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Urban Village - Saskia Sassen - Deep Inside the Global City
Urban Village
Deep Inside the Global City
Hilary Koob-Sassen, UAS, 2017.
The frontier is a space where actors from different worlds have an encounter for which there are no established rules of engagement. Whereas the "historic" frontier was at the edges of empire, today's frontier is deep inside large, complex, and mixed global cities.
These cities, whether in the Global North or South, have become strategic for the functioning of corporate capital. But they have also become strategic for the disadvantaged, outsiders, discriminated minorities, and those who lack power more widely. The disadvantaged and excluded can gain presence in such cities, presence vis-à-vis power and, even more important, vis-à-vis each other. This mix of conditions signals the possibility of a new type of politics, centered around new types of political actors and spaces. It is no longer simply a matter of having power or not. There are new hybrid bases from which to act; spaces where the powerless can make history, even without becoming empowered.
Making the Political
In city after city, informal politics are being made by actors-with-a-project, regardless of whether they themselves are powerful or not. It is particularly the work of making—the public, the political, the imagined—that is critical today, a time when the political space of the nation is becoming increasingly dominated by powerful and unaccountable actors, both private and public.1
The city, unlike office "parks," for example, enables a kind of public-making work that can produce disruptions. They can render the local and silenced legible. Today's global cities are one key space for this making. They are one of the few frontier spaces in a world where so much has already been bought up. With all their inequities and conflicts, it is in cities where those without power get to make a history, a local economy, and a culture.
It is the possibility of making that matters here, and we should not squash it. The multiplication of bordered spaces, dividing those whose advantage grows from those who lose ground, is not good for a city. Mixing a city's differences is far more compelling, enabling, and also often more just—if we think of a vast diverse city that no actor can fully control.
New Borderings
Thinking of the large complex city as an emergent frontier space—that is, a space where multiple differences come together—becomes a tool in the context of increasingly hardwired borderings, of which gated communities are but the most visible manifestation. The use that corporate capital makes of "our" cities is part of that hard bordering, but in a much more consequential way than the more familiar gated communities.
The common assertion that we live in a far less bordered world than thirty years ago only holds if we consider the traditional borders of the interstate system, and then only for the cross-border flow of capital, information, and particular population groups. In short, it is an extremely limited and partial openness.2
While some barriers for some sectors of our economies and society have indeed been lifted, enabling them to cut across interstate borders, we are far from moving towards a borderless world. For these same sectors are actively making new types of borderings by engaging only certain parts of countries and cities to generate their own "open" cross-border geographies.
These are not old imperial modes where conquerors wanted it all. Today's financial conquerors want specialized, and selective geographies: they need specific sites within national geographies.3 They do not want to deal with a whole country. They want instruments that allow them to cut across international borders and occupy only the sites of that territory that they need or desire for their own projects—differing radically from the older imperial land grabs.4
In short, the key in a growing number of today's emergent global urban political situations is not the elimination of more and more inter-state borders. It is rather that powerful actors have made a cross-border space—partly material and partly digital—that cuts across older barriers and occupies only specific areas of each of the countries where it operates.5
A simple illustration of this is the chain of global financial centers that can now be found in all countries that matter to high-finance. Each of these financial centers is a massive material event that installs itself in a city that provides all the key inputs: land, buildings, digital connectivity, and the mix of highly specialized knowledges that go with it all. But unlike old imperial modes, these financial centers have zero interest in conquering a whole country—they only want what they need.
From global finance to mining, construction, and beyond, these are today's transversal, partial, and quite impenetrable cross-border geographies of power. It is in such a context that the global city, where live both the powerful and the poor—becomes a frontier space with political consequence and opportunity.
Hilary Koob-Sassen, gridwork 1B, 2017.
The Global Street: Indeterminacy is Critical
The street needs to be differentiated from the classic European notion of public space as a ritualized site for public activity, such as the piazza and boulevard. The street, which also includes unmarked squares and any available open space, is a raw, unpredictable space. The street can thus also be conceived of as a space where new forms of the social and the political can be made, rather than a space for enacting routines as might be the case with a grand traditional park such as the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. With some conceptual flexibility, we might say that, politically, the street and square are marked by action, whereas the boulevard and piazza are marked by rituals.
Electronic interactive domains should be considered part of these larger ecologies for making, rather than as a purely technical domain. If we make conceptual and empirical room for the broad range of social logics that drive its users, we can detect diverse cultures of use in the ways these technologies get deployed. Each logic and culture of use activates an ecology of meanings and associated actions. One project with great potential is, for instance, what we could call "open-sourcing" the neighborhood.6 Seen in this way, social media can become an effective third force in tactical urbanism.7
Towards a Tactical Urbanism?
Against the background of the nation-states partial disassembly, large and complex cities emerge as strategic sites for making new orders—spatial, economic, political, environmental, cultural, and contestatory. Tactical urbanism can find strong ground for executing a vast range of projects that the disadvantaged and their poor or modest neighborhoods need to have a better life, to fight for their rights, and more.8
We need to relinquish our attachment to a certain kind of European urbanity—with all its positive enablements. In most of today's world, it is the large, somewhat overwhelmed city that represents the future. While most cities in the world are and will remain medium sized and be reasonable places, it is in large cities, in both the Global North and the Global South, that more complex futures are emergent.
The last two decades have seen an increasingly urban articulation of global logics and struggles and an escalation of the use of urban space for making political and economic claims by a very broad range of actors with very diverse agendas—some just and some dubious. These claims come from citizens, from the rich and the poor, from national and foreign investors, from gentrifiers, from social housing activists, and more. Unlike what is often the case with national initiatives, the materiality of urban space makes much of this visible.
It is in global cities that today's increasingly private and elusive forms of capital hit the ground and become concrete and visible. The current condition in global cities is creating not only new structurations of power, but also operational and rhetorical openings for new types of actors and their projects. That globalization's strategic components are localized in these cities means that the disadvantaged can at least engage with moments in the trajectory of today's global economy and power. Tactical urbanism can find diverse spaces in such cities, spaces that might have been previously submerged, invisible, or without voice.
The localization of the most powerful global actors in these cities creates a set of objective conditions for engagement, whether those involved want it or not. Examples of this include the by-now familiar struggles against gentrification as it encroaches on minority and disadvantaged neighborhoods. Virtually all major cities—from New York and London to Mumbai and Shanghai—have examples of the expulsion of low-income households and modest commerce from low-income neighborhoods that are then transformed into high-priced residential and business zones. While many of those anti-gentrification struggles fail, they have left a significant trace. Today, just about every urban dweller and local politician in major cities is aware of these struggles. They have become a datum—a fact that is in the public domain.
The emergent struggles for urban space in a growing number of cities across the world also tells us something that I have elsewhere referred to as the capacity of the city to talk back.9 Such cities are spaces where the growing numbers and diversity of the disadvantaged can take on a distinctive "presence," and in that sense, possibly constitute a political infrastructure for a tactical urbanism.
This all points to the importance of making a distinction between powerlessness and invisibility/impotence. The disadvantaged in global cities may lack power, but they can gain "presence" in their engagement with power—and, importantly, also gain presence vis-à-vis each other and thereby know that they are many. And while the literature on empowerment tends to reason that only empowerment counts, I would argue that gaining complexity in one's powerlessness, even if one does not become empowered, can still make a difference. This type of complexity in the condition of powerlessness can, and increasingly is, becoming political "speech." One effect is a world-wide recognition that it is happening in major cities across the world, and that there is justice in this battle. In all these ways, a history of transversal recurrences is being made. We now know, and we will not forget.
Yet only certain spaces enable this today. While in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, mines and plantations in the Caribbean, for instance, were key spaces for political organization, today's plantation and mine workers are in a situation of flat powerlessness, where there is no possibility to make history or politics.10
I have long argued that in today's world, it is cities that offer the powerless the possibility of making presence. Further, while many of today's urban struggles are highly localized, they represent a form of global engagement.11 Their globality is constituted as a horizontal, multi-sited recurrence of similar struggles in hundreds of cities worldwide. And though the larger project often cannot be achieved, there is an accumulation of efforts that brings knowledge and transversal recognition among the powerless.
Such struggles point to the making of operational and rhetorical openings for new types of political actors, including the disadvantaged and those who were once invisible or without voice. Tactical urbanism, understood in this way, engaged in multiple specific sites in specific cities, can become a global space for recognizing each other and for making.
Urban Village is collaboration between e-flux Architecture and the 7th Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (UABB) within the context of its theme, "Cities, Grow in Difference."
Saskia Sassen is the Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology and Member, The Committee on Global Thought, Columbia University. Her latest book, Expulsions: Brutality and Complexity in the Global Economy (Harvard University Press 2014), is now out in eighteen languages.
Juan Du
Beyond Classification
Imagine a corporation of great wealth. It owns land in the most valuable area of the city's Central Business District. You saw the directors of the corporation at the mayor's gathering last month. The corporation owns and manages properties while operating subsidiary commercial companies of immense profit. Last year, the corporation's net profit was ¥250 million. Each member received a dividend of ¥50,000, double that of the national average annual income. Children of corporate members go to...
Feng Yuan
Transcending Geo-culture
Depending on one's perspective, the concept of geo-culture has two definitions. One is a view from the outside, from where geo-culture can be understood as the characteristics of a place or a region against a greater context. By this definition, geo-culture is a local one, or to be exact, a culture of the "Other," and therefore indicates hierarchy. The other view, from the inside, understands geo-culture as an expression of identity and self-reflexivity that emphasizes difference, and thus,...
Joshua Bolchover
Palimpsest Urbanism
Baishizhou, one of Shenzhen's last remaining centrally located urban villages and home to approximately 140,000 people living in an area of just six square kilometers, is slated for demolition. Bulldozers have already erased one section of industrial buildings. Although earmarked for redevelopment since 2012, it bore few signs of this future just three years ago. Like other urban villages, Baishizhou is distinct from the surrounding city in its densely packed physical form and the vibrant...
Nikos Papastergiadis
From Cosmopolis to Cosmopolitan Spaces
The early boom in art biennales coincided with the post-1989 malaise of internationalism and a tentative burst in cosmopolitan thinking. It was also caught in massive rebranding of cities as attractors of global capital and hubs for creative economies. Between the hype and massive investment in arts infrastructure there has been a spectacular growth in contemporary art as an event. Yet both contemporary art and the Biennale phenomenon have had an uneasy relationship to nations and regions....
M. Christine Boyer
The Indifferent City
Contemporary cities, it is argued, are formless, almost like a scrambled egg. They are fragmented collages, transmuting into global or cybercities. Either resilient, sustainable, shrinking, or exploding, they are filled with voids, enclaves, and exclaves. Cities are described as both post-political, entrepreneurial assemblages subjected to managerial authority, and self-organizing complexities, whose vibrant order emerges out of chaos in a dynamic state of mutation, far from equilibrium....
Michiel Hulshof and Daan Roggeveen
Non-Lagos
Picking a present for an old friend can be difficult. The perfect gift has the right size (not too small, but not too extravagant either), is highly personal, and should leave a lasting impression. If you really want to impress, it should also be something that took a big effort on your part. Keeping these rules in mind is difficult enough when your old friend is, in fact, a human. Imagine the hassle you'd go through when picking a present for an entire continent! Yet this was exactly...
The frontier is a space where actors from different worlds have an encounter for which there are no established rules of engagement. Whereas the "historic" frontier was at the edges of empire, today's frontier is deep inside large, complex, and mixed global cities. These cities, whether in the Global North or South, have become strategic for the functioning of corporate capital. But they have also become strategic for the disadvantaged, outsiders, discriminated minorities, and those who...
AbdouMaliq Simone
Flickering in the Dark: The Compressed Tissue of the Urban
Andy Merrifield refers to the old architectural notion of the "urban tissue" as a "fine-grained texturing, as a mosaic and fractal form that has some delicate content, some feel to it, something we can touch and manipulate in our own conceptual hands, think feelingly, as it were." 1 It is the materiality of encounter among things, materials, and bodies that exceed the capacity to map, measure, and account for their oscillating relationships. It is a tissue in the sense that it contains a...
Stephan Petermann
Put down the hoe, pick up the mouse
A strange symphony of ting-tong sounds echoes through Dong Feng in Jiangsu, roughly 450km north-west of Shanghai, when we arrive. In the background, a snaring sound of power tools cutting and sanding wood. Ting-tong. We are in front of a four-story office building owned by Han Sun, one of Dong Feng's 4,725 villagers. After a visit to IKEA in Shanghai ten years ago, the thirty-six-year-old Sun set up an online shop in the once-sleepy village, combining IKEA's flat packing efficiency with more...
Liu Qingyuan
Urban Village ABCs
Nick Axel, Hou Hanru, Nikolaus Hirsch, Liu Xiaodu, and Meng Yan
Urban Village is collaboration between e-flux Architecture and the 7th Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (UABB) within the context of its theme, "Cities, Grow in Difference," curated by Hou Hanru, Liu Xiaodu, and Meng Yan, featuring contributions by: Gautam Bhan, Joshua Bolchover, M. Christine Boyer, Abdelkader Damani, Juan Du, Nikos Papastergiadis, Stephan Petermann, Liu Qingyuan, Michiel Hulshof and Daan Roggeveen, Saskia Sassen, AbdouMaliq Simone, and Feng Yuan. For...
Conversations - Deep Inside the Global City
e-flux conversations is a discussion platform for e-flux readers. Click to start a discussion of the article above.
Notes - Deep Inside the Global City
See, for instance, in major cities, the aggressive buying of property, often left unused. Saskia Sassen, "Who owns our cities – and why this urban takeover should concern us all," The Guardian Cities (November 24, 2015), ➝; and Saskia Sassen and Hilary Koob-Sassen, "A monster crawls into the city' – an urban fairytale by Saskia Sassen," The Guardian Cities (December 23, 2015), ➝.
Go to Text
Berrin Chatzi Chousein, "'Digital Tools Narrow The Space Of The Divide Between Oppressors And Oppressed' Says Saskia Sassen," World Architecture Community (July 14, 2016), ➝.
See Saskia Sassen, "The Global City: Enabling Economic Intermediation and Bearing Its Costs," City & Community 15, 2 (June 2016), 97–108.
Saskia Sassen, "Embedded Borderings: making new geographies of centrality," Territory, Politics, Governance (March 6, 2017), ➝.
For an extensive set of data about major global cities, see LSE Cities' "The Urban Age" project: ➝.
A city's 'backtalk' is one element of open-source urbanism: myriad interventions and little changes from the ground up contribute to making a city. Multiple, small, inconspicuous interventions together are evidence of a city's constant evolution. See Saskia Sassen, "Open-Sourcing the Neighborhood," Forbes (November 10, 2013), ➝.
See, for example, the Solar Canopy project, ➝. For a range of digital innovations specifically geared towards the needs of low-income neighborhoods and the challenges they face at home and at workplaces, see Saskia Sassen, "Digitization And Work: Potentials and Challenges in Low-Wage Labor Markets," Open Society Foundation (2015), ➝.
Lindsay Mackie, "How to Exclude and Expel Most of the World – Call it Growth," New Weather Institute (March 5, 2016), ➝.
Saskia Sassen, "Does the City Have Speech?," Public Culture 25, 2: 209–21, ➝.
Saskia Sassen, "Predatory Formations Dressed in Wall Street Suits and Algorithmic Math," Science, Technology & Society 22:1 (2017): 6–20.
Saskia Sassen and Hans Haacke, "Imminent Domain: Spaces of Occupation," Art Forum (January 2012), ➝.
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View of the Henry Hudson Parkway running through the Spuyten Duyvil and Riverdale sections of the Bronx in New York City, looking south. Manhattan and the George Washington Bridge can be seen in the distance, as can Bergen County, New Jersey on the opposite side of the Hudson River.
Source: New York State Archives, Aerial photographic prints and negatives of New York State sites, 1941-1957, B1598-99. Box 3, no. 30.


text:
Tom McEwen (10 de maio de 1991) é um ginete de elite britânico, campeão olímpico.

Carreira

McEwen conquistou a medalha de ouro e de prata nos Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2020 em Tóquio, nas provas por equipes e individual, ao lado do cavalo Toledo de Kerser. Ele competiu nos Jogos Equestres Mundiais de 2018, terminando em 12º individualmente e ajudando a equipe britânica a ganhar o ouro da equipe.

Ginetes olímpicos do Reino Unido
Campeões olímpicos do Reino Unido
Ginetes nos Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2020
Medalhistas nos Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2020

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: I want to pass brand name one by one as a paramater in rtk query and want to get total models of cars of that brand I am working on a project in react and using rtk query. I need to get data from one api and pass it to the other api and get number of cars based on brand name but my first api is an array of brand names and rtk query does not work with loops. Kindly suggest me a way in which I can dynamically get no. Of cars displayed in my table agaist the brand name.
Thanks in advance.
import 'react' from React;

function Cars(){

const {data:branddata} = useGetAllBrands();

//need to get brandname dynamically
const {data:carsdata} = useGetCarsByBrandName(brandname);

const column = [
{header:"Brand Name",assesor:"col1"},
{header:"Total No. Of Car",assesor:"col2"}];
const data = [];
if(branddata){
 branddata.map((d)=>{
  col1:d.brandname,
  //col2: need to get total no. Of cars based on col1 value
}
return(
<>

</>
)

}

export default Cars;

A: If column can render a component, try creating a new component for col2 that returns no. of cars and to this component pass brandname as prop.
Move useGetCarsByBrandName(brandname) inside new component. This way each row will render this custom component which fetches data it needs based on brandname
[Edit]
You can't call RTK Query hook inside map. It's against rules of hooks. But if new component is created, hook can be called inside this new component which can be assigned to a column to display data.
Assuming data here is total number of cars by brand name that needs to be dispalyed in col2
const CarsByBrandName = ({brandName}:props)=>{
   const {data} = useGetCarsByBrandName(brandName);
  return (data&&
data
)
}

In your Cars component, update branddata.map as below
branddata.map((d)=>{
  col1:d.brandname,
  col2: <CarsByBrandName brandName={d.brandname} />
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Xiaomi Fourth Quarter Revenue Jumps 27%
Enterprise & IT	 Mar 31,2020	 0
Xiaomi on Tuesday reported a 27% jump in December-quarter revenue, its fourth consecutive quarter of growth, in spite a weak outlook for the global smartphone sector.
Sales in the fourth quarter jumped to 56.5 billion yuan (about $8.0 billion) from 44.42 bilion yuan in the same quarter a year earlier.
In 2019, Xiaomi said it achieved solid growth across all business segments. The Group's total revenue exceeded RMB200 billion for the first time, reaching RMB205.8 billion, up 17.7% year-on-year (YoY), representing a 9-year CAGR of 112%. Adjusted net profit was RMB11.5 billion, up 34.8% YoY.
2019 Financial Highlights
Total revenue was approximately RMB205.84 billion, up 17.7% YoY beat market consensus;
Gross profit was approximately RMB28.55 billion, up 28.7% YoY;
Non-IFRS adjusted net profit was RMB11.53 billion, up 34.8% YoY, beat market consensus;
Earnings per share were RMB0.0423;
The aggregate amount of cash resources was RMB66 billion.
4Q2019 Financial Highlights
Total revenue at historical high of approximately RMB56.47 billion, up 27.1% YoY, the best performing quarter of the year;
Gross profit was approximately RMB7.84 billion, up 38.5% YoY;
Non-IFRS adjusted net profit was RMB2.34 billion, up 26.5% YoY.
Xiaomi Founder, Chairman and CEO Mr. Lei Jun said, "Despite headwinds from the Sino-US trade war and global economic downturn, Xiaomi stood out in 2019 with a commendable set of results as our revenue exceeded RMB200 billion for the first time. We also celebrated several key milestones, ranging from the successful launch of our dual-brand strategy as Xiaomi and Redmi are spun-off and independently operated, the affirmation of '5G+AIoT' as our strategic roadmap, to our inaugural entries into the prestigious ranks of the Fortune Global 500 and BrandZ's Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands."
"While the entire world is still under the dark shadows of COVID-19, we have maintained our keen focus on efficiency to tide over this economic 'black swan' with everyone. At Xiaomi, we firmly believe that our long-term business success is underpinned by technological innovations, and to that effect, we plan to invest RMB50.0 billion in the next five years, as we relentlessly focus on technological innovation and user experience to grow our loyal Mi Fan base. Overall, we remain committed to using technology to connect and improve lives everywhere in future."
Smartphone Business Seized 5G Market Share
In 2019, Xiaomi's revenue of the smartphones segment reached RMB122.1 billion, up 7.3% year-over-year. In the fourth quarter of 2019, revenue of the smartphones segment was RMB30.8 billion, an increase of 22.8% year-over-year. For 2019, Xiaomi shipped 124.6 million units of smartphones while in the fourth quarter, shipments were approximately 32.6 million, up 30.5% year-over-year. According to Canalys, for the fourth quarter of 2019, Xiaomi achieved the highest year-over-year smartphone shipments growth among the top five smartphone companies.
China's No. 2 smartphone maker said that smartphone sales rebounded quickly in late March, underpinning resilient consumer demand. And its production capacity is already back up to between 80% and 90% normal levels. It warned however that the full impact of the pandemic on its international sales won't emerge till the second quarter.
IoT Business
2019 is the first year for the Group's implementation of its "Smartphone + AIoT" dual engine strategy. In 2019, Xiaomi's revenue of the IoT and lifestyle products segment was RMB62.1 billion, an increase of 41.7% year-over-year and accounted for 30% of the total revenue from 25% in 2018. In the fourth quarter of 2019, revenue was RMB19.5 billion, up 30.5% year-over-year.
In 2019, the annual Xiaomi smart TVs shipments in mainland China exceeded 10 million units. The global TV shipments reached 12.8 million units, up 51.9% year-over-year. According to AVC, Xiaomi TV shipments ranked first in mainland China and fifth globally in 2019. Xiaomi also ranked first in India in terms of smart TV shipments for seven consecutive quarters as of the fourth quarter of 2019, according to IDC.
As of December 31, 2019, the number of connected IoT devices (excluding smartphones and laptops) on our IoT platform reached 234.8 million units, an increase of 55.6% year-over-year. Xiaomi AI assistant had over 60.4 million MAU in December 2019, an increase of 55.7% year-over-year. In December 2019, MAU of MIUI increased by 27.9% year-over-year to 309.6 million.
In 2019, Xiaomi's revenue from overseas markets was RMB91.2 billion, up 30.4% year-over-year. In the fourth quarter of 2019, overseas revenue grew 40.7% year-over-year to RMB26.4 billion, accounting for 46.8% of total revenue. Currently, Xiaomi products are present in more than 90 countries and regions around the world.
In the fourth quarter of 2019, Xiaomi was the largest smartphone brand in India by shipments for ten consecutive quarter, capturing a market share of approximately 28.7%, according to IDC.
Internet Services Contributing Further to the Group's Revenue
In 2019, Xiaomi's revenue from Internet Service reached 19.8 billion, up 24.4% year-over-year. For the fourth quarter, revenue was RMB5.7 billion, up 41.1% year-over-year. In December 2019, the global monthly active users("MAU") of MIUI increased by 27.9% year-over-year to 309.6 million with mainland China's MAU of MIUI standing at 109 million.
Tags: Xiaomifinance
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A chemical and petroleum engineering professor redesigns a lower-level course to increase student success, moving lecture elements online and providing more time for in-class problem solving.
Material and Energy Balances (C&PE 211) is a foundational course that serves as a prerequisite for all the upper-level C&PE courses. Therefore, it is fundamentally important for students to truly understand this course's material. In past iterations, class time consisted of a brief lecture and problem solving, but we would inevitably run out of time, leaving me feeling perpetually behind and, as a consequence, the end of the semester was a flurry of information.
Under this structure about one-third of the students were not successful; others would complete the class but would have problems in their junior-year courses due to not fully understanding the 211 material. I figured that a portion of the students who were not succeeding could succeed, but they just did not have the time or the resources to do so, and I did not have the time to devote to each student. Therefore, I began to rethink CP&E 211's structure, ultimately deciding to hybridize the course.
Knowing that I wanted to spend class time on complicated problems that, in the past, there had been little time for, I decided to put the lectures online as individual modules. I recorded myself talking about the material accompanied by my original PowerPoint slides, moving beyond the slide information and working through example problems. This method allowed students to customize their learning experience: they could pause, rewind, and re-watch each module, or part of the module, as many times as they needed to understand the material. In class I would touch on specific points I wanted to make sure they understood, but the majority of in-class time focused on problem solving.
I also changed from traditional, handed-in homework assignments to an online homework system. This meant that homework could be mastery-based rather than simply right or wrong; students could put in as much time as they needed, which helped give them responsibility in the learning process.
Although there was a slight decrease in the first exam average score, I saw a small increase on the second exam followed by an increase of about 10 percent on both the third exam and the final. The larger increase as the semester progressed is attributed to students being able to keep up with the material and the course early on and build a strong foundation, allowing them to be more successful as new material was introduced.
Students' response to the hybrid course and appreciation for the format was better than I had expected. The new structure let students figure out what they needed to be successful, whether it was reviewing modules before a test or working through the homework several times to truly grasp a concept. I also saw students taking responsibility for their own learning. I found that the redesign helped the overall classroom environment, as well. The class was more exciting and energized because it was not scripted. Attendance was high because material discussed in class was not found outside of class and, thus, students valued class time more.
Overall, I would not hesitate to make the shift again or to apply some hybrid elements to other courses. I also think that these changes need not necessarily be confined to my course but could be implemented to different degrees throughout the School of Engineering.
Material and Energy Balances (C&PE 211) is a course required of all chemical and petroleum engineering students in the fall semester of their sophomore year. It is a foundational course that serves as a prerequisite for all the upper-level C&PE courses. Therefore, it is fundamentally important for students to truly understand this course's material.
CP&E 211 lecture meets three times a week for 50 minutes and once a week for a two-hour lab section. When I taught C&PE 211 in 2009 and 2010, lectures typically began with my covering basic concepts and general topics. Following this 10-minute overview, I would present a problem and demonstrate on the board how to use the information just covered to solve the problem. We would briefly discuss the answer, and then I would present a more difficult problem for students to solve. Inevitably, we would run out of time to finish the complex problem in class, so I would tell students to finish the problem and we would discuss it at the next class. Typically, though, they would not be able to finish the problem or they neglected to complete it, so we would spend almost half the class going over that harder problem, leaving less time for new material. I felt perpetually behind in the course and, as a consequence, the end of the semester was a flurry of information. My perception was that learning gradually declined as the semester progressed, which was evident in exam grades.
I would also assign homework problems; however, growing enrollment (from an average of 50 students to 90–100) made it impossible to return graded assignments in less than a few weeks. This meant that by the time students got feedback on their work, we had moved beyond the concept; I also had to delay tests until homework was returned.
Under this structure about one-third of the students were not successful; others would complete the class but would have problems in their junior year courses due to not fully understanding the 211 material. I could see students getting frustrated, having trouble, and just giving up. I asked students for feedback on the course, and most of them said that the amount of material in each lecture made keeping up difficult. The material builds, so that if they got behind in understanding—especially early in the semester—catching up became nearly impossible. I believed that a portion of the students who were not succeeding could succeed, but they just did not have the time or the resources to do so, and I did not have the time to devote to each student. Therefore, I began to rethink CP&E 211's structure, ultimately deciding to hybridize the course.
I began restructuring CP&E 211 by deciding what material I wanted to keep in class and what material to move online. I knew that I wanted to spend class time on the complicated problems that, in the past, there had been little time for. So I decided to put the lectures online as individual modules.
Using a tablet (Wacom Interactive Pen Display DTU-2231), a microphone (Blue Microphones Yeti Pro USB Microphone) and Camtasia Studio screen capture software, I recorded myself talking about the material, accompanied by my original PowerPoint slides. However, as I would in an in-person class, I talked beyond the slide's information and wrote additional information directly on the slides (see Video 1 below). Since all engineering students have to do their work on engineering paper, I scanned in a piece of this paper and set it as a Word background. That way, when I would solve a problem (see Video 2 below) as part of the "lecture," I was modeling how the students should approach their own work. I tried to keep the modules short (five to ten minutes), although a few are as long as 20 minutes. Although students do not like the longer modules as well, when asked if I should shorten them at the expense of solving the sample problems step-by-step, the answer was a resounding no. Students who are able to quickly understand the concepts have indicated that they do not watch all of the sample problem solution but use it to check their work. Students who are struggling want to see the step-by-step solution, because they say they like to see the way I think and the process I use to approach the problem. They can pause, rewind, and re-watch each module or part of a module as many times as they need to understand the material; some modules also include embedded quizzes (see Video 3 below) for understanding. This method allows students to customize their learning experience, which I could not do in the traditional lecture class.
Recording the modules did take time, because I was not savvy with editing. In the beginning I would spend a significant amount of time rerecording whole slides when I messed up a few words or a phrase. The entire recording process got much better once I learned how to edit the videos and not be such a perfectionist about the way I sounded on the module. When I asked students if the pauses, um's, and word stumbles bothered them, they all replied that I did that in class so it was natural to hear it on the modules as well.
In order to prepare for each class, students would have to watch the corresponding online module(s); depending on the class there would be several short modules or one longer module. In class I would ask if anyone had questions and either give a short quiz or ask questions about specific points I wanted to make sure they understood. Most in-class time, however, could focus on problem solving. I would present a problem, lay out a timeline, give students time to solve the problem in steps, and then talk through the methods used at each step as a class. For example, I would present a problem and tell them, "In ten minutes you should be able to solve steps A, B, and C;" if things were going well and they were finished with those steps before time was up, they could work ahead. They could do this work in groups or alone. This in-class problem solving was not an assessment but rather a chance for them to apply their knowledge and practice the necessary skills.
Originally I wanted to also restructure CP&E 211's lab portion to include hands-on components. However, class size made this unfeasible. Therefore I left the lab unchanged; it remained a problem-solving session but, unlike the work done in lecture, the lab work was a graded assessment. Although these problems could still be solved in groups, they were more like exam problems and gave the students an opportunity for additional practice but with higher stakes.
In addition to creating the online modules, I also changed how I approached homework. I moved from traditional, handed-in assignments, to an online homework system (Sapling Learning). This meant that homework could be mastery-based rather than simply right or wrong; students could try multiple times, without losing points, and would receive immediate feedback. The homework problems used randomly generated numbers so each student had a separate homework problem to complete, which helped minimize copying. Students were able to put as much time into the homework as they needed to get the solution, which again gave them responsibility in the learning process.
In the Fall 2011 iteration (the first semester of the hybrid redesign), there was a slight decrease in the first exam average score. This, of course, made me very nervous about continuing. However, I had also changed the course slightly to remove a quiz (structured like a mini exam) and included this material in Exam 1. This meant that the 2011 Exam 1 was the first time they experienced a test in my course, while in 2009 and 2010 they had already taken an exam-like quiz prior to Exam 1. Since it was possible that the lower score could be due to this restructuring and the first exam experience, I decided to continue to use the hybrid course structure. When comparing the second exams from 2009 and 2010 to 2011, I saw a small increase followed by an increase of about 10 percent on both the third exam and the final. The larger increase as the semester progressed is attributed to the students' ability to keep up with the material and the course early on and build a strong foundation, allowing them to be more successful as new material was introduced. In 2012, however, the final exam average decreased. Based on student comments, I felt there were two likely causes. First, the exam was late in finals week, when many students were feeling drained. Second, several students told me they felt the problems must be harder than they seemed or that their answers were "obviously" too easy; therefore, some students simply were not confident in their own knowledge and abilities and allowed that insecurity to guide their answers.
Below, I've provided examples of several exams from the course.
Since changing the homework to be more mastery-based, those scores have increased. While this would clearly have a small effect on overall grades for the course, it is also having an effect on how much time students spend on homework, especially those students who are struggling more on the problems. If students want to spend more time solving a problem, they are free to do that; they decide how much effort to put in. Working a problem multiple times helps reinforce concepts, which is ultimately the goal of the homework.
Finally, I've included the final grade distribution for 2009–2012 and the course enrollment numbers.
Students' responses to the hybrid course and appreciation for the format were better than I had expected. For one thing, the new structure lets students figure out what they need to be successful, whether it be reviewing modules before a test or working through the homework several times to truly grasp a concept. The new structure also helps students better understand the amount of effort needed to succeed in both the curriculum and the field.
Relatedly, and somewhat unexpectedly, I saw students taking responsibility for their own learning. For example, when we first moved on to new material following an exam, as students worked on an in-class problem one student admitted to being lost because he had not watched the module and that it was his fault he was behind. I had not had students admit to not having read the book before class in pre-hybrid iterations.
I found that the redesign helped the overall classroom environment. All courses have material that has to be covered but is not very exciting. Now the material is in modules, so although it may still be dry, students can engage with it on their own terms. In previous semesters, I had days where I walked out of class feeling like the lecture had been a disaster. Students were lost, not engaged, and frustrated at not being able to follow the material, and I was frustrated with the experience. With the hybrid course I found that I did not have those days. The class was more exciting and energized because it was not scripted. Attendance was also high, because material discussed in class was not found outside of class and, thus, students valued class time more.
Overall, I would not hesitate to make the shift again or to apply some hybrid elements to other courses. In fact, I have already applied some elements in one of my senior-level classes. There, although I did not do audio, I did scan in my notes to create a kind of resource library for the students' lab work; class time could then be spent on other skills with which the students typically struggled, such as writing strong lab reports. I also think that these changes need not necessarily be confined to my course, but could be implemented to different degrees throughout the School of Engineering.
Contact CTE with comments on this portfolio: cte@ku.edu.


2019 is here, and most of us Bullet Journal and personal planner lovers will keep working on them to achieve our goals for this year, doodles will be a part of our daily writing, today I will share a list of things from you can make cute and easy doing doodles.
You don't need to be an expert of drawing or painting to start making cute doodles to brighten up your notes on any Bullet Journal or a personal planner.
Doodles are a good thing to work on while you wait for an appointment, or when you need to come up with a good idea or to solve a problem of making a plan or set up some time and hours on your plan to achieve any goal.
Starting to draw doodles will help you to get your mind for few seconds or minutes to see any problem from a different point of view, and you will come up with a good idea.
Do you remember at school, when the teacher was talking, and your hand just started to draw something on a page, while you were waiting for the teacher to come up with something important so you could take a note on your notebook.
After a few minutes, your notes will be the best of the class!.
Doodles will look amazing on any piece of paper, and they will help you to decorate any page, but most of all, doodles can also help you to remember any note you took on a piece of paper, it's easier to remember a doodle than a note.
Spring will be soon here, and it's a good idea to work today to get a few weekly spreads for your bullet journal in time to start taking notes from appointments or for events you will be attending or tasks you need to work on to achieve the lifestyle you want to live.
By adding some doodles to a new weekly spread, it will look better and it will help you to focus on the season and do some activities or tasks related to this time of the year.
A few straight lines and curves is all you need to start drawing cute Spring doodles!
It won't take long for you to master a few, you can do what I did, just take a white paper and start with a pencil, it will be easier for you to make a sampler page, here I have for you a few Spring doodles you can try to draw.
Make Spring doodles big or small, they all will look cute!
Once you finish tracing them with a pencil, you can work on them with an ink liner, I have my favorite ink liner, it's easy to work with all the time, the ink is permanent and it allows me to add color to any doodle I draw with it and it won't bleed out even if I add color to the doodle with watercolors!
You can take a look to this ink liner at Amazon, I always get a few of them, so I always can have one at hand to draw doodles on my Bullet Journal and on my personal planner.
After you're happy how the doodles look when you finish to work with the ink liner. Then the doodles will be ready to get some color.
This time I stayed with pastel colors: pink, light blue, light yellow, light green and of course the violet should be part of the Spring palette of color.
A list of Spring things you can make doodles from.
How to draw Spring doodles.
If you are a beginner with doodles, I have here for you a chart of some doodles, and how to draw them step by step.
This Spring doodles ideas will help you to start working on them, as you practice, you will get better at it.
Don't let a line out of shape discourage you, even those not nice lines we all draw from time to time, they look good on any doodle and they will add your personal style!
You don't need to be a master of drawing to make cute and beautiful doodles!
Doodles are easy to draw and they are lots of fun!
How to make a perfect Spring weekly spread!
If you're a minimalist bullet journalist, you will love the weekly spread above, you can make one for you just as it is!
You can work on it, and it will help you to get organized and achieve all your goals you have for each week, all you need is to add the dates and this spread will be ready to work on.
I like to make one weekly spread like this, and when I finish to work with the ink liner, I make a few copies from it to save time.
All I need is to glue the spread to my Bullet Journal in case you have a notebook, or punch the holes to add it to my Bullet Journal as I work with rings on it, it makes it easier to add any new spread on it.
Add some Spring doodles on any weekly spread!
It's still winter, but it's time to start thinking on Spring and all those things we need to work on to achieve all our goals and dreams we all have for this year!
Adding some cute and small Spring doodles on a weekly spread will help you to think how nicer weather will be here anytime!
Half of the winter has gone by now, and before we all notice, grass will be green again and we all have some flowers blooming in our yards.
Well, I hope this weekly spread with some Spring doodles inspire you to make yours at home, once you finish making one, make a few copies of it, this will save you tons of time, time you will love to have to work on anything you have to make your dreams a reality!
I thank you for stopping by to read my blog, if you have any question about this article, leave your question on a comment, I will reply to you soon.
More doodles ideas to draw on your Bullet Journal or personal planner with time for the season.
Best and easy Christmas doodles.
Easy and cute Fall doodles.
If you find this article helpful and you want to come back later, you can PIN it so you can find it later!
I really love your Spring doodles!
But I would never have thought of using them to brighten up a weekly planner, that really is a great idea, and one that I will definitely use.
I think that most of us will doodle when we are faced with a blank sheet of paper – I know that the notes that I used to take when I was at College are covered on doodles! Weirdly, I think that they can also help with your concentration – well they did for me!
I am a bit rubbish at drawing in general, but I seemed to be able to make some really good doodles in spite of that.
Your post is really original, and full of great ideas – many thanks.
Happy to see you stop today to read my blog!
How amazing is to have a page full of doodles, isn't it?
I don't know why teacher do not allow students to do it, it will help students to be more creative and to remember better everything on any class!
I'm sure your doodles are great and beautiful!
It seems to me here that the best personal planner one can have is doodle. This will make one schedule easier and get one ready to work. The best part about this site is that you don't have to be an expert before you can draw it. The site will take you through a step by step instructions to draw them to make our plans beautiful, to be able to work towards our goals and achieve them. Thanks.
Thanks so much for stopping by to read my blog today!
Drawing doodles will help you to make any plan beautiful and it will be easier for you to remember everything you wrote down to achieve your goals.
By drawing doodles we all help our brains to pay more attention to what we write!
Keep at it, and you will achieve all your goals!
Thanks so much for visiting my blog and leave a comment to share your ideas when picking a new planner and cute stuff to work with it while you make plans.
I love to work with any kind of pens, but one of my favorites are gel pens, when you want to work on both sides of the page, I will suggest to get a planner with good paper quality.
By doing it, it will be easier for you to try a few different pens to work with!
I am indeed a beginner in drawing doodles, I love them but don't know how to draw them and will love to learn because I want to be a fun dad, having to draw them along side my children will Make me happy and you making this post made it a lot easier, giving tips on how to draw them. Thanks alot much appreciated.
I'm sure you will do great drawing doodles and you will have great time with your children, there's nothing better as a teacher to draw doodles than children.
Just have fun, and let your children to have fun too. you both will have fun and will make awesome doodles, I'm sure of that!


This is a responsive, modern and clean Portfolio/Resume HTML Template. This HTML template is packed with Bootstrap, Font Awesome, Owl Carousel, Counter Up, Image Effects, Image Filter, Contact Form and more. You can include little bit about yourself and your contact information such as Address, Phone, Fax and email information. This template is based on the Twitters popular front-end framework Bootstrap for fully flexible and responsive layouts. It also uses the latest web technology HTML5 for semantic content structuring and CSS3 for versatile and powerful styling options.


text:
Huge Tornado Flattens Towns Near Oklahoma City [Updated]
Preliminary reports from the National Weather Service classify the mile-wide tornado as an EF-4, with winds greater than 200 mph.
By Rose Pastore | Published May 21, 2013 2:30 AM
KOCO via CNN
A massive tornado devastated suburbs south of Oklahoma City Monday afternoon, and rescue workers continue to search for people trapped by debris. Local TV stations are reporting multiple fatalities throughout the area. [UPDATED: The Oklahoma City medical examiner's office says 24 bodies have been recovered as of Tuesday morning. That number could still rise.]
Preliminary reports from the National Weather Service classify the mile-wide tornado as an EF-4 (the second highest ranking on the Enhanced Fujita scale), with winds greater than 200 mph. The White House has offered the state all possible federal help.
Emergency workers in Moore, Okla., are currently searching for third graders believed to be trapped in Plaza Towers Elementary school, which was destroyed by the tornado. [UPDATED: At 7:30 p.m. ET, KFOR journalist Lance West reported that it is now a recovery mission at the elementary school, and workers are searching for the bodies of about 24 children.] All of the school's fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students are believed to be accounted for.
Video from earlier today showed a building on fire in Moore, amid block after block of flattened homes and businesses. On May 3, 1999, the same suburb was hit by an F5 tornado that killed 41 people and spawned wind gusts up to 318 mph. (The EF scale replaced the Fujita scale as the preferred measurement of tornado strength in the United States in 2007.)
The storm knocked out power at the Draper Water Treatment Plant, and residents of southeast Oklahoma City should not drink tap water until further notice. [UPDATED: The City of Oklahoma City announced via Twitter that water quality was not affected by the power outage and the water supply is safe to drink.]
Follow the KFOR live stream here:


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THICKNESS and SIZES can be standards or adapted to the final use of the same.
We do also have our URBAN MOBILIER designed by an architect or as per your own design .


Six fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames at the 'Venus Daily Market' located near Damana Square.
A fire broke out at a shopping complex at Damana area in Bhubaneshwar on Thursday, fire brigade officials said.
However, there was no report of any casualty as the mishap happened early in the morning, they said.
Six fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames at the 'Venus Daily Market' located near Damana Square.
Though the exact reason behind the incident is yet to be ascertained, fire brigade officials said short circuit could be the cause of the mishap.


text:
Mineral Resources and Energy
Department of Minerals & Energy's Vision: Minister's briefing; Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill: deliberations
This premium content has been made freely available
Meeting Summary
A summary of this committee meeting is not yet available.
MINERALS AND ENERGY PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
DEPARTMENT OF MINERALS AND ENERGY'S VISION: MINISTER'S BRIEFING; ELECTRICITY REGULATION AMENDMENT BILL: DELIBERATIONS
Chairperson: Mr E Mthethwa (ANC)
Documents handed out:
Minister's Vision for the Department of Minerals and Energy
Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill [B20-2006]
Proposed Changes to the Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill
Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill [B20A-2006]
The Minister of Minerals and Energy shared her vision for the Department of Minerals and Energy with the Committee. This included ensuring security of supply by implementing a biofuel strategy and a nuclear enrichment strategy. The beneficiation of the minerals industry was a concern and the State Diamond Trader had been established to encourage this. The growth of the mining and energy sectors was a priority, as was the transformation of the electricity generation and liquid fuel sectors
The Committee was concerned that the public and Parliament would not have time to voice their opinions on the biofuels and nuclear enrichment strategies. The Minister assured them that they would. The Committee was also concerned about the beneficiation process. They wondered whether it would happen in sectors other than diamond mining and were concerned that the skills needed to keep South Africa's resources in the country would be insufficient. The Minister said that they were aiming for beneficiation in all sectors and that skills development was focused on training people outside the country. Safety in the mines was another concern which the Minister said would always be an unfortunate consequence of the mining industry, but that research was being done to reduce the rate of accidents.
The Department also briefed the Committee on the main proposed amendments to the Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill which were that the definition of reticulation was simplified, reticulation had been moved to the jurisdiction of the regulating authority, the regulating authority now had the authority to prescribe reticulation norms and standards and reference to section 139 of the Constitution in the case of a major crisis in a municipality had been removed.
The Committee was concerned that municipalities would have to ringfence their reticulation activities and financial statements. They felt that this would be difficult and questioned its necessity. The Department felt that ringfencing was necessary in order to establish the exact costs of reticulation and that it would not be a challenge to municipalities. The Committee was also concerned that the deletion of the section relating to municipalities in crisis would be detrimental to the consumer as there would be no serious consequences for not complying with the regulator. The Department clarified that section 139 of the Constitution would still apply to municipalities in crisis, but that it should be used only as a last resort. Other consequences of non-compliance, as referred to in the principal act, should first be used.
Briefing by the Minister of Minerals and Energy on her vision for the Department
Ms B Sonjica (Minister of Minerals and Energy) said that the Department of Minerals and Energy's (DME) vision and priorities were derived from government's vision and priorities to transform society and the economy, poverty alleviation, job creation, redress of imbalances and development, including the development of infrastructure. This translates into the vision of the department which is outlined in both the white papers on energy and minerals respectively. Their vision is the minerals and energy sectors' true sustainable development. The department's mandate is the provision of services for the effective transformation and governance of the minerals and energy industries for economic growth and development, thereby improving the quality of life. This is the context in which the Department's own vision has been crafted.
With regards to energy, the Department will be focusing on the implementation of legislation to achieve self-sufficiency and universal access to clean, affordable energy. With this aim in mind, the Department's priorities are security of supply, energy efficiency, diversification of energy carriers, building refinery capacity with the help of the private sector, infrastructure development, increased use of biofuels, implementation of the electricity restructuring process, holding an energy summit in 2007, preparation for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, transformation of the electricity generation sector, tabling a strategy on nuclear enrichment, distribution of wealth created by mining to all South Africans, increased safety and security in mines, diversification of economic activities based on mining, engendering both the mining and energy sectors and ensuring that the Liquid Fuels Charter is compliant with Black Economic Empowerment (BEE).
Mr L Greyling (ID) asked what the parameters for the energy summit would be and when it would be held. He was particularly concerned with the nuclear enrichment plans and hoped that this would be discussed at the summit so that the public could voice their opinions about it.
Adv S Nogxina (DME Director General) said that the summit would be held in March 2007, depending on the availability of stakeholders. He added that South Africans had been consulted in 1999 on the content of the white paper on energy and that South Africans had been consulted when translating the white paper into legislation. However, South Africans had not been consulted about challenges experienced while implementing the policies. The purpose of the summit was to touch base with the public and determine what some of the challenges to implementation are.
The Minister said that South Africans and parliament would be consulted on the Nuclear Enrichment Strategy. She stressed that nuclear enrichment would only be used as a clean energy source; it would never go beyond that. She assured the Committee that there were laws to protect the environment that would have to be abided by.
Mr Greyling asked if there would be time for Parliament and stakeholders to engage with the Department on the consequences of biofuels before the strategy was implemented.
The Minister answered that stakeholder participation had already occurred. The strategy was supposed to be presented to cabinet in November and it had been, so the Department was on time.
Mr Greyling asked when the renewable energy strategy would be tabled.
The Minister answered that there was a report that had been compiled on the renewable energy strategy that would be available to Parliament quite soon.
Mr Greyling asked if the R600 million allocated to increase energy efficiency would be transferred from Eskom to the Central Energy Fund as planned.
The Minister said that the energy efficiency campaign would be heightened because security of supply needed to begin with efficiency.
Mr W Spies (FFP) asked if mining sectors other than diamond mining were really going to be beneficiated, considering that most of South Africa's minerals leave the country, while the people in the areas that the minerals come from are still poor.
Mr E Lucas (IFP) said that beneficiation was an important process and it required the Department's attention. He said that something was not being done properly as commodities like steel were getting so expensive that some manufacturers were thinking of importing steel as it would be cheaper than buying it locally.
The Minister said that all minerals would be beneficiated. All exports of raw materials would be discouraged. A challenge to this was the skills shortage in the country; beneficiation could not happen immediately because the skills needed to do this were absent.
Adv Nogxina added that they would like all minerals to be beneficiated, but the market would determine which minerals would be more beneficiated than others.
Mr Spies asked if small or big companies would be supported in the mineral beneficiation process.
Adv Nogxina said that the size of companies had not been specified. The Department expected that there would be both small and big companies involved in beneficiation. The only problem they had identified in the past was that access to rough diamonds was restricted. The establishment of the State Diamond Trader would open up access to diamonds, irrespective of the size of the company.
Mr Lucas said that the mining and electricity sectors were doing well, but something needed to be done about liquid fuels. He suggested that the Committee go on a tour to study liquid fuels so that they could provide educated input on the matter. He added that the people responsible for the implementation of the Liquid Fuels Charter were dragging their feet and something needed to be done about it.
The Minister said liquid fuel was an important focus of the Department in order to ensure self-sufficiency. Ensuring regular oil supplies from countries in Africa like Nigeria, Sudan and Egypt was being examined. However, obstacles to this are capacity problems, such as storage and transportation capacity. She agreed that the Liquid Fuels Charter needed to be implemented.
Ms N Mathibela (ANC) was concerned about the safety in mines, particularly in Carltonville. The Carltonville mine is 3km deep and there were plans to make it even deeper. The deeper a mine goes, the hotter it gets. At the moment it is 55˚C in the mine: was it wise to go deeper when the safety of miners is at stake? She said that the Department wanted more women in the industry but asked how women could work in such hot conditions.
Mr S Vundisa (ANC) asked about the safety of women in mines and their chances of contracting breast cancer.
The Minister said that safety would always be a concern in the mining industry. She said that tremors were very common in the mines and since they usually did not cause rock falls, miners were used to them and did not respond to them. Research was being done that indicated that backfilling old shafts would reduce the number of tremors, so this was being implemented. However, an ideal solution would be an early warning system, so this was being focused on. The choice between suspending mining because of safety and going deeper was a difficult one. If activities are suspended 4900 people will lose their jobs. The harsh conditions in mines would be no worse for women than for men. Health problems associated with mining are a focus of the Department.
Ms Mathibela asked about safety at Sasol. The Committee had been promised that safety at Sasol was fine, but then every now and again there was an incident and lives were lost.
The Minister said the question should be answered by the Department of Labour.
Mr S Louw (ANC) asked if there was some kind of interaction between the Department of Education and the Department of Minerals and Energy in order to ensure that the correct skills were being imparted in order to encourage beneficiation. This was especially relevant because there were places, such as India, where some of these skills already existed and South Africa's skills would have to be quite developed in order to compete with existing skills. He also wondered why people were being sent to Senegal to be trained when it was not a developed country.
The Minister answered that people were being trained outside of the country in order to access these existing skills in order to train them properly. However, the Department of Education was not being consulted. She assured Mr Louw that the quality of work in Senegal was very high.
Mr Vundisa said that the Liquid Fuels Charter was the first to be launched which would lead him to expect that it should be the most advanced. However, there was not one BEE company that was involved in the liquid fuels industry. He added that there was a need for a correct and progress report on the charter.
The Chair said that the Committee was going to engage each company involved in the liquid fuels industry and confront them about the implementation of the charter.
The Minister added that the Committee should call for hearings on the Liquid Fuels Charter. She was then informed that they had had hearings. She said that the Committee must have got some kind of commitment from the industry and they should check that the industry was honouring their commitments.
Mr Vundisa asked about the progress of two biofuel projects in Cradock and the North West.
The Minister said the progress of the projects was going to be presented to the Department very soon, but they seemed to be going well. Some technical problems had arisen, such as problems with blending fuels. Luckily Brazil was providing guidance for the projects. A taskforce from South Africa, Brazil and the United Kingdom was going to be established to guide the biofuels program.
Mr Vundisa asked how effective water purification systems at mines are at purifying water.
The Minister answered that there would be cooperation with the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry to deal with this. She said she was more concerned about the management of old, disused mines that were a danger to the public. Provincial and local government would have to liase in order to ensure that there would be bylaws to prohibit people settling in such areas. R24 million had also been allocated to fill the mines. It is a big challenge as there are close to 6000 mines that have to be filled.
Mr Vundisa said that it was very costly to participate in real mining and the capital was not available to small companies who wanted to be involved. He suggested an amendment to the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act to safeguard and help people who wanted to be involved in mining. He suggested that no more than 30% of profits should go to the permit holder and 70% should go to the miner.
The Minister said that the cost of entry into mining was a problem, but the Department offered certain services in order to make this easier for BEE entrants. For instance, they would pay for the cost of exploration. And in areas, such as the Northern Cape, where more assistance was needed because people were very poor, it would be given.
Mr Vundisa asked why there were no sector offices in the mining areas. These offices are there to help small miners, so they should not be in Johannesburg, but in places where miners needed assistance.
The Minister said that regional offices did exist and in large provinces like the Eastern Cape and the Northern Cape, two offices would be established.
The Chair said that there should be a more targeted way of measuring universal access to electricity in order to measure and monitor performance.
The Minister said electrification of schools was a priority. 7000 schools still needed to be electrified. Electrifying 400 clinics was also a priority. Certain nodal points that were without infrastructure were also a priority. This would help to alleviate poverty and the nodal points were in poverty pockets. She added that they were strengthening regional ties and continental relationships within Africa.
Briefing by DME on the proposed changes to the Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill
Ms N Magubane (DME Deputy Director General: Electricity and Nuclear) said that the new bill would be much shorter than the last one.
Mr O Aphane (Chief Director: Electricity Regulation) started to explain the changes that would be made to the bill.
The Chair interrupted Mr Aphane and suggested that he explain each page individually and then answer questions on the issues raised on that page in order to facilitate the smooth running of the discussion.
Mr Aphane then began to explain the changes again. The definition of reticulation would be changed to "trading with or distribution of electricity and include services associated therewith". Previously reticulation was the trading with or distribution of electricity from a municipality to the community within its area of jurisdiction. The alteration of this definition has resulted in many other changes in the bill, such as the deletion of the definitions of community, municipality and light industry.
Mr Louw said that when they had discussed the amendments to the bill there was some disagreement about the figures that limited the definition of community and so limited the definition of reticulation. He asked if this had been resolved.
Ms Magubane explained that certain figures were being used to limit the definition of community. Since the word community had been removed from the definition, the limiting figures no longer applied and the definition was now as neutral as possible.
Mr Aphane explained that the section titled 'powers and duties of municipalities' had been changed to 'duties of municipalities.' This is because reticulation has been brought under the jurisdiction of the regulator and not the municipalities so they have no powers when it comes to reticulation. This has resulted in the removal of the previous clause three and the insertion of a new clause which brings reticulation under the jurisdiction of the regulator. In order to strengthen the regulation capacity of the regulator, electricity provision is going to be ringfenced. This explains the need for clause 5(l) which requires municipalities to keep separate financial statements for reticulation.
Ms Magubane added that there were certain consequential changes throughout the bill because of the changed definition of reticulation.
The Chair asked why there was a need to add clause 5(l).
Mr Aphane explained that previously the regulator was not responsible for reticulation. Now that the regulator will be responsible for it, its capacity to regulate reticulation must be strengthened. Ringfencing reticulation will allow for this.
Ms Magubane explained that often electricity provision overlapped with many other municipal services like water and sanitation, thus some of the same resources are used for reticulation and other services. Ringfencing financial statements will allow proper economic regulation of reticulation and ensure sustainability.
Mr Lucas was concerned that this would complicate the way municipalities functioned.
Ms Magubane assured Mr Lucas that ringfencing did not mean that different resources would have to be used for providing different services, but the specific cost of reticulation would have to be separated from the other costs. It was also good management practice to know exactly how much a service costs in order to ensure its sustainability.
Mr Aphane added that it was necessary to have a uniform method of establishing costs. Since electricity provision was ringfenced from the beginning of the supply chain, it should be ringfenced at the end of the supply chain. This would allow Eskom to better determine what the real costs of providing electricity are.
Mr H Schmidt (DA) was confused about the definition of reticulation because it included distribution of electricity, but clause three draws attention to the differences between reticulation and distribution.
Mr Aphane said that reticulation and distribution were basically the same thing, even though the bill refers to it separately.
Ms Magubane added that when they were deciding how to define reticulation there were many different options open to them. It was decided that it was necessary to define reticulation, even though it was tantamount to distribution.
Mr Schmidt asked about clause 4(3) which said that 'each municipality must perform its duty…' He was not sure if this meant that each municipality has to appoint a service provider.
Ms Magubane said that the municipality could still be the service provider and the ringfencing of financial statements would allow for a reticulation license to be issued to the municipality.
Mr Aphane added that the clause was not saying that it was mandatory for the municipality to appoint a service provider. The Municipal Systems Act deals with the appointment of service providers; the clause in question deals with municipal duties once the service provider has been appointed.
Mr Schmidt said that the bill should indicate that it is not mandatory to facilitate clarity.
The Chair suggested referring to the Municipal Systems Act if the provision already existed in that act, rather than repeating or contradicting the legislation.
Mr Aphane continued to explain the changes to the bill. The next deletion was clause 29 on policies and bylaws.
Ms B Tinto (ANC) wanted to know how municipalities would be able to work without being able to make their own policies and bylaws.
Mr Aphane assured her that this was not what the legislation was saying. There were existing legislation that covered the creation of policies and bylaws. Since it was not the purpose of the bill to regulate municipal policies and bylaws, it was deemed unnecessary to include it. The clause was also deleted because regulation of reticulation is no longer under municipal jurisdiction. Thus, municipalities no longer have to make policies and bylaws concerning reticulation. This means that the clause is no longer relevant.
Ms Magubane added that clause 29 was very confusing during the public hearings. People did not know if they were meant to be regulating the municipality or regulating reticulation services. The latter is applicable and therefore the clause was deleted.
Mr Schmidt asked for clarity on the consequences of deleting clause 28(3-8).
The Chair asked members not to ask questions on clauses that had already been dealt with.
Mr Aphane explained again that municipalities no longer have powers because the responsibility for regulation of reticulation now lay with the regulator and not the municipality. Clause 31 said that the regulator now has the power to prescribe reticulation norms and standards in consultation with the Minister and not the other way round as it stood previously.
Ms Magubane added that this allowed the Minister to confine herself to creating policy and regulations. When it comes to the creation of norms and standards, the regulator is more knowledgeable and experienced in the field. The regulator is more agile when creating norms and standards.
The Chair asked for more clarity.
Ms Magubane said that norms and standards would be proposed by the regulator, the Minister's approval would then be sought and if it is obtained, the norm or standard will become nationally required.
Mr Aphane said that clauses 33-41 had been omitted. Section 139 of the Constitution deals with what should happen in the absence of the jurisdiction of the regulator. The deleted part of the bill referred to emergency situations when section 139 would be invoked. Some of the deleted clause was removed because it limited the power of the regulator.
Mr Schmidt said that section 139 dealt with major crises in local government management. The deleted section attempted to deal with crises that were not quite so major. He asked about municipalities who had not entered into service delivery agreements and who were in crisis, but not major crisis, but who are still not complying with what the regulator wants.
Mr Aphane said that the principal act provided for recourse to action if municipalities are non-compliant, including fines and tribunals.
Mr Shmidt asked if section 139 of the Constitution was not applicable to local governments that had breached regulations.
Ms Magubane said that the processes associated with section 139 were cumbersome and should be a last resort. It was preferable to impose the penalties referred to by the principal act first.
Mr Aphane said that clause 44 had been removed because reticulation was now under the jurisdiction of the regulator and not the municipality. He said that clause 47 had been rewritten in order to make the phrase more elegant.
Mr Schmidt asked about clause 47(b) which seemed to say that the Minister was responsible for creating regulations when one of the changes said that the regulator was responsible for regulations.
Mr Aphane said that the Minister did have the authority to create regulations and the regulator had the authority to prescribe norms and standards that had to be approved by the Minister.
The Chair said he was still confused and the two things seemed to contradict each other.
Mr Aphane repeated that laws and regulations were still the Minister's mandate, but the regulator prescribed the norms and standards on technical issues that would be provided for in law by the Minister. The rest of the changes to the bill were to ensure continuity, such as changes to the table of contents.
The Chair adjourned the meeting.
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A nonprofit serving people with disabilities is hosting a half-day workshop for architects, builders and designers.
daviemillaradded this to Need Code?
Ikea is the largest furniture manufacturer in the world. But its sleek designs, filled with handle-less drawers and low-profile furniture, aren't necessarily friendly to the needs of people with disabilities.


Could There BE a Worse Way to Choose a Vice President?
In choosing a President, standard-bearers for each of the major parties bubble up to the top through an extended process of caucuses and primaries over a period of months. The contenders then essentially campaign in 50 separate state elections, vying for a majority of Electoral College votes that are apportioned according to state population. Checks and balances everywhere you look.
What about choosing the Vice President? You know, the person who's a heartbeat away from the most powerful office on earth? Oh, one person makes that decision unilaterally.
The VP is not elected or confirmed in any meaningful way — theoretically the party convention could reject a VP candidate, but it won't happen, and even if it did, that's not a choice, that's a veto. The VP nominally is elected along with the President — but it's a package deal, the votes really are being cast for the top of the ticket.
One person's unilateral decision. Even an Assistant Secretary of the Interior has a more rigorous vetting process — the Senate has to confirm the choice.
Originally, whoever came in second was named the Vice President. So when John Adams defeated Thomas Jefferson, Jefferson became VP. Then Jefferson ran against his boss four years later and ousted him. Bizarre as it sounds, I almost think that's a better system than what we have now. The Secret Service might have to protect the President FROM the Vice President… but if the VP moves up, at least the incoming President would have been a strong vote-getter in a national election.
Joe Biden's acceptance speech last night was well-delivered and powerful. The only part that raised my hackles was the Iraq section, with the thrice repeated "John McCain was wrong. Barack Obama was right." At the time I thought it bothered me simply because I continue to support the decision to overthrow Saddam. But on inspecting the transcript today, I believe Biden's argument also was intellectually dishonest.
The obvious problem with arguing that Obama's judgment is better than McCain's is the "surge." McCain was a champion of the concept of a surge, long before the Bush Administration put it into action. MoveOn.org even described the surge as "McCain's idea" — that's a bit hyperbolic, but a nice compliment nonetheless. Obama consistently opposed the surge, and as recently as a month ago he was still trying to explain away the apparent success (thus far) of the change in tactics. Last night Biden took his party's best remaining option with regard to the surge, which was to ignore it.
Now, let me ask you: Whose judgment should we trust? Should we trust John McCain's judgment when he said only three years ago, "Afghanistan — we don't read about it anymore because it's succeeded? Or should we trust Barack Obama, who more than a year ago called for sending two additional combat brigades to Afghanistan?
The other sleight-of-hand in Biden's speech was his statement that "Now, after six long years, the Bush administration and the Iraqi government are on the verge of setting a date to bring our troops home." This is offered as evidence that Obama was right in supporting a timeline for withdrawal and McCain was wrong in opposing it.
"On the verge" may be an overstatement, but more to the point, the timeline being discussed is the end of 2011. The argument over a "timeline" began back when we were arguably losing the war, and Obama and others talked about a timeline of months, not years, regardless of the situation on the ground. On principle I think a timeline is still a bad idea, but if the current leaders of Iraq and the U.S. want to set a timeline for three-plus years down the road, so be it. There will be plenty of time to reconsider if necessary before any significant troop draw-down begins.
Biden also didn't mention the original decision to authorize war in Iraq, which he… um… supported. Obama opposed the authorization, from his seat in the Illinois state senate, not quite six years ago.
Michelle: "This Is Why I Love This Country"
Kevin Drum of Mother Jones (see, I read lefties, too) describes NRO's The Corner as "a peek into the conservative id," which is a great description. I don't agree with everything I read in The Corner, but it's the first place I turn for a (usually) thoughtful conservative perspective on breaking news.
THAT Michelle Obama is not the one who appeared on stage last night. Last night's model gave an unabashed paean to the American Dream. "Michelle and the girls were a homerun for Dems tonight. It's no small thing when both sides can talk American exceptionalism. It's a start," said Kathryn Jean Lopez.
To her credit, Michelle Obama did exactly what needed to be done tonight. … Whatever cynics like me might think, there were many wet eyes in that room. And there were more African American faces looking with deep pride at this impressive woman, giving a wonderful speech, looking like [a] very serious political player herself, and a world class political wife. Does she really love her country? Standing at that podium, with the nation's eyes upon her, how could it be otherwise. Brava!
JD Iles operates the sign-making company with a handful of employees out of a shop attached to a house in Lincoln, New Hampshire (pop. 1271).
JD makes a habit of blogging about every major project the company takes on. He blogs throughout the duration of the project, so the customer can track the progress and understand the reason for any delay.
Customers end up not just with a sign, but also with a behind-the-scenes description of how it was built and the artistic considerations in creating it. My favorite example is the story behind the si gn they created for Sandpiper Cottage, a vacation rental home.
I think the value is mainly in the "possible opportunities for conversation" that it presents to the customer. Many times, our customers (after we have installed a sign) have commented to us that they have gotten great feedback on their new sign. For people who genuinely are interested, the proud owner of a new sign could e-mail them a link to the "Sign Story" of the sign being built.
True, this is great advertising for us, but it is also terrific for the business with the new sign. Any time you can get a potential customer to take time out of their busy day and spend some time looking at your logo or "brand", you increase the likelihood that they will then go out and tell your story to others.
The line from that passage that jumps out at me more than any other is "possible opportunities for conversation." I try to learn something – or relearn something – every day. Today a rural signmaker from New Hampshire has reminded me that markets are conversations.
Taranto likes me! He really likes me!
Moi is thanked today by James Taranto in the acknowledgements for today's Best of the Web Today column. He spells my name right and everything. I (along with no doubt others) alerted him to the breaking news that Taranto's least-favorite Republican, outgoing Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, is declining to endorse either candidate for president.
This kind of recognition is what makes blogging worthwhile. Well OK, I wasn't actually blogging, I was commenting on Taranto's blog. But I'm just saying.