Saudi German Hospitals Group – one of the largest private hospital groups in the MENA region – has announced their world class, state-of-the-art, Dhs300 million worth healthcare facility in Ajman. The tertiary-care speciality and sub-speciality facility will be the biggest hospital in Ajman, designed to cater to the growing population across all northern emirates, while offering a wide range of medical services. Spanning over 41,062 square meters, the 200-bed hospital will commence operations soon.
With 46 OPD clinics and over 20 specialities, Saudi German Hospital, Ajman, will be the Group's third healthcare facility in the UAE, and 10th across the MENA region.
Commenting on the occasion, Dr Reem Osman, CEO of Saudi German Hospitals (SGH) Group – UAE, said: "Everyone is entitled to proper healthcare and at SGH we are committed to providing superior quality services to our patients, their families and community as a whole. Saudi German Group has a very well-thought out expansion programme to reach out to maximum number of patients in the UAE and the new state-of-the-art facility in Ajman is part of the plan. With two hospitals successfully running in Dubai and Sharjah, we aim to simulate the same international standards in SGH-Ajman that we have adopted in our other facilities. Moreover, the emirate is strategically positioned in close proximity to all the other emirates, which allows SGH-Ajman to treat patients from across the UAE".
Designed with a futuristic view, SGH-Ajman can grow in all directions, both vertically and horizontally. The hospital will offer a wide range of medical services including all kinds of specialities, sub-specialities and critical care units of highest international standards. Sub-speciality facilities include ICU, CCU, NICU, Open Heart, Oncology, Neurosurgery, ENT, Maxillo-facial surgery, Obs/Gyn and IVF centers, Laparoscopic and Laser surgeries, among others.
"Our aim is not just to provide healthcare through our hospitals, but to have a significant role in providing the UAE health sector with scientifically qualified and highly efficient medical staff. The hospital is the first phase of our expansion; in the second phase, we plan to build Centres of Excellence, medical colleges and staff accommodation, among other features. Together they will make up the Batterjee Medical City, work for which has already begun in Dubai. These, and many such features will be the legacy of the Saudi German Hospitals Group strengthening its footprint in the UAE and the MENA region," added Dr Osman.
Besides providing quality medical services, SGH-Ajman also aims to introduce several CSR initiatives, community engagements and provide wellness education to the people of Ajman and beyond. The Group has been actively involved in many humanitarian projects across the world.


text:
/*
 * drivers/input/tablet/wacom_wac.h
 *
 * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
 * the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
 * (at your option) any later version.
 */
#ifndef WACOM_WAC_H
#define WACOM_WAC_H

#define STYLUS_DEVICE_ID	0x02
#define CURSOR_DEVICE_ID	0x06
#define ERASER_DEVICE_ID	0x0A
#define PAD_DEVICE_ID		0x0F

enum {
	PENPARTNER = 0,
	GRAPHIRE,
	WACOM_G4,
	PTU,
	PL,
	INTUOS,
	INTUOS3S,
	INTUOS3,
	INTUOS3L,
	CINTIQ,
	MAX_TYPE
};

struct wacom_features {
	char *name;
	int pktlen;
	int x_max;
	int y_max;
	int pressure_max;
	int distance_max;
	int type;
};

struct wacom_wac {
	unsigned char *data;
        int tool[2];
        int id[2];
        __u32 serial[2];
	struct wacom_features *features;
};

#endif

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Shares in retail currency broker FXCM lost two thirds of their value on Tuesday as the company laid out details of a rescue loan after $200 million of losses on last week's shock removal of the cap on the Swiss franc.The U.S. firm is one of the biggest of the online brokers that have prospered over the past decade from a rise in small-time currency speculation, often by helping individuals to leverage relatively minimal sums into large currency bets.FXCM agreed an emergency loan with Leucadia National Corp on Friday, and laid out more details, including maximum funding charges of 17 percent per annum, in a statement overnight on Monday after European and U.S. markets closed.Frankfurt-listed shares in the company fell 70 percent in value to 1.456 euros per share, according to Reuters data.
Leucadia National Corporation is a diversified holding company. Shares of LUK fell by 0.27% or $-0.06/share to $21.78. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $20.96 and as high as $28.72. On average, 1987680 shares of LUK exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 621090.


Fall is here and the weather has just started to turn cooler, which makes it perfect for sitting outside, watching the leaves turn, and sipping on your favorite hot beverage. I indulge in the occasional coffee house treat, but who can spend $5 every day? Not this girl...so I get creative and make my own flavorful coffee drinks, like this Salted Chile Caramel Latte, featuring Torani Bourbon Caramel Syrup.
I love caramel flavor in just about anything, but I decided to spice it up with a pinch of chile powder to compliment the cooler weather. Torani syrups are the perfect way to add some flavor to this drink (and others) during this holiday season and they are made with real ingredients and natural flavors!
Step 1: Brew the coffee and heat the milk. If you do not have a steamer, you can heat it in the microwave. I heated mine at 100% power for about 1 minute, checking it after 30 seconds. Use a whisk to froth the milk.
Step 2: Add the coffee and hot milk to a mug, then add the caramel syrup, chile powder, and sea salt.
Step 3: Garnish with whipped cream, a drizzle of caramel sauce, and a sprinkle of sea salt. For a decorative touch, you can roll the rim of the mug in sea salt.
Grab your favorite book or magazine and head outside to enjoy this warm and toasty drink, while taking in the beautiful reds, golds, and browns of the changing leaves. This drink is also the perfect ending to your Thanksgiving meal; just whip up a big batch for your guests.
You can allow your guests to customize their coffee with a splash of one of the other authentic coffeehouse flavors from Torani, if they are not a fan of the Salted Chile Caramel Latte. The Toasted Marshmallow Syrup would be perfect in hot chocolate, for the kids.
You can find Torani Syrups at your local Walmart in the coffee aisle, so pick up all the flavors! Which flavor are you most excited to try?
For more flavor inspiration, follow Torani on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. You may also want to try my Pumpkin Pie Smoothie made with Torani Pumpkin Pie sauce.
Sign me up Mary!! This sounds delicious! I love those syrups and didn't even know about those flavors or that they were sold at Wal-Mart! Can't wait to try this!
Andrea, You have to try it! It is so good and I didn't realize how many flavors they had either!
This looks absolutely amazing!! YUM!!
The spice added an extra kick and pairs with the sweet and salty combo.
I've never tried this brand before. I bet my husband would like it!
Yes, and they come in sugar free too!
Oh my! I need to try this asap! Sound so delicious!
Yes girl! We can have pumpkin and caramel!
I love caramel anything as well but I don't get the chili on top. I might leave that bit off.
You can always leave out the chile spice. It just gives it a little kick.
This looks delicious! Will be making for the holidays for sure!
It was so good! It makes a great dessert coffee too!
Yum! What a fun twist on the normal salted caramel!
Yes, I agree! I like the extra kick!
Looks yummy! This is the perfect latte for a chilly fall day. Maybe a drink to enjoy when you take a break from Christmas shopping or decorating, too. Thanks!
Yes, I will be making this again this weekend while I am decorating the Christmas tree!
I am not a coffee drinker, but this looks delicious. I bet I could totally make a hot chocolate version with these Torani syrups, eh?
Of course, Ashley! You should try the toasted marshmallow flavor in the hot chocolate!


text:
Previous (Billy Sunday)
Next (Billy the Kid)
Samuel Wilder
Date of birth: June 22 1906(1906-06-22)
Sucha, Galicia, Austria-Hungary (now Sucha Beskidzka, Poland)
March 27 2002 (age 95)
Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Academy Awards:
1945 The Lost Weekend
1960 The Apartment
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award
1988 Lifetime achievement
Judith Coppicus (1936-1946)
Audrey Young (1949-2002)
Billy Wilder (June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-born, Jewish-American journalist, screenwriter, film director, and producer whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age. Many of Wilder's films achieved both critical and public acclaim.
1.1 Origins
1.2 Berlin
1.3 Hollywood career
1.4 Directorial style
1.5 Later life
2 Wilder's legacy
4 Academy Awards
Billy Wilder is sometimes confused with director William Wyler. This confusion is understandable, as both were German-speaking Jews with similar backgrounds and names. However, their output as directors was quite different, with Wyler preferring to direct epics and heavy dramas and Wilder noted for his comedies and film noir-type dramas.
Life and career
Born Samuel Wilder in Sucha Beskidzka, Austria-Hungary (now Poland) to Max Wilder and Eugenia Dittler, Wilder was nicknamed Billie by his mother (he changed that to "Billy" after arriving in America). Soon the family moved to Vienna, where Wilder attended school. After dropping out of the University of Vienna, Wilder became a journalist. To advance his career, Wilder decided to move to Berlin, Germany.
While in Berlin, before achieving success as a writer, Wilder allegedly worked as a taxi dancer. After writing crime and sports stories as a stringer for local newspapers, he was eventually offered a regular job at a Berlin tabloid. Developing an interest in film, he began working as a screenwriter. He collaborated with several other tyros (with Fred Zinnemann and Robert Siodmak, on the 1929 feature, People on Sunday). After the rise of Adolf Hitler, Wilder, who was Jewish, left for Paris and then the United States. His mother, grandmother, and stepfather died at Auschwitz concentration camp.
Hollywood career
After arriving in Hollywood, in 1933, Wilder shared an apartment with fellow émigré Peter Lorre, and continued his career as a screenwriter. He did not know English in the beginning, and later on he said: "My English is a mixture between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Archbishop Desmond Tutu."
Wilder became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1934. His first significant success was Ninotchka, a collaboration with fellow German immigrant Ernst Lubitsch. Released in 1939, this screwball comedy starred Greta Garbo (generally known as a tragic heroine in film melodramas), and was popularly and critically acclaimed. With the byline "Garbo Laughs!" it also took Garbo's career in a new direction. The film also marked Wilder's first Academy Award nomination, which he shared with co-writer Charles Brackett. For twelve years, Wilder co-wrote many of his films with Brackett, from 1938 through 1950. He followed Ninotchka with a series of box office hits in 1942, including his Hold Back the Dawn and Ball of Fire, as well as his directorial feature debut, The Major and the Minor.
Billy Wilder was the Editors Supervisor in the 1945 U.S. Army Signal Corps documentary/propaganda film, Death Mills.
Wilder established his directorial reputation after helming Double Indemnity (1944), an early film noir he co-wrote with mystery novelist Raymond Chandler, with whom he did not get along. Double Indemnity not only set conventions for the noir genre (such as "venetian blind" lighting and voice-over narration), but was also a landmark in the battle against Hollywood censorship. The original James M. Cain novel Double Indemnity featured two love triangles and a murder plotted for insurance money. The book was highly popular with the reading public, but had been considered unfilmable under the Hays Code, because adultery was central to its plot. Starring Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray, Double Indemnity is credited by some as the first true film noir, combining the stylistic elements of Citizen Kane with the narrative elements of Maltese Falcon.
Two years later, Wilder earned the Best Director and Best Screenplay Academy Awards for the adaptation of a Charles R. Jackson story, The Lost Weekend. This was the first major American film to make a serious examination of alcoholism. Another dark and cynical film Wilder co-wrote and directed was the critically acclaimed Sunset Boulevard in 1950, which paired rising star William Holden with silent film star, Gloria Swanson. Playing on type, Swanson played Norma Desmond, a reclusive silent film star who dreams of a comeback; Holden is an aspiring screenwriter and becomes a kept man.
In 1951, Wilder followed up Sunset Boulevard with the remarkably cynical Ace in the Hole (aka The Big Carnival), a tale of media exploitation of a mining accident. It was a critical and commercial failure at the time, but its reputation has grown over the years. In the fifties, Wilder also directed two vibrant adaptations of Broadway plays, the POW drama Stalag 17 (1953), which resulted in a Best Actor Oscar for William Holden, and the Agatha Christie mystery Witness for the Prosecution (1957).
In 1959, Wilder introduced crossdressing to American film audiences with Some Like It Hot. In this comedy, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis play musicians on the run from a Chicago gang, who disguise themselves as women and become romantically involved with Marilyn Monroe and Joe E. Brown.
From the mid-1950s on, Wilder made mostly comedies.[1] Among the classics Wilder produced in this period are two more Marilyn Monroe vehicles, the farces The Seven Year Itch (1955) and Some Like It Hot (1959), as well as satires such as The Apartment (1960) again with Jack Lemmon, and the romantic comedy Sabrina (1954)—Humphrey Bogart's last star turn.
Wilder's humor was harsh and unsentimental—some call it cynical—and sometimes sardonic. In Love in the Afternoon (1957), a young and innocent Audrey Hepburn who doesn't want to be young or innocent wins playboy Gary Cooper by pretending to be a married woman in search of extramarital amusement. Even Wilder's warmest comedy, The Apartment, features an attempted suicide on Christmas Eve.
In 1959, Wilder teamed with writer-producer I.A.L. Diamond, a collaboration that remained until the end of both men's careers. After winning three Academy Awards for 1960's The Apartment (for Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay), Wilder's career slowed. His Cold War farce One, Two, Three (1961) featured a rousing comic performance by James Cagney, but was followed by the lesser films, including Lemmon in Irma la Douce and Kiss Me, Stupid. Wilder garnered his last Oscar nomination for his screenplay The Fortune Cookie in 1966. His 1970 film The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes was intended as a major roadshow release, but was heavily cut by the studio and has never been fully restored. Later films such as Fedora and Buddy, Buddy failed to impress critics or the public.
Directorial style
Wilder's directorial choices reflected his belief in the primacy of writing. He avoided the exuberant cinematography of Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock because, in Wilder's opinion, shots that called attention to themselves would distract the audience from the story. Wilder's pictures have tight plotting and memorable dialogue. Wilder filmed in black and white whenever studios would let him. Despite his conservative directorial style, his subject matter often pushed the boundaries of mainstream entertainment by dealing frankly with sex and violence.
He was skilled at working with actors, coaxing silent era legends Gloria Swanson and Erich von Stroheim out of retirement for roles in Sunset Boulevard. For Stalag 17, Wilder squeezed an Oscar-winning performance out of a reluctant William Holden; Holden wanted to make his character more likable, but Wilder refused. Wilder sometimes cast against type for major parts, such as Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity and The Apartment. Many today know MacMurray as a wholesome family man from the television series My Three Sons, but he played a womanizing schemer in Wilder's films. Humphrey Bogart shed his tough guy image to give one of his warmest performances in Sabrina. James Cagney, not usually known for comedy, was memorable in a high-octane comic role for Wilder's One, Two, Three.
Wilder mentored Jack Lemmon and was the first director to pair him with Walter Matthau, in The Fortune Cookie (1966). Wilder had great respect for Lemmon, calling him the hardest working actor he had ever met.
Wilder's films often lacked any discernible political tone or sympathies, which was not unintentional. He was less interested in current political fashions than in human nature and the issues that confronted ordinary people. He was not affected by the Hollywood blacklist, and had little sympathy for those who were. Of the blacklisted "Hollywood Ten," Wilder famously quipped, "Of the ten, two had talent, and the rest were just unfriendly." In fact, Wilder reveled in poking fun at those who took politics too seriously. In Ball of Fire, his burlesque queen Sugarpuss points at her sore throat and complains "Pink? It's as red as the Daily Worker and twice as sore." Later, she gives the overbearing and unsmiling housemaid the name "Franco."
In 1988, Wilder was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Billy Wilder died in 2002, of pneumonia at the age of 95 after battling health problems, including cancer, in Los Angeles, California, and was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. He died the same day as Milton Berle and Dudley Moore. The next day, the top-ranking French newspaper, Le Monde, titled its first-page obituary, "Billy Wilder is dead. Nobody is perfect." This was a reference to the famous closing line of his film Some Like it Hot.
Wilder's legacy
Billy Wilder has been called a Hollywood cynic who made comedies—a cynic because his work was unsentimental and unsparing of the sensibilities of his characters. But all this was in the context of either film comedy or film noir; he made both.
Wilder holds a significant place in the history of Hollywood censorship for expanding the range of acceptable subject matter. He is responsible for two of the film noir era's most definitive films, in Double Indemnity and Sunset Boulevard.
Billy Wilder was a key player in the American cinema throughout the period after World War II. He helped bridge the transition between the studio system and the rise of independent producer-directors. He was still active into the "New Hollywood" era. He was a 1930s screenwriter who became a contract director in the 1940s. By 1950, he had come to be regarded as a superb director. In the 1950s, he and his co-screenwriters were known in the front office and fan magazines for making money, and indulging the sensibilities of audiences as well as pleasing the critics. Although he met with a critical downturn in the 1960s, by the mid-1970s his reputation had risen, leading to renewed critical praise and awards. Influential American film critic Andrew Sarris had not included Wilder in his pantheon in the first (1968) edition of his seminal work, The American Cinema; Directors and Directions, 1929-1968. But in the revised edition of 1996, Sarris admitted that he had been wrong about Wilder and elevated him to that lofty status.
Along with Woody Allen, Wilder leads the list of films on the American Film Institute's list of 100 funniest American films with 5 films written and holds the honor of holding the top spot with Some Like it Hot. Also on the list are The Apartment and The Seven Year Itch, which he directed, and Ball of Fire and Ninotchka, which he co-wrote. The AFI has ranked four of Wilder's films among their top 100 American films of the twentieth century. These are: Sunset Boulevard (no. 12), Some Like It Hot (14), Double Indemnity (38), and The Apartment (93).
Wilder said, "I just made pictures I would have liked to see."
Billy Wilder's twelve Academy Award nominations for screenwriting was a record until 1997, when Woody Allen received a thirteenth nomination for Deconstructing Harry. Wilder is one of only four people who have won three Academy Awards for producing, directing, and writing the same film, (The Apartment).
Wilder has also had a significant influence on some other directors. Spanish filmmaker Fernando Trueba said in his acceptance speech for the 1993 Best Non-English Speaking Film Oscar, "I would like to believe in God in order to thank him. But I just believe in Billy Wilder… so, thank you Mr. Wilder." According to Trueba, Wilder called him the day after and told him: "Fernando, it's God."
Year Award Work
1946 Best Screenplay The Lost Weekend
1946 Best Director The Lost Weekend
1951 Best Original Screenplay Sunset Blvd.
1961 Best Original Screenplay The Apartment
1961 Best Director The Apartment
1961 Best Picture The Apartment
1988 Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award Lifetime Achievement
Nominated:
1940 Best Screenplay Ninotchka
1942 Best Screenplay Hold Back the Dawn
1942 Best Original Story Ball of Fire
1945 Best Screenplay Double Indemnity
1945 Best Director Double Indemnity
1949 Best Screenplay A Foreign Affair
1951 Best Director Sunset Blvd.
1952 Best Story and Screenplay Ace in the Hole
1954 Best Director Stalag 17
1955 Best Screenplay Sabrina
1955 Best Director Sabrina
1958 Best Director Witness for the Prosecution
1960 Best Screenplay Some Like It Hot
1960 Best Director Some Like It Hot
1967 Best Original Screenplay The Fortune Cookie
for Going My Way Academy Award for Best Director
for The Lost Weekend Succeeded by:
for The Best Years of Our Lives
for Ben-Hur Academy Award for Best Director
for The Apartment Succeeded by:
Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins
for West Side Story
↑ David A Cook. A History of Narrative: Film Fourth Edition (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2004). ISBN 0393978680
Richard Armstrong. Billy Wilder, American Film Realist. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2000. ISBN 0786408219
Chandler, Charlotte. Nobody's Perfect. Billy Wilder. A Personal Biography. New York: Schuster & Schuster, 2002. ISBN 0743217098
CNN. Legendary director Billy Wilder dead at 95. Retrieved October 29, 2007.
Crowe, Cameron. Conversations with Wilder. New York: Knopf, 2001. ISBN 0375709673
Hopp, Glenn. Billy Wilder. Harpenden: Pocket Essentials, 2001.
Horton, Robert. Billy Wilder Interviews. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2001. ISBN 1578064449
Lally, Kevin. Wilder Times: The Life of Billy Wilder. New York: Henry Holt & Co, 1996. ISBN 0805031197
Sikov, Ed. On Sunset Boulevard. The Life and Times of Billy Wilder. New York: Hyperion, 1999. ISBN 0786861940
Wood, Tom. The Bright Side of Billy Wilder, Primarily. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1970.
Zolotow, Maurice. Billy Wilder in Hollywood. Pompton Plains, NJ: Limelight Editions, 2004. ISBN 0879100702
All links retrieved December 16, 2016.
Billy Wilder at the Internet Movie Database.
Billy Wilder at the TCM Movie Database.
Film Noir and Billy Wilder.
American Master—Billy Wilder.
Wilder Bibliography (via UC Berkeley).
Billy Wilder Tribute at NPR.
Films directed by Billy Wilder
Mauvaise Graine • The Major and the Minor • Five Graves to Cairo • Double Indemnity • Death Mills • The Lost Weekend • The Emperor Waltz • A Foreign Affair • Sunset Boulevard • Ace in the Hole • Stalag 17 • Sabrina • The Seven Year Itch • The Spirit of St. Louis • Love in the Afternoon • Witness for the Prosecution • Some Like It Hot • The Apartment • One, Two, Three • Irma la Douce • Kiss Me, Stupid • The Fortune Cookie • The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes • Avanti! • The Front Page • Fedora • Buddy Buddy
Billy_Wilder history
History of "Billy Wilder"
Retrieved from http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Billy_Wilder&oldid=1001993

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


He gets to go home to night late and he has to rest in bed for 2 weeks. They ran the tests again and nothing changed. Haven't heard all the details but he doing o.k. His head hurts a lot, but they said it was normal .
Such an unfortunate incident, I am glad he is doing better!
Thanks for the update, Mag, hope he continues to improve. Prayers will continue.


text:
Microlending Behind the Scenes: How MFIs Judge Credit Worthiness
By Nila Uthayakumar, KF14, Uganda,
With the help of several other Fellows in the field
Borrowers of an MCDT solidarity group meet under the shade of a tree in Kampala, Uganda.
I've met all kinds of borrowers. From age 16 to 76; from orphans to a former beauty queen; from potato sellers to auto parts saleswomen to motorcycle transportation tycoons. I've met them in urban slums, in villages, in homes, on porches, in churches, in community centers, and outside in grassy fields. I've listened to their stories, I've photographed and filmed them, I've played with their children, and I've been welcomed into their homes. Two months into my Kiva fellowship, and I am more motivated and inspired than ever. My name is Nila and I live and work in Kampala, Uganda.
What I have understood from these borrowers is that poverty takes many shapes and forms. Poverty can mean desperation and destitution, and it can also mean having to make impossible choices between paying medical bills or school fees. It can mean not having enough food to eat today, or not having a secure enough future to be able to retire. The microloans I have seen in action place into the hands of borrowers the power to shape their own lives. The recipients of these loans are among the most dignified people I have ever met, and when given the chance, these individuals make tremendous improvements in their lives.
Collateral-free Lending to At-Risk Adolescents
The demand for microloans is incredibly high the world over. With the faces and stories of the world's working poor being so varied and diverse, microfinance institutions must be creative with the methods by which they assess credit worthiness and offer loans, especially in order to lend to hard-to-reach demographic groups.
ELA adolescents club group members beginning a financial literacy class. Photo by James Allman-Gulino
Last week I met with a group of teenage girls who were members of an adolescents club started by the BRAC Uganda office in their area. BRAC Uganda is one of Kiva's partners in Uganda that makes loans to roughly 800,000 men, women, and adolescent girls in locations spanning the entire country. The adolescents clubs offer a place for teenage girls and young women to meet, make friends, and learn life skills in a supportive environment. Joining a club is also the first step that girls can take to be eligible to receive an adolescent's loan from BRAC.
To receive a loan, a girl between the ages of 16 to 25 must join a local adolescents club (called an ELA club, which stands for Empowerment and Livelihoods for Adolescents). She pays 2,000 Ugandan Shillings (Ush) or $.83 cents for admission, and after a four week education and training program which covers topics ranging from business skills to family planning to responsibility to one's community, she is eligible for a loan. When a girl applies for a loan, a BRAC loan officer visits her business and determines its worth and her ability to pay back a loan. Upon approval, the loan applicant will receive between 50,000 Ush (US $20.83) to 100,000 Ush (US $41.67), depending on her business. The girls who take ELA loans continue to receive support from their fellow ELA members and BRAC mentors, and over time become eligible to borrow larger sums of money.
BRAC's strategy to make loans to this vulnerable demographic group has been highly successful, and it is one of the rare opportunities that young women with no collateral have to receive loans and grow their businesses. In fact, there is no collateral or guarantor required to receive an ELA loan. The loan is given with good faith in the borrower and her business. The best part? ELA loans have a 100% repayment rate.
Group Savings in the Solidarity Lending Model
MCDT borrowers gathering for a group meeting in Kampala, Uganda.
Other microfinance institutions have their own methods to train borrowers and judge their credit worthiness. Prior to BRAC Uganda, I worked with another Kiva partner in Uganda: Microcredit for Development and Transformation (MCDT). A new loan applicant at MCDT is required to complete a business skills training course, and then join a solidarity lending group within her neighborhood. At that point, the loan applicant starts making deposits into a group savings fund, and when her contribution to the fund totals 50,000 Ush (US $20.83) she is eligible for a loan of 100,000 Ush (US $41.67).
When a borrower completes repaying her loan and submits an application to borrow again, all the loan officers sit together and assess her application. They discuss the borrower's repayment record and consider if the borrower has put a strain on the rest of the solidarity group members. After looking at the borrower's history, they may give her a step up on the loan (200,000 Ush or $83.34). Each time the borrower applies, she may be eligible for a a higher loan amount, depending on her repayment record. Some MCDT borrowers borrow as much as 2 million Ush (US $831.95).
A CRAN solidarity group meeting in Cape Coast, Ghana. Photo by Mei-ing Cheok
In MCDT's model, the group savings fund and the group members create the collateral, should a borrower default. In addition, a borrower's ability to save is used as an indicator of creditworthiness. Varying solidarity group lending methods are used around the world to reach very poor borrowers. From South Africa, Alexis Ditkowsky details the lending process at Women's Development Business.
The Group as Collateral
By Alexis Ditkowsky, KF14, South Africa
Staff from WDB's Eshowe branch prepare to quiz a new solidarity group about policies and procedures before allowing them to take out their first loan. Photo by Alexis Ditkowsky
The approach of Women's Development Businesses is very straightforward – they target poor and very poor rural South African women with their microcredit services. Only women in groups of five can take out loans and all loans must be used in support of an income-generating activity.
WDB's due diligence focuses on ensuring the solidarity of a potential group by asking them questions in the initial interview about their member selection process (the group should be self-selected), their goals, their plans for managing the group (including delinquencies), and if they understand the role of the group as collateral to their WDB loan. In addition to satisfactorily answering these questions, group members must also come from the same village and remain in the same area during the loan term to attend required meetings.
Next up: Orientation. This process lasts several days and provides more in-depth information on WDB's policies, the responsibilities of the group, the loan application and repayment procedures, and principles for improving their businesses. Once the loan officer thinks the group members are ready, the branch manager conducts a Final Group Evaluation to confirm their understanding of everything they've learned in the past few weeks. After that, the group can sign up for their very first loan.
This process may sound arduous and time-consuming but as in the Grameen model, the group IS the collateral. Without a solid group foundation, WDB can't count on social pressure and community ties to encourage repayment. Plus, with a target of poor and very poor women, WDB doesn't want to be in the business of taking property or assets from families who are already struggling.
For photos from a Final Group Evaluation and borrower meeting, check out Photos from Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. And click below to watch a short video of the opening hymn at that same meeting.
The methods used for lending to groups differ from those used to lend to individuals. Many MFIs use individual loans to target entrepreneurs from a slightly higher economic group. Correspondingly, the loan amounts for individual borrowers are often higher than those of solidarity group borrowers, and often require a guarantor. From Bolivia, Clara Vreeken explains the processes that MFIs use to lend to individual borrowers.
Using Economic and Social Evaluations in Individual Lending
By Clara Vreeken, KF 14, Bolivia
Borrowers of the Bolivian MFI, IMPRO. Photo by Clara Vreeken
In Bolivia I am working with two microfinance institutions that lend to individuals: IMPRO and Emprender. These two MFIs manage the risk of individual loans firstly, by asking for guarantors. This guarantor should be a person who owns a house. Secondly, IMPRO and Emprender make loans to borrowers without collateral through agreements with unions and associations. Emprender has a settlement with a transport union in Santa Cruz, and IMPRO with a milk producer association near La Paz. Clients do not need a guarantor for their loan, but just need to get permission from their union or association.
Before lending, the loan officers of these institutions visit the borrowers at home to verify and list their possessions (television, dvd player, refrigerator, etc.). They also analyze how much the entrepreneur earns and what costs he or she has, as well as factor in whether the borrower has taken loans from other institutions. With this information the loan officers calculate how much money will be left every month to repay the loan. Neither microfinance institution lends more than the clients can afford.
In addition to the economic evaluation, IMPRO also performs a social evaluation of every borrower. The loan officers ask questions about the borrower's education, whether his or her children go to school, and whether he or she has insurance. They also ask specific questions about the borrower's home; for example, whether he or she owns or rents, if the house is made of clay or bricks, the number rooms in the house, if there is power and water, and so on. In the end, the loan officer judges the client's economic status. When the borrower is very poor IMPRO provides the loan with a lower interest rate.
Some MFIs take the process of verifying creditworthiness even further. Although similar to the methods employed in Bolivia by IMPRO and Emprender, Karen Gray explains how her MFI adds to the process by using formal credit checks, personal references, and detailed inventories.
Credit Bureaus, References, and Inventories in Individual Lending
By Karen Gray, KF 14, Nicaragua
I recently joined a credit officer from MíCrédito in Nicaragua, on a loan application visit. The potential borrower was Kelly. She owns a shop in the town of Estelí and she sells essential items and tortillas. Kelly had applied for a $500 loan to buy basic inventory such as rice, sugar, and cooking oil to sell in her shop, as well as gas for cooking.
Kelly in her general store while a MiCredito loan officer inventories her assets. Photo by Karen Gray
To be considered for a loan at MíCrédito:
The borrower must have:
1. A national identification card
2. A guarantor
3. Collateral
4. Been in their business for at least a year
In the next step in the loan process, every borrower is checked against a credit bureau, either TransUnion or SinRiesgo, for outstanding debt. Each loan guarantor is also checked for debt. Then, the credit officer visits the borrower to collect information and make a very detailed list of all assets. The borrower is also asked to provide three names of neighbors who will serve as personal references.
In the case of Kelly, we counted all the goods in her shop, including the exact number of bags of sugar of the shelf, number of soup packets, and number of tortillas for sale at that moment. We also recorded the cost of these goods to Kelly, versus the retail price of the goods. After that, we wrote down the serial numbers of Kelly's refrigerator and TV, and we noted the pieces of furniture she owned: a table and chairs, and a shop display case.
In addition to the thorough inventory, the credit officer inquired in detail about monthly sales and purchases in Kelly's shop, as well as the cost of utilities. The credit officer also asked about the employment and financial status of her spouse. In the end, the credit officer did a simple calculation: earnings minus costs, to determine if the client can make the monthly loan payment. Finally, the information collected was reviewed by the Estelí branch manager of MiCredito, before the loan was approved.
The result of this long process was that Kelly was posted on the Kiva website as a borrower and received her $500 loan.
What we can gather from the methods of these MFIs is that making loans to the world's working poor involves much more than just the transfer of cash. Borrowers are not homogeneous and varying lending methods and credit worthiness assessments are required to reach diverse populations with differing needs. Kiva relies on its field partners for their on-the-ground expertise and know-how and without them Kiva loans wouldn't be possible!
Check out Nila's other blog posts:
The View from the Ground
In Defense of "High" MFI Interest Rates: Part II
Video Blog: The Story of Lini Nanyonga
Video Blog: The Kiva Story
My Heart has Taken Root
Note: This post was written approximately a month ago and Nila has since started her second KF15 placement in Kenya. She is currently serving as a roaming fellow based in Nairobi, Kenya, working with Kiva partners Juhudi Kilimo and Faulu.
ndotoyakidege


practice playing the intro riff so "sunshine of your love". Just practice the highlight yellow notes.
here's the guitar tab to "stairway to heaven" like you wanted. I put some videos below to help you get started with the song.


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Q: Is there a WebRTC RTCSwarmConnection architecture? I would like to create an audio (mic) and video (camera) chat room with 12 people using webRTC.  I understand signalling and the need for external services like ICE & STUN to help peers connect with each other.
But I don't want to use a full mesh architecture where everyone connects to everyone else because it is less efficient.  I don't want to use expensive TURN relay services.  I want the swarm to propagate the streams automatically so that if a direct connection isn't possible, the network routes the stream packets via peers automatically using encapsulation.
I don't want to use star architecture because I don't want a bottleneck peer.
I would like a peer to connect to maybe 2 or 3 other peers (max) and broadcast their media across the network without worrying about the relaying between peers.  The routing would obviously need to be controlled by some service but I can't see that it's possible to do the stream encapsulation with RTCPeerConnection.  Since WebRTC only allows for a RTCPeerConnection object (1 peer to 1 peer) and a peer would need to distinguish where the incoming stream is coming from and whether it needs to be relayed to another peer.
Is there a technology that extends WebRTC to allow for this more bandwidth efficient architecture?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Keep comfortable and cool this summer with this drawstring waisted dress. A casual, relaxed fit, it has batwing sleeves, straight skirt at a short length and drawstring detailing at the waist. This dress also has a bateau neckline, pockets .
A classic simple day dress, fantastic for any occasion.


The most interesting attraction of Keren, Eritrea, is Madonna of the Baobab or Maryam Dearit chapel. Italian nuns built a chapel inside a baobab tree, which can accomodate 4-5 people in it, with a small statue of the Madonna in the altar area, decorated with ribbons. The chapel inside the tree has a circumference of 6 meters.
This baobab started its life in the late Middle Ages and it symbolizes fertility for Eritreans. Eritrea was colonized by Italians in 1890, but during the WWII the British expelled them from the land. During the air raids of the British, Italians hid inside the baobab, and although the tree was hit various times, it managed to survive together with the people inside it. This, of course, was the proof that the tree has divine powers. Nowadays, if a woman wants a husband or children, she has to go inside the baobab and prepare a cup of coffee in there. The tree is also an important place of pilgrimage, and thousands of pilgrims come to the shrine every year. The statue of Madonna is taken out of the baobab and carried on the shoulders of the pilgrims, while the others dance, sing and pray.


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Money Laundering Tracker
Vancouver Visitors Guide
Westcoast Homes & Design
Douglas Todd Blog
Recurring federal deficits could be risky for future generations, study says
MONTREAL — By continuing to post deficits with no clear deadline for a return to balanced budgets, Ottawa is pursuing a risky strategy that could leave a steep bill for future generations, according to a study by HEC Montreal's Centre for Productivity and Prosperity.
In an analysis released Wednesday, the authors concede that the federal government's decision to run deficits from 2015 to 2018 to stimulate growth was a winning one. However, they say the situation has since changed.
"Economic growth is relatively good and there is no recession in sight," HEC professor Robert Gagne said in a phone interview. "Labour market indicators are favourable. If these aren't the conditions for achieving a balanced budget, what will it take?"
Taking into consideration accounting adjustments, the centre's study estimates the federal government amassed cumulative deficits of $56.5 billion between 2015 and 2018.
With Finance Minister Bill Morneau set to table the next budget in March, Gagne believes now is the time for Ottawa to commit to rebalancing public finances. In his opinion, this could be achieved by limiting spending growth to inflation.
In an economic update last month, Morneau projected a deficit of $26.6 billion, some $7 billion more than forecast in the last budget.
And the next deficit is expected to swell to $28.1 billion for 2020-2021, before gradually decreasing to hit $11.6 billion in 2024-2025.
The Liberal government has justified its approach by emphasizing the fact that, despite spending that exceeds revenues, the debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to gradually decline to 29.1 per cent by 2024-2025 — the lowest since 2008-2009.
Nevertheless, according to forecasts from the economic update, the federal debt should reach $713 billion at the end of the current fiscal year and grow to $810 billion by 2024-2025.
Without being alarmist, Gagne says the current strategy implies that the federal government believes it can "indebt itself indefinitely."
For the moment the impact is limited. Debt servicing represented just seven per cent of federal revenues in 2018, which is low compared to the mid-1990s, when this single item accounted for more than a third of government revenues, the study states.
But at some point, interest rates won't be as low as they are today, according to the authors, who conclude that future generations will have to pay the bill.
"All it will take is a few percentage points (increase), and the situation could deteriorate quite quickly," Gagne said. "For the moment, the indicators are quite favourable, but that won't last. The day an economic shock occurs, we'll have bought ourselves trouble by accumulating a more-or-less useless debt."
Speaking after a pre-budget meeting in Vancouver on Wednesday, Mourneau said low interest rates mean the government can spend on infrastructure and other programs.
"It creates advantage for the economy and it will help us in the long run," he said.
He said federal spending is being done "to create growth and do it in a way that's responsible for this generation and future generations."
Mourneau said the International Monetary Fund has backed the approach being taken by the government, which has led to low unemployment and wage growth.
According to the study, a return to 2006 borrowing conditions for the federal government would be enough to see the debt service burden rise to $1,567 per capita, up $940 from the current average.
Therefore, a sudden rise in interest rates could "possibly jeopardize intergenerational equity," according to the document.
"In addition to passing part of today's bills on to future taxpayers, Ottawa is unduly increasing their risk exposure by accumulating deficits, to the point where tomorrow's taxpayers might be unable to enjoy the same services if interest rates were to increase significantly or if the Canadian economy experienced a serious economic crisis," the study read.
Among its recommendations, the study suggests Parliament should bring back the Federal Balanced Budget Act adopted in 2015 and repealed one year later by the new government.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2020
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Q: Storing a service account with Flask-SQLAlchemy I'm writing a small HipChat plugin using Flask and Flask-SQLAlchemy with local database. I want the admin to be able to setup a service account for an external service this is meant to integrate with.
Because the username/password of the service accounts needs to be stored so they can be used by the integration to make API calls I can't use non-reversible hashing methods for storing the password.
Are there recommendations for how to approach this so that the passwords or the database can be better secured?

A: You can encrypt your data before storing them in your database. pycrypto is one of the libraries that you can utilize.

It is easy to encrypt text using DES/ECB with pycrypto. The key
  '10234567' is 8 bytes and the text's length needs to be a multiple of
  8 bytes. We picked 'abcdefgh' in this example.

>>> from Crypto.Cipher import DES
>>> des = DES.new('01234567', DES.MODE_ECB)
>>> text = 'abcdefgh'
>>> cipher_text = des.encrypt(text)
>>> cipher_text
'\xec\xc2\x9e\xd9] a\xd0'
>>> des.decrypt(cipher_text)
'abcdefgh'

here is a short article about pycrypto.


PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS - The priest offers a short prayer of petition over the gifts on our behalf, asking God to make them effective in our lives.
EUCHARISTIC PRAYER - begins with an invitation to prayer in dialogue form. "Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in Heaven" (Lam: 3:41), the 'Sursum Corda'. We are asked to give our whole attention to the Lord.
ACCLAMATION (SANCTUS) - "Holy, holy, holy, Lord…" (See Isaiah 6:3) - for the Hebrews: "Holy, holier, holiest", which, together with 'glory', is applied to God alone. 'Hosanna' - originally 'Help us! Rescue us!' (See Ps 118:25) - echoes the acclamations of the crowd as Jesus entered Jerusalem (Matt 21:9). In the Mass we are anticipating the presence of the Lord in the bread and wine. In this hymn of praise we are joined not only with people around the world but with all the heavenly host so that indeed the whole cosmos rings with God's praises.
EUCHARISTIC PRAYER: This has traditionally been known as the Canon of the Mass. Following the Second Vatican Council in the 1960's, these prayers were reformulated. Four are in common usage: Prayer I is longer and more formal, and is generally used on major feast days; Prayer II is an adaptation of the second century prayer of Hippolytus; Prayer III is a contemporary prayer founded on the Roman canon; and Prayer IV is also contemporary and has influences from Eastern Rites - it tells the story of our salvation beginning with creation. There are also Eucharistic prayers for Masses of Reconciliation and for Masses when children compose the greater part of the congregation. Although these are different prayers, they all follow a pattern: Praising God - "Father, you are holy indeed…all life, all holiness comes from you;" Epiclesis - Asking God to send down the power of the Spirit so that the bread and wine we offered may be consecrated and become the body and blood of Jesus; Institution Narrative and Consecration - "The power of the words and the action of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit, make sacramentally present under the species of bread and wine Christ's body and blood, His sacrifice offered on the cross once for all" (CCC #1353); Anamnesis (Memorial Acclamation) - Our joyful response to the gift of salvation as "the Church calls to mind the Passion, Resurrection and glorious return of Christ Jesus" (CCC#1354); Offering - That we not only offer this Victim, 'this holy and living sacrifice', but also learn to offer ourselves in surrender to an ever more complete union with the Father and with each other; Intercessions - We celebrate with, and pray for the entire Church, living and dead, who are called to share in redemption; Doxology - giving glory to the Father, through the Son by the power of the Spirit; Amen - Yes, Lord!
COMMUNION RITE: The Lord's Prayer - At the presider's invitation we pray together the prayer that was given to the disciples by Jesus. "It is the very paradigm of all prayer. All aspirations, all worship, and all petition and intercession are gathered up in this prayer." (Thomas Howard, On Being Catholic) In the final petition, said by the priest alone, "the Church brings before the Father all the distress of the world". The Church prays that we would "be freed from all evils, present, past and future" and "implores the precious gift of peace and the grace of perseverance in expectation of Christ's return". (CCC #2854) Our response is another doxology, this time "in praise and adoration" (CCC #2854-2855).
Sign of Peace - The presider, in our name, asks for peace and unity for the whole human family. "The Church is a community of people joined by the Spirit in love. It needs to express, deepen, and restore its peaceful unity before eating the one body of the Lord and drinking from the one cup of salvation. We do this by a sign of peace". (Saint Joseph Sunday Missal) We express our desire in word and gesture according to local custom and culture. We are asked "to offer this peace to everybody in the persons of those immediately around us at the liturgy". (Thomas Howard).
COMMUNION RITE: Breaking of the Bread - This was the name of the whole Eucharistic Rite in apostolic times [The Emmaus disciples recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread - Lk. 24:31]. This is a visible and audible gesture to remind us that by sharing in this bread of life, which is Christ, we become one body. We accompany this Rite by singing the 'Lamb of God' (Agnus Dei - Latin). Jesus is the pure sacrificial Lamb. John the Baptist used this title for Jesus (Jn 1:29,26). It is faith that sees in Him the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The presider takes a tiny piece of the host and drops it into the chalice, saying "May this mingling of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ bring eternal life to us who receive it". He then prepares himself with a prayer that the body and blood of Jesus would free him from all sin and keep him faithful to His teaching. Meanwhile we pray silently that we too will receive the body and blood of the Lord with reverence and with recognition of its saving power and transforming grace. As he shows the eucharistic bread to the people, the presider again uses John's words: "Behold the Lamb of God…." And adds "Happy are those who are called to His supper" (Rev. 19:9), reminding us not only of the present but also of the banquet that will be laid out for us in Heaven. The Priest and people together pray, "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed," echoing the words and faith of the centurion at Capernaum. (Mt. 8:8) The Church changed "my soul shall be healed" to "I..", recognizing God's power over our human totality.
COMMUNION RITE: Reception of Communion - We Come to the Table of the Lord singing, expressing our unity, our joy in the mystery of Christ being really present to us in the bread and wine. Yes, we receive 'the living God'. God comes to us, makes His home in us, and sanctifies us by becoming a part of us. We are 'tabernacles', holding His Presence within us. St. Cyril of Jerusalem (5th Century) reminds us that if we were to receive gold, how carefully we would hold it; but, in Communion we receive something far more precious and so we are called to come forward reverently. "To prepare for worthy reception of this sacrament the faithful [should be in the state of grace, i.e. free from mortal sin] and should observe the fast [one hour - excluding those over 65 and those with health concerns] required by their Church. Bodily demeanour (gestures, clothing) ought to convey the respect, solemnity and joy of this moment when Christ becomes our guest." (CCC #1387) The priest or minister of Communion holds up the host (Latin - Hostia - sacrifice) saying "the Body of Christ" i.e. the anointed one, the Son of God. Our response "Amen" - so be it, 'I truly believe' should be a genuine response of our entire being not just rote words. To receive on the tongue or in the hand? Either is acceptable and reverent. It is interesting to note that both our tongues and our hands are instruments of sin and virtue. When receiving in the hand we must "set the hands like a throne". (Fathers of the Church) A period of silence in thanksgiving should follow. For this sacrament to be efficacious we must be aware of what we are receiving and allow it to change us, to make us holy. "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread." (1 Cor. 10:16-17). PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION: We stand at the priest's invitation to prayer. After a moment of silence, the prayer asks that what we have celebrated may bear fruit in our lives and be a pledge of eternal life.


On Sunday, at least 25 tornadoes pummeled states across the Midwest and Great Plains. At least two people died in the storms. Even more harsh weather, and not just tornadoes, is set to hit much of the rest of the country on Monday.
Five states—Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas—have been placed on "tornado watch" by the National Weather Service. Oklahoma was hit particularly hard on Sunday; 79-year-old Glen Irish and 76-year-old Billy Hutchinson, both from Shawnee, were killed as twisters leveled mobile home parks across the central part of the state.
One particular tornado, the one in Shawnee (video above), may have reached the level of F4, the second-highest level on the Fujita Scale of Tornado Intensity, with wind speeds reaching 207-260 miles per hour.
The National Weather Service says that up to 60 million people are at risk of the storms on Monday. Outside of the five states on tornado watch, cities including Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit and Indianapolis should also expect some severe weather.
At Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, a bolt of lightning during a storm on Sunday completely stripped all the bark off a tree. It's a fascinating sight, one that reminds you just how powerful nature really is. If, of course, all the tornadoes didn't do that already.


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Home › History › Revisit of Silver Laughter Original "Don't Feel Bad" LIVE
Revisit of Silver Laughter Original "Don't Feel Bad" LIVE
By The Silvers on June 27, 2014 • ( 0 )
"Sailing On Fantasies" – the stars were originally flames
"Don't Feel Bad"
Until something new pops up, I have pretty much run out of "new" music clips to post here. So I will begin to bring older clips to the front for new readers to hear. However, I went back and edited the WAV file and converted it to MP3 to speed up the download.
Our second album, "Sailing on Fantasies" was very well received by both "Acid Archives" as well as other reviewers. Unlike the first album, all the songs were written specifically for it over the period of a few months.
This live version of "Don't Feel Bad" was recorded the final night we were at The Tradewinds in Calgary, Alberta. It was one of the last places we played during the band's swing through Canada which was July of 1977. Our album had not been released yet, but we had completed several songs for it and were performing them in our live shows.
TODD Beat Group – "Don't Feel Bad"
As I mentioned in an earlier post, Tom Kelley of Todd Beat Group reminded me that bits of this song had already been presented to that group which I had forgotten. But his lyrics sheet clearly shows that it started out during those early band days and was revived for Silver Laughter with a nice rearrangement.
The idea came to me while I was shaving in my dad's bathroom in the basement of our old house on Ohio Street in Davenport. I say bathroom, but I use the term very loosely. My uncle Floyd had some plumbing knowledge and put in a shower near the drain in the basement behind our heater. Then my father hung clothesline and hooked shower curtains to enclose the "room". A toilet, sink and medicine cabinet completed the layout.
So as I was clearing my face of unwanted hair that morning, the "Don't Feel Bad" segment popped into my head, which was intended to sound like Elvis's "Don't Be Cruel" or the Beatles "Tell Me Why" but clearly ended up a much happier tune when Jon and I were done with it.
The lineup on this clip is Jon and Ken on guitars, Paul on drums and me on bass.
Mick Orton
‹ Silver Laughter Height Differences
Silver Laughter Does The Beatles "This Boy" ›
Categories: History, Music
Tags: 70's music, Calgary, Jon Ludtke, Ken Wiles, Mick Orton, Mike Orton, Paul Staack, Sailing On Fantasies, Silver Laughter, Todd Beat Group, Tom Kelley


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New Energy Systems Could Cause Sea Change In Energy Efficiency During Shipping
November 8, 2021 - Eurasia Review
The desire to limit greenhouse gas emissions has increased interest in liquefied natural gas (LNG) ships, which produces considerably less emissions than those running on other fossil fuels. But LNG is expensive, making the maximization of LNG engine energy efficiencies paramount to their widespread use.
At present, LNG ships lose up to 25% of their input heat in the form of exhaust gas. Recovering this heat is key to energy efficiency. In a recent study published in Energy Conversion and Management, a team from Korea Maritime & Ocean University, led by Dr. Yeong-Seok Choi, developed two novel heat recovery systems that can boost energy efficiency in LNG ships. Dr. Choi explains, "By increasing the energy efficiency of LNG systems, we are directly contributing to environmental protection."
The research is based on what is called the 'organic Rankine cycle (ORC).' In ORC, an organic fluid is first boiled, then used to turn a turbine to generate electricity, during which it loses heat. The fluid is then condensed and reheated in a continuation of the cycle. In LNG ships, ORC also allows the preheating of cold fuel (LNG is stored at -160°C) before burning.
The research team developed two heat recovery systems. The first, the double stage ORC system (DSO), uses the heat from the engine exhaust gas to run two ORCs with connections to two generators. The second, the added double stage ORC system (ADSO), additionally features a third ORC; also, two of its ORCs exchange heat with each other.
The team examined the workings of DSO and ADSO with combinations of different organic fluids. They then performed energy, exergy (maximum work derived from a heat exchange process), and economic analyses on the systems.
They found that while DSO had better overall energy efficiency, ADSO was more suitable for cramped engine spaces. They also saw that performance depended greatly on fluid combination. Overall, the new designs achieved substantial improvements in energy efficiency.
"Although our research is focused on shipping, this work can be applied to several other industries and cryogenic hydrogen research as well," says Dr. Choi.
With such innovative designs, energy efficient engine systems could soon become an industrial reality for ships.


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The Pilbara ground gecko (Lucasium wombeyi) also known commonly as Wombey's gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Diplodactylidae. The species is endemic to Australia.

Etymology
The specific name, wombeyi, is in honour of Australian herpetologist John C. Wombey.

Geographic range
L. wombeyi is found in the Pilbara region, in the Australian state of Western Australia.

Habitat
The preferred natural habitats of L. wombeyi are grassland and rocky areas.

Reproduction
L. wombeyi is oviparous.

References

Further reading
Cogger HG (2014). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, Seventh Edition. Clayton, Victoria, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. xxx + 1,033 pp. . (Lucasium wombeyi, p. 315).
Oliver PM, Hutchinson MN, Cooper SJB (2007). "Phylogenetic relationships in the lizard genus Diplodactylus Gray and resurrection of Lucasium Wermuth (Gekkota, Diplodactylidae)". Australian Journal of Zoology 55 (3): 197–210. (Lucasium wombeyi, new combination).
Storr GM (1978). "Seven new gekkonid lizards from Western Australia". Records of the Western Australian Museum 6 (3): 337–352. (Diplodactylus wombeyi, new species, pp. 344–345, "Plate" 3).
Wilson S, Swan G (2013). A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia, Fourth Edition. Sydney: New Holland Publishers. 522 pp. .

Lucasium
Reptiles described in 1978
Taxa named by Glen Milton Storr
Geckos of Australia

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


As the Senate Judiciary Committee remains embroiled in a controversy surrounding Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who has denied a sexual assault allegation made against him, another group of people have stepped forward to support his accuser. The correspondence has been posted online so that the public may read the letter Christine Ford's classmates wrote asking Congress to take what she has to say seriously.
Kavanaugh denies sexually assaulting Ford, who came forward with her allegation on Sunday via The Washington Post. "This is a completely false allegation. I have never done anything like what the accuser describes — to her or to anyone," Kavanaugh said in a statement, according to NBC News.
The letter was written and signed by alumnae from Holton-Arms, where Ford attended high school at the time of the alleged assault. Ford claims that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were both high schoolers. Per Ford, she was 15 at the time, and Kavanaugh was 17.
Following reports that Ford has faced an intense amount of criticism from those who wish to see Kavanaugh confirmed expeditiously, alumnae from Holton-Arms have written two separate letters asking that she be taken seriously. The first letter was written by hundreds of Holton-Arms alumnae; the second by Ford's own graduating class.
We, of the Holton Arms Class of 1984, are writing on behalf of our friend and classmate, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, to attest to her honesty, integrity, and intelligence; and to contend that her decision to provide information pertaining to a sexual assault is not a partisan act. It is an act of civic duty and the experience she described in her letter needs to be seriously considered. We represent all political parties and we support Christine bringing this matter forward.
Christine has had to weigh the personal cost of sharing her experience against her own conscience. We recognize that this has been an extraordinarily difficult decision and admire her courage for being willing to speak her truth when it would have been easier to stay silent.
As sexual assault violates a woman's most fundamental rights, it must be considered a failure of character at any age—regardless of the subsequent accomplishments and power attained by the offender. It should not be dismissed as youthful bad judgment, however aberrant it may be.
In light of Christine's experience, we hold our elected officials responsible for conducting a more thorough and comprehensive review of this Supreme Court nominee. Having taken this courageous step, Christine deserves your due consideration on this serious matter.
We stand with our friend Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and admire her honesty and resolve on behalf of our nation.
Nearly two dozen members of the graduating class had signed the letter by Tuesday evening. Congress has not yet publicly responded to it.
Originally, Kavanaugh was scheduled to receive a confirmation vote before the Judiciary Committee on Thursday, though that has since been postponed to next week. Meanwhile, both Kavanaugh and Ford have been asked to testify before the committee on Monday. However, on Tuesday, Ford's lawyers said that they did not want to her to testify until there is an FBI investigation into the alleged incident.
Republicans have pushed to confirm Kavanaugh to the court by the end of the month, but given the delay and ongoing debate about how best to proceed, it's not entirely clear whether that can still happen.