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Simon Thompson to succeed Jan du Plessis as chairman
Rio Tinto has appointed Simon Thompson as chairman. Mr Thompson, who joined the Rio Tinto board as a non-executive director in 2014, will become chairman on 5 March 2018. He succeeds Jan du Plessis who will step down as chairman and from the Rio Tinto board on the same date after serving almost nine years as chairman.
Mr Thompson has over 20 years' experience working across five continents in the mining and metals industry. From 1995 to 2007, he worked for the Anglo American group, holding a number of senior positions, including executive director of Anglo American plc, chief executive of the Base Metals Division, chairman of the Exploration Division, and chairman of Tarmac. His experience as a non-executive director includes serving on the boards of AngloGold Ashanti, Rusal and Newmont Mining Corporation.
Mr Thompson has been chairman of 3i Group plc since 2015 and was chairman of Tullow Oil plc from 2012 to 2017. Earlier in his career, he held investment banking positions at S.G. Warburg and N M Rothschild.
Rio Tinto senior independent director Ann Godbehere said "The Rio Tinto board would like to thank Jan for his significant contribution as chairman of Rio Tinto. He led the board during considerable transformation of the company.
"The board is delighted to have appointed Simon to chair Rio Tinto. He brings to the role a deep understanding of the mining industry, as well as a strong track record as a non-executive."
Simon Thompson said "I am honoured to accept this role and to succeed Jan as chairman. Rio Tinto is in great shape, with a strong management team, world-class assets and a successful strategy. I look forward to leading the board as we work with J-S and his team to ensure that Rio Tinto continues to deliver superior returns for its shareholders by maintaining its capital discipline and 'value-over-volume' approach".
Rio Tinto chairman Jan du Plessis said "I am really pleased to be succeeded by Simon, especially given how closely we have worked together since he joined the board some three years ago. I wish him the very best. I am handing over the baton at a time when the business is in great shape and Rio Tinto has the strongest balance sheet in the sector".
Upon assuming the role of chairman, Mr Thompson will step down as chairman of the Rio Tinto remuneration committee and will also cease to be a member of the audit committee. Sam Laidlaw, who previously chaired the remuneration committee at HSBC Holdings plc, will succeed Mr Thompson as chair of the Rio Tinto remuneration committee with effect from 5 March 2018.
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The Strange Holocaust Trial in the Lithuanian Capital
Posted on 8 March 2019 by Defending History
OPINION | GLORIFICATION OF COLLABORATORS | POLITICS OF MEMORY
by Evaldas Balčiūnas
Last Tuesday, 5 March 2019, a Vilnius court sat in judgment over an appeal to the state-sponsored "Genocide Center" by Grant Arthur Gochin, a financial advisor in California who is of Litvak heritage and was himself born in South Africa (he did not come in for the trial but was represented by attorney Rokas Rudzinskas and academic specialist Dr. Andrius Kulikauskas). The request in effect asked the Genocide Center (formally "The Genocide and Resistance Research Center of Lithuania" or LGGRTC) to revisit their refusal to re-examine the historical certificate they issued whitewashing Holocaust collaborator Jonas Noreika. In support, the plaintiff submitted a big stack of documents from Lithuania's own archives, and claimed that the Center's conclusions ignore or misinterpret a whole series of documents and that they are biased in their justification of Noreika and taking into account only "positive aspects" of his activities. The Center explained away some documents signed by Noreika by using other documents that were signed by the German administration much later, but failed to properly name the criteria according to which some witnesses and documents are deemed important and others are rejected. Gochin's lawyer noted that responsibility for crimes to humanity is not canceled out by the fact that the perpetrator held office and was following orders.
Dr. Andrius Kulikauskas (left) with Rokas Rudzinskas, Mr. Gochin's attorney
The Genocide Center was represented by two attorneys and three of its well-known staff members: Arūnas Bubnys, Dalius Stancikas, and Alfredas Rukšėnas. The Center's attorneys tried to argue that the Center's certificate on Noreika has no direct impact on Gochin's personal situation or his life. Moreover, they argued that he should not be suing the Center, but rather the government for its decisions on commemorating Noreika with public plaques, street names and more. All this despite the fact that for a long time all the relevant state and municipal agencies have tried to "justify" their policy of glorifying Holocaust perpetrators by saying that they just follow the Genocide Center's conclusions, making for a sad circularity of elite government officials (whether in politics or a state-sponsored institute) in effect proceeding to use state funds to glorify Holocaust collaborators while blaming each other for the decision.
For some reason, the Center did not find it "relevant" that Grant Arthur Gochin's family lost around one hundred relatives during the Holocaust at the precise time and in the precise area of Noreika's activities. It was also strange to see the Center's attorneys argue that the certificate is only an opinion of the Center's historians. When they were asked whether the Center is a state institution and whether its activities are governed by law, they admitted that was the case. So it turns out that the question if a certificate issued by the Center is a private historian's opinion or an objective document of a state institution may have two contradictory answers. These were the arguments used by the Center's lawyers to base their claim that Gochin's request should not be considered by the court. These arguments seemed even weaker bearing in mind that they were expressed before a court that had already found the formal query worthy of consideration and was already in the middle of a public hearing on the matter. There was a three-judge panel in attendance.
The Center's historians made a number of arguments. Dr. Bubnys expressed his opinion that historical disputes are not a matter for courts. Mr. Stancikas was interested in the education of Gochin's researchers (Dr. Kulikauskas and myself) and whether they have degrees in history. In his opinion, the plaintiff, in his quest for the truth, is slandering Lithuania in foreign countries and the research was carried out by people with no qualifications in history. Indeed, Stancikas had to admit that he does not have a degree in history, either, and tried to cover it up by pointing out that his colleagues have been working in the field for many years. Reacting to Kulikauskas' statement that he spent a year and a half researching Noreika's activities, Alfredas Rukšėnas claimed that he has dedicated three decades to Holocaust studies.
Both sides mentioned a series of aspects of and documents on Noreika's activities. For example, Gochin's representatives pointed out that Noreika signed documents "resettling" Jews to Gruzdžiai and Žagarė and made unilateral decisions on the fate of certain Jewish property. The Center's specialist Stancikas tried to justify this by bringing up Noreika's friendship with doctor Jasaitis, who was involved in saving Jews (we have seen no documents proving the existence of this friendship), and witness accounts of how Noreika's daughter would bring buns to Jews. It all seemed a little surreal: as if someone took the list of the murdered Jews' property appropriated by Noreika and tried to claim that someone who used so many things belonging to about-to-be-murdered or just-murdered Jews in everyday life "could by no means have been an antisemite."
The opinions continued to clash and the tension was not alleviated even when Gochin's attorney clarified the plaintiff's position: We are not trying to command the Center as to what kind of conclusions on Noreika's activities they should come up with, we simply want that all available documents related to his participation in war crimes to be taken into account, as well as an explanation of what the criteria, according to which some documents are deemed reliable and important, and others non-reliable and unimportant, are. After hearing about the crimes to humanity committed by people who acted in the name of the Lithuanian nation, Dalius Stancikas resorted, once more, to repeating the view that this was just slander against Lithuania. But it was Jonas Noreika who wrote the antisemitic brochure "Raise Your Head, Lithuanian!" and who was the leader of the LAF (Lithuanian Activist Front) in Samogitia in 1941 and of the delegation of Samogitia to Kaunas. In 1945, he declared himself to be General Vėtra ("storm"), the head of the Lithuanian National Council and the Lithuanian Armed Forces; in short, he acted in the name of the Lithuanian nation and took part in the Holocaust and other war crimes. It is unclear why Stancikas sees the mere statement of these facts as slander.
The position of the Center's historians became even more dubious when they strictly refused to be videographed in court and insisted the professional videographer leave before the start of proceedings. Were they at some deeper level ashamed of themselves? Was their own collaboration in the sanitization of a Holocaust collaborator something to be ashamed of? The actual "thing" that is causing grave damage to Lithuania's name?
The state-sponsored Genocide Center insisted the videographer leave before the start of the hearing. So much for transparency and pride in the work product.
The hearing lasted the whole day. Gochin's attorney asked for a longer break to prepare his closing argument, but the court was in a hurry and wanted to be finished with these proceedings the same day. The verdict will be announced on March 27th. Eighty years after the massacre of Jews in Telšiai and Šiauliai counties, the decision will finally be made: to clearly name a collaborator in the murder of thousands of Lithuanian citizens and stop glorifying him in public, or to decide that it is all not important because it does not directly impact the daily life of this plaintiff in California.
Evaldas Balčiūnas's 2012 Defending History essay, "Why is Jonas Noreika Considered a National Hero?" and the Balčiūnas section in DH. Scroll down to May 2014 to follow reports on the campaign by prosecutors and police to harass and discredit Mr. Balčiūnas (esp. reports of 22 May 2014, 4 July 2014, 9 July 2014, 1 Aug. 2014, 28 April 2015, 12 June 2014, 15 Nov. 2015, 17 Jan. 2016, 9 June 2016, 22 July 2016).
This entry was posted in Collaborators Glorified, Dr. Arūnas Bubnys and State Holocaust Revisionism in Lithuania, Evaldas Balčiūnas, Events, Genocide Center (Vilnius), Human Rights, Lithuania, Litvak Affairs, News & Views, Opinion, Politics of Memory, State Glorification of Holocaust Collaborator J. Noreika. Bookmark the permalink.
← After 'Hearing Both Sides' at Trial of March 5th, Vilnius Court Sets Verdict for 27th
A National Gang-Up on our Country's Leading Playwright →

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Teal, the Gypsy Caravan has proved to be a huge success for both childrens parties and adult groups. It has become a very popular venue and it is therefore advisable to book well in advance if you wish to secure a specific date.
It is ideal for childrens parties of up to 12 children and 4 adults for self catering parties there is an all inclusive price of £120 for hire and entry to the park. It is provided complete with table, table cloth, cake stands and food baskets. The Park can provide catering for the party if required for£7 per head, which includes all the setting up and clearing away...what a joy!
Few places can beat the Bird Park for a childs party, it's just a magical place! Birds and animals roam freely and the children can get close in an informal setting, building confidence and awareness. Who knows, you may find a Turkey nesting in the wishing well, a peacock displaying on a tree or a baby fallow deer nibbling at your clothes, this can only happen at our Bird Park!
Adult groups also regularly hire Teal. This can be the perfect location for book reading groups, mums for coffee or a quirkey quiet lunch gathering. Where else can your family enjoy birds and animals all around them in such a natural environment. Teal is normally situated next to the miniature donkeys Toffee and Treacle during the summer and rare breed poultry are normally there to be part of every event. A new flock of Barnacle Geese graze around the caravan and are wecoming to visitors. Very rare Coscoroba Swans also grace this part of the park with their wonderful honks and whisltes and can be easily fed from your hand.


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Film Review: Seberg ★★★1/2
Kristen Stewart Brings Icon Jean Seberg to Vibrant Life in Seberg
A marvellous Kristen Stewart glides (impeccably dressed in costume designer Michael Wilkinson's Paris couture recreations) through this tense, heartbreaking chronicle of the last ten years in the life of Jean Seberg.
With remarkable turns in Clouds of Sils Maria, Still Alice, Café Society, Personal Shopper and Lizzie, Stewart has leaned into her queer identity and begun to loosen up on screen, while fully embodying her characters. Here, she invests Jean Seberg with agency and dignity, reminding us how futile it was to try and ignore her during the French New Wave. Stewart is in nearly every scene and makes the role her own, allowing the filmmakers to use her as an anchor to create a fully realised milieu. This performance is one that begs to be noticed.
Kristen Stewart in Seberg. Courtesy of Amazon Studios.
Australian theatre director Benedict Andrews (in his second outing as a movie director) focuses his attention on young actress Seberg's strengths and fragilities, as well as her near universal appeal to young women of the time. Writers Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse are wise to focus the narrative on Seberg's passions as a political activist, rather than spending too much time detailing her life on movie sets. Though best known for the French New Wave, Seberg also appeared in some popular Hollywood movies and started to become an international icon. Her work in Hollywood led her to befriend members of the Black Panther Party, which stoked her already developed political interests.
Alternatively procedural (not in a bad way) and stylishly nuanced, Seberg is solidly scripted and yet not didactic. Instead, what we're offered is an elevated glance into a chapter of both political and cinematic history. Maintaining the drama without treading too much toward the gritty, Seberg provides a voyeuristic peek into a (sometimes) glamorous life through stylish blasts in visuals and lush sounds. Cinematographer Rachel Morrison, who previously lensed Fruitvale Station, Black Panther and Mudbound — for which she received an Oscar nomination — allows her camera to roam, capturing the essence of the period and Jean's complicated personality, while composer Jed Kurzel's intimate, piano driven score bestows a moody texture on the movie.
Anthony Mackie and Jack O'Connell both lend robust backing, portraying Hakim Jamal, the Black Panther affiliate with whom Jean has an affair, and Jack Solomon, the F.B.I. agent surveilling Seberg's involvements. Their performances provide gravity as the tense drama between the Black Panther Party and the U.S. government unwinds.
An emotionally resonant and involving piece of filmmaking about an overlooked story, it's hard to fathom Seberg's lack of awards recognition, especially alongside more successful films like Rupert Goold's Judy. Though the two movies have quite different motivations, they both deal with the tragic last days in the lives of superstars. In my opinion, Judy is a mediocre film with a good performance, whereas Seberg is a great movie, with a remarkable performance. Yet somehow, Judy got Renée Zellweger another Academy Award for a showy role, while Seberg failed to get Kristen Stewart an overdue first Oscar nod.
Stephen Root and Kristen Stewart in Seberg. Courtesy of Amazon Studios.
Seberg makes for a fascinating companion piece to another film released last year, Tarantino's Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, with Seberg giving us the more feminine side of the late 60s/early 70s Hollywood.
Double feature, anyone?
By Joseph Cook
Seberg is in US theaters now.
Published by James Kleinmann
Editor of The Queer Review, James Kleinmann has had over twenty years of media experience, both LGBTQ and mainstream. He was the on air film critic on both Gaydar Radio and Gaydio's breakfast shows and has contributed to the UK's best selling LGBTQ publication, Attitude Magazine. James is a member of GALECA The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics. He's been a long-standing regular broadcaster on the UK's most listened to national station BBC Radio 2 contributing on air film reviews and interviews alongside presenters such as Zoe Ball, Claudia Winkleman and Richard Madeley, as well as review and interview slots on BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Scotland and BBC Manchester. James has also contributed interviews with the world's leading actors and filmmakers to outlets such as MTV, Bauer, Global, Marie Claire, Loaded, HeyUGuys.com, Fun Kids, W!zard, ITN Productions, MyMovies, Unilad and Joe.co.uk. James is a graduate of University College London (UCL) and Drama Studio London. In addition to his media career, James has extensive PR and business experience and is an actor and filmmaker. He resides in New York City.	View all posts by James Kleinmann
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Theatre Review: Happy Birthday Doug (Soho Playhouse, New York) ★★★★
Netflix Is A Joke Fest to celebrate LGBTQ+ Comedy with STAND OUT


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Real Estate|Building a Horse Farm Barn by Barn
Sketch Pad
Building a Horse Farm Barn by Barn
TAKING ITS MEASURE Patrick Pinnell on his "look see" visit to a 104-acre horse farm in Killingly, Conn.Credit...Wendy Carlson for The New York Times
By Tracie Rozhon
Killingly, Conn.
THE 104-acre piece of land, advertised as a horse farm, is striking, and not just because of the contrast between its pristine nature and its surroundings. It lies down the street from an abandoned discount chain store, across the street from an almost unbroken line of tiny bungalows and old workers' housing.
The property itself is stunning: ribbons of antique stone walls, streams and pine-punctuated meadows, with the right mix of lilt and tilt to the landscape to make it interesting.
In this part of northeastern Connecticut — referred to as "the quiet corner" in tourism advertisements — Patrick Pinnell, an internationally known architect and planner who calls himself "a card-carrying New Urbanist," set out to make something special out of this acreage, currently occupied only by two rather dilapidated barns and a shed.
He wanted to create not just a house but an entire family horse farm, helping those who bought the property — now for sale for $1.5 million — and maybe the town, which wants to regain its past prosperity.
Arriving one icy morning not long ago, Mr. Pinnell hit the ground, not running but clutching a large Google Earth map of the place and already talking about a 20-year plan for the property. "There's a lot of beauty and quiet countryside and villages in this part of the state," he said, "but it's also pretty hardscrabble and has been for close to 100 years."
Patti Brooks, who with her husband, Bob, runs Horse Country Real Estate, said the property, at the corner of Route 101 and Cook Hill Road, was almost sold a few months ago. The prospective buyers "wanted to put a farm store here" and train immigrant workers in farming skills, she said, but that plan didn't work out.
To Mr. Pinnell, the fact that the property was currently a struggling equestrian business was fascinating. "The first thing is to explore making this a destination," he said. He decided right away not to turn one or more of the barns into the main house. Instead, he designed an owner's farmhouse in two phases. If the farm succeeded, Phase 2 would be built.
"If you were the owner, you'd want something nice for yourself, so you could be there to watch the business as it grew," he said, making rough sketches in a leather-bound notebook. "Then maybe some cottages for staff or guests." Responding to a raised eyebrow, he said, "Hey, people have done far crazier things!"
As he explored the old barns, redolent of hay and animals, he spoke of prevailing winds and the ever-present road, with its grinding rumble of cars and tractor-trailers.
To Mr. Pinnell, the farm presented "an exemplary challenge."
"To keep saying 'open space' as a term is maddeningly meaningless," he said. "People in their woozy way repeat like a mantra: 'We've got to preserve open space.' Instead of buying up open space, towns should be figuring out how to turn land into real working land that's in use every day."
As Mr. Pinnell envisions it, the farm would begin to grow from two barns into a complex with an owner's house and workers' housing, above.Credit...Patrick Pinnell Architecture & Town Planning
One week later, back in his office, Mr. Pinnell switched on the big screen of his computer and opened up his leather notebook to show the results of his planning. In the notebook: page after page of finely drawn pencil sketches, showing the 20-year plan for a riding operation — in phases — imagining one owner's progression.
One concept, he said, might be to feature therapeutic riding: using horseback riding as a means of helping autistic or emotionally disturbed children. Besides the horses, there might be other farm animals to play with.
The first stage of the owner's farmhouse would provide a basic but elegant practicality. The second stage would be much more luxurious.
But even before the first nail was pounded on the main house, Mr. Pinnell said, he would put gravel on the existing yards, and create a trellis/screen to delineate the parking yard. At the same time, he would try to salvage the barns.
The main house would be next, in an area west of the barns, 140 feet from the road but still in its sight. The cost would be modest: say, $130,000. "Let's get it up fast," Mr. Pinnell said, "inexpensively but with some dignity."
The architect also planned a distinctive windmill where an old silo used to be, creating an instant landmark, for another $30,000. Other phases would include a stable for the therapy horses. "What I've done," he said, "is design a simple shelter with an L-shaped roof which nestles up to the existing barn and hooks around the corner to define the first courtyard."
Then, with "a big leap in capital," he would build another stable and add an exercise track and yard, and a regulation 80-by-160-foot show arena, which, among other things, could be used for dressage. A stream would be harnessed to make a round pool in the center of the courtyard.
Over the years, plans include adding three 14-by-40-foot prefabricated workers' or students' houses next to the owner's house and even a vegetable-and-jam stand on the roadside.
If the farm is successful, Mr. Pinnell envisions adding the second half of the owner's house, making it "a real party house," he said. But even the first half is distinctive architecturally — and, he says, practical and fun: a party deck sits on the roof of a 14-by-40 foot module, which would be protected from the road (at least visually) by a square tower.
By the time the imaginary owners are ready to embark on Phase 2 of their house, "all you do is slap down two more 14-by-40-foot modules," the architect said. "You get a fireplace, a great hall, a dining room and a much bigger kitchen: Smallbone replaces Ikea."
The style of the house he has created is fascinating — a combination of Greek Revival and the Old West, yet clearly contemporary. His most detailed pencil sketch of the house in his notebook includes an old cowboy, complete with five o'clock shadow and a cheroot, with a grazing horse in the distance.
Perhaps it's meant to be the appaloosa seen grazing in the rocky pasture on that chilly day of his visit.


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Do not use in cases of know sensitivity to any of the ingredients. When using Freederm on the facem take care to keep it away from the eyes and mucous membranes, including those of the nose and mouth. Keep out of reach of children.
Use twice daily as follows. Cleanse the affected affected and surrounding skin thoroughly with soap and warm water. Gently dry and apply a thin layer of Freederm to cover the area.


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Wiz Khalifa Reflects on 5th Anniversary of Kush & Orange Juice
April 14th, 2015 by K104
Miko Lim/Atlantic RecordsToday, April 14, marks five years since Wiz Khalifa released his critically acclaimed project Kush & Orange Juice. To celebrate, the rapper sat down with MTV News to reflect on his breakout mixtape, which he believes filled a void in hip hop.
"It was sort of me coming to change what I had seen and what I knew there was a void in the game of," he says of the project. "That was that ride and smokin' music, that chillin', relaxin' s**t that I do on the everyday anyway. That was my angle when I did that."
The 20-track mixtape earned rave reviews and strengthened the growing buzz surrounding his music.
"It's pretty cool that everybody labels that as my classic," he says. "I put a lot of time and energy into it. To know that it came off exactly how I wanted it to and put me where I wanted to be in my career was really dope."
The set was the third mixtape the rapper released prior to launching his major label debut, Rolling Papers, which spawned the infectious singles "Black and Yellow" and "Roll Up."
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SEAHA Centre for Doctoral Training
Mobile Heritage Lab
SEAHA Sessions 2021
The Mobile Heritage Lab in The Vyne and National Trust
The Mobile Heritage Lab has pitched up at the Vyne as the roof of the National Trust property receives substantial conservation work. The Vyne is a historic country house near Basingstoke in Hampshire; a handsome mixture of 16th century Tudor brickwork and later classical additions. After the winter storms of 2013 uncovered some major leaks the trust decided to initiate a £5.4 million conservation project, the biggest in over 150 years. As well as restoring rotting timber trusses, repairing lead flashings, replacing decayed stone coping and re-tiling the entire roof, this involves the systematic reconstruction of some of the taller chimney stacks, which had begun to lean precipitously. Replacement materials – bricks, stones, slate and tiles (all 71,000 of them!) – were chosen to match the historic fabric as they aged.
Heritage science has played an important role not only in the analysis of materials, but also in engaging the public. The building site has been open to the public during the entire project, with a raised walkway in the scaffolding displaying the changing roofscape from a bird's eye perspective. For the busy spring and summer months of this year, the Oxford Rock Breakdown Laboratory and its SEAHA affiliated students have been spending some weekends on site. With the Mobile Heritage Lab parked in the gardens of the Vyne, visitors have had a chance to come inside and try out a number of scientific instruments used by OxRBL to diagnose and quantify building decay. SEAHA students have spoken to an interested public about the work going on at the Vyne and their own doctoral research. The final public engagement weekend will take place on the 1st and 2nd of July.
For more information about SEAHA and the mobile Heritage Lab, please see below
Header image by Martin Michette


Before today, you could purchase a refurbished iPad or Mac — but not an iPhone — online from Apple. That's changing as the tech company is now offering customers the chance to purchase refurbished iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus online.
9to5 Mac reports that Apple's online refurb store is stocked with iPhones for the first time.
The eight phones listed, which cost either $529 or $589, will save customers an estimated 15% compared to purchasing a brand new device.
According to Apple's website, the refurbished phones are unlocked, SIM-free, include a new battery and outer shell, and come with a one-year factory warranty.
Apple's decision to sell refurbished phones online comes nine months after Apple began accepting trade-ins of newer iPhones with cracked screens and other dings.
Still, 9to5 Mac reports that the phones are probably coming from the company's iPhone Upgrade Program, which likely saw an influx of iPhone 6s devices with the recent release of the iPhone 7.


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HOW LEGAL/FINANCIAL PROBLEMS ARE SOLVED BY NYC CO-OPS AND CONDOS
> LEGAL/FINANCIAL > SANTA WON'T BE BRINGING PROPERTY TAX REFORM THIS YEAR – OR NEXT
Santa Won't Be Bringing Property Tax Reform This Year – or Next
City Council Speaker Corey Johnson says homeowners who are hankering for property tax reform won't get their wish fulfilled this year – and probably not next year, Crain's reports.
Johnson and Mayor Bill de Blasio impaneled a commission last year to study possible reforms. The commission held a round of public hearings, and now its preliminary report is months overdue. "There are some things that are holding it up," Johnson said at a news conference last week. "This is an enormously, enormously complicated issue, and the commission is committed to releasing serious and thoughtful proposals."
Johnson said he believed there was a chance the commission's report might come out next month. But he noted that the state controls the city's levy system and that Albany would have to approve any changes. He maintained that the Legislature probably would not do so until 2021 at the soonest.
"I think it's highly unlikely it will get fixed this (2020) legislative session, because the issue is so complicated," he said. "I hope that we make some very significant changes by the time I am done being speaker." Johnson's term expires at the end of 2021.
Much of the inequity in the current tax law stems from a cap that prevents assessments from rising more than 6 percent in a year, even though property values in certain areas – such as Park Slope, Brooklyn, where de Blasio owns two houses – have increased far more. This has left the owners of buildings in less prosperous neighborhoods – and renters – to pick up much of the city's bills. Many Manhattan co-ops and condos have also benefited from the cap.
De Blasio came into office in 2013 vowing to overhaul the much-criticized system – a promise he repeated during his re-election campaign in 2017 – yet he has battled a lawsuit by a group called Tax Equity Now New York, a coalition of landlords and civil rights groups, that seeks a judicial remedy to what the plaintiffs describe as a racially discriminatory system. De Blasio has said he favors a legislative solution to the problem. Homeowners – including residents of co-ops and condominiums – are advised not to hold their breath.
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DP Jan 15, 2020
Who gets Coop Abatement after sale of the unit, Part 2
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Thinking of buying a co-op or condo? Already bought, and not sure how co-op/condo life and rules work? Learn all about purchasing a place and living in your new community. It's not like renting, and its not like owning a house. What's it like?
Learn all the basics of NYC co-op and condo management, with straight talk from heavy hitters in the field of co-op or condo apartments
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Q: Issue with setImageWithURL AFNetworking success handler Neither the success or failure handler appears to be called when setImageWithURLRequest: is called on my UIImage object. SetImageWithURL does not set my image either. If I use setImageWithURL: placeholder: the placeholder is set but the image from the url never gets set.
Pardon my not posting code sooner. I have tried to use two methods (with AFNetworking) to asynchronously set my image views:
[_imageView setImageWithURL:[NSURL URLWithString:@"path/to/file"]];

[_imageView setImageWithURLRequest:[NSURLRequest requestWithURL:[NSURL URLWithString:@"http://www.example.com/path/to/image.jpg"]] placeholderImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"your_image_here.jpg"] success:^(NSURLRequest *request, NSHTTPURLResponse *response, UIImage *image) {
NSLog(@"Your image request succeeded!");
} failure:^(NSURLRequest *request, NSHTTPURLResponse *response, NSError *error) {
NSLog(@"Your image request failed...");
}];

I have tried having these triggered in viewDidLoad but the image view never loads.
After looking through the actual function declaration of setImageWithURLRequest: and it appears that neither the success or failure block is executed when I call it. I've placed NSLogs in the code to give you guys an idea of what happens:
- (void)setImageWithURLRequest:(NSURLRequest *)urlRequest
      placeholderImage:(UIImage *)placeholderImage
               success:(void (^)(NSURLRequest *request, NSHTTPURLResponse *response, UIImage *image))success
               failure:(void (^)(NSURLRequest *request, NSHTTPURLResponse *response, NSError *error))failure
{
NSLog(@"Log shows");

[self cancelImageRequestOperation];

NSLog(@"Log shows");
UIImage *cachedImage = [[[self class] af_sharedImageCache] cachedImageForRequest:urlRequest];

NSLog(@"Log shows");

if (cachedImage) {
NSLog(@"Log does not show");

self.image = cachedImage;
self.af_imageRequestOperation = nil;

if (success) {
    success(nil, nil, cachedImage);
    NSLog(@"Log does not show");

}
} else {
NSLog(@"Log shows");

self.image = placeholderImage;

AFImageRequestOperation *requestOperation = [[AFImageRequestOperation alloc] initWithRequest:urlRequest];
[requestOperation setCompletionBlockWithSuccess:^(AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation, id responseObject) {
    if ([[urlRequest URL] isEqual:[[self.af_imageRequestOperation request] URL]]) {
        self.image = responseObject;
        self.af_imageRequestOperation = nil;
        NSLog(@"Log does not show");
    }

    if (success) {
        success(operation.request, operation.response, responseObject);
        NSLog(@"Log does not show");
    }

    [[[self class] af_sharedImageCache] cacheImage:responseObject forRequest:urlRequest];

} failure:^(AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation, NSError *error) {
    if ([[urlRequest URL] isEqual:[[self.af_imageRequestOperation request] URL]]) {
        self.af_imageRequestOperation = nil;
        NSLog(@"Log does not show");
    }

    if (failure) {
        failure(operation.request, operation.response, error);
        NSLog(@"Log does not show");
    }

}];

self.af_imageRequestOperation = requestOperation;

[[[self class] af_sharedImageRequestOperationQueue] addOperation:self.af_imageRequestOperation];

A: setImageWithURL: is a UIImageView category and cannot be used for setting a UIImage only used on a UIImageView.
[imageView setImageWithURL:url placeholderImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"placeHolderImage"]];

Here's the documentation: http://engineering.gowalla.com/AFNetworking/Categories/UIImageView(AFNetworking).html

A: Thanks for the help guys but like everyone on here noticed, there was no issue with my code. The issue was actually with regard to ARC. I had it turned off in my AFNetworking files. After turning it on, everything worked just fine.

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Renaissance of Tiffin going mobile with party bus
14-passenger bus available for parties, showers, game days
TIFFIN, OHIO – March 11, 2020 – Looking to take the unique experience of the Renaissance of Tiffin outside of Downtown Tiffin, Owner Dave Spridgeon has purchased a 14-passenger party bus. The bus is available for any private event, such as weddings, bridal showers, bachelor parties, birthday parties, game day trips, winery tours and even hotel transportation.
The Renaissance of Tiffin on Wheels has the same appearance inside as the interior of The Renaissance of Tiffin, located at 129 S. Washington St. All seats recline, there is a big screen TV and a Jensen stereo system as well as special lighting.
"This was an opportunity for me to expand my business and provide a service for the people of Tiffin and Seneca County," Spridgeon said. "I think this is a great addition to the Renaissance's current offerings."
In February, Spridgeon announced that The Renaissance would be adding "The Pink Lady," a pink food truck that on the weekends is to be parked at or near The Renaissance of Tiffin.
The cost is $150/hour with a non-refundable $100 deposit, and the bus is to travel as far as Toledo, Columbus and Cleveland. For reservations, call (419) 722-3394, email at tiffinrenaissancedave@gmail.com or find The Renaissance of Tiffin on Wheels on Facebook.
About Downtown Tiffin
The revitalization of downtown Tiffin began in 2011, when a group of community members came together to for "Tiffin Tomorrow", with the goal of promoting and encouraging economic development in downtown Tiffin, and creating plans, programs and actions to ensure long-term vitality and prosperity. In 2014, the city of Tiffin contracted with SIEDC to act as the downtown organization and "Tiffin Tomorrow" came under the SIEDC umbrella as the "Downtown Development Committee," which serves as the governing board of the downtown organization. In 2015, Tiffin joined Heritage Ohio's Ohio Main Street Program. For more information, click here.
96 S Washington St, Suite A
Tiffin, Ohio 44883
© TSEP. All rights reserved.


follow the traffic regulations, that the at-fault driver failed to uphold this duty of care, through negligence, and that this is what caused the incident and the injuries and damages concerned. Most commonly, auto accidents are caused by speeding, distracted driving, aggressive driving, drowsy driving, drunk driving, and following too close. Many of these auto accident causes can easily be proven through the available evidence. Others are not as simple and will require a more in depth investigation to determine liability.


Don't see a posting that you're looking for? We accept general applications on an on-going basis. Please send a resume and cover letter to careers@trufflesgroup.com. Typical opportunities include service, sales, cashier, operations and kitchen support.


This list includes information for Georgia Tech women interested in computing including career opportunities and special events. Club membership and CoC student status are not required.
To see the collection of prior postings to the list, visit the uWomen Archives.
To post a message to all the list members, send email to uwomen@mailman.cc.gatech.edu.
Subscribe to uWomen by filling out the following form. You will be sent email requesting confirmation, to prevent others from gratuitously subscribing you. This is a private list, which means that the list of members is not available to non-members.


Quality content for SEO is fast replacing all those old, slightly dubious, techniques. Some still cling to these tricks but Google is finding ways of rooting them out and downgrading the websites that use them. While there are still plenty of technical challenges and work to be done on the latest SEO techniques, quality content for SEO must play a major part in your strategy.
Defining quality content is a little harder to do in practice. Some SEOs say there are a minimum number of words per page with 300 often mentioned as a benchmark. Some will encourage website owners to write even more and target 1000 words and above. The problem with this approach is that it's scatter gun and takes no account of the user and what they want to know from a web page: a simple query about a product feature or Actor's name can often be answered in a single sentence. Padding out the content with extra words does not necessarily equate to a better user experience.
The other term we all use is 'Relevance' but again this is hard to define and a poor quality page can appear to be relevant.
So how do you write quality content and what guidance is available?
It is in Google's commercial interest to encourage a better Internet that keeps people using the search engine by finding relevant websites that help them. By detecting quality content on website pages and boosting them in search results, Google is keeping people using it and coming back for more.
As you might expect Google issues a lot of guidance related quality websites. The most recent was released in March 2016 Search Quality Rating Program document which is guidance issued to their human testers.
A satisfying amount of high quality MC (main content).
A more constructive approach is to think about your typical users and, if necessary, split them up into different groups and design content to meet their needs.
If you offer goods or services then how are your pages going to solve a problem of help a search engine user.
Know query, some of which are Know Simple queries – "how tall is XYZ" or "what is the XYZ company's stock price".
Do query, some of which are Device Action queries – purchasing but also downloading, obtaining or interacting using a web page – I want to buy XYZ etc.
Website query, when the user is looking for a specific website or webpage.
Visit-in-person query, some of which are looking for a specific business or organization, some of which are looking for a category of businesses – e.g. locksmith in XYZ, locksmith near me etc.
Broken links – crawl your site using tools like Xenu or Screaming Frog to find and remove broken or outdated links.
Wrong information – Check your facts and make sure they're accurate and well referenced.
Grammatical mistakes – Write your blog articles in Word or other good Word processor first.
Spelling mistakes – Use spell-check or an editor.
Reading level – You should be adjusting your reading level based on your target audience and the intent of the query.
Page load speed – optimise images, code and web hosting for fast loading.
Matching the user intent with the purpose of a page and type of content expected.
Authority and comprehensiveness – Keep reading and updating when needed.
Focus on these points and you will produce high quality content that will beat your competition.


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Denver,
New Low-Cost Non-Stop Flights in Harrisburg, Penn. - Fly with fares as low as $29
FRONTIER AIRLINES ANNOUNCES NEW SERVICE IN HARRISBURG, PENN.
NEW LOW FARE FLIGHTS TO DENVER; ORLANDO, FLA and RALEIGH/DURHAM N.C.
HARRISBURG, PENN. – Low-Cost Carrier, Frontier Airlines announces new low fare, non-stop flights from Harrisburg International Airport. Beginning in July, the airline will introduce the only nonstop service to Denver and Raleigh/Durham; Beginning in August, Frontier will also add the only nonstop service to traveler's preferred Orlando airport, Orlando International Airport. The airline revealed the destinations today at an event with airport officials. To celebrate the introduction of these flights Frontier is offering special introductory one-way fares as low as $29.
"We are proud to return to Harrisburg," said Jonathan Freed, Director of Corporate Communications – Frontier Airlines. "With our new flights to Denver, Orlando, and Raleigh, we are making air travel more accessible and affordable for travelers to and from Harrisburg and the surrounding area. We look forward to serving this community with our unique brand of Low Fares Done Right."
"We are thrilled to welcome Frontier Airlines back to Harrisburg International Airport," said Timothy J. Edwards, executive director. "The return of Frontier's low fares and nonstop flights to Denver and Orlando International will be extremely popular throughout all of central Pennsylvania. Nonstop flights to Raleigh-Durham will save travelers hours and hours of driving between our regions on busy and congested highways. Thanks to Frontier, later this summer more travelers will save Money, Distance and Time when choosing to fly from Harrisburg International Airport."
Summary of New Service:
HARRISBURG (MDT) to/from DENVER (DEN)
F9 165 Depart MDT: 4:44 p.m. Arrive DEN: 6:36 p.m.
F9 164 Depart DEN: 6:30 a.m. Arrive MDT: 11:52 a.m.
Service Start: July 21
HARRISBURG (MDT) to/from ORLANDO (MCO)
F9 1227 Depart MDT: 7:50 p.m. Arrive MCO: 10:21 p.m.
F9 1226 Depart MCO: 4:40 p.m. Arrive MDT: 7 p.m.
Service Start: August 13
HARRISBURG (MDT) to/from RALEIGH/DURHAM (RDU)
F9 1183 Depart MDT: 12:42 p.m. Arrive RDU: 1:56 p.m.
F9 1182 Depart RDU: 2:46 p.m. Arrive MDT: 3:54 p.m.
Frontier is focused on offering customers real choice and the ability to customize their travel to their needs and budget. For example, customers can purchase travel options like bags and seat selections either a la carte or in one low-priced bundle called the WORKSsm. The Works bundle is considered one of the best values in the industry and offers customers full refundability, a carry-on bag, a checked bag, the best available seat (including exit rows and Stretch seating), waived change fees and priority boarding for as low as $59 each way. The Works is only available at FlyFrontier.com.
New Market Intro Fares announced 4APR18 MDT
Fares must be purchased by 11:59 pm Eastern time on Apr. 6, 2018 for nonstop travel. Fares are valid Wednesdays unless otherwise specified below:
Fare valid
TO FL SUN AND TUES
FROM FL TUES AND THURS


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Sailing Into the Storm
Announcement: Cru Singapore Leadership Transition
Lord, I Need an Answer!
Changing the Way We Think
Redeeming Our Families
Need a Heart Transplant, Anyone?
No More Lonely Nights
Peace for the Troubled Soul
God's Invitation to us for the New Year
Life's Greatest "Show and Tell"
God Moves in Mysterious Ways
For How Long, O Lord?
Planning for a heavenly party
Battling the voices in our hearts
What's Hanging On Your Door?
Handling Life's Disruptions
Returning To The Good Old Days
God's Preoccupation With Us
Turning Sorrow to Songs of Joy
Over the last fourteen years, I have had the privilege of leading Cru Singapore. It has been a most rewarding God-given assignment, seeing first-hand the global advancement of the Gospel and hearing countless stories of life change.
My leadership journey has pushed me into many faith adventures and given me opportunities to experience God's grace and faithfulness through the highs and lows. Through it all, I am grateful for the chance to learn and grow.
Leadership succession and renewal is key in any organisation. In 2018, after 12 years at the helm, I felt led by God to start transiting out of my role as Country Leader. I sought the counsel of Cru's global leaders, Cru Asia Limited (CAL) Board of Directors and my leadership team. They resonated with my desire and were supportive. In 2019, Cru's global leadership and CAL Board launched a selection process to identify and interview potential candidates.
I am pleased and delighted to advise that the board has appointed Goh Hock Chye as Cru Singapore's Country Leader Designate. Hock Chye will assume the role on 1 October 2020. Hock Chye's involvement in Cru started from his days at National University of Singapore and he has been a staff member of Cru Singapore since 1995. He was appointed the organisation's Head of Operations in 2006, and has been serving as Deputy Country Leader since the start of the year. He, his wife Peh Muay and their three lovely daughters Dorothy, Tiffany and Christabel worship at Bethesda (Bedok-Tampines) Church, where he is also serving as an Elder and co-leading a cluster of eight cell groups with Peh Muay.
Hock Chye's astute mind in problem-solving and wisdom in managing people have helped shape our operations into a best-practice model within Cru's global movement. He was enrolled in the year-long Lake Hart Stint Programme at Cru's Global HQ in Orlando, Florida, from 2009 to 2010, which afforded him great takeaways from exposure to the work being done there.
To facilitate a smooth and seamless handover, I have been sharing various aspects of my current roles and responsibilities with him, and coaching him in the intricacies of the role.
I will remain on staff with Cru after the handover, and am looking forward to serving and contributing in another role.
In the meantime, we covet your prayers for a God-honouring transition during this critical period.
Lam Kok Hiang
Country Leader
Latest Stories in From the National Director
Find out the journey of our incoming National Director, Goh Hock Chye, that led to him assuming this great leadership responsibility.
Staying the course requires us to remain faithful to our calling and mission. Especially during this time of transition, this is exactly what Cru Singapore intends to do.
With various storms that seem to be swirling around us, what is the perspective that we should be taking through this?


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Justin Bieber Has Legal Proof That Those Calvin Klein Ads Are Real
The images – and even the package – are all real.
Britt Julious 01/11/2015
Who knew #myCalvins would be so controversial?
What started as a simple photo shoot featuring a re-branded Justin Bieber in his Calvin Klein tighty whiteys has spiraled into photoshop allegations ... and a potential lawsuit.
According to TMZ, Justin's legal team sent a letter threatening to BreatheHeavy.com, the original source of the now-infamous photoshop GIF, with a defamation lawsuit. Justin's team claimed the "before" image BreatheHeavy posted was a fake and they wanted a retraction of their claims.
After some cajoling, BreatheHeavy finally agreed. In a statement on their site, they said:
"Because BreatheHeavy is not about making anyone feel bad or intentionally stirring the pot (and are definitely not here for lawsuits), we shall retract the story per request. Bieber denies the photo is real, and I respect that and will believe him."
And claims that Justin is less than packing? Well, count those out, too. His trainer, Patrick Nilsson cleared the air on Access Hollywood, claiming, "I can definitely confirm that he is a well-endowed guy. I sound weird saying that, but yes."
I guess if anyone would have intimate knowledge of Justin's body, it would be the man that helped shape it.
This shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. Earlier this week, we asked a photoshop professional who agreed that the "unretouched" image was not the real deal. Now, the truth has been revealed.
In the meantime, the team at Calvin Klein has come out in full support of Justin's jawdropping photo shoot and behavior on the set. Knocking down rumors that Justin was difficult to work with, Melisa Goldie, Chief Marketing Officer at Calvin Klein told Us Weekly that, "Justin showed up early every day with amazing energy; he completely trusted us and gave it his all."
We've always been pro-Bieber photo shoot, but Goldie says the whole Calvin Klein team is pleased with the shoot too. "We are incredibly proud of the final images and how they portray Justin and Lara," she said. "This campaign will definitely make history."
Consider this a win for Justin!


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Q: Sci-fi book opening with the description of a big spaceship wandering in space Several years ago I ran into a sci-fi book in a hotel lobby, the book started something like this:

The ship was big, very big, no one knew how big it really was, it wandered in space...

This is not an actual quote, it is just a vague memory - but the general direction is correct, I believe.

A: If all you remember is the opening line identifying the book is going to be fairly difficult. With that being said The Greatship by Robert Reed is about a very large ship and I vaguely recall the beginning of one of them describing the ship in a somewhat similar way to what you remember.

Since the beginning of the universe, the giant starship wandered the emptiest reaches of space, without crew or course, much less any clear purpose. But humans found the relic outside the Milky Way, and after taking possession, they named their prize the Great Ship and embarked on a bold voyage through the galaxy's civilized hearts.
Larger than worlds, the Great Ship is laced with caverns and oceans, scenes of exalted beauty and corners where no creature has ever stood. Habitats can be created for every intelligent species, provided that the passengers can pay for the honor of a berth, and the human captains make the rules and dispense the justice in what soon becomes thousands of alien species joined a wild, unpredictable journey.


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Parents in India mistake their baby's parasitic twin for a stomach tumour
Parents from India were surprised to find out their baby boy had a parasitic twin living in his stomach
When Ranjubala and Satyendra Yadav of Bihar, India had a new baby, they had no way of knowing that they actually had twins. At first, the couple thought a tumour was growing out of their baby boy's stomach. But it turned out to be a parasitic twin, another child who didn't survive.
They first noticed that their 3-month-old baby had a painful swollen stomach, reports say, which prompted them to seek medical help.
Doctors then examined the baby's kidney mass to treat the stomach swelling it caused.
After deciding to do surgery, doctors found the parasitic twin was masking itself as a tumour.
The baby boy's twin had eyes and skin when doctors found him, and weighed two pounds.
Reports say that the surgery to remove the parasitic twin was successful. The unnamed 3-month-old is recovering well.
Image source: SWNS
Parasitic twin or "foetus in fetu"
Parasitic or Heteropagus Twins are asymmetrically conjoined identical twins.
In the simplest of terms, a parasitic twin is a defective twin who relies on their "healthy twin" to survive.
Experts liken this to "vanishing twin syndrome," or the condition that occurs when a twin disappears from the uterus. Ultrasounds or placental examination usually confirm this diagnosis.
Chromosomal problems and improper cord implantation are suspected to play a role, but the exact cause of this condition is still unknown.
Parasitic twin: Causes and Risk Factors
This rare syndrome occurs in 1 in every 1 million live births. It happens when twins don't separate while in the womb.
As a result of this, the healthy twin absorbs the underdeveloped one as a part of its own body. In some cases, the more developed twin absorbs multiple siblings.
This phenomenon has been a fascinating subject for researchers for over a century.
Past research has linked parasitic twinning to a protein deficiency during growth and development in utero.
The confusion between tumours and parasitic twins is understandable. Take the case of a 26-year-old in Los Angeles, who developed a teratoma that doctors later found had grown hair, bone, and teeth.
Though a baby can grow into adulthood with this condition, it also poses certain risks like Twin Reversed Arterial Perfusion or TRAP sequence, which results in heart failure.
Though this phenomenon has been happening since the 1700s, more research needs to be done to further understand why this happens.
sources: BabyMed.com, The Guardian, New York Post, Medical Daily, American Pregnancy Association
READ THIS ALSO: Can this common vitamin really prevent miscarriages and birth defects?
Bianchi Mendoza
Newborn Baby Found 'Pregnant' With Her Parasitic Twin
What is vanishing twin syndrome: Causes, symptoms and diagnosis
Parasitic eye infection in child highlights need for hygiene when playing with pets


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Home » Sharper Iron — The Faithful Watchman: Access to God's Holiness in Jesus
Sharper Iron — The Faithful Watchman: Access to God's Holiness in Jesus
https://kfuo-od.streamguys1.com/recast/sharper-iron/20211117120457-SI_Nov_17_2021.mp3
Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller, pastor at St. Paul and Jesus Deaf Lutheran Churches in Austin, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Ezekiel 41:1-26.
Ezekiel's vision of the new temple continues into the temple itself, the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. Though some of the details can be difficult to ascertain, the main promise is certain. To exiles living in Babylon, the LORD gives His assurance that He can get to where His people are. The descriptions of cherubim and palm trees adorning this temple hearken back to the Garden of Eden; the LORD brings His people back to Himself and dwells with them as their God in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
"The Faithful Watchman" is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the book of Ezekiel. Just when Ezekiel should have begun his service as priest in the temple in Jerusalem, the LORD called him to be a prophet in exile in Babylon. Through fantastic visions and attention-grabbing action prophecies, the prophet Ezekiel is a faithful watchman who proclaims the word of the LORD to bring people to repentance over their sins and to faith in the coming Savior, Jesus Christ, the glory of the LORD made flesh.
The Inner Temple
41 Then he brought me to the nave and measured the jambs. On each side six cubits[a] was the breadth of the jambs.[b] 2 And the breadth of the entrance was ten cubits, and the sidewalls of the entrance were five cubits on either side. And he measured the length of the nave,[c] forty cubits, and its breadth, twenty cubits. 3 Then he went into the inner room and measured the jambs of the entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the sidewalls on either side[d] of the entrance, seven cubits. 4 And he measured the length of the room, twenty cubits, and its breadth, twenty cubits, across the nave. And he said to me, "This is the Most Holy Place."
5 Then he measured the wall of the temple, six cubits thick, and the breadth of the side chambers, four cubits, all around the temple. 6 And the side chambers were in three stories, one over another, thirty in each story. There were offsets[e] all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side chambers, so that they should not be supported by the wall of the temple. 7 And it became broader as it wound upward to the side chambers, because the temple was enclosed upward all around the temple. Thus the temple had a broad area upward, and so one went up from the lowest story to the top story through the middle story. 8 I saw also that the temple had a raised platform all around; the foundations of the side chambers measured a full reed of six long cubits. 9 The thickness of the outer wall of the side chambers was five cubits. The free space between the side chambers of the temple and the 10 other chambers was a breadth of twenty cubits all around the temple on every side. 11 And the doors of the side chambers opened on the free space, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south. And the breadth of the free space was five cubits all around.
12 The building that was facing the separate yard on the west side was seventy cubits broad, and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length ninety cubits.
13 Then he measured the temple, a hundred cubits long; and the yard and the building with its walls, a hundred cubits long; 14 also the breadth of the east front of the temple and the yard, a hundred cubits.
15 Then he measured the length of the building facing the yard that was at the back and its galleries[f] on either side, a hundred cubits.
The inside of the nave and the vestibules of the court, 16 the thresholds and the narrow windows and the galleries all around the three of them, opposite the threshold, were paneled with wood all around, from the floor up to the windows (now the windows were covered), 17 to the space above the door, even to the inner room, and on the outside. And on all the walls all around, inside and outside, was a measured pattern.[g] 18 It was carved of cherubim and palm trees, a palm tree between cherub and cherub. Every cherub had two faces: 19 a human face toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side. They were carved on the whole temple all around. 20 From the floor to above the door, cherubim and palm trees were carved; similarly the wall of the nave.
21 The doorposts of the nave were squared, and in front of the Holy Place was something resembling 22 an altar of wood, three cubits high, two cubits long, and two cubits broad.[h] Its corners, its base,[i] and its walls were of wood. He said to me, "This is the table that is before the Lord." 23 The nave and the Holy Place had each a double door. 24 The double doors had two leaves apiece, two swinging leaves for each door. 25 And on the doors of the nave were carved cherubim and palm trees, such as were carved on the walls. And there was a canopy[j] of wood in front of the vestibule outside. 26 And there were narrow windows and palm trees on either side, on the sidewalls of the vestibule, the side chambers of the temple, and the canopies.
Ezekiel 41:1 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
Ezekiel 41:1 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew tent
Ezekiel 41:2 Hebrew its length
Ezekiel 41:3 Septuagint; Hebrew and the breadth
Ezekiel 41:6 Septuagint, compare 1 Kings 6:6; the meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
Ezekiel 41:15 The meaning of the Hebrew term is unknown; also verse 16
Ezekiel 41:17 Hebrew were measurements
Ezekiel 41:22 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks two cubits broad
Ezekiel 41:22 Septuagint; Hebrew length
Ezekiel 41:25 The meaning of the Hebrew word is unknown; also verse 26
Tags Babylon Bryan Wolfmueller Christ confess exile Ezekiel Ezekiel 41 Faith featured Glory God Holiness holy place Jesus Jesus Christ Most Holy Place Pastors priest prophecies Prophet Repentance temple The Faithful Watchman Timothy Appel Vision watchman
Oratio: Seek and Save the Lost
The Coffee Hour - Serving the Lord in Asia


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Subpages for Speakers:
Read the Main Report Papers in the current edition of Folia Click here for further information
OR if you are a member of IALP – log in here to access the content
During the congress our three main reporters/plenary speakers will be presenting on the themes:
Monday 22nd August
Language Impairment: Considering Resilience as well as Risk
Prof Gina Conti-Ramsden
Gina is currently Professor of Child Language and Learning at the University of Manchester, UK. She did her first degree in Psychology in New York followed by a Masters in Linguistics from Cambridge. She then focused on child language development and impairments obtaining both her clinical qualification as a speech and language therapist and her Ph.D. in Communication Disorders from the University of Texas at Dallas, USA. Gina is the director of the nationwide longitudinal study of language impairment (LI) that has been following individuals from 7 years of age to adult life. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and Academician of the Social Sciences.
Gina also has an interest in the interface between clinical practice and research. She is
founder member of the RALLI campaign to raise awareness of language learning impairments
(www.youtube.com/RALLIcampaign).
click here to learn more about Prof Conti-Ramsdens presentation at IALP Dublin 2016
Discussants
Fiona Gibbon, University College Cork, Ireland
Julie Dockrell, University College London, UK
Academic Chair
Martine Smith, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Tuesday 23rd August
Neuroscientific Implications in Assessment and Intervention for Aphasia
Prof Linda Worrall
Professor Worrall is a speech pathologist who researches rehabilitation of aphasia after stroke and has been a Co-Director of the Communication Disability Centre since 1997. She has applied the WHO ICF to research in a range of disabilities, but has a particular interest in aphasia rehabilitation. In 2009 she was awarded a 5 year NHMRC CCRE in Aphasia Rehabilitation and leads the national research effort towards developing an Australian Aphasia Rehabilitation Pathway. In 2014 Professor Worrall was the recipient of The Robin Tavistock Award for her outstanding contribution to aphasia research.
Philippe Paquier, Hôpital Erasme ULB, Brussels
Anu Klippi, University of Helsinki, Finland
Pam Enderby, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom
Expanding Instrumental Options for Dysphagia Diagnosis and Research: Ultrasound and Manometry
Prof Maggie-Lee Huckabee
Maggie-Lee Huckabee, PhD practiced as a clinician for 13 years before the frustration of never knowing 'the answers' led her to an academic career. She is now associate professor in the Department of Communication Disorders, University of Canterbury and Director of the newly opened UC Rose Centre for Stroke Recovery and Research in Christchurch, New Zealand. She still hasn't found 'The Answers' but is trying, with research interests focusing on the complexities of behaviorally-driven neural adaptation and biomechanical change leading to swallowing recovery. Dr. Huckabee has a great time supervising terrific, emerging researchers, overseeing a busy laboratory and enjoying the beauty of New Zealand with dogs at her feet and a good pinot noir in her hand.
click here to learn more about Prof Huckabees presentation at IALP Dublin 2016
Nadine Connor, University of Wisconsin, USA
Deborah Theodoros, University of Queensland, Australia
Margaret Walshe, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland


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Keeping your cat on a balanced diet is vital to their overall health and wellness. And because every cat is different, their food is available in many different textures, ingredients and flavors. So, how do you find the best cat food? Although there are several different types of cat food available, the most popular choices tend to be dry, wet, or grain-free cat food. While each type will provide your cat with a nutritious diet, one option may outshine the others when it comes down to your pet's specific needs. The best way to decide is to consider your lifestyle, consult your vet, and check out reviews and ratings.
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Nobel Awarded to Researcher Who Redefined Crystalline
Home / Blogs / Anonymous's blog / Nobel Awarded to Researcher Who Redefined Crystalline
13 October 0 0
Yesterday, the Physics Nobel Prize went to a group of researchers who found that what we expected about something as basic as the structure of the universe was wrong. Today, the Chemistry Prize has gone to a lone researcher who overturned something even more basic: His discovery of what's now termed a quasicrystal actually triggered the redefinition of what a crystalline solid is.
It's easy to find a representation of a typical crystal in any chemistry textbook, which will typically show an orderly arrangement of atoms, spreading out to infinity. These crystals, which are as easy to find as looking in the nearest salt shaker, look the same no matter which direction you look at them. There are a limited number of ways to build something with that sort of symmetry, and chemists had pretty much figured they identified all of them. In fact, theInternational Union of Crystallography had defined a crystal as, "a substance in which the constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are packed in a regularly ordered, repeating three-dimensional pattern."
Enter Israel's Daniel Shechtman, who was working with a rapidly cooled aluminum alloy with about 10 to 15 percent manganese mixed in. Shechtman put his sample under an electron microscope to generate a diffraction pattern, in which electrons are bounced off the atoms in an orderly crystal structure, creating a bunch of bright and dark regions that tell us about the positions of the atoms themselves. The diffraction pattern Shechtman saw, shown above, didn't make any sense — it showed a tenfold symmetry, something that any chemist, including Shechtman, would know was impossible.
The exclamation points in Shechtman's notebook. Image: Iowa State University
In fact, his notebook, which is also still around, has three question marks next to the point where he noted the sample's tenfold symmetry.
His boss apparently thought he had lost it and, according to the Nobel's press information, bought Shechtman a crystallography handbook to tell him what he already knew. But Shechtman was persistent, and sent his data to others in the field, some of whom took it seriously.
Fortunately, there was some precedent for the sorts of patterns he was seeing. Mathematicians had studied Medieval Islamic tiling that contained repeated patterns that lacked symmetries, and had developed methods of describing them. This Penrose tiling (named after Roger Penrose, a British mathematician) could also be used to describe the sorts of patterns Shechtman was seeing in his crystals.
Despite the mathematical backing, Shechtman's first publication on the topic met fierce resistance from some in the crystallography community, including Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling. What gradually won the day for him was the fact that other researchers were able to quickly publish related quasicrystalline structures — some of them may have actually seen this years earlier, but didn't know what to make of the data, so they left it in the file drawer.
Enough labs published results that it became impossible to contend that they all needed a remedial trip to a crystallography textbook, and the consensus in the field went in Shechtman's favor. Eventually, the International Union of Crystallography even changed its definition of a crystal to accommodate what was once thought to be impossible. And, more recently, researchers have even described a naturally occurring quasicrystal.
The Nobel Prize literature cites a number of interesting properties of these substances that might eventually be turned into useful materials. Quasicrystals, even purely metallic ones, tend to be very hard (although prone to fracturing). Their unusual structures make them poor conductors of heat and electricity, and can help create a nonstick surface. There is some hope that, because of their poor heat conductivity, they'll make good materials for converting temperature differences directly to electricity, allowing the harvesting of waste heat.
Still, the Prize isn't being awarded because quasicrystals could have commercial applications. Instead, it's being awarded because Shechtman demonstrated that he could reliably reproduce what we once thought was impossible.
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The UK has a mixed record when it comes to developing anti-poverty strategies. There is a lot to welcome in the Welsh Government's new Child Poverty Strategy 2015 but still more to be done around the detail.
Following a lengthy consultation process, the writers of the new strategy have tried to build on their 2011 version – reiterating the ambition to eradicate child poverty by 2020 while seeking to reflect the developments since 2011, such as new Welsh legislation on housing and social care, new approaches to health practice and regeneration, and the impact of austerity and welfare reform.
Notably, the strategy reaffirms its commitment to a wider resources definition of poverty, acknowledging JRF's argument that "the cost, availability and quality of essential goods and services also matters" and "a look at expenditure, as well as income, can help to better understand issues such as debt or the longevity of poverty".
There are also, for the first time, objectives on in-work poverty and on household incomes, the latter bringing together action on the 'poverty premium', mitigating the impact of welfare reform and financial advice. The importance of engaging with the private sector is more fully recognised, as is the need to integrate action on poverty better with economic strategy, with the caveat that some of the main levers remain with the UK-wide government.
The strategy is open about the fact that more needs to be done to understand the relationship between the government's preferred indicators ('fewer children in workless households, supporting people into employment, supporting second earners into work, fewer young people who are not in education, employment or training, tackling health and educational inequalities and increasing the number of adults with basic skills) and the headline rate of child poverty. JRF is undertaking similar modelling work as part of its efforts to develop a comprehensive anti-poverty strategy.
A better understanding of how the key trends affect the headline rate will, in turn, inform the development of a series of interim outcomes and milestones. The government hopes these will galvanise further cross-departmental action – the strategy admits more of this is needed. Exactly how this is to be done is only partially set out. The strategy includes examples of action but this is only a beginning. The same applies to the renewed emphasis on issues such as childcare and food poverty.
A strong feature continues to be action on early years and education, although real progress on narrowing the attainment gap is proving much tougher than research might have indicated. Clearly this is not just a matter of new funding streams and programmes but about thinking through how a complex set of factors both inside and outside of the classroom coalesce.
The evaluation of the 2011 strategy referred to the challenge for the Welsh Government of achieving a scale of action that would make a big difference, given that the main fiscal and benefit levers lie elsewhere. This strategy reaffirms the commitment to a whole government response but is again also open about its limits. Whether it can make a real impact on the stubbornly high figure of 31 per cent of children in Wales in poverty will depend on detail yet to come as well as the quality and scale of implementation. But our research suggests that there is scope for meaningful action even within the limits of the current devolution framework and structural weaknesses in the Welsh labour market.
JRF is represented on the Welsh Government's Tackling Poverty External Advisory Group. The 2015 Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion in Wales report will be published this autumn.


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Magazines Music
FACT Magazine – Issue 004 (Rabit)
Over the last 20 years, Fact magazine has operated at the intersection between electronic music and cutting edge contemporary art. A part of The Vinyl Factory Group, Fact engages with a global audience of over 1million readers via its audio visual online channel, and is now relanching its much loved print magazine in a new format this year. Each issue will launch in tandem with a major exhibition at 180 The Strand, curated and presented by Fact.
Fact's Fall/Winter '22 issue explores how artificial intelligence is being used by artists in unconventional, exciting ways.
Rabit, VTSS, Richard Mosse and Universal Everything feature on the covers of the fourth print edition of Fact, an ever-evolving platform for artists working at the intersection of the physical and virtual, pushing creativity in new, often unexpected, directions.
The issue explores the artists behind our two new exhibitions at 180 Studios: Richard Mosse, whose mesmerising new A/V work Broken Spectreplaces the viewer directly in the climate emergency red zone of the Amazon; and digital art collective Universal Everything, whose show Lifeforms is an amalgam of unpredictable, generative pieces and installations that mirror and shift with time and the public's interactions.
Tag:FACT Magazine
Kraftwerk: Future Music from Germany
The story of the phenomenon that is Kraftwerk, and how they revolutionised our cultural landscape. 'We are not artists nor musicians. We are workers.' Ignoring nearly all rock traditions, expermenting in near-total secrecy in their Düsseldorf studio, Kraftwerk fused sound and technology, graphic design and performance, modernist Bauhaus aesthetics and Rhineland industrialisation – even human […]
Daft Punk – We Were The Robots (A Disco Pogo Tribute)
Disco Pogo is the new, bi-annual, electronic music magazine from the original founders of seminal 90s title Jockey Slut.
Art - Culture & Lifestyle - Music
Record Culture Magazine, Issue 10
Record Culture Magazine is a bi-annual publication that focuses on niche music communities around the world and their intersection with the worlds of art, fashion and culture. Led by in-depth interviews, image portfolios and photography that gives a unique view into homes and studio spaces. In this issue: Featuring DJ Harvey, Sofie, Jun Takahashi, Ziggy Devriendt, […]
Mars by 1980: The Story of Electronic Music
In Mars By 1980, David Stubbs charts the evolution of electronic music from the earliest mechanical experiments in the late nineteenth century, through to the familiar sounds of electronica, house and techno that we know today. It's a tale of mavericks and future dreamers overcoming Luddite resistance, malfunctioning devices, and sonic mayhem. The be- ginnings […]


The first of September is a very special day to those who follow or, you know, live and breathe the Harry Potter fandom. At precisely 11 a.m., the Hogwarts Express departs from platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station, and begins it's journey back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
We've seen Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the gang head out to school on multiple occasions, but today marks a very special day for our Potter family.
Harry and Ginny's eldest child embarks on his first trip to school.
Every year September 1st is a day of fandom celebration, but today is extra special because Hogwarts will have a new young Potter roaming it's halls. We wish him, along with all new recruits, many adventures and magical memories.
I'm guessing that Jo must have spies on campus, as she has gifted us with plentiful tidbits about today's goings on at Hogwarts.
James has been sorted into Gryffindor, while Teddy Lupin has been crowned Head Boy for Huffelpuff!
Previous Previous post: Speak, fan, and enter.


The need for companionship is overwhelming.
Well I have another headache, but this time I don't know whether it really is from crying, or from dehydration. Also I'm really warm, which is unusual for me; normally I am cold and prefer being cold. I wonder if I am becoming sick?
I attempted to work on my to-do list today, but only got one thing halfway done. I just don't have the desire to do anything.
I'm looking up counseling stuff for me, and have only found online stuff and a really expensive boarding house so far. I am in need of ideas, so if you have any let me know.
Well I suppose that is all for today. I have decided to try and include a random French word that is one my mind at the end of each post, so here's the first one!
I am not sure if my grandma really is in heaven. She said she was a Christian, but as far as I know she only believed in good works. It's really hard not knowing.


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Blackthorn Arts Corporate combines its early experience as the event entertainers with its passion today for event planning and management. As ever, our motto, 'at the heart of live entertainment' continues to produce imaginative events and performances and as we continue to grow we remain passionate about the quality and service we offer our clients. To hear more about our Blackthorn Arts Corporate please contact us today.


A little over three years ago marked the turning point in my career that I now think of as 'The Before' and 'The After'. In 2014 I joined an NHS funded caseloading model of midwifery care, providing continuity of care to women from early pregnancy progressing through to a few weeks after birth.
It was, for want of a better word, astonishing. Personally and professionally, it tilted my world on its axis as I found my feet giving everything (and more) you might expect to providing continuity through such an intense time. On-calls and long hours and the utter joy and exhaustion that becomes your normal rhythm of existence. The by-product (see also: central aim and incredible privilege) of such an extraordinary life is the deep and enduring connection forged with women and their families, and the opportunity to help women discover a different story than the one they're so often told.
Louise and her family are one such story; memorable and beautiful as she grew and birthed her second baby; a gorgeous, healthy boy. Every woman educates a midwife, changes her a little, gives some extra or a differing perspective. But I feel that you, Louise, and your children, have left footprints on my practice, and my heart, a little more than most.
I met you early in your second trimester, and from then onwards we did The Great Unpacking that so frequently needs to happen after a challenging first birth. We began to build a trust and an understanding through talking and tea and my searching hands over a stretching belly.
I know that you were anxious. I know that you found the emotional and physical demands of this pregnancy so difficult at times. I know that it was challenging to even put your mind to anything related to giving birth.
Slowly, you got there. Made plans through the discussions (and the tea). We discussed different eventualities; came to a plan you'd be happy with, only to have that removed at the last minute due to the pressures, protocols and non-individualised, rigid styles of care that underpin most elements of modern midwifery and obstetric practice. And yet, you were sure of what you wanted, had come to a place where you had started to trust your own self again, that knowing, inner voice that had been so brutally silenced before. Negotiated and planned and dealt with what must have been an alarming change in the game, with such grace.
Soon after, the sleepy side of midnight, during a December cloaked, damp night, the call came through. Your labour had begun, and please could I come?
I arrived just as your girl needed you, had woken, unsettled by the activity. When you returned downstairs I could see the change; an obvious intensifying of your labour dance.
Shortly after, it became obvious that we'd all be meeting this boy in a shorter amount of time than your plans had really accommodated for. Scrabbling ensued; childcare, car packing, phone calls.
And then, a solitary, revealing little sound; the beginnings of a push during this fierce storm of labour, rocking and rolling through you. I saw you grapple with it, fight with it almost, wanting to surrender yet not quite reaching it as all of the carefully thought-out months of plans unspooled between us.
I wonder if you knew how powerful you were then; made vulnerable simultaneously by the demons of trauma, by a forceful cocktail of labour hormones, by the relentless squeezing of your body. And still you carried on. You reasoned and you listened and you breathed and eventually, finally, trusted; gritted your teeth in determination, began to heave a baby through your pelvis. Oh the strength of it! I am always awed by it, but to see it in you at that moment in that circumstance; brave and afraid and so human.
Birth is both as true and as scary as life gets.
Trust; so often freely given, sometimes hard-won, always treasured. Your eyes were full of it as you met mine, searching for reassurance. I hope you knew how proud I was of you then, how I am still.
My back and knees singing the song of the midwife who adopts whatever position a mother requires her to be in, my head tipped glamorously upside down, I caught sight of him. A little sliver of tiny head pulsing in to being, illuminated by the dim beam of torchlight. The much-welcomed face of a tip-toeing second midwife appeared then, bearing the same signs as me of having fallen out of bed and sped to your home in the quiet stillness of the early hours.
And then he was here! Warm and well and deliciously perfect, unfurling gracefully in to your Christmas tree, candle-lit lounge.
I saw him blink and take two startled breaths in the sacred, instinctive 'birth pause' before giving a loud, lusty cry. Scooping him up in to your arms then, you pressed his slippery skin to your chest. The look on your face cannot really be described. This part of birth, I think, is inherently the most precious. Filled with relief, with joy, raw from the wildness of birth yet immediately gentle and tender with this brand new, seconds old, gloriously alive human. It is timeless and extraordinary; I always feel a little undone. I'm not sure there are any words in any language that could ever be enough to capture it, that first meeting.
My only regret is that in the intense moments before birth, I hadn't thought to remind anyone to snap a picture of those first few seconds!
Your body competently and powerfully completed the process with not so much as a smudge of fuss. You were soon tucked up together on your cosy, squidgy, pale (and mercifully not even a little bit caught up in any birthing fluids!) rug. Blissful, quiet, tender and full to bursting with love. Just as every mother should be.
It is my wish for you that whenever life throws you a curve ball, and you feel lost to its dramatic unpredictability, you remember your strength in overcoming that difficult, joyful plot twist.
That whenever you feel pushed to your limit, recall how you peered over the cliff and leapt anyway, surrendering yourself and in doing so, met the darkness head on.
It is my hope that during these times, you always have someone cheering you on, fiercely sure of your capabilities and believing whole-heartedly in your strength. Because I never doubted it, not even for a moment.
Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your journey, for letting me in to your family and your heart. For your trust. It has been my pleasure, and my privilege.
Click here to read this birth story from Mama Bean's perspective!