Yesterday I went to see my primary care physician for the first time. He is part of a group practice. The office is less than a 3-minute walk from our home.
There were 4 assistants (all women) who managed the practice with a relaxed but professional demeanor. I had gone earlier with Petra (because she had an appointment) to do the paperwork. The paperwork that normally takes between 5 to 7 minutes (though it always feels longer) to fill out in a Doctor's office in the USA, took me less than 2 at the Doctor's office here.
I did not have to sign my soul away to Beelzebub.
I did not have to write about any pre-existing conditions, though I have none.
They did not ask me to relieve them from any possible wrongdoing.
No questions about protecting my privacy. No living-will forms either.
Only one sheet of paper had to be completed! I filled it out and went home.
I returned at 2PM for my appointment. I have learned in the 3 months that I have lived here that being on time is better than being early. If you are early, you wait. If you are on time, they take care of you. However, don't be late or you'll miss the boat. I did not have to pay before seeing the doctor. I did not have to pay after seeing him either. My plan has no co-payment. I pay CH324/monthly for my health insurance. More on this later.
In the waiting room there was no TV playing, no Muzak, and no Golf, Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Yacht, Travel or People's magazines. Just two coffee-table books. One immediately caught my attention. It was about Andy Goldsworthy's art. I really like and admire his work. In less than 7 minutes I had to put down the book because the Dr. came to greet me. He called me by my last name and asked me in German about my language preference. I said Spanish or English. He speaks German, English, Portuñol, Italian and French, ah, and Swiss German, of course. We spoke mostly in English.
He spent about 50 minutes with me asking questions about my medical, personal and social history. I must say that I prefer this method than the one I am used to, where you fill out a form detailing your medical history. In my experience, most doctors in the US would not read or reference such documents, and I would have to remind them or tell them about the information in them. This always made me feel that the paperwork was a useless exercise, but a legally important one (for them). My new Swiss doctor asked about my parents, myself, my reasons for being here, whether or not I have a network of people I work with, my wife, my lactose intolerance, and many more aspects of my life. The one thing that I did not like was that he was interrupted 5 times (maybe more) by short telephone calls that he answered. He was very apologetic about this. At one point he walked out to talk to a colleague in the practice about a patient he had seen while the other Doctor was on vacation. He explained this to me. I understood.
After the interview, he asked me to come next week for a couple of exams (including the routine one), that he determined were necessary based on the interview. That was it, there was no heart pressure reading, no pulse checking, no weighing, and no height measuring. At first I was a bit perplexed, and then I actually thought it was fine this way, especially because I was not sick and in a week I would see him again. In the end, one hour at the doctor's office is enough time spent, I felt.
All in all, I have a good feeling about him, the office and the care.
When I went home my friend Roberto who lives in Hollywood, Florida came on SKYPE to talk to me about a couple of important-looking pieces of mail that I had received. They were from COBRA.
COBRA is a law passed by the U.S. Congress on a reconciliation basis and signed by President Ronald Reagan that, among other things, mandates an insurance program giving some employees the ability to continue health insurance coverage after leaving employment.
If I were in the US and wanted to continue the same health coverage provided and partially paid by my employer, which covered my two kids and myself, I would have to pay $1146.05 monthly! For myself alone, I would have to pay $664.75 monthly; more than double of what I pay here. Obviously COBRA is not an option for me because I no longer live in the States, but it goes to show how expensive medical insurance is in the USA. I do not know how COBRA will change, once the new Health Care Act goes into effect, but it seems to me that it will have to. So now, for my kids, I've had to purchase individual health and dental insurances for each, because Sara lives in New York and Daniel in Florida, and health insurance companies have different plans, rules and prices in different states. It's complicated, for sure.
fifty minutes! most people would need 10 visits here to get 50 mins.
So, regarding time… you must have given up PR time. … do you stand in front of doors, looking at your watch until the appointed time to knock?
BTW blood pressure tells you stuff that you would not ordinarily notice… the fact he did not request BP isn't necessarily a good time. High BP isn't called the "silent killer" for nothing.
So, if no living will, what happens when you are incapacitated, can't make medical decisions, and there is a question of tubes and plugs and comas and such?
My BP (blood pressure not batting practice) is normal. You can do your own BP reading. Regarding the living will… it's in my to do list.
I wonder if the same health system applies in all of the European Union. I could legally live and work in Europe if my husband and I decided to move….aunque con la boca es un mamey decirlo que hacerlo… But if we move it is comforting to know that I'll be able to get medical insurance and be able to live…and not the other way around.


THIS SPORTSMEN CLASSIC IS LAST REMAINING NEW TRAVEL TRAILER TOY HAULER.
Receive email updates regarding special pricing, news & events! We will not overwhelm your inbox.
© Copyright Hall's RV Sales 2019. All rights reserved.


text:
Twitter's Rules Around Speech are Focused on Avoiding Harm, Not Maintaining Control
Published Nov. 29, 2022
An inevitable element of the Elon Musk takeover at Twitter is political division, with Elon essentially using left and right-wing antagonism to stoke debate, and boost engagement in the app.
Musk is a vocal proponent of free speech, and of social platforms in particular allowing users to say whatever they want, within the bounds of local laws. Which makes sense, but at the same time, social platforms, which can effectively provide reach to billions of people, also have some responsibility to manage that capacity, and ensure that it's not misused to amplify messages that could potentially cause real world harm.
Like, for example, when the President tweets this:
Free speech proponents will say that he's the President, and he should be allowed to say what he wants as the nation's democratically elected leader. But at the same time, there's a very real possibility that the President effectively saying that people are allowed to shoot looters, or that protesters will be shot, could lead to direct, real world harm.
"No it won't, only snowflakes think that, real people don't take these things literally."
But the thing is, some people do, and it's generally only in retrospect that we assess such and determine the causes of angst, confusion, and indeed harm that can be caused by such messaging.
Social platforms know this. For years, in various nations, social media apps have been used to spread messaging that's lead to violence, civil unrest, and even revolts and riots. In many instances, this has been because social apps have allowed messaging to be spread which is not technically illegal, but is potentially harmful.
There have been ethnic tensions in Myanmar, fueled by Facebook posts, the mobilization of violent groups in Zimbabwe, the targeting of Sikhs in India, Zika chaos in South Africa. All of these have been traced back to social media posts as early, incendiary elements.
And then there was this:
The final series of tweets that finally saw Trump banned from Twitter effectively called on his millions of supporters to storm the Capitol building, in a misguided effort to overturn the result of the 2020 election.
Politicians were cornered in their offices, fearing for their lives (especially those that Trump had called out by name, including former VP Mike Pence), while several people were killed in the ensuing confusion, as Trump supporters entered the Capitol building and looted, vandalized and terrorized all in their path.
That action had essentially been endorsed, even goaded, by Trump, with Twitter providing the means to amplify his messaging. Twitter recognized this, and decided that it did not want to play a part in a political coup, so it banned Trump for this and his repeated violations of its rules.
Many disagreed with Twitter's decision (note: Facebook also banned Trump). but again, this wasn't the first time that Twitter had seen its platform used to fuel political unrest. It's just that now, it was in the US, on the biggest stage possible, and in the midst of what many still view as a 'culture war' between the woke left, who want to restrict speech in line with their own agenda, and the freedom-loving right, who want to be able to say whatever they like, without fear of consequence.
Musk himself was opposed to Twitter's decision.
Elon, of course, has his own history of issues based on his tweets, including his infamous 'taking Tesla private at $420' comment, which resulted in the FCC effectively forcing him to step down as chairman of Tesla, and his 2018 tweet which accused a cave diver of being a pedophile, despite having no basis at all to make such a claim. Musk saw no problem with either, even in retrospect – and he even went as far as hiring a private investigator to dig up dirt on the cave diver to dilute the man's defamation suit.
Free speech, as Musk sees it, should enable him to say such, and people should be able to judge for themselves what that means. Even if it impacts investors or harms an innocent person's reputation, Musk sees no harm in making such statements.
As such, it's unsurprising that Musk has now overseen Trump's account being reinstated, as part of his broader push to overturn Twitter's years of perceived suppression of free speech.
And as noted, Elon is using this 'culture war' as a pretense to maximize his following, and ideally monetize such through his soon to be re-released $8 subscription scheme.
If enough people sign up, he can reduce the platform's reliance on ads, and make the rules around speech in the app whatever he wants, and get a win for his army of dedicated supporters - but the thing is, the 'war' that Elon's pushing here doesn't actually exist.
The majority of Twitter users don't see there being a divide between the 'elite' blue checkmark accounts and the 'regular' users. The majority don't have some fundamental opposition to people posting whatever they like, and there's no broader push from on-high to control what can and cannot be shared, and who or what you can talk about. The only significant action that Twitter's taken in the past on this front has been specifically to avoid harm, and to limit the potential for dangerous actions that might be inspired by tweets.
Which, in amongst all the 'free speech', 'culture war' propaganda, is what could eventually end up being overlooked.
Again, it's only in retrospect that we can clearly see the connections between what's shared online and real world harm, it's only after years of seeing the anger bubbles swell on Facebook and Twitter that things truly started to boil over. The risk now is that we're about to see these bubbles get bigger once again, and despite the lessons of past, despite seeing what can happen when we allow dangerous movements to grow via every borderline tweet and comment, Musk is leading a new charge to fan the flames of division once again.
Which is really the only thing that journalists and commentators are warning against. It's not driven by corporate leanings or government control, it's not some 'woke agenda' that's being infused throughout the mainstream media, in order to stop people from learning 'the truth'. It's because we've seen what happens when regulations are loosened, and when social platforms with huge reach potential allow the worst elements to propagate. We know what happens when speech that may not be illegal, but can cause harm, is amplified to many, many more people.
The ideal of true free speech is that it allows us to address even the most sensitive of topics, and make progress on the key issues of the day, by hearing all sides, no matter how disagreeable we personally may find them. But we know, from very recent history, that this is not the most likely outcome of loosening the safeguards online.
Which is the misnomer of Musk's 'culture wars' push. On the face of it, there's a battle to be won, there's a side to choose, there an 'us' and a 'them' - but in reality, there's not.
In reality, there's risk and there's harm. And while there are extremes of cultural sensitivity, on either side of the debate, the risk is that by getting caught up in a fictional conflict, we end up overlooking, or worse, ignoring the markers of the next violent surge.
That could lead to even more significant harm than we've seen this far, and the only beneficiaries will be those stoking the flames.
Keep up with the story. Subscribe to the Social Media Today free daily newsletter

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Le Clapier – miejscowość i gmina we Francji, w regionie Oksytania, w departamencie Aveyron. W 2013 roku jej populacja wynosiła 75 mieszkańców. Gmina położona jest na terenie Parku Regionalnego Grands Causses.

Przypisy

Clapier

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


This is a placeholder page for Hunter Roudybush, which means this person is not currently on this site. We do suggest using the tools below to find Hunter Roudybush.
You are visiting the placeholder page for Hunter Roudybush. This page is here because someone used our placeholder utility to look for Hunter Roudybush. We created this page automatically in hopes Hunter Roudybush would find it. If you are not Hunter Roudybush, but are an alumni of Lindale High School, register on this site for free now.


718 West Irving Park Road has a Walk Score of 91 out of 100. This location is a Walker's Paradise so daily errands do not require a car.
718 West Irving Park Road is an eight minute walk from the Red Line at the Sheridan stop.
This location is in the Uptown neighborhood in Chicago. Nearby parks include Disney School Dog Park, Gill Park and Park 411.
Explore how far you can travel by car, bus, bike and foot from 718 West Irving Park Road.
718 West Irving Park Road has excellent transit which means transit is convenient for most trips. Car sharing is available from Zipcar, I-GO, RelayRides and Getaround.
718 West Irving Park Road compared to all of Chicago.
How do you feel walking near 718 West Irving Park Road?
718 West Irving Park Road is in the Uptown neighborhood. Uptown is the 16th most walkable neighborhood in Chicago with a neighborhood Walk Score of 91.


text:
package com.microsoft.azure.management.netapp.v2019_07_01.implementation;

import com.microsoft.azure.arm.model.implementation.WrapperImpl;
import com.microsoft.azure.management.netapp.v2019_07_01.Volumes;
import rx.Completable;
import rx.Observable;
import rx.functions.Func1;
import java.util.List;
import com.microsoft.azure.management.netapp.v2019_07_01.Volume;

class VolumesImpl extends WrapperImpl<VolumesInner> implements Volumes {
    private final NetAppManager manager;

    VolumesImpl(NetAppManager manager) {
        super(manager.inner().volumes());
        this.manager = manager;
    }

    public NetAppManager manager() {
        return this.manager;
    }

    @Override
    public VolumeImpl define(String name) {
        return wrapModel(name);
    }

    private VolumeImpl wrapModel(VolumeInner inner) {
        return  new VolumeImpl(inner, manager());
    }

    private VolumeImpl wrapModel(String name) {
        return new VolumeImpl(name, this.manager());
    }

    @Override
    public Observable<Volume> listAsync(String resourceGroupName, String accountName, String poolName) {
        VolumesInner client = this.inner();
        return client.listAsync(resourceGroupName, accountName, poolName)
        .flatMap(new Func1<List<VolumeInner>, Observable<VolumeInner>>() {
            @Override
            public Observable<VolumeInner> call(List<VolumeInner> innerList) {
                return Observable.from(innerList);
            }
        })
        .map(new Func1<VolumeInner, Volume>() {
            @Override
            public Volume call(VolumeInner inner) {
                return wrapModel(inner);
            }
        });
    }

    @Override
    public Observable<Volume> getAsync(String resourceGroupName, String accountName, String poolName, String volumeName) {
        VolumesInner client = this.inner();
        return client.getAsync(resourceGroupName, accountName, poolName, volumeName)
        .flatMap(new Func1<VolumeInner, Observable<Volume>>() {
            @Override
            public Observable<Volume> call(VolumeInner inner) {
                if (inner == null) {
                    return Observable.empty();
                } else {
                    return Observable.just((Volume)wrapModel(inner));
                }
            }
       });
    }

    @Override
    public Completable deleteAsync(String resourceGroupName, String accountName, String poolName, String volumeName) {
        VolumesInner client = this.inner();
        return client.deleteAsync(resourceGroupName, accountName, poolName, volumeName).toCompletable();
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


the American Opportunity Tax Credit and the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit.
In box two of form 1098-T, we are reporting your qualified tuition and fees billed from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014 net of any refunds or reimbursements.
In box four, we are reporting any adjustments made for a prior year.
In box five, we are reporting grants and scholarships disbursed during calendar year 2014.
In box six, any adjustments to scholarships and grants for a prior year.
The academic terms included in the dollar amounts reported on the 1098-T are: Winter 2014 (201302), Spring 2014 (201303), Summer 2014 (201400), Fall 2014 (201401) and Winter 2015 (201402) if applicable. If Winter 2014 is included, box seven will be marked. Again, you will need to determine if all or a portion was paid during calendar year 2014.
American Opportunity tax credit: The American Opportunity provides tax credits to taxpayers that pay qualified tuition and required fees for attending college on at least a half-time basis. This credit is designed to offset tuition costs incurred during the first four years of college. It may only be used four years for any particular student. This credit is available for tuition and required fees paid during 2014 minus certain grants, scholarships, and other tax-free educational assistance. The maximum credit is $2,500 per student.
Lifetime Learning tax credit: Like the American Opportunity credit, the Lifetime Learning provides tax credits to taxpayers that pay qualified tuition and required fees at an eligible institution. It differs from the American Opportunity in that the student is not required to be half time. A family may claim a credit for up to $2,000 per tax year. The Lifetime Learning tax credit is available for tuition and required fees paid during 2014 less certain grants, scholarships and other tax free educational assistance.
Anyone planning to make use of the credit will need much more specific information than is provided above.
Western Oregon University employees cannot offer tax advice. However, if you have questions about the information provided, you may contact a Western Oregon University representative at (503) 838-8202.
You should be aware that the law creating these credits requires the University to provide the name and social security number of all enrolled students to the IRS. It is important that the information be accurate. Please review the social security number on your 1098-T for accuracy. If incorrect you will need to provide a copy of your social security card to the Business Office.


text:
The Luckiamute River is a tributary of the Willamette River, about  long, in western Oregon in the United States. It drains an area of Central Oregon Coast Range and the western Willamette Valley northwest of Corvallis.

It rises in the remote mountains of southwestern Polk County, about  west of Pedee. It flows southeast to Hoskins in Benton County, then northeast into Polk County, past Pedee, then east across southern Polk County. It is joined from the northwest by the Little Luckiamute River. It joins the Willamette from the west about  north of Albany. The mouth of the river is about  downstream from the mouth of the Santiam River, which enters the Willamette from the east  upstream of the Willamette's mouth on the Columbia River.

Named tributaries from source to mouth are Boulder, Beaver, Miller, Wolf, Rock Pit, Slick, Cougar, Slide, and Harris creeks. Further downstream are Hull, Foster, Jones, Bonner, Vincent, Plunkett, and Price creeks. Maxfield Creek is next followed by Bump, Ritner, Pedee, McTimmonds, Link, Dry, and Jont creeks followed by the Little Luckiamute River. Soap Creek enters the main stem along the Luckiamute's lower reaches.

The Luckiamute Watershed Council includes Ash Creek in its watershed study area, although it drains directly into the Willamette River.

See also
List of rivers of Oregon
List of longest streams of Oregon

References

External links
Luckiamute Watershed Council

Tributaries of the Willamette River
Rivers of Polk County, Oregon
Rivers of Benton County, Oregon
Rivers of Oregon
Oregon placenames of Native American origin


text:
National and state minority commission
Constitution of India doesn't define the word 'Minority' but has used the word minorities considering two attributes religion or language of a person. For minorities Constitution of India has envisaged a number of rights and safeguards. To provide enough equality and to dwindled the discrimination, makers have spelt out various things in Fundamental Rights (PartIII); Directive Principles of State policy (Part IV) and also the Fundamental Duties (Part IV-A). However, with rising right and rising wedge between right and left and also the ephemeral political aspirations of various political parties have diluted the discrimination safeguards.
The Union Government set up the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. Six religious communities, viz; Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Zoroastrians (Parsis) and Jains have been notified in Gazette of India as minority communities by the Union Government all over India . Original notification of 1993 was for Five religious communities Sikhs, Buddhists,Parsis,Christians and Muslims.
Functions and Powers
Evaluate the progress of the development of Minorities under the Union and States.
Monitor the working of the safeguards provided in the Constitution and in laws enacted by Parliament and the State Legislatures.
Make recommendations for the effective implementation of safeguards for the protection of the interests of Minorities by the Central Government or the State Governments.
Look into specific complaints regarding deprivation of rights and safeguards of the Minorities and take up such matters with the appropriate authorities.
Cause studies to be undertaken into problems arising out of any discrimination against Minorities and recommend measures for their removal.
Conduct studies, research and analysis on the issues relating to socio-economic and educational development of Minorities.
Suggest appropriate measures in respect of any Minority to be undertaken by the Central Government or the State Governments.
Make periodical or special reports to the Central Government on any matter pertaining to Minorities and in particular the difficulties confronted by them.
Any other matter which may be referred to it by the Central Government.
The Commission has the following powers:
Summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person from any part of India and examining him on oath.
Requiring the discovery and production of any document.
Receiving evidence on affidavit.
Requisitioning any public record or copy thereof from any court or office.
Issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses and documents.
State minority commission
The recognition of any community as a religious minority means that the States should have a State level Commission to ensure that the rights and privileges allowed to the minorities under law are not denied to them. In a situation of difficulty a member of the minority community can invoke the law that safeguards his interests. In pursuance of this objective, each State in the Union including Union Territories are required to set up respective Minority Commission to cater to the needs and interests of the minority communities in the concerned states. However, the Union Minister for Minorities, while replying to a question in the Parliament disclosed that twelve States, including four ruled by BJP and its allies, and six Union Territories (UTs) have not set up Minorities Commissions at their respective levels. Incidentally, Jammu and Kashmir also figures in the list of twelve States with no Minority Commission.
Categories Education, Polity for Prelims and Mains Exam Tags central government, Christians, Commission, Constitution of India, development, directive principles, Directive Principles of State policy, Gazette of India, India, minority communities, missions, Muslims, national, National Commission, National Commission for Minorities, NITI, Plain, Political Parties, problem, recommendations, religious communities, religious minority, report, Rs., safeguards, state government, state governments, The Commission, the Constitution, the state, The state government, Union government, Union Minister Post navigation
19-10-2017 Bihar (BPSC) Daily Current Affairs
National and state SC/ST commission


"Arab music" is music created by Arabs. Beyond that, it is difficult to say precisely what makes it "Arab". As in other parts of the world, its development is the result of multiple influences.
Although the characteristics of classical Arab music are well defined, there is also a wide variety of musical genres, some of them largely confined to specific parts of the region. Existing alongside these traditional forms is modern Arab pop music – often with a distinctive "Arab" sound – but also including Arab versions of rock, rap and even heavy metal.
One aspect of unity in Arab music is the intimate connection between the music and the Arabic language. This is demonstrated by the emphasis placed upon the vocal idiom and by the often central role played by the poet-singer. Examples are the sha'ir, literally "poet," in Upper Egypt and among the Syrian-Desert Bedouins, and theqawwal, literally "one who says," in the Lebanese tradition of zajal, or sung folk-poetry. This link is also exemplified in the common practice of setting to music various literary [poetic] forms, including the qasidah and the muwashshah.
Another salient trait is the principal position of Arab melody in Arab music and the absence of complex polyphony, a phenomenon distinguishing music of this part of the world, and a good portion of Asia, from the music of Europe and certain areas in Sub-Saharan Africa. Instead, Arab music exhibits refinement and complexity in the melody marked by subtle and intricate ornaments and nuances. Melody in Arab music also incorporates microtonality, namely intervals that do not conform to the half-step and whole-step divisions of traditional Western art music.
Another feature of musical unity in the contemporary Arab world lies in the area ofmusical instruments. Instruments such as theqanun (a trapazoidal plucked zither), 'ud (a fretless plucked lute), nay (a reed flute) and the Western violin are found in most urban Arab orchestras.
A website focusing on classical and traditional Arab music. It includes audio samples, plus some videos and sheet music for sale.
"The oldest site on the web dedicated exclusively for the education, analysis, reviews, and resources for traditional Arab music worldwide".
"Music is a useless activity which, in fact, is a state of passiveness."
Complete rejection of music is still very much a minority view among Muslims, though it has become more prevalent with the growth of political Islam and increased religiosity.
In general, the less traditional types of music – especially those that develop a cult following among Arab youth – tend to meet with stronger disapproval. In several countries, for example, the authorities have tried to suppress heavy metal music on the grounds that it involves devil-worship. The Saudi authorities, who officially recognise the power of black magic are especially suspicious of rock, punk and metal music.


text:
Les ruines de la forteresse médiévale de Montaigle sont situées dans le village belge de Falaën (commune Onhaye) en Wallonie dans la province de Namur.

Le château fort, dont la construction remonte au début du , a été détruit par Henri II de France en 1554. Il se dresse sur un éperon rocheux dominant la vallée de la Molignée d'un côté et le Flavion de l'autre.

Le site connaît dès le Bas-Empire, une première fortification belgo-romaine de type éperon barré.

Galerie

Voir aussi
 Liste des châteaux belges par région

Lien externe
 Site officiel sur le Château Fort de Montaigle

Onhaye
Montaigle
Montaigle
Montaigle
Patrimoine immobilier exceptionnel de la Région wallonne
Patrimoine classé à Onhaye
Montaigle
Montaigle


MENLO PARK, CA — Sun Microsystems, which has long been a leader in corporate blogging by executives and employees, is now empowering its 30,000 employees to upload employee-generated video to Sun's big video site Channel Sun as part of its communications with customers, developers and others.
Earlier this week, we caught up with Linda Crowe, Group Manager, Media Strategy & Production. She explains how the company is using Brightcove to power its video and content management operations.
We checked out Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz's blog which is transforming into a video blog. I've embed the video from his a recent post below.
Disclaimer: Brightcove is a sponsor of Beet.TV and this video was produced as part of this sponsorship.


text:
HomeIndiaQatar World Cup Opens A New World For Gulf Arab Neighbours
37 seen
Qatar World Cup Opens A New World For Gulf Arab Neighbours
By James M Dorsey
Qatar's 2022 World Cup promises to benefit not only itself but also to provide an unintended economic, political, and religious soft power boon for its foremost rival in the region, the United Arab Emirates.
The UAE, alongside Saudi Arabia, leads a pack of Gulf states eager to capitalize on the expectation that Qatar will not have the hotel capacity to accommodate an anticipated one million visitors in November and December during the tournament. The UAE stands to benefit the most not just economically but also politically and in terms of its religious soft power, even if Saudi Arabia is doing what it can to play catch up.
Various Gulf states have eased visa regulations and immigration procedures in the expectation that they will be housing fans who will shuttle to Qatar aboard some 90 extra matchday flights to attend games. Almost half of those flights will originate in the UAE. Fans are likely to gravitate towards the UAE, the most liberal of the Gulf states, rather than Saudi Arabia, where alcohol and extramarital and gay sex not only remain banned, but laws are perceived to be harshly enforced.
In anticipation, Dubai, already home to a large number of hotels, announced the launch of its first football-themed 533-room hotel built on an artificial, palm-shaped island. For its part, Saudi Arabia is offering fans a multiple entry visa and planning a festival in a bid to be competitive. The Saudi Tourism Authority says it expects to welcome 30,000 World Cup visitors.
Known as a party city, Dubai will likely benefit most from Qatar's shortage of hotel beds and the uncertainty, less than three months before the World Cup kicks off, about the ease with which fans will be able to consume alcohol and how the Gulf Qatar will deal with unmarried or gay couples. With premarital and gay banned in Qatar, Qatari officials have insisted that LGBT fans would be welcome during the World Cup but would be expected to respect norms that frown on public expressions of affection irrespective of sexual orientation.
The unspoken implication was that Qatar would look the other way if couples, irrespective of marital status or sexual orientation, kept their affection private. It's an implication that was never fully spelled out in ways that leave no ambiguity, partly to avoid provoking a conservative backlash. As a result, Qatar's 'live and let live" approach raises as many questions as it provides answers.
To a significant extent, these issues, in contrast to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, do not arise in the UAE, which has substantially eased access to alcohol n recent years and lifted a ban on unmarried heterosexual couples living together. The Emirati social reforms are likely to make visitors more confident that the UAE may not enforce its ban on gay sex.
However, the UAE, like Saudi Arabia, recently banned Lightyear, a Disney and Pixar animated production, because of a same-sex kiss scene, and Disney's Doctor Strange in the Universe of Madness, in which one character refers to her "two mums."The ban appeared to contradict the government's announcement in late 2021 that it would end the censorship of films. The country's Media Regulatory Office said it would introduce a 21+ age viewer classification policy instead. However, that wasn't evident when the office tweeted an image of Lightyear, crossed out with a red line.
For his part, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has introduced considerable social change in the kingdom by lifting the ban on women's driving, enhancing women's rights and opportunities, and creating a Western-style entertainment sector. Still, the changes fall far short of the reforms in the UAE.As part of his development of the entertainment sector, Bin Salman has also sought to use the kingdom's financial muscle to barnstorm Saudi Arabia into replacing Qatar and the UAE as the Gulf's sports hubs.
However, going to extremes to strike a balance amid a push to encourage tourism, authorities in the kingdom launched "rainbow raids" in June on shops selling children's toys and accessories. They targeted clothing and toys, including hair clips, pop-its, t-shirts, bows, skirts, hats, and colouring pencils "that contradict the Islamic faith and public morals and promote homosexual colours that target the younger generation," according to a commerce ministry official.
As part of his development of the entertainment sector, Bin Salman has also sought to use the kingdom's financial muscle to barnstorm Saudi Arabia in replacing Qatar and, to a lesser degree, the UAE as the Gulf's sports hub.
The Emirates' liberalization was designed to enhance the country's quest to attract foreign talent and project itself as a beacon of religious moderation, even if the changes involve social rather than religious change.
The distinction is not academic, with the UAE competing with other Muslim-majority states such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Iran, and Indonesia, for acknowledgment as a benchmark of a moderate form of Islam that would allow it to shape the faith and the political order in the Middle East in the 21st century.
In contrast to Indonesia, where religious reform is driven by Nahadlatul Ulama, the world's largest independent Muslim grassroots organization in the world's largest Muslim-majority country and democracy, change in the Middle East is pushed by ruling elites eager to perpetuate their grip on power.
"The reality is that dictators…throughout the Middle East, including the UAE's (President) Mohammed bin Zayed and Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman, harness Islam and state-sponsored Islamic scholars to maintain their grip on political power," said Islam scholar Usamaa Al-Azmi.
Even so, Qatar's shortcomings have created for the UAE and, to a lesser extent, other Gulf states like Saudi Arabia that are not co-hosting the World Cup an opportunity to share the tournament's limelight and put their best foot forward while camouflaging their warts and ensuring that it is Qatar that primarily catches the flak. (IPA Service)
By arrangement with the Arabian Post
The post Qatar World Cup Opens A New World For Gulf Arab Neighbours first appeared on IPA Newspack.
A Historical Perspective To Rupee Falling To Its All-Time Low
M V Govindan: CPI(M)'s Man Of The Moment In Kerala
Dubai 2022 property transactions value up to $143.8 billion
D&A Jewellery: Spectacular Flagship Jewellery Boutique Opens In Singapore
JD(U) crisis deepens as Nitish asks Kushwaha to 'go to BJP'
A third front for Odisha under KCR party sponsorship likely


FreeStyle Libre System Overview What is the FreeStyle Libre flash glucose monitoring system?
What is the FreeStyle Libre flash glucose monitoring system?
The FreeStyle Libre flash glucose monitoring system is the first product in the flash glucose monitoring category and is designed to liberate people with diabetes from many of the hassles of glucose monitoring1, such as routine finger pricking.
FreeStyle Libre sensor: A small, disposable 14-day sensor that is worn on the back of the upper arm and continously measures glucose levels and stores them for a period of 8 hours. Every time the user scans the reader over the sensor, the glucose data from sensor is transferred to the reader in 1 second.
FreeStyle Libre reader: A compact, handheld reader that displays glucose readings and stores up to 90 days of glucose data. When the reader is scanned over the sensor, it shows a current glucose reading, last 8-hours of data as well as a trend arrow (indicating if glucose is going up, down or staying steady). To obtain a glucose reading, simply perform a quick, 1-second scan of the reader over the sensor. This easy scan gives you more information than blood glucose monitoring without the need for routine finger pricks2.


text:
Radical vulnerability on behalf of the collective. I use nakedness—literal+figurative—in performance art+activism, deliberately stripping myself of cultural+neurobiological baggage+defences.
Monthly Actions
News+Reviews
The Naked Truth: Excellent Piece by Gurpreet Kambo in the Capilano Courier
The Naked Truth: Various Manifestations of Nudity in Society
by Gurpreet Kambo
Capilano Courier
http://www.capilanocourier.com/2012/04/naked-truth-various-manifestations-of.html
Though everyone is born nude, showers nude, and exists in the nude underneath our clothing, the naked human body is something that is still extremely taboo in many areas of society. In most every social situation or public place, offense would be taken at the sight of bare breasts or exposed genitals, and in many cases it is illegal to be naked. Despite the stigma, however, public nudity continues to exist in many forms, for a diversity of purposes.
FOR PROTEST
"There are those who so dislike the nude that they find something indecent in the naked truth."
Nudity has been used as a form of protest throughout history. The Doukhobours, specifically a more radical sect called the "Freedomites," are one of the most famous groups to have used nudity as a form of protest. At the close of the 19th century, the Doukhobours were a religious minority fleeing persecution from the Russian government. Many of them came to western Canada looking for a less hostile environment to live in; however, many Doukhobours saw injustices that still needed to be protested. Materialism in particular was one issue they saw with Canadian society, which they protested by attacking targets they saw as being symbolic of materialism. The Doukhobours famously held nude protests against materialism, as they believed that human skin was God's creation, and thus more sacred than clothing, made by human hands.
More recently, a local nude protest has garnered media attention. Justine Davidson, a UBC student, decided to use her body as a form of protest in front of a display from a group called the "Genocide Awareness Project" (GAP). The display showed graphic photographs of aborted fetuses, and juxtaposed those with images of historical massacres such as the Holocaust, the lynching of African Americans, and the destruction of the World Trade Centre. According to the GAP website, it is "a traveling photo-mural exhibit which compares the contemporary genocide of abortion to historically recognized forms of genocide." However Davidson took offense to the notion that a woman exercising her freedom of choice over her body could be equated to genocide.
"My body is where I exercise and appreciate my freedom on a daily basis, and I reject outright the assertion that by supporting the right to free, safe abortions, I am turning it into a tool of mass murder," said Davidson on her blog Naked at UBC.
"It struck me at that moment, that a very effective way to say that would be to take my clothes off, and to present my body as a counter to what they were presenting my body as," says Davidson. "I will admit that I didn't analyze the message of my nakedness for very long before I was stepping out of my clothes, but as I sat there naked in the afternoon sun … I had a chance to ruminate on what the naked female form means in our society, and its effectiveness as a way to expose oppression and shame-based control."
"I'm a woman, and they're telling me that I am basically a genocidal maniac," says Davidson. "I'm being compared to the Nazis and the Pol Pot regime; they had systematic mandates to wipe out an entire race of people. None of those things relate to my philosophy, or my body.
Inevitably, UBC campus security arrived and told Davidson to put her clothes on. "I asked why, and was told that I was 'indecent.' I found this particularly ironic, seeing as I was sitting in front of a six-foot-high image of naked bodies piled in a mass grave."
As a form of exercising her political views, Davidson found nudity to be empowering. "As soon as I took my clothes off, I realized that a naked person in a crowd of people who are clothed is incredibly powerful," says Davidson. "No one is going to come near you, because they are going to think you are insane, or the fact of your nakedness is so shocking and surprising to everyone that you have this bubble of protection around you."
While initially the administration of UBC was pursuing punishment against her for breaking their student code of conduct, after widespread media coverage, and a request from Davidson that her supporters write to the University to oppose any punitive action against her, they relented and said that they would only keep a record of the incident on file.
AS A LIFESTYLE
"We live in an atmosphere of shame. We are ashamed of everything that is real about us; ashamed of ourselves, of our relatives, of our incomes, of our accents, of our opinions, of our experience, just as we are ashamed of our naked skins."
For some, nudity is not only the means of expression, but the cause. NIFTY, which stands for "Naked Iconoclasts Fighting The Yoke", is one such organization. NIFTY was founded in 1992, and "is an activist political organization dedicated to the cause of clothing-optional right – in Canada and around the world." They oppose all legal restrictions on non-sexual nudity.
"We believe that nudity is healthful," says Greg Depaco, secretary of NIFTY. "It is absurd to ask us to compromise our rights as free citizens to promote our own health as we see fit, in order to appease others who don't like to look at genitals."
NIFTY's argument also believes that the government should not infringe on the rights of individuals. That this corresponds to a classically right-wing value is perhaps ironic, because it is on the right that people are known to be more conservative about such body issues. "Canada is a free country, and so decisions about what to wear should be left to the individual citizen, with no government coercion," says Depaco.
Depaco feels that society's aversion to nudity may have some roots in organized religion. "It's because of religious views which hold that nudity is improper, and which have over time been so embedded into our cultural norms, that their religious origins have been obscured. NIFTY tries to help change that by educating the public about the harmful effects of enforced genital concealment," he says.
He adds, "Nudity is not harmful to children and, as is so often the case with these cultural prejudices, the opposite is true. Nudity is beneficial to all ages, especially children, and it is the obsessive concealment of the natural body which can harm children."
However, there are situations in which public nudity is of a more clearly criminal nature. The preceding section of the Code deals with "Indecent Acts" and it states that anyone who commits an indecent act "in any place, with intent thereby to insult or offend any person, is guilty of an offense punishable on summary conviction."
However, at that time, the city council did not take kindly to her actions. "Maple Ridge had created a bylaw really just for her, very bad legal policy, that criminalized women for being topfree," says Rapoport. "The town of Maple Ridge is not allowed to do that because it is a federal matter, and its penalties went beyond anything described in the criminal code. It was thrown out in court … Linda has really set the tone for all of B.C., partly because she has gone to various public swimming pools topfree, and challenged not only the law, but the attitudes that are very demeaning to women that say they can't do this, and are implying antisocial behaviour. [The Maple Ridge decision] was very clear in that it had a larger meaning socially and politically. There were various rumblings in many levels of government that they weren't going to prosecute topfree women."
While acknowledging that hiding nudity is ingrained into mainstream North American values, Depaco believes that this type of restriction is harmful to society as a whole: "The obsession with concealing our genitals results in poor body image and body self-concept," explains Depaco. "As the bodies of our friends and neighbours - 'ordinary' people – are hidden, all we see is the airbrushed perfection of Playboy/Hollywood; this creates an impossible ideal of beauty which results in people feeling bad about themselves, with more and more even resorting to plastic surgery in an attempt to meet this ideal.
Nearly all of the major religions have some notion that nudity is improper or harmful – certainly in Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Sikhism. "If we could poll 1,000 people across the Lower Mainland, we would find a smattering who would say, "Yup, I'm all for naturists' rights,' but I think you'd still find a considerable number of people who would say, 'No, I'd not be comfortable with that,' " said Dave Quist in an interview with the Georgia Straight. Quist is executive director of the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada, a conservative lobby group. "I recognize their right to go do that [be naked], but I don't want their rights to interfere with my rights not to be offended, not to have my children see that, and so that's where we run into conflict."
Quist disputes the notion that public nudity is or can be non-sexual. "You can't look at car commercials or a beer commercial, and many other things that are advertised, without a scantily-clad man or woman," he explained. "When we don't have any modesty left, we characterize sex and sexuality as being just a crass thing without talking about intimacy or love, or the very nature of what intimacy is intended to be. So when we lose modesty, we lose a lot of the other things that go with it."
However, Depaco doesn't agree, and feels strongly that this notion that the body should be covered up needs to be changed. "Being offended by the sight of the natural human body is an abnormal and irrational reaction. When society bends over backwards to accommodate those who have this reaction, it merely normalizes, legitimizes, and perpetuates it."
UNDER THE LAW
"There is much to support the view that it is clothes that wear us, and not we, them; we may make them take the mould of arm or breast, but they mould our hearts, our brains, our tongues to their liking."
The laws around nudity have evolved over the years, although it is perhaps most important to note that the biggest factor in whether being nude is a criminal act is context. Section 174 of the Criminal Code, the section that pertains to nudity, states:
"(1) Every one who, without lawful excuse, (a) is nude in a public place, or (b) is nude and exposed to public view while on private property, whether or not the property is his own, is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.
(2) For the purposes of this section, a person is nude who is so clad as to offend against public decency or order.
(3) No proceeding shall be commenced under this section without the consent of Attorney General.
Essentially, according to Constable Lindsey Houghton of the Vancouver Police Department, "A person will be convicted only if (1) the AG consents, (2) the person is offending public decency, and (3) the person is in public view."
While it does not clearly define what things may or may not constitute indecent acts, it does explicitly define one context: "Every person who … for a sexual purpose, exposes his or her genital organs to a person who is under the age of 14 years is guilty of an offense." According to Houghton, if someone is being charged under this section of Code, it does not require the approval of the Attorney General.
FOR EQUALITY
"We seem okay with violence, but nudity we race to criticize and censor."
"There's a significant difference between topfreedom and nudity," says Dr. Paul Rapoport, co-ordinator of "Topfree Equal Rights Association"(TERA). "In the media, oftentimes if a woman is topfree somewhere, a headline often says that 'so and so was nude'. It bothers me a great deal. In the Criminal Code, nudity is mentioned, but women's breasts are not. If we look at this as an equality issue, which it really is, then if men without a top are not nude, then certainly women can't be called the same either."
TERA's statement of purpose says, "We do not suggest that women or men should go about with bare breasts. That is every individual's decision. We do believe that since men may choose to do so in many situations, women must also be able to at least in the same situations."
In B.C., the most prominent case around a woman's right to be topfree was Linda Meyer of Maple Ridge in 2000. Meyer sought to ensure that women had the same rights as men, in being able to go topless in the city. She did this by showing up topless in the municipal swimming pool, and other areas to challenge any laws that may be interpreted to prohibit that.
In 2007, the Vancouver Police Department instructed its officers not to detain or question women for being topless anywhere in Vancouver. Meyer was also involved in this case, as she was accosted by police for walking topless in downtown Vancouver. Meyer sought a ruling from the Vancouver Police Board on the matter, which concluded with the instructions in a letter to Meyer that stated "public female toplessness does not meet the test for criminal indecency."
While he recognizes that many men will say that they can't help but ogle a women who is topless, Rapoport believes that this attitude is one that can change, and is based on the individual. "People said that before about women who wore shorts. It was certainly said in the 18th century when women would go outside their own home unaccompanied by a male relative. There is no reason why that has to be the case, it's certainly not automatic," says Rapoport. "It's a bit of a circular problem, in that the more women are seen without a top, the less likely it is that anyone will have a problem with it. It is an incremental advance that we're looking at here. There's no reason that that man has to do anything whatsoever other than behave in the accepted manner, and not disturb or provoke the woman in any way."
FOR FREEDOM
"To see you naked is to recall the Earth."
Because the naked human body is such a taboo in modern society, being naked makes most people feel unprotected or vulnerable, particularly in regard to being judged by others. While that vulnerability is usually seen as a negative thing, Tasha Diamant runs a workshop called the "Human Body Project" (www.humanbodyproject.com) in which she tries to capture this vulnerability, and make it into something positive, to allow people to see and connect with each other in a meaningful way.
"At its most essential, it's that we all do share this vessel [the human body]. We are vulnerable, our bodies are vulnerable, and the planet is vulnerable," says Diamant. "I believe that we haven't evolved in a way that we have to evolve if we're going to survive. The key to that is experiencing being able to be in vulnerability. When we do that, we can actually find power and connection there. We're in a culture of domination … [and] in a very deep way we need to understand vulnerability; it's the only way forward. That's why I do the project."
When she facilitates the workshop, Diamant uses her own naked body to set that example of what being vulnerable could look like. She puts herself in that vulnerable place first, and hopes that others will come with her.
Interestingly, Diamant doesn't consider herself a nudist, and says that being nude makes her extremely uncomfortable. "I'm 50 years old, and I'm getting older and saggier. Every time I do it, it's difficult. I try to show up as I am, in the moment. Living in this culture, women are judged brutally on their bodies. That hasn't stopped and it will not stop," says Diamant. "It took me two years to get the guts up to be naked. I didn't want to be naked, but I knew that was the only way to be as vulnerable as possible without hurting myself."
The workshop itself is unscripted, and thus allows whatever is meant to happen with the people present to happen in a natural way. "I felt that [it was important] to show up naked and without a script, an agenda … I have an intention of showing up vulnerable hoping that people will accept me as that and to see what happens with their own vulnerability and their own way of connecting," says Diamant. "Beyond that intention, to show up without an agenda is also very vulnerable. What I had found was that, especially in a place like Victoria, a lot of people are not that uncomfortable with nudity, but the idea of not having an agenda makes people uncomfortable, like "what the fuck's gonna happen?"
Diamant's children were her inspiration for this project. "I had kids late in life. It woke me up in a way that nothing had before," she explains. "My heart just exploded with love for my first daughter, and now I have two. I was way more connected with the world in a way that I hadn't been before that."
Diamant's own childhood had an enormous effect on the decision to partake in this project as well. "In my adult life, I realized that when I was growing up I literally didn't know that I had a vagina, and I don't think I was told that I had a heart. This is really indicative of the culture that we live in. To not even know those things about yourself is … this invisible part of ourselves … I've chosen to try to make the invisible visible."
Though Diamant admits to being quite shocked by humanity and often feeling hopeless, this is her way of giving something back to make change. "I feel, in a very deep way, that we're in a crucial time in history, and if we don't change, we are not going to survive. I also realize that I didn't care that much until I had kids … The culture to me is wrong."
"Because God created it, the human body can remain nude and uncovered and preserve its splendour and its beauty."
Perhaps expectedly, Vancouver has connections to notable nude movements. Canada's oldest nudist organization, The Van Tan Club, was started in Vancouver in 1939, and its founder, Ray Connett, is acknowledged as "The Father of Canadian Nudism." The World Naked Bike Ride also began in Vancouver, and now occurs in 74 cities around the world. Wreck Beach is one of the oldest and most famous nude beaches in North America, and the patrons have fought many battles to preserve its legacy as a nude beach. Topless women are no longer considered "indecent" and are allowed to go topless in public without fear of arrest. Furthermore, there is a plethora of nude events around the city, from nude barn dances, nude tennis, nude bowling, nude dinners, and even a campsite in Mission specifically for nude camping. Clearly, the naked human body is a phenomenon that unites us all.
//Gurpreet Kambo, news editor
//Graphics by JJ Brewis and Shannon Elliot
//Cover by JJ Brewis
Posted by Tasha Diamant at 10:38 AM
Labels: Cultural Criticism, Gender Issues, Human Body Project, Reviews News
Tweets by @HumanBodyProj
Addiction (3) Amy Salloway (1) Announcements (83) Anthropocene (21) AnthropoScene Collective (1) Art (25) Awards (4) Awkward (4) BC government (3) BC teachers (1) Body Image (5) Cancer (11) Capitalism (15) Christie Blatchford (1) Climate Action (1) climate change (3) Colonialism (5) Creativity (2) Cultural Criticism (114) Daniel Smith (2) David Whyte (1) Derrick Jensen (1) Donald Brennan (1) Dress Code (1) Education (12) Edward Burtynsky (1) Elizabeth Kolbert (2) Elizabeth Renzetti (1) environment (1) Esquimalt High School lockdown (1) Events (127) Extinction Symbol (26) Feminism (1) Forest fires (2) forests (2) Fringe Shows (37) Gandhi (1) Gender Issues (24) Geoff Agombar (2) handcuffed (1) Healing/Health (50) Homelessness (1) Human Body Project (25) Ian Brown (1) Indigenous Wisdom (14) Jackson Katz (1) Keith Jenkins (2) Learning to Live (25) Lethbridge College (1) M.Ed. (18) Masculinity (4) Mass Extinction (5) Master's work (1) Media Releases (53) Menstruation (2) metoo (1) Michael Jackson (1) Michael Kimmel (1) Montreal Fringe (3) Montreal Massacre (1) Motherhood (42) Naked Bike Ride (1) Naked Ugly Dancing (1) Neurology (2) New Yorker (1) Nurse Jackie (1) Pain (30) Participant Writing (21) Patreon (1) Philip Seymour Hoffman (2) Poem (1) police intimidation (1) Porn (4) Practice (3) Primatology (1) Prison (1) Privilege (9) Process (5) Public/Private (9) Rejection (3) Reviews News (56) Right Livelihood (3) Robin Williams (1) Russell Brand (2) Sacred (15) Scent sensitivity (1) Scott Stossell (1) self-immolation (1) Shows (55) SOGI 123 (1) Soraya Chemaly (1) Steve Fonyo (3) Support (6) Terry Fox (3) Thelma Fayle (1) Tina Fey (1) Union Theological Seminary (1) Upcycled shirts (1) Viktor Frankl (1) Vulnerability (13) Vulnerability Vigils (81) Wade Davis (1) Workshops (6) Yoga/Yogic (2) YouTube censorship (2) Zoe Dodd (1)
Archives December 2019 (1) September 2019 (2) August 2019 (1) July 2019 (1) April 2019 (1) October 2018 (1) September 2018 (1) August 2018 (1) July 2018 (1) June 2018 (1) May 2018 (2) February 2018 (2) January 2018 (1) December 2017 (1) November 2017 (1) October 2017 (2) August 2017 (2) June 2017 (1) January 2017 (2) December 2016 (3) November 2016 (1) September 2016 (1) August 2016 (1) July 2016 (1) June 2016 (1) May 2016 (1) April 2016 (1) March 2016 (1) December 2015 (1) October 2015 (2) August 2015 (1) July 2015 (1) May 2015 (2) April 2015 (1) March 2015 (1) February 2015 (1) January 2015 (2) November 2014 (4) October 2014 (2) September 2014 (1) August 2014 (7) July 2014 (3) June 2014 (4) May 2014 (3) April 2014 (3) March 2014 (1) February 2014 (1) December 2013 (1) November 2013 (1) October 2013 (1) September 2013 (2) August 2013 (1) July 2013 (3) June 2013 (2) May 2013 (4) April 2013 (1) March 2013 (1) February 2013 (2) January 2013 (2) December 2012 (3) November 2012 (4) October 2012 (3) September 2012 (1) August 2012 (6) July 2012 (6) June 2012 (1) May 2012 (2) April 2012 (4) March 2012 (2) February 2012 (1) December 2011 (2) September 2011 (2) August 2011 (2) May 2011 (2) April 2011 (1) February 2011 (2) September 2010 (5) August 2010 (3) July 2010 (5) February 2010 (1) January 2010 (24) September 2009 (1) August 2009 (2) July 2009 (5) April 2009 (1) February 2009 (1) January 2009 (2) December 2008 (1) September 2008 (1) August 2008 (3) June 2008 (1) May 2008 (6) April 2008 (7) March 2007 (1) February 2007 (1) January 2007 (5) December 2006 (4) November 2006 (2) October 2006 (2) September 2006 (3) August 2006 (1) July 2006 (3) June 2006 (1) May 2006 (4) April 2006 (3) March 2006 (4) February 2006 (2)


text:
Grant Cornett
Lemon Chiffon Pie is Nostalgic and Delicious
Recreating a 1950s diner recipe has its challenges and rewards
By Rebecca Barry
First, let me be clear: A lemon chiffon pie is not the same as a lemon meringue pie. You've probably had the latter—a baked custard capped with a stiff topping made of egg whites and sugar that's toasted on top. Lemon chiffon is more like a mousse: There are still whipped egg whites, but you fold them into a sweet, tart curd, making for an airier, creamier pie. Then the whole thing is topped with whipped cream. "I think it's much better than lemon meringue," my mother said recently. We were in her kitchen, with my grandmother's recipe laid out in front of us on the table.
Lemon chiffon was my grandmother Mary Imm's specialty at the restaurant she and my grandfather Albert owned and ran in the 1950s. It was a diner near the New Holland tractor factory outside Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They catered to the machine workers who came in droves at noon for their biggest meal of the day. My grandfather, who had emigrated from Germany just before World War II, was an expert at lunch specials—roast beef and roast ham with mashed potatoes and real gravy—but my grandmother's pie was perhaps the restaurant's greatest draw. No one knows where she got the recipe: My grandmother was the third of 11 children in a working-class family. Money was very tight and lemons would have been too expensive, the chiffon too fussy. Once she started making it at the restaurant, though, it was a hit. "I loved this pie," my mother went on. "Everyone did."
Chiffon pie involves a sweet-tart lemon mousse topped with whipped cream. Get the recipe for Lemon Chiffon Pie »Grant Cornett
This past summer, I decided I wanted to start cooking some of my grandparents' recipes with my mother, who has half of them stashed in a tin above the refrigerator. There's something about that simple 1950s American food that appeals to me in this age of complicated restaurant cooking, however exciting. But also, my mother is in her 80s and on dialysis, and I didn't want to lose the heritage that she holds unconsciously in her hands when she's mixing the coleslaw dressing or making the beer-and-celery chicken broth that my grandmother used to make. We started with this pie. It had been Mom's favorite—plus, she knew exactly where in the tin the recipe was.
Get the recipe for Lemon Chiffon Pie »
We assembled the ingredients: the juice of three lemons, one packet of gelatin, sugar, eggs, flour, butter, salt, and some ice water, for the crust. Making a lemon chiffon pie is not difficult, necessarily; it's just a blind-baked crust and a chilled filling. But both present opportunities to make mistakes. After we'd sufficiently burnt one crust, I started making another, crumbling the butter into the flour with my hands, like Mom said my grandmother would do, and gathering it all into a ball. My mother reached out to test it, and I noticed with a pang a bruise from her dialysis. She had spent most of her professional career as a psychiatric nurse and has always been a caretaker by nature—driving people who didn't have cars to and from prison to see their loved ones, visiting friends who were sick, taking people in when they had nowhere else to go. I have always seen this in her hands. They are old and capable and bent from arthritis, and I love them.
By the time I was born, my grandparents' restaurant was long gone, but I grew up under the influence of their food. My mother was an excellent and intuitive cook, which she likely picked up from her parents. She learned to make their slaws, roasts, and potatoes au gratin. And even in the '70s, when the health food craze took over, the grainy salads and quiches she made from the same cookbooks all her friends were using still tasted better under her care. But when my grandparents came to visit, the atmosphere in our kitchen completely changed. It was like everything went back in time. The house would smell of pepper, celery, and garlic. And the kitchen would be full of the sounds of my grandfather chopping, and my grandmother peeling and talking with my mother about people she knew and the trouble they'd gotten themselves into. I loved the smells, the food, and more than anything, the gossip.
We started on the custard, juicing the lemons, then tossing the fragrant zested peels into some sugar. We smelled smoke. We'd burnt the crust slightly—for the second time that day. "It was such a beautiful crust too," Mom said. I said it was okay. I like a burnt pie crust.
"It should be like a mousse the whole way through," my mom said as we finished the custard. "No separation." We gently folded in the egg whites, which we'd already whipped into stiff peaks. We talked a little about my Aunt Weezie's back pain, the strangeness of climate change, how much I love a cleared-out room to write in, how much Mom loved working with schizophrenic patients when she was a nurse. We talked about children; both of mine are becoming teenagers, and it's so hard, sometimes, to feel them pull away from you and harden a little—especially when you remember what open, bright lights they were when they were small. "But you know, that comes back," Mom said. "You just have to keep looking at them as the person you know that they are."
I tipped the mousse into our burnt crust, smoothed it into the creases, and dolloped the whipped cream on top. Mom wrote down a copy of the recipe on an index card for me, using the same tidy cursive I've seen forever on Valentine's Day cards, letters, checks, and doctor's notes. At the top it read, "Mary Imm's Lemon Chiffon Pie." Oh, I thought, what will I do when you're gone?
My dad came in from working in the yard, smelling like dry leaves and wind. "We burnt the crust," my mother said.
"That's all right," said my father. "I like a burnt pie crust." We sat down to eat at the kitchen table in the house I grew up in. Despite the too-dark crust, the pie was delicious—light and fluffy, a tangy combination of sweet and sour.


text:
Tag Archives: breathing
What You Can Do for London's Lungs
Posted in London, Pills	by carolcooper
Take a nice deep breath. For thousands of people living in London, that's a luxury.
With its plethora of parks, our capital may be one of the greenest cities. But it's also one of the most polluted. For the last five years, London has been in breach of EU safety limits on NO2.
I've noticed it getting worse. For an instant lesson in air quality, head for the outer reaches of one of the Tube lines and see how fresh the air feels when you step outside.
Pollution isn't just an irritant to the throat, nose, or eyes. It's damaging to health, increasing the risk of lung cancer and chronic lung disease, and driving up hospital admission rates for those with pre-existing lung or heart disease.
Children's lungs are most vulnerable, yet around 330,000 London kids go to school in areas with illegal levels of pollution.
Pollution has also been linked with damage during pregnancy, including low birth weight and pre-term birth.
I'll cut a long story short: at least 9,500 deaths a year in London are linked with air pollution.
We may not have the pea-soupers of the 1950s that smothered London in soot and sulphur dioxide for days at a time. But we have a haze of small particles, especially PM2.5s, along with the toxic gas nitrogen dioxide NO2 (not to be confused with laughing gas because this one isn't funny).
PM2.5s are fine particles, less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter. They come from things like motor vehicles, power plants, and wood-burning, and they're harmful because they're small enough to reach the deepest recesses of the lungs.
Nitrous oxide comes largely from diesel cars, lorries, and buses. It follows that pollution is worse near busy roads, which is often where less advantaged families live. But even short-term exposure to air pollution can damage.
Why am I banging on about it now?
Because on May 5, London elects a new Mayor. As a parent, a doctor, and a Londoner, I whole-heartedly support The British Lung Foundation's #Londonlungs campaign. It calls for the next Mayor and Assembly members to prioritise lung health.
So much could be done, from tree and hedge planting schemes to improving transport strategy and extending the ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) eastwards – where there's a lot of deprivation and air pollution.
You too can help by getting on board and asking all the mayoral candidates whether they pledge to protect Londoner's lungs. You could also share the campaign on social media with the hashtag #Londonlungs.
What else can you do?
There are obvious individual steps to help protect the lungs and heart, like not smoking.
Driving less, for instance by sharing cars or using public transport, helps drive down vehicle emissions. If you're buying or leasing a car, choose a low-emission model.
Take the longer route on foot or cycle via a less polluted area if you can. You may be interested in the Clean Space app.
The British Lung Foundation has some great tips for when air pollution levels are very high. You can find them here.
#Londonlungs, air pollution, asthma, breathing, British Lung Foundation, car, Children, emission, Health, heart, London, lungs, mayor, smoking, Social media	6 Comments
How to Save a Life Using Just Your Hands
Posted in Family life, Pills	by carolcooper
At 8am on Tuesday morning, junior hospital doctors were due to take industrial action. Just for one day, they'd only treat emergencies.
That's now off, pending further talks. But does the average Joe know what an emergency is? I can't help speculating. My experience of working in A & E suggests otherwise. Yes, there are heart attacks, car crashes, and fractured femurs galore.
Alas, there's also no shortage of folks who pitch up for a second opinion on a runny nose, or who demand to know, at 4am, why they've had hiccups for two years.
Tragically, the reverse is also true: "I thought she was just sleeping."
If it's that hard for the man in the street to recognize an emergency for what it is, it's even more challenging to deal with it.
Forgive me for going all serious today, but research for St John Ambulance shows that almost four fifths of parents (79%) wouldn't know what to do if their baby was choking to death. That's despite it being a major fear for 58% of parents. In fact no less than 40% have witnessed choking.
So kudos to those who've learned what to do, like the two people who saved a tot's life in Hampstead a few weeks ago.
As you can imagine, the toddler's mother is incredibly grateful to the passers-by who leapt in and did CPR. They're unusual, because most people, as the research showed, wouldn't have a clue.
We hear a lot about defibrillators in public places. Of course they're a great idea. But while defibrillators help save adult lives, they're not that useful for a baby or child. That's because most little ones have breathing emergencies, not cardiac ones.
The good news is that their lives can be saved with nothing more than your hands, once you know how.
So I wonder why basic life support isn't taught more in schools. And why parents and carers don't often bother to learn how to save their own child's life.
About five years ago, I was involved in Tesco's BabySafe campaign. There were free sessions around the country designed to teach parents, carers, and others the basics of dealing with common but serious emergencies like choking and burns. People left with basic skills and the confidence to use them.
You can learn to save a baby or child's life from the British Red Cross or St John Ambulance.
These organizations have online information too, but it's so much better to do a hands-on course if you can.
Accident and Emergency, baby, basic life support, breathing, child, course, CPR, defibrillator, doctor, emergency, hands, industrial action, junior hospital doctor, parent, Red Cross, St John Ambulance	4 Comments


Purchased and renovated by Bridge House, this new community will house 48 individuals working in the Ready to Work program, providing housing and employment services to 38 men and 10 women.
Ready to Work is Bridge House's employment program that provides paid jobs, vocational training and support services to individuals re-entering the workforce and stable housing.
Ready to Work is recognized as a best practice nationally and locally.
Ready to Work operates two businesses - exterior maintenance and food service.
Residents will be screened, selected based on eligibility for Ready to Work and participating in program services prior to residency.
All residents of 4747 Table Mesa will be provided paid work for up to 29 hours per week, attend classes, pay room and board, and participate in maintaining the building.
The Boulder Bridge House, Ready to Work House and Employment Center will be opening their Aurora branch in the near future. Maps and addresses for both Ready to Work Aurora & Boulder can be found above. Also included are a Ready to Work Aurora Map, Ready to Work Aurora Address, Ready to Work Aurora Phone Number, Ready to Work Aurora Logo, and Ready to Work Aurora Photos.
Isabel McDevitt is the CEO of Bridge House in Boulder, Colorado and developer of Ready to Work House & Employment Center, serving the homeless, working poor, and those homeless or at risk of becoming homeless Ready to Work is a trademark of the Bridge House in Boulder 2015. All rights reserved.


In this lesson, the students learn about making excuses and how to use them in a conversation.
To provide clarification and practice of language used for making excuses in the context of talent people.
To provide product writing practice of a making excuses in the context of talent people.
To provide fluency speaking practice in a making excuses in the context of talent people.
To provide specific information listening practice using a text about making excuses in the context of talent people.
Give the students some papers written with a conversation between two friends A and B. One of them asks about doing anything interesting, but the other makes an excuse for not doing this exercise with him. Let them make this conversation together, then, ask them what they notice. They will notice that this conversation about suggestions and making excuses.
Ask the students to focus on the pictures in EX.1 and explain that these pics show the top six excuses that people give for not doing any exercises. Ask the students to match this list of excuses to the pictures. Let then work in pairs, then play the record to check their answers.
Now, ask the students to focus on EX.2. Let them read the conversation between Dan and Lisa carefully, then ask them to underline the excuses that Lisa uses, suggestions and advice. Let them work in pairs and give them feedback.
Elicit from the students sentences of suggestions, advice and excuses. Point out that ''what about ...?'' is used for suggestion, ''you should ...... '' is used for advice as Dan used in the conversation. Write two sentence on the board: '' I can't swim." '' I can't go swimming, I have a cold'', then, ask them what the difference between them. Use the CCQs which are mentioned in the language analysis.
Ask the students to listen and repeat the useful phrases in EX.3. According to EX.2, ask the students to practice the conversation in pairs. Monitor them to look for mistakes.
Finally, ask them to write a conversation, in pairs, like EX.2, but ask them to use their favorite excuses for not doing exercises. Let them practice the conversation together.


I'm walking down the street with my boyfriend. We're about to pick up dinner at one of our favorite Thai places in Seattle. This is the time we usually talk to each other about books we're currently reading, things we need to do, and personal projects. He's a web developer and oftentimes some of my best design inspiration comes from outside the field of learning. I ask him what he's working on. His response is "Oh, our designer is currently working on moodboards for our next project." That's when I learned about moodboards. So, what is a moodboard?
Moodboards are used to collect design ideas prior to mocking up a design. Each of the elements in the moodboard will come together to make up the whole mockup of your project. After you have created a moodboard you will begin the mockup of your project.
What Might Encompass Your Moodboard For A Digital Learning Project?
What Are The Benefits Of Using Moodboards?
They are a great way to convey the design and collaborate with others on the design of the project.
If you're stuck in a design block, creating a moodboard can help you to get started.
They help you accelerate the mockup process because you will already know what elements you want to use; all you have to do is put them together!
You will create designs that are timely and unique. Since you won't be stuck on using one design, you're not relying on the same old template you always use. You look for inspiration from multiple projects that will fit your project.
Ιt's not "work." Moodboards have become one of my favorites parts of projects. You can get really creative. I have found that they have re-energized my project's design and engagement.
What Does A Moodboard Look Like?
I often work on personal projects to help develop my technical skills. I created a moodboard for a quiz template I made in my spare time. Since my project was going to be rather simple, my moodboard isn't overflowing with content. I added some fonts to my moodboard that I chose from Google Fonts. I really liked the look of mono type on a project I had seen and found a header font that looked similar. I found inspiration on CodePen for an animated gradient background. There is a really nifty site for a block party that happened in Seattle. I wanted to emulate the design, so I chose to use a light pattern in my background and the animated gradient also comes from that design. I got the pattern from Subtle Patterns. I really liked the quiz section of one of the showcase examples for Adapt Learning. I chose to make my whole project a quiz because of the quiz part of the example.
My mockup after I gathered inspiration via a moodboard.
You can see the full moodboard I made for the project over on Go Moodboard and a demo of the quiz template here.
How Do I Get Started Moodboarding?
You can also go with someone like Pinterest for creating moodboards or come up with your own solution.
Where Can I Find Resources On UI Design?
Here are a few resources to help you find great UI designs.
Collect UI is a collection of UI snippets like cards, sign-up forms, and even onboarding. New designs are added daily.
Dribbble is a community for designers to share their work. Not only are there UI examples but tons of other multimedia example like animation, logos, and 3D designs.
ZURB describes PatternTap as a "gallery of specific design and interaction patterns meant to inspire your design work".
LinkedIn Learning has a course on moodboards. I have yet to take this course but I have it bookmarked for later this year.


text:
X-SciTech
Messenger from Earth reaches Mercury orbit
By Jonathan E. Skillings
March 17, 2011 / 10:38 AM / CBS NEWS
NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
The first orbital image to come from Messenger, as it passes over Mercury's south pole, will be of the area outlined here in yellow. It will include a portion of the planet surface that hasn't yet been documented by a spacecraft. NASA says that first planned image will be captured on March 29, with Messenger set to acquire a total of 364 images in the first six hours. During its "commissioning" phase--a checkout of the spacecraft and its instruments in the initial days in orbit--Messenger will acquire a total of 1,549 images.
The primary science phase begins April 4 and will last about one year; during that time, Messenger is expected to gather more than 75,000 images.
Messenger approaches Mercury
NASA artist's rendering
After three flybys of Mercury over the last three years, the Messenger spacecraft is poised to settle into the first-ever orbit by a manmade object of the planet closest to the Sun. The goal of the mission is to provide scientists with data on Mercury unparalleled since the Mariner 10 spacecraft passed by three decades ago. And the more we understand about Mercury, NASA says, the more we'll understand about how the other rocky planets in the solar system--Venus, Mars, and of course, Earth--formed and evolved.
The insertion into orbit starts at about 9 p.m. ET on March 17. From that point on, Messenger will fly a 12-hour orbit at a minimum altitude of about 124 miles. The spacecraft's science instruments will be turned on and checked out starting on March 24.
Caloris basin
NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Arizona State University/Carnegie Institution of Washington
Mercury isn't really blue and gold. "In general," says NASA, "in light visible to the human eye, Mercury's surface shows only very subtle color variations." The space agency explains how it gets from subtle to bold: when images from all 11 narrow-band color filters of the Wide Angle Camera in the Mercury Dual Imaging System "are statistically compared and contrasted, these subtle color variations can be greatly enhanced, resulting in extremely colorful representations of Mercury's surface."
In this mosaic of what NASA calls the "eastern limb" of Mercury, from the January 2008 flyby (the first of the three by Messenger), the large gold-hued circular area is the Caloris basin, notable for its volcanic plains. The basin is about 960 miles in diameter, and Messenger was passing by at a distance of about 8,000 miles.
October 2008 flyby
This enhanced-color mosaic comes from the second flyby of Mercury, which took place in October 2008, as Messenger was flying away from the planet--hence the widening in the series of images. The narrowest images, at left, were taken about nine minutes after the spacecraft's nearest approach, while the widest were take at the 15-minute mark, when Messenger was twice the distance away. The small blue crater at upper right (a "young, rayed crater"--the rays fade over time with exposure to the harsh space environment) has since been named Dominici. Click here for a larger view of the mosaic.
The name "Messenger," by the way, stands for a much longer phrase: MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging.
Orbiting Mercury
This graphic shows two views of Messenger's orbit, one from the perspective of Earth, the other from the perspective of the sun. At least once every Mercury year (about 88 Earth days), the spacecraft will have to execute "propulsive maneuvers" to keep its minimum altitude below 310 miles. After entering orbit this week, Messenger will have just 9.5 percent of the usable propellant it carried when it left Earth in August 2004, but that will be plenty for the orbital corrections it will need to make, NASA says.
The diameter of Mercury is 3,030 miles.
Science instruments
These are the science instruments that Messenger is carrying. Because of the mass of propellant that the spacecraft needed to carry, the payload mass was limited to 110 pounds. In addition, the instruments had to be mounted so that they could see Mercury but not be exposed to the sun, and they need to be maintained within an acceptable temperature range in what NASA calls a "harsh thermal environment." (Messenger does have a sun shade.)
Basho and Tolstoj
This mosaic of images, captured by the Narrow Angle Camera of the Mercury Dual Imaging System in January 2008, shows a pair of impact craters, Basho and Tolstoj. As with Dominici on an earlier slide here, the rays around Basho suggest that the crater is relatively young. Of the "broad annulus" of dark material in the Tolstoj crater region, NASA asks, "could it be that this dark material is similar to Basho's and was also excavated from below Mercury's surface when the Tolstoj-forming impact occurred? Messenger's orbital mission will provide a variety of data needed to investigate this question and many others aimed at understanding the composition of Mercury's crust and its variation both laterally and with depth."
Click here for a larger view of the Basho-Tolstoj image.
Rachmaninoff crater
The recently named Rachmaninoff crater, which has a diameter of 180 miles, is "an intriguing double-ring basin" that has piqued NASA's interest "because of its fresh appearance, its distinctively colored interior plains, and the extensional troughs on its floor." This mosaic image was acquired by the third flyby, in September 2009. Click here for a closer look at Rachmaninoff.
Naming craters
This portion of a global mosaic of Mercury's surface shows 10 craters that received their names in March 2010, when the International Astronomical Union conferred its blessing. Craters on Mercury can't be named for just anyone; rather, they must honor "deceased artists, musicians, painters, and authors who have made outstanding or fundamental contributions to their field and have been recognized as art historically significant figures for more than 50 years." Click here for a closer view of all those craters.
Geddes crater
The crater Geddes, named for Irish stained glass and graphic artist Wilhelmina Geddes, has a "complex geological history that appears to have involved both tectonic deformation and volcanism," NASA says. The image at bottom right is from the Mariner 10 mission in 1974-75. The orange hue in the enhanced-color image at top right, captured by Messenger's Wide Angle Camera in October 2008, is suggestive of "explosive volcanism." The image at left was also captured in October 2008, but with the Narrow Angle Camera. Geddes has a diameter of 50 miles. Click here to get up close with Geddes.
Mercury a la Google Earth
If you want to study up on Mercury yourself, you can do so using Google Earth in a feature created by members of the Messenger team as well as experts at the U.S. Geological Survey, according to NASA.
Earth, far away
In May 2010, Messenger took a look back toward home--that brighter spot at lower left is Earth, and to its right, the smaller bright spot is the moon. The image was captured with the Wide Angle Camera when Messenger was about 114 million miles from Earth. Click here for a larger view.
Jonathan E. Skillings
Jonathan Skillings is managing editor of CNET News, based in the Boston bureau. He's been with CNET since 2000, after a decade in tech journalism at the IDG News Service, PC Week, and an AS/400 magazine. He's also been a soldier and a schoolteacher, and will always be a die-hard fan of jazz, the brassier the better. E-mail Jon.
First published on March 17, 2011 / 10:38 AM