text:
Urban Caucasus
Eliava Autopian Dialectics
Combo Heterotopias of Tbilisi
Category Archives: Comparative
APPLYING POST-SOCIALIST STUDIES OUTSIDE POST-SOVIET SPACE
By: Johanna Bockman
This article was originally posted in the March NewsNet; for a full list of sources please see the original.
Over the past three years, I have been conducting a historical study of gentrification and displacement in Washington, DC. At the same time, I have also been working on a project about the 1980s debt crisis from the perspectives of the Second and Third Worlds. I find it stressful to work on very different projects and follow several, very different literatures – for example, on the one hand, American urban sociology and, on the other, Eastern European Studies focused on economics and finance. It often seems like I am operating in two different, unconnected worlds. This sense of disassociation results at least in part from the post-1989 reorientation and ultimately destruction of networks that had once connected these worlds and literatures. Here I explore these connections and apply the lessons of post-socialist studies to a less conventional space, specifically Washington, DC.
Post-socialism may seem irrelevant to DC since it has long been a major center of capitalism. However, one could argue that everyone, and especially major actors in the Cold War, have experienced "the global post-socialist condition" in some form or other(Gille 2010). The city of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank reshaped Soviet and post-Soviet space, relating to it in new ways. Yet, there are many DCs. For example, in the late 1970s, the city of Black Power forged DC into a democratic socialist space, connecting many parts of the city to the socialist and Third Worlds. After 1989, within DC, the city of the IMF and the World Bank implemented the same shock of post-socialist neoliberalism that Black Power fought against. The lessons of post-socialist studies should, in fact, be helpful to the study of DC. Here I have put together a list of potential applications of these lessons.
Posted in Comparative, Post-Socialist, Public Space, Theory on May 2, 2019 by mshiva.
Of Anxious Rooms and Modernist Architecture
Et tu, brutalism: of anxious rooms and modernist architecture
Posted on April 27, 2019 by Chiragh Dilli
Grafting utopias
The annual festival of Delhi's oldest architecture school is called Utopia. When I ask the students why it is called so and if they know what it means, they look confused. One exclaims, 'Utopia is what we will create… it's the perfect place, the perfect city…' So I ask them, 'But does it exist? And if it does, where is it?'
Generation after generation of architecture school students are fed on the idea of architects as the creators of perfect houses, cities and townships. They are taught about master plans that will save the world, from itself; they are trained to build townships with glimmering sharp-edged buildings, which no one can clean; they are taught about the deliverance of the world through architecture. This could be a deliverance based on emulating the glass facade high-rises of Dubai, London, Shanghai or the dull concrete corridors of Cold War era buildings across South Asia, Eastern Europe and the erstwhile USSR. Such prototypes reflect a deep and determined utopian imagination that continues to be entrenched in architectural planning and practice. Modernism and brutalism made a promise, a social contract of being architecture for the people, for their needs. Yet they failed in many ways either through buildings that people cannot use or those to which people have to fit themselves.
Is modernist architecture adaptive or normative? Can it accommodate the expansions of desires and the accumulation of years? Does it fabricate buildings for people or people for the buildings? The utopian world delivered by architecture or 'the city of the future' as Corbusier called it was believed to have the power to get rid from the world all its social evils. This imagination needed a frame that could avoid the disorder of the real world and yet be perfect in totality. The modernist plan was precisely this frame, which provided relief to architecture's anxieties about the chaotic world. The axiom of the modernist frame—'perfect cities make perfect citizens'—allowed architecture to not have to engage with the disorderliness of the social at all and superimpose the idea of a utopian future in blueprints and master plans, which could actually never be implemented in entirety but perfected and completely controlled in their internal form.
Of architectural anxieties
Three main anxieties have continued to haunt architecture: first, the presence of human beings; second, how to control humans and their actions; third, who will be the master controller (planner) of the future. Where are these anxieties coming from?
Posted in Architectural, Comparative, Theory on May 2, 2019 by mshiva.
REVIEW of CAPITAL CITY
REVIEW FORUM: CAPITAL CITY BY SAMUEL STEIN
FORUM INTRODUCTION BY ERIC GOLDFISCHER
HOME / CRITICAL GEOGRAPHIES IN ACTION / REVIEW FORUM: CAPITAL CITY BY SAMUEL STEIN
Samuel Stein, Capital City: Gentrification and the Real Estate State. Verso Books, London, 2019, 208 pages, $17.95 (paper), ISBN 9781786636393
Early in Capital City, Samuel Stein gives readers a glimpse of why his book, and (I would argue) critical scholar-activist work plays an invaluable role in movements for social justice: "Planners provide a window into the practical dynamics of urban change: the way the state both uses and is used by organized capital, and the power of landlords and developers at every level of government. They also possess some of the powers we must deploy if we ever wish to reclaim our cities from real estate capital" (6). This sentiment, to me, embodies one of the core tenents of the framework of "critical geographies in action" that animates this section of Society and Space. When geographers talk about mobilizing geographic theory and spatial analyisis, we aim to combine a keen gaze at the apparatuses of power with an open mind for learning and utilizing tools from social movements, and, yes, urban planners–those working directly at the day-to-day controls of the neoliberal city. This multi-faceted analysis–among many other strengths explored by the reviewers in this forum–makes Capital City a must-read for anyone interested in how scholars might actively resource the work of urban justice.
The reviews contained in this forum grew out of two events: The first, the initial book launch of Capital City at Verso's headquarters in Brooklyn in late February of 2019, and the second, an author-meets-critics session at the AAG meetings in Washington DC in early April of 2019, organized by Cindi Katz. At each event, Stein engaged directly with interlocutors and brought forth further avenues of conversation that lingered far beyond the confines of these respective gatherings. As he alludes to in his response, organizers and scholars are actively engaging with this book in a number of cities, perhaps using it as a grounding point from which to rethink our social and spatial relations around housing and the mechanisms that produce and limit it, and to plan, organize, scheme, and rebel accordingly. It is my hope that this forum may spark similar conversations and actions in our own respective and intersecting spheres of work.
Posted in Comparative, Theory on May 1, 2019 by mshiva.
The urbanization of transition: ideology and the urban experience
Eurasian Geography and Economics
Volume 57, 2016 – Issue 4-5
Post-Socialist Cities and Urban Theory
Oleg Golubchikov
This paper debates the relationships between transition and urbanization by problematizing the operation of transition on three inter-related levels. Firstly, at the level of ideology, it is important to rehearse the understanding of transition from that of merely area-based reforms and rather understand it as a totalizing project of planetary reach, which completes the subjugation of the whole world to capitalism and crowns neoliberalism as the only global order. Secondly, at the level of practice, it is important to properly account for the spatializing effects of that ideology – which is not simply "domesticated" by local practices, but itself mediates the subsumption of pre-existing practices by capital, thus alienating them from their history. Thirdly, at the level of the urban: while urban change is usually portrayed merely as a projection of societal relations, the urban is actually the central stage where ideology mixes with the everyday, through which the societal change is mediated; new meanings, social relations, and class divisions are construed; and through which ideological transition achieves its practical completeness. What combines these three levels is the notion of urbanization of transition, which articulates the centrality of the urban in the spectacular post-socialist experience.
Keywords: Post-socialism, post-socialist city, critical geography, neoliberalism
Posted in Comparative, Theory on January 12, 2019 by mshiva.
Post-Soviet Public Space
Loss and (re-)construction of public space in post-Soviet cities
Carola Silvia Neugebauer, Lela Rekhviashvili, (2015) "Loss and (re-)construction of public space in post-Soviet cities", International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol. 35 Issue: 7/8, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-04-2015-0042
This Special Issue of the International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy is devoted to the question of the transformation of public spaces in post-Soviet cities. The Special Issue seeks to contribute to the existing body of multi-disciplinary literature on public urban spaces in general and to the discussion on public spaces in post-Soviet cities in particular. Given the diverse urban contexts and trajectories of post-socialist space and the limited research at hand, the Special Issue aims to advance the understanding of public space and its (re-)production in post-Soviet cities, while paying special attention to the consequences of change, i.e. to the controversy surrounding the (re-)construction and loss of public space. The aim of this editorial is to embed conceptually the interdisciplinary and empirically rich papers presented here in the hope of stimulating much needed future research on public space in the post-Soviet region. The editorial summarises the main arguments of the papers included and brings forward initial observations in terms of contextual specificities, characterising and framing the ongoing transformation of public space in post-Soviet cities.
The Special Issue builds on the acknowledgment in interdisciplinary academic literature of the importance of public space as a site for power and resistance and as a facilitator of social and economic exchange, as well as a stage for art, architecture and performance (Orum and Neal, 2009). Public space brings social cleavages into the open, while at the same time shaping them. Public space is, in consequence, a highly interesting issue for urban research, local practice and urban life. This is especially true with regard to the transformation of publicness and public space in post-Soviet cities, which has so far lacked scholarly attention apart from notable exceptions such as an edited volume on "Urban Spaces after Socialism" (Darieva et al., 2011). This lack of scholarly attention is regrettable given that critical debates on the transformation of public space can serve as an opportunity to better understand post-Soviet societies; their cleavages and cohesion, functioning and negotiation, inherited and newly adopted values and concepts.
Our interest in the transformation of public space in post-Soviet cities stems from both its promising theoretical value for different disciplines in the social sciences and its practical relevance in terms of local quality of life and future urban development. Both interests are linked on the one hand to the fundamental and abrupt shifts in society and space which took place after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990 and on the other hand to the specific and long-lasting experience of Soviet state socialism, in contrast to other urban trajectories in Europe. So, even though the boundaries of the public/private dichotomy and the relevance of public space in the Soviet Union are still debated, there is a considerable consensus among scholars which suggests that public spaces in the Soviet period were of limited use, due to extensive political control and surveillance which effectively turned the ideal of "everyone's space" into "no-one's space" (Zhelnina, 2013). Recent developments in post-Soviet cities also imply ambivalent but relevant trends for public space. They suggest new liberating opportunities for reconstructing public space after 1990, and at the same time imply the loss of publicness due to new exclusive hierarchies (Darieva et al., 2011) caused by a number of fundamental, post-socialist shifts. Among these shifts are:
the ideological and political shift, which among other things puts into question the meaning of public space for state representation, nation building and collective identity/memory on the one hand (Virág Molnár, 2013) and the level of state control and surveillance over urban space on the other hand;
institutional reforms, which triggered hybrid urban governance and planning arrangements (Stanilov, 2007; Lankina et al., 2008), offering new opportunities for civic participation in urban space as well as producing new exclusive decision-making practices (Tynkkynen, 2009);
economic changes, which are linked to the emergence of new types of economic infrastructure such as central business districts (CBDs), shopping malls and revitalised city centres, as well as the emergence of new economic practices such as privatisation and commercialisation on the one hand, and tenuous informal practices on the other; and
the social shift, which includes processes of socio-economic polarisation and marginalisation in urban communities as well as changing values and concepts, underlying citizens' perceptions and treatment of urban public space.
Posted in Comparative, Post-Socialist, Public Space on December 8, 2018 by mshiva.
Confronting Structural Violence Through Street Art – 2) Georgia
Confronting Structural Violence Through Street Art (Part 2)
AUTHOR(S) Aren Melikyan and Maia Shalashvili
Georgia: Country-Specific Street Art
Street Art as a Response to Violence by the Clergy
The below painting appeared in multiple places in the central streets of Tbilisi. It was part of the protest wave against violence organized by some clerics of the Georgian Orthodox Church. On May 17, 2013, priests led a mob of thousands against a small-scale demonstration that in turn was organized against homophobia. The mob chased and beat the peaceful rally participants in the narrow streets and in public transport. During these developments cameras captured an image of a priest holding a taburetka (the Russian word for "stool" in turn borrowed from French and still in common use in the Caucasus) and attacking with it the bus and people around it. As a result, the taburetka became a symbol of the church-motivated violence against human rights activists.
"Condemn Taburetka". Artist: Unknown. Location: Rustaveli Avenue, Tbilisi, Georgia. Photo Credits: Maia Shalashvili. Date of the Photo: February 9, 2014.
Following the developments of May 17, 2013, another stenciled message appeared in the underground passage on Rustaveli Street in Tbilisi. The passage is in front of the Kashueti Church and Tbilisi Gymnasium N1. Its location, accessibility by thousands of people on a daily basis makes it popular among street artists. For the same reasons, the street art depicted on the walls of this passage is subject to stricter judgment and "censorship" by those who disagree with its form of expression or messages.
The words in the below stencil are an allusion to a phrase from the Gospel of John 8:1-11 in the Bible, where Jesus stops the mob from attacking the woman "caught in adultery". In the story, the mob wants to stone her to death, and Jesus tells them, "Whichever one of you has committed no sin may throw the first stone at her". Hearing this, the mob retreats. The message of this work reminds of the double standards of the Georgian Orthodox Church. Soon the message was painted over.
** Read Part 1 of this Story here.
Posted in Comparative, Gender, Street Art, Tbilisi on September 14, 2018 by mshiva.
Confronting Structural Violence Through Street Art – 1) Georgia and Armenia
What can a person or a group do if they are deprived of voice and the freedom of expression? When they cannot speak up about their problems and raise issues they are concerned about in the public space? When they do not have access to mainstream media to reach wider audiences? When they are oppressed in one way or another or struggle for survival? In other words, how can people cope with structural violence – the systematic harm that can be done through certain social structures and institutions?
For the last few decades, street art has increasingly become a powerful tool for the voice of the oppressed in different parts of the world. People from minority groups, the underprivileged, the marginalized, civic and human rights activists often use it as a means of communication. They create influential images and messages illustrating their concerns and troubles. They trigger discussion about underrepresented or tabooed topics. Often anonymous, street art challenges the dominating public opinion, questioning issues of justice, security, roles in the society, raising the voices of those who are excluded from political decision making and the public space.
Publicity and easy access are both a strength and a weakness for street art. Images or messages are usually placed where people can notice them. For the same reason, they are easily spotted and erased by those who oppose the image or the message. Some of them can "live" for a few hours; others "resist" a few days or weeks. Rarely can street art survive for a few months, especially if it represents "unpopular" views. It is impossible to predict the exact "life cycle" of street art. It is frequently erased, broken, deleted, painted over, and dissolved.
For the past decade, the South Caucasus societies have also seen a surge of street art-ctivism. Groups and individuals have used it as an alternative way of public speaking. They have raised and protested issues ranging from unfair socio-political processes to specific cases of oppression, injustice, and violence.
In this piece, we present selected works of street art – street artwork – in Armenia and Georgia. Most of them do not exist anymore. They have been subject to official or unofficial "censorship" and "cleaning". The photographs were taken in different cities of Georgia and Armenia and depict deeply embedded issues in these societies. Some of these pieces have common topics and address the same issues in both societies. Others are related to country-specific issues. These artworks belong to brave art-ctivists who deliver "unsanctioned" images and messages to the public space, raise the silenced voices in their societies, and strive for changes in their communities. They "speak" about people's feelings and attitudes and can, therefore, contain commonly used language, including swear words and other kinds of expressive language.
This 2015 piece of street art in Yerevan tells you that street art-ctivism is "A Method to Struggle". The artist's pseudonym is Hakaharvats meaning "counterblast".
"A Method to Struggle". Artist: Hakaharvats. Location: Koghbatsi Street, Yerevan, Armenia. Photo Credits: Aren Melikyan. Date of the Photo: 2015.
Common Topics in Georgian and Armenian Street Art
Against Political Oppression, Regimes, and Surveillance
George Orwell's famous dystopian book "1984" describes a system where everyone is under the strict control and surveillance of the state. "Thinkpol" – the Thought Police – identifies and punishes Thought Criminals – those who have the capacity of independent thought. There is no space for real freedom in Oceania. Screens and informers are everywhere. Thinkpol immediately eradicates any alternative to the official version of reality. Only one political party is entitled to set rules, take office, and make political decisions. There is no real freedom of choice, democracy, and public will in Oceania.
A similar interpretation of reality inspired an unknown street artist in Georgia to make a number of drawings. The first photo was taken on May 18, 2012 in Tbilisi. It was during the then President Mikheil Saakashvili's second term in office. It has been widely believed that back then the government systematically violated the citizens' privacy. Secret phone surveillance was so prevalent that nobody felt safe. The obtained materials were used for blackmail and political repression. Distrust and fear were rooted in all the layers of the political and social structure. "Big Brother is Watching You" was written onto walls in central Tbilisi, among them the wall of the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia and the underground passage of Liberty Square.
"Big Brother is Watching You". Artist: Unknown. Location: Tbilisi, Georgia. Photo Credits: Maia Shalashvili. Date of the Photo: May 18, 2012.
Posted in Comparative, Gender, Street Art, Tbilisi, Yerevan on September 14, 2018 by mshiva.
Soviet Monuments
Soviet monuments: what should we do with 'inherited' architecture?
Worker and Kolkhoz Woman monument in Moscow. Photography: Andrey S. Shulgin
Across the former Soviet Union there are countless examples of monolithic structures rising high from the ground to shelter, collect or govern the citizens living in their shadows.
These strange, sloping forms, concrete parabolic rises and angular designs signify an age of futuristic optimism manifest in the built environment. But what is the relationship between monuments or buildings designed by one regime and passed onto a public for whom that no longer applies? What is their legacy? How are these spaces recontextualised in contemporary society?
The theme of the Venice Architectural Biennale this year was 'Reporting from the Front'. Curator Alejandro Aravena invited participants to respond and reflect on the role of the architect in the struggle to improve living conditions for all. Titled VDNH Urban Phenomenon, the Russian pavilion showcases the 'global significance' of the 2,379,000 sq m VDNKh park in Moscow.
Posted in Architectural, Comparative, Post-Socialist on August 4, 2018 by mshiva.
Designing the Soviet Union
Designing the Soviet UnionBy OWEN HATHERLEY
Plublished in The Jacobian Magazine
Soviet architecture had diverse and ambitious ideas for transforming the spaces people live, work, and travel in.
For the last few years, the best-selling architectural coffee-table books have all shared the same subject: Soviet buildings. They are part of a strange but popular cult, where the ruins of the Soviet Union are contemplated and documented as an alien landscape.Agata Pyzik, in her 2014 diatribe Poor But Sexy, describes this trend as a form of intra-European Orientalism. Books like this year's success story — Christopher Herwig's Soviet Bus Stops — explore what she calls an "obsolete ecology," an irradiated yet magical wasteland, an Urbex paradise littered with wonderfully futuristic ruins. It is a seductive approach, and many Western writers (like me) have joined in.Herwig's contribution is a gorgeous example: page after page of bus stops, in an elegant, almost pocket-sized hardback volume, with a terrific design by the Anglo Sovietophile publisher FUEL.But why bus stops? Because Herwig discovered that the long, straight, often potholed highways that run between the former Soviet Union's big cities are dotted with hundreds, maybe thousands, of architecturally imaginative bus shelters.There are none in the cities themselves — urban bus shelters are far more likely to be the sort of metal and glass canopies found in any metropolis. But tiny towns, villages, and hamlets commissioned, through processes that the two introductions to the book manage to leave totally unexplored, a series of exceptionally striking and original designs, in a raw style that combines the local vernacular (Baltic, Central Asian, etc.), concrete futurism (all jagged angles and cantilevers), and bright colors.It's fabulous stuff, but to paraphrase Brecht, a photograph of a Soviet bus stop tells us almost nothing about the society that brought it into being.
Tellingly, many of these hit books are made by professional photographers who have chanced upon their subjects — something Herwig shares with the French photographer Frederic Chaubin, author of the smash hit CCCP: Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed. This means they don't share the compulsion that an academic or journalist might have to include editorial condemnations of the Soviet Union.
Until recently the subject has produced little good work in the English language. Prewar Soviet architecture has been well-served with studies by the likes of Catherine Cooke, Selim Khan-Magomedov, and Vladimir Paperny, but post-Stalin design has been oddly obscure. However, several recent publications combine the innovation of Soviet aesthetics with excellent writing. There's no excuse to just stare at pictures of incredible Soviet ruins when there are books that can tell you what they are and why they're there.
Posted in Architectural, Comparative, Cultural Heritage, Public Space on February 24, 2018 by mshiva.
Locked-in post-socialism: rolling path dependencies in Liberec's district heating system
Stefan Bouzarovski, Luděk Sýkora & Roman Matoušek
Pages 624-642 | Received 14 Oct 2016, Accepted 16 Oct 2016, Published online: 07 Nov 2016
Theorizing systemic change: legacies and path dependencies in post-socialism and beyond
Methods and paper structure
The legacy of district heating in Czechia
Private heat: energy sector reforms at the national scale
DH regulation and policy in Liberec
Unraveling DH price increases in Liberec
Barriers to fuel switching and DH development
A complex lock-in through rolling path dependencies
This paper uses the experience of post-socialist district heating reforms to tell a broader story about the continued and shared challenges that central and eastern European cities face as they grapple with the legacies of the recent and more distant past. We argue that the restructuring of this infrastructural domain has been contingent upon geographically embedded trajectories stemming from previous historical periods, while leading to the creation of new socio-technical lock-ins. The paper thus develops the notion of "rolling path-dependencies" in order to explore how post-socialist developments both overcome and supplant previous trajectories of transformation. It focuses on the northern Czech town of Liberec – a place that is known for having some of the highest heating prices in the country – to elucidate how a socially, economically, and environmentally detrimental lock-in has come into existence as a result of ill-conceived policies of marketization, municipalization, and privatization. Using evidence from official documents and interviews with policy-makers, we demonstrate how the infrastructural legacies of post-socialism both persist and are being reproduced at the urban scale even within "advanced" reforming states like Czechia.
Keywords: District heating, energy, infrastructure, Czech Republic
Liberec is a medium-sized city and regional administrative center nested amidst the mountains that line Czechia's northern borders with Poland and Germany. It has generally remained outside the attention of mainstream academic research on economic and political change within and beyond the region. Yet this city with a population of just over 100,000 people recently entered the national limelight as a result of news reports that local citizens were paying astronomically high prices for their district heating (DH) supply (Pšeničková 2015Pšeničková, Jana. 2015. Liberec Chce Dotlačit Teplárnu, Aby Snížila Ceny. Odpustí Jí Nájemné [Liberec pressures district heating plant to reduce prices – rent will be forgiven]. Accessed May 2, 2016.http://liberec.idnes.cz/liberec-se-snazi-snizit-cenu-tepla-d5e-/liberec-zpravy.aspx?c=A151030_154454_liberec-zpravy_tm [Google Scholar]). Not only did heating tariffs rise well beyond affordable levels, but households were locked into a system that prevented them from switching to a different source of energy supply. In addition, there was evidence to suggest that the local authority was indirectly supporting the privately owned DH company via a complex web of ownership interests and policy measures.
As it turns out, the Liberec case is not isolated in the context of the post-socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Former Soviet Union (FSU). In fact, a number of cities and countries in the region have struggled with the legacies of centralized heating supply systems – commonly known as district heating systems (Poputoaia and Bouzarovski 2010Poputoaia, Diana, and StefanBouzarovski. 2010. "Regulating District Heating in Romania: Legislative Challenges and Energy Efficiency Barriers." Energy Policy 38: 3820–3829.10.1016/j.enpol.2010.03.002[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]) – inherited from their respective centrally planned economies. This large-scale form of energy provision was emblematic of the political ideologies and urban development policies that underpinned state socialism. The system entailed the delivery of hot steam or water to households and companies via large and centralized networks of pipes and pumping stations. The water itself was heated in fossil-fuel burning plants (primarily coal, heavy fuel oil, and sometimes gas) that also often produced electricity. Under the unfolding crisis of the socialist system, the plants and networks themselves became poorly maintained, with much energy being lost between the sites of production and consumption (Bouzarovski 2009Bouzarovski, Stefan. 2009. "East-central Europe's Changing Energy Landscapes: A Place for Geography." Area 41: 452–463.10.1111/area.2009.41.issue-4[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]; Rezessy et al. 2006Rezessy, S., K.Dimitrov, D. Urge-Vorsatz, and S.Baruch. 2006. "Municipalities and Energy Efficiency in Countries in Transition. Review of Factors That Determine Municipal Involvement in the Markets for Energy Services and Energy Efficient Equipment, or How to Augment the Role of Municipalities as Market Players." Energy Policy 34: 223–237.10.1016/j.enpol.2004.08.030[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]).
DH systems were intimately tied to economic, social, and spatial planning practices and policies under socialism. These networks accompanied mass production and supported daily life and mass consumption of heat in standardized housing. They were also dependent on the promotion and maintenance of particular types of urban forms. The upkeep of such sizeable networks became costly and complex under the market conditions that evolved after the fall of communism. With increasing numbers of consumers switching to other energy carriers – leading to falling revenues and a subsequent need for additional price increases – utilities resorted to punitive measures to prevent further disconnection. Evidence of consumers being "trapped in the heat" has emerged in several CEE countries (Poputoaia and Bouzarovski 2010Poputoaia, Diana, and StefanBouzarovski. 2010. "Regulating District Heating in Romania: Legislative Challenges and Energy Efficiency Barriers." Energy Policy 38: 3820–3829.10.1016/j.enpol.2010.03.002[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]; Tirado Herrero and Ürge-Vorsatz 2012Tirado Herrero, S., and D. Ürge-Vorsatz. 2012. "Trapped in the Heat: A Post-communist Type of Fuel Poverty." Energy Policy 49: 60–68.10.1016/j.enpol.2011.08.067[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]).
In this paper, we use the case of DH and the experience of Liberec more specifically as a starting point for making a broader argument about the continued importance of integrated perspectives on past and present urban transitions and transformations in CEE and the FSU. Drawing upon the multiple transformations model by Sýkora and Bouzarovski (2012Sýkora, Luděk, and Stefan Bouzarovski. 2012. "Multiple Transformations: Conceptualising the Post-communist Urban Transition." Urban Studies 49: 43–60.10.1177/0042098010397402[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]), we argue that the need for a holistic view on post-socialist systemic change still holds relevance for developments in the region and beyond, because micro- and meso-scale transformations in the domains of social practice, organizational change, and the evolution of urban and regional landscapes are ongoing. These claims are developed with reference to the specific infrastructural character of DH, which embodies the institutional and socio-technical inertia of past systems, being nested in past and present urban formations and challenged by recent impacts of free market conditions. Thus, DH can tell us a broader story about the continued and shared challenges that CEE and the FSU face as they continue to grapple with the legacies of communist central planning – even in the case of countries like Czechia that are now well integrated into the sphere of Western capitalism.
Posted in Comparative, Post-Socialist, Theory on November 1, 2017 by mshiva.
Heterotopic Landscapes
Yerevan's Soviet Past and Capitalist Present
Rustavi, A Mono-Town
Yerevan's Circular Park (Part 1)
In/formality
Post-Socialist


text:
Q: For what algebraic curves do rational points form a group? For what real algebraic curves do rational points form a group ?
How does this relate to Jacobian Varieties ?

A: The question is a little imprecise. For any algebraic curve $X$ the set of rational points $X(\mathbb{Q})$ can be given a group structure, because it's just a set.
If you want $X$ to be a projective algebraic group over $\mathbb{Q}$, which means that the identity, inverse, and multiplication map are defined over $\mathbb{Q}$, then its genus had better be one (this has nothing to do with the arithmetic and is already true for projective curves over an algebrically closed field - over $\mathbb{C}$ you can see this topologically since $\pi_1$ had better be abelian, which eliminates higher genus curves, and $\mathbb{P}^1$ is just $S^2$).
For any $Y$ of genus bigger than zero, there is an embedding of $Y$ into another variety $J$, its Jacobian, which is an algebraic group. The embedding is arithmetic in the sense that if $Y$ is defined over a field, or for that matter a ring, then so is $J$ and so is the embedding, with the caveat that $Y(R)$ needs to be non-empty for the embedding to be defined over $R$. The Jacobian won't be a curve; rather, the dimension of $J$ is the genus of $Y$.

A: There are lots of curves whose set of rational points have a group structure with a geometric interpretation - which is the question that should have been asked. In addition to the projective group laws on elliptic curves there are group laws on many curves of genus 0, in particular Pell conics (degenerate or not; actually any conic will do, but
the group structure is "canonical" only if you have a canonical rational point acting as an identity). And of course you can always get group structure on higher dimensional varieties such as products of Pell conics.
Geometrically, these group laws com from "generalized Jacobians". These are nicely described
in the thesis of Isabelle Dechene, which can be found here. On a much more elementary level I will try to put a few things together here.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Food Distributors to Pay $3.6 Million And Offer 150 Jobs To Settle Class Sex Discrimination Lawsuit
Sherwood Food Distributors, LLC, one of the largest independent distributors in the U.S. meat and food industry, will pay $3.6 million and provide other relief to settle a class sex discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
The EEOC alleged that as far back as 2009, Sherwood discriminated against a class of female applicants at its warehouses in Cleveland, Ohio and Detroit, Michigan by refusing to hire them for entry-level positions because of gender. Entry-level warehouse workers, also known as selectors or pickers, fulfill customer orders by collecting products from the warehouse storage systems, as described in the consent decree resolving the agency's lawsuit. According to the company's website, Sherwood operates distribution centers where products are stored in refrigerated warehouses. The agency also charged that Sherwood failed to make and preserve records related to the company's alleged discriminatory hiring practices.
Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. EEOC filed its lawsuit (EEOC v. Sherwood Food Distributors, LLC, Civil Action No. 1:16-cv-02386) on Sept. 27, 2016, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, in Cleveland after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.
The suit was resolved by a five-year consent decree entered by Judge Donald C. Nugent on Oct. 16, 2018. Under the terms of the decree, Sherwood will pay $3.6 million to a class of females identified by the EEOC, and the company must offer jobs to at least 150 women identified by the agency during the claims process. The consent decree establishes hiring goals designed to increase the percentage of females hired for entry-level warehouse positions and maintain a higher representation of females in those positions over a period of years.
The decree also requires Sherwood to create and produce to the EEOC electronic data such as applicant flow logs, and to disclose the number of female and male applicants who seek entry-level warehouse positions, the number of females and males hired for such positions, and the company's progress in meeting hiring goals. The EEOC will monitor Sherwood's hiring practices and the company's compliance with the decree for five years.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Workers are being '˜short-changed' by employers, Sheffield researchers have found
ZERO hours contracts and so-called self-employment is short-changing workers who are trying their best to make a living, research by Citizens Advice Sheffield has found.
Tuesday, 21st November 2017, 3:58 pm
Around 8 per cent of the enquiries dealt with in Sheffield in the period January to June 2017 were solely or predominantly about employment rights. Picture: Dave Thompson/PA Wire
A report by the advice body found that legal rights are, in effect, "useless without effective enforcement mechanisms and professional support to navigate a complex system" - neither of which is available at present.
Around eight per cent of the enquiries dealt with by Citizens Advice Sheffield between January and June this year were solely or predominantly about employment rights - 552 in total.
Its research found that often, people do not know their rights, such as their right to join a trade union or to be accompanied in a grievance meeting; employers are withholding contractual documents or failing to tell people what type of contract they are on; employers can become "elusive and uncommunicative" when people raise issues; and problems stemming from insecure employment result in real hardship beyond the workplace.
They spoke to a range of people seeking help, and were told in several cases that people who had found work through agencies only discovered they were being treated as self-employed when issues arose with sick pay, unpaid wages or lack of holiday pay. Others only discovered they were on zero hours contracts when they were not given shifts.
Citizens Advice Sheffield's lead on research and campaigns, Frances Potter, said: "There is too much responsibilty on the shoulders of individuals to battle away for themselves, which is not just unfair for the employees, but for the employers who do play by the rules.
"Why should anyone have to approach a new job on the defensive? They just want to make a living.
"Without the ability to inflict your rights, there is no point in having them."
Citizens Advice Sheffield is calling on the Government to "remedy the unfairness revealed", in part by creating a Fair Work Authority to act on individuals' behalf, providing early resolution of problems and deterring employers from poor practice.
It is also calling on "anchor institutions" in Sheffield, such as the council, NHS and the universities to insist on ethical employment practices among their supplies and contractors.
Other recommendations include better support for people who want to take action; a "Fair Trade-style" campaign in the city to harness public spending power in favour of ethical employment practices; and local enforcement of the National Minimum Wage.
Chief executive, Andy Buck said: "Our investigation wholeheartedly endorses the view that unless people have the means to enforce their employment rights, these rights will be of limited value. We are calling on the Government to do more to make sure people have access to employment justice."
Community hub reopens to serve Sheffield residents


It's been an exciting few weeks here at Happy Black Woman headquarters!
Last week, we launched my brand new book out into the world, Launch Your Business: The 5 Step Solution to Do What You Love, Quit Your Job and Have the Freedom to Travel and Live Life on Your Own Terms.
And together, we co-created a #1 Amazon bestseller in the "Starting a Business" category!
This book is a compilation of everything I've learned about creating freedom through online entrepreneurship over the past few years.
It also explains the simple 5-step process I've used to take my current business from side hustle to 6-figures, all while traveling around the world and living out of one suitcase!
"I recently picked up your book, Launch Your Business and I connected with it as soon as I started reading it and I immediately started to take notes and make a work schedule for myself regarding my life coaching business.
Which, as I read your bio is one of the reasons I felt that I could trust what you were going to be telling me and as I read on my heart was like YES!!
My heart is so full right now and it's all because of YOU.
Thank you for being the reason WHY I do this work.
You make it all worth it.
Thank you for sending the link to your friends and colleagues.
Thank you for reading and sharing and taking the time to leave such wonderful reviews on Amazon.
Most of all, thank you for helping me spread the word about what becomes possible for your life when you say YES to yourself and your dreams.
Get Your Copy of My New Book!
Now if you didn't grab your copy during our special launch promotion last week, don't worry!
If you've already snagged your copy of the book, would you be willing to leave a review on Amazon today? It will take just a few minutes of your time and it would mean SO much to me!
Here's how to submit a review on Amazon if you've never done one before.


text:
The "Forced" Resignation of Richard Cizik, Part Two
John Armstrong December 13, 2008 American Evangelicalism
On Wednesday of this week Richard Cizik resigned as the vice president for governmental affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). The preceding week had been filled with calls for his removal by constituent members of NAE who were deeply distressed that he was shifting his views on same-sex marriage. As I showed in Part One Richard Cizik has been under considerable fire for over two years. The statement that led to his resignation became, without any serious doubt, the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back."
Leith Anderson, president of NAE, wrote to the board members of NAE the following: "Although he has subsequently expressed regret, apologized, and affirmed our values, there is a loss of trust in his credibility as a spokesman among leaders and constituencies." I have no doubt that Leith Anderson spoke the truth here and nothing but the truth. The issue was not so much what Cizik said in the December 2 interview with Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air, or what he meant by what he said or left unsaid, as it was a "loss of trust in his credibility." This is precisely why I wrote what that I did in Part One so you could get a sense of the background on this matter. If Cizik's most recent comments had been made without the context of a nearly two-year attempt to see him removed from leadership in NAE I seriously doubt that his recent comments would have resulted in his ouster. I will try to show you why.
Charles Colson, whom I profoundly admire and count as a friend, summed up the general mood about Cizik, at least among older evangelicals, when he said:
For better or worse, Rich became a great, polarizing figure. He was gradually, over a period of time, separating himself from the mainstream of evangelical belief and conviction. So I'm not surprised. I'm sorry for him, but I'm not disappointed for the evangelical movement.
In the now controversial interview on December 2 Cizik spoke mostly about the environment, the issue that he has been hammered about for more than two years now. In the midst of this dialogue Terry Gross asked him several questions that became the points upon which he was forced to resign (I will give this portion of the interview in full so the reader can read the statements in their total context. Remember, most of the interview was focused on the environment.)
Gross: You say you really identify with the concerns and priorities of younger evangelical voters, and one of those priorities is more of an acceptance of homosexuality and gay marriage. A couple of years ago when you were on our show, I asked you if you were changing your mind on that, and two years ago you said you were still opposed to gay marriage. But now you identify more and more with younger voters and their priorities; have you changed on gay marriage?
Cizik: I'm shifting I have to admit. In other words I would willingly say I believe in civil unions. I don't officially support redefining marriage from its traditional definition, I don't think. We have this tension going on in our movement between what is church-building and what is nation-building. And I lean in this spectrum at times—maybe we should concentrate on building values in our own movement. We have become so absorbed in the question of gay rights and the rest that we fail to understand the challenges and threats to marriage itself—heterosexual marriage. Maybe we need to re-evaluate this and look at it a little differently. I'm always looking for ways to reframe issues, give the biblical point of view a different slant, if you will, and look it, we have to. The whole world, literally, the planet is changing around us, and if you don't change the way you think and adapt, especially to things like climate change, scientists like Bob Dopple he says well if you don't adapt and change your thinking you may ultimately be a loser, because climate change in his mind—he's a systems analyst—has the capacity to determine the winners and losers, and your life will never be the same, growing up during I say the great warming. Our grandparents grew up during the great depression, our parents, well they lived in the aftermath of that and became maybe the greediest generation, and our generation, this younger one, needs to be the greenest.
Gross: Stephen Waldman of Beliefnet raised this question that I want to put to you. Barack Obama supports the right to an abortion, but he also advocates reducing the number of abortions when possible. Will you support him in abortion reduction or do you see that as a diversion from the work of banning or restricting abortion?
Cizik: I will support him. I will support Barack Obama in finding ways to reduce the number of abortions, absolutely.
Gross: Now is that controversial within the evangelical movement?
Cizik: For some, yes. I've already been called one of the devil's minions for taking this position because it seem compromising, but that's again that winner take all mentality that you have to have it all. In politics I have learned over many years less is more. I think finding those who are in trouble, in crisis, helping them through this and if need be even supplying what government presently doesn't do, namely contraception, is an answer to reducing unintended pregnancies.
Gross: Wait, wait. I think I heard you say government supplying contraception. That's got to be controversial.
Cizik: Among some it would be, but I don't think so. We are not, as I have said previously, we are not Catholics who oppose contraception per se. And let's face it, what do you want? Do you want an unintended pregnancy that results in abortion or do you want to meet a woman's needs in crisis, who frankly, would by better contraception avoid that choice, avoid that abortion that we all recognize is morally repugnant—at least it is to me.
Plainly there are three controversial subjects raised in Cizik's answers. First, the issue of same-sex marriage. Second, the issue of civil unions between same-sex partners. Third, the issue of governmental provision of condoms to help in decreasing the number of abortions. As Cizik said, the third issue offends only a few in the evangelical camp since there is no established evangelical ethic position about condoms. What some would oppose, and do so fervently, is the role of government in such provision. But this is clearly not the "big" issue here.
The answers that got Cizik removed from NAE were same-sex marriage and civil-unions.
Leith Anderson, in expressing the NAE position, stated that "The role of an NAE spokesperson is primarily on behalf of what we have said, not on behalf of what we have not said. It's also to represent our constituency, and our constituency does not favor civil unions."
By the way, Cizik told Terry Gross that he voted for Barack Obama in the primaries but did not indicate who he voted for in the November election.
Following this interview NAE was flooded with emails, a large number from members of NAE member organizations. According to Sarah Pullman, reporting in Christianity Today, some writers cited his views on abortion and condom distribution but most focused on the gay union issue. Anderson reported that NAE favors decreasing the number of abortions but has not laid out a specific plan such as the distribution of condoms.
So it should be clear to all—Cizik was forced to resign because he said "I believe in civil unions" and because he then added "I don't officially support redefining marriage from its traditional definition. . . ." The protest of him was centered about his views on gays.
Make no mistake about this—"gay" politics is hot right now, red hot. With Proposition 8 passing in California, and more than thirty-five states formally forbidding gay marriage in various legal ways, the issue has been front and center for the past seven or eight years. As I have traveled about the United States, speaking in churches of all sorts, I can tell you this issue produces the single most obvious level of deep emotion of any issue I have seen in my lifetime inside the church. At one time the most emotional issue was removing prayer in the public schools. Then it was abortion in the 1970s and 1980s. Now it is gay marriage and related sexual identity issues. Of all these types of social/moral/cultural issues this one has plainly generated the most wide-scaled legal response, both pro and con. And it has generated the most unbalanced rhetoric of any such issue since segregation was openly challenged in the 1950s.
Gay marriage (and correspondingly for some, civil unions) is seen by my generation as "the issue" that will define our entire future as a nation. If the gays publicly win then the nation is finished. The church will be attacked, freedoms will be removed through the use of hate speech law and our ability to live the faith without persecution removed. Further, children and marriage will be irreparably damaged for generations to come. I do not think I am overstating the way this issue is seen and felt at all.
Many people fear homosexuals in general and openly loathe their behavior. Many even find people who are openly gay to be disgusting and despicable human beings. (Thankfully I do not think the number of such people is as large as the advocates of homosexual marriage want us to believe. Surveys and poll data support my observation in general. I do not deny that hatred and prejudice are real and harm some people profoundly.)
As with most of these kinds of "hot button" moral/cultural issues, but particularly with this one, it becomes almost impossible to have a civil dialogue about the issue without turning persons into enemies. I have seen this work in church contexts more than I care to admit. My own position on the issue itself is clear—I believe homosexual practice plainly violates the clear teaching of the Word of God and I have taught this in both friendly and not-so-friendly contexts for years. I do not believe ministers who are committed to homosexual practice should be ordained and I do not think unrepentant homosexuals should be welcomed into church membership. But Richard Cizik agrees with me so far as I can tell. So why was he removed for his few words on NPR. Why, or why?
1. He endorsed the concept of civil unions. This is a broad category but generally it means the government grants legal protection and benefits to gay couples based on a union that is non-religious yet civilly established.
2. He expressed clear opposition to "redefining marriage from its traditional definition"—i.e., one man and one woman.
What this demonstrates to me is that we cannot have a reasonable dialogue about these issues without personal threats and massive political intrigue. What happened to the idea that the church was a "safe place" for sinners? What happened to welcoming and embracing sinners? What happened to explaining in calm and clear ways why the sin of homosexual practice is not the same as concern for civil rights and legal protection for a minority?
My very suggestions here will be read by a few as an endorsement of homosexual practice. I am doing nothing of the kind. But I am appalled at how quick some evangelicals are to remove the speck from their brother or sister's eye without seeing the log in their own. Cizik actually addressed this in his further comments about marriage. I think his comment is brilliant and I rarely hear anyone say it so well: "We have become so absorbed in the question of gay rights and the rest that we fail to understand the challenges and threats to marriage itself—heterosexual marriage."
I have said this again and again and it generates either a complete yawn or an angry denunciation. Who is kidding whom here? Evangelicals divorce at a higher rate than the culture in general and few of our local churches, or denominations, have dealt with the sin of adultery in any clearly biblical way since before World War II. How many evangelical churches do you know that will discipline a person for adultery? The church I pastored for sixteen years faithfully practiced such discipline and the results of our practice were powerful and redemptive. I shared a deeply moving meal this week, of the sort that I believe I will enjoy in heaven someday, with a friend of thirty years. This man, now in his 50s, was a young man under my care as a young pastor. I led my congregation to discipline him for adultery. What followed was extremely trying and difficult. But about a year after the discipline he was soundly converted and has ever since been a growing, productive and fruit-bearing Christian man. He loves me with an unusually deep love and the bonds between us are almost unexplainable at times. There is mutual respect and deep love for Christ and we will remain close, I am quite sure, for all eternity. This all came from practicing "tough love" in a biblically faithful church context.
My question with the Ciziik episode is why will these conservative Christians who so loathe homosexual practice tolerate so easily heterosexual sin? Something is very wrong here and saying it, and seeing that it is clearly true, should deeply disturb us all. Cizik said it but it seems his critics completely missed it.
Cizik also said that he is "always looking for ways to reframe issues, to give the biblical point of view a different slant, if you will . . ." Whether you agree with him or not, or like him or not, this is at the heart of anything that deserves the name evangelical. We are a missional people and as missional people we are always looking for ways to "reframe" the truth that we see in Scripture. This is dangerous for sure but this is the point of view bequeathed to us by the Protestant Reformers. You can fault Cizik for how he said what he said, and remember he admitted that he could have said it very differently and much better, but you cannot fault him for trying to practice a truly evangelical principle.
I will say more later about Cizik's view of same-sex marriage, which he ardently opposes, but for now please focus on the nub of this debate. Cizik was removed for one reason—he supports civil unions.
Now I know that Wikipedia can be faulted on many scores (in terms of scholarly precision and faithful reporting at points) but it can also be useful in many instances. In this case it is the latter that I believe we find when we search the term: "civil unions." Here is the Wikipedia definition given under the entry on civil unions:
A civil union is a legally recognized union similar to marriage. Beginning with Denmark in 1989, civil unions under one name or another have been established by law in many developed countries in order to provide same-sex couples with rights, benefits, and responsibilities similar (in some countries, identical) to opposite-sex civil marriage. In some jurisdictions, such as Quebec, New Zealand, and Uruguay, civil unions are also open to opposite-sex couples.
Most civil-union countries recognize foreign unions if those are essentially equivalent to their own; for example, the United Kingdom lists equivalent unions in Civil Partnership Act Schedule 20.
Many people are critical of civil unions because they say they represent separate status unequal to marriage ("marriage apartheid"). Others are critical because they say civil unions are separate but equal – because they allow same-sex marriage by using a different name.
As used in the United States, beginning with the state of Vermont in 2000, the term civil union has connoted a status equivalent to marriage for same-sex couples; domestic partnership, offered by some states, counties, cities, and employers since as early as 1985, has generally connoted a lesser status with fewer benefits. However, the legislatures of the West Coast states of California, Oregon and Washington have preferred the term domestic partnership for enactments similar or equivalent to civil union laws in East Coast states.
As you can readily see "civil unions" has a very broad definitional scope but in almost no case is it seen as (Christian) marriage. The very term "civil" means non-religious. For this reason alone civil unions are not gay marriage. Whether we like it or not civil unions already exist and are not likely to go away. It seems to me that the best place for a Christian to stand in this current cultural milieu and radical change is to protect marriage as an essentially religious union and civil unions as something different. It also seems to me that Cizik was making such a distinction.
But Cizik's critics saw only "red" and charged after him with the determination to see him removed from his leadership position. My guess is that he will be better off outside the NAE, at least personally. But it also seems to me that the NAE failed to respond to a crisis with the kind of personal relational care that portrays to the world that we are not simply driven by the heated political rhetoric and debate that so marks the breakdown of civility in our time. I will say more about the NAE, and its history and present confusion, in my next post. In the meantime I hope that some readers will rethink how we can and should discuss this issue of marriage and civil unions. The least we can do is dial down the passionate speech level and the heated rhetorical confusion this creates. Surely I am not the only Christian leader in my generation who feels that we are the worse for our continual inability to conduct a serious conversation without the gloating and celebrating that has accompanied the removal of Brother Richard Cizik by the NAE.


text:
Earl Joseph Watson Jr. (Kansas City, Kansas, 12 de juny de 1979), és un jugador de bàsquet estatunidenc que milita als Utah Jazz de l'NBA.

Carrera

Universitat
Earl Watson va anar a la Washington High School a Kansas City per després matricular-se el 1997 a UCLA, on va compartir les seves dues primeres temporades amb Baron Davis. Earl va jugar als Bruins des de la temporada 1997-98 fins a la 2000-01.

Com a freshman va fer una mitjana de 5,8 punts, 3,7 rebots i 3,2 assistències; en la seva segona temporada va millorar notablement els seus números amb 13,3 punts, 3,7 rebots i 4,6 assistències. A la 1999-00, com a júnior, es va mantenir en les seves xifres amb 11,4 punts, 3,9 rebots i 5,9 assistències. La seva última temporada va ser la millor a la NCAA, va fer de mitjana 11,4 punts, 3,7 rebots, 5,2 assistències i 1,9 robatoris.

Watson va aconseguir el rècord de partits com a titular a la universitat, amb 129, sobrepassant l'anterior marca de 127 de Don MacLean (1989-92). Tots els partits que va disputar amb UCLA els va jugar de titular. Va acabar 1r a la classificació històrica de robatoris amb 235, i va ser el 2n jugador en la història d'UCLA a aconseguir les 600 assistències i els 200 robatoris. El primer a aconseguir-ho va ser Tyus Edney.

Va ser nomenat All-Pac-10 i va ser inclòs en el Millor Quintet All-District 15 per l'NABC. El seu millor partit el va fer davant North Carolina amb 30 punts.

NBA
Watson va ser elegit pels Seattle SuperSonics en el lloc 39è a la 2a ronda del draft de l'NBA del 2001. En els Sonics no va comptar amb massa oportunitats, i després de fer una mitjana de 3.6 punts i 2 assistències va signar amb Memphis Grizzlies com a agent lliure. Amb Hubbie Brown va treure bon profit de les seves qualitats. A la temporada 2002-03 hi va fer de mitjana 5,5 punts, 2,1 rebots i 2,8 assistències. Milloraria en els dos anys posteriors com a suplent de Jason Williams, amb 5,7 punts, 2,2 rebots, 5 assistències i 7,7 punts, 2,1 rebots i 4,5 assistències, respectivament. A més va jugar playoffs en ambdues temporades.

El 7 de setembre de 2005 Watson va signar amb Denver Nuggets un contracte de 5 temporades. A Denver només hi va durar mitja temporada i va ser traspassat a la franquícia que el va veure debutar, Seattle Supersonics, en una operació a quatre bandes. Va disputar 24 partits amb Seattle en els quals va fer-hi uns magnífics 11.5 punts, 3 rebots i 5.4 assistències.

A la temporada 2005-06 hi va fer de mitjana 9.4 punts, 2.4 rebots i 5.7 assistències. Després de ser tallat per Oklahoma City Thunder el 17 de juliol de 2009, a finals de mes va signar amb els Indiana Pacers.

Enllaços externs
 Perfil a NBA.com
 Perfil a ESPN

Jugadors de bàsquet afroamericans estatunidencs
Esportistes de Kansas
Jugadors dels Seattle SuperSonics
Jugadors dels Memphis Grizzlies
Jugadors dels Denver Nuggets
Jugadors dels Oklahoma City Thunder
Jugadors dels Indiana Pacers
Jugadors dels Utah Jazz
Alumnes de la Universitat de Califòrnia a Los Angeles

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Imagine that you are custom designing a sports car to exhibit at competition car shows. You will enter into a class with hundreds of other competitors. Purchasing stock parts from online retailers may not give you an edge against competitors that utilized the same methods. In order to stand a chance ranking and receiving a trophy and cash prize, your car must display customized parts that improve performance and appearance.
Under the hood, the most important aspect of the car will be the engine and transmission. Maintaining the transmission fluid filter is an important aspect of car maintenance that is easily forgotten. A clogged or dirty filter can lead to inconsistent gear shifts and poor overall performance. Traditional transmission filters are made from a variety of materials, including felt. Many of these same filters clog with debris that could cause tiny lacerations or tears. Eventually, the poorly constructed filter becomes ineffective in protecting your transmission. Rather than jeopardizing your transmission's health, consider using a perforated metal transmission fluid filter.
A perforated metal transmission filter could be fabricated out of a variety of products including aluminum, stainless steel, or carbon steel. You can custom design the piece to ensure optimal filtering using a durable, heavy-duty material. You wouldn't want your transmission gears to screech and grind as you highlight your car's performance.
Moving to the vehicle's undercarriage, modifying the exhaust and muffler system is an important decision that should factor in performance and sound. You want to consider back pressure and free flow. A poorly constructed exhaust system will not only be extremely loud, but will also increase cold air flow to the engine, causing valves to warp. Consider using perforated metal to customize an exhaust and muffler system that will turn heads with its low rumbles, while keeping the environment and your engine pollution free.
Although performance is at the top of your list, you are equally concerned with appearance. If you are going to make judges give your car a second look at car shows, you will need to find unique, subtle ways to make the car one of a kind. Consider the radiator grill cover. Most traditional grill covers are manufactured out of black plastic that is found on nearly every car.
However, perforated metal grills can be customized to fit your requests. Perhaps you want to design a radiator grill cover out of steel that features the Ford Mustang's emblem. You may choose to perforate the metal in a square, circle, or even diamond shape. This one little detail may not seem like much, but replacing the lackluster black plastic with a customized perforated steel grill will definitely catch the judges' attention.
At the car show, you will want to highlight your car's modified sound system. In order to highlight the bass sound while also clearly emphasizing the vocals, you should seriously consider using a rear diffuser in your speakers. Perforated steel products can be designed with acoustics in mind. If you are planning on opening up your doors, you may also want to custom design speaker covers. Customized perforated acoustic panels will use unique patterns and metals to ensure sound isn't muffled.
Customizing a sports, classic, or antique show car takes most people several years. At many car shows, you will be competing against hundreds of other cars built stock just like yours. You will need to highlight unique, customized details that will grab the judges' attention. Rather than choosing to order parts from the online retailer that your competitor may be using, custom design perforated metal products that can be used in your exhaust and fuel systems, speaker acoustics, and grill appearance.


text:
States jockey to host Trump as he accepts GOP nomination
Jill Colvin and Bobby Caina Calvan
This content is being provided for free as a public service to our readers during the coronavirus outbreak. Please support local journalism by subscribing to theledger.com at https://www.theledger.com/subscribenow.
WASHINGTON — Several states are vying to host President Donald Trump when he accepts his party's nomination later this year, after Trump officially pulled the plug on North Carolina because of the state's concerns over the coronavirus.
Nashville, Tennessee, and several cities in Florida are among those said to be in the running. Also being considered are venues in Nevada, Georgia, Texas, Louisiana and Arizona.
Trump announced Tuesday night that he would no longer be holding this summer's Republican National Convention in Charlotte because the state refused to give in to his demands and guarantee that the event be held without public health restrictions due to the pandemic.
Under existing contractual obligations, some of the convention's official business will likely still have to take place in the city, according to a Republican National Committee official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. But Trump has made clear that he will not be accepting the nomination in Charlotte and will be holding his made-for-TV event somewhere else.
"Due to the directive from the governor that our convention cannot go on as planned as required by our rules, the celebration of the president's acceptance of the Republican nomination will be held in another city," RNC national press secretary Mandi Merritt said in a statement Wednesday, adding that: "Should the governor allow more than 10 people in a room, we still hope to conduct the official business of the convention in Charlotte."
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, has called his capital "the best place in America to have a convention" and said GOP officials will be coming to scout Nashville on Thursday.
One Republican official said city officials had been holding off from aggressively pursuing the convention site until they had "guarantees" that North Carolina had officially been given the boot. They noted that Nashville had put in a bid to host the convention two years ago, but that concert and NHL playoff conflicts — now no longer issues — had made it a bad fit at the time.
Meanwhile, Florida's Republican Party said its state is ready to roll out the red carpet for the delegates who will formally nominate Trump.
During a news conference in Orlando, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, said he has spoken with RNC officials about holding the convention in Florida and volunteered several cities, including Orlando, Jacksonville and Miami.
"We would like to have it," DeSantis said, adding that the event could be held with mitigation measures like face masks and testing, depending on how prevalent the virus is at the time.
"So this is almost three months out, I think we're probably going to be able to pull it off," he said. He also criticized North Carolina's governor turning down $100 million in business.
In addition to Nashville, Orlando and Jacksonville, RNC officials confirmed that venues in Georgia and the cities of Las Vegas, Dallas, New Orleans and Phoenix are also under consideration, and that party officials will likely visit several possible sites in the coming days.
Georgia Gov. Brian P. Kemp, a Republican, tweeted Tuesday night in response to Trump's announcement, "Hope you have Georgia on your mind, @realDonaldTrump!"
Other states, meanwhile, appeared already to be out of the running. West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, another Republican who had expressed interest in hosting the event, said that Trump had called him personally on Wednesday to tell him it was unlikely to happen his state.
"I knew it was a giant long shot and everything, but I wanted West Virginia to be on the radar," said Justice, an ally of the president who has sought to play up his connection with Trump as he seeks reelection.
Calvan reported from Tallahassee. Associated Press writers Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee; Anthony Izaguirre in Charleston, West Virginia; Kimberlee Kruesi in Nashville, Tennessee; and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
Contact Us Support Local Business Advertise Your Business Advertising Terms and Conditions Buy and Sell Licensing & Reprints Legal Notices Help Center Subscriber Guide My Account My Print Account Give Feedback
Subscribe Today Newsletters Facebook Twitter Instagram E-Edition NIE
© 2021 www.theledger.com. All rights reserved.


text:
Intersecting Design Thinking and The Social Sector
Activism October 29, 2013 / By Ben Weinlick
Exploring the creative problem solving processes a team of social innovators have been experimenting with to improve the quality of social sector services.
Launching Think Jar Collective in 2011 was based on the notion that diverse disciplines and people need ways to bump into each other's work in order to rattle assumptions and spark new thinking and action. If we take the time to reflect, hear ideas from others and try to learn something from other fields we're not used to, then over time relevant innovations and better quality work can emerge. Like innovation writer Steven Johnson says, often breakthrough ideas come about not from eureka moments, but from slow hunches bumping into other people's slow hunches. I find it fascinating to see how people link and intersect unlikely fields in new ways and hope that you also find ideas you can use when you look outside silos you may be accustomed to.
The intersection I've been working on over the last 5 years has been taking processes from the design and creative problem solving worlds and bashing those together with ways that social services are designed.
In the video below, some social innovators and I share the creative problem solving processes we've been experimenting with in order to enhance the inclusion and citizenship experience of people with disabilities. Always learning and tweaking the process as we find what is working and not working, think tank explorers are breaking new ground around how to think differently about better supporting marginalized populations in our communities. Some great successes and better quality of life outcomes have come about as a result of the over 90 think tanks.
Citizen Think Tanks: Supporting Relevant Creativity In The Social Sector from project citizenship on Vimeo.
For examples of what has emerged from the Citizen Think Tanks check out Project Citizenship
Empathy in Creativity and Design Thinking
How to Avoid the Wet Blanket Phenomena In Creative Collaborations
project citizenship
think jar collective
Ben Weinlick
Ben Weinlick, MA is the founder of Think Jar Collective, a website and a group of people from diverse disciplines bringing together unique perspectives on creative thinking and innovation. Before Ben entered the community development and disability services field over 13 years ago, he thought he was going to spend his life terrorizing the experimental music and art scene. Always an idealist, Ben thought he was making a less egotistical choice by giving up art to work in a field more actively engaged in social justice issues. He soon discovered otherwise… Ben reminisced of this period, "I found I could be just as much of an ass (egotistical) in human services as the art world and began to see it was not about the domain one works in that matters in how you benefit others, but what kind of view one brings to whatever one does." Eventually seeing the value of a creative approach in human services led Ben to complete a master's thesis which focused on enhancing creative thinking in human service design and delivery. Currently, Ben is leading think tank teams in the implementation of the research recommendations at SKILLS Society in Canada. Within Canada, Ben has been seen as a leader and innovator who is passionate about improving the quality of support services for people with disabilities. Currently, Ben is the Senior Leader of Research and Organizational Learning at SKILLS Society, part time faculty at Macewan University, a keynote speaker on creativity in human services and consults throughout Canada.... He also stills makes weird experimental music in his spare time. Of Ben's passion he says, "People in disability services are often asking for innovation and creativity, I'm interested in how we can get our minds unstuck from status quo assumptions and see with fresh, creative eyes. If we can do a little more of that, we will set the stage for creativity and relevant innovations to emerge. I am very passionate about leading organizations to develop cultures where creativity thrives and yields better quality support services."
More about Ben Weinlick
Does Science Say Smart People Are Creative?
Education / By Dr. KH Kim
What Does Awareness of Mortality Influence?
Grassroots Creativity, Fresh and Local
Arts / By Lawrence E. McCullough
Digital Soul: The Computer, Imagination and Social Change
AI and CC / By D. Fox Harrell, Ph.D.


Hey people, we appreciate your time for coming to our website. Below you will get all the Raised answers, and solutions. The game is extremely famous and it makes your time fun and enjoy for a very long time. We have all the answers and solutions of Crossword Clues Answers and we also have answers of Word Cookies Ghost Hunt Answers All Levels you might like.
Done with Raised? Click here and see the other crossword clues for Thomas Joseph March 24 2017.
We hope that you found all the Raised. For more information or other crossword clues you are kindly requested to use the search feature!
Now you can certainly spent your time with joy by playing Crossword Clues Answers because it a fantastic game. We have also made sure you get every answer and solution on daily basis. Also you can see more relevant solutions on More delirious, Plan part, Thomas Joseph October 12 2017 Crossword Answers and Thomas Joseph May 25 2017 Crossword Answers to make everything easy. We appreciate your time to come to our website and please stay tuned for more updates.
We highly recommend you to bookmark this page in order to play more level in few weeks. So whenever you get stuck and can't find any perfect solution then check Crossword Clues Answers for your problems and solve it. We once again thank for using our website.


The warm beige and light blonde tones found in Sandbank provide a welcoming feel. The boards have been brushed so that the natural grains can shine through and offer a rustic, but a durable design that only real wood can provide. Paired with the Chevron pattern for a strong impact design which can make any space look incredible.


text:
package com.stratio.sparta.serving.api.utils

import java.io.File
import java.nio.file.{Files, Paths}

import akka.event.slf4j.SLF4JLogging
import com.stratio.sparta.serving.core.models.SpartaSerializer
import kafka.utils.ZkUtils
import org.I0Itec.zkclient.exception.ZkNoNodeException
import org.I0Itec.zkclient.{ZkClient, ZkConnection}
import org.apache.zookeeper.KeeperException.NotEmptyException
import org.apache.zookeeper.data.{ACL, Id}
import org.json4s.jackson.Serialization.write

import scala.annotation.tailrec
import scala.collection.JavaConversions._
import scala.collection.immutable.Queue
import scala.util.parsing.json.JSON
import scala.util.{Failure, Success, Try}

trait BackupRestoreUtils extends SLF4JLogging with SpartaSerializer {

  // Configuration
  val uri: String
  val connectionTimeout: Int
  val sessionTimeout: Int

  // Zookeeper Client

  lazy val (client, zkConnection): (ZkClient, ZkConnection) =
    ZkUtils.createZkClientAndConnection(uri, connectionTimeout, sessionTimeout)

  /**
   * Create a backup from a Zookeeper node in a json file
   *
   * @param zkPath Origin path of Zookeeper's backup
   * @param file   Path of the json file
   */
  def dump(zkPath: String, file: String): Unit = {
    val json = jsonPretify(zkPath)
    Try(writer(json, file)) match {
      case Success(_) => log.info("Backup completed")
      case Failure(ex) => throw ex
    }
  }

  /**
   * Import data from a json file
   *
   * @param zkPath Path where the data will be imported
   * @param file   Path of the json file
   * @param clean  flag to clean data before apply the import
   */
  def importer(zkPath: String = "", file: String, clean: Boolean): Unit = {
    val jsonMaped: Seq[Map[String, Any]] = jsonParser(file)
    val rootRelativePath = jsonMaped.head("node").asInstanceOf[String]
    val cleanPath = (zkPath + rootRelativePath).replace("//", "/")

    if (clean) cleanZk(cleanPath)

    Try(zkWriter(zkPath, jsonMaped)) match {
      case Success(_) => log.info("Restore completed")
      case Failure(ex) => throw ex
    }
  }

  /**
   * Clean data from a Zookeeper node recursively
   *
   * @param zkPath Origin path to clean data
   */
  def cleanZk(zkPath: String): Unit =
    Try {
      if (!client.exists(zkPath))
        log.warn(s"ZKPath $zkPath does NOT exist")
      else if (client.countChildren(zkPath) != 0) {
        log.debug(s"ZKPath $zkPath has children. Deleting recursively.")
        client.deleteRecursive(zkPath)
      } else {
        log.debug(s"ZKPath $zkPath has no children.")
        client.delete(zkPath)
      }
    } match {
      case Success(_) => log.info("Clean completed")
      case Failure(ex: NotEmptyException) => throw ex
      case Failure(ex: ZkNoNodeException) => throw ex
      case Failure(ex) => throw ex
    }

  /**
   * Close the connection
   */
  def stop(): Unit =
    client.close()

  // Extract data from all Zookeeper nodes from a specific path
  @tailrec
  private def plainDump(path: String, pending: Queue[String], acc: Seq[String]): Seq[String] = {
    val newQueue = (client.getChildren(path) foldLeft pending) { (q, child) =>
      q.enqueue(s"$path/$child".replace("//", "/"))
    }
    if (newQueue.nonEmpty) {
      val (child, rest): (String, Queue[String]) = newQueue.dequeue
      plainDump(child, rest, acc :+ write(getZkNode(path)))
    } else acc :+ write(getZkNode(path))
  }

  // Extract data from a Zookeeper node
  private def getZkNode(path: String): Map[String, Any] = {
    val content: String = Option(client.readData(path)).getOrElse("")
    val acls: Seq[Map[String, String]] =
      client.getAcl(path)
        .getKey
        .map { acl =>
          Map(
            "principal" -> acl.getId.getId,
            "type" -> acl.getId.getScheme,
            "perms" -> acl.getPerms.toString
          )
        }
    Map("node" -> path, "content" -> content, "acls" -> acls)
  }

  // Write a Json String in a file
  private def writer(json: String, fileName: String): Unit = {
    new File(fileName).getParentFile.mkdirs
    Files.write(Paths.get(fileName), json.getBytes)
  }

  // Create a Json String with all the data from a Zookeeper's path
  private def jsonPretify(zkPath: String): String =
    s"[" + plainDump(zkPath, Queue.empty[String], Seq.empty[String]).mkString(",") + "]"
      .replace("\\", "")
      .replace("}{", "},\n{")
      .replace("}\"}", "}}")
      .replace(":\"{", ":{")

  // Write a collection of nodes in Zookeeper
  private def zkWriter(zkPath: String, jsonMaped: Seq[Map[String, Any]]): Unit =
    jsonMaped.foreach { nodeElement =>
      val path: String = nodeElement("node").asInstanceOf[String].replace("\\", "")
      val content: String = nodeElement("content").asInstanceOf[String]

      val acls = nodeElement("acls").asInstanceOf[Seq[Map[String, Any]]].map { acl =>
        val principal = acl("principal").asInstanceOf[String]
        val _type = acl("type").asInstanceOf[String]
        val perms = acl("perms").asInstanceOf[String]
        new ACL(perms.toInt, new Id(_type, principal))
      }

      val fullPath = (zkPath + path).replace("//", "/")

      if (client.exists(fullPath)) client.setAcl(fullPath, acls)
      else client.createPersistent(fullPath, true, acls)

      client.writeData(fullPath, content)
    }

  // Deserialize json file in a collection of Maps.
  protected def jsonParser(file: String): Seq[Map[String, Any]] = {
    val json = JSON.parseFull(
      scala.io.Source.fromFile(file)
        .getLines()
        .mkString("")
    ).get
    json.asInstanceOf[Seq[Map[String, Any]]]
  }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
The Bold and The Beautiful News Update: Denise Richards Dishes On The Challenges Of Raising Teenagers Today
By wildflower wildflower
CBS The Bold and the Beautiful spoilers reveal that Denise Richards (Shauna Fulton) is no stranger to drama. In addition to her role on the CBS sudser she also stars on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and between the two shows there is no shortage of emotional angst.
The lovely and talented actress is also raising three daughters, two of which are now teens, so between her professional and personal life, there is hardly ever a dull or boring moment.
She recently talked to Soaps In Depth about the challenges of raising teenagers and we have her insights for you here.
The Bold and The Beautiful News Update: Adrienne Frantz Adds A Little Lion Cub To Her Family – See Pics!
The Bold and the Beautiful spoilers — Denise Richards plays Shauna Fulton on the daytime drama
Richards' oldest daughter Sam is 16, her middle daughter Lola is 15, and her youngest daughter Eloise is nine. Is she a strict or a lenient parent? You might be surprised at the answer.
According to Richards, "My parents were strict with me, so that's how I was raised. So I'm about the same, I would have to say. However, I know it's a different time now from when I was younger, which my daughters are constantly reminding me of."
The Bold and the Beautiful spoilers – Denise Richards and Lisa Rinna have gotten into it on RHOBH
On RHOBH Denise has also addressed her parenting methods, in particular with her co-star Lisa Rinna who played Billie on Days of our Lives.
These two ladies have different ideas about parenting and have gotten into it more than once about this topic while in front of the cameras on the reality series.
The Bold And The Beautiful Spoilers: Douglas Shocked To See His Dad – Thomas Claims To Be A Changed Man? #bb #BoldandBeautifulhttps://t.co/G8jTjrwLJu
— SOS/CTS/HH (@SoapOperaSpy) July 16, 2020
The Bold and the Beautiful spoilers – What's next for Shauna Fulton in L.A.?
Summing up her thoughts on the relationship between parents and teens, Richards' told the magazine, "I am just glad that social media wasn't around when I was a teenager!"
B&B will be back with all-new episodes on Monday, July 20, following the coronavirus induced hiatus. It is the first of the four remaining daytime dramas to do so and fans are anticipating getting back into the swing of things with all their faves.
One of the epic questions waiting to be answered is whether or not Shauna and Ridge Forrester (Thorsten Kaye) got hitched during their Vegas getaway. We know they got drunk and had tons of fun, but will we discover that Ridge put a ring on the ex-show girl's finger?
Be sure to catch up on everything happening with B&B right now. Come back here often for The Bold and the Beautiful spoilers, news, and updates.
wildflower wildflower
This Is Us Season 5 Spoilers: Could Another Family Tragedy 'Fix' Kevin and Randall?
General Hospital Spoilers: GH Alum TK Weaver Injured – Ex-Danny In Accident
The Young and The Restless Spoilers: Kevin and Chloe Have Drama On The Way To…
Adrienne Franz
The Bold and The Beautiful News Update: Adrienne Frantz Adds A Little Lion Cub To Her…
Bold and the Beautiful Spoilers: Henry Joseph Samiri's Living The Life At The…


text:
Een Cantatorium (Latijn cantare "zingen") is een boek met solistische gezangen voor het gedeelte van de misviering tussen de lezing van het epistel en het eucharistisch gebed: graduale, tractus en alleluia.

Het boek ontstond in de zevende eeuw en was toen ook al meer een statussymbool voor de cantor dan een onmisbaar boek voor de liturgieviering zoals we kunnen lezen in een getuigenis van Amalarius van Metz (ca. 750 - ca. 850). Hij schreef dat de cantor na de lezing van het epistel zich naar het ambo begaf met het rijk versierde boek in zijn handen, zonder dat hij het noodzakelijkerwijze gebruikte bij de lezing.

Van diezelfde Amalarius weten we dat vanaf de achtste-negende eeuw het gebruik van zangboeken voor de liturgie werd afgestemd op de gebruiken in Rome[ in de achtste eeuw. Daar gebruikte men enerzijds een antiphonale voor de mis (ook Graduale Romanum genoemd) gecomplementeerd met een cantatorium voor de gezangen van de voormis. Bij de introductie van de Romeinse ritus in Gallië werd het antiphonale met de misgezangen het officiële boek ook hier gecomplementeerd door een cantatorium met de gezangen van het eerste deel van de mis. Maar de gezangen in het cantatorium werden spoedig opgenomen in het antiphonale en het cantatorium verdween. Omstreeks de veertiende eeuw werd het cantatorium niet meer gebruikt.

Het oudste bewaarde cantatorium is dat van Monza (Monza, Tesoro della basillica S. Giovanni, cod. CIX) dat gemaakt werd in Noord-Italië omstreeks 800. Een ander beroemd exemplaar is het Cantatorium van Sankt-Gallen, gemaakt tussen 922 en 925 in de abdij van Sankt Gallen. Het is het eerste manuscript met de muzieknotatie bij middel van neumen.

Externe links
 Elektronische facsimile van het Cantatorium van Sankt Gallen

Liturgie in de Rooms-Katholieke Kerk
Eucharistie in de katholieke kerk
Liturgisch voorwerp in de katholieke kerk
Gregoriaanse muziek


Results from a February study of a revolutionary treatment suggest that it may be possible to slow, stop, or even reverse the progression of Parkinson disease, according to findings in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease. The 3-part, experimental study investigated whether using a novel delivery system to increase levels of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) can regenerate dying dopamine brain cells in patients with Parkinson disease and even reverse their condition.
GDNF is a naturally occurring protein that promotes the survival of many types of neurons. -I believe that this approach could be the first neuro-restorative treatment for people living with Parkinson's, which is, of course, an extremely exciting prospect," Steven Gill, MB, MS, FRCS, who designed the infusion device used in the study, said in a statement Researchers used robot-assisted neurosurgery to implant a specially designed delivery system, termed Convection Enhanced Delivery (CED), which allowed high flow rate infusion to be administered to patients every 4 weeks.
Half of the participants were randomly assigned to receive monthly infusions of GDNF while the other half received placebos. Positron emission tomography (PET) brain scans from the group who received GDNF showed an improvement of 100% in the targeted area of the brain affected by Parkinson disease, leading researchers to believe that the treatment may have the potential to reawaken or restore damaged brain cells.
"The spatial and relative magnitude of the improvement in the brain scans is beyond anything seen previously in trials of surgically delivered growth-factor treatments for Parkinson's," the study's principal investigator Alan L. Whone, PhD, FRCP, Translational Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, said in a statement .
The group that was receiving placebo for the first 40 weeks was then given GDNF. The study's primary endpoint was the percentage change in the OFF state Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) motor score from baseline to the conclusion of the 80-week period between the group that consistently received GDNF and the group that received placebo and then GDNF. Although symptoms in both groups were found to either moderately or significantly improve after 18 months, once all participants had received GDNF, no significant differences between the groups in the primary or supplementary endpoints were observed throughout the study.
This is a significant breakthrough in our ability to treat neurological conditions, such as Parkinson's, because most drugs that might work cannot cross from the blood stream into the brain due to a natural protective barrier," said researchers in a statement Researchers believe that further studies are required to determine whether GDNF can reverse, slow, or stop the progression of Parkinson disease.
Parkinson disease and growth factors – is GDNF good enough?
CDNF Protein Therapy in Parkinson's Disease.
Stem cells and regenerative therapies for Parkinson's disease.
Next:Predictive, Personalized, Preventive and Participatory (4P) Medicine Applied to Telemedicine and eHealth in the Literature.


text:
Q: Reading Xml and Update I trying to read a xml file from resource and update it,save as new xml file.I got an error as Specified method is not supported while i am saving my changes.
   var s =  Application.GetResourceStream(new Uri("Customer.xml", UriKind.Relative));

            SaveFileDialog dialog = new SaveFileDialog();
            dialog.DefaultExt = "*.xml";
            dialog.Filter = "Excel Xml (*.xml)|*.xml|All files (*.*)|*.*";
            if (dialog.ShowDialog() == false)
                return;

            XDocument data = XDocument.Load(s.Stream);

            XElement customerElement = data.Descendants("Customer").Where(c => c.Attribute("ID").Value.Equals("1")).FirstOrDefault();
            if (customerElement != null)
            {
                customerElement.SetElementValue("Location", "London");

                data.Save(s.Stream); // got an error here: Specified method is not supported.
            }

            using (var myXML = new StreamWriter(dialog.OpenFile()))
            {
                var reader = new StreamReader(s.Stream);

                while (!reader.EndOfStream)
                {
                    var line = reader.ReadLine();
                    myXML.WriteLine(line.Trim());
                }
                myXML.Close();
            }

Need Help on this.
Thanks

A: Don't place XML, that you are assuming to modify, as resource (resources are built into assembly file, so resource's modifying equals to modifying of *.dll file, that is not allowed).
Use file system or database or remote service in order to store this file.