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Pardeep Kaleka: Patriotism and complacency are not synonymous
Posted by Pardeep Kaleka | Aug 7, 2019 | Columns, Featured, Pardeep Kaleka |
A few weeks ago, our President stated words that caused a sting in the subconscious of many assimilating Americans, when he uttered the infamous "go back to where you came from" slur.
Since then, our divided national community has had its typical responses. Some came out publicly and angrily to denounce the statements. They even called on legislators to officially denounce the President's remarks, directed at the four United States Congresswomen, as racist.
Others defended the remarks and instead claimed that he was – yet again – being misunderstood and attacked. Those who came out justifying the President's behavior also joined the attack on the Congresswomen, using flawed false equivalency comparisons. Their use of political ideology only furthered the national division, and caused a great deal of harm to the Congresswomen – especially targeting Representative Omar from Minnesota.
Finally, a large portion of the American public was and continued to remain silent. I spend a considerable amount of my time fascinated by this silent mass of what seems to be an "apathetic America."
It is not that I am surprised or even upset, just oddly troubled and concerned for an ominous future. If the American public continues to engage in this dispassionate passivity, our moral determination will continue to be tested to its limits. Nothing has slowed the rhetoric and traumatic policies coming out of the White House that demeans, dehumanizes, and endangers the lives of our fellow citizens.
William Ury, Author of Getting to Yes and peace negotiator, often speaks of the integral role of the "witness." Witnesses, as he describes the meaning, are those individuals that have the ability to see the early warning signs of dysfunction and danger. Those people who are in tune with sensations that others seem oblivious to. The ones who know that prevention is gold and worth every investment, because the consequences of not investing in prevention will ultimately prove catastrophic.
Within faith communities, we know the witnesses to be nurturers, healers, fortune tellers, and the shamans of our society. A witness can tell that trouble is looming and often finds it unbearable to remain silent. In traditional society, we have had these witnesses in our households and families, and we knew that their sage advice would help us navigate away from future calamity and unnecessary suffering.
So why, in a time of growing division and tension, does it feel like these witnesses have gone silent from the looming challenges ahead of us?
Habituated disconnection. A normalization of lacking empathy, care, or belief. This is the purposeful tuning out of information that does not somehow fuel the person's already held narrative.
Missing is the active and sometimes even passive judgement of the lived experiences, and feelings of people and groups who could tell us that harm and abuse will bring about more hurt. Instead, that supporting function has been replaced with an ongoing confirmation bias that develops a sense of self-righteousness, that somehow one group has a higher moral authority to live their existence. It also fulfills their judgement of others being inferior to them.
It is a disconnection so deeply held that it takes obviously racist statements or attacks of hate for some people to even consider denouncing the comments.
If the "go back to where you came from" comments struck a sensitive cord in our psyche, it was because it should have. Every healing journey has a process, and our country is no different. To get to a healthier spiritual kingdom, we need honesty and the acknowledgment of pain.
When our President echoed these words, I was strangely relieved because we no longer had to have the discussion of does racism exist? Instead, we could move forward to have the discussion of, what can we do about it?
My hope remains that we can commit to actions that can one day paves a path for a more empathetic society that sees God in all of our children, and sees brotherhood and sisterhood in all beings. It is a hope that maybe is naive, because of the tribalism we exist in.
The challenges of racism have proved incredibly formidable due to our strong denial and the lack of witnesses. As important as it is for us to find and listen to these witnesses in life, it is so much more important that we ourselves embody and become the same witnesses that we seek.
In all of our faith backgrounds and journeys, we not only understand the role of the witness, but also the Golden Rule of committing to an action that rights the wrongs, that heals the hurting, that provides water to the thirsty, that gives clothes to the poor, and revives the breathless.
It is not the time to "hear no evil, see no evil," and then speak nothing or do nothing. Right now is a time to return to caring. We need to create a society of healing witnesses. America has historically been a working ideal and continues to be so today. With that understanding, patriotism and complacency should never be synonymous.
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As a former Milwaukee Police Officer and co-founder of Serve2Unite.org, Pardeep is author of "The Gifts of Our Wounds," and a Licensed Therapist specializing in utilizing a trauma-informed approach to treat survivors of violence. He is also the Editor and a featured Columnist for Milwaukee Independent.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Draco was standing in the yard with his hands in the pockets of his shorts watching the contractors finish the expansion of their ohana on Tony and Steve's property. They'd decided to add a second level that would be divided into an art studio for Draco and new master suite for himself and Harry. Their old suite was being changed into a room for the dragons, who needed a place of their own. Danny said it would be quite some time before they'd have to worry about them outgrowing a house, and most likely by the time that happened most of them wouldn't be around anymore.
It was hard for him to believe the way things had turned out for him in Hawaii. When they'd been forced to escape England, he knew that he'd be welcomed with Tony, but Draco never dreamed that he would receive the kind of acceptance he had from not just his cousin but the rest of the makeshift family as well. It was a little heady to think of just how well things were turning out there. He tried not to examine it too much for fear of finding too many flaws. He was finally coming around to the idea that just maybe he deserved to be happy, and just possibly it was time to forgive himself for bad choices made in his past.
When he felt a presence beside him, Draco turned his head and was pleased to see Harry there. "You're home," he pointed out and winced slightly at the obviousness of the statement.
Draco nodded absentmindedly but didn't take his eyes off his husband. Harry turned his head to look at him with a quirked eyebrow in question. "Draco?" He asked sounding somewhat amused, but Draco didn't hold it against him. For once he had an urge that he was going to follow through on, and not hold back.
Harry tightened his arms slightly, and Draco was pretty sure that he heard a sniffle but didn't comment. Everything felt too right, and for once he didn't have a single urge to mock how much of a girl his husband was. Besides, he knew Kono now and between her and Hermione knew how kick-arse those girls could be.
He was about to comment when he heard a chirp of inquiry, and instead, let out a startled laugh as a second chirp was followed by something landing on the top of his head. Pulling back he snorted when Alexander bent down to look at him while Cleopatra hovered nearby seemingly curious as to what her humans were doing.
"Is no supposed to stops the huggins! Silly dragons!" Hades huffed as he flew their way with Aphrodite close behind. Cleopatra had finally gotten over her fear of the Fairy Angel and just chirped back things at him that he was going to scold Danny for letting his girl overhear.
"Is good now?" Dite asked as she flew over and stopped just short of where he and Harry were still standing with their arms around each other's waists.
Draco just nodded and didn't even protest when he was pulled into a group hug with Dragons, and Fairy Angels included. Hawaii was certainly a magical place, and he thought just maybe England could learn a thing or two from them. He wasn't going to be the one to point it out though. Draco found that he no longer cared what happened back there. He had a new life now that included cousins who were like brothers, dragons who were like children, and a whole host of other people and creatures that filled all the roles he needed.
Life was just about perfect.
Came home to a new story and I love it. Thank you soo much!


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The Proposed Model State Emergency Health Powers Act
Faith Lagay, PhD
Virtual Mentor. 2004;6(5):224-226. doi: 10.1001/virtualmentor.2004.6.5.hlaw1-0405.
The Model State Emergency Health Powers Act (MSEHPA) proposes legislation for enactment by states to ensure adequate, coordinated response to public health emergencies—naturally occurring epidemics as well as deliberate acts of bioterrorism. The Model Act, as it is called for short, was drafted by the Center for Law and the Public's Health at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins Universities at the request of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Law professor Lawrence O. Gostin took the lead among 7 authors. The most recent draft of the act is dated December 21, 2001.1 Gostin et al explained the need for the act and summarized its provisions in the August 7, 2002 issue of JAMA.2 The comments of 2 opponents to the act appeared in a later issue of JAMA, and others have appeared elsewhere.3,4,5,6
Need for State Legislation
In the context of recent epidemic threats to public health—from SARS and avian flu to intentional releases of sarin gas and anthrax spores—Gostin et al assert that uniform emergency response legislation is needed in all 50 states. State rather than federal legislation, they say, because "federal law-making authority is constitutionally limited in scope" and "states have more flexibility in legislating to protect the public's health."7 But many state public health statutes are outdated, some so greatly that, if invoked, their constitutionality might be challenged. Beyond that, variations in existing state laws could hinder cooperation among states, should a multi-state response be required. Hence, the need for emergency health powers legislation at the state level.
The Proposed Model Act
The Model Act names 5 functions that the law is designed to facilitate under emergency conditions: (1) preparedness; (2) surveillance, ie, detecting a problem, identifying it as a health emergency, then tracking and measuring the episode or outbreak; (3) management of property, where "property" includes supplies of vaccines and pharmaceuticals as well as hospitals and other locales that might serve as public health treatment sites; (4) protection of persons, a function that may entail enforced testing, treatment, isolation and quarantine; and (5) communication, that is, keeping the public informed through widely accessible means, both in English and in the primary languages of any large numbers of residents who do not speak English.
Under the preparedness function, the Model Act directs each state governor to appoint a public health emergency planning commission that would then deliver an emergency response plan within 6 months. The plans must contain instructions for such steps as personnel training; identifying sites for isolation and quarantine as well for storage of supplies; plans for evacuation; vaccination of appropriate individuals; and plans for communication with the public during the emergency.
The provisions under the surveillance articles of the act direct all health professionals, including coroners, pharmacists, and testing laboratory staff, to report any illness or health conditions that may be potential causes of public health emergencies to a public health authority within 24 hours. In tracking the progress of the emergency, the public health authority is given power to compel affected persons to report, by name, those with whom they have come into contact. In this case, the power granted to the public health authority is backed by the power of the public safety authority, ie, state and local policing agencies.
After defining the circumstances under which governors should declare public health emergencies, the means for doing so, and the circumstances and means for terminating the declarations, the Model Act discusses the special powers the public health authority may exercise during the emergency. These include:
Evacuating and closing facilities;
Inspection of materials and, if necessary, their destruction;
Use of materials and supplies (eg, food, communication equipment, fuel) and facilities (eg, real estate);
Control of roads and public areas;
Disposal of infectious waste;
Disposal of human remains, taking possession of cemeteries, crematoria, and other disposal sites if necessary;
Procurement and rationing of health care supplies;
Medical examination, testing, vaccination, treatment, isolation, and quarantine of persons, under conditions that are not "reasonably likely to lead to serious harm to the affected individuals" [8];
Access to and disclosure of protected health information; and
Licensing, appointing, and prescribing duties of health personnel.
The failure of citizens to comply with health authority personnel as they carry out any of these functions constitutes a misdemeanor.
The state is exempt from liability for death, injury to persons, and damage to property as a result of actions taken in compliance with the act "except in cases of gross negligence or willful misconduct."9 Compensation will be made for property lawfully appropriated for use during the health emergency.
The act's detractors begin by challenging the assertion that state legislation is the best way to handle public health emergencies. Says George Annas,
"Public health policy should be national, and the addition of national security to federal financing and interstate commerce provides sufficient constitutional authority for Congress to enact legislation giving the federal government the leadership role in public health in the twenty-first century."10
According to the New York chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, the events that would trigger the use of special powers under the Model Act are too broad. Moreover, requiring that names be used in reporting contacts violates privacy unnecessarily, and the enforced testing and treatment provisions override individuals' rights to refuse treatment. Finally, says the New York ACLU, judicial review procedures for the testing, treatment, isolation, and quarantine are inadequate.11
Gostin and the Model Act's coauthors defend its inclusion of compulsory powers, arguing that the restraint of individual liberty in extreme situations is justified by the need to protect the common good, the welfare of the public. They point out that enforced conduct such as vaccination of school children and the wearing of seat belts in vehicles has long been part of public health law. And, they say, the Model Act's provisions afford greater safeguards against abuse of individual liberties than do most existing state infectious disease laws.12
Public health/Disaster preparedness,
Ethics/Practice,
Ethics/Education,
Infectious diseases/Epidemics,
Public health/Public policy intervention
Center for Law and the Public's Health at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins Universities. The Model State Emergency Health Powers Act. Accessed May 2, 2004.
Gostin LO, Saprin JW, Teret SP, et al. The model state emergency health powers act. JAMA. 2002;288(5):622-628.
View Article Google Scholar
Annas GJ. Bioterrorism and public health law. JAMA. 2002;288(21):2685-2686.
Orient J. Bioterrorism and public health law. JAMA. 2002;288:2686.
Annas GJ. Bioterrorism, public health and human rights. Health Aff. 2002;21(6):94-97.
Bayer R, Colgrove J. Bioterrorism, public health and the law. Health Af. 2002;21(6):98-101.
Gostin, JAMA, 624.
Model State Emergency Health Powers Act (MSEHPA). Article VI, sec 602(b); sec 603(a)(2); sec 604(b)(2).
MSEHPA, Article VIII, sec 804(a).
Annas, Health Aff, 95.
Bayer, 100.
Virtual Mentor. 2004;6(5):224-226.
10.1001/virtualmentor.2004.6.5.hlaw1-0405.
Faith Lagay, PhD is managing editor of Virtual Mentor.
Submit a manuscript for peer review consideration.
Upcoming Themes
Ethical Issues in Emergency Preparedness and Response for Health Professionals
Lisa A. Eckenwiler, PhD
A Doctor's Duties in Terror-Struck Communities
Yishai Ofran, MD
Terrorism Preparedness for Practicing Physicians
James J. James, DrPH, MHA
Duty to Treat versus Personal Safety, Commentary 1
Mark T. Hughes, MD, MA
Disaster Life Support
Julia C. Dombrowski, MD, MPH


Goodmans' Banking and Finance Group is consistently involved in a wide spectrum of high-profile national and international financing transactions. Our lawyers have successfully closed some of the country's most novel and complex deals and are seen as leaders in this practice area. A number of our lawyers are recognized in Chambers Global, IFLR 1000, The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, The Lexpert/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada, Euromoney's Guide – The World's Leading Banking Lawyers and Project Finance Lawyers, the Who's Who Legal of Banking Lawyers and The Best Lawyers in Canada, among other publications, and regularly invited as guest speakers in the practice area both locally and internationally.
Our Banking and Finance practice is notable for its breadth and variety. We regularly advise domestic and international banks and other financial institutions, as well as regulators, borrowers, private equity sponsors, asset-based lenders, mezzanine funds and subordinated lenders, development banks and project finance participants. The lawyers in our Banking and Finance Group work seamlessly with Goodmans' top-rated insolvency, corporate/M&A and tax practices, and leverage our colleagues' expertise in specific fields such as private equity, hospitality, media, mining, seniors housing and care, power and infrastructure and construction law to provide clients with first rate integrated, practical and strategic advice.


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David Palmer Astrology Chart
July 19, 2022 November 11, 2021 by admin
Astrology has hit the mainstream in waves, according to new research. A few astrologers worried about the shortage of young people interested in learning the signs of the Zodiac in the mid-2000s. The internet has made Zodiac language easy to understand and its most popular astrological accounts online celebrities. Astrology is growing as more people seek insight from it.
Numerous astrologers have had an impact on the history of astrology. The Christian Priscillianists, for example, were followers of an ascetic who lived in the fourth century. They believed the stars made God's will manifest. This view is fundamentally opposite of modern astrologers who are not apologetic about what they believe. However, there were some mistakes made by some astrologers in their analysis.
Generally, astrologers check the signs of the planets when predicting the future. The astronomical bodies have influences on newborn babies. In natal astrology, planets and signs combine to create a complex personality profile. Astrologers can use the information to make predictions about how these people will live their lives. Astrology has been used by ancient cultures for centuries. It has been merged with other forms to create Western astrology. The most well-known forms of astrology today are Vedic, Tibetan and Chinese.
Although astrology is still popular, millennials find it difficult to accept the scientific and logical foundation of its practices. They tend to stay on the margins of belief and skepticism. Their generation is also immersed in technology. Although astrologers may not be able to understand the equinoxes they often make incorrect assumptions. So, if you are a millennial who wants to understand your future, consider using astrology for psychological counselling.
Astrology was first practiced by Nostradamus, a French physician who dabbled in pseudosciences and astrology. He made many predictions for the five centuries following the birth of Christ. He was criticised for relying upon astrology to find answers. A survey of the public revealed that 41% believed the practice was scientific.
Astrology has become mainstream, but there are still many confusing terms. While many professional astrologers continue to study the art, the terms used in astrology can still be confusing. Mercury retrograde and natal chart are two terms that many people have difficulty understanding. These terms can help you understand the relationship between your sign and other signs and your natal chart.
The science of astrology can explain the rise of social media and earthquakes. It may also explain the rise in Cesarean section rates, which are associated with Suns in tenth-house. This house governs prestige and reputation. It has also been the basis for the development of psychological astrology, which was influenced by the works of Carl Jung. Psychological astrology treats the birth chart as a representation of the human psyche. It helps us to identify our individual goals, and what life is all for.
Although it is not easy to interpret the signs, there are simple rules that can help you determine your personality traits. You will need to determine your sign's number, element, and mode of birth at the time. The sun and moon count as two, because their extra influence adds to their influence. The greater the number of planets in an element or mode, the stronger the influence. The houses are used to determine personality traits such as ambition and social skills.
In a study conducted by John McGrew and Richard McFall in 1990, it was shown that astrologers did not predict the future of their subjects better than a non-astrologer control subject. A third study was conducted by Dr. Ivan Kelly, a psychologist, and Dr. Geoffrey Dean, an ex-astrologer. It found that celebrities were often born under an astrological sign. However, a National Science Foundation study concluded that such relationships were not possible.
In ancient times, astrology focused on signs and planets based on the sun, moon, and stars. Although astronomy is a scientific discipline, astrology is usually defined as a form of divination. Until the late 17th century, astrology did not have an official scientific meaning. By this time, the scientific field of astrology had become its own distinct discipline. However, the term "astrology" has grown in popularity.
Sun signs are the starting point for astrology. Each sun sign is associated with one of the four elements. Each person also has a sign for the Moon, Mercury Venus, Mars, and Venus. Each element has its own associations that influence the character and outlook of a person. A person's unique personality traits are based on these elements and their placement in the zodiac. Explore the zodiac to learn more about yourself, and others.
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The Treatment Room Service based at Douglas Street Community Health Clinic, Hamilton is run by NHS Lanarkshire and provides phlebotomy and other treatment room services. ( for example dressings, injections and ear syringing ). They can be contacted on 01698 368789.
NHS Lanarkshire also provide a Phlebotomy Service at Oaklodge, although waiting times for this are generally longer. Please contact Reception who will be happy to help.


As franchising becomes saturated in developed countries, the emerging markets like the Far East, China, India, South America, Eastern Europe and Africa become fertile grounds for franchising to take root.
FASA has spent many years making sure that the international franchise community is cognisant of the potential that lies within South Africa. As the future frontier of franchising, Africa and in particular South Africa needs to stand up and be counted. It is a recognised fact that South Africa is the springboard for potentially explosive growth into Africa and the stark reality is that the broader African economies cannot grow in isolation as the continent's future is inextricably linked to South Africa and the example it sets.
The most important benefit for franchise companies who join the Franchise Association of South Africa (FASA) is that of being able to align themselves and their brands to an internationally recognised body that adheres not only to international best practices but to the sound business ethics established through the country's various legislative channels. Members can also network with other franchise owners in diverse sectors and have access to affiliate members such as suppliers, franchise consultants, financial institutions and attorneys.
South Africa's population of around 50 million people offers diverse opportunities for companies wishing to establish themselves in the country. Although the majority of the population fall into the lower end of the earning bracket, there is a growing middle class and, whilst luxury products cater to a more exclusive market segment, products and services appealing to the middle market are gaining popularity. There is room for growth for lower entry franchise opportunities especially in the services and recycling categories with social and tandem franchising a welcome solution to some of the country's service delivery challenges.
South Africa has a wide network of retail developments – from luxury urban to rural – throughout the country and FASA is happy to refer new entrants to the market to the Shopping Centre Council of South Africa for further information on sites and rentals.


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8 Spring Cleaning Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)
Yahoo Makers• March 2, 2015
(Spring cleaning time is just around the corner. Credit: Thinkstock)
There's spring cleaning, and then there's Spring Cleaning. Jan Dougherty, owner of the Arizona-based cleaning service Consider It Done, defines a true spring clean (which, incidentally, she says doesn't have to occur in the spring) as entailing everything from dismantling and washing light fixtures to laundering drapes to pulling out the stove and vacuuming out the gunk that accumulates back there.
"People don't really understand what is involved in spring cleaning," Dougherty says. Convinced that most people don't understand how to clean, period, she wrote a handbook, The Lost Art of House Cleaning.
If it is indeed true that cleaning is a lost art, we're guessing that plenty of mistakes are made when people try to tackle the Big Job. Here are some of the most common mistakes… and how to avoid them.
Related Video: The Lost Art of Spring Cleaning
1. Not knowing which cleaning products and tools to use. Dougherty's cleaning kit is small but effective. The three products she uses include Krud Kutter (a biodegradable, nontoxic degreaser), white vinegar, and Soft Scrub with Bleach, which she uses to clean virtually any surface in the house. She also has a small selection of rags and scrubbers and even a pumice stone that she uses as cleaning tools.
You might have different favorite products and tools, but you get bonus points for using multitasking products that can be used for multiple jobs.
2. Wearing the wrong clothes. Spring cleaning is like exercising (And it is quite a calorie-burning workout!), so it's important to wear clothing that's comfortable, allows you to move, and won't get in your way. Dougherty's outfit of choice is cropped leggings, a T-shirt and sneakers.
3. Not having a game plan. "A huge mistake that people make when they are doing spring organizing is that they don't make a list and don't think things through first," says Jennifer Barnes, owner of JB Organizing. "As a result they end up wasting time doing things that aren't necessary or that could be done by someone else."
Dougherty's method is what she calls "the path" – starting at the entrance of a room and working your way systematically along the walls of the room, finishing in the center.
4. Overlooking hard-to-get-to spots. "Often people will clean their house but feel like it still doesn't smell clean, and they'll use candles or perfumes to try to get it to smell good," notes Dougherty. But unless you do a deep clean every so often – i.e. combating the grease that coats the top of your kitchen cabinets, for instance — the house still won't smell clean.
Related story on Yahoo Makers: Clearly Better Ways to Declog a Drain
5. Not decluttering first. It's hard (and exhausting) to do a good job cleaning if you're having to move piles or put away things while you're dusting and wiping. Dougherty suggests starting the cleaning process by filling a laundry basket with everything that doesn't belong in that room. Once the surfaces have been cleared of clutter, then start your cleaning.
Related story on Yahoo Makers: The Key to a Decluttered Kitchen
6. Trying to get it done in one day. Real spring cleaning, which Dougherty defines as deep cleaning in which you're moving furniture, dismantling things, washing curtains, and so on, takes a long time. She allows four hours for a living room, as much as five hours for a kitchen. Her advice for the time-strapped? Do a "spring" clean on a different room each month.
Barnes, meanwhile, recommends breaking big projects down into smaller steps, so that you can complete a little at a time and won't give up if you run out of large blocks of time.
7. Keeping stuff you don't need. Barnes has a list of questions she suggests asking as you're deciding what to get rid of: When is the last time I used this? How much would it cost to replace? How much would it cost to keep and store it? She recommends donating items wherever possible rather than trashing it, which helps justify the loss, and finding alternate ways to keep what's important about an item, such as photographing or scanning kids' art rather than keeping the original papers.
8. Getting rid of stuff you do need. While for the most part, most people don't regret the things they purge, we have heard of overzealous declutterers: a friend who hid her jewelry in a boot that she later accidentally donated to Salvation Army, and another who purged her bookshelf and accidentally purged a signed Nora Ephron book. Sometimes it's enough to find a better home for a meaningful item, where it will be out of the way, rather than getting rid of it entirely.
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Let Yahoo Makers inspire you every day! Join us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and Pinterest.
Yahoo News Network


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Hot Tech News > News > Mobiles > Xiaomi > MIUI 11 confirms Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro
MIUI 11 confirms Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro
Very soon, the Chinese company Xiaomi will present its new flagship smartphone Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro. In the code of the MIUI 11 shell, confirmation of the features of the device was found.
This impressive video was recorded on Xiaomi Mi 10.
The developers of XDA Developers found in the assembly of the MIUI 11 shell for the Redmi K30 5G immediately two code names for the new Xiaomi smartphones. For Xiaomi Mi 10, the code name is M2001J2C, for Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro – M2001J1C. It was also found there that Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro will receive support for high-speed charging at 66 watts. It is not known exactly, but it is possible that the basic version of Xiaomi Mi 10 will have fast charging.
Charging at 66 watts can provide incredibly high speed charging smartphones. However, last year, Xiaomi teased users with information that it is preparing a 100 W charge, which will be able to charge smartphones in a matter of minutes. It seems that this development will pass the upcoming flagship.
According to information leaks, the presentation of the Xiaomi Mi 10 smartphone lineup will take place on the same day as the presentation of the Samsung Galaxy S20 on February 11th. It is assumed that smartphones will work on processors of the top eight-core Snapdragon 865 processors, they will be equipped with a Snapdragon X55 modem, which provides work in fifth-generation networks. The diagonal of the display will be 6.4 inches. The capacity of RAM can be 16 GB.
In the basic version of Xiaomi Mi 10, the main camera will consist of a 64 MP Sony IMX686 main sensor, 16 MP wide-angle sensor, 12 MP telephoto lens and 5 MP depth sensor. But Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro will receive a top-end sensor from Xiaomi Mi Note 10 at 108 megapixels.


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This section gathers together job opportunities in local GP practices as well as lots of information, advice and guidance on a range of topics from a variety of sources.
GP Job Opportunities
This section gathers together all the GP job opportunities in Nottinghamshire we have been made aware of.
These links will help you explore the opportunities that are available within general practice.
This section brings together wellbeing resources to support doctors and other staff working in general practice.
Blogs/Articles of Interest
The following blogs and articles of interest showcase how and why GPs have made changes in their career.
International GP Recruitment Programme
NHS England aims to recruit 2,000 GPs from overseas by 2020 in order to increase capacity in general practices.
Tier 2 Doctors
An immigration route for non-European Economic Area (EEA) migrants who wish to work in the UK.
NextGen GP
Fully funded leadership programme for trainees and early career GPs
To support new GPs from completion of training through the first five years as an independent practitioner.
This section gathers together information for GPs who want to return to work after a career break.


Was hoping we could get through the month of August without losing a single trans person, but unfortunately that is not going to be the case.
We go to Chicago for our latest trans murder.
24 year old Dejanay Stanton was found in an alley at approximately 12:30 PM CDT at E.40th and S.Martin Luther King Streets on Chicago's South Side.
Stanton was discovered suffering from a gunshot wound to the head after people in the area reported hearing gunshots. She was transported to Stroger Hospital, where she was subsequently pronounced dead.
Stanton is the 17th trans person murdered in the United States in 2018, and the 13th African American trans person we have lost to anti-trans violence. The part that really irritates and pisses me off is that she is now the eight trans person under age 30 we have lost to anti-trans violence.
Dejanay's Black trans life mattered. When is that point going to be unequvocally acknowledged by the Black cis community, its legacy orgs and its political leaders?
A balloon release will be held later today at the 40th and King Street alley where she was killed starting at 7:30 PM.
Chicago Police Department Area Central detectives are investigating this case, and would appreciate any information you can give them that will help bring the perpetration of this crime to justice.
Rest in power and peace Dejanay. I'm upset that you really didn't get a chance to live your life, and I'm tired of the anti-trans animus that probably played a role in cutting yours way too short.
You trans family and all who loved you will not rest until the person who killed you has been brought to justice.
I'm forever encouraged by the bravery of Trans people. Dejanay's death is yet another shockingg reminder of just how much awakening or World has yet to do. Thanks Monica for your dedication and courage.
It's still breaking news. Our LGBT paper was all over it last night.
Historic Election Night In Florida!
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News and useful information are incorporated into the storylines of dialect TV series Eat Already? to help dialect-speaking seniors get up-to-date information. The show's third season will also use melayu pasar to make it more realistic.
It looked like a scene out of Chinese New Year in a typical heartland coffee shop. But instead of food and drinks, people were carrying cameras, scripts and costumes.
Within minutes, passers-by realised that the stalls at Kim Keat Food & Drinks Centre were temporarily closed for filming. They instantly snapped out their phones, hoping to steal a few shots of their favourite television stars.
The Toa Payoh coffee shop is a central location in Eat Already?, a dialect drama series catering to seniors. Named after the direct translation of the common Hokkien greeting "jiak ba buay", it aims to convey government schemes and important topics such as healthcare and retirement planning in languages seniors are familiar with.
The series - a collaboration between the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) and Mediacorp - is in production for its third season. Home-grown director Kelvin Tong will be taking the reins from director Royston Tan, who helmed the first two seasons.
One of the series' stars is veteran actor Chen Shucheng, 67, who plays stallholder Uncle Yuan, both in seasons two and three.
Teochew, one of the dialects in the show, has always been close to Chen's heart. He was a voice actor in Teochew radio plays for 18 years.
Years later, he has the chance to use Teochew again in Eat Already?, which started last year.
"My largest reward is being able to recall Teochew phrases which are in decline, and to refresh the audience's memories with these phrases," Chen told The Straits Times on Saturday on the set.
In the new season, the coffee shop will try to stay relevant in the digital age, said director Tong. Trouble looms when a menacing restaurateur arrives to settle old scores, he added. The third season will explore themes such as water conservation, forward planning, community service and neighbourly tolerance.
For the younger audiences, my hope is that, if they tune in, they can watch something that allows them to connect with their grandparents. That is also a kind of social messaging at play.
DIRECTOR KELVIN TONG, on the drama Eat Already?, which features dialects like Hokkien and Cantonese.
It will feature cast members, such as Chen and Hong Huifang, from the previous seasons. There will also be new faces, such as Felicia Chin and Nick Shen, and new dialects, namely Hainanese and pasar Melayu, in addition to Hokkien, Cantonese and Teochew. Tong said: "There are many dialects in Singapore, and not only Chinese ones."
One of the new season's main characters is Hainanese, and Tong is also introducing pasar Melayu.
"It's the kind of Malay that our parents and grandparents grew up with, because they went to the market to buy stuff from the makcik."
More dialects will make the show's soundscape "a lot more realistic and diverse, reflecting our actual background", he added.
Eat Already?'s first two seasons have attracted more than 200,000 TV viewers on average per episode.
Before the series started, MCI produced television interstitials in dialects for the Chinese-speaking pioneer generation, to raise their awareness of the Pioneer Generation Package. Malay and Tamil segments were also produced.
MCI then decided to start a weekly drama series to enhance its communication of government initiatives and schemes to seniors.
By packaging the information into bite-sized formats, seniors will be able to better absorb and remember it, said Ms Karen Tan, senior director of MCI's public communications division.
Royston Tan said: "The series is a form of social service as it is a means of reaching out to the older generation."
Tong said: "For the younger audiences, my hope is that, if they tune in, they can watch something that allows them to connect with their grandparents. That is also a kind of social messaging at play."
Season three of Eat Already? will air on Channel 8 from Aug 18.


As the U.S. economy slows and the dollar loses value, Washington faces a tough choice: letting the market right itself or succumbing to the rising protectionist tide. Will policy makers act responsibly or try to score cheap political points?
Is history going to repeat itself? Most people think that we have all learned from the disastrous chain of events that led to the Great Depression. But it looks more and more likely every day that bad monetary policy will undermine the global economy-just as the mismanagement of currency rates did in the early 1930s. This time, however, instead of measures to protect domestic industries, we may see something far more dangerous: protectionism to prevent foreign control of American financial institutions and manufacturers. And that could lead to global financial ruin.
The parallel to the disastrous U.S. gold policy of the 1930s, which eroded what remained of continental Europe's economic strength, is all too obvious. Then it was the gold standard that was deemed indispensable. Today keeping inflation down is the holy grail. Of course central banks must maintain price stability, but at what cost?
In September 1931, Great Britain surrendered to reality and abandoned the gold standard, letting the market depreciate the overvalued pound. That step, though necessary, made life uncomfortable for the rest of the industrialized world. Two years later, the United States did the same and the dollar duly depreciated against what was left of the gold block (France and a few other European countries). By September 1936, after much suffering, the remaining gold-standard holdouts were forced to give in to the inevitable and allowed their currencies to depreciate. The world economy hit bottom, and the political implications were equally debilitating: the dire financial straits of the French government prevented Paris from meeting Hitler's 1935 invasion of the Rhineland with military action.
Throughout the whole process of economic decline, no real attempts to coordinate currency policy among governments were made, with predictably disastrous results. Countries tried to safeguard their own interests without regard for others; the lure of gold as the foundation for the currency policies of all the major economic powers was only put aside after harsh lessons to the contrary.
The current pressure emanating from Congress to appreciate the yuan and reduce Chinese exports to the United States is all too reminiscent of American silver policy during the 1930s. It totally ignores the fact that overinvestment and rising property prices have put the Chinese economy on a knife-edge between inflation and growth. To maintain balance, Beijing must carefully fine tune its economic policy. And if China stumbles, the global economy will lose its main driver. For that to happen at the same time that United States is losing steam would be a catastrophe.
From 1933-1934, Congress enacted legislation that pushed up the price of silver, justifying this by saying it would increase China's national purchasing power and stimulate Chinese-American trade. This misguided U.S. policy had the unintended effect of destroying the Chinese economy, whose currency was based on a silver standard. Beijing's attempts to dissuade Washington were ignored. Quite predictably, China was hit by deflation and, in the midst of a global depression, the value of the yuan rose steadily against the U.S. dollar, the British pound and the Japanese yen. Chinese banks, having committed themselves to real estate in the preceding years, ran into trouble when what would today be called a "credit crunch" ensued.
Today the European Central Bank (ECB) is talking about keeping inflation down and maintaining interest rates, even if that leads to recession. There are indications of rising inflation, but this is due to the rising cost of manufacturing in China and more expensive raw materials, food and energy-not overheating. All of these factors are beyond ECB control; high interest rates will do little to damp their influence on European economies. Yet this hasn't stopped the American Federal Reserve from coming to the conclusion that inflation is still manageable, despite the falling value of the dollar.
The subprime crisis has forced the Fed to embark on a monetary policy that seems destined to end with zero interest rates, where Japan has languished for years. Making recriminations over how we got into this mess is useless, so all in all cutting rates may be the only way to stop the rot in financial markets from spreading too fast and too deep through the economy. That may be how it looks from the U.S. perspective, but what about the rest of the world?
Divergent national monetary policies could very well unsettle global capital markets, as the combination of low interest rates and a weak U.S. dollar makes it profitable for foreign investors to borrow in U.S. dollars and buy American businesses. Fundamentally there is nothing wrong with that. The problem, though, is political: will the U.S. government allow that to happen or succumb to economic nativism?
Today the United States faces an important choice: it can enact legislation that keeps control of U.S. enterprises in American hands-with the inevitable and foreseeable consequence of disrupting international capital movements-or let natural market forces act unimpeded. If Washington decides on the former course (and there are clear signs that it may), the global economy will slide into stormy, uncharted waters. That would jeopardize the gains of globalization and raise the specter of another Great Depression. Is it worth it?
Joergen Oerstroem Moeller is a visiting senior research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore; an adjunct professor at Singapore Management University; and an adjunct professor at Copenhagen Business School.


Two press released arrived this afternoon. One is on a shooting nearby in Victory Heights. The other is the launch of Brenda – the Tunnel Boring Machine heading for the University District.
Police are investigating after a man was wounded in a shooting in the Victory Heights neighborhood Wednesday afternoon following a dispute over an apparent drug debt.
Police responded to the 1700 block of Northeast 103rd Street, where they found the victim, who had been shot in the foot. Medics transported the man to Harborview Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.
At the scene, witnesses told officers two men had fled the scene in a black Lincoln Town Car. Police are now searching for the two men, described as a white male, 5'8, wearing a black tank top, and a white male, 6'0, wearing a blue dress shirt.
That would be Brenda. You can read more here.
Update: SPD: At approximately 4:49 p.m. Seattle Police officers located and arrested the suspect in south King County.
All Seattle Parks and Recreation facilities and parks are closed this afternoon; shooting suspect has keys to them.
So is North Seattle Community College.
Seattle Times is updating here.
Police are searching for a Parks and Recreation Department employee after she allegedly shot a man in the chest at a department maintenance building north of Green Lake.
The victim, 65-year-old Bill Keller, was shot just before 2 p.m. at the building at North 82nd Street and Densmore Avenue North, police said. He is at Harborview Medical Center in critical but stable condition, according to police.
Keller is the executive director of the Associated Recreation Council (ARC), a non-profit that runs the city's community centers. ARC is based in the building where the shooting took place.
The suspect has been identified as Carolyn "Zoom" Piksa, 47 46, a Parks Department employee since 1986. Police say she may have keys to all of the city's community centers, so all have been locked down.
Various news organizations and fire and police are responding to a reported shooting just north of Green Lake.
The shooting may have occurred in a Seattle Parks and Recreation office, our news partner The Seattle Times is reporting.
There are unconfirmed reports that the suspect may be an employee of the Parks Department. Police are looking for her near the Bitter Lake Community Center.
The shooter is described as a white female, 47, with blue stocking cap and beige or Army green jacket. She may be driving a dark-colored SUV.
Police say Broadview-Thompson School, Bagley Elementary and Wilson Pacific are in shelter in place during the search for the shooter.
A 70 -65-year-old man is reported injured, and officers are looking for a woman with a gun. Schools and the Green Lake Community Center locked down. Developing.
The incident occurred at Northeast 80th Street and Densmore Avenue North, two blocks north of the lake.
Update Sept. 22: Our news partners The Seattle Times has updated its story.
Thanks, Thor and Mike, for the tips.
A memorial is growing at the shooting site, 15th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 75th Street.
Sept. 4: The Seattle Times has an update here.
Police now say Yancy Noll, killed in a shooting Friday evening, was likely the victim of road rage.
They are looking for a silver BMW Z4 convertible, with recent body damage and a broken passenger-side window.
Preliminary investigation indicates that the suspect pulled up next to the victim in his car and for reasons that may be related to a road-rage type of incident, fired multiple rounds at the victim, striking him several times. The suspect then fled the scene in his car and remains at large.
The type of car, and a sketchy surveillance video, can be seen in another release here.
KOMO-TV says Knoll was a well-known and liked wine manager for the QFC grocery chain, and lived just blocks from the shooting scene. That story is here.
The shooting occurred shortly before 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 31st at 15th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 75th Street. Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or the Seattle Police Homicide Tip Line at (206) 233-5000. Anonymous tips are welcome.
Update June 3: To learn about honoring the Cafe Racer victims, or donate to funds, click here.
A memorial trust has been established for Donald Largen, a 57-year-old saxophone player and urban planner who was killed Wednesday in the Café Racer shooting, friends have announced.
Donations are needed to fund funeral expenses and support his surviving partner, Glenna Wilson.
A story about Largen ran in The Seattle Times on Thursday.
Donald Largen, a 57-year-old urban planner who played the saxophone, was one of the four people killed in a Wednesday morning attack by a gunman who opened fire at the Cafe Racer, according to his mother, Betty Parker.
"He was a very loving, kindhearted man," Parker said Thursday.
Victims of the Cafe Racer shootings will be honored at a gathering outside the cafe Saturday afternoon and at a benefit concert Sunday evening — and the cafe's owner says he has decided he will reopen the business, but he does not know when.
Today's memorial is at 12:30 p.m. The concert is at 8 p.m. Sunday on a stage in the alley behind Cafe Racer, 5828 Roosevelt Way N.E.
Why aren't there more details about this theft in Maple Leaf?
Mike emailed us a copy of a police report from Wednesday afternoon. About all that can be learned from it is that a "theft-oth" was "completed" at 2:26 p.m. in the 8100 block of Latona Avenue Northeast.
"Do you have any other details of the occurrence?" Mike asks.
It's the usual, redacted two-page police report that's posted online for most "property crimes," as opposed to crimes committed against people, such as robbery or burglary.
For those, more serious, crimes, the full six-page report is – eventually – posted, although still with redactions.
Having police reports posted online is good government. Having virtually no details attached to the vast majority of the reports is a step backward. We complained about it at a meeting last year with the mayor. Update: Detective Mark Jamieson, a spokesman for Seattle Police, called to say that about a year and a half ago, when the reports went online, staffing drove the decision to initially only post the full reports for major crimes. But, he said, the department is heading in the direction of posting all full reports.
The map at right shows similar thefts that have been reported so far this year. It understates the frequency because many of the icons represent multiple thefts – the one at Northeast Northgate Way/ Fifth Avenue Northeast, for example, stands in for 14 occurrences.
We don't usually report on, or try and chase down details of, crimes such as shoplifting, mail theft or "theft-other." In general we do report anything more serious – there was a shooting late Sunday night at a bar in the 500 block of Northeast Northgate Way, for example – but getting details can take days unless the Seattle Police Department sends out a police blotter post, which in this case they did.
For more on neighborhood crimes, and why we report on them, go here.
Why aren't there more details about this theft in Maple Leaf?
Seattle Police report repeated gunshots were heard early this morning in just off 15th Avenue Northeast in Pinehurst.
At approximately 1:36 a.m., 911 callers reported hearing multiple gunshots and seeing people running. According to witnesses, the suspect(s) fired from a Volkswagen Passat or similar type vehicle in the 12000 block of Pinehurst Way Northeast.
North Precinct officers responded and located two of the people seen running. They were interviewed by officers, but it was undetermined if they were the intended targets of the shots fired. Officers searched for the suspect vehicle, but it was not located. It does not appear that any victims were struck, nor was there any property damage located. Officers did recover a shell casing in the 11700 block of Pinehurst.


We're thrilled to showcase how Mitre10 MEGA Westgate has been using Auror for the last two years to create a safer store for customers and staff by reducing crime—with pretty dramatic results.
Mitre10 MEGA Westgate is a full-service hardware store—from the foundation to fence line, you can build a house with the equipment and supplies it stocks. It's a 5,000 square-meter retail operation, plus a trade yard and garden centre, serving tens of thousands of customers each week (and growing).
With a store of that scale and size, it's important to Owner Operator Dave Hargreaves and his team that they create a safe and comfortable shopping experience for customers, while also keeping track of potential shoplifters and preventing crime in store.
His Loss Prevention team, led by Security Manager Gillian Harrop, discovered Auror and quickly grasped the potential of using the intelligence it provides to help drive down theft rates and prevent more crime.
So why does Gillian think Auror's "the best tool we've got"?
Check out the full video below, or download a PDF copy of the written case study here.


text:
Q: WYSIWYG Editor not working in IE 11 I have been using magento 1.9.0.1 and when I click on the  "Show/Hide Editor" button in CMS Pages it does nothing and showing up with blank white screen.
Please assist me to fix this issue.
Thank you

A: Magento uses the TinyMCE WYSIWYG editor.
The problems for IE11 seem to be fixed in version 4.x:
http://www.tinymce.com/develop/bugtracker_view.php?id=6307
On how to check to upgrade TinyMCE, check the following question and answers:
Update tiny_mce to latest version 4.0.3 (2013-08-08)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
US TV
Home › Cult, Sci-Fi & Fantasy TV Shows
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Have your say! Join Digital Spy's first reader panel
The Expanse...
SillyBoyBlue Posts: 1,587
28/02/17 - 17:02 edited 28/02/17 - 17:07 #27
bingbong wrote: »
The second series has been great so far, i have enjoyed it much more than the first. The most recent episode called Home (Ep 5) was absolutely terrific!!!!
I agree, it's been much more enjoyable to watch. The space battle in the first episode (of the second season) was fantastic. Loved how the 'bullets' just passed through the hull like it was nothing. I suppose the first season was a bit 'talk-ey', which I don't mind, but being thrown straight into this world it was difficult to work out who was who and what the political situation was.
I'm still having a problem understanding the Belters' dialect - like a cross between West Indian, Afrikaans and Scottish. It is realistic though; after a couple of hundred years new accents are bound to develop.
Steve Pearce Posts: 883
✭✭
01/03/17 - 10:55 #28
The "Home" episode means that the end of first book has now reached. So I expect that the next episode (and the rest of this season) will pick up where the 2nd book starts, the storyline of the Martian marines being sent to Ganymede that was shown a few episodes ago would seem to confirm that.
Flash525 Posts: 8,862
It was Venus that ship/asteroid/base crashed into, wasn't it? Do I foresee another theme of terraforming due to commence?
I'm in agreement that S2 is better than S1, though I guess they had to build the story and the characters, so I'll let them off. Definitely enjoying this though!
Loved the latest episode, specifically the comment made by Amos to Holden about Naomi; "She's like a sister to me, but I'd do her if she asked me too." Hah! Didn't quite understand who was shooting at who above the orbit of Jupiter's Moon, though it was (I thought) obvious that the troops in the distance were firing and running away from something rather than firing and running toward the Martian squad. That thing at the end though? No longer limited to Venus.
petely Posts: 2,993
Flash525 wrote: »
That is similar to B5. The first series was a bit stuttering and disjointed, but once it found its feet it was incomparable. I have high hopes for The Expanse,. it has the feel of "big" Sci-Fi which has been lacking for far too long.
Echo1 Posts: 6,549
Is there any way to watch this in UK (streaming-wise)?
GDK Posts: 7,795
Echo1 wrote: »
It's available on Netflix in the UK.
fmradiotuner1 Posts: 17,811
I must watch this though viewing the rest of killjoys first and will then view this.
MassiveDynamics Posts: 650
GDK wrote: »
Season 1 & 2 came off Netflix at the end of September 2018.
Presumably all three seasons will be on Amazon Prime Video UK at some point before season four arrives.
MassiveDynamics wrote: »
I didn't know it had just been removed. That's why I prefer to buy physical media wherever possible.
Thought as much. I'll wait until then to watch it.
MrQuike Posts: 15,143
Please hurry up and show season 3 on Prime Amazon. Actually while you're at it I wouldn't mind re watching seasons 1 &2.
JohnCR Posts: 65
I read the books a while back and found them competently written but not outstanding; good enough to carry on to the next book, though. When the TV series was announced, it was well-reviewed but I was disappointed to find it was only available via Netflix. With a rural broadband speed of 1.5mb, subscribing to streaming wasn't an option for me but I assumed the series would eventually end up on Sky and all I had to do was wait.
Well, a long wait and no sign of a terrestrial or satellite broadcast but in the meantime, the UK blu-ray release of season 1 came out at a good price, so I gave it a try.
Absolutely gob-smacked. Easily the best TV sci-fi I've ever seen (and I'm far from young). Stunning CGI, characters that appear cliched at first sight but turn out to be complex, an absorbing plot that builds and swirls, and plenty of moral ambiguity to muddy the motives of everyone in it. Even the evident 'good guy' is often far too self-righteous for his own good.
The environments have both Star Trek sterility and Blade Runner grime - both look gorgeous. You get the impression that the production crew just loved what they were creating.
I'm half-way through season 2 on blu-ray and have ordered season 3 from the US (claimed region-free). If anything, it gets better. It's not perfect but it has a depth that the books only hinted at. The only worry for me is a hint from one of the stars that the move to Amazon will mean more graphic content. I don't have a problem with that in principle but the series is fine as it is, imho.
PerfectMark Posts: 288
Just a heads up that Season 3 is going to start on 8th Feb (On Amazon):
https://deadline.com/2019/01/amazon-prime-video-the-expanse-launch-date-season-3-season-4-1202538962/
With Season 4 later this year.
PerfectMark wrote: »
Thanks for the "heads up", @PerfectMark
All 3 seasons to be made available on Amazon prime on Friday 8th Feb.
enna_g Posts: 1,405
Loved both 2 series on Netflix but won't be able to watch series 3 as I don't have Amazon Prime so am a bit fed up where they have changed it.
enna_g wrote: »
If you've got the prime app on your smart TV or TV box and you haven't already tried it you could get the the Prime free trial for 1 month.
Just watched season 3 episode 1 on Prime. All three series seem to have arrived a day early. Fantastic episode with a real adrenaline rush at the end.
Serial Lurker Posts: 10,525
Only series I've ever felt like rewatching all the way through, and I think I might start later
Serial Lurker wrote: »
Same for me - fantastic stuff. I watched season 3 on bluray (it's region-free).
Great show but I admit I'm a bit worried about the forthcoming season 4. From this point forward, the books plummet in quality, imho, with characters, organisations and governments all behaving in ways that have no credibility, even to a sci-fi reader who has to suspend disbelief as a matter of course. The standard of writing is nowhere near as good, with pages of filler that do nothing to flesh out characters or a plot.
So far, the TV series has dealt with weakness in the books very well to the extent that it has a gravitas that they lack. However, I think the producers are going to have their work cut out giving credibility in episodes to come if the books are at their core.
Amazon UK have the 4K UHD versions on Prime Video now.
Just watched season 3 episode 6 and it just gets better and better. I agree with JohnCR above that this is far and away the best sci-fi I've ever seen. It deserves a wider audience.
Favourite characters at the moment are Amos, Roberta "Bobbie" W. Draper, and Drummer. Even Chrisjen Avasarala has grown on me.
Just found out in time for S3 ep 9 that Amazon Prime have both the 4K UHD and the standard versions.
The 4K UHD version is a few minutes longer and includes highlights from the previous episode.The 4K UHD version displays as "The Expanse (4K UHD)" rather than just the "The Expanse". It can easily be found by doing a search for "4K UHD". Looks like I'm going to have to rewatch the entire 3rd series.
MrQuike wrote: »
I'm doing a re-watch in 4K UHD of Season 1 - the CGI is very impressive for a TV show. It isn't described as HDR on my LG TV but still visually a step up from the HD version.
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LGBTQ Anti-Discrimination Laws Around the US
Georgia, North Carolina, and Mississippi have all made the news recently because of legislation that allows discrimination towards LGBT people. However, so far each state's legislation has resulted in very different outcomes. North Carolina continues to face significant pressure from businesses, artists, and public figures regarding the HB2 "bathroom" bill. This bill requires transgender people to use the gender that was assigned to them at birth when determining where to use the restroom. HB2 prohibits local governments from passing LGBT anti-discrimination ordinances.
There are over 100 pieces of legislation that discriminate against the LGBT community currently pending in the United States. As a result, the nation is seeing a significant showing of public outcry. Seven other states are specifically targeting restroom usage by transgender people, including states outside the South (such as Illinois and Wisconsin). Many of these bills focus on religious exemptions and recognition of same-sex marriage (in response to the Supreme Court's decision to make same-sex marriage the law of the land in all 50 states in 2015).
While laws targeting LGBT people are making the news, there are actually many anti-discrimination laws in place that protect gay and transgender people. The federal government is beginning to recognize gender identity and sexual orientation protections in several areas, including in the Affordable Care Act. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission now recognizes that sex discrimination includes sexual orientation and gender identity in employment discrimination cases.
In several states, laws that explicitly protect gay and transgender individuals in several areas (including employment, housing, and public accommodations) are in place. Many of these anti-discrimination laws simply describe gender identity and sexual orientation as protected classes. Others include gender identity within the definition of sexual orientation. An anti-discrimination push focused on bathrooms is happening as well. Washington D.C. now requires all single-occupancy restrooms to be gender-neutral. Several employers and businesses are developing policies that protect gender identity in many ways, including bathroom usage. Recently, Target announced that its employees and customers can "use the restroom or fitting room facility that corresponds with their gender identity."
If you're curious about laws in your state, the Human Rights Campaign has a state-by-state map of a variety of LGBT protections (including adoption and hate crimes). The National Center for Transgender Equality has a state-by-state breakdown of anti-discrimination protections that include gender identity. The EEOC has information on federal employment discrimination protections.
While LGBT people are not explicitly covered by the Fair Housing Act, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development still says they "may" be protected there as well. While there is not yet a consistent federal anti-discrimination law protecting LGBT people, in 2015 H.R. 3185 was introduced. H.R. 3185 would amend the Civil Rights Act to include sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity "among the prohibited categories of discrimination or segregation in places of public accommodation." If passed, H.R. 3185 would supersede state laws that say the opposite.
LGBTQ Anti-Discrimination Laws Around the US | Atlanta Employment Lawyers


It's time for the TEACH YOUR BUFFALO TO PLAY DRUMS blog tour, with rhythmic stops at: Jean Reidy's blog Peter Salomon's blog (6/29) Ruth McNally Barshaw's blog (7/6) Laurie Thompson's blog (7/13) I hope you'll stop by.
B is for buffalo and blog tour and brainstorming and bucket list. Find all that and more over on Jean Reidy's blog. And if you've never seen this before, you're in for a treat.


The Improbability Principle illuminates the scientific background of chance and probability. Ultimately it demonstrates that even those events which we would otherwise consider "miraculous" are actually to be expected, as long as we have the right information.
David J. Hand is an professor emeritus at the Imperial College London as well as former president of the Royal Statistical Society. He is an expert on financial mathematics, measurement and computational statistics, and has authored several books, including Information Generation: How Data Rule Our World and Statistics: A Very Short Introduction.


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Q: Understanding the Array.filter() method with multiple arguments I am writing a comparison function that check is all twenty six letters of the alphabet exist inside of a string input.
let temp = (str) => {
  let myString = str.replace(' ', '').split('')
    .filter((item,i,arr) => arr.indexOf(item) === i).join('');

  return myString.length === 26 ? true : false;
}

temp('hello'); //false
temp('abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz'); //true

This works. But I am having trouble understanding what is exactly happening during the filter() method. To me, it looks like it is just checking "If index of item being passed in = index" and its hard to visualize. Anyone care to help me understand what is actually happening? Thanks!
Also, is there a better way to write this function? Thanks!


text:
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Discover the Reader-Writer Kit for MIFARE ICs
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Gallagher Security is now a MIFARE System Integrator Partner
Gallagher Security is now a MIFARE System Integrator Partner	8. August 2017
NXP welcomes Gallagher Security, a technology leader in access control and perimeter protection, as a member of the MIFARE System Integrator Partner Program.
Headquartered in New Zealand, Gallagher develops and delivers intuitive, intelligent, and innovative security solutions that integrate seamlessly with customer's business management systems. Gallagher's tailored security solutions are used by national and local government, mining, military, commercial, industrial, healthcare, transportation, and academic organizations in more than 100 countries.
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Gallagher's security solutions include networked (software controlled) and standalone perimeter monitored pulse fencing, no-feel sensor technologies, and integrations with third-party technologies. The company delivers fully integrated electronic access control, intruder alarms management, and perimeter security through a single scalable integration platform, called Gallagher Command Centre.
The Command Centre platform uses NFC smart card readers and terminals for MIFARE® products as the user interface for physical access control, the control of building management system functions, and the enforcement of business processes, including health and safety, as well as compliance policies.
Gallagher's full suite of reader products and accessories extends MIFARE product authentication to different installation environments, indoors and out. Gallagher also makes it easy to customize authentication, with device profile options and a suite of accessories, so end users can make NFC readers for MIFARE products a seamless part of their décor.
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Gallagher uses the latest NXP ICs to manufacture their MIFARE-enabled readers and terminals, and offers a full range of ISO-compatible options, including MIFARE Classic, MIFARE Plus, and MIFARE DESFire smart card technologies. Recently, Gallagher has introduced a new generation of access cards and key fobs based on MIFARE DESFire EV2, compatible with all Gallagher T-Series readers.
"By offering robust, cost-effective MIFARE readers and credentials based on NXP technology, we give our customers the confidence of knowing that physical access is strictly limited to those who are authorized," says Steve Bell, Chief Technology Officer of Gallagher Security.
What the Partner Program Means to Gallagher
In their role as a system integrator, Gallagher uses MIFARE to create innovative solutions that address real-world demands for convenience, value, and security. By bringing together all the technologies needed to develop compelling, easy-to-use solutions, systems integrators like Gallagher play a vital role in the broader MIFARE ecosystem.
MIFARE System Integrator Partners are selected by NXP, offering leading end-user solutions for MIFARE applications. The System Integrator Partner level makes it easier for operators and end users to find complete solutions, based on the latest MIFARE innovations, that deliver tailored performance with maximum convenience.
"We're excited to become a member of this exclusive NXP community," says Steve Bell. "As a MIFARE System Integrator Partner we look forward to working closely with NXP, helping to define new MIFARE products, and pursuing joint marketing initiatives."
Proven Application Expertize
Gallagher's security solutions often serve to protect vulnerable populations, such as school children and hospital patients, and the people employed to care for them. Here are a few examples of their MIFARE-driven installations:
Harrisburg School District, South Dakota, USA
Protecting almost 4000 students across eight schools in a rapidly growing school district, Gallagher Command Centre covers a region of 70 square miles, 10 buildings, 68 doors, and 585 card holders. The system was put to the test in October 2015, when the local high school was the target of a shooting. Logs from the incident confirm that, from the time the emergency button was pressed, it took just four seconds for Command Centre to lock all outside doors, notify district authorities, and limit building access to emergency responders only.
Waikato District Health Board, Hamilton, New Zealand
Servicing a local population of 450,000 people, this network of a large secondary and tertiary hospital, along with three rural hospitals, uses Gallagher Command Centre to safeguard 176,000 square meters of buildings, over 18 hectares, with over 730 access-controlled doors, 40 alarmed and monitored refrigerators and freezers, 15 carpark barrier arms, one gate, and 6500 employees. The installation governs low- and high-security areas, protecting everything from medicines and medical equipment to high-risk dementia patients and newborns in intensive care units.
Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Accommodating over 6000 students in a state-of-the-art facility, this Gallagher security solution protects 28 buildings, over an area of 229,000 square meters, with 650 doors. The solution provides peace of mind that movement throughout the campus is managed simply and efficiently to ensure a safe, secure environment. Gallagher's solution allows security personnel to carry out their day-to-day responsibilities with efficiency, and is designed to support expansion, with the student population expected to grow to 7500 and the campus to cover a new area of 269,000 square meters.
About Gallagher
Gallagher Security is a division of Gallagher Group, a global leader in the innovation, manufacture, and marketing of security, animal management, fuel systems, and contract manufacturing solutions. Established in 1938, Gallagher Group is a privately owned New Zealand company that employs more than 1100 staff and exports to over 100 countries. For more about the company's unique position in intelligent security solutions, visit www.security.gallagher.com.
About the MIFARE Partner Program
The NXP MIFARE Partner Program is a network of companies enabling secure, desirable, multi-application solutions based on market-leading contactless technology. Together, these companies form a community of component and solution providers working together to enable a flexible, interoperable end-customer solutions that meet the needs of today and tomorrow.
Powering Smart Stadiums with contactless MIFARE product solutions July 31, 2017
Contactless solutions like NXP's MIFARE® products help stadium operators and sport clubs in creating a good fan experience. Contactless smart cards, wristbands, or smart paper tickets that are using MIFARE...
NXP's MIFARE Ultralight® Nano powers event passes for 150,000 athletes, government officials and delegates at the International 29th Summer Universiade August 17, 2017
NXP Semiconductors supplies the smart ticketing solution for the 29th Summer Universiade in Taipei, one the world's top international sporting events where university student athletes from all over the world...
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We spend so much time selling; if only we recognized our best sales results did not come from our efforts, rather they come from our customer. We are in the business of creating buyers, not pushing product. Companies hire sales forces, train them with product knowledge, and convince salespeople they are in the business of selling. Selling is an expense line and it is top down thinking. The very best sales people do sell like crazy, but they aren't selling product, rather they sell the customer the value of their product. We have believed for years that successful selling is something you do to someone.
We convince ourselves we will be successful if we sell more product. When we begin to care more about the customer than our sale – that transformation begins the winning process. The key to our business success lies in what our customer says and does. We know that. It's measured not in what they commit to do, rather what they actually do. "To know and not do, is to actually not know" ~ Thomas Jefferson, made famous by Teddy Roosevelt.
Overwhelming research shows that what our customer is doing is the measure of our success. I've known great presenters that couldn't sell and great salespeople, who couldn't get a customer to buy from them twice.
What drives our customer and our success is simply the 3 things customers do – 1 ask and 2 tells.
If we see our customer nodding during a presentation is that a buying signal? Of course not. We want it to be, and we may tell someone it is when in fact it's just a head nodding. If they ask us something, does that mean they're interested? They may be more interested than if they are simply giving a head nod. However, if the question is "are you almost done?" this is definitely not a buying signal. If our customer asks us a relevant, curious question (not a question just to challenge us) then that may be a buying signal.
Our goal should not be just about 'closing' the sale. Rather, the goal should be to get the client thinking. If we do that, we are providing value. Heck, I'd rather a potential customer dialogue and question themselves into a commitment than me doing all the heavy lifting, explaining, cajoling, and directing in order for them to reach my goal. Their questions may shape their interest and possible action.
If our accounts are asking questions of us, and we are dialoging about relevant business issues that tie to our product and the client's long-term goals or success, then we're on to something. Are our customers asking us anything, are they worth anything? Are they open and sharing? If not maybe there is a measure of trust that needs to be built. If they ask questions and get involved in the answers, then that is valuable and moving toward action.
We need our product to be their goal not our goal. This is a mind shift, and not easy to accomplish, given all our pressure to increase product results. Press someone and we may achieve, win and accomplish, but we could equally rip up the trust between our account and us. Through our interactions, they tell themselves and others things that become the other 2 key components of this 3-legged stool.
Do they ask us about our product or our competition? It is important to focus on the key principle of learning. We learn 80% from what we say and only 20% from what we hear! So, in large part what our customers actually speak out loud becomes a megaphone for teaching themselves. Think about those conversations where we are most confident, which are usually the conversations we are having a third or fourth time. We have taught ourselves through speaking.
If your customer is speaking about your product in positive terms then let 'em go! If they are speaking about your product in negative terms – it's time to help steer the conversation more towards their goals, needs and desires, and encourage them to focus less on speaking badly about your product. Conversely, if they are talking negatively about your competition then let 'em go! If they talk positively about your competition, it's time to shift their talking to focus on their goals, needs and desires. What they say is so much more powerful in teaching themselves, than anything that we can say.
Also, the #1 reason people are loyal is the relationship with the salesperson. This applies less to buying a house, car, or a pair of jeans, all the circumstances where it's a commodity, and a one-time purchase. In these cases a relationship is near meaningless. However, in those purchases we make where relationship is equal to product quality and effectiveness, the relationship wins. Think about the products you purchase again and again – your mechanic, CPA, insurance agent, stockbroker, gardener, favorite restaurant, or hair salon. Are they the world's best in their field or is their product the world's best? These purchases we make every day are measured in Trust. Not just a virtue – rather a real economic fact. Building trust in the selling process is so important to loyalty, and also impacts what our customer says to others.
We convince ourselves our success is from our effort. And that may be true – as it relates to listening, building trust and caring about our customers. When I hear someone say they have a partnership with a certain client, I ask, "Do we know as much about the customer, as we know about how much they buy from us?" Our customers know our product and us because we do all the talking. If our talking moves from 80% of the conversation to 50% of the dialogue – we may be exerting effort in the right areas to build buyers, lasting sales and future success for us both!


Firefighters go house-to-house on Aspenwald Avenue to evacuate residents as workers repair a gas leak Tuesday morning.
Story was first posted at 10:42 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2010.
Fire officials are allowing residents to return to their Aspenwald Aveune homes after a gas leak in the Main/Street/Prairie Street area was capped late Tuesday morning.
Residents along Aspenwald Avenue were evacuated as a precaution earlier Tuesday morning when a leak was detected in the Main Street/Prairie Street area.


'Charles Aumont' was the stage name of Charles Solomon, a French citizen from Algeria, who from October 1891 to 1901 rented several sites in the centre of Moscow for his Théâtre Concerto Parisienne enterprise (which successfully toured throughout Russia as well). The interiors were gorgeously decorated and deeply impressed visitors with this display of French luxury. Aumont's artistic troupe was highly professional and held in great esteem in professional circles. All of his actors were proud to participate in its shows while it opened doors to any other theatrical enterprise in Russia. Behind the front doors of Aumont's theatre was hidden its real purpose: for many years it was well-known as a fashionable brothel. Aumont's theatre was the permanent object of sharp criticism of the defenders of public morals. Stanislavsky, for example, called it a 'den of lewdness' and called for its immediate closure. Ironically, the founders of the Moscow Art Theatre inherited Aumont's concert hall in Kamergersky Lane, but totally renovated it, trying to obliterate its noxious influence.
In 1896 Aumont first introduced the Lumière Cinématographe as an attraction, and it was at an Aumont café-concert at the All-Russian Fair of Industry and Art in Nizhny-Novogorod, opening on 22 June 1896, that an educated and influential Russian audience first saw moving pictures, in circumstances that were inevitably controversial. Despite the atmosphere of debauchery, however, many 'respectable' people felt obliged to satisfy their curiosity at the new phenomenon. Among the visitors was Maxim Gorky, who wrote a famous account of his visit to Aumont's film programme and later, on learning of the attempted suicide of one of Aumont's girls, Lily Darteau, wrote a short story in which a prostitute kills herself after witnessing the unattainable domestic happiness evident in the Lumière film Repas de Bébé. Aumont continued to organise film shows as part of his package of entertainments, before quitting his business in 1901. In 1907 Aumont was due to be prosecuted for embezzlement but, it was discovered, had sold all his property and left the country.


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Home » Facts and Mythology » Facts » Interesting Facts about Leatherface
Interesting Facts about Leatherface
By knowledgemasti in Facts, Movies Mania (Info's), Movies Related on October 16, 2018 .
Six on-screen characters have played the grown-up Leatherface throughout the years, however the late Gunnar Hansen from the first film is by a long shot the fan-top choice.
Curiously, the man best known for playing Jason Voorhees in the Friday the thirteenth arrangement had a brief and informal stretch behind the veil produced using human tissue while Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III was shooting. Kane Hodder, who you will presumably just perceive when he's wearing a hockey cover, was the trick organizer on the third section in the arrangement, and he remained in as Leatherface for previous expert wrestler R. A. Mihailoff while a portion of the more risky scenes were being taped.
Original House Is Now A Restaurant
Staying with the different living arrangements of Leatherface for a minute, his unique home from the 1974 Texas Chainsaw Massacre is currently an eatery exchanging under the name of Grand Central Cafe. The building was situated in Williamson County when the motion picture was recording, however was disassembled and moved to Kingsland in the wake of being purchased by the Antlers Hotel in 1998.
Imitations of the first house were meticulously worked as sets for Texas Chainsaw 3D and late prequel Leatherface, while the 2003 revamp and its prequel were shot at The Hewitt House in Granger, Texas. Presently completely revamped, the Antlers Hotel is currently open for breakfast, lunch and supper. Simply make sure to avoid the bean stew.
source youtube
The 2003 Remake
At the point when Marcus Nispel squeezed ahead with plans to change The Texas Chainsaw Massacre for Michael Bay's Anchor Bay studio in 2003, he planned to take unique Leatherface star Gunnar Hansen back to the establishment.
While this appears as though the best activity, Hansen spurned the offer, not on the grounds that was against the reboot, but rather on the grounds that he wasn't offered the job of the veiled executioner. The late performing artist was looked for an appearance job as the truck driver toward the finish of the film, an offer he called "stooping and annoying" in a meeting with MovieWeb.
Dolph Lundgren is said to have been up for the job of Letherface in the revamp, just for it to eventually go to muscle head Andrew Bryniarski.
Video Game Debut
A grown-up themed computer game adjustment turned into a bad dream for Wizard Games in 1983 when the studio conveyed The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to Atari 2600.
In spite of the fact that the diversion was a crude wreckage of pixels, those pixels were regarded hostile enough for most retailers to decline to convey the amusement, and the ones that stocked it concealed the thing under the counter. Computer games for grown-ups weren't generally a thing in those days, so it does not shock anyone that the first to give players a role as a cutting tool employing mental case without any targets past mass butcher was sunk by contention.
Reputation frequently supports deals, however in Wizard Games' case it took a cutting tool to them and the studio was compelled to close its entryways in 1987, with the computer game rights to Leatherface winding up somewhere else.
Mortal Kombat Cameo
Leatherface is one of the visitor characters in the 2015 battling diversion Mortal Kombat X, and his inclination for killing anything that moves makes him a solid match for a universe where violent fatalities are the request of the day.
The executioner uses a mallet and also his trademark cutting tool, and comes in three varieties dependent on the diverse veils and outfits he wears in the motion pictures.
Leatherface has his own storyline that sees him fancy Cassie Cage. While trying to win her affections, he butchers her foes previously taking things too far and slaughtering her companions as well. When she in the end repels his affections, he fights her Mortal Kombat-style and makes her into stew con carne. That is so Leatherface.
Leatherface is ordinarily portrayed has having the psychological age of a tyke, yet he fathered one himself before the occasions of Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III.
In this spin-off, and this continuation just, the conceal crazy person has an organic girl alluded to as meager Girl Sawyer. Despite the fact that it's never authoritatively affirmed, it is implied that she's the result of assault.
The unpleasant child bears a doll named Sally – conceivably a reference to the first motion picture's hero – or, in other words skeletal stays of a dead newborn child. Like dad, similar to little girl.
Young lady Sawyer's definitive destiny is never uncovered in the artistic cut or expanded cut of the film, however in an erased scene, she can be seen being trucked away in the back of a squad car, or, in other words the best.
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Project Sahara proves to be a rather interesting episode. It asks the question, "should computers be allowed the right to have the final say in matters where human judgement should prevail?" Script author Gerry Davis addresses this question rather superbly in this episode by examining the then burgeoning gathering of personal information into computer databases. When this episode was aired in March 1970, the gathering of this type of information was in its early stages. However by today, some 34 years later, people would truly be amazed about what sort of personal information is being stored in governmental databases about themselves. It all makes you wonder. And obviously even back in 1970, it was a subject that was on the mind of Gerry Davis.
The episode begins in typical Doomwatch fashion. The story opens as the team are gathered round conducting an experiment into a new chemical insecticide spray called Sahara. Quist, Ridge, Wren, Toby and new team member, Dr. Stella Robson are gathered around a soil sample which has been treated by this new spray and are anxious to learn what results it will have on the plant life and soil. However, in the midst of the experiment, Dr. Quist is called away to deal with an urgent telephone call from the Minister. The experiment continues without Quist's presence, and the team soon discover that the spray has extreme detrimental affects on the plants and soil – Sahara kills all plant life and poisons the soil.
Gerry Davis is a clever writer. As the episode begins, the viewer is lead into believing that this is going to be a rather routine episode. The viewer is lead into thinking the story will about how the team deal with the results of the tests. But, it's at this point in the story that Davis changes track and launches us into a storyline that will prove to be the real story within the episode.
Quist returns from his call with the Minister. With a rather dour look on his face, he interrupts the experiment and demands that Dr. Robson and Toby Wren come in his office. Once inside, Quist must tell both members of the team that they have been suspended pending investigation. Apparently the Minister has insisted that both be relieved of their duties as both have proved to be major security risks. Robson and Wren are totally shocked because of this. They can't believe what's going on. Quist insists that he will fight for both of them – he doesn't agree with any of this – but Toby is rather upset and storms out of the office and heads to the nearest pub to drown his sorrows. Dr. Robson soon joins Toby there and they discuss what has just happened.
Why have Dr. Robson and Toby been suspended? Quist wants to know, and so do we the viewer. Quist has Ridge investigate who's behind the security suspensions, and Ridge discovers that Robson and Wren have been suspended on the recommendations of a Commander Keeping.
Again, Davis illustrates that he has crafted a story with plot twist after plot twist. It's at this point that he throws in two interesting scenes that on the surface make the viewer wonder why we've been shown this. The first is a rather odd scene in which we see Toby make a very clumsy and sexist pass at Dr. Robson. The second comes a few minutes later and takes place back at the home of Dr. Robson. We learn that she is having an affair with Jack Foster, a married man. On the surface, the viewer is not quite sure why we've been shown these two scenes. At first I wondered too. It isn't until much later in the story that the viewer realizes that these two scenes tell us vital information we need to know about the character of Dr. Robson.
Davis introduces us to the character of Commander Keeping who turns out to be the main protagonist in this story. Keeping is not your typical civil servant. He is somewhat an odious man who can also be rather underhanded and officious. And, he works for a new governmental agency, department XJ7, which is concerned with national security. Davis has created a character that the viewer immediately dislikes, especially with his underhanded interview of Toby in the pub. While Toby is drowning his sorrows, he is befriended by Keeping. Toby has no idea who he is talking too, but Keeping is extremely interested in whom Toby is and what he does for a living. This whole line of questioning is just so sneaky.
Gerry Davis gives us another scene to reinforce the viewers dislike of Commander Keeping when Keeping suddenly shows up at the home of Dr. Robson and questions her about her personal life. As the viewer, Keeping's manner just irks us, even though later we learn that Keeping is merely doing his job – albeit not completely above board – but nonetheless, he's performing his duties based on the information he's received from the computer.
After much information and illustration we find out that Dr. Robson and Toby were suspended because it was felt they were both security risks. Toby because he drinks far too much, and Dr. Robson because of her Arab background and pro-Israeli sympathies.
But you see, again Gerry Davis illustrates to us what a clever scriptwriter he is by throwing in a completely unexpected plot surprise. While the viewer gets comfortable in believing it's because of the reasons above that Wren and Robson are suspended. The script surprises us when it is eventually revealed that the married man that Dr. Robson was having an affair with has been selling national secrets to a crime syndicate. While Toby is eventually reinstated with a new security clearance, Dr. Robson is let go from Doomwatch based on the fact that she had lied about her affair with Jack Foster.
But what has all of that got to do with the question, "should computers be allowed the right to have the final say in matters where human judgement should prevail?" Well you see, Gerry Davis has woven all of the above into a storyline that deals with this question. Throughout the story, the evidence that is used against both Wren and Robson has been gathered from a computer. It is based upon the computers advice that Keeping conducts his investigations, and it is also based upon this advice that the two are suspended.
The scenes involving how the information against Wren and Robson is gathered and used illustrates just how unreliable that information can be, and how wrong it is for us as humans to base our decisions solely on the advice of a computer.
Gerry Davis uses this story to point out to us that this is wrong. He points out that while computers are powerful tools for mathematics or complex problem solving, they should not be used to make judgements on the character of fellow human beings. Davis is saying this is totally wrong, especially when we start to loose the capacity for making judgement decisions for ourselves. Davis is saying that no machine, no matter how sophisticated or powerful, should ever be allowed to make decisions for us. Humanity must always retain the prerogative of assessing human situations themselves. No machine can do it for us.
A prime example of this is in the scene where Quist is shown the new computerized security system by the Minister. Quist is completely outraged by this and demands that the machine, and department, be shut down immediately. It's almost as if that in this instance Quist is actually acting as the voice of Gerry Davis. Quist is expressing Davis' real fears through him.
Quist: In this instance human nature reasserted itself over machine. When it came to the crunch, Keeping used his own personal judgement.
Ridge: And it doesn't alter the fact that computers are going to be used in that way.
Quist: You can't prevent it. But so long as human intelligence, human judgement has the last word.
Ridge: And if it doesn't?
Quist: God help us all.