America Mr. Leroy is killed and Elijah is left all alone. He gets captured and locked up with other captured slaves. Elijah escapes and takes the baby that is with the captured slaves with him to try and give her a better life and save her life all together. When Elijah comes back into Canada he looked at Hope, the baby, and points at the land and says, "Looky there, look at that land! Look at those trees! Have you ever seen anything that precious? It's the land of the free!"(pg.340) That is my favorite part of the whole book because it really shows what kind of character Elijah is. Despite how scared he must have been all alone traveling, he still takes care of Hope and gets her to safety because he promised her parents he would. This book is great for young children especially those that are going through changes because Elijah of Buxton could teach children a few good things. This story is a bout a boy going up in a free town. When the preacher steals money that was meant to free a mans family, elijah goes with the man to find the precher in hope of finding the money. After the man suffers a heart attack the boy finds the preacher dead and saves a baby while having to leave the babies family with a gun knowing they would use it. This is a very heavy story. I was almost in tears at the end. Elijah of Buxton tells the story of a boy, the first freed slave to be born in a newly-founded free town for former slaves, and his day-to-day trials. Also, a corrupt priest steals money from Elijah¿s friend and Elijah must gather his wits to outsmart the priest. The priest has been giving him trouble since the opening of the book. Elijah, through his wits and intelligence, discovers a way to recollect the money. The story is told from Elijah¿s (young) perspective, and it is written in a rather distracting dialect. Unlike, for instance, Their Eyes Were Watching God, which vacillates between dialect and high English, Elijah of Buxton is consistent in its usage of dialect. This usage may be off-putting to some readers.If a student can get past the dialect, then this would be a rewarding read. It is not circulated nearly enough for how good of a story it is. Elijah, is eleven years old. He was the first child born as a free person in Buxton, Canada, a settlement founded for runaway slaves just over the border. Elijah is a very observant boy who has the amazing ability to throw stones with extreme distance and accuracy. He is most well-known for his first experience with the famous historic figure, Frederick Douglass. However, Elijah's happy-go-lucky life changes drastically when he heroically attempts to right a terrible wrong and discovers, first-hand, the terrible life his parents escaped from. Elijah of Buxton is the wonderful adventures of the life of the first free-born black child born in Canada. ... The characters in this book are so well developed you'll feel like you know them and have entered into their world. The book slows somewhat in the middle, but hang in there keep reading. The ending is absolutely incredible, get your tissues ready! brillant book! Eleven year old Elijah Freeman was the first free child born to the former slave residents in Buxton settlement in Canada. He has lived a life free from the direct horrors of slavery, although he has heard many stories from the "growned up folk." For the first half of the novel, we read about Elijah's life in Buxton... chores, school, friends and family. Then, the story deftly turns down a darker path when one of the men's money, thousands of dollars saved to buy his wife and two children, is stolen by a ne-er-do-well man who goes by the nickname of Preacher. Elijah feels responsible for this loss because he had told the man that he thought the Preacher could be trusted. So, Elijah goes with Mr. Leroy down to Detroit in America to try and find the Preacher and recover the money. Elijah is confronted with horrors of slavery firsthand and has to make to some very mature decisions. This was a brilliantly executed coming-of-age story. Elijah truly moves from a childhood innocence into a mature understanding of the joys of freedom and responsibility when they are seen thru the lens of the terrible realities of slavery and evil. Curtis develops his characters very carefully and subtly, and explains simply many things pertaining to life as a newly freed slave. Elijah is reminded by his parents that, "people that used to be slaves are toting things `round with `em that caint be seen with your regular eyes¿.They¿ve seen people acting in ways that caint help but leave scars and peculiarities." The book is set in a real historical setting, Buxton settlement in Canada is very accurately portrayed in the book, right down to the Latin in the school and the regulations about how the houses must be built and land cleared. Even the stories related by the some of the adults in the community come from the original residents of the settlement. I was not familiar with this history, and I read up on it on the internet while reading the book. I would love to visit the site and the museum that is there now someday. 5Q ¿ fast pace, lots of humor, and wonderful dialogue! This tells an important story from an equally important perspective, but never becomes pedantic or preachy.4Q ¿ would be a 5, but kids tend to resist books with loads of awards. This is my favorite book of all time. No matter what I say this is a book that i would read over and over again. I think that most ofthe people that have read this book feel like it was a great book and that they would recomend it to anyone. I feel the same way that even if they are not a fan of this type of writing that they would at least enjoy this book. I especially liked how the author wrote the book the way that the people were talking. He didn't say them in a more formal way he used slang and if you didn't understand what it meant than sometimes you were completly lost. I liked that it sounded like it was being told by someone the stuff was actually happening too. If anyone asked me about that book I would tell them in my personal opinion it is the best thing that you will ever read if you read it.This book starts in the town of Buxton. It is a town that is mainly made up of slaves that went into Canada to escape slavery. Elijah was the first child in the town to have been born free. He is espacially scared of snakes and he really enjoys hanging around a man that people in the community call the preacher even though his family tells him to stay away from him. The Preacher's family is still enslaved in the south and he wants to be able to buy them back. He is so desperate to get them back he steals the money and leaves. Elijah sets off to find him and take the money that was stolen back. At the end of the book he finds the Preacher and is going to kill him, but he was too late and the Preacher is alrady dead. Amazing book about a young boy living in a community of freed slaves in Canada. Contains some frightening and disturbing elements that make it more suitable for older elementary students.

2019-04-22T08:43:04Z

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/elijah-of-buxton-christopher-paul-curtis/1101113967?ean=9780439023450

Nuendo 3 in all its splendour, showing an imported OMF file from Avid Xpress Pro, the new, resizable Quicktime Video Playback window, and a slightly more polished, professional-looking user interface. Although it includes all the features of Steinberg's Cubase SX3 MIDI + Audio sequencer, Nuendo is targeted at the post-production market. To this end, the new version 3 includes features such as AAF import/export and integration with video editing systems. It's been nearly two years since we reviewed Nuendo 2, Steinberg's last major version of what the company describe as their Media Production System, and it's been interesting to watch the developments to both Steinberg and Nuendo over this time. Nuendo 2 was released in the months following Pinnacle's acquisition of Steinberg, while Nuendo 3 's release came just as Pinnacle sold Steinberg to Yamaha. And just when I started to write this review, a further interesting development happened when Avid announced their intention to acquire Pinnacle. It's perhaps a shame that Pinnacle didn't make more of Steinberg in terms of integrating the two company's products, although there are at least signs in version 3 of Nuendo that illustrate the cooperation that did exist, as we'll see in this review. As a video company, Pinnacle had their greatest success in the broadcast market, and since Avid wanted a greater presence in this sector, the acquisition makes perfect sense. Sound On Sound readers might be more familiar with Avid as the parent company of Digidesign, and given how large a presence both these companies have in the post-production market, Yamaha, as the new owners of Steinberg, still face a struggle to build up Nuendo 's share of this market. There are basically two important facts to consider when evaluating Nuendo 3: first, that it contains every feature found in Cubase SX3 for content creation; and second, although Steinberg haven't always succeeded in distinguishing Nuendo from Cubase as a true post-production tool, Nuendo 3 is finally being pushed with an appropriate feature set in a way that makes it more appealing for that market. In fact, even since releasing Nuendo 3.0, Steinberg have gone further still. As I was finishing this review, Nuendo 3.1 was in the late beta stages; and while it would be inappropriate to review beta software, I have tried to incorporate information about this new version where appropriate as the changes significantly affect many of my original comments concerning version 3.0. With so many digital audio workstations on the market these days, each with its own proprietary file format, interoperability between different systems has become increasingly important. Avid originally set out to solve this problem with the OMF (Open Media Framework) Interchange format (sometimes referred to as OMFI) in the mid-'90s, and while this format has been widely adopted, with Avid publishing a developer kit for third parties, it wasn't an open standard, because Avid were the sole company in charge of OMF development. In the long term, this arguably impeded the success of OMF beyond Avid products and it became clear that another, more open solution was needed. Nuendo now supports both the importing and exporting of AAF files. Here you can see the options available when exporting a Nuendo Project as an AAF file — similar options are also now available with exporting OMF files. AAF (Advanced Authoring Format) was devised by a group of companies including Avid, Microsoft and the BBC as a file format designed to aid the workflow of users who need to transfer both data and metadata between different systems. Like OMF, AAF can either embed or link to audio and video files, and stores information about how those files are used in a project, as well as other project data such as start times, frame rates, automation and much more. For more information about the format, visit the AAF Association's web site at www.aafassociation.com. Given the dominance of Pro Tools in the world of audio workstations, I was especially curious to see if I could export an AAF file from Pro Tools and import it into Nuendo. Initially, using Nuendo 3.0, I didn't have much luck. I created some simple test files in Pro Tools 6.9 containing eight mono audio tracks and a few short audio files recorded on tracks one, two and eight, with the start time set to 02:00:00:00 and the frame rate to 24fps. When importing this into Nuendo I got an error message box reporting that Nuendo "Failed to read AAF tracks. [Err 801201D1]" followed by a completely empty Import Options window offering no tracks available for import. I repeated the test with both Pro Tools TDM and LE (even though there should be no difference, as both use the same Digitranslator tool for working with AAF and OMF files) and tried with both the Avid Compatibility toggle enabled and disabled in Pro Tools ' s export options, but there was no difference. Fortunately, though, after trying the same experiment in the beta version of 3.1, I'm pleased to say that the same AAF file I exported from Pro Tools will now import into Nuendo, with the audio files time-stamped to the correct locations. The AAF functionality in Nuendo 3.1 has been built with the 1.1 SDK (Software Development Kit) and, along with some other improvements, this means that AAF compatibility with Pro Tools 6.7 (and later) and Avid is now possible. Going the other way, when exporting an AAF file from Nuendo (both version 3.0 and 3.1) to Pro Tools, Pro Tools would read the AAF file and import the audio so long as I chose the linked media option in Pro Tools (Pro Tools doesn't support audio files embedded into the AAF file). The point of AAF isn't just limited to transferring data to and from Pro Tools, of course, and Steinberg's Nuendo forum at www.nuendo.com has plenty of examples where people are reporting successful transfers from video applications such as Apple's Final Cut Pro and Adobe's Premiere. While other audio workstations such as SADiE and Pyramix also include AAF support, I wasn't able to test this, although I did try exporting an AAF from Apple's Logic Pro 7.0.1 into Nuendo. The audio tracks imported successfully along with the frame rate and the basic start times of the Audio Events other than the offset from the start time. The start time of the Project was imported as 00:00:00:00 rather than 02:00:00:00 (although this could be a problem with Logic 's export), and the other clear problem was that the tracks were imported with read automation enabled, while automation was switched off on those tracks in Logic. As a side note, I tried importing my AAF files created in Pro Tools into Logic as a comparison, whereupon the Logic window disappeared and the Mac reported "The application Logic Pro has unexpectedly quit." At least Nuendo 3.0 was more graceful in the way it dealt with a file it couldn't read before 3.1's improved AAF functionality. Evaluating AAF support is somewhat tricky, because even if Nuendo 's implementation of AAF was completely flawless, you would still have problems if the application you were importing from or exporting to had a poor implementation. Therefore, it's impossible to know exactly where to point the finger of blame right now, especially as most applications have only just started offering AAF support. In conclusion, it's great that AAF support has been added to Nuendo, and Steinberg have done tremendous work already in improving this since the 3.0 release. However, I'd definitely advise prospective users to try experimenting with AAF transfers between the applications they need to communicate with before committing to Nuendo to avoid disappointment. Other than AAF, Steinberg have also improved the import and export features introduced in Nuendo 2 for AES31, OpenTL and OMF files, most notably with the ability to import and export specific tracks rather than simply every track. In Pro Tools, I exported the same Session I used to create an AAF file as an OMF file, and this imported into Nuendo with the audio tracks, Events, start time and frame rate correct. As a side note, it's worth mentioning here that the price of Nuendo 3 has now risen to an RRP of £1450, but consider that Pro Tools TDM and LE users must spend an extra £285 to purchase Digitranslator for full OMF and AAF support, while LE customers must pay £575 for DV Toolkit to have timecode in Pro Tools before they can buy the full version of Digitranslator. So all in all, £1450 for a full version of Nuendo 3 isn't that bad and I feel Steinberg are justified in increasing the price. "Why use an Icon when you can have the real thing?" asks Euphonix's advertising literature. Certainly the company hope their high-end control surface offering, System 5 MC, paired with Nuendo will provide a competitive alternative to Digidesign's Pro Tools HD-based console workstations. Steinberg first announced a strategic alliance with Euphonix, a high-end, large-format console designer who have products popular in the post-production and broadcast markets, back at the 2002 AES show in Los Angeles. Euphonix's flagship digital console, System 5, is a highly modular system that combines DSP cores with a router, A-D/D-A and digital format converters, and a control surface. While MADI is used to distribute audio throughout the various parts of the console, a protocol called Eucon operates over Ethernet to send control messages, such as when a user moves a fader on the control surface. At the 2002 LA AES show, Steinberg and Euphonix showed a preliminary version of Nuendo 1.x that offered some support for Eucon with one of Euphonix's smaller Maxair consoles, although it's taken a while for this technology to be taken further, and in the mean time Steinberg collaborated with a German broadcast developer to create the ID controller, which has never really been a success. Following on from Nuendo 3 later this will be another release dubbed Nuendo Eucon, which will bring true Eucon support to Nuendo so that a Euphonix control surface can be used with Nuendo. Specifically, Euphonix are launching a product called MC, which is new control surface designed for use with desktop audio and video applications like Nuendo, featuring a keyboard, touchscreen, faders, programmable buttons, and a proper audio monitoring section. The monitoring section features an application called Studio Monitor Pro, where Euphonix came up with the idea to create a layer of software that sits in between the audio application, say Nuendo, and the ASIO (or WDM) driver that controls your audio hardware. Studio Monitor Pro then interacts with MC and is controllable from the MC's monitoring section and is set up via the MC's touchscreen. Euphonix have also announced the System 5 MC, which is basically a competitor to Digidesign's D-Control/Command-based systems like the Icon. The System 5 MC combines the MC itself with eight-fader modules that are almost identical to those used on Euphonix's System 5 console (hence the name) to create a truly professional control surface with a large-format console feel for Nuendo users. Whether or not the Nuendo customer base is ready to embrace such a product remains to be seen, but it's good to see development towards high-end customers using the Nuendo platform. We'll bring you more coverage of Nuendo and System 5 MC later in the year. As mentioned at the start of this review, Nuendo 3 includes a large number of new features and improvements for those working in film post-production, and perhaps the headline feature in this area is called 'Warp to Picture'. Like many features in Nuendo 3, Warp to Picture is actually incredibly simple, and incredibly useful. Cubase SX2 and Nuendo 2.1 introduced the Time Warp tool, which allows you to drag a musical beat or bar to a timecode position, while Cubase SX3 and Nuendo 3 offer the Warp Samples tool, which enables you to pick a point in time in an Audio Event, drag that point elsewhere in the time line and have SX/Nuendo automatically (non-destructively in real time) time-stretch the audio so that the point in the Audio Event now plays correctly to its new position. Nuendo 's Edit Mode enables the picture to follow the edits you make; moving an object on the Project window, for example, makes the picture track the start position to which you're moving the object, allowing you to easily move an object to start at a specific frame of action. Warp to Picture basically means that when Edit Mode is enabled, dragging with either the Time Warp or Warp Samples tool will cause the picture to track the position as you're dragging the mouse, enabling you to effectively 'warp to picture'. This is pretty useful since it allows you to see exactly where you're dragging bar 14, for example. Nuendo supports Pinnacle's X-Send Protocol to make it easy to work on projects started in one of Pinnacle's Liquid video editing systems. The video playback features have been significantly improved in Nuendo 3, and a new Direct X video playback engine has been added alongside the older Direct Show engine and the standard Quicktime engine, which has also been improved in version 3. The Direct X and Quicktime engines no longer feature the three size options for the built-in Video Player window, since this window can now simply be resized like any other window, with Nuendo scaling the video accordingly. These two engines also feature a new option for Video Playback Speed where you can select one of three speeds for the video playback: Normal Speed, for regular playback, and 0.1 percent pull-up and pull-down. These latter options are to compensate for the speed change that would have occurred in the video during the process of transferring the film to video (telecine) or back again compared to the audio, and are very welcome additions to Nuendo. Originally, my conclusion about these new video playback speed option was that "hopefully the next version will include 4 percent pull-up and pull-down, along with the option to change the audio speed as well as the video speed". So I was really pleased to see that while the video playback speeds don't offer 4 percent pull-up and pull-down in the 3.1 beta (although this could change in the release version), Steinberg have added both 0.1 and 4 percent pull-up and pull-down options to the Project Setup window, which affects the audio playback speed when you need to match the playback speed of the video you've been provided. While Steinberg are no longer owned by Pinnacle, Nuendo 3 was developed during Pinnacle's ownership, and clearly shows areas where collaboration took place between the two companies. Nuendo now support video playback through two of Pinnacle's video cards via its Quicktime engine: Targa 3000 for Windows users and Cinewave for Mac users. If you want to use a non-Pinnacle video card, Nuendo 3 also offers support for the full range of Decklink cards from Blackmagic (www.blackmagic-design.net), also via Quicktime. Another Pinnacle-related feature is Nuendo 3 's support of Pinnacle's X Send Protocol (which is also supported in Steinberg's Wavelab 5) for better integration with the company's Liquid video editing applications. In Liquid you can select X Send to / Nuendo and export one video track and up to 16 audio tracks into Nuendo (via the Import / X Send command) for further fine-tuning of the soundtrack. Nuendo 3 also offers support for Gallery's ADR Studio (www.gallery.co.uk), a software application that makes carrying out ADR (Additional Dialogue Recording) sessions much easier. ADR Studio has been used with Pro Tools for many years for films including Lord Of The Rings and the recent Star Wars trilogy, but is now Nuendo-compatible as well, with ADR Studio running on a separate computer and connecting to your Nuendo system via MIDI ports. In Nuendo 's Device Setup window you can add Gallery Software ADR Studio as a new Device, configure the MIDI In and Out ports accordingly, and assign Nuendo commands to ADR Studio's Audition and Window/Alt buttons. ADR Studio basically controls Nuendo, turning it into a glorified tape machine in many ways, and remotely takes care of recording, in and out times, track naming, and general management. According to Steinberg, this is the type of integration we can expect to see develop further in Nuendo in the future. Among the smaller improvements for those working with picture, Nuendo now supports a 24-hour timeline and will quiz you if you change the start time of a Project, much as Pro Tools does: "You have modified the timecode offset. Do you want to keep the project content at its timecode positions?" Clicking Yes here will keep the start times the same in terms of timecode (but not bars and beats), while clicking No changes the start times for timecode, but keeps the bars and beats intact. There are also two neat commands to add a one-frame fade-in and -out to selected Audio Events, and improvements to 9-pin sync behaviour. Since version 2, Steinberg have made it made it possible for users to customise Nuendo quite extensively, and in version 3 the appearance customisation features in particular have been extended to give you more control over the aesthetic of Nuendo. While Nuendo 2 introduced the idea of appearance 'themes' to adjust the colour scheme of the user interface, version 3 replaces this with a new set of sliders in the Preferences window where you can adjust the saturation, contrast and brightness of the interface and see how this will look in a real-time preview area. Although you can't stray too far from Nuendo 's now very blue/grey stylings, many people will appreciate the ability to lighten or darken the appearance depending on the monitor they're using and the lighting conditions of the environment in which they're working. Another colour-related enhancement is the ability to customise the start and end colours of the level meters in another new page found in the Preferences window — a feature that's also made its way into version 3.02 of Cubase SX. I'm not sure if this is particularly useful or not, but if you happen to hold a grudge with the colour of Nuendo 's meters (and I know a number of people who disliked the orange used in version 2!) at least it's now possible to adjust this according to taste. While on the subject of colour, Nuendo 3 of course incorporates the new colour-related features of Cubase SX3, where colours assigned to Tracks can be displayed in the Track List on the Project window and on the corresponding channels of the Mixer window, in a space just below the Channel Strip. However, unlike SX3, where a Track's colour is indicated on the right of the Track List as a background for the level meter, in Nuendo 3 (as in Logic and Pro Tools) the colour is indicated to the left of the Track List. Existing users will remember that normally this space is used to show a colour that indicates the type of track used, whether it's audio, MIDI, and so on, and this is still the case when Show Track Colours is disabled. Once this option is enabled, however, the space to the right of the Track List now shows the colour for that track instead. As with SX 3.0, Nuendo 3.0 didn't offer some kind of default colouring option for tracks, although this has been remedied in 3.1. Both Nuendo and SX will now offer a Preference option for newly created tracks to have either the default colour (as before), the same colour as the previous track, the next colour in the list of colours after the previous track, the last applied colour, or a random colour. I think the user interface look for Nuendo 3 is the most appealing of all Cubase SX and Nuendo versions to date, and it's good that the interface has been refined in such a way this time that doesn't alter the way users of previous versions of the application have become used to working. The organisation of audio files has been improved in Nuendo 3 and you can now add user-definable attributes to files, which can store data in one of three formats: as text, a number, or a check mark. As an example, you might want to add a Department attribute to specify whether an Audio File is Music, FX or Dialogue so that you can sort media in the Pool window or search for media by department, which is rather useful. One small problem, though, is that these user-definable attributes aren't saved with the audio file, meaning the attributes are only relevant for the files in the Project in which they're used. However, there is a workaround. Using Nuendo 's Library function, which allows stand-alone Pools to be created, loaded and saved independently of a Project — you can't save a Project's Pool as a Library — you could add user-definable attributes to the Library and use this as your master Pool to make the attributes given to files accessible in all Projects. The only other thing that would be nice with regard to user-definable attributes is the ability to use presets in the window in which they're defined, rather than just being able to store and recall a single default set. Since most other areas of Nuendo now offer presets, it's surprising to find one window that doesn't offer this feature. One of the most useful features in Nuendo 3 is the Rename Objects window. Although it might seem fairly uninteresting on the surface, this simple addition has the potential to save hours of work over the course of a project. Rename Objects (Edit / Rename) allows you rename either a collection of multiple Parts and Events or multiple tracks in a single pass, based on a common naming scheme. One common example of where this can be useful with audio files is where you have tracks named after instruments and so you end up with a collection of files called 'Cimbasso_01', 'Spoons_01', and so on. If you're working on a film, you might want to name these files with the name of the cue — '6m44', for example — at the start, followed by the instrument name from the track and the version number. With Rename Objects you can now rename the files to be '6m44 Cimbasso v1', '6m44 Spoons v1' and so on, in a single operation, which is a real blessing when you might have 50 cues, each with 50 audio tracks. To use Rename Objects, select the objects you want to rename and select Edit / Rename. If no Events or Parts are selected, the selected Tracks will be renamed; otherwise the selected Events or Parts will be renamed. One thing I initially found confusing about Rename Objects is that when you rename Events on the Project window, it's the Description flag of the Event that gets renamed; the name of Event — which is to say the filename — isn't affected by renaming process. However, it is possible to use the Rename Objects window to rename Audio Files: you just have to do this in the Pool rather than the Project window. The Rename Objects window allows you to batch rename tracks, Parts, Event Descriptions and file names based on certain conditions. Getting back to the germane issue, in the Rename Objects window you can choose eight different rename elements from top to bottom that affect the naming from left to right. If you use Rename Objects from the Project window, each element can be one of five options: Free Text, literally a field of text added to the name; Original Name, which adds the original object name and can remove numbers or non-alphanumeric characters; Number, to add a number that increments or decrements within a specified range with each object named; Project Time, which adds the start time of the object in a user-specified time format; and Date, which adds the current date in a format of your choice. All the options except Free Text include both Prefix and Appendix fields to add text before or after the text generated by the relevant option. If you use Rename Objects from the Pool window, though, you get all the options you have in the Project window, plus attributes that concern information about the file, such as the file extension, bit depth, sample rate, and tempo (if musical mode is being used for real-time time-stretching). A nice touch is that you can also add any of the user-definable attributes you've created; so if you want to name all the files according to the Department they came from, to continue the example, this is also possible. In fact, it would be useful to have the User Attribute option available in the Project window as well. In the land of Pro Tools (or even Nuendo), engineers usually find ways of providing the Rename Objects functionality by using additional applications such as Quick Keys, which is somewhat inflexible and basically requires the user to create scripts to improve their workflow. Having this kind of feature built right into the application, no matter how boring and simple it might seem, is a clear sign than Steinberg are listening to users and implementing features to help make repetitive tasks less tedious, which surely is the point of using computers in the first place! As Nuendo relies completely on your computer's hardware, aside from any additional plug-ins you may have that use DSP accelerator cards, the performance you can expect from the system depends solely on your machine's specification. For Windows users Steinberg suggest a minimum of a 1.6GHz Pentium or Athlon processor, Windows XP Home or Professional (the latter is required for dual-processor systems), and MME or ASIO-compatible audio hardware, while Mac users should have at least a Power Mac with dual 1GHz G4 processors. All users should have at least 512MB RAM, a DVD-ROM drive (Nuendo now ships on a DVD), and a free USB port for the copy protection key. For best results, a 2GHz processor is recommended for Windows users and a dual-2GHz Power Mac G5 for Mac users, along with 1GB RAM, and a dual-display system with each display having at least 1152 x 864 pixels. While Steinberg don't specify a minimum display resolution, you would absolutely not want to consider using Nuendo on anything less than 1024 x 768, and even at this resolution, things get a little cramped as I found when using my ultra-portable IBM X40 Thinkpad. Nuendo 2 featured a brand new audio engine that brought with it the VST Connections window, a new, consolidated way of setting up Input, Output and Group channels. As in Cubase SX3, Nuendo 3 has two new tabs added to this window: External FX, for incorporating external outboard hardware units as if they were plug-ins into the VST mixer, and Studio, which currently features a single buss known as the Audition buss. As in SX3, the internal audio click in Nuendo is now routed automatically to the Audition buss, so you can choose to what physical output on your audio card the click will be sent. However, in Nuendo 3 there is one additional use for the Audition buss. Each audio-based channel on the Mixer now features a Listen (L) button just below the conventional Mute and Solo buttons, which adds after- or pre-fader listening (AFL and PFL) functionality to Nuendo. There's a button on the Audition channel on the mixer (also, usefully, available as a Key Command) that, when active, selects AFL, and when not enabled sets PFL so that when Listen is enabled on a channel, that channel's audio is routed to the Audition channel (in addition to its standard Output buss) either before or after the fader has processed the audio on the given channel. It's worth pointing out as well that, although the Audition buss is stereo by default, you can right-click it and use the Change Bus command from the context menu to set it to a mono or multi-channel configuration. Here you can see Listen mode enabled on the two audio channels to the left: notice how the first send on the Default Output buss is routed to the Audition buss and how it's automatically disabled when any channels have Listen enabled.While the new AFL/PFL functionality in Nuendo is welcome, there are a couple of points worth mentioning. The implementation of the Listen mode so that it operates separately to the Solo mode is potentially useful, compared with other implementations of AFL/PFL that work instead of the standard solo-in-place (SIP) mode: for example, in Pro Tools 6.9 (or even on high-end consoles such as System 5 from Euphonix) the Solo button is itself configurable between SIP, AFL and PFL modes. However, one obvious disadvantage in creating a new button for AFL/PFL is that existing control surfaces don't have a Listen button, and there doesn't appear to be a way of setting a control surface's Solo button to be either Listen or Solo, which might be a simple way of solving this issue. Even in Nuendo itself, you can't even access the Listen function on the track in the Project window, as you can with other Mixer functions like Mute, Solo and Read and Write Automation. The only way to access the Listen function within the Project window is to select a track and open the Channel Section in the Inspector. The second issue to consider with AFL/PFL mode is what happens when you want to effectively mute all channels on the Mixer except those with Listen enabled. Nuendo achieves this by what the manual describes as a 'special relationship' with the Default buss. The Default buss is the Output buss to which, in general, newly created audio channels are assigned, and is indicated in the VST Connections window by an orange/red speaker next to the appropriate Output buss. You can make any Output buss the Default buss by right-clicking it and selecting Default Bus from the context menu. In order to for all channels except those with Listen enabled to be heard, Nuendo automatically sets up a 0dB send on the Default Output buss channel on the Mixer to the Audition buss, so the idea is that you always monitor through the Audition buss. This does, of course, make the Default Output buss somewhat redundant and means you have to have double the number of outputs available for monitoring: four for stereo, 12 for 5.1, and so on. When you enable Listen on a channel, that channel's audio is routed either AFL or PFL to the Audition buss (in addition to its Output buss), as we've already discussed; but to cut the rest of the mix, Nuendo disables the send on the Default Output buss channel so only the audio-based channels being routed directly to the Audition buss can be heard. While Steinberg advise against routing the Default Output and Audition busses to the same physical outputs, it is possible to do this in a way that doesn't give duplicate signals and allows you to use AFL/PFL in a way that mutes the channels not in Listen mode. If Nuendo detects that the Default Output and Audition busses are sent to the same physical outputs, the level on the send from the Default Output buss channel to the Audition buss is set at minus infinity rather than 0dB to avoid double-bussing. However, if you set this back to 0dB, enable the pre-fader button on that send and set the level fader of the Default Output buss channel to minus infinity, you will now hear only the output of the full mix being routed through the Audition buss. Since the send will still get disabled automatically by Nuendo when you enable Listen mode on a channel, you will now only hear the channels with Listen enabled through the Audition buss until you disable the Listen buttons again. And for this, the Mixer also has an extra Deactivate All Listen button, just like for Mute, Solo, and Read and Write Automation. If you think all of this sounds a little awkward, I'd agree with you. However, part of the problem here isn't actually Nuendo: if you look at the way Pro Tools 6.9 deals with AFL/PFL Solo without any extra hardware, it's a little bit easier than with Nuendo, but you still have to specify what outputs should become muted when channels are routed to the AFL/PFL channel. The extra hardware that would help this situation is an external monitoring box that could be controlled by Nuendo. Pro Tools 's AFL/PFL is designed for use with the D-Command and D-Control surfaces, which feature XMON, a hardware monitoring box that automatically mutes the main channels when AFL/PFL is active. Hopefully, products like the MC from Euphonix (see box) will be able to bring this elegance to Nuendo users as well. One additional issue with the Audition buss brings us back to the beginning of this section where I mentioned that, as in Cubase SX3, Nuendo 3 also sends the click to the Audition buss. This means it's impossible to not have the click on the same buss as your AFL/PFL solo, unless you disable the click. Having a separate click buss in the Studio page of the VST Connections window would be a better solution, and it would be great if Steinberg allowed the click channel to have auxiliary sends so it could be routed to multiple headphone mixes for those who use Nuendo for tracking in a recording studio context rather than for post-production. The workaround that solves both of these potential problems right now is to use a VST Instrument like LM7 for your metronome click instead. The fact the Default Output can use an auxiliary send to route audio to the Audition buss illustrates another important feature in Nuendo 3 — the ability for Output busses to route audio to other Output busses to the right of them via sends. So if you have four Output busses labelled one to four, left to right, output one can send to outputs two, three and four, while output three can only send to output four. Despite the limitation, being able to route outputs still has many uses, and could be especially useful for creating headphone mixes within Nuendo or sending mixes to multiple speaker configurations. Overall, though, Nuendo 's Mixer is still slightly less flexible than mixers found in competing digital audio workstations. For example, one feature I really miss in Nuendo is not being able route the outputs of Group channels as the Inputs of Audio channels, so you could bounce and create more complex mixers entirely in Nuendo. While not perfect, Pro Tools ' internal busses (which are in many ways the equivalent of Group channels in Nuendo) do allow this and it would be great to have this functionality. Nuendo 3 includes a new plug-in called Mix Convert to make it easy to downmix files, as shown here, to create a stereo mix from a 5.1 source. On the subject of output routing, a feature that would be nice to see is support for different layouts of surround output channels. Nuendo 3 's surround output mapping conforms to the standard (and most commonly used) SMPTE/ITU layout, which is L R C LFE Ls Rs. Other common layouts include L C R Ls Rs LFE and L R Ls Rs C LFE, and while it's possible to adjust the surround routing in Nuendo by just changing the physical output assignments around, the onus for knowing how to re-patch everything is placed on the user. An extra option to re-patch the surround channel layout when you right-click a buss in the VST Connections window would be welcome. One improvement to the Mixer in Nuendo 3 is the use of the Mix Convert plug-in, which is a newly included plug-in that can convert incoming audio in one speaker format to outgoing audio in a different format: you could use this as an insert on a stereo channel to downmix to mono, for example. Nuendo automatically uses the Mix Convert plug-in in situations where you have a 5.1 channel routed to a stereo output: double-clicking the panner automatically opens a Mix Convert plug-in editor — you don't see it instantiated as an insert on the Mixer. Mix Convert offers quite a number of controls, such as the ability to adjust the phase of individual speaker channels (except the front centre channel, of course!), adjust the incoming gain and the level of the surrounds, centre channel and LFE that goes into the downmix. Mix Convert is actually really useful for creating downmixes, especially since this is far more complex in Pro Tools: audio channels can only be routed to outputs with the same speaker layout — you can't route a 5.1 channel to a stereo channel without creating sub-paths, and creating a downmix requires some creative routing if you don't use a plug-in such as Waves' M360° Surround Mixdown plug-in from the 360° Surround Tools bundle, which adds to the cost of the system. Another improvement in Nuendo 3 (also implemented in Cubase SX3) is the ability to quickly assign the Input and Output busses to audio channels. Holding down Alt/Option while selecting an Input or Output assigns all selected channels to that Input or Output, while holding Shift while selecting an Input or Output assigns Input or Output busses incrementally to the selected channels. Another real time-saver. Nuendo 3 is a significant step forward when compared with Nuendo 2, and without doubt the best overall release of Nuendo in the product's five-year history. In part, I think this is due to Steinberg finally embracing areas that really needed to be addressed to orientate Nuendo towards the post-production and high-end audio markets. And very publicly placing the company's Project Manager for Post-production, Martin Stahl, in LA with Euphonix to investigate the needs of the LA post-production market has clearly helped to build a better product. Nuendo isn't perfect, of course — there are still the odd bugs and issues that crop up — but overall, there are many improvements in Nuendo 3 and features that finally make it possible to consider the system more seriously in the context of film, media and high-end audio work. Nuendo 3 has many features and improvements targeted at post-production customers, including AAF import and export, pull-up and pull-down support for video playback, and better media management. Incorporates all of the new features found in Cubase SX3 for those working with MIDI in the same Project. Features such as Rename Objects offer time-saving workflow improvements. Mixer lacks a flexible bussing architecture. Nuendo 3 is a major update to Steinberg's Media Production System that combines all the functionality of Cubase SX3 with long-awaited new features and improvements specifically for the post-production market. £1449.99; upgrade from v2 £349.99; upgrade from v1 £499.99. Prices include VAT.

2019-04-20T10:32:41Z

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/steinberg-nuendo-3

Right now, at the time of writing, you might or might not have met me yet; but I just wanted you to know that even from today, I have vowed to love you with all my heart & soul, to always be there for you & try my utmost best to make you the happiest woman in this world. By choosing to marry me, you’ve probably found a way to appreciate all the sweet little things that I’ll do for you from time to time to not find them annoying, the little notes that I’ll write you from time to time, the random poems, the random improvised songs on a guitar which I think are sweet & funny, but can actually be quite lame & childish at times, and the random surprises I’ll throw you in an attempt to brighten up your day. The truth is, I’ve been practicing them all along on friends & random occasions, and I hope my skills would be good enough to make you laugh by the time I finally find you. I also want to thank you for having the courage to go on this long & exciting adventure, called life, together with me; especially when you’ve found out about my dreams & passion in trying to help Malaysia fulfill its full potential (story here) , in the process having to embark on the extremely challenging journey of entrepreneurship & start-ups (story here), in hopes of being able to build a world-class product that could leave a significant positive impact on the world, making it a better place while in the process attaining the financial & economic influence needed to make a difference in my country. It’s hard. I know. It’s very hard. Most would think that it is impossible, that I am hallucinating, that I am overestimating my abilities, or that I am only speaking of such a dream in an attempt to impress or satisfy my ego. You would have had to have known me enough to know that my passion is real, that I truly care for others and making a difference in my country and I, of all people, am the last person that would ever say something just to impress others or satisfy my ego, because I am the sort who is comfortable in my own little introverted world. Plus, with the tremendous amount of challenges & sacrifice, financial and mental, needed to achieve this, together with the fact that only 1 in 10 start-ups would eventually succeed, the fact that I am doing this in a region where the ecosystem is not entirely ready to build billion dollar companies, exits are relatively small, mainly comprised of localized versions of globally proven products, and even if I do succeed, there is no guarantee of me being able to make an impact, that achieving just one of these milestones might take me years to decades, and maybe even a lifetime, and would require me to give most of my wealth away, it simply makes no sense for me to do it if I wasn’t genuinely passionate about it. You would know that every single day, I ask myself whether I am hallucinating, whether I am the right person to give this dream a try, whether I have what it takes, whether I am good enough, and whether I should just give up & live a simple & comfortable life as a lawyer, conventional investor or an investment planner. But you would also know that I am doing all that I am doing not for myself, but because I feel that it is what God has called me to do, through an extensive series of events that happened when I first started having a personal relationship with God. You would know of my testimony, and know that although I have doubts about this from time to time, that God has always reassured me, that I have faith in Him. So this is me trying, despite my doubts about myself, because I believe in God, I believe in trying, and I believe in my ability to learn & do whatever it takes, that my best will forever be improving, that one day, hopefully it will be good enough, to at least try to make my dreams a reality, that the chance of it succeeding and lives it could impact would be worth it, and that no matter what happens, the journey will be a fun & exciting one, a roller-coaster ride, full ups & downs, one that I hope to embrace, cherish and share together with you, an adventure of a lifetime. It must’ve taken a lot of faith for you to believe in my abilities, for you to care enough to find out more about me & my dreams, the reason why I am pursuing them, understand them, have faith in my extremely detailed step-by-step plan in achieving them and support me in my pursuit of them. You must have gotten to know me pretty well to be able to believe in my ability to learn & achieve things, from the way I do things, react to things and my past achievements so far; and also to believe that I have the character to be a good husband & a good father, from my actions, from the way I treat people, the way I think, the way I hold true & act on my principles & values, react to situations and especially what I do or not do when nobody is looking or nobody knows. I cannot promise you that I will be successful, but I can promise you that I will keep trying, will remain positive, and will give my best. I am confident in my ability to earn, learn & achieve from my past experiences, and am quite confident that we will have an amazing adventure and a comfortable life together, but for you to be able to see it and believe it as I do would require you really getting to know me over time and taking a leap of faith, therefore I thank you for that. We both would understand the simple fact that, as long as we are together, we would be happy; and this, is what’s most important. I don’t know how you were able to do it, to believe in me, and to care enough to find out more about me. But I am glad you did, and I can’t thank you enough for it, which is why I think you are absolutely amazing, and would love you from the bottom of my heart until the day I die. I really want to thank you for having such a big heart, to be able to accept me for who I am, for understanding my values & principles, and also to accept and love my friends as much as I love them. Thank you so much for understanding that my friends are extremely important to me, and for understanding & sharing the values I believe in, to love God whole-heartedly & love people fervently. I know it is hard, that’s why it would’ve been very hard for me to continue to hold true to these values and live my life doing so if not for your love, encouragement & support. Thank you for understanding and realizing that although I love them a lot and would do a lot for them, more than some less loving people would do for their other halves, none of them can ever take your special place in my heart, that very special place that could only fit one person, which I have always been reserving for you. That single most valuable place in my heart, that is reserved only for my soul mate, the most important person in my life, the person with the keys to my entire heart & soul, all my secrets and everything I ever knew of, the top priority in my life, the person who could heavily influence the decisions I make in life, the person I would always save first if my mom and the person, my god siblings or any other person fell into the sea and I could only save one, the person whom I would love with the most precious part of my heart that no one else can get access to, the person I would literally die for, and that person is you. I also want to thank you for being patient with me, for taking some time to really get to know you before really making romantic advances and going after you, because I am not the kind of guy who would go after a girl just because she is pretty or attractive, because I am more attracted to someone’s heart & character, which would take me some time to discover, and also because knowing me, I would love the girl that I eventually decide to commit into a relationship with so much that even though I have strong & rational opinions of my own, I would probably give in to her wishes eventually if she insists on it. She would have a very strong influence over my life & the decisions I make, in how I use my abilities, how I treat people and how I choose to live life, as you would probably have realized by now. That is why I thank you for your patience in understanding why I need to take some time to find out if you had the heart & character that would help make me a better person, be able to accept & love a person such as myself, and not abuse the influence you would have over me. And of course, thank you for not being scared away by the sincerity, honesty and possibly intensity when I eventually went after you. I would also like to thank you for attempting to understand the role God has in my life, that most of the principles & values I hold true, the things I do and pursue in life are largely influenced by Him. I do not know whether you are already a Christian right now, or like me before, a rationalist and skeptic still looking for answers, or simply enjoying life & not thinking about stuff like these at the moment; but I thank you for eventually attempting to understand why I do what I do & believe in what I believe in, and giving God a chance, in attempting to explore His love for yourself. This is important to me because without your understanding, I wouldn’t be able to live a life where I put God first in everything I do, because knowing me, I would love you so much that you would be first instead of God, unless you too have found God for yourself, and believe that we should put God first, so we can embark on this exciting journey together where we put God first in our lives. There is also a high chance that you, my beloved wife, could be my first and only girlfriend, because at the moment of writing, I am 24 and have yet to commit into a romantic relationship, despite receiving interests from potential suitors, because I have been holding out for you, someone who has the patience to truly get to know me and what I am up to, someone who has the capacity to understand and support my values, principles, and dreams, someone who would be willing to go on an adventure of a lifetime with me, facing the ups and downs might hold together. Sometimes, I do wonder whether I am being too picky, whether I should hold out until I finally find you, but I realized that I should, because if I get into a relationship just for the sake of it, I might end up hurting the other person should they not be fully aware of the dreams, values and principles I hold, or do not have the capacity to understand or support them. Hence, since there is a high chance that you could be my first and only girlfriend, I would have a lot to learn about being a good boyfriend and being in a relationship. So I’d like to thank you for loving me enough to guide me through it and hopefully make up for my lack of experience. But don’t worry, if my history in other things is a good guide to fall back on, I should be a pretty fast learner, I hope. Well, at this moment, I do not yet know how we would eventually meet; maybe we have, but I do not know it yet, but whatever the case, I would like to thank you for assuming the best in me from the start and not judging me too soon. As you would probably have found out by now, I am a genuinely & sincerely friendly guy. I love meeting new people, getting to know them better and build lasting friendships. I would regularly check in on my friends, make sure I spend enough quality time with them, make sure I’ll be there for them when they need me, and I love to get to know people better individually over coffee, both guys and girls. Chances are you might have been one of them, so thank you for assuming the best in me from the start, and not thinking that I was overly friendly, having ulterior motives, insincere or was trying to impose my views on you by sharing what I have learnt & thought would be beneficial to share as some people would if a stranger did so. Thank you for investing the time & having the faith required to know that I am indeed a sincere friend. Now that we are married, thank you also for having such a big heart to care for my friends as I care for yours, to support me in continually checking in and spending quality time with my friends, being there for them, spending quality time with them, having coffee with them and continue to get to know more new friends, and joining me whenever you are free. You might have also realized by now that although I care a lot about people, you will always be my top priority. You would always be at the top of my list of people to love and care about, to spend quality time with and to be there for, simply because you are my wife, my soul mate, the person I love the most and the most important person in my life, whom I have committed to spend the rest of my life with. I also hope you’d share my passion for living life to the fullest and love the little adventures that I’ll bring you on, the random road trips, backpacking trips, luxury trips or just the random treasure hunt for good food, or some random crazy idea that we might come up with together like taking whichever is the first flight out of the airport (like these). I might not know you yet, but I am looking forward to share your passions and interests with you, and I am pretty sure I’d love them too because I am a generally curious person who’d like to try anything at least once. Of course, it would be fun if you’d also attempt to appreciate my interests such as music, performing arts, good food, travelling, exploring new places, spending quality time in cooling places like mountains with a cup of hot coffee, and so on. Of course, I also want to thank you for accepting & understanding my flaws and imperfections, or at least tolerate them. Things like my somewhat extreme swings in thought and behaviour depending on the situation that can come across as contradictory and hypocritical at first, like how I can be very serious when I am supposed to be serious, but surprisingly carefree and goofy when there is no need to, how I am actually a very emotionally based person, who can also be very logical when it is best to be logical, how I can be shy but yet friendly, how I can be conservative & careful most of the time, but embrace extremely high risks when there is a need to or within the limits I’ve prepared for, how I can be hyper, crazy and talkative sometimes, but quiet and emotional when I’m feeling moody. You would also probably have found out by now that deep down inside, I am actually a very shy and introverted guy, a guy who din’t even dare to order KFC from the counter when he was young because he was afraid that the person wouldn’t sell him KFC. It’s just that over the years, I’ve found the strength and the capacity to expand my circle of trust significantly by assuming the best in others and loving others sincerely, by understanding why people are the way they are, accepting them the way they are and also through the love of God, which allowed me to be the genuinely friendly and caring person I am today. Thank you for understanding and accepting all these about me. I also realized that I might not be as good looking as Lee Hom or Tom Cruise, but thank you for being able to find my tall and unique features, which I personally find to be quite alright, attractive. But more importantly, thank you for spending enough time to get to know my full character, personality, unique sense of humour and engaging me at that level, because that is where the true foundation of a successful relationship can be built, when all our beauty and physical attractiveness fades in years to come. I don’t know when you will be reading this, but if we are really old by then, I hope we can be like one of those old, wrinkled couples in their 80s & 90s in the park, where anything else in the world would not matter anymore, where they’ll be happy as long as they have each other, where they do not need to say a word to know that they care and love each other, where the mere presence and company of each other is enough to make them smile & feel loved. Honestly, at this point, I can’t be entirely sure whether you even exist, or if you do, whether I’ll meet you before you’ve decided to give your heart to someone else. You might still be discovering what you want to do in life right now, in another relationship, in another country, or simply just living an awesome life. But whatever the case, I just want to tell you that I love you, and thank you for choosing me as your husband, loving me, having the patience to get to know me, understand me, believing in me and being willing to go on an adventure of a lifetime together with me. You might not have realized that you have such a big & loving heart to love and accept someone like me yet, or you never believed you could, but I just want to you to know that I believe in you too, and I have faith that I will find you one day, and help you discover and realize how amazing you are. Meanwhile, I will continue to search for you, and I look forward to the day I can find out more about you, love you, and start this adventure together, because I know it will be awesome.

2019-04-21T06:06:34Z

https://johnsonkhoo.com/2014/10/12/an-open-letter-to-my-future-wife/

There were 13,147,916 shares of the Registrant’s Common Stock outstanding as of the close of business on April 30, 2015. The consolidated balance sheet of Geospace Technologies Corporation and its subsidiaries (the “Company”) at September 30, 2014 was derived from the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements at that date. The consolidated balance sheet at March 31, 2015 and the consolidated statements of operations and statements of comprehensive income (loss) for the three and six months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, and the consolidated statements of cash flows for the six months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014 were prepared by the Company without audit. In the opinion of management, all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring adjustments, necessary to present fairly the consolidated financial position, results of operations and cash flows were made. The results of operations for the three and six months ended March 31, 2015 are not necessarily indicative of the operating results for a full year or of future operations. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America were omitted pursuant to the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The accompanying consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes thereto contained in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the Company’s fiscal year ended September 30, 2014. Certain amounts previously presented in the consolidated financial statements have been reclassified to conform to the current year presentation. During the six months ended March 31, 2015, the Company reclassified $4.2 million in deposits made for equipment purchases in the prior fiscal year from prepaid and other current assets to property, plant and equipment on its consolidated balance sheet. Such reclassification had no effect on net income (loss), stockholders’ equity or cash flows. The Company classifies its short-term investments consisting of corporate bonds, government bonds and other such similar investments as available-for-sale securities. Available-for-sale securities are carried at fair market value with net unrealized holding gains and losses reported each period as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in stockholders’ equity. See note 2 for additional information. The Company records a write-down of its inventories when the cost basis of any manufactured product, including any estimated future costs to complete the manufacturing process, exceeds its net realizable value. Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or market value. Cost is determined on the first-in, first-out method, except that certain of the Company’s foreign subsidiaries use an average cost method to value their inventories. At March 31, 2015, the Company had $1.8 million of goodwill reflected in its consolidated balance sheet. In accordance with FASB ASC 350, “Intangibles – Goodwill and Other,” we perform goodwill impairment testing at least annually, unless indicators of impairment exist in interim periods. In recent months, business conditions in the oil and gas industry have significantly deteriorated and the market value of the Company’s stock has declined. In light of the foregoing, we concluded that it was appropriate for us to perform an interim goodwill impairment test as of December 31, 2014 and March 31, 2015. The impairment test for goodwill uses a two-step approach. Step one compares the estimated fair value of a reporting unit with goodwill to its carrying value. If the carrying value exceeds the estimated fair value, step two must be performed. Step two compares the carrying value of the reporting unit to the fair value of all of the assets and liabilities of the reporting unit (including any unrecognized intangibles) as if the reporting unit was acquired in a business combination. If the carrying amount of a reporting unit’s goodwill exceeds the implied fair value of its goodwill, an impairment loss is recognized in an amount equal to the excess. Based on the results of our step one test as of December 31, 2014 and March 31, 2015, management concluded that goodwill was not impaired; however, given overall market conditions, management will continue to monitor this situation. In connection with our goodwill impairment test, management also reviewed the recoverability of the carrying value of the Company’s rental equipment and property, plant and equipment based on future undiscounted cash flows and determined that no such impairment of these assets was necessary at December 31, 2014 and March 31, 2015. The Company primarily derives revenue from the sale of its manufactured products, including revenues derived from the sale of its manufactured rental equipment. In addition, the Company generates revenue from the short-term rental under operating leases of its manufactured products. Except for revenues recognized using the percentage-of-completion method discussed below, the Company recognizes revenue from product sales, including the sale of used rental equipment, when (i) title passes to the customer, (ii) the customer assumes the risks and rewards of ownership, (iii) the product sales price has been determined, (iv) collectability of the sales price is reasonably assured, and (v) product delivery occurs as directed by the customer. Except for certain of the Company’s reservoir characterization products, the Company’s products are generally sold without any customer acceptance provisions and the Company’s standard terms of sale do not allow customers to return products for credit. The Company recognizes rental revenues as earned over the rental period. Rentals of the Company’s equipment generally range from daily rentals to rental periods of up to six months or longer. Revenues from engineering services are recognized as services are rendered over the duration of a project, or as billed on a per hour basis. Field service revenues are recognized when services are rendered and are generally priced on a per day rate. The POC Method requires the Company’s senior management to make estimates, at least quarterly, of the (i) total expected costs of the contract, (ii) manufacturing progress against the contract and (iii) the estimated cost to complete the contract. These estimates impact the amount of revenue and gross profit the Company recognizes for each reporting period. Significant estimates that may affect the future cost to complete a contract include the cost and availability of raw materials and component parts, engineering services, manufacturing equipment, labor, manufacturing capacity, factory productivity, contract penalties and disputes, product warranties and other contingent factors. Change orders are included in the total estimated contract revenue when it is probable that the change order will result in additional value that can be reliably estimated and realized. The Company defers recognition of the entire amount of revenue or portion thereof associated with unapproved change orders if there is substantial uncertainty as to amounts involved or ultimate realization. The cumulative impact of periodic revisions to the future cost to complete a contract will be reflected in the period in which these changes become known, including, to the extent required, the recognition of losses at the time such losses are known and estimable. Due to the various estimates inherent in the POC Method, actual final results at the conclusion of a contract could differ from management’s previous estimates. The Company analyzes a variety of indicators to determine manufacturing progress, including actual costs incurred to date compared to total estimated costs and actual quantities produced to date compared to total contract quantities. The Company currently has no contracts accounted for under the POC Method. In August 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-15 which provides guidance on management's responsibility to evaluate whether there is substantial doubt about an entity's ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued (or within one year after the date that the financial statements are available to be issued when applicable) and to provide related footnote disclosures. ASU 2014-15 is effective for the annual period ending after December 15, 2016, and for annual periods and interim periods thereafter. Early application is permitted. The Company is currently assessing the impact of this ASU on its consolidated financial statements. In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09 “Revenue from Contracts with Customer (Topic 606).” The amendment applies a new five-step revenue recognition model to be used in recognizing revenues associated with customer contracts. The amendment requires disclosure sufficient to enable readers of financial statements to understand the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers, including qualitative and quantitative disclosures, significant judgments and changes in judgments, and assets recognized from the costs to obtain or fulfill the contract. The standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within that reporting period. Early application is not permitted. The standard permits the use of either the retrospective or cumulative effect transition method. The Company is evaluating the effect that ASU 2014-09 will have on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures. The Company has not yet selected a transition method nor have we determined the effect of the standard on our ongoing financial reporting. Accumulated other comprehensive loss on the consolidated balance sheets at March 31, 2015 and September 30, 2014 included unrealized losses (net of tax) of $5,000 and $26,000, respectively. At March 31, 2015 and September 30, 2014, the Company’s Canadian subsidiary had $28.6 million and $29.8 million, respectively, of Canadian dollar denominated intercompany accounts payable owed to one of the Company’s U.S. subsidiaries. In order to mitigate its exposure to movements in foreign currency rates between the U.S. dollar and Canadian dollar, the Company routinely enters into foreign currency forward contracts to hedge a portion of its exposure to changes in the value of the Canadian dollar. At March 31, 2015, the Company was a party to a $28.0 million Canadian dollar forward contract. This contract reduces the impact on cash flows from movements in the Canadian dollar/U.S. dollar currency exchange rate, but has not been designated as a hedge for accounting purposes. At March 31, 2015, the Company had an accrued unrealized foreign exchange gain of $0.3 million under this contract. At March 31, 2015, the Company’s financial instruments included cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments, foreign currency forward contract, trade and notes receivables and accounts payable. Due to the short-term maturities of cash and cash equivalents, trade and other receivables and accounts payable, the carrying amounts approximate fair value on the respective balance sheet dates. The Company applies fair value techniques on a non-recurring basis in evaluating potential impairment losses related to goodwill and long-lived assets. The allowance for doubtful accounts represents the Company’s best estimate of probable credit losses. The Company determines the allowance based upon historical experience and a review of its balances. Accounts receivable balances are charged off against the allowance whenever it is probable that the receivable will not be recoverable. The Company does not have any off-balance-sheet credit exposure related to its customers. During the three months ended March 31, 2015, notes receivable were reduced $0.7 million in connection with the return of rental equipment from a customer in a non-cash transaction. During the six months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, the Company made non-cash inventory transfers of $0.1 million and $6.9 million, respectively, to its rental equipment fleet. Raw materials include semi-finished goods and component parts totaling $41.9 million and $43.6 million at March 31, 2015 and September 30, 2014, respectively. The Company had no long-term debt outstanding at March 31, 2015 and September 30, 2014. On March 2, 2011, the Company entered into a credit agreement with Frost Bank. On September 27, 2013, the Company amended the credit agreement and increased its borrowing availability to $50.0 million (as amended, the “Credit Agreement”). The Company’s borrowings under the Credit Agreement were principally secured by its accounts receivable, inventories and equipment. In addition, certain domestic subsidiaries of the Company guaranteed the obligations of the Company under the Credit Agreement and such subsidiaries secured the obligations by the pledge of certain of the assets of such subsidiaries. The Company was required to make quarterly interest payments on borrowed funds. The Credit Agreement limited the incurrence of additional indebtedness, required the maintenance of certain financial ratios, restricted the Company and its subsidiaries’ ability to pay cash dividends and contained other covenants customary in agreements of this type. The interest rate for borrowings under the Credit Agreement was a LIBOR based rate with a margin spread of 250 to 325 basis points depending upon the maintenance of certain ratios. At March 31, 2015, the Company was in compliance with all covenants under the Credit Agreement; however, a covenant requiring the Company to maintain a minimum ratio of Funded Debt to EBITDA restricted the Company’s potentially available borrowings under the Credit Agreement to $19.7 million at March 31, 2015. At March 31, 2015 and September 30, 2014, the Company had standby letters of credit outstanding in the amount of $59,000 and $51,000, respectively. On May 4, 2015, the Company again amended the Credit Agreement which reduced its borrowing availability to $30.0 million with amounts available for borrowing determined by a borrowing base. Under the amendments to the Credit Agreement, the borrowing base is determined based upon certain of the Company’s and its U.S. subsidiaries’ assets which include (i) 80% of certain accounts receivable plus (ii) 50% of certain notes receivable (such result not to exceed $10 million) plus (iii) 25% of certain inventories (excluding work-in-process inventories). On a pro forma basis as of March 31, 2015, the Company’s borrowing base was $37.9 million resulting in borrowing availability of $30.0 million less any outstanding letters of credit. Borrowings under the Credit Agreement as amended are secured by substantially all of the Company’s assets. In addition, the Company’s domestic subsidiaries have guaranteed the obligations of the Company under the Credit Agreement and such subsidiaries have secured the obligations by the pledge of substantially all of the assets of such subsidiaries. The Credit Agreement as amended expires on May 4, 2018 and all borrowed funds are due and payable at that time. The Company is required to make monthly interest payments on borrowed funds. The Credit Agreement as amended limits the incurrence of additional indebtedness, requires the maintenance of a single financial ratio that compares certain of the Company’s assets to certain of its liabilities, restricts the Company and its subsidiaries’ ability to pay cash dividends and contains other covenants customary in agreements of this type. The interest rate for borrowings under the Credit Agreement as amended is based on the Wall Street Journal prime rate, which was 3.25% at March 31, 2015. On November 21, 2013, the Company issued 184,000 shares of restricted stock under the 1997 Key Employee Stock Option Plan, as amended. The fair value of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant was $98.68 per share, and the unrecognized compensation cost on the date of grant related to these awards, net of estimated forfeitures, was $17.3 million and will be charged to expense over four years as the restrictions lapse. During fiscal year 2014, the Company issued a total of 13,000 shares of restricted stock under the 2014 Long Term Incentive Plan, as amended (“the Plan”) at a weighted average grant date fair value of $45.68 per share. During the first six months of fiscal year 2015, the Company issued a total of 3,000 shares of restricted stock under the Plan at a weighted average grant date fair value of $19.13 per share. Recipients of restricted stock awards are entitled to vote such shares and are entitled to dividends if paid. Compensation expense for restricted stock awards is determined based on the closing market price of the Company’s stock on the date of grant applied to the total number of shares that are anticipated to fully vest. As of March 31, 2015, we had unrecognized compensation expense of approximately $11.5 million, all of which was related to restricted stock awards. The weighted average period over which this expense is expected to be recognized is 2.7 years.

2019-04-19T10:35:04Z

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1001115/000156459015003680/geos-10q_20150331.htm

BEES WASPS or HORNETS. WHAT’S BUZZING YOU? There are lots of flying insects out and about in our gardens, fields and other open areas and they are all busy at work fulfilling nature’s directives. So, since we humans are also frequenting these same places it’s important for us to steer clear of these busy creatures because some of them will sting if you invade their space. Beware! Being stung is no picnic and can ruin your day! Here is a short lesson in identification and some important facts. Bees are fuzzy pollen collectors that almost always die shortly after stinging people (the stinger becomes embedded in the skin, which prevents multiple stings). Bees don’t always die each time they sting, though; the primary purpose of the stinger is to sting other bees, which doesn’t result in the loss of the stinger. A bee can generally only sting you once and her death is assured. The problem with explaining the difference between wasps and hornets is complicated in that, according to most definitions of wasps, all hornets are wasps. Wasps are members of the family Vespidae, which includes yellow jackets and hornets. Wasps generally have two pairs of wings and are definitely not fuzzy. Only the females have stingers, but they can sting people repeatedly. Yellow jackets are sometimes confused with bees because they look very similar. With a black and yellow body, it’s difficult to tell the difference between the two at first glance. Yellow jackets are a type of predatory wasp that are part of the genera Dolichovespula and Vespula. Most are black and yellow, but some, like the bald-faced hornet, are black and white and all the females have stingers. is now widespread on the East Coast of the U.S. Like other wasps, hornets can be extremely aggressive and can sting multiple times. Bees and wasps have different types of stingers, which affects the amount of venom that they can inject in a single sting. Wasps have smooth stingers, which allow them to sting a perceived threat, multiple times. Wasps in general are more aggressive than bees (excluding “Killer Bees”) and will sting more than once. Honeybees have barbed stingers that dig into the skin, remaining embedded as the bee flies away. Not all bees have barbed stingers. For example, the bumblebee’s stinger is smooth, allowing them to sting multiple times, just like wasps. Bees and wasps inject different amounts of venom per sting. A honeybee, who can only sting one time, injects as much as 50 micrograms of venom in a single sting. As the stinger is embedded in the skin, it continually pumps this venom into the body, so the sooner you remove the stinger, the less venom it injects. It typically takes about 45-60 seconds for the full amount of venom to be released. A wasp injects a significantly smaller amount per sting — only 2 to 15 micrograms — but can do so more than once in a short period of time. The chemical composition of bee and wasp venom are different but, they produce similar side effects. Both types of venom make your body release histamine, which causes symptoms like those of a mild allergic reaction: itching, swelling, redness and pain at the sting site. Because the venom typically makes the site of the sting sore and achy, applying an ice pack can help dull the pain. The site may remain sore for several days as it heals. Different people have different reactions to bee and wasp venom. A person with a severe allergy may need immediate medical attention after a single honeybee sting, while a healthy person without a significant allergy can withstand 1,000 or more stings before reaching a lethal dose. If you don’t know whether you are allergic and you’ve been stung, watch out for the symptoms of an allergic reaction, which can develop immediately or within 30 minutes. They include difficulty breathing, hives that spread, facial swelling, chest tightness and difficulty breathing. These symptoms also can lead to loss of consciousness, so if you believe you may be experiencing this type of allergic reaction, contact emergency medical services immediately. Fun Fact: Bees stopped buzzing during the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse. on August 21, 2017, while millions of Americans took a break from their daily routines, to witness a total solar eclipse, a similar phenomenon was happening unnoticed nearby: Bees took a break from their daily work schedules, too. In a first time study of a solar eclipse’s influence on bee behavior, researchers at the University of Missouri organized a group of citizen scientists and elementary school classes in setting up sound monitoring stations to listen in on bees’ buzzing—or lack thereof—as the 2017 eclipse passed over. The results, published today in the Annals of the Entomological Society of America, were clear and consistent at locations across the country: Bees stopped flying (therefore buzzing) during the period of the total solar eclipse. A dragon bit me on my face”! Huckleberry Finn was an amature raft builder and river rafter, when compared to Red Imported Fire ants. As fire ants are flooded out of their underground nests, they hold onto each other for dear life, forming a fire ant flotilla that allows them to survive. Actually, they hold themselves together by linking mandibles (mouth parts) to the legs of other ants and locking leg to leg to mouth to leg. Instead of scattering, with every ant for him or herself, red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) have the unique ability to gather together as a colony and form living rafts on the surface of rising flood waters. Their rafts are so tightly woven together, that water cannot penetrate the raft. This structure also holds a layer of air, called a plastron layer, tightly around the raft. The plastron layer (air bubble) facilitates buoyancy and keeps ants on the bottom of the raft (those underwater) alive. This unique “air bubble” and a waxy coating on their bodies allows these ants to stay afloat for weeks if necessary, so that they have a fighting chance to reach dry land and save their colony. To make sure the colony survives, the queens and their eggs (there can be one or more queens in a colony), are given the driest accommodations on the raft, near the center. The raft itself is in constant motion, with ants moving across the top and joining the stationary layer on the bottom. In this way the raft is kept in tip top condition. Scientists don’t really know why some ants get to be the bottom raft crew, but it seems that there is some indication that this is not a voluntary position. The colony must survive. So while floating down the river on natures currents, these ants are constantly searching for new and safe places to set up housekeeping. So, what do these ants do when they finally hit dry land? Abandon ship of course! All ashore that going ashore! The South American or Red Imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) was initially introduced into Southern California in 1998 (Orange County) and is a major concern as an invasive species. It is similar in general appearance to our native southern fire ant (S. xyloni), except the head and thorax of the red imported fire ant is a little darker and their dirt excavations for colony sites are much larger, almost the size of gopher mounds! The sting of both species of fire ant is about the same pain level, and leaves a raised reddish welt, especially in tender areas. A single bite or sting is not pleasant but watch out for a whole colony may decide to attack at once if a threat to the colony is perceived and this can be a definite health concern as they can inflict significant damage and a whole lot of fiery pain. With the amount of rain and snow, in California this year, and the extensive number of areas destroyed by fire, flooding is a major problem for we humans and animals alike. You can be sure, as we deal with disastrous flooding, Fire Ants will be industriously building rafts, and river rafting their way to safety and, like Christopher Colombus, new lands to colonize. Here’s a cartoons about fire ants. Want more? Click Here! Termites: From Wrecking Homes to Saving the Environment. According to the National Pest Management Association, termites cause more than $5 billion in property damage each year. They can eat wood and extract energy from it, thanks to a few thousand microbes living inside their gut. This huge community of microscopic organisms works together to digest the cellulose and lignin that give plant cell walls their strength. As a biproduct of this process, Methane (a natural gas) is expelled by the termites. So what does termite “gas”, have to do with producing clean energy for the world? A lot! Each termite produces, on average, about half a microgram of methane per day, an insignificant amount you say. Not really. When multiplied up by the world population of termites, their global methane emission is estimated to be about 20 million tons each year. Most methane is produced by decaying debris from natural sources such as wetlands, rivers and streams, gas hydra tes on the ocean floor, and melting permafrost. Termites are the second largest source of global methane emissions. Next comes the extraction and burning of fossil fuels for electricity and transportation. Then way down the list comes the cows. All of the above sources use variations of the same process, the decay of organic material in anaerobic conditions (in the absence of oxygen). Symbioticgel micro-organisms in the digestive tracts of termites (flaU.S. Department of Energy Office of Sciencelate protozoa in lower termites and bacteria in higher termites) produce methane gas (CH4). How can coal be a food source for termites? It’s not really. Scientists have figured out a way to use the termites gut microbes to break down cellulose which is a big part of what makes up coal, converting the coal into methane gas, giving us a cleaner fuel source. According to University of Delaware researchers, Termites may hold the key to processing coal — a big polluting member of our Earthly energy supply — into cleaner energy for the world, products for agriculture, water cleanup and waste recycling. Mining coal and processing it, by traditional means, is a pollution nightmare. Coal is a fossil fuel created from the remains of plants that lived and died about 100 to 400 million years ago. Basically, it’s wood that’s been literally baked for millions of years. According to Pradad Dhurjati, a professor at the University of Delaware, in the Chemical and Bio-molecular department; “This groundbreaking biotechnology has the potential to change ‘dirty coal’ into ‘clean coal’. That would be a big win-win for the environment and for the economy.” Right now, the process is taking place in large vats of termite gut microbes, but scientists are looking forward to introducing these microbes directly into coal seams deep beneath the Earth’s surface, letting these hungry organisms, mine and process the coal, in place, and then sending the natural gas, in a steady flow to the surface for consumption. This is not the end all solution to the clean energy problem. It is the goal of scientists to perfect this process until new and more efficient renewable energy sources can be found and made economically feasible. Who are the most successful beings on Earth? It certainly isn’t Man, Ape or any other mammal. The most successful animals on the planet are the arthropods. They have conquered land, sea and air, and make up over three-fourths of all currently known living and fossil organisms. They are the true masters of the Earth! The Phylum Arthropoda got its name from the Greek, arthros (jointed) and poda (foot) and encompasses over 800,000 species, including arachnids (spiders), crustaceans (sea creatures) and insects. Also, members of this gigantic phylum are Myriapods; centipedes, millipedes, sea spiders, and maybe a host of other organisms yet unidentified. What do all of these creepy, crawly and flighty creatures have in common? They are all invertebrate (without a backbone), have symmetrical, segmented bodies, jointed legs, exterior skeletons, a ventral (front) nervous system, highly developed sensory organs and they are cold blooded. Arthropods have a leg up on all other organsms. They do everything with legs or modified legs. They swim, crawl, jump, and fly, they use legs to sense with (their antennae), to bite and sting with and to chew with (they even chew sideways). All this and more, is done with legs. So, with segmented bodies that accommodate environmental changes, with legs that let them walk; with hard, waterproof shells that keep water in or out; and with highly adaptable respiratory systems, arthropods have dominated the animal world. Arthropods occur in virtually every earthly habitat, from the cold ocean depths to the hottest deserts. They can live through extremes that would kill most vertebrates. Arthropods crawled onto land about 100 million years before vertebrates did. It’s thought that colonizing land was easier for them for several reasons – including the fact that they had already evolved legs, which they used for walking on the bottom of the sea. About 80% of all animal species are arthropods! All arthropods undergo metamorphosis – a process where their bodies change radically as they pass from their larval to adult stages. Butterflies are the best-known for entering cocoons as caterpillars and coming out quite different, but all arthropods do something similar! When arthropods outgrow their old exoskeleton, they molt – leaving behind their former skin and growing a new one. All arthropods do this at least once in their lives. Crustaceans and arachnids – two types of arthropods – have blue blood instead of red blood! Their blood uses a blue copper compound to carry oxygen, instead of the red iron compound used by most other animals. An Arthropods’ hard exoskeleton is made of chitin – which is made of a sugar glucose compound! It’s not sweet but it sure is hard! There’s nothing like the smell of an evergreen tree and a cozy wood fire, to get you in the holiday spirit. But when you bring a live or cut Christmas tree indoors, along with the necessary firewood, some of the insects t hat have called your Christmas tree and yule log, home, might be joining you for the holiday season. commercial settings are u sually inspected and cleaned. The emphasis here is on usually. The greatest threat of home invasion comes to those who cut down their own trees. It is a known fact that as soon as a tree is cut from its trunk and brought into someone’s warm home, most hitchhiking critters die from starvation or desiccation (lack of water). It’s also a known fact that some may begin to wander from the tree, or firewood pile , in search of food and water sources and if these are found they may start to set up housekeeping. Don’t be afraid to purchase a real tree because of the possibility of tiny pests. And don’t forego the warmth and cozy atmosphere of a wood fire either. Control methods are relatively simple and low maintenance. And remember, artificial trees can house pests, too. Spiders Spin a Web of Fear! Spiders and their webs are synonymous with Halloween. Spider lore has changed over time. According to medieval superstition, people believed that if you saw a spider on all hallows eve, it was the spirit of a dead loved one watching over you. When humanity started the witch hunt era, spiders became associated with magic, witches and the supernatural, right along with bats and black cats. They also become representatives of danger, fear, ensnarement, and deception (think of the phrase “caught in a web of lies”). Their odd anatomy and physiology (multip le eyes, crushing mandibles, 8 legs, and bulbous abdomen) creates aversion and fear in some individuals. Add in their habit of seeking out cracks and crevices to hide in, their skittering and jumping movements and their nocturnal foraging activity, not to mention their ability to create great sticky webs, and what you have is the basis for “arachnophobia”, or the fear of spiders. So now that we are convinced that spiders are loathsome creatures, our imaginations add magnitudes of size and deadliness, making them truly Halloween icons. The true nature of spiders isn’t to be scary. But if you are perceived to be scary, then nobody messes with you, hence you may live longer. Spiders have acquired a bad reputation over the centuries. Going from lucky charms to fearsome, evil specters. What they really are, are natures clean-up crew. Spiders eat other insects. Their diet consists mostly, of flies, roaches, moths, earwigs, aphids, caterpillars and even pesky mosquitoes. Some of these delicacies, spread disease, so spiders help humanity stay healthy. While we fa ntasize spiders into huge, deadly, horror creatures, remember they are also the inspiration for a much beloved super-hero, Spider Man. You may be noticing more spiders out and about. It’s Fall, otherwise known as Autumn, and this is the time of year when many male spiders are out searching for a mate. This is true for house spiders and garden spiders, alike. If you are seeing more spiders inside your home, they may have came in from the cold, but more likely that they have been hiding in your wall voids all summer, venturing out, now into your living areas looking for mates. Once they mate, chances are, the males will die and the females will go back into hiding, lay their eggs and then, you know, “die”. Need help dealing with your spiders? Follow this link: Get Rid of Spiders!

2019-04-18T12:24:28Z

http://blog.corkyspest.com/?author=6

We are offering the Mom & Dad Special: A hardcopy book for mom and an audiobook for Dad to listen to on his commute. Would you like to win this set, valued at $35.00? Enter a comment below, along with a way to contact you, and you will be entered into our drawing. We’ll post the winner tomorrow morning! This entry was posted on Monday, June 6th, 2011 at 8:54 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. I have a new book to place on my to-read pile! I would LOVE to win this! I’m a mom of 3 boys! This book has been sitting on my wishlist forever! Thanks for the chance to win it! YES ! I have 4 boys, that are becoming men. With 5 boys – I could use more encouragement and know-how. Thanks. I’ve got a sweet little boy and would love to read this book! Have heard wonderful things about this book, would love to win a copy! Thanks for all the fun! I have boys! I have boys! This looks wonderful! This is such a needed resource in this day and age. Perfect for my two boys! I have 2 boys. This would be great to have. Just what we should be doing. We need more real men!! I have 2 boys and I would love to read this book. I’m raising a boy after several girls – help! Our society definitely needs more teaching on raising young men of strong Godly character! With 5 little boys, I think we might definitely need this book! Thanks! I have 3 boys. Enough said. I have four boys! This looks wonderful! I have two young men (11 and 14), and this resource would be a real blessing. I’d love this one. Heard great things about it. I have 3 boys and would love to read this an d pass it around to my friends! I have 3 more boys to raise. could really use this! I have had this book on my wishlist. Thanks for the chance to win it. I have 4 sons, this is a great book! As a mom rasing three boys this would be a blessing. This would be fun to own, I used to go to church with the Youngs and their oldest is coming to college in our town this fall. I’ve got a little man that I could use some help and guidance with raising up to be a Real Man. I’d love to win this book! After raising 3 daughters, we have a son age 6. What a great help this book would be. I have a ‘real man’ to raise! Would love to read! This would be a great read for me as a mother of two boys! We have boys!! This book would be great! I have 5 men to raise! Woo hoo! Raising and homeschooling 2 boys- need all the help we can get!! I have 2 boys! The eldest and the youngest. My honey calls them the book ends. I would love to read this book. Since we have 4 boys, this would be great! This would be wonderful as an insight to see what I should be doing, what I am possibly already doing and how I need to change my ways in raising our son. Thanks for this opportunity! We are very interested in this topic. This would be an awesome blessing!! Amazing book, our family needs this! I have 4 sons, so please enter me! As a mom of 2 little men, this would be an invaluable resource for our family! Would love to have this to help us in raising our son! We have 3 boys, and this would be helpful for our family. I live in a household with ALL men–four of them. I need this book!! So glad this subject is being addressed – with 4 boys it’s near and dear to my heart! after raising 4 girls we’re now raising our 1st boy! I have one son and this is a book I have been wanting but can’t buy right now. Would love to read it. Something we are striving to do, with God’s help. This book looks great! Our boys are growing up fast, they are already 9 and 11. This would be a wonderful help. After raising three daughters I need all of the advice I can get with out 14 yo son. saw this at the homeschool conference. Definitely interested in this with 2 young boys. with two small boys this would be great. I could use this – still trying to figure out what to do with my 2-year-old son! Thank you for this chance. Homeschooling Mom of twin 5 year old boys! I need all the help I can get! I enjoyed several of Melanie’s podcasts last year and would love to have the book. We have one son. This is an amazing book! I would love to have another copy for giving away. Ooh! I saw the Youngs at homeschool conference in Cincinnati this spring. I would love this book! I thinks this would be a great book to have in my home school support group library! This looks like a great book@ We have three boys. As a mom of 2 boys, this would be a blessing. I would also pass it on to my brother a dad of three young boys! This looks like a great book. I wasn’t aware of it. With 2 sons, guess I should read it. I would share this with my cousins who have boys, as I just bought a copy at HSLDA at the FPEA conference. All the encouragement we can get! 4 boys with a long hour job hubby and a girly, girl mom, think this book just might help me to raise my boys to be men, thanks. Would love this book as a resource while raising my 5 year old son. I have a son so would love this! One boy is enough to keep me on my toes! I have three boys that could use some great influence in their life. Three boys in this house – this book looks great! We have one son right between 4 daughters. This would be a wonderful resource!! Would love for my husband to get this one. Looks great. This would be a great resource for teaching our 12 year old son! We really need this with my 12-yr-old son (it probably wouldn’t hurt with my college son!). Yes, I would love to have these books for raising Young Men for my 10 year old and twin 7 years olds! My baby boy is almost 2, looks like this might help with loads of questions I have about raising a boy. Raising a son alone & would appreciate something like this to help. Thank you! I would love the audio for my husband to hear. I have read the book, but he would love to be able to use his commute to hear the book. I have been wanting to read this, have 16 year old and 5 year old boys. I have 4 boys, would love to win this! What a blessing this book would be … raising two young men here. If not a lucky winner, it will definitely go on my list of books to buy! Thanks so much for sharing this! I have 2 boys! Would LOVE to win this book! I have two boys and would love to have this book. Thank you! I have a copy, but have many friends I’d like to give this to! With four boys (2.5 are “men”)- this would be a wonderful resource to have- also for our ministry work in the community. This would be an awesome resource as I have two little boys. this would be a great tool for helping our boys and even our son who is married with two sons of his own! I could sure use some help understanding my little guy. Would love to win this. Love the mom & dad special; this is exactly the way we read books . We have two boys – this would be much appreciated. I think I need a book like this! The last time I read a book about raising boys, it helped me understand my sons(s) and hubby so much!!! I NEED this…..I have a 14-Year old son….and would love all the advice I can get! Thanks for offering it! I have two boys. I am trying to raise them to be good christian men. I know I can use all the help I can find. I have wanted to read this book for quite a while now. Such a wonderful family too! Oooh! I’ve wanted this book for a while, too! Awesome! Three boys and me being an only child…I could really use this. I’ve been drooling over this book for a while now. Would love to win it! Being the mother of twin 8-year-old boys, I would love to have such a resource in our home. There is no higher calling than to raise our boys to be Godly men! I am having a tough time with my 15 y/o and can sure use a book like this! I would love to win it. Heard great things about this. Would love it for my son. Yes…please! I have 3 boys and one is on the verge of teenhood! We still have one young man to finish raising and would love insight on their way of thinking!!! We have been blessed with 3 sons, so this would be great! What a great offer! I have 2 sons learning to be Real Men! Thanks. As a mom of two boys, I would love to have this book! And I lived in Raleigh for a time, where the author is from! ooooh. I have been wanting a copy of this for my boy! It is even scheduled in our curriculum! It would be awesome to win! Thanks Again! This sounds like a wonderful road map. I sure would enjoy this book, considering I am raising three boys. This would be great for my 3 boys! I would love to have this book to use as a resource in raising my boys. This would be great for my 2 boys! I definately could use this for my 2 sons, who came home from Ghana only 2 years ago. We hope to raise them into righteous and real men of character. What a great resource! This would be such a blessing for out two boys. Thank you for offering. I’d love for my son to grow up to be a real man. I would love this to help with raising the son God gave us. Being the middle child with two sisters and having three daughters as my oldest, I have very little experience to rely on when it comes to raising my three sons. I would love this book to help give me practical advice for the journey! this looks like a fantastic book. My husband & I have struggled trying to raise our 5 boys to be Godly men. This world pulls them so hard in every other direction. We realize that only when our men are in God’s will can a woman then be the beautiful gift that God made her to be. We need our children to know that God’s plan is the right plan – and men must be men! I would love a copy of this book. At age 12, my son is headed into the teen years and I want them to be the best years of our lives together! I would love to glean some good solid wisdom from this book. We just heard Hal and Melanie at a conference – my husband would love to read this! This looks like a great book! Just what I’ve been looking for. We’ve raised 1 son and now have a 9yo son….I’d love to have some extra help in this endeavor! I am raising 2 boys and have a grandson coming soon so we would put this book to good use! I would LOVE this book… I keep looking at it and wanting to buy it! Have been wanting this…we have a 9 yr. old son and would like to read with my hubby! This would be so helpful…I’m raising a boy who has 3 sisters! I’ve been looking at this for a while – we would love to have this resource as we raise our 3 sons (and 2 girls)! Oh, I hope I’m not too late for this! Would love to have this resource! What a great book for a mom of boys. I have a gaggle of girls and one boy! This would be perfect for me to learn more about raising him! I have 4 boys and this looks wonderful! I have had this on my Amazon.com wish list ever since it came out! Mom of 6 boys here! Would be a great resource for our family. Please help me with my boys! I’m realizing that raising a boy is quite different from what I did with 3 girls! This would be a great resource! This sounds like an awesome book, one that would really help me in raising my 3 little men! I have 3 boys, I would love to win this! I know of someone who greatly needs the wisdom this book has to offer! It will make a timely gift. after raising four girls I need help to raise a boy to be a real man of God. I’d love to win this awesome combo ! Thanks for a chance! I would love to win this! I want my son to be a REAL MAN! This sounds like a treasure trove of insight! Coming from an all girl family, and having 2 girls myself, I need help w/ my poor son! This would be a tremendous resource! I have wanted this book for a long time! I have 2 boys and would love this book. I would love to win this book! I have two boys and the title of this book resonates with me! I long for them to grow up to be godly men and every little bit of wisdom from others is greatly appreciated! 3 boys here – really need this book! Thank you for the chance to win! I have heard so many great things about this book. I have even heard hal at a webinar. We need all the help we can get these days, I would love to win this book. Only half of my 6 are boys, but I think I’d get a lot out of this book. need it with my boys! With 3 boys in the house, this set would be awesome to have. I’ve got 3 guys and would love to have this book! Sometimes it’s hard having Mom be their only teacher! This sounds like a great book! Would love to use it for our son! Five boys here…ages 9 to 22. I would love this book! This would be a great resource with my 2 boys! I am the lone female among husband and 6 boys. Sounds like a good one. With 3 young boys in the house, I could use all of the help and wisdom that I could get my hands on. This, as with all of your products, looks like a wonderful resource. THANK YOU! I have 5 boys and really NEED this book!!! This book looks wonderful. It looks like a wondeful resource to use with out sweet boys! wow! God bless you! There’s alot of interested people out there! I would love the insight this book has to offer. All godly information about how to raise boys is useful, and it looks like this book fits the bill! This sounds like an awesome book. I would really love sharing it with my 3 boys!!! I have 4 boys…this sounds wonderful. Could def use this one! Thx!!! As a single mom raising 3 boys–this sounds perfect! Thanks! If I win, I am going to give this to my sister who has a son. Thanks. Have a wonderful, head strong son. Would love to have a great resource to help me see him clearly. With 2 boys in the house this would be a wonderful book to have. I would love it not just for the 4 sons but for our daughter too to know what a man is when boys come calling for her. Raising confident boys is a challenge today, I am always looking for great resources! Thank you. That would be a wonderful addition to my library of parenting books. I have two boys and my husband and I want to bring them up to be Godly men. Thanks for running the comp. We all want real godly men in this world. Truley I would love to train and teach my son and others how to be the absolute best man that they are called to be and I hope this book would help in this part of our journey. tahnk you for the win if we do recieve it . It is very generous of you to do these give aways and they are much appreciated. Thank you Roseann and family. My brother could really use this book with my mom teaching him and ten others (at least). Hope this gets used no matter who gets it. This is a topic of relevance in our family at the moment. The one thing I want for my children is to grow up loving and obeying God, to be men and women with godly character. Sometimes it is easier for me to relate to my daughter more than my son, but this book would really help us get closer. My three daughters are leaving their teen years, but my three sons are just entering them… somehow I understand my girls better than my boys. Sounds like an awesome book. We have 5 girls, 1 boy. My desire is for him to be a man after God’s own heart. Maybe this book would help me point him in the right direction. We SO need things like this for our men and boys today. This is a huge missing piece in why our nation has gone so wrong. I’d love to win it for my family. I have been looking at this book for a while. What a great addition to families with boys! YES! We would love to win- you can contact us by email or leaving a comment at our blog. Thanks! I heard them speak at the Cincinnati Homeschool Convention. I would love to get this book for my 3 boys! As parents of a gifted, mature nine year old, we are constantly reminding him that the rules we have in place are those which God has entrusted us to carry out so that a boy may become a man, father, spouse, employee, etc. Sounds like this book would help us to raise him with practical suggestion and guidence. I have had this book on my wishlist for about year and would love to get my hands on a copy. Thanks. Looks like a great book! Would love to win it!! Being the mom of three boys, I am always trying to understand them & help them mature into God’s men. I have a young son still at home. I’d love to read this one for encouragement as he grows into a Godly young man. This would be a great resource as we rear our 5yo son to manhood. The sample to this book is on my nook and I have been thinking about buying it. Would love to win this, especially for the audio so my husband can listen also. I have had this book on my wish list to help me with my son. I do need help. I would love to read this book and draw from its knowledge! This sounds like it would be very helpful!

2019-04-23T22:43:07Z

http://kqpublishing.net/blog/2011/06/drawing14-raisingrealmen

After a cocktail reception for your group on our oceanfront lawn, with a waiter at your beck and call all evening, you’ll be escorted to your own nook overlooking the Pacific Ocean for a romantic meal, just in time to catch the sunset. Sail on an eco-friendly catamaran to watch migrating pods of humpback whales frolic in the narrow channel between Maui and Lanai, one of the best places in the world to see these gentle giants. Drive 37 miles (60 kilometres) up Haleakala Summit for a panoramic view of Maui’s vast volcanic landscape. The peak is 10,000 feet (3,000 metres) above sea level, the world’s quickest rise in the shortest distance. Nestled on the Pacific Ocean, Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea in Hawaii is a dream destination for group incentive programs and social celebrations. Take advantage of a long sandy beach, lush tropical gardens, postcard views and Maui’s largest guest rooms and suites. Get out of the meeting room and try sandcastle building at Four Seasons Resort Maui. It’s a great team-building exercise, guided by local experts. Your participants get to dig into the powdery golden sand of Wailea Beach and create fantastic castles, while enjoying the warm Hawaiian sun. For breaks that inspire creativity, try hula lessons, lei making and ti leaf weaving. Adventurous groups will love a stand up paddle break – a quick lesson on how to stand up paddle followed by a tour of our pristine reef fronting Wailea Beach. See turtles, plenty of brightly colored tropical fish and maybe even a humpback whale from November-April. Meetings are more memorable at Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, where a caring conference services manager works with you at every step to deliver the experience worthy of Maui’s only Mobil Five-Star and AAA Five-Diamond resort. The setting couldn’t be more idyllic. Elegant function rooms, gardens and lawns offer views of our oceanfront paradise, combining privacy and incomparable beauty. Start and end each day in the comfort of the island’s largest guest rooms and suites, which also boast Maui’s most spacious hotel bathrooms. At your banquet table, savour the cuisine that our Zagat-rated restaurants prepare daily. The calling card that distinguishes Four Seasons Resort Maui from other fine resorts worldwide is the warmth of its staff, who are dedicated to making your meetings and events successful in every detail. With its warm island hospitality, world-class beaches and natural wonders – such as the dormant volcano and subtropical rainforest of Haleakala National Park – it’s no wonder Maui is popular with everyone from honeymooners to Hollywood celebrities. When your group experiences the ultimate incentive program at Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, with its breathtaking views, lush gardens and prime beachfront location, other group getaways will never measure up. When you visit paradise, we know you want to enjoy as much time as possible outdoors. From sunset cocktail receptions in our secluded Plumeria Garden to private Hawaiian luaus lit by tiki torches on our lush manicured lawns, our outdoor venues showcase panoramic ocean views, making every group meal an awe-inspiring event. With a swimmable beach and a shallow bay that’s perfect for paddling an outrigger canoe past green sea turtles, three scenic championship 18-hole golf courses and a luxury spa, there’s plenty to entertain your group at Four Seasons Resort Maui. We can also customize off-site adventures to suit your group: eco-snorkelling dives at tropical coral reefs, private helicopter tours over lush rainforests, catamaran sailing to watch humpback whales at play, and many more. The Hotel offers full-service shipping and receiving. All packages should be sent to the attention of your assigned conference services manager. Limited space is available for the storage of large items. Please time shipping to the date of your arrival. Please contact your conference service manager for guidelines and special delivery arrangements for oversized packages. The engineering department is available 24 hours a day for general assistance with lighting, power, room temperature control and minor repairs. Shipping of post-conference materials may be coordinated through our Business Center. The catering and conference services team will be happy to assist with setting up the décor and arranging any type of music or entertainment for your event. Our concierge team or your conference services manager can suggest and arrange activities that will create special memories for the entire family. Our Kids For All Seasons program provides fun and educational activities for junior travellers. Special arrangements can be made to purchase welcome amenities – such as fruit, fresh flowers or champagne and strawberries – for your VIP guests. Customized programs and activities are offered for the spouses of our meeting participants. Contact your conference services manager or our concierge team. Give your group a fun and uplifting experience. Volunteer in gardens at the local homeless resource centre. Your group could tend native Hawaiian flowers, medicinal herbs, fruits and vegetables, or help us build a garden for the children at the centre. Build worm towers, bug-motels, and things for children to explore the wonders of the natural world – truly rewarding. Limousine and taxi service to and from the airport can be arranged; please ask our Concierge for rates. Most major car rental firms operate at the airport. Car rentals can also be organized on-site by our Concierge. Overnight parking is available for USD 22 per night. This luxury shopping centre features high-end goods from European and American name-brand retailers. Over 40,000 square feet (3,700 square metres) of the centre is dedicated to restaurants offering a variety of foods. The shallow, protected waters of this crescent moon-shaped crater are home to coral reefs and small indigenous fish. Just off the coast of Wailea, the area offers excellent snorkelling accessible only by boat. Once a major whaling port, Lahaina has maintained deep roots in the historic culture of old Hawaii. It features curio shops and could be considered the art capital of the Pacific. One of the state’s last paniolo (cowboy) towns, Makawao Town is surrounded by rolling hills and horse ranches. Distinctive art galleries and small shops sell everything from world-famous cream puffs to unique island creations. A coastal plantation town, Paia has a rural ambience and a cultural heritage shaped by the sugar industry. It offers a lively mix of clothing stores, boutiques and restaurants. Because of its southwest coastal location, Wailea is noted for having the sunniest and driest climate on Maui. Average yearly rainfall is under 11 inches (28 centimetres). With 27,500 square feet (2,555 square metres) of dedicated function space – including spectacular outdoor locations overlooking the Pacific Ocean, lush gardens and Wailea Beach – Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea offers 18 flexible function spaces for group incentive programs and social celebrations. Click to view room details and floor plans. The elegant 6,930-square-foot (644-square-metre) Four Seasons Ballroom is the choice for receptions or theatre seating of up to 700 and banquets for up to 500. 644 m2 / 6930 sq. ft. 20 x 32 m / 66 x 105 ft. Four crystal chandeliers, blond wood panelling and lush carpets with an island floral motif enhance the Ballroom's décor. Enter via the sizeable open-air Ballroom Foyer, which provides for comfortable crowd flow and dramatic ocean views by sunlight or moonlight. Our largest indoor space, the central location and neutral colour palette make the Ballroom ideal for all types of events. 8.2 x 18.3 m / 27 x 60 ft. Conveniently located on the lobby level, the Ballroom is accessed via an open-air terrace. Shuttered windows allow abundant natural lighting. 322 m2 / 3300 sq. ft. 20 x 15 m / 50 x 66 ft. Two crystal chandeliers, blond wood panelling, neutral palette and lush carpets with an island floral motif enhance the Ballroom's décor. This pristinely manicured and centrally located lawn is an intimate venue surrounded by tropical gardens. Tropical gardens encircle the lawn and enhance its natural beauty. The centrally located fountain adds a touch of stately elegance. Grandly intimate and suitable for a reception with a maximum of 100 guests. Conveniently located on the lobby level next to the Ballroom, the Wailea Room is accessed via an open-air terrace suitable for continental breakfasts and coffee breaks. Windows allow abundant natural lighting. 187 m2 / 2016 sq. ft. 10.9 x 17.1 m / 36 x 56 ft. An incredible chandelier with complementary wall sconces, side table with gold leaf mirror, lush carpeting and a neutral island-weave pattern wall covering set this room apart. Get your day-long event off to an early start via an open-air terrace suitable for continental breakfasts and coffee breaks. An elegant way to conduct business, flanked by windows with shutters and built-in marker boards. Located adjacent to the Wailea Room, the pre-function area opens to blue skies or starlight above, perfect for receptions or coffee breaks. 95 m2 / 1026 sq. ft. 11.6 x 8.2 m / 38 x 27 ft. Business becomes a pleasure within a roofless foyer that offers views of the Pacific Ocean. Start everyone off with a continental breakfasts before progressing on to business in the adjacent room, then come back for coffee breaks. Conveniently located on the lobby level, the Molokini Room has floor-to-ceiling windows with shutters, built-in drop screens and marker boards. 132 m2 / 1420 sq. ft. 10.9 x 12.2 m / 35.6 x 40 ft. The room is enhanced with silk wall coverings, exquisite sconces, permanent side table and island art. The elegant space comes equipped with built-in marker boards. Fountain-View Terrace offers enchanting open-air views of the sky and the lush tropical gardens and fountains of the Fountain-View Lawn. 87 m2 / 944 sq. ft. 5 x 18 m / 16 x 59 ft. Large sliding louvred doors border the covered terrace on two sides, visually elevating the ceiling. The covered terrace showcases picturesque views of cascading fountains and swaying palms. Low walls on two sides serve as pedestals for expansive floral and candle arrangements. Adjacent to the meeting rooms on the lobby level, this garden view suite features a large living room and lanai area for hospitality, satellite check-in or travel staff. The interior space measures 1,800 square feet (167 square metres) while the lanai provides an additional 439 square feet (40.8 square metres) of space. 80 m2 / 864 sq. ft. 11.7 x 6.0 m / 38.5 x 19.8 ft. With its large living room, it's perfect for hospitality, satellite check-in or travel staff. A lanai with a garden view provides additional space and added tranquillity. The 840-square-foot (78-square-metre) Ali'i Room is a setting fit for high-level meetings. Built-in drop screens and marker boards are just two of the features of this room. 78 m2 / 840 sq. ft. 8.5 x 9.1 m / 28 x 30 ft. An intimate boardroom space with comfortable executive chairs, side table, silk wall coverings, lush carpeting and island art. A comfortable setting fit for high-level meetings. Built-in drop screens and marker boards are just two of the features of this room. Floor-to-ceiling windows with sliding plantation shutters open to fantastic ocean views and manicured lawns. Conveniently located on the lobby level, the Kula Room has floor-to-ceiling windows with shutters, built-in drop screens and marker boards. 7.5 x 9.9 m / 24.6 x 32.6 ft. 46 m2 / 495 sq. ft. 5.1 x 9.1 m / 16.5 x 30 ft. Conveniently located on the lobby level, the Wailuku Room has built-in drop screens, marker boards and floor-to-ceiling windows with plantation shutters that open to fantastic ocean views. 42 m2 / 456 sq. ft. 5.8 x 7.3 m / 19 x 24 ft. Conveniently located on the lobby level, the Haiku Room has built-in drop screens and marker boards, and is ideal for an office or hospitality desk set-up. 34 m2 / 364 sq. ft. 4.8 x 7.2 m / 15.6 x 23.6 ft. A private, welcoming space, it's ideal for an office or hospitality desk set-up. This beautifully manicured lawn offers stunning views of the Pacific Ocean and the Kahalawai Mountains, creating a picturesque backdrop for your ceremony. Scents of the surrounding plumeria trees fill the air as guests enjoy the serenity of the sculpture garden. Located on the third level in the centre of the gardens, this location is suitable for a ceremony with a maximum of 90 guests. Scents of plumeria trees fill the air as guests enjoy the serenity of the sculpture garden. Let the Pacific Ocean and the Kahalawai Mountains create a picturesque backdrop for your ceremony or sunset reception. An intimate setting suitable for a ceremony with a maximum of 90 guests, or a sunset reception for 60. Nestled along the edges of the Four Seasons sculpture garden, a natural arbour of plumeria trees enhances this location, with its spectacular views showcasing the cascading fountains, the Pacific Ocean and the Kahalawai Mountains. Suitable for a ceremony with a maximum of 40 guests. The tropical sculpture garden is surrounded by fragrant plumeria trees. Spectacular views showcase the cascading fountains, the Pacific Ocean and the Kahalawai Mountains. Precious moments to be shared exclusively by family and friends. 483.1 m2 / 5200 sq. ft. Enjoy contemporary luxuries with laid-back sophistication in our 380 luxury guest rooms. Group members staying in one of our 75 suites will enjoy furnished private lanais, a living area for relaxing, and dazzling ocean views. Maile Three-Bedroom Suite 1 4,000 sq.ft (372 m²), plus a lanai fronting the entire north wing. 7th floor 180-degree oceanfront view of the Pacific, neighbouring islands and Wailea Beach 3 Two king beds and two queen beds One full marble bathroom per bedroom, plus guest powder room. Master bath also has full-size sauna. Oceanfront Prime Suite 13 1,400 sq.ft. (130 m²), plus lanai On all floors, directly facing the ocean. 180-degree ocean-front view of the beach and neighbouring islands. 1 King bed One full marble bathroom, plus 3/4 bathroom with shower. Deluxe Club Ocean-View Room 11 600 sq.ft. (56 m²), plus lanai. Top floor, near the front of the Resort Angled view of Pacific Ocean King bed or two queen beds Oversized marble bathroom, with deep soaking tub, separate shower and double-basin vanity. Club Ocean-View Room 11 600 sq.ft. (56 m²), plus lanai Top floor Angled view of the Pacific Ocean King bed or two queen beds Oversized marble bathroom, with deep soaking tub, separate shower and double-basin vanity. Ocean-View Prime Executive Suite 7 Approximately 840 sq.ft. (78 m²), plus lanai Middle to higher floors. Angled view of Pacific Ocean and the formal sculpture garden. King bed Oversized marble bathroom, with deep soaking tub, separate shower and double-basin vanity. Deluxe Garden-View Executive Suite 10 Approximately 840 sq.ft. (78 m²), plus lanai Exterior perimeter of building, middle to higher floors. Angled view of Pacific Ocean, as well as the neighbouring Wailea resort community. King bed Oversized marble bathroom, with deep soaking tub, separate shower and double-basin vanity. Garden-View Executive Suite 16 Approximately 840 sq.ft. (78 m²), plus lanai. Exterior perimeter of the building on lower floors. Landscaped gardens and the neighbouring Wailea resort community. King bed. Oversized marble bathroom, with deep soaking tub, separate shower and double-basin vanity. Ocean-View Room 75 600 sq.ft. (56 m²), plus lanai Middle to higher floors. Angled view of the Pacific Ocean from the lanai and interior of the room. King bed or two queen beds. Oversized marble bathroom, with deep soaking tub, separate shower and double-basin vanity. Deluxe Garden-View Room 64 600 sq.ft. (56 m²), plus lanai Preferred locations on lower floors Preferred garden view King bed or two queen beds Oversized marble bathroom, with deep soaking tub, separate shower and double-basin vanity. Garden-View Room 33 600 sq.ft. (56 m²), plus lanai. Lower floors. The Resort’s lush tropical gardens. King bed or two queen beds. Oversized marble bathroom, with deep soaking tub, separate shower and double-basin vanity. Mountainside Room 40 600 sq.ft. (56 m²), plus lanai At the back of the resort, tucked into the hillside. Facing Mount Haleakala and Wailea Alanui Drive, overlooking a small parking area. King bed or two queen beds Oversized marble bathroom, with deep soaking tub, separate shower and double-basin vanity. Using custom menus that reflect your group’s tastes, we use food to make an emotional connection. The food, beverage and service at our banquet meals measures up to that of the finest restaurants. After a cocktail reception on our oceanfront lawn, couples in our group incentive programs can enjoy a little private time in secluded lookouts hidden around the Resort. With a waiter at their service all evening, each couple will be escorted to their own nook overlooking the Pacific Ocean for a romantic meal, just in time to catch the sunset. With leis, mai tais, hula dancers and a Polynesian menu featuring fresh seafood, a luau on our lush oceanfront lawn is the perfect way to bring everyone together to say aloha in a traditional Hawaiian way. We’ll create a gourmet food village on our oceanfront lawn, featuring ingredients grown in Maui’s volcanic slopes and lush valleys, including olive oil from a nearby olive grove and cheese from the island’s goat farms. Our chefs will be on hand to share insights and answer questions about the fresh ingredients in every dish, and guests will be able to savour the best of the island at chef-hosted food stations. Groups can kick back on foldable beach chairs or blankets on our lush oceanfront lawn to watch a fire dancer or local musician perform, all while sipping sparkling wine and enjoying a picnic dinner featuring grilled meats and mahi mahi. Embracing the tradition of the Hawaiian Islands’ culinary techniques, Master Chef Wolfgang Puck’s menu offers many locally inspired dishes along with his classics. Pair your choice with a selection from the international wine program, or try a refreshing interpretation of a classic Hawaiian cocktail. Inside, the casually sophisticated space impresses with its Asian-inspired contemporary design and unique stone, wood and exotic textures, while an intimate lounge sets the stage for spectacular ocean views. At Ferraro's Bar e Ristorante, the Piaza is the ideal open-air venue for VIP or semi-private dinners. Dine under clear blue skies by day and under a canopy of stars at night. An Italian cucina rustica menu showcases its kiawe wood-burning oven to dramatic effect, while magnificent sunset views and an extensive collection of Italian wines bring romance to the table. Tantalizing dishes include Dungeness crab panini and homemade ravioli. Enjoy live Italian instrumental music nightly. At DUO Steak and Seafood, admire spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean and our open kitchen, all set against a luxurious poolside backdrop. Here, award-winning chefs take centre stage, expertly preparing a diversity of steak and seafood masterpieces, including those made with Brandt Farms all-natural beef. Enhance your experience with a refreshing specialty cocktail or order from the impressive international wine list. The private dining room near the picturesque waterfall pool is the perfect setting for small parties. Groups are also encouraged to inquire about staggered seating and large parties, depending on the time of year. Advance reservations are required. Room types may be limited to particular dates and rates, and blackout dates may apply. Savings shown are based on the best available rates for similar dates at the time of publication. Rates vary by property according to dates and do not include taxes, unless stated otherwise. Bookings and rates are subject to availability and are not valid for previously contracted bookings or in conjunction with any other offer or contract. Packages include Internet access in guest rooms, unless stated otherwise. Taxes and fees are subject to change without notice. Please note that in addition to our standard terms and conditions, each Four Seasons hotel or resort may apply other terms and conditions to group offers and packages. Individual Property Terms and Conditions: This offer is available to groups occupying 10 or more guest rooms per night. 14.416% tax will be applied to the room rate.

2019-04-22T12:52:51Z

https://www.fourseasons.com/maui/meetings_and_events/

As much as I love traveling, one of the best things about having an RV is the ability to sleep in your own bed with your own pillow(s) at night. Pillow's are as individual as people. They almost have personalities of their own. Now wait a minute..I'm not kidding. Haven't you had a favorite pillow that you just didn't want to give up because it was perfect? Finding the right one is often a long process with lots of trial & error. I'm no stranger to that route! Which pillow will you choose? In this day and age there are a huge array of pillow types. It isn't just feather down any more! There's memory foam, regular foam, chunks of foam, polyester loft, cool side specials, buckwheat, plastic tubes, and every imaginable type of feather even "hypoallergenic" ones. Then there's the "firmness," these run from soft and squishy all the way up to rock firm. Hmm, wonder why no one makes a rock filled pillow? I'm KIDDING! I know why they don't. It would hurt. Or at the very least give you one helluva stiff neck! All that aside, they did use Jade pillows in dynastic China. They were supposed to alleviate various ills and transfer energy into the brain. I guess the "dent" in your head in the morning was proof it worked. D'OH! To pick a pillow you first have to decide on the "feel." Do you want your head to sink deep into it or float on top? In the United States there are mostly only two sizes; Standard/Queen and King. The main difference is the size. You'll need King sized pillow cases for the larger ones and sometimes they are harder to find. My bed's not that big, so I use the standard sized ones. I find that the pillows with a zippered case can be annoying. I've woken up in the morning with an imprint of a zipper on my cheek! If you like a pillow and it has a zipper, do yourself a favor and make sure you can put it on the inside of the pillowcase. That's the side that's sewn closed. I know how difficult it is to pick a pillow based on the quick "hand squeeze" we get at most stores. The plastic doesn't let you feel the actual surface and the air cushion from the bag can lead you to believe the pillow is something it isn't. Choose Wisely! -Pillows are NOT returnable at most places. I mean who wants to by a used pillow? Who knows where it's been. Not my cup a tea at all! Since I sleep differently almost all the time. I'm the guy that cannot sleep on airplanes. I wish I could fall asleep anyplace at any time. I have friends like that. Makes for REALLY boring car rides or even quieter RV trips! What I did was buy multiple types. Is this article making you sleepy??? I have 3 pillows on my bed in the RV. High loft, high density one that supports my head. This one has gussets for "side sleepers" This way I can choose my weapons for my mood or sleep pattern. Sometimes I switch in mid-sleep. Hey, normal isn't my thing...OK? There is nothing quite like boondocking in the middle of nowhere and getting a quiet nights sleep, makes all the troubles in the world seem so far away. Somehow, I always sleep better in my RV. Fully Equipped Galley With Coffee Maker! Mmmmmm....coffee. Whether it's for a morning "jolt" to get the day started or as a mid-day "pick me up, " coffee is a good thing! There are many ways to prepare coffee, less ways to prepare good coffee and just about as many opinions on which is best. To give you an idea where I stand, one of the MUST HAVES for my ideal RV was some kind of coffee maker (or two.) On the road it can be a challenge to make a good cup (or pot) of coffee. There are easy ways to brew some and more complex ways, we'll take a look at a few of the more mainstream methods. Let's start with the basics. What makes a good cup good? I believe it's the water that begins the perfect cup. The more impurities in it, the lousier the coffee. Clean, filtered or even bottled water will be fine. Yes, I know there are REAL coffee fanatics that will argue the mineral content and mix will affect flavor, but that's WAY outside the scope of this article! Next is the coffee itself. It's always best to start with beans rather than ground coffee, since the flavors in coffee will begin to oxidize (lose/change flavor) as soon as it is ground. You can even find drip coffee makers that will grind your beans for you! Or simply use a small grinder (about $15) As a bonus, you can use this to grind spices and other small foodstuffs as well. If you want to use ground coffee, do yourself a favor and find a way to seal it into a container and pump out as much air as you can. This will keep it fresher, longer. The ratio of coffee to water is critical, but based upon personal preference rather than science. As is the choice of your coffee. First of the brewing methods is the electric "drip" coffee maker. This is the most basic and usually the least expensive method. A current 10-12 cup unit can cost as little at $15 at the local mega-mart. While these will make a decent pot of coffee if you measure carefully, they aren't the best. They are, usually, the fastest. If your schedule or your brain says, "NEED COFFEE NOW!" than this is the easiest route. Bear in mind you will need 120V power to use it. Whether a generator, shore power, or inverter with a decent sized battery bank. It will require some serious short-term Amps. This makes an OK cup of coffee, a bit on the weak side and is pretty wasteful of the coffee itself. They even make a version of the drip coffee maker that's PROPANE powered. When you're in a hurry, though, it cannot be beat. Let's take a quick sidestep. When I use my large 12 cup coffee maker (when I have the power to spare) in the summer, I'll usually make a pitcher of ICED COFFEE with the remainder. Nothing beats iced coffee in the summer months! Next up is the tried and true, old fashioned "Perk Pot." This was originally designed to brew coffee over an open flame, so will work with almost any high heat source. Your propane stove-top is particularly good at evenly heating the pot. This method boils water into steam and circulates it through a basket of coffee at the top of the pot. There is a small glass "Percolator" at the top where you can watch the color and strength of your brew. In my humble opinion this method really smells the best. I love the smell of coffee in the morning! Some folks say the absolute best flavor from coffee can be had from a "French Press." This device takes a coffee and water solution after it has sit for a few minutes and slowly strains out the coffee by pressing it down with a plunger. The spent coffee ends up at the bottom, locked away by the plunger and you pour off the brew from the top. It does work. You WILL end up with some grounds in your cup AND you have to boil the water before you can use it. It's a bit fussy to use, especially for me in the morning, but it does make a rich flavorful cup. Afterwards you have to disassemble it and clean up. Since there is no filter the grounds have to be rinsed away. If I have lots of time, I would use one. Not often, but sometimes. Instant coffee. Bleh. I put that right up there with non-dairy creamer! I guess if I was backpacking and could only take a tiny amount of stuff...maybe. Now that I think about it....nope. Not even then! You could always just buy a cup at the local convenience store/gas station/coffee shop, but what's the fun in that? My RV has a 42 gallon fresh water tank that I should be using for drinking water, but I don't. It's a 1991 so I really have no idea what's been in it all along. I could (and did) sanitize it with diluted bleach solution and flushed the tank . . . but that's still not enough! Look, I know NASA uses recycled urine in their water supply, but I don't have the necessary machinery nor the space. What now? How about a high quality drinking water filtration system in addition to the one I use when filling my fresh water tank? Let's look at that. One of the least expensive filters, available almost everywhere including Walmart and Amazon.com is made by Camco and does a decent job of filtering incoming water from your hose. Whether that's at home or on the road. According to the literature it filters out almost everything. Sediment, Chlorine, Odors, and even Metals. but doesn't work on Cryptosporidia and Giardia. There is a relatively inexpensive filter that will work on those, but it doesn't flow enough to fill a reasonably sized fresh water tank fast enough. This one can be used under the sink and either plumbed in to your faucet directly, or better yet, plumbed into its' own smaller secondary drinking water spigot. That's the direction I am leaning toward. I have some room under my sink(!) and the install should be pretty straightforward. The idea is to tap into the pipe that feeds water to the kitchen sink. You could place it anywhere you have access to a fresh water pipe, but the kitchen sink seems the most convenient to me. Think cooking and drinking... To properly filter out the the bad stuff a 1 Micron or smaller filter element must be used. Since we will be filtering the water as the fresh water tank is filled with a larger (>1 micron) filter most of the sediment and other impurities will already have been removed so this filter should last quite a long time. Most kits will come with some kind of a valve with a tap for the fresh water line. Some of them include self tapping connectors. These do work, but be careful as vibration from the road may cause them to loosen and ultimately leak. If you've ever installed a self tapping home refrigerator ice maker line you'll understand why these are "iffy." The faucet/spigot assembly is quite small and you can either drill a hole for it to be installed into or do what I am doing and switch to a sprayer/faucet. This is the kind that you pull the faucet out and it becomes the sprayer. Some RVs already have these installed. When mine is converted I will have no need for the existing separate sprayer, so I can re-use that hole to install the new filtered fresh water faucet/spigot. I figure that it will be most useful to have it positioned near where I cook so it would be easy to use. All in all this is an easy modification/upgrade to get done, and not all that expensive. The parts are easily sourced online or at your local Big Box Home Stores. Try it, you'll like it! Rolling Resistance - Time For Tires! Tires. If your RV moves, you need them. I didn't give much thought to my tires when I bought the Aero Cruiser. They were from a warm climate. Stored with tire covers and looked great. Still do in fact. I knew I would need to buy them at some point and I knew that tires can have many things go wrong inside over time that WILL NOT show on the outside of the tire. It's not only about environmental conditions and driving style/speed. There are many factors that can reduce a tire's life-span. After a little bit of research, I found that every tire has a date code stamped on it. If your tire was manufactured after 2000 it will have a four digit code molded into the sidewall rubber. The first 2 digits are the week it was produced in the year. (06 would be February) and 2 digits denoting the year. (11 would be 2011.) If your tire was manufactured previous to 2000 then the date code will only have 3 digits. 2 for the week and ONE for the year. Mine were made in 1999!! Old tires aren't worth the stress and possible disaster. Another Aero Cruiser owner had a rear tire disintegrate while driving. Thankfully no one was hurt, but the damage to the RV was significant. The tire chunks ripped through the fiberglass wheel well through a support and destroyed quite a bit of the interior. This could have been MUCH worse. I am not trying to scare anyone, but with the cost of most tires, it's not much of a cost savings to put it off buying until a failure. The repair to this RV will get into the thousands very quickly. Check your tires! Low or high pressure, condition and age all can contribute to early failures. Yes, I know that tires can go past the 7 year limit imposed by the manufacturer. You'll probably be OK. I mean I'm riding on almost 13 year old tires now. That being said, I WILL be replacing them in the spring before I take any trips at all. My tires aren't that expensive or too hard to find. They are LT235/85 R16 - 10 Ply Load Range "E". That translates to a "Light Truck" tire. I will likely buy whatever model came after the ones I have now from the same manufacturer. The most important thing is to make sure the tire you buy has at least the same load range as the one your RV manufacturer calls for. Load range is what specifies how much weight and individual tire will carry at a given pressure (PSI.) It's a good idea to have your RV weighed at a location that can give you all four corners separately. Make sure you load all you gear and fill the water tank. You can go further and check the weight when you are at half tanks. Often that will change the weight distribution based upon where the tanks actually are mounted in your chassis. These weights will give a true indication of the load/weight that each tire is required to carry. You may find you are overweight...this is bad as it puts additional stress on the tires that could lead to a failure. Not to mention odd handling quirks. The bottom line? Get the correct load range tire for your RV! Everyone who has considered buying an RV of some sort has had to make a choice, often with great compromise. I'm included in that "everyone." When I first began my quest for the perfect RV I really didn't know all that much about them. Sure, I had rented several 40ft Diesel Pushers and gas powered RVs and had owned (briefly) a small travel trailer but past that I was woefully unprepared to face the the myriad choices out there. After some basic research into the various Classes of RV....A, B, C and Travel Trailer with info about the "in-between" B+ styles thrown in, I was more confused than when I started! Obviously, I had to make some choices about how I wanted to use the RV and what features were must haves versus wants. This wasn't as simple as it sounds (not that it sounds simple at all, mind you!) I really had to sit down and think about what was important to me and how and where I would be travelling. After much rumination I finally had a short list, culled from the incredibly long one I started with. Large enough tanks for a minimum of 7 Days boondocking use. That being said, what would I be willing to compromise on? Obviously, if the RV itself were small, space would be at a premium. Storage. More is better, but as long as I could fit what I wanted to take with me that would be OK. Internal space. While it had to be comfortable I could live with a smaller more efficient space. Engine power. I could deal with a smaller engine if it wouldn't struggle with hills/passing. I could spend the time to find the right RV. I could update systems as needed. I could repair/replace some items depending on cost and availability. Once I had these basic decisions made I could begin researching the various types, manufacturers, styles and models. While still a HUGE list of possibles, I had managed to bring down the size to something approaching manageable. There is a saying, "Y.M.M.V." this stands for Your Mileage May Vary. What I was looking for may not be what YOU are looking for, but the basic decisions and process remain the same. The internet is a great resource for research on everything, but the sheer volume of information can be quite overwhelming! Don't try and do everything the first day. Browse around...start with Class A's (or B's or C's) and try to get a feel for what you'd like to have. a typical Class A RV starts with a pre-built chassis and driveline, adds in water/propane tanks, a generator, the exterior body and interior fittings (appliances, cabinets, etc.) Usually these are front engine when using gasoline engines and rear when using diesel (DP or Diesel Pusher) The body fully encloses the chassis, engine and cockpit. a typical Class B RV begins with a van chassis (or the whole van) and at least the front end of the host vehicle and builds on top from there. At the most simple it can be a raised roof on an existing factory van. On the higher end models it can be very much like a lightweight Class C. It has the same, albeit smaller, basics as it's Class C brethren but usually at a cost of smaller interior space, less tank capacity and smaller appliances. a typical Class C RV starts with a large pickup truck or van chassis and adds the entire living area on top. Usually there is a bed above the "cab" of the truck and the rest of the layout overhangs the chassis from side to side and over the back. They are fully equipped with generators, tanks and all the comforts of home, just like a Class A, but can suffer from the limitations of the host vehicle's weight restrictions and are usually not as aerodynamic as a Class A. Since the host vehicle is carrying a lot of weight, often close to it's normal gross (max) weight, the handling can be a bit...well...ponderous. Of course there are also travel trailers, these are designed to be towed by another vehicle and come in all shapes, sizes, configurations and costs. We'll talk about them in another article. Believe me, there are some REALLY cool ones if you want to tow your RV. There are also versions that are in-between the main classes. They can be a bit bigger than their counterparts, i.e. a "B+" or have some variation on the way it's built. I have seen Class B RVs that the entire body is built by the manufacturer like a Class A...take a look at the Winnebago Via/Itasca Reyo from this year as an example. Many of these are built on the "Sprinter Chassis." Be Happy With Your Choice! floorplans and features...I wasn't, so I had a lot of years to go through. Luckily, I had stumbled upon a few RVs that fit my basic decisions within the first few months. The next step was to find out all I could about them. One, the Winnebago Rialta was perfect....or so I thought! It seems that the bathroom isn't a room at all, but an accordion folding wall Rube Goldberg contraption that just wasn't going to work for me. The process of elimination really led me to my final choice. I went through Europas, Maucks, Mallards and all sorts of oddities before I found the Aero Cruiser. Taking Up Time & Space - Air & Space Museum - The OTHER One! Recently, a friend and I took a quick trip to a place I'd never even heard about, The Empire State Aerosciences Museum (ESAM) at Schenectady County Airport in the Town of Glenville, N.Y. Being a long time pilot, I was amazed to have never even heard of this place. Especially since it is at the site of the former General Electric flight test center. After a quick call to their office confirming that they were open we set off on Saturday morning from my base 90 miles North East of NYC or about 1.5 hours away. Arrived without any incidents at all! Likely a first for me.... We set up in a small "offshoot" parking lot in front of the outdoor aircraft display. The Museum itself spans two complete buildings and a very large section of the tarmac. They have some amazing displays inside including a full size Lockheed Electra as flown by Amelia Earhart. There are several interactive exhibits that you play with. Many of them are electrically powered aircraft you can "fly." I'm pretty far from being a kid these days, but they were a blast to mess with. Inside, are many old and newer aircraft; kits, military, civilian and antique. You can sit in most of them and there are no ropes preventing you from closely examining most of the exhibits. Being a helicopter pilot, I naturally liked the Hughes OH-6 chopper. In the second museum building there is an entire exhibit showing several space missions with NASA memorabilia and a large interactive moonscape. In the second room there is a 20foot+ model of a World War II Japanese aircraft carrier. The detail level was/is AMAZING! Thery were showing "TORA! TORA! TORA!" on a video monitor to set the right "atmosphere." Outside, their display is outstanding. There are aircraft from all over the world, from every branch of the armed services and many from other nations as well. Jets, Turboprops and Helicopters you can get up close and personal with. There were quite a few families there and the kids appeared to be having a great time. There's even a Mig 15 (Ex-Soviet era Chinese version) that kids can sit in and wear a fighter jock helmet for a great photo-op. Mere words cannot do justice to the myriad of sights at this "off the beaten path" destination. Here are some photos to give you an idea of what I mean! Be aware that the formatting of this article will get all funky when it's published. Sadly, I have no real control as to the layout that you'll see. But hey, the pictures are neat! So many things to see, we had to stay overnight to get a close look at everything. I highly recommend this as a stop on any trip through the area. The folks are incredibly nice and the museum is interesting and informative. If you enjoy aircraft served with a bit of history. You can't go wrong here. Besides, it's pretty neat to stay overnight at a large airport. Well, at least I think so! If you have any suggestions for similar stops, let me know. I'm starting to compile a "destinations" book now. Hey, I have to keep myself occupied during the winter No-RV season. You know? Road Trip: 1 MILLION Square Feet of Stuff AND Free Overnights! The Road Trip, a great way to get something done while enjoying the amenities provided by our "homes on wheels." If given the choice of driving my RV or flying to a destination, or even driving there and staying in a hotel, I will always choose the RV. There just isn't any other way to have such a secure feeling. I mean, you have your own "stuff," your own bed, your own bathroom and shower and get to eat whatever you want. Of course, it can be a great cost savings as well, depending on the distance and the time you are staying there. Personally, I hate packing and unpacking so having my own closet and drawers is a great thing. This past season, I finally had the opportunity to take a road trip to the Cabela's flagship store in Hamburg, Pennsylvania. For those of you who don't know, Cabela's is a large national retail and catalog seller of all things outdoor. From camping to hunting to clothing they really have an enormous selection. I've been receiving their catalog for years. Catalogs are great, but there is no substitute for actually seeing, touching and handling something you want to buy. Enter the Mega Store! Cabela's opened this flagship store a few years back, it sits on a hill off US Route 78 and PA Routes 22/61 (100 Cabela's Drive) and is easily accessible. The parking lot is HUGE and, get ready, they offer free overnight RV parking AND a Fresh Water/Dump station! There's also a free set of dog kennels and a horse paddock (!) for the use of their customers. Wow, wouldn't it be nice if more businesses cared so much about their RV customers! Adjacent to the store itself (across the street, down a perimeter road) are several gas stations, a Cracker Barrel and a Large RV/Boat Retailer with parts and service as well as a Propane refilling station. Enough about the outside....once you enter the store (and get over the shock) you'll see a well planned maze of outdoor merchandise. Depending on what your interests are you'll likely find it here. I, being the "frugal" (that's a nice way of saying cheap) guy I am, make a bee-line for the Clearance section. This part of the store is always worth a look. The merchandise changes often and there are bargains to be had for the smart shopper. Of course it's the size of a regular sporting goods store all by itself. I try and work my way around the first floor from there, hitting the sections I like. If you are into firearms of ANY type, be prepared to spend a lot more time here. There is even an entire antique arms "library" you can peruse with every conceivable vintage firearm.Then I go upstairs to the restaurant for a snack and the candy/sweet shop for more snacks (for later of course.) Then on to the second floor camping and cooking sections. There's also an electronic shooting arcade on this floor. Be prepared to take MANY hours to go through the whole thing. I usually get there in the evening on the first day and then finish up the following morning before going on my way. Did I mention it isn't just shopping? There is a full sized Aquarium in the store. Oh, and a mountain in the middle that has tons of taxidermy animals all over/around/beside it...with a stream/pond complete with fish and bridges. This place is unbelievable. Besides those attractions, there is a big game museum in one corner with Lion's, Gazelles, Elephants, and a bunch of other Safari-type trophies and a separate museum for North American big game. This one has an animatronic storyteller sitting in a rocking chair in front of his rustic cabin. Press a button and he'll entertain you for a while. I try and make this a return stop for any trips I take going to the South. It's really on my way home and is simply a great area to check out. I can refill my water tank and stay for the night. I'm not really all that outdoorsy...I don't fish or hunt, but I do like camping gear and gadgets, lots of nice clothing and food. I am in NO way affiliated with Cabela's at all, with the exception of spending too much money there! I just like the place is all. Yes, I know that's obvious. Trust me....you'll like it too.

2019-04-22T00:57:13Z

http://www.thewanderman.com/2012/

Small-group activities are a vital tool for educators because they provide dynamic peer-teaching moments, foster collaboration and provide community. However, small-groups can hinder student growth if not properly monitored. This session aims to create an understanding of how small-group dynamics can affect or disaffect the free flow of ideas. As such, we will analyze an example of a small-group activity that was administered in a Freshman Seminar course at Kennesaw State University. Strategies in which educators can effectively assess group dynamics and help students learn to be proactive collaborators will also be discussed. How is your "educational health?" Are you a good teacher? How do you know? How can you tell? Are your students really learning under your instruction? How do you know? Is it whether or not the class majority gets A's? This session will explore some simple, basic characteristics for answers to these questions. This is for the teacher who wants to have a "check-up" as to his (or her) effectiveness as a communicator of knowledge and also who wants to grow and better himself at his attempts to share knowledge with his students. Perhaps, to a degree, this session can serve as a ruler to measure a teacher's efforts. Just like we get physical check-ups to determine if we are healthy, maybe we need to perform educational check-ups to see if we are healthy teachers. Come, learn, and share! Like many institutions, Georgia State University utilizes Part-Time Instructors (PTIs) or adjunct faculty. In Fall 2016, Georgia State offered its first Part-Time Instructor Orientation, aimed at preparing PTIs to incorporate active learning techniques. We will discuss findings on the impact of our PTI orientation, especially in the areas of active learning and assessment. The presenters will provide examples and data from the orientation and conclude by working with attendees to help them develop their own active-learning PTI orientations and/or workshops and resources. Nanotechnology intersects many fields from the semiconductor industry, to aerospace and medicine. As part of the scholarly activity for part time faculty, I propose a course designed for non-science or engineering majors, to stimulate these student's scientific curiosity that provides an introduction into a realm of nanoscience. I will provide visual presentations and demonstrations encouraging STEM participation for KSU students. The focus will be on nanotechnology, materials, polymers and biopolymers, and the industries and applications that use these. The math pre-requisites will require algebra and geometry, and students who have taken either chemistry or physics will find the course interesting. Since its first release, Chicago's Bloodshot Records has continuously employed a format featuring multiple performers, including compilations, free samplers and digital downloads, and tribute albums. The first album was a convenient and cost-effective way to begin a record label, but Bloodshot’s use of the format is critical to the label’s identity, branding, and musical practice. The collaborative nature of the compilation draws on Bloodshot’s roots in the punk scene, but its early albums featured country music, and the label’s use of cover songs and tribute albums engage traditions and practices that are entrenched in country music history. Bloodshot’s use of covers and tribute albums merge a local identity with a broader national identity, establishing a particular musical lineage by associating the label with distinct versions of “authentic” country music. This session examines the record label’s use of tribute albums, considering the star persona of the artists receiving tribute, but also the featured artists, the “original songs” and the cover versions. These projects are significant for the layers of meaning they contribute to Bloodshot Records’ branding and identity by historicizing and legitimating the record label’s early insurgent country offerings, but they also expanded Bloodshot’s brand and identity beyond a punk and regional reputation through an association with nationally and internationally known artists. Part-time, adjunct, and contingent educators are some of the most experienced educators teaching today. In many cases, they have taught thousands of students and are experts at juggling many classes and varying school calendars at once. Their time management skills are top notch, and they continue to hone their craft every time they step in front of a classroom. Some contingent faculty may not yet have applied their expertise in the online classroom, however. For those interested, teaching online can be advantageous to part-time, adjunct, and contingent educators for many reasons, especially in terms of professional development and increased flexibility at work. This session is intended for those who want to know more about online teaching best practices such as writing learning objectives, designing courses, and engaging students. Not only will this session draw on best practices from an instructional design perspective, it will also highlight individual experiences teaching in the online classroom and will invite sharing from the audience. Audience participation will be welcome and encouraged. Lifelong learning encompasses education during every stage of life; from pre-school to continuing adult education for older adults. The type of education can be formal, as in traditional brick-and-mortar institutions, to seminars, trade schools and e-learning platforms. Lifelong learning has been shown to increase employability, happiness, wellbeing and even health. All over the world, countries, townships and universities are committing resources to lifelong learning. Adjunct professors have a special opportunity to embody this drive of lifelong learning. Many adjuncts are working in the field while teaching thus being the models of practitioner-scholar where they can provide the practical applications of the knowledge imparted in the courses they teach. In addition, adjuncts are in a position to also model the change from the typical pedagogy to a heutagogy that nurtures and supports a lifelong learner. This motivational keynote shares Paul Hernandez’s personal story and testimony to the challenges he, like many other youth, faced growing up and how he overcame adversity. Paul shares how he used education as a source of empowerment to transform his life. The purpose of this keynote is to inspire and motivate the audience while providing an opportunity to answer any questions audience members ask. The keynote is targeted to diverse audiences including higher education, K–12 education, and non-profit organizations. Please provide your session abstract. This is what will be visible on the schedule and what will help attendees decide what session to attend. Your abstract is limited to 250 words. Teaching online can be a challenge due to some of the limitations of the environment. Many times something you can use in a face-to-face class requires a lot of creativity to use in an online class. The presentation will demonstrate the conversion of two activites from face-to-face to online classes. The activites are for Sociology courses; however, can be applied to other courses. Benefits and challenges will be discussed based on the application of these activites in class. For the last few years, while teaching New York City art and design students how to write critically about visual culture, I have been working on a novel set in suburban Chicago during the year 1983. The book is centered around the family of Varkey Kurathela. Varkey is an Indian immigrant who, unable to find a new job after he’s laid off from the insurance firm where he worked as an electrical engineer, battles severe depression -- until he discovers a cause. To the bafflement of his wife, he decides he won’t mow their lawn for environmental reasons. Worse still, instead of paying the tickets sent by the County Board for violating its beautification ordinance, he intends to challenge them at the public Board meeting. I will be reading from the first chapter, about Varkey’s 12-year-old daughter, Annamol. Annamol’s neighbors, white American twins of the same age, whom she has lived next door to since she was 4-years old -- and who were once her best friends -- have suddenly taken to calling her a racial slur at school. One summer morning, despite her best efforts, she finds herself face-to-face with her tormenters when they cross from their backyard into hers. I would like to end the session by opening a discussion about how our experience of race and class have changed, especially in relation to our public discourse, since the 1980s. The rich tradition of folk music from the Andean region of South America is largely unfamiliar to audiences in the Southeastern United States. The vivacious rhythmic patterns, soulful melodies, and interesting instrumentation make this music memorable and enjoyable. Members of the local ensemble Vientos del Pueblo discuss and perform instrumental arrangments of three traditional Andean pieces. Commentary is included for each selection, along with a brief introduction to the history of Andean folk music. Colleen Fitzgerald is a New England based educator and independent fine arts professional. Her visual arts practice incorporates a combination of experimental and traditional photography. Fitzgerald earned a Master of Fine Arts from Parsons School of Design and a Bachelor of Arts from Boston College. She delivers talks at institutions across the country and exhibits work internationally. Her artwork has been featured by the Society for Photographic Education, Filter Photo Festival, Pingyao Photography Festival, Berlin Foto Biennale, InVision Photography Festival, and more. In this twenty-five minute Creative Activity Session, Fitzgerald will provide an overview of select experimental photography projects that illustrate how her work merges both analog and digital media, utilizes camera-less techniques, combines sculpture and photography, and more. No prior knowledge of photography or fine arts is necessary to attend this session. ABSTRACT Businesses in the United States can choose from many different styles and types of growth opportunities, but they are still structured and directed by government regulations at both the national, regional, and state levels. The volume of law affecting businesses, often poses serious challenges in defining illegality and misconduct or setting financial, tax, and operational codes for that a business must follow. The many business laws can be divided into several primary groups, depending on what aspect of the business they affect. The subject of this research is to discover how government laws and regulations affect marketing of consumer products and whether these regulations stifle or help promote the growth of businesses. Both secondary sources and empirical research methods are employed in the research to help affirm research questions. Online teaching requires a lot of written communication by both students and faculty. Using the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework we can learn to new ways to interpret discussion forum exchanges and individual messages. The level of cognitive presence is linked to the health of an online community. In this session, we will consider different interpretations of online community health via discussion forums and how instructors can play a role to improve the CoI. We will consider the long held belief that higher order thinking is always the goal by applying a new metaphor for evaluating the health of a discussion forum. Collaborative Make Up Exams and Course Based Research Experiences in General Biology I overlapped for three semesters. The lecture and laboratory sections were taught by adjunct faculty, post docs as well as a full professor in the department. Students in all labs completed a modified version of David Lopatto’s Classroom Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) survey to indicate self perceived learning gains. Students who participated in the collaborative make up exams also completed a collaborative make-up exam questionnaire that provided valuable data and reflective feedback. In this presentation, we will compare overall grade performance from students who had Collaborative make up exams only; Collaborative make up exams + Course based Research Experiences; and Course based Research Experiences only. This session is a sharing of poetry and stories presented as analyzed data from two separate dissertations written by two administrators serving in the same school. Both administrators participated in separate, simultaneous book studies of The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children (2009) by Gloria Ladson-Billings. Participants explored culturally relevant pedagogy as a means of examining sensitive issues such as language, culture, race, and ethnicity in an urban elementary school. Learn about creating animated movement, with a focus on the history of traditional 2-dimensional animation and how students today are using the same principles as animators at the Walt Disney Studios developed years ago. Beginning with a study of create moving drawings, looking at animation work from the 1930s to the visuals of current media that are creating movement within a digital platform, utilizing the latest computer software - that mimics the methods of traditional techniques. Observe character sketches come to life in this demonstration which is open to all skill levels. There will be a historical animation activity for participants to attempt which may also be taken home to share with family and friends. Basic skills developed during marriage enrichment training can also be applied within work settings. Promoting role and job resources leads to work and family enrichment that influences positive outcomes at home and at work (Hakanen, Peeters, & Perhonoemi, 2011). According to Greenhaus and Powell (2006), the work-family enrichment experience in one role can improve the quality of life in the family-work role. Effective communication, conflict management, stress management, and emotional intelligence are universal skills that provide benefits to marriage enrichment training participants and employers. Common workplace skills outlined in the study are helpful when employees take ownership in learning job-readiness competencies and have the emotional intelligence to use them at home and work. Each workplace skill is vital to the health of the organization and the employee (Finegold & Notabartolo, 2010). Health and wellness programming has become more diverse to meet the needs of a changing workforce. Marriage enrichment training is a useful way to gain loyalty while meeting the relationship needs of the workforce. This session provides new insight on optimizing organizational resources such and marriage enrichment training to build a stable and productive work environment to create business alignment that gets results. Members of the Modern Language Association’s Committee on Contingent Labor in the Profession — Mary-Beth Brophy, Veronica Popp, and William Christopher Brown — will lead a roundtable discussion of the role that membership in national organizations can play in helping contingent faculty gain agency in our working conditions. Topics for discussion include hidden labor, right to work and at-will laws, and the unique challenges faced by online contingent faculty. The panel title plays on the connotation of “join the club” as an indicator that we are together in facing similar challenges, as well as a literal interpretation that it is valuable to join organizations that unite people with shared interests. One challenge that contingent faculty members face is a diminished sense of connection with their home institutions (Kezar, 2012, p. xi), and national memberships can help mitigate that sense. Attendees are encouraged to bring your own questions and concerns for discussion by panelists and other contingent faculty. Kezar, A. (2012). Preface. In Adrianna Kezar (Ed.), Embracing non-tenure track faculty: Changing campuses for the new faculty majority. New York & London: Routledge. Too many students in survey history classes expect memorization of facts rather than living history. Why not present the course as historical “science non-fiction time travel?” Time 1 emphasizes "history = now," featuring current events and past times needed to understand hot issues. Time 2 uses science to probe Deep History for pre-historic origins of what makes us human. Time 3 is the cosmic story of Big History which combines all sciences in a narrative of the universe of the past, present, and distant future. Let’s replace memorization of history with historical time-voyaging! Your abstract is limited to 250 words. Please join us for libations and heavy hors d'oevres to end the conference. We hope you have enjoyed SPACE 2017!

2019-04-20T13:03:03Z

https://www.spaceducators.com/2017/schedule/2017-06-10

The seems to be a great deal of hustle, bustle and activity going on as you exit the escalator on the conference room floor. Building security is apologetically denying anyone the use of the elevators which now apparently temporarily require pass keys to access. At every level when you change escalators there are strange looking guards. They appear to be CyberLethals dressed in body armor very reminiscent of the Mega City Police Force in the Judge Dredd movies. Magical Dancing Shelleigh seem to have replaced stun batons but there are holstered side arms that look astonishingly like Lawgiver 2000s. As you cautiously enter the Conference Room, you see a bevy of activity on the stage area. People in suits at tables labeled for different agencies talking on phones, headsets and at computer screens. Four others are busily updating a very large Plexiglas map of the US while several dusty, dirty dwarves smelling strongly of peat smoke alternate between coughing, drinking water and updating two other people in front of a diagram that resembles a mine cross section. Roughly 20 % of the tunnels are colored in red. Lethal looking slightly the worse for his near capture of Impish is sporting a black eye and bruised left side of his face, his customary top hat, abet with a hastily scrawled sign “BOSS MAN” jammed in the hat band is currently standing in the middle of the seating area talking up at the big screen which has been divided into 6 smaller screens. “Alright, listen up, people. Our fugitive has been on the run for approximately One Hundred Twenty hours now. His average waddle speed over uneven ground barring injuries is 1.5 miles-per-hour. While his flight speed maxes out at Mach 0.9 That gives us a radius of between 180 miles and just about anywhere inside CONUS. What I want from each and every one of you is a hard-target search of every Restaurant , residence, warehouse, Pasta house, farmhouse, Pizza house henhouse, Taco house outhouse Sorority house cat house bawdy house and doghouse in that area. Checkpoints go up every fifteen miles Air patrols every One Hundred miles Concentric . Your fugitive’s name is Impish Dragon. He’ll scream he has Diplomatic Immunity, well not from his business partner he doesn’t. When you have him located advise the nearest JudgeCyberLethal team and wait for them before attempting to apprehend him. Lethal turns to you all looking in nervously from the hallway and smiles motioning you all to enter. Once done he turns toward the stage and lets out a piercing whistle. Several people look up at him and he mimes working a curtain rope. Suddenly the stage curtains start closing and shut off your view of the activity going on on stage. “NOW I know a few of you, especially the wimmin folk are a wee vexed with me over putting out that wanted poster on Impish. A few of you have even gone so far as to suggest improper treatment by me of Impish and even hint at unwarranted Dragon persecution by me. Please allow me to explain what exactly Impish has done for you since the events of Saturday as witnessed by all of us and the subsequent Wanted Poster apparently didn’t spell it out well enough. Those tunnels that he’s made such free use of were in fact part of an old coal mining complex on that side of the mountain. The particular tunnels in question were left open and connected to our corporate complex and designated a ‘Dragon emergency escape route’ largely because they were big enough to fit his robustly rotund rump through and the rails made a very handy set of runners for a sort of auto piloted skateboard/flatbed to assist Impish with exiting with all due haste in the event of trouble. Mr. Lazy decided to start making use to them to get to the Saturday Morning Meadow instead of taking the longer public way around. NOW he’s apparently added all manner of unauthorized extra equipment and mechanics to the area (at corporate expense & with corporate manpower w/o approval) which the mine was never intended to have and for very good reason. That reason is the type of coal that was mined here, Lignite specifically, Lignite has a high content of volatile matter which means its very easy to burn. Unfortunately, its high moisture content and susceptibility to spontaneous combustion can cause problems in transportation and storage. Or when some dolt of a dim bulb dragon starts hydraulic and electrical fires simultaneously in an abandoned Lignite mine!. I think you can see where many of the charges are stemming from now. Some of the Dwarves Impish strong armed into assisting him are missing, and are presumably still someplace in the smoke, heat & fire filled mine. A mine which runs under a good part of the meadow, especially the seating area. When I contacted our insurance company about a construction related catastrophe they responded ‘what construction? You said the Recreational & Reception Center was completed. A few fast questions with the local contractors and building department revealed that Impish had not followed proper procedure or planning. 1.) He was serving my Brown Gold yesterday not the Patron’s Special Roast to Patrons. He knows better and has been warned I wasn’t going to stand for it anymore. The cost of making my blend has become so cost prohibitive that I may have to stop making it. If I choose to share it that’s my prerogative, its not his. I did what to who???? No. No. No. I didn’t start any fires!!!! I was above ground at the time!! You all SAW me!!! And I did NOT serve your brown gold!!! When have I ever even had ACCESS to your Brown Gold? And when have I ever been the one who served ANYTHING at an issue? That’s what we have kitchen staff for! No. I’m staying in hiding and keeping away until these horrible and salubrious charges are dropped! You’ll never find … … Hang on a sec. Someone’s at the door. Oh hey Lethal, come on in. I was just sending a … LETHAL!!!!! How did you find me?!?! Ow! No!! Ouch!! Not the shillelaghs! Ouch! Leprechaun down! Leprechaun is down! We need those medics up here now! Impish had door way trapped. Cleaned Lethal off his feet with a swinging pony keg of Lethal’s own Ale! Impish shouted about being innocent and escaped out the back. See? All very simple. legal and justifiable by the circumstances. I would ask that if he contacts any of you for aid or information that you not aid him but rather urge him to turn himself in instead. He will get a fair and impartial hearing and though they will be checked for files, hack saw blades and other contraband, Ginny will be allowed to send him as many Taylor Pork Rolls as she wishes. NOW if you’ll excuse me, I have a scared out of his none too reasonable mind Dragon to find and you folks have an issue to get to. OH would someone do me a favor and strap Ginny into the 4 point seat harness I’ve taken the liberty of having installed on her seat and tipping it back slightly? Pumpkin Spice French Toast Casserole is one of today’s recipes and I’m concerned for her knees. As the man threw a few bucks into her cup the nun launched into a long tirade about the evils of alcohol. She went on and on about how alcohol was tearing apart the fabric of society and how it was the root of all the city’s problems. “You’re on!” said the guy. Charity is supposed to begin at home! Take care of those who defended us not those who’d attack us! America and Americans first! I’m not entirely sure what the rules are to this game, but I think I get the general idea. It might be fun to play, but it’s definitely fun to watch! Enjoy this weird traditional Viking game where burly men try to hit each other with pouches or satchels. A klaxon starts sounding and various screens around the room begin flashing the above message. Lethal who has been mingling with you and periodically sticking his head through the curtain for updates makes a mad dash for the curtain while calling out, “ Excuse me folks we have a possible Impish sighting.” A moment or two passes before Lethal comes out form behind the curtain and in response to all the questions just shake his head then clicks his remote silencing the klaxon and replacing the alert message with the following image on the screens. The band Survivor is upset over the use of the song “Eye of the Tiger” at the rally for imprisoned Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis. That boys and girls is one quarter of an entire muffaletta, this particular one is an Italian muffaletta which is the traditional style however other interpretations abound. It beats the hell out of a Jersey hard roll with Taylor Pork Roll on it hands down everyday of the week. Too bad Impish had to pull his chicanery, I had ordered and extra whole one for him alone since the entire thing will weigh in at about three pounds. A muffuletta is a large, round, and somewhat flattened loaf with a sturdy texture, around 10 inches across. It is described as being somewhat similar to focaccia. Bread used for the Muffuletta is different from focaccia, however, in that it is a very light bread, the outside is crispy, and the inside is soft. It also has no additional seasonings baked into it, aside from the sesame seeds. The bread is more like French bread, but slightly heavier. A traditional style muffuletta sandwich consists of a muffuletta loaf split horizontally and covered with layers of marinated olive salad, Moraxella, salami, mozzarella, ham, and provolone. The sandwich is sometimes heated to soften the provolone. Quarter, half, and full-sized muffulettas are sold. The traditional way to serve the sandwich at is cold, but many vendors will toast it. The muffuletta sandwich has its origins at the Central Grocery in the French Quarter of New Orleans. According to Marie Lupo Tusa, daughter of the Central Grocery’s founder, it was born when Sicilian farmers selling their produce at the nearby Farmers’ Market would come into her father’s grocery for lunch and order some salami, ham, cheese, olive salad, and either long braided Italian bread or a round muffuletta loaf. In typical Sicilian fashion they ate everything separately sitting on crates or barrels while precariously balancing their meals on their knees. Her father suggested cutting the bread and putting everything on it like a sandwich, even if it was not typical Sicilian fashion. The thicker braided Italian bread proved too hard to bite and the softer round muffuletta loaf won out. Shortly thereafter, farmers that came for lunch began merely asking for “muffulettas”. Enough with the food lessons some of you are beginning to scare me they way you’re looking at my sandwich! GO find your own! Mean while lets cooks something. First something tasty and healthy before we get to the knee buckling. As sweater season descends upon us, we usher hearty flavors into our kitchen. Pasta enveloped in a thick, rich sauce of butternut squash and bacon seems just right for this time of year. Goes well with breakfast sausage or diced smoked ham too. This butternut Alfredo-style sauce is velvety-smooth and satisfying, but it’s far from heavy. In fact, it’s actually healthy. The dish packs 5 grams of fiber and a whopping 100 percent of your daily value for vitamin A. Yes, you will use a bit of bacon, but because you’re swapping out the butter you’d normally use to make the classic Alfredo sauce — and using the same amount of bacon fat instead — it’s basically a wash in terms of calories. Happily, the scant 1 tablespoon of bacon fat infuses the entire dish with smoky yumminess. Using a fork, poke a few holes in skin of squash. Place entire squash in microwave and cook on high power for 5 minutes. Remove squash using towel or oven mitts and allow to cool for a few minutes. In a large pot, cook penne (whole-grain and regular white pasta together) according to directions on the regular pasta box (as it takes a little longer to cook than whole-grain pasta). Drain pasta, reserving about 1/2 cup pasta water. In same large pot, brown bacon over medium-high heat. Remove bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate, reserving bacon fat (about 1 tablespoon). Whisk flour into bacon fat over medium heat. Slowly whisk in warm milk and cook, stirring, until beginning to bubble. Cook, stirring, about 2 minutes, until thick. Reduce heat to low and stir in reserved squash puree; cook until warm, about 2 minutes. Stir in cheese, thyme, salt, pepper and 1 to 2 tablespoons pasta water if sauce seems too thick. Gently toss in pasta and reserved bacon. Serve with additional shredded cheese if desired. * For the best flavor and good nutrition, use half whole-grain and half regular white pasta. This autumn-inspired casserole is both custardy and crunchy and perfect for brunch–or even dessert. We use pumpkin pie puree, which comes pre-sweetened and spiced, lending an extra touch of warmth. Since the unbaked casserole needs to rest overnight, this is an ideal make-ahead company-worthy dish. For the casserole: Generously grease a 3-quart casserole dish with the butter. Arrange the bread slices over the bottom of the dish, overlapping them slightly. Whisk the eggs, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla and salt in large bowl until smooth and well combined. Whisk in the milk and cream. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the bread slices, making sure that all slices are well coated. Cover the casserole dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or up to overnight. As the klaxon sounds Lethal is off the arm of a newly minted Patron’s chair at a dash. “Here we go again folks!” Again a short two minutes later he returns shaking his head but with apparently optimism as he points the remote at the screens and clicks it. If you’ve ever been to Baltimore, you know the Inner Harbor doesn’t have a great reputation. But now there’s something amazing and ingenious that could change everything about the waterfront. You have to see it to believe it. “You will understand,” he said, “the seal of the confessional, can never be broken. However, I got my first impressions of the parish from the very first confession I heard here. I can only hint vaguely about this, but when I came here twenty-five years ago I thought I had been assigned to a terrible place. The very first chap who entered my confessional told me how he had stolen a television set, and when stopped by the police, had almost murdered the officer. Further, he told me he had stolen money from his parents, embezzled money from his place of business, had an affair with his boss’s wife, taken illegal drugs, and given VD to his cousin. Don’t be first in line for anything, unless its an ammo resupply. Don’t be last in line for anything. Don’t be caught looking like you have nothing to do or no place to be. Had a few of these left in strategic places Impish might check out as possible hides. Female Virgin Barbarian Dragon Hunters. Very rare, very expensive but highly effective! As Lethal rounds the podium to introduce his Parting Shot Commentary for the week, yet again the klaxon sounds causing him to make the just one minute gesture and disappear behind the curtain yelling “Someone tell me we got him this time!” A minute later his head and hand appear, Lethal says, “Sorry to duck out early but I’m apparently going to have to teach a few Feds their primary fricken colors!” and the remote is clicked. International Day for the Elderly is dedicated to honor, respect and care for the world’s elderly. Remember, someday you hope to be included among this group! In 1990, the United Nations General Assembly designated October 1st as the International Day for the Elderly, also known as the “International Day for Older Persons”. The holiday is the result of the UN World Assembly on Aging which was formed in 1982 to explore and tend to the needs of the elderly in the world. Did you Know? According to the United Nations, “one of every 10 persons is now 60 years or older. By the year 2050, one of five will be 60 years or older; by 2150, it will be one of three persons”. Let’s face it what they are talking about appreciating is old farts, and there are more than a few of you out there reading this. Recently I heard a member of the iGeneration rather rudely and loudly proclaim in apparent frustration that all old farts should just “STFU and get out of our way, have the good manners enough to just die already or should all just be put down.” No, I don’t need bail money or a good criminal defense lawyer, Molly managed verbally pull me off him before I could drown him in his own pool. His mortified mother figures I saved her from committing filicide and his father decked him once he stopped choking on pool water and stood up. Old Farts remove their hats and stand at attention and sing, without embarrassment. They know the words and believe in them. Old Farts remember World War II, Normandy, Spitfires and Hitler. They remember the Atomic Bomb, Vietnam, the Korean War, the Cold War, the Moon Landing and all the Peacekeeping Missions from 1945, to 2005. If you bump into an Old Fart on the pavement, he will apologize. If you pass an Old Fart on the street, he will nod or tip his cap, to a lady. Old Farts trust strangers and are polite, particularly to women. They seldom brag, except about their children and grandchildren. It’s the Old Farts, who know our great country is protected, not by politicians, but by the young men and women, in the Air Force, Army, and Navy. Pass this on to all the “Old Farts” you know. That Muffaletta sandwich looks mighty tasty….any chance of having one made and sent by Fed Ex? You were so right on the warning on your Pumpkin Spice French Toast. Has my mouth drooling somewhat….tis the season for Pumpkins. Your best bet Ginny it to locate the Jason’s Deli in Maryland and get one there. They’re best eaten fresh as the vinegar & oil from the olive salad tends to make the bread squishy after about 1/2 a day. world famous sandwiches, but the one you sent looks better…lol We were in Maryland…no stops driving to Virginia.

2019-04-20T13:31:53Z

https://dragonlaffs.com/2015/09/30/leprechaun-laughs-318-for-wednesday-sept-30th-2015/

Under this new thread we will be putting up Sakhi’s and Teachings related to our Guru Sahibs and their Sikhs which have been written/translated by admin. Some of these posts will be new and some will be from our archives. This thread will eventually become our last sticky thread. So I will urge our readers not to make any comments on this thread, if you have a query or you want to add something then please start a new post. Below is the first of our posts. Guru Nanak Dev Jee on his travels to the west met a Fakir by the name of Shah Sharaf. The Fakir had been harbouring many questions and was looking for someone to put his mind to rest. Seeing Guru Nanak Dev Jee he took the opportunity to conclude his search. Only a true Fakir could satisfy him and answer his questions. The following is the discourse that originally took place in Farsi between Shah Sharaf and Sree Guru Nanak Dev Jee. The questions and answers were short but the meanings are very deep. There is a lot to be learnt from this conversation. Q : What is the beginning for a Fakir (recluse) ? Q: Where does Fakiree end? Q: What is the Key? Q: Which is the Food? Q: Which is the Robe/Garment (to be worn)? Q: What is the necklace of a Fakir? Q: Which is the smoke for the Fakirs? Q: What is used to cover the head? Q: Which is the home? Q: Which are the arms? Q: Which is the position? Q: What is a Journey? Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2010 03:13PM by admin. Guru Angad Dev jee spoke very little. He would come to Sangat and give advice or explain bani and succinctly express Gurmat in short saloks. Guru Sahib used to say that one who has recognised that the world is only temporary will not spend all his effort on gathering wealth. Guru Sahib told his Sikhs that a truly successful person was not one with the most wealth. If they can see that a human comes with nothing and leaves with nothing, why would they spend all their time on collecting money? Such money-hungry people are driven by worldly praise and seek wealth to get it. Guru Sahib told his Sikhs to forget all worldly praise and greatness. Guru Sahib used to tell the Sangat not to be influenced by the rich as well. To please them, it is not necessary to humble or lower yourself. Doing this increases fear and powerlessness. Vahiguru showers his blessings on all. The rich and powerful are also just ordinary humans. When the call of death comes, their wealth will not help them stay here or extend their life. Work is important but when doing this, it is important to not let ego enter the mind. It is important to do simran and sing shabads when working. With simran, the individual becomes so calm and stable that no worldly problem can shake him. There is no greater education than being immersed in Naam. Leaving this and looking towards any other support or sustenance brings only pain. Those who mock the path of Bhagti are showing their own ignorance and idiocy. 1) Whatever wealth or possessions you have should be shared with others. Do not waste what you have on pointless things like showing off to others. Share what you have with the poor and those engaged in Bhagti. 2) It is also a virtue to use your body to help others. Serving others prevents ego. Helping others with humility and sweetness. 3) To use the tongue to give knowledge and encouragement about the Guru and Naam is the third important way of helping others. 3) Not to waste time without naam. Do simran with every breath. Do not spend time on fruitless activity. 5) Have a giving attitude and forsake the desire to take and seize. Give what you have and feel good about it. Desire Good for others. 6) Go to the Dharamshala (Gurdwara) to listen and also to do humble seva. 7) Consider yourself to be a slave of Vahiguru. Consider everything you have as his and his gift to you. 8) Know Vahiguru to be your friend. Believe that your friend will never want to harm you. Whatever He does will be for your benefit. 9) Submit your everything to Vahiguru. Even make yourself a sacrifice and have no attachment to anything. When these become a part of your life, you will feel Divine Love. Everything will seem like it is bloom. You will fee waves of love. You will be in the world but rise above it like the lotus. The Bhagat's face will glow red by drinking the nectar and will feel Vahiguru's blessings constantly fall to him. Vahiguru himself will complete the Bhagat's tasks so that he is not distracted from the true goal. “Be kind to everyone. Having pride over anything is not noble. Consider the company (immoral relations) with another woman to be like the company of a snake or a murderous elephant. Never even by mistake go into bad Sangat (company). Humility is the greatest weapon. Never speak badly. Those who praise themselves are always lost. The path of dharma is the abandoning of slander (ninda). Don’t spend or eat more than you need to. Also work just as much as you need to. Don’t do anything above and beyond the need for it. Leave behind fakeness and hypocrisy. A life of false show is always a painful one. If someone is a Sikh of the Guru, listen and obey him. Loving another woman, even if she is a devotee of God (bhagtaNee) is a relationship which will result in loss not gain. Go to and meet the Shabad of the Guru. Do not go somewhere where the Guru is forgotten. Eat when you are hungry. Don’t fill what is already filled. But don’t abandon food either. Sleep when you feel very sleepy. Don’t sleep without feeling tired. Don’t pain your body. Listen to the stories of the Guru. Singh Shabads and listen too. Don’t’ speak falsehood. If someone is forgetting about the Guru, try and remind them. Speak to them from the heart. If they don’t listen, then it’s up to them. Take the Guru’s words to heart. Give (the Guru) at least a tenth of your earnings. Keep the company of good people and serve those you encounter. Before putting anything in your mouth, say Vahiguru. Vahiguru will bless it. Those who have day and night japed Vahiguru, and left their ego, they are the truly high and good ones. Controlling one’s desires is Dharam. One who does this is jeevan mukat (liberated while alive). One who is beloved of God cannot ever remain bound by any restraints. He is free. He is above all tradition, custom, fortune, luck, and delusion." Guru jee would rise with one quarter of the night remaining. He would not wake anyone else. He would bathe using water brought by his seva Bhai Buloo jee (who was always with him). Guru jee, historians right, would daily wash his kesh and also put yogurt (was used to clean hair). After bathing, Guru jee would put on immaculate white clothes. He would then go sit in solitary meditation, deep in samadhee. When amrit vela would arrive and the rest of the Sangat too had risen, he would go and join the Sangat. Bhai Saadoo, Baadoo and Bhai Sata and Bhai Balvand would recite keertan. Guru jee too would sometimes lead the keertan. When the sun rose, keertan ended and degh was distributed. The Sangat would then come and speak with Guru jee and tell their personal problems. Some would ask for naam, others for some worldly gift and others would ask how to progress on the spiritual path. When Guru jee would speak, it was as if a wave had risen from a great and profound ocean and with the wave, jewels from the depths were tossed out. All would lovingly praise the Guru. Hearing his words all hearts would blossom forth and naam would begin to go by itself. Guru jee would then join the Sangat to do seva. Guru jee would do his own work and then go to the Langar to supervise. Under Guru jee’s watch, the Langar was prepared and would then take Sangat with him and sit in the Pangat to eat. There was no caste in the Langar, all were equal. Guru jee would himself eat a bland dish made of cooked grain, which was like a gruel. He would eat very little. Guru jee would then return to his hut and rest for a short while. He would then emerge and meet the visiting Sangat. It was Guru jee’s rule that all who wished to meet him must first eat in the Langar and break all caste barriers. No one could meet Guru jee without first obeying this rule. With this, caste was not abandoned just theoretically but also practically. Later in the day, Katha would happen and Gursikhs would explain baaNee and Guru Sahib would also speak when he felt it necessary. Keertan would follow and then Sodar. All would then eat, but Guru jee did not. He would either sit outside and speak with the Sangat or walk by the banks of the Beas. Guru Sahib had also ordered that the Langar should not have anything stored. Whatever was left over would be given to the animals and if there was still some left, it was given to the fish of the Beas. Not even the clay pots were allowed to have any water left in them. Guru Sahib did this so no one would feel greed for the Langar or try to profit from it. Guru Sahib said that just as the bird does not store for tomorrow, he too had no need to store. Like a bird, there should be faith that Vahiguru will provide. Because of this practice, from the morning, the Sangat would arrive with supplies for the Langar. Every day the Langar would fill afresh. Taken from Pr. Satbir Singh's "Aad Sikh tay Aad Sakheeaa(n)" Bibi Amaro was Guru Angad Dev jee's daughter. It is said that when she was born, it was as if Bhagti (devotion) had itself taken human form and been born in the house of the Guru. Her voice was very sweet and soft and she had memorised much baaNee. She was married into a family of village Basarkay. Her husband was Guru Amar Das jee's youngest brother, Bhai MaaNak Chand's son, Jasoo. Bibi jee would rise at amrit vela every day and with great enthusiasm and dedication begin reciting baaNee. Mehma Parkaash (an old Granth) writes that when she would sing baaNee, it was as if nectar would begin to rain down. One day, a Sadhu visited Baba Amar Das but did not eat anything from him as he did not have a Guru. Baba Amar Das also did not eat that night and lay awake, lost in sadness. Hearing this Shabad, Baba jee's mind became pure. The Shabad matched that which Baba jee was feeling in his heart. And it was of course more piercing because it was the Guru's daughter reciting these holy lines of GurbaaNee, and that too at amrit vela with her beautiful voice. Baba jee from a distance spoke up, "Daughter, I was dead. This amrit-baaNee has entered my ears and I am alive again. My state is exactly like the one described in that shabad. Please take me to the one who's baaNee this is. Please recite that shabad again…" Bibi Amaro felt shy because Baba Amar Das was equal to her father-in-law. By this time, Bibi jee's mother-in-law Bhago had also awoken and said to Bibi jee, "Daughter, there is no embarassment in reciting this. It is a good deed to do this. One's father and father-in-law are equal. There is no shyness when reciting a shabad." Bibi Bhago gave her daughter in-law permission to take Baba Amar Das to Khadoor Sahib to meet Guru Angad, but Bibi Amaro said, "How can I go without being called by Guru jee? I have just arrived here in your home now." Baba Amar Das replied, "Child, please take me. Guru jee will do kirpaa." Bibi jee then said "As you wish. Next morning I will take you there." When the next day dawned, Bibi Amaro got ready and set out for Khadoor Sahib with Baba Amar Das. Upon arriving, Bibi jee left Baba jee outside and herself went before Guru jee and bowed. Guru Angad Dev jee looked at his daughter and said, "Child, stop thinking that you have come here without my having called you. You have done well to come. But why have you left the one you brought with you outside? Go and bring him as well." Bibi jee then went and brought back Baba Amar Das. Guru Angad Dev jee rose and was about to embrace Baba Amar Das as the equal of his daughter's father-in-law but Baba jee fell at Guru jee's feet and said, "Merciful one, I have come here to take the support and sanctuary of your feet". It was the fruit of Bibi Amaro's rising at Amrit Vela and reciting baaNee that Baba Amar Das came to Khadoor and began his sevaa there and eventually became Guru Amar Das, the strength of the helpless and the support of those with no other hope. Guru Ramdas Jee used to get up at Amritvela with one pehar of the night remaining. He would have an Ishnaan with cool water and then sit in samadhi. He would then still within Amritvela make his way from Guru Ka Mehl to where is now Harmandar Sahib. The Deevan used to start, sangata would already be there in anticipation. Keertan would happen, after the samapati of keertan the call would go out for langar. Guru Jee would go with the sangat to the langar. Everyone whether low/high caste or rich/poor would get the same food. Guru Sahib would too sit with the sangat and eat. Afterwards Guru Jee would rest and then after getting up he would go and see the construction work that was happening. He would do seva like before (meaning before he became Guru Jee). Guru Jee would take an Ishnaan again and go and sit with the sangat. The sangat used to gather in the afternoon, Katha used to occur at this time. Guru Jee himself used to do Katha. Whatever question’s sangat had were answered through Gurbanee. --------Keep your Jeevan both at home and outside, those that keep love for Akaal Purkh while in gristhi are praise worthy. After katha Guru jee would go for a walk. At sunset Sodar De Chounki was followed by keertan. The Bhag of the fortunate ones would wake when listening to the Keertan Raag. Guru Ramdas Jee’s eyes were immersed in love all the time, they were filled with nectar. A vessel was always with him collecting this nectar from the loved filled eyes. Once it was full Guru Sahib used to drink it. No one was allowed to disturb him while listening to keertan. After keertan everyone would have langar. When everyone would depart to their resting quarters, Guru jee would make sure that everyone that had come got a place to rest. After everyone’s needs were met only then would Guru Jee would go back to Guru Ka Mehl. Below is a Sakhi of Guru Arjun Dev Jee written in the Bhai Painde Vali Bir. The Bhai Painde Vali Bir is one of the most Prachin Birs we have available and consequently the Sakhis written in a section of the Granth Sahib are one of the oldest recorded Sakhis. Below is the first Sakhi written in the Bir. In the time of Guru Arjan Dev jee, there was a powerful and rich Jat by the name of Teeratha. Teeratha was a follower of the Muslim sect of Sakhee Sarvar. He was the local leader of this sect and had hundreds of followers who all respected him. Teeratha would regularly lead the members of this sect on a pilgrimage to the main Sakhee Sarvar shrine now in Pakistan. Once when passing through Amritsar, Teeratha decided to visit Guru Arjan. He had heard that there was a great Guru who had a large following and this Guru was spiritually enlightened. He was curious to know who this Guru was and what he would say. He decided to stop off and see the Darbar of Guru Arjan Dev jee. When he saw the Darbar, he saw that people of many different backgrounds, and castes were all sitting together and living in harmony. He also heard the keertan in the darbaar and the keertan left a permanent mark on him. He heard of the great gift of naam and the thirst to have this gift rose within him. He was the leader of hundreds of Sakhee Sarvar followers but he could no longer follow that path. He realised that Sikhee was the path he must follow. He came to Guru Arjan Dev jee and introduced himself. Guru jee saw how rich and powerful Teeratha was and when Teeratha begged for Naam and to be initiated into the Sikh faith, Guru jee replied, "Being a Sikh is no easy thing. The path is finer than a hair and sharper than the khanda. The primary principle of Sikhee is humility." Teeratha again repeated his request. Guru Arjan Dev jee then said, "Why do you want to be a Sikh? You are a rich and powerful man with hundreds of followers. You can continue on the easy path of Sakhee Sarvar, because the Sikh path is very hard. If you become a Sikh, you will lose your followers and all their respect and you will lose your wealth as well. You may even have to pay for this decision with your life. What use is there in becoming a Sikh for you?" But Teeratha was insistent he begged that nothing mattered. If he lost everything it would not matter, he needed Naam. With tears in his eyes he begged for Naam. Guru Arjan Dev jee accepted his request and initiated him into Sikhee and gave him Naam. Teeratha decided to not return home and took leave of his followers. He decided to stay with the Guru Jee for some time. The Sikhs knew that Teeratha was from the Manjh clan and began to call him Bhai Manjh. Bhai Manjh did seva in the darbaar and one day Guru Arjan Dev jee called him and asked him to return to his village and preach Sikhee to his old followers. Bhai Manjh returned to his village and began the work of preaching Sikhee to the followers of Sakhee Sarvar. In his home, there was a shrine to Sakhee Sarvar which was revered by all the local followers. Bhai Manjh reached home and immediately had it demolished. Many of his old followers who had considered him a Guru heard Bhai Manjh's message that Guru Arjan was the true Satguru and the source of all happiness. They too decided to become Sikhs and began to recite baaNee. Bhai Manjh and the new devotees of the Guru decided to build a Dharamshaala (Sikh place of gathering) in the village where they could daily meet and do sangat. While the construction of the Dharamshala was still going on, some Sakhee Sarvar leaders came to the village and saw that so many followers had become Sikhs. They spoke to Bhai Manjh and asked him to renounce Sikhee or face a terrible price. They said that he was powerful and a high official in the Sakhee Sarvar sect and he would lose all this if he did not come to his senses. Bhai Manjh sent them away and was insistent that he would remain a Sikh. The Sakhee Sarvar leaders left the village but heaped countless curses on Bhai Manjh and vowed that he would regret his decision. Within a few days of this event, one night, all of Bhai Manjh's cattle died. It was unexplainable how all cattle could die in one night. In the following nights, cattle began to die in neighbouring houses as well. The villagers began to believe that perhaps the curse of Sakhee Sarvar was responsible and by becoming Sikhs and destroying the shrine, they had made a serious mistake. More and more cattle began to die each night and the villagers decided to break off from Bhai Manjh. They declared that they had nothing to do with Bhai Manjh and his new religion. They removed him from his position as village head. Bhai Manjh now began to lose his wealth as well and soon poverty entered his home. Before, poor and needy people used to come to Bhai Manjh to request for help and money. People would still come now but he himself was living in abject poverty. Bhai Manjh had absolutely no extra wealth to give to anybody. Bhai Manjh was in a desperate situation and he decided to visit the new village head. Bhai Manjh offered his home to be rented out for some money so he could feed his family. The village head agreed to the proposal but added the condition that Bhai Manjh's wife would become his housemaid. His wife would be paid for her labour as well. Bhai Manjh returned home absolutely shattered. He was once the most powerful man in the village and today he was being forced to make his wife a maid. When Bhai Manjh's wife asked him what the village head had said. Bhai Manjh haltingly explained the offer he was given. Bhai Manjh's wife listned and then said that in such hard times she too was willing to make sacrifices and if they had to lower their dignity by doing a job such as that of maid, then so be it. They had to marry off their young daughter and needed money to raise their family. Bhai Manjh's wife agreed to go work for the village head. Bhai Manjh fell asleep that night in deep sadness. The next morning his wife would leave to begin her new job. He thought of Guru Arjan and wondered why the Guru would put his Sikh through such pain. How could the Guru allow him to see such days? Then understanding dawned: this must be the Guru's test. The Guru had said that he would have to sacrifice his all for Naam. Bhai Manjh was determined not to fail this test. He felt shame that he had ever questioned the will of the Guru. The next morning Bhai Manjh's wife gathered her clothes and left for the village head's home. Bhai Manjh decided to also leave the village. He left for Amritsar with his daughter and decided to spend his time doing seva. Bhai Manjh began to take the seva of bringing wood for the langar, cleaning the dishes, serving the visiting sangat and any other seva he could find. Guru Jee too heard of Bhai Manjh's sevaa. He called Bhai Manjh to come see him. Bhai Manjh and his daughter appeared before Guru Jee and bowed. They stood before SatGuru Arjan Dev Jee and waited for him to speak. Guru Arjan Dev Jee asked, "Bhai Manjh, where do you eat?" Bhai Manjh replied, "Satguru, I eat from your langar…" Guru Arjan jee then said, "well then, what you do is nothing but wage-labour isn't it?" The sangat was stunned. They knew Bhai Manjh had sacrificed his entire wealth and prestige to become a Sikh and now did more seva than anyone else in the Darbaar. How could Guru jee have humiliated him like this in front of everyone? After all, the Langar was open to everyone, why would Guru jee say such a thing? Bhai Manjh was once a powerful and proud aristocrat with hundreds of followers. He now hung his head and then said, "Satguru, you are wise. Please give me the wisdom to understand and accept your Hukam." Guru jee did not reply. Bhai Manjh then bowed and took his leave with his daughter. Bhai Manjh now decided to no longer eat in the langar. He decided to collect two bundles of wood from now on and he would give one to the langar and sell the other to earn his living and use it to purchase his food. Bhai Manjh's daughter asked her father why the Guru was so merciless to him. Bhai Manjh immediately replied, "No no! The Guru is merciful. He is testing our faith. We can not fail." Bhai Manjh would rise early and begin to collect wood for seva and also to sell. After giving the first bundle and selling the second, the two would return to the Darbaar and do seva all day. He would put all his extra money into the Golak. Guru jee once came to Bhai Manjh and asked why he still stayed despite being so poor and having lost everything. Guru jee said he should go home. Bhai Manjh replied, "Mahaaraaj, please never speak of having to leave your feet. Sachay Patshah, worldly wealth is a dream and so it comes and goes. Nothing is lost. I have lost my worldly wealth and found your true treasure of Naam. No thief will take this treasure from me and no King will seize it. " Guru jee gave his blessings to Bhai Manjh and moved on. One day early in the morning when Bhai Manjh was going to the langar to give wood, such a dust storm arose that he could see nothing. Bhai Manjh stumbled and fell into a well. He kept the bundle of wood that he had on his head so that it might not get wet. He was not afraid and kept reciting Gurbanee. Day broke and Bhai Manjh still had not returned and everyone understood he must be in trouble. The Sikhs began to search for him, they split up into different groups and searched in every direction. Eventually one search party came near a well and heard someone singing and reciting Gurbanee. When they looked into the well they saw Bhai Manjh standing in the well, keeping dry the wood on his head. One Sikh ran to Guru Arjan Dev Jee to tell him what had happened and Guru jee immediately dashed bare foot to the well. They threw a rope into the well and asked Bhai Manjh to pull himself out. Bhai Manjh jee called from the depth of the well, "Please, first pull the wood out for the langar! If they become wet, they will be of no use and not burn. If I am wet, nothing will happen." Bhai jee tied the wood bundle to the rope and had it pulled out. Only then did Bhai Manjh pull himself out. When Bhai Manjh climbed out of the well, Guru Arjan was standing before him. Bhai Manjh fell at Guru jee's feet. Guru Arjan asked, "Bhai Manjh! What have you gained by following me? You have lost your wealth, your status, and even your wife. You have lost everything!" Bhai Manjh held Guru jee's feet even tighter and with tears in his eyes replied, "No Satguru! I have not lost anything. I have only gained. Please don't push me away, this is my only request of you…" Guru Arjan Dev jee then said, "Bhai Manjh, your sevaa has borne fruit. Ask for anything you want." Bhai Manjh replied, "Guru jee, bless me that I may never want anything. May I always be content" Guru jee replied, "It will happen as you request. But still, request something Bhai Manjh…" Bhai Manjh then said, "If you are happy with me, then have this mercy. It is Kaljug. Please do not scold and test so harshly. May your Sikhs not have to bear such hardships." Guru Maharaj again said, "This too will happen, but still request something Bhai Manjh." Bhai Manjh finally replied, "May my consciousness remain at your feet and may I never forget the meditation of your Naam. If you wish to bless me, then bless me with gift of limitless faith." Guru Arjan heard these words and then said, “ਮੰਞ ਪਿਆਰਾ ਗੁਰੂ ਨੂੰ ਗੁਰ ਮੰਞ ਪਿਆਰਾ I ਮੰਞ ਗੁਰੂ ਕਾ ਬੋਹਥਾ ਜਗੁ ਲੰਘਣਹਾਰਾ I "Manjh is the beloved of the Guru and the Guru is beloved of Manjh. Manjh is the ferry of the Guru who will ferry across the world ocean." Guru Arjan sent Bhai Manjh home and told him all had been returned. Bhai Manjh did not understand how this would be possible, but had complete faith in the Guru. Bhai Manjh's wife had been working in the house of the village head and she made such an impression on him that he decided to make her his sister. He requested that she take the responsibility of raising his only son. He also gave back Bhai Manjh's home where she could raise the boy. Bhai Manjh returned home and was informed of all that had happened and was stunned. Bhai Manjh never left the support of the Guru. Even at the darkest time he had faith it was all a test and if he stayed firm in his faith, nothing would happen to him. Bhai Manjh was appointed the entire Doaba area to preach Sikhee and he opened a Dharamshaalaa in his home. The langar that Bhai Sahib jee opened was famous all around. Many people became Sikhs because of his parchaar. When Guru Arjan Dev jee came to visit the Doaba area in 1596, he made a point of specially visiting Bhai Manjh and praised him for his parchaar. Bhai Manjh jee is the embodiment of faith and perseverance. Nothing in life could turn him away from the Guru and in the end, the Guru kept and protected his Sikh. Once Bhai Laloo, Bhai Baloo and Bhai Hardas Jee asked Guru Arjan Dev Jee how one can liberate this life. In response Guru Arjan Dev Jee said that there are Five actions which if done then you could claim that your life is successful. 3) ਵੰਡ ਖਾਵਣਾ –-- Share what ever is yours with others. Guru Arjan Dev had been brutally tortured and embraced martyrdom, becoming an example for the Panth. The Sikhs were grief-struck and felt a sense of despair. The small Panth of Guru Nanak had been targeted by the mighty power of the Mughals. Guru Hargobind Sahib, became the next Guru as per the orders of his father. In front of all the gathered Sikhs, Baba Buddha jee put the two swords of meeri and peeri on Guru Hargobind Sahib. Guru Sahib was dressed like an emperor and there was a kalgi (aigrette) on his dastaar. The Dhadis, Bhai Abdullah and Bhai Nath Mal, at the hukam of Guru Hargobind Sahib sang a vaar filled with bir ras. Today the offerings that are beloved to me are good weapons and good youth. If you want my happiness, then exercise your bodies, wrestle, play gatka, go into the jungles to hunt and learn to ride horses. Weakness is now a crime to the Nation that cannot be forgiven for anyone. You will take up the sword and I now wear the sword so that the swords of tyranny and oppression will stop forever. You have all come from far and wide today. The cool tranquillity has been stolen from not just your heart and my heart, but from the entire world. Our swords will not rest until we bring this oppression to an end. Do not think that you are too few. You are all like springs. Oceans flow out of these very springs. There are hundreds of thousands of springs like you in our Nation. When you come together and flow forward, you will create a flood. A small and insignificant piece of wood, when made into a match, can light the entire jungle on fire. But you are humans! And furthermore, those humans whose heart has just now been scorched on hot iron plates [reference to shahidi of Guru Arjan Dev jee]. See, God has given you the gift of poetry. When nations are built, you are the foundations. Stop all these other untimely songs and work to bring the Nation out of this deep dark pit. Tell those stories which will make the people willing to lose their skin like they would be willing to change their clothes. Fill the people of our Nation with the spirit and fervour to be like moths so they will sacrifice themselves in the flames of our cause. During the time of Guru Hargobind Sahib, there was a Sikh woman, Bibi Santi, who was married into a family in the village of Butala. Bibi Santi’s parents were Sikhs but due to circumstances, found herself married into a family that believed in Sakhi Sarvar (a Muslim Pir). Bibi Santi read Gurbani daily and had a deep love for the Guru. Her mother-in-law however, could not tolerate this faith in Sikhi. Eventually, Bibi Santi was asked to leave the family’s house and was made to live in a hut outside. Bibi Santi was happy that now she would be able to read Gurbani without anyone objecting. Slowly she was able to influence her husband through stories of the Guru and he too became a Sikh. After some time, a son was born to Bibi Santi who was named Palla. The happiness in the small family was short lived however as Bibi Santi’s husband died quite suddenly. Young Bhai Palla now had a non-stop longing to cast his eyes on his Satguru. Bhai Palla was convinced that Guru Sahib would come to him and so he wanted to be ready for the moment. Though he and his mother were very poor, he decided the best offering he could give to Guru Sahib was GuR (sugar-jaggery). Wherever he went, Bhai Palla carried the guR with him, tied in a cloth, not knowing when Guru Sahib would hear his ardaas and give his darshan. What a blessing Guru Sahib gave to Bhai Palla. What more could Bhai Palla ask? The villagers of Butala were bitter and went on to their rooftops to see what was happening. They saw that Guru Sahib and his Sikhs were waiting for langar and began to laugh that Bibi Santi and Bhai Palla who sometimes could not even manage one meal a day for themselves were now being asked to cook for so many. The villagers decided amongst themselves that no one would help the two Sikhs nor give them any loan to help buy rations for the langar. They would see the humiliating scene when Bibi Santi and Bhai Palla would tell Guru Sahib that they could not make the langar and have the opportunity to laugh at them. Satguru Hargobind Sahib knew all and saw the crowds on their rooftops looking at them. Guru Sahib said to Bhai Palla, “Palla! Go invite all the villagers to have langar here as well today.” Bhai Palla obeyed the hukam and went to all the villagers and asked them to come to their home for langar. The villagers laughed and said that today the humiliation would be double what they expected. The mother and son could hardly feed themselves let alone all the Sikhs and now all the villagers. Guru Hargobind Sahib called Bhai Palla and gave him two kerchiefs and told him to put one on the flour and one on the daal. Mata Santi should not look underneath them after that. Bibi Santi had prepared all the flour in the house for parshadas but it was still very little. There was also a little daal she had prepared. The two kerchiefs were placed on each and Bibi Santi began to prepare the parshadas while Bhai Palla did the seva of distributing them. To their amazement, all the Sikhs and all the villagers had their fill of langar and still the parshadas and daal under Guru Sahib's kerchiefs were not finishing. The villagers were awe-struck and fell at Guru Hargobind Sahib’s feet. They had wanted to see the humiliation of the two poor Sikhs but Guru Sahib had shown that he would never let his Sikhs be humiliated in such a way. The faith of the villagers in Sikhi was born that day and Bibi Santi and Bhai Palla’s faith was rewarded. Translated from Pr. Satbir Singh's "Gur Bhaaree" Guru Hargobind Sahib was in Delhi meeting with the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. A poor peasant who cut grass to feed horses heard about this and worked all day to earn a single coin. The peasant had heard about the Guru and his greatness and now when he heard that the Guru was in the city he became excited that he too might meet him and become a Sikh. During the day, the peasant also gathered the best grass he could find and cleaned it blade by blade so he could offer it to Guru Sahib’s horses. At the end of the day, the poor grass-cutter approached the place where Guru Sahib and the Emperor were meeting. There were two tents and he accidentally entered the one in which Jahangir was sitting. The guard initially stopped the peasant but thinking that perhaps he had some request to make of the Emperor, he let him in. Upon entering, the grass-cutter placed the single coin he had earned in front of the Emperor and bowed. He asked that his offering of grass also be accepted. He begged, “ True Emperor (Sachay Patshah) please help me both here and in the hereafter.” Jahangir was taken aback and replied that he could give the grass-cutter an award of land ( a Jagir). The poor man’s eyes opened wide and he realized he was in the wrong place. Jahangir then said, “I am the Emperor of Hindustan. Your “Sachay Patshah” is in the other tent.” The poor man picked up his coin and his bundle of grass and ran to the other tent in which Guru Sahib was sitting. Upon seeing the Guru, he grabbed his feet and began to weep and beg for forgiveness. He said, “Sachay Patshah I went to the wrong door.” He repeated his earlier request and begged to become a Sikh and the Guru blessed him with naam. It was after this incident that Jahangir realized how much love Sikhs had for their Guru. One day Guru Hargobind Sahib was going hunting and as he was leaving the city gates of Kartarpur, he asked Bhai Javanda to stand by the gate and wait for his return. Satguru jee returned from hunting but entered the city from another gate and went back to his place of residence. Three days and three nights passed but Bhai Javanda did not move from the place Guru Sahib told him to wait. When Guru Sahib found out about this, he himself went to Bhai Javanda, still waiting by the gate and embraced him and showered his blessings. Bhai Choohar was a Jathedar in Guru Hargobind Sahib’s army and had 100 horsemen in his command. Guru Hargobind Sahib summoned Bhai Choohar and said, “Tell the Sikhs to drag some big stones and make walls for the langar. Guru Sahib took the pen and while still on his horse began to write a ੧ (1) . Guru Sahib’s horse kicked his hoof and the ੧ became a ੭ (7). Mata Sulakhani did indeed go one to become the mother of 7 sons and they became Sikhs and fought in Guru Sahib’s battles. Presented above are two Hukamname given by Guru Hargobind Sahib Jee to his GurSikhs. Both have similar advice to GurSikhs and instructions to do Guru Guru Japna( Naam recitation) and to stay away from Maas Machi (Meat – Fish), this is highlighted red in the text below. The second Hukamnama('2') highlights a few more points. It emphasises doing Kirtan and celebrating Gurpurabs. Guru Hargobind Sahib Jee also uses the phrase ‘Khalsa’ towards Guru Jee’s sangat in this Hukamnama. Guru Gobind Singh Jee writes that the mere sight of Guru Harkrishan Sahib Jee takes away all pain. Gurbanee makes clear that the True Complete Guru can remove our fevers, pains and diseases. Guru Gobind Singh Jee has however highlighted this through the reflection of Guru HarKrishan Sahib Jee. In essence the short Worldly life of Guru Harkrishan Sahib was based on the removing of pain. The Jot of Guru Nanak came in to the form of a Child for many reasons. It was a clear indication that Guru’ Jot was not tied on to any experience or worldly knowledge. It is beyond any physical connection or understanding. Some historians have tried to belittle the life of Guru Harkrishan Sahib Jee and have said that his Guruship was only there to buy time. They seem to make out that the Guruship was some kind of Human Dynasty. This is the talk of the faithless who do not see the Glory of Guru Nanak Dev Jee. Children in general are naturally liked, this is the way nature is. Their innocence and features create this relationship. Just to see kids playing gives you joy, it lifts your sorrows and worries. You can only imagine how much greater this fondness and attraction would be when Guru Jee’s Jot is in the body of a Child. It is written that Guru Harkrishan Jee’s face and features were very attractive. Everyone seeing him would feel a special pull. Guru Jee spoke very little but when he spoke he left others amazed. His voice was so sweet that even birds would stop to listen. His written words were special. Who else could speak, write and advise at this age, only Guru Jee could do this. Sangat from far and wide was yearning to meet Guru Jee. Just the sight of Guru Harkrishan Sahib Jee would dispel all sorrows, there were no need for words just the gaze of his eyes was enough. Even Kings and Queens could not resist the temptation to have a glimpse of the Child Guru. Guru Harkrishan Sahib Jee devoted a lot of time to the Sick and helpless. It is written that Guru Jee used to visit the local Hospital in his daily routine. There is an incident in the early part of Guru Harkrishan Sahib’s Guruship which led many suffers seek the blessing of Guru Jee. Guru Jee was travelling in his palanquin when a Brahmin suffering from a serious disease of leprosy came and fell at the travelling palanquin and starting crying loudly. Guru Jee asked the travelling party to halt, he came down and met the Brahmin. The Brahmin crying in pain fell at the feet of Guru Jee and asked him to relive him from his suffering. Guru Harkrishan Sahib pulled out his Handkerchief used for cleaning his hands and face, he gave this to the Brahmin and said “Wipe your body with this and then drink the wash from this Handkerchief, you will get better”. The Brahmin carried out these instructions and Just as Guru Jee said the diseased Brahmin become better in a matter of days. The news of this healing made many others suffers seek help from Guru Jee. During Guru Harkrishan Sahib Jee stay in Delhi a Small Pox epidemic broke out. It spread like wild fire, the poor were hit the worst. Thousands were dying daily and there seemed to be no cure. The Only cure and saviour was Guru Jee, anyone who came to see him or he went to see was cured of the disease just by the mere sight of Guru Harkrishan sahib Jee. Thousands were lining up to have glimpse of Guru Jee, he did not refuse to help nor was he afraid of the disease affecting him. He decided to take the suffering of the people of Delhi upon himself. This act of curing eventually meant he had to sacrifice himself for others. Even when Guru Jee was afflicted with Small Pox he was still erasing pain from others and those close to him. At the final moments before his light merged again with Vahiguru, Sri Guru Harkrishan jee did not let anyone feel any sorrow at his departure. Mehma Parkash records that Mata Krishan Kaur entered a state of bliss gazing upon Guru jee and she felt great contentment. Such was his life, that Sri Guru Harkrishan jee removed the pain and suffering of all those who cast their eyes on him, even until his very last moments. Before heading towards Punjab Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Jee gave the following loving advice to the emotional Sangat of Patna. Who were naturally at loss by Guru Jee’s physical departure from their eyes. ----- Make your life Clean/Pure, Your Work Righteous, Your Business honest and your life for goodness. ----- Do not Hate anyone. When someone has hate, this hate in a way becomes hate towards Vahiguru. The aftermath of Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib’s Shahidi and how Bhai Jaita took Guru Sahib’s sees (head) back to Anandpur Sahib is not well known. It is an amazing story that is worth sharing. Bhai Jaita jee, later known as Bhai Jeevan Singh, was born in 1649 to a Sikh family once of the scavenger caste. Bhai Jaita and his brother Bhag Chand were Sikhs of Guru Har Rai Sahib. They began to live in Ramdas with Bhai Gurditta jee a very respected Gursikh who was a descendant of Baba Buddha jee. Bhai Gurditta jee was with Guru Harkrishan at the time of Guru jee’s leaving this world and was later the one who performed the Guruship ceremony of Guru Tegh Bahadur. Before Guru Tegh Bahadur left for Delhi, he was called once again to perform the ceremony for Guru Gobind Rai jee. After Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib set out to court arrest, Bhai Gurditta jee also left for Delhi. Bhai Jaita followed him. At Delhi, Bhai Gurditta jee saw the brutal martyrdoms of the three Sikhs, one after another. So did Bhai Jaita. The day of Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib’s martyrdom was now approaching. Bhai Jaita and Bhai Gurditta did not sleep the entire night. They prepared themselves for the sight they were about to see. Their beloved Satguru would be beheaded before them but they could not let their tears escape or utter any cry. They would have to be silent lest they be discovered and not be able to perform seva of Guru Sahib’s body. They did Ardaas to Guru Tegh Bahadur that they be able to bear the sight of the horror that was to come and not utter a sound. The morning of November 11 1675 dawned. Guru Tegh Bahadur’s small cage was brought to Chandani Chownk. There was a large tree that stood in the middle of the Chownk. The Chownk was a terrifying place this day. There were still the marks of the horrific tortures and Shahidis of Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Sati Das and Bhai Dayala. Amongst the crowd assembled to see the execution was Bhai Jaita, hiding himself so no one could recognize that a Sikh of the Guru was present. Guru Tegh Bahadur was asked his final wish. Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib replied that he should be allowed to do ishnaan. Guru Tegh Bahadur was allowed to bathe with water from a nearby well. He dressed in fresh clothes and sat under the large tree at the centre of the Chownk. Satguru jee closed his eyes and began to recite Sri Japji Sahib in a loud voice. Clouds began to form and it began to grow darker. The sky had a reddish glow now. As Guru Sahib recited Japji Sahib in his sweet voice, with every word, the Sikhs in the crowd realized the moment of his Shahidi was drawing closer. Satguru jee recited the final Salok and bowed his head before Akaal Purakh. There was an instant of silence and then Jalaludin, with both hid hands clenching the sharp sword, swung and severed Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib’s head from his body. Streams of blood flowed on to the ground and the sky too was now blood red. A ferocious wind began to blow and the storm broke. As the heavy rain fell, the crowd dispersed. The Sikhs who witnessed the Shahidi of Guru Tegh Bahadur gathered at house of Bhai Nainoo. Their grief knew no end. Bhai Tulsi insisted that they could not allow Satuguru Tegh Bahadur’s body to simply lie in Chandani Chownk. They decided to ask Bhai Lakhi Das, a powerful trader for help. They went ot Bhai Lakhi Das’s home where he had just returned from a trip to Narnaul to get lime and sand. The caravan carrying the goods Bhai Lakhi Das had purhcased was to arrive in Delhi that night and the Sikhs decided that they would hide in this caravan and take the bodies of the Sikhs and Guru jee from the Chownk. It was now well into the night and the storm over Delhi was still raging. Bhai Nainoo, Bhai Ageya, Bhai Jaita and Bhai Udda traveled with the caravan carrying Bhai Lakhi Das’s goods. They passed by the Red Fort and then the Kotwali and finally reached Chandani Chownk. Bhai Jaita jee, using the darkness and the cover of the storm, lifted up Guru Tegh Bahadur jee’s head and covered it with a white scarf. Bhai Lakhi Das and his son Bhai Nagahiya were following in the caravan and as it slowly passed through the Chownk, they took the body of Guru Tegh Bahadur and placed it in a cart and kept moving. Bhai Lakhi Das thought the most inconspicuous way to cremate Guru Sahib’s body would be to place it within his home and light the entire home on fire so know one would suspect what really was happening. This is what he did. As he and the other Sikhs stood outside, the flames from Bhai Lakhi Das’s home lept into the sky and Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib’s body was cremated. The next day, Bhai Gurditta jee also left this world, following his master Guru Tegh Bahadur. He was cremated by the banks of the Jamuna. Bhai Lakhi Das remained in Delhi for some days and managed through the help of the town crier to take away the bodies of the Shahid Sikhs and cremate them at the same place Bhai Gurditta was cremated. Bhai Jaita meanwhile was escaping with Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib’s head. He decided that Guru Gobind Rai and the Sikhs would be waiting to have the final darshand and so he began to make his way towards Anandpur Sahib. Bhai Jaita clenched Satguru Tegh Bahadur Sahib’s head to his chest and did an Ardaas that he be blessed with the strength to return to Anandpur Sahib. The Mughals would be searching for the head and so he could not travel on the common roads. He would have to travel through the forests and jungles so he would not be detected. Bhai Jaita left Delhi and in his first night, covered 40 kilometers. He arrived in the town of Baghpat. The morning of November 12th was beginning to dawn and Bhai Jaita arrived near the Dargah of a Sufi saint, Sheikh Wahuddin. Wahuddin asked “Who are you?” Bhai Jaita declared, “I am a Sikh of Guru Tegh Bahadur.” Wahuddin asked, “Where is your Guru now?” Bhai Jaita with tears in his eyes told the Sufi of Guru Sahib’s martyrdom and revealed that he was carrying Guru Sahib’s head back to Anandpur Sahib. Wahuddin was an admirer of Guru Tegh Bahadur and said he would help Bhai Jaita. He led Bhai Sahib to the house of Bhai Krishan Pal. Bhai Jaita had been running without stop all night and finally rested at Bhai Krishan Pal’s home. Bhai Jaita jee tenderly uncovered Guru Sahib’s head and saw that the cloth was covered in blood and so he took a fresh cloth and covered the head once again. Bhai Jaita jee heard the question and kept walking silently. Bhai Deva Ram and Bhai Jaita arrived home and once again Bhai Deva Ram asked, “What news is there of Satguru jee?” It was dark now and Bhai Deva Ram lit some candles and asked his wife to prepare some food. He saw the bundle in Bhai Jaita’s arms and asked, “What is in your bundle?” Bhai Jaita replied, “It is my treasure that I would not trade even for my life.” Bhai Deva Ram offered, “give your bundle to us and rest. We shall take care of it till morning…” Bhai Jaita remained silent. It was as if even after leaving his body, that Guru Tegh Bahadur was accepting the ardaas of his Sikhs. Bhai Jaita took the candle from Bhai Deva Ram and layer by layer began to uncover his bundle. The final fold had some blood on it and when he pulled it back, Bhai Deva Ram’s eyes fell on Guru Tegh Bahadur jee’s head. Bhai Jaita could not speak and sat to one side on the ground as Guru Sahib’s head rested on the bed. Bhai Deva Ram began to weep and thought that he had asked for Guru Sahib’s darshan but who knew it would come in this form? Bhai Jaita could eat very little. He told Bhia Deva Ram all that had happened. Bhai Deva Ram asked Bhai Jaita to rest and said he would do the seva of Guru Sahib’s head. Bhai Deva Ram lovingly covered Guru Sahib’s head in the new scarf he had prepared for Guru Sahib and wass going to offer. He took the rest of the clothes he had sewn and began to whisk them over Guru Sahib’s head as a chaur. All night, Bhai Deva Ram did chaur of Guru Sahib’s head and did not sleep for even an instant. It was now November 13th. Traveling through the jungles over rocks and thorns, Bhai Jaita arrived at sunset near the town of Ambala. There was a river flowing there and Bhai Jaita rested under a tree. Bhai Jaita asked a passerby if there was the home of a Sikh anywhere. He was told to go to nearby Kainth Majri. At Kainth Majri, Bhai Jaita met Bhai Ramdev. He told Bhai Ramdev that he was a Sikh and asked if he might rest somewhere. Bhai Ramdev took Bhai Jaita to his home. Once there, he asked Bhai Jaita what was in the bundle he was carrying. Once again, in the candlelight, Bhai Jaita uncovered Guru Sahib’s head and Bhai Ramdev too fell to the ground. While Guru Sahib’s head rested on the bed, Bhai Jaita and Bhai Ramdev remained the entire night on the ground. For the fourth time in his journey, Bhai Jaita uncovered Guru Sahib’s head and said, “Baba, if you truly want Guru Sahib’s darshan, then behold his divine head.” The Fakir fell back and asked what had happened. Bhai Jaita told him of the Shahidi of Guru Tegh Bahadur. All night, Dargahi Shah stayed awake and gazed at Guru jee’s head. At amrit vela, as Bhai Jaita asked to leave, Dargahi Shah took Guru Sahib’s head in his arms and as he would normally see off his respected guest, began to walk with Bhai Jaita. After some distance, he gently handed the head back to Bhai Jaita and said, “Tell Guru Gobind Rai that this old fakir will only leave his body after having his darshan.” Some years later, after the battle of Bhangani, Guru Gobind Singh and Bhai Jaita returned to meet this old fakir and only then did Dargahi Shah leave this world. On November 14th, Bhai Jaita finally saw Kiratpur Sahib ahead of him. Kiratpur Sahib is not very far from Anandpur Sahib and is the holy place where Guru Hargobind Sahib and Guru Har Rai Sahib were cremated. Bhai Jaita wondered whether Guru Gobind Rai would want Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib’s head to be cremated here as well. Bhai Jaita rested where today stands Gurdwara Bibangarh Sahib. Bhai Jaita had now been meet by other Sikhs and they sent a message to Guru Gobind Rai that his father’s head had arrived at Kiratpur Sahib. As the sun set on November 14th, the message arrived at Anandpur Sahib. The Sikh carrying the message entered Guru Sahib’s home and Mata Nanaki asked, “what is the news?” The Sikh could not speak. When Guru Gobind Rai appeared, the Sikh fell at his feet and told them that Bhai Jaita had brought Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib’s head. Upon hearing the news, Guru Gobind Rai, Mata Nanaki jee, Mata Gujri jee, and the rest of the Sikh Sangat left Anandpur Sahib and took with them a palki (palanquin). Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib’s head was placed in the palki and carried by the Sangat to Anandpur Sahib where Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib stands today. Rosewater was brought and Guru Gobind Rai washed Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib’s head and asked Bhai Jaita to also join him. They then made the pyre of sandalwood and Guru Gobind Rai gave it the flame. Guru Gobind Rai asked Bhai Jaita to tell him what he had seen and how Guru Tegh Bahadur had embraced martyrdom. After hearing the story, Guru Gobind Rai asked how many Sikhs were in the crowd that saw the martyrdom. Bhai Jaita replied that he did not know as it was hard to recognize them. Guru Gobind Rai declared that he would create such an image for Sikhs that they could be spotted in a crowd of thousands. At the place of Damadama Sahib at Anandpur Sahib, Guru Gobind Rai arranged for the recitation of Guru Granth Sahib jee and Bhai Chaupat Rai (later Bhai Chaupa Singh) lovingly recited the saloks of Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib. Food and clothing were then distributed to the poor. Bhai Jaita jee began to live at Anandpur Sahib now. In 1691 he marred Bibi Raj Kaur and they had four sons. When Guru Gobind Rai established the Ranjit Nagara, Bhai Jaita jee was the first one given the duty to play it. Bhai Jaita became known as a great warrior and trained other Gursikhs as well. In 1699 when Guru Gobind Singh gave Khande ki Pahul, Bhai Jaita jee became Bhai Jeevan Singh. When Guru Gobind Singh and the Sikhs evacuated Anandpur Sahib, Bhai Jeevan Singh too accompanied Guru Sahib. Bhai Sahib’s old mother Mata Prem Kaur was lost in the Sirsa. When Baba Ajeet Singh jee was surrounded by the Mughal army at the banks of the Sirsa, Bhai Jeevan Singh charged forward, his horse’s reins in his mouth and a sword in each hand. With the kirpans in both hands, he cut through the encirclement and made a path for Baba Ajeet Singh to exit. The Bhatt Vehis say that Bhai Jeevan Singh kept traveling with Guru Sahib’s caravan until Kotla Nihang Khan. Here, Bhai Jeevan Singh shot arrow after arrow and wreaked havoc on the Mughals. Finally, a bullet hit Bhai Sahib in the forehead and after bellowing “Sat Sri Akaal!” he fell to the ground and left his body, a beloved Sikh of the Guru till the end. In 1783 Sardar Baghel Singh and the Sikh army conquered Delhi. The Nishan Sahib flew high over the Red Fort. Sardar Bagehl Singh had one desire, that the places associated with Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib’s be commemorated. He had an announcement made by the beat of a drum that if anyone knew where the exact place of Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib’s martyrdom was, they should come to him. The old grand daughter of a water carrier came forward. She told Sardar Baghel Singh that when Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib was beheaded, her grandfather was called to wash the place. She said that she was a little girl but she had seen the martyrdom of the Sikhs and Guru Sahib. They took her to Chandani Chownk and though she was almost blind and walked very slowly, she walked to the spot where Guru Sahib was martyred and said that Guru Sahib’s blood had spilled at this place. Sardar Baghel Singh thanked her profusely and gave her family countless gifts. This is the place that Gurdwara Sis Ganj was established and even today can be seen. 1. Gurdwara Mata Sundri Ji at the place which was know as the Haveli Sardar Jawahar Singh. 2. Gurdwara Bangla Sahib. A Mansion belonging to Raja Jai Singh existed there once. Guru Harkrishan Dev, the Eighth Guru had stayed there. 3. Gurdwara Bala Sahib. Last rights of Guru Harkrishan, Mata Sundri and Mata Sahib Kaur were performed at this place. 4. Gurdwara Rakab Ganj. The torso of Guru Tegh Bahadur was cremated here. 5. Gurdwara Sees Ganj. Guru Tegh Bahadur was martyred at this place. 6. Gurdwara Moti Bagh. Guru Gobind Singh sent a message to the Mughal King, Bahadur Shah, by shooting an arrow from this place. 7. Gurdwara Majnu Tilla. It was established in the memory of a Sikh of Guru Nanak, named Majnu. Guru Hargobind stayed at this place on his way to Gwaliar. In the city of Kanauj in UP, there is the grave of a great Muslim magician. The caretaker of the tomb (a magician in his own right) heard about a great magician of Anandpur whose voice could make people offer to have their heads cut off. He decided to see who this person was. When it was time for the Magician to leave, he asked what was the path of truth and the path that rose above desires. Dashmesh jee answered, “Sai Jee! Be fair to all, remain in God’s will. Bhai Koer Singh has written in some detail the events surrounding the last bodily days of Guru Gobind Singh Jee in his Gurbilas Patshai 10. There are a few pages recording the last advice given by Guru Gobind Singh Jee, below is a summary of the major points of advice. A few weeks after being wounded Guru Jee announced his time for departure, the Sangat gathered around Guru Jee in an emotional state and with a sense of apprehension for the future. The Sangat said the Khalsa is still in its infancy playing in the laps of its Mother, who will raise it now? Guru Jee is then said to have described the behaviour of kaljug, pointing out the duality, selfishness, a world following trends (ਵੇਖਾ ਵੇਖੀ ਹੈ ਸੰਸਾਰ) and the hypercritical nature of religious leaders. This will be Kaljug at its worse when the Sants will not be seen like the Sun when it is covered by the clouds. My understanding Sikhs will accept Guru Granth as Lord. This is the Face of the 10 Gurus where they are present in a hidden form. At Amritvela do Ishnan, become pure before sunrise. Great fortunate ones do darshan of Guru(Guru Granth Sahib Jee). Do Sri Jaap Paath(Nitnem) and Gur Mantar. Then seek to carry out your work. One who calls himself a Sikh of the Guru, the True Guru, shall rise in the early morning hours and meditate on the Lord's Name. Upon arising early in the morning, he is to bathe, and cleanse himself in the pool of nectar. Following the Instructions of the Guru, he is to chant the Name of the Lord, Har, Har. All sins, misdeeds and negativity shall be erased. Then, at the rising of the sun, he is to sing Gurbani; whether sitting down or standing up, he is to meditate on the Lord's Name. One who meditates on my Lord, Har, Har, with every breath and every morsel of food - that GurSikh becomes pleasing to the Guru's Mind. That person, unto whom my Lord and Master is kind and compassionate - upon that GurSikh, the Guru's Teachings are bestowed. One has made Amritvela if the body goes to sangat at Amritvela Seva Pehar. In Har Simran One achieves Gains.

2019-04-19T02:38:23Z

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The Tribune's Rich Campbell and Brad Biggs discuss the Bears' 31-3 defeat to the Eagles that dropped them to 3-8 on the season. 10 thoughts after the Chicago Bears suffered their worst loss of the season on Sunday, losing to the Philadelphia Eagles 31-3 at Lincoln Financial Field. 1. The No. 1 question that keeps coming in via email and on Twitter is will the Bears fire John Fox and anoint an interim head coach for the remainder of the season? Folks have wondered about it for a while and the public demands, rarely something clubs pay particular attention to, are escalating. Before, the first thing I remind people is that the Bears, to my knowledge anyway, have never replaced a head coach during the season. If chairman of the board George McCaskey didn’t demand a change during 2014 when the Bears were outscored 106-37 in consecutive losses to the Patriots and Packers, he’s not going to do anything now, right? Nothing the Bears will stoop to under Fox is going to be as ugly and messy as things got near the end of the Marc Trestman era when you had then offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer breaking bad on quarterback Jay Cutler in private remarks to media and then outing himself as the source of the remarks in a meeting in front of the entire offense. Trestman had no control, commanded next to no respect and the entire thing had run amok. There’s no chance things get that sordid here in the final five weeks. The second thing I would urge you to keep in mind is that while the Bears are 3-8 right now and destined for a fifth consecutive non-winning season, that doesn’t mean the final record will not look a fair bit better. They have remaining games with the 49ers (1-10), Bengals (5-6), Lions (6-5), Browns (0-11) and Vikings (9-2). It’s quite possible the Vikings will have nothing to play for in the season finale at U.S. Bank Stadium on Dec. 31 and if that’s the case, well anything is possible. If your expectations were for much more than a six-win season for the Bears, you’re probably guilty of sipping the Kool-Aid during the offseason, listening to the wrong folks or perhaps both. They could still hit 6-10 even with a rough midseason stretch where they went from looking like they had turned the corner to really hitting the skids. Could it happen? Could the Bears pull the trigger on Fox in a move that would put them on the hook for his salary for the remainder of this season and all of next year? Well, that would be one very large parting gift. I suppose there is a chance the Bears make a move but the only case I can make for this happening is if general manager Ryan Pace (and/or McCaskey) believe that Fox has lost the team. Pace certainly doesn’t want to see a string of blowout losses pile up. If that happens, and that’s probably partially what got former GM Phil Emery axed at the end of the 2014 season, Pace could come under a high degree of scrutiny at the end of the season. Make a move now and have more ugly losses follow and the target could expand. The Bears lost eight of their final 10 games in 2014 to finish 5-11. Of those eight losses down the stretch, six were by 13 points or more. Emery’s biggest error, and it’s not even close, was hiring Trestman as coach. When the losses turned lopsided too often, the GM went out the door at the same time. Fox hasn’t really had that problem this season. He’s got victories over the surging Steelers and Panthers and the losses, by and large, have been respectable. Everyone understands it’s going to take some time with rookie quarterback Mitch Trubisky and injuries have hit the Bears hard and they need to completely rebuild the wide receiver position. But Pace had two years to build this thing up around the quarterback position and the record doesn’t look good right now. Does he push to launch Fox in an effort to re-energize things? Honestly, I have a hard time seeing it happen and I realize that doesn’t make fans fed up with the losing product feel better when they would achieve some measure of satisfaction watching someone take the fall. 2. Brian Baldinger, the former offensive lineman, was at the game as an analyst calling it for SiriusXM and he’s watched a fair bit of tape on the Bears this season. I caught up with the NFL Network analyst before kickoff to ask him about the Bears and if they can turn the corner with a young quarterback like the Eagles have done? “I’ve watched a lot of the Bears,” Baldinger said. “First thing, can they ever stay healthy? I have never seen anything like it. It’s year after year that (John) Fox has been there. These guys just keep going down. Leonard Floyd goes down last week and he’s done. And they can’t keep an offensive line healthy. They have pieces. Fox knows how to coach. “If you look at what Sean McVay is doing with Jared Goff (for the Rams) there is just so much creativity offensively. I don’t see that in Chicago. I just don’t see it. I know they know how to run the ball. They have no wide receivers. They lose the wide receiver coach (Mike Groh) two years ago. He’s now here (for the Eagles). He’s a good, solid coach. You lose him and then you lose Alshon (Jeffery) and they can’t keep anyone healthy and they’re just taking guys off the street. That’s not helping (Mitch) Trubisky out. The Eagles went out and got two solid receivers. They got Alshon, who has played well, they got Torrey (Smith) and then they drafted this kid Mack Hollins, who has been a real good young player for them and then they run the ball and they’ve got three tight ends they use in different combinations. They built a wall, even with the loss of (left tackle) Jason Peters, they had depth there at offensive line. They put a lot of depth there so even when Peters went down, even when (right tackle) Lane Johnson was suspended last year, they had a good line in front of Carson Wentz. The quarterback is really good. 3. Boy, the Bears put Cairo Santos in a tough spot in his first game with his new team. When they asked him to try a 54-yard field goal from the left hashmark late in the first quarter, it looked like the request was definitely beyond his range when you consider the conditions – winds were whipping at 17 mph when the game started. Santos was short and wide right. He came back and hit a 38-yarder later in the game and he’s been known for accuracy throughout his career. Shortly after Santos signed with the Bears last Monday, he received a text congratulating him from Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub. It was a special message for Santos, who played for Toub for three seasons and then the first three games of this season before suffering a groin injury. Santos was an undrafted free agent from Tulane when he made the Chiefs as a rookie in 2014. He never would have been available for the Bears had he not re-aggravated the groin injury he originally suffered in preseason. The Chiefs had secured Santos as a restricted free agent for this season, meaning he was earning $1.797 million when he was waived/injured Sept. 30. Santos was paid for the first three weeks and then received a six-week settlement. Getting to that point where he felt fully healed, within the last two weeks, took some time. And it required some patience. The one-year contract Santos signed with the Bears, he’s earning the pro-rated portion of the $690,000 minimum for a veteran in his fourth season, sets Santos up to enter free agency in March. Provided he remains healthy, his production during his first three seasons in Kansas City will likely put him in position to receive a nice pay day. “We're excited to have him in our program and we're hopeful it can be a long-term addition,” general manager Ryan Pace announced on the team’s web site. If Santos performs well the next five weeks, I’d expect the Bears to see if they can get something done. It would check a box for them heading into an offseason when there are lot larger boxes that need to be checked. One other good thing from the game for Santos? He got touchbacks on both kickoffs. 4. There was some reaction following the game after right guard Kyle Long was asked about the Eagles’ celebrations during the game. After Alshon Jeffery scored a touchdown with five seconds remaining in the second quarter to put Philadelphia ahead 24-0, Jeffery pretended to knock over teammates with a bowling ball. In the second half, the Eagles broke out the Electric Slide. Guess what? If the Bears had been scoring touchdowns and generating takeaways with a comfortable lead, I’m pretty sure they would have broken out a few moves. If the Bears find a way to win some games, surely they will bust a move. After all, you see it in just about every game, every Sunday. This isn’t some new wave way of disrespecting the opponent. Just ask defensive end Akiem Hicks. “If you do not want them to do it, just stop them,” Hicks said. 5. Chris Long feels bad for his younger brother Kyle. He’s been through rough seasons, worse ones than Kyle has experienced. The Rams were a disaster for much of the time Chris was in St. Louis as the No. 2 overall pick by the organization back in 2008. He’s had seasons marred by injury like his younger brother. “Listen, I have been on some teams that went 1-15, 2-14,” Chris Long said. “I certainly know where he is coming from. The reason we came to play today the way we did is we respect that team and they’re coached to play hard, up front they play hard and they run the football. That running back is real special which makes what we did today, I think something we can be proud of. We’ll dissect it. Chris Long deserves some serious props for how he’s gone about things this year. Before the season started, he announced that he was donating his first six game checks to fund scholarships to St. Anne’s-Belfield School in Charlottesville, Va., where he attended. The money is earmarked to fund scholarships for two members of the Boys & Girls Club of Central Virginia for sixth through 12th grade at the school – seven-year scholarships. “I kind of had a feeling I might do something with all my checks but the first six were, the number became arbitrary because it had more to do with how many scholarships I was funding in my hometown,” Long said. Then, Long announced he was donating the remainder of his game checks for the season – his base salary is $1 million – to charities in St. Louis, Boston and Philadelphia. Yes, Long is effectively playing for free this season a year after winning a Super Bowl ring with the Patriots. Well, not quite free. He got a $750,000 roster bonus and a $500,000 signing bonus, but he’s still forking over $1 million of the $2.25 million he signed for this season. That’s 44.4 percent to charities, causes that he really believes in. “After (the six game checks) I really wanted to do something more wide ranging so we came up with this ‘Pledge 10 for Tomorrow’ initiative,” he said. “It’s given to four groups in three cities that deal with underserved kids in education as far as opportunity and equity. I told Long, who also started Waterboys, a group that raises money to build wells and provide clean water to east African countries, it’s cool to see him stepping forward in such a way. “Listen, I am lucky to have this platform,” he said. 6. The Eagles are riding high as you know, having won nine straight games now. Right tackle Bobby Massie made an interesting comparison after the game when he said, “they’re just like the 2015 Carolina Panthers.” Massie was playing for the Cardinals then and Carolina blew out Arizona in the NFC Championship Game to reach the Super Bowl. Philadelphia is experiencing some great success and we’ll see how far the Eagles go. It’s a wild year in the NFC. The Cowboys look crushed following the suspension of running back Ezekiel Elliott. The Packers are really struggling with quarterback Aaron Rodgers out. The Seahawks have suffered a slew of injuries. If the Eagles make a deep push, other clubs could come calling. Former Bears college scouting director Joe Douglas could quickly become a general manager candidate. He is the vice president of player personnel and with Howie Roseman wielding the most power (and control of the 53-man roster) as executive vice president of football operations, Douglas could be hired away as a GM. Pro personnel director Dwayne Joseph, a scout in two stints for the Bears, could see his name get some push. Quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo might be an emerging young head coaching candidate. DeFilippo was blocked from interviewing to be the Jets offensive coordinator this past offseason but nothing could stop the Eagles from stopping another team from meeting with him about a head coaching shot. So stay tuned to see how popular the folks behind the scenes with the Eagles become after the season. 7. The Bears throttled back with defensive end Akiem Hicks this week and that was probably a wise move after a knee injury that took him off the field for two plays last week against the Lions led to him missing practice on Wednesday and Thursday. Hicks was on the field for 54 of 78 snaps after logging an almost unheard of 186 of 190 in the previous three games. It’s difficult for a player to give maximum effort on every snap with that much action and playing that much could reduce Hicks’ effectiveness. He was getting some time on the sideline even before the game was completely out of hand in the fourth quarter. Jonathan Bullard, who had lost playing time recently, got 47 snaps and recorded a sack. John Jenkins, who has been active for only two other games this season, logged 22 snaps. 8. Even with the return of tight end Dion Sims after missing the previous two games because of illness, the club didn’t cut into the workload too much for rookie Adam Shaheen. That’s a good thing. Shaheen needs more action down the stretch so he can use this as a building block heading into Year 2. Sims was on the field for 20 of the 55 offensive snaps and Shaheen got 17 with Daniel Brown getting 30in the third-down package that was used quite a bit in the fourth quarter. For what it’s worth, running back Tarik Cohen was on the field for 19 snaps and still disappointing wide receiver Markus Wheaton had 55 snaps. 9. Deiondre’ Hall was at Halas Hall on the players’ day off Tuesday working on the Jugs machine catching ball after ball after ball when he got the call. That is when the team informed the safety he would begin practicing the next day, designated to return from injured reserve. Hall practiced this week and the Bears could move him to the 53-man roster any time between now and Dec. 13. By then the team either needs to move Hall to the 53 or shut him down for the remainder of the season on IR. The second-year player from Northern Iowa suffered a hamstring injury in the preseason finale against the Browns. The team converted him from cornerback to safety at the start of the offseason and it’s difficult to figure how he would earn playing time on defense but certainly he could factor on special teams. It’s a chance for Hall to do something, even if it’s playing a small role, to prevent this from being a lost season. “I want to make the best out of my opportunity whether that is getting back and playing, whether that is staying on scout team, whatever it is,” he said. Hall worked with the scout team in practice this past week. It’s possible the Bears are waiting for an injury to necessitate a roster move to bump Hall up. Fellow safety Quintin Demps is eligible to be designated to return at any point now as well. When and if that will happen, I can’t say right now but Demps is the most likely of the remaining players on IR to have a shot at returning. He suffered a fractured left arm in the Week 3 victory over the Steelers. Plenty of people have asked time and time again: I haven’t gotten any indication wide receiver Kevin White can or will return from IR this season. Stay tuned on this front. 10. The Bears opened as a 5 ½-point favorite over the 49ers for Sunday’s game at Soldier Field at Westgate SuperBook. It will be interesting to see if Arlington Heights native Jimmy Garoppolo will make his first start for San Francisco in this game. That would be something for the former Eastern Illinois star. 10a. There is a chance the Bears will finish the season without a single player having 500 receiving yards. Kendall Wright is closest with 345. That puts him on pace for 502. The next closest is Tarik Cohen with 267 yards. 10b. I need to re-watch the action but on first glance it didn’t appear to be the best game for rookie free safety Eddie Jackson. 10d. Former Bears coach Marc Trestman was named the CFL Coach of the Year for the second time in his career. His Toronto Argonauts won the 105th Grey Cup Sunday night with a 27-24 victory over the Calgary Stampeders. Trestman previously won a Grey Cup in 2009 and 2010. The Argonauts were 5-13 last year. 10e. The CBS crew of Andrew Catalon and James Lofton will call Sunday’s game against the 49ers at Soldier Field, a cross-flexed game that was shifted off Fox.

2019-04-23T07:00:43Z

https://www.mcall.com/sports/ct-spt-bears-eagles-john-fox-10-thoughts-20171127-story.html

Genomic signatures predict the immunogenicity of BRCA-deficient breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2019 Mar 26. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-0468. Combined inhibition of STAT3 and DNA repair in palbociclib-resistant ER-positive breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2019 Mar 13. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-3274. Circulating tumor DNA in HER2 amplified breast cancer: a translational research substudy of the NeoALTTO phase 3 trial. Clin Cancer Res. 2019 Mar 12. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-2521. A novel ACKR2-dependent role of fibroblast-derived CXCL14 in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and metastasis of breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2019 Mar 8. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-1294. Radiomics of multi-parametric MRI for pretreatment prediction of pathological complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer: a multicenter study. Clin Cancer Res. 2019 Mar 6. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-3190. Multi-omics profiling reveals distinct microenvironment characterization and suggests immune escape mechanisms of triple-negative breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2019 Mar 5. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-3524. Plasma microRNA levels for predicting therapeutic response to neoadjuvant treatment in HER2-positive breast cancer: Results from the NeoALTTO trial. Clin Cancer Res. 2019 Feb 27. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-2507. Effects of Age and Immune Landscape on Outcome in HER2-positive Breast Cancer in the NCCTG N9831 (Alliance) and NSABP B-31 (NRG) Trials. Clin Cancer Res. 2019 Feb 26. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-2206. Correction: RAS/MAPK Activation Is Associated with Reduced Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Therapeutic Cooperation Between MEK and PD-1/PD-L1 Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors. Correction: Association of FGFR1 with ERalpha Maintains Ligand-Independent ER Transcription and Mediates Resistance to Estrogen Deprivation in ER(+) Breast Cancer. Correction: Neratinib: Inching Up on the Cure Rate of HER2(+) Breast Cancer? A T-cell-engaging B7-H4/CD3 bispecific Fab-scFv antibody targets human breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2019 Feb 8. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-3123. Ligand binding domain activating mutations of ESR1 rewire cellular metabolism of breast cancer cells. Clin Cancer Res. 2019 Feb 7. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-1505. A Phase II Randomized Study of Neoadjuvant Letrozole Plus Alpelisib for Hormone Receptor-Positive, Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2-Negative Breast Cancer (NEO-ORB). Clin Cancer Res. 2019 Feb 5. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-3160. Genetic ancestry-dependent differences in breast cancer-induced field defects in the tumor-adjacent normal breast. Clin Cancer Res. 2019 Feb 4. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-3427. Cell-proliferation imaging for monitoring response to CDK4/6 inhibition combined with endocrine-therapy in breast cancer: Comparison of [(18)F]FLT and [(18)F]ISO-1 PET/CT. Clin Cancer Res. 2019 Jan 28. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-2769. Endogenous production of IL-1B by breast cancer cells drives metastasis and colonisation of the bone microenvironment. Clin Cancer Res. 2019 Jan 22. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-2202. Vaccine-induced memory CD8+ T cells provide clinical benefit in HER2 expressing breast cancer: a mouse to human translational study. Clin Cancer Res. 2019 Jan 11. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-3102. Combination Paclitaxel and Palbociclib: Results of a Phase I Trial in Advanced Breast Cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2019 Jan 11. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-0790. Central Nervous System Metastasis in Patients With HER2-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer: Patient Characteristics, Treatment, and Survival From SystHERs. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Dec 28. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-2366. A Phase II Study of Talazoparib After Platinum or Cytotoxic Nonplatinum Regimens in Patients With Advanced Breast Cancer and Germline BRCA1/2 Mutations (ABRAZO). Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Dec 18. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-1891. Impact of breast cancer subtypes on prognosis of women with operable invasive breast cancer: a population-based study using SEER database. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Dec 17. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-2782. Human breast cancer xenograft model implicates peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor signaling as driver of cancer-induced muscle fatigue. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Dec 17. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-1565. FDA Approval Summary: Pertuzumab for adjuvant treatment of HER2-positive early breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Dec 14. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-3003. NK cell infiltrates and HLA class I expression in primary HER2+ breast cancer predict and uncouple pathological response and disease-free survival. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Dec 6. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-2365. Expression of MT4-MMP, EGFR and RB in triple negative breast cancer strongly sensitizes tumors to erlotinib and palbociclib combination therapy. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Nov 30. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-1880. Serum miRNA-based prediction of axillary lymph node metastasis in breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Nov 27. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-1414. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Nov 13. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-2482. Correction: Relationship between Tumor Biomarkers and Efficacy in EMILIA, a Phase III Study of Trastuzumab Emtansine in HER2-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer. Correction: MONARCH 1, A Phase II Study of Abemaciclib, a CDK4 and CDK6 Inhibitor, as a Single Agent, in Patients with Refractory HR(+)/HER2(-) Metastatic Breast Cancer. Polygenic Determinants for Subsequent Breast Cancer Risk in Survivors of Childhood Cancer: The St Jude Lifetime Cohort Study (SJLIFE). Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Oct 26. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-1775. Enhancing abiraterone acetate efficacy in androgen receptor-positive triple negative breast cancer: Chk1 as a potential target. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Oct 23. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-1469. Association of CD4(+) radiation-induced lymphocyte apoptosis with fibrosis and telangiectasia after radiotherapy in 272 breast cancer patients with >10-year follow-up. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Oct 16. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-0777. Combined blockade of activating ERBB2 mutations and ER results in synthetic lethality of ER+/HER2 mutant breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Oct 12. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-1544. Deep Learning to Distinguish Recalled but Benign Mammography Images in Breast Cancer Screening. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Oct 11. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-1115. Harnessing Androgen-Receptor Pathway Activation for Targeted Alpha Particle Radioimmunotherapy of Breast Cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Sep 25. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-1521. A Non-Invasive Blood-Based Combinatorial Proteomic Biomarker Assay to Detect Breast Cancer in Women over age 50 with BI-RADS 3, 4, or 5 Assessment. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Sep 5. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-0843. Cyclin E overexpression sensitizes triple negative breast cancer to Wee1 kinase Inhibition. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Sep 4. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-1446. Intensive surveillance with bi-annual dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging downstages breast cancer in BRCA1 mutation carriers. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Aug 28. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-0200. Functional ex vivo assay reveals homologous recombination deficiency in breast cancer beyond BRCA gene defects. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Aug 23. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-0063. Extracellular HMGA1 promotes tumor Invasion and Metastasis in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Aug 22. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-0517. Loss of nuclear localized Parathyroid Hormone-related Protein in primary breast cancer predicts poor clinical outcome and correlates with suppressed Stat5 signaling. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Aug 10. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-3280. Anti-Folate Receptor alpha-directed Antibody Therapies Restrict the Growth of Triple Negative Breast Cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Aug 1. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-0652. Pathological response and survival in triple-negative breast cancer following neoadjuvant carboplatin plus docetaxel. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Jul 30. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-0585. Integrated analysis of RNA and DNA from a phase III trial of trastuzumab-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy identifies response predictors in HER2-positive breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Jul 23. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-3431. Activating transcription factor 4 modulates TGFbeta-induced aggressiveness in triple negative breast cancer via SMAD2/3/4 and mTORC2 signaling. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Jul 16. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-3125. Chemotherapy sensitizes therapy-resistant cells to mild hyperthermia by suppressing heat shock protein 27 expression in triple negative breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Jun 19. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-3872. Integrating Radiosensitivity and Immune Gene Signatures for Predicting Benefit of Radiotherapy in Breast Cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Jun 19. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-0825. Radiomics Signature on Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Association with Disease-Free Survival in Patients with Invasive Breast Cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Jun 18. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-3783. Inhibition of HER2 Enriches for Jagged1-dependent Breast Cancer Stem Cells: Role for Membrane Jagged1. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Jun 12. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-1952. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Jun 11. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-3374. Targeted therapy for premenopausal women with HR+, HER2- advanced breast cancer: focus on special considerations and latest advances. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Jun 8. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-0162. Neratinib: Inching up on the cure rate of HER2+ breast cancer? Clin Cancer Res. 2018 May 25. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-1114. Comprehensive profiling of DNA repair defects in breast cancer identifies a novel class of endocrine therapy resistance drivers. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 May 23. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-3702. Phase II Study of Taselisib (GDC0032) in Combination with Fulvestrant in Patients with HER2-Negative, Hormone Receptor-Positive Advanced Breast Cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 May 23. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-0613. Dual suppressive effect of microRNA-34a on the FOXM1/eEF2-kinase axis regulates triple-negative breast cancer growth and invasion. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 May 10. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-1959. Cycling Towards Progress: Ribociclib, CDK 4/6 inhibitor for Breast Cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Apr 23. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-0463. Clinicopathological risk factors for an invasive breast cancer recurrence after ductal carcinoma in situ - A nested case-control study. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Apr 23. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-18-0201. 21-gene recurrence score assay predicts benefit of post-mastectomy radiotherapy in T1-2 N1 breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Apr 23. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-3169. Interferon-stimulated genes are involved in cross-resistance to radiotherapy in tamoxifen-resistant breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Apr 16. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-2551. Discovery of a glucocorticoid receptor (GR) activity signature using selective GR antagonism in ER-negative breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Apr 10. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-2793. Risk assessment after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in luminal breast cancer using a clinico-molecular predictor. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Apr 4. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-2947. Change in topoisomerase 1 (Top1) positive circulating tumor cells impacts overall survival in patients with advanced breast cancer after treatment with etirinotecan pegol. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Apr 4. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-3059. Higher Absolute Lymphocyte Counts Predict Lower Mortality from Early-Stage Triple-Negative Breast Cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Mar 26. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-1323. Epigenome-wide SRC-1 mediated gene silencing represses cellular differentiation in advanced breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Mar 22. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-2615. Safety and Antitumor Activity of Pembrolizumab in Patients with Estrogen ReceptorPositive/Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2Negative Advanced Breast Cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Mar 20. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-3452. High p95HER2/HER2 Ratio Associated With Poor Outcome in Trastuzumab-Treated HER2-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer NCCTG N0337 and NCCTG 98-32-52 (Alliance). Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Mar 12. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-1864. Association of p27 and cyclin D1 expression and benefit from adjuvant trastuzumab treatment in HER2-positive early breast cancer: a TransHERA study. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Mar 12. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-3473. U.S. Food and Drug Administration Approval: Neratinib for the Extended Adjuvant Treatment of Early Stage HER2-Positive Breast Cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Mar 9. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-3628. The Magnitude of Androgen Receptor Positivity in Breast Cancer is Critical for Reliable Prediction of Disease Outcome. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Mar 7. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-1199. Chemotherapy induces breast cancer stemness in association with dysregulated monocytosis. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Mar 2. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-2545. Focal Irradiation And Systemic Transforming Growth Factor beta Blockade in Metastatic Breast Cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Feb 23. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-3322. Tamoxifen metabolism and efficacy in breast cancer- a prospective multicentre trial. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Feb 19. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-3028. Development and External Validation of Prediction Models for 10-Year Survival of Invasive Breast Cancer. Comparison with PREDICT and CancerMath. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Feb 14. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-3542. A first in human study of the new oral selective estrogen receptor degrader AZD9496 for HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Feb 13. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-3102. FDA Approval: Ribociclib for the Treatment of Postmenopausal Women with Hormone Receptor-Positive, HER2-Negative Advanced or Metastatic Breast Cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Feb 7. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-2369. HER3-Mediated Resistance to Hsp90 Inhibition Detected in Breast Cancer Xenografts by Affibody-based PET Imaging. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Feb 6. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-2754. BQ323636.1, a Novel Splice Variant to NCOR2, as a Predictor for Tamoxifen Resistant Breast Cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Feb 2. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-2259. Re-activation of cAMP pathway by PDE4D inhibition represents a novel druggable axis for overcoming tamoxifen resistance in ER-positive breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Jan 31. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-2776. Pathological response in a triple negative breast cancer cohort treated with neoadjuvant carboplatin and docetaxel according to Lehmann's refined classification. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Jan 29. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-1912. Acquired resistance of ER- positive breast cancer to endocrine treatment confers an adaptive sensitivity to TRAIL through post-translational downregulation of c-FLIP. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Jan 23. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-1381. RNF126 as a biomarker of a poor prognosis in invasive breast cancer and CHK1 inhibitor efficacy in breast cancer cells. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Jan 11. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-2242. Expanded genomic profiling of circulating tumor cells in metastatic breast cancer patients to assess biomarker status and biology over time. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Jan 8. pii: 1078-0432.CCR-17-2312. Pharmacological inhibition of NOS activates ASK1/JNK pathway augmenting docetaxel-mediated apoptosis in triple negative breast cancer. 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Regional Delivery of Chimeric Antigen Receptor-Engineered T Cells Effectively Targets HER2+ Breast Cancer Metastasis to the Brain. Clin Cancer Res. 2017 Oct 23. pii: clincanres.2041.2017. Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator RAD140 Inhibits the Growth of Androgen/Estrogen Receptor Positive Breast Cancer Models with a Distinct Mechanism of Action. Clin Cancer Res. 2017 Oct 3. pii: clincanres.0670.2017. Gene expression signatures and immunohistochemical subtypes add prognostic value to each other in breast cancer cohorts. Clin Cancer Res. 2017 Sep 29. pii: clincanres.1535.2017. PAM50 provides prognostic information when applied to the lymph node metastases of advanced breast cancer patients. Clin Cancer Res. 2017 Sep 29. pii: clincanres.2301.2017. Clin Cancer Res. 2017 Sep 25. pii: clincanres.1544.2017. A novel Breast Cancer Index for prediction of distant recurrence in HR+ early stage breast cancer with 1 to 3 positive nodes. Clin Cancer Res. 2017 Sep 22. pii: clincanres.1688.2017. Multi-Spectral Optoacoustic Tomography (MSOT) of human breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2017 Sep 12. pii: clincanres.3200.2016.

2019-04-19T06:26:45Z

https://amedeo.com/medicine/bc/clincar.htm

Scientific plausibility permeates discussions and debates about research on complementary, alternative, or integrative health approaches. This is no surprise; many interventions that fall under this rubric are ensconced in belief systems about illness and health—some ancient and some modern—that lack foundations in modern science. In addition, those who support research on these approaches often fail to articulate a scientifically grounded rationale or approach to research. Thus, it is common to see criticism based on scientific plausibility in the scientific literature, news stories, and blogs. This criticism often suggests that the existence of research implies either belief in scientifically implausible explanations or ignorance of basic scientific principles and concepts. So how do we justify investment of public resources in research on complementary interventions that are associated with pre-scientific or unscientific explanations? Simply, it is both possible and necessary to disconnect scientific interest from unscientific “trappings.” For example, an objective look at the body of accumulated evidence (from patient reports, clinical observations by many good clinicians, and clinical studies) suggests that some people with chronic low-back pain are deriving meaningful benefit from acupuncture, yoga, or procedures involving spinal manipulation. It is entirely possible to be scientifically curious about that body of evidence and investigate it further, while not in any way embracing scientifically unfounded explanations for those practices. For instance, it is not necessary to believe in meridians or qi to study the effects of the procedure of acupuncture on pain, or to explore the hypothesis that acupuncture mediates pain by conditioning or expectancy effects produced by a convincing ritual combined with a counter-irritant. NCCAM’s strategic plan now includes a framework of four factors we use to sharpen the focus of our research investments. Two of them address important aspects of scientific plausibility. One is “scientific promise”: how strong is the body of evidence supporting the concept? In the case of acupuncture, yoga, or spinal manipulation for chronic back pain, credible signals from a variety of clinical sources provide a sufficient basis for interest in further research. There is no need to bring associated non-scientific explanations into consideration of scientific promise. By contrast, unscientific notions should assume increasingly greater importance when clinical signals are weak, unconvincing, or non-existent. In all cases the question of whether and how to invest valuable resources in research must also move to consideration of the second factor—“amenability to rigorous scientific inquiry.” Do we have reliable and reproducible tools, methods, diagnostics, outcome measures, quality control processes, etc., to allow us to mount a study that will elucidate a clear and unambiguous answer? In some cases we do. For example, it is very possible (although not necessarily easy) to design a study that employs the most rigorous mainstream clinical research methodology to investigate whether acupuncture, spinal manipulation, or yoga alters a patient’s low-back pain. On the other hand, it is not possible to design studies that will yield clear and unambiguous answers when objective, validated measurement tools, or processes and procedures to ensure and document quality control, are lacking. Let me be clear that I do not mean to suggest that we can or should launch expensive clinical trials of anything and everything complementary or alternative or integrative just because we have some intriguing anecdotes. The strength, reliability, reproducibility, and other particulars of the signals from clinical observation and preliminary clinical investigations are critically important. Adequate methods and tools are equally important. I also do not mean to suggest in any way that mechanisms are irrelevant to questions of plausibility. One lesson NCCAM has learned from extensive experience is that mechanistic insight into biological effects creates sharper scientific hypotheses and allows one to design better clinical trials to investigate those hypotheses. I simply mean to suggest that it is a mistake to assume that scientific inquiry is equivalent to acceptance of unscientific mechanistic thinking. NCCAM’s first decade entailed a relatively broad and investigator-initiated approach to funding. This was appropriate to the time and the state of the available scientific evidence. The four factors we now consider evolved out of lessons learned during those years. So with the benefit of hindsight, it is pertinent to note that a number of studies funded during that timeframe would probably not be funded today because they could not pass our current hurdles regarding plausibility. In fact, the portfolio of research NCCAM has actually funded over the past several years demonstrates clearly that both the peer review process and NCCAM are now using these factors to shape our investments in research. So plausibility matters a great deal, but it is a mistake to equate interest in research with acceptance of unscientific trappings. By the same token, I urge those who support research on these interventions to carefully parse rationale from “trappings” and give due recognition to the validity of concerns about scientific plausibility. Why not drop the nonsensical “trappings” altogether? For instance, why not study *counter-irritation* – e.g. a plausible hypothesis for acupuncture – and not mention acupuncture and its fanciful meridians for which there is no scientific plausibility? The funding of studies of *acupuncture* gives credence to the fanciful trappings. Labeling such a study as being about “acupuncture,” any discovered effect from counter-irritation would give undue credence to fanciful meridians and the entire practice of acupuncture. It should be the responsibility of researchers to “articulate a scientifically grounded rationale” and for NCCAM to demand it. / If NCCAM doesn’t go along with all the “trappings” of acupuncture, could not its projects just as well be studied in other NIH centers who are more familiar with pursuing scientific rationales? Isn’t it the very “trapping” that justify NCCAM’s existence, i.e. that some mysterious mechanism is being overlooked? If NCCAM is to be unique, it needs to get down to brass tacks of its mission, i.e. study the *uniqueness* of acupuncture – the meridians themselves. Do meridians exist or not? The “human energy field” – does that exist? “Homeopathic memory” – does that exist? But Dr. Killen appears to admit that these “trappings” do not pass the plausibility test. Therefore, would not medical ethics conclude that the existence of NCCAM itself does not pass the justifiability test? It is encouraging to see NCCAM explicitly recognizing that concerns about scientific plausibility are legitimate and should figure into the allocation of scarce public research dollars. However, the current policy still seems to ignore a couple of problems. For one thing, it is rare for even an intervention that has a plausible hypothetical mechanism and supportive pre-clinical research data to live up to its promise in clinical trials. That is why pharmaceutical research is so expensive and time-consuming. The chances of a therapy proving to have a significant impact of health and well-being when it has only unscientific “trappings” and anecdotal experience to support it can only be even less. NCCAM has an ethical duty to patients and to taxpayers to maximize the chances for a meaningful return on the intellectual and financial capital it spends on research. As Dr. Killen suggests, past policies have not fulfilled this duty, and such capital has been squandered on interventions extremely unlikely to bear fruit given their incompatibility with current scientific knowledge. A true change of direction, in which systematic and rigorous development of appropriate evidence at the level of basic science and preclinical research is a prerequisite for launching clinical trials is necessary to truly utilize our healthcare research resources efficiently and effectively. Secondly, while investigating a therapy scientifically in the absence of an established, scientifically plausible mechanism may not be equivalent to accepting the unscientific theories or traditions that historically have been used to legitimize the therapy, such research unquestionably gives the impression of scientific legitimacy and the NIH imprimatur to these interventions. And there is preliminary evidence to suggest that, when such research is done, negative results do not diminish the use of CAM therapies whereas equivocal or weakly positive results convey an inaccurate impression of scientific validation (Offit PA. Studying complementary and alternative therapies. J Amer Med Assoc 2012;307(17):1803-1804.) It is crucial, then, if NCCAM wishes to conduct a truly legitimate scientific investigation of CAM therapies, that it emphasize the importance of coherence and consistency in the research evidence and the need to accept the failure to validate a practice after sufficient efforts to do so as reasonable grounds for abandoning the practice. While it may not be possible to entirely avoid conveying the impression that an intervention is legitimate because NIH has funded research on it, NCCAM can help to discourage this interpretation by actively endorsing a stricly science and evidence-based approach to clinical practice. However, when one looks at the TCM definition of acupuncture, at how it is practiced, and what the curricula of acupuncture schools actually are, then one finds that “ritual” and “counter irritant” are not the basis of the actual practice or definition of acupuncture. In science it is vitally important to define variables and conditions precisely. If the argument, Dr. Killen, is that the NCCAM researchers do not believe in the magic of qi and meridiens, but are instead studying counter irritant effects and psychological responses to ritual then it seems quite obvious that they should be studying counter irritant effects and the psychological responses to ritual - NOT acupuncture. The issue at heart of all this is that using the term “acupuncture” in the study in the manner described above sets the supposed definition of the term the researcher is using as different to the much more commonly used and practiced definition. If I were to grant you that study of it does not mean belief in scientifically implausible explanations, the only thing you have achieved is to demonstrate a support for sloppy scientific inquiry. There is a well established body of evidence demonstrating placebo effects and responses to pain and how ritualistic medicine takes advantage of this higher order modulation of the pain response and interpretation pathways. You look for prior plausibility and explanations, and even admit that acupuncture is at best a placebo ritual that takes advantage of these well documented phenomena (with perhaps some counter irritant effects, which is another discussion entirely) and yet still advocate that the study of *acupuncture* rather than ritual and counter irritant effects is warranted and reasonable. I fail to see how this is so. As I commented on Dr. Briggs’ post - what is it that separates the investigation of CAM from any other medical investigation? If we are to take into account prior plausibility and apply full scientific rigor then we would strip away the term “acupuncture” and study the parts already evinced as being in play and merely have plain old medical research. How is the NCCAM any better equipped to study CAM in this manner than the NIH? What specific utility does having this separate department bring to the progression of medical knowledge and understanding? Once again these are genuine questions since I have explored this topic extensively and rigorously and can find no satisfying answer though I am always willing to be presented with rigorous evidence otherwise. It seems that Linda Rosa beat me to the punch on this one, though her comment posted after mine despite being dated earlier. Ignoring research studies that have documented low-resistance “electropermeable” points and pathways correlating with acupuncture points and meridians seems either misinformed or disingenuous. The presence of such low resistance electrical pathways and alterations in the flow of charge along these pathways does indeed offer a scientifically plausible theory for some of the effects of acupuncture beyond the usual endorphin, counter-irritant or psychologic explanations. I agree completely that good science should not be saddled with metaphysical baggage or other trappings rooted in non-verifiable belief systems. If there is a willingness to translate non-scientific terminology and thinking into something that can be measured and tested then we may actually be able to learn something useful about underlying mechanisms of action. Wrong or seemingly fanciful explanations for observable phenomena doesn’t mean it’s not worth studying those phenomena or make them any less real. The jaded, therapy-bashing, belief-bashing, NCCAM-bashing comments serve no purpose. I agree completely with Dr. Killen’s comment that “it is a mistake to equate interest in research with acceptance of unscientific trappings.” There needs to be enough intellectual curiosity to get past the unscientific trappings so we can explore what’s scientifically plausible. Firstly, I would be interested in those studies you reference Mr. Hammerly. Secondly, how does one reconcile those studies with the large corpus of studies demonstrating that the effect of “acupuncture” is the same regardless of whether the needle actually penetrates the skin, whether the needle is placed in a “correct” location or just any random location, or whether a needle is used at all? If your argument is that these “low electrical resistance pathways” are plausible explanations for an MOA specific to acupuncture, then one should find an INCREASED effect when needles are placed in the proper spots, a DECREASED (or zero) effect when a sham needle (which does not penetrate the skin) is placed in the proper spot, a DECREASED (or zero) effect when the needle is placed in a random spot, and ZERO effect when nothing more than a toothpick is twirled over the skin. Yet that is not what we see. We find that in each of those scenarios the effect is indistinguishable. So I am very highly skeptical that there is actually rigorous evidence demonstrating these “electropermeable” points corresponding to acupuncture points and meridians. Especially because meridians seem to correspond quite closely with the typical distribution of veins and the historical tools and use of acupuncture was nearly identical to the old European traditions of blood letting. It was not until well into the 20th century that some semblance of acupuncture as we think of it today came into existence. Furthermore, reliance on basic science plausibility is more than just proposing some highly hypothetical putative pathway of action. If you argue that such “low resistance electrical pathways” (I’ll just call it LREP for short) exist - and for the sake of argument I will grant that they do - you must then follow that up with how that would be physiologically useful and how an acupuncture needle would affect that pathway AND how affecting that pathway would affect disease. Demonstrating that people have LREPs is not merely enough. One would reasonably expect that difference in tissue composition, electrolyte concentration, and surrounding tissues would invariably lead to *something* being an LREP. But are these LREP’s the same in everyone or are they randomly distributed? Do they correspond to useful physiological pathways or not? How can inserting a needle so small as to be imperceptible affect such an LREP? And most importantly is this effect actually clinically useful? When taken as a whole, the corpus of data does clearly demonstrate that the prior plausibility of any specific effect of acupuncture is quite small. I’ll grant that 20 or 30 years ago, that may have been a different story (though it would still have been rather implausible even then since we now the magnitude of standard “needling” or counter irritant effects to be clinically significant but small and that involves using a vastly larger needle that is actually moved around). But now, after finding that sham acupuncture, toothpick twirling, and random points of insertion all yield the same results, coupled with the history of acupuncture as a novel construct from a blood letting past I can see no argument for prior plausibility of acupuncture as anything more than placebo effects and study and reporting bias. While there is evidence in the treatment of pain, that sham acupuncture and real acupuncture have similar effectivness, I believe that more objective studies, based on fMRI have shown that actually different measurable effects exist between needling a real point and a sham point nearby. A few examples are PNAS (1998) vol. 95 no. 5 2670-2673;Neuroradiology, Volume 46, Number 5 (2004), 359-362;Neuroscience Letters, Volume 383, Issue 3, (2005) Pages 236–240. RG: I have read through the articles you referenced. As for the studies you cite specifically: As with pretty much all other studies that come out of China there are significant methodological flaws. In all 3 proper blinding is not observed. One in particular (the PNAS paper) is also striking in that they found differences in the fMRI signal which they then attributed to the participant being either of “yin” or “yang” disposition. They try to claim that the confirmation of “yin” and “yang” characteristics was independently and blindly verified, but they do not at all elucidate what those characteristics are, how the are determined, and whether or not the designation was given before or after the fMRI results were obtained. Additionally, they admit that 1 blind determination was incorrect, which is rather significant given that it is essentially a 50/50 chance of getting it right by pure luck and the sample size was so small. Additionally they discuss the methodology used for selecting whether the pixel (which should be called a voxel in MRI studies) was active by comparing a correlation coefficient to a threshold value (TH) which they say was set at 0.4 for “most of the study.” There is no discussion as to why that particular value was chosen, nor a discussion as to why only “most of the study” used that value, nor which parts used that value, how it was determined that a different value would be used, nor what different value was actually used. The remainder of the studies follow this similarly poor methodology which, as I described above, is known to be par for the course in Chinese studies. Additionally, large studies with adequate power have shown that in fact there is no difference between sham and verum acupuncture in outcomes. A study of 1162 patients with chronic low back pain (which we would a priori expect to have the largest placebo responses and thus the largest effect sizes with placebo intervention) demonstrated ” At 6 Months, Response Rate Was 47.6% In The Verum Acupuncture Group, 44.2% In The Sham Acupuncture Group…Verum Vs Sham, 3.4% (95% Confidence Interval, −3.7% To 10.3%; P = .39)” (Arch Intern Med. 2007;167(17):1892-1898) In other words, it really didn’t matter where you put the needles it had the same effect which clearly demonstrates that there is no intrinsic utility to acupuncture but a distinct placebo response amongst the cohort of subjects. A study in the journal “Pain” did a large review of 57 systematic reviews. Of note only 4 were considered “high quality.” The review of reviews concluded “numerous systematic reviews have generated little truly convincing evidence that acupuncture is effective in reducing pain. Serious adverse effects continue to be reported.” (PAIN Volume 152, Issue 4 , Pages 755-764, April 2011). For all of these reasons I am quite unimpressed with the studies you have provided and would most certainly NOT consider them to be more objective. To stress the point, any brain scan data - and especially fMRI data - is subject to a large amount of observer bias in interpretation. A lack of blinding the researchers can very easily lead to biased results (whether intentional or not). As John Ioannidis has pointed out on this topic, the only way to prevent this would be to both blind the researchers AND require that the trial declare beforehand exactly what type of measurements will be used and what will be measured. The resolution of brain scans and our understanding of the complex interconnectedness of neurophysiology is simply too poor to consider them immune to bias and indeed can be very easily biased unintentionally. So this is what I mean when I refer to prior plausibility of a so-called CAM modality. A rigorous look at the corpus of data surrounding the topic is required and must be implemented, which is much more than simply reading the abstract which will *always* paint the conclusions in the most favorable possible light. I still see no plausibility for a putative mechanism of acupuncture beyond placebo effect and large analysis demonstrate clearly that there is no putative effect. Even the most recent meta-analysis demonstrates a statistically significant but clinically insignificant effect on pain from acupuncture. An intellectually honest researcher would recognize that in subjective assessments there is invariably a large amount of noise in the signal and that the threshold for accepting something as significant must accordingly be higher. Even in that case though, clinical significance is also of importance and no study in acupuncture without serious methodological flaws has demonstrated clinical significance for any use of acupuncture. We are pleased to have an engaged audience with varying perspectives contributing to the NCCAM Research Blog. When commenting, please be mindful of the NCCAM Blog Comment Policy, http://nccam.nih.gov/tools/commentpolicy.htm. We want this blog to be a space for collegial, productive exchange. All contributors should be comfortable providing their opinions. Please stay on-topic and refrain from personal attacks and disparaging comments directed at individuals. I fail to see a “personal attack” or “disparaging” comment directed at anyone. Could you explain what comment(s) skirted the line? Such discussion and debate is very similar with in China. In China, there are many arguments whether TCM is scientific or not. Actually, TCM does work in clinical including acupuncture, herbs, although its theory is so difficult to understand and explain using scientific approaches, for example, what is the meridian? Qi could be flowing along the meridian after acupuncture, it is an exist phenomenon, however we could not know the meridian until now. Sham acupuncture could not be manipulated (left and right, up and down) by doctor while real acupuncture could. No pain no gain. So I am afriad that sham acupuncture is same as real acupuncture. However, we should study that if there is any difference between needling a real point and a sham point nearby (meridian point and non-meridian point) even “Ashi” point. Many years ago, I attended a lecture at the University of California, Berkeley, Department of Physiology, given by a historian of science named Merrily Borrell. The topic was this: The discovery of the existence of “hormones” involved what was at the time a revolutionary idea, that these chemicals (as opposed to the nervous system) organize physiology in the body. Borrell asked how a novel, revolutionary idea could come about. According to her lecture, during a period of time that nothing seemed to be happening in the laboratory research community, there was a great deal of other enthusiasm and exploration. She discussed, in particular, testicular extracts used as tonics to restore masculine vigor. Out of a stewing pot of apparent snake oil remedies, animistic-sounding explanations (if you ingest the organs of animals you take on their qualities), stimulation of enthusiasm and interest in other organ extracts among professionals (including the pancreas), and interest by people with laboratory research backgrounds, this work eventually found its way into scientific laboratories. A dog, for example, was hooked up to an apparatus that recorded heart rate, etc., then given testicular extracts, and, lo and behold, there were measurable physiological changes. However, the conclusion was not that there was a causal relationship between the extracts and dependent variables—that, for example, since heart rate changed that must have caused the effect. The effect on dependent variables indicated that some kind of phenomenon existed, but its cause turned out to be an unexpected, novel cause that had hitherto been outside the limited framework of the science of the day. While I wouldn’t argue that something similar is happening with CAM interventions, I also wouldn’t confidently assert that it is not. It is possible that practices that are difficult to explain on the basis of scientific plausibility, but that are shown to have clinical effects, might be drawing on principles that do not fall within current ideas but are nonetheless important. This is especially so given the limited concepts that traditional science has for understanding the psychological, interactional, the physical context, etc., and limited concepts bridging all of these and physiology. You are indeed correct and I, nor any of my like minded peers and colleagues, are denouncing the notion of scientific exploration to find new and unique effects and models. There are three main differences between your allegory and the reality of (the vast majority of) CAM research. 1) In the current age we have a much larger knowledge base with many robustly validated basic principles which we did not have in the past. At the time that Dr. Frederick Banting discovered insulin his research was extremely novel and cutting edge. Today, however, we have a vastly more robust understanding of the basic premises and have had enough time with enough rigor to also exclude certain modalities from the realm of possibility - energy and distance healing, for example. Furthermore, our current state of knowledge and the frontier of medical science is much more subtle and nuanced. The low hanging fruit has been picked, so to speak, and we are unlikely to discover some completely novel yet clinically profound mechanism heretofore undescribed. 2) Back then we were witnessing clear and evident effects that begged an explanation. This is not the case now. When doing rigorous studies we find very little, if any, clinical effects from CAM modalities. Part of being rigorous is also an understanding of confounding, bias (researcher, publication, and otherwise), Hawthorne effects, placebo effects and responses (which are different and many), and the many pitfalls of clinical and translational research. If a CAM modality demonstrates a clear and undeniable clinical effect, then I would be the first to advocate its further investigation. But there have been none to date that do so. 3) We are able to be more precise in our description and understanding of what it is we wish to study. In your example the ingestion of testicular extracts was attributed to animism. Back then we didn’t know any better. Now we do. So if one wishes to study the counter irritant effects of acupuncture, or the placebo response of pain, then that is what we should study. Acupuncture is too broad and vague a term to be the reasonable topic of serious research since all research to date demonstrates that the whole of it and the parts are simply not efficacious nor in line with scientific plausibility. 20 years ago, I agree it would have been reasonable to consider it. There was a claim for efficacy, with strong anecdotes and promising pilot studies. There was some plausibility as to a putative mechanism - needles penetrating the skin is not ludicrous to think of as having an effect. But now, after years of study finding mostly negative and the occasional equivocal study, further demonstrating that there is nothing intrinsic nor unique to acupuncture, why are we still studying it? As for whether or not “something similar,” as you say, is happening in CAM interventions - what defines something as CAM? The only logically consistent definition that I have ever come across is “That which has yet to be proven or has been disproven.” And for the research of the former, there seems to be no need to isolate specifically “CAM” as a research target since it is quite in the “mainstream” to research unknown and not yet proven things. The NIH does this regularly. So I ask again of Dr. Killen - what study would be justifiably done by the NCCAM but NOT by the NIH at large? Wherein lies the unique aspect of researching something SPECIFICALLY CAM that the NIH cannot reasonably handle under its purview? The crux of the matter is that the CAM designation is simply a false category - one that borrows from the science based fields of pharmacognosy, nutrition, and exercise to lend a false legitimacy to what is otherwise pre-scientific magical thinking. Applying the set of standards set forth by Dr. Briggs (and recognizing that herbal medicine is not CAM but is pharmacognosy) what remains to set apart the study of CAM specifically from any other proposed therapy? I think an entire blog post here would be warranted to explain as I am genuinely interested in the answer. To nybgrus—With regard to your perspective that “our current state of knowledge and the frontier of medical science is much more subtle and nuanced. The low hanging fruit has been picked, so to speak, and we are unlikely to discover some completely novel yet clinically profound mechanism heretofore undescribed”: A classic response to this is that at one time physicists would say the same thing. Their science built on the shoulders of giants like Newton and basic principles were well in hand. Then along came Einstein. And modern physics. I agree that conceptualizing the qualities of CAM would be a useful exercise. I actually have taught an introductory overview of CAM/holism as a professional CEU in the past that examines some of this. My own opinion is that this is a complex, multi-layered, dialectical set of issues. @Paula Derry: I absolutely agree. But do note two very important things. Firstly I said it would be UNLIKELY not impossible. Secondly, quantum mechanics did not INVALIDATE or REVERSE Newtonian mechanics - it BUILT upon it and REFINED the understanding that Newtonian mechanics gave us. Things like energy, faith, and distance healing would invalidate large swaths of well established science. Homeopathy would have to invalidate the fields of chemistry, physics, and pharmacology to actually be correct and “work.” Additionally, you should further note my distinction - revolutionary and interesting ideas that can change the direction of medicine can and do arise - but there is nothing inherently unique to “CAM” that it can lend a leg up on finding them. My argument has never been that something described by some as “CAM” cannot possibly be a profound source of medical discovery. It is that there is no difference in the kind of research that would lead to such a discovery. The NIH is just as equipped to find paradigm shifting results as the NCCAM would be. The dichotomy between the “CAM” and “mainstream medicine” or “Eastern” and “Western” or “holistic” and “allopathic” is a false dichotomy. There is no real objective criteria to define the two nor any reason to separate them. And you may have taught an introductory overview but I also hold an entire undergraduate degree (with honors) in the field of CAM/holism and medical anthropology. I was excited to learn about these differences and new ways of approaching health care and medical problems until I realized that it was all imaginary. So my point still stands - what does the NCCAM uniquely offer to the research of medical science that the NIH is not equipped to do? What is actually unique and special about CAM outside of the magical, pseudo-, and pre-scientific thinking which is the genesis of most of it? I applaud Dr. Killen’s refinement of the selection process. It may be worth remembering that science is a process - not a product (multiple sources). We always don’t know what we don’t yet know. The task here is not to satisfy self-described orthodox scientists, but to help understand healing processes in the context of real people who exist inside of multiple cultural and psychological frameworks. Yes, rigorous science is great, but please get over yourselves! We need to investigate CAM, where investigation is even possible, without marginalizing mind-body connections, because they give us important clues into human healing. NCCAM is not here because mainstream scientists decided that CAM was worth investigating. NCCAM is here because scientists absolutely refused to even look at treatment modalities that were outside of mainstream medicine. Look around and you’ll see that mainstream clinical medicine is very different than it was at the time of NCCAM’s founding. Primary care doctors are increasingly concerned about the enormous gaps between mainstream scientific pharmaceutical science and theory and low-risk, effective treatments for many common conditions. Mainstream pharmaceutical-driven science has been woefully inadequate in understanding and treating pain. The costs of many mainstream treatments are soaring, and their invasiveness is part of what adds to the fiscal crises facing our nation. So, while the effectiveness of NCCAM will be judged in the context of rigorous science, we need to keep pushing the envelope for the sake of humanity, not scientists. That puts NCCAM in an unenviable “hot seat.” I agree with the mission of NCCAM, so I do not agree with those who question the scientific legitimacy of NCCAM, and who have been attacking NCCAM and its decisions from day one. Some of the commenters don’t want to give any inferred endorsements to Acupuncture, yet they seem to easily accept the deaths, addictions and disabilities caused to hundreds of thousands of Americans from mainstream science applied as directed. Have you any links to any studies for that remark “….yet they seem to easily accept the deaths, addictions and disabilities caused to hundreds of thousands of Americans from mainstream science applied as directed.”? I agree that it could be defensible to fund research to “explore the hypothesis that acupuncture mediates pain by conditioning or expectancy effects produced by a convincing ritual combined with a counter-irritant.” In order to have maximum possible analgesic effects, the practice of acupuncture supposedly requires technical knowledge and skill, and not just the theatrical ability to offer a convincing ritual. Thus, a serious exploration of this hypothesis should examine whether acupuncturists can offer clinically superior pain relief than can people who don’t have the technical expertise, but who can perform the theatrical component of convincing ritual. Studies comparing verum acupuncture to sham acupuncture address these issues to some extent, but such studies are not worth doing unless they are rigorously controlled. Double-blinding is essential; single-blinded acupuncture studies are problematic especially when subjective appraisal of pain is the primary outcome variable studied. I have no objection to funding research to investigate the safety and efficacy of spinal manipulation or mobilization in the treatment of some types of musculo-skeletal conditions. Such treatments do not clearly flunk the plausibility test. NCCAM and Dr. Killen have referred to spinal manipulation as if it falls under the umbrella of “complementary and alternative medicine” or “CAM.” I don’t see what basis there is for characterizing spinal manipulation as a form of CAM since most physical therapy methods with plausible rationales for clinical use are not typically categorized as CAM. I suspect that spinal manipulation is referred to as CAM mainly because of the error of equating spinal manipulation with methods that flunk the plausibility test and therefore benefit by being euphemistically described as “complementary” or “alternative”: chiropractic adjustment methods to correct supposed chiropractic subluxations. Applying NCCAM’s standards, it is problematic to fund research to clinically test chiropractic adjustment methods for correcting subluxations. lilady, I have no links to studies on whether it is more likely that those who oppose research on CAM modalities are more likely to be unconcerned about harm caused by mainstream medicine. That might be an interesting avenue for research. William M. London, I’d ask whether there are studies that evaluate the placebo effect of the theatrical component of convincing ritual as it pertains to mainstream medical practitioners and pharmaceuticals. Regarding spinal manipulation, which dates back at least to Ancient Greece, and was common in the age of “bonesetters,” I suggest considering the history http://www.andrews-clinic-natural-therapies.co.uk/documents/38.html before dismissing these origins. The fact that physical therapy is considered mainstream medicine, to me, is not probative regarding what other practices are considered CAM or mainstream. Physical Therapy, like mainstream medicine, probably includes many practices that were grandfathered into the mainstream without double-blind, placebo-controlled studies. Paula Derry, regarding your comment, “So my point still stands - what does the NCCAM uniquely offer to the research of medical science that the NIH is not equipped to do? What is actually unique and special about CAM outside of the magical, pseudo-, and pre-scientific thinking which is the genesis of most of it?” Within the cultural context of Western medicine, what sets NCCAM aside as a potential research leader for CAM is the refusal of the other NIH institutes to conduct this research. I believe that the cultural biases against objectively studying and considering CAM modalities (including images of “primitive” practices and ritual imaginations are what prompted Congress to initiate OAM and NCCAM. Similar initiatives have led to demands to provide more research on the health and diseases of women, the costs of addiction to prescription drugs, increased research on HIV/AIDS, etc. Scientists are not the ultimate deciders of where medical research is needed, and what bodies are most qualified and trusted to objectively design and supervise that research. Historical use is proven a poor indicator of utility, efficacy, and safety. Blood letting is the common and straighforward example that comes to mind. Objective research is what lets us say that most CAM is patently absurd to study. It is lacking objectivity and instead applying cultural SUBJECTIVITY that allows for one to give undeserved favor to CAM modalities and falsely elevate their prior probability of efficacy and consider lackluster evidence to be on par with actual scientific medicine. If the NIH refuses to study certain things, it is because of those reasons. As I said, WHY would the NIH refuse to study something that is reasonable to study and shows medical promise? If you need to create a new department to lower the standards of entry to study that demonstrates the poor quality of the studies to ensue. And the NCCAM was created specifically by two congressman with obvious political motivations. Lastly, while scientists are not the ULTIMATE decision makers as to what to study, they ARE the ones that should dictate what, out of the entire universe of things out there, is USEFUL to study. The people should choose what to focus limited resources on out of a pool of POTENTIALLY USEFUL research projects with high prior probability, not simply get to vote on spending money for studies with absolutely zero chance of success, such as intercessory prayer to lower HIV titers or homeopathy for asthma. I agree that there is a strong bias against performing research on CAM. Pursuing research along non-traditional lines is not typically a way to win friends, influence people, get funding and advance your academic career. Creating the space, funding mechanism and a rigorous process for allowing credible scientific inquiry into CAM can allow us to discover new things that we may not learn through only researching along conventional lines of thinking. Many people feel that studying “energy-based therapies” (such as acupuncture) is a waste of time and seem to take offense at any suggestion that “energy” plays a significant role in physiology. There are a number of Western “energy therapies” such as defibrillation, electroconvulsive therapy, TENS, PENS, PEMF, ultrasound, e-stim, and radiation therapy, to name a few. These all involve levels of energy that can cause cell membrane depolarization, or heating/destruction of tissue. Could it be plausible that lower levels of energy can alter physiology? There is in fact a wealth of research showing that pathology is associated with currents of injury and abnormal charge distributions. The rate at which white blood cells migrate to injury sites is more likely explained by charge differentials (negative WBC surface charge attracted to positive charge at injury site) than chemotaxis. A host of changes in physiology can be seen in response to minute changes in charge, current and electromagnetic fields. It seems presumptuous to think our ingenuity in discovering and manipulating these effects might not be overshadowed by innate physiologic regulatory mechanisms that harness these phenomena. The body is continually generating charges through biochemical, piezoelectric and other mechanims. The biophysical properties of tissues vary widely but predictably, resulting in anatomic patterns of conductance and impedance. Since charge tends to flow along low resistance pathways it is not unreasonable to suspect there are currents flowing in certain patterns with normal physiology and altered patterns when there is pathology. If this is the case, the flow of charge and currents can be used diagnostically (as in EKGs and EEGs). Conversely, since charge and current can affect physiology, the normal and altered flow of charge can actually regulate physiology and, when understood, be used therapeutically. The purpose of my description of a possible energy-based model that complements the more traditionally accepted models of physiology is not to necessarily convince anyone of its veracity—that would take far more information, discussion and debate than is possible in this type of setting. My point is that scientifically plausible arguments can be made to explain effects seen with CAM. These types of arguments and lines of reasoning would not even be considered were it not for a willingness to study CAM with a sincere intellectual curiosity. Creating a safe space for rigorous scientific inquiry along non-traditional lines of thinking can open up frontiers that might not be explored otherwise. In my last post I include links to some studies documenting the alterations of charge and current associated with injury/pathology and biologic effects of low levels of charge and current. The links were removed, per policy, as being commercial. There were no products or services being promoted so I’m not sure how the links can be construed as commercial. In any case, this type of information is easy to find online from credible sources. The links submitted by Milt Hammerly do not violate policy, and we have decided to publish them. I would like NCCAM to provide us with the list of every study in two separate columns, that they have funded since the formation of the NCCAM twenty years ago. One column should show us the studies that have not yielded positive results and the other column should list those studies of CAM supplements and treatments that have yielded results.//I’d like to know why tax dollars (two billion dollars with the meter still running) have been used to fund NCCAM studies of CAM treatments and modalities.//I’d also like to see which of these CAM treatments and modalities have bridged the wide gap to be accepted as effective treatment alongside science-based and proven medical treatments. Expanding on lilady’s reasonable request: Please add another column indicating which, of all studies funded by NCCAM, were published and where. nybgrus and Milt Hammerly: how might one get ahold of you offline to discuss your thoughts and position on other energy based modalities? Particularly curious to find out what you may think of PEMFT to enhance and complement traditional medicine and if a paradigm shift towards “preventative” care rather than “symptomatic” care is a topic that merits/warrants further investigation under that umbrella topic of “scientific promise” and “amenability to rigorous scientific studies” that Dr. Killen deftly suggested. Perhaps others in this forum would be equally interested in hearing your matter-of-fact styles that cuts to the core of CAM. First off, thank you for what I believe is a compliment. However, getting a hold of me off line is not something I am particularly keen on. I don’t go excessively out of my way to maintain my anonymity, but I do have a rather busy life and like to constrain my activities to fora like this rather than taking the time for individual responses. Perhaps that will change at some point.// As for your specific question - “energy based modality” should be precisely defined. PEMFT and Reiki are not both reasonably called “energy based modalities” without distinction - the kind, amount, manner of employment, and putative effects of the energy in question are fundamentally and vastly different. As I said above, using measurable magnetic and electric fields generated by devices specifically designed to do so is fundamentally different than channeling the energy of the “one true source” through your hands at undetectable levels to exert wide and far reaching physiologic effects. I do not know enough about PEMFT specifically to comment adequately (and don’t have the time to research it at the moment), but in general magnetic therapies are mostly hype though cannot be dismissed since there does exist some prior probability (at least for some applications; blood effects are the most common claim and they cannot have a reasonable prior probability of efficacy because the iron in the heme moiety is diamagnetic and thus would not be affected by a magnetic field except in conditions not conducive to life). So in sum, if by “energy based modality” you mean things like proton beam therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation, or ionizing radiation, yes that is a reasonable application. If you mean things like Reiki and Qi-Gong, then no, there is no reasonable prior probability there/// As for your question about “preventative” versus “symptomatic” treatment… this is a no-brainer. Of course preventative medicine is paramount and it something every medical student is taught in great detail and is knowledge of this is required for our medical board exams. I agree that the American system is less adequately equipped to apply what we know of preventative health, but that is a symptom of the system, not the medical practice guidelines. Preventative medicine is INHERENTLY scientific in basis and has nothing at all alternative about it. Screening guidelines, healthy eating and exercise habits, early intervention in disease processes, vaccines, etc, are all scientifically explored and validated and things I personally advocate on a daily basis to the patients I see. This “paradigm shift” has been ongoing and strong for decades now, long before and completely independent of anything labeled as CAM. I myself am personally interested in the methods to further expand and empower physicians and populations to apply what we have already learned in terms of preventative health. But I’ll stress one last time that this has absolutely nothing to do with CAM and is fundamentally a scientific question with a very long history of use in “mainstream” medicine. To stress the point, any brain scan data - and especially fMRI data - is subject to a large amount of observer bias in interpretation. A lack of blinding the researchers can very easily lead to biased results (whether intentional or not). As John Ioannidis has pointed out on this topic, the only way to prevent this would be to both blind the researchers AND require that the trial declare beforehand exactly what type of measurements will be used and what will be measured. Exactly correct Marty. As I delved deeper into the exact workings of fMRI I became astounded at the amount of “researcher degrees of freedom” (a term coined by Dr. Steven Novella to my knowledge) that come into play. Also, I can’t imagine that a comment like Marty’s actually has an inappropriate commercial link. I’d bet it was to Ionnidis’ paper or a discussion thereof. The idea of conducting treatment of a disease on the basis of overall analysis of symptoms and signs, including the cause, nature and location of the illness and the patient’s physical condition, is the crystallization of thousands of years of medical practice in China and has served for centuries as the guiding theoretical principle of traditional Chinese medicine in both prophylaxis and disease treatment. For this reason many people seek for alternative therapy and Chinese medicines. I do agree with the above Fumin Tang’s opinion. We should pay attention to the CAM theory when we study on its mechanism and clinical applications, otherwise, the negative results will be produced. If a modality fails to meet established scientific criteria for efficacy and thus demonstrates negative results, the rational option is not to change the criteria to suit the conclusion one wishes to demonstrate (that CAM does, in fact, “work” despite evidence to the contrary) but to do exactly the same thing we would do with any negative result - realize it doesn’t work and move on. @Graham Maddison - We appreciate your writing about your experiences with treating pain with complementary health approaches. Our Center has placed a high priority on research for pain-related conditions and symptom management, as many people, such as you and your wife, often turn to these approaches for relief of chronic pain. As is the case in all areas of research, not all complementary health approaches have demonstrated value. Such “negative” findings can be just as important as “positive” findings, because they ensure that the public and health care providers have information with which to make more informed decisions. The ultimate goal of research on chronic pain is to build an evidence base that can guide pain management decisions. You may be interested in viewing our fact sheet, “Chronic Pain and CAM: At a Glance “ (at nccam.nih.gov/health/pain/), which reviews the strength of the evidence for various approaches, including acupuncture and herbal remedies.

2019-04-26T05:16:01Z

https://nccih.nih.gov/research/blog/plausibility

1994-05-11 Assigned to REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, THE reassignment REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, THE ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: MCEWAN, THOMAS E. A high speed sampling demultiplexer based on a plurality of sampler banks, each bank comprising a sample transmission line for transmitting an input signal, a strobe transmission line for transmitting a strobe signal, and a plurality of sampling gates at respective positions along the sample transmission line for sampling the input signal in response to the strobe signal. Strobe control circuitry is coupled to the plurality of banks, and supplies a sequence of bank strobe signals to the strobe transmission lines in each of the plurality of banks, and includes circuits for controlling the timing of the bank strobe signals among the banks of samplers. Input circuitry is included for supplying the input signal to be sampled to the plurality of sample transmission lines in the respective banks. The strobe control circuitry can repetitively strobe the plurality of banks of samplers such that the banks of samplers are cycled to create a long sample length. Second tier demultiplexing circuitry is coupled to each of the samplers in the plurality of banks. The second tier demultiplexing circuitry senses the sample taken by the corresponding sampler each time the bank in which the sampler is found is strobed. A plurality of such samples can be stored by the second tier demultiplexing circuitry for later processing. Repetitive sampling with the high speed transient sampler induces an effect known as "strobe kickout". The sample transmission lines include structures which reduce strobe kickout to acceptable levels, generally 60 dB below the signal, by absorbing the kickout pulses before the next sampling repetition. The United States government has rights in this invention pursuant Contract Number W-7405-ENG-48 between the United States Department of Energy and the University of California for the operation of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The present application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 07/942,164, Filed Sep. 8, 1992, entitled HIGH SPEED TRANSIENT SAMPLER, invented by Thomas E. McEwan. The present application is related to co-pending application Ser. No. 08/240,999, entitled TRANSIENT DIGITIZER WITH DISPLACEMENT CURRENT SAMPLERS, (IL-9394), having the same inventor and filed on the same day as the present application. The present invention relates to the samplers used for measuring characteristics of high speed signals, such as used with transient digitizers and high speed oscilloscopes. A conventional oscilloscope displays a waveform in step with an external event, or in "real time". The trace of the waveform sweeps across the screen in a matter of nanoseconds or picoseconds, for example, and then quickly fades. For a human observer to see the trace, repeated sweeps are usually needed to make the trace appear with an observable, steady brightness. Thus, a repetitive input signal is required. Transient digitizers circumvent the need for a repeated input by electrically recording the transient event in real time for later readout or viewing at a much slower rate, in what is known as "equivalent time". There are two basic types of transient digitizers on the commercial market, one based on CRT technology and the other based on a continuously running Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC). The fastest of the two are the CRT-based digitizers, and they are based on a dual electron-beam approach. One beam operates in real time and writes a trace onto a screen containing a charge-storing diode array. The diode array captures the charge deposited by the "writing" beam and that charge is later read-out by a "read" beam at a slow, equivalent-time rate. The disadvantage to the CRT approach lies in the expensive and bulky CRT, and ultimately, in its limited bandwidth. At least two companies offer a CRT-based digitizer, an 80 picosecond risetime unit by Tektronix and a 50 picosecond unit by Intertechnique of France. The continuously running Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) electrically samples the signal and very rapidly converts the sample to a digital number for real-time storage in digital memory. A limitation of the ADC digitizer is that it must perform complicated operations in real-time, i.e., convert signals to binary data and store the result in a large digital memory array before the next sample is taken. The fastest ADC-based digitizer is about 10 times slower than a CRT digitizer and requires a large amount of power and cooling. Nevertheless, these relatively low bandwidth ADC devices have been at the focus of the electronics marketplace since they are the core technology of a recent oscilloscope development, the Digital Storage Oscilloscope (DSO). DSOs can function as transient digitizers at speeds running 10-1000 times slower than CRT-based digitizers. Other prior art digitizers are based on a periodically-tapped transmission line, with a sample and hold circuit located at each tap. See, Hornak, U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,103, entitled SAMPLE AND HOLD CIRCUIT; Sedlmeyer, et al., "ANALYZER FOR FAST SINGLE EVENTS", reprinted from "NUCLEAR ELECTRONICS III" by the International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna, 1962; Schwarte, "Sampling System for Recording Fast Single Events", ELECTRONICS LETTERS, Vol. 8, No. 4, Feb. 24, 1972; Riad, "Modeling of the HP-1430A Feedthrough Wideband (25-ps) Sampling Head", IEEE TRANSACTIONS 0N INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT, Vol. IM-31, No. 2, June, 1982, pp. 110-115. The tapped-transmission line architecture is attractive for a number of reasons. First, the sample and hold circuits located at each tap can operate at speeds well above that of the competing technologies. Experimental single samplers have been operated at 1.3 ps risetime. Rodwell, et al., "GaAs Nonlinear Transmission Lines for Picosecond Pulse Generation and Millimeter Wave Sampling", IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES, Vol. 39, No. 7, July, 1991, pp. 1194-1204. In contrast, CRT technology is believed to be limited to about 50 ps. Demultiplexers have been used to increase the effective input sample rate of digitizers. A demultiplexer performs the inverse operation of a multiplexer by accepting sequential signals from a single input, and through a commutating action, distributes samples of the input to multiple outputs. A key feature of a demultiplexer is that it provides a substantially reduced sample rate to each of the outputs of the demultiplexer relative to the effective input sample rate. For instance, if there are 100 outputs and the input sample rate is 10 gigasamples/sec (GS/s), the output sample rate is reduced by a factor of 100 to 0.1 GS/s. Essentially, the demultiplexer provides a means to slow data rates by performing a serial-to-parallel conversion. If a sample and hold (S/H) circuit is located at each output, a sampling demultiplexer is formed. Thus, rapidly changing input signals can be distributed to multiple S/H outputs, where each output sample is held steady by the S/H for subsequent processing, such as analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion at a rate slower than the effective sampling rate by a factor of the number of samplers. The state-of-the-art in A/D conversion is 0.5 GS/s, achieved through the use of one or more monolithic ND chips. For faster conversion rates, a sampling demultiplexer is used to drive multiple ND converters. The state-of-the-art in sampling demultiplexers is based on high-speed integrated circuits operating at about 4 GS/s. Integrated circuit demultiplexers are limited in several ways: 1) the analog bandwidth of the input circuitry is generally limited to 1 GHz by transistor performance limitations, and 2) the sample rate is limited by the accuracy of the interleave timing, i.e., the ability to accurately locate multiple transistorized sampling circuits in time. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a tapped transmission line architecture which provides a robust and simple design for practical applications. Further, a system for high speed sample demultiplexing is needed to improve sample length and spacing. The present invention provides a high speed sampling demultiplexer based on a plurality of banks of samplers, each bank comprising a sample transmission line for transmitting an input signal, a strobe transmission line for transmitting a strobe signal, and a plurality of sampling gates at respective positions along the sample transmission line for sampling the input signal in response to the strobe signal. Strobe control circuitry is coupled to the plurality of banks, and supplies a sequence of bank strobe signals to the strobe transmission lines in each of the plurality of banks, and includes circuits for controlling the timing of the bank strobe signals among the banks of samplers. Input circuitry is included for supplying the input signal to be sampled to the plurality of sample transmission lines in the respective banks. The strobe control circuitry can repetitively strobe the plurality of banks of samplers such that the banks of samplers are cycled to create a long sample length. In this embodiment, second tier demultiplexing circuitry is coupled to each of the samplers in the plurality of banks. The second tier demultiplexing circuitry senses the samples taken by the samplers each time the bank in which the sampler is found is strobed. A plurality of such samples from each sampler position in the plurality of banks can be stored by the second tier demultiplexing circuitry for later processing. For instance, the second tier demultiplexing circuitry may comprise a plurality of sets of sample and hold circuits, such as commercially available monolithic sample and hold devices which hold on the order of 1,000 samples. Thus, 1,000 cycles of a given bank can be stored with a single integrated circuit sample and hold device for each sampler on the bank. Alternatively, the second tier demultiplexing circuitry may comprise a plurality of analog to digital converters, each coupled to a respective sampler in the plurality of banks. This invention is :generally based on banks of tapped transmission lines with broadband Voltage sampling circuits located at each tap. In operation, a signal is applied to one end of the transmission line and time-sequential samples of the signal are taken at each tap and stored for later readout at a slow rate. Repetitive sampling with the high speed transient sampler induces an effect known as "strobe kickout", as will be described herein. The present invention reduces strobe kickout to acceptable levels, generally 60 dB below the signal, by employing an architecture that absorbs the kickout pulses before the next sampling repetition. Strobe kickout is effectively suppressed by utilizing input circuitry which comprises a signal splitter having a high reverse voltage transfer isolation, and by accurate termination of the sample transmission line. The signal splitter may be a passive resistive splitter, or may comprise an active splitter, which includes a high speed FET driver which drives the input signal to the sample transmission line, in parallel with a lower speed operational amplifier based driver stabilizing the lower frequency components of the system. The strobe control circuitry may comprise a plurality of strobe generators coupled to the respective banks of samplers. The strobe generators are driven by a trigger signal generated by a strobe trigger circuit. The output of the trigger circuit is then supplied through varying lengths of cable to control the timing of each of the plurality of banks. The timing of the plurality of banks can be precisely controlled using cable length trimming or other adjustable delay techniques, such that the banks can be strobed in a manner which concatenates the samples from the banks in time to create a longer sample length, or the banks can be strobed such that the samples in the respective banks are interleaved in time to increase the effective sample rate. According to one aspect of the invention, a two-diode sampling bridge is connected to a meandered signal line at one end and to a charge-holding capacitor at the other. The common cathodes are reverse biased. A voltage step is propagated down a second transmission line, the strobe line. As the step propagates past a capacitive pickoff, displacement current i=c(dv/dT), flows into the cathodes, driving the bridge into conduction and thereby charging the charge-holding capacitor to a value related to the signal. A charge amplifier converts the charge on the charge-holding capacitor to an output voltage. The present invention substantially advances the prior art by combining extremely broadband techniques in a practical way for the first time: discrete transmission lines, Schottky diode sampling bridges, and discrete impulse generators. Using off-the-shelf components, 20-40 GS/s input sampling rates are obtainable, and greater than 1000 GS/s can be realized with custom components. In addition, the analog bandwidth can easily match or exceed the Nyquist limit of one-half the sampling rate. A primary application for the present invention is signal acquisition using digital storage oscilloscopes (DSO). DSOs provide waveform storage and digital signal processing while circumventing the use of expensive wideband cathode ray tubes. Key limitations to present DSO performance are limited sampling rates and limited analog bandwidth. This invention will improve DSO sampling rates by at least an order-of-magnitude with a commensurate increase in analog bandwidth. Another application is pulse compression. By multiplying the outputs of a plurality of sample gates on a transmission line, precise compression of a train of pulses can be achieved. Other aspects and advantages of the present invention can be seen upon review of the figures, the detailed description, and the claims which follow. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a high speed sampler according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a system for reconstructing an input signal in equivalent time, and digitizing an input signal. FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate prior art sampling gate circuits. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a high speed sampling gate according to the present invention with a charge displacement strobe pickoff. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a tapped transmission line with a plurality of sample gates according to the present invention. FIG. 7 is a layout diagram illustrating the configuration of the signal line and strobe line for a circuit as shown in FIG. 6. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an alternative sample gate using a four diode structure and balanced positive and negative strobe lines. FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of a high speed digitizer according to the present invention. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of multiple banks of samplers for use in a high speed demultiplexer illustrating strobe kickout. FIG. 11 illustrates an interleave technique for controlling the timing of the samplers of FIG. 10. FIG. 12 illustrates a resistive divider for the input signal for use in the sampler of FIG. 10. FIG. 13 illustrates an active divider for use with the plurality of sample banks of FIG. 10. FIG. 14 illustrates the strobe signal divider for use with the high speed sampler of FIG. 10. FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of a two-tier high speed demultiplexer according to the present invention. FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of a pulse compressor according to the present invention. A detailed description of the present invention is provided with respect to the figures. FIGS. 1, 2, and 5-8 illustrate the architecture and the basic components of a high speed digitizer according to the present invention. FIG. 9 is a block level schematic of a high speed digitizer. FIGS. 10-14 illustrate multiple bank demultiplexer design features according to the present invention. FIG. 15 illustrates a two-tier demultiplexer according to the present invention. FIG. 16 shows use of the sampler as a pulse compressor. As illustrated in FIG. 1, a tapped transmission line 10 (which is terminated in a 50 ohm resistor) has a plurality of voltage sampling circuits 11-0 through 11-N connected to a plurality of tapped positions (taps) 12-0 through 12-N on the transmission line. The sampling circuits 11-0 to 11-N are coupled with respective sample holding capacitors 13-0 through 13-N which are connected to ground. In addition, each of the samplers 11-0 through 11-N is coupled to a circuit 14 for distributing a strobe signal. An impulse generator 15 is connected to the strobe distribution circuit 14. In operation, an input signal 16 is applied to a first end 17 of the transmission line 10. It propagates along the length of the line. Due to the finite velocity of propagation along the line, various portions 18-0, 18-1, . . . , 18-N of the signal appear at each tap 12-0, 12-1 . . . 12-N at a given instant in time. If each sampler at each tap is simultaneously made to sample, or strobed, a discrete replica of the signal will be retained by the sample holding capacitors 13-0, 13-1 through 13-N. The duration that the samplers are gated open, or strobed, is short compared to the fastest characteristic of the signal on the transmission line. A short gate duration reduces the smearing effect caused by the propagation speed of the signal waveform. In one present reduction to practice, the gate open duration is on the order of 25 to 50 picoseconds. This theoretically limits the maximum bandwidth to less than 20 to 40 Gigahertz. Shorter strobe gates can be used to achieve even greater bandwidths. Once the samples are taken and stored on the charge holding capacitors 13-0 through 13-N, the samples may be read out sequentially at a low rate. This allows a wide variety of applications of the samplers such as those described with reference to FIG. 2. Also, each sample may be connected to a second demultiplexer for further reducing the sample rate, or each sample may be connected to an ND converter. Samplers for operating at this speed must be high impedance samplers which apply a very small load on the transmission line and strobe circuit. These sampling gates are described in more detail below. Specifically, the sampling gate must not load the transmission line excessively or the signal would be severely attenuated as it passes along the line. Further, it must not load the strobe circuit excessively or unrealistic strobe voltages would be needed. FIG. 2 illustrates two representative applications of the present invention in a single system. According to FIG. 2, the input signal is supplied on line 20. Line 20 is coupled to an anti-aliasing filter 21. The output of the anti-aliasing filter is supplied on line 22 as the input to the tapped transmission line sampler 23 such as described with reference to FIG. 1. The charge holding capacitors 24-0 through 24-N of the tapped transmission line sampler 23 are coupled to a scanning circuit 25. The output of the scanning circuit is supplied on line 26, and has a form substantially of a bar graph as illustrated in the figure. This output may be supplied to a smoothing filter 27, which reconstructs the input signal on line 28 in equivalent time. With the equivalent time reconstruction of the signal on line 28, a digital storage scope 29 may be used to display a trace of the signal. Alternatively, the signal on line 26 may be supplied to an analog-to-digital converter 30. Because the sample rate of the scanner 25 is much slower than the; sample rate of the sampler 23, the analog-to-digital converter 30 may be implemented using any of a variety of standard techniques. The output of the analog-to-digital converter is supplied on an N-bit bus 31 to a digital memory 32, where it may be stored for a variety of uses. According to one implementation, the tapped transmission line sampler 23 has supplied samples on sample holding capacitors 24-0 through 24-N which are spaced in time at about 30 picoseconds on the input signal. The scanner 25 scans each of the charge holding capacitors with a time between samples of about 3 microseconds, in equivalent time five orders of magnitude slower. The anti-aliasing filter on the input to the signal line in the tapped transmission line of sampler 23 may be used to eliminate aliasing effects, or in the time domain, sampling jitter. A suitable filter characteristic would have a maximally flat pass-band with stop-band zeroes. The response of the anti-aliasing filter should show no overshoot or ringing, and should reject alias components by greater than 40 dB. Computer simulations and tests show that a fifth order maximally-flat filter with a Chebychev stop-band can be used. If the rise time of such filter is set to two sample intervals, it becomes essentially impossible to tell that sampling has occurred within the digitizer, upon effective reconstruction of the signal. The anti-aliasing filter, in a preferred system for reconstruction of the signal, has a sample rise time of approximately 2 sample lengths or 60 picoseconds. As mentioned above, multiple samples of the signal are stored on the charge holding capacitors and sequentially scanned out for reading. Without a sample reconstruction filter 27, the output would resemble a bar graph as illustrated at line 26. By placing a smoothing filter 27 in the output path, the signal may be adequately reconstructed provided the filter (which may be passive linear, active linear, or digital) has an order of 3 or above and a flat phase characteristic. In one reduction to practice, a passive fifth order maximally-fiat filter with a Chebychev stop-band was used. FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate prior art samplers, limitations of which have prevented the practical application of tapped transmission lines for high speed sampling of signals. The embodiment of FIG. 3 receives a signal input on line 100. A terminating resistor 101 is coupled to the input. The input is coupled to the cathode of a first diode 102 and the anode of a second diode 103. The anode of the first diode 102 is coupled to a positive strobe input 104 which receives a strobe across transmission line 105. The cathode of diode 103 is coupled to a negative strobe input 106 which receives a strobe across transmission line 107. The strobe inputs 104 and 106 are coupled across respective resistors 108 and 109 to nodes 113 and 114, respectively, and from nodes 113 and 114 across respective charge holding capacitors 110 and 111 to ground 112. The sample is taken across nodes 113 and 114. In FIG. 4, the input is supplied on line 120 to which a terminating resistor 121 is connected. The input 120 is coupled to the cathode of a first diode 122 and the anode of a second diode 123. The anode of diode 122 is coupled to node 124 which is connected across charge holding capacitor 125 to a strobe transmission line 126 for the positive strobe pulse. The cathode of diode 123 is connected to node 127 which is connected across charge holding capacitor 128 to a negative strobe transmission line 129. The sample is taken across nodes 124 and 127. These prior art samplers, based on two diode structures have the problem that when the diodes are not conducting, i.e., are not being strobed, the parasitic capacitance of the diodes form capacitive dividers between the input and the charge holding capacitors Ch. (The transfer function of the capacitive divider is VOUT =VIN *Cd /(Cd +Ch), where Cd is the diode capacitance, and VOUT is the "blow-by" voltage on Ch.) This capacitive divider allows "blow-by" of the input signal to the output on the order of 5% Since typically sampling efficiencies are also about 5%, the non-sampled blow-by can be as strong as the sampled signal. Thus, these prior art samplers require precisely adjusted subtraction circuits to cancel out blow by. For the tapped transmission line implementation, having large numbers of samplers, it is difficult to tune each of the samplers. Thus, commercial application of tapped transmission lines using these samplers has not been practical. Other prior art samplers are described in Grove, "Sampling for Oscilloscopes and other RF Systems: DC Through X-Band", IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES, Vol. MTT-14, No. 12, Dec. 1966, pp. 629-635; and Miura, et al., "Monolithic Sampling Head IC", IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES, Vol. MTT-38, No. 12, Dec. 1990, pp. 1980-1985. FIG. 5 provides a schematic diagram of the high speed sampler according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. The sampling technology is based on a meandered signal transmission line 150 and a straight strobe transmission line 151. Distributed along the signal line at a plurality of taps 152 are samplers composed of a first Schottky diode 153 and a second Schottky diode 154 connected in a common cathode arrangement. The anode of the diode 153 is coupled to the signal line tap 152. The anode of the diode 154 is coupled to a charge-holding capacitor 162 and to the input on line 155 of a charge amplifier, generally 156. The common cathode node 157 is coupled across resistor 158 to a reference voltage 159 of 2 volts in this embodiment, to reverse bias of the diodes. Also, the common cathode node 157 is coupled to a strobe pickoff structure 160 which lies adjacent the strobe transmission line 151. The signal transmission line 150 has a 50 ohm termination resistor 149. Similarly, the strobe transmission line 151 has a 50 ohm termination resistor 148. The strobe pickoff structure 160 consists of a capacitive coupling strip of about 0.05 picofarads, where the second plate is the strobe transmission line 151, itself. As a strobe signal propagates down the strobe transmission line 151, a charge displacement current is induced in the strobe pickoff structure 160. The charge amplifier consists of an op-amp 161 coupled to the charge holding capacitor 162 at its inverting input. The opposite side of the charge holding capacitor 162 is coupled to ground. Similarly, the positive input of the op-amp 161 is coupled to ground. The op-amp includes a resistor 164 and parallel capacitance 165 in the feedback path. The output of the op-amp 161 is connected to a track and hold circuit not shown in this figure across line 163. The dashed lines connecting the capacitors 162 and 165 indicate that the devices are implemented by metal of the printed circuit board and component pins, and are therefore not packaged components. These Schottky diode samplers are uniquely suited to an array structure because of their minimal component count and minimal line loading. Commercial samplers of the type found in high-speed sampling oscilloscopes are fairly complicated, employing up to six Schottky diodes, and they load the gate pulse line. The sampler of FIG. 5 has a very low component count in one embodiment--one dual Schottky diode (common package) and one bias resistor, so the number of samplers in one practical module design (FIG. 6) is 160 and can go to 320 and higher. When the gate pulse passes the sampler, the rate of change in E-field, between the gate pulse line 151 and a short pick-off strip 160 causes a displacement current to flow that drives the diodes into conduction for a duration related to the negative-going transition time of the gate pulse. The displacement current drives the diodes into conduction, effectively placing a "short" between the signal line and the sample-holding capacitor 162, Chold. Chold 162 is formed by a small metallized patch sandwiched between the outer copper-clad ground layers. When the Schottky diodes conduct, Chold charges :exponentially with a 15 ps time constant, as defined by the transmission line impedance, the sampling diode resistance and the value of Chold. Chold charges for about 45 ps, the sampling aperture time, which is set by the 60 ps gate pulse transition time minus about 15 ps, the time required to slew the diode voltage at the common-cathode node from reverse to forward bias. Chold does not need to charge to the full value of the signal voltage, it only needs to consistently charge to the same percentage of the signal voltage--deviations can be corrected in software after read out of the data. As Chold charges, a certain amount of charge is pulled from the signal line, causing an unavoidable glitch called "kickout" that propagates along the meander line towards the adjacent samplers. It is important that the samplers do not sample each other's kickout, so the sampler spacing along the meandered transmission line must be greater than the kickout duration. Kickout limits how closely the samplers can be placed, and pipe interleaving (where a pipe is a transmission line--strobe line pair having a set of samplers) as described below must be resorted to when the sampler spacing needs to be closer than the gate duration. Interleaving pairs of pipes generally must be done if aliasing is to be avoided. Once the samples are taken, the charge on each Chold is read out by charge amplifiers. The charge amplifiers and associated readout circuits may be repeated 160 or more times on a single board, so simplicity is important. The present circuitry uses off-the-shelf components that are packaged in multiples, e.g., four charge amplifiers on one chip. An application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) could be used to help reduce the component count as known in the art. FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic diagram of a 160 sampler embodiment, according to the present invention, which may be placed on a single printed circuit board. The device includes a strobe input 200 coupled to a pulse generating network, generally 201. The pulse generating network drives the strobe transmission line 202. The strobe generating network 201 includes a first step recovery diode 202 having its anode coupled to the strobe input 200 and its cathode coupled to ground. The anode of step recovery diode 202 is coupled through capacitor 203 to node 204. Node 204 is coupled through series resistors 205 and 206 to a 15 volt supply 207. Capacitor 208 is coupled between the supply voltage and ground. Also, resistor 209 is coupled from node 204 to a second step recovery diode 210. Step recovery diode 210 has its anode coupled to the input of the strobe transmission line 202 and its cathode coupled to ground. The strobe transmission line 202 terminates through series capacitor 233 and resistor 234 to ground. More details concerning this pulse generating network are described below. The signal is supplied at input 211. This signal is coupled across meandered transmission line 212. The signal transmission line terminates through resistor 235 to ground. Coupled to the meandered transmission line are a plurality of sample gates 213. In this embodiment, 16 sample gates are coupled to a single meandered transmission line 212, with 10 lines for the board. The sample gates consist of the common cathode Schottky diodes as discussed above, with respect to FIG. 5. The common cathode node is coupled to a strobe pickoff terminal 214 and across resistor 215 to a supply voltage for reverse biasing the diodes. The anode of the output diode is coupled to a charge holding capacitor 216. The charge holding capacitor 216 is coupled to the charge amplifier, generally 217. This charge amplifier is configured as described above with respect to FIG. 5. The output of the charge amplifier 217 is coupled to a track and hold capacitor 218. The second terminal of capacitor 218 is coupled to a switch 219. Also, the second terminal of the capacitor 218 is coupled as an input to the 16:1 analog multiplexer 220. The analog multiplexer is connected as known in the art to supply 1 of 16 inputs to its output on line 221 in response to the signals on lines 222, referred to as the X address. The switch 219 is controlled by the track and hold signal supplied at input 223. The track and hold signal supplied on line 223 causes the switches 219 to open and capture the output of the charge amplifiers 217 on the capacitor 218. The charge holding capacitors 216 at the output of the sample gates bleed back to ground level in about 10 microseconds. This limits the speed at which the devices may be cycled for following samples. The relatively large track and hold capacitors 218 provide about 160 microseconds in which to read out the data. This is plenty of time for the multiplexer 220 to sequentially provide the output on line 221 to amplifier 224 at its positive input. The amplifier 224 has capacitor 225 in feedback to its positive input. Also, feedback resistor 226 is coupled to its inverting input. Resistor 227 is coupled from the inverting input of amplifier 224 to an offset voltage reference 228. Because of the single sided strobe transmission line, the offset voltage is used to cancel the baseline of the samplers. The offset voltage is generated from the same supply voltage that is used for generation of the strobe voltage in order to account for any variations in the supply voltage which might be reflected in the strobe pulse. In addition, resistor 229 is coupled from the inverting input of the operational amplifier 224 to ground. The amplifier 224 provides a gain of about 10 times for the output on line 221. The output of amplifier 224 is supplied on line 230 as an input to multiplexer 231. The output is also supplied from nine other sampling banks (not shown) as inputs to the multiplexer 231. Thus, there is a 16×10 array of samplers on a single printed circuit board. The output of the multiplexer 231 is controlled by the signals on line 232 labelled the Y address. This multiplexer 231 is connected as known in the art. FIG. 7 shows the layout for a printed circuit board showing the meandered signal line 212 and the straight strobe line 202. The signal line 212 and the strobe line 202 are co-planar. The strobe pickoff structure 250 establishes a capacitance of about 0.05 picofarads with the strobe line 202. As can be seen, it does not contact the strobe line. The charge holding capacitor 216 corresponds to capacitor 216 of FIG. 6. It is created using a pad. The DC bias pad 251 is coupled through resistor 215 to the strobe pickoff structure 250. A tap is formed on the meandered signal line 212 at enlarged region 252. To compensate for the increased capacitance at the tap 252, the width of the transmission line is narrowed in the region near the tap 252. The common cathode diodes are mounted in a package 253 between the tap 252, the charge holding capacitor 216 and the strobe pickoff 250. The new sampler is incorporated into the sampling array structure. The negative-going gate pulse is distributed to the samplers in each pipe via a straight line and the positive-going signal propagates along a meandered line. The gate pulse propagates faster than the signal pulse due to the meander, and causes the samplers to take a snapshot of the signal pulse. The propagation delay along the meander line is 83ps between samplers and along the gate pulse line the delay is 21ps between samplers, for a difference of 62 ps--the sampler spacing in the pipe. The traces are etched on a copper-clad woven-Teflon substrate 0.25 mm thick. The back side of the substrate is copper clad to form a ground plane and shield for the circuit. Copper cladding is also placed on the top side by overlaying a 0.25 mm woven-Teflon layer with an outer copper cladding. The outer copper-clad layers prevent radiation from the meandered signal line that would otherwise occur at a frequency related to periodicity of the meander, about 12 GHz. Once shielded, the transmission lines form a symmetric stripline, which is free of the frequency-dependent modal dispersion normally associated with substrate-backed microstrip and coplanar waveguide (CPW)lines. The back side of the sampling array is laminated with two 0.5 mm glass-epoxy circuit board layers that hold analog sample buffers and multiplexers used for serial readout to the 12 bit A-to-D converter. These components are implemented in surface mount technology (SMT) for rapid assembly by automatic insertion machines. The sampling diodes and other high-speed components are surface mounted on the top side of the circuit board. The sampling array presently contains 10 pipes that are 1 ns long and have 16 samplers each. The gate pulse timing to each pipe can be adjusted to interleave all 10 pipes for 6.25 ps sample spacing and 1 ns record length, or all the pipes can be concatenated for 10 ns record length at 62.5 ps sample spacing. FIG. 8 illustrates a basic sampler according to the present invention having four diodes with high impedance strobe inputs and balanced strobe lines. The input signal is supplied along meandered transmission line 350. A sampler, generally 351, is connected to the transmission line 350 at tap 352. Tap 352 is connected to a diode bridge sampler which includes four diodes 353, 354, 355, and 356 configured in a bridge having four terminals. Other diode bridge embodiments may include series or parallel combinations of diodes, resulting in more than four diodes in the four terminal diode bridge. A first terminal of the bridge is connected across a positive strobe resistor 358 to a positive strobe transmission line 359. A third terminal is coupled across a negative strobe resistor 361 to a negative strobe transmission line 362. The strobe transmission line 159 supplies a positive pulse while the strobe transmission line 162 supplies a negative pulse. A second terminal of the bridge is connected to tap 352 to receive the input signal. The fourth terminal of the bridge is connected to the charge holding capacitance 365 which is connected to ground. The charge holding capacitance 365 supplies the sample signal on line 366. The four diode bridge of FIG. 8 solves the blow by problem since the two diodes on the input side of the four diode bridge look into the strobe resistors 358, 361, forming a transmission zero at low frequencies and preventing any permanent charge from transferring to the charge holding capacitance 365. Short transients are coupled through the diodes, but as long as their duration is much shorter than the read out circuitry following the charge holding capacitance 365, the transients are averaged to zero. Furthermore, the high resistance strobe resistors 358 and 361 provide a significant feature. High resistance here is defined as much higher than the signal transmission line impedance. As the resistance approaches a high value, the net loading of diodes 353-356 on the transmission line approaches that of one diode. This can be seen since the sampler appears as two parallel strings of two diodes in series, which is equivalent to one diode. In the systems of FIGS. 3 and 4, the loading would be two diodes. This single diode loading allows a significantly greater number of samplers to be placed on a single transmission line. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the signal line and the strobe line are not co-planar, i.e., they are formed on separate layers of a printed circuit board to establish isolation. The output of the sampler is supplied across line 366 through resistor 367 to the gate of FET buffer 368. Also, resistor 369 is connected from the gate of FET buffer 368 to ground. The FET buffer 368 has a source coupled across resistor 370 to a negative reference voltage, and a drain connected across resistor 371 to a positive reference voltage. Also, capacitor 372 is coupled from the source of buffer 368 to ground. The output of the FET buffer 368 is coupled to one terminal of a track and hold capacitor 373. A switch 374 is coupled between the opposite terminal of the track and hold capacitor 373 and the negative input to buffer 375. The buffer 375 has capacitor 376 in feedback. Also, resistor 377 is coupled from the output of the buffer 375 to the capacitor 373 side of the switch 374. The output of the buffer 375 is the output sample on line 376 which is supplied to multiplexers and such as described above with respect to the other embodiment. A bias voltage VB is supplied on line 377 to the positive input of the buffer 375. FIG. 9 provides a schematic block diagram of the 10×16 analog sampling array which is described with respect to FIG. 7. The input signal is supplied on line 400 to a ten way splitter 401. A time marker may be supplied on line 415 to splitter 401, and fed back on line 416 for time reference purposes. The signal is then split onto 10 signal line inputs 402 to the 10×16 analog sampling array 403, which is implemented as described above with respect to FIG. 7. In addition, a strobe generator 404 supplies a strobe trigger on line 405 to a ten way splitter 406. Strobe generator 404 is triggered by a trigger input signal. The strobe splitter 406 may also generate a time marker on line 417. The ten way splitter 406 supplies strobe inputs on lines 411 to strobe generators in the sample array 403. The strobe generator 404 and splitter 406 are described below with reference to FIG. 14. The outputs of the analog sampling array 403 is an analog bus 407, which is coupled to an analog-to-digital converter and memory module 408. The analog-to-digital converter and memory module 408 generates the X and Y addresses across lines 409 to control the sampling array. The output of the memory device 408 is coupled to a bus 410 for the processing as required. FIG. 10 illustrates schematically the structure of the sampling array in a four bank embodiment for the purposes of explaining the strobe kickout. An N×M (4×16) array of voltage sampling circuits is arranged along "pipes" or banks 501,502, 503, 504. Each of the N pipes has a meandered transmission line and M sampling circuits evenly spaced along the transmission line as described above. The signal from input line 400 to be measured is split equally to the meandered transmission lines in the pipes through high reverse voltage transfer isolation amplifiers 505, 506, 507, 508. When triggered, a single gate pulse on strobe input line 405 is applied to the first pipe in the array and then, in sequence, to the other pipes. After sampling, the voltages on the N×M capacitors in the samplers are serially read out to a 12 bit A-to-D converter and the data is stored in digital memory. Software routines then calibrate the data and reconstruct the signal using curve-fitting techniques. The relative timing of the gate pulses can be used to arbitrarily locate the time position of each pipe, i.e., the time at which the pipes sample the signal. For example, two pipes can be time-interleaved by delaying the gate pulse to the second pipe by one-half a sample spacing, resulting in a doubling of the sampling rate (in gigasamples/sec). Pipes can be time-concatenated by gating successive pipes at an interval equal to the pipe length (in nanoseconds), resulting in a record length (the total duration of the digitized data in nanoseconds) that is N times the length of one pipe. An inherent property of a diode sampler is strobe kickout, i.e., an aberrant pulse induced on the signal line by the sampler when it is strobed. Strobe kickout is caused by two factors. First, imbalance between the complementary positive and negative strobe pulses of the embodiment of FIG. 8, as would appear on the balanced strobe lines (359, 362), results in a net current flow onto the signal line that is relatively independent of signal amplitude. For positive and negative strobe pulses balanced to 5% of each other in absolute magnitude, strobe kickout is typically about 1% of the full scale range of the input signal. For the embodiment of FIG. 5; there are no balanced strobe pulses, and there is a substantial fixed kickout. The second cause of strobe kickout is the charge slug pulled off the signal transmission line (for the embodiments of FIG. 5 and FIG. 8) to charge the charge-holding capacitor when the sampler is strobed. Strobe kickout is generally not a problem for low repetition rate digitizers since 1) the kickout pulses propagate to adjacent samplers too late in time to affect the in-bank sampled voltages, and 2) the kickout pulses dissipate at the distal termination and out through the signal line in tens of nanoseconds, well before the next repetition. As can be seen in FIG. 10, a signal input is supplied on line 400 to a plurality of high reverse voltage transfer isolation amplifiers 505-508 in the plurality of banks 501, 502, 503, and 504 of samplers. Samplers are schematically illustrated by boxes 509. Also, the signal lines are meandered in the actual embodiment, although the meander is not shown in FIG. 10. Each signal line, e.g., signal line 510, has a broadband distal termination resistor 511, and a source termination impedance Z0, established by the amplifier 506. Similarly, the strobe transmission lines have distal termination impedance 512. The strobe input is supplied on line 405 fanned out to the strobe transmission lines, e.g., line 513, in the respective banks. This invention substantially eliminates the problem of strobe kickout by dividing the tapped signal line into multiple banks of tapped lines (501-504). The strobe timing to each bank is such that only one bank is strobed over a fraction of the total recycle time, allowing strobe kickout to be absorbed by the terminations in each bank before they are restrobed. Using exemplary numbers, each bank is 1 ns long, there are 4 banks, each separated in strobe timing by 1 ns, and the entire system is continually strobed at a 4 ns repetition rate. Bank 1 is first strobed, then banks 2-4 in sequence. Bank 2 is not strobed until the strobe has finished propagating down bank 1, gating all the samples in bank 1. Then bank 2 is strobed so its samplers are time contiguous with the bank 1 samplers, and so on for the other banks. After bank 4 is completely strobed the entire process is repeated with the next strobe pulse in the train of 4 ns interval strobe pulses. FIG. 11 depicts an interbank timing scheme with the sample timing interleaved to increase the sample density to greater than that of each bank alone. In this example each bank comprises a tapped transmission line with 16 samplers. The interleave technique starts strobing the next bank half way plus 1/2 a sample spacing into the strobing of the present bank. The last bank, M, ends at the half way minus 1/2 sample spacing into the first bank, in order to form a gap-free cycle for the next strobe in a train of pulses to initiate. This two-fold interleave technique can be extended to interleaves of three-fold and higher for commensurately higher sample densities. As each bank is strobed, kickout pulses are generated in one bank that can couple to the other banks just as they are being strobed, and thus the sampled signal will be contaminated with strobe kickout. To reduce this problem, the M-way signal splitter (amplifiers 505-508) is designed to have high reverse transfer attenuation, i.e., high reverse isolation. The M-way splitter will be further discussed below. Kickout pulses can also linger within each bank through multiple reflections off the signal line end points. For this reason, each bank is both source end (506) and distal end (511) terminated. The phrase "source end terminated" refers to a matched impedance condition between the signal line (510) and the circuit amplifier (506) providing the signal to the signal line. If the terminations are not perfect, they will reflect a fraction, Γ, of the kickout pulse which will transit the 1 ns signal line to the opposite termination, which will also reflect a fraction Γ (assumed the same for simplicity), reducing the kickout by Γ2. This process may continue for one or two more reflections before that bank is restrobed. At the time of restrobing, kickout has been reduced by at least Γ3. As a numeric example, assume kickout K=0.1 of signal and Γ=0.1. Residual kickout is thus reduced to KΓ3 =0.0001 of the signal, well below the noise floor of almost any realizable system. If each bank is driven by an additional signal line length of 1 ns, at least two absorptive reflections of the strobe kickout will occur before the bank is recycled. For K=0.1 and Γ=0.1, residual kickout is KΓ2 =0.001, about 60 dB below the signal. The additional 1 ns signal line length provides for interconnect cables to each bank. The advantage to a large number of banks, e.g., M=16, is that the length of each signal transmission line may be reduced by M, thereby minimizing transmission line losses and providing for more partially absorptive reflections, Γ, of the kickout pulse off the end terminations before restrobing. The distal termination (512) is simply a broadband termination resistor such as a microwave chip resistor. The source termination (506) may be either active or passive as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, respectively. Passive source termination consists of an M-way resistive splitter as shown in FIG. 12. Thus, the passive source termination consists of a first resistor 525 from the input of the signal line 510 to ground and a second resistor 526 from the input of the signal line 510 to the signal input transmission line 400. Similar resistive terminations for the splitter are provided for each of the M banks. It may be necessary to introduce additional attenuation (525, 526) in the splitter for small values of M in order to reduce interbank strobe kickout coupling (526) to a satisfactory level. Of course, signal sensitivity suffers with this method, so an active splitter may be preferred. An example of an active splitter is shown in FIG. 13, and consists of a number M of FETs (e.g., 530) connected to a tapped transmission line 510. Each FET 530 provides an AC coupled broadband gain of ˜1× with an output impedance, Zo, equal to the signal line impedance, usually 50 ohms. The DC path is through operational amplifier 531, which compares the DC and low frequency components on the input line with that on the output line and corrects for any difference. Errors are minimized by the high gain of amplifier 531, typically 100K. Thus, the input to the splitter for a given bank is connected to the gate of FET 530. The source of the FET 530 is connected through resistor 532 to ground. The drain is coupled through resistor 533 to the supply voltage. Also, the drain of the FET 530 is coupled through capacitor 534 to the input of the transmission line 510 for the input signal. The negative input to the amplifier 531 is supplied through resistor 535 from the transmission line 400 supplying the input signal. The positive input of the amplifier 531 is coupled to ground. The output of the amplifier 531 is supplied through resistor 536 to the input of the bank. Also, resistor 537 is connected from the input of the bank (line 510) to the inverting input of the amplifier 531 for feedback. Resistor 536 may be on the order of 500 ohms, while resistor 537 is on the order of 100 Kohms. Similarly, resistor 535 will be on the order of 100 Kohms. Resistor 532 may be on the order of 11.5 ohms, while resistor 533 may be on the order of 50 ohms. The capacitor 534 may be on the order of 0.1 microFarads. Using commercially available hetero-junction FETs with a gate-drain capacitance on the order of 0.02 pF, the step response is 20 ps, and reverse isolation for a 50 ps wide strobe kickout pulse is 25×, reducing strobe kickout from 10% of signal amplitude to about 0.4% of signal amplitude. The kickout would thus appear at the 0.4% level on an adjacent sampler bank that is actively sampling. Extensions of the active splitter, or combinations of active circuitry and passive splitters may be used to further reduce strobe kickout effects. The transmission line 400 is configured to drive the active splitter such that there are 5 picosecond lengths of 70 ohm microstrip on each side of the input to the FET 530. Each FET driver is separated by a 0.24 nanosecond length of 50 ohm microstrip. The FET is implemented using a gallium arsenide FET high electron mobility transistor for very high speed. FIG. 14 illustrates the strobe splitting technology for lower repetition rate applications. The strobe generator 404 of FIG. 9 may consist of an MOSFET driver, generally 600. The MOSFET driver 600 includes a buffer amplifier 601 driving a high voltage MOSFET device 602. The high voltage MOSFET device has its source coupled to ground and its drain coupled across resistor 603 to a 400 volt supply 604. The input to the amplifier 601 is supplied at coaxial connector 605. A trigger signal of about 5 volts with a rise time of approximately 5 nanoseconds is supplied to the input of the MOSFET driver 600. The output of the MOSFET driver 600 is a pulse dropping from about 400 volts to about 0 volts in about 1 nanosecond. This pulse is split on line 606 to a plurality of channels. Each channel consists of a resistor 607 and capacitor 608 in series. A trimming resistor 609 is coupled to the opposite side of the capacitor 608. Also, the opposite side of the capacitor 608 is coupled to a length of coaxial cable 610. This coax is typically 50 ohm teflon coax which is cut to various lengths to control the strobe timing. Thus, the strobe pulses are separated in time. In this embodiment, the strobe to pipe 2 is delayed 30 picoseconds to interleave pipes 1 and 2 as a pair. Strobes to subsequent pairs of pipes are incrementally delayed 1 ns to concatenate them across 5 ns. Thus, the pipes in the second pair are strobed at 2 nsec and 2.03 nsec, the pipes in the third pair are strobed at 3 nsec and 3.03 nsec and so on. Such that pipe 10 (the second pipe in the fifth pair) is strobed at 5.03 nsec. The output of each coaxial cable length 610 is coupled to the input of the strobe generator on the circuit board, as described above with respect to FIG. 6. Thus, each strobe generator includes a first 250 picosecond step recovery diode 611 coupled across series resistor 612 and capacitor 613 to node 614. Node 614 is coupled across resistor 615 to the supply voltage, and across a 60 picosecond step recovery diode 616 to ground. Although capacitor 617 is illustrated in FIG. 14 between the step recovery diode 616 and the pipe (sampler bank), such capacitor is actually placed at the opposite end of the strobe line, as shown in FIG. 6 in the preferred embodiment. The output of each of the strobe generators is a signal dropping from about 0 volts to about -30 volts with a fall time of about 60 picoseconds. Because the variable length of coaxial cable 610 may be easily replaced using a shop replaceable cable unit, the relative timing of the sample banks in the array can be precisely controlled to meet a variety of configurations. For high repetition rates, e.g., 250 million samples per second, MOSFET driver 600 may be replaced with a standard 250 MHz RF power amplifier, with the trigger input supplied with a 250 MHz clock. FIG. 15 is a schematic block diagram of a high speed sampling demultiplexer according to the present invention. The sampling demultiplexer includes an input splitter 700 which splits an input signal on line 701 into a plurality of signal lines (1-16). Each of the signal lines is supplied to a bank of samplers 702 for each of the signal lines. Similarly, a strobe generator 703 generates a strobe signal to a sixteen way strobe splitter 704. The strobe splitter supplies strobe signals on line 705 to a first bank. The other banks are strobed with a signal line 706 which includes a delay 707 to control the timing of the pulse to the plurality of banks 702. This structure is described in detail above. However, rather than multiplexing the outputs of the samplers into a single output line, as shown with respect to FIG. 7, the outputs of the samplers in the high speed demultiplexer of FIG. 15 are supplied to second tier demultiplexers 708. The second tier demultiplexers 708 may consist of CMOS monolithic sample and hold integrated circuits, which can hold a series of up to 1000 samples per input. Thus, there would be a single sample and hold monolithic sampling device for each of the 256 samplers in the embodiment of FIG. 15. These devices are then coupled to an analog to digital converter and memory system 709 such as that described above; however, the A/D converter and memory system can be operated at a much lower rate. Using this second tier demultiplexing, much longer sampling lengths can be accomplished. An alternative technique for the second level demultiplexing is to use high speed digital-to-analog converters at each of the outputs of the samplers. These converters would then be directly coupled to a memory system. Thus, each sampler output in FIG. 15 may be used to drive another, or second tier, sampling demultiplexer. Due to the reduced output data rate that this invention provides, a variety of monolithic technologies may be considered for the second tier, such as CMOS, silicon bipolar, or MOS VLSI integrated circuits. The output of the second tier demultiplexer will then be sufficiently slow that low cost, high resolution ND converters may be used for final digitization. At 33 GS/s, this invention can provide 60dB dynamic range, well beyond prior art digitizers at 4 GS/s and <40 dB dynamic range. FIG. 15 depicts a 16 bank 1:256 demultiplexer with, for example, a 33 GS/s input sample rate and a 130 MHz output data rate. A data rate of 33 GS/s is consistent with the sampler designs described above. The 130 MHz strobe timing to each bank is delayed 0.51 ns per bank to effect a 30 ps interleave for an equivalent sampling rate of 33 GS/s using 60 ps sample spacing within each bank. The advantage of a large number of banks, e.g., M=16, is that strobe kickout effects are generally reduced in proportion to M2, and the strobe recycle time to each bank is stretched by M, allowing ample time for the kickout pulses to be locally absorbed within each sampler bank. Another advantage of a large number of sampler banks is that the length of each signal transmission line is reduced by M, thereby minimizing the effects of sampler and transmission line losses. Also, physical implementation is facilitated by breaking the entire assembly into smaller units compatible with common construction methods. It is common in the art to apply digital corrections to the signals sampled and digitized by demultiplexer and ND converter combinations. Static corrections include baseline offset, gain error, and amplitude linearity. Dynamic corrections include sample spacing nonuniformities. In this invention, sample spacing is essentially controlled through the accuracy of the physical layout, which is quite accurate. However, small variations, <10 ps, may arise due to thresholding effects in each individual sampler, and for certain applications requiring very low timing distortion, prior art dynamic distortion correction may be applied. One form of distortion peculiar to the tapped line structure of this invention is the slight loss in bandwidth as a function of position along the signal transmission line, due to sampler loading and normal transmission line losses. However, this loss may be accurately compensated with standard digital signal processing (DSP) techniques. Specifically, appropriate portions of adjacent sampler outputs would be added to, or subtracted from each sampler output in such a fashion that a digital inverse transfer function of the signal line loss is formed. This system may be modified with a variety of enhancements including non-uniform tap spacing, non-uniform tap weighting, coherent sample integration, monolithic embodiment, block concatenation, auto calibration, continuous conversion, and others. The transient sampler is a generic instrument with an application range almost as wide as that of conventional oscilloscopes. The cost and size of existing commercial samplers has limited their widespread use. The present invention reduces both the cost and size by a factor of about 5 compared to CRT based digitizers, as described above in the background of the invention. The samplers are particularly suited to recording single event, sub-nanosecond transients generated by laser systems. As the speed of electronic devices increases, the needs for high speed instrumentation grows. For example, GaAs digital logic devices operate at sub-nanosecond speeds and the testing of these devices is becoming increasingly difficult, especially in catching short glitches that must be screened out during manufacture. The embodiments described above include sample gates at positions along the sample transmission line that are uniformly spaced. An alternative embodiment employs non-uniform spacing of sample gates, such as may be useful in signal processing applications or otherwise. Emerging technologies, such as ultra-wide band radar, spread spectrum communications, and low probability of intercept radar and communications are hampered by the lack of low-cost available electronics. The present invention and enhancements to it will be the first devices specifically suited to time domain reception for such high speed effects. FIG. 16 illustrates a pulse compressor implemented using the high speed sampler of the present invention. An input signal is received on line 800. It is supplied to a sampler bank 801 including a meandered transmission line and a strobe line, as described above, within the sampler bank. A strobe generator 802 supplies a strobe signal to the strobe transmission line in the sampler bank. The spacing of the samplers in the sampler bank 801 is set to match the frequency of the incoming pulse train. The outputs of the charge holding capacitors in the samplers in the bank 801 are coupled to a multiplier 803. The multiplier multiplies the outputs of all the samplers together to generate an output on line 804. Thus, when the input signal includes a plurality of cycles which line up with each of the samplers in the sample bank, the multiplier generates a high output. If not all the samplers pick up a peak on the input signal, then the output of the multiplier will be much lower. This technique is useful in radar pulse compression. This invention will enhance current products, and will enable new technologies. One market, for example, is the digital storage oscilloscope (DSO) market. Over the past decade, the test and measurement industry has been upgrading conventional analog oscilloscopes to DSOs. For example, Tektronix offers a model 7104 analog oscilloscope with 1GHz bandwidth. Current DSO offerings by Tektronix, Hewlett-Packard, and LeCroy sample at 2-4 GS/s and have an analog bandwidth on the order of 500 MHz. The cost of a DSO is slightly higher than its analog counterpart, but the DSO offers vastly longer record lengths, waveform storage, digital signal processing, and digital output. Key limitations to current DSO performance are low sampling rates and poor analog bandwidth. This invention improves sampling rates by 10× or more, and brings analog bandwidth up to or exceeding the sampling rate. Emerging technologies such as Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) radar and spread-spectrum communications will greatly benefit from this invention. In UWB radar, there is currently no means available to digitize returns with sufficient detail and record length to make high resolution (1 cm feature size) imaging radar possible. High resolution imaging radar will have a significant impact on aviation. Communications is another area that could benefit from this invention. Demultiplexers are a basic component in time division multiplexed (TDM) modulation, which is a common method to combine multiple channels onto a single channel for transmission through fiber optic, microwave, or satellite data links. Current commercial demultiplexer technology, as used by the communications industry, runs in the few gigasamples/sec region. The foregoing description of preferred embodiments of the present invention has been provided for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obviously, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in this art. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the following claims and their equivalents. second tier demultiplexing circuitry coupled to the sampler circuitry in the plurality of positions which senses each of a plurality of samples to store samples developed in response to a plurality of strobe signals from each position for later processing. 2. The high speed sampler of claim 1, wherein the second tier demultiplexing circuitry comprises a plurality of sets of sample and hold circuits, each set holding a plurality of samples from a given position in the sampling circuitry. 3. The high speed sampler of claim 1, wherein the second tier demultiplexing circuitry comprises a plurality of analog to digital converters coupled to respective positions in the plurality of positions in the sampling circuitry, and digital memory coupled to the analog to digital converters, each analog to digital converter converting a plurality of samples from a given position in the sampling circuitry. 4. The high speed sampler of claim 1, wherein the input circuitry comprises a signal splitter with high reverse attenuation. 5. The high speed sampler of claim 1, wherein the sample transmission line in a particular sampler bank has a proximal end coupled to the input circuitry and a distal end, and including a broadband termination resistor on the distal end of the sample transmission line. 6. The high speed sampler of claim 1, wherein the sample transmission lines in the plurality of sampler banks have respective proximal ends coupled to the input circuitry and respective distal ends, and wherein the input circuitry comprises a passive resistive splitter coupled to the proximal ends, and broadband termination resistors on the distal ends providing transmission line terminations which suppress strobe kickout on the respective sample transmission lines. 7. The high speed sampler of claim 1, wherein the sample transmission lines in the plurality of sampler banks have respective proximal ends coupled to the input circuitry and respective distal ends, and wherein the input circuitry comprises an active splitter coupled to the proximal ends. 8. The high speed sampler of claim 7, including broadband termination resistors on the distal ends, and at the active splitter with the broadband termination resistors providing transmission line terminations which suppress strobe kickout on the respective sample transmission lines. 9. The high speed sampler of claim 8, wherein the active splitter comprises an input transmission line receiving the input signal, and a plurality of high speed drivers coupled to the input transmission line and to respective ones of the sample transmission lines in the plurality of banks, which drive the corresponding bank in response to the input signal on the transmission line. an operational amplifier circuit connected between the input transmission line and sample transmission line to control lower frequency signals on the sample transmission line. 11. The high speed sampler of claim 1, wherein the strobe control circuitry includes a trigger signal generator, and a plurality of pulse forming networks coupled to respective strobe transmission lines, and wherein the circuitry for controlling timing comprises a fanout circuit coupled to the trigger signal generator for supplying a trigger signal to each of the plurality of pulse forming networks with controlled timing. 12. The high speed sampler of claim 11, wherein the trigger signal generator comprises an RF power amplifier. 13. The high speed sampler of claim 11, wherein the controlled timing is set with varying lengths of cable between the trigger signal generator and the plurality of pulse forming networks. 14. The high speed sampler of claim 1, wherein the circuitry for controlling timing incrementally delays the bank strobe signals so that the samples in respective pluralities of samples from at least a subset of the plurality of banks are interleaved in time. 15. The high speed sampler of claim 1, wherein the circuitry for controlling timing incrementally delays the bank strobe signals so that the samples in respective pluralities of samples from at least a subset of the plurality of banks are concatenated in time. 16. The high speed sampler of claim 1, wherein the sampler circuitry in at least one bank includes a plurality of diode bridge sample gates connected to the sample transmission line at respective ones of the plurality of positions. input circuitry, coupled with the plurality of sampler banks, which supplies an input signal to the sample transmission lines in each of the plurality of banks in parallel, and suppresses strobe kickout. 19. The high speed sampler of claim 17, wherein the sample transmission line in a particular sampler bank has a proximal end coupled to the input circuitry and a distal end, and including a broadband termination resistor on the distal end of the sample transmission line. 20. The high speed sampler of claim 17, wherein the sample transmission lines in the plurality of sampler banks have respective proximal ends coupled to the input circuitry and respective distal ends, and wherein the input circuitry comprises a passive resistive splitter coupled to the proximal ends, and broadband termination resistors on the distal ends providing transmission line terminations which suppress strobe kickout on the respective sample transmission lines. 21. The high speed sampler of claim 17, wherein the sample transmission lines in the plurality of sampler banks have respective proximal ends coupled to the input circuitry and respective distal ends, and wherein the input circuitry comprises an active splitter coupled to the proximal ends. 22. The high speed sampler of claim 21, including broadband termination resistors on the distal ends, the active splitter and the broadband termination resistors providing transmission line terminations which suppress strobe kickout on the respective sample transmission lines. 23. The high speed sampler of claim 21, wherein the active splitter comprises an input transmission line receiving the input signal, and a plurality of high speed drivers coupled to the input transmission line and to respective ones of the sample transmission lines in the plurality of banks, which drive the corresponding bank in response to the input signal on the transmission line. an operational amplifier circuit connected to control lower frequency signals on the sample transmission line. 25. The high speed sampler of claim 17, wherein the strobe control circuitry includes a trigger signal generator, and a plurality of pulse forming networks coupled to respective strobe transmission lines, and wherein the circuitry for controlling timing comprises a fanout circuit coupled to the trigger signal generator for supplying a trigger signal to each of the plurality of pulse forming networks with controlled timing. 26. The high speed sampler of claim 25, wherein the trigger signal generation comprises an RF power amplifier. 27. The high speed sampler of claim 25, wherein the controlled timing is set with varying lengths of cable between the trigger signal generator and the plurality of pulse forming networks. 28. The high speed sampler of claim 17, wherein the circuitry for controlling timing incrementally delays the bank strobe signals so that the samples in respective pluralities of samples from at least a subset of the plurality of banks are interleaved in time. 29. The high speed sampler of claim 17, wherein the circuitry for controlling timing incrementally delays the bank strobe signals so that the samples in respective pluralities of samples from at least a subset of the plurality of banks are concatenated in time. 30. The high speed sampler of claim 17, wherein the sampler circuitry in at least one bank includes a plurality of diode bridge sample gates connected to the sample transmission line at respective ones of the plurality of positions. 31. The high speed sampler of claim 17, further including means, coupled to the sampler circuitry in the plurality of banks, for scanning out the samples from the plurality of banks in coordination with the circuits for controlling timing. FR2936120A1 (en) * 2008-09-15 2010-03-19 Maurice Chayet Electronic device for sampling an analog signal by varying the delay.

2019-04-22T05:49:44Z

https://patents.google.com/patent/US5479120A/en

IMTFI fellow José Ossandón reports on how the use of credit cards is intertwined with complex social relations in Chile in a case study for IMTFI's Working Paper Series. Drawing upon Michel Serres's notion of "the parasite," Ossandón examines how low-income credit card customers in Chile use their "hidden" social networks to extend credit limits beyond those designed by the credit card companies. By lending cards to relatives and friends, Chileans leverage their existing social networks in complex and surprising ways, demonstrating how financial technologies are always already embedded in intricate interpersonal relations. Kau tou lālanga is a group of Tongan women who collectively weave one another’s fine pandanus mats to barter and sell. Their prime customers are Tongan women living in diasporic communities around the Pacific Rim. Our research has determined two business negotiations of kau tou lālanga: firstly, to weave per lineal foot, also known as ‘iate, and secondly, to weave towards a ‘gathering’, or kātoanga. An ‘iate negotiation starts with a customer, usually a local person, making an order to a collective to weave one or two mats—only a small quantity. The second negotiation, kātoanga, is a gathering between a number of weavers from a collective and a group of customers, who are mostly Tongan women from overseas. Before a kātoanga, the parties involved negotiate the large number of mats to be exchanged, the sum of cash for the order, and the date and venue of their gathering is also agreed upon. Kātoanga agreements reach higher annual returns than ‘iate negotiations. Tongan mats, or fala, are part of a wider system of customary gift exchanges within Tongan society. In this customary sense, Tongan mats are cashless forms of value storage. Such value is traditionally activated during a Tongan occasion, such as funerals, weddings and birthdays. A traditional gift from guests to hosts or vice versa could consist of tapa cloth and several types of fine mats. Thus, fine mats—the products of kau tou lālanga businesses—are highly prized items in Tongan material culture. For this reason, this work is part of a wider discussion of gifts of exchange studied by anthropologists: Adrienne Kaeppler (1999), Phyllis Herda (1999), Ping-Ann Addo and Niko Besnier (2008), and Fanny Wonu Veys (2009). However, their analyses exceed the purposes of this blog. based Tongan customer, Tongatapu, Tonga. The Kingdom of Tonga is located in the South Pacific (20 00 S, 175 00 W) and is an archipelago of 169 islands stretched throughout 747 square kilometres. The main central island is Tongatapu, where the capital Nuku’alofa is located. Three fieldwork trips were conducted within the project timeframe. A total of eight weeks in two remote islands groups: Vava’u and Ha’apai. Being remote islands they generally have less access to a wider range of cash making opportunities in comparison to the main island. Vava’u and Ha’apai are also mat making epicenters. The fieldwork sites in Vava’u include the rural village of Leimatu’a and Kameli in Neiafu town. In Ha’apai, the sites include the rural villages of Fangale’ounga on Foa Island and Pukotala on Ha’ano Island, and finally, the urban village of Pangai. These village sites were selected based on existing contacts and referrals of where to best find kau tou lālanga groups. A total of 24 participants were interviewed over the course of three trips, 14 from Vava’u and 10 from Ha’apai. Some 20 were sole weavers and all were women and 4 acted as trading agents, of which 2 were men. The first objective of this research was to understand what is the transformative value of kau tou lālanga in Tonga and secondly how mobile phones and money transfer platforms help to achieve this transformation. The transformative value was first defined by the authors at the project’s conception as, ‘the potential to move away from an uncontrollable financial situation to a position where one can manage financial challenges with confidence’. The findings have refined and elaborated on this statement. The first survey investigated (a) motivations for joining a kau tou lālanga (b) understanding one’s financial role in their family and (c) what one spends their profits or wages on, the survey attempted to shape an initial understanding about the transformative value of kau tou lālanga. Preliminary findings show that paying childrens’ education fees, maintaining one’s home through utility bills, feeding dependents and donations to church offerings and supporting village fundraisers are reasons why participants weave and join kau tou lālanga. The three top reasons ranked in order are (1) to pay household utility bills, (2) to pay childrens’ education, and (3) to make church donations. It became clear after the first survey that the original definition was limiting the emotional motivations of the weavers. For this reason, the interviews of the second fieldtrip included asking weavers why they chose to do this business and in other words what value they see in this kau tou lālanga? Their responses certainly highlighted that it is not about creating a huge savings account but instead creating a sense of personal satisfaction when one has met the needs of their families. The outcome of providing therefore embeds value into what they do as weavers. The transformative value of this business for you as a weaver is not about receiving money to spend or save, but being enabled to financially satisfy the needs of your family, at the time of need and every time of need. Importantly, it is from this position that you gain emotional and mental confidence. It is for this significant reason why you choose to weave and partake in the business of mats. Moreover, this study broadens our focus on transformations that take place because of the business of kau tou lālanga, such as socio-cultural changes in the role of female weavers in their families. Traditionally, mats have been considered the woman’s domain in Tongan society and it was shameful for a man to dabble in women’s work. Evidently, the financial appeal of the business has normalized the dual-gendered activity of making mats and has helped to remove the male shame of helping, especially when many hands do make the work easier. Undoubtedly, kau tou lālanga is changing the female weaver’s role and consequently others in her family and within the wider Tongan society. In answering the second objective of this project, the findings reveal that there is a technology knowledge gap for older members of collectives, who are also the leaders and decision-makers in the group. This gap delays business innovations like mobile money and the use of banking applications to facilitate transactions. The very establishment of kātoanga negotiations stresses that weavers and customers alike still prefer to transact face-to-face, so customers can thoroughly check mats before closing a deal and weavers can count their money before releasing the mats. In this way money transfer agencies have not displaced the practice of kātoanga, which explains why money exchange platforms were less important for some collectives and less used by such weavers than what was first assumed. The transformative value of kau tou lālanga has been an invaluable investigation because now we can begin to understand the ‘livelihood’ of Tongan weavers; revealing how kau tou lālanga affects the weavers and their dependents but also how weavers shape this business to achieve their customary and financial goals. In closing out the public portion of the annual IMTFI conference, Scott Mainwaring reminded participants about all of the work of unpacking the global and the local and interpreting intertwined tangled histories and the challenges to adoption when there are mixtures of devices, which might even include a lockbox with satellite device attached among the ensembles of different technologies. He also drew attention to the fact that even without smart phones, people in developing countries were doing "amazing work" managing their finances with "just a few alphabetic lines of text." Now that smart phones with "high resolution beautiful color displays" were on the horizon, the devices were opening up possibilities for more literacy training with "engaging media forms." Ph.D. candidate Taylor Nelms noted the range of missions and agendas addressed at the conference, including how institutional instability, turnover of officials, and how state offices play into "lines of contestations" that involve everyday practices of the government and different histories of the state in different places to different degrees of heterogeneity. As the author of Virtualpolitik, a book about the state as both regulator and digital content-creator, I appreciated his emphasizing that the state never functions as a "singular monolithic or homogenous actor," because it has a "range of missions and agendas," as well as his praise for the "fine-grained detail about the state" in many presentations. He also noted how risk and liquidity may be a function of "the tools we use" and that savings is not one thing, particularly as it involves material infrastructures. As an example, he pointed to the metal box in the collection shown by Ellen Feingold, Curator of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian, which could not be opened without being torn apart by metal shears. Mrinalini Tankha, an IMTFI postdoc, also reminisced about being part of the first generation of researchers. But she asserted that -- despite the changing language of research -- the constant of considering trust continues to be "fundamental and contentious in any social organization." According to Tankha, inequalities of power obviously exacerbate distrust. She also warned that excessive trust among researchers in seemingly authoritative products, services, institutions, and scholarship could undermine research, and she gave a plug for the closed-door workshops on methodology to follow. In taking the microphone, organizer Bill Maurer lauded the "six year long conversation" that had begun with a handful of people and had now grown to including 140 researchers in 43 different countries. In praising this "long conversation," he described the ongoing and continuing revision of hypotheses and how no one was compelled to "tow one line." As researchers try to understand the "contingent composition" at the heart of various resources, they mirror similarly a "constantly emerging network" that is a "community of inquiry" coming together "with a generosity of inquiry and spirt." A discussion about collaboration with the financial sector was initiated by Amol Jadhav (GSMA) about working with industry and managing the "balancing act" between on the one hand merely providing opportunistic "market research" and on the other hand generating work that only "exists in paper" and is thus less valuable to the public. When Maurer turned the question to IMTFI researchers, it was a lively set of responses. Ana Echeverry of Inspira Lab bemoaned the fact that it was "extremely difficult when you are no one" to have "anything actionable reach those influencers." She critiqued financial central planners who were "always in Europe" and the impossibility of reaching power brokers like Carlos Slim. Vivian Dzokoto indicated her enthusiasm for collaboration but acknowledged barriers to uptake and hesitance toward independent perspectives. Sosthenes Kewe, Technical Director of Financial Sector Deepening Trust, who sat with Johnson Nyella, economist from the Central Bank of Tanzania considered this conversation valuable to "build capacity." Kewe wanted to hear more about collaborating researchers focusing the design of financial services. He also encouraged researchers to hold more IMTFI conferences in Africa. Such venues could have a leveling effect, as in the case of a recent conference in Ghana, which allowed participating market women to challenge the assertions of regulators. Maurer said that UC Irvine, potential African university hosts, and other forums "defined by academic settings" demonstrate how "the university and academia can provide a neutral space" in which "identities of participants" can be "kept confidential" and "issues of competition" could be ameliorated. I'll sign off myself as well with this entry for a while. I've posted a very abbreviated explanation of what has drawn me to this place as a blogger for a number of years, and I hope to be posting some more new stories before this group assembles again. In this panel about how state policies shape financial inclusion, IMTFI alumni participant Jing Gusto of Mercy Corps suggested that coordination with government agencies required a "Gangnam Style" spirit and an understanding that it was "more fun to not dance alone." He argued that the innovations of government could serve as a significant vehicle for financial inclusion, although many researchers on the panel complained that it was difficult to make much progress on understanding the synergies between government and the private sector when policies and practices were being changed by new administrations struggling to keep up. "The Physical and Electronic Payment Interface and its Influence on Consumer Payment Choices and Informal/Fraudulent Practices: A Case Study of the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) Uganda" by Tugume Howard of Benda Associates Ltd also reflected the work of Nanteza Justine and Kobusinge Justine, although the Justines were unable to attend the conference. By focusing on the physical and electronic payment interface and its influence on consumer, Howard argued that a case study involving a national water and sewage could provide understanding of the influence of consumer choices, payment choices, and informal practices. Howard argued that Benda Associates benefited from its knowledge of business start-ups and agribusiness as an agency capable of comprehensive research. He began by noting that the Bank of Uganda had an ambitious Financial Inclusion Project and that the BOU's recent financial inclusion report indicated that there had been significant growth of bank branches and ATMs, although the distribution of banks and ATMs failed to serve large sectors of the population, because 41 percent of districts in Uganda lack access to any bank branch. He also described dramatic growth in mobile money technology with 17 million people have registered. Additionally, the distribution of mobile money agents in Uganda was more likely to follow the distribution of population than offices of the traditional financial sector. For those who want to learn more about the financial landscape of Uganda, you can check out the maps and information graphics produced by the Finclusion Lab. The National Water and Sewer Corporation already offered a range of payment options including mobile money, direct debit, and ePayment, and researchers were interested in seeing if these options might ameliorate systemic problems of corruption and reduce fraudulent informal practices. They explained that they wanted to examine the factors that drive people’s payment choices and examine the impact that the interface between physical and material might have as well. Researchers chose to focus on a diverse set of survey areas, comprising four districts – Kampala (the capital city), Mukono (urban), Mpigi (semi-urban), and Luweero (rural). The methodology included user interviews, expert interviews and document review. They discovered that users reported relatively good knowledge of payment methods: 89% were aware of mobile money, 37.06% were aware of bank transfers, 85% knew about cash deposits, and 58% knew about cash. Because the NWSC stopped accepting cash payments in its offices, users had incentives to learn about alternative methods. Now 40% used mobile money, 23% persisted in using cash, 79% used the cash deposit method, and 8% tried bank transfers. Although the work of the last six moths indicated that electronic payments could reduce corruption, users were also exposed to modern malpractices, such as hacking now that water bills could be paid thanks to mobile money and access to ATMs. The Ugandan researchers also noted a number of limitations to a study largely done in urban centers that depended on a consumable (water) that presupposed development and the fact that informal practices were not yet documented, as were aspects of behavior related to gender. Although they described it as "too early to draw conclusions," they sketched out the rest of their research plan including data entry and analysis and dissemination of results. Prina noted that their study was situated in the context of a large body of existing scholarship that showed that inclusion into the financial system helps the poor escape poverty (Aghion and Bolton 1997; Banerjee and Newman 1993; Banerjee 2004). Those new to this work might start with the work of MIT Professor Abhijit Banerjee and the university's Poverty Action Lab. Unfortunately, the poor are usually excluded from the financial system, and thus they end up using imperfect substitutes (Collins et al. 2009; Rutherford 2000). Fortunately, it seems possible to find alternatives to this Catch 22, because there is untapped demand for formal savings devices and access to and use of a savings account increases savings and investment and promotes the welfare of small entrepreneurs and households (Dupas and Robinson 2013; Prina 2014). The research team focused on Oportunidades, which is now rebranded Prospera, a series of social protection programs that include depositing transfers of cash to accounts of participants in BANSEFI, the social bank of Mexico. Although most of poorest Mexican households have been granted access to the formal financial system, researchers argued that having an account (being banked) is a necessary but not sufficient condition for financial inclusion, which is defined not only by access to formal financial services, but also by use of those financial services, appropriate regulation, and financial education. In understanding the "supply vs. demand" problem of the CCT program in Mexico, researchers found that users made little use of their accounts and that most withdrew their funds at once. Grim results from a 2009 pilot changed little in a 2012 study that showed that 81% still withdraw at once. Now that researchers have begun a more granular study in May 2014, they have discovered that 58% of beneficiaries do actually save: 38% save in the formal formal (although only 30% of this group does so with BANSEFI) and 79% save in informal institutions. To understand problems on the demand side, researchers surveyed users and found out that 42% felt that they did not have enough income to save, and 43% had been told to withdraw all at once, which pointed to a "hint of misinformation and disinformation." Indeed, 11% feared being kicked out of program if they saved, and 11% worried that the government would keep their money if they tried to keep some in reserve. Only 51% of recipients knew they could save in their BANSEFI accounts, and basics of procedures seemed mysterious to participants, since 83% didn't know how to make a deposit, and 88% didn’t know the money was protected by federal government, although 62% did consider that keeping money in a formal back account did have advantages. To tackle the problem of low financial literacy, they began with assessment. They discovered that a simple question about calculating 10% of 1,250 pesos – roughly the amount of a typical conditional cash transfer – could only be answered by 31% of participants. 43% could answer questions about interest correctly, and most knew about inflation. Drawing on a literature that showed that mental accounting could affect savings and financial accounting decisions (Feldman 2010; Sahm, Shapiro, and Slemrod 2010; Thaler 1990, 1999) and that defaults have also been shown to be very effective in increasing savings in developed countries with low-income population (Thaler and Bernatzi 2004; Madrian and Shea 2001), the researchers looking at CCT programs in Mexico wanted to design a study that emphasized these features. Unfortunately automatic savings programs are often not available in poor households in developing countries, although the concept of an account denominated for emergencies was something salient to people. Researchers argued that it should be more salient, and that such accounts could be facilitated by a default feature, so that participants don’t have to remember to save. Speaking on a personal note, I know that the automatic deductions from my paycheck for my retirement have certainly spurred my own default savings behavior, so this assertion certainly seems logical. Researchers designed a randomized controlled trial in which those in Control 0 all receive a special educational workshop on how to use their accounts and booklets to track savings, those in Treatment 1 are also given an account for emergencies with sticker, and those in Treatment 2 have an automatic designation in which 10% of their income is deposited into emergency savings. With three treatments it becomes possible to separate out the effects of mental accounting from those of a system default. Unfortunately researchers described delays caused by political changes in Mexico, particularly now that the entire CCT system was being redesigned. Although they said that "we know very little," they were confident that "replication should not be particularly difficult." In the question-and-answer session afterwards participants proposed using better graphic design to promote financial literacy and considering the gender dynamics of banking behavior uncovered by IMTFI researchers working in Chiapas. One participant also argued that it may be wrong to assume that "people are misinformed," given that banks may have incentives to push customers toward investments in risky ventures and that even a middle-class Mexican research center pension might be tied to speculation with Goldman Sachs. 'The New Financial Architecture in Ecuador: Public Regulatory and Sociopolitical Contexts for Payment Systems" by Javier Felix of Renafipse and Monica Pozo of SENPLADES began by providing the context before the financial crisis of Ecuador in 1999, which resulted in the dollarization of Ecuadorian Economy and a big currency devaluation with very high levels of inflation. The economy had already been dollarized informally, so the government's pragmatic policy was intended only to acknowledge the existing reality. Soon it payed off and the economy stabilized, so that the country moved from 95% inflation to rates at a more manageable 3 to 4%. This period was also marked by extreme political instability in an era in which there were eight presidents in a short period of time. The government has since embraced policies based on a new constitution oriented around the well-being of citizens, harmony between humans and nature, and new economic systems of a "popular and solidarity economy" that was a response to neoliberalism and deregulation, typical of what Felix described as "21st century socialism in Latin America." By placing a priority on public policies that addressed the fact that 70.5% of Ecuadorians didn't have a bank account, the government decided to analyze new forms of payment, particularly in response to huge movement in the mobile payments sector in a country with 17.9 million mobile phone subscribers. Policy makers envisioned a "Public Electronic Monetary System in which the electronic money system, as defined by the Central Bank of Ecuador, is a "set of operations, mechanisms, procedures, and regulations that facilitate the flow, storage, and real-time transfer of monetary value between the different economic agents." To further this vision, the use of electronic means would include "mobile devices," "Internet," "Smart cards," and other digital monetary instruments. Although the Central Bank of Ecuador would serve as the Distributor and Administrator, there were other regulatory institutions and technological channels to consider. For example, there were three mobile companies in Ecuador, and the central bank has signed agreements with all of them. Like other IMTFI researchers, Felix described flux in the process, including a "pilot phase ending tomorrow," which examined macro agents, transactional centers, users, and delays and changes. By imagining a financial structure of inclusion that was not based on any private institution, mobile money could become a legal tender and a state liability, as a currency that all must accept. In this particular theory of money, money should be a public good. The Ecuadorian team warned that private companies might want to influence users and exploit market share. Because electronic money in circulation must be backed one hundred percent with the liquid assets of the BCE, there were established limits on the system. For example, users were limited to three accounts and $2000 per month. Nonetheless the researchers were eager to acknowledge different perspectives on the strategy of monetary policy to speed up the recirculation of money, especially in rural areas, and they even granted that speculative markets might be necessary. Although nationalization is often seen as a bane to private industry, the researchers asserted that mobile companies saw a new line of business and technological adaptation and that macro agents saw business opportunities and cost reduction for collections. In closing, the presentation raised the question of how it could have a greater impact than a private system, particularly in the wake of "trauma about owning national currency." For these researchers, money serves "as a social agreement" that "needs people’s trust and approval to be part of their lives." Therefore, "rules should be constructed transparently and with democratic accountability."

2019-04-18T23:12:13Z

http://blog.imtfi.uci.edu/2015/01/

In the 60’s and 70’s, we had several well-received realistic horror movies: The Exorcist, Rosemary’s Baby, etc. Made by veteran craftsman, these movies were not the make-believe fables that many thought them to be, but rather honest portrayals of very real demonic possession. The 80’s and 90’s followed with a slew of low-budget, over-the-top slasher movies: Halloween (and its sequels), Friday the 13th (and its sequels), etc. Made independently by young casts and crews looking to break into the business, these movies were taken for what they were, mindless driven aimed at the pot-smoking high school and college crowds. Today, we have an onslaught of slickly made, big-budget horror spectacles made by autonomous corporations, as seen on the posters below. The casts and crews of these “new” horror movies all appear to be either members of, or at least highly influenced by, the satan-worshipping illuminati. These movies are not intended as entertainment. They are meant to indoctrinate a new generation into the satanically possessed new world order. The same new world order being promoted by the United Nations and the Democratic Party. Would you like to have an RFID microchip implanted under your skin? If you are anything like me, you would never allow such a thing to be done. But many others, especially among the younger generations, see things very differently. RFID microchip implants and other forms of “wearable technology” are increasingly being viewed as “cool”, “trendy” and “cutting edge” by young people that wish to “enhance” themselves. And of course the mainstream media is all in favor of these “technological advancements”. For example, the BBC just published a piece entitled “Why I Want A Microchip Implant“. We are told that such implants could solve a whole host of societal problems. Identity theft and credit card fraud would be nearly eliminated, many other forms of crime would be significantly reduced, children would never go missing and we wouldn’t have to remember a vast array of passwords and PIN numbers like we do now. We are told that if we just adopted such technology that our lives would be so much better. But is that really the case? Ultimately, implanted microchips offer a way to make your physical body machine-readable. Currently, there is no single standard of communicating with the machines that underpin society – from building access panels to ATMs – but an endless diversity of identification systems: magnetic strips, passwords, PIN numbers, security questions, and dongles. All of these are attempts to bridge the divide between your digital and physical identity, and if you forget or lose them, you are suddenly cut off from your bank account, your gym, your ride home, your proof of ID, and more. An implanted chip, by contrast, could act as our universal identity token for navigating the machine-regulated world. This month at the Transhuman Visions conference in San Francisco, Graafstra set up an “implantation station” offering attendees the chance to be chipped at $50 a time. Using a large needle designed for microchipping pets, Graafstra injected a glass-coated RFID tag the size of a rice grain into each volunteer. By the end of the day Graafstra had created 15 new cyborgs. A group of United States and Chinese researchers have collaborated to created a tiny implantable batteries that feed off of human energy. These thin, flexible mechanical energy harvesters have had been successfully tested on cows. The process uses what is known as conformal piezoelectric energy harvesting and storage from motions of the heart, lung, and diaphragm. It the future, they say, it could be used to power a range of gadgets. Will it be long until you will charge your I-phone by plugging into your own body? Upon arriving in the morning, according to the Associated Press, each student at the CCC-George Miller preschool will don a jersey with a stitched in RFID chip. As the kids go about the business of learning, sensors in the school will record their movements, collecting attendance for both classes and meals. Officials from the school have claimed they’re only recording information they’re required to provide while receiving federal funds for their Headstart program. For those who think the NSA the worst invader of privacy, I invite you to share an afternoon with Aiden and Foster, two 11-year-old boys, as they wrap up a Friday at school. Aiden invites his friend home to hang out and they text their parents, who agree to the plan. As they ride on the bus Foster’s phone and a sensor on a wristband alert the school and his parents of a deviation from his normal route. The school has been notified that he is heading to Aiden’s house so the police are not called. As they enter the house, the integrated home network recognizes Aiden and pings an advisory to his parents, both out at work, who receive the messages on phones and tablets. We are rapidly entering a dystopian future in which it will be “normal” for technology to monitor our movements 24 hours a day. Most people will probably welcome this change, but it also opens up the door for an oppressive government to someday greatly abuse this technology. Another type of “wearable technology” that is rapidly gaining acceptance is “smart tattoos”. Everyone from neurologists to biohackers is reinventing the very idea of the tattoo. With the right technology, tattoos can do a lot more than just look beautiful or badass. They can become digital devices as useful and complex as the smartphone that bounces around in your pocket. It sounds wildly futuristic, but the technology already exists. Materials scientist John Rogers is doing some pretty incredible work with flexible electronics that stick to your skin like a temporary tattoo. These so-called “epidural electronics” can do anything from monitoring your body’s vital signs to alerting you when you’re starting to get a sunburn. Rogers and his company MC10 are currently trying to figure out ways to get the electronics to communicate with other devices like smartphones so that they can start building apps. The tattoo they have in mind is actually one that will be emblazoned over your vocal cords to intercept subtle voice commands — perhaps even subvocal commands, or even the fully internal whisperings that fail to pluck the vocal cords when not given full cerebral approval. One might even conclude that they are not just patenting device communications from a patch of smartskin, but communications from your soul. They are calling it “wearable computing”, and what we are witnessing now is just the tip of the iceberg. But imagine a future where anything you might want to know simply appears to you without any action or effort on your part. You could be eating in a restaurant, and Google Glass could, for example, tell you that it’s the spot where your father proposed to your mother. Or that your friend will be late because of traffic, the salmon got bad reviews online, your parking meter will expire in 20 minutes, or the bathroom is through the bar and up the stairs to the right. Imagine that such knowledge could simply appear into your field of vision at the exact moment when you want to know it. That’s where wearable computing is going. All of this may sound very “cool” to a lot of people. But what happens if we are all required to have “electronic identity tattoos” someday? What happens if an oppressive government uses this technology to watch, track, monitor and control all of us 24 hours a day with this technology? What happens if you are not able to get a job, have a bank account or buy anything without “proper identification”? I think that you can see where I am going with this. Technology is truly a double-edged sword. It can do great good, but it can also be used for great evil. About the author: Michael T. Snyder is a former Washington D.C. attorney who now publishes The Truth. His new thriller entitled “The Beginning Of The End” is now available on Amazon.com. Is Agenda 21 the New World Order End Game? The United Nations convenes the Agenda 21 twentieth year celebration on June 20th, seven days from today. It is called Rio+20. This video shows the world leaders have been working towards this “New World Order” for a very, very long time. The 1919 book by Samuel Batten Zane , “New World Order” is in the public domain, has been digitized by Google, and can be downloaded as a pdf file. Mikhail Gorbachev, the last head of state of the former Soviet Union before it dissolved in 1991 — who has never renounced communism — just loves the Occupy Wall Street movement. The Associated Press reports that on October 19, 2011, the 80-year-old Gorbachev told 3,600 people at Lafayette College​ in eastern Pennsylvania that he believes protests occurring now in many places signal the emergence of a “new world order” movement, and that global governments need to work toward a “more humane and more just” world. The (Easton) Express-Times reports that Gorbachev said opportunities that existed at the end of the Cold War were “not used properly.” He said with the breakup of the Soviet Union, some U.S. leaders and scholars became “arrogant” and advocated for a new American empire, and that contributed to continued poverty, environmental and development problems around the world. Let me get this straight. Mikhail Gorbachev, a communist leader who presided over a failed economic system, comes to Lafayette College to lecture us on our need to support a new world order. Beam me up, Scottie. There is no intelligent life here. Please take 15 minutes to watch this important video confirming the reality of the human microchip agenda. Propaganda has been used for decades to condition us to the idea of being chipped. This process is called predictive programming and its purpose is to program our minds to accept without question whatever is required by the programmer – in this case, the idea of being microchipped at some point in the future. The victim is generally unaware of being programmed, believing that it’s all just harmless entertainment. For this reason it can be a powerful and effective weapon against us. VeriChip is the only FDA-approved human-implantable radio-frequency identification (RFID) microchip. It is marketed by PositiveID, a subsidiary of Applied Digital Solutions. About twice the length of a dime, the device is typically implanted between the shoulder and elbow area of an individual’s right arm. Once scanned at the proper frequency, the VeriChip responds with a unique 16 digit number which could be then linked with information about the user held on a database for identity verification, medical records access and other uses. The insertion procedure is performed under local anesthetic in a physician’s office. Alien Technology is a manufacturer of RFID technology. The company is headquartered in Morgan Hill, California…. As of August 2010, Alien employs approximately 235 people. Alien produces (EPC) Class 1 and Class 1 Gen 2 RFID inlays, tags and readers designed for use in manufacturing lines, warehouses, distribution centers, and retail stores…. There are three key facility locations for Alien Technology — Morgan Hill, California, Fargo, North Dakota, and Dayton, Ohio.. We the People will not be chipped! Join the resistance movement at wethepeoplewillnotbechipped.com. For 20+ years, I had taught a course on Economic Development to undergrads and graduate students — why Third World countries are poor and how they can develop their economies and so catapult themselves to join the developed First World. But developing an economy requires capital or money, and Third World countries, by definition, are underdeveloped and capital-poor. If a country’s people had the surplus capital to invest in factories and businesses, it wouldn’t be a Third World country to begin with. So the standard economic development strategy is to devise ways to attract cash from countries that are developed — and rich — by offering them sweet deals so they will invest in the poor country. That capital is called Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Poor countries typically employ tax incentives (low or no taxes), low wages, and lax or no labor laws to attract FDI. The smarter Third World governments jealously guard their national sovereignty and autonomy to avoid being exploited by foreign capitalists and becoming dependent on FDI, to the detriment of their own national wellbeing. The smart ones insist that the foreign investors train domestic workers into skilled labor, anticipating that day in the future when the poor country becomes developed and no longer must bow to wealthy foreigners. In all my years of studying, teaching, and writing on economic development, I have never come across a developed First World country so desperate for FDI as to prostitute itself. But that is what the federal and state governments of the United States of America are doing. Is America a poor country and thus lacking in affluent citizens with money to invest in starting up businesses in America? Does our country have a dearth of entrepreneurs, investors, businessmen and women? As if we don’t already have an illegal immigrant problem, is the United States so sparsely populated that we must offer incentives for people around the world to immigrate here? Then why is it that, instead of persuading American businesses to stop “outsourcing” exporting jobs overseas, our government is prostituting America to attract foreigners to invest? The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has a program called EB-5 which, in the name of “helping create jobs,” grants foreigners permanent U.S. residency in exchange for bringing in Foreign Direct Investment. EB-5 offers a green card for foreign nationals who invest at least $500,000, creating at least 10 jobs. The minimum amount of FDI for urban areas is higher — at least $1 million — whereas investment in rural or targeted employment areas is $500,000. The investment must also remain “at-risk” without repayment for a period of two full years. Translated, this means that to be a “Regional Center” requires the designation and approval of government, specifically the USCIS. This, in turn, means yet more government bureaucracy, more “public” employees, and their attendant unions! There are USCIS-approved EB-5 Regional Center projects in Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas/Oklahoma, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin. Tomorrow we will take a look at Idaho’s EB-5 projects, specifically what its state government has done to lure in Chinese FDI. Ponder this: America, a rich First World country, is so desperate that we have offered China — a developing and, as China’s leaders insist to this day, still poor country — to bring in FDI in exchange for permanent residency and U.S. citizenship. Just in time for the inauguration of the New World Order. As reported by Martin Gould for NewsMax.com, April 28, 2011, citing The Blaze as its source, the superhero’s renunciation is prompted by DC comics’ rank cowardice, after getting criticized for joining an anti-Iranian demonstration in the landmark 900th issue of Action Comics. The Iranian government sees this as official US endorsement of the protests. Superman was conceived in 1938 as the quintessential defender of American values — even though he is an alien from the planet Krypton. The decision to renounce US citizenship is already being attacked on line. How? By “mentally projecting a unified vision” of the “new reality,” which would result in the “harnessing en masse” of “the very real physics that connects human consciousness with molecular structure.” Whatever that means. Did you understand any of the above mumbo jumbo? How does one million people “mentally project”? What is this “unified vision of a new paradigm for our species”? The word “unified” suggests and implies sameness. How do a million people “mentally project” the same “vision of a new paradigm”? “The world is accelerating towards a big event…a major change. Some feel this big event relates to 2012 cataclysms. And some think it will be the collapse of world economies. Also related to these scary beliefs, is the apocalyptic vision of a ‘Mad Max’ world of ecological destruction, where mankind goes one step too far in plundering our planet’s natural resources. And still others foresee a tipping point, where the changes brought about by the Internet will be eclipsed by the power and speed of the next wave of technology, perhaps involving genetics, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence. But many sensed that this coming change will be a new age of harmony for our species, like the Age of Aquarius. One thing is clear. The majority of the 6.7 million people on earth today sense that something big is about to happen. So what do you think will happen? And does it really matter what you believe? Christians say that mere belief or faith in something happening can make it . And Buddhists believe that reality and our perception of reality are exactly the same thing. Is reality more like a dream, where if you believe you can fly, you actually do? A growing body of scientific studies from around the world confirms that these spiritual ideas may have a firm theoretical ground in physics. For example, a ‘placebo controlled clinical study’ means that the power of belief is removed from a pharmaceutical drug test. The mind can actually dissolve a cancer tumor if the patient merely believes she swallowed a pill with a drug in it. Even if there is nothing in the pill. And according to the most well tested theory in physics, Quantum Mechanics, your consciousness changes reality. In this theory, the phenomenon known as the collapse of the Quantum Wave Function is what brings reality into existence. This is a fancy way of saying that one’s conscious observation of small unseen waves actually causes those waves to ‘collapse’ into matter. In other words, conscious observation materializes particles into existence. So if we believe that we will experience 2012 cataclysms, could this tip the scale and cause such possibilities to occur? And is it possible that we can heal our planet and prevent cataclysms? Could we visualize world peace into existence through a massive pulse of belief transmitted by one million people around the world at the same time? The best guess today from Quantum Physics is, ‘Yes, probably.’ The 11-11-10 New Reality Transmission will be a pulse of belief sent into the Reality Matrix, which will swirl the flow of our group reality toward an experience that will be more interesting than cataclysms and wars. It comes form the heart with no selfish intentions in mind. And it is based on science, not fanciful delusion. Picture this pulse of group belief as a spiral shaped beam, where each person who joins the pulse increases its intensity. In the quantum realm, location does not work the way it does in our everyday perception. Your location can be at work or at your home computer. You will join the Website at the designated times and simply project your belief for 11 minutes. There will be 11 days in row of group Reality Transmissions, with the first one beginning at 11:11 pm EST on 11-11-10. Why all the 11’s? The short answer is because it’s pretty and poetic and things of the heart gives power to the pulse of belief that we will transmit into the future. The longer answer is more theoretical and cannot be adequately explained here. It relates to the geometry of certain thought patterns within the Reality Matrix. Use your intuuition to make a decision on whether or not your consciousness exists outside of your body. And decide; does it exist when your body dies? If your intuition leads you, then jump into this belief with all your heart. Go for it. Next, visualize your consciousness on a swirling cloud around your body that creates the perception of your physical existence. Imagine that this cloud is waiting for you to give it instructions. And if it feels true, then choose to believe it firmly. Now, in your mind’s eyes, see your vortex cloud rapidly spiraling as it waits for you to steer it into action. It’s your choice. You can create your reality just like you subconsciously create your dreams every night. But if you are oblivious to this ability, then your life is like a flag being blown in the wind…and you’re like a passenger riding on a train going in circles. So visualize that your mind’s attention is gently taking control of this spiraling cloud, which can change the Reality Matrix of your world. See it. Now point your spiraling consciousness vortex out and forward towards Earth’s future. See a calm and harmonious world blossoming after a massive planet wide awakening takes place in the months ahead. Visualize this awakening as being a shocker, similar to our whole species believing the Earth is flat on Friday and then on Monday realizing with delight that it is actually spherical. Make pictures in your mind of CNN announcing breaking news of the empirical proof that human consciousness exists outside of the body…the scientific validation of the existence of the soul and of the interconnection between all souls. Imagine that under the crushing weight of this official new reality, there is a crumbling of the brittle old house of fear-based mental delusion in its three forms. Fear of dying becomes a joke. Fear of people taking your gold becomes silly. And fear of people laughing at you becomes irrational. Envision the cooperative hearts of our planetary family coalescing like millions of rain drops on giant green leaves. Now stop a minute and ask yourself a question: Is this audacious reality possible? If there’s nothing you can think of which makes it absolutely impossible, then by definition it’s possible. And therefore large numbers of us can literally will it into reality with our minds. So continue ‘programming’ your consciousness vortex within this template energized by belief and activated by visualization. See pictures in your mind of people around the world abruptly awakening from a trance and realizing that their group belief controls their group experience of reality in exactlhy the same way we create the reality landscapes with our dreams. See the whole planet being hit with the surprising understanding that reality is exactly like a group dream, where there are two ways to exist. The first way is how we’ve dreamed for eons; the lie in which we’ve relinquished our reality control and been pushed around by our nightmares and limitations. The new way will be to wake up and take control and fly together in a new fearless reality that we co-create like a beautiful group mosaic. So envision our species enlightened by this major scientific discovery of the Reality Matrix…which leads hundreds of millions of us to wake up and fearelessly change the story that we are experiencing together. Now, see your consciousness vortex intertwining with one million others, who are all projecting this New Reality Transmission into our future at the same time. For 11 minutes for 11 days in a row at 11:11pm EST, we will all lock our minds’ eyes into these visuals. So as you join us, amplify both your belief that it is actually working and increase the color and brightness of the pictures that you are envisioning. Belief and visualization are your keys to creating within the Reality Matrix. The extent to which we can change the Reality Matrix on a global scale is a numbers game. We need 1 million people to join us by 11-11. The only practical way that this can happen is if you send this Website to everyone in your contact directory. The most destructive ideology in the 20th century — to which millions of human beings attached religious fervor and for which millions more were murdered — also claimed to be scientifically-based and also promised a utopian future if only masses of humanity would put their minds to it. It was Marxism-Leninism. Gosh, one would think that members of the NRT group could simply instruct their “consciousness vortexes” to make a “new reality” — one in which they are staffed to handle incoming e-mails!

2019-04-19T09:12:04Z

https://fellowshipoftheminds.com/tag/new-world-order

Choosing Dry Mouth Products can be an uphill struggle especially because there are a wide range of products to consider like sprays, lozenges and even mouth rinses. Knowing which one will work for you is the million dollar question! Dry mouth affects the quality of life, disallowing some to not properly eat the things they enjoy, all because it’s just not enjoyable with dry mouth. Saliva flow is non existent which causes other problems like demineralization. But don’t worry, we have your back and today you will be leaving this site with the knowledge and understanding of which solution will give you the best bang for you buck. This is really important because if you buy a product and it only works for short period, it isn’t really doing the job properly. You want to only consider products that will leave you feeling comfortable and hydrated for at least half of the day. Then all you have to do is re apply it and you will be good for the rest of the day. Has it been approved by a dental professional? Products that have been tested and approved by the medical community tend to give better results and they are safer to use in general. Always look for a seal of approvement when making such purchases. Sometimes a product may not have any links with a medical board in which case we suggest you look at the reviews left by other people and see what their experience has been. It can really tell you a lot about the usability and effectiveness of a product. I always look at the positive and negative reviews before making the decision to buy or Avoid. Is It Convenient to buy? More often than not a product which is not well-known can be very hard to locate but thanks to the internet and online shopping, getting your hands on the product of your choice is as easy as sleeping. Amazon is the largest market place for most products. No doubt if you find the right Dry Mouth Treatment today after reading this post you will be easily directed to the product page to make your purchase with just a click of a button. Because let’s be honest, if you find something with potential but you cannot seem to get hold of it, you will just give up out of frustration. I have had the same problem in the past and it can be really annoying. Arguably one of the market leaders in dry mouth remedies, the XyliMelts are great for using day and night because they are so discreet and don’t get in the way of your day to day activities. All you have to do is attach the small discs to either your teeth or gum area and your good to go. Slow dissolving formula – Over time the small disc will release up to 550mg of xylitol and lubricants/humectants to help keep your mouth moisturised. Can help with other problems – Apart from treating dry mouth, the discs will also help to fight against bad breath and sore throats. Saliva Production Increases 3 Fold – Xylimelts can super charge your saliva production to help lubricate your mouth even more and the best thing is it will also aid in remineralizing your teeth. Easy Night Time Use – If you suffer from dry mouth when you wake up, don’t despair because the unique patented adhesive technology enables you to use them at night time while sleeping and there is No Risk of Choking! High Quality Ingredients – no artificial flavors, animal products or dyes! The adhesive technology is protected by multiple patents. In America, XyliMelts is one of the most popular products for dry mouth! This is another major brand specifically targeting the issue of dry mouth. It’s a mouth rinse which makes it very easy to use and it’s fast acting, perfect for you if your in a rush and need to be somewhere else. It can help keep your mouth moisturised for up to 4 hours and keeps your breath fresh at the same time, making it a great combination product. It’s pretty simple to use too (not rocket science). Just get 15ml of the solution and gargle for 30 seconds and then spit out, that’s it and then you can go about your day as normal. If your dry mouth is severe, you can use Biotene Mouthwash up to 5 times per day without any adverse side effects. Alcohol and Sugar free Formula – Alcohol in mouthwash is not good, it will worsen your condition because it has a drying effect. Sugar helps bacteria to grow in large numbers and dry out your mouth. This is why Biotene does not contain these ingredients. Uses the LP3 salivary enzyme-protein system – These are: lactoperoxidase, lysozyme and lactoferrin which help to interfere with the enzyme activity within bacteria. it can also trigger the production of new enzymes that destroy the bacterial cells. All this will help to get rid of any mouth problems including dry mouth. If your looking for something to carry with you wherever you go and need something fast acting to help you get through a busy day then the ACT mint lozenges are a strong contender! You can break the lozenges into smaller pieces so they last a lot longer and you can be sure to have a nice moisturised fresh smelling mouth. They contain Xylitol which kills cavity causing bacteria that dry mouths are very susceptible to. We see a lot of root cavities in those with dry mouths that use lozenges that contain sugar, very bad combo but this one is the perfect combination. The only thing we are concerned about with this is the risk of choking if you intend to use it at night time whilst sleeping. We suggest something else if this is what you intend to do simply because of safety reasons. A very nice minty Flavour – It doesn’t matter how good a treatment is but if it does not taste good then you won’t use it very often will you? But there’s no problem with these lozenges because from what we have read from various reviews, people love the taste which is why they use them over and over again. Recommended by Dental hygienists – Various dental professionals use them and advise their patients to try them which should give you confidence in giving it a go for yourself. They are slightly on the expensive side when compared to a normal breath mint, such as a tic tac but well worth the money. We highly recommend these! If your looking for a product which has been formulated by Dental professionals and taste good then this is what you need. TheraBreath Dry Mouth Lozenges work in three stages to combat dry mouth symptoms. During stage 1, unpleasant tastes and odours are eliminated. In stage 2, zinc and xylitol come to the rescue to fight the source of bad breath. And in stage 3, a flavor agent stimulates saliva flow to provide soothing symptom relief. They dissolve quite quickly once in the mouth, some stating as fast as 10 minutes but the effects last twice as long as your traditional hard candy or cough drops. What sets this apart from other dry mouth treatments is the fact it was developed by Dr Harold Katz in 1993 after his daughter was suffering from dry mouth and bad breath. Minty Orange Flavour – The nice refreshing taste is what sets this apart from the rest of the treatments. You could consume this all day long if you really wanted. Relatively cheap – You get 100 individually wrapped lozenges but you will want to buy 2-3 packs to make them last a long time. Good thing they are cheap then, right? Money Back Guarantee – The company behind these lozenges are very confident you will see instant results that they are wiling to offer you a 30-day money back guarantee. That’s means a risk free trail for you guys and girls! There’s over 1400 reviews on Amazon for this product alone and with an average rating of 4/5 you can see why it’s such a popular product. If you want a cheap dentist recommended product that gets the job done then this is a good contender. The Oral7 mouthwash is an FDA approved and has been through numerous clinical testings making it a massive player in the dry mouth treatments space. It has also been known to help with a medical condition known as Sjogren’s Syndrome. Like the Biotene mouthwash it contains some active enzymes to help increase saliva production and has the ability to reduce the number of bad bacteria in the mouth. It’s quite convenient to use as a stand alone product but if you truly want to see great changes we recommend you use it straight after brushing and flossing. And unlike some mainstream Mouthwashes such as Listerine and Colgate, this does not contain any alcohol or menthol meaning you won’t get that burning or stinging feeling. Dentist & Hygienist Recommended – experts worldwide recommended Oral7 Dry Mouth Products as they not only provide relief but they also help to protect and enhance gum health. Saliva Substitute – dry mouth occurs when your mouth does not produce enough saliva to stay moist. This dry mouth oral rinse mouthwash has no alcohol and contains natural enzymes to help reinforce your mouth’s own defence system to promote healthy saliva to keep your mouth moisturised longer. Neutralises Ph – this mouthwash helps to reduce acidity in your mouth which will help to not only reduce the population of bad bacteria but help keep saliva free flowing giving your mouth that essential moisture for a healthy mouth. You can use this as a mouthwash or as some people have suggested getting the small mouthwash spray to carry around wherever you go and use it when required. This is an easy and convenient product to have close to you and will most definitely give you the results you desire. Dry mouth sprays are ever growing in popularity because of how fast they can relieve the symptoms of dry mouth and best of all you can carry it around with you anywhere you go. If your someone who has severe dry mouth and have a job where you need to talk a lot then this can definitely help you. Xylitol is once again a major ingredient with a total concentration of 44% in one bottle, that’s more than any other dry mouth spray. But what makes it remarkable is that this spray holds 25% more moisture than competing products. This was tested in laboratories and it was established that the moisture was held for 2 hours more than other similar sprays. Alcohol free, no artificial sweeteners – I think we all know that alcohol in mouthwash is bad because it dries out your mouth even more. That is why this dry mouth is alcohol free and the only sweetener present is xylitol which has been proven to help fight cavities and give your oral health a boost. Mild Mint Flavour – It’s minty but only slightly, so it doesn’t make you feel like you are using mouthwash every time you spray. Some people who used other sprays said they felt a burning sensation because of the high concentration of mint but you don’t have to worry with this. This might be the only product that deviates from what is normally expected for a dry mouth product. It’s basically a chewable chocolate flavoured mini bite. It’s two main focuses are helping to strengthen enamel and aiding in dry mouth. The main active ingredients are arginine bicarbonate and calcium carbonate – nutrients that are also produced by our bodies and are naturally found in the mouth. It has been formulated and tested rigorously over at Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine which now have patented the technology behind BasicBites. Tastes Delicious – This has to be the best tasting treatment on this entire list, It’s Chocolate flavoured!. I mean how much more appetising can you get and especially considering it is a Possible cure for Dry mouth and enamel erosion. PH Raising properties – Unlike other dry mouth products, BasicBites help counteract this process by nurturing good pH-raising oral bacteria and enriching enamel. Easy On The Body – BasicBites are 15 calories each and are gluten and dairy free. Delicious BasicBites do not contain artificial sweeteners, flavors, or preservatives. As an added benefit, they are an excellent source of calcium. Quite a few reviews mention that it was their dentist who actually recommended this Dry Mouth Product to them. That clearly shows that there is some substance behind these mini chocolate bites. If you want to get optimum results with this treatment then try consuming 2 per day. One after breakfast and one just before you go to bed. This way you will be protected throughout the most busy periods of your mouth in terms of the activity that is going on inside. The price isn’t too bad either and one pack will last you 2 months. This moisturising gel is the most concentrated product the Biotene company has made making it very powerful for long-lasting relief from symptoms of dry mouth. One clinical study showed that it could alleviate dry mouth for up to 4 hours wherever you were. It comes in a small tube packaging making it discreet and easy to use. All you have to do is place around half an inch length of gel directly on the tongue and spread it around the mouth generously and you will be good to go. Protection Up to 4 Hours – That is a long time for any product to be active but we have heard many stories about patients who have had the best sleep of their lives because of this gel. For some it works all through the night but this isn’t the industry standard! Alcohol and Sugar Free – One of the reasons this gel works so well is because it does not contain alcohol so your mouth won’t react badly to any burning sensation and will not get dry. Sugar is bad and causes cavities so good thing they kept that out. Convenient – The small size enables you to carry it around with you in a purse or even pocket. Stay protected and hydrates wherever you are. As with all other dry mouth treatments in this list, Theramints also contains the active ingredient xyltiol which helps to stimulate saliva production to keep the moisture levels optimally balanced. And unlike your regular supermarket brand sweetened mints, theramints will not cause tooth decay! TheraMints are an excellent choice for people with a history of cavities, those who frequently consume sugars and starches, those with orthodontic braces, and those who use medicines that reduce saliva. There’s also a couple of different flavours to choose from, either the cool minty breeze or you could go fruity. World Renowned Company – For more than a century, people worldwide have looked to 3M for new products and ideas that solve everyday problems and make their lives easier and better. 3M ESPE markets more than 2‚000 dental products and services that improve the practice and delivery of effective patient oral care. Convenient For Travel – The big tub holds about 520 mints but can be tedious to take with you, but that won’t be an issue because you get a little metal tin where you can place a good amount of mints to last you the whole day. Antimicrobial Properties – Xylitol is a natural sugar alternative and studies have shown it also helps eliminate large numbers of disease causing bacteria. Stimulates Salivary Glands – Using these mints you will instantly feel saliva flowing through your mouth which will help combat the effects of xerostomia. Another great company that provides a solid product to help fight Dry mouth. The Xerostom gel contains the patented Saliactive ingredients of extra virgin olive oil, betaine, and xylitol which have been proven to increase salivary flow up to 200%. The gel is best used at home because you have to apply it with your hands and having a private area to do this is more convenient. Doing this is in public might get some unwanted attention from passers-by which no one wants. If you suffer from diabetes then this is a good choice for you because all Xerostom products are detergent, sugar, and alcohol-free with a neutral pH. It comes in a refreshing mild lemon flavour which makes it great tasting too! FDA approved – This means the product has been tested extensively and has shown to have more positive effects than negative. 200% Increase In Saliva – Trials have shown that rapid increase in salivary flow is possible after using it regularly for one week. Protects Enamel – With additional beneficial ingredients such as fluoride, potassium, calcium, natural oils and moisturisers, you are safe in knowing that your teeth will stay strong and no demineralization will take place. So there you have it folks, an intensive list of the highest rated Dry Mouth Products of 2019. They all work in different ways and have their benefits and disadvantages. What you have to do now is think which product will suit you in terms of practicality and usability. Try a product which you feel you can use often enough without getting tired of it plus make sure it tastes good because if it doesn’t then guess what? you will be far less likely to continue with it. I’ve looked carefully through your list and I’ve come to the conclusion that the ESPE TheraMints 100% Xylitol-Sweetened Mints are probably the best choice for me. I work long hours and have many meetings – I need to take something quick and discreet and these seem to fit the bill. Have you tried them yourself? If so, how overpowering is the taste? No i have not tried the ESPE mints but i’m sure they wont be any more overpowering than your regular mints you get at the local store. I was wondering are there any natural cures for this. Like for instance, would drinking water during the day help? How about drinking coffee without sugar or tea without sugar? At what stage would I need to consider a dry mouth solution? I of course, brush my teeth twice daily and use a mouthwash twice daily. Would these products already protect me against a dry mouth in the first place? Drinking water does not really help with dry mouth, sure it will moisturise the mouth for a couple of minutes but you will be back to square 1. Same with coffee or tea. To be honest i have not really looked into the natural cures aspect for dry mouth. Maybe you could consume 100% xylitol and see what that does. The products mentioned in the list will help your dry mouth but only if you take them regularly. Thanks for walking us through these collection. I’m a mouth/dental careful person, I love mouth/dental healthy stuff, but regarding the dry mouth subject, I’ve rarely experienced it. For me it happens when I have a lack in liquids consumption, so my #1 choice will be WATER! I’ve used a bunch of mouthwash product, and, I agree with you, the first thing to be concerned about it taste, then smell 🙂 but, moreover, product strength. At the beginning, I looked for the nicest, good-tasting products, but I found out that the more it’s strong that it “burns” the tongue itself, the better the product it is. So when I think about dry mouth case, how would this tongue-burning experience would look like with these products? I have also heard some horror stories about people using a product but turned out to be very harsh on the tongue, but the products mentioned in this review are all xylitol sweetened and don’t cause a burning sensation on the tongue. Yes some might not taste as good as others but you won’t be getting any adverse effects with them. Thanks for this post, the mouth feels moist all day long I never knew it could go dry. It’s so good to know that it can be treated and there are products for the treatment. Thanks for the three tips that guide what to buy, I would have looked at what is written on the package and which one promises most things.

2019-04-24T16:05:35Z

https://bestoralbelectrictoothbrush.com/the-10-best-dry-mouth-products/?replytocom=339

My Bard. RDD or Not? My Bard just made lv5. Should I give him RDD levels? If so how many? The answer to this question really depends on just what kind of character you want to play. RDD is a strong class and it can certainly be worth taking levels in it, but doing so will fundamentally alter the function and appropriate playstyle for you character, since RDD bonuses are most useful to warrior-types and not especially so to casters. The function of a bard qua bard is a party support caster, buffing himself and allies with Bard Song, degrading the effectiveness of enemies with Curse Song, and casting primarily buffing spells. If that is what you want to play, adding RDD levels will do more harm than good, as that will decrease the effectiveness of your Song and spells. On the other hand, Bard is also a very flexible class, that can be made to serve many other roles with the right multi-classing. If you do add RDD levels, you should also take some levels in Fighter (or possibly another warrior class) as well, and start playing as a warrior, relying on your Song and spells for a little extra buffing. That is the only way to get the full benefits of that class. You want to take either 4 RDD levels (for some meaningful bonuses that do not require too much of an investment in the class) or 10 levels for the full strength bonus. Any number of levels in RDD other than 4 or 10 will be a waste, outside of exceptional cases. You'll love it. You can really create quite the beast given all the ability points from RDD. You don't have to dump a ton of STR into your character right away. I never exceed the point where they cost more than 1 point per point because I know I will be getting plenty as the character advances. If you would have gone with Red Dragon Disciple at 6th level, that would have given you two levels in a row where your BAB does not advance. That can be painful at lower levels, where your options to make it up via magical items/spells/abilites are limited. It is useful to plan your level choices in advance, to take classes in groupings that give you the most immediate benefit. If you advanced to Bard 8, you would maximize your BAB progression, and get an extra +1 to attack with your Bard Song (assuming you had the combination of Charisma bonus/magical items to boost your Perform skill to 15). That eases the progression to take Red Dragon Disciple at level 9. Your first level of Red Dragon Disciple gets you the +1 AC bonus, and your second level of Red Dragon Disciple gets you +2 Strength (adding to your attack and damage bonus in melee). So there is very good reason to take at least 2 levels of Red Dragon Disciple in a row. Whether you go back to a few Bard levels next or stick with Red Dragon Disciple levels depends on what you want most. The third level of Red Dragon Disciple gets you breath weapon (2d10 once per day is not really a huge deal for an 11th level character. But the fourth level gets you another +2 Strength. Your BAB advances +1 at with each of the third and fourth levels. Then the fifth level of Red Dragon Disciple gets you another +1 to AC. On the other hand, you may have neglected some Bard class skills not available to Red Dragon Disciple. (Mostly stealth skills- Tumble and Use Magical Device are most useful in multiples of 5, and you can't get to 15s until your 12th character level.) Your 11th Bard level opens up 4th level spells, and your Bard Song starts granting +2 AC. So you could go with 8 levels of Bard in a row, 4 levels of Red Dragon Disciple in a row, then come back for 3 more Bard levels in a row. Or alternately 8 levels of Bard in a row, 2 levels of Red Dragon Disciple in a row, 3 more levels of Bard in a row, 2 more levels of Red Dragon Disciple. They both bring you to the same place (Bard 11 / Red Dragon Disciple 4) and even out the abilities you get per level. Other combinations can get you to Bard 11 / Red Dragon Disciple 4, but along the way you might find some character levels very difficult for you because you are going too many levels in a row without adding significant abilities. Keep that in mind when planning your level progression. Red Dragon Disciple may become available to you at sixth level, but that's not necessarily the best time to take it. Also keep in mind that your groupings pre-21st level sort of cap your BAB. As a rule of thumb, for a character class that advances 3/4 BAB/level, it is best to take them in groups of 4 before 21st level. Your BAB is +15 if you are Bard 12 / Red Dragon Disciple 8. Your BAB is +14 if you go Bard 10 / Red Dragon Disciple 10. Starting at 21st level, your BAB advances +1 regardless of class you take. You don't make up that +1 BAB you lose before 21st level, it's gone for good, so it it worth maximizing as much as possible. On the other hand, Bard is also a very flexible class, that can be made to serve many other roles with the right multi-classing. If you do add RDD levels, you should also take some levels in Fighter (or possibly another warrior class) as well, and start playing as a warrior, relying on your Song and spells for a little extra buffing. That is the only way to get the full benefits of that class. I would disagree with this slightly -- 30 Bard/10 RDD is perfectly viable. Compared to 26 Bard/4 Fighter/10 RDD the biggest things you lose are damage from (Epic) Weapon Specialization and some free feats. On the flip side, you gain 1 AC (from song), more song uses, longer duration on spells, more damage on Ice Storm/Wounding Whispers, better protection from dispels, and obviously hit the better ranks of Bard Song sooner. Losing the 4th attack isn't really relevant, it's an exceeding minor loss since it'll usually miss anyway (if you hit 80% of the time on the highest attack you're only hitting 5% of the time on the fourth attack -- 2%ish difference when hasted) and you'll make up for the 1 AB lost with the 1 extra AC decrease on Curse Song. Bards also have enough feats to spare that picking up Heavy Armor proficiency isn't a big deal. Also get a better nuke (8 more damage, woo hoo!) with Curse Song and 8 more THP with Bard Song, but that is also very very very minor. It may depend in part on whether one is playing through each level. When it comes to combat effectiveness, Bard Song seems to really slow down at 16th level, while the Perform Skill requirements start getting really high. The attack/damage/saving throw adjustment hits maximum at 15. Going from 15 to 16 gets another AC adjustment of 1. It takes another 9 levels to get the next AC adjustment of 1. At the same time, the Perform Skill requirment jumps from 30 at Bard level 16 to 75 at Bard level 25. It takes a lot of investment in the Perform Skill (skill points, Charisma increases, skill enhancement feats) and maybe even then a little magical item help. Extra spell effectiveness is interesting, but if my concept is primarily a warrior-type, I don't intend to rely on spells for damage. The spells are for utility and defense. Extra Bard levels make defensive spells harder to dispel- but once 10 levels of Red Dragon Disciple were added to the character, that made the character vulnerable to enemy dispels. The effects of the skill adjustments from higher levels of Bard Song are potentially interesting, in how they affect combat-oriented skills like Concentration, Discipline, Taunt, Tumble, etc. However, for a combat-oriented Bard who will fight in melee often, I think there is a lot I can do with those extra levels beyond 16. The feats from 8 Fighter levels are significant- that is two feats of weapon specialization, plus either some help in feats to meet the Overwhelming Critical pre-requisites or getting combat-relevant epic feats quicker, and even if a 4th attack isn't a big deal, +1 BAB (at least) is significant. The feats you eventually make up somewhat at the back end- but that starts at Bard level 23 (I assume character level 33). If I am playing through the levels, I want the extra combat abilities to come sooner rather than later, and not wait for a character to come together at level 40. If I were playing primarily a warrior type, the Bard/RDD looks like it slows down in the mid-20s of character level, to pick up perhaps at the mid-30s when the build starts coming together. It is perhaps a different calculus if I weren't playing through all the levels. High levels of Bard Song look great for debuffing ability- but I don't know if I would make such a character a melee fighter secondarily (and thus not add in Red Dragon Disciple at all). It would be great to start with a Curse Song, then Taunt choice targets whose Concentration is lowered. In the meantime, a melee-oriented companion takes advantage of low AC and low Discipline to Knockdown and slaughter. When there's no one to Taunt, I'd turn to missile weapons or spells. Or I could rush in to melee, but that +8 Strength that Red Dragon Disciple gives would seem superflous when beating up on cursed, prone, taunted enemies. I take it you mean that as in argument in favor of my position? That mixing in Fighter levels (or something similar) is more appealing if you start at 40? When it comes to combat effectiveness, Bard Song seems to really slow down at 16th level, while the Perform Skill requirements start getting really high...It takes a lot of investment in the Perform Skill (skill points, Charisma increases, skill enhancement feats) and maybe even then a little magical item help. You're forgetting about Lasting Inspiration at level 20-21. And there's no "maybe" about it -- you will need magical item help (and/or an environment that fixed Bard Song). 43 "base" Perform, 46 from base Charisma, 56 from Epic Skill focus...need another 44 total. Could get up to 50 from magical gear, but also have Charisma spells/items, Perform feat, and Skill Focus. Extra spell effectiveness is interesting, but if my concept is primarily a warrior-type, I don't intend to rely on spells for damage. The spells are for utility and defense. Which is what I was describing. Wounding Whispering is 4 extra damage (assuming Bard 26/Fighter 4/RDD 10, potentially more with less Bard levels) each time you get hit and Ice Storm can be used in a pinch for AoE or if going into melee is too dangerous. Secondary benefits, not the primary focus of the character. Extra Bard levels make defensive spells harder to dispel- but once 10 levels of Red Dragon Disciple were added to the character, that made the character vulnerable to enemy dispels. You'll have to explain your statement -- even a level 40 Bard is vulnerable to Mord's Disjunction while Bard 26+ is immune to Greater Dispel and below. Why would you bother getting Overwhelming Critical? It's a terrible feat. Only reason to pick it up is if you're going for Dev Crit...and there's precious few environment that both go into epic levels and *don't* ban Dev Crit. And how many pre-epic feats do you really need anyway? Assume no Fighter levels and you get 7, 8 if Human. What else do you really need? Thrown in Martial (or Exotic) Proficiency with Improved Critical if you really want and Knockdown? If you're Elf (since you'd get Longsword and Rapier for free anyway) or Human you still have another feat to play with. or getting combat-relevant epic feats quicker, and even if a 4th attack isn't a big deal, +1 BAB (at least) is significant. ...and that's pretty much it. A level 40 Fighter starting with 17 Strength can pick up Great Strength VII and wind up with 30 BAB + 18 STR mod + 4 feats = 52 AB without a magic weapon or other bonuses. A 30 Bard/10 RDD starting with 16 Strength (has to get Charisma up) can pick up Great Strength IV and wind up with 25 BAB + 20 STR mod + 4 feats = 49 AB without a magic weapon or other bonuses. And sure, 1 BAB is significant...but gaining 1 AC and 1 AB at Bard 30 is even more significant. Or if you're comparing to 16 Bard/14 Fighter/10 RDD then you're gaining 2 AC and 2 AB from Bard 26 and Bard 30. As opposed to severely diluting the front end? If you want 16 BAB pre-epic then that means you'd have to go something like Bard 12/RDD 4 or Bard 16...so either you're losing out on Bard Song benefits or RDD benefits. Using those levels for Champion of Torm helps with the feats, saving throw bonuses, and Charisma-based abilities like Smite Evil and Divine Wrath. Divine Wrath is, unfortunately, Terrible (with a capital T). Smite Evil with CoT <=14 isn't impressive either. Fighter would just be better for the Heavy Armor proficiency, extra feat overall, and (Epic) Weapon Specialization. You could certainly do something like Bard 20/RDD 10/PM 10 with Bard 16 pre-epic -- just means losing out on 2 AB/2 AC for the entire group in exchange for more personal defensive bonuses. But then we're moving into a slightly different discussion than "What mix of classes/levels makes a Bard/RDD (with the possibility of a third class) the best overall warrior?" Could even bring DD into that discussion if we're talking tanky types (Bard 16/RDD 10/DD 14 or whatever). The reverse, really. It doesn't remotely slow down worst case scenario until level 26, at which point you hit 16 Bard/RDD 10 (and I'd argue for going after Lasting over faster RDD levels, so no slowdown until 30). Even then you'd get Lasting at 30, 1 group AC/AB at 36, and 1 group AC/AB at 40. Meanwhile your hybrid with Fighter is getting RDD delayed and Bard Song benefits delayed in exchange for some mostly irrelevant feats. I mean, let's look at level 30 for example. So you're looking at being 1 AB ahead (and 5 damage from Weapon Specialization)...in exchange for far fewer uses of Bard Song, no Lasting Inspiration, and all RDD benefits gained. I mention that last one because I could adjust my build to be 20 Bard/10 RDD and suddenly I gain 2 AB/2 damage myself (which is 1 AB ahead and 3 damage behind compared to your build...and I'd take 1 AB in a heartbeat)...but I lose Lasting Inspiration for another 3 levels. So the AB of the characters is the same. Your advantage is 7 damage per hit (1 from strength, 6 from Epic Weapon Specialization) while *everyone* in my group (including myself of course) has 2 extra AC (and the other group members also get 2 more AB). Plus I have Lasting Inspiration, immunity to Greater Dispel, massively better Wounding Whispers/Ice Storm/etc, and many more skill points to play with. While you might have a few extra feats to play around with on stuff that doesn't really matter and more HP...but that extra HP is typically irrelevant. And if you only have 16 uses of Bard Song to play around with for both Bard Song and Curse Song, then that's going to run out right quick. Even if you sunk feats into Extra Music and Lingering Song (which then reduces your feat advantage). High levels of Bard Song look great for debuffing ability- but I don't know if I would make such a character a melee fighter secondarily (and thus not add in Red Dragon Disciple at all). I think you're not giving it the credit it deserves. Keep in mind I'm *not* saying your build is bad. It's a fine build and in certain situations it will certainly be better than my build (like if certain feats are particularly useful in a given environment that you can't afford to get in my build). But the reverse is true as well -- my build will outdo yours in many situations as a front line fighter-type. I do not disagree that it is perfectly viable. Taking fighter levels with Bard is just one suggestion of how to build an RDD. Ultimately the exact build that is best will be environment dependent (as always).The main point is that one should play an RDD primarily as a kind of fighter (whether one actually has fighter levels or not) or one is wasting the chief benefits of the class and levels in something else will probably serve you better. However, I do think there are some disadvantages to your build. Getting 4 attacks would not be the only reason to take some fighter levels. Forgetting about that and taking just one level of Fighter would give you three feats: Martial Weapon Proficiency, Heavy Armor Proficiency, plus one bonus feat. Quite a lot for a small investment. That said, it seems your dismissal of 4 attacks is based on the assumption of a reasonably balanced module with mob ACs that have been appropriately proportioned relative to player AB. That is not necessarily what one actually finds in many cases. If you are sweeping through hordes of trash mobs with very low AC more attacks, even low AB ones, will do it faster. At the other extreme if one if fighting a mob with AC so high you can only hit it on a 20, the sheer number of attacks becomes very important. Exactly, absent items providing significant bonuses to Perform, benefits from Bard Song will tend to reach a point of diminishing returns due to Perform requirements that range somewhere between impractically large and impossibly large. ...even a level 40 Bard is vulnerable to Mord's Disjunction while Bard 26+ is immune to Greater Dispel and below. Exactly, so how does having 30 Bard Levels vs 26 help you here? Unless your point was that one will be somewhat less vulnerable to dispels at various points in the process of leveling up? And how many pre-epic feats do you really need anyway? For a start, Martial or Exotic Weapon Proficiency, Heavy Armor Proficiency, Weapon Focus, Improved Critical, Curse Song, Blindfight, Toughness (Bards have low base HP). Possibly Still Spell if you are going around as a heavily armored arcane caster. If Devastating Critical is not disabled then an RDD will probably want to take it, so add Power Attack, Cleave & Great Cleave (and Cleave is useful regardless). If resting restictions are present, possibly Extend Spell and Lingering Song. If there are no resting restrictions some of the advantages of your build (longer base spell durations, more bard song uses, earlier access to Lasting Inspiration) also become unimportant. In an environment with opportunites for XP farming, Craft Wand. Effectively unlimited casting of all sorts of useful spells. Quite a lot of feats to try and fit into a build even with Fighter or COT levels.

2019-04-25T10:43:05Z

http://smf.asmodei.net/index.php?topic=22405.0

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A system and method for provisioning services accessible via a broadband network. The system receives a user selection of one or more services that have been deemed to be available to the user via the network as well as user registration information. The user registration information may include billing information and a user identifier such as a login id or email address. The system then authenticates the identity of the user with an ISP and communicates the user identifier to each provider of each selected service. The registration information and information representative of any selected service is also communicated to a billing engine. In this manner, a user may access each product or service and be billed appropriately for its usage. This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/335,364 filed on Oct. 31, 2001 and entitled “System and Method For Provisioning Network Services” which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. This invention relates generally to networking technologies and, more particularly, relates to a system and method for providing access to network services. High bandwidth access to the Internet is presently obtainable via digital subscriber line (“DSL”) networks offered by local exchange carriers (“LECs”) and hybrid fiber coax (“HFC”) networks offered by major cable companies. While high bandwidth access is becoming more ubiquitous, customer demand for high bandwidth access still lags behind the demand for access provided by dial-up Internet service providers (“ISPs”). This lack of demand may be caused by the fact that the aforementioned high bandwidth access providers typically do not offer customers the same suite of services (e.g., email, web hosting and, most importantly, technical support to facilitate connectivity to the network) as do dial-up ISPs. In an attempt to increase the demand for high bandwidth Internet access, DSL providers have partnered with ISPs whereby ISPs provide customers access to their suite of services. Current implementations are both DSL provider and ISP provider specific. However, the operational costs of maintaining the geometric growth in interfaces required to support this partnership threatens their long-term economic viability. Meanwhile, the cable HFC network has remained somewhat more closed to the idea of teaming with ISPs. This is due to lack of infrastructure in the case of smaller franchises and the lack of competitive offerings in the case of AT&T and Time Warner (@Home and AOL respectively). Nonetheless, as the operators of these HFC networks begin the process of opening their networks to ISPs the same issues and problems will arise as are presently found in the presently implemented DSL/ISP partnerships. An additional concern for ISPs with respect to these partnerships is the negative profit margin they realize. In this regard, the high operational costs combined with the high prices of broadband network access charged by the network providers assure that simply offering email, technical support, etc. will not suffice as a long term business model for ISPs. To survive, ISPs must generate high margin, sustainable revenue in the form of additional services and products offered to high bandwidth customers. Examples of these types of additional services would be music downloads, network disk storage, file backup services, etc. However, creating order entry, provisioning and rating capabilities across a large number of service providers using existing technologies would add another layer of operational complexity and increases the time to market for offering these types of new services. These costs can become so high as to prohibit ISPs from realizing this type of revenue. Small service providers would also have a much higher cost of entry into this market due to the number of disparate interfaces that need to be created to reach all their potential customers. In an attempt to solve some of these problems, CableLab's B2B effort is proposing to develop standards for the creation of the necessary network interfaces. Furthermore, various venders in the enterprise application integration (“EAI”) and network spaces offer partial solutions using their software products to try and achieve a pseudo-standard interface to each provider/partner. These solutions, however, focus only on user qualification, order entry and basic provisioning. Complex product catalogs and usage rating are not being considered. Accordingly, presently contemplated solutions will not remove the operational complexity that results from a system having interconnects and monthly reconciliations with many partners. Still further, as broadband networks become more complex and grow in size, the issue of IP address space will becomes a critical concern. New IP address space is becoming more and more scarce and, therefore, more valuable. While proposed industry solutions to this problem vary, most suggest creating a clear delineation of IP space between DSL/HFC networks and ISP assets. While this solution may provide a short term solution to the problem, as the Open Access model grows IP address space will again become a scarce commodity. To address these and other deficiencies, a system and method for providing access to network services is provided. Generally, an open access broker system receives a user selection of one or more services/products that have been deemed to be available to a customer via the network as well as customer registration information. The customer registration information may include billing information and a customer identifier such as a login id or email address. The open access broker system then authenticates the identity of the customer with an ISP and communicates the customer identifier to each provider of each selected service/product. The registration information and information representative of any selected service/product or service is also communicated to a billing engine. In this manner, a customer may access each product or service and be billed appropriately for its usage. Allowing BSPs, NPs, and ISPs to manage one API connection yet conduct business with all members of the consortium. Tracking of user identity across systems. Extending serviceability across all “users” of the open access broker. Bringing IP management and IP space allocation calculus into the provisioning process. FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary provisioning manager architecture. Turning now to the figures, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements, there is illustrated exemplary systems and methods for providing access to network services. Generally, the described systems and methods reside in broadband network which includes one or more network partners, such as Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”) 10, Broadband Content Providers (“BCPs”)/Broadband Service Providers (“BSPs”) 12, and Network Providers (“NPs”) 14, which exchange messages with an Open Access Broker 16. As will be described in greater detail below, the Open Access Broker 16 cooperates with the other network partners to perform various tasks including those tasks associated with qualifying customers, registering customers, provisioning services, allocating IP addresses, and rating usage. As will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, the network partners and the Open Access Broker 16 generally reside on one or more general purpose computing devices which operate under the control of computer executable instructions. The general purpose computing device need not be limited to computers and servers but may include hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable customer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. Furthermore, the computer executable instructions may include routines, programs, objects, components, and/or data structures that perform particular tasks. Within the network, the computer executable instructions may reside on a single general purpose computing device or the tasks performed by the computer executable instructions may be distributed among a plurality of the general purpose computing devices. For performing the tasks in accordance with the computer executable instructions, the general purpose computing devices preferably include one or more of a video adapter, a processing unit, a system memory, and a system bus that couples the video adapter and the system memory to the processing unit. The video adapter allows the computing devices to support a display, such as a cathode ray tube (“CRT”), a liquid crystal display (“LCD”), a flat screen monitor, a touch screen monitor or similar means for displaying textual and graphical data to a user. The display allows a user to view, enter, and/or edit information that is relevant to the operation of the system. The system memory in the general purpose computing devices may include read only memory (“ROM”) and/or random access memory (“RAM”). The general purpose computing devices may also include a hard disk drive for reading from and writing to a hard disk, a magnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to a magnetic disk, and/or an optical disk drive for reading from and writing to a removable optical disk. The hard disk drive, magnetic disk drive, and optical disk drive may be connected to the system bus by a hard disk drive interface, a magnetic disk drive interface, and an optical disk drive interface, respectively. The drives and their associated computer-readable media provide non-volatile storage of computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules and other data for the general purpose computing devices. To allow communications between the general purpose computing devices, the general purpose computing devices preferably include a network interface or adapter. While the preferred embodiment contemplates that communications will be exchanged primarily via a broadband network, other means of exchanging communications are also contemplated. For example, a wireless access interface that receives and processes information exchanged via a wireless communications medium, such as, cellular communication technology, satellite communication technology, blue tooth technology, WAP technology, or similar means of wireless communication can be utilized by the general purpose computing devices. To provide network security, the general purpose computing devices may also utilize security techniques that have become customary when conducting electronic business. These security techniques include, but are not limited to, firewalls, encryption, authentication certificates, directory-based user registration and security management, etc. Because the capabilities and best practices of network security are constantly evolving and improving, this document does not espouse the use of any particular technique, technology or product. Rather, it simply specifies that the network architecture should support the use of security practices necessary to protect the business interests of the participants and to insure the overall integrity and confidentiality of information within the system. For exchanging information between the partners within the network any networking protocol can be utilized. For example, it is contemplated that communications can be performed using TCP/IP. Generally, HTTP and HTTPS are utilized on top of TCP/IP as the message transport envelope. These two protocols are able to deal with firewall technology better than other message management techniques. However, partners may choose to use a message-queuing system instead of HTTP and HTTPS if greater communications reliability is needed. An example of a message queuing system is IBM's MQ-Series or the Microsoft message queue (MSMQ). The system described hereinafter is suited for both HTTP/HTTPS, message-queuing systems, and other communications transport protocol technologies. Furthermore, depending on the differing business and technical requirements of the various partners within the network, the physical network may embrace and utilize multiple communication protocol technologies. To qualify customers to determine if access to the network and network services/products are available to the customers, the open access broker 16 is adapted to respond to qualification query messages. By way of example, the qualification query message can originate from an ISP's Web system, as illustrated in FIG. 2, from client software executing on a computer of a customer, as illustrated in FIG. 3, from a computer operated by a CSR, as illustrated in FIG. 4, or the like. In the instance where the qualification process is performed using an ISP's Web system, the customer uses a Web browser resident on a computer 18 to access (102) an ISP's Web site 20 and uses information on the ISP's Web site 20 to navigate to a page that allows them to determine if broadband access is available in their area. The ISP's order entry system utilizes an XML API to query (200) a Qualification Module 22 using information entered by the customer such as, by way of example only, name, home address, current phone #, etc. When the qualification process is initiated using client software, which may be provided by a Network provider or ISP, a customer will install the client software package on a computer 18 and be prompted, via an advertising/marketing message or the like, to upgrade to broadband access. The prompting may bring up an initial qualification screen on the computer 18 and the customer may then provide information which will be used during the qualification process. The client software package may also scan the PC to gather information such as the physical attributes of the machine for use during the qualification process. These attributes could include processor speed, availability of a wired or wireless network interface and other relevant data. The software package then makes a connection (103) to the provider's order entry system 24 using the provider's protocol. The provider's order entry system 24 utilizes the XML API to query (200) the Qualification Module 22 with the information. When the qualification process is initiated using the services of a CSR, the customer calls the provider call center and speaks to a CSR. The CSR then uses their internal order entry system 26 to take basic information from the customer (104). The CSR system may then utilize the XML API to query (200) the Qualification Module 22 with information supplied by the customer. In response to a qualification query, received via the XML API, the Qualification Module 22 determines if a physical location or address is capable of receiving broadband access, services and/or products. To this end, the Qualification Module 22 may use a standard address rationalization or “scrubbing” package to format the specified address of the potential customer (which may have been included as information in the qualification query message) to a standard used by the United States Postal Service. Thereafter, the formatted address is processed according the type of access/services/products for which qualification is being sought. The factors used to make the qualification decision are typically different for each type of broadband service. For data services over an HFC Network, each location capable of connecting to this network may be stored in a database 28, in this case a “Homes Passed” database. The database 28 is populated and maintained by a Network Provider 12 and should be considered to be very accurate. To determine if a location is serviceable, the database 28 is queried by the Qualification Module 22. If the specified location is found within the database 28, service is determined to be available. Often the database 28 will contain information relating the bandwidth available on the sub-network connected to the specified location. This information can also be returned to the Qualification Module 22 for use in subsequent queries directed to the Product Catalog 30. In the case of DSL services, the location to be serviced must be within a fixed distance from the Central Office (“CO”) where DSL and standard telephony switching equipment is located. This distance will vary by the type of DSL being offered and the technologies employed for delivery. The calculation of this distance is normally based on an algorithm supplied by the Network Provider 14. Determining the CO that services a specified location can be performed by querying a Network Provider 14 database 28 using a Network Provider specific query methodology (as this could vary across providers). Once the CO is determined, the distance between the CO and the specified location is calculated using the provider supplied algorithm and, if the specified location is within the maximum allowed distance, the specified location is determined to be qualified. Given that the exact distance between the CO and the specified location can vary depending on network topology and quality of transmission lines and other gear, a positive qualification answer is not 100% dependable and should be confirmed with a physical visit to the site. The determination of the CO will also influence the types of DSL offered in terms of bandwidth and IP address availability. This information can also be returned to the Qualification Module 22 for use in a subsequent queries directed to the Product Catalog 30. For satellite or fixed wireless services, qualification can depend on the distance from a central transmission node to a specified location, intervening geography and orientation of any structure used to mount an antenna. For most satellite-based services the antenna must have a clear site line in a roughly southern direction that corresponds to the location of a satellite in geosynchronus orbit. If this exists, then the location would qualify for services in most cases. Since the potential customer could be prompted to answer basic questions to determine if the factors listed above actually exist, the Qualification Module 22 may not be necessary in this case. For fixed wireless service, qualification requires the antenna to be within a certain distance from the transmission node without large intervening buildings or hills/mountains in the line of site. For use in this qualification determination, the fixed wireless network provider would supply the Qualification Module 22 data, either at the zipcode+4 level, or a larger “Homes Passed” database, to be used to determine if the specified location meets the distance requirement. With respect to the reliability of this determination, the final qualification would normally be made during the installation process. Information pertaining to the transmission and network gear may also be returned to the Qualification Module 22 for use in a subsequent queries directed to the Product Catalog 30 as it may impact upon the products/services that can be offered. It should be appreciated these the above described factors are but examples of the considerations that may be taken into account during the qualification process and are not intended to be limiting. Other factors may also be considered. For example, while the customer may qualify for access to a Network Provider's network based upon the specified location, it is possible that the provider may not have the necessary capacity from a switch, router, head end, or IP address stand point to offer the service. Given the scarcity of resources, it is also possible that that a provider may prioritize access to the network whereby the resources are limited to certain high end plans for large customers, businesses, etc. which the potential customer must be to qualify. These factors, and still others, may be considered by the Qualification Module 22 during the qualifying process. If it is determined that the potential customer is not qualified for services, the negative determination is relayed to the requesting entity/customer. Typically, this would information would be relayed to the customer via the ISP Web site 20, provider OES 24, or CSR 26 (as appropriate) which would be would have been informed of the negative determination in a message transmitted (700) by the Qualification Module 22. In cases where a determination is made that an access offering is not available due to resource constraints, this fact can be flagged when the appropriate entity is informed of the results of the qualification query. Accordingly, the access offering may still be listed in the reply message that is returned to the inquiring entity but would flagged as being unavailable due to resource constraints. The requesting entity can process this information differently, depending on their own internal policies. For example, an ISP may maintain their own waiting list of customers interested in DSL service and could periodically check the availability of DSL access on behalf of potential customers should the constraints which caused access to be denied be removed. If, however, it is determined that the potential customer is qualified for one or more types of access to the Network, a query (300) is made to the Product Catalog Server 30 to retrieve (400) a list of offerings available, if any, at the specified location for the class of customer. The offerings include types of access, products, services, or combinations thereof, without limitation (collectively referred to as “services”). If any offerings are available, a list of such offerings may be returned (700) with a positive reply to the qualification inquiry. The potential customer may then view the available offerings for possible purchase as will be described hereinafter. Plans can be constructed using the services of one provider or across providers. For example, an ISP 10 may offer the “High Speed Cable Gold” Plan which consists of cable HFC network access for up to 3 PCs with a 30 Gigabit bandwidth quota per month, 3 email addresses, 20 free music downloads per month, and 30 MB of online backup. The network access is provided by Network Provider A, the email by the ISP, the music downloads by BSP B, and the online backup by BSP D. Furthermore, plans can delineate rating guidelines as appropriate for each service offered within the plan. Using the same example list, the bandwidth quota is 30 GBs of network usage per month. Once this level is exceeded a variety of actions could be taken. The user could be charged for each MB or GB of excess usage and the Network Provider may bill another provider for this usage (the ISP in this example), the user's access could be terminated, etc. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the rating guidelines used can be varied by product type and as deemed appropriate by the network partners. Further components of a plan can be a pricing model and financial settlement rules for that plan. Typically, each plan has a unit or recurring charge to the end customer. How the revenue from the customer's purchase is divided among the various providers and how usage is allocated across these providers would therefore be determined by settlement rules outlined in the Plan definition. For each given network access service that is physically available to the customer at their specified location there may be many possible offerings or plans listed in the Product Catalog 30. The final determination as to which of these offerings or plans are ultimately made available for selection by the end customer can be based on a number of factors. These factors can be listed as part of an offering definition in the Product Catalog 30. For example, some offerings/plans may have their availability limited to only those customers that have entered a promotional code during the qualification process. Other offerings/plans may be segmented by geographic region or by the number of computers a customer wishes to connect to the network. Preferably, the owner of the offering/plan creates the final business rules that surround it as well as the settlement rules involved. It should be noted that multi-vendor plans would be based on previously negotiated contractual agreements between the providers. How these arrangements are determined is outside the scope of this document. Once a customer has been provided with the offering options that are available, the customer may request to become a registered user of one or more of the services. In the case where registration is performed via the ISP Web site, illustrated in FIG. 5, the customer again navigates the ISP's Web site to select the offering(s) of interest. In this process, the customer may be asked to provide any necessary billing and contact information. Typically, this step would involve queries of the Product Catalog 30 as the necessary billing and contact information is preferably maintained within the Product Catalog 30 in the form of credit and business rules of the provider(s) offering the service(s). In connection with the registration process, a customer may also be offered the opportunity to chose a login id/email username. If the customer proposes a login id/email username, the proposed login id/email username will be checked against entries in the ISP's authentication/name database 32 until an unused login id/email name is proposed. The exact composition of the database 32 would be under the control of the ISP, but at a minimum it will contain a username/password pair for network login and any other services such as email offered by the ISP. Once a unique login id/email username choice is selected for/by the customer, the information collected would be forwarded (205) to the ISP's internal systems and then to the Open Access Broker 16 using XML APIs provided. When the initial access by the customer to the network is by means of client software, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the client software will parse the reply message returned by the Qualification Module 22 and will display the options available to the customer. The client software will then prompt the customer to make selections. The client software would also prompt the customer for any necessary billing and contact information required by the Provider of any selected offerings which requirements would be retrieved from the Product Catalog 30. Again, the customer may be given the additional opportunity to choose a login id/email username. To verify the availability of any selected login id/email username, the client software can use the ISP's internal methodologies to compare the choices of the customer against the ISP's authentication/name database 32. Once a unique login id/email username choice is selected for/by the customer, the information collected would be forwarded (205) to the ISP's internal systems and then to the Open Access Broker 16 using XML APIs provided. When the initial access by the customer to the network is by means of an ISP CSR, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the CSR will relay the options available to the customer as indicated by the Qualification Module 22 and will prompt the customer to make any desired selections. The CSR would also gather any necessary billing and contact information required by the Provider of any selected offerings which requirements would be retrieved from the Product Catalog 30. Again, the customer may be given the additional opportunity to choose a login id/email username. The CSR would use their order entry system 26 to verify the availability of any selected login id/email username against the ISP's authentication/name database 32. Once a unique login id/email username choice is selected for/by the customer, the information collected would be forwarded (205) to the ISP's internal systems and then to the Open Access Broker 16 using XML APIs provided. When the initial access by the customer to the network is by means of a Network Provide CSR, as illustrated in FIG. 8, the CSR will relay the options available to the customer as indicated by the Qualification Module 22 and will prompt the customer to make any desired selections. The CSR would also gather any necessary billing and contact information required by the Provider of any selected offerings which requirements would be retrieved from the Product Catalog 30. Again, the customer may be given the additional opportunity to choose a login id/email username. The CSR would use their order entry system 36 to communicate with the ISP's authentication system/database 32 via the Open Access Broker 16 to verify the availability of any selected login id/email username. Optionally, the Network Provider can create and assign a unique id to the customer that is valid or required for the network systems. In this case, the customer would still chose an email username that will be used as the unique ID across the Open Access system. Once a unique login id/email username choice is selected for/by the customer, the information collected would be forwarded (205) to the Open Access Broker 16 using XML APIs provided. Upon receiving the registration information, i.e., login id/email username, billing and contact information, etc., a User Id and Configuration Server 39 within the Open Access Broker 16 is used to track configuration data for each service purchased by the customer. This data will vary depending on the service type, but can include such things as IP subnet allocations, network connection points, and email servers for mail accounts. One particular piece of data that is preferably tracked is the MAC address of the customers network gear, whether that is a DSL modem, cable modem, or the wireless termination point. MAC addresses are unique Ethernet network addresses assigned to every node on a network, including routers, DSL/Cable modems and PCs. Since most networks assign IP addresses on a temporary basis it is not always possible to determine the identity of a customer by IP address. However, MAC addresses can be tracked by network monitoring software to track each packet of information sent by a customer for the purpose of calculating usage and tracking network abuse. Additionally, the User Id and Configuration Server 39 can directly enter (305) the username choice in an Identity/Service database 40 since it is already checked against the ISP's master authentication database. The Identity/Service database 40 is used to store customer authentication information across all providers for the purpose of tracking usage events and rating these events. Since it is possible for a user to have a different username or login at each Provider, the Identity/Service database 40 allows for the tracking of these relationships so that usage of the services of a Provider can be rated and the appropriate financial settlements calculated. The Identity/Service database 40 should communicate with each Provider's authentication/identity systems to assure that all data is synchronized across providers since each provider has other sources for this data. One positive consequence of the Identity/Service database 40 is that customers who do not yet have an identity with a service provider, or are willing to change identities, can request that the system automatically provision the username across all the selected providers [see the registration process above] giving them one username to use across providers. Within the Identity/Server database 40, two major types of data are stored for each customer. The first type of data maintained for the customer is a collection of data elements that represent the user's login id/username data for each offering of each Provider purchased by the customer. This information can be referenced by an integer key that is unique across the entire customer base and which preferably remains constant during the entire existence of the customer within the database 40. It will be appreciated that this key is not used by the customer to access services of a Provider. The second type of data maintained for the customer is a customer facing key. The customer facing key is a unique username@domain combination that is also the primary email address for the customer [the key is unique due to the design of the original Internet domain and email naming standards]. By storing 2 unique keys for each customer it is possible for the system to reconcile changes in the customer's email address by simply changing this entry alone, leaving the integer ID and all other entries unchanged. Also, when customers authenticate against a provider's self-care systems they are asked for authentication information in the form of a unique username@domain string. The provider's systems can thus use the customer facing key when communicating with the Open Access Broker 16. Since the customer facing key will become the unique identifier for the customer across all vendors and services, the customer facing key is preferably registered with the Providers if possible. To this end, the User ID and Configuration Server 39 will refer to the Product Catalog 30 to determine the vendors and specific services that need a user identifier. (If a user identifier is not need, usage could tracked using MAC address<->Unique ID relationships). Then, using XML APIs or interfaces provided by the Network Provider 12, the Open Access Broker 16 communicates (405) with the Network Provider's systems to create the necessary authentication entries. Using the XML API's, the identity information will also be forwarded (405) to the Service Providers listed in the plan. If an identity currently exists on the service providers system an error condition should not be created. Rather, the service provider should be notified that this user is now being rated as part of an overall Open Access plan. If the identity does not exist, it will be created. The registration information is also forwarded (505) by the User Id and Configuration Server 39 to a Core Billing and Financial Engine 44 and a Provisioning Manager 48. The Core Billing and Financial Engine 44 uses the information to create a record for a customer within a related database 45. If the customer currently has a service provided by the network provider, their record will be updated to reflect the new services purchased. As will be described hereinafter, the Core Billing and Financial Engine 44 is utilized in connection with the rating and usage billing process. The Provisioning Manager 48 is responsible for the physical provisioning of services purchased via the Open Access Broker 16. The Provisioning Manager 48 may also be used to track the status of each of the steps within the provisioning process. For each type of purchasable service different steps may be taken in the provisioning process and different messaging interfaces may be used to add, change, and delete customer information within the systems (705). In order to meet this diverse set of requirements, the Provisioning Manager 48 is designed with a central core module surrounded by any number of adapter modules coded to work with specific device interfaces. An exemplary architecture is illustrated in FIG. 11. The Workflow Manager 50 receives a request to provision a service for a customer. Within the provision request will be a list of discrete providers and purchased services associated with these providers. Where appropriate, configuration parameters can also be included for relevant service such as an email mailbox size quota, bandwidth rate for network access, etc. Iterating over this list, the Workflow Manager 50 creates a service order 56 for each item that is being provisioned. The workflow procedures used to create a service order reside in the Business Logic Layer 52. The Workflow Manager 50 also queries the Provisioning Rules Database 54 to retrieve a list of specific systems that must be configured, the appropriate adapters 58 to call to accomplish this task, and the exact data needed by each adapter 58. After a service order 56 is created it is forwarded to the appropriate adapter 58, which is then responsible for interfacing with the specific device or system at the designated provider. The adapter 58 then transmits the service order information to the designated provider which uses the information contained within the service order to accordingly provision the service(s) for the customer. If the adapter 58 receives an error message indicating that the system of the designated provider was not able to process the service order information, the error message is returned to the Workflow Manager 50 for processing. The Workflow Manager 50 preferably uses procedures defined by the provider of the relevant service to handle error processing. If provisioning errors are fatal (causing the service to not be provisioned), this information is preferably passed back through the Open Access Broker 16 to the entity that initially requested provisioning and, ultimately, to the customer. It will be understood that change orders and cancellations can be handled in the same fashion, with the Workflow Manager 50 breaking down the steps according to predefined procedures and working with the appropriate adapters 58 to facilitate the process. For example, in the case that a customer wishes to change a username, either for email or for login, the Workflow Manager 50 interacts with the User Id and Configuration Server 39 to track and verify the changes required across all systems. The Provisioning Manager 48 may further cooperate with the Product catalog 30 and an IP Address Rules Server 60 to determine the proper IP subnet(s) for the service(s), plan selected. If multiple subnets are determined to be available, the Network Provider's 14 allocation mechanism is responsible for handling the selection of the appropriate subnet during the DHCP lease request process. In connection with the allocation, the Provisioning Manager 48 should be directed to refer to the Product Catalog 30 for the list of discrete services that need to be configured to complete the customer's registration process. The Provisioning Manager 48 can then institute the necessary provisioning actions at a provider/device level and complete the necessary steps to provision the user within the ISP's and Network provider's networks in the manner discussed previously. For example, if providers require custom software installs, this is noted and returned to the ISP website as a complete list to be executed by the ISP's systems. The completed list of providers and all identity/download information is returned as an XML message to the ISP systems to be processed by the ISP. The ISP handles the presentation of this information. The IP Address Rules Server 60 is responsible for the assignment of a discrete IP Address, or address range, at a network access point level for each access device managed by the Open Access Broker 16 provisioning system. Each customer system connects to the larger network through a network device, which could be, but is not limited to, a cable modem, DSL router, or a wireless router. These devices can be provisioned with a permanent static IP address or an IP address assigned for a temporary leased basis using DHCP or other IP address assignment technologies. The IP address may be assigned from a pool of addresses managed and owned by a Network Provider 14, or a pool managed and owned by an ISP 10 depending on the legal agreements in place between providers and ISPs. As more and more devices are connected to the world wide IP network, the finite address space will be consumed. Efforts are underway to expand the pool of available addresses using technologies such as “Ipv6,” but these are not fully developed and supported by mainstream network equipment vendors. Adding to the problem is the enormous capital expenditure that will be required to bring all the network equipment and customer level equipment to this new standard. Accordingly, it is reasonable to assume that IP address space will continue to be a more scarce resource and, as such, will begin to be treated as an independent economic resource much the same way as bandwidth and access are now. Current methodologies for handling address allocation are based on a temporary leased address model where for each X number of available addresses in Pool Y there are m*X number of end customer devices eligible to receive an address from the Pool Y. Over time, network operators have developed their own algorithms for calculating the appropriate multiplier “m” that results in each customer being allocated an address while minimizing the number of pools that a provider must maintain. As a pool of addresses is over allocated a provider must then apply for additional pools of addresses from the appropriate Regional Internet Registries depending on their geographical location. In the United States, for example, the appropriate Registry is “ARIN.” The registries are non-profit organizations funded by industry participants tasked with maintaining a balanced usage of IP address space. In order to receive a new pool of addresses a provider must show a defined need for the pool and have shown proper diligence in terms of managing it's current resources. As the available pools become scarcer it will become more difficult to receive a new allocation and, as such, it will become cost effective to buy under allocated pools from other providers. As network providers begin to offer access to ISPs the problem becomes moderately more complex. Current arrangements have distinct delineations in place. In some systems the IP address pool used at the customer end is allocated from the ISP's pool while it is allocated at other times from the Network Provider pool depending on the contractual agreement. These rules apply across the entire network and all access points. This type of blanket arrangement will not work in the long run as some network subnets become more crowded than others and some pools are exhausted before others. Therefore, the allocation of IP addresses to customer network devices will become more complex from a business rules standpoint. Also, any system managing the allocation of addresses must now take into account the financial aspects of each allocation transaction, and begin to track the assignment and usage of addresses across providers from a financial reconciliation standpoint. To overcome these deficiencies, during the initial customer registration and provisioning process, the IP Address Rule Server 60 is responsible for determining if current IP resources exist at a given physical location and network connection point. This determination is performed in conjunction with an IP Address database which contains this detailed network topology and IP address subnet allocation data. The data may be supplied by Network Providers 14 during the initial configuration of the system and should be modified as network topologies are changed and assets added to the system. This data entry can be accomplished either via the published XML API or via the GUI tools provided as part of the Open Access Broker 16 tool set. By way of example only, FIG. 12 illustrates a process for flexibly allocating IP addresses to other providers and ISPs for a short time frame [much the same way that energy is managed on the electric grid] within the constraints of the network topology. In the illustrated example, it is assumed that an ISP 10 is responsible for allocating the IP addresses for their customers who have purchases a product “A” in which a Network Provider 14 provides the network access component of Product “A.” Due to a major national news event a larger than normal number of users are attempting to access the network (112) and view online news reports. During this temporary spike in usage ISP 10 has run out of available IP addresses. Once the DHCP server 62 that is responsible for allocating those addresses detects the condition, it uses an XML API to make a request to the Open Access Broker 16 for more IP addresses blocks (212). The request message contains a parameter outlining the number of addresses needed, as well as a flag indicating whether the ISP will accept a 3rd parties IP allocation, and the maximum it will pay for this allocation. The IP Address Rules Server 60 takes this request message and processes it by retrieving (312) the business rules outlined previously by the Network Provider 14 to the Business Logic Module 52 as well as the IP Allocation Database 64. If a policy exists that allows the ISP 10 to lease addresses temporarily and there are available IP addresses to lease, a positive response is sent (412) back to the ISP's DHCP system 62 with a parameter outlining the subnet that has been allocated, and another parameter outlining the amount of time that these IP addresses can be leased for. At the same time the IP Address Rules Server 60 sends an IP Over-Allocation Rating Event to a rating engine delineating the details of the transaction and the providers involved. This event is processed as any other rating event and the financial charges allocated appropriately during the billing cycle. If addresses are not available for allocation from a given Network Provider 14, and the ISP has set a 3rd party flag to “Yes,” the IP Address Rules Server 60 will then check against the IP Address Database 64 to determine if it is possible to allocate another subnet from a different Network Provider 14 and what the cost of this allocation would be. An additional factor can be involved in making this decision as it may not be possible to route traffic from ISP using a different Network Provider 14. The IP Address Rules Server 60 will attempt to find a subnet to allocate given the network topology and financial constraints set by the ISP 10 in the initial request. If it is possible, a response will be sent to the ISP's DHCP system 62. If the ISP has set the 3rd party flag to “NO,” a message should be sent from the IP Address Rules Server 60 to a predestinated email address or wireless paging service to alert the ISP's personnel to the pending problem and direct them to a manual system. To allow ISPs and Network Providers to interface their systems to the IP Address Rules Server 60 an API may be provided. In this manner, operators at each site may inquire into the current state of the system, identify potential problems, etc., using this interface and manually request additional addresses before resource constraints trigger automatic events. Using this interface it will be possible for participants to make bids for address allocation and to accept bids. This allows for overrides to the automatic policy limits set in advance to allow for ISPs and network providers to make appropriate business decisions given a larger set of parameters. For rating purchases and usage of services, customers purchasing a service from a BSP 12 trigger a rating event that is sent (109) by the BSP 12 to a Rating Engine 66 of the Open Access Broker 16 as illustrated in FIG. 9. The message indicative of the rating event preferably contains the user's identity, the amount purchased, and the service purchased by pre-determined category. The Rating Engine 66 will query (209) the User ID and Configuration Server 39 to determine the master unique id that is associated with this customer. The Rating Engine 66 will then query (309) the Product Catalog 30 for rating guidelines that apply for the service purchased by the customer. After rating the event, the information is passed (409) to a Financial/Billing Engine 44 for further processing. The information may also be passed to the Network Provider and/or the ISP's billing system for the purposes of later reconciliation (509). When rating network usage, users purchasing a service from a BSP 12 trigger a rating event that is sent (110) by the BSP 12 to the Rating Engine 66 of the Open Access Broker 16. The rating event message may be created in the BSP's Network Mediation System 70 which receives access information from the Network Gear 72. The message indicative of the rating event preferably contains the user's identity, the amount purchased, and the access purchased by pre-determined category. The Rating Engine 66 will query (210) the User ID and Configuration Server 39 to determine the master unique id that is associated with this customer. The Rating Engine 66 will then query (310) the Product Catalog 30 for rating guidelines that apply for the plan selected by the user. A query (510) is made against the IP Address Rules Server 60 to determine if there are any further guidelines that apply to the IP address passed as part of this event. After rating the event, the information is passed (610) to a Financial/Billing Engine 44 for further processing. The information may also be passed to the Network Provider and/or the ISP's billing system for the purposes of later reconciliation (710). Upon receipt of rating information, the Financial/Billing Engine 44 tracks the financial relationships between customers, their chosen services, and the respective providers. In a simple model with one provider and multiple end customers the billing process is very straightforward. A customer purchases a service and incurs a monthly charge and potentially an initial setup charge for installation and equipment. Customers are assigned account numbers and are segregated by provider and, in some cases, by physical locations in order to calculate franchise fees and taxes. Once per month the rating information received for a customer is combined with a monthly rate and a detailed bill is generated. The customer is either sent a detailed statement or their credit card is billed directly depending on the plan and billing methodologies available and offered. The accounts receivables for the providers are therefore directly related to the customers. The Financial/Billing Engine 44 may also be used to track collections and delinquencies. How this is handled is a business policy issue determined by the providers. Some of the actions that could be taken include multiple dunning notices, disconnections of service and accumulations of late charges. In a new multi-provider environment the process is not as direct. The services offered create a need to track multiple accounts receivable across providers at a customer detail level as well as at a provider-to-provider level. In a simple example, a customer purchases a basic Internet Access package from ISP A, at a monthly rate of $50 per month for the first 100 GB of total bandwidth used for the month and a $1 per GB charge for additional traffic, with 10 free content downloads per month and $1.00 per download above that amount. The core access service is provided by Cable provider B, the downloads by Provider C, and the ISP services such as email and website hosting by ISP C. The contractual terms agreed upon by all three providers break down the receivables as illustrated in example Table 1 below. If, in month one, the customer uses a total of 120 GB of bandwidth and downloads content 15 times the total charge to the customer is $75.00, which is collected in this instance by Provider A. Provider A then has an account receivable with the customer for $75.00 but must also recognize the Account Payable they have with Providers B and C, in the amounts of $53.75 and $4.5 respectively. The Billing/Financial Engine 44, in cooperation with the Product Catalog 30 determines the contractual rules and rates for each service. The bill for each customer may then be calculated as it was in the first example. The Billing/Financial Engine 44, however, performs the additional steps of calculating the total amount owed to provider B and Provider C for each customer, calculating a grand total, and generating an invoice for provider B and C. Still further, the Billing/Financial Engine 44 can be used to calculate the appropriate franchise fees and taxes for the totals apportioned to the network provider(s) or the network provider(s) can use their internal systems to complete this aspect of the billing cycle if they do not use the full Open Access Broker 16 billing engine 44. In the example above the franchise fees and taxes would be calculated for the basic access portion of $37.50 and, if applicable, against the $16.25 charged for bandwidth usage. Access to the Billing/Financial Engine 44 can be by a standard XML API and GUI tools which enable integration of account management functionality with providers current systems. Using the API/tools a provider can change important customer level information such as credit card numbers, phone numbers, monitor collections and issues credits for service related problems. These same API/tools can be used by a provider to view a detailed invoice at the end customer level in order to reconcile invoices for services issued by the billing engine. a provisioning subsystem responsible for provisioning and de-provisioning offerings with the providers, the provisioning subsystem using information in the product catalog to create a series of provisioning events that are relayed to the providers which allow the provider to register a purchase of an offering by the end customer with the provider, track customer usage of the offerings, and, in response to the usage, create usage events for processing by the rating engine. 2. The system as recited in claim 1, comprising a standardized interface to allow providers to develop connections to the product catalog and to transact with other providers. 3. The system as recited in claim 1, comprising an IP address rules server tracking the assignment of IP address subnets across the offerings to thereby provide customer access to the offerings.

2019-04-20T21:19:50Z

https://patents.google.com/patent/US7917394B2/en

German merchant raiders were even more active in the Indian Ocean than they were in the Pacific. The first Kriegsmarine surface vessels to reach the Indian Ocean was the pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee, which made a brief foray into the Indian Ocean at the end of October 1939. The Graf Spee made a short detour during her cruise in the South Atlantic, intending to confuse the British as to her plans. She had little success at this stage of her career, finding and sinking the tanker Africa Shell, but finding little else worthy of her 11-inch main guns. After spending two weeks in the Indian Ocean she returned to the Atlantic, where she eventually met her fate after the Battle of the River Plate. The first of the disguised merchant raiders to reach the Indian Ocean was the Atlantis, under Kapitän zur See Bernhard Rogge. Known as “Schiff 16” to the Germans and “Raider-C” to the British, she was armed with the usual array of 6-inch guns, torpedoes and mines. She also carried two Heinkel He114A-2 floatplanes which were flown by pilot Oberleutnant Richard Bulla, who was assisted by observer Oberfeldwebel Georg Borchert. Atlantis had entered the Atlantic by passing north of Iceland, then south through the Denmark Strait. At first she bore the disguise of the Soviet ship Kim, an auxiliary, including having her He114 painted with Soviet markings. Later on the voyage south she changed her disguise to appear as a Japanese ship, the Kasii Maru. Whilst on her way to the Indian Ocean she came across and sank the British cargo ship Scientist. Atlantis passed the Cape of Good Hope on 10th May 1940. As she passed the most southern point of the African continent, she laid minefield off Cape Agulhas. The presence of a raider laying mines was bizarrely reported by propaganda radio from Berlin, so she changed her disguise for a third time to match the silhouette and marking of the Dutch motorship Abbekerk. On the 30th of May the first of Atlantis’s He114 aircraft was lost, leaving her with just a single machine for flight operations. On the 10th of June Atlantis pursued, fired upon and stopped the Norwegian motorship Tirranna. This vessel was kept as a prize but lacked the fuel to make the journey to France, so she was sent south to wait for a tanker to arrive and replenish her. It was a long wait, as it was not until a month later that the Atlantis came across British freighter City of Baghdad, destroyed her radio equipment with a well-aimed salvo of 6-inch gunfire and sent a boarding party. Among the papers captured before the ship was scuttled were a description of the Atlantis’ former Japanese disguise and a British and Allied Merchants Ship (BAMS) code book. Rogge therefore chose to augment his ship’s disguise by adding two new masts. 2 days later, on the 13th of July, Atlantis stopped the passenger liner Kemmendine. The liner was damaged by the raider’s gunfire and so was unsuitable for use as a prison ship, so she was sunk by a pair of torpedoes. Having failed to capture a tanker with which to refuel the Tirranna, Rogge reached the rendezvous with her on the 29th of July intending to transfer 300 prisoners and enough of his own fuel to the motorship to allow her to reach Germany. However, whilst the transfer was underway the pair were approached by Norwegian freighter, the Talleyrand. She had seen the small boats moving between the Atlantis and Tirranna and had assumed one of them required assistance. After a brief chase the Talleyrand surrendered to Rogge. Her fuel was pumped onboard the Atlantis and her crew and some cargo transferred to Tirranna, which set off for France (she would be sunk in the Bay of Biscay by the British submarine HMS Tuna). The Talleyrand, after being used for target practice by Bulla in his He114, was scuttled. A few nights later Tirranna had a lucky escape when she was spotted by another German raider which declined to attack her, thinking that she might be a British auxiliary cruiser. That raider was the Pinguin, the second hilfskreuzer to reach the Indian Ocean. Pinguin had rounded the Cape of Good Hope on the 20th August 1940. Designated “Schiff 33”, and labelled “Raider F” by the Royal Navy, the Pinguin was under the command of Kapitän zur See Ernst-Felix Krüder. She was armed with six 6-inch guns from an old pre-World War I era battleship, and 300 mines. Fitted with very reliable and efficient diesel engines, she also carried two Heinkel He114A-2 aircraft which were flown by Oberleutnant Walter Müller and Unteroffizier Hans Werner. It was one of these aircraft, painted with British markings, which located a tanker south of Madagascar on the 26th of August. Messages were dropped ‘ordering’ the tanker to move away from a suspected raider on a course that would take her directly to the Pinguin. At first the tanker appeared to be obeying, but was later seen to be moving away at top speed. The Heinkel therefore used its grappling hook to rip away the ship’s radio aerials, before strafing and bombing her, causing her to stop for fear of having her volatile cargo hit. Pinguin soon arrived and captured the Norwegian Filefjell, with thousands of tons of aviation and fuel oil aboard. Whilst the ships were transferring some of this cargo to the raider, another tanker was spotted and Pinguin again gave chase, stopping the British Commander after a few salvos but not before SOS messages had been sent to and acknowledged by shore stations. Anxious to move away before help arrived, Krüder had the tanker torpedoed but soon came across a third ship, which stopped after a single warning shot. This was the Norwegian freighter Morviken, which was likewise scuttled. After spotting a fourth ship, which was allowed to proceed unmolested, it was realised that the Filefjell could not be prepared adequately given the increased patrols the British would undoubtedly be sending to the area. Regretfully therefore her crew was taken off and she too was scuttled. Deciding to take the opportunity to change the Pinguin’s disguise from a Greek to a British ship, the Trafalgar, Krüder moved to a remote spot to carry out the work, which was finished by the 10th of September. Whilst the work was being done one of the Heinkels was sent on observation flights, but on landing it crashed, caught fire, and sank, although the crew escaped without harm. The spare Heinkel could not be assembled in anything other than calm seas, so for now the raider would have to manage without aerial observation. On the 12th, a freighter was spotted near Madagascar and Pinguin attacked, suffering a hit by the merchantman’s 4-inch gun that was thankfully a dud. The freighter, identified as the British Benavon, was worked over by gunfire and left in a pitiful state, before having her crew taken off prior to her scuttling. 4 days later Pinguin captured the motorship Nordvard, and sent her back to Bordeaux. A period of calm weather then followed which allowed the second He114 to be assembled. On the 27th of September, near Christmas Island, the raider came across a motorship and stopped her with a single warning shot, no wireless SOS messages being sent. This ship was another Norwegian, the Storstad, a tanker with 12,000 tons of diesel aboard. She could also be used as an auxiliary minelayer, and was converted into such by stripping out accommodation spaces. She was commissioned as auxiliary in the Kriegsmarine and renamed the Passat. The two ships then launched an ambitious minelaying campaign, between them sowing fields off Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle, Hobart and Adelaide. These minefields claimed the liners Cambridge and Hertford, the neutral US merchant City of Rayville, the coaster Nimbin, and a trawler. The Pinguin required a period of refit prior to moving down to South Georgia to attack the Norwegian whaling fleet. Soon after finishing engine refit on November the 17th, a freighter was sighted and stopped her with warning shots – she was the British Nowshera. Her crew was taken off and she was scuttled. On the 20th, another cargo ship was sighted. The Heinkel was sent to rip away her aerials, which failed on first attempt. A message was then dropped ordering her to stop, which was ignored, whereupon the seaplane dropped 2 bombs in front of her. A second attempt to destroy the ship’s aerials was made, during which the He114 came under damaging AA fire. A fuel tank and one of the floats were damaged, forcing the aircraft to land near the victim and wait for Pinguin. The target vessel continued to move away but the Pinguin gradually caught up. Warning shots were enough to bring her to a stop, and the ship, the refrigerated cargo ship Maimoa, was scuttled. Meanwhile the Storstad had spotted another freighter and was trailing her. Pinguin waited until dark, then opened fire on this ship, the reefer Port Brisbane, and brought her to a stop. Most of her crew were rescued from lifeboats but one boat could not be found. The straggler was shortly picked up by the cruiser HMAS Canberra, which was patrolling for raiders – a narrow escape for the Pinguin. The Atlantis, meanwhile, was likewise enjoying the rich pickings available on the Indian Ocean trade routes. On the 24th of August, a ship was sighted acting suspiciously and Rogge decided she might be a Q-Ship – a British ship disguised as a merchant but with hidden guns. Atlantis therefore opened fire without warning, but it turned out that the target was a normal freighter, the King City. Her crew was taken off and she was sunk by gunfire. On the 9th of September Atlantis encountered the motor tanker Athelking, shelling her to force her to stop. Despite Rogge’s hopes, the ship was too badly damaged to be taken as an auxiliary, so she was scuttled. Two days later Atlantis sighted another ship and decided to use her seaplane to help capture it. Bulla’s He114 was launched, but as it approached the target transmitted a distress call. The He114 then bombed and strafed her, before stripping away the radio antenna with its hook. Warning shots from Atlantis then brought the ship to a stop, but an emergency transmitter resumed sending SOS messages so another volley of fire was unleashed. The ship turned out to be the freighter Benarty, which was boarded and rigged with demolition charges, which sank her. For the next week Atlantis drifted to conserve fuel and carry out repairs. Whilst drifting, a passenger liner was sighted and so the raider gave chase. Distress signals were transmitted so Rogge had her fired upon until they stopped. The vessel was the French Commissaire Ramel. Which had her crew taken off before she was sunk by gunfire. Repairs completed, Atlantis then headed to the Sunda Strait in the Netherlands East Indies, encountering an old, filthy neutral Yugoslav freighter called the Durmitor. With 400 prisoners aboard the raider the situation was so pressing that Durmitor was captured anyway, assigned a prize crew, and the prisoners were sent on a hellish 5-week journey to Italian-controlled Mogadishu in Somaliland. On November 8th, she came across the Norwegian tanker Teddy, and boarded her for ‘inspection’, claiming to be the British auxiliary cruiser HMS Antenor. She was kept in company until her cargo of diesel could be transferred to Atlantis. Two days later whilst on patrol in his He114, Bulla sighted another tanker. Rogge tried same ploy of pretending to be a British cruiser, and so the Norwegian tanker Ole Jacob was stopped and taken by a boarding team. The next day Atlantis sighted another ship and allowed her to get closer, before dropping her disguise and raising her battle flag. The ship failed to stop so Atlantis had to shell her bridge and radio room to force her to surrender. The target proved to be one of the most important ships ever captured by a raider, for she was the freighter Automedon, carrying military supplies for Singapore and top secret documents that were to prove very useful to the Japanese during their conquest of Malaya in 1941. After this success Atlantis rendezvoused with her two captured tankers, scuttled the Teddy and sending the Ole Jacob to Japan. The aviation spirit she was carrying was used to barter for supplies, including the E8N seaplane that was supplied to the Orion. The Pinguin was continuing on to the Antarctic. On the way the Storstad again reported a ship in sight on the last day of November, with the Pinguin’s first shot disabling her steering gear. This freighter was the Port Wellington, a sister ship of Port Brisbane, and her crew were likewise caputured before their ship was scuttled. By this time Pinguin had collected over 400 prisoners, so Krüder arranged for the Storstad to be sent back to Europe with them. On the way she was to meet and refuel the Atlantis. The two raiders met near Kerguelen Island, far in the southern reaches of the Indian Ocean on the 8th of December with the Storstad arriving the next day. After the supplies and prisoners were transferred between the ships she set sail, eventually arrived in France on the 4th of February 1941. Atlantis remained at Kerguelen Island for 26 days of repairs, whilst Pinguin set off for the Antarctic. En-route to South Georgia she started intercepting messages between the Norwegian whalers, which were operating under contract to the British. Krüder learned that the whaler Solglimt and factory ship Ole Wegger were to meet on January 13th 1941 to transfer a cargo of whale oil. Pinguin arrived at the rendezvous point the following day under cover of bad weather, and captured both ships without a struggle or an SOS being sent. Four nearby whalers also surrendered, but 3 others escaped. Pinguin then sailed towards the nearby factory ship Pelagos, which was well lit in foggy conditions. Again the target was captured quickly, and her seven whalers were ordered by Pelagos’ captain to return to her – so they were captured too. All of the prizes met at “Point Andalusia”, a spot north of the island of Tristan da Cunha where they would meet prize crews from other ships despatched on the supply ship Duquesa. She reprovisioned the Pinguin, but was then scuttled having outlived her usefulness. The factory ships and whalers were sent to France, all ships but a pair of whalers avoided the British blockade and arrived safely in France with their valuable cargo of whale oil. Pinguin then returned to Kerguelen and met with supply ship Alstertor on March 13th, which delivered amongst other supplies a new Ar196 seaplane. After completing her repairs at Kerguelen, Atlantis headed for the Arabian Sea. Her He114 was sent on constant scouting missions, hoping to come across more unescorted enemy shipping. On the 23rd of January, 1941 the He114 spotted a ship, and Atlantis followed a course that allowed her to catch the quarry the next day. The target was lost, and then found her again. The He114 was launched again and made an attack that tore away the ship’s antenna on first attempt. Atlantis then shelled her to a stop. The captured ship was the British freighter Mandasor, which was sunk by charges. The He114 had landed on the sea near Atlantis’ motorboat, but had capsized. The plane had to be sunk by gunfire. A week later Atlantis captured the freighter Speybank and turned her into an auxiliary minelayer, which was used to mine the approaches to Cape Town. On the 2nd of February Atlantis came across the Norwegian tanker Ketty Brøvig and captured her and her cargo of fuel oil and diesel. On the 14th, Rogge took his little flotilla to meet the pocket battleship Admiral Scheer and refuel her. Including the big warship’s prizes 5 ships arrived at the designated meeting point– the largest gathering of German ships outside European waters during the war. The Tannenfels was sent to France with prisoners from the prizes. The Speybank stayed with Atlantis, whilst the Ketty Brovig sent to meet Pinguin’s supply ship Coberg. Both were surprised by the Allied warships HMAS Canberra and HMS Leander, and sunk – evidence of the British and Australian Navy’s increased determination to find and destroy the raiders. Before long, the Allies would have more success to celebrate. The Pinguin had by this time moved to the sea lanes north of the Seychelles, sending her Ar196 on constant air patrols. On the 25th of April, she found the freighter Empire Light and brought her to a stop by shelling. The ship was too damaged to be taken as a prize, so she had to be scuttled. 2 days later the seaplane found another target, but before Pinguin could intercept she came across yet another freighter, whose crew abandoned ship after shelling destroyed her defensive gun. This ship was the Clan Buchanan, whose steering gear destroyed in the attack so she was scuttled. On the 7th of May, the raider found and damaged the tanker British Emperor, but she sent SOS signals which fatefully for the Pinguin attracted the attention of the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Cornwall. Two days later, May the 9th, 1941, lookouts on board the Pinguin sighted a cruiser on the horizon and so Krüder attempted to move away before his ship was spotted. Cornwall’s Supermarine Walrus seaplane was airborne and overflew the Pinguin to challenge her. Krüder attempted to pass his ship off as the British freighter Tamerlane but the crew of the Walrus was suspicious – the Pinguin’s crew having overdone the ineptitude of their flag signalling, in an attempt to come across as bumbling merchant sailors. The Tamerlane however was known to belong to a shipping line which prided itself on good seamanship, and so Cornwall moved in to investigate. The cruiser challenged the Pinguin which failed to stop. Krüder then decided to take a risk and attack the British warship, hoping to get off a decisive first strike – and opened fire on the cruiser. Despite some initial damage and problems with her turrets, Cornwall was able to withdraw out of range of the raider’s guns, before relying on the superior range of her 8-inch guns and the support of her Walrus, which provided range adjustments. Inevitably, the heavier firepower of the cruiser began to tell and she scored a direct hit on the Pinguin’s mine store, which caused her to blow up and sink immediately. 214 prisoners and 341 of the Pinguin’s crew were killed, including Kapitan Krüder. Atlantis, for her part, had some encounters with neutral ships but no more success finding enemy ships. She was briefly transferred to the South Atlantic, leaving the Indian Ocean on the 8th of April. There she sank several more ships including a liner with several Americans aboard, including a Life magazine photographer, who took several pictures of the disguised Atlantis. After this incident she re-entered the Indian Ocean, passed south of Australia, and transited to the Pacific. She captured the freighter Silvaplana between New Zealand and the Society Islands. Then she rounded Cape Horn and made for Germany, but she was found and sunk by HMS Devonshire on the 22nd of November, 1941. Most of her crew was rescued by U-boats. The last of the German raiders to see action in the Indian Ocean was the Kormoran, commanded by Korvettenkapitän Theodor Detmers. She was designated Schiff 41 by the Germans, but known as “Raider G” to the British Admiralty. She was the biggest of the raiders, with twice the displacement of the Komet. Her guns were taken from the World War I-era battlecruiser SMS Seydlitz. Her air complement consisted of two Arado Ar196A-1 seaplanes, piloted by Oberleutnant Heinfried Ahl, and she was equipped with a light speed boat, the LS-3, 6 torpedo tubes, and 350 mines. Kormoran departed Germany on the 3rd Dec 1940. She sank eight Allied ships in the Atlantic, and met the Pinguin after her expedition to the Antarctic on February 25th 1941, and then met Atlantis on the 21st of April. Kormoran entered the Indian Ocean on May 2nd 1941. Soon afterwards, she learned of the destruction of the Pinguin by HMS Cornwall. She therefore changed from a Soviet disguise that she had been using for several weeks to a Japanese one. She made for the Bay of Bengal, which had thus far been avoided by the Germans, arriving there on the 19th of June. She was briefly chased by an auxiliary cruiser, HMS Canton, but escaped. On 26th she encountered the Yugoslavian freighter Velebit at night, and shelled her to a stop. The crew was taken off and the ship was left to drift, eventually running aground on the Andaman Islands. Some of her crew survived at sea for 18 weeks in a lifeboat. Later that same day she encountered the Australian freighter Mareeba, which was stopped and a prize crew sent to board her. On board they learned that the light cruiser HMS Durban was nearby, so Detmers decided to depart the bay before she managed to find the raider. Kormoran spent 2 weeks drifting to repair her engines, which were struggling due to poor quality bearings. Whilst adrift she also changed her disguise to that of a Dutch merchantman. She then spent the next 2 months cruising the shipping lanes of the Netherlands East Indies, finding nothing in the way of Allied shipping. Detmers therefore took his ship to the Arabian Ocean. Her Arado was used extensively to search for enemy shipping but found nothing. Then, on the 23rd of September, an alert deck officer spotted a lit ship sailing at night. Lights usually signified that a ship was neutral, but this one turned out to be the Greek freighter Stamatios G. Embiricos. Low on fuel, the caputured ship was no use as an auxiliary, so she was scuttled. The Arado was later used to find 2 missing lifeboats from the freighter. No further luck was to be had in this area, so the Kormoran headed to a rendezvous with the supply ship Kulmerland off Australia. This ship had sailed from Japan with a cargo of fuel and metal for repairing Kormoran’s troublesome bearings. The meeting occurred on the 16th of October, with the ships heading their separate ways soon afterwards. On November 19th, west of Australia, Kormoran sighted an unknown ship. Is itcame closer it was eventually recognised as a Perth-class cruiser, the HMAS Sydney – a powerful ship easily capable of destroying the raider. Detmers knew that his only chance was to let her get very close. The ships exchanged signals where Koromoran pretended to be the Dutch ship Straat Malaaka, a ruse which at first appeared to work. By 1730 with the light fading, Sydney was within 1,000m so Detmers gave the order to open fire. Sydney was surprised and took severe damage from this first volley, and returned fire that was inaccurate and missed. Kormoran was able to get away 8 more volleys and a torpedo hit before Sydney’s rear turrets finally loosed some accurate shots that hit the Kormoran’s engine room and started a fire. The engine room firefighting equipment was also destroyed. Sydney slowly moved away, still under fire – a total of 450 rounds of 6-inch shells were fired at her. As she disappeared into the falling gloom, a huge explosion was seen – Sydney had sunk with all hands, 645 officers and men. Meanwhile, it was obvious that the Kormoran was also doomed as her fires raged out of control and threatened to set off the ship’s store of sea mines. 320 of the raider’s crew escaped before she sank. Sydney had not radioed to the shore what was happening so the survivors were forced to endure several days at sea before being picked up gradually by passing ships, some of them remaining adrift for eight days. The survivors were interred in PoW camps for the rest of the war, eventually returning home in 1947. The wrecks of both Kormoran and Sydney were found in 2008.

2019-04-24T05:58:59Z

https://pacificeagles.net/german-raiders-in-the-indian-ocean/

If you’ve been adventuring with the blog for awhile, you’ve heard me talk about Dungeon World. It’s the tabletop RPG that my gaming group played during the fall semester (I say semester because half of our group was still in college and measures time that way). It was my first time running the game and the first time playing it for all of my players. After we finished the last session, we sat down and talked about the game for a bit, discussing the aspects we liked and our overall enjoyment of the Dungeon World experience. So for Tabletop Tuesday, I’m going to bring that discussion to the internet in the form of a Totally Subjective Review! For tabletop RPGs my four categories will be Rulebook and Supplies, Ease of Play, Gameplay, and Customization. For Dungeon World, my fifth category will be Philosophy. What the heck does that mean? You’ll have to read to find out! Tabletop Games don’t really have graphics to evaluate. After all, the world exists totally in the imagination of the players. But the one thing they do have to look at is the game’s rulebook, and for any tabletop it is important that the rulebook be easy to navigate and well-written. Of course, pretty pictures are certainly a plus as well. I should preface this section with the fact that I purchased the PDF rulebook. While the physical rulebook would technically look the same, there are still differences and some things I say will not apply to the physical book. So use some critical thinking during this section. Dungeon World delivers well in the former two but not so much in the latter. The artwork in the book isn’t bad, exactly, but it certainly isn’t great. And no, it isn’t as bad as the Adventure Rules artwork, but I draw badly on purpose. It’s part of my quirky charm! However, the rulebook for Dungeon World is very simple to read, and I found it quite easy to navigate. Everything is bookmarked – not just chapters, but subheadings beneath the chapters as well. This means that if you’re looking for a particular section, chances are there is a quick and easy bookmark you can click on to find it with ease. As far as supplies go, character sheets come with the rulebook or can be downloaded online for free from the official Dungeon World website. I find this to be way easier than trying to print specific pages of the rulebook, so it is a provision that I appreciated. There are also a few character sheets not included in the main game that are free on the official site, plus some other supplements like a monster race expansion. Little things like this may not seem like much, but imagine if more video games offered totally free DLC. New classes and race options certainly expand the game, so take advantage of them! As far as supplies for Dungeon World, you’re set as long as you have a classic set of RPG dice, as the game only uses d4, d6, d8, d10, and d12. The main dice you’ll be rolling are the d6, as the core mechanic of the game involves rolling 2d6. So you’ll want a few extra of those lying around – time to break out the Yahtzee box! So you need dice, the rules, character sheets, and pencils. If you’re the type that enjoys miniatures and maps, Dungeon World is compatible with these things but does not necessarily need them. The rulebook does recommend that you use graph paper or something similar to map out your game world as you play. I cannot comment on this method since my group did not try it (our game was set in England, so we used a map of the good ole UK). Overall, Dungeon World has an easy-to-read rulebook and simple supplies. It’s very easy to pick up and pretty affordable too. It may not be super pretty, but it gets the job done, and for a tabletop that’s all that matters. For those new to the tabletop genre, 0r for those who only play in a setting where a very quick game is all that can take place, ease of play is an important factor in their tabletop decision. If it takes five hours to make characters and you only have six to play, chances are you won’t be interested in the tabletop. Luckily, Dungeon World is a narrrative-driven game, which means that the mechanical aspects of the game are easy to get past so that you can start actually enjoying the game. Character creation is as long as you want it to be. For a quick one-off session at a convention, you can have a character ready in a matter of minutes. Each class sheet has a preset list of names, races, bonds, and equipment. Make your choices and BANG, you’re ready to go. Of course, for a longer campaign, you may want to put in a little more thought. For my group, I created a questionnaire for gathering information about their backstories, where they got their equipment and learned their abilities, and what their opinions were on significant world events. Both approaches – the quick and the lengthy – are completely valid. Now Dungeon World does not come with any pre-built sessions, so during a convention the GM will still have to create story and obstacles rather than just running through one provided in the rulebook. However, there are plenty of pre-generated monsters that you can use, so creating a scenario is just a matter of imagining the world that your players are exploring. The rulebook actually provides a lot of help on this path. The first session of Dungeon World is intended to be very cooperative and to plunge players right into the action. It suggests starting in a dungeon or even embroiled in combat, and then working out the situation from there. Maybe the players are surrounded by goblins and trapped in a small chamber. How’d they get there? What were they looking for in the goblin halls? Answering questions like these allows you to create the scenario on the fly, perfect for a short game that won’t be part of a longer campaign. The rules of the game are simple to understand, and all of the basic and special moves have sheets that outline how they work. If you’re playing with a group of people who have not played Dungeon World, explaining the game is a quick process. Just go over the list of basic moves, answer any questions they have on starting moves, and explain the core mechanic of the game. After a few minutes of discussion, they’ll be ready to go. Dungeon World is a great game for new tabletop players and for one-off sessions, but still has things to offer for a long campaign and for experienced players. My group has played a number of tabletops and no one was turned off by the “ease” of Dungeon World. It’s all well and good to talk about how easy Dungeon World is to set up and play. A game can be really easy to get started and quickly turn very boring. So how does the Dungeon World core mechanic work, and how does the gameplay feel? Dungeon World is a Powered by the Apocalypse game. This means that it draws its core mechanic from Apocalypse World by Vincent Baker. And that core mechanic is this. Many actions in the game are resolved by moves. Moves describe what you want to do. For example, when you attack an enemy in melee, or when you consult your accumulated knowledge about something. These actions are moves, and moves generally require you to roll the dice. Whenever you roll, you roll 2d6 (that means two six-sided dice) and then add a modifier if appropriate. For example, if you’re attacking with a ranged weapon, you add your dexterity modifier. If you’re reading into a situation, you add your wisdom modifier. Every roll in Dungeon World has three possible results. That means every check effectively has the same “difficulty class” (for those of you coming at this from Dungeons and Dragons). On a 10+, you do what you intended with little to no trouble. Things work out how you wanted. Awesome. On a 7-9, you get what you want at a cost. You’ll have to make a difficult decision, or perhaps put yourself in danger, or a complication will be thrown in along with your success. A 7-9 means that you basically do what you set out to do, but you’re going to have to sacrifice something to get it. On a 6-, you fail at your action AND SOMETHING HAPPENS. A 6- doesn’t mean “oh, you failed to pick the lock, so you all just stand there awkwardly.” It means “oh, you failed to pick the lock because an ogre just kicked the door open and sent you sprawling backward.” Or “you failed to pick the lock because you activated a trap, and a poisoned dart just jabbed you in the arm.” Failure doesn’t stall the game – it continues to push it forward. And it pushes you forward as a character as well, because every failure earns you an experience point. And that’s the core mechanic. You say what you want to do – if your actions cause a move to occur, you roll the dice. Your roll decides how successful you are and keeps the action moving forward. It’s a simple system that applies to any situation from slashing to casting a spell to healing to having a debate. It’s quick to learn and easy to apply, but because the circumstances in the fictional world decide the stakes, each die roll still feels really important and unique. The gameplay of Dungeon World is where the game really shines. There’s a huge question mark looming at the end of every die roll, and something a failed roll suddenly makes a very routine action into a crazy situation. To use a few examples from my campaign – a partial success that drew unwanted attention to a character caused the party to be attacked by a wild-man who wanted to kidnap and marry her; a failure on an information-gathering check just before bedtime in an inn caused an entire town to be ransacked by monsters; a poor roll while attacking town guards in a magical city sent two party members into a mystical labyrinth in an alternate dimension. Anything can happen in Dungeon World, and players may sometime feel like picking up the dice to roll them is too dangerous. It gives the decision to make moves weighty and significant, and sometimes players will do what they can to get out of making moves if they feel it will put the party in danger. Now, here’s something important to note about the game. Dungeon World is designed to be a cooperative effort where adventure can come out of nowhere and where at any time a character’s situation can change, and that includes death. The very mechanics of Dungeon World resist the idea of a pre-scripted campaign with the same cast of characters throughout the story. Now my wife and I ran this game together, and we planned our story in advance – so far in advance that we had the story before we knew we were playing Dungeon World. There were times throughout the campaign that we found ourselves having to fight the mechanics of the game somewhat to keep our story on track. If you’re a GM who isn’t comfortable with the story being somewhat decided by the randomness of the dice – or if you’re a player who absolutely refuses to have a character die and create a new one – then Dungeon World may not be the game for you. The mechanics work very well with the philosophy of the game (more on that later), but if you try to play in a different way, this means that the mechanics will fight you. It’s something to be aware of before you pick Dungeon World up. There are also a couple of game mechanics that I thought did not work well. Those are the alignment system and the bonds. The way alignment works, you choose your character’s alignment based on the class you are playing, and each alignment has a move associated with it. When you make these alignment moves – things like “leap into danger without a plan” or “destroy a symbol of civilization” or “show mercy to an enemy” – you get an experience point at the end of the session. But here’s the problem. Having a specific move that the character can make every session to get XP meant that my players were constantly trying to make their alignment moves in situations where it made no sense. Instead of roleplaying their entire alignment, they’d do one thing that lined up with it and then do whatever they wanted the rest of the session. Trying to meet the conditions of alignment moves became distracting and it didn’t gel with the fiction (ironically, something that the philosophy of Dungeon World feels very strongly about). We ended up removing alignment moves and instead rewarded players for staying true to their alignment throughout the session. Bonds represent the connections between characters in the party. They are things like “so-and-so stole something from me” or “I want to learn about so-and-so’s job.” Players get XP points when these bonds are resolved, and resolution is a very loose term that basically means that the bond no longer applies to their relationship. Like the alignment moves, bonds gave my players very specific actions they were supposed to do for XP, and this made them behave in very erratic ways within the party in order to try and level up. In addition, even with the term “resolve” being so broad, there seemed to be certain bonds with no resolution in sight, which caused a lot of frustration. We ended up borrowing the Hx system from Apocalypse World, and that worked well for my group. I’ve talked a lot about XP – why did my players want it so much? Well, leveling up in Dungeon World is how you gain new moves from your class. Without gaining levels, you’re stuck with the same three to five starting moves and the list of basic moves. And XP is a very precious resource. The only way to get it during a session is to fail (something that no one wants to do even with the XP point). The only other way to gain XP is at end of session, and at the most you can gain five. One for using your alignment, one for resolving a bond, one for making an important discovery, one for defeating a notable enemy, and one for looting a memorable treasure. This system of gaining XP (rather than gaining it for mindlessly killing monsters or completing quests) makes every XP opportunity count. Overall, the gameplay of Dungeon World is a ton of fun. Many of my players expressed that this was the most fun they’d had playing a tabletop, and we found that the mechanics of the game made the final session a lot more impactful both in fun and in emotional response than in any other tabletop we’ve played before. The game mechanics work well together to create a fun experience that is always leading towards adventure. When playing a tabletop game, players want to have the tools to make their character as uniquely their own as possible, and the GM wants to be able to take whatever his or her ideas are for the game world and create them in a satisfying way. For some tabletops, customization is built into the game mechanics. For others, you have to change the rules or hack the game. This section is all about how easy or difficult it is to customize Dungeon World. For my campaign the setting was a blend of superhero, horror, post-apocalyptic, and fantasy (what?) and in order to facilitate that, I added quite a few features. One of the most significant changes I made was to the class system. I created superhero-inspired classes for each player, a process that was very cooperative from the first step. Players described what abilities were important to them and I created the moves and designed the level-ups for each class. This process is actually relatively simple, and the book offers some advice about creating custom moves. You just need a trigger and then the results of the different rolls. Using the game’s base moves as inspiration can be a huge help, but the book also offers advice on the typical effects of a move so you can create your own with ease. Custom monster creation is included in the playbook as well, and the process is as easy as answering some questions about your monster. Is it solitary or does it fight in a group? Is it small, normal, or large? Are its weapons massive or subtle? Answering questions like these define the monster’s stats, and then your roleplaying as the GM defines the monster’s actions. After all, Dungeon World is driven primarily by the narrative, so the true essence of a monster is not its statistical total but the stuff that it does. Making monsters was very easy and a couple of times I was able to do it mid-session. Now when it comes to character customization for the player, there are few options for that starting out. Every fighter starts out with the same starting moves, with only a few options for customization. However, the large selection of level-up moves allows two fighters (or clerics, or thieves, or whatever) to become progressively different as they develop. This is pretty reflective of Dungeon World as a whole. You don’t start out with some detailed backstory or incredible powers. The game is all about the adventures you have during play. Your characters will become more unique and more your own the more you play with them. So while player customization is not a strong part of the beginning of Dungeon World, it does grow with time. Overall, the customization in Dungeon World is strong in most areas. As the GM, it is very easy to create custom content for your players. As a player, customization is weak in the early game but grows stronger as your character levels up and has more adventures. I mentioned earlier that Dungeon World has a very powerful philosophy driving it, one that influences the mechanics and resists certain approaches to the game. The time has come to discuss that. Dungeon World is a game driven by the narrative, or as the rulebook calls it, the fiction. The fiction comes first and supersedes anything else. The GM is encouraged to run the game fiction-first, and the mechanics of the game are designed in such a way that the fiction is prioritized. This is all a fancy way of saying that Dungeon World is designed to be run in a particular way, and not running it that way will actually cause some problems with the rules. I already mentioned that when I approached the game with a specific narrative already planned out, the rules of the game resisted it. Monsters and villains are not designed to have a long lifespan, so villains who frequently reappear after majestically escaping don’t particularly work well. A set storyline is difficult to adhere to when a failed die roll (or a very successful one) can completely change the direction of the action. Now this is not to say that a strong philosophy driving the game is a bad thing. Dungeon World is designed for a setting where the GM is a fan of the players’ characters, where adventure fills their lives, where the world is fantastic and always growing and changing. The game is designed to let fiction drive the players forward. Rules shouldn’t get in the way of a cool moment and shouldn’t make overcoming a powerful monster into an effortless task. Characters should really be putting their lives at risk because that’s what makes them matter more. Personally, I love the philosophy that drives Dungeon World. I think it is a great approach to running a game and plan to run more games this way in the future. However, if you are the sort of GM or the sort of player who enjoys a story with a defined direction, who wants character death not to be a part of the campaign, or prefers balanced encounter levels, then Dungeon World may not be the game for you. It is good to be aware of what kind of game you want to play before you pick Dungeon World up, because the mechanics and the philosophy driving the game all work together to enforce a particular style of play. Dungeon World is a fun game that is simple to pick up and play, and has many rewards for those who stick around for a long time. It’s easy to customize for the GM but it takes time for the players to create characters that are uniquely their own. The game has a fantasy setting designed for fantastic adventures. And while Dungeon World may not be great when a narrative style is not what you want, it is incredible as a narrative game and does what it set out to do fantastically. I highly recommend Dungeon World to fans of the tabletop fantasy genre. If you enjoyed this review, share it! This is Multiplayer Week, after all, so sharing Adventure Rules with potential new fans is the goal of each and every post. And remember that you can find Adventure Rules on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr in order to get access to exclusive content!

2019-04-24T17:53:13Z

https://adventurerules.blog/2016/01/05/totally-subjective-review-of-dungeon-world/

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The process also does not require any installation or advanced configuration what makes Webnode perfect for those just starting out. Personal, business and eCommerce websites, you can materialize all with Webnode. Numerous services have attempted to be the jack of all trades with their features but in reality, many of them are master to none. Not in our case! The WebsiteBuilder, however, defies this reality, being the easiest website builder online. It caters to a lot of customers, including bloggers, online store owners and even small and medium enterprises. Choose from the ready-made elements and multiple predefined templates that are easy to modify and edit. To utilize the revolutionary drag and drop editor and make your site to your likings. Since this builder pretty much mastered the art, you can also expect your pages to be SEO and mobile-ready. Indeed, WebsiteBuilder calls for 100% responsiveness with high-resolution compatibility what adds to its versatility. You can expect to have your site live in three simple to follow steps which anyone can undergo. You do not even need to have someone looking over your shoulder and telling you what to do next. With WebsiteBuilder and its effortlessness, you can be confident to complete your page quickly and reliable. Bring back the fun element in creative design by choosing uKit as your web design building platform. Simply the easiest website builder in the market, it has more than 350 designs to choose from in 38 different categories. All this tells you is that uKit sure has something for you even if you happen to be very selective with your choices. uKit is also packed with various features such as typography, color schemes, universal grid and the handy drag and drop function. Not only that but you can start your online store immediately as well. You can set up order forms for your customers, as well as stipulate deliver and payment methods. Lastly, you can grow your business and online presence with promotional tools such as search engine optimization, newsletters and statistics. Use the latter to always know how your website is doing and optimize accordingly. There is no other builder offering a complete package like uKit so make sure you check it out. Mobirise is different, period. While the major part of the easiest website builders are online services, allowing you to build your page in-browser, Mobirise is an offline software. That is correct, you download it to your computer and use it entirely for free. Of course, Mobirise is compatible with both Windows and Mac users so that is something you do not need to worry about. Moreover, you also do not need to question yourself whether your website will be mobile-ready and compatible with modern web browsers – it simply will be. Thanks to Mobirise, all the pages you make with it are of the highest degree, performing excellently all the time. The employment of Mobirise is very straightforward. With its numerous predesigned blocks and layouts, you do not need to code rather drag the content to your page, set parameters, change texts, colors and upload your material. That is how simple it is! And before you are ready to go live, preview your web design first and then hit the publish button. You can even check how your website looks on different devices before you release it to the online space. You do not really need to be quick with your site development but somehow, you are not able to avoid the speedy site launch when using SITE123. It is one of the easiest website builders around, giving you a free hand on your project. But it is the freedom all these site editors offer, what makes them score the inclusion in our collection. SITE123 is a spectacular tool with countless amazing features and assets you can profit from. From the incredible and super practical page editor to many ready-to-use templates which are all fully customizable. SEO tools, custom domains, free hosting, mobile-friendly, online store ready, you name it, SITE123 has the capacity that makes it unlock a new horizon of possibilities for you. You read it before, but SITE123 is another killer website builder that gets you online in three steps. However, the estimated launch time relies on the fact of how creative you would like to go, as well as what extra sections you would like to add to your website (read online store). Like mentioned earlier, it never takes long with SITE123. A combination of groundbreaking features and reliable customer support would win you a lot of customers. No wonder why Jimdo has been doing so well, being the easiest website builder. Every template has a modern and professional look with a fully responsive and extendable design. Jimdo also has its own set of super powerful creator tools with lots of useful options to manage your site like a pro. Choose from either Jimdo Creator or Jimdo Dolphin to start building instantly. The amazing software is built with passion and love what relates so much to its customers. What adds more to Jimdo’s winning formula is it applies the latest web technologies. Let’s learn more about Creator and Jimdo. It is actually nothing complicated about the two. The former is pretty self-explanatory, you are the Creator. When it comes to Dolphin, the artificial intelligence does the majority of the work for you after asking you easy questions about yourself and your business. With the very many solutions currently available on the market, we only bring you the easiest website builders. And, of course, 8b is one of them. Not only is this website building software easy and simple to use, it also comes at no cost. Yes, it is 100% free if you will. Whether you would like to create an agency, event, gaming, hotel, medical, music, portfolio, restaurant or travel website, you can make them all with 8b and then some. The options are endless when it comes to 8b. Also, 8b will never ask you for any coding knowledge what makes it very newbie-friendly. The interface is user-friendly, perfect for any user. What’s more, 8b guarantees that the website you are about to establish will work smoothly on all mobile devices and web browsers. Kick it off with the right ready-made template and make a difference. Jigsy is one of the easiest website builders with all the mandatory to complete creating the ideal website for your objective. It includes one free and three premium plans for everyone to get involved right away. Of course, you can effortlessly start with the free plan and see things real-time. Only when you are ready, you can then upgrade and get even more features from the convenient Jigsy. When it comes to Jigsy, it offers you to choose from different ready-to-use layouts which will help you quick-start your project. On top of that, you will never need to host your website as Jigsy takes care of it entirely. All your precious information is encrypted on Jigsy’s servers and backed up. Besides, any website you hammer out with Jigsy, it will perfectly acclimatize to any device and browser. It is all about you taking action what the realization of your project requires next; Jigsy is ready and set 24/7. While GoDaddy is a humongous web hosting provider and domain registrar, it also includes a neat and easy website builder for your convenience. It only takes one account to run your website like a champ. With GoDaddy’ website builder, you can start a blog, push products online, create an agency website and even build a business page. In short, the options you have with GoDaddy are endless. More or less, it is your imagination that is the only limitation that you have. Think outside the box and see the magic reveal right in front of your eyes. In the kit, GoDaddy delivers loads of layouts and elements which you can mix and match to your heart’s content. Also, the web designs that GoDaddy has in store are customizable for you to make a page that follows your branding regulations precisely. Other features of GoDaddy are online appointments, social sharing, search engine optimization, email marketing, you name it. With four available pricing options, you will easily find the one that suits your requirements best. Nothing should be holding you back any longer when you unlock yourself access to Readymag. This is a fantastic and one of the easiest website builders you can find on the market of page editors. It is everything you need for your websites, online magazine, web portfolio or any other type of internet publication you would like to start. First and foremost, Readymag advises you to fully forget about the code. Not only code by anything related to design, too. Now it’s getting interesting, right? With the innovative builder, Readymag offers you to create pages without the tech knowledge. Indeed, it is super simple to use after all. Readymag gives you two options; either you start by choosing a pre-designed template or you can start with a blank skin and go from there. No matter what you do, with Readymag, it is a guarantee that the end product will be a cutting-edge piece of web art that you and no one else will set up. It is apparent that most businesses with a certain niche look for specific designs. Some want it flashy while the others prefer a more minimalist look. Whatever category you fall under, Strikingly has it covered for you. It has been trusted by millions of marketers and creatives around the globe, what calls for another easiest website builder. Strikingly applies technology that enables you to construct websites without any coding and design practice. Every end product will be responsive and pixel perfect, compatible with any mobile device. With hundreds of design choices to choose from, you can never go wrong with what Strikingly has to offer. Domain registrations, SSL, analytics, social feeds, contact forms, online store and blog are just some of the assets of Strikingly. You can be certain that this tool will amaze and impress you. You will come up with a professional and sophisticated look, like a breath of fresh air. Do you need a sleek theme for your website? Then gear up for the newest craze in town. Presenting PageCloud, the easiest website builder that is best suited for both entrepreneurs and imaginative minds. It is all organized, simplistic and super effortless to understand and manage. Doing customization tweaks and updates is duck soup with PageCloud. Moreover, some of the many PageCloud’s features are the convenient drag and drop page builder, auto image optimization, app compatibility and hosting to name a few. PageCloud’s mobile-ready layout builder lets you hammer out pages naturally. That’s not all, PageCloud also makes sure that your website follows SEO practices to the T. That said, you are treated to meta-information, custom URLs, page titles, redirects and all the other principal activities. Measure your overall page performance with Google Analytics and optimize it accordingly. You are in full charge of your web presence so make sure you are always moving forward, executing improvements when needed to deliver the best possible experience. If you are looking for the easiest website builder, you definitely came to the right place. On this list, you will find very many and without a doubt the one that will be the best fit for you. It does not matter how picky you are and how little experience you have, heck, none, you are still in good hands. Tilda is one cracking software that will assist you in sorting out your best page regardless of the niche you operate in. It is a highly adaptive service which you will create beautiful pages with by not changing a single string of code. Tilda has more than 450 ready-to-use blocks and even gives you an option to create your custom variations with Zero Block. Tilda also has a strong focus on content and typography what might be ideal for you. With loads and loads of pre-made templates, you will quickly find the right style you would like to rock with your page. Tweak and adjust it to your needs and you are ready to go live with a mobile-ready web space. Get ahead of the competition with a website that is fully equipped with cutting-edge tools and features. Moonfruit is the easiest website builder that will help you achieve just that. It features a clean and modern look, perfect for restaurants, events, artists, startups, hotels and many other niche pages. It is truly versatile as it covers every industry possible for you to find what you are looking for out of the box. There are many templates you can select, all fashioned to perfection, holding uniqueness in design. Moonfruit also makes sure that your page will be mobile and retina compatible with its pixel-perfect design what uplifts your website’s appearance. Not only does this tool perform and look great, but it also enables you effective online visibility and SEO readiness. Besides, get an insight on your page’s activities with the integrated Google Analytics and Google Search Console. The professional team of experts is also amiable and accommodating to answer your inquiries. Create an outstanding page with a free tool that is at the same one of the easiest website builders. I am talking about WebStarts. Your web presence starts now and it is you who is about to make things a reality. Websites, blogs and eCommerce pages, WebStarts allows you to do all of them swiftly. Pick the design that works best for you, get a custom domain name and start scaling it through the roof. From a bird’s eye view, that’s exactly how the process goes and it is super simple, as you see. With WebStarts, you can truly create a unique experience for your online appearance, not seen anywhere else. By employing the magnificent drag and drop editor, you can enhance, alter and make changes to your taste and desire. Besides, you also get to host your page with WebStarts so you truly only need one account to control your full internet being.

2019-04-24T17:52:56Z

https://colorlib.com/wp/easiest-website-builders/

In episode 151 we welcome Divya Narendra, CEO & Co-Founder of SumZero. Divya begins by talking about the beginnings of SumZero and finding its initial traction by Divya calling friends from other funds and politely asking them to submit research. From there, he asked those friends to provide any contacts they could, and the platform grew from there, including a cap-intro side of the business to expose analysts, PMs, and fund managers to potential investors. Divya then discusses addressing the shortcomings of sell side research with SumZero, in particular, the lack of vested interest and high conviction from the sell-side, and lack of coverage in unknown securities. All contributors are vetted, and their ideas go through Divya. Meb asks about how people use the site for generating ideas, which brings up some various processes like screens from people with a fundamental approach, to quants who are looking at items like who is getting the most views and best ratings. Divya even gets into some of the best ideas contests he has run, and even submitted a contest winner’s idea to Warren Buffett. The conversation then shifts to what Divya sees in the future for SumZero, from scaling cap-intro efforts, to a data feed that can serve quantitatively driven analysts, but ultimately looks to expand the scope of the SumZero community. Catch all this and more in episode 151, including Divya’s thoughts about the future of fundamental stock picking, robo advisors and the private wealth model, and more. In episode 140 we welcome Ralph Acampora. Ralph begins with his background and talks about the accident that left him in a body cast for months. His father’s best friend left a copy of something market related that he was reading when he visited the hospital. That piqued his curiosity, and he later found a job as a junior analyst on Wall Street. It was that job that introduced him to technical analysis. Meb then gets into technical analysis and what is, and what it means to Ralph. Ralph discusses how he keeps it simple, looking at trends every day with a few indicators. He then goes on to explain Dow Theory before explaining that when he took a look at the market through the lens of Dow Theory, when the Dow Industrials, and Dow Transports hit low points late last year, he saw a downturn signal. He mentions the post-Christmas rally was a nice move in a short period of time, but he refers to it as a “vacuum” rally. The bad news is that he saw the rally encounter overhead resistance and is looking overbought. For this move to sustain, he’d like to see, over the next month or two, the market hold above December lows. Looking around the world, he sees the DAX in a topping period, and emerging market stocks look like they’re trying to bottom. As far as commodities go, he thinks crude is bottoming as well. Ralph then gets into how little acceptance there was of technical analysis early in his career, and how he fought for technical analysis. Meb then asks Ralph to touch on behavioral finance. He discusses how technical analysts have been incorporating behavioral finance for years. As the conversation winds down, Meb asks Ralph if anything has changed about his approach to analyzing markets, and Ralph quickly says “No,” and talks about how over time, technical analysis is looking at buyers and sellers, which he feels haven’t changed, so he hasn’t changed his analysis. This and more in episode 140, including a fantastic story behind Ralph’s most memorable trade, and where one of his hand-drawn charts is now displayed. In episode 137 we welcome the sibling duo, Emily and Morgan Paxhia. Emily and Morgan begin by discussing their backstory, and how coming from a family with an entrepreneurial background influenced their path to start Poseidon Asset Management to specialize in cannabis investing. Emily and Morgan each describe their previous roles and the skills they acquired in their respective industries (Consulting for Emily, and Investment Management for Morgan) that helped them build foundations that transitioned well into asset management. Next, the pair discusses starting their fund, and the journey that included seeking service providers, raising capital, and the many challenges and hurdles they faced along the way. Morgan mentioned that even with all the hurdles, they knew they were on to something and continued to drive forward. Meb then asks about cannabis industry trends and what the space has in store looking forward. Emily covers some regulatory and political issues and then talks about the challenge they will face as a firm as they try to allocate capital before the industry really opens up down the road. Morgan follows with some catalysts that include legal cannabis in California, a number of countries approving medical cannabis, and expanded media coverage. The conversation shifts to the regulatory environment. Morgan talks about the progress that has been made, although state programs are varied, which makes it difficult to see where the standout model lies. There’s also bi-partisan support, New York is looking serious at legalizing, and the environment is moving forward. Meb follows with questions about the investment process and portfolio building, as well as a question on what areas people aren’t thinking about that have disruptive potential. Emily and Morgan talk about looking at the industry by subsector such as ag-tech and technology and being invested everywhere on the spectrum from plant cultivation to end consumer product consumption and that the portfolio construction process leans on a very diversified approach but is very flexible and dynamic. In searching for ideas, they rely on a “boots on the ground” approach to understand the industry and operator dynamics, as well as identify quality teams. Meb then asks about any areas people aren’t thinking about that have disruptive potential. Emily and Morgan respond with 100% industrial hemp as a product that has disruptive potential with almost endless applications. Hear all this and more in episode 137, including the names of some portfolio companies and their most memorable investments. In episode 136, we welcome Steve Romick. The conversation begins with Steve explaining that he hated losing more than he enjoyed winning, and while there wasn’t one event that led him to value investing, he considers his aversion to loss a contributor to being drawn to the value-oriented investment approach. Meb then transitions the conversation by asking Steve to characterize the investment strategy of FPA’s Crescent Fund. Steve talks about the value investing framework as investing with a margin of safety and how it has morphed over the years from being about the balance sheet to now, through technological innovation, the corporate lifecycle has been as short of it has ever been with the most of the density of innovation happening in the past 50 years. Next, the discussion turns to investment framework. Steve describes this team of 11, and how the job of his team is to understand the business and industry first on both a quantitative and qualitative basis. He describes the go-anywhere mandate as a potential recipe for disaster as there are more places to lose money. Steve then discusses looking at equities and debt for the portfolio. In the equity space, they’re looking at two categories, the high quality growing businesses considered “compounders,” and more traditional value investments, where there’s potential for 3 times upside to downside. Meb then asks Steve about Naspers, and Steve follow’s up with commentary about one of the biggest losers the portfolio’s ever had, but reiterates that his biggest concern is permanent loss of capital, and as the holding is still in the portfolio, he’d be surprised if they didn’t make money on it long-term. Meb asks Steve about credit. Steve talks about high yield and distressed debt as an asset class being periodically attractive and one doesn’t need to be there all the time. He explains that the gross yield of roughly 6.5% looks interesting on the surface, but once you consider the history of defaults and recovery, the yield drops significantly to 4.4%, right above the investment grade yield, and it isn’t so attractive. Steve talks about how the fund allows the freedom to seek asset classes that offer value, and that for the first time, they now own a municipal bond. Steve then discusses the small allocation they have to farmland. Meb follows with a question about holding cash. Steve expands by talking about going through the research process, and when there aren’t enough opportunities that meet their parameters, cash results as a byproduct. The discussion then gets into Steve’s background at FPA, and what it was like going through the late 1990s. Steve talks about trailing the market going into the late 90s as valuations appeared unsupportable, but fast forward a few years and he and the team were validated. They allocated to high yield, small cap, and value, and made money in 2000, 2001 and 2002 when the market was down. Meb then asks how Steve views the rest of the world. Steve responds that while it is more expensive generally here in the U.S., it is important to remember that international exposure can be had by owning U.S. stocks with revenue exposure overseas, and that like-for-like companies are trading at similar valuations outside of the U.S. Next, Meb and Steve discuss the importance of managers investing alongside their clients. Steve feels it is important that investor’s energy should be aligned with the client’s interests and holdings. All this and more, including Steve’s thought on the catalysts that could end the current bull market in episode 136. In Episode 133, we welcome Todd Harrison. Meb begins the conversation asking Todd about what got him into the cannabis space. Todd discusses his intellectual curiosity of the space, and what he has learned about the history of cannabis, from the 30,000 year relationship we have had with it as humans, to the US weaponizing marijuana. Meb then leads into the topic of governments and states changing their attitudes. Todd talks about it being a confluence of things, but gets into a personal story of how he discovered the efficacious ability of cannabis by working with Dr. Julie Holland after struggling with a decade long treatment of PTSD with a Western medicine protocol. The conversation then turns to the marketplace. Todd relays that there is quite a bit ahead for the consumer space. In hearing what scientists have to say, it has painted a much different picture for the breadth of wellness that is going to be disrupted going forward. Next, Meb and Todd discuss a little background on cannabinoids in general. Todd describes that there are over 200 different cannabinoid strains that exist. CBD and THC are two that have been popularized, but when you drill down, there are far more, including CBN, that aids sleep. The conversation shifts to the broad marketplace for investors. Todd describes the four primary arbitrage opportunities he sees that present opportunity: 1) Time Vs. Policy, 2) Price vs. Institutional Flow, 3) Perception, and 4) Liquidity. Meb follows by asking Todd about the firm’s investment approach. Todd talks about taking the long view. He mentions that the space has had two 50% drawdowns this year, and they count on disciplined position sizing and light use of puts to layer on with the long view but are using the current volatility to their advantage right now. Meb then asks Todd about the leading countries in the global landscape right now. Todd talks about Canada being the most mature, Australia looking compelling, and sees the U.S. as having the best opportunity set. Meb asks how Todd diversifies across industry groups and various verticals. Todd talks about there being about 500 listed stocks right now, and that there are probably 50 to 55 companies that his firm wants to invest in, and probably up to half of them at any given time. He thinks in 10 years’ time the survivors can offer a significant market cap. He and his team are focused on sticking with the companies they think are positioned to win. Meb then asks what Todd’s favorite vertical is if he had to pick one to be invested in for 5 years. Todd mentions it would be biotech, even though it may take longer for those investments to pan out because they still have to go through the traditional biotech process. Todd then gets into his approach for analyzing stocks. Todd discusses the importance of understanding the management teams, and “betting on jockeys as much as the horse,” as well as taking the fundamental perspective by getting a read on the company through a DCF analysis. All this and more, including a few names in Todd’s portfolio, and some suggestions for resources investors can tap for research on the industry in Episode 133. Episode 132 has a radio show format. In this one, we cover numerous Tweets of the Week from Meb as well as listener Q&A. A chart from Longboard about returns. Since 1989, the worst performing 11,513 stocks – which is 80% of all stocks, collectively had a total return of 0%. The best performing 2,942 stocks (20% of all) accounted for all the gains. A tweet about another option selling fund blow-up. A Jason Zweig post about how many investors should question the dogma of “stocks for the long” run since history shows that a portfolio of bonds has outperformed stocks surprisingly often and for long periods. In your book, Global Asset Allocation, you compare the results of well-known asset allocations and find that the returns are quite close. Over a long period of time, would you also expect the results of a momentum / value strategy to be similar? Is the main advantage that it allows for better behavior (lower drawdowns, etc) or would you also expect the performance to differ (net of fees)? Would you rather own a stock with a high free cash flow yield or high dividend yield? I was wondering if you could touch on the process of launching an ETF. What are the startup costs, how much AUM and at what fee would the ETF breakeven? I've heard you (and others) extol the benefits of a diversified global allocation but I rarely (if ever) hear the counter argument: that the US deserves a premium to the rest of the world because it has the largest and deepest capital markets, has comparatively lower regulation and fosters innovation and creative destruction. Do those factors warrant an over-allocation to US equities? How much should the average investor be willing to spend (as a percentage of portfolio value) in order to carry some protection in the form of puts? What beats the 60/40 portfolio over the next 5 and 10 year periods? As usual, there are plenty of rabbit holes. You’ll find them all in Episode 132. In Episode 131, we welcome economist David Rosenberg. Meb asks about the indicators he relies on. David discusses that there are 15 equally weighted indicators he’s looking at, 14 are screaming late cycle, and two stand out the most. ??? Two of the most important indicators for the US are the lack of skilled workers, with a lot of growth coming from people with no better than a high school education, and an immigration policy that has decreased the pool of labor. This leads into a discussion about inflationary pressures. While the strong dollar has been deflationary, more and more companies are passing on costs to customers. Services, which dominates the consumer spending pie, is sensitive to labor costs, and the inflation we will see going forward will be from wages. Meb then asks David about his thoughts on how this plays out for investors given the nature of the late cycle. David tells us that historically, the S&P has annualized an average of 17% per year in bull market conditions, however, this time around, it has done so with nearly half the typical economic growth rate to back that up. He suggests investors be defensive, focus on liquidity, have some cash on hand, and emphasize quality. For fixed income investors, be mindful of duration, and if focused on credit, be thoughtful of upcoming refinancing risks. The conversation then turns to sentiment. David draws parallels to the dotcom bubble, with FAANGM making up 17% of the S&P 500 market cap at September highs, which is similar to the late 1990s when there was a concentration of about six stocks making up a large chunk of the S&P 500 market cap. Next, Meb asks about David’s views on corporate bonds. David sees this in two lights. First, corporate balance sheets are the weakest they have ever been. The BBB component, which is a downgrade away from being rated “junk,” has grown from 30% of issuance to 50%. The alternative, more positive view is that companies are anticipating a lack of bond issuance coming up. Meb then asks about the health of the Canadian economy. David explains it is meandering; the oil price has been a drag and has traded at a significant discount to WTI due to a glut of production, and lack of pipeline capacity. In addition, an overinflated housing market that is deflating, and overextended household balance sheets serve as big impediments. Provinces are tending toward a pro-business direction politically, so that could serve to be a positive going forward. As a strategist, he is seeing much of the bad news priced into financial assets as the TSX is trading down to a 13 multiple, in line with emerging markets, and a discount that has been seen only 5% of the time historically. All this and more in Episode 131. In Episode 130, we welcome Eric Falkenstein. The show starts with Meb and Eric discussing ice fishing in Minnesota (where Eric is currently located). But then Meb asks for Eric’s origin story. Eric tells us about being a teacher’s assistant for Hyman Minsky, wanting to be a macro economist, the turn that pushed him toward investing, and a well-timed put option that made him a boatload in the ’87 crash. Next, the conversation turns toward Eric’s interest in low volatility. He tells us about being one of the first people to study low-vol. He was early, and the broader investing community wasn’t ready for the findings. People dismissed the suggestion that high volatility stocks (with high risk) didn’t outperform low vol stocks. Eric tells us that given all this, “low vol” wasn’t enough of a selling point – you had to layer on another factor just to get people to pay attention. Meb asks about the main value proposition of low-vol. It is a smoother ride? Better returns? And why does this factor persist? Eric’s answer touches on CAPM, high beta, low beta, risk, various premiums, high flying stocks, and alpha discovery. This bleeds into a conversation about factoring timing relative to valuations. Eric tells us he tried factor timing, but didn’t find it to be too helpful out of sample. The conversation bounces around a bit, with the guys touching on Meb’s paper, “A Quantitative Approach to Asset Allocation,” bonds and how the US is flirting with the top bucket of bond yields, whether low vol translates to global markets and different asset classes, and Eric’s take on risk parity. After that, the guys turn to crypto. Despite the current pullback, Eric believes “in the long run, it’s going to work.” He believes that crypto will eventually replace Dollars as people will want an alternative to fiat currency, something not susceptible to manipulation by politicians. He tells us that he sees a tipping point coming. There’s plenty more in this episode – Eric’s books, pithy quotes and maxims, how people often think about the specific investment they want, but not the “plumbing” such as the bid/ask spread of that investment, the volume, and so on… And as always, Eric’s most memorable trade. Get all the details in Episode 130.

2019-04-23T02:15:20Z

http://mebfaber.libsyn.com/podcast?utm_source=listennotes.com&amp;utm_campaign=Listen+Notes&amp;utm_medium=website

Feast your way through the day with some of the best local vegan friendly food producers in Ireland and the UK. Our Vegan Food Hall runs all day from 10 am til 6 pm and has something for everybody. Whether you're vegan, veggie, curious about a plant based diet or just a regular foodie, we have got you covered with tarts, tortes, cupcakes, pies, burgers, sausages, cheeses, chocolate bars, fermented foods, fudges, BBQ and street food classics, healthy whole foods, meats, fusion cuisine, super foods, raw, gluten free, energy bars, cuisines from Asia, The Middle East, Europe, North America, Latin America and Africa! Oh, did we say chocolate? Check back later to see who is going to be there. Are you curious about adopting a vegan diet, a vegan lifestyle? Going vegan is something we can do to improve personal health, stop animal suffering and Climate Change. Making a positive difference. With vegan alternatives to every animal based foods, vegan clothes, cosmetics and household products we have the power to choose a kinder, more ethical lifestyle. Make sure to get along to our events; Cork Vegfest and Dublin Vegfest where you can meet many vegans, ask questions, get advice from experts in nutrition and vegan education, get inspired and of course enjoy a huge variety of vegan foods and products. For more on veganism including helpful resources on being vegan in Ireland, shopping and a starter kit go to Vegan.ie. Terms & Conditions for Cork Vegfest are subject to change. Please check them regularly to take notice of any changes. Bookings will be confirmed on receipt of the submitted online booking form. All online bookings are binding and must be paid for in full by 15th March 2019. On receipt of the full fee, your participation at Cork Vegfest 2019 will be confirmed and your details entered on the website. All bookings are non-refundable. Cancellation charge is full balance due to the nature of this event. Subletting exhibiting space in part or in its entirety is not permitted. Provide adequate hygiene facilities on your stall. You are asked to provide copies of your FSA registration and P.A.T. certs by 31st March 2019. Stallholders are responsible for any accidents or injuries to the public caused by their products or their use of the space allocated to them, and must arrange their own Public Liability, Product Liability and Employers Liability Insurance cover. You are asked to provide a copy of your insurance by 31st March 2019. These must be in sturdy containers fitted with lids to avoid risk of spillage. Exhibitors are required to keep food at adequate temperature. Food requiring refrigeration must be kept at 5°. Food that is being kept hot after cooking or reheating must be maintained at a temperature of 63o C or above. Exhibitors are responsible for setup and breakdown of their exhibits. There will be limited number of volunteers for navigating you at the main exhibiting space. Set up happens on Friday 26th April (14:00 - 20:00). The event on Saturday 27th April runs from 11:00 - 18:00. Exhibit tables must be fully staffed and must remain fully staffed and prepared to interact with attendees from 11:00 am until 6:00 pm. Equipment load out begins at 6 pm. No early breakdown will be permitted. All materials must be removed from the grounds by 8 pm sharp. Your stall will be positioned in such a manner as to not obstruct the safe movement of persons throughout the day. You are asked to ensure that throughout the day circulation routes are kept clear and no additional obstructions are created. Signage should be legible, easily visible and identifying of the organization or business. Please be mindful when speaking with attendees that Cork Vegfest aims to be 100% vegan friendly event and do not make non-vegan culinary/dietary/lifestyle/product recommendations. Access to the exhibition area will only be allowed with the appropriate tickets. A total of 2 tickets will be given to you before the event. These allow access to the venue during setup and breakdown periods, and also allow admittance and re-admittance to the show should you wish to leave the venue temporarily and re-enter at a later time. There is limited electricity available in the venue. It is by pre-arrangement only. You must bring your own extension leads. Any electrical equipment used must be PAT tested, CE rated, and suitable for use on a standard 13 Amp circuit (standard domestic circuit). Any cables must be positioned in a manner to avoid creating a trip hazard. Exhibitor will not interfere with the safety, success and effectiveness of Cork Vegfest. This includes but is not limited to behaviour, display materials, literature, equipment, or operations, unusual odors, noise level or extending beyond exhibitor’s space and/or blockage of public passageways. If applicable all exhibitors/caterers are required to bring their own portable sinks for hand and equipment washing. Stallholders must, where necessary, provide a sufficient number of suitable containers for waste until it can be removed from the stall. It is mandatory for all food vendors to use compostable packaging only. We also encourage vendors to offer a discount to individuals bringing their own food containers. Other food vendors should try to use compostable or reusable packaging. Leaflets should be paper/compostable and vendors should encourage people to take pictures of their flyers to reduce these single use items. All vendors are responsible for their own rubbish if any. There is a first aid post onsite (see floor plan). In the case of any accidents or emergencies requiring urgent treatment, please visit the first aid point. In the event of a fire (which will be indicated by the fire alarm bell) or other emergency, you must immediately leave the venue and follow the instructions of the venue Fire Warden. Make your way to the advised assembly point to be included in the role call. There is a no smoking policy on the premises of Cork City Hall. Exhibitors, visitors and speakers at Cork Vegfest may appear in promotional photos for the event without prior consultation. All exhibitors are encouraged to promote Cork Vegfest through their websites, newsletters or other media channels. 2,000+ attendees are anticipated over the course of day. Please plan accordingly. Samples and sales/special offers are welcome as listed and approved by Cork Vegfest in Exhibitor’s Terms & Conditions. Cork Vegfest happens on Saturday 27th April in Cork City Hall (entrance from Terence McSwiney Quay).. Cork Vegfest will start at 11 am and doors close at 6:00 pm. Where can I park my car or bike? Cyclists will find several bike racks on the sides of Cork City Hall. To park your car, you can use ample street parking available in Cork City. Programme will be published 2 weeks before the event. Please check our What’s On section to learn more. Do I have to be vegan to attend? No, you don’t have to be vegan to attend. Everyone is welcome. How do I get there? By car, bus? Cork City Hall is conveniently located in City Centre. It is serviced by a number of public transport routes including buses 202, 203, 206, 207, 215, 216, 220, 223, 226. Please check bus routes and timetables here. Tickets will be available soon. Please check back in a few weeks. Afraid not. The venue and the nature of the event (masses of people, heat, etc.) are going to put your animal companion under too much stress. Kids are welcome at Cork Vegfest. Parents/guardians are solely responsible for their children. All kids must be supervised at all times. Maximum of two children permitted per ticket. Is there an ATM near by? Come prepared with cash. Check out the map below for the closest ATM. Yes, absolutely. All food will be 100% vegan. You will most likely find other dietary options (ie gluten free, raw, etc.) Enjoy! Bringing a water bottle is fine; otherwise, food, beverages and more are for sale inside. No glass bottles are permitted on the festival grounds. Are there baby changing facilities in the venue? Yes, there are baby changing facilities in ladies toilet in the Concert Hall and a baby-changing room in the Millennium Hall. Yes, Cork City Hall is wheelchair accessible. Is Cork Vegfest zero waste? Cork Vegfest aims to be as zero waste as possible. We will do our part, our vendors will be doing their part, and we need you to do your part to ensure that we all succeed. We encourage all stallholders to use compostable, biodegradable packaging. You are encouraged to bring your own food container, spoon, fork, cloth napkin, reusable shopping bag as well as your own water bottle and refill it at the event. Laura has been an animal rights activist for over 16 years, working with many groups both in Ireland and internationally. She formed the National Animal Rights Association (NARA) in 2007, which is a vegan, voluntary, pro-intersectional, non-hierarchical group based in Dublin that organizes protests twice a week, every week, on various issues. 73 Cows with Jay and Katja Wilde at Cork Vegfest 2019. Delighted to announce our screening of the BAFTA winning short '73 Cows' and conversation with Jay and Katja Wilde. 73 Cows tells the story of Jay Wilde, the first farmer in the UK to trade beef farming for sustainable organic vegan farming, giving up his entire herd of cows in the process. Dr. Ailis Brosnan is a vegan wellness expert who has over 25 years experience helping people create healthier lifestyles so they feel healthy, energised and engage more fully in life. Ailis is a vegan for over 20 years and a passionate advocate of plant based nutrient dense diets. She has a first class honours degree in ‘Exercise Science’ from DeMontfort University in the UK and a Master’s degree in ‘Health Promotion and Wellness Management’ which included nutrition. Her third degree is a Professional Doctorate degree in Health Sciences (Psychology). Ailis has many other certifications including Lifestyle and Weight Management, Plant-based Nutrition, Living Foods Instructor along with certifications in a range of holistic therapies. In her spare time she loves being active outdoors and setting challenges for herself. In 2017 she completed an Ironman Triathlon (3.8km swim, 180km bike and a marathon). Ailis will be speaking about raising vegan kids, healthy plant based tips on feeding a vegan family. Special (little) guests as a bonus. Listen to Carmel’s experience of Feeding Vegans in Cork in a Panel discussion on Saturday 27th April 2019. Christina Leopold, budding recipe developer and food blogger became vegan over 3 years ago after watching documentaries about the lifestyle. Having to start back at the drawing board in terms of what foods to eat led her to begin developing her own recipes using plant based whole foods. Using just a few staple ingredients such as dates, (hence the name, addictedtodates!) she began experimenting with delicious dessert recipes. She would then share her creations with friends, family and colleagues who encouraged her to start her own website. Dr Sean Owens is a doctor and pharmacist with an interest in nutrition, metabolic health and lifestyle medicine. In 2010 Sean elected to study graduate entry medicine in UCD Dublin, 2010-2014, and in 2012 he was selected to investigate Triple Negative Breast Cancer at Emory University, Atlanta Georgia. Sean works in inner city Dublin with outreach and homeless services. Sean is representing a team of concerned Irish health care professionals who wish to promote the benefits of a whole food plant based diet via education. His talk “Plant Based Medicine In Ireland: Challenges And Opportunities” will assess the current state of Irish health, how a whole-food plant based diet is an underutilized solution and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Fiona Oakes has made a name for herself as an endurance runner apart from the rest. She is the fastest woman in the world to run a marathon on all seven continents and the North Pole in both cumulative and elapsed time. She has competed internationally in more than 50 marathons and set 4 marathon course records around the globe, including The Antarctic Ice Marathon. In 2015 Fiona ran 6 marathons in 6 days on 6 continents. Fiona’s achievements are made even more astounding due to the fact she was told at age 14 that she would never walk properly, let alone ever run, after undergoing radical knee surgery to remove a massive tumor and her entire right kneecap. Fiona operates almost single handedly, an animal sanctuary, caring for nearly 400 formerly abused and neglected animals, all while training more than 100 miles a week in running. Fiona won the Vegan Society’s (UK) Vegan Achievement in its Diamond Jubilee year, IFAW Animal Advocacy Award in 2012, was voted VegFest best Vegan Athlete in 2012 and best Vegan Celebrity in 2014 and best vegan Athlete again in 2018. She has also given many radio and television interviews being featured on the BBC news. Fiona is the subject of a new feature documentary Running For Good by Keegan Kuhn, the maker of Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret. She’s also featured as an elite athlete in The Gamechangers – a new documentary about outstanding vegan athletes. Heather Gordon is a Vegan ultra runner. Last year Heather competed in the 4 Deserts Atacama (Chile) Crossing 2017. That was a 250km self-supported desert race. Runners must carry all their own equipment and food and are only provided with drinking water and a place in a tent each night to rest! Heather Finished 2nd in the U30 age category. Heather also finished Ultra Africa; a 220km self-supported endurance race in Mozambique last year. Meet Heather at our Vegan Athletes & Health Panel. Holly White has been working as a broadcaster and journalist for over a decade on TV3 and UTV both behind, and in front of the camera, as a presenter, stylist and contributor. She is a full-time blogger. Her website Holly.ie and popular Instagram account centre around sustainable fashion, beauty and vegan living. Holly has trained as a Vegan Chef at the Wild Food Cafe in London. She also has a certificate in Plant based Nutrition from Cornell University. Holly can often be seen on The 6 O Clock Show on Virgin media One showing TV audiences how to make delicious vegan dishes. In The End of Meat filmmaker Marc Pierschel dares to look into a future without meat and its impact on the environment, animals and ourselves. He meets Esther, a domestic pig, who turned the lives of two Canadians completely upside down Pioneers of the vegan movement in Germany, visits the first vegetarian city in India, encounters rescued "livestock" in freedom, meets scientists who are researching animal-free meat that will revolutionize the 600 billion global meat market and much more. In 2013, Marc made Live and Let Live was followed a documentary about the human-animal relationship and the history of the vegan movement. In 2016 the movie appeared on Netflix. In the summer of 2015, Marc Pierschel accompanied the Berlin activist group 'Hard To Port' on a two-week campaign against commercial whaling in Iceland. The resulting documentary 184 gives an insight into the work of activists using camera-drone drones to document the brutal whale hunting off the coasts of Iceland. In his new film The End of Meat Pierschel continues the ideas and reflections from Live and Let Live and asks for the design of a meatless world. Michael Donohoe is a professional Acrobatic Fitness Coach from Dublin. He co-own’s Fierce Fitness with Terri Walsh, in Maynooth Co.Kildare. Michael has a number of local and international winning titles in Pole Sports\Dance and Fitness. Michael represented Ireland at the World Championships in China and Romania over the last 3 years. He spends most of his time teaching Circus Arts including Hand balance, Trapeze, Corde Lisse and Pole Acrobatics around the world and at his studio. Michael has worked within the fitness industry for 13 years and has a lot of knowledge and experience of fitness programmes and nutrition. Michael has been Vegan for 4 years and finds it brings health benefits to him in his field as an acrobat. “Veganism is a lifestyle for me and has really become a central part of my life. It really is not as difficult as it is made out to be. Anyone can do it”. Meet Michael at our Vegan Athletes & Health Panel. The Firefighting Chef is a regular on the Ireland AM TV show. Paul hopes to create a greater awareness of healthier lifestyle choices by showing people how to change to more ethical, plant based food solutions. Virginia O'Gara is founder and co-owner of My Goodness. Her vegan culinary history began 20 years ago in Dallas, U.S with Food Not Bombs, an organization that uses 'waste' food as a tool for social change. Virginia has a particular interest in using fermentation as a method of promoting health, utilizing local goods, and decreasing food waste through sustainable preservation. My Goodness creates a wide range of delicious raw living food products that are vegan, gluten and refined sugar free. These include probiotic rich Water Kefir made from fermented rainwater, Sauerkrauts, Sprouts, Raw Cakes, Salads, Fermented Salsas, Paté, Vinegars, and Vinaigrette. Virginia will be part of the popular panel Feeding Vegans.

2019-04-18T20:43:25Z

http://corkvegfest.com/