The child has been sick, I've been working so hard....you know those days when you need to get the hell out of town? Well.. I did it yesterday with my friend Kelly...and we had a BALL. Kelly and I met last year and we had an instant love connection.. I won't elaborate on some of the conversation that took place on our road trip, but I will tell you it wasn't for the weak of heart. Kelly asked to meet me here with "questionable food" packed ready to go and we hit the highway to the Anza Borrego Desert.....at 5:30am.
First stop on the way to the desert was the small town of Julian.. a lovely town at about 5000 feet...Any idea what the temperature is at 5000 feet at about 6:15am? I'll tell you...it was a brisk 34 degrees...and I don't have a coat. Nope... I was prancing around in a short sleeved blouse. I have to tell you.... I was a little nervous when my shutter finger started to tingle..
But the shots where worth it...pretty, foggy shots you can only get that early. I am inspired to get on the road very early in the future too..with a coat next time.
Our map (yes..paper map) tempted us with names like, "Pumpkin Patch", "Oh-my-god Hotspring", "Alcoholic Pass" and "Hellhole".. My car has navigation, but we were in route to places that were small dotted lines on the map...no pavement...hardly a road that I could see..
The car was a little bit fancy...not a manly car for sure...never been in low gear 4x4 before...but my husband assured me it got great offroading reviews... So we drove.. we drove through rushing creeks, deep sand, over rocks...this trip was not for the weak stomached. We came up to a man in a Jeep 4x4 with monster tires and asked him if he knew where the "Pumpkin Patch" was...he said, "You can't get out that way, can ya" pointing in the direction we just came from..and I said "OH YAH..that's how we got in!" He says..and the surprise on his face was hilarious, "In that?!" Yes indeed. The car performed like a champ.
We were the only ladies we saw traveling alone. Talk about finding yourself and your strength? Put your car in 4 wheel drive and let 'er rip!
When we could focus for a second that there was no one following along to kill us, there were spectacular views and beautiful landscapes. The "Borrego Badlands" are shown above..an amazing view off a very steep cliff.
When you're out in the middle of nowhere....where it is so quiet all you hear is the wind whistle in your sunglasses..it's easy to let the imagination wander. There were several times when I looked at Kelly and could have sworn she was a ham sandwich..
Of course there were a few little roadside oddities that were worth stopping for...but I have to tell you..weather in the mountains was ugly..high winds and rainy...we were soaked and cold...but wouldn't you stop for this display?
Thanks for stopping in today, friends!
Buried Treasure: Hell is my hometown..
The Girth of New York..
Be honest with what you see in there.


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The Year of the Employee
Home » News » The Year of the Employee
A battle for talent and concerns over threats to plans will make 2018 the 'Year of the Employee' according to a new global report
Business leaders planning to increase focus on attracting, retaining and energising employees in 2018
108% more UK leaders than 2017 will give employees more attention than other audiences
Business leaders low in confidence when it comes to attracting and retaining the best talent
Government and legislative changes, cyber crime and a lack of available talent are the top three threats to plans
Business leaders should expect to face a battle for talent in 2018, according to a new Report issued by The Worldcom Public Relations Group. The report indicates that more than double the number of UK leaders (108%) are planning to give most attention to employees in 2018 – the only audience to see an increase in attention since 2017. This heightened focus on employees seems to be driven by what CEOs and CMOs see as the top three threats to achieving their organisation's plans. The first is government and legislative changes; the second is the lack of available talent and, the third is cyber crime.
The Report, entitled, the Worldcom Confidence Index (CI) explores the issues global CEOs and CMOs believe will most influence business success in 2018. The leap in attention for employees may also be a response to very low confidence levels when it comes to the ability to attract (2nd lowest CI Score) and retain (4th lowest CI Score) the best talent.
Despite these low confidence scores, and only marginally above average confidence for the ability to increase productivity by energising and engaging employees, business leaders remain surprisingly optimistic about their ability to satisfy customers, rating it as their top source of optimism for 2018.
Employees have a crucial role to play in ensuring compliance with regulations and with essential cyber protection practices. As a result, the Report's findings are a clear signal that leaders see employees as a vital ingredient for success. In fact, attracting the best talent ranked highest as the criteria that will have the most influence on success in 2018 – just ahead of the strength of the global economy. It was three times higher than disruptive competition, which declined to almost half its 2017 level. Crispin Manners, Chairman of Onva Consulting, author of the Report and a Worldcom partner, said: "The report shows that concerns about available talent will drive a battle to attract and retain the best people. It also shows that employees will be pivotal in ensuring compliance with key legislative changes like the GDPR and in the fight against cyber crime. The GDPR is a good example of a legislative change that requires employees to adapt their behaviour. The penalties for non-compliance are existence-threatening for businesses.
"And, if organisations struggle to retain their best talent, as the report suggests, it will be hard to sustain a good customer experience. The combination of issues uncovered, places employees front and centre like never before. It is for this reason we believe 2018 will be the year of the employee."
Ruth Dance, Managing Director of the Employee Engagement Alliance, thinks a focus on building an employer brand, underpinned by a clear Purpose and strong values, could pay dividends for small companies. "It's very easy for small companies to believe they can't compete at an employer brand level because they can't offer the same working environment or benefits as Google or Apple. However, our work with our members shows that, while these tangible factors matter, intangible factors, such as Purpose and Values, matter more. It's often said that people don't leave a company, they leave a manager. So, my advice is for smaller organizations to focus on developing a Purpose that inspires, and then ensuring that every manager brings this Purpose to life for each employee through the way they behave, and the coaching and care they give to their team."
Matt Manners, Managing Director of the Employee Engagement Awards, said: The Worldcom report shows that there is a compelling need for companies to invest in employee engagement. The benefits in terms of attraction and retention are well proven – as is the positive impact on productivity."
Available in its entirety at worldcomgroup.com/confidence-index, the Worldcom Confidence Index highlights key issues and trends. It also uncovers interesting differences in the confidence levels of respondents across 18 demographic categories, including business roles, ages, gender, business size, geographic presence and more. The UK Report can be found here. Highlights of the 2018 Confidence Index include:
Attracting good people ranked second highest as the criteria that will have the most influence on success in 2018 in the UK (15%) – just below the global economy. Brexit – and the loss of EU talent – may be a factor in this change
The UK's productivity challenges show through in lower confidence in the ability to improve productivity by energising and engaging employees. Only 19% of UK leaders are confident in doing so – half the number of US organisation (38%)
UK companies are significantly less confident in their ability to attract the best talent than some other countries, and less so than the global average. The UK has a below average Confidence Index score (19.8)
Only 20% of UK leaders are confident in the ability of their organisation to do so. This is 3% lower than global average and significantly lower than America (34%) and Italy (29%) who hold the top two scores.
Brand Power: When compared to larger organisations, 71% more of smaller organisations think the ability to attract talent because of the quality of their Employer Brand will have the most influence on their success in 2018.
#1 threat to achieving plans in the UK is government/legislative changes such as Brexit and GDPR
Cyber Crime Concerns: Overall, business leaders are least confident in their ability to protect their organisation from cyber crime. At least 50% more American companies than those in the other regions, see cyber crime as the biggest threat.
Generation Gap: Confidence in the ability to both attract and keep the best talent declines significantly as leaders age.
Political Positivity: More than double the number of organisations from America (28%) than EMEA (13%) think the style of political leader communications has a positive impact on their optimism about their growth potential.
The global report was conducted by two independent research companies, Research Now and 3Gem, and aimed to gather responses via an online survey in six of the G7 countries (France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom and the United States.) as well as China.
The methodology resulted in a total of 585 responses (167 America; 106 Asia; 312 EMEA) from leaders of all ages and business sizes.
The report concludes with an analysis of the issues and key recommendations that business leaders can implement to increase their probability of success in 2018.
Confidence Index scores
A summary of the Confidence Index scores by issue and demographics can be seen in the typed charts below. The scores for each region and country and can be seen in the individual region and country reports which are available here.
About The Worldcom Public Relations Group
The Worldcom Public Relations Group is the world's leading partnership of independently owned public relations firms, with 143 offices employing some 2,000 staff in 115 cities across six continents. In total, Worldcom partners reported combined revenue of US$288 million last year from 3,034 clients.
Established in 1988, the group was formed so that the strongest, most capable independent firms could deliver immediate impact and sustained value through the intelligent use of communications – wherever in the world a client needs support. Partners serve national, international and multinational clients, while retaining the flexibility and client-service focus inherent in independent agencies. Through Worldcom, clients have on-demand access to in-depth communications expertise from professionals who understand the language, culture and customs of the geographic areas in which they operate. www.worldcomgroup.com
Connect with Worldcom PR Group on Facebook and LinkedIn.
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Build confidence in your brand by providing certainty to your stakeholders
It's been said so often, it's almost a cliché, but we do live in very uncertain times. The reasons are down to a wide range of world events such as: the US/China trade war, Brexit, Amazon forest fires, the Hong Kong crisis, the increasing pace of global warming and the resurgence of diseases such as […]
A battle for talent and concerns over threats to plans will make 2018 the 'Year of the Employee' according to a new global report Business leaders planning to increase focus on attracting, retaining and energising employees in 2018 108% more UK leaders than 2017 will give employees more attention than other audiences Business leaders low […]
Will you de-risk your business by 'nudging' employees to adopt safer behaviour? – by Crispin Manners
Will you de-risk your business by 'nudging' employees to adopt safer behaviour? A report published this week (The Worldcom Confidence Index) shows that CEOs around the world think that the #1 threat to achieving plans is legislative change like GDPR and the #3 threat is cybercrime. The report also shows that employees are set to […]
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With children spending more of their time in front of TV screens, phones and tablets it can seem difficult to get them excited about going outdoors. But it is so important to have them play outside regularly, to help them better understand the world around them and use their imagination to play.
So how do you get your children excited about playing outside? We hope these five tips can help you and your family be a little more adventurous in the great outdoors – with activities you can enjoy together, to get little ones excited about playing outside.
Always a hit with kids – give them the chance to become outdoor artists by packing up some paper, paint, brushes and a bottle of water. Then go and find your perfect spot to paint – whether that be the beach, at the top of a hill or a sunset.
Doing all this outside means you won't need to worry about cleaning up a giant mess in your house and it's a great way to connect with your children and nature. Teach them to look at the landscape and capture it on the page and they will soon appreciate the beauty of the world around them.
The fresh air and books are the perfect combination. All you need to do is fill your basket up with books, a picnic blanket, cushions, food and drinks then head outdoors to make your very own storytelling haven. An idea like this can bring your children's favourite books to life. Places such as the woods can be great for Gruffalo readers or the beach for those who love The Rainbow Fish.
Children adore collecting treasures when they're out and about. So when you are next in the park or garden, compare the shapes of what they find or arrange them by size. Find things of certain colours and put them in a painted egg box – it makes for a great display case and will be perfect for keeping all those bits and bobs neat and tidy.
Kids will be fascinated with the creepy crawlies that they can find in their own back garden. Lift up stones and logs to see what minibeasts you can find – you don't have to search for miles, just choose a small area.
Show your child how to use a magnifying glass and ask them different questions to get them thinking about the creatures they are finding – how many legs do they have? What do they think they eat? Minibeast adventures can take a while – especially if your little one wants to find every single insect on their list – so it's a good idea to keep them warm and dry with a waterproof outfit that shields them from any weather. All-in-one designs are a great idea as they don't ride up and are comfy to wear all day.
We all love to build dens, they allow us to have fun whilst putting them together and probably getting up to a little bit of mischief during the process. Den building is a fun activity that can allow kids to spend hours outside getting muddy and creating those magic places.
Dens can be built using almost anything and it gives the kids the chance to explore outside for items and try lots of things out before making their perfect little hiding spot.
No matter what you do to make the outdoors fun for your children, remember that it's the memories of being together as a family that matters the most.


Some weeks ago our pal Vlad the Revealer at Celebrity Address Aerial inquired as to the identity of the new owner of a big new spec-mansion in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Encino that recently sold to a boringly-named blind trust. Although it took us a hot minute, we've now been able to confirm the proud new owners are two people the ignorant Yolanda has never previously heard of before: music manager Wassim Salibi — better known as Tony Sal or just SAL — and his wife, Miss USA 2010 Rima Fakih.
Since our readers seem to love these Encino/Valley stories for some odd reason — seriously, they tend to drive a bizarrely heavy amount of traffic — we shall discuss this house (and the new owners) today.
Mr. Salibi (or Mr. Sal) is perhaps best-known for managing the career of popular recording artist The Weeknd, another someone the ignorant Yolanda has never previously heard of before. But per our research (thanks Wikipedia), this Mr. Weeknd's fame has skyrocketed during the past couple years, and he's made Mr. Sal a very rich man.
It was Mr. Sal, you see, who many credit with "discovering" The Weeknd — who won two of his seven Grammy nominations last year and was also nominated for an Academy Award. Our Mr. Sal also assisted Mr. Weeknd with setting up his own record label, XO, of which Mr. Salibi is currently CEO. And he's also a partner at Guy Oseary's Maverick Management.
Like Mr. Sal, Ms. Fakih is a native of Lebanon. Unlike Mr. Sal, however, who is a Christian, she was born to a Shia Muslim family. That's important to note because she back in 2010, she was the first-ever Muslim to win the Miss USA crown at Donald Trump's former pageant. Ms. Fakih later caused a bit of controversy — or at least a tad of tongue-wagging — when she converted to Christianity for her May 2016 wedding to Mr. Sal.
Anywho, Ms. Fakih also competed on the reality TV show WWE Tough Enough, where she apparently trained to become a professional wrestler. Good grief, lassie — Yolanda thinks that sounds exhausting.
But suffice to say that for her part, Ms. Fakih is quite famous. After all, she has well over 200,000 followers on her Instagram doohickey. Recent pictures show that Ms. Fakih is definitely pregnant. Mazel tov, Mr. Sal & Ms. Fakih!
Listing materials are unfortunately sparse, only revealing that the north-of-Ventura-Boulevard house was "sold before processing" for the full asking price of $4,200,000, a sure sign that Encino real estate is still searing hot, as it continues to be in many other areas of LA. The property has 5 bedrooms and 6.5 bathrooms in a mini-mansion sized 5,700-square-feet of living space.
The Traditional spread — we'll call it a quasi-Cape Cod meets pseudo-Colonial, for lack of a better architectural descriptor — is completely walled and gated for the utmost celebrity-style privacy.
A stone walkway leads to a locked gate that accesses the grass-trimmed front driveway.
Knotty wood floors grace the double-height entrance. Sightlines stretch all the way to the rear of the property, where a long row of folding doors blend the backyard with the family room and vice versa. The living room, to the right of the entrance, sports tufted couches that look to be made out of felt or velvet or some sort of synethetic fibers. A fireplace lends a homey feel to the airy, high-ceiling-ed space.
The kitchen's eye-catcher is the enormous Sub-Zero stainless fridge. An all-white island is coated up top in what is likely Carrara marble. Then there is a dining table below an old-timey crystal/wrought iron chandelier. Somewhere there's an oak-paneled wine closet.
Snazzy lighting in the theater.
The master suite has more wood floors and another fireplace. In the corridor leading to the master bath and walk-in closet, there's a little wine grid with fridge. Marble graces most of the master bath — including the walk-in glass shower with rainfall showerhead — and there's a built-in soaking tub below the window. The master suite also has a private covered balcony with plenty of space to curl up with a good Agatha Christie.
The guest suites are similarly comfortable with vaulted ceilings and glass-and-brick showers.
The library/office has ebonized wood cabinetry and French doors leading out back.
Out in the rear, the .38-acre lot has more than enough grass for a dog run and even a teensy-weensy putting green around the east side of the structure.
The rectangular saltwater swimming pool has an inset and raised spa. Just beyond is the guest/pool house/shack with a sitting area and changing facilities. For parties and family get-togethers, there's also a full outdoor bar area with mini-friedge and BBQ.
It's only Yolanda's opinion, of course, but the house looks almost eerily similar to our gurl Michelle Beadle's own new Encino spec-mansion. And we've seen a bunch of other similarly-styled houses sell with the quickness and for many millions of dollars. Not just in Encino, either. The Palisades, Brentwood. Heck, even in the Melrose area.
You pickin' up what Yolanda's puttin' down, developers? More white Cape Cod/Traditional big boxy fusions. People of all sorts of different ethnic descents/walks of life love 'em. So keep building!


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Your Weekly Roundup of New Movies: A Noisecore Drummer Loses His Hearing and Bill Murray Going Decrepit Playboy
What to see and skip while streaming.
By WW Contributor |
**** When your second film is a universe of compassion, wit and wonderment, it's not easy for the rest of your career to keep up. Yet On the Rocks is one of the most intelligent and moving films that writer-director Sofia Coppola has made since her transcendent Tokyo odyssey Lost in Translation. It's the kind of movie that gets you guessing about what a great director is up to, then surprises and pleases you when she doesn't go where you imagined. On the Rocks stars Rashida Jones as Laura, a writer who suspects that her husband, Dean (Marlon Wayans), is cheating on her. Since Laura's father, Felix (Bill Murray), is eager for an excuse to spy on his son-in-law, the two embark on a shambling investigation of Dean, which culminates in a surreal sojourn in Mexico. Murray suavely sells the contradictions of Felix, a decrepit playboy who defends his daughter's honor but delights in demeaning women. Felix can be a mesmerizingly phony charmer, but On the Rocks is about Laura awakening to the emptiness behind his incandescence—an awakening that sets the stage for her spiritual rebirth. That journey may not match the visual and emotional heights of Lost in Translation, but On the Rocks triumphs on its own terms by telling the story of a woman who, scene by scene, gradually claims the movie as her own. R. BENNETT CAMPBELL FERGUSON. Apple TV+.
** If a noisecore drummer loses his hearing, should anyone care? Sound of Metal presents a remarkably empathetic portrait of that rare beast—the working hardcore percussionist committed to sobriety and a girlfriend/bandmate—yet shows just a taste of the goodish life Ruben (Riz Ahmed) and Lou (Olivia Cooke) share while touring in a cozy Airstream before his sudden loss of hearing tears their plans asunder. While the plotline might seem eerily similar to the 2004 indie flick It's All Gone Pete Tong, this story isn't about punishing hubris. Ruben, unlike Pete Tong's superstar DJ, has already dealt with his substance-abuse issues at the film's start, and he tries his damnedest to embrace the silence suggested by deaf guru Joe (Paul Raci) at a cultish American Sign Language camp. Unable to abandon his eterna-gigging life plans, our hero neither hears nor listens to the increasingly gloomy diagnoses en route to affording the semblance of hearing promised by cochlear implants, which prove a maddeningly false tease. This directorial debut from The Place Beyond the Pines screenwriter Darius Marder exploits next-gen soundcraft and Ahmed's electric vapidity to its best advantage while ignoring moralistic conventions, but there's a troubling condescension pegged to the protagonist's chosen genre and instrument. Would a talented singer-songwriter be so blithely expected to accept medical practicalities rather than further damaging health in pursuit of doomed passions? Would Beethoven? At the end of the day, this is an expertly crafted labor of love championing the abandonment of dreams. What's the sound of one hand clapping? R. JAY HORTON. Amazon Prime.
About WW Contributor
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Intergovernmental Relations
Vested power vs. reform in Switzerland
Vested power vs. reform in Switzerland BY ANNE-BÉATRICE BULLINGER 1990, the Swiss federal Moreover, the Finance Department has proposed their reallocation according toDepartment of Finance has been developing major reforms to the system of fiscal federal relations in Switzerland. The matters being examined for reform are the system of equalization and the distribution of responsibilities between the federal government and the cantons. This rather ambitious project, however, is now facing vehement opposition from some cantons. There are even serious doubts as to whether such an extensive reform could ever succeed given the highly decentralized nature of Swiss politics. Swiss political decision-making is characterized by consensus seeking, and the cantons can block federal projects. The result is that federal projects are rarely adopted as planned, and reform processes become very long and unpredictable. This has caused previous attempts at federal reform to fail. A plan to rationalize federal conditional grants to the cantons failed in 1966. Two series of proposals, in 1971 and 1978, for a new assignment of functions and responsibilities between the federal government and the cantons were rejected as well. In this context, the federal government has to choose its strategy well in order to bypass the constraints of the system. A 'package deal' and angry reaction Throughout this process, the Department of Finance has been careful to consult experts and to include the Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Finance as partners in a federal-cantonal working group. This working group made the reform proposals. It is composed equally of members of both orders of government. undertaken a programme of consultation with various interested parties. Based on suggestions, it modified its original plan by removing inessential elements of the proposed reform. The Department of Finance has presented the reform as a whole package, and has insisted that if only parts of it were adopted, it would not fulfil its purpose. The argument goes that alternatives to the reform—that is, the status quo, extensive tax harmonization, or territorial reform—would neither satisfy the cantons nor respond to public pressure. Despite this strategy, the Finance Department was confronted by angry cantonal governments last November when simulations of the proposed new equalization system indicated that some cantons would stand to lose financially. It is very likely that there will be more crises to come as the reform project proceeds. And some experts wonder whether the proposals are too ambitious for contemporary Switzerland. Efficiency and subsidiarity The main thrust of the reform plans is to propose reallocating responsibilities to the order of government that would manage them most efficiently. One of the major proposals is to separate equalization of costs from equalization of resources by: abolishing matching grants, and introducing a new "fiscal capacity indicator" to estimate the taxable wealth of the cantons, taking into account only their potential tax receipts and excluding elements linked to the costs of accomplishing tasks. A working group has examined federal and cantonal responsibilities, and has the subsidiarity principle (the principle that responsibilities should normally be assumed by the "lowest" levels of government and only move to higher levels as they exceed the capacities of the lower levels). Some of these responsibilities would be held exclusively by either the federal or the cantonal governments. Cantonal responsibilities that affect other cantons would be accomplished through intercantonal cooperation, and some would remain joint federal-cantonal responsibilities. An end to matching grants? For joint responsibilities, the federal government would be in charge of strategic, policy-related aspects, while the cantons would be in charge of operational implementation. The federal government and the cantons would agree on the goals to be achieved and would establish an intergovernmental contract. The federal government would transfer block grants to the cantons for the implementation of joint projects. These grants would be based on the degree to which the goals of the projects were achieved. This block grant system would replace the system of matching grants whereby the federal government's contributions would be proportional to those of the cantons. Thus, the amounts to be transferred would be based on the tasks achieved rather than the costs. There would be no more equalization payments distributed through the grants system. The proposed reforms also deal with cantonal responsibilities that affect other cantons, such as professional schools, universities, medical care, and public transportation. Federations volume 1, number 4, may 2001 Cantons benefiting from services provided by other cantons would have to pay compensation to the providing cantons. The cantons would have to establish inter-cantonal contracts, and the reforms would introduce the principle of compulsory inter-cantonal cooperation into the Swiss Constitution. That aspect of the reform would give the federal government the power to extend an agreement to all the cantons involved—in effect, forcing reluctant cantons to cooperate. In addition there would be a law specifying the areas in which cantons must cooperate. Still, this reform wouldn't give untrammelled new power to the federal government. It would only be able to force all the cantons to cooperate if a certain number of those involved were to request federal intervention. Sharing the wealth In order to reduce inter-cantonal disparities, the reform proposes to equalize resources through unconditional revenue sharing. The cantons would receive a fixed percentage of some federal receipts, distributed among them according to the new "fiscal capacity indicator". The cantons receiving funds would be those whose fiscal capacity is below a certain level. The cantons would be free to use those funds as they see fit. The Swiss Parliament has yet to decide the extent of the redistribution that would take place among the cantons. In order to ensure that all cantons reach the level of fiscal capacity determined by parliament, the federal government would provide complementary grants to those cantons whose fiscal capacity remained low after equalization. The federal government would give additional unconditional grants to cantons facing higher costs due to their geographical location (such as mountainous regions), or sociodemographic challenges. Those would not be matching grants, but would instead be linked to certain specific responsibilities such as roads, water emergencies, and forests. There would also be specific criteria for determining which cantons can benefit from the grants and to what extent. Threats to vested power The proposed reforms are indeed ambitious because they propose to change the very structure of Swiss federalism as well as the practices that have developed around it. In this process, the power relationships would likely change. To start with, imposed inter-cantonal cooperation contradicts the longestablished principles of cantonal autonomy and diversity. Traditionally, Swiss federalism has emphasized inter-cantonal competition and has fostered diversity. Even though cantons already engage in some forms of cooperation and several projects are conducted regionally, cantons tend to be reluctant to work together. The question then becomes: how will the federal government be able to negotiate policy objectives with cantons that, so far, have had substantial discretion in implementing federal policies in their own distinctive ways? The reforms would also shift power within federal and cantonal administrations. In particular, the relative financial position of the ministries at the federal and cantonal level would change. For example, getting rid of the equalization component in federal grants for specific projects (the conditionalmatching grant system currently in use) would alter the distribution of power both at the cantonal and federal levels. Equalization at the cantonal level would be channelled almost exclusively through the finance ministries—to the detriment of other "functional" ministries, which would then have to beg for new funds. Too audacious for Switzerland? The Swiss federal system tends to evolve in an incremental way—making changes step-by-step. This fact threatens the success of the proposed reforms. In particular, tying together a reform of the equalization system and a reallocation of responsibilities increases the chances that the reforms will fail. The equalization reforms alone—framed so that they cause no major changes in the distribution of power in the cantons— would have a greater chance of success if they were presented separately from the redistribution of responsibilities. There have nevertheless been occasions in Switzerland where audacious reform efforts have led to quite innovative results. Indeed, one might argue that radical proposals are the only means to open new windows of opportunity and create new alliances. Many hope these reform proposals will at least trigger a national debate on the future of Swiss federalism. Whatever the fate of this project, it will have at least revealed vested powers in the Swiss federation. Federations volume 1, number 4, may 2001


The surest way to permanently limit your vocabulary is to never look up an unfamiliar word. Limiting your reading to contemporary news articles or popular books written at the fifth-grade vocabulary level is another way. Fortunately, I have loved reading Victorian novels since I was in seventh grade. At that tender age I had no patience in pausing to look up a strange word in the dictionary, preferring to glean meaning from the context for the sake of getting on with the story. With a Kindle e-reader all I need do is place the cursor before the unfamiliar word, and presto, the built-in dictionary calls up the definition.
Needless to say, Victorian novels are not written at the fifth grade level. They are a trove of new additions to my vocabulary and some archaisms that could be restored to common usage. I stumbled upon Wilkie Collins after watching a PBS broadcast of the BBC production of The Lady in White, his 1860 novel. Although I had heard of this novelist, contemporaneous with Charles Dickens, I had never read any of his books. I picked up his 1868 novel The Moonstone and could not put it down. It is a delightful whodunit that strikes me as obvious precursor to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie. Quirky characters like Gabriel Betteredge, who reads Robinson Crusoe as his Bible, and Drusilla Clack whose inveterate Christian proselytization and distribution of religious tracts add a layer of humor to the mystery that unfolds around a stolen diamond bequeathed to the lovely Rachel Verinder on her eighteenth birthday. Love interest, opium addiction, suicide, and class distinctions complicate the plot.
As can be imagined, my mind quickly leaps to the trumpery on full display on the world stage and written across the headlines of newspapers and magazines at home and abroad. Of course, the infamous Trump family! The German immigrant Friedrich Trumpf (variant Drumpf) who listed his name on the 1910 US census record as Fred Trump had no inkling what future significance that change in the spelling of his surname would have. His grandson is now the quintessential example of trumpery in operation, speaking nonsense and twaddle, a person of little or no value in promotion of the welfare of his countrymen or the international reputation of the United States. He blows his own horn all the time, trumpeting his vainglorious delusions. All wind–just like a blowhard, an incorrigible windbag. Everything that issues from his mouth is useless and valueless. Trump is the trumpeter, trumpeting out trumpery for all to see and hear. He has caused the coinage of a new word–trumpism. This is the practice, the attitude, or the mindset to willingly accept lies as truth and to deny facts and scientific evidence in order to cling to unfounded opinions for emotional rather than rational or logical reasons. It is also the preference for and the tolerance for listening to incoherent babble–the twisted syntax and repetitious, low-level vocabulary of an ignorant man–rather than the desire to be uplifted and inspired by oratorical eloquence.
It is not surprising then that I am not going to listen to the trumpery to be broadcast tonight from the US Congress–the State of the Union Address. My time is more productively spent reading my next Victorian novel.
Nothing is more delectable than a 948-page book about books for a voracious bookworm. In his introduction James Mustich states that there is nothing comprehensive or authoritative about his list; in fact, he invites debate about his choices and his omissions. What can be said about his selection of 1000 books is that his list encompasses a spectrum from classical to contemporary authors that covers a wide range of genres including memorable children's literature and is evenly divided between fiction and non-fiction. Mustich seems to have an affinity for the memoir, selecting many forgotten gems from that category. He does not neglect mysteries, science fiction, biography, nature, or travel books. The entries appear alphabetically by author's name or by title if unattributed. A miscellany of special lists at the back of the book organizes the selections under such intriguing categories as: Read in One Sitting, LOL, Cities in Fact and Fiction, Offbeat Escapes, Novel Pleasures, Soul Food (to name just a few). Actually, there are more that 1000 references, because after each featured book he recommends similar books for further reading. In addition, he footnotes other notable works by the same writer. The general index includes every author and title either featured or footnoted. Reading his short essays on authors and their books is a pleasure in itself, possibly as delightful as reading the books he describes. He has a way of capturing the essence of the work, imparting his fascination with it, and providing more than one reason for reading that particular book. There is something for every reader's taste in this mammoth compendium of worthwhile reading.
This book is a feast for the bibliophile. A younger bookworm might attempt the audacious task of reading all the books. At my advanced age, as I read through the delightful entries discovering books I had never heard of and enthusiastically reading what he had to say about books I had already read and loved, I compiled two lists: "To Read" and "To Re-Read." The books on my re-read list were selected because I had first read them when I was very young, and in retrospect, I do not think I appreciated them fully. Mustich's commentaries made me feel I should give them another shot.
As a bookseller and a reviewer of both old and new books for the mail-order catalogue A Common Reader, Mustich is highly qualified to compile a list of 1000 books to read before you die. This book was more than ten years in the making and represents a life-time surrounded by books. After I heard Mustich talk about his list in a television interview, I knew his book was the one book I needed to buy next. Cozied up in the recliner, I have passed hours on end sampling this or that entry. Mustich's descriptions of books that he has enjoyed beg for re-reading for the sheer artistry of his graceful and fluid prose. His enthusiasms are contagious. Mustich has written a resource for every book club looking for its next month's selection. It definitely has served as an invaluable guide to the creation of my own two lists for the rest of my reading life, particularly because I am predisposed now to read more of the enduring books of the past than to grab the latest best-seller off the shelf. Countless other readers have found those tried and true books illuminating; consequently, they have the potential of furnishing the greatest rewards.
During interviews prominent authors are often asked what dead writers would they invite to a dinner party at their house. If I were to be the hostess at a gathering of literary greats, the one notable guest I would want at my table is Walt Whitman. I would seat him at the head of the table.
I would interview him. He would do all the talking and I would do most of the listening as he responded to my main question: What do you think of America at the end of the year 2018?
I can only conjecture his responses and that would be an interesting exercise. Based on my re-reading of what is called his 1892 deathbed edition of Leaves of Grass, I can speculate on what he would say. His thoughts on the state of the Union are particularly pertinent in the light of current events because he viewed himself as the quintessential unifier, the universal androgynous man, who heralded the promise of greater and greater democratic vistas. He sang the vigor and vibrancy of a nation stretching from sea to shining sea. He sang the virtues and the dignity of the common laborer, the builder and the shaper, of the future. He encompassed the vast panoply of Americans in his song of himself. Unity in diversity was his anthem.
Would his eternal optimism prevail in our tabletop talk? How would he see the current occupant of the White House contrasted with the serious Illinois rail splitter who could also laugh at himself–the man in the stovepipe hat who visited the troops at Antietam and the wounded in war hospitals?
"Mr. Whitman, will democratic institutions survive the assault on the rule of law and the freedom of the press?" I ask.
"Then this is a temporary setback?" I say.
"That is a hopeful message amid all the chaos," I say.
Then I thank my dinner guest for offering me his food for the soul. "Please come again, Walt," I say.
The vision of his bearded face vanishes from the head of the table and I am left in peace, holding his volume of poems between my hands.
Over the last three months I have read this book through twice studying its multifarious meanings in the beautifully-wrought translation from the German by John Woods. The title was familiar to me, as it is frequently mentioned as essential to the western literary canon. My conscience pricked me when I realized, as a septuagenarian and a literature major, I was guilty of never having read Thomas Mann's novel, hailed as the most influential work of twentieth century German literature. The Magic Mountain was first published in 1924. Mann received the Nobel Prize in 1929. It is a hefty tome that demands mulling over dense passages laden with symbolic and philosophic portent. The sense of humor that Mann injects into weighty themes is delightful, if at sometimes macabre.
What is magical about this mountain? That is the question that constantly ran through my mind as I read. The mountain is magical because time is obliterated there. The mountain air has a transformative and soporific impact on Hans Castorp, who visits his cousin in the Berghof sanatorium located in the Alps and lingers there for seven years. Is it the seven-storey mountain of legend? What wisdom does Castorp gain from his long stay? Questions like these bombarded my consciousness and persist.
The Berghof is populated with patients from around the world. In a microcosm of Europe it seethes with bizarre characters sick in mind and in body. The two doctors who head the sanatorium are as peculiar as the people they treat. The rivalries, the division of the tables into ethnic groups, the disputes, and rampant nationalism mirror Europe on the brink of the Great War. The stiffness, intellectualism, and militarism of the German national ethos receive special treatment in the twin characters of Hans Castorp the engineer and Joachim Ziemssen the military man. The disputatious philosophers–Settembrini the Italian and Naptha the Austrian Jew and converted Jesuit–represent another dichotomy. They fight for Hans's soul, but he eludes being trapped by any one ideology. In miniature the seesaw relationship between life and death, between love and hatred, are enacted. With the outbreak of World War I, Hans can no longer retreat from the forces infecting Europe just as he could not escape being infected by the languorous isolation on the mountaintop. He joins the soldiers in the trenches. The open-ended conclusion, a graphic depiction of combat, leaves us to guess whether Hans dies on the battlefield or survives.
It is singularly propitious that I am reading this particular novel in light of events on the American scene and at the exact moment of the centennial marking the end of World War I. The day I write this is Veterans' Day, originally celebrated as Armistice Day. The illness, a tubercular disease borne on the air, known as nationalism has re-infected the political environment at home and abroad. The cure is not to be found on a mountaintop, although it is appealing to flee from the flatlands of contention and political involvement. Relevancies to contemporary events pop up from chapter to chapter. Relevant to me personally is the fact that I live in a mountain retreat, presumably immune to civilization's contagion. Here I have sought healing, peace, the solitude to contemplate and to meditate, to study and to read–I am a simulacrum of Hans Castorp.
The practice of any art requires dedication, education, experience, persistence, and character. When politics is viewed as an art, national leaders will appear again who practice politics as the noble profession it can be again.
A vocal opponent of Nazism, Thomas Mann emigrated to the United States in 1939 and became a naturalized American citizen in 1944. Yes, he was one of those immigrants–targets of fear mongers today– who taught at Princeton University and who lived in Los Angeles until 1952. The Magic Mountain unavoidably reflects the political climate of the times. In this regard, for great writers the apolitical does not exist.
I find myself curiously in need of stories with happy endings. Not the ones that end with "they lived happily ever after" in saccharine fairy tale fashion along the lines of the scullery maid marrying the handsome prince. I'm thinking of the kind that does offer hope, that enlightens, or inspires in a regenerative way.
The main character changes for the good through achievement of some self-awareness or improved fortunes.
The main character stays the same and the status quo is preserved. (At least he doesn't kill himself but lives unhappily ever after.
The main character dies either of unnatural or natural causes.
The author affords an ambiguous or open-ended conclusion, meaning the reader guesses at the character's fate. I like to call this the stalemate ending.
There may be other types of endings, or variants of these basic models. In any event, no others come to my mind. The benefit of an open-ended conclusion of a story is that it leaves room to write a sequel. Or another author decades later can seize the opportunity to write a novel-length epilogue for that story. In this day and age, I prefer the happy first alternative. I crave to see the characters experience some light at the end of the tunnel and emerge into the sunshine. Oh, well, Pollyanna me!
My burning need for happy endings perhaps arises from the wish to believe that most people do learn from their mistakes. Mistakes are correctable. The question is how many mistakes does an individual have to make before he corrects course. The story of a bumbling idiot who never learns from his mistakes would veer toward a comedy. However, I am not in the mood for a lot of slapstick laughs nowadays. I am too chapfallen at the reality of a buffoon elected to high office in the United States. Consequently, my optimistic hope persists that a portion of the American electorate will learn from that mistake.
Disregarding the reason on the national scene to wish for a happy ending, there are other reasons to esteem happy endings in fiction. They nourish the soul; they lighten the load; they brighten our path when in our personal life we feel too dismayed and disheartened to cling to the hope that ultimately even evil can work for the greater good of the individual soul and the world soul. In times like this, I cannot feed on distress and disaster. I have to gorge on stories of courage and endurance. I want stories in which truth prevails over lies. I crave to read of spiritual growth and self-awareness triumphing over vice and ignorance. This is not entirely fantasyland, for in natural disasters people do rise to the occasion to help their neighbors, acting more courageously and unselfishly than they ever had before. In dark times I need to be uplifted and inspired, so I must turn to writers who hold up a beacon, ones that restore my belief that nobility still resides in human nature, that illustrates that a man has a spark of the divine as well as of Mephistopheles.
If it is true people do choose what they want to believe, then concomitantly they choose to read what supports those predispositions to believe this or that. However, with self-reflection they can also achieve some self-awareness to realize that they are catering to their inherent prejudices and then choose to exercise more dispassion. A core disposition I have is that we possess an internal autopilot that signals us to change course when we realize we have made a mistake. Those who choose to ignore the warning and stay on the same course will have an unhappy ending. Those who heed the flashing red light choose to have a happy ending.
Harold Bloom uses the religious symbolism of the Kabbalah to link literature to the spiritual impulse. He views the nature of writing as a religious pursuit through which the writer delves into his own consciousness. In turn, the writing produced expands the consciousness of readers. In seeking enduring truths about the nature of humanity, the writer identifies the divine in mankind. Often founded upon prophetic visions, religions aspire to uplift and sanctify. Similarly, literature aims to enlighten, using flights of imagination to illuminate. Bloom groups the authors he discusses in his book Genius: A Mosaic of One Hundred Exemplary Minds, 2002, under the ten divine attributes, the genius of God, illustrated by rays of light both emanating and remaining within the divine center.
Furthermore, Bloom claims that writers are gnostics and that literature is the practice of gnosticism. Bloom writes that "gnosticism has been indistinguishable from imaginative genius." He contends that gnosticism is the religion of literature. It frees the creative mind from any theology except its creative self and the unquenchable thirst for knowing. Gnostics are intoxicated with creative consciousness. Gnosticism is the search for knowledge about the human condition and the revelation of the divine spark that animates creation. The act of creation is the primal force that religions attribute to the Godhead. To create, then, is to partake of the divine.
It can very well be said that the eminent literary critic Harold Bloom has pursued in his eight-seven years the study of literature as passionately as any theologian. The correlation of literature and religion carries merit. As I became less and less dogmatic about religion and my attachment to the ultimate veracity of any particular faith, literature did assume the stature of theology in my mind. I pursued writing and reading as devotedly as Paul followed Christ. I accepted the credo that reading widely and expansively in the classics and the accepted canon of the world's literature broadens vision, builds a life with greater meaning, and creates a sense of kinship with people of different races, nationalities, cultures, and epochs. It enlarges the spiritual capacity for sympathetic understanding. It makes possible forgiveness of our own and others' limitations and errors. What could be more spiritual? What could provide more amplitude for the soul to grow than the bountiful garden of the world's literature?
When Adam and Eve ate of the apple, the fruit of the Tree of Good and Knowledge, it metaphorically portrayed man's desire to partake of divine attributes. In the Kabbalah, the Sefirot are depicted as tree branches representing the ten divine traits, which are in constant motion. Bloom lists the Sefirot as: Keter, crown; Hokmah, wisdom; Binah, intellect in a recipient mode; Hesod, love; Din, strict judgment; Tefiret, beauty; sefirah, God's victory or endurance; Hod, splendor of prophetic force; Yesod, foundation or a fathering force; Malkhut, female radiance of God. In Bloom's estimation, great art induces greater consciousness or knowledge of nature. He states the use of literature is to "augment awareness." The measure of art is the degree to which it accomplishes this goal. According to Bloom, great literature must go beyond entertainment. If it stops at entertainment, it is not genius. This strikes me as harkening back to Horace's dictum that art should both delight and instruct. Bloom would agree, but he elucidates it further, asserting that the greatest art is that which also expands to the greatest extend the reader's consciousness.


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#Brexit: Sad news for the UK Biotech scene…
Laura Morin - 24/06/2016 4 mins - Policy, Legal & Finance
The first thing I checked this morning was the outcome of the Brexit vote, and what sad news when I read Brexit won. It was close, but the only thing that matters is the end result. Now, what will be the impact of such a vote on the UK biotech scene? The result will be significant, as it will impact regulation, finances, employees, cooperation and research.
On a general level, the post-brexit forecasts are pretty dire. According to HSBC: the pound could collapse by as much as 15%, a 3% to 4.5% jump in inflation could be expected by late 2017 and the GDP might be 1% to 1.5% lower in 2017 than it would have been otherwise.
When you look at the details for one single industry, i.e. biotech, the impact could be even worse.
16% of UK research funding comes from the EU
Let's start with research. 16% of research funding come from the EU. The Brexit will obviously cut that funding off. Roger Perlmutter, head of R&D at MSD told the FT that Britain's withdrawal from the EU would be 'challenging' for its scientists, who had 'benefited from a world where they receive such grants'.
Cooperation will be impacted as well, because borders will make it more complicated. John Lechleiter, the CEO of the US pharma giant Eli Lilly, told the Financial Times that they considered their UK Surrey-based facilities as the 'European centre' for their operations and to undergo Brexit would really isolate the UK.
US Leaders had already expressed their concerns about Brexit's impact on UK biotech and Pharma Industry: Roger Perlmutter, Head of R&D at MSD (Credit: MSD) and John Lechleiter, CEO of Eli Lilly (Credit: Eli Lilly)
The EMA is looking for a new office …
Yes, the European Medicine Agency will have to move its headquarters out of London, as every European institution has to be located in a country of the European Union. This will be of major impact on the lobbying power of the UK on drug regulations.
A Brexit means also that the UK, if it wants to continue selling on the European market, will have to comply with European regulations without having any influence on them. This could have a significant impact on biotech companies emerging in new fields such as cell therapy that are by nature more sensitive to regulations.
Where would the EMA go? It's hard to tell, but it could be any other major European city. Maybe Berlin?
EMA's current location in skyscraper village of the Canary Wharf Financial district in London. (CC 2.0: Mattbuck)
Talent, talent and talent
Talent is one of the most important assets of a company.
It's now probably one of the major concerns for UK Biotech companies. Will the Brexit have an impact on their capabilities to attract talent from abroad and to retain them? According to Deloitte, the risks on the labour force is 'high'. Academics may leave the UK for countries with easier access to European grants and more international collaborative research projects. Biotech employees may be annoyed if they become subject to residence, visa or work permit controls (from my experience in the US, I can tell you that it's super annoying).
The UK Golden Triangle is between Oxford, Cambridge and London is a major hot spot for Biotech research in Europe, but it could now become a lot less attractive for researchers. (Credit: New Scientist, 2005)
As Ian Nicholson, CEO of F2G, told FierceBiotech: "approximately 25% of our highly skilled staff (both scientific and our CFO) are from other EU countries. We rely on the current freedom of movement for these individuals."
Finances could be hurt
The first factor could the 'financial attractiveness' of the country for foreign investment, especially coming from the rest of Europe. The UK BioIndustry Association (BIA) is worried about it, even though it's very hard to predict how big the impact will be.
The other 'institution' that could be hurt is the City, London's famous financial district. By being in the EU, the UK was able to lobby in favor of financial deregulation. This resulted in very few changes after the 2008 crisis even though London was a major contributor to it. With the UK out, the EU could introduce more strict financial regulation (for example a tax on every transaction or regulate fiscal paradises such as Jersey, Guernsey, and former British colonies). This may impact biotech companies listed on the London Stock Exchange as it would make London less attractive.
Overall, this looks really bad for the UK biotech scene. The arguments listed here are what can be predicted, but as Steve Bates from the BIA told FierceBiotech: "If the U.K. votes 'out,' well frankly we don't know what the full implications of that decision will be." Let's wait and see …
Feature image: Pixabay
Tags: Brexit, United Kingdom
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There are eight teams and eight starting quarterbacks remaining in the 2017 NFL Playoffs and the disparity in postseason experience in each game is startling.
If you came here looking for someone to tell you that the game of football is a one-man sport, you may want to head elsewhere. There will be no talk of Tom Brady beating someone like this is tennis, handball or bowling.
We are down to the final eight teams when it comes to crowning a Super Bowl champion. That includes the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in each conference. But one of the big stories revolving the remaining clubs and the four games this weekend is the quarterback story in which there is a great difference in terms of experience behind center in each instance.
On one side, you have four veteran signal-callers that have played and started a combined 75 postseason games. Each of those men has started at least one Super Bowl and three of those performers NFL championships on their resume.
Meanwhile, the other four quarterbacks have combined for three postseason starts.
The leader of the defending NFC champion owns a disappointing 4-5 playoff record. However, Matt Ryan has thrown 10 touchdown passes without an interception in his last four postseason appearances dating back to last season, albeit a lost fumble in Super Bowl LI was indeed costly.
On the other hand, the last time the Eagles were in the playoffs, Nick Foles put up the enclosed numbers in a 26-24 home loss to the New Orleans Saints in the 2013 Wild Card round.
At the very least, Marcus Mariota has done one thing in the playoffs that the legendary Tom Brady hasn't managed. That's throwing a touchdown pass to himself.
But it is interesting to note that the five-time NFL champion and four-time Super Bowl MVP and the 2014 Heisman Trophy winner and three-year pro have helped orchestrate some of the biggest comebacks in NFL postseason history.
Talk about balance? In his first postseason appearance and the Jaguars' first playoff appearance since 2007, Blake Bortles threw for 87 yards and ran for 88. In any case, Jacksonville did not turn over the football in the 10-3 victory over the visiting Buffalo Bills.
For Ben Roethlisberger, his playoff numbers are hardly overwhelming. But he's also in the tournament for the 10th time in his 14-year career.
You could certainly make a case that the Vikings are playing the best football these days when it comes to this remaining group. And it's also important to note that you can make a case for Keenum being the perfect component for this balance Minnesota team.
However, while Drew Brees and the Saints haven't been to the playoffs since 2013, he comes off a sensational performance in last week's win over Carolina and won't be affected by playoff nerves.


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ONLY THE LITTLE BONE By David Huddle. 217 pp. Boston: David R. Godine. $15.95.
DAVID HUDDLE'S excellent new book of linked short stories, ''Only the Little Bone,'' is not just another tale of growing up south of the Mason-Dixon line. Its real interest, even when the narrator is still a young boy, lies in the depiction of the lines of power within the family, the community, the industries that support the community - and of the kind of men these institutions produce.
The stories show men watching, coveting, spying on and underhandedly or openly attacking women who attract them. In the very first story, ''Poison Oak,'' a threat blooms around the mother of the narrator. In ''The Undesirable'' the same boy, Reed Bryant, now an adolescent, finds himself both the threatened and the threatener. In this splendid novella Reed's father hires as a secretary at the Carbide plant a young woman who becomes the catalyst for the boy's loss of innocence -not, however, through a conventional sexual initiation but through his realization that he can use her to gain a moment of mastery over his father.
This quality, of course, is emblematic of more than the Bryant family. The final lines of of the book extend the field of view as far as possible. This boy, this man, his family, his town and his nation represent human history writ small, writ large, written by a gifted artist.


Evening is the best time between the harsh day light and dead darkness of night. It is the best time to forget all the worries and stresses. Enjoy the warmth of evening with your friend, lover and family members by sharing this "Have a Great Evening" image. You can also post it in your FB pages to welcome the short and sweet part of a day.


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Data information literacy : librarians, data, and the education of a new generation of researchers, edited by Jake Carlson and Lisa R. Johnston, (electronic resource)
The Resource Data information literacy : librarians, data, and the education of a new generation of researchers, edited by Jake Carlson and Lisa R. Johnston, (electronic resource)
The item Data information literacy : librarians, data, and the education of a new generation of researchers, edited by Jake Carlson and Lisa R. Johnston, (electronic resource) represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Bowdoin College Library.
Carlson, Jake, 1970-
Johnston, Lisa, (Lisa R)
"Given the increasing attention to managing, publishing, and preserving research datasets as scholarly assets, what competencies in working with research data will graduate students in STEM disciplines need to be successful in their fields? And what role can librarians play in helping students attain these competencies? In addressing these questions, this book articulates a new area of opportunity for librarians and other information professionals, developing educational programs that introduce graduate students to the knowledge and skills needed to work with research data. The term "data information literacy" has been adopted with the deliberate intent of tying two emerging roles for librarians together. By viewing information literacy and data services as complementary rather than separate activities, the contributors seek to leverage the progress made and the lessons learned in each service area. The intent of the publication is to help librarians cultivate strategies and approaches for developing data information literacy programs"--
"The intent of the publication is to help librarians cultivate strategies and approaches for developing data information literacy programs of their own using the work done in the multiyear, IMLS-supported Data Information Literacy (DIL) project as real-world case studies. The initial chapters introduce the concepts and ideas behind data information literacy, such as the twelve data competencies. The middle chapters describe five case studies in data information literacy conducted at different institutions (Cornell, Purdue, Minnesota, Oregon), each focused on a different disciplinary area in science and engineering. They detail the approaches taken, how the programs were implemented, and the assessment metrics used to evaluate their impact. The later chapters include the "DIL Toolkit," a distillation of the lessons learned, which is presented as a handbook for librarians interested in developing their own DIL programs. The book concludes with recommendations for future directions and growth of data information literacy. More information about the DIL project can be found on the project's website: datainfolit.org"--
West Lafayette, Indiana, Purdue University Press, 2015
1 online resource (x, 271 pages)
Data information literacy : librarians, data, and the education of a new generation of researchers
Data information literacy
librarians, data, and the education of a new generation of researchers
edited by Jake Carlson and Lisa R. Johnston
Academic librarians -- Effect of technological innovations on
Academic libraries -- Relations with faculty and curriculum -- United States -- Case studies
Academic libraries -- Services to graduate students
Cyberinfrastructure
Electronic information resource literacy -- Study and teaching (Higher)
Information literacy -- Study and teaching (Higher)
Research -- Data processing | Management
Science -- Data processing | Management
Carlson, Jake
Johnston, Lisa
Purdue information literacy handbooks
Electronic information resource literacy

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Data Citation of the Item Data information literacy : librarians, data, and the education of a new generation of researchers, edited by Jake Carlson and Lisa R. Johnston, (electronic resource)


It's all about you – the Exhibitor – and maximising the return on your investment at Architecture & Building Expo. Having again delivered on its audience promise last year and expanding to the prestigious Main Hall at the RDS. The event creates a truly unique sales and promotional platform that links suppliers face to face with specifiers. This October, on Friday the 5th and Sat the 6th Architecture & Building Expo will again be staged alongside the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) annual conference with record attendances at this central Dublin venue. More than doubling in size in four years the 2018 event will again have Ireland's premier architecture magazine – Architecture Ireland – as its media partner providing a particular resource in promoting the show and its exhibitors to its architect readership.
The latest products and technologies from an impressive line-up of the industry's top suppliers.
With colleagues and the construction industry's top suppliers who will present the latest products and technologies.
Invaluable face-to-face discussions. Why not bring technical challenges you experience on projects to the show and get specialist advice from the suppliers.
Insights into the trends shaping architecture and building in Ireland and prepare for the ever changing built environment for the year ahead.
Architecture & Building Expo is now the premier annual event in architectural and construction products and a showcase in design and innovation. It is the must visit event for everyone in architecture, design and construction.
The place to be – running alongside the prestigious Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland Annual Conference, Architecture & Building Expo is tailored to allow the sector's suppliers a truly unique marketing opportunity to specifiers.
Leading Exhibitors – Growing each year the show attracts the leading names in construction products.
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Be part of this powerful networking opportunity where Exhibitors talk face-to-face with the country's top architects and technologists.


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Soccer Diplomacy: John Kerry Dubs Sports 'a Very Strong Language' at World Cup
Daniel J. Flynn
John Kerry occasionally graced the Fenway Faithful with his presence in the lower box seats during his time as a United States senator from Massachusetts. Now that Kerry serves as secretary of state, he confesses that small talk with big wigs often focuses on soccer.
Kerry spoke to Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl in Sao Paulo, Brazil at the World Cup. Like any good diplomat, the secretary of state opts for the foreign lingo over the American vernacular, dubbing a soccer field a "pitch," a game a "match," and even throwing in "football" instead of "soccer" a few times.
"During the World Cup, they're all watching, they're all engaged," Kerry says of the world leaders he comes across. "I suppose if I went to Spain that might not be such a formal welcome. Leaders all over the world are up on it. When I'm in the Gulf Sates, in the Arab world, in South Asia, in Iraq, I mean, I've seen football fields, and I mean football/soccer pitches, in the strangest places in the world. Just pure dust. In Sudan there are these dirt pitches, kids out on the dirt playing as hard as if they were on a beautiful grass pitch and going at it and it's just wonderful to watch. It's universal. And the leaders bring it up frequently because they're deeply invested, and some of the guys in that part of the world own some of the teams."
Kerry's no flip-flipper on the kicking sport. Long before taking up windsurfing and hunting, Kerry competed in soccer, hockey, and lacrosse in high school. "He wasn't a very good athlete," Stanley Resor, a classmate at St. Paul's boys school and later a Columbia professor, told ESPN of Kerry in 2004. "I mean, he wasn't a star athlete." But Kerry played varsity soccer at Yale in the 1960s, and he scored a hat trick in a win over Harvard on November 19, 1965 to conclude his career on the field, er, I mean pitch.
In his SI interview, in which his passion for the game comes across, Kerry called soccer "the global game," confessed that he takes a ball with him on his travels, and hoped to watch U.S.-Portugal on Sunday.
The secretary of state sees sports as "a way to communicate with people, one way or the other. Breaks down the barriers, proves commonality, takes away any of the sense of 'We're different' or 'You're different' and makes people the same with the same common passions. It's a very strong language."
SportsESPNJohn KerryUniversal
Tulsi Gabbard Blasts Biden: 'He Has Betrayed Us All'


This is my second try to create a nice Victorian/steampunk theme.
Firstly - the theme - I´ve found it on some french forum, there was a link on rapidshare. I don´t know if that link still works.. I have the theme in my pc, but I don´t know if I´m authorized to re-upload it. I didn´t find this theme here, nor anywhere else. So tell me if I should upload it here (Of course I would give the credit to author)..
I will upload the pattern here.
Also the icons in the dock belongs to her - there is not a version for gnome yet. But she will maybe make it soon (you can only download the PNG icons and add them to applications one by one).
The dock itself is AWN with some changed colors and text.
The vintage cairo clock theme can be found on my other "artwork"
The theme is wonderful, but don't can download.
The link no longer work's ... please upload it again.


Last 3 week we discuss these 3 FSP share.
Ensa steel and shakti press hold and still in buying range.
2. Book value of country club India ltd is 79.73 so I think @19 this is a value buy for long term.
4. Strong bulk deal in buying side also shown in this share.
6. I have no any share of country club India ltd; this is not a buying advice read disclaimer in this site before take any decision.


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Even "whole" milk is almost 90% water.
So what does he think of american beer?
Nesikep wrote: So what does he think of american beer?
It's all 90% water too....or more.
There's more water in a pound of green beans than in a pound of milk!
If someone is going to drink skim milk, they might as well start drinking that almond milk stuff.
That reminds me of a pet peeve of mine. Everything is marked gluten free in the grocery stores now and many people are talking about how to find gluten free this or that. I saw a box of rice cereal and it was labeled gluten free. No kidding! Yeah, it is gluten free because it is made with rice and not wheat, barley, or rye. If a person is gluten intolerant, I am sure they would know that gluten comes from those grains. About 1% of the U.S. population is gluten intolerant, but with the way everyone is talking about gluten free you would think it would be a much higher percentage of the population.
I say, give me all the gluten. I love gluten.
Approximately 1-in-4 households have either (a) a person living in the household, or (b) a blood relative of someone living in the household (brother, sister, parent, niece, nephew, cousin) who has moderate to severe gluten intolerance levels ... and their stomachs drive the grocery budget.
Whiskey has told its fair share of lies.
Eating gluten free or avoiding foods that a person cannot digest properly is not some fad diet.Some of these people will eventually die early if they don't eat gluten free and there families want to get something they can all eat together in many cases.The 1% number is a underestimate only the most severe case are counted.
I know it is not a fad diet. I am just pointing out that the vast majority of people can digest gluten just fine. I was also pointing out that those who are gluten intolerant would know that rice, corn and similar things do not have gluten, so it seems silly to mark them as gluten-free.
You are correct. There are 1% of Americans who are gluten intolerant. I looked it up, and it seems another 6% of Americans are gluten sensitive, which means gluten can cause digestion trouble for them.
In other words, one in three or four households are gluten free ... the whole grocery budget oftentimes travels through that person's stomach and intestines.
Sure glad our family can eat anything that taste good.
True Grit Farms wrote: Sure glad our family can eat anything that taste good.
And in my case too much of it.
and to this day I have two.
I have an adopted granddaughter who is gluten intolerant. She was a mess until Doctors figured out what was wrong. She had been labeled a failure to thrive, her speech was delayed along with motor skills. Once the gluten intolerance was diagnosed, things turned around quickly. She's growing like a weed, loves school and is a changed little girl. I her to pieces.
She is so intolerant you can't use a 'gluten exposed spoon' to put food on her plate. We had pizza one night and I put her left over gluten free pizza on top of the regular pizza to refrigerate. I never thought about cross contamination. She couldn't eat her left over pizza because it had touched the other one.
I've read that gluten intolerance can possibly be traced to introducing gluten foods to babies at too early of an age.


text:
WILDER, CARDOZA, LANGMEAD, RICHARDS AND MORRIS IN SATURDAY'S NEW LOOK PROGRAMME
New look issue of the Cobbler on sale for just £3
"I feel we are in a good place and we are ready to start the season. You want to get through pre-season with all of the players fit and healthy and the only disappointment we have had is the injury to Kelvin Langmead," writes Chris Wilder in Saturday's programme.
You can read much more from the manager and take in the views of Chairman David Cardoza in the match programme for Saturday's Sky Bet League 2 visit from Mansfield Town, costing £3.
As well as all that, we will have the views and news from Sixfields. We will also profile Mansfield, have the views of the BBC's Dan Roan and blogger Tom Reed, the Chron's Jeremy Casey, John Morris, we have the latest from Clarence as well as all the usual stats and pictures from pre-season.
We also have the very first column from club captain Kelvin Langmead.
Get your copy on matchday, on sale in and around Sixfields. If you purchased a programme bolt on with your season ticket, you need to collect your programme from club shop, not from a programme seller.


text:
U.S. starts withdrawing from Syria-Turkey borderline amid anticipated Turkish campaign
2019-10-08 10:31:13Xinhua Editor : Gu Liping ECNS App Download
The United States on Monday pulled out forces from observation points in northeastern Syria along the borderline with Turkey amid threats by Ankara to launch a military campaign against the U.S.-backed Kurdish forces, a war monitor reported.
The U.S. withdrew forces from observation posts at Tel Abyad and Ras al-Ain in northeast Syria and withdrawal comes at a time the Turkish government has been threatening a military campaign against Kurdish militias in northern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unleashed his strongest warning yet, threatening to launch a military operation against the U.S.-backed Kurdish militia groups in northeastern Syria.
The Kurdish-controlled areas contain also U.S. troops.
In August, the U.S. and Turkey agreed to have joint patrols into designated Kurdish areas near the Turkish border as a prelude to imposing a safe zone.
In his speech on Saturday, Erdogan said the deal with the U.S. to secure the border with Turkey was faltering.
Meanwhile, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said in a statement Monday that the U.S. didn't live up to its pledges to defuse the tension with Turkey despite the "flexibility" the Kurdish militia has shown regarding the U.S.-Turkish understanding to create a safe zone in northern Syria.
The SDF said that the Turkish campaign will undermine the SDF war on terrorist groups such as the Islamic State (IS) and will endanger the security and safety established in Kurdish-controlled areas in northeastern Syria.
On the ground, the Turkey-backed Syrian rebels started crossing from Syria into the Turkish territories to be transported to areas opposite to the Kurdish-controlled parts in northeastern Syria as part of the preparations for the Turkish campaign.
Turkey sees the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and its allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as separatists and terrorists, citing their links with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union.
The Kurdish militia forces have been controlling areas in northern Syria since the early years of the crisis in Syria, in order to force Damascus to recognize a federal rule or autonomy for the Kurds in northern Syria.
However, Syrian government officials repeatedly said that Kurdish federalization in Syria or self-rule is out of the question.
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Sailing Yacht Wavelength (ex Boo Too) is a 2002 27m (90') world cruising yacht designed by the famous Ron Holland and built by the Pendennis Shipyard in Falmouth, UK. She benefited from a refit in 2008 as well as in 2012/2013. She is able to accommodate up to 4 guests in 2 cabins as well as a maximum of 10 whilst sailing.
Striking a unique balance between sailing performance, ease of handling, high quality materials and world class workmanship, Wavelength yacht is a true, high performance world cruising Yacht.
Wavelength has a raised saloon with panoramic views and easy access to the cockpit. It has huge sofas for lounging and formal dining for ten with Royal Worcester china and Baccarat crystal. Wavelength is a powerful sailor: Take the helm and enjoy the exhilarating experience of sailing a thoroughbred yacht in yet another of the world's exotic locations. Or simply relax on the spacious sun-drenched deck.
Following designer Ron Holland's well proven raised saloon concept, guests can enjoy panoramic views from the spacious saloon, or comfortable contact with the elements from the protection of the on-deck dining cockpit and helm station. Clear teak decks and opening transom steps offer a variety of on-deck possibilities, as well as comfortable boarding and swimming from a retracted platform. The interior successfully integrates social and entertainment features with the necessary practical aspects of ocean voyaging. The unusual cherry wood interior, with its fine grains and feathered inlay, creates a feeling of deep luxury.
The unusual cherrywood interior, with its fine grains and feathered inlay, creates a feeling of deep luxury. With accommodation for four guests and experienced crew to look after your every need, superyacht Wavelength is designed for exceptionally comfortable cruising. Space, comfort and quality, gourmet cooking and a desire to please with a friendly atmosphere on board make Wavelength an outstanding yacht and will make your sailing adventure an unforgettable experience.
Her friendly and welcoming interior design was undertaken by a British design team. For your entertainment, Wavelength yacht is equipped with a 32" flat plasma video monitor, a library of up to date films, a sophisticated music system and full film-making capabilities to record your vacation.
Wavelength (ex Boo Too) offers a light, bright master stateroom with its own private companionway onto the aft deck, a large bathroom and a study make up the principal suite. Her starboard twin guest stateroom sleeps two in great comfort with en-suite facilities.
The yacht has windsurfing, water skiing, wake boarding, snorkelling, scuba diving, fishing or exploring exotic islands, inlets and golden sand beaches in one of the two tenders. Underwater lights mean you can watch the night sea life.
Wavelength features a classical interior with good natural lighting from the windows. She is able to accommodate up to 4 guests in 2 cabins as well as a maximum of 10 whilst sailing. The beds in the master cabin are 118cm in width.
She carries a good inventory of watersport equipment for a sleek yacht of this size, including: A 4.7m Zodiac Futura with 30hp 3m Quicksilver Tender with 3.5hp. Her Audio Visual Equipment and Deck Facilities include a Plasma TV screen in the main saloon. Communications Mini M fax & phone PK Wavelength (ex Boo Too) also has GSM.


text:
Arson: Man gets six-year imprisonment, six strokes of cane
| Fadley Faisal |
A LOCAL man was sentenced to six years' imprisonment with six whippings after he pleaded guilty to committing mischief by setting fire to his foster mother's house.
Haji Mohd Faizal bin Haji Wasli was first brought on April 7, 2018 and charged under Section 436 of the Penal Code for arson, which carries the penalty of life imprisonment.
He claimed trial to the charge.
However, before trial commenced, the defendant's lawyer, Rozaiman Abdul Rahman, wrote a letter of representation for the charge to be reduced to Section 435 of the Penal Code which carries a maximum penalty of up to 15 years' imprisonment with maximum of six whippings.
The prosecution offered the alternative charge to which the defendant pleaded guilty to on December 26, 2018.
The charge carrying the life imprisonment penalty was withdrawn.
In mitigation, the defendant told the court through his legal representative that he was remorseful and apologised for the sorrow, discomfort and losses he had caused to the family.
He also apologised to his neighbour's friend whom he had threatened at the time.
High Court Justice Pengiran Datin Paduka Hajah Rostaina binti Pengiran Haji Duraman, in handing the sentence, noted the need to impose a severe sentence to protect the public.
The court took into account the monetary loss estimated at about BND20,000 and the adoptive mother's loss of her home and having to stay with a relative, causing her to be homeless.
On another note, the court noted the fact that no one was injured; however, the defendant's actions were aggravated when a neighbour's friend told the defendant to put out the fire but he ignored it and instead waved a machete towards the neighbour's friend.
"The defendant's actions were committed without caring for the safety of others, taking into account the extent of damages as seen from court photographs, and the defendant not doing anything to stop the fire," said the High Court Justice.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Siti Nurjauinah binti Haji Kula's facts of the case stated that the defendant was at home watching television at 3.20am on April 5, 2018 when he saw a programme showing fire-lit torch.
This prompted him to light his clothes on fire using a lighter, with the fire spreading to the walls. The defendant ran downstairs.
He further set fire to the toilet's curtains on the ground floor.
This was when the neighbour's friend noticed the fire, came up to the defendant and told him to put the fire out but was ignored by the defendant.
The defendant instead became angry and waved a machete towards the neighbour's friend, scaring him.
The defendant left the house as the fire continued to spread.
By the time the fire spread to the second floor and was visible from outside, the neighbour's friend called the Fire and Rescue Department to put it out.
A police report was lodged which led to the defendant's arrest upon investigations.
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