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How to Get Your Enterprise Digitally Ready and Agile
In collaboration with HCL Technologies, Apr 27, 2016
Survival for most businesses today requires that they go digital. Competitive landscapes are being redrawn by 24/7 access via mobile and other connected devices as well as customers' ever-higher expectations for a better user experience. For companies at the starting gate, it is critical to articulate your digital needs, learn how to target your investments for maximum effect and create a culture in which lessons learned are fruitfully ploughed back into the firm — all with the goal of being digitally ready and agile.
In this white paper produced by Knowledge@ Wharton and sponsored by HCL Technologies, six experts look at what makes up the sharpest digital strategies. Kalyan Kumar B (KK), executive vice president and CTO of ITO and Digital at HCL Technologies, and Wharton professors Eric K. Clemons and Jerry (Yoram) Wind, offer their views along with technology leaders at Novelis, Manchester United and a major U.S. payments transfer and financial services firm.
International Data Corp. (IDC), in a recent series of conferences, identified key trends that will impact the ability of organizations to digitally transform over the next few years. Among them are the following: By the end of 2017, two-thirds of CEOs from the Forbes Global 2000 companies will center their corporate strategies on digital transformation. In 2016, 65% of large enterprises will have committed to becoming information-based companies. Gartner's recent CMO Spend Survey 2015- 2016 also revealed that 65% of marketers ranked social marketing as the highest area of investment in 2015.
"Digital transformation requires businesses to step up and build a vision that drives userexperience effectiveness," emphasizes Kalyan Kumar B (KK), executive vice president and CTO of ITO and Digital at HCL Technologies. At a time when consumer behavior is one of the most important inputs to a business, building a digitally agile front-end is critical. Remember, smartphone users are smarter consumers.
A digital transformation vision drives an enterprise's ability to build their digital transformation strategy. According to Kumar, organizations embarking on this journey must start afresh; it would be "fake digital" if they superficially layered on their digital initiatives on top of legacy technology. They can leverage existing systems, but the effort must focus on creating digitally enabled platforms for operations and technology infrastructure.
Mobile, analytics, social media and the Internet of Things (IoT) are key elements of the strategy to ensure a maximized user experience, recommends Kumar. Together, they enable enterprises to achieve increased and effective engagement with users (internal/external), and to enhance the speed and quality of the market response.
"Digital transformation requires businesses to step up and build a vision that drives user-experience effectiveness." –Kalyan Kumar B (KK), HCL Technologies
Big data analytics, meanwhile, can help "discover patterns that no expert might have predicted," says Eric Clemons, a Wharton professor of operations, information and decisions. And online social networks "strengthen existing connections among individuals and groups, and allow those groups to remain connected over time and across time zones and huge spatial distances." They create "distributed pockets of autonomous connection, affiliation and even affection."
Digital Prerequisites
Before starting their digital journey, organizations must clear their path of three obstacles, says Jerry (Yoram) Wind, a Wharton marketing professor and director of the SEI Center for Advanced Studies in Management. "One is an aversion to risk, and that has to do with mental models and resulting business models that protect the status quo." The second is "a short-term orientation and lack of willingness to cannibalize the declining legacy business." The third is "a senior management that is not tuned into the rapidly changing digital reality and believes it can avoid being disrupted."
Traditionally, organizations had a "project management" mindset, where they fleshed out requirements specified by a business unit into a project plan and delivered the required software and hardware, says Kumar. In the digital world, they have to pivot to a "product management" mindset, where they deliver a "minimum viable product" and periodically incorporate feedback and new market needs. For example, a mobile app may be launched with limited features, but future versions will incorporate user feedback.
"Big data analytics, meanwhile, can help discover patterns that no expert might have predicted." –Eric Clemons, Wharton
The Digital Journey: Three Cases
A Major U.S. Payment Services Firm
With a rich legacy dating back over 100 years, the company's challenge today is to meet the needs of the digital consumer and it has decided to focus on six areas for its digital transformation: mobile, web, payments, risk, data and international web (it has separate systems for the U.S. market and the rest of the world).
The company's global reach is both "our strength and our challenge," says a senior executive at the company. Its group of brands has a network of more than 500,000 agent locations in 200 countries that serve 70 million customers. In 2014, it moved $85 billion through 255 million transactions. But instead of trying to change existing teams and processes, the company decided to tap the dynamism of Silicon Valley and formed an incubation unit in San Francisco, "with the Bay Area culture and its tech and creative mindset," he adds.
The incubation unit's primary goals were to create a "culture shift" to view its offering as a "digital product," foster a collaborative and agile work environment and "conquer risk," especially since the business deals with cash. "Unless you conquer risk, you cannot conquer digital," says the executive, adding that fraudsters are always lurking around his business.
The company's efforts have enabled payment transfers on mobile devices in five countries and on the web in 13 nations. It also digitalized funds transfers in and out of European, Asian and American banks. Today, it collects 40% of its revenue (including money transfers) through its digital apps, while its digitally enabled operations are growing 25% to 27% annually compared to single-digit growth for its traditional business. The company collects 1.5 billion records daily to assess fraud and works with 22 vendors who glean data to identify likely thieves.
Over the next 18 months, the company plans to expand its web-based services to 13 more countries and launch 10 new mobile apps. Also underway is a project to digitalize its loyalty program and self-service kiosks. Customers walking into a store do not have to fill out forms, but instead collect a QR code they can scan at a kiosk, pay the remittance money and walk out. The company now has 7,700 kiosks in a major U.S. drugstore chain and is rolling them out in another 300 U.K bookstores. Next stop for self-service kiosks is France, where it has signed on a partner.
Gartner's recent CMO Spend Survey 2015-2016 revealed that 65% of marketers ranked social marketing as the highest area of investment in 2015.
Novelis: Slimmer, More Agile and Cost-efficient
The case of Novelis, a major U.S. industrial aluminum processor, shows how a company can transition to a digital environment with minimal disruption of everyday operations to achieve significant gains.
Novelis' goals were the following: virtualization; elimination of data center duplication; process improvements; and a roll up of business operations, according to Kenneth Benson, global IT hosting director. The company invested significantly in the effort, including spending on new hardware and contracts with third-party service providers.
Virtualization, which involves moving away from dedicated physical servers to distributed systems serving multiple users, helps lower costs while greatly enhancing scalability and flexibility. When Novelis began its digital journey in March 2012, it was 20% virtualized across its 25 data centers. It achieved 88% virtualization in 18 months and is now 92% virtualized — the
maximum Benson sees as possible.
Novelis shuttered more than 20 data centers, and became tenants in Private Cloud Data Centers in Atlanta, Frankfurt and Seoul, as well as a disaster recovery site in Munich. This helped reduce its carbon footprint and ensured that, in an emergency, it could switch operations among data centers with documented recovery objectives. In its next phase, the company will transform again to make greater use of public cloud and ultimately achieve a hybrid cloud goal with some blended percentage of public and private cloud services.
Here are its gains from digital upgrades:
Novelis has saved $14 million from data center closings and reduced headcount. Annual savings came to $7 million to $8 million.
Digital tools gave the company the flexibility and cushion to absorb costs.
Business units gained greater transparency of the fees they pay for services like data storage and backup and gave them greater understanding of where they could drive efficiencies and reduce costs.
Business units now have more predictability in the availability of services. Some may need higher-performing services that call for more expensive infrastructure, while others may have more flexibility, such as with downtimes.
In handling 40 to 50 projects a year, half of the efforts by Benson's team would focus on building the required infrastructure. After digital transformation, that percentage dropped to 10% to 15%. For example, when Novelis recently sold its foil business in North America to Reynolds, the team could turn off related data storage and other IT assets within 30 days of closing the deal. Without digital transformation, the process would have taken months.
With real-time monitoring and access to performance data, Novelis can anticipate problems with storage, servers, networking and the like before they occur.
A more flexible storage platform makes compliance easier. Regulations require aluminum makers to store data for specified periods — seven years in the can industry and 20 years in the automotive industry — reflecting the life of aluminum in those environments.
Unless you conquer risk, you cannot conquer digital.
Manchester United: Fans Come First
As a British sports brand, Manchester United does not see other football teams as competitors, says Ian Fox, head of digital operations. Instead, "we're competing with global entertainment, content and broadcasting brands for a share of voice [or a measure of a brand's presence]."
Manchester United's top task in going digital is to retain, grow and deepen its engagement with its fan base, says Fox. In addition to the 76,000 fans that attend games at its home stadium Old Trafford, it counts 659 million global followers. It already engages heavily with fans through social media, its official TV channel MUTV, its website and a growing suite of mobile products.
Fox sees his prime goal as "producing better and more appropriate content, and delivering that seamlessly through whatever channel suits the fan best." Data analytics is another priority. "We know a little bit about many of our fans. If we know a lot about all of them, it will allow us to engage with them better and in a more appropriate way." A stronger relationship that creates more value for fans will ultimately translate into more value for the club and its sponsors, he adds. The brand has about 60 sponsors, among them Chevrolet, Adidas and Aon.
To be sure, Manchester United's digital projects will make sense only if they eventually bring more value to sponsors. "Sponsorship is the life blood of sports today," says Fox. In its latest fiscal year ending June 2015, sponsorship revenue grew 14% to 155 million pounds ($234 million) — one of two bright spots as total revenue fell 9% to 395 million pounds ($596 million) from the previous year.
The other bright spot in the past fiscal year for Manchester United was a 50% increase in social media followers to 100 million. That has since grown to 108 million, across 11 social media platforms. Helping that along were launches on the messaging platforms LINE and WeChat, as well as Kakao Story, and the social scrapbooking site Pinterest. On Pinterest alone, the team garnered 307,000 followers in early November.
For the next 12 to 18 months, Fox has prioritized social and mobile development initiatives, with plans to improve the web presence, create a global mobile app and rebuild the back-end technology infrastructure for both. He also wants to leverage an 'innovation lab' capability to explore emerging technology areas that support the next dimension of a fan's experience. The tangible ways of measuring returns on digital investments for Manchester include looking at the number of social connections, unique visitors to the website and app downloads, says Fox.
"You can have a million downloads of your mobile app but very small engagement – and that would be missing the point." –Ian Fox, Manchester United
Yet, the true measure is the depth of its engagement with fans. "You can have a million downloads of your mobile app but very small engagement — and that would be missing the point. Having a million downloads and a million active users on a mobile app are much more valuable to the club, and to the partners and sponsors," he adds.
Return on Digital Investments
Since digital transformation drives essential changes in the business, justifying digital investments is the responsibility of the entire company and not just its IT unit, asserts Kumar.
Metrics that measure the effectiveness and progression of the digital pathway include external and internal milestones. Wind notes that the external milestones include the percentage and growth rate of business that flows from digital channels and initiatives; the growth in the "share of wallet" that the enterprise captures from a customer's spending in a specific area; and the impact on the lifetime value of target customers.
Internal milestones include ensuring that the relevant "digital elements" are integrated into strategy; having "stretched objectives" on the number of engagements with online customers and followers; and making sure that "digital experiments" are a key part of business plans. Wind further notes that successful digital transformations will typically bring four broad benefits: increased automation and efficiency; better quality of decisions from using artificial intelligence and cognitive computing; rapid scalability; and the increasingly important ability to tap consumers to co-create and co-market products and services.
To be successful at digital, businesses must be willing to change.
Nike, The North Face and Jeld-Wen are some companies that let their customers co-create with them, according to a recent Knowledge@ Wharton article co-authored by Wind. "These organizations move their customers along the spectrum of affinity from 'transactors,' who have no relationship beyond the purchase, to 'supporters,' who regularly interact with the firm, to 'promoters,' who share their enthusiasm for the brand with friends and family, to 'co-creators,' who actually feel that they are partners with the organization."
Meanwhile, continuous adaptive experimentation will help those organizations track the performance of their digital initiatives, says Wind.
But digital technologies do bring risks that can be hard to control, says Clemons, who researches risks in strategic IT implementations. With collaboration comes greater freedom to do anything. "One has to do with the belief that if you put in a social network, you can control it. You may have your own social network within the firm that you monitor, but there are so many other ways for your employees to communicate and they may well construct their own social networks."
That autonomy can be risky. "Social networks are uncontrollable and therefore can be used in ways the firm does not intend," adds Clemons. He believes that is what played out in the recent case of Volkswagen's faking of emission readings for its diesel-powered cars. The Volkswagen executives involved must have "shared beliefs about protecting themselves and their group" over social networks, he adds.
"Volkswagen's senior management was not part of this social network and was not aware of the deliberations or of the decisions of this social network."
But as long as businesses are mindful of the risks involved and put in place policies to handle any blow ups, the benefits of going through a digital transformation offsets the downside.
Benefits of successful digital transformations are increased automation and efficiency, better quality of decisions, rapid scalability, and ability to tap consumers to co-create and co-market products and services.–Jerry Wind, Wharton
To be successful at digital, businesses must be willing to change. "In some cases, they may end up rewriting the business model itself," Kumar says. Some will have to cannibalize their current business to make way for the digital opportunity. "The problem is people are in the comfort zone of their legacy business."
The New Digital Frontier
So how do you handle the new challenges of going digital? "Be prepared to face the unknown," says the executive for the payments transfer company. "Every time you find an obstacle in the transformation process, do not give up. Reinvent yourself completely."
At Novelis, communicating the full digital rollout plan with various business units was useful, says Benson, adding that his team continually incorporated feedback. Flexibility also helped. The units had cautioned him that their needs could change midstream. "We had to change as those business strategies changed."
Manchester United deployed "a deep, well-considered and tested strategy" of staying connected across the business including ticketing, hospitality and merchandise sales, says Fox. In particular, he advises companies to sharpen their focus, prioritize investments and have sufficient bandwidth to allow for flexibility in innovation and infrastructure scalability. He also cautions against incurring "technical debt," or hastily spending on the wrong or soon-to-be obsolete technology. Fox's final watchword is to "get the right partners who truly understand your vision, have the right ethics and innovate along the way."
"How to Get Your Enterprise Digitally Ready and Agile." Knowledge@Wharton. The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 27 April, 2016. Web. 21 January, 2022	<https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/how-to-get-your-enterprise-digitally-ready-and-agile/>
How to Get Your Enterprise Digitally Ready and Agile. Knowledge@Wharton (2016, April 27). Retrieved from https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/how-to-get-your-enterprise-digitally-ready-and-agile/
"How to Get Your Enterprise Digitally Ready and Agile" Knowledge@Wharton, April 27, 2016,
accessed January 21, 2022. https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/how-to-get-your-enterprise-digitally-ready-and-agile/
How Data Analytics Can Help Advance DEI
During a Leading Diversity@Wharton event, Wharton's Stephanie Creary spoke with experts about how increasing access to accurate data can help drive changes in DEI policies.
Baoku China: An Art-centric Real Estate Platform
Baoku China is using art to enhance property values as well as enrich the lives of residents and the wider community.


The 2018-19 Carnival is Coming!
The Horizon Carnival will be on Thursday, June 13th, 2019!
Stay tuned for more information on this event. The PTA is in the process of planning the details!
In the meantime, if you'd like to be a part of the Carnival Planning Committee, please email us or join us at a monthly PTA board meeting. We always welcome new ideas and support!
We will need a large number of volunteers for this event to be successful yet again!
A link to volunteer slots on the Signup Genius website will be posted and emailed as the event draws nearer.
You can also sign up for volunteer opportunities by contacting us at horizonpta@outlook.com.


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Concert to mark Party centenary
Conductor Yu Long (center) and musicians of the China Philharmonic Orchestra go through rehearsals earlier this year in Beijing. The orchestra will stage a New Year concert on Wednesday. [Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily] Orchestras to ring in new year with rousing renditions of classics and modern pieces, Chen Nan reports. Under the baton of conductor Yu Long, the China Philharmonic Orchestra will welcome the new year with a concert at Beijing's Poly Theater on Wednesday. They will perform along with musicians from two other Chinese symphony orchestras: the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra. On Oct 1, 2019, more than 1,000 musicians from 16 Chinese symphony orchestras, including the China Philharmonic Orchestra, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, performed together in a concert marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The upcoming concert will have the three symphony orchestras perform programs marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China in 2021.The concert will open with a classic Chinese song, titled Sing a Song for the Party, featuring soprano Gong Shuang. The song, first released in 1963 and written by Zhu Jian'er and Jiao Ping, has been adapted by Chinese composer Zou Ye. Another popular Chinese song, I Love You, China, which was released in 1979 and written by composer Zheng Qiufeng and lyricist Qu Cong, will close the concert featuring soprano Huang Ying. "Every year we bring the audience a New Year concert and this year, we chose some classic Chinese songs to dedicate to our country," says conductor Yu, who was appointed as principal conductor of the China National Opera House in Beijing in 1992 and involved in the planning of the first Beijing New Year's Concert later that year. In 2000, Yu founded the China Philharmonic Orchestra and as the orchestra's artistic director, chief conductor, he led the orchestra to perform its first New Year concert on Dec 31, 2000. Since then, the New Year concert has become a tradition for the orchestra. The music channel of CCTV has live-broadcast the New Year concert by the orchestra every year since 2000.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


5 Results for the Tag "Baby Photographer Singapore"!
Babyu Is a cute baby photos that provides junior photography services for actual day family photographer Singapore and maternity photo studio.
As you may know, baby photography is trending very much nowadays. These are something which parents wish to do happily for their babies.
Do you need a Photographer? In this age where we are more accustomed to be working on our phones, clicking away pictures of our lives, would it be all that relevant to hire a photographer to do the job you can do yourself.
Kids @ Work consist of a team of professional photographer who has been capturing Kids Photography and Baby Photography Singapore. We do not believe in intensive marketing cost which will ultimately pie off from your pocket.


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Diadiplosis vaupedis är en tvåvingeart som först beskrevs av Harris 1968.  Diadiplosis vaupedis ingår i släktet Diadiplosis och familjen gallmyggor.

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

Källor

Gallmyggor
vaupedis

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The shop is available on terms to be agreed, at a rental of £8,500 per annum exclusive.
With prominent frontage to Market Street, adjoining Silk Sisters and opposite Mouncey's Newsagent and Newmarket. The latter links to Bondgate in this popular market town. The Market Square and bus station are also in close proximity.
This provides an opportunity to lease a ground floor retail unit forming part of this Grade II Listed building. The shop lends itself to a variety of retail uses.
The Valuation Office website indicates that the premises are assessed to Rateable Value £7,900 under the 2017 Rating List.
The Business Rates payable for 2018/2019 are 48p in the £.
Applicants eligible for small business relief would be able to claim 100% rate relief on this property for the financial year 2018/2019.


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Durch Initialzündung wird ein Explosivstoff mit Hilfe eines Initialsprengstoffes zur Detonation gebracht.

Im gewerblichen Bereich werden Sprengstoffe mittels Sprengzünder gezündet. Bei einfacher Zündung durch eine Lunte oder Ähnliches würde der Explosivstoff entweder gar nicht reagieren oder nur langsam abbrennen. Vorteil der Initialzündung ist der relativ ungefährliche Transport von Sprengstoffen oder Munition; die Initialzündung wurde 1863 von Alfred Nobel erfunden.

Im allgemeinen Sprachgebrauch versteht man unter Initialzündung auch die "zündende Idee" oder ein Ereignis, das eine Folge weiterer Ereignisse, Ideen oder Entwicklungen auslöst.

Literatur
 Richard Escales: Die Explosivstoffe. Sechstes Heft Nitrosprengstoffe, Verlag von Veit und Comp., Leipzig 1915.
 R. Biedermann: Die Sprengstoffe ihre Chemie und Technologie. Zweite Auflage, B. G. Teubner Verlag, Leipzig / Berlin 1917.

Weblinks
 Nitroglycerin und die Verwendung früher und heute (abgerufen am 16. April 2020)
 Begleitende analytische Untersuchungen (abgerufen am 16. April 2020)
 Umwandlung von Alkoholen in Ester (abgerufen am 16. April 2020)
 Was ihr schon immer (nicht) über Sprengstoff wissen wolltet (abgerufen am 16. April 2020)
 Wesen und Wirkungsweise der modernen Explosivstoffe (abgerufen am 16. April 2020)

Sprengtechnik


The top three occupations in the Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group are Retail salespersons, Firstline supervisors of retail sales workers, Cashiers, Customer service representatives, and Nonfarm animal caretakers. On average, full-time employees in the Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group work 43 hours per week and have an average annual salary of $45,863. Part-time employees in the same industry work 21.8 hours and earn an average annual salary of $11,471.
The locations with the highest concentration of employees in the Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group are Lincoln City (North) PUMA, NE, Jacksonville City (North & West) PUMA, FL, and Brookhaven Town (Central) PUMA, NY. The industry that purchases the most products or services from the Hospitals Industry Group is Miscellaneous retail stores.
A snapshot of jobs, wages, and opportunities in the Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group. Retail salespersons are the most common position, but the Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group employs a relatively high number of Etchers & engravers, compared to other industries.
The highest average salary in Miscellaneous retail stores goes to Software developers, applications & systems software.
According to ACS estimates, the number of people employed in the Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group has been growing at a rate of 0.805%, , from 462k people in 2016 to 466k people in 2017.
The following graphic shows the share of employment in Miscellaneous retail stores by various occupations according to ACS estimates. Retail salespersons represent the largest share of positions held in Miscellaneous retail stores at 25.1%, followed by Firstline supervisors of retail sales workers with 23.7% and Cashiers with 9.23%.
The most common occupations in the Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group, by number of employees, are Retail salespersons, Firstline supervisors of retail sales workers, Cashiers, Customer service representatives, and Nonfarm animal caretakers.
Compared to other Industry Groups, Miscellaneous retail stores employs an unusually high number of Etchers & engravers, Nonfarm animal caretakers, and Animal trainers.
The highest paid occupations in Miscellaneous retail stores, by average wage, are Software developers, applications & systems software, Human resources workers, and Chief executives & legislators.
On average, employees in the Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group make $33,626 per year. This number makes Miscellaneous retail stores the 225 highest paying Industry Group in the United States out of a total of 266 Industry Groups.
This map shows which public use microdata areas (PUMAs) pay the highest average salary to employees in the Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group.
Miscellaneous retail stores has a wage GINI of 0.517, which is more than than the national average of 0.479. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly in Miscellaneous retail stores (shown in red) in comparison to the national average for those wage buckets (shown in gray).
This map shows the PUMAs in the United States that have revealed comparative advantage in the Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group.
These are locations that employ more people in the Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group than expected given both the size of that location's overall labor pool and the national size of the Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group.
Demographic information on the Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group in the US. Male employees tend to earn more than Female employees, with average respective salaries of $41,349 and $26,622. So too tend to earn more than other races and ethnicities in this industry.
52.4% of workers in the Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group are Female, making them the more common gender in the workforce. This chart shows the gender breakdown of the Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group.
On average, Male workers in the Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group make 1.55 times more than their Female counterparts. This chart shows the gender-based wage disparity in the 5 most common occupations in the Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group.
On average, Asian employees in the Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group earn 1.18 times more than other races and ethnicities. This chart shows the race and ethnicity-based wage disparities in the 5 most common occupations in the Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group.
Estimates of the sources of the costs and the purchasers of the products in the Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group. Based on estimates from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, this section indicates the amount of money spent by a specific industry in other industries. Professional and business services has the highest single input, by dollars, to the Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group, and the largest industry purchasing services from the Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group is Construction.
The closest comparable data for Miscellaneous retail stores is from Retail Trade.
The Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group gets the most input, by its share of the cost of all intermediate inputs, from the Professional and business services Industry. This visualization does not include labor and capital costs.
The Construction Industry purchases the greatest share of products and services from the Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group in order to produce other goods and services. Purchases of the Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group for final consumption by consumers, businesses, or government are not included here.
Growth projections of the Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group, both by number of employees and output, from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. The national workforce is projected to grow 8.13% in the next ten years. The Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group has a lower projected workforce growth at N/A%. Its projected 10-year growth in output (N/A%) is lower than the projected national growth in output (24.6%).
This line chart shows the projected 10-year growth in the number of jobs for the Miscellaneous retail stores Industry Group, which is lower than the national average of 8.13%.


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Head of Center
Research Group Heads
Center Research
Related Research (Center members)
Ad Hoc Solicited Research
Outside Sources
COVID-19 Academic publications
Events / Youtube
Engineering, Technology and Planning
Research Gaps
Related Research (By Center Members)
Public Health & Emergency Medicine
Welfare and Social Work
Environment group
Head: Prof. Eran Feitelson, Hebrew University
The environmental group focusses primarily on natural disasters and their impact on humans, as well as actions by humans that affect their vulnerability to natural disasters. These include issues such as the ability to identify the potential magnitudes, frequencies, and effects of extreme events based on past geo-morphological and archeological evidence, as well as the identification of impacts caused by more recent events occurring in the last centuries and decades. Such events include floods, earthquakes and tsunamis, as well as droughts. Due to climate change, what was once perceived as being an extreme event during the period for which records exist (such as 100 year floods) may no longer be considered out-of-the-norm. Climate change may also introduce new threats, such as those caused by sea-level rise and potential changes in large-scale atmospheric oscillations. As the latest implications of hurricane Harvey in Houston make clear, there is a need to identify the potential for events that exceed those recorded so far.
A second direction for research includes the implications of human actions, such as land cover changes, for the occurrence and impacts of natural disasters. Israel is a particularly densely populated country. Hence, the changes in land use and landscape are particularly pronounced. These have implications both on the severity of extreme events, and on the impacts such events may have. For example, the compacting of land and the reduction of open spaces impact runoff from precipitation, thereby increasing the risk of floods, and as more residences are built in low-lying areas more populated areas are prone to such flooding. Moreover, if the infrastructure standards are set according to dated data regarding the extremeness of events, then the impacts on residences, and the threats on life increase.
A third direction focuses on the intersections between emergency preparedness to natural disasters and strengthening the populations' resilience and public health infrastructure in the broad sense. This area of research includes communications, both in terms of the appropriate medium/mechanisms (how?) and content (what?). In addition, we will seek to explore the ways the public can participate in emergency preparedness and mitigation in participatory processes, including the use of digital technologies such as smartphones and social networks for both data collection and dissemination. This is a reoccurring theme in a number of groups.
A fourth stream focuses on the impacts of extreme events on the functioning of social-ecological systems and the responses taken by humans to reduce their vulnerability to such events. Building on the results of the first two research directions, the various measures taken by state institutions to address extreme events of different types and magnitudes will be identified with a focus on recent events such as the Mount Carmel fires. The observed or potential success of these measures in mitigating the impacts caused by consequent and future events will be assessed. The studies that address these issues will include both modelling studies and field research.


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by Randall McNeely | Apr 5, 2018 | Randall McNeely: Pure Testimony | 0 comments
I grew up listening each week to Paul Harvey on the radio. One of my favorite segments was when he would share stories about famous people without indicating who he was talking about until the very end. His signature tagline as he finished was, "And now you know the rest of the story." I loved The Rest of the Story.
Several years ago, I came to appreciate those words — "the rest of the story" — more greatly than I thought possible.
The Big Trip
It was October 25, 2009. The morning started out with the normal chaos of last minute packing, hurrying and scurrying about making final preparations before the big trip — but this was no ordinary big trip. My family and I had been living in England for nearly three and a half years and now it was time to go home. Only I would not be going with them. I still hadn't found a job to return to, so my company allowed me to stay an extra month while I continued my search. Meanwhile my wife and four children (13, 9, 6, and 2) were going back to Denver, CO.
". . . this was no ordinary big trip."
As you might imagine, my wife felt overwhelmed with the prospect of traveling with the children without me. Going through airports was daunting enough when she was by herself, (she HATES airports!) but going through three airports with four children and all of the luggage that goes along with that, as well as having to deal with customs, seemed like trying to climb Mount Everest. But it had to be done, and being the amazing person she is, she went forward with faith, trusting in the Lord that somehow they would make it. Little did she know that morning how much her faith would be tested before the end of the day.
In the midst of all the scurrying, my two-year-old son came into the room and let out a barking cough that sounded like a seal. Oh no! Croupy cough! I thought. That was a major concern because whenever he got a croupy cough, my son, at that point in his life, always got really bad asthma. I asked my wife if she had his inhaler and she assured me she did, so I felt a little less concerned. I immediately thought, however, "I need to give him a priesthood blessing before they leave." That was my good intention. Yet in the rush to get everything done and get the family out the door, I forgot until after they were already gone.
Airport Mayhem
Fast forward eight or nine hours. Later that afternoon, I received a call from my mother-in-law. My wife and the children had arrived safely in Chicago, but all was not well. My son was really struggling to breathe and in the urgency to get through customs and get their bags re-checked, my wife forgot to grab his inhaler and the spacer that he had to have (it had a mask to put over his nose and the inhaler was placed at the other end of a tube that attached to the mask because he was too small to take it directly) in order to use it. Now they were at the gate and my wife sat there cradling our boy, at a loss as to what to do for him. She prayed mightily and felt like she should call and ask her mom to get in touch with me and ask me to pray, hence the phone call.
When we feel helpless, there is always a resource we can take advantage of: the power of prayer.
I immediately knelt down with the phone and I and my mother-in-law did indeed pray mightily. I felt horribly guilty for forgetting to give my boy a blessing and for not being there with my wife in her time of need. With those feelings swirling around my heart and mind, I plead with the Lord to bless my dear sweetheart with comfort and wisdom to know what to do. I prayed with all my heart for my boy, that his breathing would somehow get better and that all would be okay. I closed the prayer saying, "Nevertheless, Thy will, not mine, be done," trusting that somehow everything would be okay. Then I hung up.
Over the next three hours I returned to my knees several times. When I wasn't kneeling, I was praying in my heart. As the time neared that they should have arrived in Denver, I keep looking at the clock and hoping to hear the sound of my phone ringing. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, it did ring, and my wife's lovely voice greeted my ears. She let me know that they had arrived safely in Denver and were at my mother-in-law's town home. I then asked her what had happened in Chicago, and she told me to sit down while she told me "the rest of the story."
A God of Miracles
After hanging up with her mother, my wife sat there and started weeping openly. The woman next to her was kind enough to ask if there was anything she could do for her. My sweetheart explained the situation with our boy and lamented the fact that she'd left his inhaler in the luggage and didn't know what to do for him.
The woman listened carefully and then spoke up and said, "Well, I have an inhaler here. From what you've said, I believe it is the same as your boy's."
"Well, I have an inhaler here. From what you've said, I believe it is the same as your boy's."
My wife looked at it and it was exactly the same. But then she said, "I still can't use it for him, however. He's too small to take it by mouth. He needs a mask with a spacer tube, and I left his in his luggage with the inhaler."
Just then a man next to the woman spoke. "I apologize for not saying anything sooner. I'm a doctor. If we can find a cup that we can punch a hole through, we can use that as a spacer."
A woman across the aisle then spoke up and said, "I have a plastic cup here, will that do?"
"Yes," the doctor responded, and took the cup from her.
In no time, the doctor had a hole through the cup and was able to insert the inhaler. My wife was then able to use it and within a few minutes my son's breathing improved.
My wife thanked everyone involved profusely and then bowed her head in prayer and thanked Heavenly Father for that blessed miracle.
"No sooner had she opened her eyes and looked up, when a young man in a suit with a missionary name tag was walking through the airport . . ."
But the miracles weren't through. Though she was comforted that our son's breathing was better, she still longed for the comfort that could only come through knowing that he had received a priesthood blessing. As she prayed, she poured out her desires to our loving Heavenly Father, pleading that somehow a missionary would be sent her way so she could recognize a priesthood holder and get a blessing for our son.
No sooner had she opened her eyes and looked up, when a young man in a suit with a missionary name tag was walking through the airport right in front of her. She called out to him and he, and his father who was walking with him, came over to her.
"Could you please give my boy a blessing? He's having trouble breathing. This woman was kind enough to let me user her inhaler, so he's breathing better for now, but I'd feel a lot better if he had a blessing."
The young man had oil with him. He anointed my son and then he and his father gave my boy a blessing.
Our son was fine for the rest of the trip. By the time they arrived in Denver, he was breathing almost normally.
To read more of Randall's articles, click here.
Was it just luck that a woman with the same kind of inhaler ended up sitting next to my wife in the Chicago airport? Was it just a happy chance that a doctor who knew what to do just happened to be there, or that a woman with a plastic cup was also right nearby? Was it just a "one of those things" that a missionary was walking by at exactly the right time?
Were all of these things just coincidences? No. I don't believe in coincidences. I do believe, and know, that we have a loving Heavenly Father who hears the prayers of those who put their trust in Him, and prepares a way for them to be answered. I know that the power of the priesthood is real. I know that God is a God of miracles.
And now you know "the rest of the story."
About Randall McNeely
Randall McNeely is a husband, father of five, and author. He is also a singer/songwriter and has written several patriotic songs, children's songs, and multiple religious hymns. The best known is 'Oh Jesus, Savior of Mankind', which won a Special Recognition award in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints 2008 Music Submission contest. He and two of his daughters have also recorded and released the children's song Everybody Speaks Smile! Randy has a firm testimony of Jesus Christ. He is the light and the life of the world. It is said and written of Him that "He went about doing good." In doing so, He weaved light into the hearts and souls of all with whom He came in contact, both in word and deed. Randy's desire is to have the same said of him. He wants to have the words and lyrics he writes uplift, inspire, and bless others. To read more articles by Randy visit his Pure Testimony website at www.puretestimony.org.
Twitter •
Inspired by a Better Cause- Lessons From Alma Chapter 43 Draw Near Unto Me Seek Me Diligently Ask and Ye Shall Receive


Take side trips to fascinating points of interest around the US with a longtime travel writer who knows where to find lost history, rustic landmarks . . .
Shirrel Rhoades is a writer, critic, filmmaker, former college professor, art collector, and publishing consultant. These days, he calls Key West home. He and his wife share their historic classic temple revival style house in Old Town with a number of dogs and cats.
AEJMC is a group of journalism professors who teach courses in magazine writing, editing, management, and design at dozens of colleges and universities around the world.
Long known as a literary haven, Key West also serves as backdrop for some of the world's best mystery stories. For the first time ever, eight of Key West's leading mystery writers are collected into one volume. Included here are stories by Tom Corcoran, Michael Haskins, Jonathan Woods, Lucy Burdette, Hal Howland, Mike Dennis, Jessica Argyle, and Shirrel Rhoades. "Can't-put-'em-down stories by Key West's best mystery writers" observes legendary Reef Perkins.


text:
Q: Cannot obtain a mutable reference when iterating a recursive structure: cannot borrow as mutable more than once at a time I'm trying to navigate a recursive data structure iteratively in order to insert elements at a certain position. To my limited understanding, this means taking a mutable reference to the root of the structure and successively replacing it by a reference to its follower:
type Link = Option<Box<Node>>;

struct Node {
    next: Link
}

struct Recursive {
    root: Link
}

impl Recursive {
    fn back(&mut self) -> &mut Link {
        let mut anchor = &mut self.root;
        while let Some(ref mut node) = *anchor {
            anchor = &mut node.next;
        }
        anchor
    }
}

(Rust playground link)
However, this fails:
error[E0499]: cannot borrow `anchor.0` as mutable more than once at a time
  --> src/main.rs:14:24
   |
14 |         while let Some(ref mut node) = *anchor {
   |                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^
   |                        |
   |                        second mutable borrow occurs here
   |                        first mutable borrow occurs here
...
18 |     }
   |     - first borrow ends here

error[E0506]: cannot assign to `anchor` because it is borrowed
  --> src/main.rs:15:13
   |
14 |         while let Some(ref mut node) = *anchor {
   |                        ------------ borrow of `anchor` occurs here
15 |             anchor = &mut node.next;
   |             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ assignment to borrowed `anchor` occurs here

error[E0499]: cannot borrow `*anchor` as mutable more than once at a time
  --> src/main.rs:17:9
   |
14 |         while let Some(ref mut node) = *anchor {
   |                        ------------ first mutable borrow occurs here
...
17 |         anchor
   |         ^^^^^^ second mutable borrow occurs here
18 |     }
   |     - first borrow ends here

This makes sense as both anchor and node refer to the same structure, but I actually don't care about anchor any more after destructuring it.
How could back() be implemented correctly using safe Rust?

A: You can use recursion to satisfy the borrow checker. This has the disadvantage of creating a stack frame for every item in your list. If your list is long, this will definitely run into a stack overflow. LLVM will optimize the Node::back method into a loop (see the LLVM IR generated on the playground)
impl Node {
    fn back(&mut self) -> &mut Link {
        match self.next {
            Some(ref mut node) => node.back(),
            None => &mut self.next,
        }
    }
}

impl Recursive {
    fn back(&mut self) -> Option<&mut Link> {
        self.root.as_mut().map(|node| node.back())
    }
}

A: It is possible... but I wish I had a more elegant solution.
The trick is NOT to borrow from anchor, and therefore to juggle between two accumulators:

*

*one holding the reference to the current node

*the other being assigned the reference to the next node

This leads me to:
impl Recursive {
    fn back(&mut self) -> &mut Link {
        let mut anchor = &mut self.root;

        loop {
            let tmp = anchor;
            if let Some(ref mut node) = *tmp {
                anchor = &mut node.next;
            } else {
                anchor = tmp;
                break;
            }
        }

        anchor
    }
}

Not exactly pretty, but this is something the borrow checker can get behind so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
@ker has improved on this by creating an unnamed temporary:
impl Recursive {
    fn back(&mut self) -> &mut Link {
        let mut anchor = &mut self.root;

        loop {
            match {anchor} {
                &mut Some(ref mut node) => anchor = &mut node.next,
                other => return other,
            }
        }
    }
}

The trick here is that using {anchor} moves the content of anchor into an unnamed temporary on which the match executes. Therefore, in the match block we are not borrowing from anchor but from the temporary, leaving us free to modify anchor. See the related blog post Stuff the Identity Function Does (in Rust).

A: It works:
fn back(&mut self) -> &mut Link {
    let mut anchor = &mut self.root;
    while anchor.is_some(){
        anchor = &mut {anchor}.as_mut().unwrap().next;
    }
    anchor
}

A: The original code works as-is once non-lexical lifetimes are enabled:
type Link = Option<Box<Node>>;

struct Node {
    next: Link,
}

struct Recursive {
    root: Link,
}

impl Recursive {
    fn back(&mut self) -> &mut Link {
        let mut anchor = &mut self.root;
        while let Some(node) = anchor {
            anchor = &mut node.next;
        }
        anchor
    }
}

Non-lexical lifetimes increases the precision of the compiler's borrow checker, allowing it to see that the mutable borrow of anchor is no longer used. We can also simplify the keywords in the if let due to recent language changes.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Freight trains passing (looped), horns close and distant, engines idling, engines passing, local trains passing, cars banging, rails scraping, hydraulics, rolling to stop, radio communications and more.
Gear Used: Sound Devices 633, Schoeps CMC6(pair), Schoeps MK2(pair) and Schoeps CMXY 4V. RME Fireface802, Steinberg Nuendo, Steinberg Wavelab, Waves Mercury Bundle.


Once your Par-ky floor is installed, you can fit matching wood skirtings for that finishing touch. Our trendy skirtings are 80mm high but they can easily be shortened to 60mm or even 25mm. Cut the skirtings to the desired height along the grooves. It's up to you to decide.


The DIA report Mark Pomerleau is writing about is a blast of the blindingly obvious, but now it is in writing for all to see. Some senior leaders will only now realize the role of information operations and information warfare in warfare.
The only heartburn I have about this report is the use of the term "information warfare", which is a now non-doctrinal term. When the report says "- Establishing information dominance in the early stages of a conflict to constrain an adversary's actions or slow information warfare activities" (I added the underline), there is no official definition of information warfare. I use the term precisely because it is not defined and apply it to what Russia is doing. This is an official DIA report that is using what should be unacceptable terms. Either information warfare is in the "DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms" or it is not.
– Expecting that cyber will act as a force multiplier when coupled with conventional capabilities during a conflict.
Basically, DIA did a great job stating the obvious….


text:
function [ ] = ZSL_Test(Dateset, Splitmode, ImgFtSource, modelpath)
% example
% ZSL_Test('CUBird', 'Easy', 'DET', 'trained_models/CUBird_Easy_DET.mat')

%%% specify the setting you want to test, and path to the trained model
if(~exist('Dateset', 'var'))    Dateset = 'CUBird';  end % {'CUBird', 'NABird'}
if(~exist('Splitmode', 'var'))  Splitmode = 'Easy';  end % {'Easy', 'Hard'}
% feature extracted based on (1)detected boundingbox or (2)annotation.
if(~exist('ImgFtSource', 'var')) ImgFtSource = 'DET'; end % {'DET', 'ATN'}
if(~exist('modelpath', 'var'))
    if(strcmp(Dateset, 'CUBird')&&strcmp(Splitmode, 'Easy')&&strcmp(ImgFtSource, 'DET'))
        modelpath = 'trained_models/CUBird_Easy_DET.mat';
    elseif(strcmp(Dateset, 'CUBird')&&strcmp(Splitmode, 'Easy')&&strcmp(ImgFtSource, 'ATN'))
        modelpath = 'trained_models/CUBird_Easy_ATN.mat';
    elseif(strcmp(Dateset, 'CUBird')&&strcmp(Splitmode, 'Hard')&&strcmp(ImgFtSource, 'DET'))
        modelpath = 'trained_models/CUBird_Hard_DET.mat';
    elseif(strcmp(Dateset, 'NABird')&&strcmp(Splitmode, 'Easy')&&strcmp(ImgFtSource, 'DET'))
        modelpath = 'trained_models/NABird_Easy_DET.mat';
    elseif(strcmp(Dateset, 'NABird')&&strcmp(Splitmode, 'Hard')&&strcmp(ImgFtSource, 'DET'))
        modelpath = 'trained_models/NABird_Hard_DET.mat';
    else
        error('You need to provide a trained model. ')
    end
end

model = load(modelpath);
path = get_datapath(Dateset, Splitmode, ImgFtSource, 0, 0, false);
fprintf('Model: %s\n', modelpath)

%%%%  prepare the data for testing.
img_feat_dict =  load(path.img_feat_path);
text_feat_dict = load(path.text_feat_path);
img_label_dict = load(path.img_label_path);
data_split_dict  = load(path.data_split_path);

label = img_label_dict.imageClassLabels(:, 2);
Data = double(img_feat_dict.cnn_feat');

ctr = data_split_dict.train_cid;
cte = data_split_dict.test_cid;

NumTrnClass = length(unique(ctr));
NumTstClass = length(unique(cte));
fprintf('Load Testing set\n')

NumClass = NumTrnClass + NumTstClass;
nPerClass = zeros(NumClass, 1);
IdPerClass = cell(NumClass, 1);
for idc = 1:NumClass

    IdPerClass{idc} = find(label==idc);
    nPerClass(idc) = sum(label==idc);
end

Xte = [];yte = [];
for idc = cte
    Xc = Data(IdPerClass{idc}, :);
    Xte = [Xte; Xc];
    yte = [yte; idc*ones(size(Xc,1),1)];
end

N_te = length(yte);
y_te = zeros(N_te, 1);
for n =1:N_te
    y_te(n) = find(cte==yte(n));
end

Z_te  = text_feat_dict.PredicateMatrix(cte, :)';

%%%% Test and display
fprintf('test_acc = %1.4f%%  \n', 100 * (1-get_error(Xte', model.W_x_opt, model.W_z_opt , Z_te, y_te)));

end

function err = get_error(X, W_x, W_z, Z, y)
    pred_score =X' * W_x' * W_z * Z;
    [~, maxIdx] = max(pred_score');
    pred_id = maxIdx';
    GT_id = y;
    err = sum(pred_id ~= GT_id) / length(y);
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Фінал Клубного чемпіонату світу з футболу 2013 — фінальний матч Клубного чемпіонату світу з футболу 2013 року, футбольного турніру для клубів-чемпіонів кожної з шести конфередераций ФІФА та чемпіона країни-господарки турніру.

Фінал був розіграний між німецькою «Баварією», що представляла Європу як переможець Ліги чемпіонів УЄФА 2012/213, і марокканською «Раджею», що представляв країну-господарку як чемпіон Марокко 2012/13. Матч був зіграний у Марракеші на однойменному стадіоні 21 грудня 2013 року.

Перед матчем
«Баварія» отримала право брати участь в турнірі як переможець Ліги чемпіонів УЄФА 2012/13, після перемоги над дортмундською «Боруссією» у фіналі. «Баварія» вперше брала участь у турнірі. Вона вийшла у фінал після перемоги над китайським «Гуанчжоу Евергранд» у півфіналі.

«Раджа» стала чемпіоном Марокко 2012/13 і взяла участь у турнірі як представник місцевого чемпіонату. «Раджа» вдруге брала участь у турнірі, перший раз це сталося в 2000 році, коли проходив перший розіграш турніру. Мароканський клуб також став другою командою з країни-господарки після «Корінтіанса» в 2000 році, і другою африканською командою після «ТП Мазембе» у 2010 році, що дійшла до фіналу турніру. «Раджа» вийшов у фінал після перемоги над новозеландським «Окленд Сіті» в плей-оф за вихід у чвертьфінал, мексиканським «Монтерреєм» у чвертьфіналі та бразильським «Атлетіко Мінейро» у півфіналі.

Шлях до фіналу

Матч

Деталі

Примітки

Посилання
 Статистика турніру на сайті rsssf.com

2013
2013 у футболі
Міжнародні футбольні змагання у Марокко
Грудень 2013


text:
const { assign } = require('lodash')

const investmentData = require('../../../../../test/unit/data/investment/investment-data.json')
const {
  transformInvestmentForView,
  transformToApi,
  transformFromApi,
} = require('../project')

describe('Investment project transformers', () => {
  describe('#transformInvestmentForView', () => {
    context('when called with a fully populated investment', () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        this.result = transformInvestmentForView(investmentData)
      })

      it('should include all the required properties', () => {
        expect(Object.keys(this.result)).to.deep.equal([
          'investor_company',
          'investment_type',
          'sector',
          'business_activities',
          'client_contacts',
          'description',
          'anonymous_description',
          'investor_type',
          'level_of_involvement',
          'specific_programme',
          'estimated_land_date',
          'actual_land_date',
        ])
      })
    })

    context('when called with an investor company', () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        const data = assign({}, investmentData, {
          investor_company: {
            name: 'test',
            id: '1234',
          },
        })
        this.result = transformInvestmentForView(data)
      })

      it('should provide the investor company as a link', () => {
        expect(this.result.investor_company).to.deep.equal({
          name: 'test',
          url: '/companies/1234',
        })
      })
    })

    context('when called with an investment type', () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        this.result = transformInvestmentForView(investmentData)
      })

      it('should return a formatted investment type value', () => {
        expect(this.result).to.have.property(
          'investment_type',
          'FDI, Capital only'
        )
      })
    })

    context('when a sector is provided', () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        const data = assign({}, investmentData, {
          sector: {
            id: '1234',
            name: 'test',
          },
        })

        this.result = transformInvestmentForView(data)
      })

      it('should include the sector name', () => {
        expect(this.result.sector).to.deep.equal({
          id: '1234',
          name: 'test',
        })
      })
    })

    context("when a sector isn't provided", () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        const data = assign({}, investmentData, {
          sector: null,
        })

        this.result = transformInvestmentForView(data)
      })

      it('should include a null sector', () => {
        expect(this.result).to.have.property('sector', null)
      })
    })

    context(
      'when there is are business activities but no other activities',
      () => {
        beforeEach(() => {
          const data = assign({}, investmentData, {
            business_activities: [
              {
                name: 'Call centre',
                id: '410da69e-0247-48cf-9f72-fbc10ed7a4fc',
              },
              {
                name: 'Sales',
                id: '410da69e-0247-48cf-9f72-fbc10ed7a4fd',
              },
            ],
            other_business_activity: '',
          })

          this.result = transformInvestmentForView(data)
        })

        it('should return business activities formatted as a string list', () => {
          expect(this.result).to.have.property(
            'business_activities',
            'Call centre, Sales'
          )
        })
      }
    )

    context(
      'when there are no business activies but there is another activity',
      () => {
        beforeEach(() => {
          const data = assign({}, investmentData, {
            business_activities: [],
            other_business_activity: 'Surfing',
          })

          this.result = transformInvestmentForView(data)
        })

        it('should return business activities formatted as a string list', () => {
          expect(this.result).to.have.property('business_activities', 'Surfing')
        })
      }
    )

    context('when there no business activities and no other activities', () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        const data = assign({}, investmentData, {
          business_activities: [],
          other_business_activity: '',
        })

        this.result = transformInvestmentForView(data)
      })

      it('should return business activities as an empty string', () => {
        expect(this.result).to.have.property('business_activities', '')
      })
    })

    context('when there are client contacts to show', () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        const data = assign({}, investmentData, {
          client_contacts: [
            {
              name: 'Allen Connelly',
              id: '7aac69c2-7af4-4c79-9622-f25eb7690f36',
            },
            {
              name: 'John Brown',
              id: '7aac69c2-7ae4-4c79-9622-f25eb7690f36',
            },
          ],
        })

        this.result = transformInvestmentForView(data)
      })

      it("should return the contact list as an object (including contact' URL", () => {
        expect(this.result.client_contacts).to.have.property('name')
      })
    })

    context('when there is a single client contact', () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        const data = assign({}, investmentData, {
          client_contacts: [
            {
              name: 'Allen Connelly',
              id: '7aac69c2-7af4-4c79-9622-f25eb7690f36',
            },
          ],
        })

        this.result = transformInvestmentForView(data)
      })

      it('should return an object with the contact name', () => {
        expect(this.result.client_contacts).to.have.property(
          'name',
          'Allen Connelly'
        )
      })

      it("should return an object with the url pointing to the contact's page", () => {
        expect(this.result.client_contacts).to.have.property(
          'url',
          '/contacts/7aac69c2-7af4-4c79-9622-f25eb7690f36'
        )
      })
    })

    context('when there are no client contacts to show', () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        const data = assign({}, investmentData, {
          client_contacts: [],
        })

        this.result = transformInvestmentForView(data)
      })

      it('should return an empty client contact', () => {
        expect(this.result).to.have.property('client_contacts', null)
      })
    })

    context('when a description is provided', () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        const data = assign({}, investmentData, {
          description: 'My description',
        })

        this.result = transformInvestmentForView(data)
      })

      it('should include the description', () => {
        expect(this.result).to.have.property('description', 'My description')
      })
    })

    context("when a description isn't provided", () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        const data = assign({}, investmentData, {
          description: null,
        })

        this.result = transformInvestmentForView(data)
      })

      it('should include a null description', () => {
        expect(this.result).to.have.property('description', null)
      })
    })

    context('when an anonymous description is provided', () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        const data = assign({}, investmentData, {
          anonymous_description: 'My description',
        })

        this.result = transformInvestmentForView(data)
      })

      it('should include the description', () => {
        expect(this.result).to.have.property(
          'anonymous_description',
          'My description'
        )
      })
    })

    context("when an anonymous description isn't provided", () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        const data = assign({}, investmentData, {
          anonymous_description: null,
        })

        this.result = transformInvestmentForView(data)
      })

      it('should include a null anonymous description', () => {
        expect(this.result).to.have.property('anonymous_description', null)
      })
    })

    context('when a investor type is provided', () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        const data = assign({}, investmentData, {
          investor_type: {
            name: 'Existing Investor',
            id: '40e33f91-f565-4b89-8e18-cfefae192245',
          },
        })

        this.result = transformInvestmentForView(data)
      })

      it('should include the description', () => {
        expect(this.result.investor_type).to.deep.equal({
          name: 'Existing Investor',
          id: '40e33f91-f565-4b89-8e18-cfefae192245',
        })
      })
    })

    context("when an investor type isn't provided", () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        const data = assign({}, investmentData, {
          investor_type: null,
        })

        this.result = transformInvestmentForView(data)
      })

      it('should include a null anonymous description', () => {
        expect(this.result).to.have.property('investor_type', null)
      })
    })

    context('when level of involvement is provided', () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        const data = assign({}, investmentData, {
          level_of_involvement: {
            name: 'HQ Only',
            id: '9c22137d-648e-4ecb-8fe7-652ac6a4f53a',
          },
        })

        this.result = transformInvestmentForView(data)
      })

      it('should include the level of involvement', () => {
        expect(this.result.level_of_involvement).to.deep.equal({
          name: 'HQ Only',
          id: '9c22137d-648e-4ecb-8fe7-652ac6a4f53a',
        })
      })
    })

    context("when a level of involvement isn't provided", () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        const data = assign({}, investmentData, {
          level_of_involvement: null,
        })

        this.result = transformInvestmentForView(data)
      })

      it('should include a null level of involvement', () => {
        expect(this.result).to.have.property('level_of_involvement', null)
      })
    })

    context('when a specific programme is provided', () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        const data = assign({}, investmentData, {
          specific_programme: {
            name: 'Screen Production Investment',
            id: 'ba042912-cd42-41b3-b813-b9f26a913331',
          },
        })

        this.result = transformInvestmentForView(data)
      })

      it('should include the specific programme', () => {
        expect(this.result.specific_programme).to.deep.equal({
          name: 'Screen Production Investment',
          id: 'ba042912-cd42-41b3-b813-b9f26a913331',
        })
      })
    })

    context("when a specific programme isn't provided", () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        const data = assign({}, investmentData, {
          specific_programme: null,
        })

        this.result = transformInvestmentForView(data)
      })

      it('should include a null for specific programme', () => {
        expect(this.result).to.have.property('specific_programme', null)
      })
    })

    context('when an estimated land date is provided', () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        const data = assign({}, investmentData, {
          estimated_land_date: '2017-01-07',
        })

        this.result = transformInvestmentForView(data)
      })

      it('should include the estimated land date formatted as Month Year', () => {
        expect(this.result).to.have.property(
          'estimated_land_date',
          'January 2017'
        )
      })
    })

    context('when an estimated land date is not provided', () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        const data = assign({}, investmentData, {
          estimated_land_date: null,
        })

        this.result = transformInvestmentForView(data)
      })

      it('should set the estimated land date as null', () => {
        expect(this.result).to.have.property('estimated_land_date', null)
      })
    })

    context('when an actual land date is provided', () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        const data = assign({}, investmentData, {
          actual_land_date: '2017-01-07',
        })

        this.result = transformInvestmentForView(data)
      })

      it('should include the actual land date as a date property', () => {
        expect(this.result.actual_land_date).deep.equal({
          type: 'date',
          name: '2017-01-07',
        })
      })
    })

    context('when an actual land date is not provided', () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        const data = assign({}, investmentData, {
          actual_land_date: null,
        })

        this.result = transformInvestmentForView(data)
      })

      it('should include the actual land date as a date property with null value', () => {
        expect(this.result.actual_land_date).to.be.null
      })
    })
  })

  describe('#transformToApi', () => {
    context('when called with an actual land date', () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        this.result = transformToApi({
          actual_land_date_day: '1',
          actual_land_date_month: '10',
          actual_land_date_year: '2016',
        })
      })

      it('should convert the field values into a date value', () => {
        expect(this.result).to.have.property('actual_land_date', '2016-10-1')
      })
    })

    context('when called with a partial actual land date', () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        this.result = transformToApi({
          actual_land_date_day: '1',
          actual_land_date_year: '2016',
        })
      })

      it('should return a malformed date for incomplete dates', () => {
        expect(this.result).to.have.property('actual_land_date', '2016--1')
      })
    })

    context('when called with no actual land date', () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        this.result = transformToApi({
          name: 'fred',
        })
      })

      it('should set the actual land date value to null', () => {
        expect(this.result).to.have.property('actual_land_date', null)
      })
    })
  })

  context('when called with an estimated land date', () => {
    beforeEach(() => {
      this.result = transformToApi({
        estimated_land_date_month: '10',
        estimated_land_date_year: '2016',
      })
    })

    it('should convert the field values into a date value', () => {
      expect(this.result).to.have.property('estimated_land_date', '2016-10-01')
    })
  })

  context('when called with a partial estimated land date', () => {
    beforeEach(() => {
      this.result = transformToApi({
        estimated_land_date_year: '2016',
      })
    })

    it('should return a malformed date', () => {
      expect(this.result).to.have.property('estimated_land_date', '2016--01')
    })
  })

  context('when called with no estimated land date', () => {
    beforeEach(() => {
      this.result = transformToApi({
        name: 'fred',
      })
    })

    it('should set the estimated land date value to null', () => {
      expect(this.result).to.have.property('estimated_land_date', null)
    })
  })

  describe('#transformFromApi', () => {
    context('when an estimated land date is provided', () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        const data = assign({}, investmentData, {
          estimated_land_date: '2017-12-15T14:25:38.989026Z',
        })

        this.result = transformFromApi(data)
      })

      it('should create a split date for month and year', () => {
        expect(this.result).to.have.property('estimated_land_date_year', '2017')
        expect(this.result).to.have.property('estimated_land_date_month', '12')
      })
    })

    context('when an estimated land date is not provided', () => {
      beforeEach(() => {
        const data = assign({}, investmentData, {
          estimated_land_date: null,
        })

        this.result = transformFromApi(data)
      })

      it('should not create a split date for month and year', () => {
        expect(this.result).to.not.have.property('estimated_land_date_year')
        expect(this.result).to.not.have.property('estimated_land_date_month')
      })
    })
  })
})


Taber Holidays has been a specialist tour operator to Nordic countries since 1973 offering a wide range of tours for the independent traveller during summer and winter. Their featured destinations are Norway (including Svalbard), Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Greenland.
Taber Holidays has been a specialist tour operator to the Nordic countries since 1973 offering a wide range of tours for the independent traveller during summer and winter. Their featured destinations are Norway (including Svalbard), Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Greenland.
At The Adventure Company, we are passionate about travel, approaching it with a sense of exploration and discovery. Our premium range – combining adventure with comfort. Heritage hotels in India, lodges in Africa, colonial hotels in Peru... Adventures to take your breath away� accommodation to . . .
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J. Prince — founder and CEO of the Houston label Rap-A-Lot Records — dished on some serious info when it comes to the Drake and Pusha T beef.
According to him, Drake recorded a diss record responding to Push's "The Story of Adidon," however he convinced Drake not to release it.
He says it would ruin Pusha T's and Kanye West's career.
Peep his statements on Sway In The Morning below.
J. Prince's words should definitely be taken seriously. According to Noisey, him and his son Jas Prince helped bring Drake into the rap game early on. Jas even reportedly introduced Drake to Lil Wayne, and J. Prince is listed as an executive producer on Thank Me Later and Nothing Was The Same.
Not to mention, J. Prince knows a thing or two about beef, having dissed everyone from Lil Wayne, to Suge Knight, to Diddy on the track "Courtesy Call." He even allegedly prevented Master P from killing Pimp C when the two got into a heated beef.
So yea, Prince has some say in the game.
It seems some of Twitter, however, is not impressed. Some think Prince is lying about an unreleased diss record, while others are taking his words seriously, considering his history. Swipe through to find out how the talk is moving!


text:
Home » IANS » Antibiotics may up heart disease risk in people with diabetes
Antibiotics may up heart disease risk in people with diabetes
Published on : Wed 05th August 2020, 02:21 PM
London, Aug 5 (IANS) Researchers have found that bacterial infections may elevate the risk of coronary heart disease in individuals with type 1 diabetes.
For the findings, published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, the research team wanted to investigate the association between bacterial infections and the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in type 1 diabetes.
"We were able to study the association between antibiotic purchases, endotoxemia and incident coronary heart disease in one of the largest cohorts of individuals with type 1 diabetes," said study authors from Folkhalsan Research Centre (FRC), in Finland.
"As diabetic nephropathy has a substantial impact on both the risk of CVD as well as the risk of infections, we further studied this association at different stages of diabetic nephropathy," authors added.
The findings showed that among 3,781 individuals with type 1 diabetes, 370 developed coronary heart disease over an average follow-up of 13.7 years.
Antibiotic purchases, reflecting bacterial infections in outpatient care, were significant risk factors for coronary heart disease, with a 21 per cent increased risk for each annual antibiotic purchase, according to the researchers.
A high blood level of bacterial lipopolysaccharides (large molecules derived from the outer layer of gram-negative bacteria) was also a risk factor for coronary heart disease.
"In broader terms, the present study demonstrates how infections associate with the development of late diabetic complications and perhaps even more importantly, how infections associate with the development of coronary heart disease, as the latter relationship has been disputed during recent years," said author Johan Rasmus Simonsen from FRC.
"Interestingly, in our study this association to incident coronary heart disease was seen specifically with antibiotic purchases, making the potential pathophysiologic mechanisms behind this finding intriguing and warranting further studies,"
The researchers noted that more studies are needed to further elucidate the pathophysiologic mechanisms behind this association.
bu/rs/
Tuesday 19th January 2021, 05:03 AM
UK reports 37,535 new Covid cases, 599 deaths
US Covid cases surpass 24 million: Johns Hopkins University
France registers 403 new Covid-19 deaths
17-year-old stabbed to death over cricket match scuffle
K'taka's anti-cow slaughter law comes into effect (Lead)
Fearful Washington hunkers down; fire disrupts inauguration rehearsal
Talks between govt, farmer leaders postponed to Jan 20
SC seeks response from parties on Chardham road widening project
South Central Railway's frontline staff receive Covid vaccine
B'desh Foreign Secy to visit India on Jan 27
Panel suggests provision for NCD issuance by LLPs
LS Speaker assures all Covid protocols during Budget Session
B'luru: Disgruntled BJP legislators to meet on Tuesday


text:
The Fourth Estate supports H.R. 4935: Journalist Protection Act
The Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corporation supports California Representative Eric Swalwell's (CA-15) legislation to protect journalists from physical attack.
The 'Journalist Protection Act' proposes to make certain attacks on reporters a federal crime.
The Journalist Protection Act's co-sponsors include:
Steve Cohen (TN-9),
David Cicilline (RI-1),
Grace Napolitano (CA-32),
Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC),
Andre Carson (IN-7),
Debbie Dingell (MI-12),
Darren Soto (FL-9),
Ro Khanna (CA-17),
Jose Serrano (NY-15),
Bobby Rush (IL-1),
Maxine Waters (CA-43),
Gwen Moore (WI-4).
HR-4935 aka The Journalist Protection Act, makes it a federal crime to intentionally cause bodily injury to a journalist affecting interstate or foreign commerce in the course of reporting or in a manner designed to intimidate him or her from newsgathering for a media organization
On the web: "H.R. 4935 — 115th Congress: Journalist Protection Act." www.GovTrack.us. 2018. March 25, 2018 <https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/hr4935>
Contact your legislators in the House of Representatives and urge them to support HR-4935 - The Journalist Protection Act! Tell them that Congress should enact legislation to protect journalists.
Source: The Fourth Estate
Tag(s): H.R. 4935 Journalist Protection Act Policy Official Statement


text:
Calderon's Harvard role shrouded in controversy
tags: Felipe Calderon, Harvard University, Javier Sicilia, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Mexico drug violence, Mexico news, petition, prison break, War on drugs Mexico
Over 30,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the University of Harvard to cancel the fellowship of Mexico's former president Felipe Calderon.
The petition at http://www.change.org cites the "100,000 dead from Calderon's ill-fated, U.S.-backed war on drugs … another 25,000 people missing … [and] horrendous pending civil rights and murder cases linked to the actions of Calderon's military and police."
Calderon earned a master's degree in public administration at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government in 2000 and will take up a year-long teaching position on January 28.
Poet-turned-activist Javier Sicilia, the leader of Mexico's Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, also wrote to Harvard this week, arguing that Calderon's appointment "does not meet ethical standards of the institution" and "is an insult to the victims of violence in Mexico."
David Ellwood, the dean of the Kennedy School, defended the decision to offer Calderon a fellowship, affirming that "we recognize that not everyone agreed with his policies or methods, as with all world leaders, but one of the fundamental principles of the Kennedy School and all U.S. universities is the free exchange of ideas."
The anti-Calderon campaigners aim to gather 125,000 signatures but they will not receive the backing of the Harvard University Mexican Association (HUMAS) which comprises 166 Mexican students, teachers and researchers from the institution. HUMAS said it was "an apolitical organization" and would not be taking action to support or oppose Calderon's appointment at the university.
from → Drug War, News, Politics
← Guanajuato to challenge Jalisco for tequila tourism
Government open to dialogue with EZLN →
John A Randolph permalink
Thank you Tequila Files! We are setting up a date for a press conference at or near Harvard. Stay tuned! And yes, we need more signatures on our bi-national petition!
Jalisco chief of staff survived Boston Marathon bombings | The Tequila Files


5 Ways to Well-being: Take Notice!
These 5 simple actions can improve your wellbeing, according to the New Economics Foundation report.
Well-being is more than just a physical state, it's defined as 'feeling good and functioning well'.


text:
Man rushed to hospital after putting live eel up his ass
By Raziel Reid Apr 10, 2013, 1:45 PM EDT
A man from China had an embarrassing hospital visit after putting a live 20-inch Asian swamp eel up his ass. He claims to have gotten the idea from a porn video and couldn't resist trying it himself. For the sake of the eel, I wish the pornstar had jumped off a bridge instead!
After the insertion, the man rushed to a hospital in the province of Guangdong, telling medics he could feel the eel moving through his body.
"The eel was simply trying to find its way out," a doctor at the hospital said. "It was still alive when we got it out but it died soon afterwards, which was probably a mercy. This was a particularly idiotic stunt and could have caused him a serious injury. Eels have small but very sharp teeth."
The police were called and an officer released a statement, saying, "We are aware of what happened and a 39-year-old man will be interviewed over alleged animal cruelty."
Now, I'm usually a size queen, but 20 inches has never seemed so unappealing . . .
This story is filed under Blogs & Columns, Human Interest
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text:
Covid becomes endemic. Indeed, no: it remains a pandemic. Who is right among the experts? - Sunday 16th January 2022 08:58 PM
He cuts the way to the bus, the driver Atac protests but is attacked with kicks and punches: shock in Rome - Sunday 16th January 2022 08:53 PM
The "second life" of the iPod Shuffle: from music player to hair clip. The Tiktoker idea goes around the web – VIDEO - Sunday 16th January 2022 08:44 PM
Covid also made a victim in Prato today. The decline in new cases continues [notiziediprato.it] - Sunday 16th January 2022 08:39 PM
Covid, Sileri: "Changes to the bulletin within two weeks" – Chronicle - Sunday 16th January 2022 08:39 PM
«Strict will be lightened, the distinction between positive and sick is coming. Almost everyone will have met Omicron by the end of the year " - Sunday 16th January 2022 08:35 PM
Budget law, from professional development funds to the covid ATA organic extension: this is what can change for schools
Covid-19 Christine News Sunday 28th November 2021 09:20 AM REPORT
Last hours available to political forces to present amendments to the 2020 budget law: in fact, the deadline expires on 29 November. What can change for the school?
We know that the text licensed by the executive presents several points relating to the school. However, while some don't seem to need major changes, for others the changes are necessary.
L'article 108 of the draft law of the 2022 maneuver intervenes on the discipline regarding the enhancement of the professionalism of the teaching staff, expanding the parameters to be considered for the use of resources and increasing the authorization of expenditure destined for this purpose.
In particular, paragraphs 1, lett. a), and 2, lett. a) and b), establish that the resources intended for the enhancement of the professionalism of state school teachers, pursuant to art. 1, co. 592 and 593, of Law 205/2017 (Budget Law 2018), are also aimed at rewarding dedication to teaching, commitment to promoting the school community and constant and qualified professional updating.
Paragraph 1, lett. b), increases the aforementioned resources (from 30 million) to 240 million annually from 2022.
The explanatory report emphasizes that this is intended to make the profession more attractive.
The Education and Culture Commission has expressed an opinion on this point in recent days.
"With regard to article 108, which allocates 240 million euros starting from 2022 for the enhancement of the professionalism of school teachers", we read the document drawn up by the Culture and Education Commission, which clarifies the purpose of the measure ".
Furthermore, "taking into account that, from an economic point of view, it would be a completely imperceptible recognition, that resources are significantly increased". Practically the parliamentarians in the committee are asking for more money for this item.
Finally, "the need that, from a professional point of view, dedication to teaching and commitment to promoting the school community represent objective criteria, not susceptible to discretion".
Another fundamental theme is the extension of the additional covid staff: the text of the maneuver provides for the extension for teaching staff only. But the political forces have highlighted how necessary it is to extend the contracts of alternate ATA staff. This is why several parties are presenting amendments to this effect.
According to what is known to Orizzonte Scuola, at the moment, the orientation would be to remove the reference "teaching staff" in favor of school staff. In this sense, schools would choose which contracts to extend, based on need. But the political forces will try to extend the funds available to include both teachers and Ata in a larger share than required by the initial text.
The approval process
After the deadline for submitting the amendments to the Budget Commission, the reports on the proposed amendments must arrive by 1 December (there could be 400).
According to Public Policy reports, the examination of the amendments could last about a week, thus reaching the green light in the Budget Committee between 13 and 14 December.
The provision could therefore arrive in the classroom on the 17th. After the go-ahead in the Senate, a quick second reading in the House between 20 and 23 December for final approval.
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text:
Harbour Fest Reference
Op Ed Pieces
Miscellaneous Assignments
In recent times many in our community have gradually divided themselves into two broad camps, blue and yellow. Arguably the process began with Occupy in 2014, but it has certainly been accelerated over the past year during the extradition saga. Positions on both sides have stiffened. Hard core blues can see no action by the police requiring censure or even investigation, while their yellow counterparts take as Gospel truth every rumour however wild and lacking in evidence.
It has become increasingly hard to hold the middle ground, to see error and truth on both sides. If we believe in democracy but also want a strong police force to keep the peace, where do we fit in? This is particularly a problem for commentators in the media. I have been arguing in this newspaper for 10 years now in favour of political reform because I believe it is essential for Hong Kong's long-term stability and prosperity. Since last year I have been pressing the case for an independent commission of inquiry because I believe this is a vital part of the process of reestablishing social harmony. As these points correspond to two of the "five demands, not one less" promulgated by the protesters, does this make me a yellow? On the other hand, I have unreservedly condemned the violence and vandalism perpetrated by some yellows, does this make me too pro government, maybe even a secret blue?
The extreme polarization of our society is very unhealthy. For one thing it has alienated so many of our well-educated young people. In other circumstances we might have looked to these students to provide the future leadership of the government including the police force. It may now be too late, they could all have been lost.
Let's look at some specific allegations from a neutral perspective. Have there been instances of excessive force or other misconduct by the police? There probably have, and the Yuen Long incident was a disgrace. Equally, some of the attacks by protesters are indistinguishable from terrorism. When you throw a Molotov cocktail at a policeman you create the possibility he and bystanders will be burned alive. Doxing the children of police officers is simply wrong, indefensible. These conclusions seem to me no more than common sense.
But then we come into areas where the conclusions are hotly disputed. Were people murdered at Prince Edward MTR station with bodies spirited away? The young man who fell to his death from a Tseung Kwan O carpark, a slip or a push? The young girl whose body was found floating naked in the harbour, suicide or gang rape followed by murder? Blues will not hesitate to dismiss all such allegations. Neutrals simply hope the worst is not true. What I find scary is the willingness of hundreds of thousands of yellows to believe the most sinister interpretations.
As it happens there were two reports earlier this month which may help us find a path through the fog of uncertainty. Secretary for security John Lee Ka Chiu told reporters that those who wished to report misconduct by police should not rush to the media to make the matter public. Rather they should lodge their case with the Complaints Against Police Office, which would carry out a thorough investigation. That would be a reasonable appeal for the minister to make, but it is predicated on CAPO having a solid reputation for being impartial.
As it happens, the day following Lee's statement there came a story in the media about a lady who had wanted some material held by the police to support her complaint to CAPO. She claimed to have been travelling on a bus last October which was stopped by the police so that they could search all the passengers. On her turn she was instructed by a female officer to remove her one piece dress – in effect to strip down to her underwear – in the presence of male police officers and members of the public. The whole process was filmed by one of the officers. The lady has asked for a copy of the video.
The response from the police was striking: they could not provide a copy because to do so would violate the privacy of other persons present. When the lady suggested pixelating their faces, the police said they did not have the software to do so. Obtaining the software and deploying an officer for the purpose would cost an estimated $100,000 and the police wanted her to pay up front. What the response includes is interesting enough, but what it omits is fascinating. There is no denial that she was ordered to strip to her underwear in public, that male officers and other members of the public were present, and that the whole thing had been filmed.
Can it really be the case that police general orders permit females to be searched in this manner?
This case needs to be clarified urgently. For it poses at least two serious questions. If some police officers are prepared to behave like this in public, what might they be prepared to do behind closed doors. And, if CAPO is a serious organization, why doesn't it simply demand a copy of the video as part of its investigative process.
Lurking behind this case is a much more serious allegation, detailed in three public statements by a local law firm, acting on behalf of a Ms X, who claims to have been gangraped in Tsuen Wan police station last year. She became pregnant, had an abortion, and gave consent for DNA to be taken from the dead foetus. Since the original report there have been further complaints about the conduct of the CAPO investigation. Ms X is now reported to be in hiding overseas for her own safety.
This material is too heavy for a mere columnist. Let's start with the underwear case which seems much more straightforward. Over to you Mr Lee.
Mike Rowse