Move over LeBron James, "Fancy Chief Clancy" is just waiting for his big contract and then he will just tear that court up!
What is Rally Obedience? Imagine being in the competition ring and being able to talk as much as you want to your dog, even in your puppy-wuppy voice if you wish! Pat your leg to encourage your dog to stay with you, repeat the commands to your dog if you need to and just be as silly as you want, to RALLY your dog as you follow a course of signs indicating what you're supposed to do. It's so much better than trying to remember an obedience course and listening to a judge telling you what you should do. You can even say "re-do!" when you know you've messed up and want to re-do the station.
Rally should be fun and encouraging! Clancy and I working as a team in our first AKC Rally trial.
That's what makes Rally Obedience fun and a great way to either start in or enhance your teamwork skills to improve in any dog sport. Rally is a relatively new dog sport focused on success in obedience in a more relaxed setting than regular Obedience. It is offered by various governing bodies. Clancy and I compete in both the American Kennel Club and the United Kennel Club since that's what's offered in our area.
In Rally, there is a course composed of signed stations that tell you what to do. Your dog heels beside you as you approach the signs that range in telling you to turn in a specific direction, circle, or giving your dog a command or series of commands. Clancy loves that we can have fun together through the excitement of my voice and the encouragement in moving my arms. I enjoy the challenge of having to quickly read the signs and remember what they said… having to ensure I complete all parts of the station while being mindful of my positioning… and being sure to sound upbeat and positive to keep Clancy motivated!
You get to walk through the course before your competition level begins and ask the judge any questions!
The ring steward will call you "on deck" when you are next to enter the ring to be sure you are ready to approach the "Start" sign as the previous dog exits the ring.
A Rally exhibitor on deck to go in the ring next.
When you approach the "Start" sign, you have your dog sitting (or standing) to your left in heel position. The judge will ask "Are you ready?" (now take a deep breath and make sure your dog is focused on you), and when you reply, "Yes", they are able to start judging you and you can no longer touch your dog. The judge will say "Forward" and you then tell your dog to heel as you head to the first station. A timer begins as soon as you pass the "Start" sign.
In both the AKC and the UKC, you begin the course with the perfect score of 100 points. Points are deducted throughout the time you are in the ring anytime you and your dog are not exhibiting the ideal vision of a Rally run. These could include if your dog is lagging behind while heeling (though it is nice that unlike traditional Obedience, they aren't looking for "perfect heel position"), not responding to a command or taking an excessive amount of time to obey your command, or handler errors such as having a tight lead, slowing to the dog's pace, performing part or all of a station incorrectly, touching your dog, etc.
Scores are posted next to your armband number after your run. Times are not disclosed until after placements have been announced.
A qualifying score in the AKC and UKC is 70 points. At any point during the course your deductions put you lower than the 70 points qualifying score, you are then marked "NQ" and are excused from the ring. Sometimes, depending on the judge and how busy the schedule is, they may let you complete the course as a training opportunity. At the end of each Rally level, the judge will ask all those that received a qualifying score back into the ring to award them all a Qualifying Score ribbon, which also means you earned a "leg" towards that level's Rally title. They will also award those that received their third "leg" a ribbon for receiving a new title. The judge will then announce the 1st place, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place winners based on the highest scores.
If there is a tied score, the tie is broken by whoever had the fastest time (which is the only reason they time you.) Only twice has time been a factor for Clancy and I… which is suspenseful because while you can see what everyone's score is ahead of time, you don't know the times and just have to wait to hear the placements from the judge. If the judge isn't too busy, you may approach them after the awards presentation for your class and ask them what stations did you lose points on so you know what you need to work on for next time.
Clancy and Stacie earn their AKC Rally Novice title and 1st place!
Rally Obedience is a fun way to train your dog obedience and a variety of additional listening skills, for there are a large variety of exercises and many of them defy the set traditional Obedience exercises. For example, the "Call Front, Finish Left, Forward" exercise. While you are heeling, you tell your dog to "come front" where they walk past you and do a U-turn to sit directly in front of you. You then tell your dog to return to heel position by doing another U-turn on your left, HOWEVER, unlike traditional obedience where the dog should immediately sit on your left automatically, you start moving forward as soon as your dog clears your path before they had a chance to get into the heel position, which makes the dog have to catch up to you to heel by your side.
Some of the signs can be difficult to understand which is why it's always good to either take a Rally Obedience class or participate in "run-thru's" which are often held by local dog training or kennel clubs (often you don't even have to be a member, you just pay a fee to do a run-thru and instructors or knowledgeable volunteers will answer any questions you have and correct you if you make a mistake.) Join Clancy and I for Rally Run-thrus! Check out our FUNanimal Meet-up Group.
Well, I could go on and on and on about Rally Obedience (and I will), but the goal of this article was to introduce you to this fast growing sport that serves not only as a wonderful foundation to get you ready to compete in other dog sports, but it is a fun way to train your dog to want to listen to you and strengthens your bond. I also find that Rally Obedience offers new challenges you don't see in other dog sports. Having to focus on the signs and remember exactly what they said (it's an entirely different experience in the competition ring… you and/or your dog may suddenly seem like you've never done it before… the sign says do a circle to your left and you circle to your right, or the dog doesn't seem to remember what "sit" means).
Clancy tied for 1st place in Rally Advanced, however we had the slower time so we took the 2nd place honors.
Not to mention all the distractions you could encounter in the competition ring that you don't see in practice runs or at home. Such as a wooly caterpillar crossing your path so your dog stops heeling to investigate and finds it more interesting than listening to you… (ahem, Clancy!) Or new smells draw your dog's attention away from you, or loud noises, or just other dogs. That's why it is best to practice random exercises during your travels with your dog. While you're shopping at the pet store together, suddenly do a "come front, finish" exercise… while you're taking a walk past a barking dog behind a fence, suddenly do a 360 degree turn while telling your dog to look at you instead of the barking dog.
Repetition, repetition, repetition in a variety of settings with a treat that you can give your dog quickly (and that they can consume quickly) as soon as you get the desired behavior from your dog, will eventually get you to where you want to be. The more you do it, the better you'll both get! Do not give up on your dog!
Even spending just a couple minutes every day practicing a move or two will make you a better team!
Being owned by a Keeshond, I have learned you also need to share in the sense of humor they have. They are fun-loving dogs that want to please you, but also just want to have fun. Especially with emotional breeds such as the Keeshond, Rally Obedience is a wonderful way to increase your dog's focus, your trust and bond, and enhance your training while meeting lots of great people!
P.S. Look for future blogs targeting the different levels of Rally Obedience. ALSO, Coming Soon: I will share my experience of competing in the AKC Rally Nationals Competition in Harrisburg, PA with Clancy that was on Friday, March 28th! Thanks for reading!
Categories Dog Sports, Uncategorized, Videos starring Clancy the Keeshond!


Internal Auditor required by my Leading Financial Trading Firm in London, on a long-term contract basis.
You'll work closely with the Head of Internal Audit to deliver the internal audit plan, as well as developing the scope and work papers for individual assignments across the business. You'll also perform internal audit assignments, including testing to identify control weaknesses and agreeing findings with management.
Knowledge of relevant internal audit standards, control frameworks and best practices.
Ability to develop relationships and influence stakeholders, while working discreetly and maintaining confidentiality.
If you are interested in this Internal Auditor position and meet the above requirements please apply immediately.
We are pleased to be partnering a household name with the recruitment of a Process Lead/Workstream Lead to support an end to end MS Dynamics D365 implementation.
The candidate will need to have demonstrated a clear track record of success in the work stream on multiple ERP projects (ideally with MS Dynamics AX/D365), empowering them to be credible as the best practice leader on that work stream.
5 Years SAP R/3 HCM experience with in-depth knowledge of Payroll Processing and Posting to Pensions is Required.
Pension Interface Experience and submission to third party service providers Expert knowledge in the administration of DB/DC Schemes and the calculation of critical values. Experience of Pensions Administration Outsourcing projects Desirable Skills Strong analytical, investigative and coordination skills and ability to demonstrate effective verbal and written communication with management, peers, and subordinates Have a strong testing experience & exposure in handling the big SAP rollout programs. Strong program management skills to create test plans, track progress, identify and mitigate risks, and provide executive reporting. Proficiency in Testing Methodologies along with deep knowledge of technology and business process testing.


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Review: Soul Samurai (Infusion Theatre Company)
Not quite enough soul in 'Soul Samurai'
Infusion Theatre Company presents
Soul Samurai
Written by Qui Nguyen
Directed by Mitch Golob
at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont (map)
through June 5 | tickets: $15-$25 | more info
Bloodthirsty shoguns run a post-apocalyptic New York City. A female warrior seeks revenge for her murdered girlfriend, armed with only a katana and a wise-cracking sidekick.
It's a pretty sweet premise for a play. Especially when a live DJ is scoring the activities and comic book-style video projections provide visual gimmickry. Infusion Theatre Company's production of Qui Nguyen's Soul Samurai promises to attract nerds and action-addicts alike. If only the product lived up to the hype.
Nguyen's play falls into the same pit many of the action movies he's sending up fall into. Instead of a cohesive plot, the story just seems to be an excuse for the next battle. Even with director Mitch Golob at the helm and Geoff Coates crafting the complex sword brawls, the production can't overcome the play's flaws. The pacing of the entire show is jilted and the fights seem to be running at about 75%, not full speed. It's fun, but it is not fun enough.
Nguyen writes in a style that is half neo-Kung Fu flick and half Blaxploitation. He sets his story several years after New York City has fallen to ultra-violent gangs and a few genuine psychopaths. We follow Dewdrop (Christine Lin) as she seeks to avenge the death of her lover, Sally December (Amy Dellagiarino), who was attacked by a mob of bad guys right in front of Dewdrop's eyes. The narrative is chopped up so we also see how Dewdrop went from a demure, Asian college student to an urban Amazon. She battles through to Brooklyn, along with her loudmouthed pal Cert (Steve Thomas). But as she slashes deeper into the city, the thugs get more sinister. And maybe a soul-deprived Sally December is among them. Like any good hero, Dewdrop presses on to the bloody end.
I have to give Infusion props for bringing a tale on-stage that you usually don't see—something action-based instead of focusing on a bunch of characters jabbering the whole time. Although the play is a unique beast for theatre, it doesn't feel entirely original. While "Kill Bill" was Tarantino's homage to Hong Kong cinema, it was also an entirely new tale. Soul Samurai seems like an homage to "Kill Bill". It doesn't help that the soundtrack is referenced at least twice.
While his production generally exudes the cool necessary for something like this, Golob's show is flawed. On paper, the running time was an hour and 45 minutes; in reality, the show clocked a half hour over that. A lot of that was due to slow transitions and dragging scenes, including a training montage that overstays it's welcome. And on opening night, at least, the on-stage action, music, and video weren't entirely synced up.
The cast captures Nguyen's tough, dog-eat-dog style well. Lin has a bit of tough time commanding the space, but she finds it eventually. She's got the spunk, but she can't always externalize it. Thomas is the highlight of the show, always flying at a breakneck pace and delivering his profanity-laced witticisms with flair. Other favorites include Glenn Stanton as a pimp-coat donning shogun and Evan Lee as the stereotypical sensei ("Sally" comes out as "Sarry").
Considering how cool the show could be, the end product is just sort of disappointing. There's a lot of flash, and Jesse Livingston's musical styling adds some fun. But, for me anyway, it wasn't enough to cover up the holes in Nguyen's pedestrian script. How often, though, is there a chance to see live samurai battles in this city? The slice-and-dice novelty is indeed worth checking out.
Soul Samurai runs April 28 – June 5 at Theater Wit, 1229 W Belmont Ave.
The performance schedule is Thursday – Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3
p.m. Tickets are $25 during the run with student, senior and industry
discounts available. Industry tickets, $15, are available at all Thursday
performances. Tickets may be purchased by calling 773-975-8150 or at
infusiontheatre.com.
Photos by Anthony LaPenna
Filed under: 2011 Reviews, Barry Eitel, Infusion Theatre, Theater Wit | Tagged: Aaron Pijanowski, Amy Dellagiarino, Anji White, Anthony LaPenna, Austin Talley, Barry Eitel, Charles Cooper, Charlie Cascino, Christine Lin, Claire Tuft, Dave Ferguson, DJ Dishwasha, Evan Lee, Geoff Coates, Glenn Stanton, Infusion Theatre, Jamie Bragg, Jason Crutchfield, Jesse Livingston aka DJ Dishwasha, Jesse Livingston DJ, Joy Dennis, Kill Bill, Liviu Passare, Maria Gerbino, Megan Tabaque, Miles Polaski, Mitch Golob, Paul Taladan, Qui Nguyen, Rachel Sypniewski, Soul Samurai, Steven Thomas, Tara Malpass, Theater Wit, Zach Livingston |	Leave a comment »
REVIEW: The Infernal Machine (InnateVolution Theater)
An old tale gets an updated retelling
InnateVolution Theater presents
The Infernal Machine
Written by Jean Cocteau
Directed by Dr. Beverle Bloch & Raymond K Cleveland
at The Call, 1547 W. Bryn Mawr (map)
through Nov 21 | tickets: $20 | more info
Reviewed by Keith Ecker
The first thing you'll notice about InnateVolution Theater Productions' The Infernal Machine is the venue. The play occupies an unorthodox space, a gay bar specifically. A ring of chairs lines what is normally used as a dance floor while sparkly music videos of disco divas blast on monitors, serving as a strange sort of pre-show.
I'm a firm believer that environment plays a significant role in the theatrical production. And I usually love novel settings. But the choice to perform Jean Cocteau's surrealist take on Oedipus in a gay bar where patrons at times spoke over the performers during the first act seemed like a bit of a mistake. Admittedly, by the end of the play, the ambient chatter had quieted down, but it was always a presence and always served as a distraction, even when the actors delivered some pretty strong performances.
But the bar did have a large screen, which was obviously a necessary technical requirement for this play, written by a man known for his offbeat film work. And although I would have liked to have seen more intermingling between the live action of the play and the minimal action that takes place on the screen, the use of visual projections does help establish setting, given the production's minimal props on stage.
The play itself is a fairly ancient story. It's the tale of Oedipus, the young man whose future is foretold to be a great tragedy. He'll one day murder his father and marry his mom. It's a tale of tragic destiny and the futility of trying to avoid our predetermined futures. It's also a tale of humility, as Oedipus slowly realizes that even he, conqueror of the Sphinx, is subject to the same rules that dictate all of mankind.
This is my first time to see Cocteau's version, and from what I gather, it's basically the same as the original tale minus the ornate poetry of Grecian writing. The language is contemporary; the characters resemble modern-day archetypes. The story is still set back in ancient times, but the characters possess an attitude that make them more relatable to those who live in the here-and-now. Take for example Queen Jocasta (Erin Cline). She's a drama queen and a half, vamping for the audience and overreacting every time someone steps on her scarf. Cline does a brilliant job bringing this diva to life, making her a very engaging character to watch.
Another wonderful character, and a great comic relief, is the wise old adviser Tiresias (Arne Saupe). Saupe brings to Tiresias a clever sensibility and vaudevillian comedic timing. After all, the old man is blind, which lends itself to a lot of ironic sight gags, and Saupe uses this to full effect.
Much of the rest of the acting is uneven. Experience level seems to vary widely from performer to performer, which serves as a distraction when a scene lags because of one character. At times, the play verges on high school pageantry.
Still, this is a small production by a small theatre company, and overall it is an entertaining show. If you don't mind a bit of background noise while watching a play, InnateVolution's The Infernal Machine is a fun night out.
Performances run November 5 – 21, 2010 at The Call (1547 W Bryn Mawr Ave)
in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago.. Regular performances are Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are $20 and include 1 well liquor, house wine, or Miller drinks.
Filed under: 2010 Reviews, InnateVolution, Keith Ecker, The Call | Tagged: Amy Dellagiarino, Arne Saupe, Ashley Coney, Beverle Bloch, Caro Servat, Erin Cline, Ethan Weiss, InnateVolution Theatre, Jon Kurinsky, Jordan Laroya, Joseph Ramski, Keith Ecker, Mary Ann Moore, Rachel Hadlock, Raymond K. Cleveland, Rozetta Cleveland, The Call Chicago, The Infernal machine, Thom Britton, Will Dean |	Leave a comment »

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Notes on the State of Virginia quotes
"Reason and free inquiry are the only effectual agents against error." Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on the State of Virginia" - 1785
"Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong." Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on the State of Virginia" - 1785
"They have made the happy discovery, that the way to silence religious disputes, is to take no notice of them." Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on the State of Virginia" - 1785
"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on the State of Virginia" - 1785
"It is the manners and spirit of a people which preserve a republic in vigour." Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on the State of Virginia" - 1785
"The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading submissions on the other." Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on the State of Virginia" - 1785
"Dependance begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition." Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on the State of Virginia" - 1785
"Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves therefore are its only safe depositories." Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on the State of Virginia" - 1785
"It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself. Subject opinion to coercion: whom will you make your inquisitors? Fallible men; men governed by bad passions, by private as well as public reasons." Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on the State of Virginia" - 1785
"Was the government to prescribe to us our medicine and diet, our bodies would be in such keeping as our souls are now." Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on the State of Virginia" - 1785
"And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath?" Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on the State of Virginia" - 1785
"A single zealot may commence persecutor, and better men be his victims." Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on the State of Virginia" - 1785
"I doubt whether the people of this country would suffer an execution for heresy, or a three years imprisonment for not comprehending the mysteries of the Trinity." Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on the State of Virginia" - 1785
"But the British parliament fixes its own quorum: our former assemblies fixed their own quorum: and one precedent in favour of power is stronger than an hundred against it." Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on the State of Virginia" - 1785
"I advance it therefore as a suspicion only, that the blacks, whether originally a distinct race, or made distinct by time and circumstances, are inferior to the whites in the endowments both of body and mind." Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on the State of Virginia" - 1785
"Difference of opinion is advantageous in religion. The several sects perform the office of a Censor morum over each other." Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on the State of Virginia" - 1785
"What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites." Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on the State of Virginia" - 1785
"And with what execration should the statesman be loaded, who permitting one half the citizens thus to trample on the rights of the other, transforms those into despots, and these into enemies, destroys the morals of the one part, and the amor..." Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on the State of Virginia" - 1785
religion government error truth freedom people reason foolishness God ignorance speech enemies virtue hypocrisy ambition opinion slavery power silence dispute
Thomas Jefferson quotes


Content is the king when it comes to ranking well in all the search engine pages. But creating great content isn't enough anymore. The SEO plays an important role in it. And when you combine the best SEO techniques and great copywriting you get the desired results – best rank in SERPs, growing visitors and successful business or blog or website.
Whether you are a company or a blogger, to succeed in terms of internet marketing you need to follow and master a few techniques. These techniques are tied and tested and does help in getting the website best ranking in the SERPs.
Ever wondered why some content on the Udemy (directory of online courses) have so many subscribers than the other? If you visit the site then you will notice that the structure of the tutorials have been designed to make it easy to understand and the content structure offers easy access to the information. This is one thing you can learn from Udemy.
You can take cue from the various content structures and craft your own content that makes it easy for the visitors to grasp the information in an instant. Remember, if your content isn't structured the right way then the visitors would not like to stay on the page for more than 5 seconds and this is not good news.
Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords are the key to get better rankings in the Google. Gone are the days when Google use to rank a page based on the number of times a keyword was repeated. Now, Google has become smarter and wants to provide specific and accurate search results to its users. So what exactly are the Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords? They are the synonyms or closely related words. These words help Google identify what kind of content you have in your website.
Using the keyword isn't enough. You have to put relevant words that closely relates to the keywords so that Google can identify your page easily. Suppose, your keyword is Car and you are trying to optimize the page with that keyword. You have to put words like Deal, New and Used Cars, Car Repair, Sell Car and other words as well so that Google knows you are talking about Cars the automobile and not Cars the Movie or anything. Similar words that are closely related to the keywords should be used so that Google has no difficulty in identifying your page when someone keys in Cars in the search box.
This is a great strategy that works well with the Google. Why use the same old keywords when you can use your own set of keywords. Your brand can become a keyword as well. If you put your keywords in the search engine you will probably rank number one unless someone is using the same name.
You can use your brand name along with other keywords so that every time someone types that keyword your brand name features too. Or when someone enters your brand name the keywords attache to it features too. This is one of the emerging and most effective SEO copywriting strategies that you can use to promote your website as well as rank well in the SERPs.
Lately, the forums like the Reedit, Quora and others have become a hub for people who want to share and acquire information on wide range of topics. Whether it's a DIY project, home renovation or carpet cleaning you will find plenty of information in here.
Why is it relevant to the SEO copywriting?
Many people visit these forums and the words used here are used in the Search Engine to find more information. Here you can scan for the keywords that the forum members are using relevant to your topic. This is one of the best ways to find out keywords that are used by the searchers. You can add those keywords along with your keywords to optimize the content and make it more Google friendly.
Keywords play an important role in making any website visible and assessable to the people. Learn to integrate keywords that are relevant and popular because that is your key to getting first ranking in the SERPs. All you need to do is a bit of research and you will be able to find relevant keywords for your content.
One of the best ways to get number one ranking in the Google SERPs is use to get your post shared as many times as possible. However, that is not enough if you want something revolutionary. For that you have to create an unavoidable Call to Action technique. Make it easy for the readers to tweet or like or share. First you need to create a topic that offers tips and techniques. These kinds of things get shared more often. Now you need to create an easy to click button or link that will make it super easy for the followers to share the post in just one click. You can also create an attractive button to make things playful. You can do this with all kinds of social media Platforms – Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus and more.
It turns out that even if you don't get top rank in the Google SERPs you can still get huge traffic by just using the right kind of long tail keywords. Long tail keywords that your competitors know very little about are your key to getting more traffic. One of the best places for finding the relevant long tail keyword is Amazon. It ranks first in the SERPs when it comes to E-commerce websites and its keywords are highly relevant. If you are selling products on Amazon you can easily find the relevant long tail keywords from its search box. Use those keywords to make your content more relevant and visible in the SERPs.
These are some of the best SEO copywriting strategies that you can try to get your content top position in the SERPs and also attract the right kind of audience. The right approach and technique is all needed to make your website succeed in the competition.


Mariam Animashaun is the CEO of Linson Page, and a member of IBEX consulting. She started Linson Page, a marketing company that deals with SME marketing and brand identity. She says, "We call ourselves a 360 degree company. A lot of things we do are based online. We do guerilla marketing, which is more of letting things go viral".
Linson Page was started in January 2017. For Mariam, the goal had always been to start up her own business, it was more of a passion for her. Before she started, she decided to learn more on entrepreneurship in the United Kingdom however on getting back to Nigeria, she realised that the Nigerian business landscape was really different. "Nothing is the same, there is no textbook to Nigeria". Starting for her wasn't the hard part for her. The hard part was, not giving up and going day by day. "The hard part is the ability to get up in the morning, go to work when you know you haven't made a dime, the ability to stomach a lot of nonsense from a lot of people just because you feel like you may get something from them".
One wonders what her biggest challenge has been so far, and she says, "The biggest challenge in Nigeria is the Nigerian people. They are not very good business people. They do not keep to their words, from employee angle to the vendors angle. Promises for them mean nothing. Example you have someone who owes you for 3 months knowing fully well that you have a company to run or salaries to pay". She goes on to narrate her experience with an artisan whom she had called to fix her air conditioner a couple of months after she got back from the UK. She says, " I left the office for a bit so I could put on the generator downstairs, and when I got back, he was gone with a laptop worth hundreds of thousands of naira". That event left her devastated as it was her work tool and had so many important files on it. "We reported to the police and till today, we havent been able to find him" she continues.
A lot of businesses seem to be into SME marketing these days, but Mariam has this to say about that, "The thing about Nigeria is that when one person starts something and is successful, everybody starts it. A lot of businesses now know they need marketing, so everybody wants to do marketing for small businesses but they forget that you cannot compete with a big marketing firms if you do not bring something innovative to the table".
On her worst experience running a business in Nigeria she says, "I feel like I have had a lot of bad experiences, but this one really stands out. Sometime ago, we had to do this work for this big organization and I saw the CEO as someone who was my role model. My company had done jobs for them in the past, and they always paid. One morning, he came running into the office and said he needed something done in less than 24hours. So I did not see the need to charge upfront because he had not been owing me before. My company did the job, and sent it over. When it was time for payment, he said he thought we had done the job for free. I was beyond baffled". According to her, it showed me that even people one put on a pedestal were not even it at all.
Working in Nigeria cant be all bad experiences now, can it? Her best experience she says is "The moment I present my ideas to a client and they appreciate it. Basically, the ability to give birth to something and the fact that the client appreciates it, is the reason I'm still in business".
Mariam is not big on seeking out investors for her business, she says, "Because I studied entrepreneurship, I knew that there are really not a lot of investors in Nigeria. Investors don't really invest in firms that are not IT based and we are not hundred percent IT based. We are service based. Every investor I have heard of only wants to invest in IT based firms because they can get their money fast. With service based firms, you are not sure if the business is going to succeed. So I understood this on time, and so I was able to get investment from my family and friends".
She speaks about her plan for the next five years saying, "In the next five years, we hope to expand and conquer new business terrains. My dream for Linson page is for everyone to come to work feeling like they are coming to meet their family members even though we are working. I don't plan to build a military ground. I plan to build a company where we are succeeding together, innovating, growing. We are building a family basically".


Fall Season, The Time to Buy and Sell or Not?
Home Blog Fall Season, The Time to Buy and Sell or Not?
This is a great question and here are some quick thoughts I wanted to share.
Interest rates are on the rise, logically it makes sense to buy while money is cheaper, right?
There is still plenty of inventory and if you look closely at homes that have been on the market for a bit vs the brand new listings, you may find a nice buy!


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UK Build to Rent investment transacts over £1bn in Q1 2019
By Deborah Lewis
The UK Build to Rent sector (also known as multifamily housing in parts of Europe and North America) witnessed record levels of investment in the first quarter of 2019, according to the latest residential investment research from CBRE.
CBRE's UK Residential Investment Marketview of Q1 2019 shows that between January and March 2019, there was a total of £1.04 billion of investment into the UK private rental sector for Build to Rent schemes, including several forward-funding deals and some direct site acquisitions.
This is four times higher than in Q1 2018 and is among the strongest quarterly investment volume recorded since 2015.
The report also highlighted the major deals in Q1 2019 and signified strong momentum for the second quarter, with close to £780 million of deals under offer.
Institutional investment into Build to Rent has translated into over 140,000 homes across the UK which are either completed or in the pipeline, with an increase of 1,981 homes from Q4 2018, according to figures from the British Property Federation.
CBRE's key yields remain stable, however, with a marginal softening for prime assets in London Zone 2.
Alex Davis, senior director of residential capital markets at CBRE, commented: "Investment into the UK Build to Rent market continues to build real momentum. CBRE recorded a further £1.04bn of institutional investment into the sector in Q1 2019, which was four times higher than Q1 2018, and the strongest start to a year on record."
He said most of this growth has been driven by international investment, with the large North American funds making their mark in London.
For example, Realstar has forward funded a 161-home scheme in Hackney, while Telford Homes was advised by CBRE in securing £105.5 million of forward funding for their Equipment Works Build to Rent development site in Walthamstow by a joint venture between Henderson Park and Greystar.
Davis continued: "CBRE was involved in the biggest deal of the quarter, advising Canadian institution PSP Investments throughout the formation of a new partnership between Uniball-Rodamco-Westfield and PSP Investments and QuadReal Property Group, known as the Cherry Park Partnership."
"This partnership will deliver a £670 million private rental scheme adjacent to the Westfield shopping centre in Stratford and feature 1,200 rental homes in an area where we are seeing growing demand from renters."
Meanwhile, European investors have been much more active across the UK. Legal & General, in particular, has closed on two large forward funding schemes; 324 units in Glasgow and 104 units in Chelmsford. This highlights the growing appetite – particularly amongst UK institutions – to explore 'new' markets across the UK's regional centres and expand their portfolios.
Why is the UK private rental sector set to dominate by 2025? ...
Investment in the UK's private rental sector (PRS) will soar to...
Prime commercial property rents continue to grow ...
Rents in the UK prime commercial property sector rose by an...
Legal & General announces new, largest-to-date BTR scheme in Wandsworth ...
Financial services company Legal & General, already a major player in...
New guide suggests Build to Rent can aid London's housing crisis ...
Recently we asked whether Build to Rent was the answer to...


The tour will kick off in Oklahoma on 2 May.
U2 HAVE CONFIRMED dates for their US shows and most of the European stops on the Experience + Innocence tour which kicks off in Tusla, Oklahoma on 2 May.
The European leg of the tour will begin in Berlin on 31 August, with a string of European dates including Cologne, Paris, Madrid, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Milan, Manchester and London.
This morning, Live Nation and MCD Productions also confirmed that "special home shows" are being planned for Dublin and Belfast.
They said details of these shows will be announced as soon as they are finalised.
The tour follows the release of the band's 14th studio album Songs of Experience. Promoters said the tour is a development of the "unique and innovative staging" of the band's 2015 tour, featuring multiple performance areas, a state-of-the-art sound system, plus an all new super high-res LED screen nine-times the resolution of the 2015 screen.
Tickets for the European leg of the tour go on sale on 26 January and venue and on-sale details for Dublin and Belfast will be announced soon.
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Visual Poetry, nature photography and digital design come together in the transcendent landscapes of Catherine Nelson. The images are rich with detail and each lovingly captures the essence of place as a complex ecological story. The result is a contemporary flourishing variety of the local that the fate of the world resides. Catherine Nelson trained as a painter and has a background in digital postproduction. Before moving back into the field of fine art she worked on many acclaimed films including Moulin Rouge, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, 300 and Australia.


The Serie A champions have already seen Carlos Tevez, Andrea Pirlo and Angelo Ogbonna leave this summer.
And it seems as though Vidal, who had also been linked with Arsenal, will follow the trio out of the exit door to join Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich.
???We???ve always said we won???t sell players unless the players indicate that???s what they want,??? Marotta told a press conference.
???That???s how it was. Tevez asked to return home to Argentina. Pirlo made some assessments, and decided he wanted a new experience.
???Ogbonna asked for opportunity and consistency in playing time, and as for Vidal, I asked him before I went to meet the Bayern Munich leadership.
???He confirmed he wanted a different experience. I???d also emphasise that the player had a contract ending in 2017, while they???re offering him a five-year contract, and that???s very important for his future.
???We???re not a selling club, we???re attentive to those who can increase our quality level.???
The move is yet to be finalised but Vidal looks poised to leave Juve after four years and four Serie A titles.
He joined the Italian side in 2011 from Bayer Leverkusen, where he made more than 100 appearances over four seasons.


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Students Log Record Pro Bono Service Over Winter Break
A record number of Virginia law students opted to use their winter break to participate in pro bono internships across the country and abroad. In addition to donating their time and energy, students gained something in return — practical experience. The Pro Bono Project at the Law School helped place more than 70 students in internships in a range of offices that serve a variety of clients.
"We expect that the total number of hours volunteered will approach 1,500, which is particularly gratifying since the program is just in its third year," said Kimberly Emery, Assistant Dean for Pro Bono and Public Interest. "Students have been enthusiastic about using their vacation time to help those in need and we hope to continue our strong trend of growing participation."
Due to the volume of work experienced by offices seeking pro bono help, student volunteers are often treated as full-fledged members of the team. "I was given a lot of responsibility from the get-go, dealing with complex issues and [working] closely with brilliant litigators on some very decisive cases," said Leigh Nisonson '07.
Nisonson worked in the San Francisco city attorney's office with two deputy city attorneys on legal issues faced by the city's art museums and also on an upcoming case before the California Supreme Court in which the city is challenging the state's marriage laws, claiming they are discriminatory against same-sex couples. Her internship covered the gamut of legal issues faced by a metropolitan city, including contract law, intellectual property, labor and employment law, finance, land use, real estate, and insurance issues.
Ryan Quillian '09, got his feet wet in the emotionally charged child advocacy arena at the Children's Law Center in Washington, D.C. Quillian worked with staff attorneys on a case that involved getting benefits for a mentally challenged child and also in cases helping children considered wards of the state find permanent homes. Besides researching relevant statutes and writing reports to build stronger cases, Quillian was encouraged to attend hearings where the welfare of the child was the focus.
"The most important thing I learned was how big the problem is. I don't think I really appreciated beforehand the number of kids and the dire straits that they are in," Quillian said. "It made a big impression on me to be able to sit in on these hearings and actually see the kids." Quillian wants to continue to volunteer for the Children's Law Center in the future.
Gabriel Walters '09 was able to work from home on his internship with the ACLU National Prison Project, although he was willing to relocate anywhere. Walters, who would eventually like to be a staff attorney for the ACLU, got his foot in the door over winter break. He was assigned to work with a Washington, D.C.-based ACLU attorney on a case that involved mentally ill plaintiffs who were denied access to mental health treatment and medications while incarcerated in a Colorado county prison. Walters conducted legal research from Charlottesville that helped strengthen the ACLU's argument that the prison officials' deliberate indifference was cruel and unusual punishment.
"We in the legal profession have not only a professional responsibility but an obligation to ensure that the system works, and that means being constantly vigilant when these lapses in judgment occur and making sure that they are corrected."
David Madgett '09 said the cases he worked on for the Volunteer Lawyers Network (VLN) in Minneapolis could have absorbed state resources if pro bono lawyers didn't step in and help resolve them. VLN houses a full-time staff to coordinate pro bono projects for firm attorneys in the city. Madgett worked to resolve a variety of consumer finance disputes. The outcomes often set a precedent and improved the standard of living for citizens, he said.
"The biggest highlight for me was seeing that it is possible even for the busiest legal professionals to make pro bono a major part of their careers," Madgett said. "There is no convenient time for pro bono work. It's a matter of just deciding what you're going to do and acting. I believe you'll be pleasantly surprised with both the way it makes you feel and how important and valuable the skills — which you may think are trivial — are to other people."
One student explored a pro bono opportunity abroad. Katherine Monahan '07 ventured to Ethiopia to work on issues related to human rights and humanitarian law. According to Monahan, who reviewed hundreds of pages of legal documents in Addis Ababa, "the experience confirmed for me that those who hold U.S. law degrees are able to gain amazing access to leading practitioners and academics as well as cutting-edge legal and social work throughout the world — as long as you seek it out." Monahan could not discuss her work in detail due to client confidentiality.
The Pro Bono Project locates many opportunities for students through alumni working in public service. Other students have been placed with groups such as the Advancement Project, the Legal Aid Foundation of Chicago, the Legal Aid Bureau of Maryland, the Legal Aid Society of NYC, and with public defenders, state and county attorneys, and legal aid offices throughout Virginia.
Students interested in volunteering over their spring break in March should contact Dean Emery.
Mary M. Wood
wood@law.virginia.edu / (434) 924-3786


Summer brings with it so many beautiful creations of nature. Loads of fruits and flowers, trees filled with tender leaves and everything around so fresh and colourful.
The nature's creation is so marvelous. The fruits that we get in summer are so high in water content to quench the thirst. Oranges, Watermelon, Toddy palm, Rose apples and many more. The other day in the market found these beautiful, juicy and delicious Rose apples. Aren't they just beautiful? I havenever tried making anything with it though. We just eat it as is..
Rose apples are juicy, light and is very mildly scented. Comes in two colours, white and red. Both taste similar with red being slightly sweeter.
Among all the summer fruits, Watermelon is a must buy every alternate day in our house. Most of the days we have only watermelon for dinner. Come Summer and all that we crave for is something cold. We have it everyday in one form or the other.
Watermelon Granita, being one of those. Snow like texture, light on tummy, easy to make and extremely refreshing.
Take water and sugar in the saucepan and place it on a high flame. Stir till the sugar dissolves. Reduce the flame and boil it for 5 minutes. Let the syrup cool down completely.
Blend watermelon cubes and lemon juice handblender till smooth. Seive this mixture into a jug to remove any seeds. Add sugar syrup and give it a good mix.
Pour this mixture into a shallow pan and freeze it. Every half an hour give it a mix, pulling the crystalised part to the centre from the edges. Repeat this till the whole mixture is equally crystalised.
Cover the pan with clingfilm and freeze overnight.
Scrape it using a fork and serve them immediately. Once scraped you can use icream scoop to serve them as scoops.


One of us sisters does food demonstrations at a local community centre for a group of women in a fitness program. We focus on healthy, easy to make recipes. Recently, we made Roasted Beets with Mint Yogurt Sauce from Martha Stewart's recipe. It turned out delicious and the ladies in the group loved it.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, toss beets with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Cover dish tightly with foil and roast until tender when pierced with a knife, 45 to 60 minutes, depending on size. When cool enough to handle, rub beets with a paper towel to remove skins.
We roasted the beets differently than in the original recipe. Since it was our first time cooking beets we googled a few more recipes to see how others roast them. So for step 1, we washed and scrubbed the beet roots. Then we wrapped each beet root individually with foil. We placed all the individually foil wrapped beet roots on a baking sheet and baked them at 425 F for 45 minutes. We then took the them out of the oven, unwrapped them and THEN peeled the beet roots and chopped them.
Many ladies in the group mentioned that they boil beet roots, but it gets messy because beet roots leave a lot of colour. We found that wrapping them in foil was relatively mess-free.
The mint yogurt sauce is what makes the roasted beets comes to life. Honestly, the sauce is everything. You can have these roasted beets as a side, as mixed into a bigger salad, or tossed with almost anything you like.
Categories: Recipes | Tags: Beet Root, Beets, Delicious recipe, Easy Recipe, Halal Food, Halal Food Blog, Halal Food Bloggers, Halal Food Enthusiasts, Halal Food Mississauga, Halal food toronto, Healthy, Healthy Recipe, Martha Stewart, Mint Yogurt Sauce, Nutritious, recipe, Roasted Beets, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Permalink.
Our favourite blogger, Ikhlas Hussain of the Whimsical Whims of Ikhlas Hussain, is our go-to person for easy, delicious recipes. We have tried countless recipes from her blog, both sweet and savoury, and have always been pleased with the results. The best thing is that her recipes call for ingredients you normally have at home. You may remember our Chicken Pot Pie post, which was also a recipe by Ikhlas.
We recently tried her recipe for Chicken in Mushroom Cream Sauce and it turned out incredible! Our favourite part was the sauce. It was so good that next time we may just skip the chicken altogether and just make the sauce and toss it with pasta. Yum!
Marinate the chicken with lemon juice, salt, and crushed chili peppers. Let sit for 5 minutes.
Lightly toss chicken chunks in flour until completely coated. Heat oil in a medium skillet and cook chicken chunks until golden and crispy on each side, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Once butter is light brown in colour, add flour and whisk well. Add chicken broth and mushrooms. Let cook for a few minutes and then add milk, salt, and pepper and turn down heat. Add cheese and mix well.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a flat baking dish, add cooked chicken and pour sauce on top. Bake for 20 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and hot. Serve warm over rice or pasta.
Categories: Recipes | Tags: Chicken and Mushroom Cream Sauce, Chicken Dinner, Cream Sauce, Easy Chicken Recipe, Gourmet Chicken Dinner, Halal, Halal Chicken, Halal Food, Halal Food Blog, Halal Food Bloggers, Halal Food Enthusiasts, Halal Food Review, Halal food toronto, Halal Recipe, Mushroom Cream Sauce, recipe | Permalink.
Read our review of Anatolian's Turkish Restaurant in Thorncliffe.
Categories: Restaurant Reviews | Tags: Anatolian's Turkish Restaurant, Halal Chicken, Halal Food, Halal Food Blog, Halal Food Bloggers, Halal Food Enthusiasts, Halal Food Review, Halal food toronto, Halal Meat, Halal Turkish Food, Lahmacun, Pide, Toronto, Turkish Restaurant, Turkish Restaurant Toronto, İskender Kebab | Permalink.
It is officially soup season here in Canada. The best way to get through the frigid temperatures of January is by having a hot, hearty bowl of soup. A bowl of soup just makes us feel good all over. One of our favourite soups kitchens in Toronto is RaviSoups (Adelaide location). We had been notified by friends that this location serves halal meat and we were also told this by the staff at RaviSoups.
The Adelaide location of RaviSoups has rustic decor. The unique wooden table makes for a great background for those soup photos you will want to instagram!
Pictured above is the Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Tiger Shrimp, served with a cheese biscuit and red pepper dipping sauce. The roasted red pepper soup had a hint of sweetness but overall had a savoury flavour and aroma. The soup was topped with fried onions and cilantro. The soup had a grainy texture to it, which we actually kind of enjoyed.
We have also tried the Porcini Mushroom Wild Rice Bisque and Oven Roasted Veggie wrap in the past and both items were delicious. The Oven Roasted Veggie wrap is one of our favourite items on their menu.
Just to reiterate, the halal meat is at the Adelaide location of RaviSoups. They have three other locations in downtown Toronto and we are not sure if those locations serve halal meat as well. Your best bet is to call before you go.
Categories: Restaurant Reviews | Tags: Chicken Hot Pot Broth Soup, Halal, Halal Food, Halal Food Blog, Halal Food Bloggers, Halal Food Enthusiasts, Halal Food Review, Halal food toronto, Halal Soup, Ravi Soups, RaviSoups, RaviSoups Toronto, Roasted Red Pepper Soup, Soup Kitchen Toronto, Toronto | Permalink.


The Westside Collection will bring a very upscale and sophisticated air to any decor, Modern and stylistic material combinations juxtapose cold steel with the warmth of similated wood. Outstanding !
Comes with 1" screws suitable for 3/4" doors or drawer faces.


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Our Placements
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Head of Legal Affairs Placed by Princeton Legal Search Group
Princeton Legal Search Group is pleased to announce the placement of Phillandas Thompson as Vice President, Head of Legal Affairs for West-Ward Pharmaceuticals, in Eatontown, New Jersey. West-Ward is one of America's fastest growing generic pharmaceutical manufacturers, with over 50 years' manufacturing experience and over 70 products currently on the market. Phil will be handling all legal affairs for West-Ward's $400 million business which made headlines last year with its successful acquisition of Baxter's multi-source injectable business. Prior to joining West-Ward, Phil was VP, and General Counsel serving as the executive leader of the legal and business development functions for a Minnesota-based privately-held manufacturer and marketer of generic Rx pharmaceutical products.
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This month, the UWA Business School celebrates the achievements of the Centre for Entrepreneurial Management and Innovation (CEMI). Associate Professor Tim Mazzarol, the driving force behind CEMI, will shift from administering the centre to focusing on his research. Prof Mazzarol will be taking a well-deserved sabbatical in July for a year, spending most of his time completing his two book projects. This will include spending four months in Europe gathering and finalising five years of research generated via CEMI from 13 countries around the world.
Since joining the AIM-UWA Business School Alliance as its Director more than 18 months ago, Suellen Tapsall has witnessed significant growth in executive education with interest from corporate, government and non-profit sectors. We touch base with Suellen who provides an update on what is happening with the Alliance programs.
The biannual student-alumni gathering for the Manila MBA program was held in August at The Rockwell Club in Manila. Organised to coincide with the a visit from UWA Business School staff, 50 guests celebrated their academic achievements and took the opportunity to meet other students and graduates living in the Philippines.
Student survey results are in!
The GMA recently ran an online survey to receive MBA students' feedback on their experiences and how the GMA can have a positive impact.
More than 80 graduates attended the Singapore Presentation Ceremony held in August at the Raffles City Convention Centre including 52 Bachelor of Commerce students, 27 Master of Business Administration students, three Master of Business Research students and 1 Doctor of Business Administration student.
Leadership is one of the most studied, analysed and debated areas of business research, but according to DBA graduate and WA Australian Institute of Management Deputy Executive Director, Dr Shaun Ridley, our level of confidence in truly understanding leadership attributes remains low.
Mr Adrian Fini, Executive Director Development, Mirvac WA Ltd, and Mr Jimmy Wilson, President of BHP Billiton's Stainless Steel Materials customer sector group have been appointed to The UWA Business School Board of Directors.


It is very difficult to inform parents about the love and to whom they loves and want to spend their lives together. It takes the difficult curve when parents are against the marriage as they are experienced and they know the ill-effects of the Cross cultured Marriage. It is their experience which speaks and stops the child to marry in Cross cultured Marriage. Parents never allow their child to marry inCross cultured Marriage. With the help of Love Astrologers , the couple starts appreciating the different cultures and sometimes they even celebrate the festivals of other cultural people.A successful marriage requires many compromises, attention and it requires much attention towards the married life. Love is very important for the existence of relationship of Cross cultured Marriage. A couple made the life complete and their love makes them to move strongly towards the successful relationship. Their love and affection towards them fill the house with their happiness and enjoyment. They make the Loverslove each other and have a sweet relationship.Marriage can't continue to be honeymoon forever. Special feelings and emotions come to an end after sometime, with the responsibilities of the family and children. Romance from life and love for each other vanishes like air. The couple can't even imagine and this feeling gets vanished away from their life. It is very important to maintain love in the relationship and to make it happen, it is essential to make your wife love you more than ever because a wife has the power to change the situations and they make that situation work according to them. To continue any relation love and respect is important. Love Astrologer make the couple stay throughout their life and maintain peace and harmony in life..


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Azerbaijan and the Council of Europe
The Council of Europe's credibility is on the line in its dealings with Azerbaijan
Mar 22nd 2013
by G.E. | TBILISI
AZERBAIJAN is not really a democracy according to Freedom House, a watchdog. Since the early 1990s, it says, elections have been deeply flawed. Parliament is rubber-stamping the government's decisions. Corruption is widespread.
In theory only democratic countries can join the Council of Europe (CoE), which promotes human rights. Yet Azerbaijan has been a member since 2001.
Back then, council members hoped that membership would accelerate Azerbaijan's democratic transition. That has not happened. Indeed, political manipulation of elections may have increased over the past decade: in a blistering report published last year, the European Stability Initiative, a think-tank, called Azerbaijan's 2010 parliamentary elections the most flawed ever in the CoE's member states.
Who cares? After all, democracy is in poor health in several other member countries, such as Russia. The CoE is one of the continent's more obscure bodies: politicians who appear in its Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) carry little clout at home. Moreover, Azerbaijan's international significance lies in its energy resources and strategic location. Over the past decade, western diplomats have been quick to pull their punches over thorny human rights issues.
Yet this is not merely a story of western indifference. Since joining the council, the ESI argues, Azerbaijan has used "caviar diplomacy", including gifts, free trips and money, to create a group of apologists within PACE who consistently act in its interests and render the assembly impotent. This should matter to anyone concerned about the resilience and credibility of western institutions, the ESI says.
Following the deeply flawed 2005 parliamentary elections, some council members argued that PACE should suspend the Azerbaijani delegation's voting rights. (It had done the same with Russia in April 2000 over concerns about Chechnya.) The majority in the assembly disagreed, and issued a strongly critical statement instead. Five years later, it couldn't even manage that: despite widespread violations in the 2010 parliamentary elections, PACE election monitors found far more positives in that year's parliamentary elections than observers from the Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).
Is PACE's adoption of a recent monitoring report on implementation of Azerbaijan's commitments to the council, written by Pedro Agramunt and Joseph Debono Grech, a step in the right direction? The authors do at least record Azerbaijan's main democratic shortcomings. Yet ESI calls Mr Agramunt a long-standing "defender of the Aliyev regime". His report, it says, misleadingly notes "positive steps" taken by Azerbaijan that either took place before the reporting period began or were largely inconsequential. Serious problems, though mentioned, are underplayed. The result, ESI claims, is "an impressive sleight of hand" and "deeply dishonest".
By far the most divisive issue is political prisoners. In December 2009, PACE asked Christoph Straesser, a German member, to define the term officially. The definition he presented in October 2012 was one that the Council had used since 2001. Several delegates then argued that PACE did not have the authority to assess such human rights violations; that belonged to the European Court of Human Rights. Their attempt to block the definition was defeated by the narrowest of margins. It followed lobbying by Azerbaijan that one delegate described as "unmatched in its brazenness".
Worse was to come. Despite being refused a visa to visit Azerbaijan three times, Mr Straesser wrote a monitoring report on the situation of political prisoners in Azerbaijan, which PACE debated on January 23rd. Arguments were polarised: some delegates called Azerbaijan's refusal to let Mr Straesser visit unacceptable; others claimed his report therefore lacked credibility. Several members highlighted a "prisoner carousel", in which people are arrested, released and re-arrested. Indeed, shortly after the co-rapporteurs published their report in December, a presidential amnesty led to the release of 13 out of the 14 prisoners mentioned, leading Mr Agramunt to downplay the problem during the debate. Yet three days after PACE rejected Mr Straesser's report, the courts in Baku sentenced five more demonstrators to prison.
Some progress has been made. For a start, in adopting the report by Mr Agramunt and Mr Grech, the PACE resolution referred to the "systemic detention of people who may be considered prisoners of conscience". Moreover, while a record number of people voted against Mr Straesser's report, many others voted for it. A growing number of people are worried by Azerbaijan's antics.
According to Amnesty International, the government is cracking down on dissent in the run up to presidential elections in October this year. In February, it locked up Illgar Mammadov, a presidential candidate, for "organising" apparently spontaneous riots in the town of Ismayili in January. Last week, the authorities jailed an independent journalist for nine years. Azerbaijan is due to assume the chairmanship of the council's Committee of Ministers in May 2014. The Council of Europe's credibility is on the line.
More from Charlemagne
The French jihadi
Enfant de la Patrie
Portugal's golden visas
Catalonia's independence vote
How real is Osborne's "real result"?
The Trichet letter
Poison pen
A nice French kid from Normandy turns up in Syria, beheading people for the Islamic State
Police raids suggest Portugal's scheme to sell residence permits for investments may be rotten
The claim that Britain has halved its extra payment to the EU budget relies on dubious bookkeeping
The former ECB head's leaked missive bolsters the Irish sense that they baild out Europe, not the other way around


I sold a dress from my shop!
Oh, but I'm out of town and the buyer needs it by Thursday.
But I can actually be home in time to meet the Express shipping deadline!
But that will cost $15 more.
But the customer is willing to pay it!
And my flight isn't delayed!
And my car isn't buried under snow in the long-term parking lot!
And while it's -9, it's sunny!
And my car starts right up!
And it doesn't take too long to clean it off and scrape off the ice!
And I'll be home in time to ship that dress!
Until my engine cuts out at mile marker 8 on Peña Blvd.
And I spend 29 minutes (TWENTY-NINE MINUTES) on the phone with Roadside Assistance (Did I mention that it was 9 below? And do you realize that THERE IS NO HEAT in a car with no running engine? Because the operator seemed clueless to this phenomenon). And then wait for a tow to the nearest garage. And then wait for a gloriously kind friend to drive out TO THE AIRPORT to fetch me. And finally get home, cold and hungry, 3 hours late and 30 minutes AFTER the Express dropoff deadline.
So I had to cancel the sale.
The sale which would have taken a bite out of the $460 repair bill I'm currently faced with to get my car running again.
And I'm car-less until the repairs are done.
My car, about 14 minutes before passing out cold.
But, on the positive side: I managed to get my car off to the the side of the road. The problem is a distributor, not something even more expensive. I have WONDERFUL friends who came to fetch me at the airport–during rush hour–(Alison) and who used their wily in-the-business skills to find me a new distributor for less $$$ than the mechanic could locally (Rob). And the many people who kept me company via Twitter and text messages while I waited, and waited, and waited at various times during the escapade.
For now, it's warmed "up" to -6° and I'm stuck at home with no car. But I have food and heat and kittehs and a call in to my insurance agent to find out if I can get a rental car for a few days. There's a kitteh a couple of miles away who needs looking after while her folks are in Italy, and I'm not walking it unless the weather improves dramatically.
damn dude… that is a Double Drat for sure. I'm glad you didn't get froze up like a Popsicle!
Sorry to hear about your troubles. Just had to say that dress is FABULOUS!
Next PostNext Stocking Stuffer: Stockings!


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State Of The Press In Russia
According to the 2006 Worldwide Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders, the Russian government continues to dismantle the independent media. Recently, the only remaining television network that exhibited independence of the Kremlin, REN-TV was sold. The new owners with the majority of the shares are allies of the Russian government. The Press Freedom Index report also says the recent slaying of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya "is a poor omen for the coming year."
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently met with the son and colleagues of the murdered journalist. Ms. Politkovskaya, said Ms. Rice, "stood for what is best in independent journalism, a willingness to try to get to the truth at whatever cost." When those who tell the truth are silenced, a country's democratic development is undermined. "People need information in order to hold their government accountable," said Ms. Rice. And an independent press helps make such accountability possible.
Anna Politkovskaya wrote for Novaya Gazeta -- a Russian newspaper that has taken a stand critical of the government. Many of Ms. Politkovskaya's articles exposed human rights abuses in Chechnya, including torture and killings. "Investigative journalists are very often in danger," said Secretary of State Rice, "because by their very nature they expose truth. . . .but without investigative journalists who are willing to seek the truth, it's very hard for a democracy to function."
That is why it is critical that the Russian government find and bring to justice the murderers of Ms. Politkovskaya and other journalists. Among those killed were Paul Klebnikov, Russian-American editor of Forbes magazine, two successive editors in chief of the newspaper Tolyattinskoye Obozreniye, and independent television journalist Dmitriy Shvets.
Secretary of State Rice encouraged Russian journalists to "keep on working," despite difficult circumstances. A free press, she said, is vital to holding the Russian government accountable to the people.
The preceding was an editorial reflecting the views of the United States Government.
U.S. On Politkovskaya Murder
Enemies Of The Internet


Slayaway Camp: Butcher's Cut | Console Announcement Trailer - Use a Potion!
Murdering puzzler Slayaway Camp: Butcher's Cut has been confirmed for a console release next month.
Already an award-winning hit on PC and mobile, Slayaway Camp is a killer puzzle game where you control Skullface, a psychotic slasher hell-bent on revenge. Slide this adorably demented murderer around hundreds of isometric puzzle levels to squash, flay, and decapitate hapless victims in this darkly comic homage to 80s horror movies.
Slayaway Camp: Butcher's Cut is coming to the Playstation 4 and Xbox One in October 2017.


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All About The Rock
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Craig Hutton
Mad Hacker
Vodun – The Parish, Huddersfield – 18.04.17
20th April 2017	0	By Rebekah Elvidge
Very few bands these days have the ability to bring something completely new and fresh to the table. Even categorically niche genres (we're looking at you, goblin metal) have an abundance of bands nestled within their own carefully constructed scenes. Yet very rarely do these bands break through the mould. Vodun, however, are a group who's seamless genre-blending and energetic stage show hints at a new dawn for heavy music – and the recruitment of a whole new legion of fans.
It was at Huddersfield metal haunt The Parish that Vodun's 'ritual' was about to begin. Fresh from touring with 70's-tinged psych group Church of the Cosmic Skull, they were now embarking on a few headline shows of their own – this one being no exception. Having already seen them supporting Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats last year I had an inkling of what to expect, but one thing is for sure: if you've never seen or heard of Vodun before, you may want to prepare yourself. The three piece make a striking picture on stage before a single note has even been played, as part of Vodun's act involves tribal-influenced costumes and body paint. The theme of African spirituality (Vodun, for those who don't know, is the name of an ancient West African religion) runs through both the group's appearance and their music, and it's virtually impossible to not feel hyped up by it – as this Tuesday night audience were about to find out.
The band kick off without a word into their signature fusion of heavy, doom-style riffs meeting passionate, soulful vocals. Lead singer Oya is a captivating performer, nailing every note and moving around the stage like some kind of voodoo princess. It is little wonder that Vodun chose to call their latest release 'Possession' – the entire show feels like a spiritual initiation of some kind, and all three band members remain in impeccable character throughout.
Guitarist The Marassa is one incredibly gifted musician, looping the second guitar parts as he plays, laying down the bass and shredding out some serious riffs. For a genre of music that usually relies so heavily on a dark, sludgy bassline you would think that a lack of bass guitar would be disastrous for this band – but this is certainly not the case for Vodun. Drummer Ogoun smashes through the setlist with a fiery passion, never missing a beat. This is where the tribal influence really starts to come into its own, as so much of the performance is based around heavy, rhythmic drum beats. So much so, in fact, that mid-way through one of the songs Oya and The Marassa leap down from the stage to distribute drums, cowbells and tambourines among the audience (side note: I got the drum). Allowing their audience to join in gives Vodun's stage show a whole new dynamic, and proves that they are a band who clearly understands their niche. Still not convinced that Afro-doom can work? You are very much mistaken: Vodun will possess you, and you'll go back begging for more.
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Vodun – Interview
PARADISE LOST REVEAL TITLE AND DETAILS OF NEW ALBUM
Rebekah Elvidge
Hi, I'm Rebekah. I'm a Northerner and a copywriter/occasional journo/video editor – a little bit of everything! When I'm not juggling my various jobs I'm usually found at a gig, whether it's a small local show at a DIY venue or a huge concert at a 20,000 capacity arena. My love affair with rock and metal began when 9 year old me first heard Green Day's 'American Idiot' – I'm now in my twenties and not a thing has changed! I still hold a candle for punk, but my musical tastes vary hugely. I love old school metal, nu metal, glam metal and especially shock rock – Alice Cooper is my all-time favourite performer (this probably has something to do with coming from a musical theatre background!). The rest of my spare time tends to be taken up with travelling and being a bit of a foodie – you can follow my (mis)adventures on Instagram @rebekahelvidge.
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Robert Leo Gretton (15 January 1953 – 15 May 1999) was the manager of Joy Division and New Order. He was partner in and co-director of Factory Records and a founding partner of The Haçienda. For ten years until his death in 1999, Gretton ran his own label, Rob's Records.

Life and career
In 1977, Gretton became a leading figure in the Manchester punk scene with his involvement with Slaughter & The Dogs. He was DJ in Rafters club and manager of The Panik.

Gretton's involvement with the Manchester scene began when he contributed £200 to co-finance Slaughter & the Dogs' first single, the punk classic "Cranked Up Really High".

In 1978, Gretton saw Joy Division perform at the Stiff Test/Chiswick Challenge battle of the bands in Manchester City centre. The next day, he accosted Bernard Sumner in a phone box and insisted he be the band's manager. Tony Wilson of newly formed Factory Records also saw Joy Division, and perhaps Gretton, for the first time that night. He then went on to write to Wilson twice, once asking to appear on Wilson's regional music show, and again to thank him for mentioning Joy Division on the show. Wilson replied, telling Gretton that "Joy Division (were) the best thing I've heard in Manchester for about six months".

After joining Factory Records in 1979, Gretton brought many new bands to the label, including Section 25, X-O-Dus, Crispy Ambulance, Stockholm Monsters, Minny Pops, The Names, Quando Quango, The Wake, 52nd Street and Happy Mondays.

Gretton was proprietor of the Rob's Records label and a co-founder of The Haçienda nightclub in Manchester. In 1995, he founded Manchester Records.

He was a supporter of Manchester City F.C.

Peter Hook recalls in his memoirs, Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division and Substance: Inside New Order how Gretton would sometimes record backing vocals on New Order tracks and often helped with deliberations over song and album titles with both Joy Division and New Order.

He died in May 1999 at the age of 46 as the result of a heart attack.

Portrayal in the media
Gretton was portrayed by Paddy Considine in the 2002 film 24 Hour Party People, which dramatized the rise and fall of Factory Records, and by Toby Kebbell in the 2007 film Control, a biopic of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis.

References

External links
Rob Gretton biography at LTM

1953 births
1999 deaths
English music managers
New Order (band)
People educated at St Bede's College, Manchester
Factory Records
20th-century British musicians
20th-century English businesspeople
Burials at Southern Cemetery, Manchester

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The official Madden NFL 18 roster update for the divisional round is available now.
You can check all of the changes here. We've listed some of the changes below. Make sure to check out our official Madden roster FAQ, which answers many of the questions you may have.


text:
Q: Remove similar entries from TXT file? I got two text files: localhost.txt and host.txt.
localhost.txt contains:
127.0.0.1:100
127.0.0.1:200
127.0.0.1:300
127.0.0.1:400
127.0.0.1:500
127.0.0.1:600
127.0.0.1:700
127.0.0.1:800
127.0.0.1:(...)

host.txt contains:
172.39.32.1:100
172.39.32.1:200
172.39.32.1:300
172.39.32.1:400
172.39.32.1:500
172.39.32.1:600
172.39.32.1:700
172.39.32.1:800
127.0.0.1:1300
127.0.0.1:1800
172.39.32.1:(...)

(...)
I'm using this script
$data = file("localhost.txt");
file_put_contents('host.txt', implode(array_unique($data)));
$fisier = file_get_contents('host.txt');

to remove duplicates.
I need a script that will also remove similar lines e.g. if 127.0.0.1:200 in localhost.txt already exists in host.txt, then script will remove all lines with 127.0.0.1 from host.txt.
Any ideas? :)
Thanks

A: $hosts_lines = file("hosts.txt");

foreach($hosts_lines as $line) {
    $temp = explode(":", $line);
    $hosts[$temp[0]][] = $temp[1];
}

$localhost = file("localhost.txt");

foreach ($localhost as $line) {
    $temp = explode(":", $line);
    unset($hosts[$temp[0]]);
}

foreach($hosts as $ip => $ports) {
    foreach ($ports as $port) {
        printf("%s:%s", $ip, $port);
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


In my last post, I introduced you to my new owl collection.
In this post, I am putting the owls to work in my kitchen shadow box. Five of the seven new owls are right here, along with some regulars like tin cookie cutters, red metal stars, Rumford biscuit cutter, tomato salt and pepper shakers, and Ball Jar. Other new additions are candy corn, a vintage orange Folgers coffee puzzle in a can, a vintage McCormick mustard tin, a pumpkin plate, and some fall foliage.
I have mini pumpkins displayed on my Pottery Barn chairs that double as mini shelves during holidays.
More chairs and a wood pumpkin sign, a Black Eyed Susan pillow, and more pumpkins.
I think my fall suitcase is perfect on the kitchen table. It's vintage and country, like the shadow box.
I took the two orange books out of the suitcase and added a couple leaf shaped plates. They seemed more kitcheny!
The flat bowl on the bottom was just purchased at a consignment shop for $3. It was made in Italy and marked Tre Ci.
The plate pictures a man and woman harvesting in the fields. I thought it seemed like a fall scene and the stripe around the bowl is an orange red. The caption on the bowl says "le colline Toscane".
Meet Me Monday at You're Talking Too Much.
I love your pretty kitchen decor! The shadow box is great...the owls are so much fun. I also love those cute chairs.
I don't think it gets any cuter...I love it!
I love it. It is just simply adorable. Love the pumpkin plate.
Such an inviting and festive kitchen. I love your owl collection.
As soon as I saw this I had to come see. I love owls and pumpkins and together they are perfect. I just love all the owls displayed in the cubbies. So darn cute!!
Your little owls have found a perfect home. Love the collection of mini chairs. Did you say these are from Pottery Barn?
Great little owl collection for your kitchen.
It all looks great!! Those chairs are cute!!
So many great owls out there this season! Love those fuzzy pumpkins and the idea of corralling it all in a suitcase, rather than a tray or box.
Look how perfectly your owls fit into your cubby! Your kitchen is looking very cozy for the upcoming cold weather.
What an awesome and colorful display! I love owls. Your pictures are great too!
Love the mini pumpkins on the little chairs!
Oh wow. The chairs are cute...but the Owls! are adorable. I love that little black shelf and the little black box/shelf...both!
Looks so cute! I love fall.
The orange and yellow accessories are gorgeous on your black shadowbox! Love it!
What cute goodies! Beautiful inspiration! Thank you fro sharing your project at Potpourri Friday!


Progress in health service quality is vital to reach the target of Universal Health Coverage. However, in order to improve quality, it must be measured, and the assessment results must be actionable. We analyzed an electronic tool, which was developed to assess and monitor the quality of primary healthcare in Tanzania in the context of routine supportive supervision. The electronic assessment tool focused on areas in which improvements are most effective in order to suit its purpose of routinely steering improvement measures at local level.; Due to the lack of standards regarding how to best measure quality of care, we used a range of different quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate the appropriateness of the quality assessment tool. The quantitative methods included descriptive statistics, linear regression models, and factor analysis; the qualitative methods in-depth interviews and observations.; Quantitative and qualitative results were overlapping and consistent. Robustness checks confirmed the tool's ability to assign scores to health facilities and revealed the usefulness of grouping indicators into different quality dimensions. Focusing the quality assessment on processes and structural adequacy of healthcare was an appropriate approach for the assessment's intended purpose, and a unique key feature of the electronic assessment tool. The findings underpinned the accuracy of the assessment tool to measure and monitor quality of primary healthcare for the purpose of routinely steering improvement measures at local level. This was true for different level and owner categories of primary healthcare facilities in Tanzania.; The electronic assessment tool demonstrated a feasible option for routine quality measures of primary healthcare in Tanzania. The findings, combined with the more operational results of companion papers, created a solid foundation for an approach that could lastingly improve services for patients attending primary healthcare. However, the results also revealed that the use of the electronic assessment tool outside its intended purpose, for example for performance-based payment schemes, accreditation and other systematic evaluations of healthcare quality, should be considered carefully because of the risk of bias, adverse effects and corruption.


Straightening your smile with orthodontics will not only improve you appearance, it will improve your overall health. Teeth that are properly aligned are easier to clean, making it harder for plaque to hide in crevices. Improving your bite will also create more flattering facial features which can be disrupted by irregular bites.
During your FREE consult at clinic` in `, your smile will be evaluated and the options best suited to your individual needs and comfort will be explained to you. We are always happy to answer any questions you may have. Allow us to invite you to a better smile today!


I am an airline professional with a Bachelor's degree currently working in private sector in Thrissur. I belong to a middle class, joint family with traditional values.
My name is Sreejith and I am working as a Not in List in the Private sector. I have completed my Higher Secondary School / High School. I grew up in a Middle Class class, Nuclear family with Liberal values.


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Getting your international business started
Country consultings
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Target markets
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Switzerland registers record number of 50,545 new start-ups
Jan 11, 2022 11:14Switzerland Global Enterprise
For the first time, more than 50,000 new companies were set up in a single year in Switzerland. This is a finding of the annual analysis undertaken by the Institute for Young Enterprises. In addition, 2021 was a record year in a ten-year comparison as well.
For the first time in Swiss history, more than 50,000 companies were set up in the 12-month period covering 2021. Generic Image: Pixabay
For the first time in Swiss history, more than 50,000 companies were set up in the 12-month period covering 2021. According to a press release issued by the Institute for Young Enterprises (IFJ), the number of new entries in the commercial register came in at 50,545. This equates to growth of 7.9 percent versus the previous record year of 2020. Moreover, in a ten-year comparison, 2021 was 17 percent above the average, which represents another new record. Over the past decade, an average of approximately 43,000 new companies were recorded in the commercial register.
Start-ups create jobs
According to the IFJ's annual analysis, the economic relevance of start-ups is clearly reflected in the creation of jobs. Roughly 400,000 people in Switzerland are employed in companies founded less than ten years ago.
When it comes to start-ups, the limited liability company (GmbH) is by far the most popular legal form. A total of 19,529 new GmbH firms were registered in 2021. However, at +13.2 percent, the largest increase in comparison with the previous year was actually recorded for the legal form of a stock corporation (AG) company.
Services leading the way
In terms of the sector breakdown, services such as job placement, care services, corporate and personal services lead the way with an increase of +32.3 percent. Thereafter follow the retail sector at +17.5 percent, agriculture and forestry at +17.2 percent in addition to finance and insurance at +17.1 percent. According to the IFJ analysis, the most significant declines in percentage terms were recorded in the areas of marketing and communications (-7.3 percent), transport and logistics (-4.1 percent) and the wholesale trade (-2.9 percent).
Handbook for Investors
Our Handbook for Investors provides valuable information about technologies and production costs, taxes and financing, as well as the legal system and infrastructure in Switzerland. Browse through the complete handbook online or download the chapters most relevant to you.
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This program is not designed for repairs and/or maintenance normally expected. It is designed to improve systems, not maintain them in the same condition.
The District Board of Supervisors will review each application and determine a maximum total cost allowed for cost-share assistance, based on needs and budget allowance.
The District will provide the applicant financial cost-share assistance. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will provide technical assistance.
This incentive program provides reimbursement of the project cost based on NRCS payment schedule. All projects must be pre-approved before being initiated and must be evaluated upon completion.
Reimbursement will be made following practice completion and certification that NRCS specs have been met.
Ditch groups/companies within the Popo Agie Conservation District boundaries.
Project selection and payment decisions will be made by the Popo Agie Conservation District Board of Supervisors. It is the responsibility of the applicant to make the case that the project meets the goals of the program.
Applications are due June 15th and are reviewed on an annual basis.


text:
Cognitive Bias and Climate Change
Wickersham's Conscience / November 27, 2022
Naomi Orestes is a professor at Harvard, and writes a monthly column for Scientific American. In a recent column, she noted that climatologists have consistently under-predicted the rate of climate change in the Arctic. In fact, it seems to be warming about four times as fast as most models have predicted. Some reports have it warming faster than any of the models have predicted.
There are a lot of reasons why the experts predicted low. Orestes suggests one of them may be that climatologists are gun shy of the noisy, extreme climate science deniers, and have unconsciously experienced cognitive bias as a result. Better to aim low than risk attack by aiming high.
WC pretends to no particular expertise in either climate science or cognitive bias, other than being modestly well read in both and having lived most of his life in the subarctic region.
But what's striking about climate change in the arctic are the number of feedback loops that have been and may yet be triggered by even modest temperature changes.
Arctic sea ice, for example. The white of ice and snow on ice reflects heat back up into the atmosphere. Dark, open waters absorb heat instead. As sea ice melts earlier and stays melted longer, more of that dark, heat-absorbing water is available to absorb sunlight. Especially in the spring and early summer when, in prior decades, that warming sunlight was reflected away. It's a feedback loop: more open water, more heat absorption, earlier melting of thinner sea ice. And so we have this:
Sea ice extent in the Arctic at the end of the summer melt season each September from 1979–2022, based on satellite observations. The total extent is the area of all pixels in the satellite image where the ice concentration is at least 15 percent. The amount of sea ice ice that survives the summer melt is declining rapidly. NOAA Climate.gov graph, based on extent data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center.
That's a loss of 31,100 square miles—an area the size of South Carolina—per year. Far beyond what most climate models WC has seen predicted.
Another example is permafrost. The permanently frozen soils of the arctic and subarctic contain an estimated 1.5 billion metric tons of carbon. It's preserved, and out of our atmosphere, for the same reason that food doesn't spoil in our freezers. Frozen stuff doesn't support bacteriological activity. But as those frozen soils thaw, bacteria have the opportunity to metabolize that carbon and excrete it as CO2. Food in our refrigerators, in contrast to our freezers, can spoil. Bacteria are slowed at fridge temperatures, but still active. They are already acting on the carbon where permafrost has melted. Those 1.5 billion metric tons of carbon represent more than twice the amount of CO2 we already have in our atmosphere. More warming, more permafrost melting, more bacteria, more CO2. And it's getting perilously close to thawing at depth.
Permafrost temperature at borehole sites in interior Alaska, measured at the end of summer (approximately September of each year). Measurements at these sites were taken at depths between 49 and 85 feet. Data source: University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2021
Note these temperature measurements are deep down in the permafrost. Upper layers are warmer, sometimes much warmer.. There's a lot of carbon closer to being under bacterial action above that 49 foot deep sensor.
Methane bubble trapped in ice, Lake Baikal, Siberia (Credit: Stanislav Tolstnev, Siberian Times)
When the bacteria work on the thawed, trapped plant material in a low oxygen environment, it's even worse: the emissions are methane, not carbon dioxide, and methane is a much more powerful greenhouse gas.
Glaciers also reflect sunlight that would otherwise be absorbed by the darker ground. They serve as reservoirs of water and reservoirs of cold. Anyone who has been near an active glacier knows the air and vegetation around the ice is colder than the air and ground a mile away. Melting glaciers are another feedback loop. And the ice is melting rapidly. Scientists monitor a selected sample of glaciers across North America, the "Reference Glaciers," keeping an eye on their mass balance, the ratio between accumulating snowfall and summer melt.
Cumulative change in mass balance of a set of "reference" glaciers worldwide beginning in 1956. The line on the upper graph represents the average of all the glaciers that were measured. Negative values indicate a net loss of ice and snow compared with the base year of 1956. For consistency, measurements are in meters of water equivalent, which represent changes in the average thickness of a glacier. The small chart below shows how many glaciers were measured in each year. Some glacier measurements have not yet been finalized for the last few years, hence the smaller number of sites.
The reference glaciers are shrinking, and, in a classic example of a feedback mechanism, the rate at which they are shrinking is increasing.
Feedback loops are notoriously difficult to predict. Often, they are exquisitely sensitive to very modest changes. WC suggests there's a reason (besides cognitive bias) why climatologists have underestimated arctic and subarctic melting: an incomplete understanding of the feedback loops that are operating in those regions. If WC is right, it doesn't make the rate of change any less scary or any less concerning; just a bit less inexplicable.
November 27, 2022 in Climate Follies, Commentary, Science. Tags: Climate Follies, Commentary, Science
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