text:
East Coast Biotech Roundup: NY Bio Fund, Sarepta, ZappRx, & More
Ben Fidler
Xconomy Boston —
Biotech clusters don't happen overnight. Entrepreneurs, government agencies, academics, and others have to build them from the ground up. It takes years, a committed, collaborative effort, and an awful lot of money. That's the kind of thing that's going on in New York right now.
There's a long, long way to go, of course—Boston and San Francisco have fully formed clusters and are light-years ahead—but at a gathering at Rockefeller University on Monday (pictured at right) attended by many of the region's most influential biotech names, New York's life sciences scene took an important step forward. That story and the rest of your East Coast headlines below.
—Chris Garabedian resigned as the CEO of Cambridge, MA-based Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SRPT), and was replaced by longtime chief medical officer Edward Kaye on an interim basis while the company searches for a new leader. Sarepta didn't give a specific reason for the change, but executives on a conference call mentioned the need to work "collaboratively" with the FDA several times. Garabedian and Sarepta had an unusually contentious relationship with the agency throughout the company's quest to win FDA approval of a Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy drug called eteplirsen—a roller-coaster ride that's made Sarepta one of the more volatile biotechs out there.
—As I reported on Monday, the New York City Economic Development Corp. finally found the venture firms to manage its Big Apple life sciences fund—biotech startup creators Flagship Ventures and Arch Venture Partners. The fund is now worth $150 million (up from a previous $100 million): Flagship will manage $90 million for therapeutics startups, and Arch will have $60 million to start up diagnostics, med tech, and other life sciences companies. The NYCEDC also aims to create more wet lab space in Manhattan by, among other things, turning a 14-story building on the East Side into a "bioscience research center."
—Waltham, MA-based Syndax Pharmaceuticals cut a deal with Merck to test its cancer drug, entinostat, in combination with Merck's pembrolizumab (Keytruda). The deal is part of the strategic shift CEO Arlene Morris explained to me back in February.
—Boston-based ZappRx—which aims to automate the clunky process of ordering and receiving specialty medications—signed up its first customer, Zafgen (NASDAQ: ZFGN), leading to a $5.6 million Series A round from SR One and Atlas Venture.
—Just days after raising a $22 million equity financing, Gelesis, the PureTech startup developing a hydrogel anti-obesity pill, filed for an IPO.
—New York-based Quartet Health raised a $7 million Series A from Oak HC/FT managing partner Annie Lamong, Shulman Ventures, Fidelity Biosciences, and Polaris Partners. The startup is using a cloud-based data collection service to help better connect primary care patients and their physicians with behavioral health specialists.
—It didn't take CoLucid Pharmaceuticals long to settle into its new digs in Cambridge. The migraine drug developer, fresh off a move from Durham, NC, filed papers to go public.
—Cambridge-based Aegerion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AEGR) reached an agreement with activist shareholder Sarissa Capital Management, which acquired a 5.8 percent stake in Aegerion a few months ago, intending to "engage in discussions" with the company. Sarissa gets to name one new independent director to Aegerion's board, with the option to add another next January. In return, Sarissa will support all of Aegerion's board-recommended nominees at a shareholder meeting this year.
—Two Boston area startups, X-Chem and Navitor Pharmaceuticals, made a deal this week. Navitor will tap X-Chem's drug discovery platform to identify small molecules that impact mTORC1, a well-known signaling pathway that Navitor is focused on. Navitor would get an exclusive license to any drugs coming from that discovery work. I profiled Navitor in June. X-Chem, meanwhile, was acquired by contract research organization PPD in September.
—New York and San Diego-based Retrophin (NASDAQ: RTRX) continued its management overhaul this week. Jeffrey Meckler will be the company's new chairman, replacing Steve Richardson, who chose not to stand for re-election at Retrophin's shareholder meeting later this year.
—Shares of Burlington, MA-based Dyax (NASDAQ: DYAX) surged more than 55 percent this week after the company released positive results from a Phase 1b study of a drug it's developing for hereditary angioedema, a rare disease that causes painful swelling of the face, airways, and stomach. Dyax also got a fast-track designation from the FDA for the drug, known as DX-2390.
—Waltham-based Kala Pharmaceuticals said two of the clinical trials it's been running for an eye drug called KP-121 succeeded this week: a Phase 2 study in dry eye disease, and a Phase 3 trial for pain following cataract surgery. KP-121 is a new formulation of the steroid loteprednol etabonate (Lotemax) that uses Kala's nanoparticle delivery system.
—The FDA granted orphan drug status to Cambridge-based Idera Pharmaceuticals's (NASDAQ: IDRA) IMO-8400, a drug Idera is developing for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
—Cambridge-based Karyopharm Therapeutics (NASDAQ: KPTI) named Pfizer R&D chief Mikael Dolsten to its board of directors.
—Infinity Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: INFI), also of Cambridge, exercised a $52.5 million option to buy royalties to cancer drug duvelisib that would have been owed to Takeda.
Net@50
Join us on July 16 for a special two-part gathering that will take a unique and critical look at the Internet today, and where it is heading.


text:
New bill would create designated plates for drivers with certain disabilities
By: Kelsey Gibbs
A bill proposed in the 2020 General Assembly would allow for a license plate that would help police know if the driver has an intellectual or developmental disability
NASHVILLE, Tenn (WTVF) — A bill proposed in the 2020 General Assembly would allow for a license plate that would help police know if the driver has an intellectual or developmental disability. State Representative Brandon Ogles (R-Franklin) filed the legislation.
House Bill 1584, says with the knowledge from a medical doctor the state can issue registration and registration plates to a driver with who has an intellectual disability, a developmental disability, or a medical condition that may impede communications with, or impact the driver's encounter with, a first responder, including a law enforcement officer, during a traffic stop or welfare check.
According to the bill, the plates must bear a distinctive series of letters and numbers to inform law enforcement the driver has a condition. The letters and numbers can only be disclosed to the department of safety and other Tennessee law enforcement agencies. The plate information will not be available to the general public.
The Tennessee Disability Coalition is monitoring the the bill. Assistant Executive Director Donna DeStefano says the legislation isn't mandatory, and people will need to apply if they want the plate.
DeStefano said the office initially received a lot of calls and emails from people concerned about the legislation.
"Other folks expressed some concerns, safety concerns," explained DeStefano, "that designating even though initials on a license plate would still, eventually people would know what that means; and safety issues could be compromised folks get targeted sometimes, followed and assaulted and so that is a concern for some people."
The Tennessee Disability Coalition has not taken a stance for or against on the legislation at this time.
If the measure passes, the bill will be law January of 2021.
We reached out to Representative Ogles, but he denied our request for an interview.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Superdry men's Parachute cargo pants. A great alternative to jeans, these cargo pants feature six front pockets, two rear pockets and a zip fly fastening. Completed with a logo badge on one front pocket and another above one back pocket, these straight fit cargo pants are a great wear with anything style. Pair with a t-shirt for a relaxed look, or style with a button down shirt for a smart yet casual look.


text:
Graduating class defies Ohio school board's ban on Lord's Prayer
Religion_Belief
By Jessica Chasmar - The Washington Times - Thursday, May 26, 2016
Graduating high school students in East Liverpool, Ohio, spontaneously recited the Lord's Prayer at their commencement Sunday after the school board caved to atheists' demands.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation threatened to sue the school district over plans for the East Liverpool High School choir to sing the Lord's Prayer at their graduation ceremony, a tradition the school has held for 70 years, EAG News reported.
School board members decided this month to remove the song from the program.
'No cause, case closed': Alan Dershowitz lays out a defense of Trump
"It was a decision made because we don't have a lot of money and we'd rather hire teachers than pay lawyers," school board president Larry Walton told a local NBC News affiliate.
But when valedictorian Jonathan Montgomery took to the podium to give his speech, he stayed silent and raised his arms. The graduating class then stood and recited the Lord's Prayer in unison before sitting back down to roaring applause, EAG News reported.
The NBC affiliate called it "an organized revolt."
"It was totally spontaneous, apparently something the kids wanted to do. I had no knowledge of it. The crowd seemed to support it," East Liverpool Superintendent Melissa Watson said told The Intelligencer.
Only about a half-dozen students reportedly chose not to participate in the prayer.
The school board president said district officials are considering a nondenominational baccalaureate graduation service next year for students who prefer to keep God in the program, EAG News reported.


text:
La chiesa di San Nicolò e San Severo è la parrocchiale di Bardolino, in provincia di Verona sul lago di Garda. Risale al XIX secolo.

Storia

Fu papa Lucio III a consacrare nel 1185, secondo la tradizione popolare, la primitiva chiesa di San Nicolò a Bardolino, ma la documentazione ufficiale rimanda al 1223 la sua prima citazione.

Ottenne dignità parrocchiale già prima del 1460, e questo lo si ricava dagli atti visitali del 6 maggio di quell'anno.

Nella prima metà del XIX secolo l'edificio originario, non più adeguato alle necessità dei fedeli, venne demolito e ricostruito sullo stesso sito secondo il progetto presentato da Bartolomeo Giuliari. Per l'edificazione del pronao, che completò la facciata del tempio, si dovette poi aspettare sino al 1880.

La solenne consacrazione venne celebrata nel 1891 dal vescovo Bartolomeo Bacilieri, coadiutore del cardinale e vescovo di Verona Luigi di Canossa.

Nei primissimi anni del XX secolo Giovanni Bevilacqua e Attilio Trentini decorarono gli interni.

Gli ultimi interventi di restauro conservativo si sono avuti nel 2011, ed hanno riguardato la copertura del tetto.

Descrizione
La facciata è neoclassica ed è orientata verso sud ovest. Il campanile è a vela. L'interno è a croce latina. L'altar maggiore è in marmo dedicato ai santi titolari. Gli altari laterali nel transetto sono dedicati a San Giuseppe e alla Madonna del Rosario. La zona presbiteriale è coperta da una volta semisfera riccamente decorata con l'affresco Cristo trionfante sul paganesimo.
Notevole, nel battistero, L'antico fonte battesimale in marmo della primitiva chiesa di San Nicolò.

Note

Voci correlate
 Chiesa di San Severo (Bardolino)
 Bardolino
 Parrocchie della diocesi di Verona
 Diocesi di Verona

Altri progetti

Collegamenti esterni

Bardolino
Nicolò e Severo
Nicolò e Severo

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Woyzeck, Salomé, Horror: A Panoply of Theatrical Styles
John Boyega and Sarah Greene in Woyzeck at London's Old Vic. (Photo: Manuel Harlan)
Modernism in the theatre is dated from 1879, the year Ibsen wrote A Doll's House, so Woyzeck, discovered, unfinished, after its author Georg Büchner's death in 1837 (at twenty-three, from typhus), is a startling anomaly that theatre historians have never been able to account for. Inspired by newspaper accounts of a Leipzig wigmaker who was executed for murdering his lover, Woyzeck is the brutal, unadorned tragedy of the social oppression of an ordinary man. The soldier Woyzeck, desperate for money to support his girlfriend Marie and their child, performs menial jobs for his captain and signs up for medical experiments that eat away at his brain; when Marie cheats on him with a handsome drum major, he stabs her to death. Büchner's point of view is that his protagonist, used by the Captain and the Doctor and treated like dirt, is the victim of society and particularly of the military life that enslaves and dehumanizes the common recruit. (The Catholic Church, too, which condemns them for having a child out of wedlock, ranks among Woyzeck's oppressors; spiritually as well as economically he is on society's bottom rung.) Büchner wrote during the age of romanticism. (The earliest of his three plays, Danton's Death, set during the French Revolution, is certainly a romantic drama.) Romanticism in both drama and literature celebrated the misfit, the rebel, the outcast, like Jean Valjean in Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, but Woyzeck, spat upon and abandoned to an ignominious fate, is as much a modernist creation as the slum dwellers in Gorky's turn-of-the-century The Lower Depths. Moreover, as world theatre was moving closer and closer to realism, Woyzeck anticipated expressionism, the first of the anti-realist movements. In the second half of the play Büchner employs distortion to suggest how his protagonist's encroaching madness alters his perception.
The play is strong meat, and the new production at London's Old Vic, directed by Joe Murphy from a new version of the script by Jack Thorne, hews to Büchner's vision. (Thorne is a high-profile playwright in London right now, since his Harry Potter and the Cursed Child won last year's Olivier Award for best new play.) This Woyzeck is set in Germany in the last decade of the Cold War; the title character (played by John Boyega of Star Wars: The Force Awakens) is stationed at the East German border, where the citizens' lack of freedom is presented in ironic counterpoint to Woyzeck, who is supposedly free but in fact is not. What happens to him in the course of the play – the extremes to which his poverty leads him (he and Marie live in a stinking apartment above a Muslim butcher shop) – are only part of his burden; he's haunted by childhood memories of being forced to watch his mother, a prostitute, having sex with one of her johns, and he suffers from PTSD, having had a breakdown during his last posting, in Belfast. The insensitive treatment he receives at the hands of Captain Thompson (Steffan Rhodri), the German doctor (Darrell D'Silva), the captain's high-born wife Maggie (Nancy Carroll) and finally his buddy Andrews (Ben Batt), who is sleeping with the captain's wife but lusts after Marie (Sarah Greene), derives from their shared view that this man who couldn't take the violence he saw in Northern Ireland must be, in Thompson's words, "missing a beat." Naturally, we're meant to interpret his response as a sign of the kind of sensitivity that military life wants to stamp out; Marie, whom he met in Belfast, reports that her mother warned her to stay away from soldiers because they're "trained to damage," but she insisted that her soldier was different from the others. In the course of the first act Woyzeck, who no longer has a sense of his own identity, repeatedly asks for help but gets none. It's a sign of his psychic deterioration that in the second act he reverses himself and insists that he doesn't need anybody's help and that he knows exactly who he is, while Marie repeatedly claims that he's not acting like himself. In this version of the play Marie rejects Andrews' advances but in a feverish vision Woyzeck thinks he sees her in bed with him. It's really Maggie he's having sex with – Woyzeck has been letting his friend use his bed for their assignations. And sometimes in his fantasies Woyzeck confuses Maggie, whose brazen sexual behavior with Andrews has a distinctly Lady Chatterley's Lover quality, with his mother (Carroll plays them both), who died when he was only twelve and had been in child care since he was four.
Thorne's major alteration to Büchner's text is to make it less sociological and more psychological, and that's a challenge for Boyega, because there's a flatness to the everyman conception of the character that Thorne has lifted from the original. In the first act Boyega really struggles to get beyond that flatness; it isn't until act two, when the play throws the actor the most curve balls, that he begins to emerge. (He's at his best in the murder scene.) Greene is excellent throughout, maintaining a delicate balance between Marie's forthrightness and sexual confidence and her appreciation for her lover's sweet, playful side – the element that also brings out her vulnerability. In the original Marie is sad and pathetic, underwritten as a dramatic creation. Thorne has filled her out, and Greene completes the job for him. The production also showcases fine work by Batt and Carroll, whose knife's-edge transitions between Maggie and Woyzeck's mother are notably accomplished.
Neil Austin's expressionistic lighting is very effective and Tom Scutt has designed a striking semi-abstract set, though he doesn't follow through with the imagery of the abattoir that's meant to link up with both the violence in Woyzeck's past and present and, I assume, the idea that he himself is being treated like a piece of meat. Murphy's staging is rather blocky in act one but more imaginative in act two, though not all of the episodes in the expressionistic second act are equally successful. Thorne has thrown in a Brechtian interlude, a regimental marching song performed by Rhodri's Captain Thompson, that doesn't add anything. (And I do mean Brechtian: its origins are in A Man's a Man and The Threepenny Opera.) But even when it doesn't work, this Woyzeck is always something to watch. And it's often unsettling and exciting.
Ilan Evans and Matthew Tennyson, in rehearsal for Salomé. (Photo: Richard Lakos © RSC)
Considering that all of Oscar Wilde's other plays – at least, the ones that actually get produced – are high comedies, Salomé, which he wrote in one act in 1891, is a curio. It's a symbolist tragedy on a Biblical subject, and he wrote it in French, translating it three years later for publication, when it was issued in an edition with marvelous art nouveau drawings by Aubrey Beardsley. (The notion of writing it in French reflects the influence of the playwright Maurice Maeterlinck, the first major symbolist playwright.) The play is rather fascinating, but since the best thing about it is Beardsley's illustrations, performances of it are infrequent. Al Pacino co-starred in one in New York twenty-five years ago, with Sheryl Lee in the title role, and he produced a movie version in 2013 with Jessica Chastain (which I haven't seen). That's the last time I remember hearing about a professional mounting of the play until this summer, when two versions are playing simultaneously in London, one (revised) at the National Theatre and one by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford. It's the second one I managed to catch, in previews.
And it's ridiculous. The play is about illicit desire – the tetrarch Herod's for his stepdaughter Salomé, the Young Syrian's, also for Salomé (he's Herod's captain of the guard), and Salomé's for the imprisoned prophet Iokanaan, all of which end in tragedy – and we all know that Wilde was sent to jail for sodomy, so it doesn't take a very deep reading to figure out the subtext. But the director Owen Horsley has opted to put the subtext front and center by casting a man in drag, Matthew Tennyson, as Salomé, by making the friendship between the Young Syrian (Assad Zaman) and one of the other soldiers (Robert Ginty) clearly homoerotic, by turning Iokanaan (Gavin Fowler) into a hunky, begrimed dude wearing only shorts, and by throwing in some gay-themed rock songs by Perfume Genius (performed by Ilan Evans). The climax of the play is the seductive Dance of the Seven Veils, which Salomé executes for the pleasure of Herod (Matthew Pidgeon), removing one veil after another; his lust to see her naked is so pressing that he swears an oath to give her anything she desires up to one-half of his kingdom as payment. But what she demands – the head of Iokanaan, so she can kiss the dead mouth of the man who was too holy to let her do so while he was still alive – is so shocking a defilement that the play ends with Herod's sentencing her, too, to death. In Horsley's production there's only one veil, and since Tennyson's no dancer and Polly Burnett's choreography isn't very erotic, the dance, which ends with Tennyson stepping out of his undershorts, wiggling a little, and then stepping right back into them, is a singular embarrassment.
The show, clocking in at ninety-five minutes, feels interminable, and not just because the text is so repetitive. (Salomé must ask Herod for Iokanaan's head at least half a dozen times; sitting miserably in one of the Swan Theatre's uncomfortable seats, I had to restrain myself from crying out, "Give her the fucking head already, so we can all go home.") Except for Zaman, who finds both the lyricism and the feeling in the Young Syrian's lines, I didn't like a single actor on the stage, including Suzanne Burden as Salomé's mother Herodias, who doesn't like the way Herod is looking at her daughter and tries to forbid her to dance for him but then is gleeful when she asks for her compensation because the prophet has been excoriating Herodias from his cell as corrupt. I do think the set by Bretta Gerecke, which is filled with weirdly shaped ladders and dominated by a huge, crinkly-tin-foil moon (lit by Kristina Hjelm in a range of colors), is cool, though those ladders don't appear to mean anything. (They serve a purpose: they give the performers something to climb on.) I'm not sure if this Salomé is the silliest thing on the boards this season, but it's a contender.
A scene from Jakop Ahlbom's Horror. (Photo: Sanne Peper)
Finally: surrealism. The eighty-minute dance piece Horror, conceived and directed by the Swedish choreographer Jakop Ahlbom and performed by his company (currently at the Peacock Theatre, now a second space for Sadler's Wells), is an ingenious collage of horror-movie tropes. Though the playbill lists several specific sources, most of the episodes and images replay ideas that pop up repeatedly in movies, like the confined space that is a locus for murders (and other atrocities) that recur endlessly over time with long-dead victims and perpetrators. The most famous version of that scenario is probably The Shining, but of course it goes back to every haunted-house picture from James Whale's The Old Dark House (1932) onward. Ahlbom includes mesmerism, metamorphosis, zombies, döppelgangers, sadistic parents (and the revenge of abused children), sexual repression, sex as cannibalism, the nightmare wedding night, body parts with minds of their own, mirror imagery, and – borrowed from a whole cycle of Japanese films – characters who appear in videos and have the power to march out of them into the three-dimensional world. Presented in this way and enacted by stunningly gifted dancers, these familiar tropes take on a fascinating abstract quality. The dancers (twelve are listed in the playbill but only eight appear at any given time) seem to be able to do pretty much anything with their bodies, including turning them into elastic or plasticine, crawling upside down or even (apparently) changing shape. The piece relies on some jaw-dropping magic-show effects, and the inhuman flexibility of the cast feels like part of the magic. The marvelous set, a kind of three-ring playing area, is by Ahlbom and Douwe Hibma; Yuri Schreuders designed the lighting.
– Steve Vineberg is Distinguished Professor of the Arts and Humanities at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he teaches theatre and film. He also writes for The Threepenny Review and is the author of three books: Method Actors: Three Generations of an American Acting Style; No Surprises, Please: Movies in the Reagan Decade; and High Comedy in American Movies.
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During a recent visit to Singapore, one of the team at Hawthorne & Heaney took a sight detour off the tourist trail and visited one of the Peranakan Embroidery heritage boutiques in the suburbs. This small street houses a couple of shops in which they are keeping the more traditional embroidery techniques of the region alive. One such place is called Rumah Bebe which is lovely in itself as it is covered in patterned tiles and gilded woodwork. They house a wide range of Nyonya garments such as sarongs, embroidered jackets and beaded shoes. As is fitting to the work that has gone into them, the pieces are quite pricey, but well worth it for how lovely they are.
Kim Choo Kueh Chang is also next door where you can sample traditional Nyonya cakes from the cafe downstairs made with coconut, condensed milk and pandan leaves which gives them a bright green colour. They have a little shop of trinkets but upstairs is where you will find the best bits as they have a range of embroidered pieces which line the walls and a variety of vintage items on diplay in their exhibition. They explain a little of how the embroidery is intergral to the wedding services of the culture with the examples around for context.
A personal favourite had to be this part completed design, still on the frame which demonstrates a little of the technique that is used to create these pieces and the scale of the beads that form the designs.
To see more of what they have to offer, visit their websites above or watch the video below for a glimpse of the action.


The shift towards living annuities as the preferred retirement vehicle in South Africa is likely to present significant challenges for millions of retirees, unless the industry can develop a solution to mitigate the longevity risk that these products present.
Living annuities, which according to National Treasury, now account for as much as 80% of all annuities sold at retirement, provide investors with the flexibility to choose their income each year (ranging from 2.5% to 17.5% of the capital) and how this money is invested. Any remaining capital after the investor's death passes to the nominated beneficiaries.
According to Shaun Levitan, Executive Director at Colourfield: "However, in exchange for this flexibility, investors take on the risk that they outlive their savings and the risk that their investment returns are poor. This means that their future income could fail to keep up with inflation, or even that they outlive their savings".
He says the key reason for this is longevity risk – the risk that people live longer than expected. Many planners at retirement use assumptions and tools that are based on the average life expectancy to determine an individual's investment strategy.
For example, a male retiring at age 65 is expected to live to 81.5, whilst a female retiring at age 65 is expected to live to just short of 86. These assumptions are based on actuarial tables used by pension funds and insurance companies and are based on historic data and expected trends.
He says that while the obvious option to mitigate this risk is to purchase a life annuity from an insurer that provides you with a specified income for as long as you (or even your spouse) are alive, these products have their own drawbacks, such as not meeting income needs, the reversibility of the purchase decision, perceived or actual higher costs and the risk that if you die early, you and your beneficiaries lose out.
Levitan believes that the industry will need to innovate to solve the longevity problem.
He says that while there could be potential regulatory or tax issues that would need to be navigated when combining such strategies, it is critical that the retirement industry applies its mind to this kind of thinking if we are to avoid a retirement crisis in the years to come.


The arrival of March means that warmer climes are right around the corner, but if your spring vacation still seems a lifetime away, Essie's latest collection is sure to hold you over. The famed nail brand just launched its six-piece spring lineup (available for $8 each on essie.com) featuring colors inspired by top getaway destinations like Rio de Janiero and New York City. "Everyone wants to know my favorite city, but just like a spectrum of color, it's not about choosing one," said the brand's founder and creator Essie Weingarten. The shades range from pale pastels to high-impact reds and pinks, allowing you to hit up every destination in record time—minus the TSA screenings and killer jet-lag. Ready for takeoff? Click "See the Photos" to take a closer look at the colors, and find out which city inspired each.


Draft em and don't ever apologize.
After years of denying that Iraq is like Vietnam I am glad you have finally embraced the "V" word.
You even hired Kissenger to help him re-fight the Vietnam war. The only thing you haven't done is institute the draft. But there is still time.
Since your party has already taken the hit for the war you have nothing to lose now. Mc Cain already went on the record saying we needed more troops to finish the job. Everyone needs a straight man.
If you decide to take the plunge, I think you should draft people according to their mother's maiden name, starting in the ghettos and barrios, of course.
I think I can find some 60's protest banners somewhere, and it would be fun if everything else does go retro because, lord knows there was some decent pot back then.
I find it ironic that you actually broke bread with the enemy in Hanoi. I am glad you didn't do a Jayne-Fonda and sit behind an ant-aircraft gun while you were there. President Lyndon Johnson would have been impressed. Incidentally, he also believed the New York Times was evil.
President Johnson's believed in his war as much as you believe in yours. Did you feel his presence while you were there? What is it about Texan presidents that like to start wars and are too stubborn to know they were horribly wrong? Did you guys eat too many worms from empty Tequila bottles? Were you dropped at birth?
I eagerly await your upcoming definition of victory in Iraq. I was encouraged to hear another Bushism recently when one of your acolytes recently demonstrated your influence as he redefined hunger.
According to Mark Nord, the lead author of the USDA annual report, said "hungry" is "not a scientifically accurate term.
The Agriculture Department issues a yearly report that measures Americans' access to food, and it has always defined the word "hunger" to describe those who can least afford to put food on the table.
I guess those millions of Americans who struggle daily to feed themselves and their families, will be relieved to understand that they are not technically hungry.
Likewise after you redefine victory in Iraq the new morgues built in Baghdad for the thousands of Iraqis killed will be idled, and the tattoo artists who etch Iraqi's next-of-kin's phone numbers on their bodies will be looking for other work.
Many Iraqis are tattooed because the morgues can't take the time to find family members and quickly intern bodies to make room for new victims of your war.


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For each of these purposes, we only provide data that is necessary to achieve it.
Do we process your personal data automatically (including through profiling) in a way that affects your rights?
Your personal data may be processed in an automated way (including profiling), however it will not have any legal impact on you or your situation.
As part of our marketing, we want to be able to present you information (offers, promotions) tailored to your interests. Therefore, profiling of personal data by codequest is solely based on the processing of your data (also in an automated way) by using them to assess certain information about you, in particular to analyze or forecast your personal preferences and interests.
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Are Wild Crafted Plants Better?
The most obvious difference between wild crafted and cultivated plants is that one grows in the wild and one does not. Wild crafting usually requires someone to actually go out and collect the plant from outside of a garden, while a cultivated plant is just that- cultivated in a garden. One of the main benefits of choosing to use ethically wild crafted private label skincare ingredients when possible is that plants growing in the wild have to be stronger than plants that are cultivated in a garden. This is because they do not have a gardener to water, fertilize and otherwise protect them from the elements, so they must be strong enough to survive outside of the care of humans. This strength can translate into a higher concentration of beneficial properties within the plant, which can make it more valuable when used in your skincare routine.
If you do not have access to any wild crafted ingredients, don't worry. There is still much benefit to be had from regularly cultivated plants. Sometimes it is even better to choose non-wild crafted ingredients due to ecological reasons. For example, if one ingredient is in high demand it makes more sense to cultivate it in an environmentally friendly way in order to avoid over harvesting from the wild. There can also be more quality control with cultivated skincare ingredients that can lend itself to a more streamlined production process.
As you can see, both wild crafted and cultivated private label skincare ingredients are good. Both methods have their benefits and specific considerations to take into account. Now if you see the term "wild crafted" on an ingredient deck or product description, you'll know it means a plant that was (hopefully) ethically harvested from the wild. But if you don't see the term "wild crafted" anywhere, that's fine too, and in some cases might be even better.


text:
Q: Defining While Loop Functions With a List Containing Digits Define a function named add_from_one_again(st) which receives a  list containing digits only (at least one digit, and all digits >0, no need to validate)   and returns a number as illustrated by the following examples
When the list is
[5,2,3]
the resulting number should be:
(1+2+3+4+5)  + (1+2)  + (1+2+3)   =  24
When the list is
[3,2,5]
the resulting number should be:
(1+2+3) + (1+2) + (1+2+3+4+5) = 24
When the list is
[4,2,2]
the resulting number should be:
(1+2+3+4) + (1+2) + (1+2) = 16

A: Use this :
def add_from_one_again(st):
    collect_sum = 0
    for i in st:
        collect_sum += sum(range(i))
    return collect_sum

A: Edited as per requirements. Let know if it works:-
def add_from_one_again(st):
    return sum([int(i*(i+1)/2) for i in st])

print(add_from_one_again([16,12,89]))

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


How must the MHRD respond to the problems ailing our public school system? A proposal.
The NDA government has completed one year in power, and there has been a great scrutiny of its performance. The comments on the Ministry of Human Resource Development's work in school education, within this discourse, can be divided into three categories: unrealistic expectations stemming from the belief that the Union government is fully responsible for school education in the country; a sense of disappointment that nothing has been happening; and, a feeling that many initiatives are being taken by the government, which may take time to show results.
To understand the truth, we need to critically examine and understand the nature of the current problems of public school system, the scope of the Union government's responsibilities, and then come up with a set of expectations from the ministry regarding the same.
The available evidence tells us that the main bottleneck in the Indian public school education is the governance capacity. Many interventions, which were successful when administered by NGOs, failed when implemented in public schools. Lack of teachers and teacher absenteeism are only the visible forms of weak governance capacity, but the problem is deeper and complex. How do we ensure that a teacher not only attends school, but also teaches well?
The state and local governments are best equipped to deal with such problems. Even in the existing system, most of the powers and responsibilities lie with them, but not to the desired extent. This brings us to the question that if the major responsibility lies with the state and local governments, what should the Union ministry do?
In cases where the problem is best dealt locally, the general guiding principles of operation for a central organisation should be to handle those issues that are common to multiple entities and require a central authority to coordinate, and intervene in areas that can't be pursued by local entities due to lack of economies of scale.
Under these guiding principles, the role of MHRD becomes evident.
Some action points have been listed below, and not in any particular order.
One, devolution and resist the scheme based approach. Reforming education systems is a long-term process. The experience around the world shows that it takes a few decades for the complete transition to take place. Seen in this context, significant results aren't visible in the five-year time frame that the governments are judged upon. With multiple stakeholders in the system, it is difficult to attribute the success clearly to one particular entity.
The resulting political constraints from this situation often necessitate rolling out schemes to make it seem like the government is working. The union ministry should resist any such temptation.
The first problem with this approach is that it adds to the existing confusion on the roles and responsibilities, often adding parallel structures. Clearing the air on the responsibilities regarding the aspects of school education is in the best interests of both the education system, and the ministry.
The second problem is that, a centrally sponsored scheme adds an additional layer of complexity to the existing structures, and one-size-fits-all policies end up being ineffective in many cases in a nation like ours. Thus, it is best to devolve and leave most decisions to the state. The current consensus on cooperative federalism provides a conducive atmosphere to carry out such reform.
Two, set the tone of education discourse in the country. The union government should steer the education discourse towards learning outcomes, and create an atmosphere where education is valued in society. Increasing the societal value of education could possibly reduce dropouts, especially in the case of girls and marginalised communities.
Three, set high standards for education. ASER findings show that learning outcomes are poor in rural areas. Similarly, when compared internationally, the top elite private schools of India don't perform well. An assessment of 30,000 students conducted in 142 top elite private schools of India across five metros shows that their performance is lower than the international average. These schools don't suffer from the oft-mentioned problems of public schools, but could still only score below the international average.
One of the reasons for such poor performance is the system's low expectations from students. When students are tested based on papers that emphasise rote learning in the exams that matter, there is a little external incentive for most of the schools to teach differently. Hence, the union government should reform the 10th standard CBSE board exam, and bring it up to the standards of best quality international end-of-school assessments. The transition has to be gradual though, building the necessary capacity alongside. This takes time, but the ministry can at least start a dialogue regarding this. The state governments can then be encouraged to follow the same.
A related aspect is a participation in international assessments like Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). PISA is an international assessment conducted by OECD, once in three years. India opted out of participating in PISA after it was ranked 72nd out of 74 participating countries. Much before that, India participated in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) in 2003 and was ranked 46th out of 51 participating countries.
Countries like Poland took the PISA results in a positive spirit and are striving to improve, while India opted out of PISA, serving no good. Participating in such assessments gives us a clear benchmark of where we are, where to reach, and how we are progressing over time.
Four, amend the RTE Act. Some provisions of the RTE Act are creating distortions in the private and public school systems. This needs immediate attention of the Union government. The consultation document prepared by Centre for Civil Society, Delhi, regarding the required amendments can be the starting point. The two guiding principles for revising should be that both private and public schools should be subjected to the same set of rules and regulations, and leave the decision to states and local bodies wherever possible.
Five, streamline administrative structures. The PAISA study conducted by Accountability Initiative shows that there are cases where some states receive half of their share in the last quarter of the year due to rules and administrative delays. This demonstrates the need to streamline administrative structures, break the silos, and bring in efficiency.
Six, ensure public access to quality data. Young Lives study conducted by the University of Oxford recently pointed to a decrease in learning outcomes of children. Similar trends were also pointed out by ASER. There is currently little raw, longitudinal data on the learning outcomes of children in India, available to public, to explore the root causes of such serious issues. Some states get third party learning assessments done, but the data is either not public or is scattered across. The Union government should take an initiative to coordinate and collate quality data on learning outcomes from across the states, and make it available to the public. This enables policy makers to make an informed choice.
School education, like any complex issue, has several aspects that need to be addressed, ranging from the meaning of education in today's society, regulation of school markets, to the on-time availability of textbooks to students. We will achieve the end result in the long term, only if we work on all of these.
Thus, the above-proposed reforms are by no means the panacea, nor do they cover the entire spectrum of reforms needed in education, but these certainly are the major aspects under the scope of the Union HRD ministry, that are to be addressed at this point of time. Of these, some of them might already be in place and the work on some might be in the pipeline, but these are the broad expectations from the ministry.
It is these things that the HRD ministry should be judged upon and be made accountable for, not for everything regarding school education. The nation has been waiting for the transformational change in education since long. One sincerely hopes that the MHRD takes cognizance of this and leads by example, showing the way to the states.


text:
Trusting Your Call | Margaret Kibben
Rear Admiral Margaret Kibben, 26th Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy, shares about her journey toward military ministry and the need to trust in God's call.
A God of Quiet | Mark Labberton
Mark Labberton, Clifford L. Penner Presidential Chair at Fuller Seminary, speaks about the Psalmist's hope in God's quiet yet steady faithfulness during seasons of despair.
The King of Glory | Mark Labberton
Mark Labberton reflects on God's holiness and ultimate authority and reminds us how, in Christ, we are invited to join in exultation before God.
Making a Difference | Otis Moss Jr.
Otis Moss Jr., pastor, speaker, and activist, speaks about how faith and the grace of God enable us to make a transformational difference wherever we find ourselves, even during dark and dangerous sea.
God's Promises | Damali Najuma Smith-Pollard
Damali Najuma Smith-Pollard, senior pastor of Word of Encouragement Community Church, preaches about how God's promises in scripture bring us comfort, preserve our lives, and lift us up.
Liberation from the Bottom | Kenichi Yoshida
Kenichi Yoshida, pastor and associate director of academic affairs, preaches about the power of theology that comes from the margins—focusing particularly on the voices of women of color.
The Shepherd's Love | Mark Labberton
Mark Labberton, president of Fuller Seminary, speaks about God's promise to be protector of the vulnerable, as the decision on the DACA policy heads to the US Supreme Court.
Digital Neighbors | Nelson Kiamu
Nelson Kiamu, PhD student in the School of Intercultural Studies, asks what it looks like for us to share the love of Christ and be good digital neighbors in this current age.
Lament and God's Goodness | Kutter Callaway
Kutter Callaway, associate professor of theology and culture, considers new ways for us to bear witness to God's goodness in a world where there is so much to lament.
Learning in Times of Trouble | Lisa Lamb
Lisa Washington Lamb, visiting assistant professor of preaching, preaches about yearning for God in the midst of literal and metaphorical battles.
God's Concern for Integral Health | Lisseth Rojas-Flores
Lisseth Rojas-Flores, associate professor of clinical psychology, speaks about the church's mission to care holistically for the vulnerable and marginalized.
Value and Human Dignity | Mark Labberton
Mark Labberton, president of Fuller Seminary, preaches at Fuller's Festival of Beginnings about framing our scholarship in the reality that God places value and dignity on every human life.
A God-Drenched Life | Mark Labberton
Mark Labberton, president of Fuller Seminary, addresses new students during Fuller's Welcome Week, preaching about what it means to choose the life-giving way of God.
Children and the Case for Humility | Doug McConnell
Doug McConnell, provost emeritus and professor of leadership and intercultural studies, delivers a Baccalaureate sermon to Fuller's class of 2019 on our responsibility to serve children in every conte
Courage in Our Call | Jeanelle Austin
Jeanelle Austin, Fuller alumna, encourages us to remain courageous in our obedience to God's call and to remember that God is present with us in every step of the journey.
Dying to Self | Joyce del Rosario
Joyce del Rosario, PhD candidate, talks about the ongoing process of dying to our old selves as we allow God to expand and transform our paradigms of who he is and who we are.
A Culture of Fear | Euiwan Cho
Euiwan Cho, academic director for the Korean Doctor of Ministry program and associate professor of Christian ministry, speaks about living in a culture of fear and our need to gaze upon God's beauty.
Rejoice in the Lord | Trey Clark
Trey Clark, pastor and PhD student, preaches on Paul's imperative to rejoice against despair, with joy being rooted not in one's circumstances but in the truth of Christ.
Grounding Vision | Mark Labberton
Mark Labberton, president of Fuller Seminary, meditates on Philippians 4 and the need to set our hearts and minds on goodness, justice, the truth, and the gospel.
Embodiment and Agency | Kathy Khang
Kathy Khang, author and speaker, delivers a chapel address for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month on the cultural and gender dynamics at play when coming before Jesus in times of need.
Hope in Suffering | Sandra Van Opstal
Sandra Van Opstal, pastor, author, and activist, preaches an Easter message about the communal nature of suffering and the global church's witness of hope in the midst of it.


text:
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First Federal Court Ruled That Having An Inaccessible Website Violates Title III of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Unfortunately, most companies do not even know if their websites are accessible to all persons or not. It is a subject that is not on the top of everyone's mind; however, it is the right thing to do for all persons utilizing your website. Most owners of companies and human resource departments put the burden of website accessibility on technical support. Today, several companies offer online one-click website accessibility tools to determine errors on your website that can assist even the most non-technical person.
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June 13, 2017, The Florida Federal District Court Judge, Robert Scola, issued a 130-page Verdict and Order against Winn-Dixie. The verdict and order found Winn-Dixie violated Title III of the ADA by not having an accessible website. This case is critical because it was the first of it's kind.
The plaintiff, Juan Carlos Gil, is blind and uses a screen reader software to access websites. Mr. Gil was unable to access Winn-Dixie's website to find store locations, order prescriptions, or download coupons. Mr. Gil is legally blind. However, he is determined to overcome his disabilities. He competes in marathons around the world.
Mr. Gil has accused restaurants, government agencies, and stores of not having their websites accessible to the blind and violating Title III ADA. He has filed 175 lawsuits in South Florida.
Mr. Gil said, "I'm fighting for equality. We live in the United States where we beat our chests and say we're the No. 1 place to be. However, there are holes in it. It's very disconcerting that it's now 2018 and websites aren't accessible to the visually impaired. It dismisses a whole population."
The current set of guidelines for Web Content Accessibility (WCAG) 2.0 is a standard that Winn-Dixie and other companies must comply with to ensure their websites are accessible. A private group of accessibility experts initially developed WCAG 2.0. During the rulemaking process of Title III, the Department of Justice references WCAG 2.0 as a guideline for companies to follow when making their websites ADA compliant for all persons.
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Companies Continue to wait for Web Accessibility Regulations, as the DOJ Retracts Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Issuing Supplemental Advanced Notice Soliciting Further Comments
Blind Customer Sues Toys "R" Us over Their Website
Techshare India 2014:Biggest Technology Event to Promote Accessibility for the Disabled
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Discovery mission STS-128 landing at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave desert on Friday Sept. 11th 2009 @ 8:53pm. This was the last time a Space Shuttle landed at Edwards. Photographs taken from 20 Mule Train Road on the North East side of the lake bed over 5 miles away from nearest point on the landing strip. I used a rented 300mm (450mm effective) F2.8 lens on a Nikon D90. Most images have been cropped. I think by the time Discovery stopped rolling she was almost 7 miles away!


A Fijian woman convicted of the manslaughter of a Christchurch toddler in her care is asking for her conviction to be overturned.
Shayal Upashna Sami, now 22, will be considered for parole from her five-year jail term in about August.
Stuff.co reports, Sami's lawyers Jonathan Eaton QC, says if freed she will be immediately deported to Fiji.
Eaton has asked the Court of Appeal in Wellington, New Zealand on Thursday to grant her a retrial.
Sami is now a mother herself and her baby is being cared for by family in Fiji.
Sami was looking after one-year-old Aaliyah Ashlyn Chand, the daughter of a family friend, when Aaliyah was fatally injured in January 2015.
Eaton says there is no evidence to support the prosecution theory that Sami must have snapped and smacked the girl's head into a flat surface.
The court reserved its decision on Sami's appeal against her conviction and sentence.


Amidst my former hope of joining #teampink, I finally delivered my fourth (and final) healthy boy – and I am elated. I'm still wrapping my mind around the idea of being in the house with five males; glaring at the toilet seat that is still up at times when I want it to be down; trying to ignore the waning desire for tea parties and tiaras and yet cherishing the throne that remains all my own as the reigning Queen (smile).
What sticks out most however, is that I am thankful. Like any parents, there have been days when I longed for the serenity that comes with an empty house. I've joked often with my friends and told them my favorite day (pre-Jonathan Paul [the newborn]) was haircut day, because all of the "boys" were gone. With such an active household, it's nice to have peace – and to be able to enjoy a dessert alone – something rarely done in a home full of foodies!
Admittedly, I've cringed at the rough-housing inherent with little men. I've fussed about broken trinkets and misplaced socks and shoes. Nevertheless, I'm filled with reflection of what it means to have a family, as I find myself nostalgically immersed in the magic that is motherhood all over again; but, sometimes, I find it bittersweet. Why? Because I see it in so many contexts now.
I consider the baby I lost that will never be forgotten. I'm acutely aware of the anguish that comes with parenthood – and not being perfect at it. I'm pained by the hard lessons you watch them learn that you wish they didn't have to, seeing their missteps with each turn they make, and I am grieved by the tragedies that befall other parents that are simply inconsolable (and there are far too many of those lately). Each and every element reroutes me to the bliss of being a mom.
I hear parents with empty nests tell me, "Oh baby enjoy them while you can. They won't be young forever." I realize, unsurprisingly, they are so right! I laugh about my comparative experience with my first son, now 11, and I almost want to tell the clock to rewind so I could do it all over again. He's going to middle school next year, and I'm not ready. Like many, I've put baby pictures side by side, marveling at the similarities and doting on the differences. I'm ultimately thrilled that they're all healthy, happy, and whole.
I remind myself often of the games I've been to; their pivotal moments and fondest experiences, and I've endeavored to savor everyone. Because having gone to more funerals than I would have ever imagined so early in the year -the hardest being my father's; being blown away by the iconic things my brother has been sending me from the 70s and 80s era that we adored as kids and being thrown back into history with the loss of celebrity greats – I'm proverbially reminded…that our families…are priceless.
I dream. I hope to create legacies that my children can embrace, espouse, and extol. When my today becomes their yesterday, I want them to recall it with a fondness that would warm the hearts of their great-grandchildren. I want them to remember the laughter at our dinner table; the feel of their father's calves as they wrapped around them with their whole little bodies; what it was like to sing and dance in front of the TV with their brush-turned microphones and horrible Michael Jackson impersonations.
I dream that the love that we've worked so hard to impart – on their best days and their worst – will flow through them fluidly, not only to their children, but in the form of kindness to others – as they share their faith, their convictions, their fervor and their friendship.
I dream that my boys will share an inseparable bond – a kinship that makes them as much brothers as they are friends – that they will know that what they had with their family is unlike any treasure they've ever known, rivaled only by the love of God.
I dream that each reader of this post will not only share in the joy that our family has, but will remember how important it is to treasure – and make right, if you haven't already – the relationships in families of their own. Life is a gift. We seldom take advantage of all it has to offer. While it's too short to be angry, we wait too long to rectify what's wrong. Remember to live life to the fullest, and love the ones who love you most. Don't forget, we're the models for the tiniest of all. Dream big.
Caption: Feeling full with my Final Four – and thanking Him for the gift of each and every one.


text:
Logansport, LA
De Soto County, Louisiana
Elevation of Logansport, Louisiana: 204 feet
General Demographic Characteristics, 2000 data (id:2245040, place: Logansport town, Louisiana)
Total Population: 1,630
Male: 738 (45.28%)
Female: 892 (54.72%)
Population data by age, 2000 data
Under 5 years: 137 (8.4%)
5 to 9 years: 140 (8.59%)
10 to 14 years: 146 (8.96%)
25 to 34 years: 169 (10.37%)
55 to 59 years: 83 (5.09%)
85 years and over: 27 (1.66%)
Median age: 34.3 years
Population data by age, legal ages, 2000 data
18 years and over: 1,110 (68.1%)
21 years and over: 1,056 (64.79%)
62 years and over: 307 (18.83%)
18 years and older by gender, 2000 data
--Male: 478 (29.33%)
--Female: 632 (38.77%)
--Male: 98 (6.01%)
--Female: 158 (9.69%)
Races, 2000 data
One Race: 1,622 (99.51%)
--White: 924 (56.69%)
--Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 18 (1.1%)
--Black or African American: 671 (41.17%)
--American Indian and Alaska Native: 5 (0.31%)
--Asian: 4 (0.25%)
----Asian Indian: 2 (0.12%)
----Chinese: 0 (0%)
----Filipino: 0 (0%)
----Japanese: 0 (0%)
----Korean: 0 (0%)
----Vietnamese: 0 (0%)
----Other Asian: 2 (0.12%)
--Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 1 (0.06%)
----Native Hawaiian: 0 (0%)
----Guamanian or Chamorro: 0 (0%)
----Samoan: 0 (0%)
----Other Pacific Islander: 1 (0.06%)
--Some other race: 5 (0.31%)
Two or more Races: 8 (0.49%)
Hispanic or Latino Races, 2000 data
Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 18 (1.1%)
--Mexican: 14 (0.86%)
--Puerto Rican: 0 (0%)
--Cuban: 0 (0%)
--Other Hispanic or Latino: 4 (0.25%)
Not Hispanic or Latino: 1,612 (98.9%)
--White Alone: 924 (56.69%)
Housedold Data, 2000 data
Household population: 1,630 (100%)
--Householder: 656 (40.25%)
--Spouse: 282 (17.3%)
--Child: 547 (33.56%)
----Child with own child under 18 years: 448 (27.48%)
--Other relatives: 100 (6.13%)
----Other relatives under 18 years: 66 (4.05%)
--Nonrelatives: 45 (2.76%)
----Unmarried partner: 19 (1.17%)
Living in group quarters: 0 (0%)
--Institutionalized Population: 0 (0%)
--Non Institutionalized Population: 0 (0%)
Total households: 656
Family households (families): 441 (67.23%)
----With own children under 18 years: 223 (33.99%)
--Married-couple families: 282 (42.99%)
--Female householder, no husband present: 132 (20.12%)
----With own children under 18 years: 87 (13.26%)
Nonfamily households: 215 (32.77%)
--Householder living alone: 201 (30.64%)
----Householder 65 years and over: 115 (17.53%)
Households with one or more people under 18 years: 253 (38.57%)
Households with one or more people 65 years and over: 215 (32.77%)
Average household size: 2.48 people
Average family size: 3.11 people
Housing Units, 2000 data
Total housing units: 787
Occupied housing units: 656 (83.35%)
Vacant housing units: 131 (16.65%)
--For seasonal, occasional, or recreational use: 25 (3.18%)
Home owner vacancy rate (percent): 5.4%
Rental vacancy rate (percent): 12.1%
Owner occupied housing units: 438 (55.65%)
Renter occupied housing units: 218 (27.7%)
Average household size of owner occupied units: 2.46 people
Average household size of renter occupied units: 2.54 people
Return to Logansport,LA.
More data for Logansport,LA: Demographic Profile - Social Profile - Economic Profile - Housing Profile


text:
TINY FIREFLIES
Nothing / 2040
Change EP
Tiny Fireflies EP
Navigation VIDEO Live Music Nothing / 2040 The Space Between Picture Perfect Change EP Tiny Fireflies EP About Press Contact merch
photo credit: The Weaver House
Tiny Fireflies began as a collaboration that did not have any intentions of being a band. Chicago musicians Lisle and Kristine (whose solo projects are Fireflies and Tiny Microphone respectively) were asked to appear on "Between two Waves," a compilation series driven by the concept of two musicians joining forces to create a song together, for netlabel Eardrums Pop.
Their song ʻDon't Wait Until I Fall Asleep," an homage to the Factory Records sound, was an instant fan favorite among Eardrums's four compilations, and in October 2010, Tiny Fireflies became the first band to release a single for the label's singles club. The 3-song single, which featured samples from Serge Gainsbourg and a cover of Claudine Longet's version of "End of the World," was voted favorite Eardrums release, favorite single ("Snow"), favorite collaboration, and favorite artwork in the label's year end poll.
The duo played their debut show in May 2011 at the 5th Annual New York City Popfest. They have since played in England, Spain, and around the Midwest (opening for Memoryhouse) in support of their follow-up EP "Change," which was released by Spanish label Little Treasure in August 2011. (It sold out in less than two weeks.) Cloudberry Records released their latest single, "Picture Perfect" on March 15, 2012.
They are currently working on their first full length, to be released in 2015.


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Q: Dax TotalYTD and SamePeriodLastYear Not working Hi I am trying to get total YTD amount for last year.
When I select October 2020 my current YTD amount works here is what it looks like :
YTDAmount = TOTALYTD(sum(PCSReport[PD]),PCSReport[PCSMonth])

However, I want to show YTD October 2019 and for some reason it is showing blank. This is the DAX I made :
LYTDAmount = TOTALYTD(sum(PCSReport[PD]), SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR(PCSReport[PCSMonth]) )

A: Since your calculations are correct, here is what might be the problem.
To work with time intelligence functions (TOTALYTD,DATESYTD ... )  you must have at leat one date table with an active relationship to your fact table.
A date table is a table that meets the following requirements:

*

*It must have a column of data type date (or date/time)—known as the date column.

*The date column must contain unique values.

*The date column must not contain BLANKs.

*The date column must not have any missing dates.

*The date column must span full years. A year isn't necessarily a calendar year (January-December).
The date table must be marked as a date table.


Around the country and here at GW, Greek life is dependent on college administrations. Fraternities and sororities have become institutionalized, as interwoven with the college experience as academics or athletics. But this wasn't always the case.
In the decades following the creation of the first modern fraternity – at the College of William & Mary in 1776 – Greek life struggled for recognition by their host universities. Most lobbied for recognition. Some opted to remain outside university purview. But all existed, for some period of time, independently from the wider student body.
Hear me out, Greek leaders. Let's at the very least start a much-needed conversation on what could be a logical solution to unfair treatment.
What was once a mutually beneficial relationship is starting to look less and less appealing to the Greek community. A rash of evictions, hazing investigations and probation sanctions have put a chill on chapter activities, especially over the past year.
Required registration of all parties, strict controls on housing and the constant threat of hazing allegations all lead to potential crackdowns by University officials.
But the pendulum has swung too far the other way. A relationship that is no longer 100 percent beneficial for everyone involved should be reexamined.
I'm not asking Greeks to declare independence and start a war a la 1776. Leaving the University behind is not aggressive, antagonistic or subversive. It's just forward thinking.
The number of Greek life members might be growing rapidly, but one can't help but wonder if the University is genuine in its claim to support Greek life. Just ask the members of Sigma Delta Tau or Beta Theta Pi. In recent history, you could have asked Pi Kappa Alpha, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Delta Gamma and Kappa Kappa Gamma.
Greek leaders would inevitably hesitate to abandon the houses they were granted by benevolent GW Housing. Yet, dues money collected by the organization would easily cover the rent of a local townhouse that the fraternity or sorority could call home.
This isn't without precedent – a number of GW Greeks have off-campus houses. Both across the country and here at GW, it's actually very common for a fraternities and sororities to have private, off-campus housing.
Fraternities and sororities divorcing from the University would also pay dividends for other student organizations. The SA could dramatically reduce funding for the Interfraternity Council, the Panhellenic Association and the Multicultural Greek Council.
This would create a substantial increase in funding for other student organizations – in the many tens of thousands. I know a handful of acting troupes that are salivating for some of the roughly $46,100 dollars doled out to Greek organizations this year by the SA.
Going under the radar would benefit the University as well: They wouldn't be burdened with the legal fees associated with hazing issues that have struck campus multiple times last semester. If these groups were unofficial, GW would absolve itself of liability.
At first glance, relinquishing ties with GW might seem counterintuitive and drastic. But behind the scenes, the IFC and PanHel often bemoan the way in which University officials clamp down on their respective communities.
No Greek leaders agreed to comment for this column. It's not hard to see why: Such a public statement could have repercussions for the relations any given chapter has with the University. And that's part of the problem.
Associate Dean of Students Tim Miller, to his credit, did weigh in.
"When groups have operated outside of a university's auspices, they have not typically done so for long and there are inherent challenges to doing so," he told me in an email.
Challenges, yes. And, I'll admit, the relationship isn't so toxic that a radical step is required – but it's that a radical step would benefit for all involved.
Miller also called the proposal "drastic," a word often used to suggest that an idea is too bizarre to work in practice. Ending formal relations with GW would certainly be a big step, but far from unheard of.
Let's stop pretending GW's Greek community and the Office of Greek Life get along. Fraternities and sororities can have autonomy, and the University can put an end to the nagging headache that is Greek life. It's a win-win.
The writer, a junior majoring in international affairs and a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, is a Hatchet columnist.


Overall Rating: 7/10. Unfortunately for me, my meal here didn't quite felt as worthy as what my friends claimed it would be.
Portuguese Chicken (RM25) The Portuguese Chicken somewhat reminds me of Indian food. It's cooked with coconut milk and tumeric. If you are not really a fan of tumeric you may want to order something else instead. Apart from chunks of chicken, you'll also find carrots, tomatoes and olives in it. It is one very appetising dish and it goes very well with their homemade bread.
Quality ingredients for quality cakes, delivery service or pick-up, pretty to look at and a delight to eat, many interesting flavours along with standard favourites.
Food Rating 6.5/10, Depends on your own preference, nice coffee art.
The taste wise is not something which will lock into your mindset. You may be there for a cool gathering or just to make sure you have eaten your lunch or dinner after skipping your breakfast.
Pannaz is a newly opened restaurant serving delectable western food at very very affordable price.


text:
Lynrose – Brandi Milne
As a child I was obsessed with the darker fairy tales. I didn't really want to know about the princesses, I just wanted to know about the monsters and villains. I didn't necessarily want them to be victorious in the stories either, I just wanted to know more about them, as I felt they got a bum deal in the description stakes.
What I really loved was the original tales, you know where the little mermaid got legs, but she was in constant pain, and didn't end up with the prince… or where the ugly sisters were made to dance to death in hot lead shoes, because these served as more of a moral tale than the softened version.
Milne is an American artist, born in the 1970s, whose work seems to be filled with childhood memories and bright colours, yet underneath the surface they have some basis in love, loss, pain and heartbreak. They caputre his child like imagination combined with themes which are fairly trumatic no matter what age you experience them.
There is a hazy familiarity to Milne's techinque as it reflects picture books that her audiences may have had growing up, and there are hints of familiar stories, whch my be why she has become a popular artist, through presenting another view on life through a candy cane lens.
The palette that she uses varies from bright colours on a muted background, to simple black and white, bring variation to her work.
"Lynrose" presents the viewer with a sugary sweet house in what seems to be a candy forest, it looks warm and inviting from the smoke that is coming from the chimney, but with the skeletons lurking, there is a heavy sense of loss and death peering over this scene. It is hard to ignore the skull apple next to the house which throws up memories of the apple from Disney's "Snow White" that the evil queen uses to lure Snow White in to her coma like sleep.
This painting really brings the story of Hansel and Gretel back to me, and I always find it odd as an adult that we park these when we get to a certain age, only to revist should we have children.
Written in 1812 by the Brothers Grimm, Hansel and Gretel is probably one of the few stories that is not soften that much, just in case you can't fully remember the story I will give you the WidowCranky run down.
Deep in the forest, a wood cutter and his family had a small home. A famine has hit the land, and in despair the mother comes up with a plan to keep her husband and herself alive. She explains to the wood cutter, that they should take their children, Hansel and Gretel, into the forest and leave them there to fend for themselves. The woodcutter is initially opposed to this (obviously this was way before foraging was hip and trendy), but finally agrees to this plan. Hansel and Gretel over hear their parents talking, and Hansel sneeks out in the night and collects white pebbles.
The next day, the mother leads her children into the woods and leaves them, but clever Hansel has dropped the pebbles so that he and his sister can find their way home.
On returning the mother is furious and locks the chldren up so that they are unable to gather more pebbles. The next morning, the mother again takes them in to the forest, this time Hansel had taken a loaf of bread so that he could drop crumbs in order to allow him to leave a trail so that they could follow it home (god knows why, his parents are clearly abhorrent).
When the children try to follow the trail home, they find that the birds of the woods have eaten the crumbs, so the are lost. After a few days of wandering the woods, the children follow a white bird to a clearing where they find a house made of gingerbread and candy.
Tired and hungry the children start to eat the house, only for an ugly and blood thirsty witch to come out and catch them. Initially the witch invites the children in and treats them well, giving them a good meal and a hot bath, finally putting them to bed. The next morning, however the wtich throws Hansel in to a cage, with the intention of fattening him up to eat, forcing Gretel to be her slave.
The witch does not have good eyesight, and Hansel uses this to his advantage, and while he is caged and being fed for weeks, the witch periodcially checks if he is fattening up… Hansel pokes a finger bone from a previous victim through the bars. I'm just going to point out here that while Hansel is locked in a cage being fed, poor old Gretel is having to slave away. Eventually the witch gets fed up and decides to eat Hansel anyway.
The next day, the witch gets Gretel to prep the oven to cook Hansel, but she also decides that she is hungry enough to eat Gretel, so tries to coax Gretel to look in the oven so that she can push her in. Gretel, not being stupid, says to the witch that she doesn't understand what she means and asked her to show her how to look in the oven, as the witch does this, Gretel pushes the witch into the oven and she shuts the door, leaving her to burn.
As the children leave the house, Gretel spots a vase full of tresure which she picks up, and the children go to find their way home. Eventually finding their house, they see their father alone. Their mother has died from an unknown cause, so the children and their father live happily ever after on the witches tresure.
Later this story was changed so that it was an evil step mother, as it was deemed too traumatic to let children think that their biological mothers could do something so horrid.
There is a link between this story and a Russian fairy tale, where the witch is Baba Yaga, who bares a great resmeblance to Gryla, all witches that crave the flesh of children. These stories where to created to scare children into being good (the germans love a story that scare children… look up shock headed Peter if you don't believe me), but there is also something about how clever children will always come out on top.
Milne's painting I feel reflects the sorrow which surrounds the sugary sweet house, with the implication that children have died there, but with the larger skeleton looming, depicting the inevitable death of the witch, but I also think that there is something else to this. There is a way in which we teach children about death, trying to sugar coat it and soften the blow of loss for children, which can ultimately perpetuate a silent fear about it hence the "Shh…" in the painting, as it is almost a taboo subject that is not spoken about. I think introducing death as a celebration of life to children would cease this fear, but think about every story we are told as a child (with the exception of Bambi), princesses fall into 100 year sleeps and children escape cannibal witches… only with the monsters dying, which is brushed over, with little emotion… as they are the bad guys.
For me, Milne's work reflects all of theses ideas, presenting them in a fairytale setting, and her work really makes me think.
What do you see in "Lynrose"? Why not tell me in the comments? Like this post? why not share it?
Art, art analysis, Brandi Milne, Brothers Grimm, Candy Forest, Hansel and Gretel, Lynrose, painting, postaday, postaweek, Skeleton
Spotlight on Anselm Kiefer
Maui – Bobby Holcomb
One thought on "Lynrose – Brandi Milne"
I'm struck by the pineapple and cherries. Only a 70's child, born in California would use those specific condiments.
And the only heart above the door—all is well children, come in and take your feast. Grimm to the last drop.


text:
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Suthers was featured in the news on 20 January
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THE SUTHERS SCHOOL IS COMING HOME
Building work is well underway!
Our state-of-the-art new facilities will open in Fernwood, Newark, in 2020.
Access important documents and information for parents and students such as school policies, who our governors are and how we make certain decisions.
Read about our goal of helping all of our students to develop five vital character strengths.
Keep up to date with developments and receive information about our Open Events.
Download copies of our weekly bulletin for parents featuring key messages and news stories for each year group.
Welcome to The Suthers School
The Suthers School is a brand new, non-selective secondary school serving the community of Newark.
Until we move into our permanent home in Fernwood, Newark, The Suthers School will be located in purpose-built temporary accommodation adjacent to Toot Hill School in Bingham.
To find out more about The Suthers School and the exciting opportunities it can offer your child, please explore our website or get in touch. We would love to hear from you.
"The Suthers School has at its heart the absolute conviction that young people deserve an education that excites, that nurtures passions and prepares them to take their place as the leaders of tomorrow.
And there is no doubt that, as a brand new school, we are in an enviable position—able to craft a curriculum that meets the needs of every individual and guarantees access to a wealth of extra-curricular and enrichment opportunities.
Our uniquely character-focused approach means that we empower the young people of Newark to do more than they ever thought possible. We work tirelessly to help every child develop the knowledge, skills and character strengths they need and I really do hope that you will be able to visit us soon to experience the difference for yourself."
Andrew Pettit BA (Hons) PGCE MCCTHead of School
Building Update
Building work on our permanent home in Fernwood, Newark is now well underway and is due for completion in early 2020.
Located on the Fernwood Business Park, the 830-place school (including sixth form provision for 230 students), will benefit from the excellent transport links and infrastructure currently in place and proposed as part of the new housing developments in the area.
Click here for further information
"I am incredibly proud to be involved with The Suthers School. It is a huge privilege to work with such exceptional young people, their families and the staff at the school.
The strong values of the School and the unrelenting focus on excellent teaching ensures students are happy, confident learners and as a smaller school we know students' strengths and talents and the areas that they need to develop. This means the curriculum and the unique enrichment offer is tailor-made and makes sure that no student slips through the net. We believe all our students are gifted and that it is the job of our school to identify and develop their talents.
All of the staff at The Suthers School are committed to this aim and to ensuring that students stand out from the crowd, leave the school knowing how to confidently take up their place in the world and make positive contributions to society."
Ashfaq Rahman BSc(Hons) PGDip PGCE NPQH NLEExecutive Head teacher
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Beena Ahmad [left], Books Thru Bars volunteer and former Wits Justice Project staff member.
MY FRIEND and New York attorney Beena Ahmad – who worked for nearly a year with the Wits Justice Project – had a quirky habit. In her neighborhood in Brooklyn she picked up books that people left out on the street with great enthusiasm (an aside: you can furnish your entire house with the stuff people discard; from baby shoes, to antique cupboards, to electronics). Sometimes I would share her joy, like when she picked up a battered copy of 'Long Walk to Freedom', placed on a garden wall. At other times though, 'Form Your Own Limited Liability Company', for example, didn't seem quite as riveting a read.
But when I entered the basement of the bookstore Free Bird, where Books Through Bars New York hosts one of their weekly book packing volunteer groups, I got it. About 10 people were seated around a table or browsed the shelves crammed pell-mell with books.
Incarcerated people write to the organisation, requesting books they want to read. The volunteers read their letters and go through the book collection to see if they can find any matches and mail the books to the inmates.
Annie Soga, a 26-year-old volunteer who describes herself as a 'library school dropout' and her boyfriend Tim Nicholas run fanzines and are regular volunteers for Books Through Bars. "Dictionaries are most popular," she says. According to this website "more than 60 percent of all prison inmates are functionally illiterate." If prisoners learn to read and write their chances of ending up back in prison drastically drop, and it also allows them to understand their rights.
Annie Soga [left] and other Books Through Bars volunteers sorting through mail.
Given the grim reality of life behind bars, it comes as no surprise that sci-fi and fantasy are popular requests, as are stories and pictures about family life; a surrogate for the loved ones that are missed.
Some books are not allowed though. Many prisons ban hardback copies and some ban books with maps and DIY books. In Alabama, The Equal Justice Initiative sued the Alabama Department of Corrections over its ban of the book 'Slavery by Another Name', which documents the abhorrent practice of 'convict leasing: "African Americans in Alabama and throughout the South were re-enslaved in the years following the Civil War, due in part to laws specifically written to facilitate the arbitrary arrest of African Americans. Unable to pay the resulting fines, in addition to the costs for their own arrests, they were sold as forced labor to mines, railroads, farms, and quarries." Bryan Stevenson, EJI's director and former Springfield, Missouri attorney had sent the book to a man working in the prison library of an Alabama prison.
The Department based its decision on a regulation, which states that any piece of mail or other material "may be determined to be a threat to the security of the institution." The case was settled in 2013, when the book was allowed in the prison.
When the evening draws to a close in the Free Bird basement, there are at least eight bags full of packaged books that need to be mailed. The brown packages clog up the first postbox and we haul the bags to the second, around the corner. I imagine someone in a cell unpacking and reading 'Long Walk to Freedom' and I know this was an evening well spent.


text:
Sam Edwards
Author: Sam Edwards
SAM EDWARDS is a Lecturer in American History at Manchester Metropolitan University.
D-Day in History and Memory: The Normandy Landings in International Remembrance and Commemoration
Published: March, 2014 Pages: 320 Features: 12 b&w photos. 1 map. Notes. Bib. Index.
Over the past sixty-five years, the Allied invasion of Northwestern France in June 1944, known as D-Day, has come to stand as something more than a major battle. The assault itself formed a vital component of Allied victory in the Second World War. D-Day developed into a sign and symbol; as a word it carries with it a series of ideas and associations that have come to symbolize different things to different people and nations. As such, the commemorative activities linked to the battle offer a window for viewing the various belligerents in their postwar years. more... about D-Day in History and Memory: The Normandy Landings in International Remembrance and Commemoration