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Sophomore Nyrie Kasparian places her handprint on a poster commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. Students and community members convened on the West Mall on Friday to remember the 1.5 million Armenians who were killed.
Photo Credit: Charlotte Carpenter | Daily Texan Staff
Davit Davtyan
Karen Aroian
Published on April 27, 2015 at 12:15 am Last update on April 27, 2015 at 4:04 am
By Caleb Wong
Students and members of the local Armenian community lit candles inside a replica of an Armenian monument in memory of a historical tragedy.
Volunteers from the Armenian Cultural Association built a replica of the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex, located in Yerevan, Armenia, on the West Mall to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1.5 million Armenian people killed in the Ottoman Empire, now Turkey, in 1915. Most historians consider the deaths one of the first modern genocides.
Karen Aroian, who helped organize the commemorative event, said the goal was to increase awareness of the Armenian genocide and other mass killings.
"If we, as [the Armenian genocide] descendants, do not speak out for the voiceless and vulnerable, then genocide is bound to continue to today," Aroian said. "What more do you need beside the mass murders of women, children and men who are defenseless?"
Brandon Keropian, co-owner of South Austin Studio and member of the Armenian community, said the genocide personally affected his family members.
"My great-grandparents went through this," Keropian said. "My great-grandmother was one of seven kids, and they were all murdered, and she was lucky that she was spared. Her parents hid her with some Mormon nuns in Armenia."
Advertising graduate student Davit Davtyan said he was frustrated President Barack Obama broke his campaign promise to recognize the Armenian genocide in such terms. During his first presidential campaign in 2008, then-Sen. Obama called the events in Armenia in 1915 a genocide. He has not referred to the killings as a genocide since his election.
A White House press release to acknowledge Armenian Remembrance Day referred to the historical event as a "mass atrocity."
"He promised to recognize the Armenian genocide and name it a genocide," Davtyan said. "Any time when a U.S. official, like a senator or someone like that, asks for support, and they promise to help us with recognition of that massacre, a later day they forget about this because they don't want to damage their relationship with Turkey, which is an ally of [the] U.S."
No president since Ronald Reagan has used the word "genocide" during his term to describe the killings.
Undeclared sophomore Nyrie Kasparian said greater recognition of the 1.5 million Armenian deaths has long been a goal of the community.
"I always made efforts to tell all my friends back in high school," Kasparian said. "Even in elementary school, I would bring petitions to school and get my teachers to sign it. We've always been working toward recognition."
Davtyan said the Armenian community is committed to remembering its past to prevent genocides from being committed again.
"We are doing this for peace," Davtyan said. "This is not only for the Armenian genocide. We devote this event to all genocides that were committed in the past."
Published on April 14, 2015 at 10:28 pm
One of the great accomplishments in recent American society was the recognition, during the 1960s and 1970s, that the "personal is political." For civil rights activists; this meant that racial prejudice was not just a matter of individual preference but a national issue requiring government intervention to protect the entitlements of citizenship and civilization.
For women, "the personal is political" meant that mistreatment at home and in the workplace was no longer acceptable but instead a topic for intensive debate and correction. For gays, lesbians and transgender citizens, "the personal is political" became a foundation for exposing suffering and claiming equal access to public institutions and privileges.
Making the personal political opened American power to people long denied access. It created a national dialogue about fairness, equality and the nature of a free society. During the 1960s and 1970s; intensive debates about rights and identity disrupted American society, with countless protest movements on city streets and across college campuses. The intensive debates and protests made our country more diverse, more open, more innovative and ultimately more successful. We would never want to reverse those accomplishments.
In recent years, however, the personalization of politics has turned in a new, destructive direction. Instead of opening opportunities for expanded participation and exposing the mistreatment of individuals, the contemporary focus on personality denies serious political analysis.
Too much of our rhetoric is "anti-Obama" or "anti-Bush" without real discussion of what matters: their policies. For all the shouting about the Affordable Care Act, for example, there has been very little public discussion about the problems of our terribly costly and inefficient health care system and the possibilities for improvement. For all the controversy about the recent agreement between the United States and Iran, there has been limited analysis of productive alternatives, if this deal is not accepted.
Instead of policy, talking heads pronounce strong judgments around positive and negative portrayals of personality — why we should "support" or "distrust" President Barack Obama. Overwhelmingly, citizens are told to decide on policy based on strong judgments of the leader's personality, not the other way around. If you hate Obama, you hate the Affordable Care Act and the U.S.-Iran agreement. If you love Obama, you support those policies.
This is not how democracy should work. The complexities of policy should inspire people to embrace different and inconsistent positions on various issues.
In the 1960s and 1970s, for example, many thinking citizens supported rapid civil rights reforms (a largely Democratic position) and hardline Cold War foreign policies (a traditionally Republican position). Many who hated President Lyndon Johnson for prosecuting the Vietnam War also revered him for promoting more equality among citizens.
The same in reverse: Many who supported President Richard Nixon on Vietnam differed from his expansion of the federal government at home. Our society made progress, because citizens debated the big issues of fairness and foreign intervention on their own terms, not purely around the personality of the president. That is, of course, how both Johnson and Nixon were able to elicit bipartisan support for big, new initiatives. The opposition to them was also bipartisan, at times.
In earlier decades, the "personal is political" opened discussion of long-ignored issues, and it created opportunities for creative solutions. Today, the "personal is political" means that personal judgments of people are so deep and so vengeful that we cannot discuss anything else. All evidence is filtered through the question of who proposed a given policy, not what they proposed. Imagine, just for a minute, how partisan statements would flip on Iran if George W. Bush, not Obama, negotiated the current agreement — very similar, in fact, to the Bush administration's pursued agreement with North Korea in 2008.
The personal is really political because our life choices are largely determined by political decisions made far from our families and our homes. Educational policies determine the kinds of schools we attend and what we learn. Zoning and transportation policies influence where we live and how we travel. Economic policies shape the jobs we hold and the money in our bank accounts. Policing and defense policies determine our safety and the protection of our rights. All political policies have deep and enduring personal effects. Personal needs demand political attention. That is the positive lesson of the 1960s and 1970s.
Attention to the personal, however, is not a substitute for serious policy analysis. Since the 1970s we have gone much too far in that lazy and simplistic direction, contributing to the stagnation, hyper-partisanship and public ugliness of our current day.
It is time to return our concentration to the personal effects of policy. Do not support the presidential candidate you "like," please, but research the issues you care about, and follow the figures who offer the best ideas. Who will improve our educational system and open better opportunities for young people? Who will make our society more humane, prosperous and safe?
When you answer these questions, then you know which candidates to support and how to make the personal truly political for a new era of democratic accomplishment.
Photo Credit: Chelsea Purgahn | Daily Texan Staff
Counseling and Mental Health Center
Joey Hannah
LGBTQ specialist
By Nashwa Bawab
President Barack Obama recently took a stance against "reparative" therapy for gay and transgender youths. For some UT students who have gone through the process, the experience can be traumatic, according to Joey Hannah, LGBTQ specialist at the University's Counseling and Mental Health Center.
Last week, Obama denounced gay and transgender "conversion" therapy for minors and said he would back efforts to ban the practice at the state level. He said he was inspired in part by transgender teenager Leelah Alcorn, who died by suicide and cited these types of therapies in a note she wrote shortly before her death. A petition to ban the therapies went viral online soon after she died, and the petition gained more than 120,000 signatures before it expired.
Most children just want to be accepted for who they are and struggle when they are told they must be "fixed," according to Cristina Urdiales, Mexican American studies sophomore and legislative chair in the Queer Students Alliance.
"Conversion therapies are done to mostly young adults and kids whose parents think they're doing the right thing, but in reality, it's something that can scar someone for life," Urdiales said. "As harsh as this sounds, this statement brings to light that sometimes parents don't know best."
Placing people in reparative therapy, also known as conversion therapy, demonstrates a misunderstanding about sexual orientation and gender identity, said Josh Rudd, neuroscience freshman and Queer Students Alliance public relations director.
"Sexual orientation and gender identity are not things one can just change," Rudd said. "It would be like trying to force people to change their race — it's just not really possible."
California, New Jersey and the District of Columbia currently have laws that ban conversion therapy for minors. Last month, Rep. Celia Israel (D-Austin) introduced a bill that would ban the practice for minors in Texas. The bill, which would provide an exception for counseling that "provides acceptance, support and understanding of a child or minor … [allows] identity exploration and development … [and] does not seek to change sexual orientation or gender identity," is currently in committee.
The American Psychological Association advises that conversion or reparative therapies for young people be avoided and that families instead seek psychotherapy support and education to find accurate information about sexuality.
Hannah said he would like to see more states ban these kinds of therapies as well and for there to be wider understanding of the damaging consequences of the practice.
"This is a harmful practice, and it isn't a viable option, and people are acceptable," Hannah said. "The problem isn't the person; the problem is the culture that needs to change."
'Local control' is another Republican myth
By Noah M. Horwitz	 Posted on April 1, 2015 at 1:08 pm
Lieutenant Governor-elect Dan Patrick beat State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte in the lieutenant governor race Tuesday evening.
Attend any Republican political event throughout this state and you'll find a recurring talking point that really riles up the crowd: tyrannical overreach by the federal government against Texas. Fueled in part by distaste for President Barack Obama and in part by a neo-confederate love affair with all things "state's rights," the mantra of local control has become a rallying cry for the right in Texas. Medicaid expansion, marriage equality and immigration reform, according to these individuals, are just countless examples of said tyrannical overreach.
The mindset behind this is flawed, but even a cursory look into the recent dunderheaded moves of the state legislature would suggest that — worst of all — it is totally hypocritical and built on a foundation of lies.
Take Senate Bill 267, which the Austin American-Statesman recently reported was passed by the Texas Senate. It disallows municipalities from compelling landlords to accept Section 8 housing vouchers, something that does not match up with typical state precedent. House Bill 40, which overrules Denton's recent voter-approved ban on hydraulic fracking, recently cleared a house committee hurdle nearly unanimously, so reports The Dallas Morning News.
Perhaps most egregiously, the legislature looks determined to pass one of the many so-called "Campus Carry" proposals, which would allow concealed handgun license holders to carry their guns onto college campuses, including this one. Everyone from the students, to the faculty, to the administration opposes this misguided proposal, and yet the state pushes on anyways.
That is because the idea of local control is a myth for the modern day Texas GOP. They merely use it when it is convenient to them, in order to continue portraying Obama as the boogey man in order to race-bait to their increasingly hateful and out-of-touch base. When local control is inconvenient, as it is for cities or local universities that want to regulate housing, guns or the oil and gas industry differently than statewide officials, it is gladly lumped on the chopping block.
Horwitz is the senior associate editor.
Photo Credit: Ellyn Snider | Daily Texan Staff
Julia Sweig
Published on March 25, 2015 at 1:06 am Last update on March 25, 2015 at 1:54 am
By Lauren Florence
President Barack Obama's January removal of the Cuban embargo is an important step toward restoring diplomatic relations between Cuba and the U.S., according to a senior research fellow at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.
After nearly a half-century of deadlock between Cuba and the U.S., Julia Sweig, a Latin American foreign policy scholar, said reforming relations with Cuba will help maintain relations with other Latin American countries. Sweig spoke at the LBJ School on Tuesday about the effects of the embargo's removal.
The agreement includes returning imprisoned foreign spies to their home country and putting embassies and ambassadors in place as soon as possible, Sweig said.
On Dec. 17 last year, Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro simultaneously announced they had been meeting for the past six months to delegate parameters for a big diplomatic move, according to Sweig.
Now that pathways into Cuba are more open, Sweig said Obama's administration hopes the private sector will return to Cuba and increase pressure on the White House and Congress for policy reform.
"The presidents issued some regulations a couple weeks ago that make the sanctions regime toward Cuba very much like Swiss cheese — that take his executive authority and say, basically, to the American private sector, 'Go down to Cuba and explore and see what you can do. Come back and tell us what more you need in order to be able to trade, invest,'" Sweig said.
Human biology junior Francisco Dominguez said the potential to make investments in Cuba gives him hope for the country's future economic development — even if the legislation isn't there yet.
After Ted Cruz announced his presidential candidacy, Dominguez said the likelihood of a conservative president not following through with Obama's efforts is worrisome.
"More than likely, according to polls, I think it's going to be a republican president [in 2016], so I was really worried about … all of the work that's been done — like six or seven years in the making," Dominguez said. "Is it going to be dismantled?"
Public affairs graduate student Dylan Roberts said he found it surprising that the environment in Cuba is now so permissive for business.
"In the past in Cuba, what they don't use they'd end up selling and using as their own profits sort of on the black market, so it's nice to see now that there's above ground activity to help people start businesses where it really just used to be black market sales," Roberts said.
Liberty University in Virginia
Michelle Willoughby
Sean Theriault
By Jackie Wang
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz announced his candidacy for the 2016 presidential race over Twitter on Sunday and in a speech at Liberty University in Virginia on Monday.
Cruz is the first major candidate to announce his candidacy. Since he represents the second most-populated state in the country, Texas, Cruz is a major candidate in the current Republican race, according to government professor Sean Theriault.
"Dr. [Ben] Carson has never won an election in his life," Theriault said, referencing another potential candidate for the Republican primary. "That doesn't mean that he has no chance, just that he's never demonstrated that he knows how to put a winning campaign together. Senator Cruz knows how to do that."
Such an early announcement gives Cruz a short-term advantage, Theriault said. University Democrats president Michelle Willoughby disagreed.
"Announcing early officially isn't an advantage," Willoughby said. "What matters more is starting early in the early states like New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina, and, in that game, Cruz is significantly later than several other [Republican] contenders who have been spending a lot of time in the early states."
Cruz, a Texas junior senator, has been under some scrutiny regarding his eligibility to run for and/or serve as president. Cruz was born in Canada, but his mother, who is from Delaware, is a natural-born citizen.
Cruz formally renounced his Canadian citizenship last May and claims he is natural-born through his mother.
Theriault said people questioning Cruz's citizenship have no grounds for their worries.
"These questions about citizenship are ridiculous — not quite as ridiculous as the questions about Obama's citizenship, but close," Theriault said. "His mother is a naturalized citizen."
Bridget Guien, College Republicans communications director, agreed with Theriault.
"Senator Cruz's birthplace should not affect his eligibility to run for president," Guien said. "He is a natural-born citizen and holds the right to run for the presidency."
Cruz is serving his first term in the U.S. Senate. He defeated then-Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst in the 2012 election by a 14-point margin.
Theriault said Cruz's limited time in federal government might not affect his abilities to serve, citing President Barack Obama's victory after one term in the Senate.
"Ask Barack Obama the same question," Theriault said. "He was first elected to the Senate in 2004 and, four years later, became president. Cruz would follow the same path."
Willoughby said Cruz's political résumé concerns her, calling him the "most extreme candidate considering running."
"He isn't polling well, he has alienated many in the GOP leadership and the general Republican voters with his grandstanding, and he is likely to have issues even with the groups that supported him in his campaign for Senator with a more crowded field," Willoughby said. "These factors mean Cruz winning the primary is pretty unlikely."
Theriault has more faith in Cruz's abilities to persevere in the presidential race.
"For the Republicans in 2016, it all comes down to how the other candidates collapse," Theriault said. "If the hard-right candidates fall like flies, and Cruz wins Iowa, he could have some longevity, especially if Bush has some competition from the 'establishment' wing of his party."
The College Republicans do not officially endorse anybody in the primaries because the group is an auxiliary of the Republican Party.
Lozano-Long Institute of Latin American Studies
Published on February 15, 2015 at 8:10 pm Last update on February 16, 2015 at 1:47 pm
By Nathan Burchard
In December, President Barack Obama announced that the U.S. would re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba. The embargo with Cuba has long been criticized as petty and outdated policy, especially in the post-Cold War era. The Berlin Wall fell 25 years ago. The U.S. has had a relationship with communist China for 42 years. And yet an island nation 90 miles from Florida remains extremely isolated from American society. As Obama said in his State of the Union address: "When what you're doing doesn't work for 50 years, it's time to try something new."
Our post-Cold War generation is ready to turn the page in our relationship with the island nation. Most millennials cannot remember the years of tension with the communist world; most undergraduates were born after the Soviet Union ceased to exist. For us, the threat has transitioned into history. As the actions by Obama's administration indicate, it is time to make up. It is time to learn from each other and our past mistakes. Greater interaction will lead to more mutual understanding and mutual benefit.
A better relationship with Cuba will also have ramifications throughout the region. Much of Latin America's sympathies, if not official support, lie with Cuba. America's policy toward Cuba provides ammunition for anti-American sentiment. The U.S. has a history of meddling in the affairs of many countries in the region. Latin America has not forgotten. Some see the U.S. as an exploitative imperialist power, which the irrational Cuban embargo supports. Turning over a new leaf with Cuba will earn the U.S. favor with both the people and the governments of the developing region.
With greater access, Cuba will provide opportunities for study in economics, history, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, political science, literature, fine arts, business, the Spanish language and more. According to U.S. News and World Report, UT has the best Latin American Studies program in the nation, with the faculty and resources at the Lozano-Long Institute of Latin American Studies. LLILAS should also encourage academic exchange at the undergraduate and graduate levels through curriculum and study abroad programs, and at the professorial level by hosting Cuban academics and supporting UT professors' efforts to study Cuba. LLILAS should be a leader in academic and cultural exchange in this new era of U.S.-Cuba relations.
With travel restrictions subsiding, the University should encourage more students to study abroad in Cuba. Currently, the International Office offers a Maymester program in Havana. While certainly an enriching experience, it is by design a limited one. The "Cuba in Question" Maymester offers one course and a one-credit pre-departure seminar. The program cost is equivalent to a full semester's tuition and is limited in the number of students it can take.
A traditional exchange program in Cuba would give students a more substantial experience. Five months of interaction with Cuban culture beyond the boundaries of a faculty-led educational tour would allow students to form a much deeper connection and understanding. Additionally, a semester exchange would allow students to take a full course load with much less additional cost. Our governments have decided to make Cuba more accessible to Americans. UT should follow suit and make the island nation more accessible to students.
UT and LLILAS have a responsibility to continue improving its top-rated offerings. In the coming years, Cuba will provide enormous opportunity; the University should not let it pass to someone else out of lack of effort. The University should pave the way so students and faculty can compete for the wealth of opportunities that an increasingly accessible Cuba presents.
Burchard is a Plan II senior from Houston. Follow Burchard on Twitter @nathburch.
Published on January 28, 2015 at 9:05 pm Last update on January 28, 2015 at 9:13 pm
By Jazmyn Griffin
As the Texan recently covered, President Barack Obama has proposed a plan for free tuition at community colleges. But, as predicted, it didn't go over well with his critics, who criticized the plan as excessive government intrusion into local affairs.
The plan would cost $6 billion per year and provide tuition, but not other costs associated with attendance, for community college students looking to transfer to a four-year university or those who are on track to complete an associate's degree. However, it doesn't appear to take into account other financial factors that could potentially stop Americans from getting degrees or the present state of some community colleges. Contrary to the belief of this paper's editorial board, which came out in support of the plan, a free associate's degree may not be the solution to America's education issue.
My biggest concern is whether community college classes adhere to the same standards as four-year universities. It's no secret that even the best of us opt for summer community college classes not only to get ahead, but to take an easier, less intensive route. With that in mind, does it really make sense to give people a free education if it won't match the quality of a four-year degree? It just seems to create yet another problem for students who may not be able to afford a potentially better education, limiting them to the dregs at the bottom of the barrel. As the editorial board stated, Americans may get thousands of dollars off their debt with reduced load on faculty and staff, but will the instructors, curriculum and quality of what's covered be the same?
While not everyone is a slacker student, we don't want college to become high school 2.0 — a major talking point of the Obama administration that conveniently leaves out the layabouts attending just to bide their time. Besides, students who attend four-year universities are far more likely to graduate on time and in general than those who begin at a community college. Only 20 percent of community college students actually end up transferring to get a bachelor's. If that number stays the same, the two years of instruction would go toward a degree that wouldn't get people much farther than a free high school diploma. Before offering a program for free, the federal government should first examine the workings of current community colleges that students already pay to attend.
Those who can't even afford community college don't simply need help in their first two years. Post-associate's degree, the full cost to attend a four-year university, including fees like books, housing and food, still acts as a barrier to a bachelor's degree. The few thousand dollars off are nothing compared to the total debt they would still graduate with. As a master's degree is becoming ever more necessary to enter the job market, underprivileged people will still be held even further back for lack of funding. Not to mention, the workforce isn't the most stable, with many in fear of the number of guaranteed careers available to college graduates.
Rather than making the basic requirements free, the ridiculous cost of higher education overall should be re-examined. Even at our school, on average, students incur almost $20,000 in debt even if they graduate on time, adding an additional $6,000 for every year beyond that.
This plan is designed to give everyone equal opportunity, an idea great in theory but often not implemented correctly. The government cannot fill the achievement gap with empty rhetoric. It can inspire the country, make citizens think about the way the system works, but it won't level the playing field as they attempt to use it for. By looking at the issue in a more pragmatic way, they would see that much more than part of 2 years' expenses is needed to give Americans a boost. This proposal is a start, but if implemented won't make as huge of a change as it seems. The real issue lies in affordability of education, without compromising quality or the overall experience and skills that accompany attending a 4-year university.
Griffin is a journalism freshman from Houston. Follow Griffin on Twitter @JazmynAlynn.
Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio applaud President Barack Obama, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015, during his State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Jeremi Suri
Published on January 21, 2015 at 1:16 am Last update on January 21, 2015 at 2:49 am
In his sixth State of the Union address Tuesday, President Barack Obama called for wider access to higher education and implored Congress to fully subsidize the cost of community college for qualified students.
"Forty percent of our college students choose community college," Obama said. "Some are young and starting out. Some are older and looking for a better job. Some are veterans and single parents trying to transition back into the job market. Whoever you are, this plan is your chance to graduate ready for the new economy, without a load of debt. … I want to work with this Congress to make sure Americans already burdened with student loans can reduce their monthly payments, so that student debt doesn't derail anyone's dreams."
History professor Jeremi Suri said he appreciated Obama's emphasis on training people for higher-paying job fields, such as coding, nursing and robotics.
"More and more, anyone who wants to succeed in society needs a college education, needs to be a knowledgeable worker," Suri said. "It's also true many people are priced out of the market, so providing them with better aid makes better sense."
University Democrats President Michelle Willoughby said she does not think financial burdens should keep people from going to college.
"I think that public education is the most important thing that the state and country funds, because it educates future leaders," Willoughby said. "But public education is taxpayer dollars, so, if we stop after 12th grade, we're not maximizing on our investment. I think it's important that everyone who wants access to higher education can have it. Just from a financial standpoint, it doesn't make sense."
Suri said while access to higher education is important, he had hoped the president would address issues of quality of education as well.
"Getting [people] to school is the most important thing, but equally important is providing them with the best college education," Suri said. "I think they could also do more by investing in research, teaching, in infrastructure of community colleges and less well-endowed institutions."
Obama urged Congress to set aside politics to work with his "practical, not partisan" ideas.
"We believed we could prepare our kids for a more competitive world," Obama said. "And today, our younger students have earned the highest math and reading scores on record. Our high school graduation rate has hit an all-time high. And more Americans finish college than ever before."
Suri said Obama's speech would not affect how well Republicans and Democrats work together in Congress.
"His saying won't [change anything]; the question is whether voters and public interest groups start saying that," Suri said. "What's going to change is if those watching say we don't want anymore government shutdowns, partisanship."
Published on January 20, 2015 at 11:05 pm Last update on January 21, 2015 at 7:55 am
Tuesday night's State of the Union address by President Barack Obama was reminiscent of — as President Lyndon B. Johnson was so fond of saying — grandma's nightgown. That is, it covered everything. In a sometimes rambling and hard-to-follow fashion, Obama laid out his legislative and political priorities for the remainder of his presidency. Of course, given the recalcitrant Republican majority in congress, none of these ideas are anything more than pipe dreams.
Most important, in our view, Obama reiterated his earlier proposals to allow Americans of all ages and backgrounds to attend community college with no cost to them. "Lower the cost of community college," Obama said, "to zero."
Obama also called for an ambitious plan to reconfigure the taxation scheme at the federal law, specifically by enacting a broad swath of tax cuts for the middle class in forms such as generous credits for childcare. The plan would pay for the relief by raising taxes on the more affluent Americans, particularly by considerably hiking the capital gains tax. At a time of growing inequality that threatens to tear apart the seams of the American dream, we stand by the President in his plan to not only address the crisis but allow most people to go home with more money in their pockets.
On other fronts, we were pleased to see Obama rehash some earlier commitments that are still important today. A major infrastructure bill is certainly a good start, though we would hope the Federal funds could be used for a myriad of purposes, both new roads and mass transit projects. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA), who delivered the Republican response, made a point of dredging up the Keystone XL Pipeline, the construction of which is still held up in Congress. A pipeline is good, but like Obama said, a more expansive proposal would be even better.
Sadly, few-to-none of these good ideas will ever come to fruition, because of a Congress that cares about little other than scoring political points and staying in their Tea Party base's good graces. It would be naïve of us to think the proposals have a prayer of passage. But we hope they do nonetheless.


After your arrival at the Cochin International Airport, you will be taken to the city of Cochin. Check in at the hotel. Explore the places of tourist interest in and around Cochin.
Kochi (also called as Cochin) is a picturesque port city situated in God's Own country, Kerala. It is bordered by Western Ghats on the east and Arabian Sea on the west. It is a bewitchingly scenic place with breathtaking places to visit. Cochin is sometimes also referred to as the Gateway to Kerala. Places of tourist interest in Cochin include Fort Kochi, Mattancherry Palace, Dutch Palace, Hill Palace, St. Francis church, Jewish synagogue, Jew Street, Willingdon Island, Chinese fishing nets etc.
You can stay overnight at Cochin / Kochi.
Move out from the hotel after breakfast. You will be taken to Kumarakom which is a 2 hours drive. Check in at the hotel in Kumarakom. Spend the rest of the day in solace. You can stay overnight at Kumarakom.
Kumarakom is widely known as the 'Queen of Vembanad'. This quaint hamlet is situated on the banks of the river Vembanad. It is dotted with heritage resorts and homestays. You should visit the Kumarakom bird sanctuary with its undulating rivulets, streams and waterways. The charming Vembanad Lake with its surrounding Mangrove forests and paddy fields is the best place to watch the birds inside the sanctuary. The bird sanctuary is the home of a large and wide variety of species of birds. Kumarakom is also famous as the major backwater destination. An enthralling house boat cruise through the brackish backwaters is a must to do activity, if you are here. You can enjoy wildlife Photography at Pathiramanal, the island nearby. You can also stroll through Kottayam the nearby town which is noted for its rubber plantations and majestic churches.
After breakfast, you can check out from the hotel. You will be taken to Cochin International Airport, which is a 2 hours drive for your departure.


BACKGROUND: One of the disadvantages of the Impact Factor (IF) is self-citation. The SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) indicator excludes self-citations and considers the quality, rather than absolute numbers, of citations of a journal by other journals. The present study re-evaluated the influence of self-citation on the 2007 IF for 18 major orthopaedic journals and investigated the difference in ranking between IF and SJR. METHODS: The journals were analysed for self-citation both overall and divided into a general group (n = 8) and a specialized group (n = 10). Self-cited and self-citing rates, as well as citation densities and IFs corrected for self-citation (cIF), were calculated. The rankings of the 18 journals by IF and by SJR were compared and the absolute difference between these rankings (DeltaR) was determined. RESULTS: Specialized journals had higher self-citing rates (p = 0.01, Deltamedian = 9.50, 95%CI -19.42 to 0.42), higher self-cited rates (p = 0.0004, Deltamedian = -10.50, 95%CI -15.28 to -5.72) and greater differences between IF and cIF (p = 0.003, Deltamedian = 3.50, 95%CI -6.1 to 13.1). There was no significant correlation between self-citing rate and IF for both groups (general: r = 0.46, p = 0.27; specialized: r = 0.21, p = 0.56). When the difference in ranking between IF and SJR was compared between both groups, sub-specialist journals were ranked lower compared to their general counterparts (DeltaR: p = 0.006, Deltamedian = 2.0, 95%CI -0.39 to 4.39). CONCLUSIONS: Citation analysis shows that specialized orthopaedic journals have specific self-citation tendencies. The correlation between self-cited rate and IF in our sample was large but, due to small sample size, not significant. The SJR excludes self-citations in its calculation and therefore enhances the underestimation in ranking of specialized journals.


Updated 9/28/216: At this time, we no longer offer mold removal services. We apologize for any inconvenience.
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text:
Parliament backs move toward parental leave for MPs
Johnny Bugeja
MPs yesterday united behind proposals to implement a formal parental leave regime for parliamentarians, in a move that aims to remove barriers to women's active participation in politics.
The Minister for Equality Samantha Sacramento, who set out the proposals in a statement to the House, said the provisions would help address the "historic and striking" gender imbalance within the House and therefore improve representation for women.
In order to facilitate this she said it was her intention to put to the Select Committee on Parliamentary reform that it consider the implementation of a parental leave regime and, in particular, maternity leave for parliamentarians.
The proposals form part of the broader and ongoing process of parliamentary reform which has included, among other matters, parliamentary expansion.
The law currently allows for 14 weeks maternity leave and during that time Parliament may meet up to four times.
But there are no provisions for women parliamentarians who might want to have a child during the lifetime of a Parliament.
"There are no formal arrangements for men either, the latter however does not seem to have been a deterrent," Ms Sacramento said.
"Those elected to represent voters should have all the structural support in place to enable them to do so."
The aim of considering formal arrangements for maternity leave and indeed parental leave for parliamentarians is to remove the barriers to effective representation and to encourage women to run for office in the first place, Ms Sacramento said.
"Structural provision Structural provisions that remove the barriers for active Parliamentary participation by new mothers will set an important example to the wider society which it represents that being a parent should not be a barrier to workplace equality."
"Without a written regime governing maternity leave for Parliamentarians, the inequalities in representation will continue to exist."
On the gender imbalance within Parliament she highlighted how at the last general election just three of twenty candidates were women.
Additionally, although women make up roughly 50% of the electorate under 12% of the Parliament represents them.
"It is incumbent upon all of us to identify the barriers to women's participation in active politics and to work to mitigate them," she added.
Ms Sacramento's statement was welcomed by the Opposition. Elliott Phillips, the Leader of the Opposition, said the Minister was "absolutely right" that the House should reflect the community that it serves.
"More women should participate in this House and to do that we should, of course, support the proposal put by the Minister that we should remove barriers to entry into this place," he said.
Independent MP Marlene Hassan Nahon thanked Ms Sacramento for the "wise and equality-driven stance" and for placing the issue on the agenda for the next parliamentary term.
"It is crucial and vital to establish protocols in order to protect future parliamentarians and their seats in circumstances whereby they may not be able to be present in the House for maternity or paternity reasons."
She highlighted how her slate of candidates for the forthcoming general election included five women and said the provisions were duly welcomed.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


PLEASE PRAY FOR MY FRIEND, JETTIE!!
and wasn't going to post.
In real time-she is about my age.
can no longer stand and is in a wheel chair.
to try and bring her some relief.
she has had didn't work.
the second week in July.
Meantime, she is in terrible pain.
please put her name on it.
in the healing power of prayer.
and cannot stand at all.
Add one more to your prayer list, please!
even more in the next few months.
We will play in the sand and the sea.
We will swim in the pool.
and wash our hands in salt water.
and leave our sandals at the door.
We will relax and let schedules fall by the wayside.
the nudge to post it today.
but things have moved to a critical level.
I am sorry to bother you today. But, I come to you with yet another earnest petition for prayer for my dear niece, Kristen and her unborn baby boy.
Most of you have been praying for them throughout, but for those who are not familiar with what is going on, Kristen developed a blood clot in her lung early in her pregnancy. She has been at serious risk all through the pregnancy, due to the blood clot and also severe tachycardia. She has been on a blood thinner called lovenox through almost her entire pregnancy, and the doctors have said since day one that there is no way she should go into labor on lovenox, as the risk of her bleeding to death is very high. The plan has always been to switch her to the blood thinner, heparin, before she gives birth, because there is an antidote shot they can give to offset the heparin, should she go into labor soon after giving herself the injection. The fear of being on heparin is that the heparin can cross over into the placenta, whereas the lovenox cannot. So, the concern has been to wait as long as possible to make the switch, for the sake of the baby. If the blood thinner crosses over, it would be near-sure death for the precious little one.
What complicates things even more is that the doctors cannot come to an agreement on when Kristen's exact due date is, and Kristen feels she is farther along than any of the three of them believe she is. The baby is already 7 1/2 pounds, so it is obvious that it won't be too much longer until she gives birth.
They made the decision yesterday to make the switch from lovenox to heparin. The baby, who has been VERY active all throughout the pregnancy, has almost completely stopped moving. Kristen was so concerned, so called her doctor, and they had her come in for a test. Thankfully, the little guy did respond when they did the test, but there is very little movement, and Kristen is not feeling well at all and is very tired.
In spite of our deep faith in God, I cannot begin to tell you how scared we all are. Kristen is exhausted from the many months of the strain, illness, fear, and daily injections. We know that GOD is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think, and we are just pleading with Him for mercy upon Kristen and her baby's lives and health. We would be SO grateful if you could please pray hard for them and if you would kindly pass along this prayer request to every prayer warrior and prayer list you know or are a part of. We are looking for GOD to do a huge miracle in this situation. I often think of Jehoshaphat's words, "Neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon Thee."
Bill has a cancerous brain tumor.
He has had some seizures and is very weak.
Please pray for him and for bj, too!
He is a good man and doesn't deserve this!
asked for prayers for her mom.
has been hard on her.
have to go to a after-care facility.
It has been very hard on Robbin.
Pray for Robbin as well as for her mom.
no matter how "naughty" they are!
Hope you all have wonderful weekends.
all the thumping and bumping.
that Tom was IN the shirt.
and was in the car with me.
I love clouds of all kinds.
buds and leaves alongside it.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR CJK!
when we got the call.
and found this sweet scenario.
Will he grow up to be a businessman?
Will he like to nap like his Papa does?
cousin's 'girlie bed' at all.
We will all be proud of him.
a career on the high seas!
Just don't go too far away.
Nana & Papa would miss you!


text:
Institute & Campus (4)
3R principles (replace, reduce, refine) (5)
Alternative methods to animal studies (5)
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (2)
Animal Research (40)
Basic Research (8)
Biochemistry & Proteomics (18)
Brain Tumor (11)
Cardiovascular Research (81)
Clinical Studies (4)
Corona Research (7)
Developmental Biology (10)
Disease-related Research (66)
ERC (15)
Gene Engineering (9)
Gene Expression Regulation & RNA Biology (33)
Genetics & Genomics (55)
(-) Green Campus (1)
High-throughput technologies (7)
Immunotherapy (13)
Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) (7)
Institute (13)
Life Science Learning Lab (1)
Long Night of Sciences (1)
Lymphoma (22)
Muscular dystrophy (9)
NAKO (6)
(-) Organoids (17)
(-) PhD Students (4)
(-) Postdocs (3)
Prizes & Awards (57)
Responsible Research (6)
science policy (4)
Single-cell analysis (37)
Stem Cell Biology (30)
Structural Biology & Biophysics (8)
Support for Scientists (2)
Systems Biology (20)
Teachers & Pupils (3)
Technology Platforms (5)
We at the MDC (1)
Women in Science (2)
Work and Family (3)
Press Release No. 55 December 09, 2020 Berlin
Mina Gouti awarded ERC Consolidator Grant
The European Research Council (ERC) awarded Dr. Mina Gouti a €2.8 million Consolidator Grant to further develop miniature neuromuscular organoids for studying neuromuscular development and diseases. It was the second honor in as many weeks; she was also named an EMBO Young Investigator for her work.
Press Release No. 53 November 30, 2020 Berlin
New PhD programs kick off at the MDC
PhD candidates now have the opportunity to apply for two new training programs. The EU is supporting the program for talented early-stage researchers at the MDC and other European research institutions to the tune of €4 million per network.
Press Release No. 39 September 07, 2020 Berlin
Towards a cell-based interceptive medicine in Europe
Hundreds of researchers, clinicians, industry leaders and policy makers from all around Europe are united by a vision of how to revolutionize healthcare. In a perspective in Nature and the LifeTime Strategic Research Agenda they now present a roadmap of how to leverage the latest scientific breakthroughs and technologies over the next decade, to track, understand and treat human cells throughout an individual's lifetime.
Press Release No. 35 August 21, 2020 Berlin
Organoids and sequencing team up for ALS research
MDC researchers received a $150,000 pilot project grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's Neurodegeneration Challenge Network to investigate a defining feature of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Press Release No. 21 April 30, 2020 Berlin
Support for SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics
The LabHive digital platform aims to provide necessary resources to diagnostic centres to enable more tests for SARS-CoV-2. Tobias Opialla from the MDC is one of 15 volunteers who has been involved in the project since the #WirvsVirus Hackathon organized by the German government.
New therapeutic options for multiple sclerosis in sight
Strategies for treating multiple sclerosis have so far focused primarily on T and B cells. A group of MDC researchers has now unveiled a new approach in Nature Immunology – one that seeks to increase treatment effectiveness by selectively targeting another type of immune cell called monocytes.
Press Release No. 14 March 26, 2020 Berlin
Coronavirus research at the MDC
In light of the pandemic, the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) is pooling together its resources for projects that advance the understanding of SARS-CoV-2, while scaling down its regular research operations to a minimum. Here's an overview of the MDC's current collaborations and plans.
Press Release No. 7 February 17, 2020 Berlin
Cutting off kidney cancer at its roots
Scientists at the MDC have discovered stem cells responsible for the most common form of kidney cancer. The team of Walter Birchmeier has found a way to block the growth of these tumors in three models of the disease.
Press Release No. 2 January 16, 2020 Berlin
Neuromuscular organoid: It's contracting!
MDC researchers established a new model to study neuromuscular development and disorders. For the first time two distinct human tissues co-developed in the lab from one progenitor cell type and self-organized into a complex, functional neuromuscular organoid.
Press Release No. 49 October 23, 2019 Berlin
Buch campus cycles the most
The equivalent of almost 28 times around the equator – this was the distance covered by participants in the cycling competition "Wer radelt am meisten?" (Who cycles the most?). Berlin's senator for sport announced the winners at a ceremony on Wednesday at the Olympiastadion. The Buch campus took first place in the category "Best Company."


text:
#ifndef __ASM_MACH_APIC_H
#define __ASM_MACH_APIC_H

#include <mach_apicdef.h>
#include <asm/smp.h>

#define APIC_DFR_VALUE	(APIC_DFR_FLAT)

static inline cpumask_t target_cpus(void)
{
#ifdef CONFIG_SMP
	return cpu_online_map;
#else
	return cpumask_of_cpu(0);
#endif
}
#define TARGET_CPUS (target_cpus())

#define NO_BALANCE_IRQ (0)
#define esr_disable (0)

#define INT_DELIVERY_MODE dest_LowestPrio
#define INT_DEST_MODE 1     /* logical delivery broadcast to all procs */

static inline unsigned long check_apicid_used(physid_mask_t bitmap, int apicid)
{
	return physid_isset(apicid, bitmap);
}

static inline unsigned long check_apicid_present(int bit)
{
	return physid_isset(bit, phys_cpu_present_map);
}

/*
 * Set up the logical destination ID.
 *
 * Intel recommends to set DFR, LDR and TPR before enabling
 * an APIC.  See e.g. "AP-388 82489DX User's Manual" (Intel
 * document number 292116).  So here it goes...
 */
static inline void init_apic_ldr(void)
{
	unsigned long val;

	apic_write_around(APIC_DFR, APIC_DFR_VALUE);
	val = apic_read(APIC_LDR) & ~APIC_LDR_MASK;
	val |= SET_APIC_LOGICAL_ID(1UL << smp_processor_id());
	apic_write_around(APIC_LDR, val);
}

static inline physid_mask_t ioapic_phys_id_map(physid_mask_t phys_map)
{
	return phys_map;
}

static inline void clustered_apic_check(void)
{
	printk("Enabling APIC mode:  %s.  Using %d I/O APICs\n",
					"Flat", nr_ioapics);
}

static inline int multi_timer_check(int apic, int irq)
{
	return 0;
}

static inline int apicid_to_node(int logical_apicid)
{
	return 0;
}

/* Mapping from cpu number to logical apicid */
static inline int cpu_to_logical_apicid(int cpu)
{
	return 1 << cpu;
}

static inline int cpu_present_to_apicid(int mps_cpu)
{
	if (mps_cpu < get_physical_broadcast())
		return  mps_cpu;
	else
		return BAD_APICID;
}

static inline physid_mask_t apicid_to_cpu_present(int phys_apicid)
{
	return physid_mask_of_physid(phys_apicid);
}

static inline int mpc_apic_id(struct mpc_config_processor *m,
			struct mpc_config_translation *translation_record)
{
	printk("Processor #%d %ld:%ld APIC version %d\n",
			m->mpc_apicid,
			(m->mpc_cpufeature & CPU_FAMILY_MASK) >> 8,
			(m->mpc_cpufeature & CPU_MODEL_MASK) >> 4,
			m->mpc_apicver);
	return (m->mpc_apicid);
}

static inline void setup_portio_remap(void)
{
}

static inline int check_phys_apicid_present(int boot_cpu_physical_apicid)
{
	return physid_isset(boot_cpu_physical_apicid, phys_cpu_present_map);
}

static inline int apic_id_registered(void)
{
	return physid_isset(GET_APIC_ID(apic_read(APIC_ID)), phys_cpu_present_map);
}

static inline unsigned int cpu_mask_to_apicid(cpumask_t cpumask)
{
	return cpus_addr(cpumask)[0];
}

static inline void enable_apic_mode(void)
{
}

static inline u32 phys_pkg_id(u32 cpuid_apic, int index_msb)
{
	return cpuid_apic >> index_msb;
}

#endif /* __ASM_MACH_APIC_H */

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


According to the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data and repealing Directive 95/46/EC ("EU Regulation 2016/679" or "GDPR") which is in force since 25 May 2018, Colonnade Insurance S.A. Luxembourg - Bucharest Branch, with registered offices in Calea Victoriei nr. 145, 8th floor, District 1, Victoria Center Building, registered with the Trade Registry under no. J40/17214/2017, fiscal registration number 38335135, telephone +40 21 300 96 21, facsimile number +40 21 300 96 36 and e-mail office@colonnade.ro ("Colonnade"), hereby informs you on the processing of personal data in relation to your contracting an insurance policy or in relation to a claim in which you are the injured person.
In this notice (the "Notice") we explain how your personal data (the "Personal Data") are collected, used and disclosed by Colonnade. Also, we will explain how you can access and update your personal data and express certain choices on how your personal data are used by Colonnade.
In order to contract or enforce your travel insurance policy, the personal data to be collected and processed by Colonnade include, without limitation, your identification data as follows: name, first name, address, personal number code, telephone number, e-mail, as the case may be, data on your health, if the insured risk materializes. Therefore, Colonnade shall be unable to enter into the insurance policy you have requested without processing your personal data, i.e. shall be unable to execute the insurance contract to which you are/will be a party/whose effects are produced on yourself, including, without limitation, the payment of damages if an insured risk materializes. Any potential further processing for statistical purposes shall be carried out in compliance with the principle of minimization of data and, to the extent to which this is possible, will exclude the processing of personal data, this operation relying upon aggregated data, which are not used in supporting measures or decisions regarding a certain individual.
Identification personal data. These data include any information you provide, such as your name, first name, address, personal number code and the series and number of your identity card, as well as the date of issuance and the date of expiry of such identity card. These data are generally necessary to conclude insurance policies issued by ourselves or to carry out the contractual relations between ourselves and you.
Contact personal data. They include: your address, telephone number, e-mail.
Personal data classified as sensitive data. If an insured risk materializes, we process personal data on your health condition prior to the conclusion of the insurance policy related to the materialization of the insured risk, i.e. your physiological and/or illness condition, investigations and tests carried out, treatments administered and remedies prescribed by medical doctors in order to carry out the medical assessment of a claim file. These data may be collected directly from you, but also from medical services providers or other persons you are connected to. In this case, we will request your consent for such processing.
Personal data from your relationship with Colonnade. They include records of your telephone conversation with our call centers or information related to you (mainly in relation to the materialization of insured risks), which you choose to send through our websites. We will process these data mainly in relation to carrying out our insurance contracts and, secondarily, to improve the quality of our services and to ensure the functionality of our customer communication platforms.
There are cases when you submit the personal data of other persons, either for the conclusion of an insurance contract or in relation to the enforcement of the insurance contract. We also understand that there is a possibility that the insurance you contract also covers travel risks children are exposed to. Generally, the personal data of such persons shall be limited to the data indicated under point 1 above. We reserve the right to request additional information in relation to the personal data you provided for other persons, in particular when related to the personal data of underage children. We will only make such requests in limited cases and only in order to establish with certainty that the personal data you provided are submitted according to the applicable legal requirements.
If, in order to execute the insurance contract, you (also) provide the personal data of other persons, please submit this Notice to such person in order for him/her to be correctly and fully informed in relation to our processing of their personal data, to the purposes and grounds for processing, and to the rights of such persons in relation to our processing of their data. Given the fact that we do not have a direct relationship to these persons and in order not to affect their right to privacy, as well as given the significant efforts involved in sending these notices to such persons, we will not attempt to communicate directly with these persons and will not request additional information about such persons only for the purpose of sending this Notice. However, if you provide e-mail addresses of such persons in relation to the issuance of the insurance policies for such persons, we will of course send them this Notice.
For any information regarding our processing of personal data, both you and the other persons whose personal data you submit to ourselves will be able to access our website using dpo@colonnade.ro or may request a copy of this Notice by writing to office@colonnade.ro or at our mailing address in Calea Victoriei nr. 145, 8th floor, Victoria Center Building, District 1, Bucharest or by telephone at: + 40 21 300 96 21 or by facsimile at: +40 21 300 96 36.
We will obtain your personal data from you, but may obtain such data from third parties, including from public sources, in the cases described in this section or when we carry out certain checks on you, according to this Notice.
It is possible to receive your personal data from other individuals in relation to the issuance of an insurance policy; this will be the case of travel insurance policies, when we receive your data from the persons that contact ourselves on your behalf in order to issue the insurance policies.
We will receive your personal data from your employer or from insurance brokers we have hired, if you contracted a collective insurance policy or you have contracted the insurance policy through insurance brokers or other agents. In other cases, if you are the injured person and need to be indemnified according to existing insurance policies of our clients, such as civil liability insurance policies, goods policies or construction/assembly policies, we will obtain your personal data from companies you enter into certain relations with, which caused the materialization of the insured risk. In case of insurance policies with a health component, such as travel policies, or in the case of civil liability policies, we may also receive your personal data from medical services providers, if the insured risks include components regarding your health condition, but only based on your express approval and in limited situations; in this latter case, we prefer to request such data directly from you.
Many times, however, we will only obtain your personal data if the insured risk materializes, and in this case we will collect sufficient data from third parties to be able to contact you, requesting from you directly the personal data we need to carry out our activity, which will allow you to have control over the personal data we process.
The insurance contract you are a party to, which you request to conclude or based on which you claim indemnification or, as the case may be, Colonnade's legitimate interest to be satisfied that any indemnification has been granted in a justified manner or, at least in the case of information on your health condition, your consent.
In order to respond to your requests, complaints or suggestions. For these purposes, we will particularly use personal data consisting in your identification and contact data.
The carrying out of internal reports and analyses (at the level of Colonnade and of the group of companies we are part of), the carrying out of statistical/actuarial analyses, including the required analyses to design new products, analyses of the reliability of existing products, analyses regarding our interactions with customers or the improvement of the quality of our services. For these purposes, we shall use personal data consisting in all types of data indicated in section 1 above.
Carrying out checks and monitoring in relation to you or the contracts concluded with you, fraud detection and prevention. For these purposes, we shall use personal data consisting in all types of data indicated in section 1 above.
The settlement of potential litigations or disputes generally in relation to our contractual relation, the collection of your debts to ourselves. For these purposes, we shall use personal data consisting in all types of data indicated in section 1 above.
Our services providers. These are external companies that support us in carrying out our activity (e.g. the sale of our insurance products, the registration of insurance policies, the processing of payments, fraud detection and identity checks, the operation of our website, support services, promotions, website development, etc.). We will allow our services providers and their selected personnel to access and use your personal data for and on behalf of Colonnade only in relation to activities for carrying out the purposes indicated in this Notice, and they shall act only based on written contracts and instructions from ourselves, respecting the privacy and security of your personal data.
The external companies to whom we submit your personal data in carrying out our activity may include insurance brokers and generally agents involved in the management of your insurance contracts, companies providing applications and IT services, premium determination services providers, damage assessment and claim management agents, other insurance companies, underwriting companies, archiving companies, courier companies, public or private medical institutions and clinics and generally companies providing care and support to injured persons, claim collection companies, payment processors, call center and insurance assistance companies, other insurance support services companies, as well as other companies in relation to the achievement of the purposes indicated in this Notice (which may include lawyers, auditors and generally consultants, translation companies, assessment experts, various other services providers).
Companies in the Fairfax Group. Given that we are part of an international group of companies, on certain occasions related to carrying out our activities as related to the purposes identified in this Notice, we will also send your personal data to various entities in the Fairfax Group who carry out specific activities on our behalf or who centralize certain information on our activity. We will do this either in order to benefit from services at the quality standards of our group, which you are already familiar with, or for various internal purposes related to the analysis of our products and activity, the design of new products or the carrying out of statistical/actuarial analyses.
Public authorities and other entities. Your personal data may be also transferred to public institutions and authorities (including tax authorities, consumer protection authorities, insurance regulatory or generally financial regulatory authorities, criminal investigation bodies, courts of law or arbitration courts, judicial enforcement officers) or associations in the field (i) whenever required by the applicable law and (ii) as a response to certain judicial procedures.
Legal successors. If Colonnade or its assets are acquired by or merged into another company, we will share your personal data with any of our legal successors.
Sale-purchase or similar procedures regarding Colonnade's shares. It is possible that your personal data are disclosed to third parties in potential sale-purchase procedures or similar operations regarding Colonnade's shares, to the extent to which this is necessary in order to carry out specific due diligence processes regarding Colonnade's activity in such procedures.
Colonnade takes all reasonable steps to ensure that personal data are only processed for the minimum necessary period for the purpose provided in this Notice. We will retain your personal data in a format which allows identification only for such period in which the personal data are needed for the purposes provided in this Notice and such retention has valid legal grounds.
In what regards the duration of retention of personal data, we will retain the data for the duration of the insurance contract and for a certain period after its termination, which shall be determined on a case to case basis, depending on the contract enforcement needs, our legitimate interests and the applicable legal requirements. We will not retain your personal data longer than legal terms or applicable statutes of limitation.
In the case of claims, disputes or challenges of any nature whatsoever, we may continue to process your personal data for the additional period necessary in relation to such claim.
We employ adequate measures (that we will present below) to preserve the privacy and security of your personal data. However, please be advised that such protection measures do not apply to the information you choose to disclose publicly, such as on social media networks owned by third parties.
Limitation of the personal data processed. According to the principle of minimization of the personal data employed, we will only process those personal data that are strictly necessary for our purposes. Also, we will review the personal data we use from time to time to ensure compliance with this principle.
The persons who may access your personal data. Your personal data shall be processed by our personnel or authorized representatives, only on a need-to-know basis, depending on the specific purposes for which your personal data were collected (e.g. our client relationship personnel shall have access to your records). We will periodically review the terms of access of our personnel to personal data.
Technical and organizational measures. We will take adequate steps to allow us to act accordingly when we receive requests for exercising your rights.
Measures in operating environments. We store your personal data in operating environments using reasonable security measures to prevent unauthorized access. We comply with reasonable standards for the protection of your personal data. Unfortunately, sending information over the Internet is not always completely safe and, even when we take all steps to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of such data while being sent through our Websites/applications.
The transfer of your personal data. It is possible that the processing of your personal data, as presented above, ultimately requires the transfer/submission of the personal data to and/or their storage in a location (other Colonnade entities) outside your country of residence, in particular in EU member states (e.g. Luxembourg, Slovakia, Hungary), where personal data protection requirements apply at a level similar to those in Romania.
Also, it is possible that in the future we transfer your personal data to states outside the European Economic Area ("EEA") (e.g. to other Colonnade entities or entities in the Fairfax group), including to states with different data protection standards as compared to the ones applicable in EEA. For this purpose, we shall take the necessary steps to ensure that the transfer of your personal data is carried out according to the applicable law and ensures and adequate level of security of your personal data.
Among the measures required by the applicable law in relation to the international transfer of your personal data, (i) we shall apply the standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission for the protection of your personal data (and you have the right to request a copy of such clauses (by contacting us as provided below)) or (ii) we shall transfer your personal data to jurisdiction which received from the European Commission a decision of adequacy of their personal data protection framework or (iii) we shall implement mandatory corporate rules approved by a supervisory authority in the European Union, which set up adequate securities and measures regarding the transfer of personal data or (iv) we shall request your express consent, if applicable.
Regarding the compliance with international sanctions, it may be necessary to transfer your personal data to DXC Technology, in the United States of America, this being a company which accessed the EU-US Privacy Shield Program, which means that DXC Technology undertook a commitment to protect and securely process personal data, according to the requirements in the applicable legislation in the European Union.
Right to contact authorities: you have the right to make claims regarding the processing of your personal data with the National Supervisory Authority for Personal Data Processing (with address in B-dul G-ral Gheorghe Magheru nr. 28-30, District 1, postal code 010336, Bucharest, Romania, e-mail anspdcp@dataprotection.ro, tel. +40318059211 or +40318059212, facsimile +40318059602) and/or to refer to the competent court of law if any of your rights has been infringed.
The rights established in this section shall not affect or limit in any way whatsoever any other rights you have according to the law. Your decision to exercise any of such rights shall not affect your capacity as insured person of Colonnade. In order to exercise one or several of the rights mentioned above or in order to obtain additional information on such rights or on the processing of your personal data by ourselves, please do not hesitate to contact us using any of the following channels: in writing to the mailing address: Calea Victoriei nr. 145, 8th floor, Victoria Center Building, District 1, Bucharest, by telephone on +40 21 300 96 21 or by e-mail at dpo@colonnade.ro.
If we change the way we process your personal data, we will update this Notice and notify you according to the law. We reserve the right to change our practices and this Notice at any time.
To ask questions or submit comments on this notice and our privacy practices or to submit a claim that we failed to comply with the applicable privacy legislation, please contact us: in writing to the mailing address: Calea Victoriei nr. 145, 8th floor, Victoria Center Building, District 1, Bucharest, by telephone on +40 21 300 96 21 or by e-mail at office@colonnade.ro.
We will confirm and investigate any complaint related to how we manage personal data (including any complaint that we have violated your rights according to the applicable data privacy legislation).


What Is The Secret of Prayer?
Hey! You made it! Glad you are here. I was wondering when you would drop in. So…have a seat, grab a fresh cup of coffee and a notebook. While I have been waiting, much more thinking and processing has gone through my brain about what to say. So…ahem…here we go.
Ok. A sip of my coffee first…aaaaahhhhhh. Much better.
Boom! There you go. Problem solved! I'm glad we had this chat.
Huh? What did you say? That's it? Yeah, that's it. There is no secret to prayer in the Christian life.
Ok, calm down and sit back down.
Look, I have searched for a number of years to find out what secret code, password, prayer format, prayer position or what posture, prayer blanket, shawl or towel I need so I can unlock the code to break through to Heaven and get God on the other end of the line so he can hear my impassioned plea for him to do what I believe needs to be done. After all, this is a crisis! Well, in my eyes it may be.
Or maybe we all just need to calm down and remember that God is God. A holy God, a righteous God who manages the universe that is held in his hand.
The righteous are not the people who will say "I have never done anything wrong." The righteous are the people who will say "I have been redeemed and made righteous in Christ." These are the people whom God loves to hear from.
Now there is one prayer that God does hear from the sinner and that is the prayer of repentance. Turning from the sin in your life to God is a prayer he will never reject.
We have it in writing: He hears us.
This is not a blanket covering that says anything we ask for we get. No, the words "according to his will" keep this promise in perspective. So, are we actively praying for God's will to be done in our lives? Are we praying to be walking in step with God, with who he is and what he is ordaining us to do? If not, this may be a place to start in prayer.
The first step is to actually pray.
The first step in praying is to actually pray. Simple concept, I know, but many folks looking for the magic formula to connecting with God don't understand that prayer is simple communication with the only God who hears and sees us.
"Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
The only true God of heaven and earth wants to have a relationship with you. You can start today with this prayer.
Thanks for stopping by. I'm going to go freshen up my cup of coffee.
Stay as long as you wish. Pray for as long as you wish.
I'm here to help, if I can.
Remember, you are loved just as you are. It's unconditional.
Grace and mercy are given for free.
There is nothing you've ever done, said, thought or dreamt of that God cannot forgive.
Copyright 2017 © by David E. Shelton, ASCAP All rights reserved.


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New York Festivals Advertising Awards Honours 2021 Award Winners with Augmented Reality Trophy
NYF and JAXX partner to create NYF 'Instant Gratification' AR trophies while award winners await NYF gold, silver, and bronze towers
New York Festivals International Advertising Awards and JAXX, a Toronto based content/post-production studio, have partnered to provide NYF's winners with instant gratification, an augmented reality award that will be sent to each of the 2021 Advertising Awards winners with their winner's notification.
JAXX served as the creators of the innovative augmented reality awards winners of the 2021 NYF Advertising Awards. Gold, silver, and bronze award winners will have the exclusive opportunity to show off, take photos, and record videos with their digital trophies in lieu of the physical awards which will be delivered following the winner's announcement.
"NYF is thrilled that we can provide 2021's award winners with the excitement of an immediate NYF augmented reality award," said Scott Rose, executive director, NYF Advertising Awards. "JAXX's innovative artists and creatives delivered a brilliant and realistic AR version of NYF's Towers to provide our winners with additional cause for celebration as they await the arrival of their trophies."
"As innovators ourselves, we love to work with visionary organisations like the New York Festivals (NYF) International Advertising Awards. NYF's partnership with JAXX shows that imaginative, functional content for every audience is available to those bold enough to envision it. We are proud to be the creators of the augmented reality awards for the 2021 event and extend our congratulations to all of the winners." - Sonja Davies, president of JAXX
In addition to their services in design, animation and JAXX has an extensive background in creating accessible AR content for mass audiences. Their roster of ultra-talented, technically-savvy and creatively visionary artists conceptualise and produce inspiring content for every platform.
For a sneak preview of NYF's augmented reality trophy visit: HERE.
The 2021 New York Festivals Advertising Awards will announce trophy winners on July 14th. For more information on competition categories, rules, and regulations click HERE.
view more - Awards and Events
New York Festivals , Fri, 09 Jul 2021 10:41:31 GMT
New York Festivals
News from New York Festivals
New York Festivals TV and Film Awards Announces 2023 Grand Jury
New York Festivals Radio Awards Announces 2023 Grand Jury
New York Festivals Announces 2023 Grand Jury
Work from New York Festivals


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Erika Garcia Shares How She Puts People First, Creates Jobs, and Creates Memories through Travel
It's easy to equate business owners as only being concerned with profits, products, and the bottom line. Not so for Erika Garcia – her business, first and foremost, is a people business. In her own words, Erika describes her business as a business of wants and dreams.
"People remember their fears and want to overcome them and they have the power to do that. We are in the business of people serving people. We are in a business where we are proud of our roots, our Mexican hospitality and transmitting that through a holiday in a card," Erika explains.
In the last 18 years, Erika's business has served over 300,000 families by bringing them to experience the beauty of Mexico. Although it's advertised as a holiday, Erika truly believes in selling happiness.
"The joy and meaning that each family, couple and person that came from any other brands historically had a unique story. Everyone was trying to get back some kind of connection with themselves, their families, and nature at the same time that they were meeting the need of exploring a new country, yet being very close," Erika says.
Erika and her business keep close to heart the belief that life happens in moments, and they take true responsibility in creating those moments in a memorable way. They are not brokers, a travel agency, or a tour company. Instead, they control the experience from beginning to end, both in digital and physical terms.
Inspired by the desire to see amazing resorts at any and every budget, and minimize the risk of investing in travel businesses, Erika sought to create a business that would allow for direct networks between customers and resorts.
"I wanted to bring customers to see amazing resorts while also creating businesses, generating jobs, and investmenting in our country. Often travel businesses don't control the outcome based on knowing how many people were going to be in the resorts. They depended on third parties, so I decided if we could go direct, it would be better," Erika outlines.
Even with a clear, streamlined plan, Erika admits that there are big challenges ahead when starting a business. Laying down the proper foundation and systems to manage products and services, hiring the right people for a close-knit team, and preparing the financial, marketing, sales, and administrative aspects of the business all must be accomplished before embarking on an entrepreneurial jump. But once you make the first, difficult step, Erika says, there is no turning back.
In working through difficult obstacles, Erika keeps her mindset clear, a crucial part of managing any business. Erika believes that new behaviors come from new choices, rather than a familiar path.
"You change your thoughts, you change your mindset, you change your mindset, you change your energy, you change your life. Mindset is crucial, the set of belief systems whether they are limited beliefs or unlimited beliefs, determines the way that we act," Erika says.
In the coming year, Erika is looking forward to creating a platform to inspire men and women with entrepreneurial spirit to chase their dreams and create businesses, specifically Latina women like herself.
"I want to send a message, from a woman's point of view, to Latina women that they do not have to ask permission to go for their dreams. They have the right to abundance and love. Because no one is going to provide anything for them, they have to create it from within. I am focused on helping reactivate the Mexican carribean, and am very proud of what we do," Erika says.
Follow Erika on Instagram for the most up to date news on her business and accomplishments.
Tags: Entrepreneur, Erika Garcia, Success, Travel


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Q: Use of law of total expectation without checking integrability $\newcommand{\E}{\mathbb E}$In basic probability classes, people often use the formula, namely the law of total expectation
$$\E[X]=\E[\E[X\mid Y]]$$
without checking integrability of $X$.
I can't get my head around it, because we sometimes use it to check the integrability of $X$... Wow! We don't even know if $\E[X\mid Y]$ exists, yet we use it.
Example.
For a simple example, I wanted to do it properly. For instance, consider  nonnegative integrable random variables $Z$ and $X_i$ i.i.d. independent of $Z$.  We need to check whether $$\sum_{i= 1}^ZX_i $$
is integrable. I can do it like this
$$\E\left[\sum_{i= 1}^ZX_i \right]=\E\left[\E\left[\sum_{i= 1}^ZX_i\mid Z\right] \right]=\E\left[\sum_{i=1}^Z \E[X_i] \right]=\E[Z]\E[X_1]$$
But I thought this is cheating, so I considered $X\mathbb I_{X<K}$ for some constant $K>0$, then we have
\begin{align}
\sum_{i=1}^Z X_i\mathbb I_{X_i<K} \leq ZK
\end{align}
This is clearly integrable. So we can apply the same steps as before "legally" to show integrability and then MCT does the rest of the work
\begin{align}
\E\left[\sum_{i=1}^Z X_i\right]\stackrel{\text{MCT}}{=}\lim_{K\to\infty}\E\left[\sum_{i=1}^Z X_i\mathbb I_{X_i<K} \right]=\lim_{K\to\infty}\E[X_1\mathbb I_{X_1<K}]\E[Z]\stackrel{\text{MCT}}{=}\E[X_1]\E[Z]
\end{align}
Do something similar always works, giving us the reason why people just use it? Indeed, I guess it is boring to repeat these kind of steps if it always works, therefore my question:

Question. Can we actually apply the law of total expectation to show integrability? If the answer is "yes", is there a general proof? If the answer is "no", are there examples where it fails?

A: All the usual laws of conditional expectation work for nonnegative random variables, integrable or not, if you allow the value $+\infty$. For instance, if $X$ is nonnegative, $E[X \mid Y]$ will always exist, but potentially could equal $+\infty$ with positive probability.  And if $X$ is nonnegative and not integrable, then you will get $E[E[X \mid Y]] = +\infty$ as well (i.e. $E[X \mid Y]$ is nonnegative and not integrable).  These cases are often left as exercises since it is a little tedious to write out the proofs, but you can show it by considering "cut off" random variables like $X_n = X 1_{X \le n}$ and using monotone convergence.
The properties do not necessarily hold for signed random variables that may not be integrable.    However, you can determine whether a random variable $X$ is integrable by computing $E[|X| \mid Y]$ and seeing if $E[E[|X| \mid Y]] < \infty$, and if so then you will know that $E[X] = E[E[X \mid Y]]$.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


According to the Inca mythology, Inti is the sun god, as well a patron deity of Tahuantinsuyu. His exact origin is not known. The most common story says he is the son of Viracocha, the god of civilization.Because the Inca religion was based around nature, the sun was perhaps the most important aspect of life because it provided warmth and light. Inti therefore is also known as the Giver of Life.
He was worshipped mostly by farmers who relied on the sun to receive good harvests. Although he was the second most revered deity after Viracocha, he received the greatest number of offerings. The Sapa Inca, as ruler of the people, claimed divine heritage and direct descent from the Sun.


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Tag: Björk
James Blake not overgrown, but has grown!
April 14, 2013 May 29, 2015 Posted in New releaseTagged Antony & The Johnsons, Antony Hegarty, Björk, Brian Eno, James Blake, Mark Hollis, Massive Attack, New album, Plastikman, RZA, Talk Talk, Thomas Dybdahl, Tricky, WuTang Clan2 Comments
James Blakes selftitled debut is without doubt a strong debut album, and a modern classic.
His experimental neo-dubstep on that album, was full of James Blakes creative production, mostly snippets of his soulful voice. At times it was to experimental for me. And too little focused and lacking structure. A collection of songs rather than a complete album.
Now that his second album is here, I have to admit I was a bit excited and sceptic if he managed to outdo his first album.
The first single "Retrograde" showed a "new" James Blake. He sounded less experimenal and more laid back. The production was softer, James Blake focused more on his vocals – he dared to be a vocalist, an singer songwriter. James Blake is not only a producer, a songwriter, arranger – but he´s also a extraordinary vocalist. With a voice that sounds like a cross between Talk Talks Mark Hollis, Antony & The Johnsons Antony Hegarty and the norwegian singer songwriter Thomas Dybdahl. Warm, soulful – smooth!
With his second album, James Blake have grown up, but not outgrown himself.
The production is better, he has written songs this time – almost all songs have full lyrics and a structure instead of snippets of looped vocals like on the debutalbum. If Blake had tried to outdo the debut album – make an even more experimental – make a James Blake pt II, I am afraid he would have tried to hard.
Instead he has mellowed the production, and he looks back. I can hear traces of trip hop here. Artists like Massive Attack, Tricky and even Björk seems to be inspiration, he even flirts with the dancefloor here and there.
Second track and third track "I Am Sold" and "Life Round Here" both tracks makes me think how Massive Attack around "Protection" would sound with James Blake as guest vocalist. The only guest artists is vocalist from Wu-Tang/Gravediggaz member and actor/screenwriter/director RZA who raps in english (instead of american) on "Take A Fall For Me" a song that sounds more like Tricky – than Tricky himself has done for years.
Skip forward to the Brian Eno produced "Digital Lion" where James Blake does a track that sounds like a update on Björks "Hyper Ballad" mixed with Plastikmans "Spastik".
If you want to dance, the club-friendly beats of french sounding song titled "Voyeur" is the track to seek. And when he let the beats pump out of the stereo for the last minute it´s almost like James Blake asks for the track to be included on a DJ-mix album. I would love to hear someone do a fat clubmix of this track!
Have you noticed war siren sound on several of the tracks? It seems to be part of a concept on this album. The sound is incorporeted at the end of a majority of the tracks: The one finger push on one button on the synth, and held down/looped and/or timestreched for the next minute or so. Until the end of the song (see i.e. "Retrograde" for a perfect example). If there is a soundconcept on the album, this sound is!
James Blakes Top 5 most popular songs according to Spotify is
"Retrograde" off "Overgrown" album,
"Limit To Your Love" the beautiful Feist cover from "James Blake"
"A Case Of You" his wonderful version of the Joni Mitchell classic
"The Willhelm Scream" off James Blake
You can listen to "James Blake" and "Overgrown" here, if you use Spotify If you want to buy the albums, click here to download through iTunes
If his two cover versions of "Limit To Your Love" and "A Case Of You" is what you love about James Blake and is the sounds you love from him. I promise you you would love the whole "Overgrown" album. Some reviewers has called the album to slow, and if i should agree with that I would say the album is a slowburner. But let it sink in. It comes to you slowly – and when it hits you – you´re stuck!
Where James Blakes debut lacked a red thread is his second album lighter and more accessable, not only for the hipsters, but for all lovers of great music!
James Blake Overgrown Yes! And he's still growing, just like this album is doing!
The amazing rise of Rebekka Karijord!
December 14, 2012 May 29, 2015 Posted in Interview, New release, Q&A, Q&A / InterviewTagged Björk, Interview, Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush, Norway, Norwegian, Oslo, Q&A, Rebekka Karijord, Spotify, Stockholm, Sweden2 Comments
Rebekka Karijords single "Use My Body While It´s Still Young" knocked me off my feet the first time I heard it. The song was her first single from her then forthcoming album "We Become Ourselves" – a two-part concept album about nature, and the relationship between men and women.
The single is huge with it´s mix of massive bass line, hand claps, choir, church organ, and the almost big beat / drum´n´bass beats. All instruments are performed by live instruments. Rebekka Karijords biggest instrument is without doubt, her strong and amazing voice. Think a mix between Björk, Joni Mitchell and Kate Bush. "Use My Body While It´s Still Young" sounds like her answer to – and an updated version of – Björks "Play Dead" – but still, it´s not a rip-off, because Rebekka Karijord has her very own style and voice!
She has had a music career since 2003, but 2012 seems to be her real big breakthrough. Rebekka Karijord moved from Norway to Sweden almost 10 years ago, and has made Stockholm her home, and her career has been more successful in Sweden then in Norway. The A-listed the "Use My Body…" almost immediately after its release. She has toured the album a lot, which has made her a popular act, slowly but surely – she has taken bigger slices of the world during the late summer of 2012. Before her musical career took off she was starring in movies and TV-series, writing her own stage show for theaters, written an opera, made big success with her own circus show i Sweden, writing soundtracks and the list goes on.
Rebekka Karijord is now concentrating 100% on music which really seems so pay off these days.
She is a woman who follows her dreams and paths to reach her goal!
The album "We Became Ourselves" is a fantastic record, which let Rebekka show what an amazing artist she is. She plays lots of the instruments, keep it organic, her voice is out of this world – and the production is fabulous. You can, as earlier mentioned, hear Joni Michell in the slower songs, Bjørk in the more experimental and the adventurous productions of artists like Kate Bush and Tori Amos. The album is a adwenture out of this world.
The song "Multicoloured Hummingbird" even flirts with melody of Bruce Springsteens "I´m On Fire" – I dare to think it´s unintended
You can listen to the "We Become Ourselves" album on Spotify HERE!
Check her wonderful Homepage and make sure you follow her on Facebook and Twitter, if you´d like to read, hear and follow the rise of Rebekka Karijord.
At the end of 2012, Rebekka Karijords "We Become Ourselves" became "World Album Of The Week" in the influential english magazine MOJO, album of the month (World) back in November, and is on MOJO TOP 10 ALBUMS FOR 2012 (World). I have to admit i would never sort Rebekkas music under the world music genre, because she´s more like an experimental epic singer songwriter.
This year it has been really amazing to follow the rise of Norwegian siren Rebecca Karijord and see and how she´s slowly becoming one of the most exiting artists on the musical map
Back in October, I happened to have my little Q&A session with Rebekka Karijord. And this was before she was being noted on "Best of 2012" lists. It's really great to see how much her career has grown these last three months, and how influential she has become during 2012!
Q (me): I think I hear traces of both Björk and Kate Bush in you music, what are your biggest inspirations – who influences you most?
A (Rebekka): Björk has always inspired me, but I'm not a big Kate Bush fan I must admit. But in general, strong storytellers have always inspired me. I grew up with Patti Smith, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Neil Young- strong lyrics and loads of musical personality. These days I have a broad music taste, everything from instrumental music, jazz and even a lot of world music inspires me. Some inspiring artist are: Moondog, Robert Wyatt, Feist, Pj Harvey, Elliott Smith, Brian Eno, Radiohead, The National, Mari Boine, Kari Bremnes… I could go on forever. I'm also really influenced by books, poetry, films and articles in the news when I write songs.
Q: You´ve emigrated from Oslo to Stockholm – why did you choose to make Sweden your new home?
A: I studied here, and kind of ended up staying. I have fantastic friends and colleagues here, and my label, publisher etc are all here. Plus it's a short trip to Norway, which is great!
Q: With your career now being noticed in several countries around the world, how does this feel?
A: Fantastic. I'm super grateful. But you know, when you're on the inside of something it doesn't seem as magical as on the outside. I don't see myself as very successful, I'm still a very small fish in the big pond out there, trying to build something lasting and genuine.
Q: You´ve almost done it all, where to begin; put up your own opera, done theater, starred in movies and tv-series – and now putting all your cards in music – whats your next goal? or to push it even further whats your ultimate goal?
A: I don't really have goals, or I don't think of my life and work in those terms. I take one project at the time and try to have fun and keep curious and learn more. I guess that could be a goal; To stay hungry and curious, not get stuck in something I'm not happy in.
Q: Whats your top three favourite records of all time? Which one made you wanna start with music?
A: Ohhh, tricky one. There are so many amazing albums. But I guess I could say these three: Talk Talk's "East of Eden" , Cat Powers "Moonpix" and Glenn Gould's recording of the Goldberg Variations by Bach. I think all three of them together expresses a quite good combination of my influences. It's all about the stories, the sound and the human body and heart, with all its flaws and bruises.
Thank you for this little talk Rebekka and for enriching me with a little insight in your life and influences – and for releasing one of the years greatest albums!
Rebekka Karijord is definitely one of the most exciting artists to follow. She has without doubt made one of the best albums of the year 2012.
"We Become Ourselves" is a classic album that will be discovered in years to come and it will still sound as fresh as it did back in 2012!


text:
package bullshit_paper_pdf;

import com.itextpdf.text.*;

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{
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    public PDFElement(Element element, boolean dontBreak)
    {
	_element = element;
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    }

    public Element getElement() { return _element; }
    public boolean dontBreak() { return _dontBreak; }
}


Pattaya Curtain (PattayaCurtain.com) has all sell and services for the curtains decoration, curtain designs in Pattaya. We are the biggest with all various choices, style and the designs you can choose. Our services included design, installation, maintenance and sale. Curtain shop pattaya, we have experience especially for the curtain for over 10 years. We can supply you all with our products for the curtains, blinds an all tools related to the curtain and the wallpaper, carpet for any style of your need. Our customers who trust in our services in Pattaya such as Amari Nova Suites hotel, Nova Platinum hotel, The Meadows, The Residence and much more.


We are former colleagues, old friends and passionate coaches.
Louise has been working with leaders and teams in a facilitating role since 2002. Prior to that she held managerial positions in marketing and management in the corporate world until she was hospitalized with a serious illness. Since her recovery she is passionate to bring lightness and life to the workplace and to support people and teams to grow and flourish by bringing out the best of themselves. Louise is co-owner at Stach, invigorating leaders and teams… bringing heart to business: www.stach.nu. She is a wholehearted executive coach for ambitious individuals, a team coach (ao for international Executive MBA students at Erasmus University) and a trainer (ao of different leadership programs with her colleagues of Stach and of S&N leadership and teamcoaching training programs) and she has been community leader for the Dutch Co-Active Community for 8 years.


You are here: Home » Making decisions and planning your care	» Making treatment decisions and planning ahead in Northern Ireland	» How are treatment and care decisions made in Northern Ireland?
You can make a decision about what treatment you want from the options offered to you by the doctor. You also have the legal right to refuse any medical treatment, including life-sustaining treatment, such as resuscitation, artificial nutrition and hydration, or breathing machines.
The General Medical Council's (GMC) Guidance on treatment and care towards the end of life says that your doctor should help you decide which treatment is right for you.
Unlike a refusal of treatment, you don't have the right to request a treatment. This is because no one has the legal right to demand treatment. Doctors don't have to give you treatment just because you ask for it. Instead, they decide whether a treatment is medically appropriate for your condition and then you decide whether or not you want that treatment.