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Commentary / News
Infrastructure Emergency! Flint Water Crisis Flows into Newark and Detroit
by americansystemnow —	December 31, 2018
By Angela Vullo
Dec. 30, 2018–The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in their 2017 Infrastructure Report Card gave the state of drinking water in the United States a D rating, detailing that 6 billion gallons of treated water is lost every day, and that more than $105 billion dollars is needed for water funding. Not only are water mains bursting with increasing frequency, but the system includes millions of dangerous lead pipes that threaten the health of millions of children.
In 2014-15, the effects of lead and bacterial contamination of the drinking water supply in Flint, Michigan became a national scandal. Now we are witnessing the water crisis spreading nationwide.
Emergency measures during the Flint water crisis (dreamstime)
In October 2018, a city official of Newark, New Jersey acknowledged what everyone already suspected: the water crisis of Flint, Michigan had flowed into Newark. There had been severe denial for over a year and a half by the Mayor and other elected officials who insisted that the water was "absolutely safe to drink." Subsequent extensive testing of lead levels in the water have shown that not to be the case. Measures are now being taken to relieve the problem, but only for the short term.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka had said, "Nothing is wrong with the water. It's the infrastructure." Kareem Adeem, assistant director of Newark's Department of Water and Sewer Utilities, backed him up by reporting that "The city's water coming out of the reservoir is safe … The only problem is when the city's water enters the lead lines." Indeed, some of the water pipes in Newark date back to the 1880s. It would seem that the water is safe only as long as you are not drinking from the tap!
In Flint, the crisis is being addressed with a Federally-funded program to replace 18,000 pipes, with a scheduled completion date at the end of 2020. But as the Newark crisis, and a recently uncovered lead-poisoning crisis in Detroit, have underlined, the need for replacing our decaying water infrastructure is massive and nationwide. Like the disastrous state of transportation infrastructure around the nation, it must be addressed as the national emergency it is.
The Newark Crisis
The current focus in Newark is not on replacing aged, dangerous pipes, but on distributing water filters and seeking to correct problems at its water treatment plants.
A New York Times article of December 3, 2018, reported that Newark decided to deal with only one of the two treatment plants that were considered to be leaching lead into the water supply. Water tested at the Pequannock Plant exceeded more than 15 parts per billion of lead, which is the threshold for Federal action. However, a review of city records showed that lead levels recorded since January 2017 in neighborhoods served by the second plant, the Wanaque, were not nearly as high, although some were still above the 15 parts per billion, and one sample of residential tap water that came from the Wanaque tested at 182 parts per billion. Two dozen city schools that were found to have high lead levels in their drinking water two years ago are served by the Wanaque.
In a recent letter, state regulators asked Newark to investigate whether the elevated levels in the Wanaque service area are caused by water leaks from the Pequannock—the two water systems border each other at certain points. The city admitted that "blending is occurring" between the systems. 40,000 filters are being distributed to households in the neighborhoods served by Pequannock.
Water treatment plant (dreamstime)
When Newark's filter distribution began, the city's website described water in homes in the East Ward as "safe". A week later, the safety reference had disappeared, but language remained stating that residences served by the Wanaque "do not require a filter under this program."
According to the Times, one quarter of 14,000 children under the age of six who were tested in 2016 had measurable levels of lead, according to an analysis by Advocates for Children of New Jersey. In one home in Newark, 42.2 parts per billion of lead was found in the water. That is three times the Federal action threshold. In fact, no amount of lead in the water is safe for children, and one mother noticed a rise in her son's blood lead level when they moved from Queens to Newark in 2016.
Detroit has sprung a leak
According to Nikolai Vitti, Superintendent of the Detroit schools, there is also a water crisis statewide in Michigan. One center is Detroit, specifically the school system. According to a Washington Post article published December 19, the crisis erupted days before the 2018 fall semester, when two-thirds of Detroit's 50,000 school children showed alarming levels of lead in their bodies. It has been reported that the crisis in the school system is worse than in homes, because school water stagnates when schools are closed for breaks. Of the 43% of school districts tested in 2016-2017, 37% were found to have lead in the water.
Most schools in the nation are not testing for lead in the water. New York State was the first to call for testing.
However, the Detroit situation was not just caused by lack of infrastructure maintenance. There was also a level of greedy malevolence, according to outgoing Detroit school board member and former state legislator Lamar Lemmons. Lemmons contends "that the crisis was intentionally created during the period of 1999-2017 by the Republican leadership in the state. At the time, the school district was running a $100 million surplus, and the leadership created a New Orleans `Katrina' model, in order to privatize, under the guise of "academic improvement," and loot the surplus. This forced the public schools to go into disrepair, resulting in no maintenance and creating toxic buildup of copper and lead in the pipes. These were not educators, but administrators and financiers who should be in jail."
The coverup of a national emergency
Detroit School Superintendent Vitti cites many reasons he is being given as to why the water was not tested. The most indicting is, "We better not test the water because we'll have a problem that we don't want to deal with." This brings to mind the famous Henrik Ibsen play, Enemy of the People, in which the city's officials refused to expose the contamination of their spa water for fear it would ruin their income from tourism. In the play, the Mayor and elected officials covered up the truth, and instead vilified the medical official who spoke out.
Much of the nation's water infrastructure was built by the WPA in the 1930s. Here, workers dig a main in 1937. (commons-wikipedia)
Now Vitti has declared "Ignorance should no longer be bliss because we're talking about the safety and well-being of our children." Doctors and other health officials have announced that "exposure to even small amounts of lead "can cause irreversible cognitive and behavioral problems," especially in children.
Virginia Tech professor Marc Edwards, who helped to expose the Flint water crisis, declared that the "worst problems are the ones we don't hear about. Detroit is a success story. The real problem is the schools that never test. It cries out for national standards."
Vitti has begun raising $3 million from local charities to purchase and install highly filtered water hydration stations for every Detroit school. He contends this is cheaper and more practical than ripping out aging pipes. Lemmons claims that half a billion dollars is needed to solve the water crisis in the schools alone. That would be in addition to the urgently needed capital for Detroit's dilapidated schools.
Vitti joins Edwards in calling for federal intervention. He proclaims: "This is a national issue and it should have a national solution." But in the meantime, "Our children cannot wait for safe water."
During a recent trip to Newark and Essex County, this writer spoke to a leader in Essex County who gave another example of how widespread the urban infrastructure collapse is. She reported that a nearby high school recently suffered a shocking structural breakdown when three stairwells collapsed. Fortunately, no one died; however, the senior class has been moved into trailers on the parking lot where they will finish up their final year.
Combine these life-threatening water crises with the recently exposed breakdown crisis in the NY-NJ transit system, dramatized in the video made by Governor Cuomo for President Trump on the horror of the Hudson River Tunnel, and it's obvious there is no solution without Federal funding.
Setting up hydration stations, port-o-potties, and trailers are only band-aid remedies, and are not the American way. There is no short-term solution, whether you are addressing water, transit, or our schools. Our country desperately needs a national mission. We must have a long-term solution to rebuild the nation's overall infrastructure. When the nation's water is contaminated with lead, this is no different than a terrorist attack or a deadly bullet to the head.
And when President Trump's priority infrastructure project is to build a Wall to keep out immigrants, you might say we have a problem.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared in his First Inaugural Address that if Congress didn't act, he would demand powers to "wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe."
We now have a new such emergency in the making.
Newark, Detroit, and Flint are simply sign-posts of the crumbling state of our national infrastructure. This nation, once the envy of the world, has now seen much of its infrastructure reduced to Third World levels. Or, as President Trump would more delicately make the point, "We have become a shithole nation."
It is time to commit ourselves to solve the entire infrastructure crisis as the first order of business. We need trillions in Federal credit directed into long-term advanced technology projects in the first 100 days of the coming Congress. Nothing short of that will suffice.
Tags: Angela Vullo / Detroit schools / Flint / infrastructure / infrastructure bank / Lamar Lemmons / lead crisis / New Jersey / Newark / water


With a degree in both business and finance, and after working in the garage door industry for years, Al decided to open Aladdin Doors®. His background managing five McDonalds' stores groomed him for handling the day-to-day operations and growing the business to where it is today.
Al is passionate about the Aladdin Doors® franchise opportunity and enjoys traveling and spending time with his family when he's not working.
After mastering the art of garage door repair, service and sales over several years, Amr formed Aladdin Doors from the ground up. Together with CEO Al, they both worked long hours, weekends and late nights to get the business off to a fast start, building customer loyalty and satisfaction along the way. His vast technical and operational knowledge of garage door systems has been instrumental in the company's growth and the development of franchise owners.
Amr is a PhD candidate of Psychology at California Southern University and loves to spend time with his family and friends.
Jeff has more than 40 years of direct sales and leadership experience; working along side and consulting with small, medium, and large businesses. He started his own consulting company in 2014 (JSC Business Consulting. LLC, d.b.a.: The Coaching Maverick), where he does: Business Consulting, Leadership Training, Sales Training, Sales & Leaders' Coaching, and Customer Service Call Center 'turn key' operations set-up. Jeff is a graduate of Penn State University, and has done post graduate work at Drexel University, in Philadelphia.
Jeff is governed by his favorite bible quote: Proverbs 27:17 "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
Dan plays an important role in serving our internal and external customers. Using his in-depth knowledge of garage door systems, Dan's role is to lead and train our technicians to constantly grow and improve the customer experience. He also works closely with franchise owners across the country to increase their product and software knowledge and improve overall communications between each other and corporate. Dan and his wife enjoy hiking and camping with their three children.
Aladdin Doors® knows how important it is to make a good first impression. That's why we focus on creative marketing through our website, blogs and social media sites. Mary takes pride in writing unique, relevant and compelling content to turn interested prospects into happy customers. She also creates presentations and helps design marketing materials to showcase Aladdin Doors'® excellence, as well as assists in franchise development tasks. As the "Aladdin voice", she is often the first point of contact, from scheduling appointments to anything customer related. Mary enjoys dancing and her two small grandsons.
As the latest addition to our Aladdin Doors team, Branden wears many hats. He is not only our lead customer service specialist, he also manages the office and oversees warehouse activities. With many years of sales and service experience, Branden is passionate about serving our customers with enthusiasm and urgency. His attention to detail, organizational skills and willingness to take on new tasks makes him a definite asset to our organization. Branden enjoys animals, sports and tinkering with cars.


For the latest timetable on these swim options visit www.the-peak-stirling.org.uk/facilities/pool/. Active Stirling will contact all learn to swim customers this week to advise them that the temporary arrangements for all swim lessons will now be extended to run until Friday 28 June 2019.
David Roxby, Chair at Active Stirling said: "It is extremely disappointing yet fully understandable that the sequence of events surrounding the investigations into the teaching pool have now impacted on the re-opening of the main pool at The PEAK and that, despite us being on track with the works for the main pool, the stages of work to be undertaken for the teaching pool means we are unable to open the pools until they are ready and safe to do so.


Paul Zuvella had been up each of the past three seasons, but the most playing time he'd seen in any one season was just 11 games.
Now, in spring 1985, it appeared Zuvella might never see regular playing time, at least with the Braves. Regulars at shortstop and second base appeared to have him blocked.
"I look at these guys and I know I can play with them," Zuvella told The South Florida Sun-Sentinel that March. "I look at all these pitchers and know I can hit them. Everyone tells me I deserve to be an everyday player. But . . ."
Zuvella did end up playing with those guys in 1985 and he did so for 81 games that year, the most time of his nine seasons with time in the majors.
Zuvella's professional career began in 1980, taken by the Braves in the 15th round of the draft out of Stanford University. He played that year largely at single-A Durham, hitting .315.
He moved to AA Savannah for 1981, then hit AAA Richmond in 1982. It was in September 1982 that Zuvella made his major league debut. He got into two games, with one at bat.
He also made an error that led to two runs scoring. The error was the result of Zuvella lobbing the ball to first, he told reporters afterward. The Braves, though, went on to win the game.
"As an infielder, any time you do that, you're going to get into trouble," Zuvella told reporters. "I knew the ball was high. I didn't have anything on it, so it just sort of sailed."
Zuvella returned for three more games in 1983, then 11 more in 1984. Appearing blocked, Zuvella asked the Braves to be traded.
But, coming out of spring training 1985, Zuvella broke camp with the team. He was just happy to be staying. "For me it's a nice feeling," Zuvella told The Sun-Sentinel. He hit .253 on the year.
The next year, though, Zuvella got his trade. In June 1986, the Braves traded him to the Yankees. He got into 21 games for them. He also hit just .083. Through his first 10 games - 26 at bats - Zuvella's average stayed at .000.
"I've been doing my best not to think about it," Zuvella told reporters during that slump, The Los Angeles Times wrote in 1989, "but by trying so hard not to think about it, I can't stop thinking about it."
Zuvella returned to the Yankees for another 14 games in 1987. He then made the Indians for 55 games in 1988. During that stint with Cleveland, Zuvella had a new sense of security, he told The Associated Press the next spring.
"They told me I'd be out there each day, whether I went 0-for-4 or not," Zuvella told The AP. "You need that kind of security to allow you to get into a groove. It allows you to play with what I call relaxed aggression."
But Zuvella's time in the majors was nearly over. He got into 24 games for the Indians in 1989, then two final games with the Royals two years later in 1991.
His playing career over, Zuvella went on to a post-playing career as a manager and coach, including managing AAA Colorado Springs in 1997 and 1998.
In 1994, Zuvella was serving as manager of the New Haven Ravens. His Ravens made the playoffs, but got swept. Zuvella, though, thought his team had played well.
"I told them it's very hard after a series like this to have a smile on your face but I do,'' Zuvella told The Hartford Courant. "They have nothing to hang their heads about. They had a little more than us."


^ Daftary, Farhad (2007). The Ismailis: Their History and Doctrines Second Ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-511-35561-5. ^ "the definition of aga". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 2016-06-17. ^ "imla". www.nisanyansozluk.com. Retrieved 2016-06-17. ^ Fairbank, John King (1978). The Cambridge History of China. Cambridge University Press. p. 367. ^ "The Institute of Ismaili Studies". Archived from the original on May 12, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2013. ^ Daftary, Farhad (2004). Ismaili Literature: A Bibliography Of Sources And Studies. Institute of Ismaili Studies. ISBN 978-1-850-43439-9. ^ Russell, Sir Justice. "Bombay High Court:Haji Bibi vs H.H. Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah 1 September 1908". High Court of Bombay. Retrieved 31 March 2013.


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Cannabis Expungements and Pardons Given By ISP, Governor on Jan. 1 – WLDS
Over 9,100 people will start the new year with a clean criminal record. Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday issued pardons for 9,129 low-level cannabis conviction records and 492,192 cannabis-related arrests were expunged by the Illinois State Police.
The expungement process is part of the state law that legalized the licensed sales of marijuana that began in 2020, and is designed to reduce the impact of drug laws, particularly for minorities.
State law requires that 47,000 cannabis-related arrests between 2013 and 2019 had to be expunged by Friday but with the expungement of nearly a half-million arrests, the state police said it finished the job of completing automatic expungements at the state level four years ahead of schedule.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Can you spare a couple of hours to tidy our village on Saturday, 21 March?
Come and join us please.
Meet at the corner of Oakwood Road and West Riding, starting between 09:30 am and 10:00 am.
Bags and pickers will be provided. We look forward to seeing you!


Webster�s Unabridged Dictionary defines "hypocrisy" as "the act or practice of pretending to be what one is not, or to have principles or beliefs that one does not have."
How does the Bible view hypocrisy? Have we been hypocritical in our actions?
Job 13:16, "an hypocrite shall not come before Him."
Job 36:13-14, "But the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath: . . . .They die in youth, and their life is among the unclean [sodomites]."
Job 17:8, " . . . the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite."
Job 20:5, " . . . the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment . . . ."
Job 27:8, "For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?"
Job 8:13, "The hypocrite�s hope shall perish."
Job 15:34, "For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate . . . ."
Proverbs 11:9, "An hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbor."
Job 34:30, "That the hypocrite reign not, lest the people be ensnared."
I Timothy 4:2, "Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron."
Jeremiah 23:15, " . . . from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness [margin: "hypocrisy"] gone forth into all the land."
Isaiah 32:6, "For the vile person will speak villainy, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail."
Isaiah 33:14, "The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites."
Isaiah 10:6, "I will send him [the Assyrian, verse 5] against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath . . . ."
Matthew 23:13-33 shows that hypocrites, (1) exclude and prevent others from entering God�s kingdom, (2) devour widows' houses (i.e. rob from the poor), (3) make long pretentious prayers, (4) vigorously proselytize, (5) do not understand the spiritual significance of the Creator, (6) meticulously tithe yet gloss over weightier matters, such as judgment, mercy, faith, (7) make sure they are doctrinally "pure" on small issues yet ignore whole sections of the Bible by swallowing false doctrines, (8) appear to be righteous, but actually are extortioners of other people�s money and have a total lack of self control, (9) are full of sins, (10) claim that they would never have sinned as those in the past did, and (11) are snakes who suddenly strike at their victims.
Luke 11:44 adds that, (12) other men are not aware of the true nature of hypocrites. Luke 12:56 and Matthew 16:3 tell us that, (13) hypocrites do not properly understand the times in which they live, although they may claim they do. Mark 7:6-13 and Matthew 15:7-9 indicate that, (14) hypocrites claim to be following God, but in reality their heart is far from God. They stick to man-made traditions and won�t change, even though these traditions violate God�s law. Matthew 22:15,18 says, (15) hypocrites are out to "get" or trick others. They're not really interested in the truth, but only in defending their position and lifestyle. Luke 13:15 tells of, (16) hypocrites who totally pervert the Sabbath. Matthew 6:2, 5, 16 says not to be like, (17) hypocrites who do everything for outward show, wanting praise of men, bragging of their good deeds. Matthew 7:3-5 and Luke 6:41-42 show that, (18) hypocrites spend too much time exposing the sins of others, while they are blind to their own sins.
Psalms 35:16 describes "hypocritical mockers in feasts," while Jude 12 warns of "spots in your feasts of charity." Yes, it is possible for hypocrites to keep the Biblical Holy Days along with sincere, dedicated believers!
The Fate Of Hypocrites � And How To Avoid Being One!
Matthew 24:50-51, "The Lord of that servant shall . . . appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
James 3:17-18, "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." Peace is the natural result of those without hypocrisy.


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Beyond shiny houses — Lahore's story
Haroon KhalidPublished November 10, 2015
A security guard sits reluctantly on a chair at the entrance to this village. He is wearing a light blue shirt with navy blue pants. There is a cap on his head and a barrier next to him. The barrier, the chair, the cap and the guard, are all out of place here.
The residents of the village walking in and out of this narrow alley ignore him and he ignores them. No one fully understands what his 'duty' entails, not even the guard himself.
Next to him is a wall that runs all around the small village, encaging it. A couple of entrances have been left open to allow residents to move about. There are bored security guards at each one of these entrances.
This is the entrance of a village called Charrar within the heart of Lahore's prime real estate community, Defense Housing Authority (DHA) — a literal translation of the word oxymoron.
Outside is the shiny suburban locality of the second largest metropolis of the country and inside is a village.
Charrar Pind, as it is called, was the one of the first villages that was incorporated into this housing scheme. It was the agricultural land of this village that was purchased by DHA and then developed. Eventually, as the community prospered, the original inhabitants of this area were imprisoned within their own village to keep a separation of classes.
Also read: Rezoning Lahore
Before its land was sold, the village was an agricultural community; surviving on its own yield. That self-sufficiency vanished after the emergence of DHA. New relationships emerged as new classes started living side by side. A labour force was required for the new shiny houses.
Every evening there is an array of cars at the various entrances of Charrar, young boys waiting for their drug and alcohol dealers. Charrar emerged as a den of poverty only a generation after the development of DHA.
Perhaps in the modern parlance, Charrar would be viewed as a katchi abadi in the ever-growing Lahore. This, of course is not true literally, as Charrar is not an informal settlement, yet the relationships that exist between the city and this village are not different from the relationship that develops between a katchi abadi and its city.
Ironically though, whereas informal communities develop after the 'success' of a metropolis, Charrar came into existence centuries before DHA. According to the Land Settlement Record collected by the British in the middle of the 19th century, the village of Charrar was first established by a man called Basi in the 14th century.
Just to give you a perspective of how old that is, it is about two centuries before Babur, the first Mughal Emperor, came to India, and about 300 years before Lahore, developed as a significant city, when the Mughal capital was shifted here during the tenure of Akbar.
It was named Charrar because Basi originally belonged to a village called Charrar in the district of Ferozepur. There were archaeological mounds of the village, which were flattened to make way for the Community Club.
Charrar Pind is not the only historical village in DHA, which has been incorporated into this growing community, and has been reduced to the status of a kachi abadi. Another prominent village is Amar Sidhu. Here too, there is a wall, a few entrances and bored security guards.
According to the Land Settlement Records, this village was established in the second half of the 16th century by a man called Amar Singh, who originally belonged to the region of Malwa.
Sidhu was his sub-caste, hence Amar Sidhu. Old as it may be, Charrar does not have any significant historical monument to vouch for its historical significance. However, there are two such structures at Amar Sidhu. One is the Gurdwara of Guru Hargobind, the sixth Guru of Sikhism.
The gurdwara of Hargobind at Amar Sidhu village.
He stopped here on the way from Mozang, as he headed to Amritsar. There is a temple road in Mozang, named to celebrate the 'temple' of Guru Hargobind which was constructed there to commemorate the spot he stayed at. The Gurdwara of Amar Sidhu is connected with the story of the 'temple' on Temple road.
The other prominent historical structure in Amar Sidhu is the mosque of Bulleh Shah, the 18th century mystic poet of Kasur. He regularly travelled between Kasur and Lahore, to visit his spiritual master, Shah Inayat, who too stayed at Mozang.
Entrance to the Baba Bulleh Shah mosque at Amar Sidhu village.
There is a mosque at Mozang which is constructed over the madrassah of Shah Inayat, where Bulleh Shah studied. On his visits, he usually stopped at Amar Sidhu where he would rest under a Pipal tree. Later, a mosque was constructed next to the Pipal tree to mark the spot visited by Baba Bulleh Shah regularly.
This phenomenon of villages being incorporated into the metropolis of Lahore is not something that is unique to the DHA. Lahore has been doing that for all its existence. In fact, the locality of Mozang, which has now firmly established itself as a part of the city, was originally an independent town, outside of the city of Lahore.
This was first established by an Afghan man called Abdul Aziz Mozang, who came here during Mughal Emperor Akbar's tenure.
The grave of Abdul Aziz Mozang.
Not far from Mozang is the locality of Ichra. Many historians believe that Ichra might be the first city of Lahore, with the walled city establishing much later. For a major part of its existence though, Ichra was a separate town from Lahore. Its origin is lost in antiquity.
One such community that fascinates me personally is Niaz Baig, which till a few years ago marked the unofficial southern boundary of Lahore. Niaz Baig has personal significance for me because my home is not far from this locality and I used to pass through its rush every day.
However, never was I able to see its historical significance beyond its poverty and disrepair. Only recently did I discover that this small town also might be as old as the city of Lahore. Its records are found in the Akbar-Nama of Abu-Fazl, written during the tenure of Emperor Akbar.
Remnants of an ancient temple at Niaz Baig.
It was a walled community, which served as the regional capital of its surrounding area. In the 18th century when the Afghan marauder Ahmad Shah Abdali descended upon Punjab to cause havoc, residents of the neighbouring community converged at Niaz Baig, as its walls provided protections. Remnants of those walls and those gateways are still present in the village. There also is, soon to be was, an ancient temple in the heart of the community, now taken over by migrants from India after Partition, whose origin too, is lost in antiquity.
A historical gateway leading into the walled village of Niaz Baig.
Not far from Niaz Baig is the village of Hinjarwal, another distinct community that has slowly lost its unique identity as it gradually drowned in the sea of Lahore.
Across the village, in an open ground is the shrine of Baba Hinjarwal, believed to be the founder of this community, and the father of the Khokhar community that now dominates the Multan Road. The plaque on its grave states that he died in the 16th century but its architecture tells a different story.
The shrine of Baba Hinjarwal.
Remains of a caravansary or inn at Hinjarwal.
Its slanting walls, an architectural feature which predates the Mughal arrival, raise doubts about the dates stated.
Scattered all over the city of Lahore are such towns and hamlets, whose histories predate Lahore. Before they became katchi abadis they too, had an identity, all traces of which have slowly eroded.
Whenever there is a discussion about the history of Lahore, inevitably the discussion steers towards the walled city, the colonial city.
However, existing in the midst of these worlds, is the world of these villages and towns, who too, have a story to tell, but in this fast paced world of metropolitan, no one has the time for stories.
—Photos by author.
Haroon Khalid has an academic background in anthropology from Lums. He has been travelling extensively around Pakistan, documenting historical and cultural heritage. He is the author of four books — Imagining Lahore, Walking with Nanak, In Search of Shiva and A White Trail.
The views expressed by this writer and commenters below do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.
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Comments (21) Closed
Very nice article about Lahore and its origins. This reminds me of Toronto and Mississauga in Canada, where there is no real divide between the two, but Mississauga continues to stand out as a separate city (which is populated by a large and growing Desi community) from Toronto which is attached to it. As Toronto expanded as the main city, Mississauga maintained its independence (what the point of that was, I am not sure) and remained a separate city rather than just another suburb of Toronto.
I am eagerly looking for your upcoming book - In search of Shiva.
Saad M Waraich
Fully agree.
Najma Hisham
This is a really engrossing story close to me. My paternal great great grandmother was a Sidhu Jatt probably distantly related or a descendant of Sahib Amar Sidhu from the Malwa region i.e Ferozepore and Babay Bullay Shah is our patron Sufi Babay. It all makes sense to me now, because Ferozepore and Kasur were twin towns before partition and Muktsar is not far away. Thanks Khalid Sahib.
Khalid Sahib after reading your article, how and why we Punjabis allowed ourselves to be partitioned i will never understand because our history, culture, language, our stories, our legends, our ancestors, our race and traditions are so interwoven. Even our Punjabi accents are the same!
Loved it! Anthropoligists should be given more importance as they may keep us connected to our roots, keep it up.
Qasim Rajput
The most fertile agricultural land, which is always around big cities, is squeezing day by day. The modern housing schemes are engulfing the land and villages in the suburbs of cities. This is due to the explosive population growth rate of Pakistan and the trend of people to move into big cities. The government should take measures to forcefully reduce the population growth rate and the migration of people toward already overcrowded cities. The villages and small towns should be developed equally and decent job opportunities should be provided to all in their hometowns. The agricultural land is a gift by God which must be kept preserved for future generations.
@Najma Hisham The Brits wanted it so.
Tariq Amir
Very good research. I wonder how many such historic places and stories are scattered all over Pakistan, but fast disappearing physically as well as from our collective memory.
parvez mukhtar
The government should now define the boundaries of Lahore. And allow more housing schemes and industrial areas to develops on this fertile land. New township should develope at least 100 kilometer from here and industries can be housed at any place in barren land witgg facility of water.
Bakhtawer Bilal
Thanks to writer, and to Dawn. After reading the article, realizing the amount of effort put into it, it gives me hope that all is not lost. A young person who is this dedicated and educated working towards the preservation gives hope. May be, may be one day we will have this energy and focus in our ruling class as well. Now a days all the emphasis is destroy old, and build new.
Ravian
Fascinating account of city. In my long gone youthful years I have roamed about these towns wondering genesis of these names. Thanks
Ramesh Mohindra,MD
@Najma Hisham Well said, Najmaji. Why we let us to be played at the hands of Western powers ? But that was then. Let us be friends now. Civil society has to do it. Don't expect anything in this regard from the politicians.
Imran Ali Rathore
A detailed and well written account!
Unshackle Pakistan
@bkt If the city limits are defined clearly it's easy to keep them separate. Islamabad and Rawalpindi would be a Pakistani example. @UnshacklePak
Sad to see that temples are being used as homes and they have been in bad shape. In India mosques are not used as homes and waqf board takes care of mosques all over India.
Haroon - Thank you for your excellent article.. very informative.
Sonny Afridi
@Najma Hisham indian Punjabis are welcome to join Pakistan, we share a lot in common
Fascinating. And such a pity that these historic places are no longer anything beyond heaps of trash. In the pictures here it is possible to see that there was something there once
So engrossing and informative! Good work...
Wish i could buy one of these old relics and restore it back to its glory and live in it.If only wishes could come true.Thanks.
The company is actively preserving the environment by using cutting-edge technology and modern methods of resource utilisation.
Imran received funding from India and Israel, alleges Maryam at PDM protest outside ECP


The vocational school in Thun frequently receives guests. After delegations from South Korea, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Russia and Greenland, it is now the turn of groups from Bulgaria to visit Thun. Sofia has sent over company representatives and vocational college lecturers who are meant to take on board the concept of the interconnected Swiss vocational training system where vocational schools, industry associations and the government mutually complement one another, writes Swiss Review.
The DOMINO Project is implemented jointly with the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
The project is financed under the Bulgarian-Swiss Cooperation Programme.


Dhaval Khamar is a graduate student in Columbia's bioethics program and previously attended the University of Central Florida, earning a B.S. in Biology and a B.A. in Religion and Cultural Studies both with honors. His areas of interest in bioethics are end of life ethics, access to medical innovation, and health policy ethics. Dhaval has also contributed to health policy efforts in New York as an intern at the New York State Task Force on Life and the Law.


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Knowle plans.. Is the 'public visual experience' fully shown in developer's documents?
November 21, 2016 by sidmouthsid Leave a comment
The debate continues, in this response by the 'Unknown Third Party' (Peter Nasmyth) to the TOWNSCAPE AND VISUAL IMPACT STATEMENT ADDENDUM -re: 16/0872/MFUL, uploaded 16th November 2016 by PegasusLife.
Here's Peter's image, under discussion:
Below is what Pegasus Life says, with the response (PN) shown in bold:
In the vicinity of the viewpoint the lane extending east along the southern edge of the
field to the north. comprises a grassed track providing access to a single private dwelling
with no through route further to the east. The image appears to be a view from the private
garden of the last (eastern-most) property on Boughmore Lane (north-west of Cotlands).
which lies on slightly elevated land to the south of the lane. This is deduced from the
hedgerow vegetation in the foreground which only just extends up into the view. It is
unlikely that a person standing in the lane would have such an elevated view above the
hedge even if it had been trimmed. In either scenario this is not a viewpoint that is
representative of the public visual experience.
PN. Wrong – the photograph was taken from the upper section of Cotlands housing estate. The viewpoint is fully representative of the public visual experience.
Representative viewpoints for assessment of visual effects were agreed with EDDC prior to
the submission of the application. In accordance with paragraph 6.16 of the Guidelines for
Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (3rd Edition) 2013 these viewpoints are all
publicly accessible locations. No requirement for private viewpoints was expressed by
EDDC.
PN. If this is true, why did EDDC Planning not request this obvious west view of the development? Might the Council's desire to sell (dependent on their own Planning Permission) have influenced the creation of a 'one-sided' Statement for their own DMC?
The photocollage is also obviously inaccurate. It appears to be a cropped extract from the
submission elevation drawings manipulated in Adobe Photoshop or similar software; and
crudely masked into a baseline photograph. The manipulated two-dimensional images of
buildings are clearly distorted in form and no description is given of attempts to provide an
accurate scale of the built forms in the image. The imagery used does not reflect the actual
material surface of the proposed built forms as shown in the verified photomontages used
for the planning submission and the CGls. Foreground vegetation is shown as removed with an apparently arbitrary feathering of the edges of the vegetation shown in the image.
The proposed planting of substantial canopy species along this boundary, between the
viewpoint and the proposed built form, including Sweet Chestnut and Tulip Tree species,
has been omitted.
PN. As is suggested, the photocollage does not reflect the actual materials to be used. This is because it used the only information on the building masses publicly available at the time (August 16). It sets out purely to show the height and rough visual mass effect of the structure on west Sidmouth.
Foreground vegetation is removed because Building E sits on top of it. Proposed planting is ignored for the same reason the 'die-off' of existing trees is ignored – due to the time scale involved.
Finally, no methodology for how the image has been prepared is provided. There is no
attempt to demonstrate or explain that the photograph has been accurately aligned to the
image shown. There is no indication of the correct scale for viewing.
PN.The building heights were checked (and adjusted) after inspection by a local architect. These are of necessity approximate, but extremely close. The methodology can be supplied. We request a west view photomontage from PegasusLife (with methodology supplied).
For the reasons given, the image is inaccurate and unrepresentative; does not confirm to
Landscape Institute Advice Note 01/11 Photography and Photomontage in Landscape and
Visual Impact Assessment; and cannot reasonably be afforded any weight in consideration
of townscape or visual impact.
PN. For reasons given below, nor can the Townscape and Visual Impact Statement.
-Why were PegasusLife asked only to produce a 'commentary' on my photomontage – instead of providing a photomontage of their own showing this crucial view of the new development?
-Why was this view from Cotlands (not Boughmore Lane as stated in 3.3 of the Barton Willmore Addendum) never covered in the original Townscape and Visual Impact Statement, and still not?
-Why is there no comparable view to P5 in the TVIS (taken half way up Salcombe Hill) from the west side? This is a glaring omission. The Peak Hill side view – visible from numerous roads and houses including the golf course, has been completely ignored. The only west side view is P1, from 100 yards away looking up a narrow, hedged section of Knowle Drive. This is not a Visual Impact Statement, it is a one-sided (literally) Visual Impact perspective, with so many omissions as to be inadmissible.
-Until PegasusLife provide a proper Townscape and Visual Impact Statement covering all the views and perspectives on this massive development, (2.1 times the size recommended in the Local Plan), the DMC should not be asked to make a fair and accurate assessment of the proposal's worthiness for Sidmouth.
Note from SOS: See also http://futuresforumvgs.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/knowle-relocation-project-far-more.html


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The Art of Jazz: Learning to Co-Write with a Partner
If you're familiar with jazz music, you're probably aware of two of its hallmark characteristics: communication and collaboration between musicians. Jazz isn't always playing a song, but players having a musical conversation, and in this way, it's a call-and-response. One musician or a group of musicians puts out a musical section, and another responds with a musical reply. This concept traces back to African traditions, and the way we know it today is often steeped in musical improvisation. Jazz is a prime example of musicians working in a fluid creative partnership, and we see it as the perfect analogy to learning to co-write with a partner.
Image via Unsplash
Have you ever considered pairing with a writing partner? It's an experience quite unlike solo writing, no matter the output goal. You're learning to play in an artistic medium with another human, and this relationship involves trust, ego disposal, and a blending of talents. It's like learning to play jazz, and the more you know about jazz, the smoother the partnered writing experience is likely to be.
The Three Key Elements of Jazz (Partnered) Writing
1. Characteristic rhythmic patterns:
What makes jazz music unlike any other is the combination of subtle and complex rhythms that weave together to form one cohesive sound. Underneath the music, the listener can still often identify the tempo, or heartbeat-like pulse of the rhythm. In partnered writing, the same weaving has to be achieved, and one writer's subtle and complex language needs to merge with another until the final version of the product is one cohesive passage, document, or story.
2. Harmonic practices related to, but not exactly like, functional harmony:
In functional harmony, the order and sequence of the chords can sound as having a single effect instead of being heard by themselves. It's a foundation for chord progression. This effect can be similar to writing with a partner. There needs to be an understanding of the inherent progression of the artistic piece; how the story will evolve, what the key elements are, and the tonalities, voice, and structure that will bring about the effects. Yet, in doing so, the sounds need not overlap in perfect rigidity, but in functional harmony: they need to work for the piece, but perhaps in slightly different scales.
3. Improvisation:
A key defining element of jazz music is the ability to spontaneously invent a solo melody or accompanying part in a musical piece. The musician doing the improvisation may bend the original music to produce a varied take, or may produce a different spin on the chord's harmonic possibilities. When working with a writing partner, the same opportunities for improvisation should be available so as not to stifle creativity. Whether, it's allowing each other the freedom to bend the language, or riff on the storyline, the ability to say yes to being open is an important component of trust in a partnered writing relationship.
What it Should Make the Reader Feel
Like jazz music, partnered writing can result in almost anything that brings about emotion. Jazz music is usually described as "motivating, joyous, and passionate," but can also range from "soothing [to] energizing." (1) The task to bring about emotion is held by all parties in the partnered-writing venture, as one writer must motivate the next, bring joy to the next, and continue to infuse passion into the project so that both players remain interested. Intent can be as clear as the piece demands, but you'll want to settle tone and crescendo ahead of time. Each player needs a fixed goal in mind so when both parties meet at the point of no return, they recognize the precipice.
Why It's Difficult
This process isn't for everyone. For one, it makes the assumption that you're already a refined writer at baseline. You and your partner know the craft to similar degrees. For example, you wouldn't walk into a nightclub where a jazz band was playing and join in with a trumpet if you've never played an instrument. Partnered writing works best when the players both begin with moderate to advanced levels of experience.
Second, finding a partner is like finding the perfect band members. You need to mesh in experience, style, and product outcome, but also in level of commitment to the project. Either partner lacking in any of these areas is likely to cause resentment, and then you'll both be back to playing as a one-person show.
Take it away...
How will you know it works? Jazz isn't for everyone. What sounds like incredible music to some can be noise to others, and arguably, there's a matter of taste, knowledge, and expertise involved. But, how will you know if your partnered writing is working? Here's our best advice: it shouldn't be jarring. Write it out, finish the project. Set it aside. When you pick it back up again, if both partners can't figure out where one's work ended and the other's began, you'll know you accomplished a harmonious piece.
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1. www.users.miamioh.edu/shermalw
co-writing
Where Has the Era of the Masterpiece Gone?
Artistic Maturity: Why it's One of the Hardest Things to Attain
The Musical Art of Microtonal Writing


Drawing her inspiration from nature's graceful colours and textures, Woodridge textile artist Beatrice Jackson creates exquisitely hand woven and dyed scarves and wraps. She carefully applies the traditions of Japanese shibori amongst other techniques to create her original contemporary textiles.
Significant Queensland landscape artist Elizabeth Duguid shares a collection of her paintings from throughout her long career. She depicts nature in a free and colourful manner, capturing the spontaneity of her stylish landscapes with lush brushstrokes.
A beautiful collection of illustrations by local artist Joy Scherger demonstrating her detailed drawing technique.
Mod Squad presents the work of top Queensland designers who have influenced, impacted and inspired contemporary design in Australia. Showcasing product, furniture, lighting, jewellery and textile design, this touring exhibition examines the innovative practices of these key creative individuals. It is a collaboration between Cairns Regional Gallery, Redcliffe City Gallery and Logan Art Gallery.


The Cal Baseball Foundation, Inc. was established initially in September 2010 to serve in the limited role as the fiscal agent for the baseball program's Annual Golf Tournament and Silent Auction. Following the University's September 28, 2010 announcement of the program's elimination, the Foundation assumed additional responsibility for funds raised through the Save Cal Baseball website and other efforts to achieve the Program's reinstatement.
In March 2011, the Foundation installed a five-member Board of Directors and adopted a set of bylaws to guide the activities of the Foundation as a legal non-profit entity, to receive and account for funds for the reinstatement of the baseball program, and to perform all other actions necessary and appropriate for the operation of the corporation. During this time, the Save Cal Baseball Campaign raised funds for a term endowment to ensure the continuation of the Baseball program through, at minimum, the FY2018-19 season. In April 2011, the Foundation submitted to the Chancellor a business plan for generating annual program revenues to extend the life of the term endowment.
Six former Cal Baseball players, one each from pre-1970; 1970-1980; 1980-1990; 1990-2000, 2001-present; and one additional representative from any one of these decades.
Seven at-large members representing the Cal Baseball community.
The three non-voting members include the Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley or his/her designee, the Cal Athletic Director or his/her designee, and the Head Baseball Coach.
In November 2011, the Foundation approved Principles of Agreement to guide its ongoing cooperative relationship with the University and in January 2012, the University designated the Foundation as an official support group. This designation is re-certified by the University on an annual basis.
In Spring 2012, the Board approved the establishment of an Advisory Council to assist the Board in carrying out the Foundation's mission.
The Board conducts its business through six standing committees (Finance, Business Revenue Generation, Facilities Improvements, Development, Communications, and Governance) and an Executive Committee comprising the Board Chair, Vice-chair, Treasurer, Secretary, Chair of the Advisory Council, and the Co-chairs of the Endowment Campaign Committee.


Future Fitness at Cedar Court Hotel01924 523235work Leisure CentreWelcome to Future Fitness Wakefield. Our state of the art health club offers an excellent range of leisure facilities and is open to hotel residents and members alike. Whether you are a long time gym enthusiast or a complete novice Future Fitness can offer you and your family personalised fitness courses and a wide range of fun and stimulating classes to suit your lifestyle and level of ability.
If you are looking for something a little more relaxing, we have a calm and more tranquil side to our facility. Our hot spa bath along with Turkish steam room and sauna allows you to sooth away those everyday aches and pains.
Our friendly fitness team are always on hand to help you to achieve the best personal health and fitness programme to suit you. You can expect a great new experience that will see you facing new challenges, meeting new people and improving your overall lifestyle.
Welcome to Future Fitness Wakefield. Our state of the art health club offers an excellent range of leisure facilities and is open to hotel residents and members alike. Whether you are a long time gym enthusiast or a complete novice Future Fitness can offer you and your family personalised fitness courses and a wide range of fun and stimulating classes to suit your lifestyle and level of ability.


Best Treatment Option - Inverse psoriasis is also known as flexural psoriasis. It is an unusual type of psoriasis which first appears as very red lesions in body folds such as armpits, under the breast and groin. The affected areas will be inflamed, look smooth with bright skin patches. It will be itchy and painful. The friction of the skin also may worsen the condition.
Inverse Psoriasis easily happens to obese or overweight people. This is because obese or overweight people have deep skin folds. Inverse psoriasis often occurs in areas where the skin touches itself and flexes with movement. It is cannot be characterized by scaling because it appear as a bright red and smooth skin patches.
Inverse Psoriasis may be caused by the growth of the yeast, high sensitivity to a friction, and sweating excessively. However, the main cause of psoriasis is due to the weak immune system that unable to resist the formation of the yeast.
Like most types of psoriasis, inverse psoriasis can be treated using herbal medicine because it is a natural way of healing. It has no side effect and also safe for all ages and diseases.
3. After we have your total conditions picture then you can bank in the money and then we will courier the Inverse Psoriasis herbs medicine to you.


Dale Robertson , Houston Chronicle Jan. 1, 2019 Updated: Dec. 31, 2018 3:06 p.m.
Deshaun Watson will make his NFL playoff debut Saturday against a Colts team the Texans traded three-point wins against during the regular season.
All-time regular-season series: Colts lead 26-8.
Last meeting: Colts won 24-21 on Dec. 9 at NRG Stadium.
AFC South championships are becoming old hat for the Texans, who have collected five of them in eight seasons, and they have advanced beyond the wild-card round three times, too. Another win Saturday will be a double-edged sword, though, dispatching them back to their house of horrors, New England's Gillette Stadium, where they're 0-7 including two lopsided playoff defeats. But a loss sends them home so they'll happily take their chances against the Patriots again.
It's a matchup between two rudderless 4-12 teams just a year ago, when Andrew Luck never played for the Colts and Texans rookie Deshaun Watson lasted only six starts before suffering a torn ACL. The division rivals, who had accounted for eight consecutive AFC South titles before the Jaguars finished first in 2017, have won 20 of their past 23 games combined. It's homecoming weekend for Andrew Luck, the son of the former Houston Oilers quarterback Oliver, and also arguably T. Y. Hilton, who has torched the Texans on their own turf like no other receiver.
This game likely would be in Indianapolis had Colts coach Frank Reich been satisfied with a tie at Lucas Oil Stadium on Sept. 30. But, instead of punting, he went for the first down and possible victory on fourth and 4 at the Indy 43 with 27 seconds left in the overtime period. Luck's pass fell incomplete and Deshaun Watson's subsequent one didn't, gaining 24 yards to set up Kai'mi Fairbairn's decisive 37-yard field goal as the clock ran out, good for a 37-34 win that ended the Texans' three-game, season-opening losing streak and began a 9-0 run. But the Colts insist their turnaround from what became a 1-5 start coalesced around Reich's decision to go all-in that afternoon. The Texans' franchise-record winning streak ended, ironically, with the Dec. 9 rematch at NRG Stadium when Indianapolis scored 17 consecutive points to erase the Texans' 7-0 first-quarter lead, then held on for a 24-21 victory. Luck completed 67 of his other 102 passes in the two games for 863 yards and six touchdowns, throwing just a single pick. Watson's 642 yards on 56-for-80 passing — that's 70 percent, folks — with three touchdowns and two picks were respectable enough numbers in their own right.
• The Texans are the first division champion to start 1-3 since the Chargers in 1992. None of their AFC South trophies, however, has earned them a first-round bye. They're 3-1 in the wild-card riybd, most recently beating the Raiders two Januarys ago before getting pounded by the Patriots in Foxborough.
• After being shut out 6-0 by the Jaguars, a game in which they gained only 265 yards, the Colts averaged 411 over their past four, starting with a 24-21 victory over the Texans.
• In limiting the Jaguars to 1.9 yards per rushing attempt Sunday, the Texans set a franchise record for most consecutive games — four — holding opponents under 3 per rush. They did it six times in 2018, also a team record.
• Deshaun Watson has led the Texans in rushing in each of the final four games, carrying 30 times for 176 yards — 53 percent of the team total — and three touchdowns. He didn't throw an interception in any of the last six games and nine of the last 10.
• Despite playing with 10 different starting quarterbacks over his six seasons, DeAndre Hopkins has averaged 88 catches (5.6 per game), 1,240 yards (78) and almost eight touchdowns per year. He has had at least one reception in all of his 95 games, the longest currently active start to a career.
• The Colts' T.Y. Hilton gained 115 yards on four catches in the first meeting with the Texans, then went off for 199 on nine catches in the NRG Stadium rematch. Hilton's career high of 223 yards also came at the Texans' expense on their field in 2014, and he picked up 175 against them here last year. Only once has he been held under 78 in Houston.
The Texans coughed the ball up five times during their 0-3 start but then had only 11 turnovers the rest of the way. Six of those came against Buffalo and Washington, games they still won. They've never had so few in a season.
Only twice have the Texans forced more turnovers, totaling 34 in 2014 and 30 in 2004.
Another franchise record for the Texans. The only playoff teams in the red were the Ravens at -2 and the Eagles at -7. The Bears (+12), the Rams (+11) and the Patriots (+10) also reached net double digits.
But the Colts converted on just four of 12 opportunities in the most recent meeting with the Texans. It didn't hurt them, however, because the Texans were just as bad, going 5-for-15.
A lot of good it did the Vikings and the 4-12 Jets somehow finished second in this category. The Saints, who tied for the league's best record at 13-3, placed 24th. Aberrant year?
The Colts scored 15 more red-zone touchdowns than the Texans despite having only a few opportunities. The Steelers' problem became not getting inside the 20 enough.
The Colts batted 1.000 against the Texans during the regular season, scoring a touchdown all seven times they penetrated the 20. At the least the Texans countered somewhat by going 6-for-8.
The Colts got to Deshaun Watson 12 times in their two games, accounting for almost a third of their season total. It's worth noting, too, that the Khalil Mack-less Raiders managed 17 fewer sacks than any other team.
There's no more starker statistical contrast between two teams meeting in the playoffs. But the Texans' did sack Luck six times, accounting for exactly a third of his total.
Two years ago, with Brock Osweiler mostly under center, the Texans finished 29th. Deshaun Watson's personal 103.1 was a franchise best, a remarkable feat given all the sacks, the multiple injuries at wide receiver and how badly the running game bogged down at the end of the season.
We'd like to be encouraged by what the Texans did to poor Blake Bortles, holding him to 168 yards in not quite two full games — they got him benched in the first one — but it means little going up against Andrew Luck, Tom Brady, Philip Rivers and Patrick Mahomes, the quarterbacks they'll encounter if they manage any kind of playoff run.
The Texans' only loss all season when they were tops in TOP was to the Colts at NRG.
• The Colts are just the third team since 1970 to make the playoffs after losing five of their first six. The last one to do it was Kansas City in 2015. The Chiefs beat the Texans in Houston in the season opener, then dropped five in a row before going on a 10-0 run and returning to Houston to rout the Texans 30-0 in the wild-card round.
• The Texans scored 111 points off turnovers this season, second only to the Seahawks.
• The Texans went 7-8 with one push against the betting this season. The Colts were 8-7 with one push. The Texans were 1- and 4-point favorites in the teams' two meetings.
• Hopkins finished second in receiving yards (1,572), third in catches (115) and fifth in receiving touchdowns (11) this season.
• J. J. Watt and the Chiefs' Dee Ford tied for the NFL lead in forced fumbles with seven. Watt finished second in sacks with 16, trailing only the Rams' Aaron Donald, who had 20.5.
* Placekicker Kai'mi Fairbairn's 150 points were nine more than anyone else scored in 2018. His team-record 37 field goals were two more than runner-up Justin Tucker of the Ravens, who also finished second in points.
This will be Andrew Luck's 11th game against the Texans. He's 6-4 overall and 3-2 at NRG Stadium, where he first played as the star quarterback at Stratford High School before going to Stanford and becoming the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 draft. Colts coach Frank Reich has a conspicuous bit of playoff history with Houston's previous NFL team, the Oilers. Anybody remember the Bills' 41-38 comeback-of-the-century victory in the 1992 postseason? Subbing for the injured Jim Kelly, Reich became the unlikely architect of same, throwing for four touchdowns and erasing a 35-3 third-quarter deficit with no small amount of help from the Oilers. He then beat the Steelers the following week in his only other career postseason start.
Can J.J. Watt, in a league of his own as the NFL's defensive comeback player of the year, get enough assistance from his friends to neutralize Luck, the odds-on favorite to win the official Comeback Player of the Year designation.
From Watson, who's making his first NFL playoff start: "It's a new season. Everything is on the line, regardless of records, situations, where you're playing. It's do or die now. The tournament is wide open. I'm excited to kind of get in and see how things go."
From Luck, on being back in the postseason — in Houston where he grew up and where the Colts won less than a month ago — after missing all of last season because of a career-threatening shoulder injury: "It's been a lot of fun. It's been a journey, that's for sure, and I think what this team is doing is enjoying the journey. I can say this with full sincerity. I love playing with this team. I love those guys in the locker room. We're glad we get to go out again next weekend. What's happened previously doesn't matter. Each game is its own cycle. We're prepare and see what we can do."


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Many SMEs oblivious to imminent arrival of Clean Air Zones in towns and cities
Around 40% of small and medium sized businesses are unaware that Clean Air Zones (CAZs) will start to be implemented in towns and cities across the UK as early as next year, according to a survey by the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA).
Furthermore, a third, of more than 600 SMEs polled, were unaware that the CAZs were likely to involve charges for all but the most modern and least polluting diesel vehicles.
In some cities, charges will be as much as £100 per day for an HGV and £12.50 per day for other vehicles such as cars and vans.
Leeds, Derby, Nottingham, Southampton and Birmingham have already been mandated to bring in operational CAZs by 2020, although Nottingham has said that it will not charge an entry fee. An additional 23 local authorities have also been earmarked for CAZ implementation and a further 33 are considering what approach to take as part of their strategy to improve air quality.
London launches its 24/7 Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) on April 8, 2019, replacing the current T-Charge operating in the Congestion Zone area. Mayor Sadiq Khan recently has also announced plans to extend the ULEZ to an area - bounded by the North and South Circular Roads - 18-times larger than the original zone by October 25, 2021.
Gerry Keaney, chief executive of the BVRLA, of which Activa Contracts is a member, said: "Unless more is done to publicise the impact of these various CAZs and mitigate their impact, hundreds of thousands of businesses across the country will be hit with a new regional road transport tax that will bring additional cost and confusion at a time when firms are already dealing with Brexit-related economic uncertainty.
"Our members have spent the last 10 years helping businesses to meet the requirements of the London Low Emission Zone and they understand the costs and operational challenges that businesses will face with the introduction of new CAZs across the UK."
In addition to calling for more publicity around CAZs and what they will mean, the BVRLA is also encouraging national and local policymakers to introduce a range of measures that will help fleets make the transition to cleaner vehicles and encourage the use of more sustainable modes of transport. They include:
Only use CAZs where necessary and minimise their size where possible.
Ensure that local authorities adhere to common CAZ standards in terms of hours of operation, signage, communications and any exemptions. As many businesses operate within multiple cities and regions on a daily basis it was vital that a standardised approach was developed to avoid confusion and improve the ease of compliance for drivers.
Introduce 'phased charging' for trucks so that the most polluting vehicles paid a higher fee to enter the CAZ. As currently envisaged, all trucks other than those meeting the very latest Euro VI emissions standard will pay the same fee. Introducing a graduated charge would encourage operators that could not afford to buy a brand-new fleet to buy newer, cleaner used vehicles.
Committing to large scale trials of Mobility Credits. Under such a scheme, drivers of older more polluting cars would be offered credit if they scrapped their polluting car. The credit could then be used across public transport and other modes such as car hire and car share all brought together under an app.


How often do we see advertising that is off-strategy? If you're not clear on your brand equity and who your consumer is, then it's no wonder that an advertising message can yield poor results.
Quality briefing of agencies is critical in turning out quality advertising communication. Often brand managers are not trained on how to brief an agency and we have found that there are an alarming number of cases where agencies write the creative brief themselves.
If your agency does not understand your brand equity, your consumer and what motivates them, how can you even begin to brief the agency for what you want?
TIP 1: Advertising briefs should start with a good description of your brand and its business. This should include: its history, current state of the brand's performance as well as the business challenges and goals.
TIP 2: Briefs should clearly state what your brand equity is and who your consumer is.
Tip 3: Briefs should explain in detail the context of the need for new advertising creative.
The more creative teams understand about your brand, consumers, business and goals, the better the advertising creative will be.
Designing brand initiatives that don't appeal to retailers are also a common mistake. Most brand builders focus on growing sales, market share and profitability of the brand without considering what the retailer wants. Why is this so important?
Unless the retailer supports your brand initiative it won't get onto the shelf and into shoppers hands.
Does it add additional complexity or simplify?
Does it improve or dilute the retailer's profitability?
How can the retailer put it on shelf, does something have to come out for your brand to go in?
TIP 2: Brands need to examine the practical complexities of their initiative compared to the additional benefits for the retailer. During the initial stages of initiative planning this process should be done so that plans can be adapted to encompass the retailer's needs.
TIP 3: When deciding to create and launch a new product, marketers need to ask what is in it for the retailer. The retailer is looking at the category, not at your brand. Unless you understand how the retailer looks at initiatives and whether your plan either meets or exceeds its needs, your initiative will fail before it's even on shelf.


2004 ASTON MARTIN VANQUISH. Build number 1400 of 1492. Like new condition. Build Date: 04/04/2004.
ENGINE: 5.9L V-12, 60D-DOHC 4 VALVE/CYLINDER, 460HP . Stainless steel exhaust with automatic variable back pressure valve.
TRANSMISSION: TREMEC 6 gear forward Manual Transmission paddle-shifted by wire utilizing Magnetti-Marelli electro-hydraulic gear changer with clutch-pull and factory installed gear position sensor up-grade.
BRAKES: 4 Wheel Anti-lock with Electronic Brake Force Distribution and Traction Control.
TIRES: Michelin Z-, 285 R19/40 Tire pressure monitoring system.
WHEELS: Optional 7 spoke Aston Martin. 3 wheels perfect, 1 wheel has slight/repairable curb scratch, however this car comes with a factory factory new wheel to replace that one. STEERING: Speed Sensitive Power Steering.
EXTERIOR: Color- Black Onyx Metallic-paint as new, zero scratches, dents or dings. Lighting-HID Projector headlights with automatic or manual dim control, Fog lights, Automatic side head-lighting for left and right turns, Additional tail lighting for fog conditions. Glass-Factory Tinted Glass. Windshield perfect, no dings or wiper tracking. Variable Intermittent Wipers-never used. Underside-Zero dents or scratches including underside of front spoiler.
INTERIOR: Color-IvoryTan and Black Leather, with Tan Suede Quilted headliner and windshield pillar accents. Seats- 2 seat, Black Leather with Tan Suede insert, side supporting factory installed G-race seats. Rear area cargo with hidden storage. Sound- Lynn Audio 1000W with 12 speaker and 14 inch subwoofer, with internal AM/FM radio antenna. Cassette with 6 CD changer. GPS Navigation. Power Seats, heated Power Mirrors, Power Door Locks with remote. Fuel Consumption Information Monitor, Trip computer. Factory Battery Charger/Conditioner with battery disconnect. Original Aluminum Bound Owners Manual. Full Aston Martin Dealership, 780 Page Service Manual. Aston Martin Umbrella in boot.
This Vanquish is build number 1400, the 1400th unit produced out of a total of 1492, and was factory completed on 4/04/2004. By this build date Aston Martin had built in a number of refinements that were incorporated in the remaining 92 built, most notably was the beefed up Gear Position Sensors that send gear and clutch position status to the Magnetti-Marelli hydraulic gear shifter. The upgrade shortened shift times to 30/1000th"s of a second and made the manual transmission shift almost as reliably as an automatic transmission, without the significant horse power loss associated with the automatic transmission. It is for this reason the 2004 Vanquish from build number 1378 forward are in fact faster in every respect than the later Vanquish S which have a true automatic transmission, and 61HP more. This car is painted in factory Black Onyx Metallic. It has no repaint or repair of any part or kind (no touch ups). It has zero dings or scratches including zero light abrasion from improper washing. The paint is orange peel free ultra reflective high gloss. Perfect windshield. As mentioned above, 1 wheel has very light curb damage, but it comes with a factory brand new wheel to replace that one. The interior is in perfect condition with amazingly fresh like new seats, with the only interior flaw being a mark on the floor mat carpet just in front of the gas pedal.


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Euphorbia ogadenensis är en törelväxtart som beskrevs av Peter René Oscar Bally och Susan Carter. Euphorbia ogadenensis ingår i släktet törlar, och familjen törelväxter.

Artens utbredningsområde är Etiopien. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Törlar
ogadenensis

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Thursday, 6 Dec, 2012
cannabis / cocaine / drugs / united-nations
Comment: Politicians don't have the guts to support us in public
By Countess Amanda Feilding
Politicians will say many things privately but never dare utter them in public, especially when in office. Only when they are out of power do they reveal their true feelings.
And this is no truer than the when addressing the 'D' word – drugs.
Support the regulation of drugs and your career could be over. Or could it?
Not any more, as the weight of evidence overwhelmingly shows the 40-year-long war on drugs, famously declared by Richard Nixon, is well and truly lost.
Don't just take my word for it – the Beckley Foundation Public Letter declaring the war on drugs a failure is backed by nearly 70 of the world's most influential figures. Signatories to the letter – include nine Presidents (such as Jimmy Carter and the current leaders of Colombia and Guatemala); twelve Nobel prize-winners; and international celebrities such as Sting, Yoko Ono, Noam Chomsky, Sean Parker and Sir Richard Branson.
The Beckley public letter is the mission statement of a new campaign, 'Breaking the Taboo'. The campaign website is being launched in association with Virgin Unite, Avaaz, Sundog Pictures and the Global Commission on Drug Policy. We aim to gather a million signatures for a petition calling on political leaders to reconsider prohibitionism, which will be presented to the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon. The campaign also features the film 'Breaking the Taboo', which follows the Global Commission on a mission to expose the catastrophic failures of the war on drugs.
Just look at the facts – like a scene from King Canute, global annual spending on drug law enforcement exceeds $100 billion (£62 billion); the UK alone spends more than £300 million in this era of government cuts.
Yet drugs are now the world's third largest industry (behind food and oil); are cheaper and more available than ever before; and in the hands of criminal cartels. The worldwide illegal drug market is an estimated $300–400 billion a year, and money laundering is rife.
There is also a terrible human toll – more than 50,000 people in Mexico alone have died in drug wars in the last six years.
And at home, no fewer than 596 Britons died last year from abuse of heroin, and 112 from cocaine.
What if governments took control, and all the wasted money – and profits – were diverted to education and treatment?
Over 15 years, the Beckley Foundation has supported governments and the UN to make evidence-based choices. Our case is based entirely on health, harm reduction, cost effectiveness, and human rights.
We have produced 40 much-cited books, reports and briefing papers (academic reports are key) and hosted nine highly influential seminars, mainly at the House of Lords.
A groundswell of MPs and Peers have agreed privately (and thankfully, at last, some have had the courage to speak up). There is clear proof now that we can't stop drugs: where there is demand there will always be supply. We need to take control from criminals and put it in the hands of governments.
But we need care.
We don't use the word 'legalisation' as it implies a free-for-all. We recognise drugs can be harmful, but that doesn't automatically mean they should be banned. After all, as a society, we accept tobacco and alcohol, yet UK deaths from tobacco in 2009 were around 102,000, and alcohol played a role in more than a million hospital admissions in England alone in 2009/10. User for user, these harms vastly outweigh those caused by many illicit drugs.
In fact, alcohol regulation in the UK shows how not to regulate. It is very freely available, all in the hands of profit-making companies, very cheap, and advertising backed.
Tobacco control is a much better model, with tighter rules, restrictions on public consumption, enforcement of rules against sale to children, curbs on the display of tobacco products in shops, and an advertising ban. However, the industry is still driven by profit – unlike, say, Spain's cannabis social clubs, co-operatives where cannabis is grown for personal use on a members-only, non-commercial basis.
Around 90% of drug users worldwide don't harm themselves or society, according to the UN. We should be channelling funds from drugs into helping – not abandoning – the remaining ten per cent.
Decriminalisation of drugs could apply to personal possession and use, but that doesn't mean that large-scale production, traffic and sale would be legal.
We think individual countries – if freed from UN mandates to impose prohibitionist policies – may wish to experiment with i) clear and explicit decriminalisation of drug possession in small quantities for personal use; or ii) strictly regulated legal markets.
Our new Beckley Foundation report, commissioned from professor Robin Room, one of the world's leading drug policy specialists, examines in detail how the UN drug conventions could be amended to give countries sovereignty to formulate their own policies – rather than being constrained by the current one-size-fits-all approach.
Also, different substances have different effects – some with high levels of harmfulness – and each must have its own regulation.
The overwhelming evidence shows that decriminalisation is not only logical, but effective. In pioneering countries – like Portugal and the Czech Republic, both of which have health-oriented, decriminalising policies – drug-related harms have actually declined as the glamour has disappeared, and profits have funded education and healthcare.
MPs and peers must get behind this by lobbying within their own parties, and escalating it to the UN. The 'Breaking the Taboo' petition, backed by a viral media campaign, will give politicians the courage to speak out by showing them that public opinion is behind them. That is why their voice is so important.
The test of the success of any policy must be effective policy, not the amount of intercept. Because, at the moment, we are failing society, and our children.
Amanda Feilding, Countess of Wemyss, set up the Beckley Foundation in 1998 as a leading UK-based think tank working in the policy and science of psychoactive substances. The foundation has since been accredited as an NGO by the UN. Feilding established it to build an evidence base for rational drug policy, a field in which she was an early pioneer. In 2012, Feilding was invited by President Otto Pérez Molina to open the Beckley Foundation Latin American Chapter in Guatemala in order to advise the president and his government on drug policy reform.
Britain legalised medicinal cannabis – and then left it to stagnate
Drug reform: Should cocaine be legalised?
If Labour really cares about left-behind communities, it'll push to reform our drug laws
Revealed: The moral disaster of Britain's drug laws
2018 highs and lows: Canada legalises cannabis
Canada shows how we can save ourselves from the drug war
The Politics.co.uk Podcast: Medical cannabis
THC rising: Failed war on drugs sees cannabis grow out of control