With over 1.4 million new cases of cancer diagnosed each year, it's likely that people in the field of dentistry are seeing patients that are undergoing cancer treatments. Because some cancer treatments may affect the oral tissues, you may want to know about potential treatment side effects. It's also important to know that preexisting or untreated oral disease may also complicate cancer treatment. If you are going to be undergoing cancer treatment, make sure to consult a dentist one month beforehand to prevent these kinds of complications.
• Inflammation and ulceration of the mucous membranes.
• Infections: viral, bacterial, and fungal.
• Salivary gland dysfunction: dry mouth, reduced, or absent salivary flow.
• Impaired abilities to eat, taste, swallow, and speak.
Oral complications that stem from radiation to the head and neck, or from chemotherapy, may compromise a patient's health and quality of life. They can even affect an individual's ability to finish planned cancer treatments. For some, complications may be so bad that only lower doses of therapy can be endured, which results in a less effective result. Others may opt to postpone scheduled treatments, while a few discontinue cancer treatments entirely. Oral complications may also lead to serious infections.
There are various types of oral complications of cancer treatment; and degrees of severity vary from individual to individual, and also depend on the cancer treatment. The following is a list of common side effects, both to chemotherapy and radiation therapy. It is worth noting that alternative cancer treatments, such as proton therapy can pose less risk of oral complications. This form of treatment targets a tumor so specifically that there is less dose of the treatment into healthy tissue. This particular type of cancer treatment is often regarded by doctors for patients with cancers in the head and neck, as well as for kids with developing tissue.
It is important that the patient understand that in order to reduce risks of oral complications during cancer treatments, he or she needs to have optimal oral hygiene, good nutrition, and avoid tobacco and alcohol. Taking these dental measures during cancer treatment will generally contribute to its success.
• Brush teeth, gums, and tongue gently after each meal and before bed.
• Floss teeth every day.
• Use additional fluoride gel treatments.
• Avoid mouthwashes containing alcohol.
• Exercise the jaw muscles a few times a day.
• Avoid candy, gum, and soda unless they are sugar-free.
• Keep all dental appointments.


between us. And walked away.
blade of grass on the prairie.
have turned on a little music.
overhead. I know it's her.
Matthew Rohrer is the author of several books of poetry, most recently SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS, published by Wave Books. He lives in Brooklyn and teaches at NYU.


4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.


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Royal Windsor reunion takes place involving the Countess of Wessex – and it's very special
This is so special
May 01, 2019 - 12:01 BST Hanna Fillingham Sophie Wessex had a special royal reunion on Wednesday – get the details
The Countess of Wessex is currently touring India, and on Wednesday the royal headed to Mumbai, where she enjoyed a very special reunion. Sophie was visiting the Sassoon Dock fish market to learn about the challenging work environment that young girls and women endure on a daily basis. While there, she met with people from the Oscar Foundation who have been helping to give the girls greater opportunities for their future through football. Sophie was then reunited with some of the girls who she had hosted last year in Windsor Castle during their Kick Like a Girl tour. Prince Edward's wife warmly embraced them – and they were just as pleased to see her too!
The Countess of Wessex met some of the girls she hosted in Windsor last year
MORE: Duchess Kate took part in two secret engagements - find out more
Sophie's India tour is with The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust – whose mission is to enrich the lives of people from all backgrounds across the Commonwealth. Sophie became the Vice-Patron of The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust in 2015 on her 50th birthday. So far, Sophie has fitted a lot into her action-packed schedule since she arrived in Hyderabad on Monday. There, she visited the Gandhi Medical College and Hospital, and attended a reception at the Deputy High Commissioner's residence in the evening. On Tuesday, she headed to a visit to Niloufer Hospital in Central Hyderabad, and attended the Oscar Foundation in the Ambedkar Nagar Community.
The 2018 Kick Like A Girl tournament
READ: Chris Evans insists Prince Harry and Meghan's baby has already been born
The royal is known for her charity work and regularly visits charities and organisations both in the UK and abroad to lend her support. And according to Shutterstock's royal photographer Tim Rooke, the mother-of-two always goes out of her way to help ensure that good photos are taken – in turn not only helping the photographers, but helping to promote the charities too. Tim told HELLO!: "I very much like the Countess of Wessex. I have been on some of her foreign trips but the main problem is actually getting the pictures published. But she goes out of her way to actually help you, she will stop, she knows what a good photograph is." He continued: "And of course, most of the engagements that royals do are connected to charity and obviously when the royals visit its part to promote those charities. So if she gives you a good picture it all helps."
Make sure you never miss a ROYAL story! Sign up to our newsletter to get all of our celebrity, royal and lifestyle news delivered directly to your inbox.
Sophie Wessex
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The Countess of Wessex given special gift from Prince Philip
The Countess of Wessex enjoys reunion on night out with this Strictly Come Dancing star

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Q: cross domain cookies Rails 3 I wonder is it possible to get cookies under another domain rather than my current app domain name?
I am building an application which access to another website's api. If the user has already logged in from the other site, my browser will create a cookies under that domain name. For example, user logged in under www.example.com, my browser will store a cookies:
 cookies['token'] under www.example.com domain. When user visit my website, www.mywebsite.com, how can I get the cookies under www.example.com in my rails server?
Any help is highly appreciate.

A: This can be done, but it requires the client, your website, and your other website to all work together. You have a client that knows how to authenticate to site A. It wishes to view site B as the user it knows how to authenticate against site A with. The basic way to accomplish this is to have the client contact site A, authenticate itself, acquire a token from site A that site B can trust, and then hand that token to site B.
Effectively, you want to build a very specific case of OpenID or OAuth. This is certainly possible, but you're going to need to make some changes to www.example.com in order for it to play along. If you're able to do this, great.
Start by reading everything about OAuth. You don't need to use that exactly (although you could), but it will help explain what you need to do: http://hueniverse.com/oauth/

A: You can share cookies across different subdomains of a domain but you CANNOT share cookies across multiple domain names.
Cookies are stored by the BROWSER and the browser will not allow you to access or store cookies from external domain names. It would be a huge security flaw if browsers did allow you to do this.
You can, however, share session data that is stored on your server between domain names. This may not be completely trivial, but since session information is stored on the SERVER, you can access the information on the server between apps if needed. If your session data is stored in a database, then all that is required is to give database access to both domains. If need be, you could actually open your database to an external domain name and have the external domain directly connect to the database on your server.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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In recognition of the COVID-19 virus, my firm is offering consultations via phone, Zoom, Skype, and other digital video programs. Please contact our office at 817-795-8843 with any questions or concerns you may have. Learn More
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Charles Kennedy June 27, 2018
Why Do I Need to Probate A Will?
Sometimes a person will come in and say they own a house because Mom left it to them in her Will, and then tell me the Will was never probated. Boom! The Will must be placed into the Court record before it is effective to transfer title (ownership) of property. Failure to probate a Will could result in you not getting title to the property given to you in the Will.
How do I probate a Will?
A Will is probated when it is offered to a Court with "Probate" authority and the Judge accepts it as valid by signing an Order admitting it to probate. The Will once accepted as valid is used to determine who owns the property.
Do I really need to hire an attorney?
Probate Courts do not permit a person who is not licensed as an attorney to represent anyone else. You have a right to represent yourself, but no one else. It is wise to consult a licensed attorney to determine the best alternative. Many factors such as the existence of debt, type of assets to be collected, how well the heirs or beneficiaries cooperate and other issues affect which legal options are available.What happens if a Will is not probated?If a Will is not offered to a Court within four years of the Will signer's death, it might never be admitted to probate. A person who is at fault for not offering the Will for probate is not allowed to offer it after four years from the date of the Will signer's (Testator) death. Most Courts only hold the named executors as responsible. An executor is the person named in the Will to offer the Will for probate and take care of the management of the probate estate: collecting assets, paying creditors and distributing the proceeds to the named beneficiaries. Sometimes people name persons who would not be "heirs" as the persons to receive their property. In most situations an heir is a spouse, child or grandchild of a person who died. Determining who the heirs are can be complicated and there can be multiple heirs.
How do I know if a Will is valid?
State law set out specific elements that must be met for a Will to be valid. A Will must be in writing; it must be witnessed by two people, the Will signer must be age 18 or older, mentally competent and signing the Will without duress. There are other requirements that must be met.Who was present when the Will was signed is important, who was not present is important, the circumstances surrounding the time of the signing are important. Having a beneficiary sign as a Witness to the Will denies the planned gift to the beneficiary.
You can find some answers on my Probate FAQs page. If you still have questions about Wills, probate, or estate administration I can help. Call 817-697-2507 to schedule an appointment.This is not meant to be legal advice. All of the answers above are meant to be generic and are for Texas only. Laws vary from State to State and an attorney in the State where the probate is needed should be consulted.
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Posted in Probate
What is a Trust? - 05/01/20
A Trust is a contract. It is an agreement between the person(s) who create and fund theTrust (called Grantors or ...
Is a Trust Good for Protecting Assets from Medicaid? - 05/01/20
This is a complicated question. It needs to be understood that my answer is limited to Texas.
What is an End of Life Directive? - 04/01/20
Texas uses two terms for the document used to describe end of life decisions making. It is called an Advance ...
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The Amiriya madrasa was built at the behest of the sultan Amir bin Abd al-Wahhab of the Tahirid dynasty, in 1504. The building is richly decorated on the interior, especially in the prayer hall: above an intricately carved stucco frieze with Koranic inscriptions, there are elaborate and highly colorful tempera wall paintings bearing epigraphs, geometric designs and plant forms. The paintings cover a total surface area of 600 m2 of the walls and domes. The ruined and derelict condition of the entire monument induced Selma Al Radi, a well-known archaeologist, to embark on a program for its conservation and recovery, using only traditional materials and techniques. After twenty-two years of work, with financial support from the governments of the Netherlands, Yemen and Italy, the Amiriya project ended in 2005, returning an exceptional monument to the city and nation.
Il CCA, Centro di Conservazione Archeologica, Rome, carried out the conservation of the wall paintings in the prayer hall after a planning phase in 1998. The conservation program for the paintings provided the occasion to develop a broad strategy intended to contribute effectively to fostering a conservation culture in Yemen and supplying a starting point for its autonomous implementation in the country. For that purpose, training courses were held for local operators and materials were produced to spread the results of the project.
In 2007 the Amiriya project received the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture.


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Play-Free-Table-Tennis-Games.com
www.play-free-table-tennis-games.com
3D Ping Pong
Da Bomb Pong
Garfield´s Ping Pong
Legend Of Ping Pong
Ping Pong 3D
Real Pong
Table Tennis 2.5D
Table Tennis Challenger 2
Table Tennis Championship
Trambomblepong
New games in the network Top games in the network Most rated games in the network Most played games in the network
More gaming websites beside Play-Free-Table-Tennis-Games.com
If you love Table Tennis, then you have come to the right game. This is a game that will make you wish you were playing against a real player instead of the CPU. The game is very exciting and you get to feel how one feels when under the onslaught of a very determined opponent. The game is very light when it comes to graphics and it is great for playing on old computer machines. The game is set in a gymnasium, as most ping pong games are, and you can even see the markings of a basketball court; it is safe to say that the game is being played ion a basketball court. In real life the game needs to be played where there is space to allow the players to have as much space as they can have. You have to use the mouse to move your bat and this is the tricky part. The speed of the ball does not allow you to have much time to think. You simply have to act and block the ball. The speed of motion will determine the power with which you hit the ball. The position of the bat on the table shall also be interpreted accordingly and if you move too high, you will end up hitting a foul shot and lose the service. You need a strategy with which to beat the computer since it is very cunning. It can almost see your shot coming. The scoring is similar to that found in a real game and you start of with three sets of 21 serves. You will change service when you get to 5 and this means that you get to try and dupe the CPU into going the wrong way. This is a great free online Table Tennis game which you will enjoy for a long while.
Game advertisements by Game Advertising Onlinerequire iframes.
The game of Table Tennis, also known as ping pong can be very challenging due to the speed at which the ball travels. The game requires that you have the instincts and reflexes of a mongoose. You have to anticipate the shots from your opponent since he or she will try to dummy you into going in the wrong direction. The strategy is to make sure that the ball goes past the other player ort that he makes a foul play. The game requires a lot of strategy even if most people do not think so. Just like in any other sport, you have to train very hard in order to excel in the game. You have to bounce the ball at least once on the opponent's court and then he or she has to hit it back or lose the service. This is a game that makes you feel the strain of having to keep your eye on the ball at all times. This free online version is just a challenging as the real game, and you will have a hard time getting to beat the CPU. If you can, then you should enroll in a real tourney and you will have a great chance of winning.
&Technical Information


Secret Admirer is a self-described Black Metal formation from Montgomery, Alabama comprised of Heinali Finney, Matt Finney and Andrew Helsinski. Pale Shelter is certainly not typical for the metal genre as I know it. There's a massive wall of ambient noise with drums buried under it and a narrator who speaks the lyrics of Tears For Fears' 1983 original Pale Shelter in a somber voice from far away.
Closing my eyes while listening, the tune evokes the picture of a desert on a strange planet, with a procession of hooded figures heading to an unknown place.
Pale Shelter is the title song of an upcoming concept album about the suicide of an aging supermodel. The song is available for free download on Bandcamp together with another song, Billowing Perfume, which also highlights the ambient side of the project.
The album will be a blend of dark ambient/dance/black metal and I'm looking forward to listen to it from A to Z. For now, the promising teaser has to do.


Do you see — yourself, others, the world — as God sees? Or have distractions blinded you from seeing God's vision?
By God's grace open your eyes and see.
But everything exposed to the light is revealed by the light. Everything that is revealed by the light is light. Therefore, it says, Wake up, sleeper! Get up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
With Jesus, there's nowhere to hide. Sounds an awful lot like a tagline to a scary movie, doesn't it? However, Jesus is not a monster lurking in the closet in this scenario. On the contrary, Jesus is the only one who can make your life whole again.
Perhaps darkness exists in your life. Jesus wants to shine his light on you, not to embarrass or scold you but to turn your darkness into light. While being honest with Jesus might feel scary, there is nothing to be scared about. Only light is in store for you.
God of truth, you already know my failings and forgive me anyway. Give me the courage to be honest with you about my shortcomings and willing to ask for your help. Amen.
Even now, God is giving you a new vision. What do you see?
What journey must you take to make God's vision a reality?
Rev. Matt Andrews serves as the Associate Pastor of Youth and Missions at Liberty Crossings United Methodist Church in Vestavia Hills, AL. He is also a chaplain at UAB Medical Center and a Doctor of Ministry Candidate at Emory University. Matt has now entered his eighth year of pastoral service, having served multiple congregational, academic, and clinical settings in Alabama, California, and Texas. In 2012, he graduated from George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University in Waco, TX with his Master of Divinity. Matt is married to his best friend and love of his life, Emily, who teaches music and worship at Samford University, Matt and Emily's alma mater. Matt resides in Homewood with Emily and their three dogs — Lily, Daisy, and O'Henry.


Social spending stays at historically high levels in many OECD countries averaging about 21% of GDP in 2016. While total public social spending covers all financial flows from public bodies for social purposes, total net social spending also considers taxes breaks as well as private spending for social purposes. In the US, the UK and Canada, total net social spending is much higher than public spending for social purposes. The costs of fraud and error in social security systems can be considerable. Given the current fiscal climate, efforts to combat fraud and error are at the forefront of policy agendas in many countries. A common assumption is that the economic recession has led to growth in social welfare fraud. Despite increased media interest, there is limited available data internationally showing actual levels of fraud in social security systems and their wider economic costs to society. Furthermore, there are important knowledge gaps on what works in mitigating against the issues of fraud and error. This paper discusses the solution for Australia of a biometric ID cards for all citizens to be shown and tested as time of receipt of welfare (also to be used for other identification purposes). The time is now ripe to consider such a solution. This also fits into increased demands for domestic and international security and refugee identification.
Key words: welfare costs, welfare fraud, biometric identification.
DNA Matching (Chemical Biometric) – The identification of an individual using the analysis of segments from DNA.
Ear (Visual Biometric) – The identification of an individual using the shape of the ear.
Eyes – Iris Recognition (Visual Biometric) – The use of the features found in the iris to identify an individual.
Eyes – Retina Recognition (Visual Biometric) – The use of patterns of veins in the back of the eye to accomplish recognition.
Face Recognition (Visual Biometric) – The analysis of facial features or patterns for the authentication or recognition of an individual's identity. Most face recognition systems either use eigenfaces or local feature analysis.
Fingerprint Recognition (Visual Biometric) – The use of the ridges and valleys (minutiae) found on the surface tips of a human finger to identify an individual.
Finger Geometry Recognition (Visual/Spatial Biometric) – The use of 3D geometry of the finger to determine identity.
Gait (Behavioural Biometric) – The use of an individual's walking style or gait to determine identity.
Hand Geometry Recognition (Visual/Spatial Biometric) – The use of the geometric features of the hand such as the lengths of fingers and the width of the hand to identify an individual.
Odour (Olfactory Biometric) – The use of an individual's odour to determine identity.
Signature Recognition (Visual/Behavioural Biometric) – The authentication of an individual by the analysis of handwriting style, in particular the signature. There are two key types of digital handwritten signature authentication, Static and Dynamic. Static is most often a visual comparison between one scanned signature and another scanned signature, or a scanned signature against an ink signature (often used by banks). Technology is available to check two scanned signatures using advances algorithms. Dynamic is becoming more popular whereby information is recorded as the signor writes the signature on a "signing device". This data can be utilised in a court of law using digital forensic examination tools, and to create a biometric template from which dynamic signatures can be authenticated either at time of signing or post signing.
Typing Recognition (Behavioural Biometric) – The use of the unique characteristics of a person's typing for establishing identity.
Vein Recognition – is a type of biometric that can be used to identify individuals based on the vein patterns in the human finger or palm.
Voice – Speaker Verification / Authentication (Auditory Biometric) – The use of the voice as a method of determining the identity of a speaker for access control.
If the speaker claims to be of a certain identity and the voice is used to verify this claim. Speaker verification is a 1:1 match where one speaker's voice is matched to one template (also called a "voice print" or "voice model"). Speaker verification is usually employed as a "gatekeeper" in order to provide access to a secure system (e.g.: telephone banking). These systems operate with the user's knowledge and typically require their cooperation.
Voice – Speaker Identification (Auditory Biometric) – Identification is the task of determining an unknown speaker's identity. Speaker identification is a 1:N (many) match where the voice is compared against N templates. Speaker identification systems can also be implemented covertly without the user's knowledge to identify talkers in a discussion, alert automated systems of speaker changes or check if a user is already enrolled in a system.
The first biometric to be widely applied was the fingerprint, although there is argument about who developed the concept and when. Chinese records from the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) include details about using handprints as evidence during burglary investigations. Clay seals bearing friction ridge impressions were used during both the Qin and Han Dynasties (221 BC – 220 AD).[iii] The Persians (1400s) and Europeans (from 1600s onwards) were increasingly interested about the linkage between physiogamy and behaviour, using both fingerprints and phrenology to predict temperament. The British in India used the fingerprint (thumb often) or whole palm print in the execution of contracts between the government and natives who could not write.
It was in 1882 that Alphonse Bertillon, a clerk in the Prefecture of Police of at Paris, France, devised a system of classification, known as anthropometry or the Bertillon System, using measurements of parts of the body. Bertillon's system included measurements such as head length, head width, length of the middle finger, length of the left foot and length of the forearm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger.In 1888 Bertillon was made Chief of the newly created Department of Judicial Identity where he used anthropometry as the primary means of identification. He later introduced Fingerprints, but relegated them to a secondary role in the category of special marks.
During the 20th Century wider application was made of fingerprinting and records kept for criminals, members of the defence forces, government employees and eventually for voluntary identification cards.
This utilises image or video in order to compare facial features from the chosen source to cataloged entries in a database. The technology works by creating a virtual grid and outlining the distance between defining characteristics on the face, as well as detailed information on the shape of the face: such as the contour of the nostrils, eyes, and even analyzing the texture of the skin.
It was initially pioneered by Woody Bledsoe, Helen Chan Wolf, and Charles Bisson in 1964 as part of their collective study on pattern recognition intelligence (PRI). After Bledsoe left the study of PRI, the research was continued at Stanford Research Institute by Peter Hart. In experiments performed using the collective work of the initial pioneers, as well as his own, the first major breakthrough happened in 1968 when a computer consistently outperformed humans in identifying human faces from a database of 2,000 photos.
In 1997, Christoph von der Malsburg as well as a team of graduate students from the University of Bochum in Germany developed a system known as ZN-Face that was (at the time) the most robust of its kind due to its ability to make facial matches on imperfect images. The technology was funded by the United States Army Research Laboratory and is used by customers ranging from major international airports, to banks and government offices.
Current facial recognition technologies rely on cross-referencing characteristics of several different facial recognition technologies and algorithms, and are said to be so powerful that they can not only significantly outperform humans, but also correctly identify the individual faces of identical twins.
Although the modern technology surrounding iris scanning and recognition is rather new, the science behind the technology (iridology) dates back to ancient Egypt and Greece, and even appeared in the writings of Hippocrates. The modern pioneer of the technology is John Daugman, who developed and patented the first algorithms for computer-aided identification of iris patterns in 1994. Although the algorithms and equipment – such as scanners and the means to catalogue and retrieve samples – has improved since this time, Daugman's algorithms are still the foundation behind all public deployment of iris recognition technology.
Retina scanning was the first ocular biometric technology used, but the technology has since been replaced by the iris scan, the more advanced – and reliable – of the two technologies. Iris recognition technology is an automated identification system that uses mathematical pattern recognition to map the complex patterns of an individual's eye. The scanners attempt to match these patterns to a database using images or video representation of the individual's eye.
Iris recognition has been, until recently, a relatively expensive technology that sort of priced its way out of consumer applications. That could be changing soon, as technologies like EyeLock – a device used to lock down your home computer with its own iris scanner – start to come to market.
Every other biometric option in operation or under development relies upon computer technology and has its origin within the past 40 years. Some, like typing rhythm are used in tracking computer use and hacking, others like gait and voice are more likely to be used for security in buildings as an alternative to key cards.
For more abundant security, biometric systems are now employing a blend of technologies, e.g. face recognition and fingerprints, iris scanning and voice or sometimes more than two options. The drivers behind the adoption of biometrics are relatively obvious and are based upon the human proclivities of negligence and greed – passwords or identification cards can be lost, forgotten or stolen, the latter for personal, financial gain.
With increasing use of IT technology and need to protect data, everyone now has multiple accounts entailing passwords. Most people can only remember a few passwords, so it is likely that familiar prompts are used – birthdays, family nicknames, dog, cat, school friends and the like. It is remarkably easy to crack passwords because most of our passwords are categorised as weak. It is always recommended to include upper and lower case letters and a number but the creation of such strong passwords that have no particular meaning they are likely to be forgotten.
2.2 Smart Phones – It is predicted that every smartphone sold in 2018 will incorporate biometric technology. The days of the four digit PIN will be gone (Apple is already there) and an index finger placed on a key will open the phone for calls, accessing contacts and use of all apps. The integration of smart phones into everyday activities including cardless cash and domestic security will make this biometric application all – pervasive in the future.
2.3 Airport Security – Iris recognition has been used in a number of large airports for several years. To participate, a traveler must sign up to the scheme and have his or her eyes and iris scanned. The details are then stored on an international database and instead of waiting in long passport queues, passengers simply walk into a booth and look into a camera. The software then scans the iris and matches the details with the information stored on the database.
2.4 Building Access – Fingerprint access for buildings is not new. Many high security facilities have used biometric technology for years when it comes to ensuring only authorised personnel gain access to the most well protected establishments.
2.5 Automobiles – It is estimated that over 2 million cars in the UK use biometric technology in one form or another. This can be anything from voice recognition when using Bluetooth or entertainment systems to unlocking the vehicle itself using digitalized fingerprints or face recognition.
2.6 Blood Banks – Security for blood banks is vital when proving identity of donors. Traditionally donors were issued with cards containing all information necessary following questionnaires. More and more these days that crucial data is being stored digitally – with donors using finger print or iris recognition to access their vital details. This data can be linked to the full healthcare profile of all citizens if approved by the donor.
The real potential for large scale usage really mimics the Indian model of Aadhaar, particularly in this age of terrorism and porous borders. Governmental applications are therefore under the spotlight with advocates stressing the advantages for citizens of a universal ID card containing everything from a person's health records, educational achievements, employment history, taxation returns, criminal record, welfare benefits, marital status and, in fact, everything that a national census might discover and much more.
On the other side of the argument are those philosophically opposed to government intrusion into one's private life – the Orwellian hatred of Big Brother. President Obama and former Australian Prime Minister John Howard both tested the public reaction to national ID cards and found the pressure against them too politically unpalatable[x]. Nevertheless, there is now so much information stored by governments and business about every person, their habits, spending patterns, banking information, etc. that such squeamishness would seem to be misplaced. Every time someone uses the internet, companies can trace their interests and respond with targeted advertising or, worse still, unsolicited tele-marketing.
In Australia one of the strongest cases for biometric ID is to prevent rampant voter fraud, as no ID other than an address is required for voting, unless voting outside of one's electorate.
The Australian Electoral Commission has revealed that over 18,000 people are being asked why they voted more than once in the recent election. The Commission did not reveal which electorates are involved. This is of particular concern in those electorates where the candidate won by a handful of votes, in one case as low as 37. Moreover, the government enjoys a majority of only one seat. The AEC has also revealed that while there were just under 7000 cases of suspected voting fraud in the 2013 federal election, but not one conviction was recorded for electoral fraud. Where margins between winning and losing can hinge on a few votes, this situation can lead to electoral fraud.
The "reforms" introduced by the Hawke government to make it easier to vote, also made it easier to vote more than once. The crucial change was the abolition of the requirement that a voter should vote in a polling station in an electoral subdivision. In addition, no identification is required, such as the identification which is necessary to collect or send certain parcels at the Australian Post Office. One solution to this gap in security is that the AEC send voters a bar-coded card which could be read when voters' names are ruled off. However, if people move, or letterboxes are not secured this is subject to security issues.
We have already permitted fraud by not closing electoral rolls when the election is called and by allowing extensive prepolling. GetUp!, a left wing organization, said 100,000 additional names went on to the roll, with many of these in marginal seats after a High Court decision to allow these practices. GetUp! claimed its action had ensured that the Gillard government survived, albeit as a minority government. The election was very close and it is clear that had the High Court ruled against the legislation the opposition would have won the 2010 election.
Electoral fraud remains rife in Australia. Given the indifference to this, the dismissal that it actually takes place and the strong opposition to any reform, it is reasonable to assume that some political parties regard electoral fraud as a useful campaign tool. If we introduce a requirement for a biometric ID card to be produced to be checked by scanning the person and for the person's name to be ruled off on an electronic roll, this would block any second or further voting anywhere in Australia or indeed the world.
The Australian "SmartGate" passport, border control and travel system makes full use of face recognition technology, although use of the data is governed by the nation's leading edge Biometrics Privacy Code, which is established and administered by the Biometrics Institute. In addition to faster processing and a reduction in queues, contactless technology should deliver stronger security at this island nation's borders.
Aside from the obvious security benefits, including the exclusion of undesirable immigrants and efficient interaction with Interpol, the automated immigration clearance technology is expected to save the Australian government $32.9 million per year in compliance costs but the trial that commenced in 2015 has involved the installation of a number of biometric SmartGate systems at eight of Australia's busiest airports costing A$158 million. The big question is how much is a nation's security worth? The prevention of a single terrorist crime involving homicide is incapable of quantification.
The Migration Amendment (Visa Revalidation and Other Measures) Bill 2016 currently before the Senate proposed to introduce a visa revalidation requirement. This will support the pilot of the proposed new 10-year validity visitor visa to ensure that only genuine visitors retain the right to travel to and enter Australia. As tourism is a vital part of the Australian economy, providing employment for around 600,000 Australians and accounting for more than $120 billion of economic activity, this measure will boost tourism across the nation, which in turn helps grow our domestic economy. The introduction of a 10-year visitor visa will encourage repeat visits by genuine tourists and businesspeople choosing Australia as their preferred destination. The boost to the economy will swamp any costs of introduction and is estimated at $11billion.
A biometric ID requirement for all persons resident, or nonresident entering or leaving Australia, or applying for a loan, a license, rental accommodation or to vote, will help track and reduce the potential for such crimes in Australia, particularly human trafficking, to which Australia is particularly vulnerable. It will also enhance cross checking of refugee status and cooperation with other nations seeking criminals.
The next generation of SmartGates use leading edge technology to confirm a traveler's identity without the traveler having to present their ePassport. The live facial image of the traveler at the SmartGate will be compared with a verified image from departmental holdings to confirm a traveler's identity. In addition to faster processing and a reduction in queues, contactless technology delivers stronger security at our border, as the identity of the traveler is based on a facial image as a unique identifier, instead of document based checks.
Benefits of reduction in time, security of our borders, reduction in crime, are expected "improvements to contactless automated immigration clearance technology (SmartGates) are expected to save the Commonwealth $32.9 million a year in compliance costs. Offsetting that is the budget allocation of $93.7m to the seamless traveller initiative.
A biometric ID requirement for all persons resident, or nonresident entering or leaving Australia, or applying for a loan, a license, rental accommodation or to vote, will help track and reduce the potential for such crimes in Australia, particularly human trafficking, to which Australia is particularly vulnerable.
It will enhance cross checking of refugee status and cooperation with other nations seeking criminals.
The official estimates of government costs have varied widely during the course of the campaign. A variety of omissions and under-estimates remain, including the compliance costs of government agencies themselves.[xiii] There are also significant errors in calculating personnel requirements (the overheads of supervision, staff turnover and leave were omitted).
The cost and inconvenience to individuals in complying with requirements are totally ignored. Recent ABS statistics show that at the end of each year 15% of the population are at a different address within the same State, and a further 1.7% are at a new address interstate. After allowing for international movements, and multiple moves by the same family, the volatility of the 16 million addresses on the Register would appear to be above 20% per annum.
Costs to the private sector may be vast, since every company in the country would need to change complex and, in many cases, ancient payroll and creditors systems, and every investment system in the country's banks, building societies, credit unions, trusts, insurance companies, solicitors' offices and even real estate agents would have to be modified.
Both during the issue phase and subsequently, many employees "would need time off from work to attend interviews, collect cards, advise change of address and lost cards, and collect original and replacement cards.
These costs were entirely omitted from the Government's considerations. Remarkably, there was an attempt by an academic economist to justify the exclusion of all non-government costs from the cost/benefit analysis.
Biometric measurements could be held in a centralised data base. Even if decentralised and data stored on cards, there is still need for a data base for card checking purposes. There is concern that the data bases could be compromised and acquired by those wishing to use it for gain. In addition there is concern false acceptance and rejection of individuals.
However, in 2014-15, over 19 million travellers arrived into Australia, of which over six million self-processed through our automated immigration clearance system known as SmartGate. There have been no problems. Also there are a number of methods to prevent illegal access of databases, especially when held in clouds, such as file-level and share-level security, password-protection, EFS and disk encryption, hid with steganography, protection of data in transit with IP security, securing wireless transmissions and use of rights management to retain control. There are also a handful of existing web standards which companies in the cloud know about. Chief among these is ISO27001, which is designed to provide the foundations for third party audit, and implements OECD principles governing security of information and network systems. The SAS70 auditing standard is also used by cloud service providers.
Given the state of the art which has been around for decades this should not be a barrier to progress. Paper passports can be faked as can all other forms of ID. Biometric storage of data would be subject to so many controls and other backup forms that this should not be considered an obstacle.
The resistance against properly administered biometric ID cards whether as a small format passport or as a separate form of personal validation, will gradually disappear. Those with nothing to hide are most likely already resigned to the establishment of such a system. Those with strong views about privacy will need to take up residence on a desert island if they are to avoid the surveillance of business and government. It is merely a short step to connect the data readily available about every person who uses any form of computerised technology and to amalgamate it into a single card.
The protections of privacy legislation within a democratic system offers many safeguards, but the use of such material in a totalitarian regime is less comforting. However, it is the totalitarian or single party states that have embraced the ID card whether the populace approves or not. Common Law countries can rely upon a free press and an impartial judiciary for protection against governmental and business abuse of personal information.
 MD, Public Private Sector Partnerships, www.carolyncurrie.net email: ppsl@bigpond.com Mobile: +61458001763.
 PhD scholar at the Fenner School, Australian National University.


Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega and first lady Rosario Murillo, wave to supporters during an anniversary of the Sandinista National Liberation Front in Managua, Nicaragua, in July 2015. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix).
The democratic transition that we Nicaraguans began in 1990, and the peacebuilding we undertook after a tragic war between brothers, relied on an essential foundation: honest and transparent elections. Respect for the popular will is what, in our recent history, has made it possible for our country to open a period of freedom, rights and the rule of law.
We have reiterated that holding periodic, free and transparent elections is the peaceful and civilized means for electing authorities and defining the course of the nation, with due respect for the fundamental rights of Nicaraguan citizens, without exceptions and exclusions.
We affirm, yet again, that only democratic coexistence opens up real opportunities for employment, justice, better salaries and equal opportunities, and thus for improving the living conditions of families. Quite the opposite happens in dictatorial regimes, where the rights of all are threatened, including today's holders of the illusion of control and security.
• The late call for elections and an electoral calendar that leaves out some important aspects of any transparent and democratic process.
• The refusal to accept independent, national and international observers.
• The exclusion of opposition political forces by way of divesting their legitimate representatives from legal representation.
• The appropriation by the ruling political group of the whole electoral structure, including the municipal, regional and departmental electoral councils.
• The use of collaborationist groups as a means to show a fake pluralism.
• The anomalous voter registration process and the setting up of the electoral roll.
• The recall of the right of representation and the coup d'état against the legislative branch through the stripping of their condition of deputies twenty-eight representatives elected by more than thirty percent of the voters at the 2011 elections.
• The attempt to establish a one-party system and to impose a dynastic regime by nominating Mrs. Rosario Murillo candidate to the Vice-Presidency of the Republic.
• The artificial creation of international friction with the aim of distracting voters' attention and setting up conflict scenarios, regardless of their serious consequences for entrepreneurs, exporters, workers and the national economy as a whole.
The facts so far described confirm that what we are witnessing is a crude maneuver aimed at distorting the popular will, and not, by any means, a genuine electoral process.
In these circumstances, we consider it a moral duty and a patriotic obligation on our part to reject the electoral masquerade the dictatorship is trying to carry out and to state, as that other Group of 27 did in 1974: there is no one to vote for!
The closing down of democratic spaces has revealed - before the nation and the world – that the ruling group, aware of its weakness, is afraid of the expression of the will of Nicaraguans, and so is preventing honest, transparent and inclusive elections.
If, through fear of the citizens' vote, they close the door to democracy, we have then the duty and the right to open another door, a big one, leading to powerful results: peaceful resistance expressed in ACTIVE ABSTENTION.
Under Article 30 of the Political Constitution of Nicaragua, which states: "Nicaraguans have the right to freely express their thoughts in public and in private, individually and collectively, orally, in writing and by any other means", our call to the nation is clear and resounding: we Nicaraguans should not go to the polls in November. This is a legitimate and effective way to assert our right to build our future in peace, democracy and freedom.
Nicaraguan brothers and sisters: not to vote in this flawed process is a positive and convenient action for our future, because it is the door of hope that we citizens will open wide to finally reach the winds of change and build, without returning to any past, the Nicaragua we long for, stable and at peace, where all voices are heard and attended, with progress without preferential treatment or corruption, with independent branches of government, respect for public servants, decent jobs, education and quality healthcare, protection of our natural resources, and where conditions are met for the pursuit of happiness of our families.
We urge the unions, and the country's political and social organizations to unite their voices and efforts to peacefully oppose the dynastic pretensions of the regime and its efforts to consolidate a dynastic dictatorship.
We thank international organizations for condemning the dismantling of democracy in our country, and we encourage them not to cease in their efforts to consolidate their relations with the people of Nicaragua and Central America, despite the isolation that the current regime intends to condemn us to.
We ask you not to change your commitment to our country's freedom and peace, and not to compromise your good faith in the face of the maneuvers aimed at legitimizing what is clearly illegitimate.
For this very reason we also urge the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) to submit without delay its Report on Nicaragua, in compliance with Article 20 of the Democratic Charter, and the peoples and democratic governments of the Americas and the European Union to express their opposition to the electoral masquerade which aims to plunge us into dynastic oppression.
Managua, Nicaragua, on the ninth day of August, 2016.


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#31 Co-operative
GWP: £365.2m
Co-op's general insurance business is run by managing director Mark Summerfield, supported by directors James Hillon and Charles Offord. The group is headed by Richard Pennycook.
In October, the Co-op transferred its CIS general insurance business into the main group holding company, alongside food, funerals and legal services, as customer-facing businesses. The move follows the demerger of Co-op Bank, which once housed the insurance business. Without the £17.3m cost of implementing a new technology platform, the business would have reported a £500,000 operating profit in the first half of this year, compared with a year earlier loss of £6.8m, helped by a lower volume of claims.
#32 Genworth Financial
A Fortune 500 insurance firm managing more than $9bn in revenues, Genworth sold its European lifestyle protection insurance (LPI) business to AXA for €475m (£333m) in July. Until its integration into AXA by the end of 2015, Bob Brannock is president, international protection, vice-president, commercial, is Peter Barrett, and UK global account director, responsible for sales, client relationship management and local operations is Redmond McDonnell.
AXA said the deal will create the third biggest player in the European creditor insurance market with a 9% market share. Before the deal, Genworth LPI was seventh-largest with a 4% share. It would also complement its operations in France, Germany and Italy and open up new markets in the Nordic area and southern Europe.
#33 WR Berkley
US insurer WR Berkley's London-based European operation is headed by chief executive Stuart Wright, a 35-year insurance veteran. Peter Glanfield is managing director of the UK branch.
UK-based WR Berkley Insurance (Europe) has branches in Spain, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and Germany. Its product offering includes professional indemnity, directors' and officers' liability, medical malpractice, general liability, personal accident and travel, engineering and construction. It also offers expertise in marine, cargo, commercial property and casualty.
#34 London General Insurance
London General's parent company Warranty Group was taken over by private equity investor TPG Capital in March 2014. London General's chief executive is Tom Warsop.
London General's portfolio includes automotive, appliance and consumer electronics extended warranty, including theft and damage protection, creditor disability, redundancy and critical illness insurance. It has a concentrated customer base, with its five largest clients accounting for about 45% of net written premium, according to AM Best. The rating agency added that this concentration risk is mitigated by the company's long-standing client relationships and its comprehensive service and claims handling expertise.
#35 Ecclesiastical
Mark Hews became Ecclesiastical's group chief executive in May 2013, joined shortly afterwards by Jacinta Whyte as deputy chief executive and Kevin Simmons as UK commercial director.
The churches and charities specialist slipped down the rankings with a sharp fall in gross written premium (GWP). It pulled out of unprofitable business lines, including parts of the care home market, and smaller business lines, such as motor and wedding insurance, as it tried to improve its underwriting performance. The move bore fruit in the first half of 2015, as pre-tax profit nearly doubled to £35.5m.
#36 Lancashire
Alex Maloney stepped up to chief executive in May 2014, taking over from retiring founder Richard Brindle. He is supported by Paul Gregory as chief underwriting officer and chief executive of the UK operations, and by group chief financial officer Elaine Whelan.
London-listed Lancashire focuses on specialty property reinsurance and insurance and has underwriting operations in Bermuda and London. Its five main business areas are aviation, energy, marine, property and Lloyd's. "Lancashire's strategy has always been to write the most exposure in a hard market and the least in a soft one," says Maloney.
#37 Markel Corporation
Markel International, based in London, is the UK-based arm of US insurer Markel Corporation. It is run by president William Stovin, appointed in 2008. He is supported by chief operating officer Andy Davies and director of underwriting Jeremy Brazil. Markel's UK regional division is headed by Simon Fell.
In June 2015, the insurer merged its two UK companies Markel International and Markel Europe. It has jumped four places in this year's ranking, and specialises in cover for charities, life sciences and biomedical industries. It also covers high-net-worth insurance for art and collectables.
#38 Domestic & General
Domestic & General chief executive Alexander Labak has been at the company since March 2014. Non-executive director Kevin Beeston joined the company in 2008 as chairman, and sits on the board of Taylor Wimpey plc, Equiniti Group Ltd and the FA Premier League.
Domestic & General topped the Sunday Times Top Track 250 list of fastest growing companies in October 2014. It was bought by CVC Capital Partners for £750m in 2013 from Advent International. It currently covers home appliance warranties and says it has no plans to expand into new lines, but instead wants to grow overseas.
#39 Travelers
The UK-based European operation of US insurer Travelers is run by chief executive Matthew Wilson, who replaced Sean Genden in March 2015. He was previously chief operating officer. Genden has become head of international business insurance at Travelers. UK general manager Keith Purvis stepped down this year after 22 years at the company.
The company has broadened its mid-market capabilities after launching five industry-specific products under the IndustryEdge brand. It focuses on regional underwriting and technology products aimed at IT and electronics manufacturing sectors.
#40 Tokio Marine
The Japanese insurance group's UK-based operation, Tokio Marine Kiln, is run by chief executive Charles Franks, who was chief executive of Lloyd's insurer Kiln before Tokio Marine bought it in 2008. At group level, Tokio Marine is headed by chairman Tsutomu Terabayashi and chief executive AK Cher.
When Tokio Marine Europe and Kiln merged in 2014, they initially kept their respective brands. But from 1 January 2015 they have both operated under the Tokio Marine Kiln brand. The company writes specialist and corporate insurance in both Lloyd's and the London company market, and it has regional branches around the UK.
Allianz to launch mid-corporate print, publishing product
Offering will target companies with a premium of between £5,000 and £100,000
AXA pens five-year deal with Towergate-owned BiBU
The contract which comes into force in January 2016 was previously held by RSA


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Natalia Gordienko's 'Habibi' in focus – discover other music from Eurovision 2021 acts
Gunec Gulun Yazıcıtunc / 24th June 2021 at 20:05 / Et cetera, Eurovision Song Contest / Moldova
Natalia Gordienko in the Habibi video
Natalia Gordienko represented Moldova at the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest. It wasn't her first participation, but this Moldovan superstar has more than just Eurovision to offer.
Natalia has a voice that is fit for both ballads and uptempo songs. Nonetheless, we can see that she prefers uptempo danceable songs like her 2016 single Habibi featuring Mohombi, the Swedish-Congolese artist we know from the Swedish national selection, Melodifestivalen in 2019 and 2020.
1 Habibi – opinions from fans
2 Natalia Gordienko – a mini biography
Unlike her 2020 Eurovision-could-have-been-entry Prison, Habibi is an energetic, upbeat summer song. If we compare it to Natalia's 2021 Eurovision Song Sugar, the two songs have many things in common as they're both up-tempo, danceable songs. However, in Habibi, Natalia did not show the wide range and power of her voice as she did in Sugar.
Habibi – opinions from fans
In order to find out what Eurovision fans think of this song from Natalia Gordienko, we asked our Eurovision Fan Panel. It includes team members as well as fans from all over the world.
🇬🇧 Michael O. – This is the old looking Natalia before she found some Sugar, would have equally been fine as a Senhit and Flo Rida song. I didn't realise she had quite a wide musical catalogue. Pleasant enough to listen too.
🇩🇰 Charlotte J. – I much prefer this to her Eurovision entry Sugar. This isn't bad. I actually sort of enjoy it while it lasts, but it's not one, I would seek again. I would get quickly get annoyed at the oriental sound, which I can only tolerate in small doses. Their voices match each other well, and that's the strongest key-point with this song.
🇦🇺 Michael R. – This is a pretty good song. There's nothing special or remarkable about it's just a really good piece of Arabian-themed pop. Natalia's voice lends really well to this style as well.
See alsoEurovision 2022 – all you need to know about the contest in Italy
🇳🇱 Vica K. – This song is giving me summer vibes. I would prefer this over Sugar. I feel that she is more comfortable in this song than she was with her 2021 Eurovision entry. With summer break coming up, I will add this to my summer playlist.
🇬🇷 🇬🇧 Theo V. – I like the combination of eastern and reggaeton elements. A slight criticism regarding the video would be that the locations used, though beautiful, do not look exotic enough to match the vibes of the song for me (that is the case even when Natalia and her friends are supposed to have reached their seaside destination). Other than that, the track itself is pleasantly light and summery.
🇨🇿 Josef S. – Those dance tracks really suit Natalia well. Musically, there are some interesting parts in the song, but when I sum it all up together, it's just an average song, nothing really special besides those national instruments in the backing track. Mohombi's parts are too short to be a highlight. But OK, lets at least admit that Natalia is really beautiful woman which is always a good thing. 🙂
See alsoTusse's 'Innan Du Går' in focus – discover other music from Eurovision 2021 acts
🇳🇱 🇩🇰 Wouter V. – This song has me utterly confused. A Moldovan singer teams up with Swedish/Congolese singer to perform a song with an Arabic title and Turkish sound. Not that any of that really matters, when the result is as enjoyable as this song. No masterpiece, but certainly worth listening to.
🇮🇹 🇬🇧 Maurizio V. – This is a summer song. I can picture people listening to this while they drink cold mojito on the beach. Natalia is a good singer and I like her voice in this. Despite being catchy and summery, this song is also fairly forgettable. Yet I would listen to it in the scenario I described before.
🇹🇷 Gunec G. – I love summer, I love energizing summer songs like Habibi from Moldovan superstar Natalia Gordienko featuring the Melfest star Mohombi. The video wants me the hop in the car, drive away and visit places like that (I have many in my country). The song does not get you bored until the end which is a good thing. I think this is much better than Sugar. And of course, Natalia is one of the most beautiful women on the Eurovision stage, no doubt about it.
Enjoy Natalia Gordienko's Habibi in the embedded video. Below the video, you can read more about her.
Natalia Gordienko – a mini biography
Natalia Gordienko (also known as Natalia Gordienco, DJ Tasha, Natalie Toma and Natașa Rostova) was born on the 11th of December 1987 in Chișinău, Moldavian SSR. She has Ukrainian roots.
Her artistic career started at a music school, singing in the school choir, dancing in the school dance group and studying piano. She began participating in song contests and festivals at the age of 15. She joined the band Millenium in 2005 as the singer of the group.
In 2016, she represented Moldova in Eurovision Song Contest along with the group Arsenium. They placed 20th with 22 points. In 2020, she was set to come back. She won the Moldovan Eurovision final in 2020 with her song Prison, written by Philip Kirkorov. When the contest was cancelled due to Covid-19 pandemic, she was not able to get on the Eurovision stage for the second time. Luckily enough, she was internally chosen to represent Moldova for the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest. She represented Moldova with another Kirkorov song, Sugar. This time, she passed the second semi-final with 179 points placing 7th. In the grand final, she took the stage 14th in line, received 115 total points and placed 13th.
Gordienko has won numerous musical awards and titles (like Miss Teenager in 2004) throughout her life and has been releasing singles since 2006.
Lesley Roy's 'Gold' in focus – discover other music from Eurovision 2021 acts
Written by Gunec Gulun Yazıcıtunc from Turkey
View profile and more posts from Gunec
24th June 2021 in Et cetera, Eurovision Song Contest. Tags: Habibi, Mohombi, Natalia Gordienko, Summer Countries: Moldova
One week after Eurovision 2021: These are the songs in the top 50 Viral Charts Global
30th May 2021 at 12:17 Vica Kolbeek


Name 3 book characters, 2 types of food or drink, and 1 song you'd like to have to survive being stuck in a car in a snow storm with.
I would definitely choose Cole Holland (Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter), Diego Vega (We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson), and Nox (Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige). We would have popcorn and coffee while listening to Mr. Brightside by The Killers.


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Home // Past Productions // The Tragedy of Dido Queen of Carthage
The Tragedy of Dido Queen of Carthage
Directed by Vida Ayres
Troy has fallen. Using the stratagem of the giant wooden horse, in which to smuggle an advance party of soldiers into the city, the Greeks open the gates to their waiting army. The Trojans are overthrown. Aeneas and his followers flee and set sail for Italy. A violent storm arises and the Trojans are shipwrecked on the coast of Africa near Carthage. They are given shelter and feasted by Queen Dido who is herself a refugee from Tyre.
Christopher Marlowe was born in 1564, the same year as William Shakespeare. He died 1st June 1593, having been stabbed to death in a tavern in Deptford. It is probable that he was engaged in espionage on behalf of the government. He was involved in the School of Night, a free-thinking group which met at Sir Walter Raleigh's house in the Strand. They had a reputation for atheism and necromancy. He wrote only seven plays but his influence on blank verse was considerable.
Jupiter............................................Alan Morton
Ganymede.....................................Richard Mills
Hermes..................................Richard Stevenson
Cupid.......................................Jenny McDonald
Juno............................................Wendy Walker
Venus......................................Marjorie Howarth
Aeneas............................................Gordon Gell
Ascanius, his son.....................Damian Gilmartin
Achates..........................................Colin French
Ileoneus.........................................Steve Francis
Cloanthus.........................................Dean Davis
Sergestus......................................John Woolley
Soldier............................................Robert Gray
Iarbas.................................Malcolm Bradbrook
Dido.............................Laura Hetherington-Parry
Anna, her sister..............................Susan Orme
Nurse............................................Pauline Green
First Lord.............................Richard Stevenson
Ladies & Attendants....................Tracy Hanson
...........Pam Burrows, Kim Francis, Holly Townes
.............Kenneth Underwood, Kathryn Werbinski
Stage Manager.............................Janet Townes
Lighting........................................Tony Whitley
Sound.............................................Gil Townes
Set Construction..........Gil Townes, Frank Grundy
..................Ray Kelly, Vince Morris, Mike Martin
...........Rob Nelson, Steve Francis, Paul Southam
Costume Design/Wardrobe...............Val Whitley
Hairdressing...............................Helen Howarth
Properties.......................................Kim Francis
...............................Pam Burrows, Tracy Hanson
Front of House............................Audrey Warne
.........................Margaret Kelly, Carole Wheatley
Technical Assistant ......................Mike Grundy
Publicity.......................Laura Hetherington-Parry
Continuity..................................Anthea Blundell
Photography....................................Dean Davis


History shows that, if individuals have the freedom to choose what to use as money, they will likely opt for gold or silver.
Of course, modern politicians and their Keynesian enablers despise the gold or silver standard. This is because linking a currency to a precious metal limits the ability of central banks to finance the growth of the welfare-warfare state via the inflation tax. This forces politicians to finance big government much more with direct means of taxation.
Despite the hostility toward gold from modern politicians, gold played a role in US monetary policy for sixty years after the creation of the Federal Reserve. Then, in 1971, as concerns over the US government's increasing deficits led many foreign governments to convert their holdings of US dollars to gold, President Nixon closed the gold window, creating America's first purely fiat currency.
America's 46-year experiment in fiat currency has gone exactly as followers of the Austrian school predicted: a continuing decline in the dollar's purchasing power accompanied by a decline in the standard of living of middle- and working-class Americans, a series of Federal Reserve-created booms followed by increasingly severe busts, and an explosive growth in government spending. Federal Reserve policies are also behind much of the increase in income inequality.
Since the 2008 Fed-created economic meltdown, more Americans have become aware of the Federal Reserve's responsibility for America's economic problems. This growing anti-Fed sentiment is one of the key factors behind the liberty movement's growth and represents the most serious challenge to the Fed's legitimacy in its history. This movement has made "Audit the Fed" into a major national issue that is now closer than ever to being signed into law.
HB 2014 is a very important and timely piece of legislation. The Federal Reserve's failure to reignite the economy with record-low interest rates since the last crash is a sign that we may soon see the dollar's collapse. It is therefore imperative that the law protect people's right to use alternatives to what may soon be virtually worthless Federal Reserve notes.
Passage of HB 2014 would also send a message to Congress and the Trump administration that the anti-Fed movement is growing in influence. Thus, passage of this bill will not just strengthen movements in other states to pass similar legislation; it will also help build support for the Audit the Fed bill and legislation repealing federal legal tender laws.
This Wednesday I will be in Arizona to help rally support for HB 2014, speaking on behalf of the bill before the Arizona Senate Finance Committee at 9:00 a.m. I will also be speaking at a rally at noon at the Arizona state capitol. I hope every supporter of sound money in the Phoenix area joins me to show their support for ending the Fed's money monopoly.


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Q: Using an in Memory Sqlite database as mock for Mysql connection, I was building unit tests for Data access blocks and liked to replace a MySql db with Sqlite in memory database, which i could consider as mock and load with test values.
Sqlite is created as below
using (var connection = new SqliteConnection("" +new SqliteConnectionStringBuilder
                            {
                                DataSource = ":memory:"
                            }))
{

  connection.Open();

  using (var transaction = connection.BeginTransaction())
  {
    //code to create table and load data
    var connectionString=connection.ConnectionString
    methodToBeTested(connectionString);
    //Assert codes
  }
}

MySql code that need to be unit tested is as below
methodToBeTested(string connectionString)
{
 using (MySqlConnection cn = new MySqlConnection(connectionString))
 {
    cn.Open();//Exception->Unable to connect to any of the specified MySQL hosts
    //other codes
  }
}

The MySqlClient adapter throws exception while opening a SQLite db connection. Is there a way to achieve this?

A: No.
At least not as you have it setup. The MySQL client does not know how to use a SQLite database. MySQL client is meant to connect to a MySQL server process while SQLite would be a code library that reads a local database file. That both are "SQL" only means they (mostly) follow the same standard for querying data once connected to the database. The connection process itself is very different.
Even if you were to build a abstraction layer for the connection process, SQLite would not be a good test for database function written for MySQL. Neither follow and SQL spec perfectly and either can offer more than standard functionality.


Caught these while passing in Negrais, Portugal. Must be some farmer who's growing dishes(or that guy I was telling you about who gets the BellVu package!), he calls himself "Marconi", but he's doing a great job breeding them. Take a look at the big fella'!
Wow, that's what you call a dish array.
nice is it a uplink station or something ?
Have you tried to find it on Google Earth?
It´s a communication center of Marconi Portugal.
Ignore, Analoguesat has posted the same on another thread, at the same time as me.
Please tell us more about the guy who gets the BellVu package, as I'm dying to know more. I've already done a search on 'BellVu' on this forum and it turns up only this thread!
Rato2, you went to lunch leitão (roast suckling pig)!!
It's a famous local specialty from Negrais.
I live on a small village next to it and sometimes pass there when I'm riding my bike, or when I have to go to a big graveyard on a hill next to that center.
Ten years ago it used to have twice the antennas it has now, and at least 3 big big dishes.
I know the center used to have a strict security policy and the people who work there weren't even allowed to receive personal visitors.
Regarding the function, its the UplinkStation teleport ( w_w.uplinkstation.com/ss/Sintra.html ). Satellites Eutelsat W2, Intelsat 907, Hispasat 1D.
Hey ArPCPro, it's a ritual ou gotta' go to lunch in Negrais and have the "little pig" if you pass there! Well, now I know where you live!
Is that an individual's?????????? Eh! Hmmm!


text:
Matthew "Mat" Collishaw (Nottingham, 1966) is een Engelse kunstenaar. Hij gebruikt fotografie, video en verschillende media in zijn werken en installaties. Hij maakt deel uit van de door Damien Hirst gelanceerde Young British Artists, een groep beeldende kunstenaars die in de jaren '90 de Britse kunstscene domineerden.

Biografie

Collishaw groeide op in een gezin dat de strenge leer van de fundamentalistische Christadelphians-beweging aanhing. Televisie was verboden en kerstmis werd niet gevierd. Hij zei later in een interview dat zijn opvoeding vooral invloed had op zijn fascinatie met het verbodene: "Dingen zoals televisie werden voorgesteld als immoreel. Waardoor het natuurlijk een aantrekkelijk gegeven werd; die kleine doos vol verboden materiaal werd dubbel zo fascinerend. Aan alles hing een lading die voor mensen met een andere opvoeding niet aanwezig was. Het verklaart waarschijnlijk waarom ik alles vanuit een morele invalshoek benader."

Als kind was hij dol op tekenen. In een interview met de Evening Standard krant zei hij: "Ik tekende soldaten en oorlogstaferelen. Daarna maakte ik voetbalstrips, tot ik de muziek ontdekte. Toen begon ik gitaristen te tekenen, omringd door het licht van schijnwerpers. Toen ik er uiteindelijk achter kwam dat ik geen talent had om te vechten, voetballen of gitaarspelen, concentreerde ik me dan maar op het tekenen."

Toen hij 19 jaar oud was, in 1986, trok hij naar Trent Polytechnic in Nottingham voor een introductiecursus kunstonderricht. Hier kreeg hij een beurs om te studeren aan Goldsmiths College, in Zuid-Londen, waar hij in 1989 een Bachelor of Fine Arts kreeg. In 1988 was zijn werk te zien op de groepsexpo Freeze, die gecureerd werd door zijn vriend en kunstenaar Damien Hirst, in een magazijn in de Docklands. Hirst presenteerde Collishaw en zijn medestudenten van Goldsmiths als de Young British Artists, ofte YBAs, een groep beeldende kunstenaars die in de jaren '90 de Britse kunstscene zou domineren. Het werk dat Collishaw hier exposeerde was Bullet Hole: een close-up foto van een hoofdwonde, uitvergroot en op 15 lichtbakken gemonteerd. Dit werk bevindt zich in de collectie van het Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, Australië. De overige deelnemers aan de tentoonstelling waren Steven Adamson, Angela Bulloch, Ian Davenport, Angus Fairhurst, Anya Gallaccio, Gary Hume, Michael Landy, Abigail Lane, Sarah Lucas, Lala Meredith-Vula, Stephen Park, Richard Patterson, Simon Patterson en Fiona Rae.

In 1990 hield hij zijn eerste solo-tentoonstelling, met als titel Mat Collishaw; eerst in Riverside Studios in Londen en vervolgens bij Karsten Schubert Ltd. in Londen.

In 1990 deed hij ook mee aan Modern Medicine, een tweede groepstentoonstelling die gecureerd werd door Hirst. Verder was er werk te zien van Grainne Cullen, Dominic Denis, Angus Fairhurst, Abigail Lane, Miriam Lloyd, Craig Wood en Dan Bonsall. De groepstentoonstelling Sensation: Young British Artists From the Saatchi Collection in de Royal Academy of Arts in Londen in 1997, met oa. werk van Collishaw, veroorzaakte controverse. De BBC omschreef de expo als "een verzameling gruwelijke beelden van verminkte lichaamsdelen en expliciete pornografie". Naast Hirst's "haai in formaldehyde" The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, Tracey Emin's tent Everyone I Have Ever Slept With en Marc Quinn's Self (een beeld van zijn hoofd gemaakt uit liters van zijn eigen bevroren bloed), was het vooral Marcus Harvey's schilderij Myra (een portret van Myra Hindley) dat protest veroorzaakte.

Collishaw stond aanvankelijk in de schaduw van artiesten zoals Hirst en Emin, die gedurende vijf jaar zijn geliefde was. Maar met een aantal spraakmakende expo's verwierf hij gaandeweg een reputatie. De Evening Standard krant noemde hem zelfs "Mr. Nasty" ("Mijnheer Akelig"). Voor In the Old Fashioned Way (1992) mechaniseerde hij een uitvergroting van een oude foto die een zoöfiele scene uitbeeldde. In Shooting Stars (2008) projecteerde hij foto's van kinderprostituees uit het Victoriaanse tijdperk op een muur die bewerkt was met fosforescerende verf. Voor Last Meal on Death Row (2010) maakte hij foto's van het laatste maal van enkele ter dood veroordeelde moordenaars, in de stijl van de oude meesters.
In 2015 werd Collishaw door GQ magazine uitgeroepen tot een van de 50 best geklede Britse mannen.

In 2017 experimenteerde hij met virtual reality. Voor de expo Thresholds recreëerde hij virtueel de eerste Britse fototentoonstelling, die plaatsvond in 1839. Thresholds was een eerbetoon aan William Henry Fox Talbot, de uitvinder van het negatiefproces in de fotografie, waarmee Collishaw trachtte om "opnieuw de magie te creëren van hoe het moet gevoeld hebben om voor het eerst een foto te zien".

In 2020 opende de Van Eyck-lightshow in de Sint-Niklaaskerk in Gent. Collishaw creëerde hiervoor The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, met Mankind en create.eu, een digitale en muzikale herinterpretatie van Het Lam Gods en verschillende andere werken van Van Eyck.

Zijn film Sky Burial wordt in 2021 vertoond in deSingel in Antwerpen. Als muzikale begeleiding wordt Requiem van Gabriel Fauré opgevoerd, door Brussels Philharmonic, Vlaams Radiokoor en dirigent Andreas Spering.

Collishaws werk werd vertoond in het MoMA in New York, de Biënnale in Istanbul en La Maison Rouge in Parijs. Zijn werk zit in de collecties van musea zoals Centre Pompidou in Parijs, The Saatchi Gallery in Londen en Tate Gallery in Londen.

Thematiek

Het werk van Collishaw bevindt zich op de grens tussen het aantrekkelijke en het afstotende, tussen het vertrouwde en het schokkende, tussen het poëtische en het morbide. Zijn visuele taal combineert verschillende media. Hij gebruikt elementen uit pornografie, de kruisiging, kinderprostitutie, zoöfilie, sadomasochisme, verslaving, religie en de dood. Hij doorbreekt taboes, maar zijn beelden zijn romantisch of zelfs bekoorlijk. Hij probeert beelden te maken die "indrukwekkend" zijn. Het verbodene heeft hem altijd gefascineerd. Hij verklaarde in een interview: "Ik word gedreven door de dingen die in het verleden onderdrukt werden, waardoor ik een onstilbare honger ontwikkelde om mijn werk te maken." Collishaw gelooft dat de menselijke aard "zowel goede als slechte eigenschappen heeft" en hij wil de toeschouwer confronteren met "diens innerlijke demonen", met als doel om ze uit te drijven. Hij verklaarde: "Ik probeer de toeschouwer te verleiden, waardoor hij bijna medeplichtig wordt aan een misdaad omdat hij geniet van iets dat elementen bevat van wreedheid of mishandeling. De kunstgeschiedenis zit vol afbeeldingen van opoffering, lijden, wreedheid en marteling. De kruisiging is het meest bekende voorbeeld. Meestal wordt dat mooi en waardig afgebeeld. Het is een vreemd fenomeen dat we er van genieten om te kijken naar iemand die aan het lijden is. ... Iemand als Caravaggio schilderde zeer realistisch ogende religieuze schilderijen, maar de mensen waren toen geschokt door het feit dat een van de figuren vuile voeten had. Niet de marteling die werd afgebeeld wekte afkeer op, maar het feit dat er niet genoeg eerbied werd getoond en dat het model zijn voeten had moeten wassen alvorens geschilderd te worden."

In The Guardian stond dat Collishaw "gelooft in de doeltreffendheid van beelden. Niet voor hem de abstracte ontwijking, de minimalistische halve glimlach. ... Hij wil je fantasie een stomp in de maag geven." Kunstcriticus Waldemar Januszczak schreef in The Sunday Times over de 3D-zoötroop All Things Fall: "Je ziet een model van een klassieke tempel, cirkelvormig, gewelfd, gezuild, waarrond honderden naaktfiguren in cryptische poses zijn opgesteld. Wat ze doen is onduidelijk, maar het lijkt onaangenaam. Plotseling doven de lichten en begint de tempel te draaien. Sneller en sneller gaat het, totdat de figuren in actie komen voor een opmerkelijke versie van de Kindermoord van Bethlehem. De onverwachte uitbarsting van geweld is briljant. ... Een hedendaags meesterwerk." The Telegraph noemde Collishaw "uniek onder kunstenaars en denkers van deze eeuw; een kruising tussen een esthetische filosoof en een goochelaar". .'

Tentoonstellingen

Solo-exposities

 1990 Mat Collishaw - Roundhouse, Londen
1991 Mat Collishaw - Karsten Schubert Ltd., Londen
1992 Mat Collishaw - Cohen Gallery, New York
1993 Mat Collishaw - Galleria Raucci/Santamaria, Napels, Analix Forever, Genève, Centre d'Art Contemporain, Martigny
1994 Idol Hours - Gramercy Park Hotel, New York
1994 The Eclipse of Venus - No. 20 Glasshouse Street, Londen
1996 Control Freaks - Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York
1996 Statements, Analix Forever, Bazel
1997 Ideal Boys - Ridinghouse Editions, Londen, Galleria Raucci/Santamaria, Napels
1997 Duty Free Spirits - Lisson Gallery, Londen
1999 Flesheaters - Analix Forever, Genève
2000 Greenhouse Effect - Serpentine Gallery, Londen
2008 Deliverance - Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York & Spring Projects, Londen
2008 Shooting Stars - Haunch of Venison, Londen
2008 Electric Ladyland - Analix Forever, Chêne-Bourg
2009 Nebulaphobia - Unosunove, Rome
 2009 Hysteria - Freud Museum, Londen
 2009 Submission - Haunch of Venison, Berlijn
 2010 Retrospectre - British Film Institute, Londen
 2010 Creation Condemned - Blain|Southern, Londen
 2010 Shooting Stars & The Garden of Unearthly Delights - Void Gallery, Derry
 2010 Magic Lantern - Victoria & Albert Museum, Londen
 2010 Last Meal on Death Row - Analix Forever, Chêne-Bourg
 2011 Pearls of the Abyss - Analix Forever, Chêne-Bourg
 2012 Vitacide - Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York
 2012 Sordid Earth - Greenaway Art Gallery, Kent Town
 2012 The End of Innocence - Dilston Grove, CGP London Gallery, Londen
 2012 Crystal Gaze - Raucci/Santamaria Gallery, Napels
 2013 This is Not an Exit - Blain|Southern, Londen
 2013 La vie de château - Château des Adhémar - Centre d'Art Contemporain, Montélimar
 2014 Black Mirror - Galleria Borghese, Rome
 2014 Mat Collishaw - Unosunove, Rome
 2014 Mat Collishaw - Patricia Low Contemporary, Gstaad
 2014 Mat Collishaw: The Yielding Glass - An Gailearaí, Ghaoth Dobhair, Londonderry
 2015 In Camera - Library of Birmingham, Birmingham
 2015 Mat Collishaw - New Art Gallery Walsall
 2016 Folly! Fountains Relief - Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal, North Yorkshire
 2017 Mat Collishaw, Thresholds - Somerset House, Londen, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham, Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire
 2017 The Centrifugal Soul - Blain|Southern Londen
 2018 Thresholds - Somerset House, Londen
 2018 Thresholds - National Science and Media Museum, Bradford
 2018 Thresholds - Yapı Kredi Kültür Sanat Yayıncılık A.Ş., Istanbul
 2018 Albion - Gary Tatintsian Gallery, Moskou
 2018 The Grinders Cease - Blain|Southern, Berlijn
 2018 Mat Collishaw, The Mask of Youth - Queen's House, Royal Museums Greenwich, Londen
 2018 Mat Collishaw, Standing Water - Galerie Rudolfinum, Praag
 2018 Mat Collishaw, The Centrifugal Soul - Castle Howard, Yorkshire
 2018 Night Hunter - Robilant + Voena, Sankt Moritz
 2019 The End of Innocence - Fundació Sorigué, Lerida
 2019 The Nerve Rack - Ushaw College, Durham
 2019 Deep State of Rapture - Page Gallery, Seoel
 2019 Dialogues - Villanueva Pavilion, Real Jardín Botánico, Madrid
 2020 The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb - Sint-Niklaaskerk, Gent
 2020 Mat Collishaw - Djanogly Gallery, Lakeside Arts, Nottingham

Groepstentoonstellingen

 1988 Freeze - Port of London Authority, Londen
1990 Modern Medicine - Building One, Londen
1997 Sensation: Young British Artists From the Saatchi Collection - Royal Academy of Arts, Londen
2007 The Tempest - Mat Collishaw and Paul Fryer, Gervasuti Foundation, Venice Biennale
 2007 Mat Collishaw, Anthony Goicolea - Haunch of Venison, Zürich,
 2007 Les Fleurs du Mal - Arcos Sannio Contemporary Art Museum, Benevento
 2009 Mythologies - Haunch of Venison, Zürich
 2009 Distortion - Gervasuti Foundation, Venice Biennale
 2010 Mat Collishaw, Tracey Emin & Paula Rego - Founding Museum, Londen
 2010 Extraordinary measures - Belsay Castle, Northumberland
 2010 Locus Solus - Benaki Museum, Athene
 2011 House of Beasts - Attingham Park, National Trust
 2011 Otherworldly: Optical Delusions and Small Realities - Museum of Arts and Design, New York
 2011 Sordid Earth - Roundhouse, Londen
 2011 Memories of the Future, The Olbricht Collection - La Maison Rouge, Parijs
 2012 Out of Focus: Photography - Saatchi Gallery, Londen
 2012 Des Images, Des Histoires - Maison de Jacques Coeur, Parijs
 2012 Britain Creates 2012: Fashion + Art Collusion - Victoria & Albert Museum, Londen
 2012 White Light/White Heat: Contemporary Artists & Glass - Wallace Collection, Londen

Onderscheidingen

 2013 - 16th Pino Pascali Prize, Pino Pascali Museum Foundation
2018 - Honorary Fellowship, Royal Photographic Society, Bath

Externe links

 Officiële site
 Tales of innocence and experience: Tracey Emin, Paula Rego and Mat Collishaw at the Foundling Museum - The Guardian
 Interview met Mat Collishaw uit 2014

Referenties

Engels kunstenaar

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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The damage to Hamam Balegha in Aleppo. Photo courtesy of Aleppo Archaeology.
On 24 December 2016 Aleppo Archaeology shared images showing the damage of Shebani Church in the Ancient City of Aleppo through their Facebook page.
On 24 December 2016 Aleppo Archaeology shared images showing the damage to the Museum of Science and Medicine in the Ancient City of Aleppo.
On 23 and 24 December 2016 Aleppo Archaeology shared images showing the damage to Khasraywa Madrasa in the Ancient City of Aleppo, here and here.
A new set of photographs of damage to Old Aleppo are available here.
Aleppo Archaeology shared a U-News video of damage to the markets of Old Aleppo here. A number of other photos of damage to buildings in Aleppo can be found on their Facebook page here.
The DGAM have shared a number of photos of damage to the Traditional Art Museum, Dar Ghazaleh, and Jdaideh in Old Aleppo here. Additionally there are photos of damage to Qater Aghasi, Mosque of Atroush and Altounbugha, and Jub Alkuba here.
Art-Crime blog posts about damage to Beit Ghazaleh in Aleppo, here.
The DGAM have shared photographs of damage to Shaizar citadel, and Tebet Al-Imam Museum in Hamma Governorate here.
ISIL militants have been looting archaeological sites and vandalizing graves in Kirkuk Governorate (ASOR CHI Incident Report IHI 16-0031).
ISIL-affiliated Amaq News Agency alleged a US-led coalition airstrike damaged a mosque in Mosul, Ninawa Governorate (ASOR CHI Incident Report IHI 16-0032).
Alleged SARG airstrikes damaged three mosques in Idlib Governorate (ASOR CHI Incident Report SHI 16-0154).
Alleged Russian airstrikes damaged two mosques in the city of Aleppo (ASOR CHI Incident Report SHI 16-0155).
SARG forces looted a makeshift library in Daraya, Rif Dimashq Governorate (ASOR CHI Incident Report SHI 16-0156).
Alleged SARG airstrikes damaged a Byzantine-era site in Hama Governorate (ASOR CHI Incident Report SHI 16-0175).
A fire destroyed a historic house in the Saroujah District of Damascus (ASOR CHI Incident Report SHI 16-0176).
ISIL-affiliated Amaq News Agency claimed that an Iraqi government airstrike allegedly damaged a mosque in Hawija, Kirkuk Governorate (ASOR CHI Incident Report IHI 16-0034).
New video footage and photographs show damage to three churches, a cultural center, and a cemetery in Bartella, Ninawa Governorate (ASOR CHI Incident Report IHI 16-0035).
An airstrike allegedly damaged a mosque in Daquq, Kirkuk Governorate (ASOR CHI Incident Report IHI 16-0036).
ISIL-affiliated Amaq News Agency claimed that an alleged US-led coalition airstrike destroyed a mosque in Hammam al-Aleel, Ninawa Governorate (ASOR CHI Incident Report IHI 16-0037).
An alleged SARG airstrike damaged a mosque in al-Sabha, Deir Ez Zor Governorate (ASOR CHI Incident Report SHI 16-0157).
Alleged SARG and Russian airstrikes damaged four mosques in Idlib Governorate (ASOR CHI Incident Report SHI 16-0158).
An alleged Russian airstrike damaged a mosque in Qebtan, Aleppo Governorate (ASOR CHI Incident Report SHI 16-0159).
The DGAM reported ongoing looting, vandalism, and theft of building materials from archaeological sites throughout Aleppo Governorate (ASOR CHI Incident Report SHI 16-0160).
An alleged SARG airstrike damaged a musalla in Douma, Rif Dimashq Governorate (ASOR CHI Incident Report SHI 16-0169).
The Los Angeles Times discusses the increase in fakes in Syria and the tricks used to make them, here.
A refugee from the city of Homs in Syria has plans to open an ice cream shop in Halifax, Canada after wining a top grant for entrepreneurial newcomers. Read more at CBC.
People in Costa Mesa, California gathered to hold a candlelight vigil At Fairview Community Church where poets and musicians of Syrian origins performed pieces, organized by various local community groups. Read more here.
Gulf News investigates the state of Syrian television and the effects of the war on it here.
The DGAM concluded a training program organized at Homs for 8 days during the period of 23-30 December, 2016, with the participation of architects, engineers and archaeologists from Homs Antiquities staff and 10 trainees from Damascus, Aleppo, Hama, Idleb, Dara'a, Lattakia and Sweida. Further information is available here.
Photographer Jan Oberg travels to Eastern Aleppo to photograph the are and as part of a mission by the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research. The article was released by Global Research and can be found here.
On December 10th-11th, 2016, an international colloquium titled "New Visions and proposals for the resilience of the Syrian heritage", was organized by the Syrian Ministry of Culture – Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums with the Ministry of Tourism in Damascus. The programme for the event is available here.
The engagement of archaeologists and cultural heritage experts during times of conflict can be difficult to navigate and their actions can quickly become politicised. Actions can be perceived in many ways in these complex circumstances. In this case, the event created some controversy, with some archaeologists issuing a statement against it (here, also reported in the French newspaper Liberation here).
Listen to talks from NYU Florence: Protecting Cultural Heritage in an Uncertain Time here.
Open Access catalogue for the Syria: a Living History exhibition, available here.
An International Expert Working Meeting: Safe haven for archives at risk? was held in Switzerland. For the outcomes read here.
The blog William Carruthers: Fragments discusses the recently held Safeguarding Endagered Cultural Heritage conference in Abu Dhabi, here.
New French exhibition on Syria opened on December 21, 2016. Organizers said the display is designed to be an "emotional" experience that takes visitors to Palmyra and other endangered World Heritage sites in the Middle East. The New York Times also covers the exhibition, here, with some photographs of it and 3D models of the sites.
Art Media Agency interviews Édouard Planche to discuss the recent international conference on endangered heritage, UNESCO's goals with respect to curtailing trafficking, and how Syria fits within this program.
The Toronto Metro reports on Aleppo confronting the damage left by 4 years of war.
Reuters reports on the scars after the battle of Aleppo.
Nature Middle East reports on the work of ASOR CHI to monitor Syria's loss of cultural heritage using satellite imagery. Read more here.
Syrian painter in Douma turns bombs into art. Middle East Eye interviews artists about inspiration here.
Syrian government begins clean up of rubble from formerly rebel held areas of Aleppo, The Daily Mail reports.
The National reports on the task of rebuilding Aleppo, giving special attention to plans on heritage architecture.
The Wire reports on the Syrian Seed Bank in Tal Hayda still operating despite the conflict.
The Antiquities Coalition's Deborah Lehr writes about cultural racketeering and blood antiquities here.
To learn more about antiquities trafficking see Tess Davis of the Antiquities Coalition discuss Trafficking Antiquities, from Temple to Museum, here.
Speaking at the International conference for the Protection of Cultural Heritage in Conflict Areas in the Emirate capital Abu Dhabi, the Mufti reiterated Islam's deep commitment to the preservation of historical heritage and condemned the "terrorists who are destroying this heritage that belongs to all human beings." See more on this here.
Reuters reports on the US attempts to sue to recover Syrian Antiquities, here.
A senior German archaeologist, Professor Andreas Schmidt-Colinet, who worked as head of the Syrian-German archaeological mission for decades, has urged the international community to work on protecting civilized heritage of Palmyra (Tadmor city) and preserving its cultural identity, here in the Syrian Times.


We're in the throes of summer - which means lots of parties, bbqs, patios and cottage weekends. It also means, lots of events where alcohol is free-flowing. I've learned over the years that while it's fun to have a drink every now and then, its way more fun to feel fresh and alert the next day.
I find my friends are often of the same mind set as me and are cutting alcohol consumption and replacing boozie bevies with other refreshing drinks more often.
I've started experimenting with some mocktail recipes and aim to have a drink at my summer hang outs that suit both those who like it spiked and those who prefer a virgin. Having a fun drink for everyone, regardless of their preferences, shows you're an attentive host and it's just a thoughtful touch for any party.
So today I'm sharing a true crowd pleaser - A Virgin Summer Sangria that is perfect for any party guest, of any age.
1) In a large glass pitcher, add all the sliced fruit. You can also add additional fruits like pineapple cubes, strawberries and grapes.
2) Add lime juice, orange juice and frozen berry punch to the pitcher.
3) Refrigerate for an hour and a half.
4) Just before serving, add ice to the glasses and fill them half way with the sangria juice mix, then top each glass with Club Soda.
5) Add some fruit slices to each glass for garnish and enjoy this light and refreshing mocktail.
By reserving the sparkling water to top each glass, each guest can decide how sweet they'd like their drink. For a sweeter mocktail, add more juice and less soda and for a lighter version, add more soda.
Kick back and enjoy this outdoors and at any party all summer long.