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The Satoshi Revolution – Chapter 6: (Crypto) Privacy Prevents Violence and Crime (Segment 1)
 - Staff
 (Crypto) Privacy Prevents Violence and Crime
 The Satoshi Revolution: A Revolution of Rising Expectations.
 Section 2 : The Moral Imperative of Privacy
 Chapter 6: Privacy is a Prerequisite of Human Rights
 by Wendy McElroy
 (Crypto) Privacy Prevents Violence and Crime (Chapter 6, Segment 1)
 Wei Dai
 A February 6, 2018 headline in Reason magazine warned, "Governments Hate Bitcoin and Cash for the Same Reason: They Protect People's Privacy." The ensuing article spun off a quote from U.S. Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, "One of the things we will be working very closely with the G-20 on is making sure that this doesn't become the Swiss numbered bank accounts." Mnuchin rejects decentralized crypto as payment, investment, or savings systems because it cannot be easily tracked by government.
 Privacy is the battleground upon which cryptocurrency will ultimately rise or fall. The engine of crypto, the blockchain, is founded on the premise of anonymity or pseudonymity. The blockchain was specifically designed to obsolete "trusted third parties," such as central banks, which act as data-collection centers for government.
 Wei Dai and Mnuchin may seem to be polar opposites on privacy, but they are saying much the same thing, although their conclusions are antithetical. Privacy prevents violence.
 For Wei Dai, this is a good thing. Privacy is overwhelmingly positive for individuals because it empowers and protects them against government. Privacy can cloak genuine acts of violence or fraud, of course, just as free speech can promote lies; every tool can be a weapon. More often than not, however, the violence prevented is wielded by government against those who flaunt authority: tax evaders, dissenters, regulation breakers, gray or black marketeers, drug dealers and users. Government punishes scofflaws, whether or not the laws are just or despite the fact that participants consented. To cryptoanarchists, like Wei Dai, no crime has occurred unless a person is injured or property is damaged. The violence occurs when a third party forcibly intervenes between consenting adults or people minding their own business.
 For Mnuchin, privacy's role in preventing violence is a bad thing because he administers government coercion against peaceful individuals. Of course, he does not call it violence; he calls it law enforcement. That doesn't change the fact that government agents are pointing guns at peaceful scofflaws, not at the behest of any participant, but over their objections.
 Otherwise stated: Wei Dai praises privacy for promoting a society of "anything that's peaceful." Mnuchin excoriates privacy for the same reason.
 The ongoing crack-down on privacy is legitimized to the public by the faux claim that only criminals want "concealment." (The Satoshi Revolution debunks this claim in the segment entitled "What Do You Have to Hide? Everything!"
 Defenders of privacy usually give weak-tea arguments. Instead, they should straighten their spines, stand tall, and argue from high ground. The high ground: privacy and human rights are, and always have been, intimately connected concepts that enable individual freedom. Government wants people to abandon privacy because they would be abandoning a powerful threat to its authority.
 Privacy, qua privacy, is so essential to human rights that it is indistinguishable from them.
 The History of Privacy and Rights
 (Here, privacy means "an individual's right to control unrevealed personal data." If someone voluntarily fills out a government form or otherwise broadcasts personal information, then he loses the right and the power to control its future distribution. But unrevealed data can be externally demanded only through violence; people can be coerced into revealing the contents of their mind; homes can be ransacked and computers can be hacked. Crypto-privacy, as epitomized by private keys, is unrevealed information, after which the government hungers.)
 History can be viewed as a long social and intellectual experiment.
 Pretend you are God. You perch attentively above the time-space continuum in order to watch the flow and impact of concepts upon human development through the centuries. The American Revolution feeds into and inspires the French one. The British Empire begins in the 16th century as Britain establishes its first colonies that, in turn, encourage mercantilism; after World War II, what remains of the Empire collapses in the face of independence movements based on an anti-colonialism that favors communism. From the mid-16th century, the British drove the Transatlantic Slave Trade until confronted by anti-slavery voices that said "every human being is a self-owner." History is a laboratory in which the social and political affect of concepts can be charted, including the effect of privacy. Admittedly, the results are not as measurable as those produced by science, but broad outlines and conclusions are clear.
 Arguing from history provides powerful advantages. To those who value facts, concrete examples can be compelling and persuasive. Moreover, drawing on history allows the cryptocurrency community to correct a fatal mistake; namely, it is defensive about privacy, when it should be on the offense because crypto stands on the moral high ground.
 Financial independence is not the place to begin to demonstrate the link between privacy and human rights because anything to do with money arouses immediate cynicism. Money produced by work and through merit is the root of all good; it feeds families, fuels invention, and raises prosperity for all. Wealth from honest effort is to be celebrated, emulated, and protected from looters.
 But money has been demonized as "the root of all evil" by those who never seem reluctant to accept it as donations, payment, taxes, or other forms of theft. The pervasiveness of plunder is a testament to the incredible power of wealth. But plunder must be justified, or else it will be seen to be the outright money-grab it is. Thus, money and anyone who resists the theft of it are demonized as criminals or otherwise morally corrupt.
 A better place to begin to link privacy and human rights is freedom of religion and due process. A pivotal insurrection in the 16th century defined the evolution of both within Western society. It revolved around a person's right to keep his religious beliefs private so they could not be used against him in a court of law. A current version of this right is called "taking the fifth" — invoking the due process right against self-incrimination. Although this mainstay of due process is often portrayed as the last legal recourse of a guilty man, the intended and overwhelming beneficiary is the man in the street who, whether he realizes it or not, is protected against the exercise of arbitrary power.
 The insurrection has background. In 1534, Henry VIII denied papal authority and established the Church of England, which maintained most of the traditional Catholic rites. Thus Protestants, called dissenters, were often tried for heresy; torture commonly accompanied trial. In the late 1530s the Protestant John Lambert was burnt alive for heresy. During his trial Lambert became the first known Englishman to proclaim it was illegal under God and the common law to compel a man to accuse himself. He appealed to the privacy of conscience.
 The right to not bear witness against oneself had precedent in common law, but it was not enforced in English courts until in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century. Its roots are deep in the history of religious persecution. Courts of the day required a defendant to answer a barrage of questions based on evidence gleaned from witnesses or informants, without informing the accused of the charges being brought. The interrogation aimed at trapping a defendant into a confession. People were tried on mere suspicion and, if found guilty, they were required to name other heretics. Silence was deemed a confession.
 In 1563, John Foxe published the immensely influential Book of Martyrs, which has been called a "libertarian primer" on procedural rights. He argued for the right to remain silent. The right to keep personal information private.
 Famously, the Leveller and libertarian John Lilburne employed Foxe's procedures in 1637, when he was brought before the Court of Star Chamber for circulating Puritan books. Rather than being charged, Lilburne was asked how he pled. Refusing to take the customary oath, he declined to answer questions that bore witness against himself. Lilburne was fined, whipped, pilloried, and sentenced to prison until he complied. While in prison he penned an account of his brutal treatment entitled The Work of the Beast. In 1641, when the much-hated Star Chamber was abolished and the right to remain silent established in religious courts, Lilburne was widely credited.
 Puritans who escaped religious prosecution to the New World carried Lilburne's ideals, even though various colonial courts used torture to elicit confessions and required defendants to testify against themselves. By the time the colonies were states, however, six had clauses in their Constitutions against self-incrimination, and several others verged on including them. The right of a defendant against physical compulsion to speak was established at the national level in the Bill of Rights' Fifth Amendment: "No person … shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself…."
 The right against self-incrimination – the privacy of personal information — lies at the core of


text:
Sign for stagnant/unmaintained swimming pools that have been treated by the Health Department to help prevent mosquitos:
The City of Richardson responds to complaints of stagnant swimming pools. The stagnant water in abandoned, unmaintained swimming pools typically contain algae/nutrients that female mosquitos value when choosing a site to lay eggs.
Health Department staff treat stagnant swimming pools with larvicide to prevent mosquito eggs from developing into adults. The extended release larvicide we use is effective for up to 150 days and does not affect other species of wildlife. These treated locations are identified with this sign posted nearby, most likely on the fence around the swimming pool.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


Sunday, May 24, 2015
Understanding AngularJS Isolated Scope
In Angular, directives can have an isolate scope that creates an inner scope that is separated from the outer scope. There are a variety of options for mapping the outer scope to the inner scope, and this can often be a source of confusion. Recently, I've noticed a ton of up-votes for my answer to the Stackoverlow question: Differences among = & @ in Angular directive scope?
I created a simple jsFiddle to answer the question. The HTML markup looks like this:
 Outer bar: {{bar}}
 Status: {{status}}

The code behind it:
app.controller("myController", function ($scope) {
 $scope.status = 'Ready.';
 $scope.a = 1;
 $scope.b = 2;
 $ = 'This is bar.';
 $scope.update = function (parm1, parm2) {
 $scope.status = parm1 + ": " + parm2;
 }; }); app.directive("myDirective", function () {
 return {
 restrict: 'E',
 scope: {
 foo: '=',
 literal: '@',
 literalBehavior: '_USER_',
 behavior: '&',
 call: '&'
 template: 'Inner bar: {{foo}}' +
 'Inner literal: {{literal}}' +
 'Literal Behavior: {{literalBehavior}}' +
 'Result of behavior(): {{result}}',
 link: function (scope) {
 = + " (modified by directive).";
 scope.result = scope.behavior();
 { val: 99 });
 }; });
With the following result:
To break down what is happening, I offer the following explanation that I hope will help to clarify how isolate scope works. Please note that although for the sake of illustration I'm using $scope, this works equally well with the controller as approach that I recommend.
if your directive looks like this:
Then you have these possibilities for scope:
{ target: '=' }
This will bind (directive) to $ (outer scope). This is because = is for two-way binding and when you don't specify anything, it automatically matches the name on the inner scope to the name of the attribute on the directive. Changes to will update $
{ bar: '=target' }
This will bind to $ This is because again we specify two-way binding, but tell the directive that what is in the attribute "target" should appear on the inner scope as "bar". Changes to will update $
{ target: '@' }
This will set to "foo" because @ means "take it literally." Changes to won't propagate outside of your directive.
{ bar: '_USER_' }
This will set to "foo" because @ takes it's value from the target attribute. Changes to won't propagate outside of your directive.
Now let's talk behaviors. Let's assume your outer scope has this:
$ = function(parm1, parm2) {
 console.log(parm1 + ": " + parm2); }
There are several ways you can access this. If your HTML is:
{ target: '=' }
Will allow you to call,2) from your directive.
Same thing,
{ bar: '=target' }
Allows you to call,2) from your directive.
The more common way is to establish this as a behavior. Technically, ampersand evaluates an expression in the context of the parent. That's important. So I could have:
And if the parent scope has $scope.a = 1 and $scope.b = 2, then on my directive:
{ target: '&' }
I can call and the result will be 3. This is important - the binding is exposed as a function to the inner scope but the directive can bind to an expression.
A more common way to do this is:

Then you can use:
{ target: '&' }
And call from the directive:{ val1: 1, val2: 2 });
This takes the object you passed, maps the properties to parameters in the evaluated expression and then calls the behavior, this case calling $,2);
You could also do this:
This locks in the first parameter to the literal 1, and from the directive:
{ bar: '&target' }
Which would call $,5);
As you can see, scope isolation is a very powerful mechanism. When used correctly it enables you to reuse a directive and protect the parent scope from side effects, while allowing you to pass important attributes and bindings as necessary. Understanding this will be a tremendous benefit for you when authoring custom directives.
As always, your thoughts and feedback are appreciated!
1 comment:


text:
The College Student – Grandparent Connection
Grandparents are everywhere! According to U.S. Census information, more than one in every four adults in the United States is a grandparent. Most of those grandparents are Baby Boomers in the 45 to 64 year age range. That means that most college students in the United States are likely to have at least one grandparent in their life. The trends indicate that this number will continue to grow over at least the next decade and that American grandparents will be playing a central role in the lives of their grandchildren and their adult children.
The MetLife Report on American Grandparents is based on a nationwide survey of adults aged 45 or more who have grandchildren under the age of 25. This survey highlights some information about today's grandparents and at least some of the connections that they have with their college aged grandchildren.
- 63% of those surveyed said that they are giving some type of financial assistance or monetary gifts to their grandchildren.
- 70% are giving less than $5000 and the median amount is $3000.
- 26% of those surveyed are contributing to their grandchild's education
- 68% of those surveyed said they are not giving any financial advice or guidance to their grandchildren.
- Of those grandparents helping with educational costs, 46% said they are contributing to an educational fund and 24% are helping fund a college education (others may be helping with preschool, elementary or high school costs).
- Those grandparents most likely to financially help their grandchildren are women, those with more education and those with higher incomes.
These statistics give one important snapshot of a relationship between college students and their grandparents. It is clearly an important piece. When the connection between college students and grandparents is discussed, the topic is overwhelmingly around the ways in which grandparents can best financially help their college student – how much to contribute, when to contribute, how to contribute.
We know that this financial connection is important. However, it is important that college students, their parents, and their grandparents remember that there are many important ways, beyond the financial aspects, that grandparents and students can, and should, be connected. Grandparents want to help their grandchildren, and passing on their knowledge and wisdom is an important way to help.
Because most grandparents are not responsible for the day to day support of their grandchildren, not so caught up in daily details, they may be more easily able to recognize the adult that their grandchild is attempting to become. They can maintain open lines of communication and provide an important support system and sounding board for their grandchild.
We've written an earlier post about specific ways that grandparents can be involved in the lives of their college-student grandchildren. Please read our suggestions and consider how you can help your college student's grandparents to be involved, and how you, as a college parent, can encourage your student to reach out to grandparents.
The wider your student's safety net and support system extends, the better your student's chances of success.


text:
Under Title X of the Public Health Services Act, the Division of Public Health offers a wide range of
reproductive health services and supplies to both women and men.
- Fees for services and supplies are based on income.
- No one is denied services if unable to pay.
- Medicaid is accepted.
- Physical Exam including Pap Smear and Clinical Breast Exam
- Family Planning Counseling and Education
- Birth Control Supplies
- Pre-conceptional Counseling (Planning Your Pregnancy)
- Sterilization Counseling, Education and Referral
- Testing for Sexually Transmitted Diseases
- HIV Education, Counseling and Testing
- Pregnancy Testing
- Emergency Contraception
- Screening and Testing for Sickle Cell Trait and Disease


Monday, January 27, 2014
Lilly's John Lechleiter and PhRMA's John Castellani on pharma layoffs: no good answers for ScienceCareers' Beryl Benderly
This past week, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America held a "STEM Saves Lives" event (don't click on the link until you want an autoplay of the video to start) in conjunction with U.S. News and World Report. It was held to flog a new report from Battelle on what pharmaceutical companies are doing in terms of STEM education. The report is pretty mundane, with very little new substantive information (despite what USNWR's Brian Kelly has to say about it.) The real core of the report is that PhRMA members are donating time and money to STEM education. Here's my summary of the report:
 - America needs STEM! There are lots of STEM jobs!
 - America sucks at STEM education.
 - Pharma knows this!
 - Pharma is sending its people and spending its money into the classrooms to Get! Kids! Excited! about STEM.
For what it's worth, it's a worthwhile endeavor. I'm all in favor of K-12 STEM ed, no matter what form it takes.
But what I have a real problem with how the main speakers of the event, John Lechleiter (CEO of Eli Lilly) and John Castellani (the CEO of PhRMA) justify their efforts. There's a lot of talk about how STEM jobs are the future (true, but relatively speaking, they're not in pharma. They're in health care and in technology and engineering.) There was a lot of talk about how the teachers of America suck at getting kids interested in STEM (hey, if you have better ideas than "we need to get kids excited" I'm all ears.) There was a wonderful bit where Dr. Lechleiter said that kids don't want to go into STEM because it's hard -- nothing quite like impugning the moral fiber of American kids for compelling analysis.
But the highlight of the event had to be ScienceCareers's Beryl Benderly asking John Lechleiter and John Castellani, "Um, why did you have all these layoffs in the past decade, if you guys need STEM workers like crazy?" Here is her summary of the event. She asked a tough question and got absolutely horrible answers. They boil down to "Who are you going to believe, me or your lying employment numbers?" The audio is above.
[Does John Lechleiter really see Lilly as "the only one left standing"? I feel that this is a very unusual comment, but I can't put my finger on it. Also, I think it's ridiculous to assert that the layoff statistics do not account for the growth in the biological side of the house; maybe I'm wrong.]
Also, I've appended in the audio box (press the fast forward button) John Lechleiter's desire to have access to "the global talent pool" and that if Lilly can't get a visa for anyone they want to hire, it's "a disaster" for Lilly and for the scientist.
I transcribed Dr. Lechleiter's answers and Mr. Castellani's answers to Beryl Benderly below the jump, as well as Brian Kelly's (the editor of USNWR) comment as well. Trust me, they're completely unimpressive. If this is the blather that our business/media elites have to serve, we're in real trouble.
Beryl Benderly: Hi, I'm Beryl Benderly of Science Careers of Science Magazine. There have been very large layoffs in the pharmaceutical industry in recent years and many highly-skilled scientists and mid-level technical people are no longer with the pharmaceutical companies and many of them are no longer in those fields because they can't find work. That's seems... somewhat at variance with an idea that there's a skills gap? or a shortage of skilled people. Please explain.
Brian Kelly (editor of US News and World Report): Wanna try?
John Lechleiter (CEO of Eli Lilly and Company): I think the industry's being reshaped. We have a map within Lilly and you probably have a similar thing at Science where we sort of plot it out, all the pharma companies that were around in 1980 and then went through all the various permutations combinations et cetera and Lilly's the only one left standing. I mean, we're the only company in the last 30 years that's not either gone away or merged or changed names or combined. Time will tell if that's the right thing. Okay? But there's no doubt you're seeing the emergence of large biotech, so you have a Gilead, you have a Vertex, you have a Biogen-Idec in addition to a Genentech and an Amgen. And I think what we miss sometimes by looking at employment numbers which have fallen in total for what you call Big Pharma in recent years is all the activity that John talked about in the biosphere around us.
So we're working with dozens probably hundreds of partners, organizations doing everything from running clinical trials to providing us with discovery chemistry researchers that are typically run and operated and staffed by people who've had prior Big Pharma experience. I was out last week at the J.P. Morgan conference, sort of the Woodstock of the biopharma industry and the people out there who were starting companies, who were looking for venture capital money, who have things that they want to license to us, they're by-and-large people who've come out of the large company experience, they've learned from that and now they're creating value as entrepreneurs, so overall, I'm rather optimistic about the situation because I think the life sciences are just so well-disposed today for us to be discover and develop these new medicines. But there's no question the structure has changed a lot.
John Castellani (CEO of PhRMA): Just to add to what John said, I'd look at a different measure because if you look at just employment, you don't see what disciplines are rising or falling, so you have to look at that and you don't see the broader ecosystem as it becomes more and more distributed. What I look at is what's the level of investment in research and development. And in our little corner of the world, our 31 companies continue in about the same level over the last 5 years at about 50 billion dollars a year of investment in research and development... 49 and a half billion, I missed it by half-a-billion bucks. It's about 20 percent of the revenue that the companies generate. So that has stayed at a very very high level, the highest level of any other sector of the economy. And the National Science Foundation tells us that in our industry, we do about 20% of all of the research and development that is funded by industry in the United States. So when you talk to our leaders, John's counterparts in our industry and you ask them, long-term, what are you concerned about? High on that list is still the talent across the ecosystem as well in their own companies to be able to develop those therapies.
John Lechleiter (CEO of Eli Lilly and Company): I think the one other comment I would make is that I think we gotta be careful that our thought process is not just around what we have today. When I decided to go to graduate school in 1975, I had lots of people, including people employed in the field who said, "Are you crazy? They're layin' off chemists." This was the end of the polymer hiring thing and chemists were losing their jobs in the recession of the 70s and my view was, this is something that I want to do and I think it's exciting. I reckon after 4 years of grad school, the economy might look a little different. What developed about that same time? Biotechnology! So a whole new era grew out of findings in the Seventies and today, biotechnology is at least on par if not beyond exceeding the traditional chemistry technologies you find in our industry. Organ replacement, stem cells, what are all the things that we dream about or think about that could develop as industries down the road? To take on the tech side, you have IBM and Apple twenty years ago. You have Google now, Facebook. Where did that come from? Could any of us have envisioned that ten or fifteen years ago. I think this is about creating new things in addition to sort of helping the existing framework operate better.
Brian Kelly (editor of US News and World Report): As an aside, I hear that about other industries, it's sort of a forest for the trees question. Defense, high tech, on any given day, there are people out of work. But -- where's the trend line going? Again, 19 of our top 20 jobs which we are looking at projections are STEM capabilities.
 1. IF USNWR report is looking at projections for STEM fields, what do the salary trends look like? If the salary trends aren't upward, then those stinkin' employment numbers aren't the ones lying here.
 2. This comment has been removed by the author.
 3. The fact that this took place in Washington leads me to believe that the pharma companies and their trade association were primarily focused on influencing the Washington media and (especially) influencing those involved in science policy, be they think tanks, government personnel or members of Congress and their staffers. One wonders, what does pharma want in return for their 'feel good' STEM education initiative? Better tax breaks


Woodford Island
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Woodford Island is an inland island in the Far-North Coast of New South Wales, Australia. It is formed by the Clarence River where it splits into the South Arm and North Arm at the small village of Brushgrove then reforms at the town of Maclean. The island covers 37 square kilometres.
Woodford Island is mostly flood plain which supports the primary industries of sugar cane and milk producing cattle. There are a few small businesses, however, most residents travel off the island to Maclean or Grafton for goods and services.
People and geography[edit]
Through its almost exact centre is a mountain ridge. The rest is plains which is subjected to periodic flooding. The largest town is Brushgrove at the south of the island.
Woodford Island was one of the first places inhabited by Europeans on the Far-North Coast. Original settler John Small was attracted to the abundance of Australian Redcedar. The town of Brushgrove was once a major trading hub for timber, sugar and other agriculture goods due to its location on the Clarence River. This brought tremendous wealth to area and at one time the island supported many schools, a police station, many businesses and other utilities. However, due to the development of road and train infrastructure, the town has dwindled in size over the past century.
Points of interests[edit]
Hermitt Cave, Golf Course, Small's Pioneer Cemetery, Old School, Abandoned Quarry.
Interesting alleged fact[edit]
It is claimed Woodford Island is the largest inland island in the Southern Hemisphere with its own mountain range.[by whom?]. It is however smaller than many river islands in South America and Africa. It is in fact the largest Non-Delta (not formed from river sedimentation) river island in the Southern Hemisphere.[citation needed]
Coordinates: 29°31′S 153°08′E / 29.517°S 153.133°E / -29.517; 153.133


text:
Head Start Children More Likely To Receive Recommended Immunizations
Dec 07, 2007
Child Trends Data Bank has released new 2006 estimates on child immunizations, noting that, "The proportion of children ages 19 to 35 months receiving the combined series (4:3:1:3) vaccines increased from 69 percent to 83 percent between 1994 and 2004. Since this time, however, progress towards full immunization of all children ages 19 to 35 months has stalled, standing at 82 percent in 2006."
The 2006 data did not show significant differences by race and ethnicity, but did show significant differences by poverty status, with 78 percent of children living below the poverty level having their recommended vaccinations, compared to 84 percent for children not living in poverty.
Yet not all poor children are falling behind: in 2006, 93 percent of young children enrolled in Early Head Start had received all immunizations appropriate or possible by the end of the program year. Working with families to ensure access to medical services, including immunizations, is a legal requirement of all Head Start programs. This comprehensive focus on all aspects of child development makes a difference, yet only about 3 percent of eligible infants and toddlers, and about half of eligible preschool age children, get access to Head Start.
Children living in poverty face many risk factors to healthy development. Staying on schedule for immunizations helps to prevent illness and potential delays to development. Head Start and Early Head Start help these children stay on schedule, and provide other needed supports, such as identifying disabilities, linking families with a medical home, and finding dental services. Yet current funding levels limit the reach of these important programs; without substantial increases in funding for Head Start and Early Head Start, the data will continue to show that poor children are falling behind.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
Holocaust Memorial Day takes place on 27 January each year and is a time for everyone to pause and remember the millions of people who have been murdered or whose lives have been changed beyond recognition during the Holocaust, Nazi Persecution and in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.
Commemorated each year in Bury St Edmunds where a service in the Abbey Gardens at the existing Holocaust Memorial sees dignitaries and civic leaders join locals for a moment of quiet reflection and memorial, this years ceremony (2015) will be marked by the unveiling of a one and a half metre teardrop sculpture which will form a centrepiece to a new Peace Garden. The Memorial Garden Trust, a registered charity, has raised more than £11,000 for the project in the Abbey Gardens.
Rob Lock from the trust said:
"In addition to providing a more dignified setting for the annual holocaust service the Peace Garden is also designed to commemorate the murder of 57 Jews in our town on Palm Sunday, 19 March 1190. It is an event in our town's history that the trust felt needed to be publicly acknowledged.
"The teardrop is a natural and universal symbol of pity and persecution, of human suffering and sorrow. It is made from polished stainless steel; its mirrored surface reflects back to us the role we all must play in opposing humanity's inhumanity."
The Peace Garden, which is being installed by Urban Forestry, also includes 57 cobble stones – one for each of the victims of the 1190 massacre. There will also be two stone benches as seating for quiet reflection. The trust was formed by local residents and is supported by St Edmundsbury Borough Council, St Edmundsbury Cathedral, and members of Suffolk's Jewish Community.
St Edmundsbury Borough Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture and Heritage, Cllr Sarah Stamp said:
"The teardrop memorial is a very poignant symbol. Although this is an area that forces us to think about the worst acts carried out by mankind, the trust has also raised the funds and created a cultural space that they should feel proud of."
Back then Hatter Street was recognised as the Jewish quarter of the town and referred to as Heathenmans Street. It was claimed that Moyses Hall could have been their synagogue but this has now been disputed, largely because it would have been next to what was then the medieval pig market. It is more likely that the higher ground along Hatter Street between numbers 25-26 served as the synagogues location, a case strengthened by the evidence of a well beneath the basement, necessary for ritual bathing and washing. Other claims for Moyses Hall is that its name is a derivative of 'Moses' and that it was built by wealthy Jewish merchants of the town. However, 'Moses' and 'Moyses' are both common Suffolk names.
By the 1190's, the Jewish population in England numbered approximately some 2,500 people and until this time they enjoyed relative freedom of movement, the right to own real estate and access to education when compared to the Jewish people who lived in mainland Europe. However all was not rosy, In 1189, they were taxed at a much higher rate than the rest of England to finance the Third Crusade. Jews might have comprised less that 0.25% of the English population but they provided 8% of the total income of the royal treasury. This financial contribution did not render them beloved of the people though and the pro Christian ideology of the Crusades engendered an anti Semitic rhetoric.
In 1181, a dispute broke out between William the Sacristan (Sexton) of the Abbey in Bury St Edmunds and his associate Samson. Alongside the local townspeople, the Jews sided with William but unfortunately, it was Samson who came to power the next year as Abbot. In 1190, after the Coronation riots, Samson demanded that the Jewish people in the town should be placed under his authority rather than the Kings and when they refused, they were expelled under guard.
This was set among a nationwide background of disempowerment for Jews. In the same year, King Henry II enacted the "Assize of Arms", ordering that all weapons owned by Jews should be confiscated on the grounds that their protection came from the King and therefore they would not have any reason for owning arms. The weapons were turned over to the King's forces, leaving them with little defence and protection when riots broke out less then ten years later.
The 1189 coronation of Richard the Lionheart saw further state sanctification of their persecution when Baldwin who was the Archibishop of Canterbury, persuaded Richard to not accept gifts from Jewish dignitaries, and further, to banish them from the palace which was interpreted by the watching crowds to mean the King favoured persecution. That same day, a pogrom against the Jews in London occurred and again, the next day. Reluctant to get involved in protecting them at the start of his reign, Richard did not enact a severe punishment of the rioters which saw the civil unrest spread to Norwich, Lincoln and Bury St Edmunds alongside other towns.
The church and locals seized on every opportunity to justify their prejudices. When Saint Robert of Bury, a young choirboy from the abbey was found murdered (crucified), allegedly on Good Friday, his death was blamed on the town's Jewish community. Robert was buried in the Abbey church and in his Chronicle, Jocelyn of Brakelond, a monk in the Abbey during Samsons rule, even attributed miracles to him. Rumours based on the belief that the Jews had gained their wealth through sacrificial murders began to percolate through the town and their community became the focus of much anti semitic feelings. Regionally, the Jews of Norwich were accused of torturing a Christian child named William, using his blood for the Passover Seder, then killing and burying him and despite the entreaties of Pope Innocent IVs to ignore such ridiculousness, the image of Jews being dangerous to Christians became the dominant one.
After nine more years, anti semitic feelings had increased and it has been suggested that the catalyst to the massacre may have been a 'vanquish the infidels' type sermon, preached in the abbey church at a time when anti Jewish sentiments were even more heightened, it being Lent. The abbey was no longer a reliable place of sanctuary for them but Samson is recorded as claiming the Abbey was not the Kings property and therefore these 'Jews were not Saint Edmunds men.'
On Palm Sunday, the 19th March, a group of Christian Crusaders rampaged through Bury St Edmunds and killed 57 Jews followed by the obtaining of a writ by Abbot Samson, leader of the monastery, to have the survivors expelled. Previously the monastery had sheltered Jews when there was a threat of a pogrom but recently the monastery had gone into debt to Jews and therefore took advantage of the opportunity to escape having to repay those debts. Much building work had taken place in the Abbey and some major debts had accrued under Abbot Hugh, despite the churches moral teachings against usury. The offer of consecrated vestments and other articles as security against the debt gives clues about their extent and the pressure upon the monastery to do everything it could to expunge them.
Six months after the massacre of the Jews, Jocelin recorded in his Chronicle that Samson's expelling of the remaining Jews showed that he was a 'man of great virtue', an expulsion that was granted after he appealed to the King for permission to do so in October 1190. On July 1290, King Edward the First ordered their expulsion from the whole country, making England the first country to do so. There is some disagreement as to how many were forced to leaveeither 4000 or 16,000 which is some differenceand their return was not officially sanctioned until the 17th century, some 350 years later.
This event is relatively unknown in the town and wider annals of regional history and the translation of Jocelyns Chronicle that is stored in our Records Office itself omits the event. The opening of the Peace Garden, coming at a time when Jewish people all over the world face renewed persecution alongside other faiths and creeds, could not be more timely and significant. When the Holocaust happened, we did it to our own people-NOT a group of people living separately as 'others.' Europe placed them in a ghetto, they did not ghettoise themselves. The Holocaust destroyed a living and vibrant part of our European culturemusic, art, economics, politics, the sciences and left a gaping hole, a rent or whatever ugly image you wish to use which has yet to fill in. And when it does, the scar will still be there and we should continue to remember. There is no such thing as the 'past. '


[FOM] Formalization Thesis
_EMAIL_ joeshipman at aol.com
Fri Dec 28 19:27:40 EST 2007
Despite the quibbling over words, I think I understand what Chow meant
by his "Formalization Thesis". I would express his thesis as follows:
"Any interesting mathematical statement X can be adequately represented
by a statement Y in the language of set theory (or class theory)".
ZFC does not need to enter into it at this stage, since we are talking
about what can be expressed not what can be proved -- however, a
possible interpretation of "adequately" above is that a ZFC-proof of Y
would be acceptable to most mathematicians as also being a "proof of X".
The representing statement may be inelegant or may involve arbitrary
conventions (such as the Kuratowski ordered pair or the Von Neumann
representation of integers as ordinals), so that it may be inferior in
certain senses to the original mathematical statement; Chow's word
"faithfully" is, I think, intended to connote what it does in the
context of group representations, namely "without losing any essential
structure" -- ADDING structure in order to accomplish the formalization
is OK.
I believe that this version is sharp enough that those who disagree
with it need to back up their disagreement with a counterexample, that
is, a statement X which is indisputably mathematical (not
metamathematical) but which they do not think can be adequately
represented by any set-theoretical (or class-theoretical) statement Y.
Chow can then defend his thesis by proposing such a Y, and we can then
discuss whether Y adequately represents X.
I believe that my own proposed interpretation of "adequately" works
well, but I want to distinguish between the notions of formalization of
a statement and formalization of a proof. One reason for this is that I
have proposed, on this forum, a stronger thesis, which refers to proofs
and not just to formalizations. I called it "Zermelo's thesis", and
would state it approximately as follows:
Any mathematical argument acceptable as a valid proof to the community
of mathematicians is capable of being formalized in ZFC (augmented, in
rare cases, by large cardinal axioms).
"Zermelo's thesis" resembles Church's thesis from the theory of
computation; however the evidence is stronger for Church's thesis,
because we have plenty of effective tools for reducing informally
specified algorithms to Turing machine code, while "proof assistant" or
"mathematician's helper" projects are still a long way from comparable
usefulness. (I distinguish here between "Church's Thesis", formalizing
the informal notion of algorithm, and the "Church-Turing Hypothesis"
formalizing what is "computable" by real physical systems -- the latter
is an assertion about physics which is potentially falsifiable).
-- JS
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text:
Foliar Injury, Growth, And SOD Activity Of Pinus Densiflora Exposed To Ozone
Free (open access)
J.-C. Lee, C.-Y. Oh & S.-H. Han
This study was conducted to compare ozone sensitivity among half-sib families of Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora S. et. Z). Ninety families were exposed in walk-in type chambers to charcoal-filtered air and 100ppb ozone for eight hours daily over a period of five consecutive months. We surveyed the foliar injury, relative diameter at root collar (DRC) growth, and relative dry weight after fumigation. We selected five tolerant families and five sensitive families. After one year, the selected ten families were exposed to 100ppb ozone for 90 days. Every 30 days after ozone fumigation, the DRC, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, and malondialdehyde (MDA) content were measured. In the earlier stage of ozone fumigation, the tolerant group showed a relative DRC growth rate three times higher than that of the sensitive group. As well, during the entire fumigation period, the growth rate of the tolerant group was superior to that of the sensitive group. Relative SOD activity in the sensitive group was increased 30 days after fumigation, and in accordance with the fumigation period extended it was decreased. MDA content in the ozone treatment manifested at higher levels than in the control group, and the MDA content of the tolerant group manifested at higher levels than that found in the sensitive group. The tolerant group has more antioxidative activity than the sensitive group; therefore the tolerant group can restrain lipid peroxidation and other adverse effects on physiological activity. Ozone-induced growth reduction may thus be decreased in the tolerant group. Keywords: ozone, open-pollinated family, SOD, MDA, relative growth rate.
ozone, open-pollinated family, SOD, MDA, relative growth rate.


text:
Ensuring adequate health and safety is vital in the healthcare setting to prevent the spread of pathogens and to protect both the nursing professional and their patients. This free online nursing course provides the learner with an overview of important health and safety guidelines that aid in the prevention and transmission of human immunodeficiency virus and blood-borne pathogens. Other key elements of the course focus on good body mechanics that demonstrate the importance of correct posture and body alignment for lifting heavy objects or when moving patients or materials from one location to another. Ambulating the patient is one of the tasks the nursing professional performs regularly to assist the recovery process and ensure patient comfort, sleep, and relaxation when bed bound. The type and range of positions are outlined, together with procedures to apply when positioning and turning adult patients with specific spinal or surgical conditions. Range-of-motion exercises introduce the learner to the challenges presented by immobility, the impact on the patient's overall body system, and the resulting psychosocial effects. The purpose, type, and time of exercises are discussed with guidelines for planning the appropriate range-of-motion exercises, the possible contraindications and the importance of documenting a patient's progress. This free online nursing course will be of great interest to all healthcare professionals who would like to learn more about good nursing practices and techniques that help protect and maintain the health and safety of both nursing professional and patient in any healthcare setting.
Modules in Nursing Studies - Health and Safety, Movement and Exercise
In this module learn more about health and safety for healthcare professionals.
In this module learn more about positioning and ambulating the adult patient.
Learn more about active and passive range of motion in exercise.
You must score 80% or more to pass this assessment.
Start Course Now!


text:
FtsZ in bacterial cytokinesis: cytoskeleton and force generator all in one.
FtsZ, a bacterial homolog of tubulin, is well established as forming the cytoskeletal framework for the cytokinetic ring. Recent work has shown that purified FtsZ, in the absence of any other division proteins, can assemble Z rings when incorporated inside tubular liposomes. Moreover, these artificial Z rings can generate a constriction force, demonstrating that FtsZ is its own force generator. Here we review light microscope observations of how Z rings assemble in bacteria. Assembly begins with long-pitch helices that condense into the Z ring. Once formed, the Z ring can transition to short-pitch helices that are suggestive of its structure. FtsZ assembles in vitro into short protofilaments that are ∼30 subunits long. We present models for how these protofilaments might be further assembled into the Z ring. We discuss recent experiments on assembly dynamics of FtsZ in vitro, with particular attention to how two regulatory proteins, SulA and MinC, inhibit assembly. Recent efforts to develop antibacterial drugs that target FtsZ are reviewed. Finally, we discuss evidence of how FtsZ generates a constriction force: by protofilament bending into a curved conformation.
Erickson, HP; Anderson, DE; Osawa, M
Volume / Issue
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Pubmed Central ID
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)


text:
Security and economic interests continue prevailing in the EU's policy and institutional approach to migration and development, says CONCORD in their new policy paper "Coherence for migration and security – and what about development?".
This paper addresses EU migration policies and Policy Coherence for Development, and the extent to which EU policies have effectively contributed to bring about sustainable development in developing countries.
CONCORD deeply regrets that the development goals, amongst which poverty eradication and the respect of human rights, are undermined by the emphasis on border controls and security concerns, both in terms of political priorities and financial and technical assistance.
"The EU and its members have signed up to the SDGs, acknowleding the positive contribution to migrants and migration to sustainable development. Its policies however shift towards reducing migration, preventing migrants from coming to Europe and encouraging their return" says Bob Van Dillen, Chair of the CONCORD Migration and Development Task Force.
CONCORD is convinced that migration can work for development and benefit the migrants, the EU destination countries and countries of origins. Therefore, CONCORD identified key recommendations to enhance the development perspective, translated in the integration of policy objectives that put humans, their rights and their legitimate aspiration for a decent life at the centre, while tackling the systemic issues as well as preventing forced migration and displacement in its external migration policies.
"Migrants are key development actors. Development potentials can evolve and be of benefit for both their residence and origin countries only when Human Rights are at the heart of migration policies" says Johannes Trimmel, CONCORD President. "CONCORD will keep advocating for rights-based migration and development policies to de-mystify misconceptions and avoid incoherence."
The current policies are pushing people towards irregular migration channels by, on one hand, building walls, following restrictive visa schemes, hardly offering opportunities for labour migration and on the other hand, contributing towards the conditions forcing people to move. The implementation of the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals is an opportunity to reemphasize the need for rights-based EU external migration policies and to promote coherence with longer-term development objectives.


text:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has experienced substantial growth, reshaping various sectors, including the arts. Singapore's AI art scene has thrived, with artists pushing creative boundaries, embracing AI's potential to redefine the intersection of technology and culture.
Singapore-based artist Tan Wyn-Lyn combines her traditional fine art background with AI, viewing it as an extension of her painting practice. She creates generative AI video works, blurring the lines between physical and digital art. For Tan, AI serves as a bridge between art and technology, allowing her to preserve the emotional and painterly elements of her work while exploring new creative dimensions.
As AI continues to influence diverse art forms, artists are not just focusing on its relationship with their creative processes. Instead, they are increasingly intrigued by the broader implications of AI on culture and politics.
In the age of AI, Holly Herndon and Mathew Dryhurst, distinguished as influential figures in AI by Time magazine, are at the forefront of pioneering research in machine learning, software, music, and the profound influence of AI on art and identity. Their innovative approach extends beyond conventional AI applications, delving into critical questions surrounding ownership and personal identity.
The ability of AI to replicate the artistic styles of renowned musicians has ignited contentious discussions surrounding copyright issues. This became evident when a music video that was generated by AI imitating Drake and The Weeknd by a ghostwriter amassing over 9 million views, was taken down from major platforms like TikTok and Spotify. The removal stemmed from copyright claims made by Universal Music Group, the artists' record label.
This incident has intensified the ongoing debate on copyright matters and further emphasised the significance of Herndon and Dryhurst's exploration within the context of AI's evolving impact on the music industry.
Few months back, at the ArtScience Museum in Singapore, the impact of AI in the music realm was explored through Holly Herndon's digital twin, "Holly+," featured in the "Notes From The Ether: From NFTs To AI" exhibition.
Source: Voicemod's linkedin
This interactive exhibit empowers visitors to engage with Holly+, an AI voice tool capable of instantaneously morphing any audio input into Herndon's voice. Within a specially designed recording booth, guests have the opportunity to delve into the artistic potential of AI audio while observing their own voices undergo real-time transformation.
This exhibit ran from 19 August to 24 September this year.
Trevor Paglen and Kate Crawford's work at the Osservatorio Fondazione Prada in Milan sheds light on the biases present in AI training data, emphasising the ethical concerns tied to unconsented images sourced from social media.
Paglen delves into Psychological Operations (PSYOPS) and its relationship with AI, revealing how generative AI manipulates images and text to influence perceptions, inviting reflection on the power of AI in shaping our realities. This is the result of the lack of transparency in the AI industry, where misinformation can happen.
British artist Christopher Kulendran Thomas employs AI and machine learning to explore the post-Sri Lankan war era's impact on contemporary art and its connection to human rights. His immersive video installation, "Being Human," delves into this theme.
Being Human by Christopher Kulendran Thomas with Annika Kuhlmann (2019/2022). (Source: The Straits Times)
The on-going installation, on display at the Singapore Art Museum's "Proof Of Personhood: Identity And Authenticity In The Face Of Artificial Intelligence" until 25 February 2024, features AI-generated figures like Taylor Swift in a thought-provoking video. It questions the role of human creativity in an age dominated by creative machines. The installation cleverly juxtaposes AI-generated artworks with those by contemporary human artists, shedding light on the relationship between art, reality, and the emergence of contemporary art institutions in the post-civil war Sri Lankan context.
As AI continues to merge with the art world, uncertainties about its future implications for the art scene persist. Some artists are keen to uncover the unforeseen facets of AI, while others harbour concerns regarding its capacity to perpetuate social disparities and centralise authority. The future of AI in art remains a dynamic and evolving domain.
Singapore's introduction of AI-themed exhibitions highlights the nation's commitment to being a vanguard in AI and its dedication to educating the public about the various realms AI can impact.


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Resource: Case study
Atwood Primary School, a Silver Award school in Croydon, believes food education is integral to the school curriculum, and its links with Commonwork at Bore Place farm help to bring all of the strands together, from growing to cooking and food sourcing. Pupils are given "real life learning opportunities" and the skills to make informed food choices in the future.
Commonwork is a group of organisations based at Bore Place Farm, an organic dairy farm and Soil Association demonstration site 17 miles away from the school. The group has an excellent education programme and provide a variety of curriculum linked school visits throughout the year. Visits were initially funded by the Food for Life Partnership but now the school funds the visits itself.
What they have achieved
Atwood decided to send the pupils from their School Nutrition Action Group to Bore Place to learn more about farming and in particular milk production. The school has visited the farm several times over the last year to see how the farm changes, and has used the visits to reinforce many areas of the curriculum. Some examples of the activities the pupils did on the farm are detailed below:
Dairy unit tour – On their first visit it was important for pupils to see the site and become familiar with it. Pupils were able to see where dairy cows live and better understand how milk is produced. Pupils were asked to write a report back in school about what they had learnt on their visit, which is great for literacy skills. Pupils also fed back to the rest of the school about their visits by creating display boards in school, which is great for art and design.
Artificial insemination demonstration – This demonstration introduces life cycles to the pupils, the life cycle of a dairy cow, in particular.
Newborn calves visit – Pupils were very lucky to be able to see a calf the day after it was born. This was on their second visit and this really helped reinforce what they had learnt on their first visit about life cycles. It also introduced the topics of animal welfare, which is a great science and citizenship topic.
Milking viewing – Pupils were able to stay on the farm to watch the afternoon milking session, helping to reinforce the idea of food production. This is a great maths topic because pupils can see how many cows there are, how much milk is produce and also how much feed ration the cows get.
Slurry pool viewing – Nutrient recycling is an interesting topic for pupils to think about – being able to see how the waste from the farm is collected and reused is a great practical example.
Development of new cow sheds – Pupils were able to view the construction of the new buildings, which is a brilliant design and technology topic. Puils are able to think about materials and their properties and how they can come together to form a building. This is also a good activity for discussing animal welfare because pupils are able to think about what cows' specific requirements are in terms of housing.
Farm manager interview – Pupils were able to ask the farm manager some questions and get a better understanding of how a farm is organised and run as a business.
Bread making – Pupils learnt all about the cereal crops that make flour and were able to grind their own flour in order to make a bread roll each. This is an excellent exercise for food technology and science – it introduces changing state and forces.
Waste audit activity – Every time the pupils visited the farm they separated their lunch waste into recyclable, compostable waste, etc. to see what waste they had produced, reinforcing the messages of recycling.
Food miles activity – Considering where different food items have come from enables pupils to think about the impact of the food we eat everyday and consider what choices and alternatives they have as food consumers.
Vegetable plot tour – This was a great way for pupils to see what can be produced in the garden and relate it back to the plants they are growing in their garden at school. A great activity to discuss germination, plant life cycles, seed dispersal and the principles of organic production.
Battery hens talk – Animal welfare is an important and emotive topic, and seeing how battery hens can be rescued and made healthy again helps pupils to understand and again consider food choices.
Hedgerow survey – The farm was happy to have the pupils help survey what was living in the hedgerows as part of their 10 yearly survey. This activity is a good way to talk about the benefits of organic farming for biodiversity and introduce topics such as natural pest control, food chains and habitats.
What they say
Rob Veale, deputy head teacher at Atwood Primary School, says: "We feel the teaching of 'food' is extremely important in developing a pupil's education as a whole. It has an impact not only on their immediate lives but also their future lives. Pupils have the opportunity to cook a range of recipes, grow a variety of crops each year and care for chickens. Produce from the gardens and chickens are used in the cooking club, by the school canteen or sold in order to develop some project sustainability. Regular visits to the farm are made throughout the year so pupils can relate to the processes of producing food. These are real-life learning opportunities. Skills gained from these experiences are used for the rest of a pupil's life. Pupils will be able to make informed food choices and evaluate the impact these choices have on the environment."
Julia Bracewell, education coordinator at Commonwork at Bore Place Farm, says: "The aims of these visits to Bore Place are to help young people and adults to make connections: with the natural environment, with their food at the start of the production process, with each other on a local and global scale, recognising that actions that individuals take in one part of the world can have an impact on others in other countries, and vice versa. And ultimately, through these experiences, we feel it is important that people can make connections with themselves and to recognise and understand their own feelings about issues, as well as their own values and thus to be able to make decisions from an informed basis.
But for all this to happen, we feel strongly that the experiences have to be positive and enjoyable, and so we try to ensure that visits are good days out where learning and experiencing happens through fun and enjoyment… despite the often very strong smells on the farm."


Learn about the safe disposal of hazardous substances from your household. These include BBQ gas bottles, helium bottles, car batteries, fire extinguishers, butane gas canisters, most chemicals, paint and solvents.
LPG gas bottles, Helium bottles and car batteries
You need to dispose of these items safely. Take them to any of our EcoDrop recycling centres for free.
Please keep hazardous waste out of the kerbside collection bins or drains.
The EcoDrop Recycling Centres accept the following items:
 - LPG gas bottles, helium gas bottles and butane camping gas canisters
 - Car batteries
 - Fire extinguishers
 - Used engine oil
 - Household batteries
 - Liquid chemicals
 - Dry chemicals
 - Household cleaners
 - Paints and associated painting solvents
 - Fireworks
 - Refrigerators and freezers
 - Garden pesticides
 - Cooking oil
Open 7 days, 7am to 4.30pm:
Domestic quantities only.
For more information go to the EcoCentral website(external link).
Batteries contain numerous components that are bad for the environment. If put in wheelie bins, batteries can potentially harm staff and members of the public.
Collecting batteries before they deteriorate means they can be recycled appropriately, saving valuable components for reuse and reducing the risk to people and the environment.
Find a battery recycling station by visiting battery recycling
 1. Soak - Completely submerge fireworks in a bucket of water. Allow to soak overnight.
 2. Wrap - Double wrap soaked fireworks in plastic wrap or plastic bags so they do not dry out.
 3. Dispose - Place wrapped bags in the red bin.
Alternatively you can drop these off at an EcoDrop recycling centre.


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Who Must Curtsy to Whom?
One of the most mystifying elements of royal protocol to us "commoners" is the proper way to greet the royal family and how they greet each other. While no one is under obligation to curtsy or bow to a member of the royal family, the rules are still put into practice in court settings, like when the family is at a state function or celebrating Christmas in Sandringham. If the royal family is in the mood to follow strict protocol, everyone must either bow or curtsy to the Queen. Then, according to order of precedence, the order of who bows to whom goes down in order of the Queen's sons (by birth order, so oldest first), then her grandsons, her brothers, her uncles, her nephews, and lastly, her cousins. However, as third in line to the throne, William is said to have gained precedence over the Queen's younger sons in recent years. Female members of the royal family are given lower rank than male members, and until recently, wives of the sovereign's sons are typically given higher rank than her daughters and granddaughters. However, now "blood princesses" are given precedence over women who have married into the royal family. This rule only applies when the woman's husband is present, otherwise she gets bumped on down the list. These rules go down from the Queen to the lowliest baronet and also determine how members of the aristocracy enter and leave a room during formal occasions.
So, for example, if Kate and William were at an event together with William's grandmother, parents, and Princesses Anne, Eugenie, and Beatrice, Kate would only curtsy to the Queen, Prince Charles, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, while Anne, Eugenie, and Beatrice would curtsy to her. However, if William was not present for some reason, Kate would have to curtsy to everyone, including "blood princesses" like Eugenie, Beatrice, and Anne. Confused yet? Let's not even get into how lower-ranking members of the aristocracy come into play.


text:
In marketing, a coupon is a ticket or document that can be exchanged for a financial discount or rebate when purchasing a product.
Customarily, coupons are issued by manufacturers of consumer packaged goods or by retailers, to be used in retail stores as a part of sales promotions.
They are often widely distributed through mail, magazines, newspapers, the Internet, and mobile devices such as cell phones. Internet coupons have become popular recently, because there is no postal cost, and the printing cost is borne by the user (who prints the coupons) rather than the businesses issuing them.
With the help of Coupons tab, you can manage your VirtueMart consumers Coupons.
The main operations you can perform in the corresponding section of Store Manager are Refresh, Add, Edit, Delete Coupons:
When you press Add or Edit buttons Store Manager calls 'Edit Coupon' window:
'Coupon Properties' form includes:
- Coupon ID.
- Published - you can tick this checkbox if rule works or leave blank, if it does not work. Can be used for seasonal changes in prices.
- Coupon Code - unique number, that is automatically is provided by Store Manager.
- Value - enter your coupon value or calculate it.
- Percent or Total - establish the percentage or total equivalent of your coupon.
- Coupon Type - specify the type of coupon as a permanent or one-time gift.
- Minimum Total Order.
- Start and Expires date of the coupon.
Press 'Apply' button to save changes.


ETFs vs Unit Trusts: Which is better?
There is a multitude of investment products readily available to retail investors such as you and I today, ranging from financial assets such as stocks and bonds to physical assets such as property and commodities like gold and platinum.
However, there is a certain amount of complexity that is associated with investments, and many who do not have any financial knowledge or experience might lack the confidence to begin investing.
If you are someone who does not know much about investments, does it mean that you shouldn't be investing?
Fortunately, there exist a sub-class of investments called Collective Investment Schemes (CIS), such as ETFs and Unit Trusts, which make it easier for beginner investors to begin investing.
Rather than personally investing in a variety of securities directly through a broker, a CIS does all the financial analysis and management to create a portfolio that is available to investors to invest in.
Before diving deeper into choosing between ETFs and Unit Trusts works, we should understand why choose a Collective Investment Scheme in the first place?
As the saying goes, the higher the risk, the higher the return. As such, one would only reasonably take up riskier investments if they have the potential to generate higher returns.
However, to the layperson that is unable to decipher complex financial statements and economic jargon, distinguishing the risk a certain investment is associated with may not be possible.
For those seeking modest returns with a tolerable level of risk, lowering of risk can be achieved via diversification, which simply means to avoid "putting all your eggs in one basket".
To achieve diversification, professional portfolio managers will assess different asset classes and allocate them in such a way that avoids exposure to any single asset.
However, this often requires skill and larger capital outlays in order to create a diversified investment portfolio.
Collective Investment Schemes (CIS) were therefore created to tackle these problems.
More on Collective Investment Schemes
Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) and Unit Trusts (Mutual Funds) are both examples of a CIS, as money is pooled together from a number of investors into a portfolio that is professionally managed by investment companies.
This money is held in trust by an independent trustee for the purpose of investment under a professional fund manager.
The trustee simply safeguards the funds of the investors to ensure that the fund manager carries out their role based on the fund's objectives.
Benefits of a CIS:
– Investments are managed by a professional fund manager.
– Diversification of assets reduces concentration risk.
– Different types of funds allow for a wide variety of CIS with different objectives.
Shortfalls of a CIS:
– Investment decisions are made solely by the fund manager. Individual investors have no say.
– Multiple layers of fees lower the investor's real returns.
Unit Trusts
 In Singapore, the most common type of CIS is Unit Trusts. In other countries, unit trusts are known as mutual funds.
The money from investors is pooled together in a Unit Trust, with the fund manager using the pooled money to invest in a variety of assets based on the fund's investment objectives.
The investment objectives of the fund, together with the management charges and rules are written out in an agreement called a trust deed.
Types of Unit Trusts
There are many different types of Unit Trusts available, that comprises of different kinds of assets.
Each type of fund has different financial objectives and will cater to various types of investors.
Equity Risk Type of Fund
Low Cash Fund
Low-Medium Bond Fund
Medium Balanced Fund (Equity bond mix)
High Equity Fund
To determine the type of Unit Trust fund, investors should look to a document called the Prospectus, which outlines the objectives, focus, performance and fees of the Unit Trust.
Buying into unit trusts
The total value of a Unit Trust is known as the Net Asset Value (NAV), which is the value of the UT's (Assets-Liabilities). The fund can be divided into units, which refer to equal portions of the fund. For instance, for a 20-million-dollar fund which issues 20 million units, each unit will be worth $1.
Often, Unit Trusts are front-end load funds, which means that the fund is sold to investors at the NAV together with an initial sales charge. This initial sales charge is the commission for the brokerage distributing the Unit Trust and can be up to 5% of the NAV.
Often, this is hidden in something called the bid-offer spread.
– Bid price = Prices that investors sell their units
– Offer price = Prices that investors pay for their units
– Bid-Offer spread = Difference in Bid and Offer prices.
With a 5% initial sales charge to buy into the fund, the offer price would be $1.05 if the bid price was $1.00—which gives rise to a spread of 5%.
Thus, if you initially spent $1000 to buy into the fund, you would only receive $1000/1.05 = 952.38 units.
On top of the initial sales charge, there are other charges such as annual management fees, trustee fees and other administrative fees that may add up to an additional 2-3%.
Thus, if you had added up all the fees, you would have spent up to 8% of your initial capital on fees alone! Thus, even if your fund returned 5% on the first year, you would still be down 3%.
Therefore, buying into Unit Trusts are usually a mid to long-term commitment, as in the short run, you would lose out to the fees and charges alone.
When you do decide to redeem (sell) your units, there is another fee called the redemption fee, however, this is often waived after a period of time, as its purpose is to discourage the sale of units shortly after buying them, in effect reducing short-term price volatility.
Exchange-Traded Funds
Unlike Unit Trusts which do trade on an exchange, ETFs are traded on a stock exchange like ordinary equities and bonds.
While Unit Trust comprises of various financial assets to meet the objectives of the fund, an ETF usually comprises of assets that enable the ETF to track a specific Index or specific industrial sectors.
For instance, the S&P500 SPDR tracks the S&P500, and the SPDR STI tracks the performances of the Singapore Straight Times Index.
Tracking of Indexes
Given that the purpose of an ETF is to track the performance of an index, how precise it is will depend on a metric called the tracking error.
The tracking error is simply the deviation between the actual performance of the index and the performance of the ETF. Given various constraints, it is difficult for an ETF to track the respective index 100%.
Reducing the tracking error, therefore, increases the precision of the ETF to the underlying index.
Buying into ETFs
Similar to Unit Trusts, the NAV represents the total value of assets of the fund minus its liabilities.
Given that ETFs are traded on an exchange, units can readily be bought and sold by individual investors during trading hours. For Unit Trusts on the other hand, there will be a delay during unit redemption, as units can only be redeemed by the fund manager at closing.
ETFs also work based on bid and ask prices; however, the spread is often smaller than that of Unit Trusts.
This is because ETFs aim to reduce the expenses and commissions compared to a Unit Trust. Initial commissions, annual fees and management fees are lower than its unit trusts counterparts.
This is possible as ETF's are passively managed while Unit Trusts are actively managed.
What this means is that for ETFs, there is no investment team making management and investment decisions. Thus, lesser commissions can be charged. The main fees are simply brokerage fees based on the brokerage you use to access the exchange.
This is the main appeal of ETF Index Funds over Unit Trusts, as the amount of fees saved is significant.
Comparison between ETF and Unit Trust
ETF Unit Trust
Lower fees ( 1% <) Higher fees ( > 5%)
Passively managed Actively managed
Diversification of assets
Regular Savings Plans Available
Small Capital Outlay
At the end of the day, the ETFs and Unit Trusts are both medium to long term investment products that you can utilize to grow your money to meet your financial objectives.
Compared to picking individual company stocks on your own and managing your portfolio, buying into CIS will be beneficial to you if you don't have the time to manage your investments actively.
Personally, I prefer passively managed ETFs that tracks indexes over an actively managed Unit Trust.
This is because I believe that the additional fees associated with active management are simply not worth it.
Moreover, my financial objectives are simply to grow my money in a steady and low-risk way. However, if you are looking for higher returns some actively managed Unit Trusts offer, then perhaps you would prefer investing in Unit Trusts.
At the end of the day everyone's financial objectives differ, and the decision comes down to your own research and analysis!
Disclaimer: All investment opinions made in this article are based on personal experiences and are meant for informational purposes only. As such, information from this article shall not be taken as investment advice, nor is not a substitute for financial advice provided by a professional. While we strive to provide accurate and up to date information, by engaging in investments, it will be at your own risk.
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Brigitte Pientka, Beluga^mu: Programming proofs in context
Beluga^mu: Programming proofs in context
We extend a general purpose functional language with support for programming with binders and contexts by refining the type system of ML with a restricted form of dependent types where index objects are drawn from contextual LF. This allows programmers to specify formal systems and proofs within the logical framework LF using higher-order abstract syntax and avoids common and tricky routines dealing with variables, such as capture-avoiding substitution and renaming. In addition, programmers, can index ML types with contexts and contextual LF objects allowing users to define relations between them. This leads to a powerful language, Beluga^mu which supports manipulating and analyzing contexts and contextual LF objects. To illustrate the elegance and effectiveness of our language, we give concise programs for closure conversion and weak normalization.


Raoul Dufy
Raoul Dufy (_PHONE_) was a draftsman, stage decorator, fabric designer, book illustrator and ceramicist. Born in Le Havre, Dufy studied at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts. His early work was influenced by the paintings of the Impressionists.
It was Dufy's discovery of Matisse's work in 1905 that led him to leave Impressionism behind and develop a distinctive, almost calligraphic style. He began painting outdoors in the South of France, combining the color of the Fauves with the flat angular compositions of Cezanne.
After World War I Dufy focused on subjects such as regattas, casinos, palm trees and racecourses. In spite of severe arthritis, Dufy painted until his death, producing the elegant landscapes, seascapes and witty views of society for which he is so well remembered.


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Content Readability refers to the ability of your content to attract the target audience with its simplicity, clarity, relatability, and natural flow, from start to finish.
The B2B marketers confront numerous challenges to drive their content marketing campaign. However, nothing tests them quite like creating engaging content.
In fact, 60% of the content marketers surveyed during the 2016 B2B Content Marketing Trends put "Producing engaging content" as their #1 challenge.
"Readability" is one of the key factors that critically determine the engagement quotient of your content.
Simplifying Content Readability
From B2B content marketing perspectives, "Readability" isn't about "dumbing down" your content. It's about making it accessible to "your target audience".
Each target audience is different and they share some common comprehension traits. In your pursuit to create "resonating content" for your B2b audience, you should always consider those common comprehension traits.
Here are a few questions that simplify understanding of your target audience's common comprehension traits.
#1 – What's the ideal profile of my target audience?
#2 – What kind of content do they enjoy reading?
#3 – What kind of platforms do they visit more?
#4 – What is their common psychographic profile?
The answers to these questions will define the readability of your content. For example, if your target audience tends to spend a lot of time on Instagram or LinkedIn, the design of your content will vary accordingly. If they like reading specific publications, you have direct access to their style of reading. If they share a lot of infographics, you should deliver your message through interesting and engaging infographics.
Recommended Reading: 8 Content Marketing Tricks to Turn Dry Topics into Engaging Narratives
Cognitive Load: Don't Make Your Readers Think Too Hard
Source: Search Engine Land
Readability of your content is like the usability of a product. If it's too complicated for your users, it'll hurt the user experience. Not many people would engage with content that seems to make them think hard or create cognitive load. As a matter of fact, it's the same philosophy which Steve Jobs followed to build products, which played a crucial role in making Apple an iconic brand.
In other words, if it's simple enough for them, it strikes a chord with them. According to a research by Georgia State University, cognitive load affects reading comprehension significantly. Any content that forces the readers to put on their thinking cap would easily lose them. If you want your audience to find your content engaging, optimize your content to avoid creating any unnecessary cognitive load.
How Cognitive Load Affects Your Readability
Cognitive load significantly affects the readability of your B2b content. When you design your content in line with the existing mental models of your target audience, they tend to engage with it naturally. By reducing the cognitive load, you essentially eliminate the additional mental tasks required to process the information, your audience tends to find it more resonating and easy-to-consume.
How Cognitive Load Affects Your PPC Ads
Content readability isn't related long-form articles alone; it also affects the conversion of your PPC Ads.
According to Search Engine Land, the language you use while crafting your PPC banner ads should be simple enough for your audience to follow. For example, ads that use weird abbreviations tend to confuse the audience and perform poorly.
How Cognitive Load Affects Your Conversion Rate
In the UX theory, the cognitive strain is a popular phrase, which is known to cause confusion in content consumers, leading to loss of positive engagement. In the B2b marketing world where the brands employ content to nurture leads, the cognitive load can be counter-productive. As a result, it can throttle your marketing efforts and affect conversion rates.
How to Hit the Perfect Readability Score
According to Shane Snow from Contently who ran a readability test on best-selling authors, the key to building an audience is to activate the reward center in their mind. Here are some tips and tricks on how to hit the perfect readability score for your content.
Define Your Target Audience
Indeed, understanding your target audience is the first and foremost step to creating perfectly readable content. When it comes to defining the target audience, the B2b process could be quite different from B2c.
From capturing the personal and professional details of your audience to building their psychographic profile, it can be a very comprehensive process. The more information you're able to gather and analyze, the closer you get to establish a solid understanding of their needs and aspirations.
Analyze Their Reading Patterns
With regards to your B2b audience, digging into their reading habits and establishing a pattern can go a long way in understanding their interest areas.
Depending on the industry in which you operate, you can list popular media (e.g, Forbes) and niche media (e.g, HBR) to analyze their language and incorporate it into your content creation process.
For a perspective inbound marketing audience, for example, you could analyze the reading patterns of popular publications such as MarkeitngProfs, HubSpot blog and so on.
Evaluate Publications' Readability Score
In order to achieve the perfect readability score for your content, you need to set a benchmark readability ease score within your industry.
Therefore, it's essential to evaluate the publications readability score. Your aim is to achieve the target grade-level (ease score) for your content in order to optimize it for your target audience readability patterns.
Optimize Content for Optimum Readability
Once you have developed content as per the readability guidelines, it's time to test it against the industry benchmark.
While the age-old Flesch Reading Ease Test and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Test are great for determination of readability scores, B2B content marketers employ state-of-the-art AI platforms (such as Atomic Reach) to not only gauge the content readability in real-time but also recommend optimizations to improve readability.
B2B brands that invest a sizable portion of their marketing budget in content creation can ill-afford to ignore the potential benefits of readability optimization. With online consumers getting inundated with an overwhelming amount of information online, it's imperative that B2B content marketers tailor their informative content as well as marketing messages to match the taste of their target audience.


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Harold is an Old English name, meaning "heroic leader", same as the title herald. Diminutives of Harold are Harry and Hal.*Several kings of Denmark, England and Norway were named Harald or Harold*Harold (d. 1168), child martyr and saint*Harold Arroyo, Puerto Rican boxer*Harold Bloom, American literary critic*Harold Craxton (1885–1971), British composer and pianist*Harold Faltermeyer (b. 1952 as Harold Faltermeier), German musician*Harold Ford, Jr. (D) U.S. Congressman, candidate for U.S. Senate*Harold Holt, Australian Prime Minister*Harold Houser, American admiral and 35th Governor of American Samoa*Harold La Borde, Trinidadian circumnavigator*Harold Lloyd, American film actor*Harold Macmillan, British Prime Minister *Harold Norse, American poet*Harold Perrineau, American actor*Harold Pinter (1930–2008), British playwright*Harold Wellman (_PHONE_), New Zealand geologist *Harold Wilson, British Prime Minister


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There are very few experimental studies identifying hydrological pathways within rain forest slopes. Such knowledge is, however, necessary to understand why forest disturbance affects rainfall-riverflow response and nutrient migration. This study examines flow pathways within lowland rain forest slopes comprising Udults of the Ultisol soil order. Experimentation was conducted on four SE Asian hillslope units (each 5 × 5 m in plan) in the Bukit Timah catchment (Singapore Island), and in the W8S5 catchment (Sabah, Borneo Island). The flow pathways were identified by artificial tracer experiments. We evaluated how well hydrometric calculations based on tensiometry and permeametry measurements predicted the tracer patterns. The tracer work indicated much faster subsurface flows at Bukit Timah than W8S5 for the storms studied. Some explanation of the greater subsurface waterflows at Bukit Timah in comparison to W8S5 is afforded by the less steep moisture release curves which maintain hydraulic conductivity as the soil dries. Vertical flow of the tracer through the upper 1 m of soil predominated (>90 per cent of percolation) in the Bukit Timah slopes. In some contrast, a major component (approximately 60 per cent) of the tracer percolation was directed laterally within the W8S5 slopes. The flow vectors calculated using the hydrometric methods did, however, grossly under-estimate the degree of lateral deflection of waterflow generated at W8S5 and to a lesser extent over-estimated it at Bukit Timah. In part, these errors may relate to the inability of traditional hydrometric techniques to fully characterize the effect of the large and small natural soil pipes present within both catchments. In conclusion, the study indicates that marked variations in flow vectors exist within the Udult great group of SE Asian soils and hydrometric calculations may be poor predictors of these dominant pathways. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
This paper details the findings of the first replicated tracer experiment in rainforests and forms the basis for a completely new conceptual model of riverflow generation within the humid tropics. The idea was Chappell's; Sherlock was his student and conducted the tropical fieldwork. RAE_import_type : Journal article RAE_uoa_type : Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences


The Covid Dictionary
The Covid Dictionary
The Covid Dictionary
By Sneha Mahale
The pandemic has brought with it a litany of new terms that now feature regularly in our dayto-day conversations
Are you planning a covideo party to sip quarantinis with friends during locktail hour? Did you scoff at the covidiot for behaving like a morona during the lockdown?
The COVID-19 pandemic has added to our vocabulary terms like "social distancing", "zoonotic", "herd immunity" or "lockdown". Without doubt these words have helped us understand the pandemic in these uncertain times.
Researchers at King's College, London say, more than 1,000 new words have been coined since the pandemic started. Even Dictionary. com has created an official coronavirus lexicon to "welcome humor, and humility, to cope with COVID-19 and quarantines." And linguists believe that some words will stick around long after the virus leaves us.
If you feel like a 'boomer' trying to catch up on all the coronavirus slang, here's a quick round-up of some of the terms born during this unprecedented period.
A person hopeful about life after COVID-19.
Blursday: The word has been around since at least 2007 and originally referred to a day spent hung over. Now it's used to explain how no one knows what day of the week it is anymore.
BCV, ACV: Describes the period of time before coronavirus and after coronavirus.
Coronials: Bringing together the words corona + millennials, it has predicted baby boom in late 2020.
Coronacation: Refers to someone who is forced to stay at home and take time off because of the pandemic.
COVID-19 (lbs): An American slang, often used to describe the 19 pounds of extra body weight gained during the lockdown.
Covidiot: Keeps both "covid" and "idiot" intact, and is used to describe someone who flouts the rules of lockdown, hoards toilet paper or fails to follow social distancing. Coronalusional: Someone who has been having delusional or strange thoughts due to pandemic.
Corona bae: Could be the partner you are quarantining with. Or can also be used to describe a person who you are courting while following social distancing rules.
COVID-19 antibuddies: Used to describe friends or family members who have gotten on each other's nerves while cooped up together in isolation.
Coronacoma: A term coined for what felt like a never-ending period of shutdown.
Covember: The practice of not shaving during the period of self-isolation. Can also be used to describe the period of selfisolation itself.
Covidient: The opposite of a covidiot, a person who follows all government rules and regulations.
Covideo party:
Refers to a virtual television or movie-watching party during the pandemic.
Corona-divorce: The term initially began trending on Japanese social media after couples staying together during the lockdown became annoyed with one another and split up.
Coronacuts: The act of cutting one's own hair at home due to the closure of hair salons. Alternatively, it is also called a quarcut, meaning a haircut done in quarantine.
Covid waltz: The maneuvering involved when you want to avoid close contact with passers-by while social distancing rules are in place.
Doomscrolling: Refers to the excessive amount of screen time devoted to the absorption of dystopian news.
Flu Bros: People who downplay the severity of coronavirus by comparing it to the common flu.
Hamsterkaufi ng: A German slang for stockpiling food like a hamster. Infi ts: Outfits worn in conditions of confinement.
Iso: The Australian abbreviation for 'self-isolation' makes it sound a little bit more interesting. Isobar: A fridge well-stocked with alcohol to get you through the pandemic.
Isodesk: The home workplace that you've improvised to look good on video, in confinement.
Locktail hour: When you get to enjoy your quarantini, perhaps with friends on a video call.
Lexit or Covexit: Both words are inspired from Brexit (UK leaving the EU), and refer to the strategies around exiting lockdown and economic hardship.
Morona: A person who is behaving moronically during the pandemic.
Miley Cyrus: Rhyming slang makes a bit of a comeback with Miley Cyrus lending her name to the virus.
Pandating: The new language of love, it can be used to describe dating during the pandemic.
Quarantini: It keeps the word "quarantine" intact and follows it with just a hint of "martini". Can refer to any cocktail mixed to congratulate yourself on another day working from home in the lockdown.
Quaranteam: The small group of people you see during self-isolation. Quarantine and chill: Netflix and chill, for the social distancing era.
The Rona, Miss Rona, Aunt Rona: All these terms have been used to show the virus as a villain who does not play around. "Rona is often used as a playful or ironic way to refer to Covid-19, especially when commenting on more relatable, humorous challenges of social distancing during the pandemic," says
Turbo relationship: While some people broke up over Zoom due to quarantining, others turbocharged their relationship to keep it going strong.
Walktail: When you want to take your quarantini outside on a walk.
Zooming: The video conferencing platform has emerged as the go-to for everything from school classrooms and work meetings to even house parties and has transformed zooming into a verb.
Zoom mom: Mothers who are constantly using Zoom.
Zoom-bombing: The rude act of hijacking and interrupting a video conference.
Zumping: Coined for breakups during the social distancing era, slang for dumping someone over Zoom or any video calling service.
Zoom mullet: A camera-ready hairstyle developed in the lockdown. It looks presentable from the front and sides but is dishevelled at the rear.
POLLHave you taken your vaccine shot?
Pick your favorite and click vote
4 + 2 =


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The Bonding Model
A Brief Description
What is it?
A mechanism by means of which atoms, ions or groups of atoms are held together in a molecule or crystal.
A tentative description of a system or theory that accounts for all of its known properties.


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Iron Age Coins
None of the tribes that inhabited the area of modern Wales produced their own coins and coinage, therefore, was not part of the indigenous culture before the Roman conquest. Consequently, all Iron Age coins that are found in Wales were imported from other, coin-producing, parts of Britain and the continent.
Only 35 Iron Age coins have been recovered from Wales. This is a surprisingly small number, particularly when compared to the quantities found beyond the River Severn in Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and northern Somerset (the settlement at Weston-under-Penyard, Ariconium, has produced more Iron Age coins than the whole of Wales).
The distribution shows a strong concentration in south Wales, principally in the south-eastern part of the country.
The majority of Welsh Iron Age finds are of gold coins, all of which were found as single finds (with the possible exception of the three gold coins from Glamorgan that could be a hoard, see the table below).
Iron Age coins from Wales: metals and circumstances of discovery
|Single finds||Hoard||Excavated coins**||Groups***||Total|
* Hoard of 3 silver coins from Minfford, Portmeirion, Gwynedd
** Silver coins excavated from Caldicot and Whitton, and a potin from Caerwent
*** Three 'Groups' of coins: 'Glamorganshire' (3 gold staters), Landovery (1 silver coin with 4 mixed Roman coins) and Llanfaes (1 bronze coin of the Carnutes found together with a Roman coin)
Almost half of the Iron Age coins from Wales were struck by the Dobunni ('Western' issues), a tribe whose territory stretched eastwards from the River Severn from Gloucestershire. On the other hand, coins of the tribes of southern and eastern England are relatively rare from Wales, as are continental issues (Welsh finds include single coins of the Turones, Carnutes and Aedui). The absence of coins from the Hertfordshire / Essex area is puzzling given how Roman authors describe events in the years after the invasion of Britain in AD 43. Tacitus describes how Caratacus, king of the Catuvellauni, fled to Wales where he continued to lead the resistance against Roman attempts to subdue the local tribes until his final defeat and capture in 51. However, the presence of Caratacus and his followers, who came from a coin-producing tribe, has left no discernible trace in the archaeological record of Wales and it remains an open question whether or not Caratacus brought any coins at all with him during his flight to the Welsh tribes (or indeed whether the Welsh tribes would have known what to do with coins if he had).
A noticeable feature of the distribution of Iron Age coins in southeast Wales is the concentration between the rivers Usk and Wye. The native tribe in this area was known to the Romans as the Silures and there has been some debate about where the boundary between the Silures and the Dobunni to the east actually lay.
While the pattern of Iron Age coin finds in this area is certainly more similar to the situation in Gloucestershire, this should not be taken as evidence that Dobunnic influence extended beyond the Wye (or even that a boundary in the modern sense of the word existed between these tribes in the later Iron Age). In any event, the Wye, or the hills above the west bank of the river, apparently acted as an effective barrier to the spread of Iron Age coins, except in small numbers, into Wales.
The impermeability of the Wye and the Welsh highlands suggests a political or cultural rejection of coinage that perhaps indicates different exchange systems on either side of the coin using / non-coin using border.