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Smile Train and GSK Consumer Healthcare Support Cleft Orthodontics Webinar by the Association of Philippine Orthodontists
By Team Manila Republic March 24, 2022 22 views
Empowering Dental Professionals Across the Globe
The world's leading cleft-focused organization, Smile Train and GSK Consumer Healthcare supported a three-day Comprehensive Cleft Care Webinar series organized by the Association of Philippine Orthodontists (APO).
There were 518 participants from 26 countries registered for the webinar series. The highly informative online sessions featured discussions on various stages of cleft treatment for a child born with a cleft, with particular focus on the cleft orthodontics. The impressive panel of speakers included oral and maxillofacial surgeons, plastic and reconstructive surgeons, pediatric dentists, orthodontists, prosthodontist, speech pathologist, and pediatrician, who have many years of cleft and craniofacial experience. Many of the speakers work or have been trained at Smile Train's partner, the Noordhoff Craniofacial Foundation of the Philippines.
Also joining the panel was Dr. Alvaro Figueroa, a member of Smile Train's Global Medical Advisory Board. With more than forty years of experience in treating patients with complex dental problems and craniofacial anomalies, Dr. Figueroa shared his extensive knowledge on orthognathic surgery and treatment protocols for cleft and craniofacial patients.
"Individuals born with a cleft require various types of dental and orthodontic treatments throughout their lifetime," said Kimmy Coseteng-Flaviano, Smile Train Vice President, South East Asia. "This webinar series is reflective of our continued commitment to empowering local medical professionals and enabling them to provide safe, quality and timely cleft care for cleft-affected individuals who depend on us."
"GSK Consumer Healthcare is proud to partner with Smile Train to increase awareness about clefts. Together we are committed to helping more people born with clefts to gain access to quality healthcare and to advance cleft care across the world," said Emerson Aguinaldo, General Manager, Southeast Asia and Taiwan, GSK Consumer Healthcare. To date our partnership has delivered 13,500 life changing cleft surgeries, training for over 8,800 healthcare professionals, and supported 38,000 families.
In 2021, with the support of GSK Consumer Healthcare and Smile Train, the World Dental Federation (FDI) released Oral Health Guidelines for comprehensive cleft care.
"This webinar series enables orthodontists, and other cleft professionals, not only in the Philippines but in other countries to learn more about the specialized field of cleft orthodontics, and ensure they gain the necessary skills to support cleft-affected individuals," shared Dr. Janet Pandan, President of the Association of Philippine Orthodontists. "We are proud to work with Smile Train and GSK Consumer Healthcare, and thankful for their continued support as we strengthen the knowledge and capacities not only of our member dentists but also share that knowledge with our fellow practitioners across the region."
For more information about the GSK Consumer Healthcare Smile Train partnership click here: https://www.gsksmiles.com/en-us/. To learn more about Smile Train's local programs in the Philippines, please visit smiletrain.ph, follow Smile Train Philippines on Instagram @SmileTrainPh, and like us on Facebook at @SmileTrainPhilippines. And you help spread the smiles by donating to Smile Train here: www.smiletrain.org.
Pru Life UK recognizes the best of its agency force at the 2022 Prudence Ball
Earth Hour 2022 encourages Filipinos to vote for the environment's future


This display charts the history of the railway line that opened in May 1849.
Originally known as the Newry, Warrenpoint and Rostrevor Railway this rail link operated for around 150 years.
During those years it was instrumental in the growth and development of Warrenpoint and Rostrevor as popular tourist destinations for holiday makers and day trippers alike.


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By Adam D Create April 5, 2010
The Social Benefits of Soft Serve
Several of my fellow contributors at Humane Pursuits relish the small town, "real humanity" feel of Mom & Pop stores. Brian wrote about his love of real neighborhood coffee shops last November, for example.
In general, I enjoy locally-owned businesses but cannot find reason to deplore the success and use of consumer economy titans like Costco and Starbucks. Mom & Pop, in my opinion, should not have a carte blanche authority to offer less variety at a higher price. In most every place that I have lived, independent coffeehouses and other locally owned businesses still exist along side big box stores and other chains. Admittedly some places do not sustain that same variety and national chains possibly do lower the overall number of locally-owned businesses a given market can support.
Nevertheless, I think chains can and do bring positive benefits to their community, beyond mere price advantages and a greater selection. In an article posted today in The Atlantic, its author Michael Parks meditates on the importance of Dairy Queen to rural Texas. His reflections remind us that most modern corporate behemoths originally began as a Mom & Pop enterprise. He also touches on the rise of franchising which has enabled many entrepreneurs invest in and serve their local communities.
It is an article worth reading because the moral imagination brought to bear in arguments about the perils of Big Business may need a little perspective.
I leave you with the article's closing paragraph:
Finally, and most importantly, soft serve requires a machine. A machine, in turn, requires a store. Not quite solid, and made largely of air, soft serve can't survive a freezer. You can't buy soft serve in a carton. Every cone requires an excursion into the world. It is a public ice cream, meant to be eaten fresh. Following the invention of soft serve, the creation of thousands of new places to go and sit and eat it was almost inevitable.
Adam D'Luzansky lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.
We shouldn't be supporting Mom & Pop-type places because we like how they "feel." We should be supporting them because they are tied to our community, are run by our neighbors and friends, and because they support our neighbors and friends. These are the things for which we gladly sacrifice savings and the ever-over-valued demigod of choice. Indulging in the "feel" of Mom & Pop places is a post-modern exercise in overcompensation for guilt we feel from our complicity in modernity.
Similarly, that many large corporations were once small, locally-owned businesses doesn't excuse their behavior as large corporations. That'd be like excusing criminals because they were once innocent children.
Lastly, I don't understand the argument regarding Dairy Queen. Why do you need a chain to have multiple soft-serve ice cream shops across the country? And I wouldn't exactly call someone who is waiting for a chain to start allowing franchises in his area an "entrepreneur."
Otherwise, yes, I agree we need more of the moral imagination in our understanding of locally-owned businesses. I just don't see that above.
Mark, I'm making an appointment to check you into rehab.
I'm sympathetic with Adam's aversion to the reflexive hostility toward incorporated businesses often coming from Front Porchers (i.e. "Similarly, that many large corporations were once small, locally-owned businesses doesn't excuse their behavior as large corporations. That'd be like excusing criminals because they were once innocent children.") What behavior do you mean, Mark, in this context?
Franchising occurs for many reasons, and it's not an insidious, subversive attempt to destroy community. It actually gives local businessmen and aspiring entrepreneurs the name-brand and capital to make a successful start in their community.
That said, I do hate Costco with the heat of a thousand suns. Chains that blatantly prioritize utility and efficiency to the detriment of human scale deserve all the opprobrium they get, and I'm happy to join in. Trader Joe's is an example in the opposite direction.
This is a sentiment I fully support.
In response to your question, Nathan, I was thinking of something like McDonald's. They used to be just another hamburger joint until Ray Kroc made them a giant. The result was a shift from quality, local food to mass-produced junk food sold as cheap as possible and marketed towards low income earners.
Bryan Wandel
Mark is dead-on regarding the fuzzy feeling of buying local (or green or whatever other penitential compensation we do to paint over our discomfort with modernity). I think the positive argument he is making is one of ontology and, what seems to be a favorite trope of Mark's, defining the Good in order to obtain a correct ordering of values.
If the argument is (in part) ontological, then issues of "efficiency" are rephrased as issues of ends. Ultimately, what we are talking about here is whether moral existence is basically the same in any place/time, or whether historical conditions can play a role in the ability to be more or less (ontologically) human. The former extreme is one of individual moral culpability, and the latter extreme is sometimes called "historicism." In Natural Right and History, Strauss savaged Edmund Burke by claiming that Burke's theory opened the door for the latter. Strauss, that indefatigable defender of the absoluteness of human nature, was blinded from seeing in Burke the possibility that ontological needs/demands could be historically conditioned in a way that did not destroy them, but (even) refined them.
Adam – I know you aren't claiming man is homo economicus, but Mark's alternative is also not quite the extreme of homo localis. In part, he is making a philosophical point about the conditions under which moral/ontological being can be more fully realized, and the means by which that might occur (the means being, often, the human-to-human interactions of life, thus creating a preference for the local, the locally-sourced, the transaction defined as interaction).
Adam D'Luzansky
Boy howdy. Here we go…
On the "Mom & Pop" feeling issue: I would heartily agree with Mark's criticism of people who shop locally merely because they feel better about doing so. That is similar to the argument that I have made about fair trade coffee.
In Mark's initial reply, he defined the correct motives for buying local:
"We should be supporting them because they are tied to our community, are run by our neighbors and friends, and because they support our neighbors and friends."
Excellent point. I agree. But I would include the local Walmart management and staff among those people who are tied to our community and who are supported by my patronage of Walmart.
Mark doesn't clarify why larger corporations or chains are inherently bad.
My main point in the original post was to simply argue for a via media in the debate between "local business" and "Big Business." I think the inherent goodness of Mom & Pop stores has often been overstated, as has the inherent badness of larger corporations.
I would ask Mark, at what point does a growing, successful local business no longer deserve your patronage? After they open another store in the next town over? the next county? the next state?
I appreciated Nathan's comments on franchising and I would say that issue is one of the upsides of bigger companies that I think radical localists overlook.
To Mark's question about the relevance of Dairy Queen, let me quickly say that of course you don't "need" a franchise to serve soft serve ice cream. Many entrepreneurs indeed do not wait for a franchise to come along. But for some it is a legitimate way to get started. Owning a local business, especially a restaurant, is a highly volatile and unstable venture. Many have personal circumstances in which they can bear those capital and cash flow risks. Many others do not.
The soft serve story interested me because of the idea of an inherently public dessert. If you read the article, the franchise aspect was tangential. Soft serve is interesting because it can't be made in the home and can't be purchased for home consumption. Though nitpickers may rightly point out that you could slurp it all down in your car.
The DQ brand helped launch soft serve's commercial success. Many Mom & Pop stores can and do offer soft serve ice cream, at least in part because there is greater demand for it.
Similarly, Starbucks is–in large part–responsible for the growth and success of independent coffeehouses and, for those that like it, fair trade coffee. Before the late 1990's boom of Starbucks, most people drank "mass produced" Folgers in their homes. Starbucks popularized the idea of a coffeehouse cup of coffee, which previously had only been of interest to a smaller demographic (think young urban professionals).
That brings me to the point that Mark makes about Mickey D's. Sure they may sell unhealthy food. But it isn't like Mom & Pop have been selling "high quality, local food" for ages. While farmers markets are more likely to offer those nutritious local items, many Mom & Pop restaurants and general stores — both ages ago and today — sold processed and unhealthy stuff. This isn't a strike against them in my book, but rather another example of the overinflated appreciation of the small town store.
I say that not to defend Ronald Inc–there are plenty of legitimately bad things about them. I did once live in an area where the grocery store didn't stock fresh vegetables but did have two McDonalds. However, I think we can appreciate the mixed reputation of both sides of this debate if we stop lionizing one and vilifying the other. That last sentence is really my main point.
Adam-
I see that you value human-to-human contact, even in economic transactions. That's a good point of commonality to start with.
Let me build on it in a brief post to follow.
Nathan P Origer
I did my best not to indulge, but I couldn't decline something as silky and sweetly delicious as rich, creamy soft-serve vanilla.
Adam, two initial points about your original post, wherewith I find myself, with qualifications, shaking my head in broad disagreement.
1. A quibbling note in re "[I] cannot find reason to deplore the success and use of consumer economy titans like Costco and Starbucks. Mom & Pop, in my opinion, should not have a carte blanche authority to offer less variety at a higher price."
Costco may sell at impressively lower prices, but it's worth noting that an inherent part of their strategy here is offering less variety. Slightly less quibblingly, I submit that the implication here about small businesses is unfair overgeneralization. For one geographically relevant example, I encourage you to make the drive to one of the DC region's locally owned Magruder's Supermarkets locations next time you need groceries. Sure, their prices aren't competitive with a giant, but they're no more expensive than a Giant (See what I did there!) or Safeway, their sale ads are impressive (Wednesday issue of the Post, and they offer much better meat and produce than most chain competitors — all in a distinctly more humane setting.
2. You write, "Nevertheless, I think chains can and do bring positive benefits to their community, beyond mere price advantages and a greater selection. In an article posted today in The Atlantic, its author Michael Parks meditates on the importance of Dairy Queen to rural Texas. His reflections remind us that most modern corporate behemoths originally began as a Mom & Pop enterprise. He also touches on the rise of franchising which has enabled many entrepreneurs invest in and serve their local communities."
And just what are these additional positive benefits? The failure to elaborate here (notwithstanding your later comments about the benefits to franchisees (when the franchisor doesn't make franchising such a hellacious experience as to make the local owner little more than a pawn, rather than any sort of entrepreneur — but I digress), which are, within reason, good, although wholly unnecessary as you concede, and, further, notwithstanding the point you make about Dairy Queen's popularizing soft-serve, assuming that this is a good in any meaningful sense of the term) is what troubles me most about your disquisition: You tell me that chains are, or at least can be, good for reasons beyond cheap variety, but I have no idea what these benefits are. Maybe the relocation of the great bulk of economic activity to car-demanding fringe areas? The slow, painful neglect of older, more aesthetically pleasing buildings — that often tie us to our ancestors, filial and communal — in more walkable — one may say "humane" — districts?
Now, assuming, arguendo, that franchising is good, at least in so far as it "has enabled many entrepreneurs invest in and serve their local communities", should we not question whether this is so because these local communities have always needed such particular investment and service, or because the (accelerated, in the last few decades) rise of chains has, by refocusing the bulk of economic activity from myriad dispersed communities to regional hubs, left significant gaps in these local communities?
Mr. Hitchen, my friend, you write,
Whether or not Mark belongs in rehab, I assure, has nothing to do with the substance (or style) of the comment to which you offered this riposte.
In one respect, the behavior to which Mark refers is irrelevant. However seemingly unclearly he worded his comment, the point is, essentially (and, Mark, correct me if I am wrong), that having once been an aw-shucks, ma-and-pa establishment means nothing, because the behemoth no longer is. But really, we both know that, even if there's hyperbole involved, Mark is referring to the stereotypical actions of the "giant evil chain" — mistreatment of laborers (and pittance wage), disregard for environmental concerns — and "democracy", too —, and so forth.
Who's being hostile toward incorporated businesses, per se? is not the local grocer incorporated? Or the charming little bookstore? It's maybe a minor point, but one worth considering — by you, by me, by Porchers —, that incorporation isn't inherently bad (and I don't think that most — certainly not all — of the contributors at FPR would say so, though a couple may, indeed, be sufficiently romantic to make the contention) —, but it's when we separate owners not only from risk (by way of limiting liability), but from decision-making and real connection to the bricks and mortars, employees, costumers, and victims of any possible externalities (by way of public offering).
One final set of thoughts.
Adam, you write in your last comment,
[I hope that boldfacing that makes it clearer than I made quoted fragments in previous comments; my apologies.] A few problems with this extension of Mark's quite-right point. First, a significant distinction exists between the proprietor of the local grocer, general store, or pharmacy and even the management, let alone the employees, of Walmart, to wit, the proprietor has ultimate decision-making power and is familiar with the community in which he operates (and presumably resides in, or at least near, said community), whereas final decision-making power at Walmart lies in the hands of a select few individuals in Arkansas.
Moreover, given the size of a region that a Walmart generally serves, it's just as likely that the cashier who rings up your detergent at Walmart is from a town fifteen, or thirty, miles away as it is that she is from, and is tied to, your community.
See above, and consider, further, that while profits from Adam's Apples and Oranges stay in D'Luzanskyville, Walmart profits are funneled back to Bentonville. If I recall correctly, deposits are made electronically, at the end of the business day, to a bank in Arkansas (unless, maybe?, it's one of them Walmarts where they done tried to get into bankin', too). No need for Farmer's State Bank, or Community Bank and Trust, when we can ship it all "home".
This is something of a challenging question to field accurately. One of the reasons that I appreciate the "differential tax" endorsed by Belloc is that, to an extent, it leaves this decision in the hands both of local officials and proprietors, as they see fit for their own locales and companies — no need for casuistic legislation, perhaps.
I can, to an extent, sympathize with this. However, it becomes problematic when the franchising agreement, as I noted above, leaves the franchisee as little more than a pawn. I'm thinking, specifically, of Sears, where a local owner doesn't actually own any of the merchandise, but operates his entire independent Sears store as a glorified commissioned-sales setup. Other franchise-agreement problems involve costs (particularly for advertising — NAPA comes to mind here, as I've witnessed personally; but maybe McDonald's is the best example: I don't know how much a McD's franchisee pays regularly for advertising, but Good Lord Almighty, does he even need advertising anymore? Is not an image of the Golden Arches ingrained in the mind's eye of every American from youth? Perhaps, by now, it's an excuse for Ronald to squeeze a little more out of the franchisees, however unnecessarily?)
Beyond these problems, we still have to consider cultural and architectural homogeneity, don't we, particularly if we are concerned the unbought graces, if we really are looking at this issue more complexly than simply as a matter of economics?
Let me first begin by repeating what my prerogative is: to show that localist knee-jerk vilification of medium to large size business and chains is unwarranted. Those institutions admittedly have their faults, but radical localists overlook their benefits. You may be a reasonable, levelheaded localist in which case my arguments likely don't apply to you.
With that reminder, I'll move on to engage Nathan P.O.'s remarks (who I don't assume by the way, is a radical localist). Unfortunately, I must continue to follow the pattern of using numbered arguments/ideas because there are so many different trains of thought. I will limit myself to 10 bullets.
For those who won't read beyond this point (aka everyone but N.P.O. and myself), I'll summarize by saying that my two biggest concerns are: 1) the continued lack of a bright line articulated by which Mark, N.P.O. or any localist that can determine when they personally would stop supporting an expanding, successful local business; and 2) that N.P.O.'s responses made generalizations about franchises that indicated his unwillingness to join me in my middle ground of seeing them as a mixed bag with both good and bad potential.
[For those confused about pronouns, "you" = "N.P.O."]
1. You claim that I make an overgeneralization about small businesses that is unfair. I assume that you are referring to me saying, "Mom & Pop, in my opinion, should not have a carte blanche authority to offer less variety at a higher price." But I don't make any generalizations about small business here; rather I'm merely saying that I would oppose moves to outlaw or severely restrict medium to large size businesses. That is just an opinion, not a generalization—at least not about small businesses anyway.
2. What is the distinctly more humane setting that Magruder's offers? My wife and I shop at almost every variety of grocery store in a 10-mile radius of our home and Magruder's isn't one of them. Since they aren't in our community, I curious if their setting would still be more humane for us than our other options.
3. Some additional benefits that chains can bring to their community beyond increased competition could include:
-the aforementioned opportunity to franchise (I don't think I have to prove that they are good in all cases)
-opportunities for employment (larger companies can acquire the capital necessary to expand production – an issue of particular relevance in today's restricted capital environment)
-opportunities for investment returns (community banks and credit associations can only offer a limited range of investment vehicles)
-enabling supply to meet demand—a win for business owners and shoppers alike (hopefully you would not begrudge the successful local business owner who delivers a product so popular that he must open additional locations to meet demand, I'm thinking regional chains here)
4. You accuse franchises of being terrible and hellacious. I think you miss my point. I am not claiming every franchisee's experience will be wonderful, but rather that in many cases it is just fine and therefore should not be written off as wholly bad. Surely you cannot believe that anyone who chooses to open up a franchise is a mindless pawn.
5. You think franchises are somehow inherently more likely to be in car-demanding fringe areas? Not every chain is an outlet mall. This is again an example of the unhelpful generalization. Many chains populate urban "walkable" areas.
6. Your argument that chains have somehow unilaterally relocated economic activity away from dispersed communities is not compelling. I think more macro level shifts like changes in technology and gender roles bear more responsibility for increased urbanization of America. Chains may play some small role, but my guess is by comparison it's inconsequential.
7. I think we're oversimplifying things to say that Walmart's bosses in Arkansas make all the decisions [decisions which I presume you think will be bad] and that the local business owner is free to make wonderful choices. Big businesses are capable of good decisions and small businesses are capable of bad ones. The point about cashiers living too far from the community that a Walmart shopper lives in is odd. Should people only work in their own community? What is they can't find a job there?
8. The point about Walmart's profits being funneled back to Bentonville is misguided. Whether money goes back to Bentonville or not, a portion of profits go toward wages; the wages of the people that live and work near the Walmart in their community.
9. I wish that you wouldn't have punted on my request for clarification regarding when a successful local business no longer deserves a good localist's patronage. It is great that you'd prefer local municipalities make these decisions, but what is your opinion? How do you make your commercial decisions?
10. You close by belittling the franchisees as pawns again. I've already covered why that kind of generalization isn't helpful and isn't responsive to my call for a middle ground between radical localism and unlimited corporatization. You also cite franchising costs as a strike against the institution. But of course there are franchising costs, it's a trade off. You can either build your own product and brand from scratch, with all the inherent risks or your can license someone else's. In my earlier response to Mark, I said that some people can the personal and financial circumstances to bear the risks of striking out wholly on their own, while others do not
Adam, thank you for the lengthy, wordy reply. Here goes my attempt at a counter.
(First, I happily embrace the title "radical localist"; I think, however, that we may mean different things by this. I'm inclined to use 'radical' in the literal, Latin sense, of going back to the root: There's something especially conservative — if not reactionary (cf. Bill Kauffman) — about this sort of radical localism; if we are to accept 'radical' in the more recent sense, as you're using it, in contrast to "level-headed localis[m]", then I appreciate your giving me the benefit of the doubt. Caveat emptor.)
I'll summarize by saying that my two biggest concerns are: 1) the continued lack of a bright line articulated by which Mark, N.P.O. or any localist that can determine when they personally would stop supporting an expanding, successful local business AND 9. I wish that you wouldn't have punted on my request for clarification regarding when a successful local business no longer deserves a good localist's patronage. It is great that you'd prefer local municipalities make these decisions, but what is your opinion? How do you make your commercial decisions?
I should be a little more precise in responding to this point, and apologize for the punt. Politically/socially, I want to reiterate my point that I don't think any magic number exists — or should exist. Perhaps paradoxically, having a set-in-stone number here is un-localist: It's too universalist. I admit that it's problematic, but it's a problem that I'm happy to accept, leaving specific decisions to the voters and officials in each community, county, and state.
Personally, the number for me is somewhere about five (for reasons of o.-c.d. as much as anything else), with some fudging depending on circumstances — type of business, size of each unit, size of the community/ies, and so on. Having worked in a small-town grocery, I'm quite cognizant of the costs involved, and have spent plenty of time considering the benefits of expanding. If my old boss were to open a few stores, I'd applaud, and continue happily to support him, so long as these stores were close enough to his home operation that he, personally, could be present with some regularity at each of his stores. He obviously won't be living in each town, but his managers (ideally) will be, and if he's there to show that he's an active member of each community, that's great. If he expands to the point at which he loses all touch with the customers and employees in his stores, then we have a problem. (Don't worry, I realize that I may be weakening my own point about Magruder's, or so I think — I was never part of the community where their nearest store was, so I can't speak with certainty. I was never part of any community, though, when I lived in Maryland.)
If we're talking about a specialty retailer — say, for instance, a hat store — I'd be more willing to accept a few more stores, in a wider geographical area, in the independent chain (again, so long as some meaningful relationship exists between the store and the community) than I am with something as commonplace as a grocery store.
2) that N.P.O.'s responses made generalizations about franchises that indicated his unwillingness to join me in my middle ground of seeing them as a mixed bag with both good and bad potential. AND 4. You accuse franchises of being terrible and hellacious. I think you miss my point. I am not claiming every franchisee's experience will be wonderful, but rather that in many cases it is just fine and therefore should not be written off as wholly bad. Surely you cannot believe that anyone who chooses to open up a franchise is a mindless pawn. AND 10. You close by belittling the franchisees as pawns again. I've already covered why that kind of generalization isn't helpful and isn't responsive to my call for a middle ground between radical localism and unlimited corporatization.
Before, I wrote, "(notwithstanding your later comments about the benefits to franchisees (when the franchisor doesn't make franchising such a hellacious experience as to make the local owner little more than a pawn, rather than any sort of entrepreneur — but I digress), which are, within reason, good, although wholly unnecessary as you concede" [Italics new.]
AND "I can, to an extent, sympathize with [your agreement with Mr. Hitchen's comments about franchises]."
I think that it's quite clear that I decidedly don't write off franchising wholesale. I offered a couple of specific examples for what can and sometimes does go wrong with franchising. And at no point did I cite franchising costs per se as a strike against franchising. Again, I noted specific instances in which certain costs make no sense to me. It is a trade-off, and it is sometimes worth it. I meant to make a final note there, but forgot, to wit, that perhaps franchisees ought to consider working — and public policy should, perhaps, be directed — toward replacing franchise models with cooperative-ownership models. (And I misspoke: NAPA actually is a cooperative; it just happens to be a terrible example of one, in large part because of advertising, but also because it's a very convoluted structure, involving a fairly large, publicly traded parts company that is a large chunk of the cooperative — self-defeating, really. But, again, I digress.)
(Ah, damn it! I meant to close that bold tag after the word 'corporatization'. My apologies.)
The implied generalization — or, at least, the generalization that I inferred — is that it is standard policy for Mom & Pop to overcharge on a limited selection, with hopes that legislation will keep out competition, as if M&P's goal is the rip off consumers. If I read too much into it, I apologize.
This may, in some part, be a matter of definition. You're right to point out that Magruder's may be less humane, insofar as it's not in your community. When I described it as a more humane setting, I was referring specifically to the much smaller footprint that the store has than has a Whole Foods, Costco, Giant, et c.; the incredible accessibility of staff that I've experienced; and that it is a locally owned store with long roots in the DC area.
I'm not sure that it's that great of a generalization. It depends a lot on the where of any particular circumstance. In a place like DC, certainly you'll see plenty of franchises and company-owned chain stores in highly walkable places. But once you get out to exurbia and the sticks — the places that I know better —, this changes. Excepting an occasional CVS or 7-11, what remains of downtown (or what thrives, in some instances) is largely independent, while plazas, strips, and shopping centers have the bulk of the chains.
This all does raise an interesting tangential point. One of the great problems, at least from my perspective, about New Urbanism in practice is that N.-U. developments often end up featuring neighborhood-ized chains, rather than local joints, in a chicken-and-egg situation in which rents become overwhelming for local entrepreneurs. But that's a matter for a discussion all its own.
———I do want to reiterate, just briefly, my closing point:
Obviously, none of us are reducing things to economics alone, but I think that, generally speaking, in discussions about chains-versus-local businesses, this (very important, I think) point slips through the cracks. And it can be averted by using form-based codes that permit chains/franchises, so long as they adapt architecturally (although the cultural-homogenity problem, which is harder to overcome, remains). ———
You're right to assign blame for urbanization to technological and gender-role changes, for sure. I (for the most part quite lamentably) agree here. My issue is with the influence that chain retail and the automobile (itself, of course, a form of technology) have had on the strange combination of spatial decentralization — sprawl and economic evacuation of many city centers — and, more important, economic spatial centralization — the shifting of economic vitality from twenty small towns to one regional hub, which I'd suggest is similar to, but not the same problem as, urbanization. It's one set of conditions when great swaths of Americans leave the farm and Ruralia for the fast-paced city life; but it's another, more problematic one (for me — and that about which I'm complaining) when they still live in Mayberry, but have/choose/have to because they chose to drive to Generic Regional Exurb because basic economic elements — general stores, grocers, and so on — now exist in the form of region-serving megaplexes. When we focus on this, rather than on urbanization trends, I think that chain stores have played a more consequential role.
[Generally, yes, although Walmart certainly has made some good decisions, especially, of late, the decision to try to incorporate as much locally grown produce as possible — although I do have my doubts about the long-term effects of this policy.]
Big businesses certainly can, and do, make good decisions, and I've known a number of small-business owners who have made terrible choices — but w/r/t to running their businesses well and on a moral level, if you will, in how they contribute to and interact with their communities. My point, though, was that, good or bad, the ultimate power lies in Bentonville, not in the various cities where Walmart operates. Certainly, store managers — who presumably do have some meaningful connection with the community — make important choices, but they can always be overturned, for whatever reason, by the people in charge of the entire behemoth corporation.
Regarding the point about cashiers living too far away: No, I don't mean to suggest that everyone should always work where he lives. We know that to be, for better or worse, a virtual impossibility, for a number of reasons. I don't work in my hometown (although I certainly should do so, were it possible). The point was simply to counter your contention that the staff are tied to your community. I'm hard-pressed to believe that Walmart Associate Billy, working in Town A for $11.50/hr and living in Town B, has particularly strong ties to Town A. If Billy lives in Town A and works at Town A's Walmart, then he very likely may be tied to the community.
I know that I only have ties to the town where I work insofar as my job, as a planner at the regional planning commission, requires my involving myself, sometimes, pretty extensively and intensively, in the decisions made by local governments in thirty-plus towns.
That's all that I meant to convey with that point.
Why is it misguided? Yes, the wages stay in the community, but what percentage of any particular Walmart's gross income goes toward that store's employees' wages (I don't know.), and how much, rather than going to an owner who live in town, go back to a city thousands of miles away? My old grocery-store boss spends money in town when he can — We're lacking a lot of basic retail, not to mention options for entertainment, so he can't reasonably be expected to spend it all. —, whereas the Walton family, Mike Duke, and H. Lee Scott aren't likely to spend a whole lot of money in the thousands of communities where their stores operate.
My being on vacation for my anniversary precludes me from engaging in the more thoughtful reply that N.O.P. rightfully deserves. However, my friend Bryan Cleveland, shared this linked which I thought would be an entertaining yet meaningful bit of data, literally: http://projects.flowingdata.com/walmart/
It certainly isn't a piece of evidence in "defense" of a position. Just a graphical depiction of the franchising phenomenon we have discussed.
Why I am a Hypocrite «
[…] actions. Sometimes we think we are hitting a universal principle. Sometimes it's about a value, like localism, to be counterbalanced against other values. But as moral questions, that is, questions […]
Costcolocally ownedsoft serve

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: How to find the frequencies, amplitudes, and initial phases of the original signals from a sum of the signals? I have checked the other related posts (see 1 and 2), but it didn't solve my problem which is explained below:
Consider three simple sine waves as follows:
$$
x_{1}=a_{1} \sin \left (\omega_{1} t+\phi_{1}   \right ) \\
x_{2}=a_{2} \sin \left (\omega_{2} t+\phi_{2}   \right ) \\
x_{3}=a_{3} \sin \left (\omega_{3} t+\phi_{3}   \right )
$$
where $x_{i}$ is the instantaneous value of the corresponding signal, $a_{i}, \omega_{i}$ and $\phi_{i}$ are the amplitude, frequency and phase respectively.
If I add these three waves, I will get
$x=x_{1}+x_{2}+x_{3}$
How can I get back the amplitude, frequency and phase values of the component signals from $x$?

A: Consider the Fourier transform of $x(t)$, let us call it $X(\omega)$. Since the Fourier transform is linear and $x(t) = x_1(t)+x_2(t)+x_3(t)$ we have $X(\omega)=X_1(\omega)+X_2(\omega)+X_3(\omega)$. For $x_i(t) = a_i \sin(\omega_i \cdot t + \phi_i)$ we have $X_i(\omega) = \jmath \pi a_i \left(\delta(\omega+\omega_i)- \delta(\omega-\omega_i)\right)$ where $\delta(\omega)$ is the Dirac delta "function". Therefore, the Fourier transform of $x(t)$ is given by
$$X(\omega) = \sum_{i=1}^3 \jmath \pi a_i {\rm e}^{\jmath \phi_i}\left(\delta(\omega+\omega_i)- \delta(\omega-\omega_i)\right).$$
Therefore, if the frequencies are distinct, in theory all you have to do is to find the delta "peaks" in the spectrum. Their location will tell you the frequencies $\omega_i$, their complex amplitude will give $a_i$ (magnitude) and $\phi_i$ (phase).
Of course in practice we are usually faced with the situation that we do not have the entire function $x(t)$ available but only a limited number of samples of $x(t)$. In this case, the problem is called harmonic retrieval and has been very well studied in the literature. There are non-parametric ("low resolution") schemes based on the DFT (which can identify frequencies only if they are separated by more than one over the observation window) as well as parametric schemes that achieve a resolution that is only limited by the amount of additive noise (look for things like Capons method, Prony method, the MUSIC algorithm, ESPRIT). Alternatively, you can always use a maximum likelihood estimator. Such methods should be covered in most textbooks on digital signal processing.
If the frequencies are not distinct, the problem does not have a unique solution, see John's answer.

A: First, there's no solution to this problem in general. For suppose that all three frequencies are $1$, all three phases are zero, and $a_1 = 1, a_2 = 2, a_3 = 3$. Then $x(t) = 6\sin(t)$. From this, it's impossible to recover the values of the $a_i$, for $a_1 = 6, a_2 = a_3 = 0$ is an equally good answer.
Second, you're only going to be able to recover the frequencies/amplitudes up to sign, because $A \sin(kt) = (-A) \sin ((-k)t)$, and the phases up to an additive multiple of $2\pi$.
And, of course, the solutions can be permuted: you cannot, even when you've broken the signal into three parts, know which one came from $x_1$, which from $x_2$, and which from $x_3$.
Now let's assume that the frequencies are all different, but unknown. One question is, "Do you need the exact values, or is this a question of deriving answers from physical observed data, where approximate answers would suffice, because the data is also approximate?"
I'm going to assume you need precise answers, and that you have no idea what the frequencies might be. If you did have a sense of the greatest frequency, then a fast fourier transform with a peak frequency about 100 times your highest-possible would give you a very good idea of the three true frequencies.
For the last case -- different frequencies, etc.: @Florian seems to have written a very nice summary, so I'll stop here.

A: You can use the Fourier transform. Let's use the definition:
$$\mathcal{F}\left\{f(t)\right\}(\xi) \triangleq \widehat{f}(\xi) = \int_{-\infty}^\infty f(t)e^{-2\pi it\xi}dt$$
Then:
$$\mathcal{F}\left\{a\sin(\omega t+\phi)\right\}(\xi) = \frac{a}{2}e^{-2\pi i \phi\xi/\omega}\left[\delta\left(\xi-\frac{\omega}{2\pi}\right)+\delta\left(\xi+\frac{\omega}{2\pi}\right)\right]$$
You can recover the coefficients of the deltas by integrating the Fourier transform of your function in a small interval and taking the limit:
$$L = \lim_{\epsilon\to 0^+}\int_{c-\epsilon}^{c+\epsilon} \widehat{f}(\xi)d\xi$$
For $f(t)=a\sin(\omega t+\phi)$, if you do that around $c=\omega/2\pi$, the limit of the integral gives $L = \frac{a}{2}e^{-2\pi i \phi c/\omega} = \frac{a}{2}e^{-\pi i \phi}$. So $a = 2\|L\|$ and $\phi = -\frac{1}{\pi}\angle L$.
This link has some examples of how to do this on Matlab with discrete data and the Fast Fourier Transform.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Original 965 portrait
Eugen Dick
Would you have liked to order this work?
No problem, this artist works on commission.
You can order a similar work and can also customise it according to your taste (i.e. format, subject, colours, etc.).
Mounted Canvas
Dimensions 120 x 120 x 4.5 cm.
Acrylic on canvas 100% hand-painted, spatula work.
Unique and original work, signed and dated, provided with a certificate of authenticity.painted in Germany. Ready to hang. High quality, stretched and deep painted canvas (100% cotton).
High-quality acrylic colours (made in Germany), sealed.
Deggendorf, Germany
German painter Eugen Dick reveals a colourful universe in which he uses his palette to breathe life into large shimmering and saturated portraits, each depicting unique facial expressions and looks.
An artist from a very young age
Eugen Dick lives and works in Germany. It was at a very young age that he first became interested in painting, completing his first portrait at the age of eight and his first oil painting at thirteen. He trained with local artists to perfect his technique, before going on to study architecture. In 2005, he became a full-time painter.
Revealing emotions through portraits
Eugen Dick became interested in portrait techniques during his studies. Inspired in particular by female faces, he tries to transcribe their complex emotions. Their intense, fixed gazes call hypnotically to the observer. Dick works primarily with large-format canvases and acrylic, applying flat tints with a spatula.


text:
What Happens When You Wait 35 Years to Visit the Dentist
It took a long time and a lot of pain before Nancy Williams finally went to the dentist. It has been 35 years since her last visit. There was always a reason to justify putting it off: She had three kids to raise, she had a job and it was tough to take time off, plus, like many people, she was afraid to go to the dentist. Finally, she couldn't put it off anymore.
"My teeth were starting to loosen up and it was getting harder to chew and I thought, I'll go see," the 69-year-old said. "I thought maybe it was a problem with my wisdom teeth. When the doctor told me I had bone disease, I was shocked."
Nancy had advanced periodontal disease. The gum disease develops when plaque caused by food and bacteria hardens into tartar and inflames the gum line, eventually causing the gums to pull away from the teeth and the bacteria to destroy the jaw bone. As the disease progressed over the years, Nancy's teeth would bleed when she brushed them, then her teeth started to wiggle as the bones supporting the roots receded.
"I had a hard time biting and I would have to take small pieces and eat on the sides of my mouth," Nancy remembers. "My daughter always told me I had bad breath, which was because of the infection. No matter what I did, I had it. I would always chew gum or have a mint in my mouth."
It was the constant toothache that finally drove Nancy to the dentist.
"She came in because she was in pain," said Dr. Greg Stoici, a dentist at Coast Dental South Tampa in Tampa, Florida. "Her teeth were in very bad shape and she had severe periodontal conditions and she was pretty scared."
Dr. Stoici had bad news for Nancy. The damage to the teeth and the surrounding bone was so severe, she would need to have all of the top teeth extracted and most of her bottom teeth removed. Nancy was nervous about the procedure, especially since her work required her to talk on the phone. Dr. Stoici ordered temporary dentures, and when they were ready, Nancy returned to the office.
"They had to pull all my teeth but four on the bottom," Nancy said. "Dr. Stoici was so gentle. Naturally, the needle didn't feel the greatest at first, but I was so amazed by Dr. Stoici and his assistant and how they helped me relax. When he got done pulling the top, he said, 'Now we're going to work on the bottom,' and I couldn't believe it because I hadn't felt a thing. Then I had the new set of teeth put in right there."
At first the dentures felt a little strange, but Nancy quickly got used to them. The benefits were immediate.
"My son says I look much better. With the teeth they gave me, I can eat peanuts, salad, chips, just about everything I want," Nancy laughed. Best of all, the pain is gone. "I was a wreck when I went in. But all I needed was ibuprofen for a few days. That's it."
Nancy has been back several times since she received the temporary removable dentures in December.
She undergoes regular periodontal maintenance to treat the gum disease and protect the four remaining natural teeth, plus had the dentures adjusted as the bone loss recession dictated. She just received her new set of permanent removable dentures in September.
The change in her has been remarkable.
"I remember when she first came in, she was hiding her mouth behind her hand," Dr. Stoici said. "She told me she hated her smile. But now she beams."
Tampa Bay dentist Greg Stoici, DMD, has been a practicing dentist since 2006. He provides general dentistry services to patients starting at age 10. His services include bone grafting, dental implant restorations, extractions, crown lengthening, "gummy smile" correction, Lumineers®, periodontal disease management, ridge augmentation, professional teeth whitening, root canal treatment, and veneers. To further enhance his practice, Dr. Stoici stays current with the latest advancements in dental technology by attending continuing education courses on new products and technological applications. He is a member of the American Dental Association and Academy of General Dentistry and is fluent in English and Romanian. Dr. Stoici has changed locations and now practices at Coast Dental St. Petersburg, located at 7801 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N., St. Petersburg, FL 33702. The office phone number is (727) 525-4499.
Written By: Beth Gaddis
Reviewed By: Greg Stoici
Reviewed By: Cindy Roark, DMD


text:
The personal injury lawyers at Hourigan, Kluger & Quinn are committed to helping victims of sexual abuse. We understand how traumatic these experiences are and are here to help you understand your rights, either as a victim or as the parent of a child who has experienced sexual abuse. No one should have to stand alone against their abuser.
Types of sexual violence, assault and abuse include:
Institutional Sexual Assault
Often perpetrated by individuals who are usually in a position of power and authority- such as professors, physicians and clergy members.
Sexual assault cases against institutions are pursued under the civil justice system, allowing survivors to receive monetary compensation directly from the institution for their injuries, harm, losses and other damages that resulted from the assault.
Institutional sexual misconduct most often occurs at these locations:
Healthcare institutions such as hospitals and medical treatment centers
Recreational organizations such as summer camps
Departments of correction
Facilities serving the elderly and other vulnerable groups (the disabled and mentally ill)
Exposing a child to sexual or pornographic materials, obscene communications (including texts), any sexual touching or intercourse, and trafficking for the purposes of sex are all forms of child abuse. Sexual contact between family members is known as incest and can impact children and adults.
Whether it occurs in schools, workplaces, or public spaces, sexual comments, advances, threats, touches and acts are all considered sexual harassment. Stalking can also be a form of sexual harassment or intimidation.
You may be eligible to seek the following types of compensation in sexual assault lawsuits:
Medical costs associated with injuries suffered during the assault
Wages lost while recovering from the assault
Non-economic damages, such as emotional trauma and mental harm
Punitive damages if the offender has been convicted of crime
Our attorneys have experience with these types of cases, regardless of the age of the survivor. Contact us today to find out what your rights and options are for filing a civil suit.


text:
Q: How to sort joomla VirtueMart component products by order? I am using joomla Version 1.5.23, VirtueMart version 2.0.6
what I am trying is from the front end
Joomla administrator area->Components->VirtueMart->Configuration->Configuration->Product Sort Order Settings->Default product sort order.
and Use the Default product sort order drop-down menu to pick the preferred default sort order and i select ordering because I want to sort products in ordering.
but nothing happens so i want to know how can we do that from the back end.
any help is highly appreciated.
Thanks

A: I don't actually have that combination of Joomla and VM installed anywhere, but I'm 99% sure that it's just misleading labeling, in that "ordering" really should say "Select Ordering".  In other words, by clicking on that, you're not selecting any ordering, so VM isn't using an ORDER BY clause, thus leaving it to MySQL to return them in whatever order it happens to arrive at in your case.
If you have Firebug installed, you could inspect that element and see what the value of the option is (or just view the page source code), and I think you'll see that there is no value there.


text:
Podregion Imatra (fin. Imatran seutukunta) – podregion w Finlandii, w regionie Karelia Południowa.

W skład podregionu wchodzą gminy:
 Imatra,
 Parikkala,
 Rautjärvi,
 Ruokolahti.

Przypisy

Riihimäki

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Welcome to this well looked after 3 Bedroom 1 Bathroom home, set on 728sqm block Zoned R30. Perfect for First Home buyer, investor or downsizer.
Lock up and Go for this Amazing near new home with Quality finishes throughout. Showhome presentation in this 3 bedroom 2 bathroom, open plan living and low maintenance residence.


Are you struggling with life challenges? Are you feeling depressed, anxious, worried about work, life, love and relationships? Do you want to learn new tools to solve chronic problems with your significant other, parent, teenager, boss, or other difficult people in your life? When the going gets tough, do you want to move forward but feel stuck? What do you tell yourself? No matter what you're facing today know that you can persevere! What are you waiting for? Your joy is now!
Talking does help. I am committed to creating an atmosphere of trust, respect, honesty, and confidentiality. My goal is to help you develop the awareness, insight, and effective ways of coping with the challenges that life brings and getting you what you want in life.
I have over 15 years experiences working with adults, adolescents, couples, and families.


In recent times most people across country are not aware of pradaxa side effects and its complications. The easier and effective option to educate people about side effects and complications of Pradaxa drug would be filing lawsuit. The drugrisk.com is one of the stand-alone online networks available in market that help people in education and understanding the procedure of pradaxa lawsuit. If you or a loved one suffered internal bleeding while taking Pradaxa, you may be entitled to substantial compensation and drugrisk.com online site would be your one stop resource.


Learn about: Betco Express SRT (Scuff Resistant Technology) from Betco Corp.
Betco Express SRT (Scuff Resistant Technology) is a fast drying, fast curing, and low odor floor finish with black heel mark resistance. It is formulated with Max-Cure Technology that utilizes a highly durable, internally cross-linked polymer specially blended to minimize dry and cure times. The floor finish can be re-coated in as little as 10 to 15 minutes, allowing up to six coats in an hour.


Your Spine and Your Nervous System?
Here is an example to explain how Chiropractic works and why it is so much more than treatment of back and neck pain. Let's think about a garden hose, consider the hose to be a nerve and the water flowing through the hose as nerve impulses. When the hose is laid out straight without any kinks, water is allowed to flow freely and uninhibited through the hose. If on the other hand we kink or park a car on the hose, water flow is reduced or even stops flowing through the hose. If this condition persists long enough, eventually, the hose will become damaged (pain). By performing the adjustment early on, we remove the kink, allow for free water flow and begin to make plans to save the hose from further damage. This in turn allows us many more years of valuable use to others and ourselves.
The autonomic nervous system (ANS) regulates the functions of our internal organs (the viscera) such as the heart, stomach and intestines. The ANS is part of the peripheral nervous system and it also controls some of the muscles within the body. Studies demonstrating that chiropractic adjustments have a direct effect on these systems may explain why, along with pain relief, chiropractors regularly witness improvements in respiratory function, digestion, and blood pressure levels in patients beginning chiropractic care. Adjustments down-regulate the sympathetic nervous system, our flight or fight response, which is overactive in many with excessive stress. When the sympathetic nervous system is active, it causes increased heart rate, shallowed breathing, and decreased digestion in the gut, which is great in an emergency, but not where you want to live. Sympathetic overactivity is also associated with decreased immune function because one's resources are geared toward defending against more immediate physical threats than pathogens. This may contribute to why many observe a decrease in sicknesses, like colds and flus, with chiropractic.


Visit the Canoe Museum in celebration of National Indigenous Peoples Day!
First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people were the first to paddle here in Canada, and this enduring relationship continues. The shapes and styles of canoes and kayaks now (not dramatically different from many centuries ago) are the result of millennia of intergenerational knowledge sharing by Indigenous People, and this knowledge sharing is still happening today.
Last fall, we had the honour of hosting Chuck Commanda at the museum for the project Jiimaan: A Canoe for this Land. Chuck is the grandson of the late William and Mary Commanda, Algonquin canoe builders and elders. When he was young, Chuck helped his grandparents work on several canoes that are now a part of the museum's collection, including two seen here in our galleries. Chuck is now a celebrated First Nations birch bark canoe makers.
As part of our National Indigenous Peoples Day celebration this special canoe will be on display on the Grand Portage. Bring the kids for drop-in crafts and a chance to use our canoe drum, included with regular admission all day long!
We will be offering free admission after 5pm with an option to go on a guided tour at 7pm.


text:
135 Results filtered by...
135 Results filtered by
Categories > Transportation Clear All
Chicago Street Names
List of all Chicago streets with suffixes and minimum and maximum address numbers.
Tags streets gis
CTA - Map of Fare Media Sales Outlets (deprecated August 2014)
Map shows physical locations where CTA fare media, such as Transit Cards, CTA Passes and Chicago Cards were sold through approximately July 2014, prior to the implementation of Ventra cards. The locations for Ventra card sales/reloading are more extensive and not yet available in this format. Please see http://www.transitchicago.com/ventra for information on the Ventra program and https://www.ventrachicago.com/retailers/locations to find Ventra retail locations.
Tags cta chicago transit authority deprecated
Towed Vehicles
This dataset displays location for vehicles that have been towed and impounded by the City of Chicago within the last 90 days. Illegally parked vehicles, abandoned vehicles and vehicles used for illegal activities may be towed by the Chicago Police Department, the Department of Streets and Sanitation, the Department of Revenue, Aviation and the office of the City Clerk. After a tow request is issued, an inventory number is assigned by the Department of Streets and Sanitation and a truck is dispatched to tow the requested vehicle to a City auto pound. Disclaimer: This dataset includes vehicles towed or relocated by the City of Chicago; it does not include vehicles towed by a private towing company.
Auto Pound Locations (http://j.mp/kG5sgF).
Tow Process Overview (http://j.mp/lfBOEP).
Common Towing Questions (http://j.mp/imFYlp).
Parking and Standing Violations (http://j.mp/ifW8Uj).
Related Applications: Find Your Vehicle (http://j.mp/lWn0S7).
Tags vehicles streets towing
Public Right-of-Way Use Permits - Historical
As described in http://bit.ly/cdotpermitspost, the function of this dataset was replaced by https://data.cityofchicago.org/d/pubx-yq2d on 12/7/2015. This dataset is historical-only.
The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) reviews applications for permits for the temporary use of the public way for construction projects, parades, festivals, block parties, athletic events, etc.This dataset includes permits applied for, issued, amended and expired with permit start dates beginning January 1, 2011. Note a permit may be amended if any details are changed after the initial issuance. For more information about Public Right-of-Way Use Permits, go to http://bit.ly/15ypkkL.
Tags historical permits
Tags public transit chicago transit authority cta
CTA - System Information - Map Showing Bus Stop Shelters in Digital Sign Project
This dataset shows CTA Bus Stop shelters which are slated to have digital signs added to them to show upcoming arrivals. The listing is subject to change.
Tags chicago transit authority sustainability bus cta
Red Light Camera Violations
This dataset reflects the daily volume of violations created by the City of Chicago Red Light Program for each camera. The data reflects violations that occurred from July 1, 2014 until present, minus the most recent 14 days. This data may change due to occasional time lags between the capturing of a potential violation and the processing and determination of a violation. The most recent 14 days are not shown due to revised data being submitted to the City of Chicago during this period. The reported violations are those that have been collected by the camera system and reviewed by two separate City contractors. In some instances, due to the inability the registered owner of the offending vehicle, the violation may not be issued as a citation. However, this dataset contains all violations regardless of whether a citation was actually issued, which provides an accurate view into the Red Light Program. Because of occasional time lags between the capturing of a potential violation and the processing and determination of a violation, as well as the occasional revision of the determination of a violation, this data may change. More information on the Red Light Program can be found here: http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/cdot/supp_info/red-light_cameraenforcement.html. The corresponding dataset for speed camera violations is https://data.cityofchicago.org/id/hhkd-xvj4.
Tags traffic public safety transportation violations citations
Chicago Traffic Tracker - Historical Congestion Estimates by Segment - 2018-Current - Dashboard
Data Lens
This dataset contains the historical estimated congestion for over 1,000 traffic segments, starting in approximately March 2018.
The Chicago Traffic Tracker estimates traffic congestion on Chicago's arterial streets (non-freeway streets) in real-time by continuously monitoring and analyzing GPS traces received from Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) buses. Two types of congestion estimates are produced every 10 minutes: 1) by Traffic Segments and 2) by Traffic Regions or Zones. Congestion estimates by traffic segments gives observed speed typically for one-half mile of a street in one direction of traffic. Traffic Segment level congestion is available for about 300 miles of principal arterials.
Congestion by Traffic Region gives the average traffic condition for all arterial street segments within a region. A traffic region is comprised of two or three community areas with comparable traffic patterns. 29 regions are created to cover the entire city (except O'Hare airport area). There is much volatility in traffic segment speed. However, the congestion estimates for the traffic regions remain consistent for a relatively longer period. Most volatility in arterial speed comes from the very nature of the arterials themselves. Due to a myriad of factors, including but not limited to frequent intersections, traffic signals, transit movements, availability of alternative routes, crashes, short length of the segments, etc. Speed on individual arterial segments can fluctuate from heavily congested to no congestion and back in a few minutes.
The segment speed and traffic region congestion estimates together may give a better understanding of the actual traffic conditions.
Average Daily Traffic Counts
Average Daily Traffic (ADT) counts are analogous to a census count of vehicles on city streets. These counts provide a close approximation to the actual number of vehicles passing through a given location on an average weekday. Since it is not possible to count every vehicle on every city street, sample counts are taken along larger streets to get an estimate of traffic on half-mile or one-mile street segments. ADT counts are used by city planners, transportation engineers, real-estate developers, marketers and many others for myriad planning and operational purposes.
Data Owner: Transportation.
Time Period: 2006.
Frequency: A citywide count is taken approximately every 10 years. A limited number of traffic counts will be taken and added to the list periodically.
Related Applications: Traffic Information Interactive Map (http://webapps.cityofchicago.org/traffic/).
Tags sustainability traffic streets
Taxi Trips
Taxi trips reported to the City of Chicago in its role as a regulatory agency. To protect privacy but allow for aggregate analyses, the Taxi ID is consistent for any given taxi medallion number but does not show the number, Census Tracts are suppressed in some cases, and times are rounded to the nearest 15 minutes.
Due to the data reporting process, not all trips are reported but the City believes that most are.
See http://digital.cityofchicago.org/index.php/chicago-taxi-data-released for more information about this dataset and how it was created.
See http://dev.cityofchicago.org/open%20data/data%20portal/2019/04/12/tnp-taxi-privacy.html for further discussion of the approach to privacy in this dataset.
See http://dev.cityofchicago.org/open%20data/data%20portal/2017/10/24/taxi-data-behind.html for a note on data freshness.
Tags transportation taxis
Average Daily Traffic Counts - Map
Tags traffic streets sustainability
Relocated Vehicles
This dataset presents current and former locations of vehicles that have been relocated by the City of Chicago within the last 90 days. Vehicles may be relocated, but not impounded, due to inoperability, accident, severe weather, special events, construction or other work being performed in a thoroughfare where the vehicle was previously located.
Related Applications: Find Your Vehicle (http://j.mp/iZiX0B).
Tags vehicles streets
Speed Camera Violations
This dataset reflects the daily volume of violations that have occurred in Children's Safety Zones for each camera. The data reflects violations that occurred from July 1, 2014 until present, minus the most recent 14 days. This data may change due to occasional time lags between the capturing of a potential violation and the processing and determination of a violation. The most recent 14 days are not shown due to revised data being submitted to the City of Chicago. The reported violations are those that have been collected by the camera and radar system and reviewed by two separate City contractors. In some instances, due to the inability the registered owner of the offending vehicle, the violation may not be issued as a citation. However, this dataset contains all violations regardless of whether a citation was issued, which provides an accurate view into the Automated Speed Enforcement Program violations taking place in Children's Safety Zones. More information on the Safety Zone Program can be found here: http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/cdot/supp_info/children_s_safetyzoneporgramautomaticspeedenforcement.html. The corresponding dataset for red light camera violations is https://data.cityofchicago.org/id/spqx-js37.
Tags transportation public safety traffic
Traffic Crashes - Crashes
Crash data shows information about each traffic crash on city streets within the City of Chicago limits and under the jurisdiction of Chicago Police Department (CPD). Data are shown as is from the electronic crash reporting system (E-Crash) at CPD, excluding any personally identifiable information. Records are added to the data portal when a crash report is finalized or when amendments are made to an existing report in E-Crash. Data from E-Crash are available for some police districts in 2015, but citywide data are not available until September 2017. About half of all crash reports, mostly minor crashes, are self-reported at the police district by the driver(s) involved and the other half are recorded at the scene by the police officer responding to the crash. Many of the crash parameters, including street condition data, weather condition, and posted speed limits, are recorded by the reporting officer based on best available information at the time, but many of these may disagree with posted information or other assessments on road conditions. If any new or updated information on a crash is received, the reporting officer may amend the crash report at a later time. A traffic crash within the city limits for which CPD is not the responding police agency, typically crashes on interstate highways, freeway ramps, and on local roads along the City boundary, are excluded from this dataset.
All crashes are recorded as per the format specified in the Traffic Crash Report, SR1050, of the Illinois Department of Transportation. As per Illinois statute, only crashes with a property damage value of $1,500 or more or involving bodily injury to any person(s) and that happen on a public roadway and that involve at least one moving vehicle, except bike dooring, are considered reportable crashes. However, CPD records every reported traffic crash event, regardless of the statute of limitations, and hence any formal Chicago crash dataset released by Illinois Department of Transportation may not include all the crashes listed here.
Tags vision zero public safety transportation
Bike Racks - Map
Bike racks in Chicago. To view or use the attachment files, compression software and special GIS software, such as ESRI ArcGIS, is required.
Tags gis sustainability bicycling
CTA - Ridership - 'L' Station Entries - Daily Totals
This list shows daily totals of ridership, by station entry, for each 'L' station dating back to 2001. Dataset shows entries at all turnstiles, combined, for each station. Daytypes are as follows: W=Weekday, A=Saturday, U=Sunday/Holiday. See attached readme file for information on how these numbers are calculated.
Tags chicago transit authority ridership public transit cta
Parking Permit Zones
This dataset contains all those street segments (individually uniquely identified by Record ID) that have been designated as belonging to a "Residential Parking Zone." Residential Parking Zones are established by passage of legislation through the Chicago City Council; this data set is updated daily, but major update installments typically occur shortly after City Council Meetings (where/when legislation affecting zones – such as zone creation or zone modification – occurs). (See City Council Meeting schedule: https://chicago.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx.) The collection of street segments for a single zone (collectively identified by Zone number) are not required to constitute a seamless polygon; however, they must be contiguous; in this sense, "Zones" often closer resemble a collection of intersecting segments rather than an unbroken area. Segments are commonly categorized as being either "Standard" or "Buffer": Standard means that signs exist on the street segment beginning at the low-point and ending at the high-point; Buffer means that physical signs do not exist for that zone on that physical street, but residents of addresses within that segment shall have the privilege to purchase zone products (daily permits and annual passes) for that zone, as if physical signs were installed. (In this way, segments designated as 'Buffer' can in fact overlap with either other buffers and/or standard segments.) Physical signs will display the zone number and the day/times when the zone restriction is in effect, e.g., "All Times" / "Anytime"; "Monday through Friday"; "6am – 6pm All Days." During restricted days/times, any vehicle parked in the zone which does not display a valid unexpired zone product (either a daily permit or an annual pass printed on the City Vehicle Sticker) is subject to ticketing/enforcement. Read more about Residential Zone Parking and eligibility to purchase zoned products: http://chicityclerk.com/city-stickers-parking/about-residential-parking.
Tags parking parking restrictions
Chicago Traffic Tracker - Congestion Estimates by Segments
This dataset contains the current estimated speed for about 1250 segments covering 300 miles of arterial roads. For a more detailed description, go to: http://bit.ly/Q9AZAD.
The Chicago Traffic Tracker estimates traffic congestion on Chicago's arterial streets (nonfreeway
streets) in real-time by continuously monitoring and analyzing GPS traces received from Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) buses. Two types of congestion estimates are produced every ten minutes: 1) by Traffic Segments and 2) by Traffic Regions or Zones. Congestion estimate by traffic segments gives the observed speed typically for one-half mile of a street in one direction of traffic.
Traffic Segment level congestion is available for about 300 miles of principal arterials. Congestion by Traffic Region gives the average traffic condition for all arterial street segments within a region. A traffic region is comprised of two or three community areas with comparable traffic patterns. 29 regions are created to cover the entire city (except O'Hare airport area).
This dataset contains the current estimated speed for about 1250 segments covering 300 miles of arterial roads.
There is much volatility in traffic segment speed. However, the congestion estimates for the traffic regions remain consistent for relatively longer period. Most volatility in arterial speed comes from the very nature of the arterials themselves. Due to a myriad of factors, including but not limited to frequent
intersections, traffic signals, transit movements, availability of alternative routes, crashes, short length of the segments, etc. speed on individual arterial segments can fluctuate from heavily congested to no congestion and back in a few minutes. The segment speed and traffic region congestion estimates
together may give a better understanding of the actual traffic conditions.
Tags traffic sustainability
Roadway Construction Moratoriums
Moratoriums are established by the Department of Transportation as a method of protecting reconstructed or repaved roadways within the boundaries of the city.
By having access to this Moratorium list in advance, contractors or utilities with projects that require excavation of roadways can more effectively plan and review conflicts that will be encountered. Currently, roadway sections with active moratoriums have special consideration as to method and size of restoration, and additionally, increased permit fees. Three moratorium types are displayed on this web site: (1) Street Construction is used when the street has been reconstructed. By City ordinance, the moratorium is ten (10) years and during this period permit fees are doubled. (2) Street Resurfacing is used when the road has been repaved. By City ordinance, the moratorium is seven (7) years and during this period permit fees are doubled. (3) Median or Median Landscaping is used where landscaped medians or planters exist on the street median. For these moratoriums types, there is no fee adjustment; however, if a construction permit is being requested, the applicant will be directed to review the planned project with the Department of Transportation/Division of Engineering staff for special instructions on how to properly protect or reconstruct street medians.
Tags moratoriums permits streets
Major Streets
Major streets in Chicago. To view or use these files, compression software and special GIS software, such as ESRI ArcGIS, is required.
Tags shapefiles streets gis
CTA - Ridership - Bus Routes - Daily Totals by Route
This dataset shows total daily ridership on a per-route basis dating back to 2001. Daytypes are as follows: W=Weekday, A=Saturday, U=Sunday/Holiday. See attached readme file for more detailed information.
Tags chicago transit authority sustainability ridership public transit cta
Speed Camera Locations
This dataset shows the location, first operational date, and approaches of the speed cameras in the City of Chicago. The approach describes the originating direction of travel which is monitored by a speed camera.
Tags traffic transportation speed cameras
Taxi Trips - Dashboard
Taxi trips reported to the City of Chicago in its role as a regulatory agency. For the full data, see the bottom of this page or https://data.cityofchicago.org/d/wrvz-psew.
To protect privacy but allow for aggregate analyses:
- The Taxi ID is consistent for any given taxi medallion number but does not show the number.
- Census Tracts are suppressed in some cases.
- Times are rounded to the nearest 15 minutes.
Trip Total, which is used on some cards below, is the total paid, although cash tips do not appear in either that column or the Tips column.
Chicago Traffic Tracker - Congestion Estimates by Regions
This dataset contains the current estimated congestion for the 29 traffic regions. For a detailed description, go to: http://bitly.com/TeqrNv.
The Chicago Traffic Tracker estimates traffic congestion on Chicago's arterial streets (non-freeway streets) in real-time by continuously monitoring and analyzing GPS traces received from Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) buses. Two types of congestion estimates are produced every 10 minutes: 1) by Traffic Segments and 2) by Traffic Regions or Zones. Congestion estimates by traffic segments gives observed speed typically for one-half mile of a street in one direction of traffic. Traffic Segment level congestion is available for about 300 miles of principal arterials. Congestion by Traffic Region gives the average traffic condition for all arterial street segments within a region. A traffic region is comprised of two or three community areas with comparable traffic patterns. 29 regions are created to cover the entire city (except O'Hare airport area).
There is much volatility in traffic segment speed. However, the congestion estimates for the traffic regions remain consistent for a relatively longer period. Most volatility in arterial speed comes from the very nature of the arterials themselves. Due to a myriad of factors, including but not limited to frequent intersections, traffic signals, transit movements, availability of alternative routes, crashes, short length of the segments, etc. Speed on individual arterial segments can fluctuate from heavily congested to no congestion and back in a few minutes. The segment speed and traffic region congestion estimates together may give a better understanding of the actual traffic conditions.
Tags gis bicycling sustainability
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Many of us in the B2B world wrestle with one big issue: How do we sell to big enterprise companies? A few select people, though, have the opposite dilemma: We're a big company … from whom should we buy our technology?
Manoj Govindan is one of those select few.
As an innovation executive at Wells Fargo, his job was to help the company diversify it's annual IT spend (in the low billions of dollars each year) on new/emerging technology.
– Identify the most promising fintech companies (industry lingo for technology-in-the-financial-sector) and start pilot projects within the bank to ensure Wells Fargo remained on the cutting edge.
– Leverage Wells Fargo's expertise and resources to foster a thriving ecosystem of innovative technology.
– Generate value for Wells Fargo (plus investors and shareholders) by helping these startups when they are ready to scale to the next level.
If he can't shed some light on the key to innovation in large, conservative, and slow moving enterprises, I don't know who can.
In the midst of a cross country move and a professional transition from Wells Fargo to Levvel (a new startup), Manoj was kind enough to take some time to tell me about how to make this magic happen.
1. It's in the bank's best interest to take risks on new tech.
Big companies like Wells Fargo like to get their new technology solutions from one place: established vendors. On the surface, this makes sense. It's safe, dependable, and doesn't require vetting out a new company.
Taking only this path, though, has downsides. First off, it's likely that these larger organizations will take longer to develop and package a new technology than upstart companies. Second, you'll be paying bloated enterprise rates, rather than getting early bird pricing.
As a bank, there's one more benefit: Once we help these companies grow and mature into full-scale operations, many of them look to have a liquidity event (either they're acquired or they go public). In either case, we're now positioned to do the banking for that transaction. So it opens some great new business for us.
2. Follow the investors to find new tech.
Taking on any new technology is bound to rock the boat at a big company. The water really starts sloshing if the tech company in question is a brand new one. There's a way to mitigate that risk, though: investors.
When sourcing new tech, I work almost exclusively with the lead investors in the startups rather than the startups themselves. This has two awesome benefits. First, investors are great at vetting new companies — it's their job after all. If they've already been comfortable enough to throw millions behind a company, that says a lot to me.
Second, I can follow trends in the investment market as a whole. If lots of different companies in a particular space are being heavily invested in, I take that as a signal of a technology that's soon to be commonplace and deserves our attention.
3. Build the right customer advisory board.
When we work with startup companies, we're not just buying their services — we're helping them scale and build the right products. Oftentimes, that involves putting together a customer advisory board.
Customer advisory boards are great, but not all members are created equal. If you're building one for your company, be careful about who's on it.
Rather than grabbing the highest title person you can at a company, aim for someone that actually will work with or buy your technology — a user, not a chooser. Then, make sure that individual will able to give consistent, constructive feedback that can really help you pinpoint what that customer needs to grow.
Thanks, Manoj! It's fantastic to talk to someone on the buying, rather than building, side of things.
"I worry sometimes that by following the money, I might be putting too much weight on the wrong signal. While investors can be a powerful indicator of a company's potential, relying on that too much has its own pitfalls.


text:
Pagan & Earth-Based
My Journey to Santeria
A modern American woman finds spiritual fulfillment in an ancient, earth-based religion that started in Africa.
Excerpted from "Sailing My Shoe to Timbuktu" with permission of HarperSanFrancisco.
On November 2, 2002, Joyce Thompson, writer, divorced mother, and a white former Episcopalian, was initiated as a priest in the Afro-Cuban religion Santeria (also called Lucumi). This excerpt recounts her first encounter with Lucumi, through the man who is now her husband, and her initiation four years later as a priest of the orisha, or guardian spirit, Obatala.
It was clear from the start that Schuyler was different.
He followed up our first date with an invitation to dine with several of his closest women friends. In order to feel less singular, I invited my daughter, then sixteen and always an astute judge of character, to come along. The parties sniffed and circled, discovered people and experiences in common. For a brief stolen moment, Schuyler and I sat quietly on the front-porch steps and smoked. My daughter liked him, with reservations. After our third date, cheap Vietnamese noodles and a long walk with Cecil B. DeMille lighting diffuse over Puget Sound affirming the grace of God, he kissed my cheek. On the fourth, in the mountains with our boy-children, we succumbed to curiosity and surrendered our virtue into one another's keeping.
Finally, he invited me into his sanctum sanctorum. Against one wall of his writer's office, he had created an altar for his ancestors. In their photos, they were a stern and mostly handsome bunch of WASPy eastern Washington settlers, merchants, dentists, whose eyes regarded me with unsmiling speculation when Schuyler introduced us.
He called the altar a boveda. It was covered with white cloth, lighted by white candles.
White flowers blossomed in a clear vase. A clear glass bowl held water. On one corner of the table, a single white blossom floated in a glass of water. A small white cup held golden honey.
"I put that there to attract you," Schuyler said.
I asked him to explain.
Some months before, in the course of performing a misa blanca for him, Rosi, partner of Maria, a gifted medium and priest of Eleggua, had seen a woman with two children, a boy and a girl, coming toward him. Rosi had told him the relative ages of the children and added that he would be an important force in the life of the boy. She had told him he would experience both spiritual connection and sexual pleasure with the woman such as he'd never known before. The woman, Rosi had told him, would reveal nothing more about herself. She would not give her name. But the honey would draw her to him. If he put it on his altar, she would come.
"I guess it worked," he said, with a smile that might have melted diamonds. "Here you are."
When I saw that Schuyler and I would be together for a long time, I sent an email to Maria, his godmother, whom I had never met. I introduced myself as the woman with two children she and Rosi had seen coming into Schuyler's life. Now I was here. My name was Joyce. I said I didn't know if his spiritual path would ever be mine, but that I would always respect it and would do nothing to hinder him on his way. This seemed like the proper, courteous thing to do. Whether I did it for Maria's benefit, or for my own, to speak out loud both my acceptance and my intention, I can't be sure. She responded promptly and tersely, with her blessings. The email was signed Madrina.
Even in an impersonal electronic font on a computer screen, that word-godmother-was enough to incite prickles of longing and fear. Any word that flirts with mother, with all the things a mother is and is not supposed to be, is almost like a living thing to me, irresistibly appealing, but dangerous, too-a wolf cub with small sharp teeth, an unpredictable nature. It is a word that calls up all of my defenses, then scurries past them. Put the words god and mother together and you hold my heart in your hands. I have found no way to protect myself from my need. In the end, all I can do is have faith in my own resilience.
It took me four years to decide.
I flew into Oakland from LA on a Sunday morning in June. My rental car was waiting for me, but over and over, my credit card was rejected. The card had been issued by my local bank, which offered no customer service on a weekend to make things right. Schuyler suggested I call his sister in San Francisco to see if she wouldn't put the car on her card. She made a counteroffer. If I could get to their house from the airport, they'd loan me their second car for the twenty-four hours I was going to be around. Her husband, Michael, met me at the BART station nearest their home.
What was I doing in Oakland, anyhow? he asked.
I told him I'd come for an initiation.
"In that religion Schuyler belongs to? In Santeria?"
"Uh-huh. But not because he belongs. Because I want to."
"It's paganism," Michael said. "Isn't It?"
"It's an ancient and very wise spiritual practice. It makes sense to me in a way no other religion ever has."
"You didn't answer my question. Is it pagan or not?"
"Earth-based," I said.
"Not Christian," Michael said. "Without Christ, there can be no salvation."
"There are many roads to God," I said.
Michael kept smiling, but he shook his head. When he spoke, his voice was stern. "We can't both be right," he said. "There is only one Way."
As a good Christian and a good brother-in-law and a good host, Michael let me eat lunch at his table, with his family. He let me borrow his car. The only thing he denied me was admission to the heaven he planned to attain himself.
The next day, when I came back to return their car dressed all in white, Michael was home with a head cold, but he did not choose to leave his room.
In our ile, the first initiation is the receiving of elekes, cleaned and blessed beaded necklaces that invoke the protection of the orishas whom they represent. By giving me elekes, Maria was committing herself to me as madrina, Rosi as ayubona (a kind of spiritual midwife), and I to them as godchild, a reciprocal commitment meant to be at least as durable as a contemporary marriage. All this was understood, agreed upon before the ceremony made it formal. What was undecided until the day itself was the response of the orishas to my petition. Without the assent of Oggun [Maria's orisha], the ceremony could not proceed. Once that was given, it remained to ascertain which of the orishas would step forward to take me under wing for the next phase of my spiritual journey. Two other initiates went before me. When it was my turn at last, I prostrated myself on a straw mat before Maria's Oggun.
"Tell him who you are and why you want your elekes," Maria instructed, handing me the rattle that would get and hold Oggun's attention while I had business with him.
I was unprepared for the question. Not that I hadn't thought, more or less exhaustively, about my motivations. It was just that I hadn't expected to have to say it all out loud. If Maria had been standing just a couple of feet farther away, clearly out of earshot, I would have had less trouble being candid with Oggun. As far as I knew my own heart and mind, what I wanted most was to develop my own spiritual and psychic powers. I wanted to know more about those invisible, unnamed creatures I had long sensed were stirring in and around me. I wanted to know more about reality and the nature of time. I wanted to bring the shadows into clear focus. I wanted to live in daily commerce with the divine. Most of all, I wanted teachers to show me the way. It seemed like a lot to want.
I definitely didn't want Maria to think I was prideful or grandiose. To avoid offending her, I told Oggun a bunch of nambypamby, meant-to-be self effacing stuff, not too much different from what I parroted back to the starchy-collared priest in my Episcopal confirmation class when I was twelve, and hoped that, being orisha, he would be able to read between the lines. I wanted to be a better person. I wanted to make a better world. Blah blah blah. Maria cleared her throat. I wrapped it up. Then she threw obi. I might have been blessed, or I might have been spurned. As it was, the letter was itawa meji, with its promise of struggle. Possible but difficult-orisha's equivalent of a cosmic shrug. I couldn't help but take it as an editorial comment on my evasions. Again, at lightning speed, Maria prayed in Lucumi. She threw the coconut again. She muttered. Threw yet again. Made a noise deep in her throat. Then she scooped up the pieces of coconut and turned to me.
"Omo Obatala," she said. Obatala's child. There was something like apology in her round black eyes. "I was surprised, too," she said.
Ochun had not stepped forward. Instead of the mother's embrace I had halfway expected, I came into the keeping of a wise and distant king whom I didn't know or understand at all.
Obatala was put in charge of creating the world. One day when he was making people, he drank too much palm wine. Obatala loved his palm wine. The people he created in his cups were broken, missing parts, or badly made. When Obatala sobered up and saw what he had done, he was very sorry. He stopped drinking wine, and ever after he has treated his imperfect creations with great tenderness. Thus it is said that the deformed, the crippled, and the handicapped are his special charges. His children are particularly susceptible to the addictive properties of alcohol. It's better, really, if they don't drink at all.
Among the orishas, Obatala is chief, the king of the white cloth. He is pure, patient, wise, and in many of his aspects, very old. He is magically resourceful and-like the chameleon, who is one of his messengers-able to change his appearance easily. Obatala's head is high and cool. He prevails more by wit, by gravitas, than by force.
His stomach is easily upset, and he prefers bland foods, pale in color, as his offerings-meringues, bread pudding, eggs, white cornmeal. He is a gender-shifter; as many of his roads are female as are male.
To know these things about Obatala is not to know Obatala.
Schuyler found him mysterious and hard to reach.
Ian took confidence and pride from being the son of the king.
For me, Obatala is the filler of the hole at the apex of my ribcage, a hollow that has been there as long as I can remember. I don't know the precise physiology of self-loathing, but whatever acids it releases were neutralized as I came under the protection of Obatala's white cloth, and for the first time, I began to feel at home on the planet and in my own skin. The altar we made for him, with its white linen, its white elephants, its white candles, is a refuge when the senses are weary or confused. When I ring his silver bell and ask for favors, they are granted more often than not.
When Obatala rides his priests, they become ancient and joyous and gentle, tireless in cleansing and embracing the people.
My husband, my son, myself. Obatala picked us up and dusted us off. He smiled upon us. He showed us what a good father could be.
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