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Ginger Says – We cannot fail – because the only critic capable of thwarting our zest for life, for the unchartered and intensely difficult times ahead, is ourselves
By Ginger | January 5, 2004
HAPPY NEW YEAR, ALL YOU FAITHFUL…
…and go fuck yourself, all you moaning bastards that have marred what was otherwise a perfectly rotten 2003!
Jeez, what a year!
It started well. Independently reaching the hallowed UK top 20 and appearing on Top Of The Pops with 'Stormy In The North, Karma In The South'. Personally financed by our management and myself, the single and self directed video shot way past all expectations. So much so in fact, that had we not been so broke from paying for everything ourselves, we could have made a killing at Ladbrokes if we'd been able to bet on its success.
After signing to GUT records the following two single fared less favourably and neither touched the sales of our own efforts. Still, that's progress.
The biggest surprise tho', came in the form of our 'feelgood' album 'The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed', the first full length release in some six years. And of all the feelings associated with the execution of said recording, 'good' never entered the running. With location cut from Los Angeles, to Vancouver and eventually to commence in Skegness, armed with zero budget, things were not primed to be the most joyous of experiences. And in our album making history that really is saying something.
With Danny entering alcohol-rehab on the morning of his scheduled bass parts, the mood began to darken. And then the lights that had once been the inspiration for the reformation began to collectively become extinguished. Danny had been having a hard time in the months prior to recording. He was becoming less interested in rehearsing, sometimes not turning up at all, and the shows were suffering as a result of lack of band morale. This lack of morale was not entirely down to Danny of course, but it was becoming increasingly clear that his interests were not in making The Wildhearts the best band it could possibly be.
Which was the whole point of getting back together in the first place.
From what we hear, the stint in alcohol rehab hasn't been entirely successful, but for the purpose of the recording sessions it was imperative to stick with the budget, this meant the schedule had to be adhered to – to the day. No one could possibly learn the bass parts in a morning, so I was roped in to play.
So, apart from the original producer backing out at the last minute, leaving me with the job of production (again, necessity and time), I'm now the Bass player!
The album began as an intended collective of songs from all members. I had a bunch of new songs I was dying to try out, and come demo-day I was eager to hear the fruits of the lads labour.
Of which there was one, the CJ penned "Out From The Inside".
Being producer, arranger and main singer / songwriter (I really had hoped to ideally sing about HALF of this album) meant that I was away from my family the whole time the album was being recorded, with no money coming in, and a family relying on my financial input and emotional involvement. And stress began to kick in.
Stress turned into frustration, and frustration turned into panic.
Not the best time to break the routine to tour the UK with Amen, I'm sure you will agree. A fantastic idea at any other time of the century, but not necessarily at this time. Still, contracts are contracts, and from the studio to the road we reluctantly went.
On looking for a suitable stand-in to replace the ailing Danny, the only guy that was even close to filling the shoes was Random Jon Poole.
It is important to know that at NO time was it planned to replace Danny with Jon, or anyone else for that matter. We just needed a bassist that was match fit and able to complete the tour.
Then something really disturbing happened. Some of the fans began turning against the band for the first time in our mixed up, replacement filled history. And for the first time I was forced to take back the statement I had always stood by.
Our fans are the greatest fans in the world.
Now I would have to get used to saying that most of our fans are the greatest fans in the world, I'd marry them in an instant, but some of them are the kind of fucking arseholes that I would personally like to kick repeatedly in the mouth.
The insults aimed at Jon, for no more heinous a crime than ensuring that the tour went ahead, that fans were not let down and the band were not sued, were nothing short of disgraceful.
Accusations of 'trying too hard on stage' (!) and 'not being Danny' (?) neither phased the guy, nor put him off his stride in completing the job that he'd accepted gracefully. Proving that his balls are a damn sight larger than those of the hidden little shits that would hurl insults at a guy trying his best in an amazingly difficult situation.
Tour over and directly back into the studio without time to unpack a bag, the toll was finally becoming evident, resulting in a stint in hospital for your truly. Stress related nervous breakdown, or just a need to escape the growing negativity? Whatever… I fell. Mentally and physically.
With the album in the bag, all that was left for me to do was mix the damn thing, then recover and wait for the responses to the painful process that was the new album.
And what a response.
Most, thankfully, accepted the new songs, appreciated that things have to move on, and that change in anything (and indeed everything) is inevitable, as well as essential. Most welcomed the new direction taken as something that would stand proudly alongside future Wildhearts albums as a refreshing oddity. More pop fused, with the euphoria that is fatherhood taking centre stage as the main inspiration for the songs. The album is a breezy, well crafted slice of Pop Rock. As daring, and radical a step in an age of Hardcore anger-fuelled Metal, proliferating the genre, as would be possible to make, without turning Reggae. Then came the accusations of 'sell-out'!
I mean, isn't selling out what people accuse you of when you willingly join in with the popular style of the times? When you copy the sound of the collective in order to facilitate easy commercial gain? Therefore, isn't making a blatant Pop Rock album, in an age of screaming-agitated-testosterone-led frontmen screaming about the injustices of their childhood, the exact opposite of selling out?
People actually wanted us to split up, on the strength of one album!!
Maybe I'm just getting old, but I never wanted any of my favourite bands to quit, y'know? And I can't say I loved every Stones, Ramones, Motorhead, David Bowie, Frank Zappa, Iggy, Kiss or Cheap Trick album ever recorded, but where would they be if their fans dropped them on the first album that didn't rate as their favourite release?
Some of this minority, that would claim that the band had indeed 'been destroyed' by the latest offering, were actually people that I had personally talked out of committing suicide in the past. Talk about loyalty, or even standing by a pal when he's down.
You faithless shits.
You know who you are, and you also know who you will not have in your team should the darkside once again invade and envelop your confused world.
I hope that we have lost this contingent of 'fan' for good. I honestly do.
2003? From death threats aimed at me by virtue of my stance on the Iraq War, to those that demanded I disband The Wildhearts because you didn't like one fucking album, to accusations of 'betraying' Danny because we wanted him to take the music as seriously as we do (even though we left the bass player spot open, at the cost of making a video for 'Top Of The World' without a bassist, in order to allow him to come back to the fold, should he have decided to dedicate himself to the group in the manner needed to ensure at least a decent attempt at a break, in this most fucked up of businesses), to you, the very few, I single fingeredly salute you.
You have tried to break us and you have failed.
In fact you have succeeded in making us stronger, crowning Jon Poole as a hero, and Danny as a martyr (shame on you, you fucking fools, shouldn't you have been helping instead?), pushing us to look to the US for new ground to show off our wares, resulting in gaining US management, a US tour and imminent US record company involvement.
Those with least to say say it the loudest. We heard you, and we wore the courage of our own conviction as armour. Nothing prepares you for an attack from your own, and nothing like it makes you more resolved and determined to prove your worth. You succeeded in making us proud of ourselves and not to merely rely on appreciation.
We will carry on, with a new album of more than 30 songs, recorded later this year.
We will do this for ourselves, and for the people that understand that movement comes from fucking well moving! Changing. Trying. Testing new ground. Attempting things that seem terrifying in the mind. Having the guts to fail and the courage to applaud someone else's brave efforts, whatever the outcome.
2004 belongs to those that would not judge, lest they themselves be judged.
It belongs to the victor, the one that would stand alone and speak, in a sea of silence. Inspire movement in an age of apathy.
We cannot fail – because the only critic capable of thwarting our zest for life, for the unchartered and intensely difficult times ahead, is ourselves.
And we take NO shit!
God bless those of you that have stayed with us…
…and a parting fuck you to those that have jumped ship.
this year and the next bunch to follow
Tags: gingerblog, gingersays
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Contributor Nature Biomed Eng
Hyperphysiological compression of articular cartilage induces an osteoarthritic phenotype in a cartilage-on-a-chip model
Andrea Mainardi
Read the paper
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a devastating joint disease, and the most common musculoskeletal pathology having an estimated prevalence of almost 10% of men and 20% of women over the age of 60 worldwide. Despite OA's diffusion, however, we are still far from an effective pharmacological treatment and even the disease's causes remain quite elusive.
This lack correlates with the paucity of adequate OA in vitro models. If you think about it, in fact, most in vitro representations are still based on administration of chemical compounds to monolayers of chondrocytes (i.e. the cartilage cells) cultured in static conditions. This is quite far from capturing the native environment of the knee, which is three-dimensional and characterized by a specific milieu. Mechanical stimulation patterns, in particular, need to be taken into account in in vitro models, considering both that cartilage dynamic loading is inherent to human motion and, that mechanical risk factors such as joint misalignment, obesity or trauma are strongly associated with OA pathogenesis.
In this NATURE BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING paper, we present our efforts in this direction. We focused on the development of a cartilage-on-chip model in which we could induce, solely through an hyperphysiological mechanical compression, a three-dimensional miniaturized cell construct to express OA-like traits.
The whole idea stemmed from a collaboration between Marco Rasponi, leader of the Microfluidics and Biomimetic Microsystems group in Milano, and Andrea Barbero, leader of the Cartilage Engineering Unit in Basel (part of the Tissue Engineering Group led by Prof. Ivan Martin).
At the beginning of 2016 Researchers in the Tissue Engineering Group had been working on cartilage for years, getting to a clinical trial for the treatment of non-degenerated cartilage lesions and had recently begun to tackle OA.
On the other end, around the same time, Rasponi's group, had recently developed a heart-on-chip model providing uniaxial stretching to cardiac microconstructs, thus posing the basis for mechanically active – namely "beating" - organs-on-chip. Targeting cartilage modelling through such kind of a device was maybe not the immediate logical step but the concept was there, in the air.
When we first started going a little bit deeper into the mechanics of the knee cartilage, and of OA-affected cartilage in particular, however, we were flabbergasted. There was just so much going on. Compression, surface sliding, rotation, torsion, and fluid exudation all together; all of this in a geometry, that of the diarthrodial joints, which is far from regular. It was just impossible to put all those factors in a model and still be able to control its outputs. Once we realized that, we suddenly understood that a change of strategy was required. What we did searching for an alternative approach, was dissecting the too complex mechanical behavior, looking for the simplest parameter sufficient to describe the model. Compression appeared like the most rational choice according to clinical studies.
Picture of a microdevice and schematization of the different layers.
The conceptual design, inspired from previous work of the group, is actually pretty simple: a three-dimensional cell laden hydrogel is confined by two rows of overhanging posts in a miniaturized rectangular channel. This lays on a membrane covering a pneumatic chamber. As the pressure in the chamber increases, the membrane bends upward and compresses the hydrogel while the hanging posts limit the lateral expansion. In its simplicity, we were convinced that this model could actually capture at least a bit of the mechanical alterations happening in OA joints.
Dimensions, distances and overall design had however to be guided by mathematics: the idea was to stress the finer control achievable with microfluidic devices over the experimental environment. The downstream effect we were looking for was exquisitely biological but the means to get it were derived from engineering: during the firsts months of development nothing was discussed but inertia moduli, energy functions, continuum mechanics and diffusion equations. These considerations together with the help of Emiliano Votta, the computational expert of the group, led to the first numerical simulations: the strain field achieved into the device had to be known to be able to correlate potential biological findings with a given mechanical stimulus; distances had to assure adequate solute concentration profiles.
Overview a. Matrix deposition in the device after 2 weeks of static culture. b. Increase of degradative enzyme expression, MMP13 following hyperphysiological compression. c.d. Gene expression following PC and HPC. HPC induces an increase in the expression of hypertrophy markers (COL10A1 and IHH) and a decrease in hypertrophy brakes (FRZB, DKK-1 AND GREM1). e. f. effect of drug administration following OA induction through HPC
Positing that a mechanically non physiological stimulus could be the cause of the altered cellular behavior seen in OA (i.e., increased matrix turnover, production of cartilage-degrading molecules and enhanced expression of inflammatory factors) we aimed at a stimulus sufficient to trigger such reactions without constituting a major hinder to cellular viability. This led to the choice of a 30% compression level, which we named hyperphysiological (HPC) to indicate a level beyond the physiological one, which is around 10% (PC), but still within values observed in vivo as suggested from literature research.
Once the design was ready and the device available, it was time to go back to biology and tackle the original questions: can we obtain a tissue sufficiently resembling articular cartilage within the device? How reproducible is the process, and how efficiently can we obtain a microtissue with adequate characteristics? But, most of all, how can we do that?
A polyethyleneglycol-based hydrogel susceptible of cleavage by metalloproteases (MMPs, enzymes produced by cells during extracellular matrix turnover) was available thanks to a collaboration with Martin Ehrbar at the University of Zurich. Such an artificial matrix seemed a good place to start.
The first trials were not easy. The main issue being the adaptation of analyses conceived for far larger cell numbers and higher solute concentrations to the volumes of microfluidics. It took months before we could master all the techniques. Looking at the first immuno-stainings, for instance, none of the markers we were interested in seemed positive. Later on, following some rough calculation, written during a medium change on the glass of a safety hood, we figured the classic staining protocols did not allow sufficient time for the antibodies to diffuse through the dense, cartilage-like matrix produced in our microfluidic device, which had a thickness of 300µm.
Once we mastered the analyses technique, however, it seemed like we were moving in the right direction. It was possible to achieve microconstructs rich in constituents typical of cartilage, namely type II collagen and aggrecan, for instance. Remarkably, furthermore, although differences were visible among donors, achievement of a sufficiently mature tissue seemed to be feasible with repeatability.
During these experiments Paola Occhetta, the postdoc that together with myself was responsible for most of the work, was reading about genes upregulated during cartilage development for a different project. We investigated some of those genes, ATX and GDF5, for instance, and saw an upregulation in our model. It definitely seemed like we had our cartilage-on-chip and it was time we tested our main hypothesis.
Could we induce an OA phenotype solely though confined compression?
The foremost issue encountered in answering this question was how to define an appropriate OA phenotype. We started by looking at classical markers of cartilage degeneration (MMPs and pro-inflammatory chemokines) and found that an enhanced expression of such molecules was induced by our hyperphysiological compression. Was that enough? We did not think so. As a matter of fact, cartilage hypertrophy is another of the salient tracts of OA. Two of the most commonly used markers of chondrocytes hypertrophy, namely collagen type X and Indian hedgehog were therefore investigated and found to also be upregulated by HPC. We were still not satisfied and kept searching for a marker more directly correlated with cartilage loading and clinical evidences. From previous work from other groups we learned that the decrease in three specific markers antagonizing chondrocytes hypertrophy, i.e. FrzB, DKK and Grem 1, correlates with clinical evidences of OA, especially when considering degraded, load bearing areas of joints. These were the markers we were looking for; we could demonstrate that through a mechanical over-compression in our system cells behaved like in clinical patients downregulating the hypertrophy brakes.
Once assessed that an OA feature could be induced in our model, we then moved a step further and decided to test compounds in our devices. This was a challenging task considering that up to now there is no single drug present on the market able to reverse OA, which is the whole point of our research. The behavior of the model could, however, be confronted with in vivo experiments and preliminary results of clinical trials currently ongoing in patients. The latter comparison, in particular was just achievable owing to a collaboration with Fidia Farmaceutici, currently working on anti OA solutions.
The results of the drug screening seemed indeed promising, the overall response of drugs in our model more in accordance with in vivo results than classical screening methodologies.
OA is a complex disease affecting not only cartilage but also the subchondral bone, ligaments and periarticular muscles, and a lot has still to be done to get to a fully comprehensive and representative OA model. Nonetheless, we strongly believe that the, work presented in this paper could represent a solid starting point towards the wide-spreading of more representative and selective in vitro tools capable of better representing the pathology and thus enabling for the screening of possible anti OA drug candidates.
PhD student, Politecnico di Milano / University of Basel
Contributor Nature Comms
How to make CRISPR arrays (and what we learned in the process)
CRISPR arrays have proven difficult to generate due to the repetitive nature of their repeats. We developed a new method for assembly CRISPR arrays called CRATES, and we gained unique insights into CRISPR RNA biogenesis along the way.
Chase Beisel
Challenges and Opportunities in Software-driven Medical Devices
The safety and security of medical devices driven by software, the software-development processes, and the need for data collection and privacy, all offer challenges and opportunities for device regulation and clinical care.
The declining impact of the US National Institutes of Health on cancer patenting
Contributor Nature Biotech
Raphael Zingg
The cell nucleus looked at through the lens of spatial RNA proximities
Jorg Morf

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


New Delhi, Aug 9 : More than 31 lakh pregnant women and lactating mothers have benefited under the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi told the Rajya Sabha in reply to a question on Thursday.
"More than 21 lakh beneficiaries were enrolled under PMMVY - Common Application Software (PMMVY-CAS) for receiving maternity benefits under the scheme during the financial year 2017-18," she said.
Under the scheme, pregnant woman and lactating mother apart from regular government employees are entitled to receive Rs 5,000 and the remaining cash incentive of Rs 1,000 for maternity benefit is given under the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) after institutional delivery.
The scheme aims at providing partial compensation for wage loss in terms of cash incentives so that the woman can take adequate rest before and after delivery of the first living child.


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Q: How to use a function to produce confusion matrices using the Caret package from nested subsets in a master-list I want to incorporate the function confusionMatrix() in the caret packageinto the function shuffle100 to produce confusion matrices from subsets (dataframes) of a master-list produced from classification tree models. My aim is to produce confusion matrix statistics such as classification accuracy, kappa metric etc (desired output below). I am sorry to ask such a simple question but I cannot figure this out. If anyone can help, then many thanks in advance.
Reproducible dummy data can be found at this address:
Reproducible data
Code to produce a nested list of classification tree model predictions and confusion matrices
        library(caret)
        library(e1071)
        library(rpart)

        set.seed(1235)

       shuffle100 <-lapply(seq(10), function(n){ #produce 10 different shuffled data-frames
       subset <- my_data[sample(nrow(my_data), 80),] #shuffle 80 rows in the data-frame
       subset_idx <- sample(1:nrow(subset), replace = FALSE)
       subset <- subset[subset_idx, ]
       subset_resampled_idx <- createDataPartition(subset_idx, times = 1, p = 0.7, list = FALSE) #partition data-frame into 70 % training and 30 % test subsets
       subset_resampled <- subset[subset_resampled_idx, ] #70 % training data
       ct_mod<-rpart(Family~., data=subset_resampled, method="class", control=rpart.control(cp=0.005)) #10 ct models
       ct_pred<-predict(ct_mod, newdata=subset[,2:13])
       confusionMatrix(ct_pred, norm$Family)#10 confusion matrices
       })

Error messages
        Error in sort.list(y) : 'x' must be atomic for 'sort.list'
        Have you called 'sort' on a list?
        Called from: sort.list(y)

Desired outcome
                    Confusion Matrix and Statistics

                    Reference
         Prediction G8 V4
                 G8 42 12
                 V4  8 18

                Accuracy : 0.75
                  95% CI : (0.6406, 0.8401)
     No Information Rate : 0.625
     P-Value [Acc > NIR] : 0.01244

                   Kappa : 0.4521
  Mcnemar's Test P-Value : 0.50233

             Sensitivity : 0.8400
             Specificity : 0.6000
          Pos Pred Value : 0.7778
          Neg Pred Value : 0.6923
              Prevalence : 0.6250
          Detection Rate : 0.5250
    Detection Prevalence : 0.6750
       Balanced Accuracy : 0.7200

        'Positive' Class : G8

A: Here is a function to produce confusion matrices from sub-lists (dataframes) in  a master-list produced from classification tree models using the function confusionMatrixin the caret package.
   #Generate three new column headings:
   #(1) `Predicted'
   #(2) `Actual'
   #(3) `Binary'

 my_list <- lapply(shuffle100, function(df){#Create two new columns     Predicted and Actual
         if (nrow(df) > 0)
         cbind(df, Predicted = c(""), Actual = c(""), Binary = c(""),  Actual2 = c(""))
         else
         cbind(df, Predicted = factor(), Actual = c(""), Binary = c (""), Actual2 = c(""))
         })

  # Produce three columns filled with NA's
  #`Predicted' = NA
  #`Actual' = NA
  #`Binary' = NA

 Final_lists<-lapply(my_list, function(x) mutate(x, Predicted = NA, Actual = NA, Binary = NA, Actual2 = NA))

  #FILL THE PREDICTED COLUMN

  #Fill the `Predicted'depending on the condition of which group in the dependent variable has the highest probability: either V4 > G8 or G8 > V4

  #Fill the Predicted column

   for(i in 1:length(Final_lists)){
    for(j in 1:nrow(Final_lists[[i]])){
    Final_lists[[i]] [j,3]=names(Final_lists[[i]])[(Final_lists[[i]] [j,2] > Final_lists[[i]] [j,1])+1]
    }
   }

 Final_lists

 #FILL THE ACTUAL COLUMN

 #Fill in the Actual column with the actual class predictions
 #Firstly create a vector for normalised_scores$Family
 #Insert normalised_scores$Family into the column called `Actual' for each sub-list in the nested sublist

  Actual <-lapply(Final_lists, `[`, 4) # Select the Actual column in all lists
  normalised_Actual<-normalised_scores$Family
  Actual<-normalised_Actual

  #There are two ways:

  #Way 1:

  # Use indices - and pass in Final_lists

   Actual_list <- lapply(seq_along(Final_lists),
                  function(i, x){
                    x[[i]]$Actual <- Actual
                    return (x[[i]])
                  }, Final_lists
                 )

  #FILL THE BINARY COLUMN

  # Use indices - and pass in Final_lists

  # iterate the ten elements of the outer list
  # iterate each row of EACH inner list
  # in each row, if Predicted==Actual, assign 1 to Binary, else 0

  #Method 1

   for( i in 1 : length(Actual_list)) {
    for( j in 1 : length(Actual_list[[i]]$Predicted)) {
    if(Actual_list[[i]][j,"Predicted"] == Actual_list[[i]][j,"Actual"]){
      Actual_list[[i]][j,"Binary"] <- 1
      } else {
      Actual_list[[i]][j,"Binary"] <- 0
    }
  }
}

 #Fill in Actual2 column

  for( i in 1 : length(Actual_list)){
    for( j in 1 : length(Actual_list[[i]]$Actual)){
     if(Actual_list[[i]][j,"Actual"] == "V4"){
       Actual_list[[i]][j,"Actual2"] <- 1
    } else {
      Actual_list[[i]][j,"Actual2"] <- 0
    }
   }
  }

Actual_list

#Generate confusion matrices

   confusionMatrices <- lapply(Actual_list, function(scores){
confusionMatrix(scores$Predicted, scores$Actual)
})

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


We saw at the apple event a lot of new products and Apple definitely delivered on a lot of promises that they have been making from the past year or so.
The Biggest of all the unveilings was the new iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus. 2 Different sizes of the iPhone for the first time, a 4.7 inch and a 5.5 inch Model. The Bigger model definitely targeting the more professional user or basically a tablet user. More Android Devices have been getting bigger and bigger and finally we love to see apple follow and with more thinner and lighter devices and having more battery life we will see more and more people upgrade and now the question is that they will go for the 6 or the 6 plus? 6 Plus is going to cost a hundred dollars more but with a bigger display and much more battery life compensates for the large cost. They are going to release the iPhone 6 and the 6 plus on September 19th.
Also there was the apple watch everyone was expecting it to be called iWatch but it is called Apple Watch instead and that was the only product that not much was leaked about and no leaked image got close to the watch but what we got from apple looked very good and elegant. In terms of functionality it is not much different from what we have seen before from other smart watch's but the interface is very clean and very polished. We also get tactile controls as well as a crown which can e used to scroll through menus and which can also be used as a home button also, which is great as using the tiny little touch screen where your fingers block everything you are trying to do. But the bad news is that it will not be releasing till sometime early next year, and it is going to be on the more expensive side starting at $349 and going way up as there is a 18 carat gold version that we presume will cost much more than the intro model. But they have got partnerships with Nike, Fitbit, and various other companies that we think will make it a really popular watch to own next year.
Another Announcement was the apple pay which as per them is a solution to getting rid of your credit cards near in the future, it will be included in both the iPhone 6 models and all the iPhones after them and the apple watch too as they all have a NFC chip built in so you will be able to pay your bills with a tap of your phone or your watch.
That is it for this time if you liked it please press the thumbs up button, and share this with your friends it may be able to help them.
And be sure to tell us in the comments that will you go for the iPhone 6 or the 6 Plus and will you get the apple watch with it and if so which model. Or will you stick with buying an older iPhone as now it will have a price drop.


text:
Stone Sentinels
Filed under: Megalithic Structures — 1 Comment
Technorati Tags: Megalithic structures,statues,maori,polynesia,Easter Island
Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, the easternmost of the Polynesian islands. It formed when lava flows from three erupting volcanoes came together to create new land. Triangular in shape and only 62 square miles in area, the island lies some 1,130 miles from Pitcairn Island, its nearest inhabited neighbor to the west; South America is 2,300 miles to the east.
Since its discovery by Europeans in 1722, and despite a century of archaeological investigation, some writers have speculated that Easter Island is part of the mythical sunken continent of Mu. One popular author accounted for the large sculptures by imagining them popping, fully formed, from the months of fiery volcanoes, flying through the air, and landing upon conveniently placed ceremonial platforms. These sculptures, called moai by the inhabitants, were everywhere one looked, everywhere one walked.
Easter Island: Giant Stone Statues Tell of a Rich and Tragic Past
The boldness of the scientific challenge these statues offer – with their audacity in being so accessible, so numerous, and yet so puzzling. Must have fallen from rectangular stone platforms called ahu, upon which ancient rituals were preformed by powerful priests and chiefs. Some statues lie on slopes, in ravines, or along ancient roads. Some are hidden, requiring long hikes and occasional descents into seaside caves to locate, but most are right in front of your eyes.
The questions people most often ask are: Where did the people who live on the island come from? Who carved the statues? How many are there and how were they moved? What in the world did they mean?
The vast Pacific Ocean stretches over some 70 million square miles. So isolated and inconspicuous are most of its islands that from late 1520 to early 1521 Ferdinand Magellan traversed some 9,000 miles from South America through the heart of Polynesia an saw only two islands – and they were uninhabited. For about 14 weeks his fleet of three ships sailed before the warm southeast trade winds, and the mighty ocean he called Mar Pacifico was tranquil.
Such an easy passage, however, was dangerously deceptive. The trade winds swept Magellan's ships past and out of sight of the Juan Fernandez Islands, Sala-y-Gomez, Easter Island, and Pitcairn, Ducie, and Henderson Islands. As weeks passed, the ships limited stores of food and water became depleted and spoiled. Under the tropical sun, the demoralized crew began to hallucinate and then to die. Finally, the survivors landed, exhausted and in death's shadow, on an island historians think was Guam.
Island at the End of the World: The Turbulent History of Easter Island
Magellan and other European navigators were relative latecomers. Centuries before, every habitable Pacific island and atoll had been discovered, settled, and in some cases even abandoned, as people we now call Polynesians spread eastward across the ocean.
Who were these great adventurers? For centuries the origins of the Polynesians were shrouded in mystery. Over the past 30 years, however, scholarship has revealed that a culture known as Lapita arose more than 3,000 years ago in Southeast Asia and is ancestral to Polynesian culture. From their ancient homeland, Lapita settlers and traders traveled to Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa. Many generations later, by the time great voyaging canoes left these islands to sail farther eastward into the Pacific, the people had become culturally Polynesian.
In the mid-1930s Rapa Nui people related their legends and genealogies to anthropologist Alfred Metraux. A modern version of their migration myth recounts how they came to Easter Island: "Our homeland Marae Renga lay a distant journey to the west. There Hotu Matua our king was one of the chiefs: Oroi was his rival. There was a war between their tribes." Then Hotu Matua's tattooer, Haumaka, had a prophetic dream about a volcanic island with fine beaches, and "Hotu Matua thought, 'There is a promise in this dream of haumaka's.' He therefore sent away six men to find that land."
The journey to Rapa Nui was long. According to linguists, the distinctive tongue of Easter Island may have existed by AD 300 or 400, pinpointing a possible settlement date. Research by John Flenley, of New Zealand's Massey University, confirms that the island the Polynesian voyagers found was fully if not lushly tree covered. Legends say that the voyagers brought "the fowl, the turtle, the banana plant; the [paper mulberry] whose bark gives tapa cloth; the crayfish, the gourd, the kumara [sweet potato] and the yam." Prehistoric Polynesians were adept farmers, fishermen, and builders.
Given its small size, Rapa Nui has some startling geographic features. Rano Raraku, a volcanic cone in the southeastern sector, rises 490 feet above a nearly flat plain. The crater, holding a freshwater lake, is formed of consolidated lapilli tuff, a material suitable for sculpture. Another cone, 1,063-foot Rano Kau, lies at the extreme southwest point of the island. The freshwater lake within its caldera is nearly a mile in diameter. Here, high above the sea on the rim of the crater, the Rapa Nui people located their sacred village of Orongo, building basalt slab houses and carving hundreds of petroglyphs. Puna Pau is a small cinder cone located east of the present village of Hanga Roa. Its brittle scoria was used by the Rapa Nui for figures and for the distinctive pukao, or topknots, worn on the heads of some statues. The stone's color, the dark red of dried blood, is held sacred throughout Polynesia.
Mysteries of Easter Island
Both folktales and scientific research confirm that the moai were carved by accomplished, respected craftsmen called maori on Easter Island. Polynesian stone carvers belonged to craft guilds, and their skills, tools, and rituals passed from father to son. Their services were sought by important chiefs who paid for their efforts in food, especially greatly valued lobsters, eels, and large fish such as tuna.
Experts in any Polynesian profession is known as a tufungo. Tufunga included artisans in crafts such as house building and canoe manufacturing. Extraordinarily skilled individuals were believed to possess manna, or supernatural power. The East Polynesian god Tane was frequently associated with these crafts, and priests who belonged to appropriate guilds officiated at ceremonies and rituals in his honor.
Hundreds of heavy basalt carving tools have been recovered from nearly every part of the Easter Island quarries at Rano Raraku. Quarrying methods used in Rano Raraku were similar to those used to cut coral or stone slabs elsewhere in the Pacific. Most often, a rectangular form was first roughed out and then undercut by work parties who stood in trenches around the form. Facial features may have been carved before other details, such as hands, were added. This would make sense; the heads were usually the most important attributes of Polynesian images.
Rapa Nui ahu (platform) architecture varies, but the statues show a high degree of standardization. This suggests that ahu were probably built by local groups of elated people who used a preset plan, but varied the material, size, and style. The statue carvers, in contrast, were well organized and successful in teaching and controlling the work. The degree of technical skill varies, which suggests that some statues may have been carved as part of the master-apprentice teaching process traditional in Polynesia. Although each work part was probably under the direction of a master carver, there does not appear to have been an overall authority.
The Enigmas of Easter Island
Throughout Polynesia, when a powerful chief wanted an object of great social and spiritual significance such as a sacred canoe – or, on Rapa Nui, a statue – an expert was engaged to produce it. After a formal agreement between the two, the members of the chief's lineage and others under his authority made the required payments of food. In this way, the sacred object became the property of the chief who commissioned it and of the lineage that supported the carvers with food. Often the object was also regarded as the property of the island's paramount chief. He had the responsibility of using all of his manna for the benefit of the whole island.
838 statues are located and described in the island-wide archaeological survey, which is nearly 80 percent complete. Ultimately, as many as 1,000 statues may be recorded. Of the 838 known statues, 396 are in the Rano Raraku quarry sector. Among these, 247 are in various stages of completion and range from 3-1/2 feet to nearly 71 feet in height; 149 of them had been extracted from the rock and stand on the interior and exterior slopes of the volcano.
The Rano Raraku quarries were first mapped in 1914, when British anthropologist Katherine Routledge spent more than a year on the island. Routledge explored the crater many times, pinpointing the statues and describing aspects of quarrying technology. She discovered that confronting the statues in their own environment was a humbling experience: "not till after some six months study could they even be seen with intelligent eyes." One day, a member of her expedition, standing on a small hill overlooking the south coastal plain, was astounded to see the clear track of a statue transport road winding across the landscape.
The Mystery of Easter Island
Outside the quarry area there are 442 statues; 269 of them once stood on various ahu sites in the interior and on the coast. These regions of generally fertile oil were home to large numbers of Rapa Nui people. The smallest statue recorded on an ahu site is about 3 feet tall; the two largest are about 32 feet tall. Only one of these huge statues was successfully erected on its ahu.
The earliest date we have for a statue is at the ceremonial center of Tahai on the west side of the island. There, the head of a statue carved from red scoria was found in the bay. The platform with which it was probably associated has a radiocarbon date of AD 713. The time span for the use of red scoria statues on the island is enormous. Another red scoria statue found at a different site was known to be in use as late as 1868.
We have recorded only 49 statues that were not carved in Rano Raraku, but instead were cut from quarries of basalt, tachyte, and red or reddish-gray scoria. All of these statues are smaller than average.
Once carving was completed and before the final polishing was done, the statues were transported from Rano Raraku to ahu over the roads that Katherine Routledge's expedition discovered and that can still be seen today. These roads, between 9 and 13 feet wide, are really tracks of compacted earth. Most of the 47 statues we have documented along the roads lie on their backs, but a few rest on their faces or sides.
These statues lying "in transport" are perhaps the biggest unsolved mystery on Easter Island. Their varying positions mean that not all of them were being transported in exactly the same way. Their locations in relation to one another suggest that some lay almost blocking the roads while others were being manipulated to move around them. Routledge was the first to notice that some of these statues were broken in a violent way. She thought they might have been standing upright at one time and the breakage was the result of their falling to the ground. She concluded that some statues might have been erected to form ceremonial entranceways to Rano Raraku. Were the road statues standing upright, and if so, was this why?
It was discovered that the typical statue is rectangular, measures 13.3 feet tall, and weighs about 13.8 tons. This type was successfully transported and erected all over the island. It was probably preferred because it was manageable in size and weight, and the group of people required to move it could be easily assembled and fed.
It is imagined that the Rapa Nui probably utilized generations of Polynesian expertise in marine exploration and canoe construction to develop statue transport technology. Principles of the fulcrum and lever were easily adapted to statue transport. So, too, were lashing methods and the production of strong cordage, as well as techniques of raising masts.
The average successfully transported statue was moved horizontally and usually on its back, securely lashed in a protective wooden framework. Rollers or skids might have been necessary on some uphill or downhill portions of the roads. It has been calculated that fewer than a hundred people could have moved the average statue in this way. It seems clear that individual work parties of closely related people who lived on shared land moved single statues. Ancient obligations of family required that they participate. Craftspeople and priests of high status and proven expertise would have directed these efforts. A single statue of approximately 89 tons was the heaviest to be successfully transported to an ahu.
Was Routledge right – were the road statues standing erect as ceremonial sentinels guarding or marking the approach to Rano Raraku? Or were they being transported standing upright, as some people have suggested? Had unsuccessful attempts been made to erect some statues temporarily, thus accounting for the breakage? Had others been standing for a social or ritual reason we cannot read in the archaeological record? Or, more likely, were most of them abandoned simply because the chiefs who commissioned them didn't have the ability to marshal the resources to move them? Were they just too big to be moved with the existing technology? For now, these perplexing questions remain unanswered.
Remote Possibilities: Hoa Hakananai'a And HMS Topaze on Rapa Nui (British Museum Research Paper) (British Museum Research Publication)
There is no recorded evidence to help us understand how the statues were used in ritual. When Capt. James Cook explored Tahiti and Hawaii, he observed and even participated in ceremonies that incorporated god images. These were a vital part of religious beliefs. On Easter Island, however, neither Cook in 1774 nor any other observers before or since have recorded seeing a priest conduct a ritual in front of an erect moai on an ahu. In fact, Cook thought the statues were "Monuments of Antiquity" and did not believe they were worshipped by the islanders.
After discovery, the Rapa Nui suffered severely at the hands of American and European whalers, sealers, and others calling at their impoverished shores. In 1862 – 63 the island was the target of slave traders, and the culture was dealt a murderous blow. Virtually all of the rulers and learned men were kidnapped and carried off to Peru as slaves. After the intercession of religious and other world leaders, the few Rapa Nui who survived were returned to the island with diseases that infected other people and ultimately killed many. In the wake of this tragedy, Catholic missionaries arrived to convert the population, and the remnants of traditional knowledge underwent further transformation and loss.
The work of scholars such as Routledge and Metraux is vital in reconstructing Rapa Nui culture in the years after European contact. Captain Cook and other early visitors to the Pacific recognized the interisland similarities of peoples, languages, and cultures. Cook understood this and took islanders with him as interpreters. Polynesian religious beliefs and social practices on one island can frequently tell us something about similar practices on another.
Rapa Nui, Island of Memory
Genealogies say that the Rapa Nui knew the great Polynesian gods and heroes Tangaroa, Rongo, Tu, Tane, and Tiki as legendary figures or divine ancestors of kings. During historic times, the greatest god of Rapa Nui was Makemake, born from a skull at Ahu Tongariki and incarnate in a small dusky seabird called manu tara – the sooty tern. Makemake was the creator of humankind, and Metraux suggests that he was the Rapa Nui equivalent of the East Polynesian god Tane.
Tane was First Man, widely associated with trees, forests, and birds that dwell in the treetops. He served as patron of woodcarvers and other artisans. Many Polynesians believed he lifted the male sky from the body of the female earth to allow life to develop. Tane held his two cosmic parents apart by erecting wooden posts, or sky proppers, between them.
Props to hold up the heavens are called took in New Zealand. Tahiti they are called pou. The Rapa Nui word for pole is tokotoko, and pou refers to a column, post, or pillar. Most intriguingly, Metraux tells us that Toko Te Rangi, or Sky Propper, is named in the Rapa Nui genealogies as the 13th king of Easter Island. Polynesian chiefs were often metaphorically referred to as the prop around which society was organized.
The Complete Guide to Easter Island
The Easter Island statues as sky proppers would have elevated the sky and held it separate from the earth, allowing light to enter and fertility of the land to be achieved. Increasing the height of the statues, as the Rapa Nui did over time, would symbolically increase the space between sky and earth and would therefore ensure the greater production of food.
Both Rano Kau and Rano Raraku had been entirely stripped of trees by about 800 years ago, and there were signs of serious soil depletion, overpopulation, food shortages, and other causes of social stress a few hundred years later. By 1500 the Rapa Nui people were undergoing major shifts in social, economic, and political alignments, although they were still erecting statues in 1600.
Rapa Nui traditions tell us that the ancestral chief, Hotu Matua, had divided the island among his six sons, each of whom then founded his own line. These branches, even though all of the Rapa Nui were related through the founding ancestor, were frequently at odds with one another.
The Rapa Nui had entered into a period of uncertainty and probable bewilderment at what was happening to their world. In the midst of these trying times, they began to explore their beliefs, expanding and adapting them to their reduced environmental circumstances. They developed new strategies to entice, beguile, and seduce the supernatural manna of their chiefs, gods, and ancestors. We begin to see at this time some experimentation with statue style and material. For instance, there is a new emphasis on incorporating female sexual symbolism into statue design.
Red scoria sculpture, with its long history of use on Easter Island, might be related to the legends of the perfect chief, who was known as Tahaki. He was clever, powerful, and virile, admired for his beautiful red skin. He sailed a great canoe called rainbow and had the power to control the elements, heal the sick, and resuscitate the dead in battle. His status allowed him to achieve great weight because he had generous access to food, and his long nails were the trademark of chiefly idleness. His sparkling eyes became stars in the sky.
Tahiti Handbook Including Easter Island and the Cooks
Some island statues, many of which appear to be very late, have symbols carved on their backs that represent sacred, chiefly authority. Some resemble a rainbow, a bird – perhaps the sooty tern – or a sacred loincloth. The exaggerated proportions and emphasis on the hands and elongated nails, the spine, the head, and the eyes reveal these features as focal points of manna.
As elsewhere in Polynesia, the statue itself was probably believed to be an empty stone vessel, perhaps a form of the perfect chief. Into this universal male form various gods and deified spirits of chiefs might have been ritually induced to enter. These summoned gods probably varied in the powers they wielded, and both statue design and ahu variation suggest that the most powerful gods required the most elaborate ceremonial settings. Perhaps Tan and Tahaki, or the Rapa Nui equivalents, were among them.
There are no simple formulas, no easy theories, no shortcuts to understanding the moai. It will probably never be known with absolute certainty what these statues meant in the lives of the people who created them. We do know that the ahu sculptures are not portraits of specific chiefs. They are icons that exemplify the Polynesian concern with genealogy, generation, status, and respect. Not only do they stand erect, visually separating earth and sky; they also symbolically unite the natural and cosmic worlds and provide access to them for both gods and humans. The moai thus mediate between earth and sky, people and chiefs, chiefs and gods.
I keep listening to the news speak about getting free online grant applications so I have been
looking around for the best site to get one.
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Interview: The Sky Is Darkest Before The Dawn In Mabinogi's Penultimate Seven Nightmares Update
By Jason Winter, News Editor December 23, 2020
When your latest update is titled "Hypernova," chances are something big is happening. That's the case with Nexon's Mabinogi, which launched the G25: Hypernova Eclipse earlier this month and has a follow-up coming in January. That update introduced two new major NPCs as well as a major threat for Milletians to deal with, and if you haven't checked it out yet, we went straight to the source -- the Mabinogi dev team -- to learn more about the recent update and what's to come.
MMOBomb: The Seven Nightmares storyline is wrapping up soon, with this update and the Glyphwright update coming in January. Could you go into a little detail as to what the Seven Nightmares are and why they're significant, for people who are new to the game or haven't played in a while?
Mabinogi Team: Players first learned of the Seven Nightmares and the Order of the Black Moon in Mabinogi's G22 mainstream quest, which is the start of Chapter 7. The storyline follows this faction and their quest to revive Fomors' old King. For more on the Seven Nightmares, players will have to hop on to Mabinogi to learn more about the storyline - no spoilers!
MMOBomb: If you haven't played the previous chapters, how easy is it to catch up on the story – and, most importantly, the loot?
Mabinogi: Chapter 7 mainstream quests do not require prior generation completions other than cumulative level requirement. New Mabinogi players can easily achieve the level requirement while getting used to the game through the Beginner Benefits we offer to quickly jump into the story. We also offer events to ease players along further, like the Generation Boost and the G25 Precursor Events we recently had. Events like the Winter 2020 Master Plan and Hyper Bingo taking place now also help Milletians earn plenty of rewards and advance quickly.
Mabinogi always has continuous updates and in-game events that allow players to secure loot as well. Most recently in November, we had a new Dungeon Guide system introduced, along with the Dungeon Drop Rate Increase event for that purpose. Our community of players is also very friendly and welcoming to new players looking for guidance. We also just recently launched a partnership program called Soul Streamers, for Mabinogi's best and brightest content creators. Players can also join our active Discord channel to connect with other Mabinogi players.
MMOBomb: It looks like there are two powerful characters joining the fight against the darkness: Pontiff Etain and Enya. Can you tell us a little more about their backgrounds and how they fit into the story?
Mabinogi: As a young girl, Pontiff Etain was chosen by Lymilark, who is the God of Love, to be the leader of the people. She was appointed to cherish and love all those in the world equally, just as she was taught. Since her power was obtained at a tender age, she did not know how to control her powers. Thus, she waited and accumulated her qualification instead of revealing herself to the world. After many years, Pontiff Etain has grown and is ready to follow the will of god.
Enya is a believer of Lymilark. Due to the changes that are occurring again, she joins the Expeditionary Force led by Milletian as a member of the Pontiff's Court. In the G25 Hypernova: Eclipse update, Milletians will finally get to meet both and play an all-new storyline with the two NPCs.
MMOBomb: It sounds like there are rifts appearing "all over the sky." What kind of dangers do those present for players?
Mabinogi: The rifts are dimensional rifts creating a strange phenomenon where time and space are mixed. There was a brief time of peace when the world became numb and settled down, but now the despair of night that covers the sky is coming once more with the sixth trial of the Order of the Black Moon. This means that the Order is now prepared to enforce the night by defeating those who call themselves the light.
MMOBomb: What other kinds of new content is there in this update?
Mabinogi: Along with the two new NPCs and the Order of the Black Moon, players will also meet again various allies including Alban Knights, Tech Duinn Expeditionary Force, and Ace Heroes as they play through the new storyline. The G25 update in December is only the Part 1 of the update, and Part 2 as well as a new talent, Glyphwright, will be introduced in January. Glyphwright is a new talent that players will be able to use to assist in battle. More details will be revealed in the future.
MMOBomb: Mabinogi's been going on for over a decade and a half now. How do you keep the game feeling fresh and interesting, both to draw in new users and keep long-time fans entertained?
Mabinogi: Mabinogi is going on its 16th year now in Korea and the 13th year Anniversary of the Western service is approaching! Our team is very proud of how far the game has come along over the years. We're always working hard continuing to introduce new exciting content, storylines, NPCs and in-game events to keep our players engaged, while keeping a balance on creating content that will bring in new players. Part of that are fun collaborations with popular IPs that existing and new players will enjoy.
MMOBomb: Can you tell us anything about what players can expect in January's update?
Mabinogi: The G25 Hypernova: Glyphwright update in January marks the final and seventh night of the Seven Nightmares. With this update, players will be able to use a new technique called "Pragarah," which will reduce an enemy's Magic Defense and Magic Protection. A new talent will also be introduced, which will allow players to draw their own Glyphwright skill with effects that will either strengthen their character or weaken their opponent. I don't want to reveal too much, but we hope that players will enjoy the update!
In this article: Nexon, Mabinogi.
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Q: How much data is included in Disc Image? Does creating a Windows disk image copy the entire disk, or just the data contained within the OS, plus user data?  That is, only the bits on the disk that are referenced by the master file table (if I understand correctly).  I know there are ways to completely copy every bit on a disk, so I'm wondering if disk image does this or only copies actual files.  Sorry if this has been asked already.

A: A Windows disk image backup will copy the entire disk and can be used to restore it
entirely. The only part it cannot restore is the disk signature, found in the very
first bytes of the disk and initialized by Device Manager.
This is distinct from a partition backup, which will only backup the contents
of one partition, although in some backup products this difference is not so
evident.
According to a comment below, it seems like Windows Backup has lost the
ability to do a real image backup that it had years ago.
I recommend to avoid using the deprecated Windows Backup, since it is being
officially discontinued and has too many gotchas.
Use a third-party product instead.
See the article
Best Free Drive Cloning Software
for a list of such free products with reviews, where
my personal favorite is AOMEI Backupper.
You should choose a product that has boot media, create that media, and test
that it can see the disk containing the backups, just in case.


(Develop analysis plans, table shells, programming and table specifications; produce tables, listings and figures; perform data review and statistical analysis.
Assist with protocol development, samplesize calculation, and protocol and case report form (CRF) review.
Advise data management staff on database design, validation checks and critical data.


Adam Sitka has been an Engineer at Wessler Engineering for approximately two and a half years and was October's Employee of the Month. He does a little bit of everything in the office and in the field, see what he had to say about why he loves to crawl under homes to identify illicit sump pump connections.
What do you do at Wessler?
A little bit of everything! I enjoy a wonderful balance of office and field work. While in the office I can be found working on water main designs, drinking water studies, stormwater utility formation projects, or assisting with our Field Services Division. When in the field I can be found assisting our Field Services Division with sanitary sewer investigations consisting of smoke testing, manhole inspections, mapping and pole-camera inspections.
Being able to help the communities that we work with; whether it's crawling under homes to identify illicit sump pump connections or preparing a preliminary engineering report to help a community get the assistance they need to improve their infrastructure. Knowing that we provide our clients with the means of bettering their community is the most rewarding part of my job.
A water and stormwater study we recently completed for the Town of Morgantown. The Town's water and stormwater infrastructure had not been assessed in quite some time and was in need of improvement. By preparing a preliminary engineering report, we were able to identify the needs of the Town, provide a planning document to address the systems needs and improve the Town.
What is your favorite work story?
Every so often Wessler will have a "Day of Giving" where we get together and help out the communities we work with. The activities range from gardening work to painting. My favorite volunteer opportunity we had was to help a resident in Frankfort who could no longer maintain their yard. We landscaped, removed debris and yard waste, filling up several large dumpsters. It was amazingly rewarding to see the yard transform and the smile it put on the homeowner's face.
What do you listen to in your car on the way to work or to a work site?
My wife and I have several pets. Two dogs; Bailey (a lab/dane mix) and Dexter (a lab/pit mix). We also have three cats; Delilah, Chief and Marley.
Pittsburgh Steelers. But I'm biased being from Pennsylvania.
Choose one: Coffee, tea, soda, juice, or water.
Thanks Adam, congratulations on being our October Employee of the month!


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A scene from last year's Reindog Parade. The annual event is part of the Holiday Walk, which has 36 events scheduled this weekend.
Something for All Ages at Williamstown's Annual Holiday Walk
By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
12:34AM / Wednesday, December 04, 2019 Print Story | Email Story
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — With 36 events spread over 23 venues in two towns over three days, Williamstown's 36th annual Holiday Walk weekend has something for everyone … and way more than anyone could manage.
Fortunately for the promoters at the Chamber of Commerce, there are dozens of partners to help stage the annual celebration that gets under way on Friday morning.
"The Community Chest runs the Penny Social, Habitat for Humanity does the Tree Showcase," Chamber Executive Director Susan Briggs said this week. "I'm more than happy to put the schedule together and coordinate the loose ends, but to have the organizations do the bulk of the effort really makes this thing work."
One event remains the purview — or pawview — of the Chamber, which coordinates one of Holiday Walk's signature events, the Reindog Parade that kicks off near Williams College's Chapin Hall and brings dozens of canine celebrants up Spring Street at about 3 p.m. on Saturday.
While a traditional highlight of the festivities, it is actually the midpoint of a festival that begins on Friday at 10 a.m. with an Art and Flea Pop-Up Shop sponsored by the Williamstown Cultural District at 70 Spring St.
Friday's other event is a concert by the Cassatt Quartet at the Clark Art Institute, which late Saturday afternoon will sponsor an art-making activity in the lobby of TD Bank and free carriage rides on Spring Street after the parade passes by.
The heart of the weekend and by far the busiest day of Holiday Walk is Saturday.
Saturday morning kicks off with a 5-kilometer run to benefit Special Olympics that begins in the courtyard of the Purple Pub, which later in the day also will host a gingerbread house exhibition and the "Souperbowl Cook-Off" competition, where members of the public can taste the entries for a donation.
At 2 p.m., just a little before the Reindog Parade and through 5 p.m., the Penny Social, one of the oldest staples of Holiday Walk, provides an opportunity for non-profit groups to connect with the public and festival-goers to exchange holiday greetings in the warmth of Williams' Lasell Gymnasium at the top of Spring Street.
Saturday's final two events take the action off Spring Street and, in one case, out of town. At 6:30 p.m., a special edition of Musical Bingo at North Adams' Mingo's Sports Bar and Grill will benefit Louison House. At the same time, the Hoosic River Watershed Association is scheduled to lead a night walk on Stone Hill starting from the parking lot of the Clark's Lunder Center at Stone Hill.
Sunday morning a craft show at Williamstown Elementary School will be coupled with a pancake breakfast to benefit the school's sixth-grade class. Sunday afternoon, the festival concludes with the second of two Christmas Services of Lessons and Carols at Williams' Thompson Memorial Chapel.
In between, there will be free hot chocolate and visits from Santa and Mrs. Claus and live music and a reading of "A Christmas Carol" and more.
"I think we're really trying to realize we have a bunch of different audiences in town," Briggs said. "Yes, there's a bunch of families who might enjoy the free screening of 'Elf' at Images Cinema. But we also have older residents who might enjoy a concert at the Clark or something like Lessons and Carols or a gallery talk at Greylock Gallery.
"We're trying to add in things that appeal to everyone."
Sometimes those events are ideas generated by the Holiday Walk organizers. Sometimes they come from the sponsoring businesses and organizations.
"HooRWA definitely came to us with the idea for the walk on Stone Hill," Briggs said.
"I thought at the end of the Holiday Walk a stroll up and around Stone Hill looking back at the town from above would be a peaceful way to end the festivities," said HooRWA board member Elayne Murphy, who will be leading the walk.
On the other hand, some groups, like Greylock Gallery, are approached by the Holiday Walk organizers. That is how Saturday evening's gallery talk with artist John MacDonald came about.
"We asked them if they'd be interested in hosting a gallery talk, and they jumped on it," Briggs said.
"We brainstorm about what could be added and people also do that on their own in their community organizations. At this point, we're not adding anything the Chamber has to coordinate. I'm happy coordinating the Reindog Parade, and we're happy to do the promotion as long as they're willing to do the coordination."
This year's Holiday Walk features events hosted by a few of Spring Street's newest additions. Chapter Two Books, the used book store organized by the Friends of Milne Public Library, will host a children's story time on Saturday afternoon. The Williams College Museum of Art shop will have a button-making activity available all day Saturday. And the lawn in front of the new Williams Inn will be active all day with hot chocolate and lawn games starting at 11 a.m. and a tree lighting and caroling at 5:15.
The latter activity is one that might have a different look than planned before Williamstown received nearly 20 inches of snow Monday and Tuesday.
"We've had a few conversations this morning," Briggs said on Tuesday. "One was regarding the lineup of the Reindog Parade. Usually we say on the lawn in front of Chapin [Hall], and right now it has 2 feet of snow on it. We anticipate the college kids will pack a lot of that down, but Chapin Drive is always clear for emergency reasons.
"The other conversation we've had is the tree lighting at the bottom of the street on what we're calling the Williams Inn lawn. There's a nice, large conifer tree that they're going to light for us. It's in the middle of the park, though so it's not really sidewalk accessible. But the college clears its sports fields of snow all the time, so they might be able to do something.
"Hopefully, the snow is getting people in the mood for the holidays. It provides its own beauty and complications."
Tags: dogs, holiday event, holiday walk, parade,
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02:31AM / Monday, January 20, 2020
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Planning Board last week heard from several residents who want it to prohibit outdoor production of marijuana in the language of an updated bylaw the board intends to send to May's annual town meeting.
Several of the people who argued against granting a special permit to grow pot on a Blair Road parcel early last year were back at Town Hall on Tuesday to ask that town regulations be changed to allow marijuana production only indoors and then under highly regulated conditions to control odor.
The Planning Board chose to address the bylaw passed by town meeting in 2017 because it was written before the commonwealth's Cannabis Control Commission had written statewide regulations in response to the November 2016 vote to decriminalize marijuana in Massachusetts.
The town in 2017 was trying to "get ahead of the curve," and now wants to amend its language to align with the nomenclature used at the state level. For example, the 2017 bylaw refers to "marijuana production facilities." The CCC language is written to address indoor and outdoor "marijuana cultivators."
More Williamstown Stories
Williamstown Planning Board Weighing New Pot Bylaw January 20, 2020 | 02:31AM 2 Comments
Williamstown DPW Worker Rescued in Snowplow Accident January 19, 2020 | 07:45PM 5 Comments
Williamstown Told to Monitor Sewer Inflow January 18, 2020 | 04:33PM 0 Comments
Mount Greylock Committee Meets Award Winners, Discusses Budget Priorities January 17, 2020 | 02:29AM 0 Comments
BHS, Williams College Collaborate on Retail Pharmacy on Spring Street January 16, 2020 | 03:30PM 2 Comments
Williamstown Parks & Rec Committee Delivers Its Report January 16, 2020 | 03:56AM 1 Comment
January 20, 2020 | 02:31AM 2 Comments Community News
January 19, 2020 | 07:45PM 5 Comments Community News
Williamstown Told to Monitor Sewer Inflow
Mount Greylock Committee Meets Award Winners, Discusses Budget...
BHS, Williams College Collaborate on Retail Pharmacy on Spring...
January 16, 2020 | 03:30PM 2 Comments Health News
Williamstown Parks & Rec Committee Delivers Its Report
January 16, 2020 | 03:56AM 1 Comment Community News
The Planning Board last week heard from several residents who want it to prohibit outdoor production of marijuana in the language of an updated bylaw the board intends to send to May's annual town meeting. click for more
Williamstown DPW Worker Rescued in Snowplow...
A Department of Public Works employee was treated and released from the hospital Sunday morning after his snow plow went off the road and down an embankment in South Williamstown, police said Sunday afternoon. click for more
The town has been issued an administrative consent order from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to comply with federal standards. click for more
Mount Greylock Committee Meets Award Winners,...
The Renzi Award, first given in 1986, honors the legacy of former teacher, principal and superintendent Helen Renzi. click for more
BHS, Williams College Collaborate on Retail...
The Williamstown Apothecary is scheduled to open in early spring, following the completion of renovations to the property being undertaken by Berkshire Health Systems and municipal permitting. click for more
Williamstown Parks & Rec Committee Delivers Its...
Among the more ambitious suggestions from the committee is to designate a town employee to "curate, prioritize and advance this work," a step that would have clear implications for the town's budget. click for more
Williamstown DPW Worker...
New Owners Take Over...
BHS, Williams College...
Barrett Tells Williamstown...
Williamstown CPC Faces Three...
Mount Greylock's Multipurpose...
MIAA Proposal Would Eliminate...
Mount Greylock Committee...
Williamstown Seeks Data on...


Windows doesn't actually allow us to pin a .pdf or .docx or .xlsx file to taskbar, rather they are pinned to the application they belong to.
Here is a way to pin a file directly to the taskbar.. Let's call it a One-Click-File-Shortcut-Pin-To-TaskBar.
1> Locate the file which you want to pin to the taskbar.
2> Create a shortcut to this file on the Desktop.
3> Right-Click on the shortcut and open the properties.
4> In the field Target, add explorer in the beginning of the path.
5> Now drag this shortcut to the taskbar and voila, your One-Click-File-Shortcut-Pin-To-TaskBar is created.


text:
Achieving more together towards a safer South Wales
Your Commissioner
South Wales Police & Crime Commissioner, Rt Hon Alun Michael
Police & Crime Plan 2019-2023
The Commissioner's Team
South Wales Police Youth Trust
Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE)
Dyfodol
Equality & Inclusion
Independent Custody Visiting and Animal Welfare Scheme
Modern Slavery Statement 2019-2020
Reducing Offending and Re-offending in the 18-25 Age Group
Tackling Violent Crime
Violence Against Women and Girls
Volunteering (Citizens in Policing)
Scrutiny and Oversight
Police Accountability and Legitimacy Group (PALG)
Independent Community Members
Scrutiny and Accountability Board
Inspection and Performance
Community Walkabouts
Engaging with young people
Policing Priorities
Virtual Community Conversations
Decisions & Policies
Welsh Language Standards
Responding to the pandemic (Covid-19)
The arrangements in my team
Supporting victims of domestic violence and abuse
Your Voice, Your Imagination
Share your questions and feedback with us
Latest advice from Public Health Wales
Stop and Search
Collection Points – Booklet and Sticker Know your rights – Nuisance doorstep callers and uninvited traders Nuisance telephone calls, email and postal scams
Know your Rights leaflet
Latest stop-search statistics
Stop-search disproportionality report, 2018-19
Equality, Diversity and Human Rights Board: Stop-search year-to-date performance
What is a stop and search?
Stop and Search is an important power for the police to help reduce crime. When used properly, it can enable the police to detect and tackle crimes that may have occurred and to prevent offending. Stop and Search can increase public confidence in policing but, because of its nature, can also interfere with people's freedom. Equality and human rights must therefore be taken into consideration when using this power, which must also be used in accordance with the law.
The police have a right and a duty to stop and talk to members of the public and in certain circumstances to search them. This is done to protect our communities, tackle crime and keep our streets safe.
A 'stop and search' is when a police officer (not a Police community support officer) stops you and them searches you, because he or she has the reason to suspect you are in possession of:
- Drugs, weapons or stolen property; or
- Items which could be used to commit a crime.
If you would like to find out more about your rights when it comes to being stopped and searched by a police officer, read our Know your Rights leaflet.
When can stop and searches be used?
We are conscious of our responsibility to ensure stop and searches are appropriate and proportionate.
Officers must have reasonable grounds to use the powers; must use them without any bias against or in favour of any person or group; must do no more than is necessary to achieve a lawful aim; and must follow the correct and proper processes.
More information on police's Authorised Professional Practice in relation to stop and search is available here.
What if I'm unhappy with a stop and search encounter?
It is important to tell us if you are unhappy with a stop and search encounter you have experienced in the South Wales Police force area.
If you would like to make a complaint, or for more information on how to do so, click here.
Scrutiny of stop and search
Members of the Police and Crime Commissioner's team conduct dip sampling exercises which involve reviewing stop and search forms completed by police officers, as well as reviewing body worn videos. To find out more about our quality assurance work, click here.
Stop and search is also scrutinised through the force's Confidence and Legitimacy Group and through the Police and Crime Commissioner-led Police Accountability and Legitimacy Group.
In addition, each South Wales Police Basic Command Unit has a Community Cohesion Group, which consists of members of local communities who study the use of stop and search locally.
Disproportionality of stop and search
Across the UK, black and minority ethnic people are statistically more likely to be stopped and searched than white people.
It is therefore crucial to ensure that stop and search is continuously monitored to ensure that the power is used in a fair and non-discriminatory manner.
That process will be more robust when the public has the opportunity to scrutinise the use of stop and search.
In 2018/19, a total of 10,555 stop searches were carried out. While the vast majority of these – more than 17 out of every 20 – were carried out on white people, we are aware of the vital importance of ensuring we do not discriminate against any individuals or any groups, and so that we can respond to any concerns raised by minority groups or others.
However, we are never complacent about ensuring the legitimacy of what we do, and to that end, South Wales Police and the Police and Crime Commissioner are commissioning academic research into disproportionality.
Review of stop and search disproportionality
An August 2019 review examined 156 stop and searches with BAME subjects to ensure that all stop and searches are undertaken in a fair, ethical and proportionate manner.
The review examined wards with the highest disproportionality, the highest BAME population, the highest volume of BAME searches and the officers who conducted the most stop and searches on BAME subjects.
Review outcomes: what factors lead to stop and searches being carried out?
Some repeat stop and searches are a result of our efforts to tackle so-called County Lines, but our review in August 2019 showed no evidence of repeat stop and searches being disproportionate or unjustified.
The method by which the rate of disproportionality is calculated can sometimes be misleading, with stop-search figures being related to the location they take place, not where the subject is from. For example, a stop-search carried out on a BAME person in an area with a small BAME population will be counted towards the figures, making them appear more disproportionate.
Likewise, the movement of people around South Wales, as well as into South Wales from elsewhere, also has an impact on the disproportionality rate. County Lines activity, similarly, may mean people from outside South Wales are moving to, or being apprehended in, South Wales.
Meanwhile, police teams with the highest number of BAME searches often work in wards with significant drugs-related issues. While there is no evidence that individual officers are being disproportionately biased towards any ethnic group, the collective response to the drugs issue – and an increase in the number of stop-searches for this purpose – may therefore result in some disproportionality.
While our reviews have not uncovered discriminatory practice, we are keen to obtain as many different perspectives as possible. The academic research into disproportionality being commissioned by the Police and Crime Commissioner and South Wales Police will provide further context for this work, and provide a broader understanding of the issue and how we should approach it.
Link: Equality, Diversity and Human Rights Board: Stop-search year-to-date performance
What is a Section 60 authorisation?
If one of our officers of the rank of Inspector or above believes that there has been serious violence in an area, or that there may be serious violence, then section 60 can be authorised. This gives police officers the power to stop and search people for weapons, without needing reasonable grounds as mentioned above.
The authorisation is under Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which is why you may hear it referred to as a Section 60 or S60.
An Inspector who gives an authorisation must, as soon as practicable, inform an officer of or above the rank of Superintendent.
What will the police do while there is a Section 60 authorisation?
If a Section 60 is granted, we will:
- Make sure it is used only where necessary and make sure we make this to clear to you
- Ensure the officer authorising the section 60 has evidence that serious violence has taken place or may take place
- Make a written record of the authorisation
- Document details of each stop-search conducted
- Limit the duration of initial authorisations to no more than 24 hours, which can then be extended for a further 24 hours
- Where possible, tell the community that there will be a section 60 authorisation in advance of the operation
- Report on the operation afterwards so the public can be aware of the purpose and the success of it
Stop and Search Data
Click here to view 2020-21 performance statistics about stop and search carried out by South Wales Police. You can also view performance statistics held by Police.uk here.
Below is a breakdown of our where and why stop-searches are carried out, as well as a summary of the results for 2019-20.
We think it's important to be open in showing our proactivity and how it is helping us tackle issues including illegal substances, serious violence and knife crime, as well as transparent about our use of the stop-search tactic.
Stop and Search Patrol Along Scheme
South Wales Police operates a Patrol Along scheme that supports the Best Use of Stop and Search by providing opportunities for the community to accompany police officers on patrol for a single shift. For more details, click here.
What happens during a stop and search?
We filmed new South Wales Police recruits taking part in scenario-based training.
What happens during a stop and search? We filmed new South Wales Police recruits taking part in scenario-based training
Leaders praise services that transform the lives of individuals entering the cri…
Two initiatives that offer help to females and young people in or at risk of entering the criminal justice system in Gwent and South Wales to break th…
Commissioner Statement regarding the death of Mohamud Mohammed Hassan
"Since the weekend I have gained an understanding of the circumstances surrounding the death of Mohamud Hassan in Cardiff and the concerns of his fami…
One child reported missing every hour in Wales, as Police Commissioner calls for…
New research by NYAS Cymru (National Youth Advocacy Service) and The Children's Society reveals that every hour another child in Wales is reported mis…
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Email: commissioner@south-wales.pnn.police.uk
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Public outcry forces Westland City Council to table watered down anti-racism resolution
In a unanimous vote, the Westland City Council tabled a resolution that would declare racism a public health crisis. The move came following a challenge brought by Tasha Green, the council's only African American member and comments from the community accusing the council of gutting the original anti-racism resolution.
The council was set to vote on a resolution addressing the issue Monday night, but Green said it was a revision of her proposal that had been changed substantially without her input. Green's original draft would have created a board of stakeholders, while the revised version instead inserted the mayor in the process and watered down the remedies and its urgency.
"Mayor Wild has a nineteen-member mayoral cabinet, not one African-American, a majority white city council, six of the seven officials," said Ashley Stewart, a Westland resident, during public comment before the council voted. "(For) a white mayor and a city attorney to remove sections of a racism solution that would require the city to make procedural changes to racial equality and anti-racism practices is nothing less than white supremacy."
Dr. John Duckworth of Gethsemane Missionary Baptist Church was instrumental in weekend negotiations with the mayor's office to slow down the rush to vote on the amended resolution. In comments he later made at the Monday night meeting, Duckworth said "Any and all resolutions that are designed to denounce racism MUST include participation from the oppressed community."
Sen. Ericka Geiss (D-6), whose district includes Westland, issued a statement supporting Councilwoman Green's version. "The resolution as written mirrors language that has been adopted by multiple communities in Michigan including neighboring Romulus. It is also the same language presented in both chambers of the Michigan Legislature by Sen. Marshall Bullock (D-4) & myself in the senate and by Rep. Cynthia A. Johnson (D-5) in the house."
The Michigan Legislative Black Caucus also weighed in. "At all levels of government and policy-making, leaders must acknowledge and address the barriers to inclusion that stem from decades of often taciturn, but long-practiced systemic institutional racism, they said in a statement. "To pass a resolution amended in such a way as to dilute its intent and scope would render the resolution symbolic only and therefore meaningless in its goal of being a tool to improve policies when it comes to racial equity, diversity, and inclusion."
Councilwoman Green also received support at the federal level. "Residents across the 13th Congressional District and around the country have taken to the streets to demand meaningful action against racism and the violence that comes from it, said US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI 13). "As elected representatives, it is imperative that we respond to this critical moment with bold action that ensures that government on all levels is reflective, inclusive, and responsive to the needs of every single resident; anything less is not acceptable."
After hearing from residents, elected officials and community organizations such as Annapolis Park southeast Westside Homeowners Association and the Western Wayne County NAACP, Council voted unanimously to table the unpopular version of the resolution until they could conduct listening sessions to gather community input. "It is very important that our residents are heard, that their experiences are shared and heard and understood," said Councilwoman Andrea Rutkowski before casting her vote. "I think it is a great step towards meaningful legislation because we can put anything we want on a piece of paper."
Council will return to the issue when they meet again at their next meeting August 3rd.
Gov. Whitmer Must Stand With Working Class Families & Prepare to Veto SB 1233
Michigan United celebrates the signing of the Inflation Reduction Act.


text:
Pomaulax gibberosus is een in zee levende slakkensoort die behoort tot de familie Turbinidae en het geslacht Pomaulax.

Voorkomen en verspreiding
Pomaulax gibberosus is een omnivoor die tot 80 mm lang kan worden en leeft in warm water op rotsbodems en koraalriffen (sublitoraal). Deze soort komt voor aan de westkust van Noord-Amerika van Californië tot aan Alaska (Oregonese- en Californische provincie).

Turbinidae

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


80% of the customers use a mobile phone inside a physical store to look for product reviews, compare prices, or look for an alternative store. An estimated 10 billion mobile connected devices are currently in use. In 2012, people spent more than $25 billion on purchases made from phones and tablets. The purchase has gone up to $500+ billion from transactions made over smartphones and tablets, in 2018 in the U.S alone.
Digital Transformation – But why? Why are we gravitating towards using smartphones and tablets to make major transactions? This is because mobile app transactions make purchasing easier. And because of the availability of so many products online. This is why both entrepreneurs and founded businesses need to transform themselves digitally.
Today's competition has evolved a lot. A few decades back, companies only had to produce a high-quality product and hire top-notch marketers to break sales. But now, the competition has turned very vicious. And businesses need to take up digital transformation to evolve their businesses. So, before we jump into digital transformation, we need to understand what it means to digitalize business and what is the role of the mobile apps in all of this. One might think that mobile app development is easier than website development. But it is a lot more complicated than it seems.
Digital transformation does not simply mean developing a website or a mobile app. It is an entire process, that includes models, activities, and procedure to achieve a definitive result. For this, your enterprise becomes a digital innovator because this is what will make you stand out. In this fast-paced technology-driven world, you will have to think out of the box, if you want to get noticed in the industry.
In terms of digital transformation, it is seen that 47% of organizations aren't ready to take up the digital transformation journey. And only 10% describe themselves as fully digital. Additionally, a recent report showed that one-third of businesses in the UK, either had no digital strategy or no plans to transform in the future.
Now, let's understand why this kind of transformation is important?
Digital transformation is important because, without it, your business will be left behind. Even if you have tools and software that helps you in daily transactions, you need to update them. Otherwise, your company will become vulnerable to competitors attack. With a correct digital strategy, you can be sure that you are up-to-date with the latest trends. And no one can take advantage of the fact that you are technologically behind.
By adopting digital transformation, you can show your customers that your organization is agile enough. And all prepared to embrace any alterations that come your way. It doesn't only help in retaining the customers you already have but also opens a new way for your new customers. Instead of using traditional ways to drive new customers, you can reach them through social media and mobile apps without putting much effort.
Even though, there are a lot of components that make up a superb digital transformation strategy, among them the most important one is – Mobile Apps. Your mobile app should be the center of your digital strategy. In fact, the impact of it is so distinct that over the last two years, the number of vulnerability scans on IoT devices has gone up to 45.8%.
Defining goals – Know what you require and why you're going for digital transformation.
Developing a framework – Dig in deep and lay out the targets in more detail.
Selecting and Accessing technologies – Select the right kind of technology that suits your business needs and can evolve with time.
The mobile application has much more impact on digital transformation than you think. They help you in taking your business to the next level. So, you can adapt the latest technologies to show your target audience and your competitors how agile and updated you are. Developing a good digital strategy might sound easier but it is not. It is an area, that requires a lot of attention, time, and resources to ensure you are doing the right thing.
Once you are all clear about the digital strategy you need for a successful transformation, you need to select the right kind of technology you want to use. Keep in your mind that your company needs a mobile app and the functionality that will entirely represent your products and services. Building an effective digital transformation strategy will prove to be the ultimate management challenge because it is something that will affect your company's structure and strategic positioning. And, it will create new dynamics for your organization.


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Q: Android SDK: how to read a USB device's class? I have tried writing primitive activity for scanning USB port and displaying basic info for attached device. I am specifically interested in reading device class, which I believe UsbDevice.getDeviceClass () method is intended for. Here's what it looks like:
HashMap<String, UsbDevice> deviceList = findUsbDevices();
    Iterator<UsbDevice> deviceIterator = deviceList.values().iterator();
    if (deviceIterator.hasNext())
    {
        UsbDevice device = deviceIterator.next();
        String name = device.toString();
        String cls = Integer.toString(device.getDeviceClass());
        displayDeviceInfo(name, cls);
    }

However, it doesn't work as expected, giving 0 for any device I connect. Many other fields of UsbDevice object, like subclass or protocol, are also 0. How can I get device class then?

A: USB class is the attribute of interface, not device. Iterating interfaces works as expected:
int count = device.getInterfaceCount();
for (int i = 0; i < count; i++)
{
    UsbInterface iface = device.getInterface(i);
    int cls = iface.getInterfaceClass();
}


text:
Glendale Merlins is an amateur rugby club based in the municipality of Glendale in Colorado, United States. The club was founded in 2006 and first played in 2007 under the name Glendale Raptors.

In 2017, a Glendale Raptors team was accepted into the professional Major League Rugby competition and the amateur Glendale teams changed their mascot from the Raptor to the Merlin, transitioning to the new brand before the inaugural season of Major League Rugby in 2018. The Glendale teams play at Infinity Park.

History

The men's squad won the 2011 Division I Championship. They were 2014 runners-up in the inaugural season of the Pacific Rugby Premiership losing to the San Francisco Golden Gate RFC 39-38 on the last play. The team won the Pacific Rugby Premiership in 2015, defeating San Francisco Golden Gate by 25-11. They repeated the feat in 2016, winning the Pacific Rugby Premiership title by 44-20 against San Francisco Golden Gate at their home field, Infinity Park.

The women's squad advanced from USA Rugby's Division I into the Women's Premier League in 2012. They placed third in 2013, won back-to-back national championships in 2014 and 2015, and placed second in 2016, 2017, and 2018.

Players
Five of Glendale's women's players - props Jamie Burke, Sarah Chobot, Sarah Wilson, hooker Kittery Wagner, and flyhalf Hannah Stolba - represented the U.S. team for the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup.

Two of Glendale's men's players — hooker Zach Fenoglio and scrum half Niku Kruger — were named to the U.S. team for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Additionally, Iniki Fa'amausili played for the US U-20 national team that won the 2012 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy held in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Three of Glendale's men's players represented the US national team at the 2011 Rugby World Cup: James Paterson, Nese Malifa, and Nic Johnson.

Men's squad

Women's Squad

Notable former players

See also
 Colorado Raptors

References

External links

Rugby union teams in Colorado
Sports teams in Colorado
Women's Premier League Rugby teams
Women's sports in Colorado


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