This project helped build self-confidence and allowed me to be open to what's new in the world. Explaining this program to others and in looking back on everything it offered, I realize how much I have grown as a person and how happy it made me. My greatest accomplishments since participating in ProjectFocus have been going to college and traveling to the mainland. I am most proud of sharing this experience with others and being able to come back 10 years later to participate in it again. I'm proud of having a mother who was open to letting us try something new by being in this program. My dream for the future is to travel and become a doctor or medical assistant.
Yoshiko2014 | Reflections. In Their Words.


text:
Why Print?
Marketing effectiveness in the digital age
Marketing in a changed media landscape
Print Power, Strijdersstraat 4, B-1560 Hoeilaart (Brussels), Belgium
© Print Power 2022
How to use magazines effectively in the media mix
EY-led print Hackathon delivers innovative idea
News brands role in providing facts and opinion
Words by: Print Power
A major new study 'World Without News' explores the role of news brands in a contemporary landscape. The research has revealed how the nation's appreciation and value of journalism has increased significantly since the onset of the global coronavirus pandemic.
Highlights and insights from the research:
70% agree you can trust newspapers to be on top of all the news stories at the time
82% agree that newspapers bring you a variety of news, even stories you hadn't previously heard of
83% agree that newspapers cover all aspects of the news, not just one particular type of news
80% agree newspapers are great at laying out everything to help you make sense of a story, issue or event
Under 35-year-olds are more likely to change their opinion or behaviour after reading a news story
Against a backdrop of fake news, disinformation and attacks on free speech, 66% of news consumers said they "appreciate and value journalism more since the global coronavirus pandemic began".
Encouragingly, the increase is most stark in the under 35-year-olds, with 77% valuing the work of journalists more now in providing reliable information and news.
Younger people are increasingly using trusted news brands to check what they see on social media. Although 42% of under 35-year-olds said they used social media more throughout the height of the pandemic, seven in ten of those said they felt less anxious about a story they had seen on social media once they had then checked it out via a news brand.
And 70% of all respondents agreed that a "world without journalism would harm democratic society" – nearly all those cited the work journalists do in "covering important topics and issues that might otherwise be overlooked" and are "important to society".
The in-depth research also identified six goals that consuming news helps individuals to achieve including: connecting with others; calibrating the world around us; and, helping us, as individuals, to thrive.
Commenting on the launch of 'World Without News', Jo Allan, managing director at Newsworks, said: "This research clearly shows the importance of trusted news and information. Journalism matters to increasingly large numbers of people who are relying on news brands more than ever, especially amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"This is our biggest study to date and what has emerged is the essential and growing role news plays in bringing us together, providing us with different perspectives and helping us to understand what is happening in the world around us."
Spanning a total of nine months, across two periods – pre and post lockdown – the research began with semiotics analysis that decoded the different techniques 15 different news outlets used to cover five key news stories. Following this we conducted out a unique behavioural experiment that deprived regular readers from consuming news brands. Conversely, a group of non-news readers were asked to read a news brand every single day for the same four-day period. Finally, we looked to substantiate our findings via a 24-hour news diary amongst 1135 news consumers and nationally representative surveys in both February and August 2020.
The study 'World Without News' was done by Newsworks together with Office of Ideologies, Map the Territory and Tapestry Research.
Source: Newsworks, https://www.newsworks.org.uk/resources/world-without-news
Newsbrands
Marketers to support print media
How newsbrands add value to multi-media campaign
Why print media?
Sign up to our newsletter (or don't)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Gonzo Signs With White Sox For $125k
You can study all the features of the device in the demo mode, which allows you to play Gonzo's Quest slot machine for free and without informative post registration. Instead of the spinning reels that are used to seeing in most slots, in this game the symbols fall from top to bottom and stack on top of each other. Gonzo's Quest Touch is the official name for the mobile version of the slot.
In the Free Falls, all of these multipliers are 3-times higher.
As for symbols that payout on the lower end of the spectrum, these are playing cards from 10 to Ace.
Whilst a £50 per spin maximum will meet the needs of most players, the most experienced of high rollers may find this a little limited.
Spin Palace Casino – You cannot play Gonzo's Quest here as the game is not yet in the casinos list.
This game has a reasonably interesting story, starting in 1541, with the main character being Gonzo, the conquistador himself.
There are 20 paylines where you need to get at least three matching masks to get a win.
The symbols of the Gonzo Quest slot machine are coloured tiles.
During a mission on 28 March 1970, the VF-142 F-4 crew of Lts Jerome E. Beaulier and Steven J. Barkley downed a North Vietnamese MiG-21. Following a total of 128 days on the line,Constellation's nine-month deployment ended in May, with CVW-14 suffering the loss of seven total aircraft, five to enemy action. One aircrewman was taken as a POW, but there were no fatalities.
Rough Times
No, Gonzo's Gold free play is created only to familiarize with the game's basic rules and does not provide for betting for real money. That is why you cannot withdraw your winnings, as you do not wager real money. Before a Free True-blue Gaming No deposit Rules Fall round begins, you are given a chance to try your luck with the Royal Wheel feature, where you play for more Gonzo's Quest free spins. Just like the original Gonzo's Quest slot, the Megaways™ sequel also uses the Avalanche feature.
Searches Related To "gonzo Sex Tubes"
Once you do it, however, you need to prepare for the big win. The rewards aren't huge, and there are no progressive jackpots, but there are lots of chances to win due to avalanches, free falls, and multipliers. Gonzo's Quest is the game for you, whether you want to play for joy or for money. The fourth is the most valuable, with a 5x wager multiplier and a 15x free falls multiplier. From the leftmost reel to the rightmost reel, the winning symbols on the 20 paylines must be in order.
Gonzo's Gold is a cluster pays slot, without a cascade/reaction mechanic, that climaxes in a symbol expansion feature during free spins. The high RTP of 96% allows getting a positive expected value of winning at the online casino. The main goal of the game is to activate the bonus spins, and often the game allows you to count on replenishing the balance.
Promotions And Offers At Super Cat Casino
Restaurants, theatre and musical shows, shopping, spa and relaxation, clubs and nightlife, casinos, slots and poker. Giving you the best information for your visit to Las Vegas. BonusFinder.com is a user-driven and independent casino review portal.
It was NetEnt's first premium slot, and it raised the bar when it comes to gameplay, features and graphics. This game was the first to introduce the now iconic Avalanche feature. This not only gives you a shot at multiple wins on each spin, but it also offers a chance of huge payouts thanks to increasing multipliers.
Make sure you get the latest and best casino bonus by using our link to the SuperCat bonus page. This includes the first time for the RAGNAROK anime to be available in HD remastered form. All three series will be live until November 30 with English subtitles, so dive in while you can. Fans of Gonzo anime are in for a treat, as Funimation has teamed up with the famed production house to offer a trio of mid 2000s anime for free. Starting now, RAGNAROK – THE ANIMATION, Burst Angel, and Witchblade are live on Funimation's YouTube channel and Gonzo K.K.
This is an advantage for players, as generally speaking, the higher the payout percentage, the better the conditions for the player. This game may be over 8 years old, yet the graphics and animations have not dated at all. The colour palate is eye-catching, with plenty of bold colours reflecting the jungle setting and the adventurous theme. The symbols on the reels are depicted as rocks, and with every spin, you'll catch a glimpse of the golden destination that Gonzo seeks. This approach captures the exploration storyline and reminds you that this wall is all that stands between the explorer and the riches he is searching for.
Frequently involved in mischief, Thompson ran with a group of friends that were constantly testing the limits. Hunter S. Thompson showed a knack for writing at a young age, and after high school began his career in journalism while serving in the United States Air Force. However, his fondness for substances also contributed to several bouts of poor health, and in 2005 Thompson committed suicide at the age of 67. We want to ensure that making a return is as easy and hassle-free as possible! If for any reason you decide that your purchase just isn't for you, simply return the item within 30 days of receipt and we'll cover the cost of return shipping. Potty Racers is a fun racing game in which you must build your very own potty and attempt to fly it as far as possible by hurtling down a hillside and launching off a ramp!


You spent so many years trying not to get her pregnant, so when you finally want to become a dad, you might be surprised to discover that conceiving isn't as easy as you may have thought. In fact, one in eight couples have trouble getting pregnant. And in one out of every three cases, the problem is on the guy's end, according to the fertility organisation Resolve. "Normal sperm counts have declined in the last several decades," says Ajay Nangia, M.B.B.S., a professor of urology at the University of Kansas Medical Center specialising in male infertility.
Turn off Netflix and get to bed: Guys who logged less than six hours of sleep per night were 31 percent less likely to get their partners pregnant than guys who slept for 7 to 8 hours per night, according to a preliminary study in the journal Fertility & Sterility.
Lack of sleep may lower your production of the hormone testosterone, which is essential for sperm production, researchers say.
But too much shuteye isn't the answer, either: Men who snoozed for more than nine hours a night also demonstrated lower levels of fertility. So shoot for seven to eight hours a night—the sweet spot in the study.
Popular commercial lubes like K-Y can hamper your sperm's motility, or their ability to efficiently swim towards the egg to fertilise it, a 2014 study in Fertility & Sterility found. The lubes' thick consistency may make it difficult for the sperm to move, says Dr. Nangia.
Instead, stick with a fertility-friendly lube like PreSeed, which is less damaging to sperm, the study found.
Related: What Exactly Is Folic Acid, And Should You Be Taking It?
Plus, if your soda habit is making you fat, that could pose its own problem. Too much fat prompts your body to pump out less testosterone and more oestrogen, which is bad for your fertility, Dr. Nangia says.
Cell phone exposure may hurt the way your sperm move, and decrease the number that are swimming around, a British review of 10 studies concluded. The radiation emitted from phones could cause DNA damage to sperm. And the heat from a phone could raise the temperature inside your scrotum and hamper sperm production, researchers say.
Drinking 25 or more drinks per week is linked to a significant decline in sperm quality, one Danish study found. And guys who downed 40 drinks per week had 33 percent lower sperm counts and 51 percent less healthy sperm than those who drank only one to five drinks a week.


I have an awful memory from the summer of 2007 that haunts me to this day. Sunni, Janelle and I had been with Ava, Ella and Jackson at an amazing neighborhood pool. It was seriously like a resort. They were somewhere between 16 and 18 months old. Jackson loved the water and played so hard. Eventually he started to melt down and by the time I could get all our junk together to leave, he had lost it. It was nearly impossible trying to manage the pool bag, a loud and thrashing toddler who was very strong, and the dumb float that he never liked. The car was a long way off and I'd regrettably not used the stroller. I hope you're able to picture this.
Right outside the pool gate, I accidentally dropped the float on the sidewalk. I was already ticked about having to leave and embarrassed about the spectacle that we were, and at that moment I completely lost all sense. I've blocked out what I may or may not have said-slash-growled, but I definitely remember kicking the float as hard as I could. I looked up and realized another lady and her family had seen the whole thing. Luckily, the mom was older and she gave me a look of compassion instead of judgment. She said, "That's so hard. It just never ends well."
Ugh! I hate remembering that. I can't believe I lost it like that in public. I'm not sure my description sounds as dramatic as it actually was - at least to me. On the inside I felt totally out of control.
Annabeth was the epitome of a "good baby." She slept well, she sat in my lap when I wanted her to, she was easygoing and peaceful. My friends would marvel at this. And since she's my second, I knew it had nothing to do with amazing mothering skillz, a special genetic gifting, or anything besides a gift from God in the form of a mild temperament. All glory and honor and praise be His forevermore. Amen.
Three years have passed and now my precious little girl is the same age Jackson was when I made a donkey of myself at Sunni's pool. Annabeth is still a good and sweet little thing, but she gets spicier by the day. Only now I can laugh at it a little and it's easier to let it roll off my back. It wasn't very funny when it was Jackson because I didn't know it would end. People would tell me that but I didn't believe them. I think, too, that I've gotten used to humiliating and uncontrollable situations.
This morning we met up with several of my best friends from college - Maggie, Missy and Mel - and their little ones. I'm the only one who still lives here in Houston, so it was very unusual and exciting to get to do this. It happened once last summer when three of us had new infants to be introduced. Today we met in a home and tried to catch up with each other while the kids played. Jackson was the oldest, then Brynne at age 3.5, then Lucy and Annabeth who were born 9 days apart, then Nate who is 12 months, and finally sweet Maddy who was born on Jackson's birthday this year.
After a little playing, we got geared up to go to the pool. It took a lot of effort to get everyone dressed, sun-screened, and packed up. We finally got there and before we could step foot in the water, it was adult swim. During that time Annabeth had one of the biggest meltdowns she's ever had in public. There was literally nothing I could do to stop it. NOTHING. And I really wanted to hang out with my friends. And I really wanted to let my little guy swim. Bless his heart.
We made it long enough to immerse ourselves in the big pool for 30 seconds before I realized it was a lost cause. I told Jackson we were going to get a Happy Meal to try to ease the pain of it, and we made our way out. I was not happy. It was not fun. I was very disappointed, frustrated, and embarrassed. I definitely had to take some deep breaths. But I did not freak out!
I set my eyes on a Sonic and pointed my car that way. A Dr. Pepper with little round ice pellets (and I'm not gonna lie - a cheeseburger) would make me feel better. Do you know what helped even more than that? Remembering the donkey-pool incident of 2007. Similar circumstances - harder really - and a different outcome? Maybe, just maybe, I have grown as a person! As a mother! Praise the Lord!
Now that I've written those words, I need to give a disclaimer about how much I struggle every minute of every day as a mother. This is the hardest job in the world and I constantly wonder why God thought I was cut out for this.
This is Missy's son, Nate, after he was suitably sun-screened.
I could not resist getting a picture of his Coppertone Hair.
This is Little Miss Tantrum herself.
Mel's daughter, Brynne, and Jackson.
Maggie's sweetie, Lucy, and Jacks.
Me and the kids, Mel and Brynne (Maddy was asleep), Maggie and Lucy, Missy and Nate.
Annabeth fell asleep about 5 minutes into our 30 minute drive home. Once she was in her bed, Jackson and I went outside to play with the water hose. I had my Sonic Dr. Pepper and it was all good.
When we left the pool we were all soaking wet and in our bathing suits. Annabeth just woke up and all I can say is that swim diapers are not nap-friendly.
Y'all, check out the giveaway my friend Beth is doing on her blog. You could win some cool stuff from her Love September Etsy shop. The giveaway ends at 9 am tomorrow.
It's Sunday night and, again, I'm sad to say goodbye to such a great weekend.
A couple of weeks ago I got a little desperate for a getaway with my husband. I was feeling a little dramatic and like I could not carry on if I did not get a break. My life is wonderful but at that time I needed a little distance from it to reclaim my sanity. Perhaps you've been there before. Luckily, we had a free weekend on the calendar, a very loving set of grandparents who acted like it was their greatest pleasure in life to keep our kids, and an island an hour away just begging for us to visit.
We said happy goodbyes and "I'll miss you! But it'll be a happy miss!" I learned that line from my mother and father. Then we set our sights on Galveston Island and made the 90 minute journey to the ocean.
We were still a little bit tense from packing, not to mention all the shenanigans that we've experienced lately, and I hoped there was enough time in the weekend to shake it off and enjoy ourselves. Bit by bit the managerial attitudes fell away and we found ourselves again. Curtis started to make jokes. I was less controlling. He enjoyed eating for the first time since his surgery. I focused on him. We laughed a lot. It felt good. Date nights are great but it's hard to achieve something like this in a couple of hours.
Our island arrival coincided with lunchtime. We went straight to Pier 21 and had lunch at Fisherman's Wharf. I had a shrimp po-boy that changed my life. I wanted to take a picture of it but I sensed that my husband was not on board with that. So here's what I have.
The Elissa. We were too cheap to buy tickets to board it.
Next we walked across the street to The Strand. We went in the Army surplus store, which Curtis loved. Our most important stop was La King's Confectionery. It's a really special place and if you're familiar with it I'm sure you agree. We'd been to the island a week before Hurricane Ike hit, which made the storm's damage a lot harder for me to swallow. When we visited Galveston last Fourth of July La King's was still closed. Actually, I think most of The Strand was still closed at that point.
I was in a celebratory mood and partook of some apple pie ice cream. This was the server's interpretation of "just a little bit." I regretted that ice cream cone all weekend, due to my body's hatred for milk. It was fun for the 4 minutes that it lasted.
You cannot believe how fast this stuff melted once we walked outside.
My other favorite place on The Strand was The Waterwall Cafe. I was trying to explain to Curtis that it wasn't because of how good the food was, but because it held so many memories. Last summer we were sad to see that it was closed and the space was up for lease. The good news is that it has been made into something new. The bad news is that it's a wine bar and I'm pretty sure I can't take my kids there for hamburgers.
By this time we were wilting in the heat and 80% humidity, so we headed to the San Luis hotel. Our room was awesome and we had a great view of the ocean and of the pool.
And the view to the east.
We spent a couple of hours in and by the pool. Curtis took a nap on the lounge chair and woke up a new man. We had dinner that night at Tortuga's (Baja Mexican food) and then we drove all the way to the western tip of the island. I think it's so fun to look at all the different beach houses.
Galveston gets a lot of flack for lacking in beauty and cleanliness. What's so sad is that I had never seen it more beautiful than the week before Ike. I want the island to live well and prosper but it's times like these when you know why people say the things they do. The beach was inundated with sea weed and where there were piles of it, it stunk to high heaven. It was so powerful we could smell it from inside our car. Bless Galveston's heart - it isn't her fault but it is her problem. Hopefully the sea weed will go away soon.
I wasn't feeling very brave about the beach, so we decided to spend the next day at Schlitterbahn water park. It was so much fun! I didn't take my camera and that's a total bummer because it was my favorite part. We got there when it opened at 10 and left at noon as it was getting more crowded. We did everything we wanted to do at least once. I think my favorite thing was just floating in the river with the rapids. That's what I love about the original Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels, but I haven't been there in years.
something is very wrong with my husband because he fell out of his tube at the water park at least ten times. Me? Zero times.
We realized we needed to eat, so we went back to our hotel and shared a burger and chips and guacamole by the pool. The guacamole was so very amazing. It is one of the many reasons I stocked up on Lean Cuisines tonight and will be counting WW points for the next week. After swimming in the pool a little longer, we went back to our room to get cleaned up. I took a nice little nap and then had to wrangle my dumb hair into submission. My hair and sea air are arch enemies.
For dinner we had pizza at a restaurant called Mario's. I got a little peeved that they sat us in between two large tables with lots of little kids. But we ended up enjoying them and missing our own! Next we found a little movie theater and saw a movie. The sun had sapped all my energy and I was primed for the earliest bed time ever.
We had to be back in town for Curt to teach Sunday school, so the alarm clock went off early this morning. It was a little weird to wake up on Father's Day and not have our kids with us. After church we had lunch at Goode Company Seafood with my parents, grandparents, and Aunt Tina's family. It was great to be back with the kids. Annabeth was looking adorable and she was in a very toddlery mood. I just have to laugh when she gets like that. It's like she has surges of aggression that she doesn't know what to do with.
The kids have both talked incessantly about my parents. I know they had a great time with them and were very well taken care of. I'm so grateful for their willingness to keep them.
Finally, happy Father's Day to my Pappaw, my sweet Daddy, and my wonderful husband! I had absolutely no idea what qualities I should look for in a guy that would turn into a good father. Even if I had, I'm not sure I would have prioritized it. There are times when I watch Curtis interacting with the kids that I just stand there in awe. He's such a great dad. Jackson and Annabeth are so very blessed. Also, happy 57th anniversary to Memaw and Pappaw. I'm thankful for their example of love and faithfulness in the midst of literally every high and low this life has to offer.
Curtis, I'm so thankful for ten years with you.
June 16, 2000, is when everything changed.
I'd just finished my sophomore year of college and was one of four summer interns working in the missions department at my home church. The other interns were Kay Bridgwater, whom I'd grown up with, and Jerrell Altic, a college student from Missouri. Kay and Jerrell had met the previous summer as missions interns and by the end of it they were in l-o-v-e. The fourth intern was going to be another guy from Missouri named Curt Jones. Everyone already knew him well but I'd never met him. Strangely, our two bosses, William and Bob, seemed to think This Curt Jones Guy and I were going to hit it off and get married.
Seriously? For once I was hoping not to be distracted by a boy. I didn't really want to hear about my supposed future with some guy from Missouri named Curt Jones. At the same time, Curt Jones was having to hear about some chick named Amanda Moore down in Houston and he didn't really want to hear it either.
The week of June 16, 2000, we were in Missouri helping lead an event called Mission Vision. Mission Vision consisted of a handful of youth groups and leaders staying in Hamlin Baptist Church. We did missions training and various projects during the day and at night we had speakers, a drama group called Clear Vision, and worship with By the Tree.
After Mission Vision, This Curt Jones Guy was going to come back to Houston with us and work for the rest of the summer. I hoped that at least he'd be cool and we'd get along well.
I should mention that I didn't even want to go to Mission Vision. I can't remember how I justified to my boss, William Taylor, that I would need to come home early. He conceded and I had a plane ticket to get me home in the middle of the week. I was such a good intern! Bless my heart, we were only a week into the job and I'd not yet realized how much dying to self ministry requires. I'm definitely not done learning that lesson.
Back to June 16, 2000.
Mission Vision hadn't yet started. Jerrell, Kay and I drove over to the home of This Curt Jones Guy to pick him up and go to a water park in Branson for the day. Curtis got in Jerrell's Chevy Blazer and had his cap so low over his face that I couldn't even tell what he looked like. Of course I was trying to figure that out. Even though I was trying not to go there, I remember reasoning that if our bosses' predictions turned out to be right, I would always remember meeting him there in the driveway. But surely they were wrong.
We had a great time at Whitewater with no shortage of awkward moments. Really, who wants to be in a bathing suit the first time they meet a new co-worker? At one point we were waiting to get our tubes to take up to the top of a water slide. I was first in line and the next tube that came was a double. If I took it, then I'd have to get in it with This Curt Jones Guy I barely knew. No thank you. I let it pass and took a single. Awkward! Jerrell, of course, called attention to the weird moment and I've never lived it down.
I couldn't tell what Curt's personality was like until the four of us had a little brainstorming session while sitting in front of the wave pool on some lounge chairs. Curt was in charge of student recreation at Mission Vision and we were helping him think of a theme. Here's what we came up with in our 20-year-old humor and brilliance - The Toilet Bowl: Like the Super Bowl, but Different! Nice, right? The daily rec prizes were a plunger, a toilet paper roll, a toilet seat, and a bed pan. We spray painted everything gold. And that is how I bonded with my future husband.
That night - June 16, 2000 - found the four of us praying in Jerrell's parents' living room. We prayed for Mission Vision and for our summer serving together. I got a peek into the heart of This Curt Jones Guy as he prayed for God to be exalted.
The recreation ministry required many, many trips to Walmart and Curtis always invited me to ride along with him. I've never been a big fan of Walmart, but I have a lot of affection for this one particular store where I happened to fall in love with my husband. We've never really had a song, but we do have "our Walmart."
I remember seeing Curt's sweet Grandma Dixon for the first time. She was serving food to all the students and I thought she and Curtis looked alike. Curt's younger sister, Lindsay, was attending Mission Vision as a high school student. We shared a mirror one morning in the bathroom and I wondered if I would be getting to know her soon.
It was only by God's grace and sovereignty that I ever got the job as a missions intern. Unfortunately, I'd skipped out on the youth group experience in high school and had never been on a mission trip. We were training kids how to share their faith and I had no idea how to share mine! Every day we took a group of kids to a different setting to share their faith. Curtis took it upon himself to be my partner and teach me how to do this. I'm naturally a pretty shy person and witnessing to someone I didn't know was way, way, way outside my comfort zone. But Curtis was amazing at it. I was blown away watching him turn countless conversations with strangers toward Christ.
Not only was This Curt Jones Guy funny, not only was he great at leading rec time, not only did he have beautiful blue eyes that both of my children now have, he was passionate about leading people to Christ. I liked this guy! Curtis and I have a deep sense of partnership in ministry and there's no doubt in my mind that it's because of those times we went out and shared our faith together.
Needless to say, I decided to cancel my mid-week trip home.
On the last full day of Mission Vision, we went to do some evangelism on Commercial Street. I really liked This Curt Jones Guy but I didn't know if we would be more than friends. Another leader even asked me if we liked each other and I denied it. A few minutes later Curtis and I went into a soda fountain type of place and sat down at the counter. We ordered Dr. Peppers and hoped to share the Gospel with the server. The first thing out of the server's mouth was, "Are you two married?" It was becoming clear that God was growing our hearts together. That night we finally admitted to each other what had been obvious to everyone else.
The day after Mission Vision wrapped up, I was supposed to fly home with Kay and Jerrell and Curtis was going to drive his car down to Houston. I decided to cancel my flight - again - and make the drive with Curtis. We had twelve hours to talk about everything under the sun. Every time we make that drive from Springfield to Houston, we point out all the places we stopped on our first trip. A lot of times we play the old Shane and Shane and Enter the Worship Circle CD's we listened to. I had no idea how familiar I would become with those small towns along the road in Oklahoma. There are some very creatively named churches along the way, which inspired a game called "What would you name a church?" When we stopped to get gas in Huntsville, Texas, I called Mom and said that This Curt Jones Guy and I would be home soon and to please make Dad behave. They instantly knew.
Next week we get to celebrate our eighth wedding anniversary and our tenth year of being together. There's something so great about knowing we've been together for a decade. I love it. It feels like something to celebrate.
A few years ago my engagement ring cracked where I'd had it re-sized. I had it repaired but it was wearing very thin again. While we were in Missouri I took my engagement ring to the jeweler it was purchased from and had them make me a new white gold tiffany setting. I handed over my ring and watched the jeweler pry open the prongs and dump out the diamond. It had an unbelievable amount of gunk underneath it. If nothing else, it would look a hundred times better just from the stone being cleaned! They handed the old ring back to me empty. I waited in anticipation for five days and finally, on our way home from Silver Dollar City in Branson, I got to pick up my diamond in a brand new band. It was beautiful! My round solitaire looked so happy and shiny. It had been a long time since it looked like that. I sort of wished I'd made this investment sooner. If Curtis had given me a brand new diamond three times as big as that one it would not have thrilled me as much as seeing that same one looking just as pretty as the day he gave it to me. Prettier, really, since it represented everything that we have been through and done together.
Our marriages are somewhat like my engagement ring. The core - the diamond - holds a great love story with lots of passion and commitment. But everyday wear and tear and the occasional traumatic event can do a number on the metal that holds it together. Some of our rings could just use some polishing while others need some real restoration. God can do both! Remember that He loves marriage. He created it, after all. I'm praying that God will show each one of us a specific way we can invest in our marriage to strengthen it and bring out its beauty.
Mom was at our house earlier today and the kids were competing for her attention. Annabeth said, "Bibby, me! Bibby, me!" I'm pretty sure that was the first time she ever said "me." We were cracking up.
After Bibby left, Jackson was taunting Annabeth with some toy he doesn't really care about and she just went right ahead and hit him. So I put them both in time out.
I'm hoping for a mild case, but what I deserve is for them to drive me crazy until I'm old and gray.
This morning at 7:24 I unlocked the front door to go on my run. Jackson heard the sound and came running down the hall yelling, "A kiss and a hug! A kiss and a hug!" This is normally something that happens when his daddy goes to work. He wants some attention from his hero before he has to go without him for 8 hours.
I was both surprised and thrilled that he was doing this for me. I thought, "Oh, my boy loves me so much today! This is because we had so much fun at the pool last night."
The door was open and Jackson was running toward me at full speed. Before I could kneel down for my kiss and hug, Jackson blew right past me and burst onto the porch in his little blue boxer briefs. I was slightly confused that he didn't stop.
"Where did daddy go? I need a kiss and a hug!"
"Uh, buddy, he's sitting at the breakfast table."
I made him give me a kiss and a hug anyway.
This afternoon Jackson found a walkie talkie in his basket of toys. He turned it on and we could hear men's voices talking through it. I thought maybe they were truck drivers. As fun as it would have been to listen in, I was a little concerned that Jackson might pick up some words that I'd rather him not learn at age four.
"But whyyyyyyyyy do I have to turn it off?"
"Buddy, I don't know if those are nice men or not. They might say words that kids don't need to hear."
The walkie talkie was turned off.
A few minutes later, when my son thought I wasn't paying attention, he turned it back on. I caught him whispering into the walkie talkie, "Poo poo! Poo poo on the potty!"
If there's such a thing as a perfect weekend, this was it. I hate to see it go.
Jackson got the privilege of sitting at the opposite end of the table from us with the big kids. He did pretty well! He hardly ate his food but I think he had a lot of fun and he behaved himself. Isn't it a joy to see your kids enjoy your friends' kids?
Annabeth grabbed a bowl of salsa and dumped it into her lap within 60 seconds of sitting down. While I was attempting to clean that up, she grabbed a large knife off the table. You can imagine how calm and sane I appeared at that time. I wish I had pictures and/or video of this to share with you.
After dinner we had ice cream cake at Heather's house in honor of Matt's birthday. Yum! It was a such a fun night! Jackson cried when we left because he'd gotten it in his head that we were having a sleepover. Bless his heart.
On Saturday I got several hours to myself. It was nice, I'm not gonna lie. I had some shopping to do for our wedding anniversary, my mom's birthday, and Father's Day, and an appointment to get my highlights done.
That night we had a date with Kay and Jerrell to celebrate our 8th anniversaries. We got married two weeks apart and stood in each others' weddings, so it's fun to mark the occasion together. We had a really nice dinner at Smith and Wollensky followed up with dessert at The Chocolate Bar. It was my first time to go there and I loved it!
Chocolate chip pie ala mode and something crazy-good that Jerrell got.
We had the best time! Here's to 50 more years of anniversary double dates!
This morning I put Annabeth in this dress and she reminded me of one of my childhood heroes, Pippi Longstocking. I'd still like to have a funky colored Victorian house and a - what was it, purple? - horse. Let me explain the shoes. She has two sets of bows that attach to them, but we lost one yellow bow and she destroyed one pink one. So I either need to buy another set of bows or another pair of shoes. Ugh! For now she's wearing them mismatched. Of course today it was in the spirit of Pippi Longstocking.
I got to help in a two-year-old preschool class during our Sunday school hour. I realized that a two-year-old girl is a completely different creature from a two-year-old boy, so maybe I will stop dreading that age for Annabeth. Y'all know I still have PTSD from Jackson being two. I'm sure my mom still has PTSD from me being 18.
After church, my son and I went to the pool by ourselves and made some great memories. Jackson craves a lot of sensory input, so jumping off the side of the pool, playing in the fountains, going down the slides, diving for toys, and swimming in general are amazing for him. He never stopped smiling and laughing and I think everyone around us was entertained by him. They were definitely splashed. Once again, I need a cheap camera that I don't care about so I can take pictures at the pool!
Beckham would literally collapse and die if I took him running this time of year. Bless his heart. We need to get his hair cut.
My side stitch is finally under control.
Mockingbirds are a bit cranky. I saw a squirrel get dive-bombed by one.
It's much less humid at 8 a.m. than 7 a.m.
The running shorts and shirts I bought that are supposed to keep you dryer really do work!
I've always thought the people in coordinated, fashionable workout clothes are less athletic than the people who wear shorts and random t-shirts. Athletes really don't give a rip. If you were/are an athlete, do you share my feelings? Perhaps this is how I deal with my insecurity when I see the other ladies looking cute in their outfits.
If I haven't touched a volleyball in two years can I still be an athlete?
All the high school runners are out and about on the trails now. And none of them wear shirts. Apparently they don't care that all the dirty old men and cougars are lusting after them like popsicles. Put on a shirt, people!
Jackson wanted me to take a picture of him, but then he got all shy. Notice the basket of once-folded clothes in the background. It literally sat there for a week until I dumped it out last night and refolded everything.
This was right before we headed to the mall to get my new Mac.
And here we are with mega-increased awesomeness!
I just happened to have my camera out when Annabeth got in big trouble for hitting daddy. This was her tragic reaction to being scolded.
She hasn't done it again.
Lately I've had a horrible weakness for this. Cold, crunchy pieces of chocolate (and strawberries) swimming in frozen yogurt = brilliance.


Exploiting Industrial Collaborative Robots. How an attacker can chain multiple vulnerabilities to remotely modify safety settings, causing physical harm to the robot's surroundings by moving it arbitrarily.
Ability to login as any user without authentication if █████████ is empty [22 upvotes] - $6,000 bounty for this report to Ubiquiti Networks by @thenickdude.
SSRF in alerts.newrelic.com exposes entire internal network [20 upvotes] - no bounty for this report to New Relic by @albinowax.


1.4 How to download Telangana TRANSCO Junior Lineman Hall Ticket 2019?
Latest Update: TStransco JLM released rejected list of candidates on its official site link given below.
TSTRANSCO – Transmission Corporation of Telangana Limited has recently announced 1100 vacancies for Junior Lineman posts. Aspirants who are looking for the government job have applied for this announcement before the last date. These applicants have to check tstransco.cgg.gov.in regularly to get the info about latest updates. At the same time, for the purpose of individuals we are providing the direct links for the easy download. Presently, candidates are utilizing this and also started checking the details in this document. On the other hand, our team is also providing the steps to download the TSTRANSCO JLM Hall Ticket 2019. Along with this, every individual should submit the proof like Aadhar Card, PAN Card, Driving License etc. When you attend the test center without any of these, then surely you are not allowed to write the test.
How to download Telangana TRANSCO Junior Lineman Hall Ticket 2019?
Initially, visit the official portal tstransco.cgg.gov.in.
Search for the admit card link.
Enter the details like Registration No., DOB etc. and submit.
After all the requirements are gathered, please check the instructions given in the TS TRANSCO Junior Lineman Hall Ticket. Along with these, don't forget to check the TS TRANSCO JLM Exam Dates. According to the information given, the exam is going to schedule on 11th Feb 2019. Therefore, the admit card link will be active from 05.02. Meanwhile, don't waste your time and focus only on your preparation. As soon as the link gets activated, then immediately download this TSTRANSCO Admit Card from this page. While writing the test, first go through the entire question paper and then start answering. Moreover, it is better to attempt the questions in which you are actually perfect. Soon after the completion of exam, we will update the answer key at our site esarkariresults.in. Regularly follow it and know the updates like sarkari naukri, rojgar samachar, rojgar results etc., Also connect to us on Facebook and Twitter.


text:
cape (3466) + -
town (3295) + -
n.e.br (608) + -
l.bolu (399) + -
protest (334) + -
johannesburg (307) + -
peak (295) + -
cathedr (250) + -
sp (247) + -
schwant (245) + -
river (240) + -
forest (218) + -
street (194) + -
op (183) + -
africa (11738) + -
western (3573) + -
botani (3171) + -
plant (1854) + -
pictori (1629) + -
african (1584) + -
work (1581) + -
aizoacea (1515) + -
vygi (1515) + -
apartheid (1438) + -
provinc (1438) + -
social (1108) + -
mountain (940) + -
polit (922) + -
still (18) + -
monitor (x)
Jeppe's map of the Transvaal or S.A. Republic and surrounding territories
Transvaal (South Africa) -- Maps., Pretoria (South Africa) -- Maps., Johannesburg (South Africa) -- Maps.
Map shows towns, farm boundaries, farm names, farm registration numbers, farms under the jurisdiction of Mining Commissioners, roads, railways, postal routes, custom houses, postal and telegraph information, proclaimed gold fields, mynpachten, kraals and "locations", mountains and rivers. The map also shows portions of the Orange Free State, the Cape Colony, Natal [KwaZulu-Natal], Rhodesia [Zimbabwe], Zululand, Tongaland, the British Protectorate [Botswana] and Portuguese territory [Mozambique]., Relief shown by shading., "The compilers are greatly indebted to Johann Rissik Esq. Surveyor General of the S.A.R. for much valuable information and advice.", "The Freestate portion of the map is reduced from Herfst's map of the O.Freestate. Swaziland is compiled from actual surveys and Miller's map.", Photographic reproduction of the map published: London : Edward Stanford Ltd., 1899., Bar scale of main map in English statute miles., Inset maps include: 'Plan of Johannesburg and surrounding suburbs and townships reduced from "Pritchard's commercial map of J'hburg"' and 'Plan of Pretoria suburbs and surrounding grounds, reduced from original plan compiled in the Surveyor General's Office, Pretoria, S.A.R.' Scale [ca. 1:9 446]. Bar scales in Cape feet., To be used in conjunction with Jeppe's map: Hugh F. Marriot's Alphabetical index to the farms of the Transvaal.
People protest Prime Minister Daniel Francois Malan's plans, Cape Town
Cape Town (South Africa), Western Cape (South Africa), Apartheid, Politics, National Party (South Africa), Demonstration
People protest Prime Minister Daniel Francois Malan's plans, Cape Town.
Recovery Forest
Botany--South Africa, Plants--South Africa,
Pat Matshikiza, jazz pianist, Johannesburg, South Africa
Men--South Africa--Johannesburg, Musicians, Black--South Africa--Johannesburg, Jazz musicians--South Africa--Johannesburg
Portrait of Pat Matshikiza, a jazz pianist, sitting at a piano in Dorkay House in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Busy main road of Elsies River, Cape Town
Western Cape (South Africa), Elsies River (South Africa), Apartheid, Infrastructure, Street vendors
This is the busy main road of Elsies River, where hawkers and vendors sell alongside flourishing modern shops of every variety. People flock to the area for the bargains and the colourful market atmosphere.
Rev. Karl August inside his church in District Six, Cape Town
District Six (Cape Town, South Africa), Western Cape (South Africa), Apartheid, Forced removals (South Africa), Religion, South Africa. Group Areas Act, 1950
The Rev. Karl August inside his church. The Moravian Chapel in Ashley Street was built in 1884. Its pastor, the Rev. Karl August hopes to build another chapel in Hanover Park. 'We can never replace the history of this chapel,' he says.
Kamassies
Namaqualand (South Africa)--Rural conditions, Donkeys--South Africa--Namaqualand,
Donkeys harnessed together for water collection.
1961 Apartheid elections, Cape Town
Cape Town (South Africa), Western Cape (South Africa), Apartheid, Elections, Newspapers, Technology, Broadcasting
The Argus scoreboard to-day showed the state of the parties before the first vote is counted in the 1961 general election (the first general election after South Africa became a republic). The Nationalists have 50 unopposed seats and the United Party 20.
Afrikaner-Weerstandsbeweging (AWB)
right-wing organisations, militarisation, military trainingRight-wing extremists--South Africa, Military training camps--South Africa
Training camp run by the Afrikaner-Weerstandsbeweging (AWB).
Minister of Bantu Administration, Westbrook, Cape Town
Cape Town (South Africa), Western Cape (South Africa), Apartheid, Politics, Cabinet ministers, National Party (South Africa), Governments
The swearing-in of the new Deputy Minister of Bantu Administration by the State President (Mr. J. J. Fouche), Development (Mr A. J . Raubenheimer) took place today. Shown in the garden of Westbrook, the State President's official residence in Rondebosch after the ceremony are, from left, Dr. P. Koornhof, Deputy Minister of Bantu Administration, the Prime Minister (M.r. B. J. Vorster), Mr. Fouche, Mr. M. C. Botha, Minister of Bantu Administration and Mr. Raubenheimer.
T-shirt with slogans- Hambani kahle! Produce generic antiretrovirals Treat HIV/AIDS
AIDS (Disease)--Social aspects--South Africa, Social movements--South Africa
Person wearing t-shirt: "Hambani Kahle! Produce generic antiretrovirals. Treat HIV/AIDS"
Fishing industry, Cape Town
Western Cape (South Africa), Table Bay (South Africa), Fishing industry, Recreation, Ocean, Seafood, Weather, Winds
A fairly large number of Saldanha-based trawlers were forced to take shelter in Table Bay this week because of the high winds at sea. According to port officials the vessels were all wooden pelagic catchers and their skippers had indicated that the off-shore area between Saldanha and Cape Town had been hammered by south-easterly winds of up to 70 knots. Table Bay itself was lashed by a gale with gusts of up to 55 knots.
Tramway, Camps Bay , Cape Town
Camps Bay (Cape Town, South Africa), Western Cape (South Africa), Infrastructure, Tramways, Recreation, Transport, History,
Mountain Tramway, Camps Bay.
Langrivier
Prescribed burning--Stellenbosch (South Africa), Vegetation management--Stellenbosch (South Africa), Plants--Stellenbosch (South Africa), Plants--Effect of fires on--Stellenbosch(South Africa), ,
District: Stellenbosch, Location: Jonkershoek Nature Reserve, Langrivier., Ecology: Veld burnt in 1942 contrasted with veld on a 4-year burn rotation.
Mfolweni Valley
Botany--South Africa, Plants--South Africa, ,
Mfolweni Valley, seen from site of reservoir
Siete canciones populares (4. Jota)
Falla, Manuel de, 1876-1946. Canciones populares españolas. Jota, Folk songs, Spanish, Songs (Medium voice) with piano, Concerts--South Africa--Cape Town
Kamal Khan presents "Aunque tu madre no quiera" (Songs your mother never taught you), Baxter Concert Hall, Cape Town, South Africa
Body of an unidentified man, Cape Town
Cape Town (South Africa), Western Cape (South Africa), Civil unrest, Violence, Death
Victim - The body of an unidentified man was found with a bullet wound in the head next to a burnt-out vehicle in NY5 in Gugulethu on Saturday.


text:
AJP HISTORY
AAA 2011: A Review of Some Presentations on Military, Security, and Intelligence Topics
Report and commentary by AJP member Maximilian C. Forte:
For those who could not make it to the recently concluded conference of the American Anthropological Association in Montreal, or who were there but found themselves compelled to attend/participate in any of a number of other important sessions, here is a summary and review of some of the highlights of presentations made around topics dealing with the military, national security, and intelligence. Originally, I was invited by five different session organizers to present papers on their panels, and after some vacillation, I agreed to present on two, dealing with WikiLeaks and secrecy, and the other dealing with research about the covert and military operations. I attended a few other sessions that had similar themes, and this is the substance of this report. Hopefully, and in the spirit of "accessibility," more people in the future will produce blog reports of the contents of sessions for those who might otherwise miss out completely.
Sharing some of the ideas, details, and interactions that came out of the recently concluded conference meets with a couple of limitations: a) I cannot reproduce entire papers received, because in most cases these are intended for publication; b) in other cases I did not take detailed notes, and so some presentations are not even mentioned here; and, c) there is always the risk that I may not be accurately representing what was said, especially in those instances where I am relying on memory (I have tried to minimize those).
Deployment Stressed
The first session I attended at the AAA conference was "Deployment Stressed: Legacies of the War on Terror in Home Front Communities," organized by Jean N. Scandlyn of the University of Colorado at Denver. (Here I should point out that the University of Colorado had a prominent presence in this conference in particular where military and intelligence topics were the focus.) Recently I came across "Deployment Stressed" which is also the title of this related project blog at the University of Colorado. Christopher King, anthropologist and social science director of the U.S. Army's Human Terrain System also attended this event as a member of the audience, as well as the other events discussed below.
Andrew Bickford (George Mason University) presented an extremely insightful and incisive paper titled "Super Soldiers and Super Citizens: Armored Life in the United States." Bickford described how in the U.S. (and this could be applied to Canada, and elsewhere), soldiers have been constructed by the state as almost mythical creatures, with the role of myth helping to render soldiers unquestionable. These are the agents of violence, where violence created and sustains the state, which is always prepared to use violence--in that order, the soldier is cast as "the best possible citizen" that the state can produce. Again, it is worth noting how in Canada we also hear government ministers declaring soldiers to be our most special citizens, our most valued citizens, as if their work was the most productive and useful, and as if their "sacrifices" (they volunteer, and get paid) were more important than the sacrifices of others made on a daily basis in the non-violent sectors of society. From there, Bickford began to focus a great deal on medicine and health technology, as a means he argued of mitigating the effects of war, not to end war, which of course would be the clearest solution to preventing the harmful effects of war. The role of advanced medicine, applied to soldiers' bodies, is to create an illusion that they are "superhuman" and thus eminently deployable. Medicine makes war palatable, and makes war seem clean. An array of drugs and psychotherapies are administered in order to shield, enhance, and prolong the life of the soldier, and to demonstrate the inherent superiority of the American soldier. Bickford reconnects these medical procedures and rationales to what he calls "the military imaginary"--which involves the processes and tropes by which states make soldiers. The internal regulation of the soldier becomes the external regulation of the state--the soldier is the state in action. Militarized medicine becomes part of the production of an "armored life" (we can see the influences of both Hegel and Agamben in Bickford's theorizing). The internal armouring of the body of the soldier is the armouring of the state. Bickford ended with some much needed, provocative questions: if the specialists and authorities can banish the fear of warfare, what else can they banish? He asks how the impact of killing, who matters most, why some are killed, etc., are the kinds of questions that are held away by the processes of making medically enhanced super soldiers.
David Bayendor (University of Colorado Denver) presented his work under the title of "Human Terrain Redux--A 'Halfie' Talks Anthropology and the Army," which was also quite unusual for being a presentation by someone both in the military, and anthropology, who is critical of militarist ideology but not without some reservations. While acknowledging the fetishizing of warfare, and the heroizing of the masculinity, "courage" and "sacrifice" of soldiers that forms part of "the military normal" (an idea he credited to Catherine Lutz, involving the militarization of social institutions, values, etc., shaped by and prepared for war), he added that he did not view the military as a total institution. He thus devoted some time to describing the military as an intermediate institution, between the military and the civilian, yet still forming a world that is largely off limits to civilians. As Bayendor noted, quoting from Laura Nader, powerful groups are notorious for resisting being studied. (Throughout the presentation, Bayendor quoted repeatedly from the works of anthropologists critical of militarism/militarization, adding his own perspectives as someone who is also part of the military.) Speaking of powerful institutions, Bayendor who is apparently no fan of HTS, noted how HTS members appear to be very excited about being in a powerful institution, suggesting that whatever their original intent for joining HTS, their perspectives became altered by being in close proximity to high-ranking officers, on bases, and so forth. Speaking of ethnic and generally marginalized minorities who make up a large part of the U.S. fighting force, including foreign citizens from Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America, Bayendor made the point that often it is the victims of the power system that are drawn into service to support the system, participating in their own oppression in effect. Bayendor also commented on how "support our troops", "thank you for our service" and what I would call the yellow ribbon industry, work to keep critical questions at bay. He ended his presentation in speaking of the military's appropriation of anthropological knowledge by means other than HTS, and showed a slide featuring a list of key texts in anthropology from the U.S. Army's own online database--a list he had accessed as late as three days prior to the conference and which featured a number of prominent titles, including Malinowski's Practical Anthropology and Gluckman's Rituals of Rebellion.
Sarah J. Hautzinger (Colorado College) further explored some of the themes raised above, in her presentation titled "Battle-Speak on a Domestic Homefront." (I noted how choosing to term the local and the domestic as the "home front" is itself an example of "battle-speak," which the title of the session seemed to reinforce, though the irony may have been intentional.) Hautzinger discussed the domestication of war metaphors in the U.S., with the adoption of terms such as "battle buddies" and "deployment" among those not militarily deployed abroad, or in any actual armed conflict. Among the facets she raised were "battle" as metaphor, as metonymy, and as synecdoche. The effect is to reinforce war as a paradigm for symbolically ordering understandings of the world, even as those adhering to this paradigm are involved in trying to aid those suffering from war. Hautzinger also raised the point that in talking about the losses suffered from war, the focus is almost always on U.S. losses alone. This was an interesting paper for addressing issues of cultural militarization and hegemonization (her word), in how individuals can become complicit in their own subordination, as they buy into paradigms that sanitize and euphemize war, even when they directly face its bloody consequences. Her work, as I suggested, took some of the panel's themes on language a bit further, speaking in terms of civilian-military code-switching and the use of insider argot to build solidarity across civilian-military lines.
Jean N. Scandlyn (University of Colorado Denver) in her presentation, "Promises, Promises: The Military and Opportunity Structures for American Youth," was clearly pressed for time--and in a long session, my own attention began to wane. As a result, I came away with just three particularly interesting arguments made in this presentation, but which I present in a disjointed fashion given the state of my notes: 1) that those motivated to join the military in pursuit of economic and/or educational benefits (these are often the same), are also those suffering from higher rates of PTSD; 2) most recruits come from southern states--the south-east and south-west--from economically disenfranchised conditions, where there is also a long tradition of military service...and she suggested that the relationship between the two is not merely incidental; and, 3) practices that depersonalize "the enemy," beginning with the use of silhouette targets used in weapons training.
Christopher King, Human Terrain System:
Originally, seven papers were scheduled for this session, with no time at all for discussion--as was strangely common at this AAA conference, remarkably not what one would expect in a conference if there is no room for actually conferring. With one cancellation, we had about 10 minutes of discussion that was dominated largely by a very talkative Christopher King from HTS. He was not presenting any papers at the conference, but was present at almost all of the events of direct relevance to military, security, and intelligence themes, and I had the chance to converse with him on several occasions, especially as we tended to sit together or very close. I am not sure if King was aware that he raised some eyebrows when--speaking as someone representing a program that for a long time stressed that it was not about "gathering intelligence"--said that he could put a number of the panellists in touch with people he knows in the "Department of Intelligence". He seemed to be eager to get the panellists to communicate with the military, which of course they already were since their research was grounded in that communication. When he began to say that one of the "nice things" about the military is that it can "really be self-reflective"--thereby missing the point of evidence to the contrary--he seemed to wear some patience thin and the moderator interjected to move on to someone else. On the other hand, King is neither an abrasive nor aggressive person, so the panel could have suffered much worse.
It was at this event that I overheard one young woman approach King, who stood in front of me, to ask him about working for the military--and he gave her his card. Interesting move, that of choosing a session critical of militarization in the hope of finding someone from the military in the audience so as to market oneself. One of the panel participants later asked me what King was doing at the conference, and if the AAA had not censured HTS.
Human Terrain: War Becomes Academic
I had the great pleasure of finally seeing James Der Derian's now well-circulated film, Human Terrain: War Becomes Academic. And who better to sit next to for the whole film and discussion, if not HTS' Christopher King? At this event, King did not take part in the discussion--it would not have been a welcoming crowd. I stayed silent, as it was important for me to observe American anthropologists, whom I have never heard from before, weigh in on these topics, only to discover that if they were in any way a representative sample then HTS meets with fairly wide condemnation among AAA members.
The room was packed with people, many standing, and the discussion afterwards was quite animated, in-depth, and intelligent. During the film, members of the audience got quite loud on occasion, either laughing at some of the speakers (the Marine officer who proudly boasts, "we are not killers...we are professional killers," or the suggestion that Arabs, because of their inherent cultural difference, yes, really would fear being stripped naked, jeered at by women, and having angry dogs barking at their crotches--"unlike American men," as one audience member joked), or even hissing at Montgomery McFate, quite sinister and dark by way of contrast to the man sitting next to me. Overall, King, who said that he too had never seen the film before, seemed to think it was fair and liked it. I also thought it was a remarkable film from which I even learned a few "new" details (that is, new to me).
Der Derian definitely deserves all of the praise he has received for this film, for the complex questioning, editing, and narrative structure. There was some debate about "balance" in the film--yes, we hear from almost all sides (the Afghan side is, of course, once again mute...a little more than a small omission from almost all debates about anthropologists joining the military, or even in debates about the occupation of Afghanistan). Some felt that, nonetheless, the film clearly, and on balance, swings the argument against HTS. Even those closest to one of the featured protagonists, the late Michael Bhatia (HTS' first fatality), are clear in saying they argued against his joining HTS in the first place. Others instead feel that the film kicks a bit of sand in the eyes, dulling anti-militarist perspectives by encouraging identification with, and sympathy for Bhatia, while raising "good intentions" of "helping to improve" (improve what? war? conflict?) by aiding the military in becoming more "culturally aware"--not that HTS serves to offer classes in hand signals, or the etiquette of drinking tea, which by now surely have been abundantly learned anyway.
Perhaps the sharpest and most memorable part in the whole film for me came from Hugh Gusterson when he explained that the U.S. military, and politicians, make the fundamental mistake of thinking that the continuing conflict facing occupation forces is simply the result of "cultural miscommunication," rather than resistance against foreign domination and social engineering at the point of a gun. The assumption, he noted, is that if U.S. troops could better understand local cultures, then there would be less conflict, which ignores the totally separate motivations for resistance. Invasions and occupations are not the result of some sort of "cultural" mishap, so that the turn to culture--and particularly static and outmoded, functionalist conceptions of culture at that--can only deceive U.S. military practitioners that programs like HTS are a solution, a way of winning the war. As Gusterson said, when you ask the wrong questions, you can only come up with the wrong answers.
As for Bhatia, there was some discussion about how he could delude himself into thinking that by going from being a researcher to a practitioner, he could change the world, and yet remain unchanged himself.
Anthropologies of the Covert
Organized by Carole McGranahan (University of Colorado Boulder), "Anthropologies of the Covert: From Spying and Being Spied Upon to Secret Military Ops and the CIA," was a very long session lasting four hours, on which I served as a discussant.
HTS' Christopher King attended this event also, that is until Roberto González finished his presentation.
David H. Price (St. Martin's University), led the session with his historically dense investigative research into CIA ties in funding the AAA via a front organization called the Asia Foundation. His paper, "The CIA, the Asia Foundation, and the AAA: How the AAA Linked Asian Anthropologists to a CIA Funding Front," is part of a larger work in progress. Price demonstrated the significant extent to which anthropologists, like other social scientists, were linked to military and intelligence agencies throughout the Cold War period, even if unknowingly. As he indicated, if we exclude foundations such as the Ford, Rockefeller, and Carnegie foundations, the CIA was involved in nearly half of the research grants offered in the 1960s. Not seeing the case of the Asia Foundation in isolation, Price reminded us that, "the CIA approached the AAA in 1951 and established a covert relationship with the Executive Board through which the AAA secretly gave the CIA the raw information it collected for its detailed roster with the understanding that the CIA would keep information from this roster for its own uses."
Carole McGranahan followed with "Sympathy for the Devil: The CIA, Tibet, and the Humanity of Empire," in which her stated intention was to "humanize" the CIA by two routes, one being by highlighting their affective ties to Tibetan resistance fighters, symbolized by tearful embraces, and two, by arguing that the CIA engaged in covert humanitarianism. Another stated goal was to challenge what in her spoken version she called the "knee jerk reactions" of critics of the CIA, and what in her written version she referred to as "leftist critiques." It was a fairly interesting and controversial paper that seemed to provoke mixed reactions, especially when viewed in contrast with some of the presentations that followed, like the next one.
Anna Roosevelt (University of Illinois Chicago), in "THE HEART OF DARKNESS IS WHITE: The role of the NATO countries in the chaos and killings in Central Africa," presented a shocking litany of a very long history of intense, and often grotesque, Western interventions in the Congo and Rwanda, while also featuring some of her own investigative documentary research that uncovers and exposes the identity of a leading military intelligence agent behind numerous local plots. As I said in my discussion after these three papers, Anna Roosevelt does not write like any Roosevelt I know--and yes, she is related to all of the prominent Roosevelts that readers will know.
Briefly, in my discussant's remarks I said: 1) that I would like to see David Price theorize his work more, and that the case he features seems to contain a lot of ambiguities; 2) that Carole McGranahan ought to explain how an affective approach to some CIA agents can in any way become an anthropological theory of empire, and why in opposing herself to unnamed leftists, she creates the kind of binary that she disdains; and, 3) that Anna Roosevelt's work might be useful as part of a critical dialogue with "responsibility to protect" and other forms of "humanitarian interventionism" that call for foreign military intervention in the Congo--as if more such intervention will fix the problems caused by foreign military intervention in the first place.
One productive coincidence came when both Roberto González and I discussed various research methods for gaining information about military and intelligence agencies. I listed documentary research (such as Price using Freedom of Information Access); interviews and participation in public events; the role of deception as in covert ethnographic research to penetrate state agencies; the use of leaks; and, antagonism. In his excellent presentation, "Methodological Notes on Researching Military and Intelligence Programs," Roberto J. González (San Jose State University), spoke of documents, followed by interviews (with public writing about the contents of documents prompting some from the military and intelligence communities to come forward), and self-analysis (which, in part, involves reflecting on reactions to one's research). Interestingly, a former geospatial intelligence agent on the panel, Nate Keuter, said that he saw the work being done by González as similar to that of an intelligence analyst--and this tied in with his own presentation that argued we could look at the CIA as a research organization (except it's one that kills).
An exceptional paper, with a long-term view of anthropological research of secrets going back to James Mooney and Franz Boas, my favourite passage in González's paper came toward the end when he explained, ever so politely, that, "...this kind of anthropology often requires the use of theoretical concepts or hypotheses to make sense of certain phenomena. An example of this might be the use of the Whorf-Sapir hypothesis, which can help explain how terms like human terrain lead to the treatment of humans as dirt (or at best, as territory to be conquered) by those who have uncritically adopted the phrase." I believe that it was on this note that HTS' Christopher King, whose presence was indirectly noted by González in his talk, left the room.
Posted by Maximilian C. Forte at 8:21 AM
Labels: AAA20111, Afghanistan, anthropology, Christopher A. King, CIA, Congo, HTS, HTT, Human Terrain System, imperialism, Iraq, James Der Derian, Michael Bhatia, militarism, militarization, War becomes Academic
This is the archive of what was formerly the webpage of AJP. It now consists entirely of the essays and posts published by AJP founder, Maximilian C. Forte, Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, at Concordia University in Montreal (maximilian.forte@concordia.ca). AJP was a Canadian organization for anthropologists interested in supporting struggles for self-determination, decolonizing knowledge production, and resisting the corporatization and militarization of the academy.
AAA 2011: A Review of Some Presentations on Milita...
Students Take Anthropology Back Into the Streets: ...
First Nations Under Surveillance in Canada
Libya: The Lies of "Humanitarian" War
Tax Dollars at War
Domestic Surveillance in Canada: Suspicious Incide...
The Accessible Anthropological Assembly: An Altern...
Case Western Breakdown, by David H. Price
Human Terrain Mapping: It's Still Scary and Troubl...
Case Western Reserve University: Proxy Censor for ...
Human Terrain Mapping at Home is "Scary": The Vide...
AJP--All Articles
All articles posted on this site--with annotations
AJP--Domestic Counterinsurgency and Militarism in Canada
All our articles on domestic counterinsurgency and militarism in Canada--with annotations
AJP--Canada in Afghanistan
All our articles on Canada in Afghanistan--with annotations
AJP--Indigenous Resistance
All our articles on the struggles for Indigenous self-determination--with annotations
© 2010-2013, Maximilian C. Forte, formerly for Anthropologists for Justice and Peace. Watermark theme. Powered by Blogger.


text:
Satellites used to count Antarctic penguins
Scientists have been able to count the number of emperor penguins in Antarctica by using satellite mapping technology – and there's twice as many as previously thought, they say.
It's the first time an entire species has ever been counted from space. Carrying out a census of the species in the usual way is, for obvious reasons, rather impractical. But the black-and-white birds stand out easily from their surroundings, making a satellite survey possible.
"The methods we used are an enormous step forward in Antarctic ecology because we can conduct research safely and efficiently with little environmental impact, and determine estimates of an entire penguin population," says Michelle LaRue from the University of Minnesota Polar Geospatial Center.
"We now have a cost-effective way to apply our methods to other poorly-understood species in the Antarctic, to strengthen on-going field research, and to provide accurate information for international conservation efforts."
The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) team used Very High Resolution (VHR) satellite images to estimate the size of each colony around the coastline of Antarctica.
They then applied a technique known as pan-sharpening to increase the images' resolution, allowing the scientists to distinguish between birds, ice, shadow and guano – penguin droppings.
"We are delighted to be able to locate and identify such a large number of emperor penguins," says BAS scientist Peter Fretwell.
"We counted 595,000 birds, which is almost double the previous estimates of 270,000 to 350,000 birds. This is the first comprehensive census of a species taken from space."
Current research indicates that colonies will be seriously affected by climate change, so the findings are good news. Indeed, the team located 44 emperor penguin colonies around the coast of Antarctica, of which seven were previously unknown.
FCC fines Google over Street View probe delays
PSN down all day for maintenance


As a comprehensive health center, we often work with people from different cultural backgrounds. These cultural backgrounds include areas of heritage, community, spirituality, family and individual identity, and geography. Working to help people heal from addiction and other mental health struggles, we work with these individuals to develop a cultural assessment for the purposes of improving their overall healthcare.
Recovery is highly contingent on the presence of good therapeutic relationships, and many people of different cultural backgrounds often struggle with feeling supported and understood in healthcare. There may be language barriers or cultural insensitivity involved, leading to limited treatment compliance, awareness and trust. Taking the time to do a good cultural assessment can help build the foundation for good care. It also can give clinicians highly useful information such that we can make better recommendations.
What are some of the important factors present in this cultural assessment? This article describes some of the themes we have noticed in treatment and the importance of attending to such cultural health dimensions.
A cultural assessment is fundamentally open-ended in that it encourages the patient to express his or her views about heritage and lifestyle. We have many people who are part of a specific ethnic group who may or may not participate in common cultural practices of that group. Our job is to help the person describe their beliefs and lifestyle such that we can effectively blend themes of recovery and health with that person.
What language do you currently speak at home? Do you speak more than one language at home? How strongly do you feel with each language you speak?
What language was spoken when you were growing up?
If you have children or parents living with you, what languages do they speak?
How have you experienced the healthcare system in the areas of language and communication? Have there been times in which an interpreter was involved in your healthcare? How did it go?
Do you know of any local peer support groups, such as Alcoholic's Anonymous, where your primary language is spoken?
Where are you a citizen? Are you currently working through a citizenship process in the United States? Are there special actions you need to take regarding your immigrant status in the United States? Do you have any strong emotions or anxiety around this process?
Do you associate with a community of people who have also immigrated from your homeland?
How often (if ever) do you travel back and forth to your country of origin?
Are there other people in your community of heritage who are in recovery from drugs or alcohol? Can you tell us what peer support means to you in this area?
Did you enter the United States as a refugee? Were there traumatic or other threatening experiences you'd like to talk about as part of your treatment at CeDAR?
Do you have a primary care doctor or specialist doctor you see for your healthcare needs?
Have you felt that healthcare providers have been sensitive to your cultural background in the past?
Do you feel that taking medications would be an option for you in terms of your recovery?
Do you take any other herbal remedies, vitamins or supplements for areas of your wellness?
Are there certain cultural beliefs used to describe the cause of your illness or health problem?
As we have reviewed in other articles, one of our most important goals of clinical work at CeDAR is to help someone embrace a continuum of care so they can maintain stable recovery over upcoming years. This trajectory is very much based on access to services. For patients who come from different cultural backgrounds, sometimes there are unique avenues for available care.
We have treated many patients over the years from American Indian heritage, including those who live on reservations in the State of Colorado or surrounding states. Just as with any patient, we need to understand what is available in terms of healthcare and peer support for these individuals. This is especially true for patients who receive advanced medication protocols like buprenorphine maintenance. The scarcity of physicians licensed to prescribed these meds across the state can influence how we might make medical choices for someone in treatment at CeDAR. An intervention that is highly difficult to follow once someone discharges from care will not be a sustainable, nor worthwhile approach.
The same applies for access to such services as Intensive Outpatient (IOP). Because an IOP approach lasts 3 months, a good referral would be something within reasonable proximity for the patient. If we link a patient to an IOP that may be a 60-minute drive for that individual, what are the chances the person drops out of the program? All of these factors are important in our continuing care recommendations process.
Finally, there are many people who fall into more than one cultural group. A person could be both an immigrant and part of the LGBT community. For these people, we seek to understand how they identify and to what core communities they belong. They may more actively embrace cultural themes from part of their background instead of other areas, or they may concurrently identify with all areas of their heritage.
It is also important for us to acknowledge that some people may be from a cultural background and not necessarily practice its beliefs and patterns. Someone could be of an American Indian heritage and be highly active in tribal practices or somewhat removed from such events. We learn through asking and showing curiosity in the diversity of those we treat at CeDAR.
Our efforts in conducting a cultural assessment are part of our greater healthcare initiative of delivering patient-centered care. What are the unique layers of someone's life? We need to know how best to help anyone under our care, and this includes an awareness of cultural factors. The above examples illustrate some of the key areas we might consider in this process.


text:
Steven Blaney (* 8. April 1965 in Sherbrooke, Québec) ist ein Geschäftsmann und ein kanadischer Politiker.

Er wurde als konservativer Unterhausabgeordneter von Kanada für den Wahlbezirk von Lévis—Bellechasse (Québec) bei den Wahlen 2006, 2008 und 2011 gewählt. Bei der Unterhauswahl 2015 gewann er das Mandat im Wahlbezirk Bellechasse — Les Etchemins — Lévis.

Im Kabinett Harper war er von Mai 2011 bis Juli 2013 Minister für Veteranenangelegenheiten, von Februar bis Juli 2013 Minister für Frankophonie und von Juli 2013 bis 2015 Minister für öffentliche Sicherheit und Notfallbereitschaft.

Weblinks

 Biographie beim Unterhaus von Kanada
 Webpräsenz von Steven Blaney
 Ministerliste 28. Kabinett

Bundesminister (Kanada)
Abgeordneter des Unterhauses (Kanada)
Mitglied der Konservativen Partei Kanadas
Kanadier
Geboren 1965
Mann

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: How to get an icon associated with a certain file type using PyQt/PySide? I have a  QListView that adds a newly added file to a folder using QFileSystemWatcher, however I also want QListView to show the icon for that filetype just as QFileSystemModel would add. I do not want to add any custom icon only the icon that Operating system has registered for the specific to file type.

A: I just figured out how to achieve this using the code below:
    fileInfo = QtCore.QFileInfo(path)
    iconProvider = QtGui.QFileIconProvider()
    icon = iconProvider.icon(fileInfo)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
The Privacy Act and the cloud
Australia's new Privacy Act will come into effect during a period of tremendous turbulence in the technology sector, owing to a surge in subscriptions to cloud computing services.
Most of the initial resistance by CIOs to the use of cloud services is dissipating as the weight of opinion swings in favour of the model, spurred on by the availability of onshore clouds.
Organisations looking to public cloud computing services that are hosted offshore will need to consider Australia's amended Privacy Act in detail. The new Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) deal with transborder data flow slightly differently to the current legislation.
From March 12, if data is disclosed offshore to a third party provider, your organisation can be held vicariously liable for any breach by that third party. If there is a breach at your cloud computing provider, it is treated as your breach.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has provided two 'get out of gaol' cards — which I fully expect corporate Australia will make use of.
I'll explore each separately.
The commensurate contract card
The first is if — in the case of a breach — an organisation can prove that they had done the necessary due diligence on their provider. Specifically, that they were disclosing the data to a jurisdiction with the same privacy rigours as Australia, or had contractually bound their third party provider to provide protections that would meet APP standards.
This is not an easy card to play. The cost benefit of cloud services relies on offering compute at scale, which has usually meant it is provided offshore from multiple locations, and relies also on a generic, cookie-cutter service for which there is a template contract.
For some clouds, you might not even know where your data is located. And even if you did know your data was to be located in Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong or in the United States, for example, it is unlikely you can genuinely argue that the protections in these jurisdictions meet the rigours of our Privacy Act.
It is also extremely rare to obtain a contractual promise from a cloud provider to comply with the Australian Privacy Principles. It is rare to find a cloud provider that agrees to comply specifically with Australian law, for that matter.
As my co-author Mark Vincent notes, most cloud providers are likely not to concern themselves with any laws beyond the safe harbour provisions in US law, where their operations tend to be first incorporated. His recently updated 'Cloud Cover' paper reveals that few cloud computing providers offer much of a guarantee around security at all.
"There are mismatches — if you want to rely upon the provider offering an equivalent level of protection for compliance with the APP — they probably won't be there in the standard contracts," Vincent told our workshop on Privacy Act compliance.
"I've had many clients say, 'If this or that cloud provider is good enough for the rest of the world, I'll assume they are good enough for me. I don't even want you to read over the terms and conditions — I'd rather not know. I just want it signed'.
"But there remains an obligation on your part to take reasonable steps to secure information.
"Where you have cloud providers that don't promise to abide with the APPs — or providers that don't promise to take particular steps in relation to security — there is an argument you are not doing enough."
That guidance has to be balanced, he argued, against the practicality of taking steps to contractually bind your provider. If an organisation was large enough to meet the $3 million annual revenue threshold to be caught by the Act, but too small to negotiate for anything beyond the standard contract offered by Microsoft Office365 or Google Apps, would it be 'reasonable' for them to have chosen otherwise? If large retail chains don't have the weight to compel a cloud provider to audit or tell you what security tools they are using, who can?
Vincent concludes in our paper (due for release later this week) that it all comes back to the word, 'reasonable'.
He doesn't expect the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) is going to "necessarily go after people who rely on Microsoft to provide security around Office365 or Amazon around its bare metal."
Indeed, as InfoSec specialist Paul Steen from Imperva pointed out to roundtable attendees, "even when a cloud provider's security is less than ideal, most CIOs would compare it to their own security and say — I'll take the cloud."
"I don't think the world's leading IT providers will be criticised for having inadequate security," Vincent agreed. "I don't think the OAIC is going to say that organisations are lax with their security by outsourcing a service to Microsoft, Rackspace or Amazon. Because in reality, these service providers probably offer world leading security, well beyond the capability of individual organisations.
"There will be pressure applied from both regulators and customers to get cloud providers to meet minimum acceptable contractual terms.
"What the Information Commissioner might ask is: are you are taking adequate and reasonable steps on those things that are within your control?"
"You need to consider the nature of the information you're putting into that cloud. You need to look at the existing technical and operational safeguards implemented by the overseas recipient of the data — perhaps there are additional steps, such as encryption, that may be required where the recipient has limited safeguards in place, or where the data is particularly sensitive."
Indeed, one participant in our working group — operating in the sensitive area of healthcare data — noted that a cloud provider's claims to security only tend to apply to a discrete segment of the total computing stack.
"All of the standards Amazon [Web Services] claims to comply with — PCI, ISO 27001, SSA16, that's all at their layer," he said. "Anything above that — your virtual machine, your app stack —that's all up to you to protect and they won't claim responsibility for securing it.
"Don't be misled by standards written in a [IaaS] provider's whitepaper. That's only the protections they offer in your networking layer, and not what happens beyond their bare metal."
The good news for end users is that the continual pressure applied on cloud computing providers is yielding results. Services from Amazon, Rackspace, SuccessFactors and [soon] Microsoft Azure have been made available onshore, and the amended Privacy Act is likely to drive Salesforce.com and others to do the same.
Further, several CIOs have managed to convince cloud providers to provide more information on IT security or at least open up their systems and processes for audit. CIOs are advised to look for operators that claim to be ISO 27001 and use that as leverage to seek audit and inspection rights.
There doesn't seem to be an easy rationale for why every CIO is told a different story. Some of the largest banks have been refused entry to cloud data centres, while small government agencies have managed to seal these measures into the deal.
"There is enough competition now between the cloud providers — so demand that security!" Steen said. "Make IT security the differentiator — make it one of your bargaining chips between competing solutions."
I'm more than open to any IT manager game enough to tell me on record what tactics they used to win the right to audit or to insist on specific security measures in their cloud computing contract.
The consent card
The other 'get out of gaol' card for transborder data flows under the Privacy Act is to gain the "express, informed consent" of the individual concerned before you move the data.
Consent is one of the central themes of the amended Australian Privacy Act. The amended Act requires the express, informed consent of a user at the point personal information is collected, with clear communication on the intended purpose for collecting the information.
Consent is a massive issue for the CIOs we surveyed for this study. Customer data organisations have amassed over the decades prior to this Act coming into force is unlikely to have been collected with the necessary level of consent. Neither have databases and other systems necessarily been built to store consent information in an auditable fashion.
Consent is especially problematic for those organisations investing in Big Data — a theme which I will explore in greater detail tomorrow.
"The question is, what is express, informed consent going to look like?" Vincent asks. "Is that clause 173 at the back end of your terms and conditions which you can find after seven clicks on the web site?"
The answer is a resounding "no".
Our report recommends that organisations revamp how they deal with consent at the point of collection.
"This one issue underpins much of the offshore processing of personal information — offshore call centres, big data and direct marketing. Whether you have obtained express, informed consent is the key issue," Vincent notes.
We have gone into some detail in the report about what 'express, informed' consent looks like but one thing you can be sure of is that the majority of today's cloud services don't cut it.
"Privacy consent is now in a different class to what was acceptable under a click-wrap contract, which has otherwise become a principle of online commerce," Vincent noted. "The Privacy Act requires more than for your customer to simply say 'I agree' to dozens of pages of click-wrap terms."
Mark Vincent was interviewed by Brett Winterford, iTnews Group Editor, ahead of a jointly prepared report on Australia's new privacy laws. The article is republished with permission.
キーワード Australian Privacy Principles, cloud computing, Privacy Act
マーク ・ ヴィンセント Mark VINCENT
植物生物学 Plant Biology
シェルストンIPでは、世界の食料の安定確保を維持し、活況を呈しているアジア市場の需要に応えるというオーストラリア農業セクターが果たす役割がますます重要となっていることをよく認識しています。 At Shelston IP, we recognise the growing importance that...
タム・ウィン Tam Huynh
Tam mainly works in the fields of electrical engineering and...
クリーンテック Cleantech
In recent years, IP "buzzwords" have included superconductors, gene patents,...


text:
TMC sweeps WB panchayat polls, Mamata calls it a victory of masses
Jul 30, 2013 09:00 AM IST Politics	Politics
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's magic seemed to have worked as the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has swept the three-tier panchayat polls in the state.
The TMC has won in 13 of the 17 districts cornering the Left, which was reduced to winning only in Jalpaiguri. The TMC added to the humiliation by routing the Left from some of its traditional strongholds like Burdwan and Hoogly.
The Congress won just one in Murshidabad while it is a hung result in Malda and North Dinajpur.
The Left has accused the TMC of rigging the polls but Mamata called it a victory of the masses and said people have made the right decision. "I want to thank the people of West Bengal who faced a lot of adversities while voting. By voting and making the right decision, they have brought back the democracy to Bengal," she said.
The massive exercise to determine the results for village councils - the third tier of India's electoral system - was taken up by around 98,000 personnel in 329 counting centres - one in each block - across the rural areas of the state.
Up for grabs are 58,865 seats, for which an impressive 84.56 per cent of the 4.4 crore electorate cast their franchise in five phases - July 11, 15, 19, 22 and 25.
There are in all 755 Zilla Parishad (district councils) constituencies spread over 17 Zilla Parishads, 8,864 Panchayat Samity constituencies in 341 Panchayat Samities and 36,016 Gram Panchayat constituencies in 3,354 Gram Panchayats.
With at least 24 people dying in poll-related violence since round one of the elections, the authorities have deployed 4,500 central armed security forces besides a large army of state police personnel.
While the central forces on guard in the counting centres, the state police personnel have been deployed to maintain peace outside.
The polls were held in the backdrop of intriguing court battles between two constitutional bodies - the West Bengal government and the State Election Commission, violence and complaints of terror, rigging and intimidation mostly against the ruling Trinamool Congress.
Politically, the polls are significant in the wake of the triangular fights between the Trinamool, the Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Front (LF) and the Congress, with the latter two charging the Trinamool with having adopted tactics of coercion and intimidation to win the elections "unethically".
To buttress their point, the opposition parties have been referring to the Trinamool winning about 6,250 seats uncontested and alleged that their representatives were not allowed to file nomination.
On the other hand, Mamata Banerjee has claimed that the elections were free and fair, with the violence at a much lower scale than in previous elections. She has, however, claimed that the opposition tried to create unrest in some pockets.
In the 2008 elections, the LF bagged 13 zilla parishads, and the Congress and the Trinamool two each. However, this time the Trinamool was hoping to turn the script around by winning 13 Zilla parishads.
(With additional information from IANS)


text:
Internet Explorer 10's newest update will enable Flash content to run by default
Brittany A. Roston - Mar 12, 2013, 12:23am CDT
Tomorrow Microsoft will roll out an update to Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 8 and Windows RT that enables Flash content to run by default. Such a move will ensure websites "just work," something Microsoft says it believes is a key part of improving the experience for customers. Some websites will still have Flash blocked by default, however, due to incompatibility.
According to Microsoft, it has been testing websites with Flash content for compatibility with touch-based use of Windows, as well as battery life and performance. This testing, which is said to have taken place over the last several months, has demonstrated to Microsoft that the majority of websites with Flash content are compatible with the Windows "experience."
The update is being rolled out for both the desktop and immersive Internet Explorer varieties. For both Windows 8 and Windows RT, Flash content for immersive Internet Explorer will run by default unless it is on the Compatibility View list. Desktop Internet Explorer, however, will have Flash content enabled for all websites on Windows 8, but likewise enabled unless on the Compatibility View list in Windows RT.
With Windows 8, the included Flash is optimized for a host of criteria, including battery life, reliability, performance, security, and of course, touch. This was the result of "substantial changes" made by Adobe, and the use of Compatibility View allowed Microsoft to tailor its browser so that only compatible websites would run Flash content. As of now, according to the company, less than 4-percent of tested websites with Flash content are still incompatible.
[via MSDN]
Topics adobeInternet ExplorerMicrosoftStorageUpdateWindows
YouTube Originals doused: Creators remain key
This is the real voice behind Siri
Should you buy or rent a modem?
Oculus Quest v37 update adds unexpected Apple support