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Madness in the Middle East
Michael Reagan · Oct. 25, 2019
President Trump says he wants to get our troops out of the "blood-stained sand" of the Middle East.
Most sane Americans would agree with that goal and hope he's successful.
Unfortunately, the people in charge of our foreign policy are not sane, as they proved after Trump yanked a few dozen U.S. soldiers out of Northern Syria.
Trump's sensible decision to let the Turks, Syrians and Russians figure out how to police their own backyards without our help brought him strong criticism from every political side.
Democrats and the liberal media's pundits railed against it, but so what? They're automatically against anything Trump does.
The president also got heavy bipartisan grief for allegedly betraying the Kurds, our trusted and state-less allies who lost 11,000 of their soldiers while helping us and Syrian democratic rebel forces defeat Isis.
Retired military leaders — many of the same ones who've been mismanaging our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11 — and the neoconservative hawks in the Republican Party blasted Trump.
They said what he did was a naïve, stupid, irresponsible move that will empower Russia and make other countries distrust America's word and its will.
As usual, the professional interventionists in Washington whom Democrat congresswoman and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard calls "warmongers" are predicting that many terrible things will happen in Syria without American soldiers present to keep the peace.
Isis supposedly will regain its strength. The Kurds living in northern Syria — the ones Turkey considers terrorists — will suffer greatly.
Plus, our troop withdrawal will supposedly spark new fighting between the countries, kingdoms, ethnic groups, religious sects, political factions, tribes and street gangs that have been slaughtering each other in the Middle East for at least 3,000 years.
It's hard to take this week's hysteria about Trump's decision seriously, especially when it comes from the Democrats and the liberal media who watched quietly as Barrack Obama and his team made bloody messes of Libya and Syria and mismanaged our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for eight years.
It's been clear for many decades that America will never fix what's wrong with the Middle East.
About 20 years ago I asked Col. David Hackworth, one of the country's most decorated soldiers and an expert on warfare and the structure of the U.S. military, "When will there be peace in the Middle East?"
"When they're all dead," was his answer.
What did he think America's policy should be in the Middle East?
We should arm everyone to the teeth, build a 100-foot wall around the region, go away and wait till everyone there kills each other.
"Hack," who died in 2005, was not kidding.
Based on ancient and modern history, it was easy for him to predict what the Middle East would look like today — a perpetual war zone ruled by brutal dictators and Muslim extremists and crawling with lunatic terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda and Isis.
Trump claims pulling U.S. soldiers from Syria and letting the Russians sort things out between the Kurds and the Turks will bring peace in the long run.
He obviously has no idea what will actually happen. But no one else in Washington does, either.
Our military doesn't know. Our state department doesn't know. Lindsay Graham doesn't know. Neither do Liz, Joe and Bernie and their anonymous foreign policy experts.
So far, the blood and treasure America has spent trying to bring peace, democracy and prosperity to the political chaos and religious madness of the Middle East has been tragically wasted.
Col. Hackworth believed fighting and making war is part of the Middle East's DNA and America can do nothing with our military or economic power to change that.
President Trump seems to believe that too.
In any case, whatever he has done or not done correctly in a small corner of Syria won't matter in the long run. The Middle East will be a bloody and uncivilized part of the world for another hundred years, at least.
Copyright 2019 Michael Reagan
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Q: How to secure file download? I have an application written in angularjs and a dropwizard backend. All API calls are ajax, with the exception of file downloads, which is done by performing a redirect to a standard GET request.
All API calls are secured through a token which is passed as a Token header. We use SSL for all APIs.
The download GET request works but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to secure it. I have no way of setting a custom header, which is required to pass the token. So theoretically, I'm left with two options, clearly none of them acceptable: 1. Pass the token as one the GET parameters   2. Leave the download unsecured.
Any ideas how to secure file download?

A: Putting a secret token in a URL query parameter isn't great because URL tend to be leakable, for example through history/logging/referrers. There are ways to mitigate this: for example you could have the server side issue a download token that is only good for one use or for a limited amount of time. Or the client could pass a time-limited token created using a signature over the secret token that the server side could verify.
Alternatively you could, just for this one interface (eg path-limited, quitckly-expiring) put the token in a cookie.
Another approach is to download the whole file through AJAX, thus allowing you to set the header as normal. Then you have to present the content as a downloadable local resource, which requires a cocktail of browser-specific hacks (eg using data: or filesystem: URLs, and potentially links with the download attribute). Given the complication this isn't usually worth bothering with, especially if the file is very large which may present further storage constraints.

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Why is the school system in Ireland is broken?
September 23, 2009 jcjosAdmin Leave a comment
This is the follow up from my last blog post, the week has flown in and there's been a fair bit of back and forth on this.
Why is the school system in Ireland is broken? Because of the special relationship between the catholic church and the schools it is patron of( which is 92% of all primary schools in the country).
This special relationship is very physically repesented in my childrens school.
To get to the main gate into the primary school you have to walk in the main gate of the local parish church and walk 2/3rds of the length of it's grounds, the school is literally build on the church grounds, a portion of it annexed off. That is it's self sets up a strong notion of propriety and it's always something I am mindful when ever I have to go into the school as I did for the meeting.
I walked the children to school and we had a grand stroll and we commented on the changes we could see to the trees along they way and then we got to the school gate. The deputy head was there, on his way out to have a word with lollipop lady but he called out to me saying " I will be with you shortly Mrs X" which automatically resulted in a groan from my son to my left and a comment of 'oh dear' from my daughter to my right. X is their surname, but it's not mine and I have never been married. They were both aware that I was going in to sort out issue of the form and that me getting called Mrs X was not an auspicious start.
Thankfully things improved drastically from there for as soon as I was in the office with the deputy head he said that he was sorry I had gotten the form, that I was completely right on my points about the church not needing any of that personal data and they had no right to ask for it. He explained that the form had not gone via the school administration and that it was a serious lapse in protocol and one which he would be bringing up with the parish priest. He left me know that there had been other complaints and it was only when the complaints started that he became aware that the forms had been given out as the teachers assumed they had been vetted and cleared and that if I wanted to I should complain in writing to the archdioceses.
The deputy head was unaware of the note on the form until I showed it to him.
He went incredibly quiet and then said that the note but a whole different spin on the matter.
I have to say fair play to him for his candour and understanding and he asked could he photocopy it and I agreed. The note on the form and my formal complaint means there may be a disciplinary hearing for the teacher.
He knows my son pretty well and was concerned that this would set him back as he had noted how well he had been getting on the last year. He said that he had spoken to the teacher about the issue of 'punishment' and that she said she never said she would not given punishment work for not bringing in the forum but had stressed how serious it was that it be filled in and brought in to the class.
He also said that he had spoken to my son the day before and was sorry if it caused him any stress be he was trying to get to the bottom of this and would make sure that his teacher from last year would check in with him over the week to see how he was, as a friendly ear.
The issue re the punishment work seems to have stemmed from the fact that if you need to bring in a parental note and fail to do so you may be told to copy out the section of the school rules which covers this a number of times and my son being how he is and the stressed importance of the form had him assume that it would be treated the same way, which is not that far of a leap of logic even for an elven year old.
After getting things straight with the deputy head we both then went to have a chat with the teacher outsides of the classroom, she explained that she had been faced with the parish priest who is also a member of the board of management insisting that the forums be given out and that they be given to all the children and filled in. It was under this pressure with the priest standing at her desk that she wrote a note on the forum to apparently try explain even as she knew that the form should not apply to my son.
I can see how it is hard to argue with the priest in front of the class room of children and there are other factors in play as well as the board of management play a part in hiring and firing all teachers.
After the explanation and apology we then we called my son out of class so that he saw all three of us together and we all assured him that the matter of the form had been settled and wasn't going to be brought up again and that he had nothing to worry about. He visibly relaxed at this news and after a hug from me went back to class and so did his teacher.
The deputy head then walked me to the school door saying again he was sorry that this had happened and that I was right to complain and that there should never be a repeat of this but the school and it's administration would never want to cause offence as it wants the best for all the children but in this case they were taking the brunt for the actions of the parish priest over which they had no control. He also thanked me for coming into the school to try get this settled and that
good communication between parents and school can often be vital for children esp those who have special needs like my son.
I don't think the school let me down or my son I think the way that schools have been allowed to be set up with the abdication of the responsibility for schools by successive governments which has let us down and is in my opinion has been failing to live up to the terms and responsibilities as laid out in our constitution.
CONSTITUTION OF IRELAND – BUNREACHT NA hÉIREANN
3. 1° The State shall not oblige parents in violation of their conscience and lawful preference to send their children to schools established by the State, or to any particular type of school designated by the State
The state has let 92% of our schools be set up under catholic patronage, making them the designated default schools of the state and children who are not catholic or christen are used to fill up the places in the schools as the grants for running the schools come from the dept of education and are per child, but those children then are not cherished equally and have to sit in the class during religious education and instruction as there are not staff available to supervise them out of class and parents can not come on to the school grounds to do so due to insurance reasons ( but the parish priest seemingly can pop over any time he wants ) and the children can not be taken out of school during that time as they will then not reach the minimum hours required per week.
And even if a class has a set time for religious eduction and instruction and a child can be opted out
due to the nature of the curriculum there is not generally a rigid divide between subjects and the school ethos tends to pervade all subjects.
I left the school happy with the meeting and being able to deal with the deputy head to understood my concerns and was able to put his hand up and say what happened was wrong and should not have happened. Happy that my son now knew this wasn't an issue and that the teacher would have it explained to her why her addition to the form was out of order.
As for how the priest is dealt with I know that anything which is distributed to the children will have to go via the office and that he will be reminded of the new HSE guidelines for the school which says all visitors to the school must check in at the office.
As I walked from the school grounds on to the church grounds I saw a class of children from the jr school with their teacher carrying a cd player and heading into the church. This used to happen with my two and when I questioned it I was told wasn't the priest great to let the children do music and choir sessions in the church where they would not disturb other classes with their singing.
As I approached the gates of the church the parish priest drove in and waved at me.
Usually if anyone waves at me and I know them in anyway I would wave back at them but not that day, not having had so much grief and stress caused by his unthinking actions and assumptions.
failkidsschool
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Military affairs.
How will Russian air defences fare against US attack on Syria?
NSS translation and commentary
On April 11, 2018, Business Insider posted an analysis of Russian air defences in an article ominously titled "Russia's newest anti-air defences are in Syria — and the US should be worried."
The author states "Russia's air defences are significantly more capable than American counterparts, especially when working together."
It is clear that the authors of the article appearing in our translation below are eager to see how Russian air defences measure up against US cruise missiles. Far from discouraging them, Trump has in fact given them a rare testing ground for their new defences and an opportunity to attract arms buyers if things work out well for the Russians.
An article from RIA Novosti of April 9 reported that Russia has sent 40 Pantsir air defence systems to Syria ahead of the planned US attack that Trump has promised.
Below is our translation of an article from Vzglyad showing what we can expect of Trump's attack on Syria should it materialize.
BEGIN TRANSLATION
The S-400 and Pantsir are preparing for a grandiose test in Syria
The battle in the Syrian sky will show the extent to which our missile defence system has learned to shoot down the notorious "Tomahawks."
By Yuri Zainashev and Mikhail Moshkin
Syria, before our very eyes, is turning into a stage on which a grand military performance will be held - deflection of the mass attack with American cruise missiles by Russian air defence systems. Who will eventually be the winner – the Tomahawks or S-400 and Pantsir-S1 systems? What will be considered a success for each of the parties? The reputation of Russian weapons is at stake, but not only that.
Combat test drive on a world scale
"Russian air defence systems in Syria have an opportunity to show everything they are capable of," a source close to the Russian Defence Ministry commented to the newspaper VZGLYAD. This kind of test is worth a lot, the source notes.
"For the military all over the world, this will be an extremely important lesson - the analysis of this strike and its deflection will long be handled by the headquarters of all the leading military powers of the world," the general believes. Another subject of analysis will be how the electronic warfare complexes (EW) work when deflecting missile strikes.
The general points out that the amount of resources and time the enemy spends on countering air defences is important. In his view, Russia has brought to the Arab Republic "a lot of different air defence systems, from the most remote acting to close-up acting." And for modern air defence systems, non-manoeuvring cruise missiles do not pose a particular problem. "As I understand, they also brought a sufficient number of the electronic warfare (EW) complexes there," he says. According to his forecast, our air defences should as a result perform at a rating of "four".
It is worth noting that the battle in Syria in the next few days and hours will be the first battle in the history of the world in which a mass attack with cruise missiles is deflected. Everything that military experience has encountered at the moment is either tests or single launches of air defence systems. It can be said that Soviet air defence experts have been preparing for this for more than 60 years - since the first anti-aircraft missile systems appeared after World War II. The military doctrine of the USSR placed a special bet on them for understandable reasons, and the most famous success of Soviet anti-aircraft gunners was the destruction of an American U-2 aircraft in the 60s of the last century. After that, the Americans could no longer enter Soviet airspace with impunity. And let's not forget about the thousands of American aircraft destroyed by Soviet anti-aircraft systems in Vietnam. Soviet and then Russian air defence systems deserve to be considered the best in the world, but they have never had a chance to test their capabilities with a real (non-training) missile strikes of this magnitude.
And now, it seems, the moment of the decisive test has come - not only for specific officers, Russian and Syrian, but for the entire Russian school of air defence.
Success will be a "coefficient of 0.9-"
The number of downed enemy missiles is not an end in itself, Lieutenant-General Alexander Gorkov, head of the air defence missile forces in 2000-2008, remarked in conversation with the newspaper VZGLYAD. He stressed: "The air defence forces are designed to completely preserve the object. Therefore, if only one of the 100 rockets is shot down, but the one that flew exactly to the target, and thanks to this the object survived, this is considered a success. "
But there are objective criteria for anti-aircraft gunners.
"In the case of cruise missiles travelling at extremely low altitudes, the efficiency should be at least 0.85-0.90, noted Gorkov. This indicator means the probability of a target being hit by one missile. The number of intercepted targets is divided by the total number of missiles fired. For example, lieutenant-general Aitech Bizhev, former deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force on issues of the CIS Joint Air Defence System, explained earlier to the portal "Economy Today" that less than 0.7 means low efficiency; 0.8 and above - good, 0.9 (https://rueconomics.ru/).
As an example, Bizhev cited the result of the Syrian air defence forces, which recently repulsed the attack of Israeli aircraft. The F-15 planes fired eight missiles and the Syrians intercepted five of them. Thus, the coefficient was 0.6, that is 60% of the missiles shot down. This result is not very gratifying, lamented Bizhev.
However, the expert of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (ACT) Vasily Kashin believes that the destruction of 50-60% of US missiles would be a huge success for Russian weapons. In fact, he added, even the destruction of 30% can be considered a great success, if we bear in mind both Russian and Syrian air defence forces.
It should be taken into account that the Syrians used old systems, notes Bizhev [NSS note: the msm reported that the obsolete S-200 system was usedto defend against Israeli missiles]. And the newest S-400 air defence systems are located at Russian facilities - the Khmeimim base and in Tartus. According to the Lieutenant-General, the efficiency of the S-400 for high speed targets that are hard to pinpoint is 0.9, that is excellent, at 90%.
Kashin recalls: in addition to our ground-based air defence in Syria there will be two Russian frigates with the "Shtil-1" complex, which is anchored off the coast of Syria. "Each of them has a vertical launch pad for 24 anti-aircraft missiles," the expert reminded VZGLYAD.
The problem is that modern Russian air defence systems cover only Russian facilities in Syria, and the Syrian air defence itself is rather weak, Kashin points out. In his opinion, air defence provide cover with a total of only a few dozen systems in Syria, and the rest of the country is defenceless.
They are fighting not with a number, but with a very large number.
Potential buyers of weapons following the outcome of this conflict will draw conclusions about which weapon systems are more effective - American cruise missiles or Russian air defence systems. For a correct assessment, it is important to consider how many missiles are fired at the covered targets. "If the enemy uses a huge number of missiles, for example, more than 200, then you cannot know exactly how many missiles will be on the target. Miracles do not happen, "Kashin said. He adds that it is impossible to completely deflect such a strike.
"For example, let's say there are 100 air targets, and for each we fire two anti-missiles. With this amount you need to have a very large amount of munitions. Is there such a large number of missiles in the arsenal of the grouping deployed in Syria? "Asks General Alexander Gorkov.
"The combat component of the S-300 division is 32 missiles (and eight launchers) or 48 missiles, if 12 units are available," the general points out. "If two rockets are used for each launch, the missiles will be sufficient for 16 or 24 launches, respectively." If the coefficient of 0.9 is observed in these launches, this will be evaluated as a success, including by potential buyers of Russian weapons.
Meanwhile, it is necessary to calculate the nearest probable future - how the American operation in Syria can develop.
The script as a whole is understandable, believes Vzglyad's source close to the Ministry of Defence. He predicts that the first waves of cruise missiles will be released in the near future by two destroyers, which are already in the Eastern Mediterranean. "They can fire their old Tomahawks, and after that the US they use smart missiles, as promised by Donald Trump," the expert notes.
The goal is clear - it is necessary that the defending side expend the munitions of anti-aircraft guided missiles (SAMs). After that, apparently, the Americans expect to "fire from other ships with impunity, including from an aircraft carrier," but that's not until early May, when it arrives in the region. As the newspaper Vzglyad reported, on Wednesday a shock group led by the aircraft carrier Harry Truman sailed from the base of Norfolk for the Persian Gulf.
"If we proceed from the fact that there will be a strike several times more powerful than the strike at the Shayrat base (where 60 rockets were fired), then, apparently, it will be hundreds of cruise missiles," suggested Kashin. In addition, it must be taken into account that the US can use a blockade of Syrian ports, in order, for example, to stop the supply of munitions, the same cruise missiles - to reload anti-aircraft complexes.
"Now it is clear that there will be a strike. There is time to prepare for deflection," sums up the general. "The flight time of the rockets is known. The sites of the strikes are also fairly well known. There is time to rearrange air defence assets, mark out and designate cover zones, prepare munitions for firing, and deploy personnel."
END TRANSLATION
Link to this article in Russian:
https://vz.ru/politics/2018/4/11/917152.html


At last, Peska Seafood Culture executive chef Omar Pereney is legal. And we're not talking green card, rather the wunderkind of the kitchen has finally reached the legal age of alcohol consumption.
As one of the youngest executive chefs in the country, Pereney has been earning kudos ever since opening the Galleria/Post Oak area restaurant in March.
To mark the milestone, guests gathered at the eatery to roast and toast the 21-year-old chef, who joined them in toasts with Houston's first taste of Mezcal Sacrificio. The praise and verbal pummeling came in both Spanish and English as did the singing of "Happy Birthday."
Confetti flew and Pereney's housemate, Jorge Noriega, made sure that the birthday boy got a really close look at the cake. Even with icing on his face, Pereney was all smiles.
The partying throng included Miya Shay and State Rep. Gene Wu, Mercedes Grifno, Courtney Perna, Jorge Olivarez, Manuel Rubio, Lauren and Martin Hristov, Robert Waltrip, BCN's Luis Roger and Peska owner Maite Ysita.


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MPHOKO REFUSES TO SURRENDER TITLE DEEDS
Friday, October 04, 2019 NewsdzeZimbabwe 0
FORMER Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko's bid to have his passport back hit a brick wall yesterday after he refused to submit title deeds to his Douglasdale home in Bulawayo as part of the conditions.
Mphoko, through his lawyer, Zibusiso Ncube, had applied for the passport to be returned to enable him to travel to South Africa to meet his business associates over five working days.
Mr Ncube assured the court that Mphoko would not abscond since all his family is in Bulawayo and has business interests in the country. He also indicated that his client was ready to stand trial at any time.
"My client has never defaulted on his reporting conditions, interfered with the State witness and has never violated the trust entrusted in him by the court, he strictly adhered to his bail conditions," he said.
"The administration of justice will not be tampered with if he is given his passport even if we were to be given a trial date tomorrow, the trial will not kick off in five days."
The State, led by Mr George Manokore, opposed the application on the basis that the accused had not furnished the court with concrete details of his business trip and had also not complied with the condition set for the release of the passport.
"We told the defence that we wanted security in the form of title deeds to his property namely number 19 Douglasdale Road, Douglasdale in Bulawayo during the five days he will be in South Africa," he said.
"We had agreed that we will hand over the passport when he gives us the title deeds and we will return them when he comes back from South Africa and surrenders the passport, but that did not find favour with the accused person.
"It is our belief that the failure by the accused person to hand over the title deeds points to the fact that he does not want to attach himself to the risk that will arise if he hands over the title deeds."
Mr Ncube, however, argued that it was not proper to view his client as a flight risk without evidence. He said his client was worried about entrusting the State with his title deeds and had instead offered to surrender share certificates worth US$300 000 that the Government owes him.
"The title deeds are there, but we do not trust the State with them. My client is a former Vice President and we might wake up to find that the property belongs to the ruling party," he said.
He accused the State of having a tendency of expropriating people's properties. Harare Provincial magistrate Mr Hosea Mujaya threw out the application on grounds that there was no proof place the court that shows the Government owes Mphoko more than US$300 000.
He also indicated that the accused person has immovable property that is his house and other properties, but there is lack of trust between the accused and the State.
"The fact that the State is promising to give a trial date does not mean an accused person cannot get his passport, but no sufficient facts have been placed before me to support the application."
Mr Mujaya, however, granted another application by the defence to have their court appearance yesterday deferred to October 10. Herald


Page 2 of the continued adventures of a Vegan Kitten called Midnight ex rescue. NOT DEAD as so many ignorant ranters predict in chants about cats dying on vegan diets.
VEGAN KITTEN MIDNIGHT. The adventures of. age 4 months...2 months vegan and NOT DEAD NOT SICK lol...eeek ? why not ? surely...an "obligate carnivore" kitten would be DEAD by now fed vegan ? not growing and running around energetically ! ? what is WRONG ? or RIGHT ? about her NUTRITION ? with NO ANIMAL CONTENT !
Right...then come the rants...SHE WILL DIE SOON or a few years later etc...well I HAVE NEWS FOR YOU ! there are cats age 18 YEARS OLD that have been fed vegan still thriving out there ! so ? obviously the argument, rant of CATS WILL DIE if fed vegan...are erroneous. Too big a word that ? "erroneous" ? like big words we LOVE to latch onto like "obligate carnivore" it really needs us to be less ROBOTIC MORONS repeating "big words" without thinking a few more seconds...to think of another big word "NUTRIENTS" https://www.good.is/features/vegan-cats one such example.
I also want to share...the truth of discovery on a RAW FLESH FEEDING OBSESSED CAT GROUP on Facebook called erroneously "nutrition" for felines...i was reading the posts...and soon came...a post RAVING about a TAURINE SUPPLEMENT. People commented in joy about how they used this to ADD to this supposed to be "complete natural flesh" based food...so ? i went to look at the details of this supplement...IT WAS VEGAN ! lol ! rather put the cat amoungst the pigeons that revelation did. People just had not looked at the details of what they were feeding their "obligate carnivore" cats lol. Now it is the NORM that Taurine...an element found in flesh is NOT provided from flesh in even non vegan catfoods out there ! it is simply synthetically made as too expensive and time consuming to obtain from flesh for the huge quantity of catfood needed to feed 100 million pet cats in the USA alone.
Get real folks ! we ARE feeding VEGAN nutrients to our "pets" the "obligate carnivores...in their petfood...supplements etc.
Right. Now I admit...i have fed my kitten for 2 months not a kitten specific food but an adult cat food. Adding some supplements but now about to MAKE A KITTEN RECIPY with the kitten supplements of Compassion Circle Vegepets of the USA that ship those supplements worldwide...and are sold by distributors in the UK and elsehwere by such as veggiepets uk etc. Also on ebay and amazon.
Kitten has put on weight. She is now 1.5kg. Was 0.9 kg when she came to me from the rescue. She is now 4 nearly 5 months old. Her mother was a very small street cat. This kitten will probably also be a small cat.
She lives indoors. Has the run of the house. Is comfortable wtih the 2 large dogs...has her own eating dishes out of reach of the dogs...goes to drink from a filtered fountain that the dogs also drink from...is very very human friendly and loves to be ON me whenever possible. Sleeps right next to me...is the first to follow me to bed upstairs and sleep right next to me on me even. She is m ore my "shadow" than my clingy dogs lol ! She will live indoors permanently with supervised outside forays. Why ? i like others live near a main road. Too close for comfort...and the traffic today is many times more in quantity and speed than a few decades ago when cats dogs could roam without many car accidents. I had a cat that was splatted by a car when a student in Birmingham. So regrettable that our "pets" live unnatural "prisoner" lives except for the freedoms we allow them sometimes...mostly on the ends of collars and leads if dogs....she has to have freedom restricted. She would also kill many birds ...cats are an invasive species that humans brought into existance for our entertainment and use as companions. They are not part of a natural ecosystem. We have "pets" for OUR needs of entertainment companionship etc. We like to believe they are "happy" but hey...they like slaves just get used to the life they have forced on them and try to enjoy life as best they can. It is not a "natural" life in any way for them. They are NOT "part of our family a family member"...we like to say such things to make the situation seem praiseworthy of us. WE are the ones with a psychological NEED for a substitute "easy" to keep surrogate child in many cases. Talking of our "pets" like our "children" reduces them to such a status and use to US. An adult animal ! a CHILD ? we really do regard other animals as INFERIOR to us and do not even do them the respect of considering them as they really are...ADULT ANIMAL PRISONERS OF OURS that WE choose to treat as HUMAN CHILDREN to suit OUR needs of that surrogate need...that an animal unable to argue back to us has to learn to accept and live with.
Our "pets" have NO INTEREST in the majority of our activities...they do not enjoy the intellectual pleasures WE get from watching TV..reading books magazine...going to the shops...visiting places of interest to us. How often...do dog owners have to call their dogs away from sniffing...wanting to go rummage somewhere when we are busy walking or doing other things ? loads of times. We CONSTANTLY force our wishes on our "pets". They learn to "comply" simply. Our "pets" live in a shadow world of compromises constraints on their natural wishes...EVERY SINGLE DAY of their "prisoner" status lives. What we FEED them is the LEAST of the decisions we make for them in terms of their lifestyles....eating...is something all animals enjoy no matter what it is they eat...but ALL THE REST ? freedom of MOVEMENT...FREEDOM generally ? THOSE are the REAL forced constraints we IMPOSE on "pets" the poor animals...learn to get what pleasure and activity they ARE allowed by us with affection shown to them that they learn to reciprocate...walking on chains everywhere at OUR pace of walking...all that jazz. They COMPLY because constant attempts to ESCAPE are learned as futile. WE control them totally for everything in their lives. So sensibly they learn to comply with our wishes and live a slave "prisoner" type existence with us. People used to say SERVANTS were "like members of their families" to make themselves feel good. The relationships...were however based on total inequality...and constraints placed by those with the POWER to impose them.
Just looking at a dog...with a collar on a lead...seems "natural" to us...the subserviance of an animal to our needs and wishes. There is nothing natural about it at all.
good talk about this by a bas le ciel...https://youtu.be/DOawDbvCPjw we have made animals we call pets...pathetic playthings of humans needs and desires. All our dogs...were created breeds by humans that in some cases had some other "utilitarian" purpose other than being "companion pets" uses for hunting or herding protecting sheep etc that WE then killed for OUR uses of course. We put silly hats on them t make them look "human" finding this "funny" but the animal ? the dog or cat ? what do THEY think of those silly hats and glasses etc ? absolutely just TOLERATED. they get NO ENJOYMENT of that hat we put on them that amuses us so much. It is total silliness and abuse of animals...disrespecting what they REALLY are and want out of life. They would naturally want to shake OFF such objects put on their heads lol ! but we tell them...to STAY STILL to take the daft photos we do of them looking RIDICULOUS in reality and totally made to look like "playthings" of us humans that they in fact are really.
We "use" pets for OUR emotional entertainment etc needs. They should never have come into existance...in a "natural" world no animal would be a SERVANT of another animal in the way we have made PETS into. Their lives...are totally UNNATURAL and under constraints every single day of their existence.
My dogs...have NO understanding of me driving a car, watching tv or reading a book etc. They cannot understand why being in the way of the window means I cannot see to drive...all they know is the ORDERS i give to move away and go where i want them to be. Every single day...they put up with CONSTRAINTS I force on them like that. It is a totally unnatural existence in a world they do not really belong in.
She is outside under supervision daily. Does not like the wet or cold...shakes her paws on wet grass. rushes around going indoors often. She loves to sit basking in the sun when out on a raised surface like a tree stump. She likes to perch up high generally...although sleeps on the couch right next to the dogs as standard also. The dogs are not very "careful" not to step on her...or lie on her...so occasional shrieks and yowls when this happens waking the kitten up. The dogs are rather "clumsy" and need to be told to lift their heavalump paw off the kitten yowling underneath it sometimes lol.
She is good now in the crate for car travel...yowls for half an hour to start with to be let out...but unlike the dogs is a pest to wander around while i drive so only when the car is not in motion is she allowed loose in the car. She loves to jump into the car when the dogs are in it...wanders around...sites in the window basking in the warmth of the sun.
Drain and mash the chickpeas. Mix all ingredients together. Serve with nutritional yeast, and other favorite flavorings such as imitation bacon bits, catnip, or nori flakes.
https://youtu.be/lUvo6vrIzkg The Lion Sleeps tonight...it is the FEMALE lioness who brings home the food...Females ...the Lion Sleeps a great deal wink wink !


This brick traditional home has columns across the front and the carport.
This large family room has a cathedral ceiling, warm fireplace, media center, built in cabinet and opens to the dinning room.
The large kitchen has a raised snack bar, walk-in pantry, and opens to the dinning room.
The large master has a walk-in closet and a large bath with his and hers vanities, a marble tub, and a shower.
The two additional bedrooms have walk-in closets and share a convenient hall bath.
Question: I live in Gainesville FL and the minimum wind stress requirements are for 110 mph. Will this plan meet this requirement?
Answer: Not without some minor changes. It your area, I believe you will need to hire a state licensed engineer to review and stamp the drawings. At that time, he will be able to make the minor changes need to conform to your local requirements.


The truth is that there is really no "profane realm" that could in any way be opposed to a "sacred realm"; there is only a "profane point of view", which is really none other than the point of view of ignorance.
René Guénon (15 November 1886 – 7 January 1951), also known as "Shaykh `Abd al-Wahid Yahya", was a French author and intellectual who wrote on topics ranging from metaphysics, "sacred science" and traditional studies to symbolism and initiation.
Metaphysics, because it opens out a limitless vista of possibilities, must take care never to lose sight of the inexpressible, which indeed constitutes its very essence.
Have we not arrived at that terrible age, announced in the Sacred Books of India, "when the castes shall be mingled, when even the family shall no longer exist"?
The "end of a world" never is and never can be anything but the end of an illusion.
Is it because Westerners have come to lose their intellectuality through over-developing their capacity for action that they console themselves by inventing theories which set action above everything, and even go so far, as in the case of pragmatism, as to deny that there exists anything of value beyond action; or is the contrary true, that it is the acceptance of this point of view that has led to the intellectual atrophy we see today?
Matter is essentially multiplicity and division; and this, be it said in passing, is why all that proceeds from matter can beget only strife and all manner of conflicts between peoples and between individuals. The deeper one sinks into matter, the more the elements of division and opposition gain force and scope; and, on the other hand, the more one rises towards pure spirituality, the nearer one approaches to that unity which can only be fully realized by consciousness of the universal principles.
There is exact correspondence between a world where everything seems to be in a state of mere "becoming," leaving no place for the changeless and permanent, and the state of mind of men who find all reality in this same "becoming," denying by implication true knowledge as well as the object of that knowledge, by which we mean the transcendent and universal principles.
It is, however, only in the nineteenth century that one sees men beginning to glory in their ignorance—for to proclaim oneself an agnostic means nothing else—and claiming to forbid others any knowledge to which they themselves have no access; and this marked one stage further in the intellectual decline of the West.
If an idea is true, it belongs equally to all who are capable of understanding it.
Philosophy … is interesting because it expresses, in a form as clearly defined as possible, the tendencies of this or that period, much more than it really creates them; and even if it can be said to direct them to a certain extent, it does so only secondarily and when they are already formed.
It is contradictory to say that the same person can be at the same time ruler and ruled. … The great ability of those who are in control in the modern world lies in making the people believe that they are governing themselves; and the people are the more inclined to believe this as they are flattered by it, as they are in any case incapable of sufficient reflection to see its impossibility. It was to create this illusion that "universal suffrage" was invented: the law is supposed to be made by the opinion of the majority, but what is overlooked is that this opinion is something that can very easily be guided and modified; it is always possible, by means of suitable suggestions, to arouse in it currents moving in this or that direction as desired. We cannot recall who it was that first spoke of "manufacturing opinion," but this expression is very apt.
A community conceived only as the arithmetical sum of its component individuals; a community is, in fact, no more than this once it ceases to be attached to any principle higher than the individuals.
The guiding function exercised by a true elect, and even the very existence of this elect—since it must exercise this function if it exists at all—is utterly incompatible with democracy. … A real elect, as we have said, can only be an intellectual one; and that is why democracy can arise only where pure intellectuality no longer exists, as is the case in the modern world.
Since equality is in fact impossible, and since, despite all attempts at reducing everything to one level, the differences between one man and another cannot in practice be entirely suppressed, men have been brought, illogically enough, to invent false hierarchies, whose higher ranks claim to take the place of the only true elect; and these false hierarchies are built up exclusively on the basis of relative and contingent considerations, always of a purely material order. This is very obvious from the fact that the kind of social distinction which counts the most in the present state of things is that based on wealth, that is to say on a merely external superiority of an exclusively quantitative order, the only superiority, as a matter of fact, that is consistent with democracy, based as it is on the same point of view.
There can be only one way out of the chaos, in the social domain as in all others: the restoration of intellectuality, which would result in the formation once more of an elect.
It is true that the masses have always been led in one manner or another, and it could be said that their part in history consists primarily in allowing themselves to be led, since they represent a merely passive element, a "matter" in the Aristotelian sense of the word. But, to lead them today, it is sufficient to dispose of purely material means, … and this shows clearly to what depths our age has sunk. At the same time the masses are made to believe that they are not being led, but that they are acting spontaneously and governing themselves, and the fact that they believe this is a sign from which the extent of their stupidity may be inferred.
There is thus all the more reason to exercise extreme vigilance ... against anything that may lead the being to become "fused," or preferably and more accurately "confused" or even "dissolved," in a sort of "cosmic consciousness" that shuts out all "transcendence" and so also shuts out all effective spirituality. This is the ultimate consequence of all the anti-metaphysical errors known more especially in their philosophical aspect by such names as "pantheism," "immanentism," and "naturalism."
What is to be said of someone who flings himself into the Ocean and has no aspiration but to drown himself in it? This is precisely the significance of the so-called "fusion" with a "cosmic consciousness" which is really nothing but the confused and indistinct assemblage of all the psychic influences.
No living writer in modern Europe is more significant than René Guénon, whose task it has been to expound the universal metaphysical tradition that has been the essential foundation of every past culture, and which represents the indispensable basis for any civilization deserving to be so called.
Ananda Coomaraswamy, In the introduction of his translation of part of La crise du monde moderne, published in 1935. Quoted in Roger Lipsey, Coomaraswamy, vol. 3: His Life and Work (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1977), p. 169.
Si Guénon a raison, eh bien ! toute mon oeuvre tombe.
Translation: If Guénon is correct, then all my work is for naught.
André Gide in 1951, as quoted in "Pourquoi lire Guénon aujourdhui?"
The criticism which Guénon levels against modern scientism in all of its materialistic, pragmatist and evolutionary trajectories, is the most serious and the most radical of all the criticisms ever made. On the other hand, once it is applied to a social and practical plane, any knowledge which tradition draws from its metaphysical premises can be translated into principles which can properly situate and organize mundane activities and bestow on them a higher meaning; these principles can also create institutional forms adequate to this purpose and prolong "life" into something which is "more than life." In this context, Guénon's deductions assume a radical character: hierarchical, aristocratic, anti-individualist, anti-social and anti-collectivist.
Julius Evola. René Guénon: a Teacher for Modern Times. (Holmes Publishing Group, 1994). p. 17.
If during the last century or so there has been even some slight revival of awareness in the Western world of what is meant by metaphysics and metaphysical tradition, the credit for it must go above all to Guénon. At a time when the confusion into which modern Western thought had fallen was such that it threatened to obliterate the few remaining traces of genuine spiritual knowledge from the minds and hearts of his contemporaries, Guénon, virtually single-handed, took it upon himself to reaffirm the values and principles which, he recognized, constitute the only sound basis for the living of a human life with dignity and purpose or for the formation of a civilization worthy of the name.
Philip Sherrard. Christianity and the Lineaments of a Sacred Tradition. (Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 1998). pp. 76–77.


Q. ISBN: 9781842438138 1842438131 OCLC Number: 794328085 The catalog indicates this book as available in ebook form, but it is not.
Jeff Kuskie in Virtual Services might be able to help with this issue. His number is 554-2363.


When storing this guacamole, press plastic wrap against its surface to help keep it from oxidizing and turning brown. You can use it to liven up a turkey sandwich or as a condiment in a vegetable wrap. If time is tight, you can serve the guacamole with store-bought baked tortilla chips.
To prepare guacamole, wrap garlic cloves in foil; bake at 450° for 15 minutes or until soft. Let cool slightly; remove skins. Place garlic in a medium bowl; mash with a fork.
Cut peppers in half lengthwise; discard seeds and membranes. Place pepper halves, skin sides up, on a foil-lined baking sheet; flatten with hand. Broil 15 minutes or until blackened, turning frequently. Place in a zip-top plastic bag; seal. Let stand 10 minutes. Peel and finely chop. Add peppers, onions, and next 4 ingredients (through avocado) to mashed garlic; stir well.
To prepare chips, combine tortilla wedges, 2 teaspoons juice, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl, tossing to coat. Arrange the tortillas in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 425° for 10 minutes or until crisp and lightly browned, turning once. Cool 5 minutes. Serve with guacamole.
I second pamsy10's review: this recipe was disappointing for the amount of work involved. For 45-60 minutes of work, the flavors were flat, I couldn't taste the peppers or garlic well, and it was just really nothing special. Tasted like regular guacamole with slightly different texture, mostly. It wasn't bad per se, I certainly ate it all, just too much work when I can make four times as much regular guacamole with much better flavor in a fraction of the time. Maybe with some substitutions as others have suggested, or perhaps leaving some of the burnt pepper skin on, it could be improved, but as is I would not make again. Too bad.
I buy roasted hot hatch chiles when in season at Bristol Farms and store in the freezer. They are perfect for this recipe. I also add one diced, seeded plum tomato.
WOW _ this makes a little avocado go a long way. Great flavor. Will make again.
This is one of my favorite appetizer dips on this site! I always make it for family/friends gatherings and the only complaint is that I don't make enough! The flavor of the roasted garlic is superb, so don't skip that step. This recipe may seem time consuming, but every step in this recipe is worth it! I serve it with tortilla chips as well as pita chips...fantastic!
Amazing! Obviously a little more time consuming than your basic guac but so worth it!
My daughter made this as part of a middle school cooking assignment. Nice alternative to other recipes, and now she loves to roast peppers! We didn't make the chips.
This recipe was a real disappointment. It was a whole lot of work...which I don't mind as long as it delivers...but it did not deliver. I will not mak this again. It does not have a lot of flavor.
My husband and I loved it and I received comments like "best guacamole I've ever had". The only thing I added was some freshly ground black pepper.
This guac gets rave reviews everytime, even from my anti veggie boyfriend. To cut down on prep time, I buy peppers when they are on sale or look good and roast them on the grill. I peel, seed, cut them in strips and freeze them (lay them flat in a ziploc bag so you can break off what you need) so I can make this recipe in a snap. I also use jarred roasted garlic and store bought chips. Hard to go pack to the guac seasoning packet after trying this one!


NEW DELHI, February 22, 2017 - Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI), a global technology company providing products and solutions to power commerce, celebrates its 10th anniversary in India this year. The company is a 97-year-old startup that combines the best of physical and digital solutions to redefine global commerce. At Pitney Bowes, the client is at the center of all innovation. More than one million clients consider Pitney Bowes a trusted partner to simplify the complexities of global commerce, including small and medium-sized businesses and 90% of the Fortune 500.
Eight Pitney Bowes India locations include two Research and Development centers in Noida and Pune, and six business offices that provide mail and shipping solutions, and ecommerce software, sales and customer service. In 2017, Pitney Bowes has plans to expand its footprint in Pune to a total area of 14,100 square feet.
Recently, the Great Place to Work Institute named Pitney Bowes among the Top 5 Tech Companies to Work for in India, and the Top 20 Best Employer Award. The company also earned special recognition as Best Company for Supporting Women to Remain at Work, and Best Initiative for Talent.
"At Pitney Bowes in India, we are focused on helping clients harness the increasingly convergent physical and digital technologies that power commerce. During the past decade, we have built a global center of excellence here, and have attracted and retained some of India's best talent. Our people are our best asset and they are at the heart of our culture of innovation. We are very proud of what we have achieved and look forward to our next decade of innovation in India," said Manish Choudhary, Senior Vice President of Global Innovation and Managing Director of India Operations for Pitney Bowes.
Asia's Best Employer has awarded Mr. Choudhary with the prestigious Excellence in Leadership Award, which especially recognizes high levels of employee trust and engagement.
Pitney Bowes recently trained 1,100 engineers and software developers in technology areas such as mobile, SaaS, AI, analytics and IoT. The new Pitney Bowes brand is at the center of the company's Design System that integrates Design Thinking, Globalization and Talent Acquisition. In April 2016, the Company launched the Pitney Bowes Commerce Cloud, a commerce enabler providing access for clients and developers to Pitney Bowes solutions, analytics and application programming interfaces (API's) across the full commerce continuum.
Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) is a global technology company powering billions of transactions – physical and digital – in the connected and borderless world of commerce. Clients around the world, including 90 percent of the Fortune 500, rely on products, solutions and services from Pitney Bowes in the areas of customer information management, location intelligence, customer engagement, shipping, mailing, and global ecommerce. And with the innovative Pitney Bowes Commerce Cloud, clients can access the broad range of Pitney Bowes solutions, analytics, and APIs to drive commerce. For additional information visit Pitney Bowes, the Craftsmen of Commerce, at www.pitneybowes.com.


Medicaid is a federal entitlement program that provides health care coverage to Americans with low income and assets. Although the states administer Medicaid for their residents, there is a core group of services, known as mandatory services, they must provide. One of these services is the provision of nursing facility services for individuals who are at least 21 years old. The federal government dictates that only certain types of costs may be charged to residents of these facilities.
What Type of Institution Qualifies as a Nursing Facility?
Nursing facilities usually provide at least three types of care: skilled nursing care, rehabilitation services, and health-related care. The first type, skilled nursing care, includes services that can only be provided by a licensed nurse. The second type, rehabilitation services, includes rehabilitation care provided to residents who are sick, disabled, or injured. They include both services designed to improve skills and services designed to maintain abilities a resident already possesses. Health-related care is the third type of service usually provided by a nursing facility. This consists of items of care that cannot be provided other than in an institutional setting. Nursing facility services such as these must be provided to individuals 21 years or older by every state's Medicaid program.
What Items and Services May Be Charged to a Resident?
Several types of items and services may not be charged to Medicare or Medicaid residents of nursing facilities. The most obvious services that must be absorbed by the facility are room and board maintenance services, nursing services, and dietary and meal services. However, nursing facilities must also provide, at no cost to these residents, medical social services, activities, and routine personal hygiene items and services. Some of the personal hygiene services that cannot be charged to Medicaid residents are assistance with bathing, personal laundry, and hair and nail hygiene. Routine personal hygiene items that may not be charged to them include hair, body, and tooth hygiene supplies, including denture supplies, dental floss, and lotion; tissues, cotton balls and swabs, incontinence supplies, and sanitary napkins; and towels, washcloths, and gowns.
What Items and Services May Not Be Charged to a Resident?
Certain items and services may be charged to Medicaid or Medicare nursing facility residents if three prerequisites are met: (1) the resident must request the item or service; (2) the facility must tell the resident that the item or service will be charged to him or her; and (3) neither Medicaid nor Medicare pays for the service. If changes are made to the cost of these items or services, residents must be told.
Examples of services that may be charged to residents include private nurses and aides and private rooms that are not therapeutically necessary; appliances such as televisions, telephones, and radios; personal comfort items, such as smoking supplies, sweets, and reading materials; cosmetic and hygiene items or services greater than those provided by Medicaid or Medicare; and clothing.


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Labor's innovation plan provides hope for Australian manufacturing
February 19, 2013 2.25pm EST
Roy Green, University of Technology Sydney
Roy Green
Dean of UTS Business School, University of Technology Sydney
Professor Roy Green is Dean of the UTS Business School and a member of the Manufacturing Leaders Group.
University of Technology Sydney provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation AU.
The Gillard government's Industry and Innovation Statement aims to revive an ailing manufacturing sector and address Australia's flagging productivity. AAP
While its launch in the heat of election battle was hardly propitious, the federal government's new Industry and Innovation Statement, A Plan for Australian Jobs, is the long-awaited result of a serious and measured consideration of the challenge facing Australia's trade exposed industries, especially manufacturing.
This challenge, which was highlighted in last year's report by the Non-Government Members of the Prime Minister's Manufacturing Taskforce, is to achieve nothing less than a transformation in the competitiveness and productivity of manufacturing firms in the context of an increasingly high-cost economy.
The significance of manufacturing is that it drives technological innovation, accounting for more than a quarter of Australia's R&D spending by companies, and in doing so provides high-skilled jobs not just within the manufacturing sector itself but in related services and infrastructure. In addition, it contributes to the external account, enabling us to pay for imports that we could not otherwise afford.
It is already apparent that this challenge has been intensified by the simultaneous action of three separate but related forces on the economy.
First, as a number of commentators have warned, the terms of trade effect associated with rising commodity prices, which has contributed around half of the growth of Australia's national income in recent years, is beginning to taper off. This means that other sources of growth must be found to rebalance the economy, with the emphasis on boosting our productivity performance.
Second, despite a welcome improvement in productivity growth over the past year, the trend over the 2000s has been downward by comparison with the 1990s. Without agile policy intervention, it is hard to imagine that Australia's productivity performance will recover sufficiently in the foreseeable future to compensate for the further anticipated decline in the terms of trade.
Third, whereas in the 1980s such a decline was accompanied by a significant fall in the value of the Australian dollar, the dollar has now become a "safe haven" currency and remains stubbornly high due to purchases by overseas financial institutions, particularly the Swiss and Russian central banks. Clearly, this makes the competitiveness challenge even more demanding, but not impossible.
The government's industry statement recognises that other countries have faced this challenge and addressed it successfully. For example, despite the constraints of Eurozone macroeconomic policy, Germany and the Nordic countries emerged in better shape than most from the global financial crisis due to relentless innovation and a focus on creating high skill, high productivity jobs, and President Obama's administration has similarly begun a major effort to reinvigorate the ailing US manufacturing sector.
The industry statement builds on the long-term strategy set out in Australia in the Asian Century to propose an essentially optimistic vision of "a more productive, dynamic and globally connected Australian economy" with "an innovation system in the top 10 globally by 2025". However, it is disappointing that the government intends to do so by funding its new initiatives from the R&D tax credits available to some of Australia's largest and most innovative companies.
This cutback continues the misplaced obsession with achieving a budget surplus at all costs, and it strikes a jarring note for a country with low public debt and access to low interest borrowing for investment in future growth. It was never suggested in previous changes to the tax regime, which were meant to eliminate waste and malpractice, that such tax credits could be dispensed with altogether.
Whatever might be said about this budget neutral approach to funding, the new initiatives announced in the industry statement are overwhelmingly positive and forward-looking. While most public attention has been directed to the expanded opportunities for Australian companies to tender for major resources projects, the real novelty of the statement lies elsewhere, particularly in the proposal for 10 world class "innovation precincts".
International research and experience has demonstrated over many years the competitive advantage that can be generated for firms through geographically concentrated "clusters" of expertise and capability in deep collaboration with universities and public research organisations. Some clusters like Silicon Valley have become well known, but there are myriad others from Minneapolis to Munich.
The defining characteristics of successful clusters and precincts around the world include "smart specialisation" in key enabling technologies, strong connections to global networks and supply chains and an understanding and application of non-technological forms of innovation such as new business models, design thinking and systems integration. They are usually supported by substantial public research funding and "soft infrastructure".
Australia's first nominated innovation precincts to receive public support will be in manufacturing and food, with others to follow on the basis of collaborative bids by industry, universities and public research organisations, including the CSIRO and NICTA. The resources available for these precincts will incorporate funding previously allocated to the Industrial Transformation Hubs program and the Manufacturing Technology Innovation Centre.
Clearly, innovation precincts are not something that can be artificially imposed, though this has not stopped some countries from trying, often with dismal results. No one would expect Australia, with only 2% of the world's R&D, to be excellent at everything, but it does make obvious sense for us to mobilise our limited resources around established and emerging capabilities with potential for critical mass in global markets and production systems.
Some of these capabilities will no doubt be in manufacturing-related areas, such as robotics and automation, materials science and environmental technologies, but others may be in areas such as the digital and creative industries which are evolving organically in our major cities. An example is the vibrant cluster of large and small businesses, including many entrepreneurial start-ups, around the University of Technology Sydney.
Whether or not companies participate in precinct activities, the drive to improve productivity performance will be further assisted by an increase in the scale and scope of services provided by the highly effective Enterprise Connect program. In addition, a new Centre for Workplace Leadership will help organisations to build management and innovation capability, with an emphasis on engaging the talent and creativity of workforces.
The value of any industry statement will be judged by its impact, and this will require a sustained implementation strategy across not just one term of government but several. It is to be hoped that the next government, whatever its political hue, will be able to pursue such a strategy as part of a shared vision of our competitiveness and productivity challenge.
manufacturing taskforce


text:
Leonard Pierre Joseph, Viscount du Bus de Gisignies (28 February 1780 – 31 May 1849) was a soldier and politician in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Early life
He was born in Dottignies, Austrian Netherlands on 28 February 1780. He was born as Leonard Pierre Joseph Dubus, but on 14 June 1822, de Gisignies was added to his name.

He probably started to study law at Douai, but did not finish his education, because universities closed for some time during the French Revolution.

Career
He served in the French Royal Army from 1802 until 1815. On 21 September 1815, in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, he became a member of the House of Representatives of the States-General of the Netherlands for the province of West Flanders and on 20 September 1816, he was raised to Dutch nobility and was knighted on 24 November 1816, he later became its President during the meeting year from 1818 to 1819.

On 22 May 1819 he became a Viscount. He was made a commander on 20 July 1823 in the order of the Dutch Lion, and would later receive on 6 July 1830 the cross in the same order.

Afterwards he had several administrative functions, first of all as Governor of the province of Antwerp on 3 April 1820 - March 1823, and from 25 March 1823 up to 9 May 1828 of the province of South Brabant (Dutch: Zuid-Brabant).

From 4 February 1826 up to 16 January 1830 he was Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (Dutch: Commissaris-Generaal) of the Dutch East Indies, for which he received an annual wages of 200,000 Guilders, with the condition that he also retained his function of governor of South Brabant. On 9 May 1828 he was appointed as Minister of State, but after the Belgian Revolution he was removed from this office on 18 October 1830. On 6 October 1830, he bought Renesse Castle in Oostmalle from Count Clement-Wenceslas de Renesse-Breidbach and renovated the castle in Empire style.

Personal life
On 20 July 1802, he married his first wife, Marie-Catherine de Deurwaerder, who died on 23 June 1836. He had 1 daughter and 5 sons from his first marriage:
 Clémentine-Cathérine-François du Bus de Gisignies (Bruges, 7 August 1803-Kortrijk, 18 October 1817),
 Knight Gustave-Bernard-Joseph du Bus de Gisignies (Bruges, 5 May 1807-Brussels, 23 September 1831),
 Bernard-Aimé-Léonard du Bus de Gisignies (Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, 21 June 1808 - Brussels, 6 July 1874),
 Viscount Albéric du Bus de Gisignies (Tournai, 30 May 1810-Brussels, 26 July 1874),
 Baron Chrétien-Henri-Honoré-Léonard du Bus de Gisignies (Kortrijk, 17 September 1819-Brussels, 9 June 1835),
 Viscount Constantin-Léonard-Anne-Francois-Marie-Joseph du Bus de Gisignies (Brussels, 11 October 1823-Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, 16 November 1850).

He married his second wife Marie-Antoinette van der Gracht de Fretin on 20 November 1839.

Death
He died in Oostmalle, Belgium on 31 May 1849.

Sources
 Bart De Prins, Léonard Du Bus de Gisignies (1780–1849), Belgian Commissioner-general in the Dutch East Indies: A Reassessment, Itnerario, 2000.
 Bart de Prins, Voor Keizer en Koning, Leonard du Bus de Gisignies 1780 - 1849, Commissaris-Generaal van Nederlands-Indië,
 L.P.J. burggraaf du Bus de Gisignies

External links

|-

1780 births
1849 deaths
People from Mouscron
Dutch nobility
Viscounts of Belgium
Dutch civil servants
Speakers of the House of Representatives (Netherlands)
Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands)
People from Antwerp Province
Dutch military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars
19th-century Dutch civil servants

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


We spent the day in Asheboro at the Pigs & Pedals event. Classic Cars were lined along Fayetteville St for the annual Zooland Region Car Show and the smell of BBQ was everywhere. There were people cooking barbecue from Friday through Sunday for the cook off. They even had a People's Choice tasting this year where you could choose from twenty different barbecue and vote for your favorite one. On top of all the beautiful cars and delicious food, I got to meet a great group of women called Roxy's Vixens, who posed for a couple photos and a gentleman who would draw some of the classic cars there.


text:
Home › art by Erik Kaye › COVID-19 Stimulus Measures Must Save Lives, Protect Livelihoods, and Safeguard Nature, by Prof. Settele, Di'az, Brondizio & Dr. Daszak; Painting by Erik Kaye
By beagarth on May 2, 2020 • ( 4 )
IPBES Expert Guest Article by Professors Josef Settele, Sandra Díaz and Eduardo Brondizio1 and Dr. Peter Daszak2 on 27 April 2020, copyright 2020
There is a single species that is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic – us. As with the
"Gary Raises Selfie/ Sees Self!" watercolor painting by Erik Kaye, copyright 2020; for sale: please inquire
climate and biodiversity crises, recent pandemics are a direct consequence of human activity – particularly our global financial and economic systems, based on a limited paradigm that prizes economic growth at any cost. We have a small window of opportunity, in overcoming the challenges of the current crisis, to avoid sowing the seeds of future ones.
Diseases like COVID-19 are caused by microorganisms that infect our bodies – with more than 70% of all emerging diseases affecting people having originated in wildlife and domesticated animals. Pandemics, however, are caused by activities that bring increasing numbers of people into direct contact and often conflict with the animals that carry these pathogens.
Rampant deforestation, uncontrolled expansion of agriculture, intensive farming, mining and infrastructure development, as well as the exploitation of wild species have created a 'perfect storm' for the spillover of diseases from wildlife to people. This often occurs in areas where communities live that are most vulnerable to infectious diseases.
Our actions have significantly impacted more than three quarters of the Earth's land surface, destroyed more than 85% of wetlands and dedicated more than a third of all land and almost 75% of available freshwater to crops and livestock production.
Add to this the unregulated trade in wild animals and the explosive growth of global air travel and it becomes clear how a virus that once circulated harmlessly among a species of bats in Southeast Asia has now infected more almost 2 million people, brought untold human suffering and halted economies and societies around the world. This is the human hand in pandemic emergence.
Yet this may be only the beginning. Although animal-to-human diseases already cause an estimated 700,000 deaths each year, the potential for future pandemics is vast. As many as 1.7 million unidentified viruses of the type known to infect people are believed to still exist in mammals and water birds. Any one of these could be the next 'Disease X' – potentially even more disruptive and lethal than COVID-19.
Future pandemics are likely to happen more frequently, spread more rapidly, have greater economic impact and kill more people if we are not extremely careful about the possible impacts of the choices we make today.
Most immediately we need to ensure that the actions being taken to reduce the impacts of the current pandemic aren't themselves amplifying the risks of future outbreaks and crises. There are three important considerations that should be central to the multi-trillion-dollar recovery and economic stimulus plans already being implemented.
First, we must ensure the strengthening and enforcement of environmental regulations – and only deploy stimulus packages that offer incentives for more sustainable and nature-positive activities. It may be politically expedient at this time to relax environmental standards and to prop up industries such as intensive agriculture, long-distance transportation such as the airlines, and fossil-fuel-dependent energy sectors, but doing so without requiring urgent and fundamental change, essentially subsidizes the emergence of future pandemics.
Second, we should adopt a 'One Health' approach at all levels of decision-making – from the global to the most local – recognizing the complex interconnections among the health of people, animals, plants and our shared environment. Forestry departments, for example, usually set policy related to deforestation, and profits accrue largely to the private sector – but it is public health systems and local communities that often pay the price of resulting disease outbreaks. A One Health approach would ensure that better decisions are made that take into account long-term costs and consequences of development actions – for people and nature.
Third, we have to properly fund and resource health systems and incentivise behaviour change on the frontlines of pandemic risk. This means mobilising international finance to build health capacity in emerging disease hotspots – such as clinics; surveillance programs, especially in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and local communities; behavioural risk surveys; and specific intervention programs. It also entails offering viable and sustainable alternatives to high-risk economic activities and protecting the health of the most vulnerable. This is not simple altruism – it is vital investment in the interests of all to prevent future global outbreaks.
Perhaps most importantly, we need transformative change – the kind highlighted last year in the IPBES Global Assessment Report (the one that found a million species of plants and animals are at risk of extinction in coming decades): fundamental, system-wide reorganization across technological, economic and social factors, including paradigms, goals and values, promoting social and environmental responsibilities across all sectors. As daunting and costly as this may sound – it pales in comparison to the price we are already paying.
Responding to the COVID-19 crisis calls for us all to confront the vested interests that oppose transformative change, and to end 'business as usual'. We can build back better and emerge from the current crisis stronger and more resilient than ever – but to do so means choosing policies and actions that protect nature – so that nature can help to protect us.
Inquiries and Interviews: media@ipbes.net
Note: The above article is not a formal product of IPBES – but of the four authors who are leading global experts in their own right – building on the results of approved IPBES Assessment Reports. Work is currently underway on three IPBES assessments with direct relevance to the current crisis and future pandemics: an assessment on the sustainable use of wild species; another on invasive alien species, and one on the different ways of understanding the plural values of nature. Work has also just begun on scoping a new IPBES nexus assessment on the interlinkages between biodiversity, water, food and health in the context of climate change.
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Platz der Vereinten Nationen 1, 53113 Bonn, Germany secretariat@ipbes.net • http://www.ipbes.net
‹ Bernie Sanders' COVID-19 Town Hall Meeting/Pressure Congress
COVID-19: Chris Hedges Warns of What May Follow, interview by Chauncey DeVega; painting by Bea Garth ›
Categories: art by Erik Kaye, caricature art by Erik Kaye, Corporate Greed and COVID-19, ecological art, ecological commentary, IPBES article on COVID-19 ecology and human survival, painting by Erik Kaye, pandemic economics, pandemic environmental policy critique, Pandemic Result of Global Economic Greed, Politics, social and political commentary, Social and Political Commentary COVID-19, social political commentary covid-19 pandemic, surreal art, watercolor by Erik Kaye
Tags: corporate greed, COVID-19, Dr. Daszak, Environment and COVID-19, Global Economic Activity: Greed and COVID-19, Greed and COVID-19, Human Activity and Pandemics, IPBES article, Pandemics Result of CorpoorateGReed, Professor Brondizio, Professor Di'az, Professor Settele, Safeguard Nature, To Save Humanity Safeguard Nature
roger e.
our species has been moving way too fast and procreating way too much…
i absolutely agree with the authors, and your summary…
i fear that i am more than a bit more pessimistic about our species being able to
learn the necessary lessons, and begin to evolve in a balanced way;
of course i do hope the more optimistic out there rule the day!
i would gladly be proven wrong….
Well the way its looking is not very good for the immediate future, I agree. However given all the support Bernie Sanders has had, I believe there is a significant amount of people who will work for the common good in spite of and maybe even because of the dire straits we may get ourselves into. In many respects, we won't really have a choice not to act if we care about ourselves, our planet, our children and those to come.
How "Eos" Pointing the way towards unity with the living planet as the new supreme spiritual imperative. Would that mean that the integrity of the living planet itself forms for us the living body of a new "god image"?
I would like to think so! You can see from what was written here (by a group of scientists and a doctor–in connection with the U.N.) that we absolutely need a new Paradigm–which implies a recognition that the safety of the Planet's Integrity is paramount, and yes this could become a Spiritual Imperative given the depths of its Need. We can no longer afford to have Greed rule us since it is not only destroying the Planet, it is now directly destroying our ability to gather and work with this Pandemic putting human lives at risk. How clever for the God Force to arrange something like this. While the skies above begin to clear as so many stay at home, Nature has a moment to sigh in relief. This is a first in our History. It shows we can save ourselves and the Planet if we act together. Nothing will ever be the same after this. Erik Kaye's painting showing the shock from Self Recognition perfectly expresses that beginning line — what has Caused these recent Pandemics is Us! Our own Human Activity. We have to change by reaching out towards each other creating a new way of being with a new set of values where the well being of the least of us affects us all; this is both the struggle and the new imperative.


Hubert took a trip to Washington D.C. where he discovered much about the capital of the United States. He visited D.C. at the perfect time of year; during peak cherry blossom season! Talking a walk around the National Mall in late March is a wholly different scene than it is any other time of the year.
Washington D.C. is without a doubt a prime travel destination in the United States, yet any time spent there as a visitor seems incomplete if not spent during the fleeting cherry blossom season. The season, which starts several days before the peak bloom date, can last up to two weeks at most. It goes without saying, but good timing Hubert! The pink tree flowers give life to the urban, concrete environment, bordering the streets and lining the parks. There's no excuse for not taking a walk this time of year; even if it's cold out, they invented winter coats for a reason! A must-see for any international reporter thinking of spending time here.
Hubert made the most of his time in D.C. (starting with being there at the right time). During the day he did the usual touring of American monuments, including the Lincoln, Jefferson, and Washington Memorial's. A stop by the Capitol Building was slightly less-than amusing, as construction (or renovation) on the Capitol dome obstructed the view of the most notable aspect of the famous building. Hubert also got a chance to walk by the White House and say hello to the president, although it was through the gates.
Come nighttime, Hubert had a blast. Early in his trip he saw Tiesto perform at Echostage, before seeing 3 more concerts during his stay. According to Hubert, seeing Tiesto live was the best concert he's ever been to. He even got to take in a National Basketball Association game between the hometown Washington Wizards and the visiting Houston Rockets. You know he had a good time going out because he even stayed up — or maybe just woke up real early? — to watch the sunrise over the city.
Cherry blossoms, touring a new city, and endless nightlife surely made for a fantastic trip for Hubert.


text:
<?php
namespace frontend\controllers;

use common\models\User;
use nodge\eauth\ErrorException;
use nodge\eauth\openid\ControllerBehavior;
use Yii;
use yii\base\InvalidParamException;
use yii\helpers\VarDumper;
use yii\web\BadRequestHttpException;
use yii\web\Controller;
use yii\filters\VerbFilter;
use yii\filters\AccessControl;

/**
 * Site controller
 */
class SiteController extends Controller
{
    /**
     * @inheritdoc
     */
    public function behaviors()
    {
        return [
            'access' => [
                'class' => AccessControl::className(),
                'only' => ['logout'],
                'rules' => [
                    [
                        'actions' => ['logout'],
                        'allow' => true,
                        'roles' => ['@'],
                    ],
                ],
            ],
            'verbs' => [
                'class' => VerbFilter::className(),
                'actions' => [
                    'logout' => ['post'],
                ],
            ],
            'eauth' => [
                'class' => ControllerBehavior::className(),
                'only' => ['login'],
            ],
        ];
    }

    /**
     * @inheritdoc
     */
    public function actions()
    {
        return [
            'error' => [
                'class' => 'yii\web\ErrorAction',
            ],
        ];
    }

    /**
     * Displays homepage.
     *
     * @return mixed
     */
    public function actionIndex()
    {
        return $this->render('index');
    }

    /**
     * Logs in a user.
     *
     * @return mixed
     */
    public function actionLogin()
    {
        /** @var $eauth \nodge\eauth\ServiceBase */
        $eauth = Yii::$app->get('eauth')->getIdentity('steam');

        $eauth->setRedirectUrl(Yii::$app->getUser()->getReturnUrl());
        $eauth->setCancelUrl(Yii::$app->getUrlManager()->createAbsoluteUrl('site/login'));

        try {
            if ($eauth->authenticate()) {
                $identity = User::findByEAuth($eauth);

                $user = User::findOne(['steamid' => $identity->steamid]);

                if (!$user) {
                    $user = new User();
                }

                $user->username = $identity->username;
                $user->steamid = $identity->steamid;
                $user->profile_url = $identity->profile_url;
                $user->avatar = $identity->avatar;
                $user->avatar_md = $identity->avatar_md;
                $user->avatar_lg = $identity->avatar_lg;
                $user->generateAuthKey();

                $user->save();

                Yii::$app->getUser()->login($identity);

                $eauth->redirect();
            } else {
                $eauth->cancel();
            }
        } catch (ErrorException $e) {
            Yii::$app->getSession()->setFlash('error', 'EAuthException: ' . $e->getMessage());

            $eauth->redirect($eauth->getCancelUrl());
        }
    }

    /**
     * Logs out the current user.
     *
     * @return mixed
     */
    public function actionLogout()
    {
        Yii::$app->user->logout();

        return $this->goHome();
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Cellulose fibrils have been written and talked about for years. A substantial amount of reports have been written prospecting all sorts of application areas. Based on its functionalities, it seems to be a good rheology modifier, a good stabilizer and it is showing substantial strength enhancement. But is there any proof to the pudding and where do we find the latest developments? I have tried to gather a couple of relevant examples for you, which to me are fairly new developments. Dig into this week's blog post to find out what they are!
Asics is taking the first step (literally speaking) – are running shoes becoming increasingly bio-based?
Cellulose fibrils (named in Japan as CNF, short for cellulose nanofibers) in running shoes. Yes, it is now a reality. Asics have launched their first shoes where cellulose fibrils are incorporated. They are using cellulose fibrils to strengthen their FlyteFoam Lyte, which is a thermoplastic polyamide (TPA). Their main goal, according to plasticstoday, is to improve durability as well as strength. The reports are stating that the durability of the Gel-Kayano 25 running shoe increased by 7% and the strength improved by an astonishing 20% (!). Asics is also reporting that the newly developed shoe sole with cellulose fibrils gives a smoother ride for the runner, by providing a better cushioning effect. The cellulose fibrils used by Asics were provided by Seiko PMC, called Starcel, which is a product type where the cellulose fibrils are produced as composite materials based on polypropylene, polyethylene and other resins (source: plasticstoday). Interesting stuff. Which one of the shoe producers will be next? Will we be able to buy bio-based running shoes in the near future? We also previously wrote about Aalto University in Finland, which has been researching cellulose fibrils as material for shoes.
Research on packaging is increasing sharply. The digital age, and the steady increase in purchases on the internet, where the goods are shipped directly to your door or local post collection point, is making packaging an increasingly profitable area. One of the main challenges mentioned is to increase the sustainability of these products, enabling biodegradability and zero harm to the environment when disposed. Bio-based raw materials are being pursued, and cellulose fibrils (in packaging the products they are often referred to as microfibrillated cellulose (MFC)), is described by GlobalData as one of the materials that will impact innovation in sustainable packaging. The main functionalities of MFC that are highlighted in these areas are the barrier properties towards oxygen and the strength from the fibers. Our guest writer, Michael Bilodeau, earlier described the effect that MFC had on old corrugated containers, where improved fiber coverage, reduced air porosity and improved surface smoothness were key findings. The company Stora Enso, in Finland, has also described the potential of MFC to improve board strength and encourage light-weighting, as well as creating barrier solutions.
Mats Hjørnevik has five years' experience working on microfibrillated cellulose. As the marketing manager of the Exilva products from Borregaard, he works closely on introducing the concept of microfibrillated cellulose to the market. Mats has a M.Sc. in international marketing and experience from international locations.


text:
layout: post
date: 2008-07-23
time: "09:00:00"
author: "Greg Wilson"
title: Badge of Reproducibility
category: ["Community", "Noticed", "Opinion"]
---

Coming back to the badge meme from earlier this week, John Cook's new Reproducible Research blog pointed me at this page on the EPFL site advertising a paper called "What, Why and How of Reproducible Research in Signal Processing".  Notice the "Reproducible Research" badge?  The "add your evaluation" link takes you to a formlet that lets you choose between:

I have tested this code and it works

I have tested this code and it does not work (on my computer)

I have tested this code and was able to reproduce the results from the paper

I have tested this code and was unable to reproduce the results from the paper

It's a good start...