Diane Herring, left, and Bob Bailey rehearse with the band.
The musicians waited attentively for music director Carl Nalls to call out the number of the next song they would play in their Sunday afternoon rehearsal.
"Let's rock and roll," Nalls said.
"Is that what we're doing today, rock and roll?" saxophonist Diane Herring replied with a smile.
Date and time: May 12, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Still, when that 19-piece band cranks up, it's more likely to tackle Big Band jazz than small-combo rock. With five saxophones, four trombones, four trumpets, a rhythm section and singers making music, this band might seem more suited to the sound of Glenn Miller than Chuck Berry.
Nalls is 69 now. "Stan Kenton is my favorite band leader and I just love to play that music," he said.
So does Bailey, who's 80 and plays saxophone and clarinet with the Blue Notes. He helped found the band back in the 1980s and named it for a group he'd played with when he was growing up in Virginia. He still books the Atlanta Blue Notes' shows, including the big band's regular annual appearances at the DeKalb-Peachtree Airport's Good Neighbor Day.
No one seems sure how many years the band has played PDK's annual open house, but Assistant Airport Director Mario Evans says it's been for at least 15 years.This year, airport officials expect 18,000 people to attend the air show, which includes aerobatics and teams of airplanes flying in formation.


The items in this store are offered as aids and tools so that you may get full benefit in your journey to physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. For certain healing and meditation practices, they are needed tools. Just as a carpenter needs a hammer, a screwdriver and other tools to do his work, we also need tools as healers to help us in healing - to heal ourselves or to heal others. All Empowered Objects neutralize negative energy.


Having a slippery bathtub is usually dangerous especially for older people or people living with disabilities. For you to handle this problem, it is imperative to get the best non-slip bath mat that will ensure there is an effective grip when taking a shower.
In addition to creating a non-slippery surface, a bath mat allows you to have comfort at your feet thus improving your peace of mind.
Bath mats are generally affordable, durable and easy to clean. But, sometimes due to many varieties in the market, getting the best that meets your preferences can be challenging.
Measuring 16″ by 28″, this mat covers adequate floor space in your bathroom giving you comfortable and safe showers. It's made of heavy duty natural rubber material which is latex free, making it strong, durable, and safe. It's also soap repellant, preventing scum and soap residues from building up on its surface.
Epica bath mat has suction cups that make the mat stick firmly to the smooth bathroom or bathtub floor. It has several holes on it to facilitate faster drainage of water. It's treated with an antibacterial solution to prevent the growth of disease-causing micro-organisms.
It's light in weight, weighing just one pound. Epica mat gives you quality anti-slip features as well as creating an excellent visual impression in your shower room. This mat is suitable for use in gyms, hospitals, hotels, and home bathtubs/ bathrooms.
Gorilla Grip Original is made of plastic material free from latex, BPA, Phthalate, and is non-toxic. The rectangular shaped Gorilla Grip mat is extra large at 35″ by 16″, while the square mat measures 21″ x 21″. With over three hundred suction cups, this mat makes a strong grip on the smooth bath floor.
This mat is anti-bacterial, protecting you and your family from disease-causing microbes. It has many holes to improve drainage and avoid pools of water on the mat surface. With the hexagonal designs and available in eight colors, you are sure to add style and a perfect match for your bath, shower or tub.
Safe to use and easy to clean as its machine washable. Most suitable for use in a home bath, gyms, spa, hotel, hospital and literally everywhere where safety from slip and fall requires enhancement.
Made of high-quality vinyl material that lasts longer Measuring 16″ by 39″, it's extra long to cover bath floor adequately keeping you safe and comfortable as you take your shower. Available in three colors to choose from.
Simple Deluxe Anti-Bacterial is anti-bacterial and slip resistant is hence improving your safety. The material is free from allergens and BPA, suitable for use by all. Perfectly works on smooth surfaces giving you the slip-free and comfortable grip on your feet.
Suitable for use at home bathroom, tub, gym, and spa. It's easy to clean.
Made of high-quality vinyl, to last longer. It's rectangular measuring 39″ by 16″ hence extra-long to your bathtub adequately. The long size assures you of more comfort and slips resistance.
With 200 suction cups, it has an excellent grip on the tub. Its machine washable thus easy to clean. It's advisable to hang it out to dry in a space with free flow of air.
Available in 12 different colors and is popularly (but unofficially) known as Extra Long Bath Math. It's most suitable for use in bathtubs and showers.
At 39″ x 16″, Tike Smart is an extra long non-slip mat for use on smooth or non-textured tubs. It's made of vinyl material for durability and is available in 2 colors. This mat has 200 powerful suction cups for a firm grip on the tub floor.
Presence of 174 holes enhances its drainage capacity to keep you and your family safe. Its anti-microbial property prevents the growth of bacteria that may cause a bad smell. With its grippy texture and comfy, Tike Smart mat is the ultimate choice for your bathtub.
Sultan's Linen bath mat is one of the best mats currently in the market which features foldable design and improved quality. The Sultan's Linens has been on the market for long and seems to value individuality and users when manufacturing their products. Their mats will give you excellent grip during a shower and usually comes in three colors.
The Sultan's Linen bath mat is made of rubber, and it is foldable. Its folding ability enables you to keep it away when not using it. This mat also comes with drainage holes which will allow fast drying thus preventing mold build up.
The Sultan's Linen model, unlike others, does not use the suction to secure itself. If your tub bottom is textured, the suction cups will not work best. This bath mat also comes with a honeycomb design that will ensure you have maximum safety while taking a shower.
The VIVE mat is another best shower mat which features suction cup pad and drainage holes. It is a heavy duty mat as it is made of latex-free rubber and comes with unique suction cups that ensure there is a firm grip on the floor when it is wet.
Stable and grips well with smooth surfaces this shower mat has a robust nonslip grip that is provided by the 200 suction cups that has been attached to the mat.
This mat works best on smooth surfaces, and the suction cup enables it to remain secure when it is wet. When using lightly textured surface, this mat covers a large area ensuring that there is exceptional stability and traction when showering.
Drainage is a critical aspect of any bath mat; this ensures that there is no build-up of molds in the tub. VIVE shower mat comes with 6 inches centered drain hole which allows water to be drained away when showering. This drainage hole ensures there is no water left stagnant, and the tub remains dry to prevent molds.
Othway bathtub features a soft rubber mat that has sturdy suction cups. It is usually blue and gives you extra safety from accidents while in the tub. It is an ideal mat for kids and seniors as it provides a perfect grip with no rolling or slipping. This mat will work best on the smooth surfaces and not well on the textured ones.
This bath mat has durable suction cups designed at the bottom that clings well with a smooth surface ensuring that it is secure at all times. It is a perfect choice for all cohorts ranging from children to adults. It is usually long and large covering most of the tub. This tab is also suitable for hospitals, gyms, hotels, spas, saunas and assisted living facilities.
The Othway bath mat is made of durable rubber and latex that is PVC free, non-toxic & BPA free. Compared to others, this mat is very soft and makes your feet comfortable. It is also easy to clean and mold resistant. For tiny feet traction and mini foot massage always go for this model.
The NTTR bath mat is an ideal choice for smooth tub surfaces that can be a killer. It features an antibacterial, mildew and mold resistant mat that is durable and machine washable. This mat works well on the smooth surfaces, and you should clean the tub before using this bath mat.
The NTRR comes with more than 200 strong suction cups which ensures there is a maximum grip to anyone using the bathroom. This suction cups provides effective resistance, especially in the smooth surfaces. The design if this mat is also unique and adds decor to your bathroom.
This non-slip bath mat is made from an environmentally friendly material that is non-toxic. It is ultra-durable and can be used anywhere including the hotels, hospitals and more. This mat comes in any size depending on your bathroom.
The FeschDesign bath mat features the original GripTight technology and large suction cups. This mat should be placed in a clean shower surface and works best on the smooth surfaces.
It is antibacterial and mildew resistant thus keeping away mildew effectively. To avoid molds building up, ensure that you remove the mat from the tub after use.
This bath mat is made from natural rubber that is durable and latex free. It is also free from phthalate esters, BPA, cadmium, bromine, and lead. FeschDesign will protect you from latex allergic reactions and keeps you safe while in the shower. Also, there is no bad odor when using this mat because it is PVC free.
FeschDesign has been professionally designed with GripTight technology that ensures there is maximum grip at the bottom. It has large suction cups that create effective grip resistance enabling you to shower with peace of mind. This non-slip mat is very effective on smooth surfaces and will not work well on textured floors.
When choosing the best non-slip bath mat, ensure that you get the one which features extra functionalities and the one that blends well with your tub. Bath mats usually come in different colors and sizes, depending on your preferences get the one which provides maximum safety and still affordable.
Safety at home is very important. The safety of your loved ones in the bathroom is essential at all times. Have you ever thought about the risk posed by a slippery bathtub or bathroom floors?
Well, it's painful to imagine your child falling down and getting injured. The great news is that it's potential to remedy this situation to avoid slipping when taking a bath or relaxing at the bathtub. There are non slip bath mats specifically designed to solve this problem and take away all the associated stress.
The mats aid natural water drainage, prevent slipping by increasing friction, and add a nice look to your bathroom floor. Your choice of a bath mat suitable for the smooth slippery surfaces is determined by the texture of the floor surface, color preference, drainage ability, and size.
The safety features of these nonslip bath mats lie in their superior grip on the smooth floors aided by suction cups. The sizes vary a lot, but as a hint, the larger the size the bigger the surface covered. If you're looking for a tougher material, most certainly rubber made Epica bath mat would be your perfect choice.
With its heavy duty natural rubber, Epica bath mat guarantees you years and years of active use without wear and tear It being coo-friendly, this rubber made nonslip mat may be just what you are looking for. Note that all the top mats are only suitable for smooth non-textured floors.
Best Shower Base In-depth Guide & Reviews For 2019!


Act with your mouth and your wallet. Every dollar you spend at a Tailgate Market is directly benefiting local small farmers and producers and you. Every dollar you spend in a locally-owned business is keeping more money in our local economy, supporting family-owned businesses, and producing local jobs. Every dollar you spend on things like organic food or recycled products (like paper) is sending a tangible message to the larger market that you care about your family, small farms, local businesses, and the environment. As far as Tailgate Markets are concerned, the beauty is...you get to eat the delicious benefits and vote with your dollar. That's a win-win situation!
Sometimes it's hard. Everyone is working within a budget, and sometimes we cringe at the price of a food or a greener product we'd really like to get and think we can't afford. I always try to push the window of my pocketbook comfort-zone. Consider thinking of this budget shortfall as an aspect of your charitable giving, and use your dollars to drive the kind of changes you'd like to see in your community and in the world ~ we all breathe the same air and drink from the same cup.
Plant a garden. That's really eating local! Plant something, anything, edible. Even a pot of herbs on your porch is a step in the right direction.
Get your children, or grandchildren, involved in gardening at an early age. Young children love to help in the garden. Encourage their involvement, and they will have a lifelong familiarity of how things grow and how to grow them, and associate the smell of soil with something wonderful. Consider volunteering with your children at school gardens or community gardens.
Buy a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Share. Shares are available in the spring. Generally, you receive a box filled with a variety of in-season food every week during the growing season. The ASAP Local Food Guide has a list of farms that offer CSA's, or go to asapconnections.org to see the list online.
Supplement your garden at the Tailgate Market. Make your grocery list and visit the tailgate market before you go to the grocery store. Get as much as you possibly can from the Tailgate Market, including staples like onions and garlic, breads, meats, eggs, honey, jams, mushrooms, and soap.
Take your children to the Tailgate Market. The markets can be very social and kid-friendly. Your children will see lots of beautiful, possibly mysterious food and have a chance to meet and get to know the farmers, bakers, beekeepers, and craftspeople. The farmers enjoy knowing who is eating the food they have raised, and some customers have been loyal "Tailgaters" for decades!
Make home-cooked meals. Convey your enthusiasm for local food in your cooking. Cooking at home brings your family together to enjoy food that has been cooked with love. If time is tight, designate particulars days or certain mealtimes for home-cooked meals. Simply sitting around a table with friends and family is an ancient human pleasure.
Cook with your children. Kids love to help in the kitchen. Sit your toddler (safely) on the counter while you are making biscuits or cutting up vegetables. Pass down the legacy of knowing how to make certain meals that become family traditions. Cook together, even if you yourself are still learning. It's a lifelong skill that our bellies appreciate.
farm. It's great fun for the whole family. The 2013 Family Farm Tour is in late June. For details go to asapconnections.org.
Go to a U-pick Farm. This is a fun family outing, and you get to bring yummy food home to eat. The ASAP Local Food Guide has a list of u-pick farms, or go to asapconnections.org.
Make a personal commitment to support local farms, local producers, and local businesses. This supports our local economy, reduces fossil fuel use, promotes food security, and enriches our primal connection to the food we eat and to our neighbors. Each dollar spent in a local business will benefit our community many-fold, and benefit you with an enhanced sense of local living.
Live with gusto, and enjoy the beautiful food we have to eat in our gorgeous corner of the state ~ Western North Carolina, or wherever you may live.


One of the many unjust reasons why Donald Trump is labeled 'racist' is because he proposed to ban Muslim immigration until the ISIS threat is ended. Obviously, liberals see Islam as a race rather than as a religion, and regardless the fact that many Muslims are actually WHITE, they labeled him racist. Preaching about ending racism, while seeing all Muslims as Arabs is quite ironic.
They twisted his words in a way that it now sounds like Trump wants to ban Muslims once and for all. Let's look back not so far ago in 1970 when Jimmy Carter restricted Iranian immigration when Iranians held Americans in captivity. If we see this through liberals' eyes, this is islamohpobia and 'racist' as well.
Now, let's remind the liberals that their beloved president FDR put the Japanese in internment camp.
It is filmed in Dearborn, Michigan, a place with the highest density of Muslims.
Most Muslims are offended and take the phrase "radical Islam" personal without stopping to think that the phrase is used to distinguish the peaceful Muslims from the lunatics who threaten to end everything that is non-Islamic.
Aren't they aware that in this country, the hatred towards the Jews is far greater than the one towards the Muslims? And what do the Jews do about that fact? Nothing. Why? Because they are too busy being productive and peaceful instead of spreading even more hatred and tension.


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Bar urges politicians to be cautious in criticising judges' decisions
by Sol Dolor22 Jun 2019
New Zealand's top body for barristers is urging politicians to be cautious in criticising decisions made by judges.
"Public statements made to be popular and without the benefit of all information" can erode the fundamental principles of upholding the rule of law and the independence of judges, the New Zealand Bar Association (NZBA) says.
The statement comes after Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters criticised a decision by judge Roderick Joyce QC, who granted name suppression to Joanne Harrison in 2007.
Harrison had seriously offended under the name Joanne Sharp, but that name was suppressed until the publication won its application to lift the suppression order, a Stuff investigation recently revealed.
Harrison pleaded guilty in 2007 to five charges of forgery, using a forged document, altering a document, using an altered document, and obtaining by deception. She was sentenced to 300 hours of community service for the offending while she was a senior manager at Tower Insurance.
She was subsequently also found guilty in 2017 of misappropriating more than $725,000 as a senior manager at the Ministry of Transport, which got her sentenced to three years and seven months in jail. She has been released and deported to the UK.
Peters said Thursday morning that Harrison "should never have got name suppression." Simon Bridges, the Nationals leader, said that the order to grant suppression in the Towers case was "clearly wrong," given the benefit of hindsight.
Jonathan Eaton QC, NZBA spokesperson, said that Joyce made the decision to grant suppression based on the facts of the case in 2007 and that the circumstances have changed since then.
"Politicians wading in with bald and hindsight assessments that a judge's decision was wrong is not only unhelpful; it is quite unfair to the judge. Judges make decisions based on the application of facts as presented to established legal principles. In this case, Judge Joyce QC did exactly that. That years later, facts have changed, leading to a reconsideration of the earlier decision, does not in any sense mean the original decision was wrong," Eaton said.
Bar welcomes new rules to counter lawyers' inappropriate behaviour
NZBA president to focus on diversity, ending 'macho' culture

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Tonsils are tissues situated at each side of the throat, and are part of the body's immune system. The tonsils filter debris and bacteria from the body through the nose and mouth. Tonsils can get infected and inflamed, though, which leads to a condition called tonsillitis. While tonsillitis will usually subside naturally or with the help of antibiotics, chronic tonsillitis can produce pockets in the tonsils, which can trap food and other debris. These pores are called crypts, and therefore the condition is called cryptic tonsils or cryptic tonsillitis.
Cryptic tonsillitis is not a serious condition, although it can be quite uncomfortable and unpleasant. In many cases, a cryptic tonsil would produce bad breath, because of the bacteria and food particles trapped within. In some cases, the debris form into tonsil "stones," which are called tonsilliths, mostly made up of trapped bacteria and food particles.
There are generally three ways to deal with cryptic tonsils, which include surgery, laser treatment, or alternative treatments to reduce the bad effects.
Tonsillectomy, or the process of removing tonsils, is usually a painful procedure that will take two weeks to completely heal. Because of this, surgery is considered the last resort in curing cryptic tonsils. However, if chronic tonsillitis is a problem, then surgery is probably your best option.
If surgery is too drastic a treatment for cryptic tonsils, then you can ask your doctor if it's possible to do laser treatment or somnoplasty. Laser treatment will smoothen the surface of your tonsils, thereby removing the pockets. Somnoplasty will, meanwhile, involve the insertion of electrodes into your tonsils. These electrodes will emit energy waves, which will kill cells in the tonsil tissue. This shrinks the tonsils back into their normal size eventually.
If medical intervention seems too drastic at this time, you can try several home remedies that can at least help minimize the symptoms of cryptic tonsils.
Antibiotics – Check with your doctor if you can take antibiotics to help reduce the inflammation of your tonsils. Antibiotics will also kill off bacteria lodged into the tonsil pockets.
Saltwater – A saltwater gargle can help dislodge tonsil stones and can help prevent the formation of new ones. Use a solution of one teaspoon of salt in a glass of warm water. Gargle every hour until the stones are dislodged.
Vinegar – You can also boil vinegar and set it aside to warm. Use it as a gargle, which can also help dislodge tonsil stones and prevent the formation of new ones.
Manual removal – You can use a cotton swab to manually remove tonsil stones dislodged in pockets. This can be uncomfortable, though, and might cause a gag or swallowing reflex.
Mouthwash – You can combine a mixture of ActivOxygen tablets dissolved in water (meant for halitosis) and nasal drops. Gargle with the mixture once per hour.
If bad breath is a concern, you can use products meant for halitosis, such as TheraBreath. These can help minimize bad breath, but will not necessarily dislodge the tonsil stones.
If the home remedies don't work, get in touch with your doctor. He will be able to prescribe medication or treatment that can help cure or remove cryptic tonsils altogether.


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Tag: Shi'a militias
Islamic State development & employment of SVBIEDs
January 20, 2016anti-tank, anti-tank guided weapons, AT, ATGW, BDA, Iraq, IS, Islamic State, Jabhat al-Nusra, Kurds, Peshmerga, PIBD, Shi'a militias, slat armour, sloped armour, suicide bomb, SVBIED, Syria, UAV
Kenton Fulmer The suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (SVBIED) is broadly considered to have served as the makeshift 'precision guided munition' (PGM) of Islamist extremists for the last decade, with their frequent and effective use in the tactical operations of the Islamic State (IS) serving to highlight the phenomenon in the media. Due to the decisive
Landmines and significant IED designs documented in Yemen
September 5, 2015anti-personnel, EFP, fuze, Hezbollah, Houthi, IED, Iran, Iraq, IRGC, landmines, mines, Misznay-Schardin, MVM, MVZ-57, shaped charge, Shi'a militias, TM-57, Yemen
Kenton Fulmer Recent photos posted on social media channels have illustrated the proliferation of an unmarked variant of the Russian TM-57 AT blast mine, as well as an escalation in the sophistication of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the Yemeni conflict. This cache of munitions (documented here in early August) is observed to contain over 150 examples of the
Arms Diversion in Iraq – Iranian RU60G thermal weapon sight
August 1, 2015AM50, AMR, anti-materiel rifle, Hashd al-Shaabi, Iran, Iraq, IRGC, optics, Rayan Roshd, RU120G, RU60G, RU90G, Shi'a militias, thermal imager, thermal weapon sight, TWS
Galen Wright Photos made available via Twitter in July show a new addition to Iraq's bustling black-market – an Iranian RU60G thermal sight, priced at $5,000 USD. Although Iranian arms have been well documented in Iraq, this example highlights a new concern: unauthorised transfers to secondary users. The RU60G is produced in Iran by the privately operated company Rayan


BROOKLYN, NY – The National Women's Hockey League today announced a bonus payment structure for its players based on attendance.
For each game, players will receive 100 percent of ticket revenue after 500 tickets are sold. There will be a 50/50 split between the home and road teams participating in the game. The bonus is for every regular season game at every venue, and went into effect on Dec. 1.
As an example, when the Boston Pride hosted the Connecticut Whale on Dec. 3 and drew a capacity crowd of 750, the players from both teams shared all of the revenue from the 250 tickets sold over the 500-seat mark. The attendance-related payout is a bonus beyond each player's salary. NWHL players also receive 15 percent from sales of their respective jerseys and shirseys.
The NWHL and the player representatives from the league's four franchises in Boston, Buffalo, Connecticut and New York created the attendance initiative together.
"I am excited that the league is taking strides forward to remain faithful to the players," said Anya Battaglino, a defender and player representative with the Connecticut Whale. "This is truly rewarding the product on the ice, and it is so important that the league honors that. To all of our fans near and far, if you want to support the league, buy a ticket, come to a game, and fall in love with our dreams."
You can support the NWHL and its players by purchasing tickets at nwhl.zone/tickets.


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This image has been sourced from online.
y Republics of Letters : Literary Communities in Australia anthology criticism
Editor: Robert Dixon
Issue Details: First known date: 2012... 2012 Republics of Letters : Literary Communities in Australia
Contents (2012: 21)
'Republics of letters: literary communities in Australia is the first book to explore the notion of literary community or literary sociability in relation to Australian literature. It brings together twenty-four scholars from a range of disciplines - literature, history, cultural and women's studies, creative writing and digital humanities - to address some of the key questions about Australian literary communities: how they form, how they change and develop, and how they operate within wider social and cultural contexts, both within Australia and internationally.' (Publisher's blurb)
* Contents derived from the Sydney, New South Wales,:Sydney University Press , 2012 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
The 'Federation of Literary Sympathy' : The Australasian Home Reading Union, Kylie Mirmohamadi , single work criticism
'This chapter examines the AHRU [The Australasian Home Reading Union], and especially the language that was used to represent it and promulgate its message of directed home reading, in the light of this book's emphasis on collective reading experiences in Australia.' (17)
Pacifying Brisbane : The Muses' Magazine and the 1920s, Patrick Buckridge , single work criticism
'Patrick Buckridge reveals the extraordinary number of literary and cultural societies that flourished in Brisbane in the 1920s, contributing to what he describes as 'the active creation of a liberal polity' during the otherwise turbulent interwar period. Despite this apparently local focus, many, indeed most, of these societies, as their names indicate, were affiliated with wider forms of imagined community : L'Alliance Francaise, the Brisbane Shakespeare Society, Der Brisbane Goeth Bund.' (Kirkpatrick, Peter and Dixon, Robert: Introduction xiii)
Communities of Readers : Australian Reading History and Library Loan Records, Julieanne Lamond , single work criticism
'Recent accounts of Australian literary studies that have privileged book history, or empirical or digital approaches to the discipline, imply a shift of emphasis away from the text itself towards its reception. Usually implicit in such accounts is the idea that the reader is a valid focus for scholarly attention in thinking about 'Australian literature' we are applying the national descriptor not just to the books we study, but to their readers. We are thinking, in William St Clair's terms, of 'the reading nation' rather than the nation's writers. What might it mean to think of Australia as a nation of readers, or of readerships as forms of local or national community in Australia?' (Kirkpatrick, Peter and Dixon, Robert: Introduction 27)
Books and Debate About the Australian Government's Policies Towards Asylum Seekers, Ann Shead , single work criticism
'The power of book publishing on the wider Australian polity in the twenty-first century is the subject of Jan Zwar's chapter. She uses 'empirical mapping' - data from Nielsen BookScan, Factiva and parliamentary records - to examine the impact of books on the asylum-seeker debate of the 2000s. Patterns of reviews, media mentions, academic citations and references in parliament can indicate in what ways books, and those who write and publish them, remain 'actively part of the democratic process.'' (Kirkpatrick, Peter and Dixon, Robert: Introduction xiii-xvi)
Scenes of Reading : Is Australian Literature a World Literature?, Robert Dixon , single work criticism
'Robert Dixon explores how Australian literature can negotiate between provincial, national and world literary space. At what appears to be a lime of unprecedented internationalisation, can Australian literature be considered a world literature, or does it remain a relatively minor national literature embedded uncertainly in world literary space?' (Kirkpatrick, Peter and Dixon, Robert: Introduction xiv)
Modernising Anglocentrism : Desiderata and Literary Time, David Carter , single work criticism
'In his case study of Desiderata, a literary journal published in Adelaide from 1929 to 1939, David Carter studies the cross currents of literary modernism's reception among elite and middlebrow circles in this provincial city. On the basis of fresh archival research, he proposes an elegant model of the relations between local and international literary space, extending from Anglocentrism at one end to provincialism at the other, reflecting Casanova's distinction between national and international orientations. But in an innovative turn that resists and complicates her often hard binaries, he suggests that we can we can distinguish provincial and modernising forms of cultural identification at both ends of the spectrum...' (From Introduction p. xv)
Jindy Modernist : The Jindyworobaks as Avant-Garde, Peter Kirkpatrick , single work criticism
'In an analogous way, in his chapter on the Jindyworobak poets, Peter Kirkpatrick shows how that movement's seemingly narrow cultural nationalism is in fact complicated by its international affinities with modernist primitivism and the avant-garde. In Casanova's terms, although their founder Rex Ingamells insisted on the 'centrifugal' primacy of national space, in their appropriation of Aboriginal culture they were nonetheless bound up with 'the centripetal forces that strengthen the autonomous and unifying pole of world literary space'.' (Kirkpatrick, Peter and Dixon, Robert: Introduction xv)
(p. 99-112)
Bobbin Up in the Leseland : Australian Literature in the German Democratic Republic, Nicole Moore , Christina Spittel , single work criticism
'The reading nation m the Leseland - or at least distinct reading formations within two separate national politics - remains an important determinant in Nicole Moore and Cristina Spittel's comparative study of the reception of Dorothy Hewett's novel Bobbin Up (1959) in Australia and the German Democratic Republic. These distinct reception histories work 'as revealingly transposed opposites', as between 1949 and 1990 Australian titles published in East Germany formed 'an alternative cannon, a shadowy literary archive that rewrites Australia's post-war cultural history from behind the iron curtain.' In Australia, the networks of production and reception for Bobbin Up were focused on the Australian Book Society and the GDR on that nation's centralised cultural administration. This meant that its readerships in Australia were at once nationally distinctive but internally marginal within the wider culture of the Menzies era. Moore and Spittel's case study is also sensitive to the discursive frames - humanist, universalist, socialist and feminist - which allowed for the transnational mediation of meanings between these two distinct though internally diverse national cultures of reading. They argue that 'Eastern Bloc editions...formed threads along which literary realisation of intensely localised expressive identity, as Bobbin Up so thoroughly is, travelled beyond themselves and their reading worlds.'' (Kirkpatrick, Peter and Dixon, Robert: Introduction xv)
(p. 113-126)
An American Introduction : Perfect Readers, Unread Books and Christina Stead's The Man Who Loved Children, Fiona Morrison , single work criticism
'Fiona Morrison treats the reception history of Christina Stead's once neglected masterpiece The Man Who Loved Children (1940) as a case study in the complex relations between the centres of international literary space and the literary province. This difficult and anomalous book was written by an expatriate Australian about her Australian childhood, but the setting was transferred to America during the Depression years of the 1930s at the behest of her American publisher, Simon & Schuster. ' (Kirkpatrick, Peter and Dixon, Robert: Introduction xv-xvi)
Connectivity, Community and the Question of Literary Universality : Reading Kim Scott's Chronotope and John Kinsella's Commedia, Philip Mead , single work criticism
Taking account of the impact of new social networking technologies, Philip Mead begs the question of how 'literary versions of human collectivity' might now be understood in a world where [c]onnectivity is rapidly evolving in a posthuman world, replacing community'. In suggestive readings of the two recent works with strong local focuses - Kim Scott's That Deadman Dance (2010) and John Kinsella's Divine Comedy: Journeys through Regional Geography (2008) - Mead models a critical practice that overrides Casanovas's binarisms by attending to the multiple possibilities of time, space, identity and collectivity that these textual spaces bring into being. AS he writes: 'Communities are dimensional in the way space is: they exist in time, in historical incarnation, but also in the existential constellations of individual consciousness. Multiple and virtual, they are always expanding and shifting.' (Kirkpatrick, Peter and Dixon, Robert: Introduction xvi)
Reading Publics, Watching Audiences : Lady Audley's Secret in Nineteenth-Century Melbourne, Susan K. Martin , single work criticism
'Susan K Martin reconstructs the emerging colonial readership for British sensation fiction, complicating her account of gendered sociability by contrasting the reception of Mary Braddon's novel Lady Audley's Secret with spectatorship of its stage adaptation on Melbourne in the early 1860s. She draws here on one of the classic models of eighteenth-century sociability, which John Dwyer refers to as the theatrical, performative or 'spectatorial' model of sociality.' (Kirkpatrick, Peter and Dixon, Robert: Introduction xvi)
'I Must Be My Own Director' " Cynthia Reed, Elisabeth Lambert, and Reed & Harris, Publishers, Jane Grant , single work criticism
'As the publishers of the avant-garde journal Angry Penguins, the small firm of Reed & Harris is well-known in the history of Australian literature. What is less well-documented is its dealings with the women writers Cynthia Reed (later Nolan) and Elizabeth Lambert. Jane Grant looks at the company's correspondence, 'a far -flung epistolary community', and traces the fortunes of Cynthia's first two novels, in order to recover these two neglected figures for Australian modernism during its most tumultuous period. (Kirkpatrick, Peter and Dixon, Robert: Introduction xvii)
'Opposing All the Things They Stand For' : Women Writers and the Women's Magazines, Susan Sheridan , single work criticism
'In her essay on mid twentieth-century women's journalism, Susan Sheridan considers some of the strategies that women writers used to bridge the gap between their hard-earned place in the literary field and their bread-and-butter work for popular women's magazines. Her case studies of Kylie Tennant, Charmian Clift and Barbara Jefferis suggest that writers must negotiate different forms of professional identity as they move from one literary institution to another - from the novel to women's magazines - each of which has its unique networks of sociability and values. When Tennant began writing for the Woman's Mirror in 1961, for example, she felt that she had made her name as a novelist by 'opposing all the things' the women's magazines stood for. Jefferis dealt with the problem by adopting the pen-name 'Margaret Sydney' and assuming the persona of 'an everywoman'. While writing for the women's pages created 'a fragile community of women writers and readers, Sheridan argues that it was too bound up with the gendering of the domestic sphere to constitute 'a positive counter-public sphere', which was not achieved until the rise of women's presses, like Virago, in the 1970s.' (Kirkpatrick, Peter and Dixon, Robert: Introduction xvii)
Seven Writers and Australia's Literary Capital, D'Arcy Randall , single work criticism
'D'Arcy Randall's essay on the Seven Writers group in Canberra in the 1970s and 1980s is a case study of literary sociability richly informed by both archival and oral history. It explores the internal dynamics of this group who worked collaboratively for a generation to nurture and critique each others writing, publishing both individually and collectively while resisting becoming a 'school'. Meeting in each others' homes to workshop manuscripts and discuss the business of publication, Seven Writers are an example of what Russell and Tuite describe as a site of private sociability: writer Sara Dowse speaks of '"a room of her own"...crowded with seven writerly spirits'. Randall explores the complex and fruitful interaction between the more formal and informal parts of the workshops, describes both the internal dynamics of the group and its relations with outsiders, and considers the role of gender in this 'Australian women's literary community' at a time when other writers' networks, especially in the major cities, were overwhelmingly masculine, and located in other sites of sociability, such as the pub and the writers' festival.' (Kirkpatrick, Peter and Dixon, Robert: Introduction xvii)
'Networking, Bumping into, Sucking up to, Catching up with, Meeting, Greeting, Chatting, Joking, Criticising' : The Emerging Writers' Community as Respublica Literaria, Keri Glastonbury , single work criticism
Keri Glastonbury's looks at 'how newly imagined communities might be at play in contemporary digitised literary cultures. ' (Kirkpatrick, Peter and Dixon, Robert: Introduction xviii)
An Unsettled Community : Harpur's Carnival, Harris' Assonance, Mackellar's Code, John Kinsella , single work criticism
Michael Farrell observes 'a textual community is conventionally defined as people brought together by shared texts or reading practices, though 'such a bringing together may be virtual, through online networks'. Recognising that imagined communities, even in Anderson's classic formulation, are indeed 'imagined', papering over forms of difference in inequality, Farrell examines a seemingly disparate group of text by Charles Harpur, Norman Harris and Dorothea Mackellar that betray the 'plural knowledges of the past', forms of poetry that do not support the settlement upon which the imagined community of the nation depends. These are works that by virtue of their aberrant style and form and stance have been left to one side of the cultural nations canon, even when written by poets like Harpur and Mackellar, who otherwise have been enlisted into that settlement. They form, he argues, a community of 'wild' or 'fugitive' texts distinguished by 'their disinterest in building a national literature'. (Source: Kirkpatrick, Peter and Dixon, Robert: Introduction xviii)
The Beginner's Guide to Being an Australian : John O'Grady's They're a Weird Mob, Lindsay Barrett , single work criticism
'Lindsay Barrett interrogates the remarkable effectiveness of Jon O'Grady's They're a Weird Mob - Australia's most popular novel of the 1950s - in negotiating for middlebrow Australian readers the tensions that had arisen between an older version of the 'imagined community' and the new, physical community brought into being by postwar migration. In this sense, Barrett argues, it was 'an intensely ideological work of fiction'. (Kirkpatrick, Peter and Dixon, Robert: Introduction xviii)
'He Lacks Almost All the Qualities of the Novelist' : G.M. Glaskin and His Australian Contemporaries, Jeremy Fisher , single work criticism
'Jeremy Fisher questions why G.M. Glaskin, whose books sold well in Europe and America, failed to find critical acclaim and a substantial audience here. Beyond some influential mentors in his hometown of Perth, Glaskin 'never seemed to fit in to the Australian literary community'. His international standing may not have helped, but neither did his homosexuality, and his frank writing about same-sex desire at a time when such themes were still taboo. (Kirkpatrick, Peter and Dixon, Robert: Introduction xviii)
Anthologies and the Anti-Republic of Australian Gay and Lesbian Poetry, Ann Vickery , single work criticism
'Anne Vickery...traces how, since the 1980s, periodicals and anthologies have enabled a protean space in which forms of gay and lesbian poetic community have come into being. Historically, queer subcultures have been 'hermetic', lacking an open speaking position within heteronormative society, and Vickery proposes that his place of negativity in relation to the straight world 'may find affinity with poetry's notorious obscurity'. (Kirkpatrick, Peter and Dixon, Robert: Introduction xviii)
'All the Village was Running' : Some Voices from Young Refugees in Western Sydney, Lachlan Brown , single work criticism
'Lachlan Brown's account of a writing workshop for young refugees in the western suburbs of Sydney, sponsored by the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation in 2009, is a vivid example of Rubin's axiom that texts both produce networks of sociality and are produced by them. The pieces by refugee writers also confirm her argument that sociability is heterogeneous and unstable, embracing both engagement with and subtle resistance to or difference from dominating forms of identity, including narratives of national belonging. Brown notes a distinct and recurring ambivalence about 'Australia' that unsettles the writing by refugees: Tamil, Afghan or Iraqi identities are withheld and 'in play', always ready to 'overshadow any sense of Australian nationality or citizenship, and those sets of 'values' that are required or promoted by the government.' (Kirkpatrick, Peter and Dixon, Robert: Introduction xviii-xix)
VIEW ENTIRE CONTENTS ( works)VIEW NEXT
Publisher: Sydney University Press
Sydney, New South Wales,: Sydney University Press , 2012 .
Extent: xix, 301 p.p.
Description: illus., maps
ISBN: 9781920899783 (pbk.)
VIEW CONTENTS (21 works)
Contingencies of Meaning Making : English Teaching and Literary Sociability Philip Mead , Brenton Doecke , Larissa McLean-Davies , 2020 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , 29 October vol. 35 no. 2 2020; Abstract
'This paper draws on interviews conducted as part of the Australian Research Council funded Discovery project Investigating Literary Knowledge in the Making of English Teachers. Those interviews inquire into the role of literary knowing in the professional learning of early career English teachers, focusing specifically on their experiences as they make the transition, via teacher education programmes, from university students of English to school teachers. We have also been interested in how key institutional settings, practices and policies might have shaped their experiences of literary education at tertiary level; the knowledge and values they bring to their work as English teachers; and the professional learning they undergo in their first years of teaching. The aim of this article is to present an exploration of 'literary sociability', a working concept of the project for identifying and exploring ways of literary meaning making that might have particular relevance and use for understanding early career English teachers' experiences across the settings of their education and work.' (Publication abstract)
Scenes of Reading : Australia-Canada-Australia Sneja Gunew , 2015 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 15 no. 3 2015; Abstract 'I found the idea of a 'scene of writing' very generative and tried to retrieve a few mises en scène in relation to my own obsessions over the past 45 years of teaching both in Australia and Canada. Reading some of the publications coming out of Robert Dixon's project (e.g. Dixon and Rooney) I speculated about how fascinating it would be to track Australian scenes of reading in relation to those writers who came to Australian literary texts with knowledge of languages other than English and with cultural contexts other than Anglo-Celtic ones. After the panel session I launched a kind of Festschrift for a writer who has embodied all this for forty years: Antigone Kefala. The book captures many scenes of reading her work in numerous languages and places across the world (Karalis and Nikas). I also started speculating about the recent work by Kim Scott and many others who have been working to salvage Aboriginal languages and that here too there is an important intervention into a prevailing mono-lingualism that still seems to be the default position in Australia. Paradoxically, the work of indigenous writers and critics may make it easier to argue for more attention to be paid to that intra-cosmopolitanism multilingualism comprising the many writers and artists who have always worked within Australia—sometimes in English or an English inflected differently as well as many many other languages (Chow).' (Author's introduction)
Review : Republics of Letters : Literary Communities in Australia Bronwyn Lacken , 2014 single work review
— Appears in: Reviews in Australian Studies , vol. 8 no. 4 2014;
— Review of Republics of Letters : Literary Communities in Australia 2012 anthology criticism
Untitled Jim Davidson , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: Journal of Australian Studies , 1 March vol. 37 no. 1 2013; (p. 133-134)
There's No Escaping the View From Here James Ley , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 19-20 January 2013; (p. 19)
Untitled Karen Lamb , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 72 no. 2 2012; (p. 161-163.)
Untitled Lucie O'Brien , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 12 no. 3 2012;
[Review] Republics of Letters Lydia Wevers , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , October-November vol. 27 no. 3/4 2012; (p. 151-153)
Last amended 30 Jan 2017 12:16:34
Common subjects:
Australian literature and writers
Reader response
Australian literary history
Australian literature - Overseas responses
Australian literature - Overseas publishing
Literary associations
Australian literary movements
Australian poetry
Social networks & networking
Migrant literature & writers


text:
import gym

from ray.rllib.models.modelv2 import ModelV2
from ray.rllib.models.torch.torch_modelv2 import TorchModelV2
from ray.rllib.utils.annotations import override
from ray.rllib.utils.framework import try_import_torch

torch, nn = try_import_torch()

class OnlineLinearRegression(nn.Module):
    def __init__(self, feature_dim, alpha=1, lambda_=1):
        super(OnlineLinearRegression, self).__init__()
        self.d = feature_dim
        self.alpha = alpha
        self.precision = nn.Parameter(
            data=lambda_ * torch.eye(self.d), requires_grad=False)
        self.f = nn.Parameter(data=torch.zeros(self.d, ), requires_grad=False)
        self.covariance = nn.Parameter(
            data=torch.inverse(self.precision), requires_grad=False)
        self.theta = nn.Parameter(
            data=self.covariance.matmul(self.f), requires_grad=False)
        self._init_params()

    def _init_params(self):
        self.update_schedule = 1
        self.delta_f = 0
        self.delta_b = 0
        self.time = 0
        self.covariance.mul_(self.alpha)
        self.dist = torch.distributions.multivariate_normal\
            .MultivariateNormal(self.theta, self.covariance)

    def partial_fit(self, x, y):
        # TODO: Handle batch of data rather than individual points
        self._check_inputs(x, y)
        x = x.squeeze(0)
        y = y.item()
        self.time += 1
        self.delta_f += y * x
        self.delta_b += torch.ger(x, x)
        # Can follow an update schedule if not doing sherman morison updates
        if self.time % self.update_schedule == 0:
            self.precision += self.delta_b
            self.f += self.delta_f
            self.delta_b = 0
            self.delta_f = 0
            torch.inverse(self.precision, out=self.covariance)
            torch.matmul(self.covariance, self.f, out=self.theta)
            self.covariance.mul_(self.alpha)

    def sample_theta(self):
        theta = self.dist.sample()
        return theta

    def get_ucbs(self, x):
        """ Calculate upper confidence bounds using covariance matrix according
        to algorithm 1: LinUCB
        (http://proceedings.mlr.press/v15/chu11a/chu11a.pdf).

        Args:
            x (torch.Tensor): Input feature tensor of shape
                (batch_size, feature_dim)
        """

        projections = self.covariance @ x.T
        batch_dots = (x * projections.T).sum(dim=1)
        return batch_dots.sqrt()

    def forward(self, x, sample_theta=False):
        """ Predict scores on input batch using the underlying linear model.

        Args:
            x (torch.Tensor): Input feature tensor of shape
                (batch_size, feature_dim)
            sample_theta (bool): Whether to sample the weights from its
                posterior distribution to perform Thompson Sampling as per
                http://proceedings.mlr.press/v28/agrawal13.pdf .
        """
        self._check_inputs(x)
        theta = self.sample_theta() if sample_theta else self.theta
        scores = x @ theta
        return scores

    def _check_inputs(self, x, y=None):
        assert x.ndim in [2, 3], \
            "Input context tensor must be 2 or 3 dimensional, where the" \
            " first dimension is batch size"
        assert x.shape[1] == self.d, \
            "Feature dimensions of weights ({}) and context ({}) do not " \
            "match!".format(self.d, x.shape[1])
        if y:
            assert torch.is_tensor(y) and y.numel() == 1,\
                "Target should be a tensor;" \
                "Only online learning with a batch size of 1 is " \
                "supported for now!"

class DiscreteLinearModel(TorchModelV2, nn.Module):
    def __init__(self, obs_space, action_space, num_outputs, model_config,
                 name):
        TorchModelV2.__init__(self, obs_space, action_space, num_outputs,
                              model_config, name)
        nn.Module.__init__(self)

        alpha = model_config.get("alpha", 1)
        lambda_ = model_config.get("lambda_", 1)
        self.feature_dim = obs_space.sample().size
        self.arms = nn.ModuleList([
            OnlineLinearRegression(
                feature_dim=self.feature_dim, alpha=alpha, lambda_=lambda_)
            for i in range(self.num_outputs)
        ])
        self._cur_value = None
        self._cur_ctx = None

    @override(ModelV2)
    def forward(self, input_dict, state, seq_lens):
        x = input_dict["obs"]
        scores = self.predict(x)
        return scores, state

    def predict(self, x, sample_theta=False, use_ucb=False):
        self._cur_ctx = x
        scores = torch.stack(
            [self.arms[i](x, sample_theta) for i in range(self.num_outputs)],
            dim=-1)
        self._cur_value = scores
        if use_ucb:
            ucbs = torch.stack(
                [self.arms[i].get_ucbs(x) for i in range(self.num_outputs)],
                dim=-1)
            return scores + ucbs
        else:
            return scores

    def partial_fit(self, x, y, arm):
        assert 0 <= arm.item() < len(self.arms), \
            "Invalid arm: {}. It should be 0 <= arm < {}".format(
                arm.item(), len(self.arms))
        self.arms[arm].partial_fit(x, y)

    @override(ModelV2)
    def value_function(self):
        assert self._cur_value is not None, "must call forward() first"
        return self._cur_value

    def current_obs(self):
        assert self._cur_ctx is not None, "must call forward() first"
        return self._cur_ctx

class DiscreteLinearModelUCB(DiscreteLinearModel):
    def forward(self, input_dict, state, seq_lens):
        x = input_dict["obs"]
        scores = super(DiscreteLinearModelUCB, self).predict(
            x, sample_theta=False, use_ucb=True)
        return scores, state

class DiscreteLinearModelThompsonSampling(DiscreteLinearModel):
    def forward(self, input_dict, state, seq_lens):
        x = input_dict["obs"]
        scores = super(DiscreteLinearModelThompsonSampling, self).predict(
            x, sample_theta=True, use_ucb=False)
        return scores, state

class ParametricLinearModel(TorchModelV2, nn.Module):
    def __init__(self, obs_space, action_space, num_outputs, model_config,
                 name):
        TorchModelV2.__init__(self, obs_space, action_space, num_outputs,
                              model_config, name)
        nn.Module.__init__(self)

        alpha = model_config.get("alpha", 1)
        lambda_ = model_config.get("lambda_", 0.1)

        # RLlib preprocessors will flatten the observation space and unflatten
        # it later. Accessing the original space here.
        original_space = obs_space.original_space
        assert isinstance(original_space, gym.spaces.Dict) and \
            "item" in original_space.spaces, \
            "This model only supports gym.spaces.Dict observation spaces."
        self.feature_dim = original_space["item"].shape[-1]
        self.arm = OnlineLinearRegression(
            feature_dim=self.feature_dim, alpha=alpha, lambda_=lambda_)
        self._cur_value = None
        self._cur_ctx = None

    def _check_inputs(self, x):
        if x.ndim == 3:
            assert x.size()[
                0] == 1, "Only batch size of 1 is supported for now."

    @override(ModelV2)
    def forward(self, input_dict, state, seq_lens):
        x = input_dict["obs"]["item"]
        self._check_inputs(x)
        x.squeeze_(dim=0)  # Remove the batch dimension
        scores = self.predict(x)
        scores.unsqueeze_(dim=0)  # Add the batch dimension
        return scores, state

    def predict(self, x, sample_theta=False, use_ucb=False):
        self._cur_ctx = x
        scores = self.arm(x, sample_theta)
        self._cur_value = scores
        if use_ucb:
            ucbs = self.arm.get_ucbs(x)
            return scores + 0.3 * ucbs
        else:
            return scores

    def partial_fit(self, x, y, arm):
        x = x["item"]
        action_id = arm.item()
        self.arm.partial_fit(x[:, action_id], y)

    @override(ModelV2)
    def value_function(self):
        assert self._cur_value is not None, "must call forward() first"
        return self._cur_value

    def current_obs(self):
        assert self._cur_ctx is not None, "must call forward() first"
        return self._cur_ctx

class ParametricLinearModelUCB(ParametricLinearModel):
    def forward(self, input_dict, state, seq_lens):
        x = input_dict["obs"]["item"]
        self._check_inputs(x)
        x.squeeze_(dim=0)  # Remove the batch dimension
        scores = super(ParametricLinearModelUCB, self).predict(
            x, sample_theta=False, use_ucb=True)
        scores.unsqueeze_(dim=0)  # Add the batch dimension
        return scores, state

class ParametricLinearModelThompsonSampling(ParametricLinearModel):
    def forward(self, input_dict, state, seq_lens):
        x = input_dict["obs"]["item"]
        self._check_inputs(x)
        x.squeeze_(dim=0)  # Remove the batch dimension
        scores = super(ParametricLinearModelThompsonSampling, self).predict(
            x, sample_theta=True, use_ucb=False)
        scores.unsqueeze_(dim=0)  # Add the batch dimension
        return scores, state

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


I remember saying compline with a friend as we walked down from uni to the railway station. The phrase perils and dangers of this night had never felt so real.
. Everything about it makes perfect sense.
Compline is my favourite service. The opening lines resonating deeply with my soul.
Well, I've posted something in Hell just for you Caissa. I hope that resonates with you too.
But I'm glad you like Compline as several other Shipmates appear to. That's a redeeming feature, I suppose.
GG: I have nothing to offer but my love and thoughts. I am so sorry.
And thanks to everyone else too, whatever their contribution has been.
Just to clarify, if any clarification is needed, as far as I'm concerned this thread is NOT about liturgy or styles of prayer particularly, but about what is appropriate for my wife in the current circumstances.
Yes, of course that involves times of silent hand-holding. That goes without saying and I'm no longer cross with mr cheesy for stating the obvious. Peace be unto him.
My wife has always been a meticulous and well-organised person, almost to a fault. She is becoming distressed that she's losing 'control' to some extent. She can't remember what tablets are required when and so we've devised a checklist and nightly ritual to go through that and tick them off. She becomes befuddled and confused when taking certain painkillers so we are learning to regulate the doses accordingly.
How prayer/spirituality fits in amongst all that is the issue - sometimes of course, it can't.
In any event, I have found the various suggestions here very helpful, even if I am going to have to put some of them to one side until required.
That goes for the responses that are clear and helpful as well as those I'v found somewhat cack-handed or wrong-headed. That's nobody's fault. Nobody is to blame for that apart from me. If I post something on a public forum like this then I have to accept the rough with the smooth.
It's up to the Hosts and Admins to decide when to close a thread of course but for my part I feel it's run its course and I have some good material to take away and work with when the opportunity arises.
If I have offended anyone in the course of this thread or the Hell thread that developed from it then I apologise.


text:
Home News ASIA Pakistan rape victim attends US opera inspired by her story
Pakistan rape victim attends US opera inspired by her story
Mukhtar Mai's courageous work has inspired people around the world
Fifteen years after her horrific gang rape by a local clan in her village in Pakistan, Mukhtar Mai is reliving her ordeal — and courageousness — through a US opera inspired by her story.
"I was very emotional when I first started watching it and began reliving the incident in my mind," Mai, 37, said after attending the Los Angeles premiere of Thumbprint.
"But then as the opera progressed, it became easier to watch and I felt more courage," she said in Urdu, speaking through a translator.
The opera, by composer Kamala Sankaram and librettist Susan Yankowitz, recounts Mai's 2002 rape and her decision to defy her attackers and take them to court — an unusual move in male-dominated Pakistan, where a woman who suffers such a crime often commits suicide rather than endure the stigma and shame associated with it.
Thumbprint first opened in New York in 2014 but Mai had never seen the opera. She travelled this week from her home in the remote Pakistani village of Meerwala to attend the West Coast premiere.
While the story onstage ends when Mai's rapists have been sentenced to death, in reality her attackers walk free — seemingly going about their daily life with total impunity after their sentences were overturned on appeal.
The men had raped Mai — with the approval of the village council — as a punishment after her 12-year-old brother was falsely accused of having an illicit relationship with a woman from the dominant clan in the village.
"My rapists live across from my house and I try not to cross paths with them," said Mai, who used compensation money from her case to start several schools and a women's shelter in her village. "When I walk past, they taunt me and make catcalls."
In an added strange twist to her story, the children of her rapists attend her school, and the daughters of some of the village elders who ordered her rape have sought refuge at her shelter.
"Even though some members of my own family were outraged, I told them I could not turn away the kids as the school is here to serve everyone in the community," she said.
Mai, who married in 2009 and has three children, acknowledged that her story had empowered women in her village and beyond, giving them courage to stand for their rights.
But she said she held little hope that the legal system in her country would ever render her justice.
"All four of the men who raped me and the two village elders who ordered the rape are free," she said. "And they will only learn that what they did is a crime if they are punished."
– Daily threats –
She said she had grown tired of being the woman everyone points to because of her ordeal, in contrast to her rapists who are unconcerned and will likely never pay for their crime.
"I am the one who is always interviewed and put forward in this case," she sighed. "Why doesn't anyone confront them, why doesn't anyone point them out in the street and say, 'These are the people who committed horrific acts against Mukhtar Mai?'"
She said she receives threatening messages daily on her telephone, Facebook page or in person and is now afraid for the safety of her children.
"I have reported nearly 35 such threatening calls and incidents and only one person was arrested, but even he was let out on bail," she said. "I want to make it known that if anything happens to me or my children and family members, the Pakistani government is responsible."
As for the opera inspired by her story, she doubts it could ever be shown in Pakistan, where it would certainly hit a nerve.
But, she said, "I would like it to be shown everywhere."
"And I would like for the people who committed this crime to be identified and come face to face with what they did."
Mukhtar Mai
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The islands and coast of the Adriatic Sea in Croatia have always been of strategic importance through the centuries. In the 3rd century the Romans took control of the area and Emperor Diocletian built a palace in Split. Since that time, emperors, nations and countries have left their imprint on Split. Layers upon layers of different cultures have laid claim to the Dalmatian Coast added their own unique brand of art and architecture. Famous rulers from the Venetians, Byzantines, Napoleonic era, and the Habsburg Empire have marched across Split and marked it as their territory. The entire city revolves around The Diocletian Palace, which is one of the most absorbing and well-preserved Roman ruins in the world. Splits' most valuable asset, this ancient palace is constructed out of white marble and limestone which is illuminated by garlands at night, making it a sight you have to see to believe. Split is also home to The Cathedral of Saint Dominus; the oldest catholic cathedral in the world; the ancient Egyptian Sphinxes, and the lush green Marjan hill that detoxifies the entire city.


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US Senator McCain says military options to protect Syrian civilians might be considered
By Associated Press, Published: October 23 | Updated: Monday, October 24, 12:05 AM
SOUTHERN SHUNEH, Jordan — U.S. Senator John McCain said Sunday that military action to protect civilians in Syria might be considered now that NATO's air campaign in Libya is ending.
However, President Barack Obama's administration has made clear it has no appetite for military intervention in Syria — a close ally of Iran that sits on Israel's border — and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton noted Sunday that the Syrian opposition has not called for such action as President Bashar Assad's regime.
"Now that military operations in Libya are ending, there will be renewed focus on what practical military operations might be considered to protect civilian lives in Syria," McCain said at the World Economic Forum in Jordan. "The Assad regime should not consider that it can get away with mass murder. Gadhafi made that mistake and it cost him everything," he added, referring to ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi who was captured and killed last week by fighters loyal to the new government.
"Iran's rulers would be wise to heed similar counsel," McCain said.
However, international intervention, such as the NATO action in Libya that helped topple Gadhafi, is all but out of the question in Syria. Washington and its allies have shown little inclination for getting involved militarily in another Arab nation in turmoil. There also is real concern that Assad's ouster would spread chaos around the region.
It was not clear whether the Republican senator from Arizona was referring to American or NATO military action against the Syrian regime, which has waged a 7-month crackdown on opposition protesters and killed about 3,000 people, according to the U.N.
Syria is a geographical and political keystone in the heart of the Middle East, bordering five countries with which it shares religious and ethnic minorities and, in Israel's case, a fragile truce. Its web of alliances extends to Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah movement and Iran's Shiite theocracy. There are worries that a destabilized Syria could send unsettling ripples through the region.
( Mohammad Hannon / Associated Press ) - U.S. Sen. John McCain speaks during the World Economic Forum meeting in the King Hussein Bin Talal convention center at the Dead Sea, 34 miles (55 kilometers) southeast of Amman, Jordan, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011.
Most Syrian opposition groups, inside and outside Syria, also have said they oppose military intervention.
Mohammad Habash, a member of Syria's outgoing parliament, said such military action "will only bring catastrophes, wars and blood and this is what we don't wish at all."
"We believe that the best way to protect civilians is diplomatic pressure and pushing the regime to sit and talk with the opposition and pushing the opposition to sit with the regime," said Habash, who has been linked to the regime but has recently tried to position himself between the government and the opposition.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said on "Fox News Sunday" that Washington is "strongly supporting a change from Assad and also an opposition that only engages in peaceful demonstration." But she stressed that Syria's opposition has not called for the kind of outside intervention that Libya's opposition did.
McCain also warned Iran after it was accused in the United States of backing a plot never carried out to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the U.S.
"Their plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington has only reminded Americans of the threat posed by this regime, how it is killing Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan, supporting violent groups across the region, destabilizing Arab countries, propping up the Assad regime, seeking nuclear weapons, trampling on the dignity of Iran's people."
Iran has maintained its backing for Assad's regime, but has increasingly urged him to halt attacks on protesters and open dialogue seeking to end the unrest. Tehran has dismissed the U.S. allegations of the plot as "baseless" and has said it was willing to examine hard evidence that the U.S. claims links Tehran and the foiled assassination conspiracy.
Iranian officials have rejected tough talk from Washington as "rhetoric," saying the U.S. is not in a position to attack the Islamic Republic. The country regularly holds war games to showcase its capabilities in defending its nuclear facilities from possible attack.
The elite Revolutionary Guard, Iran's most powerful military force, has warned that there would be a strong Iranian response should the U.S. take military action against the country. Iran repeatedly has threatened to target Israel should the U.S. or Israel take military action against it.
McCain also accused Iran of trying to "hijack" the Arab Spring.
"No issue unifies the American people more than the need to protect our friends, our allies, our interests from the comprehensive threat posed by the Iranian regime. No one should test our resolve in this matter," McCain said.
"Not to say that American leadership is neither welcomed nor wanted in the Middle East today. To the contrary, as I travel across this region, I have met with heads of state, young democratic activists business leaders and nearly every single one wants more American leadership and not less."
(Source - http://www.washingtonpost.com)
Labels: Middle East
US Senator McCain says military options to protect...


Teenage television icon Rachel Bilson has teamed with DKNY Jeans to produce a signature fashion line for Fall 2008 just in time for the Back to School season. Rachel Bilson has been a model and actress, and is loved by her fans for her individualistic fashion sense and funky style. Bilson recently starred in the movie Jumper with Hayden Christensen.
The Edie Rose line with feature black jeans, jackets, and dresses with trim cuts evoking a chic rocker style. Pinstrip bordering dresses up the look. The line is slated for sale in retailers such as Macys in early Fall 2008.
About the line, Rachel Bilson says, "you don't have to spend a lot to get a great look." She says the name Edie Rose comes from her grandmother named Edie and family friend named Rose.


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Looping the loop
De Ula Sickle	installation 2009
In Looping the Loop Dinozord, a young Hip Hop dancer from Kinshasa (DR Congo) traces the roots of this trans-historical and trans-national dance form, looking to traditional African dance as well as to forms of entertainment dance from Broadway and Hollywood to Mtv. Filmed against a blue key screen, the portrait is also an image of a contemporary Congo, coeval with developments in popular culture in the west and desirous to participate, even to dictate a movement that continues to transcend the borders of countries and continents. Presented as an installation, the life-size video projection is displayed next to a still image taken from a film by Congolese filmmaker Petna Katondolo, who's reportages on the influence of the US in the Congo for Metropolis tv (NL), are a source of inspiration for this project. the image and the ambient sound that accompany it, come from footage the filmmaker shot during a ten-day long film festival he organized in Goma (east DRC) in October 2008. Simultaneous with a regional conflict backed by international players over the area's natural resources, the festival culminated in a dance competition attended by thousands of local spectators as well as refugees displaced by the war.
Oeuvres	d'	Ula Sickle	produites par Le Fresnoy :
- Looping the loop (installation, 2009)
- Atomic 5.1 (performance, 2010)


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An Almost Perfect Forgery
Published Sunday, February 17 2013
When I was about 16, I fell in love with books. Oh, I don't mean reading — I was in love with reading long before then. I mean that I fell in love with books as objects, as vessels of information with their own form and function. In college I took a course on bibliography called The History of the Book, which only served to make the love stronger. In 2002 I studied bookbinding at the North Bennet Street School in Boston. So, when the 46th Annual California International Antiquarian Book Fair came to town, of course I had to visit. While I was at the fair, I attended a talk titled "Forging Galileo" by assistant professor Nick Wilding of Georgia State University, and it kind of blew my mind.
Professor Wilding's research exposed a pair of forgeries of Galileo Galilei's 1610 book Sidereus Nuncius. But what was most remarkable to me was the sophistication of the forgeries. One of them, purchased in 2005 by New York book dealer Martayan Lan, was authenticated as genuine by a group of seven international institutions, whose teams included paper experts, materials scientists, and book historians. These forgeries were nearly perfect. They were exquisite.
The forgeries were committed as part of a giant fraud that seems to have originated with a man named Marino Massimo de Caro, who was appointed as the director of one of the finest libraries in Italy, the Girolamini Library in Naples. He had no qualifications for the job, and his appointment as director of this library can only be described as a pretty clearly questionable piece of decision making. After his appointment, he began a systematic ransacking of the library, stealing books and selling them on the black market. At some point, he seems to have begun forging as a way to get even more books from other libraries. He would produce a forgery of a book, visit the library that housed the genuine original, steal it, and leave the forgery behind in its place.
His fraud ring fell apart in early 2012 after the horrible conditions at the Girolamini Library were exposed, but not before he had stolen an estimated 4,000 books.
But the forgeries, they are absolutely startling. They are not cheap knockoffs. They were so good that only a few telltale problems eventually exposed them under professor Wilding's investigation. And let's be clear, in order to produce these forgeries, an entire team of experts would have been needed.
They used handmade modern paper that included period appropriate water marks. Someone very familiar with the craft of paper making and paper mould making would have been required to do this.
They were in authentic and genuine period bindings. A master bookbinder would have had to do the job. The rebinding would have required expert skill, including knowledge of period materials and techniques.
The printing was done using letterpress techniques, almost surely using photopolymer plates in order to preserve the original design and yet give a "bite" to the printing. Perhaps surprisingly, this would have been the least technically challenging part of the job, because photopolymer plate making is now within reach of the average hobbyist.
Each forgery was tailored to the specific institution where it was to be left, including stamps and owner marks. The Martayan Lan Sidereus Nuncius included a Galileo signature that was deemed authentic, as well as a stamp from Federico Cesi's Accademia dei Licei Library, which was also deemed authentic.
Put together, a tremendous amount of effort had to go into these forgeries. Remarkable skill had to be employed. But, unfortunately, we still don't know the details. Apparently, Massimo de Caro isn't spilling the beans on how this was accomplished.
I am left somewhat dumbfounded. Personally, I would love nothing more than to know all the details of how it was done. I'd also sort of like to strangle Massimo de Caro, but I'll leave that up to the Italian courts.
Galileo's O, book detailing the authentication of the Martayan Lan Sidereus Nuncius, Irene Brückle, Oliver Hahn, Paul Needham. Akademie Verlag, Sep 21, 2011.
GSU historian uncovers forgery of prominent Galileo book, Jeremy Craig, August 16, 2012.
At Root of Italy Library's Plunder, a Tale of Entrenched Practices, Elisabetta Povoledo, The New York Times, August 11, 2012.
Reflections on Girolamini: Libraries, Funding and the People we Trust, Blog of the University of St. Andrews Special Collections.
The Girolamini Library thefts, or the "best intentions" defense, Sal Robinson. October 24, 2012.
Italian library director accused of stealing works by Galileo and other books, Nick Squires, The Telegraph. October 9, 2012.
Girolamini Library's Disappearing Books, Gian Antonio Stella, Corrierre Della Sera. April 17, 2012.


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Visionnaire Home Philosophy
Home philosophy
Foodroom
V-Inside
Aesthetic research and craftsmanship for unique decorative proposals
Accessories Capsule Collection, an original narrative approach translated into expressive Art Design vocabulary
Visionnaire is present in more than 55 countries
A selection of our best projects, realized & in progress
Art in all its forms as source of inspiration
An overview of our collections and products with reserved area
ADMETO LOW TABLE WINNER OF 2021 WALLPAPER* DESIGN AWARDS
Admeto low table designed by Marco Piva winner of 2021 Wallpaper* Design Awards, Best Curves category
Vision App
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Parco Ghigi - Bologna, Italy
Parco ghigi bologna italy
The complex of the houses in Parco Villa Ghigi in Bologna is one of the most intimate examples of the architectural activity of Enzo Zacchiroli. These villas contain a tribute to the projects of Frank Lloyd Wright and Alvar Aalto, a modern conception of architecture with almost Brutalist overtones, in a dialogue between the brick and concrete of linear volumes and the park with its gentle slopes in the hills near Bologna. The villas have been conceived insuch a way that from every vantage point, the geometry and construction - in brick and concrete - establish a harmonious relationship with the surrounding forest. The masonry enclosure is imposing: the barrier wall of the property, in reinforced concrete, is crossed by precise, deep openings for access to the house and the garage; the shape is marked by a sequence of angles and concave and convex curves, suggesting an entrance. The perimeter of the house, on the other hand, in brick - a distinctive trade mark of Zacchiroli - is interrupted by smaller opening sand ribbon windows.
While the exterior of the house conveys a forceful sense of engagement and intimacy, the interior displays a surprising openness to the surrounding environment. The living area features the presence of a ribbon window facing the park, and the observer cannot help being captured by the view of this green band that frames and pervades the domestic space. The osmosis between construction and greenery, the mastery in the "projection" of nature into the dwelling, and the evocative force of these linear glimpses, are undoubtedly the identifying factorsof this work of architecture. This is the home of the entrepreneur Leopoldo Cavalli, who lives there with his wife Monica, and their two children Michele and Anna, as well as cherished pets (a Cane Corso, an Amstaff, a Jack Russell Terrier, an inseparable parakeet, two hamsters and many goldfish).
"Monica and I immediately fell in love with this house that had been abandoned by the previous owners for many years, after they moved abroad, though the household staff had remained in place for nearly a decade. They welcomed us with an apple pie fresh from the oven and a delightful tea service, and helped us to explore everycorner, even the most hidden recesses of the house. We are both from Bologna, and in this residence we have rediscovered a meditative space, a private dimension of well being that is perfect for our family. We have enhanced the place not only with sensorial elements - which on their own are capable of boosting the quality - but alsocareful selection of low-emission products, finishes and materials."
In this architectural setting with a rationalist matrix, an interior design project has been inserted, entirely carried out by Visionnaire, the metaluxury lifestyle brand Leopoldo launched 15 years ago, together with his sister Eleonore and their father Luigi.
Iconic products by the brand emphasize the size and luminosity of the spaces, while the meditative atmosphere brings harmony to the decor. The living area is arranged around a fireplace at the center, from which the various areas branch out. The zone for relaxation with the Bastian modular sofa seems designed to act as a privileged observatory of nature. Seated on the sofa, you can get lost in contemplation of the forest, which almost seems to embrace the viewer. The adjacent music area features a grand piano, obviously facing towards the natural spectacle. Musical instruments are a recurring theme, with two grand pianos, reflecting Leopoldo Cavalli's passion for this art form, also assiduously cultivated in his professional life.
"Music is my greatest passion. Not a single moment of my day fails to be paced by a melody - Leopoldo says. - I have a past as an aspiring singer-songwriter and pianist, thanks to my mother who helped me to discover the world of music when I was very young, and I have fulfilled my dream by acquiring the historic Fonoprint recording studio (previous the Museum of Sound and Song of the city of Bologna) from the heirs of the great Lucio Dalla,quite close to our new house. I also wanted to have a small recording studio at home, a space where all the members of the family enjoy composing, dancing and singing."
Music as a passion, but also as a form of therapy. In two large areas of the house excellent sound systems designed by the Fonoprint studios make the listening experience totally immersive, thrilling, for a daily "rebirth" of energy.
Leopoldo's studio is a very striking setting: entirely clad in wood on the walls, it envelops the observer and transmitsa contemplative atmosphere. A small opening to the greenery, created with the modules of the wooden bookcase behind the antique desk, acts as a source of abundant light. The adjacent area has again been set aside for music,and contains a Larix piano bar, with a Riverside sofa and ottoman in milk white leather.
"The desk is one of my favorite pieces in the new house, and one of the very few items not created by Visionnaire. I found it in an old warehouse of historic treasures in Bologna; it has been renovated and enhanced by a top in Patagonia stone, which mixes granite and quartz - a masterpiece of nature!"
The design of the kitchen is no less ambitious, and features the hanging cabinets of the Victorian kitchen, aproduct that stands out for the use of steel enhanced by ornamental brass inserts. Here again, a ribbon window crosses the walls and furnishings, offering a striking view while filling the room with light and shifting shades of green.
"The kitchen as a matter for discussion with Monica. Our two personalities had to coexist in this intimate space. The soft feminine touch of oak and the hard, angular presence of steel. Contrasts that repeat in the dining table,where we like to gather with our children and close friends; I chose a Visionnaire icon, the Versailles table designed by Alessandro La Spada in 2008, which stands out for its truncated conical steel legs and blown glass, and the topin Port Saint Laurent marble that connects with the kitchen cabinets. Forty square meters of refined design, for avery evocative, inspiring, engaging setting."
Great care has also gone into the bathrooms of the house, all clad in stone (with widespread use of the Rosa Egeoand Invisible Grey from the Antolini collection). All the spaces are unique: from the sculptural bath, the Forma Mentis, a design by Simone Micheli for Visionnaire featuring a ceramic head as a washstand with a faceted mirror,to the Kobol bathroom of the latest generation by Alessandro La Spada, which contains a large wellness area, atrue domestic spa with cryosauna, hypersalinized tub, fitness gear and a Turkish bath.
The extraordinary value of this residence, with an indoor area of over 1200 square meters plus 13 delightful terraces,lies not only in its architecture, an expression of the Brutalism of Zacchiroli, not only in the refined design approach (all the levels have a double slab to create an interspace of 130 cm, to prevent mildew and humidity and to containall the physical plant systems inside the floors), but above all in the fact that the house stands at the center of a marvelous public park, Parco Villa Ghigi, just 2 kilometers from the historical center of the city, and contains extraordinary trees in its private garden, including the oldest Himalayan Cedar in Bologna, almost 30 meters high, listed and protected as natural heritage. Nature and architecture, contaminations and vision, values that are reflected in this project, values the Visionnaire brand epitomizes and explores on an everyday basis
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PechaKucha Night, now in over 900 cities, was devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work to the public. PechaKucha Night Bratislava was established as first Slovak edition in 2008 by punkt. It showcases the work of Slovak artists, designers, architects and creative people of all kinds, in the specific PKN format, with each speaker showing 20 slides x 20 seconds. This ensures that the audience gets to know a lot of interesting people and projects in a dynamic, fun and concise way.
PechaKucha Night Bratislava focuses on local scene in the context of current social issues, and dedicates special editions to reflect Slovak culture within international and V4 region. In 2016, Soyart took over the organisation from punkt, however the same organisational team continues to work on the realization of the event.
Please have a look at our wonderful speakers in our archive and in the case of interest in collaboration, get in touch with us!
From September 2016 to January 2017 we have been realizing the bilateral project "PechaKucha Night Bratislava – Norwegian Editions" (PKN). The project consists of realizing two international PKN during November 9, 2016 and January 25, 2017 in Bratislava together with Norwegian partner PechaKucha Night Oslo, and one exchange to Norway on December 1, 2016.
The purpose of the project is to strengthen the exchange between platforms of contemporary art and creative scene between Soyart from Slovakia and PechaKucha Night Oslo from Norway, who are both organizers of PechaKucha Nights art forums. The bilateral project activites consist of networking, sharing know-how and mutual re-evaluation based on experiences from organizing of the same kind of events in different cities and context.


The following essay first appeared in the Insight section of the San Francisco Chronicle on January 22, 2017, two days after the inauguration of President Donald Trump.
The question my 9-year-old grandson brought home from school just after the election was all the evidence I needed that the members of my vibrant, multiracial family have become canaries in Donald Trump's toxic new America. We are foremost a family, in law and in fact; that we are also a multiracial family had been merely a footnote — until Trump.
I don't mean to suggest that our individual backgrounds are immaterial. We and an increasing number of other families in this country are nourished by the emotional resiliency our varied heritages give us. And yet the most meaningful differences among us are the variations of personality, generation and social experience, not externally imposed distinctions of ethnicity or religion.
Tragically, during his presidential campaign Trump pandered to vulnerable and fearful constituencies by legitimizing what divides us as a people rather than what unites us.
Members of my vibrant, multiracial family have become canaries in Donald Trump's toxic new America.
made life in Poland intolerable. The world they were raised in defined and treated them by only one measure: Jewish or not-Jewish.


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Meeting Abstracts| September 1991
THE ROLE OF POTASSIUM CHANNELS ON HALOTHANE VASODILATION IN CORONARY VASCULAR SMOOTH MUSCLE
David R. Larach, M.D., Ph.D.;
David R. Larach, M.D., Ph.D.
H. Gregg Schuler, B.A.;
H. Gregg Schuler, B.A.
Linda A. Rhone, B.S.
Dept. of Anesthesia, College of Medicine, Penn State University, Hershey, PA
Anesthesiology September 1991, Vol. 75, A527.
David R. Larach, H. Gregg Schuler, Linda A. Rhone; THE ROLE OF POTASSIUM CHANNELS ON HALOTHANE VASODILATION IN CORONARY VASCULAR SMOOTH MUSCLE. Anesthesiology 1991; 75:A527 doi: https://doi.org/10.1097/00000542-199109001-00526
Practice Guidelines for Preoperative Fasting and the Use of Pharmacologic Agents to Reduce the Risk of Pulmonary Aspiration: Application to Healthy Patients Undergoing Elective Procedures: An Updated Report by the American Society of Anesthesiologists Task Force on Preoperative Fasting and the Use of Pharmacologic Agents to Reduce the Risk of Pulmonary Aspiration
Isoflurane Activates Sarcolemmal Adenosine Triphosphate-sensitive Potassium Channels in Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells: A Role for Protein Kinase A
Potassium Channel-mediated Hyperpolarization of Mesenteric Vascular Smooth Muscle by Isoflurane
Anesthesiology (March 1999)
Differential Effects of Etomidate and Midazolam on Vascular Adenosine Triphosphate–sensitive Potassium Channels: Isometric Tension and Patch Clamp Studies
Halothane and Enflurane Attenuate Pulmonary Vasodilation Mediated by Adenosine Triphosphate-sensitive Potassium Channels Compared to the Conscious State
Anesthesiology (April 1997)
Halothane Attenuates Endothelium-dependent Pulmonary Vasorelaxant Response to Lemakalim, an Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP)-sensitive Potassium Channel Agonist
Anesthesiology (September 1997)


The Harrow Council for Justice welcomes the Localism Bill to remove the requirement for local authorities to have a standards committee because of the nature of its assessment sub-committee which is made up of one independent member of public and two local councillors who consider the complaints about the conduct of their councillors in the authority.
Due to the nature of these assessment sub-committees and the secrecy surrounding their work, the public confidence in their work has not been high particularly as the initial assessment by them determines the next stage of investigating the complaint about the conduct of a councillor. Our experience confirms this.
The Assessment Sub-Committee* of the Standards Committee in its meeting on 27 September 2011, behind the closed doors, suggested that "Councillor Hall may benefit from training in media and interpersonal training and training in holding voluntary groups and public bodies to account": paragraph (b) of the Decision in the Decision Notice (gov 008-039/ 442202): but decided to take "no further action". Councillor Susan Hall, leader of the opposition Conservative group was first elected as a councillor in 2006.
We are not able to publish the committee's "Decision Notice" (Harrow Council's website does not publish the Notice either) but public is entitled to contact the Monitoring Officer to inspect copies of the decision notices held by the council!
We hope that the elected and community representatives would join us in convincing the local authorities to establish open, transparent and independent arrangements to monitor the conduct of their elected members.
Update: as a part of the follow up action, the HCJ has asked when and where Councillor Susan Hall, the leader of the opposition Conservative group on the Harrow Council, would go through the training prescribed by the Standards in the Decision Notice (gov 008-039/ 442202).
Latest: The Harrow Council's Assessment Sub-Committee meeting on 16 November 2011 resolved to amend the published minutes of the meeting held on 27 September 2011 in terms of (quote) deletion of the words 'the training that they specified' and the addition of 'media and interpersonal training and training in holding voluntary groups and public bodies to account' (unquote) to bring the text in line with the Decision Notice (gov 008-039/ 442202) issued.


Such a pleasure to work with Dan and his team. I had our kitchen, front room, halls and stairs redone and was both amazed by the speed at which the work was completed (Greg W. is awesome), and thrilled with the final outcome. The price was reasonable and I will definitely be back when I am ready to do the rest of the house.