text:
MZ Weekly News Round-Up: The "Pigeon" Update and the Death of Facebook Chat
SEO:
Google is officially implementing product ratings and reviews on the Product Listing Ads in its search results. This feature, only available in the United States as of now, will show consumers a 5-star rating system under the PLAs on Google search and Google Shopping. Merchants have until October to share review data with Google in order for ratings to appear in PLAs, either directly or through third-party aggregators.
A new algorithm update, nicknamed "Pigeon," is aiming to provide more useful, relevant and accurate Google search results. Some local businesses may see an increase or decrease in website referrals, leads and business from this change. Google claims that the Pigeon update is an improvement upon previous distance and location parameters. No comments have been made on the percent of queries this algorithm will affect, or if certain web spam algorithms were deployed in the update.
Facebook is, once again, killing off its Gifts feature. The original "Gift Shop," which gave users the ability to send each other virtual goods, was taken out in 2010. Two years later, in September 2012, a physical gift store launched, following Facebook's acquisition of Karma, a gift-giving app. In August 2013, the feature shifted focus to selling gift cards instead of physical goods, and now, Gifts is being removed from Facebook entirely. A spokesperson for the social networking platform claims that Facebook will continue to try helping businesses and developers drive sales on the Web.
Do you use Facebook on an Android phone or iPhone? Do you use the main Facebook app to message friends? Well, in a matter of days, that's all going to change. In an effort to make its users download a separate Messenger app that's been around since 2011, Facebook is no longer supporting the chat feature in its main application. The social network is currently in the process of notifying users about this change. Motives for splintering functionality into separate apps include getting people to spend more time using Facebook-related products and collecting more information about those users, even when they aren't using the main service.
Internet.org, an internet accessibility initiative backed by Facebook, is a web and Android app for the developing world that provides free data access to a limited set of services, including Facebook, Messenger, Wikipedia, and Google Search. Also provided are local health, employment, weather, and women's rights resources. The app's initial launch will be in Zambia before reaching other developing countries. Internet.org is the product of Facebook's partnership with six telecom companies. Though Facebook is facing criticism for using the app primarily as a growth tactic, the initiative's project manager insists that the software's benevolence is meant to extend far beyond just connecting new users to Facebook.
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text:
Florida Republicans Are Being Targeted By Fake Voter Purge Letters
Ryan J. Reilly,
Flickr/GoldenEel
Authorities in Florida are investigating who sent official-looking letters in recent days to mostly Republican voters falsely telling them that their citizenship and right to vote is in question.
The letters have been reported in 23 counties throughout the state and are part of an apparent attempt to intimidate voters, Department of State spokesman Chris Cate told the Associated Press on Tuesday.
The letters were postmarked on Oct. 17 and began showing up in mailboxes on Saturday, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Even the head of the Florida Republican Party got one, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
GOP officials in Florida worked earlier this year to remove non-citizen voters from the rolls, but their initial efforts caught many legal voters. They originally sought to take 2,600 voters off the rolls but that number was later reduced to just 198 names.
Some Republicans suggested that the letters, postmarked in Seattle, were sent in protest of the state's purge effort.
"It would be really disappointing if someone tried to use a successful program to commit voter fraud," Cate said.
The letters appears to originate with Florida's Division of Elections and tell voters they will be removed from the rolls unless they prove their citizenship within 15 days.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement opened an investigation late Tuesday. Gov. Rick Scott (R) said the state had "zero tolerance" for voter intimidation.
"Anytime anybody's trying to prevent somebody from voting that's a serious issue," Scott said, according to the AP. "We'll get to the bottom of it. We'll turn over any violations of law to law enforcement. I expect law enforcement to prosecute those individuals."
Read the original article on TPM. Copyright 2012. Follow TPM on Twitter.
More: Talking Points Memo Voting Voter Fraud Voters

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


She's irreverent and unconventional with an intense and playful sensuality that makes her unforgettable. She is bold and fearless. A glamorous rebel with an individual spirit and style that makes a statement to the world. Her fragrance declaration is: I AM JUICY COUTURE.
I AM JUICY COUTURE combines ripe, juicy fruits to open this bold and alluring scent before blending a seductive mixture of Gardenia and Cashmere Woods. The fragrance opens with the biting succulence of bursting Raspberry, freshly tart Pomelo and lush Passion Fruit. In the heart, a narcotic temptation of Gardenia, Heliotrope, dreamy Rose de Mai and sensual Sweet Pea combine. It finishes with an addictive luxuriousness of soft Musks, warm Cashmere Woods and Candied Amber.
My thoughts: I commonly associate Juicy Couture fragrances as sweet and best suited for younger women in the mid to late teens. Fortunately, this is not the case with the I AM JUICY COUTURE fragrance. Although this smells sweet, it also has an air of freshness to it which makes it a little more serious than a typical JC scent. My favourite part of the fragrance is actually the dry down where you begin to sense more of the floral notes.
Have you tried I AM JUICY COUTURE by Juicy Couture, what are your thoughts?
I still haven't smelled this perfume, and I love most Juicy Couture fragrances! I need to do that soon, I'm curious.


text:
Examination of Earth's recent history key to predicting global temperatures
by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
On Dec. 7, 2015, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on NASA's Aqua satellite captured this image of eastern China being inundated by thick smog, seen in gray. The previous day in Beijing, the Chinese government issued a first-ever "red alert" for the city, which resulted in school and factory closures and the forcing of motorists from the roads. The new NASA study argues that smog and other aerosols and climate drivers do not necessarily behave like carbon dioxide, which is uniformly spread throughout the globe and produces a consistent temperature response; rather, each climate driver has a particular set of conditions that affects the temperature response of Earth. Credit: NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS Rapid Response. Image cropping by Adam Voiland
Estimates of future global temperatures based on recent observations must account for the differing characteristics of each important driver of recent climate change, according to a new NASA study published Dec. 14 in the journal Nature Climate Change.
To quantify climate change, researchers need to know the Transient Climate Response (TCR) and Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity (ECS) of Earth. Both values are projected global mean surface temperature changes in response to doubled atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations but on different timescales. TCR is characteristic of short-term predictions, up to a century out, while ECS looks centuries further into the future, when the entire climate system has reached equilibrium and temperatures have stabilized.
There have been many attempts to determine TCR and ECS values based on the history of temperature changes over the last 150 years and the measurements of important climate drivers, such as carbon dioxide. As part of that calculation, researchers have relied on simplifying assumptions when accounting for the temperature impacts of climate drivers other than carbon dioxide, such as tiny particles in the atmosphere known as aerosols, for example. It is well known that aerosols such as those emitted in volcanic eruptions act to cool Earth, at least temporarily, by reflecting solar radiation away from the planet. In a similar fashion, land use changes such as deforestation in northern latitudes result in bare land that increases reflected sunlight.
But the assumptions made to account for these drivers are too simplistic and result in incorrect estimates of TCR and ECS, said climate scientist Gavin Schmidt, the director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York and a co-author on the study. "The problem with that approach is that it falls way short of capturing the individual regional impacts of each of those variables," he said, adding that only within the last ten years has there been enough available data on aerosols to abandon the simple assumption and instead attempt detailed calculations.
In a NASA first, researchers at GISS accomplished such a feat as they calculated the temperature impact of each of these variables—greenhouse gases, natural and manmade aerosols, ozone concentrations, and land use changes—based on historical observations from 1850 to 2005 using a massive ensemble of computer simulations. Analysis of the results showed that these climate drivers do not necessarily behave like carbon dioxide, which is uniformly spread throughout the globe and produces a consistent temperature response; rather, each climate driver has a particular set of conditions that affects the temperature response of Earth.
The new calculations reveal their complexity, said Kate Marvel, a climatologist at GISS and the paper's lead author. "Take sulfate aerosols, which are created from burning fossil fuels and contribute to atmospheric cooling," she said. "They are more or less confined to the northern hemisphere, where most of us live and emit pollution. There's more land in the northern hemisphere, and land reacts quicker than the ocean does to these atmospheric changes."
Because earlier studies do not account for what amounts to a net cooling effect for parts of the northern hemisphere, predictions for TCR and ECS have been lower than they should be. This means that Earth's climate sensitivity to carbon dioxide—or atmospheric carbon dioxide's capacity to affect temperature change—has been underestimated, according to the study. The result dovetails with a GISS study published last year that puts the TCR value at 3.0°F (1.7° C); the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which draws its TCR estimate from earlier research, places the estimate at 1.8°F (1.0°C).
"If you've got a systematic underestimate of what the greenhouse gas-driven change would be, then you're systematically underestimating what's going to happen in the future when greenhouse gases are by far the dominant climate driver," Schmidt said.
Long-term warming likely to be significant despite recent slowdown
More information: Kate Marvel et al. Implications for climate sensitivity from the response to individual forcings, Nature Climate Change (2015). DOI: 10.1038/nclimate2888
Journal information: Nature Climate Change
Provided by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Citation: Examination of Earth's recent history key to predicting global temperatures (2015, December 18) retrieved 16 July 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2015-12-earth-history-key-global-temperatures.html
Climate outlook may be worse than feared, global study suggests
Research reveals how global warming will impact Earth's carbon cycle
Including plant acclimation to temperature change improves climate models
A warmer world will be a hazier one, study finds
Warm nights could flood the atmosphere with carbon under climate change
Megadrought caused mega biodiversity loss
Climate change poses greater risk to global development than climate action does
Warming climate intensifies summer drought in parts of U.S., study finds
Shootist
IT IS ALL ABOUT THE NARRATIVE.
YES, IT'S DELIGHTFULLY WARM TODAY. I went running and did yardwork in a t-shirt in the sunshine. But Christmas Eve was warmer in 1955. "Three fourths of the country was over 60 degrees, and Ashland Kansas, Geary Oklahoma and Encinal Texas were all over 90 degrees. Fort Lauderdale was 85 degrees. All of the stations below were over 60 degrees on Christmas Eve, 1955."
Plus: "Last winter, the East Coast had record cold. That was ignored because it was 'less than 1% of the Earth.' But this week, the Eastern US defines the global climate."
Vietvet
But this week, the Eastern US defines the global climate."
More ignorance from a denier.
http://www.accuwe...53959011
https://www.googl...%20coast
Dimis P
it's all solalar and it's here.naturally sea levels shall fall, the ice extent shall increase as well as temperatures shall fall, new insights on climate, solar wind, sunspot cycles, solar activity etc lot of new findings all in here. dimispoulos.wix.com/dimis


are interested in new technologies and can quickly learn how to use various web and mobile applications and tools.
a business-oriented approach or a degree in Economics or Management.
This position is ideal for someone that wants to learn the ropes of selling SaaS based software.


JP is one of the leading manufacturers of pumps for waterborne heating and cooling systems for greenhouses worldwide. With many years of pump experience, we know the horticulture market well.
Johnson Pump offers the innovative TopGear MAG range of leak-proof internal gear pumps for low and high viscous liquids which are corrosive, toxic, aggressive or expensive.
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Marketing and distribution is handled via multiple sales companies and independent distributors worldwide. 75 years of experience providing solutions for liquid transport needs ensures high quality of standards. We are certified to ISO 9001 and 14001.


text:
Ossonis hirsutipes is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by Per Olof Christopher Aurivillius in 1922. It is known from Borneo.

References

Saperdini
Beetles described in 1922

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


John D. McCann, is the author of the first book ever written exclusively on building survival kits. It was published by Krause Publication (now KP Books), April, 2005. It was so successful that the publisher asked that he do a 2nd, Expanded and Revised Edition. Well here it is; Revised and Expanded. With major additions to the components section and new chapters on Cookware & Stoves, Modifying Your Gear, Everyday Carry & Get-Home Bags, and Evacuation Kits & Bug-Out Bags. The 2nd Edition is 30% larger than the original.


text:
//
//  KMInputMethodEventHandlerProtected.h
//  Keyman4MacIM
//
//  Created by tom on 1/5/18.
//  Copyright © 2018 SIL International. All rights reserved.
//

#ifndef KMInputMethodEventHandlerProtected_h
#define KMInputMethodEventHandlerProtected_h

typedef NS_ENUM(NSInteger, ClientCapability) {
    Unknown,
    Yes,
    No,
    Unreliable
};

@interface KMInputMethodEventHandler ()
//@property (nonatomic) NSMutableDictionary *kbData;
//@property (nonatomic) NSDictionary *kmModes;
@property (assign) BOOL willDeleteNullChar;
@property (assign) BOOL contextOutOfDate;
// This flag indicates which mode is being used for replacing already typed text when composing characters
// (i.e., when not using deadkeys). Some apps (and some javascript-based websites, such as Google Docs) do
// not properly deal with calls to insertText calls that replace a range of characters. So for these "legacy"
// apps, we post one or more deletes (i.e., backspace), followed by a special code that tells us we're now
// ready to insert the composed text.
@property BOOL legacyMode;
// Some clients (e.g. Chrome) handle the mouse down events before we get a crack at them. For such apps that
// are able to report their current selection location (LibreOffice can't even do that!), we can do some
// checking at the start of the event processing to see if we're probably still in the same place where we
// left off previously.
@property (assign) BOOL clientSelectionCanChangeUnexpectedly; // REVIEW: Maybe we can get notification from these clients by handling mouseDownOnCharacterIndex.
@property (assign) ClientCapability clientCanProvideSelectionInfo;

@property id senderForDeleteBack;
@property BOOL ignoreNextDeleteBackHighLevel;

- (instancetype)initWithLegacyMode:(BOOL)legacy clientSelectionCanChangeUnexpectedly:(BOOL) flagClientSelectionCanChangeUnexpectedly;
- (void)handleCommand:(NSEvent *)event;
// This just sets the legacyMode property to true and spits out a debug message to that effect.
- (void)switchToLegacyMode;
- (void)checkContextIn:(id)client;
- (void)replaceExistingSelectionIn:(id)client with:(NSString *) text;
- (void)insertPendingBufferTextIn:(id)client;
- (KMInputMethodAppDelegate *)AppDelegate;
- (NSMutableString *)contextBuffer;
- (NSString *)getLimitedContextFrom:(id)sender at:(NSUInteger) len;
// Return the pending buffer.  If it is NIL create it.
-(NSMutableString*)pendingBuffer;
-(void)setPendingBuffer:(NSString*)string;
- (void)initiatePendingBufferProcessing:(id)sender;
@end

#endif /* KMInputMethodEventHandlerProtected_h */

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Darth Vader's special Tie Fighter, known as the x1, from the Star Wars universe, features a showcase of Bandai's multi material and color injection technologies.
Darth Vader's special Tie Fighter, known as the x1, from the Star Wars universe, features a showcase of Bandai's multi material and color injection technologies. The different components that make up its wings are molded together, yet are still color separated. Includes 2 different canopy types, a window version made of clear plastic, and a frame version that can allow the seated Darth Vader to be seen more clearly.


text:
Q: Amazon AWS EC2 Instance - Can't connect with SSH This shouldn't be this hard. I cannot connect to new AWS EC2 instance via SSH clients. I am connecting from a Win 7 box.
Instance OS: Debian 6
AMI: debian-squeeze-i386-20121119-e4554303-3a9d-412e-9604-eae67dde7b76-ami-1977f070.1(ami-a121a6c8)
User: tried root and also ec2-user
Using .pem keypair that AWS generated and I downloaded
Confirmed security group and Key Pair Name on instance
SSH port 22 is OPEN: Nmap says so and Telnet gets a welcome reply
Using 3 different clients: all clients connect ok
PuTTY replies: Server refused our key
MindTerm Java browser add-in replies: Authentication failed, permission denied
Bitvise SSH replies: Attempting 'publickey' auth; auth failed;
Rebooted instance, wash, rinse, repeat...
REBUILT new instance and new keypair, wash, rinse, repeat...
Connecting isn't the issue.  Why would the instance not accept the .pem file as the password?  Is there an additional step I am missing?  I followed EVERY frigging guide I could Google.  AWS support is a joke.  stackoverflow to the rescue...
TIA.

A: According to the debian wiki which has documentation on the AMI you are using, the username you need to use to login is 'admin'.

A: I have had many issues with connecting to EC2 via ssh.
ssh -i the-keypair-filename root@yourdomain.com

- Keypair file must be in same directory.
- I just used terminal to connect.
Make sure you generate or assign the keypair when launching the instance.
Also you can verify the keypair you have set in the AWS Management Console, this is done by selecting the running instance and then looking for "Key Pair Name:".
I hope this is helpful.

A: My problem was that I didn't add a volume that was expected in the fstab file so the server didn't start fully and the sshd daemon wasn't running.
Check with:
    telnet HOST 22

Check the server logs to make sure it starts properly before you waste lots of time like I did.

A: Amazon Linux AMIs that use ec2-user password are listed at the bottom of this page.
http://aws.amazon.com/amazon-linux-ami/
Check that you are using one of those if trying to use ec2-user, or check the documentation for the AMI you are using.
Teri

A: Try using the "admin" username and ignore the username suggested by Amazon.

A: I had the similar problem and I have solved the issue by following approach.
1) Edited the knife.rb file in my chef folder i.e. :\Users\Administrator\chef-starter\chef-repo.chef\knife.rb as bellow:
knife[:aws_access_key_id]     = "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
knife[:aws_secret_access_key] = "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
knife[:region]                = 'ap-southeast-1'
knife[:aws_ssh_key_id] = "ChefUser"
knife[:ssh_user]="ec2-user"

In the command prompt, issued the command to create an ec2-server:
knife ec2 server create -r "role[webserver]" --image ami-abcd1234 --flavor t1.micro -G  ChefClient -x root -N server01 -i H:\Chef-files\ChefUser.pem

Note that, even though I had given all the details in the knife.rb file, I had to give the .pem file path in coomand line through -i option. That solved my problem.
Check, if the solution of mine helps you.
Cheers,
Chandan

A: Logging in as "ubuntu" worked for me:
ssh -i private_key.pem ubuntu@myubuntuserver
Hope this helps
--Erin

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Color information hex 2a8454: RGB percentage, decimal and hexa, CMYK, HSL proportion, color gradient, tints, shades, tons, palettes color and other inspirations!
The color hexa 2a8454 is equivalent in RGB decimal 42, 132, 84 is 42 of red, 132 of green and 84 of blue. It can also be represented by the HSL (hue, saturation and lightness) parameters, which are 0.411 of hue (41), 0.517 of saturation (51) and 0.341 of lightness (34).


Thailand woos foreign businesses with an investor-friendly approach and a stable economic environment. The prosperous South East Asian country boasts a range of investment opportunities in various sectors after it got over its political crisis last year. With a new investor-friendly government, chances are abound. Inside Investor takes a look at the current economic environment and the key sectors for foreign direct investment and will launch a special report, Inside Thailand, in April 2012.
All eyes were on Thailand when violent anti-government protests in April 2010 threatened to destabilize the country. Commentators wondered if the nation, not known for frequent political unrest, might fall into a stage of civil war and feared one of the most stable economies in South East Asia could take a hit. However, nothing of the sort happened. Thailand came quickly on its feet again, followed by a much-noticed general election landslide win by Yingluck Shinawatra of the populist Pheu Thai Party in July 2011, who now heads a coalition government as Thailand's first female Prime Minister, reshuffled the cabinet and seems to be able to give the country the political backing to reemerge as a South East Asian tiger economy that stands firm even in a global financial turmoil.
Indeed, Thailand's economy looks promising given the current figures: GDP real growth was 7.8 per cent in 2010, and the forecast for 2011 stands at 3.7 per cent, according to the World Bank. These are highly encouraging figures, as they indicate that the pace of economic activity is gradually returning to levels before the global financial crisis struck in 2008. After a bumpy ride of drops and rebounds during that period, Thailand's GDP is now close to normal levels again.
While consumption of domestically produced goods and service expanded, investments into the sectors grew as well. Rising world food prices had a rather positive effect on agricultural incomes in Thailand, which, however, also pushed up wages in related sectors. "Along with low deposit rates and a renewed appetite for lending on the part of the banks, higher household incomes stimulated consumption of durable goods such as vehicles and housing," the report said.
Though the country is not invulnerable to the current economic woes that plague the economies of the European Union and the US, it seems that Thailand's export mix (the Thai economy is heavily export-dependent, with exports of goods and services equivalent to nearly 70 per cent of the GDP in 2010), a changing export mix is offering some resilience against higher oil prices and sluggish growth in advanced economies. Furthermore, Thailand can reduce its vulnerability to oil price shocks by raising fuel standards, improving tax incentives for conservation and relying more on rail for cargo transport.
The Thailand Board of Investment (BOI), an agency of the Government of Thailand to promote investment in the country, said recently that new foreign direct investments grew by 31 per cent in the first four months of this year, with 53 per cent growth in project numbers and 31 per cent growth in investment value. Given the fact that FDIs already grew by 35 per cent throughout the year 2010 over 2009 to a total value of 236.03 billion baht (approximately $8.2 billion), the figures indicate the rising attractiveness of the country as an investment destination.
"We see a large variety of businesses making investments in Thailand and there are many medium to large-sized projects. This reflects investors' strong confidence in Thailand and its potential as a distribution hub for export to the global market," says Dr Atchaka Sibunruang, Secretary General of the BOI.
Top industries attracting FDIs were metal products, machinery and transport equipment projects as well as public utilities and services, and chemicals, paper, plastic, electronic goods production and car parts. Most of these investment projects have been medium-large in scale with investment values between 200 million and 1 billion baht ($7 to $35 million), the BOI says.
On several occasions lately, the Thai government has emphasized that it is seeking to expand trade and investment with the Middle East. Besides the oil sector, the two regions have located investment opportunities in Islamic banking, the halal food industry, tourism projects, construction, infrastructure, technology, and private health care. Thailand is also addressing Sovereign Wealth Funds of Middle East nations to support joint investments.
Inside Investor will launch a special report on Thailand, Inside Thailand, in April 2012 that will feature in-depth overviews on major industries and key investment opportunities, geared to the needs of Middle East investors.


text:
The Unforgotten
Policing and Repression
Clare Busch
For 600 Saturdays, friends and relatives of the Turkish state's victims have been telling tales of torture and unlawful detention.
Magdarlena / Flickr
The Cumartesi Anneleri, the Saturday Mothers, are passing through a police cordon on Istiklal Street in one of Istanbul's busiest districts. For more than six hundred Saturdays, they have been gathering to share their stories of grief and loss and decry the disappearances of loved ones who vanished in the 1980s and '90s.
Yet in Turkey now, fresh from last summer's failed coup, tales of torture and unlawful detention are back. And as the country prepares to vote tomorrow on a series of proposed constitutional amendments, the Saturday demonstrators have updated their protest to reflect the current government's attacks on the pro-Kurdish movement and attempt to centralize power around President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
On January 7, with snow coming down lightly, Maside Ocak submitted to the requisite bag search and pat-down before entering the protest area on Istiklal Street. She picked up the microphone and spoke of her brother, Hasan, who was taken into custody in 1995. Ocak's family says his tortured body was buried in an unmarked grave.
That day was the twenty-first anniversary of the Guclukonak Massacre. Ocak spoke of the villagers taken by security forces and forced inside a minibus for questioning. Soldiers attacked the minibus, burning the vehicle and killing those inside. While Ocak recounted the story — her voice full of emotion, but steadfast — one of the officers milling nearby stormed up to the enclosed protest area.
As he started yelling, additional plainclothes officers approached. He insisted Ocak could not blame the state for the massacre. She had the right to be there, he said, but not the right to "spread PKK propaganda," a reference to the Kurdish Workers' Party. Ocak was allowed to finish reading her statement, but police briefly took her into custody shortly after the demonstration ended.
At the Saturday protest on March 26, with the referendum only three weeks away, Umit Tekay Disli drew parallels between the impending vote and the legal chaos of 1994 under the Tansu Ciller administration that led to the disappearance of fifteen-year-old Ahmet Sanir.
Disli read the statement on behalf of Insan Haklari Dernegi's Commission Against Losses in Custody, saying, "As witnesses of the lawlessness that took place in this land, we say 'no' to this constitutional change." Proposed amendments, such as the abolition of a formal cabinet and the parliament it answers to, she said, run counter to the international standards of law and human rights, to which Turkey is a signatory.
Irfan Bilgin also spoke on behalf of his brother Kenan who was taken into custody in September 1994. Bilgin acknowledged that no justice could come of the "rancid" court system, but that "justice would come of our struggle."
To build support for the proposed constitutional changes, Erdoğan has been hammering away at the internal and external threats that Turkey faces. Erdogan accused German chancellor Angela Merkel of behaving like a Nazi when his party's officials weren't allowed to campaign for the referendum among immigrant communities in Germany.
He warns of the continued presence of coup plotters and their associates undermining Turkey at home. The vote has the ability to transform the Turkish parliamentarian system into a presidential one, which could mean a President Erdogan with increased powers until 2029.
The assaults on Kurdish politicians and public expression of Kurdishness, in particular, appear to be increasing as the referendum approaches. Many have pointed to the jailing of thirteen pro-Kurdish parliamentarians and clampdowns in eighty-two municipalities in the Kurdish southeast as signs of the government's growing intolerance.
But the mothers, who include fathers and brothers, too, are long accustomed to taking on the government. The protests began in 1995, when citizens started speaking out more publicly against government tactics that became commonplace after the 1980 coup. Security forces would pick up citizens, most often in the Kurdish areas, questioning, torturing, and sometimes disappearing them. Their cars were so well-known that white Renaults became a symbol of state violence.
In the 1990s, a change in the Turkish state's military strategy meant the targeting of civilians who were believed to have been involved in assisting the PKK. Some of the disappeared were activists, some were ordinary citizens, but all of them fell victim to this counterinsurgency strategy.
Every week, protesters hold red carnations and display posters with pictures of their missing loved ones. Most of the disappeared are Kurdish, but not all. Carnations are Turkey's most common funeral flowers, a sharp reminder of the missing bodies that render a full funeral impossible. Red connotes resistance.
The January 7 altercation between the police and Ocak is indicative of the incongruity of the current Turkish state and Kurdish activism. The women protest the actions of village guards and special forces under an entirely different government, but their calls for justice and recognition complicate a convenient narrative historically used by the government, that national stability requires a ferreting out of "traitors" to the Turkish state.
Despite the government's recent move to suppress free speech, the Saturday Mothers refuse to mourn quietly. Their weekly press releases tell a disappeared person's story and proclaim the pain of their relatives' loss. They will not allow their loved ones to be forgotten.
Istanbul parliamentarian and deputy speaker Pervin Buldan joined the mothers the same week for their 626th meeting on March 25. Buldan is a member of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). The party has seen its two co-chairs — Figen Yuksekdag and Selahattin Demirtas — arrested on charges of spreading terrorist propaganda.
Yuksekdag was found guilty and lost her seat in Parliament. Demirtas was sentenced to five months in prison after being found guilty of insulting Turkey and state institutions. Those five months in prison mean he has been unable to campaign against the referendum.
Buldan is also one of the founders of Yakay-Der, or the Association for Solidarity and Support for Relatives of Disappeared Persons. The organization researches citizens who disappeared while in police custody and provides support for the relatives of "the disappeared." Yakay-Der also helped research institutions reach family members and publicize their stories.
At the protest, Buldan spoke of the resilience of the historically Kurdish Sirnak province and one of its cities, Cizre. She praised those in Sirnak for not compromising their ideals of justice and freedom and ended her statement with a reminder of the disappeared Sanir, saying, "We did not forget Ahmet, we will not forget."
Sanir disappeared in Sirnak in 1994. A little over twenty years later, Cizre residents were forced to take shelter in basements from a different kind of government threat. Instead of searching for "traitors" among the population, the government had the city under siege. The government claimed it was in the city to fight the PKK, but it was residents who felt the destruction.
Umit Efe of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey described the burning of homes, as well as civilians who burned alive while hiding in basements. Their findings resulted in the report 79 Days of Curfew.
When she talks about the siege in the southeast, which began toward the end of 2015, Efe connects it to the government's actions after the July 2016 coup attempt. While denouncing the coup plotters, she describes the government's even faster authoritarian lurch since then.
Efe mentions the dismissal of academics who had signed a peace petition that criticized the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government and the cancellation of hundreds of thousands of passports. In the middle of conversation she asks, almost to herself, "Where is the law?"
When the mothers meet, they are fighting for the legal recognition of the losses of predominantly Kurdish families. Attacks on public Kurdish identity go back to the very founding of the Turkish Republic, with the Surname Law of 1934 that tried to erase non-Turkish names, and the Resettlement Law of the same year.
The government could relocate those without the appropriate level of "Turkishness," an ambiguous phrasing in the law that gave wide reign in its application. According to Joost Jongerden's work in The Settlement Issue in Turkey and the Kurds, "the 1934 Settlement Act has been mainly interpreted and criticized as a law intended for the assimilation of Kurds by means of forced and collective resettlement."
Despite the decades of abuse, Kurdish rights activists and politicians have soldiered on. But in the aftermath of the July 15 coup attempt, the government's assault on pro-Kurdish rights organizations and individuals has left the Saturday Mothers as one of the few remaining groups of regular protesters trying to publically hold the state accountable for its long war.
Hafiza Merkezi, a human rights organization that focuses on Turkey's history of forced disappearances, charges the government with forcibly disappearing 1,353 individuals after the 1980 coup. Over 1,000 families have no official recognition of whether their relatives were killed while in custody or where they are. Turkish courts have failed to hold members of the security forces responsible for these acts.
Tangled Stories
Leading up to their 595th meeting, the Saturday Mothers demanded, "Let Mehmet Ertak's fate be told, let those responsible be tried."
In August 1992, Ertak was sharing a cab home from his job at a coal mine in the southeast of Turkey when police officers stopped the taxi at a checkpoint. The police officers took Ertak into custody and brought him to the local police department.
Abdurrahim Demir, who said he shared a cell with Ertak for a little less than a week, described to the European Commission of Human Rights the torture Ertak and their fellow detainees experienced in police custody. Demir said security forces stripped and hung up detainees, subjecting a number of them to electric shocks. All detainees were regularly beaten and sprayed with cold water.
In the worst and final episode of Ertak's ordeal, according to testimony given to the commission, he was taken to a "torture room" for fifteen hours. Demir said Ertak was brought back to the cell, but he could not speak and appeared dead.
After the prison guards dragged him out again, Demir remembered of Ertak that one of his shoes was left behind in the cell, a detail that stuck with him because of Ertak's habit of using his shoe as a pillow when sleeping. Demir never saw Ertak again, and neither did Ertak's family.
Ertak's father, Ismail, asked the local authorities for any news of his son, still unsure of where Ertak was or why he was initially detained. Ismail applied to the provincial governor for information. Local police officers insisted Ertak had never been detained, first to the family, and later, in court.
Ismail contacted the local public prosecutor. With no news of his son and no one held accountable for his disappearance, Ismail kept pushing his son's case. It ultimately reached the Supreme Administrative Court, who ruled the authorities had nothing to answer for.
After Ertak's family exhausted domestic options, they took the case to the European Court of Human Rights under the advisement of lawyer Tahir Elci. Mehmet Ertak's story is remarkable because it reached the European Court of Human Rights, but the beatings and torture appear in hundreds of Hafiza Merkezi's recorded cases.
In the eyes of the Turkish state, Ismail had no case, as it would be impossible to determine what had really happened to Ertak.
Almost twenty years later, in November 2015, the pro-Kurdish lawyer who advised the Ertak family was shot to death. Elci was killed after calling for peace between the Turkish state and the PKK. Tahir's brother, Ahmet Elci, speaking to Firat News Agency, accused the Turkish state and current government of targeting his brother. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke shortly after the assassination and used it to justify Turkey's own war on terror.
When the Saturday Mothers meet every week to make visible the Turkish state's past crimes against its citizens, it can't help but evoke the current government's attack on critics and heavy-handedness in the historically Kurdish southeast. With the government's attacks on pro-Kurdish politicians ahead of the referendum, the sharing of inconvenient stories is even more important.
The entangled history of disappearances, government violence, and lack of judicial recourse leaves the mothers implicated in a history the current government would rather leave in the past. In court documents, lawyers arguing on behalf of the Turkish government label many of the disappeared as PKK militants or sympathizers, but these so-called militants were never tried.
Ozgur Goral, the author of the Hafiza Merkezi report "The Unspoken Truth: Enforced Disappearances" is not interested in alleged criminality. Rejecting any claim of wrongdoing on the part of the disappeared, she has said, "If you are a state you cannot disappear a criminal leader. That is what the courts are for."
Attacks on Dissent
Less than a month after the failed July coup, Erdogan's administration arrested at least 1,684 prosecutors and judges and disseminated a list of 2,745 names of those who would be suspended based on possible ties to the Gulen Movement.
The Gulen Movement is an Islamist movement led by the imam Fethullah Gulen, who lives in exile in Pennsylvania. It is also the group Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party hold responsible for the coup attempt. The Turkish government's sweep of possible Gulenists from the bureaucracy quickly expanded into arrests of pro-Kurdish politicians and journalists from critical newspapers.
The government's attacks on activists and journalists occur under the cover of the wide berth that comes with its claims of a union between the Gulenists and Kurdish guerillas. In the scourge of public officials, educators, and bureaucrats, the government conflated Gulenists with members of the PKK. It has made little effort to substantiate this allegation.
Citing the closure of pro-Kurdish rights newspaper Ozgur Gundem last year, Amnesty International's Andrew Gardner described a "clear broadening of the targets of the decrees of the state of emergency to target, not just people who are perceived to be supporters or sympathetic to Fetullah Gulen, but also to opposition-minded Kurds."
Turkey's current state of emergency laws allow for thirty days of pre-charge detention, the first five days of which detainees may not be permitted to meet with a lawyer.
Though a number family members made reports of missing persons to Amnesty International after the coup attempt, Gardner does not believe it to be of the scale of the disappearances in the 1990s. It would be a mistake to think of Turkey's current state of emergency and move toward authoritarianism as simply a return to the past.
But Erdogan wields the newest iteration of the same state violence that disappeared the Saturday Mothers' family members. And as arrests and dismissals from civil service positions increase, the number of people who can publicly fight for Kurdish rights is decreasing.
The Hoped-For Reconciliation
During the brief peace process between the Turkish state and the PKK from 2013 to 2015, information about government forces killing citizens with impunity emerged from indictments against a number of military leaders for crimes against the state. Recalling the cases, Goral said, "You were seeing the structure of the Turkish state's disappearing apparatus. It is systematic."
Hediye Duskun, a Kurd living in Turkey's southeast, lost her husband through this very apparatus and recorded her story for Hafiza Merkezi. Duskun's husband Abdullah was from a village near the city of Cizre. Duskun said her husband was frequently taken into custody as a result of military operations in the area. While in custody, he was tortured.
A press release by Buldan's organization Yakay-Der claims that a few days after security forces took Abdullah from his home for the final time on April 16, 1994, a minibus driver told the family he had seen a lifeless body in the road in a village close to Nusaybin. The villagers had nearly buried the body before Abdullah's mother arrived. They had only Abdullah's clothes and watch to give to his mother, who confirmed they belonged to him.
Duskun's eyes start to well up with tears when she talks about her loneliness after losing her husband. At that time she barely wanted to leave the house, but with no one to help support her she had to search for work.
Two years after her husband disappeared, Duskun filed a complaint with the Cizre Attorney General, claiming security forces disappeared her husband and later killed him. Duskun compared the state of affairs in Turkey in the '90s to now. She said of the security forces, "At those times, they would kill. Now they imprison."
In a video recording, which the organization translated from Kurdish to Turkish, Duskun pleads for the telling of her story and stories like hers. Speaking directly to the camera, she says, "Let us always stare you in the face," adding, "Do not erase us. Do not forget us."
Yakay-Der publicized the Duskun's family story and similar stories of loss. But on November 12 of last year, the Interior Minister closed Yakay-Der's Mersin branch along with 369 other organizations, charging the groups with links to terrorist organizations.
The list of closures also included the Batman branch of the Association for Development and Overcoming Poverty and the Van Women's Association. A little over a month later, the Istanbul Yakay-Der branch also closed. A government decree closed another eighty-three organizations this January.
Hafiza Merkezi researcher Ozlem Kaya sees the government's focus on closing the organizations as a sign of these groups' strength in society. She says the government used the state of emergency laws to immediately stop their activities.
Kaya was forced to pause her field research in the southeast about two years ago. She says it is no longer possible for her to continue because of the state of emergency and the military operations near Turkey's borders. She continues, "When you see the history of Cumartesi Anneleri [the Saturday Mothers], you can see how it is related to the history of state violence."
Yet while organizations close around them, the mothers keep protesting. They represent the thousands of women like Duskun whose family members have disappeared. In 1995, when the group began to come together in Istanbul, a group speaking out against state violence could have never taken place in the Kurdish southeast amidst the continued violence. But in Istanbul, a movement could begin. The protests later spread through the country.
Ikbal Eren Yarici was protesting with the group before it was even referred to as the Saturday Mothers. She keeps her hair short and grey and speaks matter-of-factly about her brother. Yarici has a placard with her brother's black-and-white picture on it and his name, Hayrettin Eren, across the top.
Eren is unsmiling, with a bushy black mustache. He appears to be looking straight at the camera, but with his black sunglasses it's difficult to be sure. At the bottom the placard notes that Eren "was disappeared while in custody on November 11, 1980." He was 26.
Yarici and the other protesters ask for justice from the Turkish state. She tells me they live in a country where citizens are not equal before the law and that the group is fighting for democracy in the face of "utter lawlessness." Her participation in the protests is clearly not only about the disappearances, but also about how the government could at best allow, and at worst order, the murder of its citizens.
Almost forty years after her brother's disappearance, Yarici does not believe there is a chance for justice during the current state of emergency. "There was already none. Maybe if there was a crumb [of justice], it was destroyed."
Zeycan Yedigöl also lost a family member, her son Nurettin. In a video posted on the Saturday Mother's Facebook page, Yedigöl says, "I'm very old now. I do not want to die before reuniting with my son. I want to bury my dear boy's bones at peace in my embrace."
In the short clip, she also recounts part of a conversation she had with Erdogan. In 2011, Erodgan was still prime minister, and he met with representatives of the group as a part of the short-lived peace process. The meeting produced a number of photos, but no convictions or official state recognition of the forced disappearances.
Sebla Arcan was also at the meeting with Erdogan. Arcan has not lost a family member, but she works with Insan Haklari Dernegi on the Commission Against Losses in Custody and has been with the protesters since the beginning.
After the 616th protest, Arcan sat in a nearby teahouse with a number of protesters. Her clear voice rang out through the din of chatting people and teaspoons clinking against the tulip-shaped tea glasses, but she spoke in hushed tones when she began to run through the state's version of the Guclukonak Massacre, which Maside Ocak was taken into custody last week for discussing.
The state insists it was PKK militants who attacked the minibus, and it was publicly questioning this story that led to officers taking Ocak away after last week's protest.
Arcan's voice drops to a whisper as she starts talking about the state's policy of violently targeting Kurdish communities in a systematized way.
Arcan rejects the state's version of the death of Ocak's brother. She says the administration of the state dominates the public memory; "the state shapes it to its will." The mothers, on the other hand, are trying to find a space within the public memory for the forced disappearances. Or else, Arcan says, within a generation the injustices could be forgotten.
When Kaya conducted field research in the southeast, she witnessed the protests of the Saturday Mothers in Cizre. Her team's research ultimately led to the report Holding Up the Photograph in 2014. She has been unable to continue field research in the area after the curfews began, prior to July's coup attempt.
Kaya remembers seeing the mothers meet in front of the Cizre Gendarmerie Station. They stood directly across from a symbol of state violence and shared their memories.
Unlike the Istanbul protests, the women did not read prepared statements, but Kaya did notice the frequency and strength with which they emphasized the names of the disappeared and the perpetrators. She was conducting this field research during the Temizoz trial, which was a government move to address the country's bloody decades during the unsuccessful peace process between the government and the PKK.
The retired Gendarmerie Senior Colonel Cemal Temizöz and a small group of military members who were stationed in Cizre were on trial for disappearing twenty-one men. Temizoz blamed human rights organizations, like Kaya's, for distorting the truth. The court ultimately acquitted all the defendants in 2015.
Even during this peace process, distrust between Kurdish citizens and security forces remained. Kaya says that after the women finished their protests in Sirnak, the police would call a translator and ask the women to repeat what they had said. None of the police spoke Kurdish. The officers could not understand the women, but considered them dangerous enough to monitor. According to Kaya, the police would videotape the protests as well.
In September 2015, Kaya and her team returned to Cizre after an eight-day curfew ended. Kaya jokes that at the time they were only counting the curfews in days, not weeks or months. The Saturday after the curfews were lifted, Kaya saw pictures of the twenty civilians killed during that week placed alongside pictures of the disappeared.
The government disputes the number of civilian deaths, saying the military was targeting PKK militants. Of the protest that week and the juxtaposition of the photos, Kaya says, "It was kind of their way of stressing the continuity of this state violence targeting their right to life."
Global Shifts
Erdogan's move toward illiberal populism is not out of place in a global context. Nor are forced disappearances a Turkish peculiarity. The Saturday Mothers sit at the convergence of the Turkish past, an international present, and the continuity of state practices.
The complex connections between the Turkish security forces, the 1980 and 2016 coup attempts — one successful, one not — and Kurdish public identity come together in the Saturday Mothers. Their protests of past crimes are echoed in the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner 2017 report.
The report looked at Turkey's military operations in the southeast from 2015–2016, prior to and after the coup attempt. It found cases of enforced disappearances, torture, violence against women, the destruction of houses and heritage, and the "severe curtailment of the rights to freedom of opinion and expression as well as interference with the right to participate in public life."
The 1980 coup and its ensuing constitution allowed for the state of emergency laws in effect today in Turkey. While the Erdogan government has extended the state of emergency once again, the southeast was already under martial law for much of 2015.
Goral predicts another peace process in the future. She says, once the state has destroyed alternative carriers of Kurdish identity, it can return to working on a peace. This type of peace is predicated on the erasure of the mothers' stories.
Clare Busch is a freelance journalist and master's student researching social movements in Turkey at New York University.
For 600 Saturdays, friends and relatives of the Turkish state's victims have been telling tales of torture and unlawful detention.


Up to 60% of the energy loss in even well-insulated houses is caused by leaks in the building's skin. Cold air enters through these gaps and cracks. This cold air must be re-heated by the heating. A well-designed construction skin does not only protect from the cold, but also from the heat in summer, due to the improved thermal insulation.
The proverbial 'tornado from the socket' has considerable impact on the comfort in a room. As the cold air sucked in at the leaks is heavier, it moves to the lowest part of the room, namely to the floor. Even a good insulation value to the cellar does not help when air from outside enters through cracks. Not even insulation materials can stand draughts! Tests have shown that air or wind currents in a construction element can lead to a complete failure of the insulation's effect.
When warm air meets cold areas, condensation results. Anyone who has ever taken a cold bottle out of the refrigerator knows this. Condensed water in a construction leads at first to a deterioration of the U-value. However, a far greater problem is the serious damage to the construction, which results if the moisture cannot dry out sufficiently quickly. It is estimated that two thirds of all damage from moisture can be attributed to poor air-tightness.
Leaky gaps in the building's skin put a strain on the indoor climate as dust and insulation fibres enter into the air. A building has to be particularly air-tight when mechanical ventilation systems are used. Otherwise the function of the ventilation equipment is affected.
Noise makes its way through even the smallest crack. Even when building components surrounding the room have good acoustic insulation, gaps can considerably increase the sound level. Disturbing noises are kept outside by a professional air-tight system.


sterling silver jewellery york fashion jewellery Contemporary Sterling Silver Jewellery: Layered Hammered Pebble Earrings with Long Hooked Backs Sterling silver jewellery range of Fashion and Danon jewellery.
A gorgeous chunky design featuring rounded abstract shapes in contrasting hammered and smooth textures. This pair of contemporary earrings looks fab with an updo.


Fister Gale, S. (2018). Making a Difference: By Actively Engaging Stakeholders, Three Project Teams Deliver Big Change—And Big Benefits. PM Network, 32(9), 30–35.
Projects have the power to transform. And this year's PMI Project of the Year finalists channeled that power to move communities, companies and customers in new directions. One team deployed a digital platform that promises to dramatically change the way consumers order quick-service food—and how they see the company. Another rebuilt a healthcare center destroyed by a hurricane, restoring much needed services to the area's military veterans. The third expanded a massive pulp-production facility, while ensuring the environmental and financial health of the surrounding community.


The Hungarian government might soon be taken to the European Court of Justice if it does not address outstanding issues around the so-called NGO law. The Hungarian government has 60 days to reply to the concerns the European Commission brought up related to the so-called NGO law. The bill, referred to as the "Stop Soros laws" by the Orbán government, criminalizes people and organizations that support asylum and residence applications. It also further restricts the right to request asylum. Considering the majority of its concerns unresolved, the Commission has decided to send a reasoned opinion to Hungary – the second step in an infringement procedure for breach of EU law. Read more here.


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Q: How to set a selectfield in Sencha Touch from array? I am working in a Sencha Touch app and I would like to push in a combobox, values previously filtered from a store.
var store = Ext.getStore('Surveys');
var templatesAvailable = [];
store.filterBy(function (record) {
  console.log(record.get('templateName'));
  record.get('templateName'); --> I get value
  templatesAvailable.push(record.get('templateName')); --> into the array
});

Next step would be transfer array to a specified selector, for example and in my case...
this.getTemplateSelector
  {
    xtype       : 'selectfield',
    itemId      : 'selectSurveysTemplates',
    cls         : 'filterbar-selectfieldplus',
    displayField: 'value',  --> here is the secret  ;-)
    valueField  : 'id',
    autoCreate  : true
  },

What should it be the correct way for this implementation?  I have tested with different options but It is not working for me..
Thank you in advance..

A: How about this one:
selectfield.setOptions(
    store.getRange().map(function(record) {
        return {
            text:record.get("templateName"),
            value:record.get("templateName")
        };
    })
);

This should do the following:

*

*Selectfield.setOptions sets the value of Selectfield.options. According to the docs, options takes an array of objects with properties text and value, so I guess setOptions takes the same.

*Store.getRange gives you an array of records.

*Array.map that takes a function and converts every item in the input array using that function.

Voilà, you should be done.


A Fun Way to Pay Off Debt Faster!
In my last post I shared my Simple DIY Budget Binder, or what I like to call my Money GPS because it gives us direction to reach our financial destination. Part of reaching that destination is becoming debt-free.
After over 10 years of being debt-free we now owe over $18,000, much of which is medical debt from two years ago when we had no health insurance, and bills that were not covered by insurance from my daughter's accident in October 2014 and my subsequent auto accident in February 2015 when a drunk driver rear-ended our car (which totaled it) and ran off into the woods. While my daughter and I have recovered well, our finances haven't.
When faced with such huge numbers it's easy to become discouraged but I decided to make our debt payoff into a game which is much more motivational and encouraging than thinking about the overwhelming weight of the debt.
Note: Before beginning our debt repayment plan we saved $1000 into an emergency fund, which is even more crucial in our circumstances because we don't have credit cards to use in the event of an emergency.
The name of the game is Debt Blaster and it helps us stay motivated to pay off the debt as soon as possible.
First print off the Debt Blaster Page.
Next write your debts on individual colorful sticky notes. If you have many debts you can use more narrow sticky notes than what I used in the photo above.
Place the sticky notes on the Debt Blaster Page in order from smallest to largest.
Now it's time for the fun part. Take every bit of extra money you can find or make and use it to pay down the first debt. Each time you make a payment place a new sticky note with the lower amount you owe on top of the old note. It is very motivational to see the amount of money dropping as you pay off more and more each month.
Once the debt is paid off remove those notes and move debt #2 to the top of the page. Continue until all debts are paid off.
You can place the Debt Blaster Page in your budget binder or place it on the front of the fridge so everyone in the family can get involved!
You can print the blank version and use sticky notes as I have, or print the lined version and write out your debt repayment plan. Place the plan in your binder or in a visible location like the front of your fridge to remind you of your goal to be debt-free.
See the entire DIY Budget Binder HERE.
You took dave ramseys plan and made it your "own" without crediting him.
Thanks for taking the time to comment Carrie! Actually the idea to pay off the smallest debt first originated long before Dave Ramsey came along. Dave took the "debt snowball" idea and phrasing from a woman named Mary Hunt who first coined the term. I am simply taking the idea and adapting it to work for me. If it doesn't work for you, don't use it. Have a nice day!
Hi! Just found your site and love this Budget Binder Debt Blaster!
Excited to get started and am printing pages and setting up my binder.
I'm not sure if I missed it somewhere, so forgive me if you've shared this, but what other items do you recommend keeping in the binder?
I notice you have other items in yours, and wondering what other components may be helpful or necessary.
Nice idea! But I suggest: put the debts in order of interest rate, not size. You want to pay off the loan with highest interest first.
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment Robin. Yes, it does make more sense mathematically to pay off the highest interest loans first but finances aren't always just about the math. Sometimes it is more motivational to grab a quick win by paying off a loan with a smaller total payoff then to applying the payment you were making on that loan to the next biggest loan.
I love this idea. I use a debt chain (that I've shared on my blog) but this would be very motivational too!


text:
Langerhansova buňka je dendritická buňka hvězdicovitého tvaru nacházející se v pokožce. Zejména se objevuje ve vrstvě stratum spinosum a celkem tvoří asi 2–8 % buněk lidské pokožky. Patří mezi antigen prezentující buňky a jako takové jsou složkou imunitního systému – vystavují antigeny T-lymfocytům. Pomáhají tím bránit tělo před patogeny vstupujícími do těla přes pokožku. Langerhansovy buňky se vyvíjí v kostní dřeni, načež se do pokožky dostanou krevním oběhem.

Jsou pojmenovány po Paulu Langerhansovi (1847–1888), který je objevil jako student medicíny ve věku 21 let.

Ve fosilním záznamu
Fosilní kosti (konkrétně ocasní obratle) některých kachnozobých dinosaurů vykazují projevy tzv. histicytózy Langerhansových buněk, což je nemoc, postihující v současnosti i člověka.

Reference

Typy buněk

de:Dendritische Zelle#Langerhans-Zellen


As part of Natixis' strategic plan 'New Dimension', Natixis Investment Managers, one of the world's premier asset managers2, has begun a process of aligning its brands. Within this new initiative, Natixis Asset Management, will become Ostrum Asset Management from April 3, 20181.
A leading fund manager6 in Europe with assets under management of 324.5 billion euros4 on behalf of institutional, individual and distributor clients, Ostrum Asset Management is renewing its focus on its long-standing fixed-income experience, its focused equity capabilities and its renowned insurance expertise.
The company will thereby draw on its extensive global investment range of bond funds, with 90% of funds ranked 1st or 2nd quartile by Morningstar7. It will also continue to roll out alternative solutions, such as CLOs8 and private debt on real assets, while bolstering its equity investment expertise, including thematic, small & mid cap and emerging funds.
Lastly, Ostrum Asset Management will use its unique insurance investment management expertise to continue supporting insurer clients via its tailored multi-asset solutions range.
Ostrum Asset Management will rely on Natixis Investment Managers global distribution platform, as well as the Groupe BPCE retail banking networks, to drive its growth.
1. Natixis Asset Management U.S., LLC and Natixis Asset Management Asia Limited legal entities will be renamed Ostrum Asset Management U.S., LLC and Ostrum Asset Management Asia Limited by June 2018. All funds will be renamed by the end of 2018.
2. Cerulli Quantitative Update: Global Markets 2017 ranked Natixis Investment Managers (previously Natixis Global Asset Management) as the 15th largest asset manager in the world based on assets under management as at December 31, 2016.
3. Matthieu Duncan will become Chief Executive Officer of Ostrum Asset Management from April 3, 2018.
4. Source Natixis Asset Management at 12/31/2017.
5. Source Natixis Asset Management – open-end funds managed by Natixis Asset Management with more than 15 years' performance track record –12/31/2017.
6. IPE Top 400 Asset Managers 2017 ranked Natixis Asset Management as the 51st largest asset manager, as at 12/31/2016.
7. Morningstar at 12/31/2017 – based on Natixis Asset Management's range of open-end funds.
Ostrum Asset Management ranks among the leading European asset managers3 with €324.5 billion in assets under management4 for institutional clients, individual investors and distributors.
Ostrum Asset Management, Funding your tomorrow.
1. US via Natixis Asset Management U.S., LLC, limited liability company, registered as an investment adviser with the SEC.
2. Asia via Natixis Asset Management Asia Limited – Registered as a fund management company with the Monetary Authority of Singapore – Natixis Asset Management subsidiary.
3. IPE Top 400 Asset Managers 2017 ranked Natixis Asset Management as the 51st largest asset manager, as at 31/12/2016.
Natixis Investment Managers serves financial professionals with more insightful ways to construct portfolios. Powered by the expertise of more than 20 specialized investment managers globally, we apply Active ThinkingSM to deliver proactive solutions that help clients pursue better outcomes in all markets. Natixis ranks among the world's largest asset management firms1 (€830 billion/$997 billion AUM2).
2 Net asset value as at December 31, 2017. Assets under management ("AUM"), as reported, may include notional assets, assets serviced, gross assets and other types of non-regulatory AUM.
With more than 17,000 employees, Natixis has a number of areas of expertise that are organized into four main business lines: Asset & Wealth Management, Corporate & Investment Banking, Insurance and Specialized Financial Services.


Your Wedding Pro has a great selection of dress designers from all over the UK, find the perfect wedding dress designer for your big day.
There are many wedding dress designers, ranging from designers that supply beautiful bridal gowns to various high street dress shops to bespoke designers who have their own collection or store selling their designs and creating bespoke wedding dresses.
Are you looking for that perfect dress? Is there a image in your head but you've been to all the dress shops and you just cannot find what you're looking for? Have you thought about visiting a dress designer and getting your dream wedding dress made?
If you are looking for that something extra special from your wedding dress then getting a dress designer to make a bespoke dress for you is a very good idea. There are many wedding dress designers all over Great Britain who will sit down and discuss exactly what your vision of your dream wedding dress is. Which material you would like, The exact colour you are looking for, how you would like the neck line, your own detailing ideas. Why settle for something which ticks a few boxes when you can have a bespoke dress which suits them all?


In February issue of Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES magazine David Sepiashvili presented a new idea for adjusting RSI overbought-oversold levels. The advantage of this approached is that it could be applied to multiple market conditions without regard to the calculation period. This standardization facilitates the usage of the indicator in Multiframe analysis.
The article contained two different algorithms for of adjusting the width of the overbought and oversold bands for the RSI. This indicator draws RSI and the self-adjusting overbought-overslold levels.
If the parameter MA-Method is set to true the bands are calculted by moveing average based algorithm. If it is set to false the altarnative standard diviation algorithm will be used.


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Enseignement centré sur la forme et acquisition du genre grammatical en français L2
Roy Lyster+−
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This article first describes two studies previously published in English (Lyster, 2004; Lyster & Izquierdo, 2009) and then synthesizes their results to discuss how research setting and participants' age interact to differentially influence the effects of different types of corrective feedback. Both studies investigated the effects of form-focused instruction delivered in tandem with different types of corrective feedback on the acquisition of grammatical gender by classroom learners of French as a second language. Participants in Study 1 were eight classes of 179 French immersion students in Grade 5, while participants in Study 2 were two classes of 25 undergraduate students enrolled in a post-secondary intermediate-level French course. In both studies, classroom teachers provided form-focused instruction designed to draw attention to selected noun endings that reliably predict grammatical gender and also provided two different feedback treatments (recasts or prompts). Analyses of pretest, immediate-posttest, and delayed-posttest results showed a significant increase in the ability of students in both studies exposed to form-focused instruction to correctly assign grammatical gender. In the classroom study, however, child learners in French immersion classes benefited more from prompts than recasts, whereas in the lab study, university-level adult learners benefited equally from both prompts and recasts.
Lyster, R. (2010). Enseignement centré sur la forme et acquisition du genre grammatical en français L2. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 13(2), 73–94. Retrieved from https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/CJAL/article/view/19885
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Die St.-Bartholomäus-Kirche in Wilster in Schleswig-Holstein ist ein Spätbarock-Bauwerk nach Plänen des Ingenieurs und Architekten Ernst Georg Sonnin.

Geschichte
Ein spätgotischer Vorgängerbau war 1765 von dem Hamburger Architekten Ernst Georg Sonnin als baufällig begutachtet worden. 1775–81 erfolgte nach Sonnins Plänen ein Neubau.

Für eine kleine Gemeinde wie Wilster war der "stattliche Backsteinbau in der Nachfolge der in Hamburg und Altona entwickelten großen, spätbarocken Predigtkirchen des Protestantismus" mit 2000 Plätzen überdimensioniert, was wohl mit dem Repräsentationsanspruch der Wilsteraner Bürgerschaft zu erklären ist.

Im Zweiten Weltkrieg sind der Westbau und der Innenraum 1944 durch Bomben beschädigt worden. In den Jahren 1947–1954 und 1963/64 wurden die Schäden beseitigt, die Zahl der Plätze wurde dabei auf 1200 reduziert.

Bau
Der Neubau wurde gegenüber dem Vorgängerbau um etwa 30 Grad in die Hauptrichtung des Marktes gedreht.

Das Kirchenschiff ist ein längsrechteckiger Saalbau unter Walmdach mit polygonalen (Nord-)Ostchor und konkav eingezogenen Wänden im (Süd-)Westen im Übergang zum separat stehenden Turm. Die Backsteinfassaden des Außenbaus sind reich gegliedert. Beherrschens ist die Folge der großen Rundbogen-Oberfester über rustiziertem Sockelgeschoß mit Granitgesims. Hauptportale aus Sandstein befinden sich mittig in der Querachse.

Der mit einem kurzen Halsstück an das Kirchenschiff angeschlossene achteckigen Turms stammt im Kern noch vom gotischen Vorgängerbau, jedoch wurde das Mauerwerk mit Backsteinquaderkanten und Granitbändern erneuert und erhöht. Der spitze, leicht gedrehte Turmhelm ist 52 Meter hoch.

Inneres

Die großen Rundbogenfenster geben dem Innenraum außergewöhnliche Helligkeit. Die Ostseite wird vom Kanzelaltar (1775) dominiert. Die von Säulen flankierte Kanzel hat einen tulpenförmigen Korb mit rundem Schalldeckel. Der Strahlenkranz über der Kanzel stellt den Heiligen Geist dar. Auf dem Gebälk stehen Statuen der vier Evangelisten, dazwischen steht ein Kruzifix. Der Altar wird abgeschlossen von einer Sonne mit den vier hebräischen Buchstaben des Namens Gottes.

Zu beiden Seiten des Kanzelaltars sind Logenanbauten nachträglich angefügt.
Auf der Westseite befindet sich eine zweigeschossige Empore aus der Erbauungszeit. Sie ist geschwungen geführt und wird von toskanischen Säulen getragen.

Die zweigeschossigen Kronleuchter und Wandleuchter stammen aus dem 17. Jahrhundert. Ein Wandleuchter von 1652 zeigt den Propheten Jona, wie er aus dem Wal gespuckt wird.

Orgel
Die Orgel ist neueren Datums. Sie wurde 1954–1955 durch die Orgelbaufirma Ernst Brandt (Quickborn) erbaut und ersetzte die ursprüngliche Marcussen-Orgel, die 1944 zerstört wurde. Das Instrument hatte ursprünglich 30 Register auf drei Manualen und Pedal. 1990 wurde die Orgel auf den Namen "Bach-Orgel" geweiht. Seit dem Jahre 1992 wurde die Orgel auf 37 Register und 4 Effektregister erweitert, und mit einer Setzeranlage und einer Crescendowalze ausgestattet. 2007 kam ein 39-teiliges Glockenspiel (Marien-Carillon) hinzu, 2008 wurde das Fernwerk, die "Himmelsorgel", hinter dem Altar hinzugefügt, die vom III. Manual aus anspielbar ist. 2010 wurden der Ruach 32′ und die beiden Composé-Register hinzugefügt.

 Koppeln: I/II, III/II, I/P, II/P, III/P

Pastoren

 Der aus Brabant gebürtige Franz Alard war von etwa 1568 bis zu seinem Tod 1578 Pastor in Wilster.

Literatur
 Johannes Gerber, Wolfgang Kroker (Hrsg.): Ökumenischer Kirchenführer für den Kreis Steinburg. George, Itzehoe 1992.
 Denny Krietzsch: Die Bartholomäus-Kirche zu Wilster von Georg Sonnin (1713-1794). In: Heimatverband Kreis Steinburg (Hrsg.): Steinburger Jahrbuch 2014. Itzehoe 2013, S. 95–125.
 Wolfgang Teuchert, Arnold Lühning: Die Kunstdenkmäler des Landes Schleswig-Holstein. Kreis Pinneberg. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin 1961.

Weblinks

Homepage der Kirchengemeinde Wilster

Einzelnachweise

Wilster
Wilster
Wilster
Wilster
Wilster, Bartholomaus
Wilster
Wilster
Wilster


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I Acts whose publication is obligatory
Council Regulation (EC) No 1975/2004 of 15 November 2004 extending the definitive anti-dumping duty imposed by Regulation (EC) No 1676/2001 on imports of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film originating, inter alia, in India to imports of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film consigned from Brazil and from Israel, whether declared as originating in Brazil or Israel or not
Council Regulation (EC) No 1976/2004 of 15 November 2004 extending the definitive countervailing duty imposed by Regulation (EC) No 2597/1999 on imports of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film originating in India to imports of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film consigned from Brazil and from Israel, whether declared as originating in Brazil or Israel or not
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1977/2004 of 17 November 2004 establishing the standard import values for determining the entry price of certain fruit and vegetables
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1978/2004 of 16 November 2004 establishing unit values for the determination of the customs value of certain perishable goods
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1979/2004 of 17 November 2004 adapting Regulation (EC) No 639/2003 laying down detailed rules pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999 as regards requirements for the granting of export refunds related to the welfare of live bovine animals during transport by reason of the accession to the European Union of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1980/2004 of 17 November 2004 on import licences in respect of beef and veal products originating in Botswana, Kenya, Madagascar, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Namibia
II Acts whose publication is not obligatory
2004/773/EC:
Council Decision of 25 October 2004 amending the Decision authorising the Director of Europol to enter into negotiations on agreements with third States and non-EU-related bodies
Commission Decision of 9 November 2004 declaring operational the Regional Advisory Council for the North Sea under the common fisheries policy
Commission Decision of 18 November 2004 granting Slovakia the derogation provided for in Article 3(2) of Council Directive 92/102/EEC on the identification and registration of animals (notified under document number C(2004) 4382) ( 1 )
The EEA Joint Committee
Decision of the EEA Joint Committee No 138/2004 of 29 October 2004 amending Protocol 3 to the EEA Agreement, concerning products referred to in Article 8(3)(b) of the Agreement
1 November 2004 — New version of EUR-Lex!(See inside back cover)
(1) Text with EEA relevance
Acts whose titles are printed in light type are those relating to day-to-day management of agricultural matters, and are generally valid for a limited period.
The titles of all other Acts are printed in bold type and preceded by an asterisk.


Passing by the drinks fridge, this display caught our eyes - click on the image and read the line under the name.
This is Iced Black Tea with 5% Swiss hemp/cannabis bloom syrup and a tiny (0.0015 percent) quantity of THC, the active ingredient of marijuana, added to it. It's such a miniscule amount of THC that you would have to drink a heck of a lot of it to get anywhere near a buzz, but it's still interesting!
We've seen a similar product in a green can here in Germany.
I haven't tried it - I don't like tea.


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Home / Publications / Essentially Yours: The Protection of Human Genetic Information in Australia (ALRC Report 96) / 43. DNA Database Systems / Permitted index matching
43.8 Part 1D of the Crimes Act provides an index matching table that specifies which indexes of a DNA database system may be matched against each other.[12] The Inquiry has heard concerns that these index matching provisions may be unduly permissive, contrary to the information privacy rights of those providing forensic material in the context of a criminal investigation.
Issues and concerns
43.9 The main privacy concern expressed with the index matching rules is the provision for unlimited index matching between the suspects index and the crime scene index—to generate 'cold hits' that may identify a suspect for an unresolved offence.
43.10 This form of index matching constitutes a use of suspects' genetic information that is different from the purpose for which it was collected. For example, a person may be one of a number of suspects in relation to an offence. The suspect might readily submit to a forensic procedure for the purpose of eliminating him or herself from suspicion in relation to that offence. However, despite being eliminated from suspicion the person's DNA profile currently could remain on the suspects index of the DNA database system for a period of 12 months—during which time it could be subject to unlimited matching against the crime scene index.
43.11 The Model Criminal Code Officers Committee (MCCOC) opposed unrestricted matching between these indexes while it was developing the Model Forensic Procedures Bill 2000 (Model Bill). The MCCOC discussion paper proposed that a suspect's profile should be matched only against the crime scene profiles relating to the particular investigation in which the person is a suspect:
The suspects profile can be matched against anything on the crime scene index but unlike the serious offenders index, should not be available for unrestricted comparison as part of a pool of suspects that can be matched with profiles from any index. For example, it is not intended that the whole index of suspects could be compared with all crime scene profiles. To do so would go far beyond the purpose for which the forensic material was obtained in the first place and may expose suspects to random searchings by police anywhere in the country who are quite separate from the particular investigation and who are just fishing for matches on the crime scene index.[13]
43.12 However, the final draft of the Model Bill permitted unrestricted matching between these indexes.[14] MCCOC did not provide any explanation for this change in approach, but the rationale appears to have been to maximise the resolution of unsolved crimes by increasing the potential for 'cold hits' between suspect and crime scene profiles. Dr Jeremy Gans has commented on this process as follows:
An extreme instance of the doubtful decision-making process underlying the matching provisions is the major policy reversal between May 1999 and February 2000 on the question of whether profiles taken from unconvicted suspects can be compared on mass to crime scene profiles to generate 'cold hits' … This question is, arguably, the most important policy issue in the contemporary politics of DNA databases.[15]
43.13 In DP 66, rather than prohibiting cold hit matching in relation to suspects, the Inquiry proposed that opportunities for such matching should be limited by minimising the period of retention for suspects' genetic information.[16]DP 66 proposed that forensic procedures legislation should provide that forensic material taken from a suspect, and any information obtained from its analysis, must be destroyed as soon as practicable after the person has been eliminated from suspicion, or police investigators have decided not to proceed with a prosecution in relation to that investigation.[17]
43.14 A number of the submissions supported the proposal.[18] The Law Institute of Victoria commented that to retain an innocent suspect's profile on a national DNA database in an index that permits comparison with unrelated criminal investigations constitutes 'an unjustifiable double standard'.[19]
43.15 Several submissions supported the proposal but raised certain concerns with it. For example, the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department submitted that the proposal raised a number of practical concerns:
The 12 months period is a guarantee that the material will be destroyed after a set time period. The proposal would allow the police to retain material for an indefinite period provided they were able to establish that an investigation was still on foot or a decision not to prosecute had not been made. In essence, such a proposal means that the decision when to destroy material is left entirely in the hands of the police.[20]
43.16 The Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner (OFPC) noted that:
It may not always be possible … to find and destroy all records relating to that sample and the profile, which are capable of identifying the suspect. Hence it is recommended that, in the case of 'eliminated suspects', the investigative officers and laboratory staff undertake to use their best endeavours to destroy all DNA-related information capable of identifying that suspect. In the event that the personal information of an eliminated suspect is improperly obtained or used or disclosed, that information should remain subject to the laws of evidence relating to improperly obtained evidence. The person mishandling that information should also be the subject of criminal sanctions.[21]
43.17 Dr Jeremy Gans commented that the proposal did not achieve much on its own unless 'cold hit' matching were abolished. He also noted the difficulty in defining the 'end of suspicion' for the purpose of managing destruction of the genetic sample.[22]
43.18 The AFP noted that its forensic laboratory already has difficulty managing the destruction dates for the genetic samples it holds. The AFP advised that, in practice, suspects' profiles are entered into the AFP's DNA database system with a default destruction date of 12 months from the date the sample was obtained. Two months before the destruction date, the computer reminds the laboratory of the coming date. The laboratory checks the file and contacts the police investigator, who has two months to inform them of the status of the sample and profile. If they do not do so the profile will be destroyed on the destruction date. For reasons of workload, the AFP considers it would be easier to manage an automatic destruction date—for example, '12 months after the sample is taken'—or at least to monitor destruction dates on a periodic basis.[23]
43.19 The New South Wales Police Service (NSW Police Service) opposed the proposal on the basis that monitoring investigations to determine appropriate destruction dates would be extremely time-consuming. The Police also noted that:
In certain cases, investigators may decide not to proceed with a prosecution because of lack of sufficient evidence. However, it is impossible to predict what additional evidence may come to light in subsequent months. It is considered that the retention of forensic material for 12 months is justified in such circumstances as the suspect has not been conclusively eliminated from the investigation and 12 months is sufficient time for additional evidence to come to light or for a matter to be re-opened, if necessary, and further investigated.[24]
43.20 While the submissions generally supported the Inquiry's proposal, several submissions raised concerns regarding its practical implementation. The Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department noted that the proposal appeared to permit the retention of the material for a period longer than the current legislative maximum. In order to clarify this ambiguity, the Inquiry has amended the recommendation to reflect the current maximum retention period. Therefore, a suspect's profile must be destroyed by the end of 12 months from the date of the forensic procedure, subject to any extension granted by a magistrate under s 23YD of the Crimes Act.
43.21 The AFP and the NSW Police Service expressed concerns about the potential increase in workload for laboratories. The Inquiry acknowledges these concerns but considers that the recommendation adequately accommodates them. The Inquiry understands that, at the federal level, computer databases currently alert laboratories of an upcoming deadline for destruction in relation to a suspect's sample. The investigator must then notify the laboratory whether the destruction date has been extended pursuant to the Crimes Act. Under the Inquiry's recommended approach, a police investigator would instead be required to notify the laboratory when the suspect has been eliminated from suspicion, or the investigator has otherwise decided not to prosecute the person in relation to that offence. As the police investigator would have carriage of the investigation, the Inquiry considers this would not be an onerous responsibility.
43.22 Once the laboratory has been notified of the destruction date in relation to a suspect's forensic material and profile, the Inquiry considers that regular dates for destruction of batches of profiles—for example, fortnightly or monthly—would satisfy the requirement that they be destroyed 'as soon as practicable'.
43.23 The Inquiry recommends that the Commonwealth should amend the Crimes Act to provide that forensic material taken from a suspect, and any information obtained from its analysis, must be destroyed as soon as practicable after the person has been eliminated from suspicion, or police investigators have decided not to proceed with a prosecution against that person in relation to that investigation. However, in any event, the forensic material and information must be destroyed no later than: (a) 12 months after the material was taken or the information obtained; or (b) the period stipulated in an order made under s 23YD of the Crimes Act.
Recommendation 43–1 TheCommonwealth should amend the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) (Crimes Act) to provide that forensic material taken from a suspect, and any information obtained from its analysis, must be destroyed as soon as practicable after the person has been eliminated from suspicion, or police investigators have decided not to proceed with a prosecution against that person in relation to that investigation. However, in any event, the forensic material and information must be destroyed no later than: (a) 12 months after the material was taken or the information obtained; or (b) the period stipulated in an order made under s 23YD of the Crimes Act.
[12]Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) s 23YDAF(1).
[14] See Model Criminal Code Officers Committee, Final Draft: Model Forensic Procedures Bill and the Proposed National DNA Database (2000), Standing Committee of Attorneys-General, Canberra cl 82(1).
[15] J Gans, 'The Quiet Devolution: How the Model Criminal Code Officers' Committee Botched New South Wales' DNA Law' (2002) 14(2) Current Issues in Criminal Justice 210, 218.
[16] Australian Law Reform Commission and Australian Health Ethics Committee, Protection of Human Genetic Information, DP 66 (2002), ALRC, Sydney [36.118].
[17] Ibid, Proposal 36–11.
[18] Department of Human Services South Australia, Submission G288, 23 December 2002; Human Genetics Society of Australasia, Submission G267, 20 December 2002; Centre for Genetics Education, Submission G232, 18 December 2002; Office of the Victorian Privacy Commissioner, Submission G266, 20 December 2002.
[22] I Freckelton and J Gans, Consultation, Melbourne, 21 October 2002.
[23] Australian Federal Police, Consultation, Canberra, 7 November 2002. See also Australian Federal Police, AFP National Guideline for Conducting a Commonwealth Forensic Procedure — Part 1D Crimes Act 1914 (2001), AFP Pt D.
[24] NSW Police Service, Submission G306, 22 January 2003. See also Victoria Police, Submission G203, 29 November 2002.


High concentrations of fluoride have negative effects on human health, and it is one of the most widespread contaminants in groundwater, having being found in high concentrations in different countries over the entire world. Fluoride concentrations exceeding the drinking water levels are very frequent in the region known as Pampa Plain in Argentina, associated with loess-like sediments bearing volcanic shards and calcium carbonate concretions. In this study, the behavior of fluoride in the catchment of La Ballenera creek is performed to contribute to the understanding of the processes controlling its distribution at catchment scale. The catchment is around 100 km2, mostly in a flat landscape, outflowing into the Atlantic Ocean. The concentration of major ions, silica and fluoride was measured on 34 groundwater and 9 surface water samples obtained in October 2013. All the samples, both streamwater and groundwater, were sodium bicarbonate type with an average pH of 8 and 7.3, respectively. The fluoride concentrations in groundwater ranged between 1.1 and 2.5 mg/L with an average value of 1.9 mg/L. Fluoride concentrations in streamwater were close to groundwater concentrations indicating the predominance of baseflow on surface water composition. The variations in the contents of fluoride are due to two main factors, one geological?geomorphological and the other geochemical. The first one is related to the dominance of loess-like sediments formed by minerals bearing fluoride, and the second one is related to the control resulting on calcite precipitation adsorbing fluoride ions.
Keywords: FLUORIDE; SATURATION INDEX CALCITE; HYDROGEOCHEMISTRY; LA BALLENERA CREEK; Meteorología y Ciencias Atmosféricas; Ciencias de la Tierra y relacionadas con el Medio Ambiente; CIENCIAS NATURALES Y EXACTAS.
Results revealed that almost 90% of 2,4-D (70 μg L−1), present in simulated groundwater containing 0.3 mg L−1 of iron at pH 7.0, was degraded after 320 min (60 min t30w) of natural sunlight irradiation while the viability of Escherichia coli cells (followed by DVC-FISH) was completely reduced after 220 min (40 min t30w) by simple addition of 10 mg L−1 of hydrogen peroxide. Klebsiella pneumoniae exhibited an especial behavior since its viability was only reduced in 3.5 logs after 320 min of sunlight irradiation (60 min t30w). Dark experiment (in presence 10 mg L−1 of H2O2) showed that Fenton processes may also play an important role reducing the 40% of 2,4-D after 320 min (60 min t30w) while viability of E. coli and K. pneumoniae underwent a reduction of 2.5 and 2 logs respectively. Photolysis experiments were not able to degrade 2,4-D and E. coli and K. pneumoniae viability was partially reduced (2 logs). Results showed that high 2,4-D abatement could be due to photo-induced and/or dark processes such as photo-Fenton and Fenton (dissolved and colloidal iron), photocatalysis (colloidal iron) and UV-B photolysis of H2O2. Viability reduction of microorganisms should be related to combined effects of UV-A + B irradiation, rising of temperature (44 °C), photo-Fenton, Fenton and photocatalytic processes.
Keywords: 2,4-D; DETOXIFICATION; DISINFECTION; PHOTO-FENTON; Ingeniería Medioambiental y Geológica, Geotécnicas; Ingeniería del Medio Ambiente; INGENIERÍAS Y TECNOLOGÍAS.
This work presents the problems left by a company that manufactured chrome-plated products for 20 years, without controlling its waste, until it was closed by the authorities in 1978. The raw material used was chromite (FeCr2O4). The presence of chromium in the groundwater has been observed in recent years. Hence, there is a need to understand the adsorption capacity of the soils and to explain the presence of chromium in the groundwater. The soils at the site are sandy silts with a minor presence of clay and fine sands, which would lead to an initial expectation of high adsorption. We analyzed the adsorption capacity of hexavalent chromium (CrVI+) in the soils based on adsorption isotherms, determined the charge of the soil particles, and evaluated Gibbs free energy. The adsorption capacity was evaluated for three soil samples (S1, S2, and S3), obtained from the core of a well drilled in 2009, at the site where the manufacturing plant was located and at two more sites within its radius of influence, in the direction of the underground water flow to ascertain that the chromium adsorption data obtained are representative for the aims of the study. Concentrations of total Cr and CrVI+ were analyzed throughout the core of the drilled wells, as well as the soil mass contained therein. The average concentration of total Cr was 43.5 mg/kg, with a total mass of 21.1 g; whereas for CrVI+, the average concentration was 4.37 mg/kg with a mass of 2.12 g. A rough estimate with these values indicates that in the affected area (16,000 m2) and at a depth of 65 m, where the current groundwater level starts, there will be 18.53 tons of total Cr and 1.86 tons of CrVI+. Adsorption isotherms were drawn and the linear, Freundlich, and Langmuir models applied; the Freundlich model was the best fit for two of the soils (S1 and S2), while for soil S3 it was the linear model. According to the values for the partition coefficient, K d, obtained, the three soils showed low adsorption values. The net surface charge for each of the soils was determined, observing that for a broad pH range the charge was negative, which contributed to the low sorption of hexavalent chromium in the soils. The average CrVI+ adsorbed was 0.34 mL/g. Although this value represents a very low adsorption, it is sufficient to reveal the presence of chromium, even after more than 30 years, in the soil particles, particularly considering the reduction of groundwater level, which implies that the zone where the saturated zone had been is currently not saturated, and that chromium remained adsorbed. Lastly, the AGº thermodynamic parameter was calculated for each soil. In all cases, the value for the Gibbs free energy was positive, reflecting that the processes are not spontaneous, which concurs with the low adsorption results.
Keywords: Adsorption; hexavalent chromium; contaminated industrial site; Meteorología y Ciencias Atmosféricas; Ciencias de la Tierra y relacionadas con el Medio Ambiente; CIENCIAS NATURALES Y EXACTAS.