Indicates how to configure the BA Repository.
Before you configure the BA Repository, complete the tasks in Initialize Repository.
Tasks performed during this step include configuring Audit, Quartz, and Hibernate properties. Tasks are grouped by the BA Repository database you are using.
These instructions explain how to configure Quartz, Hibernate, Jackrabbit, and Pentaho Security for use with the PostgreSQL database. By default, the files edited in this section are configured for a PostgreSQL database that runs on port 5432. The default password is also in these files. If you have a different port, different password, or if had the system configured using a different database and now you want to change it back to PostgreSQL, complete all of the instructions in these steps.
When you use Pentaho to schedule an event, such as a report to be run every Sunday at 1:00 a.m. EST, event information is stored in the Quartz JobStore. During the installation process, you must indicate where the JobStore is located. To do this, modify the quartz.properties file.
Open the pentaho/server/biserver-ee/pentaho-solutions/system/quartz/quartz.properties file in the text editor of your choice.
Make sure that in the #_replace_jobstore_properties section of the file, the org.quartz.jobStore.driverDelegateClass is set to org.quartz.impl.jdbcjobstore.PostgreSQLDelegate.
In the # Configure Datasources section of the file, set the org.quartz.dataSource.myDS.jndiURL equal to Quartz, like this.
Modify the hibernate settings file to specify where Pentaho will find the BA Repository's hibernate configuration file. The hibernate configuration file specifies driver and connection information, as well as dialects and how to handle connection closes and timeouts.
Open pentaho/server/biserver-ee/pentaho-solutions/system/hibernate/hibernate-settings.xml in a text editor.
Verify that the location of the PostgreSQL hibernate configuration file appears. Make changes if necessary.
Save the file if you had to make changes, then close it. Otherwise, just close it.
Open pentaho/server/biserver-ee/pentaho-solutions/system/hibernate/postgresql.hibernate.cfg.xml in a text editor.
Make sure that the password and port number match the ones you specified in your configuration. Make changes as necessary, then save and close the file.
Indicate which database houses the BA Repository as well as the port, url, username, and password. All of the information needed to configure the repository for the PostgreSQL, MySQL, and Oracle BA Repository databases appear. By default, the PostgreSQL sections are not commented out, but the MySQL and Oracle sections are. To modify this file so that it works for your BA Repository, you will need to make sure that the sections that refer to your BA Repository database are not commented out, and the sections refer to other BA Repository databases are commented out.
When code is commented out, it appears between the <!-- and --> tags. The information in between the tags is commented out, and is therefore not executed by the software. In this example, the code <! <FileSystem class="org.apache.jackrabbit.core.fs.db.OracleFileSystem"> is commented out.
To make sure that the Jackrabbit repository is set so that PostgreSQL is the default database, do this.
Use a text editor to open the pentaho/server/biserver-ee/pentaho-solutions/system/jackrabbit/repository.xml file.
In the Repository part of the code, make sure that the PostgreSQL lines of code are not commented out, but the Oracle and MySQL lines are. The code should look like this.
Note: If you changed your password when you initialized the database during the Prepare Environment step, or if your database is on a different port, edit the url and password parameters accordingly.
In the DataStore section of the code, verify that the PostgreSQL lines of code are not commented out, but the Oracle and MySQL lines are. The code should look like this.
In the Workspaces section of the code, make sure that the PostgreSQL lines of code are not commented out, but the Oracle and MySQL lines are. This code should look like this.
In the Persistence Manager section of the code, verify that the PostgreSQL lines of code are not commented out, but the Oracle and MySQL lines are. The code should look like this.
In the Versioning section of the code, verify that the PostgreSQL lines of code are not commented out, but the MySQL and Oracle lines are. The code should look like this.
In the Persistence Manager section of the code that is near the end of the file, verify that PostgreSQL lines of code are not commented out, but the MySQL and Oracle lines are. The codes should look like this.
These instructions explain how to configure Quartz, Hibernate, Jackrabbit, and Pentaho Security for a MySQL database.
By default, the examples in this section are for a MySQL database that runs on port 3306. The default password is also in these examples. If you have a different port or different password, complete all of the instructions in these steps.
Open the hibernate-settings.xml file in a text editor. Find the <config-file> tags and change postgresql.hibernate.cfg.xml to mysql5.hibernate.cfg.xml as shown.
Open the mysql5.hibernate.cfg.xml file in a text editor.
Since you are using MySQL to host the BA Repository, you need to replace the audit_sql.xml file with one that is configured for MySQL.
There are parts of code that you will need to alter in order to change the default jackrabbit repository to MySQL.
Following the table below, locate and change the code so that the MySQL lines are not commented out, but the PostgreSQL and Oracle lines are commented out.
These instructions explain how to configure Quartz, Hibernate, Jackrabbit, and Pentaho Security. By default, the examples in this section are for a Oracle database that runs on port 1521. The default password is also in these examples. If you have a different port, different password complete all of the instructions in these steps.
In the #_replace_jobstore_properties section of the file, set the org.quartz.jobStore.driverDelegateClass equal to org.quartz.impl.jdbcjobstore.oracle.OracleDelegate.
Open pentaho/biserver-ee/pentaho-solutions/system/hibernate/hibernate-settings.xml in a text editor. By default, system indicates the location of the PostgreSQL hibernate configuration file.
Change the default to this to point to the Oracle configuration file.
Open pentaho/biserver-ee/system/hibernate/oracle10g.hibernate.cfg.xml in a text editor.
The default audit_sql.xml file that is in the pentaho-solutions/system directory is configured for the PostgreSQL database. Since you are using Oracle to host the BA Repository, you need to replace the audit_sql.xml file with one that is configured for Oracle. To do this, copy the pentaho-solutions/system/dialects/oracle10g/audit_sql.xml file to the pentaho-solutions/system directory.
You must indicate which database is used as the BA Repository as well as the port, url, username, and password. All of the information needed to configure the repository for the PostgreSQL, MySQL, and Oracle BA Repository databases appear. By default, the PostgreSQL sections are not commented out, but the MySQL and Oracle sections are. To modify this file so that it works for your BA Repository, you will need to make sure that the sections that refer to your BA Repository Database are not commented out, and the sections refer to other BA Repository databases are commented out.
To modify the Jackrabbit repository so that Oracle is the default database, do this.
In the Repository part of the code, change the code so that the Oracle lines of code are not commented out, but the PostgreSQL and MySQL lines are, like this. Note: Make sure that the <param name="url" value="jdbc:oracle:thin:@localhost:1521:orcl"/> parameter indicates the correct database name. You may need to modify the parameter if your database has a different name than orcl.
Note:If you changed your password when you initialized the database during the Prepare Environment step, or if your database is on a different port, edit the url and password parameters accordingly.
Change <param name="tablespace" value="jackrabbit"/> to <param name="tablespace" value="pentaho_tablespace"/>.
In the DataStore section of the code, change the code so that the Oracle lines of code are not commented out, but the PostgreSQL and MySQL lines are, like this. Note: Make sure that the <param name="url" value="jdbc:oracle:thin:@localhost:1521:orcl"/> parameter indicates the correct database name. You may need to modify the parameter if your database has a different name than orcl.
In the Workspaces section of the code, change the code so that the Oracle lines of code are not commented out, but the PostgreSQL and MySQL lines are, like this. Note: Make sure that the <param name="url" value="jdbc:oracle:thin:@localhost:1521:orcl"/> parameter indicates the correct database name. You may need to modify the parameter if your database has a different name than orcl.
Change <param name="tablespace" value="jcr_user"/> to <param name="tablespace" value="pentaho_tablespace"/>.
In the Persistence Manager section of the code, change the code so that the Oracle lines of code are not commented out, but the PostgreSQL and MySQL lines are, like this. Note: Make sure that the <param name="url" value="jdbc:oracle:thin:@localhost:1521:orcl"/> parameter indicates the correct database name. You may need to modify the parameter if your database has a different name than orcl.
In the Versioning section of the code, change the code so that the Oracle lines of code are not commented out, but the PostgreSQL and MySQL lines are, like this. Note: Make sure that the <param name="url" value="jdbc:oracle:thin:@localhost:1521:orcl"/> parameter indicates the correct database name. You may need to modify the parameter if your database has a different name than orcl.
In the Persistence Manager section of the code that is near the end of the file, change the code so that the Oracle lines of code are not commented out, but the PostgreSQL and MySQL lines are, like this. Note: Make sure that the <param name="url" value="jdbc:oracle:thin:@localhost:1521:orcl"/> parameter indicates the correct database name. You may need to modify the parameter if your database has a different name than orcl.


Cap T Nominated for 15 Austin Critics Table Awards!
Cap T nominated for 15 B Iden Payne Awards!
Critics Agree: DETROIT is a HIT!!
Video: PUNKPLAY extended thru June 28th!
Critics unravel Gidion's Knot and love it!
Critics are Unanimous: Ecstatic We Are!!!!
Holy Sh*t! What A Bada** Cast!!!
Critics: The Pain and the Itch Feels GREAT!
EXIT, with 3 B Iden Payne Awards!
Critics agree, Exit Pursued by a Bear is "HILARIOUS"!
Apocalypse Wow. Photos of Boom!
Critics Blown Away by BOOM!
Secret Identities of the Cast of Spirits to Enforce Revealed!
Cap T Nominated for 11 B Iden Payne Awards!
Critics bitten by BUG and love it!
Cap T Nominated for 17 ATE Awards and Wins 5 including 'Company of the Year'!
Cap T Receives 10 B Iden Payne Nominations!
Happy Days earns 4 B Iden Payne Nominations!
Critics Meet Mr. Marmalade and Love Him!


Blog Hoppin': Mini Autograph Book for the End of the Year!
I am so excited to use this with my kinders!!
So cute! They get so excited to do autographs, it cracks me up :) I just posted a linky party for end of the year activities on sale if you wanted to link up!


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Q: Github invalid author email commits, no contribution activity Recently, I did some commits without config user.email. Is there any way to edit those commits to be recognized as contribution on my GitHub profile. (there're no commit email - to add to as GitHub account - as you can see in the log bellow)
Here some recent commit from git log command:
(the last/first one with email is commited after I config user.email)
commit 4ae6cc5c00e380c70072f9647b29dc242d2682d1
Author: Tin Nguyen <my-Gmail@gmail.com>
Date:   Thu Sep 22 11:00:30 2016 +0700

    delete some unnecessary code

commit 275362c077bb0495318d37b965c90beba2cb79b3
Author: Tin Nguyen <Tin Nguyen>
Date:   Wed Sep 21 07:41:51 2016 +0700

    modify database rules

commit c6b3af19c24627cafd862eff7449bc5d3f95cfbc
Author: Tin Nguyen <Tin Nguyen>
Date:   Sun Sep 18 14:14:23 2016 +0700
...

A: Configure your username and email with git config and try this:
git rebase -i YOUR_COMMIT_SHA -x "git commit --amend --reset-author -CHEAD"

It will reset the author for the selected commit.

A: git rebase and git commit -amend will help you updating user email. rebase and amend
update user email.

A: Well, if you didn't share your work with someone else (if they didn't pull/clone/fork it yet), you can edit those by doing an interactive rebase, for example:
git rebase -i c6b3af19^
# change the comits you want to edit to "e" or "edit", leave the other on "p", "pick"
git commit --amend --author "Tin Nguyen <my-Gmail@gmail.com>"  --no-edit
git rebase --continue
#repeat the two last steps until done

Or more complex, but faster (one-liner):
git filter-branch --env-filter 'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL="my-Gmail@gmail.com"' c6b3af19^..HEAD HEAD

Or without using filter-branch (note that you must have correctly set your name and mail globally):
 git rebase c6b3af19^ --exec 'git commit --amend --no-edit --reset-author'

Just be aware that both will overwrite authorship information from c6b3af19 to the last commit you did, they are incomplete in the case you have other authors who committed more recently.
Note that in every case, you will then have to do a forced push to your remote repository, with git push -f

In any case, I suggest you to create a new branch before attempting to do this kind of changes. You can also use the reflog to recover if something bad happens, or just git checkout 4ae6cc5c, which was your latest commit to date. But as a rule of thumb, I think it is better to branch before doing any history rewrite.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Among the many aftermarket head sets offered by Warriors is this set of skulls with U.S. helmets. This is an usual offering, but I'm sure some people have been looking for an item like this. As the description says, there are six skulls cast in a cream-colored resin and the detail on these heads is great. The photo may not do it justice, but if you paint these well they will look great. The eye sockets are exaggerated a little, but I think this adds to the effect. The one thing that I wish was different is the casting gate on top of each helmet. These can be cut and sanded, but you have to careful not to alter the shape of the helmet. Other companies usually make the neck the attachment point, but if you are careful this won't be a big deal. Overall I recommend these to modelers wanting to do something different.


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Editorial: The Golden Hammer asks readers for input on the Power Top Ten which will begin December 1
By admin on November 26, 2019 No Comment
Power Top Ten List #1: Dr. Julie Turner, President of the Texas Patriots PAC with former Montgomery Police Chief Jim Napolitano, and Patriots PAC Vice President Jon Bauman.
Kelli Cook, Publisher, The Golden Hammer
Beginning December 1, 2019, The Golden Hammer, Montgomery County's leading daily newspaper will begin a series of articles, which our readers have enjoyed three years in a row as one of the most popular features of this newspaper: the Power Top Ten List. As always, we'll start with the #10 most powerful person in Montgomery County and every three days will add another person to the list. The 2018 Power Top Ten List appears at the bottom of this editorial.
I've only been Publisher of this newspaper for two months. Therefore, I've asked our former Publisher, Eric Yollick, to take the lead with the 2019 Power Top Ten List, especially because Yollick has a broad understanding of political relationships in Montgomery County. He'll appear as a Guest Reporter for the sole purpose of the Power Top Ten List.
Additionally, on December 30, 2019, The Golden Hammer will announce the Person of the Year, the person who has had the greatest impact on the body politic of Montgomery County during 2019. As Publisher, I will consult with The Golden Hammer's staff but the ultimate decision will be mine perhaps with some consultation with Yollick.
On December 31, 2019, this newspaper will announce the "Mad Cow Award 2019" for the worst elected official of Montgomery County during 2019. Once again, I will make the ultimate decision on that Award, as Yollick has specifically requested not to take part in that analysis or decision.
There has definitely been a substantial shift in the Power Top Ten List, especially on the Commissioners Court. But there have been significant shifts elsewhere too.
I invite our readers to give us their ideas confidentially for the most powerful people in Montgomery County. Please remember that we define "power" as "the ability to get things done." Similarly, I hope our readers will provide input for the Person of the Year selection and to the recipient of the "Mad Cow Award 2019" for the worst elected official. Please email your suggestions to goldenhammermoco@gmail.com. Let's have fun!
The recipients of last year's "honors" were:
#1: Dr. Julie Turner, President of the Texas Patriots PAC
#2: Conservative political activists Kelli Cook and Ginger Russell
#3: Brett Ligon, Montgomery County District Attorney (with assists from the women and men of the District Attorney's Office and others in the Montgomery County law enforcement community)
#4: Reagan Reed, Montgomery County Republican Party Vice Chairman (with an assist from Party Treasurer John Hill Wertz)
#5: Mark Keough, Montgomery County Judge-Elect
#6: James Noack, Precinct 3 County Commissioner
#7: Rand Henderson, Montgomery County Sheriff
#8: Simon Sequeira, Quadvest President and property rights advocate (with assists from real estate developers Mike Stoecker and Danny Signorelli)
#9: John Holzwarth and the Montgomery County government vendors' "Deep State" (with assists from Precinct 1 County Commissioner Mike Meador and lame duck County Judge Craig Doyal)
#10: United States Congressman Kevin Brady.
Person of the Year 2018: Reagan Reed, Vice Chairman of the Montgomery County Republican Party.
Mad Cow Award 2018: Charlie Riley, Precinct 2 Montgomery County Commissioner.
Mad Cow Award, Person of the Year, Power Top Ten List
Editorial: The Golden Hammer asks readers for input on the Power Top Ten which will begin December 1 added by admin on November 26, 2019

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


While on vacation in Naples, Florida, Anna met Anthony. It was love at first sight, Anthony admits. The bad news is that Anna lives in Sweden with her two precious children, Emma and Adrian. But the 5,004 miles of land and sea, did not stop Anthony. For two years the two traveled back and forth to be with one another.
Finally Anthony popped the question, and they set a date to be married in Naples, Florida, where the two met. Because Anna was living in Sweden, Anthony planned and coordinated the entire wedding, and he did an amazing job! The event took place at the Naples Beach Hotel, where Catering & Conference Service Manager, Mary Bowlsbey made it all happen. Family and close friends from around the world traveled to be with Anna and Anthony as they shared their vows on the Gulf Lawn at the Naples Beach Hotel. Suzi Freeman with Special Florida Weddings officiated the sweet ceremony.
Anna purchased her beautiful ensemble in Sweden. Her dress was a stunning blush colored silk slip with an ivory lace overlay. It was gorgeous! Anthony wore a modern slim fit navy suit, that complimented her personality completely.
The happy couple honeymooned in Naples for a week and then headed to Walt Disney World with Emma and Adrian for some family fun.
Safe travels back to Sweden; it was a pleasure working with you!


text:
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Increasing legislation on UK porn is not designed to protect children, it's designed to shame alternative sexualities
Published 1 December, 2016
Credit: Pixabay
Kate Snowdon
We're all adults here right? And as adults, most of us, will have watched some porn in our lifetimes. Even if it's laughing about "Lemon-Stealing Whores" (which I highly recommend for its notorious plot and wonderfully subpar acting), to watching a variety of porn for our own pleasure in our own homes. Human sexuality is a wonderful and incredibly varied beast, ranging all over the LGBQA+ spectrum, and it should be celebrated as an expression of love in all its forms, from standard missionary to the most kinky shit you can imagine.
The new UK based porn laws currently going through committee in parliament seek to add "stringent" age verification to adult websites based in the UK, and would add to the previous 2014 porn laws. Combined, the effects are disastrous for both porn producers and porn consumers that are utterly unacceptable.
The first effect this will have that strikes me as incredibly worrying, is that to effectively age verify consumers of porn, you will have to use your government issued ID. This will mean, despite promises of anonymising code, that somewhere on a server, will be your full, real, name, and a log of everything you've ever wanked to. Is that data you want to exist? For most people, this is hugely problematic. For students, graduating soon and applying for jobs in the big bad world, this could ruin a career before it even started.
Not only could it affect all consumers of porn, but it will affect porn producers in the UK hugely. The cost involved with age verifying all users would impact indie porn producers adversely, and bring about the end of many niche porn producers in Britain. The 2014 Audiovisual Media Services Regulation has threatened British porn since its introduction, banning acts such as spanking, physical restraint, and humiliation, but more worryingly, female ejaculation and facesitting, the latter of which is explicitly clarified as "life-threatening". This emphasis on acts which are related explicitly to female pleasure, and the wider list of acts which affects porn within the BDSM community, is hugely problematic, both in terms of internalised misogyny and hatred of acts which belong to marginalised sexualities.
A further item banned by the 2014 act is "physical or verbal abuse (regardless of if consensual)". Whilst this may seem bizarre and unpleasant to the majority that someone would consent to abuse in any form, the key phrase is "regardless of consent". Here, the British Government is literally saying that they don't care if someone has made a choice regarding their sex lives, because the British Government knows better.
The idea that adults are not free to look at other consenting adults performing niche sex acts without it being tied to their real name or imported from abroad is insane. The bills show the Government's stance on a number of items they don't fully understand; how the internet works, how adulting works, and how consent works. Putting age verification on some porn will not stop those who want to watch porn from doing so. VPNs will be used, mirrors, duplicate sites, and foreign porn that has not been contacted to age verify. There is an overwhelming amount of porn available, and age-verifying some sites will just send consumers onto others.
The argument of "save the children" wears thin here too, as children are not the ones accessing the "dangerous" niche BDSM porn, which is largely pay to view. Consenting adults should be free to watch and do whatever they want, within the realms of legality, without the threat of being outed. Marginalised sexualities should not be shamed or excluded by banning acts or instituting laws which will shut down small porn companies which tend to be queer, feminist and sex-positive. Consent should be upheld as the absolute cornerstone of sex and positivity going forward. We don't need more legislation banning consensual sex acts – we need more education about why these acts are not shameful, and can be part of a healthy and loving sex life. As Girl on the Net, a popular sex blogger, rightly put it to the Guardian, "who decides what's moderate? As a kinky person, I've always been taught, the person who decides these things is me."
SQIFF: Empower Me, Pornhub
Children now allowed in to university library
Five children's books to reread as an adult
Increasing number of Scottish students at Scottish universities
A record number of Scottish students have been accepted into Scottish universities for the coming academic year. According to UCAS figures released in August, 26, 590 Scottish students earned places at universities in…
A £7m development? Now is the time to protect the unions.
Confirmation of the University's investment in Glasgow University Union (GUU) was welcome news to this writer: partly because of my affinity with the aforementioned institution as ex-President; but more importantly, because it signalled a tangible investment…
A secret shame? Poverty in the west-end of Glasgow
For many, there seems to be a dissonance between appearance and reality when it comes to thinking about poverty and social exclusion in the west end of Glasgow. What might underlie this is the assumption that poverty is largely…
Alternative ways to vote
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text:
GX 54 Tobikage And Kurojishi: The Beginning Of Something Wonderful
Wow, we are rapidly catching up on my SOC backlog here. Up today, we have the Tobikage and Kurojishi set. This is the first of three sets that were released in the SOC line one after another, all based on mechs from the Ninja Senshi Tobikage anime. That in itself is not unheard of, but all three sets also have interactive functions with this first set.
Ninja Senshi Tobikage takes place on 23rd century Mars, which has been setup as a penal colony by Earth, and is run by a power mad dictator. Oddly, Tobikage (the smaller figure in this set) is not really the main robot, at least to begin with. Kurojishi, the "Black Lion" is piloted by the series' main character, Joe Maya. Along with his two friends, piloting similar mechs, are the protagonists for most of the series, with Tobikage initially only showing up when the three are overwhelmed or low on power. Tobikage has the ability to combined with anyone out of the three, and make a new mech with heightened abilities.
Getting the figures out, not too many surprises, Tobikage is surprisingly small, whereas Kurojishi is about the standard SOC size.
Starting with Tobikage, he's a little smaller than a GI Joe, but loaded with detail and articulation.
The first weapon in his arsenal are missile batteries hidden in his thighs, which simply extend out when you pull on the fins.
What ninja would be complete without a sword? Oddly, his swords seems more like a European saber than a traditional Japanese blade.
He also comes with a second sword, which has a secondary blade sticking out of the pommel, I'm sure this is to simulate a retractable blade in the sword.
We've also got a sort of hand blaster. I don't know what it is about this gun, but I really like it. Maybe it's just that it's so atypical, yeah still pretty simple.
We've also got a bow of some sort, this has a clip that fits onto his forearm for a really solid grip.
The gun can be inserted into the crossbow for some sort of super weapon, which I think looks a lot better than you'd think it would.
Surprisingly, he's also got a cool scabbard for his sword.
The scabbard has a grip that can fold down to create a rifle, this is accomplished with a part swap.
Also, the sword can be clipped into the scabbard backwards, in order to make an extension, while Tobikage technically can grip the scabbard like that, it does seem like it might put a large amount of strain on the hand, eventually stretching it out of shape.
And that's the last of the little guy's impressive arsenal.
Kurojishi's up next, I really like the design/colors of this figure, something about the simple color scheme matched with the ay it's designed just really makes the whole thing pop. His arsenal may not be as extensive as Tobikage's, but he makes up for it with style.
First up is a beam sword.
And then a ridiculously long katana, I'm not sure if these are supposed to be the same sword or not, it seems like maybe not, since the energy version is significantly smaller.
And then he has a gatling gun! Totally Ninja! Seriously though, the barrels rorate, which is about all you can ask from a gat. The sight also folds down. This is another accessory that worries me though, getting Kurojishi's hands onto the grips for this gun is quite the ordeal, and I'm sure that if you do it a few times that you'll end up scraping paint off his fingers.
That's all for Kurojishi's bag of tricks. Now for the transformation/combination:
First up, you fold Tobikage into this painful looking configuration.
Then there's a surprising amount of folding and flipping before you get Kuroishi to this state.
I really like the fact that his rear legs aren't simply his robot legs, they're actually contained within his robot legs, with the outer leg folding up over the rear hip for the lion mode.
Here's the not fun part, you're left with this hole in the bottom of Kurojishi, that's supposed to be Tobikage shaped.
Getting his ass crammed in there is a pretty frustrating experience, with lots of turns of pulling him back out, and shifting his legs around a little bit. Once you eventually get him in place, you can fold down some levers that hold in securely, and then there are panels to cover up his head and knees.
I was eventually victorious, although whenever I moved him, I heard one of Tobikage's knee caps rattling around in side, since it had been popped off.
And there you have it, the Jyuuma Kurojishi. Supposedly this is a very fast and agile robot, and the most commonly used combination in the series. I think it looks fabulous, although in the future, I might just pretend that Tobikage's in there, since it's such a pain, and you can only see it from the bottom.
Aside from being able to open his mouth and move his ear/cannons, the lion has an articulate tail with guns on it.
And he's able to carry the large katan in his mouth, so he can cut off all the other robots at the knees.
Overally, I really like this figure, and I was excited to get the rest of the series when I first got it (I have them all now, mwahahaha) we'll get to those in the next couple of reviews though.


University libraries offers more than books, computers and nap-ready chairs to help students succeed. How about a yoga mat, light therapy lamp or hula-hoop?
Studies show that being active improves alertness, attention and motivation. So in addition to the laptops, phone chargers and textbooks available year-round, students can borrow all manner of sporting equipment during finals week, thanks to campus partners like University Recreation and Wellness and Bikeumd.
Above are some of the items available for a brain-boosting study break.


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Mass Vaccination Site to Open Friday at Mall of Columbia in Howard Co.
by WI Guest Author April 29, 2021 December 21, 2021
Maryland will open its 13th mass coronavirus vaccination site Friday at the Mall of Columbia in Howard County.
County Executive Calvin Ball announced this week that the site will begin operations at the former Lord & Taylor store space in the mall.
The location will have a soft opening Friday by appointment only. The site will operate weekly from Wednesday through Sunday from 8 a.m.-4 p.m., administering 1,000 doses daily and as many as 3,000, depending on vaccine supply.
"Howard County is a central location in Maryland and easily accessible to many residents from across the state," Ball said in a statement. "We worked diligently with the governor and our state partners to finalize logistical details and agreements for this site, and are excited to see it open this week."
Walk-up appointments won't be allowed at the site and registrations are being accepted.
Hogan Lifts Outdoor Mask Mandate, Dining Restrictions
In "Community"
Police: Md. Mall Gunman Wrote of Killing People
In "National"
Howard County to Restart Indoor Mask Mandate
Tagged: Calvin Ball, coronavirus, COVID-19, Howard County, novel coronavirus, vaccinations, vaccines


Design and engineering at scale is hard. A lot of companies often think throwing more resource at something means teams will go faster. My experience is that sometimes you have to go slower to enable you to go faster. But how do you get the buy-in to do so?
Design systems are very popular within the design and engineering communities right now. Like us, they're the way tech companies are scaling the front-end. However, creating a design system is no small task, but there are many different entry points depending on the size (or appetite) of your organisation.
I'd love to share my experience at Skyscanner, the highs and lows of how we're tackling design and engineering at scale and the importance of both coming together. I'll not only touch on the highs, but you'll get real insight into the things we didn't get right first time and the learnings we made.
James is the Senior Design Manager and Product Owner, Design Systems & Tooling at Skyscanner.
He is a designer and maker with over 13 years' design experience, building and leading global design teams. He is currently focused on creating design systems and tooling to enable design and engineering teams to produce highly crafted products as easy as possible.
You can find him at medium.com/@jamesf3rguson.


text:
Elanders makes an acquisition in the Netherlands and strengthens its offer in Life Cycle Management and Technical Logistics
Press Release from Elanders AB (publ) 2021-11-30 Today Elanders acquired all the shares in Eijgenhuijsen Exploitatie BV and its subsidiary Eijgenhuijsen Precisievervoer BV (together "Eijgenhuijsen"). Eijgenhuijsen is a leading actor in the Netherlands within special transportation and installation of advanced …
Elanders' nomination committee proposes Dan Frohm as the new Chairman of the Board
Press Release from Elanders AB (publ) 2021-11-26 Dan Frohm, who has been a member of the Board of Elanders AB since 2017, will be proposed by the nomination committee to be the new Chairman of the Board at Elanders' Annual …
Elanders' acquisition of Bergen Logistics is now completed
Press Release from Elanders AB (publ) 2021-11-22 In early November 2021, Elanders signed a contract for the acquisition of 80 percent of the shares in the American supply chain management company Bergen Shippers Corp ("Bergen Logistics"). Bergen Logistics is one …
Elanders makes major acquisition in North America and grows in E‑Commerce
Press Release from Elanders AB (publ) 2021-11-11 Today Elanders acquired 80% of the shares in the American supply chain management company Bergen Shippers Corp. Bergen Shippers Corp operates under the name Bergen Logistics and is specialized in contract logistics services …
Press Release from Elanders AB (publ) 2021-10-15 January-September 2021 Net sales increased by MSEK 205 to MSEK 8,369 (8,164), which corresponded to organic growth of eight percent. EBITA increased to MSEK 413 (342), which corresponded to an EBITA margin of …
Elanders changes the date for the publication of the Quarterly Report January-September 2021 and invites to a Conference Call
Press release from Elanders AB (publ) 2021-09-30 Elanders' Board of Directors has decided to change the publication date of the Quarterly Report January-September 2021 to Friday October 15 at 07:30 CET instead of Thursday October 14 as earlier announced. The …
Press Release from Elanders AB (publ) 2021-07-13 First six months 2021 Net sales increased by MSEK 118 to MSEK 5,504 (5,386), which corresponded to organic growth of 10 percent. EBITA increased to MSEK 287 (153), which corresponded to an EBITA …
Elanders makes new acquisition and continues to grow in online print
Press Release from Elanders AB (publ) 2021-07-06 Elanders has today acquired all the shares in the German digital print company Schätzl Druck & Medien GmbH & Co. KG ("Schätzl"). Schätzl is a fast-growing company that in the last twelve months …
Press Release from Elanders AB (publ) 2021-04-28 Due to the corona pandemic and to limit the risk for spreading the virus, Elanders AB (publ) held the Annual General Meeting electronically and by virtue of the temporary law applicable during 2021. …


Picture the scene if How We Used to Live had been a Hollywood movie, rather than a primary history series.
The executive director would sit at the head of the table, chomping on a cigar, minions nodding eagerly as he goes over the storyline for the latest series. "Now, the hero is a bit cut up because his girl has died of consumption - very sad: I like that. He goes off to South America, right into the jungle. OK, we can budget for that. He saves a man from an alligator - good, very good: it's got romance, it's got action, it's got an exotic location. What I don't see is why that is the moment for a debate on the development of the miners' safety lamp."
But so, in fact, it proves, for the man Robert Stephenson (for it is he) has just rescued from a nasty death in the wilds of Colombia is none other than the railway pioneer Richard Trevithick, and what else should two 19th-century engineering inventors discuss in such circumstances? Trevithick's first words on being hauled out of the river are "Sir, you have saved the life of a Cornishman" - I would have expected something stronger, but this is for primary schools - which sets young Stephenson going because, as a Geordie he bears a grudge against the Cornish for pinching all his dad's best ideas.
Dad, of course, is George Stephenson, who did not limit himself to railways: he invented a lamp that was proof against the deadly "fire damp" - methane gas - that claimed so many lives down the mines. The only trouble was that Sir Humphrey Davy was busy inventing much the same device down in Cornwall, and the unschooled Stephenson senior soon found himself embroiled in a bitter patents battle. He finds himself in similar trouble when he starts drawing up plans for his railways, and he is ridiculed by a hostile Parliamentary Committee for his lack of education. Ah, but who was it ended up on the five pound note in the end?
As ever with How We Used to Live, the plots are simple and the characters convincing, yet there is hardly a wasted moment: in one section we encounter mine safety, industrial espionage and the work of children in the pits all within a couple of minutes. Elsewhere, the easily-forgotten role of religion, and Quakerism in particular, in industrial development is given its due.
Although the central drama episodes are centred on the life and work of the Stephensons pere et fils, the two documentary programmes look at the remarkable Darby family of Coalbrookdale, who revolutionised the iron industry, and at the endlessly fascinating figure of Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
Any work on the development of railways is almost bound to have openings for local history work, and the teachers' guide has useful ideas for how to set about it as well as background notes on each of the programmes. Move aside, Pride and Prejudice: Mr Darcy may have got his shirt wet, but he doesn't tackle alligators and he can't calculate a decent railway gauge.


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Decision In The Masterpiece Cakeshop Case
Response written by Rev. Dr. Stephen G. Ray Jr., CTS President
To download the PDF version of President Ray's response, CLICK HERE.
Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS) is a school and community dedicated to the dignity and worth of all people. As such, we are defenders of a vision of society in which we all have a place and can expect to be treated fairly in every walk of life. The decision by the United States Supreme Court overturning the judgment against Masterpiece Bakery continues the ambiguity before the law about the status of the content of religious freedom and its relationship to the social and cultural standing of LGBTQ persons. While there is a clear statement by the majority that religion cannot serve as a blanket excuse for discrimination, the procedural finding which demands neutrality towards religion on behalf of the state seems to preclude the possibility that the law can have antagonism against the practice of religion which generates exclusion and animus. Alternatively, the dissent by Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor kept the focus on the actual act of discrimination and the couple stigmatized by it. So, as a legal matter, this decision forestalled the questions of whether religion may be a basis for discrimination against protected classes of people and whether the state may have an interest in protecting certain groups against such religiously inspired discrimination. The relationship between these two, sometimes, competing claims on the protection of the law remains unsettled.
If CTS was a school of law, it would be fitting for our response to try to sort out this legal uncertainty. CTS is a school which prepares people to be agents of transformation in a world sorely in need of justice and hope. So, our interests are different. We have a deep interest in protecting the religious freedom of people within our society, precisely because religion is the focal point for much bigotry and exclusion within our society. Who can deny that Islamophobia—the source of much of the hate coursing through our society, is the clearest case for these protections? On the other hand, the heritage of CTS as a school of religion born in the 19th century religious debates about slavery demands that we stand as a witness for a particular practice of religion. It is in our DNA to believe that religion exercised on behalf of human wholeness and flourishing must be a vibrant force shaping our common life as a society. It would be foolish to believe that other practices of religion would eschew centuries long readings of sacred texts and exclusionary ecclesial practices overnight. Consequently, the thicket of the relationship between freedom of religion and the rights to dignity of all people will remain. This recognition must not lead us to a quiet acceptance. Rather, it is a reminder that the most effective response to the issues raised by this ruling is for people of goodwill, interested in the flourishing of all to redouble our activism on every level of government, in every space of cultural production, and in every social space to defend and expand the rights of those excluded by bigotry.
Chicago Theological Seminary is committed to this struggle to make of ours, a more just world for all. This commitment led us to file a friend of the court brief during the original litigation of this case. It continues to compels us to embrace not only the rhetoric but the reality of diversity, and recognize the vital intersectionality of our commitments, working together to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. We invite all people of goodwill to join us in this struggle for the simple truth that in God's world there is no ambiguity.
2018 Castañeda Lecture
Additions & Partnerships to Academic Programs
2018 Commencement Ceremony at CTS
2017 Distinguished Alumni Award Winners
Beloved President, Rev. Dr. Alice W. Hunt to Retire
Now More Than Ever
Installation Recap
The largest Master of Divinity class ever
Lapp Learning Commons hosts the Morgan Model Collection
IRI Hosts Book Talk with Religious Scholar Reza Aslan
CTS Pastors' Experience
Meet President Stephen G. Ray, Jr.
Meet Brian Smith and President Stephen Ray
Rev. Barbara Lohrbach named 2018 Distinguished Alumni Award Winner
CTS Statement on Trump vs. Hawaii Supreme Court Decision
CTS Welcomes Egyptian Delegation on June 25
The Events Celebrating The Installation Of Our 13th President
CTS Represents at the AAR-SBL Annual Meeting
The Bible: the Perfect Primer on Immigration Law for Senator Sessions
Marilynne Robinson Shares Lecture Text
IRI at Parliament of the World's Religions
Women's Voices, Exceptional Conversations Series
CTS at Rainbow PUSH
CTS faculty, staff and students take part in Seminary Sunday
Call for Papers for CTS Graduate Conference
Campus Closing Due to Weather
IRI Public Symposium
Polity Course at UCC Synod
Dr. Zachary Moon publishes new book; hopes to spark conversation on veterans reentering society
CTS to be featured on "Sanctuary"
Meet us in Milwaukee – SYNOD 2019
2019 C. Shelby Rooks Lecture & Awards


Biden shared with reporters his opinion that Obama had made a "mistake" by not consulting with members of Congress on his decision to appoint Leon Panetta director of the CIA! And, of course, Biden didn't stop there.
OK, I admit it. I have a real man-crush on Sen. Joe Biden. He will be a major source of pleasure for me over the next four -- or possibly, eight -- years.
No, no! It's not what you think! Biden is as straight as an Amtrak tunnel. No, I love the Man from Scranton/Wilmington, not because I'm a Republican and he's a Democrat who can't quite stop his mouth from opening and declaring what he really thinks.
No, I love Joe Biden because he makes my life as a journalist so much easier. Consider this: I was briefly stuck on ideas about what to write here today. Then, Boom! Like a gift from the gods, a Joe Biden quote drops in my lap. Tuesday afternoon, Biden shared with reporters his opinion that Obama had made a "mistake" by not consulting with members of Congress on his decision to appoint Leon Panetta director of the CIA! And, of course, Biden didn't stop there.
Nope, even though he thought Panetta was a good choice, the best thing Biden could think to say about this man tasked with the great responsibility of intercepting foreign plots against the country is that Panetta "has been a consumer of intelligence for a long time." I've been known to "consume" beer for a long time. Doesn't mean I know how to make it -- or even analyze it!
Biden also felt compelled to note, "I'm still a Senate man. I always think this way. It's always good to talk to the requisite members of Congress." He always thinks this way? And, yeah, Biden's "still a Senate man." Unlike Obama, he hasn't even resigned his Senate seat yet; he's waiting until just before Inauguration Day.
So, he would rather vouch for the need for the executive branch to show due respect to the legislative rather than affirm the choices of the branch he is about to hold? He'd rather reassure his Senate colleagues than support the actions of the man responsible for making him the next vice president?
Of course he would! Because -- God, bless him -- he's Joe Biden!
This is the same Joe Biden that gave Republicans their only real talking points in the closing days of the presidential campaign -- pointing out that some foreign hostile power or entity would seek to "test" the next president, wondering if he (i.e. Obama) would be up to the task.
And he's going to be around for at least the next four years!
The tears of joy won't stop flowing down my cheeks!
Robert A. George is a New York Post editorial writer. A one-time aide to House Speaker Newt Gingrich, he blogs at Ragged Thots and dabbles in stand-up comedy.


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Like one in four of us, Brexit is having a serious impact on my mental health
Clarissa KillwickWednesday 30 Jan 2019 12:40 pm
Nearly 950 days have gone by since the referendum… Mentally, it has been an extremely long haul (Photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Nearly 950 days have gone by since the referendum. Mentally, it has been an extremely long haul.
My partner and I work as English teachers in Italy and our son has just started university in the Netherlands. The three of us arrived in Italy as EU citizens, but if Brexit goes ahead, we will be reduced to third country nationals.
The referendum result left me in shock, feeling isolated, alienated and anxious, and I am far from alone: a recent YouGov poll revealed that over 40 per cent of voters feel Brexit has impacted their mental health.
For me and my family, the single overriding worry though is that, even with a Withdrawal Agreement, we are losing freedom of movement. There is currently very high youth unemployment in Italy so if our son is less able to compete in the job market he will effectively be barred from being able to go where the work is like we did.
The sensation has been akin to being in a constant state of 'fight or flight' which has manifested in lack of sleep, anxiety, and, for the first time in my life, sometimes feeling on the brink of panic attacks.
My doctor prescribed medication (which I didn't end up taking) and cheerily said she wasn't over-concerned because the cause of my anxiety was no mystery!
There have been physical ramifications too – my dentist was all too ready to charge me lots of money to fix jaw ache I had developed, saying I was grinding my teeth at night, probably caused by stress. And it was a nasty wake-up call to be ticked off after my most recent bone density test and referred to an osteoporosis specialist.
The deterioration that led me to that correlated exactly with time I have spent worrying and fighting against Brexit. I can't not do it because I have a profound conviction that Brexit is wrong for just about everyone.
I have come across people struggling to get citizenship as they see it as the only way of securing their rights, yet the drop in sterling could put some below the income threshold for getting citizenship in their host country. I see people who are elderly and living alone, low-income single parents, cancer sufferers and carers for disabled children, none of whom have been considered in the Brexit debates.
Clarissa Killwick on an anti-Brexit march (Photo: Clarissa Killwick)
Campaigning against Brexit has been the greatest therapy for me. By chance, I fell into a social media group called Brexpats – Hear Our Voice, a pan-European group that campaigns for citizens' rights.
The group lobbies on both sides of the channel and we do everything we can to raise awareness of our issues at local Consulate and Embassy level through to local and national media and up to government departments and even presenting in the European Parliament.
It's had a positive effect on my well-being as I feel we are at last being heard. It also gives me a sense of connection again, having a wonderful pan-European network of friends and colleagues, and many of us have met for real.
Whether it is coaching members to do a TV or radio interview or giving a voice to a vulnerable person through our case studies, I find my own equilibrium from helping other people.
Yet the Brexit marathon is by no means over, so what would help now and ease the strain that Brexit is putting on mental health?
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Realistically, it is going to be impossible to reach everyone. What about all those who are not on social media, or those who are too frightened to speak up?
In the short term, there are no easy solutions but there needs to be acknowledgement from the top that these mental health issues exist, are widespread, and not confined to the mentally frail, in order to engender more understanding.
When people speak up about them, we must listen and treat them with kindness.
It is too easy to become apathetic to any issue around Brexit and social media makes it easy to scoff and criticise.
The only answer is a blanket guarantee, set in legislation, that all, not just some, of our rights will be protected. Better still, write Brexit off. The price already paid has been too high.
You can read more experiences of people affected by Brexit in In Limbo: Brexit testimonies from EU citizens in the UK
MORE: Huge number of people started using antidepressants after Brexit referendum
MORE: Thousands more will die of heart attacks or strokes due to Brexit, study says
MORE: It's Wetherspoon workers like me who have to push out Tim Martin's Brexit propaganda
AnxietyBrexitDepressionEU referendumItalyMental healthSocial Media
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Electric quadbike for small children aged 3-5 years. Max. rider weight: 25 kg. Forward and reverse with one-wheel drive and accelerator. Strong polypropylene chassis and plastic wheels. Weight: 4.8 kg. Dimensions: 718 x 462 x 478 mm. Speed: 2-3 km/h. Charger: 7.8 V DC. 700 mA. Charging time: Approx. 10 hours. Battery: Rechargeable 6 V, 2.8 Ah. Riding time: approx. 40 min. Motor: 6 VDC. Batteries for sound effects: 2 x AA (not included).


text:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

using Xamarin.Forms;

namespace AiEffects.TestApp.Views
{
    public partial class ViewCellPage : ContentPage
    {
        public ViewCellPage()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Community, News Feed
Specially trained unarmed responders work to address mental-health incidents
Courtesy of the Savannah Police Department
FROM LEFT: Clinical Social Worker Rebecca Galbreath, APO Anthony Watkins, and APO Julie Cavanaugh comprise the core of the SPD Behavioral Health Unit.
In September, the Savannah Police Department launched Georgia's first law-enforcement team created specifically to address incidents involving people experiencing mental-health and addiction issues, and the department's leadership is already considering this as a successful local initiative toward reforming policing practices.
The SPD's new Behavioral Health Unit − comprised of two non-uniformed unarmed officers and a licensed clinician − responds to calls that do not pose a threat to the general public and involve psychological factors like suicide, opioid abuse, and mental-health disorders. The BHU also assists in calls related to homelessness and disorderly conduct.
Modeled after the BHU established within Oregon's Portland Police Department in 2013, the goal of Savannah's BHU is to decriminalize substance-abuse and mental-health incidents, and reduce the number of individuals entering the criminal-justice system when alternative measures could address the underlying causes of the issues at hand, according to SPD Chief Roy Minter.
"This is a fundamental time to start this unit in Savannah," Minter stated in September. "We were ahead of the curve on development and research, and can now officially announce this new unit, which we are confident will provide a holistic approach to a problem affecting many in this city."
According to a spokesperson for the SPD, in June of 2018 the department applied for a federal grant aiming to assist in breaking the cycle experienced by repeat offenders, and to lower the number of police contacts and arrests of people struggling with opioid abuse and mental-health issues. The grant application outlined the need for a behavioral health unit.
The federal grant was approved in 2019, and SPD leadership began working to initiate the BHU program immediately afterwards, but funding delays and the COVID-19 pandemic postponed the initiative's launch. However, since September the BHU has been busy − according to Unit Commander Robert Gavin, between October and the mid-December the BHU received well over 500 mental-health-related calls.
About 190 of those calls led to interactions, with over 70 of those interactions leading to follow-up visits in which an officer or clinician checked in with the individuals and their families to identify additional potential needs.
"The need is out there as you can see, and the hope is that we can expand the unit past the two officers that are in it and put more mental-health services out on the street," said Gavin.
Furthermore, the BHU personally transported 29 people for treatment or consultation at a number of Chatham County service centers like the Behavioral Health Crisis Center, Memorial Medical Center, and the Coastal Harbor Treatment Center.
Officer Julie Cavanaugh, a BHU member with Enhanced Crisis Intervention Team training, says that her unit receives calls daily to handle situations that may not be best addressed by armed police officers who may be unprepared to tackle mental-health and addiction issues.
"Patrol will respond to all calls, and if it's something that is out of their realm that they're not able to handle or they're not sure of resources, they then request us on the scene, and on Tuesday and Thursday the clinician rides with us," Cavanaugh said.
According to Gavin, SPD leadership hopes to expand the unit, and meanwhile all SPD officers are receiving basic Crisis Intervention Team training.
"CIT is still a priority. We probably have a higher percentage of trained CIT officers than most police departments," said Gavin. "Last year Georgia began giving it in the police academy, so now every officer that comes out of the police academy is CIT trained, so over time those numbers will continue to climb in those that are CIT trained."
Gavin also notes that the work of the BHU benefits families of afflicted individuals who may not know how best to seek help from public-service providers in Savannah and Chatham County, such as the Front Porch center that focuses on providing referrals for locals in need.
"We realize that issues like substance abuse or mental illness also affect the family, so the unit will also keep the family's well-being in mind, connecting the family with resources, such as the Front Porch, to get the whole family help to rebuild," Gavin stated.
Minter hopes that the BHU's success in Savannah can be replicated by other law-enforcement agencies statewide.
"We hope to lead the way on this in Georgia," Minter said.
behavioral health unit
Vice-President Kamala Harris is sworn in while wearing attire by SCAD grad Christopher John Rogers
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Think of the smell of your favorite trees and forests, from the sweet smell of pine forests to the heavy fragrances of tropical jungles. New research tells us that these wonderful fragrances may play an important role in increasing cloud cover and reduce the impacts of climate change.
We have known for a long time that there tends to be more cloud cover over forests, and more rainfall. When I worked in Borneo, it was easy to see that the rapid clearing of forests along the coast was accompanied by reduced rainfall, less cloudy weather, and a dramatic increase in temperatures. Although we have known that there is an association between clouds and forests, a new research method has shown us the relationships between the smell of a forest and the creation of clouds.
The formation of clouds depends on the presence of tiny particles in the atmosphere, known as aerosols. Water vapor condenses on the surface of aerosols and the aggregation of aerosols and water creates clouds. Clouds are obviously a source of precipitation, but they also block the sun's rays, cooling the earth's surface. For a long time, scientists that that sulfate aerosols, a form of air pollution, were important in cloud formation. Sulfate aerosols are produced by industrial activity and by volcanoes. Many atmospheric scientists thought that as we reduce air pollution by controlling sulfur emissions, the earth might become less cloudy. If this happened, the current increase in earth's surface temperature would be even worse.
Forests are also a source of aerosols. That fragrance we love so much consists of organic molecules released by trees into the atmosphere, forming aerosols. Until now, these naturally occurring aerosols were not thought to be an important source of cloud-forming particles.
In three papers published in Nature and Science, a group of atmospheric scientists has shown that trees are a very important source of cloud-forming aerosols, more important than sulfate aerosols. Using a sophisticated chamber that mimics the atmosphere in the laboratory, and a matching instrument that makes measurements in the real atmosphere, the international group of scientists were able to tease apart the chemistry and physics of cloud formation.
Trees release organic chemicals such as isoprene or pinene into the air in daytime. As these chemicals mix with the air and rise into the atmosphere, they are oxidized by contact with ozone molecules that occur naturally in the upper atmosphere. These particles are still too small to create clouds – water vapor needs larger particles on which to condense. The researchers found that it was the combination of organic compounds from trees, ozone and bombardment by cosmic rays that caused larger organic particles to form.
This is very important research on many levels. Most important, it tells us that organic molecules from trees may maintain good cloud cover over the earth even if we reduce the sulfur pollutants from industry. The work, if it is borne out by further studies, also shows that the earth's climate may be partly protected by clouds from the worst effects of climate change. Of course, this does not mean we should stop trying to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, but merely that we may have a bit more time to limit our emissions.
The work is further confirmation of the enormous importance of trees and forests in protecting the earth. Trees absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide from the air and store it both in the trees and soils. Trees reduce the urban heat island effect, protect water resources from heat, and produce useful carbon-based products. Now we can add a new dimension to the importance of trees – they make clouds.


When it comes to maintenance of your rainwater system, you should consider employing a professional company who has the experience and knowledge to ensure your property is rain proof.
Our gutter cleaning service offers more than an odd job man with a ladder and bucket, your rainwater system is fully inspected. Roof valley's, roof gullies and lead flashing are also a major part of your rainwater system and these are fully inspected during the gutter cleaning process.
We offer a full inspection and maintenance service to protect your property, your home, or your business from the effect of rainwater flooding the disruption and the expense this causes.
Our preferred method of gutter cleaning is to get up "close and personal" with your rainwater system. This enables us to inspect the condition of the system and carry out any minor repairs. A full inspection is made and a maintenance report provided.


text:
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Abraham's Call Teaches Us About Grace
by Daniel Wagenknecht | Mar 12, 2017
Second Sunday In Lent
God chose Abraham
God made a promise to Abraham
God Blessed Abraham
SERMON TEXT: Genesis 12:1-8
See First Lesson Below
FIRST LESSON: Genesis 12:1-8
The Lord had said to Abram, "Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you.
"I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.
SECOND LESSON: Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. What does Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.
It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.
VERSE OF THE DAY: Philippians 2:8b
Jesus humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross.
GOSPEL: John 4:5-26
So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?"
Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."
He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."
"I have no husband," she replied.
Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."
"Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
"Woman," Jesus replied, "believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth."
The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
Then Jesus declared, "I, the one speaking to you—I am he."
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The Mental Elf
Home » Posts » Populations and settings » service user involvement » The struggle is real: involving patients and the public in doctoral research
The struggle is real: involving patients and the public in doctoral research
Laura Hemming
The role of the 'patient' in health and social care research has been advocated for over twenty years (Goodare & Smith, 1995). INVOLVE define patient and public involvement (PPI) as "doing research 'with' or 'by' people who use services rather than 'to', 'about' or 'for' them." (Hanley et al., 2004).
There are three main arguments for involving people with lived experience in the research cycle:
First, an epistemological argument which suggests that people with lived experience of the phenomena being studied may bring specific knowledge and experiential insights otherwise unavailable to the researcher (Boote, Telford & Cooper, 2002)
Secondly, a moral argument that, as UK taxpayers, the public should be actively involved in any publicly funded research which may affect their health status or the functioning of the NHS (Thompson et al., 2009)
Finally, there is a consequentialist argument which suggests that involving service users in the research process can lead to positive outcomes such as higher quality research as well as patient and public contributors learning new skills and gaining confidence.
Despite the associated benefits of involving patients and the public in research, those who are conducting research as part of doctoral studies (e.g. in pursuit of a PhD), may face significant challenges to successfully involving patients and the public in their research. Chief among these barriers is a lack of funding – indeed, some doctoral research is unfunded altogether, leaving no budget for involving patients and the public. In addition to this, the timescales of doctoral research can present challenges to involving patients and the public, often making it impossible for contributors to be involved in the very early or subsequent phases of doctoral research.
The present paper (Coupe & Mathieson, 2020) therefore aims to present patient and public involvement approaches taken in two doctoral studies and outlines how this impacted the processes and outcomes. The paper also suggests how future doctoral researchers can meaningfully involve patients and the public with limited resources.
Doctoral researchers may struggle to involve patients and the public meaningfully in their research due to limited time and funding.
Study one
The goals of PPI, which aimed to design an intervention to improve outcomes of overweight adults were to:
Obtain feedback on the appropriateness of overall PhD research questions and aims
Check readability and suitability of data collection tools throughout the study
Finalise an intervention booklet design, checking appropriateness of content and usability.
To meet the first two of these aims, one contributor was contacted at various points throughout the doctoral research study and asked to provide electronic (e-mail, telephone) feedback on documents such as protocols and topic guides. To meet the third aim, a meeting was held with a service user group and separately with a staff group to gather feedback on the first draft of the intervention booklet. Each group was asked to give informal feedback, with researchers using open prompts relating to usability and suggestions for improvements.
Study two
The aims of PPI in study two, which aimed to explore an evidence-based intervention for family carers, were to:
Obtain the perspectives of family carers on the implementation work and findings throughout
Ensure implementation strategies and recommendations for future implementation work are acceptable to family carers, as 'end-users' of the booklet intervention.
To meet these aims two 'research buddies' were recruited to give their perspective throughout the project. The researcher had regular contact with the 'research buddies' both face-to-face and by telephone to discuss the study's progress and gain their perspectives as former carers. The research buddies also contributed to data analysis workshops by providing their feedback on anonymised transcripts, to explore the meaning of the data to them as family carers.
The authors identify a range of impacts that PPI had on the researcher, the contributors and the research itself.
First, the researchers felt they had gained skills and confidence; organising and leading PPI meetings and making changes following feedback was perceived to increase skills in organisation, communication, partnership building and use of lay language. They also valued the opportunity to gain insights from a carer perspective, which would not have been possible from supervisors or academic resources.
Second, contributors all evaluated their experiences positively with the majority stating they would be happy to be involved again. Contributors felt there were no barriers to being involved, and that they had a new appreciation of the work involved in research.
Third, the authors report improvements to the research process as a result of PPI. For instance, research documents were improved in terms of readability, topic guides were made more sensitive and the layout and content of intervention booklets was improved in terms of usability and appeal. Contributors also offered potential solutions when faced with recruitment issues and offered alternative explanations to themes identified in qualitative data.
The authors also highlight some challenges encountered in their pursuit of PPI:
Involving PPI panel members only using phone and email may help to save time and money, but may have hindered rapport building
The input of research buddies sometimes had to be limited due to resources and time constraints. This highlights the need to carefully manage expectations of contributors
PPI was felt to be 'student-led' and probably would not have happened without funding and the researchers previous experience with PPI.
Patient and public involvement led to positive outcomes for the researchers, the contributors and the research itself, though some challenges were identified.
The authors conclude that it was possible to conduct PPI at a meaningful level with limited time and funding during doctoral research. They argue that to ensure that doctoral researchers are sufficiently experienced and qualified to become the next wave of leading researchers, it's essential that PPI is an integral part of doctoral training.
In my own experience of trying to involve people with lived experience of being in prison during my doctoral research, a lot of what the authors report resonates with me. Particularly, I am struck by the sentiment that PPI felt 'student-led'. My institution offers several training courses on PPI and is generally encouraging, but I still feel that I have had to 'lead' on PPI, and indeed sometimes fight for it to be an integral part of my PhD. This echoes the need for a cultural shift amongst institutions and funding bodies; to make PPI an integral part of doctoral research. This, of course, needs to be achieved through making more funding available for doctoral researchers to be able to meaningfully involve patients and the public in their research.
Institutions and funders should ensure that patient and public involvement is an integral part of doctoral research and should provide funding so this can happen.
This paper gives a much-needed example of how patient and public involvement work can be conducted as part of doctoral research. The authors should be commended for adhering to the GRIPP2 guidelines (Staniszewska, Brett, Simera et al., 2017) for reporting patient and public involvement, which makes for a clear and replicable outline of the approach taken.
As acknowledged by the authors, both had access to a considerable set of resources to assist with PPI in their projects, such as access to training, funding and a pre-existing PPI panel based at their institution. Though welcomed, it is my understanding that this support is not the norm for doctoral researchers wishing to undertake PPI, and so it would be good to hear about the experiences of other doctoral researchers who may have differing perspectives and advice on how to conduct PPI.
It would be good to hear from other doctoral researchers about their experiences of involving patients and the public in research.
Implications for practice
The authors make several recommendations for doctoral researchers who want to meaningfully involve patients and the public in their research:
Be clear on the aims of PPI to avoid tokenism
Consider your resources
Seek advice from someone with experience and knowledge of PPI
Record and report the impact of involvement on the research
The authors also include a helpful figure which shows ways that doctoral researchers can involve patients and the public using the limited time and resources available to them. For instance, it's suggested that doctoral researchers use technology to lower the time and costs of involvement activities.
The authors make several recommendations for how doctoral researchers can involve patients and the public in their research with the limited time and resources available to them.
Statement of interests
Primary paper
Coupe N, Mathieson A. (2020) Patient and public involvement in doctoral research: Impact, resources and recommendations. Health Expect. 2020; 23: 125-136. https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.12976
Boote, J., Telford, R., & Cooper, C. (2002). Consumer involvement in health research: a review and research agenda. Health Policy, 61(2), 213–236.
Goodare, H., & Smith, R. (1995). The rights of patients in research. British Medical Journal Publishing Group.
Hanley, B., Bradburn, J., Barnes, M., Evans, C., Goodare, H., Kelson, M., … Wallcraft, J. (2004). Involving the public in NHS public health, and social care research: briefing notes for researchers. Involve.
Staniszewska, S., Brett, J., Simera, I., Seers, K., Mockford, C., Goodlad, S., Altman, D.G., Moher, D., Barber, R., Denegri, S. and Entwistle, A., 2017. GRIPP2 reporting checklists: tools to improve reporting of patient and public involvement in research. Research involvement and engagement, 3(1), p.13.
Thompson, J., Barber, R., Ward, P. R., Boote, J. D., Cooper, C. L., Armitage, C. J., & Jones, G. (2009). Health researchers' attitudes towards public involvement in health research. Health Expectations, 12(2), 209–220.
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Tagged with: co-production, doctoral research, Health Expectations, patient and public involvement, patient and public participation, PhD, postgraduate studies, research
Laura is a research assistant working on the #chatsafe project at Orygen. Laura completed her PhD at the University of Manchester where she explored the role of emotions in male prisoner suicide and violence. Laura has been a project co-ordinator for The Mental Elf since 2020. Her background is in Psychology and she is particularly passionate about suicide prevention, forensic psychology, the mental health of children and young people. Laura is a strong advocate for Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in research and the accessible and widespread dissemination of research findings.
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Holbrooks
Shocking moment drink-driver ploughs into car on wrong side of road
The horrific crash was caught on a dashcam
Ben Eccleston
This shocking footage shows a drink-driver in Coventry drifting on to the wrong side of the road and ploughing into an oncoming car.
The innocent driver whose dashcam captured the terrifying crash was Janita McSorley.
She was driving in Burnaby Road, Holbrooks, when the red Toyota suddenly crossed into the her side of the road and failed to slow down before smashing in to Janita's vehicle.
A voice can be heard on the footage saying: "Are you ok? Are you ok?" before another is heard saying "help".
The drink-driver's Toyota on the wrong side of Burnaby Road, Coventry, just before the crash. Footage courtesy of Nextbase and Sure Thing.
The dashcam footage was one of over 10,000 clips uploaded to the National Dash Cam Safety Portal in 2019.
The portal, which is run by Nextbase, allows people to report footage of driving incident directly to their relevant police force. Over 30 police forces are currently signed up to the portal, including West Midlands Police and Warwickshire Police.
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Following the crash in Coventry, which led to both vehicles being written off, Janita and her passenger were fortunately relatively unharmed.
And her decision to use the dashcam portal eventually led to the other driver admitting liability, having initially tried to avoid accepting accountability.
The moment of impact. Footage courtesy of Nextbase and Sure Thing.
Richard Browning, director at Nextbase, said: "Drink-driving is still a very real danger and incidents like this prove that it is still a major deal on UK roads.
"At Nextbase we aim to make the roads as safe as possible and - though we unfortunately can't put an end to drink driving - the dashcam was able to provide footage showing exactly what happened and proving Miss McSorley's innocence."
According to end-of-year statistics, the 32 police forces currently using the portal received over 10,000 uploads.
Nextbase say the platform drastically reduces the amount of time it takes police to process clips - by an average of eight to 10 hours for each case - meaning the total amount of time saved by forces amounts to over 85,000 hours.
The portal has strict parameters for submitting footage, including users having to be willing to testify in court.
Of the uploads, half have resulted in action being pursued by police, with outcomes including court proceedings to awareness courses and fixed penalty notices.