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Joan Osborne: How Sweet She Is
Lyle Lovett has this song "The Girl in the Corner." If it weren't about Julia Roberts, it could easily be about Joan Osborne on this bright Brooklyn morning. That's where she was sitting — in the corner of a neighborhood café reading the New York Times. Wearing a Mary J. Blige t-shirt and matching red sneaks, she could easily pass for any other hip, 30-something New Yorker. But this is Joan Osborne, the Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter, the fiercely committed women's rights activist, the star who — due mostly to her religiously controversial 1996 hit, "One of Us" — has been hailed publicly as "Saint Joan" by some and an "instrument of Satan" by the radical right. With a casual air and an easy smile, there's nothing about Osborne that conjures up images of ultra-celebrity or the devil. Rather, she's celebrating the release of her new record, How Sweet It Is, without too much fanfare — by talking with Velvetpark, working out, rehearsing for five hours with her band, and going on a date. So, after we toast to her new album, we chat it up for a while and cover a lot of ground.
Upon introductions, I find that we're practically neighbors when she ventures upstate to her place in the Catskills. It's a place that she says saved her, a refuge and hideout she visits when the city and the business get a little overwhelming, which happened after the ride she took with her debut album, Relish. "I think I had this vision of what it would be like to be a recording artist and to really be able to not have a day job and be able to completely devote all my energies to doing music. And my vision of it was more like I'd be able to take piano lessons and study all these different kinds of music that I really want to study — to spend all this time really focusing on the creative side of it. And you end up spending a lot of time promoting yourself and sort of servicing your own fame. I really felt like that after a while with the release of Relish." With a chuckle, she adds, "I'm almost ambivalent about the notion of having a hit song, at this point, because I feel like it would be great because then more people will get the record — and it's a record that I'm really proud of — but I also don't want to find myself in the situation again where I'm scheduled every minute of every day to do something that is about selling myself, which I don't consider to be really being an artist. That's this other obligation that you have to take care of."
You would never know that she doesn't enjoy it all that much. But the Relish turn left her weary and wise, grateful and respectful. Osborne learned about fame the old-fashioned way: She earned it. Having grown up in Anchorage, Kentucky, Osborne made her way to New York City to attend film school. Financial difficulties forced her to take a break from studies and a dare got her to sing at an open mic night in a blues club. From there, it was only a hop, skip, and jump (and several years of major effort) to her seemingly overnight success.
Osborne dissects her time in the limelight thusly: "I think I didn't necessarily have a lot of respect for someone like a J. Lo or wouldn't have before, because the music's not really for me and you can tell it's this packaged creation or whatever. But then you realize these people are working their asses off all day, every day. And you have to give them credit and some respect for that. It's really hard work. I found that I'm not necessarily comfortable with some of the human ramifications of some of it. It limited the kinds of things I was able to do and be comfortable. Like I couldn't just walk around by myself in New York without people following me or yelling out my name. It became very uncomfortable. Everywhere I went people would recognize me. I know other people who are more famous than me who don't have this problem. I guess my face is somewhat more recognizable or something."
That lack of privacy was a big compromise for Osborne and one that she did not make willingly or easily. Sure, her voice was pumping out of every speaker in town. And maybe her face was plastered on every newsstand. But that's no reason to interrupt her basic human needs. "People just knew who I was, and then I would go into the store to buy tampons or something and suddenly some guy is like 'Excuse me, excuse me. I don't mean to bother you, but…' So I got to the point where I wouldn't go anywhere by myself. For me, that was very restrictive. And I could understand how people who are at the really high levels of fame need this entourage. It's like a buffer zone. Otherwise, you can't relax."
Aside from the inconveniences of stardom, I asked, how does it feel to be that voice, face, person that everyone wants a piece of? It has to pump your head up at least a little. Joan admits to having had a small case of ego-itis. "I certainly am not the most egotistical person I've ever met, but [fame] definitely turns your head. I do think I became invested in this notion of myself as this important person and artist. And there're some days when you're just not. You're doing whatever. You're watching TV and hanging out. Or you're boring. Or you're stupid. You don't live this glossy life, even if you've had a wonderful success. Maybe some other people do. I was never able to work that out."
"I think I had this idea that once you were famous you'd get invited to this party. You'd walk in the room and there'd be all the other famous people and you would hangout with them. I couldn't ever find that room," she laughs.
If the room was at the 1996 Grammy Awards, she certainly got invited. Five times over (though she left empty-handed).
Or maybe the room was that 1996 VH-1 benefit for Witness, an organization that puts technology in the hands of activists and citizens so that they may record human rights violations firsthand. There was Osborne, sharing the stage with Peter Gabriel, Michael Stipe, Natalie Merchant, Gloria Estefan, and world renowned qawwali master Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. The irony of the list of performers did not go unnoticed by Osborne, who is a huge Khan admirer: "To have this embodiment of music as spirituality plopped down in the midst of the L.A. Shrine Auditorium… all these different bands, VH-1, all the glamour and the glitz, I think was really wonderful. To have this person dropped in the middle of it who comes from a completely different notion of what music is and what it can do — it's a spiritual thing. It can transport people."
Her reverence and love for Khan is apparent, much like it was when she performed with him that night, transporting more than a few people, including herself. It was a dream come true. She had the rare opportunity to study traditional Sufi Qawwali singing with Khan before his passing, though for only three or four lessons. "He would just sit with his harmonium, cross-legged on the floor in whatever hotel room he happened to be in. And I would sit across from him. And he would play a little something on the harmonium or sing a little something to me and have me sing it back to him. It was just this chanting back and forth — all by ear. Qawwali is not a written tradition. It would be anywhere from 45 minutes to two hours of just singing. At the end, I would be just floating, in this completely hypnotic state," she recalls wistfully.
Khan was ready and willing to take Osborne on as a full-fledged student, but his health declined and he never made it back to the West. "He was magnificent," she says. "I feel lucky that I was able to study with him as much as I did. There's still a lot to learn, just for me, from listening to his recordings. He's left this incredible legacy behind. And there's so much stuff in Pakistan and India that you can go and buy in the record stands. Stuff from 10 years before, when he was in even better voice. He was amazing. He was like this lion."
After riding her celebrity high for a while, Osborne settled back into reality. While she was decompressing from 18 months of Relish touring, Mercury Records put out The Early Recordings, a live record originally released on Osborne's Womanly Hips label back when she was singing in New York bars in the early '90s. That gave her a nice breather.
Soon enough, she recorded and submitted a new album, Curds & Whey. Mercury shelved the tapes and dropped the artist. That gave her a rude awakening.
Ever determined, Osborne self-financed her next collection, Righteous Love, and got Interscope Records to distribute it in 2000. Produced by Mitchell Froom, it was an eclectic mix of acoustic blues and electric rock with a hint of world beat for added flavor. The five years between records no doubt played head trips on Osborne, leaving her genuinely touched and surprised that the House of Blues was packed on the night Righteous Love was released. "It's difficult to come off a wait like that," she confesses. "For most people, that would have been like 'Career over, thank you very much. Next.' Which may happen to me still. So yeah, that was one of the things that long wait did for me, one of the positive things. So far, I haven't had to get a real job again, so I'm thankful about that. I've had all kinds of real jobs and I'm not anxious to go back to that," she freely admits.
Righteous Love did only fairly well, compared to her debut. No matter that, Osborne set her sights ahead of her, rather than behind, and planned her next venture — an album of soul covers which would eventually evolve into How Sweet It Is.
But something happened on the way to the studio: the immense leveling day of September 11.
Those events affected Osborne just as they did the rest of the world. To offer what she could, she volunteered with the Red Cross and at a Tribeca center for those who were displaced. "I just got this real sense of the fact that myself, or any individual, is just not in control of what happens. And you can certainly try to control things. And you can certainly try to make your life be exactly what you want it to be. But there's always going to be something that comes along and wrecks your plans. That's just the way life is and that's not necessarily a bad thing. On the other hand, when you come to the notion of power, each of us does have power. Whether it's just to impact people in our immediate circle — even if it's just that — then there's definitely amazing power that we have. The more I'm around in the world, the more I realize you can have pairs of opposites with both things true at the same time."
So where did that leave Osborne as an artist? Despite performing at a slew of benefits, she felt she could still contribute something more. She thought, perhaps, in the grand scheme of life, music isn't all that. But, then again, maybe it is. "To be someone who makes music that does affect other people in a positive way is just a privilege," she offers. "I think I renewed my sense of that. And I renewed my determination to do it in a way that would be a positive thing for whomever. The thing I can't control is what happens to the music once I make it. But to just try to invest it with as much of myself, and as much of that life as I can, I'm newly determined to do that.
"When I turned my attention back to making the record, I wanted to do something that touched on these themes of peace and talked about what I heard people talking about in the street or at parties."
The casual listener might not understand that true soul music, at least the kind Osborne wanted to do, "…had this great flowering. Where it was not only this incredible, joyful music with positive lyrics about brotherhood, but there was a political content that you would never hear on the radio right now." I suggest that folks like Michael Franti and Amy Ray are making that kind of music — it just doesn't get on the radio. She agrees and expounds further. "I just don't know whether people look to music today for that kind of message, that kind of reinforcement of what they're thinking about, for a touchstone. I'm not sure people turn on the radio and are looking for that. Maybe they are.
"It's a very different time. The reality is that you can't turn on the radio and hear this stuff, for the most part. There will be change. We've gotten to this place in music where the 'delivery' system is really inefficient. It's narrowed the kind of thing that you're able to hear to a trickle."
Having been around a few blocks, that corporate hindrance doesn't faze Osborne one bit. "It's all cyclical. This is just one moment on the wheel. And the wheel keeps turning. Something's got to give. Music is too powerful to be contained by this structure. And people have a need for it, for something that's much more authentic than that. When the corporate stuff becomes so pasteurized and so unlistenable what are you going to do?
"I do feel there's definitely, right in this moment, a dearth of that consciousness around music. I wanted to do a record that would have this political edge to it. So I thought, whether it gets on the radio or not, I don't care. I want to do something that has some relevance to what people are thinking about right now. In the post-9/11 world, I just felt like I couldn't ignore all of that."
So there she was, ready to make a record full of great soul tunes. Okay, what next? How in the world do you pick 12 songs out of infinite possibilities? The political edge was the key. "I think if I had set out to just make a soul record, if that were the only focus I had, it would have been impossible. But I really did want to focus on things that had some relevance to the political and social climates that we're in right now, like the fact that the war machine is grinding up again. I wanted to sing about those things. I wanted to have songs that expressed this real, renewed appreciation [people have] of each other… this community spirit or whatever you want to call it, that people have within themselves and they're looking for a way to [express]," Osborne offers thoughtfully, turning her hazel-green gaze downward.
Glancing back up, she adds, "I haven't made this thing that's a polemical document where you have to sit down with a thesaurus to research and understand it. You could put this record on and listen to it start to finish with no political thought in your head and still enjoy it as the music." When I compliment her on striking a great balance, she replies, "Thank you. I worked hard for that balance. We don't live in a vacuum. We live in a particular time where particular things are happening. I wanted to try to address it in whatever small way I could."
Small to Osborne is pretty great for the rest of us. She sings the hell out of these tunes. I tell her that her version of "How Sweet It Is" kicks James Taylor's butt, and she cracks up. "I really wanted to make that into an erotic thing, where it's almost scary how much you care about someone." As for the other cuts: "I was scared to take on some of these songs. You're never going to out-do the original. So I really tried to approach these like, 'Okay, the definitive version of these songs already exists.' I'm trying to find where the song and my voice intersect to really bring something new to life."
And she certainly succeeded. Osborne's voice sits so comfortably in these songs that you might, just for a second, think they were written for her. They are of her. Or, perhaps, she is of them. She tackles works by Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, and Stevie Wonder. These are her idols. These are everyone's idols. And, as with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, her reverence and humility in the company of greatness is ever apparent. This was clearly evident when she performed "Love's in Need of Love Today" at Wonder's induction into the Songwriter Hall of Fame — a big moment which she handled with graceful aplomb. And thanks to an absent Billy Joel, Osborne had the honor of presenting Wonder with his award.
At the end of the morning, we make plans to talk again, as I have a handful of questions left to pose and, naturally, I also want to get a little trashy. Osborne grins big and asks if we want to know how many girls she's kissed. Of course — enquiring dykes always want to know. "I thought that would've been your first question," she teases. I explain that I had to warm her up a bit, build her trust, as I would never go that far on a first date. (I mean interview.)
We reconvene a few days later at the photo shoot and I pop the question. "Oh boy! Now's my big chance!" Joan exclaims, somewhat feigning enthusiasm. "Well… a few, yeah. I definitely have had far more encounters with men, but I've had a few erotic encounters with women. I always kind of thought of myself as straight, but then there were exceptions to that of women who I thought were particularly sexy and attractive and they felt the same about me. So I thought 'Why not?' I will say that the women I've been attracted to have been on the more voluptuous side of the curve."
Since we're on the subject of sexy, to see Osborne perform live is an experience not to be missed. She owns the stage like nobody's business. She struts her stuff and wiggles her womanly hips to every beat and groove, all the while pouring every ounce of her energy and considerable vocal prowess into what becomes a spiritual and sensual experience for all present. I will personally admit to needing cold showers after several of her shows.
It's no wonder, then, that her performances with the Funk Brothers in the documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown are turning a lot of heads. Word on the street from early screenings is that Osborne steals the show and wins a lot of new fans. "I don't know that it's really a matter of stealing the show," she counters. "My big impression of it is that these players are finally getting the attention they deserve after so many years. They're the architects of this quintessential American music, all those Motown hits. They're such a part of our cultural DNA, at this point. Yet, unless you're a musician, you don't know who they are. For me, that was the real satisfaction of being a part of that. To get to sing with them, number one. And to get to be a part of something that really gives them their due was really cool."
On her days off from the music business, you might think Osborne would kick back, take it easy a little. Rather, she's widely known as a great supporter of women's rights, Planned Parenthood, environmental issues, and LGBT rights — she's even volunteered as an escort for women at abortion clinics. To further put her money (and more) where her mouth is, Osborne established HeroineMagazine.com, an online outlet and community that focuses on inspiring women and the relevant issues about which she feels passionate.
Despite her amazing achievements, these days, the Joan Osborne Fame Quotient has declined by a few points and she can roam her neighborhood almost freely. "Sometimes people will recognize me and they'll come up and say, 'Did anybody ever tell you that you look like Joan Osborne?' And I'm like, 'Yeah, I get that all the time. Isn't that funny?' I walked here today and nobody said boo to me." It's a bit of a pleasant irony for a girl who just wants the luxury of hanging out with her friends and being normal. Just being Joan. And what a beautiful thing that is.
This article originally appeared in Velvetpark magazine, 2002.


The "Who's Who" series of directories, serving multiple sectors in Jordan since the year 1998.
Jordan Advertising Awards, Jordan App & Web Awards ceremonies and digital marketing conferences since the year 2000.
Relevant Network is a performance marketing company, specializing in affiliate marketing services. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of MediaScope Holdings Inc.
Representation of Cannes Lions Festivals in Jordan, including Cannes Lions (International) and Dubai Lynx (MENA region).
Announcements of new editions of publications, new events, digital marketing developments and more.
Publisher of sector-specific directories since 1998.
Organizer of industry awards ceremonies since 2000.
Organizer of media conferences since 2004.
Digital marketing services since 2010.
Media & Marketing Consulting/Training Services.


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A couple years ago the New York Post did an article titled, "Millennials Don't Deserve NYC". The article describes current trends among young people ages 18-34. While in bygone ages, young people clamored to go out on a Friday or Saturday night, the young people of today opt to stay home, be comfortable, and save money. As a generation, they do not enjoy the club scene, they drink less and more moderately than previous generations, they do not frequent the movie theater in hordes as in past decades.
This is due in part to the high levels of stress, financial constraints, and exhaustion. It also has a lot to do with how accessible "life" is remotely. They can order in food, stream movies, talk to friends, even "date" all from the comfort of their couch. While things like binge drinking is at an all-time low, cases of depression are on the rise.
Millennials are the world's largest age group, it is significant that during their youth, malls have turned into residential units, theaters are shutting down, and brick and mortar establishments have to move online to survive. Millennials have affected their world in amazing ways when it comes to social justice, community activism, and fighting for the disenfranchised. While they have done incredible things, human interaction is waning.
The trends of the world are changing. People can go weeks without having to interact face to face. Just about everything we need can be ordered. While this protects us from potential hurt that others can inflict on us, it also keeps us from experiencing the fullness of humanity.
However, I suspect that in several decades from now people will realize the profound necessity for face-to-face interactions and reestablish "watering holes". But, the character of these places must change if they are to make an impact. The current generation has taught us that going out for the sake of going out is a thing of the past. Being around a big group of people just so you don't feel alone is futile; you still end up feeling alone anyway. Doing something just because it has always been done is not something that is widely done anymore. For the current generation to be engaged, it has to be real, authentic, worth their time, and honest.
What if instead of waiting for decades, the Church becomes that gathering place now? I don't mean the building, I mean the people. What if the people of God live in authentic, transparent, life-giving community now? So that when those who find that social media has isolated them are looking for meaningful relationships, they have a place to go, rather, a people to be a part of. So that when those who find themselves lonely and need love they have a people to be their home? So that when those who find themselves hurt and need comfort they have a soft place to land? What if the people of God became the gathering place that we so desperately need?


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The ERC worked with the international DDPP team over the period December 2013 to August 2014 to provide the initial Deep decarbonisation pathways South African Country Chapter for the DDPP Interim 2014 report. As well as the research and provision of the quantitative pathways and drafting of the Country Chapter, this included contributions to the project concept and the report text. A central aspect was introducing a developmental narrative and quantitative developmental indicators to the pathways.
The SA Country Report was one of 15 country reports, representing 70% of global emissions, and was submitted to the United Nations Secretary-General in preparation for the UN Climate Summit 2014. There it formed the basis of working to commitment to achieving 2°C consistent pathways.
The SA country report can be found here.
Phase 2 of the Deep decarbonisation pathways project is a collaboration between ERC and the international DDPP founded and coordinated by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network and the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations.
ERC is continuing work with the international DDPP team over the period September 2014 to December 2015 to provide a set of final deep decarbonisation pathways for South Africa for the DDPP Final 2015 report. In addition, during 2015, ERC will produce a country report for South Africa, contribute to the design and concept of the project and participate in drafting the final joint report. In this second phase of work, ERC's efforts will be focused on strengthening the 'development-first' narrative by formulating development-climate scenarios.
The work involves significant further development of ERCs versions of the South African eSAGE CGE model and the SATIM model and using them in a soft-linked mode. The CGE model is being extended and adjusted to provide economic trajectories to 2050 that explore to what extent South Africa can meet development imperatives. The SATIM model is being extended to provide more disaggregated and accurate modeling for exploring deep-decarbonisation.
In addition to the provision of the Pathway Results to the multi-team project and the Country Report and work on the joint report the following presentations / publications are envisaged, although depend on selection by various bodies.
Presentations to the Our Common Futures Science Conference. Three abstracts have been submitted.
Two papers for the special issue of Climate Policy.
The Phase 2 work on DDPP largely covers the techno-economics of deep decarbonisation and meeting development imperatives, and will in addition take into account some of the political and institutional constraints that pose a challenge to the realisation of deep decarbonization in South Africa. This Phase 2 DDPP work will include a detailed South African country report of some 60-80 pages which will be a key reference for the political economy report.
The Political Economy Study will use the DDPP detailed South African Country Report as a basis and focus on embedding the quantitative modeling results, that are key results from the DDPP Phase 2, into a political and institutional context. Another key result from the DDPP Phase 2 will be a qualitative and quantitative description of development imperatives to be met whilst also considering a low carbon economy. These will also be a key aspect informing the political economy analysis.
The methodology is based on primary data gathered in semi-structured interviews for this study, supplemented by reference to previous interviews and content analysis of key documents. This research will undertake between 15-30 semi-structured interviews, and may draw on interview material from previous research projects where these are in alignment with the objectives of the ToR.
In-depth textual analyses of relevant national policies, government documents and press articles (e.g. in Engineering News, ESI Africa) will also be carried out with regards to understanding and recording key and on-going developments and debates in the energy sector.
As well as the report, a peer-reviewed journal article is planned, together with presentation of research findings in national fora (e.g. academic conferences, policy seminars), and international conferences, funding permitting.
Climate change mitigation and poverty reduction – Trade-offs or win-win situations?
The project tackles the essential question of how to reduce emissions and poverty at the same time. We analyse the relationship between climate change mitigation and poverty reduction in three developing countries – South Africa, Thailand and Mexico – from a multi-disciplinary perspective. We structured our research in three areas.
The first area is the analysis of the political economies in all three countries to identify the causes of poverty and key emitting sectors and the institutional framework and policies that aim to reduce both poverty and emissions. The analysis of the political economies has the purpose to identify the key actors, blockages and drivers for implementation of mitigation policies. Further, we analyse key mitigation actions, such as carbon taxes as well as renewable energy and climate laws in a discourse network analysed.
The second area analyses the impacts carbon taxes and fossil fuel subsidies on income distribution. The purpose here is to analyze the socio-economic impacts of the feasible mitigation options identified in the first area using applied macro and micro modeling techniques.
The third area deals with the question whether and how poverty eradication is and can be dealt with within the existing global climate regime, drawing on the findings of the first two research areas. In light of scientific uncertainty and overriding arguments of justice and ethics, the role and effects that arguments, discourse and rhetoric – albeit in a context of considerable power differentials – have among the members of this regime is of particular interest here.
MAPS combines facilitated stakeholder processes with research. The programme will support South-South collaboration between developing countries in their plans to implement more ambitious mitigation actions. ERC will focus on supporting researchers in MAPS countries, in analysing actions and how that can contribute to achieving targets and overall reductions in the growth of emissions. MAPS builds on the experience of South Africa's long-term mitigation scenarios. MAPS activities in each country will crucially include a participative process with stakeholders from all sectors. In this sense, MAPS is not only another research study – but the information will be produced in partnership with the best indigenous and international research. It will strongly build on existing in-country research capacity, feeding information into a national process run by the country.
MAPS will start its implementation phase in earnest in 2011, with a focus on Latin American countries – and extension to African and Asian countries will be considered during this year. The MAPS team includes organisations in each country, and is supported by the same two organisations that managed the technical work in LTMS – ERC and SouthSouthNorth. In addition, a knowledge platform will be created, and support will be provided for researchers and facilitators from all MAPS countries. MAPS aims to share lessons and build a best practice research base. There will be research-based outputs from MAPS, but beyond research MAPS hopes to help to unlock the opportunities of a low-carbon future in the context of development.
MAPS is a collaboration amongst developing countries. It seeks to establiash the evidence base for long-term transition to robust economies that are both carbon efficient and climate resillient. In this way MAPS contributes to ambitious climate change mitigation that aligns economic development with poverty alleviation.
Through its collaboration, MAPS offers an opportunity to establish synergies and share lessons with participating developing countries as well as the wider climate change and development community and academics, using the in-country processes as living laboratories.
Central to MAPS is the facilitated interaction between key stakeholders and in-country research teams under the guidance of a multi-ministerial government team. This interaction takes place primarily in scenario building team meetings. Here inputs to models and results are discussed and agreed upon. The rigour of information generated by this research method, that includes the involvement of stakeholders, produces results that are credible, legitimate and relevant. These results provide a sound basis with which to answer key policy questions and inform policy developments, such as the elaboration of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions. For more information on the MAPS approach, please see here on the MAPS website visit: http://www.mapsprogramme.org/publications/videos/maps-101-maps-approach/. MAPS is currently active in Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru. Preparatory in-country work has started in a number of African countries and India.
To support country teams to ensure legitimacy and relevance through mandates and authorizing environments and full endorsement and application of resulsts respectively.
The MAPS Research agenda include the following topics: integration of development and climate objectives, multi-objective modeling, linking economic and energy models, policy analysis, research on implementation and theories of change, equity and cobenefits assessment.
The Energy Research Centre was approached by the Department of Science and Technology to undertake a research project in support of their Energy Research, Development and Innovation Strategy.
The objective of the project has been to assess what lessons can be learned from international experiences in energy innovation and the commercialization of energy technologies. Combined with two assessments of the current status of energy research in South Africa, this could then help inform national R&D and innovation policy for the energy sector by the Department of Science and Technology.
For each of the country case studies, the historical development of specific energy technology innovations and their commercialization was analysed, with a focus on the role of government policies and policies on R&D and innovation in particular. The aim has been to derive generic lessons regarding the 'choice' for certain technologies and the nature of supportive policies that have led to successful commercialization.
2. A review of the state of energy research in South Africa: this component has been based upon The State of Energy Research in South Africa that was published by the Academy of Sciences of South Africa (ASSAf) in August 2014, under supervision of Prof. Van Niekerk of North-West University. It provides a thorough analysis of energy research activities, collaboration and funding in various fields based upon desktop research and questionnaire among the energy research community of South Africa.
3. An assessment of scientific energy research in South Africa: undertaken by Prof. Pouris of the University of Pretoria. This component analyses the scientific output of South Africa's energy research community and places it in international perspective.
The conclusions of the project, based on the three components, established several policy lessons and implications for South Africa's energy research, development and innovation strategy.
The project has resulted in several papers. In addition, several workshops have been held with the Department and other collaborators of the project. The intention is to rework one or more papers derived from the project into academic journal articles.
The aim of this consultancy is to prepare a national report on measures to mitigate climate change (mitigation options) from the key greenhouse gas emissions sectors (energy, agriculture, industrial processes, LULUCF and waste) in the country and compile information related to existing mitigation actions, including coverage and objectives, the extent of reduction achieved or projected to achieve.
Results achieved such as estimated outcomes and estimated emission reduction.
Constraints, gaps and related financial, technical and capacity building needs related to mitigation in the specific sector.
Two workshops, an inception workshop and stakeholder validation workshop are included.
The project includes a capacity building visit by two officials of MTEA to ERC for a week.
Outputs consist of a national mitigation options analysis report and a summary chapter to the TNC.
Achieving both development and climate objectives is a key challenge facing developing countries. Policy-makers however lack reliable information on the socio-economic implications of mitigation actions, as the modelling required to provide this information is unavailable.
On this project, five research institutions in developing countries made an undertaking to develop sophisticated models needed to answer policy relevant questions on the implications of mitigation action within their respective countries. The Energy Research Centre collaborated with the Energy Planning Programme at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (COPPE), Brazil; the Energy Strategic Research Centre, Universidad de los Andes, Bogota (UniAndes) Colombia; Energy Centre, University of Chile (Chile); and the Instituto de Investigación de la Amazonía Peruana (IIAP), Peru. These institutions are also part of the broader Mitigation Action Plans and Scenarios (MAPS) project.
Through this South-South collaboration, cutting edge methodologies were developed to link sectoral and economy-wide models, in order to provide provide a robust information base for policy-making and address issues crucial to the development of climate compatible policy. There was a dedicated research effort to build appropriate modeling tools for each country, with each country team drawing on its existing modeling strengths, contributing to shared learning and learning from others. Each partner focused on issues of particular significance in their country to ensure that results would have higher impact at national level. All considered carbon taxes and their socio-economic implications, using their respective tools.
Vasquez Baos, T G, Salazar, A A V & Del Castillo, D 2014. Agroforestry systems as CER providers: An analysis for the Peruvian amazon region.
Wills, W, Grottera, C, Weiss, M, Martins, V, dos Santos, L, Moura, G and Moreira, M. 2014. Brazilian Mitigation Scenarios Beyond 2020: Modelling and Methodologies.
Benavides, C, Gonzales, L, Díaz, M, Palma, R, García, G, Ravizza, C, Fuentes, R. 2014. Economy-Wide Implications of a Carbon Tax in the Chilean Electricity Generation Sector.
Merven, B, Moyo, A, Stone, A, Dane, A and Winkler, H. Socio-economic implications of mitigation in the power sector including carbon taxes in South Africa.
The focus of this project is a scoping study for a possible African-focused Mitigation Action Plans and Scenarios (MAPS) programme built from the ERC's experience with running MAPS in Latin America (namely Peru, Brazil, Colombia and Chile). This project will evaluate the feasibility of a full MAPS Africa engagement over a three-year programme with more resources allocated. An initial six-week inception phase focused on six potential African countries to engage with, namely, Zambia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Ghana, Kenya and Botswana. It was decided to focus on the first four of those countries for the 12-month feasibility study. These four strike a balance in terms of the various considerations e.g. geography, current level of international climate change activity, and population trajectories.
Country-level relationships and partners present a preferred approach for proximate support based on the research and discussions over the inception phase. The MAPS Africa team will appoint country partners, whose main role will be to assist in the feasibility study, particularly by helping to identify potential relevant climate change stakeholders and facilitate engagements with the MAPS Africa team. The feasibility study will produce a business plan. The MAPS Africa programme over the 2014–2017 period will ultimately depend on the funding available. In the process of conducting the feasibility study, this project will build local capacity through the MAPS Facilitation Course and Research Lab/bursary programmes. In-country researchers taking part in this project will do detailed work in the next phase for the three-year programme MAPS Africa programme after February 2014.
In this project, we analyse interventions for climate change mitigation and their contribution to the South African sustainable development goals. The research supports South Africa's sustainable development planning efforts. The analyses create evidence on developmental impacts of several mitigation actions to support decision-making processes and implementation. Our case studies investigate electro-mobility, wind energy and solar-water heating. This research has been inspired by Mohan Munasinghe's Action Impact Matrix (AIM) for sustainable development planning and our collaboration with his institute has been funded by UNITAR.
Wlokas, HL and Ellis, C: How does the low-pressure solar water heater roll-out create employment in local communities?
Dane, A: The potential of electric vehicles to contribute towards South Africa's GHG emissions targets and other developmental objectives.
Wlokas, HL & Ellis, C. 2013. Local employment through the low-pressure solar water heater roll-out in South Africa.
Putting a price on carbon is currently one of the most important topics on the South African climate policy agenda. The National Climate Change Response White paper indicates that it will be necessary to price carbon emissions. The national treasury suggests tax instrument for this purpose. Yet, there are a number of implicit pricing instruments on carbon in place already. In their study on effective carbon prices, ERC researchers analyze the current instruments for carbon pricing in the energy and transport sector and their impacts on the pulp and paper and cement industries as well as households. The Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation OECD does comparative work on carbon prices and has commissioned similar studies in other countries.
This research considers the method by which carbon budgets (CB) can be defined for major sectors and sub-sectors in South Africa. Climate policy has mandated the definition of sectoral carbon budgets and the National Development Plan endorses the CB approach. The 2011 White Paper affirms that SA's greenhouse emissions must 'peak, plateau and decline' (PPD), thereby formalising in policy the strategic direction Cabinet had set in response to the Long-Term Mitigation Scenarios (LTMS). The same PPD pathway was part of the Copenhagen pledge, that emissions would deviate 34% below business-as-usual by 2020 and 42% by 2025, as communicated formally to the UNFCCC in 2010. The area under a curve is effectively our national carbon budget. Allocating it to secxtors and firms should be based on science and equity.
Our research will examine methodologies to divide the national CB among sectors – and major emitting facilities. We critically examine methodologies for robust accounting of GHG emission reductions, reviewing a range of methodologies – both those used internaitonally and in previous research in South Africa. As the LTMS demonstrated, both research and process are crucial. So this brief think-piece will also consider elements of the allocation process that will be needed, and how different constraints to a national negotiating process on a CB might be addressed.
The goal of this project was to conduct research to inform a national system systems to make mitigation actions measurable, reportable and verifiable (MRV), The ERC research team collaborated with the Department of Environmental Affairs, the National Business Initiative and other key actors to advance the design and implementation of national MRV system.
The ERC focused on international approaches to MRV and hosted an international meeting with developing country MAPT colleagues who were also grappling with domestic MRV. Discussions of the institutional arrangements, data and governance structures for MRV in South Africa and nine other developing countries revealed that many countries have similar concerns about implementing MRV systems, in terms of coherence of structures for reporting and data collections.
The research agenda concluded in 2014 with a particular focus on MRV in practice by interrogating one of South Africa's most prominent mitigation efforts – the Renewable Energy procurement programme. This final piece on the South African renewable programme shares some of the realities of the 'how' with respect to MRV.
For general information on the project, visit the WRI website. For further research publications by MAPT participants, visit the MAPT country partner website.
Large, emerging developing countries have been the focus of growing attention in relation to their contribution to the global mitigation effort and their role in the emerging architecture of the international climate regime complex. This has become even more pronounced since the introduction of the concept of 'Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions' at COP13 in Bali in 2007. This project aims to address these concerns by focusing on the element of the 'appropriateness' of mitigation action to the developing countries.
Since the debate on mitigation in context of developing countries is by and large concentrated on India, China, Brazil and South Africa, this project included work from all four of the BASIC group. The primary objective of the study was to assess and enhance the preparedness of regulatory, policy and institutional arrangements in selected countries. Our TERI (India) partners compiled a list of appropriateness criteria during a process of iterative consultation. Using these criteria in the South African case study our role was to assess the robustness and applicability of these criteria in the South African context.
Presentation of work (via Skype) at the project workshop entitled "Developing Country Participation in Addressing Climate Change: Analyzing Issues and Options for Implementing NAMAs Thursday. Held in New Delhi, 24 July 2014.
The progamme focuses on the implementation of a project on capacity development for adaptation to climate change and GHG mitigation in Non-Annex I Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Under the UNITAR programme, the ERC is part of the C3D+ network, along with partner organisations, and this work is jointly implemented by UNITAR and the ERC in collaboration with the Munasinghe Institute for Sustainable Development (MIND), as well as other partners and supported by a grant from the European Commission.
Capacity building activities include an internship programme hosted at the ERC, delivery of climate-related short courses, and a bursary programme for trainees registered for the ERC's energy and climate change masters programme.
Support for developing countries National Communications by developing a mitigation analysis toolkit for developing countries, which will consist of a simple set of accessible tools for mitigation analysis, training in the region in the use of the toolkit, and an online resource for tool users. The ERC will evaluate currently-existing tools, and if and where appropriate, will partner with other organisations/institutions in this regard.
A 3-year research project on the impacts of climate change mitigation on the South African economy.
ERC is in the process of developing a mitigation analysis toolkit over a three year period for developing countries which consists of a simple set of accessible tools for mitigation analysis, training in the region in the use of the toolkit, and an online resource for tool users. The toolkit forms an entry point basis for National Communications and develops energy policy and planning capacity which deepens the understanding of GHG reduction commitments and helps to integrate these better into national development frameworks of developing countries. The main focus of the analysis techniques focus on the energy sector, but the toolkit will contain related tools for non-energy emission mitigation options as well.
In the initial phases, the focus was largely on evaluating existing international tools and identifying which tools are deemed to be instrumental in capacitating the developing world. From this was identified a set of tools for the developing world that are either unavailable freely, not available in readily usable forms or totally unavailable in any open-access database. These were then earmarked for development, through this project, to form part of the mitigation analysis toolkit for developing countries.
The deciduous fruit farming industry of the Western Cape, South Africa is likely to be impacted by climate change. Grape cultivars will see the effects of climate change, and this could have consequences for the wine industry. An important effect of an increase in temperature and a change in rainfall regime is the likely change in wine quality. The scoping phase of this project confirmed the benefits of a more detailed follow-up study, considering the impacts of climate change on the grape farmers in the deciduous fruit farming industry.
To consider the potential impacts of climate change on wine farmers and the farming community Document existing coping strategies in times of climate variability in the Western Cape.
Examine the social issues in the wine farming community (which could undermine adaptation efforts if not adequately considered).
Provide capacity building and training on (adaptation to) climate change and variability to at least one previously disadvantaged wine farming community.
Improvement in farmers' economic gains through energy efficiency measures.
Literature review of fruit farming and climate change in the Western Cape.
Field visits to selected previously disadvantaged wine farms (a wine farm was already identified as suitable for this follow-up study during the scoping phase).
Capacity building and training of farmers and farming communities through participatory research methods.
Energy efficiency will be examined and audited and suggestions for improvements made.
The 2050 Calculator is an interactive user-friendly tool that allows non-experts to develop their own combination of levels of change in different technologies and sectors of the economy to explore different energy and emission scenarios out to 2050. At its heart is a technical energy balancing model that has been extensively peer-reviewed by experts, which brings together sectoral trajectories in different ways to construct possible pathways to 2050.


text:
Take It or Leave It () is a 2018 Estonian drama film directed by Liina Triškina-Vanhatalo. It was selected as the Estonian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.

Plot
Erik, a 30-year-old construction worker, receives a surprise visit from his ex-girlfriend. Unready to be a mother to their newborn daughter, she asks him to take full custody or she will put the child up for adoption.

Cast
Reimo Sagor - Erik
Liis Lass - Moonika
Epp Eespäev - Evi (Erik's Mother)
Egon Nuter - Mati (Erik's Father)
Viire Valdma - Imbi (Moonika's Mother)
Nora Altrov - Mai (baby)
Emily Viikman- Mai (age 3)
Adeele Sepp - Katrin
Andres Mähar - Sven
Eva Koldits - Liisu
Indrek Ojari - Toomas
Kristjan Lüüs - Marko
Steffi Pähn - Evelin
Jane Napp - Mia
Albert Tiigirand - Otto
Marin Mägi-Efert - Jaana
Edi Edgar Talimaa - Kaspar
Mait Malmsten - Boss
Priit Võigemast - Lawyer
Hilje Murel - Pediatrician
Helena Merzin - Social Worker
Marika Vaarik - Judge
Terje Pennie - Midwife

See also
 List of submissions to the 91st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
 List of Estonian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

References

External links

2018 films
2018 drama films
Estonian drama films
Estonian-language films

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Grand Inquisitors
The Grand Inquisitors were sent on missionary missions for the Universal Church of Truth. They traveled from planet throughout the Milky Way Galaxy to persuade the planet's inhabitants to convert to the church's religious doctrines. If the inhabitants repudiated their doctrines, the Grand Inquisitors would eradicate all life on the planet. The Inquisitors trekked to the planet of the Zen-Whoberi where they were not blissfully received by the planet's inhabitants. The Inquisitors purge of the planet was swift and inhumane, there was only one survivor, a little girl named Gamora. She had her own personal savior in the form of the mad Titan Thanos, who saved and raised to be an vicious assassin. The Inquisitors were also sent out in pursuit of Adam Warlock.
Base of Operations
Formerly the planet of Sirus X in the Hercules star cluster, of the Milky Way Galaxy

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Home / News / Luxury
Rolls-Royce Project Cullinan Previews Upcoming SUV Drivetrain
Nelson Ireson April 7, 2015 Comment Now!
The hyper-luxury British SUVs are coming. Bentley has its Bentayga in the works, and Rolls-Royce is joining the party too. The latest step toward fine hand-crafted off-roading procession is Project Cullinan.
ALSO SEE: How To Drive Like An A$$hole: Video
Project Cullinan is an engineering mule, riding on a shortened Phantom Series II platform, that will be used to develop the all-wheel-drive suspension system to underpin the company's SUV.
Rolls-Royce says that the mule "may hint at the size of the new car, but it features no design aspects of the eventual high-sided, all-terrain motor car announced by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in February this year."
The engineering project is just beginning at this point, with the first iteration of the suspension being tested to deliver both off-road ability, but also the "magic carpet" ride quality the brand is known for—both on-road and off.
CHECK OUT: Lyons Motor Car Brings LM2 Streamliner 'Concept' To New York
Thus far, the mule has been photographed only on-road, at the company's Goodwood facility. In the future, the car will test at a variety of facilities and on many surfaces, including: Belgian Pavé, corrugated concrete, cobblestones, acceleration bumps, a resonance road, and other testing and development surfaces.
Apart from the high-sided, high-bodied nature of the upcoming Rolls-Royce SUV, little is known other than the fact that it will be built on an all-aluminum architecture, possibly sharing some of the engineering beneath the skin with the upcoming BMW X7 full-size SUV.
Follow Motor Authority on Facebook, Twitter, and Google +.
High-Res Gallery: Rolls-Royce Project Cullinan engineering mule
Luxury Rolls-Royce News SUVs
2016 Maserati Quattroporte And Ghibli Will Offer Interiors By Ermenegildo Zegna
Audi RS 3 Confirmed For U.S.
Mercedes May Offer Pickup In U.S. As Lifestyle Product
On Heels Of Cadillac Leaving Livery, MGM Resorts Adopts CNG-Powered XTS Stretch Limos
Nelson Ireson - Senior Editor
First drive review: 2021 Genesis GV80 brings crossover style to the... Luxury January 16, 2020
2020 Audi A5 refines its tech and look to match the A4 Luxury January 16, 2020
BMW i8 to bow out in April Sports Cars January 15, 2020
2021 Buick Velite 7 spy shots Spy Shots January 15, 2020
With addition of 2021 Terrain AT4, GMC's full lineup is now off-road ready SUVs January 15, 2020


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The Improbable Success of a Criminal-Justice-Reform Bill Under Trump
By Osita Nwanevu
That the First Step Act has advanced this far under President Trump reflects the purchase criminal-justice reform has gained among not only Democrats but also conservative Republicans.Photograph by Alex Brandon / AP
In a speech to law-enforcement officers on Long Island, in 2017, President Trump offered advice about how arrestees should be treated. "When you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon—you just see them thrown in, rough—I said, 'Please don't be too nice,' " he said. "When you guys put somebody in the car and you're protecting their head, you know, the way you put their hand over? Like, don't hit their head—and they've just killed somebody—don't hit their head? I said you can take the hand away, O.K.?"
Nearly a year and a half later, Trump—who never recanted his support for executing the now-exonerated Central Park Five—is backing one of the most significant criminal-justice-reform bills in decades, a bipartisan effort called the First Step Act, which is expected to come to a vote in the Senate this week. "We're all better off when former inmates can receive and reënter society as law-abiding, productive citizens," Trump said in remarks endorsing the bill last month. "And, thanks to our booming economy, they now have a chance at more opportunities than they've ever had before."
That the bill has advanced this far under the Trump Administration reflects the purchase criminal-justice reform has gained not only among Democrats but also among conservative Republicans. The bill's list of supporters includes Ted Cruz and Kirsten Gillibrand, the Koch brothers and the American Civil Liberties Union. The significant buy-in from the right is the culmination of years of effort from a cadre of libertarian-leaning conservatives, like the anti-tax zealot Grover Norquist, and evangelicals, such as Chuck Colson, the founder of the Christian nonprofit organization Prison Fellowship, who have worked to convince others that the prison system has become too costly, punitive, and government-empowering.
Most of their successes have come at the state level, in places like Georgia and Texas, where Republicans have worked to reduce the incarceration of nonviolent offenders and boost anti-recidivism efforts. In Georgia, the incarceration rate for black males has declined by thirty per cent over the past eight years, and recidivism rates for those who complete vocational training or a G.E.D. while imprisoned have also dropped sharply—which the outgoing Republican governor Nathan Deal notes happened under his tenure.
In a piece for National Review, published in late November, Senator Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah and one of the First Step Act's leading advocates, neatly made the conservative case for the bill and for federal-level criminal-justice reform. "Unlike some reformers, I don't think our justice system is fundamentally broken, unjust, or corrupt," Lee wrote. "I know from experience that dangerous criminals exist—individuals who are incapable of or uninterested in rehabilitation and change. . . . But my time as a prosecutor also tells me that not every criminal is dangerous or incapable of living a productive life," he wrote. "My faith as a Christian teaches me that many people are capable of redemption. And my instincts as a conservative make me believe that the government can be reformed to work better."
The act's major reforms include making the 2010 Fair Sentencing Act's reduction in the disparities between sentences for crack and powdered cocaine retroactive, granting judges more freedom from mandatory-minimum sentences, and expanding the time credits that prisoners can earn and put toward reducing their sentences or qualifying for release into transitional programs. The bill's supporters estimate that as many as four thousand prisoners could immediately qualify for early release once the bill takes effect.
There are loud dissenters within Republican ranks, led by Senator Tom Cotton, of Arkansas, a conservative hard-liner fond of scuttling bipartisan legislation. One point of contention is how the bill applies to those with fentanyl-related convictions. "Last year, 72,000 Americans died from drug overdoses," Cotton tweeted, in late November. "Why does the bill reduce the penalty for repeat fentanyl and heroin traffickers?"
Cotton's objections have frustrated conservative advocates of the bill, including Derek Cohen, the director of Right on Crime, a criminal-justice-reform group backed by the Koch brothers. "I definitely don't believe his heart isn't in the right place," Cohen said of Cotton. "I do think there is some willful obtuseness, when it comes to the First Step Act, on the part of him and some other senators, just in the language they use when they're talking about the bill itself." Cotton's claims about fentanyl convicts, Cohen said, were one example. "It explicitly says in the bill that fentanyl traffickers are exempted from the earned-credit system," he said.
The bill has since been revised to address concerns raised by Cotton and others. It now makes a larger set of prisoners ineligible for time credits, including low-level fentanyl offenders. (Previously, the bill forbade credits for those "who were organizers, leaders, managers, or supervisors.") It also excludes those convicted of assaulting law-enforcement officers with a deadly weapon, trafficking undocumented immigrants with histories of aggravated felonies, and committing felonies while affiliated with a street gang. Cotton and Kennedy are expected to attempt further amending to the bill with provisions restricting the number of convicts who might qualify for reduced sentences, a move that might erode support for the bill among Senate Democrats.
If Cotton and Kennedy are defeated, the bill seems likely to pass with the support of Senate Democrats and a sizable proportion of Senate Republicans. That may well be because the First Step Act is ultimately a very modest step in the direction of addressing mass incarceration. Federal prisons, to which the act applies, hold just over a hundred and eighty thousand of America's more than two million inmates. Kara Gotsch, the director of strategic initiatives for the liberal reform group the Sentencing Project, which supports the bill, told me, "I get somewhat frustrated when I hear supporters of the bill call it transformational change, because it's not. It's progress. I think we have a long way to go, and a lot bigger reforms and investment of resources need to happen before we get to a transformation."
Gotsch argued that the impact of the act's reforms could be limited, even at the federal level, given the authority that the executive branch would have in administering and implementing its provisions. "It's about having a President who is willing to talk about these issues and prioritize them," she said. "I've worked with Democratic Congresses before, and if the President wasn't championing criminal-justice reform they were not prioritizing it. So who sits in the White House and who the Attorney General is is really important."
Under Jeff Sessions, the Justice Department's Bureau of Prisons curbed admissions to halfway houses and dismissed an Obama appointee tasked with reforming education within the federal prison system. It seems safe to say, moreover, that Trump isn't backing the act out of deep empathy for federal convicts. He made his speech endorsing the bill just over a week after Republicans lost the House in this year's midterms, winning him, for a short window of time, a palliative positive headline.
Some of the strongest advocates for the bill and conservative reform seem to be those with personal connections to the criminal-justice system. Much of the public and private heavy lifting in building support for the bill has been done by Jared Kushner, who made a rare appearance on Sean Hannity's show to promote it and is reportedly responsible for securing an endorsement of the bill from Fox News. Kushner's father, Charles Kushner, spent over a year in federal prison after being convicted for white-collar crimes, in 2005.
The Koch brothers are major backers of the bill and the conservative shift on criminal justice. Their company was prosecuted, in 2000, for hiding emissions of the carcinogen benzene at a Texas refinery from government regulators. (They settled.) In a 2016 piece for The New Yorker, Jane Mayer spoke with the Koch Industries general counsel Mark Holden, who described the prosecution as a "a huge overreach, a grave injustice" that had spurred the Kochs to action. "We were very skeptical, going forward, of criminal prosecutors having too much power," he said. "So we got involved in criminal-justice reform."
In the summer of 2016, bipartisan efforts at criminal-justice reform foundered, in part because of Republican support for requiring prosecutors to prove criminal intent for offenses lacking an intent standard, potentially including corporate crimes. In a recent National Review piece, Cotton proposed this as one of the reforms conservatives should be pursuing instead of the First Step Act's initiatives. They likely won't get a chance to do so anytime soon—Democrats, who will have control of the House in the new Congress, roundly rejected those proposals the last time around.
Osita Nwanevu was a staff writer at The New Yorker, where he wrote about politics.
More:Criminal-Justice ReformBipartisanshipKoch BrothersLaw EnforcementTrump AdministrationJared Kushner
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Trump's Prison-Reform Push Has Divided Washington on a Rare Bipartisan Issue
By Rich Benjamin
Can Bipartisan Criminal-Justice Reform Survive in the Trump Era?
By Justin George
The Mothers Most Vulnerable to Incarceration
The high rate of female incarceration in Oklahoma spurred a group of New York City lawyers to launch a practice in Tulsa solely to represent women with children.


text:
DeepReceipt Web App
=========
This is an AI-backed Web application in Python and Flask to help customers manage expenses by uploading receipts.

It pre-processes receipt images to detect the receipt location, crop it from background, and classify the vendor logos
by OpenCV and Deep learning technologies.

We built a ConvNN + RNN(BLSTM) + CTC Loss network model as a morden OCR(Optical Character Recognization) engine
to extract text from receipt images by using Tensorflow.

Then, complementary analysis is applied on the OCR results to enhance/improve the recognization accuracy by artifical rules.

Finally, convert unstructure data to Json files and stored in database.

This app is implemented by Flask framework in Python 2.7.

Install and Run the App:

```
$ cd DeepReceipt

$ virtualenv venv

$ source venv/bin/activate

$ pip install -r requirements.txt
```

Database Management
```
# Initialize migration package
$ ./manage.py db init

# Create DB change scripts
$ ./manage.py db migrate

# Execute DB changes
$ ./manage.py db upgrade

$ python run.py

```

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Śląski Przegląd Statystyczny, 2017, nr 15 (21), s. 201-225, rys., tab., bibliogr. 19 poz.
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Egami M., Yamazaki K., 2014, Phase-type fitting of scale functions for spectrally negative Lévy processes, J. Comput. Appl. Math., 264, pp. 1-22.
Kyprianou A.E., 2006, Introductory Lectures on Fluctuations of Lévy Processes with Applications, Springer.
Kyprianou A.E, Kuznetsov A., Rivero V., 2013, The Theory of Scale Functions for Spectrally Negative Lévy Processes, Lévy Matters II, Springer Lecture Notes in Mathematics.
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Mijatović A., Pistorius M.R., 2012, On the drawdown of completely asymmetric Lévy process, Stochastic Processes and their Applications, 122(11), pp. 3812-3836.
Nguyen-Ngoc L., Yor M., 2005, Some Martingales Associated to Reflected Lévy Processes, Séminaire de Probabilités, XXXVIII, pp. 42-69.
Oksendal B., Sulem A., 2004, Applied Stochastic Control of Jump Diffusions, Springer.
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Pistorius M.R., 2004, On exit and ergodicity of the spectrally one-sided Lévy process reflected at its infimum, Journal of Theoretical Probability, 17(1), pp. 183-220.
Pospisil L., Vecer J., 2010, Portfolio sensitivities to the changes in the maximum and the maximum drawdown, Quantitative Finance, 10(6), pp. 617-627.
Sornette D., 2003, Why Stock Markets Crash: Critical Events in Complex Financial Systems, Princeton University Press.
Vecer J., 2006, Maximum drawdown and directional trading, Risk, 19(12), pp. 88-92.
Vecer J., 2007, Preventing portfolio losses by hedging maximum drawdown, Wilmott, 5(4) pp. 1- 8.
Zhang H., Hadjiliadis O., 2010, Drawdowns and rallies in finite time-horizon, Methodology and Computing in Applied Probability, 12(2), pp. 293-308.
Zhang H., Leung T., Hadjiliadis O., 2013, Stochastic modeling and fair valuation of drawdown insurance, Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, 53(2013), pp. 840-850.


We recognize that every resident requires specialized attention, so we work with their families and medical professionals to assess, plan and facilitate the care options and services that meet their needs.
Our Suffolk County, New York assisted living facility and its staff are equipped to help residents feel comfortable and well cared for after a hospital stay or surgery.
The highly trained staff at our Long Island, New York assisted living facility maintains a regular schedule of all residents' medication requirements and intakes to ensure their health and safety.
Three nutritious meals are served daily, restaurant style, in a warm, relaxing atmosphere. Meal plans and special dietary needs are carried out under the supervision of a registered dietitian. The small, intimate dining area in our Long Island home is perfect for sharing meals and warm conversations with friends.
We offer a full-range of social and recreational activities to fill a resident's day. Options include cards, games, arts and crafts, picnics, cultural program, religious services, observations of holidays and birthdays, council meetings and ongoing gerontology education. All activities are carefully supervised.
Our home in Patchogue, New York features features a staff of dedicated eldercare professionals who specialize in managing the needs of persons with Alzheimer's, dementia and other cognitive impairments.
We offer a hair salon on our premises, transportation services, private and semi-private room options, telephone jacks in every room and four lounges with color TVs.
We provide 24-hour per day, supervised care in a comforting, home-like setting in our historic Patchogue, New York assisted living facility. All staff are highly trained to provide friendly, personal assistance for the daily activities of our residents.
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"I wanted to thank you and the staff — Jennifer, Soraya, Myrna and all the girls for taking such good care of our mom. I wanted to stop in after I emptied her room but my emotions got the best of me when I closed the trunk on my car with all of her belongings inside. Thank you."
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It was 4 p.m. and I had to meet pro skier Greg Hill the next day for a ski tour at Rogers Pass.
Hill, who was once a very successful Skimo racer, became more well-known for his endurance skiing.
Because of this, I knew that I would need the fuel to keep up with his guide's pace – which is far slower than his race pace, but much faster than my normal pace.
Getting enough good calories onboard would make or break my day, and I knew that I function better with whole foods rather than bars or gels.
I also didn't have much time to grab food, so I decided to make what I could with what I had in my kitchen. Here are three whole-food snacks I made for trip.
Full disclosure, if you need your food to look perfect and pretty, these power balls might not be for you. But if you can get past their color, you'll be rocking after you have a few of these.
Mix all the ingredients together. Add more oats if the mixture is too wet, or add more almond butter if it is too dry. Let sit for 20 minutes. Then, by hand, roll little balls and place on a plate. Put them in the fridge and let them sit overnight.
They might look funny, but they are full of energy to be burned.
This snack is super easy to make, and if you don't have exactly the right ingredient list, you can sub almost anything. I used roasted delicata squash and quinoa (for the crunch) because those were the leftovers in my fridge.
Mix the water and polenta together. In an iron skillet, take the mixture and make a crust. Next, do a layer of cheese, squash and quinoa. Next, cover the fillings with a thin layer of polenta mixture and cheese. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.
I always bring a thermos of tea with me. But for this trip, I wanted an extra special tea.
Simply put all the ingredients in your thermos with boiling water. This might not seem like a recipe, but just adding those aromatic spices really lifted my senses. I highly recommend doing this to your teas whenever you can.


Nasseri, S., Mizuno, S. (2010). A new method for ordering triangular fuzzy numbers. Iranian Journal of Optimization, 06(1), 603-613.
S.H. Nasseri; S. Mizuno. "A new method for ordering triangular fuzzy numbers". Iranian Journal of Optimization, 06, 1, 2010, 603-613.
Nasseri, S., Mizuno, S. (2010). 'A new method for ordering triangular fuzzy numbers', Iranian Journal of Optimization, 06(1), pp. 603-613.
Nasseri, S., Mizuno, S. A new method for ordering triangular fuzzy numbers. Iranian Journal of Optimization, 2010; 06(1): 603-613.
Ranking fuzzy numbers plays a very important role in linguistic decision making and other fuzzy application systems. In spite of many ranking methods, no one can rank fuzzy numbers with human intuition consistently in all cases. Shortcoming are found in some of the convenient methods for ranking triangular fuzzy numbers such as the coefficient of variation (CV index), distance between fuzzy sets, centroid point and original point, and also weighted mean value. In this paper, we introduce a new method for ranking triangular fuzzy number to overcome the shortcomings of the previous techniques. Finally, we compare our method with some convenient methods for ranking fuzzy numbers to illustrate the advantage our method.


It's an exciting time to be a 401 member!
Hot on the heels of the wildly successful "It's Yours Members' Conference" where hundreds of 401 activists met in Calgary to discuss community activism, political engagement, and how to bring about positive change for the nearly 32,000 members of this great union, teams of 401 members are hitting the doorsteps of their fellow 401'ers from north to south.
Teams from Edmonton and Calgary were in full force, talking progressive politics and how to keep the momentum going for another 4 years with another Rachel Notley NDP government.
All the teams report they are having a blast!
"We are having fun talking to members at their front doors", says an energized Timothy.
"Talking one on one with members about things that matter in our lives is very powerful", echos Matthew.
John, Abdel, Matt, Stan, and Erin are thrilled about what they're hearing from other 401 members and it shows!


text:
Condolence Motions Make For Heartfelt Start To Parliament
Proceedings in the House of Representatives got off to a prickly start today with the government goading the ALP during condolence motions for Arthur Gietzelt and Ariel Sharon.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott set the tone when he moved a motion of condolence for the former Senator Gietzelt who died on January 5 at the age of 93.
During his speech, Abbott said: "He was a lion of the Labor Party—or at least he always asserted that he was a lion of the Labor Party and of no other party." The Labor benches bristled at the comment and as Opposition Leader Bill Shorten rose to speak a voice could be heard describing Abbott as a "low dog".
Abbott's comment was a reference to allegations in documents released by the Australian Security Intelligence Service (ASIO) that claimed Gietzelt had communist connections during his time as a member of the ALP. Gietzelt served as a minister in the Hawke government from 1983 to 1987.
Following the Gietzelt condolence, Abbott moved a second condolence motion for former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon who died on January 11 after spending eight years in a permanent vegetative state following a stroke in 2006. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop spoke to the motion, as did Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and his deputy, Tanya Plibersek.
After the speeches, the Manager of Government Business, Christopher Pyne, associated himself with what he called "the genuine and heartfelt remarks" by Abbott, Bishop and Shorten, "and the remarks made by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition".
The Opposition benches bristled again, with the comment assumed to refer to a statement made by Tanya Plibersek in the House on September 17, 2002, in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq. She said: "…I can think of a rogue state which consistently ignores UN resolutions, whose ruler is a war criminal responsible for the massacres of civilians in refugee camps outside its borders. The US supports and funds this country. This year it gave it a blank cheque to continue its repression of its enemies. It uses US military hardware to bulldoze homes and kill civilians. It is called Israel, and the war criminal is Ariel Sharon." [Read more…]
Filed Under: A.L.P., Abbott, Audio, House of Reps Tagged With: Ariel Sharon, Arthur Gietzelt, ASIO, Bill Shorten, Bronwyn Bishop, Christopher Pyne, condolence motion, Julie Bishop, Tanya Plibersek, Tony Abbott, Tony Burke
Arthur Gietzelt, Labor Senator And Hawke Minister, Dies, 93
Arthur Gietzelt, an ALP senator and minister in the Hawke government, has died. The former longtime leader of the NSW ALP Left faction was 93.
Gietzelt was elected to the Senate from New South Wales in 1970, at the last stand-alone half-Senate election. Upon the election of the Hawke government, he became the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, an outer ministry position he held for two terms until the 1987 election.
Gietzelt resigned from the Senate in February 1989. At the time of his retirement, he was joint Father of the Senate, the longest-serving member of that chamber, a position he shared with Liberal Senator Peter Durack. In 1992, he was awarded an Order of Australia in the Officer category.
Prior to entering parliament, Gietzelt served for 15 years on the Sutherland Shire Council. He was Shire President or mayor for 9 years.
Gietzelt was a prominent and influential leader of the NSW ALP's Left faction, from the 1960s until the 1980s. He was a member of the faction's Steering Committee and was regarded on all sides as a fierce factional warrior. [Read more…]
Filed Under: A.L.P., Hawke Tagged With: A.L.P., Arthur Gietzelt, ASIO, communism, CPA, factions, Ray Gietzelt, Troy Bramston
Senator John Faulkner (ALP-NSW) – Maiden Speech
This is the first speech by Senator John Faulkner, an ALP representative from New South Wales.
Faulkner filled a casual vacancy to replace Arthur Gietzelt, a former minister in the Hawke government.
Faulkner previously worked in disability education and as Assistant General Secretary of the NSW branch of the Australian Labor Party. [Read more…]
Filed Under: A.L.P., Audio, Maiden Speeches Tagged With: Arthur Gietzelt, John Faulkner
Adam Bandt interest rates Joe Hockey 2013 Federal Election Barack Obama Liberal Party Jenny Macklin RBA Wayne Swan Malcolm Fraser Chris Bowen Bob Hawke Mark Latham Pauline Hanson Peter Beattie Julie Bishop Budget resignation Bill Shorten Stephen Conroy George W Bush Malcolm Turnbull Glenn Stevens first speech Warren Truss John McCain Alexander Downer vic1999 Peter Costello Tony Abbott leadership NPC financial crisis State of the Union Andrew Peacock Tony Blair Julia Gillard Christopher Pyne Bob Brown asylum seekers Simon Crean John Hewson Peter Cosgrove Penny Wong Campbell Newman Senate National Press Club Scott Morrison Peter Slipper AEC Eric Abetz Anthony Albanese George Brandis John Howard Iraq Steve Bracks carbon tax terrorism Craig Thomson Mathias Cormann Jeff Kennett Kim Beazley Robert Menzies climate change Kevin Rudd Christine Milne Clive Palmer Robert Hill Paul Keating editorial Gough Whitlam Laurie Oakes 9/11 Peter Hollingworth A.L.P. GST Bill Clinton Monica Lewinsky Denis Napthine Tanya Plibersek


When you first step into Web International, our receptionists will register your personal information and introduce you to a Course Consultant.
The Course Consultant will present the learning method used here at Web International and show you the advantages of our teaching system, as well as demonstrating how the Web Internationalmethods differs from other traditional learning methods.
Our computer-based placement tests will assess your current language level.Our Course Consultant will develop a course schedule according to the assessment results and then help you with the enrollment process. Following this, you will be assigned to a personal tutor who will assist you in completing your study at Web International.
Your tutor will give you an orientation class. This class will cover how to use our Multimedia Lab and how to book the Private Classes and Salon Classes that are given by our native English-speaking teachers. You will also learn where you can find assistance when you encounter difficulties.
Once you start your study in the Multimedia Lab, you will find that we have set various practices and assessments for each course.This is in order to help you accomplish your study goals step by step. If you have any questions in the lab, our tutor on duty is always there to help you.
We will also provide a Student's Book for you to review and practise all the lessons.
After a tutor checks your computer studies, you will be given a Private Class by a Foreign Teacher, during which you can practise what you have learned. The Foreign Teacher will address mistakes that you make. It is important you try to speak as much as possible in this class.
As an extra support to the Private Classess, we also have Salon Classes with a Foreign Teacher to help you improve your English.
In addition, you can improve your listening comprehension and speaking ability in our Foreign Teacher led interactive clubs and movie classes.
The school also provides you with a Reading Room and Internet Facilities.
A variety of Extra Curricular Activities (Outings, Dinner, Shopping trips, Sports clubs)will help you improve your English in an authentic English-speaking environment.
After a final presentation, you will be invited to take part in a Graduation Ceremony and will receive a certificate from Web International English.
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Let's start at the end: if the most famous Palestinian prisoner, Marwan Barghouti, is included in the looming swap deal between Israel and Hamas, the politics surrounding the regional conflict here will change dramatically. For a start his release from prison could end the current unbridgeable schism between the radical Islamist faction running the Gaza strip and the more moderate nationalist party of Fatah that controls the West Bank and, for the first time in years, create unity in the Palestinian camp. There's still a big "if" here. Negotiations via the German mediator are to resume Monday, after the end of the Muslim Festival of Sacrifice, and success is far from certain.
Hamas's insistence on the release of Barghouti is a well-calculated political move to show its people that they are also concerned with prisoners affiliated to rival Fatah. Some Palestinian observers, however, believe that Hamas would like to see him remain in an Israeli jail, as his popularity poses an electoral menace.
The 50-year-old former Fatah leader, who was imprisoned by Israel in 2002 on charges of murdering Israeli civilians and attacks on Israeli soldiers, exerts great influence in Palestinian society from his cell. In contrast to the weak style of the current Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, Barghouti is a charismatic figure and someone who has paid a heavy personal price for his views and actions.
For Israel Barghouti could prove useful too. At the moment politicians here are either faced by radical Hamas leaders who it finds impossible to negotiate with but who enjoy high popularity, or by Fatah leaders, who it is able to negotiate with but enjoy almost no popular support. Barghouti might be flexible enough for the Israelis and still be strong enough in the eyes of his people to carry them through difficult negotiations.
Last week Barghouti gave an interview to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera that was full of mixed messages. On the one hand, Barghouti said that Abbas's mistake was to bet all his cards on negotiations with Israel, thus hinting that he would like to resume terror attacks and military operations. On the other hand, when asked what his goals were, Barghouti manifestly omitted the Palestinian refugees' right of return – one of the main sticking points in the negotiations.
Judging by past experience, Israelis will be less concerned with his previous activities than with his future plans. The former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat was responsible for far more Israeli deaths than any Palestinian leader. Still, when he decided to change course and to accept the presence of a Jewish state in the Middle East, he was awarded with all he wanted, which was the whole of the Sinai Peninsula. Many Israelis believe that if Barghouti is brave enough to tell his people it's time to end the conflict, he might be rewarded with a similar land deal.
As in any good drama, it started with a dead body and a question mark. On 19 October, Moni Fanan, manager of Tel Aviv's Maccabi basketball team from 1992 to 2008, was found dead in his apartment. He had hanged himself. Fanan, 63, was a well-known figure and anyone who had watched a Maccabi game would have seen him on the sideline, enthusiastically encouraging the players.
Maccabi is Israel's most popular basketball team and enjoys a reputation in the country equivalent to that of Real Madrid in Spain or Manchester United in the UK. During Fanan's time at the club, Maccabi was one of the best teams playing in Europe, and despite a subsequent spate of less successful performances, it remains an influential force in the European basketball establishment.
Initial press reports following Fanan's death were measured and cautious. But in a small country where rumours travel fast, within a few hours everybody knew that Fanan was allegedly involved in running a Ponzi scheme. It was claimed that he had been the head of a secretive "private bank" that offered high-yield investments to players and Maccabi cronies. The assumption was that Fanan killed himself either because the tax authorities had begun investigating him, or because he couldn't pay his investors back. He was Israel's junior version of Bernard Madoff.
What has followed, however, has been a cascade of bizarre events that have kept the nation gripped. First, some players, both past and present, admitted investing their money with Fanan. Estimates have now put the total at between $25m and $100m. It was said that Fanan, with his far-reaching connections, also managed the investments of some coaches and referees both local and foreign. The Israeli Basketball Association has had no choice but to open an official investigation.
Next came suggestions that Fanan was somehow involved with the runaway British financier Nicholas Levene who, just a few days before Fanan's suicide, had disappeared, leaving behind debts of over £70m. The British media called Fanan "Levene's money channel in Israel". Levene, who has visited Israel many times in the past, reappeared a few days later and denied any connection to Fanan. But the revelations just keep coming.
This weekend a businessman in Hong Kong claimed that Fanan bought land in Macau through him. Fanan's personal life was also placed in the spotlight after a 50-year-old woman claimed that she had been his lover for the past 15 years and that they adopted a child while he was married to another woman.
Although there are official investigations underway, analysts fear that Maccabi Tel Aviv is just too big to fall, due to its place in Israeli society, its economic might and powerful political connections.
A personal investigator has been assigned by Fanan's widow to find out where the money is (if there still is any), but few are confident that investors will get their cash back. So this week while people might wonder how Israel will play its hand in Middle East negotiations, at home the press is following a very different game.


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Prince Harry compares Covid vaccine inequity to HIV struggle
The Duke of Sussex has warned of "corporate greed and political failure" prolonging the Covid pandemic, comparing a "spectacular failure" of global vaccine equity to the struggle by millions to access HIV medicines.
In a letter read out at a World Health Organization (WHO) and UNAIDS event on World Aids Day, Prince Harry said lessons must be learned from the HIV/Aids pandemic.
Vaccinating the world was a "test of our moral character", he wrote. "It's time to draw from the lessons we learned throughout the HIV/Aids pandemic, where millions died unnecessarily due to deep inequities in access to treatment.
"Are we really comfortable repeating the failures of the past? Everything I've learned from the youth of Sentebale [his charity in Lesotho and Botswana] tells me not. They see how repeating these mistakes is destructive and self-defeating, it is a betrayal of the next generation."
He said his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, who helped to highlight the work of Aids charities, would be "deeply grateful" to the scientific community for their work in combating the disease.
Harry and his wife, Meghan, have been vocal campaigners for Covid vaccine equity. In a video for the People's Vaccine, co-narrated by Harry and the UNAIDS executive director, Winnie Byanyima, he said: "There are striking parallels between Covid-19 and another deadly pandemic, one that emerged 40 years ago – HIV. This is a story about how corporate greed and political failure have prolonged both pandemics and what we can do to stop it."
The video featured clips of Diana meeting Aids patients, and of Harry and Meghan at the Global Citizen Live event in September, which called for world leaders to adopt vaccine equity policy.
Harry said: "By ending vaccine monopolies and sharing technology, companies in the developing world can start producing Covid vaccines too … Break the monopolies … Deliver a people's vaccine."
In the letter, addressed to the WHO director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Harry wrote: "Vaccinating the world is a test of our moral character and we are experiencing a spectacular failure when it comes to global vaccine equity. Similar to the Aids crisis, we've yet again revealed over the past year that the value of life depends on whether you were born and/or live in a rich nation or a developing country."
He described the emergence of the new Omicron variant of Covid-19 as of "deep concern". "Now more than ever, the voiceless majority of the world needs to be heard, and the onus is on our leaders to end this pandemic. Anything less is self-defeating," he wrote.
"That means breaking pharma monopolies that prevent vaccines from getting to communities around the world in need; that means governments honouring their promises and delivering the doses that they committed; that means pursuing international pandemic agreements with strict timelines and holding each other accountable to them; that means treating all human lives as equal lives."
compares, Covid, Harry, inequity, prince, struggle, vaccine
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