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Executive Forecast 2021: A New Era Begins for Senior Living
By The Citizen on January 4, 2021
"Last year, we thought that the 2020s would be a transformative decade — what an understatement. 2021 will set forth a new era in health care and senior living at large as a result of the pandemic."
These are the words of Ascension Living President Danny Stricker, but numerous other top executives in the industry harbor similar sentiments about the year ahead.
They are optimistic that the vaccine will beat back Covid-19, and that their organizations will be able to recover and move in new directions in 2021. But, they see that the path forward is difficult.
They are taking stock of the many changes caused by the pandemic, assessing where to focus on damage control and where to push forward with new operational initiatives and ways of doing business with health care and capital partners.
In addition to a renewed — and in some cases heightened — commitment to clinical care, other top priorities include new ways of harnessing technology, restoring consumer confidence, and addressing workforce fatigue and staffing challenges.
As Trilogy Health Services CEO Leigh Ann Barney puts it, the dawn of 2021 brings uncertainty but optimism.
To learn more about how senior living executives are feeling heading into the new year, Senior Housing News connected with a handful of industry leaders. What follows is the first part of a two-part series sharing those responses:
Brenda Bacon, CEO of Brandywine Living:
Looking forward is always more energizing than looking backward! It will be exciting to see how we shape the new normal.
My predictions include that we will see a significant change in our industry's consumer-facing messaging. While health care has clearly been the focus this past year, the importance of socialization has also been reinforced. It's our job to show our customers that the pursuit of both a social and safe environment is time well spent. It's our job to bring energy to that message, not just to regain census … but to grow census by becoming the environment of choice.
Secondly, assisted living has proven its position as a core component of the nation's healthcare industry. As leaders we need to ensure that our industry associations, all of whom bring value, continue to build on the power they have created working together. It may have been because there was no choice as we sought relief for our apparent political invisibility, but going forward we will be able to be recognized as a key player in the healthcare marketplace.
Finally, while the lessons learned are too many to enumerate here, I believe that we will see a major post-COVID realignment in the investment world. Both operators and investors who have talked about alignment for years will go through a realignment process like nothing we have seen before. Overbuilding, under-managing, alignment-in-word-only, will all generate many serious and consequential conversations in 2021 which will have the potential to strengthen our foundations, our progress, our margins, and our recognition as a valued industry. And then investor interest will soar to new heights.
Randy Richardson, President of Vi:
Having been through almost nine months of Covid management in our communities, we've become pretty good at it. But managing the infection within our communities is going to be even more difficult coming into 2021 than it has been in 2020, as this resurgence in outbreaks is proving to be even more powerful than I think people might have suspected.
Coupled with general fatigue, it could be a little more tough to continue the rigor that we've established. I do think that we'll manage just fine through this next wave if we encourage people to keep doing the right things, and if we're aware of morale among our employees and residents.
We're going to be dealing with the pandemic for at least several months into 2021, if not the better part of the year. That's not necessarily the most rosy outlook. However, I do think that, as things improve, we will have an incredible recovery economically.
We developed a virtual marketing campaign and launched it officially on the first of July. And it's proven to be working very, very well. It has been encouraging to us because of the lead generation that we've seen from that program. In many communities, we're back to selling. And I'm pleased to say in August, September, and then November, we were selling at a pace that's very close to what you would expect in a normal environment. That tells me that people still are interested in our product, and they have a desire to move forward. I think they've seen how we've managed through this crisis, and we can offer them a little bit of hope that they'll be taken care of.
So, going into 2021, assuming we can continue to manage the situation as well as we have, that we don't have any surprises, and that we have a vaccine available, I expect our selling activity to improve, and I think there is a lot of pent up demand out there.
Next year, our primary focus is going to be on keeping our employees and residents as safe as we can. We have a number of capital projects that we've been able to kind of re-engage with, and I expect in 2021 we'll be moving forward on it. As an organization, going through the budgeting process was really interesting this year because there are so many uncertainties. We've got a lot of assumptions built into the numbers that we're saying we're going to live with, but I actually think we'll probably outperform where we believed we'd be in 2021 even a month or two ago.
Danny Stricker, President of Ascension Living:
This year presented our industry with both challenges and learning opportunities around providing compassionate, personalized care in the midst of a pandemic. In 2021, as we deal with Covid-19 and the hope for successful vaccines and treatments, we will continue to adapt to new work environments, new consumer expectations and the economic impact of the pandemic.
I appreciate the opportunity we have been given to redefine our industry to meet the needs and expectations of the new Covid-era consumer and employee. As an industry, we need to collaborate to ensure that our sector is able to thrive under additional regulatory and financial pressures, while recognizing that health care at home is a viable option for complex care. In 2021, Ascension Living will focus on expanding services to meet the needs of current and future consumers, including the Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) and memory support services. We understand that skilled nursing facilities and senior living communities will look different in the future and we are learning more about the demand for those services in 2021 measured by occupancy recovery.
I imagine our industry will also witness significant advancements in technology, some accelerated by the pandemic from a regulatory perspective. I anticipate that the further evolution of telehealth and other virtual care services will continue to support higher acuity care in lower cost settings. Given this, it is time as an industry to reexamine our growth strategies and put in place solutions to meet the non-traditional demands that have emerged out of the pandemic.
Even with a successful Covid-19 vaccine, during 2021 we will continue to focus on mitigating exposure risks related to communicable diseases for associates who are essential as well as for those we serve. We also will continue to focus resources on care and support of our associates who have faced a stressful and difficult year. In addition, we will concentrate significant efforts on transforming our HR and recruitment processes to support and train future industry leaders, who have shown dedication, resilience and a drive to transform senior living. As an industry, we will need to come together to address our workforce challenges and ignite a passion for senior care.
Leigh Ann Barney, President and CEO, Trilogy Health Services:
Heading into 2021, there is still uncertainty, but I believe we have reasons to be optimistic. Having a vaccine available changes our outlook for the future, but there are still a lot of unknowns, including long term efficacy, ease of procurement, and the likelihood that staff and residents will want to receive a vaccination. That said, it is a step toward recovery and will help us move forward from the grip Covid has had on us in 2020.
Recruitment and retention of staff were probably the highest concerns in the senior housing industry prior to Covid. Add in Covid testing, PPE requirements and the overall stress of the pandemic, and recruiting and retaining staff has become even more challenging.
Prior to Covid, I would say we were cautious adopters of new technology, but the pandemic has really pushed us forward. Now we are offering multiple telemedicine options, and we're stepping up our communications with our families and employees. We have always used Red e App as an internal communication platform, but today we also have Regroup, which lets us send emails and SMS notifications to our families.
I am most excited about the development of our own resident health app called FamilyPulse, which gives designated family members access to their loved one's basic health stats like their blood pressure, temperature, and medications. It also contains info on their loved one's meals and activities.
During the pandemic, we conducted pulse surveys with our families and the feedback we received was their need to have more information about their loved one during a time when they were more isolated from them. I think FamilyPulse is going to be a game-changer in this respect. Since our pilot began, we have seen really strong early adoption numbers, which makes me very excited about our full company rollout.
My top priorities: continue to improve base and minimum wage scales for staff recruitment and retention. We made significant wage investments this past October for our certified caregivers, but we understand we will need to continue to make investments in wages in order to stabilize our workforce.
Also, building market confidence in the services we provide to seniors. Our industry has been asked to do so much during Covid. We have adapted and pivoted frequently to new policies and protocols, all while doing everything in our power to keep our residents and employees safe. Long-term care has not historically been heralded for our clinical excellence, but I think our industry has shown our clinical capabilities during the pandemic, despite limited resources. Our goal is to build on this platform and advocate for more resources to support the level of service we are asked to provide.
Diversity in service lines is going to be another key to our success. Trilogy's operating model is diverse, which spreads risk. Our campuses have a well-designed mix of health care, assisted living and independent living, so we are not overly dependent on any one service line. Ancillary business lines, primarily pharmacy and therapy, are another way we diversify our revenues. A priority for our future is to continue down the path of diversification. We are reviewing further additions to our current campus communities as well as expanding our ancillary umbrella of services.
Adam Kaplan, CEO of Solera Senior Living:
I'm most worried about continued fatigue/burnout among front line team members and management, as well as escalating risks of a Covid outbreak, and lengthy lockdowns/restrictions leading to isolation/anxiety and depression. Also, vaccine-related logistical issues and impact of an anti-vaccine sentiment.
I'm excited for a day in which close to 100% of our residents, family members and team members have been vaccinated, and thus the risk of a Covid outbreak is reduced to the degree in which almost all of the restrictions are lifted and thus the focus/energy can be re-weighted to other priorities.
So, my top priorities are successful vaccine planning and implementation, and keeping residents safe, healthy and engaged. Also, sourcing and developing high-quality talent that has been adversely impacted by Covid, and implementation and adoption of innovative technologies and services.
Earl Parker, President and COO of Commonwealth Senior Living:
What has me most worried?
First and foremost is the fatigue of our community leaders and front line associates. We have a robust communication program, and we know that they are feeling supported with having PPE, information, policies, protocols, et cetera, but the ongoing stress on the teams is significant.
We had good success with a teamwork-oriented contest, where we awarded a new car and numerous cash prizes across the portfolio earlier this year, and we intend to initiate a similar program in Q1 2021. We are also proactively tracking who hasn't taken time off, and reaching out to encourage and support them to take some time for themselves, away from the community.
I wouldn't be honest if I didn't also add occupancy to my list of concerns. I tend to be an optimist, so my belief is that there will be pent-up demand and that when people's confidence regarding the vaccine really kicks in, that we are going to see a rebound and the opportunity to grow occupancy in 2021, though I do anticipate it taking about 18 months to get back to pre-pandemic occupancy levels for AL and IL, with MC rebounding more quickly.
Rounding out the top 3 would probably be litigation surrounding Covid-19. While I am confident that our teams — and I would propose most in our industry — did everything that they possibly could to deal with the pandemic, I am certain that there will be individuals that seek to capitalize on the crisis and end up driving insurance prices higher, and consuming a lot of time and resources that could be better spent on other, more productive pursuits.
I think the thing that I am most excited about is getting our communities back to normal, and having the opportunity to interact personally with our residents and their families to better learn their perspectives on how we did. Based on the feedback I have received so far, I believe that in most cases we have gone beyond "satisfaction" and created a deeper sense of "loyalty" throughout the pandemic. We have been incredibly transparent with our residents, families, and associates throughout the entire pandemic, sharing with them not only what we were doing but also the "whys" along the way. We have listened to feedback and in some cases made changes to our plans and in other cases taken the time to explain why we weren't. I anticipate a significant increase in our family and friend referrals when things return closer to normal operations.
I am also excited about the capital investments we are making in our communities as a result of Covid. We are installing automated check in and screening kiosks, touchless door openers, touchless faucets, et cetera. I believe that these investments will not only help us in the near term deal with Covid, but also make our communities safer for the future.
With reporting from Tim Regan and Chuck Sudo
The post Executive Forecast 2021: A New Era Begins for Senior Living appeared first on Senior Housing News.
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Published in Ascension Living, Brandywine Living, Commonwealth Senior Living, Featured, Management, Sales & Marketing, Solera Senior Living, Staffing, Technology, Trilogy Health Services and Vi Living
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The City of Grand Marais may consider a future expansion of their marina. This potential event may risk covering or damaging historic shipwreck artifacts that are known to be on the bottom of the harbor. The schooner 'Elgin' sank in a 1906 storm near the breakwater that was built to form the current marina. The wooden planked bottom of the ship was noted on a Corps of Engineers chart of the harbor in the 1930's. Iron knees and a metal hatch combing have been noted by divers in the harbor near the picnic area. An anchor was pulled out by divers in the 1970's and may be seen outside the entrance to the North House Folk School.
The steamer 'Liberty,' burned at the dock on the east side of the harbor in 1919 and was pushed away to save the wooden fishing buildings near the dock. It dropped metal parts and its rudder (off shore from the picnic shelter) and sank in the southwest corner of the harbor. A winch and capstan have been found by divers int he past. A coal scupper cover was also found by the trip leader in the middle of the harbor. A large deck clamp and brass pipe fittings are located on the lake side of the breakwater, outside the harbor. The boat will be anchored to survey this area.
Additional information about these shipwrecks may be found in pages 152 - 158 in the book, 'Shipwrecks Along Lake Superior's North Shore,' by Stephen B, Daniel.
Project leader Steve Daniel will present an overview of the Harbor Documentation project at 4:00 PM on Friday, August 17th at the Cook County Historical Society building on the northeast side of town. Steve will cover the shipwrecks in the harbor and previous findings the 2011 and earlier dive teams found. Steve will also offer insight into other shipwrecks that have occurred in the grand Marais area.
1. The main harbor area (12 - 25 feet deep)will utilize a 24 foot boat that will tow a diver at idle speed on an underwater device in a grid pattern. When the diver spots an artifact, they will release the tow line by pulling a line attached to a quick release clip. A fisherman's float will be released to the surface, marking the spot. A spotter in the back of the boat will signal to stop and circle back to the diver. An underwater camera will be handed to the diver, who is now on the surface, to return to the bottom to photograph the artifact. A GPS way point will be noted and a mark on a drawing of the harbor will identify the location of the artifact.
2. In a shallow area near the south west corner of the harbor (7 - 10 foot depth) a smaller boat will be used to follow a diver who is underwater, scanning the bottom. When they find something, they will release a fisherman's float marker and surface. The person in the small boat will hand them an underwater camera to photograph the artifact. A GPS way point will be noted and a mark on a drawing of the harbor will be made to record the location.
We will camp in the city campground on Friday night and Saturday night. Please bring your own gear and make your own campsite reservations. Please call 218-387-1712 or 800-998-0959 (Grand Marais Recreation Area).
We will have a quick breakfast Saturday morning and meet at the boat launch at 8:00 AM, weather permitting. We will break for lunch (please bring your own) around Noon and end the dive around 4 or 5:00 PM. Additional survey work will be done on Sunday, if needed and weather permitting.
To learn more about the,project, please click on the link button below.
If you still have any additional questions about the project, please contact Steve using any of his contact information below.
Upon arrival in Grand Marais Friday afternoon,Corey and I checked in at the Grand Marais Campground, then headed to the Cook County Historical Museum, Carrie McHugh, museum director, greeted us and helped us set up for the Shipwrecks at Grand Marais, MN talk that I would give at 4:00 PM. The room quickly filled with people from town, the campground, boaters and sailers and visiting vacationers. The WTIP interview with Mark the previous Monday morning helped a bit! The talk went well. After a mention of the GLSPS and the project we would be doing this year in the harbor, the talk focused on the schooner Elgin and steamer Liberty. The log rafting tug Bob Anderson, along with a local fish tug the Redwing, were included as well.
Our project team consisted of Corey Daniel and Tom Petereson who alternated as diver, tender and spotter, Ken Knutson who was the recorder, tracked diver down times and passed the UW camera to the diver, and Steve Daniel who served as boat operator & project leader. We met at the campsite for breakfast and a briefing. After reconvening at the northeast boat launch parking lot (near the Coast Guard Station), we loaded gear on the boat and launched. After our safety talk, we motored to a sailboat mooring to discuss the project procedure. A Diver Down Flag & Float was to be towed behind the boat, in addition to the Diver Down Flag flown on top of the boat hardtop.
The diver tow device, graciously loaned to us by Bob Olson, was set up with a fish marker buoy attached with a Velcro(TM) strap and a bridle with float on the tow line. The diver would pull the release line that opened a clamp holding a ring attached to the towline (also loaned by Bob Olson). They would then remove the fish marker buoy and release it to the surface, while setting the weight on the found artifact. The boat would circle back to retrieve the tow device, mark the GPS and hand the UW camera to the diver to photograph the artifact.
We were fortunate that the weather was overcast with a very mild wind in the harbor. The schooner that usually took visitors for rides, remained at dock in the marina. The float plane that offered scenic rides was also not flying, as wind was needed for lift to clear the harbor. The folks in their sailboats knew about our project and greeted us as we passed their mooring with a diver in tow. The day went well, with the bnoat speed at about 1.8 MPH, according to the GPS. The typical depth of the harbor varied from 15 feet to 25 feet near the entrance to Lake Superior.
Seven of the eight artifacts found were recorded. These included a broken old china plate, 4 charred pick axes, a wooden box, a couple of planks, a couple sheets of mangled metal plates and a round glass from a large porthole. We pulled the diver out and secured the boat at a sailboat mooring as a a storm late in the day produced a lightening bolt on shore. Once it passed, we did one last tow before pulling out the boat. Overall, the tow device worked well and allowed the divers to cover many back and forth tows (east-west) between the moorings and across the main harbor area.
Sunday was bright, sunny and clear, with more wind. We took the book out on Lake Superior and cruised to Rock Island and back to clear carbon out of the motor. The boat was anchored outside the southwest rocky breakwater, about 50 yards off shore in about 40 feet of water. Ken and Steve dove in to look for a deck clamp and brass fittings that had been observed on an earlier dive with Randy Beebe and Dave Cooper several years ago. Unfortuantely, only rocks were found at the bottom of the large rock ledge underwater. It was good that we were not diving in the middle of the harbor, as the schooner and float plane were busy most fo the day taking people on rides above and on the water.
It is believed that the storms on the Lake cause artifacts to either move around or be buried or uncovered in different years. Many artifacts that were seen in previous years were not observed during the projects conducted this year and last year. It may be worthwhile to come back and do boat dives for easier access to the SW corner in the harbor and outside the SW breakwater rock. The crew would also like to check out the old America dock on the NE side of the harbor, by the rocky point that leads to the lighthouse.
A specials thanks to Corey, Tom and Ken for traveling all the way to Grand Marais and giving their generous time and help for this year's successful harbor survey.


I thought it might be time to tell you where my call to white space began. As I have told you, the first stirrings were with beautiful Kyle, but the second wave came two years ago.
Do you start your January with a word or phrase as a theme for new year?
Do you think you choose it or it chooses you?
Have you ever been afraid of it?
Two years ago in January a single word kept rising to the surface, not a word I used in everyday language, a word I held vaguely just around the edges. I knew just enough to keep hoping for a different word, but none ever came.
At the time, I thought I got the gist of the word. I had no idea.
I went away to a Carolyn's lake house to celebrate our friend Debbie's birthday. It was January in the Pacific Northwest so it was rain on top of rain, but we didn't care. The lake was silent and wore a veil of fog. She was beautiful in her stormy way.
We had each brought our raincoats and baskets of materials to share for late night creativity, so we were set. We had paints, stamps, paper, canvas boards, paint brushes, wire, wreath forms and scraps of all sorts. We took walks in the rain gathering woodsy stuff and came home to make wreaths from twigs, spongy mosses, shells and sprigs of evergreen.
We hung our coats to drip dry around the house, Carolyn built a roaring fire and we set to work in the warm glow with mugs of tea. We laughed, we talked and we held the silence as old friends do. We have history among us; children, church, faith, being mamas and non-profit work. Between the three of us, we have 13 children, 5 boys and 8 girls, who all went to school together. At that time, we didn't know my first grandchildren were right around the corner and cull was just a word.
Here is the little painting I made at the dining room table after the wreaths from our rainy walk.
You can see I called it "The Beautiful Cull".
I was marking what I heard on the wind, acknowledging the whisper in my soul. By springtime I would need to remember it was beautiful.
In the moment, I was thinking of my youngest daughter leaving for university, or needing to clean out my house for that season of birdies taking flight. I was pondering what it might look like as Mike and I headed toward a sometimes empty nest in the following year. I was hoping for the plain, ordinary, naturally occurring edits that come with that season.
Oh, but the Beautiful Cull was sharp and would go deeper than that.


CAN-DO is a community-wide collaboration to identify and assess the needs in Onslow County. Comprised of stakeholders representing public, private, and non-profit stakeholders, CAN-DO's comprehensive and diverse membership is the leading partnership to address community issues.
Formerly known as the Homeless Coalition, in December 2010, the Board of the United Way of Onslow County voted to house the Coalition as an advisory board. In order to attract additional stakeholders, expand our scope and banish existing negative stereotypes towards homeless, the Homeless Coalition is now known as CAN-DO: Community Advisory Network Developing Onslow.
Rebranded under the name CAN-DO, the partnership will seek access to available grants for planning and gathering data, and prevention and intervention strategies.
The collaboration with the United Way allows for greater leveraging of resources under its 501(c)3 status, greater visibility and adds validity and credibility to the coalition.
CAN-DO meetings are open to the public and generally occur the second Friday of the month at 8:30 am at Trillium (Formally CoastalCare) on Center Street in Jacksonville, NC.
Solutions for Stability: Opening Doors. Restoring Hope.
The CAN-DO Advisory Board has created a strategic framework based on national best practices in addition to selecting an initial target population. These best practices, as identified in Opening Doors, the federal plan to end homelessness, have served as the backbone during a four-month strategic planning process to create a local, actionable plan. Supported with guidance from the NC Coalition to End Homelessness and backed by local data gathered during the annual HUD-mandated Point-In-Time Count, the CAN-DO membership has identified the initial focus of the plan to address at-risk and imminently homeless children and families. At this time, Solutions for Stability serves both individuals and families that are literally homeless.


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It's Not Your Father's PLAAF: China's Push to Develop Domestic Air-to-Air Missiles
Douglas Barrie
Editor's Note: This article marks the release of The Military Balance 2018 by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
A senior Russian missile designer reputedly quipped that without weapons, combat aircraft were fit really only for air shows. China, previously one of Russia's biggest customers, has taken this sentiment to heart. For more than a decade, Beijing has worked to transform its inventory of air-to-air missiles (AAMs), as part of its broader military-modernization strategy.
Traditionally, China's People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has relied on buying or making licensed (or un-licensed) copies of other countries' air-to-air weapons. Today, this is no longer the case, with a variety of China's own designs now entering service or in development. These weapons are considerably more capable than the ones they are replacing.
China aims to provide its modern combat aircraft with an array of missiles that can deny any opponent — starting with the United States — the luxury of air supremacy. Given the obvious geographical friction points between China and the United States, the air and naval domains are of particular importance. If China were to deny the United States air superiority in this way, America could only win it back with the commitment of a level of blood and treasure not seriously contemplated by the Pentagon for decades. The ability to contest the air domain is of course dependent on far more than an array of missiles, however impressive the technical performance of any particular weapon. Alongside China's combat aircraft and missiles, tactics, techniques, training and procedures are also important, especially against a peer adversary. These remain an area of comparative weakness for the PLAAF, but one that the service is aware of and attempting to address. Since 2011, China's air force has held the "Golden Helmet" air combat competition, intended to help develop the skills required. The event includes one-versus-one to formation-on-formation air engagements, with aircrew drawn from all of the military's five theatre commands. The engagements include short, medium, and long-range air combat. The PLAAF has also established a unit intended act as an opposing force in exercises to further attempt to increase the value of its air combat training.
The PLAAF's multirole fighter inventory now includes the single-seat Chengdu J-10 Firebird and Shenyang J-11B Flanker L (a locally produced version of the Russian Su-27 Flanker which the air force also operates). It has also bought a small number of the Su-35 along while also increasing production of the two-seat J-16 (again a locally produced two-seat Flanker variant) and Su-30MKK Flanker. Its first stealthy fighter aircraft, the Chengdu J-20, is now in operational test and evaluation, with a wider entry into service likely to begin before 2020.
The aircraft China acquired from Moscow have also come with Russian air-to-air missiles. But, for its own versions of Russian aircraft, as well as for its own designs, China is developing a number of its own increasingly capable air-to-air missiles. These span from imaging infrared short-range "dogfight" missiles to medium, long, and very long-range weapons that rely on radar guidance to close with the target.
The weapons now being introduced, or in the latter stages of development, seem broadly equal to their Western counterparts in terms of performance. In one case, that of a very-long-range AAM, there is no Western equivalent.
Visual Acquisition
Air-to-air missiles are categorized as "within-visual-range" and "beyond-visual-range." China's intent is to contest the air domain from close-range to medium range and beyond, to disadvantage any opponent. The within-visual-range, or "dogfight," missile describes a weapon traditionally dependent on infrared guidance. For the early generations of this class of missiles this effectively meant the pilot closing to within sight of the target aircraft to allow the infrared seeker to acquire the target. The first generation of infrared-missiles, developed in the 1950s, required the target aircraft be approached from the rear as the main source of infrared energy was the jet-engine and seeker sensitivity was limited. In contrast, the "dogfight" missiles now in service are capable of being fired at a target from any aspect within range, and at considerably extended ranges, and with far greater missile maneuverability. China now has in operation a missile in this class, called the PL-10 (Pi Li is Chinese for thunderbolt).
The PL-10 entered service in 2015 and provides the PLAAF with highly maneuverable imaging infrared guided missile comparable in performance terms to other weapons in this class possessed by the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, South Africa, and Israel. The missile is replacing the PL-8 (based on the Israeli Python 3) and the Russian R-73 (AA-11A Archer) as China's most capable short-range missile. The PL-10 uses an imaging infrared seeker rather than the less capable IR seeker fitted to the PL-8 or R-73. More resistant to counter-measures, imaging seekers also provide the potential to pick where to strike against a target, thereby improving the chances of a successful engagement.
The arena of within visual range air combat becomes an increasingly demanding environment when faced with a fourth-generation missile such as the PL-10, compared to the PL-8 or the R-73. The combination of an imaging infrared seeker, target detection range, high agility, and the capacity to fire at the opponent from all aspects is provides the Chinese air force with a formidable weapon. There is also the greater risk of a "mutual kill" in short-range air-to-air engagements where in a one-versus-one combat both aircraft are liable to be able to launch short-range missiles with a high chance of success. Fourth-generation missiles become more lethal when used in combination with a helmet-mounted sight, where the missile seeker follows where the pilot is looking. China presently lags the West in this area, but is working to fix that.
As the close-in fight has become increasingly lethal, then the ability to engage at target at medium-range grows increasingly more attractive. In a full-blown peer-on-peer war, most of the air combat would begin at such ranges. Beyond visual-range weapons are normally associated with either semi-active or active radar guidance. In the former, the missile seeker is dependent on the aircraft's radar illuminating the target throughout the course of the engagement, while in the latter the missile seeker operates independently, emitting and receiving during the final stage of the engagement. The advantage of an active-radar guided missile is that the launch aircraft is not limited by the need to illuminate the target until the engagement is over.
China's air force was dependent for these types of weapons on Russia from the mid-1990s and into the early 2000s with the semi-active R-27R (AA-10A Alamo) and the active-radar guided R-77 (AA-12A Adder) supplied as part of combat aircraft deals. Beginning in the mid-1990s, however, China also began to work on the development of an active-radar guided missile, with considerable Russian support, known as the PL-12. This missile entered Chinese service in 2006–07, giving the air force its first domestically produced active-radar-guided AAM. The PL-12 is broadly comparable to a number of Western medium-range missiles in this class, while the PL-12 is also the subject of an ongoing upgrade.
The PL-12, however, was only the start of China's quest for increasingly capable radar-guided AAMs. Up to four other radar-guided beyond-visual-range missiles are in varying stages of design or development.
One of these, the PL-15, could enter service during the course of 2018, and has already been cited by senior U.S. Air Force personnel as a significant concern, including remarks by Gen. Hawk Carlisle, then head of U.S. Air Combat Command, in 2015. The PL-15 may have a maximum range in the order of 200 kilometres and is thought to be fitted with an advanced seeker using an active electronically scanned radar. The maximum range describes how far the missile could reach with an optimized trajectory requiring no maneuvering and with little energy left at the end of the flight. But given that a missile in the class of the PL-15 would often be used to engage a combat aircraft of a similar class, its actual maximum engagement range against a maneuvering target would be considerably less, though likely still in excess of the present Western generation of solid-rocket medium-range missiles. One of the limitations of several of the current generation of beyond-visual- range AAMs is that the probability of a successful engagement is reduced significantly against a maneuvering target. This is because the missile rapidly bleeds off energy as it turns to try to close with the threat aircraft.
The Chinese guided-weapons sector is also exploring the application of a rocket/ramjet combination for propulsion as means of improving the probability of a "kill" at medium and extended ranges. This class of missile uses a ramjet sustainer engine rather than a solid-propellant rocket motor. Ramjet engines use atmospheric oxygen mixed with fuel for missile propulsion. Although using a ramjet sustainer engine does not deliver the maximum speed of a solid-rocket motor, it provides a higher average speed, with the ramjet motor providing power for a far greater time than the shorter burn-time of a solid-fuel rocket. The European Meteor missile was the first rocket/ramjet-powered AAM to enter service, when in 2016 the Swedish Air Force became the first of the six partner nations in the British-led project to field the missile.
An even longer-range AAM is also in the later stages of development. In late 2016, images appeared on the Internet of a Shenyang J-16 Flanker carrying two large missiles. The missile configuration suggested the design was intended to provide a very-long-range air-to-air capability, at up to around 400 kilometers, and intended to be used against tankers, airborne early warning and control aircraft, and intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, at extended engagement ranges.
The Implications for the West
The air domain, whether at close, medium, or long-range, is becoming an increasingly contested environment. The United States of course still retains advantages, not least of all in the development and the operation of stealthy combat aircraft, but the absolute gap in technology — and capabilities is narrowing. Continuing to develop aircraft designs and systems that minimize the range at which you can be detected while maximizing the range at which you can find and fire at the target will only grow in importance. This would suggest that America's emphasis should be placed on developing a missile, or missiles, capable of engagement ranges beyond that of the latest model of the Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile, the AIM-120D.
For the notional Western combat aircraft pilot, there is no obvious respite to be found in attempting to avoid within visual range threat of the PL-10 by keeping to beyond visual range. In this environment also the PLAAF will be able to mount an increasingly credible challenge, and at engagement ranges against some targets that would previously have been considered safe. As one former U.S. Air Force tanker pilot drily noted to this author when discussing China's yet-to-be-named, and yet-to-enter service, very long-range AAM, "That's aimed right at me."
Douglas Barrie joined the IISS in 2010 after nearly a quarter of a century as a defense aerospace journalist. He is the institute's subject matter specialist on airpower. Prior to his current post he was the London bureau chief for Aviation Week & Space Technology. He holds an MA Hons. in English Literature from Edinburgh University and is a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
Image: Wikimedia Commons

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Q: Use different variables for dev and prod with AngularJS and GruntJS I am currently working on an Angular website that communicates with a RESTful API running on node.js that I built only for this app. They are two separate projects that runs on different ports.
While developing, I make the Angular app communicating with the local API. In production, the path to the API will be the IP address of the server. This is not a lot of work but I then need to change the address every time I want to deploy to production.
So here is some questions (sorry if this is a duplicate, I couldn't find it) :
Is it possible to create a two-sided variable (in grunt, in angular) in order to use some address (localhost) for development and another address for production ?
Maybe I got it all wrong and I should merge the API with the app ? I would have one big web server running on the same port and I could use relative paths and get rid of hostnames. How can I do to merge the express routes for the API with the angular routes ?
Thank you !

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The loan margin links your mortgage interest rate to an index.
Adjustable rate mortgage contracts are complicated legal documents that leave many people scratching their heads. As with a fixed rate loan, the annual percentage rate is the amount of interest that you pay over the course of a single year. However, adjustable rate loans have variable interest rates, which means that you need to pay as much attention to the loan margin as you do the APR.
Banks fund mortgages with borrowed funds. A bank can use money held in deposit accounts such as certificates of deposit to fund loans or it can borrow money from another bank. Unsurprisingly, banks charge interest on the money that they lend to one another. The Federal Open Market Committee sets a benchmark rate for interbank lending. Struggling banks and small institutions usually have to pay more to borrow money than larger institutions. However, the FOMC target rate has a direct impact on your APR at the time you take out a loan and it may also impact the APR you pay over the course of the loan term.
Banks make money by writing loans so it would not make sense for a bank to lend you money at the same rate of interest that the bank paid when it acquired those funds. The margin is the bank's mark up on the original loan. If a bank pays 2 percent to borrow money, it may charge 4 percent to lend that same money out to someone else. The poorer your credit, the higher the margin because banks mitigate risk by charging higher rates. Banks use margins to price both fixed rate loans and adjustable rate mortgages but you only need to know about the margin if you have an ARM.
When you take out an ARM loan, the bank must attach your interest rate to an index. Many banks use the United States prime rate which is an index that reflects the rate bank's charge creditworthy borrowers. The prime rate is indexed to the FOMC interbank rate. Other banks tie ARM rates to the yields being paid on federal treasury bonds. These indexes rise and fall over the course of time. Your loan margin remains the same. If the bank attaches your loan to the prime rate, then your interest rate moves up and down in conjunction with movements in the prime rate. If the index never changes then your APR remains the same for the entire loan term.
Banks typically add rate caps and floors to ARM agreements. The floor represents the minimum APR you can pay on the loan. The cap represents the highest APR you can pay over the course of the loan. The margin only remains meaningful if the underlying index remains with the realm of the cap and the floor. If the index falls low enough or rises above a certain point then you can forget about the margin for a while and get used to paying the floor or the cap rate. The margin becomes a factor again if the index shifts enough so that your rate is above the floor but below the cap.
How Often Does a Variable Rate Mortgage Fluctuate?
How Does Lowering the Prime Interest Rate Affect CD Rates?
What Is a Mortgage Loan Margin?


2012 was a dry year with some climatic irregularity, but the vines were able to ripen perfectly, producing small quantities of concentrated and balanced wine. Quinta do Vesuvio is located in one of the most privileged areas of the Douro Superior. All of the Port made at the Quinta is foot trodden in lagares. The wine was barrel aged for 2 years then bottled unfiltered.


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How To Use An Aeropress
As compared to other coffee brewing methods, the AeroPress is relatively new. The method is synonymous with the device with both having been created by Aerobie founder Alan Adler in 2005. The AeroPress is a pressure-based brewing method that is intended to yield a single serving of coffee that is relatively strong in terms of caffeine, but very low in acidity. Thus, the device, and, consequently, the brewing method, will yield a great tasting cup of coffee on par with an espresso, but with a dose of caffeine closer to that of more traditional, drip coffee methods. Using an AeroPress means either brewing coffee as the device was traditionally intended or in an inverted fashion. Additionally, the AeroPress can be used for cold brewing coffee as well.
As with other pressure-based coffee brewing methods, the use of dark espresso beans is highly advised when making a cup of coffee with an AeroPress.
What you'll need to make Aeropress coffee
Heating element and kettle; hotpot
An AeroPress with two cylinders (one acts as a beaker with the other acting as a plunger)
A funnel (for the inverted method)
A grinder (see our favourite burr coffee grinders here)
Whole espresso beans
Step by step Guide - How to use an Aeropress
Let's get our brew on!
Measure out and aim to grind approximately 16-20 grams of very-fine coffee on par with that of a commercial, or industrial, espresso machine
Set kettle to boil and plan to achieve a temperature of approximately 185-degrees Fahrenheit, or just slightly cooler than that which is needed for the Moka Pot method or the French Press (check out how to make French press coffee here)
Place one filter in the larger cylinder and wet with hot water before adding the grounds
Pour the remaining water needed for one cup of coffee into the cylinder and allow the coffee to steep for approximately 10 to 50 seconds
Ready the plunger and cup by seating the first cylinder (with the coffee and water) on top of the cup and then place the second, smaller cylinder on top of both items acting as a single fixture
Carefully depress and extract the coffee into the cup
Based on taste, feel free to add hot water as the brew will be especially concentrated (or use the coffee compass)
⸙ Master Barista Tip No. 1: safety should come first with this method as too fine a ground can result in a slower extraction process, which might cause the user to 'force' the smaller cylinder (i.e., the plunger) into the larger cylinder with enough force to break the cup or beaker
⸙ Master Barista Tip No. 2: the inverted method is a great means for a longer steep, which will only further help the coffee bloom and result in a more flavorful cup of coffee; the inverted method simply sees the brewer nest the smaller cylinder into the larger one upside down, add grounds and water in this make-shift beaker, then put the coffee much on top of the entire apparatus, flip, and depress
Using the AeroPress is fun, new, and innovative way for big bold coffee drinkers to maximize flavor one cup at a time.


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Home » Browse » Academic journals » General Education Journals » Canadian Journal of Education » Article details, "Back to the Basics: Socio-Economic, Gender, and..."
Academic journal article Canadian Journal of Education
Back to the Basics: Socio-Economic, Gender, and Regional Disparities in Canada's Educational System
By Edgerton, Jason D.; Peter, Tracey; Roberts, Lance W.
This study reassessed the extent to which socio-economic background, gender, and region endure as sources of educational inequality in Canada. The analysis utilized the 28,000 student Canadian sample from the data set of the OECD's 2003 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Results, consistent with previous findings, highlight the uneven distribution of educational achievement in Canada along socioeconomic, gender, and regional lines, and point to the continued necessity of policy to mitigate the impact of gender, class, and regional inequalities on the educational outcomes and life chances of young Canadians.
Key words: social inequality, educational outcomes, educational aspirations, SES, cultural capital, PISA
Dans cet article, les auteurs se demandent dans quelle mesure le statut socio-economique, le sexe et la region demeurent des sources d'inegalite en matiere d'education au Canada. L'analyse repose sur l'echantillon des 28 000 eleves canadiens tire de l'ensemble de donnees du Programme international pour le suivi des acquis des eleves (PISA) de 2003 de l'OCDE. Les resultats, conformes aux conclusions anterieures, mettent en evidence la repartition inegale de la reussite scolaire au Canada selon le statut socioeconomique, le sexe et la region et indiquent la necessite d'attenuer l'impact du sexe, de la classe sociale et des inegalites regionales sur les resultats scolaires et les chances d'epanouissement des jeunes canadiens.
Mots cles: inegalite sociale, resultats scolaires, aspirations quant aux etudes, statut socioeconomique, capital culturel, PISA
A fundamental concern within sociology of education research is the extent to which formal education both fosters socio-economic opportunity and also reproduces social inequality (Wotherspoon, 2004). The notion of education as the great equalizer has a prominent place in the ideology of modern liberal democratic states such as Canada and the United States. This popular belief in meritocracy is also paralleled by more formal conceptualizations informing the social policy-making process. Prominent among these is human capital theory (McBride, 2000; Woodhall, 1997), which holds that investment in education brings both individual returns (such as increased social mobility) and societal returns (such as economic growth, decreased inequality, and enhanced social cohesion). Evidence of the return to individuals from education has generally been more forthcoming; in particular, the correlation between education and income is well-established (e.g., Krueger & Lindahl, 2001; Sweetman, 2002). However, consistent evidence of social returns such as rising prosperity and lower inequality has been much more problematic to measure (Levin & Kelley, 1997). Exemplary of the elusive social returns from education is the United States, the richest country in the world, with one of the most educated populaces, but which also happens to exhibit one of the greatest degrees of social inequality among advanced Western nations (United Nations Development Programme [UNDP], 2003).
Although Canada compares favourably with other advanced Western nations in terms of educational equality (e.g., Marks, 2005; UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre [UNICEF], 2002), (1) the distribution of educational achievement in Canada has historically been subject to structural asymmetries related to socio-economic background, gender, and geography. (2) Given the spate of social trends that have in recent times significantly reshaped the Canadian social landscape (Roberts, Clifton, Ferguson, Kampen, & Langlois, 2005), it is important to reassess the extent to which these traditional dimensions of educational inequality continue to endure. The present availability of a world-class data set in the form of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study provides an excellent opportunity to undertake just such a reassessment. …
Publication: Canadian Journal of Education
Edgerton, Jason D.
Peter, Tracey
Roberts, Lance W.


The fabric was a gift from another stitcher and I lost the little tag that was on it. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was for this design. I stitched it with the called for threads except for the flower in Summer – I chose something a little lighter.


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Protect ideas – increase value ?
Competition Law Claims can be protected as Intellectual Properties, in particular as Design, Trademark, Domain, Copyright or as an ancillary copyright (against slavish imitation) or can be specially protected.
Intellectual Property Law refer to intellectual property rights and the abbreviation for it, is : "IP".
Generalizations of the numerous individual rights by such terms remain inaccurate in detail but because of the important differences in the legal contents and in the eventual consequences, it is important to differenciate copyrights and patents really well. Nevertheless, IP rights still have many aspects in common with each other, such as their purpose or monopolisation for the benefit of individuals. Furthermore, the term "intellectual property" does not literally mean that a factual "intellectual" property right exist – of course, human thoughts can not be monopolized – and ideas as such can not be protected. Rather, this term reflects more the immaterial character of such rights, intended as inventive protective rights.
Although the existence and the important significance of IP rights, these are today still partly underestimated because of their immateriality and their characterisation as "rights"; Intellectual Property rights have become a central value of many companies and innovative developments.
For example, the company name of a business can play a central role in value assessment, as in the case of the Coca-Cola brand. Valuation issues, by the way, can confidently be described as "unsolved", since the different valuation mechanisms produce highly different results.
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Urban Wire Structural RacismRSS
Margaret Simms
Nonresident Fellow
Kilolo Kijakazi
Structural racism places the burden of proposed budget cuts on people of color
President Trump's budget proposal released last week seeks to pay for an increase in defense spending by dramatically reducing discretionary domestic expenditures, a category that includes most of the social support and workforce development programs that help low-income people support their families and provide them the resources to get ahead in life.
In this "skinny" budget, the Trump administration proposes to reduce funding for Job Corps and state and local job training efforts and seeks to eliminate several programs assisting community-based organizations that assist low-income people. The budget is silent on several public assistance programs, but more cuts are likely to come later.
On its surface, these policy changes would appear to be race neutral, because they don't seem to target particular communities or demographic groups. Instead, these policies seek to help people based on income, job status, or assets. But due to the circumstances in which many people of color find themselves because of structural racism, these budgetary shifts will disproportionately affect communities of color.
Who receives public benefits, and why?
While the skinny budget does not talk about several public benefit programs that help individuals, figures on receipt of these programs is indicative of the differing situation of people of color versus others in the United States. While African Americans are 13 percent and Hispanics are 17 percent of the US population, respectively, among 2015 recipients of benefits from Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, 29 percent were African American, and 37 percent were Hispanic. Twenty-six percent of 2015 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients were African American, and 11 percent were Hispanic. That people of color are more likely to be in these programs stems from them being less likely to have jobs that pay enough to support their families, but it is not for lack of trying.
The proportion of people of color looking for or holding jobs, by gender, shows that eagerness to work is similar across racial groups in today's economy. But the compensation and stability of employment varies significantly, with African American and Hispanic men who work full-time earning only 74 percent and 69 percent of their white counterparts, respectively.
People of color also tend to be more concentrated in service occupations subject to more variable hours and greater job turnover. When lower earnings are combined with more unemployment, the result is higher poverty rates and more need for assistance to provide for family well-being.
What drives economic inequity?
Discrimination in the labor market has resulted in the exclusion of African Americans and Latinos from many good job opportunities, even when they are as qualified as white applicants. Occupational segregation has also contributed to these groups being disproportionately concentrated in jobs that do not provide wealth-producing benefits, such as retirement savings, paid leave, health and disability insurance, and education benefits.
When work hours shrink or jobs disappear, families of color have fewer resources to fall back on. Research contradicts the premise that lower levels of economic gains for families of color compared with white families are because of individual deficits or a lack of personal responsibility. A long history of policies, regulations, court rulings, and institutional practices have used race to convey economic advantages to white Americans while undermining economic gains by people of color over US history.
More recent policies such as redlining and racially restrictive covenants used by the Federal Housing Administration restricted loans to families in neighborhoods with predominantly people of color and prevented the sale of white-owned homes to African Americans. More recently, communities of color were targeted by predatory lenders to receive subprime loans even when they qualified for prime loans, leading to the loss of their homes or a substantial share of their net worth.
When people of color propel themselves along the path for achieving the American Dream, even in the face of such systemic barriers, the economic return is substantially less than that for white people. For instance, white adults who don't graduate from high school, have children before marriage, and don't work full time still enjoy much greater median wealth than comparable African American and Latino adults. These same white adults often have more wealth than African American and Latino families who have married and completed some college and about the same wealth as families of color with a full-time worker.
A common misperception is that people of color are not sufficiently knowledgeable or responsible with money, and therefore the racial disparity in homeownership and wealth is because of conspicuous consumption on their part. Research indicates that this, too, is a myth. African American households spend less money than white households with comparable incomes, yet white households still possess greater wealth.
Developing and modifying social support programs in an equitable way requires a willingness to confront a legacy of structural racism and the consequent inequity in access to economic and social mobility.
Copies of U.S. President Donald Trump's overview of budget priorities for FY2018, titled "America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again." are put on display at the Government Publishing Office (GPO) and the Office of Management and Budget, on March 16, 2017 in Washington, DC. Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images.
To talk about structural racism, we have to talk about white privilege
Are gains in black homeownership history?


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'TM: Young & Pregnant' Star Ashley Jones Threatens Suicide In Disturbing Tweets
Nov. 7 2018, Updated 7:46 p.m. ET
Ashley Jones is seemingly threatening to kill herself. The Teen Mom: Young and Pregnant star took to Twitter on Wednesday, Nov. 7, and told fans in detail how she could violently end her own life.
Ashley first retweeted the message, "She gone leave mentally before she leave physically." She then added she was "exhausted" of "fighting the same battle" and would "gracefully bow out."
"Sometimes I think people won't be happy until I leave bar and disappear," she wrote. "And sometimes I wonder if people wish to humiliate me and talk down on me so bad that I just say f**k it and end my whole life."
Ashley seemingly backtracked and wrote, "This won't be the story of the girl who folded under pressure. This will be the story of a women, who held her head high through all the obstacles facing her, and has came out stronger." She also said she had "exciting stuff coming up."
However, just hours later, Ashley continued with the threats, writing, "But when I blow my f*****g brains out, everyones gonna cry . Everyone's gonna have wished me the best . Everyone's gonna wanna put me on their shirt come to my funeral . Nah, just keep that same energy. The energy that drew me to suicide in the first place."
Ashley recently got back with her baby daddy, Bariki Smith, but has a volatile relationship with his mother Shen. Upon seeing Ashley's tweets, Shen took to her Facebook page and accused Ashley of "crying wolf" and being "pure evil."
Ashley responded to the tweets and wrote, "So I'm out. All the way. Good luck in life."
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.


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I love Skidmore College. I love their incredibly open-minded students. I love their courageous faculty and staff. I love the leadership of their President who not only attended a FACTUALITY session but invited me to present my work to his Cabinet and Board of Trustees...talk about tone setting and taking a stance... oh and my hosts are completely incredible... love them too.


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Little Coyote "Delirium" (video)
By Sarah Murphy
Toronto's Little Coyote are currently readying their debut LP The Trouble with Teeth, but before the record arrives, Exclaim! is giving you the first look at a new video for album cut "Delirium."
The song weaves together equally affecting moments of dark folk and light pop, while the accompanying visuals showcase three stories of love — in a dream state, the present and the future.
The video was directed by the band's Teagan Johnston and Toronto filmmaker Adreinne McLaren, and it explores themes of love, loss partnership and delirious bliss across the trio of short stories.
Watch the video for "Delirium" right now in the player below.
More Little Coyote


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Sounding the Alarm on Iran's Pursuit of Nuclear Weapons and its Support for International Terrorism.
Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons capability, its support for international terrorism, its efforts to subvert and attack its neighbors and its collusion with the murderous Assad regime in Syria jeopardize global peace and security.
For decades, AJC has been sounding the alarm on the Iranian threat. After several weeks of careful considerations, AJC decided in 2015 to oppose the Joint and Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran. Rather than dismantling Tehran's nuclear infrastructure, as was the original objective, the agreement puts only a temporary freeze on the program while validating Iran's future status as a nuclear threshold state.
Since the JCPOA is now in place, AJC advocacy continues to focus on two areas:
Ensuring that the international community has the mechanisms in place to enforce the nuclear deal's restrictions—as temporary and limited as they are—to intrusively monitor Iranian behavior, and reimpose sanctions in the event of any violation.
Highlighting the need to confront Tehran's regional aggression, the worsening human rights abuses at home and its support for international terrorism. Within this context, we consider it of critical importance to place the entire Hezbollah terror group, which is funded and controlled by Iran, on the EU terror list.
› Transatlantic Relations
› Antisemitism
› Terrorism & Radicalism
Launch of Transatlantic Declaration: The EU Must Ban Hezbollah
On the twin anniversary eve of Hezbollah's bomb attacks in Argentina (1994) and Bulgaria (2012), the Transatlantic Friends of Israel (TFI) called on the EU to finally ban the terror group. The declaration was covered by global media outlets including POLITICO Europe, The Hill, Die Welt, Gazeta Wyborcza and The Jerusalem Post . At the virtual launch event, TFI Chair MEP Lukas Mandl, TFI Vice Chair MEP Dietmar Köster, AJC Transatlantic Institute Director Daniel Schwammenthal, and the Washington Institute's Hezbollah expert Matthew Levitt discussed the initiative's impact. AJC CEO David Harris delivered concluding remarks.
40 Years of Theocracy in Iran: Regional Policy and Global Ambitions
Hosted by MEP Ramona Nicole Mănescu, the AJC Transatlantic Institute co-organized with the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) a conference in the European Parliament entitled "40 Years of Theocracy in Iran: Regional Policy and Global Ambitions." AJC CEO David Harris delivered concluding remarks.
"Tick Tock" Should We Salvage the Iran Deal?
With just ten days before U.S. President Donald Trump's announced decision on the lran nuclear accord, TAI Director Daniel Schwammenthal was invited by United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) to join the timely expert panel...
AJE's Inside Story: Iran and Syria, a Show of Strength and Unity
Joshua Goodman, Communications Director of the AJC Transatlantic Institute, was a guest on Al Jazeera English's "Inside Story" to discuss Iran's backing of the Assad regime in Syria. In the face of international pressure on President Bashar al-Assad to step down, Mr. Goodman...
Containment Won't Work Against Iran
By Daniel Schwammenthal
The Wall Street Journal Europe
Mutually assured destruction might be more of an incentive than...
AJE's Inside Story: A Russian Warning to Israel over Iran
Al Jazeera English's "Inside Story" invited AJC Transatlantic Institute Communications Director Joshua Goodman on the show to discuss Iran's nuclear programme and Russia's concern over potential military action.
AJE's Inside Story: North Korea and Iran's Missile Power
Joshua Goodman, Communications Director at the AJC Transatlantic Institute, joined Al Jazeera English's Inside English to discuss Iran and North Korea's reported cooperation in missile technology.
AJE's Inside Story: Targeting Iran's Nuclear Scientists
AJC Transatlantic Institute Communications Director Joshua Goodman provides analysis on the sequence of deaths of Iranian nuclear scientists.
Is There Enough Progress on Iran?
By Joshua Goodman
We've been here many times before, but the result has never changed. Iran's diplomatic...
Daniel Schwammenthal Addresses European Parliament's Delegation for Relations with Iraq
Upon the invitation of the chair of the European Parliament's Delegation for Relations with Iraq, MEP David Campbell-Bannerman, TAI Director Daniel Schwammenthal detailed recent developments in Iran-Iraq relations in light of the JCPOA (Joint and Comprehensive Plan of Action...
Trump and the Middle East A new US policy toward Iran, ISIS and the Arab-Israeli Conflict?
The AJC Transatlantic Institute co-organized with MEP Anders Vistisen, 1st Vice Chair of the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs, an exchange of views in the European Parliament with Mike Doran, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Senior Director...
European Parliament Hearing: IAEA Report and Iran
Daniel Schwammenthal, Director of the AJC Transatlantic Institute, addresses the European Parliament's Delegation for Relations with Israel on the IAEA report and Iran's nuclear program.
TAI Director Daniel Schwammenthal Address EPP Group on Security in the New Middle East
AJC Transatlantic Institute Director Daniel Schwammenthal spoke to the Euromed Working Group of the European People's Party (EPP) on the evolving security situation in the Middle East. The meeting took place in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France during the final...


text:
HomeThe Island With Bear Grylls
The Island With Bear Grylls is a TV show on Australian national television from SBS ONE with an average rating of 3.2 stars by TVCatchUpAustralia.com's visitors. We have 31 episodes of The Island With Bear Grylls in our archive. The first episode of The Island With Bear Grylls was broadcast in July, 2017. Did you miss an episode of The Island With Bear Grylls but don't you wan't that to happen in the future? Please set an alarm and add The Island With Bear Grylls to your favourites, so we can remind you by email when there's a new episode available to watch. Completely free: handy!
Rating:3.2 of 5Total number of episodes:31Last broadcast:01/07/2017 at 12:30
Bear Grylls examines how the two groups from different generations survived their five weeks as castaways to determine if it was the wisdom of age or the energy of youth that proved the most valuable.
After four weeks on the island, the castaways have collectively lost almost 200 kilograms and are increasingly beleaguered as they enter their last days on the island. After one last ditch hunting foray, the islanders finally stumble across a caiman crocodile, a vicious adversary, and rich in calories. Aran and Jacqui face...
Season 4 Episode 4 - The Island With Bear Grylls Series 4 Ep 4
This time the islanders face mother nature at her most violent and brutal. Having endured a series of torrential downpours which have ravaged their campsite, unknown to them a hurricane is brewing just over 100 kilometres to the north. The future of the community is left hanging in the balance. The problems don't end there...
With the old and young living side by side, the islanders hope to hit their stride. But the hunger and frayed tempers lead to bust-ups as the islanders turn on one of their own.
The younger group realise they've chosen the wrong campsite when rain turns into a swamp, and they decide to throw in their lot with their older members, who aren't entirely pleased by their surprise new arrivals. A huge row kicks off. Eighteen-year-old Freddie turns snake killer and provides a precious meal, while Kaggy g...
S3 Ep7 - Island With Bear Grylls Series 3 Ep 7
In this special episode, Bear returns to the Island to see how the men and women managed to survive for the past five weeks, both as individuals and as part of a mixed group. He hears their reflections on their time on the island and shares his thoughts on how they have coped with the extremes. (S.3 Ep.7) (From the UK) (Do...
Despite being marooned for a month, the men and women are barely managing to survive. Without a sustainable food source and insufficient shelter to protect them from the brutal tropical storms, the islanders are on the brink of disaster as their bodies start to fail them. In desperation, the women muster the energy to make...
After Patrick's horrifying fall, the Island is in crisis. Dr Dan's expedition party is now trapped in a tiny cove, with a tropical storm on the way. When the safety team arrive to evacuate Patrick, they find the stormy sea too rough to land their boat. The only escape route for the expedition party is a perilous climb bac...
Since catching the shark the remaining castaways have been unable to repeat their success at sea and the search for food continues. As hunger and exhaustion set in singletons Patrick and Sarah seek comfort in each other and begin to grow close, but the rest of the men and women start to fall apart. Tempers reach fever pit...
The islanders have been marooned for 10 days with barely anything to eat. Patrick dramatically collapses from hunger and exhaustion, and Rob bravely leads a group of the strongest swimmers into the sea to set a fishing net in the perilous deep water. In their weakened state they quickly get into trouble. Those left on the ...


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Darreh Anār (persiska: دره انار) är en ort i Iran.   Den ligger i provinsen Khuzestan, i den centrala delen av landet,  km söder om huvudstaden Teheran. Darreh Anār ligger  meter över havet och antalet invånare är .

Terrängen runt Darreh Anār är lite kuperad. Den högsta punkten i närheten är Kūh-e Chelā,  meter över havet,  km öster om Darreh Anār. Runt Darreh Anār är det ganska tätbefolkat, med  invånare per kvadratkilometer. Närmaste större samhälle är Bāgh-e Malek,  km norr om Darreh Anār. Omgivningarna runt Darreh Anār är i huvudsak ett öppet busklandskap.

I trakten råder ett hett ökenklimat. Årsmedeltemperaturen i trakten är  °C. Den varmaste månaden är juli, då medeltemperaturen är  °C, och den kallaste är januari, med  °C. Genomsnittlig årsnederbörd är  millimeter. Den regnigaste månaden är november, med i genomsnitt  mm nederbörd, och den torraste är juni, med  mm nederbörd.

Kommentarer

Källor

Orter i Khuzestan

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


This function allows restoring of all world objects,which were removed with RemoveWorldModel.
Returns true if the world objects were restored, false otherwise.
This example adds command "restoreallworldobjects" that restores all world objects.
This page was last modified on 6 June 2015, at 21:27.


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New University Of Wyoming Law Podcast Dives Into Criminal Justice System
By Maggie Mullen • Oct 2, 2020
Credit University of Wyoming College of Law
The Defender Aid Clinic at the University of Wyoming's College of Law is behind a new podcast that dives into the racial disparities in the United States criminal justice system.
Wyoming Public Radio's Maggie Mullen spoke with Law professor Lauren McLane and student Nathan Yanchek who says the podcast grew out of the outrage he and students in the clinic felt over police killings of African American men.
Nathan Yanchek: As students, we've always been—especially in the Defender Aid Clinic—we've been outraged over these police killings of African American men. And that's actually one of the reasons I even went to law school, after the events in Ferguson, Missouri, and just sort of how things played out over time, as well as reading Michelle Alexander's "The New Jim Crow," I realized just how profoundly unfair the criminal justice system is for African Americans. And as you have just sort of a continuous protest movement, since Ferguson, with the Black Lives Matter movement, these feelings have become even more outrageous as time has passed. And I think a lot of people in my position as a white male began to realize how bad it all is. So every time we see another incident happen, we get more and more outraged and want something to change, want something to be done about it.
And then these recent instances, when George Ford and Brianna Taylor, and Ahmad Aubrey were killed by police or former police, this recent surge of protest, especially in these turbulent times we live in, has really kind of compelled us to try to do something about it. And I know as far as like direct action is concerned, it's kind of hard to take direct action from time to time. And we felt that, in our capacity as a defender aid clinic, to make as public defenders, particularly people who kind of push back against police and side with criminal defendants constantly, that we were in a good position to actually educate the public and educate people on these issues. And that people might give us a little more of a—pay a little more attention to what we have to say, than otherwise, if we were just, you know, typing out a screed on Facebook or something like that.
Maggie Mullen: This will probably be a good question for you, Lauren. But I imagine some listeners may not know about UW's Defender Aid Clinic. So can you explain what it is? It seems sort of unique to campus in that it directly deals with the justice system on a regular basis.
Lauren McLane: Yeah, that's absolutely right. I mean, we are very much so public defenders. In the Defender Aid Clinic, the students who enroll in the clinic want to be public defenders for the most part, or at least trial attorneys that want to be in the courtroom, and are very passionate about these issues related to justice, systemic problems in the criminal justice system. And so we are best suited, I believe, for this podcast, because we do have the experience and the knowledge to share with our community. And beyond that, what we see pretty much every single day, in the courtrooms and in our work and in our research and just the cases and information that we are regularly exposed to or studying on a routine basis.
MM: And what might listeners hear on this podcast that might surprise them?
NY: I think one thing that I can think of is just how people don't seem to connect the law and how it supports perpetuating these racial disparities in our system. A lot of people, especially white people tend to see the laws as objective force and not as this sort of political tool that helps perpetuate the status quo, which is racial disparity, and at times overt racism. I think people would be surprised at just how complicit the court has been. And it hasn't really been along the fight for political lines, though it has been a lot of the times. It's also been unanimously supported by all the justices on the Supreme Court, for instance, supporting cases that have been terrible for African Americans and other minorities.
LM: So I would absolutely concur with Nathan that the most shocking information that will probably be revealed by this podcast is how deeply ingrained these issues are, and how the U.S. Supreme Court has had a hand in all of this, including justices that we love and respect. There was a unanimous court decision in 1996 in Wren v. the United States, that authorized the pretextual traffic stuff, and simply discarded or ignored the substantial risk of racial profiling happening during a pretextual stop. And that's all nine justices who signed on to that opinion, in the height of mass incarceration, the war on drugs, all those things, as we look to the literature that's out there now about that time error, there was plenty of information to demonstrate to the court that they should not have proceeded in a colorblind fashion, and yet they did. So it's really people that we respect, that we hold in high regard that have allowed these things to continue, have allowed long standing racism, quite frankly, in the criminal justice system. And that to me is always shocking every time I come back to this area.
MM: And is there anything else you want listeners to know about the podcast?
LM: Yeah, and what I think is unique about Wyoming and particularly the students on our campus is that we really do challenge one another in our belief systems and our ideologies and Listen to one another. And so we hope to craft a community of listeners that is similar. I mean there's certainly going to be episodes that are going to rip you apart inside, are going to be devastating to you to hear about. And there will be other episodes where you might say, "Well, I don't know if I agree with that." And so we really welcome an open forum or discussion on these issues. I mean, part of this is just getting people to talk and raise awareness about this, and listen to one another. I mean, that's what's missing right now, right? Nobody's listening to anybody. You have a far right and a far left. And I think most of us can agree that 90 plus percent of the time we could really meet in the middle. And so we hope that our podcast offers that opportunity to really have well-informed, respectful, comprehensive discourse on these issues.
MM: The podcast Justice Talks in Wyoming from UW'S Defender Aid Clinic launched October 1. It's available anywhere you can download or listen to podcasts. Thanks so much to the both of you.
LM: Yeah, thank you so much, and thanks for all that you do too, Maggie.
NY: Thank you, Maggie. It was a pleasure.
Have a question about this story? Contact the reporter, Maggie Mullen, at mmullen5@uwyo.edu.
UW College of Law
University Of Wyoming Team Trains 'Rehab Robots' To Help With Physical Therapy
By Ashley Piccone • Oct 2, 2020
Domen Novak
A University of Wyoming team is exploring how robots can help with physical therapy.
University Of Wyoming Team Aims To Make Wind Farms More Effective
By Ashley Piccone • Sep 30, 2020
AP Photo/Matt Young
University of Wyoming researchers are exploring the wake that is produced by wind turbines.
University Of Wyoming Team Creates Computer Model To Identify Animals In Images
Valentin Panzirsch
University of Wyoming researchers have created a computer model that can identify animals in images taken by camera traps.
University Of Wyoming Research May Help Ranchers Improve Production, Save Money
By Ivy Engel • Sep 29, 2020
J. Derek Scasta
Cattle ranching is a costly endeavor, and one little fly can have a huge impact on that cost. Horn flies only bite cattle and some animals are more susceptible to them than others. Knowing why could reduce the costs associated with these pests.


text:
package com.rate_me;

import EloRating.EloRating;

public class Rateable {
	private final int id;
	private String name;
	private int elo;

	public Rateable(int id, String name, int elo) {
		this.name = name;
		this.id = id;
		this.elo = elo;
	}

	public String getName() {
		return name;
	}

	public int getElo() {
		return elo;
	}

	public int getId() {
		return id;
	}

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Have you installed an add-on or extension on your browser? Maybe it finds deals or coupons, provides social media help, helps with grammar or…. There are tons of add-ons for every flavour of browser. Some of then really do enhance our actvitiy on the Web….but should you trust them? You are giving an enormous amount of authority over to these extensions. You should carefully consider which add-ons you install and run because giving the add-on "access your data for all websites" is a major security concern. On a trust scale I would place extensions from Google or Microsoft on the high end while add-ons from a random developer, low.
Part of the problem is that your browser is already a trusted application. When you give the browser permission to run you also give it permission to run extensions so their operating system and most antivirus products usually give the browser and by extension the extention a free pass. What is to stop a developer from selling the extension to someone who happens to be a scammer or a scammer that gets their extension published and then changes the behavior dramtically after it's published? At least in the short term the scammer will have access to lots of information. After a number of abuse reports Firefox or Google will suspend or boot the offending software but by then it will be too late for lots of folks. See this arstechnica article on extensions going rogue.
So what to do? My recommendation is to ask yourself "Do I really need this extension?". If the answer is "yes" wait a day or so to rethink your first inclination. Then spend some time and decide your trust level of the extension developer. Check what permissions the extension asks for when you install it. Make sure the extension is not asking for anything strange, like a dictionary tool that wants access to your webcam.
Take a serious look at all your current add-ons and remove ones that do not match your level of risk. This is just one more step you can take to keep yourself safe on the Internet.


IF HISTORY HAD GONE A BIT DIFFERENTLY, WE MIGHT have had one more rodeo champ, but one less groundbreaking musician.
"I wanted to be a rodeo cowboy when I was growing up in Littleton, Colorado," says keyboardist Dave Grusin, one of the most influential arrangers, film composers, and producers of the last four decades. "I worked at a ranch when I was in high school, along with this ex-rodeo guy. It finally occurred to me that he wasn't the ideal role model, since he didn't have one internal organ properly connected to another anywhere in his entire body."
"Oh," says Dave's younger brother Don. "You mean that guy who could roll a cigarette with one hand on his horse while he was riding?" After opting for music over the rodeo ring, Dave scored dozens of classic films and TV shows, from The Graduate to On Golden Pond. He also co-founded GRP records with engineer Larry Rosen. The label discovered such important jazz figures as bassist Marcus Miller and guitarist Earl Klugh, re-released neglected jazz classics, and issued many great albums featuring one or both Grusin brothers.
After graduating from the University of Colorado's music department, young Dave landed a gig as music director for Andy Williams, who hosted a popular TV variety show throughout the '60s. "It was an amazing workshop, doing a show every week, 39 weeks a year," recalls Dave. "It sounds scary, but there was so much work to do, you didn't have time to get scared. And there was such a variety of music! I got to meet Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Louie Bellson, Kate Smith, and so many others."
Meanwhile, Don studied economics and became an econ professor. But by the mid-'70s he'd left academia, moved to LA, and started playing with the likes of Quincy Jones, Joe Pass, and Lee Ritenour. By that time, Dave was one of Hollywood's most in-demand composers, particularly admired for his collaborations with the legendary director Sydney Pollack.
But by the end of the decade, Dave was seeking new outlets for his music. In 1982 he founded GRP, which became a creative haven for both brothers-not to mention many significant jazz and fusion artists who couldn't get much traction with the era's rock-and pop-oriented major labels.
GRP's penchant for debuting young artists was partly a matter of necessity. "The terrible truth," says Dave, "is that we couldn't afford to sign anybody who really needed to make money, so we ended up with a lot of first-timers. I think we met most of our artists just by networking with the last kid we'd signed. 'You ought to hear this guy I know play bass,' someone would say. 'His name's Marcus Miller.'"
Around the same time, the Grusin brothers began an enduring connection with Yamaha. "In 1983 I picked up my first DX-7 from the Yamaha store in Tokyo," recalls Don. "The girl that sold it to me insisted that she carry it back to my hotel and set it up for me. Since then, Yamaha has been like family to us. We do a lot of work in Japan, and the Yamaha people have become some of our closest friends. They're the best!"
As Yamaha's products evolve, the Grusins keep finding new inspirations in the instruments. When Dave and Don toured Europe last year with old pal Lee Ritenour, they took along a pair of new Motif XS6 keyboards. "I fell in love with the XS6," says Don. "It was really the star of the show, particularly when it came to solo sounds. We were able to give Lee a little competition with a great, screaming guitar patch. There's such breadth and width to the string patches, too."
"It's an incredibly deep machine," says Dave. "Far deeper than I've even had the time to get into. But sonically speaking, it has a lot of the Yamaha stuff that I always love."
Now that they're off the road, Don says he uses the XS6 in a class he teaches at the University of Colorado. "It's called World Music Video Projects as Catalyst for Social Change. It's a multi-disciplinary course made up of economists, musicians, filmmakers, and environmental architects. We've been using the Motif as an underscoring tool, and letting the kids play with it."
Don's teaching experiences make him optimistic about the future of music. "When I returned to teaching in 2008 after many years, I was surprised by the incredible sophistication of the students," he says. "The Internet and the technological changes it brought have encouraged people to do all this stuff in their bedrooms. There's good stuff and there's atrocious stuff, but the spirit of doing it has increased a hundredfold. It's really been a revolution."
Dave echoes the sentiment: "There's an unbelievable amount of talent out there. I'm no longer surprised by the maturity of even very young players. Now, when it comes time to pay a mortgage as a musician, I don't know where they're going to be, but they don't seem to worry about it. And anyway, when all else fails the music is still there." He chuckles. "That's always the antidepressant for me."