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Hilary Benn
Conservative and Labour council tax claims: both right, and both deceptive
22/04/2013 / inlogov	/ 1 Comment
Chris Game
It used to be a toss-up which would come first: the political parties launching their local election campaigns or the letter in The Times claiming its author has heard the first cuckoo of Spring. Sadly, with the cuckoo's drastically declining population both here and worldwide, it's the politicians that usually win these days, but perhaps it's some kind of compensation that they can generally be relied upon to produce some distinctly cuckoo-like behaviour – as in daftness, rather than parasitism.
David Cameron chose Nuneaton in Warwickshire for his launch of the Conservatives' campaign, which electorally certainly made sense. With the most non-Conservative areas in several traditional counties having become unitaries, Warwickshire is one of the few genuinely marginal counties around, with the Conservatives maybe having the edge in votes, but Labour having run the county council for longer in recent years as a minority administration. Come to the West Midlands in April, though, and you have to confront the Aston Villa relegation issue. Cameron was "sure it'll be alright in the end", which in the circumstances, and especially as he was careful not to define "end", was also not daft. Some of his other views, though, did seem to suggest that he might have just migrated in from Africa.
The Government's Localism Act had empowered local government, he asserted, so local elections now mattered more than in the past … "We've given councils much, much more freedom …". It was the double emphasis that took the biscuit. It must be really, really difficult for most councils, having seen their grant funding slashed year by year, and having just implemented their fourth round of spending cuts to meet budget and tax ceilings effectively dictated by the Government, to identify quite where all this freedom and electoral meaningfulness are hiding.
However, it's not the function of an INLOGOV blog to engage in partisan knockabout – no, really, it's not. This one's serious purpose is to try to inject a bit of factual clarification into what looks like becoming a pretty heated debate about council tax – a little ironically, talking of electoral meaningfulness, when very few of the councils holding elections are actually billing authorities.
In neighbouring Worcestershire, for instance, should electors in Bromsgrove and Malvern Hills vote as if to punish their tax-collecting Conservative councils for rejecting Cameron and Pickles' "clear moral imperative" to freeze their council taxes for the sake of "hard-working families and pensioners"? That presumably would be a demonstration that local elections mattered. Or should they reward Conservative Worcestershire for taking the Government's one-off grant (equivalent to a one per cent rise in council tax) and freezing the much bigger portion of their tax bill?
It's a definite complication for the Conservatives, who would have liked to be able to contrast phalanxes of blue councils, which had obediently taken the grant and frozen their tax bills for a further year, with loads of red and orange/yellow ones that had ignored their "moral imperative" and increased theirs. There was no lack of ministerial arm-twisting (proverbial, I presume) and other threats and pressures to which Conservative council leaders were subjected, but at the end of the day, as the Sunday Telegraph was one of the first to document, the figures just didn't turn out right.
In a mid-March survey of all 353 English councils, the Telegraph found first that a total of 124, or more than a third, were increasing their council tax bills as a way of raising revenue. Secondly, more than half of these offending councils (64) were Conservative – that's more than one in three of those the party currently controls. Some, moreover – as can be confirmed in a more recent House of Commons briefing paper (Appendix 7) – were seriously big and embarrassing names.
The three tax-raising counties were almost bound to be Conservative, and indeed are – Cambridgeshire, Surrey, and a particularly interesting A N Other. The six London boroughs were more mixed. There were 2 of Labour's 18 – Lewisham and Harrow; 1 of the Lib Dems' 2 – Kingston-upon-Thames; and 3 of the Conservatives' 11 – Bromley, Croydon, and, with the biggest increase of all at over 3%, Wandsworth. As for A N Other, the Sunday Telegraph seemed almost salivatingly pleased to note that the Tory miscreants "included Oxfordshire County Council, which is David Cameron's local authority, and Runnymede Council in the constituency of Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary."
None of this, of course, is going to stop the Conservatives exhorting us in virtually every campaign speech to vote Conservative for lower council taxes. But listen carefully to what they actually say, like Cameron himself on Friday: "On average, on a Band D bill, Conservative councils continue to charge lower levels of council taxes than Labour or Lib Dems." And it's perfectly true. It generally is. And, unless you stop and think about it for a few moments longer than most voters are probably likely to give it, it's seriously misleading.
As, in a very similar way, is Labour's counter-claim that we should vote for them, because, to quote Hilary Benn, Shadow Secretary for Communities and Local Government, from last year's election campaign and no doubt from this year's as well: "Households in Labour-controlled authorities pay on average less council tax per year than those in Tory and Lib Dem areas".
Note the small, but hugely significant, difference: Conservatives: average Band D; Labour: average per household/dwelling. If I were preparing students for an exam, I might suggest they use a mnemonic – say, Bullingdon and Downing Street for Band D – but I'd also try to get them to think it through, because it's really not brain-hurting stuff.
The tax base for council tax is a ratio system based on 8 valuation bands, centred around Band D (properties valued, in 1991, at ₤68,000 to ₤88,000). Band A properties (under ₤40,000) pay 6/9 (2/3) of Band D; Band B 7/9, and so on up to Band H (over ₤320,000) paying 18/9 (2x) of Band D. Councils calculate their tax base by weighting the number of dwellings in each band to Band D, and report their budget headlines in terms of 'Council tax for council services (Band D)'.
Band D has thus become a benchmark for comparative purposes, and it is perfectly reasonable for the Conservatives to use it – reasonable but disingenuous. Not so much because only a small minority of properties (15% in England) are actually in Band D, but because, exacerbated by the absence of any revaluation since 1991, the mix of property bands across authorities and regions nowadays varies starkly. In my own authority of Birmingham 66% of properties are in Bands A and B, and just 8% in E to H combined. Neighbouring Solihull has 29% in Bands A and B, and also 29% in E to H. In the North East there are 55% Band As, in the South East 9%, in London 3.6%.
All of which obviously means that, to raise any particular sum of money in an authority with mainly Band A to C properties requires a higher Band D tax than in one comprising many E to H properties. The average bills paid per household will vary similarly – being generally higher than the Band D figure in more affluent and Conservative-inclined areas, and lower in less affluent or Labour-inclined ones. Hence Labour's equally disingenuous preference for average tax bill figures. Two contrasting Inner London boroughs provide an illustration. Kensington and Chelsea: Band D – £1,086; average tax per dwelling – £1,190; Tower Hamlets: Band D – £1,189; average tax per dwelling – £787.
The parties have been playing this rather irritating game seemingly forever, and at one time it fell to party researchers or friendly academics to have to ascertain councils' political control, decide whether it had been long enough to influence budgetary and tax policy, and produce the necessary statistics. In recent years, possibly irritated at hearing the same arguments repeated year after year, the estimable House of Commons Library staff (and notably Matthew Keep) have taken over, and a table on page 9 of the research briefing referred to above and reproduced here enable us, and, if they choose, MPs to compare the figures for ourselves.
They show that, in all comparisons in which more than 5 authorities are involved, the average band D council tax is lower in Conservative-controlled authorities than in those controlled by Labour, the single exception being Police and Crime Commissioners, where the lower levels were set by Labour. But in all cases the average council tax per dwelling is lower in Labour-controlled authorities. It's difficult to say just what, if anything, this proves, but it surely means that we need hear no more of these particular claims. In your dreams!
Chris is a Visiting Lecturer at INLOGOV interested in the politics of local government; local elections, electoral reform and other electoral behaviour; party politics; political leadership and management; member-officer relations; central-local relations; use of consumer and opinion research in local government; the modernisation agenda and the implementation of executive local government.
Hilary Benn – not always so brilliant, or even believable
24/04/2012 24/04/2012 / inlogov	/ 1 Comment
"Later, I heard that Hilary Benn had been appointed [as a Minister for International Development in a 2003 Blair reshuffle]. Lucky old Hilary. That's the second time he's stepped into my shoes, but I can't complain. He's brilliant."
Deliverer of this unusually effusive politician's compliment was the actor playing Chris Mullin, the former Sunderland Labour MP and junior minister, whose well-received diaries were recently adapted into one of the more surprising of recent London theatre hits, A Walk On Part: The Fall of New Labour.
Well, with due respect to Mr Mullin, his hero hasn't been so brilliant – or even, apparently, honest – in his attempts to spin this year's council tax figures to his party's advantage.
On April 16, Mr Benn, Labour's Communities and Local Government Spokesperson, posted a news items on Labour's official website, headed 'New figures reveal residents in Labour areas pay less council tax than in Tory or Lib Dem areas'.
Nothing remarkable there, I agree. It could have been an early April headline from pretty well any year since Labour decided that tax-raising was an embarrassing activity for a social democratic party to be engaged in. Still, I did wonder where the 'new figures' came from, as the only ones I knew of that analysed by political control were those helpfully produced by Matthew Keep in the House of Commons Library (Council Tax 2012/13 – Standard Note: SN/SG/6276).
As a politician, Mr Benn sees no need to source his 'new figures' or the 'research' that produced them, but they are at such variance with those of the Commons Library – as in the table reproduced below – that they are worth comparing, or contrasting, more closely. It may be, of course, that Mr Benn's data are somehow more complete than those in the table, or maybe differently calculated – in which case it's a particular shame that we weren't informed.
Benn: 'In Labour local authorities, the Band D council tax rate is £81 lower than in Tory areas and £42 lower than in Lib Dem areas'.
Commons Library: Wrong. In ALL Labour authorities – all types and therefore all collectively – average Band D council tax is HIGHER than in Conservative authorities and, higher too than in Lib Dem authorities, with the exception of London borough, of which they control just two.
Benn: 'Households in Labour-controlled authorities pay on average £220 less per year than those in Tory areas and £101 less than those in Lib Dem areas'.
Commons Library: Partly wrong. Households in Labour-controlled London and metropolitan boroughs and unitaries do pay less on average than those in Conservative areas, but the difference is much less than £220 p.a., and in shire areas those in Labour-controlled districts pay slightly more. Comparisons with Lib Dem authorities vary more by type of authority.
None of this, it should be emphasised, is surprising. Indeed, the surprise would be if the picture painted by Mr Benn's figures really were true. The truth, however, is that this is one of the more irritating ritual arguments in which the major parties engage every year in the period between council tax-setting and the local elections. It has become an inevitable by-product of the way in which our unreformed tax system works – as I sought to explain in this space last April.
The tax base for council tax is a ratio system centred around Band D: Band A paying 6/9 (2/3) of Band D; Band B 7/9, and so on up to Band H paying 18/9 (2x) of Band D. Councils calculate their tax base by weighting the number of dwellings in each band to Band D, and report their budget headlines in terms of 'Council tax for council services (Band D)'.
Band D has thus become a benchmark for comparative purposes, and it is therefore perfectly reasonable that the Conservatives tend to use it – as they could with this year's Commons Library figures – to claim that average Band D tax rates are normally lower in Conservative than in Labour or most Liberal Democrat areas.
Reasonable, but disingenuous. Not so much because only a small minority of properties (15% in England) are actually in Band D, but because, exacerbated by the absence of any revaluation since 1991, the mix of property bands across authorities and regions nowadays varies starkly. In my own authority of Birmingham 56% of properties are in Bands A and B, and just 14% in Bands E to H combined. Neighbouring Solihull has 19% A and Bs and 41% E to Hs. In the North East there are 56% Band As, in the South East 9%, in London 3%.
All of which obviously means that, to raise a certain tax income in an authority with mainly Band A to C properties requires a significantly higher Band D tax than in one comprising many E to H properties. The average bills paid by tax payers will vary similarly – being generally higher than the Band D figure in affluent and Conservative-inclined areas, and lower in poorer or Labour-inclined ones.
Hence Labour's equally disingenuous preference for using average tax bill figures as their political comparators. North East: Average Band D council tax £1,525; average tax bill per household £1,072. South East: Average Band D council tax £1,475; average bill per household £1,381. As the anthropomorphic Russian meercat, Alexsandr Orlov, would confirm: simples!
Mr Benn, though, wasn't finished. His 'research' had also revealed that more Conservative than Labour councils had rejected the Government's one-off grant in exchange for freezing or reducing their council tax in 2012/13. "16 Tory councils have increased council tax this year, as opposed to 15 Labour councils".
This really is foolishness, on several different levels. First, is Benn really suggesting the 15 Labour councils were wrong: that they should have cravenly fallen in with the Government's capping policy and accepted the one-off grant, even if they judged it detrimental to their residents' longer-term interests? If so, it's interesting that we didn't hear more about it at the time, when Eric Pickles and his fellow Ministers were positively bullying Conservative councils into obedience.
Second, aren't the numbers of councils controlled by the respective parties just a tiny bit relevant here? The Conservatives have roughly two-and-a-half times as many as Labour, which makes the 16-15 comparison look a bit lame.
Third, if Benn really is following Pickles' line – that it was councillors' moral duty in these austere times to freeze council taxes – it's presumably worth taking account of the percentage increases imposed by the respective groups of offending councils, and how close they came to exceeding the 3.5% that would have triggered a referendum.
The full list was published by the Local Government Chronicle on March 21, and, by my calculation, the average Conservative council increase was under 3%, while Labour's average – with 8 of their 15 going for the full 3.5% – was 3.27%.
Mr Benn's brilliance, it would seem, is more in the field of international relations than local government finance.
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I have experienced it about 3 times now. When I entered a file it got not responding and the whole code inside it disappeared after I closed the file and re-opened it. It doesn't happen often, but I've lost my code 3 times so far. Fortunately, 2 out of them were backed up, and the last one was kind of a test file, though it was useful. I hope it gets fixed soon! TIA!
Which version of n++ and which plugins? Could you add the debug info please which contains this information. Did the 3 crashs happen with the same version of N++ or different ones?
The last version – v7.5.4. And I only use one plugin (from the Plugins menu): DSpellCheck - Spell Check Document Automatically (is ticked). Do you think it can be a cause of the problem? And as far as I remember, all the 3 crashes happened with the same version. Or maybe the first and second ones with the previous version, and the third one with the latest version.
Starting with 7.5.2 DSpellCheck was bundled again with the N++ delivery and caused some issues, see https://github.com/Predelnik/DSpellCheck/issues/112. But starting with 7.5.4 version a newer version is bundled which should have fixed most problems.


Working with the Rockwell Group, I designed a "Ghost Chandelier" effect for the 12 floors of the Ames Hotel in Boston. This optical illusion, called a "Pepper's Ghost", gives the impression that a chandelier is floating in the elevator lobby; as seen reflected in a mirror. This is achieved by ensconcing a physical chandelier inside the wall, with a two-way mirror. Because the alcove is lined with light absorbing material, only the chandelier is visible, creating the illusion.
The project is a permanent part of the Ames building, viewable from any of the 12 floors.


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Japan to set up Singdollar-lending line as more Japanese firms invest in Singapore
Jul 26, 2013, 12:59 pm SGT
http://str.sg/Z5JC
REUTERS - Japan's central bank said on Friday it will set up a Singapore dollar lending line for Japanese companies operating in the country, a move aimed at facilitating direct investment to Asia.
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) agreed to the scheme on Friday, and they hope to begin lending in the autumn.
Under the arrangement, Japanese banks operating in Singapore can receive Singapore dollars from MAS by putting up Japanese government bonds as collateral at an account the MAS holds at the BOJ.
It is the BOJ's second such scheme in Asia, following one with Thailand set up in 2011 to assist Japanese banks and firms operating in the country when it was hit by a severe flood.
The funding line with Singapore reflects an increase in the number of Japanese companies and banks operating in the country.
Japanese direct investment to Singapore rose 56 percent in five years to 3.1 trillion yen (S$39.2 billion) as of the end of 2012.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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It's been almost ten years since the mobile applications come into existence, and now, it is impossible to imagine a life without them. It allows us to perform almost all the tasks from anywhere and at any time.
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Nearly all the businesses are finding mobile apps as useful tools for interacting and engaging with their customers. A highly effective and feature-rich branded application can make a huge difference in your business and develop customer loyalty and boost brand visibility.
However, it is important that all this should happen under a cape of well-experienced security or companies risk endangering their apps, their own system, customer's information and their reputations. The main reason behind this is where digital activity thrives, hackers are not far behind.
Like any software project, mobile app security should be the main priority from the beginning. However, we all know that native applications are quite different from the web apps, where data and software exist securely on a server and the client-side is just an interface.
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The common measures are obfuscation and minification, but they are not sufficient. You should stick with the modern and well-supported algorithms that joined with API encryption. You can also test code for weaknesses or you can run source code scanning as well.
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Talking about the app's security, it is not only the application that has to be buttoned down. It is important for you to ensure that all the services that are delivered to run the app appropriately are safe. As applications are connected to data sources and data is flowing in varied directions.
All those connections should be secure that means you need to have a clear view of the services and systems you are integrating to make an app work wonderfully for end users. At the time of developing an app for customers, it is important to map out these systems and know these connections to prevent any potential for data or privacy breaches.
When it comes to iOS and Android, both the platforms have built-in security tools we take benefit of, but we are not assuming security is covered without doing the work ourselves.
In the race of getting applications to work instantly, many a time developer sacrifice the security of it. But overlooking to look and check services and data, which are converging within your app and how might be used in near future – can make you in trouble.
Especially, the people at Nissan seemed to have overlooked to think through all privacy ramifications for Leaf owners.
It is important that you strive hard to educate your clients as well that how important it is to ensure what you put out is completely secure and works like it is supposed to. What you think how many Nissan Leaf owners do you think to use the app again once it is secured and re-released.
Once, you performed design/architecture reviews with threat modeling, it's high time to perform some level of manual verification. The main scope and level of precision will be determined by the amount of risk posed by the app.
The size and the complexity of the application will decide the multiple levels of verification through iterative code reviews and penetration testing. It is must for organizations to engage mobile verification experts to work alongside internal teams. It is important for companies to have an eye towards a strong testing group from within.
So, these are the top security tips of 2019 for a mobile application to avoid security threats. To convert your innovative mobile app idea into high-end the application, you can hire a leading mobile app development company that has a proficient team of mobile app developers to comprehend your needs.


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CoinTerra cuts price of TerraMiner IV bitcoin mining rig. According to our round-up of ASIC mining rigs, the TerraMiner IV is matched only by the Butterfly Labs.
CoinTerra, a popular ASIC Bitcoin mining hardware company, announced that it will be doing spot price for its TerraMiner IV hardware.
This is the unboxing video of the new TerraMiner IV from Cointerra.
The bar has been raised as CoinTerra serve notice to all Bitcoin Mining companies.Although choosing this option would mean getting a miner based on 28nm ASIC chips instead.
CoinTerra Levels Up With The TerraMiner IV and TerraMiner II.
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Years ago I visited the Dallas Farmers Market and was super unimpressed. I had heard that it's much different in the last year so we decided to give it another spin. I am SO glad we did! The Dallas Farmers Market was such a perfect Saturday treat! There are two sheds you can peruse… the first has local produce and goods, such as jams and breads while the second is more for dining or grabbing a quick bite to eat as well as picking up cheeses and fish!
Parking was fabulous. There is parking all around the produce shed. Additionally, they had plenty of handicap parking and easy to get to bathrooms. For families, they also had a great area for kids to play.
The vendors were more than happy to talk about how they grew their food, how they made their products, and how their local items were. I can't wait to visit this market again!
Posted on July 30, 2017 August 4, 2017 by HeidiPosted in Eating OutTagged dallas, farmers market, local food, produce.
Next Next post: Gogi Cafe. Yummy Vegan Food.


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Object Moved This document may be found here. 12/27/ · I'll be flying out of LAX in 2 weeks, to China. Do the currency exchange kiosks and/or banks at LAX hit travelers with a commission or fee for changing their dollars into CYN, or do they just exchange the currencies for a little less than the official rate for that day?
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text:
The Council of States (, Maǧlis al-Wilāyāt) is the currently-dissolved upper house of the parliament of Sudan. It was formed in 2005 as part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which establishment of bicameral National Legislature. The members are indirectly elected by state legislatures and serve five-year terms.

The National Legislature, which includes the Council of States, was dissolved on 11 April 2019 following the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir and his National Congress Party in a military coup.

As part of the 2019 Sudanese transition to democracy, a Transitional Legislative Council is to be formed which will function as the legislature of Sudan until elections scheduled for 2022.

Presidents of the Council of States

References

External links

Politics of Sudan
Sudan
National Legislature (Sudan)
2005 establishments in Sudan

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The instance U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, No. 9237, Mar. term, A.D. 1932, John R. Green, administrator de bonis non of estate of Arthur W. Green, deceased, and John R. Green, as beneficiary, appellant, vs. U.S.A., appellee; appeal from District Court of U.S. for Western District of Missouri represents a material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in University of San Diego Libraries. This resource is a combination of several types including: Instance, Microform.


text:
Laredo Lemurs Lingo: Mexico Comes Calling on Reigning Champs
Robert Pannier March 14, 2016
The Laredo Lemurs find themselves just a bridge away from entering Mexico. Nuevo Laredo is just on the other side of that bridge, and the proximity of the two cities, as well as the two countries, has made it so that there is a kind of kinship between the people of the two cities. That bond goes beyond food, music, and heritage, translating into their love of baseball as well.
Coming off the club's first American Association Championship, the Laredo Lemurs now find that many of the teams to their south are realizing that the Texas teas has just the right pieces to fill their roster. Since the calendar changed years, seven Lemurs players have been signed to contracts by teams in the Mexican League, meaning Laredo Manager Pete Incaviglia has his work cut out for him if his team is going to repeat as the league's best.
The exodus began early this year, when LHP Luis Pollorena and INF Roger Bernal both signed with Puebla of the Mexican League on January 14. Bernal was a versatile addition, providing three innings of work and 11 at-bats in the playoffs for the Lemurs. Pollorena pitched out of the bullpen and made 11 starts during the regular season, posting a 5-4 record. He also made two starts for the Champs.
The team took a big hit on March 4 when OF Denis Phipps signed with Acereros. The outfielder has been a big part of the success of the Lemurs the last two seasons. In 2014, he hit .335 with 15 homeruns and 47 RBI in 66 games. His 2015 was even better as he slugged 17 HRs, 24 doubles, drove in 76 and hit .336 in 99 games. All of those numbers but the batting average led the team. Clearly the loss of his bat is going to be a costly blow to the Lemurs' lineup.
Three days later, LHP Joe Testa was signed by Saltillo. The left-hander was acquired by Laredo from Sussex County of the Can-Am League in late November, along with RHP Rett Varner, for RHPs Greg Holle and BJ Hyatt, plus INF Ty Forney. Testa had been a real force for Sussex County, saving 18 games and posting an outstanding 1.23 ERA. He struck out a whopping 65 in 44 innings pitched and looked to be the team's solution to losing American Association Championship Series MVP John Brebbia, the team's closer from last season who dominated on the team's way to the title. The loss of Testa leaves a big hole in the back end of the team's bullpen.
March 9 saw two more players signed and heading south of the border. LHP Miguel Pena signed with Tijuana while Danny Gutierrez had his contract purchased by Laguna. Pena was acquired from the Sioux Falls Canaries on November 9 for infielder Frank Martinez, and looked to play a prominent role in the team's starting rotation next season after going 6-7 in 18 starts.
Gutierrez had been acquired from the Kansas City T-Bones the day before Pena. He spent part of last season in Laguna as well, going 4-2, while also making stops in Grand Prairie and St. Paul. That was two potential big contributors to the Lemurs rotation lost on the same day.
On March 11, INF Juan Silverio had his contract purchased by Veracruz. Silverio was with the Lemurs last season, where he hit .269 with 13 homeruns in 89 games. In the title run he drove in seven in nine playoff games. The loss of Silverio and Phipps remove two huge power bats from the team's lineup.
This is part of the curse of success that the other three top clubs in the American Association have had to endure as well. The St. Paul Saints lost league MVP Vinny DiFazio, Angelo Songco, and Anthony Phillips, as well as starters Dustin Crenshaw, Pedro Hernandez, and Kramer Sneed. The Wichita Wingnuts lost manager Kevin Hooper as well as OF Nick Van Stratten. Sioux City lost American Association Pitcher of the Year Patrick Johnson and RHP Jose Flores. This is just the breaks of success.
Clearly it is going to be a tough road for the Laredo Lemurs to repeat, but the team's manager has proven he is up to the task. In just two seasons as the skipper of the team he has accumulated a 115-85 record, and now has led two different teams to the American Association title series. If there is a manager that can keep his team on top after key departures like this, it is Pete Incaviglia.
Lemurs Notes: On February 24 the team resigned infielder Travis Denker. In two seasons with the team he has been an absolute beast, hitting .305 with 25 home runs in 2014 and hitting .361 in 20 games last season after returning to the club from the Mexican League. He was a major reason the team grabbed their first title last year, hitting .406 with 2 homeruns and 8 RBI in 9 games in the playoffs…Two surprises from the Laredo Lemurs were the release of C Phil Pohl and the dealing of Matt Sergey to Gary Southshore. Pohl hit .311 in 23 games during the season, but was an absolute beast in the five game series against the Wichita Wingnuts, going 9 for 17 with 6 runs and 8 RBI. Sergey was undefeated in his five starts for the team and was unscored on through his first four starts. With the numbers he put up, it was no surprise when the Lemurs reacquired the right-hander a few months later.
Laredo Lemurs /
‹ Saints Sermon: Pitching Losses Send Rotation South › Macalester Scots Senior Review: Fabian Arrizon


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Archive for the 'Moral Education.' Category
Ramadan in the garden of knowledge and virtue
A member of the congregration at the World Quran Hour at the International Islamic University Malaysia. PIC BY ASYRAF HAMZAH
MY stint in IIUM thus far is no less than business unusual. There are too many tales to tell. For now, I would like to focus on the experience during e Ramadan, my first in this Garden of Knowledge and Virtue as this serene campus is also known as. It was preceded by the World Quran Hour graced by the sultan of Perak.
Knowledge has always been likened to a tree with its many branches representing the many disciplines of knowledge, some bearing fruits and flowers. This metaphor is what defines a university.
The more the branches, the "lusher" the tree, compared to some institutions that prefer to pick and choose what is "marketable" while trimming off the branches that are said to be "irrelevant" to the marketplace.
Such a tree is somewhat "artificial" and imbalanced (read unsustainable), academically speaking. A hefty price that we are beginning to pay as the knowledge purveyors are themselves imbalanced as reflected in the many human-induced crises of today. This is indeed the crux of knowledge-deficit that is being promoted as "world-class" education — one without a soul
To speak of the soul of education is to recognise what "virtue" is all about. For virtue is the root of the tree, so to speak; the unseen part underneath a tree that gives rise to the whole tree, any tree
Just like the whole person whom the Quran likened to a "good" tree, and the virtue that is rooted therein. There is no tree without roots (except for "artificial" ones) and in fact the latter determines the quality of the former.
When the roots are left to rot the tree will eventually collapse. Easily uprooted, as warned by the Quran. This means ensuring the growth of the tree of knowledge in a "balanced" way is to tend to its roots foremost.
It is in this sense that Ramadan in IIUM is deeply rooted to provide the much-needed "balance" to the acquired disciplines of knowledge. It is the inspiration that changes knowledge into wisdom; the reflection that brings about courage for transformational changes; and the practice that realises the real meaning of virtues into reality.
This is made possible by nurturing values like humility, patience, tolerance, justice and trustworthiness which are the foundation for a balanced being to be manifested harmoniously as the Ramadan man (Homo ramadanus).
Hence Ramadan is set for the higher purpose of restoring or perfecting the balance in maturing a holistic person — balanced and complete. This acts as the bedrock to move forward beyond the month of Ramadan. In other words, it has to be internalised as a way of daily living in the Garden of Knowledge and Virtue.
For that reason alone it adds deeper dimensions to the practice of mere fasting. Meaning, we are constantly all the time aware of a balanced life that will lead us out of Ramadan until the next one.
These deeper dimensions are spread throughout the garden campus with its international community of 700-odd members from more than 110 countries. The culmination of this came during the congregation for Eidul Fitri prayer at the dawning of Syawal.
They were not limited to the IIUM community, but also from nearby communities and other campuses throughout the length and breadth of the peninsula, renewing acquaintances in the spirit of Syawal. Seeking forgiveness and strengthening fellowship.
It was yet another experience to behold, unmistakenly like that of the Holy City of Makkah where the mix and aura are beyond description except for those who had gone on the holy pilgrimage whose memberships ranged far and wide.
For instance, standing in line with the rest in prayer was the ambassador of Yemen and other dignitaries who preferred to be in the Makkah-like environment. The camaraderie was total and undivided. As though the ummah was actually one, despite the intra-ummah divisions apparent from the 14th OIC Summit held a couple of days before during Ramadan.
By Dzulkifli Abdul Razak.
Read more @ https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnists/2019/06/494607/ramadan-garden-knowledge-and-virtue
Posted in Ethics, Morality and Patriotism, Moral Education. | Comments Off
Positive values produce national highs
Tun M has made the perfect statement when giving his address in 1 Belt 1 Road summit in Beijing on 27 April 2019.
He is quoted as having said "No one should impose one single value system to the world but should strive to understand the different cultures and values." All Malaysians should read this article as in the same context, his statement has deep pertinence to New Malaysia. This is what Malaysia needs in our multi religious and cultural country..
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2019/04/27/mahathir-tells-summit-one-world-many-systems/
No world leader has made a statement like Tun M's. Typical Tun M style – concise, succinct and straight, likes an arrow hitting the heart of the target. It reflects on the reality of a new world order that is emerging fast, in which the mono polar leadership of USA is fast fading, a new multipolar system with Russia, China with India slightly behind is fast emerging.
No matter how hard USA is trying to suppress the birth of this multipolar system, how hard it is trying to impose its will on other countries including its closest allies, it will fail due to many weaknesses of its own making. Trump's erratic, unbecoming tyrannical behaviour, is helping to expedite its demise as world's only super power.
Tun M's statement is the beacon to the emerging new world order. No Malaysian leader has uttered a more perfect, profound statement like Tun M. His statement is fittingly suitable for the New Malaysia that PH is trying to give all Malaysians.
The PH government has taken various baby steps to implement/fulfil its many manifesto promises since GE14. Many a times, it got side tracked by the opposition's trumpeting negative value of "fear" of loss of political and racial rights etc. All sensible Malaysians who know what is good for our nation would not subscribe to this "fear" factor. "Fear", "jealousy" "rights" and other negative factors have never got any country or race anywhere in the world. There are clear indications that these are negative value leaders. They would not help to build national greatness for Malaysia. No country or race has gotten to the top by embracing and inculcating negative values among its citizens. More than that, negative values are destructive, suppressive, regressive and keeping people poor like in the feudal system.
It is increasingly clear that the Americans, in their falling economic/political standing in the world, have adopted many negative values for quite a long time. One very outstanding of such negative value is that they think it is their birth right to be No. 1 super power and no other country and/or political system can usurp them from their august "high and mighty" position. Many Malaysians have this same negative attitude too.
The baby steps of the PH government I have mentioned earlier show lack of conviction in its own direction and leadership. Good example is the recent decision of increasing the number of positions for matriculation from 25,000 to 40,000. The PH government is trying to please all which in the end, will make no one any happier. Instead, it is continuing to promote mediocracy among all Malaysians. It is an easy way out. It will perpetuate negative values, instead of imbuing positive values like "I can do it" confidence or hard work will pay.
Tun M's 1 Belt 1 Road statement to the world is also the perfect statement for New Malaysia. I am certain Tun M being the man he has always been, does not have double standards. Just like the English saying "What is good for the goose is good for the gander.".
Lacking in the PH government so far is a very clear vision which Tun M has now provided in his Beijing statement, definitive political and economic leadership which can pin point the way forward for all Malaysians. Most importantly is political courage to tell Malaysians what it should be, like Tun M has done in Beijing. Such a vision is exactly what Tun Mahathir has prescribed to the world in Beijing.
Political courage is key Malaysian national greatness. Malaysians can advance to high income status for which we are more than capable of and have the resource for it. However, it is not like a walk in the park. For years, Malaysians of all races have been poisoned with a great number of negative values.
Definitely there are more negative values than positive ones. Not easy to lead Malaysians out of this cauldron of negative value system that is more than 40 years old with many wanting to protect their rights protected and with just as many thinking they are being deprived or discriminated. justly Malaysia cannot continue with this diabolical racial dilemma. The solution is to get all to give up these negative positions, work hard with the confidence of being justly rewarded .
Does Malaysia have leaders with the necessary mental capacity, vision and courage to lead Malaysians in the path of national greatness? I will deal with mental capacity and vision first. All our leaders have the necessary mental capacity and vision. Najib has them when he introduced his New Economic Model and Government Transformation Programmes when he first became PM. Courage he was lacking for he abandoned it soon after the launch with great fanfare.
Tun M has it all, plenty mental capacity, clear vision and ample courage. In his case, too many Malaysians lack the necessary will to embrace all that he has to offer. Too many Malaysians cannot accept the harsh reality of hard work, competitiveness to achieve greatness. Too many Malaysians resort to corruption, and quick wealth by "hook or by crook".
As for Anwar who will become the next PM, he too has all the requisites. I am a bit taken aback by his illogical explanation on increasing the number for matriculation to 40,000.
He is creating more mediocre graduates, not more resilient ones. National greatness will never come from mediocracy.
He is just taking the easy way out. If mediocracy can create national greatness, every country will be great! He is not promoting the right values. My greatest fear for PH government is that it may eventually, like Najib, get cold feet with its transformation.
It should remain steadfast even its approval rating may get a beating now. Rating goes up and down, the PH government must remain on course as far as its transformation is concerned. Do what is right for the people, for the nation and the rating will be take care of. Malaysians can judge what is right and wrong for themselves.
Not fair of me if I don't say that the PH government has done many things that are of positive values like promotion of rule of law, national value of "mercy for all creations", much more transparency and a lot more fairness to common Malaysians. PH government is on the right track. The speed of transformation the PH government can implement will ultimately depend on the uptake capacity of all Malaysians to embrace positive values. I am certain that when more Malaysians can see the benefits of PH's transformation, the faster Malaysia can become an advance nation.
By: Datuk John Lo.
Read more @ http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/read/2935/positive-values-produce-national-highs/
Moral studies a dynamic subject
Tuesday, May 21st, 2019
The desire to abolish moral education compels me to clarify the dynamism of this subject and illustrate the actual issues in this subject. – FILE PIC
THE past two months have been a reflective phase for many parents and people to voice their desire to replace the
Moral Education with philosophy.
The desire to abolish moral education compels me to clarify the dynamism of this subject and illustrate the actual issues in this subject.
Firstly, when moral education was introduced in 1983, there were very few experts and the subject was taught by Islamic studies teachers.
Here is where we made a big mistake.
Moral education is not Islamic studies or religious education.
Moral education, in a multicultural context, takes into consideration all religions and belief systems.
Moral education builds cognitive, emotive and spiritual quotient in people to face moral dilemmas.
One does not need to be religious to have good morals but religion becomes a source or inspiration to be moral.
But because we have belief in God as one of our Rukun Negara pillars and moral education pioneers were all mostly religious educators, our moral education is unique.
Since the first stage of implementing in the 1980s, the subject itself has undergone changes from the content, approach, pedagogy and assessment perspectives.
I am proud that moral education was one of the pioneer subjects in our education system.
We have moral projects under the 2017 moral education syllabus.
Activities would include awareness projects on environment and sustainability, multicultural awareness, which includes human rights, rights and responsibilities in the cyberworld, and mutual respect in a diversified society.
Hence, I wonder if parents and those concerned with moral education understand the dynamism of the subject.
It would be ideal to understand the transformation that the subject had undergone and will undergo before even coming up with ideas of abolishing it.
Look into the issues in the subject, collect evidence, and don't just form opinions and judgments based on hearsay.
By Dr Vishalache Balakrishnan.
Read more @ ttps://www.nst.com.my/opinion/letters/2019/05/490135/moral-studies-dynamic-subject
Posted in Moral Education. | Comments Off
Character and modern education
(File pix) Issues of moral education and character development are increasingly important in societies that face the pressures of modernisation.
LESZEK Kolakowski writing in his famous essay, Modernity on Endless Trial, wrote that: "When I try, however to point out the most dangerous characteristic of modernity, I tend to sum up my fear in one phrase: the disappearance of taboos (Kolakowski, 1997, page13)."
Kolakowski was well aware that taboos could be both good and bad. They can play a positive role or negative one depending on the example and on circumstance and context. However, what he was trying to point out in his discussion of modernity was that ultimately: "Various traditional human bonds which make communal life possible, and without which our existence would be regulated only by greed and fear, are not likely to survive without a taboo system… ."
In other words, there must be some things that we simply do not do, some things that are simply unthinkable to most of us and to those of us who do think the unthinkable, recognise as unacceptable. There must be limits on what we can do, otherwise we lose our grounding and find ourselves pushed and pulled only by the basest of motivations: "greed and fear". Kolakowski's argument is that a "domino effect" occurs as things once thoughttaboo are now no longer considered taboo and wither. This domino effect, can be seen in societies that fail to have some kind of railing, some sense of limit and this is connected to "the disappearance of the sacred".
Kolakowski writes: "With the disappearance of the sacred, which imposed limits to the perfection that could be attained by the profane, arises one of the most dangerous illusions of our civilisation — the illusion that there are no limits to the changes that human life can undergo, that society is 'in principle' an endlessly flexible thing… ."
His argument also reminds us that issues of moral education and character development are increasingly important in societies that face the pressures of modernisation. When we think of the problem of character education and how to develop good character through education, we not only have to think of the positive values or virtues that we want to inculcate in our students, but also the limits, the sense of that which is simply unacceptable.
Both sides of the ledger, the "thou shalt" and the "thou shalt not's" are important in our moral education. If Kolakowski is correct then one of the objectives of character education must be to instil into students a sense of what is sacred, and what is taboo in a culture, what is held in highest esteem and what is unacceptable or beyond the pale.
This, however, presents a problem since it is also important that students maintain a sense of tolerance and open mindedness lest their attitude to moral issues slides into a one-sided bigotry or mindless citation of rules at the expense of thinking and reflection.
Inculcating ethical sensibility and dispositions in students requires avoiding the pitfalls of a sterile one-sided drill and exam-oriented kind of approach to character education and yet develop a solid ethical personality in students that gives them some ability to withstand moral challenges. The ability to both hold on to and draw firm lines and understand what is simply unacceptable, as well as the ability to reason and make informed and critical judgements is the key.
The question is: how we advance the aims of character education based on reiterating some firm boundaries as well as help develop a student's critical thinking and ability to make contextual judgements.
Here we face the problem of adapting the right pedagogical and philosophical method to our approach. The problem of character education relies on understanding the problem of ethical content, the problem of pedagogical method and the issue of broader cultural context.
Developing an approach to character education requires an understanding of how it can succeed with consideration to these critical issues.
By James Campbell.
Read more @ https://www.nst.com.my/education/2019/01/448512/character-and-modern-education
Moral education: Inculcate values via 3H approach
Wednesday, November 21st, 2018
SEVERAL initiatives have been suggested for next year's education calendar by the Education Ministry.
Being in the field of moral education and civics, and citizenship, I would like to share my views and ideas for a proactive and progressive start.
I will comment on fields that I have been trained to teach, and have researched and published, locally and internationally. This is important because many a time, scholars speak about anything and everything based on their opinion.
For example, those who speak on moral and civics base their views on their religious understanding, which may or may not apply to the current knowledge-based society.
If one were to make suggestions for the 2019 school initiatives based only on what they hear, read or believe could work well, then I would call it "Panadol treatment". This is because it will focus only on the surface of each initiative and is prone to failure.
One of the initiatives states: Bermula 2019, sekolah akan ada Manual Nilai yang akan dibacakan di setiap perhimpunan. (Starting from 2019, schools will have a Value Manual, which will be read out at every assembly).
This should be lauded, but merely reading out the manual during the school assembly will not inculcate values in students. They may even "shut off" as they are already studying Moral
Education (non-Muslim students) and Islamic Education (Muslim students), which are value-laden.
And other subject teachers are already integrating values into their lessons.
I suggest that the focus is shifted to 3H (head-moral cognition, heart-moral emotion and hands-moral action).
The 3H approach is on a par with Falsafah Pendidikan Kebangsaan (National Education Philosophy). The approach will differ between the primary and secondary schools.
In primary schools, pupils could be inculcated with 3H through songs, short video clips, and plays. Such activities could be showcased during the school assembly.
As for secondary school students, whose moral development is at a higher level, they can be given real-life moral dilemmas to be discussed in five- to 10-minute sessions during the school assembly.
In value-based discussions, there is no one ultimate solution, as moral decisions are made based on moral principles.
Based on my doctoral and post-doctoral research, I find that secondary students want their voices to be heard.
By Dr Vishalache Balakrishnan
Read more @ https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/letters/2018/11/432912/moral-education-inculcate-values-3h-approach
Self-taught students have the right attitude
(File pix) Self-guided students need a definite idea of what they have to learn and where to find the learning material.
SELF-DIRECTED education is not a new concept. Historical figures — including Plato, Aristotle, Alexander the Great, Rene Descartes and Julius Caesar — owe much of their knowledge to self-study and being an autodidact.
Again, it's educators in the higher education sector who play an important role in nurturing self-directed or independent learners.
For Malaysian educators, most will have to follow the instructions given by the Education Ministry and put up with monitoring by inspectorates and audi tors.
There is little that educators can do. Our education system uses the Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOC, as a parcel to self-directed learning (SDL).
In primary and secondary schools, vLE Frog (Virtual Learning Environment) helps in SDL, while Moodle platform is used for tertiary learning.
Many people learn on their own since institutions offering formal education are rare or hardly affordable to all.
Gibbons (2002) defined SDL as the enhancement of knowledge, skill or accomplishment that learners opt for and bring about with their own efforts in any way, in any circumstance, at any time.
Self-directed learners take the initiative to know their learning needs and seek out the resources and methods that satisfy these needs.
The modern concept of self-directed learning involves strategies that aid the learning process and assess or evaluate the outcome.
But for those who still think that learning can happen only in classrooms, the world of self-learning can be of little use.
The trend for self and social learning has some scholars and analysts wondering if we are approaching the end of formal learning techniques and conventional teaching methods.
There will always be a need to train people to acquire first-time skills or to upgrade their skill set.
Learning and development professionals will increasingly consider the option of leaving some learning needs to other non-formal approaches.
But if people are to start learning by themselves, we first need to be sure that people are competent to learn by themselves.
Self-guided students have to have a definite idea of what they have to learn and where to find the learning material.
I had been trying out the PdPc approach (pengajaran dan pemudahcaraan , or teaching and facilitation).
It may be equivalent to the student-centred approach but my students prefer the teacher-centred approach.
Some students feel lost when looking for unrelated learning materials.
Even providing guidelines built into each step of learning, landmark checklists and tests don't help.
This can be so demotivating that students may give up studying altogether.
Such students may need a teacher-centred approach.
Self-taught students who achieve the needed learning have to be skilled learners.
There are very few with such talent.
So who does self-directed online learning help?
It is participating students who reap the advantages and drawbacks.
But given the contributions of self-directed online learning to open education, it must be a "win" situation for learners.
By AZIZI AHMAD.
Read more @ https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/letters/2018/09/412433/self-taught-students-have-right-attitude
Moral compass for parents, guardians
Sunday, January 21st, 2018
It is a partnership between teachers, school and parents, and in any partnership, there will be responsibilities to be shared among the partners. NSTP file pic /Effendy Rashid
THE education of our children is not the sole responsibility of teachers or the school. It is a partnership between teachers, school and parents, and in any partnership, there will be responsibilities to be shared among the partners. Navigating through this may at times be tricky for teachers, parents and guardians. The suggestion by the National Union of Teaching Profession Malaysia to have a Code of Ethics for Parents and Guardians is a way through this maze. The motivation behind the proposal is perhaps the increasing number of attacks by parents on teachers. NUTP says such incidents have not reached an alarming level, but it wants to arrest the problem before they get out of hand. Indiscipline in schools has spiralled in the recent past. On Aug 17, this paper highlighted the case of 402 schools being saddled with disciplinary problems. While Selangor and Johor topped the list with 76 and 63 schools respectively, Kuala Lumpur shamed us with 22 schools, all with drug issues. The disciplinary issues were so serious that police had to call in parents of problematic students for a chat. Bullying, too, is on the rise in residential and non-residential schools. Death due to bullying is not unheard of. NUTP's proposed code may go some distance in solving this growing menace.
Parents must understand that the school is a learning environment and, as such, it would have rules to ensure that the institution is operated with this objective in mind. Parents must help, not hinder the school in meeting its objectives. The first duty of parents is to send to school a well-disciplined child, who is willing to learn. This is mostly, not entirely though, a result of the nurturing process at home. At times, a well-disciplined child may be shaped by the environment, either at school or outside, into a bully. For example, if a child from a caring home lands in one of the 22 schools in Kuala Lumpur with serious discipline issues, there is a likelihood that the child would fall prey to bad influence. Peer pressure will get to the child, and without early intervention, he will be a delinquent in no time.
Here is where the Code of Ethics for Parents and Guardians will come in handy. A good code will lay out the "dos" and "don'ts" for the parents to navigate their way through the education of their children. Parents who care for the development of their children will closely monitor their children's progress in school. Parents need to recognise that the school is a place of work as well.
By NST ONLINE.
Read more @ https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/leaders/2018/01/323563/moral-compass-parents-guardians
Transformation in Moral Education
File pix) Moral Education focuses on values learnt at home and school, and in society. Pix by Edmund Samunting
RECENTLY, there was a suggestion that a Values and Personality Development Initiative programme be introduced to students next year.
I look forward to such a programme, which will focus not only on the grading component of Moral Education and Islamic Studies, but also what is characterised by students who study both the subjects.
Moral Education started as a core subject in the education system in the early 1980s. After three decades, there has been a tremendous transformation in Moral Education, not only in Malaysia but also many parts of the globe. A subject that used to focus on the moral cognition, especially stages of moral development, has ventured more into holistic moral development, which includes moral thinking, moral emotions, moral actions, moral sensitivity and moral motivation.
In the 1960s, when Moral Education was gaining popularity worldwide, the principle behind moral philosophy was that one who thought morally would behave morally. But, as research intensified, it was realised that individuals who talked so much about morality and how one should behave, sometimes were not moralised themselves.
Then, came the era of character education in the 1970s. Authorities argue that to be moralised, one needs to have the head (moral thinking), the heart (moral emotions) and the behaviour (moral action).
Since Moral Education started in Malaysia in the 1980s, we have been following the character education model, focusing on the moral thinking, moral emotions and moral action components.
However, the assessment at the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) level until early 2000 focused on Moral Studies, which entailed the 16 main values and 64 sub-values in the syllabus.
It was a teething era for Moral Education and we have come a long way from focusing on values and value clarifications based on situations provided in the examination.
Now, the pedagogies and assessments for Moral Education are based on the three components as mentioned.
In 2002, Paper Two for Moral Education was introduced in SPM. Students were required to conduct moral projects. Moral Education teachers were required to assess students based on the projects and reports submitted by their students.
Read more @/ /www.nst.com.my/opinion/letters/2017/12/316383/transformation-moral-education
Moral values to be assessed
A Values and Personality Development Initiative programme will begin for all school students from early next year.
The programme will see students receiving a score for how well they display moral values within the classroom, and not just how they answer Islamic Studies and Moral Education exam questions.
Deputy Education director-general (Teaching Professionalism Development) Dr Zainal Aalam Hassan said that the ministry hopes moral values are not only learnt but practised by all students.
"Anyone can learn values but it is more difficult to make it a practice," he told reporters before the launch of the Education Ministry's new cinema advertisement on Monday
Most of the time, students are only taught about moral values during Islamic Studies and Moral Education classes, he added.
But these values have been implied and taught throughout the whole curriculum, said Sulaiman.
There would be town halls and workshops to gather feedback and train teachers on how to assess students' values, added Dr Zainal Aalam.
"Other stakeholders including parents and the local community will also be engaged."
"It is very difficult to measure moral values," he said.
He also said that all teachers would be asked to evaluate students as "students do not just meet one teacher in a day."
For example, Dr Zainal Aalam said students can be assessed on their ability to work together by the way they interact with each other when seated in groups.
"This would also mean those that are more academically-inclined can help the weaker students," he added.
Read more @ https://www.thestar.com.my/news/education/2017/12/17/moral-values-to-be-assessed/#JEsDX4S9LJ8Dlj7R.99
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Well, it happened. Much earlier than I had anticipated, way earlier than I'd hoped, and so much earlier than I'm ready to understand. It was bound to happen. I had read many articles about it. Most foreigner friends don't plan on staying in Korea for more than a couple of years, if that. I just didn't expect my closest friend in Busan (in my neighbourhood, no less) to be leaving for good in 5 days.
So this (^^^) was my first my reaction when my confidante, cheerleader, and co-captain told me she was THINKING of leaving. I can completely understand. I won't go into detail on Hagwon horror stories, but I do encourage you to look them up if you're thinking of teaching here. The Facebook groups are also a good way to see the dark side of working here. I've been REALLY lucky and am really happy, but that's not always the case. Vet your recruiter and the employer thoroughly before your arrival.
My sad food isn't even good. I went and got pasta (my go-to when I'm upset). Tortellini isn't a thing here (too much expensive beef or cheese, I suppose) so I settled for "Cream Chicken Pasta". I think the chicken may, in fact, have been creamed because the pieces were TINY. The sauce was pathetic. I tossed it in Pepper, Chili Flakes, and Frank's Red Hot to make it palatable.
I'd like to go ahead and place the blame on Mercury in Retrograde: "Mercury Retrograde or Mercury in Retrograde started Monday, May 18, according to astrologers, and doesn't end until June 11. Astrologers who believe that planetary positions affect our everyday lives see Mercury in Retrograde as one of the few times a year when the planet Mercury rotates at a slower-than-usual pace, giving it the illusion that it's moving backwards. This backward-seeming illusion has its parallel in our lives, they say, creating problems in communication, travel and even technology, hence its reputation as the planetary troublemaker.
I don't know if I'll feel this way when each friend finishes their contract and leaves, but if it doesn't get easier then this is going to be a brutal run.


ABM commissioned us to build a complete digital experience that would not only showcase their services but also drive engagement and conversions. ABM provides building maintenance and facility management for commercial properties and their services run the gamut from cleaning to energy management. Ultimately, we designed a website and accompanying mobile apps to be a complete virtual city. 9K9 built the frame work around Sitecore's Enterprise Content Management System this CRM uses .NET specifically C#. The front end virtual city was also built on a game engine 9K9 wrote utilizing Microsoft's Silverlight technology and interactively walks users through the ABM advantage specific to their needs.
Being an industry leader, ABM has trail blazed a large variety of offerings. Our challenge was to communicate all of ABM's services in a visual way and identify what content would be relevant to what audience, and do it elegantly.
We addressed this challenge by using proven game mechanics to allow users to go through initial discovery phase naturally. By clicking on a building, it reveals animated workers inside performing the full spectrum of ABM's services. Our team of character modelers, animation, and programmers used Maya generated sprites and Silverlight coding to bring over 50 animated workers to life.
Sitecore also enabled 9K9 to create an expansion plan for Metropolis as the site scales. Expansions to Metropolis already include additional buildings, parks and even a sports stadium.


text:
The rectilinear movement
Home › PHYSICS EXERCICES › Mechanics
Movement is one of the physical phenomena that we most directly perceive, but the form of that movement depends on the place from which it is observed. It is the so-called "reference system (SR)".
A reference system is a point and a system of axes, which we assume are fixed in the Universe, and which are taken to measure the distance where the object is located. While the path that describes an object which moves with respect to the reference system is the "path" that can be straight or curved.
The description of a movement requires knowing the place where it is (position) and the moment (instant). The instant is represented by the letter t, accompanied by some subscript if it is necessary, to indicate the place occupied by this data with respect to a set of measures. The fundamental unit in the International System is the second (s). The time elapsed between two instants is symbolized by the letters Δt, which is calculated:
Bioprofe | The rectilinear movement | 01
The position has to report the situation of a mobile respect to an observer who is located in the Reference System (SR).
The displacement is the distance that exists between the final and initial position of a movement. It is always represented with a straight line and has a length that is determined by the difference between the final and initial positions of the selected time interval, which is known as the displacement module. In this way, the displacement is a vectorial magnitude, which means that it has an address, a direction and a module, which can be represented by an arrow and mathematically by a vector.
Path: Dashed line
Displacement: Continuous line.
The displacement between two instants t0 and t, corresponds to a vector that extends from the position in t0 to the position in t, it is symbolized by ∆x.
The velocity of an object is often confused with the speed. The velocity is physically a vector and it has a module (speed), a direction and a sense. The velocity with which a mobile is moving is the quotient between the space it travels and the time spent traveling it, being its fundamental unit in the International System the meter per second (m/s).
We can differentiate two types of speed:
Average speed: It is the quotient between the displacement and the interval of time elapsed in performing that displacement.
Instantaneuous speed: Speed that the body has at a specific time, at a certain point in its trajectory. It is obtained by making the limit of the average speed when the interval of the time considered tends to 0 or as the derivative of the vector of the position with respect to time.
Speed is the absolute value of velocista due to it can never be negative.
In a period of time Δt the mobile A has moved faster, and therefore with more speed, than the mobile B so it has traveled more space in the same period of time.
The value of the velocity of a mobile is modified by the action of acceleration, which depends on the interactions that other bodies exert on it. Its fundamental unit in the International System is the meter per second squared (m/s2).
Acceleration is also a vector and according to which aspect of the speed is modifies it receives a different name.
Tangential acceleration: it modifies the speed of the movement.
Normal acceleration: it modifies the direction of the movement.
There are two types of Rectilinear Movements:
Uniform Rectilinear Movement, MRU.
If an object that is in motion has no acceleration, it describes a straight path (there is no normal acceleration that changes the direction of the velocitz) and the speed is constant (there is no tangential acceleration that modifies the velocity module), tenths its movement is uniform rectilinear. In this case the space traveled is equal to the displacement and its expression is:
Uniform Accelerated Rectilinear Movement, MRUA.
When a mobile describes a straight path but the speed is not constant, it is a rectilinear movement uniformly accelerated, due to the acceleration it has.
The obtained graphs for being able to differentiate both movements are:
Uniform Rectilinear Movement MRU
Uniform Accelerated Rectilinear Movement MRUA
Position-instant
Velocity-instant
Acceleration-instant
Freefall Movement.
It is the uniform accelerated rectilinear movement (MRUA) in which the acceleration coincides with the value of gravity. On the surface of the Earth, the acceleration of gravity can be considered constant, directed downwards, it is designated by the letter "g" and its value is 9,8m/s2 (sometimes it approaches to 10m/s2).
In this case the equations are:
To study Freefall movement we will normally use a reference system whose origin of coordinates is at the foot of the vertical of the point from which we release the body and we will consider the positive direction of the axis and pointing upwards.
Rotation theory
The circular movement