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ANOTHER GLIMPSE OF JAGO - AND MORE IMAGES OF HIS ARTWORK
As we near Christmas 2019. I still have no word from Unicorn, the publishers, about the publication date for 'The Remarkable Life of Jago Stone'. It was going to be October 1, then December 1. Both dates passed, with many apologies from Unicorn. But sometime I hope in early 2020 the biography of Jago will be in bookshops and available online. Having worked on and reread a number of final drafts since completing the book over a year ago, I can say with conviction that the book does provide a remarkably interesting and worthwhile read - and visually it is a treat!
In these last couple of months I've had a fruitful contact through the medium of Facebook with a toy-bear-maker, Jean Grogan. We share a bond with teddy-bears. Those of you who read my thoughts regularly will be familiar with Peter Ted and his adventures. He's my bear. His partner is Sally Anne; she's Louise's teddy. Here's a link to press for those of you unfamiliar with this interesting side to our life:
https://robdonovan.blogspot.com/2019/07/peter-ted-goes-to-his-oxford-gaudy.html
Jean, as I say, makes them. Here's her website address:
https://www.facebook.com/littlescruffsbears/
Jean made contact and began telling her Jago Stone story in early November. Jago, it seemed, used to come 'most days' into the Tea Shop that she and her husband ran in the village of Sedgeberrow near Evesham in Worcestershire.
The parish church of Sedgeberrow, near Eynsham in Worcestershire.
This is Cotswold territory - and around fifty miles and a hour and a half drive from Hellidon in Northamptonshire where Jago had been loosely based. Quite some distance. The year is 1984. As
Posted by ROB DONOVAN at 10:20 2 comments:
RESISTANCE NEWS - LOVE IN THE CORBYN FAMILY - AND OUTSIDE
In a statement on Twitter last weekend, Jeremy Corbyn's sons - Tommy, Seb and Benjamin -
expressed their pride in their father, He may have been the leader of the Labour Party when it experienced a crushing General Election defeat but they argued their dad had paid the price for being 'honest, humble and good-natured in the poisonous world of politics'. They also praised his lifetime record of championing the 'less fortunate' and for producing the 'most wonderful manifesto the country has ever seen'. They claimed that Jeremy Corbyn had suffered the 'most despicable attacks, filled with hatred'.
Jeremy Corbyn's three sons - Tommy, Seb and Benjamin - in 2018
Here is their inspiring letter:
I wanted to shine a spotlight on their Twitter letter to widen its circulation and increase the numbers reading it. When so much of what hits our senses is angry and abusive, it is so important to be taken
Posted by ROB DONOVAN at 13:44 1 comment:
THE RESISTANCE BEGINS - STILL NAILING JOHNSON
I got the timing wrong - but The Road to Justice continues. The Resistance begins.
At just past 22.00 hours, as the exit poll prediction was announced, I stared at the screen in disbelief. I went to bed in the early hours before the results were announced for Camborne, Redruth and Hayle - the seat where I canvassed, as part of a large and dedicated team, nineteen times in five and a half weeks - around two hours plus travel each time - for the admirable Paul Farmer, the Labour candidate. I had chosen to devote my energies in this marginal constituency where the Tory MP was only 1500 or so votes in front at the last election in 2017 rather than my own St Ives, Penzance and Helston neck-of-the-woods where the battle was between Tory and Lib-Dem candidates with the Labour candidate out of contention. Yesterday, I woke up to find that the Tory MP for Camborne, Redruth and Hayle had been returned with an increased majority. Paul had amassed 18,064 votes. The sitting Tory MP had gained 26,764. The Tory majority is now 8,700 votes.
I am gutted - but the resistance starts straightaway. Objectively, from an academic perspective, it is fascinating and remarkable to observe how on one day in one country a meme becomes manifest. Across the country, a swing to the Tories is apparent, varying between around 5 to 10 per cent on average but still a consistent feature throughout England and Wales. It is a swing shaped by people not voting for the Labour Party and often choosing to vote Brexit rather than Tory in Labour-held seats. Why had people abandoned Labour?
Still the message of hope and intent - still a signal to the rich and powerful: 'We are on to you!'
An email arrived from the United States yesterday morning. One of my American contacts from my research into the life of Jago Stone - Christopher Michas - was asking: 'What the hell happened? How do the Tories win today. I just don't understand.'
I replied:
It's very hard to take - Why did it happen? So may Brits felt betrayed by politicians not delivering on the UK vote to Leave in 2016. The Tory party in government (2016-19) failed to deliver Brexit - that failure gave the Remainers the opportunity to demand a second Referendum - and their voice was strong enough to lead the Labour Party to change policy and seek to offer hope to both Brexiteers and Remainers. The Brexiteers up North and in the Midlands and in north Wales felt further betrayed and Labour lost scores of seats in their traditional heartlands. Plus Labour's leader, JC, was subject to media and political besmirching - and too many people turned against him - he became a scapegoat. Yet he remains what he has always been - a decent and honourable man who has a wonderful vision of how people should live together in a fair and just society. We are heading for being a bad country under Johnson. It's scary.
This is a blogpost that is taking shape as I write. This morning, Skwawkbox - my wonderful source of news that
A QUESTION OF INTELLIGENCE - WHY BORIS JOHNSON IS UNFIT TO BE PM
In the pages of The Road to Corbyn (2016), I nailed Boris Johnson when he was still the Mayor of London. I'm having another go now. Video evidence emerged at the beginning of this week from the Labour Party campaign headquarters. Boris Johnson is seen delivering a speech and the key quote from the oration is headlined:
'INEQUALITY IS ESSENTIAL'
You can see this video when you tap into my Timeline on Facebook or access my Facebook 'The Road to Corbyn' page. I find the contents of Johnson's speech vile but it is important to hear and see it being delivered to get a better measure of the man. He made what he would consider his oration in 2013 when Mayor of London.
With my thanks to the band 'IQ' and their album 'Resistance' - I am a founder member of the group calling itself 'IQ Resistance'.
Here is a transcript - with some commentary from me:
"As many as 16% of our species have an IQ below 85 ….
[Where did that figure come from!?! - Back in 1976, I married Louise in July knowing that I would be going back to university in September - to Manchester to study for a M.Ed. in Curriculum Studies; an opportunity to engage for the first time with the disciplines of psychology, sociology and
TORY SHAME (2010-2019) - THANK YOU, SKWAWKBOX!
The long list of shame: Tory 'achievements' 2010-2019
by SKWAWKBOX (SW)
Shame: Tories have been a blight on the UK
Below are some things the Tories never promised in their manifesto, which voters may wish to bear in mind this week.
As 'achievements' go, it's a shameful list entirely in keeping with Tory values:
more than one in three children live in poverty - more than 4 million
national debt has risen £1,400,000,000,000 from £850bn to £2.25 trillion
UK government and policies condemned by UN for inflicting needless poverty and misery
43,000 NHS nurse posts unfilled
student nurse bursary abolished
5 million bed spaces per year gone
millions of cruel benefit sanctions
millions left with no funds - intentionally - through Universal Credit system
massive failed NHS privatisations
massive social care crisis
approximately 185,000 extra deaths linked to politically-driven austerity
10,000 fewer medical professionals
25,000 fewer bed spaces for mental illness
almost half of people claiming disability benefits have attempted suicide
food bank use up 2,400%
homelessness up 1,000%
rough sleeping up 1,200%
Bedroom Tax caused mass evictions
evictions running at record highs
massive cuts in school funding
student fees up 300%
student debt has risen 150%
forced academisation of schools against parents' wishes
1,000 Sure Start centres closed
780 libraries closed
700 football pitches closed
removal of EMA (education maintenance allowance) for poor pupils
pound down appr. 15% versus EUR and USD
manufacturing in recession
construction in recession
services close to recession
25-30% cuts to all govt departments
25-30% cuts to all councils, mainly centred on Labour councils in poorer areas
half of councils close to bankruptcy
21,000 fewer front-line police
20,000 fewer prison officers
10,000 fewer border officials
10,000 fewer firefighters
OECD calculate 3 million hidden unemployed, rate is really 13%
mushrooming insecure work: temporary, self employed, gig economy and zero hours contracts
only 30k full time work positions created.
almost half of workers are in insecure work: self-employed, ZHC, or part-time 'precariat'
80% of the 5.3 million self-employed live below the poverty line
more than 1 in 3 self-employed only earn £100 a month
25% cuts for our disabled people
80% cuts to Mobility Allowance.
Remploy closed
40% of working households just one crisis away from destitution
70% of households have less than 10k savings
60% of households can only survive 2 months without a wage
household debt reaches new peak, despite emergency base rates
50% increase in hate crimes
150% increase in knife crime to 22,000 per year
teenage suicide up by 70%
suicides up 12% just in 2018
self-harm among young women up 70%
life-expectancy down - for first time in decades - by 3 years
lowest ever NHS satisfaction level
council-home building down 90%
200k social homes lost
ZERO starter homes built, despite Tory flagship programme
council home-building down 90%
one million families on council home waiting list
36,000 teachers have left the profession
multiple collapsed private rail franchises
collapsed building and maintenance giants leaving schools and hospitals in the lurch - that the government knew were coming and ignored
This is only a partial list. More will no doubt be added.
None of these things were mentioned by the Tories in their manifestos.
A vote for Boris Johnson is a vote for more of the same.
A vote for Labour is a vote for real change and a return to a decent country.
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SKWAWKBOX (SW) | December 8, 2019 at 11:12 pm | Categories: Analysis, comment | URL: https://wp.me/p2sftc-B7l
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JAGO STONE - THE AMERICAN CONNECTION - PART NINETEEN
Good morning! Getting my biography of Jago Stone, the remarkable English artist, to the printers has been a bit of a roller-coaster - but I think we are there. Here is my latest Mailchimp newsletter about matters relating to my writing and in particular the story of Jago and his art, recirculated and updated with some fresh material. Thanks to everyone who has played a part in the telling of the remarkable life of Jago Stone (1928-88).
NOVEMBER 2019 - UPDATES ON 'THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF JAGO STONE' - THE BIOGRAPHY
It's been a couple of months since I created a Mailchimp newsletter; the last one in September was promising publication in December and explaining that the publisher's, Unicorn, had apologised for not being in a position to get the book out on October 1 as planned. Too much remained to complete.
These last two months have seen some progress but there have been further frustrations and delay. The quality of ten of the images in the book remained a problem until last week when at last all the images were passed as acceptable. I completed yet another final proof-read yesterday. The text is with the indexer and then it will go to the printer. I haven't been told when the new publication date is but it won't now be December 1.
You can of course still pre-order a copy, both here in the UK and the United States. Below, there are links to Waterstones and Amazon and an American website that a Google alert presented to me:
Waterstones:
https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-remarkable-life-of-jago-stone/rob-donovan/9781912690428
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Remarkable-Life-Jago-Stone-Burglar/dp/191269042X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+Remarkable+Life+of+Jago+Stone&qid=1575019541&s=books&sr=1-1
American website:
https://www.target.com/p/the-remarkable-life-of-jago-stone-by-rob-donovan-hardcover/-/A-78801365
I haven't received any new stories about Jago or images of his paintings other than the material that I weaved together in the Australian Connection blogpost that I published in October - but I will, though, use this newsletter as an opportunity to show you the paintings that came our way through the Bertie Barrett and George Newsom pathway. Do dig around in the blog archive to find that story.
Butter Cross: Witney, Oxon - Jago Stone (1971)
The Australian Connection blogpost did lead to a delightful email exchange between Becky Bender in South Dakota and me. Becky is my very first American connection who gifted me in 2016 a remarkable story and images truly worthy of Jago. Here are sections of that email exchange last month, starting with Becky:
"Just finished reading your blog about Australia and the Jago connection. It's a small world with internet connections and it also goes to show what an amazing character Jago was!
I want to tell you what my explanation was for the 'Ride a Cock Horse' nursery rhyme. I was told by an older lady who had lived in Banbury for a long time that the Fine lady probably referred to some lady of the Fiennes family. I believe they owned a lot of the land around Banbury long ago? The cock horse was described as an additional horse(s) kept at the top of the hills or bottom, to be hitched to heavy wagon loads to assist as a braking horse or pulling horse. Banbury is set way down in hills all around it. I always loved that rhyme as a little girl and could picture myself with rings on my fingers and bells on my toes, riding a big white horse around a cross. I also thought the cross was just that - a cross. Imagine my surprise when I first saw it and foud it was like a huge cake with a cross on the top. I drove around that roundabout and around the cross a ton of times when I first had my horse in livery north of Banbury. Then I could think, 'Ride a cock horse, Round Banbury Cross, to see a fine lady upon a brown (white) horse. With rings on her fingers, and bells on her toes, she shall have music wherever she goes!' I miss my Wally horse a lot sometimes!"
The Old Wool Market, Chipping Campden - Jago Stone (1970)
"Your Banbury 'older lady' contact sounds as though she was onto something when she referenced the Fiennes family to explain a 'fine lady'. When we were living in Suffolk, we got to know through our Catholic church Jennifer Lash, a very talented writer and artist who had married Mark Fiennes, a photographer and member of this Fiennes family that can trace its origins back to Norman times and has connections with the royal house of Windsor. Jennifer brought into the world six children who have all had extraordinary lives, some more well-known than others. They are Ralph, Magnus, Sophie, Martha, Jacob and Joseph. I too love the imagining of you riding on Wally around Banbury Cross! Do you have any pictures of Wally? And may I use your stories from this email in a future blogpost?"
The Rollright Stones - Jago Stone (1971)
Thank you, Becky, for giving me permission.
Untitled - Jago Stone (1971)
If you know anyone you think might be interested in these mailings about 'Jago' please encourage them to follow the link to my website. Here it is: http://www.robdonovan-author.co.uk/JagoStone-Biography.html They can join you as subscribers - 66 to date.
Yew Tree Cottage, Bodicote, Oxon. - Jago Stone (indecipherable, but probably 1971)
You can also use this page to access all my Jago Stone blogs. The blog-posts are also there for your enjoyment - and comments. Press this link here to start accessing these posts: https://robdonovan.blogspot.com/2019/01/jago-stone-american-connection-part.html
New College, Oxford - Jago Stone (1971)
I hope you have enjoyed these images only one of which will you find in the biography.
That's the end of the Mailchimp newsletter. I thought I'd close on a personal note of thanks to an American source for the Jago biography who has been invaluable - Michael Mort. Michael messaged me in the last few days about getting a signed copy of the biography when it's published and we're working out the best way to achieve that. Here, now, I'd like to share one image that Michael has gifted me - this as my taster for the biography and Chapter Seven: The American Connection, in particular.
It was late May in 2017 when Michael made Facebook contact with me from Abilene, Texas. By the end of 2017, I had been gifted three images of Jago in 1977 painting Michael's home in Swalcliffe near Banbury, Oxfordshire. Here's one of them:
Jago Stone at work in 1977 - (Michael Mort photo collection)
Wow! The artist at work, in communion with his talent. Thank you so much, Michael.
Posted by ROB DONOVAN at 15:42 No comments:
A BOLIVIAN COUP MISREPORTED BY OUR MAIN-STREAM MEDIA (MSM)
Back in February this year I published a blogpost 'Venezuela - the other side of the story'. I had been so shocked at the difference between the facts as I had come to understand them from sources I trusted and how the events in Venezuela were being presented in our mainstream media (MSM) that I felt compelled to create my own account of this media bias against the left-wing.
Here's the link to that blogpost: https://robdonovan.blogspot.com/2019/02/venezuela-other-side-of-story.html
Most of our media tend to follow the bidding of our right-wing politicians in government who in turn follow the lead of their right-wing allies in the American establishment who have a visceral fear and loathing of socialism on or near 'their' continent of America, north or south.
Evo Morales - the legitimate socialist president of Bolivia, now ousted and living in exile in Mexico.
Plus ca change - capitalism rampant is still the same beast. Now it's Bolivia.
An international vision needs some grasp of where countries are on the map of the world
The Observer newspaper had a leader on the subject of Bolivia last Sunday (17.11.19) a couple of weeks after Evo Morales, Bolivia's president since 2005, was forced out of office and out of the country. The headline reads: Morales was a victim of his own refusal to hand over power. What follows is in the best tradition of a certain type of English liberalism - an acknowledgement of the merits of a person or set of ideas, followed by the knife in the back. Let me give you the good stuff first:
'Broadly speaking, Evo Morales was a successful leader of Bolivia. A trade unionist with familial roots among the country's indigenous peoples [a long-winded way to say he was an ethnic Bolivian, without European settler ancestry] he was first elected president in 2005 and was twice returned to office with substantial majorities. Morales is credited by the International Monetary Fund [a staunch supporter of capitalism] with achieving a drastic reduction in poverty among farmers and coca growers and a societal revolution that transformed the standing of Bolivia's numerous ethnic groups.
A convinced socialist, Morales identified with the late Hugo Chavez's Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela and with other left-wing leaders such as Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil's former president. He championed a 'plurinational' constitution that guaranteed equal rights for all citizens, effectively ending the monopoly on power previously enjoyed by Bolivians of European descent. His time in office also saw a big increase in women's political participation.'
Very good so far … but the tone changes.
Supporters of the opposition leader, Carlos Mesa, take to the streets in October 2019
Just think how many enemies were waiting their moment amongst the rich and formerly powerful in Bolivia. Fourteen years waiting for the slip, the moment off-guard. Come the sixth paragraph, The Observer's leader is following their script:
'But it was Morales's determination to grab a fourth consecutive term, and his alleged rigging of last month's elections for that purpose, which precipitated his downfall … By his latest actions, Morales has obscured the good he has done and created a personal tragedy. Here, again, is the familiar story of what happens when leaders outstay their welcome.'
Supporters of the President, Evo Morales, are confronted by security forces - October 2019
There you have it - a classic example of gutter journalism from the pages of a so-called quality broadsheet. 'Gutter journalism' - really? Consider these facts:
The Comite Ciudadano (Citizens Committee), a right-wing coalition led by Bolivia's ex vice-president, Carlos Mesa, and Luis Fernando Camacho, a multimillionaire entrepreneur who leads the extreme right-wing pressure group Comite Civico (Civic Committee) of Santa Cruz, jointly launched a brutal wave of violence in many parts of Bolivia in order to oust Evo Morales.
The violence was carried out by paid, armed thugs whose main targets have been public buildings, organisations associated with the government such as trade unions - and cooperatives and radio stations in poor areas. Individuals such as mayors and ministers have also been the victims. The main brunt of this violence has been borne by persons of indigenous ethnicity, especially women.
A similar strategy was followed unsuccessfully in 2008 when the US ambassador, Phillip Goldberg, played a central role. The US - as with the oil in Venezuela - wanted to get a share of the rich gas and oil deposits that lie in the ground in the eastern region of Bolivia. An additional incentive is that Bolivia has the largest deposits of lithium in the world.
The present violence in 2019 was prompted by the electoral defeat of Bolivia's right-wing yet again in the national election on October 20 2019. The result gave the victory to Morales's Movement for Socialism (MAS) with 47% of the vote. Carlos Mesa got 36.5%. MAS won absolute majorities in both the Congress and Senate.
The right-wing alleged fraud, citing the delay in the vote. In fact this was unavoidable as it takes more time for the largely rural, indigenous vote to be counted. The world media were used to spread the fabrication of a fraudulent election. By October 22, the right-wing thugs were in action.
Important sections of the police force, in what seems a coordinated action, retreated to their barracks and left the civilian population at the mercy of the racist thugs.
The worst outrages have not been covered by the world's corporate media who are presenting the crisis as a rebellion against Morales 's government for the defence of democracy - a far cry from the reality on the ground.
Read the Morning Star, as I do each day, to get a better grasp of what's going on in the world. Don't be fooled by what you read and hear in the MSM. I've made time to produce this blogpost even as I canvass for a Labour government here in the UK because we all need a global vision. We need to understand just how threatening the idea of socialism is to the few who at present control the levers of power and rake in the wealth.
As a final word - you won't have picked this up in the MSM either - here's an extract from a piece in the Morning Star (November 12, 2019):
'Jeremy Corbyn decried the forced resignation of Bolivian President Evo Morales as a coup yesterday, condemning the army's demand for the socialist leader to step down as "appalling" - "I condemn this coup against the Bolivian peoples and stand with them for democracy, social justice and independence'."
There are a number of international leaders and governments who are fearful of a Jeremy Corbyn-led socialist government coming to power in the UK through a democratic General Election. His vision is the opposite to theirs.
ANOTHER GLIMPSE OF JAGO - AND MORE IMAGES OF HIS A...
RESISTANCE NEWS - LOVE IN THE CORBYN FAMILY - AND ...
A QUESTION OF INTELLIGENCE - WHY BORIS JOHNSON IS ...
JAGO STONE - THE AMERICAN CONNECTION - PART NINETE...
A BOLIVIAN COUP MISREPORTED BY OUR MAIN-STREAM MED...


What is the actual purpose of MVC?
I've seen a lot of stuff that describes how it's done, but not a lot that tells WHY it's done. Is it just a way to keep the code readable, or is there a better reason?
It's about Separation of Concerns. Basically, you want your software components to do one thing, and one thing only. If your components start doing more than one thing, code gets hard to read, things become more complicated than they need to be -- basically an app turns into a big plate of Spagetti Code.
The Models contain the business logic, represent the things in your application. The views present the data to the user. The controllers decide what to do with the various user actions. When you stick to that, the code is easy to read because things are as simple as possible.
MVC is a popular pattern, but it's not the only one out there. MVVM is also popular. As long as you separate your concerns, pick any design architecture that suits you.
The actual purpose of MVC is to separate your views from your controller and model. In other words, it is a design pattern is a structure for keeping display and data separate to allow each to change without affecting the other. By saying so, it is mostly used for GUI stuffs. Thus it essentially contains three things. The Model contains what is often called business logic, or all the data and information manipulated by your system. The View contains the objects that display the data, and the Controller manages the interaction with the user and mediates between the Model and the View.
In many modern GUI toolkits, view and controllers are somewhat inter-related and thus cannot be fully separated. For example, a button is a controller but it needs to be displayed in the screen.
Thats a big question I don't have time for that big of an answer, so I'll try to keep it short.
The primary reason is like you said for keeping the code readable and manageable. The separation of these main components model, view and controller help to create more reusable code that is easier to understand because each piece has a distinct purpose. The model representing the objects or data within the system and containing the code for the actions that can be performed on those objects. The view of course encapsulating the layout and design that allows you to view that data. And finally the controller that allows you to navigate from view to view, action to action.
If you have ever dealt with a large system of code that married the three of these together, you will have seen the typical copying of large chunks of redundant code that was not quite what was needed for the next task. These models are built in such a way that they are more generic making them more reusable than it was inline. That is you dont have SQL statements scattered throughout your scripts instead it is consolidated. The same is true of HTML being scattered in code, very undesirable and hard to edit and maintain.
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged mvc or ask your own question.
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100% Nylon Oxford 600mm (showerproof fabric).
Padded "STADIUM" jacket with concealed hood in the collar (zips away).
Microfleece liner in the collar for comfort.
Full length centre front zip with storm flap and stud fasteners.


This past weekend, our family went to one of those large greenhouse and shrubbery places and looked at pumpkins and such. But what really got our attention were those neglected big sheds for sale for several thousand dollars each. Somehow, my influence over my kids about tiny houses has filtered down and they realized they would like to have their own sheds to live in. This sounds like a set up for some Series of Unfortunate Events book, where the cruel parent builds small prisons for the children. But that is not the case. I think it inspiration.
Between the heavy duty books I read, it's nice to cleanse my brain's palate with something light and salty, like when I went to a team building exercise from work where we tasted wines and ate saltines between each swallow. Stuff Christians Like is that saltine, but shaped like a Jesus fish, and likely to induce a spray of crumbs out of your mouth every few pages.
I think religious conversations can be very pleasant with anyone other than conservative Christians and militant atheists. A cocktail party full of Buddhists, Hindus, Daoists, liberal Christians, even unorthodox christian splinter group members, Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons, and perhaps Jews and Muslims, could all discuss religion dispassionately, but adding a conservative Christian to the mix is like tossing a grenade into the crowd.
I agree that Muslim New Yorkers have a protected right to build a huge mosque in an area damaged by the 9/11Image via Wikipedia terror attacks, the Cordoba House/Park 51, but I think it obnoxious and provocative.
I also agree that a pastor of a tiny church in Florida also has a protected right to publically burn Korans, on the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, but I think it obnoxious and provocative.
Perhaps both groups can learn from each other.
Why do I think the mosque location is obnoxious and provocative? Because Muslims killed 3,000 people in the name of Islam, and having such a large mosque in a building damaged by those nuts reeks of a victorious army monument. Additionally, the original name, Cordoba house, is offensive because of the history it represents, Muslim invaders building a mosque on top of a church in Spain after their invasion in 784 AD. It's simply insensitive at best, malicious at worst.
Eusebius was the Bishop of Caesarea from 314 to 340, having survived horrible wavesImage via Wikipedia of Christian persecutions, until the rise of Constantine. This 400 page translation by G. A. Williamson, was engaging not only in the words of Eusebius, but also in the footnotes of Williamson with his occasional jabs at the modern claims of Catholicism.
Eusebius references so many other works and commentaries and essays by the great early leaders of the church, which he had copies of in his possession, that he leaves me jealous for his luxury of time and resources. There is so much more that I want to read, stimulated by the extended quotes Eusebius makes of these great apologists and teachers of the young church.
I really enjoy Ravi Zacharias when I hear him on the radio. I've read, and reviewed, one other book, edited by him, Beyond Opinion, that I also enjoyed. He has published a few dialog, style books, so I bought four of them. My wife and oldest daughter also read this book and the other ones, so I am late to the party. The Lotus and the Cross: Jesus talks with Buddha, is a brief, hypothetical discussion between Jesus and Buddha.


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Welcome to the new home for Adam's rantings and ravings. This is the #1 Daily Downloaded Podcast in the World. GET IT ON as Adam shares his thoughts on current events, relationships, airport security, specialty pizzas, politics, and anything else he can complain about. Five days a week and completely uncensored, Adam welcomes a wide range of guests to join him in studio for in depth interviews and a front row seat to his unparalleled ranting. Let's not forget Bryan Bishop (Bald Bryan) on sound effects. Check it out as Adam hangs out with some of his pals like: Larry Miller, David Allen Grier, Dr. Drew Pinksy, Dana Gould, Doug Benson, and many, many more.
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The podcasts of Brian Redban
The Adam and Dr. Drew Show
Adam Carolla & Dr. Drew Pinsky reunite the partnership that made Loveline a wild success and cultural touchstone. In each episode Adam and Drew take uncensored, nothing-off-limits, calls about sex, drug, medical and relationship issues. Dr. Drew brings the medicine while Adam's comedy and rants are the spoonful of sugar to make it go down.
Walking The Dog with Emily Dean
Walking The Dog with Emily Dean from The Times. Emily Dean takes some of her friends for a walk with their dogs. They talk about the weird, the wonderful, the funny and the extraordinary. 740124
World-renowned criminal defense lawyer Mark Geragos reveals the latest in our nation's most high-profile legal cases with podcast king Adam Carolla. In addition to examining how current law affects society, current events are brought to the forefront, as Geragos brings significant details from past and present experiences. Geragos has made notable marks on the legal system while representing Scott Peterson, Michael Jackson, Susan McDougal, Colin Kaepernick and more.
The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X Podcast
He's back, to save radio. You can hear The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X every morning from 6:30am to 10am on DAB Digital Radio across the UK, on 104.9FM in London, 97.7FM in Manchester, worldwide via the Radio X app or at www.radiox.co.uk
The Dr. Drew Podcast
Dr. Drew Pinsky, board certified internist and addiction medicine specialist, takes listener calls and talks to experts on a variety of topics relating to health, relationships, sex and drug addiction.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


165008 is pictured in the Buckinghamshire countryside near Chearsley with the 11:40 Stratford-upon-Avon to Marylebone Chiltern Railways service on 1 August 2007. Note the revised headlight arrangement, with the former wide recessed area now largely filled with a flush blanking plate. This section of line was re-doubled in 1998 (it had been reduced to single track in the late 1960s) and the frequency of service has benefited enormously as a result.


The 8th annual Cowboy Crawl, a western themed block party, returns to downtown Sparks on Saturday, June 29 from 4 - 10pm. The event will start at the Night in the County Corral Stop located at the Los Tres Hombres garden lot. The event will include an outdoor party area with country music and line dancing.
Participating bars include Cantina Los Tres Hombres, Victorian Saloon, Paddy and Irenes, Mummers, Oskis, Great Basin Brewing Company, Nugget Casino and Engine 8 Urban Winery, all conveniently located along Victorian Avenue. The Night in the Country Corral Stop will feature live music by DJ Colt Ainsworth, line dancing and Night in the County ticket giveaways.
Participants can purchase event tickets for $5. On the day of the event, tickets can be purchased for $10 at the Night in the County Corral Stop starting at 4 p.m. The ticket price includes a Cowboy Crawl wristband, cup, map, and a raffle ticket good for some sweet prizes. Participants must be at least 21 years of age with valid identification. For more, please visit www.facebook.com/cowboycrawl.


Secret number 39 to well received meals.
I love cooking for appreciative people, you know, the ones that the fact that they didn't have to cook it means it automatically tastes great. Sometimes though, there are more critical palates that need to be pleased. These are the ones that say, 'meh, the chef at The Four Seasons does this dish better.' There's a well-duh moment.
Last weekend there was a family gathering at my parents house. I was going to make Chicken Marsala but made a point of letting someone know it was Chicken Mar-sorta instead.
We had 6 meat eaters, two teenage boys, four seniors. Mom had four largish chicken breasts. With a nice salad (Chris calls it the 'leaf course') and risotto I thought that would be sufficient.
I use a marble pounder to thin meat. This makes it more tender then slicing lengthwise. Here's a variation Once the meat is evenly thinned and cut into similar size pieces, squeeze fresh lemon juice over. Then finely grate the rind directly on them. While those sit, heat butter and olive oil in a pan. This is another variation. Saute very finely diced garlic and shallots (note: I love cooking at moms. Shallots, fresh parsley in pots year round, what elegance!). Pat the chicken dry using absorbent towels. Leave specks of the lemon zest. Dip the meat in flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Pop them in the hot oil/butter and cook almost through. As the pieces are done, put them in a heated casserole in a warm (not hot-you want them to finish cooking but not dry out) oven.
There will be a crusty residue on the bottom of the pan. Mix 1/2 cup of Marsala with a spoonful of tomato paste. Use this to deglaze the pan (pour in hot pan and scrape the bottom until all that crusty stuff comes up). Keep stirring so it's smooth. The flour from the chicken pieces and the paste will thicken the sauce. Some people pour the sauce over the meat. I prefer to dip the meat into the sauce. The flour coating makes the meat absorbent. It sponges up the flavor and improves the texture. If there is any sauce left over, pour it over. Layer the meat in half the casserole and return the dish to the warm oven.
Mom had these great baby fist sized mushroom. I melted more butter in the hot pan and sauted sliced mushrooms. When they were done I put them in the casserole next to the meat. Then I splashed more marsala in the pan to deglaze again and poured that sauce over the mushroom. Fresh chopped parsley adds a great flavor and nice color.
That day Helen was sous chef. She stirred the risotto adding broth as the aborio rice absorbed a bit at a time. Mom made the salad. Start to finish, dinner was done in under an hour.
There were no complaints. Aunt Carol particularly liked the mushrooms. I told her secret number 28. Everything tastes great cooked in a 1/2 pound of butter.
Your chicken Mar-Sorta was so delicious I made it again last week.
Glad you enjoyed it! I love cooking for you.


Client: Beyond Studio: Intwine Design CD cover design for Beyond. hand rendered typography. Original photo by beyond manipulated in photoshop.
Client: The Foreign Studio: Intwine Design Illustrator logo design and hand rendered typography for band's identity. The band picked the logo on the left.


Elsa. The portrait has arrived and looks even better than the photographs that you sent. Your artist has got the hair and those changes around the mouth exactly right and this is going to make such a great Christmas present for my husband!Thank you so much and Happy Holidays to you and your staff.


So, lots of people have been asking for an update about my plans for the summer so that they can pray.
And I'm really expectant about what God is arranging and planning and bringing together.
And I'm spending a lot of time praying with wonderful and dear friends about vision and future and harvest.
And I love how God burdens and moves and speaks to your heart.
I love this journey He is taking me on.
The 12 week countdown has begun.
Accommodation is beginning to be booked.
Visits are being put in the diary, talks are being written and youth work training is being designed.
And my heart is enlarging for the children and young people and youth workers and individuals that I will be meeting and investing into and spending time with.
I'll be out for 6 weeks.
At the moment there are a couple of organisations that I'll be visiting for a day or so to do some interviews and make contacts, and 3 or 4 organisations that I'll be doing some actual-real-hands-on-work with for a few days to a week; either with children and young people or in running training with youth workers/lecturing about youth work in the UK.
And I'm leaving a lot of these plans as fluid as possible in order to follow Holy Spirit's leading.
So, I would appreciate your prayers over this next 12 weeks.
– For the logistical, practical arrangements of being in the right place at the right time in the right accommodation.
– That I will be a blessing and shining light to the families I am staying with for my home stays (even as I make first contacts!).
– For good quality relationships in the churches I attend, and with the Christians I meet.
– For favour with the non-Christian organisations and agencies I will be networking with.
– For open doors, boldness, contacts and sensitivity, both in this season of preparation, on the trip and for longer term.


Princess Flora AKA Taneha: L.A.
I have never spent any amount of time in L.A. and now I kind of know why.
Tuesday morning I flew down to L.A. for work. I have a trade show that goes from Wednesday till Friday (tomorrow). I have never really spend a large amount of time in L.A. at least not by myself. The worst part is I am down town L.A. with no car and nothing really around me to do. Tuesday when I got off the plane Craig my boss took me to lunch at probably the oldest restaurant in L.A., Philippe's. OMG he was right it has the best French Dip Sandwich EVER!!! Nothing compares to this place. They still sell coffee for $.10. Who actually does that any more. After we set up our both around 4pm I just went back to my room and spent the rest of the evening in just because I was too tired to actually do anything.
Wednesday night we went to The Standard in down town LA. We went to the roof top lounge. That was pretty cool. I was pretty impressed. Amazing though the amount of out of town people that were there actually made me laugh because being in such a trendy place and there were so many people that honestly looked out of place made the evening so entertaining.
Really it hasn't been that bad so far, I just haven't really been able to see much of L.A. because I have no way to get around without taking a cab or walking, which I don't feel like doing after being on my feet for 5 hours.
Tonight I actually went to West LA but couldn't tell you the name of the restaurant. It was really nice though. It actually reminded me of being in Vegas in one of the indoor restaurants that makes you think you are outside. That is how nice it was outside.
Well tomorrow I only have to work from 10:30am till 2pm then I am catching a train down to San Diego to visit my brother. I am so excited to actually take a break before I have to spend another 6 days focusing day and night on work. I love San Diego, my brother, family and so looking forward to the break. Well I will tell you all about it on Sunday night.


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October Newsletter
Enabling research to be translated into action to positively impact on the health of people
A note from the CEO
It's been another action packed month! I'm really pleased to include information about the Medical Research Future Fund Rapid Applied Research Translation Round 3 projects getting started. These are two year projects which will conclude June 30th, 2021.
The following activities have also kept us busy
Health Translation SA (HTSA) together with SA Health facilitated a high level forum on implementation and improvement in healthcare (Find out more below)
We held the inaugural meeting of the Health Analytics Research Collaborative Leadership Group that will be overseeing exemplar data projects. Recruitment of Data Fellows is progressing with appointments made soon.
The SA Clinical Research Governance Steering Committee that is driving implementation of the Birch Review has convened and is reporting to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing.
We also held a Connecting with Community Forum which was well attended by community members and Partner organisations (Find out more below)
Additionally our Board of Partners endorsed our new strategy and made important decisions about the future
And finally tomorrow we're holding our Stakeholder Forum (Find out more below or Register Here).
Wendy Keech
Visit our website www.healthtranslationsa.org.au
Medical Research Future Fund Rapid Applied Research Translation Funding
Connecting with Community Forum - A success!
Advancing the Practice and Science of Implementation and Improvement in SA
What are the Translation Centres doing and why?
Find HTSA on LinkedIn and Twitter!
The latest funding opportunities
Health Services and Policy Research Conference
Tomorrow: HTSA Stakeholder Forum 2019
4th Annual Stroke Forum
Equity in Health with Professor Richard Cookson
Healthy South Summit
Share your stories with us
HTSA is pleased to announce funding from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Rapid Applied Research Translation (RART) for four projects aimed at improving the health of South Australians.
The projects focus on key health areas including Aboriginal health, ageing, data access and analytics including the interface between primary and acute care, and mental health that deliver scalable solutions to health service problems and directly benefit patients.
They build on translational research activities, to accelerate translation of research findings into health care and ensure that health care problems identified by end-users, such as health care professionals and consumers, are brought to researchers, closing the loop between health care practice and research.
The projects are strongly collaborative with co-leads of researchers and clinicians and further enhanced by close links with HTSA Partners including universities, health organisations, the community and consumers.
The following projects will be funded for 2 years commencing mid 2019:
Aboriginal Health Project - Project Strengthening Aboriginal Capacity in Health Research Translation and Development in South Australia
Ageing Project - STAAR‐SA. State Action on Avoidable Re-hospitalisations and Unplanned Admissions: An Integrated Knowledge Translation project across SA
Data Access and Data Analytics Project - Including an exemplar Health Services Interface Data Project
Mental Health Project - Needs based community mental health services: Implementing timely and needs based interventions in the community by applying algorithms to transactional health care data
Further information on each of these projects is available via the button below.
These projects were supported by the Australian Government's Medical Research Future Fund as part of the Rapid Applied Research Translation program.
MRFF Round 3
In mid-October, HTSA and SAHMRI hosted our second Connecting with Community Forum which brought together over 50 community members and researchers who are currently involved in, or have an interest in, community engagement activities across HTSA, HTSA partner organisations and SAHMRI.
Attendees had the opportunity to:
Hear an update about community engagement activities that have been happening within HTSA and SAHMRI;
Learn about different examples of how community members have influenced research priority setting within South Australian; and
Provide feedback on ways they thought community members could be involved in research priority setting going forward and advice on a range of topics to inform a 'top-tips' factsheet.
The Forum was a huge success, with many positive ideas being generated for future community engagement activities across the South Australian health and medical research community.
More information about the outcomes of the Forum will be communicated in the coming month.
This week 40 healthcare decision makers, clinical champions and research academics came together to consider opportunities to build on the considerable breadth of activities and world-renowned expertise in South Australia in evidence-based healthcare innovation and implementation.
Attendees included Executive Leaders from The Department of Health and Wellbeing, the Commission on Excellence and Innovation in Health, Wellbeing SA, the Local Health Networks, Primary Health Networks, Health Consumers Alliance of SA, Aboriginal Health Council of SA as well as Adelaide University, Uni SA and Flinders University.
Alignment of the forum with the G-I-N & JBI Conference allowed implementation science experts Prof Bridie Kent (University of Plymouth), Prof Ian Graham (Ottowa Hospital Research Institute) and Prof Roman Kislov (University of Manchester) to contribute to the forum, as well as Ms Megan Campbell - Centre Director of the Australian Centre for Health Services Innovation (AusHSI).
The day demonstrated the significant opportunity we have in South Australia to work together to enhance what we do and the way we do it, and Health Translation SA looks forward to helping enable this.
NHMRC accredited Advanced Health Research and Translation Centres and Centres for Innovation in Regional Health (Translation Centres) are leading centres of excellence and collaboration in health and medical research, research translation, research-infused education and training and outstanding health care.
This video demonstrates an overview of NHMRC's Translation Centre initiative and what the Translation Centres are about.
Click here to learn more about Translation Centres
Health Translation SA have a presence on LinkedIn and Twitter!
Please click the blue icons below and start following Health Translation SA, we would love to welcome you to our social media community!
Click here to view the latest funding opportunities
Clinical Informatics Conference
The Playford Adelaide
Join us for this free one-day conference to hear about developments in clinical informatics and how it can inform future healthcare delivery in SA.
Special Guest: Matiu Bush
Deputy Director, Health Transformation Lab
Expert presenters will cover themes including:
Informatics as a driver for health reform
The importance of clinician-led change
Building workforce capacity and the emergence of new roles
Precision medicine, machine learning & artificial intelligence
Design and the patient narrative
Addressing Health Service Inequities to improve Health System Performance.
The 11th Health Services and Policy Research Conference will be held in Auckland, New Zealand, from the 4th to the 6th of December, 2019.
The purpose of the Health Services Research Association of Australia and New Zealand (HSRAANZ) is to facilitate communication across researchers, and between researchers and policymakers, to promote education and training in health services research, and to ensure sustainable capacity in health services research in Australia and New Zealand.
SAHMRI Auditorium
North Terrace, Adelaide
Join Health Translation SA for an update on our work and how we are designing and delivering rapid, impactful health research in South Australia.
12:00noon - 4:45pm
National Wine Centre
Join the conversation and attend this Stroke Forum, which is facilitated by the Peter Couche Foundation and supported by the three universities, Adelaide, UniSA and Flinders.
Addressing key issues, concerns and challenges faced by people who have had a stroke and their supporters, clinicians and researchers. The ongoing aim is to identify the key issues and challenges faced by these groups and generate meaningful questions that we can answer here in SA.
The Forum will continue to highlight high level presentations. Keynote speakers includeProfessor Geoffrey Donnan, AO, Professor of Neurology at The University of Melbourne and former Director of The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health. He is a Past-President of the World Stroke Organization and was Chair of the World Congress of Neurology. Ms. Sharon McGowan, Chief Executive Officer Stroke Foundation and Clinical Associate Professor, Timothy Kleinig.
You can register your attendance today by contacting Josie:
RSVP:
josie.gray@adelaide.edu.au
Josie Gray
P 8313 9939
M 0419 829 631
Health Translation SA together with SAHMRI's Aboriginal Health Equity theme invite you to attend the forum Working Towards Equity in Health in South Australia: 'The role of equity-informative health economics evaluations to support service and policy decision making'.
Our visiting academic for the day is Professor Richard Cookson, a health economist with the University of York, UK. The forum will explore several questions including:
The nature and role of equity-informative health economic evaluations?
Why might they be needed in South Australia?
How might they be developed and applied in South Australia?
In his keynote address Prof Cookson will share an overview of his research on equity informative economic inquiry including:
Important gaps in the evidence base for reducing health inequalities
How well organisations are performing in reducing health inequalities
The health equity impacts of specific interventions
The trade-offs between reducing health inequality and improving total population health in a resource constrained environment.
A facilitated panel conversation with Prof Richard Cookson and key thought leaders will also consider the importance of equity in health to South Australia as well as our opportunities and next-steps (Session 1 - 8:45-11:15 am).
For those who are interested in a more in-depth exploration of the potential for developing and applying equity-informative evaluations in South Australia, there is also a workshop from 11:15am-3:00pm featuring presentations by local researchers across a broad range of health and well-being related domains. Rather than presenting polished results, the workshop is an opportunity for exploring ideas, identifying potential for change and having a conversation with an expert in the area and others with a shared curiosity. A desired outcome of the workshop would be to consider how to prioritise and move towards realising these potentials.
PLANNING FOR A HEALTHY, EQUITABLE AND SUSTAINABLE SOUTHERN ADELAIDE
Join researchers from the Southgate Institute for Health, Society and Equity who will be presenting findings from the Healthy South Project.
The day will include:
The history of health promotion in the south of Adelaide and what current activities and structures exist
A panel on how government and health system leaders think the leadership and coordination of health promotion to prevent non-communicable disease (NCDs) can be improved
How urban planning can prevent NCDs including the development of the Healthy Urban Neighbourhood Transition Tool (HUNTT)
A hypothetical panel to discuss how the south of Adelaide became the healthiest, most equitable and sustainable region of the world by 2040
This event will be of interest to policy makers from all sectors, urban planners, researchers, health and social service workers, local government elected members and community members.
Hosted by the Southgate Institute for Health, Society and Equity, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University. The Healthy South project was funded by Health Translation SA through the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Rapid Applied Research Translation Program undertaken in 2019.
Click here to view our Publications page
We are happy to help promote any relevant research and translation events you would like to share.
Send an email to enquiries@healthtranslationsa.org.au


Western Social Club in Gresham has a function room that can be booked. The pub shows live comedy, it has a dart board. Western Social Club has DJ's. The pub has karaoke, it has live music events. Western Social Club has a pool table. The pub holds quiz nights, it has a big screen. Western Social Club shows football on TV. The pub has Sky Sports, it has terrestrial TV.


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COVID-19 economic fallout means ministry donors are more important than ever
By Rachel PfeifferNovember 30, 2020
USA (MNN) — As many Americans have faced financial struggles due to the pandemic, Set Free Ministries remains grateful for those who support them through sacrificial giving.
Nonprofits across the country have suffered from the economic difficulties caused by the pandemic. With donations falling, many nonprofits have been forced to cut jobs or close altogether. Though many hold out hope for congressional aid, ultimately most nonprofits continue to rely heavily on donor support in these difficult times.
This is as true for Set Free Ministries as it is for other nonprofits. The ministry has what Dean Vander Mey calls the "time, talent, and treasure principle." This strategy has been an important guiding philosophy during the pandemic when the ministry decided to begin helping people virtually.
"Our volunteers, who have time and talent, stepped up, and they became the heartbeat of the ministry, helping people out from their homes and getting on zoom calls," Vander Mey says. "It's really been a remarkable year when it comes to the time and talent piece."
(Photo courtesy of Brad Neathery via Unsplash)
With the difficult state most nonprofits have found themselves in across the country, Vander Mey knows Set Free has been blessed with the treasure portion as well.
"We've seen amazing things happen this year. We had a 25th-anniversary celebration, and we raised probably 50% more money than we've ever raised in 25 years. We wouldn't exist without the faithful donors of Set Free who give time, talent, and treasure," he says.
How Giving Helps
Vander Mey explains that Set Free works with its donors through Barnabas Ministries to be creative with giving and make wise financial moves along the way. These donations are crucial in supporting this ministry that never charges anyone for the help they give.
"Our goal is to give back to others, not only in this community but globally. We have thousands and thousands of students overseas who are in several Christian schools that we have built and sponsored. We're currently building a new high school in Uganda where 2,000 youth that would have never been able to afford a Christian education are going [attend]," Vander Mey says.
"When you give to us, our intent is to give back to the community and to give to others. You're going to get a pretty big bang for your buck when you give to Set Free Ministries because a lot of the money goes directly into the hands of other people."
Need for Prayer
(Photo courtesy of Fa Barboza via Unsplash)
In addition to financial support, Vander Mey asks for prayer for the ministry as the new year approaches but many struggles from 2020 will likely remain.
"Pray for health for our staff and volunteers, and also pray for endurance. We've had an amazing influx of calls from all over the world, and we're probably at 50% more freedom appointments than we've ever had in the history of our US operations," he says.
"We live in uncertain days right now. There's a lot of anger. There's a lot of rage. There's a lot of anxiety, a lot of fear, and we're trying to refocus and get people refocused on the Master. If Jesus is in our boat, we don't have to panic."
Header image courtesy of Ben White via Unsplash
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Give to support Set Free Ministries.
Pray for endurance and health for the Set Free Ministries staff.
This Giving Tuesday, support Bible translation in Nigeria!
Al-Shabab and clan wars threaten peace in Somalia
USCIRF condemns religious mob violence in Pakistan


Doing extensive research with lots of binary trading options have given us lots of insight when we check for the validity of a certain product. When checking Orion Code we have found that it is not a scam program and can be used by anyone. We highly recommend this particular one for all beginners.
Wake the kids, time to celebrate "Cut My Taxes Week" with Rick Scott!
The main event features Gov. Scott and special guests (pinch yourself) that include University of Florida mascots Albert and Alberta Gator mingling with the general public at a special "Tax Cut Calculator booth in the Florida State Capitol. There, you can see the miracle of fuzzy math at work. Just enter the amount you pay monthly for TV and phone services, say $100, and wait for the magic.
Holy Cow, look, you could save a total of $43 in taxes and fees on those services next year!
"Florida families know how to spend their hard earned money better than government can.
But you're smarter and savvier than he assumes. Ask how that adds up, when so many low and middle-income folks with 10 grand in credit card debt spend so much dough on slot machines and lottery tickets. Ask why so many got trapped into mortgages from Hell, and lost their homes.
You could ask why that $43 compares so unfavorably with the $3-4 billion in corporate tax evasion he and his legislative allies let Florida's biggest, most profitable businesses get away with each and every year. But why worry about tax fairness, when you "will be able to get back real money back" — to quote the governor word for word. Forty-three bucks!
Ask how dare he try tricking a Florida middle class just treading water into thinking Republican economic and tax policies have done anything but create a record-breaking and ever-widening income gap between the rich and everybody else – thanks to placing unfair burdens on working families and retirees.
Ask about the recent release of yet another major study, this one from a nonpartisan economic think tank, ranking Florida as having the second most unfair tax system in America.
Just don't expect real answers; at least not ones that make sense or are based on actual factual information. Try not to let frustration take over. But, if you are ordered to stop kicking the "Tax Cut Calculator" and told to vacate the capitol by Scott's security guards, remind the governor of an old adage on your way out.
Facts don't lie, people do.
Daniel Tilson has a Boca Raton-based communications firm called Full Cup Media, specializing in online video and written content for non-profits, political candidates and organizations, and small businesses. Column courtesy of Context Florida.


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Biodynamic Farming and its Unknown Monumental Impact on the Ban of Pesticides
14/10/2021 06/10/2021 by Tom van Oosterhout
Silent Spring is one of the most prominent books regarding the negative effects of pesticides, with direct influence on government, industry, and civil society.
More specifically the book was a fierce complaint against the use of the pesticide DDT, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane.
The book was published in 1962 and was written by Rachel Carson. The impact of the book was immediate and substantial. Silent Spring lies at the roots of the rapid and extensive growth of the environmental movement in the 1970s.
Moreover, the establishment of the USA Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970 can be attributed to Silent Spring. In 1972 the first big success of this agency was the ban of DDT.
There is however an intriguing story behind Silent Spring. A story seldom told and even forgotten by those who prospered most of it.
1 An unknown fact about biodynamic farming
2 Rachel Carson (1907-1964)
3 Silent Spring
4 The Dark Ages?
4.1 Biodynamic farming and Silent Spring
4.2 Lessons Learned?
5 Citrus Greening Disease
5.1 Citrus trees are vulnerable
5.2 Biodynamic farming requires an integrated management system
6 Biodynamic farming as an alternative for toxic chemicals
An unknown fact about biodynamic farming
Common sense has it that the fight against toxic chemicals threatening biodiversity boosted alternative ways of farming, such as organic and biodynamic farming. The truth is that it's the other way around.
Rachel Carson (1907-1964)
Key to the understanding of the impact of biodynamic farming on the ban on pesticides is Rachel Carson's 1962 bestseller Silent Spring. The book is still in print. For €1,30 the book is for sale as an ebook.
Carson was a marine biologist and zoologist. She was the second female admitted as an employee at the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries in 1936. There she was assigned to analyze field data and report about these data to the general public.
In 1952, when she was 45 years of age, she quit her job to become an independent author. This was enabled by the success of her first 2 books: Under the Sea Wind and The Sea Around Us.
Silent Spring
The central theme of Silent Spring is the negative impact of human interventions on the environment, more specifically that biocides have on biodiversity.
'Biocides' is the word Carson uses to indicate chemical toxins – such as pesticides – which have unlimited negative effects on animals, plants, and human life.
Pesticides, which are claimed to target specific – so-called – detrimental insects, always tend to destroy ecosystems indiscriminately.
Moreover, as Carson writes, within a very limited period of time, most insects get immune to the biocides used.
The Dark Ages?
Silent Spring was based on extensive scientific research. This did not prevent politicians and the chemical industry to deny the reliability of the conclusions of the book and to slander and threaten its author, publisher, and promotors.
One of the most notorious critics used the following words: "If man were to follow the teachings of Miss Carson, we would return to the Dark Ages, and the insects and diseases and vermin would once again inherit the earth."
Biodynamic farming and Silent Spring
What is less known, is that Silent Spring is largely based on the proceedings of the Long Island Spray Trial (1957-1960). This is a series of legal actions taken by two biodynamic farmers from Long Island (New York State, USA).
These legal actions were all taken against the United States Government for indiscriminately spraying DDT, and demanding an immediate ban on this practice.
For her book, Carson consulted and referenced many specialized scientists and scientific publications explaining the detrimental effects of pesticides. However, in Silent Spring no references are made to the biodynamic farming sources of her research.
Carson's arguments for omitting any reference to the biodynamic farming movement are twofold.
Her first argument is that during the trial the judge dismissed all claims to ban DDT with a reference to the biodynamic prejudices of the farmers, and the scientific witnesses who they presented at court.
Her second argument was that in contrast, and simultaneously, the same judge declared to be positively impressed by the witnesses of the defense, who had conducted scientific research for the chemical industry.
As a consequence, Carson did not want to mix up the message to the public in her book with references to the biodynamic farming movement. Instead, she emphasized the scientifically proven detrimental effects of pesticides, more specifically of DDT.
Related: Why Does Alternative Farming Come in So Many Unique Varieties?
Lessons Learned?
Free the Ocean, Skincare
Carson states that one of the most basic human rights is the 'right of the citizen to be safe in his own home against the intrusion of poisons applied by other citizens'.
Despite the enormous impact of Silent Spring, and the scientific evidence accumulated in the years after its publication, there are some signals of relapse in the vigilance against toxic chemicals in agriculture.
Take for example Spain. Already in 1964, Silent Spring was translated in Spanish as Primavera silenciosa. The book was introduced in Spain by the writer, journalist, and politician Josep Maria Massip Izàbal.
In 1963 and 1964 he was a correspondent in Washington for several Spanish newspapers and almost verbally translated Carson's book in his articles.
Unfortunately, the impact of Primavera silenciosa on the use of pesticides in Spain has been and still is very limited. In Europe, Spain uses the largest amount of pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides, at home as well as in agriculture.
Passing through the Spanish countryside we often see men spraying poison on herbs or large tractors spraying pesticides on fruit trees and vegetable fields.
The use of so many pesticides in Spain is remarkable because it is also the European country with the largest organic agricultural area (2.1 million hectares at the end of 2017). And Spain is fourth on the world scale of organic agricultural areas.
Related: Global Biodiversity Dictates the Quality of Our Life.
Agriculture without toxic chemicals, such as biodynamic and organic farming, is not an easy job. This is best illustrated with the example of the Citrus Greening Disease.
Citrus trees are vulnerable
The Citrus Greening Disease is caused by bacteria, more specifically the Liberibacter. This bacteria is transmitted by host-specific plant-feeding insects.
In this case, it is spread by the Asian and the African Citrus Psyllid bacteria. The psyllids feed themselves on the juice of the citrus tree. The African Citrus Psyllid also spread into Spain (Galicia).
Some countries abandoned the production of organic citrus fruits, causing significant losses in organic citrus areas.
Biodynamic farming requires an integrated management system
Amrita Lemon essential oil
Despite the use of chemical toxins, the Citrus Greening Disease continues to spread. Research revealed that the disease can only be contained with an integrated organic management strategy. This strategy includes the following three steps:
The first step is to grow high biodiverse groundcover under organic trees to maintain flowers promoting beneficial insects.
The second step is the use of biological control with fungi and parasitoids against the host of the bacteria – the psyllids.
The third step is to reinforce the tree's natural resilience.
Biodynamic farming as an alternative for toxic chemicals
The example of the Greening Disease illustrates how difficult and pioneering the work of Rachel Carson was. More in general how difficult and pioneering alternative types of agriculture are, such as biodynamic and organic farming.
The risks of the use of pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides are substantial. Most specifically they threaten biodiversity. These toxic chemicals also threaten healthy types of farming.
Because there are enough and sufficient alternative control strategies for toxic chemicals, these toxic substances should be banned immediately and banned forever.
What is your opinion about pesticides? Please let us know in the comment box below.
Categories Nutrition Tags biodynamic farming, Citrus Greening Disease, nutrition, pesticides, Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, sustainability, sustainable
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2 thoughts on "Biodynamic Farming and its Unknown Monumental Impact on the Ban of Pesticides"
We are lucky enough to live in the countryside which gives us access to a lot of organic produce. I was impressed at the amount of work needed to sustain this type of produce, not to mention the knowledge that unfortunately is not that easily available…
Tom van Oosterhout
Hi Naomi,
Thank you for your comment. I agree information about organic, ecological, or sustainable farming is hard to come by.
A couple of years ago Hannie and I followed a 2-day course on ecological farming. It was in Spanish, so we learned more from the day we worked outside in the field than from the theory.
Only recently we have picked up our theoretical course papers again. With the dictionary in hand, we come a long way. But it's a lot of information. And that's just one thing. Applying the information takes quite an effort.
We enjoy the fruits of our labor though.


The Walt Disney Company is reportedly lining up financing in case it needs to make a cash offer for 21st Century Fox.
It's in response to Comcast's plans to gatecrash Disney and Fox's agreement, reached last December.
According to CNBC, Disney is preparing to counteract Comcast's all-cash plan should Fox's board decide it wants cash as part of Disney's deal, which currently is all stock.
The report suggests Disney is looking at whether to add cash on top of its existing £49 billion offer or to change the bid to include a mixture of cash and stock.


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Elderslie Butcher lift top title
Monday, 8th Apr 2019
Farm Shop & Deli Awards 2019, Butcher of the Year title comes to Renfrewshire
Well done to Gavin Colquhoun and his young team at Elderslie Butchers have been presented with the Butcher of the Year Award at the Farm Shop & Deli Awards 2019 held at the NEC Birmingham on Monday 8th April 2019.
Butcher of the Year
Elderslie Butchers (Elderslie)
Commended:
Aubrey Allen (Leamington Spa)
Battlefield1403 Butcher (Shrewsbury)
Hugh Black & Sons Butchers Ltd (Bathgate)
Surrey Hills Butchers (Oxshott)
Congratulations to Hugh Black and Sons in Bathgate who were commended and worthy finalists.
Regional winners from Scotland across all the categories were:
More about the judging process
A team of over 20 leading experts judged the entries online before coming together last November to deliberate and shortlist the contenders. During January and February secret visits across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales took place before the winners, and overall Retailer of the Year, were decided.
The coveted accolades celebrate the best specialist independent retailers with judges looking for the most impressive levels of service, product knowledge, initiative, innovation and community involvement.
Nigel Barden, Chairman of Judges and Food and Drink Journalist and Broadcaster, says:
"More work than ever goes into the Farm Shop & Deli Awards, including an increased number of visits and more hours spent on the road for our judges. This gives the Awards even more kudos and esteem, as does the experience of our 20 judges who represent all aspects of the food and drink sector.
"Some of them are previous Retailers of the Year and appreciate how much benefit is gained by winning an award and the amount of work and expertise required to triumph. Winners and finalists get marvelous consumer and trade coverage, including a social media reach of 120,000 and a live announcement of the winners, and those shortlisted, at the Farm Shop & Deli Show at the NEC."
The show and Awards are organised by William Reed, who have over 150 years of experience to call upon."


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Doughty College Notebook: Virginia natives have mixed results at FSU
Since signing with Florida State in consecutive seasons, three Tidewater players recognized as the top football prospects in Virginia have yet to experience collegiate stardom.
Those three are defensive end Josh Sweat from Oscar Smith, defensive back Levonta Taylor from Ocean Lakes and running back Khalan Laborn from Bishop Sullivan.
All were rated the No. 1 prospect in Virginia by The Roanoke Times, which generally mirrors the national recruiting services. But none has been an All-ACC player.
Sweat turned pro after his junior year at Florida State in 2017 and was a fourth-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles. He has registered one tackle in his pro career.
Taylor might have been projected as a player who would leave college early, but he is back for a fourth year after an injury-plagued 2018 season in which he was limited to eight games. He has a total of three interceptions and seven pass break-ups in 24 career games.
The most recent No. 1 Virginia prospect to sign with Florida State was Laborn. He was redshirted by the Seminoles in 2017 and played in two games for FSU during an injury-filled 2018 season.
A fourth Virginian, redshirt sophomore punter Tommy Martin, was rated the No. 4 punter in the country as a senior at Hickory High School in Chesapeake, but has not punted for the Seminoles.
Reuniting
Jon Greenard, who had 15½ tackles for loss and seven sacks for Louisville in 2017, has surfaced at Florida, where he'll be playing for former Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Grantham.
Greenard, named a captain at Louisville in 2018, suffered an early season-ending wrist injury and transfered to Florida as a graduate. Grantham, from Pulaski County, is a former Virginia Tech player and assistant coach.
UVa women add to roster, schedule
A Virginia women's basketball roster that had dropped to seven shortly after the season is up to 12 with the addition of six freshmen, including 6-foot-3 Meg Jefferson from Australia.
UVa has announced its 2019-20 women's basketball schedule, which includes a Nov. 19 matchup at Connecticut and its longtime head coach, Geno Auriemma, who was a UVa assistant at the beginning of his career. UConn won the last meeting 75-45 in 2007.
The Huskies will then make a visit to Charlottesville in the 2020-21 season, according to the Hartford Courant.
Virginia Tech, with new men's basketball coach Mike Young, is in the running for 6-9 P.J. Hall from Dorman High School in South Carolina. Hall's father, Jerome, played for Young at Wofford. Also on P.J. Hall's recently announced top five, according to his Twitter site, are Clemson, Florida, Georgia Tech and Tennessee.
Virginia Tech is also one of the finalists for 6-6 Myles Stute from Gonzaga in Washington, D.C. In addition to the Hokies, he tweeted that his other finalists are Vanderbilt, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Clemson, Texas A&M and Florida.
Of the 30 top senior football prospects in Virginia, as rated by rivals.com, 20 already have made verbal commitments. Three have committed to Virginia Tech and one to UVa. Fifteen other schools have at least one commitment, including Penn State with three.
New to Mack Brown's football staff at North Carolina is senior advisor Darrell Moody, a former assistant at Carolina, N.C. State and Clemson. He most recently was an NFL scout.
Former Radford University men's basketball coach Brad Greenberg has been chosen as an assistant on the 2019 Canadian National Team that will compete in the FIBA World Cup in China in September.
The head coach is Nick Nurse, who directed the Toronto Raptors to the 2019 NBA championship.
Since 2017, Greenberg has coached Maccabi Ashdod in the Israeli League.
Doughty College Notebook


The sickly woman shivered with cold, her eyes fixated upon the candle, eager with anticipation for the flicker that would signal the door was opening. She dreamed of her children, welcoming them in her arms, but with every moment the candle was devoured so was her emaciated body. She heard the priest reciting the last rites beside her and wished he would pray for her true salvation, her children. Each moment that went by she knew her candle was being extinguished, along with her hopes. She curled her long raven hair wound her finger remembering how her hair had captured the hearts of men, when now all her husband do was glance in pity at her once beautiful face.
A beacon of light appeared from under the door which alerted her that they were coming in. She glanced at her bony hands and could not imagine how she would appear to our children, for she was sure it was them approaching .
A young girl peered into the gloomy interior, long flame red hair setting the suffocating room ablaze. "Elizabeth", a voice from the darkness spoke as if it was a benediction. Elizabeth tried to find the owner, knowing that within this room her mother lay. She felt the hungry stare of the creature as entered the room as it lay on the bed, with its bony arms reaching out towards her. To seven year old Elizabeth, all she could see was a demon, her heart beating so fast that she was sure the noise would drown out the priest. She felt the pressure of the priest's hand pushing her forward, towards the demon she called mother.
"Come child, there is nothing to fear. It is your mother's last wish", the priest said.
The closer Elizabeth got to the creature lying on the bed its feverish eyes burned into Elizabeth's soul. She pushed against the priest, panicking, as they moved near towards the creature's ravished face.
"You're not my mother!" Elizabeth screamed as she ran from the room. "Elizabeth, please!" She heard her mother cry out as the door slammed.
Any comments to help me improve this is more than welcome.
Well done for posting this - I know it's scary.
I'd say you really have something here, because after half a page I have two people I care about - and that's the most important thing a writer can give. There are a few technical problems, but please do remember these are only my opinion so feel free to ignore if you don't agree.
The main one is P.O.V. (point of view). You begin with the mother's point of view, then switch to the child's, which is very difficult for a reader to follow. 'Head-hopping' CAN be done successfully, but I wouldn't recommend it for an opening, when you need to grab and hold your reader's attention fast. I don't think you need the dual view anyway - the feelings of the 'other' character are very clear from their actions. My preference is for the mother's view, because then we feel the shock of her child's rejection, but if the mother dies and the story's going to be Elizabeth's, then perhaps start with her.
The second is something I'm often guilty of myself, which is 'over-description'. There's some lovely stuff here, but the simplest bits work best, and often lose their power by being diluted. For instance, I love the idea of the woman looking at the candle, because if it flickers she'll know the door is opening and her children are coming. This is strong and simple, and works on a very 'real' level of a sick person who can't sit up sufficiently to see the door itself. However, you then talk about the beacon of light under the door that signals their approach - and if she could see that, why would she need the candle flicker, which she doesn't look at again? It's as if you're so overflowing with ideas and images you want to write them all, but here you need to be ruthless and go for an either/or.
A further danger of overdescription is that one can start 'telling' as well as 'showing'. It's so tempting to do this, to make sure the reader 'gets it', but it can end up either patronising the reader or bogging them down. For instance, we're going to get that wonderful shock of Elizabeth's rejection of her mother, but wouldn't it be better if we hadn't 'signalled' it in advance by having the mother fear exactly that - 'She glanced at her bony hands and she could not imagine how she would appear to her children...'?
There's also the risk of including physical description for the sake of it, when the reader doesn't yet need it. I love description, but this is an opening and you need to choose where you want your reader focussed. Does it matter that the mother's hair is 'raven-black'? It could be relevant that Elizabeth's hair is flame-coloured if you stick to her mother's POV, because then the child enters like light into darkness and the shock of the rejection is greater.
I'd also be a little careful to avoid set phrases like 'raven-black' itself. I know you need to use simple imagery that would work in your period, and I think it's great the way you use the 'church imagery' all through a scene of the Last Rites, but there's still a risk these phrases can sound like cliche. Period material can actually be used to AVOID cliche - eg you have a scene of the Last Rites going on here, so why not include some detail of what's happening? Is he just 'Anointing The Sick' or is it a Eucharist? Where is he putting the oil? (Incidentally, is 'Last Rites' period appropriate, or would it be 'Extreme Unction'?) Readers of historicals love all this stuff.
The last (and perhaps most important) question I'd ask is 'What's your book about?' An opening needs to give us a clue, to set up that journey you want the reader to undertake, and to give them a very good reason for taking it. You want the reader to finish this passage desperate to know what happens next. Do you think it's doing that?
Please don't be disheartened by all this. It's only my opinion, and I hope it's clear how very promising I think the piece is. There isn't a thing wrong here we haven't all of us done one way or another - and in my case am probably still doing!


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Today.Az » Society » Azerbaijani servicemen accomplish military course in Türkiye
01 August 2022 [14:53] - Today.Az
By Sabina Mammadli
A group of Azerbaijani servicemen participated in the AKINCI unmanned combat aerial vehicle operating courses within the framework of the cooperation agreement on military education, signed between Azerbaijan and Türkiye, Azernews reports, citing the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan.
According to the ministry, the Turkish Baykar Defense Industry Company at the Chorlu Flight Training Center held the next graduation ceremony of the courses in Tekirdagh city.
Head of the center Halil Akar welcomed the participants of the ceremony with his opening speech, gave detailed information about the training center, and conveyed his sincere wishes to the graduates.
In the end, military personnel who successfully completed the course in various specialties were presented with certificates and gifts, and a photo was taken.
Azerbaijan and Türkiye periodically hold joint drills to improve interaction and communication between their army units.
Military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Türkiye first emerged in 1992, with an agreement signed between the Azerbaijani and Turkish governments on military education and weapon equipment and deals to help strengthen the bond between the two nations.
On June 15, the two countries signed a memorandum of alliance that cemented the existing military, political and economic cooperation.
The Shusha Declaration on Allied Relations that President Ilham Aliyev and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed during the first official visit to Shusha eight months after Azerbaijan's victory in the war with Armenia, also focuses on defense cooperation.
It affirms joint efforts by the two armies in the face of foreign threats. The declaration also pledges joint efforts for the restructuring and modernization of the armed forces. Moreover, the two nations affirm to encourage the execution of joint projects with the aim of developing capabilities in the field of sea, air, and space.
In an interview with Türkiye's Anadolu Agency on September 27, President Ilham Aliyev said that the signing of the Shusha Declaration raised bilateral relations to an even higher level.


Karson Oten Fan Karno, a celebrity tutor made bankrupt in 2010 by former employer King's Glory Education Centre, has a new name ... Karson Oten Van Karno. He's now back to doing what he is well known for ... making money from kids in need of passing exams. And he's still complaining, according to the article (extract below): "He complained about longer working hours, falling income and less hard-working students because of reduced competition in getting into tertiary education."
Karson Oten Van Karno, better known as K Oten, is a celebrity English-language tutor at All-Star Education. He says he has started to seek advertisers to sponsor the printing of his notes this year. This has attracted companies such as stationers, bakeries, film producers and children's clothing shops, he says.
Van Karno says he will only choose companies whose advertisements are "positive" to pupils. He adds that the move is to support the school's plan to provide free tutoring for pupils in Primary One, Primary Four, Form One and Form Four.
The notes the tutors refer to is probably one of the keys to their success. These books contain different elements such as their shortcuts in solving exam problems, their prediction of future exam trends, key knowledge points and categories of questions from past exam papers that can potentially reoccur.
But tutor kings and queens do not work alone in producing these notes.
Mia Wong Man-chi, a 36-year-old star English-language teacher at King's Glory Education Centre, said she has more than 10 assistants helping her doing research, reading past exam papers and compiling notes, because she said one has to read a lot to be able to predict future exam questions.
The assistants will also help her tending to pupils' needs on classes, answering their questions on Whatsapp and Facebook and handling other works.
The tutor queen herself will need to fine-tune her lecture delivering to perfection so students can easily understand and memorise her points in a fun way. This is why Wong says she spends six hours every day before lectures searching for up-to-date examples and trendy expressions, and practising her lectures in front of a mirror to achieve the best effect.
"It's like performing a drama or a stand-up comedy, but there must be content, so students can learn things in a happy way," said Wong, who joined the industry around 2002.
Siu has three assistants helping him teach in classrooms and eight others doing research for him behind the stage. This enables him to keep up with current affairs which he can use as talking points in classes.
"Like a singer, I can't handle being the one singing, composing, writing lyrics and tending to the fan club at the same time, for example," he said.
Perhaps it's not a coincidence celebrity tutors liken themselves to showbiz stars. Just a stroll along a street will probably find their smart and glamorous images on advertisement boards or posters on buildings, walls and the back of buses.
Insiders say nobody knows how it all began, but it probably involved one crammer trying to stand out in the increasingly heated competition. And the rest is history.
Wong said she was among the first group of tutors uploading promotional videos on YouTube around 2004. She says the tactic attracted six times as many students. If a tutor wants to be known among students, he or she has to spend at least HK$1 million in advertisements.
She added that cram schools may be willing to pay for new tutors' advertising costs if the schools see potential in them.
But when advertisements about tutors have become so commonplace that students no longer feel anything when they see them, other tactics are employed for tutors to stay competitive.
Wilson Liu Chung-kinWilson Liu Chung-kin, a popular mathematics teacher at King's Glory, said backstabbing – such as "viciously attacking other tutors" in front of students in classes – is not unusual. He said a teacher once told students that Liu had many pupils because he bribed a tutoring centre staff member.
"Many fellow teachers will imagine things themselves, but if they repeat the lies 10 times, students may believe it," said Liu, who has been tutoring for 16 years.
With all the money, gloss and fighting, it is easy to think that large-scale tutoring is at its prime. But people in the industry complain that the trade is actually in decline.
Wong says the number of secondary school graduation exam candidates has dropped drastically, from around 140,000 in the early 2000s to around 60,000 in recent years, due to a low birthrate. At the same time, costs such as rent, printing, manpower and transport have been rising.
But the tutoring fees have not increased much due to cut-throat competition. Cram schools now generally charge students an average of about HK$500 a month, but Wong said when she just joined the industry, the fees were about HK$300.
The switch from Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination and Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination to the Diploma of Secondary Education exam in 2012 has not only reduced the number of exams students need to prepare for, but also made students prefer small-scale tutoring centres and private tutors because of their flexibility.
Wong said the DSE curriculum includes much more knowledge points, and students may only want teachers to teach them several points scattered in different chapters and years. But large-scale tutoring centres cannot provide such flexibility because of the sheer number of pupils per class.
Van Karno said the situation may not pick up until after six or seven years, when the number of secondary students will rise again. He complained about longer working hours, falling income and less hard-working students because of reduced competition in getting into tertiary education.
But he said he has no plan to quit.