How the Neo Cons highjacked the tea party shows the two party system cannot be trusted anymore. They took a genuine grassroots movement and made sure it lost its effectiveness with John Boehner, Darrel Issa and Sen. Mitch McConnell. Their actions show there is no one anymore to speak for the American people anymore.
Speaker of the House Boehner is a disgrace and he is useless. If it was not the tea party movement taking, back the majority in the House of Representatives. He would not be Speaker of the House. Did he embrace the mandate from the Tea Party movement? Did he make moves to keep the executive branch of government in check? Has he investigated the corruption in the White House and the President? Has he controlled out of control government spending. Has he repealed Obama care? He has not even held the President accountable for wars being waged on sovereign nations without congressional approval that were not a threat to national security. Well he has done nothing to stop this out of control President. He is useless.
The Speaker of the House has given the President more power. He has not defunded the war in Libya. He has allowed the President to raise the debt ceiling putting this nation further into debt. He has not blocked any of Obama's executive orders making an end run around congress making law by the stroke of a pen He has made a deal with the President to make operation Fast and Furious go away. He needs to be driven out of office. He has not done his job as Speaker of the House; He has ignored the will of the people to keep Obama's power in check. He has allowed Obama to grabbed power away that belongs to Congress itself.
Speaker Boehner has not challenged Obama implementing Cap and Trade using the regulatory power of the EPA to shut down power plants and refineries. He has not moved the remove funding for the TSA for their unconstitutional groping at the Airports by the TSA.
Now we have Darrel Issa of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Attorney General Eric Holder has lied before his committee about his and the White House's involvement in Operation Fast and Furious. Nothing is done to him, not even asking to Sergeant of Arms to arrest him for committing perjury. The Chairmen Issa has not look into seeing is Obama is eligible to be President based on his multiple aliases and all the Social Security numbers he used. Congress needs to apologize to Major League Baseball. They were treating much more harshly for using steroids in Major league baseball then they have treated Eric Holder. This Attorney General should be in an Orange Jumpsuit in jail awaiting trial. Instead, Roger Clemons who never killed no one but just take sports enhancing drugs to play baseball. He is abo8ut to go to trial for lying before congress.
Senator Mitch McConnell has struck a deal to create the Super Congress. This compromise, which is outside the Constitution as an agreement to raise the debt ceiling. This deal was a thumb in the nose at the American people. This Super Congress is an abomination to our republican form of government. Sen. McConnell voted for the NDAA and as Minority leader in the US Senate. He is just as useless as Boehner.
These three people have deceived many people believing these men would cut the run away spending, restrain Obama's executive power and hold him accountable. These men did not protect the American people from an out of control president. They protected the President from the American people having party hacks appointed in certain post to be the gatekeepers making sure the White House is protected from any real form of accountability.
It just shows both parties work for the same globalist powers. They are two sides of the same coin. This is why I am calling for a hostile takeover, not a violent one of the RNC at the Republican convention this August. We need to take back control from the globalist who are in control the party. Maybe if there is a true grassroots representation, we can have a true speaker of the House who will keep the other branches of government in check. We have to find a way to take back the GOP away from the globalist control so we do not get a Boehner, a Pelosi or a Gingrich in this post. We can have real good public servants to be chairpersons of these committees and subcommittees to oversee and keep the other branches in check. Not party hacks being the gatekeepers chairing these posts making sure the real corruption is never exposed.
We have to find a way to take back the Party from the Globalist deceiving the people so long into making a false choice at the polls. They made the laws only allowing the two major parties to dominate the election not allowing other minor parties a level playing field to compete in a fair election. They are changing the rules as they go to hold onto their post and to keep Ron Paul out.
This is why we need to remove the gatekeepers from office and every post that use their power to undermine the will of the voters in the party. We cannot play by the rules they make anymore because they always stack the deck against the grassroots. This is why we need to act to take back our voice and our will. If we do not, America as we know will cease to exist.
You're a fool. You want to vote the bums out, and for what? To vote a new bunch of bums in. The system is corrupt. To its very core. It cannot be fixed. It can only be destroyed.
You remind me of the British loyalists, before the American Revolution. Proclaiming that if we could just vote the right people into Parliment, they can vote against the king!
You baffle me, Realman. On the one hand, you claim the system stacks the decks against us. But on the other, you claim we need to keep using the system via our votes. You claim we need to take back our voice, but you want us to do that by using the very same system that is taking away our voice.


Dario C. Altieri, Wistar's executive vice president, chief scientific officer and Robert and Penny Fox Distinguished Professor, will succeed Russel Kaufman who will step down as president and CEO of Wistar Institute, effective March 2, becoming president emeritus. Dr. Altieri will continue to serve as director of the Wistar Cancer Center.
Dr. Altieri joined Wistar in 2010 as director of Wistar's National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center, and as Wistar's first chief scientific officer. Since then, he has galvanized Wistar's strength in cancer research, recruiting world-class investigators and charting a new path for translational medicine that will accelerate the progress from basic research to clinical trials with partners in industry and medicine. His own research efforts currently focus on advancing a drug developed in his laboratory toward clinical testing in patients with advanced prostate cancer.
An NCI review panel recently recommended renewal of Wistar's Cancer Center Support Grant with "exceptional" ratings–the highest possible ranking–to both the Cancer Center and Dr. Altieri. The distinction was based on the strength of Wistar's research programs, as well as his leadership.


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Home » News and Information » Success Stories » Village Health Clubs in Uganda Help Tackle Malaria and More
Village Health Clubs in Uganda Help Tackle Malaria and More
Ernest Masereka, left, a volunteer community health worker from Rutoke village, promotes essential malaria prevention and control behaviors. He creates sustainable change by working with local and district leaders to find solutions to common health issues.
Malaria Action Program for Districts
Educating communities to reduce the country's leading cause of death
"Recently, the government gave us nets, and we now sleep under a mosquito net."
July 2018 — Ernest Masereka, a voluntary community health worker from Rutoke village in Uganda, understands the benefits of open dialogue. He first introduced his community to the idea of forming a village health club in December 2017.
Village health clubs provide forums where community members can disseminate important messages and address issues, such as sanitation, health and savings. Collectively, members of the club come up with action plans and provide local solutions for the challenges their community faces.
Club members, Masereka suggested, could also contribute 1,000 Ugandan shillings (about 25 cents) every month for the community to use, when needed, to address health issues. The community welcomed this idea and, in January 2018, formed a village health club. Members then began contributing to what they referred to as the "ambulance fund."
Since 2016, USAID's Malaria Action Program for Districts has worked with key influencers like Masereka to reduce the malaria burden in Uganda. The role of a key influencer is to inform their community about the dangers of malaria, the importance of seeking treatment within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms, and preventive practices. This is done through monthly home visits and the establishment of village health clubs, a practice introduced by the program to promote community dialogues.
Malaria remains a persistent problem in Uganda and is the country's leading cause of death, particularly in children under 5. This program is just one way that USAID and and its U.K. counterpart — the Department for International Development — are working together to reduce malaria deaths to near zero by 2020.
In September 2017, the program, implemented by the Malaria Consortium, identified and trained 32 key influencers in malaria prevention, treatment and interpersonal communication. Each attendee was asked to then establish a village health club. The program is being implemented in 43 districts in the Central, Western and West Nile regions of Uganda.
Thanks to Masereka's encouragement, his community's village health club is succeeding. When the son of one village health club member, Bagonza*, got sick in May 2018, the boy was taken to a nearby health center where he was diagnosed with malaria and received treatment. However, his condition became worse after a week and he was referred to St. Paul's hospital, 10 kilometers away from his home in Kasese town.
Bagonza did not have enough money for treatment, so he spoke with officials of the health club in his village and borrowed 40,000 Ugandan shillings ($11.) With this money, Bagonza took his son to the hospital and bought foodstuffs for the family. The transaction was officially communicated to the village health club members at the next meeting, and a repayment schedule was established for Bagonza to replenish the ambulance fund.
"My child is very well now and is back at school," said Bagonza. "Recently, the government gave us nets, and we now sleep under a mosquito net. I also know even more nets are being distributed at the facilities to pregnant mothers. We are lucky that our village was chosen [for this program]."
The USAID program plans to increase the number of key influencers in the Kasese district from four to 10 to extend its reach in promoting behavior change and reduce the malaria burden in the district. Since key influencers and community members account for the success of village health clubs, this will ensure the sustainability of the program's impact even after it ends.
USAID's Malaria Action Program for Districts, which runs from 2016 to 2021, aims to improve the health status of the Ugandan population by reducing childhood and maternal morbidity and mortality due to malaria. The program, supported by the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative, focuses on children under 5 and pregnant women. It is made possible by generous support from the American and British people, and is implemented in partnership with Jhpiego, Banyan Global, Communication for Development Foundation Uganda, Deloitte Uganda and the Infectious Diseases Institute.
The program works alongside the National Malaria Control Program and the district health management team. By 2021, the program estimates it will reach 13 million Ugandans. In February and March 2017 alone, the program distributed 1 million long-lasting insecticidal nets to nearly 2 million people in three districts in Uganda.
*Full name not available.
USAID's mission in Uganda
USAID's work to fight malaria
Surviving the Snails of Uganda
Follow @USAIDEastAfrica, on Facebook, on YouTube
Ensuring Equal Rights to Land in Northern Uganda

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Future of the car, trends in transportation, a 3-wheeled American invention
Driving is way down in Harrisburg, Pa. for 18-34 year old. What is the future of the car, trends in transportation -...
Future of the car, trends in transportation, a 3-wheeled American invention Driving is way down in Harrisburg, Pa. for 18-34 year old. What is the future of the car, trends in transportation -... Check out this story on ydr.com: https://www.ydr.com/story/tech/blogs/greenmesh/2013/12/31/future-of-the-car-trends-in-transportation/31539065/
YorkDailyRecord Published 4:17 p.m. ET Dec. 31, 2013
"Driving in Harrisburg drops sharply compared to rest of nation" - witf.org 12/31
According to the story, "A city in Central Pennsylvania is experiencing the fourth highest drop in the nation among urban areas." What is even more interesting is that "Young people have definitely shown the steepest reductions in driving. Americans about 16 to 34 years of age reduced their average driving miles by 23% between 2001 and 2009,"
The story ends with " in 99 of the top 100 urban areas in the country, more people are getting to work using public transportation, bikes or other ways."
These are taxpayers now and in the future, these are people who will not be looking for an interstate to be widened, but better rail systems and bicycle access?
The dream of owning a car has been eroding for decades. Here is an interesting graph tracking the trend. The End of Car Culture - nytimes.com
If I didn't need to be a randomly roaming journalist, or use a pickup truck to transport construction materials, and lived in a place with a dedicated public transportation system, I would like to not own a vehicle. Maybe just a motorcycle. Two friends, two bikes, two weeks, one big country - greenmesh 6/2010
Actually, York once had an interconnected electric street rail system that evolved during a time of prosperity before the car was king. York's street railway is a dream of tomorrow - greenmesh.com 7/2006 Maybe dedicated public transportation will return, but for different reasons.
I believe the biggest reason for the decline of vehicle ownership is income decline of people joining the ranks of income generating, tax paying adulthood discussed in this Pew study Young, Underemployed and Optimistic Coming of Age, Slowly, in a Tough Economy
Another mode of transportation I have been following is Elio Motors. Elio: A new truly green car following a new U.S. demographic - greenmesh.com The U.S. Company that is shooting for an 84 mpg, 5 star crash rated, $6,800 car built from mostly U.S. made parts and assembled in the U.S. The company just published a picture of it's latest prototype on their blog
It is extremely hard to start a new car company and Elio has alot of hurdles to overcome, but they could be right on the mark with a young demographic shrinking away the traditional car market... and a demographic about to enter retirement without the fixed pensions, uncertain Social Security and lacking the investments of previous generations.
What do you think is the future of the car as we know it?
A little holiday gift... More photos of our prototype 4: http://t.co/WTF4T7658h#Eliopic.twitter.com/AFkjMFZfgX -- Elio Motors (@ElioMotors) December 27, 2013
Read or Share this story: https://www.ydr.com/story/tech/blogs/greenmesh/2013/12/31/future-of-the-car-trends-in-transportation/31539065/


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Shane Sweetnam went on quite a run during the first week of the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival, winning the the $50,000 Meijer Grand Prix aboard Cyklon 1083 just days after having topped the $25,000 Welcome Stake.
Seven clear rounds emerged from the 15 horses and riders who contended Keith Bollotte's first round course.
Sweetnam returned as the first to jump off in Sunday's grand prix. He and the 16-year-old Swedish Warmblood stallion owned by Spy Coast Farm LLC performed faultlessly and set the time to beat at a blazing 35.75 seconds after opting to take an impressive inside turn between Fences 1 and 2—a triple bar to a tall, skinny vertical.
"I knew there were fast riders behind me, and I saw the [inside turn]," Sweetnam said. "I knew I was on an experienced horse, so I tried it and it worked out. The last line walked an outside six [strides], but watching the riders that came after me do five, I thought I left the window open a little bit by not doing that but it worked out.
It wouldn't be until three rounds later that another pair would attempt the same inside turn to try and catch Sweetnam's time. David Beisel and Equine Holdings LLC's Ammeretto navigated the shortened course, imitating Sweetnam's track almost exactly but leaving out one stride to the last fence, and crossed the finish line in 35.80 seconds – just 1/10 of a second off Sweetnam's winning time for second place honors.
Beisel also nabbed the yellow ribbon for third place with his second mount of the class, Call Me Hannes, owned by Harlow Investment Enterprises LLC. The pair rounded out the three double-clear performances of the jump-off, finishing in 39.88 seconds.
Sweetnam is headed to Europe to compete, but Cyklon 1083 will go back to Spy Coast Farm in Lexington, Ky., to be collected. "Then he'll jump in Kentucky in three or four weeks and he'll have a busy fall at the [Hampton Classic], American Gold Cup and indoors," Sweetnam said.


You know you shouldn't, but sometimes a girl just can't help herself. You plan to meet up with friends for a drink after work, and one drink turns into many more, which then turns into a rough next morning.... In other words, that means only drinking about one drink per day for women and up to two drinks per day for men. Or, if you really want to avoid a hangover, do your friends a solid and be the designated driver. Let them suffer from a hangover the next morning instead.
Next morning, reach for a clear soup or broth to help replace the salt and potassium lost while drinking alcohol. 7. Ginger The spice acts as a natural remedy for morning sickness and upset stomach which can also be symptoms of a hangover.
If you drink any alcohol at all you can experience some negative effects the next morning. Generally, the more you drink the greater the chance of experiencing more severe hangover symptoms. Generally, the more you drink the greater the chance of experiencing more severe hangover symptoms.


PuppyFinder.com is proud to be a part of the online adoption community. Browse thru thousands of Yorkshire Terrier Dogs for Adoption near in USA area, listed by Dog Rescue Organizations and individuals, to find your match.
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Pixie was the smallest of the bunch but by no means a runt. Sweet little boy who loves to be held. Beautiful little face.


FG Frameless Glass is a, if not the - leading supplier of frameless glass systems in South Africa with an impressive line of successful products spanning over 15 years in the industry. A true pioneer in the frameless glass industry, it is our invualable experience that allows us to not only supply products and support, but to deliver a truly diverse solution encompassing all the frameless glass systems and products throughout the entire project.
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Postmodern Mixtape Bear's Den Catfish and the Bottlemen George Ezra Hozier James Bay London Grammar mixtape mondays Nothing But Thieves Royal Blood Tom Odell Vance Joy Mixtape Mondays | Debut Albums
Mixtape Mondays | Debut Albums
There is something pretty special about debut albums which is undeniable. It's not by chance that songs such as Live Forever and All I Want To Do is Rock came out of Oasis' Definitely Maybe and Travis' Good Feeling. To date, these are still two of their most played songs. And what to say of Coldplay's Parachutes? With Shiver, Yellow and Trouble in one single album? *
George Ezra @ V Festival 2015 - Photo by Zaira
I find that some of the most authentic and raw material a band will ever produce is often in these so precious first releases. Perhaps it is because these are the result of many years of hard work or maybe, earlier on in their careers, they're not afraid of exposing themselves? I mean, it doesn't get more personal than Mumford's lyrics' "A white blank page and a swelling rage / You did not think when you sent me to the brink / You desired my attention but denied my affections", does it?
Over the last year and a bit some pretty amazing debut albums came out. Some of them so incredibly well put together that no wonder it's hard to believe a few of these artists haven't always been there - James Bay and Hozier are classics, right? Well, this week's mixtape is a compilation of 20 songs from some of my recent favourite debut albums... In no particular order:
Nothing But Thieves - Nothing But Thieves
First song of NBT I've ever listened to was Lover, Please Stay. I was so moved by it I went on searching for more and dragged 30 odd friends to their gig at Koko, in Camden, for my birthday last year. I could not wait for this release, so pleased for them and proud to say I am #270 fan (in-joke).
Chaos and the Calm - James Bay
There is nothing I can say about James Bay that haven't been said before, probably a thousand times. Brit Awards Critics' choice winner, sold out tour - jeez I know the pain it was to get tickets for his Brixton gig! - and a debut album which goes straight to number one in the UK charts. But truly what makes C&TC so incredible is his passion which can be felt in each chord throughout every single track.
Hozier - Hozier
After seeing Hozier at V Festival this year I had the impression he is a real perfectionist. How many times can you switch guitars in a festival gig? But when you hear the arrangements and how beautifully he executes them, it all comes together. This album to me is the result of pure craftsmanship and heart.
Dream Your Life Away - Vance Joy
I remember first time I listened to Vance Joy. After coming across Riptide, I went on checking the whole album. Played the first track, Winds of Change, and loved it. Then the second, Mess is Mine, loved it. Then the third, Wasted Time, and you can pretty much guess by now... It was so easy for me to connect with his melodies and lyrics.
Wanted on Voyage - George Ezra
First time I heard a George Ezra song was in a club. In my head, Blame it on Me was one of those summer songs you picture teenagers in Ibiza dancing to (my personal idea of hell, if you're wondering). But thankfully, drawn by the deepness in his voice, I went on checking his album once I found out he was also playing at V. And I am so pleased I did. There are so many layers to this album. I am still discovering it, little by little.
Islands - Bear's Den
I came across these guys fairly recently, despite hearing much about them for a while. This was my last addition to the "debut" list. I fell in love with their version of Sam Smith's Stay With Me - Better than the original I'd say. They are so easy to listen to, it is such a soothing sound, the kind I've been loving to listen to lying in bed with my headphones in, forgetting about the world outside.
Long Way Down - Tom Odell
This is probably the oldest of the releases in this playlist, from 2013! But you know when you rediscover an album? Tom pours his heart and soul on this album, it is deep, it is sad and it is raw. And I love it. His vocals are so intense and pure and the melancholy of his piano notes made me fall in love with his music.
If You Wait - London Grammar
This is another oldie I suppose, also from 2013. London Grammar reminds me a lot of The XX, but I'd dare say I prefer Hannah's vocal. It was only earlier this year when I got into them and I have to say, although this is a pretty good album, out of the 10, it is my least favourite. I am not too keen on the more electronic vibe tracks, but Strong is brilliant and Nightcall so eerie, that is definitely worth a mention.
The Balcony - Catfish and the Bottlemen
I am frustrated I didn't see these guys live last summer. This is such an upbeat album (pretty different from all the above). It reminds me very much of Arctic Monkey's first album (Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not) in the sense it is fresh and cheeky. Combining strong drums, well marked guitar riffs and straight forward lyrics. Love to dance to it I have to say.
Royal Blood - Royal Blood
This is definitely the heaviest of the 10 and not my usual thing, but this album is so so good, that it made impossible not to include it. Royal Blood stands out by its energy, it takes you over, impossible to stand still to Blood Hands or Little Monster. I haven't yet seen them life, but I've no doubt they're awesome.
* Afraid I may make some enemies, but with a handful of exceptions, we may very well forget everything else that came after that.
Mixtape Mondays | Awesome Covers
Mixtape Mondays | New Faces 2015 Tour


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Sandostatin is a synthetic octapeptide that is a derivative of the natural hormone somatostatin and has similar pharmacological effects, but a significantly longer duration of action. Sandostatin inhibits the secretion of growth hormone (GH), as pathologically increased, and caused by arginine, exercise and insulin hypoglycemia. The drug also inhibits the secretion of insulin, glucagon, gastrin, serotonin, both pathologically increased and caused by food intake, also inhibits the secretion of insulin and glucagon, stimulated by arginine. Sandostatin inhibits thyrotropin secretion caused by thyroliberin.
Unlike somatostatin, octreotide suppresses the secretion of GH to a greater extent than the secretion of insulin, and its administration is not accompanied by subsequent hypersecretion of hormones (for example, GH in patients with acromegaly).
In patients with acromegaly, Sandostatin reduces the concentration of GR and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) in blood plasma. A decrease in the concentration of GR by 50% or more is observed in 90% of patients, while the concentration of GR less than 5 ng / ml is achieved in about half of the patients. In most patients with acromegaly, Sandostatin reduces the severity of headache, soft tissue swelling, hyperhidrosis, joint pain and paresthesia. In patients with large pituitary adenomas, treatment with Sandostatin may lead to some reduction in tumor size.
In case of secreting endocrine tumors of the gastrointestinal tract and pancreas in cases of insufficient effectiveness of the therapy (surgery, hepatic artery embolism, chemotherapy, including streptozotocin and 5-fluorouracil), the appointment of Sandostatin can improve the course of the disease. So, with carcinoid tumors, the use of Sandostatin helps to reduce the severity of sensations of flushing of the face, diarrhea, which in many cases is accompanied by a decrease in the concentration of serotonin in plasma and excretion of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in the urine. In tumors characterized by hyperproduction of a vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIPoma), the use of Sandostatin in most patients leads to a decrease in severe secretory diarrhea, and, accordingly, to an improvement in the patient's quality of life. At the same time, there is a decrease in concomitant disturbances in the electrolyte balance, for example, hypokalemia, which allows you to cancel the enteral and parenteral administration of fluid and electrolytes. In some patients, the progression of the tumor slows down or stops, and its size decreases, as well as the size of the liver metastases. Clinical improvement is usually accompanied by a decrease in the concentration of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) in plasma or its normalization.
With glucagonomas, the use of Sandostatin leads to a decrease in migratory erythema. Sandostatin does not significantly affect the severity of hyperglycemia in diabetes mellitus, while the need for insulin or oral hypoglycemic drugs usually remains unchanged. The drug causes a decrease in diarrhea, which is accompanied by an increase in body weight. Although the decrease in plasma glucagon concentration under the influence of Sandostatin is transient in nature, clinical improvement remains stable throughout the entire period of use of the drug.
In patients with gastrinomas / Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, when using Sandostatin as a monotherapy or in combination with proton pump inhibitors or histamine H2 receptor blockers, it is possible to reduce hypersecretion of hydrochloric acid in the stomach, decrease the concentration of gastrin in the blood plasma, and also reduce the severity of diarrhea and tides.
In patients with insulinomas, Sandostatin reduces the level of immunoreactive insulin in the blood (this effect can be short-term – about 2 hours). In patients with operable tumors, Sandostatin can restore and maintain normoglycemia in the preoperative period. In patients with inoperable benign and malignant tumors, glycemic control may improve without a simultaneous prolonged decrease in blood insulin levels.
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With refractory diarrhea in patients with AIDS, the use of Sandostatin leads to complete or partial normalization of stool in about 1/3 of patients suffering from diarrhea that is not controlled by adequate antimicrobial and / or antidiarrheal therapy.
In patients who are scheduled for pancreatic surgery, the use of Sandostatin during and after surgery reduces the incidence of typical postoperative complications (e.g., pancreatic fistula, abscesses, sepsis, postoperative acute pancreatitis).
When bleeding from varicose veins of the esophagus and stomach in patients with cirrhosis of the liver, the use of Sandostatin in combination with specific treatment (for example, sclerotherapy) leads to a more effective stop of bleeding and early rebleeding, reduce transfusion volume and improve 5-day survival. It is believed that the mechanism of action of Sandostatin is associated with a decrease in organ blood flow through the suppression of such vasoactive hormones as VIP and glucagon.
After s / c administration, Sandostatin is rapidly and completely absorbed. Cmax of octreotide in plasma is reached within 30 minutes.
Distribution of
Plasma protein binding is 65%. The binding of Sandostatin to blood cells is extremely negligible. Vd is 0.27 L / kg.
Withdrawal of
T1 / 2 after sc injection of the drug is 100 min. After iv administration, the drug is excreted in 2 phases, with T1 / 2 10 and 90 minutes, respectively. Most of the drug is excreted in feces, about 32% – unchanged in urine. The total clearance is 160 ml / min.
Acromegaly: to control the main manifestations of the disease and reduce the levels of GR and IGF-1 in plasma in cases where there is no sufficient effect of surgical treatment or radiation therapy
treatment of patients with acromegaly who have refused surgery or have contraindications to it, and also for short-term treatment in the intervals between courses of radiation therapy until its effect is fully developed.
Secreting endocrine tumors of the gastrointestinal tract and pancreas – for symptom control: carcinoid tumors with carcinoid syndrome
vipoma
gastrinoma / Zollinger-Ellison syndrome – usually in combination with inhibitors of the proton-influenza group 2 in the preoperative period, as well as for maintenance therapy)
somatoliberinomas (tumors characterized by overproduction of growth hormone releasing factor).
Sandostatin is not an antitumor drug and its use cannot lead to the cure of this category of patients.
Control of symptoms of refractory diarrhea in AIDS patients.
Prevention of complications after pancreatic surgery.
Stopping bleeding and preventing recurrence of bleeding from varicose veins of the esophagus and stomach in patients with cirrhosis. Sandostatin is used in combination with specific therapeutic measures, for example, endoscopic sclerotherapy.
Pregnancy and lactation
Experience with Sandostatin in pregnant women and nursing mothers is limited, therefore, this category of patients is prescribed only if the expected benefit to the mother outweighs the potential risk to the fetus or infant.
1 ml of solution contains:
Active substances: octreotide (in the form of a free peptide) 100 mcg.
Excipients: lactic acid, mannitol, sodium bicarbonate, carbon dioxide, water d / i.
Dosage and administration of
In case of acromegaly, the drug is initially administered at 50-100 mcg s / c at intervals of 8 or 12 hours. Further dose adjustment should be based on monthly determinations of the concentration of GR and IGF-1 in the blood (target concentration: GR < 2.5 ng / ml IGF-1 within normal values), analysis of clinical symptoms and tolerance to the drug. In most patients, the optimal daily dose is 300 mcg. Do not exceed the maximum dose of 1.5 mg / day. In patients receiving a stable dose of Sandostatin, the determination of the concentration of GR should be carried out every 6 months. If, after 3 months of treatment with Sandostatin, a sufficient decrease in growth hormone levels and an improvement in the clinical picture of the disease are not observed, therapy should be discontinued. With endocrine tumors of the gastrointestinal tract and pancreas, the drug is administered subcutaneously in an initial dose of 50 mcg 1-2 times / day. In the future, depending on the achieved clinical effect, the effect on the levels of hormones produced by the tumor (in the case of carcinoid tumors, the effect on the excretion of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in the urine) and tolerance, the dose of the drug can be gradually increased to 100-200 μg 3 times / day. In exceptional cases, higher doses may be required. Maintenance doses of the drug should be selected individually. In carcinoid tumors, if Sandostatin therapy at the maximum tolerated dose for 1 week was not effective, treatment should not be continued. With refractory diarrhea in AIDS patients, the drug is administered subcutaneously in an initial dose of 100 mcg 3 times / day. If after 1 week of treatment the diarrhea does not subside, the dose of the drug should be increased individually, up to 250 mcg 3 times / day. Dose adjustment is carried out taking into account the dynamics of the stool and tolerance to the drug. If during the week of treatment with Sandostatin at a dose of 250 mcg 3 times / day, improvement does not occur, therapy should be discontinued. For the prevention of complications after pancreatic surgery, SC is administered at 100 mcg 3 times / day for 7 consecutive days starting from the day of surgery (at least 1 hour before laparotomy). When bleeding from varicose veins of the esophagus and stomach, the drug is administered at a dose of 25 mcg / h by continuous iv infusion for 5 days. Sandostatin can be diluted with isotonic sodium chloride solution. In patients with cirrhosis of the liver with bleeding from varicose veins of the esophagus, Sandostatin was well tolerated, applied for 5 days to 50 mcg / h in the form of a continuous iv infusion. Currently, there is no data that would indicate that elderly patients have reduced Sandostatin tolerance and require a change in dosing regimen. Experience with Sandostatin in children is very limited. In patients with impaired liver function, a maintenance dose adjustment is recommended because there is evidence of an increase in T1 / 2 octreotide in patients with cirrhosis. In patients with impaired renal function, Sandostatin dosage adjustment is not required. Terms of use of the drug The drug in its original packaging, intended for use in the near future, can be stored at a temperature not exceeding 30 ° C for no more than 2 weeks. SC administration Patients who self-administer subcutaneous Sandostatin should receive detailed instructions from a doctor or nurse. Before administration, the solution should have room temperature, which helps to reduce discomfort at the injection site. You should not enter the drug in the same place with short intervals. Ampoules should be opened immediately before the introduction of the drug, an unused amount of solution is discarded. I / O administration Before use, the solution for iv administration should be carefully examined for discoloration of the solution and the presence of foreign particles. Sandostatin (octreotide acetate) for 24 hours maintains physical and chemical stability in sterile physiological saline or 5% glucose in water. However, since Sandostatin may affect glucose metabolism, it is preferable to use saline. The prepared solution maintains physical and chemical stability at a temperature below 25 ° C for at least 24 hours To avoid microbial contamination, diluted solutions should be used immediately after preparation. If the solution will not be used immediately, it should be stored at a temperature of 2 ° to 8 ° C until its use. Before use, the solution should be kept at room temperature. The total time between dilution, storage in the refrigerator and the end of the solution should not exceed 24 hours. If it is necessary to iv the Sandostatin, the contents of one ampoule containing 500 μg of the active substance should be diluted in 60 ml of physiological saline, and the prepared solution should be inject intravenously. The infusion is repeated with the necessary frequency in accordance with the recommended duration of treatment. Sandostatin can also be administered at lower concentrations. Side effects The main adverse events observed with Sandostatin were reactions at the injection site and reactions from the gastrointestinal tract. The most commonly used Sandostatin was diarrhea, abdominal pain, flatulence, pain or irritation at the injection site. Transient gastrointestinal disorders were observed in 10% of patients and usually disappeared with continued treatment with the drug. Determination of the frequency of adverse reactions: very often ( 1/10) often ( 1/100, 1/10) sometimes ( 1/1000, 1/100) rarely ( 1/10 000, 1/1000) is very rare ( 1/10 000), including single messages. From the digestive system: often – diarrhea, spastic abdominal pain, constipation, flatulence sometimes – cholecystitis rarely – steatorrhea, nausea, vomiting, bloating, gallstones formation very rarely – acute pancreatitis, anorexia, loose stools, acute hepatitis without cholestasis, hyperbilirubinemia, increased levels of alkaline phosphatase, GGT and hepatic transaminases. Dermatological reactions: sometimes – temporary hair loss. From the cardiovascular system: sometimes – bradycardia, tachycardia. Allergic reactions: rarely – hypersensitivity, rash very rarely – anaphylaxis. From the endocrine system: very rarely – hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia. From the respiratory system: very rarely – shortness of breath. Local reactions: pain, sensation of itching or burning, redness and swelling at the injection site (usually go away within 15 minutes). The severity of local reactions can be reduced if you use a solution of room temperature, or if you enter a smaller volume of a more concentrated solution. Other Although the excretion of fat with feces may increase, to date there is no evidence that prolonged treatment with octreotide can lead to nutritional deficiency due to malabsorption (malabsorption). The frequency of side effects from the gastrointestinal tract can be reduced by increasing the time intervals between meals and the introduction of Sandostatin. Very rare cases of acute pancreatitis have been reported that developed in the first hours or days of SC use of Sandostatin and disappeared after discontinuation of the drug. In addition, with prolonged use of Sandostatin sc, cases of pancreatitis associated with cholelithiasis were noted. When using Sandostatin, thyroid dysfunction (both decreased and increased activity) and dyspeptic symptoms were rarely observed. Cases of arrhythmias have been reported in patients receiving octreotide acetate treatment. According to an ECG study during the use of the drug, the following were observed: prolongation of the OT interval, deviation of the electrical axis of the heart, early repolarization, low-voltage type of ECG, displacement of the transition zone, early P wave and nonspecific changes in the ST segment and T wave. Since many patients with acromegaly and carcinoid tumors show heart disease, a causal relationship between the use of Sandostatin and the development of these adverse events has not been established. Drug Interaction Sandostatin decreases cyclosporine absorption and slows cimetidine absorption. The combined use of octreotide and bromocriptine increases the bioavailability of bromocriptine. There is evidence that somatostatin analogues may reduce the metabolic clearance of substances metabolised by cytochrome P450 isoenzymes, which may be due to GH suppression. As it cannot be ruled out that octreotide may also have this effect, caution should be exercised when prescribing CYP3A4 isoenzyme-metabolizing drugs with a narrow range of therapeutic concentrations (eg, quinidine, terfenadine). Overdose Doses of octreotide up to 2000 mcg as a p / k injection 3 times / day for several months were well tolerated. Symptoms: the maximum single dose in / in bolus administration to an adult patient was 1 mg, with a decrease in heart rate, blood tides to the face, spastic abdominal pain, diarrhea, feeling of emptiness in the stomach and nausea all resolved within 24 h from the moment the preparation was introduced. One patient was mistakenly administered an overdose of Sandostatin (250 μg / h for 48 h instead of 25 μg / h) by prolonged infusion, which was not accompanied by side effects. No acute life-threatening reactions were noted with acute overdose. Treatment: carrying out symptomatic therapy. Storage conditions Keep out of the reach of children, in the original packaging, in the refrigerator, at a temperature of 2 ° to 8 ° C, do not freeze, protect from light. Expiration 3 years. Active substance Octreotide Dosage form dosage form injection srfflfff15 and dpfff injection18 Novartis Farma Stein AG, Switzerland
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text:
Q: Detecting resource allocation conflict Definitions
We have grids of n by n cells. The columns are named A, B, C, etc. In each cell of each row the column letter could be on or off. We define two grid types - Type 0 and Type 1. Here are three examples:
     a b - - -      a - -      - - - d
     - b c d -      a - c      a - - -
     - - c - e      - b -      - b c -
     a - c - e                 - - - d
     a - c d -
     ---------------------------------
       5 x 5        3 x 3       4 x 4

A Type 1 grid is a grid where we can assign a unique letter to each row, otherwise we have a Type 0 grid.
In the examples above, the first two grids are Type 1, but the third one is Type 0. For the first grid it is possible to use abced as unique row selections. For the second grid we have acb, but with the last grid we could use d either for the first row or the last one. So no unique row letter could be found for all rows.
The problem
Is there a method to identify the type of a grid without searching for a working solution?
A proposed solution - Interest vs. Redundancy
After giving some thought to the problem it would look as if we could determine the type of a grid by comparing the number of times each letter appears in the grid and the number of times it could be substituted. So we define two characteristics:

*

*Interest factor

*Redundancy factor

Every time a given letter appears in a row we say an interest has been shown to use that letter and we increment the interest variable for that letter. If that row has more letters besides the letter under inspection we say that the letter is also being redundant for that row and we increment redundancy variable for that letter. After we have counted interest and redundancy for all letters we say we have a Type 1 grid if for no letter Interest - Redundancy is greater than 1.
So for the 5 x 5 grid above we have:
L  I  R  I-R
a  3  3  0
b  2  2  0
c  4  4  0
d  2  2  0
e  2  2  0

However for the last grid we have:
L  I  R  I-R
a  1  0  1
b  1  1  0
c  1  1  0
d  2  0  2

So, here, twice an interest has been shown to use d, and neither times it has been redundant or replaceable.
Unfortunately, this simple method sometimes produces false positives. Take a look at this grid for instance:
     a b c -
     - - c d
     - - c d
     - - c -

Using the method described earlier we have:
L  I  R  I-R
a  1  1  0
b  1  1  0
c  4  3  1
d  2  2  0

The values in I-R column suggest that we have a Type 1 grid, but the grid is actually a Type 0 one. The problem here is, we are making c redundant 2 times on account of d, but in fact we could only use one of those. So, we need to make sure we do not use the same letter twice to mark another letter redundant.
At this point however, I suspect if I have reduced the complexity at all. Am I not chasing my tail? Should I continue this path and find a way to calculate yet another variable (Usable redundancy)?
My questions

*

*Is this a known problem, and if so what is its name, has it been solved?

*Is calculating Usable redundancy any simpler than the original problem?

*Could we avoid backtracking and inspecting permutations at all?

A: Well, may as well tap my inner Boba Fett and flesh out my comment.
What I think you are saying is that a grid is of Type 1 if you can find a set of $n$ "on" entries with exactly one of these entries in every row and exactly one in every column.
From an $n\times n$ grid $G$, form a bipartite graph $B(G)$ with vertex set $R\cup C = \{r_1,\ldots,r_n\}\cup\{c_1,\ldots,c_n\}$ and edges consisting of precisely those $(r_i,c_j)$ in which the $(i,j)$-entry in $G$ is "on".
For example, your first grid corresponds to:

What I think is fairly clear is the following
Lemma: $G$ is of Type $1$ if and only if $B(G)$ has a perfect matching: a set of $n$ edges, no two of which share a common vertex.
So, again for your first example, your "unique row selection" demonstrating that the grid is of Type 1 corresponds to the perfect matching consisting of the red edges:

There is a famous necessary and sufficient condition to decide if a bipartite graph has a perfect matching. For a subset $R^\prime$ of $R$, let $N(R^\prime)$ be the set of all vertices in $C$ which are adjacent to some vertex in $R^\prime$.
Hall's Marriage Theorem: $B(G)$ has a perfect matching if and only if every $R^\prime\subseteq R$ satisfies $|R^\prime|\leq |N(R^\prime)|$.
For example, your third grid example corresponds to

If we choose $R^\prime=\{r_1,r_4\}$ then $N(R^\prime)=\{c_4\}$ so that $|R^\prime|>|N(R^\prime)|$. By Hall's Theorem, the graph has no perfect matching and hence the grid is of Type $0$. That is basically the same as reasoning you gave above. You can switch the roles of $C$ and $R$ above if you prefer. Thus the grid is of type $0$ since $C^\prime=\{c_2,c_3\}$ has more vertices than $N(C^\prime)=\{r_3\}$. .
In terms of the grid data itself, you can translate Hall's Theorem into the following:
Theorem. A grid is of type $1$ if and only if for all $k\in\{1,2,\ldots,n\}$ and every subset of $k$ rows, there are at least $k$ columns in those rows with at least one "on" entry.
So in general you still have to check around $2^n$ conditions.  Actually it would usually be much faster (polynomial time in $n$) to just run one of the standard algorithms that will actually find a perfect matching/"unique row selection" if one exists.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
by Seth Colaner — Tuesday, June 24, 2014, 12:00 PM EDT
Sprint Trumps T-Mobile's 7-Day iPhone "Test Drive" With Monthlong Framily Plan Trial
The one-upmanship between mobile providers continues. Just days after T-Mobile announced its "T-Mobile Test Drive" program that lets you try out an iPhone 5s and the associated 4G LTE network free for seven days, Sprint announced a 30-day risk-free trial.
You can try out Sprint's service for a month for free, and the company thinks you'll like what you get. "We believe customers will be delighted with the Sprint retail experience, our customer service, and the performance of America's newest network, so we're guaranteeing it," said Sprint CEO Dan Hesse in a press release.
The trial offer is part of a Sprint campaign to beat the drum about its recent changes. Sprint has overhauled its network and now offers 4G LTE service in 471 markets. It's also developed Sprint HD voice for better call quality, and it's launched Sprint Spark high-speed mobile service (6-15Mbps average, 50-60Mbps peak) in three new markets, bringing the total to 27 cities.
You can take advantage of the 30-day trial starting on June 27th.
Tags: Mobile, Sprint, T-Mobile, 4glte, Framily, Sprint-Spark


text:
Wang Interviewed by LA Times on Chinese-Language Cinema
Zhuoyi Wang
Associate Professor of East Asian Languages Zhuoyi Wang was recently interviewed by the Los Angeles Times on Chinese-language cinema for an article titled Threatened by the 'Chinese Oscars,' China rips the world of Chinese movies in two. The piece focused on China's new move to ban its movies and filmmakers from Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards, which had been considered the "Oscars" in Chinese-language cinema.
Wang sees the ban as Chinese authorities' attempt to set Chinese-language film-making standards via their own movie awards, the Golden Rooster. According to Wang, the new divide between the two awards is unfortunate, yet it has also bridged some other divides that existed in the past. For example, it created opportunities for films from countries such as Malaysia and Singapore, which are at the margin of the Chinese-speaking world, to gain the attention they deserve in the Golden Horse competition. The article appeared on Nov. 26 in the Los Angeles Times and in many other newspapers around the world.


This avid home cook loves light, fuss-free dishes for summer, and one of his favourites is this biltong and strawberry salad.
The result is a food-friendly, layered Chenin Blanc, perfect with a moreish pasta dish such as this vegetarian pumpkin and ricotta ravioli.
The inside scoop on dynamic Georgia East!
We caught up with writer, food stylist, photographer and owner of clothing label FORTUNE, @GeorgiaEast about why working for herself is the single most educating and empowering decision she's made for her professional career.
The best business meeting spots, and Bellingham wines to match!
Conferences with a view – and Bellingham wines to match!


text:
The Dream of the Celt
Mario Vargas Llosa, Edith Grossman (Translated by)
WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE
A subtle and enlightening novel about a neglected human rights pioneer by the Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa
In 1916, the Irish nationalist Roger Casement was hanged by the British government for treason. Casement had dedicated his extraordinary life to improving the plight of oppressed peoples around the world—especially the native populations in the Belgian Congo and the Amazon—but when he dared to draw a parallel between the injustices he witnessed in African and American colonies and those committed by the British in Northern Ireland, he became involved in a cause that led to his imprisonment and execution. Ultimately, the scandals surrounding Casement's trial and eventual hanging tainted his image to such a degree that his pioneering human rights work wasn't fully reexamined until the 1960s.
In The Dream of the Celt, Mario Vargas Llosa, who has long been regarded as one of Latin America's most vibrant, provocative, and necessary literary voices—a fact confirmed when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2010—brings this complex character to life as no other writer can. A masterful work, sharply translated by Edith Grossman, The Dream of the Celt tackles a controversial man whose story has long been neglected, and, in so doing, pushes at the boundaries of the historical novel.
Praise For The Dream of the Celt: A Novel…
"In the star-studded world of the Latin American novel, Mario Vargas Llosa is a supernova." —Raymond Sokolov, The Wall Street Journal on Mario Vargas Llosa
"Vargas Llosa speaks in his own voice, sees through his own eyes. His vision is unique. His genius is unmistakable." —Eugenia Thornton, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) on Mario Vargas Llosa
"The bold, dynamic and endlessly productive imagination of the Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa, one of the writing giants of our time, is something truly to be admired . . . As with any great writer, [he] makes us see clearly what we have been looking at all the while but never noticed." —Alan Cheuse, San Francisco Chronicle on Mario Vargas Llosa
"Generous in friendship, unfailingly curious about the world at large, tireless in his quest to probe the nature of the human animal, [Vargas Llosa] is a model writer for our times." —Marie Arana, The Washington Post on Mario Vargas Llosa
"[Vargas Llosa] is a worldly writer in the best sense of the word: intelligent, urbane, well-traveled, well-informed, cosmopolitan, free-thinking and free-speaking." —Merle Rubin, Los Angeles Times on Mario Vargas Llosa
"Mario Vargas Llosa has long been a literary adventurer of the very first order . . . [He], I am convinced, can tell us stories about anything and make them dance to his inventive rhythms." —Lisa Appignanesi, The Independent on Mario Vargas Llosa
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 9780374143466, 368pp.
Mario Vargas Llosa is Peru's foremost author and the winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature. In 1994 he was awarded the Cervantes Prize, the Spanish-speaking world's most distinguished literary honor, and in 1995 he won the Jerusalem Prize. His many distinguished works include The Storyteller, The Feast of the Goat, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, Death in the Andes, In Praise of the Stepmother, The Bad Girl, Conversation in the Cathedral, The Way to Paradise, and The War of the End of the World. He lives in London.
Edith Grossman has translated the poetry and prose of major Spanish-language authors, including Gabriel García Marquez, Alvaro Mutis, and Mayra Montero, as well as Mario Vargas Llosa.
Coverage from NPR


text:
Olly Murs - Right Place Right Time
The song Olly Murs - Right Place Right Time is professional recreation. It is not by the original artist.
1. AcouGuitL
2. AcouGuitR
3. Arp
9. Pad
10. Percuss
13. Synth
14. SynthBass
Olly Murs Multi-Tracks
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text:
Public Service Matters
Personal reflections on public administration and management
About the Edinburgh MPA
About my publications
JUC Public Administration Committee
Scottish Approach
Public Services Governance
Guest Post – Public Sector Bonuses
I am taking some annual leave in August and so am delighted to have my first guest post!
This post comes from Professor Eddie Frizzell, Visiting Professor in Public Service Management at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh.
Public Sector Bonuses – gone forever?
Bonuses for public servants are a hot issue – so hot that they appear to have fallen out of favour not only with the Scottish Government, but also at UK level where the Coalition Government has ordered a review, and clamped down on the senior civil service bonus "pot". Are public sector bonuses destined for the bin and is there any prospect of informed debate about the pros and cons?
As Will Hutton notes in his Review of Fair Pay in the Public Sector published last year, part of the reason for this is that "public sector managers have been caught up in the backlash to the remarkable growth of the earnings of the top 1 per cent over the last thirty or forty years and in particular in the last ten. Bank bail-outs with scarcely checked bonuses have dramatised these concerns…[but]…only one pound of every hundred pounds earned by the top one per cent of earners is earned by public sector employees."[1]
The Scottish Government's public sector pay policy for senior appointments in 2012-13, which applies to Chief Executives of Non-Departmental Public Bodies (quangos in media-speak) and Public Corporations as well as NHS Scotland top managers, specifically suspends "access to non-consolidated pay" in 2012-13, ie bonuses for exceptional performance in 2011-12. The pay policy for other staff in public bodies and for the Scottish Government's own civil servants similarly suspends all access to non-consolidated pay, either as bonuses or as pay for staff on their range maximum.[2]
This may be a reasonable enough response to austerity and is consistent with the general freeze on public sector pay, but "the policy expectation…that any bonus arrangement in a Chief Executive's contract will be removed when an appropriate opportunity arises (on new appointment or following a review)"[3] goes further and suggests a more fundamental rejection of the bonus concept.
Would the end of bonuses for public servants in Scotland cause problems in terms of employee motivation and performance? The answer to this is by no means clear. Bonuses for public servants arrived with performance-related pay in the civil service reform agenda in the 1980s and 1990s, before spreading out to some, but by no means all, other parts of the public sector. They became part of the "New Public Management", inspired by the proposition that public services could be made more efficient by adopting commercial practices and disciplines, and by importing private sector managers to run them.
Performance related pay, unconstrained by the limitations of public sector pay scales, and the availability of bonuses, were seen by Ministers of the day as necessary to recruit such managers. They were also key tools in the kit of "reforms" needed to make all public servants work harder and focus on results; but there are a number of still unresolved problems with this in the public sector. First, "performance" needs to be assessed in relation to a relatively small number of well-defined measures and targets which may not reflect the complexity of the work, and are often difficult to determine without the financial and shareholder value-related metrics available to the private sector. Second, individual achievement may partly depend on the performance of others, in other organisations, pursuing other priorities. Third, performance assessment needs rigorous individual performance appraisal by managers who in the public service frequently have neither the appetite nor aptitude for the difficult conversations with staff that implies. Fourth, in the absence of such rigour, performance-related pay drives up the wage bill as well as future pension costs.
The classic response by Governments to the last problem is to restrict the amount of "consolidated" (ie pensionable) performance pay, and to put more emphasis on non-consolidated one-off bonuses. In the civil service this approach has been accompanied by central control over the proportion of the overall paybill which can be devoted to the bonus element. The consequence tends to be consolidated pay increases in which the difference between the reward for exceptional as opposed to acceptable performance is marginal, and bonuses whose modest size is more likely to promote cynicism than enhance motivation. As Hutton notes in his review, in the UK public sector non-consolidated bonuses are parsimonious compared with other OECD countries.
There are therefore probably few public servants who would shed tears over the disappearance of non-consolidated bonuses, if they were to be replaced by reward arrangements that offered the opportunity to improve pensionable pay. This is however not likely to happen, as one-off bonuses help Governments to bear down on future pension costs – always part of the rationale, and even more important now than previously. Indeed the pressure to keep the public sector pension "burden" of the future under control implies more, not less, emphasis on bonuses as a reward, with a larger proportion of individuals' remuneration in the form of one-off non-pensionable payments.
It would be premature therefore to conclude that performance pay and bonuses in the public sector are destined for the dustbin of history. Hutton considers that there are compelling reasons why performance pay for senior staff should not be abandoned, on the grounds that there should be differentiation in financial rewards for the good and poor performer. However, he also considers that there is a much stronger case for linking pay to performance at the senior levels of public organisations, as opposed to the rest of the workforce, a view with which many public sector managers and staff would probably agree.
They may be less inclined to agree with his suggestion that performance pay systems might be reconfigured to include an element of base pay which was "at risk", to be "earned back" through good performance, though his advocacy of team based incentives, and a sharing of rewards from productivity gains, would receive some support. Not that the latter suggestion is new: thirteen years ago the then Labour Government committed to "looking for new ways of rewarding organisation performance and success-sharing, for example …. by linking pay, bonuses or other rewards to the achievement of performance or efficiency improvements".[4]
No doubt the long search will be resumed at some point. But two important underlying questions remain unanswered: first, are public servants really motivated by money? And second, if so, is there any prospect of any system of performance pay for public servants being well enough funded to make it a real motivator and – in that event – of its being acceptable to the public? The answer to the first is that it is highly doubtful, and to the second, a resounding "no" on both counts. So perhaps the controversy over bonuses is less a hot issue than just so much hot air.
[1] Hutton Review of Fair Pay in the public sector: Final Report, March 2011
[2] Public Sector Pay Policy for staff pay remits 2012-13, The Scottish Government, September 2011
[3] Public Sector Pay Policy for senior appointments 2012-13, The Scottish Government, September 2011
[4] Modernising Government, CM4310, March 1999
Tagged bonuses, new public management, performance related pay, public management
Curriculum Co-Design and Co-Production
Scottish devolution has been a disaster and Tony Blair's biggest mistake
Doctoral Research – the examiners perspective
Organisational Learning and Change in a Public Sector Context
Researching COVID-19
Day 3/7 Saturday lockdown entertainment. Walk with treasure hunt. https://t.co/tWa0tvD4zp 1 hour ago
@ianrobsons @NetworkLouise https://t.co/yc9PwNXCUQ 4 hours ago
More per capita than any other country in the world. Double the number who died in the blitz. How do we come back f… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 5 hours ago
@Dr_S_Davidson Yeah. I can't help but think it should be better now as there is the spectre of an end in sight. At… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 6 hours ago
@DrCNeedham @CairneyPaul Me too. Both understanding public policy and the politics of EVP. 6 hours ago
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Members of Japan's Self-Defence Force's honour guard prepare for a ceremony for U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. Photo: Reuters, Toru Hanai
Japanese populist embraces Trump's call for Japan to step up on defense
Innovation Party founder sees the moment as a wake up call
ByAsia Unhedged
President Trump's message to Tokyo to assume more of the burden in the US-Japan defense alliance has not gone unnoticed, writes the United States Naval Institute.
Japan Innovation Party founder Toru Hashimoto told an audience at the Washington DC-based Center for Strategic and International Studies that Trump's call "should be a trigger for us" to examine "our own thoughts of security."
The Innovation Party is considered populist, and Mr. Hashimoto remarked that he "can relate to Mr Trump," highlighting the shock Trump's victory gave to the political establishment.
JapanJapan Self Defense ForceJapan US relationsAsia Unhedged


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Collections Academic Research 1914-1918 first-world-war advertising humor illustrations italy Drawings Paintings Italian World War 1914-1918 Western Europe Southern Europe 1900-1945
Italian satirical and advertising drawings from the WW1 period
Italian satirical and advertising drawings from the WW1 period.This collection brings together 228 Italian drawings from the WW1 period.
The satirical and advertising drawings have been made by Italian designers such as Jonni Raffaello, Scorzon Amos, Ferro R., and anonymous artists.
The collection includes coloured pencil, gouache and watercolour paintings as well as black and white drawings. Those drawings are immensely informative and could even be considered as important historical documents.
They reflected the government and public attitude at that time and express the thoughts and fears, sentiments and emotions of people. The Great War of 1914-18 was certainly not one of the funniest events to be recorded on drawings. However, the sense of humour played a major part in maintaining the morale of troops and civilians during the war.
Explore on Collections
Letters by Italian personalities during World War I
The National Library of Italy (Rome) makes available online 8 valuable manuscripts written by important Italian personalities, such as Gabriele d'annunzio and Giuseppe Prezzolini, relating to the First World War.
Maps of the First World War from the National Library of Rome - Italy
These Maps illustrate the WW1 battlefields of the Italian front as well as the Oriental front, the Western front and Balkan front.
Italian First World War Music
This digital collection of songbooks and sheet music written and spread during the tragic World War One period is kept at the National Library of Italy (Rome).


Location: Home ► Browse Our Categories ► Wood Craft ► BEAUTIFUL SPALTED BEECH BOWL, NUTS, SWEETS, COINS ETC. SOLID DISCUS SHAPE BOWL.
Beautiful Limited Edition No 1 of 1. Spalted Beech bowl - dish.
All my items are Hand made and are all Limited Editions.
I never make copies there is only ever 1 of each item.
This bowl has had no stains or colourants added.
Polished to a very high standard to bring out the grains in the wood.
Approx -20cm in diam:- 6cm high. It weighs 495g.


no social policy which obscures that fact deserves to be called "moral."
the woman's life is deeply, irrevocably affected.
as though it has the same value as the existent, pregnant, female person.
women's health and well-being are *never* urgent in this society.
contraceptive failure when it occurs?
matters deserves moral standing in the present debate.
personal lives of women is quite another matter.


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James Fred Rippy (27 October 1892 in Nubia, Tennessee – 10 February 1977) was an American professor, author, and historian of Latin America and American diplomacy.

Biography
J. Fred Rippy grew up on a subsistence farm in Tennessee until a fire destroyed several farm buildings and forced his parents in 1902 to move to Richardson, Texas to live with relatives. He graduated from high school in 1907 and in 1909 entered Southwestern University, where he graduated in 1913. After teaching for one year at Clebarro College in Cleburne, Texas, he enrolled at Vanderbilt University, where he received an M.A. after one year of study. In 1915 he married Mary Dozier Allen of Nashville, Tennessee. From 1915 to 1917 he taught at Duncan School for Boys in Nashville. In 1917 he received a scholarship for doctoral study at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1920 Rippy received his PhD under Herbert Eugene Bolton with thesis The relations of the United States and Mexico, 1848–1860. Rippy became an instructor of Latin American history at the University of Chicago from 1920 to 1923, then assistant professor from 1923 to 1924, and associate professor from 1924 to 1926. He was a Guggenheim Fellow for the academic year 1926–1927. From 1926 to 1936 he was a full professor at Duke University and from 1928 to 1936 the director of Duke University Press. He was one of the founders of the Conference on Latin American History, the professional organization of Latin American historians, serving as its chair on a number of occasions. In 1936 he returned as a full professor to the University of Chicago, where he remained until his retirement as professor emeritus in 1958. He was a prolific author of books, articles, and book reviews on Latin American and American diplomatic history. Rippy was a visiting professor and guest lecturer at various colleges and universities throughout the U.S.A. He was an active member and served on committees of the American Historical Association, the editorial board (in 1932–1937) of the American Historical Review, and the editorial board of the Hispanic American Historical Review.

After his retirement he lived in Durham, N.C. until 1972 when he and his wife moved to Wilmington, N.C. He and his wife Mary had children J. Fred Junior, Robert Allen, and Frazier Winston; and several grandchildren.

Selected works

with Angie Debo:

with José Vasconcelos and G. Stevens:

with Jean Thomas Nelson (with illustrations by Willis Physioc):

with Lynn I. Perrigo:

 revised and enlarged edition 1968

References

Historians of Latin America
Latin Americanists
University of Chicago faculty
Duke University faculty
1892 births
1977 deaths
20th-century American historians
American male non-fiction writers
20th-century American male writers

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Weapons, Viruses, and the New Defense Reality in Southeast Asia
Zachary Abuza
What happens when the greatest threat to national security comes from a virus? What does that mean for defense spending, modernization, and civil-military relations? In Southeast Asia — where militaries have long had an outsized role in politics, economics, and society — the answers to these questions are still very much up for grabs.
There are over 54,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Southeast Asia, with nearly 2,000 confirmed deaths. The evidence from Indonesia and the Philippines, which have very low levels of testing, suggests rates of infections and mortality could be much higher. While Malaysia appears to have flattened the curve, and Singapore is getting a handle on a massive outbreak in dormitories that house over 300,000 migrant workers and which account for 90 percent of the city-state's cases, Indonesia and the Philippines are still struggling.
The pandemic will lead to a sharp economic downturn in the region, which will, in turn, result in shrinking defense budgets and declining arms imports. That is not necessarily a bad thing for regional security: austerity could force a rethink of defense priorities. However, the COVID-19 pandemic will also have repercussions for civil-military relations, likely setting back democracy even further as militaries securitize the pandemic, quell dissent, and put down popular unrest.
Battered Economies
The economies of Southeast Asia are in for a hard hit. No country in the region, save for Singapore, has sufficient capital for a large-scale stimulus program to bolster the region's limited social safety nets. Every government is bracing for economic recessions and large budget deficits. Malaysia expects its economic growth in 2020 to contract by 5.9 percent, Thailand by 5.3 percent, Singapore by 4 percent, Indonesia by 2.5 percent and the Philippines by 1 percent. Only Vietnam is expected see positive, albeit slower growth, at 4.9 percent.
The pandemic and the looming global economic recession will negatively impact travel and tourism, which so many Southeast Asian economies depend on. China is coping with its own slowdown, a 6.8 percent contraction in first quarter GDP, with some estimates of 20 percent unemployment and massive decreases in exports. China will almost certainly buy less from Southeast Asia, invest less, and dispatch fewer tourists. A U.S. recession will have a similar impact.
Southeast Asian states will be coping with unemployment, food insecurity, and a decline in foreign investment and exports. The global economic downturn, coupled with a surge in anti-immigrant sentiment, will also have a major impact on the region's migrant workers, whose remittances are so critical to their home states' economies. That, in turn, will drive down domestic consumption. All of these developments will have knock-on effects on other sectors of the economy, including the banking, real estate, and service industries.
All governments are impatient to restart their economies, yet there is every concern that a premature re-opening will lead to second and third waves of the virus and prolonged pain.
This will also have an immediate impact on their security.
Flush Budgets
According to the Stockholm International peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Southeast Asia spent $34.5 billion on defense in 2019, a 4.2 percent increase from 2018. But SIPRI's 2019 numbers don't include full data for Myanmar or Vietnam, which adds at least $8 billion. Singapore topped regional defense spending at $11.2 billion, followed by Indonesia ($7.7 billion), Thailand ($7.3 billion), Malaysia ($3.8 billion), and the Philippines ($3.5 billion).
Figure 1: Defense Spending in Select Southeast Asian Countries (200-2019)
Source: Chart generated by the author using data from the SIPRI Military Expenditure Database.
Between 2018 and 2019, average defense spending in Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states increased by 10.1 percent in nominal terms, from Indonesia (1.4 percent) to the Philippines (22 percent). And all countries, with the exception of Malaysia, whose defense budget fell 13 percent from 2015 to 2019, have seen very steady growth in defense expenditures over the past decade.
Figure 2: Defense Spending as a Percent of Government Spending in Select Southeast Asian Countries
In Southeast Asia, governments have long tied defense spending to economic growth, in practice pegging defense within a specific range of share of the country's overall GDP, with little annual variation. If the economy contracts, as it is likely to do during the pandemic, so will defense budgets.
The economic downturn will have immediate impacts on defense spending for the next few years in several states. It is inevitable that there will be further cuts in Malaysia, whose defense budget contracted in 2020. The Malaysian Armed Forces will offer little pushback, as they are arguably the least politicized in the region.
The Thai military, which actively backs the government that emerged following the 2014 coup d'état, saw its budget increase nearly 8 percent to $7.2 billion in 2020. Although it is being asked to make voluntary cutbacks of 10 percent, it is resisting additional cuts beyond ($555 million) already made.
Defense budget cuts in the Philippines and Indonesia will be particularly painful, as so much of military spending goes to personnel accounts (almost 80 percent of defense spending in the Philippines goes to salaries and pensions). While the Philippine Secretary of National Defense Delfin Lorenzana acknowledged that some of this year's budget would be returned to the government, he stressed that "There are no projects to be sacrificed," and that the government's three-phase modernization program (2013-2028) would continue. The reality is that the armed forces in Manila and Jakarta are likely in for a few years of limited growth.
The one anomaly to this trend is Vietnam, which appears to have had an effective response to COVID-19. Despite a population of 96 million, a border with China, and significant cross-border flows, Vietnam has under 300 cases and not a single fatality to date. While some suspect that the authoritarian state with the most repressive media environment in Southeast Asia may be obfuscating the actual numbers, other evidence suggests that the data is sound. Vietnam has aggressively responded to the pandemic and as such is the first country to re-open its economy, which was already benefitting from the U.S.-China trade war.
Vietnam's 2020 defense budget was just below $6 billion. Vietnam's leaders are projecting a $7.9 billion defense budget by 2024. Unlike most of its neighbors, Hanoi earmarks a sizable portion of its defense budget — roughly 32 percent — for procurement. Vietnam is on course to having the third-largest defense budget in the region. From 2014-2018, Vietnam was the tenth-largest arms importer in the world, as it sought to bring power projection capabilities online quickly. Hanoi, which is locked in a territorial dispute with Beijing, is cognizant that despite China's slowest economic growth in 44 years (expected 2.5 percent), its military spending is set to increase at roughly 6-7 percent in 2021, in line with past years for fears that not doing so would be perceived as a sign of weakness.
Threats: Perceived and Real
Pandemic-induced austerity may force Southeast Asian states to align their security spending with actual threats, not those conjured up by political and military elites to advance their institutional interests.
While some governments, such as the Philippines and Myanmar, remain beset by internal security challenges ongoing throughout the pandemic, the security situation is far less acute for most other states.
Several governments — like Vietnam or Cambodia — equate security with regime survival. Others see defense spending as a Veblen good, accoutrements for show. Thailand, for example has no real need for submarines (indeed the Gulf of Siam is too shallow to use them effectively), but Bangkok is buying three submarines from China because it does not want to fall behind its main rival, Vietnam. The Philippines has announced its intention to buy a submarine, though it has no relevant experience and can ill afford such a costly platform. Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands, has limited naval or coast guard capabilities, but continues to purchase and co-develop main battle tanks.
Without a doubt, some militaries have stepped in and played an important role in a pandemic response, yet others are being proactive for parochial reasons. We've already seen several militaries re-allocate their FY2020 budgets to COVID-19 responses. For example, in Thailand, where the government has called on all ministries to yield 10 percent of their 2020 budget to government coffers to combat COVID-19, the military made a 7.7 percent cut, but has refused any more, arguing that it has reallocated 33 percent of its budget toward public health efforts. However, the Royal Thai Army has not been transparent about its pledged reallocation, so some skepticism is called for.
In Indonesia, the military announced that it is directing a paltry 199 million Indonesian rupiah (US$13,100) for COVID-19 purposes. Of that 25.7 million rupiah will come from the military's headquarters budget, 39.9 million from the army, 64.5 million from the navy and 69.5 million from the air force. Like the Royal Thai Army, the Indonesian armed forces are trying to repurpose funds within the military, rather than allocate them to other ministries, for example, by moving to reimburse military hospitals.
The Impact on Arms Imports
The impact of the pandemic on regional arms imports is already apparent. The Royal Thai Navy put the purchase of two Chinese-made submarines on hold, part of a $1.1 billion, three submarine deal. Likewise, the army has delayed a 4.5 billion baht ($139 million) purchase of 50 U.S.-made armored personnel carriers, though only after news of the procurement was leaked to the press. Indeed, the sale was going forward as late as April 20 despite the pandemic, demonstrating the military's tone deafness. The Royal Thai Air Force slashed its budget by 20 percent, and has halted the purchase of two F-50 jet trainers from South Korea.
If the recession hits Vietnam, some imports (in particular long-range surface-to-air missiles) may be impacted. There is no evidence that big-ticket items for 2020, such as the $350 million deal to buy Yak-130 jet trainers from Russia, will be impacted. However, the country has done a very effective job in licensing foreign technology, including Molniya missile craft and a range of both short-range surface-to-air and URAN Switchblade anti-ship missiles, and Israeli small arms. The only exception to a cutback in imports would be Brahmos-hypersonic anti-ship cruise missiles, which Vietnam has been trying to import from India for years.
Indonesia, between 2014-18 the twelfth-largest arms importer in the world, is likely to see more modest acquisitions. Like Vietnam, Indonesia has tried to increase licensed production, especially of costly naval platforms. Jakarta is already reconsidering the import of three submarines from South Korea, a $1 billion deal it negotiated in 2019.
COVID-19 may force countries to shift resources from maritime platforms to army personnel. The militaries of Southeast Asia, even those of archipelagic nations like Indonesia and the Philippines, are dominated by their armies. Indeed, in most regional states the army accounts for a larger budget than the navy and air force combined, as internal security still dominates the strategic culture of most of the region's militaries.
Civil-Military Relations in a Pandemic
The most important thing to monitor in Southeast Asia is not defense budgets or arms imports, but civil-military relations. A pandemic would stretch the resources of any state and invariably leads the military to step in to provide assistance in distributing aid, building quarantine shelters, providing logistical support, or even providing their medical staff and facilities to the general public. But in Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia the militaries are using the crisis to undermine democracy and the rule of law.
In Thailand, the military-backed regime has looked weak and out of touch. It was slow to respond, and quickly resorted to an emergency decree. The country's low COVID-19 rates and fatalities are more due to its high-quality public health and medical preparedness, in spite of the government. Since the 2006 military coup, Thailand has become the most unequal society in the world. The pandemic exposed the economic precarity of the have-nots, who have not forgotten who has been in charge since 2006. Political opponents of the regime have proven to be far more responsive and politically adroit, a reminder that the military-installed regime lacks legitimacy. And yet, the Thai military's instinctive response is to dig in its heels and use the crisis as an excuse to go after political dissent, while defending a monarch who has been AWOL during the pandemic.
Since the start of President Joko Widodo's administration in 2014, the Indonesian military has been pushing to reassert itself in public life and civil administration, an initiative known as Bela Negara, meaning "Defending the Nation." Though Bela Negara was largely the pet project of former Minister of Defense Ryamizard Ryacudu, the incumbent, Prabowo Subianto, has a similar agenda. President Widodo has already toyed with the passage of an emergency decree (as we've seen in Thailand, the Philippines, and Cambodia), but stepped back with a lesser "health emergency" decree. Widodo has looked to the military to backstop his government's fumbling response. It has not helped that his Minister of Health, Terawan Putranto, is a lieutenant general in the army. Terawan has been anti-science and an indecisive leader during the pandemic, summoning the power of prayer. The president's COVID-19 response team is dominated by current or retired generals and has few public health officials. Indeed, as Sana Jaffrey notes:
All personnel in charge of coordinating the crisis response are retired army officers. This includes the head of the disaster management task force, the national spokesman on the coronavirus crisis, the health minister, the religious minister, the minister of maritime affairs and investment, the defense minister, and the president's chief of staff.
And the securitization of the COVID-19 response has led to a crackdown on civil liberties, including the arrest of 76 critics of the government. While a handful of defense industries are quickly trying to produce ventilators and the military has tried to distribute medical equipment, giving the Indonesian military greater power over civilian life and public policy is a setback for Indonesia's fragile democracy. In an indication that the Indonesian government is looking for the military to play a greater role in COVID-19 response, the parliament recently approved a budgetary increase of IDR1.3 trillion ($87 million) to pay for military hospitals, the production of personal productive equipment in defense factories, and the deployment of medical and military personnel to combat COVID-19.
In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte has called on the police and military to enforce a quarantine imposed under an emergency decree. He has continued his bluster about ordering police and military units to shoot anyone who violates quarantine, while also ordering the military to actively target the communist New People's Army and its political fronts, whom he accuses of stealing aid. He has threatened to go a step further and declare martial law, saying that he "might declare martial law and there will be no turning back." To date, the military has been mute on the subject. The Philippine army has push back against Duterte before, in particular his cozying up to China, broadsides against the United States, and his abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement.
Duterte, who has actively targeted media institutions, has used the pandemic to try to muzzle them. The Senate struck out a provision n COVID-19 response legislation that would allow the president take over broadcasters; he nonetheless shut the largest down. While such threats to impose martial law go back to the start of his administration in 2016, Duterte's declaration of martial law in parts of Mindanao during the Marawi siege was only lifted in December 2019. As the case in Indonesia, almost all people responsible for handling the pandemic are active duty or retired senior-level military personnel. Many fear that the COVID-19 pandemic is finally the nationwide crisis Duterte needs to declare martial law, suspend democratic institutions, and shut down the free press.
The Vietnam People's Army played a low-key but important role in quickly establishing mass quarantine centers and assisting in testing in support of government efforts. Military doctors and technicians have come up with important innovations, while military-owned companies have increased production of ventilators and other personal protective equipment. The military never had the lead or sought to enhance its power. The Vietnam People's Army is a party-army, and firmly under the control of the communist party. As in China, the military is constitutionally bound to defend the party, not the state. But the army enjoys a high degree of popular legitimacy due to its role in winning independence, unifying the country, and pushing back against Chinese aggression. And the government's quick and decisive response to the pandemic has enhanced its own popular standing, important for the regime as it heads into its 13th Party Congress in early 2021.
The militaries have largely been in charge of the pandemic response in Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia. In part, the civilian governments have been complicit in this, trying to make up for weak governance. And none of the militaries that have assumed key pandemic roles have handled the crisis well — in Indonesia and the Philippines, it's getting decidedly worse. Indeed, the countries with the best response and highest rates of testing and social compliance have been Malaysia and Vietnam, which have relied on their militaries only to run large quarantine centers or augment the police to enforce shelter-in-place orders, but have been out of the decision-making chain.
The COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, and until a vaccine is developed, countries need to anticipate second and third waves. This will have a major impact on economies throughout Southeast Asia, which in turn should have an impact on defense budgets. That might not be a bad thing: many countries have imported costly platforms they do not need. Indeed, shrinking budgets could refocus the ways and means on actual threats, rather than those conjured by political and military elites. Yet, the greatest impact of COVID-19 on regional security will be in the domain of civil-military relations. Weak governance has given space to militaries to assert themselves, often with the encouragement of weak or authoritarian-minded political leaders.
If the COVID-19 crisis persists, militaries in Southeast Asia will likely be called upon to enforce quarantines in countries with high rates of poverty and little in the way of social safety nets. The Philippines and Indonesia are both food insecure, and rely on imports of rice and other commodities which are increasing in price as other countries curb exports. Beyond existing, worrisome trends towards a greater military role in domestic society and politics, then, the potential for quashing mass unrest driven by food insecurity looms large as an additional threat to civilian governance.
Zachary Abuza is a professor at the National War College, Washington, DC and an adjunct at Georgetown University's Security Studies Program. The views are his personal opinions and do not reflect the opinions of the National War College or the U.S. Department of Defense.
Image: Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence