text:
Designer New Wave// Thomas Tait
YSO, Sylvain Blais and Madeleine Goubau
photography Sylvain Blais
styling YSO
"The next big thing in fashion," the British media repeats again and again. At age 24, Montréal-designer Thomas Tait has become the it-thing of the day with his beautiful collections that are destined to someday equal the classics. His unusual shapes with impeccable cuts are testament to movement and his conscious awareness of the relationship that unites the body and clothes. Imbued with a sense of maturity, his style has seduced the greatest in the fashion world.
"My collections are never just one theme," explains Tait. It's a very counter-current approach at a time when all the new venues in London are focused on making each collection a declaration of sorts. There's the one for digital impressionism, the other for asymmetrical knits. For Thomas Tait, the importance is not in the signature look, but the DNA. His work is as focused on volume, as the weight of tissues and the simplicity of lines. It's an architectural-like aesthetic. The front covered, with the back exposed; coat collars erected high to frame the face. After only four collections, some speak of a certain style "à la Thomas Tait," as one would say, "à la Coco Chanel."
With no muse or inspiring trips, the creative process often begins while Tait is on the phone, scribbling away. "A passing idea will become so persistent that I have to stop and draw it on a piece of paper," says the young designer. Unable to describe off-hand ideas that inspires him, it's only in hindsight that he understands his influences, sometimes in direct contradiction to his likes. The result: mustard yellows, green foam and browns as seen in his last collection, which he described as, "colours that aren't necessarily associated with beauty." And yet, it works. According to Thomas Tait, being at the beginning of his journey gives him a license for creative liberty.
Only the beginning, yes, but a hugely successful one at that. After studying at Montréal's Collège La Salle, Thomas Tait was accepted, at the age of 20, for a masters at the reputed Central Saint Martins College in London, becoming the youngest graduate of the prestigious program in female fashion design. His final school project made headlines and was selected to show case at the London Fashion Week. That same year, he won the Dorchester Collection Fashion Prize, along with the praises of the jury and a $40,000 scholarship. Armed with recognition from the industry and financial support from the British Fashion Council, Tait was able to start his line.
"It's not at all what I expected. It's better, and it's worse," says the designer. "I wasn't really ready to start my own business." From design to production, communication to sales, Tait takes care of every aspect of his self-named line, with only one assistant at his side. "I presume that since I'm young I have the energy to attain my goals, but my age is also determining in terms of experience and know-how," says Tait. "It's often with mistakes that I learn."
Thankfully, London is the capital for emerging designers. On top of being over-populated with fashion schools, the city offers many programs to help promising young designers and contests to give them spotlight. Despite the exorbitant cost of living, despite the strong competition, despite the fact that "it wasn't always easy," Thomas now says he is becoming more comfortable in London. "I like the diversity, I like how you can meet people from all walks of life that come from all over the world. I like the unexpected."
www.facebook.com/pages/Thomas-Tait
— Madeleine Goubau
#dtkeditorialsbrandclassicscoco chaneldesignerfashiongriffeinspirationlondonmadeleine goubaumotrealnatureNew wavesilhouettesSylvain Blaisthemethomas taityso
Designer New Wave// Lucian Matis
Designer New Wave// Anastasia Lomonova
dress to kill
Alessandro Michele's Freedom of Choice


Is a Christian Studies Degree Right for You?
An online bachelor's degree in Christian studies is a good fit for students who are interested in a career in Christian ministry, leadership, or missions, as well as careers with parachurch organizations. However, as a liberal arts degree with an emphasis on Christian history and theology, you can also apply your degree to careers outside ministry that require strong skills in critical thinking, writing, communication, and cultural analysis. The degree is appropriate both for Christians and for those who want to learn more about the Bible and how Christianity has influenced different civilizations over time.
Students who wish to pursue careers in ministry should consider what area of ministry they are most interested in before enrolling so that they can select a relevant specialization, such as youth ministry, biblical studies, or Christian education. For students who do not wish to pursue careers in ministry, an online bachelor's in Christian studies can be a difficult degree to market in the greater job field. For this reason, we recommend choosing a broad minor, such as business or communication, which will be applicable to a wider range of jobs.
As with any degree from a Christian college or university, evaluate ahead of time whether the school's mission, values, and denominational views line up with your own. Finally, consider schools that encourage volunteer work with Christian nonprofits or a practicum in evangelism or ministry, as this will help you put feet to your faith and gain valuable experience to prepare you for a life of Christian service, inside or outside the church.
Although you are not limited to a position within the clergy, it is common for graduates to establish careers in churches and faith-based nonprofits. However, other careers may be available in Christian writing or education. Consider the following careers, bearing in mind that salaries may vary greatly depending on your experience, roles and responsibilities, and the size and type of your employer.
Pastors are considered the shepherds of their congregations, providing leadership and guidance in Christian living through their preaching and teaching and in counseling members of their congregation. In many churches, they also play a role in the daily operations of churches, or direct the work of the pastors who oversee various church ministries. While a degree is not always required to be a pastor, many denominations do require a minimum of a bachelor's degree in a relevant area, such as Christian studies, biblical studies, or theology, so that the pastor has a firm grounding in the Bible and church doctrine. The above salary average for clergy was provided by theU. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Christian writers write for online and print publications on topics pertaining to Christian living or religion, and may even provide commentary on current events and issues from a Christian perspective. Christian authors may write fiction or nonfiction books for a Christian audience, and may focus on anything from historical fiction to self-help.
A college degree is often required for salaried writing positions, theBLS explains, and a bachelor's degree in Christian studies could equip you with the writing skills and immersion in the Christian faith you need to write for Christian audiences. A minor in writing, English, or journalism may boost your chances of success in this career, however. The aboveemployment growth projection andsalary average were provided by the BLS.
Christian educators teach children in private Christian schools, where they may provide instruction in the Bible and Christian living. They plan age-appropriate Bible lessons for their students, assess their students' grasp of the material through tests and quizzes, and encourage the memorization of scripture. While the completion of a state-approved teacher education program and state licensure is required for public school teachers, this may not be required in private schools, the BLS explains. Thejob outlook andsalary average provided above were taken from the BLS.
Christian missionaries are sent out from churches and parachurch organizations in the U.S. to other countries, where they spread the gospel, plant churches, and may also work on humanitarian goals, such as building wells or schools, or working to promote health and literacy. Missionaries often have one or more ministry connections in the country they are headed to, who help them get acclimated to the new culture and the most effective ways of evangelizing within that culture. Salaries in the field vary greatly, with some missionaries fully supported by their churches in the U.S., while others must supplement their income by working in the country in which they are doing missions work. The above salary average was provided bySimplyHired.
Youth pastors teach teenagers about God, encourage them in Christian living, host Bible studies that explore issues relevant to young people, and train teenagers how to be effective Christian leaders. They also plan camps, retreats, and other events where teenagers can fellowship with one another in a safe environment while also learning more about their faith. While a degree isn't always required for a degree in youth ministry, a bachelor's degree in Christian studies can equip a person with the biblical and theological background to pursue youth ministry, not to mention an emphasis in youth ministry is available for many Christian studies degrees. The above salary figure was provided byPayScale.com. Keep in mind that many youth pastors work part-time and supplement their income with other jobs.


Canines, like wisdom teeth, have a tendency to become impacted. The canines are some of the most important teeth in the mouth; they have the deepest and strongest roots of all the teeth, and they help guide the alignment of the other teeth. While an orthodontist can usually align the surrounding teeth to allow the canines to grow in normally, sometimes growths, other adult teeth, or primary teeth that haven't fallen out yet can get in the way and cause complications. In these cases, you may be referred to Dr. Collins, who will work with your orthodontist to expose the teeth and guide them into proper alignment.
Seeking early treatment for impacted canines can make the procedural process much easier. Usually, the canines erupt around age 13, but having your child's teeth examined earlier can allow for preventative treatments, such as the straightening of teeth with braces to create space for the canines to grow in properly. If you do not clear the eruption path before the age of about 12, or other complications exist, you may be referred to an oral surgeon for treatment.
For older patients, the canines may become fused in place, making proper eruption impossible. If this is the case, we offer tooth extraction and dental implant procedures to restore your oral function and smile.
In cases where the canines cannot erupt naturally, your oral surgeon will work with your orthodontist to expose and align the teeth properly.
First, the orthodontist will move the permanent teeth into their proper positions using braces or other alignment methods. Then Dr. Collins will surgically expose the impacted tooth or teeth by pushing back the gum tissue and removing any bone or baby teeth blocking the path of the tooth. Once the tooth is exposed, Dr. Collins will attach a small chain to the tooth. After the surgery, usually within a week or two, your orthodontist will attach this chain to a small band, which will apply a light pulling pressure and guide the tooth into place.
We offer consultations and impacted tooth exposures at our Conway, AR, office.
If you or your child suffers from impacted canines, we encourage you to schedule an appointment with Dr. Collins. The canines are some of the most important teeth in the mouth because of their effect on your bite and tooth alignment. Our expert surgical team will ensure that you or your child are well cared for and well informed throughout the entire procedure.


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Q: Python, Sqlite3 - How to convert a list to a BLOB cell What is the most elegant method for dumping a list in python into an sqlite3 DB as binary data (i.e., a BLOB cell)?
data = [ 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ]
# now write this to db as binary data
# 0000 0000
# 0000 0001
# ...
# 0000 0101

A: Assuming you want it treated as a sequence of 8-bit unsigned values, use the array module.
a = array.array('B', data)
>>> a.tostring()
'\x00\x01\x02\x03\x04\x05'

Use different typecodes than 'B' if you want to treat the data as different types.  eg. 'b' for a sequence of signed bytes, or 'i' for a signed integer.

A: I have the same problem, and I'm thinking about solving this in another way.
I think the pickle module is done exactly for something like this (serialization on python objects)
Example (this one is for dumping to file... but I think it's easily changeble for db storage)
Saving:
# Save a dictionary into a pickle file.
import pickle
favorite_color = { "lion": "yellow", "kitty": "red" }
pickle.dump( favorite_color, open( "save.p", "w" ) )

Loading:
# Load the dictionary back from the pickle file.
import pickle
favorite_color = pickle.load( open( "save.p" ) )

IMHO I think this way is more elegant and safer(it works for any python object).
That's my 2 cents
UPDATE:
After doing a bit of search on my idea, they show some gotchas on my solution ( I can't make sql searches on that field). But I still think that it's a decent solution (if you don't need to search that field.

A: It seems that Brian's solution fits your needs, but keep in mind that with that method your just storing the data as a string.
If you want to store the raw binary data into the database (so it doesn't take up as much space), convert your data to a Binary sqlite object and then add it to your database.
query = u'''insert into testtable VALUES(?)'''
b = sqlite3.Binary(some_binarydata)
cur.execute(query,(b,))
con.commit()

(For some reason this doesn't seem to be documented in the python documentation)
Here are some notes on sqlite BLOB data restrictions:
http://effbot.org/zone/sqlite-blob.htm

A: See this general solution at SourceForge which covers any arbitrary Python object (including list, tuple, dictionary, etc):
y_serial.py module :: warehouse Python objects with SQLite
"Serialization + persistance :: in a few lines of code, compress and annotate Python objects into SQLite; then later retrieve them chronologically by keywords without any SQL. Most useful "standard" module for a database to store schema-less data."
http://yserial.sourceforge.net

A: It is possible to store object data as pickle dump, jason etc but it is also possible to index, them, restrict them  and run select queries that use those indices. Here is example with tuples, that can be easily applied for any other python class. All that is needed is explained in python sqlite3 documentation (somebody already posted the link). Anyway here it is all put together in the following example:
import sqlite3
import pickle

def adapt_tuple(tuple):
    return pickle.dumps(tuple)

sqlite3.register_adapter(tuple, adapt_tuple)    #cannot use pickle.dumps directly because of inadequate argument signature
sqlite3.register_converter("tuple", pickle.loads)

def collate_tuple(string1, string2):
    return cmp(pickle.loads(string1), pickle.loads(string2))

#########################
# 1) Using declared types
con = sqlite3.connect(":memory:", detect_types=sqlite3.PARSE_DECLTYPES)

con.create_collation("cmptuple", collate_tuple)

cur = con.cursor()
cur.execute("create table test(p tuple unique collate cmptuple) ")
cur.execute("create index tuple_collated_index on test(p collate cmptuple)")

cur.execute("select name, type  from sqlite_master") # where type = 'table'")
print(cur.fetchall())

p = (1,2,3)
p1 = (1,2)

cur.execute("insert into test(p) values (?)", (p,))
cur.execute("insert into test(p) values (?)", (p1,))
cur.execute("insert into test(p) values (?)", ((10, 1),))
cur.execute("insert into test(p) values (?)", (tuple((9, 33)) ,))
cur.execute("insert into test(p) values (?)", (((9, 5), 33) ,))

try:
    cur.execute("insert into test(p) values (?)", (tuple((9, 33)) ,))
except Exception as e:
    print e

cur.execute("select p from test order by p")
print "\nwith declared types and default collate on column:"
for raw in cur:
    print raw

cur.execute("select p from test order by p collate cmptuple")
print "\nwith declared types collate:"
for raw in cur:
    print raw

con.create_function('pycmp', 2, cmp)

print "\nselect grater than using cmp function:"
cur.execute("select p from test where pycmp(p,?) >= 0", ((10, ),) )
for raw in cur:
    print raw

cur.execute("select p from test where pycmp(p,?) >= 0", ((3,)))
for raw in cur:
    print raw

print "\nselect grater than using collate:"
cur.execute("select p from test where p > ?", ((10,),) )
for raw in cur:
    print raw

cur.execute("explain query plan select p from test where p > ?", ((3,)))
for raw in cur:
    print raw

cur.close()
con.close()

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


13/10/12 - 20/10/12 - Another great stay, some lovely weather & starry nights for the hot tub!
Signed on 30th November, 2012 by The Kent Girls.
28/09/12 - 01/10/12 - We had a really nice weekend, enjoyed the hot tub. The lodge is very clean & comfortable. Had a lovely time, we will return at some point. Thank you very much!
Signed on 30th November, 2012 by Joanne & Alan & Lesley & Clive, Cudworth, Barnsley.
21/09/12 - Lovely relaxing time. Loved the hot tub!!
3rd time here, had a brill time, wish wasn't going home again. Got engaged here as well, loved every min of it! Thanx.
Signed on 30th November, 2012 by The Powell Family, Castleford.
16..11.12 - 1st time visit on a recommendation from my Daughter Chelsey & Brett Harvey who visited 19.6.11 see their reviews. My birthday and my husbands 50th. The log cabin is beautiful , spacious and immaculately clean. Home from home. The hot tub is amazing such a brilliant touch. I can see us returning lots. We loved it, had a lovely, lovely weekend wish we could have stayed longer. Thanks for the wine. We will be recommending here to many folk and I'm sure we'll be re booking, think i'll bring my sisters too. Please check out the Air Museum its well worth it, Also found a great pub to eat at in Wheldrake, Wenlock Arms, we had a steak lovely. Just visited the pub in the village, worth every penny top quality food. Use the Park & Ride into York. Excellent.
09.11.12 - 12.11.12 - This was our first time. We wanted to do something special for our first wedding anniversary. We found the location serene and our whole 3 night stay extremely relaxing. The cabin was clean and felt like a home from home....with the added pleasure of the hot tub, we will definitely be returning. Would highly recommend.
Signed on 30th November, 2012 by Daz & Yvette Watson, Doncaster.
12/10/12 - Lovely relaxing break - perfect!
We've had a fantastic chilled week in this peaceful log cabin and we all loved relaxing in the hot tub after our days out exploring the area and catching up with local friends. Highlights of our stay with our two young boys included the National Railway Museum and the Wheel in York and the steam railway and Sea Life centre in Scarborough. Piglets Farm was fab value for money in term time - had the place to ourselves We will be back, the location and standard is spot on for us - thank you!
Signed on 30th November, 2012 by Adrian, Clare, Elliot & Tristan, Hertfordshire.
Had a lovely stay, quiet & relaxing - Thank you.
Castle Howard is a must, fabulous day out in the house & gardens, went to the Opera House in York, lovely theatre saw Soul Sister a great show. Pocklington a lovely little town, went to continental market which was interesting. Whitby is great 199 steps up to Abbey - which we needed after having fish & chip lunch at the "Magpie" restaurant by the harbour. St Vincent Arms in the village - you must book - fantastic gourmet pub.
Signed on 30th November, 2012 by Marguerite,Thomas, Christine & Cameron.
Lovely relaxing family break! Best hot tub ever, will definitely recommend to family & friends. Thank you.
23 - 30 July 2012 - Wonderful time, peaceful surroundings, log cabin fantastic and the hot tub was amazing. Have already recommended to family and friends. Great place to unwind and relax (excuse to come back) Thank you.
02.11.12 - This has been a lovely stay and we wish that we could stay longer. The hot tub was amazing and some of us even went in there 3 times a day. Thanks Madison (age 11) and Kacey (age 7).
Signed on 30th November, 2012 by The Lyons, Spalding Lincs.
07.10.12 - another wonderful weekend, hot tub fabulous as usual, 52 weeks and counting until we return!!! Totes Amaze!!
Signed on 30th November, 2012 by The A Team, Scarborough.
23/09/12 - This short holiday was just what we needed and your cabin was the perfect location. We've had an excellent weekend. Thank you so much. Hope to see you in the future.
Signed on 30th November, 2012 by Sarah & Friends.
03/11/12 - Wonderful stay lots of fun, beautiful meal at the pub, nice to be with friends.
Signed on 30th November, 2012 by Ali & Party, Heddon on the Wall.
03/09/12 - This has been a fantastic break for us all. So relaxing & tranquil. The cabin is extremely comfy & homely - a real delight! Thank you for making our stay so memorable!
Signed on 30th November, 2012 by Rudi & Party, York, Leeds & Manchester.
We have had a wonderful time. We had a chill-out time, much needed by all the family only wish we could have stayed longer. Many Thanks.
Signed on 30th November, 2012 by Darling & McDonah, Stockton on Tees.
17.08.12 - Wonderful holiday, Great accommodation, loved the hot tub! highly recommended, hopefully will return very soon.
10.08.12 We enjoyed our vacation, Thank you!!
21/10/12 - Our first family holiday, great cabin, great facilities, very relaxing and in an excellent location, Thank you.
04/11/12 - Lovely cabin thoroughly enjoyed our (stay, especially the use of hot tub.......fantastic.
21/10/12 - Fab weekend away for my 30th birthday with the girls, very chilled and what a fantastic well equip log cabin for a relaxing and chill celebration away from the hustle and bustle! will certainly be returning! All of us loved, loved, loved the hot tub! In and out every day regardless of the weather with loads of champers......we definitely celebrated in style. Thank you.
Signed on 30th November, 2012 by Jeannie, Sharon, Gilda, Lynsey, Alice & Kristan, Teeside, Sheffield and Guildford.
15/10/12 - What a wonderful place - York & surrounding area. Came for a girls "chillout" weekend. Definitely did that in the peace of the site. The hot tub was fantastic - really does relax & "chill" the body. We are all converts to hot tubs. Hope we will come back in the warmer weather.
Signed on 30th November, 2012 by Mary, Lorna, Chris, Janet & Jan, Aberdeen & Dumfries.
25/11/12 - Wow! We came here on our honeymoon and it was not what we expected at all, it was so much better. The cabin was beautiful and the people are so kind, we will definitely be coming back next year with the kids.
29/10/12 - First night was brill, beds are great, best cabin ever! I loved the Maze, it was fab, I would love to live here it is fabulous. From Charlotte and Joshua.
I wish this was our home as its so nice. Thank you so much we've had a great time and are looking forward to coming back soon.
Signed on 30th November, 2012 by Sean, Elaine, Charlotte & Joshy, Buckingham.
Signed on 30th November, 2012 by Paula, Vinny, Lol, Col & Mol, Newcastle.
We had a lovely stay here and enjoyed the hot tub. It was always warm which was nice! We will definitely come again.
8 - 16 th September - We had a wonderful stay here, lots to do in the area. The lodge is well equipped and cleaned to a high standard. Great hot tub, very quiet place - perfect for a relaxing break to unwind.
We will recommend to all our family & friends - 5 star - keep up the great work. Thanks.
15/09/12 - We got exactly what we came for a quiet trouble free relaxing week, made possible by Mark & Diane. The Lodge is of very high standards and the hot tub "fantastic" Well located to visit York and surrounding areas. The warm welcome and bottle of wine were fantastic. Thank you both so much.
8/9/2012 had a lovely week. the lodge and park are five star. Very relaxing stay will be back again.
16/9/12 We really enjoyed our stay here, so peaceful and relaxing. The cabins are really clean and modern. We especially loved the hot tub. Food at the St Vincent Arms was delicious. Will definitely be returning here. Thank you.
Signed on 17th September, 2012 by Sean & Alisha Hewitt, Hull.
We had a great time as always! See you next year! Pete, Jane & Charlie.
Signed on 17th September, 2012 by The Hodgkinsons, Manchester.
02/09/12 - 3rd time here and had brill time, wish wasn't going home again, got engaged here as well. Loved every minute of it. Thanx.
Signed on 17th September, 2012 by The Powell Family, Castleford.
31st August 2012. Very enjoyable and relaxing stay, the perfect place to celebrate my Sisters engagement, champagne and hot tub made a pefect combination. Thank you!!
24th Aug. Yet another fab week in your lovely cabin, everything perfect and so relaxing for my parents, Regards Janet Shaw.
Signed on 17th September, 2012 by The Shaws, Skidby, East Yorkshire.
14-9-12 Just spent our honeymoon here - had the best time anyone can have with my new bride. We will be back!!
Signed on 17th September, 2012 by Sean & Lorraine, Eastwood, Notts.
9/9/12 - What a beautiful cabin, very relaxing will definately be coming back. Hot tub was amazing, such a lovely place.
Signed on 17th September, 2012 by Kelly & Dale, Nottingham.
Signed on 17th September, 2012 by Keith & Mandy, South Yorkshire.
31-08-12 - We had a lovely time relaxing at Herrington Park. The cabin was fantastic, clean and spacious, we will certainly come back and recoomend any one that knows about you to come, thanks we loved it. Many thanks The Cumners.
We really enjoyed the hot tub even with it raining! The lodge was well equiped and well designed. Thank you, The Aylotts.
Signed on 17th September, 2012 by Hannah Aylott & Kim Cumner, Weston Super Mare.
Signed on 17th September, 2012 by The Routledges, Carlisle.
Signed on 17th September, 2012 by Snape Family, Preston, Lancashire.
Signed on 17th September, 2012 by Kelly, Stephen & Louie, Boldon, Tyne & Wear.
10/09/12 - Had a great time, cabins fab and must have had best weather of the summer.
Signed on 17th September, 2012 by Laraine Dawson, Hawick, Scottish Borders.


text:
Rainfall declines induced by climate change are expected to be compounded in Jordan by historically limited water resources and ballooning population growth punctuated by influxes of refugees. (Photo credit: Getty)
The effects of climate change on water shortages
In Jordan, one of the most water-poor nations, predictions of future droughts depend on the scale of climate change. Without reducing greenhouse gases the future looks dry, but researchers offer some hope.
BY Josie Garthwaite
Freshwater Resources,
Human Dimensions and Sustainability
ClockMarch 22, 2019
Read more articles like this?SubscribeStanford Earth Matters Magazine
If global temperatures continue to rise, rainfall will increasingly become a beast of extremes: long dry spells here, dangerous floods there – and in some places, intense water shortages. As early as 2025, the World Health Organization estimates that half of the world's population will be living in water-stressed areas.
"Rainfall is somewhere between beautiful and a nuisance," said hydrologist Steven Gorelick, director of the Global Freshwater Initiative at Stanford's Woods Institute for the Environment. "It's not something you immediately drink." So when water supplies come up short, it's often a slow-moving disaster, with effects that accumulate – and linger – for years until rainfall rates seem to return to normal. As a result, Gorelick said, "There's a very short memory of the last drought."
Although a shortage of clean drinking water is the most immediate threat to human health, water scarcity can have far-reaching consequences. Diminished flows in rivers and streams can increase concentration of harmful pollutants. Researchers including Rosemary Knight and Scott Fendorf at Stanford's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences (Stanford Earth) have shown that overtaxed aquifers in some places may become more vulnerable to contamination. When waterways run dry, animals may seek out drinking water from places where people live, increasing the likelihood of contact between humans with wildlife and any disease-carrying insects they host. Drought can also elevate risk of wildfires and dust storms that may lead to irritation of lungs and airways.
More directly, when people can't get enough water for sanitation and handwashing, respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses tend to spread more easily. Food safety can be affected, too: When soils dry out and become compacted, it's more likely that rain will run off the surface and carry contaminants to crops instead of soaking into the ground.
As a way of exploring the future risk of water shortage in a complex environment, Gorelick and his colleagues have made a case study of Jordan, one of the most water-poor nations in the world. Rainfall declines induced by climate change are expected to be compounded by historically limited water resources and ballooning population growth punctuated by influxes of refugees. What's more, flows in one of the nation's key freshwater resources – the Yarmouk-Jordan River – have dwindled as a result of dam building and have also been affected by conflict-driven land-use changes in Syria.
The team analyzed data collected through remote sensing and government surveys and developed computer simulations of hydrological processes under different scenarios. The results showed that, barring significant reductions in global greenhouse gas emission rates, rainfall in Jordan will decline by 30 percent and the occurrence of drought will triple by 2100. The team also projected rainfall under a scenario in which emissions begin to decline in the coming decades, roughly in accordance with the goals of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. Even under this optimistic scenario, Jordan is likely to experience more frequent and longer droughts of moderate severity by 2100. "We don't know just how bad those impacts of climate change will be or how large the population will grow," said Gorelick, the Cyrus Fisher Tolman Professor at Stanford Earth. "But it appears to us that Jordan's freshwater future is pretty grim."
The group also accounted for conflict and policy scenarios and for factors ranging from corruption to the amount of water needed to preserve the environment. From that the group has been able to highlight the complex web of issues contributing to water scarcity in a warming world, both in Jordan and far beyond. "The basic hydrologic process models are in place," Gorelick said. "The things that are more difficult to predict are society's adaptations to freshwater stress."
An aerial view of Jordan, between the cities of Amman and Aqaba. (Photo credit: Rick Bajornas / UN)
Visualizing drought in Jordan
Jordan is among the most water-poor nations in the world. Data from remote sensing and government surveys helped to reveal a baseline for droughts experienced in the region surrounding its major river basins from 1981 – 2010. (Image credit: Yvonne Tang)
Jordan is at increased threat of drought as the climate warms. However, in a scenario in which the world reduces emissions in the coming decades, the region is projected have significantly less drought than if the world continues emitting greenhouse gasses unabated. (Image credit: Yvonne Tang)
Special seriesS
The way we treat the planet has direct consequences on human health. This series of stories explores some of those consequences and what we can do to lessen the risks.
The effects of climate change on disease
As the globe warms, mosquitoes will roam beyond their current habitats, shifting the burden of diseases like malaria, dengue fever, chikungunya and West Nile virus. Researchers forecast different scenarios depending on the extent of climate change.
The effects of climate change on hunger
As more of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere, leading to climate change, crops might carry fewer nutrients, like zinc and iron. Stanford researchers explored this trend and regions most likely to be hurt by it.
The climate of health
The damage we do to the world around us is eventually visited upon us in the form of hunger, mental health, thirst, disease and other health issues. Here we explore a few of those health consequences.
The effects of climate change on suicide rates
In warmer temperatures suicide rates increase, leading to concerns about an uptick in suicides as the globe continues to warm. But researchers offer some hope if greenhouse gases get under control.
Media ContactsM
Josie Garthwaite
(650) 497-0947, josieg@stanford.edu
Measuring crude oil's carbon footprint
Some oil fields are cleaner than others. But together, they show natural gas management drives more emissions than scientists thought. A new study highlights a path to shrink crude oil's climate impact.
Navigate to Measuring crude oil's carbon footprint
A better brick
Inside a quest to save lives by cleaning up production of a ubiquitous building material.
Navigate to A better brick
Ecologist finds optimism in Alaskan forests
In her new book, Lauren Oakes explores a journey of loss, adaptation and resilience to climate change.
Navigate to Ecologist finds optimism in Alaskan forests
Costa Rica: A 'decarbonization lab' for the world?
In a speech at Stanford, Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado Quesada described a vision for the Central American country to phase out all carbon emissions by the year 2050.
Navigate to Costa Rica: A 'decarbonization lab' for the world?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Last month a teenage wrestler was refused the opportunity to compete unless he cut his hair. The young, African American student, Andrew Johnson, was competing in a New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) sanctioned tournament. The referee, Alan Maloney stated to Andrew and his coaches that his dreadlocks were a clear violation of the NJSIAA and needed to be cut or they would forfeit the match. Andrew, sixteen years old, decided to shear the locks and wrestle. At that point, the team trainer was seen cutting Johnson's dreadlocks. The video of the incident went viral on social media and was picked up by every cable and network news station.
According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, wrestlers' hair cannot extend past the ear lobe. If it does, they must wear a legal hair cap to cover it. Johnson was wearing a cap, but it wasn't attached to the headgear as the rule requires, according to Buena graduate Ron Roberts, a wrestling referee of more than 20 years. Johnson would've been in compliance in the past, but the rule changed within the past couple of seasons to require the cap to be attached to the headgear. There are many questions to be asked, but two stand out: why didn't his coaches or trainers know of this rule change, and why was the referee who had been reprimanded in the past for racial comments go to the extreme of having Johnson's hair cut in such extreme fashion? Some critics wondered why Johnson was told he had to cut his hair, rather than compete with a wrap over his head, like many other wrestlers with long hair.
I believe there is a strong movement to conform athletes, predominately of color, to the standards of acceptance by white males in positions of authority. Its origin is from a feeling of empowerment over those individuals who don't look or act as they should. Is it racist? In my opinion, yes. Is it socially biased? I believe it is. Case in point is Colin Kaepernick whose protest in the NFC resulted in him being blackballed from the game. And let's not forget about Michael Sam, the gay football player from the University of Missouri. Sam was an All-American Defensive player of the SEC and came out as gay during the draft. Teams shied away from him in the first rounds, but eventually, he was drafted in the late rounds in 2014 by the St. Louis Rams. However, he was never given a legitimate shot as a player. The point I'm trying to make is that there are people who align themselves with the feelings of that "Old Guard" whose mandates will let you play, but you must know your place. So, where do we go from here?
There is an old saying that there is strength in numbers. I interpret that to mean that we all have a voice in what is acceptable or not. As a society, we must show solidarity in some form or another. Stand if you can when there are instances of abuse. Document what you see and do something with it. Social media are such a great vehicle. Lastly, speak up whether it's in small groups or at the podium. Face the fear of retaliation with your family and friends. Young Andrew Johnson never should experience anything like what he went through ever again.
Update: The state athletic association has asked that the ref who forced a wrestler to cut his dreadlocks be sidelined until further notice. In addition, the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights has opened an investigation.


Visit the Artists in Action tent at the GWCT Stand to see some of the best wildlife artists – all inspired by Scotland's natural glory – working and discussing their art.
Justin Prigmore is passionate about the opportunity that art presents in helping raise our consciousness of the struggle currently faced by nature. An ecologist and conservationist, through his art he has developed a strong reputation for powerful and inspirational portrayals of the natural world.
Large scale oil paintings are the result of dedicated research, a unique vision and years of experience in the field. His original artwork is filled with drama and passion that Justin breathes into every new work: he is committed to getting it right, a feeling that can only come from knowing your subjects well.
He sees his role as a chronicler of the wild places and species with which we share this planet and has travelled extensively. Justin now lives and works in the Cairngorms and his recent works depict the wonderful wildlife he finds there, from deer to black grouse and capercaillie.
Justin is joined by other three artists whose diverse styles and techniques make the Artist in Action tent a fascinating place to spend some time.
Guy Allen's superb artworks involve etching, aquatint, screenprint and lithography, while David Cemmick's early training as a taxidermist gave him a thorough understanding of animal anatomy, which has proved invaluable to his work as a painter and sculptor. From her East Linton farmhouse, Helen Gray uses vibrant colours and strong contrasts to bring a contemporary twist to her artwork.


A newcomer takes on illegal drug labs with community-wide enforcement and "in your face" policing.
In 2001, Missouri took the national title from California "" lunging to first place in methamphetamine lab seizures. To the chagrin of the state's police, mental health workers, judges, and foster care officials, Missouri has stayed number one ever since.
While the rural Midwest is notorious for meth problems today , illegal methamphetamines were first produced in large quantities on the West Coast thirty-five years ago. Motorcycle clubs then dominated the manufacturing of "crank" or "speed," jealously guarding their "cooking" methods. But by the 1990s, the drug had moved east. Recipes began appearing on the Internet, many formulas calling for anhydrous ammonia, a common corn fertilizer. Built from such innocuous materials — kitchen matches, cold pills, tubing, and brake fluid — and requiring no more space than an ordinary kitchen or motel room, meth labs proliferated in the Midwest, taking law enforcement and small towns by hideous surprise.
By 2001, Adair County in northern Missouri had a full-blown problem on its hands. Only the 42nd most populous county in the state (pop. 24,795/July 2001 US. Census estimate), Adair ranked 8th in meth lab seizures.
For the people of Adair County, however, meth crime wasn't statistical; the drug had a stench and a face — a sinister reality. The county seat of Kirksville and surrounding countryside had been horrified by a grisly string of events after a man born in rural Adair County moved back home and taught a network of friends to "cook" speed. By the mid-1990s, his mini-industry has grown ultra-violent: he burned down a barn to confiscate evidence of drug-making, shot a deputy sheriff, and allegedly murdered and decapitated an errant drug runner.
Patrick Williams, principal of Kirksville High School, admitted, "It was scary." Williams says that by the late 1990s there were "kids so violent they had to be removed from school by police. One Saturday night, a house burned down two blocks from the church I attend," when a meth lab's toxic chemicals exploded.
In 2003, Kirksville hired James Hughes, a native of SE Kansas and veteran of Boulder, Colorado's police force, as its new police chief. "Like a frog dumped in hot water, I came with a fresh perspective," Hughes says. The new chief devoted his first two months to meeting citizens, business owners, and county and state law enforcement teams in the area, as he sought a strong direction for his department. He looked at the number of local drug cases, dump sites, fires and burglaries, and saw children endangered by home meth labs and placed into foster care. Hughes decided that meth was "the most wide-reaching problem" in Kirkville and that tackling it could have the biggest impact on the town and surrounding community.
From experience with other anti-crime initiatives, Hughes knew "the most successful were those that brought in stakeholders" "" that involved not just police and judges but schools, churches, businesses, and mental health professionals, too. He knew Kirksville needed " a true community coalition" to face its drug problem, and in July 2003, the Adair County Meth Coalition went to work.
With a core of dedicated community leaders, the Meth Coalition (now involving 30 local organizations) adopted what Hughes calls "an in-your-face approach." Its message, broadcast on public service announcements through all the Adair County media, was blunt. Hughes spells it out: "If you're on meth, we want you to get fixed. If you won't, we're a community that's gonna run you out of town."
Local merchants had endured non-stop theft of over-the-counter cold medications containing pseudoephedrine "" a key ingredient in meth. The loss-prevention manager of Kirkville's Wal-Mart took a strong early role in the coalition, creating a brash publicity campaign. "Eradicate Meth" was the Coalition's slogan, and a huge black cockroach its logo. By October 2003, Kirksville High School students were parading down Franklin Street at homecoming with a banner reading "Stop the Infestation" and the Coalition's anonymous tipline number in bold print.
Through free spots on local TV and two radio stations, and a strong series of stories in Kirksville's newspaper, the community group alerted citizens to meth's telltale signs: the acrid smell of a speed lab in operation, discarded sacks of batteries and light bulbs, the addict's sleeplessness, sudden weight-loss and paranoia. Residents added up their observations, and the tipline began lighting up.
In December 2003, the organization held workshops for retailers. The seminars explained existing Missouri laws limiting sales of pseudoephedrine products and showed storeowners how to spot potential drug makers. Then, the Kirksville Daily News initiated some true enterprise reporting. The paper sent two young people undercover into 23 local stores, where they tried to buy illegal quantities of pseudoephedrine pills. The paper reported in January 2004, "Fifteen of the 23 outlets sold cold medicine to one person in quantities that exceeded the legal limit. Only one store meanwhile, contacted the authorities to report suspicious activity."
Sondra Sanford, the Coalition's meth prevention project coordinator, credits much of this success to Adair County's full time prosecutor. "Part-timers have divided loyalties," she says. Adair voted to spend some $45,000 more per year to hire Mark Williams as its full time prosecutor in January 2003. Williams trained local law enforcement officers to gather evidence with the rigor and precision to get convictions. He even organized a student art contest for 4th, 5th, and 6th graders, asking them to illustrate the dangers of meth, and turning the children's drawings into a community calendar.
In Missouri, meth has been especially cruel to the young. Based on interviews with children's advocates in western Missouri, the Joplin newspaper described the children of meth addicts as "emotionally orphaned" and often "unkempt, undernourished, hyper-vigilant and developmentally disabled." Children diagnosed as asthmatics in many cases have actually been impaired by the chemical fumes of home-meth labs.
Christine Steele, a social services investigator and caseworker in Adair County, says that because they've been neglected, the children of meth addicts are "very self-reliant. You get a lot of the parentified child roles." Deb McKim, a former Headstart teacher here and now an in-home service specialist, has worked with children who were exposed to meth and other drugs in vitro. She says such children show developmental delays and sometime severe physical handicaps; they're especially prone to anxiety and depression.
In 2005 Missouri's Department of Social Services began keeping statistics on the numbers of children coming into foster care due to meth and other drugs. DSS found that in December 2005, statewide, 12% of all foster children had been displaced by drug abuse. In far Southwest and Northwest Missouri, numbers are higher than 30%.
In this respect, too, the Adair County Meth Coalition had shown progress. In Adair's judicial circuit (DSS's unit of measurement) less than 10% of all foster care children had been taken from their homes for meth-related reasons (December 2005). In August 2004, the circuit manager had told Kirksville's newspaper that "about 24% of the 75 children in its custody have parents with a drug problem" — in 17 months, drug-related foster care cases here are down by more than half.
Nobody in Adair County is claiming victory over the meth problem. Sondra Sanford says that meth seizures in 2005 were slightly higher than in the previous year, and she acknowledges that while the Coalition has closed down some of the local meth labs, the drug now comes to Adair County in another form called "Ice," imported, police think, from the Southwest U.S. and Mexico.
Sanford and Police Chief Jim Hughes shudder at the thought of complacency, even as they prove that the Coalition is working. One awkward sign of success is that while meth lab seizures in Adair have declined since 2003, busts in Macon County just to the south more than doubled between 2003 and 2004. Still, the Coalition is accomplishing what it set out to do. "We can't solve the problems of the region or the state," admits Pat Williams. "All we can do is our own neighborhood."
Chief Hughes adds that shoplifting in Kirkville is "sharply down." The Coalition's education team has mounted tags on the shelves of local stores next to meth "precursors""" everyday items like glass jars, light bulbs and aluminum foil that are also meth paraphernalia "" alerting drug-makers that they're being watched.
Pat Williams says that the meth problem has been curbed at the high school. "It is impossible to mask the outward signs," of meth abuse, he says. "Behavior becomes volatile, erratic," students lose weight, develop sores on their skin and even lose their teeth. He remembers seeing these symptoms five years ago, but today, out of 800 students, he says, "I couldn't tell you there's one student taking meth." Missouri's high school dropout rate for 2005 was 3.8 %. Williams says Kirksville High School's is now below 3%.
Why has Adair County succeeded, if not completely, at least measurably and noticeably in tackling its meth problem?
In 2003, the Adair County Meth Coalition took an aggressive stand. Its message was tough and timely, in a community still haunted by a hideous murder and the "scary" events of the 1990s. Sondra Sanford says, too, that the Coalition underlined meth's economic consequences, to show how the drug was "everybody's problem." Public service announcements and educational programs calculated money lost in burglaries and theft, and money spent on jails, courts, foster homes, and health care. Chief Hughes contends that in a community this "rural, conservative, and economically disadvantaged," the focus on costs helped sustain citizens' interest and "convince people the problem is their problem, not just something for law enforcement and treatment. If we hadn't gotten the buy in from Mr. and Mrs. Kirksville, we wouldn't have had anything like this success."
Sanford stresses that fighting the meth problem required involving all parts of the community: churches, teachers, police, teenagers, business owners. "If I'm an atheist, a faith-based (approach) is not going to reach me. If I'm a youth and rebellious, law enforcement is not going to reach me, " she says. "When sectors come together, you're able to intensify the message. You have more arms reaching out there."
Kirksville's enterprising newspaper was committed both to the Coalition effort and to its own role — to report the group's real impact. The paper took a huge risk with its advertisers by staging essentially a "sting" of local merchants less than six months after the Meth Coalition began. In explaining "Why We Went Undercover," the editor Derek Spellman wrote, "Though a phone call to retail owners would give us a store's policy on cold medicine sales, only an actual visit would show the policy in practice." That it did. The paper's expose' woke up readers and local merchants and, it's reasonable to think, tightened the sales of meth precursors.
The same year that the Adair County Meth Coalition began and the county hired its full time prosecutor, 2003, Circuit Judge Russell Steele held the county's first "Drug Court." In Missouri, there are now approximately 80 such courts for adults where drug offenders, with the consent of the local prosecutor, can choose a 21-month intensive program of monitoring, counseling, drug-testing, and rehabilitation instead of jail time.
The Adair County Drug Court convened for the first time March 1, 2003. Its first applicant and first graduate was Kami Hubbard, a former meth addict who was facing 14 years in prison. Hubbard is now a member of the Adair Coalition's education committee. She calls the drug court program "really rigid": a fixed schedule of appointments with therapists, probation officers, and social service workers, set numbers of 12-step meetings each week, and regular court appearances — as well as frequent random urine tests. "The different phases were really good for me," Hubbard says. She came to view its tight structure and requirements as "safety nets," and now tells other drug-court applicants, "It's simple, as long as you do what they tell you to do."
Now clean for three years, Hubbard has been reunited with her husband and four children. As well as working with the Adair County Meth Coalition, she's studying criminal psychology at Truman State University and facilitating a support group for recovery meth addicts at Kirksville's treatment center.
Another reason that Adair County may have succeeded is historical and cultural. The Meth Coalition wasn't this community's first big challenge. In the 1980s, with a fiscal squeeze on all Missouri's public universities, it became clear that Northeast Missouri State, in Kirksville, would have to change its regional mission or close. The college has evolved into Truman State University, and prospered, as Missouri's only "statewide public liberal arts and sciences university." Also, having its requests for funding from the state transportation department turned down year after year, Kirkville citizens in 2002 voted overwhelmingly (78%) to tax themselves and widen the highway south of town.
These were major changes, major commitments, and major rehearsals for the communitywide project to address drug abuse. Pat Williams says that undertaking something like the Meth Coalition requires "a community mentality." And, he says, it's "significant events" — like the opening of the new highway and Truman State's success "" that "tend to create that mentality."
Police chief Hughes believes that Kirksville's geographic isolation — three hours from a metro area — worked in favor of the Meth Coalition. "People were ready, and they were used to working together," he says. There were "no turf battles" among the area's law enforcement agencies, he says, because "we can't afford them. There's nobody here to help us."
Williams agrees. Adair Countians, he says, share "a belief we're in control of our own destiny here. Maybe it's being isolated here."
The Adair County Meth Coalition began as an all-volunteer effort. In the Spring of 2006, the group is applying for its third $100,000 SAMSHA grant to keep the pressure on criminals and sustain the public's dedication. Having achieved some success versus crime, the organization is now turning more attention to rehabilitation and treatment. The group's new co-chairs are Pat Williams, newly named superintendent of Kirksville schools, and Kelly Van Vleck, program director at Preferred Family Healthcare, the local treatment center.
Initially it made sense for the group to take a hard line against crime: "People needed to be shook," Van Vleck says. "We kind of backed out treatmentwise." Now, she says, Adair County needs to consider "the other side of the supply/demand chart." Without letting up on enforcement, it's time to reckon with Kirksville's meth addicts and to learn what it will take to help them change. "You've got to send out a message of hope," Van Vleck says. "Recovering addicts at first were not involved (in the Adair County's Meth Coalition). Now they are."
On the clinical side, Van Vleck wants better cognitive testing of meth addicts and better measurement of treatment outcomes. On the social service side she intends to tackle problems like housing, so that recovering addicts don't drift back into the same sick environments. She, and others too, also want a new marketing strategy for the Coalition, something beyond the cockroach. Meth addicts, she says, "don't look like weird monsters or beasts. They look like the girl next door." Van Vleck says the Coalition needs to convince the public that structured, long-term treatment (like the drug court) works, that drug addicts can and do recover.
The meth problem presented Adair County with an overt crisis; an "outsider," the new police chief, managed to mobilize a frightened community and deliver results. "With seizures and arrests down," Hughes says, the issue now is "how to maintain the integrity of the coalition, keeping it alive,"
Will Adair Countians be as ardent and united about treatment for addicts as they have been about busting meth labs? Coalition leaders know their new direction will be a harder sell, its new goals harder to reach. "Suspension is easy," says Pat Williams. " Locking them up is easy. Let's try to attack the root causes."
DSS investigator Christine Steele, another Coalition member, sees crack cocaine coming to Adair County now. She voices equal parts encouragement and caution: "It's gotten better in the last two years," she says. "We've made great strides but it's going to be an ever-changing beast."
Note: This story was originally published by the Carsey Institute, University of New Hampshire as part of Carsey's larger study of substance abuse in the rural US. See the full study.


text:
Adobe Leaps From AWS to Microsoft's Cloud
By David Jones
September 28, 2016 1:46 PM PT
Microsoft on Monday announced a series of major enhancements to its enterprise cloud platform, as well as a new strategic partnership with Adobe, advancing its drive to attract new business from core competitors like Salesforce and Amazon.
Microsoft has entered a strategic partnership to make Azure the preferred cloud platform for the Adobe Marketing Cloud, Adobe Creative Cloud and Adobe Document Cloud. Adobe Marketing Cloud will become the preferred service for Microsoft's Dynamics 365 Enterprise edition.
"I think we would both say that SaaS has completely disrupted how enterprises are thinking about software," said Shantanu Narayen, chief executive of Adobe, at Microsoft Ignite in Atlanta. "We think it's absolutely critical that we provide this integration … between sales and marketing and visualization."
The announcement of the new Azure monitoring and management updates, which allow seamless integration, was critical for Microsoft, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.
Microsoft is the only firm that offers both on- and off-premises implementations of the same cloud-based platform, he told the E-Commerce Times.
"For ease of management for hybrid cloud solutions, which remain the IT favorite, allowing the greatest match of flexibility, performance, compliance and cost, this should put Microsoft in a position of significant advantage," said Enderle, "particularly for a global enterprise."
Adobe's move raises questions about why it decided to reduce its participation in the AWS platform, noted Ed Anderson, research vice president, cloud services, at Gartner.
It might be related to some of the intelligence capabilities now available through Microsoft's Cortana platform, he suggested.
"It's not entirely clear how or why Adobe would be interested in moving the application to Azure," Anderson told the E-Commerce Times. "Regardless, this isn't a change that can happen overnight, and it will take some work on Adobe's part to make the change."
Microsoft also unveiled several artificial intelligence innovations, including several new skills for Cortana, the company's personal assistant.
Office 365's new intelligence capabilities:
Tap, which uses Microsoft Graph to incorporate content from within the company into documents and emails;
Quickstarter for Powerpoint and Sway; and
Maps, which allows new forms of Excel charts to be converted into visualizations.
Microsoft's My Analytics, formerly known as "Delve Analytics," provides insights into how employees spend work time. Relationship Assistant is included in the upcoming Dynamics 365 for Sales.
The company also announced a multiyear deal with Renault-Nissan Alliance to provide advanced navigation and predictive services. Remote monitoring of car features and geofencing will provide theft protection, disabling the car if necessary. The alliance is working on a plan to unveil 10 autonomous vehicles by 2020.
Further, Microsoft announced a series of security enhancements for Windows 10 and across the Office 365 platform, along with data protection tools for the enterprise customer.
Windows Defender Application Guard, which will come to Windows 10 enterprise customers in 2017, uses isolated containers and virtualization-based security technology to stop malicious code from moving across employee devices in a corporate setting.
The security announcements could be a breakthrough in terms of containing threats to Edge users, said Paul Teich, principal analyst at Tirias Research.
"If Microsoft carries through with their advanced threat detection inside of their hardware secure containers, it means that most of the Web-based threats that infect people's PCs can be stopped in the browser container — they will not get a chance to touch the rest of the PC," he told the E-Commerce Times.
Office 365 Threat Intelligence will provide alerts on the origination of specific attacks, and Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection will be extended to Word, Excel, Powerpoint, SharePoint and OneDrive, scanning attached files and examining links for malicious code.
David Jones is a freelance writer based in Essex County, New Jersey. He has written for Reuters, Bloomberg, Crain's New York Business and The New York Times.
More by David Jones
Microsoft Dynamics Edges Out Salesforce, Oracle for HP Win
G Suite Rebranded as Google Workspace
Human Knowledge to Escape Earth's Boundaries
AI-Based Customer Data Platform Supports ABM Operations
Researchers Create Hack to Unlock Millions of Hotel Room Doors
Amazon's Latest Delivery Scheme Involves Handing Over Your Car Keys
Google Puts a Lid on Mysterious 'Self-Spamming'
Honesty Proves Best Policy for Closing B2B Deals: Study
Hybrid Messaging Key to Upselling Success: Report
Facebook Rolls Out European-Style Privacy Protections
McAfee's Upgraded Cloud Security Protects Containers


This entry was posted in Blog and tagged #30DaysWild, 30 Days Wild, back garden meadow, back garden wildlife, bee mimics, bird's wing, buff footman, butterflies, clearwing moths, Conopid fly, dark/grey dagger, Day 30, field scabious, green-eyed flower bee, hoverfly, knapweed, large red-belted clearwing, large skipper, large white, meadow brown, moth trapping, moths, parasitic fly, pheromone lures, Sicus ferrugineus, small skipper, wasp mimics, waved black, What's in my meadow today?, Xanthogramma pedissequum by robertc2011. Bookmark the permalink.
I loved reading the 30 Wild Days. Thanks!
Thanks Bob for this I will miss my daily blog and view of the world through the eyes of someone with your observation skills and knowledge. Hope you can give an occasional update on your meadow.
We heartily agree.We will miss the daily blog. They bring back very happy memories and given us a lot of information. The photos have been excellent.
I will continue with the two or three times a week blogging as usual, hopefully with some additional input from the rest of the team, Thanks for reading it!
I'm just amazed at all your knowledge of everything!! It's been wonderful reading all these emails these past 30 days! Thank you!!


text:
Q: Update BigQuery scheduled query with notificationPubsubTopic fails I am using the DataServiceTransferClient API/SDK for Node to create scheduled queries in BigQuery with a notificationPubsubTopic. Creating them works fine, no issues. Updating them results in an error:
INVALID_ARGUMENT: notificationPubsubTopic cannot be updated.
How I'm calling it:
const config = {
transferConfig: {
  /* other config options */
  notificationPubsubTopic: "projects/engineering/topics/test"
},
  updateMask: {
            paths: [
              "params.query",
              "params.write_disposition",
              "params.destination_table_name_template",
              "schedule",
              "notificationPubsubTopic"
            ],
          },
}

dataTransferClient.updateTransferConfig(config)

Some other info:

*

*The topics I've tested with do exist. I can update the scheduled query in the UI to these other topic with no issue.

*Fails even when re-using the already associated topic.

*Updates without notificationPubsubTopic succeed. By this I specifically mean I am not passing the notificationPubsubTopic property and have removed it from the updateMask.

A: The updateMask property needed to be turned into snakecase.
updateMask: {
            paths: [
              "params.query",
              "params.write_disposition",
              "params.destination_table_name_template",
              "schedule",
              "notification_pubsub_topic" // <--- here
            ],
          },

The documentation even shows an example of using camelCasing
https://cloud.google.com/bigquery-transfer/docs/reference/datatransfer/rest/v1/projects.locations.transferConfigs/patch#body.QUERY_PARAMETERS.update_mask


Everardo Alvizo is a Project Coordinator and Registered Associate Clinical Social Worker with Special Service for Groups (SSG) / Health Integration for At-Risk Racial Ethnic Communities (HIARC).
Alvizo manages the day-to-day operations of this federally funded grant program that integrates mental health, substance abuse prevention, Hep A/B screening/vaccinations, and HIV testing and primary care services, all co-located in downtown Los Angeles. Prior to this role, Alvizo was a member of SSG's Development Team working on securing grants for a diverse set of services, including mental health, homeless, and HIV/AIDS.
As a Program Analyst with SSG, Alvizo also helped to develop community agency collaborative efforts and worked with SSG's Executive Director on mental health policy advocacy impacting Los Angeles County.
Alvizo received his B.A. in Sociology with a minor in Latin American Studies in 2003 and his Master in Social Welfare in 2008, both from UCLA.
Shannon Murray is currently the Director of the Homeless and Housing Services Department at Watts Labor Community Action Committee, known as WLCAC.
She holds her B.A. and M.S.W. from UCLA and the UCLA Luskin Department of Social Welfare, and she is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.
Murray is an adjunct lecturer at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, teaching Macro Practice in Social Work. She is a founding member and the current treasurer of the Board of Directors for the Sanctuary of Hope, providing services and housing to homeless and at-risk 18- to 24-year-olds.
Murray found her passion and inspiration in working with the homeless community when she was an intern in 1995 in the M.S.W. program at UCLA. She worked in Skid Row for almost 15 years before coming to WLCAC in 2011.
She specializes in program development and operations, community organizing, policy advocacy, grant writing, permanent supportive housing and the Housing First/Harm Reduction Philosophy. She is very invested and vocal in the housing movement in Los Angeles, as well in the betterment of the South Los Angeles community, by working on every level—individual, community, city, county, state and federal.
Luisa Lowe, LCSW, is a graduate of the UCLA MSW program, 2007, and teaches a variety of micro classes focusing on developing clinical skills in MSW students. Off campus, Lowe works with youth, adults and families in a variety of mental health settings.
Lowe provided school-based mental health services with the Occupational Therapy Training Program, supporting programs at several schools in South Los Angeles.
She currently has a private psychotherapy practice in San Pedro in which she specializes in treating a wide range of mental health concerns in adults and adolescents, including peripartum mental health, depression, anxiety, trauma and adolescent transitions.
Kate Lyon Osher worked as a reproductive law attorney from 2001-17. She has also been an appointed attorney at Edmund D. Edelman Children's Court in Monterey Park, Calif., for children who have been abused, neglected or involved in the guardianship process.
Her teaching experience has been in the field of law, where she served as an adjunct professor of Legal Skills (Research and Writing) from 2003-2005 and of Assisted Reproductive Technologies and the Law during the spring 2013 semester at Whittier Law School. She also taught "Family Formation and the Drafting of Family Formation Agreements" during the summers of 2005 and 2006, as part of the Whittier Law School Summer Abroad program, hosted by the University of Amsterdam.
Lyon is the author of the comment, "Babies on Ice: The Legal Status of Frozen Embryos Involved in Custody Disputes During Divorce," published in the Whittier Law Review (Volume 21, 2000). She also authored the article, "The Egg Came First," which appeared in the June 2005 issue of Orange County Lawyer magazine, and wrote "Ask the Expert When Considering Surrogacy," which appeared in the October 2012 issue of the Golden Gate Mother's Group magazine.
She attended UCLA, graduating in 1996 with a B.A. in Communication Studies. Lyon graduated from Whittier Law School in 2000.
Barrie Levy, L.C.S.W., is a Clinical Social Worker and a clinical and organizational consultant.
She has been on the faculty of the Department of Social Welfare in the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs since 1981. She previously served on the faculty of the Women's Studies Department from 1993 to 2011. She teaches courses about mental health policy, and sexual and domestic violence (policy, prevention and intervention).
Levy is author of Dating Violence: Young Women in Danger, an anthology on teen relationship violence (Seal Press, 1998) and In Love and in Danger: A Guide for Teens on Violence in Intimate Relationships (Seal Press, 2007). She has written a primer for college students, Women and Violence (Avalon Publishing, 2008). She is co-author with Patti Giggans of What Parents Need to Know About Dating Violence (Seal Press, 1995), Fifty Ways to a Safer World (Seal Press, 1997) and When Dating is Dangerous: A Parent's Guide to Preventing Relationship Abuse (Hazelden, 2013). She is a nationally recognized speaker and trainer on domestic violence, and has made many television and radio appearances.
Levy currently works with PeaceProsLA, a team that engages men who are community leaders in dialogues about cultural social norms, using a bystander model promoting action for social change and collaborating to promote healthy non-violent models for masculinity.
She conducts weekly groups for staff at the Center for Pacific Asian Families, a comprehensive multicultural/multilingual domestic violence/sexual assault program in Los Angeles.
From 1995 to 2003, she was Director of the Westside Domestic Violence Network (WDVN), an interagency consortium addressing effective service delivery to families affected by domestic violence in West Los Angeles. She has provided professional training courses on domestic violence for continuing education programs throughout California, and conducted seminars in the U.S., Japan and Italy.
Since 1977, Levy has specialized in psychotherapy with adults and adolescents recovering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and violence, including sexual assault and intimate partner violence, and therapy related to gay and lesbian issues, as well as anxiety and mood disorders.
Levy was founder and Director of the Statewide California Coalition for Battered Women. She is a co-founder of the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women, now Peace Over Violence. She is former Director of Consultation, Education and Prevention, Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Center in Culver City, Calif.
Khush Cooper teaches "Being a Leader: An Ontological Phenomenological Approach" and "Public Policy for Children and Youth" at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.
She received her M.S.W. and Ph.D. in Social Work from Luskin.
As a social entrepreneur and specialist in the study and implementation of what's next for human services, Dr. Cooper uses long-standing relationships with policymakers, leading practitioners, and consumers to shield and guide California's organizations, both public and private, through reform initiatives.
Starting out as a group home child care worker, Dr. Cooper has held the positions of house manager, foster care social worker, non-public school teacher, FFA Director, and Director of Research and Quality at the Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social Services.
Her firm, Khush Cooper and Associates, is currently conducting the first ever LGBTQ Youth Preparedness Scan for LA County which assesses all 11 county departments' capacity to properly serve LGBTQ children, youth and families in order to prevent future disproportionality of these youth in the child welfare system. KC&A also currently developing an e-learning platform, Implematix, to support foster care providers with AB 403 implementation.
Other projects have included inventing a practical and staff-friendly system for performance management for foster care providers in California, initiating two of the multimillion-dollar federal Permanency Innovations Initiative grants in the country (the RISE Project, CAPP), and managing the implementation of three of the five statewide Residentially Based Services (RBS) demonstration projects in California.
She is a founding board member of the LA LGBT Child Abuse Prevention Council and consults on a local, state and national level in the area of LGBT youth in systems.
Rebecca Danelski, LCSW, teaches first-year direct practice courses in the MSW program.
She has a psychotherapy practice in Culver City where she specializes in women's issues and treats a wide range of adult mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, trauma, family conflict and relationship issues.
Danelski was a staff social worker and the coordinator of student training at the Venice Family Clinic from 1995 to 2005.
In August 2013, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti named Fleming to the influential Board of Water and Power Commissioners, overseeing the nation's largest public utility.
He is the Chairman of the Board of public radio powerhouse KCRW, a Trustee of the NPR Foundation and, since 2003, a lecturer on non-profits, organizational development and public policy at UCLA and NYU.


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Remember When: The 2009 Brunswick girls soccer team rolled to Class A crown
Dragons went undefeated and allowed just 4 goals in regular season, but then things tightened up in the playoffs.
Brunswick's Christina Damon chases down a loose ball during a 2009 game against Mt. Ararat. Portland Press Herald file photo
BRUNSWICK — Simply dominant. Those are just a few of many words that could best describe the 2009 Brunswick girls soccer team.
After all, the Dragons not only went undefeated that season, they won 12 of their games by two or more goals.
The Dragons finished the campaign by defeating Thornton Academy 3-1 in the Class A title game at Scarborough High School.
"We were such a complete team, we had no weaknesses," said Brunswick head coach Martyn Davison. "We had a free scoring offense and played really solid defense on the other end of the field."
The Dragons conceded just four goals during the regular season, and scored more than 65 goals, Davison said.
Brunswick girls soccer wins 2009 Class A state title
Allison Walton, who scored two goals in the state championship game and was named an ESPN RISE All-American in 2009 as a junior, led the prolific offense.
"The biggest thing that I remember from that season is how close-knit the team was," said Walton, who went on to play at Division I Providence College. "I think the chemistry that we had as a team off the field had a part in our on the field success."
The Dragons had seven seniors on the team, which helped cultivate strong chemistry, Davison added.
The Dragons ran into little adversity in the regular season, but things tightened up in the playoffs. The Dragons had to come back from deficits in each of their playoff games, including the state game. No game stands out more to Davison than the regional final thriller against Waterville.
"The game against Waterville was the first time that I could tell the girls were nervous (and) I was, too," Davison said. "That was a classic game, we kept our poise, Waterville had a great team, but our drive to win gave us an edge during the game."
Brunswick had to work hard to knock off the defending state champions that day. The Dragons trailed 2-1 before rallying in the second half to force overtime. The Dragons won it 3-2 when Hilary Champagne converted a header off a corner kick.
"That game gave us all the confidence in the world that we were not going to come away from the state championship game empty handed," Davison said.
Kip Chipman, who was a sophomore on the team, vividly remembers the bus ride to and from the state title match.
Brunswick defenders, including Eliza Halmo and Allison Hill, converge on a Mt. Ararat header during a 2009 game. Portland Press Herald file photo
"The ride to the game was quiet, the whole team was focused and locked into the task at hand," said Chipman. "But then on the ride back, that was one of the most enjoyable moments of my life. Everyone was so happy and we felt a sense of relief that we had achieved our goal."
Chipman said it meant a lot to the team and the community to take home a state championship.
"It just felt really good to be a part of something as successful as that season," Chipman said. "I think it meant a lot to the town too. People were congratulating me around school and town for a while after the game."
The Class A boys state title game took place just a few hours before the girls, with Scarborough edging Brunswick 2-1. Walton says it was a bittersweet feeling to see the boys team fall short.
"Obviously we were ecstatic, but it was a bummer at the same time for the guys," Walton said. "While we were celebrating, we stayed mindful to not get in the way of their grieving after their loss, but they were happy for us, too."
Added Davison: "It was amazing that both the boys and the girls were both in the state title match, once they lost we felt a little more pressure to get it done. It was kind of like a relief for the town, but everyone supported us."
The Dragons rolled to the top seed in Class A East, topping it off by defeating Bangor 2-1 in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championship game prior to the playoffs.
Mt. Ararat defenders Hannah Fenwick, left, and Gabby Bryant move in to defend Brunswick prolific scorer Allison Walton during a 2009 game. Portland Press Herald file photo
After handling No. 8 Edward Little Red Eddies 10-1 in the quarterfinals, the Dragons edged No. 5 Messalonskee 2-1 in double overtime in the regional semifinals. Walton scored the game-winner with 13 seconds to go in the second overtime period.
"Our team was so resilient and we just wanted it so bad, I don't remember much from that game but I remember how intense it was."
The win over Messalonskee set up the instant classics in the regional final against Waterville and then Thornton Academy in states.
"I remember going down in the regional and state title games and thinking 'here we go again'," said Walton. "I'm just glad that things turned out the way they did for us, that was an awesome ride."
Remember When: Brunswick football finally got over hump with 2016 Class B title win
brunswick dragons


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Lafond & Tambini, DMD, PA
455 OLD TROLLEY RD. STE. E.
SUMMERVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA 29485
107 REBECCA LN.
WALTERBORO, SOUTH CAROLINA 29488
By Lafond & Tambini, DMD
Tags: celebrity smiles tooth pain bone grafting
When they're introducing a new movie, actors often take a moment to pay tribute to the people who helped make it happen — like, you know, their dentists. At least that's what Charlize Theron did at the premiere of her new spy thriller, Atomic Blonde.
"I just want to take a quick moment to thank my dentists," she told a Los Angeles audience as they waited for the film to roll. "I don't even know if they're here, but I just want to say thank you."
Why did the starring actress/producer give a shout-out to her dental team? It seems she trained and fought so hard in the action sequences that she actually cracked two teeth!
"I had severe tooth pain, which I never had in my entire life," Theron told an interviewer from Variety. At first, she thought it was a cavity — but later, she found out it was more serious: One tooth needed a root canal, and the other had to be extracted and replaced with a dental implant — but first, a bone grafting procedure was needed. "I had to put a donor bone in [the jaw] to heal," she noted, "and then I had another surgery to put a metal screw in there."
Although it might sound like the kind of treatment only an action hero would need, bone grafting is now a routine part of many dental implant procedures. The reason is that without a sufficient volume of good-quality bone, implant placement is difficult or impossible. That's because the screw-like implant must be firmly joined with the jawbone, so it can support the replacement tooth.
Fortunately, dentists have a way to help your body build new bone: A relatively small amount of bone material can be placed in the missing tooth's socket in a procedure called bone grafting. This may come from your own body or, more likely, it may be processed bone material from a laboratory. The donor material can be from a human, animal or synthetic source, but because of stringent processing techniques, the material is safe for human use. Once it is put in place your body takes over, using the grafted material as a scaffold on which to build new bone cells. If jawbone volume is insufficient for implants, it can often be restored to a viable point in a few months.
Better yet, when grafting material is placed in the tooth socket immediately after extraction, it can keep most of the bone loss from occurring in the first place, enabling an implant to be placed as soon as possible — even before the end of a movie's shooting schedule.
Will Atomic Blonde prove to be an action-movie classic? Only time will tell. But one thing's for sure: When Charlize Theron walks down the red carpet, she won't have to worry about a gap in her smile.
If you have questions about bone grafting or dental implants, please contact our office or schedule a consultation. You can read more in the Dear Doctor magazine articles "Dental Implant Surgery" and "Immediate Dental Implant."
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tooth staining (1)
canker sore (1)
lump (1)
sinus surgery (1)
orthognathic surgery (1)
jaw surgery (1)
Summerville - 455 Old Trolley Rd., Ste. E., Summerville SC, 29485 (843) 851-0104
Walterboro - 107 Rebecca Ln. Walterboro, SC 29488 (843) 851-0104


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Voters restore voting rights to 1.5M felons in Florida
8:48 PM EST, Wed November 07, 2018
With 66 percent of voters approving it, Amendment 4 was passed – now, more than a million felons will be able to vote.
Florida was one of only four states that banned felons from voting.
With a state filled with about 1.5 million eligible potential future felon voters – something like this passing will make an impact on future elections.
"I can see a number of elected officials, a number of candidates running for office really targeting those former offenders," said ABC7 political consultant and Florida Gulf Coast University political science professor, Sandra Pavelka.
Pavelka also said this amendment will not only affect elections but those felons' lives in a positive way.
"For those who have served their time, they've done everything they could to regain their place in society – this is really important," Pavelka said. "This is an important step of them."
Murderers and anyone convicted of a sexually violent felony will still not be able to vote.
Also, felons will have to finish their sentence – that includes parole and probation.
Find out how Southwest Florida schools handle bullying accusations
Thief cuts hole in the wall of Domino's pizza store


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Less than 20% of those diagnosed with a brain tumour survive beyond five years
Press Release Item
Losing best friend to brain tumour inspires triathlon challenge
Losing his best friend to a brain tumour inspired one man to take on a demanding triathlon challenge, raising over £2,000 for the pioneering charity Brain Tumour Research.
Philip Wilson, 31, from Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, took on The London Triathlon, the most popular triathlon in the world, in memory of his friend Phil Blackmore, who passed away from a brain tumour New Year's Eve 2016, after a short battle with the disease. Phil was just 31.
Phil was a keen sportsman and completed the same triathlon twice before he became ill. Wishing to continue his sporting legacy, Philip took on a 750m swim, followed by a 20km bike and 5km run.
Philip, a Buying Manager for supermarket Tesco, said: "Phil was a really sporty and outgoing guy, so I thought I owed it to him to complete the challenge, even though I'm not a great long-distance swimmer.
"It's a sad fact that brain tumours can affect anyone at any time but no-one knows what causes them. I hope my efforts will help raise awareness of this awful disease and draw attention to the research that needs to be conducted to find a cure."
Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer but just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease. The charity is striving to fund a network of seven dedicated research centres whilst challenging the government and larger cancer charities to invest more in brain tumour research.
Janice Wright, Community Fundraising Manager for Brain Tumour Research in London, said: "For too long, brain tumours have been a neglected cancer. Stories like Phil's reminds us all that we cannot allow this desperate situation to continue. We are extremely grateful to Philip for raising such vital funds to help us find a cure for this horrible disease."
To make a donation to Brain Tumour Research via Philips JustGiving page, go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/philip-wilson15
Brain Tumour Research is campaigning to see the national spend on brain tumour research increased to £30 - £35 million a year, in line with breast and leukaemia, in order to advance treatments, and ultimately find a cure.
Lexie Dabney at Brain Tumour Research on 01908 867222 or 07591 206545 or lexie.dabney@braintumourresearch.org
Brain Tumour Research is the only national charity in the UK focused on funding sustainable research to find a cure for brain tumours. We are building a game-changing network of world-class Research Centres of Excellence in the UK. Embracing passionate member charities nationwide, £5.5 million was raised towards research and support during 2016.
We are campaigning to see the national spend on research into brain tumours increased to £30 - £35 million a year, in line with breast cancer and leukaemia. The charity is celebrating a year of high-profile campaigning on this issue following the unprecedented success of its petition in 2016. Following that, Brain Tumour Research is now taking a leading role in the Government's Task and Finish Working Group convened to tackle the historic underfunding for research.
Key statistics on brain tumours:
Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer
They kill more children than leukaemia
They kill more men under 45 than prostate cancer
They kill more women under 35 than breast cancer
Just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease
In the UK 16,000 people each year are diagnosed with a brain tumour
Less than 20% of those diagnosed with a brain tumour survive beyond five years compared with an average of 50% across all cancers
Incidences of, and deaths from, brain tumours are increasing.
Please quote Brain Tumour Research as the source when using this information. Additional facts and statistics are available from our website including our latest Report on National Research Funding. We can also provide case-studies and research expertise for media.


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John L. Allen Jr. is the editor of Crux, specializing in coverage of the Vatican and the Catholic Church. He has written eleven books on the Vatican and Catholic affairs, and also is a popular speaker on Catholicism both in the United States and internationally. The London Tablet has called John "the most authoritative writer on Vatican affairs in the English language," and renowned papal biographer George Weigel has called him "the best Anglophone Vatican reporter ever." When John was called upon to put the first question to Pope Benedict XVI aboard the papal plane en route to the United States in April 2008, the Vatican spokesman said to the pope: "Holy Father, this man needs no introduction." That's not just a Vatican judgment. Veteran religion writer Kenneth Woodward of Newsweek described John as "the journalist other reporters – and not a few cardinals – look to for the inside story on how all the pope's men direct the world's largest church." His work is admired across ideological divides. Liberal commentator Fr. Andrew Greeley calls his writing "indispensable," while the late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, a conservative, called his reporting "possibly the best source of information on the Vatican published in the United States." John's weekly column, "All Things Catholic," is widely read as a source of insight on the global Church. Among John's books are "Opus Dei: An Objective Look Behind the Myths and Reality of the Most Controversial Force in the Catholic Church", and two about Pope Benedict XVI. The first was written before Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became pope; the other came after Benedict's election to the papacy and was the first biography of the Pope in English. John's articles have appeared in The Boston Globe, The New York Times, CNN, NPR, The Tablet, Jesus, Second Opinion, The Nation, the Miami Herald, Die Furche, and the Irish Examiner. He is a senior Vatican analyst for CNN, and was a correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter for 16 years. John, a native of Kansas, received a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Fort Hays State University and a master's degree in religious studies from the University of Kansas. For several years, he taught journalism at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California and also supervised the student-run newspaper, The Knight. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of St. Michael's College in Toronto, Ontario; Lewis University in Romeoville, Ill.; St. Michael's College in Colchester, Vt.; and the University of Dallas, Dallas, Texas.
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Martin Head-Gordon
Professor, UC Berkeley
Dates of Visit: Jan. 14 – May 15, 2020
Martin Head-Gordon completed his BSc and MSc degrees at Monash University in Melbourne Australia, before coming to America to obtain his PhD in theoretical chemistry at Carnegie-Mellon University working with the late John Pople on molecular orbital theory and algorithms. From 1989 through 1992, he was a postdoctoral fellow at AT&T Bell Laboratories, working with John Tully. In 1992, Martin joined the Chemistry faculty at the University of California Berkeley, where he holds the Kenneth S. Pitzer Distinguished Professorship. He also holds an additional appointment as a Senior Faculty Scientist in the Chemical Sciences Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Martin is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, an American Chemical Society Fellow, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and member of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Sciences. He is an Associate Editor of Molecular Physics and serves on the Editorial Advisory Boards of the Journal of Chemical Physics, and the Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation. His research centers on the development and application of electronic structure theories, to permit the treatment of problems that are currently beyond the reach of standard methods. Within electronic structure theory, Martin is known for the development of linear scaling methods for performing density functional theory calculations, for new methods for calculating electronic excited states, and for advances in electron correlation methods, including widely used density functionals.


Uncountable are the buckets of tears that have been shed by mothers who have lost their children. The mothers in the Philippines too well embrace sorrow as a well-known unwelcome friend.
Reality check: This post is a reflection that I am sharing with the wordpress dpchallenge prompt Frightening. I was inspired to write this poem for the children lost in the claws of disaster in the Philippines after I saw the pieces of a child that were being picked up by police on a busy street corner. They included a child's red shovel and a little blue cap. Tears poured from my eyes and I could only hope those things fell from a vehicle not from the arms of a child.
It was dreadful and still is. We are left helpless because we are unable to stop nature's fury.
it is so well written. such a devastating tragedy.
Your poetry puts this tragedy into painful perspective for those of us who live a world away from the wind and waves. Our church has been praying for the Philippines since the typhoon. While the Philippinos in our congregation did not lose any family members (thank God) most of their families are now homeless.
Yes we do and we are!
We accept such events as acts of nature…but some have been intensified by men's treatment of nature…all the more sad still.


Amnesty International's Secretary General Irene Khan today led a delegation of top lawyers, judges and journalists to present a petition to Pakistan's High Commission in London demanding the restoration of human rights and justice in Pakistan.
"General Musharraf must put an end immediately to his outrageous assault on Pakistan's vibrant human rights community, institutions of justice and independent media. In the name of the "war on terror" he is destroying the very guarantors of the stability that he claims to be defending."
In presenting the petition, Irene Khan and Jeremy Dear were also joined by the Chair of the England and Wales Bar Council's Human Rights Committee Mark Muller QC.
Acting in his capacity as army chief of staff, on 3 November General Musharraf suspended the bulk of the Constitution, including the rights not be arbitrarily deprived of life and to be guaranteed a fair trial. He assumed powers to amend the Constitution without any parliamentary procedure and proclaimed a Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO). This order prohibits any court issuing an order against the President, Prime Minister or any person exercising powers under their authority.
Under the order, existing members of the superior judiciary are effectively suspended until they take a new oath to uphold the PCO. Only five of 17 Supreme Court Justices have taken the oath. Many Supreme Court and Provincial High Court Justices are now effectively under house arrest.
Since then hundreds of lawyers, human rights activists and political workers had been arrested or arbitrarily detained across Pakistan. Independent TV and radio news channels have been prevented from broadcasting within the country. New laws restricting freedom of print and electronic media were issued, breach of which attracts three to four years imprisonment and heavy fines.