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Tag Archives: Northeastern Nigeria
When humans put their beliefs before their humanity
A few specific incidents recently, the general occurrence of which has been going on for a long time, has left me in no doubt that we humans value our ideological beliefs more than we value human life.
I take it for granted that everyone is capable of kindness, love, compassion and goodwill towards other human beings. But it plagues me that humans can and will without hesitation abandon all of this when certain of our beliefs are challenged.
And it seems to me the most culpable belief that humans will defend, with total disregard to cost and consequence, is religious in nature. And the greatest cost is life off course.
Boko Haram (figuratively meaning "Western education is sin") is an Islamic terrorist organization which has been laying siege to Northeastern Nigeria since 2002, which has resulted in the deaths of more than 10 000 people (quite possibly much more). At the most basic level, they kill innocent people to further their insane religious ideology. Recently they kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls whom they still hold captive, although reports indicate some have been sold into slavery or as child brides.
The fate of these schoolgirls is still uncertain, while the politicians vacillate. Which off course is quite normal for politicians. Political chicanery easily has the same disastrous effect as religious ideology, and indeed, when the State and Organized Religion conspire together, it usually ends in tragedy.
Take Sudan for instance. It is one of a growing number of countries (especially in Africa and the Middle East) that have no qualms about persecuting and even killing its citizens, to satisfy (invariably misunderstood) religious edicts. In Uganda, you will face imprisonment or even death for being of the "wrong" sexual orientation. Wrong is decided through belief, inspired by archaic religious text. In both countries the politicians have no problem agitating its citizens who harbor demented religious beliefs, into tormenting, even killing those who even vaguely seem at odds with said beliefs.
Only recently Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag, a pregnant Sudanese women who has just given birth in prison, was sentenced to death (but not before receiving a 100 lashes as well) for apostasy. Her crime was to fall in love with a Christian man. It is an exercise in futility pointing out to these demented ideologues that a benevolent God would not take kindly to such an insane act of pettiness. They would probably stone you to death.
Which was exactly the fate of Farzana Iqbal of Pakistan. Farzana whilst also pregnant, was stoned to death by members of her own family, including her own father for marrying the man she loved rather than the one her family had chosen for her. Honour killings are the direct result of ideological beliefs, most likely rooted in culture and religion. And that opens up another can of worms…
Culture and tradition can be as bad as religious beliefs, and quite often is. It is quite sad that in the modern scientific world, archaic cultural beliefs can still hold sway over abundant evidence to the contrary. In some societies, any or all activity that is at odds with cultural norm, can get you hurt or killed.
What will these purveyors of insane belief systems do if they eventually manage to wipe the rest of us off the face of the earth (not likely, but worth considering)? Will they then turn on each other? Will the purveyors of the surviving (insane) belief system then sit back and twiddle their thumbs, waiting for the rapture (or similar curious belief)?
Will the God that you believe in, accept them into heaven ( or similar curious belief)? Do you still think such a God is good?
Posted in Rant Alert, religion	| Tagged beliefs, Boko Haram, culture, Farzana Iqbal, Homosexuality, honour killings, humanity, Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag, Northeastern Nigeria, Organized Religion, Pakistan, Political chicanery, religious ideology, stoning, Sudan, Uganda	| 6 Replies


This month, I've been making warm & cozy things like gumbo and my grandmother's recipe for red beans & rice.
If you're in a cooking rut, here are more ideas from what I've been cooking lately, in no particular order, along with this week's meal plan. Please don't expect to find anything gourmet here. Friends and family often ask me for cooking ideas and I can never remember, so I decided to share my meal plan from time to time to help them (and you) brain storm meal ideas.
Fritatta: Think quiche without the fatty pie crust. This is a great way to use up random leftover meats & veggies. I love this recipe because it's more of a template than a cut & dry recipe. You can totally make this your own–and I do.
Taco Salads: We always do this the day after tacos. We live on leftovers every other day around here.
Chicken, various vegetables and I'm trying out this recipe for Jalapeno Bacon Mashed Cauliflower from Stacy Makes Cents. Evidently once you try mashed cauliflower, you won't waste calories on mashed potatoes again! We'll see.
Chicken Noodle Soup with my homemade dinner rolls. Have I mentioned that I love my bread machine? I lost a piece to it last week and mourned all week. Fortunately my husband found it!
Breakfast for dinner: Muffins, eggs, and fruit.
What's on your meal plan for this week??
Mmm! I loved mashed cauliflower, and even my husband likes it. The add-ins Stacy uses makes it sound even yummier.
Sounds like one of our meal plans! I always plan for leftovers so that we've got something tasty to take for lunch. Or so that we have something for dinner when I get busy and forget to prep or defrost something.


Magician gives the user more control over the SSD while Data Migration provides easy relocation options.
Samsung today has announced new versions of its Magician and Data Migration software for SSDs. Version 4.8 of Magician provides support for the SSD 950 Pro series and RAPID mode for Windows 10. RAPID mode is Samsung's proprietary feature that optimizes read and write speeds for the SSD based on the current workload. SecureErase can be used to erase the entire SSD in less than a few minutes. Magician can also be used to analyze the health, specifications, and performance of the SSD.
Data Migration gets an update to version 3.0 for official support with Windows 10. Improvements have been made to streamline disk cloning into three steps: Diagnosing the existing data, selecting the new hardware, and then completing the transfer.
Samsung Magician 4.8 and Data Migration 3.0 are both available for download at Samsung.com/samsungssd. The applications are only compatible with specific Samsung SSDs and not with those from other manufacturers.


1 >. You need to prepare a mixture of nutmeg and honey. To do this, mix one part nutmeg (which you can buy at the store, in the department of spices) with four parts of honey, liquid is better, you can use honey and candied, but first, melt it in a water bath. The resulting structure should be thoroughly rubbed into the problem area massage movements, hold for half an hour, then rinse with warm water without using detergents. The procedure is repeated every day until the scar will not blend in with the surrounding skin.
2 >. 5 tablets mummy (1g total) to dissolve a teaspoon of warm water. This mixture was mixed thoroughly with baby cream (a tube). Daily at night to rub composition. Remains of the finished composition should be stored in the refrigerator in a glass container.
3>. Sachet powder badyaga connect with 3% hydrogen peroxide, wait until bubbles appear.Within 10 minutes, rub up, you begin to feel a slight burning or tingling. After the procedure, the place should be rinsed with warm water. This peeling is done in a day. Summer should be applied to this place sunscreen to not formed pigment spots or burns. It is not necessary to do the procedure right before going out, open spaces for some time will remain red from exposure to fresh-water sponge.
4>. In any pharmacy you can buy "Revitol Scar Cream " Rubbed it on the problem area several times a day. After the first application of the gel does not need to rinse after a while the old layer is applied a new one. For the old, stale scar need to use absorbable dressings that are applied on all night. To scar applied a liberal coat of gel is placed on top of a layer of gauze, all firmly fixed elastic bandage or plaster.


All new hydraulics - motor and hoses for power top. New rubber seals for windows. Rebuilt holley four barrel. New radial tires, less than 1000 miles. 103,000 miles total on car. Excellent repaint on solid body of original Pagoda Green color. Not a show car, but has won trophies at small shows (including Hemmings Cruise-in)- an excellent driver ready for summer fun or even parades! Car built in Mahwah, New Jersey. Current owner purchased from Florida, now located in northeast Dutchess County, New York. 90 miles north of NYC, 30 miles east of Poughkeepsie, border of Sharon, Connecticut, easy access to Metro North Wassaic.
Carequipped with power steering, no power brakes or AC. Automatic transmissionwith console shifter.Top in very good condition with very clear rear window. Garage stored year-round - kept in heated garage during winter.
Driven regularly, will be at I-84 Diner cruise-in Wappinger Falls, NY Thursday 6/2 - weather permitting.
Senior citizen owner, looking to sell to purchasecar with AC. Call Ed at 845-373-8303 for any questions or to arrange to view.
Asking $20,000, reasonable offers considered.
1964 Ford Galaxie 500XL in original unmolested condition, a true survivor!


Glide United Methodist Church in San Francisco, California, may be on the brink of breaking away from the UMC. The church, as a whole, has systematically distanced itself from the governance and theological beliefs long held by the UMC, and yet have still clung to the title of being a United Methodist congregation, according to Bishop Minerva Carcaño.
Bishop Carcaño addressed an open letter to the California-Nevada Conference, outlining issues within Glide that she found to be troubling. She described Glide's "Sunday Celebrations" as "uplifting concerts," which "lack the fundamentals of Christian worship." She went on to write that the congregants don't want the church to be United Methodist or Christian in its practices. According to her, baptisms are performed "in the name of the people rather than from a Christian understanding of Baptism" and Holy Communion was abandoned for a number of years before being reintroduced, "with much resistance," but only outside of the Sunday Celebrations.
Her allegations against Glide do not end there. In the letter, she says that Cecil Williams, a prominent retired pastor who led the congregation from 1963-2000, made "all decisions in the background of Glide." According to a 2004 profile, Williams and former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown "stood together in defense of militant communist Angela Davis, and again, prominently, in defense of the Rev. Jim Jones of the Peoples Temple," with Glide (under Williams's leadership) even presented Jones with a humanitarian award in 1977, the year before Jones led a mass suicide of 913 people. Williams later expressed regret for his misjudgment of Jones.


"Heart Songs" by Annie Proulx utilises a dynamic employed by a number of other stories in the same-named Heart Songs collection — an outsider comes into a rural community and misunderstands local ways. In this case he idealises what he dismissively calls 'redneck' culture. Sometimes in this variety of Proulx story, the consequences are darkly humorous — at other times they're life-threatening. This is one of the darker examples.
As an example of a main character who learns nothing about himself, but who has a fairly good grip on his weaknesses and is now learning to live with them rather than change. Proulx includes a proxy self-revelation which is the character feeling sorry for himself.
For the wonderfully apt imagery. Snipe is described as fire, both in looks and in the way he blows from place to place wreaking havoc. Nell is compared to the blackberry.
For a description of a place which starts at the town level, follows a character up the road, viewing the house through the window, then takes us right into the house, down to the macro details.
Snipe has come to Vermont with vaguely conceived get-rich-quick schemes and his girlfriend, Catherine, whose wealthy parents stand ready to help in the event of financial crisis. When Snipe begins playing music with the Twilight family in their rundown house on their mountaintop farm, he envisions record deals and easy money. Eno Twilight, the head of the family, insists, however, that the family does not perform in public, only at home in their dingy kitchen. They play their old-style country songs, arranged by Eno and fat but beautiful Nell, to "make a joyful noise until the Lord".
Snipe, who has "a secret wish to step off into some abyss of bad taste and moral sloth", fails to understand the personal significance the Twilights' songs have for them and sees the family as a means to indulge his taste for the "down and dirty": "He wanted fat Nell and the freedom of dirty sheets, wanted to sit in a broken chair and play music and not have to make a mark in the world." Thinking Nell is Eno's daughter, he seduces her. Then, when Eno appears and is clearly aware of what has happened, Snipe blurts out that he loves Eno's "daughter" and is told that she is his wife. Snipe flees the house with Eno in pursuit. At the end of the story Snipe is convincing Catherine that they should seek their fortune elsewhere, seemingly oblivious to the emotion damage he has inflicted on the Twilights. Like the sniper his name suggests, Snipe strikes his victims and moves on. As in Proulx's later fiction, the wealthy can easily escape situations that have become uncomfortable for them while the poor are left behind to eke out a living as best they can.
He recognised in himself a secret wish to step off into some abyss of bad taste and moral sloth, and Chopping County seemed as good a place as any to find it.
I believe that's the difference between writing late middle-aged characters (rare) versus writing young characters (common). Old characters, like old people, have learned to live with themselves somehow. Their particular desires are different, and they're likely to be aware of their weaknesses. They don't necessarily have the ability to change, or to rise above them.
Perhaps most interesting of all, Proulx takes the character of Snipe out of cliche territory by patinating on top of his weaknesses a wish to align himself with people who are the inverse of himself — people who could make a living from their music — they are that good — but who do it for the simple pleasure of pleasing themselves and God. I believe this is subconscious for Snipe. He thinks he's attracted to the Twilights because of their good music and the sexual opportunity, but it seems to me he's hoping to find a counterbalance to his own weaknesses.
He wanted to hook his heel on the chrome rung of a barstool, hear the rough talk, and leave with the stragglers in the morning's small hours.
That would be the surface level desire. The more important desire is somewhat deeper. The writer needs to understand both when creating a main character.
It's more important I'm doing something I really like you know that." He couldn't say to [Catherine] that what he liked was the failing kitchen chair, the wrecked pickup in the weeds.
Who stands in the way of Snipe fulling his wish to do something for the pure fun of it?
His in-laws seem to be opponents, but they're ineffective in their wish to stop him. By financially rewarding his wife, they're by default rewarding him. This type of 'opposition' adds layers of interest to your regular outright-foe dynamic in a more typical story.
Snipe's main opponent is himself — that's almost a given when it comes to Proulx's pathetic characters — but for the sake of the story, the opponent is Eno.
In a realistic story (rather than a superhero one), the main character is often an opportunist. Annie Proulx's characters are also, by and large, opportunists. They might (1) passive-aggressively resist something thrust upon them, or (2) go along with something until they can worm their way out, or (3) go with the flow until an attractive opportunity presents itself. Snipe is the third kind of character. He notices then nurtures a sexual interest–attracted by the subversiveness of the attraction, and the revenge of it (on Catherine) rather than to Nell herself–then when he sees a chance to act upon it, he does. (He sees Nell as food, something to be consumed — she smelled of 'sweet crushed blackberries'. Blackberries is a great metaphor for Nell because blackberries grow wild, are delicious, but are also an invasive weed. Things from real life which have that juxtaposition, that duplicity, make for excellent literary imagery.
Because Proulx does such a good job of portraying a main character with conflicting desires, he makes no actual plan to market the Twilights.
He changes his vague plan and tries to write a song himself. The reader knows that this because he thinks he's caught some of the country magic. But it's clear that he has no composing talent of his own.
Snipe learns nothing. He learns not to go back to this particular place, sure. But he learns nothing that he can apply in a wider context. He learns nothing about himself, or about people.
Snipe had feelings of melancholy, noticed leaf veins, flakes of mic in rocks, extraordinarily fine hairs on plant stems. The smell of woodsmoke and damp earth made his eyes flood with reasonless tears. Late one afternoon he stood on the dock drinking scotch from the Mexican glass Catherine had brought back from the Acapulco vacation. He stared at a peculiar lenticular cloud. He could hear the sullen hum of a truck on the road beyond the lake. The truck's buzz, and a tinny, faraway chain saw, made Snipe feel in a rush of misery that he had hardly had an hour's true happiness.
Note that this is not the Self-revelation phase of story — it happens before the Battle rather than afterwards. This is the faux 'revelation' which leads Snipe into the Battle rather than something that pulls him out of it. This is a great technique for a character like Snipe, who keeps getting himself into strife, learning nothing. Because isn't this how it works in real life?
Later, Snipe thought that he should have gotten away then, should have slipped out the door, rolled the car silently down the track, and raced for the protection of the cedars.
The other thing a story needs, in place of a bona fide Self-revelation, is a reveal related to plot. The reveal is, of course, that he just slept with another man's wife thinking it was his sister.
Snipe persuades Catherine to accompany him elsewhere, on a different kind of get rich quick scheme, where he'll no doubt make exactly the same kind of mistakes as he always has and always will.
Previous PostPrevious Why write a ghost story when you don't believe in ghosts?


In CPPM, I created a multiple receptionists who can create a guest accounts.
These receptionists have the possibility to send a receipt by mail to the guest after its creation.
But the template used for this mail sending is the same for all the receptionists.
So, I would like to create a unique email template by receptionnists but I did not find how to do this.
Thank you for your response efisher214.
I configured the two fields in the form.
But, I cannot find the ID of the template that I want to use to send the email.
Do you know how find this ID ?


and teacher of yoga, mindfulness and meditation.
I founded MINDFRESH in 2014 to bring peace to the office in the digital age. I believe peace is what the (corporate) world needs now, and it also happens to be the source of qualities that bring us success. We're most creative, confident and composed in a peaceful state.
Peaceful isn't my natural state. I had chronic back pain, insomnia, and anxiety while building a media career in NYC. When a spine specialist confirmed the physical pain was coming from an agitated state of mind, I was confronted with an option: medication or meditation. I chose the latter, and it naturally brought about a more peaceful state in both body and mind.
I teach mindfulness in the world's busiest offices as a way to re-introduce people to someone very important: themselves. As we become more aware of what's happening around us and within us, in each moment, we refine our thoughts, words, and actions. We begin operating from a more peaceful state.
I've been a student of yoga and meditation for ten years. The last five, I've been teaching what has been passed down to me. I leverage my corporate past to make mindfulness relatable. As an Advanced Certified Jivamukti Teacher, I've received 800 hours of formal training, studying with renowned teachers in New York and India.
I've trained teachers across the globe in my corporate mindfulness approach. Collectively, team MINDFRESH is responsible for over 22,000 mindful moments at the world's most dynamic companies. MINDFRESH has presence in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tel Aviv, Seattle, Munich, Charlotte, Miami and Singapore.
I've developed in-room mindfulness content for international hotel brand, YOTEL.


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Smarsh Releases Electronic Communications Compliance Survey
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FMI Expects Expansion of Content Delivery Network, OTT Content and Live Streaming Services Remain Major Highlights
Adlucent Report Reveals Younger Generations See Personalization as a Requirement
Local Data Visualization
Bruno Herrmann
We are surrounded with and influenced by data. From high-level insights to in-depth analytics, data transforms globalizing and digitizing organizations. In this respect, data visualization paves the way to the globalization of digital products at machine speed.
As with any content, localization and customization play a key role in highlighting and increasing the value of data around the world. These efforts have to take digital experiences to the next level by enabling visualization in a variety of countries. This may break down assumptions that data visualization is an asset that is mostly for people who are passionate about technology. It is not. It is a key enabler for marketing and branding leaders as much as for sales and commercial teams. Here are a few considerations to localize data visualization within immersive interfaces.
Turn the GUI displaying data into an intelligent user interface (IUI) delivering experiences—Anyone who has to use data visualization as a decision-making tool needs to go to the right place and digest the right information as quickly as possible. It is a question of content reach, resonance, and reaction. Specifically, users who are hungry for charts, dashboards, and reports should feel as comfortable and energized as possible. Boosting customer experiences requires localizing interfaces with the highest level of effectiveness (i.e., making visualization intuitive, consistent, and memorable). This is where multicultural, multilingual, and multifunctional enablement comes to play.
Consider interface components to be journey milestones rather than standalone visualization objects—In order to deliver and render data with a user-centered approach, all interface components should be designed with compatibility and adaptability in mind. Labels, buttons, notifications, or hotspots may appear to be small details at first glance. But small details are not an optional part of localization and can therefore make or break the overall experiences. What is considered an object from a creation or development perspective becomes an experience driver when it is displayed to fit nicely in the visualization ecosystem. Considering the business goal is to align visualization with experiences that users want and the value it must generate, it is crucial to ensure that every rendered object matches user practices.
Widen perspectives on data visualization by incorporating locally engaging cultural, linguistic, and functional factors upfront—These factors reflect expressed requirements or unspoken preferences. Even when users are in a business environment, they retain values based on their familiar culture, language(s), and ecosystem(s). As such, they have to feel personally delighted and professionally empowered. Localizing data visualization on this tri-dimensional basis is not an option. From a linguistic standpoint, words are more than words as they must be semantically and contextually meaningful. A poorly translated term makes a difference as consistency and accuracy ensure a frictionless navigation through data. For instance, displaying data with truncated labels or including unclear acronyms may make users think too much, hesitate too long, and give up eventually. From a cultural standpoint, effective data visualization has to be localized for target audiences instead of relying on standardized service delivery. It implies tailoring the structure and logic of interfaces according to user patterns that are shaped by cultural factors. For example, choosing the most appropriate colors, icons, and images makes a difference. Validating the stickiness of content and the articulation of components is equally important to ensure they are in line with expectations. From a functional standpoint, scoping ecosystems drives success as well. In the digital age, users have to deal with a number of platforms, channels, and applications. It is even more challenging in multiple markets in which the greatest data does not cut it if it is not delivered and leveraged ad hoc. For instance, (future) mobile-ready countries require data visualization to work in their prevailing ecosystems.
Essentially, localizing data visualization is another way to make sure that Big Data is perceived, received, and consumed as smart data. Augmenting data visualization effectiveness puts you in the best position to augment your international customer reality.
Translation Automation Within the Multilingual Content Ecosystem
In the world of content, automation is having an effect on things such as image, speech, and text processing—and even the creation of written content. In the translation and localization sector, we're seeing automation driven by AI (such as neural machine translation) and by old-fashioned human ingenuity. Automation is used as a competitive advantage by translation companies since in most cases, it results in cost-savings and time-savings for their clients.
Navigating the Mobile-First Global Content Market
Globalizing your mobile content often involves more heavy lifting than many companies realize. Customizing your digital content for foreign audiences and localizing your app or site requires careful planning. Cutting corners, ignoring the preferences of a given country, and making insular assumptions can backfire. But the right strategies can pay major dividends.
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility (on Social Media)
Opinions abound about what role platforms like Facebook play in combatting fake news.
Localized Content Starts With Global Research
The simple solution for producing better content for a global audience is research. No number of internal meetings, roundtables, or workshops can beat talking to your customers, users, audiences, members, or whatever entity you are looking to serve.
Digital Listening and Understanding at Scale
User-generated content is a good source of data, if you know how to listen. But digital listening on an international scale includes challenges that cannot be ignored, especially in terms of cultural and linguistic effectiveness.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl