The Australian Public Service Better Practice Guide to Big Data © Commonwealth of Australia 2014 gives some good advice on big data management (more of that later), but is the Government following its own advice?
Last year, the Government Chief Information Officer's role was to focus on whole of government ICT policy, while the Chief Technology Officer's role was to focus on whole of government service delivery. However, the CIO left early this year and in May it was announced that the role would not be replaced.
On the 4th of February 2013, the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) was restructured to become two Divisions within the Department of Finance and Deregulation: Technology and Procurement Division (run by the CTO) and the Australian Government CIO.
The split had been reported in December 2012, receiving a positive media response. "Christmas has come early for the federal government technology office, with not one, but two new bosses, appointed this week", reported Lia Timson in a Sydney Morning Herald ITPro article, see Government sees double in tech leadership. .
building a coordinated view of capabilities and facilities across Australian Government agencies.
Fast forward to May 2014. In the opening Speech to the May 2014 CeBIT eGovernment conference, Chris Dale, Assistant Secretary of the Government Network Services Branch from the Department of Finance, announced that the Australian Government CIO role would not be replaced. The whole of government ICT policy will be overseen by Rosemary Deininger, First Assistant Secretary of the newly created Efficiency, Assurance and Digital Government Cluster. The role of John Sheridan as Australian Government Chief Technology Officer in charge of the Technology and Procurement Division continues to provide whole of government ICT services and infrastructure, and he retains the role of Australian Government Procurement Coordinator. The responsibility for the implementation plan for The Coalition's eGovernment and Digital Economy Policy pre-election commitment belongs to two Ministers, the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Communications, with each department taking the lead coordination role for different initiatives. There will be no additional monies for agencies to implement the pre-election commitment.
See CeBIT speech eGovernment Conference 2014 – Opening Speech. .
For further reading, see Whole of Govt CIO role abolished.
However, despite lack of clarity and the lack of funding, there is still progress from which we can all benefit. The Australian Public Service Better Practice Guide (BPG) is the joint work of the Data Analytics Centre of Excellence (chaired by the Australian Taxation Office) and the Big Data Working Group (chaired by the Department of Finance.) It gives an overview of big data and big data analytics and explores how this is different from current practice. The BPG is being supplemented by further guides and also provides links to further resources, such as the Whole of Government Data Analytics Centre of Excellence (DACoE) which shares information, and develops tools and platforms that make better use of data analytics.
The BPG itself gives a useful overview of how big data and big data analytics differ from current practice. In the new paradigm, data is messy rather than clean, and can have complex coupling relationships. Data analysis occurs as the data is captured; there is no delay to clean it. Undefined data structures invite exploration for the generation of insights and the discovery of relationships previously unknown.
The BPG outlines some types of activities where big data is advantageous. These include where there is a need to make rapid, high volume, informed decisions, where a broader variety of data sources is likely to reveal greater insights into business problems, and where unstructured data features. It gives a case study of the Patient Admissions Prediction Tool, used in 31 hospitals across Queensland. The forecasting provided by the tool assists with hospital bed management, staff resourcing and scheduling of elective surgery. It is estimated that PAPT software has the potential to save $23 million a year in improved service efficiency for the health system if implemented in hospitals across Australia.
See Australian Public Service Better Practice Guide to Big Data © Commonwealth of Australia 2014.
However, seizing those opportunities does require funding and skills. For the Australian Public Service Big Data Strategy, it is not clear where those will come from.
See Australian Public Service Big Data Strategy, © Commonwealth of Australia 2013.
The BPG also includes some useful advice on potential big data management project pitfalls, but that is a topic for a later article.


Astoria is a port city and the seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Situated near the mouth of the Columbia River where it meets the Pacific Ocean, the city was named after John Jacob Astor, an investor from New York City whose American Fur Company founded Fort Astoria at the site in 1811, 206�years ago. Astoria was incorporated by the Oregon Legislative Assembly on October 20, 1876.


CM Punk found the next step in his in-ring career last weekend, signing a deal with UFC to fight in 2015.
According to ESPN's Brett Okamoto, UFC president Dana White said Punk intends to fight at middleweight.
On SiriusXM Fight Club this week, former pro wrestling superstar and mixed martial arts commentator Goldberg, or "Bill from California" as he was introduced on the program, gave his take on Punk's squared circle-to-octagon move.
The last WWE superstar to transition to UFC was Brock Lesnar. An amateur wrestler at the University of Minnesota, Lesnar joined UFC and made his debut in the octagon in 2008. He went on to win the UFC Heavyweight Championship from Randy Couture at UFC 91, and defended it twice, first against Frank Mir, and then against Shane Carwin.
The similarities between Lesnar and Punk's transitions to UFC don't go very far though, Goldberg explained.
Will the signing be a good thing for the sport? Goldberg said there's no way the signing can go wrong.
"If you gotta bring a little theatrics into it and a little circus atmosphere just to move the tilt a little bit, then why not. Because at the end of the day, if the worst thing that happens is you see the discrepancy between the athletic ability between a top UFC fighter and a quote-unquote 'fake wrestler,' then you guy can laugh all the way to the bank, and you were right," Goldberg said.


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12 or 20 (second series) questions with Sam Szanto
Sam Szanto lives in Durham, UK. Her debut short story collection If No One Speaks was published by Alien Buddha Press in 2022. Over 50 of her stories and poems have been published/ listed in competitions. As well as her many published stories, in April 2022 she won the Shooter Flash Fiction Contest, was placed second in the 2022 Writer's Mastermind Short Story Contest, third in the 2021 Erewash Open Competition, second in the 2019 Doris Gooderson Competition and was also a winner in the 2020 Literary Taxidermy Competition. Her short story collection Courage was a finalist in the 2021 St Lawrence Book Awards. She won the 2020 Charroux Prize for Poetry and the First Writers International Poetry Prize, and her poetry has appeared in a number of literary journals including The North. Find her on Twitter: @sam_szanto
1 - How did your first book change your life? How does your most recent work compare to your previous? How does it feel different?
All my work has always been different - you'll be able to tell from reading my current story collection 'If No One Speaks' that all my stories feel very different and are about very different people, as well as being located all over the world. One reviewer said it was amazing that all the stories had been written by the same person - I believe that was meant as a compliment!
I came to novel writing first, but I've written poems for a long time too. Short stories came a little later.
3 - How long does it take to start any particular writing project? Does your writing initially come quickly, or is it a slow process? Do first drafts appear looking close to their final shape, or does your work come out of copious notes?
I do everything fast, from speaking to walking to writing. Sometimes I'll leave a poem or story and come back to it with a slightly different idea that improves it immeasurably, sometimes things come fully formed. The MA in Writing Poetry course I'm currently taking has helped me work on shaping poems though, as rewriting is part of the craft we're learning.
4 - Where does a poem or work of prose usually begin for you? Are you an author of short pieces that end up combining into a larger project, or are you working on a "book" from the very beginning?
Definitely the former, the stories have to find their own ways of threading together.
I don't enjoy speaking in public, but it's something I want to get better at. I've put myself forward for a live Twitter reading that my publisher has organised in a few weeks' time so will see how that goes! I'm happy to pre-record a reading though - it's the live speaking rather than the being watched that makes me nervous!
6 - Do you have any theoretical concerns behind your writing? What kinds of questions are you trying to answer with your work? What do you even think the current questions are?
I don't write to answer questions, but I usually do realise what I've actually written about once I've finished a story - I've written quite a few stories that I thought were just about relationships that I realised later were about grief.
7 – What do you see the current role of the writer being in larger culture? Do they even have one? What do you think the role of the writer should be?
I think writing has many purposes. We are teachers, we are entertainers, we are role models. But what I do always think of when I consider this type of question is a comment a novelist once made to me, which is that most people only read books in bed (before they go to sleep) or in the bath. We all think our writing is terribly important and impactful, and sometimes it is, but I try not to forget that really people just want to hear a story, just as my little children do before they go to bed, just as people have always done.
I actually work in a freelance capacity as a copy-editor so see it from the other side - a lot of the time, people ignore my brilliant suggestions and just do what they want to do. I pretty much accept whatever an editor says to me, though - they're the reader, after all, the person I'm doing this for. Once I've finished writing a story and given it to an audience, it's not really mine. However, I have felt a bit patronised occasionally! This has never happened with poetry, actually, only short stories (but not often).
Pretty much everything Ernest Hemingway had to say about writing. I love his advice to omit what you feel is the last part of the story to leave the reader wanting more.
10 - How easy has it been for you to move between genres (poetry to short stories)? What do you see as the appeal?
Easy, and necessary. Writing in the one genre constricts me if I do it all the time. Sometimes an idea just works as a poem but not as a story, or vice versa. It happened to me recently that I retold a piece of flash fiction as a prose poem and it worked to great acclaim.
I don't really have one, as I have young kids who have to take priority, plus occasional freelance work. I write when the kids are at school and as much as possible at all other times.
Other people's writing.
13 - What fragrance reminds you of home?
Fresh paint at the moment!
14 - David W. McFadden once said that books come from books, but are there any other forms that influence your work, whether nature, music, science or visual art?
Music, yes. Transport, too, I get a lot of creativity from journeys. People, though, are my main influences: their conversations, their mannerisms, their jobs, everything about them.
So many! Tessa Hadley, Curtis Sittenfeld, Kate Atkinson, Rose Tremain, Simon Armitage, Carol Ann Duffy, Moniza Alvi, Rebecca Goss, my writing tutors and the other writers I know...
16 - What would you like to do that you haven't yet done?
Have a novel and a poetry book published, travel to Japan/Canada/New Zealand, help my children to grow up happy (hopefully this will happen!)
I've done many things... worked in marketing for a blind charity, a school and an engineering corporation; sold ice cream and shoes. I still do freelance as a copy-editor and an English tutor so would still be doing that (more often) if I didn't also write.
18 - What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?
I had to write. There was never another goal.
I loved Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld. I'm not that into films, really - I was obsessed with The Doors film as a teenager, though. On TV, I currently love Mad Men.
A novel that wants to be a thriller but we'll see... I'm about to start the second year of my MA in Writing Poetry, though, so will be writing a lot of poetry pretty soon!
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Labels: 12 or 20 questions, Alien Buddha Press, Sam Szanto
12 or 20 (second series) questions with Ned Baeck
Ned Baeck studied Liberal Arts at Concordia University and Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia. His poetry has appeared in The Continuist, untethered, Sewer Lid, Ottawa Arts Review, Prism, The Nashwaak Review, Poetry Pause, and can be found in the Sunshine in a Jar Facebook page under The Story of Water, curated by Jessica Outram. Originally from Ontario, he has made his home in Vancouver, BC for most of the last 20 years. He partially fulfilled a dream in 2019, spending 5 months training in a Rinzai Zen temple in Okayama, Japan.
My first book was sort of a reckoning…of years of chronic alcoholism, homelessness, drifting, fear. Not that there wasn't any love or light rising…I was able to look back with clear eyes and see the present breaking free of it. As I described it to a friend, it was my punch, after I had taken a good few. I wanted it to stand strong, and I think it did. Having Wait published by Guernica gave stolidity to the time capsule, and to the line I had crossed in righting my course. I'd published a chapbook with Luciano Iacobelli's Lyricalmyrical press, but it was adolescent, this was my first real book, and it freed me, as I walked, of the tentacles I'd lopped off in creating it.
Cage of Light is a different animal. I didn't work any less hard on it, but it didn't come as smoothly. In Wait, I was looking back on a span of time from a position of privilege (having stopped drinking and flailing 3 years previous), and it emerged under the light of renewed consciousness. The new book, though it still contains poems about addiction and recovery, abuse and seeking, is 'all about' me now. Like surrounding me. And it's more dispersed. If you know what parts of southern California are like, it rolls, it sprawls, has little nuclei all around, is less in a major key. Writing like that demands more of the reader. Asking more of the reader is not something I'm proud of, it just sort of turned out that way. It's both more and less sober. Like a fog, if you walk around in it long enough, you'll get wet, and I hope that is a pleasing if somewhat less crystalline experience.
In fact, I didn't come to poetry first, at least not officially. I was in a short-fiction writing class in S.E.E.D. high school, and wrote a few short stories during that time. I'd get high at home and write surrealist poems, but it wasn't till I got into a creative writing class taught by a poet (again, Luciano Iacobelli) that I was steered toward reading and writing poetry. Once I made the shift, felt the freedom and potential, it was for good.
The main body of any poem usually comes quickly, in one sitting, and sometimes appears looking close to its final shape, but usually undergoes copious edits. Getting the first draft on the screen is the first gate, and a kind of seal reopened by editing. Then it either floats and becomes more efficient and streamlined or falls away.
I don't really know where a poem usually begins, maybe an impression, a feeling, a word with something unknown behind it, something, as Eliot wrote, to be exorcised. I'm never really working on a book. I write poems. I then try to find siblings. Sometimes just appearing during the same time under the same concern is enough to group them together. This is a question of affinity and not laziness, I hope.
I love doing public readings. The poem isn't finally birthed until I've read it out loud to an audience. I'm with Mandelstam on that. That said, they live on after ectopic birth on the page.
I think poetry as any art can address fundamental questions about being alive…what it is like, where it comes from and how it can change. So I think 'where did it come from?', 'where is it going?' and 'what is it like along the way (and what can be done to REALIZE it)?' are the perennial questions. I'm speaking of a relationship to others and the universe.
If you look at history, it's a bit of a death cult. Some writers and artists receive recognition in their lifetime, but others are shrouded in obscurity. I think especially now, when identity politics dominates what is curated by mainstream culture, much that is good will be seen as such only later, at least canonically. There's that very neat phrasing about recognition…which I will butcher, but goes something along the lines of 'first it is mocked, then it is murdered, then some time later it is considered self-evidently true. ' (I think that was about prophetic words and prophets, but it goes for art as well.) I think the role of the writer today is to remind us to be good by sedulous or apocryphal means, and that might be true for other times as well.
I think it's essential. The editor needs to match the writer in dedication, even push them along.
In Zen we go slowly.
I don't really have a writing routine, I bear the marks of the outdated romantic notion that it's 'just as the spirit takes you'. My days begin with Chinese herbs, Clif bars and an AA meeting, unless I'm on retreat, in which case only the Chinese herbs survive, and meditation takes the place of meeting.
When I don't feel like writing I just don't write. I do other things. It is all a continuum anyway.
It all comes home.
Rainwater on a rose. Reminds me of here, which is home. And the smell of a pillow that needs washing.
All of the above influence my work. To some degree I practice 'found art' or collage, even though my poems are usually narrative, some of them consist of things found here and there bound together by my own zeitgeist.
Zen literature. Ikkyu, hence the epigraphs in my new book. Rinzai, Dogen, Hakuin, Bassui, Ta Hui, Lao Tzu. The Heart Sutra. Cold Mountain. The Diamond Sutra. Joko Beck. And in poetry, Rumi. Kahlil Gibran. T.S. Eliot. Eugenio Montale. Nanao Sakaki. Bukowski. Al Purdy.
Surf.
A monk.
Besides writing and doing zazen, the only other thing I know how to do is wash dishes. Actually, I'm usually on the look-out for a good dishwashing job. It goes well with writing. I have a BA, and had things turned out differently with my state of mental health, I might have gone into teaching creative writing or language or Asian Studies. The monk thing still stands, and it is, unlike the other things listed, still probable.
The last great book I read was Preparation for the Next Life by Atticus Lish, though I couldn't finish it because of the sexual violence. So for one that I finished, Convenience Store Woman, by Suyaka Murata. As for film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus or the 2010 film Alice in Wonderland starring Mia Wasikowska.
I'm editing a few long poems. They are about the reckoning of failed love. I want there to be more short pieces that are easily digestible to accompany these long poems, and I want to do the lion's share of the work, so that the reader or listener just has to take it in without too much parsing. So maybe it's not entirely true that I never have a book in mind. I guess I write and ride the waves until there's some kind of consistency.
Labels: 12 or 20 questions, Guernica Editions, LyricalMyrical Press, Ned Baeck
Adrian Lürssen, Human Is to Wander
Between I and you comes
a sounding out against
picture frames, chanting in exchange
for landscape. She spoke
as if underwater: Here
is a map. Here, a spoonful
of honey. Lying in wait,
the curious air of a genie
unhindered by voice,
she was indifferent
as smoke and driftwood. ("NO LONGER A MOTHER TONGUE")
Born and raised in apartheid-era South Africa and then Washington D.C., San Francisco Bay Area-based poet Adrian Lürssen's full-length debut is the poetry collection Human Is to Wander (The Center for Literary Publishing, 2022), as selected by Gillian Conoley for the 2022 Colorado Poetry Prize. As I wrote of his chapbook earlier this year, NEOWISE (Victoria BC: Trainwreck Press, 2022), a title that existed as an excerpt of this eventual full-length collection, Lürssen's poems and poem-fragments float through and across images, linking and collaging boundaries, scraps and seemingly-found materials. Composed via the fractal and fragment, the structure of Human Is to Wander sits, as did the chapbook-excerpt, as a swirling of a fractured lyric around a central core. "in which on / their heads," he writes, to open the sequence "THE LIGHT IS NOT THE USUAL LIGHT," "women carried water / and mountains // brought the sky / full circle [.]"
The book is structured as an extended, book-length line on migration and geopolitics, of shifting geographies and global awareness and globalization. He writes of war and its effects, child soldiers and the dangers and downside of establishing boundaries, from nations to the idea of home; offering the tragedies of which to exclude, and to separate. "The accidental response of any movement," he writes, to open the poem "ARMY," "using yelling instead of creases as a / means to exit. Or the outskirts of an enemy camp." Set in three lyric sections, Lürssen's mapmaking examines how language, through moving in and beyond specifics, allows for a greater specificity; his language forms akin to Celan, able to alight onto and illuminate dark paths without having to describe each moment. "A system of killing that is irrational or rational," he writes, to open the poem "SKIRT," "depending on the training." As the same poem concludes, later on: "It is a game of answers, this type of love." Lürssen's lyrics move in and out of childhood play and war zones, child soldiers and conflations of song and singer, terror and territory, irrational moves and multiple levels of how one employs survival. This is a powerful collection, and there are complexities swirling through these poems that reward multiple readings, and an essential music enough to carry any heart across an unbearable distance. "The enemy becomes a song," the poem "UNIT" ends, "held by time."
Labels: Adrian Lürssen, Center for Literary Publishing
12 or 20 (second series) questions with Shane Kowalski
Shane Kowalski lives in Pennsylvania. He works for the United States Postal Service. He is the author of Small Moods (Future Tense Books).
1 - How did your first book or chapbook change your life? How does your most recent work compare to your previous? How does it feel different?
Not much has changed. I continue to work, continue to write. Of course, knowing I have a book out there in the world is a strange thought I remember from time to time and it does give me pleasure knowing there are people out there reading my weird, little stories. It's a surreal kind of space that I like to exist in.
2 - How did you come to fiction first, as opposed to, say, poetry or non-fiction?
Weirdly, I actually came to poetry first. In my undergrad years there was so much poetry being taught where I went to school, it just seemed like a good idea to write. Always, though, with an eye towards fiction in the back of my mind. A lot of those poems that I wrote were very prose-ish.
I actually cannot quite say. It's all very moody. Some pieces come really quick, others it's a more protracted process. I do a lot of drafting as I write, so the revision process is streamlined. It's rare that the final shape doesn't closely resemble most of what I started with.
4 - Where does a work of prose usually begin for you? Are you an author of short pieces that end up combining into a larger project, or are you working on a "book" from the very beginning?
I'm definitely a writer of short pieces that end up having to find a home. I always start with a small thing in a prose piece—an image, a phrase, but more times than not, it's a first sentence. What happens from there is the story.
I enjoy doing readings, weirdly. They end up being fun. Even though I don't quite look forward to them.
I don't think I have any theoretical concerns. I just like doing voices.
I have no clue, really. I always like taking a workmanlike approach to these types of questions. Simply: Use the language—Tell good stories. People will take it from there.
I think it's a cool process. Working with a really good editor is like putting on a pair of glasses and seeing your work more clearly.
I remember J. Robert Lennon saying, "Your novel is perfect until you write the first line, and then it is forever ruined."
I usually try to write and post a very short story to my tumblr every day. My single writing habit I've sustained since 2011. Everything else has just been a mood or passing fancy.
I usually go back to the previous sentence. What's going on in it? What can I use? It is usually giving a direction forward.
It's a fragrance I couldn't describe unless I was dreaming.
Absolutely. Music, paintings, movies, television—they all have at one point or another influenced my work.
Lydia Davis, Robert Walser, Jane Bowles, Chelsey Minnis, Jamaica Kincaid just to name a few.
Write 10 novels in one year.
Probably some kind of mundane work you could disappear into. Custodian. Librarian. Postal worker. Butler. Who knows...
It was too much fun.
I recently finally read Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day, which is a masterwork. I didn't think it could live up to the hype, but it is one of the finest examples of human storytelling. They should send it out into space. I also recently watched for the first time Ingmar Bergman's Cries and Whispers, which was beautiful and quietly harrowing.
Oh, a bunch of things. So many short fragments of pieces. A novella-length piece that I've been tinkering with for a few years now about a woman who is a peeping tom. I'm just surrounded by tiny, little pieces of work. Who knows where they'll lead—if to anything at all?
Labels: 12 or 20 questions, Future Tense Books, Shane Kowalski
Emily Bludworth de Barrios, Shopping, or The End of Time
80 to 90 percent of my awareness
Is a delicate ear turned gently toward my son
Which means I ignore
What would have previously torn me asunder
You may imagine motherhood as a funnel of sand
Into which one is pulled
You may imagine a wrecked ship pulling the inhabitants down with her
Except for this metaphor
You are willingly rinsing yourself in sand or heavy water
It is an ecstasy of familial love
Among the sand and water ("80 TO 90 PERCENT OF MY AWARENESS")
The latest from poet Emily Bludworth de Barrios is the poetry collection Shopping, or The End of Time (Madison WI: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2022), a collection that works through the lyric of narrative monologue to examine personal space and interpersonal being, including new motherhood and ongoing parenting, as well as simply living as a human being in the world, with all the messy nonsense and possible beauty that goes along with existence. "With pleasure the young men," she writes, to open the poem "WITH PLEASURE THE YOUNG MEN," "dismantle the young women // With pleasure their sick slick grins drip over the wet idea // of humiliated flesh [.]" Raised in Houston, Cairo and Caracas and currently based in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, Bludworth de Barrios is the author of the full-length debut Splendor (H_NGM_N Books, 2015), as well as the chapbooks Extraordinary Power (Factory Hollow Press, 2014) and Women, Money, Children, Ghosts (Sixth Finch, 2016). Shopping, or The End of Time, her second full-length collection, is set, within an opening as well as closing poem, into four sections of narrative lyrics—"WOMEN," "MONEY," "CHILDREN" and "GHOSTS"—all of which are individually constructed as assemblages of short phrases and bursts; her narratives are less built as accumulations than as a cadence of narrative waves, rolling through rise and fall to either a final crescent, or a sweep up to the shore of the space beyond that final word.
My new blue kitchen cabinets painted blue
Black countertops, black granite flecked with dirty starlight
And Saltillo tile from Saltillo, Mexico, baked, glazed earth and still some little
imprints from the foot of a dog who passed probably 50 years ago
When the Earth had fewer dogs probably but more species, fewer people, but
more thick forest, more dark trees and the webs strung between the trees,
clumps of sticks pushed into nests with the vulnerable blue, white, or cream
eggs inside, speckled, warm, the squirrels' nests that contain two entrances
that are also two exists, a burrow in the sky, warm and dry
A bird singing with its narrow throat, its voice a slender stem
The legs of the insects slander as stems
The stems numerous and dense moving in quick ticks
My thoughts numerous and dense
Thickly sprouting, dumb ("MY NEW BLUE KITCHEN CABINETS PAINTED BLUE")
Throughout her poems, Bludworth de Barrios seems fond of the direct statement, whether set as a point from which her narrative can expand further, a counterpoint or even a side-step, depending, of course, on where the statement is set in those narrative waves of rise and fall, rise and fall. "To be a mother," she writes, as part of the two-page poem "80 TO 90 PERCENT OF MY AWARENESS," "Is to be a figure in a painting // Wrapped in a sacred blanket [.]" Later on in the collection, the poem "STATUES OR KNOTTED ROPES OR SCORED STONE" offers a slight variation, or even a continuation: "A person is a device / For storing information across time // The parent melts or dissolves / And up springs the child // A person // Is a phenomenal device / That assembles itself from dirt and air [.]"
In certain ways, this is very much a collection writing and exploring the trauma and beauty both large scale and small of parenting, children and interacting with and through the culture, the present, each other and the universe. It would be interesting to examine the ways through which her direct statements on self and being connect, and even conflict, to each other; evolving in the normal ways of human complication: we are never simply one thing, in one way or direction; often working multiple simultaneously. Note the poem, for example, "MY PREGNANCY WAS A LONG AND HAPPY NIGHTMARE," a three-page extended lyric that opens: "My pregnancy / Was a long and happy nightmare // During which I ate / Pint-sized tubs of ice cream and walked around the block // Becoming more tubby and unwieldly / As if living in the skin of a drum // Wielding and propelling my belly / Feeling dreamy and druggy in the suburbs under the sun [.]" There is a swell and swoop of her narrative, but also a subtle music across that same lyric that itself fills and diminishes across such a lovely spectrum of her lines. One is nearly required to close one's eyes to truly listen.
Labels: Emily Bludworth de Barrios, University of Wisconsin Press
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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text:
Q: Install libtiff on Mavericks I made a Python script that needs a libtiff module to run. Do you have any suggestions on how to install libtiff? I tried to do it using fink, but I got the following error:

Failed: no package found for specification libtiff!

I also installed libtiff using brew, and in this case I get

ImportError: No module named libtiff

A: Homebrew worked fine for me. Have you installed the Python bindings for libtiff? For example, ...
% brew install libtiff
==> Downloading https://downloads.sf.net/project/machomebrew/Bottles/libtiff-4.0.3.mavericks.bottle.tar.gz
######################################################################## 100.0%
==> Pouring libtiff-4.0.3.mavericks.bottle.tar.gz
  /usr/local/Cellar/libtiff/4.0.3: 254 files, 3.8M
% brew install python
% pip install --upgrade setuptools
% pip install --upgrade pip
% pip install numpy
% pip install -e svn+http://pylibtiff.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/
% python
Python 2.7.6 (default, Mar 12 2014, 18:28:55)
[GCC 4.2.1 Compatible Apple LLVM 5.1 (clang-503.0.38)] on darwin
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import libtiff
>>> libtiff
<module 'libtiff' from '/Users/me/src/svn/libtiff/__init__.pyc'>
>>>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Zimbabwe should seriously consider establishing a local crude oil refinery as a way of cutting the ballooning fuel bill, according to the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera).
Zimbabwe's fuel consumption has risen from an average 2 million litres daily in January to 4 million per day in October, putting a strain on the country's limited foreign currency, as well as fuelling the emergence of fuel queues.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has doubled foreign currency allocations to fuel dealers from $10 million to $20 million per month in the same period.
Presenting oral evidence before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Power and Energy on Thursday, Zera acting chief executive officer Mr Edington Mazambani said Zimbabwe is better off with its own refinery.
Mr Mazambani also said Government can also consider rationing the scarce commodity, but he cautioned that this would not be a popular route.
It is believed that establishing local fuel processing capacity will cut the import bill substantially, develop regional export potential and create employment.
He, however, could not reveal the amount of savings to be realised assuming the nation decides to establish a refinery.
"There is definitely an increase in consumption of fuel, probably occasioned by the number of vehicular traffic on the roads and it's more pronounced in the capital," said Mr Mazambani.
"For petrol, we started in January at 1,6 million litres per day, it has since moved to about 3 million litres per day.
"We should, maybe, explore the setting up of a refinery to support downstream industry and also generate foreign currency when we export within the region.
"As a nation, we do have business proposal to look at the possibility of us setting up a refinery. Zambia is no longer operating their refineries, they are actually importing more of the finished product than crude oil, Botswana consumes the finished product, DRC. . . so it's a possible market which if we explore can actually support a business case to have a refinery in this country," he said.
Zimbabwe used to operate the Feruka Oil Refinery in Mutare which, however, mothballed in 1966. Government made efforts to revive the project in 2004 by Capref with a takeover proposal.
However, Mr Mazambani told Parliament that reviving the Mutare Refinery was ill-advised as it has since been overtaken by technology and, thus, resuscitating it could prove uneconomic.
"I am not really a technical person but that refinery was a Rhodesian project, technology has since moved. I don't think we can operate that refinery (or) resuscitate it to be economically viable," he said.
Before going the refinery route, the acting Zera boss said there is a need to revive a reliable public transport system so as to discourage people from driving personal vehicles.
He noted that the increase in vehicles is a result of the death of the public transport system, which is no longer reliable.
"(The other solution) is maybe to have a more reliable public transport system that will release the pressure because at the moment driving a car is no longer a luxury, it's really a necessity because of the absence of reliable public transport system," he said.
"So we think that if we were to introduce public transport system which is on time every-time, we will see more people opting to use public transport," said Mr Mazambani.
Speaking before the same committee, RBZ Governor Dr John Mangudya assured parliamentarians that the country will not run out of fuel this festive season as sufficient allocations for fuel purchases will continue to be availed.
Reports say there are about 1,5 million registered vehicles on the country's roads, some of which remain unaccounted for.
- zimpapers
Concern over theft, vandalism of bins in Bulawayo
Outcry over RDC levy
Call to improve Harare's bad liveability ranking
All set for women in PR conference
Mnangagwa appoints diplomat Faranisi as perm sec
Zimdollar strengthens against the real US dollar
Mnangagwa okays US dollar use
RBZ suspends 30-day forex liquidation requirement
Tax breaks for renewable energy investors as govt launches new policy
Mudenda blasts Zanu-PF MPs
COVID-19: Zimbabwe places restrictions on visitors from high risk countries
All deposit classes now indexed to treasury bill yields, say Mthuli Ncube
Zimbabwe introduces Reuters system for forex trading
Zimbabwe grain surplus can last 9 months
Zanu-PF ignores court order
Zimra accused of stifling export growth
Rapidly creating high performing teams
Building a relevant board


We're looking for someone to provide hands-on assistance to our teams who manage our power tools and in-house vehicle workshop.
With over 10,000 power tools and 400 company vehicles in use across the company, having proper controls and maintenance in place is essential and you'll play a key role in helping us achieve this.
On a day-to-day basis your work will range from basic vehicle maintenance (e.g. changing tyres, replacing wiper blades and cleaning vehicles) to carrying out portable appliance testing of our power tools, inspecting access equipment and distributing PPE and uniform. You'll also assist with driving our VW Transporter vans between our branches across the country as required.
If you've had experience in a similar role this would certainly boost your application, but the main thing is that you're a practical person with plenty of common sense.
You'll also need a full clean driving licence.
Please apply for this job as soon as you can, if interested.


text:
Q: Excel sheet is not working from server in c# Hi i am downloding excel report, it is not working when download from server but it is working on local machine
Error:

System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException (0x80040154): Retrieving the COM class factory for component with CLSID {00024500-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} failed due to the following error: 80040154 Class not registered (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80040154 (REGDB_E_CLASSNOTREG)). at CompanyStatics.btnexport_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e) in c:\inetpub\wwwroot\TestAdmin\CompanyStatics.aspx.cs:line 959

Code:
using ExcelAutoFormat = Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.XlRangeAutoFormat;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using ClosedXML.Excel;

 c# Code on button click
  protected void btnexport_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    int companyId = Convert.ToInt32((ddlCompanyName.SelectedValue));

        try
        {
            string path = Server.MapPath("exportedfiles\\");
            if (!Directory.Exists(path))
            {
                Directory.CreateDirectory(path);
            }
            File.Delete(path + "Company&VesselDetails.xlsx");

            var xlAppToExport = new Excel.Application();
            xlAppToExport.Workbooks.Add("");
            Excel.Worksheet xlWorkSheetToExport = default(Excel.Worksheet);
            xlWorkSheetToExport = (Excel.Worksheet)xlAppToExport.Sheets["Sheet1"];

            int iRowCnt = 2;
            int iRowCnt1 = 5;

            // Add company Name
            xlWorkSheetToExport.Cells[1, 1] = "Company Name";
            // Get the range from excel.
            Excel.Range rangeComp = xlAppToExport.ActiveCell.Worksheet.Cells[1, 1] as Excel.Range;
            rangeComp.Interior.Color = System.Drawing.ColorTranslator.ToOle(System.Drawing.Color.SteelBlue);
            // Set font color.
            rangeComp.Font.Color = System.Drawing.ColorTranslator.ToOle(System.Drawing.Color.White);
            // Set Row Height.
            rangeComp.EntireRow.RowHeight = 25.0;
            // Set Column Width.
            rangeComp.ColumnWidth = 40.0;
            //rangeComp.HorizontalAlignment =ri;;
            //end company Name
            // Add Token Name
            xlWorkSheetToExport.Cells[1, 2] = "Total Tokens";
            // Get the range from excel.
            Excel.Range rangeTokens = xlAppToExport.ActiveCell.Worksheet.Cells[1, 2] as Excel.Range;
            rangeTokens.Interior.Color = System.Drawing.ColorTranslator.ToOle(System.Drawing.Color.SteelBlue);
            // Set font color.
            rangeTokens.Font.Color = System.Drawing.ColorTranslator.ToOle(System.Drawing.Color.White);
            // Set Row Height.
            rangeTokens.EntireRow.RowHeight = 30.0;
            // Set Column Width.
            rangeTokens.ColumnWidth = 40.0;
            //end Token Name
            // Add Approve Token
            xlWorkSheetToExport.Cells[1, 3] = "Approve Tokens";
            // Get the range from excel.
            Excel.Range ApproveToken = xlAppToExport.ActiveCell.Worksheet.Cells[1, 3] as Excel.Range;
            ApproveToken.Interior.Color = System.Drawing.ColorTranslator.ToOle(System.Drawing.Color.SteelBlue);
            // Set font color.
            ApproveToken.Font.Color = System.Drawing.ColorTranslator.ToOle(System.Drawing.Color.White);
            // Set Row Height.
            ApproveToken.EntireRow.RowHeight = 25.0;
            // Set Column Width.
            ApproveToken.ColumnWidth = 25.0;
            //end Approve Token
            // Add Remaining Tokens
            xlWorkSheetToExport.Cells[1, 4] = "Remaining Tokens";
            // Get the range from excel.
            Excel.Range RemainingTokens = xlAppToExport.ActiveCell.Worksheet.Cells[1, 4] as Excel.Range;
            RemainingTokens.Interior.Color = System.Drawing.ColorTranslator.ToOle(System.Drawing.Color.SteelBlue);
            // Set font color.
            RemainingTokens.Font.Color = System.Drawing.ColorTranslator.ToOle(System.Drawing.Color.White);
            // Set Row Height.
            RemainingTokens.EntireRow.RowHeight = 25.0;
            // Set Column Width.
            RemainingTokens.ColumnWidth = 25.0;
            //end Remaining Tokens
            // Add Remaining Tokens
            xlWorkSheetToExport.Cells[4, 1] = "Vessel Name";
            // Get the range from excel.
            Excel.Range VesselName = xlAppToExport.ActiveCell.Worksheet.Cells[4, 1] as Excel.Range;
            VesselName.Interior.Color = System.Drawing.ColorTranslator.ToOle(System.Drawing.Color.SteelBlue);
            // Set font color.
            VesselName.Font.Color = System.Drawing.ColorTranslator.ToOle(System.Drawing.Color.White);
            // Set Row Height.
            VesselName.EntireRow.RowHeight = 25.0;
            // Set Column Width.
            VesselName.ColumnWidth = 40.0;
            // Add Remaining Tokens
            xlWorkSheetToExport.Cells[4, 2] = " Ship Email ID";
            // Get the range from excel.
            Excel.Range ShipEmailID = xlAppToExport.ActiveCell.Worksheet.Cells[4, 2] as Excel.Range;
            ShipEmailID.Interior.Color = System.Drawing.ColorTranslator.ToOle(System.Drawing.Color.SteelBlue);
            // Set font color.
            ShipEmailID.Font.Color = System.Drawing.ColorTranslator.ToOle(System.Drawing.Color.White);
            // Set Row Height.
            ShipEmailID.EntireRow.RowHeight = 25.0;
            // Set Column Width.
            ShipEmailID.ColumnWidth = 40.0;
            // Add Remaining Tokens
            xlWorkSheetToExport.Cells[4, 3] = "Total Tokens (300)";
            // Get the range from excel.
            Excel.Range TotalTokens = xlAppToExport.ActiveCell.Worksheet.Cells[4, 3] as Excel.Range;
            TotalTokens.Interior.Color = System.Drawing.ColorTranslator.ToOle(System.Drawing.Color.SteelBlue);
            // Set font color.
            TotalTokens.Font.Color = System.Drawing.ColorTranslator.ToOle(System.Drawing.Color.White);
            // Set Row Height.
            TotalTokens.EntireRow.RowHeight = 25.0;
            // Set Column Width.
            TotalTokens.ColumnWidth = 25.0;
            //end Remaining Tokens
            // Add Remaining Tokens
            xlWorkSheetToExport.Cells[4, 4] = "Assigned Tokens (99)";
            // Get the range from excel.
            Excel.Range AssignedTokens = xlAppToExport.ActiveCell.Worksheet.Cells[4, 4] as Excel.Range;
            AssignedTokens.Interior.Color = System.Drawing.ColorTranslator.ToOle(System.Drawing.Color.SteelBlue);
            // Set font color.
            AssignedTokens.Font.Color = System.Drawing.ColorTranslator.ToOle(System.Drawing.Color.White);
            // Set Row Height.
            AssignedTokens.EntireRow.RowHeight = 25.0;
            // Set Column Width.
            AssignedTokens.ColumnWidth = 25.0;
            //end Remaining Tokens
            // Add Remaining Tokens
            xlWorkSheetToExport.Cells[4, 5] = "Remaining Tokens (201)";
            // Get the range from excel.
            Excel.Range Remaining = xlAppToExport.ActiveCell.Worksheet.Cells[4, 5] as Excel.Range;
            Remaining.Interior.Color = System.Drawing.ColorTranslator.ToOle(System.Drawing.Color.SteelBlue);
            // Set font color.
            Remaining.Font.Color = System.Drawing.ColorTranslator.ToOle(System.Drawing.Color.White);
            // Set Row Height.
            Remaining.EntireRow.RowHeight = 25.0;
            // Set Column Width.
            Remaining.ColumnWidth = 25.0;
            //end Remaining Tokens
            // Add Package Start
            xlWorkSheetToExport.Cells[4, 6] = "Start Date";
            // Get the range from excel.
            Excel.Range pkgstart = xlAppToExport.ActiveCell.Worksheet.Cells[4, 6] as Excel.Range;
            pkgstart.Interior.Color = System.Drawing.ColorTranslator.ToOle(System.Drawing.Color.SteelBlue);
            // Set font color.
            pkgstart = (Excel.Range)xlAppToExport.Cells[4, 6];
            pkgstart.EntireColumn.NumberFormat = "dd/mm/yyyy";

            pkgstart = (Excel.Range)xlAppToExport.Cells[4, 6];
            pkgstart.HorizontalAlignment = Excel.XlHAlign.xlHAlignLeft;
            pkgstart.Font.Color = System.Drawing.ColorTranslator.ToOle(System.Drawing.Color.White);

            pkgstart.get_Range("F1", "G1").Cells.HorizontalAlignment =
                 Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.XlHAlign.xlHAlignLeft;
            //string startRange = "A1";
            //string endRange = "A1";

            //Excel.Range currentRange = (Excel.Range)xlAppToExport.get_Range(startRange, endRange);
            //currentRange.Style.HorizontalAlignment = Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.XlHAlign.xlHAlignLeft;

            //pkgstart.HorizontalAlignment = Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.XlHAlign.xlHAlignLeft;
            // Set Row Height.
            pkgstart.EntireRow.RowHeight = 50.0;
            // Set Column Width.
            pkgstart.ColumnWidth = 10.0;
            //end Package Start
            // Add Last Update
            xlWorkSheetToExport.Cells[4, 7] = "Last Update Date";
            // Get the range from excel.
            Excel.Range lastupdate = xlAppToExport.ActiveCell.Worksheet.Cells[4, 7] as Excel.Range;
            lastupdate.Interior.Color = System.Drawing.ColorTranslator.ToOle(System.Drawing.Color.SteelBlue);
            // Set font color.
            lastupdate.Font.Color = System.Drawing.ColorTranslator.ToOle(System.Drawing.Color.White);
            // Set Row Height.
            lastupdate.EntireRow.RowHeight = 25.0;
            // Set Column Width.
            lastupdate.ColumnWidth = 25.0;
            //end Last Update Date
            for (int i = 0; i < gvCompany.Rows.Count; i++)
            {
                string sid = gvCompany.Rows[i].Cells[3].Text;
                string cmpl = gvCompany.Rows[i].Cells[4].Text;
                string kpit = gvCompany.Rows[i].Cells[5].Text;
                string tcs = gvCompany.Rows[i].Cells[6].Text;

                xlWorkSheetToExport.Cells[iRowCnt, 1] = sid;
                xlWorkSheetToExport.Cells[iRowCnt, 2] = cmpl;
                xlWorkSheetToExport.Cells[iRowCnt, 3] = kpit;
                xlWorkSheetToExport.Cells[iRowCnt, 4] = tcs;
                iRowCnt = iRowCnt + 1;

                string query = string.Empty;
                DataTable dt = new DataTable();
                query = "select vesselID, vesselName,ShipEmailID, CompanyMasterId , ISNULL(AllowToken, 0 ) as 'AllowToken', ISNULL(AssignTokenToEmp, 0 ) as 'Total Assign Token',( ISNULL(AllowToken, 0 ) - ISNULL(AssignTokenToEmp, 0 )) as 'RemainingToken' from Vessel where CompanyMasterID =" + companyId;

                dt = SqlHelper.ReturnDataTable(query);
                divcrew.Visible = true;
                gvvessel.AllowPaging = false;
                gvvessel.DataSource = dt;
                gvvessel.DataBind();

                for (int j = 0; j < gvvessel.Rows.Count; j++)
                {
                    // gvvessel.AllowPaging = false;

                    Label lblvess = (Label)gvvessel.Rows[j].FindControl("lblvesselName");
                    string myVal = lblvess.Text;
                    Label lblShipEmail = (Label)gvvessel.Rows[j].FindControl("lblShipEmailID");
                    string mylblShipEmail = lblShipEmail.Text;
                    Label lblAllowTo = (Label)gvvessel.Rows[j].FindControl("lblAllowToken");
                    string mylblAllowTo = lblAllowTo.Text;
                    Label lblAssignToken = (Label)gvvessel.Rows[j].FindControl("lblAssignToken");
                    string mylAssignToken = lblAssignToken.Text;
                    Label lblRemainingT = (Label)gvvessel.Rows[j].FindControl("lblRemainingToken");
                    string mylRemainingT = lblRemainingT.Text;
                    Label lblpkg = (Label)gvvessel.Rows[j].FindControl("lblpackagedate");
                    string myVal1 = lblpkg.Text;
                    Label lbllastupd = (Label)gvvessel.Rows[j].FindControl("lbllastupdate");
                    string myVal2 = lbllastupd.Text;
                    //gvvessel.SetPageIndex(j);

                    xlWorkSheetToExport.Cells[iRowCnt1, 1] = myVal;
                    xlWorkSheetToExport.Cells[iRowCnt1, 2] = mylblShipEmail;
                    xlWorkSheetToExport.Cells[iRowCnt1, 3] = mylblAllowTo;
                    xlWorkSheetToExport.Cells[iRowCnt1, 4] = mylAssignToken;
                    xlWorkSheetToExport.Cells[iRowCnt1, 5] = mylRemainingT;

                    // string date = DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd");
                    //if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(myVal1) && myVal1!="----")
                    //{
                    //    date = DateTime.ParseExact(myVal1,"dd-MM-yyyy", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture).ToString("yyyy-MM-dd");
                    //}

                    //else if (myVal1 =="----")
                    //{
                    //    lblpkg.Text = "--------";
                    //}

                    xlWorkSheetToExport.Cells[iRowCnt1, 6] = myVal1;
                    xlWorkSheetToExport.Cells[iRowCnt1, 7] = myVal2;
                    iRowCnt1 = iRowCnt1 + 1;
                }
                // SAVE THE FILE IN A FOLDER.
                xlWorkSheetToExport.SaveAs(path + "Company&VesselDetails.xlsx");
                // CLEAR.
                xlAppToExport.Workbooks.Close();
                xlAppToExport.Quit();
                xlAppToExport = null;
                xlWorkSheetToExport = null;
                //string path = Server.MapPath("exportedfiles\\");

                // CHECK IF THE FOLDER EXISTS.
                if (Directory.Exists(path))
                {
                    // CHECK IF THE FILE EXISTS.
                    if (File.Exists(path + "Company&VesselDetails.xlsx"))
                    {
                        string sPath = Server.MapPath("exportedfiles\\");

                        Response.AppendHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=Company&VesselDetails.xlsx");
                        Response.TransmitFile(sPath + "Company&VesselDetails.xlsx");
                        Response.End();

                    }
                }
            }

        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            lblshowexcelerror.Text = ex.ToString();
        }
        finally
        {

        }

A: To use COM objects you should have MS Excel installed on server machine. Otherwise you are going to need third-party libraries to manually work with .xls and .xlsx files.
One such library is EPPlus which works with new .xlsx files. It have worked for me and I know many others exist.


text:
A Tennessee school board removed the graphic novel 'Maus,' about the Holocaust, from curriculum due to language and nudity concerns
By Chris Boyette, CNN
Updated 9:19 PM EST, Fri January 28, 2022
'Maus' author reacts to his book being pulled from curriculum
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"Maus," the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the experiences of Holocaust survivors that was recently banned by a Tennessee school board, has made the Amazon best-seller list.
As of Friday night, a hardcopy version of the serialized work by Art Spiegelman was listed as the online retailer's #9 top seller.
Earlier this month, "Maus" was removed from an eighth-grade English language arts curriculum by the McMinn County, Tennessee, Board of Education over concerns about "rough, objectionable language" and a drawing of a nude woman.
The board voted 10-0 to remove the book from the curriculum, saying it should be replaced, if possible, with another book without content deemed objectionable.
"Maus" is a graphic novel by Spiegelman, a comic artist, that follows his Jewish parents in 1940s Poland from their early experiences of anti-Semitism to their internment in Auschwitz. The novel is intercut with the young author's attempts to coax the story out of his father as an old man. It depicts Jewish people as mice and Nazis as cats.
The minutes of the January 10 meeting show McMinn County Director of Schools Lee Parkison addressed the board about the book before voting took place.
Robin Steenman, chair of the local chapter of Moms for Liberty, cites the second grade book, ?Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story,? as age-inappropriate material about racism taught in local schools, in Franklin, Tennessee, U.S., August 16, 2021. Picture taken August 16, 2021. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Tennessee parents say some books make students 'feel discomfort' because they're White. They say a new law backs them up
"The values of the county are understood. There is some rough, objectionable language in this book and knowing that and hearing from many of you and discussing it, two or three of you came by my office to discuss that," Parkison said.
Parkison said he spoke to an attorney and suggested redacting the profanity and the drawing of the woman, according to the minutes posted on the school board's website. But the board discussed concerns over copyright issues they may face for altering the book.
Ultimately, the board reached the unanimous vote to remove the book after discussing other aspects surrounding the decision, including state regulations, the core curriculum and the possibility of finding a book to replace "Maus."
CNN has reached out to Parkison and all members of the McMinn County School Board for further comment on the decision.
"I'm trying to, like, wrap my brain around it," Spiegelman said on CNN's "New Day" when asked for his reaction in an interview Thursday.
"I moved past total bafflement to try to be tolerant of people who may possibly not be Nazis, maybe," the author said, noting it did not appear based on the meeting that the board wanted the book removed because the author was Jewish.
"They're totally focused on some bad words that are in the book," he said. "I can't believe the word 'damn' would get the book jettisoned out of the school on its own."
Regarding the nudity, Spiegelman said the image in question was a "tiny image" that depicted his mother being found in a bathtub after she cut her wrists. "You have to really, like, want to get your sexual kicks by projecting on it," he said.
"I think they're so myopic in their focus and they're so afraid of what's implied and having to defend the decision to teach 'Maus' as part of the curriculum that it lead to this kind of daffily myopic response," the author said.
In response to the book's removal, the US Holocaust Museum said it's important for students to learn the history described in the novel.
"Maus has played a vital role in educating about the Holocaust through sharing detailed and personal experiences of victims and survivors," the museum said in a Twitter post. "Teaching about the Holocaust using books like Maus can inspire students to think critically about the past and their own roles and responsibilities today."
Instructional supervisors support 'Maus' at school board meeting
The members of the school board heard from English language arts instructional supervisors about why the book was being used in the curriculum, the meeting minutes show.
Board member Tony Allman took issue with how the content would be redacted, and added, "We don't need to enable or somewhat promote this stuff. It shows people hanging, it shows them killing kids, why does the educational system promote this kind of stuff? It is not wise or healthy," according to the meeting minutes.
In response, instructional supervisor Julie Goodin countered, "I was a history teacher, and there is nothing pretty about the Holocaust, and, for me, this was a great way to depict a horrific time in history," the meeting minutes say.
"Mr. Spiegelman did his very best to depict his mother passing away, and we are almost 80 years away. It's hard for this generation. These kids don't even know 9/11. They were not even born. For me, this was his way to convey the message," Goodin continued.
Rido/Adobe Stock Photo
Black parents say movement to ban critical race theory is ruining their children's education
Melasawn Knight, another instructional supervisor, echoed Goodin's stance that the graphic novel depicts history as it happened, the meeting minutes indicate.
"People did hang from trees, people did commit suicide and people were killed, over six million were murdered," Knight said.
"I think the author is portraying that because it is a true story about his father that lived through that. He is trying to portray that the best he can with the language that he chooses that would relate to that time, maybe to help people who haven't been in that aspect in time to actually relate to the horrors of it.
"Is the language objectionable? Sure. I think that is how he uses that language to portray that," Knight said.
According to the minutes, Allman said, "I am not denying it was horrible, brutal, and cruel. It's like when you're watching TV and a cuss word or nude scene comes on it would be the same movie without it. Well, this would be the same book without it."
Later, board member Mike Cochran said, "I went to school here 13 years. I learned math, English, reading and history. I never had a book with a naked picture in it, never had one with foul language. … So, this idea that we have to have this kind of material in the class in order to teach history, I don't buy it."


text:
Ongoing zoning controversies with mosques in New Jersey
Posted on June 3, 2017 by legallysociable
Two recent zoning cases involving proposed mosques in New Jersey have garnered attention. A quick overview of each.
First, a newly filed federal lawsuit in Bayonne, New Jersey:
The mosque is proposed for an old warehouse at the end of a dead-end street on the city's east side. The structure, built as a factory, previously housed a chapter of the Hired Guns Motorcycle Club, "made up of sworn law enforcement officers," according to its website…
To build the mosque into the existing space, Bayonne Muslims — the nonprofit organization that owns the space — went to the city in August 2015 to request zoning exemptions. It asked for requirements that a buffer between the existing building and adjacent properties be waived, and that it be able to provide less parking than required.
Ultimately, after three tumultuous public hearings, the proposal failed to gain approval at a March 6 meeting. The vote was 4-3 in favor of the project, but a supermajority — greater than the four votes in favor — was required under state law…
During the public hearings, some opponents expressed concern over the traffic and noise a mosque might bring to their dead-end street. Others cited verses from the Koran they asserted supported violence against non-Muslims.
Second, a recently settled federal lawsuit in Bernards Township, New Jersey:
A New Jersey town will pay an Islamic group $3.25 million to settle a lawsuit over its denial of a permit to build a mosque, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday…
The Islamic Society of Basking Ridge sued Bernards Township, an upscale town in central New Jersey, last year, claiming it changed its zoning ordinances in order to deny the group's plans. The Justice Department also sued the town last year, alleging it treated the group differently than other religious groups…
Central among those was parking: Township planners had concluded that because Friday afternoon was considered peak worship time, congregants would most likely be arriving straight from work and would each need a parking space.
But a federal judge disagreed, and wrote in a ruling Dec. 31 that the town hadn't conducted similar assessments of worship habits when churches or synagogues had made applications.
The Justice Department lawsuit also alleged the town changed its zoning laws to require houses of worship in residential districts to be at least 6 acres — larger than the lot the Islamic Society had purchased in 2011.
There are multiple issues at play in these cases:
1. Do municipalities apply the same standards to all religious groups? If not, why do particular groups receive more attention? (The two cases above involve Muslim groups. Do orthodox Jewish groups also receive a lot of attention?)
2. Is it legitimate to deny religious land uses for issues like traffic and parking (common complaints in suburban settings regarding many proposed land use changes)? In other words, are these typical NIMBY complaints or is there something unique about religious buildings?
3. Why are a number of these cases popping up in New Jersey? The state has a long history with exclusionary zoning issues – see the Mt. Laurel doctrine which developed out of a lawsuit. Additionally, it is home to a number of white suburbanites living in suburbs that they would like to preserve or protect.
4. Is the only path to resolution a federal lawsuit? Once such cases reach the level of a federal lawsuit, I would argue the communities have already lost. This is not just because RLUIPA cases tend to be settled in favor of the religious groups. I also imagine such lawsuits can bring negative attention to a community; do they really want to be known as the suburb that refused a certain group to worship there?
(These are not issues isolated to New Jersey. Perhaps there are similar conditions in the Chicago area suburbs. See earlier posts about mosque controversies in the Chicago region including here, here, and here.)
This entry was posted in Legal, Sociology and tagged lawsuits, mosques, New Jersey, NIMBY, zoning. Bookmark the permalink.
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One of the founders of "dry" tencent five have 5 years experience in vc: li qing nine companies can't vote!
from: sina science and technology
cloud network hunting note: once li qing is one of the founders of five tencent company, this article shares his investment failure in actual combat experience, 5 years can be summed up as "nine firms cannot cast" : an inter-bank business, ability is not strong, the founder of discord, communication difficulties, distracted, shareholder structure unreasonable, blind optimism, too slow, too soon, and that is the ideal relationship between investors and entrepreneurs in the spirit of contract under good teachers and wise friends.
have the following for li qing speaking notes:
I came out from tencent for five years, probably in 2, 300 million in angel investment, investment about 50 companies, a company listed last year (rice), and a company in the market, there is a company sold $100 million sold (seventh avenue to sohu swim). In the enterprise, we are 2 million investment 100 million yuan, 2 years handed over 20 million individual income tax (laughs).
in the past five years, we come across a lot of entrepreneurs, many projects, some success, there are also some failure. I found success always have in common, failure always has a variety of reasons. We, too, in summary, what kind of companies fail, why will fail. I focus on share in summing up the experience of failure.
first, not for the business in the industry. play games such as the original person to do the electric business, the original do Internet community to play games. Now under the Internet environment, this kind of cross-industry business failure probability is higher.
may someone said there will be a problem "was always the wrong when you tencent also cross-industry business." Yes, when we entrepreneurial Internet industry has just begun, don't forget to tencent earliest and participate in the construction of shenzhen telecom Internet, ma in embellish newsletter is to do paging centers, CALL machine and IM are very similar, we are make communication was born.
in this industry more mature, if you make cross-industry business professional experience often not enough, so it is easy to result in failure.
second, don't have a comprehensive quality is not high or the company core capability is not strong. investment game company, for example, your core research and development ability, one can not, this project basically, the probability of success is not high.
there is one kind is the overall quality is not high, but someone ask "why do you project for comprehensive quality is not high?" Sometimes in the case of a bubble, we head for a fever. We will find that after 3 months, we will regret it, then how can vote for the project?
last year under the condition of the investment environment of foam we voted for a number of projects, the amount of lead to close during the first half of the year the company a lot more than last year. Recently, I found that gay how all in the computer in the office, in big screen of the computer, I ask, "the boss, the above two companies closed, only the computer, the computer is doing art, large screen, have moved back to our own use."
third, don't throw not harmonious, easy to split the founder of the company. 2, 3, individual cooperation, the product has not come out team will make antinomy. Once there is a "partnership entrepreneurship than marriage more difficult to maintain the relationship between", because the marriage relationship just returned home before 12 o 'clock at night, basically is assured. Divorce is equally divided, property assets still exist.
however, if the business partner dissolved, so we threw money basically zero it, turned into a pile of computer. I am very deep understanding of IDG chief Hugo shong ten years ago (weibo) said "business fail nothing". There was once a online game company do the general dissolved, our investment of only 4 million, 9 million, left more than 40 of the computer.
so, said the wedding can be married off and half of the assets, but a dissolution of entrepreneurial team, asset reset immediately, this is a very typical failure lesson to us.
4, college students entrepreneurship. they that have not been tube, it is not easy to go to tube. Kai-fu lee (weibo) said, "a successful CEO is supposed to be married gave birth to a child, love, marriage, talks will communicate with others. Have children, he can learn to have a sense of responsibility."
we had one or two college students entrepreneurship, especially the talent level of college students' entrepreneurship is bad. We had a lot of kung fu and his communication, only to find that he is hard to manager, and there is the founder of the following can be hard to recruit good, experienced people. People will think the boss just graduated, emotional intelligence has a problem to communicate with people, why should serve him?
about a project we have voted for more than four years, the current situation of company now and we invest in the basic four years ago. Although there is no death, but that's basically it. In fact we didn't let him close to response the government called for the "stability", provides at least more than 20 jobs.
5, will focus on one thing. I want to be with all of the entrepreneurs say that business can concentrate to do one thing. What is a "thing"? Can only develop a game, can only make a product.
I have seen several projects, in the first game when not successfully made two, three, had his cost is not big, but made two games at the same time, the cost is large, cash burn very quickly, easily lead to company to close.
in the electricity industry, B2B and B2C business can't do it together. Investment newsletter to a very famous failure case is Rutland custom shirts. This project then I sent for employees, it is alive, make hundreds of thousands of year. There are two pie opinion at that time in the company, it is directly to the enterprise, the second is directly to the individual, so later B2B and B2C mixed together, failed.
entrepreneurs should learn Zhou Hongyi, only do one thing, by the user to do first. Tencent, do only one thing — QQ early.
6, not arrange unreasonable stock companies. there are a lot of projects at startup shareholders arrangement is not appropriate, interests are not balanced, there is no room for other better people. When we invest in his shareholder structure has been the case, we are very painful, want to ask him to send some options also is only a little, it will be very hard to absorb good talent.
in the past few years, we have also tried to spend money to buy old shares, readjust the shareholders take oh, we bought the old shares for hundreds of thousands, millions of adjusting the structure, then without exception all failed. This is a very valuable experience, any shareholder structure is not appropriate, we don't vote.
7, entrepreneurs blindly optimistic or very closed, not very willing to communicate with investors prone to failure. is a beginner, planning the games he does about what time can finish, then he will think that this is certainly no problem. We communicate with him, he is not willing to communicate with us. After a period of time when we came to see him again, this project has been running out of cash flow.
there is a more fun, we had just finished for him, after four months, has spent half of 2 million, he launched four iOS game team at the same time, he only do one thing, to do is to have a chance to slowly. And then his own very confident of say: "I'm sure the first game can make money", then failed, to the second paragraph or so, the last didn't do it. So said it's the first step is to put their cash flow to protect good, don't blindly optimistic.
8, too slow result in failure. Before the , there is a client company we threw it two years ago, had planned to 9 months to do the game, and while the page was not so fire, swim and likely to be successful. But he delayed the time, until a year later, come out products. Great changes have taken place in the market, swim side basically no chance. I mean the end of tourism is relatively low investment rate of 2 d end, now only tencent this rich man dare to take 50 million to 100 million to do 3 d end have a chance, a small company has no chance.
all fighting skill only fast break, if you are planning for a long time, in a constantly changing market environment, and when you first entered the market of ideas are not the same.
9, learn to hide themselves. Founder there are some companies, especially very like high-profile exposure in the media, to attract new competitors and giant into, the company will often fail miserably. For a case, the rice business, we won't tell others hai-bin wang to the people around (taomee founder) doing, only he do in quietly. Do more than a year, until the market other companies know that, with competitors before chasing too late.
if you haven't started to do is make public, such as "sing" I know, is often not successful. You may suddenly flood in, tencent QQ music change put you down. Business must be very low-key to enter the market, not market success, don't be too high. Do investors can be very high, because we want to attract entrepreneurs to make us money, but entrepreneurs can't be too high, must be required to do your business, until forced to exposure.
because today there are a lot of entrepreneurs, I'd like to speak a little the relationship between investors and entrepreneurs.
first, as the entrepreneurs, we need to speak "contract spirit". we vote today you accounted for 10% of the shares, accounting for 20% of your shares, accounting for 40% of your shares, as long as you at that time, the moment is willing to, we both sides is fair, not after a period of time, come to think of it, said "oh you share me more than a 30% stake in the"? Will not be able to have such idea.
second, entrepreneurs must have the passion, also should have the fear of the professional managers. in a company, you are the entrepreneur is a CEO, the CEO is to work for the board of directors, for shareholders, so you want to have the fear of the professional managers, to know that you are responsible to the board.
third, qualified investors are entrepreneurs to mentor, goes the "dripping of grace when yongquan", besides, we also don't know you don't the "spring" chung chung, we also don't know.
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Ho ho here we are at the biggest magazine of the year, and right on schedule is a big happy Santa Clause who has taken time out of his busy toymaking schedule to pick up a copy of his favourite magazine. Just like Santa's sleigh, this edition is jampacked with goodies…
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GEO Renewables S.A. is a company focused on renewable energy.
Intelligent Portal Systems is a technology company based in San Jose.
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Do Immigrants Work Harder? If So Why?
A team I work with at my employer is hiring a project manager. They included me as one of the interviewers. Interestingly, after the initial phone screens the three final candidates invited over for face-to-face interviews are all immigrants.
They don't speak perfect English. Some started in fields completely different than the field my employer is in. Over time, they accumulated experience and achievements. Now they are all well qualified for the position.
I'm not the hiring manager. So I don't know what the position pays. Judging from the grade level, I would say the job pays six figures. You would think immigrants don't possess a special advantage when it comes to project management. In fact they may come at a disadvantage for not having been born and educated in this country.
What makes these immigrants stand out to become top candidates? Is it because they work harder?
"I don't think there's any question, it's the immigrants who are willing to work harder, on average," said the mayor of New York City, whose population is more than a third foreign-born. "Plenty of native-born Americans, tenth-generation here, that work very hard. So I'm not dissing everybody. But on balance, it's no question that people come here, and they come here because they want to live the great American dream, and they don't think it's just going to be given to them or that they deserve it. They come with the ethic of wanting to work for it."
I would think everybody wants to live the great American dream and nobody thinks it's just going to be given to them or that they deserve it, not just immigrants.
Back in July, I heard someone say in a Marketplace Money radio program on NPR that immigrants work harder because there is no/less social safety net in their countries. They must work hard or else they can't live. Putting the political angle aside, there is some truth to it. When I go to a developing country, I see people there work very hard, much harder than people here.
I think immigrants work harder because of self-selection. Those who work harder self-selected to be immigrants (I'm talking about people who immigrated as an adult). Even for those who moved as a child to a different country with their parents, their parents self-selected to be immigrants. That must also have an effect on the children.
Working hard is pretty much the only choice for immigrants. Working hard does pay off. It doesn't necessarily make you rich but it isn't too difficult to get into a comfortable life. People born and educated in this country have all the advantages over immigrants. If immigrants can become top candidates for six-figure jobs, so can the natives.
Are you an immigrant or from an immigrant family? It wouldn't surprise me at all if a disproportionate number of readers are. If you aren't one yourself, do you know or work with immigrants? Do you think immigrants work harder? If so, why?
The US work force is over 110 million workers. So you can see the hue and cry over foreigners taking away jobs being very valid (end sarcasm). Yes, there are many temporary workers who come on visa. But that number may be 1 million if I stretch it and plus their spouses can't work.
Ok now to your question, do immigrants work harder? I would say there is no certain answer. The type of person that chooses to come to the US is truly cream of the cream and in addition they have a drive to avail all the wonderful opportunities that the US gives its citizens. Employment-based Legal Immigrants are certainly more hungry for success and certainly value education over everything else.
Americans in general have become lazy and fat. When one rises to power, they become complacent. That's just how it is.
Think of Rocky Balboa at the beginning of Rocky 3. America is Rocky. The immigrants are Clubber Lang. While Rocky is taking pictures of himself and slacking off, Clubber is hitting the punching bag 12 hours a day, getting stronger and stronger. Except in this movie, Americans aren't suddenly going to realize how fat and out of shape they've become until it's too late.
By the way, not being "educated" in this country is an advantage, my friend.
I'm a native born retired engineer. There is no question in my mind that immigrants work harder. I can think of three examples to relate.
When recruiting at University of California at Davis, I interviewed a Masters graduate who had made his way to the U.S. from Vietnam at the age of 16. With no family support and no government aid he was getting his masters degree at the age of 22.
I consulted for a very small business that invented medical devices. The owner asked me to sit in on a meeting with another small business to discuss a possible collaboration. At one point I looked around the table and realized that all but two of these people had PhD's and I was the only non-immigrant. Turkey, Bosnia and Mexico were all represented.
A good friend of mine, while native born, was born to immigrant Mexican farm workers. He toiled in the fields with his family but acquired a thirst for education from his parents. He got an advanced engineering degree. His real goal in life was to become an astronaut. He applied 11 times before he made it. After each rejection, he assessed what he could do to improve his chances. He learned to fly. He studied Russian. He got a civilian job with NASA. He flew Discovery to the International Space Station. Now he is a candidate for US Congress in California's 10 Congressional District.
People such as this are the fuel that powers our great Nation. The lazy stay put. The motivated come to America.
Yes and No. Just check out the number of immigrants milking the system , being on food stamps, using the program to purchase items not authorized, getting free medical care, it is too long to mention, while our tax money is paying for them. I am a Russian immigrant , came here 21 years ago, and yes I worked very hard to get where i am today, i worked at 3 fast food restaurants at one time, working 18 hours a day, now i own one of the biggest prepaid telecom carriers in the country. Most immigrants on welfare are Hispanic, Middle Eastern and Africans.
Because of dual effect of self-selection and lack of safety net early on, agree. Also because in some countries secondary (and sometimes even higher education, depending on school) is vastly superior to that of US, so emigrants from such countries and their kids are better prepared than US peers and gain admissions to top schools as a result. Not just due to academic curriculum: in the country I came from secondary schools were all open on Saturday and only Sunday was a day off for pupils. So there is 15% more time of class time right there.
Yes, I am a potential immigrant (I say potential because I'm in the same situation as KD above). The self selection logic definitely holds true. It takes a lot of effort to immigrate to the US so anyone who has done this is already working hard and is resourceful. In addition if they are from India or China and working in STEM they are also probably the cream of their country as far as talent and education goes. Education in these countries is intensely competitive so if you've survived that and in addition made it to the US you have to be pretty good. As someone else mentions the math in the GRE is ridiculously easy. Most people I know that took it in India only studied for the verbal portion and did really need to study the math.
Wow I'm glad to see all your readers are so educated. The definitive answer is yes and I think anyone who says no has not worked in a while, maybe ever?? There are definitely some hard working Americans but there's no question on average, people born here take things for granted. That is human nature, I take things for granted..
People who are born in poorer countries have to work harder and they want the life we live and they are willing to do whatever it takes to get it. They'll work for less and do more, who wouldn't want to hire someone like that? They have taken over a lot of unskilled labor type jobs but they are actually starting to creep in on skilled labor. I work at an engineering company and when I need help who do you think I go to on average??
I'm an immigrant myself. I don't think we should make a blanket statement to say one group work harder than the other unless it is backed by statistics. That say clearly there are plenty of anecdotal and personal experience of industrious immigrants.
Self-selection is one explanation. I mean emigration is a great life event. You are break away from the comfort of home and familiar tradition to go to a different environment. That alone requires certain fortitude.
Another point is perhaps US is a great place for hard working people. Many people might have great skill and great ethic. But perhaps their home country's economy do not demand that skill or perhaps there are other factors like corruptions that discourage people from really working hard. When they find their skill is valued in US they find it a great environment to apply themselves fully.
People, who are aiming to work in other countries such as America, know the difficulty of earning due to their experience in their homelands. A lot of these people also know the difficulty of finding a well paying job. I think this is the reason why immigrants are so motivated to work hard. They know that they have been given a great opportunity and they are cherishing the experience.
You state that you see people working harder in other countries. What country are you thinking of? I have yet to travel to any country where people work harder than in the US. Certainly not South America or Europe. What I observe is that people work fewer hours, fewer days, and less hard than Americans everywhere I go. Has all your travel been in Japan?
I'm not sure why you think the social safety net is stronger in America either. Every country that is even close to comparable has a stronger safety net and more socialism. Non comparable (third world) countries also tend to be very socialist and in many of them the required income to get by (in terms of hours worked) is shockingly low.
Setting aside the question of whether immigrants work harder or why, some of the statements here seem very wrong to me.
I would say most definitely not. For one thing, "Harder working" or "Hard working" is subjective. Statistically all of the "Hard working" jobs that "immigrants do" are primarily dominated by native born Americans. I would argue that immigrants aren't any harder working or less hard working than anybody else. They are working the same jobs that native born Americans work. Some immigrants work in construction while others sit in a chushy chair and push a button all day in an air conditioned office. It's a kind sentiment to push the narrative that immigrants are self sacrificing work horses and therefore are somehow more valuable and noble than a native born American, but that simply just isn't true at all.


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Vialikaja Bierastavica (, , , , ) is a town in Belarus, Grodno Region, Bierastavica District. It is the capital city of Bierastavica District. It is located near the city of Grodno.

Urban-type settlements in Belarus
Populated places in Grodno Region
Byerastavitsa District
Trakai Voivodeship
Grodnensky Uyezd
Białystok Voivodeship (1919–1939)
Belastok Region

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Additional Chief Secretary, Information, Awanish Awasthi said that the loan would be repaid in 48 installments with three years moratorium.
The Uttar Pradesh government has approved a proposal to get bank loan of Rs 12,000 crore from Punjab National Bank (PNB) for the construction of the Purvanchal Expressway. Additional Chief Secretary, Information, Awanish Awasthi said that a loan of Rs 7,800 crore would be given in the first phase at the rate of 8.30% for 15 years. He added further that the loan would be repaid in 48 installments with three years moratorium. The loan would be repaid through funds collected from toll on the expressway.
The state government has set a deadline of 36 months for the completion of the project. The Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), however, plans to compete it within 24-26 months. Relevant departments have given their nod for the construction and 93% of the land has been acquired, Awasthi said.
However, following the cancellation of bids twice, the last time in June this year, the government has invited fresh bids again. Tenders will be opened on July 6. "Companies would submit both technical and financial bids, and by July 10, the process of awarding tenders to selected builders for the construction of the 353-km expressway between Lucknow and Ghazipur on the eastern fringes of the state will be completed. The revenue department has already installed 11,800 pillars at every 50 metre to mark the land acquired for the project," Awasthi said, as mentioned in a report in Financial Express.
PM Modi is set to visit Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav's parliamentary constituency Azamgarh to lay the foundation for the expressway on July 14. As mentioned in reports, BJP party leaders have already started preparing for the event. Once the event is finalised, CM Yogi will also visit the venue to oversee preparations.
UP BJP spokesperson Chandramohan said, "We all need the guidance of PM Modi for development. Both central and state government have implemented multiple schemes for the welfare of every section of society. People are also witnessing change under BJP's rule."


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NWRS – Friends Service Agreement
PrevProject HOPE
MARIANA TRENCH MARINE NATIONAL MONUMENT MANAGEMENT PLANNext
The National Wildlife Refuge System supports "Friends" groups of concerned citizens that help manage and protect refuge areas in their community; our coalition of like-minded individuals has been in dialogue with NWRS for over a decade.
(2010 – present)
NRWS is known for its human-friendly interactive conservation approach. In part as a response to the notorious understaffing and underfunding of NWRS properties, "Friends" groups originated in the 1980s as a way of offering direct citizen participation in refuge property management and developments.
When the group that would become the Friends of the Mariana Trench first came together in 2007, we had no idea we would eventually evolve into a "Friends" group operating under the National Wildlife Refuge System; we were simply a loose collection of environmental activists advocating for the creation of the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument.
After the monument's declaration in 2009, NWRS reached out to the Friends offering information and support, initiating a relationship that continues to this day. Their valuable perspective guides FOMT in tracking the federal government's progress toward administering the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument.
FOMT finally received an official "friends" designation in 2019. This process was delayed in part by a years-long revision process that NWRS was undergoing internally with its "Friends" agreement structure. Having achieved our official designation, we look forward to sharing an office and other in-kind support with NWRS staff beginning the Summer of 2021. NWRS also assists "friends" groups in establishing fundraising mechanisms such as a Mariana Trench Marine National Monument gift shop.
NWRS and Friends of the Mariana Trench are currently collaborating on several future projects creating scientific intrigue in the Mariana Trench.
Partners: NWRS