text:
Home / News & Events
Increasing Ocean Knowledge to Unlock our Marine Potential
Complete Ireland's Mission Ocean Survey
2 September 2020 - Enhancing our scientific knowledge of our oceans is key to harnessing our ocean wealth and protecting marine ecosystems for future generations. The European Union's Mission for Healthy Oceans, Seas, Coastal and Inland Waters aims to close knowledge gaps through seabed mapping and ocean observation systems to sustainably grow Europe's blue economy and regenerate our oceans, seas, coastal waters and rivers.
The Marine Institute and the European Commission are inviting the people of Ireland to complete an online survey and share what they believe are the top priorities for the health of our ocean and how we can sustainably use and benefit from marine and aquatic resources.
Ireland's maritime territory is ten times our landmass, 880,000 square kilometres of some of the most productive resources in Europe. When considering our seabed area, Ireland is one of the largest countries in the European Union and our coastline of 7,500 kilometres is longer than that of many European countries.
Ireland is considered a world leader in the field of seabed mapping. The Irish National Seabed Survey began in 1999 and continues today as INFOMAR (Integrated Mapping For the Sustainable Development of Ireland's Marine Resource), a joint venture by Geological Survey Ireland and the Marine Institute. INFOMAR is one of the largest seabed mapping programmes in the world and aims to complete a full map of Ireland's seabed territory by 2026, making Ireland the first nation in the world to have a comprehensive digital atlas of its entire seabed territory. Irish efforts to complete the 'Real Map of Ireland' will leave a legacy for future generations, and provide a scientific foundation for accelerated coastal and marine economic growth.
The INFOMAR Programme provides seabed depth, habitat, and geology data, which is critical for marine activity and growth. Site selection for offshore renewable energy and telecommunications infrastructure, navigation charts for safe shipping, transport and marine leisure, and protecting sensitive habitats and fish nursing grounds, all rely on accurate maps of the seabed.
"Seabed mapping enables us to observe and predict changes in weather, climate and ecosystems," Dr Paul Connolly, CEO of the Marine Institute said. "Mapping the depth, composition and habitat of the seabed provides data which will allow us to better model the movement and behaviour of the ocean and the life within it."
Increasing our knowledge of the ocean, through activities such as seabed mapping, is one of the goals of the European Union's Mission for Healthy Oceans, Seas, Coastal and Inland Waters. The Mission aims to know, restore and protect our ocean and waters by 2030, by reducing human pressures on marine and freshwater environments, restoring degraded ecosystems and sustainably harnessing the essential goods and services they provide. Ireland's advanced seabed mapping programme ensures that we will be an important partner in delivering on this ambitious EU mission.
The Mission for Healthy Oceans, Seas, Coastal and Inland Waters also calls for ocean observation systems and marine research infrastructure to observe and understand how our ocean is changing. Ocean observation systems that offer open, real-time and accessible data can effectively observe, analyse, model and project the impacts of our changing oceans and climate.
Ireland's representative on the Mission Board for Healthy Oceans, Seas, Coastal and Inland Waters, Dr Peter Heffernan said, "Mission Ocean aims to fully map, sequence, observe and predict our oceans, seas and rivers. A deep understanding of our oceans, through seabed mapping and ocean observation systems, is required to sustainably manage, protect and regenerate our marine resource. With this scientific knowledge, we can harness our ocean wealth for economic recovery and sustainably grow Europe's blue economy."
Ireland's marine territory is a national asset, and supports a diverse economy. In 2018, Ireland's ocean economy had a turnover of €6.2 billion and provided full time employment for 34,000 people. Shipping and maritime transport is the largest contributor to Ireland's ocean economy, with the sector generating €2.3 billion in turnover and employing over 5,000 people in 2018. As an island nation, Ireland is dependent on ports and shipping services to transport goods and 90% of our trade is moved though Irish ports.
Our ocean also provides us with a reliable source of food. According to Bord Iascaigh Mhara, Ireland's seafood sector was valued at €1.22 billion and employed more than 16,000 people in 2019. Our fishing, aquaculture and seafood processing industries all help to ensure Irish seafood is among the safest, most sustainable and of the highest quality available in the world. Tourism and leisure is another key industry contributing to Ireland's ocean and coastal economies, with the sector generating a turnover of €1.25 billion in 2018.
Ireland's ocean economy also includes emerging industries such as advanced marine technology products and services, marine biotechnology, maritime commerce and marine renewable energy. Given Ireland's extensive ocean resources and its position in the Northeast Atlantic, offshore wind in particular still presents a tremendous opportunity. Ireland's Programme for Government has set a target of 5GW generation of offshore wind energy by 2030, enough to power about 5 million homes.
Dr Connolly said, "No matter how far we live from the shore, our ocean and seas affect us all. Our ocean supports a diverse marine economy and provides employment in sectors such as fishing and seafood, shipping, tourism and aquaculture, and emerging marine industries. Our ocean has sustained us in good times and bad, and now we must again turn to the sea and recognise the enormous potential our ocean has to offer. Ireland's Mission Ocean survey is an opportunity for the people of Ireland to have their say and share why our marine resource is important to our island nation."
Citizens in Ireland can access the online survey for Mission Ocean here. The results of the online survey for Irish citizens will be used to inform a major flagship mission to be funded by the European Union under the forthcoming Horizon Europe programme (2021 – 2027).
Sheila Byrnes e. sheila [dot] byrnes [at] marine [dot] ie m. +353 (0)87 225 0871
EDITOR'S NOTES:
INFOMAR Programme
NFOMAR (Integrated Mapping for the Sustainable Development of Ireland's Marine Resource) is Ireland's national seabed mapping programme, funded by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (DCCAE) and jointly managed by Geological Survey Ireland and Marine Institute. www.infomar.ie
Ireland's Ocean Economy
NUI Galway's Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit (SEMRU) published 'Ireland's Ocean Economy' in June 2019 and 'A Survey of Marine and Coastal Overseas Tourism Activity in Ireland' in September 2019. This research was carried out with the support of the Marine Institute and it is funded by the Marine Research Sub-Programme PBA/SE/16/01 'Valuing and understanding the dynamics of Ireland's Ocean Economy.' Access full reports from the SEMRU website at www.nuigalway.ie/semru


text:
Eur. Phys. J. B 1, 491-501 (1998)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s100510050211
Structural and dynamical properties of aqueous suspensions of NaPSS (HPSS) at very low ionic strength
St. Batzill, R. Luxemburger, R. Deike and R. Webera
Fakultät für Physik, Universität Konstanz, Postfach 5560, 78464 Konstanz, Germany
Corresponding author: a Reinhart.Weber@uni-konstanz.de
Received: 5 May 1997
Revised: 1 September 1997
Results on the structural and dynamical properties of aqueous solutions of NaPSS (HPSS) are reported. Most samples of previous measurements, including our own, are contaminated by the presence of (temporal) aggregates. The emphasis of this paper lies on investigations of well purified samples at very low ionic strength where interacting effects are maximum. As previously reported, this can be achieved by pumping the suspension through ion exchange resin by means of a tube-pump, using filters of 0.1µm pore size. Information has been extracted from static and dynamic light scattering and viscosity measurements. A second maximum is observed in the scattering curves versus wavenumber for the first time. It is discussed on the basis of two current models describing the structure of charged macromolecules. The short time dynamics reflects the measured intensity. Detailed viscosity data in comparison of those of rodlike (TMV), slightly flexible so-called fd virus particles (length 880 nm) are used to confirm the interpretation of the light scattering results. The recently observed maximum in the reduced viscosity could be confirmed.
PACS: 51.20.+d – Viscosity, diffusion, and thermal conductivity / 78.35.+c – Brillouin and Rayleigh scattering; other light scattering / 82.70.Kj – Emulsions and suspensions
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 1998
Aqueous mixtures of spherical and rodlike (flexible) macroparticles: structure and dynamics of latex spheres in saltfree solutions
Electric field light scattering by flexible linear polyelectrolytes in aqueous solution
Eur. Phys. J. E 1, 195-202 (2000)
Phase diagram of polyelectrolyte solutions
J. Phys. France 49, 993-1000 (1988)
The "macromolecular tourist": Universal temperature dependence of thermal diffusion in aqueous colloidal suspensions
Eur. Phys. J. E (2006) 19: 59-67
Small-angle X-ray scattering from salt-free solutions of star-branched polyelectrolytes

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Trying to install Material UI v5 causes ' could not resolve dependency errors ' When trying to install material ui get a load of dependency resolution errors. Not quite sure what the cause is. I previously tried to install V4 and got an error, that I thought I would resolve by using V5 because this version of React isn't compatible with V4 but I have no idea about the rest of the conflicts.
npm i @mui/material @emotion/react @emotion/styled
npm ERR! code ERESOLVE
npm ERR! ERESOLVE could not resolve
npm ERR!
npm ERR! While resolving: @material-ui/core@4.12.4
npm ERR! Found: react@18.2.0
npm ERR! node_modules/react
npm ERR!   peer react@"^18.0.0" from @testing-library/react@13.3.0
npm ERR!   node_modules/@testing-library/react
npm ERR!     dev @testing-library/react@"^13.3.0" from the root project
npm ERR!   peer react@">=16" from phosphor-react@1.4.1
npm ERR!   node_modules/phosphor-react
npm ERR!     dev phosphor-react@"^1.4.1" from the root project
npm ERR!   18 more (react-dom, react-dropzone, react-media, react-popper, ...)
npm ERR!
npm ERR! Could not resolve dependency:
npm ERR! peer react@"^16.8.0 || ^17.0.0" from @material-ui/core@4.12.4
npm ERR! node_modules/@material-ui/core
npm ERR!   @material-ui/core@"^4.12.4" from the root project
npm ERR!
npm ERR! Conflicting peer dependency: react@17.0.2
npm ERR! node_modules/react
npm ERR!   peer react@"^16.8.0 || ^17.0.0" from @material-ui/core@4.12.4
npm ERR!   node_modules/@material-ui/core
npm ERR!     @material-ui/core@"^4.12.4" from the root project
npm ERR!
npm ERR! this command with --force, or --legacy-peer-deps
npm ERR! to accept an incorrect (and potentially broken) dependency resolution.

package.json:
 {
  "name": "wordscramble",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "private": true,
  "dependencies": {
    "@material-ui/core": "^4.12.4",
    "@testing-library/jest-dom": "^5.16.4",
    "@testing-library/user-event": "^13.5.0",
    "bootstrap": "^5.2.0",
    "jquery": "^3.6.1",
    "react": "^18.2.0",
    "react-dom": "^18.2.0",
    "react-dropzone": "^14.2.2",
    "react-media": "^1.10.0",
    "react-router": "^6.3.0",
    "react-scripts": "5.0.1",
    "react-tinder-card": "^1.4.5",
    "reactstrap": "^9.1.2",
    "web-vitals": "^2.1.4"
  },
  "scripts": {
    "start": "react-scripts start",
    "build": "react-scripts build",
    "test": "react-scripts test",
    "eject": "react-scripts eject"
  },
  "eslintConfig": {
    "extends": [
      "react-app",
      "react-app/jest"
    ]
  },
  "browserslist": {
    "production": [
      ">0.2%",
      "not dead",
      "not op_mini all"
    ],
    "development": [
      "last 1 chrome version",
      "last 1 firefox version",
      "last 1 safari version"
    ]
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "@testing-library/react": "^13.3.0",
    "fetch-mock": "^9.11.0",
    "msw": "^0.44.2",
    "phosphor-react": "^1.4.1",
    "react-redux": "^8.0.2",
    "react-router-dom": "^6.3.0",
    "react-test-renderer": "^18.2.0"
  }
}

Any help in identifying any potential conflicts would be greatly appreciated,
thanks!

A: 1-  uninstall  @material-ui   :
 npm uninstall @material-ui/core

2 - install Mui v5 :
npm install @mui/material @mui/styled-engine-sc styled-components

A: Works with --legacy-peer-deps:
npm i @mui/material @emotion/react @emotion/styled --legacy-peer-deps

For more details see react v17 section on this answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/66620869/1515819

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Yaba smuggling: 8 Rohingyas get life term jail in Cox's Bazar
Being invited to G20 Summit is a big honour for Bangladesh, says Momen
HC issues rule on formulation of policy over handcuffing, shackling of accused
Argentina vs. Italy Super Cup: All You Need to Know
UEFA and CONMEBOL have agreed to organize a match between the two continental champions in June 2022
by Faisal Moarafur Rasul
Publish- October 06, 2021, 02:29 PM
Faisal Moarafur Rasul
Update- October 07, 2021, 05:56 PM
Maradona Super Cup 2022
There is currently no one-off match competition in international football. However, the European Football Associations and the South American Football Organizations have agreed to hold a competition between the continental champions. As a result, the winners of the Copa America 2021 and the UEFA EURO 2020 champions will meet in a championship match next year. The match will take place in June 2022 if all goes as planned. The initial details of Argentina vs. Italy Super Cup match are discussed in this article.
Read:South America World Cup 2022 Qualifiers: Argentina, Brazil to face Uruguay in October
The Preliminary Specifics of Argentina vs. Italy Super Cup match
On September 28, UEFA announced its agreement with the South American football organization to hold a competition between the two continental champions. Since Italy won the Euro 2020 and Argentina won the Copa America 2021, they will face off in the inaugural edition of the competition in June 2022. However, the venue and the date of the match have yet to be announced.
UEFA stated in a media release that the two organizations' agreement presently covers three editions of this match between their respective continental winners, as well as the establishment of a joint office in London to manage projects of mutual interest. Women's football, futsal, junior categories, referee exchanges, and technical training programs will be incorporated into the partnership between the two continental bodies.
Read:Ballon d'Or 2021: Five favorites to win the coveted award
Argentina vs. Italy Super Cup: Who is favorite to win the Match?
Argentina and Italy are two of the most powerful football nations in the world. They have faced off 15 times in a head-to-head contest. Italy have won five games, four by Argentina, and four have finished in a draw. In their last meeting, Argentina won 2-0 in a friendly match against Italy in 2018 at Manchester's Etihad Stadium.
Argentina have won 17 major international tournaments, including two World Cups (1978 and 1986). On the other hand, Italy have won six major titles, including four World Cups (1934, 1938, 1982, and 2006).
Read:Barcelona coach Koeman says rumors of firing 'probably true'
Argentina won the Copa America for the first time in 28 years last July, defeating Brazil in the final by a score of 1-0. Prior to this tournament, Argentina had won the Copa America in 1993.
On the other hand, last July, Italy won the UEFA EURO 2020 tournament for the second time, overcoming England in the final on penalties. Italy won its first European Championship in 1968.
Considering the overall strength of both teams, it can be predicted that Italy is going to dominate Argentina. Though Italy have some of the finest players in the world, Argentina have great team chemistry. Argentina's team is capable of thriving against any opponent despite its lack of quality in the squad. However, the Super Cup will be a one-off contest, thus the team that performs best on the day will likely be the winner.
Read:Man Utd vs. Villarreal: Cristiano Ronaldo's late goal gives Manchester United a dramatic win
The details of the inaugural edition of the competition between the two continental champions will be announced later by UEFA and CONMEBOL. According to some sources, Argentina vs. Italy Super Cup match will be named after football legend Diego Armando Maradona. The main purpose of this match is to enhance the tie between the two continental boards. Because no other team has won the World Cup outside of these two continents. Many believe that the actual motive for this movement is to form a powerful ally against FIFA. Because FIFA prefers to have World Cup tournaments every two years, but UEFA and CONMEBOL are both opposed to the idea.
Football Copa America UEFA EURO 2020 Argentina Football UEFA Euro Copa America 2021 CONMEBOL Italy Football Maradona Super Cup


It seems it will rain today, said my daughter while leaving for work.
Don't even speak of rain, I remarked having overheard her.
Yes it was cloudy and there was likelihood of a shower or more. But I prayed in my heart: God don't do it.
If it did, my entire mango crop, like other brother farmers will be destroyed. Their year-long efforts would go waste and they incur huge losses.
I've started thinking like a farmer. For a city dweller the rain brings in a respite from the sweltering heat nevertheless followed with increase in humidity and sweaty days.
The appearance of the King is a joyous occasion. I mean the King of Fruits, the Mango. Though it may be called Aam in Hindi which means ordinary it's in fact very khaas (special). If I had my way I would call it the sunshine fruit, thanks to its contents. It's over a month since mangoes appeared on four of my plants. When I brought the images home, clicked with my phone, members of my family were delighted. It's a nice feeling seeing your plants fruits. Since then with every visit the first thing I do is check the fruit's length. Like the mother feels the growth of the foetus. As the fruits grow in size, the branches yield giving into its burden: This what I find remarkable.
The mangoes are around four inches long though in the pictures they look much bigger. Which prompted wifey to say: You should have got couple of them for jam. How images can fool?
It would be another month a half before they can plucked and brought home. It has been four years since I planted them—all, a year-old saplings, on a July morning. This year July It's the turn of the Banganpalli duo who were waiting to be planted.
I rarely write my posts so early in the day but here I'm today because I send this plea: Pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase no showers and hope its heard.
You can divide people into two groups—those who love mangoes and those who don't. Those who do, have their 'mango memories'. Memories of the sunshine liquid oozing from the skin as you squeeze the fruit! My mango-memory is of collecting the storm-felled fruit beneath the giant and sprawling mango tree standing beside the monsoon river in my father's ancestral village, Debipur, in Howrah district of West Bengal, which we visited during our summer vacations.
The memories of those sunny, wonderful, summer days of never-ending fun and digging into juicy mangoes are still evergreen. The pre-monsoon storm, known as kal baiskahi in Bangla generally struck in the evening. More so when it was dark around, the moon cruising gently behind the clouds and stray lightening illumining the horizon krrakk, krrakk and krrakk. The wind singing shaeen, shaeen as we jumped out of the palm thatched hut running like a pack of wolves towards the lone mango tree, which I was told has been around since Pulin Bihari, my grandfather was just knee-high. Which meant that the tree had witnessed some sixty summers. Standing beneath the tree we couldn't see much but heard the occasional thud, thud as the mangoes came down loosened by the wind and fell all around us. With battery torches in our hands we rushed to the source of the sound and picked the lime-green fruit. At times the fruits fell like a shower. Our makeshift bags and towels heavy with the fruit we rushed back home as the wind quieted.
Next morning we would feast on our 'catch' squatting on mud floor. The unbridled pleasure of sinking one's teeth into the succulent flesh, the juice dribbling down our chins, hands and arms, and licking one's fingers in delight is still etched in my memory. As we returned, our 15-day long vacation over, and resumed our schools those kal baishaki evenings were forgotten overtaken with immediate worries of homework—school—homework. As we grew up our annual summer visits became lesser and lesser and my 'mango memories' rested somewhere in the recesses of the mind.
Few years' back I learnt that my uncle, father's elder brother, who looked after our landed property had sold off the mango tree. The new buyer had chopped the tree down and made a good sum selling its timber. That was the day I felt as the throat of my mango memory has been slit. The stump of the tree still stands testimony to those days and tells the river when it flows that once here stood a mango tree which gave fruits to the world and underneath whom young foots came to play.
Then, mangoes were just a summer fruit to be gathered from under the tree and enjoyed during summer vacations in our ancestral home. As I grew up and work took me to different places in the country I was introduced to the pleasures of fruit with exotic names like Dussheri, Langda, Totapuri, Alphonso, Kesar, Banganapalli, Fazli, Chausa and others and realized they each had a distinct taste and flavour.
A year back I was introduced to Malgoba, thanks to a colleague. Grown in villages of Valsad, South Gujarat, the fruit which is harvested during May end is relished for its thick curd-like juice. Britain's pickle king Lakhubhai Pathak sourced raw mangoes from Valsad namely Payeri, Rajapuri and Malgoba.
Now a resident of Mumbai, the colleague hails from village Umarasadi in Killa Pardi taluka and tells me that the locals consume Malogoba juice like they are having water! Once the juice is ready a spoon of ghee, powdered dry ginger and cumin seeds and salt is added before downing it.
How do you describe the joy of seeing a pair of mangoes hanging gently from a leafless stem of a branch, gently swayed by the passing breeze on a summer day? It becomes more difficult to give words to that when you've waited for three long years, having planted a sapling on a sunless June day after the earth has accepted the first showers with joy and humility. Happy that the days of parch just a memory.
You have waited for three long years. Winter, autumn, summer and rains come and go. And then on a February you come across the flowers. A month and a half passes and the fruits of earth are shaped into a mango. Last week I picked up a bunch of them and brought them home and spread the labour of my love on the kitchen table.
"Do you mean they're from our farm," wife exclaimed with happiness. By noon her mother, brother and her friends knew that Hiraman had been rewarded by the fruits of the season.
The mangoes now reside in glass jars in our kitchen in their new avatar-jam. Harvest of sunshine and sugar.
Coming back to describing the joy with which I began this post let me quote a poet: What does he plant who plants a tree? He plants a friend of sun and sky; He plants the flag of breeze free; The shaft of beauty, towering high….
Last Sunday when I visited I had the biggest surprise of my life as I went along checking out the plants. A routine I indulge in the moment I step into my farm. I stroked them, hummed a favourite song, checked out if there were any weeds around, whether any pest had attacked, remove the dead leaves, watered them etc. While I approached these two mango trees–one a Rajapuri and another Haphus. Hardly five feet tall, I saw them ringed with flowers and fragrant. In fact, the branches were stooping due to the weight of the flowers.
You buy the ripe mangoes and have to finish them in the next two days. How about if you extend the shelf life of your favourite Dasseri, Langda or Aplhonso?
That would soon be possible. If the research now being conducted at the Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology (CIPHET), Chandigarh, meets with success, the shelf life of mangoes and guavas would be considerably increased. The Institute has come up with alternative edible coating materials from rice, cassava, chitosan and turmeric by developing starch-based edible bio-coating, with clinical trials still going on before it hits the market.
Elaborating on the technique Dr Ramesh Kumar, scientist (horticulture), CIPHET, Abohar, Punjab, in an e-mail interview to The Indian Express, stated that the fruits are dipped in a starch-based solution, dried by air and conserved at ambient temperature. The formation of starch film or bio-coating is based on the principle of gelatinisation of starch that occurs above certain temperature with excess of water. After cooling, it forms a transparent film with properties of biodegradable product. These coatings are less permeable to reparatory gases such as O2 but are more permeable to water vapour, compared to commercial wax coatings and other plastic covering material.
The bio-coating was now being tested for its effects on external and internal quality parameters for fruits like mango and guava. The research going on at present proved that bio-coating can extend the shelf life of mango by four days (even more days if moisture loss of fruit is checked) as compared to fruit that is not coated.
Dr Kumar said the current developed bio-coatings presented beneficial effect in maintaining the fruit firmness even after eight days of ambient storage and the fruits were well accepted by the consumers at the end of storage period.
I spoke to my plants today. After being away from my farm for over a fortnight in the hills of Himachal Pradesh I had been missing my farm and its green inhabitants. Mango trees as high as my shoulder, the lichi plant my friend brought all the way from Muzzafarpur and the jackfruit tree, which crossed my head in November, visited me in my dreams. I haven't named them as yet but now as they frequent me in my sleep I think I should christen them.
This Sunday I reached my farm earlier than ever, thanks to the 8.10am bus from Badlapur station which came dot on time. The summer months does wonder to the plants. They look healthy, are vibrant and waiting to be caressed.
I said sweet words to my Ratna hapus, stroked the chikoo tree, sat down close to horizontally spreading fig tree, sang Nimboda, Nimbooda to my lemon tree brought from West Bengal, shouted at the banana plantain for refusing to gain height and did a jig around the papaya tree for being generous with its fruits which I have shared with my neighbours, friends and visitors to my farm.
I never knew Napoleon Hill or Dale Carnegie's tricks to make friends could be useful when dealing with plants too. It was scientist Jagdish Chandra Bose who said plants too have emotions and am seeing it in action. Care for them and they respond. I have yet to play music for the plants but have already downloaded some soothing Carnatic music on my mobile, which I plan to play on my next visit.


An internship program to provide real estate students with firsthand experience, has been inaugurated at Los Angeles City College, according to Stelle Feuers, college president.
Other changes in the real estate program include identification of prospective students, a more active role for the department's advisory committee, the restructuring of the curriculum and the practice of having outside professionals provide classroom instruction.
"Our program is designed to provide our students with practical knowledge, allowing them to get jobs immediately on graduation and to pass the licensing examination," according to Charles Stapleton, professor and vice chairman of the law and business departments.
The internship program, to be implemented formally during the fall semester, will place students with mortgage companies, escrow offices, realty brokerages, banks and construction companies. Several students are currently interning at a Los Angeles mortgage company,.


text:
Q: auto update/insert join-table field when adding objects to self-referential rails association first post on SO, woohoo!  RoR did it :)  there's quite a bit on SO and even in the RoR guides that get really close, but don't quite address what I want to do.
I want to model an ingredient, where each ingredient may also have an ordered list of sub-ingredients - the (summarized) msyql tables:
CREATE TABLE `ingredients`
  id
  name

CREATE TABLE `composite_ingredients`
  parent_id
  composite_id
  sort_order int
  CONSTRAINT `fk_one` FOREIGN KEY (`composite_id`) REFERENCES `ingredients` (`id`),
  CONSTRAINT `fk_two` FOREIGN KEY (`parent_id`) REFERENCES `ingredients` (`id`)

and here's how I'm modeling so far
class Ingredient < ActiveRecord::Base
    attr_accessible :name

    has_many :composites, :class_name=>"CompositeIngredient",
                          :foreign_key=>'parent_id'

    has_many :sorted_composites, :through=>:composites,
                                 :source=>:composite,
                                 :class_name=>'Ingredient',
                                 :order=>'sort_order asc'

class CompositeIngredient < ActiveRecord::Base
    attr_accessible :sort_order

    belongs_to :parent, :class_name=>'Ingredient',
                        :foreign_key=>'parent_id'

    belongs_to :composite, :class_name=>'Ingredient',
                           :foreign_key=>'composite_id'

While testing in the rails console, I'm able to successfully play around with this a bit:
a=Ingredient.includes(:sorted_composites).first
b=Ingredient.find_by_name 'corn'
a.sorted_composites<<b

That's all working fine - now 'a' will have 'b' correctly associated with it (ie: there's a record in the join table composite_ingredients.)  However, the sort_order field is in the CompositeIngredient objects, which are hanging out in a.composites (whereas i have actual Ingredient objects in a.sorted_composites.)  When I add ingredients to a.sorted_composites, i want to set the sort_order before inserting into the join table ... does that make sense?  I basically wanna accomplish this:
a.composites.create :parent_id=>a.id, composite_id=>b.id, sort_order=>a.sorted_composites.size

when i do this
a.sorted_composites << b

Once I accomplish that, the :order option to my has_many will take care of the ordering of the sortd_composites when they're coming out of the DB - it's going INTO the join table I need to wire in.
Thanks everybody!
EDIT:
The reason for the sort order: there's implicit value in the order that a composite ingredient appears - those that sort to the front of the list are a more "abundant" component of their parent.  For example, if parent ingredient X has composites Y and Z in that order, then Y is more abundant in X than Z.
EDIT:
After playing around some more, this seems to be the most meaningful solution I've been able to come up with:
class Ingredient < ActiveRecord::Base
    attr_accessible :name

    has_many :composites, :class_name=>"CompositeIngredient",
                          :foreign_key=>'parent_id',
                          **:before_add=>:before_composite_add**
    ...
    def before_composite_add(new_composite)
        new_composite.sort_order = self.sorted_composites.size
    end

Though being a total RoR noob, I welcome any feedback/criticism/suggestions.

A: I've left a comment for clarification, and I felt it best to give you some further ideas as to how it might work:

Your current setup relies on having ingredients, which can then be
  associated using the composite_ingredients join model. It looks like
  composite_ingredients is a self-referential has_many :through join
  model, which could be a little rigid (what if you wanted to change the structure in future)

Why don't you just put them all in the same model using the ancestry gem? This will allow you to create a column called parent, which the gem will populate. This will allow you to associate any ingredient with child ingredients without a join model:
@ingredient.children #-> all decendents of node

This will allow you to do away with the join model, giving you the ability to keep the sort_order for each ingredient / child ingredient, instead of splitting into join model


text:
Anal Fistulas
Bowel Diseases
Stomas (Ostomy)
Colon Cancer (Adenocarcinoma)
Hereditary Colon Cancer
Anorectal Diseases
Carcinoid
Rectal Polyps
Radiation Proctitis
Rectal Pain
Presacral Tumors
Anal Dysplasia
Pilonidal Disease
Enterocele and Rectocele
Surgical Hemorrhoid Procedures
Traditional Hemorrhoidectomy
Procedure for Prolapsing Hemorrhoids (PPH)
Transanal Hemorrhoidal Dearterialization (THD)
Flexible Sigmoidoscopy
Hemorrhoid Treatments
Office-Based Hemorrhoid Procedures
Infa-red Coagulation
Minimally Invasive Techniques
Fecal Incontinence Treatment
Solesta
Overlapping Sphincteroplasty
Sacral Nerve Stimulation
Sphincter-Saving Rectal Surgery
Imaging - Overview
Pelvic Floor Studies - Overview
Defecography
Anal Ultrasound
Anal Manometry
Dynamic Pelvic Floor MRI
Genetic Testing for Colon Cancer
Staging for Colon and Rectal Cancer
Pelvic MRI
Rectal Ultrasound
CT Scan of the Abdomen and Pelvis
Bowel Prep Instructions
Abdominal Surgery Post-Operative Instructions
Anorectal Surgery Post-Operative Instructions
List of Medications to Avoid Prior to Surgery
Gastrointestinal Stromal Cell Tumors (GIST)
California Colorectal Surgeons Contents Conditions Bowel Diseases Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors
Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GIST) are rare, accounting for less than 1% of primary tumors of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. A GIST tumor can occur throughout the GI tract, with 60% occurring in the stomach, 30% in the small intestine, 5% in the colon and rectum, and 5% in the esophagus. GIST tumors are thought to arise from the interstitial cells of Cajal that are normally part of the autonomic nervous system. They serve a pacemaker function in controlling bowel motility.
Approximately 70 to 80% of GISTs are benign and can range in size from 1cm up to 30cm in diameter. Malignancy is characterized by local invasion and metastasis to the liver, omentum and abdominal cavity or peritoneum.
What are the symptoms of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GIST)?
GIST tumors present in many ways with 3% diagnosed incidentally. Small tumors may be asymptomatic and can grow to a large size before producing symptoms. This may be because GISTs grow by displacing adjacent organs and structures rather than invading them. Symptoms include vomiting, abdominal pain, distension, change in bowel habits and, less frequently, obstruction and bleeding.
How is a Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GIST) diagnosed?
Various investigations may be used in the diagnosis of a GIST. Diagnostic tests may include endoscopy, CAT scan of the abdomen/pelvis, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Positron Emission Test (PET). The purpose of radiologic imaging is to locate the tumor, evaluate for signs of invasion and detect metastasis.
How is a Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor (GIST) treated?
Surgical resection of the tumor is the mainstay of therapy for non-metastatic GIST and involves removal of the affected segment of bowel. This can be accomplished with a traditional, open approach or with some of the newer minimally invasive surgeries such as laparoscopic and robotic techniques. The operation is performed on an inpatient basis and patients typically are in the hospital for four days after surgery.
Until recently, GISTs were notorious for being resistant to chemotherapy, with a success rate of less than 5%. Recently, Gleevec a chemotherapeutic treatment for leukemia, has shown significant improvement in treatment, leading to 40 to70% response rate in patients with inoperable tumor or metastasis.
California Colorectal Surgeons, Beverly Hills, CA
Address: 8929 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 302, Beverly Hills, CA 90211


text:
A Country Practice headed for a re-boot?
SBS appoints new Managing Director
Nine in 2019: SeaChange returns
The Nine Network has unveiled its programming slate for the upcoming 2019 season at a launch held in Sydney.
Leading the network's programming announcements was news that the former ABC drama SeaChange is returning to TV after almost 20 years — with Sigrid Thornton reprising the lead role of lawyer Laura Gibson, and John Howard as councillor Bob Jelly.
Debuting in 1998 and screening on Sunday nights for three seasons, SeaChange was a huge success for ABC, earning ratings that the national broadcaster had not achieved for a drama series in almost a decade. As well as Thornton and Howard the original series cast included David Wenham, William McInnes, Kerry Armstrong, Jill Forster, Alan Cassell, Kevin Harrington, Kate Atkinson, Tom Long and Fiona Corke.
The series won numerous awards, including three TV Week Logies for Most Outstanding Drama and AFI awards for Armstrong and Forster.
The revived SeaChange will be produced by ITV Studios Australia, a successor to Artist Services that produced the original series.
In 2019, Nine will also launch new drama Bad Mothers, game show Lego Masters and comedy Hamish And Andy's "Perfect" Holiday. There will be series returns of The Voice, The Block, Marriage At First Sight, Love Island, Doctor Doctor, Australian Ninja Warrior, Family Food Fight, Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation, Travel Guides, RBT, Paramedics, Millionaire Hot Seat, Talking Married and Getaway.
Sports coverage includes Nine's pick up of summer tennis including the Australian Open, Sydney International, Brisbane International and Hopman Cup.
Nine's sports portfolio includes the National Rugby League including State Of Origin, 2019 Cricket World Cup, Suncorp Super Netball, The Ashes, Constellation Cup and the National Basketball League and regular programs Sports Sunday, Footy Classified, The Footy Show (AFL) and The Sunday Footy Show (NRL).
Source: IMDB, Australian Television Information Archive
ABC, Australian Ninja Warrior, Australian Open, Bad Mothers, Doctor Doctor, Family Food Fight, Footy Classified, Getaway, Hamish And Andy's Perfect Holiday, Hot Seat, Lego Masters, Love Island, Married At First Sight, Nine Network, Paramedics, RBT, Seachange, Sports Sunday, State Of Origin, Talkin' 'bout Your Generation, Talking Married, The Block, The Footy Show, The Voice, Travel Guides
Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2018/10/nine-in-2019-seachange-returns.html
Caroline B. on 19 October 2018 at 10:46 AM
Nine's line-up for 2019 sounds promising with the two stars of the original series to be in the new one – any more of the original cast to be sought for 2019.
Would be great to see 'A COUNTRY PRACTICE' back on our screens too,
I would love to see reruns of GP – that was a good series with great Australian actors – where are they now? Maybe a new series can be made by Nine. Failing that, could GP be available to purchase on DVD.


The Tesla Model X is a fully electric vehicle that's more of a crossover than a true SUV and based on the Tesla Model S sedan.
Until the arrival of the Audi E-tron in 2019, and the Jaguar I-Pace in 2018, there was no other long-range, all-electric rival to the Model X. Even now, with a number of other all-electric luxury alternatives from Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Lincoln, and many others in the works, the Model X hasn't entirely lost its star power. Its somewhat fussy top-hinged rear doors still—several years after its introduction—create a spectacle wherever owners go.
The 2019 Tesla Model X has lineup has been culled to just two models, the Model X Long Range and the Model X Performance, both of which have the 100-kwh battery pack, and rated ranges of 295 and 289 miles, respectively. The base price is now well over $90,000, while fully loaded Performance models with the Ludicrous Mode option—the key to sub-3-second acceleration to 60 mph—can run as high as about $145,000.
The all-electric utility vehicle hasn't changed much, and it doesn't stand out in profile quite the way it did when the form was essentially locked in, back in 2012. Its front-end design uses a flat panel rather than a simulated grille, and its tall proportions don't have the inherent voluptuousness of the Model S. But watch from the front or rear as the owner opens the rear passenger doors, and you'll see why the Model X is guaranteed to turn heads in the parking lot: its gullwing-style "falcon" doors arch outward and upward, to allow a surprisingly open area through which to access the back seats.
Tesla insists that the doors are actually practical. A double-jointed mechanism requires only about a foot on either side of the vehicle to open the doors, and they're actually easier in tight parking spots than sliding minivan doors. More to the point, sensors prevent the doors from hitting low garage ceilings and recalculate their opening arc depending on constraints. They prevent roof racks and any kind of cargo mounted above the roof, but Tesla offers a special bike and gear rack that attaches to the trailer hitch. Towing capacity is rated at 5,000 pounds, though both towing and running at high speeds will eat quickly into range.
From inside, the Model X feels and drives like a Model S with a higher seating position. It's more open and airy, due to a steeply sloped panoramic windshield that's one of the largest in any production vehicle, extending up over the front-seat area. While the third-row seats fold flat when not in use, the second row only slides forward to rest against the backs of the front seats. They do give better adult-size contouring than most utility-vehicle seats. Six- and seven-passenger layouts are available, with the former eliminating the middle second-row seat, giving more pass-through space and better rearward vision.
From either a practical or performance angle, the Model X is impressive. All-wheel drive is standard, and it can reach 60 mph in as little as 2.9 seconds, when the high-performance P100D model is optioned with the appropriately named Ludicrous Mode. Three battery capacities have been offered, 75, 90 and 100 kilowatt-hours, with the 90-kwh option withdrawn during 2017. The performance option is offered only with the largest battery. Supercharger fast-charging capability provides up to 80 percent of total charge in 30 to 40 minutes. All models have separate electric motors for the front and rear wheels.
As in the Model S sedan, the Model X has its battery mounted low and flush with the floor, keeping its center of mass extremely low. That give its stability and general handling prowess that's superior to just about any other SUV. There's a multi-mode air suspension, and ground clearance is higher for the Model X, which should make it a better pick for those in climates with occasionally deep snowfall.
While the IIHS has not issued safety ratings for the Model X, the NHTSA gives it uniform five-star ratings both overall and for every individual test. An optional HEPA filter includes activated carbon filtration, removing pollen, bacteria, viruses, and pollution in general from the air. Collision avoidance systems in the Model X use a multitude of sensors, with camera, radar, and sonar hardware all providing input to automatic crash braking, blind-spot alert, and lane-departure warning systems.
As in the Model S, the Model X has a 17-inch vertically oriented touchscreen setup at the center of the dash. It's one of the best such systems in the business—relatively lag-free and updated with over-the-air updates. Key vehicle features can also be updated over the air, without a trip to a service bay, and new features can actually be introduced this way.
The Tesla Model X went on sale in late September 2015, though some owners of early production models noted quality issues over misaligned and balky doors. Production increased during the first part of 2016.
In late 2016 it was offered with 75-, 90-, and 100-kwh hour battery packs that increased its range up to 289 miles. For 2018, it was simplified to three models: 75D, 100D, and the hot-rod, high-performance P100D, all of them fitted with all-wheel drive as standard, with EPA-rated ranges from 238 to 295 miles.
From my first experience driving a Tesla at the Fremont Tesla factory & track, I was totally sold and knew I wanted to buy a Tesla. I spent a great deal of time driving both models (Tesla Model S & Tesla Model... From my first experience driving a Tesla at the Fremont Tesla factory & track, I was totally sold and knew I wanted to buy a Tesla. I spent a great deal of time driving both models (Tesla Model S & Tesla Model X), reading reviews and ultimately trying to decide which one would be the best for me. I was quite worried about the initial reviews of the Model X (not good!) and the Model S of course is one of the most loved cars of all-time.
It's the big and the small details that really put Tesla in a league of it's own. The responsiveness of the accelerator (no lag time) makes driving safer. The regenerative braking combined with standard anti-lock brakes allows the vehicle to stop more quickly than any other car. Overall the safety ratings for both Model S & Model X are as close to perfect as one could ask for. I'm driving my wife and baby around and safety and comfort is paramount. I love the sleek James Bond look of the Model S and also appreciate how insanely quiet the car is when driving. If you're reading reviews you're already aware of how fast these cars are and how amazing it is that Tesla can "push" updates to the car, something that none of my other cars have ever been able to do. Even little things like the "frunk" (front trunk) on both cars is something that sets Tesla apart (I am often in San Francisco and having a very secure space to leave a laptop bag is very much appreciated). Other "nice to have" things like the door that opens as you walk up to your car, the music that starts playing where you left off as soon as you start to sit down, the automatic "hands-free" parallel parking feature, the hands-free voice controls that allow you to enter navigation items as specific as "the Safeway in the Marina District" without knowing the street name or address…I could go on and on and on.


text:
Collins Group
Beatrice Collins
Controlling Molecular-Level Motion
Dr Jordan Berreur
Jordan received his MSci from the Université de Haute-Alsace in Mulhouse, France, along with a chemical engineering degree from the École Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Mulhouse (ENSCMu) in 2017. He then moved to Strasbourg to pursue his PhD at the Laboratoire d'Innovation Moléculaire et Applications (CNRS/University of Strasbourg), under the supervision of Dr Frédéric Leroux, working on the development of chiral metal-free Lewis acids and their application in asymmetric catalysis. In 2021, Jordan joined the Collins Group as a PDRA to work with Dr Beatrice Collins and Professor Jonathan Clayden on biocatalytically driven autonomous rotary molecular motors.
Charlotte Farrow
Oct 2021 -
Charlotte received her MSci (Natural Sciences) from Lancaster University in 2017, having developed platinum-based peroxisome trackers, moving to Birmingham to undertake a PhD under the joint supervision of Prof. James Tucker, Dr Richard Grainger, and Dr Paco Fernandez-Trillo at the University of Birmingham. During this work she worked on targeted drug delivery using anthracene derivatives and DNA, with a particular interest in light-activated release. In 2021, Charlotte joined the Collins Group as a PDRA to work on oscillating photostationary states for molecular cargo transport.
Aidan McFord
Aidan obtained his MSci from the University of Bristol in 2018, after completing a masters research project focused on gold redox catalysis under the supervision of Dr Chris Russell. During his time at Bristol, Aidan has worked on several short research projects ranging between synthetic organic chemistry, homogeneous catalysis, and computational chemistry. In 2018 Aidan joined the Centre for Doctoral Training in Chemical Synthesis hosting in the School of Chemistry at Bristol and in May 2019 he joined the Collins group and is currently working towards the development of a chemically-fuelled, autonomous rotary molecular motor. Aidan's work is co-supervised by Dr Natalie Fey.
Michael Chronias
Michael graduated with an MSci from the University of Cambridge in 2018, completing his final year project in photoredox catalysis under the supervision of Professor Matthew Gaunt. He then moved to Oxford where he spent one year working as a process chemist at Aptuit, an Evotec Company. Michael joined the Collins group in September 2019 and his current project is investigating autonomous linear motion at the molecular level.
Oliver Bayley
March 2020 -
Originally from New Zealand, Olly graduated with a Masters in Drug Development from Victoria University of Wellington at the beginning of 2019. After his Masters, which focused on natural product total synthesis, he moved to Auckland to work for the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre and develop compounds for clinical trials. His current project looks at the design and synthesis of single bond rotors
Connah Harris
July 2020 -
Connah graduated from the University of Bristol in 2019. During his final year project, he worked with Dr Simon Hall FRSC working to find superconductive organic crystals comprised of halogenated chalcone molecules. In October 2019, Connah joined the Centre for Doctoral Training in Technology Enhanced Synthesis hosted in the School of Chemistry at Bristol. After short rotations in the Collins group and in the group of Professor Carmen Galan, Connah started his research PhD, co-supervised by Professor Andrew Orr-Ewing and Dr Beatrice Collins, using ultrafast spectroscopy to investigate the behaviour of molecular motors.
Olivia Watts
Graduated from the University of Manchester in 2020. During her final year project, she worked under the supervision of Prof. David Leigh in developing the use of metal-free active template reactions to synthesise higher order rotaxanes. In 2018 she undertook a year abroad at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, where she also spent the summer of 2019 working with Assoc. Prof. Roderick Bates on the total synthesis of asperidine B.
Emma Hollis
Graduated from the University of Bristol in 2020. She completed a summer placement with Prof. Chris Willis in 2019 working on isomeric studies of the polyketide natural product kalimantacin. She continued in the Willis group for her final year project where she collaborated with Dr Joleen Masschelein at KU Leuven in Belgium, investigating the biosynthesis of the natural product oximidine. She synthesised pantetheine bound substrates, which were to be used in bioassays to further understand the role and function of specific enzymes in the biosynthetic pathway to oximidine.
Dr Grzegorz Pikus, PDRA: December 2019 - June 2021
Carlijn van Beek, Visiting Student from the University of Groningen: January 2021 - April 2021
Natalie Awcock, MSci Project Student: October 2020 - May 2021
Jamie Dale, MSci Project Student: October 2019 - May 2020
Gandeepan Parthasarathy, PDRA: June 2019 - December 2019
Isaac Haigh, MSci Project Student: October 2018 - May 2019
Bristol BS8 1TS
bs.lefanucollins@bristol.ac.uk


text:
American Legion's new National Commander visits Bedford, Va
by: Aaron Thompson
Posted: Sep 4, 2019 / 06:29 PM EDT / Updated: Sep 4, 2019 / 06:29 PM EDT
The Bedford Boy's Tribute Center was host today to American Legion's newly elected National Commander, James W. (Bill) Oxford. The Commander has a long road ahead of him, with 55 American Legion posts to visit. It will take nearly a year to visit each one, Bedford VA with American Legion Post 54 was the first state and the first stop for Oxford.
More Digital Originals Stories
Patient Art Show at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital
by Aaron Thompson / Jan 16, 2020
ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) - Nothing quite touches the heart, minds and soul of everyone, no matter the age or language barrier like art does. Art and artistic expression has a universal language. Carilion Clinic recognizes this and have adopted the healing arts that paint to canvas can make.
The Patient Art Show at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital in an annual show and started in 2016. It's part of Carilion Foundation and it's Dr. Robert L. A. Keeley Healing Arts Program and is partnered with the National Arts Program.
Pulaski's Main Street revitalization could become a blueprint for rural America
PULASKI, Va. (WFXR) - Between the mountains and around the bends the Commonwealth of Virginia is covered in towns and small communities looking to get back on the map. One place in Southwest Virginia is set and ready for a huge change.
From recreation in the surrounding area, Clator Lake, Pulaski Yankees and the huge amount of bike trails. There is a lot going on in the County of Pulaski but also the Town of Pulaski. With the growth on Main Street, and the completion of projects that not long ago didn't seem doable. But, now Pulaski could become the blueprint to bringing our nations Main Street back and geared for the future.
Carilion to hold free public first aid event for outdoor enthusiasts
ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) - The greater Roanoke area is home to mountains, trails, rivers and lakes plenty for the wilderness adventurer to take in.
When getting ready for one of these adventures we also need to think about first aid. The likelihood of taking a fall is there, getting cut or even breaking a bone. Small problems can become a big problems when temperatures starting to dip down to the freezing level.
Commonwealth News / 3 mins ago
Good News / 27 mins ago
National News / 15 mins ago
Health News / 2 hours ago


text:
Q: Adding multiple schemas to schemainclusionrule schema crawler I have to add selected schemas to be crawled using schemacrawler. How can we add multiple schemas into inclusion rule of schemacrawler?
like :
final SchemaCrawlerOptions options = new SchemaCrawlerOptions();
options.setSchemaInclusionRule(new InclusionRule("schema1,schema2", InclusionRule.NONE));

A: InclusionRule accepts regexp pattern. You can pass java.util.regex.Pattern instance or String, in latter case it will be compiled for you. If I am not mistaken, you can use | sign to make pattern match multiple options. E.g., "schema1|schema2".
You can test your patterns with a simple program; e.g.
import java.util.regex.Pattern;

public class PatternTest {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Pattern p = Pattern.compile("schema1|schema2");
        System.out.println(p.matcher("schema0").matches());
        System.out.println(p.matcher("schema1").matches());
        System.out.println(p.matcher("schema2").matches());
        System.out.println(p.matcher("schema3").matches());
    }
}

.. which prints:
false
true
true
false


To this day, the Mk4 Toyota Supra remains one of the greatest sports cars to come out of the Japanese motoring industry – and the recent launch of its bigger brother has got millennials and more pining for the good old days.
The design of the new Supra has split opinion, and after seeing this render inspired by the A80 we can't help but think about what could have been.
Adding that classic spoiler was of course a necessity, and the offset, single-exit exhaust would provide pure theatre.
Those famous circular lights are also instantly recognisable 21st century versions of the Mk4's and the whole rear-end of the car is squared off so it doesn't look as melty as Toyota's effort (don't lie, you know what we mean).
So, internet, would you have preferred a bit more retro with your modern-day Supra? Let us know below.


We are a professional team of valuers able to provide formal 'red book' valuations across all types of agricultural, rural, residential and commercial property. Our team of qualified valuers provide professional valuation advice in respect of all aspects of rural property for a wide range of purposes.
We provide the valuation you need, for whatever purpose, as swiftly and efficiently as possible. Working with other professionals involved including bank managers, solicitors and accountants we provide a comprehensive approach to ensure that the valuation issue is tackled correctly. By going through the valuation process we can often identify other areas where value can be added or opportunities can be taken to maximise your assets.


Astro Compatibility Report Astro Compatibility Report [ASTRO COMPATIBILITY] - £9.95 : Astrology Charts, Birth charts, Star Charts & Predictions based on your birthday.
Very readable report designed to give you insights on handling problem areas in your relationships and better appreciate each other. The most significant aspects of your relationship is placed in a separate section at the beginning of the report.
Click Here to see an example showing the compatibility report for David Cameron and Nick Clegg.
Please enter your birth data in the orange box, then click on the 'add this to my Cart' button.
If you choose yes to having your report printed and sent to you in the post, there will be an additional cost of £10.00 to cover printing and postage which will be added to the cost of your product and will appear in your cart.
Relationship Type Co-Worker Family Friend Not Applicable Other Partner How do these people know each other ?


WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State linebacker Zach Howard (David Prouty/Spencer, Mass.) was named the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference defensive player of the week for the week ending September 23.
Howard recorded eight tackles, including 1.5 for losses, and returned an interception 51 yards for a touchdown in the Owls 42-22 win at Worcester State on Saturday.
Howard helped the Owls improve to 2-2 on the season and 1-1 in the conference with the win.
For the season, Howard leads the Owls with 29 tackles, and 5.5 tackles for losses.
Westfield State will host Bridgewater State on Saturday, September 29 at 2:00 p.m.


text:
F68 Geography
As the old schoolboy adage has it "History is about chaps whilst Geography is about maps". Maps are covered elsewhere - geography here will be interpreted in a wider sense of man's use of Man! Such work obviously builds on Geology which studies the physical mechanism by which the Manx landmass and soils took on the form we are now familiar with. I assume that all are familiar with the Island's position in the centre of the Irish Sea and approximately at the geographic centre of the British Isles.
Lamplugh's opening description of the key topographical features is a good summary:
The predominant feature in its stratigraphy is the central ridge of slate and greywacke, which seems to have constituted an insulated tract at as early a date as the beginning of the Carboniferous Periods This prototype of the present Island appears afterwards to have been enfolded and obliterated by the sediments of later times; but with the progress of denudation the old ridge has once more emerged from beneath this mantle.
Its insular character is as well maintained in its physical as in its geological features. The erosive agency of the simple drainage system, descending radially to the sea from the central hill-ridge, together with that of the waves which surround it, is adequate to explain all the contours of its present surface
This central ridge so visible in the satellite image, runs NNE-SSW and is bisected by the central valley (Douglas-Peel); the ancient division of the Island into North and South sides approximately follows the watershed of this ridge - the administrative centres being originally Castle Rushen(Castletown) for the southern parishes and Peel Castle for the northern.
To the north of this hill ridge is the relatively flat Northern plain consisting of a low-lying tract of about 45 sq. miles, which is an addition made to the Island in Glacial times time by deposition of great masses of Glacial Drift upon the Preglacial sea-floor. Originally much of this plain was damp bog or 'curragh' but following the cutting on the Lhen trench in the 17th century it was drained and formed good agricultural land.
The older developed agricultural land is to the south of the ridge with the larger farms being around the old insular capital of Castletown.
The various highpoints (mountains in local parlance) are covered elsewhere.
Online Pages:
Offline References
Birch, J. W. The Isle of Man: A Study in Economic Geography Oxford:
Robinson V. & McCarroll D. The Isle of Man: Celebrating a Sense of Place Liverpool: University Press (ISBN 0-85323-296-2) 1990
[subject catalogue] A B C D E F G H J K L
Any comments, errors or omissions gratefully received The Editor
© F.Coakley , 2001


With the Oakland ballpark situation highlighted in the American League playoffs, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig pledged a solution before he leaves office in 2015.
No one sees O.Co Coliseum as the future of pro sports in Oakland — the NFL's Raiders are seeking a new facility as well — but the issue is the location of a new ballpark. Oakland officials say they can assist the team in finding a site there, but owner Lew Wolff has worked hard for a downtown San Jose location. The problem: the south Silicon Valley territory is controlled by the San Francisco Giants, who have refused permission for a new downtown A's ballpark.
"Bud is, to put it mildly, deliberative," Wolff said. "They [the committee members] have spent four-and-a-half years seeing if I missed anything in Oakland or Fremont, and they have come up with nothing.
One upcoming event that could spur Selig into action: a federal judge is expected to rule before the end of the month whether San Jose has standing to sue MLB over the lack of action on a downtown ballpark. If San Jose prevails — and that's far from a sure thing — it's not likely MLB will choose to go through a prolonged battle over the issue, giving Selig the excuse needed to make a decision on the issue sure to anger one side or the other.


text:
Q: When making predictions from linear regression, do we account for the standard deviation? Given this basic model:
$$ Y = \beta_0 + \beta_1 X + \varepsilon $$
one could think that predicting $Y$ for unseen values of $X$ is simply a question of plugging the $X$ values into this formula with the fitted parameters intercept and slope:
$$ Y = \beta_0 + \beta_1 X $$
However, I have read somewhere (cannot find the page despite many Google searches), that one has to consider the SD against the training data to simulate the Error during prediction. Is this correct? If so, what are the exact mechanics of this gain?

A: Do you want to make predictions using your model, or do you want to conduct a simulation?
The simple linear regression model is
$$
Y = \beta_0 + \beta_1 X + \varepsilon
$$
and what we estimate is the conditional expected value
$$
E(Y|X) = \beta_0 + \beta_1 X
$$
assuming that $Y|X$ is normally distributed with $\mu = \beta_0 + \beta_1 X$ and some standard deviation $\sigma$.
If you want to make predictions from your model, then given new value $x^*$ as your prediction for $y^*$ you take
$$
y^* = \hat\beta_0 + \hat\beta_1 x^*
$$
so you predict what you were estimating, i.e. the conditional mean.
On another hand, if you want to simulate data according to your model, then you would draw samples from the normal distribution
$$
y_\text{sim} \sim \mathcal{N}(\hat\beta_0 + \hat\beta_1 x^*, \, \sigma)
$$
The difference is that simulated values account for the "noise" $\varepsilon$. "Noise" is something that is unknown to you, it is random around the mean, so you do not include it in your predictions. You include the noise in your simulation, since when simulating, you want to imitate the randomness related to your model. So when predicting, you answer the question "according to your best knowledge, what will happen?" and when simulating, you answer the question "what could possibly happen in any circumstances?", those are different questions.
As image is worth thousand words, the following plot shows predictions from the linear regression model (red dots) against the data that was used to estimate the model (blue dots) and the values simulated according to the the model (gray dots).


text:
Only 16 countries meet their commitment to Paris Agreement, new study finds
By Claire Stam | EURACTIV.com
The EU was leading the pack in the run up to the Paris climate change talks, in December 2015. [WeMeanBusiness / Flickr]
Languages: Français | Deutsch
Only sixteen countries out of the 197 that have signed the Paris Agreement have defined national climate action plan ambitious enough to meet their pledges, according to a policy brief released on Monday (29 October), ahead of the crucial UN climate conference COP24 in Katowice (Poland) in December.
The 16 countries are: Algeria, Canada, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Japan, FYR Macedonia, Malaysia, Montenegro, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Samoa, Singapore and Tonga.
"Our analysis reveals that countries are being slow to reproduce their NDC ('Nationally Determined Contribution' or climate pledges in UN jargon) commitments as targets in national laws and policies," the report said.
Implementing the Paris Agreement relies on countries' translating their commitments set out in the NDCs into national laws and policies, which in turn define quantified and measurable domestic targets, the policy brief explained.
However, it found this translation to be inconsistent with the countries' climate pledges, a situation that raises doubts about the likelihood of meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement, it warns.
The study 'Aligning national and international climate targets' was released by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy, both at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and the World Resources Institute.
Aligning national and international climate targets
It compares the quantified targets as defined in the countries' NDCs and their effective translation into national laws and targets in order to check their consistency in terms of time frames, definitions and ambition.
"Given that a gap already exists between the targets in the Paris Agreement and in countries' NDCs, it is advisable that countries enhance the stringency and transparency of their current targets as they are expressed in their national laws and policies,» it suggested.
"This is an important step towards greater transparency over countries' credibility to deliver on their targets.".
Going beyond lip service
The policy brief recalls what is at stake, namely that the countries' climate pledges should be more than lip service.
As it is, there remains a significant gap between the global projected emissions in 2030 and emissions compatible with the Paris goals – that is, holding the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C – with current NDCs collectively limiting global warming between 2.7 and 3.7°C.
The brief found that 157 of the 197 countries, or Parties to the Paris Agreement in UN jargon, have submitted NDCs that include a target for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases from their economies as a whole.
These 157 parties were responsible for about 95 per cent of global annual emissions in 2014, it pointed out.
"However, only 58 of the Parties to the Agreement have set economy-wide targets for emissions reductions in their domestic laws or policies, and just 16 of these are as ambitious as, or more ambitious than, the pledges in their NDCs," it underlines.
The policy brief is being released a few weeks after a landmark IPCC 1.5°C report that showed limiting global average temperature rise to 1.5ºC is still achievable.
But that will require unprecedented transitions in all aspects of society, including energy, agriculture, transport, urban and industrial systems.
It will also require the engagement of non-state actors, and the integration of climate action into broader public policies and development frameworks.
'Most important years in history': Major UN report sounds last-minute climate alarm
Warming beyond 1.5C will unleash a frightening set of consequences and only a global transformation, beginning now, will avoid it, according to the latest report from scientists at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). EURACTIV's media partner Climate Home News reports.
Published five weeks ahead of the next UN climate conference, COP24, which will take place 2-14 December in Polish Katowice, the policy brief summed up what the conference is all about: monitoring international progress on commitments.
While the climate protection targets are set at the national level, negotiators will have to define a global common set of binding rules – dubbed the 'Paris rulebook' – that is to enable countries to compare, measure and monitor each others' climate targets and progress.
"In many cases, there is insufficient data to determine the consistency between targets in national laws and policies and NDCs. Countries need to express their targets with more clarity and detail," the report said.
COP24 president: People most affected by change should be invited to the conversation
As Poland readies itself to welcome the world in December, the man tasked with organising the COP24 Katowice summit told EURACTIV how preparations are going for what is likely to be make-or-break climate talks for the Paris Agreement.
climate ambition
climate pledges
4 responses to "Only 16 countries meet their commitment to Paris Agreement, new study finds"
re-update says:
We know these countries are not an accurate depiction of who is good and who is not. A large proportion of US oil comes from Canada (40% of US petroleum imports in 2017), and 1/3rd of EU fossil energy comes from Norway so its clear we are looking at some creative number-work here.
"Jeremy Grantham wants to have it all. While his investment firm invests in oil companies, he funds climate change groups.
The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment was founded in Jeremy Grantham and his wife Hannelore in 1997. Grantham is an investment strategist whose firm owns stock in energy companies including ExxonMobil, BP and Shell.
In the 2015-16 financial year (1 August 2015 – 31 July 2016), the Institute spent £3,548,570 (PDF) on its research and other activities."
"ESRC is part of UK Research and Innovation which is a non-departmental public body funded by a grant-in-aid from the UK government. ESRC's total budget for 2017-18 was around £202 million. At any one time ESRC supports over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in academic institutions and independent research institutes."
Shell, Ford and the Norwegian Ministry are all contributors to the WRI.
Similar to the Climate Action Network Europe report earlier this year, who made a point of inverting any kind of rational understanding of each countries contributions, and openly castigating high achievers such Denmark and Sweden, it looks like the same old story: people can pay some research organisations for the data they want.
I found this report overseen by Wendel Trio as unashamedly undermining meaningful genuine action, although this does follow something of a European tradition.
Mike Parr says:
I don't disagree with your points. In the case of Denmark & Sweden: "openly castigating high achievers such Denmark and Sweden" – the problem is that just looking at energy sources misses another important aspect; CO2 emissions embeded in imports. In the case of Sweden this amounts to 60% (as a percentage of domestic emissions). Expressed another way: Sweden (& Denmark) have done a fine job reducing domestic emissions – the problem now is emissions due to… how can I put this politely… I can't…….consumerism – buying "stuff" often from China.
The problem with Bx is that most organisations take the view that nudging the EC/EP/member states & perm reps is the way forward. This has got the EU to where it is now – nowhere near proper de-carb – with a couple of outliers – such as Sweden & Denmark which still have to address the other 800lbs gorilla in the room: consumerism.
I believe that we should meet for a coffee or sth because there seems to be an agreement. Indeed, the incoherence in terms of research funding and action is to be found in a number of NGOs, policies.
You are making the obvious case for energy, but the same can be seen also in other economy sectors. For example, EEB was asking for a emissions reductions target in agriculture, but then advocating for more biodiversity. In practice meaning that the intensive agriculture model should be upheld, but then it should somehow make the extensive agriculture more competitive. Billions of funding from the Commission go to EEB, for that kind of incoherent policy advocating.
The same discussion is happening at the Council where countries like the Netherlands, call for more action, and blaim other countries, but they also make the most exports in agriculture.
also on page 4 the report states that the EU NDC has EU economy wide targets but no MSs targets, and from that it deducts that the incoherence between the EU NDC and the MSs is possible. Clearly there is a lack of knowledge regarding the EU climate policy, and the legal instruments that make up for this.


text:
My Thoughts on 'America' by Chinelo Okparanta
This is one of five posts on the Caine Prize for African Writing 2013 Shortlist. A group as organised by Aaron Bady will be blogging about the entries (one per week) for five weeks until the prize is announced on the 8th of July. Please see the links below for details and a schedule.
For a story so titled, perhaps it is only natural that 'America' will be used and viewed effusively. It is a longing for a 'utopia' and with every contrasting detail between the dream destination and home, the latter got darker and drearier. It set the tone for the narrative which was a last wistful glance at home whilst hoping for the future, and a berating by Nnenna Etoniru, the lonesome young lady on her way to meet her lover halfway across the world. She would have to get 'the visa' first.
We are told about the journey with flash backs punctuating the story. They didn't intrude on the flow but provided insight and fleshed out the characters and the emotions that consumed her on this all important bus ride and her life in the last three years.
'America' came across as heavy. As though the protagonist carried this weight about her which she never put down even whilst seated on a journey. Her eyes were constantly on the lookout for yet another crack in the system, she didn't have to look very far with her head jarring against the window with every bump caused by potholes, some the size of 'washbasins'. Like a child telling on an older sibling to parent, it became a list of what wasn't working. Her job wasn't what she wanted, her relationship had to be hidden away and the view outside had children coated in the solid black of crude oil and litter everywhere. Even her parents seemed like fading photographs; a yellowing tinge of trepidation at her possible disappearance like others, absorbed by America.
Nnenna's near fawning of America was almost clichéd, her starry eyed portrayal better suited to a character less educated and just fresh from the hinterland startled by the newness of it. The only picture she had seemed to be from the photos Gloria sent as if she did not watch any television at all and had no access to the internet.
"We became something – an item, Papa says – in February, months after Gloria's visit to the school".
It would have been nice to get to know 'Papa' better. What was it about him that made him so accepting of their relationship? He was quite different from the norm, a diametric opposite. Was it his upbringing? His total lack of concern for a grandchild unlike his wife seeing as Nnena was their only child runs contrary to their cultural expectation and there was no indication as to why.
One can imagine that Nnenna may not have made the journey in the end. Did the pull towards America come out of the perfection it occupied in her thoughts rather than an overwhelming love for Gloria? Once it was spoiled by "something like black clouds forming in waters that would usually be clear and blue", she hesitated. It was the perfect time to study for that Masters degree in Environmental Engineering especially with the fresh information sure to be generated from the Gulf Oil spill yet she appeared to be dithering.
"What sympathy can we have for someone who, after wanting something so badly for three long years, realizes, almost as soon as she's gotten it, that perhaps she's been wrong in wanting it all that time? My second night at the inn, the night before I am to return to the embassy for my paperwork and passport, I think of Mama, her desire for a grandchild, and I think: Isn't it only natural that she'd want a grandchild? I think of the small children emerging from the waters of the Delta covered in black crude. Their playground destroyed by the oil war. And I think: Who's to say that this won't some day be the case even in America? It all starts small by small. And then it gets out of hand. And here I am running away from one disaster, only to find myself in a place that might soon also begin to fall apart." (Emphasis mine).
It is interesting that the fairy tale about the golden hen has no conclusion, her mother refuses to say.
Nnenna, rather than leap happily into the 'utopia' of her dreams seems to be at a crossroad when the story ends,
"I force my eyes shut as if shutting them tight will prevent me from changing my mind, as if shutting them tight will keep regret from making its way to me."
America's sad and poignant tone mirrored a wilting of the once thriving beauty of the Niger Delta. The stoic thread that ran through, a reminder of the taboo of same sex relationships especially their secrecy in a society with a deep loathing for them.
*'America' is on the shortlist for the 2013 Caine Prize for African Writing.
Please click on the names below to read reviews of 'America' by other bloggers:
Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva
Kate Maxwell
Chika Oduah
Kola Tubosun
Aishwarya Subramanian
Africa in Words (Lexzy Ochibejivwie)
Thinking through Chinelo Okparanta's 'America' (lexzy565.wordpress.com)
http://www.caineprize.com/
http://thenewinquiry.com/blogs/zunguzungu/blogging-the-caine-2013/
http://www.caineprize.com/pdf/2013_Okparanta.pdf
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/world/africa/17nigeria.html
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/money-for-the-taking-in-niger-delta-swamps/?_r=1
Posted on June 24, 2013 by Veronica Nkwocha •	in Reviews	• Tagged Africa, Caine Prize, Chinelo Okparanta, Niger Delta, Nigeria, United States	• 3 Comments
My Thoughts on 'After Earth'
My Thoughts on After Earth
'After Earth' opened with scenes of a latent conflict between a father and son. We follow General Cypher Raige (Will Smith) and Kitai (Jaden Smith) into an adventure as they go on a journey from a new homeland in outer space urged on by Kitai's mother. They plunge, a turbulent and unexpected journey to Man's former home; an earth that looked lush and fertile, throbbing with life and hidden dangers.
It was an intensely emotional story. The helplessness a parent can feel was captured vividly; it was time, even if he was not prepared to release his treasured child into the unknown. A father unable to be the shield and provider, but still the power behind the 'throne' (using a futuristic communication device) as Kitai stepped out to make his mark and conquer the vast terrain that would be for them, the difference between life and death.
There were many heart stopping moments, was he equipped for the journey? Would he remember the most important lesson of all; to not fear? And the moments when the father has to look away from the images of his son when it seemed all would be lost.
The cinematography was crisp; one could almost touch the plants as the trembled in the silent breeze, the snowflakes drifted carefully as though they knew that rest would be their sure demise. The enemy alien was large, raged with a vengeance and frothed with hate for Man. The fallen eagle was majestic and called out a silent message that a kindred soul can be found in the most unusual of places.
A father and a son; the time together became a time apart and in all of the separation, they found a bond, tied into unbroken cords of love, respect and faith for tomorrow.
'After Earth' has had its share of criticism, The Hollywood News describes it;
"The clatter and booms from the doomed spacecraft in the first scene propel the film into top gear and will initially have you in awe, but it cannot escape the shifting down of gears as the film progresses from there on in. The special effects, as expected, are second to none and throughout the opening few scenes are faultless. But they become a tad laughable as we journey through to a set piece set around a waterfall two-thirds in."
The Wall Street Journal notices a Scientology tint;
"I've never seen a movie that moves so slowly, or takes itself so seriously, which is why it doesn't seem like a movie at all, but a sermon whose central subject is fear: "Danger is real," the father tells the son, "but fear is a choice." So a right question might be why "After Earth" was made. The sermon echoes a central theme of Scientology."
The expectation from the beginning was that it would be a movie of a battle to survive against a back drop of a separation from home. In that regard, it got its job done although it did carry on to the point of being slightly tedious in parts.
There weren't many moments of hope or laughter but there was an abundance of a relentless fear for the marooned duo. I wish there were more scenes showing a humorous side like the scene where Kitai kept running even after there were no more baboons in sight. His father said something like 'son, you're running away from nothing' and the cinema erupted in laughter. It would have added more colour to the dark of 'After Earth'.
http://www.afterearth.com/site/
http://www.thehollywoodnews.com/2013/06/06/after-earth-review/
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/will-smith-shares-his-after-earth-box-office-disappointment
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2013/jun/12/after-earth-behind-the-candelabra-made-of-stone
Posted on June 15, 2013 by Veronica Nkwocha •	in Reviews	• Tagged After Earth, Hollywood, Jaden, Jaden Smith, M. Night Shyamalan, Scientology, Wall Street Journal, Will Smith	• Leave a comment
My Thoughts on 'The Whispering Trees' by Abubakar Adam Ibrahim
The story opens with a tragedy; the protagonist is involved in an accident and loses his beloved mother. He is at first protected from this knowledge having lost consciousness for a period until he finds himself in hospital.
'The Whispering Trees' happened in stages; as though they were five stories woven into one. The 'Accident', where the faint moments when he merged almost seamlessly with the other world is described in lyrical language. It carried on to the 'Awareness' (of his blindness and the knowledge of his permanent separation from Ummi); the 'Anger', (during which saint Faulata lifted the heavy load). The 'Limbo' (where the malam had to carry out a ritual) and then the 'Awakening' into a quasi-heaven much longed for at the start of the story.
The bruising of Salim's soul from the moments of the accident was instant and it never got better. Apart from the brief period when he tried; studying braille, weaving baskets and waiting for Faulata. His pain was described in detail taking over more than half of the story. It didn't detract from the essence because one comes away with a deep understanding of how much his loss impacted him. (Some questions linger; in reality would Salim's schooling end with just one month to graduating from Medical school?)
The second bruising where Faulata left him to marry someone else sheared off the scab of the wound and pierced another knife. This time, he did not lose consciousness as with the accident but appeared to enter into a trance; as though the first unconsciousness was a twin of this new disappearance from life. It was near identical, like looking in a mirror; the first, a precursor and tangential (more…)
Posted on June 11, 2013 by Veronica Nkwocha •	in Reviews	• Tagged africanliterature, Caine Prize, Gus Casely-Hayford, Knowledge, Nigeria, Whispering Trees	• 4 Comments
My Thoughts on 'Foreign Aid' by Pede Hollist
*This is one of five posts on the Caine Prize for African Writing 2013 Shortlist. A group as organised by Aaron Bady will be blogging about the entries (one per week) for five weeks until the prize is announced on the 8th of July. Please see the links below for details and a schedule.
The story 'Foreign Aid' is about fissures caused by the uprooting of the principal character Balogun from Sierra Leone to America. The chasm widens with his long sojourn in his new home away from his roots where he had lived up until his mid-twenties.
The man we meet in America is one of many people, one of a crowd. We learn about his stay in a few paragraphs; he was generic, unobtrusive and inconsequential. The twenty years passed in a blur of the many things people like him did; coloured phone cards to call home, failed promises to his loved ones at home and furtive marriages for the all-important green card.
He "..submerged himself in inner-city America. He flipped burgers, cleaned office buildings, and worked security for cantankerous residents in a variety of elder-care facilities—pursuing the American dream, unskilled, undocumented, and with an accent…"
Even though life got in the way of his dreams, he still found his level like waters after escaping their hold. He didn't get the Economics degree but he became documented, had a job and was driven in his goal to survive the ever changing urban jungle he had found himself in.
Balogun spoke clipped and fustian; adapting his language to a degree, to that of his inner city surroundings. A (more…)
Posted on June 3, 2013 by Veronica Nkwocha •	in Reviews	• Tagged Africa, Caine Prize, Freetown, Gus Casely-Hayford, Pede Hollist, Sierra Leone, United States	• 10 Comments
My Thoughts on 'Miracle' by Tope Folarin
*This is one of five posts on the Caine Prize for African Writing 2013 Shortlist. A group as organised by Aaron Bady will be blogging about the entries (one per week) for the next five weeks until the prize is announced on the 8th of July. Please see the links below for details and a schedule.
'Miracle' (read here) begins with an all too familiar tale in the diaspora, a people uprooted and fragmented leaning close together huddling with the familiar. The thread that binds them in this story is religion and its 'familiar' rituals of service. The particular service presents an extreme focus on a man at the apex and a shivering pool of the faithful expectant of the heady feelings that herald a shared knowing as to their wholesomeness.
A most fascinating attribute about the story lies in the things it doesn't say. 'Miracle' presents the congregants as almost child-like. Like a group of uniform wearing kids sitting up straight jacketed in class afraid of breaking any of the many rules, whether written or unspoken. The service is orgasmic but even when they dance happily and ecstatic, they do so in tandem with the dictates of an unseen conductor.
It is a church service and the supernatural typically trumps the physical, a spring where the faithful can draw strength to face the tough world outside. (Edit) It's everyone doing the same thing lost in an 'other-worldliness' that creates an unsettling feeling, is that how its adherents are really perceived from the outside looking in?
Here wishes and desires take a front seat before reality; hope is worn leaving the dress of truth behind. The eyes of the boy were not healed but the glasses were cast aside. Is that faith? Will he see with perfect clarity? As the (more…)
Posted on May 27, 2013 by Veronica Nkwocha •	in Reviews	• Tagged Africa, Caine Prize, Caine Prize 2013, God, Gus Casely-Hayford, Literature, Nigeria, Review, Tope Folarin	• 6 Comments
My Thoughts on Bayan Layi by Elnathan John
My Thoughts on Bayan Layi (A Short Story by Elnathan John)
'Bayan Layi' boils down the effects of socio-political problems of a certain kind of abandonment, distills it and presents it to us as Dantala and his friends. Nature abhors a vacuum and we are cast into a tale of the repercussions. And one wonders how this [edit] 'travesty' became a reflection of us as a people, tied as we are to the author's vivid description. It sets the tone where one feels a revulsion but can't quite look away.
There is the niggling sensation as one reads this story; is it our failings as nurturers that spawn the ones who view killing as no more than a fly to be swatted? Empty spaces filled up with perverse watering holes feeding the plains where teenagers can strut their stuff boldly. Enabled by puppeteers who weave their hypnotic lies into the webs in which the Bandas and the Dantalas roam, stars in their eyes, believing they are free. They are there, barely mentioned in the story, a metaphor for real life; behind the scenes, unobtrusive but superlatively influential.
'Bayan Layi' peels all the layers of the onion and as we read, our eyes water at the hopelessness of the situation, babies bearing arms, the (more…)
Posted on May 22, 2013 by Veronica Nkwocha •	in Reviews	• Tagged Africa, Banda, Caine Prize, Dantala, Elnathan John, Fiction, Literature, Nigeria, Review	• 7 Comments
My Thoughts on Fast & Furious 6
I watched Fast and Furious 6 yesterday.
In the midst of all the clanging metal and screeching tires and pounding fists, I thought how odd that the story line looped over itself in such away it appeared secondary to the desire that it be fast paced and loud.
I still believe that as important as it is for the machines to tell their tale, those scenes humanising it lent a side that got everyone in the cinema laughing and sighing together.
Emotions are important; storytelling that lifts the objective of the movie even if it be nuanced can still be used in a way that grinds the lure of Fast and Furious deeper, etching permanent tattoos of commitment into fans, old and new alike.
I give it a 4/5. It was hard, boisterous, efficient and unbelievable taking one away into a world, a cross between fiction and reality. A Saturday afternoon well spent, highly recommended.
Posted on May 19, 2013 by Veronica Nkwocha •	in Reviews	• Tagged Dwayne Johnson, Fast & Furious, Fast & Furious 6, Furious, Movie, The Rock, United States, Vin Diesel, YouTube	• 4 Comments
My Thoughts on Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
My Thoughts on Americanah by Chimamanda Adichie
Ifemelu drifts into a world where people like her; African, not of the poster with the forlorn child are a bye line. She seeps into a world where the dominant images are of the western world, shiny and set apart and straddles her own world, a colossus even though they do not know it. To the outside she is a mere shadow, her light barely flickering. They enter her world and see through her eyes; the author's narrative allows a prime spot, a vantage one and they become one with her. The World, a fragmented puzzle is put together and is seen from a different perspective; one gains a greater understanding and for that, we are richer as humans.
And so we move on and see one who would otherwise be a mere statistic. But far from being idealised, if she who was wordless and unseen becomes a face, we must see her for who she is; warts and all. She is a hard worker and battles the odds to become a Fellow at Princeton. She also uses the new invention,'the weblog' to blog about issues thereby allowing a conversation on race by the protagonists. But she is not perfect; she is charming and can be a straight talker if need be but she comes across sometimes as a bit selfish. Maybe not more so than most humans are but it is a god with clay feet situation, the halo wearing saviour who inserts herself as a legitimate person in Today's narrative. She has friends with whom she laughs but one doesn't sense much of an affection from her. They do things for her but others, save her parents are rarely at the receiving end of her charity even when she becomes able. The walls she built to keep Obinze out were swift and impenetrable, although one can understand that the trauma of her experience with the coach blighted the innocence of their once perfect relationship.
She appears utterly consumed throughout the text by her own introspection. It would appear she went through the motions of living, hiding her real self and stoically holding on to an invisible camera with which she viewed life and ultimately 'the other' without immersing herself in their own feelings and emotions. Even with her American boyfriends she looked to be perching on the edge ready for flight. The only redemption is her unfailing love for Dike where she is laid bare and vulnerable; not even for Obinze which the reader had been teased and lured seductively with the promise of a great love story.
By the time one thundered through the captivating read, expectant, there was a mild concern that the few pages left for the reunion with Obinze would not be enough to do justice to their story. Kosi's demonization as is wont in romance novels, typically presented in order for the reader to accept a triumphant reunion of the estranged couple is tepid and a tad unbelievable; she did not read! Sitting at the periphery of the pontificating literature enthusiasts, one almost pities her. She also did not stir with indignation at her husband's sexual 'acrobatics' with his ex, even though at the start of the book she seemed obsessed with him. One would have expected a hint of jealousy, some tears; it was a shock to see her practical, coldly proffering that the marriage should not end despite the infidelity.
Ifemelu's entire lack of empathy for his family even in passing, especially towards his daughter presented her as cold and calculating in a way that seemed removed from the character we got to know from the start. Was it a defence mechanism? There was no hand wringing considering how she looked down her nose at those who dated married men. To her, his family barely existed or were akin to weed in her perfectly groomed garden of love starring Obinze. Even that did not appear quite distinguished from her relationships with her exes save for their shared tender flowering as teenagers; she still appeared in her renewed relationship with Obinze, perched at the outside, looking in, prepared for flight.
Posted on May 6, 2013 by Veronica Nkwocha •	in Reviews	• Tagged Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Fellow, Ifemelu, Nigeria, Obinze, Romance novel, Today, United States	• 16 Comments


text:
John Napier Wyndham Turner (7. června 1929 – 18. září 2020) byl kanadský právník a politik, představitel Liberální strany Kanady. Byl premiérem Kanady několik měsíců v roce 1984, ministrem financí v letech 1972–1975, ministrem spravedlnosti v letech 1968–1972, ministrem spotřeby v letech 1967–1968 a ministrem bez portfeje v letech 1965–1967.

Odkazy

Reference

Externí odkazy

 Heslo na stránkách Canada History
 Profil na stránkách kanadského parlamentu
 Heslo na Canada Online

Kanadští politici
Premiéři Kanady
Narození v roce 1929
Úmrtí v roce 2020
Muži
Narození 7. června
Úmrtí 18. září

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia