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Three Days in the Country at the National, or, Tell me the Truth about Love
Note: This is a review of the preview on Wednesday 22nd July 2015. The Press Night is this evening.
It's a pleasure to be able to report (following a number of shows that misfired variously because of work, casting or production) that Rufus Norris's National has at last produced a show pretty close to excellent in all three of those departments. The evening is also a reminder, like the Donmar's Temple, that attention to character, narrative and simplicity of staging can carry you a long way.
The play takes us into the familiar pre-Revolutionary aristocratic Russian territory so often visited by Howard Davies during the Hytner years, though the production intends I think to detach the play to some extent from that setting (difficult in practice because the text remains very clear on that point). We follow through two swift-moving, episodic acts, the romantic longings of various pairings among the company. The fractured marriage of Arkady (John Light) and Natalya (Amanda Drew). The ultimately cold young tutor (Royce Pierreson) who sets various hearts ablaze. The too clinical doctor (Mark Gatiss) and the perhaps lonely old maid (Debra Gillett). And, in a binding central performance, the lover (John Simm) who did not speak years before and has spent a life crafting a mask to conceal his passion. Like Temple the play is often very funny – most of all in the brilliant opening scene of Act Two where Gatiss's self-confessed second rate doctor proposes to Gillett's snuff-taking spinster - but it is ultimately a hard series of studies reminiscent of a line from Babylon 5 – "all love is unrequited."
The ensemble is a very strong one but I was most caught by two of the performers who were new to me, Simm and Pierreson, both of whom I hope to see more of. Simm travels movingly from cutting flipancy to heartbreak. Pierreson has a striking presence, particularly showing that ability to be still in character which is so valuable. Of the rest I would also single out John Light's bluff, naïve husband, and the double act of Gatiss and Gillett, but the quality of the whole ensemble is high.
There is lots to appreciate in both Patrick Marber's direction and Mark Thompson's design. Marber is also responsible for the effective adaptation, the sharply poignant final moments are especially well done. As director, Marber is alive to the power of stillness, small gesture and the detail of how characters interact with each other. The set is spare and in the main successfully focuses attention in on the emotional lives before us. There are a few things that didn't quite convince me. Marber rings the three non-audience sides of the acting square with green chairs and these are frequently occupied either by characters awaiting or concluding a scene, or those being currently discussed. While this does keep the action moving speedily, it can also be distracting and overall it isn't nearly as effective as the similar approach in the NT's brilliant From Morning to Midnight. The other set related irritant is the large red door, practically the only piece of set in the second half. Again the symbolic point it is obviously intended to make is perfectly clear without it – it's a distraction rather than a reinforcement. The other oddity is a couple of occasions when Cherrelle Skeete playing one of the other servants breaks into songs, which to me felt like interlopers from a different show.
But overall this is a funny, moving and ultimately powerful evening. This is the finest show of the Norris era so far and well worth picking up a ticket if you haven't already booked.
Three Days in the Country at the National, or, Tel...
Temple at the Donmar, or, What does God require of...
Radio 3 broadcasts from the 2015 Edinburgh Interna...


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Rachel Perrin Rogers
Latvala accuser's lawyer puts Senate on notice
A lawyer representing Rachel Perrin Rogers, the high-ranking Senate aide who accused Sen. Jack Latvala of groping her on numerous occasions over the past four years, has asked Senate President Joe Negron to preserve nearly eight years of records in anticipation of a lawsuit regarding the alleged sexual harassment.
In a letter sent to Negron Wednesday, lawyer Tiffany Cruz asked that Negron preserve "documents, tangible things, and electronically stored information potentially relevant to the claims which may be brought against the Florida Senate and Senator Jack Latvala."
"This letter comes in anticipation of litigation under related to violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Chapter 760, Florida Statutes, and other statutes related to such violations and the concomitant conduct which my firm has been retained to investigate," Cruz wrote.
The federal Civil Rights Act protects against employment discrimination based on sex, race, color, religion and national origin. The statute referenced by Cruz in the letter deals with the Florida Commission on Human Relations. Complaints filed with the state commission and/or its federal counterpart would be the first step in pursuing a civil action against against the Senate or Latvala, a Clearwater Republican who maintains he did not touch Perrin Rogers inappropriately.
The request for records includes emails, texts, voice messages and instant messages, as well as documents, spreadsheets and images.
Cruz asked that Negron not only preserve records dating back to Jan. 1, 2010, but intervene to prevent loss due to routine operations or malfeasance and employ proper techniques and protocols to preserve" the records.
Negron, R-Stuart, has remained tight-lipped about Latvala, amid twin investigations into the sexual harassment allegations. A special master who's conduct a probe for the Senate Rules Committee is said to have completed his interviews, and his report — and recommendations — could be released any day.
Posted in 2018 Elections, Florida Legislature, Florida Senate and tagged Commission on Human Relations, Jack Latvala, Joe Negron, Rachel Perrin Rogers, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, Tiffany Cruz on December 11, 2017 by Dara Kam.
Bradley: "Zero tolerance" for intimidation
Fleming Island Republican Sen. Rob Bradley seemed to deliver a stern message about allegations of intimidation swirling amid investigations into alleged wrongdoing by Sen. Jack Latvala.
Bradley took over the reins as the Senate budget chief after Latvala was stripped of the post, following allegations that the Clearwater Republican had groped several women over the past few years.
The allegations are the subject of two investigations now underway, including a probe by a special master that could result in Latvala's expulsion from the Senate.
Bradley spoke to reporters about the events following an Appropriations Committee meeting Wednesday afternoon.
"There is a real chance that at some point in time we'll be listening to evidence not only of underlying conduct that is alleged, but also potential conduct that has occurred since the allegations have come to light," Bradley said. "I think it's important that not only there is zero tolerance for sexual misconduct and verbal abuse, but there also be zero tolerance for any behavior that leads to one feeling like they shouldn't come forward or feeling intimidated."
Sen. Lauren Book, a Plantation Democrat, yesterday filed a complaint against Latvala with the Rules Committee, which will also decide on the sexual harassment complaint filed by Senate Majority Leader Wilton Simpson's chief legislative aide, Rachel Perrin Rogers. Book's complaint accused Latvala of improperly taking steps to "out" Perrin Rogers, who has hired armed security in the midst of the investigations.
Perrin Rogers accused Latvala of groping her on six occasions over the past four years. Latvala has steadfastly denied the allegations. The rhetoric around the investigations has escalated, with lawyers from both sides releasing text messages and affidavits to the media and supporters of the Senate aide and the senator taking to Twitter and Facebook to air their grievances.
Bradley said he expects the special master report regarding Perrin Rogers's complaint may be out as early as next week, but he doesn't know if the Rules Committee will be called in to hold an emergency meeting before the legislative session begins on Jan. 9.
"I do think it's important that everyone that visits the Capitol, who advocates for or against proposals we consider, that are involved as employees or otherwise, they understand there is zero tolerance for sexual misconduct for verbal abuse or for, even when those allegations are made, for any attempts to intimidate. And that needs to be stated clearly and publicly so that there is no doubt that that is the position of this senator and the colleagues that I stand side-by-side with," Bradley said.
The special master's report will be given to the Senate Rules Committee. If the special master recommends dismissal, the committee must dismiss the complaint. The special master, retired judge Ronald Swanson, could recommend censure, reprimand or expulsion. The Rules Committee, headed by Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, could adopt his recommendation or come up with its own.
Benacquisto yesterday effectively killed the appointment of Ritch Workman, a former state representative, to the Public Service Commission. Gov. Rick Scott had nominated Workman for the post, which requires Senate confirmation. But Benacquisto said she would not take up his appointment because Workman manhandled her at a charity event last year. Workman subsequently withdrew his nomination.
Posted in 2018 Elections, Florida Legislature, Florida Senate, Uncategorized and tagged Jack Latvala, Rachel Perrin Rogers, Rob Bradley, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct on December 6, 2017 by Dara Kam.
UPDATED: Latvala accuser seeks armed security in Capitol
Rachel Perrin Rogers, the high-ranking Senate aide who accused Sen. Jack Latvala of groping her and making lewd comments about her physical appearance, has asked for security guards when she returns to the Capitol tomorrow.
Perrin Rogers, the chief district legislative assistant to Senate Majority Leader Wilton Simpson, came forward last week and identified herself as the woman who accused Latvala of sexual harassment on several occasions over the past few years.
Perrin Rogers's lawyers, Tiffany Cruz, sent a letter to Negron on Thursday blaming Latvala and his supporters of forcing Rogers to go public, and accusing the Clearwater Republican and his paid minions of "engaging in serious acts of retaliation" against Rogers, "both directly and indirectly through attempts to harm her spouse's employment."
Perrin Rogers is married to Brian Hughes, a GOP consultant and former spokesman for Gov. Rick Scott whose clients include attorney general candidate Frank White and Baxter Troutman, who's running to succeed Adam Putnam as ag commish.
Tiffany Cruz, Perrin Rogers's lawyer, said she wants a Capitol Police or Florida Department of Law Enforcement officer to be assigned to the Senate staffer as she enters and exits the building and while she's in her office because she doesn't feel safe.
(We originally wrote that the request for security came after a whistleblower complaint was filed Friday, which is true.
But Cruz said late Sunday evening she was unaware that the complaint had been filed, until reading about it in this post.)
The complaint, filed with the secretary of the Senate Friday, accuses Perrin Rogers of "displaying a pattern of harmful and retaliatory behavior" toward Lily Tysinger, a former Senate Majority staffer who's backed Latvala in the increasingly toxic sexual harassment investigation.
"Ms. Perrin Rogers is requesting that someone from Capitol Police or FDLE be provided to her this week while she will be working in the building. She would like someone to be with her when she comes in the building from the garage and when she leaves as well as to remain in her office area whenever she is there," Cruz wrote to Office of Legislative Affairs General Counsel Allison Deison in an email sent Saturday morning.
Perrin Rogers "does not feel safe with Lily Tysinger in the building and having access to her and her office in light of Ms. Tysinger's past and present conduct," Cruz wrote. "If this is not an option, please advise so we can independently retain a law enforcement officer to be present."
Several hours later, Deison replied that her request had been received.
Tysinger filed a whistleblower complaint Friday accusing Perrin Rogers of numerous workplace violations, including "engaging in a pattern of conduct" designed to "intimidate me due to my status as a witness" in the Senate investigation into Latvala's alleged sexual misconduct.
Again, Cruz said late Sunday she was unaware of the complaint, which came a day after Cruz asked Negron to intervene on Perrin Rogers's behalf because of intimidation.
"While the Senator has the right to deny the allegations, he does not have the right to spread false and defamatory information about the complainant to the public in an effort to discredit her claims," Cruz wrote. "I expect that as his employer, you will ensure that this retaliatory conduct is not tolerated."
Negron's spokeswoman, Katie Betta, did not respond to a request for comment over the weekend. Cruz said Saturday she had not yet heard back from the president or his aides.
When asked whether Negron had approved the security guard, Betta said she could not comment.
But, in a text late Sunday evening, Cruz said the request had been denied.
Latvala's lawyer, Steve Andrews, denied that the senator's team had done anything to intimidate the senate aide or her spouse.
"Absurd," he said in a text message.
Cruz also asked for — and was granted — extra staff to essentially provide a buffer for Perrin Rogers, whose office is located near Simpson's inside the Senate Majority Office.
"Since next week is a committee week and my client will be back in the Capitol working, she said it would be helpful if the Majority Office could have a receptionist and/or administrative assistant sitting out front. This would prevent people from coming in to her office without permission," Cruz wrote in an email to Deison Wednesday.
"The Senate will make sure that there is an assistant in the front of the Senate Majority Office next week," Deison wrote back Friday morning.
Posted in 2018 Elections, Florida Legislature, Florida Senate, Uncategorized and tagged Brian Hughes, Jack Latvala, Rachel Perrin Rogers, Wilton Simpson on December 3, 2017 by Dara Kam.
Senate aide received nearly 38 percent pay hike in one-year period
Rachel Perrin Rogers, the Senate aide who accused Sen. Jack Latvala of groping her on multiple occasions, received an 11.5 percent pay hike days before she filed a sexual harassment complaint against the Clearwater Republican.
The Nov. 1 pay hike brought the annual salary of Rogers, who serves as the district chief legislative assistant to House Majority Leader Wilton Simpson, to $70,908, according to Senate personnel records.
Rogers, 35, has accused Latvala of "unwanted physical touching/grabbing/groping" on at least six occasions over the past four years.
Latvala has repeatedly denied engaging in any unwanted physical contact with her or other unnamed accusers.
Rogers is a well-connected aide whose husband, Brian Hughes, is a GOP political consultant. Latvala has accused the pair of being part of a political conspiracy intended to force him out of the governor's race and the Senate.
Rogers this week publicly acknowledged that she had filed complaints against Latvala, the same day he and his lawyer, Steve Andrews, released more than 200 text message exchanges between the Senate aide and the senator showing what appeared, at least on the surface, to be a chummy relationship.
Rogers told POLITICO Florida, which broke the news about the allegations against Latvala, that she left the Senate in 2015 because of an interaction with the senator at a private club near the Capitol.
She returned to the Senate as an aide to Simpson, R-Trilby, in December 2015 at a salary of $51,456. A year later, she received just over a $10,000 pay hike, according to Senate records. This October, she — like all legislative staff — received a $1,000 pay increase, in addition to the $8,156 increase in November.
Tiffany Cruz, Rogers' lawyer, said she believed the pay increase was approved on Oct. 27, and directed questions about the reason for the raise to the Senate.
Katie Betta, a spokeswoman for Senate President Joe Negron, said the recent raise was requested by Simpson, and was authorized on Oct. 25.
Posted in 2018 Elections, Florida Legislature, Florida Senate and tagged Jack Latvala, Rachel Perrin Rogers, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, Steve Andrews on December 1, 2017 by Dara Kam.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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All posts by : abcg
Population, Health and Environment: Engaging Policymakers to Invest in Integrated Development
Humans and the environment are inextricably linked. Population size and age, fertility, mobility, settlement patterns, and resource availability and consumption all influence the impact we have on the environment. Solving the complex challenges we face today demands a better understanding of how these aspects of population impact the environment, how environmental change impacts our health and well-being, and what can be done to address these issues. PRB's International Programs improve the well-being of current and future generations and contribute to positive social change, with an emphasis on the developing world. PRB's Population, Health, and Environment (PHE) program aims to:
Increase awareness among decision-makers, professionals, and advocates about population, health, and environment challenges and integrated, rights-based solutions.
Build leadership and capacity to work on and communicate about population, health, and environment linkages.
Develop regional networks for information sharing and collaboration.
Strengthen journalists' reporting on population, health, and environment topics.
Jason Bremner, Associate Vice President for Population, Health, and Environment, PRB, provided an overview of global demographic trends. Kristen Patterson, Senior Policy Analyst, PRB, sharee PRB's new ENGAGE multimedia presentation on "Population, Health, and Environment Working Together," which highlights the complex and interrelated challenges faced by many families and communities around the world, and shows how the PHE (population, health, and environment) approach can address these challenges.
Find the presentation slides by clicking here.
Watch the full screencast video recording via this link here.
Further resources:
2014 World Population Data Sheet
Migration and the Environment
Africa and the demographic dividend
Population dynamics and climate change
Biodiversity Analysis and Technical Support for USAID/Africa Annual Report for the Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group FY2014
Download the ABCG Annual Report FY-2014 here!
With funding from the US Agency for International Development's (USAID) Biodiversity Analysis and Technical Support (BATS) program, ABCG has made excellent progress towards our mission of tackling complex and changing conservation challenges by catalyzing and strengthening collaboration, and bringing the best resources from across a continuum of conservation organizations to effectively and efficiently work toward a vision of an African continent where natural resources and biodiversity are securely conserved in balance with sustained human livelihoods.
Safiatou Barry and her daughter harvest baobab fruit in the Rural Community of Bala. Photo courtesy of Lindsay Dozoretz /USAID
The BATS program is a multi-partner USAID Bureau for Africa effort that has included International Resources Group (IRG) under the Environmental Policy and Institutional Strengthening Indefinite Quantity Contract (EPIQ II), the USDA Forest Service International Programs under an interagency agreement, Environmental Law Institute (ELI), the Capitalizing Knowledge, Connecting Communities (CK2C) project of new partner Development Alternatives, Incorporated (DAI) and the Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group (ABCG) under a cooperative agreement. While all groups had separate funding and work plans, the three entities met regularly with USAID to coordinate their activities. This report details the activities of the BATS program over the period from October 2013 through September 2014.
Overarching FY-2014 Accomplishments
ABCG organized, facilitated, and supported the following cross-task outputs in FY2014:
Two large thematic meetings.
Twelve brown bag talks.
More than 35 research and peer-reviewed reports.
Six maps to guide resource-use decisions.
Four workshops.
Due to unforeseen delays in fund obligations, a number of ABCG activities and deliverables were not completed by September 30, 2014. ABCG obtained a no-cost extension of the award, until March 30, 2015, to complete this work.
Post-crisis conservation in Madagascar: where to from here?
Madagascar is slowly awakening from a 5 year long political crisis that coincided with the global financial crisis. This period saw withdrawal of nearly all development assistance to the conservation sector, as well as a general weakening of natural resources governance and enforcement on the part of Government. Initial analyses show that the results for the country's biodiversity have been catastrophic and yet to date Government is struggling to redress the problems facing the sector. In this presentation the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS's) Country Director for Madagascar, Alison Clausen gave a realistic view of the day-to-day challenges facing conservation work in this biodiversity hotspot and provided a vision of what technical and financial partners should be focusing on to ensure that past conservation gains are protected and that irreversible losses of biodiversity are avoided.
Event Resources:
Download the presentation slides here.
Download the presentation webcast here. NOTE: Due to technical problems, the webinar recording omitted the first part of the presentation. The recording starts on slide #13 of the slide presentation.
Improving the conservation of Cross River gorillas with mobile based law enforcement monitoring
A significant challenge in conservation is the quantification of threats, conservation effort, and the impact of conservation interventions. Conservation staffs of protected areas working to protect wildlife and their habitats are often limited by the availability of data, technical capacity, and access to appropriate technology and analytical tools. Such limitations are often particularly marked in regions where highly endangered species occur and where the degree of threat is high. The Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli) is Critically Endangered and occurs in an environment where the threats posed by bushmeat hunting, conversion of forest for agriculture and small-scale logging are significant.
In 2008, in partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society and several national agencies, we implemented a mobile computer-based monitoring system across the range of the Cross River gorilla to assess both threats to the gorillas and the extent of law enforcement activities.
This system, based on the Cybertracker software application, has allowed us to quantitatively measure threat, protection and biological data using information collected during the course of ranger, ecoguard and research patrols and surveys. The use of an intuitive user interface designed in consultation with the end-users, ruggedized hand-held computers, and an easy to use suite of analysis tools has allowed us to document both successes and failures in Cross River gorilla conservation. Lessons learned in the deployment of the Cybertracker-based system are now being used to inform the SMART law enforcement monitoring tool, recently developed by a broad partnership of conservation NGOs.
Find the presentation slides here
Find the speaker's audio recording here
Synergies of Nature, Wealth, and Power: Lessons from USAID Natural Resource Management Investments in Senegal
The Synergies of Nature, Wealth and Power report, is a retrospective study that "tells the story" of the historical context and evolution of USAID's long-term commitment to sustainable development in Senegal through NRM program assistance. The study, completed by the US Forest Service International Programs and World Resources Institute, is designed to contribute to a greater appreciation of the achievements and impacts of USAID investments in environment and natural resource management projects, and to contribute to USAID's institutional memory in this area. It aims to capitalize on key lessons learned from these projects and to provide guidance to increase the effectiveness of interventions aimed at addressing poverty alleviation, economic growth, environmental governance and climate change adaptation as well as improved natural resource management, biodiversity conservation, and related sustainable development objectives.
Safiatou Barry and her daughter harvest baobab fruit in the Rural Community of Bala. Photo courtesy of Lindsay Dozoretz /USAID.
This study focuses on the last ten years of NRM programming in Senegal, which centered around the Nature, Wealth and Power paradigm implemented via the Wula Nafaa program. In viewing Senegal as a case study of ten years of the NWP approach in action, this document examines what has been achieved and explores programmatic complexities to provide recommendations for future initiatives.
Publication Resources:
Download the Executive Summary via USAID.gov here
Find the full report by clicking here.
Technocrats, financiers and carbon; a thorny alliance with communities and conservation?
This presentation summarizes selected findings from a USAID/FCMC study, conducted in 2013, of four forest carbon projects in three eastern African countries that combine carbon credits with community and biodiversity objectives. The projects exhibit different ecological, governance, social, carbon standard and natural resources management circumstances, yet the comparative study reveals several generalizations. Among key findings:
Humbo Ethiopia: Forest ecosystem naturally (farmer-assisted) regenerating from bare, eroded landscape. Photo courtesy of Ian Deshmukh.
Community-based carbon projects provide a long-term institutional framework for reforestation or afforestation, but no guarantee of permanence.
Investment costs are high, needing large financial input from proponents and high labor and opportunity cost inputs from community members.
While net financial benefits to proponents are likely over the long term, the low carbon price implies that basic financial assumptions of "payment for environmental services" or "polluter pays" schemes are not met.
Community members regard carbon credit payments as inadequate for the labor and land invested, but value social, livelihood and perceived environmental benefits that the projects promote.
Biodiversity benefits are apparent, but remain largely unquantified despite being requirements of the voluntary standards used.
Click here to download the presentation slides
Click here to watch the presentation webinar
Click here for a summary report of the Eastern Africa – Forest Carbon Projects Study via FCMC-USAID
Click here for the full report of the Eastern Africa – Forest Carbon Projects Study: FCMC Program via FCMC-USAID
Dr. Ian Deshmukh.
Ian Deshmukh is engaged with USAID's Washington-based Forest Carbon, Markets and Communities (FCMC), and Africa and Latin American Resilience to Climate Change (ARCC) programs, as well as USAID/Uganda's Environmental Management for the Oil Sector Activity. Dr. Deshmukh is also team leader on the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility-funded Strategic Social and Environment Assessment as part of Liberia's REDD-Readiness program.
Highlights from the Integrated Freshwater Conservation and WASH M&E Workshop
For the past three years, ABCG has been exploring linkages between biodiversity protection and the relationships between water conservation, water pollution and human activities. While ABCG has invested and produced policy papers and analysis on forest, woodland and savannah ecosystems, our member organizations had not focused very much on freshwater ecosystems and the myriad of threats to biodiversity in rapidly changing landscapes In Africa.
Sub-Saharan Africa has considerable aquatic treasures, containing a rich diversity of life. For example, the Zaire river basin is the most species rich in the world, while the Great Lakes – Tanganyika, Victoria and Malawi – each harbor rich diversity of fisheries. Unfortunately the productivity and diversity of Africa's ecosystems are threatened by deforestation, agricultural production and municipal and industrial production.
Freshwater conservation efforts are designed to protect or restore freshwater biodiversity, ecosystems and ecosystem services. The term biodiversity refers to the variety of plants, animals and microorganisms and the ecosystems in which they occur. Ecosystem refers to a dynamic complex of plant, animal, and microorganism communities and the nonliving environment interacting as a functional unit. And ecosystem services are the benefits that people obtain from these systems – things like flood control or the provision of drinking water and food.
Workshop participant in a group session. Photo © Kamweti.
In order to protect and conserve freshwater and its biodiversity in Africa, ABCG has supported this work to bring together ABCG member organizations and several development organizations to promote policies, plans and projects that integrate access to water supply and sanitation with the conservation and sustainable management of freshwater resources. With the M&E framework, there is an opportunity to continue to collaborate and meet our mutual development and conservation goals.
As many of us already know, conservation is a multisectoral practice and we need to continue to work with diverse partners and stakeholders across the development world to increase our mutual successes. Biodiversity underpins all sustainable development and it will take our collective efforts to protect it.
Click here for slides accompanying the workshop presentation
Click here for a full audio-visual webcast of the event
Download the final revised draft framework and indicators here
Download the indicators and intermediate results table here
Download the full workshop report here
Visit the workshop event page here
The SMART Partnership: Training of Trainers Builds Capacity for Adaptive Conservation Protection
The Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) Approach has been developed in response to the recognition that traditional tools, technologies and resources are not stemming the illegal killing and trading of endangered species and the resulting loss of threatened and highly valued biodiversity. The approach is a combination of software, training materials and implementation standards providing protected area authorities and community groups with the ability to empower staff, boost motivation, increase efficiency, and promote credible and transparent monitoring of the effectiveness of anti-poaching and other efforts to address illegal activities. At its core, SMART helps rangers document where patrols go, what they see, and how they respond. Whether collected by direct observation or GPS, data is fed into a central system back at park headquarters. There it is converted into visual information in near real-time to help managers understand where the greatest threats are and how best to deploy patrols.
SMART Partnership
The SMART Partnership, currently comprised of CITES-Monitoring Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE), Frankfurt Zoological Society, North Carolina Zoological Park, Panthera, Wildlife Conservation Society, World Wildlife Fund and Zoological Society of London, launched the tool in March 2013, and it is now being implemented at 128 sites across 27 countries worldwide.
The SMART Partnership is committed to developing a global network of trainers using standard, open source training materials to ensure the roll out of the SMART Approach is cost effective, locally adapted and global in nature. To that end and in order to enhance the capacity to implement this adaptive management approach and expand the user base, the SMART Partnership hosted a regional training in South Africa to help improve monitoring of illegal activities across Africa. The training, which was funded by CITES-MIKE and USAID's Africa Bureau through ABCG, was conducted at the Southern African Wildlife College (SAWC) between the 16th and 20th June 2014. A total of 28 participants from 16 African countries, representing 19 organizations joined the workshop. Attendees fell into two different core audience groups:
SMART implementers who work in important wildlife conservation areas within Africa, have committed to using SMART and who will take back the skills gained during the training to begin implementing SMART in their respective sites; and
A new user group consisting of representatives from wildlife colleges and training institutes in Africa interested in incorporating a Law Enforcement Monitoring module using SMART within their training curriculum.
Group photo. Courtesy of Robbie Green, Southern African Wildlife College.
The course covered a range of topics, including: the philosophy of adaptive patrol management and the role SMART plays in facilitating this; how to use the SMART software and adapt it to the needs of the site, with introduction to brand new SMART plug-ins; and the process of implementing SMART at a site. Additionally the wildlife college participants evaluated the training curricula for SMART implementation, and how to adapt the training for their needs.
Three gentlemen using the tablet/data sheets for SMART data collection.
Photo: Alexa Montefiore, SMART Partnership.
Overall, the workshop was a success and helped extend the SMART capacity-building approach, expand the active community of users and conservation practitioners who can share experiences and have a say in improving and sustaining SMART over the long-term, as well as strengthen the ability of conservation programs to combat illegal activities, such as poaching and logging, by developing capacity in staff responsible for oversight of law enforcement efforts.
Gentleman using SMART on his computer.
Photo: Ruth Starkey, Wildlife Conservation Society
If you have questions about SMART, please check out our website at Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool or email amontefiore@smartconservationtools.org. Also, join the growing SMART community, ask questions, post lessons learned, and share experiences by signing up for the SMART community forum!
Drafting an Integrated Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for Freshwater Conservation and WASH
Find the workshop summary report here
Water, poverty and environment are intrinsically connected. Areas of high endemism and biodiversity are usually relatively remote and as a result human communities living in close proximity to these areas tend to be impoverished with little to no access to improved water sources and sanitation facilities. Conversely, in the downstream reaches of rivers, acute water shortages are becoming the norm in some areas as the myriad of stakeholders take up water to meet their disparate needs which include heavy industry, irrigation for agriculture, fisheries, tourism, and municipal water and electricity utilities. The impacts on human health linked to the lack of access to improved water and sanitation facilities range from water-borne diarrheal diseases such as typhoid, giardia and cholera to water-washed diseases such as roundworm, trachoma and scabies.
Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) projects are a cornerstone of human development. Access to water (in relative proximity) translates into increased economic productivity and healthier communities. Well-planned sanitation infrastructure can both minimize the risk of water-borne diseases and result in healthier, more vibrant communities and ecosystems.
An USAID-funded 2012 report entitled, " Linking Biodiversity Conservation and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene: Experiences from sub-Saharan Africa" found that there are numerous organizations and projects in Sub-Saharan Africa that are integrating WASH and biodiversity conservation on an ad-hoc basis. The report, produced by the Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group (ABCG), called for more comprehensive guidelines on how to integrate the two disciplines in different scenarios, ecoregions and climates.
Building on this report, in 2013, ABCG members collaborated with a number of development organizations specializing in WASH, to develop the Freshwater Conservation and WASH Integration Guidelines: A Framework for Implementation in sub-Saharan Africa guidelines for the design and implementation of integrated projects to improve freshwater conservation and human well-being. During the development of the guidelines, "monitoring and evaluation, indicators, and measuring results were themes that came up repeatedly as areas that were lacking research and guidance. Although each sector has existing frameworks for evaluating, for example, the number of people impacted by a WASH project or hectares restored within a watershed, there are no existing resources that evaluate the benefits of an integrated project.
To that end, ABCG members, the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), Conservation International (CI), and the Nature Conservancy (TNC), co-hosted a workshop from July 15-17, 2014 in Nairobi, Kenya, for African conservation, health and development practitioners to design a WASH and freshwater conservation monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework. The workshop was co-sponsored by the USAID Bureau for Africa and ABCG. This event, entitled the Workshop on Integrated Indicators for Freshwater Conservation and WASH Programming, wasthe first time that WASH and freshwater conservation sector professionals came together to craft an integrated M&E framework for improved health, development and conservation goals.
More than 26 health, development and conservation experts from Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda contributed technical advice and strategic inputs on the overall framework for how WASH and freshwater conservation projects can be measured in a more holistic, mutually-reinforcing manner. The workshop participants included representatives from AWF, Catholic Relief Services, CI, Jane Goodall Institute, Kenya Water Towers Agency, Kenya WASH Alliance, Millennium Water Alliance, Neighbours Initiative Alliance, Netherlands Development Organization (SNV), Total LandCare, TNC, Water for People, Water Aid East Africa, Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor, Wetlands International, World Vision, and the ABCG program officer.
Workshop participants discussing value-added indicators. Photo courtesy of Kamweti Mutu /ABCG.
By the end of the three days, workshop participants had reached agreement on a draft M&E framework and indicators for integrated programming, and CI, in collaboration with ABCG members, workshop participants and WASH and conservation partner organizations, will refine the framework in the coming month. The group also developed an outreach plan for disseminating the draft framework with donors, multi-sectoral partners and other conservation, health and development practitioners in sub-Saharan Africa. For questions on the M&E framework and guidelines, please contact Colleen Sorto at csorto@conservation.org.
Related Resource:
Click to download and read the workshop summary here
Watch and download presentation material of Highlights from the Integrated Freshwater Conservation and WASH M&E Workshop, September 2014.
Click here for slides accompanying the September 30, 2014 workshop presentation
Click here for a full audio-visual webcast of the September 30, 2014 event
Studies of Climate Changes Direct Impact are Abundant, but Little Knowledge Generated on Indirect Human Response
A recently published peer-reviewed journal article by Dan Segan (Wildlife Conservation Society), David Hole (Conservation International) James Watson (Wildlife Conservation Society) and other co-authors reveals the highly disproportionate effort in the scientific community in investigating the direct consequences of changing climactic conditions on biodiversity, and in favor of much longer time scales.
The article is titled Publishing trends on climate change vulnerability in the conservation literature reveal a predominant focus on direct impacts and long time-scales, published in Diversity and Distributions, is open-access and available in its entirety here. It reports on an analysis of 941 articles published between 2000 and 2012, with remarkable revelations including a gap in social science focus of climate change, and a discussion of the inherent difficulties of studying complex processes like land use change.
Dan, David and James are long-time members of ABCG's Climate Change Adaptation thematic task which was not involved in nor funded this feature article. Along with other group members, ABCG has produced a raft of valuable scientifically-based information, some of which include:
A Systematic Approach to Incorporate the Human Response into Climate Change Conservation Planning
A Holistic Approach to Climate Change Adaptation in Africa: A dialogue for Conservation and Development Organizations Hosted by ABCG
ABCG Climate Change Adaptation Report


On this date in 1902, the Jewish socialist Hirsh Lekert was hanged in Vilna (Vilnius) for his attempt on that city's governor.
The 22-year-old shoemaker, active in the Bund since childhood, was aggrieved along with many others by repressive measures taken against that leftist council by Vilna governor Victor von Wahl — culminating with the calculated humiliation he inflicted by personally overseeing the flogging of 20 Jews and 6 Poles arrested at a May Day demonstration.
As was the style at the time, Lekert took some retaliatory potshots at the municipal dictator on May 18, 1902. He scored a couple of flesh wounds before the police on hand beat him all to hell.
And that was pretty well that. Lekert got sent to face a military tribunal with a foreordained result. But he made his bones with posterity by refusing to apologize and instead fearlessly vindicating his action as a defense of the Jewish worker's dignity.
This carried his legend in the early 20th century Jewish community much further than one might assume.
For Jewish Workers Bund, "the first great attempt at the organization of the Jewish masses for secular and independent political activity,"* Lekert's uncompromising embrace of revolutionary violence created an internal controversy: radical workers saw a martyred hero; elites, and the Bund officially, were much more wary of terrorism provoking official backlash in an empire where Jewish communities were still liable to be targeted by pogroms at any time. All this during a renaissance of cultural and political thought among Eastern European Jewry.
Even decades later, the esteem remaining Lekert from his sacrifice gave his name power. Another generation of Jewish terrorists — in Mandate Palestine — was incensed at the British for flogging some Irgun members, leading Menachem Begin to invoke Lekert as his justification for kidnapping several British soldiers and flogging them. (Source) The British had no stomach for this, and desisted with floggings.
And from the hellish Vilna Ghetto under Nazi occupation, the great poet of the Holocaust Abraham Sutzkever depicted his "Teacher Mira" trying to keep her students' heads up by reminding them of the Vilna cobbler who fought back.
Mira must not reveal the darkness thus.
About Hirsh Lekert, how he fought and fell.
* Koppel Pinson, "Arkady Kremer, Vladimir Medem, and the Ideology of the Jewish 'Bund'", Jewish Social Studies July 1945.


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Feb 28, 2017 09:22 AM EST Plants and Architecture incorporation will help extend more lifespans in the future.


If you're a pilot, there are a lot of great reasons to consider Endeavor Air. Whether it's the richest combined compensation package, the rapid career progression, or the Delta Guaranteed Interview program, pilots who join Endeavor simply earn more than they would anywhere else.
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Here is one of my recent portraits of the Writer Larry Siedentop .
To retain the atmosphere of the room and the view out of the window I metered for the ambient light which balanced fairly well for the light outside the window around 1/60th sec f/8 at 800 asa . This gives the warm glow of the table lamp .
Then using an Elinchrom Ranger Quadra with 2 heads each with an umbrella I was able to get the light into Larry Siedentop's face .


Well, the first thing to say is that all literature began as sacred literature. That is to say, the beginnings of writings are religious, that the oldest written material that we have is all the product of one or another religious experience. It's a long time, if you look at the history of literature, before literature separates itself from that articulation of religion. So there is something profound in the origins that link them.
For A-level students in the UK, there is only one exam board that runs a real philosophy course. And that's about to be changed into yet another religious education course. For the last nine years, I have taught the AQA's A-level philosophy course. It's a good course, and the only one to represent the breadth of philosophy as a discipline in its own right. So I was somewhat surprised to learn that the AQA have this week, without warning or consultation, published a completely new draft syllabus, which is now just waiting to be rubber-stamped by Ofqual.
A new year often comes with questions. January is a time to take stock, reflect on past accomplishments and lost opportunities, and determine the way forward. Creating more happiness, achieving a longed-for goal, and making changes that lead to better health and more resilience can be part of the new you in the new year. While improving physical, mental and emotional well-being can involve much different considerations, there is one aspect of the human condition that ties each of these together — spirituality.
Was Joan of Arc a saint or a crazy person?
This question was put to me by a local graduate student and it is actually a problematic one on several levels. Many people know the story of St. Joan, the female warrior of France who was said to be called by God to liberate her nation from English oppression. Viewed from the perspective of secular history, we have a story of a person who claimed to hear the voice of God and had visions of saints. That would make anyone in any age appear at least a little bit eccentric. Yet that said, she won stunning military victories against incredible odds as a teenage girl when the best military commanders of her day were utterly unable to do so.
Atheism doesn't tell you what you "ought" to do. It is simply a lack of belief. Naturalism on the other hand is an epistemological position, i.e. "I don't see evidence for the supernatural, which includes gods". One can be an atheist and be a great humanitarian or a mass murderer. Atheism is not a system of values. My lack of belief does not inform my values in any way.


text:
Keep your eyes on the prize
More than not, dogged determination pays off in the end — either for you or the next generation. Whether it's fighting for your company, your family, your health or beliefs, just keeping at it seems to win the day, week, month, year or even the decade.
Lyn Collier Las Vegas Business Press
Nevada residents are no stranger to this brand of single-minded focus. In fact, Las Vegas would never be what it is today if mobster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel had not opened The Flamingo on what is now the world-famous Strip in 1946. It didn't turn out so great for him, as most believe the mob killed him in his Beverly Hills mansion in 1947, but it set the stage for the growth of the city.
In 1989, Steve Wynn changed the city again, when he built a volcano on the Strip at The Mirage. Some people thought he was a little crazy. Today, he is the accepted visionary of the city that retains its title as the gambling and entertainment mecca of the world.
A few years ago, young residential designer Tyler Jones, a Las Vegas native, got more than a few chuckles and rolled eyes when he began to build his desert contemporary custom homes in the sea of Spanish-tiled roofs. Now he is sought after by the valley's wealthiest residents to build his "Modern Vegas" estates that are changing the way our luxury neighborhoods look.
At a recent Southern Nevada Home Builders event, "We Built This City," Mark Fine talked about how he helped create Green Valley, the valley's first major master-planned community, in the 1970s. As president of American Nevada Corp., Fine spent 17 years heading up the project. He recalled in the early days not many people wanted to admit they lived in Henderson, which was not the admired address it is today. He even said some of his friends gave him strange looks when he talked about land investments. Of course, years later, the $20,000 lots turned into multi-million-dollar cash-outs.
Sometimes, there is a lot to be said for keeping your eyes on the prize.
How did Fine and his company help turn around the image of Henderson from a place people didn't want to call home to a desirable address?
"You just keep your head down and keep doing what you're doing," he told the audience of homebuilders.
I've always learned from people who were able to keep their eyes on the prize no matter what false flattery, teasing, intimidation and sometimes flat-out, mean-spirited bullying came their way. That's something I witnessed a lot while growing up in a small Oklahoma town.
My father, Buford Lewis Collier, spent his life focused on keeping his family fed, clothed and sheltered and his mind as calmed as possible. He would go to work — he owned a trash company, a gas station and ultimately ended up repairing golf carts at an Arkansas country club.
He could fix anything. His aging Buick was always parked at a shade tree with him under the hood taking things apart and putting them back together. I remember our elderly neighbor pushing her lawnmower into our yard. He would sit on the porch and poke and prod the mechanical guts. Then he would jump up and pull the cord and be rewarded with the motor coming to life. Then he would shut it off and order me to push it back to her house; and, oh yeah, mow the lawn for her while you are at it, kid.
At night, he kept his mind occupied with several sets of encyclopedias, medical journals, history books, political magazines and literature. In fact, when his 10-year-old granddaughter, Ashlee, said she wanted to become a doctor when she grew up, he bought her a copy of "Gray's Anatomy." Buford never messed around with education or reading material. I think she still has the copy.
Yes, he had "A Beautiful Mind." In fact, that movie helped me and my siblings understand how my father's mental illness, paranoid schizophrenia, affected us, and continues to affect us all.
I'm not saying it was pretty — there was substantial disastrous aftermath — but he was successful in keeping his family fed, clothed and sheltered. The old Navy man died of colon cancer not long after his youngest entered adulthood. He kept his eyes on the prize — his family.
As I tweak my new project these days — the Las Vegas Business Press — I think about its stages of production and how they work together. I try to imagine what it and other publications will look like 10 years from now, 20 years from now. What will the processes be?
When I put the paper to bed on Wednesday morning and shut the computer down, I look at the blue screen fade to black and wonder what Buford is working on these days.
And, then I wonder what all the Bufords out there, regardless of their challenges, are creating today, and how will it change our tomorrow?
Posted on: Columns, Editor's Note
INDUSTRY Q&A: Matthew Kammeyer, owner, Five Star Real ...
VIDEO: Local businesses creatively mix combine community ...


text:
package com.ait.lienzo.client.core.image.filter;

import com.ait.lienzo.client.core.shape.json.IFactory;
import com.ait.lienzo.client.core.shape.json.validators.ValidationContext;
import com.ait.lienzo.client.core.shape.json.validators.ValidationException;
import com.ait.lienzo.shared.java.util.ClassUtils;
import com.google.gwt.json.client.JSONObject;

public class PosterizeImageDataFilter extends AbstractValueTableImageDataFilter<PosterizeImageDataFilter>
{
    private double           m_value = Double.NaN;

    private FilterTableArray m_table = null;

    public PosterizeImageDataFilter()
    {
        super(6);
    }

    public PosterizeImageDataFilter(double value)
    {
        super(value);
    }

    @Override
    public double getMinValue()
    {
        return 2;
    }

    @Override
    public double getMaxValue()
    {
        return 30;
    }

    @Override
    public double getRefValue()
    {
        return 6;
    }

    protected PosterizeImageDataFilter(JSONObject node, ValidationContext ctx) throws ValidationException
    {
        super(node, ctx);
    }

    @Override
    protected final FilterTableArray getTable(double value)
    {
        if (value != m_value)
        {
            m_table = getTable_(m_value = value);
        }
        return m_table;
    }

    private final native FilterTableArray getTable_(double value)
    /*-{
        var table = [];
        for(var i = 0; i < 256; i++) {
            table[i] = (255 * ((i * value / 256) | 0) / (value - 1)) | 0;
        }
        return table;
    }-*/;

    @Override
    public IFactory<PosterizeImageDataFilter> getFactory()
    {
        return new PosterizeImageDataFilterFactory();
    }

    public static class PosterizeImageDataFilterFactory extends ValueTableImageDataFilterFactory<PosterizeImageDataFilter>
    {
        public PosterizeImageDataFilterFactory()
        {
            super(ClassUtils.getSimpleName(PosterizeImageDataFilter.class));
        }

        @Override
        public PosterizeImageDataFilter create(JSONObject node, ValidationContext ctx) throws ValidationException
        {
            return new PosterizeImageDataFilter(node, ctx);
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Thread: We nailed a "money printer" today -- too bad it wasn't Bernanke.
The same FBI wouldn't/couldn't find a fraudulent bankster on all of Wall Street managed to devote plenty of resources towards convicting a man who sought to challenge the fraudulent paper printed (minted?) by the FED, who itslef is in violation of the US Constitution -- same Constitutional arguement used against this guy.
Article I, section 8, clause 5 of the United States Constitution delegates to Congress the power to coin money and to regulate the value thereof. (funny, nowhere do I see this power re-delegated to the FED) This power was delegated to Congress in order to establish and preserve a uniform standard of value :lol: and to insure a singular monetary system for all purchases and debts in the United States, public and private. Along with the power to coin money, Congress has the concurrent power to restrain the circulation of money which is not issued under its own authority in order to protect and preserve the constitutional currency for the benefit of all citizens of the nation. (yeah, right) It is a violation of federal law for individuals, such as von NotHaus, or organizations, such as NORFED, to create private coin or currency systems to compete with the official coinage and currency of the United States.
Von NotHaus, who remains free on bond, faces a sentence of up to 15 years' imprisonment on count two of the indictment and a fine of not more than $250,000. Von NotHaus faces a prison sentence of five years and fines of $250,000 on both counts one and three. In addition, the United States is seeking the forfeiture of approximately 16,000 pounds of Liberty Dollar coins and precious metals, currently valued at nearly $7 million. (NOW we get to the heart of the matter -- the money grab!) The forfeiture trial, which began today before United States District Court Judge Richard Voorhees, will resume on April 4, 2011 in the federal courthouse in Statesville. Judge Voorhees has not yet set a date for the sentencing of von NotHaus.


This eset SysRescue CD (ESR) was created with eset Smart Security Business Edition, The main advantage of eset SysRescue is the fact that it runs independent of the host operating system, while it has a direct access to the disk and the entire filesystem. Thanks to this it is possible to remove those infiltrations that normally could not be deleted, e.g. when the operating system is running, etc.


"AMRAT - Asian Movement of Women Religious Against Human Trafficking" (Meaning: life giving water in Sanskrit) is a Member of TALITHA KUM, The International Network of Consecrated Life Against Trafficking in Persons. The birth of AMRAT was in November 2009 in the First workshop held from 18-25 Novemebr 2009 at Raia, Goa, India. The Foundress Sr Jyoti was awakened to the heart rending realities of the modern day slavery – Human Trafficking when she represented the Union of International Superiors General (UISG) in Rome in 2007 and was inspired by "I have come that they may have life; life in its fullness"John 10:10. She then motivated other religios congregations especailly of South Asian Countires to join hands to combat this heinous crime - Human Trafficking.
A. Mission of AMRAT We, the Women Religious of South Asia (India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka) inspired by the love of Jesus Christ who offered fullness of life for all, commit ourselves to protect, promote and restore human rights of the marginalized people in our mission, especially addressing the challenges of Human Trafficking, in collaboration and solidarity with equally motivated organizations, institutions and individuals. b. Objectives of AMRAT : 1.	To identify the Congregations, organization and Institutions to emlist the new network members to support each other in combating human trafficking. 2.	To work to protect, promote and restore human rights of the marginalized people. 3.	To create awaress among the vulnerable people on safe migration. 4.	To support grassroot activities of the members in addressing issues related to human trafficking, human rights, displaced and migration. 5.	To reduce cases of trafficking in persons, displaced and unsafe migration. 6.	To vioce out our stance in defence of the human rights as situation demands and denounce all forms of human trafficking. 7.	To work for prevention, rescue rehabilitation and re- integration of those who need such assistance. 8.	To network with government and non - government and non - government organizations and institutions.


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text:
Guidance to Help Financial Institutions and to Facilitate Recovery in Areas of Iowa and Nebraska Affected by Severe Storms, Tornadoes and Flooding FIL-49-2008
Summary: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has announced a series of steps intended to provide regulatory relief to financial institutions and to facilitate recovery in areas of Iowa and Nebraska affected by recent severe storms, tornadoes and flooding.
Severe storms, tornadoes and flooding have caused significant property damage to areas of Iowa and Nebraska.
In Iowa, the counties of Adams, Benton, Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Butler, Cerro Gordo, Delaware, Fayette, Floyd, Hardin, Johnson, Linn, Marion, Page, Story, Tama, and Union have been declared federal disaster areas. Individuals and households in these counties may be eligible for federal assistance.
In Nebraska, the counties of Gage, Johnson, Morrill, Nemaha, and Pawnee have been declared federal disaster areas. Individuals and households in these counties may be eligible for federal assistance.
The FDIC is encouraging financial institutions to work constructively with borrowers who are experiencing difficulties beyond their control because of damage caused by these disasters.
The FDIC will also consider regulatory relief from certain filing and publishing requirements for banks in the affected areas.
FDIC-Supervised Banks (Commercial and Savings)
in Iowa and Nebraska
Supervisory Practices Regarding
Depository Institutions and Borrowers Affected by
Severe Storms and Tornadoes in Iowa and
Assistant Regional Director Kurt R. Hagedorn at
(816) 234-8161 or khagedorn@fdic.gov
Paper copies of FDIC financial institution letters may be obtained through the FDIC's Public Information Center, 3501 Fairfax Drive, E-1002, Arlington, VA 22226 (1-877-275-3342 or 703-562- 2200).


Be alerted when New Order - Power, Corruption and Lies (180g Import Vinyl LP) is back in stock.
A notification will be sent to when the New Order - Power, Corruption and Lies (180g Import Vinyl LP) is back in stock.
New Order formed in Manchester, U.K. in 1980, rising from the ashes of Joy Division after lead singer Ian Curtis' tragic suicide. Guitarist Bernard Sumner took over on vocals, and with drummer Stephen Morris, bassist Peter Hook and keyboardist Gillian Gilbert, the group became one of the biggest British acts of their era. Pioneering the fusion of new wave, alt-rock, electronica, synth-pop, house and club music, their unique sound was as thought-provoking and soulful as it was dancefloor-ready. The group truly came into their own on 1983's Power, Corruption & Lies, a breakthrough release which finds the band solidifying their dance and rock sound hybrid and cementing their post-Joy Division identity in the process. Hailed as "a remarkable declaration of independence" by Rolling Stone, New Order's classic second effort is highlighted by such signature tracks as "Age Of Consent," "Blue Monday" and "Your Silent Face."


But yes, thanks for sharing. I also enjoyed it.
Amazing. I knew nothing about Lars or about his work. My daughter and I can't wait to start practicing his methods after the Thaw. Most appreciated and Thank You very much for sharing this video.
Been a while since I had watched any Lars Anderson vids. This looked liked a rough compilation of several of them.
Far as implementing in Wurm, many of these moves require a certain amount of practice, so having them as high level skill unlocks or akin to melee weapon special moves would make sense. Perhaps even some minimum requirements in body stats.
Offhand prob restrict such techniques to regular and small bow. Not entirely sure some of this would work well with an older European longbow, which typically are as tall as or taller than the shooter and not significantly recurved. Most of the power is generated by the longer draw.
Then again I've seen some nice shots made with Japanese-style longbows from horseback; however, that design differs from English longbows.
Good god man! At first I thought I was watching a spoof, but holy smokes! I am in awe.
Now that guy is Awesome.....and yes i love Archery in Wurm....or use to untill they changed Drake.
It likely wasn't shot at anything close to a full draw.
Its an interesting watch, and it shows a lot of improvement from his older video, but you really couldn't do much with a lot of what he does.
ROLF give wurm some love, and make archery like this.
Make him a hirable NPC, 1,000s.
Summon the Knights of Reddit!
Cool... so that's what 100 skill in archery looks like!
That guy is freaking amazing... and even the arrow he grabs isn't fired at full draw... still amazing!


ExTV-KCR b'day special: MP Kavitha to launch 'Inti Intiki ..
TRS MP Kavitha said that she is launching a three-day campaign with "Inti Intiki Inti Party" slogan on February 15. She said that the TRS workers will go for door-to-door campaign in Metpalli, Korutla and Jagtial mandals and explain about the welfare schemes launched by the TRS government. She said, at the same time, that her party workers will know the people's problems. The "Inti Intiki Inti Party" will be launched soon in GHMC.


text:
Home > News > Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary > June 2017 > June 26, 2017 (PM)
June 26, 2017 (PM)
REPORTER: In an interview with the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper, Taiwanese Premier Lin Chuan has indicated that Taiwan would like to join the 11 members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement. The Government's position is to aim to reach agreement before the end of the year among the TPP 11 nations, so do you think that the accession of Taiwan to the TPP is possible? What is the Government's position?
CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: Firstly, the TPP was concluded as an open agreement that aims to expand a free and fair economic zone regionally and worldwide. With regard to this point, in the joint statement issued at the TPP Ministerial Meeting in May, the ministers underlined their vision for the TPP to expand to include other economies that can accept the high standards of the TPP. From this perspective, Japan welcomes that various other countries and regions, including Taiwan, continue to express interest in joining the TPP. In addition to taking a leading role in discussions toward the early entry into force of the TPP, including at a senior working-level meeting scheduled to take place in Japan in July, we will continue to provide necessary information to Taiwan and other interested countries and regions.
REPORTER: Today, Takata Corporation has applied to commence civil rehabilitation proceedings, due to its deteriorating financial condition caused by the issue of faulty air bags. There will be an unavoidable impact on other related industries, so can I ask for a comment from the Government and what measures, if any, the Government is considering to prevent a recurrence of such a situation?
CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: Firstly, this morning Takata Corporation applied to commence civil rehabilitation proceedings. The Government recognizes that the company had no choice but to make this decision due to a severe business environment relating to its response to the recall of air bags manufactured by the company. The Government hopes that legal procedures will be followed that will enable the company to rebuild its business in the near term, and that the negotiation between related parties will be undertaken smoothly in order to prevent market upheaval caused by the discontinuation of product supply. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is currently considering measures that will provide cash flow assistance to small and medium enterprises that have been impacted. We seek to make a concerted response in this regard.


As the autumn season approaches quickly, SOS Events is preparing for a very busy season. Fall Festivals, Halloween, Special Community Events, Conferences and much more. Events are scheduled in New York, New Jersey, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Florida, Ohio and more. Please be in prayer for all the leaders, trainers and workers as soul winning at events is the front line of battle for us as Christians and the enemy tries to discourage and stop our workers in this our busiest season of the year.
This entry was posted on August 14, 2017 at 10:55 am and is filed under devil, Email: info@sosevents.org, Event Activity & News.	You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


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text:
What Airlines Don't Want Pilots to Say
Thread starter TurdBird
TurdBird
What Airlines Don't
Want Pilots to Say
One Was So Tired, She Slurred
Her Words: 'They Just Didn't Care'
Inside Scoop: Airline Pilots
By TERRY WARD
Pilots are cut from a similar mold. They tend to be the people in charge (and not only inside the cockpit). They're detail oriented. And, more often than not, their outlook toward both their jobs and life in general is one of unfiltered realism. But that doesn't mean they all have the same experiences when they take a job with the airlines.
Not all airlines are created equal. And fitting into the corporate mold today means different things to different pilots. Some swallow the pill they're given with little protest, while others struggle not to choke on it.
We talked to three pilots from different US-based airlines -- two commercial, and one private. Speaking anonymously, they dished on life as a pilot in America today.
The Captain For A Major U.S. Airline
Our Captain flew for ten years for a major American airline before taking medical leave. She doubts she'll return to the job.
Some people have the biological imperative to fly, which is what I had. But ten years flying for the same airline finally took its toll on me.
What I loved about my airline was the dinky places we flew. Like Trenton, NJ, and Key West. And we also flew into JFK and Atlanta, so we went everywhere. I chose commercial over cargo because I really like people. As a woman, I liked that I had a certain ability to comfort passengers who were afraid to fly.
Once, before we took off, there was a woman who wanted to get off the plane because she was afraid of turbulence. I said to her, 'Look at me. I'm a middle-aged woman, I'm wearing sensible shoes, I'm really smart. You're gonna be fine.' And she said, 'Okay.'
Sometimes, before we'd take off, I'd make some sort of innocuous joke to calm everyone down. Once I did this when there happened to be members of management on the plane, and I got called into the chief pilot's office after the flight. They said I stood up front and talked to the passengers. That I said something funny. That I made the passengers laugh. And that it wasn't acceptable. I thought, 'You've got to be kidding.' I thought they would pat me on the back for doing something good.
There's a saying that the only people the airlines hate more than their passengers is their employees, and I'd say it's true. But as soon as the door would close and we were off on our own and not tethered to the company, it was great.
Sure, there were a few of what you might consider worrisome incidents over the years, but nothing really scary.
One day, I was flying toward New York, somewhere over Ohio, and every single navigational system on the plane just -- poof -- went away. I looked at the first officer, and he backed me up and said, 'We lost primary and backup.' We were talking to the company, talking to air traffic control, to maintenance, deciding where to go. We had to divert to another airport -- you can't fly into JFK without navigational equipment. I always keep passengers very well informed, but I didn't go into details that time. I just told them the basics. They were of course all upset because they wanted to go to JFK, not Cincinnati.
For my airline, we were allowed 14.5 hours on duty. Imagine. The pilot flying your plane might have been awake at least that long -- maybe longer -- when you factor in the time it takes to get ready and go to work. There've been times I'm landing the plane and my eyes are involuntarily crossing, I'm slurring my words, I'm so tired.
Even when I'd try to argue against the logic of it, they would send us out with 13.5 duty hours from a crowded airport like JFK. Of course we'd get stuck on the runway, delayed. Then, at the last minute, we'd have to turn around and go back to the gate for a crew change since we were past our duty time.
The passengers would be irate, but the people in scheduling and the management, they just didn't care.
And even someone like me -- who really likes people and really wants to help them out -- well, the management grind you down so badly that you get to the point where a flight gets cancelled and all these people are in a major dilemma. And you're just like, 'Oh well.'
You are basically a bus driver, the profession has been degraded. Flying is incredible, it's amazing, a very specialized skill. And it used to be flying was special. But it's not like that anymore.
The First Officer
Two years into his job as first officer for a major U.S. airline, our second pilot says it's a good gig.
You've got to think relative to a lot of other jobs, and I like my job. The hours are pretty variable. But when you look at big picture things like lifestyle, stress, pay and hours, it's pretty hard to beat.
Sure, some routes are more annoying than others to fly. The worst is New York to South Florida -- the flight attendants tell you about all kinds of whining and complaining from the passengers. Once, a kid was out of control, and a passenger in another row asked the flight attendant to have the mom calm the kid down. But the mom wanted the flight attendant to do the job. Unbelievable.
I like flying Boston to Long Beach or Seattle. The people are super nice.
It can be a very lonely job, spending 15 nights a month away from home, and sleeping in hotels. Every time I fly, it's almost always with someone different. Once I had a co-pilot just sit there and be silent for six hours, hands in his lap, staring at the instruments. Not a word.
Sometimes we watch movies, or do our own things, too, in the cockpit. You can get a laptop out, read a book. Some people work on a novel they're writing. I do a lot of photography, so I sit there and fiddle with Photoshop.
The Airbus I fly, it really flies itself. The climb and descent are busy, but at cruise level there's nothing to do. If something really goes wrong, it'll ding and flash. Planes these days are overbuilt to handle turbulence. They never even get close to the limits of their structural design. I go to the Airbus to relax. Flying to Seattle for five hours is really like a break -- there's no phone, no TV, it's quiet.
Every once in a while, something funny happens in flight. On my second flight ever, we had to threaten to divert the landing because the flight attendants couldn't get an overly-amorous couple to stop. But most of the times, things are pretty routine. I've flown 6000 hours and never even been in a thunderstorm.
For sure, working for the airlines isn't as good as it used to be -- you're getting paid less to do more, and the schedules and benefits aren't as good as before. But it's still a good job.
The Private Airlines Pilot
Our third pilot has been flying with the same private air taxi service for four years. He has no desire to work for the commercial airlines.
I fly our company's turbo props and jets. It's wonderful working for a private company. You're not a number. At Delta or United, you're a cog in the wheel. At my airline, you're a person and people know your name. The guys I fly with know I don't like mayo on my sandwiches. We very rarely do over night trips, so I'm home almost every night - that's unheard of for a pilot. I walk through the door and my dogs actually know who I am. You work for the big airlines and you're gone for several nights, staying in hotels. I love flying, but at the same time I want to see my friends and family.
We have a lot of high net worth individuals for clients -- a lot of executives and their families from all over. Just because the airplane lives in Boston doesn't mean I won't go to DC and pick some clients up there and fly them to Canada or wherever.
Of course our airplanes are smaller, and every now and then people get a little uncomfortable because of previous experiences. But at any time during the flight, a passenger can tap me on the shoulder and ask a question. Once they have more info about the flight, they're more relaxed. One of the big things people hate is turbulence, and one of the big reasons is because they can't see it. If I see it's going to be bumpy from looking at the computers, I tell the passengers what's to come. It generally calms them down. If they hear a funny noise, I can tell them that's the landing gear or whatever.
We have a little more flexibility than the airlines, too.
At one point, we were flying from Boston to Nantucket quite regularly for a group of oceanographers doing something with beach erosion. And I overheard one gentleman saying he wanted to look at how things were progressing on the shore. I asked them how helpful it would be to their project, and said I would talk to the crew, company and air traffic control. I was able to arrange a few passes about five miles offshore to see how things were progressing. If a request like that is made in advance, we might be able to fulfill it.
My dad once told me, 'If you're smart, you'll never work a day in your life.' And I don't feel I have.
http://information.travel.aol.com/article/air/_a/inside-scoop-airline-pilots/20080918160609990001
Matt13C
"What I loved about my airline was the dinky places we flew. Like Trenton, NJ, and Key West."
That is where I fly, it isn't that small!
Cool article. I talked to a Flex Jet pilot today and he said the same thing. He worked for an airline for a few months and hated it, went back to working for a fractional. Then moved on to this company and has been there ever since.
I have to say, these days, I wish I'd have gone to that UPS interview. If I was a young guy just getting into it, I'd be looking FedEx, UPS or Netjets. The passenger gig ain't all its cracked up to be.
da10pilot
It's funny how when I got into flying 8 years or so ago, all I wanted to was make it to a major. Now that I've been doing the private/corporate thing, I have no desire to head to an airline at this point.
Velocipede said:
???? Say again...
Interesting read.
Some thoughts:
Humor: don't try to be southwest if you aren't southwest. I have a horribly sarcstic sense of humor anyway so I don't even try it unless it's an informal setting. Most airlines have a "serious" company image and they want their employees to convey that. Fine by me.
Reading/Computing in the cockpit: I'm sure there are a lot of pilots that do it, but I don't. Could I say I never have? Well.......leading by example goes a long way IMO, not that I enforce my preferences on my cockpit mates with an iron fist. Call me a nerd, but I might review my memory items/limitations or study some emergency procedures if I'm really bored. Then again I never work a flight longer than 4 hrs scheduled block.
Don't get me wrong, I don't want to preach, but I think these two fell into some traps.
SoCalAprch
Alchemy said:
So its ok to study limitations but not read a book? What if you have all your memory items memorized do you just sit there and stare at the instruments? You don't see the irony in what you are saying?
SoCalAprch said:
Hey I'm not trying to preach, do what you want, SoCal. The gist of my post is that I probably wouldn't go blabbing to the media about if I read novels and watched DVD's on my computer in the cockpit, which i don't. If you want to throw on your i-buds and read GQ up there be my guest (well, as long as I don't have to fly with you or on your plane, no offense).
I don't stare at instruments, I do scan them periodically. I also look out the window, review the wx/notams, look up nearby airports on the fms, review the release, look at the enroute chart, and uh oh, make conversation with the guy sitting next to me if they want. Plus I don't really have to read anything to review my limitations and memory items, because like you said, I have them memorized. All I have to do is briefly glance at a sheet of paper to double check myself, no different than looking at the release, high chart, or a jepp momentarily. Plus you never *really* know who you're flying with or who will turn you in for something. Would you read or watch a movie in the cockpit if the passengers could see you?
Please, please, please don't admit to doing this if you do.
OldTownPilot
Would you read or watch a movie in the cockpit if the passengers could see you?
Heh, I was riding in the front row of an RJ on a rather long night flight, and under the cockpit door was the distinctive flicker of a movie being watched on a laptop.
I waited until the rest of the passengers were off, then commented on the flight crew hogging all the inflight movies. They both had a great "Oh, ####" face.
I agree that breaking out the laptop is a little much. Mine would defiantly hurt if if smacked me upside the head if we hit some turbulence. But once in cruise I don't see anything wrong with studying the weather on the back of the USA today if you know what I mean.
Now the GQ part... Thats not really my type of magazine and a whole other topic if it was...
ClearedToThe
Professionalism is doing what you're supposed to do when no one is watching or evaluating you.
I always think its ironic when people complain about how the profession is being degraded while they are watching dvds in the flight deck.
FlyingFireman
ClearedToThe said:
I second. I am a big believer, "perception is reality." Just because we think something is ok, someone on the other side of the table might not...and in a customer service business, that's always #1.
Thats actually integrity


And there was a rocking chair, where she could sit and read with her kids.
Cline, who recently moved to Sea Pines on Hilton Head Island, according to neighbors, was killed Monday morning after an alligator pulled her and her dog into a lagoon near her home, according to S.C. Department of Natural Resources officials. She was 45 years old.
State officials said she was trying to save her dog, which the alligator had initially targeted — she succeeded, and the dog escaped unharmed.
She was also a master teacher — scheduled to start the school year in September, according to district officials.
A visitor to Cline's classroom would have seen a "gorgeous woman" with "a beautiful head of curly red hair" who, McLeod said, coupled a "presence in the classroom" with a sweet demeanor.
Like "Mary Poppins," McLeod said, the kind of teacher any parent or grandparent would want their child to have.
Kindergarten teachers are often the first instructors a child will interact with, McLeod said. And they have to ensure students grow individually while addressing, and closing, any learning gaps within the cohort as a whole — that's the "magic" of a kindergarten teacher, she said.
And Cline had the magic.
She touched more than 400 students' — and their families' — lives during her time there, McLeod said, explaining the district, located about 75 miles south of Syracuse, near Binghamton, enrolls about 3,800 students annually.
She was a former resident of Binghamton, according to the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin, and often walked her dog on the city's west side.
Last year, Cline received the local Parent Teachers Association's Founders Award for her work at George F. Johnson Elementary School, McLeod said. The award is given to teachers and community members who go "out of their way on behalf of children," she said.
"(Cline) was the total package," McLeod said.
McLeod said she talked to Cline's husband late Monday night to make sure he was comfortable with her speaking to reporters.
"(H)e wholeheartedly gave me permission," McLeod said. "And he said please just make sure you emphasize ... reminding everyone how sweet a person she was.
"And you know, that word, it tends to be overused," McLeod continued. "But in Casi's case, that is who she was.
Boeing's popular flyover of 787 Dreamliner at the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing at Harbour Town Golf Links 18th hole in Sea Pines on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina is now canceled due to weather.


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In my reading of scripture, nowhere is the gift of apostleship mentioned as a spiritual gift.
Apostles were given to the church. But apostleship is a calling, not a gift. (See Romans 1:1, 1 Cor. 1:1, etc. etc.). Apostleship is never mentioned anywhere in scripture as a spiritual gift.
1 Cor 12:29-30 is particularly interesting, where (in my view) Paul makes a distinction between the offices of Apostles, Prophets, and Teachers, and the 'do-ers' of gifts such as healing.
If apostleship is a gift, why are other (lesser?) gifts required to authenticate it? (2 Corinthians 2:12).
Waldron's argument is: the most important gift has ceased, so the less important gifts can also have ceased. By the same logic, couldn't we say: the most important office has ceased, so the less important offices have ceased. Do you want to tell my pastor, or should I?
Even if apostleship is a spiritual gift, reformed charismatics and continuationists claim that it is in a different 'category' to other gifts such as prophecy, tongues etc. (Which is why that gift has gone, but the other gifts continue). That's what Waldron thinks is inconsistent. But cessationists have their categories too: 'extraordinary or revelatory gifts' (prophecy, tongues, etc.) which have ceased and other spiritual gifts which continue. I fail too see the difference.
Finally, even if Waldron is right, it doesn't deal with Joel's prophecy that this age will be characterised by an outpouring of the Spirit.
To be fair, he may have dealt with these objections in the book, so once I've read it, I'll post an update. I'm glad he's written it though, and that the discussion continues.
Filed Under: Reflections Tagged With: Book Reviews, spiritual-gifts, Tim-Challies, To-be-continued?
Found your blog via the comments at Tim Challies' place. Looks very interesting indeed.
You position on the continuist/cessationist debate is very similar to my own. I'm not pinning my colours to the mast yet, but I sure would like to see some much better arguments from both sides.
You stated in your blog "It's a new argument". Actually, this is a resahping of the Dispensational argument that has been around for quite a while. Dr. Waldron has brought it back to the forefront.
I agree with you (and I have read the book) that he does not prove his viewpoint from Scripture and relies on a lot of assumptions.
Thanks for your comments and taking the time to write.
My understanding is that Sam Waldron is coming from an amilliennial, not dispensational position. That being the case, the argument will be very different. Because the charismatic/cessationist discussion basically revolves around eschatology (how much different are the times before Christ to the times after Christ to the times after Christ's return), it's impossible to dress up a dispensational argument in amillennial clothes without altering it very significantly. That's why I felt able to say it was a new approach.
While it may be true that he is coming from an amillenial position, this line of reasoning was adopted by Dispensationalists – that is primary what I was referring to. I guess whether it is old or new is not the issue, but whether we agree with it or not.
Mark Im sorry to say but what you say is COMPLETELY unbiblical.
In 1 Corinthians 12:28 it is very clear that aposteship IS a gift.
It includes it with a whole list of other gifts that are clearly stated as gifts earlier in that same chapter.
Ill make this short with overwhelming truth sraight from the Word of God, The Bible. The Word is God, the Bible says (John 1:1).
The Bible also says that the testimony of Jesus IS prophesy (Rev 19:10). So to say the gifts have been done away with or are no longer active is to say that testimony of Jesus has been done away with or is no longer active. In Acts 2:17 it says that in the last days God will pour out His Spirit and your sons and daughters shall prophesy. I don't see how anyone can deny this power of the Holy Spirit (God is the same yesterday, today and forever) maybe we just dont have much faith in that power anymore?


text:
import json
import logging
import os
import time
import unittest2 as unittest

from mock import Mock, patch, call

import trends.db as db
import trends.tweets as tweets
import trends.exceptions as exceptions

logging.basicConfig(filename='log_test_trends.txt',level=logging.DEBUG)

class Test(unittest.TestCase):

    def setUp(self):
        self.tweets = tweets.Tweets('tweets.pid')

    @patch.object(time, 'time')
    @patch.object(logging, 'exception')
    def test_stream_filter(self, time_mock, logging_mock):
        time_mock.side_effect = Exception()
        logging_mock.return_value = None
        self.tweets.persons = [{'name': 'test_namé'}]
        self.tweets.stream = Mock()
        self.tweets.stream.filter.side_effect = Exception()
        self.assertRaises(Exception,
            self.tweets.stream_filter)
        self.tweets.stream.filter.assert_called_once_with(track=['test_name'])

if __name__ == '__main__':
    unittest.main()


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