Camilo Benitez is a PhD Candidate at the Department of Construction Management and Engineering at the University of Twente. Camilo is developing a Game Simulation about structuring multipurpose (green/grey) infrastructure projects as Public Private Partnerships. This game will allow decisions makers to experience the operational trade-offs in such projects during the different phases of infrastructure planning and delivery cycle: from planning, to procurement up to the Operation and Maintenance phase. He is interested in developing theoretical insights into the ways that project partners solve the tension between the need of providing stability to the rules-in-place, and the need to adapt Public Private Partnerships project to emerging issues over time.
She is the Vice President of the WYN and Communications Officer. She is Mexican but lives in Italy where she is pursuing a PhD in Environmental Engineering. She has volunteered for the WYN since 2013 and had the opportunity to participate in WWF7 in Korea. Now, for WWF8 in Brasilia she is especially eager to take youth participation to the next level. For more info about her click here.
Tatiana is a Brazilian entrepreneur, Co-founder & Projects Director of FA.VELA, a nonprofit that offers entrepreneurial education and business acceleration for favela and ghetto residents engaged in sustainable enterprises and working to take the lead in local transformation. She is also a Youth Delegate of the World Water Council representing the Americas. Tatiana joined the Water Youth Network in 2013 and currently, is a member of the Advisory Board, collaborates in fundraising and cooperation towards meaningful youth contribution to hydro politics, participating in WYN-led activities within international agendas such as the World Water Forum. She holds an MSc in Water Management, with an especialisation in Water Conflict Management (UNESCO-IHE), with research and consultancy experience in Africa, Europe and Brazil.
Javed is an Erasmus Mundus Master's Student of Flood Risk Management and Hydroinformatics at UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Delft, the Netherlands. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Agricultural Engineering from G.B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, India. Since May 2017, he has been working with Resurgence (London) and GFDRR, World Bank as an Open Modelling and Urban Flooding Consultant. Where, he is working as Research Lead on OpenDRI Initiative Projects and Risk Modelling and Communication Projects and Facilitator for graphic generation for the Intellectual Framework and Process Diagram and other publication graphics. He is Lead Author for Risk Modelling, Visualization and Communication Projects. He worked with Climate-KIC (the EU's main climate innovation initiative) as a Research Lead on a project "Climate Change Adaptation for Sustainable Development in the Municipality of Bunnik, the Netherlands". He also worked as a Technical Advisor with Empresa Mixta Valenciana de Aguas S.A., Global Omnium, Valencia (Spain).
He has actively been engaged with the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) as well as IWRM Thematic Groups of the youth led organization Water Youth Network since February 2017. He is co-coordinator of the Human Resources group, Communication Focal Point for DRR group and Focal Point for Capacity Building Communication for IWRM group. He is also the WYN focal point of communication and coordination support for the 8th World Water Forum. Javed is involved in several knowledge sharing and advocacy projects such as the YouKnow project as focal point of Database Management and has organized international events including European Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction (Istanbul), Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (Mexico) and Stockholm World Water Week 2017 (Stockholm). At present, he is involved in the preparation of a satellite event in Delft as preparation of the 8th World Water Forum (Brazil). He is also involved in the preparation of an "Interdisciplinary Pressure Cooker: Risk Communication Challenge" side event at Understanding Risk Forum 2018 (Mexico) organized by WYN and GFDRR.
He is part of Disaster Risk Reduction team of United Nation Major Group for Children and Youth. He has been volunteering with 'The Climate Reality Project' and 'Citizens' Climate Lobby' where he works with a vision to cut carbon pollution and create a healthy and prosperous future powered by clean energy, sustainable development, natural resources management and to make people aware of the impacts of climate change on environment.
Robert Sakic Trogrlic is a PhD student in Edinburgh and Hydro Nation Scholar of the Scottish government. He holds a BSc. and MEng. In Civil Engineering (from University of Split in Croatia, where he specialised in Hydrology and Water Resources Management. With an interest of merging his technical background with appreciation for social sciences, he applied and was granted the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship by the European Commission to study MSc in Flood Risk Management (Unesco IHE Institute for Water Education in The Netherlands, TU Dresden in Germany, UPC Barcelona in Spain, and University of Ljubljana in Slovenia). Following his interest in working in developing world, he continued on studying for a PhD in Disaster Risk Reduction, where he is focusing on the role of indigenous knowledge in community-based disaster risk reduction in Malawi. Robert has expertise in participatory stakeholder engagement, disaster risk reduction, risk governance, flood resilience in urban areas and climate change adaptation. He worked on research projects in the United States, Australia, Europe and Africa, and worked as an independent consultant for the non-governmental sectors. Robert is a firm believer in the capacities of local communities to be at the forefront of solving water-related issues, and sees himself doing an applied research solving real life challenges.
Since 2015, Robert has been actively involved in Water Youth Network and United Nations Major Group of Children and Youth, where he volunteered as the Disaster Risk Reduction Team co-coordinator and the Disaster Risk Reduction Science Policy Interface Focal Point, respectively. He was an invited speaker and co-chair at UN Conferences (HABITAT III in Ecuador 2016 and Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction in Mexico 2017) and has organised and participated in numerous international events, such as Singapore International Water Week, ECOSOC Youth Forum, HABITAT III, and GFDRR Understanding Risk Forum. At the moment, he is involved in the preparation of the World Water Forum 8.
Camila Hellen Peixoto de Lima is a researcher. For the past 7 years, she worked with research related to water quality, assessment of the hydrological impact of dams, environmental licensing of dams, rain-flow modelling, water allocation and environmental flows. She holds a BSc. Eng. in Environmental Engineering from Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia ÁREA1 DeVry Brazil where she gained experience in water quality by design and implementing a strategy for monitoring water quality at Abaeté lagoon in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. She also holds a Master degree in Environment, Water and Sanitation from Universidade Federal da Bahia – UFBA, Brazil where She worked with a research related to assessment and classification of hydrological alteration resulting from the implementation of dams of consumptive and non-consumptive use on rivers. Currently she is a Doctorate student in Civil Engineering – Water Resources and Environment, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro – UFRJ, Brazil, where her topic of research is: Environmental flows to support water management in a participatory manner in a Brazilian watershed committee: a case study. During her PhD period She did a 12-month exchange program as a visiting scholar at the Texas A&M University, USA, from November 2015- October 2016 where I applied the rain-flow model SWAT – Soil and Water Assessment Tool to generate daily and monthly flow for the years 1940-2016 at the Piabanha Basin. Besides her academic background Camilla does volunteer works in several organizations such as Water Youth Network and Brazilian Youth Parliament for Water since 2017 (both youth led) and OMA-BRASIL (Non-governmental Organization of Civil Society for Public Interests) since 2015 working with technical chambers of Brazilian watershed committees. She was also a moderator at the "Your voice" platforms at the World Water Forum 8th and participated of two innovation labs, one in Denmark and another one in Brazil in 2017.
She is part of the IWRM team at WYN and the focus person for developing new tools for YouKnoW! Platform, volunteering at the organization since 2016. Brazilian, BSc in Biology and Master in Environmental Sciences at UNESCO-IHE, she is now pursuing her second major in Geography at the Federal University of Minas Gerais. Marina is based at Belo Horizonte where she works for a local NGO – named FA.VELA – in the fields of Fundraising and Monitoring and Evaluation of Social Impacts. It is her first time in a huge event such as this and she is looking forward to ensuring youth participation and increasing her network.
Vincy is a policy, strategies and partnerships development professional working in the field of sustainable development. She is also an urban policy specialist and has a heart for spatial justice and urban equality especially in the access to basic services and has authored several papers in the field of urban development and planning. She has been a speaker on various development issues at different forums and consultations of the United Nations. She juggles consultancies for a few UN agencies including UN Habitat Youth, UNDP Youth – Asia and Pacific as well as other institutions including Tata Institute of Social Science and the Harmony Foundation's Compassion Beyond Borders initiative.
Nhilce Esquivel, is a Mexican youth that works on the Water Resources sector. She holds a bachelor degree on civil engineering from the Technical Institute of Chetumal in Mexico , a Master degree on Water Science and Engineering with a major on Flood Risk Management by the Institute of Water Education (UNESCO IHE) from the Netherlands, and a Master degree on Hydro science and Engineering from the Technical Institute of Dresden in Germany.
She is working as an external hydrologist consultant hired by Colima University in Mexico, and developing projects for the National Water Commission. She has also worked in the construction sector as construction supervisor and in the Education sector as English teacher for kids and teenagers.
During her master studies she participated in some events as volunteer such as the 36th IAHR World Congress in The Hague, Netherlands and in some events organised by her university. She is part of the Water Youth Network (WYN) and the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth (UNMGCY) where she is part of the Integrated Water resources Management group and Disaster Risk Reduction action groups since 2016.She is interested in the recognition of youth in the professional sector , gender equality, environmental resources preservation, Climate Change , Disaster Risk Reduction and water resources management.
Mrs. Laura Basco Carrera is a Water Resources Management adviser. She has about 7 years international experience in projects and research related to water security, Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), adaptive planning, water allocation modelling, policy analysis and stakeholder engagement. She holds a BSc. Eng. in Industrial Engineering from Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Spain, where she specialized in the field of Structural Engineering. She also holds a Master degree in Business Management. She has gained expertise in the field of Renewable Energies during her studies MSc. Eng. Mechanical and Process Engineering at Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany (graduated with honours). Laura became interested in international development when she was working for two NGOs, FUNDEO (2009-2010) and Engineers without Borders Germany (2011-2012), in Latin America and Africa. Since 2012 she is working at a Dutch-based Research Institute, Deltares, where she has worked in several international projects related to IWRM, water security, climate change and participatory planning. She has supported and provided advise to national and regional governments, NGOs and financial organizations such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank in more than 19 countries in Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia (including Germany, Spain, Bolivia, Venezuela, Ghana, Kenya, Turkey, Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines). At present she is also finalizing her PhD in collaborative modeling for informed and participatory decision making in water resources planning at IHE Delft and University of Twente, in The Netherlands.
Finally, in her free time Laura is involved in several initiatives that aim to empower young people in the water sector. She is in the management board of the youth-led organization, Water Youth Network, since 2013. She commenced as team leader of the Event Management Working Group. In 2015 she became a member of the advisory board as business manager. A year later she became the coordinator of the IWRM thematic group, which is composed of more than 40 members from all over the world. She has organized and participated in many international events such as SDGs (High level panel on water) process, COP21, World Water Forum 7, World Congress on DRR in Sendai, UN HABITAT III, Singapore International Water Week and Stockholm World Water Week. At the moment she is involved in the preparation of the World Water Forum 8.
Niel is a member of both the IWRM and the DDR, River, and Coast group. He is Dutch and is currently working as a water system analyst at a Dutch water board (HHNK). He also has a background in Ecohydrology, GIS and Remote Sensing, working on projects in Poland, Brazil, and Malawi. Niel has volunteered with the WYN since the start of 2017. In October, he attended the Youth Climate Summit (COY13) in Bonn. At the WWF8, he wants to continue the battle for improved involvement of youth in water decisions.
Sofia Corradi joined Water Youth Network (WYN) in 2017. She is a part of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) thematic teams and Human Resources (HR) support team. Sofia is a Brazilian Civil Engineering student, member of the National Rural Sanitation Program (PNSR) of the National Health Foundation in Brazil (FUNASA) in partnership with the Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering at Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). She is developing a research project entitled: "Indigenous Peoples in Perspective: How to Guarantee their Right to Water and Sanitation?". Sofia is also a member of Global Shapers Community, a young initiative of the World Economic Forum that seeks to generate impact in each community inserted by developing leadership, giving voice for local youth and implementing a local impact project.
Philip joined Water Youth Network after the Stockholm World Water Week in 2017. He is coordinating the Human Resources support group and a member of the Disaster Risk Reduction working group.
Philip is currently pursuing a master's degree in spatial planning at the Technical University of Dortmund, Germany, where he is doing a lot of work on green infrastructures and urban water issues.
Younoussa is a young professional from Cameroon working in the field of Water Resources Management. He studied Hydrology and Water Resources Science in at the University of Yaounde in Cameroon, and at present he is coursing a MSc in climate change and water management. He has gained expertise in the implementation of Water Resources Management through his work as manager at Blue Rayame social purpose enterprise (2017 – present).
Younoussa's interest in the promotion of youth leadership and advocacy commenced in 2016 when he worked at APYLAV Cameroon as field technician. After his internship at the Global Water Partnership Central Africa the same year, he understood the importance of connecting with youth to solve water-related issues. So in October 2016; he joined Water Youth Network (WYN). He is the co-coordinator of the IWRM thematic group, which is composed of more than 40 members from all over the world. He is also the WYN focal point for the United Nations Major Group of Children and Youth. Younoussa is involved in several knowledge sharing and advocacy projects such as the YouKnow project and has organized international events including COP23. At present is involved in the preparation of a satellite event in Cameroon as preparation of the World Water Forum 8.
Veronica joined the Water Youth Network (WYN) in July 2015 and she has been engaged with an active participation in the 7th World Water Forum 2015, Stockholm World Water Week 2015 and Singapore International Water Week 2016. At the moment she is involved in the Regional process for the WWF8. She is an ecohydrologist with background in engineering, limnology and environment and currently she is a Post-doc Researcher at the Vrije Univesiteit Brussel in Belgium working with different international cooperation projects in Africa and Latin America. In general, she is very interested in research development, and women & youth empowerment.
Leah is a water resources engineer (EIT) in the United States with experience in hydrologic modelling, spatial analysis, disaster risk reduction, serious gaming, and stakeholder engagement. She has a MSc in Hydroinformatics and Water management with an emphasis in decision support systems as well as a B.S. in Civil Engineering. She has been involved in a variety of water resources projects in her four years of experience. Professional experience includes calibrations for hydrologic numerical models and geospatial analysis. She has capacity in a suite of geospatial, hydrologic, and early warning system analysis software and tools. Through serious gaming, community-based risk analysis, citizen science platforms, and leading capacity building forums, Leah has effectively involved stakeholders in decision making processes. Her current project involves developing a citizen science adaptive management plan for river restoration in the state of Colorado.
Through her professional affiliations, Ms. Pope has used her technical and capacity building skills to lead and collaborate in international and multidisciplinary teams. Leah volunteers as project lead for Engineers Without Borders to develop a water system in rural Guatemala as well as an active role in the Disaster Risk Reduction Group of Water Youth Network. For the WWF8, Leah has been in charge of organizing the regional process strategy of the Network and coordinating the design and the execution of 10 youth satellite events to mobilize young people across the globe.
Juanita is a Political Scientist, fascinated by how water can become a tool to enhance peacebuilding and social cohesion processes. She has been volunteering for WYN since 2017. Ms. Ayala also volunteered in a WASH NGO in Mexico, and now is applying all the acquired knowledge leading new projects in her home country- Colombia. She attended World Water Week 2017 and is looking forward to her participation in World Water Forum 8. She expects to engage soon in a MSc. on water and diplomacy.
Kelly graduated with a Master in Ecohydrology in 2014 and has since worked as a project coordinator in the fields of integrated water resource management, environmental flows and agroecology. She actively joined the IWRM team at WYN in 2017 and is involved in the development of the How To Toolbox, and organization of the World Water Forum 8 and Stockholm Water Week 2018.
Miguel Angel Trejo Rangel is a Water Risk Manager. He is a consultant at the Water National Commission of Mexico and Collaborator in two NGOs, México Sostenible and Water Youth Network. He holds a BSc. in Sustainable Management of Coastal Areas from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and an Erasmus Mundus Master degree in Flood Risk Management from TU Dresden, Germany; Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Spain; UNESCO-IHE, the Netherlands and University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Recently, he was accepted in a PhD program that will start in March 2018 at the National Institute for Space Research of Brazil, where he will work with Social Innovation for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Finally, Miguel has participated in some high-level international events as COP16, Strengthening Disaster Risk Reduction across the Americas: A Regional Summit on the Contribution of Earth Observations and Global Forum on Science and Technology for Disaster Resilience 2017. At the moment, he is involved in the preparation of the World Water Forum 8 and UR2018.
Dona is a stakeholder engagement specialist and experienced facilitator with a Master in Water Governance and a joint graduate diploma from the United Nations University – Institute for Water, Environment and Health. Over the past 7 years, she has been applying creative methodologies and techniques to propel people and projects at the intersection of social and water innovation, particularly in her role as Global Lead for the Water Innovation Labs with the Canadian organisation Waterlution. She is trained in Art of Hosting, Cooperative Games, Non-Violent Communication, and Systems Theory. Dona joined the Water Youth Network in 2014 and combined with her work, she has hosted and facilitated workshops internationally at Water Innovation Labs – Canada, Europe, India; Budapest Water Summit; 7th World Water Forum in South Korea; Singapore International Water Week, and more. Her experience ranges from working with indigenous elders in South America, to presenting in corporate boardrooms in North America. She is leading two sessions in the Citizen's Forum at the 8th World Water Forum in Brasilia (Water Innovation Led by Youth; and Indigenous Perspectives), and coordinating a side event with IADB on e-learning tools.
Vanh is the developer and facilitator of the Emerging Water Professionals Program of the International RiverFoundation in Australia. She is volunteering with WYN supporting the Usability Improvement team under YouKnow! Platform. She is passionate about building cross-generational collaboration and innovating education. Vanh has a strong background in leading change in the water, gender equity and tourism sectors. She is a Collaborating Partner of TransformationFirst.Asia Pte Ltd and a certified Social + Emotional Intelligence coach and facilitator who helps professionals develop their leadership skills. She has worked with OXFAM, Australian AID, UN International Labour Organisation, Global Water Partnership, Engineers Without Borders, and People Builders Asia. Vanh founded  Everyone Matters, with a vision to create an enabling environment where every professional gives an extra mile for the work that they do and where they are respected and valued regardless of their position, age, gender and look.
Prapti Verma has been working since over 3 years on Urban issues in India, more specifically in Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, Cleanliness, and Infrastructure in urban cities. She is based of out of India where she has gained experience in understanding and addressing water and environmental problems faced by developing countries. She is an Economics graduate (University of Delhi, India) and has completed her masters in Water Science and Governance from TERI School of Advanced Studies, India.
Prapti has extensive experience in Policy Research, Data Analysis, Documentation, Monitoring and Stakeholder Engagement in Water Resource Management, Wastewater, Sanitation, Climate Change, and Environment and has also actively contributed to project management and proposal development during her work experience. She is the supporting author for the report "State of Urban Water and Sanitation in India", published by TERI University, with funding from USAID and Coca-Cola, supported by The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI). Previously, she worked for a year with GE Water and Process technologies (Now Suez Water Treatment Technologies) on Urban Municipal and Industrial Water and Wastewater management for sustainable cities.
Mohmmad Daud Hamidi, Member of WYN, is a Master's degree student in Integrated Water Resource Management at the German-Kazakh University, Kazakhstan. Prior to starting his master's degree, he was an adjunct lecture at Jami University, Afghanistan, having more than 4 years of working experience with international organizations. He is developing integrated surface and underground model for Kabul City Region using DHI MIKE SHE/11 as a research consultant for project supported by USAID PEER. He did short term consultations on flood modeling and hydrological modelling for School of Engineering, Nazarbayev University and Kazhydromet supported by UNDP.
He led one of the WYN satellite events for the World Water Forum 8.
Currently, as part of his master's degree he is doing Internship with Asian Development Bank in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Ana's research focuses on issues surrounding the importance of freshwater estuaries, their vulnerability in the face of climate change, and the international responses associated with migratory bird protocols. She is most interested in understanding how policies are developed considering the many competing social interests that are prevalent in multi-functional landscapes. Ana holds a Master of Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, and a B.S. in Environmental Engineering from Instituto Tecnologico y Estudios Superiores del Occidente (ITESO), Mexico. She has extensive academic and working experience in Latin America, the United States, Africa, and Australia that spans the disciplines of social science, engineering, and wildlife conservation.
Camilo Huneeus is a Chilean industrial engineer pursuing a Master of Environmental Management at Yale. From a system dynamics perspective, he is interested in both water management and disaster risk reduction. He is currently working in trans-boundary flood resilience in India and Nepal and at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Water Management. Prior to coming to Yale, Camilo worked as a Wastewater treatment engineer and as an advisor on Social Economy to the Chilean Ministry of Economics.
Christiana Metzker is a Brazilian PhD candidate at IHE-Delft. Her research aims to understand how Brazilian water and sanitation utilities learn, and how this can help reducing non-revenue water. She is joining WYN team for the WWF8.
Nishchal Sardjoe hails from the South American country of Suriname, and came to the Netherlands for his studies. In 2017 he graduated from the Technical University of Delft with a MSc degree in Systems Engineering, Policy Analysis and Management, with a specialisation in Transport & Logistics. His interests lie primarily in translating hard engineering solutions in the right and comprehensible options for policy makers, thus acting as the interface between beta and gamma sciences. At Deltares he works within the department of Urban Water and Subsurface and is involved in various projects such as the OECD Water Governance Initiative, governance for land subsidence and knowledge transfer within climate-proof networks.
Imran Jalalkhan is a young water and agriculture professional from Mombasa, Kenya working in the field of Water and Agriculture. He studied a Bachelor of Science degree in Soil, Water and Environmental Engineering at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Kenya. He has gained expertise in the field of Agriculture through his consultancy services with Greentech Contractors and Consultants since 2009. Through this work, he has been engaged with the youth and his passion to work with the youth has grown exponentially which made him be selected to be present at the Tunza youth conference on climate change in 2009. He has consulted for a renewable water project for UNIDO between 2011 and 2013 and in 2016 and currently the Project Coordinator for a water project at the Coastal Kenya for Siemens Stiftung. In his free time, Imran enjoys mentoring youth and university graduates in the field of water and agriculture and advocates the youth to consider them as a career. He is a member for IWA and from time to time reviews abstracts submitted for water conferences and have joined the thematic group on wastewater in IWA. In addition, he enjoys travel and landscape photography whenever he unwinds.
Alex Zizinga is a Natural Resource Scientist with 9 years of practical and professional experience in Integrated Watershed Management and Natural Resource Management as a whole. Academically I hold Post Masters Diploma from University of Reading, UK & University of Dar es Salaam collaboration (Watershed Management and Climate), MSc in Environment and Natural Resources from Makerere University and currently I am undertaking a Ph.D with a focus on watershed restoration and biodiversity conservation. I have also previously worked as a Graduate Research Assistant (Integrated Watershed Management Master Program Coordinator, Makerere University), consultant for Integrated Water Resource Management with United Nations Development Program for climate change risk mitigation and adaptation in national institutions of Uganda, Ministry of Water and Environment in Uganda, Other organisations in Water, food security and other livelihood programs with different organisations. My activities have very much concentrated on Integrated Watershed Management and Integrated Water Resources Management in the east African region. I have gained enormous expertise in conservation and restoration of watersheds. I have skills in presentations, conducting debates related to natural resource management, modelling and research Finally I am a member of World Water Youth Network and Executive Director (Volunteer) of Umoja East Africa Fund http://umojafund.org/ in Uganda where I mobilize, engage and work with youth and communities in Catchment Management activities in the region.
He is a Water Resource and Services Manager. He has 10 years' experience in water and sanitation engineering, planning, teaching, writing and communication. He holds an Agricultural Engineer Degree and Two Master's Degree in Water Management. He is pursuing a Water Resources Management PhD program (specialized on climate and urban change adaptation in urban wetlands). Used to field work with NGO's since 2008, he actually chair a Youth-Led Organization (Water For Life Cameroon) and is a Recent member of Water Youth Network DRR team. He contributed to COY11, 112 and 13 and is motivated to bring further Youth contribution to fulfill various water related SDGs.
Bassel Daher is a Research Associate at Texas A&M University's Water-Energy-Food Nexus Research Group (since 2014) and Coordinator at the Water-Energy-Food Nexus Initiative (since 2016). Daher's work focuses on policy-oriented research in natural resource management, environmental sustainability, and resource security. He is particularly interested in developing Water-Energy-Food Nexus solutions that respond to biophysical, socioeconomic, governance, and financing constraints, at multiple scales, in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals. Daher also has expertise in water-energy-food nexus analytics and development of resources allocation assessment tools. His focus lies in developing analytics to catalyze a dialogue, and improve cooperation, across cross sectoral stakeholders.
He was recently selected as one of 8 young water professionals globally to serve on the Young Scientific Committee for the 2016 Stockholm World Water Week. Daher has contributed to multiple chapters of the UN Global Sustainable Development Report, co-authored a report on "Renewable Energy and the Water, Energy, and Food Nexus" for the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and has multiple other journal articles, book chapters, and policy briefs relating to the interconnected water-energy-food securities and nexus assessment tools, including with Chatham House and Water International. He was a recipient of the Montgomery Award in 2017, in recognition of major contributions to the academic opportunities and quality of life of their fellow graduate students at Texas A&M University. He also currently is the Vice President for the Texas Chapter of the American Water Works Association.
Daher holds a B.Sc. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the American University of Beirut (2010), and an MSE (2012) from Purdue University, Biological and Agricultural Engineering-Multi-Scale Hydrology Group. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Water Management and Hydrologic Sciences at Texas A&M (2018). He was a Research Associate (2012-2014) with the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute, Doha.
In additionto this, for the SDGs to be for youth with youth, Divine designed a program entitled: African Youth for the SDGs training (AYSDGT) where youth are trained tobetter comprehend and own the SDGs in their local languages.He has hands-on experience and training developing and managing youth projects within the EUand Non-EU countries.He is a committed young professional with team building potential, having demonstrated his ability to reach out to youth in urban and rural areas.To sum up, his bilingual (French and English) skills and networking abilities h ave led to the CSAYN becoming operational.To sum up , reason being water a imperative resource for the entire agricultural value chain, attending the WWF in Brazil shall be another huge opportunity . He recently gave a key statement at the African Union Heads of States Summit in Addis Ababa Ethiopia on the 27 th January 2018 on Zero Hunger High – Level Special Event.
Hussam joined the WYN in 2017. He is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut (AUB). Hussam's research focuses on hydropolitics in the cases of Jordan and of Lebanon, exploring the role of discourses in shaping water policies. Hussam is also member of the Water Security Research Centre and of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia (UEA) since 2012. Hussam has working experience from the European Parliament, the Italian Embassy in Amman, and from the World Bank, Washington DC. After his studies in international relations at the University of Trieste (Gorizia), at SOAS, and at the College of Europe, Hussam has obtained his PhD degree at the School of International Development at the UEA. His PhD thesis focused on water scarcity discourses and transboundary water governance in the case of Jordan.
Mavuto Banda is a Malawian young man currently pursuing MSc in Land and Water Development for Food Security at IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, in the Netherlands. He is an Irrigation Engineer by profession and has just joined the membership of WYN and has been an active member in the organisation of the Netherlands Satellite Event and will also be part of the participants in the WWF8 in Brasilia. He is enthusiastic to be part of this forum in March.
Miss. Naditha Imbulana is a M.Sc. student studying Water Engineering and Management at Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand. In May 2016, she graduated with a first-class honors degree in BSc. in Civil and Infrastructure Engineering from the same institute. Naditha is currently engaged in her master's thesis research focusing on climate change impacts on river morphology and resulting socio economic vulnerability of the community. She was employed as an intern at the Stockholm Environment Institute-Asia for 6 months, working on one of their projects in Myanmar, "Chindwin Futures", which supports sustainable development in the Chindwin River Basin through evidence-based and inclusive multi-stakeholder participatory planning processes in the water sector. Naditha was a youth parliamentarian in 6th Asia Pacific Youth Parliament for Water where she was awarded for exceptional participation, contributing significantly to the discussions. She wishes to pursue a PhD in the field of climate change and water resources management.
Realizing the potential of the youth in finding solutions for water related issues in the world, Naditha decided to join a youth-led organization that connects youth around the globe in finding inclusive sustainable solutions to these issues. Therefore, in November 2017, she joined the Water Youth Network. She is currently involved in coordination of the session titled "Local communities and hydro-climatic risks" in the 8th World Water Forum.


The Mix brings you Ringside Intel's recap and results for tonight's WWE Monday Night Raw (4/22/2019) broadcast. Show starts at 8 pm EST.
Ringside Intel gives you a front row seat to what's happening in and out of the ring! Come for the exclusives and stay for the in-depth show recaps, advanced match previews, and feud run-downs.
Rumors of bad blood between Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss have been circulating for years and the WWE is attempting to keep real-life rivals apart backstage.
The Mix brings you Ringside Intel's recap and results for tonight's Smackdown Live (4/16/2019) broadcast. Show starts at 8 pm EST.
What's up with the name changes?
The hype is built and the stage is set.
Something up with Sasha Banks!
Sasha Banks Wants to Leave WWE?
Charlotte and Andrade Cien Almas Engaged?
Who would you like to see move to a different brand?
The superstar shakeup means a lot of WWE's superstars will be moved to different rosters but it could also mean call-ups for NXT superstars!
What's going on with Sasha?
Since his arrest, it has been revealed this is not the attacker's first rodeo.
The Mix brings you Ringside Intel's recap and results for tonight's WWE Monday Night Raw (4/8/2019) broadcast. Show starts at 8 pm EST.


text:
Impulse is a perfume manufactured by Fabergé which was part of Unilever, an Anglo-Dutch company based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and London, United Kingdom. Introduced as a 'perfume deodorant' in South Africa in 1972, Impulse was launched in the UK in 1981, including the butterfly design and the slogan "Men can't help acting on Impulse." Impulse perfumes have been developed by Ann Gottlieb, an olfactive consultant credited with having led the development of several successful fragrances.

History
In the early 1980s, six scents were introduced, in the USA, called "Always Alluring", "Delightfully Daring", "Instantly Innocent", "Mysterious Musk", "Possible Playful", and "Suddenly Sassy". In 1986, three scents were introduced called "Elation", "Electric Musk", and "Temptation". In the late 1980s and early 1990s, two scents were introduced called "Tres LA" and "Night Rhythms" that were both merged with Prince Matchabelli. In 1992, the last scent introduced, in the USA, called "Impressions". In 2006 there were eight fragrances with names such as "Thrill", "Goddess", and "Siren". In addition to the bodyspray, the Impulse brand includes antiperspirants and moisturisers.

In the late 2000s, there have been three new limited edition fragrances available called "The City Collection" and they are called "Paris", "London", and "New York". A re-release of these three fragrances were brought out as "Paris Chic", "London Vibe", and "New York Sass".  in 2008, a  fragrance called "True Love" has been released.

In 2010, two fragrances from Impulse were released, called "Into Glamour" and "Very Pink" respectively.

Product ranges
There have been different Impulse body spray ranges too, such as the Impulse Shakers range. This range was designed for summer and had slightly different style to normal impulse sprays, as it had a small "ball" inside the can for "shaking" the ingredients up together before spraying. It came in fragrances like "Berry Crush", "Frangipani Fling", "Melon Madness", and "Tropical Breeze". Another interesting branch out for Impulse was the "water resistant" formula "Summer Splash".

In Australia the fragrances varied slightly in name. From 1988 these included "Spellbound", "Mischief", "Midnight", "Temptation", "Inspiration", "On Fire", "Impressions", "Merely Musk", and "Incense". Two of these 20-odd year old fragrances are still available in Australia today: "Merely Musk" and "Incense".

Promotion
In the summer of 1997, the Spice Girls became spokesmodels for the Impulse body sprays edition known as "Impulse Spice", while on tour promoting their two albums, Spice and Spiceworld. Stars of Impulse commercials include Neil Morrissey and Emma Harrison. Impulse's 1998 advert Chance Encounter was the first mainstream television advert in Britain and Ireland to feature a gay couple. In 2016, Charli XCX became the spokesperson for three Impulse body sprays limited editions known as "Rock & Love", "Vanilla Kisses", and "Why Not?".

References

Unilever brands
Perfumes
Products introduced in 1972

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: Query multiple dates NOT greater than the current date I have a one to many relationship in my database where one event could have multiple dates. I need to find all those events which don't have any events greater than the current dates (i.e. events which have expired).
I am using the following to select all those events with dates in the future:
SELECT events.id AS id,events.picture,events.name,events.venue,events.city
FROM events,event_dates
WHERE event_dates.start_date >= DATE(NOW())
GROUP BY events.id ORDER BY events.id DESC

I'm not being very smart trying to reverse this, and get events where ALL dates are < DATE(NOW()) or NOT event_dates.start_date >= DATE(NOW())
Which (or neither) is closer to the idea.

A: You could simply do a where not in like
SELECT * FROM events WHERE events.ID NOT IN
(
 your current query here (but only select the id)
)

A: Use:
SELECT e.id,
       e.picture,
       e.name,
       e.venue,
       e.city
  FROM EVENTS e
 WHERE NOT EXISTS(SELECT NULL
                    FROM EVENT_DATES ed
                   WHERE ed.event_id = e.id
                     AND ed.start_date >= CURRENT_DATE())

A: I know this is a bit late but I dislike subselects and am wondering why this could not just be done with a LEFT JOIN?
SELECT events.id AS id,events.picture,events.name,events.venue,events.city
FROM events
LEFT JOIN event_dates ON events.id = event_dates.event_id AND event_dates.start_date>=NOW()
WHERE event_dates.ID is null
ORDER BY events.id DESC;
The key thing is putting the date test in the JOIN criteria and not the WHERE clause. I believe it to be more efficient, particularly if you have an index on event_dates start_date column?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Sold at yesterday's Bonhams sale, fetching €31,203 inc. premium "This matching numbers (frame no. 32623, engine no. CS39055) CS1 was purchased by the current vendor's father in 1967. Described as in generally good/very good condition."
-SG- Although it looks very tidy it has been drastically over tarted and there is a vast excess of plating all over the place, including of all things, the brake back plates. I suspect the fuel tank may be Model 18 and it no longer has the correct filler cap. The steering damper knob is also rather dire! Mudguards are replica and don't fit properly. Original lights are a plus point as are matching numbers for those for whom such things matter!


text:
Miniature golf course to offer big play at Heavenly Village
Jeff Munson
Jim Grant / Tahoe Daily Tribune/ A 19-hole miniature golf course has been built on top of the ice rink foundation at Heavenly Village.
Whether it's Ty Webb's dubious putting methods on and off the fringe or crazy Carl "the Greenskeeper" Spackler's hallucination of holing the 18th to win the Masters, both characters from the 1980 golf seminal "Caddyshack" had a certain Zen touch around the green.
In two weeks at Stateline, Michael Jordan will or won't have his green game going, but Lord knows, Charles Barkley might. Either way, both retired basketball stars may want to get their practice chops in before the American Century Championship by rolling a few at Heavenly Village Mini Golf, which celebrates its grand opening the night of Friday, June 30.
This 19-hole ode to all things Tahoe features a windmill powered by snow skis, a bear that prefers golf balls over garbage cans and a paddlewheeler – curiously made to look like the Tahoe Queen – which carries golf balls to their final destination.
What's more, at the end of fall, when temperatures drop to freezing and the snow begins to fly, the course will magically revert back to what the site was built for originally – an ice skating rink.
Making use of good space
The miniature golf course was the brainchild of Powder House Ski and Snowboard owners Ron Williams and Jim Bradford. After watching the deconstruction of the skating rink in spring, the men figured there had to be a better way to use the 10,000 square feet of space besides throwing a few lawn chairs on it.
"After walking past the empty space for the last couple years, I thought that creating a miniature golf course would be the perfect use of the area during the summer months for both tourists and locals," Bradford said.
A $30,000 investment was enough to lay down 19 holes, plus all the course trimming, including lights for night putting. The designer of the course, East Coast-based Mini-Golf Inc., used schematics provided by Bradford, plus photographs of the Lake Tahoe area to come up with the course's visual elements.
"It's turned out to be quite nice," said Stuart Maas, spokesman for Powder House, who helped facilitate the design. "They were very flexible with what we wanted, which was to give the course a Tahoe look and feel."
Clear-cut mulch put to use
Indeed. Tahoe locals who have read recently about the controversial cutting down of 387 trees at the Lake Tahoe Airport may be interested to know that some of the downed wood has been put to good use. Mulch and wood chips from some of those 387 trees arrived at the course on Thursday and are scattered throughout the grounds.
Though none of the holes carries the amount of controversy as the downed trees, there are Tahoe-centric talking points, including a putt-through miniature Heavenly Gondola clocktower, a hanging raccoon with its paws open that swats at golf balls as they pass through a gate, and a hole designed like a pinball machine with Lake Tahoe as its background.
The miniature golf course isn't the first one at the site. Before Heavenly Village was constructed, a course was located where the Marriott complex now sits.
The most challenging hole is the 19th, where players aim for the mouth of a bear, who chomps down and growls at golfers as they attempt to putt. If the ball lands in the bear's mouth, golfers will find themselves winning a free game – a much better alternative than what real Tahoe bears leave behind on decks and backyards after they've eaten too much.
Plans are in the works to host private parties and miniature golf tournaments and league play – if not this season then next, Maas said.
Early origins
Miniature golf rose to popularity during the early part of last century as a way for golf enthusiasts to replicate major golf courses on a small scale, according to the online Web site Wikipedia.com
The game was commonly called "garden golf," and was played with a putter on grass. Thomas McCulloch Fairbairn, a golf fanatic, revolutionized the game in 1922 with his formulation of a suitable artificial green – a mixture of cottonseed hulls, sand, oil and dye. With this, miniature golf became accessible everywhere. By the late 1920s there were more than 150 rooftop courses in New York City alone.
Mini golf became a popular culture craze in the first years of the Great Depression, according to the Web site. In 1938 two brothers built and operated their own miniature golf course franchise and were the first to put landscaping and obstacles such as windmills, castles, and wishing wells into the mix.
What: Heavenly Village Mini Golf
Where: Heavenly Village
Cost: $7 for adults, $5 for children, includes putter and ball
Hours: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Grand opening: The course opens to the public at 6 p.m. Friday following an invitation-only private open house.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Moving Graph Titles in the Y axis of Subplots This question is adapted from this answer, however the solution provided does not work and following is my result. I am interested in adding individual title on the right side for individual subgraphs.
(p.s no matter how much offset for y-axis i provide the title seems to stay at the same y-value)
from matplotlib import pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

fig, axes = plt.subplots(nrows=2)
ax0label = axes[0].set_ylabel('Axes 0')
ax1label = axes[1].set_ylabel('Axes 1')

title = axes[0].set_title('Title')

offset = np.array([-0.15, 0.0])
title.set_position(ax0label.get_position() + offset)
title.set_rotation(90)

fig.tight_layout()
plt.show()

A: Something like this? This is the only other way i can think of.
from matplotlib import pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

fig, axes = plt.subplots(nrows=2)
ax0label = axes[0].set_ylabel('Axes 0')
ax1label = axes[1].set_ylabel('Axes 1')
ax01 = axes[0].twinx()
ax02 = axes[1].twinx()
ax01.set_ylabel('title')
ax02.set_ylabel('title')

fig.tight_layout()
plt.show()


The software provides you need to create and deliver standards-based websites.
You can export InDesign/InCopy books and documents to SVG format directly.
Adobe Creative Suite Production Premium is the leader in video production.
Applies Reverb to the audio signal, creating a sense of room or space.
Rip DVD and convert video to Creative Zen in a fast conversion speed.
Air Cam lets you view live video feed from your computer's webcam.
Integrate a DAM system with Cloud and Creative Suite 6.
With these plug-ins, you can create files and then edit them in Creative Suite.
You can install plugins, extensions and other content for Creative Suite apps.
Is a suite of software tools designed to assist the creative in making a film.
Air hazard modeling program for the CAMEO software suite.
It controls the fans of the computer and regulate the temperature of MacBook.


Met Éireann has issued a yellow weather warning, predicting strong winds and heavy rainfall for most parts of the country this evening through to Sunday night.
Rainfall is predicted to reach between 60mm to 90mm along coastal counties and mountainous areas.
Periods of thunder and heavy rainfall are expected tonight, with temperatures ranging between 13 to 15 degrees.
Windy conditions will continue tomorrow through to Sunday, with rainfall becoming more infrequent on Sunday night.
Temperatures will range between 15 to 18 degrees tomorrow, dropping to 13 to 15 degrees on Sunday.
Showery conditions are expected to clear up on the eastern part of the country by Monday, but strong westerly winds will continue.


text:
HomeSecularism
February 1, 2012 October 24, 2012 DilwarH Islam
The Arab Spring is creating new political discourses in Muslim circles. However, the debate is now whether Islamic thought can genuinely recognise the difference between the 'political' and 'religious'?
To many people today Islam, of all the world faiths, is probably the least likely to be compatible with such a secular distinction. Yet a recent publication (British Secularism and Religion: Islam, Society and the State, 2011), that I helped to edit, argues that Islam can be read in precisely that way. In fact, secularity is very important for Muslims in the modern world, as it is the basis for equality, democracy, freedom, human rights and the autonomy of religion itself. These values have a strong resonance with my reading of Islam even though some conservative voices may disregard these as 'western values'.
Historically, the Muslim world had a very positive relationship between scientific and rational inquiry on the one hand and religion on the other, creating significant innovations in science. While the Enlightenment and the exciting search for emancipation of the human spirit engendered important developments in Europe, intellectual stagnation settled in around the Muslim world causing it to lose that creative relationship with rationalism. From the late 19th Century one could hear calls for renewed thinking (ijtihad) and reform (islah) in the Muslim world, a movement that only seems to be gathering momentum in modern times.
Despite the fact that some Muslims advocate a return to the 'Caliphate', the current tide of public opinion in the Arab world shows that Muslim masses aspire to freedom and democracy in ways that were not recognised previously. As such, this presents an argument against dismissing such values as 'western', for surely, these are universal aspirations.
In the early 20th Century preoccupation with the Caliphate, the 'Islamic state' was seen as a symbol of Muslim unity and its restoration as vital in defending Muslim interests and procuring justice in a post-colonial context. However, in reality, there has been a well-established normative distinction (albeit in pre-modern settings) between the temporal, sovereign authority and institutions of religion in the Muslim world. The latter mainly advocating autonomy and resenting their co-option by the state whenever that did happen.
Muhammad Abduh asserted more than a century ago that Islam is not a theocracy and that there is a distinction between the 'religious' and 'worldly'. And while Qutb viewed democracy as incompatible with Islam, the more contemporary Ghannouchi views such ideas as the misunderstanding of both democracy and Islam.
If one adds to the mix, the immense disappointment of Muslims with the various national projects often couched (even if at times with little more than lip-service) in the name of Islam—Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran, Sudan, Afghanistan, etc., there is a growing recognition that a liberal, secular democracy is a good model for ensuring accountable, open, societies that can protect the rights of all citizens of the state.
However, the story is more complex than that; an absence of religious rule (and 'on paper' separation of religion and state) doesn't automatically imply genuine freedom and liberty, given the role of the military and authoritarian tendencies in many Muslim countries. Furthermore, 'secularism' in the Muslim world has, in the past, been associated with forced 'westernisation' (Turkey for example) and / or double standards (e.g. support for dictatorships). This means that Muslim publics are often very sceptical of the term 'secularism' (though as mentioned previously, not necessarily the notion of separation).
While advocating secularism, I am not for the disappearance of religion, nor for an anti-clerical and closed-minded laïcité. Rather, I see secularism as a good way of managing the public debate, especially where multiple religious, ideological and belief arguments may collide. So there is a conversation to be had about the extent, nature and mode of religious presence in the public sphere. Given the plural nature of that presence perhaps the Rawlsian notion of 'public reason' can help—especially in a culture of very low religious literacy? But it seems that we also need to reach a point where religious voices can be given consideration and not automatically disregarded as 'superstitious'. See this piece on religion in public life for a bit more info.
The nuanced conversation and reform we need to nurture, on all sides, will need time; and yet it often seems like time is running out. But the process of reform cannot be forced, or enforced. For it to be an authentic voice, it needs to be organic. We can, however, catalyse that process by fostering education and critical thinking, by encouraging open and pluralistic spaces of debate and by encouraging people to dialogue in safe spaces so they can build meaningful relationships that cut through the polarised impasse of today.
(This blog appeared in emel magazine, issue 89, February 2012)
← Beyond Islamism
The Hidden Heart of Islam →


text:
Ayo Oluokun Posted in EducationNews
Buhari urges ASÙU to end strike, promises mobilisation of resources
President Muhammadu Buhari
Buharri
By Ismaila Chafe
President Muhammadu Buhari has again called on striking Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to return to the classroom while assuring them to deal with their contending issues within the limits of the scarce resources available.
The president, who reiterated the call in a nationwide broadcast on Saturday in Abuja, said he was pained by the recurring disruption to nation's tertiary education system.
The broadcast was part of activities to mark the nation's 62nd Independence Day Anniversary.
According to him, the Federal Government will continue to mobilise resources, both internationally and nationally, towards funding education to ensure that citizens are well educated and skilled in various vocations.
"I must confess that I am very pained by the recurring disruption to our tertiary education system.
"I am using this Independence Day celebration to re-iterate my call for the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to return to the classroom while assuring them to deal with their contending issues within the limits of the scarce resources available.
"This administration has made appreciable progress in redressing these issues that have been lingering for over eleven years.
According to him, this is in view of the fact that education is a leading determinant of economic growth and employment generation.
"As we put in place all measures to ensure that Nigeria takes her place in the Comity of Nations, we recognise the importance of a well-educated populace as a panacea to most of the challenges we face.
"We have, therefore, pursued policies and implemented programmes designed to create a literate and proficient society that ensures that citizens are availed with opportunities for life-long achievements."
On health sector, the Nigerian leader revealed that his administration had also improved the nation's health facilities, especially during and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said this had attracted commendation of the global community.
"As you are aware, Nigeria was one of the countries that defied global predictions of the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic because of our resilience, commitment and passion with which we individually and collectively managed the pandemic."
He also disclosed that his administration embarked on addressing critical ecological challenges across the country, to mitigate the impact of Climate Change manifesting in the form of flood, soil erosion, desertification, air pollution amongst others.
According to the president, the Federal Government will continue to ensure that the nation's infrastructure drive remains the key to Nigeria's economic growth and for which every Nigerian will feel the impact.
He said Federal Government had already embarked on expanding ports operations to provide opportunities for the growth of the Nigerian economy.
"We have also continued to accelerate our infrastructure development through serviceable and transparent borrowing, improved capital inflow and increased revenue generation," he said.
This, he said, was being carried out by expanding the tax bases and prudent management of investment proceeds in the Sovereign Wealth Fund.
On transportation, Buhari stated that his administration had continued to boost the railway infrastructure to further open up communities to economic activities.
He said already a good number of critical railway projects had been completed and at the same time, rehabilitating and upgrading obsolete equipment. (NAN)
SYC/IA
Next Read: Nigeria at 62: Let's not forget struggles of those who came before us »
ASUU strikePresident Muhammadu Buhari
Why President of B/Republic has refused to halt smuggling to Nigeria – Falana
Buhari seeks confirmation of 42 nominees career ambassadors (full list)
Takeaways from Buhari's epic visit to Turkey


A couple of weeks ago we reported on a Samsung patent showing a phone with two screens, separated by a hinge, that you could fold over. Now a new patent has emerged showing a very similar-looking device – is this the long-rumored Galaxy X?
The patents were once more uncovered by LetsGoDigital, and depict a phone very much in the style of the ZTE Axon M, which you can see in the image above. Two linked screens are fixed with a hinge in the middle, so the phone can be closed over with either the two displays or the two back panels showing.
The new patent also shows this device being used in 'tent' mode, much like a 2-in-1 laptop. When the two screens are open side by side, they can be used separately or as one bigger screen, according to the diagrams in the patent.
In fact there are only a few slight cosmetic changes between this and the device design we saw revealed in a patent in December. One additional benefit to the design shown in the older document is that you can operate a video or photo app without obscuring the screen with your fingers.
As always with patents, there's no guarantee that a product like this is ever going to see the light of day – it's just an indication of what Samsung's trying to develop at the moment. It could be months or years before something actually gets released.
However, rumors have swirled for years about a Samsung Galaxy X, a foldable phone with either a bendable screen or two fixed screens separated by a hinge, as shown in these new diagrams. 2018 could finally be the year it makes it to market, even if we aren't going to get phones you can roll up for several years yet.


text:
Reptiles are at Risk of Extinction, Study Finds
PARIS - Almost one in five of the world's reptile species are in danger of extinction as their habitats are cleared away for farming and logging, a report said Friday.
An assessment by more than 200 experts of 1,500 randomly-selected species of snakes, lizards, crocodiles, tortoises and other reptiles, found that 19 percent were threatened, said the report in the journal Biological Conservation.
Of these, more than a tenth of species were listed as critically endangered, 41 percent endangered, and nearly half as vulnerable.
The freshwater turtle is particularly at risk, with nearly half of species believed to be close to extinction, said the report compiled by the Zoological Society of London and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Species Survival Commission (IUCN).
Among freshwater reptiles as a group, a third were estimated to be close to extinction.
While reptiles like snakes and crocodiles are often reviled by humans, they fulfill a key role in the balance of Nature, both as hunters and prey. Many turtles, for example, are scavengers and clear up decaying flesh, while snakes help control pests like mice.
"Reptiles are often associated with extreme habitats and tough environmental conditions, so it is easy to assume that they will be fine in our changing world," said study author Monika Boehm.
"However, many species are very highly specialised in terms of habitat use and the climate conditions they require for day-to-day functioning. This makes them particularly sensitive to environmental changes."
The report claims to be the first to summarise the global conservation status of reptiles.
"The findings sound alarm bells about the state of these species and the growing threats that they face," said the IUCN's Philip Bowles.
"Tackling the identified threats, which include habitat loss and over-harvesting, are key conservation priorities in order to reverse the declines in these reptiles."
The researchers said reptiles first appeared on Earth about 300 million years ago.
Image: Brian Gratwicke / via Flickr
Pet Insurance: Makes Sense, Saves Cents
Explore Reptile & Amphibian Center


"I don't know what you mean by 'glory'," Alice said. Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. "Of course you don't---till I tell you. I meant 'there's a nice knock-down argument for you!' " "But 'glory' doesn't mean 'a nice knock-down argument'," Alice objected. "When I use a word", Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean---neither more nor less." "The question is", said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things." "The question is", said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be the master------that's all."
Information ecology is an emerging field generally concerned with modeling information processes in human systems. The term has been used in computer science and business management. In most cases, "ecology" is used metaphorically, rather than using actual tools or principles of modeling developed by biological ecologists. Anthropology has a long tradition of applying the science of ecology to human behavior and adaptation. A primary concern of anthropology is to understand how culture brings meaning to our lives and guides our behavior. In particular, rituals, symbols, and the meanings they impart determine the ways information is used in any culture. These systems of meaning can lead to beautiful expressions of the human spirit and/or horrible atrocities. One goal of information ecology is to understand how information is distributed and processed in cultural systems in order to understand why cultures successfully adapt to changes beyond their control, fail catastrophically, or become socio-pathological. Since 1996, H.E. Kuchka has been working to develop an anthropological approach to Information Ecology.


text:
Marzio Bruseghin (born 15 June 1974 in Conegliano, Treviso) is an Italian retired professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 1997 and 2012. His best achievement was winning the 2006 Italian time-trial championship, as well as winning two time trial stages in the Giro d'Italia. In 2008 he completed all three Grand Tours, including a podium finish (Giro) and a top 10 finish (Vuelta).

Major results

2001
 1st Stage 4 Volta a Portugal
 8th Overall Volta a Catalunya
2002
 8th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
2004
 6th Giro di Lombardia
 6th Firenze–Pistoia
 7th Giro Colline del Chianti
2005
 2nd Time trial, National Road Championships
 8th Overall Deutschland Tour
 8th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
 9th Overall Giro d'Italia
2006
 1st  Time trial, National Road Championships
 6th Overall Deutschland Tour
 9th Overall Tour de Pologne
2007
 1st Stage 1 Tour de Pologne
 8th Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Stage 13 (ITT)
2008
 3rd Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Stage 10 (ITT)
 10th Overall Vuelta a España
2009
 9th Overall Giro d'Italia
 9th Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato
2012
 9th Memorial Marco Pantani

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links
Official personal website
Profile at Lampre-Fonditalofficial website

1974 births
Living people
Italian male cyclists
Italian Giro d'Italia stage winners
Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Olympic cyclists of Italy
Cyclists from the Province of Treviso


text:
Is Trump TRYING to Lose?
Even with President Trump's failed and catastrophic response to COVID-19, the accompanying severe economic downturn, his numerous character flaws, his blatant racism, his corruption, lying, tweeting, psychopathic narcissism, misogyny, incompetence, grifting, lack of empathy, and the politicization of wearing masks, he was still in a competitive race with Joe Biden though trailing in all of the polls. If all of the Trump stars aligned, however, he still could pull it off. #hocopolitics
What he lacks in skills and character, he makes up for it with bluster, self-confidence and hubris. Trump believes that he has the best political instincts (along with having hired the best people, attending the best schools and knowing the best words). Yet, recent self-inflicted miscues have called into question those instincts or leaving one to speculate if he is actually trying to lose.
Trump's sabotaging of the Postal System: Our U.S. Postal Service, should never be considered a red or blue issue. It's a red, white and blue institution, enshrined in our Constitution. His newly installed Postmaster General GOP donor crony Louis DeJoy has begun the dismantling of the infrastructure of the postal system in several ways including removing and trashing high-speed canceling machines, rolling back overtime and removing outdoor mailboxes. These measures have resulted in significant delays in delivering mail and packages.
Clearly, DeJoy was under the direction of Trump to impair the handling of mail as the president has continually hammered away at mail-in ballots as being rife with fraud with not a shred of evidence to back it up. Under the guise of restoring fiscal solvency to the postal system, the timing of these moves less than three months away from the election is suspicious to say the least.
Trump publicly admitted such a strategy. "[Democrats] want $25 billion for the post office. Now they need that money in order to have the post office work, so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots. Now in the meantime they aren't getting there. By the way, those are just two items, but if they don't get those two items, that means you can't have universal mail-in voting, because they're not equipped to have it."
All Americans regardless of political party rely on the mail. It is revered by society, and the institution boasts an approval rating north of 90%. People depend on receiving medications, checks, subscriptions and the like and do not want this vital service weakened. Disabled veterans as well as others need medications that are often received through the mail. And the postal service employs over 90,000 U.S. veterans. That veteran organizations haven't expressed their collective outrage is astounding. Moreover, mail is particularly vital in rural areas where most of the folks are Trump supporters. People like to receive their mail on time. So do small businesses. They like the postal system. This has been a political fiasco.
Trying to flatten Goodyear tires: Trump made an ill-advised move urging people not to buy Goodyear tires because the company does not permit workers to wear political campaign garb including MAGA hats. Despite lecturing Democrats for having a cancellation culture, Trump decided his fragile ego needed workers to demonstrate their love for him with donning his famous red caps.
Joe Biden gets it and fired off the following statement in response: "Goodyear employs thousands of American workers, including in Ohio, where it is headquartered. To President Trump, those workers and their jobs aren't a source of pride, just collateral damage in yet another one of his political attacks."
Ohio is a key swing state, and Trump cannot win the election without Ohio. Those employees whom Trump is trying to put out of work and others similarly in the manufacturing sector have families, friends and neighbors who may not want to vote for Trump after this boondoggle.
Welcome QAnon! Donald Trump will embrace anyone who likes him. Whether it is the neo-Nazis, KKK or brutal dictators and tyrants, if you like Trump or say nice things about him that's all that matters. Another political loser has been Trump's welcoming QAnon into the fold. QAnon is a group that has been identified by the FBI as a domestic extremist group. They traffic in bizarre conspiracy theories including the doozy that Democrats are Satan-worshippers and children-devouring pedophiles.
Undaunted, Trump supported and congratulated congressional candidate Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene who won a primary in Georgia and is likely to enter the mainstream by being elected to Congress despite her QAnon devotion. For instance, she had suggested that Hillary Clinton murdered her political enemies and ruminated on whether mass shootings were orchestrated to dismantle the Second Amendment.
QAnon members have reportedly engaged in violence and kidnappings. Trump said he knew nothing about the group (of course) but that they like him and they love our country. He refused to disavow the group and when told about their conspiracy theories and that they see Trump as a hero and savior in the war against pedophiles (oh, the irony!), Trump replied, "Is that supposed to be a bad thing?"
Several Republicans from former Florida Governor Jeb Bush to Representative Liz Chaney to strategist Karl Rove lambasted QAnon.
Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse saw the political danger of Trump's embracing QAnon.
"If Democrats take the Senate, blow up the filibuster, and pack the Supreme Court — garbage like this will be a big part of why they won," Sasse said. "Real leaders call conspiracy theories conspiracy theories."
Lowering the bar on Joe: For the past several months Trump and his Republican cohorts could not successfully defend the president's record so they attack their opponent Joe Biden. One of the avenues of attack is to paint Biden as a doddering old man who doesn't know which side is up and cannot string two sentences together.
At the climax of the well-executed Democratic National Convention, Biden delivered arguably his best political speech, thus nullifying at least for now, Trump's characterization of "Sleepy Joe" or "Slow Joe." The contrast from expectation to actual was so stark, it made Biden extraordinary and Trump completely foolish.
These are examples of Trump's political self-inflicted wounds, but with the Republican National Convention coming up, I imagine there will be a bunch more. It will beg the question, is he trying to lose?
Labels: Ben Sasse, COVID19, Democratic National Convention, Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Liz Cheney, Louis DeJoy, QAnon, U.S. Postal Service
In Search of Elusive Peace
When a mob of unidentified mercenaries were recently unleashed on the citizens of Portland, Ore., it was reminiscent of the anti-war clashes during the Vietnam War era. Then as now, with many employing strong-arm tactics, military and law enforcement combatants attacked and arrested scores of peaceful unarmed protesters.
Amid the chaos of these demonstrations back in the day, a 17 year-old girl was photographed handing a chrysanthemum to a soldier with a menacing bayonet affixed to his rifle during a tense scene outside the Pentagon in 1967. This iconic photo taken by Marc Riboud was of Janrose Kasmir, and this image along with others became symbols of the burgeoning peace movement during the Vietnam War.
In a remarkably candid autobiography, The Girl With The Flower: The Journey is the Trip, Kasmir reveals details about her life that most people would be loathe to share especially in a published work. With graphic and sometimes raw details, Kasmir opens up about her personal struggles that have consumed much of her existence and her late-in-life determination to put those demons to rest.
The book cover and title might suggest that this monumental photograph is the centerpiece of her journey. Yet, the book is less about the peace movement during that tumultuous period than Kasmir's seemingly futile search to find her own inner peace. Nonetheless, her story includes her clear opposition to our involvement in Vietnam and her joining the hippie movement to express her views.
Kasmir was inspired by then leader of the Black Panther Party, Eldridge Cleaver, whom she regarded as a hero. Quoting him, "You either have to be part of the solution, or you're going to be part of the problem." She declared that this sentiment has guided her since the 1960s.
While that aspect of her life is not the dominant feature of the book, because of the historic significance of that famous photograph, I have included an excerpt in which Kasmir describes the event at the conclusion of this review.
The struggles of young Janrose Kasmir took off after the tragic and unexpected death of her sister and the eventual disintegration of her family. From her middle-class Jewish upbringing in Silver Spring, Md., a suburb of Washington, D.C., Kasmir fought and lost many of her battles. She plunged into depression and drug addiction as well as multiple suicide attempts. Her behavior became more challenging and unacceptable to the adults in her life. She let them down, they let her down. As she put it, her "life was a fucked-up mess."
Rebellious to the core, Janrose ran away from home on a number of occasions. She was sent to psychiatric institutions and then was in and out of foster families, which rarely worked out for her. Kasmir engaged in a considerable amount of sexual activity that led in some cases to more drug abuse and heroin addiction. She was hardly satisfied romantically adding more to her loneliness and despair. Ultimately, her lack of self-esteem brought on bulimia that plagued her for years.
While the reader will instinctively root for her as her life is peeled back through intensely dark episodes, Kasmir made a number of poor choices along her journey. In one case, she agreed to be blindfolded by two drug pushers in Washington, D.C. and was led on foot to their rooming house. There she was repeatedly raped, which understandably made her terrified of and adverse to male sexual aggression forever.
In another instance, at the age of 25 Kasmir married a man she had first met at a bar because she
The author with daughter Lisa.
Photo courtesy of Janrose Kasmir
believed she was supposed to get married at that point in her life. She didn't love him, and on her honeymoon at a ski lodge in Quebec, not only did she avoid consummating the marriage during the honeymoon, but she cheated on her husband with two different guys.
When you think that Kasmir may have turned a corner, you're hit with another gut punch adding another layer to the struggle.
So gripping is this extraordinary journey that the book is a fast read. Kasmir relates these episodes in a well-written matter-of-fact style, often sprinkled with salty language, which allows the reader to feel the pain and suffering she had to endure, some of it self-inflicted.
She follows a guiding principle of good writing: write as if you are speaking to the audience, and she speaks it loud and clear. Her recollection of details appears authentic, and when she couldn't remember specific things, she admits it, adding to her credibility.
The vast majority of the book is devoted to her journey as a young person. Her later years are covered by the final few chapters when her career as a massage therapist, her settling in at Hilton Head, S.C. and the birth and raising of her daughter Lisa as a single mom. Such ferocious turmoil through those early years has led to a more tranquil and stable existence.
The Girl With The Flower is an excellent chronicle of a person dealing with a turbulent life during turbulent times. The flower young Janrose handed to that National Guardsman outside the Pentagon represented the calm before the storm that followed.
Behind the Photograph
Janrose Kasmir: While I was holding the flower and looking at the soldiers, focusing on their young faces, in an instant it dawned on me. The rhetoric of the war machine and the baby killers completely melted away and suddenly I realized that these soldiers were just young boys. They could've been my brother, my cousin, my date. Sorrow swept right through me and I started to pity them. I held out the chrysanthemum in front of me. I held it with both hands, almost like a gesture of prayer. I became so very, very sad. These boys were just as much victims of this whole mess as anyone else. I became one with the soldiers. It was a moment of simpatico. At that very moment Marc Riboud's camera clicked and I became a part of history. It was 21 October 1967.
That shot was the last shot of the last roll of film with the last light of the day and then it was all over as darkness rolled in and we all drifted away.
The Girl With The Flower: The Journey is the Trip; Janrose Kasmir; Fortis Publishing; 2020; Paperback; 271 pages; $12.50 (Amazon); also available on Kindle ($8.99).
Posted by Steve Charing at 2:39 AM No comments:
Labels: The Girl with the Flower; Janrose Kasmir; Vietnam; Marc Riboud' Ekdridge Cleaver
No Rainbow Over the Kingdom
Spoiler Alert: If you plan on watching Kingdom currently streaming on Netflix or are in the midst of doing so and don't want aspects of the plot divulged, read no further.
Nick Jonas as Nate Kulina in 'Kingdom'
Over the years, gay people had been portrayed in movies as depressed, suicidal, addicted or other dark and gloomy individuals. Sometimes the opposite is presented as they are cast as buffoons or ultra-effeminate. Many were killed off in some fashion or another. These negative stereotypes were captured in the 1995 film The Celluloid Closet that was based on Vito Russo's 1981 book of the same title.
Of course, as gay acceptance began to increase in society and pressure on the entertainment industry was applied by such organizations as GLAAD, the portrayal of these characters had shifted to more positivity led by numerous changes in television. Ellen, Will & Grace and Modern Family helped paved the way for other shows like Shameless, Orange is the New Black, Riverdale, Schitt's Creek, etc.
However, with the 40-episode Kingdom, the AT&T Original Series, which had run on DirecTV from 2014-2017 and is now streaming on Netflix, we took a step backwards when it comes to the outcomes of gay characters.
Kingdom is a gritty drama that centers on the lives, loves, victories and failures of a group of people connected to the Navy Street Gym and the world of Mixed Martial Arts in Venice, California. Far from glamorous, the series exposes society's underbelly including drug addicts, alcoholics, sex offenders, sex workers and the like. Battles in the ring are ferocious and thrilling; most are bloody. The well-received 3-season, 40-episode series was created and produced by Byron Balasco who, along with his team, penned the episodes.
The singular main character in Kingdom who was gay wound up tragically shot to death during a violent altercation after coming out to his father. The killing, which was staged towards the end of the penultimate episode, was perpetrated by a bar bouncer in an attempt to break up the melee. This is a further example of another gay character that writers saw fit to have perished. It could have and should have gone in another direction.
What makes this tragedy so heartbreaking is that this character, Nate Kulina, played sensitively and understated by hunky Nick Jonas of the boy band Jonas Brothers, was the one character who had his shit together, was clean, had no substance abuse issues, no baggage, and was not embroiled with any conflict other than his battles in the MMA cage and coming to terms with his sexual orientation.
Nate, in his early 20's, was the younger brother of Jay Kulina who, was played brilliantly by Jonathan Tucker. Both are fighters. Their father Alvey Kulina (played exceptionally well and convincingly by Frank Grillo) was the co-owner of Navy Street where he, as a former fighter, trains others in the bloody, violent, highly competitive world of MMA.
Nate's journey towards discovering his sexual orientation gradually came to light during the second season. His declining interest in a girl he was seeing was apparent, and then Nate's attention was directed towards a hook-up app where photos of various guys were displayed as he pondered his next steps.
So, for the viewing audience, the cat was out of the bag. But Nate needed to maintain this secret, and he tried desperately to do so.
Nate met a British man named Will through another contact. Will sought to bring the two closer together, but Nate's being in the closet was a daunting barrier. Will handed him a business card with a handwritten message suggesting a dinner date at some point when he was ready.
Jonathan Tucker (Jay), Nick Jonas (Nate) and Frank Grillo (Alvey)
Jay, Nate's brother, discovered the card and unbeknownst to Nate, examined his phone in which he uncovered a text thread between Nate and Will. He used the phone to lure Will to a bar and proceeded to the location to confirm his growing suspicions. Jay promptly left after a cordial exchange with Will but never mentioned any connection to Nate.
Shortly after, Nate received a phone call from Will inquiring as to when he will be showing up for the rendezvous. He didn't know what Will was talking about.
Nate noticed the card among Jay's belongings as the older brother was hospitalized after a fight in the cage. He checked his phone only to detect the bogus messaging and felt anguish that his true sexual identity has been discovered.
One would characterize Jay as a badass with mountaintop highs and deep valley lows, earnest and talented, volatile and violent that is fueled by alcohol and drugs but also caring and devoted. He's a complex man, a good fighter and devoutly loyal to his brother and his drug addicted mother. His relationship with his father Alvey had been tense.
In an extremely positive scene, Nate comes out to Jay when he acknowledged that Jay learned of his situation. You may view the edited clip of how this unfolded here.
Jay encouraged Nate to tell their father conceding that Alvey most likely wouldn't be too cool with it. In the meantime, whispers and rumors were spreading among the MMA community about Nate's sexual orientation, which could be detrimental in this close physical contact sport.
While the coming out scene with Jay could not have been better, the one with Alvey could not have been worse. Alvey is a troubled man who besides the pressures of running the gym and training an assortment of characters, he had a failed marriage and several girlfriends who had left him. Despite his heavy, and I do mean heavy drinking, at around age 50 Alvey's body (actually it's Frank Grillo's) is shredded. He is also volatile and short-tempered and facing a potential diagnosis for a neurological disease as he was preparing for a comeback fight in a legends tournament. For good measure, Alvey's estranged mother attempted suicide, and he and his sons went to Tucson, Arizona where she was hospitalized.
It was at a cowboy bar in Tucson where the fateful scene took place. The manual on the best way to come out to a parent was thrown away during this scene. Both Nate and Alvey were drinking. Alvey's mother had attempted suicide, which weighed heavily on his mind. He stressed about his possible illness and his upcoming fight. Plus, Alvey's personality suggested that he wouldn't accept his son as both gay and a MMA fighter.
Part of the cast of 'Kingdom'
"I'm gay," Nate muttered softly a couple of times. "Your son's gay." Alvey exploded and asking, "You're gonna tell me you're a fucking faggot?"
Clearly, these were not the right conditions for this conversation to take place. Yet, it happened, and you can view that tragic scene here .
Alvey was obviously shaken over this tragedy and saw his role in it. He lost a dear son and for that he was broken. Prior to the legends fight in the final episode, Jay presented a touching and dramatic eulogy to Nate in the ring. You can view it here .
In the hyped up machismo and testosterone-laden world of MMA where close body contact is intrinsic to the sport, Balasco deserves credit for weaving in a gay storyline in such an environment. And keep in mind this was only one of numerous plotlines and a minor one at that in the very well-acted and photographed Kingdom.
But with so many other characters with self-destructive tendencies and baggage, the one he chose to be killed was the gay character that everyone was rooting for. It was supremely disappointing, if not maddening, as yet another gay character was deemed expendable.
Labels: Byron Balasco, Frank Grillo, GLAAD, Jonathan Tucker, Kingdom, LGBT, MMA, Netflix, Nick Jonas. Jonas Brothers


Thomas S. Terry, MAAA, FSA, FCA, EA; currently serves as president of the American Academy of Actuaries. Tom began his professional career at Towers Perrin in 1975. In 1991, he founded CCA Strategies which, at the time of its acquisition by J.P. Morgan in 2006, had 200 employees, including 100 actuaries. Tom retired from J.P. Morgan in 2010 and founded TTerry Consulting which consults to organizations on employee benefits, compensation and governance. Tom has consulted extensively in retirement plan design and financing for several of the largest corporations in the US. He is a frequent speaker and writer on related topics.Tom has held leadership roles in various actuarial organizations. He is a past president of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries and a former Vice President for Pensions at the American Academy of Actuaries.


text:
Belo Kapolka (ur. 22 kwietnia 1935 r. w Hostiach, zm. 18 kwietnia 1994 r. w Tatrach) – słowacki pisarz, taternik, nosicz i kierownik tatrzańskich schronisk.

Belo Kapolka był od 1965 roku chatarem kilku tatrzańskich schronisk m.in. Schroniska pod Rysami, Schroniska Zbójnickiego i Schroniska Téryego. Jest autorem kilku opowiadań i reportaży o tematyce tatrzańskiej, które publikowane były w prasie turystycznej i w trzech książkach. Jest również autorem powieści "Sivá hmla kryje sýteho sysľa", która wydana została w Bratysławie w 1978 roku.

Zginął tragicznie na Hrebienku.

Bibliografia

Taternicy
Słowaccy wspinacze
Urodzeni w 1935
Zmarli w 1994


Food Machinery Online (FMO) are the UK's leading industrial freezers specialist. On our website you will find a range of large machines suitable for various type of factories and frozen food packaging businesses. These come in a variety of different sizes and prices so you can rest assured that you'll find the one your business requires.
Our industrial freezers are versatile enough to make the most of the space you have available in the factory/kithcen area that your business will be using it in and offer mass amounts of storage space for a range of different frozen food products.
Why choose FMO for your industrial freezers?
Our range of industrial freezers are of the most highest quality on the market and are heavy duty; built to last for a number of years. This is one of the reasons why we receive large amounts of repeat custom; they rely on our high quality product, service, customer service and of course our very competitive pricing.
Selling?: We are always looking for new equipment including food machinery and refrigeration, if it be single pieces of equipment or entire factories. Should you have equipment available please do not hestitate to get in touch with us for a quotation.
Delivery: We are able to supply our industrial freezers globally via air, sea or land. Get in touch with us for further information on our machinery and delivery pricing.


As said in my first column on the Clayton Tunnel nearly one year ago, I spotted its Grade II Listed castellated portal quite by accident whist out driving in West Sussex. What I didn't realise then is that the cottage above the grand façade (and just metres above the track) is inhabited!
The London Bridge to Brighton railway line was constructed from 1838 to 1841 by 6,206 navvies (workers), 960 horses and 5 locomotives. Originally, just six trains per day travelled back and forth through five tunnels – Merstham, Balcombe, Haywards Heath, Clayton and Patcham. Trains have been able to travel to Victoria Station since it was opened in 1860. In 1900, a new 'through route' was established which avoided the old Merstham Tunnel but used instead new tunnels at Merstham and Redhill. David Mocatta was responsible for much of the finest details of the line including Brighton Station, the Ouse Valley Viaduct and Clayton Tunnel.
I recently managed to arrange a tour with a different David – the extremely knowledgeable occupant of Clayton Tunnel Cottage. The single-storey cottage was built after the rest of the portal in quite a different style and is therefore unlikely to be by Mocatta. It doesn't sit quite in the centre and is built in a red brick instead of the yellow of the rest of the structure. It is absolutely unique and I've never seen another residence like it. Despite the many trains passing beneath, it is surprisingly quiet. The cottage's study and kitchen occupy the two main turrets and it is in fact possible to access the battlements without too much trouble. It is in the kitchen that Clayton Tunnel Cottage Jam is produced, by David, from the plums and blackberries found on the glorious surrounding grounds which, as I can personally vouch, is delicious!
Clayton Tunnel was the scene of a horrific rail crash in 1861. Three trains left Brighton in quick succession; signal problems led to the second train stopping in the tunnel to avoid catching the first. The third then steamed into the tunnel with disastrous consequences. There was an awful collision which led to 25 people being killed and 176 injured.
The fact that Clayton is the longest of the six tunnels at 2,266 yards and up to 270 feet below ground makes this story particularly chilling. It's unsurprising that the tunnel is said today to be haunted.


This role will provide cargo operational functions including interaction with GHA for both import and export cargo and secure proper operational support to enable station to meet the cargo target. You will need to identify needs and improve cargo service and operational performance for station.
Liaising with local Ground Handling Agents and with Head Office Cargo departments to ensure/enhance a high quality service provided by QR both import and export.
Support Import customers for clearance of their cargo, liaise with customs authorities to facilitate smooth and timely import clearance, liaise with HQ DOH and/or origin stations for necessary support.
Flight planning with maximum utilization of the flight capacity, control and operation export & import. Maintain a close coordination between QR Space Control by ensuring their shipments are transferred, delivered on time, correct priority given to shipments and for maximum utilization of space on aircraft.
Coordination with Cargo Claims Supervisor at Head Office, handling discrepancies at stations and in all administrative issues related to stations.
To disseminate all cargo related information for updating customers regarding customs, governmental and health authorities' rules and to HO to comply with regulations and to avoid penalties, destruction, etc.
Ensure that notifications are sent officially on cargo arrival information, to Freight forwarders/agents to ensure the cargo does not stay under airlines custody for long period, avoid damages and for space availability at the warehouse.
Weekly, monthly or whenever deemed necessary services reports including preparation system accounting updates on every flight departure.