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with two features of diversion and absorption.
very comfortable, cool, and wet free.
will be warm and not be muggy.
Copyright © 2010 Swojin Enterprise Co.,Ltd. All Right Reserve.


text:
Insider Secrets | 01 September 2020
3 of the best invigorating walks in Shropshire
Immerse yourself in Shropshire's glorious countryside – rolling hills, wildlife-rich hedgerows, burbling brooks – on these three afternoon walks, adapted from Bradt's Slow Travel Shropshire guide...
1. Pontesbury to Earl's Hill summit
The Wrekin, Shropshire (Shutterstock)
The details: OS Explorer map 241 & 216; start at Pontesbury Hill Rd adjacent to School Rd. SO398061; three-and-a-half miles (around two hours); strenuous: initially minor roads & open countryside then a sustained ascent followed by a steep but short descent, & on rough paths. The roundels marked with a yellow arrow and 'Walk 17' will help you.
Shared by: Shrewsbury Ramblers, from their guide 20 Walks In and Around Shrewsbury.
It's well worth the uphill scramble for the 360-degree panorama at the top of Earl's Hill. Until the late 1800s this hill, sometimes likened from afar to a sleeping dragon, was the venue for popular Easter festivities – including a race down the hillside to the brook at its base. If the winner dipped the fourth finger of the right hand in the water it was said they would marry the first person of the opposite sex they next encountered.
Walk along Pontesbury Hill Road away from the church, following the road past the phone box and turn left at Birch Row, until you reach the ford adjacent to the Plough Inn. Don't cross the ford but turn right up Whitwell Lane. Follow the stream past houses on the left and take the lane to the right until you reach a metal kissing-gate on the left. Go through it.
Walk along the hedgerow to the next metal gate and turn right following the waymark. Cross the field to the metal kissing-gate. Turn left, following the hedgerow on the left. Cross a stream and continue to pass through the metal kissing-gate in the corner of the field.
Turn right along the road until you reach a farm driveway on the left. Turn left and then go through a metal gate on the right. Follow the fence line on the left, staying in the field and following the hedgerow on the left to the metal gate in the corner of the field. Continue in the same direction through the field, crossing two stiles until you reach a stile in the left-hand corner, taking you to face the route to Earl's Hill.
Cross the stile and walk towards Earl's Hill. Cross another stile and footbridge until you reach the stile in the top right-hand corner of the field. Cross the lane to enter Earl's Hill Reserve. Follow the path up the hill, ignoring another path on the left. Continue to the top of the hill until there you see a stile and pine woods on your left.
Turn right up Earl's Hill until you reach the summit, marked by a trig point. Take a while to soak up the extensive views from here. Looking north you will see Shrewsbury and notably the white Shelton Water Tower. To the east, The Wrekin and Buildwas Power Station. To the west, extensive views into Wales. Here you will see the outline of a hillfort which occupied the hilltop in the first millennium BC.
From the trig point continue in the same direction to descend Earl's Hill. Follow the path until you reach a steep descent to a stile at the bottom of the hill. Go over the stile and walk 10 yards to join a path. Turn left. Follow this path on the eastern side of Earl's Hill, through woodland. Continue walking in the same direction, ignoring footpaths to both left and right, to reach a metal gate. Pass through a further metal gate where you arrive at an open field with gorse. Go through another metal gate and continue in the same direction, heading for woodland.
Go through the metal gate on to a woodland track and continue until you reach Earl's Hill car park. Go through the car park on to the road and turn right heading downhill for about 55 yards to a sharp left turn signposted, over the cattle grid. Head down the track to the hedge line, then turn right at a cattle grid through a metal gate, walking diagonally across the field to the kissing-gate. Turn right down the tarmac driveway to the road.
Turn left on the road, passing Mary Webb School on your right. Walk past the school entrance and continue to the T-junction at the bottom of the road. Turn left, arriving at the Plough Inn and the ford on your right, which you passed at the beginning of the walk. Cross the ford to the road leading back to the start.
2. Pole Bank, the highest point on the Long Mynd
Carding Mill Valley, Shropshire (Shutterstock)
The details: OS Explorer map 217; start at Church Stretton station. SO455936; six miles, following blue waymarks. Moderate (generally easy underfoot but with some scrambling over small rocky outcrops, so you'll need a reasonable head for heights); allow two to three hours.
Shared by: Church Stretton Walkers are Welcome.
Just a few minutes' walk out of Church Stretton and you'll find yourself in a timeless landscape of secretive valleys and bracken-clad moors, seemingly untouched by human hands. Keep going for big views over Wales and then a pleasing diversion into Carding Mill Valley with its National Trust tea room.
Leave the station by the Platform 1 exit. At the main road, bear left along Sandford Avenue and take the first turning left into Easthope Road. Pass the public toilets and turn right into Lion Meadow in front of the Co-op store. The top of the road faces the Bucks Head. Take the narrow passage to the left of the pub and go through the iron gate into the churchyard. Bear right to the side of St Laurence's Church and then bear left around to the main entrance before emerging through double iron gates on to Church Street.
Turn right and then shortly left between two tall gate pillars and enter Rectory Field through the wooden kissing-gate. Ignoring the steps at the edge of the wood on the right, climb up to the centre of the field, keeping the wood on your right. Where the wood swings to the right, keep close to it and make the steep climb towards a red-banded post and a kissing-gate at the top of the hill through which you should pass into Rectory Wood.
Follow the path in front of you as it leads down to another red-banded post. From this veer leftwards and keep to the left at the path's next junction. This path borders a steep drop from which it is separated by a wooden guardrail fence. At the bottom of the descending path, cross the stream by way of the bridge (a recycled gravestone) and climb the path ahead to a kissing-gate.
Pass through a gate and at the Victorian reservoir, which once stored the water supply for Church Stretton, go straight ahead with the railings on your left. The reservoir is served by the aptly named Town Brook, a stream that will be your gurgling companion as you leave the railings behind and begin to follow the brook's gentle upward course. Gradually, as you climb higher, the brook falls away to your left. Where the head of the valley comes clearly into view, and you can see a marker post on the top, take extra care as the path leads over small rocky outcrops.
For the final approach to the summit, the path follows a zigzag route, generally leftwards, to reach a pinkbanded post. Although you are now only a quarter of the way around the walk, the most physically demanding section has been completed. Turn right and follow the waymarked posts across the moorland for about a mile until you reach a tarmac road. Turn left along the road for about 100 yards until it swings sharply to the left, exposing a rough track leading ahead and upwards.
Climb the track to the junction with the Medlicott path (signed on a wooden post), turn sharp left and follow the path up to Pole Bank. At 1,700ft this is the highest point on the Long Mynd. From here, on a clear day, you can see Cader Idris, the Clee Hills and the Brecon Beacons. Retrace your steps to the junction with the Medlicott path. Ignore the path to the right, along which you came, and walk straight ahead, eventually crossing the road at Shooting Box.
A post marked Carding Mill indicates the path straight ahead which eventually joins a broader track coming in from the right. Continue forward for about 300 yards to a major path junction. Here, bear to the right following the waymarked posts and, 20 yards further on, bear right again on to a loose stone surfaced track. From here the route is clear. You are now on Motts Road which leads downhill eventually to a stream at a junction with a major path coming in from the right. Cross the stream and continue downwards into Carding Mill Valley with its National Trust shop and café.
Shortly after the café, take the track on the right that climbs diagonally up the hillside. At the top, turn left across the cattle grid and descend the Burway. Past the post box, bear left on to the grassy track. Then bear right just after a couple of large trees and pass a seat to reach a war memorial. Continue straight ahead down a grassy slope and a little narrow rocky path down to the road, bearing left to the crossroads. Cross straight ahead into Sandford Avenue and continue down to the train station entrance.
3. Wellington to the Ercall & foot of The Wrekin
The top of Wrekin, should you choose to climb it... (Shutterstock)
The details: OS Explorer map 242; start at Wellington station ticket office. SJ651116; five to six miles depending on route chosen; generally moderate with steep ascents in places; allow two to three hours. For details of walk extensions, see the double-sided leaflet Maps of Wellington Historic Town & The Wrekin Forest Walks published by Wellington Town Council.
Shared by: Wellington Walkers Are Welcome.
On this walk you'll pass through ancient oak woodland and see evidence of 500 million years of history in the Ercall (pronounced 'Arkle') quarries. You'll visit the foot of Shropshire's beloved 'little mountain' The Wrekin, with optional access around or over it. You can also make a circular route extension to Limekiln Wood with its industrial heritage.
Using the Platform 2 exit, turn right and follow the road up towards the town where, at the T-junction, the new main route of the Shropshire Way can be found (waymarkers point to the south and north of the circular route). Take the road up towards the town, turn left and go through Market Square, keeping to the left of the black-and-white building (currently a branch of Subway). Walk along Crown Street, then carry straight on up Tan Bank. Cross Victoria Road and continue through the pedestrian access way into the next section of Tan Bank. After just over 30 yards take the brick footpath on the right.
Cross the next road (Roseway) and take the rising footpath immediately opposite. Carry on past the allotments on your right and Sunnycroft on your left. Cross Holyhead Road by the pelican crossing and head straight on to Golf Links Lane. Continue up the lane and pass under the motorway bridge. Immediately after the bridge, turn right to follow the signposted footpath through Ercall Wood. (Directly opposite this entrance you'll find steps leading to a possible three-mile walk extension using a circular path through Limekiln Wood.)
Once in Ercall Wood, cross the footbridge and bear left into the main part of the wood. After a short distance the route forks right (following the mustard-coloured Wrekin Forest Trails waymark) and rises steeply. (For a gentler alternative bear left at the fork and keep to the wider main path which rises more slowly along the side of the hill. You will re-join the main walk in the next point.)
Follow the main path where it opens out uphill, bearing left to join the ridge. Turn left along the ridge and take in the fine view over Wrekin Golf Club as you approach the top. The two routes recombine at the foot of the short sharp descent on the left. Continue straight on to follow the main route (or, from the gentler alternative, turn left). After a few yards the path will begin to swing right and descend. Follow the path downhill as it bends to the right and approaches our first quarry.
About mid-way down the hill you will come to a junction with a waymark on the left. The main route carries on down the hill but the short 'mountain goat' path on the right leads to a ledge inside the quarry and, above that, the base of the Ercall Geological Unconformity, where Ercall granophyre meets Wrekin quartzite and clearly marks a shift from volcanic to sedimentary rock. Be sure to turn around here for a special view of The Wrekin not many people get to see.) Upon reaching the base of the first main quarry you'll find an interpretation board and a large stone inscribed with a poem. Looking up on a sunny day you'll see the colourful rocks shining out near the top of the quarry face.
Continue downhill until you reach a pool on the left. Take the hairpin left at the end of the pool and follow the path uphill to the Dairy Pit, after which the path steeply descends to the Little Wenlock Road. Turn right at the road and follow it to the Forest Glen car park. Cross the road and continue on a few yards to the entrance to The Wrekin.
This is the main access point to The Wrekin, from which routes over and around the hill can be made. A straight up and down will add three miles and 800ft to your walk, while a circuit midway up the hill will add four miles. Refreshments are available at Halfway House during opening hours. Continue along the road until you reach a footpath on your right (at a road junction, with a sign marked Uppington on your left).
Turn right along the footpath, follow the path around the reservoir with its views of the Ercall, and then turn right to reach Ercall Lane. Follow the road until you pass the Buckatree Hall Hotel on your left. Cross into the fringe of the woodland where you see a wooden footpath sign, turning left to head towards Wellington. Follow the paths that run alongside the road as closely as you can until you reach the motorway bridge.
Immediately after crossing the motorway bridge, turn left along the footpath which emerges at a small roundabout at the top of Hampton Hill (offering great views over north Shropshire). Take the road which descends steeply down Hampton Hill to reach Holyhead Road. Turn right, cross the road and turn left into Bowring Park (opposite the Red Lion pub). Follow the path to the main entrance (where there is a pavilion café) on Haygate Road. Turn right, heading towards the town centre and cross the road by the John Bayley Club. At the junction, turn left along Bridge Road and walk until you reach the traffic lights. Turn right here, walking down Market Street (past the Pheasant Inn) and back to Market Square.
Find more walks in Slow Travel Shropshire
These walks were taken from Slow Travel Shropshire, written by Marie Kreft, and published by Bradt Guides.
Bradt is offering Wanderlust readers a special 25% discount on ALL its books. To claim your discount, visit the shop on Bradt Guides and enter code WANDERLUST25 at checkout. Offer valid until 31 October 2020.
Discover more amazing UK walks:
The best walks in Cambridgeshire
Norfolk's best walking routes
8 top trails in the New Forest and Hampshire

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Reforma ortograficzna, reforma pisowni – zmiana w normach pisowni danego języka, z konieczności rewolucyjna i wprowadzana przez wyższy autorytet. Reforma ortograficzna jest wyrazem regulacji pisemnej formy języka, ale może być powiązana ze zmianami w języku ustnym. Celem reformy ortograficznej bywa zapewnienie większej zgodności między językiem pisanym a mówionym, ułatwienie nauki pisowni. Wpływa wówczas na równowagę między prawidłami systemu pisowni, modyfikuje udział reguły morfologicznej i reguły fonologicznej. Pisownia jest bowiem bardziej konserwatywna od mowy i w toku ewolucji języka dochodzi do powstania rozdziału między obydwoma bytami – ortografia zaczyna uwydatniać zbieżności morfologiczne. Inną motywacją dla reform ortograficznych jest podkreślenie odrębności narodu poprzez pogłębienie różnic w narodowych wzorcach ortograficznych.

Reformy ortograficzne przeprowadzano m.in. w Polsce (1936), na Słowacji (1953) i w Danii (1949). Niekiedy budzą negatywne reakcje opinii publicznej, np. w Czechach i Niemczech (lata 90. XX w.), zwłaszcza ze strony inteligencji. Nie wywierają istotnego wpływu na funkcjonowanie języka, lecz bywają przedmiotem krytyki purystycznej. Nie zawsze są efektywne i wiążą się z naruszeniem ciągłej tradycji literackiej. Postulaty dotyczące reformy pisowni zgłasza się m.in. w przypadku języka angielskiego, który dysponuje etymologiczną ortografią, znacznie odbiegającą od wymowy.

Zobacz też
 uchwały Rady Języka Polskiego
 historia ortografii polskiej

Przypisy

Pismo
Normy językowe
Polityka językowa

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Home » Release of Iraq Rebuilding Contracts Delayed 12/10/2003
Release of Iraq Rebuilding Contracts Delayed 12/10/2003
The ambitious two-month procurement schedule Pentagon officials announced in November to award $18.6 billion in Iraq reconstruction contracts might be a little too ambitious.
For the second time since the final solicitations were slated to be posted on Dec. 5, the Pentagon's Iraq Infrastructure Reconstruction Office announced a delayuntil Dec. 9. On Dec. 10, a notice on the IIRO Web site (www.iraq-rebuilding.net), said there was another "temporary delay" in issuing the formal requests for proposals for 26 contracts. "Additional information will be provided as soon as possible," the notice stated, but gave no indication of a new posting date. A Defense Dept. spokesman said the RFPs would be issued "as soon as possible," but that it might not be until next week.
Additionally, the IIRO said that the pre-proposal conference scheduled for Dec. 11 has been changed to Dec. 19. The conference location and time is to be provided "not later" than Dec. 12.
It is unclear if the delays will push back the previously announced Feb. 1 deadline for awarding the contracts.
On Dec. 9 the Pentagon published a Dec. 5 policy statement that said only firms from U.S. coalition partners or "force contributing nations" could compete for the prime contracts. Contractors from 63 countries can compete for the awards, but firms from Germany, France and Russia are excluded. There are no restrictions on which firms can bid from thousands of expected subcontracts.
U.S. allies who opposed the war in Iraq and are now excluded from reconstruction contracts were sharply critical of the decision. The European Union said it would study whether global trade rules had been violated, Canada threatened to stop sending aid to Baghdad, and Russia indicated it might not hekp restructure Iraq's debt. the Associated Press reported.
Corps Delays Award, Doubles Size of Iraq Oilfield Contracts 10/29/2003
Pentagon Awards Another Wave of Iraq Construction Contracts, Worth $1.2 Billion 3/12/2004
In Iraq, U.S. Defense Energy Unit Will Replace Corps, Halliburton for Fuel Supplies 12/31/2003
ENR Mountain States April 12, 2021 Issue


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Journal of Social Policy (12)
Journal of Public Policy (6)
Urban History (1)
Bristol University Press (17)
Social Policy Association (12)
three - What advocates do: their main clients
David Donnison
Book: Speaking to Power
Published by: Bristol University Press
Print publication: 30 June 2009, pp 37-68
In this chapter we describe what advocates do and discuss what we can learn from their experience. This and the next two chapters are the 'engine room' at the heart of our book, showing the work that has been launched as a result of the reforms traced in previous chapters and posing questions to be discussed in those that follow.
Advocates – paid staff and a few volunteers – brought the cases we describe to small meetings where they discussed them with their colleagues. With one or two exceptions these advocates all worked for the same Scottish voluntary agency. Each agency has its unique character, depending on its origins, the people who now work for it and the needs of those whom they serve. So none of them is typical of the whole network. But we are confident that the people working for other agencies of this sort will be familiar with the kinds of stories we tell and the dilemmas they pose.
Advocates choosing cases to present at these meetings were asked to bear in mind the readers for whom we are writing – particularly people who may want to become advocates, those who may have to deal with advocates in the course of other work and others preparing to enter these fields. That meant the cases presented should be real, not imaginary. They should be cases that pose interesting questions – questions that advocates find helpful to discuss with their colleagues. We were not trying to produce a typical cross-section of our work. Some of the cases have successful outcomes, but we did not want to present a succession of 'George and Dragon' stories – cases in which gallant advocates rescue fair maidens from dragon consultants, social workers and hostel wardens. The chapter is neither a research report nor an advertisement for advocacy. We hope it offers realistic, interesting education.
It was the responsibility of each advocate to camouflage their cases with small changes in the story – sufficient to make them difficult to identify but not so great that essential features of the story would be lost or distorted. That is why we have not attached the names of advocates or their clients to individual cases and why we do not name the agencies, hospitals or local authorities involved.
Print publication: 30 June 2009, pp i-ii
seven - Volunteers
Print publication: 30 June 2009, pp 109-124
The agency whose advocates provided most of the examples discussed in the last three chapters is typical of Scotland's advocacy services in relying on volunteers to do a lot of its work. Four of the clients described in earlier chapters were represented by volunteers. Some volunteers join the paid staff for temporary spells to fill gaps in the service that arise when paid workers are on leave or off sick and some of them move into paid jobs when the agency can recruit more staff. Meanwhile, some paid staff work as volunteers for other agencies. So there is no clear-cut distinction between the two.
Much of the advocacy already going on in Scotland before this service was set up by the Mental Health Act of 2003 had always been done by volunteers. The new service could not have got going so quickly without their help. Moreover, in remote and sparsely populated places – on islands, for example, where there may be no more than one or two people a year asking for an advocate's help – it will always be difficult to offer a service provided by paid staff. It is much better to train and support local volunteers. We believe there are more reasons why volunteers should always play a large part in our work – reasons that will become clear later in this chapter. Thus the service cannot be properly described without explaining how these volunteers are recruited, trained and supported in their work. As we explore these things we will find that they pose larger questions about a society's capacity to respond to the needs of its most vulnerable citizens.
How we made a study
The agency providing the evidence for this Chapter had, by the year 2007, trained more than 400 people in short courses, each lasting for about half a day every week for five or six weeks. These courses, taught by the agency's more experienced advocates, had been offered over the previous eight years in seven different places scattered across its large territory. (To drive from one end of it to the other takes about three hours.)
Print publication: 30 June 2009, pp iii-iv
nine - Roadblocks
Cases discussed in previous chapters show that advocates will sometimes come up against public services which, despite the advocates' best efforts, completely fail to give their clients the help they are entitled to expect. That may be because they have run out of money, because they are badly managed, because they are hostile to the client, because they have chosen to focus on other priorities or for other reasons. It is unfair to advocates, and useless for their clients, to send them out to ask for things we know will be refused. But advocates would be failing in their duty if they accepted bad services without trying to make them better. So what should they do?
There can be no single answer to that question – what can be done will depend on local circumstances. But this chapter may help people who encounter such roadblocks to formulate a policy for dealing with them. A policy of some sort will certainly be needed.
Advocates may, in their own time, be active in all sorts of causes. But the agencies they work with have to accept that they cannot be all-out campaigners – constantly writing letters to the press, seeking the help of politicians and staging demonstrations in the street. The authorities paying for their work would be entitled to say: "We pay you to advocate for your clients; not to light fires under us." More important still, they would find their campaigns sometimes divide the clients for whom they claim to speak. Some parents of children with additional educational needs passionately believe their youngsters should go to schools outside the mainstream. Others believe, equally passionately, they should go to mainstream schools. Some patients would resist electro-convulsive therapy at all costs. Others find it helpful. Advocacy agencies cannot campaign for both. So what else should they do?
Principles and practice
First, some guiding principles. We should start with the users of our services, find out what they want and help them to campaign for those things when they wish to do so. We speak for them and for no one else. If we do get involved in protests we should involve our clients, their friends and families in any way we can.
two - Scotland gives a lead
Questions posed
The story we have told thus far is typical of the way a social reform takes shape. First there are economic and social changes: in this case, labour scarcities which make hospital and residential care more expensive, new drugs which make them less necessary, more jobs, more subsidised housing and more generous social benefits to help sick and disabled people survive in the community. The same things were happening in every western country. In most of them the numbers in mental hospitals peaked between 1965 and 1975. In Scotland there has been a dramatic reduction since then in the numbers of patients in these hospitals, but slightly more are entering them – most of them only for short periods. Difficult decisions had to be made about the small minority of these patients who had to be treated under compulsion, whether in hospitals or in the community. These decisions were taken by sheriffs' courts, which dealt with piles of papers and rarely saw the patients themselves.
Thus economic and social changes create new problems but also offer hope for better solutions: particularly, in this case, better care in the community for all sorts of people who no longer have to be confined in hospitals.
Also playing a part in the story were social and political changes, such as the growth of an increasingly well-informed and litigious population, more inclined to question authority. Complaints about health care reaching the UK's General Medical Council numbered 1,087 in the year 1991/92. Thirteen years later, in 2004/05, they had risen more than fourfold to 4,452. A growing array of increasingly confident voluntary bodies had grown up to speak for various groups with special needs. Meanwhile, the whole idea of human rights was spreading, and powerful movements were demanding equal rights for women, for minority ethnic groups, for gays and lesbians and for others.
In Scotland, as elsewhere, groups speaking for people with mental illnesses or learning disabilities – together we will call them mental disorders – came fairly late in the growing queue of those demanding a response from the state to their needs and rights: late and with less political clout.
ten - Looking ahead
We began this book by asking where advocacy came from. We end by asking where it's going to. As Yogi Berra, baseball coach and coiner of immortal phrases, once said: "You gotta be very careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there".
People who know a lot about advocacy give two different answers to this question about its future. There are those – often inspired to play a part in the project by their own experience as users of the mental health services – who hope advocacy will reach more of the people with mental disorders and do more for them. Advocates will work more actively with groups of patients as well as with individuals, they will reach out to people in need of help who are getting no services at all, and will gain greater credibility with staff of the health and social services. These people want to 'deepen' the existing service.
Meanwhile there are those – often playing leading roles in the present advocacy services – who expect them to help growing numbers of clients with a growing variety of needs. That is already happening in the more effective parts of the service. As we have shown, an advocate who has helped a confused older lady may be asked for help by her neighbour who is mentally spry but physically disabled. Meanwhile, her agency's manager may be asked by a local authority to extend advocacy to new groups of clients – work for which the council is willing to pay. Neither finds it easy to refuse. These people are prepared to 'broaden' the service.
To deepen or broaden? It is our view that we should, cautiously, do both. But that's much too simple an answer. We are more likely to get our priorities right if we start by recalling where the service came from and consider how it meshes with other strategies for achieving some of the same things. That may enable us to clarify longer-term aims. But aims cannot be derived from facts alone. They have to be rooted in moral foundations of some sort and a vision of the society we are trying to create. Some readers will reject the vision we offer and the policies it would call for. We hope we may provoke and inspire them to formulate a vision of their own that they find more convincing.
eight - Making advocacy accountable
Why should advocacy be evaluated?
Every public service should be evaluated from time to time to make sure it is doing its job properly. But those paid by their fellow citizens to act as advocates for people who may be very frail and engaged in conflicts with powerful authorities have a special duty to show that they are doing their best to serve their clients in an independent, well-informed and skilful way, without conflicting interests. That duty weighs particularly heavily on them in Scotland where the agencies they work for usually have a monopoly of reasonably secure public funding for this kind of work in the territory they cover. Although their contracts could be transferred to other advocacy agencies at some rather distant point in the future, they are not exposed to the daily discipline of competing for customers in a market place. These are privileges that most voluntary agencies can only dream of.
People working in this field in England and Wales and in the US have prepared 'charters' and long lists of tests that advocacy agencies should pass to show they maintain proper 'quality standards'. They can afford to be rigorous because advocacy is growing slowly – usually for particular groups of clients in particular areas. Meanwhile the spokesmen of government, offering tempting hopes of more secure funding at some point in the future, have pressed advocates to organise training courses leading to accreditation – accreditation that would give successful candidates membership of a professional institute that would assure the world of their competence; accreditation that could also be withdrawn if they failed to maintain the proper standards. This has long been the route taken by public service professions – doctors, midwives, social workers and many others – to gain recognition and a place on the public payroll. Some advocates hope eventually to follow their example. Others have resisted that idea, arguing that advocates should not try to become a profession of that kind. We will discuss these arguments at the end of this chapter.
Scotland's way – so far
When the new Scottish government set up an advocacy service for people with mental health disorders under the 2003 Act, it did this by requiring local social work and health authorities to commission voluntary agencies to provide the service and get it up and running by October 2005.
one - Origins of advocacy
Print publication: 30 June 2009, pp 7-24
To understand advocacy properly – or any other new development in public policy – we should first ask: where did it come from, who created it and what were they trying to achieve? These are historical questions and some readers, who share Henry Ford's view that "history is bunk", may prefer to skip to Chapter Three in which we start explaining what advocates do. Others, realising that advocates help people to speak with greater confidence to power, may want to think more carefully first about the workings of power in our society. That is what this chapter is about. I start with a story from nearly a hundred years ago.
Rule of the gentry
Soon after the First World War a young doctor who had just completed his training to be a Medical Officer of Health (MHO) applied for his first job – to be MOH for a rural district in Kent. Called for interview, he was asked one question only: "Do you hunt?" It happened that he could answer "Yes" to that question and he was promptly appointed. (He told me all this 25 years later.)
Months later, young Dr Metcalfe Brown decided he had to close down the local all-age school, which was plainly unsafe for human use. He was summoned at once to the Hall – home of the local lord of the manor – where the man himself, who was also chairman of his Public Health Committee, boomed at him as he approached: "We only appointed you because you said you would hunt. You've never been with the hounds. And now you want to close my school!" And it was, in a sense, "his" school because, long before, his family had built it.
This must have been a moment when a junior medical officer gratefully recalled that the Victorian legislators who created his service had foreseen this kind of situation. They wrote into their law that those holding the post of Medical Officer of Health could only be sacked with the approval of the Minister in London. Their work would inevitably bring them into conflict from time to time with local landlords, industrialists and other powerful people. No other public official had this protection. It made the MOH the senior local government officer, after the Town Clerk who was the lawyer we would now probably call Chief Executive.
Print publication: 30 June 2009, pp 1-6
This book is about advocacy – particularly, but not only, for people who have learning disabilities or mental health difficulties. The practical experience we will draw on comes mainly from Scotland where new and important things have been happening in this field. Here are two examples of the work we will be writing about.
The first is summed up in a big book – a Personal Care Plan, or 'PCP' in the jargon of social work and community nursing. Prepared by an advocate, with help from colleagues in other services, this book is packed with words, pictures, medical prescriptions, names and addresses. It speaks for a young woman – let's call her Sandra – in her mid-twenties.
Sandra has stunted limbs and cannot walk, sit up or feed herself. It takes two people, using a specially made hoist, to lift her from a bed to a chair, or in and out of the swimming pool she visits regularly. She lives at home with her parents. Those who help them to care for her – 32 staff from 13 different agencies see her in a typical week – thought she was unable to speak or to understand anything they said. But her advocate, who works for a local agency, found by listening carefully to her and her parents that she has more than 20 words and sounds that have meanings that she understands pretty well. Indeed her grandmother, who has always loved her dearly, conducts long conversations with her in a language no one else quite understands. Sandra also has hopes and fears, friends she likes to be with, and ambitions for the future.
Her personal care plan explains these and many other things: the foods she can and cannot eat, the movements that hurt her, the medicines she needs and much else. It shows, with photographs, how to lift and move her, and how to take her for a swim.
Equally important, it has brought together 32 nurses, social workers and professional carers – most of whom had never met before – and helped them to get to know each other and to agree on the best ways to help Sandra achieve the things she wants to do.
Why and how we wrote this book
Print publication: 30 June 2009, pp vi-viii
This book was inspired by the Scottish service that provides advocacy to help people with mental health or learning difficulties. Advocacy for these and other groups began earlier in other countries of the UK, but nowhere else is there the free and independent nationwide service that is to be found in Scotland. When I first got involved, staff of the agency I joined asked where they could find opportunities for further training and professional development. Few were available. No surprise there: the academy always lags about a decade behind new developments in the field because their teachers need a shelf of books to read before they can offer a course, and it takes time to do the research and writing that creates this literature.
So we said, "Let's write our own book". We worked on it in small meetings of advocates held in various parts of the territory our agency serves: a territory including old industrial towns, comfortable suburbs, and smaller communities scattered among mountains, lochs and islands; a territory with a population of nearly 200,000 people and a coastline longer than the coast of France. Very Scottish.
Central among the readers for whom we have written the book are people working as advocates or preparing to do so in Scotland or elsewhere. We hope our book will also be helpful to users of the mental health services, to those who care for them, the professionals who try to help them, and anyone interested in the broader development of the health and social services.
Our advocates brought anonymous but real cases to discuss with their colleagues at our meetings. To these we added a few others from colleagues working elsewhere in the same cause. I brought draft chapters, which were freely criticised and, in 18 months we created this book. We also sought the help of others who are expert in this field and asked some of them to comment on the whole draft or on particular chapters of it.
We could not have written the book without the help of our clients. Some of them wrote their own stories for us. Others gave their advocates permission to do this for them. We are grateful to them all. To protect confidentiality we have disguised these stories with small changes that preserve their essential truths.
five - Groups and communities
Most of the advocacy funded by the state is always likely to be focused on individuals dealing with one-off problems. But collective advocacy by groups of service users must continue alongside this work.
Individual advocacy can help people cope a bit better with the world they live in. But it never reaches some of those who most need this help. And it may too easily reinforce the assumption – encouraged by much government policy – that each of us has to fight our own corner in the public services market place to get the best deal we can in competition with every other 'customer'. It is only when people who share similar experiences of the public services get together that they can start thinking seriously about changes that may be needed and pressing for action to bring those changes about. As voters and taxpayers speaking for many others whose expertise has been gained from experience of these services, they can in time wield considerable influence. Then things can be improved for everyone – including those who have never met an advocate.
Groups form for all sorts of good reasons – therapeutic, educational, or simply as supportive clubs of friends. This chapter deals with groups that help their members and others like themselves to get the help and treatment they should be entitled to and to bring about improvements in the services they all depend on. While they may do other things too, it is their advocacy we shall focus on, relying on Scottish examples because there is much innovative work of this kind going on here. We describe groups known to us that are doing interesting things, without claiming that these give a comprehensive or typical picture of what is happening in this country.
People in these groups are embedded in various ways in the communities from which their members are drawn. That community may be the staff and patients in a hospital, or just one hospital ward; they may be the people using a day centre, or anyone with mental health or learning difficulties who lives in a particular neighbourhood or city. To bring about change the group will have to influence other people in these communities – doctors, health service managers, politicians and the various 'publics' to which these people respond.
Speaking to Power
Advocacy for Health and Social Care
Print publication: 30 June 2009
Anyone working, or planning to work, as an advocate for people dealing with public services will want to read this book. Based on the experience of advocates and using case studies based on real practice issues, the accessible style of Speaking to Power will make it an enjoyable read for professionals, students and lay people alike.
Print publication: 30 June 2009, pp v-v
four - What advocates do: questions and dilemmas
In this chapter we deal with questions that pose dilemmas for advocates – the kinds of dilemmas that it may be helpful to talk over with colleagues. In a book that will, we hope, be read by people preparing to work in this field it is important to present such dilemmas – not just the easy victories. Our discussion of each is designed to help the reader think about the puzzles involved, not to provide authoritative solutions to them. Dilemmas, by definition, do not have clear-cut solutions that everyone will agree about. Meanwhile, readers should bear in mind that the cases discussed here are not a typical cross-section of advocacy work. They are meant to be rather difficult, which also means they do not show the welfare state at its best.
People with fantasies and 'mad' ideas
Advocates have to listen with respect to their clients' stories and concerns. They know they are dealing with people who may have a lot of fantasy in their lives. But this is their reality and, even if some of it is fantasy, this may be what keeps them going in bad times. This was recognised by the psychiatrist in the play Equus who envied the passion of the boy, his very disturbed patient, who had a love affair with the great horses in the stable where he worked – a love affair that gave to his life a meaning that was lacking in the psychiatrist's own life. But what if fantasy leads in destructive directions – as it did in terrifying fashion in that play – or simply into fruitless and frustrating dead ends?
How about a man who sought an advocate's help because, living on meagre social benefits, he was determined to buy a house in Spain? The advocate will have to decide when a comforting dream about a castle in Spain reaches a point where it becomes necessary to confront his client with reality. Just to collude in a fantasy is not a respectful way to treat people.
Another advocate was asked to help a young man who, though plainly unable to handle a car, was obsessed with the idea of driving a formula one racer, and exhausted everyone around him by mimicking the sound of roaring engines all day.
S. Weir (2006), Unequal Britain: Human Rights as a Route to Social Justice. London: Politico. £10.99, pp. 331, pbk.
Journal: Journal of Social Policy / Volume 37 / Issue 4 / October 2008
Print publication: October 2008
Nigel Knight (2006), Governing Britain Since 1945. London: Politico's Publishing. £17.99, pp. 211, hbk.
Journal: Journal of Social Policy / Volume 37 / Issue 3 / July 2008
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 July 2008, p. 520
Print publication: July 2008
A. H. Halsey, No Discouragement. An Autobiography, Macmillan, London, 1996, 263 pp., £40.00 hard, £15.99 paper.


On behalf of Johnny Houston of Houston & Alexander, PLLC posted in Vehicular homicide on Wednesday, April 4, 2018.
You were traveling on the highway when it happened. You looked down to take a bite of your burger, and the next thing you knew, you were struggling to get out of your wrecked vehicle. Another vehicle was in the lane next to you, and you struck it when you got distracted.


George Jenkins enters his eighth season as an assistant coach at Sacramento State in 2018-19 after spending two years as the assistant and recruiting coordinator at Kansas.
Jenkins, who has 32 years of coaching experience, will lead the Hornet novice squad again this year while assisting with the varsity squad and all aspects of recruiting. That includes overseeing the team's on-campus recruiting. In addition, Jenkins is the team's videographer.
Jenkins and head coach Mike Connors were instrumental in Sacramento State rowing being admitted into the American Athletic Conference for the 2014-15 season, and prior to that, Conference USA in 2013-14. Before the Conference USA entry, the Hornets had never been eligible for an automatic qualifier into the NCAA Championship.
Previously, Sacramento State has been a member of the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) since gaining intercollegiate status in 1995, and the WIRA Championships has doubled as the program's conference championship event. However, WIRA is not recognized by the NCAA as a conference, and did not garner any kind of automatic qualifier into NCAA postseason competition.
During its lone season in Conference USA, the Hornets placed sixth out of 11 teams at the Conference USA Championship, finishing ahead Kansas, Old Dominion, San Diego State, West Virginia and Alabama.
In 2013-14, Jenkins coached the novice eight to a 9-4 dual-meet record, a 56-second victory over rival UC Davis and 18 of his novice rowers were named to Conference USA's Commissioner's Honor Roll for academic excellence. In 2012-13, he helped bring in 28 freshmen, the largest recruiting class in school history, and that year's novice eight took home gold at the WIRA Championships.
That recruiting class also paid dividends in 2013-14 when all three varsity boats (V8, JV8, V4) placed in the top two of their respective grand finals at the WIRA Championships.
In 2011-12, Jenkins worked with both the varsity and novice squads. He helped coach the team's varsity eight, second varsity eight, novice eight and varsity four to medals at the WIRA Championships for the second time in school history. In addition, five Sacramento State rowers received all-conference accolades, three of which were first team selections.
On his resumé includes five consecutive NCAA Championship appearances while he was head coach at USC, and a national championship-winning varsity four at the 1998 NCAA Championship.
A native of Palo Alto, Calif., Jenkins was an assistant at Kansas (2009-11) and UC Davis (2008-09), while also serving as head coach of the Austin Rowing Club (2002-08) and USC (1993-02). Prior to USC, he had other collegiate stops as the varsity men's coach at UC Davis (1991-93) and varsity women's coach at UC Davis (1990-91).
He was also a U.S. Nations Cup Team coach in Milan, Italy, in the summer of 1997, and a U.S. Junior National Team coach in Oslo, Norway, during the summer of 1993.
Other coaching stops included serving as the executive director of the Newport Aquatic Center from 1987-90, and a coach at the U.S. Olympic Festival in the summers of 1989 and 1990.
At Kansas, he produced the largest recruiting class in the 16-year history of the program and coached the varsity four to a second-place finish at the Big 12 Conference Championships. In his assistant coaching stint at UC Davis, he coached the Aggies' second novice eight to a gold medal at the 2009 WIRA Championships.
Jenkins assumed the head coaching duties at USC in September of 1993 and brought it to national championship caliber by 1998. The Trojans would go on to qualify for five consecutive NCAA Championships under Jenkins' guidance while also winning the 1999 Head of the Charles in Massachusetts.
Jenkins graduated from UC Davis in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in molecular genetics.


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Game of Thrones 6x03 Review: "Oathbreaker" (And Now His Watch Has Ended) [Contributor: Melanie]
4:16 PM contributor: melanie, game of thrones, game of thrones review, s06.03 No comments
Original Airdate: May 8, 2016
This week's episode was an interesting one. After it became clear they're going to drag out the Lyanna Stark reveal until episode five (the brief synopsis of that episode mentions Bran learns a secret) this episode actually came across as a little boring. Sam and Gilly's travels down to Oldtown are mostly a snooze fest, the Meereenese political drama continues to be fairly uninteresting even with Tyrion present to make jokes and drink wine, and while Team Twincest seems to be creating a rift between the Small Council and the king, it still hasn't taken any interesting turns yet. On the flip side, the reveal of Rickon Stark and Osha was a huge surprise and their devastating hand off to Ramsay, along with Shaggydog's severed head, was an emotional blow.
As predicted, Jon Snow took advantage of the loophole that death releases him from his vows and rejected the mantle of Lord Commander and his service to Castle Black. Though, interestingly, the episode was called "Oathbreaker," despite Jon not technically breaking any oaths. Fans have speculated since 2011 that Jon would leave the Night's Watch upon his resurrection and it seems he might get himself embroiled with the conflict of the North and the inevitable battle for Winterfell. Since season one, Jon has struggled with duty vs. family when he very nearly deserted to help his brother in his march south when Ned was imprisoned. And now, finally, he has the means to do so.
Jon wakes up, shocked and unstable. Melisandre informs him she believes he may be the "prince that was promised" if she was able to bring him back. He greets the remaining members of the Night's Watch in the courtyard who are shocked and awed by his resurrection. Sam and Gilly travel south to Oldtown where Sam says Gilly will not be allowed and intends to leave her and her son with his family. Beyond the Wall Bran is granted a vision of Ned Stark fighting Ser Arthur Dayne at the Tower of Joy and bests him only after Howland Reed stabs Dayne in the back. Just as Ned makes the ascent into the Tower, Bran is awakened by the Three Eyed Raven.
In Vaes Dothrak, Dany is taken before the Dosh Khaleen, who strip her and dress her in Dothraki clothes while warning her that her absence after Khal Drogo's death is not taken lightly by the Dothraki. Many khalasars have gathered to discuss her fate and where to conquer next. In Braavos Arya furthers herself in her training in the House of Black and White. The Waif tests her in between sessions and eventually Arya is able to best her in combat. After Arya convincingly tells Jaqen that she is No One, he allows her to drink water from the well and her eyesight is restored. In Meereen Varys trades safe passage and gold to a brothel owner in exchange for information on the Sons of the Harpy. He learns Yunkai and Astapor are financing them and, after debate among Tyrion, Missandei, and Grey Worm, they decide to send a message to the cities and hunt down the Sons of the Harpy.
In King's Landing Qyburn takes over Varys' remaining "little birds" in the city and tells them to collect "whispers" for him in exchange for sweets. Cersei and Jaime intrude on a Small Council meeting which angers their uncle Kevan. He, and the remaining members of the council, leaves the room. Tommen confronts the High Sparrow who insists to Tommen the importance of the Mother and that his own mother holds the same powerful love for him. In Winterfell SmallJon Umber asks for assistance from Ramsay to fight off the Wildlings Jon Snow has allowed through the Wall. He chastises Ramsay's attempt to collect an oath of loyalty from him but offers a gift as a show of friendship: Rickon Stark, Osha, and the head of Shaggydog. The episode ends with Jon's execution of Alliser Thorne, Olly, and the other conspirators. He then walks off, proclaiming that his watch is ended.
SECONDARY MATERIAL
So we got half of the Tower of Joy scene. In the first book we see snippets of flashbacks from Ned of what was in the Tower. His sister, somehow bloodied and weak, extracts a promise from Ned. Many have speculated Lyanna was giving birth in the Tower to Jon Snow (fathered by Prince Rhaegar Targaryen) and insisted her brother keep him safe. Either way Jon Snow is a bastard, it's just a question of whose. It seems he's more Lyanna than Rhaegar, and his devotion to the Starks will likely keep him a Snow, but with a Targaryen father he has a birthright to one of Dany's three dragons. After all, it's one rider to one dragon and she's already claimed Drogon.
What we did learn from this scene is the truth behind Ned's defeat of Ser Arthur Dayne. Ned famously defeated him in single combat at the tower, a feat considering Dayne was the greatest swordsman in all of Westeros. Some background on this guy: Ser Arthur Dayne was a member of the Mad King's Kingsguard; he was also Rhaegar Targaryen's best friend and most trusted fighter. He held the title Sword of the Morning, an ancestral title of House Dayne bestowed upon a worthy knight of the family. The Sword of the Morning bears the family's ancestral sword Dawn. This is also a man considered to be the most chivalrous knight in all of Westeros.
And he was stabbed in the back under Ned Stark's compliance.
This is a fairly big reveal, considering Ned Stark is the epitome of honor and duty and, as a young man, allowed the most respected knight in the Seven Kingdoms to be stabbed in the back before he delivered the final blow. We knew to some extent that Howland Reed was a huge factor in Ned's victory over Dayne, but the extent to which it happened was unknown until last night. It'll be interesting to see what part this plays in the continuation of this vision. After all, finding Jon Snow in the tower is not the only mystery to be solved here. The ancestral sword Dawn, one forged from a fallen star and said to have magical properties, is last seen at the Tower of Joy and Ashara Dayne, Arthur's sister, has been something of an ominous and continuous presence in the books for some time now.
Besides all this, we got the first mention by name of the Prince That Was Promised. I explained last week the nature of this prophesized savior and what the book says about it. Taking Melisandre's word for anything at this point seems iffy considering she was wrong for years about Stannis. That doesn't mean she's completely off track though. At this point many people believe the prophecy refers to more than one person which jives well with a concurrent little tidbit from House Targaryen: the dragon must always have three heads. Both Jon and Dany have connections to Rhaegar, both are running on a kind of parallel moment of personal defeat right now, and they sit at somewhat different ends of our Westeros spectrum (North/South, Stark/Targaryen, Ice/Fire, etc.). This will likely develop further, later in the series, so for now our savior remains anonymous.
So, like I said, we likely won't get full R+L=J confirmation for another two weeks according to episode descriptions and it's hard to believe we're already that close to the halfway point. And this will likely breed dramatic irony since there's no logistical way for Jon to learn the truth about himself this season so Bran will be carrying that info until he can get back to his brother. So that begs the question of the purpose of timing for this reveal. I also don't think the tower reveal will be the end of these flashbacks as several things happened within that time period: Robert named king, the disappearance of Dawn, and possibly even a look at Dany's birth on Dragonstone a few months later.
We're gearing up for the Battle of the Bastards with Jon Snow free, Sansa making her way up to the Wall, and Ramsay now off his leash and free to attack as he pleases. Theon's presence in the Iron Islands will be interesting considering he was not present for the Kingsmoot in the books. I am wondering if they might change the outcome a bit in the show considering the amount of attention it's getting. As for the Sons of the Harpy in Meereen it seems at this point the identity of the Harpy has to be someone important if we're still harping on it (ha) and the most likely candidate, Hizdahr, was murdered by the Sons. Whether this turns out to be substantial or a placeholder until Dany returns will remain to be seen.
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This is a ERF original pattern. We have spent many years designing, tweaking, and fishing this great lure. You can fish it like a fluttering jig/blade fly on the rod or use it with a spinning rod to achieve a lure presentation in a single all on the hook package! This is a awesome hybrid between and Lure and a Fly combining the best of both words.


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Support, guidance and time management key to completions: Rampage Fitness
News & events / News / Support, guidance and time management key to completions: Rampage Fitness
In his previous life as a carpenter, Mark Stewart's life revolved around willing the clock to hit 5pm so he could go to the gym. Now, Mark spends his days at Rampage Fitness, the independent New Plymouth gym group that he co-owns with his wife Alexandra and two business partners, Allan and Fiona Ross.
Allan and Fiona are the original founders of Rampage Fitness. Ten years on and it now has three gym facilities spread out over the New Plymouth district. The Rampage Fitness facilities include wellbeing services onsite, such as physiotherapists, sports massage therapists, hair stylists, beauty therapists and more. For parents with time constraints there is a crèche at the Rampage City branch.
Mark says what he loves about working in a gym is witnessing the positive change in people over time, not just physically, but also in terms of confidence.
"I see a lot of people who start out hesitant and shy, and through their journey I see their confidence grow."
When asked why Rampage uses on-the-job qualifications for its staff, he says the benefits are similar. Rampage works with Skills Active and some 20 staff members have gone through either the Foundation Skills Level 2 qualification or the Exercise Consultant Level 3.
Mark says there is a lot of satisfaction in being part of a staff member's learning journey. They begin as passionate but untrained fitness lovers, and become qualified, reputable exercise consultants.
Having experienced trade training himself, Mark is a big fan of learning on the job. "There are situations that might arise in a work environment that textbooks just can't teach."
One challenge for Rampage's trainees, he says, has been adhering to the qualification timeframes – because many of the trainees are part-timers with other jobs, completing the study in their own time, on top of all the usual commitments – family, social life, and of course staying fit.
Rampage helps trainees deal with time pressure by providing support and guidance as they proceed through the qualification. Rampage Fitness has three onsite staff who are qualified Skills Active assessors, which in turn helps streamline the qualification process.
Mark comments that one of the reasons for the gym's high completion rate is the "scouting process" for new employees who exhibit the kind of passion and commitment that's needed to become qualified.
"We don't actually advertise for new employees. Since I've been involved in an ownership role, the employees we've hired have been members of the gym. We build a rapport, and then sound them out. This way we've chosen people who already fit the Rampage mould."
Five years from now Mark sees Rampage continuing to grow, while staying true to its primary belief that people of all ages who perform quality exercise can maintain lifelong fitness and as a result enjoy longer, happier and healthier lives.
With an ongoing commitment to staff training and growing the skill base, the organisation will be able to adapt to changing times, and won't get stuck in its ways, he says.
"For me, the fitness and wellbeing industry is all about lifestyle. You're never going to have a million zeroes next to your name, but knowing you're turning up each day to a positive environment makes it easier to get out of bed in the morning. It's very rewarding when your business is providing an environment where people can better their lives."


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Q: How to replicate the blurred text in Notification Center (iOS 8) I am playing with TodayExtension in iOS 8 and I wondered how to apply that blur effect to the Text or to buttons. I already figured out that it has something to do with UIVisualEffectView. But I don't know how to use it.
I am using Objective-C
Can anyone explain it to me how to achieve this?
Thanks, David

A: You are actually looking at two effects here. The background has a blur effect applied and the labels have a vibrancy effect applied.
For the blur effect you first initialize a UIBlurEffect with a style (dark, light, extra light):
UIBlurEffect *blurEffect = [UIBlurEffect effectWithStyle:UIBlurEffectStyleDark];

For the vibrancy effect you initialize a UIVibrancyEffect with the blur effect you just created:
UIVibrancyEffect *vibrancyEffect = [UIVibrancyEffect effectForBlurEffect:blurEffect];

This is because the vibrancy effect needs to take the underlying blur effect into account.
Next you create two UIVisualEffectViews:
UIVisualEffectView *blurEffectView = [[UIVisualEffectView alloc] initWithEffect:blurEffect];
UIVisualEffectView *vibrancyEffectView = [[UIVisualEffectView alloc] initWithEffect:vibrancyEffect];

These need to be added to the view hierarchy. UIVisualEffectView has a contentView property to which you must add subviews to which you want the respective effect applied. Ensure that vibrancyEffectView is added over, or as a subview of the contentView of, the blurEffectView.
You can also set all this up in IB (I'm using Xcode 6 beta 5). There is a "Visual Effect View with Blur" and a "Visual Effect Views with Blur and Vibrancy" in the Object Library that you can drag to a view. The "Visual Effect Views with Blur and Vibrancy" sets up two UIVisualEffectViews nested as described above.
Check out WWDC14 Session 221 and the UIVisualEffectView.h header for more info.

A: Updated Answer for iOS 10
In iOS 10, you can use widgetPrimaryVibrancyEffect and widgetSecondaryVibrancyEffect to automatically return a UIVibrancyEffect object.
Check out the documentation here and here.
Answer for iOS 9
Use this code to apply a vibrancy effect to your whole widget:
UIVisualEffectView *effectView = [[UIVisualEffectView alloc] initWithEffect:[UIVibrancyEffect notificationCenterVibrancyEffect]];
effectView.frame = self.view.bounds
effectView.autoresizingMask = self.view.autoresizingMask;

__strong UIView *oldView = self.view;

self.view = effectView;

[effectView.contentView addSubview:oldView];

self.view.tintColor = [UIColor clearColor];

A: The "Bearbeiten" button can be recreated by drawing a see through text on the button. How to do this has been answered in this post.
Please see below for my solution. The original iOS "Bearbeiten" still looks a bit different. I've made it look similar by changing the alpha. Not the right solution. Hope that this post will trigger someone to find the correct way to do it (and share it).
In viewDidLoad:
_pinButton.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
_pinButton.layer.cornerRadius = 4.0;
_pinButton.clipsToBounds = YES;

UIColor *white = [UIColor colorWithRed:1.0 green:1.0 blue:1.0 alpha:0.75];
UIColor *whiteT = [UIColor colorWithRed:1.0 green:1.0 blue:1.0 alpha:0.3];
UIFont *buttonFont = [UIFont fontWithName:@"HelveticaNeue" size:12.0];

[_pinButton setImage:[self imageWithCutOutString:@"Pin"
                                            size:_pinButton.frame.size
                                 backgroundColor:white
                                            font:buttonFont]
            forState:UIControlStateNormal];

[_pinButton setImage:[self imageWithCutOutString:@"Pin"
                                            size:_pinButton.frame.size
                                 backgroundColor:whiteT
                                            font:buttonFont]
            forState:UIControlStateHighlighted];

And the actual imageWithCutOutString method itself:
- (UIImage *)imageWithCutOutString:(NSString *)string size:(CGSize)size backgroundColor:(UIColor *)backgroundColor font:(UIFont *)font
{
    NSDictionary *textAttributes = @{ NSFontAttributeName:font };

    CGSize textSize = [string sizeWithAttributes:textAttributes];

    UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(size, NO, [[UIScreen mainScreen] scale]);
    CGContextRef ctx = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext();

    CGContextSetFillColorWithColor(ctx, backgroundColor.CGColor);

    UIBezierPath *path = [UIBezierPath bezierPathWithRect:CGRectMake(0.0, 0.0, size.width, size.height)];
    CGContextAddPath(ctx, path.CGPath);
    CGContextFillPath(ctx);

    CGContextSetBlendMode(ctx, kCGBlendModeDestinationOut);
    CGPoint center = CGPointMake((size.width - textSize.width) / 2.0, (size.height - textSize.height) / 2.0);
    [string drawAtPoint:center withAttributes:textAttributes];

    UIImage *image = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();

    UIGraphicsEndImageContext();

    return image;
}

A: I have tried the examples above but none of them seemed working out of the box. Here is a similar example which works for me:
- (void)viewDidLoad {
    [super viewDidLoad];

    UIVibrancyEffect *effect = [UIVibrancyEffect notificationCenterVibrancyEffect];

    UIVisualEffectView *outer = [[UIVisualEffectView alloc] initWithEffect:effect];
    outer.autoresizingMask = UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleHeight | UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleWidth;
    outer.frame = self.view.bounds;

    UIVisualEffectView *inner = [[UIVisualEffectView alloc] initWithEffect:effect];
    inner.autoresizingMask = UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleHeight | UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleWidth;
    inner.frame = self.view.bounds;

    UILabel *label = [UILabel new];
    label.text = @"HELLO, I am a vibrant label";
    label.autoresizingMask = UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleHeight | UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleWidth;
    label.frame = self.view.bounds;

    [inner.contentView addSubview:label];
    [outer.contentView addSubview:inner];
    [self.view addSubview:outer];
}

A: I was able to achieve the "Bearbeiten" button using AYVibrantButton with the AYVibrantButtonStyleFill style:
// Create the button
AYVibrantButton* moreButton = [[AYVibrantButton alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, 210, 30) style:AYVibrantButtonStyleFill];
// Set the vibrancy effect to the one provided by notification center
moreButton.vibrancyEffect = [UIVibrancyEffect notificationCenterVibrancyEffect];
// Setup basic button properties
moreButton.text = @"Show More..";
moreButton.font = [UIFont systemFontOfSize:13.0];
// Add it to your view
[self.view addSubview:moreButton];

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Advertising, marketing and sponsorship
Agency and distribution
Contracts: clause bank
Contractual joint ventures
Key developments and materials
Sale and supply of goods
Supply of services
Breach and remedies
Formation and interpretation
International contracts
Third parties, subcontracting and transfers
Varying a contract
Exclusivity in contract negotiations
The following Commercial practice note provides comprehensive and up to date legal information covering:
Negotiations and agreements to agree
Exclusivity or lock-out agreements
Lock-out obligations
Exclusivity period
No obligation to proceed
Effect of expiry or termination
Remedies for breach
Heads of terms
Duty to negotiate in good faith
Drafting option terms
Rights of first refusal or pre-emption
Break fees
This Practice Note considers exclusivity in the context of contract negotiations. It examines negotiations and agreements to agree, exclusivity or lock-out agreements, the duty to negotiate in good faith, options, rights of first refusal or pre-emption, and break fees.
For a template exclusivity agreement, see Precedent: Exclusivity agreement—commercial contracts.
Negotiations between parties to agree and conclude a deal can be long-winded, difficult and with many changes to terms. There is often a significant investment of time and cost, including legal and accounting fees, that may prove to be wasted if the parties are unable to agree and finalise the deal.
Conditions can change due to external factors, and the results of investigations may change the value of the subject of the deal as well as the negotiating positions of the parties. Where parties are considering a collaboration or joint venture project or a joint tender situation, there may be a period of due diligence where the parties explore how they may work together and agree roles and responsibilities. This is understandable and usually seen as reasonable.
However, a negotiating party may be less sympathetic at finding that the deal they have been negotiating has been usurped by another arrangement made by the other side with a third party. The unpopular practice of gazumping in the property market was a well-publicised example
Joint, several, and joint and several liability
Structure and form of commercial contracts
Precedents 1
Confidentiality letter—mutual
Can a party to a deed take the benefit of it without executing it?
Do you have a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for use with a consultant?
Under what grounds can a contract be deemed void if what the contract purported to do was impossible at the time the contract was concluded?
What is the status of a deposit paid under a contract upon termination for insolvency?
Where a business to business (B2B) contract provides for a fee to be increased annually at the supplier's 'prevailing rate', is there a requirement for such rate increase to be 'reasonable'?
Commercial / Contracts / Formation and interpretation
Parent company guarantees (PCGs) in construction
Parent company guarantees (PCGs) in constructionIn the construction industry, parent company guarantees (PCGs) are commonly given to the employer by the main contractor's holding company to guarantee the performance of the contract by the subsidiary main contractor. This is a requirement in almost
Mediation—advantages and disadvantages
Mediation—advantages and disadvantagesWhat is mediation?Mediation is one of the most recognised and common forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR).It is a form of assisted ADR in the sense that there is a third-party neutral involved who meets with the parties and seeks to help them in
Arbitration agreements—definition, purpose and interpretation
Arbitration agreements—definition, purpose and interpretationThis Practice Note considers the nature and scope of arbitration agreements with a particular focus on arbitration agreements pursuant to the law of England and Wales, although it also discusses the concept from an international
Derivative claim—what it is and when to use it
Derivative claim—what it is and when to use itA guide to specific terminology used in this Practice Note is provided—see below.What is a derivative claim?A derivative claim (or derivative action) is a claim brought or continued by a shareholder on behalf of the company in relation to a breach of


HARRISBURG – Rep. Karen Boback (R-Lackawanna/Luzerne/Wyoming) today announced that she has been named chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Welfare. She will serve on the Appropriations, Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness, Tourism and Recreational Development, and Agriculture and Rural Affairs committees in the 2015-16 legislative session.
In addition to her role as a subcommittee chairman, Boback's work on the Appropriations Committee will involve participation in hearings regarding Gov. Tom Wolf's upcoming budget plan, which are essential to the creation of a House budget proposal.


The race that stops the nation is just around the corner, and where better to celebrate than at Cloudland in Fortitude Valley?
Tickets are now on sale for the venue's two massive parties they're holding on November 6, the biggest day on the racing (and fashion!) calendar – Melbourne Cup 2018.
This promises to be Cloudland's biggest Melbourne Cup bash yet, spread across three levels with the best in food, drink, fashion and live entertainment.
The event will feature a dazzling array of fashion, food, drink and live entertainment galore.
Fashions on the field judging will be among the fabulous prizes, giveaways, raffles and sweeps held on the day.
Live entertainment will be on offer throughout the afternoon with bands, roaming artists, DJs and special guests.
All of the day's racing is shown on the venues giant screens, and the party continues after the big race with live entertainment well into the night.
With your choice of the Cocktail Party or the Gala Luncheon there is something to suit your taste and budget.
Cloudland says last year's Melbourne Cup event sold out quickly and many of the private rooms have already been sold, so those wanting to celebrate are urged to book tickets early to avoid disappointment.
12.30pm – 3.30pm: the party continues after the big race with live entertainment well into the night!
12.00pm – 3.30pm: the party continues after the big race with live entertainment well into the night!
Cloudland will hold both parties on November 6. For more details and to book your tickets, visit the Cloudland website here.


text:
Der Olmekenkärpfling (Priapella olmecae) ist ein seltener Süßwasserzierfisch aus der Familie der Lebendgebärenden Zahnkarpfen. Er bewohnt Teile der präkolumbischen Heimat der Olmeken im südöstlichen Mexiko.

Merkmale
Weibchen dieses Kärpflings erreichen eine Länge von bis zu sechs Zentimeter, Männchen bleiben einen Zentimeter kleiner. Der Körperbau in beiden Geschlechtern ist etwas gedrungen mit kurzem und spitz zulaufendem Kopf. Ausgewachsene Männchen besitzen einen Schuppenkiel auf der Unterseite des Schwanzstiels. Sowohl Männchen als auch Weibchen sind von graubrauner bis bläulicher Farbe. Die unpaaren Flossen sind orange bis rötlich getönt, auch das Gonopodium der Männchen. Brust- und Bauchflossen sind farblos. Die Iris leuchtet wie bei allen Priapella-Arten intensiv blau.

Vorkommen und Lebensweise
Das Verbreitungsgebiet des Olmekenkärpflings beschränkt sich auf einige Flüsse und Seen in Tuxtlas im mexikanischen Bundesstaat Veracruz. Der Kärpfling wurde im Río Agua Frio, Río de la Palma, Río las Maquinas und im Catemaco-See sowie einigen benachbarten Lagunen nachgewiesen.

Der Olmekenkärpfling bewohnt sowohl die schnell als auch die langsam strömenden Bereiche der Flüsse. Die Wassertemperaturen liegen zwischen 21 und 27 °C. Das Wasser ist klar, das Flussbett besteht aus Kies und Schlamm. Wasserpflanzen sind nicht vorhanden, aber dichte Vegetation beschattet die Ufer. Der Kärpfling tritt zusammen mit Schwertträgern (Xiphophorus hellerii) und Poecilia mexicana auf, im Río Agua Frio kommt er zusammen mit Platys (Xiphophorus maculatus) und Heterandria bimaculata vor.

Verhaltensbiologie
Olmekenkärpflinge sind Gegenstand verhaltensbiologischer Forschung. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass sowohl Männchen als auch Weibchen eine Präferenz für Geschlechtspartner besitzen, denen ein künstliches Schwert ähnlich dem des verwandten Schwertträgers (Xiphophorus hellerii) angebracht wurde.

Einzelnachweise

Literatur
 Lothar Wischnath: Atlas of Livebearers of the World. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune (New Jersey) 1993, ISBN 0-86622-368-1

Weblinks

Lebendgebärende Zahnkarpfen
Aquarienfisch (Süßwasser)


text:
Broken promises follow Tennessee coal ash disaster
By Sue Sturgis on Dec 22, 2009
Aerial view of the coal ash spill at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston power plant.SkyTruth
It was one year ago today that a 60-foot-tall dam broke at a holding pond at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston power plant in Roane County, Tenn., dumping more than a billion gallons of toxic coal ash onto a nearby community and into the Clinch and Emory rivers.
The largest industrial waste spill in U.S. history, the ash slide covered more than half a square mile, damaging 42 residential properties, knocking one home completely off its foundation and rendering three others uninhabitable. It dumped some 2.66 million pounds of 10 toxic pollutants including arsenic, lead, and mercury into the nearby rivers — more than all the surface-water discharges from all U.S. power plants in 2007, according to a recent analysis. The pollutants in coal ash have been linked to health problems including cancer, liver damage and nervous-system disorders.
The disaster pushed the obscure issue of coal ash waste disposal into the national spotlight and spurred the Tennessee Valley Authority and federal regulators to promise swift action to prevent anything like it from occurring again.
But on the first anniversary of the TVA coal ash disaster, those promises have been broken.
Shortly after the incident, at a public meeting held in the Roane County community of Harriman, Tenn., TVA President and CEO Tom Kilgore told affected residents that the utility would make them whole again and clean up the waste in six to eight weeks. But today, the Emory River remains closed to public traffic near the spill, ponds in the area are still clogged with several feet of coal ash, and dust from the ash is a chronic problem for local residents, some of whom complain of related health problems including coughing, nosebleeds, and headaches.
While TVA has bought out some property owners, other affected residents say moving isn't possible because the utility isn't offering them fair compensation for their property, or because it doesn't consider them to be close enough to qualify for a buyout.
"Residents here have letters from pulmonologists, cardiologists, and family doctors stating that they need to move or be relocated until the cleanup is complete," says Randy Ellis, a Swan Pond resident and a member of the Roane County Long Term Recovery Committee. "Their concerns and health are being totally ignored by the TVA."
But coal ash is not a hazard only for the people living near TVA's Kingston plant: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has documented 584 coal ash waste disposal sites across the United States and classifies 49 of those as high-hazard, meaning that a breach in their impoundments could kill people.
At the same time, an unknown number of those sites are leaking contaminants into the environment — a disaster less dramatic than what happened at Kingston but still dangerous to human health. Most coal ash surface impoundments in the U.S. are still unlined and thus pose the very real risk of water contamination. In fact, coal ash disposal sites have already poisoned surface or groundwater supplies in at least 23 states, while all 13 of those operated by the two major utilities in North Carolina are leaking contaminants to groundwater.
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson promised that the EPA would release a proposed regulation of coal ash by the end of this year. But last week, EPA announced that it was delaying the rule's release "due to the complexity of the analysis." Meanwhile, TVA has said it intends to convert all its existing wet coal ash storage ponds to somewhat less hazardous dry storage — but it's waiting for the EPA's proposal before making any firm plans.
So on the first anniversary of the Kingston disaster, coal ash remains unregulated by the federal government — and thus Americans remain at serious risk from its hazards.
Held hostage by TVA
It was in the early morning hours of Dec. 22, 2008 when the dam constructed of coal ash gave way at TVA's Kingston plant. Shortly before 1 a.m., calls began pouring into the local 911 operator about a "mud slide." One caller panicked because she couldn't reach her father — who as it turned out was trapped inside his house by the ash.
More than 22 residences were evacuated, but no one was hurt or killed by the dam's collapse. Had the the incident occurred on a sunny summer day when people were outside in their yards or on the river, things could have turned out much differently.
The morning after the dam's breach, the sun rose to reveal a shocking sight: a once-scenic riverside community covered in gray coal ash six feet deep in some spots. TVA's Kilgore himself likened the appearance of the ruined land to a "moonscape."
As it turned out, TVA had already known there were serious problems with the integrity of its Kingston ash impoundment. Local residents reported earlier leaks in the dam going back as far as 2001, and the utility itself later acknowledged there were leaks in 2003 and 2006. But the company obviously failed to take adequate action to guard against collapse.
And in the disaster's wake, TVA continued to behave in ways that deepened distrust in the local community and wider public.
For example, the company released inaccurate information about the incident, as confirmed by an audit released in June by the agency's Inspector General. TVA's documented inaccuracies included dramatically underestimating the amount of ash spilled, claiming incorrectly that no dead fish were found downstream of the disaster, and describing coal ash as consisting primarily of "inert material not harmful to the environment," the audit found. Scientists have documented serious potential health effects from coal ash.
The utility also misled the public about the radiation threat from the ash, likening the material to table salt when in fact researchers found significant levels of cancer-causing radioactive elements.
In addition, the Inspector General found that TVA had failed to communicate policies and decisions to victims of the spill in a timely manner. In a recent report to the community [pdf], TVA said it's "learned a lot" over the past year including the "importance of listening" — but some spill victims remain unhappy with the way the utility is dealing with them.
During a press conference held last weekend in Harriman, Tenn., residents of the Swan Pond Road community spoke out about their ongoing problems with TVA. Some neighbors have asked the utility to buy their homes but say it's offered them less than what their properties were worth before the spill. Others say TVA has refused to negotiate with them and in some cases cut off communications entirely.
They're also upset over an incident back in September in which the utility — with permission from Tennessee's Department of Environmental Conservation — conducted an unannounced test burn of a high-sulfur coal at the Kingston plant, which resulted in mysterious white fallout snowing down on their community. The pollution reportedly damaged automobile finishes and gardens, yet Kingston plant officials told local residents they didn't know whether it was hazardous.
Environmental advocates have been critical of TVA's behavior since the disaster as well. Activists with United Mountain Defense experienced harassment by TVA's police force while working with local residents. And Upper Watauga Riverkeeper Donna Lisenby of Appalachian Voices reports that in her river trips near the disaster site she found TVA's automated water sampler almost a mile downstream from where the ash cleanup operations are underway — a distance she believes is probably too far to measure any re-contamination that might be occurring as a result of the dredging. UMD and Appalachian Voices are among the 15 groups that recently wrote to President Obama asking that TVA be held accountable for its violations.
"They want our trust," said Kingston neighbor Rick Cantrell. "They're not going to get any. They've shut the residents out. They won't talk to us, and we just can't trust them."
A promise the President must keep
At her Jan. 14, 2009 confirmation hearing to head the EPA under President Obama, Lisa Jackson promised to immediately assess coal ash disposal sites and to consider ways to regulate the ash — something the agency recommended in 2000 but declined to do under the Bush administration.
"The EPA currently has, and has in the past, assessed its regulatory options, and I think it is time to re-ask those questions," Jackson said at the hearing.
U.S. power plants produce over 130 million tons of coal ash waste each year — the nation's second-largest waste stream after ordinary household trash. Currently subject to an uneven patchwork of state regulations, the ash is not treated as hazardous under federal law despite the clear risks it presents to human health and the environment.
After being confirmed as EPA chief, Jackson did take action on coal ash. The agency sent out information requests to more than 160 electric generation facilities and more than 60 corporate offices in an effort to gather data on coal waste surface impoundments like the one that failed at Kingston. It created a database with information on the ash dumps, and it identified the 49 high-hazard facilities using utilities' self-reported data.
The agency also completed a study on toxins in wastewater discharges from coal ash impoundments, concluding that current guidelines should be revised because of the significant toxic releases from these facilities and the likelihood that these will increase in the future as better air pollution controls are developed and installed.
But the EPA has proven reluctant at times to share its findings with the public.
For example, the agency initially refused to reveal the location of high-hazard coal ash dumps, citing security concerns. It eventually relented under pressure from Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and environmental advocates.
Today EPA continues to withhold certain data about more than 70 coal ash dump sites at the request of power companies, honoring their claim that it represents "confidential business information." Among the pieces of data being withheld by companies including Duke Energy and the Southern Company are the size of the ash ponds, the date they were last inspected, and whether any problems were found. The environmental advocacy groups Earthjustice, the Environmental Integrity Project and Sierra Club filed a complaint in federal court earlier this month in an effort to get the information.
Also sparking criticism among some environmental advocates was EPA's decision to allow the coal ash being dredged from the spill site to be sent to a landfill located in a high-poverty and largely African-American community in rural Alabama. That decision was among the topics of discussion in a recent meeting between EPA officials and environmental justice leaders concerned about the agency's treatment of low-income communities and communities of color in the South.
Jackson promised that the EPA would release proposed regulations for coal ash by the end of this year, and reportedly is considering several different approaches. But environmentalists expressed disappointment after the agency announced last week that the regulation's release would be delayed "for a short period." They also raised concerns that lobbyists for coal-fired utilities have mounted a disinformation campaign designed to minimize the hazards of coal ash and make regulation seem less urgent than it is.
In the meantime, toxic coal ash continues piling up at power plants across the country. The waste also continues to be used to make various products including grout and wallboard [pdf], spread on roads for ice control, used as fill for abandoned coal mines or to prepare roadbeds. It's even promoted as a soil amendment for food crops — all without the benefit of strict federal oversight.
The EPA said it expects to issue a proposed rule in the "near future." Environmental advocates say they hope that means early next month.
"The Obama administration has pledged to let law and science guide its environmental decisions, not the arm twisting of industry lobbyists," according to a statement from Earthjustice, the Environmental Integrity Project, Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club. "That is a promise President Obama must keep."
This post originally appeared at Facing South.
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This is the second book of the original series of three, that cover the principle and theory of industrial fluid power. This text is slightly more in depth than Volume I and will further enhance the understanding of circuit design and component application.
This book is used as a textbook in our own fluid power schools. Previous editions have been used for many years by hundreds of vocational schools, technical schools, colleges, fluid power component manufacturers for in-house training of employees, and by fluid power distributors for holding seminars or for conducting training schools for customers.