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Byline Report
Our studies
Fact sheet – 2011
Features and Posts
The Gender Report
A closer look at gender and online news
Women see increase in bylines in eighth month of Gender Checks
September 21, 2011 January 28, 2012 Jasmine R. Linabary
Women made up 24.3 percent of sources and 44.8 percent of authors in the eighth month of our Gender Check monitoring project. That reflected a rise in women authors over last month, when women had 35 percent of bylines.
Here's the breakdown of our findings for the eighth month:
Eighth Month: Aug. 22 – Sept. 15, 2011
We reviewed 32 articles, two in each Gender Check, during our eighth month. That included four Gender Checks from each geographic region.
In each Gender Check, we look at two websites from that region — one associated with a newspaper and one that is online-only. During our monitoring, we pull the top or lead articles on their websites at the time of the check and gather details on the gender of the author, the breakdown of the genders of the human sources referenced in the articles and other details. (For more on what Gender Checks are, read our introductory post here.)
This month the articles contained 81 male sources and 26 female sources. This meant women made up 24.3 percent of the human sources referenced. Five articles this month contained no named sources.
Here's how that broke out by geographic region:
West: 19 males, 8 female (Women at 29.6 percent)
Northeast: 18 males, 5 females (Women at 21.7 percent)
Midwest: 34 males, 6 females (Women at 15 percent)
South: 10 male, 7 female (Women at 41.2 percent)
Here's the breakdown by news sites associated with a traditional newspaper and those that are not.
Newspaper website: 50 males, 14 females (Women at 21.9 percent)
Online-only: 31 males, 12 females (Women at 27.9 percent)
This month 13 articles were written by an individual woman and 16 by one or more man. That put women at 44.8 percent of bylines of one gender or another for the month. Additionally, there were three shared bylines between a man and a woman (or two). This was one of the higher byline percentages for women in the study and an increase over the 35 percent women reached last month.
Here's how bylines broke down by geographic region:
West: 3 stories by an individual woman, 5 by an individual man
Northeast: 2 by a woman, 5 by men and 1 with a shared byline between a man and a woman
Midwest: 4 by a woman, 3 by a man, 1 with a shared byline between a man and a woman
South: 4 by a woman, 3 by a man, 1 with a shared byline between a man and two women
Here's how women did in bylines between newspaper sites and online-only sites this month:
Newspaper website: 7 by a woman, 7 by men and 2 with a shared byline between a man and woman (or two)
Online-only: 6 by a woman, 9 by a man, 1 with a shared byline
As a note to our readers, these findings reflect a limited amount of data from our simple Gender Checks. We hope you recognize the limitations of this data, since we've only sampled a few articles from eight news sites. Further research and time is needed to verify any validity across the board.
In July, we released our findings from our first six months of monitoring. During that time, women were 25.3 percent of human sources referenced and 37.7 percent of authors of one gender or the author.
To look at past month breakdowns and other data on gender representations in online news, check out our "Findings and Statistics" category.
Findings and Statistics, Our studiesauthorship, female bylines, gender, Gender Checks, online news, sourcing, women in journalism, women in the news
Previous Article Gender check: 9/20/11 – West
Next Article Gender check: 9/22/11 – Midwest
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Women in journalism: Reading list for 9/14/2014
What is The Gender Report?
The Gender Report is a website that aims to monitor gender representations in online news. Contact us at genderreport@gmail.com. Follow @genderreport on Twitter.
Gender check: 9/27/11 - West
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Russell Scott Primary school in Denton have been crowned Tameside Tag Rugby Chamions 2014.
Russell Scott Primary School has been visionary in the delivery of sport and movement and dance in school for many years providing opportunities for young people to actively become involved and coached in over 9 sports. This has been clearly evident in the levels of participation in after school clubs and inters school competitions. The school through its coaches, PE coordinator and staff have been able to create valuable relationships with local sports clubs in sharing their facilities or providing the opportunity to become members of their clubs.


Abbey Insurance > Abbey News > Would Your Home Insurance Policy Cover the Rebuild of Your Property?
There is nothing more comforting that coming home after a long day at work, or visiting your parents in the house you grew up in. Our homes are filled with a lifetime of memories and it would be heart-breaking if anything happened to our property. But the reality is our homes are at risk from natural disasters or unpredicted accidents out of our control. Therefore, it's important to ensure your home insurance policy covers you should you require a rebuild.
The market value of your home is based on economic conditions, location, surrounding facilities and other factors. Whereas your home's insurance to value is based on how much it would cost to build your home from scratch and replace your valuable belongings. Which is why you can't rely on your homes market value to set insurance limits.
If your home is a standard brick build, you can calculate rebuild costs by using a chartered surveyor to carry out a professional assessment. Or alternatively use a house rebuilding cost calculator. However, if your home is made from non-standard materials, has special features or you live in a listed building you should seek advice.
Your house is one of your biggest investments, yet the reality is that the majority of homes in Northern Ireland are underinsured. Get in touch with Abbey Insurance today to learn how we can securely insure your home.


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Q: Python: Imported functions access to global variables I have two files as shown below.
#foobar.py

foo = False

def bar():
    if foo:
        print "Worked"
    else:
        print "Did not work"

and
#main.py

from foobar import *

foo = True
bar()
print foo

The output when I run $ python main.py is
Did not work
True

Is it possible for bar() to get access to the global foo defined in main.py?
update
Should have clarified earlier but I thought the question should remain as bare-bone as possible.
foobar.py is actually a supporting file (with other functions having different parameters that also use the global foo) that I want to use with a bunch of related iPython notebooks.
The notebooks should ideally have their own definitions of foo and it's absence should be caught and handled.
I chose to not include it as an argument simply to try and make the code look cleaner.
I am aware that:

Wildcard imports ( from  import * ) should be avoided, as they make it unclear which names are present in the namespace, confusing both readers and many automated tools.-pep8

A: Accepting the comment by L3viathan as the answer.

No, it's not. Why don't you want to use arguments? –  L3viathan Apr 22 at 19:15
Python: Imported functions access to global variables

A: Change main.py to
#main.py

import foobar

foobar.foo = True
foobar.bar()
print foobar.foo

OR
change foobar.py to
#foobar.py
import __main__
foo = False

def bar():
    if __main__.foo:
        print "Worked"
    else:
        print "Did not work"

Well, the variable foo in main.py has scope to that module only, same goes for foobar.py. For further reading.
how to access global variable within __main__ scope?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The Keysight Q11645A verification kit has a W-22 connector and covers a frequency range of 33 to 50 GHz.
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The Keysight 85161B is a measurement automation S/W for the Keysight 8510C and Keysight 8510B network analyzers.
The Keysight 85071C software calculates the permittivity and permeability of material samples loaded into sections of coaxial airline or rectangular waveguide.
The Keysight 85070C dielectric probe measures the dielectric properties of materials quickly and conveniently.


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You are here: Home / Columns / Famous Cases / Whatever Happened to … Scandalous Criminal Allegations: the Miazga Case
Whatever Happened to … Scandalous Criminal Allegations: the Miazga Case
February 3, 2016 By Peter Bowal and Aleksandar Gvozdenovic
Miazga v. Kvello Estate is a tragic, yet fascinating, case which reminds us of the devastating power of criminal prosecution to ruin innocent lives and the near impossibility to hold Crown prosecutors legally accountable when that happens [(2009) 3 SCR 339, 2009 SCC 51 http://canlii.ca/t/26g27].
In 1989, Michael, Michelle and Kathleen Ross (aged 7 to 10 years) began to accuse their biological parents, foster parents and extended family members of sexual and ritual abuse. Michelle, in a videotaped interview with Saskatoon police and therapists, described horrendous rituals that they were made to witness and endure, including acts of infanticide, cannibalism, drinking human blood, being forced to eat their own excrement, and perform sex acts. Although the allegations were preposterous and lacked any credible evidence, the prosecution was unrelenting.
On July 10, 1991, 16 people were charged with almost 70 counts of sexual assault. In fact it was Michael who was abusing his sisters, coercing them into performing and participating in sexual acts. This was known to the Klassens, who urged Social Services to transfer him to a different foster home, which they eventually did. Michael had a difficult early childhood growing up with deaf, mute, alcoholic and allegedly sexually abusive parents.
Michael then accused the Klassens of sexual assault, claiming that he was concerned about the safety of his sisters. Social Services did not separate Michael from his sisters, even though the new foster parents noted and reported similar behaviour. The investigating police officer and therapist largely ignored this when it came up. They focused on gathering evidence against the adults.
The accused adults were troubled by the investigation. They believed the investigators had prompted the children to lie by providing examples of sexual and ritual abuse, by encouraging and rewarding answers that would suggest guilt, by emphasizing the sexual parts on anatomically correct dolls, and using influence and coercion.
A number of adults were found guilty at the Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench and Court of Appeal level. The Supreme Court of Canada overturned the convictions, and although the Court felt there was enough evidence to re-try the adults, the charges were stayed to prevent the children from facing more court proceedings. Eventually, all three children recanted their allegations.
Malicious Prosecution Lawsuit
Lawsuits against police and prosecutors for malicious prosecution are rarely successful. Prosecutorial independence and discretion are essential for fair and efficient functioning of the judicial system.In 1994, twelve members of the Kvello and Klassen families launched a civil action for malicious prosecution against the investigating police officer, therapist, Crown prosecutors and their supervisors. They sought $10 million in damages. This civil action played out for 15 years until prosecutor Miazga's fate was decided by a unanimous Supreme Court of Canada.
Following the 1989 case of Nelles v. Ontario, the Court confirmed that four key conditions must be satisfied for a malicious prosecution claim to be successful. The plaintiff must prove the prosecution was:
initiated by the defendant;
terminated in favour of the plaintiff;
undertaken without reasonable and probable cause; and
motivated by malice or a primary purpose other than that of carrying the law into effect.
Only the last two elements were at issue in this case. According to the objective assessment made of existing circumstances, there was reasonable and probable cause to initiate a criminal proceeding. Malice lies in some 'improper purpose' by which prosecutors misuse their position for a purpose other than that which is intended for the criminal justice system. Malice was not proven in Miazga's case.
Lawsuits against police and prosecutors for malicious prosecution are rarely successful. Prosecutorial independence and discretion are essential for fair and efficient functioning of the judicial system. Prosecutors need discretion throughout legal proceedings and they should be immune from review of this discretion unless it was motivated by an improper purpose. Crown independence ensures third parties do not influence judicial affairs. Since the Attorney General is also a political member of government's cabinet, prosecutors must remain independent. Today, the test for prosecutions in Canada is whether there is "a reasonable likelihood of conviction."
Criminal prosecutions impose a significant cost on accused who are not guilty. They may be subject to public scorn, humiliation and loss of reputation, and suffer from depression, anxiety and mental anguish. They may lose their jobs and future employment opportunities. They may need medical treatment and counseling. All of these afflictions were borne by the Klassens and their children. As late as 2007, Kayla Klassen said, "My whole life I've been called Baby Eater and I am still called that name to this day. It's ruined my life." Even if reputations are eventually rebuilt, one might never fully recover.
Where are the Parties Now?
During the lengthy legal proceedings, two plaintiffs (Dennis Kvello and Marie Klassen) passed away. Despite losing in court, the Kvellos and Klassens were paid $2.736 million from the Saskatchewan government for pain and suffering and legal costs. They have remained out of the spotlight since the trial, after years of public scrutiny. Richard Klassen co-founded with activist Sheila Steele, the 'injusticebusters.org' website, which described the trial from the perspective of the accused. Contributions to that website ended in 2006, after Ms. Steele passed away. In 2009, Mr. Klassen mused about writing a book to encourage others facing similar struggles, but he has yet to do so.
The Ross sisters, as adults, received a $560,000 settlement for the abuse at the hands of their brother. The Ross sisters were previously impoverished. One had been living homeless in downtown Vancouver. The investigating police officer is retired. Matthew Miazga continues as a Crown prosecutor in Saskatchewan.
Aleksandar Gvozdenovic a graduate of the Haskayne School of Business.
Filed Under: Famous Cases Tagged With: child abuse, child welfare, Criminal Code, sexual assault
Peter Bowal and Aleksandar Gvozdenovic
Peter Bowal is a Professor of Law at the Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary, in Calgary, Alberta. Aleksandar Gvozdenovic is a graduate of the Haskayne School of Business.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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What's Going On: You might be all too familiar with these, which tend to make their debut when you're in high school. "Blackheads, like whiteheads, are blocked pores," says Zeichner. What gives them their namesake color, though, is the oil. It's already dark, but blackheads also have a larger opening at the surface than whiteheads do, meaning air can enter and oxidize that oil sitting inside the pore, turning it even darker.
Acne that's more inflammatory is denoted as moderate acne. This happens when there are occasional nodules and possibly mild scarring. Severe acne occurs when there are a lot of inflammatory lesions, nodules and possibly scarring. It's also considered severe if the acne is still present after six months of treatment or if it causes serious psychological issues.
From the What to Expect editorial team and Heidi Murkoff, author of What to Expect the First Year. Health information on this site is based on peer-reviewed medical journals and highly respected health organizations and institutions including ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists), CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics), as well as the What to Expect books by Heidi Murkoff.
^ Jump up to: a b GBD 2015 Disease and Injury Incidence and Prevalence, Collaborators. (8 October 2016). "Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 310 diseases and injuries, 1990-2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015". Lancet. 388 (10053): 1545–1602. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31678-6. PMC 5055577. PMID 27733282.
Several scales exist to grade the severity of acne vulgaris, but no single technique has been universally accepted as the diagnostic standard.[68][69] Cook's acne grading scale uses photographs to grade severity from 0 to 8 (0 being the least severe and 8 being the most severe). This scale was the first to use a standardized photographic protocol to assess acne severity; since its creation in 1979, the scale has undergone several revisions.[69] The Leeds acne grading technique counts acne lesions on the face, back, and chest and categorizes them as inflammatory or non-inflammatory. Leeds scores range from 0 (least severe) to 10 (most severe) though modified scales have a maximum score of 12.[69][70] The Pillsbury acne grading scale simply classifies the severity of the acne from grade 1 (least severe) to grade 4 (most severe).[68][71]
Postinflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH) is usually the result of nodular acne lesions. These lesions often leave behind an inflamed darkened mark after the original acne lesion has resolved. This inflammation stimulates specialized pigment-producing skin cells (known as melanocytes) to produce more melanin pigment which leads to the skin's darkened appearance.[35] People with darker skin color are more frequently affected by this condition.[36] Pigmented scar is a common term used for PIH, but is misleading as it suggests the color change is permanent. Often, PIH can be prevented by avoiding any aggravation of the nodule, and can fade with time. However, untreated PIH can last for months, years, or even be permanent if deeper layers of skin are affected.[37] Even minimal skin exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays can sustain hyperpigmentation.[35] Daily use of SPF 15 or higher sunscreen can minimize such a risk.[37]
^ Jump up to: a b c Zaenglein, AL; Graber, EM; Thiboutot, DM (2012). "Chapter 80 Acne Vulgaris and Acneiform Eruptions". In Goldsmith, Lowell A.; Katz, Stephen I.; Gilchrest, Barbara A.; Paller, Amy S.; Lefell, David J.; Wolff, Klaus (eds.). Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. pp. 897–917. ISBN 978-0-07-171755-7.
Contact details: When you purchase a product online, Acne Studios will process your contact details for the following purposes; (i) to process purchases/orders and returns, exchanges and complaints; (ii) to communicate with you regarding the purchases and to answer and administer any questions or comments that you may have regarding Acne Studios' products or services. The legal basis is that the processing is necessary in order for us to be able to fulfill our contractual obligations to you under the purchase agreement.
This inflammatory cascade typically leads to the formation of inflammatory acne lesions, including papules, infected pustules, or nodules.[1] If the inflammatory reaction is severe, the follicle can break into the deeper layers of the dermis and subcutaneous tissue and cause the formation of deep nodules.[1][66][67] Involvement of AP-1 in the aforementioned inflammatory cascade leads to activation of matrix metalloproteinases, which contribute to local tissue destruction and scar formation.[45]
Hormonal acne is exactly what it sounds like: breakouts that are tied to fluctuations in hormones. If your skin flares up at the same time each month, tends to occur in the same spot (chin, cheeks, jawline), and is characterized by pimples that are deep and cystic, your acne might be hormonal. Hormonal acne is usually due to a sensitivity to androgens, which are a specific type of hormone. With respect to acne, the androgen in charge is testosterone. Testosterone (and estrogen) are produced and needed by both sexes, but women are sensitive to extraneous amounts since it's unnecessary for their typical functioning. The excess androgen has to go somewhere, and is usually purged via the skin's androgen receptor cells which creates breakouts. While testosterone remains in the bloodstream, it increases sebum production and can make breakouts worse.
Pimples are raised red spots with a white center that develop when blocked hair follicles become inflamed or infected with bacteria. Blockages and inflammation that develop deep inside hair follicles produce cystlike lumps beneath the surface of your skin. Other pores in your skin, which are the openings of the sweat glands, aren't usually involved in acne.


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Movie 554 – Hamlet (2000)
Hamlet (2000) – September 5th, 2011
We're running rather low on Shakespeare adaptations in our collection. I think there are two more left on the list at this point? Maybe I'm forgetting one. I can think of one more we'll be buying, but other than that, really, we've watched what we had. And we've seen some good stuff and some interesting stuff and the weirdest I can think of is still to come. But this is definitely its own creature. It's not quite a modern retelling since the language used is Shakespeare's and the editing is mostly to pare it down, not to change its plot. But the setting is thoroughly modern, with Denmark a corporation and the story taking place in New York City among high rises and city streets and the Guggenheim.
I first saw this while I was in college and I will admit, I'm sure it's not everyone cup of tea. It's not the most polished of adaptations. It's got rough edges and I've got some issues with it and it's a far cry from Kenneth Branagh's epic version of the same play. Still, it's an interesting idea and for the most part I think it's well conceived and well executed and it has my favorite Ophelia ever, both in that I feel that Julia Stiles plays her well and I feel that the modern trappings given to the role work excellently to give her a solid character arc. It doesn't work everywhere, but it does work there, and well in enough other places to make me feel like it's worth watching.
I don't think I need to really rehash the entire story of Hamlet here. Let's face it: Hamlet's one of Shakespeare's most well known and oft-reproduced plays. It's fodder for a ton and a half of literary allusions and references and academic works. The high school I went to offered a full year of Shakespeare as a senior year English option, but in addition to that it also offered a full semester on Hamlet alone. Personally, I love Hamlet. Not because I particularly like the main character, but because I think it's an interesting play that has a whole lot going on in it. And the main character isn't a black and white character. Not many of the characters in the play are. I'd have to say with the exception of Claudius everyone in the play is pretty grey. Even Ophelia, though she does skew towards the lighter end of the scale. I honestly think characters and plots are more interesting when they're conflicted.
The alterations to place the story in modern day New York City are largely cosmetic, but oh do those cosmetic changes make an impact. It becomes obvious early on that we're dealing with CEOs and pampered rich kids, that the castle is a skyscraper and the ghost is appearing on a security camera. Hamlet is an amateur filmmaker and Ophelia a photographer. And somehow the language all works even in apartments with views of the skyline and on crowded city sidewalks and in taxis. I wouldn't have picked Ethan Hawke to play Hamlet if I'd been asked, but I think he does an admirable enough job with the part with one notable exception, which really isn't his fault.
It's the soliloquies. The soliloquies are largely done as voiceovers, which I'm not really in love with. It feels almost as though they were an afterthought, which they shouldn't be. But they feel almost shoehorned into the movie, played over scenes of Hamlet brooding in various places. And I can see the intent there is to make the soliloquies his internal thought process, kept in his head and never spoken where anyone else could hear. After all, the scenes show him going about his life in the city and that much works. He goes to the library, strolls down the street, sits in an airplane with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and works on his film to try and catch his uncle out. As a New Yorker, clearly he has Things To Do and Places To Go. It wouldn't really work for the tone of the movie to have him sitting in his room, moping aloud to his editing equipment. But at the same time having the soliloquies as voiceovers during scenes where Hamlet is out doing things ends up making them feel detached from the actions on display. They feel like they're being added in post, which of course they are, instead of being his thoughts during the scene playing out on screen. Which makes them all feel less immediate and more rehearsed. Which isn't at all how I want them. Hamlet's soliloquies should be the thoughts of a mind in turmoil as they occur to him, not later on, carefully pondered.
Fortunately, that's really my only quibble with the movie. Sure, it's pared down quite a bit. It's a short rendition of the play, really. But it does handle a lot of the key issues the play presents. I love the "play" Hamlet shows redone as a film collage. It cuts out the Players, but then they're mostly important because of the play within a play bit. I enjoy seeing the ghost as an appearance on a security camera. I love that messages are delivered by fax machines and that the letter sent with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is on a laptop. And I especially love that when Ophelia is sent to talk to Hamlet and try to divine what his intentions are, she's wearing a wire.
Let's talk about Ophelia for a moment before I wrap up. Wearing that wire is a fantastic piece of character motivation. While the concept of her spying on Hamlet for her father and Claudius is, of course, going to cause her emotional anguish, having the apparent betrayal discovered by Hamlet in a tangible form makes it all the more damning. How can she deny it? How can she argue it? Hamlet's already angry and dismissive of her. And now she knows that he won't trust her, if ever he was inclined to again. And in turn, who can she trust? It makes her death (also handled nicely, and I love the conceit with the flower photos) all the more tragic to me. I truly love this Ophelia, both for the performance and for the presentation that allowed the performance.
Overall, like I said, this isn't going to be to everyone's taste. If you're looking for a traditional and complete (or close to complete) rendition of Hamlet then this is most certainly not it. Mark off a day on your calendar and go find the Branagh version if that's what you're looking for. But if you'd like a fascinating cross between an adaptation and a traditional performance, then this is it. It's got good acting, excellent visuals and interesting choices, which is really all I ask from an adaptation. Do something interesting and at least do it well most of the time. I can forgive some flaws, but so long as the heart of the play is there, then it can be made to work. And this does.
September 5, 2011 Posted by ajmovies | daily reviews	| 2000s, period, review, Shakespeare | Leave a comment
We own about four versions of this most famous Shakespeare play. We've already reviewed for our project the complete and uncut play as produced by Kenneth Branaugh. We've also reviewed the Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) wherin Adam Long and his compatriots do a very much abbreviated version of Hamlet, then do it faster, then do it faster still, then do it backwards. Although we haven't reviewed it (because our vast MST collection is not a part of this project) we even have a black and white version of the film produced for German television. So come we tonight to this, the millennial adaptation of the film set in the modern day and starring, amongst many others, Ethan Hawke as Hamlet.
This version of the takes the tale replaces the medieval kingdoms of the play with the modern royalty of today – the uber-rich aristocracy of the corporate aristocracy. Denmakr, therefore is a corporation, the head of which has recently died. The son of the head of Denmark Corp, Hamlet, returns from school for the funeral and is shocked to find his mother already being betrothed to his dead father's brother. The story is unchanged of course, and the dialog is all Shakespeare, but it is much truncated and the order of some scenes is altered (for example it begins not with "Oh, that this too, too solid flesh would melt" but with Hamlet's speech to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern about what a beast is man.)
Hawke's Hamlet is not so much mad as sullen. He's an artist and a angst ridden recluse, but he never seems insane. He toys with video cameras and monitors and a small portable editing deck. The play-within-a-play takes the form of a home-made film. (The players are gone entirely.) Hamlet's melancholy airs fir perfectly into the generation-why mould of an idle teenager in the late nineties. His many soliloquies are split between voice-overs of his inner monologue and video diaries.
Ophelia, for her part, is a photographer in this version. The flowers she presents to her brother during her final speech are polaroid pictures. When she is sent by her father and Hamlet's uncle the new king to spy on Hamlet they listen on on a concealed wire. It is during these two scenes that I am most moved by this production. Julia Stiles is an exceptional actress, and her Ophelia is almost painful to watch in her desperation as Hamlet, in his obsession, first denies his love for her and then accidentally kills her father. Really hers is the most tragic story in the entire tale of Hamlet – an innocent who is used and discarded – who looses everything she holds dear.
The modern day setting of the story works pretty well for the most part. The substitution of faxes for messengers, computer documents for missives, planes for ships all do not feel inappropriate. There is a very odd couple scenes that take place in a Blockbuster store which feel particularly strange to me, since I worked in a store that looked just like that (beck before DVDs replaced all the tapes on the shelves. Only for the climactic scene does it seem a little odd that Laertes and Hamlet choose to duel using foils. (The first time I watched this I wondered through the entire film how they were going to make this scene work since they had replaced swords throughout with guns. They do modernise it somewhat using electric fencing gear and dispensing with the poison-tipped sword, but the duel itself seems an anachronism in the world of the movie.
As is often the case with high profile Shakespearean adaptations there's a fantastic cast gathered together here. Bill Murray in the role of Polonius does what I think is the best job of taking the Shakespearean dialog and making it feel understandable and natural in the mouth of a modern character. There are all kinds of familiar faces throughout the production from Kyle MacLachlan as Claudius to Liev Schreiber as Laertes and even brief appearances by Tim Blake Nelson and Paul Bartel. My favorite moment in the entire film is the epilogue, delivered by Robert MacNeil (familiar to any fan of PBS news in the eighties and nineties) as a news report.
I do admit that Hamlet is not my favorite play of all time. I'm just not a fan of tragedy in general, and there is so much angst and pain in this script. I do enjoy seeing different interpretations of the same work though. I like seeing how a new cast and director can breathe new life into a familiar subject. This is a great example of that, and it makes me want to see other versions as well. I don't think we're likely to get the Mel Gibson one, but I'd very much like to get the Laurence Olivier some day. For now we're done with Hamlet though. More's the pity.
September 5, 2011 Posted by tanatoes | daily reviews	| nineties, period, review, Shakespeare, tragedy | Leave a comment


Our friends, the Westerleigh Improvement Society, hosted their annual Christmas Party at the Immanuel Union Church. Council Member Steve Matteo was in attendance, who is a fellow Westerleigh residence.
As most of you may know, the Westerleigh Improvement Society aims to address concerns in the community and preserve the beauty of Westerleigh through ongoing projects. Some of their successful projects this year consist of: a street survey regarding "street pavement conditions, street signs and painted lineage," "land use" and rezoning the houses in the community for single-family homes as R2.
A best decorated Christmas tree contest added to a night full of good-spirited fun. Games, raffles and music entertainment followed.
Westerleigh Improvement Society posted a few photos on wisonline.org.


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No end to the banana
Open PDF of the exhibit
No end to the banana is a travelling exhibit that looks at the diversity of bananas, and at who uses them and for what. It also shows how research can help use this diversity to increase options for both small-scale farmers in the developing world and consumers in industrialized countries. The exhibit concludes by challenging people to reflect on the type of banana they are eating and the one they could ea1 t.
The exhibit was produced by Bioversity International, in collaboration with partners, and was inaugurated in Leuven, Belgium, as part of the celebrations surrounding the 20th anniversary of INIBAP. Between 2005 and 2010, it was showcased in a number of botanical gardens in Europe, the US and Canada. A French version was produced in 2007. In 2006, No end to the banana won the award for best exhibit given by the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences.
Overview of the exhibit
The world's favourite fruit
Why so many bananas?
What kind of future for the banana?
All over the tropics, people grow a feast of bananas that the rest of the world never sees! There is more to the banana than the Cavendish banana plucked from obscurity in the 1950s to become the industry standard. Although the export banana is grown in large monocultures and appears in supermarkets all around the world, it accounts for one in eight… or 13% of the some 100 million tonnes of bananas produced each year.
A herb disguised as a tree
Bananas do not grow on trees. The banana plant is a herb. What looks like a trunk is actually a false stem, a pseudostem, made from the overlaying of leaf sheaths.
A care-free crop
Bananas are popular with farmers because they are easy to grow and do not need to be replanted each season. They are the backbone of food and income security. India, the world's largest producer, grows as many bananas annually as the rest of the world produces for export.
A fundamental food
Because bananas are always in season, they provide a continuous source of food between other crop harvests.
The growers
The majority of bananas are grown in home gardens or farms of one hectare or less. Caring for the subsistence crop is often the responsibility of women while men attend to the cash crop.
A source of well-being
Bananas are packed with energy and they are one of the best-known sources of potassium, a mineral essential for the proper functioning of the heart and other muscles. Yellow- and orange-fleshed bananas are also good sources of precursors of vitamin A, a micronutrient vital for good health.
A versatile fruit
The banana is widely known as a sweet fruit to be eaten raw, but many varieties are fried, roasted, juiced, dried or chipped to make healthy and affordable snacks and street foods.
An all-purpose plant
Products made from the different parts of the plant are also a much needed source of income. Banana fibre extracted from the stem appears in paper, bank notes, ropes, clothes, wall hangings, baskets and hundreds of artistic endeavours. Banana leaves are also used to wrap anything and everything, but especially food.
A revered plant
The many uses of banana have been celebrated by people since ancient times. In India, the Hindus worship the banana plant during certain times of the year and use it to decorate shrines.
Scientists believe that bananas were among the first plants to be domesticated some 10,000 years ago, giving farmers plenty of time to work with nature and come up with more than 1000 varieties.
Although some 30 species of wild Musa have been identified from the Pacific to India, the majority of today's bananas are related to either Musa acuminata or Musa balbisiana or both.
The big bang of domestication
Domestication diverted the original function of the banana, which is to deliver seeds. Once in a while, fruits with more flesh than seeds appeared by natural mutation and were nurtured by farmers.
The age of diversity
When acuminata and balbisiana bananas crossed paths, carried by migrating peoples, all sorts of edible varieties were produced. Even though the new varieties were sterile, they continued to change through mutations. By propagating their favorite mutants, farmers created bananas to suit all sorts of tastes and uses.
The birthplace of domesticated bananas?
Domesticated banana plants produce microscopic stones, phytoliths, which are used by archaeologists to look for the places where bananas were domesticated. The oldest remains, estimated to be 7000 years old, have been found in the highlands of Papua New Guinea.
Conserving diversity
The largest collection of bananas in the world is located in Belgium, at the Catholic University of Leuven. Since cultivated bananas do not produce seeds, they are kept as plantlets in test tubes, fed a special diet and maintained under low light and low temperature to slow down their growth.
Preserving identity
Although bananas are among the easiest plants to propagate vegetatively they need to be checked regularly as spontaneous mutations do occasionally occur. Deep-freezing the plantlets avoids the need for culturing them. Scientists have managed to freeze banana plantlets and bring them back unharmed.
Understanding diversity
The natural talents of some banana plants to resist diseases or thrive in marginal environments are increasingly in demand. The traditional way to pick winning varieties is to see which ones perform best under a given set of conditions. A quicker way is to look for strings of DNA that are present only in the plants that have the desired traits.
Reading the genome
To unlock the diversity lurking in wild bananas, a group of scientists was brought together under the umbrella of the Global Musa Genomics Consortium to share the task of sequencing the banana genome of Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana and uncovering the function of their genes.
Almost everywhere, the quantities of bananas harvested are falling short of their potential, in great part because of pests and diseases. While large commercial plantations can pass on the cost of protecting the crop to their customers, the livelihoods of small-scale farmers buckle under the strain of declining production, driving some to give up on the more disease-prone varieties and others to give up growing bananas altogether. The diversity of bananas is also threatened by the pressure to grow marketable varieties and the popularity of imported foods.
The banana's number one enemy
The main threat to bananas worldwide is a fungus that causes black leaf streak disease, commonly known as black Sigatoka. Left unchecked, the disease can reduce harvests by half or more. By attacking the leaves, the fungus disrupts the process of photosynthesis that feeds the growing bunch.
The revenge of the fungus
Fusarium wilt, commonly known as Panama disease, is an essentially untreatable disease that wiped out the plantations of Gros Michel export banana and led to its replacement by resistant Cavendish bananas. A new form of the soil-dwelling fungus capable of attacking Cavendish bananas has since appeared in Asia.
The hidden perils
The banana plant is eaten from within by all sorts of small organisms invisible to the eye. Microscopic worms, called nematodes, attack the roots of the banana plant. Viruses and bacteria can also cause devastating diseases.
The future is already in nature
Many of the solutions to the banana's pest and disease problems can be found among things farmers used to do, such as growing a diversity of crops and cultivars and using compost or manure as fertilizer.
Hungry for improvement
Seedlessness made the banana palatable but difficult to breed. Breeders take advantage of the residual fertility of some cultivars and cross them with wild species that have a sought-after character, such as disease resistance.
A breeding breakthrough
The first centre to succeed in producing banana hybrids was the Fundación Hondureña de Investigación Agrícola in Honduras. Banana breeding progammes have since been started in Nigeria, Brazil, Cameroon, India, Uganda and France, but you can still count all the banana breeders in the world on the fingers of two hands.
Tailor-made bananas
Genetic modification offers the possibility of injecting one or several useful genes into a plant without changing its existing characteristics. Since bananas do not produce pollen, they cannot donate the introduced genes to other plants.
Farmers used to grow a diversity of bananas to satisfy their different needs, uses and tastes. This environmentally-friendly tradition can be hard to sustain as the pressure on farmers to grow marketable varieties increases.
No end to the banana was displayed in various locations in Europe, the US and Canada. In 2007, a French version was showcased at the Agropolis Museum in Montpellier, France. Both copies are currently at the Bioversity International office in Montpellier. The Belgian university KULeuven also has an English copy.
Central Library, KULeuven, Leuven, Belgium
Campus Library, KULeuven, Heverlee, Belgium
Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, UK
Eden Project, Boldeva, Cornwall, UK
National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Ireland
World Bank, Washington DC, USA
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Coral Gables, Florida, USA
USDA National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, Maryland, USA
Botanic Garden of Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, USA
Cleveland Botanical Garden, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
World Forestry Center's Discovery Museum, Portland, Oregon, USA
Lyon Arboretum, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Hawaii, USA
Royal Botanical Gardens, Burlington, Canada
Naugatuck Valley Community College, Waterbury, Connecticut
PDF of the text of the exhibit in French and English
Page last modified on Thursday, 20 February 2020 11:44:37 CET by System Administrator.
The original document is available at https://www.promusa.org/No+end+to+the+banana


Another big cold front is nigh, and you've most likely already suited up with a warm parka, and a beat-the-chill boot)—but what about protecting one of the most important, oft-forgotten-extremities on your pretty little head? We're talking about your ears, of course. This winter, channel the après-ski chic and snow bunny charm with these eight toasty and stylish earmuffs to keep you looking cool—but feeling warm—all winter long.


My teaser this week comes from the book: Virgin Widow by Anne O'Brien.
"On my words the door opened. We looked up expecting the return of Isabel and another sour blast of her temper. But it was the Earl who entered in time to hear my unhopeful question."
" 'You succeeded. I thought you were my friend.' He spoke to me as a brother to a younger sister. But still it pleased me. I was rarely admitted to such intimacy."


text:
Waters' Q2 Revenue Drops 9 Percent Atop Smaller Decline in Instrument Sales
This story originally ran on July 28.
By Tony Fong
Waters' instruments sales were down 8 percent, but its Acquity UPLC system continued to gain traction in the market, and its recently launched Synapt G2 is receiving as strong a reception as any instrument launched by the company in recent years, it said Tuesday as it released its second quarter earnings results.
For the three months ended July 4, the firm said total receipts slipped 9 percent to $363 million from $399 million. Currency exchange contributed 5 percentage points to the drop, Waters said.
For the period, profits contracted 16 percent to $70 million from $83 million a year ago.
While the demand for instruments receded year over year, the decline was more moderate than in the first quarter, which marked a 16 percent drop. The decline in the second quarter prompted company officials to say guardedly that the instrument business may be on the rebound.
In the conference call accompanying the earnings release, Douglas Berthiaume, chairman and CEO of Waters, attributed the decline in instrument sales to "weak demand" from its industrial chemical accounts, which the firm believes is related to the global recession. Also blamed was shrinking demand in certain geographies, most notably India and Latin America, due to economic factors and the effects of local currencies.
But within the instruments business, there was some good news, particularly among its high-end instruments, which Berthiaume said experienced stronger demand than "routine analysis instruments," which are often purchased to replace older systems.
"Customer interest was strongest for research mass spectrometry and Acquity UPLC instruments," he said.
During the second quarter, Waters introduced the second generation of its flagship Synapt HDMS system, the Synapt GS, at the American Society for Mass Spectrometry conference in June [see PM 06/04/09] and has since received "several" orders for the instrument, with orders in the current quarter "accelerating," Berthiaume said.
"I'd say the customer response has been as strong as any instrument we've introduced in the last five years," Berthiaume said.
The system won't be shipping until the fourth quarter. That will result in lower sales for high-end mass specs in the third quarter, he said, but Waters' outlook for that business for the entire second half of 2009 is more optimistic than prior to the launch of the Synapt G2.
And depending on the firm's ability to manufacture and ship the platform, the instrument could be "a defining factor" if fourth-quarter financial results exceed the company's current internal forecast, he added.
Additionally, officials said sales of the Xevo TQ tandem quadrupole, introduced at last year's ASMS, and the Xevo Q-TOF, launched in January, were "strong" in the quarter, though the company did not provide figures.
On the Synapt, the company said that it was continuing to make headway into the liquid chromatography space, especially among its largest pharma clients. Last year, the firm said a large unnamed European pharma had replaced its old LC instruments with the Synapt. This week, Berthiaume said an unnamed "very large" US drug firm had similarly switched to the Synapt.
"So even in a time of tough instrument placements, we're seeing Acquity continue to grow year over year, and that's largely a pharma dynamic," Berthiaume said, adding that in addition to R&D applications, the platform is now being adopted for QC work.
Shipments of the instrument grew in the second quarter and "were positively impacted by broader adoption of the technology by large drug companies, a trend that we believe will continue throughout the second half of this year," he said.
[ pagebreak ]
In addition, sales of Acquity columns, which are specifically designed for that instrument, "suggest a continued near-complete column utilization rate to the installed based of Acquity systems," and rose double-digits in the quarter.
In a recent report, Isaac Ro of Leerink Swann noted Acquity's dominance of the UHPLC market saying it has a "considerable leadership position, a large installed base, and a wide menu of proprietary columns."
According to Ro, the Acquity business, both instruments and consumables, drives about 40 percent of Waters' total business [See PM 06/25/09].
For full-year 2009, Waters instrument sales are still anticipated to soften compared to a year ago, with sales projected to be down mid- to high-single digits, Waters CFO John Ornell said during the conference call.
Meanwhile, recurring revenues, which comprises Waters' consumables and services businesses, grew 2 percent year over year during the quarter, and for full-2009 that business is anticipated to grow in the mid-single digits.
The company also expressed relative optimism over its pharma business. The overall sector was down "slightly" in the quarter and business with contract research organizations, and generic drug firms remained soft. Sales to the top-15 pharma customers, though, were up in the second quarter "and showed some acceleration from the growth we witnessed in the first quarter," Berthiaume said.
Ornell added that Waters' top 15 pharma accounts had stabilized and their interest in the Acquity and the new mass specs "will allow us to see growth in that segment of our business."
For full-year 2009, its pharma business is expected to contract low-single digits, he added, while total sales are projected to decline between 5 to 7 percent with foreign currency contributing 3 percentage points to the decline.
Projecting ahead, Berthiaume said that he believes the brunt of the economic slowdown — and in particular, its impact on Waters' instrument sales — has passed. The past three quarters has seen "fairly stable" spending from pharma, and in 2010, the full effect of research dollars from the economic stimulus bill should hit.
"Despite current challenges, I feel we're close to seeing an improvement in our business," he said. "In the second half of this year, the combination of our new mass-spec platform, continued penetration of the LC market with Acquity UPLC, and reaching the anniversary of last year's economic slowdown give me confidence in a stronger finish to 2009."
Sliding in the US
During the quarter, the biggest drop-off year over year was in the US where revenues slowed 6 percent before the effects of foreign exchange, while sales in Europe were 4 percent lower, Ornell said.
Japan was up 5 percent while Asia outside of Japan was up 1 percent.
R&D spending decreased by 11 percent year over year as a result of currency effects, but Berthiaume said that the pipeline remains active. "We plan significant new product launches in the coming quarters," he said.
SG&A spending also shrunk, by 8 percent compared to a year ago, due to currency effects and cost-cutting measures taken by the firm.
Waters said it had nearly $506 million in cash and cash equivalents as of July 4.
ABRF
New 3D Spatial Proteomics Workflow Promises an Earlier Look at Disease Development
JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, Day 4: Singular Genomics, Quantum-Si, Quanterix


Sisters Network Inc is committed to increasing local and national attention to the devastating impact that breast cancer has in the African American community.
Carin' And Sharin' provides education, support, and an outlet for socialization to women in the inner city of Memphis, Tennessee and the surrounding areas who are living with breast cancer through caring and sharing.
S.T.A.A.R.S. stands for Surviving Thriving African Americans Rallying Support. The mission of S.T.A.A.R.S. is to educate, encourage, and empower breast cancer survivors and co-survivors and to be visible and vocal in the fight against breast cancer.


text:
Q: Catching a custom javascript exception with window.onerror - in IE I have a custom exception class which I'm using for a particular situation.  It could be thrown from anywhere so try/catch isn't really practical.
throw new CustomException;

I want to catch this error in window.onerror and filter it out, which works fine in most browsers I've tested so far.
var window_onerror = window.onerror || function() {return false;};
window.onerror = function(message, url, line)  {
  if (message.match(CustomException.prototype.name)) {
    return true;
  } else {
    return window_onerror(message, url, line);
  }
};

However, in IE the window.onerror function receives Exception thrown and not caught instead of my custom exception.

A: We have a universal Exception handler which we use on Exceptioneer.com however each browser behaves differently and reports the same exceptions in different ways.
Also, different localised versions of browser act in different ways, for example, I've seen Javascript errors in Russian from some of our users - not the easiest thing in the world to parse.
This script will let you see how different browsers act to errors: -
window.onerror = function(message, uri, line) {
    var fullMessage = location.href + '\n' + uri + '\n' + line;
    alert(fullMessage);
    return false;
}

Thanks,
Phil.

A: Declare a global variable and some enumerations..
var errorCode;
const ErrCustomException = 1, ... ;

Put a line before your throw exception..
errorCode = ErrCustomException;
throw new CustomException;

Change the condition to this..
window.onerror = function(message, url, line)  {
  if (errorCode == ErrCustomException) {
    return true;
  } else {
    return window_onerror(message, url, line);
  }
};

A: I don't know of any way to retrieve the thrown object within the onerror handler. As a workaround, I suggest throwing a generic runtime error with a custom message, ie
throw new Error('foo')

and check
message === 'foo'

inside the handler function.
edit: working example code:
window.onerror = function(message, url, line)  {
    alert(message === 'foo');
    return true;
};

throw new Error('foo');


text:
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Portugal to Make Significant Increases in Art Spending
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Home/Europe/France/French Start-Up Businesses Gain Global Recognition
EconomyEntrepreneurshipEuropeFrance
French Start-Up Businesses Gain Global Recognition
An ideal mix of private and public investments has created a breeding ground for new companies across France, turning several into internationally known names
Lalela Chryssanthopoulou February 27, 2018
OECD figures show that France has the highest number of start-ups per year in relation to its population size. In 2017 the country raised more venture capital than both the UK and Germany. Copyright: xstock/Shutterstock.com
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"I want to turn France into a start-up nation". This is a phrase attributed to French President Emmanuel Macron, who allegedly reminds his interlocutors often that entrepreneurship is a French word that was borrowed by the English-speaking world.
In 2017, the first year of Mr. Macron's presidential term, France's economy posted its highest growth rates in a decade (1.9%, an increase from 1.1% in 2016). One of the main engines of growth was the increase in investments that totalled 3.7% year-on-year. The current conditions are ripe for the Macron administration to place innovative entrepreneurship at the heart of its new economic model for France. The government has already launched important initiatives such as the French "Tech Visa" and the creation of a 10 billion euro fund to foster technology innovation, both of which are drawing the top French scientists back to their native country from Silicon Valley, London, and elsewhere.
Apart from the so-called "Macron pull", there is also the push from US President Donald Trump on America's foreigners, as well as the cloud of uncertainty hanging over the UK following the Brexit vote. Whatever the reasons, the statistics speak for themselves: OECD figures show that France has the highest number of start-ups per year in relation to its population size. Last year, it raised more venture capital than both the UK and Germany according to Dealroom, a European venture capital database.
In 2016, public investment bank BPI France financed 80,000 French companies with 24 billion euros through a variety of loans, guarantees, and venture capital financing. The bank first opened in 2012 and was the brainchild of President Macron, who at the time was the top economic advisor of French President Francois Hollande. BPI bank supports several French start-ups that have become success stories internationally such as BlaBlaCar, a ride-sharing service and one of the few French "unicorns" (i.e., startups worth more than a billion dollars).
Internationally known French start-up BlaBlaCar is present in 21 countries, most of which are in Europe. The company connects drivers and passengers for long-distance drives. As of February 2018 it has over 45 million users and is valued at $1.6 billion. Copyright: M-SUR/Shutterstock.com
If BPI France is financing innovation, it would be fair to say that KissKissBankBank is introducing innovation in finance. The French start-up, created in 2007 by Adrien Aumont, has evolved over the last ten years into one of the biggest crowdfunding and crowd-lending companies in the world. The company has financed more than 29,000 projects with an aggregate value of 91 million euros spread across three platforms.
Another prime example of France's innovation drive is Station F, touted as the world's largest incubator for new companies. The start-up facility is located in a former rail freight depot in Paris, previously known as la Halle Freyssinet (hence the "F" in Station F). The 34,000-m2 facility was formally opened by President Macron in June 2017 and provides office accommodation for up to 1,000 start-up and early stage businesses as well as corporate partners such as Facebook and Microsoft. Just a few months after its formal opening, Station F was already fully booked by around 3,000 young entrepreneurs from 1,000 startups in more than 50 countries.
The incubator's owner is the prominent French businessman Xavier Niel, who has invested 250 million euros into the project. Mr. Niel (who aims to change the country's image as a place known mainly for its museums, cuisine, and luxury items) is also the creator and main supporter of Ecole 42, a revolutionary nonprofit and tuition-free school for computer programmers. The school, which is open 24/7, does not have any professors nor does issue any diploma or degree. It's name comes from a reference to the classic science fiction book The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, in which the number 42 is the "answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything." As of now, more than 10,000 "digital talents" have graduated from Ecole 42, the majority of which have either been hired by technology companies or go on to create their own start-ups, thus feeding the virtuous circle of employment and innovative entrepreneurship in France.
BlaBlaCar Ecole 42 Economy Emmanuel Macron Entrepreneurship Europe France KissKissBankBank President Macron Station F UK
Lalela Chryssanthopoulou
Lalela is a financial news journalist, based in Athens, with a degree in Law from the University of Athens. Having written for numerous Greek print and electronic media, she has also worked as a fixer for international news outlets, following a short stint at the Greek Service of the BBC in London. She is currently the international financial news editor of "Ethnos" newspaper.
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Christmas is almost here and if you haven't decided what to get for your Secret Santa present, then Greggs, may have the answer.
You can now send a friend a hot sausage roll, a doughnut or a festive bake, through Facebook Messenger.
This will definitely be a welcome gift as the weather gets colder, reports Manchester Evening News.
Most importantly, however, is that the new festive bake is included as well as the Christmas addition, Pigs Under Blankets Baguette.
Then search for the 'GreggsGiftingBot' or click here, which will launch the service in messenger.
Once opened, you just need to hit the "Gift a Greggs" button, pick the item you want to gift and pay - and voilà.
Now what could be better?
Fancy a chippy? Where was your favourite fish and chip shop?


This year's tout did not start with a stage one but with a prologue: travelling by train to north-eastern Italy. I had a connection in Milano, but they did not let me take the bicycle into the next train (in spite of the fact that nothing of this sort was indicated on the internet site of the italian railways, as i had checked in advance). I had to wait an hour and change once more. After a ten-hour journey, i finally arrived in Sacile, from where i rode to Aviano. In other words, day zero counted only about 30 km, but i was tired enough as i arrived.
The real tour start was on saturday morning. I followed first the foot of the mountains to Meduno. From there, i went into the Tramonti valley. The climb was first a bit irregular but gentle. After the lake, it became more serious, with the narrow road making many hairpin curves in the forest. In the shade, these were ideal conditions for climbing to the Monte Rest pass. On the other side, however, the road was relatively bad and more attention than speed was required. After crossing the Tagliamento river, the road climbed again a bit to reach the Forcella di Priuso. On the ride over these first two passes, there was barely any traffic. This changed for the few kilometres that i had to ride on the main road bound to Tolmezzo, but i soon turned right and was again almost alone. The first half to the Chiampón pass was gentle, but then there was a sign indicating a 20% slope. My slope-meter actually never showed so much, but nevertheless about 15% for more than 1 km. This was quite challenging since, at the same time, i was digesting a good sandwich eaten in Socchieve.
After a short and gentle descent, i joined a somewhat bigger road, on which i climbed towards the Chianzután pass. Fortunately, this one was not so steep. After an easy climb, there was an easy descent. Approaching Tolmezzo, i turned right, towards Gemona and then Tarcento. The roads went always again up and down, which was slowly but surely eating away my energy. Then, from Tarcento, it was all uphill as i climbed into the Torre valley. It was not very steep, but my right knee was aching a bit. I stopped short before reaching the Tanamea pass, where there was an attractive hotel. In the lobby, the television was on and i could just see the arrival of the stage of the tour de France. It was not much different compared to one of my stages in terms of distance and climbing... but another world in terms of speed!
Since i was almost at the Tanamea pass, i reached it soon after hitting the road again. However, my knee was aching and i began to wonder how far i could ride like this. I had to use low gears and try further. In the descent, just before reaching the border town of Uccea, i turned left to climb towards the Sella Carnizza. The road was narrow, but not too narrow since i was absolutely alone there on this sunday morning. The climb would have been very nice if i could have forgotten my knee. At the pass, there were a few houses, obviously for vacations. Then came a steep and bumpy descent down to Resia. After the knee, the wrists suffered! Between Resia and Resuitta, there was much less slope. Arriving in the Ferro valley, i turned right on the main road. Thanks to the parallel highway, the traffic was not too heavy. Then i entered the Roccolana valley. The climb was first very gentle but my knee was still aching. Then it became very steep... and my knee was getting better. With the road signs, it was the contrary as the day before: 16% were announced, but my slope-meter showed 20%. I stopped short before the Sella Nevea for a sandwich and a soft drink, then continued to the Predil lake. After the lake, i followed the signs indicating Slovenia, which led me over the Predil pass. The climb was quite steep but short. The descent was much longer and very nice, only interrupted by a few stops to take pictures of the beautiful mountain landscape. Towards Bovec, i had some head wind. Logically, this became a slight tail wind as i turned left into the valley leading to Trenta. Up to this town, the slope was very gentle. Afterwards, however, there were many hairpin curves up to the Vršič pass. The curves were numbered, beginning with 50. Fortunately, i knew that both sides are counted in this number, with 25 curves each. For the south side, it may be useful to note two of them: there is a fountain at curve 38 and the steepest part is just before curve 27, that is close to the pass. Because it was hot and there was not much shade even in the forest, i had to drink about 3 liters only for this climb. I took my time and reached the pass without any problem. In the descent to Kranjska Gora, the curves were covered with cobblestones. Then, for the short stretch on the main road, i had a good tail wind. I stopped in Podkoren to have a lemonade at a restaurant. There was a group of austrian tourists there on the terrace. They were very interested in my tour and payed my lemonade in return of my bicycle stories. Then i went over the last pass of the day, the Wurzen pass, on the border to Austria. The climb was short and the descent extremely irregular, with very steep parts. As i was reaching the first town on the austrian side, i had no problem to find a small guest house with a free room.
Following the idea of the guest house owner, i rode first across the Gail valley to a place called Oberschütt and, from there, took a small forest road on the left side of the river. This way was actually forbidden and had a barrier across, but i could easily ride around it. It was not entirely macadam, but good gravel, well rideable with a race bicycle. From Nötch, it began to climb to the Windische Höhe. The slope was very irregular, with places around 20%. As i reached the pass, it was already hot and i made the first of many lemonade stops. After a descent, the road went up again, to Kreuzen, then down to Paternion in the Drau valley. I crossed this valley to climb on the other side towards Glanz. From there, i could see the lake of Millstatt. The descent led me to its eastern end at Döbriach. From there to Radenthein, the road went only slightly uphill and, with some tailwind, the ride was easy. Then things changed: to Bad Kleinkirchheim, the road was climbing again and it was really hot. After another descent and another flat stretch, i reached Ebene Reichenau. From there, i took the Nockalm road, which is a toll road running through a national park. Accordingly, the road was good and not too frequented and the landscape was beautiful. This was certainly a moral help, but the physical challenge remained: a 1000-meter climb followed by a 500-meter one. The Nockalm road runs indeed over two passes, first the Schiestelscharte, then the Eisentalhöhe, which are the most eastern road passes of the Alps over 2000 m altitude. Like the previous day, it was necessary to drink a lot, which i did on each of these two passes, with the further rewards of the beautiful views from there, and of nice descents. Arriving finally in Innerkrems, i climbed towards Schönfeld. There, again, i found a room at the first place i was asking for one. Again very calm and quite cheap.
I had only a few pedal strokes to reach the first pass of the day, Schönfeldsattel. The descent from there to the north was very nice except that i had a flat tire ('snake bite') at Bundschuh. After changing the tube, i could continue towards the Lungau valley. On the opposite slope, i took the gentle climb towards Neusess, which was followed by a flat road to Mauterndorf. The weather was still nice but not yet too hot and so i climbed easily towards the Radstädter Tauernpass. The slope was (again) a bit irregular, but still quite easy. Around the pass, there is the station of Obertauern, with many hotels and ski lifts. The place is expansive, at least according to the soft drink i took there, the most expansive of the whole tour. The road was very good and the descent fast. Arriving at Radstadt, i went to the west, which would be my general direction for the remaining of the stage. From the Enns valley, i had a very gentle climb up to the Wagrainer Höhe, then a descent down to St. Johann. From there, the road went slightly uphill in the Pongau, then Pinzau valley, all as a main road, but partly with bike lanes, bike paths or small parallel roads, sometimes well indicated, sometimes poorly or not at all. The valley was narrow in its lower part (V-shaped), then it became broad (glacial U-shape). My chance was to take advantage of a good, steady tailwind. Due to the heat, i had to make many drink stops, but between them i came quite fast along. This led me all the way to Mittersill, where i turned towards the Thurn pass. I finished this stage by stopping at a hotel not far from the pass.
The last stage was a short one, the goal being just to catch a train home. Fortunately, this could be a direct connection to Zurich. I made the reservation (which is necessary for the bicycle) the evening before. There was already no place any more available in the noon train from Wörgl, so i had to take the next one, two hours later. This left me plenty of time for this last half-stage.
I had first to climb the remaining distance to the Thurn pass. No big deal. The descent towards Kitzbühel was very easy: except in two hairpin curves, it was not necessary to touch the brakes. In Kitzbühel, i turned left on the main road to Wörgl. There was much traffic, which did not make the ride enjoyable, especially not in the tunnel just at the beginning of the climb from Kitzbühel to Kirchberg. In Kirchberg, i could leave the main road and ride through the town rather then through another tunnel. Further down, after Hopfgarten, bicycles are not allowed on the main road. There was first no indication of any alternate way, but i discovered it soon: a small road on the left side of the valley towards Wörgl. I arrived early enough there to take my ticket, write my report of the stage, eat, drink, read newspapers and finally board the train.
This was the end of yet another tour in the Alps, not a very long one but i had to be back the next day. It had not been easy to find a period of nice weather in this poor summer 2007, but finally i had been lucky with these few days in the eastern part of the Alps.


Spectacular October weather here in San Francisco. Yesterday, Saturday the 30th, Med-o and I went for a late afternoon walk in search of a coffee. Up Cole Valley we strolled, and came upon a very odd sight: at Carl and Cole, clusters of campaigners for District 5 Supervisorial candidates jammed all four corners, clamoring for attention. As we drew closer, we learned that Ross Mirkarimi was there, as was Lisa Feldstein, and the big draw was Mayor Gavin Newsom hisself… we wandered into it with no particular idea of why or what we'd see… It was just a sunny moment of "real" democracy. Wasn't it? Newsom was there to give a boost among the presumably "moderate" (i.e. rich) voters in Cole Valley for his guys, Andrew Sullivan and Nick Waugh (never heard of Waugh until yesterday).
We ran into Dr. Ahimsa Sumchai, with whom we'd just been on Thursday night at the opening night of The Political Edge at City Lights (we're all three in it, I edited it). She's ardently campaigning for Ross M., and she introduced us. I'd never met him before, and he was a bit wary as I launched into my usual disdain for electoral politics. But I told him about the awesome Critical Mass and he was congratulatory and enthused about that, as he was about the book, too, sight unseen. I warned him that some of it would probably piss him off, since he was the campaign spokesperson for Gonzalez after all. Anyhow, after chatting with Jason Henderson for a bit (he was out there for Lisa Feldstein because, as he explained, she was a calm and clear-headed planner who has no difficulty dealing with issues like LOS–level of service–which seemed reasonable enough, if a bit passionless!), we headed back to get a coffee and weirdly, the entourage with Newsom, which had been going from shop to shop, shaking hands, happened to have entered the cafe just minutes before we got there. We sat on a bench next to a pleasant dark-haired Goth-ish woman, who complained in our direction that all she wanted was a cup of coffee, and this circus had blocked her. The Waugh and Sullivan sign bearers were mostly young-ish, rather scruffier than I would have expected, and I got no sense of why they were there, other than the celebrity factor of Newsom's presence. Maybe they were getting paid? So finally Newsom and the two candidates emerged from the cafe, and weirdly, started working their way towards us. Normally I would have gotten the hell out of there, but I had already decided I should do something vaguely useful with this serendipitous moment. My pals cleared out, but I stayed on the bench, wondering if they would actually approach me. Suddenly here's Gavin looking over at me with a flash of vague familiarity. I appreciated his humanness at that moment in a way that I really didn't expect to. He seemed kind of vulnerable and not at all robot-like. But I had my plan. He came to me smiling, and as I shook his hand, I looked right at him and said "So, a 2-year deal for Local 2, right?" He was really surprised, and I held his hand a bit longer than expected. He was blindsided, but Sullivan rushed to help him, as they both blurted something like "it has to be negotiated… yeah, that's right, there has to be negotiations…" I guess that was their pre-arranged talking point on the Hotel Lockout. I insisted on the 2-year deal, and Newsom actually started to say he thought they'd have to go for a 3 year deal, "give the other cities a chance to 'catch up'" and that's when my previous conversations with Med-o and Jason and Ross and Ahimsa was clearly confirmed. Newsom is only grandstanding with the workers so as to get them back to work for the holidays, and also to gain the credibility to force their negotiators to agree to a deal that will undercut their future leverage. Newsom and his guys then withdrew as quickly as they could, repeating part 2 of their talking point for the issue, which was that you can't hold a gun to people's heads and expect to negotiate, so the hotels should end the lockout. We'll see how long that lasts.
Meanwhile, the breathless GOTV exhortations of the Democratic/Indy bloggers like Daily Kos or My DD and their never-ending updates of polls, reports of fraud and scams, etc., have been more fun than the sports pages lately… at least since the Red Sox won. If their hard work is accurate, Kerry should win pretty easily. Gore was behind in 2000 going into the election and won the popular vote by a good margin. Kerry tied in the polls, the incumbent factor, all that, it should break for him easily, and he wins the popular vote by millions (especially when all the Eminem fans go to vote! just joking) and the electoral college with over 300… we'll see. It'll all go to the courts anyway, regardless.


To order a lever harp, a $2,000 non-refundable down payment places your harp on our production schedule. The deposit required for the Starlight pedal harp is $4,000, and to place your order for an Air Serenity lap harp we require $500 down. Once the order is placed, we'll send you a receipt and an order confirmation with all the details of your new harp, including the projected start and completion (ship) date timeframes.* Full and final payment will be due prior to creating your harp. Both payments can be made by your choice of check, money order or MasterCard, VISA, Discover or American Express. We'll also contact you a few days before your harp is ready to send out to go over the final shipping details, etc.
We have financing available with Allegro Credit, so you don't have to wait while you save up, but can order now! Call or email for the details.
If you know that you would like a harp, but are still unsure about the details such as size, color, decoration, etc., you can place your order reserving your space, and work out the details with us in the interim.
*Completion Timeframe Disclaimer: All of our harps are individually handcrafted out of pre-impregnated carbon fiber weave. It is impossible to achieve 'perfection' with hand-laid carbon fiber, so there may be minor variations in "A" Surface aesthetics. These minor weave variations do not equate to the product being defective. However, if there are variations outside of our acceptable tolerances, additional processes or possible complete rebuild may be required. Therefore, due to the nature of the materials used and processes required, we cannot guarantee a specific completion (and subsequent shipment) date.
All Heartland harps are shipped via FedEx Freight, delivered right to your door. Every harp is fully insured and arrives in a box made specifically for each instrument. So you can be sure that your pride and joy will arrive in good shape, needing only some minor tuning to bring it to life!
We do ship all over the world, as well. We use FedEx for all our international shipping, as well, and in most countries, they'll take care of dealing with customs and will pay all duties and tariffs, if you authorize them and provide a credit card. This way, they can then deliver your harp right to your door, wherever you are in the world.
If, for any reason, you're not satisfied with your harp, you can return it within 30 days of receipt for a full refund, less shipping costs.


Mr Robert Temple is recognised as a professional service provider by all major private health insurance companies including BUPA, BUPA International, Beneden, AXA PPP, Exeter Family Friendly, Aviva, BCWA, CIGNA, Clinicare, Health-on-line, Medisure, PruHealth, Royal & Sun Alliance, Simply Health, Standard Life, Vitality and WPA and his consultation fees are within standard guidelines accepted by these insurers. He has direct billing and payment facilities set up with most of these insurers.
Audiometry, Tympanometry, Nasendoscopy, Laryngo-pharyngoscopy, Ear Microsuction, Allergy Skin Tests.
Please note that Nuffield Health Chester,l makes separate charges for the use of their equipment and the cleaning of the endoscopes used in the procedures above. You will receive an individual invoice directly from the Nuffield Hospital for these items.
A signed insurance claim form, or confirmation of pre-authorisation, is essential for direct settlement. If you did not hand in the form at consultation, please send it to Pamela Lawrence (Mr R Temple's private secretary) at Nuffield Health Chester, The Grosvenor Hospital, Wrexham Road, Chester, CH4 7QP without delay.
Please note that any insurance company excesses or shortfalls must be settled directly with Mr Temple's private secretary, Pamela Lawrence. We are not able to claim these amounts from the Nuffield Hospital swipe of you credit or debit card. Card payments for shortfall settlements can be made by phoning the finance department at Nuffield Health on 01244 680444.
For patients without medical insurance, a fee note will be issued to you after the consultation and a receipt will then be issued after payment.
Fixed Price Direct scheme for operations.
For non-insured patients, this offers an all-in charge, fixed in advance, for in-patient and day-case operations in the private hospitals and includes the first follow up clinic appointment.
Hospital charges, Surgeon's fees including follow up and Anaesthetist's fees are included.
For more information please contact the Customer Services department at Nuffield Health Chester, The Grosvenor Hospital on 01244 684305 to arrange a quotation.
Please note – You are ultimately responsible for the settlement of professional fees. If you have chosen to take out indemnity for medical expenses, you must ascertain your level of benefits from your insurer. You are responsible for any shortfall between the professional fee and your allowed benefit.


Ensuring composure no matter the driving circumstances! All of the following features are included: automatic temperature control, a bedliner, and voice activated navigation. It features four-wheel drive capabilities, a durable automatic transmission, and a powerful 8 cylinder engine.


It's a new NRL season and the Cronulla Sharks are on the look out for a Senior Multimedia Designer.
Reporting to the Group GM of Communications and Brand, the candidate must stand out from the pack, possessing a range of design skills yet be a quality fit for our existing team.
If successful, the candidate would be responsible for the development of and design across digital platforms including website, mobile, social media, display advertising, EDM, presentations, game day and event big screen content.
The role would also see the production of a wide range of multimedia content including, but in no way limited to, animation, corporate publications, website graphics, internal and external promotional collateral, video graphics and editing for use across both the Football and Licensed Clubs.
Given the nature of the NRL and sporting industry, work hour flexibility and weekend work will be required in order to meet the demands of the role, however opportunity does exist for a flexible working environment.
This position will provide the successful candidate with the opportunity to work in an innovative and forward thinking team, within a Premiership winning rugby league Club.
In 2017, we will be expanding our horizons and venturing down a new digital avenue in professional sport.
If you'd like to be a part of our journey, possess the required qualifications and believe this position would be a suitable challenge for you, then please forward a covering letter, resume, and an online link to your portfolio to ndenoon@sharks.com.au.
Applications are to be received no later than Sunday 4th December 2016.