The newsfeed on Facebook (or any social media) is a troubling place. News of bombed planes, war in Gaza, murdered clergymen, and school shootings have all claimed prominent space over the past couple months as I scroll through my newsfeed. To quite literally add insult to injury, people post and comment on Facebook in a degrading, self-righteous, and outright obnoxious manner. Most people accompany the news of violence in the world with violence in their words.
Saint Catherine of Siena, who was born in 1347 in Siena, Italy, and died in 1380 in Rome, lived under surprisingly similar circumstances, minus the social media. The world was in chaos around her. Europe felt the sting of the Western losses in the centuries of Crusades, yet still rallied troops to fight while the Islamic forces progressed closer and closer. Meanwhile, England and France were in the early years of the devastating Hundred Years' War. The Black Death claimed anywhere from a third to half of the population as it returned at regular intervals each decade, and widespread famine due to a Little Ice Age ravaged those who survived (for reference, another Little Ice Age impoverished France shortly before its bloodbath of a revolution in the eighteenth century). The Pope had left Rome for Avignon, where he and his court lived under the excesses and the political influence of the French crown. Meanwhile, the Papal States were in a constant state of conflict and disarray. If people today claim it seems like the world is going to end, imagine what those living in the fourteenth century thought.
In the midst of plague, famine, violence, and corruption, Saint Catherine of Siena embraced a life of public charity. She joined a tertiary order of the Dominicans and ministered to the sick and starving. In her later years, her ministry developed more in the direction of political and ecclesiological issues, as she counseled political prisoners and personally visited France to convince Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome. Considering she was an uneducated laywoman who died at the age of 33, Saint Catherine left an incredible mark on the history of Europe and the Church. Her mystical treatise Dialogue on Divine Providence overflows with her teachings on charity, and these teachings teach us much today as we live in a violent world.
Most importantly, Catherine stressed the practice of charity in the ordinary life. She firmly believed all Christians, and not just vowed religious, were called to love God and love one's neighbor. Because of the demands of marriage, children, and business, not all people could devote their lives to cloistered life and grand acts of charity, so Catherine called them to practice the virtue of charity through everyday acts of love of neighbor.
As evidenced in her Dialogue and her prolific correspondence, Catherine engaged in writing as an act of charity. She claimed she learned to write miraculously, as God appeared to her in a vision and Saint John the Evangelist and Saint Thomas Aquinas taught her to write in a dream. Regardless the nature of how she learned to write, Catherine eventually could write in her vernacular Italian by her own hand, despite her lack of any formal education. And write she did: she wrote to popes, kings, queens, nobility, clergy, and townspeople, instructing them in the practice of charity as the manner of living the Gospel. Even when she was displeased with their actions (such as she was with the pope), she always wrote in a manner that conveyed her love of them. Her words demonstrated God's love and her love of others for God's sake, both in content and tone. As fiery as her admonitions became, she always reminded her recipients that she was praying for them.
This is what we can learn from Saint Catherine. Like those who lived in her era, we are shaken by a tumultuous world. It becomes easy, especially with the perceived anonymity of the computer screen, to lash out at others.
Sometimes our lack of charity comes when we believe we are defending the truth against those who we perceive as wrong. I am sure you, my dear readers, have witnessed nasty disputes on Facebook, Twitter, or blogs between Christians of different denominations. I am as guilty of this as any of us (Lord, have mercy). Yet our words, as Saint Catherine emphasizes, must be filled with infinite desire of God and love of neighbor. Our words act as our personal witness to our Christian life; if we are called to live a life of charity, should not our words be endowed with charity?
Let us learn from Saint Catherine, then. Even when we are angry at someone and believe they are in the wrong, let our writing (especially online) become an act of charity, that is, an act of love towards our neighbor. Gentleness and mercy may not win arguments, but they will win souls. Christ instructs us in the Gospel to pray for our enemies and those who persecute us, so let us pray for one another as we discuss the differences in our faith and opinions. We can use our written words to invite others into prayer with us, rather than express contempt. As persecution of Christians intensifies in certain parts of the world, let us stop persecuting each other with our words and instead lift one another up with words of encouragement. The little word, when endowed with charity, can work great wonders in the world – just look at the impact of the words of an uneducated, young Italian woman from six hundred years ago.
Laura Norris is a Catholic, freelance writer, running coach, and outdoor enthusiast. She holds a master's degree in Theological Studies and now works as a running blogger and coach as, in the words of St. Ignatius Loyola, "a woman for others" in helping others live a healthy life and achieve their goals. She and her husband live on the Eastside of Seattle and spend their time running their own businesses and hiking in the mountains.


Two candidates are selected each year to partcipate in our PA/NP Emergency Medicine Fellowship program in Brunswick, ME. We accept applications January 1st - March 1st and have a rolling admission process. The fellowship program begins mid September each year and runs until the following October.
The Rural EM Fellowship has a maximum of one fellow per critical access hospital per year.
For the Brunswick EM Fellowship, your application and supporting documentation must be submitted before March 1st to be considered. The Rural EM Fellowship has year round, rolling admissions.
Interviews: The selection committee will review all applications and select a few candidates to interview. Face to face interviews are held at our administrative office in Brunswick, ME.
Notice of Acceptance: Decisions for the Brunswick Fellowship will be made no later than June 15th. Notification of your acceptance will be sent via email. Your reply is expected within one week.
To apply for the emergency medicine fellowship, please visit our application page found here.


text:
using System.IO;
using Aspose.Pdf;
using Aspose.Pdf.Facades;

namespace Aspose.Pdf.Examples.CSharp.AsposePDFFacades.Pages.MakeNUp
{
    public class MakeNUpUsingPaths
    {
        public static void Run()
        {
            // ExStart:MakeNUpUsingPaths
            // The path to the documents directory.
            string dataDir = RunExamples.GetDataDir_AsposePdfFacades_Pages();

            // Create PdfFileEditor object
            PdfFileEditor pdfEditor = new PdfFileEditor();
            // Make NUp
            pdfEditor.MakeNUp(dataDir + "input.pdf", dataDir + "input2.pdf", "MakeNUpUsingPaths_out.pdf");
            // ExEnd:MakeNUpUsingPaths
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: DateTimeFormatter - java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Too many pattern letters: a I have the following line in my java code where I am trying to format a date string
 ZonedDateTime zonedDateTime= ZonedDateTime.ofInstant(instant, tz);
 DateTimeFormatter formatter = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm aa");

 return zonedDateTime.format(formatter);

At line 2 , I am getting this error:
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Too many pattern letters: a
at java.time.format.DateTimeFormatterBuilder.parseField(DateTimeFormatterBuilder.java:1774)

How can I create a format string for DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern that will give e.g:
2023-04-21 7.00pm

A: Use one a
As the error describes, you have used too many a character codes.
 Change aa to a.
Localization
You may have been thinking of two letters for AM and PM. But actually, other text might appear instead.
The text generated by a depends on the human language and cultural norms used during localization. You specify the language and norms by way of a Locale. If omitted, your JVM's current default locale is implicitly applied.
Example code
For fun, let's try looking at all possible outputs across all locales.
DateTimeFormatter f = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern ( "h:mm a" ) ;
LocalTime lt = LocalTime.of( 19 , 0 ) ;
for( Locale locale : Locale.getAvailableLocales() )
{
    String s = lt.format( f.withLocale( locale ) ) ;
    System.out.println( locale + " : " + s ) ;
}

See this code run live at IdeOne.com.
You can see that many different pieces of text are possible, many are more than two characters. Even those using PM or pm may have more than two characters when including FULL STOP character: p.m..
nn : 7:00 ettermiddag
ar_JO : 7:00 م
bg : 7:00 сл.об.
kea : 7:00 pm
nds : 7:00 PM
zu : 7:00 PM
am_ET : 7:00 ከሰዓት
fr_DZ : 7:00 PM
ti_ET : 7:00 ድሕር ሰዓት
bo_CN : 7:00 ཕྱི་དྲོ་
hsb : 7:00 popołdnju
qu_EC : 7:00 p.m.
ta_SG : 7:00 பிற்பகல்
lv : 7:00 pēcpusdienā
en_NU : 7:00 PM
…

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Home Breaking SBR called "technical error" statement on the website sharply criticized Drachev
SBR called "technical error" statement on the website sharply criticized Drachev
the Russian biathlon Union (RBU) has called a "technical error" publication on its website of the statement, signed by half the members of the Board of this organization to criticize the current President of the Russian biathlon Union Vladimir Drachev.
As reported by TASS in the SBR, "the letter was intended for internal use". And the website it came from-for technical errors.
earlier today on the website of the RBU issued a statement signed by the members of the management Board Alexey Nuzhdov, Victor Maigurov, Yuri Vekshina, Ivan Tcherezov and Andrew Levonia. It explained the motives for convening an extraordinary election conference of the RBU to elect a new President of the organization.
the letter said that Drachev in their actions is beyond the scope of the organization and causes damage, does not fulfill the provisions of the current legislation of the Russian Federation as part of the activities of the public organization and the Charter of the RBU. It was also said that Drachev does not control the current situation and completely detached from real world problems faced by SBR at this stage. Systematically publicly distributes populist and often conflicting promises, it is not consistent with the possibility of their implementation. Drachev has their own opinions on many important issues and too often trusting people, unfamiliar with the situation in the Russian biathlon pursuing personal, often causing direct harm to the interests of SBR. The financial situation in the RBU for the past year poses a direct threat to the normal functioning of the apparatus of Union, of the Institute teams, and existing programs for the development and support of biathlon. Declared the President of the RBU to attract financial partners (from the programme of the presidential candidate) was carried out and more — has been suspended or terminated cooperation with the previous partners. The operation of the apparatus controldevelopment by the activities of the SLR are not organized, and any attempt to thwart its organization by the President of the Union.
the Irresponsible management of the current activity of RRF led to the accumulation of debt obligations, the fulfillment of obligations to partners and sponsors, the workforce of the organization. However, at the time of the next crisis, the President of the RBU, as a rule, shifted responsibility for the incident at once attracted the artist and resulted as follows. Drachev unacceptable rarely visits the office of the Union of biathlonists not acquainted properly with the current documents and enters his name with letters and inquiries, despite the fact that SBR has developed around the situation demands from him the head of the daily performance of their duties.
the Decision to hold an extraordinary conference was adopted by a majority of the members of the Board of the RBU in April. It happened because of disagreements they have with the Bastard for the formation of a trainer's staff of Russian national team for the new season. Elections of the head of the organization must pass July 11 in Moscow.
four-time world champion, Deputy of the state Duma Drachev was elected President of the RBU for a four year term in may 2018.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Under the United States Constitution, the House of Representatives has the power to bring charges against the president. The Senate acts as the jury to decide if the president is guilty of the charges. The chief justice of the United States serves as judge. If two-thirds of the senators find the president guilty, he can be removed from office.
Our program was written by David Jarmul and Frank Beardsley. The narrators were Kay Gallant and Harry Monroe. Transcripts, podcasts and historical images from our series are at www.unsv.com. You can also comment on our programs. And you can follow us on Twitter at VOA Learning English. Join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION -- an American history series in VOA Special English.


text:
More Bali flights cancelled as nearby volcano spews ash
Flights to and from Indonesia's holiday island of Bali were disrupted for a second day on Friday.
Flights to and from Indonesia's holiday island of Bali were disrupted for a second day on Friday as a volcano on the nearby Java island spewed ash into the atmosphere.
Mount Bromo started to rumble and spew ash late last year, but volcanologists said a full scale eruption of the 2,300 metre (about 7,550 ft) volcano was not imminent, although a no-go zone of two kilometres (1.2 miles) had been set up from the crater.
Officials at Bali's Ngurah Rai airport officials said at least 11 international flights were cancelled -- including those operated by JetStar, Virgin Blue , Cathay Pacific and ValuAir.
Singapore Airlines resumed operations, however, after cancelling flights on Thursday
"From information we received, the cancellations were due to volcanic ash," Sherly Yunita, the airport's spokeswoman, told Reuters.
She said about 1,000 passengers were taken back to their hotels on Thursday.
Indonesia, which lies along the so-called Pacific Rim of Fire, is home to several active volcanoes whose eruptions, even mild, can prompt volcanic ash scares.


The aim of the present study was to explore out the prevalence of biochemical markers, and their connection with obesity in north Indian population. The sample size was 300, between the ages of 10 and 60 years old from all the ethics of north India. The obesity was calculated by body mass index based on the World Health Organization standard. We collected venous blood for biochemical markers investigation (total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, triacylglycerol, insulin and glycemia). Mann Whitney test was performed to calculate continuous variables between sexes. Chi-square test was conducted to evaluate proportions. To examine the association between the independent variables and biochemical markers, a multiple logistic regression model was conducted. Out of 300 samples taken, adolescents obese were found to be 23.1%; and 65.8% were found inadequately active. A high incidence of dyslipidemia (71.4%) was observed, whereas the low levels of high-density lipoprotein (40.7%) were the most prevalent. A relationship between obesity and objectionable values for high-density lipoprotein, triacylglycerol and insulin resistance was found. Obese adolescents were less likely to present a desirable value for high-density lipoprotein. It is understood that obesity is unfavourable to the metabolic record and should be controlled and treated in every stage of life.
Pallavi Anad, Anil Kumar, Kahkashan Naaz. Screening of Obesity and its Associated Biochemical Markers in North Indian Population. Research & Reviews: A Journal of Health Professions. 2018; 8(3): 51–54p.


This site has a link for each Poodle variety: Toy, Miniature, and Standard. Each of the three links will take you to a site that lists all the diseases for which a dog may be registered in the PHR. There is also a line for "other," should you come up with a disease which is not already on the list. Those listed diseases for which one or more dogs are already registered become hyperlinks, live URL links which will take you to that disease page on which there is a description of the disease and a list of all the PHR registered dogs who have that disease. The names of the dogs with the disease are themselves hyperlinks that take you to the individual dog's page. Each dog's page will include the AKC/CKC/KC/etc. registered name, date of birth, sire's name, dam's name, a four-generation pedigree, COI (coefficient of inbreeding) at ten generations, littermates' names, half littermates' names, and offspring's names for that PHR registered dog.
We will also list dogs who are obligate carriers of the gene(s) for a disease, known as such because they have produced offspring with that disease. In some cases, the owner of the sire or the dam may not want her/his dog listed, while the owner of the other parent does want to register her/his obligate carrier. When this happens, we will list the dog whose owner wishes to be listed in the registry.
For an example of how the site works, the disease-listing page for Standard Poodles has an entry for Addison's Disease, along with other diseases. The Addison's link will take you to the main Standard Poodle Addison's page. On that page, there will be a brief description of the disease (Addison's in this case), links to good sources of information about Addison's on the Web, a link to a current study on Addison's Disease in Standard Poodles, and a list of all the names of dogs with Addison's that have been registered in the PHR.
The names of these Standard Poodles with Addison's will be linked to a page for each dog that will have additional information about that dog. This is a temporary step that will be used until a Poodle Database has been designed and is available on the PHR Website. The Poodle Database will have all this information, and you will be able to query the database for additional information on all PHR registered Poodles.


Discussion in 'Android Hacks and Help' started by carfreek24, Sep 15, 2011.
Did you make a backup?
You can't get to your sdcard in recovery? Or in the OS?
Try wiping data/cache and if that doesnt work then try sbf'ing back to .330 then updating the .607.
Happened to me while back. I had to sbf but mine was a little bit more complex.


text:
In After Life, the latest chapter in Ricky Gervais' career of diminishing artistic returns, his protagonist Tony spends most of his time bullying co-workers, threatening to commit suicide and generally being a monumental pain in the proverbial.
In between these moments, we are compelled to feel sorry for the nihilistic schlub via a series of vignettes recorded by his dying wife, which the recently bereaved Tony watches on his laptop from bed while cloying music plays. This terrain should be familiar to anyone who endured the relentless, soupy sincerity of Derek, a series that Gervais made to convince critics that his usage of the word "mong" did not in any way indicate contempt for disabled people.
Tony lives in an impossibly idyllic English town called Tambury and works on the local gazette, under the auspices of his far too tolerant editor and brother-in-law, Matt. The plot, such as it is, involves a crushed Tony pettily insulting everyone he comes into contact with while doing the rounds on a succession of local stories featuring oddballs desperate to get in the paper. It's a decent basis for a comedy, but the laughs are thin on the ground here. In fact, Gervais rakes over old ground in the very first episode, repurposing an old 'bit' from one of his early standup shows.
A poor impersonation of a person
There is much that does not ring true about After Life, not least the fact that picture-postcard Tambury, with its spotless beaches and parkland and Victorian houses, seems to be bathed in munificent sunshine during all six episodes, enabling Tony to slouch about in jogging bottoms, a T-shirt and sunglasses (stock attire of the modern journo). Or the fact that, despite his thoroughly unlikeable persona, various characters persistently point out what a great and funny bloke he is. Or the entirely unconvincing portrayals of a junkie and sex worker, with whom Tony improbably finds himself fraternising.
There is no collision or friction, no three-dimensional entity to anchor the whole project
What is perhaps most galling is just how little thought has been put into the cast of characters whom Tony exasperatedly butts up against. There's the paper's photographer Lenny, whose chief characteristics are to eat loudly (and thereby disgust/irritate Tony) and look gormless; the new reporter Sandy, a Dawn Tinsley-like figure who merely smiles while passively observing the antihero's behaviour; Tony's bewildered care home-bound father, who acts as a proxy for his son's despair; you get the gist.
A comedy vehicle without petrol
There is no collision or friction, no three-dimensional entity to anchor the whole project. Tony? He's an Angry Man, a misanthropic, sweary presence stomping around his sunny market town communicating his grief to anyone who'll listen. He also finds opportune moments to say exactly what his creator would say to people who believe in God. Oh, and finds time to fend off a pair of snarling teenage muggers and heroically intervene during a moped mugging. Because, well, maybe Tony isn't such a lost cause after all.
After Life meanders through its six episodes, with the occasional laugh to be had amid the ham-fisted sentimentality – quasi-touching scenes of Tony perched by the graveside, or watching home video of himself pranking his departed wife (to which she invariably shrieks "Oh, you cunt! You twat! Tony!" before subsiding to the hilarity of it all) or staring earnestly at his dad in a claustrophobic care home.
It can't be that bad, can it? Well, Paul Kanye puts in a good turn as an amusingly insensitive psychiatrist and David Earl excels, as he did in Extras and Derek, as a kooky scene-stealer; plus there's a tiny chance you'll be taken in by the see-it-coming-a-mile-away trajectory of the story, enough to find the whole endeavour worthwhile. But even the most loyal Gervais apparatchiks wouldn't shelve After Life alongside The Office or Extras.
This is a comedy vehicle without petrol, a clumsy attempt at dark humour and pathos with an unlikeable character at its core and a supporting cast of thinly-drawn strangers, drifting this way and that. Hey, that's a point: if there's any justification to be made for a second series, it's the lack of flesh on the bones of these anonymous creatures…
Words by Ronnie McCluskey
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Ed Uncovered editor, word mangler and slinger of dank memes.
Five Reasons Why LinkedIn Licks Balls
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Bigger, Badder, Twerkier: The Ultimate Review of the Year 2013 (part II)


The University of Sussex has shown big improvement in two recent polls.
In the National Student Survey (NSS), published on 11 September, the score for overall satisfaction rose from 78% in 2007 to 86% this year. The NSS questions final-year undergraduates on a number of academic criteria including teaching, learning resources and academic support.
The questions on teaching achieved the highest overall score with 88% of students giving positive results whereas assessment and feedback fared less well with 61% positive results. Only 55% of students said that they had received detailed comments on their work and less than half believed that feedback had helped them clarify things that they didn't understand.
The results as a whole show improvement on last year's scores with a higher mark for each of the 22 questions. Sussex also came top in the rankings out of all the elite 1994 and Russell Group Institutions.
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) commissions the online survey every year as a means of obtaining honest student feedback about their university experience. For a more detailed breakdown of results please visit www.unistats.com.
In other recent rankings the University of Sussex has climbed eight places since last year to claim 22nd position in The Sunday Times University Guide, making it the highest climber in the top 30.
The Sunday Times Guide, which describes itself as the 'definitive guide for prospective students', bases its information on a variety of factors, including the NSS scores, research quality and graduate employment rates to compile its top 100 list.


text:
Aberystwyth academic curates film festival programme celebrating women's filmmaking
Dr Kim Knowles
The Retrospective focus at this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival has been curated by Aberystwyth University experimental film specialist Dr Kim Knowles.
'Reframing the Gaze: Experiments in Women's Filmmaking from 1972 to Now', celebrates the 50th anniversary of the legendary 1972 Women's Event, which was organised by film scholars Laura Mulvey and Claire Johnson, along with the then Creative Director of the Festival Lynda Myles.
The programme pulls together a selection of feature-length and short works that emphasise formal experimentation and creative risk-taking, demonstrating how female and female-identifying artists have subverted patriarchal film culture through innovations in film language.
The eight programmes span five decades, and feature films from the UK, USA, Japan, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Turkey and Argentina.
Dr Knowles has held the role of Experimental Film Programmer at Edinburgh International Film Festival since 2008 and is a Senior Lecturer in Alternative and Experimental Film in the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies at Aberystwyth.
She said: "The retrospective looks back to the 1972 event, but it also celebrates the 1970s more generally as a key decade in women's cinema and in the development of feminist film theory. I wanted to take an unconventional approach to the retrospective. I've always been inspired by Mulvey's work, but her films are not as well-known as her writing. I take Riddles of the Sphinx as a springboard, and it sent me in many different directions!"
The event is sponsored by the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies at Aberystwyth University as part of a 3-year package that allows students to visit the festival with a delegate pass, as well as offering training placements in curating and film criticism for students in the Department.
The 75th Edinburgh International Film Festival takes place from 12-20 August 2022.
communications@aber.ac.uk
Department of Theatre, Film & Television Studies


How to hold a tender for advertising companies?
Each organization uses its tools and methods for selecting a contractor for the production of signs and other advertising design. Often, however, the very preparation of technical specifications leaves a lot to be desired.
For obvious reasons, the correct specification requires an industry expert to know all the intricacies of the advertising business.
We are minded to share tips to prepare terms of reference for the tender accurataly.
Requested and received from the producers of visual advertising the required information, you will be surprised at the difference between the offers both on quantity and quality of materials in the cost sheets.
Next, the choice is yours and the accuracy of this choice will depend on the correct combination of logic and intuition.


text:
Military Intelligence? A contradiction in terms
Here's a little Monday quiz.
Who said the following………
"In my business, asking people to risk their lives is part of the job, but doing so without giving them the chance to understand that there is a life after death is something of a betrayal...Qualities and core values are fine as an acceptable moral baseline for leadership, but the unique life, death, resurrection and promises of Christ provide that spiritual opportunity that I believe takes the privilege of leadership to another level."
Before I identify the pillock, also ask yourself if you would trust him to run a boy scout troop.
No? Thought not!
The speaker was General Sir Richard Dannatt, formerly Chief of General Staff for the UK Armed Forces. Seems he's a bit of a godbotherer, as he proved last weekend while (thankfully) the only damage he was doing to humanity was boring the arse off local spookchasers at a prayer breakfast. He's just the latest in a long line of losers, deadbeats and minor fraudsters to have received this less than prestigious insult. (see http://www.isleofman.com/News/article.aspx?article=27383&area for more).
With a superstitious bampot like that running 'our' contribution to the cock-up in Afghanistan is it any wonder a few beardy wierdos armed with little more than knackered potato peelers can run rings round the world's most expensive armies?
Lions led by donkeys doesn't even begin to cover it – and, anyway, as my grandfather told me several times, the pack mules he worked with in World War One were far cannier than Army generals , so it would also be an insult to donkeys.
The good news is that at least he isn't planning to move here, so won't be joining other intellectually challenged ex-military buffoons running events like yesterday's that insult ex-servicemen.
But the really bad news is that one of Eton's worst alumni is still rumoured to be finding a place for this chump in the Lords.
Yet another argument for abolishing the Second Chamber then.
Posted by Stuart H. at 20:09 1 comment:
Labels: general ignorance, politics, war crimes
Another Sunday, more pointless rituals to perpetuate lies
It seems that as fast as one generation is spared cretinous military rituals of state and the dubious delights of 'serving one's country', the klingons who perpetuate such big fibs conscript younger victims.
Today around 100 Manx kids will march about pointlessly as part of a sham 'war memorial' (see http://www.energyfm.net/cms/news_story_107671.html for more).
Like the UK government, the Manx one likes to pretend this fatuous, publically-subsidised pray-in has a point. It doesn't, unless you count distracting us from wondering how they managed to screw up public services in years when obscene amounts of money could have rolled in to build them.
I'd also have to ask such 'vets', quite bluntly, how crap was the rest of your life that you need to commemorate a wasted adolescence several times a year – on the rates? I've seen the Sex Pistols and seen off the National Front, but I don't need to dress up in bondage trousers with a bunch of balding sad-acts and march down Kings Road every pigging summer.
In fact, the funniest thing is I've probably seen more war zones and intervened positively in more conflicts than a whole platoon of today's marchers. I did it by the simple method of taking an interest in world and social affairs and building up a network of like-minded friends in other countries. This is almost the bi-polar opposite of the 'advice' given to me at school by the kind of xenophobic tossers who perpetuate this twaddle so that they can queen about in a beret.
On the other hand it is exactly the advice given to me by my grandfather, who was crippled in the First World War and only survived it because he was rescued by a German soldier. He threw away his war medals after that war faster than the UK government threw him on the scrap heap, never went to an Armistice Day parade, and never had a bad word for a foreigner of any description that I heard.
Like my wife's grandfather, he would have probably been delighted that I married the grand-daughter of someone who not only served against him but was also conscripted in the Second World War, and by all the evidence in letters home from the Russian Front we recently discovered found the whole situation as pointless, sick and stupid as my own grandfather. The even sicker thing – he hated the Nazis even more than the Allies did, and had only been conscripted for certain death at an advanced age as revenge for being a pre-war Communist Party member.
I sincerely hope that all this pseudo-patriotic nonsense finally dies out before I get a sad letter from a head teacher informing me that my daughter is expected to perpetuate this lie. The thing is, unlike the professional liars and muddle-headed loons who do, I have far too much respect for war victims to let her.
To those who think we should still commemorate the war I have a simple suggestion. Let your chintzy soldier statues fall down and replace them, if you must, with a simple image of a dead baby impaled on a bayonet.
If you can't handle that, you're not serious about why we need to remember the horrors of war and 'inform' the young.
So stop wasting our time and public money.
Posted by Stuart H. at 12:18 2 comments:
Labels: bigotry, church/state collaboration, war crimes
ICAHK shows us the way, even when in poor English
I haven't been looking at the excellent International Campaign Against Honour Killings site as regularly as I should, so almost missed a revealing report there this week.
A Delhi court came down hard on the police for launching a massive hunt for the Police Commissioner's dog yet failing dismally to protect local women – often from their own families.
The criticism came up as the court heard a case concerning a man sent to jail for eloping with a girl after her parents alleged she was raped. It seems police are often acting on such complaints, which tend to stem from families unhappy that a girl freely chooses her partner, yet are failing dismally to investigate honour killings carried out by families.
You can read more at http://www.stophonourkillings.com/?q=node/4708 . Try not to be put off by the sometimes clumsy English translations on this site, by the way, because that never lessens the importance or impact. In fact, it should probably put us to shame because folk are trying to report this stuff on their own communities, while we fail to even look in ours.
For example, as I quickly discovered a couple of years back when trying to contribute to the Manx government's pseudo-attempt to create a better homelessness database, the real extent of homophobia, racism or violence against women on the Isle of Man will never be known as long as those compiling the figures have an interest in protecting some of the worst offenders. That is, bigots in key places within certain government departments or the religious right organisations who otherwise employ them and control other agencies which might help - from homelessness to fostering to bail to prisoner rehabilitation and prisoner family support to the local women's refuge. All, in my experience, hiding the real nature and extent of the problem, and all with skeletons in the closet.
Labels: bigotry, church/state collaboration, violence, women
Woe, woe, woe, woe....Portaloo
The Deluded Herd were trying convene another Homage to Nuremburg this morning. This time they used their special privileges to 'do a Glastonbury' down at the godawful Bay Festival (see http://www.manxradio.com/newsread.aspx?id=45882 for more).
Under normal circumstances they wouldn't need a tent. A festival Portaloo would have done the job nicely and had just the hot, sweaty atmosphere evangelicals seem to like.
But was there more to this than meets the eye?
Last year's original Bay Festival set new local precedents for the over-pricing of tickets to see sad burn-outs, inconveniencing of locals and, in return, mass disinterest. It was no surprise that the organisers irritated Peel residents and local politicians so much that nobody wanted them back –ever – or that the commercial set-up behind it eventually went bankrupt.
How or why our national misgovernors ever fell for the whole charade all over again and lent an even bigger venue in the capital - Nobles Park - to the 'new' festival management we'll never know. It certainly couldn't have been a brown envelope job, as most island retailers are having nothing to do with a 'business' which probably still hasn't paid last year's bills, never mind wanting a credit line for this year.
The ticket prices are just as outrageous – with an average family needing to spend in the region of £100 to see the Sunday afternoon X Factor runners up meet Britain's Got Talent runners up extravaganza which features the only artists anyone under 40 has heard of. So how handy that godbothers, presumably, could stroll in free on Sunday morning then 'forget' to go home again, and I'm sure nobody from the churches would have thought of that – them being such paragons of virtue and all.
Or it might be even simpler than that.
This year's festival has been played up like nothing is wrong (see http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/Bay-Festival-fever-hits-as.6369304.jp ), though that's probably more to do with the advertising clout of the 'sponsors', but it's noticeable that yesterday what should have been a crowd-filler (the Diversity show) eventually offered free entry to kids with every adult ticket in order to make the place look even half-full. And this 'looking full' is the key because (as the unsuccessful organiser of a previous festival once told me) the money is in the webcams, not punters on the ground.
Maybe the simple truth is that even the Sunday afternoon show isn't shifting units, so the organisers are happy to have a few hundred godbotherers waving their hands about and looking blissed on camera – kind of like crowd extras in a Hollywood blockbuster who you don't even have to pay, and who don't even need to act because they're naturally enthusiastic about total rubbish anyway.
Yup, reckon that'll be it. Though that won't be the way either godbotherers, tourist department or festival organisers will spin it in coming weeks.
Labels: business, church/state collaboration, entertainment
Hit or Amish?
Question: What goes clip-clop, clip-clop, BANG, clippetty-clop, clippetty-clop?
Answer: A drive-by Amish shooting.
Well, I liked it!
Labels: humour, religion
Stand up for an Egyptian free speech blogger
There's a petition to help Karim Amer at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/158/709/068 .
For those who haven't followed the case, Karim, a young Egyptian blogger, was charged with publishing material 'critical of Islam' and Egypt's President Hosni Mubarek. He was imprisoned for four years, and claims that, while imprisoned, he has been beaten at least twice under the supervision of a prison officer.
As the folk behind the petition point out, one of the luxuries of the internet is that it's a forum of expression available to anyone with some cheapish, basic technology to hand. And in this forum, anyone should be able to contribute to a discussion and speak their mind. Karim just exercised what is universally agreed is a right to peaceful freedom of expression - a right all decent governments have committed themselves by various international agreements to upholding.
If the advantages of the internet are to be used to their fullest, we need to speak up for folk like Karim, and stop powerful interest groups from extending their 'right' to be beyond jokes, honest criticism and other means by which ordinary folk can cut such loons down to size.
Labels: free speech, human rights, Islam, privilege
Abuse, misuse and statistics
I've just been watching a sad example of the current state of British academia.
More precisely, I've been watching what happens when the subsidy from one major industry pays for not only the 'right' research results, but a pseudo-professorship at a former minor technical college upgraded to university status to enforce the 'rightness'.
The sad example appeared on my favourite Sunday morning comedy show to argue that 'we should all pay the price of alcohol abuse'. What's even sadder, I once spoke to this 'professor' and her more principled research partner about the misuse of their work by the Manx government, so know that they have grave reservations about the way in which the tip of the research iceberg – articles in properly peer-reviewed social science journals – is quoted totally out of context when used by advocacy groups and the major drinks companies to forward their agenda (i.e. no more cheap alcohol in supermarkets and artificially inflated prices in pubs and licenced premises which have no choice but to pay them, then pass them on to the punter).
One of the show panellists – a liberal rabbi whose name I didn't catch and who looks like Jonathan Pryce's stunt double - put his finger on the problem. If we're serious about reducing alcohol intake, why does a pint cost £2.20 and a soft drink cost £2.40 in an average pub?
The answer, though no-one said it, might be obvious to anyone who can be bothered to do the research and join the dots. It is because the same company owns both the beer and the soft drink and has a virtual monopoly over supply of both, at prices artificially inflated by a moral panic over 'binge drinking' based only on the misquoting of 'research' which (like the academics and academic departments who produced it) those drinks companies also own.
Notes From The Borderlands, an excellent print and online mag which provides the UK's best research on far right and secret state activity, uses the term 'state compromised journalism' to describe when 'investigative journalists', incapable of or reluctant to do proper research, have their stories written and agendas set by state agencies. Such stories then appear in documentaries or left of centre papers like the Guardian and so help the state to keep smallish reform groups at each others throats, while dismally failing to end racism or any of the other tools of government. A clever tactic, as us liberals automatically discount anything in rightish broadsheets; especially as we know, thanks to folk like Nick Davies, that MI5 are on good terms with editors and key staff.
Similarly, isn't it time we ask which academics are 'state compromised' or 'commercially compromised' – not always simply by career choice (though it definitely happens), but in many more cases because research parameters - and sometimes the existences of whole university departments - are set by the sponsors? Not only that, but there is no longer a true academic commitment to fearlessly independent research and making results available for public scrutiny -due to the high price anyone outside academic networks has to pay to see academic articles, and the way the sponsors also control publication and use of 'their' research.
Certainly we should still pay attention to the 'freedom of speech' arguments we sometimes hear when one major interest group tries to gag the research of a more independent writer, e.g. the Simon Singh case. But we should recognise such independent research is now the brave exception, not the rule it is held up to be.
And there are also those who ask why I am obsessed with the 'sex, drugs and rock and roll' end of civil liberties, not more mainstream concerns like poverty. To which I would reply thus.
The police say they practice 'zero tolerance' of petty crime, using the rationale that it prevents it escalating into major crime, though the reality might be that they can't go after major criminals anyway – especially when they are in government or running the civil service!
Similarly, I have zero tolerance of PR misdemeanours, like greenwashing , advocacy research and the deliberate twisting of results which (far too often) aren't available for proper independent scrutiny: because their drip, drip drip of misinformation dominates and sets 'common sense' understandings of society and morality.
We cannot, overnight, change the effect of decades (sometimes centuries) of bigotry and lies. But we can chip away at the newer, smaller lies before they take root, in the hope that they make more people question the bigger ones. And at the very least, people will then refuse to cooperate with the state, the churches and other major anti-democratic interests on newer infringements on civil liberties.
Labels: alcohol, government advisory bodies, public relations exercises
Should bible ownership be licenced?
I got carried away by other stuff yesterday and forgot to pose a question inspired by a Beeb Sunday morning live comedy show, i.e., 'should bible ownership be licenced?'
I ask after viewing as much of The Big Questions as they could transmit before either a technical fault or (as I suspect) they stopped recording so that Campbell could gaffa tape the gob of a particularly stupid audience member.
Inevitably, the Cumbria shootings spawned an inevitable question about gun control, 'Should all guns be illegal',with the inevitable lunatic fringe views ranging from, on one side, a bloke who thought all pensioners should be issued with handguns to a madwoman whose son had been shot, thus giving her a permanent income screeching about it to the media.
And Wendy One Note (as we'll dub her), really did screech. From the point Campbell began introducing the topic, and she interrupted him, to the point where, having allowed her to screech for 30 seconds, he tried to bring in another speaker, who she interrupted. At this point there was a technical breakdown, and when abnormal service was resumed Campbell tried to precis the argument thus far, only for Wendy One Note to interrupt, at which point there was a longer technical breakdown.
The signal came back, Campbell tried again to precis and Wendy again screeched before he had got two sentences out, at which point technical difficulties again stopped play, and the Beeb finally gave up and moved to a replacement programme.
Much as I love such knockabout stuff, there is a serious question to be asked, if only we can move away from kneejerk stuff about gun control.
And that question is 'Should bible ownership be licenced?'
Think about it, compared to the miniscule number of nutters running amok with shotguns, the damage caused by widespread, often totally irresponsible, bible ownership in this country is immense. This isn't just individual lives, but whole families - whole communities even – who get damaged.
Now historically, of course, bibles were chained to the lectern in churches and only licenced priests could read them. But were things any better in the good old days?
No, they may even have been worse. Because religious nutters totally ran the country and nobody else even had a bible to bash back with. Plus, being illiterate, they couldn't have quoted it out of context as an excuse.
So was the invention of the printing press, the rise of Protestantism and literacy – thus bringing the potential of bibles for all and the ability of most to read them - an improvement?
Um!
If anything, things are much worse. Bibles are everywhere – not just in churches or hotel bedrooms but readily available in bookshops without mental health or criminal record checks… and even compulsory in schools.
And that's not all. In addition to officially condoned bibles, cheap replicas and a whole range of similar weapons are flooding the street for the impressionable to get hold of. The Book of Mormon, the Koran and the I-Ching (how on earth do you get 'divine wisdom' from a glorified gambling device, by the way) to name but a few… and not a training manual or certified course of instruction in sight to prevent any passing lunatic from picking one up, opening it at random and causing untold havoc.
Forget tightening up on the licencing of shotguns. There's a far greater menace to society on our streeets, and we need to get a grip on it.
Labels: general ignorance, gun control, religion
Lazy Sunday Afternoon
The Better Half, The Prodigy and I are just back from an enjoyable afternoon over in the local park, the Mooragh. Actually, we are just back from the best afternoon of the best week in the year in the best town in the island – unless you're a health freak, an environmentalist, a Christian or other common forms of misery guts.
Bit different to the usual Sunday afternoon atmosphere today as it's Mad Sunday. For the non-bikers, that's the best part of the TT, when the Mountain section of the public road course is kept one way so visiting nutters can emulate the racers in a community where, being civilised, we have no speed limits outside built up areas anyway.
Watching mad Germans and Paddies riding four abreast at around 180 MPH on the fastest part of the course while coppers just laugh is something you'll never, ever, see anywhere else in the world. Petrolheads, read this and weep.
On Mad Sunday there's also a 'run what you brung' quarter mile bike sprint down Mooragh Prom, which borders the park. So while street legal dragsters are doing that, the rugby pitch is turned into an impromptu bike park and the park is filled with fun-lovers of all ages.
Sadly, this year the usual vintage bike display was missing – not sure what happened there. Still, I did spot one beauty amongst the 21st century Jap technology. A mid-sixties BSA A65. Not even collector condition, but better than that. This one had signs of daily use.
I had an SS80 of similar vintage and condition back when I was 17 – not too fast but black, loud and crude. Never could have graduated to something like an A65, which now (thanks to dull, middle-aged collectors who were too busy studying accounts to ride them when they were new) run at about £15K even for a shed job 'suitable for restoration', but I did ride one – just once.
And what a ride that was. In Hunter S. Thompson's Hells Angels he describes a midnight ride on his BSA, from Ken Kesey's house in La Honda down the Californian coast right back to Haight Ashbury. When I first read it, aged 17, I wished I could emulate it, and spent my last penny on the monstrous SS80 rather than a practical Japanese bike.
Then in 1992, during a brief visit to California, the unbelievable happened. A friend of a friend I was visiting had a knackered A65, and he let me do it – at midnight on an August perfect moonlit night, on a clear empty road. The fool, the mad, trusting, angelic fool (him, not me)!
The best bit – I got talking to a San Fran journo of Thompson vintage, who told me Thompson never even did it. The ride in the book is the amalgamated experience of a number of rides over that summer. i.e., I had just out-gonzoed the Master of Gonzo.
Anyways, rambled a bit there – back to this afternoon.
There was a metal band playing in the Mooragh bandstand – where they usually have brass bands, folk dance displays and other wholesome entertainment. A proper metal band – three ageing sheet metal workers from Brum by their looks and accents.
Lead guitarist with the world's longest mullet and deep vein thrombosis, a grimacing drummer with ZZ Top beard, and a bass player catatonic enough to make John Entwhistle look lively. And they were loud, proper rock band loud, with Marshall stacks and everything.
I sat against a pillar ten feet away with a huge grin while the Better Half and The Prodigy were off getting sausage and chip baps, HP sauce, tomato ketchup, sticky buns, ice cream, crisps and a host of other unhealthy stuff (we'd decided before going that it would be that kind of a day – no special diets, no regrets). Later The Prodigy braved the racket enough to join me for her first 'proper' rock gig. The social workers can try coming for her later if they like, but it'll be over my dead (or at least deaf) body.
She got there just in time for the drum solo – a proper one. While ZZ's stunt stand-in did every drum cliché in the book the guitarist and bassist walked off – and I kid you not here – into the café, where they queued for, then sat down and ate, egg and chips. They got back just as the drummer was pulling his final stunt, which involved drinking a pint of Lucozade mixed with Jack Daniels while simultaneously keeping the bass drum ,hi-hat and a ride cymbal going, and as a finale played Wipeout, which meant the drummer had to put in most of the work anyway.
I haven't laughed so much in years. What very heaven it is to be alive and living in Ramsey on the best afternoon of the best week of the year.
(with no apologies to Willie Wordsworth. Sod him, he had his life and his fun, now it's our turn)
Labels: heavy metal, motorcycles, serious fun, TT races
Too old to party, too young for a bus pass
As a retired boho, I had to shake my head sadly at a piece on the Guardian music pages entitled Why don't rock stars trash hotel rooms any more?
Honestly, musicians today – total disgrace. Don't know why they don't just give it up and join some pointless local government department or other.
Caroline Sullivan (see http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jun/03/rock-stars-hotels-caroline-sullivan ) sounds a little nostalgic for the golden days of Led Zep & Co, and has some fun at the expense of modern artists who behave like theology students and limit their demands to things like pillows with no feathers (because a band member has an allergy).
I know what she means, but then I was lucky enough to be schooled by the best at the end of that golden era. On the other hand, if I'm honest, not only do I not remember some of what they taught me, to this day I don't know where I was when receiving instruction.
The days immediately following a 1982 after-gig party involving the early Motorhead line-up are a particular black-hole. I'm not sure I even wrote the article I was (in theory) supposed to provide to the Dublin mag Hot Press. Not that Lemmy, Philthy Animal or Fast Eddie ever worried about bad publicity – or in this case the lack of it.
But I started earlier than that. Around my 18th birthday, in fact, when a friendly college tutor invited me along to a party given by his landlord at a former village rectory in Norfolk and, for reasons he wouldn't explain, suggested I brought my tuba. It was supposed to be a gathering of local arty types, and the host was a trad jazz trumpeter who'd started out at London art schools, so I thought no more of it.
The party started normally enough. Then, about 10 PM, there was a huge crash outside, and we emerged to find a large US car had hit the rectory gates before skidding into the duckpond. Out of the passenger door emerged a very drunk Viv Stanshall, the Bonzo Dog Dooh Dah Band singer, who I soon learned was one of the host's old art school mates. Then Viv's best mate Keith Moon got out of the driver's door, and the party livened up….somewhat!
For example, at about 1 AM the village cop watched me accompanying Viv Stanshall in a 1920's ditty, Tubas in the Moonlight as we both sat on the rectory roof, then walked off, totally flabbergasted, saying, 'Forget it, no magistrate would ever believe me!'
If your rock education starts by partying with Keith Moon you're never going to be normal again, or bother going to office parties when commissions from corporate publishing bores dry up (as they will) and you have to grow up and get a proper job.
But the golden age of rock excess was also, funnily enough, an age in which people may have partied hard, but also looked after each other, and even famous rockers cared more about their fans.
For example, reading in Sullivan's piece about the sad security worries of the whiney stude faves Keane, I remember the night when The Clash's White Riot tour hit Plymouth. After a stonking gig where the audience rioted, chasing a notorious venue's scumbag security into the toilets and jamming the door shut with an iron bar, the hardcore fans followed the band back to the Holiday Inn, where Mick Jones and Paul Simenon opened windows and fire exits to slip them all in for the night.
No, they couldn't afford the bill for the damage, and no, the band's label didn't stump up either. That's just the way musicians earning no more than the dole behaved back then, and probably never will again.
My hedonistic days are long gone now, though every time work colleagues try to impress with small town tales of excess I'm not smiling at their antics, just passing the time until they stop talking by recalling my own.
I'm also wondering how Keith Moon or Viv Stanshall would cope in a retirement home. Or more precisely, how the management would cope with them.
Labels: antisocial behaviour, boredom, rock stars
Pimping for Jesus in the Cumbrian gun tragedy
I will get on to cheerier subjects, honest, but I can't let the intrusion of Jesus Pimps on the Cumbrian shooting tragedy go without comment.
We're well used to the way religious parasites leech onto any misfortune under the pretence of 'helping the grieving process', and also the way the media, having counted the dead and suggested (often inaccurately) some culprits, automatically asks a priest to comment and goes looking for a handy church service for the victims, however irrelevant.
My fellow regulars over at Platitude of the Day have quickly commented on the crass, insensitive offerings heard since the tragedy on Thought For The Day. Real sick bucket scrapings from Dr Sacks and Canon Billing so far.
Can it get worse? They're professional religious pimps, totally lacking shame or compassion, and this grief-fest has economic potential, so we know the answer already.
But over in Cumbria stage two of the religious intrusion is now in full swing.
Last night there was a high profile service to 'pray for the souls of the victims' at St Mary & St Michael, Egremont, and Border TV also announced local churchs are leaving their doors open, lighting candles, praying, singing hymns and generally running about in an attempt to look concerned. In fairness, maybe some folk genuinely will get solace from that, but can I point out something?
There's a profile of all the known victims by BBC Cumbria at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/10222161.stm#story-heading-6 . With the exception of one elderly couple, James and Jennifer Jackson, who were involved in their church parish council, not one victim is identified by their families or friends as regular church goers or people to whom religion was important.
Furthermore, the family of at least one, Michael Pike, specifically said on both BBC and Border ITV interviews they intend to celebrate his life, not mourn his death, and have no use for or interest in the faith-based irrelevance now taking place.
In fact, Jude Talbot, his daughter, said to the Beeb: "That's the sort of person he was, he was a humanist, he thoroughly believed that we should celebrate life, not rake over coals. So that's what we are doing, we are focusing on my father and the happy times we've had with him."
She said something similar to Border, but it was cut to something less specific about him still being around, literally, through all the work he'd done on the family house and garden. An ex-shipbuilder who went on to work at Sellafield, trade-union organiser and mature Open Uni graduate, he sounded like a great guy to call friend or relative.
Which is why the misapropriation of his identity and misrepresentation of his beliefs, along with those of all the other victims for the St. Michaels and St Mary service and others, without (and in his specific case against) family wishes is another crime we should add to those chalked up by churches.
Perhaps we should also be asking why the gunman had nobody to talk his troubles through with. Or more accurately, as in the Isle of Man, would that be the case if it wasn't for government pennypinchers closing the advice and social services which should be available, but hiding the closure by 'supporting' new, and useless, faith-based schemes which no-one in a small community ever uses unless forcibly sent there, e.g. by a court order. Because we know only too well the bigotry and general worldly ignorance of village idiots paid to light candles, talk to the sky and otherwise waste public money.
Labels: bogus 'therapy', identity theft, public services
Careering blindly
Every year the Manx Education Department puts on a careers fair, meant to give kids some idea of the range of UK university courses on offer. I openly admit, I look for the press release very year, because alongside the legit colleges who come recruiting, there are always some barking mad ones.
Beats me that, not only are they let in, but that our kids actually get grants to go there. On the other hand, this is an Education Department which has only been overseen by one politician educated to graduate level in at least 30 years, to my certain knowledge.
So, is this year the exception? Well, go to http://www.gov.im/lib/news/education/ballakermeenhigh1.xml and find the answer, which is 'No!'
I just love the way they try to sneak in: "Other bodies attending include Theological Colleges and Christian Gap Year opportunities; Scripture Union Ministries Trust..."
W-H-A-T!!!!
Theological colleges? Last I heard even the biggest European ones are closing because parents no longer think being a child molester (sorry…....priest) is a proper job.
Christian gap year opportunities? Now honestly, if you were unlucky enough to be raised in a closed Christian environment, wouldn't Christianity actually be something you badly need to take at least a gap year (possibly even the rest of your life) escaping from?
And judging from any local example, the only way that Scripture Union Ministries Trust is a career opportunity is if Manx schools are still churning out kids too dumb to stack shelves at Tesco.
So what kind of reflection on Manx educational standards is that?
Labels: career advice, education
Overseas obstacles to progress
According to an announcement on the Manx government' s website:
"The Isle of Man Overseas Aid Committee has responded to appeals from the Tearfund and Christian Aid charities to provide emergency aid to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the south east region of India affected by Cyclone Laila. "
And in particular:
"The sum of £36,000 has been donated to Tearfund to assist the emergency provision of water and sanitation facilities, and the distribution of items to more than 10,000 people in the Fizi Territory of DRC."
I'll ask more specific questions.
Why give taxpayers money to spook-chasing homophobes to help them prolong the power struggle between rival superstitions which is one of the two main reasons for continued conflict in the Congo?
Why give money to a 'charity' which specifically demands that any worker or volunteer signs a pledge to uphold 'traditional' Christian values, and which is known throughout the UK gay community for using that as a way of weeding out gay people?
Why support such institutional homophobia and other prejudices, enabled only by the sickening privileges governments here and either side of the Irish Sea from us insist religious groups must have, not only in their bizarre worship practices, but their business and employment practices, even when carrying out public sector work which should be equally available to all?
You can read the official line at http://www.gov.im/lib/news/cso/isleofmansupport1.xml , and I will say in passing I have slightly less problem with Christian Aid also getting £14K to distribute relief supplies after the Indian cyclone. Because I do recognise that, unlike other 'faith based charities', Christian Aid do not, for example, impose their immorality on the dispossessed to the extent of refusing to help poor communities who try to practice birth control.
OK, Christian Aid will never get a penny in donations from this household, for the same reason we'd never give money to a charity called 'White Aid'. In a nutshell, a charity with a name like that perpetuates the lie that one culture is more decent than another. They can argue until they're blue in the face that they don't mean to and we'll never believe them, because what other purpose could the word 'Christian' have in the name of the charity?
I also think their strange insistence on working with 'local partners' which in practice means churches, is indefensible. Because in practice, as with Tearfund, that tips the power balance in poor areas in favour of religious organisations. And churches are, by their very nature, irrational in their ideas and anti-democratic in their practice.
So, to sum up, another £50K in taxes either down the drain or handed over to 'charities' which perpetuate hate, injustice and obstacles to democracy both here and in poorer parts of the world. We do that, and in the 1990's we also enabled offshore arms deals which allowed major corporations to secretly fund militias in the Congo in order to gain control of cheap minerals used to bring down the price of mobile phones.
We still hide the money creamed off from aid projects by African dictators by helping them funnel it through pyramids of offshore companies around the world, but ultimately controlled here or in the Channel Isles.
And we still wonder why people over there, rather than being thankful for our 'charity', absolutely hate us?
Labels: offshore finance, overseas aid, religious charities
Another Sunday, more pointless rituals to perpetua...


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text:
package org.apache.isis.core.metamodel.facets.object.parseable.annotcfg;

import com.google.common.base.Strings;

import org.apache.isis.applib.annotation.Parseable;
import org.apache.isis.core.commons.config.IsisConfiguration;
import org.apache.isis.core.metamodel.adapter.mgr.AdapterManager;
import org.apache.isis.core.metamodel.facetapi.FacetHolder;
import org.apache.isis.core.metamodel.facets.object.parseable.ParseableFacetAbstract;
import org.apache.isis.core.metamodel.facets.object.parseable.ParserUtil;
import org.apache.isis.core.metamodel.services.ServicesInjector;

public class ParseableFacetAnnotation extends ParseableFacetAbstract {

    private static String parserName(final Class<?> annotatedClass, final IsisConfiguration configuration) {
        final Parseable annotation = annotatedClass.getAnnotation(Parseable.class);
        final String parserName = annotation.parserName();
        if (!Strings.isNullOrEmpty(parserName)) {
            return parserName;
        }
        return ParserUtil.parserNameFromConfiguration(annotatedClass, configuration);
    }

    private static Class<?> parserClass(final Class<?> annotatedClass) {
        final Parseable annotation = annotatedClass.getAnnotation(Parseable.class);
        return annotation.parserClass();
    }

    public ParseableFacetAnnotation(
            final Class<?> annotatedClass,
            final IsisConfiguration configuration,
            final FacetHolder holder,
            final AdapterManager adapterManager,
            final ServicesInjector dependencyInjector) {
        this(parserName(annotatedClass, configuration), parserClass(annotatedClass), holder,
                adapterManager, dependencyInjector);
    }

    private ParseableFacetAnnotation(
            final String candidateParserName,
            final Class<?> candidateParserClass,
            final FacetHolder holder,
            final AdapterManager adapterManager,
            final ServicesInjector dependencyInjector) {
        super(candidateParserName, candidateParserClass, holder, dependencyInjector);
    }

}


text:
Interview Comedian Lawrence DeLoach at The Greenwich Village Comedy Club
We met up with the hilarious stand-up Comedian Lawrence DeLoach at his one of his show at Greenwich Village Comedy Club to talk to him about his stand up comedy and here is what he had to say.
1. What other jobs did you do before starting stand up comedy?
I worked for a cable company as a bill collector and that was the worst job ever.
2. How did you know you wanted to be a comedian?
I saw Lewis Black live and that made me want to try it out. I also made a joke to my friends about battle rappers that I saw Kevin Hart do on his 1st hour special and that made me realize that if this amazing comic and I had similar thoughts… I should become a comedian.
3. If you weren't doing comedy, what would you be doing?
Being a recreational basketball legend. Selling shoes to women telling them about the game that I scored 4 touchdowns for Polk High School… just like Al Bundy
4. Where are some of your favorite places to perform?
The Stand, Carolines, Greenwich Village Comedy Club, The Grisly Pear, Knitting Factory… Any stage with a great crowd is my favorite place to perform
5. Who are some of your favorite up-and-comers in the comedy world?
You're gonna get me in trouble….. So many great up and comers… If I had to name 5 in no order
Petey Deabreu, James Alexander, Tracey Carnazzo, Kenice Mobley, Leah Bonnema
6. What's the best advice you've ever gotten?
"Lawrence, just be the best at what you do"- Stephanie Watson
7. When did you feel like you were a professional comedian?
When someone on YouTube commented on a video "Don't quit your day job"
8. How often do you perform comedy per week?
Too much… Jeez… When I'm not playing recreational basketball trying to make it the RNBA (Recreational National Basketball Association) I'm usually around comedy
9. What are your favorite NYC comedy clubs that you perform at?
The Stand, Greenwich Village Comedy Club, Carolines on Broadway Comedy Club.
10. How do you deal with hecklers?
I have my personal security and assistant throw them out… But if they are not around… I usually give them rope to hang themselves thru kindness
11. What advice would you give your younger self?
Don't buy any leather pants and never be scared of anything
12. How would you describe your brand of comedy?
It's like LeBron James, Jeremy Lin and Chris Dudley had a child… That's my style of comedy
13. What do you talk about in your act?
My mother, and kombucha… Also Me… It's a lot about me… and Trump. I throw a Trump joke or two in.
Lawrence DeLoach
14. How did you develop your style of stand up? Who were your influences growing up; both from the world of comedy and elsewhere?
I guess from cracking jokes with my friends all the time. I know some really funny people who are not comedians… Also, Dave and Eddie were and are major influences today
15. I love to interview comedians, Can I ask what happens when you are in front of a crowd, and no one laughs?
I usually tell them today is my birthday and then they soften up…
16. What made you decide to be a comedian? Were you born funny?
I wanted to be a comedian because I was working a dead-end job and I knew I had talent. But I had to give it a shot and I had to act fast or be stuck doing something I never loved.
People tell me all the time that they knew I was going to be a comedian because I was funny as a child. I didn't see it. But I guess people can see things I can't
17. When can people see it?
All over the city. check me out on Instagram and twitter @lzd325 and my website lawrencedeloach.com
18. Is there anything else that you wish to promote?
I have a streetwear podcast called Sup? Sup is a podcast I do with Chris Cheney and we discuss the latest in fashion and pop culture.
I also have a podcast called Memory Bank Shots and it's a historical basketball podcast. Very fun, give both a listen.
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Home>MAIN NEWS>Africa & World>VIDEOS | 'I apologise for the pain and the hurt' – De Klerk's last words
VIDEOS | 'I apologise for the pain and the hurt' – De Klerk's last words
THE De Klerk Foundation has released a video on social media in which former deputy president FW De Klerk again apologises to South Africans for apartheid in an emotional last message.
In the clip, de Klerk apologises unreservedly for apartheid and acknowledges the hurt and wrongs caused by the system.
The last president of apartheid South Africa passed away this morning from a cancer that affected the lining of his lungs. He was 85.
He appears visibly frail in the pre-recorded video message.
The now-deceased elder statesman also thanked those who supported him during difficult times.
"On many occasions, I apologised for the pain and the indignity that apartheid brought to persons of colour in South Africa. Many believed me, but others didn't. So, let me, therefore, today, in this last message repeat, I, without qualification, apologise for the pain and the hurt and the indignity and the damage that apartheid has done to black, browns and Indians in South Africa."
There are mixed feelings among some people regarding the legacy of de Klerk. Some hail him as an agent of change in helping South Africa transition to a democratic dispensation, while others lament the fact that he was never held accountable for his actions under the apartheid regime.
Professor of Journalism at Wits University, Anton Harber, "I have strong recollections of the brutality, the horrors, the censorship, the long periods of detention, the killings and the assassinations that happened while de Klerk was in government. So, one looks at his death with mixed feelings. It's clearly a complicated and mixed heritage that he leaves behind him."
RIP FW De Klerk | Reaction to passing of former apartheid president: Anton Harber
Nelson Mandela Foundation mourns FW de Klerk, but…
Wealth gap in South Africa hasn't changed since apartheid, report says
De Klerk was not well for some time. He was Deputy President in the government of National unity post the 1994 elections. He died peacefully at his home in Fresnaye earlier this morning following his struggle against mesothelioma cancer.
SABC News
Apartheid FW de Klerk
Nelson Mandela Foundation mourns FW de Klerk, but...
Bafana Bafana beat Zimbabwe 1 - 0 in World Cup qualifier


Last call for Lisle's Summer Concert Series at PrairieWalk Pond – located just west of Main Street in Downtown Lisle at the intersection of Garfield Avenue and Burlington Avenue. The free summer concert is a great way to get through that mid-week slump. Bands hit the stage at 7 pm and play till 8:30 pm.
This week Second Hand Soul performs Motown, Soul and Rock & Roll. Between the funky hits of the 70s, the disco and the soulful songs of that era, you will be moved to dance and sing. Bring a friend, grab a bite from Evviva! and The Nook and enjoy live music at the Pond!


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Palmarès

Giocatore

Competizioni nazionali

Slavija-Mazyr: 2000

Slavija-Mazyr: 2000

Collegamenti esterni

Calciatori della Nazionale bielorussa

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There's a lot to think about when you're getting started with home education, from working out what you're going to teach your child to finding the resources you'll need. Although most home-educating parents grow in confidence as time goes on, the first stages can be daunting. Our step-by-step guide walks you through those initial steps.
It sounds obvious, but removing your child from school – if they've already started – is the first step on your home education journey. You do this by writing to the head teacher and asking for their name to be removed from the register. If your child hasn't yet started school but you've accepted a school place for them, you'll need to give this up, usually by filling in a form that you can obtain from the local authority.
There's no obligation for you to tell the local authority that you're about to start home educating although they may contact you when they realise your child isn't registered at a school and ask what provision you've made for their education.
This isn't compulsory, but it's a great idea for novice home educators, as you'll be able to pick the brains of people who've been doing it for a while. They can tell you where to go for resources and learning experiences in your area, share materials, provide group learning opportunities and give your child a chance to socialise with other home-educated children. Education Otherwise has a comprehensive list of groups throughout the UK.
'If you had a hundred home educators in a room, each of them would be likely to have a different approach,' says Greg Smith, head of operations at Oxford Open Learning, which provides distance learning courses for home educating families. Teachers are skilled at educating lots of children at the same time, but home education is all about tailoring learning to suit you and your child. Generally, there are two methods – structured and autonomous – and most families find their own way between the two.
Structured learning is formal, using a timetable for lessons and a curriculum of subjects. If the plan is for your child to return to school, this might be a useful approach, keeping them familiar with the structure of school life. It could be helpful for a child with special needs who thrives on routine. Or, if you are home educating because your child is a gifted sportsperson and committed to a club, structured learning will be essential in order to fit lessons around training sessions.
Autonomous learning is flexible. It's child-led, allowing them to decide what, when and how to learn according to what interests them most. With this approach, you're more of a facilitator than a teacher, providing the opportunities, experiences and resources your child needs to follow their interests. If your child didn't respond well to the structured school system and is self-motivated, this could work well depending on their age.
Writing an educational philosophy can help to clarify what sort of approach would suit you best.
This goes hand in hand with working out what approach you'll take to home education. Think about your child's personality and how best they absorb and enjoy information.
Are they self-disciplined enough to come up with an idea of what they'd like to learn and follow it up, or do they manage better with workbooks at the kitchen table? Do they like to be active and learn better when they're hands-on, or do they like to make lots of notes, or have music on while they're working? Listen to your child as you learn with them – be prepared to stop frequently to answer their questions and keep a note of what interests them so you can adapt.
A scheme of work isn't essential, but it can be helpful, especially if you're taking a more structured approach to home education. This a plan that details how you're going to cover a particular topic. Involving your child in devising a scheme of work will help them feel involved and motivated.
What do you want to produce?
Not every home-educating family has a timetable, but it can help, especially in the early stages, while you're setting up a routine and encouraging good study habits. It can be a loose framework of subjects you intend to follow each day, or a more detailed hour-by-hour plan.
A typical school day runs from 8.50am until 3pm. The timetable includes literacy (English) and numeracy (maths) for about 70 minutes every day up until age 14 with weekly (or more regular) lessons such as science, geography, history, PE, religious education, art, music, drama, modern languages, computing, design and technology (woodwork, metalwork, textiles, food, graphics) and personal, social and health education.
There's approximately an hour's break for lunch plus 20 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon.
A home education timetable could be based on the above, depending on your child's interests, attention span and any commitments such as home education groups or extra-curricular clubs that your child goes to. Perhaps you will spend a portion of the day away from home – meeting other home educators and their children; visiting a farm; going for a nature walk in the woods or listening to an afternoon music performance at the local church. Alternatively, you may decide not to follow a conventional school day, and instead do a shorter period of formal learning seven days a week, or start earlier in the morning and finish earlier, for example.
Somewhere to work: this could be a desk in a room that's dedicated to your child's learning, or the kitchen table, depending on your space and approach to home education.
A pencil case, including a maths set and handwriting pen.
Resources like paper (plain and lined), glue, felt tips, crayons and a stapler.
Somewhere to store your child's work.
Avoid spending money too quickly (read out tips about home educating on a budget), but speak to other home educators about the books and resources they found most useful. Consider bulk-buying stationery with others, and don't invest too heavily in lots of resources for a particular topic: make the most of what's available online and in libraries and museums.
The library: for books, CDs, DVDs, reference material and computers. Don't forget you can also order items if they're not in stock.
Your local council. Ask if it offers access to learning resources, sometimes based in schools or colleges. Depending where you live, you might also be entitled to a discount at local leisure centres or museums.
The Department for Education: you can access the National Curriculum and use it as a guide to what to teach your child and what they should be capable of by age, or just for inspiration.
Museums: mention that you are a home educator and you might get a discount.
The BBC offers school television programs and radio, from beginner's Arabic to A Level maths, plus good educational resources online.
LETS: a local exchange system for people living near each other to swap goods and services.
Distance learning: there are a number of companies in the UK, such as Oxford Open Learning, offering educational support at varying costs – from sets of workbooks to resources for individual subjects to exam curriculums.
For many parents, the aim of home education is for their child to follow their own learning development curve, whatever form or pace, but without formal assessments or other children to compare them to, it can be difficult to see if they're making progress.
You might, for example, notice your child's ability to play more pieces on their musical instrument, remember new words in French or produce more detailed life drawings. If your child continues to ask questions as they learn, is confident, happy and enthusiastic about learning, then they are making their own progress.
If you're following a structured learning program, you can access the National Curriculum and follow your child's progress that way. Regular self-assessment tests and assignments can help consolidate learning.
Unlike school life, which has to cater for the majority, home education means you can follow your child's lead. In time, you'll get to know what interests them and how and when they learn best, and can adapt what you're doing to meet their needs. Be prepared to be flexible, and you and your child will fall into a routine that works for you both.
For a complete beginner's guide to home education, with templates to help you devise an educational philosophy and a schedule, see TheSchoolRun's Home education planning pack.
Alternative education: what are the benefits?