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About Climate One
Reimagining Capitalism: Wealth, Power, and Patriarchy
cc_20200626_cl1_ReimaginingCapitalism.mp3
With inequality booming and climate change looming, is it time to rethink capitalism?
"We've come to the point where making more stuff in order to sell more stuff in order to make more money is breaking down," says Hope Jahren, Professor of Geosciences at the University of Oslo.
In her new book, The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here, Jahren questions whether a healthy climate can coexist with a consumption-driven economy. Rebecca Henderson from the Harvard Business School is more sanguine about the prospects for addressing climate in a capitalist economy
"We have a pricing and regulatory problem," she says, adding that "we're not charging the full cost of economic activity." Henderson is the author of Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire and believes capitalism can be harnessed to better serve society as a whole.
"It's fairly clear to see how to fix it," she says. "The only thing it requires is a massive cultural and political movement changing the rules that constrain capitalism – but as soon as we can do that, we're done."
But is it really possible to support capitalism while fighting climate change? Norway seems like a country doing just that — or is it merely an enlightened hypocrite?
"It's a sort of country of paradoxes," says Richard Milne, Nordic and Baltic Correspondent for The Financial Times. "On the one hand it's Western Europe's biggest oil producer; on the other hand, it's probably the biggest market in the world for electric cars."
That paradox is alive and well in Norway, according to Sveinung Rotevatn, the country's Minister of Climate and Environment, who notes that "in Norwegian politics there's one expression that you'll hear more than almost any other expression and that is, 'What is the new oil?'"
Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, is supported exclusively by petroleum revenues but has allowed the country to electrify its economy and lead the way in clean-energy technologies.
"I'm happy to report that our emissions have been going down three years in a row now and are predicted to keep going down steadily," says Rotevatn, "but my job as Minister of Climate and the Environment obviously is to implement more policies to make them go down even faster."
Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire
The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here
The Financial Times / Richard Milne
Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment
Part 1 of this program was recorded on April 7, 2020.
Part 2 of this program was recorded on May 25, 2020.
Speakers at this Event
John and Natty McArthur University Professor, Harvard University; Author, Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire
Hope Jahren
Scientist and Author, The Story of More
Richard Milne
Nordic and Baltic Bureau Chief, The Financial Times
Sveinung Rotevatn
Minister of Climate and Environment, Norway
Greg Dalton: This is Climate One. I'm Greg Dalton. [pause] With inequality booming and climate change looming, is it time to re-think capitalism?
Hope Jahren: We've come to the point where making more stuff in order to sell more stuff in order to make more money is breaking down.
Greg Dalton: What are countries doing to prepare their economies to move beyond fossil fuels?
Sveinung Rotevatn: In Norwegian politics there's one expression that you'll hear more than almost any other expression and that is what is the new oil.
Greg Dalton: Expanding oil extraction AND clean energy, supporting capitalism while fighting climate change – can we really have it all?
Rebecca Henderson: The only thing it requires is a massive cultural and political movement changing the rules that constrain capitalism. But as soon as we can do that we're done.
Greg Dalton: Reimagining Capitalism. Up next on Climate One.
Greg Dalton: Is it possible to maintain a consumption-driven economy that doesn't trash our home or lead to massive inequality? Climate One conversations feature energy suppliers and environmentalists, Republicans and Democrats, the exciting and the scary aspects of the climate challenge.
Greg Dalton: Norway seems like a country that has it all – the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, supported exclusively by petroleum revenues, that has allowed the country to electrify its economy and lead the way in clean-energy technologies.
Richard Milne: It's a sort of country of paradoxes. On the one hand it's Western Europe's biggest oil producer. On the other hand, it's probably the biggest market in the world for electric cars.
Greg Dalton: Richard Milne is Nordic and Baltic Correspondent for the Financial Times. He'll join us later on today's show, along with the Norwegian Minister of Climate and Environment, Sveinung Rotevatn, to talk about fighting climate change while pursuing fossil-fuel capitalism.
Hope Jahren: It's like being a drug dealer that doesn't use his own product is basically the hard truth of it.
Greg Dalton: That's Hope Jahren, a professor in the Department of Geoscience at the University of Oslo, and author of The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here. She joins us in the first part of the show to explore how fighting climate change often involves grappling with issues of wealth, power, and patriarchy.
Rebecca Henderson: There's a classic Prisoner's Dilemma here that the individual firm has every incentive to run as hard as possible. The problem is collective. So we have to get business as a whole to act. Greg Dalton: Rebecca Henderson is Professor at the Harvard Business School and author of Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire. I began our conversation by asking Rebecca whether capitalism – as a system for making more stuff in order to sell more stuff – is fundamentally flawed.
Rebecca Henderson: We have a pricing and regulatory problem. We're not charging the full cost of economic activity. I don't think of capitalism as a system for producing more. I think about it as a system for producing efficient things. It make sure that the right people do the right things at the right time. And when it's working well, it's just fantastic. I don't think we're gonna solve the problems we face without capitalism. But we have to have real prices and real regulation. So let's just take beef for example. The production of beef is responsible for a very significant fraction of agricultural emissions and takes up an enormous amount of the planet's land. And so every time we eat a hamburger, we're in effect causing very significant harm because we are personally participating in warming the planet. And yet, beef is super cheap we're not paying for the harm that we're causing. And so, every kind of light in the system says, more beef, more beef, more beef, because it's cheap and people love it. And so, we need as a society to be able to say, you know, beef is amazing but it should be rare, it should be special, it should be offset and beef should be expensive. And so we will fix this. In fact, it's fairly clear to see how to fix it. The only thing it requires is a massive cultural and political movement changing the rules that constrain capitalism. But as soon as we can do that we're done. We know how to fix this problem.
Greg Dalton: Rebecca, you're quite optimistic and you point out in your book a lot of examples of companies acting in kind of enlightened self-interest and insight leaders that are doing things. Kind of on the margins, you know, the Patagonias of the world the Paul Polmans the Unilevers of the world. But companies are also doing one thing and in their very slick communications when it comes to policy they play a double game. They speak about climate change in public, but their lobbyists and their firms in Washington DC do either don't push on climate policy or they actively try to slow it down. They support the Paris climate accord, yes, they tweet about Trump backing out of Paris, etc. but they don't really put a lot of muscle or effort into climate policy where it matters inside the beltway. They're much more concerned with taxes, immigration, those sorts of things. They're afraid of alienating the other side. So I'd like you respond to that double game that I think companies play. Even some of the most sincere chief executives don't really leaning on policy in places where in the dark halls of power.
Rebecca Henderson: I think it's super important to differentiate between different companies. There are some companies that are behaving really badly indeed. They are funding massive public relations campaign saying we can keep running fossil fuels it's the future, it's gonna be great and at the same time they are pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into modern day forms of climate denialism and into politics in ways that have been totally disruptive. I think there are some firms that are trying to behave better. And, yes, they're doing things inside their own operations. So, sorry, I wanted to tell a good story. So I'm good friends with Hugh Welsh who runs the U.S. operation of a chemical company called DSM. And he is very active in introducing innovations like Clean Cow. Which is a pill you give to cows to stop them farting as often. It turns out that cow farting and cow belching is a huge source of methane. And so it'd be really good to reduce that. So DSM is funding a number of projects like that. They are very sustainably oriented they talk about it in public. And one of the things that Hugh has been doing is working with the chamber of commerce to change the chamber's position on climate change. So there are firms that are acting consistently. Unilever for example, is absolutely front and center in pushing for change in climate policy. If you think of the alliance called We Are Still In that's working with governors and states right across the U.S. They succeed in working in partnership with governors and local NGOs in putting in place commitments that will get the U.S. to within shouting distance of the Paris agreement. So there are firms out there that are trying. Are there firms that are saying all kinds of good things and doing bad things? Yes. Are there firms that will say they care about climate but not advocating for it? Yes. Do we have to change them? Absolutely. But I think it's a mistake to tell all of business with the same brush.
Greg Dalton: One of the things that underlies some of that is the concentration of power. Because we have, and Rebecca you write about how the top, was it top 40 people in the world control as much wealth as the bottom 50% which is, how is that not shameful in any system that produces that amount of concentration of wealth and power. And Hope Jahren, you write about GMOs are safe for humans to eat, but farmers are forced to buy seeds from near monopolies Monsanto and DuPont. So I'd like to hear Hope talk about that concentration of power which you write about in Iowa how the small farms have gotten smaller and the huge farms have gotten huger. And we have this disparity of power that underlies all of this, Hope.
Hope Jahren: Yeah, I mean there's also a fundamental question here in the changing nature of human labor, right. So there were folks that were very concerned with population increase in the 70s and how was the earth gonna feed all these people. And a tremendous amount of research was done on plants and animals. And it resulted in a whole new set of brave new world, all new consortium of creatures really. I mean farming just doesn't take us many people because you know to get a bushel of corn you used to have to plant a basketball sized court. And now you can get it out at about a parking space. Pigs used to have five piglets a year. Now, mother pigs have 10 piglets a year twice a year, right. And so the amount of food that we can create per unit labor has just skyrocketed. And so that labor has been consolidated using you know, industrial --
Greg Dalton: Fossil fuel driven industrialization.
Hope Jahren: Yeah, I mean enhanced technology and enhanced yield, wildly enhance yield. Which is always been done through breeding, is changing the amount of labor that's needed to produce way too much food, right. And so also the seed folks are just a few people producing all of these food. But at the end of the day, we have to ask questions about, you know, is it right to have the entire country food supply concentrated into the hands and pockets of a few people to sell and withhold as they see fit, right. So by mass producing all these and way too much, you know, I mean, corn is the great example. We can't find way, we turn it into sugar and squirt it all over everything. We can't even cram it down our mouths fast enough, we're having to turn it into fuel. We burn fuel to plant corn to grow corn, to turn it into fuel to fuel automobiles. It's like an environmental Mobius strip. I mean we're doing crazy things at this point just because we can produce so much food and we're desperate to do something with it besides feed truly hungry people.
Greg Dalton: Rebecca your thoughts on addressing that the concentration of power in capitalism in corporate America right now that has essentially kind of taken over the government. Who's gonna tackle that concentration of power and are we gonna solve climate because climate challenges, presents cost to some of that very concentrated power.
Rebecca Henderson: I don't think we're gonna solve climate change until we address the concentration of economic power. And that means both addressing inequality and changing the rules of the game. I'm sure we need to get political. I talk a bunch about genuinely free and fair capitalism. And free and fair capitalism means you compete hard against other firms. It means you don't go to Washington and change the rules such that there just a few of you in control fixing the prices and we have increasing evidence pushing down wages. That the one of the reasons inequality has increased is because economic power has become so much more concentrated. So labor has to work for a few, you know, people have to work for one of a few firms. And at the same time that concentrated economic power is pushing back against moves like raising the minimum wage or may I get topical, guaranteed sick leave or comprehensive healthcare. I mean these moves that would really help the poorer 50% of the population that actively resisted by this concentrated power. And I think we have to fix inequality because without it we won't generate the political momentum to address climate change and because we should fix it for its own sake let me say. And we have to fix politics. So one of the things I find myself saying a lot and I know how crazy this sounds, is the business should get actively involved in remaking of political institutions. In making democracy much more ground-level much more responsive and please in pulling money out of politics. So I think business is going to suffer immensely from the current situation and that the smart thing to do is realize that. And so okay, let's pull the money out let's pull ourselves out. Let's put the government, a partnership between government and business at the heart of our society in the service of the whole society.
Greg Dalton: You're listening to a Climate One conversation about Reimagining Capitalism. Coming up, how power and patriarchy can be just as big an impediment to progress on climate as elsewhere.
Hope Jahren: What I've never understood is why people are surprised to find that these truisms that are so core to surviving as a woman also have their expression within academia and within science per se.
Greg Dalton: That's up next, when Climate One continues.
Greg Dalton: This is Climate One. I'm Greg Dalton, and we're talking about Capitalism and the climate crisis with Hope Jahren, Professor at the University of Oslo and author of The Story of More; and Rebecca Henderson, Professor at the Harvard Business School and author of Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire. Rebecca writes that she grew up with a bifurcated identity, keeping her business-consulting job and passion for nature in separate boxes.
Rebecca Henderson: At the time it seemed natural. My professional life was what I went up to do. I made money, I kept my head down. And in my spare time I walk in the mountains and have trees. It came to an end when I saw Al Gore's movie. My brother, who's a freelance environmental journalist had been sending me scientific papers for some time. So I knew that climate change was an issue. But it wasn't until the film that it really came home to me. And I'm one of the people for whom it completely changed my life. I came back to the office. I emailed everyone on my contact list. I told them that this was the number one problem and we have to focus on it now.
Greg Dalton: And you grew up spent hours in trees and developed a deep love of nature. But then you worked at a consulting company, you know, closing down factories and became a chair and professor. So tell me about that love of trees hanging out them and reading them
Rebecca Henderson: My family was a little troubled when I was growing up like so many families. And so I spent an enormous amount of time outside. There was one tree in particular that I love. It was a 300-year-old copper beech. It must have been three stories high and it had a huge branch about six-foot off the ground that you could lie on and look up at the sky through the branches of the tree. And for me, there was nothing more beautiful and nowhere more safe. The smell of the trees the sunlight filtering down through the leaves. It became my touchstone. I think it's the reason I'm so emotionally engaged with protecting the natural world right now. But at the same time I knew when I had to make a living. So I went to MIT and got an engineering degree. I thought that was my quickest route to a steady job.
Greg Dalton: Hope Jahren, your book Lab Girl was a story of trees, love, and science. And that you write that a tree's wood is its memoir, trees' rings tell its age and story. How trees been important for your understanding of your own story?
Hope Jahren: I started studying trees when I was a graduate student. Because I felt like they would give me enough mystery to last me my whole life as a scientist. I started out in college studying rocks and I studied soil as a graduate student. And I remember making experiments that were designed to bring the climate together and I was gonna measure, you know, aspects about of and aspects of the field and the water availability and all these kinds of stuff. And then I was gonna measure, you know, the trees' performance. And it came time for the trees to kind of do their part and bloom and produce fruit and everything like that. And none of them produced any fruit. And not just the trees at my site but none of the trees in the county and nobody knew why. I talked to the local landowners and ranchers in Colorado and they said, yeah, trees just do that sometimes. And it was kind of, I don't know if it was early or late in my scientific development but there I was a grad student and I sort of realized, you know, these trees aren't here so that I can have a successful PhD. They're trying to do something for themselves. I mean they're living their own lives and they're trying to accomplish something. And truth is part of that it's a strategy that's useful at certain times for certain things. And it's also an activity with cost. It costs energy and etc. And so invoking that is not for my benefit it's part of a larger mystery that will take a long time to even get close to. I could feel that intuitively. And so I turn my attention toward trees and toward small plants and sort of what does it mean to be a plant and how do you respond to the basics of life. And those were the experiments I've done ever since.
Greg Dalton: You both write about some of the gender barriers in your careers and having to encounter sort of the male dominance in science and business. Oceanographer Sylvia Earle broke the glass ceiling in science in 1970. She joined other scientists living undersea for up to 60 days. I interviewed Sylvia Earle a few years ago in front of a live audience. Here's a clip we played from the documentary Mission Blue that shows how the first group of female aquanauts was portrayed.
[BEGIN CLIP]
Male Speaker: Now a team of divers will attempt to live for two weeks as quiet residents on the seafloor. Ironically, these aquanauts are not men with extraordinary physical endurance and stamina, but five young and attractive women. The world's first real-life mermaids. Their leader is a renowned scientist, Dr. Sylvia Earle, a marine botanist and an experienced diver.
[END CLIP]
Greg Dalton: That's a clip from 1970 talking about Sylvia Earle's and other female scientists breaking into the world of bearded men scientists. Hope Jahren, 50 years ago I know you've encountered some of that. We're told at one point you're prevented from entering your lab I think because you are pregnant. So how far have we come in that 50 years since that was recorded?
Hope Jahren: I think the problems in science in terms of sexism are part and parcel with the basic challenges of walking through the world wearing a woman's body. I mean I think the, you know, feminist theory brings us back to violence against women, reproductive rights and equal pay for equal work. And those are the three core issues that we struggle with in every profession in every field of life in every theater of being. And academia has problems around each of those. You know, we have harm, violence, rape, murder in academia and in science, right. We have problems being paid equally for equal labor and we also have tremendous awkwardness at the very least, and discrimination associated with women invoking their fertility and having children taking care of children, etc. And so, yes, I think those things are with us. They find a different expression culturally as we move through time. But I feel that this is our piece of the struggle. What I've never understood is why people are surprised to find that these truisms that are so core to surviving as a woman also have their expression within academia and within science per se.
Greg Dalton: Rebecca Henderson, you write about giving presentations in the highest heels you can imagine. And sometimes you get concerned if you start talking about values or purpose they'll write you off as a simpering female. What's been your experience in the business world and business education?
Rebecca Henderson: This is very controversial. But I think it's sometimes useful to think about men's way of looking at the world versus women's way at looking at the world. And it's controversial because of course men are very different and women are very different. So I'm talking about a central tendency a particular expression of masculinity, which I think one sees in the business world. That life is about competition, life is about the individual, life is about aggression and that that's what we strive for. And life is also about rational force about managing the numbers about showing that you're smart. And, as I said, I don't need to say that that's like men and this is like women. But that central tendency that way of being in the world has become very dominant in the business community. And in my own career, I thought it was necessary to learn that language and to be able to really participate in that conversation. And it's one of the reasons I have an undergraduate degree in engineering and a PhD in economics. I wanted that to be absolutely no doubt that I could handle the numbers understand the bottom line compete as hard as any of the rest of them. And I still find now when my research is more than ever focused on questions of, you know, what we sometimes call mushy stuff, this drives me crazy as if that is an emotions were somehow not real or not important. When in reality, as we know now from the modern psychological research, most people are driven most of the time by their emotions and their values. And all the rational stuff we come up with is our forebrain making up excuses for what the subconscious is just cruising through. So yes, this has been a real tension in my life in the last 10, 15 years. It's one sort of story I sometimes tell to illustrate it. So I teach students about climate change and the day it just represents and I often say, but there's a business case as business people we can make money by developing solutions to this problem and that's really important. And again I'm generalizing horribly but many of the men will come up to me and say,, "Rebecca tell me more about that business case. I want to be really certain." And far more of the women come up and say, wait, we are destroying the planet in the service of our bottomline. How do we stop doing that? And again it's a generalization but that is the tension in our society that I think we all have to live inside.
Greg Dalton: We're talking about Wealth, Power, and Patriarchy on Climate One. My guests are Rebecca Henderson from the Harvard Business School and author of Reimagining Capitalism, and Hope Jahren from the University of Oslo and author of The Story of More. I'm Greg Dalton. Hope Jahren, I've learned from some climate justice activists about how racism patriarchy are really at the root. That a lot of the conversations I've had about changing this technology changing this policy don't get to that deeper root. And they would say that getting back to more communal community-based nurturing system away from patriarchy is essential for really solving climate. What do you think?
Hope Jahren: Well, what I run into the most is when I talk to people about overpopulation. And I've had a number of men really come up to me and with seemingly like some pretty severe neurosis about these uncontrollable women everywhere having baby after baby. And the planet is doubling and doubling beyond control. I looked into it and people have been freaking out about overpopulation basically since they were able to count each other. There's all these writings from Mesopotamia talking about, you know, can the earth handle all these people occurring. One thing that and I did a lot of research on my last book The Story of More. And the one thing that we can see with lowered birthrates is that when the gender gap closes. That means when opportunity economic opportunity health outcomes and also political participation is close between men and women within the society, then the number of children born within a woman's lifetime is low. Low at replacement level or even lower than that. And that doesn't just apply to rich countries. It doesn't mean that there's an awful lot of opportunity there. It just means that men and women are sharing any amount of opportunity and justice and fairness there. And that is where we have the lowest number of births per woman's lifetime. So I would say that the only surefire way we can reduce population growth is to close the gender gap. And if that isn't fundamental to reversing or slowing down the damage to the earth, I can't think of another example more tightly correlated to patriarchal inequality than that.
Greg Dalton: And as we look to the future, Hope Jahren, you talk about some improvements in the human condition. Prenatal care has increased, drinking water more available immunization rates are up poverty is down. You also write about anxiety, depression rampant among people who are climate conscious. I think anyone who is climate conscious has some anxiety, depression at different moments. So how do you look at the future knowing the data you cite, Hope, but also the climate reality of anxiety and depression, you write about?
Hope Jahren: I have always believed that and I was taught that love is a gift and hope is a duty. And that if you want to be hopeful that requires courage and that we don't have the option to give up on the world that we compromised, right. It's every generation is consigned to grapple with the possibility of its own annihilation, and this is ours, right. And answers in the past have come from places that were unexpected or even unwelcome. And those solutions were sometimes too late for many, but they were never too late for all. I am a climate scientist and so my whole life is full of people working hard to get the data to show what's happening and to monitor the earth as if it were a sick patient. We don't quite know what the diagnosis is we don't quite know what the treatment is but we're very concerned that the earth is not well and not getting better. You know that being said, I have to admit that being part of climate change solutions research is probably about the most fun thing as a scientist you can even think of. Because every idea is on the table it doesn't matter how crazy something sounds, you can always get somebody who will sit down and talk about how to scale that up to the point where it changes the world. Yes, we're talking about something that reflects damage and harm but that's what makes it so important. And that's what brings such energy to anything that might look like a solution. And it's not gonna be a single sweeping solution there's gonna be a million little solutions that come together at least in the short term in order to turn things around. And I feel very hopeful and very positive. And I don't know if it's just part of who I am or who I want to be or the kind of people that I spend my time with. But, I can feel that we're close to some really good things just because of the amazing people I know who care so very much.
Greg Dalton: Rebecca Henderson, how do you feel about the future and can you talk about that with your whole self openly at Harvard business school.
Rebecca Henderson: I too I'm very hopeful. I have a friend called Erik Osmundsen who some years ago bought a garbage company in Norway. He thought that transforming the waste business making it a recycling business was one of the most effective things he could do to make a difference against climate change. But after he bought the company he found the whole industry was radically corrupt. People were mislabeling waste and shipping it to Africa. They were dumping toxic chemicals into the fields. When he went public with what was happening he got death threats. His children have to have police protection at school. I ask him sometimes if he regretted what he did. And he looks at me as if I'm crazy. He says, nothing special about me, it's the team it's just what had to be done, of course that was a bad time and I had to talk to my wife about it. But he's so excited about what he's been able to do. He's been able to transform the garbage business right across Scandinavia. He's made a good deal of money which is great. But what he cares about is the difference he's made in the world and I meet people like that all the time. When I started teaching Reimagining Capitalism there were 28 students in the room. Now we have nearly 300 nearly a third of the second-year class. Students eat, grieve and sleep this, you know, what can we do to make our world more just and more sustainable. Humans are infinitely resourceful. Do I think things are likely to get worse before they get better? Absolutely. I don't think that's an easy or quick or cheap solution. But I do think we will solve these problems, yes.
Greg Dalton: Rebecca Henderson, Professor at the Harvard Business School and author of Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire. We also heard from Hope Jahren, Professor in the Department of Geoscience at the University of Oslo. This is Climate One. Coming up, we'll take a deeper look at Norway as an oil-rich state that's trying to go greener.
Sveinung Rotevatn: I'm happy to report that our emissions have been going down three years in a row now and are predicted to keep going down steadily. But my job as Minister of Climate and the Environment obviously is to implement more policies to make them go down even faster.
Greg Dalton: This is Climate One. I'm Greg Dalton. When it comes to fossil-fuel capitalism, is Norway the perfect example of having it all — or just a walking contradiction?
Richard Milne: Every article I write about this the main comment is, you know, Norway is just a hypocrite it's made all this money from oil, you know, now it's trying to act to all enlightened.
Greg Dalton: Richard Milne is Nordic and Baltic Correspondent for the Financial Times. We spoke about Norway's split personality on energy and climate change along with Sveinung Rotevatn, the Norwegian Minister of Climate and Environment. I began by asking Richard whether Norway really is a climate hero or a climate hypocrite.
Richard Milne: Well, I think that's the big question really. For me it's such an interesting debate because it's a sort of country of paradoxes. On the one hand it's Western Europe's biggest oil producer. On the other hand, it's probably the biggest market in the world for electric cars. It's got the world's biggest sovereign wealth fund that is entirely funded by petroleum revenues among the other hand it's, you know, an ethical forerunner that isn't invested in coal isn't invested in some oil companies it spends a lot of money on conservation abroad. It's got some criticism about what it does in conservation at home. So I think it's a really interesting question.
Greg Dalton: Minister Rotevatn, your take on that the contradictions do you agree with those kind of dual personalities of Norway?
Sveinung Rotevatn: Well, I think I'll agree that there is certainly a paradox swarming my country. Because as Mr. Milne says we are a world leader when it comes to implementing climate friendly technologies electric cars, CO2 storage, public transportation what have you. But on the other end, obviously we have been for many decades and are still a major oil and gas producer. And even though we are getting more restrictions on petroleum we're still producing we're still exporting. And I guess a lot of the people see that as a paradox, but I mean it's important to bear in mind also that the debate surrounding petroleum is very much alive in Norwegian politics. There's one expression that you'll hear more than almost any other expression and that is what is the new oil. So everyone is always looking for the new oil, you know, what are we gonna be making a living out of for the next decades. And I think in some ways that is a bit of an exaggerated debate because oil and gases are the only thing that people in Norway are working on. And we have markets that are really promising and that are increasing in importance like fisheries for example, that is our second biggest export. We're still a strong industrial nation, I think we're pretty much the only industrialized at least Western nation that still has a shipbuilding industry of any proportion, for example. So there are lots of promising businesses for the future, but I mean ever since the 70s and up until today oil and gas has been increasing in importance and is still our major industry.
Greg Dalton: Several European countries have reduced their carbon emissions since 1990. Germany and the UK are down somewhere around 40%. Norway's total emissions are up over 1990. So with a country that's the second richest country in the world is that a really good record to be basically increased emissions over such a long period of time for a country that claims to be so green?
Sveinung Rotevatn: No, it's not a good record. And I mean I belong to a liberal green party. So I mean we've been critical of government climate policies so it's easy for me to be critical. However, I think there are some nuances to the story that need to be told. One important nuance is that what most other countries are working on to reduce their emissions isn't really anything that is available in Norway and that is simply because we're there already. For example when it comes to our power production, you know, it's close to 100% renewable already and has been for many years. So there are no coal plants to phase out for example. And also when it comes to heating for example, and houses that's all electric and not fossil fuel based. So there are some problems that we simply don't have where other countries have reduced their emissions quite heavily. However though, the reason why our total emissions have increased since 1990 a little bit is because the major increase in oil and gas production over the 1990s, especially. And at least obviously indirect emissions when you sell oil and gas to other countries but it also has quite big direct emissions from the gas-fired power plants on the production facilities. And also emissions from road transport in Norway have increased a little bit since 1990 and that is because there are 1 million more Norwegians today than there were in 1990. A very huge increase in population. And in a country of 5.3 million people that is a lot. Also our gross domestic product has doubled since back then. So that's the main reason why our total emissions have been up since 1990. But I'm also happy to report that our emissions have been going down over the last three years they're down three years in a row now and are predicted to keep going down steadily. But my job as Minister of Climate and the Environment obviously is to implement more policies to make them go down even faster.
Greg Dalton: Richard Milne, are you as optimistic as Minister Rotevatn about the prospects for a new oil to power Norway's economy?
Richard Milne: Well, he said new oil is the trendy phrase. And now I think another one is the green shift they talk about or the green change. I am a little bit more skeptical because I think if you look at the last time oil prices were under pressure which is 2014, 2015. Again, there was a lot of discussion about a green shift in the economy. And I think at the top level not a lot happened. I think it's admirable some of the things they're trying to do, but oil is such a huge part. It is still the biggest industry still the biggest export industry. And it also seeps into Norway through the state coffers. Norway is about to use a record amount of money from the oil fund into its budget. And that makes the state therefore sort of indirectly supported and propped up. And that's hard to turn off once you started using that money in the budget. So on the other hand, I would have to say Norway is a very lucky country in many ways. I mean it has these huge oil reserves that its use that it's very cleverly put into a sovereign wealth fund. But it also has as the minister just said as nearly a 100% hydroelectric power. That's an incredible situation to be in. Has very rich fish resources as well beautiful country in terms of tourism. So there is a possibility there. I just think that probably you don't really kill the goose that lays golden eggs until you have to. And so I mean that's gonna be the question is how quickly can you wean yourself off oil.
Greg Dalton: So Minister Rotevatn, is Norway gonna basically milk that goose until there's no more oil to get out of it. Take all the oil out of the ground?
Sveinung Rotevatn: Well, the answer is no. And actually already a lot of very promising areas out at sea where there are big petroleum resources are held off from the petroleum industry and are preserved mostly due to political negotiations. Like so for my party for example, it was important when we debated go into government that some very vulnerable areas under Norwegian continental shelf are kept away from the oil industry. And just recently we introduced a new white paper to parliament where we're drawing a clear line in the north in the Barents Sea where we're saying that north of that line there will be no petroleum activity whatsoever. And we're the only Arctic country to introduce such a clear limit to petroleum activities in the high north. So there are political debates ongoing all the time about restrictions on the oil industry. And I would also like to say that well, I think it's debatable whether Norway wants to, you know, kill that goose or not because what we are certainly promoting continuously internationally is policies to halt the demand for our main export, you know. We're a major player in all climate negotiations we're highly active on the EU level even though we're not a member. Trying to have enhanced climate targets more restrictions on fossil fuels more efforts put into renewables. So in many ways, you could say that we're sort of advocating internationally to stop the demand for our own main export. And if that isn't the paradox then I don't really know is.
Greg Dalton: If you're just joining us we're talking about the split personality of Norway as a major oil producer and a major country pushing toward cleaner energy. My guests are Richard Milne, Nordic and Baltic Correspondent for the Financial Times and Sveinung Rotevatn, Minister of Climate and Environment with Norway and the Liberal party. I'm Greg Dalton. Richard Milne, another aspect of this is the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund over a $1 trillion, the largest in the world you and your colleagues at the Financial Times have covered that. So how much of a player is that in the green side of this because that's the side that Norway is fairly progressive actor and Indonesia, Brazil other places.
Richard Milne: Well, the sovereign wealth fund for me is the biggest story in the Nordics it's pretty much invested in every single company in the world. So it has enormous power and I think it's still actually figuring out just how much power its got. It was in the beginning a very progressive investors seen as very ethical and was at the forefront of ethical investing. I think in recent years it's kind of fallen down that ranking and it is come under quite a lot of pressure even in Norway there are some other investors that ahead in terms of sort of climate change risk. And that's something that it's, you know, this is a very active debate about recently. So the government proposed not so long ago that the fund should get out to some oil and gas companies very limited number certainly not the biggest ones. It's a very difficult position also for Norway to be in. I mean every article I write about this the main comment is, you know, Norway is just a hypocrite it's made all this money from oil, you know, now it's trying to act to or enlightened. I mean, I think, you know, Norway is Western Europe's largest oil producer that's the starting point. So, I mean anything else it can do over that has to be applauded. But I think it could probably raise its ambition levels a bit higher.
Greg Dalton: Minister Rotevatn, I'd like to talk about the prospects for tourism been talking about what post-oil future for Norway. The melting and the warming in the Arctic is opening up to tourism, resource extraction, etc. I had the opportunity and the privilege of going to Svalbard recently beautiful archipelago, that's a remote part of Norway where there used to be coal and now there is research international climate research and increasingly tourists like me toddling around. Went to Longyearbyen where that day I was there that Robert Plant lead singer of Led Zeppelin was performing and it's showed me either how I know, he's going down, or Longyearbyen is coming up, maybe both. But when Led Zeppelin comes to a little town in the Arctic that tells us something about tourism. So is that a big part of the future?
Sveinung Rotevatn: Yeah, I think so and you're happy and lucky rather, to have been able to go to Longyearbyen. I mean it's a fantastic spot. Maybe not that environmentally friendly I mean this is probably the one place in the world with biggest carbon footprint per capita because you know, there are I guess around 1800 people living there and they have their own coal-fired power plant because that's the way they get their energy but and never mind. It's a fantastic place to go and if you're looking for something that is the most northern in the world you're gonna find it there. You're gonna find the most northern hotel the most northern police station the most northern liquor store etc. etc.
Greg Dalton: Most northern gas station also.
Sveinung Rotevatn: Absolutely. No, I think there is a big future in tourism. But actually when I was younger I had a summer job over quite a few summers where I was guiding tourists around the Western fjord landscapes in Norway. And the main attraction that we took them to was this huge glazier that's been there for centuries and centuries. And one thing I noticed was that every summer when we came back the glazier was a bit smaller and a bit smaller and a bit smaller. So I was actually able to see global warming firsthand from a very young age. And this is something that we're still seeing all around Norway and certainly in the high north where temperatures are increasing faster than other place in the planet. Svalbard for example, where you were lucky to go had a temperature increase of not 1.5° or 2°, but 5° since the 1970s. So things are warming faster up there and the consequences are quite dire from everything from, you know, small species that you've never heard of, to polar bears. So global warming is a frightening prospect in the North but tourism is one of our big industry since it's one of the industries that I've been increasing the fastest over the last couple of years. I guess this year they're probably gonna have a little bit of a setback but I think there is a big future in tourism for Norway.
Greg Dalton: Richard Milne, as we wrap up what's the story you'd like to crack in terms of Norway's sovereign wealth fund and its conflicted relationship with oil. What would you like to crack what story would you like to find?
Richard Milne: Well, I think it's even broader than the sovereign wealth fund. I think what the minister is talking about what's going on in the Arctic in Norway. I mean Norway is actually the most aggressive country in drilling for oil in the Arctic. And, you know, I think it is a crucial area in the world in working out what is sustainable in the Arctic. How you can have sustainable development. I mean tourism is tourism if you have lots of cruise ships, you know, is that sustainable. What happens if a cruise ship has an accident up in Svalbard is there any way of rescuing it. Fisheries, you know, fish farming how sustainable is that? And when I've done reporting in the Norwegian Arctic what you see is there isn't any easy answer, I mean you can think that having oil there is problematic but when you look at what could replace oil in terms of tourism in terms of fish farming they're not simple solutions either. So I mean it's a real to make the Arctic work as a place that you can have people living there working there the economy is sustainable I think that's gonna be huge, huge issue in the future.
Greg Dalton: Last word Minister Rotevatn. It sounds like Norway is trapped by its wealth.
Sveinung Rotevatn: Well, I wouldn't really say so. I think that we're continuously working with our grid shift. We are a quite dynamic economy. There are new businesses coming up all the time. And I think also that, you know, it's easy to get trapped so to say in always focusing on natural resources and big industrial companies when you're talking about an economy. But I think the root of the Norwegian economy as is the root of most modern economies is its people and our service sector. And it is not like Norway became a very rich country when we found oil or when we started fish farming or anything else. Norway has been a rather wealthy country for a long time. And that is mostly due to a country with a high level of education with very low corruption levels with a strong and trustworthy bureaucracy with an egalitarian culture with rather small economic differences between people. And I think that's the most important trait of the Norwegian economy and Norwegian society worth preserving for the future and that is gonna be the building block for an ever-growing Norwegian economy, hopefully.
Greg Dalton: We've been talking about Norway's dual identity as a major oil producer and a major country pushing toward cleaner energy with Sveinung Rotevatn, Norwegian Minister of Climate and Environment, and Richard Milne, Nordic and Baltic Correspondent for the Financial Times.
Greg Dalton: To hear more Climate One conversations, subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your pods. Please help us get people talking more about climate by telling a friend about our pod. It really does help advance the climate conversation.
Greg Dalton: Kelli Pennington directs our audience engagement. Tyler Reed is our producer. Sara-Katherine Coxon is the strategy and content manager. Steve Fox is director of advancement. Devon Strolovitch edited the program. Our audio team is Mark Kirchner, Arnav Gupta, and Andrew Stelzer. Dr. Gloria Duffy is CEO of The Commonwealth Club of California, where our program originates. [pause] I'm Greg Dalton.
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Project Blitz: Christian Nationalism in the USA.
The language of some of these bills is breathtaking in their audacity. "Biblical literacy initiative" is unfathomable in a modern democracy, yet there it sits.
Re: Project Blitz: Christian Nationalism in the USA.
Does this mean every school must hang these signs? Or it simply allows it. The woman objecting seems to think it has disastrous effects on children..
"For students who don't believe in God or have non-traditional concepts of a deity, this is a fundamental violation of their right of conscience," Garrett added.
In God we Trust. God enriches. Now I said it, does anyone feel the pressure?
Bible Literacy Act: Allows for the teaching of the Bible as an elective course in public schools.
It doesn't seem like they're twisting your arm. Its optional? If they were making atheists into criminals then if be against it. But simply allowing it to be taught optionally is fair. A child is being indoctrinated for 7 hours a day, 5 days a week in the religion of atheism. Why not allow them to optionally spend an hour a week learning about the most popular spiritual teaching in western civilization.


I'm in my 60th year; I want to meet every person on the planet that I haven't already met and see every part of the world I haven't seen yet. Perhaps a little over ambitious, so I'm toning it down to visiting the places I've longed to see and meeting a few new people on the way. I'm planning to go to India, in particular the golden triangle and then train to Dharamsala where I hope to get a glimpse of the Dalia Lama. I really don't have a clue how to navigate my way through India. So I would love as much advice, tips and encouragement as you can come up with. I'll be blogging as I go at www.shitim60.com so any input you give you'll be able to see being put into practise. Thank you.
You will need plenty of patience. Travel through India can be extremely frustrating.
You might want to put your travel plans in the hands of an Indian travel company who will make all the arrangements, book tickets etc.
to save what can be a real hassle.
Good luck on your travels, India is a wonderful country, vibrant and colourful. I have some wonderful memories of travelling through the country, though the last time I visited India was almost 20years ago.
It will be different!! Carry some toilet paper in your handbag because even if you find a toilet there will either be noine or a little lady outside selling you some. Quite often it is in a field behind a hedge-if you are lucky.


Your housecall veterinarian, Dre Lindsay can offer you a multitude of services for your pets, from complete examinations to customized vaccinations, parasite control, prevention and treatment of many conditions which might be affecting your pet's health. Whether you have a very busy schedule, reduced mobility or a pet that does not appreciate transportation, having your veterinarian visit your pet at home will make you save time and greatly reduce the stress for your dog or cat.
Once the veterinarian visits you, he may become the accredited professional for all your pets and guide you as to when it will be necessary to consult to ensure their good health. When the animal is in a familiar environment, the consultation usually takes place in calm and serenity.
You will find the experience to be cost effective and time saving and will receive personalized service at your convenience.


Details About Leather 3+2+1 Seater Recliner Sofa, Loveseat Couch Chaise Chair W/, Holder - Your residing room is an area to express your style. Visit us at any of our furniture and bed store locations. We provide dwelling room furnishings programs that you can customise on your liking. The greater portions you buy the more you save. Select a dressmaker lamp package deal, cheap sofa and loveseat set, a espresso desk, and more. Pick out residing room programs begin at just $398. You could even take domestic an entire house of furnishings beginning at handiest $998! With expenses this cheap, it's no surprise american freight fixtures and bed is the quickest developing fixtures chain in the usa.
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text:
Q: Need to have access to params from controller inside module without passing params to method I need to have access to params or if not possible access to request url inside module. I know that i can pass them to method but i can't do it (need to rebuild many methods etc.)
Is there some fast way to have access to params without passing them inside methods in module ? Or i need to rebuild code ?

A: In your class module,
cattr_accessor :params

From any of your controller,
before_action :set_params

in application controller,
def set_params
  YourModule.params = params
end

PS Untested and theoretical, hope it works ;)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


A pair of Elvis Presley's underpants are expected to reach up to £10,000 when they are sold at auction.
Unwashed and still soiled with stains, the pants were worn beneath one of Presley's famous white jumpsuits during a performance in 1977.
The singer did not want any lines visible while he was on stage and this pair of underwear was obtained from the estate of Vernon Presley, the star's father.
The light blue briefs will go under the hammer at an auction of Elvis Presley pop memorabilia in Stockport, Greater Manchester, on 8 September. There is expected to be a lot of interest in the auction from his fans from across the globe.
I lived in Stockport in the 90's and nothing like this ever happened.


text:
CanSino COVID-19 Vaccines
Holly Lutmer PharmD + Robert Carlson, MD
CanSinoBio COVID-19 Vaccines 2023
CanSinoBio Biologics Inc. Convidecia™ (Ad5-nCoV) is a novel recombinant viral vector vaccine for COVID-19 produced in China. The single-dose vaccine was developed on CanSinoBIO's adenovirus-based viral vector vaccine technology platform and the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology.
Convidecia is a genetically engineered vaccine with the replication-defective adenovirus type 5 vector to express the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus spike protein. In addition, the Company used protein structure design technology to design pneumococcal protein antigens. And developed a proprietary cell line to be used for viral vector production. It uses a weakened common cold virus (adenovirus, which infects human cells readily but is incapable of causing disease) to deliver genetic material that codes for the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to the cells. These cells then produce the spike protein and travel to the lymph nodes, where the immune system creates antibodies that will recognize that spike protein and fight off the coronavirus.
In early 2020, a joint team of the Institute of Biotechnology, the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, and CanSino Biologics began developing the AD5-nCOV vaccine candidate. According to China Daily, the team registered the experimental COVID-19 vaccine for a phase I clinical trial in China on March 23, 2020.
On May 22, 2020, the Ad5 vectored COVID-19 vaccine was reported in a study to be tolerable and immunogenic at 28 days post-vaccination. Humoral responses against SARS-CoV-2 peaked at day 28 post-vaccination in healthy adults, and rapid, specific T-cell responses were noted from day 14 post-vaccination. According to the National Intellectual Property Administration, on August 11, 2020, China granted its first COVID-19 vaccine patent. The patent was submitted for application on March 18, 2020.
The Lancet published an analysis of a phase 3 study on December 23, 2021, that showed a single dose of Convidecia is efficacious and safe, with an efficacy of 96% in preventing severe COVID-19 disease and an overall efficacy of 63.7% 14 days post-vaccination for healthy adults aged 18 and above, without any reported vaccine-related serious adverse events. In addition, against severe infection with the virus, the vaccine's effectiveness increased to 91.7% effective.
The Company announced on January 11, 2022, a phase 1/2 study published on January 4, 2022, showed that boosting the inactivated vaccine with the Inhalation Convidecia™stimulates a strong mucosal immune response. In addition, the level of RBD-specific IgA-binding antibody was detected in the serum of the subjects 14 days after vaccination.
CanSinoBio announced on March 13, 2022, a non-peer-reviewed phase 4 study's results showed that administering Convidecia as a heterologous booster can induce a stronger immune response than the recombinant protein and inactivated vaccines, stimulating greater humoral and cellular immune responses regardless of the delivery route. Additionally, the inhaled version of Convidecia provided a more effective and efficient alternative for the booster vaccination program. It can also induce mucosal immunity to achieve triple protection with just one-fifth dosage of an injectable version of Convidecia.
On May 19, 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued an emergency use listing (EUL) for Convidecia and published Interim recommendations for for the use of Cansino Ad5-nCoV-S vaccine (Convidecia®) against COVID-19. On June 10, 2022, the WHO published: The CanSino Biologics Ad5-nCoV-S COVID-19 vaccine: What you need to know.
On May 30, 2022, The Lancet published a study that found that a heterologous booster vaccine with an orally administered aerosolized Ad5-nCoV is safe and highly immunogenic in adults who have previously received two doses of CoronaVac as the primary series vaccination.
Convidecia (Ad5-nCoV) Drugbank Accession Number: DB15655. Ad5-nCoV clinical trial listing.
Tianjin, China-based CanSino Biologics Inc. is an innovative biopharmaceutical company (SHSE: 688185, HKEX: 06185) established in 2009 and dedicated to exploring the best solutions to preventing diseases through cutting-edge research & development, advanced manufacturing, and commercialization of innovative vaccine products for human use worldwide. Inclusive of the COVID-19 vaccine, they are developing several vaccines, including 13 for infectious diseases. In addition, CanSinoBio announced its new brand identity on April 24, 2022, which is intended to represent the Company's continuous dedication to life sciences research and its commitment to protecting the global population with innovative, high-quality, and accessible vaccines and empowering people to lead a healthy and better life.
Headquarters: 401-420, 4th Floor, Biomedical Park, 185 South Avenue, TEDA West District, Tianjin, PRC.
Convidecia Air™ Inhaled Vaccine
CanSino Biologics Inc.'s inhaled version of its adenovirus-vectored Covid-19 vaccine, Convidecia Air™, was approved by China's medical products regulator as a booster dose on September 4, 2022. The city of Shanghai started administering the inhalable COVID-19 vaccine on October 26, 2022. Reuters reported on November 10, 2022, Convidecia Air was available in Tianjin City, Shanghai, and 13 cities have introduced the vaccine as a booster. And China Central Television reported on November 18, 2022, Convidecia Air was approved as an emergency-use booster by Chinese health authorities.
On December 27, 2022, CanSino Biologics Inc. announced that the first batch of Convidecia Air™ arrived in the country of Morocco. With this shipment, Morocco became the first overseas country to offer Convidecia Air as booster doses.
Convidecia Air provides a non-invasive option that uses a nebulizer to change liquid into an aerosol for inhalation through the mouth. Convidecia Air is needle-free and can effectively induce comprehensive immune protection in response to SARS-CoV-2 after just one breath. This route mimics the natural infection pathway of the respiratory virus COVID-19 and may create additional benefits by generating mucosal immunity. Compared to intramuscular vaccines, which usually require low-temperature storage and trained health personnel to administer them, inhalable vaccines can be administered through disposable devices, with minimal storage requirements for mass vaccination.
On December 9, 2021, Aerogen® (Galway, Ireland) and CanSinoBIO announced a development and commercial supply partnership for the inhaled delivery of CanSinoBIO's Convidecia Air utilizing Aerogen's proprietary vibrating mesh aerosol drug delivery technology.
CanSinoBio mRNA Vaccine (CS-2034)
CanSino Biologics Inc. announced on April 4, 2022, pre-clinical trial results showed that CanSinoBIO's COVID-19 mRNA vaccine-induced high-titer neutralizing antibody levels against multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VoC), including the Omicron variant. Additionally, results showed that the CanSinoBio mRNA vaccine could induce neutralizing antibodies with greater cross-reactivity against global VOCs and provide stronger protection against infections caused by the circulating variants than the original strain-based COVID-19 vaccines.
On January 5, 2023, (Reuters) CanSino reported "positive" interim data on its experimental COVID-19 mRNA booster vaccine (CS-2034) in a mid-stage clinical trial. At 28 days following the booster shots, adults in the CS-2034 group had virus-neutralizing antibodies at levels that were 27 times as high as those in the inactivated vaccine group against the original Wuhan strain and 23 times higher against the BA.1 Omicron variant.
CanSino Convidecia Dosage
The WHO's SAGE recommends using the vaccine as a single (0.5ml) dose in all age groups 18 and above.
CanSino Convidecia Storage
Convidecia can be stored and transported between 2°C and 8°C, making it more accessible, especially to underserved public health regions.
CanSino Availability
As of January 2023, CanSino vaccines were available in about ten countries and as a heterologous booster.
CanSino Convidecia Price
TV media reported that the Pakistan-based Dr. Zeeshan Bin Ishtiaque confirmed that they had started inoculations with Convidecia, whose maximum retail price was Rs4,250 (US $58).
CanSino Convidecia News 2020 - 2022
November 22, 2022 - Local media reported the inhaled vaccine was offered in Beijing.
October 25, 2022 - CanSino Biologics Inc. announced that its Recombinant COVID-19 Vaccine for Inhalation (Convidecia Air™) had been approved by the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council of China for inclusion in Shanghai's booster vaccination program starting from October 26, 2022, marking the start of the rollout of the world's first inhaled COVID-19 vaccine.
July 28, 2022 - A non-peer-reviewed study - Antibody Persistence and Safety through 6 Months after Heterologous Orally Aerosolised Ad5-nCoV in individuals primed with two-dose CoronaVac previously. Conclusions: These data suggested that heterologous aerosolized Ad5-nCoV following two-dose CoronaVac priming was safe and persistently more immunogenic than three-dose CoronaVac, although immune responses waned over time.
May 19, 2022 - The WHO added the CanSino Biologics vaccine to its portfolio of vaccines validated for preventing COVID-19.
March 13, 2022 - CanSino Biologics Inc. announced results from an academic paper on the efficacy of a Convidecia single dose heterologous booster against the Omicron virus variant generated greater neutralizing antibody responses than those induced by the homologous inactivated vaccine booster or heterologous recombinant protein vaccine booster.
February 8, 2022 - A non-peer-reviewed study compared major outcomes in 260 hospitalized vaccinated vs. 507. unvaccinated adults with COVID-19 (mid-2021). The vaccinated group was much older, required less critical care, had lower hospital mortality (adjusted by age), and had shorter hospitalization than the unvaccinated. Benefits were most pronounced in those older than 59 years.
January 11, 2022 - CanSino Biologics Inc. announced that Preprints with The Lancet published a clinical study on the safety and immunogenicity of CanSinoBIO's Recombinant COVID-19 Vaccine(Adenovirus Type 5 Vector)for Inhalation Convidecia™as a heterologous booster. The results of a phase 1/2 study indicated that a heterologous booster with one dose of the Inhalation Convidecia™ for adults aged 18 years and above, who have received two doses of inactivated COVID-19 vaccine, can induce a higher level of neutralizing antibodies than those with a homogeneous booster of inactivated vaccine.
December 24, 2021 - CanSino Biologics Inc. announced that the journal The Lancet published its Phase III clinical trial results on the safety and efficacy of its Convidecia™ vaccine. The publication of the analysis showed that a single dose of Convidecia is efficacious and safe, with an efficacy of 96% in preventing severe COVID-19 disease and displayed an overall efficacy of 63.7% 14 days post-vaccination for healthy adults aged 18 and above, without any reported vaccine-related serious adverse events.
September 21, 2021 - Malaysia media reported SGB's statement indicating data from a recent Chinese clinical study showed that a booster shot with the Convidecia vaccine, following a two-dose inactivated vaccine, is effective in producing an immune response to the Covid-19 virus. "The study by the Jiangsu Centre of Disease Control revealed that the Convidecia booster shot demonstrated an increase of at least 78-fold in average neutralizing antibody levels, compared to a booster shot with the same inactivated vaccine showing a 15.2-fold increase in antibody levels," it said.
July 26, 2021 - The Lancet published a study: Safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of an aerosolized adenovirus type-5 vector-based COVID-19 vaccine (Ad5-nCoV) in adults: preliminary report of an open-label and randomized phase 1 clinical trial. Interpretation - Aerosolised Ad5-nCoV is well tolerated, and two doses of aerosolized Ad5-nCoV elicited neutralizing antibody responses, similar to one dose of intramuscular injection. An aerosolized booster vaccination at 28 days after the first intramuscular injection-induced strong IgG and neutralizing antibody responses. The efficacy and cost-effectiveness of aerosol vaccination should be evaluated in future studies.
March 22, 2021 - The National Medical Products Administration of China approved CanSinoBIO's clinical trial application for an inhaled version of the COVID-19 vaccine.
February 28, 2021 - China's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine began its roll-out.
February 25, 2021 - CanSino Biologics Inc. announced that the National Medical Products Administration of China had granted conditional marketing authorization for its Recombinant Novel Coronavirus Vaccine (Adenovirus Type 5 Vector) ("Ad5-nCoV", trade name: Convidecia™), making it the first of its kind authorized in China.
February 13, 2021 - Pakistan's Drug Regulatory Authority approved the emergency use of Convidicea (Ad5-nCoV) on the recommendations of an expert committee. Pakistan is the second country, following Mexico, to approve the vaccine.
November 7, 2020 - CanSinoBIO announced it had initiated the Phase III clinical trial for a recombinant COVID-19 vaccine (Ad5-nCoV) developed in Mexico. The Mexican authority approved the study in October 2020.
July 20, 2020 - The Lancet published 'Immunogenicity and safety of a recombinant adenovirus type-5-vectored COVID-19 vaccine in healthy adults aged 18 years or older: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 trial. The Ad5-vectored COVID-19 vaccine at 5 × 1010 viral particles is safe and induced significant immune responses in the majority of recipients after a single immunization.
June 25, 2020 - China's Central Military Commission approved the use of the vaccine by the military for 1-year.
May 22, 2020 - The first human trial of a COVID-19 vaccine finds it is safe and induces a rapid immune response.
March 17, 2020 - CanSinoBIO's Investigational Vaccine Against COVID-19 Approved for Phase 1 Clinical Trial in China.
CanSino Convidicea Vaccine Clinical Trials
CanSino Convidicea vaccine continues to be tested in several clinical trials.
CanSinoBIO received the approval of its clinical trial application for Convidecia Air™ in March 2021. Studies published in The Lancet indicated that Convidecia Air™ could induce strong humoral, cellular and mucosal immunity to achieve triple protection and effectively contain the infection and spread of the virus.
And on July 26, 2022, a study - Safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of an aerosolized adenovirus type-5 vector-based COVID-19 vaccine (Ad5-nCoV) in adults: preliminary report of an open-label and randomized phase 1 clinical trial - Interpretation: Aerosolised Ad5-nCoV is well tolerated, and two doses of aerosolized Ad5-nCoV elicited neutralizing antibody responses, similar to one dose of intramuscular injection. An aerosolized booster vaccination at 28 days after the first intramuscular injection induced strong IgG and neutralizing antibody responses. The efficacy and cost-effectiveness of aerosol vaccination should be evaluated in future studies.
On January 4, 2022, a phase 1/2 study found that a heterologous boost immunization with an aerosolized Ad5-nCoV is safe and highly immunogenic in adults who have received two-dose inactivated COVID-19 vaccine CoronaVac as the primary series vaccination.
A study published results in May 2022, Findings Between Sept 14 and 16, 2021, 420 participants were enrolled: 140 (33%) participants per group. Adverse reactions were reported by 26 (19%) participants in the low dlow-dosep and 33 (24%) in the high dose group within 14 days after the booster vaccination, significantly less than the 54 (39%) participants in the CoronaVac group (p<0·0001). The low-dose group had a serum NAb GMT of 744·4 (95% CI 520·1–1065·6) and the high dose group had a GMT of 714·1 (479·4–1063·7) 14 days after booster dose, significantly higher than the GMT in the CoronaVac group (78·5 [60·5–101·7]; p<0·0001).
Non-Replicating Viral Vector Vaccine
Convidecia™, Convidecia Air™
Generic:
Adenovirus Type 5 Vector
Ad5-nCoV
CanSinoBIO
Country ID:
FDA First In Class:
China and other countries
Various Approvals
HEK293 Cell Line
Confirmatory Lab Tests:
Currently Not Disclosed
Clinical Trial Phase I:
A Clinical Trial of a Recombinant Adenovirus 5 Vectored COVID-19 Vaccine (Ad5-nCoV) With Two Doses in Healthy Adults
Clinical Trial Phase II:
A Phase II Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Recombinant Vaccine for COVID-19 (Adenovirus Vector) (CTII-nCoV)
Clinical Trial Phase III:
Clinical Trial of Recombinant Novel Coronavirus Vaccine (Adenovirus Type 5 Vector) Against COVID-19
Clinical Trial Phase IV:
Study on Sequential Immunization of Inactivated SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine and Recombinant SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine (Ad5 Vector)
National Medical Products Administration
Brazil - pending

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
HCCC softball begins title quest
The Herkimer County Community College women's softball team that has won 34 straight games and is ranked No. 1 in the country begins its quest for a National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III championship at 4 p.m. Tuesday when the top-seeded Generals host eighth-seeded Columbia-Greene in an NJCAA Region III tournament game.
Herkimer is 37-3 overall and unbeaten since losing a pair of one-run games in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on March 12-13. The Generals have played Columbia-Greene three times this season and have shut out the Twins each time - 7-0 in Myrtle Beach and 8-0 and 10-0 in an April 11 doubleheader in Herkimer.
Tuesday's winner advances to the NJCAA Region IIIA Championships on Friday and Saturday at Genesee Community College and will play fourth-seeded Onondaga Community College or fifth-seeded Broome Community College in a best-of-three series.
HCCC's Generals, 16-0 at home this season, are trying to reach the NJCAA Championships for the seventh consecutive year under head coach P.J. Anadio.
Herkimer has a .444 team batting average. The Generals have hit 48 home runs and are averaging nearly 13 runs per game.
Sophomore Keena Wolcik of Baldwinsville is batting .495 with 15 doubles, 11 homers and 47 RBIs. As a pitcher, she is 13-1 with a 1.88 ERA.
Sophomore Shannon Moore also has 15 doubles and 11 home runs. Moore is a .450 hitter who leads the Generals with 60 RBIs and 51 runs scored.
Freshman Julianna Finnerty is batting .526 with five homers and 42 RBIs, and freshman outfielder Taylor Zaino - the former West Canada Valley star from Newport - is hitting .482 and leads HCCC with 22 stolen bases in 23 attempts. Brooke Snyder, another freshman, is a .417 hitter with 48 RBIs.
Sophomore Madisynn Butler of Richfield Springs is batting .442 with two homers and 36 RBIs, Oneida's Morgan Sgarlata is hitting .413 with 28 RBIs, and Frankfort's Maria DiNigro is batting .339 with 16 RBIs.
HCCC pitcher Kali Puppolo is 13-1 with a 2.49 ERA and 106 strikeouts in 76 innings.
Morrisville State lacrosse
teams return to NCAAs
The Morrisville State College men's and women's lacrosse teams are back in the NCAA Division III tournaments after repeating as North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) champions this past week.
The Morrisville men's team, 11-7 overall after edging Bryn Athyn 11-10 in the NEAC final, plays Eastern University (12-6) in the first round of the NCAA tournament at 4 p.m. Tuesday in Salisbury, Maryland. The winner advances to the second round and plays host Salisbury, ranked seventh in the country and the two-time defending Division III national champion, at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Like Morrisville, Salisbury (16-3) is riding a 10-game winning streak.
The Morrisville women's team, 12-7 overall, earned a second straight NCAA berth with Sunday's 21-10 win over Medaille College in the NEAC finals. The Mustangs, who got three goals from Brookfield's Jillian Hughes on Sunday, plays Westfield State (17-2) on Saturday in the first round of the NCAAs. The Owls' 17 wins are a school record.


Our Meet The Experts area at the LA Baby Show–coming up on November 5-6–has so much going on for new and expectant parents. So plan to come by and chat with experts, authors, and parent celebs. Read on for the full schedule!


*Fuel consumption figures quoted are based on ADR 79/04 (Euro 5) combined test results. #Android Auto is a trademark of Google Inc. Android Auto works with Android 5.0 (Lollipop) or above. ‡Apple CarPlay is a trademark of Apple Inc. Apple CarPlay works with iPhone 5 models and above running iOS 7.1 or higher. °Requires compatible device. The Bluetooth word mark is owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and use of such mark by Honda is under licence. ^Digital radio station coverage dependent on vehicle location. ˜Garmin® is a trademark of Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries, registered in the USA and other countries. This specification listing relates to the 18YM Civic Type R and is accurate as at the 1st September 2017. All specifications and details are subject to change without further notice.


text:
By J. R. R. Tolkien
Publisher Highbridge Co
Binding CD/Spoken Word
Book category Adult Fiction
Dimensions 1 by 5.75 by 5 in.
Other format details audio
Middle Earth (Imaginary place); Drama.
Baggins, Bilbo (Fictitious character); Drama.
Lord of the Rings (omnibus): The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings) | The Jane Austen BBC Radio Drama Collection | The Hobbit, Or, There And Back Again | The Complete Lord of the Rings Trilogy | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone | The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | The Fellowship of the Ring
Amazon.com description: Product Description: The original American full dramatization as broadcast on National Public Radio. Bilbo Baggins, a gentle hobbit who loves the comforts of home, reluctantly joins a company of dwarves on a journey to recover plundered gold from a fierce dragon. It's a tale of high adventure and astonishing courage-and a magical prelude to the Lord of the Rings trilogy.


May 15, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – North Sudan's ruling National Congress Party's (NCP) candidate, Ahmad Haroun, has been officially declared winner of gubernatorial elections in the country's central state of South Kordofan, as the main opposition Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) asserted its non-recognition of the result.
The largely peaceful conduct of legislative and gubernatorial elections in South Kordofan, which lies at the center of Sudan's north-south axis, was subsequently dented by disagreements during vote-counting, leading to the withdrawal on Friday of the SPLM, which claimed that the vote was rigged in favour of the NCP and its candidate.
In a press conference in Khartoum on Sunday, the National Elections Commission (NEC) announced that Haroun, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of war crimes allegedly committed in the country's westernmost region of Darfur, defeated his closest challenger and SPLM's candidate Abdul Aziz Al-Hilu by 6,500 votes.
The NEC, which administered the vote, also announced that the NCP had won 33 seats in the state's legislative assembly whereas the SPLM won 21 seats.
According to the commission, the NCP won elections in 22 geographic constituencies whereas the SPLM won in 10 constituencies. NEC further said that the two rivals had evenly split women seats as well as eight seats determined by proportional representation.
Abdullah Ahmad Abdullah, NEC's deputy chairman, said that the result was fair, expressing confidence that local and international observers would attest to the integrity of the process.
Meanwhile, the United Nation Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), which was established in 2005 to monitor the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between North and South Sudan, welcomed the completion of South Kordofan elections in a press release seen by Sudan Tribune.
UNMIS said that the vote was conducted in a peaceful manner and monitored by a large number of observers.
But the mission fell short of endorsing the result, saying that it did not observe the elections but had provided logistical and technical support. UNMIS went on to urge all parties "to continue to maintain peace following the announcement of the results today," adding that complaints regarding the election process should be addressed through legal means or dialogue.
Ahmad Haroun convened a press conference following the announcement of the result at the NCP's office in South kordofan's town of Kadugli. Haroun said he was keen on the inclusion of all political parties in the government he intends to form.
"We hold out our hands in good faith to the SPLM to participate in the next government," Haroun said.
But the SPLM quickly dismissed the offer, vowing to resist the "rigged" result. Qamar Dalman, the SPLM's media secretary, said that the SPLM remain committed to its position on rejecting the outcome. He further said that the announcement of the "rigged" result had offended all ethnic groups in South Kordofan, adding that the people of South Kordofan would resist this outcome through peaceful means.
Dalman accused the NCP of playing on ethnic fault lines, calling on the Nuba individuals within the NCP to reconsider their positions because part of the struggle is moving on ethnic lines.
The heavily-militarised region of South Kordofan struggles the divide between Arab tribes and Nuba population. South Kordofan saw fierce battles during the protracted years of civil wars between north and south Sudan, which ended with the signing of the CPA in 2005.
The state is crucial to the NCP because of its oilfields and proximity to south Sudan, which voted in a referendum held in January to secede from the north and form an independent state whose official birth is 9 July this year.
South Kordofan is meant to hold a plebiscite dubbed "popular consultations" to decide whether the implementation of the CPA has lived up to the aspiration of the state's citizens. That vote should take place before the CPA expires in July 2011.
if you hadn't work to rigged the April elections last year here in the South Sudan, we all would be condemning the NCP rigging. but no, no one will be marching and shouting with you!
Because you have rigged the last year elections and intimidate average voters and denied them the opportunity to choose their desired candidates.
Now, you greed and misdeeds had to be paid heavily by the courageous and innocents Nubians.
SPLM have evdences, which prove that the NCP together with electoral commission have rigged the election in favor of their pathetic criminal Mr. Harun. In fact, SPLM have a right to reject the result and challege them through legal means instead of violence. As per your complain about the election of last year in the South, SPLM can never do such a thing.
please do not make yourself as a joke in the whole world.
even the independent observers including a well known Carter center founded by Former U.S president Jimmy Carter characterized last year election as sham.
In the states of Jonglei, Upper Nile, Unity State, Central Equatoria, Northern Bar-elghazel states respectively, all were rigged in favour of SPLM communists candidates by using its Militia wing paramilitary(the SPLA) intimidated the voters along with the independents candidates and other parties. so, to denied is to make oneself as laughing stock in the eye of the world.
The NCP Party has won the election in a slick way,but that doesn't marked that they're going to reign in that position forever.Ahmed Harun himself is facing a very tough situation,however he will soon serve the rest of his life in the Penitentiary.honestly Ahmed Harun's reputation can never ever allow anyone to vote for him,even within his hometown,though time is coming when the judgement will be made against him so he can pay the full price of those innocent Fur civilians.his notoriety deed is being watch by the worldwide along with his boss.
Enjoy your bad deed Mr.
Greetings to all in the name of the marginalized people and in the name of our various liberation movements that have and still are fighting for freedom, justice and equality in this mighty country. Part of the objects of writing this short notice to all is that our comments on this website are being studied by our enemies to analyse their interests.
The advise was posted by Dr. Francis Lologo on this Site but just to let those who have not read to beware. NCP and those who hates us are reading our comments on each of the headlines to see what we like and what we don't. Thus, they will be able to gauge our weakness and our strength for their conspiracy. So be careful my brothers.
I think what brought Al-Hilo down is Abyei issue, if Al-Hilo made it clear to Misseriya that Abyei is north he would have won their votes and won the election but he followed his Master Mr. Kiir who himself is guided by Dinka Ngok who control the decision inside SPLM!
SPLM said they won't recognize this election and won't participate in any government in S. Kordofan but this poor SPLM tactic is not workable and useless, they always threaten, refuse, reject and came back at the end of the day to NCP and work under their management and guidance and we have many examples on that since they signed CPA, we remember SPLM withdraw from the central government and said unless NCP resolve Abyei problem we won't come back to the government and they came back without Abyei, they said we won't run the census and they did, they said we won't recognize its result and they did recognize it, they said they won't run for the election in the north and they did, they said we will include Abyei in our new constitution and they changed their minds when NCP showed its teeth to them and made it clear that they won't recognize their new state if that's going to be the case!
From what mentioned above and childish SPLM behavior, SPLM will recognize S. Kordofan election and will accept vice president position and will share the government with NCP by 50/50.
No worry about the election said to have been rigged. That is the new style of dealing with the national election in Sudan and mostly known to the government of South Sudan. They were been using national army as tool for getting power instead for those candidates to use their own credabilities. Let that adopted son of unknown nubian go and sit with his children in abroad since he has losed the election or he can beg Mr. Salva to reinstated him back in the SPLA army.
Let the people of South Kordofan not worry much because Abdel Wahid Al-Nur and Minni Arcua Minnawi will arrive soon in Khartoum in style and change the regime there.
How on earth should vote for a criminal like that? I argue the Nubian to resolve to other means to address their issues. The world is behind you, even if it means that the South should go to war against the NCP in support of the Nubian I'll agree.
1.	Abdul Aziz Al-Hilu cannot win because he is a SPLA/M liberators man.
PLM did not mobilize all Sudanese to satisfy everyone need; and to bring black all Nubian Muslim inside the NIF regime into their side.
2.The lack of full leadership in the south causes confusion to ordinary Sudanese people. The foolish separatist ideology is a bad sign that weakness SPLM ability to get their bring citizens all together to over thrown the NIF Regime in Khartoum.
3.Basic people brain scan let people lost their dignity, Identity and all their Culture value. The formers African Slave by Arab that become Misseriya are now majority in South Kordufan than the Nubian, when non educated black people changed to some others culture; they would thing that they are those people of that Religion.
4.Most of African Tribe of northern Sudan that have been over settled by Arab and converted to Islamic think, because they are Muslim,speaks Arabic; which become their natural disease now.
Islamic now have brain scanner most of un educated African people and turn them to black Arab that are not accepted in Arab world. Some Nuba Muslim in the NIF did not vote for SPLM, that why Abdul Aziz fail.
Most of African tribe of Nuba, Dinka, fur, Masalite, Zagawa, Funy are becoming Misseriya Arab. Being Muslim and Christian will never Change a black person than their own culture acception.
Have you read my comment above?
I hope you understand English well.
where was SPLM during counting of the votes?


text:
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Responsibilities: Provide financial management and analysis support for Air Traffic Control & Landing systems in support of NAWCAD, 4.11.7. Specific support includes funding document acceptance; funds execution; commitment, obligation, and expenditure tracking; budget and spend plan development; Work Breakdown Structures and Receiving Billing Elements creation utilizing NavyERP; and spreadsheet development utilizing MS Excel. Collect and analyze data utilizing NavyERP, track program funding, provide support to data calls, and participate in meetings.
Education: Bachelor`s Degree from an accredited university.
Experience: Two years of financial experience required. Strong analytical skills and previous experience with MS Excel spreadsheets required. NavyERP experience highly desired.
Other: Must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret Security Clearance. An Active Secret Security Clearance is preferred.


text:
Q: Fetch data after and before '_' in SQL Server I got the following entry in my database:
I_ABC_2000.txt

I want to trim the entry so I get: ABC
So basically, I want everything after the first _  and before the 2nd  _ .
How can I do that?

A: There are possibly better ways to do this.. but one that I use is to use a scalar function .
Create a scalar function and then call that function over your string
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[fnParseString]
(
    @Section SMALLINT,
    @Delimiter CHAR,
    @Text varchar(1000)
)
RETURNS VARCHAR(8000)
AS

BEGIN
    DECLARE @NextPos SMALLINT,
        @LastPos SMALLINT,
        @Found SMALLINT

    IF @Section > 0
        SELECT  @Text = REVERSE(@Text)

    SELECT  @NextPos = CHARINDEX(@Delimiter, @Text, 1),
        @LastPos = 0,
        @Found = 1

    WHILE @NextPos > 0 AND ABS(@Section) <> @Found
        SELECT  @LastPos = @NextPos,
            @NextPos = CHARINDEX(@Delimiter, @Text, @NextPos + 1),
            @Found = @Found + 1

    RETURN  CASE
            WHEN @Found <> ABS(@Section) OR @Section = 0 THEN NULL
            WHEN @Section > 0 THEN REVERSE(SUBSTRING(@Text, @LastPos + 1, CASE WHEN @NextPos = 0 THEN DATALENGTH(@Text) - @LastPos ELSE @NextPos - @LastPos - 1 END))
            ELSE SUBSTRING(@Text, @LastPos + 1, CASE WHEN @NextPos = 0 THEN DATALENGTH(@Text) - @LastPos ELSE @NextPos - @LastPos - 1 END)
        END
END

Then you can call the function over your text (the first argument is the position of the text you want, the second is the delimiter of your text and the thirst is the actual text)
select dbo.[fnParseString] (1,'_','abra_ka_dabra')

would return

dabra

select dbo.[fnParseString] (2,'_','abra_ka_dabra')
would return

ka

etc.


We just came back from a one week vacation to the Dominican Republic. Both of our batteries were exhausted and we needed a recharge urgently. The plan was to not do anything but sit in a hammock and watch the water. Because my partner needed to do some work during the week, which almost caused us not to book anything this year, we decided on an all-inclusive package. This would allow her to work in the morning, while I would put my head into the water, and to do activities together in the afternoon without thinking of cooking or driving. Just being lazy for a week was at least my master plan. I have to admit that this worked perfectly for a day until I got excited about various options. The resort itself was huge, not by rooms, but by shear size. Well kept landscapes, beautiful parks, lakes, pools, beaches, golf-courses ( I took three hours with a private trainer and it is more fun than I expected it to be), water sports, restaurants, etc. Everything is very green, beautiful, not overcrowded, and relaxing. I assume that most people there stay within the boundaries of the facility. My guess is that the property is about one mile long and half a mile wide. Every tree, every plant, every detail gets constantly maintained by an army of workers.
We skipped every tour offer from jungle excursions, to boat trips, to tobacco field visits, etc. Most of these tours just are too touristy for my taste. While I can cope with an all tourist resort once in a while, I don't get used to guided bus tours that rush you from one sight to another. After a day in the sand I walked a mile to the nearest PADI diving station. I signed up for a rescue diver class, which took me five days to finish because of all the material that you have to learn for it. To get to the station I had to walk along the beach. Quickly I noticed that the beach condition changes once you would leave the outskirts of the resort. The whole waterfront was covered with a mix of sea grass and plastic trash. Nothing that people had dropped there. Just trash swept on the beach from the Atlantic Ocean. On another day I went running. Not being a fan of beach runs I picked the road, passed the golf course and to the surprised look of the security guard, passed the front gate of the resort. After a short distance I reached the closest village and ran through it. It was obvious that the way people live here is very different from how people live in the resorts. Houses were basic, most people were on the street hanging out. Men would sit in the shade or inside a local bar, while you would see the women taking care of laundry or kids. The next morning I grabbed my camera and walked into that village again. Twice people asked me to buy something to smoke, which I declined. Once I got offered a chica, which I declined as well. At some point a black car stopped and a few guys inside with sunglasses just said 'hello' before they moved on. I walked around and took photos. I wasn't sure how people would react to me but most ignored my presence or just said "hola". I wished I could have communicated in their language. At the diving station I talked to my instructor Alexis about the resorts. He told me that most of them are owned by foreigners, the moneys leaves the country. Most of the workers live in towns one hour away from the resorts. Buses paid by the hotels move them back and fourth frequently.
The people in the village don't really benefit from tourism. They try to sell a few items on the beach or on the street but they can't compete with the 'constructed' village and market inside the resort.
I enjoyed your account of the time you spent in the Dom Republic Dirk; but like you said perhaps it's not really the real place you saw. Hats off to you for making the effort to go explore and see what lies "beyond the walls" …… so many beautiful parts of the world are similarly compartmentalized. Sometimes the locals are a part of it and benefit in concert, but sadly other times such is not the case. That is not to take anything away from each person's rights to go and travel and spend their hard earned cash the way they choose to.
I have never been a fan of the see 8 countries in 6 days type of tour, preferring instead to walk amongst the local and spend some time in a small area. The photography becomes more meaningful for me anyway.
I like your reference to the "black car that stopped" ……… I have experienced similar in Brazil when I did not feel that safe if the truth be known. Still, that takes nothing away from our wonderfully diverse world and her many cultures and colors. Wouldn't change a thing from that respect.
Amazing photo destination. I am also a PAID Rescue Diver and avid street photographer. You have just added a new destination to my "must have" list. Wonderful shots!
Thanks David and Gary for your great comments. BTW, the gear I used was a M9P and most often a Sony 5N. I like that small camera and the swivel screen. I don't like the touch screen and interface. Still don't know how to set the ISO. Tomorrow I will get a NEX 7 which will seriously threaten my need for the M9. I really like the M9P and the rangefinder focus but the versatility I get from a NEX is really great. That I can shoot from the hip is a great feature for me. Reminds me of medium format and since I am very tall I don't need to get down too often. I still like gear and would give it 15%. I like the diversity of all the places that I have seen so far and I can only recommend to step out of the tourist places whenever you can and feel like. 😉 Thanks again. D!RK PS Yes, PAID would be nice.