text:
The Backbone of Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS—The Collins clan at Castle Rock Contracting and Tree LLC have things figured out. 57-year old Perry Collins calls the shots. His wife Mary handles the paperwork. Eldest son Matt already has 15 years with the company, while younger twin sons Andy and Tim continue to bring fresh energy to the team after nearly 13 years on the clock. As Perry says, they all form the backbone of the company, serving commercial customers in roughly a 200-mile radius from their headquarters in Castle Rock, Minnesota, barely 40 miles south of Minneapolis.
Accompanied by a workforce of approximately 16 people and aided with an impressive array of equipment, there really isn't a clearing or removal project this company can't handle quickly and efficiently. Sure, every company says that to some degree, but Castle Rock has a properly impressive fleet to back up that claim. Among the many feller bunchers, skidders and semis used by the crews are enough Bandit machines to start a dealership, ranging from stump grinders to big chippers and forestry mowers. So when Perry says they can handle any project from start to finish, that's absolutely no exaggeration. It's no wonder the municipal contracts just keep coming.
Of course, their secret to success isn't as simple as just being a good family business with good equipment. But it isn't exactly a complicated process either. Talking with Perry, the premise for success is really just hard work and honesty.
"As a business owner I've never really had a job, but I've always put in 70 to 80 hours a week," said Collins. I've done that my whole life, and I'm sure I'll do it until the day I die. Even when the kids take over, that's still the way I'll be. And I've always followed the rules; I've paid the insurances, done the prevailing wages. We do the paperwork, we pay our taxes. I just work hard and try to work smart."
And when Perry says he's been that way his whole life, that's no exaggeration. He had his own pickup truck at age 12, and was driving a semi pulling a chipper at age 13. Today Perry can pick and choose from all kinds of equipment, including three Bandit Model 3400 stump grinders and a trio of whole tree chippers—a Model 2090, Model 2290 and Model 2590. He also runs a trio of Bandit forestry mowers—a Model 3500, Model 4000, and his newest acquisition, a Model 3000.
"I've been running Bandit for the last 10 years or so," said Collins. "I started with an 1890 chipper, then got a Model 3400. Now obviously I have a lot of Bandit stuff, it's just good equipment and they really treat me well. They really work hard to make everyone happy."
I've been running Bandit for the last 10 years or so . . . obviously I have a lot of Bandit stuff; it's just good equipment and they really treat me well.
Everyone being happy is without question a big priority for Perry, from his customers to crew members. He's made it a point over the years to create a positive work environment for employees by offering good wages and full benefits. Castle Rock belongs to the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 49, and Perry is very proud to be a union operation. Again, for Perry it boils down to a simple philosophy that many other companies seem to miss—take care of your employees and they will take care of you.
"We stay busy all year, but of course we have less daylight hours in winter," said Collins. In the summer we run hard, but we try to give everyone the weekends off. The crews will run 50 to 70 hours through the week in summer, roughly 30 to 40 hours in the winter for the same five-day week. We all have fun; the whole family takes a vacation each year. I take the whole crew ice fishing in the winter up to Lake of the Woods, and I'm one of the only union tree care companies in the Upper Midwest. It seems to me that if you take better care of your people as far as benefits and such, you get better men and they stick around. I take good care of them, and they take good care of me."
So then, Castle Rock has a strong family backbone, a dedicated crew that's treated well, and a whole host of Bandit equipment at their disposal. This is already a winning combination, but Perry goes a step further by tackling some of the more complex municipal projects that typically come with specific requirements and mountains of extra paperwork. Perry says many companies simply aren't willing or able to handle these extra steps, so Castle Rock gets the nod.
As a result, the vast majority of Castle Rock's work is municipal—highway right-of-way, sewer easements, road construction, trail construction, everything from city projects to job for the Department of Natural Resources. Commercial housing development and Ag clearing rounds out Castle Rock's résumé. It's a welcome shift from a few years ago when the company was exclusively in the housing market, which as everyone knows went through a slight rough period for awhile.
"Prior to this first and last big recession I was 100 percent in the housing market, and I'll not ever do that again," explained Collins. "Now I limit things to 30 percent for housing and commercial. I got clipped really hard during the housing collapse; for about 5 years I didn't put anything into retirement. It was just struggle and survive. Fortunately we made it, and the last three years we've done very well. We have very little competition that can do the paperwork needed for the government jobs we do. We stuck to the rules—when it got bad most of the competition tried to get by without the rules and they got burned. Now they don't have the finances to buy the necessary equipment but we do. And In Minnesota they keep adding more red tape and other companies just can't handle all those procedures or pay the prevailing wages. I love it, but my wife hates it because she has to deal with the paperwork! But, it gets us more work since we're really the only ones that can do it."
I got the forestry mowers because I've had such good luck with Bandit on the stump grinders and chippers, and they're working fine.
That's also where the fleet of Bandits come in handy. With the capability to cut, chip, grind or mow, Perry and the Castle Rock crew can be a true one-company clearing solution for municipalities. That simplifies the paperwork and procedures for the customers, and for Perry it adds to the payday.
"I got the forestry mowers because I've had such good luck with Bandit on the stump grinders and chippers, and they're working fine," said Collins. "We use the forestry mowers all year, not as much in the winter but in the summer they are working five days a week. Our newest machine is the Model 3000, and it does very good for the horsepower it has."
On the chipper front, Perry has observed many changes in machine design and operation over his 30-year career, with his current run of Bandits being the best units he's had.
"I grew up with other manufacturers' machines, with levers all over the place and you needed a semi to pull them," he explained. "It probably took an hour and a half or even two hours to fill a trailer. Once I started running the Bandit 1890 and 2090, they could be pulled with a one-ton truck and fill a trailer in under an hour and they don't break down as much as those other machines. Now, my problem is having enough trucks on hand to keep up with the chippers. I have a 2590 that fills trailers in 20 to 30 minutes. Between all these chippers I don't have enough trucks to keep up—and I have a big fleet of trucks!
Wood chips are sold to area power plants and also to landscape companies. Even stump grinding chips and mulch are utilized. In fact, Perry says Castle Rock has virtually nothing left over from their projects—from chips to slash and logs.
"Two of my kids have a big sawmill, so either they saw the logs or we sell them," said Collins. One of my kids makes small firewood, but we also sell a lot of firewood logs. Everything at the mill site that we can't use goes into a pile and is ground up, either for bioenergy or colored chips. Everything get used; we have zero waste."
There are several witty clichés that could be used right now to describe the philosophy behind the success of Castle Rock Contracting and Tree LLC—waste not want not, work hard play hard, and so forth. But such phrases often come across as hollow or artificial, seldom doing justice to the actual subject. The truth is that Perry Collins and his family have built an amazing, successful company that supports their community; one that provides good jobs to good people; one that delivers good service to customers. There is no cliché here, no complex business plan. You get up in the morning, put in a solid day of work, follow the rules, and take care of the people you work with. In a business climate that's increasingly competitive and complicated, many people seem to forget the basics—just work hard and be good to your people. Perry hasn't forgotten this, and it shows in his company.
And of course, it doesn't hurt to have a fleet of big Bandits to help out.
"I have a lot of equipment, and I'm not saying Bandit is perfect—nobody is," said Collins. "But they've always come through for me. They've always worked with me, worked to make everyone happy. They will east costs to make things right, and that's how it's supposed to be.
Do that for 30 years, and you'll have an operation like Castle Rock Contracting and Tree LLC—where family isn't just the backbone of the company, it is the company.


Have you ever noticed how much people would love to do with their lives, if only they had the time?
While many of us argue that we'd love to do more with our life if we had the money, a recent Gallup poll revealed that more than 50% of us also feel as though we don't have the time. So as it stands, Americans–despite being one of the wealthiest people in the world–can't find the time or money to enjoy their lives. Time–as the saying goes–is money, and we seem to be running a deficit in both of them.
So what does a time deficit look like? Much like a financial deficit, a time deficit prevents us from spending our time doing things that we love now, but also limits our happiness in the long run because we never got to invest any of our time to develop our careers or retirement plans. Simply put, by mismanaging our temporal resources, we not only destroy our current happiness, but also our future potential.
Luckily, a lot of the knowledge that we use to manage our finances can be directly applied to our time by creating a simple time budget that accounts for the most important things: time we want to spend enjoying our life, time we want to save and invest for the future, and time that we should stop wasting.
Get Clear: Are you Spending, Wasting or Investing Your Time?
A lot of people are unclear between the difference between time spent and time wasted. One could easily argue that binge-watching Cosmos on Netflix is time wasted, but if it brings you true joy, wouldn't you argue that it was well spent? Chances are if you are doing something that really makes you happy, you're on the right track.
What's much more dangerous is when we spend time on others, like Evelyn. A typical working mother, Evelyn comes home from work only to take on the infamous second shift, cleaning up after her family and making sure that her teenage kids are clothes and fed. In her mind, Evelyn is investing in the future generation, even though her heart is telling her otherwise. Deep down she knows that taking care of her family allows her to feel needed, even if it means she's not investing that time in herself or her future.
What Evelyn needed was a major time repair–the equivalent of getting a new furnace or water heater, and that meant making resources available up front. By carving out an afternoon to tell her kids why and how to do the laundry and preparing a chore calendar, Evelyn was able to invest a chunk of time and to get actual returns: freeing up several hours every week to go to the gym and start working on a book.
Sadly, getting on track with our time budget also means having to make some hard decisions to eliminate wasted time. Much like wasted money, a lot of wasted time goes to our impulses: that extra 20 minutes we spend hitting snooze every morning instead of doing yoga and indulging in that second and third glass of wine when it's already time for bed. All of these little impulses seem insignificant, but once you honestly add them up, you may be shocked at what you find.
Many of us spend every waking hour serving others–our bosses, our kids, our husbands and our pets, not to mention the board and our favorite charity–and by doing so we often set ourselves up for anxiety or burnout, not to mention feeling like we don't have a life of our own. Luckily the solution is simple: you need to start saving some time for yourself.
By taking charge and claiming your time as your own, you're empowering yourself in a really meaningful way. Even if it's just 10 minutes a day to enjoy a cup of coffee while you read the news, leaving your desk at 5 sharp, or taking 10 days off to go on a cruise, it's important that you save time for yourself without feeling guilty.


text:
Easily create your own lists to study with!
Cipollone: Schiff Has the 'Temerity'
White House counsel criticizes Schiff
Words We're Watching
What's a 'Chef's Kiss'?
That's a spicy piece of meme-snark.
The Internet is a place where, for better or for worse, we are free to rate and react to things as they come to us. We rate things with hearts, with likes and smiley faces and thumbs-up emojis, and with smiley-faced emojis that have hearts for eyes. When we want more nuance, we might go for the perfect GIF that summarizes how we feel.
But if something is just an example of utter perfection, we might give it a chef's kiss.
When it's as good as a kiss.
Currently seen all over social media, the chef's kiss alludes to a gesture associated with chefs when they feel that a dish has been executed flawlessly. The gesture itself, as Jay Hathaway at The Daily Dot explains, is performed by "bringing [the] thumb and forefinger together, kissing them, and separating them again."
The image of the chef's kiss is used when one wants to say that something is perfectly appropriate—sometimes straightforwardly, but often with irony—and worthy of being savored in all of its snarky glory.
Both Hathaway and Joe Blevins, at The A. V. Club, have pointed to instances in popular culture where chefs—particularly Italian chefs—have been portrayed rather stereotypically as personalities who gush when they sample something great that they have created. The iconic image that expresses this wonder is the chef's kiss, a gesture "of cartoonish delight," Blevins writes, "as if the thing being reviewed couldn't possibly be any better."
That gesture, called al bacio ("as good as a kiss"), is one with sincere roots in traditional Italian culture. In American popular culture, however, the image of a chef giving the kiss of the fingers, as it is found on pizza boxes and cans of tomato paste, is a concoction of post-World War II advertising, and the use of the al bacio gesture perpetuated the stereotype.
You're likely to find chef's kiss on Twitter, where both snark and brevity prevail. A common way to use the phrase is by enclosing it in asterisks, indicating that it is meant to be a gesture:
.@mindykaling's commencement speech at Dartmouth this weekend was 😚👌🏾 *chef's kiss* pic.twitter.com/EL2skGD8pi
— Padma Lakshmi (@PadmaLakshmi) June 13, 2018
This LeBron pass ... * chef's kiss *#RingerNBA #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/e0sNb4K2jd
— The Ringer (@ringer) June 9, 2018
But as the phrase has escaped the constraints of Twitter and graduated to longer-form Internet prose, writers seem uncertain on just how to use it. Many still enclose it in asterisks, or some other setting-off punctuation (such as brackets), even in running text. Ostensibly, if one interprets chef's kiss to mean "perfect" or "excellent" (as the gesture typically indicates) one would think it to be an adjective. And that's how some use it:
But Silicon Valley is infamous for its solutions in search of problems, and its fixation with blood tests is a _chef's kiss_ example.
— Rachel Becker, The Verge, 18 May 2018
With all the pieces set up in the first half, the second half is an ever-escalating, never-resting dance of mayhem; the longtime director James Burrows stages sequences that make you want to stand up and applaud, and the cast's timing is [chef's kiss].
— Josh Wolk, The New York Times, 18 May 2018
Others, based on the position of the phrase in the sentence, seem to prefer it as an adverb:
Chrissy Teigen is the gift to the internet we truly don't deserve, and in her latest brush with being _chef's kiss_ amazing, she went ahead and did an impression of Salt Bae. You know, him?
— Mehera Bonner, Marie Claire, 28 Feb. 2018
How about as a noun?
Also, the image of Tig, who is not known to have much of a physical shtick, doing self-satisfied leprechaun kicks down the street is truly a chef's kiss of an act out.
— Erik Abriss, Vulture, 22 May 2018
Some are, like the actress Tavi Gevinson, 21, who reviewed the experience by bringing her fingers to her lips and smacking a "chef's kiss," and some may soon be, like Ms. Bernhard, whom Ms. Comey had never met, but invited all the same.
— Matthew Schneier, The New York Times, 6 Sept. 2017
If all else fails, you can place your chef's kiss any random place and it will read like an interjection:
Look at the hand placement there. _chef's kiss_ Perfect shoulder grasp. Be careful not to place your hand too far up, as this is a sign of dominance and those with super fragile masculinity will feel attacked.
— Justin Kirkland, Esquire, 17 Apr. 2018
It's not really news when Donald Trump tweets about "fake news," but when what he says contradicts his own staff, _chef's kiss_ what a treat.
— Jaya Saxena, Elle, 7 Aug. 2017
That's the kind of versatility that can make you smack your lips together and say, Mangia.
Words We're Watching talks about words we are increasingly seeing in use but that have not yet met our criteria for entry.
More Words At Play
temerity White House counsel criticizes Schiff
dilatory Schumer begins Senate impeachment trial
imminent Pompeo explains Iran rationale

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Colleen Heslin is a Montreal based artist, independent curator and winner of the 2013 RBC Painting Competition. Heslin completed her MFA in painting from Concordia University and holds a BFA from Emily Carr University in photography. Heslin's work explores medium crossovers between painting, sculpture, fibers and photography. Her work has been exhibited and published in Canada, USA, and Europe with recent solo exhibitions of new work in Montreal and Vancouver.


• Golf Croquet: Benefit or Bane?
In our 2008 interview, Ben Rothman told me he'd like to win some championships. By the fall of 2013, five years later, he had won fifteen USCA championships, more than any other player in the history of the American sport. He described how he had decided to become a croquet pro--to "follow his passion"--and then became the pro at Mission Hills in California. At the end of that interview, I predicted he'd be a finalist in a world championship soon--and it happened the next year, when at the National Croquet Center he lost the finals to Reg Bamford. In the meantime, Danny Huneycutt took an early retirement and embarked on what would become almost a fulltime croquet career of his own, culminating in a recent hire at Johns Island in Florida. These two great players are friendly and fierce competitors and sturdy anchors of USCA contingent going to Christchurch in December 2013 to compete against the teams of England, Australia, and New Zealand. They generously made time in a packed schedule of play for our interview on the veranda of the National Croquet Center during the USCA Selection Eights.
Ben Rothman, Bob Alman, and Danny Huneycutt make time to talk at a corner table over lunch on the veranda of the National Croquet Center during the USCA Selection Eights. Photo by Joe Perotti.
BOB ALMAN: I'm sitting on the veranda of the National Croquet Center during the Selection Eights in October 2013 with the first two players in America to achieve a minus four and a half USCA handicap. Who got there first?
DANNY: I was first, last year I think.
BEN: ...After winning the USCA Western Regional last year. The Mission Hills Invitational and the Regionals are the only two American Rules tournaments I competed in last year, other than the National Championships.
BOB: I pointed out to Bob Kroeger that the negative handicap bias was just going to continue, and you're both going to go to minus eight by 2020, and he said, "Yes, but without the adjustment, they'd be there a lot sooner." But that's American Rules. What I would really like to know is: When are you guys going to start doing sextuples in major competition in Association Croquet?
BEN: We tried sextuples in 2011 and know how to do them, but executing them reliably in competition is another matter.
BOB: Let's say on easy courts, are sextuples worth it for you...yet?
BEN: No, not yet. I'd have to have a 65 percent probability against a strong opponent to embark on a sextuple on an easy court. One mistake can be--probably would be--fatal. So it would have to be at least 65 percent.
BOB: Maybe at your level the USCA handicap doesn't matter very much, except as a ranking. Theoretically, the Grand Prix could balance the inequity of the handicap system, because it awards points if you just show up. Even with the "correction" of the USCA handicap system, it's still designed to slide downward, and I don't think anything can be done about that, given the historical culture of the USCA. People don't want to lose the handicap they use as a ranking, as a kind of status symbol.
DANNY: We don't use handicaps as a development tool, and we should. We should use them to match up players of different strengths so they both have an equal chance to win. But that doesn't happen much.
30 years old, engaged to be married.
DANNY: Not a "virtual pro" any more. I have a real job now, at Johns Island [on central Florida's east coast] beginning in January, after I get back from New Zealand for the MacRob.
BOB: What about the family?
DANNY: They're very supportive. Because I have no intention of getting a year-round fulltime job.
BOB: Is your wife coming down?
DANNY: No, I'm renting, I'm not starting until January, and working only 'til mid-May. I already make four or five trips to Florida in the winter season. My wife won't come down, because she's an accountant and it's her busiest time of year, but I'll go back and forth a couple of times.
BOB: How about the handicap tournaments? You have the power. Will you do that?
DANNY: At John's Island, I believe we can do that, because we're going in fresh. At a bigger club, most of the handicaps are evenly distributed, but at John's Island the skill levels are all over the place, in the high range, and they could really benefit from some handicap play.
BOB: Ben, what can you do at Mission Hills?
BEN: Some years ago we changed the Pat Apple Tournament--named for the founder of the club--from American to Association, and that's a handicap tournament. But we don't have any American Rules handicap tournaments. We have a very tight tournament schedule as it is. We have about 9 to 12 tournaments in our season. The USCA Regional doesn't have to be there any more, it could move around. One of the great things about the USCA is that the regionals CAN move around, they're not wedded to one venue.
BOB: But there's a good reason to have the big tournaments there, like the nationals, because of the big player base, and because there are not that many venues with as many lawns as you have there. How many?
BEN: Seven full-time lawns for croquet; and we can expand to three or four more, using the grass tennis courts. And we do have the regional Vice-President there, Ron Hendry, and lots of players, so in a way it makes sense for the USCA to want us to host the regionals, but I think it needs to move around more.
BOB: Danny, at John's Island, isn't it pretty much an East Coast-style American Rules culture?
DANNY: It's about half and half, American Rules and Golf Croquet.
BOB: No Association play at all. Could you comfortably put your 12 or so American Rules players into one handicap flight?
DANNY: I could evaluate it. There's a really good chance that I will.
BEN: One advantage for Mission Hills as a large club is that we can have a club tournament and have eight people in each of many flights that are within a handicap point of each other, and have them all be competitive. At John's Island, the best way to get his twelve players competing is in a handicap tournament.
BOB: So let's talk about development, Danny. Describe your Johns Island development program with the limited pool of players you have.
DANNY: Well, my first day on the job is December 9. And that will be a time to evaluate what comes next, what the club is and what the administration wants, so I can have a plan of attack on the croquet program when I begin full-time in January.
Danny Huneycutt prepares for a roll shot in the USCA Selection Eights. Photo by Dylan Goodwin.
BOB: But right now, just blue-skying, where would you like the Johns Island program be in three or four years?
DANNY: I would love to see 12 to 15 tournament players and 24 to 30 American Rules players in all. That's what I'll work towards. I'd like to see anywhere from 60 to 100 people participating at some level in Golf Croquet, so we can get the point where we can host Golf Croquet, American Rules, and Association Croquet tournaments. I'll test the waters later in the year. We'll put on some sort of tournament, aimed at bringing other people in, and show the rest of the croquet world that Johns Island Croquet Club knows how to host a real tournament.
BOB: Well, that's very ambitious, isn't it, 100 people, with--how many people are living in the development?
DANNY: There are 1308 households.
BOB: Ben, how does that percentage compare with your situation at Mission Hills?
BOB: But no pressure. When I was out there two years ago, Ben, there was some talk around the courts about Golf Croquet players "taking over" the facility. Is that still going on?
BEN: I find it a little misguided, talking about who's going to "take over" croquet.
BOB: It is, it is, I agree. But that's the talk I heard.
BEN: If we get 5,000 new players, I don't care what version of croquet they play, that's good for the sport.
DANNY: I want all the social players we can get. What I always tell everybody is, "Don't miss out on the social relationships of the people who play croquet."
DANNY: $100 dollars, or $150 a couple.
BEN: Okay, so if they all want to play Golf Croquet, then I don't think the American Rules players will have that hard a time in reserving space to play their game or Association croquet, and we'll have more courts and more court time for everyone. It will just result in more clubs, more lawns, more facilities, and further popularizing the sport. You get a couple of hundred or a couple of thousand more players, some of them are bound to want to play the other games as well.
BOB: Ben, achieved the finalist position in a WCF world championship, in 2009, losing in three rather unimpressive games then against Reg Bamford. How would you handle such an opportunity now....and how would you feel--either of you--about playing against Robert Fletcher, who beat Bamford this summer in England in three straight? And in fact, you WILL play against Fletcher in Christchurch in January upcoming, so surely you've asked yourselves whether he's really the best croquet player of all time. Is he?
BEN: I think I would handle the world championships differently now, having had the experience to steady myself in big competitions like team events and national championships. Both Danny and I have beaten young Robert before and while he is an amazing talent, I don't think he's made a case for "best player of all time" yet. We will do our best to beat him in the Mac because every point counts.
BOB: In that same interview, you said corporate croquet was the way to go for any good club, and you mentioned that Peter Just was promoting just the right idea--having a CORPORATE LEAGUE as an intermediate step between fun, knock-around golf croquet and the "serious" play they see members doing. As it happens, the National Croquet Club has adopted that policy, which also includes an inexpensive first-year and intensive courses in that first year to bring them along. Whether or how well it's working long-term is yet to be seen because we're still in the yearly renewal effort. Are you doing anything like that at Mission Hills?
BEN: We haven't ventured into many outside events at Mission Hills in my time there. I still think that model can be used, but our population in the Coachella Valley is a bit different from San Francisco or New York or even West Palm Beach. I wish you the best of luck.
BOB: Now that it's been proven, conclusively, that a single player can excel in both Association and Golf Croquet, let's talk a little about the differences and the similarities. I'm assuming you use the same mallet for both games--even though Egyptian players use a lighter mallet to get a faster swing and a more controlled stun shot. So let's talk about the shots: Are there particular shots that you practice just for Golf Croquet?
BEN: I use the same mallet for all versions of the game. As Ron Hendry likes to say, "it's the Indian, not the arrow." The more comfortable and practiced you are with your mallet, the more you can do. The specific Golf Croquet shots I like to prepare for are jump shots and long hoop shots. The jumps become critical at the top level for hoops and even some clearances. Long hoop shots are rare in other versions, so I like to be ready for a seven-yard hoop shot in Golf Croquet, because I almost never have to try that in American Rules or Association Croquet.
BOB: In AC, the various openings, leaves and breaks that can produce a "perfect" game for the winner can leave little or no interaction between the players, but Golf Croquet is designed, necessarily, as an interactive game, with only one stroke per turn throughout. So winning seems more a reaction to whatever the opponent does than just devising a particular strategy you can stick with throughout. Maybe I'm talking about a style or a game personality, in Golf Croquet. Is your personality the same or different for the two games?
BEN: I get more chatty in Golf Croquet because both players (or all four) are on the court at once. Golf Croquet can provide bigger adrenaline rushes and thus requires more self control (something I'm working on). I have some reliable tactics in Golf Croquet just like AC when I know exactly where I'm going to position the shots based on fairly accurate estimations of what my opponent will do next. So, in that way, the mindsets can be very similar; it's just the execution that varies a bit more in Golf Croquet, so you must reassess quite often.
BOB: Accidents are inevitable in any game, and especially consequential in a tight game of Golf Croquet. Eric Sawyer has told me of being subjected to the Orgill Special--in which Mike hits a jawsed ball such that it runs the next hoop in order. That has happened to Eric and it depressed him. So the question that comes out of this is whether you ever get depressed by the accidents in the game and whether you have a technique for handling that--that is, for managing your own mind?
BEN: In that case, Mike hit the ball too hard and over-rolled position. Errors happen and sometimes an opponent's error in judgement or execution works to their benefit, thanks to dumb luck. My biggest difficulty is stifling resentment. I don't mind being beaten by good play, but watching an opponent luck their way past you can be depressing, as Eric says. In this aspect, Duncan Dixon (of New Zealand) is the best croquet player in the world. His affect at the World Team Championships in South Africa was unshakable. While he may have been raging inside, he maintained the calm exterior of a champion poker player and he never seemed to be rattled by the outcome of the shots. He just moved on to the next one and executed.
BOB: Let's talk about the two codes, American Rules and Association. You and Danny are top-level players, you want to compete internationally, you want the US to excel, and to do that you have to play Association Croquet like the rest of the world. So, how does that come down to development in your local club?
BEN: Well, based on the number of players we have, I'd say 50 percent are Golf Croquet, and the other 50 percent are divided between Association and American Rules in their preference.
DANNY: At Johns Island, lots of people play Golf Croquet now, so I'd say it's 50/50. No Association play, yet.
BOB: I'm getting the idea that all of us here favor Golf Croquet as the main way forward to expanding croquet's popularity both within the USCA and in the broader culture. Right? How can that be accelerated?
BEN: We can have more Golf Croquet tournaments. The NCC club president John Warlick has hosted a Florida Regional Golf Croquet tournament here, and that could be done in the other regions. And that would give us a bigger bank of data to go by to rank all the USCA members who play Golf Croquet--which would provide expanded momentum. So more local tournaments could lead to regionals.
DANNY: Which would give Golf Croquet players a reason to join the USCA national organization--more than just local "Wine and Wickets" events inside the club. I can promise you that you're going to see a Golf Croquet tournament open to all USCA members at Johns Island this next season, and maybe two for the following season. This is especially relevant to the younger, professional people we have. They have another life, they're not all retired. They're not going to go out there every day, but if we have tournaments--maybe not long tournaments, but serious competition--they're going to prepare. I've found out there are a couple of small clubs nearby, so I'm going to encourage more inter-club competition, too.
BEN: And you can run a Golf Croquet tournament in a shorter period of time, so that works for younger working people, too. You can do a weekend tournament with many more games of Golf Croquet than Association or American Rules. So with Golf Croquet, we have a chance to encourage more people, and more YOUNGER people to play croquet.
BOB: Could you do a Golf Croquet Regional for the Western Region at Mission Hills?
BEN: Yes, although we already have a busy tournament schedule, and one aspect of the players culture there is that they don't enjoy having a tournament every week, or even every other week.
BEN: And we do get good support--a portion of every USCA member's dues goes to the Lee Olson fund, dedicated to supporting the International Team. USCA members are able to donate more on top of that, and they do. There are a lot of international events, including the Solomon, the World Championship, the international team events for both Association and Golf Croquet. The USCA is able to support the team events, and the money goes to the entire team, not just to one person or another, for the travel expenses for the team. So it enables us to have top players for those events who not only have the time off, but also have some financial support for very expensive travel.
BOB: Haven't I heard complaints that the fund doesn't cover enough?
BEN: I believe everybody had 80 or 90 percent of their travel and accommodation paid for in the Solomon against England.
BEN: Yes, and there are players taking on extra jobs just to make sure they can cover all their personal expenses. You probably noticed that not many of our top players went to the world championships this summer, just across the Atlantic, and the reasons were that it takes a lot of time off work, and also that it's too expensive, so they had to save time and money for the more important team presence, when the best players the USCA can assemble get to compete against the best of England, New Zealand, and Australia.
BOB: It's a huge personal commitment.
BEN: But not nearly as much as in the 30's and 40's, when the only players who could compete in New Zealand and Australia had to take a boat or several boats to get there, and probably a couple of months at least in time, just to compete. Very expensive, very time-consuming. But today, playing the MacRob in New Zealand is only a three-week commitment, still huge for somebody who has a nine-to-five job.
BOB: Ben, Jim Butts put out an excellent press release ballyhooing your chances of achieving the first "triple crown" of American croquet singles championship--if you win the American Rules 2013 title at Mission Hills. Are you fairly confident?
BEN: I enter every tournament with the goal and mindset that I can win it and will try my best to win, so confidence is there. Danny's playing in this year's nationals, so he is definitely on my radar along with Jeff and Doug and Rich and Brian. Many champions are in the field, so it's difficult to expect much when there's so much talent to conquer.
When I was able to win the AC singles in April here at the NCC I felt that I had achieved a unique feat, holding held all six titles at once--singles and doubles in Association, American, and Golf Croquet. Since then I repeated as the GC champion in singles, while Sherif and I won the doubles again and Doug and I (eventually) got our fourth AC doubles title together. That makes nine national titles in a row-- so I don't really understand why people are concerned with me winning three singles titles in one calendar year when I feel that what I've already accomplished is a bit more impressive. I'll still try my best, of course.
BOB: When you beat Danny in the finals of the last national championships here, I wrote that Danny was the tournament director, and thus had a good excuse for losing to you. At Mission Hills in December, that situation will be reversed. So I give you permission to end your streak, Ben, at your own venue, and give Danny the win. And yes, I agree it would be highly presumptuous to assume that you two will be the finalists again. But given even odds, I'd bet on it. Good luck to you both--at Mission Hills in the Nationals, and especially with the USCA team in Christchurch!


text:
Drobot Cooperating, Sentencing Delayed – Healthcare Fraud Post
It has been well over two years since we reported on this story and Michael Drobot remains a free man. He still has not been sentenced for his role in a massive healthcare fraud that involves allegations of performing spinal surgeries using defective hardware. Victims have been waiting for justice for years and will now have to wait longer. Earlier this summer U.S. District Court Judge Josephine Staton again delayed Drobot's sentencing, this time until February 10, 2017.
It has been so long since we first covered Drobot's story that some quick history is helpful. Michael Drobot Sr. once owned Pacific Hospital of Long Beach. Some of his patients claimed that Drobot was involved in a scheme to steer workers' compensation patients to the hospital. The patients would there undergo spinal fusion surgery. The patients claim that the screws and other hardware needed to perform the surgery were counterfeit thereby causing potential future pain and suffering.
Drobot's had far bigger problems than the lawsuit claims. The Department of Justice stepped in and charged Drobot with orchestrating a multi-million dollar criminal healthcare fraud conspiracy. In early 2014 he pleaded guilty and now faces up 10 years in prison.
Prosecutors claim that between 1998 and when he was caught in 2013, Drobot "conspired with dozens of doctors, chiropractors, marketers and others to pay kickbacks in return for those people to refer thousands of patients to Pacific Hospital for spinal surgeries and other medical services." Most of the treatment costs were paid through the Federal Employees Compensation Act or the California Workers Compensation System.
Kickbacks and Healthcare Fraud
Paying kickbacks is illegal. As regular readers of this blog already know, healthcare decisions should be based on the patients' best needs and not who pays the biggest bribe or kickback.
If the scheme stopped there it would already be pretty bad. Prosecutors, however, claim that Drobot owned a medical device company called International Implants or "I2."
Hospitals have strict limits on how much they can mark up hardware. The U.S. Attorney says that Drobot ignored those limits and overinflated the costs. That in turn allowed to have even more money in which to pay bribes and kickbacks.
If you are wondering about the amount of the kickbacks, they were huge. A doctor referring a patient to the hospital for lumbar fusion surgery could get $15,000. Cervical spinal fusion would pay $10,000.
The danger in such huge kickbacks is that many of patients probably didn't need such drastic surgery. Pay a big enough kickback and suddenly some doctors will be motivated by the kickback instead of the patient's health needs. Indeed, some have now claimed that some of the surgeries were medically unnecessary. We are not surprised. Unfortunately, spinal surgery is painful, involves a lengthy hospital stay and can lead to a lifetime of complications.
As word of the kickbacks spread, some patients were sent hundreds of miles to Drobot's hospital even though there were much closer facilities that could treat the injured workers.
Prosecutors say that between 2008 and April 2013, Pacific Hospital billed workers' compensation insurance carriers approximately $500 million for these spinal surgeries! That resulted in kickbacks of between $20 million and $50 million! According to Los Angeles Magazine, Drobot's scheme was like "an ATM card to Fort Knox."
To better protect his lucrative healthcare fraud scheme, Drobot allegedly recruited a state senator and paid the senator's son tens of thousands of dollars to be a summer intern. The senator was also offered expensive meals, golf outings and flights on private planes. (Press reports say that California Sen. Ron Calderon was indicted for his role in the scheme.)
Can it get any worse? While the government has not claimed that the hardware and screws are defective, some patients say that the hardware is counterfeit. Those allegations caused Drobot to sue both the patients and their lawyers. An admitted felon sues former patients of his hospital for defamation! (Whether the counterfeit hardware allegations are true or not, we believe that Drobot sued the patients to keep them from testifying at his sentencing. If that was his motive, we doubt he will be successful.)
Drobot's Plea Agreement
Drobot's healthcare fraud resulted in him pleading guilty to two felony counts. After the plea, California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones said, "Insurance fraud is a multi-billion drain on California's economy, which results in higher insurance premiums for California's businesses and consumers."
Drobot's sentence has been delayed so that he can cooperate. Part of his plea agreement requires that he help prosecutors. Doubtless the Justice Department is taking a hard look at the "dozens" of doctors who received tens of millions of dollars in kickbacks.
Healthcare Fraud and Whistleblower Awards
Under the federal False Claims Act, insiders who blow the whistle on healthcare fraud can receive up to 30% of whatever the government receives from the wrongdoer. To qualify, the healthcare fraud must be taxpayer funded.
What makes this case so unusual is that Drobot was targeting workers compensation patients. Normally there is no tax dollars involved there but in this case, whistleblower awards are still available because some of the injured workers were government employees and California's own whistleblower laws extend to private insurance.
How to Earn Your Own Whistleblower Award
The whistleblower lawyers at MahanyLaw have helped clients receive tens of millions in awards. Over $100 million just in the last five years.
If you believe you have information about illegal healthcare fraud, kickbacks or illegal pricing schemes, give us a call. We can help you navigate the complex state and federal regulations governing healthcare and determine whether you have a claim. If you do, we will handle the preliminary investigation, file the necessary lawsuits, and help prosecute the claim. (Not ready to call? Visit our whistleblower – qui tam FAQ page.)
Worried about legal fees and costs? The process can be very expensive but we front all monies and you never have to pay us unless we are successful.
We can also help protect your identity and protect you from illegal retaliation.
For more information, contact attorney Brian Mahany at
or by telephone at (414) 704-6731 (direct). All inquiries are always kept confidential.
MahanyLaw – America's Medicare Fraud Whistleblower Lawyers


text:
Help support the (R)evolution of LOVE & LIGHT
Make a charitable donation today!
Your tax deductible donation can help spread love & light in the world...
In the last 7 years I have transitioned my life so I can show up as best I can to serve as a beacon of light, hope, love & encouragement in a troubled world. I have just launched this new website & online community for my sacred art and multimedia ministry, highlighting my mission to free human spirits that have been marginalized and oppressed -- especially women & the LGBTQ community -- to Sparkle SHAMELESSLY™. This work couldn't have come at a more Divine time with the mounting polarization in our world.
What you may not know is that much of this work is done from a place of deep love and humble service, and not for financial gain, so we are now able to accept charitable tax-deductible donations both in monthly increments or on a one-time basis to support this sacred work in the world! I know you too want to make love the new bottom line...
#SOULSPARKLE with Rev. Lainie Love Dalby is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the charitable purposes of #SOULSPARKLE with Rev. Lainie Love Dalby must be made payable to Fractured Atlas only and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
See more of what you're supporting
Shamanic Healing Art
Blessing Performances
Multimedia Ministry
Live Events & Traveling Temples


Creative Wiring, Prong Switch Galleries - We sense this three prong toggle transfer wiring diagram photo will present you with a few additional point to your want and that we hope you want it. We apprehend, we'd have extraordinary view approximately this however as a minimum weve tried our high-quality.
The simplest one i'm able to think of is that at the 4-prong switch, each "warm" wires from the line wire are switched off when the switch is off, so theoretically you can contact matters on the psu with none risk (but it might nevertheless be a horrific idea to accomplish that with out unplugging the cord from the wall).
So, to wire this into your electricity supply, you want the ac wire from the twine jogging to put up a, then a cord from put up a1 again to the psu, in which the line cord's impartial cord is connected. Then run another wire from the neutral put up on the electricity deliver to a2 to finish the circuit. Don't forget to connect the safety (inexperienced or yellow, possibly) twine from the ac line cord to your power supply as standard!.
Identical scenario here. Led on transfer will light on/off however no electricity to electricity unit. Did you resolve it? Feasible orange/brown must be line and dark blue ought to be neural? Also using 3 prong package rocker switch. Soooo close!.
I'm no longer positive - it seems proper but the specs say it's far too huge for the electricity transfer mount. You want one that is 18x12mm. That is the one that i provide with the kits:.
Sorry approximately that; i simply checked the twine harnesses i have reachable and they're just long enough, so i'll ought to pay a touch nearer interest to that. Permit me recognize if that works out. Any content material, trademark's, or different fabric that might be located on the banyan-palace internet site that is not banyan-palace's belongings remains the copyright of its respective owner/s. In no way does banyan-palace claim ownership or obligation for such items, and also you ought to are seeking legal consent for any use of such substances from its owner.


text:
Australian Blindness Forum
The peak body for the blindness sector in Australia
UN General Assembly affirms World Braille Day
News Release, December 17
The United Nations General Assembly has adopted the World Blind Union's Resolution affirming World Braille Day.
The purpose of the World Braille Day, celebrated every January 4, is to raise awareness of the importance of braille to converting the written word to tactile form for the benefit of blind and partially sighted persons worldwide.
WBU members and partners around the world have reacted with excitement upon receiving the news.
"This is a wonderful achievement especially because braille is the means of literacy for blind people. Literacy is the foundation of education and foundation of full integration of employment" says WBU's President Dr. Fred Schroeder.
Watch his full remarks on WBU YouTube Channel
"In United States braille has come to be recognised as an important item because if we can read and write, we can fully participate in all the activities in life that everybody else takes for granted", says Former President of the National Federation of the Blind-USA, Mr. Marc Maurer.
Watch his full remarks on WBU YouTube Channel:
From Rwanda, the WBU Second Vice President Ms. Donatilla Kanimba, said "This is a great opportunity to advocate for braille as the most important literacy tool for the blind community, especially children here in Africa who cannot pursue education because they cannot access braille for their literacy needs. As the World Blind Union, we believe that reading is a human right and therefore we are grateful that the UN is recognizing this right. We urge governments to recognize this right as well and provide braille literacy in schools".
WBU Honorary Life Member and Former CEO, Dr. Penny Hartin, says "This is great news indeed! It is wonderful that the UN has recognized the importance of braille. There have been few innovations that have made a more significant impact on the lives of persons with disabilities than the invention of braille. It has continued to bring independence, literacy and empowerment to millions of blind people worldwide. Unlike modern technology, which is too expensive for the majority of blind people around the world, braille can be written and read with the simplest of tools available and useable anywhere despite economic, geographic and linguistic barriers."
Ms. Martine Abel-Williamson, the WBU Treasurer from New Zealand, says "This is great news! Braille is so every day – it's on key rings, coffee mugs and fridge magnets and in recipes, diaries and on tubes of skin moisturizer; yet, it also creeps into special occasions, being present in restaurant menus and on wine bottles', says. "Braille enables us to keep in touch, to relate hands-on with the printed word and this in itself may be a touching experience. But in the end, it is us who have to interact with Braille. It is up to us to keep on connecting the dots, drawing the characters through into meaningful words – for it is the only true equivalent to print. Braille is our touch stone to literacy."
Ms. Diane Bergeron, Vice-President, Engagement and International Affairs for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), says "It is wonderful that World Braille Day has been acknowledged by the UN and will be commemorated on the birthday of Louis Braille who provided blind and partially sighted persons with a means to access the printed world. Literacy is important for everyone and people with sight loss are no different. Braille equals literacy and opens the doors for opportunities in education and employment. It allows us the chance to reach our goals and make our dreams come true."
WBU Secretary General Mr. Ajai Kummar Mittal, from India, says "Continuous braille reading holds the key to learning good spelling. Also, Braille is essential for subjects requiring intensive study, like mathematics, science, geography, grammar, semantics, phonetics etc. These are just a few examples to show how critical Braille is for us. Braille will remain the doyen of systems for giving to the visually impaired access to knowledge which is the main source of empowerment."
The Resolution will be posted on the UN website As well as the WBU will also issue a statement to commemorate the World Braille Day.
We encourage all our members to share their comments on WBU Facebook: Twitter and YouTube:
WBU statement for International Women's Day 2018
The World Blind Union has voiced concern over slow progress towards full inclusion of women with visual disabilities in global development agendas.
In a world where an estimated two-thirds of blind people are women, the WBU is commemorating this year's International Women's Day on March 8, with a strong call-to-action urging governments to implement effective mechanisms that guarantee full participation and leadership roles to women with visual disabilities. This year's UN International Women's Day theme is "Time is Now: Rural and urban activists transforming women's lives".
"I firmly believe that to build a fully inclusive, sustainable and resilient society, it is essential to address the unique needs of women and girls with disabilities and undertake measures to ensure their full and equal participation" said Dr. Penny Hartin, the Chief Executive Officer of the World Blind Union.
Read the full statement here: WBU statement for International Women's Day 2018
Filed Under: World Blind Union
WBU statement for World Braille Day – 4 January 2018
By Kevin Carey, Chair of the WBU, World Braille Council
2018 will be one of the most exciting years for braille since its invention by Louis Braille almost 200 years ago. The World Blind Union and International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI) have recently released a piece of software, Easy Converter Express, which will enable teachers and others who work with blind children and adults to produce braille text from digital files with little or no training. The software is free of charge to all, but the very richest countries and it can be downloaded from www.YourDolphin.com/easyconverter-express
The software was developed by the WBU Technology Committee at the request of ICEVI with funding from the Royal National Institute of the Blind of the United Kingdom through a grant from Google.com
At the same time, the Orbit 20 refreshable braille display, developed by a consortium of WBU Members, is beginning to emerge in substantial quantities from the factory. This device, which was designed in consultation with the WBU, is a low cost refreshable braille device which acts as a book reader, a simple note taker and a terminal to tablets, phones and computers. For more information see: http://www.transformingbraille.org/ and www.YourDolphin.com
As we celebrate this year's World Braille Day, January 4, it is important that we agree how to give braille a new lease of life now that we have overcome many of the technical and financial factors which have made it expensive and hard to obtain. This is also the year when we will also try to secure the future of braille music by adopting a much more co-operative approach to its production and cataloguing.
Braille is still, in spite of a massive increase in audio resources through internet broadcasting, the primary literacy medium for blind people; and we know that the use of braille gives a massive boost to employment opportunities. But if we are to ensure its survival we now have to do two things: we must make sure that braille as available to far more children and adults; and we must ensure that braille producers, no longer limited by the need to make hard copy braille products, produce far more braille titles for use on braille displays. The temptation will be to see expanding access to braille through cheap displays as an add-on to traditional production but the only way we will be able to afford a rapid expansion of title availability is to cut hard copy production except in those areas, like mathematics and law, where it is essential.
We have the technology for a massive breakthrough; now we need to win the argument about how we maximise it.
World Braille Day is celebrated annually in honour of the birth of Louis Braille, inventor of the reading and writing system used by millions of blind and partially sighted people all over the globe. The World Braille Day provides an opportunity to raise awareness about issues facing the blind and the importance of continuing to produce works in braille, providing the blind with access to the same reading and learning opportunities as the sighted.
The World Blind Union believes that reading is a human right. For more information and resources about braille, please visit our resources section of our website at: http://www.worldblindunion.org/English/resources/Pages/Braille-Information.aspx
The World Blind Union (WBU) is the global organization that represents the estimated 253 million people worldwide who are blind or partially sighted. Members consist of organizations of blind people advocating on their own behalf and organizations that serve the blind, in over 190 countries, as well as international organizations working in the field of vision impairment. Visit our website at www.worldblindunion.org
Terry Mutuku
Communications Officer, World Blind Union
Terry.Mutuku@wbu.ngo
Australian Inclusive Publishing Initiative Communique
Representatives of the publishing industry, authors, libraries, copyright, disability associations, government and accessible format providers came together on 2 November for the second annual meeting of the Marrakesh Treaty Forum.
In order to encourage an expanded understanding of accessibility, the Marrakesh Treaty Forum participants have agreed to rename the group the Australian Inclusive Publishing Initiative.
You can download or read the Communique from the meeting here: Australian Inclusive Publishing Initiative Communique
Filed Under: Information
Notes from the WBU 9th General Assembly
The WBU 9th General Assembly was held from August 18-25, 2016 at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, Florida.
Notes from the General Assembly are now available. Go here to download or read the Notes of WBU 9th General Assembly (doc 152kb)
UN General Assembly affirms World Braille Day December 18, 2018
WBU statement for International Women's Day 2018 February 23, 2018
WBU statement for World Braille Day – 4 January 2018 January 4, 2018
Australian Inclusive Publishing Initiative Communique December 23, 2017
Notes from the WBU 9th General Assembly November 25, 2017
Disclaimer Site Designed by GAM Industries


RTIwala Team at TechSparks, one of the most coveted start-up conferences of the country is held each year with great energy and vehemence that seldom fails to lit up the 'Start-up City'. The TechSparks 2017 edition was no exception, not that we expected any different. For its organizers at YourStory, the annually held event is a handiwork that entails an innate euphoria and delight. At its eighth edition, TechSparks 2017 is visibly propagating exponentially.
India's biggest rostrum for budding entrepreneurs, YourStory was founded in the year 2008 by Shradha Sharma. A woman of great substance and unparalleled prominence, she was the one of the first few to apprehend the upcoming glitz of the start-up ecosystem. Today, YourStory is the ultimate go-to destination for anyone dreaming, racing or even living by entrepreneurship. Stories, tips, researchers and papers, YourStory is all about defining your road to excellence for the modern day entrepreneur.
Our team at RTIwala that began its journey just a couple of months ago, is still basking in the glory of being offered an invitation to TechSparks 2017 gratis. Let us also tell you that most of the invitees and attendees had to shell out INR 14,500 for what we didn't have to spare a penny. Being a news and media start-up with quite a few racing lines on its growth chart, RTIwala feels deeply accomplished and honoured with this enhanced momentum, courtesy YourStory team. Having said that, here's our utmost keen recital of our fair share of takeaways from the ecstatic extravaganza that TechSparks 2017 was.
It was the second invitation for Team RTIwala to attend it for free. Yeah, you read that right! The entry fee had been waived off for our digital media startup. So yes, we are special. Huh!!
If you wish to attend any such events in future, then please be there at least an hour prior the reporting time. As in our case, we reached lil late and luckily the show (event) hasn't been started. Anyhow, we paid the price by standing in long, literally very long queue. No, we aren't blaming the YourStory team or Vivanta by Taj administration, but the very craze for Techsparks among the urban youth.
After the entry through the main gate, we were happy only to get disappointed as the main hall was fully occupied by now 10.30 a.m. And the gatekeeper was seen letting people in, only when someone marched towards the EXIT point. That's what counts for a spoiler for all those standing in the queue, wishing someone or the other would move out.
Techsparks 2017 was undoubtedly the best place to be. More so, because the venue was the grand as ever, Vivanta by Taj and we honestly loved the aura out there. The gleefully lit-up faces of the upcoming entrepreneurs & start-up heroes surely, was equally invigorating and enthralling for team RTIwala.
The list of speakers handpicked by Ms Shradhha Sharma, Founder, CEO and Chief Editor at YourStory was no ordinary and we felt blessed to make it there. RTIwala, being a digital media venture we were waiting for Shekhar Gupta, prominent veteran Journalist as there was quite less representation from Media fraternity.
It isn't every day that you get selfied with the pretty and proud celebs. That too at an event of such grandeur. But then, RTIwala seldom ceases to amaze. More so, as our CTO Gourav Mahendra, not only interacted with very gorgeous Sussanne (Roshan) Khan but also got selfied with her. Yay to that!!!
When there are more than 15,000 footfalls, how can you miss the opportunity to brag about your concept, your startup venture, huh? Honestly speaking, we missed the opportunity as the charges left us berserk!!
9. Who on Earth could say NO?
Yeah! We were not able to utter the 'N' word even as politely as we could. There were hundreds of stalls from all possible categories. From food to print, publication to co-working space. Therefore, we got so many, swear to God, so many free goodies. T-shirts, custom printed mugs, delicious chocolates, energy drinks and a lot more. We hoarded all that, with gratefulness.
Yet again, an issue of crowd mismanagement was clearly visible. Although the cuisines were delicious, folks busy utilising their full value for money ended up in a chaos for all. So this point is basically for the poor freelancers & networking enthusiasts, please do not hope for much.
In our upcoming post under Rw Reviews on the RTIwala website, we'll review the two-day Techsparks event at length, with all its pros & cons.
Till then, stay tuned with us for all things social!! Here you go, hit us up.


text:
HQST 100 Watts 12 Volts Polycrystalline Solar Panel Off-Grid RV and Boat Kit with 30A PWM LCD Display Charge Controller + Adaptor Cables + Mounting Brackets
Back to Polycrystalline Solar Panels Shop NowNext produce
Designed specifically for customers new to solar. Easy and convenient to install with pre-drilled holes on panels and Z brackets for fast mounting and securing.
Used in various off-grid applications that include 12 and 24 volts arrays, water pumping systems, signaling systems and other off-grid applications. Great for off-grid applications, such as RVs, trailers, boats, sheds, and cabins.
Provides many benefits, including quiet power production and grid independence. Ideal output: 500Wh per day (depending on the availability of sunlight); can fully charge a 50Ah battery from 50% in 3 hours (depending on the availability of sunlight).
Comes with a 100W 12V polycrystalline solar panel, a 30A PWM LCD charge controller, a pair of 20 ft 12 AWG daptor cables, a set of Z-brackets, and all necessary mounting hardware. With the 30A PWM charge controller, you can expand your system up to a maximum of 400W.
Warranty: Panels, 5 years material and workmanship warranty and 25 years power output warranty; Accessories, 1 year material & workmanship warranty.


This section covers content and information about CLEARSYNTH published in global publications along with own company press releases.
"Clearsynth adheres to the changing requirements by introducing advanced mechanisms and instruments"
Clearsynth intends to be the catalyst in accelerated discovery via synthesis of complex and difficult to make compounds. The company is dedicatedly developing future molecules to meet the requirements of pharmaceutical industry and targeting new sectors such as enzymes, natural extracts, vitamins, hormones and petrochemicals." Says Vijay Ambati, President & CEO, Clearsynth. Excerpts from the interview he had with Mahesh Kallayil.
Clearsynth is a technology-based, research-driven organisation that specialises in developing certified analytical standards and high-end isotope research chemicals. The company is engaged in synthesis for stable, isotope-labelled compounds, metabolites, impurities, glucuronides, chiral compounds, conjugate impurities and radioactive labelled compounds.
A Reference Standard is a highly characterized, standardized & validated reference material. They enable the measurement of the sensitivity, specificity & accuracy of assay or workflow.
The drug modification could address patent cliff, drug shortages, high costs and chronic disorders issues.
Clearsynth is proud to share our recent publications at Elsevier and Bio-organic - Medicinal Chemistry Letters. Congratulating Dr. Naveen for his two latest research publication on medicinal chemistry. Dr. Naveen has worked on synthesis of Quinazolinones alkaloids which have been researched for myraids of applications in pharma. This paper appeared in international journal Elsevier. His second paper for determining anticancer activity of piperazine derivatives was published in Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters.
Clearsynth Labs Ltd is sponsoring 2nd FCS Symposium & Workshop 2016 "Flow in India" at IICT, Tarnaka. Recently, application of the flow technologies for the preparation of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), has become very popular, especially in academia. However pharma industry still relies on multipurpose batch or semibatch reactors, so this is a symposium arranged to propagate the concepts of flow chemistry into industry. In this symposium Experts in this field like Dr. Charlotte Wiles, Prof. Anil Kumar, Dr. Vijay Kirpalani, Mr. Manjinder singh, Mr. Gabor Rozipal and Dr. Kevin van Eeten are delivering their lectures.
Cushman & Wakefield, featuring our Canadian Lab operations!
Life Science Practice Group, Cushman & Wakefield.
Clearsynth is a technology based research driven enterprise, offering integrated products and services in Reference Standards; Stable Isotope Labeled Compounds, Metabolites, Impurities, Chiral Compounds and other related products. Currently headquartered in Mumbai, India, with its laboratory in Hyderabad, Clearsynth was seeking to set up a base for its North American operations in Canada.
Brand Equity Lessons At CPhI Worldwide From "Rx India"
In another hall, a different kind of Indian service provider, Clearsynth, was demonstrating brand differentiation. Vijay Ambati, chairman & CEO, told me he defines his company as the "'Catalyst' in making global drug discovery research work better for the pharmaceutical industry."
"People go to Google when they need infomation," say Vijay Kumar Ambati, president and CEO of Clearsynth. "A book seaker goes to Amazon. Similarly we want researcher to acess Clearsynth for their needs." Already, the technology based research-driven company has created the world largest inventory of over 359,000 refrence and research chemicals: globally available on click of a mouse.
Desh Bandhu Gupta, chairman, Lupin Laboratories was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award and Vijay Kumar Ambati from Clearsynth was conferred with Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
With participation by over 900 companies from 95 countries, industry players from across the pharma industry congregated at CPhI/P-MEC India 2013 in Mumbai to explore India as destination for sourcing and consumption.
The three-day CPhI and P-MEC India 2013 was inaugurated today by Satej D Patil, MoS, Home (Urban & Rural), Food & Drug Administration. The event has participation from over 1000 plus exhibitors from 95 countries. All set to offer opportunities for moving up the Global Pharma value chain, the event is likely to be attended by nearly 30,000 delegates from 109 countries.
Mr.Vijay Kumar Ambati, Founder & CEO of Clearsynth Labs was awarded as the Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year at this event.
The mood at CPhI and P-MEC India 2013 was best articulated by Raghuveer Kini, executive director, Pharmexcil, when he quoted that "this is the on-ground manifestation of what several industry studies have been mentioning during last few months. Different studies report India's pharma sector to grow up to anywhere between $55 billion and $70 billion by the year 2020 at the CAGR between 14 per cent and 17 per cent. The future belongs to India in world pharma scenario. If you belong to the pharma industry anywhere in the world, you cannot ignore us now".
India's pharmaceutical industry is being touted as a key destination across its entire value chain for formulation, process development or packaging, the players in pharma machinery, technology, ingredients, outsourcing and biopharma segments look to opportunities in globalizing their businesses.
During the event, the industry participants are aiming to put their heads together to leverage India's strengths in moving up the value chain globally at a series of technical seminars and discussions which will be held onsite, over the 3 days of the event.
Speaking on the sidelines of the occasion, Joji George, managing director, UBM India highlighted the unprecedented interest on India by global pharma industry. He stated that, "It is no longer that India is considered as a mere destination of low-cost manufacturing and low-end bulk drugs. The profiles of international participants reflect that everyone from every known market across the globe is interested in India. Everyone is so keen to leverage CPhI and P-MEC India this year to grab the opportunity. It is the bus that no one wants to miss".
Indeed, the roster of participants reads like a 'who's who' list of global pharma industry. While the global pharma giants like BASF India, Capsugel Healthcare , Aurobindo Pharma, Merck Millipore, Indoco Remedies, ACG Worldwide, Bosch Ltd., Fette, IMA Industria Macchine Automatiche S.p.A, Marchesini Group, Truking Technology, Waters India, Agilent Technologies, Shimadzu, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Spinco Biotech, Waldner Laboreinrichtungen GmbH & Co. KG, Fabtech Technologies International Ltd., Mitsubishi Electric India, Cadmach Machinery Co. Pvt Ltd., Thermolab Scientific Equipments Pvt. Ltd., Hetero Drugs Ltd., UK Trade & Investment, DSM, Evonik Degussa India Pvt. Ltd. etc are present in full strength, there is participation from drug manufacturers, machinery manufacturers and importers from countries such as Ghana, Latvia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Burma, etc. High level delegations from Nepal, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Korea, Turkey and Egypt are attending what would be the biggest gathering of pharma industry in this part of the world.
Earlier, in a glittering ceremony yesterday evening, the pharma fraternity recognised the talent and performances among its peers at Indian Pharma Awards. The awards were given in Operational Excellence, Excellence in Packaging Development, Excellence in Product Development, Excellence in Pharmaceutical Machinery/Equipment, Contract Research, CSR initiatives. The awards function culminated after declaring the Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year announcing the Lifetime Achievement award.
The evening also witnessed an intensive panel discussion on: "Moving up the Global Pharma Value Chain" where the panelists included industry stalwarts like S M Mudda, executive director-technical & operations, Micro Labs, Sudarashan Jain, managing director, Abbott India, Subodh Priolkar, regional managing director, Colorcon Asia and Dr P M Murali, president, ABLE (Association of Biotech Led Enterprises).
In Today's virtual global economy, most of the people already have go to sites for an entire range of need and desire, from media to food, all accessible from their screens. One enterprising Indian company has made ordering chemical compounds for researchers from kyoto to Kampala just as easy as, under its guiding vision: "The catalyst is making your research work."
"People go to Google when they need information," say Vijay Kumar Ambati, president and CEO of Clearsynth. "A book seeker goes to Amazon. Similarly we want researcher to access Clearsynth for their needs." Already, the technology based research-driven company has created the world largest inventory of over 359,000 refrence and research chemicals: globally available on click of a mouse.
It's ambitious goal of the company that will only turn in next five years. "I saw there was an opportunity high end research chemicals that scientist need to accelerate their work," he say, recalling the conception of Clearsynth after amassing more than 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical sector.
"I realized that we had this potential in India, and a bulb lit up."
The idea becomes a successful business that has more than doubled each year since 2010, and was rated an Outstanding SME in 2013 CIRSIL, the leading Indian rating agency.
Based in Mumbai, ISO-certified Clearsynth has located its main laboratory and R&D center in Hyderabad. It's near the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, which provides a talented pool of India's best chemist for a growth oriented company that expects to hire up to 100 new scientist each year in the next three. A second R&D centre is located in San Diego in the U.S., and laboratory planned in Canada.
"The five next years will be very important for us, especially in Japan a key market," comment Ambati. "Just this year, we plan to increase our business there y more than 200 percent. "Working through its Japanese distributor, Toyo Science, Clearsynth already supplies researcher in Tokyo university and Osaka university.
He remembers his first visit to Japan in 1995: "I got out in Osaka, went to the bus-stop and read a sign that says: 'The bus stops here, not time.' The bus had not been late a single time in last 10 years. It was mind blowing."
Today he knows what the Japanese market demand. "Japanese are also the strictest of all about quality and also value long term relationships. Catering to the market, with its stringent standards and timely delivery expectations, make us the world-class organization"
To date, Clearsynth has not received any quality complaints from the Japanese clients, and not a single return. It's implementation plan Japan next year includes: setting a single point of contact and a stocking point for orders, including products specifically for the Japanese market; working more closely with distributors; providing labelling, literature and local language support in Japanese; and basing a dedicated Clearsynth technical-marketing specialist in Japan to support its distributors.
"We have a long way to go," Ambati concludes. From developing innovative Swiss and Swedish made packaging that securely deliver tiny amounts to providing the 10 percent of its inventory that no other company in the world can supply. Clearsynth is already leading in its niche. "Our goal will inspire us to reach as far as we can."
Six exhibition halls in Paris Nord Villepinte, France, encased city-like ecosystems (or gigantic beehives); the conference in total so big it was hard to plan a strategy. It was a battle of outsourcing provider brands, and differentiation was difficult.
The lead sponsor's brand has been under attack. Some say it is "about time" and fixes necessary, others see discourse denigrating to a degree of "finger-pointing."
The conference (CPhI Worldwide 2014) and brand (India's pharma/outsourcing industry) coalesced in a seamless marketing integration. With a pleasing yellow-orange sunrise background supporting a light font and professional logo (Rx India), the chosen message blanketed the convention, covering it entirely but softly. It flowed on strategically placed banners, decorated pillars and hosted crossbeams upon entrance and egress.
523 Indian facilities are registered with US FDA, the highest number for any country outside the US.
Indian companies accounted for 39% of all Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) approvals in 2013.
India accounted for 40% by volume of US generic drug imports in 2013.
This initiative provides universal instruction in brand equity building, maintenance and support. It is fronted by a group established by the national government known as the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF).
I had the opportunity to speak privately to the CEO of IBEF, Ms. Aparna Dutt Sharma. She was relaxed and determined, like the campaign she was overseeing at CPhI, and said such things as, "We're not really interested in dwelling on recent discussions. We're moving the conversation to facts of an established industry primacy, and the positive influence on the future of the industry we are bringing. India is helping to advance the science and technology of the industry. That is the message"
C&W was tasked with surveying the market, touring, and drafting and executing an offer within Clearsynth's executives' four-day visit to Toronto. C&W conducted a thorough search throughout the GTA to find a specialized high quality lab space in move-in condition. The team was able to find three suitable options and managed to secure a fully built wet laboratory, requiring minimal additional capital expenditures by Clearsynth. They have now commenced their operations in a perfectly suited facility in the Sheridan Park area and have started to build their existing teams in marketing, operations and synthesis and welcome any referrals/support.


text:
Nobody said it was easy.
The Sponsors
Sneak Peeks of Season 4
17 From 2017
Shhh!
Navigation Home About The Show The Sponsors The Host Listen Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Sneak Peeks of Season 4 17 From 2017 Shop Contact Shhh!
Jennie Smythe
CEO of Girlilla Marketing
Girlilla Marketing
Jennie Smythe, CEO of Girlilla Marketing, began her career in the mid-1990s working for Elektra Entertainment. The years of AC/DC, Metallica, Motley Crue, Staind, Deftones, and she was the receptionist. With a little time and foresight, she quickly made the play to move to YAHOO! Music as Director of Marketing and Promotion, spearheading their digital content. Which was unheard of at the time. Eventually, she made her move to Nashville to work for Warner Bros. Records' New Media Department and then as Clear Channel's Senior Director of Content and Marketing. In January of 2008, Jennie launched Girlilla Marketing. As of today, Girlilla represents Brandy Clark, Bob Weir, Chris Hemsworth, Liam Hemsworth, Kristin Chenoweth, Maddie & Tae, Nickleback, Old Dominion, Randy Rogers Band, and to many to mention. What is it like to represent the world's most hated and loved band? Brand activations, sponsors, relationships, how can I make money in today's music? Follow Jennie @girlillajennie and visit www.girlillamarketing.com for more about this top boutique marketing company.


If you are a busy mompreneur struggling with creating and maintaining your goals, you must create a system to put these plans into action.
If people didn't benefit from routine, there would be none. Humans form habits around reliable and repeatable tasks.
For all the tasks that you are required to repeatedly perform, consider "scheduling" them into a routine.
Tasks such as laundry, shopping, cleaning, dishes, and home maintenance are all regularly required to efficiently run a home. Consider "scheduling" time to actually complete each of these tasks on a reasonably cyclical basis.
Use the technique that I use with my family… Our Sunday Summit – We sit around the kitchen table after dinner on Sunday evenings and review everyone's upcoming weekly schedules. We also plan out our dinner menus for the week and figure out who is going where.
This one scheduling routine has made a HUGE difference for my family and in our shared sense of accountability to prioritizing family time and what is most important.
Also, now that the kids are older (teens) – we use ical and Google Calendar to schedule reminders and recurring appointments like sports events, boy scout meetings and weekend commitments.
How do you keep your schedule organized? What planning routines, tips, ideas and techniques do you use to keep yourself on track? PLEASE share them in the comment box below!


text:
Serious Sam 3: BFE – strzelanka pierwszoosobowa wyprodukowana przez Croteam i wydana przez Devolver Digital. Została wydana 22 listopada 2011 na Microsoft Windows, następnie 23 kwietnia 2012 na system macOS. Wersja na Xboxa 360 została wydana 17 października 2012, natomiast wersja na PlayStation 3 13 maja 2014. Jest to prequel Serious Sam: Pierwsze starcie.

Rozgrywka
Gracz wciela się w postać Serious Sama, który ma powstrzymać Mentala (Tah-Um) i jego hordy kosmitów. Akcja gry rozgrywa się w Egipcie.

W grze zaimplementowano tryb gry wieloosobowej, poprzez internet może uczestniczyć 16 graczy w trybie kampanii, Deathmatch i Beast Hunt, na jednym komputerze w trybie podzielonego ekranu mogą grać równocześnie cztery osoby.

Fabuła
Serious Sam 3: BFE jest prequelem Serious Sam: Pierwsze starcie i przedstawia przygody Sama przed przeniesieniem się w czasie. Przed rokiem 2060 ludzkość powoli zaczynała odkrywać artefakty i ruiny pozostawione w starożytności przez Sirianów. Niestety, Mental wybrał ten czas, aby zwrócić jego uwagę na Ziemię. Wysyła swoją flotę kosmiczną, niosąc swoje niekończące się hordy, by zaatakować Ziemię, prowadząc podbój, który doprowadził ludzkość niemal do stanu wymarcia. W ostatniej próbie ocaleni zwracają się do Time-Locka, niedawno odkrytego urządzenia podobno zdolnego do podróżowania w czasie. Dzięki niemu osoba ta może osiągnąć decydujący punkt w czasie i zmienić wydarzenia z przeszłości. Ponieważ jednak urządzenie jest uśpione, muszą najpierw znaleźć sposób, aby je włączyć.

Przypisy

2012 w grach komputerowych
Gry komputerowe wyprodukowane w Chorwacji
Komputerowe gry akcji
Strzelanki pierwszoosobowe
Gry na platformę Linux
Gry na platformę Windows
Gry na platformę PlayStation 3
Gry na platformę Xbox 360
Gry z serii Serious Sam

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Andrew Shey is Of Counsel to the Firm's Real Estate Department, concentrating primarily on retail and office leasing and related transactions.
Prior to joining the Firm, Andrew was general counsel to a prominent real estate investment, development and management company with extensive commercial property holdings in the Bronx and Manhattan. In that position, Andrew handled the legal aspects of a broad range of real estate matters including lease negotiations, property sales and acquisitions, tenant buyouts and relocations, mortgage financing and tax deferred exchanges. His construction related experience includes single and multilevel ground up development projects, building expansions and major renovations.
Andrew earned his law degree from St. John's University School of Law and received his undergraduate degree from Middlebury College. Andrew is admitted to practice in New York State.


text:
Q: Sencha Touch and Clusterize.js, passing down touch scroll events I am trying to get a very large list to scroll cleanly and would like to implement Clusterize.js but Sencha seems to grab the touch scroll events and won't let them pass down.
Clusterize.js URL: http://nexts.github.io/Clusterize.js/
I started a fiddle which shows the plain list and its performance, I am working on implementing Clusterize...: http://jsfiddle.net/AnthonyV/9hds0has/
Note: I need this to work and perform well on IE for weaker mobile tablets.
I don't want to enable the scroller on the HTML panel because that will just interfere.
I did try to enable the scroller and then add listeners to push the events down and disable propagation but that did not work.
{
    direction:'vertical',
    scroller: {
        listeners:{
            scrollstart:function(a,b,c){
                // stop the scroller an pass on the event;
                return false;

            },
            scroll:function(a,b,c){
                // stop the scroller an pass on the event;
                console.log('[scrollable][on scroll]');
                return false;

            },
            scrollend:function( scroller, x, y, eOpts ){
                // stop the scroller an pass on the event;
                console.log('[scrollable][on scrollend]x='+x+', y='+y);
                return false;
            }
        }
    }
}

I also looked at relayEvent and relayEvents but those seem to be geared to push events between ext widgets..

A: The answer is DONT!
Clusterize.js is a very cool way to implement Infinite scrolling but that functionality is already built into the Sencha List widget.  The only problem is that for it to work or work properly you need to upgrade to Sencha Touch 2.4.2
For more information on how to get it going see the following StackOverFlow question:
Sencha Touch - How to enable Infinite Scroll

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Mitterwiedenhof ist ein Ortsteil der Gemeinde Vierkirchen im oberbayerischen Landkreis Dachau.

Beschreibung
Die drei benachbarten Einöden Ober-, Mitter- und Unterwiedenhof liegen gut zwei Kilometer ostsüdöstlich des Kernortes Vierkirchen. Eine Gemeindestraße führt Richtung Vierkirchen und zur weiter östlich verlaufenden Kreisstraße DAH 4, eine weitere nach Rettenbach. Etwa 500 m südlich fließt der Biberbach.

Der Ort wurde vermutlich im 10. Jahrhundert aus dem Wald gerodet. 1090 ist er zusammen mit Unterwiedenhof als "Winnenhoven" erstmals erwähnt. Eine mögliche Namensdeutung ist "Höfe auf der Weide". Besitzer waren niedere Adelige, das Kloster Indersdorf sowie Kammerberger und Münchner Bürger.

Bis zur Gebietsreform in Bayern war Mitterwiedenhof Ortsteil der Gemeinde Biberbach. Am 1. Mai 1978 wurde diese aufgelöst, Mitterwiedenhof kam zu Vierkirchen.

Weblinks

 Ortsteilgeschichte auf der Gemeinde-Website

Einzelnachweise

Vierkirchen (Oberbayern)
Ort im Landkreis Dachau
Einzelsiedlung
Ersterwähnung 1090


text:
Q: Is there a way of having a GUI for bash scripts? I have some bash scripts, some simple ones to copy, search, write lines to files and so on.
I am an Ubuntu. and I've searched in google, but it seems that everybody is doing that on python.
I could do these on python, but since I am not a python programmer, I just know the basics.
I have no idea of how calling a sh script from a GUI written on python.
If someone has a link or something to say, please drop a line.
regards,
Mario

A:
Is there a way of having a GUI for bash scripts?

You can try using Zenity.

a tool that allows you to display GTK dialog boxes in commandline and shell scripts.

I have no idea of how calling a sh script from a GUI written on python.

You can do this using subprocess.
Personally I would recommend that you learn Python and call the scripts from Python instead of trying to write the GUI in Bash.

A: basically, all bash does is start other programs (and do symbolic math on the command line). So no, you're going to have to involve some other program.

A: I do not fully understand what you want. Calling a shell script from python, is like calling any executable from python, using os.system.
In fact there're several 'guis' for bash, namely zenity and others.

A: If you want to be able to display dialog boxes, calendar selection boxes, etc. you might want to take a look at dialog and whiptail. They are not graphical - they use text mode - but they may be adequate for your needs.


Our Second President John Adams once wrote to his wife Abigail about the progression he hoped to see in our land from one generation to the next. He wrote "The science of government it is my duty to study, more than all other sciences; the arts of legislation and administration and negotiation ought to take the place of, indeed exclude, in a manner, all other arts. I must study politics and war, that our sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. Our sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history and naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain."
He saw that if a country could establish true liberty rooted and founded upon the "Laws of Nature and Nature's God" then the next generation could build upon that liberty and advance in what might be called the practical arts of mathematics, commerce and agriculture. In advancing that realm of life he knew that following God's laws they would enjoy a new level of prosperity which would build an economic powerhouse that freed their own children to study and enjoy what we often call the fine arts "painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain." So he envisioned a three tiered cake, the bottom layer which is liberty under God's Law, the next layer economic prosperity established through the practical arts in obedience to God's Laws and finally the top layer of the fine arts as a beautiful expression of God's Law.
Consider his three tiered cake for a moment. What happens if the bottom layer becomes corrupted and debauched? Does it have any effect on the two layers resting upon it? Does a rejection of "Laws of Nature and Nature's God" in the political realm have any impact upon the economy, on the practical arts; and does it have any impact upon the finer arts as well? I think it clearly does and we see the evidence around us everywhere.
The political class as a whole has long ago abandoned "the Laws of Nature and Nature's God" and the impact on the economy is palpable. Just consider what was done more that 100 years ago by Woodrow Wilson. With a stroke of the pen he created the Federal Reserve in direct violation of the eight commandment. As we have said before, it is the biggest institutionalized gang of thieves the world has ever known. They have robbed the richest nation in the world for more than 100 years - grand theft on a galactic scale. They have effectively ruined the world's most powerful economy.
So corruption on the first layer has a direct and devastating impact on the second layer. And we could cite multiple hundreds of other examples that demonstrate this as well.
And what of the impact on the third layer: painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain? I think the corruption on the political layer has an equally devastating impact on the layer of the finer arts.
"All of mankind craves and senses the innate potential for meaning that God has built into all of creation. Love, truth, beauty, and purpose all reflect various aspects of meaning. Man, however, wants his meaning on his own terms with no reciprocal responsibility to any other agent. In other words, man wants to be his own god. Therefore, scripture teaches that God allows man to foolishly rationalize that life just doesn't make sense and can't possibly have ultimate meaning.
We see in much of the modern art, expressions of the rejection of the Creator God and His Holy Word.
And the reverse is also true, as John Adams envisioned. If the order of society can be established based upon God's Holy Word there will be liberty in economic life that will result in a prosperity which allows for artistic expressions of many kinds to flourish which reflect the order and beauty of the Creator. But when the Creator Himself is rejected along with His Holy Word, then chaos and meaninglessness abound.
Now the realm of the finer arts is often an area that the average Christian doesn't think God's Word speaks directly to; but that is an error. This morning we will discover one example where God speaks directly to this field as well as giving us an understanding of the over arching principles of artistic expression. Let's explore together the calling of Bezaleel in Exodus 31.


text:
Intercultural Urbanism
An Interdisciplinary Perspective on Urban Culture, Space, Architecture, and Design
The University and The City
June 28, 2011 / Denver, Urban Studies
The University of Denver promises, in its vision statement, to be "a great private university dedicated to the public good." In 2006 a campus conference about the university's relationship to the city provided an opportunity to explore ways that DU can partner with city government to address significant urban problems. At the time local columnists worried about the loss of large and mid-sized employers in the city center, the growing number of poor students in a public school system characterized by aging infrastructure, and the migration of middle-class families to the suburbs.
The conference proceedings didn't disappoint. Presentations by city officials in the areas of public safety, education, and business development suggested numerous possibilities for student service learning and collaborative, community-engaged research. Civic commitments to historic preservation, sustainability, and social justice were also on display. All of this nicely dovetails with DU's educational mission.
I listened to the speakers as a Denverite keenly interested in the life and future of the American city. Many of DU's professional schools, research centers, and institutes are well-positioned to tackle problems around urban education, land use, transportation and environment. Much less tractable is the challenge of integrating new immigrants and other culturally diverse groups into an intercultural whole that has a shared commitment to city-building. Several conference presenters expressed optimism that Denver is up to the task given what they see as our city's long history of civic determination and cultural inclusiveness. In one of the few moments that elicited spontaneous applause from the audience–given a wider debate percolating in American society at the time–one presenter described immigration to the city as an "asset" rather than a problem.
Downtown Denver, viewed from DU's Penrose Library
I wonder, however, whether such claims are actually reflected in practice, some successes in other areas of civic life notwithstanding. Five years later Denver is still experiencing many of the same problems as other American cities: gentrification, middle-class flight to exurbs, and deepening divisions between rich and poor in urban core and suburb alike. One strategy that's emerged worldwide for revitalizing life in city centers is building for cultural tourism, but this has opened up other debates about the accessibility of revitalized spaces for minority populations. These debates are happening here Denver, inspired by such developments as completion of the Hamilton wing of the Denver Art Museum, proposals to rehabilitate the Civic Center and Union Station areas, and the continuing maturation of Denver's widely-touted New Urban experiments in sustainable living.
The key question is whether these developments will produce a more culturally-inclusive city or simply reproduce old patterns of exclusion in new forms. Will investments in Denver's pedestrian plazas and malls, recreation centers, libraries and museums, and its many public parks encourage use by a variety of groups? Will redesigned public spaces enhance democratic interactions on the street and help create a common civic purpose that transcends loyalty to the local professional football team? How might other spaces and cultural institutions be designed and located so as to serve the common good? These and other questions require serious engagement with a variety of traditional liberal arts disciplines—fields much maligned by parents and pundits these days for having little practical relevance—such as anthropology, art, foreign languages, geography, history, human communication, and religious studies.
In recent years DU has nicely burnished its reputation as an institution that serves the public good. In 2006 an Economic Futures Panel evaluated the ability of Colorado's state and local governments to develop and sustain public investments appropriate to the state's long-term financial well-being. Strategic Issues Programs in 2007 and 2009 examined the hot-button topics of water use and immigration reform. In 2010 DU opened a new Center for World Languages and Cultures. The DU faculty have just approved a new academic minor in Intercultural Global Studies aimed at better understanding the cultural similarities and differences among diverse groups living in the United States. What if we now imagine the formation of a Colorado Cultural Futures Panel to examine intercultural relationships and sustainability in the context of the myriad challenges facing great—and wannabe great—American cities? It's a proposal worth considering if we want to cultivate more and better partnerships between the city of Denver and its institutions of higher learning.
A Blog by Dean Saitta, Department of Anthropology, University of Denver
Checklist for a Sustainable Smart City
Expanding Thought About Cities, Sustainability, and Social Justice
Planning, Placemaking, and the Public Good
The Ancient Roots of New Urbanism
Dystopian Denver: Are We Protecting the Character of Our City?
Richard Brecknock on Diversity vs. Difference in Urban Placemaking
Kenneth Fox on The Ancient Roots of New Urbanism
Linda Weber on The Evolution of Urban Planning
Tomer Chelouche on The Evolution of Urban Planning
Maree Pardy on Has Placemaking Become Cliché?
9th and Colorado
Intercultural City
Occupy Denver
Pruitt-Igoe
Urban Insurgency
Water and The City
Black Urbanist
Blooming Rock
Cities Speak
City Lab
Denver Infill
Denver Urbanism
Engaging Cities
Goodspeed Update
Guardian Cities
Just Sustainabilities
MELA Social Enterprise
My Urbanist
Places (Design Observer)
Preservation Institute Blog
Restless Urbanist
Subversive Urbanism
The Corner Side Yard
The Enacted Environment
Think Urban
Wide Urban World
Copyright © 2020 Intercultural Urbanism. All Rights Reserved