text:
'Earth Eaters' and the Spirits of Omama
A Review of The Falling Sky
Robin M. Wright University of Florida
shamanism, prophecies, cosmology
Davi Kopenawa and Bruce Albert, The Falling Sky: Words of a Yanomami Shaman (trans. Nicholas Elliott and Allison Dundy; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2013), xvii + 622 pp. [First published as La chute du ciel: Paroles d'un chaman yanomami (Paris: Plon, 2010)], $39.95 (Harvard); $28.83, ISBN 978-0-674-72468-6.
Robin M. Wright, University of Florida
Associate Professor Department of Religion
Wright, R. M. (2016). 'Earth Eaters' and the Spirits of Omama: A Review of The Falling Sky. Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, 10(2), 245–254. https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.v10i2.27278
Robin M. Wright, Bron Taylor, Editors' Introduction , Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture: Vol. 3 No. 1 (2009): The Religious Lives of Amazonian Plants
Robin M. Wright, The Fruit of Knowledge and the Bodies of the Gods , Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture: Vol. 3 No. 1 (2009): The Religious Lives of Amazonian Plants
Robin M. Wright, Indigenous Moral Philosophies and Ontologies and their Implications for Sustainable Development , Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture: Vol. 1 No. 1 (2007): Forum on Religion, Nature and Culture (part I)
Robin M. Wright, Graham Harvey, Animism: Respecting the Living World (New York: Columbia University Press, 2006), xiv + 248 pp., $28.50 (pbk), ISBN: 0-231-13701-X. , Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture: Vol. 4 No. 1 (2010)
Robin M. Wright, Indigenous Knowledge, Spiritualities, and Science , Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture: Vol. 10 No. 2 (2016): Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous Spirituality, and the Future of Humans in Nature
Robin M. Wright, Introducing John Mohawk , Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture: Vol. 10 No. 2 (2016): Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous Spirituality, and the Future of Humans in Nature
Robin M. Wright, Wise People of Great Power , Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture: Vol. 10 No. 2 (2016): Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous Spirituality, and the Future of Humans in Nature
Robin M. Wright, Indigenous Elders and Medicine Peoples Council Statement United Nations Convention on Climate Change COP21 Paris, France, 30 November 2015–11 December 2015 , Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture: Vol. 10 No. 2 (2016): Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous Spirituality, and the Future of Humans in Nature


Why Should Anyone Pay For Sports Picks?
Why should you or anyone pay for sports picks? Let's take a look at that, it is no different than paying a consultant for helping you pick stocks, real estate, or any other financial endeavor. Getting advice from someone who knows the industry can always be an advantage if the information is used correctly.
As far as picking a sports service there are some things I would recommend and some things I would definitely avoid. Be careful of the so called guarantees. If they guarantee their service by stating if they lose they will give you more picks for free you should be wary. Getting more losing picks doesn't sound like a good guarantee to me.
I also only recommend purchasing packages of picks that give you several days, a week, or a month of all the services picks. Betting on sports is not a get rich quick scheme, it is a long-term investment strategy that should lead to profit! Charging for each game is asking for fraud and a skewed if not fraudulent record. By getting a sports handicapper's complete list of picks you will have more plays and a better chance of achieving a profit. No one can pick one hundred percent winners.
A good way to test a service is to see if they post free picks or are monitored by a reputable monitoring service like Pick Monitor. Follow their record for a while and see how they do. Beware all betting tracking websites are NOT created equally. One way to check monitoring services is to see if they post all of handicapper's plays after the games they pick start and let you have access!
I'll never forget a while back I saw the same service advertise every Monday night football game of the season as their 10 star play of the year. They did this every Monday night! The bottom line is you should look for something that is affordable, from someone who doesn't give you a lot of exaggerated hype. And does not constantly try to up sell you with their overwhelming services that are available. Look for someone who does not promise you the moon, but does offer you a wining record with a simple affordable package that meets your budget requirements.
Edited 6/20/12 at 4:33PM by Patrick - No reason listed.
Great post KTM. There has been so many Bad Apples in this industry over the years that it is hard for people to know who to trust. That is why sites like Pickmonitor are a great service for bettors new and old to help them find an Honest, Hardworking, and Winning Handicapper.
I agree with you KTM. In honesty, I realized that handicapping is a serious job and it takes a lot of time like any other full time job. I work as an analyst at an investment firm, so I realized that I don't have the adequate time or necessary time to handicap and find the correct resources to place the bets for myself. But I believe that sports betting is a long term but effective way to grow your net income. In these kinds of situations, a place like pickmonitor is truly amazing.
great post,, i will also add that follow a one capper for each sport,, very rare to see the same service to excell at several sports!!!
GREAT POST. I COULD NOT AGREE MORE!
why pay for sports picks if you can get them free?
unless you are betting very low amounts just for fun, the amount you end up paying for picks is essentially inconsequential when you calculate the difference in profit between great picks you can buy and free picks you can get online(which may look good but once you start betting them not be). Let me give you a parallel in real life sports, why do sports players pay money to agents when they can get signed to a team for free(they are good players after all and someone will give them lots of money). The difference in money that a player will get with an agent will be far greater than what they would pay the agent so it is "worth it".
I would be grateful if you would that information about these sites shared with us. Thank you in advance.
i believe 30 days is enough time to judge a capper on success. short term winning and losing streaks are evitable in this business. a believer that if free picks lose so will the premium ones.
I think 30 days could be a good indicator, but I think it largely depends on factors external to the record. If someone is in here bragging about how they are a gift from heaven, you've got to assume they got their record via luck (variance). On the flip side, if someone is writing helpful articles, showing a clear understanding of mathematical principles, etc, then it's a safe bet that his record is reflective of his long term potential.
99% of the time I can tell whether a handicapper will be positive long term or not just based on the things he says in the forum. In fact, there have only been two handicappers thus far where I've guessed wrong. This is why I have tried so hard to emphasize how extremely important it is to evaluate a handicapper far beyond just his record.
I think 30 days could be a good indicator, but I think it largely depends on factors external to the record.
94% don't) it will manifest itself over time. 30 days is a start.
I agree, 30 days is just a start. Hopefully 30 days would reflect a decent sample size that could accurately be extrapolated to give you a sense of how talented of a capper you are analyzing. However, everyone in this business has had 30 day hot streaks and 30 day cold streaks. Even 1 season is sometimes not enough as I have seen cappers crush a sport one season only to give most of it back the next. I believe 3 seasons gives you a very accurate picture of whether or not a capper will consistently win over the long haul.
Even 1 season is sometimes not enough as I have seen cappers crush a sport one season only to give most of it back the next. I believe 3 seasons gives you a very accurate picture of whether or not a capper will consistently win over the long haul.
what I'm doing the rest of the time.
I feel another important attribute of a handicapper is release time. If a capper is releasing a significant portion of their picks 10 minutes before game time chances are you will not be getting all of your bets placed in time. If you are not betting every pick a capper releases then you have just introduced an additional factor into the equation and their record will not reflect the bets you've actually been able to place.
Brian, I never thought of that. If and when I ever buy sports picks, I would need those picks as early as possible for many reasons. I would need plenty of time to find the best money line or spread I could get. I would expect to have a higher ROI at the end of the season than the capper I'm buying picks from.


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Foodservice businesses employ deals and freebies to attract nervous consumers as lockdown eases
A lingering effect of the coronavirus pandemic is likely to be consumer nervousness around resuming previous daily activities. Credit: Pavel L Photo and Video / Shutterstock.
A lingering effect of the coronavirus pandemic is likely to be consumer nervousness around resuming previous daily activities and rituals that bring them into enclosed spaces and proximity to others outside their trusted bubbles. It is the case even though retail stores, restaurants, cafes and bars have been redesigned to increase safety and maintain social distancing. This requires some degree of promotional incentivisation in addition to communicating efforts to make these safe spaces.
2022: So far In Venture Capital
Global investment in 2022 has been majorly dominated by North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, whereas the Middle East, and South and Central America have recorded low investments comparatively. In light of this, Europe and North America have been identified as the major destinations for Private Equity and Venture Capital (PE/VC) investments. GlobalData's whitepaper analyzes which sectors PE/VC firms have been investing in, looking at Technology, Media, and Telecom, with these sectors recording $356 billion and a deal volume of over 10,000 deals in 2022. Healthcare, Financial Services, Business & Consumer Services, and Construction sectors have also seen high investment activity by PE/VC firms, recording a deal value of over $70 billion each. But what can this mean for you? Understand how the Deals Database on GlobalData Explorer can be leveraged to:
Track the Aggregate Investment Volumes in PE/VC-Stage firms across geographies and sectors, in addition to viewing the specific deals that drove these volumes
Identify the top investors already active in any sector-Geography combinations
Assess the Performance of Financial and Legal Advisors, supporting the Dealmaking in any segment of choice (Customizable League tables)
Understand what is driving the PE/VC fundraising (Deal Rationale)
Consult our full report here and optimize your business strategy.
In early July, Costa Coffee in the UK announced that as it reopened its 2,000 locations over the course of the month, it would be offering consumers the opportunity to receive free food or drink item. Patrons can register with the Costa Coffee Club mobile app and receive 300 points, equivalent to £3. Both existing and new users are eligible for the points offer, a move designed to encourage consumers back into Costa stores.
Week 3 (June 29-July 5) of GlobalData's Coronavirus (Covid-19) recovery consumer survey reported that only 22% of consumers across eleven surveyed major countries were not concerned about visiting stores and shopping outlets. 47% were 'extremely' or 'quite' concerned. This type of concern and resultant reluctance extends to out-of-home eating and drinking behaviour. Looking at lunch, a key occasion for foodservice, 20% of consumers reported they have stopped eating lunch outside their home and 24% reported they would eat lunch away from home significantly less. Similar proportions reported the same for breakfast, again a key on-the-go mealtime occasion, which has been undone by foodservice closures and work-from-home restrictions.
Costa has the advantage of drive-thru locations, enabling service that is more acceptable to social-distancing consumers or those reluctant to enter a café for sitting in or buying to go. However, for urban consumers and outlets dependent on footfall, Costa exemplifies what is likely to be a widespread phenomenon in the near to medium-term – freebies and value-driven promotions that try to break through persisting nervousness. It will be critical in slowly rebuilding foodservice trade parallel to easing restrictions as the risk of Covid-19 diminishes.
The other factor at work making discounts and deals attractive is the economic impact of recent events. Simply, consumers are counting their pennies more carefully in the face of furloughs, job losses or uncertainties, and thus, are likely to be reigning in discretionary spending for some time to come, on top of the fact they simply are not going out as much. Creative deals, especially when connected with technology, as in the Costa case, can build value and actually boost sales as the deal component commonly ends up being only part of the transaction.
Overall, much has been said in recent months about what the 'new normal' for the world will be after Covid-19. Within the foodservice sector, the 'new normal' will include deals as a primary element. The trick for companies will be maximising the value of those deals rather than getting stuck in the trap of long-term deep discounting that will hurt rather than help.
Costa Ltd
The Metaverse: Regulatory trends
Sustainable food systems must be a key focus for foodservice brands going into 2023

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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LONDON (Reuters) – Tottenham Hotspur gained a slender advantage in their League Cup semi-final against London rivals Chelsea as Harry Kane's penalty earned them a gritty 1-0 first-leg win at Wembley on Tuesday.
Kane's 26th-minute spot kick, his 160th goal for the club, was awarded after a lengthy, but correct, VAR decision and means Tottenham remain on course to claim their first silverware since winning the League Cup against Chelsea in 2008.
Maurizio Sarri's side were twice denied by the woodwork and they dominated the second half as Tottenham dug deep.
Tottenham have now won three consecutive matches against Chelsea for the first time since a run of five between 1961 and 1963, but unlike when they outclassed the Blues in November, winning 3-1 in the Premier League, this was a night for hard graft.
Mauricio Pochettino's side began brightly and had a shout for a penalty in the opening minutes when Dele Alli played a magnificent pass through to Son Heung-min who appeared to be knocked off balance by Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen.
Kane then tested keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga with an acrobatic overhead volley.
VAR, used in various FA Cup ties at the weekend and most probably in the Premier League next season, has had a mixed reception but the technology proved correct on Tuesday to give Tottenham the edge ahead of the second leg.
There appeared little doubt that Kane was taken out by Arrizabalaga as he rounded the Spanish keeper but referee Michael Oliver initially did not award a penalty as he checked, firstly whether Kane had been onside in the build-up, and then whether indeed there had been contact.
Eventually Oliver pointed to the spot and produced a yellow card, rather than a red, for Arrizabalaga and Kane drilled his spot kick low into the corner to score for the sixth successive match in all competitions and move above Cliff Jones into fourth spot on Tottenham's all-time goalscorers' list.
"I played to the whistle and nicked it round the keeper, it was a clear penalty. VAR is there for a reason and they got it right," Kane said.
After going behind Chelsea began to push Tottenham back with youngster Callum Hudson-Odoi a lively presence in midfield and Eden Hazard a constant threat.
N'Golo Kante touched Marcos Alonso's cross against the post and seconds before the interval Hudson-Odoi's cross looked as though it might loop over Paulo Gazzaniga before Tottenham's Argentine keeper clawed it onto the woodwork.
Tottenham were made to suffer after the interval with Chelsea enjoying almost complete control.
Hazard and Kane both forced Gazzaniga into sharp saves while Christensen wasted Chelsea's best chance when he volleyed tamely wide with the goal at his mercy.
Holders Manchester City face Burton Albion in the first leg of their semi-final on Wednesday.


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text:
Current (https://current.org/2013/08/frontline-reporting-partner-espn-pulls-out-of-their-nfl-brain-injury-investigation/)
Frontline reporting partner ESPN pulls out of NFL brain-injury investigation
By Dru Sefton, Senior Editor | August 23, 2013
This item has been updated and reposted with additional information.
ESPN on Thursday unexpectedly withdrew from a reporting collaboration with Frontline investigating brain injuries in National Football League players, the New York Times reports.
"League of Denial," a two-part special premiering in October, was Frontline's first editorial partnership with the cable sports network, which pays the NFL more than $1 billion a year to broadcast Monday Night Football.
The Times, citing unnamed sources with direct knowledge of the situation, said ESPN's role "came under intense pressure by the league . . . after a trailer for the documentary was released Aug. 6, the day that the project was discussed at a Television Critics Association event in Beverly Hills, Calif."
The NFL denies that. "At no time did we formally or informally ask them to divorce themselves from the project," Greg Aiello, NFL spokesperson, told the newspaper.
Chris LaPlaca, an ESPN spokesperson, said it was ending its association with Frontline "because it did not have editorial control of what appeared on the public television public affairs series," the newspaper reported.
Another ESPN spokesperson, Josh Krulewitz, told the Washington Post that the network's withdrawal from the Frontline project was unrelated to its agreements with the league. "We had no editorial control [over the PBS documentary] and weren't comfortable lending our branding to it. . . . In hindsight we should have reached this conclusion much sooner, and that was a mistake on our part. Obviously, it's a strange situation."
However, Raney Aronson, series deputy e.p., told the Times that ESPN executives understood that Frontline would have editorial control of what it televised or posted online, and ESPN would control what it televised or posted. Frontline had worked "in lock step," she said, with Vince Doria, ESPN's senior vice president and director of news, and Dwayne Bray, senior coordinating producer in ESPN's news-gathering unit.
But in conversations last Friday and Monday with both, she was told that ESPN did not want its logo to be connected to the films.
"It didn't appear that it was their decision," Aronson told the Times.
An online note from Aronson and David Fanning, executive producer, says the project will proceed. ESPN's "Outside the Lines" in April posted several stories as part of the project.
Editorial partnerships are becoming increasingly important to the longtime pubTV investigative series, now accounting for more than half of its reports.
One thought on "Frontline reporting partner ESPN pulls out of NFL brain-injury investigation"
Bill Tutuki on August 23, 2013 at 7:59 pm said:
Surprised that ESPN pulled out of the Documentary? I'm Not but Frontline should change the sponsor to Propublica.


ANKARA, Nov 14, 2006 (AFP) - A German-born Turk, who was held for four years in the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, has alleged systematic torture in the hands of the US military, from beatings to being chained to a ceiling for days.
Murat Kurnaz, 24, who was released in August because of lack of evidence he was involved in terrorist activities, said he endured "many types of torture -- from electric shocks to having one's head submerged in water, (subjection to) hunger and thirst, or being shackled and suspended."
A burly man with long reddish hair and a thick beard stretching down to his belly, Kurnaz spoke, betraying no emotion, to Turkey's CNN Turk television from his home in Bremen, northern Germany, in an interview aired here late Monday.
"They tell you 'you are from Al-Qaeda' and when you say 'no' they give the (electric) current to your feet.... As you keep saying 'no' this goes on for two or three hours," he said, adding he had several times lost consciousness.
He claimed he was once shackled to a ceiling for "four or five days".
"They take you down in the mornings when a doctor comes to see whether you can endure more," he said. "They let you sit when the interrogator comes.... They take you down about three times a day so you do not die."
Kurnaz also alleged prisoners were locked up in cells into which frigid or hot air was pumped.
"I saw several people die," he said. "Sometimes I thought I could no longer stand it and would also die."
He claimed he was once left without food for 20 days and spoke of psychological abuse, including "religious insults" such as the Koran being kicked on the ground.
A Turkish citizen with permanent residency in Germany, Kurnaz was arrested in Pakistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks and turned over to US forces, who took him to a prison in the Afghan city of Kandahar before transferring him to Guantanamo in 2002.
He says he went to Pakistan to visit holy places and take religious courses.
German prosecutors have also dropped a long-running probe into Kurnaz on the grounds they failed to find any firm proof he belonged to a terrorist group.
Kurnaz has insisted throughout he was innocent, and on his return to Germany accused the government of former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of colluding with the US forces.
Around 450 prisoners are being held at GuantanamoBay -- some for years -- without charges being brought. Human rights lawyers have brought suits on behalf of the detainees, many of them picked up as suspected Al-Qaeda or Taliban fighters from Afghanistan.


text:
Suudu
Meet The UKM Astronomer Who Found Four Super Massive Black Holes In Space
Lead Scientist Dr. Adlyka Annuar explains.
By: Suganya
NASA/JPL-Caltech, IPAC via UKM
There's a lot we don't know about the universe
A few days ago, Malaysians were delighted by the news of a team, led by Dr. Adlyka Annuar from University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), finding growing supermassive black holes, which turned out to be luminous "monsters" hiding behind thick clouds of dust and gas.
What is black hole even and why is the discovery important, you may ask?
According to NASA, a black hole "is a place in space where gravity pulls so much that even light can not get out. The gravity is so strong because matter has been squeezed into a tiny space. This can happen when a star is dying."
Since no light can leave black holes, you can't see them even if you own a telescope...unless it's one that was built specifically to observe the phenomenon and you have the knowledge as well as the skills to find them.
And a Malaysian found it
Finding one blackhole is extremely hard, so imagine the surprise when Dr. Adlyka found four growing black holes located just less than 50 million light-years (in terms of cosmic distance, this is fairly close) from earth.
"These growing black holes appear faint and weak based upon their low energy X-ray light emitted by the material they consumed. However, emission at other light wavelengths (such as optical and infrared) suggested that they might be more powerful than we thought," a statement by UKM said.
Dr Adylka is the principal researcher of the project and started getting involved in the studies of black holes when she was doing her PhD in Durham University United Kingdom between 2013 and 2017, where she was involved with the NuSTAR telescope collaboration.
"I was and still am the principal researcher in the study of hidden supermassive black holes in our nearby galaxies using NuSTAR. In 2017, when I was still doing my PhD in Durham, I also uncovered another hidden supermassive black hole at the centre of NGC 1448 galaxy," she told Rojak Daily.
Dr Adylka, lecturer and astrophysicist at the Department of Applied Physics in UKM, explained that when we look at the sky with our naked eye, the spaces between the sun, moon, planets and other objects that we can see appears to be dark.
"However, if we use an X-ray telescope to observe the sky, we can see that it is actually glowing in X-rays. This is what we call as the cosmic X-ray background radiation.
"The origin of this emission was unknown until recent years where we found evidence that it is coming from material being accreted (brought together through influence of gravitation) onto growing black holes," she said.
She added that to obtain a complete understanding of this radiation and the growth of supermassive black hole across cosmic time, there is a need to find all of the black holes in our universe.
Sounds like a mammoth task, but Dr Adylka said that with the existence of NuSTAR telescope, astronomers are now able to identify many more nearby hidden black holes, thereby helping them to understand the origin of the cosmic X-ray background radiation and the growth of supermassive black holes.
She used a high energy X-ray telescope called NuSTAR, which is operated by NASA, to observe the centre of the galaxies.
This telescope is able to detect high energy X-ray light from the black holes that have high enough energy to penetrate through the thick clouds of gas, and reveal the presence of the black holes.
The research took about two years, from the data collection stage to publication of the results in a scientific journal.
"As we know, our own galaxy has a supermassive black hole at the centre. This research can help us understand more about the black hole in our galaxy, and how its growth can affect our own 'home'," she said.
The research continues
The team's work doesn't stop at finding the black holes.
Dr Adylka told Rojak Daily that the team is planning to study the black holes in more detail, especially the one that is located at the heart of ESO 121-G6 galaxy.
"This black hole is particularly interesting as it has been observed to increase in luminosity/power ~100 times over a period of a decade.
"The reason for this could be because the black hole was even more buried before, or it gains more power due to increase in "food" supply. We want to know more details," she said.
Sounds super cool doesn't it? We wish Dr Adylka and her team the best of luck!
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A lot of you guys are asking why I didn't attend the KCAs.... I wish I could explain everything as thoroughly as I would like to, but unfortunately a simpler explanation is all I can write. I was put in an uncomfortable, compromising, unfair situation (many of you have guessed what it is) and I had to look out for me. I chose to not go because sticking up for what is right and what is fair is what my mom taught me is ALWAYS the most important thing. I want to thank those of you who have reached out with kind words of support, McCurdians and Arianators alike. No matter who or what you support, I believe in supporting fairness first. If you have done that, thank you.


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British flood fears recede but warnings in place across Europe
Fri, 09 Nov 2007 07:13 UTC
The threat of serious flooding along England's eastern coast receded Friday after officials said the main tidal peak had passed, although storms were still causing problems elsewhere in Europe.
Hundreds of people who were evacuated from their homes were allowed to return as a spokesman for Britain's Environment Agency said: "The risk of flooding has diminished and the outlook is for tide levels to fall."
©telegraph.co.uk
Giant waves pound the seafront at Walcott near Great Yarmouth.
Uh Oh! Ground Said Rising at Yellowstone Park
Thu, 08 Nov 2007 23:57 UTC
WASHINGTON - Yellowstone National Park, once the site of a giant volcano, has begun swelling up, possibly because molten rock is accumulating beneath the surface, scientists report.
Cargo Ship's Fuel Fouls San Francisco Bay Area Beaches
Scot Lindlaw
SAN FRANCISCO - An oil spill fouled miles of fragile coastline Thursday, sending environmentalists scrambling to save tarred marine life and leaving local officials questioning the Coast Guard's response to the ship collision that triggered the slick.
North Sea storm closes oil platforms, Europe's largest port
A storm in the North Sea forced the closure Thursday of oil platforms off the Norwegian coast as well as Europe's largest port as British forecasters warned of the worst swells in 20 years.
Authorities in Rotterdam announced they planned to close the giant barrier that guards access to the Dutch port for the first time since its construction in the 1990s, shutting off sea traffic until at least 0500 GMT on Friday.
©MAGELLAN Geographix
The Netherlands also stepped up surveillance of all the seawalls along its coast for the first time since 1976. One third of the Dutch land mass is below sea level.
UK: Tidal surge puts east coast in 'extreme danger'
Laura Clout and Richard Alleyne
Thousands of people have been told to be ready to leave their homes as a tidal surge threatens to batter the east coast, bringing "extreme danger to life and property".
©Telegraph
'Mini-Tsunami' Wipes Out Mexican Town
Eduardo Verdugo
Survivors saw relatives swept away by huge waves or buried by debris after a landslide hit a rain-swollen river, triggering what officials called a "mini-tsunami" that wiped a hamlet off the map and left at least 16 people missing.
©Alfredo Estrella, AFP / Getty Images
A helicopter pilot surveys the damage to San Juan Grijalva in the Mexican state of Chiapas Monday after a landslide. The area is already reeling from last week's floods.
UK: North Sea Tidal Surge Flood Warning, "extreme danger to life and property"
Residents have been warned to watch the weather and tides
A tidal surge in the North Sea has sparked severe flood warnings and evacuations on England's east coast.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has held an emergency Cobra committee meeting and the Environment Agency has warned of "extreme danger to life and property".
Wind Patterns Spur Fla. Red Tide Blooms
Randolph E. Schmid
Harmful red tide blooms along Florida's west coast in the fall are spurred when seasonal changes in wind patterns move nutrients east from the Mississippi River, scientists reported Wednesday.
Record heat continues in Arizona, but why are temps so hot?
Sarah Walters
After the warmest summer on record since records were first recorded in 1895, we're moving into to fall with record temperatures as well. Monday, we broke our old record of 92 in 1980 at Phoenix Sky Harbor with a high of 93. A strong area of high pressure will continue to dominate our weather for the rest of the work week, therefore, near, or above record high temps will continue. There is relief in the forecast, by the weekend, as a Pacific storm will bring cooler temps and a chance of rain for parts of the state.
Floods hit Somalia, thousands flee
Hundreds of families were fleeing their homes in Somalia's southern region of Lower Shabelle, where floods swept villages and destroyed crops, residents and witnesses said Tuesday.
Local elder Abdi Omar Hirabe said floods engulfed the villages of War Gedow, Malable and Dolo Dhere, about 60 kilometres (40 miles) south of the war-torn capital Mogadishu.
©Unknown


Over the past couple of weeks, we've seen American bands remake "Cat's In The Cradle" and "Mrs Robinson" in early '90s rock style. This week in 1993, the triumvirate of covers was completed by another update of a hit from decades past.
And like the Ugly Kid Joe remake, this new cover would go on to reach the number 1 spot on the ARIA singles chart - the second time the band in question reached the top, although this remake was nothing like the song they'd reached number 1 with back in 1990.
The number 1 song this week in 1993 was still "You Don't Treat Me No Good" by Sonia Dada, but with two future chart-toppers queuing up behind, its days on top were numbered.
This final single from the Love Symbol album was a chart disappointment around the world, missing the Australian, US and UK top 40s. A couple of months later, Prince would change his name to that same unpronounceable symbol.
This jaunty follow-up to breakthrough single "Happy Birthday Helen" was unlucky not to become a hit, kept waiting on the threshold of the top 50 for two straight weeks.
As "Jump" spent its 19th week in the top 50, this irritating second single from dance act The Movement based on the nursery rhyme thankfully didn't match its predecessor's success.
Since their name change from Killing Time, rock band Mantissa hadn't been able to land another hit. This single would be their final top 100 appearance, although they continued recording and touring until 1996.
Somewhere along the way during Depeche Mode's transformation from slick synthpop group to stadium-filling synth rockers, Australia had lost interest in the band we'd once sent into the top 5 with "Just Can't Get Enough". Not even 1990's Violator album, despite all its international success, made waves locally.
Things changed with their eighth studio album, Songs Of Faith And Devotion, which not only saw the band breach the albums top 20 for the first time, but returned them to the singles top 50 following a nine-year absence since 1984's "People Are People". The song that did it was lead single "I Feel You", a synth-meets-rock anthem that burst from the speakers and was a world away from the sound most Australian fans would've associated them with.
Whether it was the rockier vibe that appealed to Australians or the fact that both "I Feel You" and the accompanying album were among the best work the band had ever produced, I'm not sure, but as a result of the improvement in their profile, Depeche Mode undertook their first major tour of Australia the following year - and I slept out overnight for tickets, having fully embraced my love for the band with this album.
Her solo career had got off to a good start with top 20 single "Why" and the Diva album debuting inside the top 10, but any hope that Annie Lennox would be as consistently successful as Eurythmics had been throughout the '80s were dashed when both "Precious" and "Walking On Broken Glass" fell short of the top 50. Things took a turn for the better when easily the best song from the album was finally released as a single and she returned to the top 50. With its career-referencing music video, featuring a host of doppelgängers dressed in Annie's most memorable looks, and a new track as a double A-side - "Love Song For A Vampire" from the Dracula soundtrack - it had everything going for it, but still somehow only just crept into the top 40.
Despite sounding nothing like what we'd come to expect from Faith No More, this reworking of Commodores' 1977 US and UK top 10 hit - it reached number 75 in Australia - wasn't completely out of the blue. The band had been performing the song in concert and recorded their fairly faithful version during the sessions for the Angel Dust album. Eventually added to the tracklisting for the album, it became its final single - and its biggest by some margin. Although "Epic" had given Faith No More a number 1 single in 1990, that song's massive success had so far been a one-off in Australia, with the band settling in to a series of modest chart achievements ever since, clearly appealing to a more niche audience. But just as "Easy" had been part of Commodores evolution from soul/funk band to adult contemporary crowd pleasers, so too did the cruisy tune provide Faith No More with an opportunity to once again reach a wider fanbase.
Here's a band who'd enjoyed an incredibly large fanbase in Australia for about a decade, and this lead single from eighth studio album Earth And Sun And Moon maintained that, giving Midnight Oil their first top 10 single since 1990's "Blue Sky Mine". Named after an Indigenous woman from Tasmania whose story you can read here, the song also touched on the republican movement in Australia and the socio-economic problems facing the country. "Truganini" would turn out to be Midnight Oil's final major hit, with no further singles reaching the ARIA top 20. It seems their days of shifting truckloads of albums were also behind them, with Earth And Sun And Moon failing to match the chart-topping status of Blue Sky Mining and Diesel And Dust (although it did get to number 2), and selling a fraction of what those albums did.
Next week: the sixth and seventh singles from a 16-month old album by a music superstar debut in the same week, while the latest hit by another megastar also arrives. Plus, the first ARIA chart appearances by a multiple Grammy Award-winning Canadian singer/songwriter and a local rock band that'd go on to dominate the 1994 ARIA Awards.
Faith No More's "Easy" is still one of my favourites, and I'm glad it matched the number 1 peak of "Epic". I bought the single in a second-hand CD shop in 1998 (it continued the band's tradition of completely random meaningless cover art) after Triple J played one of the B-sides: a weird synthesized polka sung entirely in German called "Das Schützenfest". One of FNM's best. I played it really loud in one of the lecture theaters at uni…good times.
I don't think I'd heard 'B.I.N.G.O.' before.
I've been waiting to tell this story here for a few years... Brace yourselves ;-) It involves my purchase of Annie Lennox's 'Little Bird'/'Love Song For a Vampire' CD single. Well, after several months of unsuccessfully looking for the 'Love Song For a Vampire' single (rage and Video Hits both aired the video in December '92), and seeing it wasn't on the 'Diva' album, *finally* I found a copy in my then-local JB Hi-Fi one Saturday. 'Twas also the day of the 1993 federal election, I remember. Anyway, when I took the single (the only copy they had) to the counter to pay for it, the nice sales assistant behind the counter asked me if they had any other copies of it on the racks, and I told her no, 'cause they didn't. She then offered to BUY it off me! Ha ha! I refused. I hope she managed to find a copy later on; I feel slightly bad about it now, I mean, I could have easily gotten a copy of it somewhere else eventually. But how funny (at least I think), being propositioned with an offer to buy the thing you're buying in a store by one of the people who work there. Now, as for 'Little Bird', I like it, and the video was quite novel at the time (I somehow didn't realise initially that the other 'Annie's were drag queens; though thought the 'Thorn In My Side' one looked a little off)... but it's no 'Love Song...'.
I remember thinking Dave Gahan looked slightly crazy in the 'I Feel You' video, and, given how his life would unravel over the next few years, I wasn't wrong! I like the song, but they've had much better. Wow at sleeping out overnight.
I was such a fan of the Annie Lennox song "Little Bird" that I can't believe it's taken until now to see the film clip. She did well to film that being 7 months pregnant at the time. You can only just tell as the black costume hides it well. I was so hoping to would do better on the charts.
Things of Stone and Wood's song "Rock this Boat" was also high on my playlist at the time. Aah good times.


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Inspiration, Interviews, Leadership
Inspiring Police Leadership and Interview with ACC Una Jennings
Date: August 31, 2022Author: ranksuccess 1 Comment
I recently had the opportunity and privilege to interview T/ACC Una Jennings in Cheshire Police. I share the interview in this blog, while using the inspiration it gave me to discuss leadership more widely. If you're aspiring to Sergeant, Inspector, or beyond, I believe you will find the content helps you on your way…
"Our children will one day have children of their own and they will ask us what we did, in our place, in our time, to make things better." – Una Jennings
What is Leadership? An Academic Maelstrom…
Leadership occurs at all levels of policing and across the organisation. Leaders are found throughout. By definition, leaders are simply people who have followers, and rank has little to do with that. A myth about leadership is that people who get to the top or who occupy leadership positions are leaders. Not necessarily; people who get to the top may have done so because of political acumen, than from true leadership quality.
Having said that, police leadership can be complex, and there remains ambiguity over which styles and behaviours are most effective. There is a wealth of literature on police leadership if you are looking to prepare for a promotion opportunity to a formal leadership position. Be that as a Sergeant, an Inspector, or step up to the Chief Inspector rank and beyond, you will definitely benefit from immersing yourself in some of the literature, to support, challenge and provoke your thinking. Take a look for example at my YouTube series 'All Leaders Read' for some ideas and inspiration.
Try googling the term 'leadership', you'll get literally millions of results. Leadership has gripped the interest of humanity for thousands of years. There's over a hundred years of academic study on the subject and millions of books written about it. You could read all the literature for a thousand lifetimes, yet still be no clearer on a meaningful consensus of what it is. There are as many definitions and explanations of it as there are leaders, or so it seems.
Leadership scholars today continue the decades-long tradition of conducting studies, attempting to determine the definitive styles, skills, and personality traits of great leaders. Trying to pin down the essence and profile of what makes the ideal leader. In this academic maelstrom, the College of Policing has hung its hat upon the CVF as the desired behaviours of leaders in policing, yet police leadership goes far beyond that.
As an aspiring promotion candidate expected to deliver, support and inspire others in policing, this is only good news. It means the path is clear for you to take ownership and put forward your own explanation of what good leadership looks like!
For many others, leadership remains a mystery, an abstract hypothetical concept. As alluded to above there is a vast amount of material to help. For example, cops know how they like to be led. As part of my continuous professional development, I purchased a book years ago and am now reacquainting myself with it. Called Leadership: A Very Short Introduction, it's written by Keith Grint. One interesting question to ponder and addressed by Grint is: Are good leaders born or bred?
If you're looking to develop your understanding of leadership, it's as great a starting point as any. I cover a range of helpful reading material to support promotion candidates in my YouTube All Leader's Read series, such as the video below. In addition, one of my 100 previous blogs provides 8 Top Reads for Promotion Candidates.
Leadership in Context: 21st Century Policing
"Having the courage to acknowledge the world as it currently is, the world as it should be and the gap in between." – Una Jennings
Because leadership is such a vast subject, I encourage aspiring promotion candidates to think about 'leadership in context'. That's because it helps significantly with focus and 'cutting through the noise' in your quest for promotion. The context is… 21st century policing!
Leaders give direction. Leaders motivate and good leaders obtain extraordinary performance from their people. They inspire yes, but are they the product of their story or of circumstances? That's a great question to reflect upon and here's some food for thought, in context, to help with that.
Whatever your views on leadership, sometimes it's good just to sit back and listen to the experiences of others for ideas and inspiration. Saving the best 'til last in this blog, I recently had the pleasure and privilege of interviewing Una Jennings, who is currently Assistant Chief Constable (ACC) in Cheshire Constabulary. In 2019 and then as Chief Superintendent, Una delivered an incredible TEDx talk at Stormont which I'm delighted to have stumbled upon in preparation for my interview with her.
For a snapshot of what inspiring police leadership looks like, sounds and feels like, grab yourself a coffee. Watch as this senior UK police leader shares insights about her life and career in policing, her leadership journey, and the core values that have kept her grounded. It is compelling, engaging honest and inspiring. For anyone aspiring to a formal leadership position in policing or other organisations, this presentation offers a valuable aid for thinking about and reflecting upon. Especially for some of the personal and professional challenges of career progression, including those pertinent to women in police leadership.
The essence of this speech resonated with me, reminding me of the reasons I started Rank Success in the first place: to inspire people, motivate them, and to connect them with the essence of what good leadership looks like, sounds like, and feels like. In turn, helping great cops get promoted and positively influencing police leadership of the future.
If you are looking to develop and progress your policing career through the ranks, you can sit back, watch, and listen to one of the most powerful and personal police leadership stories you will probably ever hear. What follows are some take-home themes, insights and remarks I've compiled from her talk…
The Importance of Values
Raised in Northern Ireland, her story starts with being encouraged to read from an early age and to have an opinion.
"I was raised to believe you couldn't be, what you can't imagine."
"Three core values sustain me in my policing career. Courage, clarity and compassion… And the desire to connect with people and families, to individuals, to connect the strategic with the very local and the head with the heart"
The following comments from ACC Jennings all struck me as describing great courage…
"I learned from my mother, to plant my feet and take my position on what the right thing to do is."
"To bring my whole self to work, as a single mother, lawyer and as a woman."
"That I see in the people I work with every day, despite the very evident mistakes we make in policing and God knows, we've made many."
ACC Jennings also alludes to a number of firsts in her policing career, including: "Being first in my family to join the police and first of a new squad of Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) recruits in 1st November 2001", a decision to help realise and contribute to…
"A police service that looked, felt and thought like the full spectrum of the community that we are tasked with protecting and serving."
She also shares thoughts on the courage she sees among the people she's met in her policing career, describing them as heroes and heroines, with an extraordinary degree of both humility and humanity, with a profound sense of duty and responsibility.
Expanding on her core value of 'clarity', Jennings states:
"Like most things, I Iearned later in life – that agency moment – when you stop relying on external validation to tell you that you are doing ok, and you start relying on your internal criteria."
"[Clarity] Came from trauma, divorce, and being torn between time for my daughter and the time I give to 'the job'."
"Good policing changes lives, it is about so much more than crime, it is about hope, education, equality, social mobility and rebuilding trust in shattered communities."
The value of compassion also shines through her poetic talk…
"For me [compassion] is about being more than sympathetic, it's about acknowledging a need in someone and then, crucially, doing something about it."
"Compassion is a driving force for any good policing response, because policing is a profoundly human endeavour… I've met very, very few truly bad people, but I've met a lot of broken ones. I ask cops to be compassionate with each other. This is really tough work and it takes all sorts, which is why we need all sorts… policing is about people… people who will sometimes pay the ultimate price."
"Imagine we could be truly compassionate with each other… our children will one day have children of their own and they will ask us what we did, in our place, in our time, to make things better."
Connection and Legacy
Jennings concludes with the theme of connection (a topic I've personally touched on in my promotion masterclass). For example:
"With each other, in our heads and in our hearts, I learnt that from my father."
The final theme she alludes to is legacy:
"What we leave behind is not engraved in stone, it is woven into the lives of other people around us. It's a stewardship of the past, reinvigorated, rejuvenated, the responsibilities of the present, a focused stewardship of the future."
The leading quote at the top of this blog is another point expertly made by ACC Jennings on connection. She also makes connection to the timeless Peelian Principles in all of this.
My Podcast Interview with ACC Jennings
Building upon a series of Women in Police Leadership blogs, aimed at supporting women in policing to advance their careers and improve the representation of women in formal leadership roles, I was able to interview ACC Jennings in relation to some of these issues and to discuss more about police leadership.
Topics covered in this blog series (Challenges and Barriers, Confidence and Mindset, Strengths and Inspiration and Enablers and Solutions) were all issues I wanted to ask about.
As Vice President of the British Association of Women in Policing, ACC Jennings explains that the BAWP is the only national organisation to embrace women of all ranks and grades with aims to:
Raise awareness and understanding of issues affecting women in the Police Service
Build discussions on issues and provide the female perspective.
To develop a professional network of officers both nationally and internationally to contribute to the professional development of members.
Here's the link to our podcast conversation. Una shares insights from a personal perspective of issues facing women in policing. ACC Jennings also alludes to good initiatives and policies elsewhere to help improve equality. She talks about role models who have inspired her in her life and career to date. We also cover coaching, mentoring, aspects of police promotion processes, and her own approach to career development.
I hope you find this blog and the podcast interesting and helpful. If you'd like to learn more about Cheshire Police and their latest performance, take a look at my Cheshire Police PEEL assessment summary and stats video.
Wherever you are on your police leadership journey, I wish you all the very best. You'll find lots of free resources on my site at ranksuccess.co.uk including videos, podcasts, eGuides, and blogs. If you simply want to hit the ground running with targeted promotion preparation, then invest in yourself today and thank yourself tomorrow… download your personal digital promotion toolkit for PC to SGT or SGT to INSP / INS to C.INS, as these successfully promoted officers duly did.
Want to go further right now? Hit the ground running with your promotion preparation. Get your personal digital promotion toolkit, and/or my Police Promotion Masterclass. You can also contact me to arrange personal coaching support. If you first want to explore completely free content, I have a collection of videos, eGuides, a podcast.
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I would ask Una did she consider the feelings of Mrs Noble when she ran off to England with Mr Noble


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InfoQ Homepage News JRuby on Grails?
JRuby on Grails?
Mar 15, 2007 1 min read
Sebastien Auvray
In the beginning God created Ruby. Ruby came with many new possibilities, but was without a good web application framework. God said "there should be Rails" and Rails came into existence.
On the second day came a lot of fuss about Rails.
On the third day Grails was born.
Grails follows the Rails way of "coding by convention", using Groovy, an agile dynamic language for Java. Grails is 15% made of Groovy (the rest being Java) while Rails is 100% Ruby, hence Grails can not be properly called Groovy on Rails. Starting from that simple observation, Charles Nutter, one of the JRuby developer from Sun wonders how Grails could be extended to support any scripting language, especially Ruby.
I decided to do this exploration after realizing there's nothing about Ruby or JRuby that couldn't be used to wire a bunch of Java libraries together--indeed, that's one of the biggest selling points of JRuby, the fact that you can write plain old Ruby code but call Java libraries almost seamlessly (with day-by-day improving integration points and performance numbers). So why not take Grails and do a port to Ruby? Groovy code isn't far off from Ruby in many ways, and everything you can do in Groovy you can do in Ruby (plus more), so the port should be pretty straightforward, right?
Charles wants the best of both worlds: Multi-Language ability with the rich support of existing Java libraries. Graeme seems to be eager to stay in the "Java-Land".
In a straightforward answer, Grails founder Graeme Rocher after making advertising for his framework, tends to answer that the support of other language in Grails is just a matter of available resources, and harshly criticizes Sun's investment in "dead-end projects" such as Phobos.
The quarrel eclipses a major root question: Do we turn the page and move from a 100% Java world to 100% Ruby ? Charles (Sun) and Graeme don't want that and bring their own solution.
Now why not just use the 100% Ruby On Rails solution, and constantly build new Ruby libraries around it while the performance (something it is being criticized for today) is being improved? Can the standalone Ruby and Rails couple survive Sun's orientation? The IT world will make its choice in the near future.
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Voting on Ruby and Rails
by Matthieu Riou,
Re: Voting on Ruby and Rails
by Steve Zara,
by Kenneth Kousen,
by Jesse O'Neill-Oine,
by Jason Warner,
by Obie Fernandez,
by Piero Sartini,
My take on Grails and JRuby on Rails
by Steven Devijver,
Groovy vs Ruby/JRuby
by Roger Voss,
Re: Groovy vs Ruby/JRuby
by Hani Suleiman,
by Sebastien Auvray,
by Guillaume Laforge,
by Graeme Rocher,
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Grails are followers, they could have had a chance if Rails had failed to execute as well as it has in the past but Rails 1.2 is better than ever (restful is the term I guess). The Java world seems to be very inward oriented and several Java developers (usually the eternal skeptics) just refuse to see Ruby *and* Rails advantages. However Sun seems to don't mind as much as they're shooting for the universal VM even if this time they have no control over the language.
Ruby is a very healthy community, much like the Linux community has been for years (benevolent despot syndrom?), it's an important advantage because it prevents them from shooting in their own foot. It also protects them from those who talk more than they write code.
So with all that, the new performance figures of Ruby 1.9 (especially when compared to JRuby), the growing acceptance of Rails in the enterprise, I'd bet a lot on Ruby and Rails. And not much on Sun.
That is a very one-sided comment. Ruby remains a relatively low-performance language, and application development is far, far more than just a matter of writing relatively small websites. Some in the Ruby world can be just as inward-directed, and refuse to see any advantages in the performance, robustness and versatility of Java. There is a very good future for Ruby, Rails and also for Java.
I really like Ruby and I'm quite impressed with Rails, but as a developer with a major investment in Java it's been a much easier transition for me to learn Groovy and Grails. The fact that Grails is based on Spring and Hibernate also helps me a lot, because I'm pretty familiar with both projects. I especially like that I can take a Grails app and export it as a war file, so all my deployment problems with Rails go away.
That said, Rails is clearly more mature and quite powerful. Ruby, too, is a very impressive language. I wish I was an expert Ruby developer and will continue to re-visit it over time. I think my future lies with Groovy, though. It's so much easier for me and connects to everything I already have.
I'm in the same boat as Kenneth. Ruby/Rails is attractive for many reasons, but it just feels like I'd be losing too much of the knowledge that I've built up over the past 10 years. Learning Ruby the language is trivial, but learning all of the associated libraries is more than a little daunting since already have that knowledge on the Java front. I also am finding that a lot of clients of mine need Java integration and while JRuby would eventually provide that, I get it instantly and easily with Groovy.
I have been doing Ruby/Rails programming for over a year but I just started doing Groovy/Grails about a month ago (more as a fun little exercise since I come from the java world). Groovy and Grails are AWESOME.
Ruby is a great language and Rails is a great framework for the language, but Groovy/Grails is going to be the solution that Ruby/Rails could never be because of language limitations. Honestly, I urge everyone to look at it. Everyone who is currently doing Ruby/Rails, everyone who is struggling with Rails deployment or Ruby speed issues; look at Groovy/Grails.
At this point, I doubt that Groovy/Grails will ever reach the heights that Rails has soared to (by pure hype...sure it is a great framework, but the hype is what made it climb so high...and I'll be the first to admit that), but I think Groovy/Grails will change Java and enterprise development for the better.
Everyone who is currently doing Ruby/Rails, everyone who is struggling with Rails deployment or Ruby speed issues; look at Groovy/Grails.
At this point, I doubt that Groovy/Grails will ever reach the heights that Rails has soared to
I think this is an interesting point. After following Rails for some time, I am not sure what heights it has supposed to have reached. Checking on job sites, to see if it has made any major progress as a commercial development tool, I just don't see much change over the past year. Has tooling improved? Well, I still see articles discussing the use of irb (do we see articles talking about Java debugging using jdb?). Performance has not improved for stable versions of Ruby. My impression, for what it is worth, is that much of the hype is fading, and will fade a lot more as some of the ideas of Rails are adopted by more widely used platforms.
I discussed shared efforts for integrating with Java libraries (Spring, Hibernate, what-not) briefly with Charles some months ago. The conclusion was that the effort to make any integration efforts work seamlessly for both JRuby on Rails and Grails would be too hard.
Right now several people lead by Graeme are spending a lot of their free time on a stable Grails. This really requires a lot of work. Grails is currently 0.4.2 and to get to 1.0 will still require a lot of work.
Many of the features that Grails 1.0 has to have are already in 0.4.2 today. However, the entire framework has to become more stable, better integrated and faster.
As I said before this requires a lot of work and that's to get direct integration between framework X and Grails stable. Imagine the effort if would take to make the same stable for Grails and JRuby on Rails.
JRuby and Groovy are very different languages, both in feature sets and internally. JRuby on Rails and Grails on top of that are very different frameworks. The way they integrate with the underlying language bears little resemblance.
The fact that Grails is largely written in Java is for a part of my doing. The very first version was entirely written in Java and when Graeme took over he added a lot of Groovy integration.
The thruth is that we understand Groovy much better today than at the start and Groovy also has became more stable. Don't forget that Groovy become 1.0 some months ago. So writing parts of Grails in Groovy makes much more sense now then it did at the start of Grails.
Grails is inspired by Ruby on Rails but since its inception it's been designed to be a different animal. Actually, the fact the Charles is looking for a similar feature set for JRuby on Rails to me says a lot of the heading Grails is taking.
To me Grails is a shot in the rose. There are areas that need to be improved - the most important one for me is better debugging options - but since Sun is not backing Groovy or Grails this may still take some time.
However, as Grails approaches 1.0 it's popping up in more enterprises every day. For me that's natural because Grails has been designed for this. People want to use these kind of frameworks because they are very easy to use and offer the blended approach (I also like to call it The Perfect Mix): Java or Groovy, the choice is yours. You decide which language goes where in the mix that is your applications.
The idea that Grails is an insignificant follower of Rails is the right of its beholders. However, it's far from the thruth and as time and effort spend on Grails continues this will become more and more apparent.
I expect that as Grails 1.0 approaches companies - probably not Sun - will understand this and adapt. Since I started working with Grails - since Grails became stable enough to write applications with it - I can't go back to building web applications with Java. Grails is toxic in that respect.
A toxic mix designed to trive in the enterprise, that is Grails to me.
Despite all the constant bashing of everything Java from much of the Ruby camp, the plain reality is that the Java platform is this incredible embarrassment of riches. The value of building enterprise systems on top of the Java/JVM platform exceeds any competing system/technology.
Enterprise IT does not live on the Web CRUD app alone (i.e., Ruby/Rails). RAD technology to churn out such is certainly nice but such will never rule the IT landscape. Despite the hype of Ruby/Rails, it can't even make a measurable dent in that enterprise IT landscape as a strategically deployed technology.
The Java/JVM platform, though, has the breadth and maturity for indeed ruling the enterprise IT universe. Groovy/Grails/GWT will now nail the web app space (from the Java/JVM perspective) while doing so as a entirely natural extension/evolution of either the Java language, the JVM runtime, or both. (GWT may seem odd to include here, but at rock bottom it is a Java and JVM technology too as its wonderful debugging capability is predicated on leveraging the JVM and Java IDEs. Then it has the genius stroke of converting the quagmire of the HTML, DHTML, JavaScript, CSS, XmlHttpRequest, and JSON all into a very nice Java-couched development process. So now the masses can easily do advanced AJAX web programming ala Visual Basic for Windows over a decade ago.)
JRuby has way too many issues with respect to Java and the JVM when compared to Groovy. The bulk advantages of goodness of the Ruby language can be had in the Groovy language programming experience. Groovy certainly has some of its own special sauce to add to the mix as well.
Ruby itself, though a good language, has the curse of a pathetic C runtime. Been there and done that bit with the Perl C runtime. The many negative issues of a C runtime very much propelled my adoption of Java on the JVM. All the same problems still apply with respect to the Ruby C runtime - and those problems are completely intrinsic to the approach taken here. The Ruby C runtime vs the JVM - as used for a foundational enterprise platform? This question can't even be seriously entertained, i.e., the Ruby C runtime is not even a contender in the realm of strategic enterprise IT.
So when one is already entrenched in the Java/JVM platform universe as the substrate of their enterprise IT, and then the matter of Groovy, Ruby, or JRuby is raised, Groovy is the only conceivable choice between these three.
Sun, foolishly - being down on their luck and desperate to be relevant - succumbed to the Ruby hype machine. The people that live Java/JVM enterprise IT aren't so foolish, though. Get outside the echo chamber of JavaOne - such as No Fluff Just Stuff conferences - and is all Groovy/Grails/GWT/Spring. Ruby has fallen off the edge of the world since two years ago. Only Sun is left flogging that horse now via trying to pimp JRuby to the gullible. Sun in its glory days had a strong technical bent. Maneuvers like JRuby highlight how they're now a company that emphasizes marketing ploys (sizzle instead of value-based steak).
There are more job postings for Rails now than there have ever been. Check jobs.rubynow.com/ or www.indeed.com/jobs?q=ruby+on+rails&l=&...
Also, irb is an interactive console that is used for much more than debugging, which makes your tooling argument invalid.
Roger, Ruby has been the darling of the No Fluff Just Stuff set for a couple of years and your comment that Ruby has "fallen off the edge of the world since two years ago" is so wrong as to be completely laughable. Please take your blatant FUD back to JavaLobby where it will be more readily accepted.
Obie, I go to the No Fluff Just Stuff every year. Two years ago you're right, Ruby was practically the center-piece of the conference. Dave Thomas was out in force teaching Ruby and Rails. Bruce Tate was around talking up Beyond Java and a good dose of Ruby (plus smalltalk and continuations). Ruby was very much predominate in ad hoc discussions and hallway talk.
The last one, though, was a complete reversal. This time many a presenter had some sort of Groovy angle - and of course there were Grails sessions. Ruby got mention by presenters in terms of praising good things about the language, blah, blah, blah. Nothing much in the way of Ruby figuring into any presentations, though. Comparatively, Ruby really did fall off the edge of the Earth in terms of conference mind share.
Even the presenter panel sessions brought up Groovy in a good deal of the conversation that went on in that venue. One panel participant (when panelist were asked to make prognostications) made the prediction that 2007 would be the year of Groovy. In contrast, Ruby never got any particular attention in the panel discussions.
The one thing I've noticed about No Fluff Just Stuff conferences (beside that they are a better conference than Sun's Developer Days), is that there is a kind of almost anti-Sun sentiment that permeates them. A lot of folks that present there don't display any qualms about casting dispersions toward Sun for what they perceive as boneheaded things that that company does with respect to Java.
In the end it was not really all that strange to see the company behind the No Fluff Just Stuff conference become a sponsor of Groovy development. They, of course, are a sponsor of Spring-centric conferences too. These are two major themes that represent the Java community alternative to Sun boneheadedness: Groovy instead of JRuby and Spring instead of unadorned JEE app servers.
Is it really FUD to just simply tell it like it is? Sorry for bruised egos and hurt feelings. Ruby fanboyism's self-conceit needs to be balanced with a bit of reality now and then.
Regarding jobs - fair enough, there are more, but this is hardly the 'Ruby on Rails will take over the world' situation that many were suggesting a while ago. Let's put those 1,000 or so Rails jobs on indeed.com in perspective: there are over 11,000 PHP jobs and 40,000 J2EE jobs. Even LISP and Smalltalk have several hundred entries listed there.
And as for irb - I can't see how that invalidates my tooling argument. I abandoned command-line-based development years ago.
One small correction Roger, I've been involved this year in the talk selection process at JavaOne, and I can assure you that there are talks about groovy, grails, GWT, and many Spring ones. So I don't think that comment was entirely accurate.
(Ut-oh - is Hani...)
Ah, the Sun Developer Days, though, is a basically a traveling road show featureing EJB3, and where JRuby is the darling of Rich Green's key note slide show. When Rich talks about JVM scripting languages, he touts Sun's long term strategy revolving around JRuby, will even mention JavaScript (Rhino), yet Groovy never appears on a slide or gets any verbal mention.
So technically, my last posting - the one I believe you're responding to - mentions Developer Days instead JavaOne, and is thus accurate.
You should have a look at Sun Tech days agenda before talking non-sense again... Guillaume Laforge, Groovy author will make a presentation there next week.
It seems as if Grails (aggressive) community/developers were the imaginary victim of Sun every time, it is becoming really amusing...
Graeme Rocher said recently :
As for whether we love Ruby/Rails, of course we do, a lot the inspiration for Groovy comes from the Ruby community just as the inspiration for builders comes from the Groovy community. I've said before the Grails naming is unfortunate and in hindsight we should have chosen a different name, nevertheless the brand works for us now.
I really wonder what had happened when Grails is called differently... For sure a lot less of fuss...
I'm there only because I insisted and proposed my services. Otherwise, Sun would only speak about their own language projects. I can't blame them for that since most talks are done by Sun engineers, it's fairly logical that they speak about what they know best: their own stuff.
By the way, if you're at the TechDays, don't forget to come and say hi!
Hmmm, interesting. I wonder in what way the Grails developers or community are aggressive. I'm certainly biased, of course, but we see more Rubyists complain about Grails than the reverse situation. And I don't think they are victim of Sun, I don't see in what way they would be.
Hi Guillaume,
I'll attend Tech Days and won't miss for sure the TD1202 about JVM scripting.
Guillaume Laforge, Groovy author will make a presentation there next week.
Few points here. First of all I don't think Sun in general are ignoring Groovy & Grails and I thank them for offering to host the Grails event that was held at Sun tech days (ref: uk.sun.com/sunnews/events/2007/mar/revolution/t...).
There is, however, most certainly an internal group of people that are pushing JRuby and pushing it hard. This is fair enough because if they don't push it they're going to look mighty stupid for hiring the developers behind the project. There is nothing to argue against here.
As for Groovy/Grails people being "aggressive", I find this amusing. When the Ruby/Rails community is "aggressive" they're applauded for promoting "opinionated software". Are we to just shut-up when there are real posts like Charles' stating that Groovy adds no value to Grails? Come on, get real.
This is what makes posts like this one from Tim Bray so disappointing: www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2007/03/14/Tab-...
Besides his generally unintelligent comment about the posts, is Tim really claiming that Ruby/Rails has "made friends along the way" as part of its success strategy?
Finally, @Hani I think the JavaOne selection committee have done a great job and Groovy/Grails is well represented at this years event. Well done.
Has tooling improved? Well, I still see articles discussing the use of irb (do we see articles talking about Java debugging using jdb?).
There is NetBeans 6 with full Ruby support.
Personally I think ruby is a nice language and I will do some smaller web-only projects with it. Maybe I am wrong, but for me ruby is a "better" or cleaner PHP/Python/etc


Subject matters variety from introductory lectures on algebraic cycles to extra complex fabric during this selection of lecture notes from the complaints of the Grenoble summer time college, 2001. The complex lectures are grouped lower than 3 headings: Lawson (co)homology, factors and motivic cohomology and Hodge theoretic invariants of cycles.
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You will note that many of the messages the HALLS OF DEATH 39 program relays are encrypted to make the game more fun to play. Although they are printed in readable form for the player, anyone keying in the program will have less understanding of what is happening and therefore have more fun when the adventure can finally be played. THE OBJECTIVE To explore the Halls of Death, to find an invisible Golden Treasure Chest, and to return to room number 1. ) THE OBJECTS NOTE: I$(n) will contain the name of each item and I(n) will hold the room number.