text:
Bastia to Calvi via the Col de Vizzavona and Ajaccio
A preview of stages 2 and 3 of the 100th Tour de France's Grand Départ, in 4 days (preceded by 2 days in the car, from Figari to Bastia). June 2013. About 300km (by bike, that is)
View Corsica June 2013 in a larger map
(Map Key: red lollipops = the bit we did by car; blue lollipops = bike ride)
The Tour de France's first visit to the so-called Ile de Beauté, for le Grand Départ of the 100th edition of the great race, at the end of June 2013, was a challenge and an opportunity.
Le Grand Départ is not just the first stage, but the first section: 3 stages, for which the Tour's organisers selected not a complete tour of the island's perimeter, though at 600km(ish) this might have been possible in three days, but a zig zag from Porto Vecchio to Bastia, through the interior to Ajaccio, and up the famously spectacular west coast to Calvi.
The idea was obviously to promote the island's tourism and presumably its attraction as a cycling destination. I got a commission to write about it for a newspaper, on condition that I promised to ride part of the route and write in time for the article to appear on the first day of the race. (Click here for the link to the article in The Independent).
"Why would I want to do that?" was my regular cycling buddy Galaxy's rather crushing reaction to my excited suggestion. "It'll all be on main roads, and steep."
He was right of course. As usual, Galaxy had instantly seen the wood for the trees. Apart from the east coast, which is marked by a long fast straight road that no non-racing cyclist of sound mind would wish to ride, Corsica is a formidably mountainous island. Its main roads are indeed steep and the minor alternatives (where there are any) are steeper.
I was not to be deterred and Paul, my long-suffering companion from Route 4, got the call-up.
near Piana (pianissimo)
The logistics took ages to sort out. The tour operator Corsican Places (www.corsica.co.uk) could arrange flights out to Figari (near Porto Vecchio) and back from Calvi, but their planes would not take our bikes and we could not find a bike-rental company willing to bring wheels to Figari and fetch them from Calvi.
In the end we decided not to cycle the flat first stage of the Tour up the east coast, and spent two days in a hired car, visiting Bonifacio and Porto Vecchio, where we rented bikes for a quick warm-up ride to the beach at Pinarello; and taking the mountain route to Solenzara via Levie and the Col de Bavella – a spectacular scenic tour that we were glad not to be attempting on bicycles.
At Bastia airport we swapped our car for bikes rented from Europe Active (www.europe-active.com), which is based near by, and set off to pedal stages 2 and 3 in four days: to Calvi via Corte, the Col de Vizzavona (1163m), Ajaccio and Porto. This worked pretty well though the hybrid bikes were not entirely convincing and Europe Active's support does not cover all the island. Luckily we managed without it, and found support in other invaluable ways, sending our panniers by train from Corte to Ajaccio – this is a well-established system – and persuading friendly bus drivers to take our bags up the west coast.
I had read that the west coast would be at least as tough as the climb to Vizzavona, and so it was, mainly because of the heat and lack of shade. Ajaccio to Piana was the most gruelling, but the reward in scenery more than made up for it, and the fact that we reached Piana so late in the day made the light even better, for the descent through the celebrated Callanche to Porto. Having no helicopter at our disposal, our pictures of this bit may not be quite as good as those taken when the Tour went through.
The Tour de France peloton in the Callanche, July 1, 2013. No one fell off.
At the Fango river near Galeria the route to Calvi divides. The Tour took the shorter but higher inland route. We took the longer but lower coast road via Ferayola, which is recommended for a lunch or overnight stop. The road surface is lousy, however.
At Calvi we had a day to spare for wine tasting and relaxation, and were glad of it.
Travel Notes:
Corsican Places is not particularly geared up for cycling holidays but they are used to tailoring touring or twin-centre holidays for motorists and their local knowledge is impressive.
Even without Galaxy's scornful rejection of my plan, I think I would have worked out that our Tour de France zig zag across the island, and our bastardized car + bike strategy, was not the most obvious way to organise a Corsican cycling holiday. With hindsight, how would I do it differently?
A complete coastal tour of the island – 633km, according to Via Michelin – would be tempting but to fit it in a 6-day week would be an uncomfortable squeeze; and unless the flight schedules have changed, the only practical holiday duration is 6 or 13 days. Travelling out or back independently via Nice and a ferry would add flexibility, but also time and expense. And anyway, we enjoyed seeing Corte and the interior, even if the road is a bit mainstream. The worst bit was between Bastia airport and Ponte Leccia (about 30km), where the N193 carries traffic on its way to and from Ile Rousse and Calvi as well as Corte and Ajaccio. It would be good to avoid this by taking the train from Bastia to Ponte Leccia, but bikes are not allowed on board.
A clockwise northern circuit from Ajaccio, Bastia or Calvi, including the island's northern finger (Cap Corse), the west coast, Corte and Vizzavona would be about 470km and fill a week nicely. But then we would not have seen the south at all. Perhaps after all we were not unhappy with the way we did it, although missing Cap Corse was a pity. Clockwise, because Piana to Porto is the way to go, not Porto to Piana.
The constraints of my commission meant that we had to do the ride just ahead of the Tour de France. It was fun talking to people about the race to come – not that excitement was exactly feverish – but in other respects riding the route after the race would have been more sensible. Two weeks in advance, roadworks were still in full swing, and we often found ourselves pedalling through wet tar, or around it. At the finish area of Stage 1, on a beach to the south of Bastia, work had hardly started. With surprise we noticed that new stretches of surface on the Tour's route through villages were going in with speed bumps incorporated.
Ermitage La Trinite, near Bonifacio
Warm-up ride to Pinarellu. Specs crisis (lost in seaweed)
Reading Dorothy Carrington (at Carbini)
Cyclists outnumbered by livestock on the roads of the interior. This one on wrong side of road.
Venaco
It came to pass (1163m)
Tavera menhir
supermarket, wild west
blooming ephemera, west coast
On the west coast – Cargese may be the distant hill village
Les Callanche, below Piana
Near Porto
Near Galeria. We saw many more bikers than cyclists. Early summer is prime time – before the roads fill with slow-moving camper vans
On Fango bridge
Which way? (TdF right, potholes and bulletholes left)
Waiting for the Tour? (Calvi)
I may expand and shift these descriptions to my hotel archive when I have time. Auberge Ferayola is already there.
Porto Vecchio, Shegara.
Not the most prepossessing location on the waterfront boulevard, but the staff were extremely helpful, and the place comfortable and well kept, with a pool in the garden. A fortnight later we could have looked down on the opening moments of the Tour de France from our balcony …. had that room and the rest of the hotel not been bagged by cycling teams. "If they had given us the Tour de France in April instead of high season, it might have been more helpful," said the manager. The restaurant next door is managed separately and is also recommended. (Took us in for a late lunch after closing time).
San Martino di Lota
San Martino di Lota. La Corniche
San Martino's perch is a steep hillside 1000 feet above Bastia, reached by a tortuous narrow road, up which we were glad not to be cycling. The hotel's charm is a touch retro – some would say faded – but the setting is sensational and breakfast on the terrace was a great treat. The best thing about the hotel is the food …. allegedly: we foolishly arranged to visit on the evening of fermeture hebdomadaire in the restaurant, and ate instead in the village. The owners recommended La Place, which belongs to a family member, but we preferred the more picturesque original village inn, U San Martinu. The whiff, should you notice one, comes from the nearby shed where they pin boar trotters and tails to the door.
Corte, Dominique Colonna. (2km from town up the Gorges de la Restonica.)
A stylish modern hotel beside the rushing torrent, which we found in deafening full spate (after an unusually late thaw and a wet May). It would be tempting to stay a couple of nights here and spend the day carrying on up the long gorge. Be warned: it climbs. There is a good restaurant on the other side of the car park.
Ajaccio, Les Mouettes (B&B).
Les Mouettes. Ajaccio
A peachy – in colour, as well as the other sense – little boutique hotel beside the water on Ajaccio's Route des Sanguinaires, where a hole opened up in the middle of the road a few days before the Tour cyclists were going to sprint down it towards the finish of Stage 2. I don't think this was our fault. The owner M Pieri is extremely switched on and proved to be a fascinating source of information about Ajaccio – history and cycling tips. He is a keen cyclist himself, and has invested in impressive anti-theft devices for his bike rack, in anticipation for the hoped-for boom in Corsican cycling holidays. Steps from the pool terrace lead down to a pretty little beach of rock and gritty sand; watch out for urchins.
Porto, Eden Park.
This isn't in Porto but near Serriera on the road out to Calvi, in a setting of almost tropical or indeed Eden-like seclusion, with a track down to an empty beach. The focal point of the place is the pool – not a bad arrangement so long as you don't mind being watched by eaters and drinkers as you do your lengths (and vice versa). The food is really good, with an unusual and tempting raw food option among the other menus. Morgane the manageress was super-helpful and gave good route-planning advice.
Calvi, Les Arbousiers (B&B).
Set back from the busy road that leads in to Calvi from the airport and Ile Rousse, this was a markedly more basic hotel than the others we stayed in, with no wifi, next to no furniture or décor in the small bedroom (apart from beds), and noisy early morning rubbish collection on the street below. So it was a shame to have chosen it as the base for our only two-night stay. However, it is not expensive, and the staff had a languid charm to which we warmed. And the soft sand of Calvi's lovely beach is only a short walk away. Who needs the internet, anyway? The blonde queen of the breakfast room is what George Dubya might have called A Piece Of Work.
Calvi La Villa (Relais & Châteaux).
Horizon duckpond. Club Med cruiseship at bay
Our self-congratulatory last supper was at a waterside fish restaurant in Calvi, U Calellu on Quai Landry, where we ate perfect turbot, gazed at expensive yachts parked alongside and were perhaps gazed at back, admiringly, for the excellence of our choice. U Calellu is an outpost of Corsica's most exclusive hotel, La Villa, a collection of villas that look down on the citadel from a lofty perch among prickly gardens with clay court and spa. I pushed my bike up there in the morning to have a look around. La Villa has decided that having the swimming pool as the focus of the hotel is not the best arrangement – I suppose it depends on how beautiful are the bathers – and has made a new one out of sight, turning its predecessor into a water feature, with bath toys.
Link to fuller description of Auberge Ferayola (25km south of Calvi)


These are Sunday talks on the book of Isaiah. For the very latest, see the "Latest Recorded Talks" page. Previous talks are available on the 1 Peter, Luke's Gospel, Philippians, and Recorded Earlier pages. You can download still older files, back to 2011, from the Sermon Archive. For some of our favourites from all these collections, see the panel at the lower right of this page.
Your browser may play the "Ogg" files straight away - some others may be happier with mp3 format. One or the other is virtually certain to work. Contact us with comments or questions.
Isaiah 9:1-11 – Who does Jesus belong to?
The list below is a selection of talks which may be of more lasting value than others. These are listed in the order they were added (newest first).
Suggestions for adding to or removing from this list will be welcome – please email us to let us know what you have found helpful (or not).
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text:
Posted By optimum-user
US says Russian security firm duly screened to guard embassy
National Post–9 hours ago
MOSCOW — The U.S. State Department says it has duly screened a Russian private security firm contracted to help guard the Moscow …
MOSCOW — The U.S. State Department said Wednesday it has duly screened a Russian private security firm contracted to help guard the U.S. Embassy in Moscow amid reports that it was founded by a former KGB spy.
The State Department said Wednesday it had "vetted the company and the name of each individual identified or associated with Elite Security with relevant national and local agencies." A U.S. state procurement website indicated that September's contract was worth $2.8 million.
The State Department's statement follows a report in the Russian business daily Kommersant, which said Elite Security was founded by ex-KGB spy Viktor Budanov and is currently run by his son.
Kommersant said Budanov was a one-time boss of Vladimir Putin in East Germany when the Russian president served as a KGB officer there in the 1980s. Budanov also worked with British double agent Kim Philby in Moscow in the 1970s, helping provide his security.
In a 2007 interview, Budanov described his work with the KGB, saying he focused on counterintelligence and providing security for Russian diplomatic missions. Among other things, he emphasized his personal role in exposing Oleg Gordiyevsky, a KGB officer posted to the Soviet Embassy in London who worked for British intelligence.
Budanov started working for the KGB in 1966 and retired from duty in 1992 with the rank of general months after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The signing of the contract with Elite Security follows Russia's decision in July to cap the number of American embassy and consular personnel at 455, which meant cutting 755 of its staff, most of them local hires, a move that came amid spiraling U.S.-Russia tensions.
"After Russia's unjustified decision to reduce the staff of the mission, including our local security service, we were forced to look for alternative ways to protect our facilities and personnel," the State Department said.
It said that its Diplomatic Security Service and U.S. Marines help provide "flexible and effective security" at U.S. diplomatic missions in addition to contracted guard services.
Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


This site looks at Europe's view of North America before and after Columbus, Martin Waldseemuller's 1507 map of the world, Diego Gutierrez's 1562 map of America, Spanish and Portuguese encounters in America, the Dutch in America, exploration and settlement of America from British and American points of view, Lewis and Clark, Henry Hudson, Jacques Cartier, and early images of the U.S.
This wiki service is a beta version, set up by the British Library Business IP Centre, a respected centre for business information and guidance. It is a one-stop listings website. Is aimed at business studies and entrepreneurship students, or anyone looking to set up and run their own business. There are sections on business plans, grants and finance, industries, intellectual property and marketing. Anyone is welcome to use the wiki (guidelines given) and add content.


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Limited tickets available, easels, drawing boards & paper provided. Lunch included.
Drawing is the new big thing in the Visual Arts and in academic circles. You can study for a degree in drawing, enter prestigious competitions like the Jerwood Drawing Prize, make drawings in gold leaf on walls, or choreograph dances that are actually drawings and represent Britain at the Venice Biennale. But how do you define it?
Drawing has been completely re-defined in the last twenty-odd years. Once its meaning was clear; it was using a pencil, or maybe charcoal if you were at Art School, to make a picture that looked 'just like' the real thing. But, perhaps because of photography, or abstract art, or TV or digital technology, that seems to have changed. It might have started with Abstract Art, but then there was Conceptual Art, Minimalism, Pop Art, Film-work, Body Art, Feminist Art, and now it has entered the academic, Critical Theory world with thinkers like Tim Ingold: the ball just keeps rolling, and drawing keeps changing.
Charles Williams, artist, researcher and currently Programme Director of the Fine Art and Fine and Applied Art degrees at Canterbury Christ Church University, will lead this workshop.


A way of promoting the new DFDS Seaways two for one Amsterdam mini cruise offer.
To spread awareness about drink driving during the time of the Rugby World Cup which was hosted in Newcastle City Centre.
An exciting and interactive half term activation to promote their store in Manor Walks, Cramlington.
Road Respect Oculus Rift Summer Campaign Video from Independent Events on Vimeo.
A way to celebrate the opening of the new Bench store at Dalton Park.
""We are delighted with the results of the activity provided by Independent Events to launch our newest store Bench. The aim was to give the store a great start and official welcome to the centre. The team at Independent events really got under the skin of the brand to make sure the activity was perfectly tailored for the store and their customer profile. The day was a great success in terms of event management and also driving sales. Operationally the set up and execution was all very smooth and the results exceeded all targets""


Editorial | Gary Cosby Jr.
This is a brief photo essay on the April 27, 2011 EF5 tornado that struck Lawrence and Limestone County in northern Alabama.
Life is full of moments and we make faces in those moments. There are happy moments and sad moments and quirky moments and we have faces for them all. Enjoy a few of these expressive faces as they have a "moment."


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Charles Jean Baptiste Collin-Mézin (né à Mirecourt le 12 novembre 1841 et mort à Paris en 1923) est un luthier français, fabriquant des violons, alto, violoncelles, contrebasses et des archets. Il devient officier de l'Académie des Beaux-Arts et remporte la médaille d'or et d'argent aux Expositions de Paris en 1878, 1889 et 1900.

Il est le fils du luthier CL-Collin, et le père de , également luthier.

La carrière de Collin-Mézin
Né en 1841 à Mirecourt, Collin-Mézin travaille comme apprenti avec son père. Certaines sources disent qu'il a travaillé pendant une période dans l'atelier de Bruxelles de . En 1868, il s'installe à Paris, où il s'est établi comme l'un des luthiers français de premier plan. Ses instruments ont été considérés .

.

Un certain nombre de violonistes célèbres jouent sur ces instruments, et saluent la qualité et la jouabilité, y compris Joseph Joachim, Camillo Sivori, Fritz Kreisler, Léonard, Marie Tayau et Jules Armingaud, qui  pour la souplesse et la richesse du son. Les violoncellistes Auguste-Joseph Franchomme et Jacquard ont joué sur des Collin-Mézins.

Caractéristiques de ses instruments
Comme les meilleurs luthiers français, ses créations suivent la tradition des célèbres écoles italiennes Stradivarius, Guarneri et Amati, mais il développe son propre et unique vernis.

 Vernis a tendance à être épais et terne, dont la couleur varie du jaune au jaune brunâtre
 Ils ont généralement un contour noir le long des bords du corps et de la volute.
 Pas de processus artificiel de chauffage ou de traitement chimique du bois
 Construit en vieux bois qui a été séché naturellement
 La basse de passe (ainsi que d'autres aspects) ajusté selon l'âge et le type de bois qu'il a utilisé
 Son meilleur travail est approximativement de 1875-1910

Ses instruments sont également caractérisés par un son puissant et exceptionnellement brillant, mais possèdent également une dureté. L'historien musical William Henley, dans son "Universal Dictionary of Violin and Bow Makers (1959)", suggère que cette rigueur pouvait être éliminée avec « plusieurs années de jeu intense » certainement lorsque l'instrument est joué par un soliste actif.

Henley observe que "le Concerto romantique pour violon et orchestre de Benjamin Godard fut créé à Paris en 1876 par Marie Tayau sur un violon de Collin-Mézin avec (ce qui était alors une révolution) les cordes Mi et La en acier ainsi que suggéré par le luthier lui-même, ce qui semble indiquer qu'il tentait d'obtenir la brillance et la clarté au détriment de la pureté". Les cordes en acier sont plus populaires aujourd'hui, mais elles ont tendance à être plus utilisées par les étudiants. Les violonistes plus avancés ou professionnels préfèrent les cordes synthétiques ou des cordes en boyaux.

Comment reconnaître un authentique Collin-Mézin

 Tous les Collin-Mézin authentiques ont « La signature manuscrite en plus d'une étiquette » (selon Henley). Tous les autres violons sans sa signature manuscrite sont des violons de ses étudiants ou des falsifications.
 Les derniers violons à partir de 1900 ont un label "Grand Prix" en plus de la signature manuscrite.
 À côté de l'âme d'origine il y a un cachet de Collin-Mézin, un fac-similé de sa signature.
 Ses étiquettes ne doivent pas être confondues avec les violons de son fils et collaborateur Charles Collin-Mézin, Jr., dont les instruments sont également de haute qualité mais à prix plus modéré. Les étiquettes de Collin-Mézin, les instruments de JR contiennent encore des étiquettes avec le nom de son père, et indiquent qu'ils sont « par Ch. JB Collin-Mézin. (même si beaucoup ont été rendus à Mirecourt après 1924), et également la mention « grand Prix Exposition ».

longueur et étiquette
'' ' De 1868-1876  Longueur : 9 cent. Hauteur : 2 cent
 CH J. B. fils Collin- Mézin
 Luthier . Paris l'année 1870

 ' À partir de 1876 '''
 Longueur : 9 cent. Hauteur 3 ½
 Ch . J. B. Collin- Mézin
 Luthier A PARIS
 Rue du Faubg : Poissonnière n ° 29

 Ch . J. B. Collin-Mézin
 Luthier A PARIS
 Rue du Faubg : Poissonnière No. 10 ' Ses violons tard
 Ch . J. B. Collin-Mézin
 Luthier C. M
 Grand Prix Exposition Universelle , 1900
 Paris , 1921

Violonistes qui ont joué sur Collin-Mézin
Joseph Joachim (1831–1907)
 Marie Tayau (1855-1892)
Eugène Ysaÿe (1858–1931)
Fritz Kreisler (1875–1962)
Efrem Zimbalist (1889–1985)
Naoum Blinder (1889–1965)  	ex-Blinder 1845-50
Henryk Szeryng (1918–1988)  Messiah Strad copy which he gave to Prince Sovereign Rainier III of Monaco0
Arthur Grumiaux (1921–1986)   1866  (now known as ex-Grumiaux ) now played by Jennifer Koh
Mark Feldman (1955-)
Scott Tixier (1986-)
Philippe Quint
Gaik Kazazian (1982-)
Christian Tetzlaff (1966-)

Références

Luthier

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Next Tuesday will mark the third anniversary of the Tazreen factory fire in Bangladesh on November 24th, 2012. When the fire broke out, workers were trapped inside the building. Exits to the outside were locked and the only way out was through windows on the upper floors. Over a hundred workers were injured by jumping from the windows of the third and fourth floors, sustaining serious back and head injuries which have left many of them in constant pain. For the last three years the families of those killed and injured have been fighting for compensation for the loss of their loved ones or loss of their own ability to earn an income.
An agreement to make payments specifically to cover loss of income and medical treatment was signed by IndustriALL Global Union, the Clean Clothes Campaign, C&A and the C&A Foundation just prior to the second anniversary of the fire in 2014. This agreement led to the creation of the Tazreen Claims Administration Trust which oversees the claims process, cooperates with organizations representing the families and collects funding to make the payments. Families of the workers killed in the fire have begun to register their claims and today the Trust launched a new website, providing information about the claims process and details on how contributions to the Trust can be made.
It is expected that the Trust will raise money to cover the payments primarily through contributions from brands and retailers whose products were produced at the Tazreen factory. Brands with a revenue over $1 million are being asked to pay a minimum of $100,000. C&A and Li & Fung (which sourced on behalf of Sean Jean) have already committed to pay into the fund. German brand KiK, currently embroiled in a controversy regarding their refusal to negotiate compensation with victims of the Ali Enterprises fire, has also now agreed to pay a contribution to the Fund.
Not all brands have been willing to take responsibility. Tazreen's largest customer, Walmart, still has not provided any funds to compensate the survivors and the families of the deceased workers. In 2014 Walmart publically declared it would contribute $3 million via BRAC USA for the victims of the Rana Plaza factory collapse and for victims of other garment factory tragedies in Bangladesh. $1 million of that was paid to the Rana Plaza victims' fund, up to $92,000 has been provided for medical treatments. Yet to date Walmart has refused to pledge any money to the injured workers and families affected by the Tazreen fire. What Walmart intends to do with the remaining $1.1 million it promised remains unclear.
The Spanish department store El Corte Ingles, which participated in the original Committee set up to develop the process for Rana Plaza victims, has also stalled on making a payment for Tazreen workers.


text:
< previous story
Alpha Flight (vol. 1) #128 (Jan. 1984):
"The Perfect World!"
by Simon Furman, Dario Carrasco Jr., Bruce D. Patterson, Ian Akin
Alpha Flight (vol. 1) #128
Title: "The Perfect World!"
Medium: comic
Cover date: Jan. 1984
Written by: Simon Furman
Art by: Dario Carrasco Jr., Bruce D. Patterson, Ian Akin
1 characters in this story:
(Click links for info about character
and his/her religious practice, affiliation, etc.)
[Notes]
Guardian (Heather Hudson)
Alpha Flight; Alpha Prime 249
The process of listing characters who appeared in this source is not yet complete. This story was indexed from secondary sources only. The character list above is not necessarily comprehensive. Webpage for Alpha Flight #128 (Jan. 1984) created 30 August 2012. Last modified 26 December 2013.


text:
In conversation with Trajal Harrell
As proud official media partners of The Holland Festival, we speak to the renowned American choreographer about his artistic journey and up-and-coming projects.
If there's one thing that American choreographer Trajal Harrell makes us feel with immediacy, it has to be a sense of togetherness. The Douglas-born, Athens-based artist, is one of his generation's most renowned choreographers, with an extensive, decades-spanning, career and an unparalleled devotion to finding revelatory abundance in seemingly opposing forces.
This summer, Harrell will premiere a new trilogy, Porca Miseria, at Amsterdam's Holland Festival. The work is based on three different, but equally compelling, women: Maggie, from Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; the African-American choreographer and activist Katherine Dunham; and the Greek mythological figure, Medea. True to Harrell's vision, Porca Miseria promises to develop his practice of redefining established barriers between the disciplines of dance, theatre and performance art. Or, in his own words: "I always try and apply to my work something that Toni Morrison once said: If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it."
How has your dance language evolved throughout the years?
I think that when I first started out, I was very naïve, I really thought that I would develop my own style and dance language. I went for it all the way, and I mean, it kind of happened, which is sort of strange. At first, I was working on post-modern minimalism and its ideas, but trying to work through them in my own way. Then I got introduced to voguing! It showed me a world where fashion language could be utilised as a dance, and that was very big for me. The first piece I did at the Judson Church explored what would happen if voguing was minimalist. Of course, voguing is not a minimalist procedure, so for me, that spurred a new way of thinking and developing performance, the language of dance and the history of dance. I think the thing I developed and contributed most extensively to the history of dance was evolving runway-language into its own dance-language and formalism, which has been the basis of my work for 21 years. However, since 2013 I've been on another long-term search, and that's looking at Japanese butoh dance. I look at this avant-garde dance practice through the theoretical lens of voguing, but I'm also looking at modern dance through the theoretical lens of butoh. The runway, though, is always there.
You incorporate a lot of dance history into the process of making your work. How do you translate that to the general public?
I try to guide the public in the work. If I feel that it's really important, we give the history. I have the guide, who can be someone that speaks or hands out information; it's quite similar to the way museums function. However, if I think this information is unnecessary and gets in the way, I also take that into consideration.
You will present three works as a trilogy, Porca Miseria, this summer. Two works premiered last year—O Medea at Onassis Stegi in Athens and Maggie the Cat at Manchester International Festival—and The Deathbed of Katherine Dunham will be presented in April at Schauspielhaus in Zürich. Yet, the three see their premiere as one at Amsterdam's Holland Festival. Is there a reason you've chosen these particular works?
I was interested in rethinking the notion of the bitch. Of course, in ballroom culture, the term "bitch" is an honorific title, but we know this term is also often used to degrade or disempower women. I wanted to look at that, so I chose three female characters that might have been associated with that word, and rethink it. The first was Maggie from Tennessee Williams' Cat on the Hot Tin Roof. The second one is the deceased choreographer and African-American activist, Katherine Dunham. The third person is Medea, from ancient Greek mythology, who was, and still is, known as the ultimate bitch for killing her children. I've made the trilogy in a way that it's not a durational work; you don't have to watch all three. You can choose to watch work 1, 2 or 3; together, or on different nights, and in whatever order you wish. Like my earlier work with series, it's very option-based.
Was the process of making these works similar in approach for all three of them?
It's been a very different process for each one of them. The first one I made was Maggie The Cat. During my two-year residency at MoMA, I started looking at the differences between the performance in theatre and the museum, and then at the relationship of installation practice and sculpture practice in the museum. I started with a lot of those ideas while making the work, especially Maggie The Cat, as I tried to bring them into the theatre space
Photographer: Waleed Shah
Do you consciously think of the spaces where your work is shown? What's the conversation that the spatial realities of theatre and the museum have within your work?
With this piece [Porca Miseria] in particular, I was thinking about how work transfers, and during the MoMA residency I was trying to make a circle of influence between the museum and theatre work. I wanted to refresh the work, but also create new possibilities. Museums were opening up to dance in large, as previously it was mostly seen [as belonging] exclusively to the theatre. This transferring is the exact thing I'm working on in a lot of the work. There's this piece I made in 2017, Juliet and Romeo, in which I tried to make an installation in the theatre that operated in theatre time. So, by focusing on those kinds of thoughts and tensions, it's a completely conscious process.
Alongside this consciousness, how important is intuition in your work?
I work like an "action painter", perhaps. When I work, I try to trust myself in the process and be very present in the moment with the work, the materials, and performers. I always try and apply to my work something that Tony Morrison once said: "If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." I often think about that in terms of dance. I make the kind of dances I want to see. I trust that there are people out there, similar to myself, who also want to see these dances.
Very much so! Being a dancer myself, I must say it's a pleasure to see a person of colour in these spaces, making avant-garde and conceptual works, and being recognised and awarded for them.
Thank you! I'm glad you mention that because it's something that I think about as I get older. I think that on a certain level I'm just doing my work, but I do realise that it's special and there aren't many people that look like me and have had the visibility that I've had. I'm honoured, and I only hope that it opens up more doors for people.
Do you think there's a difference in the way audiences perceive your work in, let's say, Europe as compared to other parts of the world?
In the beginning, yes. Now people know my work, so that difference is maybe not as evident. Of course, in every culture, there's going to be a lot of differences. For example, a big difference was that most people in the US were familiar with voguing. So they got some of the references much more easily as compared to people in Europe, where they saw something they didn't know and yet were perhaps very excited about. But now, I think it's not so much of a difference, other than the differences you would normally have between different localities and cultures.
Speaking of voguing, I'm part of the ballroom scene here in Europe, which is still pretty new. I'm curious to know what your experience has been with ballroom culture?
I went to my first ball in 1998, so that's 22 years of research and following ballroom culture. I have the deepest respect for ballroom culture. It goes without saying, I am not a voguer and I do not vogue. It's very important to maintain this distance. Also, I think the biggest thing that ballroom gave to me was a particular way of dealing with performance. The audience at balls is completely different than the one in the theatre. You don't have this perspective of the centre, I think ballroom performance just has its own logic, which is primarily based on social performance and how people communicate in the room at that very moment. This urgency and immediateness is something that I've really brought to my work; a result of going to so many balls and seeing that energy.
Indeed, there's definitely a sense of immediacy—from the person walking a ball to the audience in that space… For this issue, Glamcult just so happens to be exploring urgency. How would you relate that to your own work?
I had an acting teacher, who used to say to us, "If you don't have anything to say in the theatre today, don't come." That made a big impression on me because what I'm speaking about and trying to express in my work today has to have immediacy. I have to have a need, and I also want this need I have to be shared together, between us, in a moment that only exists here and now. I hope I make people feel that they want to be present for it in that very moment.
There also seems to be a sense of reimagining realities, would you agree? What would a reimagined future look like from Trajal's perspective?
You know, I try not to go too far into the future. I'm very excited about the now; the present looks a lot better than I thought it would. I think the work that we've all done with gender and sexuality—although we are still facing problems—has opened the possibilities of who we can be in terms of our identities. We have a group of people who will not necessarily know of the huge struggle and the fight; they'll grow up thinking that all these possibilities just exist. On the one hand, that's something that I think is completely wonderful. As a young boy growing up in Douglas, Georgia, I assumed we would have a little bit of change, but the changes we're starting to see are remarkable and I didn't think I would see this in my lifetime. Of course, we have opposition to those changes as well, that's for sure.
Is there a particular feeling you want your audience to walk away with after experiencing your work?
A person is going to come with their very own set of expectations and depending on who they are in that very moment, that will affect their perception. But the one thing I say I always work on is that I want us to feel [a sense of] togetherness. We are together in a room, and this is something we can only experience at this moment. The togetherness we share is part of the subject. This is very important to me.
This interview was conducted and printed before the corona crisis started. For any updates, check Holland Festival online.
Holland Festival
Porca Miseria 26-27 June
International Theatre Amsterdam
Photography by: Nick Knight, Waleed Shah, Orpheas Emirzas, Tristram Kenton
Words by Arnold Arakaza


This Polymer Bulletin is a current awareness service from the Polymer Library, the world's largest database dedicated to polymer literature. Each time the abstracts database is updated with new records (approx. every two weeks) you will be sent a bulletin alerting you to any items that relate to the recycling of polypropylene.
Furthermore the conditions of the recycling process can have significant impact on the properties of the recycled polymer. Polypropylene packaging containers or fibres can be recycled into new products or alternatively can be incinerated to produce energy. It has been found that mechanical recycling is the best recovery option for large PP automotive components, while energy recovery is the solution for most small plastic parts.


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Day Zero moves out by almost a month to 11 May, due to water saving by agricultural sector in the main!
Water Day Zero brought forward by nine days, to 12 April 2018!
Tourists encouraged to assist in saving water whilst holidaying in Cape Town, 'Day Zero' looms!
Cape Town water supply Day Zero estimate was extended by two months, to 13 May 2018, now reduced to 3 May!
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Thursday, when Herr Trumpf pontificated that "you have to be wealthy in order to be great" how offended were you? What a disgusting little man! I wonder how many evangelicals who voted for him are doing penance. But he certainly excited greed-driven drug maker, scam artist and self-proclaimed arch-villain Martin Shkreli who tweeted "all you people who don't like trump are jealous, stupid and poor! don't make me laugh! and if you are employed by media you are worthless." Something tells me worthless media employees in Shkreli-world would include all the writers at Jacobin and certainly Matt Karp, whose political analysis would likely consign predatory parasites like Shkreli to a one-way trip to Madame Guillotine.
Way back in February, Karp was already ignoring the elites-- from Shkreli to Maddow-- and re-assuring progressive true-believers that Bernie could win. Bernie, Karp pointed out, sure wasn't turning out to be a protest candidate who, at best, could push the Republican-lite Clinton a little to the left.
While Clinton continues to talk up her personal credentials as a "progressive," in substantive terms the primary campaign has deepened rather than narrowed the ideological gulf between the two candidates.
Her forthright opposition to the Sanders agenda has won Clinton praise from some liberal elites, unable to disguise their hostility toward even the most basic social-democratic reforms. Yet unfortunately for Clinton, most actual Americans do not inhabit the pundit class, and their professional credentials do not depend on gravely denying the existence of puppies, rainbows, and successful single-payer health programs.
In fact, Sanders's ideas remain extremely popular with voters. As a result Clinton has been forced to rely more than ever on a dryly pragmatic case for her nomination: only she can defeat the Republicans in November.
Leftists sometimes compare this election-year pitch to a species of blackmail. Vote for us, Democrats tell voters, not because we'll do anything positive for you, but because if you don't, the other guys will break your legs and take away your abortion rights.
But let's consider the argument on its own terms. Why should we believe Clinton is more likely to defeat a Republican than Sanders?
Notably, the case that Clinton has the best chance to win in November does not seem to depend much on Clinton herself. This is no coincidence: by a number of measures, she profiles as a comparatively weak general election candidate.
According to national polls, nearly 53 percent of Americans have an unfavorable impression of Clinton, which would make her the most disliked presidential nominee in modern history. Even if incumbents are included, the only candidate with worse numbers was Jimmy Carter in 1980.
Public perception of Clinton has been shaped by the intense sexist and right-wing attacks that she has endured since the 1990s. These polarizing assaults, along with Clinton's own partisan record, have helped make her very popular with loyal Democrats, but unpopular with everyone else.
The problem is that the loyal Democratic vote is simply not enough to win a general election. In 2012, Democrats made up only 38 percent of the general electorate, while registered independents accounted for 29 percent. On his way to defeating Mitt Romney, Barack Obama won almost half of them.
Clinton's appeal among these non-Democratic voters is extremely limited. Just 29 percent of independents hold a favorable view of her, according to an average of three YouGov surveys taken since January; over 61 percent view her unfavorably. In the most recent poll, Clinton's count was 24 to 67, with 50 percent saying they hold a "very unfavorable" opinion. These are numbers that should make even Supreme Court-first liberals feel skittish.
It's too soon to conclude that Clinton's historic unfavorability will spell defeat in November. Yet as Nate Silver noted with regard to Mitt Romney's (less pronounced) unpopularity in April 2012, we should not dismiss these early numbers either. At the very least, they make it plain that Clinton faces an image deficit greater than any challenger in recent memory, including landslide losers like Walter Mondale, Michael Dukakis, Bob Dole, and John McCain.
...Some gleefully apocalyptic liberals have likened Sanders to Michael Dukakis, who held an early polling lead over George H. W. Bush before ultimately losing by a large margin in 1988. Yet the comparison falls apart before it begins.
A stiff technocrat, Dukakis won the Democratic primary not by packing arenas with passionate supporters, but chiefly by having more impulse control than Gary Hart and being whiter than Jesse Jackson. And his early polling strength was clearly a mirage, as contemporaries noted: only 52 percent of voters even had an opinion of him in May 1988. Dukakis was John Kasich, not Bernie Sanders.
None of this means we should expect to see the end of the "wait until the Republicans get him" argument any time soon. It's a staple of the Clinton primary arsenal.
Did the vaunted "Republican attack machine" fail to take advantage of what Vox's David Roberts might have called Obama's "glaring vulnerabilities"? Of course not: an independent super PAC spent $2.5 million on Wright-themed advertising in swing states. None of it had much impact on Obama's poll numbers against John McCain, which rose considerably between February and Election Day.
The attacks aimed at Obama may have reinforced his unpopularity with right-wingers, but they did little to dent his appeal among Democrats and independent voters. Why does anybody believe that red-baiting will succeed where racist innuendo failed? When the Berlin Wall came down twenty-seven years ago, today's median voter was not old enough to drink alcohol.
In addition, this year's polls show little sign of an electorate ready to abandon Sanders at first exposure to right-wing talking points.
Only 35 percent of Virginia independents said they would be less likely to vote for a "Democratic-Socialist" candidate. And when a conservative push-poll asked Nevada Democrats and independents how they felt about Sanders's plans to spend "$15 trillion dollars" for "a government run health care program," 53 percent replied that it made them more likely to support him.
Another and even less persuasive claim is that Clinton, unlike Sanders, has already withstood every right-wing attack she can possibly face. Mark Penn also made this point in 2008-- and today Clinton's unfavorability is even higher than it was then.
Sanders has famously refused to discuss Clinton's emails. He has denounced her Wall Street speaking fees, but has largely refrained from discussing the much larger hoard of cash connected to the Clinton Foundation-- an area that Republicans seem eager to exploit. That same Nevada push-poll showed that 64 percent of Democrats and independents were less likely to back Clinton after learning about "foreign donations" given to the foundation while she was secretary of state.
Republican candidates have already made various scattered attacks on these subjects, but we've seen nothing like the tornado of Clinton scandal-mania likely to follow if Hillary is nominated.
A final line of argument, exemplified by Ruth Marcus in the Washington Post, insists that Sanders's platform is simply too left-wing for a "moderate" American electorate. Usually this is trotted out amid broad national surveys that find the country divided between ostensibly coherent blocs of "liberal," "moderate," and "conservative" voters.
But as political scientists Shawn Treier and D. Sunshine Hillygus have argued, two-dimensional surveys of voter ideology do not provide a useful guide to the American electorate. To the great disappointment of the Post editorial board, many self-identified "moderates" are not sober Beltway centrists but in fact "cross-pressured" by a mix of strong liberal and conservative beliefs.
The unstable and multidimensional identity of the "moderate" voter helps explain why Sanders's own polling numbers have regularly confounded the prejudices of pundits. In New Hampshire, for instance, where experts repeatedly stressed his strength with "liberals," Sanders actually did even better with "moderate/conservative" voters.
It might also help explain why Sanders polls well in places like Nevada and Alaska-- states not known as liberal bastions, but home to a large number of independent voters.
...Sanders has shown an undeniable ability to connect with the same kind of lower-income and less-well-educated white voters all over the country, from Iowa to West Virginia to Oklahoma.
Democrats have been slowly losing these voters to Republicans since the 1970s; in the last decade, they have almost abandoned them entirely. But non-college-educated whites still represent over 40 percent of the electorate in key swing states like Ohio, Wisconsin, and Indiana.
Many of these poor and struggling voters-- however "moderate" according to Gallup-- seem very receptive to Sanders's call for universal health care and a living wage. A Sanders campaign that made deep inroads with working-class whites across the Midwest would be well-prepared to defeat a Republican in November.
It's difficult to find an equivalent category of voters where Clinton might outperform Sanders in a general election. Women? Clinton's most recent favorability ratio with all women voters is strongly negative: 41 to 54 percent. Sanders's mark stands at 44 to 41 percent. In a general election, those numbers might shift-- but would it be enough to give Clinton a significant advantage?
Clinton's strongest support in the primary campaign seems to come from the most loyal Democrats, including African-Americans. But in a bitter campaign against an ethnic nationalist like Trump... would loyal party voters refuse to turn out for the Democrats, just because Sanders rather than Clinton was the nominee? It doesn't seem likely.
None of this is to suggest that Sanders should take loyal non-white Democratic votes for granted. That is exactly what Clinton-style New Democrats did when they pivoted to the center in the 1980s. In a general election campaign, Sanders would have to do the opposite, and build a populist coalition that depended on solidarity between black, Latino, Asian, and white working-class voters.
Unquestionably, it would be difficult work. But the opposition of an ever-more-reactionary Republican Party would surely help. And a successful left-of-center coalition would be well positioned-- in both ideological and electoral terms-- to mount the much larger, long-term struggle necessary to achieve even Sanders's social-democratic goals.
...[T]here's no question that Bernie Sanders can win in November-- and there is good reason to believe he would actually be a stronger Democratic candidate than Hillary Clinton.


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We are looking for detailed, quick and confident Web Content Specialist who is passionate about developing engaging content for the web.
As a member of the Project Management Team, you will be responsible for researching and writing quality new content that clearly communicates the business strategies for websites, as well as editing content provided by clients. You will work on content flow and on-page styling, image selection, and on-page SEO. Additionally, you will develop content strategies and calendars for blog programs for both client and corporate initiatives.
You possess a combination of technical and creative writing skills, and are a self-starter and able to multi-task and work in a fast-paced environment with tight deadlines.
An understanding of SEO techniques, excellent writing abilities, and the ability to communicate confidently are required, along with excellent interpersonal and teamwork skills.
Experience with website content management systems is mandatory. Experience with email marketing is a definite plus, and experience with the primary social media platforms is also helpful. Proficiency with Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator is also welcome assets.
Prompt, effective and engaging verbal and written communication style.
Ability to multi-task combined with a commitment to ensuring on-time delivery of project tasks.
Strong troubleshooting instincts and problem-solving skills and an eagerness to add value.
Experience with website content management systems is mandatory.
Experience with email marketing is a definite plus, and experience with the primary social media platforms is also helpful.
Proficiency with Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator is also welcome assets.
CMSIntelligence Inc. is a rapidly growing digital services provider, offering website, digital tools and custom solutions for three audiences: enterprise organizations, digital agencies, and direct customers.
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Just Enough to Speak Spanish one, two and three were written to meet the needs of students at the junior college.
written to meet the needs of students at the junior college.
presents a slow and thorough coverage of the past tense.
that show the difference between the preterit and imperfect tense.
the past tense in Spanish.


Value is imperative in today's B2B marketplace. Your product needs to address customers' immediate—as well as their long-term needs. Current marketing practices take customer needs into consideration when producing content for lead generation programs. This same practice needs to be considered for lead nurturing strategies.
Finding success with B2B lead nurturing in today's market means profiling customers to identify the decision-maker. As well as, targeting your content marketing to the right buyer, at the right time. This is especially important because most executives don't usually reveal their contact details, even to potential business partners.
Aside from using a variety of profiling techniques, marketers should also be creative in engaging and retaining the attention of prospects. These numbers prove that the power of context, and a personalized strategy in lead nurturing are beneficial for your business.
67 percent of B2B marketers saw around 10 percent increase in sales opportunities; 15 percent of these opportunities are increases of at least 30 percent.
Nurtured leads offer an average of 20 percent growth in sales opportunities compared to non-nurtured ones.
Lead nurturing emails have a response rate of four to 10 times compared to standard email blasts.
Email marketing is still one of the most successful ways to nurture prospects. However, you should learn to stay away from—or at least improve—the practice of email blasts or sending single email campaigns without follow-ups. From the definition alone, it's clearly unwise to use such impersonal methods when you're trying to engage with potential leads.
Drip emails are time-based campaigns that help turn a blast into numerous follow-up touchpoints. It involves coming up with a logical sequence when sending out customized messages over a period or schedule, although each email doesn't necessarily have to be directly related.
One challenge when implementing drip emails is that you have to make an educated guess about your customer's behavior to know the "right" time to send it. Segmenting your list by demographic data, behavioral criteria based on buyer personas, or other categories created for a specific campaign can help contextualize the message.
For instance, a bike retailer can send an invite to owners for a tune-up in January, then another one after two weeks offering discounts for a tune-up. This form of communication encourages action from the audience, educates them, and may help your brand stay top-of-mind.
Also known as behavioral or nurture campaigns, email strategy involves executing personalized campaigns based on the recipient's behavior. Specific behavior is preferred, like the number of times they've visited your website or the types of content they prefer to read.
Just about any behavior or action can be used as a trigger. You can implement contextual marketing when creating content, including finding the right schedule to email each prospect. This kind of campaign aims to offer educational value to help through the buying process, while encouraging engagement that enables you to nurture your relationships. Concluding this strategy to be the best option for conversion-focused campaigns.
Without contacts, there are no leads to nurture. If you're an e-commerce site, an action that you can take to collect emails (aside from the less aggressive tactics like a first-time site visit or completing a purchase) is when a customer adds a product to their cart for the first time. It's a simple action that shows the lead is interested in your product, with a significant chance of purchase.
Here, you could drive conversions by using a popup window that asks them to provide their email address to get a discount code for their first-ever purchase.
This pertains to making elements on your website visible to only a select few, depending on their behavior or action. Amazon uses this to redirect traffic when it detects that a person accessing the site is from a particular location. Instead of going to the U.S. site, users get directed to a unique homepage depending on where the visitor currently is.
Another possible application is having a predetermined series of generic campaigns with specific rules that make content visible to only a few categories of customers. For instance, showing ads to a customer for a product that they has viewed repeatedly over the last few days.
Not all customers are of the same value to your business: someone who has bought a product every week should be more of a priority than those with a single purchase. The rule that might activate this email will depend on you for example; email discounts to a customer who has bought three times or more over the last three months.
Motivations for gamification in e-commerce are often based on extrinsic rewards like discounts. However, it can also appeal to other types of intent. For example, Victoria's Secret's Scavenger Hunt, which appeared on their website over the span of a few weeks, was promoted to increase engagement. It was also an opportunity for them to expose customers to more products on their website.
These techniques can improve your average order value. A classic up-selling strategy is showing similar products (often more expensive) when a customer views related product page. For buyers who tend to purchase several products in the same session, you can turn to cross-selling and show complementary products instead.
When a lead downloads content from your page, its best to email them in acknowledgment. This is a chance to offer other material that the leads may find useful, like a demo request or free trial. You can also ask them to share the content with friends or colleagues to increase campaign reach. Just make sure to include a CTA so the next action is clear.
Because the lead has shown interest in your content, you can also send them optimized drip emails that are equally educational to deliver value, build trust, and eventually convert. They become more aware of what solutions your organization can provide.
When it comes to webinars, you can record a thank you video to attendees a day after the webinar. If registrants failed to attend you can send an "on-demand" video to follow up. In addition, you can prompt a secondary conversion on the webinar to drive re-engagement.
The effectiveness of nurturing depends upon the quality and type of content, as well as the pace and delivery of the content. In traditional marketing, the direct interests of the prospect aren't always considered. However, modern marketing is changing to the point where brands know more about the leads and the specific content they're looking for.
Thanks to the progression in marketing technology, the digital and social footprints left by leads on public channels like your website can now provide valuable insights. Analyzing and measuring their actions against a behavioral and demographic framework and updating the existing information in your marketing systems are crucial in nurturing the right context.
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text:
Q: Articles/discussions/resources on apache thrift I have just come across Apache Thrift, and I was looking for articles that explains some of the following,
What are the advantages of Thrift over Web Services ?
Are there any comparisons of Thrift ?
When is it recommended to use Thrift over existing frameworks like Rest, SOAP or any other technology?
Some of the articles I was able to find are the following,
Cloud Implementation
Rest Alternatives
Evernote Implementation

A: Some of the questions on Goals, Comparisons, Performance etc, are answered in the following Slideshare Thrift vs Protocol vs Avro.
Role in Distributed Applications

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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The PTSD They Don't Talk About
By Natalia Chung | Oct. 30, 2019
"When I returned from the doctor, I couldn't believe it. PTSD: a diagnosis given to a person who has survived a traumatic event. I had never seen a body on the ground covered in blood, I had never killed anyone, I had never even been hit. Is what I had endured worthy of the title of PTSD?"
Here's What People Get Wrong About Depression
By Mariah Matarazzo | Oct. 28, 2019
"In honor of National Depression Awareness Month, I encourage you to have a conversation with your loved ones about depression. Do your best to be a support system for those who need it, and let them know you're there."
What I Wish Others Hadn't Said After My Hospitalization
By Christine Parsons | Oct. 23, 2019
"Rather than these harmful comments, I want people to ask me how I'm doing, validate my feelings and my struggle, ask if I need help and tell me they're here if I want to talk about anything."
People with Mental Illness Can Work
By Katherine Ponte, BA, JD, MBA, CPRP | Oct. 21, 2019
"Stigma says to people with mental illness that we're not ambitious, motivated, intelligent or able. It says we're unable to handle stress, too sick and even potentially dangerous. However, these are all myths, and the common belief that people with mental illness cannot work, is a myth."
Clarifying the Nature of Psychiatric Diagnoses
By Jordan Parks | Oct. 18, 2019
"We must be precise, united and bold in standing for the unique nature of each individual. We have to stop perpetuating the myth that a psychiatric diagnosis is simultaneously an identity statement, a case study and a personality profile."
How Being Hospitalized Changed My Perception of Mental Illness
By Sydney Jensen | Oct. 16, 2019
"If those kids I met weren't 'crazy,' then neither was I. It felt like a veil had been lifted from my eyes, and I saw everything differently."
Borderline Personality Disorder Myths and Facts
By Nikki Mattocks | Oct. 11, 2019
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is one of the most misunderstood mental health conditions. And the following myths make it hard for people with BPD to get the treatment and support they need.
The Difference Between a Disorder and a Feeling
By Luna Greenstein | Oct. 10, 2019
It's easy to assume that because we all experience anxiety, we have an idea of what living with an anxiety condition might feel like. But that's simply not the case.
Mental Health Conditions Seen in Childhood
By Kristen Fuller, M.D. | Oct. 09, 2019
While many people believe the myth that "kids can't be diagnosed with a mental health condition," the reality is that one in every six youth aged 6-17 experience a mental health condition each year.
PTSD is More Likely in Women Than Men
By Dale Vernor | Oct. 08, 2019
While PTSD can happen to anyone, statistics show that women are twice as likely to have PTSD sometime in their lives compared to men.


The Asus Transformer Prime was the most pre-ordered Android tablet to date until the Nexus 7 by Asus stole the show at Google I/O 2012 with its quad-core power and £159 price tag. This gives Asus the two most pre-ordered Android tablets so far, one showcasing budget, the other, brawn. This clearly suggests that when it comes to Android tabs, Asus really are the ones to watch with compelling offerings across price-points. Now the top-end of that price-point spectrum just got that little bit higher with the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity or TF700. This quad-core tablet costs £599, but for that hefty price you get the most powerful Android on market, a full HD display and the same styling as the delectable Transformer Prime.
The original Prime didn't fall short when it came to design with its spun metal back and slender physique. At 8.3mm, it was amongst the thinnest, but also amongst the most robust of all the tablets we've ever used. We even managed to flail it across the air on the underground where it met the floor with a deathy crash and it held up like a champ. The Infinity leaves us with the same confidence. It's thicker my 0.2mm which is relatively negligible. The styling is less streamlined with more pronounced sides, though it still feels rich retaining the spun metal backing and solid look and feel.
The thicker form of the TF700 could result from the higher resolution screen or indeed the plastic strip on the upper portion of the reverse. This strip doesn't look to incongruous with the rest of the tablet and its purpose is to ensure that unlike the original, the GPS unit works to full effect.
With a micro HDMI port as well as microSD expandability, this is one of the better connected tablets out there, enabling expandability up to an additional 32GB. The TF700's keyboard dock offers identical functionality to the Asus Transformer Prime. This means you get a total of one USB port, one full sized SD card slot, a proprietary charging port and last but not least, an additional 8 hours of battery life.
Despite the keyboard dock being thin, it's very usable. Weighting isn't ideal with the guts of the device being in the tablet portion but neither is it bad. While the keys are shallow, within 10 minutes we were touch typing. The chicklet keys, individually spaced offer a nice click feedback and the dock and full QWERTY add a dimension to the Prime missing from other tablets like the new iPad 3 and Samsung Galaxy tab, all of which can feel somewhat self-indulgent at times.
Full HD at 1080p (1920×1200), Super IPS+ and rocking a pixel density of 224, the display is a high-point of the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Infinity. Not only does it offer the Super IPS+ technology found on the Prime, which activates an extremely high level of brightness for the most comfortable outdoor viewing we've seen to date on a tablet device, its resolution is also class leading. While not as sharp as an iPad 3, the difference is imperceptible with pixels neither being visible when using it on your lap as a netbook or up close as a tablet.
Viewing angles are also exemplary, especially at full brightness with IPS+ switched on. The HTC One X is still the viewing angle king in the phone and tablet space, but the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity isn't far behind, bettering all other Android tablets on the scene.
As wonderful as it would have been to get Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean on the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity, that would probably be expecting too much, so we'll let Asus off for the Ice Cream Sandwich stuffed inside their Infinity.
Ice Cream Sandwich, or ICS gives you 5 homescreens, an apps drawer and a selection of preloaded widgets to which you can add more from the Android market. Asus has included some of its own such as a task manager and power watcher. The bar at the bottom of the display holds the back, home and multi-tasking on-screen keys to the left. Shimmy over to the right hand side for an expandable notifications tab which includes some options Asus has customised, illustrated above. Bringing their PC and laptop heritage into play, Asus have enabled power saver or performance mode in addition to the standard 'Balanced' mode.
The apps drawer is a standard staggered side scrolling menu, clean and simple with a jet black backdrop and smooth transparency transitions. This is also where you can add widgets with a long press to pick up and a let go to drop.
Pre-loaded apps include Polaris Office for all your document and spreadsheet wants and needs. This is nicely updated for the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity with templates to help with formatting on the go, something tablets and Android in particular has historically struggled with. Asus have also put some of their own software on board. This includes MyCloud for cloud storage, MyLibrary for eBooks and MyNet enabling DLNA functionality. For your portable reading pleasure there's also a trial version of Press Reader and Zinio on board, as well as the standard Google application suite.
All in all, Asus are extremely respectful of stock Android and we're sure that has everything to do with Google's decision to team up with them for the Nexus 7 by Asus. Their customisations are clearly purposed and the third party applications are for the most part useful. We could do without Asus's own apps admittedly, or at least do with the option to uninstall them, but this isn't a deal breaker by a very long stretch.
An 8-megapixel sensor and a lens with an f/2.2 aperture resides on the back of the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity, with a 2-megapixel front facing camera. Impressive on paper, we're glad to say it's also impressive in practice.
There is a little criticism which we'll get it out of the way first. Outdoor shots can look a bit washed out and under saturated. This could be thanks to the fixed wide open aperture, as the same can be said of the f/2 HTC One X. You can correct for this to some extent in the camera UI by jumping into the settings, so if you're prepared to tinker you can overcome it pretty easily. The other minor complaint is in reference to the stock camera UI. While it could be a lot worse – Gingerbread, Honeycomb or indeed a bad skin for example, the likes of HTC, Samsung and Sony are adding a lot of value to their cameras thanks to custom UIs. Given how far Asus have come of late in the mobile space, we expect nothing less from them.
Moving onto the good and what's most noticeable is the level of detail and focusing capability of the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity. Macro shots also result in particularly crisp pictures with attractive blurring of the backdrop. The Infinity didn't give us any headaches focusing and took snaps nice and quickly. Indoors, noise is also handled well largely thanks to the f/2.2 lense. Switch on night mode and rest the tablet in the dock to keep it perfectly still and you will be amazed as to how well the TF700 does in low light. It's also given a big helping hand by the on-board flash which does a fine job of lighting up an otherwise dark and gloomy picture.
Video suffers from a similar washed out over exposed finish as photos, though shot at 1080p, it does look absolutely wonderful on the Infinity's matching resolution screen with a smooth framerate and sharp picture. Get close up on an object mid shooting and the continuous focus kicks in very quickly, shooting you into macro and capturing nooks and crannies you didn't even know were there.
What you end up with therefore is a camera that matches both the original Asus Transformer Prime and the iPad 3. Delivering similar results to some of the best smartphones on the market, anyone who likes an enormous viewfinder and a crisp picture, the Infinity goes the distance.
Games, movies, music, pictures, videos. If we were to pick one area the stealthy quad-core Tegra 3 processor really kicks in, it's multimedia. Coupled with the pin sharp 1080p screen and extensive storage options, and you'll be able to get all your content onto the TF-700 and it will look incredible.
Movies play back exceptionally well – we played a full HD clip with no issue whatsoever. The 64GB of onboard memory means that you can get plenty of full HD movies on if need be ready for export via the micro HDMI to a full HD panel, or to just watch on the go.
Music sounds good too using the Infinity's on-board speakers. Located on the right hand side of the tablet, while it isn't the crispest stereo quality and it's rear facing, the speaker is pretty loud.
Specc'd with all the connectivity options you could want from a Wi-Fi tablet, the TF-700 is loaded with Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth and GPS. As mentioned in the design section, the chassis ensures history doesn't repeat itself, so there's a plastic strip on the reverse to ensure fantastic GPS performance. The difference is marked, we ran tests side by side with the Prime and the Infinity GPS was much faster to lock on.
The remaining connectivity also works incredibly well. Internet pages are literally chewed up and spat out. Chrome browser works a treat and browsing, panning, zooming and loading were silky smooth. We can't wait for Jelly Bean to arrive and make everything buttery smooth but until then – you're well taken care of by all the power the Infinity throws at applications.
It also throws a lot of storage at you, with 64GB on board, up to an extra 32GB via microSD card and no less than one full sized SD card slot and one full sized USB port to attach even more in the way of GB and even TB. You'll want for nothing.
We thought that the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity was a quad-core 1.7GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 tablet. It isn't, it's 1.9GHz, or at least that's not what Antutu benchmarking suggests. Regardless, this thing is fast. The UI is fluid, it multi-tasks well and games look fantastic. There is a shortage of full HD optimised Android games, as was the case with the Retina Display new iPad 3 when it was launched, however this should change with the upcoming Acer and Toshiba tablets sporting the same resolution.
Battery life is great. With a quoted 10 hours on the tablet itself, couple the 8 hours given by the keyboard dock, it's nothing short of life changing if you're coming from a 1-hour charge laptop. That said, these figures are only remotely realistic if you're talking about power saving mode with a dim screen. In real-world, we managed about 7-8 hours of constant tab use undocked. Docked and it's more like 12-15 hours which is still impressive.
The Android tablet space has matured in 2012 and as a standalone tablet, the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity has fast become the best 10.1-inch Android out there. It still isn't up there with the iPad as a tab thanks to iOS's ecosystem being so much richer with quality tablet optimised apps. Fortunately for Asus though, the TF700 isn't a standalone tablet. No, it's a mutating amalgam of power and function, a muti-purpose vehicle for productivity and play, it's a Transformer and it's skinny keyboard dock edges it to victory over the rest. It's pricey at £599, but you're getting plenty of bang for your buck with two devices, a full HD panel, 64GB of on board storage and the promise of regular updates from Asus if history is anything to go by. We're smitten, can you tell?


Unsurpassed coastal lifestyle at beautiful Marina Village in Seascape on the inter coastal waterway. Elegance and southern charm await you. The Grand Manor House has indoor/outdoor pools, hot tub, dry sauna, fitness center, library and community gathering room with kitchen. There are walking trails, butterfly garden with a screened porch, double boat ramp, a dock master house at the marina and a club house at Holden Beach. One of the finest communities in Brunswick County.
Listing provided courtesy of Carol S Slater of Coastal Development & Realty.


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SNF DIALOGUES: The Butterfly Effect: Entangled Geopolitics (Video)
By The National Herald
ATHENS — Just a few hours after Joe Biden and Donald Trump take the stage for the first debate in the U.S. presidential election, the SNF DIALOGUES met to discuss the new global geopolitical balances of a multipolar world. It's a world in which a casual remark at a podium in Ohio can have real consequences for people in Greece, the position of a ship in the Mediterranean can influence the shape of European relations, and the business decisions of individual companies in China can propel U.S. political movements.
"The Butterfly Effect: Entangled Geopolitics", was streamed live at snfdialogues.org on September 30. The wide-ranging discussion covered the showdown for the American presidency, flaring tensions between Greece and Turkey in the Southeastern Mediterranean, and economic brinksmanship between the U.S. and China. In the midst of a pandemic that has left little oxygen for other stories, the speakers refocused our attention on local developments that may soon have enormous consequences around our interconnected world.
Participants in the "The Butterfly Effect: Entangled Geopolitics" webcast:
– Constantinos Filis, Executive Director of Institute of International Relations
– Brady Kiesling, Author and former U.S. diplomat
– Katerina Sokou, Washington DC Correspondent/ Nonresident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council
– Dr. George Tzogopoulos, Senior Fellow at BESA and ELIAMEP, Director of EU-China Programmes at CIFE, Lecturer in International Relations at the Democritus University of Thrace
A video interview of Robin Niblett, Director of Chatham House (the Royal Institute of International Affairs) and Tara Varma, Head of office & Policy Fellow European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), were streamed during the discussion.
The DIALOGUES are curated and moderated by Anna-Kynthia Bousdoukou.
*The opinions expressed by DIALOGUES participants are solely their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) or iMEdD. Speakers' remarks are made freely, without prior guidance or intervention from the team.
Mitsotakis Says French Fighter Jets Boost Air Defense Against Turkey
ATHENS - With six of 24 French-made Rafale fighter jets arriving in Greece, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said at a ceremony welcoming them that they are a deterrence against Turkey, which repeatedly sends fighters into Greek air space.
Iliopoulos: Greece Paying Dearly for the Mitsotakis Government
Tsipras: "The Most Urgent Issue at Hand Is to See This Government Leave"


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Home/Entertainment/Investors see stagflation as a bigger risk in 2023 than recession
Investors see stagflation as a bigger risk in 2023 than recession
About 65% of investors believe stagflation is a bigger risk than a recession, according to the 2023 Natixis Outlook Survey that surveys global institutional investors who oversee a combined $20.1 trillion in assets under management. Given the vast investment portfolios these big-time money managers generally control, they tend to be keyed into the markets and potential risks at a greater rate than the average investor.
Stagflation is typically defined as an economic cycle where there's persistently high inflation as well as high unemployment and slow economic growth—compared to a recession where there's economic decline and generally high unemployment, but inflation is not so much an issue.
In the U.S., the best example of stagflation occurred in 1970s due, in large part, to the oil crisis. While high inflation is challenging for central banks like the Federal Reserve to tamp down, stagflation is much more difficult to control because correcting one aspect of the problem, like unemployment, could make another aspect like inflation, worse.
With the U.S. Federal Reserve attempting to lower sky-high inflation through interest rate hikes designed to quell consumer spending, investors' concerns about stagflation are not misplaced. More than half (56%) of investors surveyed predict inflation will remain stubbornly elevated next year, including two-thirds of those based in North America. And nearly half (49%) think that the Fed's "soft landing" goal of bringing down inflation without a severe economic downturn is an unrealistic expectation.
But Natixis Investment Managers' lead portfolio strategists Jack Janasiewicz said recently how you view the risk of stagflation depends on your definition of the term. Yes, there will probably be some softening of the U.S. labor market over the next year, and unemployment will likely trend higher than the historic lows we've seen recently. That may slow economic growth, but he doesn't think we'll see rampant unemployment.
If you look at why we have higher inflation, it's basically the result of a series of shocks that hit the system, Janasiewicz said during an event last week. There was shock after shock—COVID and the Russian invasion of Ukraine being the biggest—that basically spurred supply shocks around the world. Yet at the same time, demand for goods largely kept pace because the U.S. was sending out stimulus checks, expanded unemployment benefits, and child tax credits. With these stimulus programs ending and that extra money in the system beginning to ebb, some of that inflationary pressure will start to naturally ease.
"Inflation is certainly here, but it's coming down," Janasiewicz said. "I think you're going see a little bit of softening in the labor market, so the unemployment rates are going to be higher, but I don't think we're in the traditional stagflation sense, where it's the '70s sort of thing. You're going to have a mild economic recession, and prices are gonna continue to drift lower."
Lynda Schweitzer, global bond portfolio manager at Loomis Sayles, agreed that the U.S. is heading toward a recession. If that occurs, it will indeed result in slower economic growth, she said. But there are, of course, other components required to cause stagflation.
Schweitzer also agreed with Janasiewicz that the labor market is the critical component—and the potential difference—in the stagflation narrative. "As we look at the labor market, you have to see a significant move in the unemployment rate in order to fully quell inflation next year," Schweitzer said. But if the Fed goes too far, the U.S. could tumble into persistently high unemployment, and as a result we could see stagflation in the more traditional sense.
The Natixis surveyed institutional investors across several countries, and Schweitzer noted the risk of stagflation is perhaps more of a concern outside the U.S. Europe, for instance, is much more dependent on what happens with energy prices as to whether that becomes a stagflation environment—and countries there have less ability to manage that.
Stagflation is a global issue to keep in mind, Schweitzer said. But investors and consumers may see it play out differently—and to varying degrees—depending on where they're based.
ritrovate anfore nei fondali dell'Isola – LiveUnict
We're headed for a recession that's 'double the normal length' according to the chief investment officer of Bridgewater Associates


Our challenge is to build a just society that supports the human yearning to be free from oppression and to have equal opportunity to pursue one's dreams and aspirations.
Hold government officials accountable for their actions.
Support progressive tax policies and a simplified tax structure.
Reduce influence of money and special interests in making public policy.
Support reforms to increase voter participation and restore voting rights for ex-felons.
Support policies that appreciate diversity and increase inclusivity.
Support equal protections for people of color and members of the LGBTQI community. Espouse 'Black Lives Matter'. Address bullying, bigotry, discrimination, hate crimes and xenophobia. End institutional racism.
Preserve freedom of speech and association, religious expression, equal protection, rights to privacy and a free press.
Encourage and promote competitiveness, equal opportunity in employment and workforce training and development. Eliminate corporate welfare and bloated expenditures on defense. Support 'Clean Energy' and 'Green Building' industries.


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We offer 2, 3, or 4 rail flat board wood rail fencing at about three to four feet high. Also known as "Ranch Rail," wood rail fencing is used to define property lines, divides areas, and act as fall-protection along retaining walls. We also have wood rail fence options available as 2 or 3-rail. Split rail fencing, which is more rustic in appearance, is an excellent alternative where blending into a natural setting is important. Galvanized or black welded wire may be added to either type of wood rail fence to enhance child and pet containment. This is even an accepted form of enclosure for swimming pools in some municipalities.
Our dedicated fencing installation team will make sure that your new wood rail fence is perfect for any purpose you need. These fences are wonderful for keeping children and animals safe and in sight, as well as enclosing pools and entranceways. Once our construction is finished, you will never again have to worry about your home being left exposed.
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Q: Spark R - What is the equivalent of `factors()` in Spark R? From R, we have the function factors(). I would like to use this function in a parallelize way, with Spark R.
My version of Spark is 1.6.2, and I cannot find an equivalent in the documentation. I thought I could do it with a map, but I am not certain I understand this answer, and there should be an easier way.
So to put it simply: What is the equivalent of factors() in Spark R ?

A: There is no direct equivalent. Spark encodes every type of variable using double precision numbers and uses metadata to distinguish between different types. For ML algorithms you can use formulas which automatically encode columns.

A: There are 2 ways of converting categorical variables -

*

*StringIndexer(): This will convert string values to numeric and you can get back the original values using IndextoString(). StringIndexer is an Estimator so we need to use fit() and then transform() to get the converted values.

*Use OneHotEncoder(): This will convert the categories into sparse vector. You can control whether to drop last categoru or not by setting DropLast to false. This is a Transformer, hence tranform() is sufficient.
Refer this link for more details:
http://spark.apache.org/docs/latest/ml-features.html#stringindexer


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Backdrops, masks make 'Disney's The Lion King, Jr." roar with pride
By Brett Turner
It's a team effort when the Springfield Arts Council's Youth Arts Ambassadors put on a production. Not just on the stage but behind the scenes.
For its presentation of "Disney's The Lion King, Jr." at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9 and Saturday, Nov. 10 at the John Legend Theater, the Ambassadors were aided by members of Project Jericho, who helped create backdrops, and cast parents, who crafted elaborate masks some cast members will wear.
MOREXenia seeking key person to help revitalize its historic downtown district
Project Jericho artists helped bring Wonderland to the stage two years ago. This time, the group headed for Africa in their minds to create an original backdrop for this musical at the Ambassadors' invitation.
"Our Project Jericho artists had so much fun painting the backdrop for their production of 'Alice in Wonderland, Jr.' we were excited to partner again," said Project Jericho director Lo Houser.
They contracted Cera Marie, a Columbus-based artist who specializes in large-scale painting installations and has done two mural backdrops with Project Jericho previously.
Cera Marie created three unique sketches for show director Krissy Hartman to choose from and after one was selected, she blocked it off on the canvas to make the painting process simple and efficient according to Houser.
The painting began on Oct. 1 and each Monday after as part of the Open Studio program. Eleven students painted for a combined 34 hours in October.
"As we've been painting, we have received updates on how the costumes and set pieces were coming along. They are all impressive," Houser said. "Every piece of the show is thoughtful and creative. It's sure to be a masterpiece from start to finish."
Susan Kittles studied at the Columbus College of Art and Design, but never made a mask before.
That didn't stop her artistic instincts when she got an email with a request for help to make masks for "Disney's The Lion King, Jr."
CRIME2 arrested in gunfire incident that led to lockdown at Urbana University
As several of the main actors in the stage productions use the masks, it becomes an important part of telling the story. So Kittles and husband Andy along with another parent went to work making sculptures out of clay, created a plaster cast and painted and embellished the masks with metal attached to a sports helmet.
It became time-consuming, taking seven weeks for the eight main lions' masks. Simba's in particular was the largest challenge with his big mane.
The seal of approval came when the cast got the finished products. Colin Carn, who is playing Young Simba, especially liked his.
"I thought only the big kids got masks," he said, thrilled to mount it on his head.
This type of reaction and now that it's done has Kittles also feeling satisfied.
"I've really enjoyed being a part of it," she said.
What: Disney's The Lion King, Jr.
Where: John Legend Theater at The Dome, 700 S. Limestone St., Springfield
When: Friday Nov. 9 and Saturday, Nov. 2, 7:30 p.m.
Admission: $15 adults, $10 students
More info: www.facebook.com/youthartsambassadors/
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Brett Turner


ClayTrader University – this guarantee is based on honesty, effort and your personal growth in confidence as a trader (in other words, do you feel as though you are making progress in your understanding of the markets?).
It is NOT, I repeat, NOT based on you becoming a massive millionaire success in only 30 days – sorry to burst your bubble, but the market takes more than 30 days to master.
With that being said, there are two ways to invalidate the guarantee.
All training courses are available instantly via streaming video. There is also an option to download them to your PC/phone/tablet/etc. If you download any material during the first 30 days, this will be documented via our software (via the email address you sign up with during checkout process). Downloading of any content invalidates the guarantee.
The guarantee comes from the fact that I am VERY confident if you put in the effort and work, you will be satisfied with the program. Therefore, you must show "effort and work".
"Effort and work" is being quantified as completing the first two courses. The second course, Robotic Trading: Skill Sharpening, includes study guides that should be printed out as part of the training course. As part of your Refund Request, you will need to send us these study guides showing that you did indeed fill them out and put in the effort.
If nothing has been downloaded and you've filled out the interactive study guides, but do not feel any progress, then I refuse to keep your money. You will be refunded in total. That I can guarantee you.
*** $397 Pay-As-You-Go Program – this payment method invalidates the guarantee. Given this process is 6 payments, and the guarantee is 30 days, I hope you see how the numbers do not work out. If you don't like the content after your first $397 payment, just you can simply stop paying.