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Labour, Maternity, and Men
written by Ian Dinwiddy 18th November 2019
Last week the Labour party unveiled an eye-catching manifesto pledge – committing to an increase in the length of statutory maternity pay for 9 months to a year.
On the face of it, a great initiative, so why then did the Fatherhood Institute say this "Oh dear…this is NOT the way to increase gender equality or reduce the pay gap."
While John Adams, from Dad Blog UK described it as "…interesting reading. For all the wrong reasons."
What do Dads want?
A new generation of men expect equality in the workplace and at home. They want the opportunity to choose a path to work life balance that is right for them and for their family. If that means working part time or flexibly in order to be an active parent, then that's what they will seek out.
They don't think they should have to compromise between work and home life, in short, they want to have the best of both worlds and as women already know, that remains tricky to pull off.
It is possible though – starting with a developing a culture in society that recognises the tension that men face, then supports and encourages them to access flexible working and recognises their skills and desire to rise their children.
Big Business leads the way
Big business is starting to "get it" with moves to standarise their paid parental leave and treat men and women equally. They do this because they recognise the power of engaged fathers from a multitude of angles including mental health, talent retention, gender diversity and pay.
When looked through this prism the Labour manifesto pledge is disappointing because it reinforces the concept that only women can raise and care for children and it signals to the world that men aren't worthy or capable of the same task.
It does nothing for equality either at home or in the workplace.
So what's "wrong" with extending maternity leave?
The challenge with this type of commitment is that there is an assumption already built into the work system that men are breadwinners and women are primarily carers. We see it in the language that is used "working mums" but not usually "working dads".
When we extend the length of maternity leave without a similar move on paternity leave, we reinforce assumptions about gender roles and limit choice. Equality requires that we create and support and environment that treats people equally, as this graphic shows.
Longer isn't always better
Estonia are the holders of two European records. Longest paid maternity leave (85 weeks) and largest gender pay gap. (21% higher than #2). Coincidence? Perhaps not.
What's happened to the Labour party pledge from 2015?
Back in 2015 Ed Miliband made a pledge on paid paternity leave which had the potential to be genuine game changer for Dads
"A future Labour government would double the amount of paid paternity leave available to new fathers from two to four weeks, Ed Miliband has announced.
Ed Miliband said current entitlements are "outdated" and giving fathers an "independent right" to a month off to care for their children would help 400,000 families give their children the "best start in life they can".
The Labour leader has pledged to substantially increase rates of statutory pay, currently set at £138.18 per week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is less.
Under Labour, the amount fathers would receive would rise to at least £260 a week, the equivalent of a forty-hour week on the minimum wage."
It would be brilliant news if that pledge made it back into the Labour manifesto. No word yet on when that document will be published but you can sign up to get notifications here.
I'll leave you with the words of Madeline Cole, MD of Venture Business Ltd and Founder of the Flexpo conference https://flexpo.co.uk/
"If I was a rival party, I would respond with a pledge to extend paid leave… blindly to both mums AND dads. Instead of making babies a women's issue. Let's give dads some rights too and take the onus and the weight of the childcare off of women which only widens the gender pay gap"
Labour, Maternity, and Men was last modified: November 18th, 2019 by Ian Dinwiddy
dads at workian dinwiddymaternity and men
Ian Dinwiddy
Ian Dinwiddy is the founder of Inspiring Dads, a coaching and mentoring business that specialises in helping men to find their own path to 'Be a Great Dad AND Have a Great Career.' 1 to 1 and group coaching work is underpinned by their signature "6 Steps to Working Dad Success" programme.
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Gunman who shot ex-girlfriend to death near Manhattan's Union Square IHOP lay in wait for hours: prosecutors
By Anna Gratzer and John Annese
The masked gunman who shot his ex-girlfriend to death near Manhattan's Union Square lay in wait outside the IHOP where she worked for almost five hours before executing her, prosecutors said Sunday.
Clarkson Wilson, 44, lurked outside the chain restaurant's E. 14th St. location, waiting and pacing until Imani Armstrong, 25, stepped outside about 5 a.m. on Thursday, then pulled on a sweatshirt and mask and followed her, prosecutors allege.
Scene of the fatal shooting on E. 14th St. at Irving Place in Manhattan. (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News)
He then ran up behind her near the corner E. 14th St. and Irving Place, shot her once in the back of the head, and fled, Assistant District Attorney Samantha Levitz said at Wilson's arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on Sunday.
Video recorded him every step of the way, including after the slaying when he ran into a nearby subway station and quickly changed his clothes before taking a train home to Brooklyn, Levitz said.
When police searched Wilson's home, they found his clothing from the shooting and the outfit he changed into in a garbage bag, Levitz said. Two guns were found in a safe, according to prosecutors.
The Daily News Flash
Catch up on the day's top five stories every weekday afternoon.
Wilson stood stoically, wearing the "Street Fighter" video game T-shirt he had on when he was arrested, as Judge Abraham Clott ordered him held without bail Sunday.
Investigators believe the shooting stemmed from a bitter domestic squabble between Armstrong and Wilson.
Wilson has a violent criminal history, with eight past arrests, including most recently a 2021 strangulation case, police sources said. Armstrong was not the victim in that case, the sources said.
Clarkson Wilson is walked out of the 13 Precinct stationhouse in Manhattan Saturday. (Liam Quigley for New York Daily News)
Public records show he was convicted of attempted robbery in 2000 and spent three years in prison before he was paroled. That parole ended in 2008, records show.
At his arraignment, Levitz described Wilson as a flight risk with access to money. Wilson admits to selling pot, and videos on social media show him with large amounts of weed and cash, the prosecutor said.
Armstrong's murder was the second slaying in two days in the 13th Precinct, which until then hadn't seen any homicides all year.
About 12:50 a.m. on Wednesday, a knife-wielding attacker repeatedly stabbed Jamal Burton, 38, during an argument on Seventh Ave. near W. 28th St. in Chelsea. Burton's killer ran off and has not been caught.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Antonio Cassano scored twice as Group C winners Italy made it eight wins out of ten and ended with the best defensive record across all nine sections.
Antonio Cassano struck twice as Group C winners Italy ended their qualifying campaign with a 3-0 victory against Northern Ireland in Pescara.
The AC Milan forward found the net with excellent finishes either side of the break before Gareth McAuley's own goal rounded off the Azzurri's eighth success from ten outings in the section. The result also brought Cesare Prandelli's men their eighth clean sheet and, having conceded just twice along the way, they ended the qualifying campaign with the meanest defence across all nine groups.
The first chance of the encounter fell to the hosts on 19 minutes, when Giorgio Chiellini headed wide from close range following a Sebastian Giovinco corner from the left. Two minutes later, Daniele De Rossi found Cassano behind the visitors' back line with a precise long ball and the forward turned a wonderful right-footed volley inside the far post.
Only a superb diving save by Gianluigi Buffon then prevented Northern Ireland from equalising just before the half-hour, the Juventus No1 keeping out a Ryan McGivern header. Before the match, the goalkeeper had joined up with Fabio Cannavaro, Paolo Maldini and Dino Zoff to receive a commemorative cap and medal from UEFA for having made 100 or more international appearances.
Italy failed to carve out any further opportunities in the first half but registered again shortly after the break. This time, Alberto Aquilani was the provider for Cassano, who buried a precise low shot inside the far post, giving Maik Taylor no chance. Three minutes later, the goalscorer received a standing ovation as Prandelli took him off to hand Pablo Osvaldo his Italy debut.
Northern Ireland substitute Warren Feeney came close to reducing the deficit when he shot over from a dangerous position, and Taylor then had to dive right to palm away a Riccardo Montolivo effort. The visiting No1 could do nothing to keep out McAuley, though, his team-mate deflecting the ball past him while trying to intercept Federico Balzaretti's pass to Chiellini.


The evening after the night before and the 1st ever Northern Blog Awards, hosted by WeBlogNorth and founded by Holly Wood (aka HollyGoesLighty) is officially over! Wow, what a night it was too.
Thanks to Carl Sukonik, aka The Vain Photography for the photos, they're blimmin' awesome!
A special thanks to our headline sponsors Christy and Thoughtmix for the ongoing support and helping us pull off this mammoth event!
And finally, thanks to absolutely everyone who bought a ticket and came along last night, to everyone that voted and to everyone that's been supporting on social media! Without you guys, the event wouldn't have happened and we wouldn't be able to continue to grow this amazing Northern content-creating community.
I seriously love you all and for those of you that I didn't get to meet in person, I hope to see you very soon for a proper squeeze!
The Northern Blog Awards 2018 – Still Time to Get Your Nominations In!


Stockmann Group operates about 500 stores across 19 countries and consists of three divisions: Stockmann Retail, Real Estate and Lindex. Stockmann Retail operates as a department store business and has a webstore. Real Estate has properties in four countries. Lindex has a wide store network and webstore operations in the EU and in Norway.
In 2016, Stockmann began to evaluate better ways to engage and serve its customers. Rather than investing in multiple separate solutions, they wanted a unified approach to gain transparency on customer data across their entire organization, and to build a foundation that could withstand scalable solutions and the passage of time. Stockmann saw cooperation with Fluido and the Salesforce ecosystem as the best step forward on their transformation journey.
The first challenge on this journey: marketing permissions and other customer data stored in over dozens of different, overlapping systems. Information was stored in different locations and in formats. This inability to access the big picture caused operational challenges and internal inefficiencies.
"It is important to build the foundation carefully, so we don't have to repair it afterward — which is very difficult. When you do this phase diligently, further development is easier and faster."
Stockmann turned to Fluido for its platinum level Salesforce experience and ability to provide a dedicated team to work at the customer's premises when needed. Another important factor was Fluido's informal and flexible way of doing business. The lack of bureaucracy allows Fluido to adapt to changing specifications and realities, and to change directions quickly. This combined with Salesforce's versatile products and features, means Fluido could genuinely offer excellent support and tools for Stockmann's transformation journey.
To decrease the number of systems in use, a CRM solution was implemented to streamline and to start bringing robustness to Stockmann's data management. Transforming Stockmann's engagement with its customers required enhanced targeting and personalization capabilities. Marketing Cloud was implemented to achieve this, automating many of Stockmann's service and marketing messages.
"Salesforce has been a great help in examining and understanding the quality of our customer data. When the data quality improves, we can do more."
Fluido was also involved in implementing the Qualtrics survey tool to manage customer satisfaction surveys. Previously these were handled manually, but now automation increases the quality and accessibility of this data. The next project will be to empower Stockmann customer care with Service Cloud.
Even if Stockmann is just beginning its journey, they now have better access and deeper insight into their customer data than ever before, which creates new potential for further development. Open and click-through rates have also grown significantly. Previously, Stockmann's open and click rates were just about the industry average — now Stockmann's rates are ahead of the curve. In ten months' time, the number of marketing permissions has grown by 21%.
All of this comes on top of the benefits Stockmann is getting from more streamlined processes, infrastructure, and easy-to-access data. With Fluido's help, Stockmann has laid a solid foundation it can build on for future projects.


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Caldwell believes Stafford can be a championship QB
BY foxsports • February 20, 2014
Matthew Stafford of the Detroit Lions has been one of the most scrutinized players in the NFL this offseason, but to new coach Jim Caldwell it all comes down to this:
Can Stafford be a championship quarterback?
Caldwell says he can.
"He's hungry to improve, I've noticed that about him," Caldwell said Thursday during a news conference at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. "He's eager. He's a willing worker. He's smart and he has tools.
"When you find that combination, typically you're going to find a guy that does everything it takes to get him in position where he's a championship quarterback.
"A lot of people want to talk about so many other things that really aren't that important - whether or not he's elite or this or that. That doesn't matter.
"We want a championship quarterback. That's what we're looking for. I think we have the makings of that. I think you're going to see Matthew take the bull by the horns and do all the little things that are necessary to get us to keep moving forward as a team."
Stafford has been highly criticized after throwing 15 interceptions in the final nine games last season. The Lions collapsed at the end of the year, losing six of their last seven games to miss the playoffs after a 6-3 start had put them in first place in their division.
The Lions placed a high priority on putting together a coaching staff to help Stafford return to his 2011 form when he completed 63.5 percent for 5,038 yards, with 41 touchdowns to 16 interceptions, in a 10-win, playoff season.
Not only is Caldwell a former quarterback coach, but so is offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi. Caldwell also added Jim Bob Cooter, 29, as the new QB coach.
"We have a very fine player at that position so we wanted to make certain we had the right people around him," Caldwell said.
Cooter, a former reserve quarterback at the University of Tennessee, was Peyton Manning's position coach last year with the Denver Broncos. Cooter also was an offensive assistant in Indianapolis when Caldwell was the head coach.
"Jim Bob and I go back a little ways," Caldwell said. "He really developed a real good feel for the system, how it works, fundamentals of the game. Very bright guy. Young but very, very bright. He gained a lot of experience working with Peyton.
"I felt I needed a guy who had a real good sense of fundamentals, a real good sense of how to put it all together.
"I thought he'd be a great fit for Matthew."
DELMAS UPDATE
Despite releasing him last week for salary-cap reasons, there's been speculation the Lions still could bring back safety Louis Delmas at a reduced price if he doesn't get a better offer.
Caldwell didn't rule a return by Delmas out, but he also didn't leave the impression that there's a strong likelihood of it happening.
"I think in this business you never say never, but we'll see what happens," Caldwell said.
Delmas, who played the last five seasons with Detroit, is now a free agent and made a recent visit to Pittsburgh to meet with the Steelers.
Caldwell called Delmas and receiver Nate Burleson, who also was released last week, "two good men just in terms of leadership."
"But we have to evaluate everything just in terms of our personnel office, our coaching, etc., and see where things fit," Caldwell said. "We have to make some adjustments along the way. Not all of them are going to be pretty."
--- The Lions' chances of improving their roster this offseason apparently are going to get a boost following reports that the NFL's salary cap is expected to get a bigger bump than previously projected, from $123 million last season to $130 million in 2014.
If so, it puts the Lions close to $7 million under the new cap limit.
Some of that will be needed to sign their draft picks, but it creates enough flexibility that the Lions should be able to find a way to get involved in the free-agent market to some extent even if Ndamukong Suh doesn't sign a contract extension to reduce his current $22.4 million cap hit.
--- Caldwell, on finding a quality receiver to complement Calvin Johnson: "It's something we have to take a real strong look at. We have to find a way to make certain whoever is on the other side - they're maybe getting singled in some situations - that we can do some damage. That's extremely important. That's something we're taking a good hard look at. One way or another we're going to come up with a guy to give us some balance in that area. "
--- Caldwell, on inconsistent defensive tackle Nick Fairley: "This guy has an immeasurable amount of talent. It's my job to get it out of him. That's the key. I think he's capable. I also think he's willing."
--- Carlin Isles reportedly has decided to pursue his rugby career for now rather than try to win a roster spot as a receiver/return specialist with the Lions. Isles, dubbed "the fastest man in rugby," signed with the Lions as a practice-squad player late last season.


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Michael Victor Summers  (born 1952) is a Falkland Islands politician who served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Stanley constituency from 2011 to 2017. He was previously a Member of the Legislative Council from 1996–2009.

Summers was born in Stanley and grew up in Port Howard. He moved to the UK at the age of eleven after winning a government scholarship to Shaftesbury Grammar School, a Dorset boarding school. He went on to read business studies at Middlesex University. After university, Summers worked for various construction and engineering companies all round the world, before returning to the Falklands in 1989 when he became General Manager of the Falkland Islands Development Corporation. During his time as General Manager, Summers negotiated the air link between the Falklands and mainland South America with the Chilean airline LAN, which remains the only commercial airline to fly to the islands.

Summers resigned as General Manager in 1996 to pursue a political career. Later that year he was elected in a by-election to the Legislative Council (which was reconstituted as the Legislative Assembly in the 2009 constitution). Summers was re-elected in 1997, 2001 and 2005, but he lost his seat in the 2009 general election.

In 2011, Summers returned to the Legislative Assembly after winning a by-election to fill the seat left vacant by Glenn Ross. At the time of the election, Summers was in the Isle of Wight for the 2011 Island Games in his role as Team Leader of the Falkland Islands Overseas Games Association. In April 2017, Mike Summers was the only member to vote against same-sex marriage, but did vote in favour of civil partnerships.

He won re-election in 2013 but stepped down from the assembly at the 2017 general election.

In September 2019 Summers was elected Chair of the Falkland Islands Chamber of Commerce Board following the 2019 Annual General Meeting.

References

1952 births
Living people
Alumni of Middlesex University
Falkland Islands businesspeople
Falkland Islands Councillors 1993–1997
Falkland Islands Councillors 1997–2001
Falkland Islands Councillors 2001–2005
Falkland Islands Councillors 2005–2009
Falkland Islands MLAs 2009–2013
Falkland Islands MLAs 2013–2017
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
People from Stanley, Falkland Islands

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
HomeAboutSteve_Bogaerts Steve Bogaerts - Curiculum vitae
Owner & Instructor Go Side Mount
Place of Residence:
Puerto Aventuras, Quintana Roo, Mexico.
Originally from London, England Steve Bogaerts has been
living in Mexico since August 1999.
He came to the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico in order to pursue his passion for exploration in the amazing submerged cave systems of the area.
During this period he has been actively exploring many of these unique natural wonders including all 3 of the worlds longest underwater cave systems - Ox Bel Ha, Nohoch Nah Chich and Dos Ojos - all of which are found along the stretch of coastline known as the Riviera Maya.
Steve is an enormously versatile and experienced diver and has dived all over the World using the latest in cutting edge technology including Mixed Gas Closed Circuit Rebreathers and extended duration deep rated Diver Propulsion Vehicles in an effort to push back the boundaries of the underwater realm.
Steve has been involved in many exploration projects that have taken him to places as diverse as the coastal waters of the UK, Scapa Flow, The Maldives, The Egyptian Red Sea, The Yemen, The Mediterranean, The Patagonian coast of Argentina, The Mexican Caribbean and Island of Cozumel and of course the Jungles of the Yucatan Peninsula.
Steve holds the highest attainable Instructor ratings in Recreational, Technical and Cave diving. He is an International Fellow of the Explorers Club of New York and is a recipient of the Abe Davis Safe Cave Diving Award. He is the National Speleological Society Cave Diving Sections Safety Officer for Quintana Roo.
Steve has given presentation on Cave and Technical Diving around the world and has had article published in various international Magazines and Newspapers. He has also been involved in Film and TV documentary projects.
Currently Steve is actively exploring several
Cave Systems in Quintana Roo.
more about Steve...
Look at the Videos
Check out the Interviews
Picture-Galleries


Nick and I arrived in Australia in late April 2017 and spent the three months visiting both Melbourne and Brisbane, volunteering at Farm Animal Rescue in Dayboro, Queensland, and taking a road trip from Brisbane to Cairns. The second part of our Aussie adventure took us to Perth, Tasmania, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and into the outback. Wowza! After all of that we headed over to New Zealand to take an epic road trip around the North and South islands.


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War and Human Nature
by Jason Forrest January 19, 2020 October 31, 2021
We all know about being doomed to repeat the past, despite the fact that nearly all our current social, cultural, and political issues have precedence. On January 6th, a mob of Trump loyalists stormed the US Capitol building for several hours, violently acting on their politically opportunistic frustrations. The caustic emotions on display in Washington D.C. have set many people around the world on a journey to find answers.
For many of us involved in historic research, we naturally began to dig into our digital and physical archives to see what we might find to guide us. My focus is primarily on historical data visualization, and in specific, on pictorial statistics. In researching the work of Rudolf Modley, who had a massive influence on information graphics in the US from 1935 to the 1950s, I stumbled across a vast series of obscure pamphlets issued in the name of public education.
Let's explore the history of this pamphlet series and the graphics sprinkled through nearly every issue, then dig into a single issue that remains relevant in light of the Jan 6th insurrection.
Knowledge for the masses: public affairs pamphlets
Public affairs pamphlets on display in an NYC book store, 1939
In 1936, as the US great depression was wrapping up, a non-profit group called the Public Affairs Committee was founded to increase public knowledge by publishing a series of inexpensive and fact-based pamphlets. Their constitution includes this extremely clear statement: "The purpose of the Committee is to make available in summary and inexpensive form the results of research on economic and social problems to aid in the understanding and development of American policy. The sole purpose of the Corporation is educational. It has no economic or social program of its own to promote, and it will at no time disseminate controversial or partisan propaganda or otherwise attempt to influence legislation."
Pamphlets occupy an unusual corner of the American communications space, cheap to produce and easy to distribute to a wide swath of the American public. But the pamphlet carries a different communicative weight, not as authoritative as a book and usually written as a personal appeal. In The Political Pamphlet's Origins and Purpose in the U.S.A., the authors argue "for much of its early history in America, the political pamphlet exists like a lighthouse on an island, crying "I am here, and I want to talk."
Since its inception in 1936, the public affairs committee pamphlets nearly all contain pictorial statistics, most of them created by Rudolf Modley's company, "Pictorial Statistics, Inc." Modley was born in Vienna, started volunteering for Otto Neurath in high school, and eventually moved to the USA after law school to serve as a proxy for Neurath in America. After a series of fortuitous events, in 1935 Modley became the leading figure on pictorial statistics in the United States, bringing both a pedigree and an immigrant's entrepreneurial hustle to the left-leaning field of "visual education". Since Modley had early success with several New Deal agencies in creating charts to disseminate their message to Americans of mixed literacy, he became the darling of the widely influential magazine Survey Graphic. It was a natural fit to have his pictorial statistics illustrate the pamphlets in order to give them a more welcoming feeling while keeping their factual underpinning.
Article announcing the success of Rudolf Modley and the introduction of pictorial statistics. Des Moins Sunday Register, 1940
Maybe you can make out, in the small text above, that Pictorial Statistics, Inc, was a booming business with $30,000 a year revenue (about $500,000 in today's currency). Rudolf Modley had a staff of about nine people creating pictorial statistics in numerous books — some of which he co-authored, such as 1937's The United States: A Graphic History — as well as government and civic presentations, or the widely syndicated Telefact series that appeared daily in newspapers around the US.
Full-page illustrated article expanding on the (early feminist) public affairs pamphlet, "Why Women Work", including the inset, republished pictorial statistics, The Coshocton Tribune, 1938
In fact, the charts created for the Pubic Affairs Committee pamphlets became a key element in Modley's content strategy. Charts were often made for the public affairs pamphlets, republished in Survey Graphic, then reused in newspapers, or redesigned into the more compact Telefact format for additional widespread syndication. There were plenty of opportunities for interesting, relevant, and important pictorial statistics and business was good.
Since more and more opportunities for pictorial statistics existed more competition was inevitable. In 1938, a few designers from Modley's team, led by Henry Adams Grant, decided to strike out on their own and called their new company "Graphic Associates". While this group is deeply obscure, and my research continues to learn more about their organization and scope, we know that Graphic Associates seems to take over (or inherit?) much of the work of Pictorial Statistics, Inc. during the early 1940s — including the ongoing series of public affairs pamphlets.
America Rearms, 1941
The UN: How and When It Works, 1951
Russia — Menace or Promise? 1946
Three charts by Graphic Associates for public affairs pamphlets
Graphic Associates brought a different flair than the more austere work of Modley (and Neurath before him). You can sense an evolution of the format in the way Graphic Associates hand draws their work, adding a more humorous and cartoony edge while retaining the pictorial statistical rigor. The designs become more graphically dynamic with an illustrational flair in keeping with the times. As seen in the charts above, the team begins to blend different approaches of visual comparison, flow chart, and even comic storytelling into their work.
In the scope of this article, the detour into the work of Modley and Graphic Associates serves to connect us to the common goal of these pamphlets — to increase public knowledge. While my research on pictorial statistics continues to unearth lost masterworks of information design, the message of these small but powerful pamphlets still proves relevant to today's world.
One of them is so interesting, in light of the January 6th insurrection, that I'd like to discuss it in particular:
Exploring a few key passages from "War and Human Nature"
Cover of "War and Human Nature", 1946, Public Affairs Committee
Considering the relatively short gap between the World Wars, there was naturally a lot of concern about the long-term emotional states of the defeated people of Germany and Japan. Much of the world was still rebuilding, and this pamphlet considers the root causes of the frustrations that began in confusion, transformed into fascism, and resulted in destruction. Sound familiar?
By examining the underpinnings of unrest and violence, its writer, Sylvanus Duvall, makes a clear and empathetic case to consider the unfulfilled needs that result in delusion, conspiracy, manipulation, and insurrection. He elaborates on how to confront these confused beliefs while staying true to a shared cultural identity and even comments at length on the democratic conditions (the ballot and the courtroom) that must be met to ensure a fair and equitable resolution of disputes.
While the terms of this book — "war," "peace," "Nazis," "dictatorship" — may feel out of place when considering American politics in the time of Trump [well, maybe not], the human insights feel precisely the same. The confusion and frustration and blame can easily be witnessed across our social media newsfeeds; the historical precedent clearly visible over and over again in this essay written 75 years ago.
The passages below highlight some of the main themes in War and Human Nature and I'll add some editorial interpretations on each.
edited passage from "War and Human Nature", 1946, Public Affairs Committee
Probably the strongest argument in the pamphlet is this relationship between confusion and susceptibility to influence. While the focus is on the defeat of the Germans in WWI which left their culture and politics vulnerable to the influence of Adolph Hitler, the author strikes a haunting connection to that of the mouse with a nervous breakdown. The Graphics Associates team was all too happy to elaborate visually in this incredible illustration:
Diagram from "War and Human Nature", 1946, Public Affairs Committee
Certainly, the influence of the media (left and right) along with gamified conspiracy culture helped to give the insurrectionists an altogether surreal cosplay appearance, or as the headline in MotherJones read "Trump's Trolls Turned Their Violent Fantasies Into Reality". The weaponization of the foundational confusion here is obvious. Beneath the hyperbole, rhetoric, and fanaticism, many people in the Trump camp are scared and confused. As a group, they would be almost pitiful if it weren't for their grotesque embrace of racism and intolerance.
The belief that the MAGA faith has in a previous time where America was "Great", speaks to the need to try to re-build a worldview that they can understand. Yet a challenge to the phrase "Make America Great Again" was always the question "…for who"? This insecurity in a current world where a Black man can be US President and urban populations determine fair elections just does not compute for this adrift group of people who feel abandoned by their political leaders — except for Trump.
Certainly, a global pandemic that emphasizes income disparities and prevents face-to-face connection only makes it all worse. The missing tether to a community, workplace, or family allows those under the influence to fall further down the rabbit hole.
The frustration is so clearly evident in the videos from the insurrection. The toxic blame game that was weaponized by Trump beginning in "build the wall" and ending with "kill Mike Pence" certainly can be seen with historic precedent. Anyone that Trump blames has been an easy target for his supporters to defect their rage. Again, the Graphic Associates team elaborates with a graphic to support this argument:
Frustration, blame, education, understanding, and tolerance
We can see the anger and urgency of the insurrectionists, but in order to take steps towards actually healing our country, we must address the nature of this collective frustration. Certainly, the bigotry and toxic masculinity bundled with algorithm-boosted social media call-to-arms flooding corners of American helped to plant the violent seed.
In order to resolve these frustrations, we must acknowledge the reasons why such confusion was allowed to fester and take hold. We must account for ever-growing income disparities. We must acknowledge the lack of accountability by our public and political figures, the inconsistent policing and enforcement of all human rights, and the unattainable goals portrayed in our media.
This all feels like way too much to figure out — but history shows us it has been considered and acted on before. If the populations of Germany and Japan could both rebound and become global powerhouses in the decades after WWII, why can't we see reconciliation between neighbors and families with more in common over a shorter period of time? It's going to take a lot of hard work, but a better, more equitable future is ahead if we focus on the underlying causes of this dark moment of American history and work together to overcome it.
Here's the whole pamphlet "War and Human Nature", 1946 as PDF
Jason Forrest is a data visualization designer and writer living in New York City. He is the director of the Data Visualization Lab for McKinsey and Company. In addition to being on the board of directors of the Data Visualization Society, he is also the editor-in-chief of Nightingale: The Journal of the Data Visualization Society. He writes about the intersection of culture and information design and is currently working on a book about pictorial statistics.
https://nightingaledvs.com/author/editor-in-chief/
A look inside Nightingale Magazine Issue 2!
The Telefacts of Life: Rudolf Modley's Isotypes in American Newspapers 1938–1945
How to Solve It – and by It – I Mean *Anything*
Behind the Scenes of "Unimaginable Death"
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RJ Andrews
Tear Up Your Baseline
A torn paper metaphor brings non-zero baselines to your reader's attention. This intentional design flourish is inspired by one of data visualization's pioneers who, 100..
Joshua Pine
REVIEW: Dan Bouk' Democracy's Data: The Hidden Stories in the U.S. Census and How to Read Them
The practice of data storytelling often focuses on weaving a narrative by highlighting themes from a dataset. Author Dan Bouk flips this conventional practice on..
Marília Ferreira da Cunha
Information Is Beautiful Awards – Impactful Community Leader and Nominees
For the first time in Information is Beautiful Awards, the Impactful Community Leader Award was recognized. This award is for an individual who has made..
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text:
#ifndef GrTextStrike_impl_DEFINED
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void GrFontCache::detachStrikeFromList(GrTextStrike* strike) {
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Steelers News
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Steelers Depot
Antonio Brown's Season Numbers, What Is And Could Have Been
By Matthew Marczi
Following his 16-reception game against the Broncos, Antonio Brown was at 116 receptions for the season 13 shy of his career-best 129 that he set last season, and, of course, 14 receptions away from surpassing that mark. He recorded seven receptions on Sunday to get halfway to the goal of breaking his own franchise record for receptions.
Brown's 129-reception season in 2014 is the second-most that anybody has ever had in a season in NFL history, behind only the 144 that Marvin Harrison had for the Colts more than a decade ago. And that merely makes it all the more remarkable that the league could see two receivers pass that mark this year.
In addition to Brown, Atlanta's Julio Jones is also having an exceptional season, and actually has better numbers than the Steelers All-Pro. On the year, Jones already has 127 receptions, which is the third-most in a season all-time, and needs only three to become the second player ever to reach 130 receptions in a season.
He also has 1722 receiving yards to lead the league, 75 yards ahead of Brown, who has the second-most receiving yards—in addition to receptions—in the league. The two are far clear of the third-place receiver in either category this year by about 20 receptions and 200 yards.
The comparison to Jones, and to the rest of the league, also helps to serve the fact that this has been a remarkable year for Brown all the same, who has had tremendous success when Ben Roethlisberger has been healthy and on the field.
On Roethlisberger's 11 games this year, Brown has totaled 106 receptions—not far from 10 receptions per game, amazingly—in addition to 1412 yards, which works out to 128.4 receptions per game. All nine of his touchdown receptions have also come in those 11 games.
To prorate those numbers, if Roethlisberger and Brown had been on the field for every game of a 16-game season maintaining this rate of production, he would have finished the year with 154 and 2054 yards, both of which would have been all-time records.
It's also worth considering that Roethlisberger's first game back from injury was also the worst performance that Brown has had with his quarterback on the field since the 2013 season. He had just six receptions for 47 yards in Roethlisberger's return against Cincinnati, a clear and significant aberration in comparison to his average marks with the quarterback on the field.
It is interesting, then that he can and perhaps likely will finish with numbers superior to his 129-reception, 1698-yard season from 2014, and yet he will likely finish in second on the year in both categories, all the while having had the very real chance of making a huge dent in the record books, had health broken better for the Steelers this year.
In the meantime, he did add two more accolades to his resume, becoming only the second player ever to record 120-reception seasons and 1600-yard seasons in consecutive years, first accomplished by Cris Carter and Calvin Johnson, respectively. He also added most receptions in a two-year span to his growing list, passing Harrison for that honor.
Related Items:Antonio Brown, Calvin Johnson, Cris Carter, Julio Jones, Marvin Harrison, Steelers
Ben Roethlisberger Led NFL Last Season In Pass Attempts Into End Zone
Antonio Brown Posts, Then Deletes Apology After Reaching Settlement In Furniture-Throwing Lawsuit
Steelers Left Off NFL.com's Top 10 Teams Of The Decade
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Using your PIN number you can view a summary of your utility services , water consumption, online invoices and account transactions. Your account number and PIN number are printed on your invoice.
You can search for general property information such as legal description, assessment values and utility services. You can search by property folio number, property ID number or street name.


Our Pennsylvania Real Estate Exam Preparation guide will have you quickly prepared for your upcoming Salesperson License Exam. We have helped license over 50,000 students with an exam pass rate of over 95%. The practice exam questions and answers were created by industry experts and are constantly updated to Pennsylvania's licensing requirements. We stand by our real estate practice exams and offer an exam pass guarantee.
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Must have successfully completed four credits, or 60 hours, of approved real estate education.
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Does Pennsylvania have homestead laws?
What tenancies does Pennsylvania allow?
Does Pennsylvania allow Holographic wills?
How soon can a broker receive a commission check after a closing in Pennsylvania?
Does Pennsylvania allow reciprocity with other states?
Which of the following would not put a sales person in jeopardy of losing their license in Pennsylvania?
Does Pennsylvania have dower laws?
It depends on whether the current year is an even or odd numbered year.
The license fee for a real estate salesperson in Pennsylvania, for applications submitted between June 1 of an even-numbered year through May 31 of an odd-numbered year, is $131.00, plus $10.00 for the Recovery Fund Fee (unless previously paid). The license fee for a salesperson for applications submitted between June 1 of an odd-numbered year through May 31 of an even-numbered year is $83.00 plus the $10.00 Recovery Fund Fee. The fees are non-refundable.
In what circumstances, if any, can a broker in Pennsylvania who is serving as an intermediary representing both parties collect compensation from both the buyer and the seller?
Is Pennsylvania a community property state?


text:
#include "include/core/SkBBHFactory.h"
#include "src/core/SkRTree.h"

sk_sp<SkBBoxHierarchy> SkRTreeFactory::operator()() const {
    return sk_make_sp<SkRTree>();
}


This paper will cover a practical application of systems science by using a natural systems perspective to create global sustainability--a necessity for a world of peace, justice, and democracy.
Ecology, the study of systems of relationships, and psychology, the study of how we think, feel, and act, combine to help people remember that our lives and our potential rely on an interconnected and interdependent universe.
The core principles of natural systems--mutual support and reciprocity, no waste, no greed, and increasing diversity--are exhibited in a healthy and thriving ecosystem. These principles provide the models and metaphors necessary for humans to create healthy, fulfilling, and sustainable lifestyles and social systems.
A methodology from applied ecopsychology, known as the Natural Systems Thinking Process (NSTP), provides an epistemology and personal benefits for health, empowerment, and wisdom in an interconnected and interdependent world. The NSTP thus directly translates into social and environmental benefits as well. Relocalization, the process to bring sustainability into our lifestyles and social systems, provides a practical application of systems and complexity science for steady-state economies and democracy.
Overcoming our separation from nature--reconnecting with the nature that is within and around us--deepens conscious and sensory awareness of our connection within the web of life. This reconnection is personally healing and also motivates behavior that protects the environment. The intimate and heartfelt realization that we are an intricate part of a larger system, as well as being interdependent systems ourselves, and not disconnected and independent pieces, helps us create and sustain responsible, mutually supportive attraction relationships--the self-organizing activity of life itself. Sustainability can then become a natural extension of who we are and become embedded both within what we create and the personal and political decisions we make.
These systems of relationships are the polar opposite of the ranking hierarchies of control based on fear and force which comprise the dominant paradigm today. They are decidedly non-hierarchical in any traditional sense, and more closely resemble the peer-to-peer decentralized network model most people are familiar with in the Internet today. In the social sphere, the partnership way and partnership education are practical examples of this model. The decentralization that is a core precept of bioregionalism is another example of this model, and is used in consensus based bioregional governance for democratic decision making.
Our work at Attraction Retreat does more than uncover the systemic nature of the problems that are causing the world's ills, it makes solutions available to individuals and the community that must be brought to bear in creating systemic alternatives instead of single-issue band-aids in building a just, equitable, and sustainable future.


text:
Archipelago diaries |
Of Sacred Trees and Sharman Rituals, Experiencing the Jari Janang Kalalawah Festival
Archipelago Diaries | 18 March 2019
17 sub-tribes of Dayaks gather to dance, sing, play their traditional instruments and celebrate their culture at Jari Janang Kalalawah festival. Photo by David Metcalf/NOW!JAKARTA
Before I entered the Dayak house, Ardiyansah performed a small welcome ceremony. Using his original Dayak Ma'anyan language he stated, "This blessing is to honour you as my guest. Leave all diseases and other things behind; leave all religion and any beliefs outside". Splashing holy water on my head and smearing white paste on my brow, he then added, "As you enter this house, we are as one. You are now accepted as one of us. You are family".
After each of my four traveling companions received a similar welcome, we were all invited to take our place on the tika (woven mat) in the lounge. A lovely natural conversation started to flow with Ardiyansah, a middle-aged Dayak Ma'anyan man, while the other family members got busy in the kitchen.
It had been a very long journey from Palangkaraya to Haringen Village, in East Barito, a region of Central Kalimantan. I really felt like I was in the heart of Borneo now, seven hours inland and not a foreigner in sight. We had stopped at a restaurant on the way and, when I placed my order for our group, the girls on the serving counter shrieked and ran away to the back of the kitchen. I love this kind of travel moment. Later, I found out that they had never seen foreigners before, let alone served them.
The manager appeared after some time and asked us what we would like. She did not seem fazed at all by our appearance or my funny-sounding Jakarta twang Bahasa Indonesia. After about 15 minutes the young girls reappeared, looking sheepish. They still stayed at a safe-counter distance, and would not engage with us. Surely, we were not that scary.
That was not the only extreme encounter. We stopped at a gigantic roundabout in another small town we passed through, about the only thing of note there. When we piled out of the car to stretch our legs, five foreigners, we soon heard screams of delight and a chorus of, "Selfie, selfie, mister", which seemed to come out of nowhere. Soon there was a line of motorbikes with 2, 3 and 4 people to a bike, all waiting to talk to us. Although they all wanted selfies, no one had a camera. "On your phone. It's very cool to get a selfie, and you are not from here. Yes, please, selfie-selfie." Of course, we responded very enthusiastically and agreed to all the selfies. The locals also took advantage of the opportunity to practice their English with "real live foreigners", as they referred to us. Once all the selfies were taken, they all took off in a big rush, still squealing with delight.
Art and culture performance at at Jari Janang Kalalawah festival.
Dayak girls wears traditional costumes for carnival parade.
A great travelling moment indeed and, as always when travelling in Indonesia, the encounters you have are so friendly and so delightful, one just wants to keep travelling. The more remote you go, the more enchanting these encounters seem to be.
Our first evening at Ardiyansah's house, in Haringen Village, was all about the food and getting to know the family. We were all really looking forward to enjoying some of the delicious Dayak food we had heard so much about. Different family members soon began laying an astounding array of Dayak dishes out in front of us on the tika. There was a selection of forest greens plus other colourful vegetables, tofu and tempe, chicken, and river fish. Somehow bat soup snuck in there. Yes, they had to sneak in a bat dish.
"We call it batman soup", Ardiyansah said, as he saw my skeptical look. Everyone laughed at that, and my courageous fellow travellers actually each took a bowl with a complete bat in it. I gave the bat delicacy a miss, but there were to be other opportunities. I saw some kind of bat dish every day, in the form of breakfast bat soup, seared bat and bat stew. A variety of edible grubs and bug dishes was also presented. Dayak food is an all-encompassing culinary experience and, as Ardiyansah explained, "We Dayaks eat everything". Indeed, every day was a huge feast of different dishes, invariably including some items I simply did not recognise.
After dinner, we crawled under our mosquito nets and found the simple well-padded floor mattress very comfortable. We slept in one long line, Dayak style, waking early to join Yedi, for a walk in the nearby forest.
Showcasing Dayak indigenous traditions that has been passing through generations.
A young man of 28, Yedi was already a shaman. He was the son of the owner of the house, also a shaman, but everyone recognised that Yedi already possessed greater powers than his father. He explained to us how he came to develop these powers. At the age of 10, Yedi received a message he was a chosen one when he had an unexplained illness as a child. While he was ill, the spirits kept returning to him, giving him more and more information. "Once I told people about this, there was a ritual at my house. I learned rites and ceremonies from a master shaman who spoke in an ancient language. I had to learn this language first. This language is only passed on orally, nothing is written." He continued, "A shaman is a healer and a helper, like a doctor. Other people have powers to cast spells, but shaman do not have these powers".
As we stood at the edge of the forest, Yedi said quietly, "I am ready now, let us go to the sacred trees". So we followed him into the forest, walking single file. After a few minutes, we came to a stop and he explained, "I must bury a coin here at this sacred tree and give offerings before I take the root". He was gathering medicinal plants and roots for a healing session later that day. As he pulled up the root, he added, "It's very important that I pull up the root facing away from me".
Yedi also scraped some bark from the same tree and then said, "I will take some of these leaves too. This is known as Pasak Bumi and gives strength. I will make this into a tea".
The young shaman then took us deeper into the forest to show us other sacred trees there. The next tree, a Sima Wuket tree, had a yellow root which helps with diabetes and hepatitis. Before Yedi took the root, he pounded the ground to "wake up the tree" and then buried a coin and some rice next to it. "This tree cannot be planted," he said, "It only holds power by growing naturally in the forest. Lucky for me, this one is near my house".
Workshop for local products.
Each looked very old, and beautiful in its own way, and we paused before each tree while Yedi entoned a brief prayer. He then went on to show us other sacred trees, including the Rirung Tree, whose leaves are used in dance ceremonies, the Kamat Tree, and the Balik Angin Tree. Yedi told us, "There is one more very sacred tree, called Kayu Simali Mali, however, it is far away in the mountains".
Along the way, Yedi showed us his bracelet, "This is important", he stressed, "as when you are a shaman you know that there is danger that your spirit can be lost, because of the forces you are working with, so you must always have your bracelet with you. You need it to guide you".
After our forest walk, we said our farewells to our wise young shaman and headed home to get ready for our next adventure. This involved attending the opening parade of a local festival in the main town of Tamiang Layang, where 17 sub-tribes of Dayaks were gathering to dance, sing, play their traditional instruments and celebrate their culture.
For me, the highlight of the Jari Janang Kalalawah festival came when the elders, shamans and shawomen gathered on the stage. They sat in a storytelling circle to share their knowledge, wisdom and life lessons passed down through the generations. Because we were foreign guests, we were invited up on the stage too, so we could listen more closely. For our benefit, each story was translated into English. We got to hear the essence of each extraordinary tale. No one seemed to mind the fact that this translation exercise doubled the time taken on the storytelling.
Stephanie Brookes.
In all, we attended three days of this cultural festival, yet again as the only foreigners. Every day we had the most gracious hospitality bestowed on us. We immersed ourselves in the beautiful and rich Dayak culture, participating in spinning top and other traditional games, giving comments on the elaborate spreads of food from the different regions, watching the shield painting competition and celebrating with the different tribes. We made many new friends and got to know them better through their stories, dance and music. It really felt like we had touched the culture in a very authentic way.
Stephanie is leading a trip to Haringen Village and Tamiang Layang, Central Kalimantan, April 26 – 2 May, which includes homestay accommodation with dinner bed and breakfast at the shaman's house, attending the local Dayak festival (Jajaka Bracelet Dance Festival 2019), lunch with the family of the adat (traditional) leader, a visit to a black orchid forest and a traditional weaving village. You are welcome to join this unique (small group size) cultural adventure to meet the Dayak Ma'anyan. A very authentic journey of discovery.
https://www.davidmetcalfphotography.com/tours/borneo-maanyan-cultural-tour/
Stephanie is an author and travel writer who lives in Bali and covers the cultural Hidden Heritage section monthly. Traveling to far reaches of Indonesia, Stephanie finds stories of myths and legends and covers cultural festivals. From Aceh to Timor her stories feature remote places across the archipelago. See more of her stories on www.travelwriter.ws
A Road Trip to the West Coast of Java
Under the Rainbow of Belitung
Scenic Sidemen Window to A Bygone Bali
Kei Islands – Caves and Kings
Discover Stunning Beaches Around the Capital


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How long have we had ATM cards in our pockets to conduct banking transactions all across the globe? Yet, in healthcare we still struggle with the concept of a portable electronic health record? In order to address the financial challenges that healthcare reform is demanding, we must continue to look outside the industry and bring in solutions that will help us improve margin without affecting people, equipment or programs.


Void 1.1, or Void, is a 28mm scale tabletop science-fiction wargame, originally produced by i-Kore (now defunct) and now produced by Scotia Grendel (who also produce the associated Urban War skirmish game). The rules are free for download, and like the miniatures are available from Scotia Grendel.
"VOID 1.1 is a fast-paced skirmish game, with the emphasis placed on enjoyable free flowing game play. It uses a unit-by-unit activation system that encourages strategic use of supporting troops,and prevents the game from becoming mired in hour-long turns. The game mechanics are clear and concise, allowing you to fight games ranging from very small skirmishes with only a few miniatures, to massive battles using hundreds of miniatures. Simple enough for beginners, the game system also has subtle depths that will provide a satisfying challenge for the experienced player."
Set in the Draconis-Alba Galaxy, in the universe of Void 1.1, Humanity's homeworld of Viridia and earliest colonies of Prime and Ironglass are now the capitals of mighty and competitive interstellar empires, an uneasy (and sometimes fictitious) peace that is kept by VASA, tthe Pan-Humanic Protectorate.
Viridia: The Viridians - ruled by a corporate assembly in what some term democracy and others oligarchy, they feel constant guilt for the near-destruction of humanity's homeworld of Viridia and seek to minimize the environmental impact of their forces, blending high-tech power armor with saurian fighting platforms and elite light infantry. Both the Junkers and the Syntha fought bloody wars of independence against Viridia hundreds of years ago that none are eager to forget - or forgive.
Prime: The Syntha - A civilization of master scientists and innovators ruled by Prime AI, though they and their society seem almost inhuman to the rest of Pan-Humanic space, this matters little to the Syntha, for they have Faith In The Machine. Their Homeworld of Prime is made entirely of the best superconductor in the known universe, allowing them to create ever more advanced machines to serve them while they pursue their ultimate goal - the perfect, sustainable fusion of man and machine, the next step in human evolution. Robots, Cyborgs, advanced AIs, and even the god-like biomechs comprise the armies of the Syntha Collective.
Ironglass: The Junkers - The Junkers of Ironglass are a secretive police state, a throwback to the colony's origin as a prison world. Life is cheap on Ironglass and her colonies, and invariably short. The Convict Legions of the Junkers Senate have expanded the borders of their empire ever outwards, leaving no asteroid unturned or planet unexploited in their search for resources and wealth enough to keep them on an even footing with the other powers.
VASA - Headquartered on Vacillus, VASA, once the Viridian Aeronautics and Space Administration, now bears responsibility as the policing body of Pan-Humanic Space, arbiter of disputes between the three Great Powers of the Tripartite Confederacy and guardians of the frontier against the Koralon menace. Some view VASA as the best hope for a fractious humanity, while others view them as little more than the faceless enforcers of the Tripartite Confederacy's status quo. While VASAs armies are immense, it must rely on militia and colonial marine levies from signatory states to augment its Suppressors and elite special forces, whose equipment is among the finest in the Draconis-Alba Galaxy.
The Koralon - sweeping in from their empire on the Rim, the Koralon are the first sapient alien species encountered by humanity. Amphibious creatures that have developed a symbiotic (or parasitic, depending on which scientist one asks) relationship with an infectious coral-like microbe, they seem bent on either destroying humanity, or changing us to suit their purposes. Serpentine Purestrain alien Koralon lead hosts of twisted human-coraline hybrids, vicious parodies of humanity.


An iPod, iPhone or even an iPad is the last place you'd expect to find a shooting game, let alone an actually decent shooter for free. Star Warfare does exactly that…(well almost).
The storyline for the game is fairly generic: humans in space are harvesting minerals in outer space…when suddenly, out of nowhere, aliens attack! Your character must now defend the remaining human colonies from these invaders.
Star Warfare offers two game modes: single player (campaign) and multiplayer.
The campaign is pretty straight forward, just jump right in and start blasting away at the hordes of aliens coming your way. There are seven playable maps, each consisting of five levels along with and an infinite mode. The more aliens you blast, the more money you get that allows you to purchase and upgrade your weapons in the store. Aliens will also drop some goodies that you can pick up to score some extra cash.
There are seven playable maps, each consisting of five levels along with and an infinite mode. To add more of a challenge there are three boss battles included within the campaign. Players can choose to face the bosses when they feel that they are ready. Your only objective is to stay alive and defeat all of the enemies in a given level.
Aside from the infinite mode, the boss battles are one of the most challenging parts of the game.
For a free game, Star Warfare's multiplayer exceeds expectation; it is a nice break from just running and gunning down aliens. With five different game types to choose from, players can either face each other in versus modes such as capture the flag or stand together in cooperative boss levels.
Along with various game types, there are different maps players can face each other on. Each map has its own vantage points as well as scenery that adds to the overall experience.
Another great part about this game's multiplayer is that it rewards you for each day you go online. After the first three days you start earning mithril, which is a secondary form of game currency.
To be fair you have to go into this game's multiplayer expecting to die… a lot. Like many other online multiplayer games you will be facing more experienced players with better weapons and gear. But don't worry, Star Warfare rewards you for each day you go online. After the first three days you start earning mithril, which is a secondary form of game currency.
In terms of customizing your character, Star Warfare offers a ton of weapons and armor sets to choose from. From heavy machine guns to shotguns, and even laser cannons, this game definitely has an arsenal that will fit your needs. The armor sets also have different attributes that can boost your stats on the battlefield.
The in-game store offers a handful power-ups you can use to increase your attack, defense, and speed. These can be very helpful when it comes to fighting bosses or even getting through a new level that you have just unlocked.
If you're looking for some serious firepower, the weapons that can dish out some serious damage are going to cost you some mithril, the secondary currency of Star Warfare. For starters, mithril isn't that easy to come by. You can either purchase it with real money, or you can earn it by simply going onto multiplayer. But when you do get enough of it, you can unleash your fury upon hordes of aliens. You can also use mithril to buy better armor for you character;there's even a backpack that allows you to however above ground and not take any damage from ground creatures. These "mithril-only" items can certainly benefit you in the long run, but you'll have to dedicate yourself to the game.
Star Warfare: Alien Invasion certainly does exceed expectation as a free shooter. It has a huge array of weapons to choose from, several maps to choose from, and even a variety of enemies to keep you on your toes. One problem with the game is that all of the items in the store are very pricey. You'll have to repeat some missions over and over if you want to upgrade your character. Another problem is that all of your saved data is erased after upgrading to iOS 7; a very frustrating occurrence indeed.
This game gets an 7.5 out of 10.
Star Warfare: Alien Invasion is free to download and play on the Android Market and on iTunes.


The urgent buzzing of my mobile phone as I stood by the luggage carousel in Heathrow airport was the first indication something awful had happened. It had been switched off for a week (oh, the luxury) while I enjoyed a holiday in the sun on the Greek island of Ithaca.
A casual squeeze on the 'power on' button as I waited for my suitcase to appear, and it was as if a dam had burst. Text after text tripped over themselves to land in my inbox.
Geoffrey was dead. He'd collapsed a few days earlier at home. Had I heard? Wasn't it terrible, everyone asked?
The best way to describe that shock is like having a heavy weight land on your chest. You try to breathe in, but the gasp gets snagged.
Tears get jarred, too. I don't remember much about the taxi ride home. Who'd died? Geoffrey Thorwald James, a fellow presenter-producer in local radio in Bristol in the mid-Seventies — and one of the greatest loves of my life.
Grieving the death of a long-lost lover is strange. There's no standard rule book on its ethics.
Is it really permitted, or indeed appropriate, for a happily married woman and mother, of some years' standing, to feel so utterly floored by the death of someone you'd loved so many years before?
It was this very moral perplexity that was raised recently by the actor Ian McShane, who revealed how deeply he'd been affected by the death of the first of his three wives, Suzan Farmer, at the age of 75.
The relationship had clearly been short lived. McShane said he had hardly seen her for two years of their marriage as he was out partying and trying to make his name. It was, he explained, the Sixties, but her passing, all these years later, had had a profound effect. I completely understand his deep sense of loss.
I met Geoffrey Thorwald James as my far-too-early marriage to Brian Murray — we were wed when I was 21 — was in the process of disintegration. Like McShane, I was busily working hard to build up the foundations of a career as a broadcast journalist.
Unexpectedly, into my life, came GTJ and what the French would describe as a 'coup de foudre' — a bolt of lightning — or, rather less romantically, in English, 'love at first sight'.
He was proud of the unusual middle name, although I never discovered the origins of it, but it was the least of the peculiarities and precious delights that made him the man I have always described as my 'one'.
He was tall with an unfortunate tendency to gain weight, generally around the middle and largely due to his unquenchable fondness for Waddington's beer. He could sniff out a Waddies pub within a ten-mile radius.
You couldn't have called him handsome, with his unruly, dark curly hair and spectacles which were in a constant state of disrepair. But attractive, charming, witty, clever, kind, generous, joyous, attentive were all words designed to define him.
I have no doubt we both fell quite hopelessly in love and our fate was sealed by a slightly drunken encounter in the basement gramophone library at BBC Radio Bristol as a Christmas party came to an end.
We worked and lived together, jointly producing and presenting the station's mid-morning, three-hour programme.
Our professional talents complemented each other perfectly — mine the more politically aware and serious end of what the programme required, his the fun and endless warmth with listeners who phoned in.
It was Geoffrey who put through the call to me during a phone-in on pet care with a local vet that was replayed for years afterwards. A Mrs Burgess from Clifton had called for advice about a pair of toads that were mating in her garden. As the tale unfolded and she explained it had been going on for several days and the toad on the bottom appeared to be upside down, my giggle became so uncontrollable I had to disappear under the desk and let the vet take over.
Geoffrey found the whole incident hysterically funny. I paid him back soon after with another pet call, this time concerning a budgie who, the caller explained, had a little toy in his cage around which he would wrap his wings and bounce up and down.
'I'm afraid,' she shrieked, 'he's pleasuring himself!' Geoffrey's turn to hoot with laughter and disappear under the desk.
Our work and social lives were inevitably intertwined and for nearly three years we were inextricably joined at the hip. I doubt there's ever been a time in my life when I have laughed and smiled so much. We discussed, but never argued or fought. Marriage and a future together were frequently talked about.
Our only minor disagreement was his fondness for country music. I thought it mawkish and old fashioned. Strange that, many years later, I too would see the pleasure in Emmylou Harris and become a devoted fan of the TV series Nashville. I regret all the whingeing I did about being dragged along to country concerts at Bristol's Colston Hall.
My most vivid memory of our time together was a holiday we spent in Greece. I longed to visit an island called Ithaca, as I'd been greatly moved by a poem of that name by C.P. Cavafy and, of course, by the story of Odysseus's struggles to return there to his faithful wife, Penelope.
It was, as I had imagined, the most perfect romantic trip. First, a few days in a remote and quiet part of Corfu, a boat to the island — there was only one a week in those days —and back to Corfu to fly home.
We were completely wrapped up in each other in the sun and the startlingly still clear blue sea. Back home, our careers gathered pace. The manager of the station was keen that we should progress through the BBC. I was encouraged to try television and Geoffrey became a producer on the Today programme. Geography drove the first wedge between us.
It was the occasion of my 29th birthday that produced the first serious cracks. I arranged a Friday-night party at the flat in Bristol. He planned to arrive from London around seven.
By ten he was still not there — no mobiles in those days — and when the phone rang it was the wife of one of his closest drinking companions. They'd gone out for a quick one after work and come back to hers in no fit state to drive.
Same story the next day. They had 'popped out for a quick one at lunchtime' and returned completely legless. He finally turned up on the Sunday evening and I was so hurt and angry I virtually had to be scraped off the ceiling.
His response? 'I really don't understand why you're so angry. You claim to love me.
I was never quite sure he could see there might be a difference in what was expected in such different relationships.
The break-up was prolonged and extremely painful, as we both ended it, started it again and then ended it once more.
Always in the back of my mind was the question of whether I could trust this wonderful man to make my needs more important than his love for alcohol. Would I ever be sure he would turn up at school on time to pick up any children we might have?
It was then that I learned, I suppose, that I would always let my head rule my heart and never the other way around.
I was 30 when I met David Forgham Bailey. Handsome, charming, fun, gainfully employed and dashing in his naval officer's uniform. Most importantly he hardly drank alcohol, always turned up when he said he would and even ironed a shirt for me one morning when I was rushing to get ready for work.
There was a short period where I vacillated between the two and I did learn it is possible to love two men at the same time, but David's sobriety and reliability won out in the end. David and I set up home and had our two boys, Ed and Charlie, before finally marrying in 2003, after 23 years together.
Geoffrey went on to marry and had a couple of children, a few years younger than my two.
I never stopped feeling weak at the knees at the prospect of seeing Geoffrey. For a short while we worked together on the Today programme and for the rest of time we would occasionally meet for lunch or dinner and speak often on the phone.
Neither of us believed that the end of a love affair should mean bitterness and recrimination when two people had shared so much.
We were scrupulously faithful to the partners with whom we'd chosen to build our families, but we were never able to contemplate cutting each other out of our lives.
But, finally, it was the drink that ended our relationship and then, tragically, his life. I began to be aware of the toll the booze was taking on his health some seven or eight years ago.
His calls to me, often at work as Woman's Hour came to an end before lunchtime, were slurred and muddled. Then I learned from our many mutual friends that he was in hospital, seriously ill, his liver shot to pieces.
That time he recovered, swore he would never drink again and friends tell me he pretty well stuck to his decision.
But the damage was done. His calls became less frequent and when he did ring he was confused — with clear memories of events from 40 years ago, but nothing of what he'd done yesterday.
How ironic that I should be in Ithaca, sunning myself on that very island (actually, it was a cruise, on which I'd been hired as a guest speaker) where we'd spent our blissful holiday together all those years ago, when Geoffrey finally died.
Back home, I think David struggled to understand my grief. When I announced Geoffrey had died, his attitude was very much of the 'so what?' kind. Yes, it was sad, but it was 40 years ago . . .
A few people got it. Friends urged me to attend the funeral. I couldn't do it. I told myself and everyone else that it would be inappropriate and unfair to his wife and children for a weeping former lover to intrude on their grief.
In truth, I felt I couldn't bear to see the man I had loved for more than 40 years enclosed in a box and hear others extol his virtues in their eulogies when I had no right to say a word.
Instead, I spent the day in tears — apart from when I was on-air, of course. Work, as always, provided an infallible distraction.
I still have dreams of the morning I woke up alongside him as the sun shone through the window and felt a rush of overwhelming happiness.
I think of him almost every day and have to pinch myself as a reminder that it's true — I live in a world without his humour and passion in it.
Is it wrong for a married woman to feel floored by death?


In a meaty interview that raged on for the better part of twenty minutes this morning, CNN New Day anchor Chris Cuomo sparred with Kellyanne Conway of the Trump campaign on a wide variety of controversies, foremost of which has been the President-elect's willingness to seemingly discredit our own intelligence community.
The senior Trump advisor took issue with the fact that talk of the "alleged" Russian hacking (as she puts it) is being conflated with why Hillary Clinton lost, a claim that Conway put at the feet of CNN itself. "Your network is doing it constantly," she told Cuomo. At times, two continued to spar even over the basic premise of questions asked due to Conway's effective filibustering.
"I'll ask you a third time!" Cuomo said at one point about the October joint report from the Homeland Security Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence: did the intelligence community announce its findings of Russian involvement, yes or no?
What transpired was an (at times) infuriating battle between a fast-talking New Yorker and an equally combative and witty woman from New Jersey, both also aided by legal backgrounds. "Chris, I see you're very passionate about this," Conway said.
"Sure I am. Russia trying to hack during our election, being ignored by our President-elect? That's troubling," Cuomo shot back.
At the conclusion of the interview, Alisyn Camerota quipped, "That was a calorie burner." Watch above via CNN.


text:
Milton Contact Ltd
Helping you write, print and publish your book
Publishing Routes
Journey into Solitude by Ann Petre
by ChrisMCL
1st June 2006 24th November 2020
"Journey into Solitude" is a narrative story, part fact, part fiction, looking back almost 80 years in the life of Ann Petre. Childhood, the war, family history, triumphs and tragedies; this is a personal perspective, interspersed with dreams, photos and illustrations, on what it was like to live through each decade of the 20th century in Norfolk and Cambridge.
Ann Petre was born in 1926 at Langley Hall Farm, Norfolk and lived through some of the most tumultuous decades of the 20th Century, finally settling in Cambridge. You can experience what it was like, to grow up in the care of nannies, be educated by nuns, live through the war, and be a female student at Oxford in the forties. What happens when you make decisions based on passion later in life and have to start all over again – on your own?
The story is a window into another traveller's soul, in this often capricious and inexplicable journey through life on which each of us is embarked. Ann relates how she wove her path through those times, losing and finding herself in her unique journey into solitude.
In addition to Ann's story, there are two other threads. The first is historical with insights into a family history that includes links to nobility and a family of Britain's early aviation pioneers. The second is the visual story told by photographs from the beginning of the 1900s and concludes with the author's paintings.
"This is emphatically not a family history," the author says, "nor, strictly speaking, a memoir. It is more a story, or a myth. It is a narrative woven round my life. It attempts to explain why people, including myself, behaved as they did."
Designed by Milton Contact Ltd, Published by Moyhill Publishing 2006.
Out of print.
Bits & Bobs: From the Life of a Royal Navy Engine Room Artificer by Robert Hedger
The Cat that Sat by Jane Thomas
Arabella in London by Gloria Loring
The Knit & Natter Club by Gillian Grinham
The History of Cambridge Open Studios by Chris Thomas
© Copyright 2020 Milton Contact Ltd
3 Hall End, Milton, Cambridge, CB24 6AQ
Email: chris@miltoncontact.com


After a week involving snow, rain and sleet, the men's and women's track teams took advantage of a rare sunny, warm day in Ithaca, winning numerous events and IC4A qualifiers in the Cornell Outdoor Invitational, the Red's last meet before next week's Heptagonal Championships at Princeton. Saturday's field boasted considerable competition from the New York area, including Syracuse, Cortland and Utica.
On the men's side, sophomore Nick Huber came out flying in hurdles. Huber set records in both the 400m and 110m hurdles, running 51.91 and 14.61, respectively, to place seventh and ninth on Cornell's all-time list. Sophomore Brian Freitas finished just behind Huber in the 400 hurdles with a 51.92, good for eighth in Cornell's record books.
In sprints, junior Chris Tait highlighted the Red's individual performances, winning the 400m run IC4A qualifier with a time of 48.20. Junior Rich Semenick picked up a victory as well, taking the 200m in 21.87. In addition, Cornell's 4×100 team — composed of sophomore Chase Aaronson, senior Josh Kirkpatrick and freshmen Jedidiah Yiadon-Adarquah and Bruno Hortelano-Roig — ran a strong 40.91, good for third on Cornell's all-time list, a mark which hasn't been matched since the 1970s.
The Red picked up victories in other areas as well. Freshman David McCuiston led the way in the 800m run, while freshman Robert Micikas earned first place in the 1500m event with a 3:55.51 mark. In addition, sophomore Chris Arlinghaus won the high jump while senior Julian Remounds finished first in triple jump.
The women's team also rewrote the record books on Saturday, highlighted by a new top mark in the 4×100. Junior Mecha Santos, sophomore Melissa Hewitt and seniors Megan Williams and Kate Backel all combined for a 45.60 time. Junior Cassie Schweighofer also came out strong for the Red as she picked up two victories in different events — discus and shot put. She also finished second in the hammer. Senior Natalie Gengel, who has been the Red's go-to-girl all year in the pole vault, did not disappoint, as she finished first once again with a 12-1-1/2.
In hurdles, senior Jessica Weyman ran a 59.52 in the 400m event, the second-best time in the program's history. Junior Dani Silas picked up a record in the 110 hurdles as well with a 14.38, which placed her eighth on Cornell's all-time list. The victories kept coming for the Red as freshman Cara Costich had a personal best in the 3000m and senior Stephanie Pancoast won the 3000m-steeple chase.
For the Red, Saturday's meet was the last stepping stone before the Heptagonals; however, it also marked the end of the 2010 outdoor track regular season, a bittersweet moment to some. After all, not everyone will compete in the postseason, and for many, Saturday's meet was their last for the year.
"I think the team did great yesterday … it's such a shame the [regular] season is over; they are such a great group of girls," said sophomore Danielle Silas.


text:
SUSE-Linux-on-IBM-loaned mainframe becomes teaching ground
The University of Arkansas now has courses devoted to Linux on the mainframe. It also has a loaned z900 machine, which it shares, along with compute resources, with other schools.
Pam Derringer, News Writer
While most computer science students learn skills on x86 servers, their counterparts at the University of Arkansas will now get hands-on experience on a new IBM system z900 running Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise.
For more on Novell SUSE:
Microsoft buys $100 million more Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise certificates
Novell SUSE Linux beats out Red Hat on cost at life sciences firm
Cognos taps Novell SUSE Linux for mainframe debut
A national leader in mainframe instruction, the university (and its Walton School of Business) has taught Linux on the mainframe for five years and was rewarded for its efforts with a free five-year loan, including maintenance, of the System z machine from the Armonk, N.Y.-based computer manufacturer. The university ran pilot programs on the mainframe through the end of the last academic year and will use it for courses starting this week.
The university's fully configured system has 16 processors, 64 GB of memory and 7 TB of disk space. It contains enterprise-size databases donated by Sam's Club, Tyson's wholesale outlets and Dillard's retail stores, with the latter's repository containing 140 million rows. These unusually large databases, which are no longer used by the companies themselves, give students a rich, real-world experience as they learn how to work with relational databases and run SAP's business intelligence application.
Collaboration is the key to growth and increased usage.
David Douglas.
professorUniversity of Arkansas
"We are the only university in the world we know of running SAP with IBM DB2 on the mainframe," said Professor David Douglas. "We like to be a leader in enterprise computing in the mainframe environment," and believe students gain a competitive edge as the use of Linux and the mainframe continues to grow because of energy efficiency-motivated consolidations, he said.
Linux in the classroom
The university has four all-mainframe Linux courses, one that is an introduction to enterprise servers, another that is an introduction to enterprise transaction systems and two courses on data-driven decision-making for business school students, including one on SAP business intelligence, Douglas said. Using course materials that Douglas developed, the students learn systems management, application development and Web development using open source tools such as Apache, MySQL and PHP and how to run business applications such as SAP, he said. They also practice logical partitioning in Linux and System z, how to create virtual machines and eliminate physical ones in simulating a hardware consolidation, he said.<./ p>
"The combination of theory and practice is much better than just talking about it," Douglas said. "Hands-on experience is critical for students to have a competitive advantage in the marketplace."
The first to develop university-level Linux on the mainframe courses five years ago, Douglas decided to focus on Linux after concluding that it was a major computing platform and would continue to grow. And SUSE, which the university had been running on the previous IBM system 390 mainframe, was selected for the z900 because "it seemed to be the operating system of choice," especially for large users such as insurance companies and financial institutions, Douglas said.
Learning Linux on a mainframe is no different than on x86 machines, with essentially the same commands, Douglas added. The only difference is that students learn it on IBM's zVM virtualization platform.
Sharing the benefits
In its pitch to IBM for a new, larger machine, the university promised to share the z900 with other universities and create additional course materials for the mainframe. As a result, the educational benefits of the new mainframe will spread beyond the 45 computer science majors and those University of Arkansas students who use it as part of other classes to thousands of collegians worldwide. Any university that enrolls in IBM's and SAP's academic alliance programs is eligible to access the mainframe and its programs and courses, he said.
Douglas expects the number of participating universities and students to be large. At a recent academic congress, the university demonstrated the mainframe-sharing program and signed up nearly 1,000 institutions as participants, he said.
Although the university's computer science classes are small, Douglas projects an enrollment increase of 20% to 30% annually over the next few years as Linux skills increase in demand along with the use of the mainframe. Despite concerns about IT outsourcing, there is a shortage of trained IT staff nationwide, he added.
Douglas' future plans include continued improvement of the course materials and collaboration with participating universities on new ways to use mainframes in an academic environment.
"Collaboration is the key to growth and increased usage," Douglas said. "If we do that, our enrollment will continue to grow for the next several years at a fairly rapid rate."
Let us know what you think about the story; email Pam Derringer, News Writer . And check out Enterprise Linux Log.
Back to school with SUSE
By: Adrian Bridgwater
SUSE zLinux shops unfazed by Novell Attachmate deal
By: Alex Barrett
Is the time right for a mainframe renaissance?
Red Hat bolsters Linux for mainframes, tries to catch Novell
By: Bill Claybrook
New product launches at Linuxworld – ComputerWeekly.com
Back to school with SUSE – ComputerWeekly.com
University students set up Linux firm – ComputerWeekly.com


text:
Q: Product of Algebraic Number and Rational Number If $a$ is an algebraic number and $b$ is a rational number, then show that $ab$ is algebraic number. My attempt is to prove it by contradiction, but it failed. Can someone please help me?

A: Let
$$f(x)=x^n + r_{n-1}x^{n-1}+\cdots +r_1x + r_0$$
be a polynomial with rational coefficients such that $f(a)=0$.
Then
$$a^n + r_{n-1}a^{n-1} + \cdots + r_1a + r_0 = 0.$$
Multiply through by $b^n$. We get
$$b^na^n + r_{n-1}bb^{n-1}a^{n-1} + \cdots + r_1b^{n-1}ba + r_0b^n = 0.$$
Can you finish it off?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: Resize flyout window to appropriate dimensions with JQuery? I have a "Launch" button that creates a new window containing a stateful web app.  I'd like to ideally adjust the window dimensions to exactly fit the dimensions of the outermost container (ie: no background shown by default).
The width is fixed via Bootstrap Responsive and @media.  The height is auto as-needed based on the inner elements in the container.  Ideally, I'd like to have the window size be dynamic for both however.
Now, the problems I'm having:

*

*I haven't figured out a combination of height(), innerHeight(), and/or outerHeight() that work.  To elaborate, they do give me the height of the container, but trying to use window.resizeTo() seems to account for the window's title bar, URL bar, etc...  basically, setting the height to the exact size of the container is not tall enough (produces a scrollbar).

*I'm having the same problem with creating the window.  I attempted to dynamically create the window of the appropriate width,height by passing it in on window.open(), but that as well doesn't account for non-page area.
I'm thinking a solution would be to figure out the displayable area of the window (available height after accounting for non-page area) -- however, I haven't found an elegant way of doing this.  Manually determining it and hard-coding would likely change on a per-browser basis, or even per-use in the case that they're using a different number of bookmark bars, etc...
I've also considered trying other approaches besides window.resizeTo(), but haven't found anything suitable presently.
Any ideas?
I realize that setting a fixed height would be the easiest solution, but the height is variable at this point based on selected state.


text:
Die evangelische, denkmalgeschützte Dorfkirche Mescherin steht in Mescherin, einer Gemeinde im Landkreis Uckermark von Brandenburg. Die Kirche gehört zur Propstei Pasewalk im Pommerschen Evangelischen Kirchenkreis der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Kirche in Norddeutschland.

Beschreibung
Die Saalkirche wurde 1734 unter Verwendung von Teilen eines mittelalterlichen Vorgängerbaus erbaut. Sie besteht aus einem Langhaus und dem Erdgeschoss eines querrechteckigen Kirchturms unter Pultdächern im Westen. Darauf erhebt sich ein mit Brettern verkleidetes Geschoss, das den Glockenstuhl beherbergt. Der Helm in Form eines Pyramidenstumpfes wird von einer offenen achteckigen Laterne bekrönt, die mit einem Knickhelm bedeckt ist.

Die Orgel wurde 1960/61 von der Alexander Schuke Potsdam Orgelbau errichtet.

Literatur
 Georg Dehio: Handbuch der Deutschen Kunstdenkmäler. Brandenburg. Deutscher Kunstverlag, München/Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-422-03123-4, S. 692.

Weblinks

Einzelnachweise

Kirchengebäude im Landkreis Uckermark
Baudenkmal in Mescherin
Kirchengebäude der Propstei Pasewalk
Saalkirche
Erbaut in den 1730er Jahren
Kirchengebäude in Europa