This year I've been working on Iraq and Syria more than anything else. I've never stopped following the crises in Gaza and the West Bank, however. There are some ties between the two — not obvious or 'conspiracy' oriented.
For Jennifer Loewenstein, April 19, 2002 was a "waking nightmare". She stood silent at the edge of the camp, in disbelief–and horror.
She had spent much of the previous two years working as an editor and freelance journalist at the Mezan Center for Human Rights in Gaza. During that time she traveled frequently to the Rafah refugee camp to visit friends. It was in that way that she came to know Rafah so well and later started the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project in December of 2002.
But Loewenstein's decision to take on the plight of the Palestinian people was not an easy one. She has since been shunned by her community and accused of being a "terrorist sympathizer" and "self-hating Jew"–a term she considers as ludicrous as calling her a "self-hating human" for opposing human rights abuse.
Political activist and Faculty Associate in Middle East Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She is an expert on contemporary Middle East: history, politics, culture, religion, and U.S. foreign policy in the region. She is a freelance journalist, a human rights activist, volunteer for the Mezan Center for Human Rights in Gaza, and founder of the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project. In 2010 Jennifer received ADC's Rachel Corrie Award.
The ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestine and its effects on the Palestinians, the recent verdict by an Israeli court about the murder of Rachel Corrie, the U.S. foreign policy towards the Middle East, Romney's recent comments about the Palestinians, the Arab uprisings, and more.
Arab Voices is an independent radio talk show that has been broadcasting live every Wednesday since April 2002 on KPFT Radio (Pacifica Station), 90.1 FM in Houston and 89.5 FM in Galveston. The show also broadcasts live worldwide on the Internet at www.kpft.org or at www.ArabVoices.net.
Jennifer Loewenstein teaches at the University of Wisconsin and is Associate Director of its Middle East Studies Program. She's also a board member of the Israeli Coalition against House Demolitions-USA branch, founder of the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project, and a freelance journalist.
Libya, Occupied Palestine and other Middle East issues will be discussed.
Featuring Jennifer Loewenstein, UW Professor, and a speaker from Minnesota's Break the Bonds Campaign, an organization calling for the state of Minnesota to support the breaking of economic ties with the state of Israel.
Did UW-Madison campus Hillel 'freak out'?
Horn, a UW-Madison junior majoring in political science and legal studies, is a member of Kavanah, a liberal-leaning student group that operates under the auspices of the UW's Hillel Foundation. Hillel, serving the campus Jewish community, sponsored a weeklong series of events in mid-April to celebrate Israel's independence; Horn was a member of the event's planning committee.
In late March, Horn was approached about sponsoring an appearance by Jad Isaac, a Palestinian academic from Bethlehem. Isaac, whom the Quakers were bringing to Chicago for other events, agreed to come to Madison on April 21 to give a talk at the UW about water rights in the West Bank.
Horn approached Hillel about providing a room for the event and using money earmarked for Kavanah to cover some costs. An April 8 email from a Hillel staffer to Horn suggests it's a done deal, asking what equipment is needed and mentioning an agreement to pay for Isaac's hotel room.
Among these was whether Isaac's talk would include "any pro-Israel points" and "positive" things about Israel. The email asked: "Does he support Israel's right to exist?" and "Does he believe in a two-state solution?" It also wondered whether Isaac might feel "unease" to appear as part of a celebration of Israel's independence.
Horn emailed these questions to his contact with the Quakers in Chicago. "Hillel is freaking out a bit about Jad coming," he related. "I apologize for their paranoia." He says the contact tried talking to Hillel, to no avail.
Please join us for our first meeting of 2010 to hear our Global Citizen of the Year award winner, Jennifer Loewenstein.
Free parking is available at the Friends Meeting House or the Associated Bank on Monroe Street.
Jennifer Loewenstein is a faculty associate of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and a freelance journalist. She has lived and worked in Jerusalem, Gaza City and Beirut. She has visited Gaza repeatedly and spent five months working with the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and writing for the Palestine Chronicle. Most recently she worked at the University of Oxford's Refugee Studies Centre in England. Jennifer visited Gaza this past September where she was part of the first Rachel Corrie Foundation delegation.
Jennifer's topic will be the Gaza Strip and the Goldstone Report. She will address the key organizations she visited in Gaza, the major areas of destruction after Israel's "Operation Cast Lead", and the possible long term outlook for Gaza.


krishna target="_blank" class="bodylink">Krishna is the most endearing and ennobling character in Indian mythology. He is at once the common cowherd engaging the milkmaids in playful banter and the supreme intellectual engaged in the exposition of the Gita philosophy. Krishna has a particular appeal for children because he is one of them as no other divine is Krishna the boy is mischievous; he is naughty. He has irrepressible energy for innumerable escapades. He is no prig; he is no puritan. He has divine powers. But he humanises them and remains a boy. This powerful human element is the secret of Krishna's universal popularity. He is secular even as he is sacred, and so he remains throughout his life. That is why Krishna becomes a living presence to all children who have listened to the stories about him.
Throwing his aged father into prison, kamsa occupied the throne of Mathura. Commanding a formidable army he thought he was unstopple. The threat to his power came from an unexpected quarter-from a cowherd boy who was rumoured to be his cousin Devaki's eighth child, Krishna. Moreover there was a divine prophecy that kamsa would meet his end at the hands of the eighth child of Devaki.


Conveniently located in the heart of the city between Laurier and Slater St. Strong vehicular and pedestrian traffic in the central business district, and excellent access to public transportation.
Gross rent $4,500 per month plus utilities.
Author alzaidimPosted on October 10, 2017 November 13, 2017 Categories JUST LISTED, SOLD!


Situated in a hamlet not far from the village centre is this one bedroom cottage. The garden is to the front of the property and is enclosed and laid mostly to lawn. It is possible to extend the property further by opening a wall to gain access to the adjoining barn.
Two bedroom village house in Langonnet area in Central Brittany. Just an hours drive from the ferry port of Roscoff. Connected to mains drainage.


Rationale: There is very little interaction among terrestrial and aquatic biogeochemists except where the water meets the land. Thus, research in riparian ecotones has been critical in getting ecologists from both groups to think along different lines than they are accustomed to. Yet, it seems there is a missed opportunity to blend conceptual models of material cycling in streams and terrestrial ecosystems. For example, my colleagues and I have been thinking of how models of nutrient processing along stream, riparian, and hyporheic flowpaths can be extended up into the catchment in aridland streams, and how this might differ from patterns in temperate watersheds (Fisher et al. 1998).
Objectives: The overall aim of this project is to broaden generalities about nutrient cycling beyond the habitat chauvinism that is prevalent today. We will ask whether a common approach, for example one centered on hydrologic models of transport and retention, is reasonable for both terrestrial and lotic ecosystems. A working group or series of working groups will consider this question, and will include biogeochemists who work in diverse ecosystems, modelers, hydrologists, and other physical scientists.
Presentations Gergel, Sarah E. 2001. Topic: ATBGC. Annual Meeting of the North America Benthological Society. LaCrosse, WI.
Presentations Gergel, Sarah E. 2001. Topic: ATBGC. University of California, Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara, CA.
Presentations Gergel, Sarah E. 2001. Topic: ATBGC. Department of Ecology and Evolution, State University of New York. Stony Brook, NY.
Presentations Gergel, Sarah E. 2001. Topic: ATBGC. Institute for Ecosystem Studies. Millbrook, NY.
Presentations Gergel, Sarah E. 2001. Topic: ATBGC. School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University.
Presentations Gergel, Sarah E. 2001. Topic: ATBGC. First Annual Meeting on Riverine Landscapes. Ascona, Switzerland.
Presentations Gergel, Sarah E. 2001. When does arrangement matter to ecosystem function: Interactions between the amount and configuration of land cover types. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, August 2001. Madison, WI.
Presentations Gergel, Sarah E. 2002. Topic: ATBGC. Department of Geography, McGill University.
Journal Article Gergel, Sarah E.; Bennett, Elena; Greenfield, Ben; King, Susan; Overdevest, Christine; Stumborg, Basil. 2004. A test of the Environmental Kuznets Curve using long-term watershed inputs. Ecological Applications. Vol: 14(2). Pages 555-570.
Book Chapter Greenberg, J. G.; Gergel, Sarah E.; Turner, Monica G. 2001. Understanding landscape metrics II: Effects of changes in scale. Edited by Gergel, S. E.; Turner, M. G.. Learning Landscape Ecology: A Practical Guide to Concepts and Techniques. Springer-Verlag. New York. Pages 15-16.
Presentations Grimm, Nancy B.; Gergel, Sarah E.; McDowell, William H. 2001. Introduction: The need for integration of aquatic and terrestrial perspectives of biogeochemistry. Symposium at Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, August 2001. Madison, WI.
Presentations Grimm, Nancy B. 2001. Nitrogen retention in arid-land stream and riparian zones. First Annual Conference, September 2001. Global Nitrogen Enrichment Program, University of Wales. Bangor, Wales.
Presentations Grimm, Nancy B. 2002. Nutrient retention in stream-channel and riparian hotspots of semi-arid catchments. Chapman Conference: Interactions between Vegetation and Hydrological Processes in Semiarid Landscapes. Taos, NM.
Journal Article Grimm, Nancy B.; Gergel, Sarah E.; McDowell, William H.; Boyer, Elizabeth W.; Dent, Lisa; Groffman, Peter M.; Hart, Stephen C.; Harvey, Jud W.; Johnston, Carol A.; Mayorga, Emilio; McClain, Michael; Pinay, Gilles. 2003. Merging aquatic and terrestrial perspectives of nutrient biogeochemistry. Oecologia. Vol: 137(4). Pages 485-501.
Presentations Groffman, Peter M. 2001. Management issues and the integration of aquatic and terrestrial biogeochemistry: Challenges, opportunities and dangers for ecologists. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, August 2001. Madison, WI.
Presentations Johnston, Carol A.; Boyer, Elizabeth W.; Dent, Lisa; Gergel, Sarah E.; Grimm, Nancy B.; Pinay, Gilles. 2001. A wetlands perspective for integrating aquatic and terrestrial biogeochemistry. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, August 2001. Madison, WI.
Presentations McClain, Michael; Dent, Lisa; Gergel, Sarah E.; Grimm, Nancy B.; Harvey, Jud W.; Mayorga, Emilio; McDowell, William H.; Pinay, Gilles. 2001. Hot spots and hot moments in landscape biogeochemistry. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, August 2001. Madison, WI.
Journal Article McClain, Michael; Boyer, Elizabeth W.; Dent, C.; Gergel, Sarah E.; Grimm, Nancy B.; Groffman, Peter M.; Hart, Stephen C.; Harvey, Jud W.; Johnston, Carol A.; Mayorga, Emilio; McDowell, William H.; Pinay, Gilles. 2003. Biogeochemical hot spots and hot moments at the interface of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Ecosystems. Vol: 6(4). Pages 301-312.
Presentations McDowell, William H.; Grimm, Nancy B.; Groffman, Peter M.; Hart, Stephen C.; Johnston, Carol A. 2001. Integrating terrestrial and aquatic biogeochemistry: Concepts, techniques, and emerging paradigms. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, August 2001. Madison, WI.
Book Chapter Turner, Monica G.; Tinker, D. B.; Gergel, Sarah E. 2001. Landscape disturbance: Location, pattern and dynamics. Edited by Gergel, S. E.; Turner, M. G.. Learning Landscape Ecology: A Practical Guide to Concepts and Techniques. Springer-Verlag. New York. Pages 147-165.


Even though Roshan Bhattarai of award-winning Paramount Rugs grew up in Katmandu where the carpet industry flourished, rugs were off his radar. He left home for New Delhi to study software engineering and then worked in a digital animation and 3D studio. When his father and brother, however, decided to switch the family business from importing women's fashion to manufacturing carpets, he jumped right in. Roshan's love of photography and the digital arts, as well as family loyalty, made the choice easy. And there was another reason. The Bhattarai family knew that the rug business was a chance to create jobs and serve their community. "My father was an orphaned child and we learned from him always to ask ourselves, 'What can we do for others?'" And so, working with a manager who was already involved with GoodWeave®, the Bhattarais set out to make beautiful rugs and help educate the weavers' children.
Learn more about Paramount Rugs at www.paramountrugs.com.


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asiawebdirect.com
Macau Legislators open to new casinos in Coloane as long as they comply with all regulations
Renee Kingsley
Latest Casino and Gambling News, Gaming Law & Legislation, New Hotels, Casino project updates, Macau
The six major casino operators in Macau could soon be turning their focus to Coloane to develop new casinos in the region. Gaming operators have focused on developing casinos in the Cotai district during the past few years with Wynn Resorts opening out its Wynn Palace in August, Las Vegas Sands Corp opening its Parisian Macao in September and MGM Resorts scheduled to open its MGM Cotai casino resort in 2017.
The Coloane area is sometimes referred to as the 'green lung' of the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) and is a semi-rural place situated on the southern end of the SAR. Cotai itself is reclaimed land on a shallow bay between Coloane and Taipa, thus "CoTai".
The 13 Holdings Ltd which is listed on the Hong Kong Stock exchange and was formerly known as Louis XIII Holdings Ltd is in the process of developing The 13 Hotel along the Cotai-Coloane border. Based on the company's recent comments, there is no indication of a casino but the company had indicated in the past that it intends to open a casino on the property. Stephen Hung (洪永時) Joint Chairman of The 13 Holdings Limited (577.HK) is also vice-chairman of Rio Entertainment Group, which operates the Rio Hotel & Casino in Macau under the Galaxy Casino, S.A. concession.
Lionel Leong Vai Tac, the Secretary for Economy and Finance in Macau recently addressed the Legislative Assembly during a debate on the 2017 Macau government's policy address and stated that the city would take into consideration public opinion about permitting casinos to operate in Coloane. Leong stated that Macau's six major casino operators were permitted to apply for a casino license in Coloane and that the urban department of the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau in Macau would make the decision as to whether any proposed casino would be in line or against the government's plans to develop the Coloane area.
Only after the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau makes a decision on the casino proposal, will it be sent to the government for a final decision. Leong did not confirm which, if any, of the six casino operators were interested in developing a casino in Coloane but stated that all of them were eligible as long as their proposal complied with all the existing regulations. While The 13 Hotel has so far not given any indication of opening a casino, the company could still put in a request to the Macau government for permission to open a casino.
In a statement to GGRAsia, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau in Macau confirmed "As of now, we have not yet received from any one of the gaming concessionaires a request to open a new casino in The 13 hotel location."
In September 2016, the developer of the 13 Hotel stated that the opening of the hotel would be delayed till early 2017 but did not reveal the reasons for the delay. The 13 Hotel is an ultra-luxury 200 all-villa hotel where the average cost of construction for each room is around $7 million making it perhaps the most expensive hotel in the world per suite.
洪永時macauLouis XIIIcoloanestephen hungCotai DistrictThe 13 Hotel
In depth: New York casino tax breaks draw criticism
Philippines to deport over 1300 Chinese nationals detained in online gambling crackdown
Alvin Chau, the Former CEO of Suncity Group, Sentenced to 18 Years in Jail
Macau Faces Casino Employees Scarcity Ahead Of Chinese New Year
Macau Law Enforcement Breaks Online Gambling Ring that Collected $3.69 Billion in Bets
Travel restrictions ahead of Chinese New Year impact Chinese gambling destinations
JP Morgan Alters the Earnings Expectations for 2023 in Macau
Emperor Entertainment Hotel signs deal to take over management of Macau's satellite casino Grand Emperor
Macau GGR falls 51 percent in 2022, still nine percent above projected level

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Find a summer camp that offers door-to-door transportation for your child in Queens.
When choosing a summer camp for your children, there are some non-negotiable or added bonus services day camps offer for families. One of those? Transportation to and from summer camp. The good news is there are a lot of summer camps in Queens that offer transportation services—in air-conditioned buses—for campers, either dropping them off at your door or at a central location in your area. We've compiled a list of day camps in Queens that offer transportation services, including day camps in Bayside, South Bayside, Flushing, Bay Terrace, Fresh Meadows, Little Neck, and Oakland Gardens.
All campers are provided door-to-door transportation in Queens and Nassau County. Car seats available if needed and each bus has trained bus monitors.
Bus Service options are door to door, pick up only, or drop off only and Bus stops are available. Please visit www.Buedolphincamp.com, to learn more about our transportation options.
We have our own fleet of six air-conditioned buses with experienced, safe, and courteous drivers. We offer door-to-door service at $135/week throughout Queens and northern Brooklyn.
For those campers who sign up for four or more weeks, our camp provides door-to-door bus transportation, with the supervision of a bus counselor.
Door-to-door transportation available in designated locations in Nassau and Suffolk counties, Manhattan, and Queens. All other locations are served by area pickups.
Kent Prep's mini yellow school buses provide door-to-door pick up and drop off services for an additional fee. All drivers are highly experienced and specially licensed to safely transport even our youngest students.
Magic Day Camp provides door-to-door transportation to campers everywhere in Queens at no additional cost. We also offer transportation options for children residing in New Hyde Park, Elmont, Valley Stream, Floral Park, and Garden City.
We have worked with the Queens Children Transportation company for more than twenty years . They offer a door-to-door service at an additional fee. The application can be found on our website.
Transportation is available during the summer to specific areas of Queens. Please speak with the director as to locations and cost.
We offer air-conditioned bus transportation for families throughout Queens and Western Nassau County to ensure all campers can take part in an incredible summer experience. We strive to offer door-to-door service when possible, and our camp staff will always work with you to find the best transportation option .
World of Discovery Day Camp provides door-to-door transportation for campers. Buses are air-conditioned, and camp staff members supervise the trips.
Door-to-door transportation is available at no additional charge. We only use state-certified drivers and Board of Education-approved yellow school buses. Queens camp staff rides with campers.


The primary purpose of the JTM is to publish managerial and policy articles that are relevant to academics, policymakers, and practitioners in the transportation, logistics and supply chain fields. Acceptable articles could include conceptual, theoretical, legal, case, and applied research that contributes to better understanding and management of transportation and logistics. Saying that, our policy requires that articles be of interest to both academics and practitioners, and that they specifically address the managerial or policy implications of the subject matter. Articles that are strictly theoretical in nature, with no direct application to the management of transportation and logistics activities, or to related policy matters, would be inappropriate for the JTM. Articles related to any and all types of organizations, and of local to global scope, will be considered for publication.
Acceptable topics for submission include, but are not limited to, broad logistics topics, logistics and transportation related legal issues, carrier management, shipper management of transportation functions, modal and intermodal transportation, international transportation issues, transportation safety, marketing of transportation services, transportation operations, domestic and international transportation policy, transportation economics, customer service, and the changing technology of transportation. Articles from related areas, such as third party logistics, purchasing and materials management, and supply chain management, are acceptable as long as they are related to transportation and logistics activities.
Submissions from practitioners, attorneys or policymakers, co-authoring with academicians, are particularly encouraged in order to increase the interaction between groups. Authors considering the submission of an article to the JTM are encouraged to contact the editor for help in determining relevance of the topic and material.
The opinions expressed in published articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Editor, the Editorial Review Board, Delta Nu Alpha Transportation Fraternity, or Wayne State University.
Manuscripts. Submit manuscripts to the editor by email attachment at taylorjohn@wayne.edu. Manuscripts should be no longer than 30 double-spaced pages and 7000 words. Guidelines for manuscript submission and publication can be found in the back of this issue.
Subscriptions. The Journal of Transportation Management is published twice yearly. The current annual subscription rate is $50 domestic and $65 international in U.S. currency. Payments are to be sent to Delta Nu Alpha at 1720 Manistique Avenue, South Milwaukee, WI 53172.


Birth:          29 Aug 1923 Merchantville, Camden Co., N.J.
Death:          6 Apr 2006 Las Vegas, Nev.
Burial:         Glen Abbey Memorial Park, Bonita, Cal.
Stewart of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and many extended family members and friends.
Tierrasanta. She will be laid to rest with Bill at Glen Abbey Memorial Park, Bonita, CA.


Sierra Heitkamp Feb 2nd 2019 - 10am.
It is tempting to view the oil industry as the goose who laid the golden egg. Legislators should recognize its contributions and give certainty to an industry that provides for the well-being of the state and its citizens.
When North Dakota legislators propose to increase the oil extraction tax, one can wonder why they are looking to gamble with state revenues by penalizing the industry that has brought unprecedented growth and prosperity to our state. North Dakota already has one of the highest effective severance tax rates in the country. It's irresponsible that any policymaker would attempt to squeeze more from the industry and risk discouraging future investment. Short-sighted at best, reckless at worst!
The state has collected over $18 billion in oil and gas production and extraction taxes since 2008. These revenues have been used to fund infrastructure, education and other initiatives across the entire state. Oil and gas tax revenues also accounted for more than 50 percent of total state tax revenues over the last five years. It is vital that the Legislature and the public understand the massive contribution already being made by the industry before they think they need more.
In 2015, when the price of oil was decreasing, the Legislature reduced the tax rate and eliminated the "trigger" that would have temporarily stopped the oil extraction tax, saving the state almost $950 million in lost revenue. The oil industry also would have slowed investment and lost revenue. Policymakers must be mindful of the fact that, while the Bakken is a tremendous resource, there are other shale plays where investment goes further.
Sen. Merrill Piepkorn, D-Fargo, and Rep. Pamela Anderson, D-Fargo, can't have it both ways. They can't bemoan an imaginary reduction in revenues from the legislation passed in 2015 and now argue for a higher tax rate that could stifle growth and investment. Government should keep tax rates fair and consistent to encourage economic growth and investment in the natural resource our state relies on.


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posts tagged with 'protest'
we are young people and/or want to support youth!
by Danny May 18th, 2017
making his voice heard (in a different way than usual)
Last week someone posted a notice to our church's "random" email list, which is open to anyone. "Care about making Massachusetts safe for immigrants? Are you a young person or want to support youth?" it asked. "Youth (of any age and supportive adults) will gather at the State House to advocate for passage of the Safe Communities Act. Join them!" I probably would have let it pass unremarked, but for a followup email that came through about an hour later. "Are we supposed to be posting controversial political topics on the Vineyard Church Random list?" wrote one Bryant Jones. "I would kindly ask for clarification on this as this event is highly left wing and offensive to some of us who love God and our nation." Wow! Well now I had to go!
We haven't done any protesting in a while and the boys are always up for an outing that includes a train ride, so after lunch on Tuesday we hopped in the car and drove to Arlington, then walked in to the train station (with a small detour to look at swans). The train ride was fine, though Lijah found it a little noisy and covered his ears the whole way. We got downtown with enough time to take in the sights before the rally was due to start.
Unlike our first protest, when it was icy cold, the day was blazing hot. While we weren't tempted by that fountain—it was a little icky-looking—we definitely would have waded in the Frog Pond had signs not forbidden doing just that. Harvey pointed out that the sign didn't say no swimming—clever boy—but we weren't really dressed for it. Plus, I wanted to get to the rally in time. As it turned out nobody else shared that priority, so we were able to snag the only shady spot available while we waited for the organizers to arrive.
not a tremendous turnout
They were only a few minutes late, and they jumped into action. We signed petitions and made silkscreened logos—we got to take some home—before the chanting and speaking part of the program started. I talked to one of the adult helpers and learned that the group was from a class offered by Somerville Parts and Crafts, a big homeschool coop. They'd started an activism program back in October to protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline; this was their final project. Who knew back in the fall that this would be such a good year for protesting?
The rally was written up on Wicked Local Somerville. Lijah and I are even in one of the photos on the article, though only barely; I think we deserved better since as far as I could tell we were the only unaffiliated family there. Which is strange; I don't know how everyone else managed to resist that email message!
(The train ride home was much quieter, Lijah would have me report, and the boys were delighted to have to stand nearly the whole way thanks to the rush hour crowd. They may have sung "Surfin USA" at one point. Then we finished the day with a lovely dinner with our East Arlington friends, which was just what I needed to recover myself from my protest-inflicted heatstroke. A good afternoon.)
tagged with: protest, outing
Thursday, May 18th, 2017 at 9:18 pm
by Danny Feb 18th, 2017
Yesterday was meant to be the first national strike. It was kind of a letdown. I failed, personally. Well, not entirely; I didn't work (though I almost never work Fridays) and I didn't buy anything (never hard for me). But I failed to get down to the protest planned in Boston, or even to mark the day at all around here. What did I do instead? Yelled at the kids, made food, hung out with friends in the evening.
Since making a big deal about protesting a couple weeks ago I haven't taken a single concrete step. We've been pretty sick and snowed in—and the bizarre news comes so fast and furious it's hard to know how to focus my outrage anyway. Oh well.. I suppose there'll be plenty more opportunities!
tagged with: protest
Saturday, February 18th, 2017 at 10:16 pm
protest every day
by Danny Feb 2nd, 2017
Full disclosure: I didn't go out and protest yesterday. Or today either. I went to work. But I did send some kind emails to people, which I hope counts for something!
When we were protesting on Tuesday it was strange to see folks walking around like everything was normal—lots and lots of folks, since we were in the middle of Boston! To the extent that it feels like the world is ending I'd expect everyone to be out in the streets letting everyone in earshot know that things are NOT OK. But of course we all have responsibilities—jobs and kids and friends and self-care. Important stuff.
But it would be nice if we could manage somehow to keep a protest feeling going even when we're doing all those other things. I'm thinking maybe a pin or badge or something—combined with an effort to be proactively kind to everyone I talk to while simultaneously not letting any offensive shit slip by uncommented upon. That's hard—probably even harder than making time to be out on the barricades every day. When I think about the administration, and the people supporting it, I want to start punching; and when I'm having a nice conversation with an older white woman who it turns out, oops, is kind of anti-immigrant racist, it's really hard to politely point out that maybe she should be kinder, or at least consider the demonstrable economic benefits of immigration. I'm working on it.
Real protesting is good too. I don't want to miss another big event like I did last weekend, so if you know of anything happening fill me in! I'm following the Boston Activist Calendar on facebook because it came up in a search, but with less than 3000 followers to date it can't be too important. And I overcame my strong resistance to joining anything and became a part of our local "Indivisible" group (that's how I learned about Tuesday's event, I think). But I'm still not seeing anything happening locally this weekend. Maybe people are busy planning their Super Bowl parties? Failing that, I'm looking ahead to the General Strike on February 17: if you do facebook, check it out and mark yourself as going. You can make it a thing! (For the record, right now there are 10,244 people "going" and 17,682 "interested". That's... not enough.)
You know, maybe this is all a fad and we'll soon get used to the Trump presidency. But I'm not used to it yet, so this is what I'm doing.
Thursday, February 2nd, 2017 at 10:50 pm
our first protest
by Danny Jan 31st, 2017
he agreed to hold the sign I made
As promised, we went protesting yesterday. There won't be any kids at the midweek events unless the homeschoolers pick up the slack!
We drove to Arlington and walked in to the train station. We left home early enough that there was plenty of time to stop and check out the new ice on Alewife Brook (among many other diversions).
it's what we do
The train ride itself was delightful, and we were happy to spend most of it chatting with someone we know from church. Looking around at the thin Red Line crowd I wondered if anyone else was going protesting... it turns out that, no, they weren't. This was a smaller event than what we saw over the weekend.
small crowd, big plaza
But that's good: we wouldn't want to be overwhelmed on our first time out. The bigger boys got right to work making signs (the organizer had white posterboard available to supplement our cut-up boxes!), while Lijah watched and shivered. Not that he wasn't willing—but he only managed to draw a couple lines before his hands got too cold and had to go back in his pockets.
putting their drawing skills to work
I missed getting a photo of Zion's beautiful abstract sign, completely colored on both sides, but here's Harvey's carefully staged protest display:
his eye-catching pose
The sign was kind of a collaborative effort. The boys were having too much fun this morning to pay attention as I tried to tell them what we were going to do, so I wasn't surprised when Harvey said, in response some remark I made about the horrors of certain Executive Orders, "I don't really care about that." I told him he was a generally caring person, and would probably object to some of the specific implementations—he agreed. I also helped him spell "immigrants", so the I-turned-into-an-A towards the end is entirely my fault. It's hard to spell long words out loud while also intermittently chanting! Climbing up on the subway vent above everyone's head and making it look like his dog was just finishing up the sign was all Harvey, and he got an appropriate amount of attention for his efforts.
While it took the boys a fair amount of time to warm up to the act of protesting—no pun intended, but it was pretty cold!—they were totally unfazed by the city. There was lots to notice and remark on, and we would have been glad to explore more if we hadn't felt like we might freeze to death.
On the ride home I took a video of the bigger boys chanting "No Hate! No Fear! Refugees are welcome here!" It is kind of catchy. They say they enjoyed the outing and are excited to go to another protest. That's good: I think someone should be protesting every day. Maybe the next one we do will be bigger. A little rest first, though: protesting is hard work!
protesting is hard work
tagged with: adventure, protest
Tuesday, January 31st, 2017 at 11:09 pm


text:
Problem in our neighborhoods, foreclosures
January 07, 2009 (Original publish date) • By Dennis Beaver
You and I both know of a problem in our neighborhoods. It's that vacant house on the corner — in foreclosure, abandoned by the family who used to live there. They could not afford to make the payments and simply moved out.
The swimming pool became a breeding ground for mosquitoes, and the house itself has invited graffiti and vandalism.
In virtually every American town, it's the same thing. But it's different when that vacant house has a direct impact on your home. It was indeed different for Ron Hall of Hanford.
"The people in back of me have left unexpectedly," his e-mail began. "They were only in the house a couple of years and we never had any problems. Our two homes are separated by an old fashioned redwood fence located on my property. Unless kept properly trimmed, a massive growth of Oleanders on the neighbor's side leans on the fence, and I am worried that it will collapse from the weight of those shrubs," he wrote.
"Over the past many years, the people who lived there would have them trimmed every year or two, to prevent damage to my fence. In fact, the couple who just moved out did the same thing, having the tree trimmers perform the work from both my side of the fence and theirs."
"This work needs to be done before spring, and it could easily cost over $500. I am retired and isn't something that I am all that eager to pay for. Who is responsible for the costs involved? How can I find out who owns the house now? And equally important, if necessary, may I legally send a tree trimmer onto their property to perform the work required to save my fence?"
When I received Ron's e-mail, I called him. Writing this column allows me to speak with so many interesting, genuine people, and Ron fit both categories well. Retired now after years at sea as a ship's radio operator, he lives in the same home in which he grew up.
"My daddy built that fence. While old and worn it still stands. There is so much history that fence has seen. It is something I feel a need to protect," he told me.
I understood those feelings. The longer we talked — especially about his life at sea — the happier I was that he took the time to e-mail me. He got an answer to his legal questions; I was allowed a glimpse into a solitary man's interesting life. It was a fair trade.
"There are a number of ways to determine who own a vacant house," Bakersfield private investigator Riley Parker told me. "And, for the average person, no out-of-pocket expense is necessary, just some time and shoe leather.
"Begin with a visit to the tax assessor's office, or phone call. Provide them with the address, and they can tell you who currently owns the property. If it has gone through a foreclosure, the name of the bank or lending institution will be shown.
"Often customer service departments at title insurance companies will provide that information over the phone, and at no charge. This is a service they offer their customers — the real estate industry — but if you are polite, chances are they'll help you," he added.
"However, you could have a situation where the house was abandoned, or someone died or just moved out, and it is not in foreclosure. It could be tied up in an estate or legal dispute of some kind, with varying claims of ownership. These are far more complicated issues, and if it's worth the added expense, a private investigator has ways of locating individuals and family members using proprietary data bases to find a wealth of information on virtually anyone," Mr. Parker pointed out.
"Unless it is necessary to physically visit the property, in general, this kind of research would take less than two hours of the investigator's time, with billing rates which range from $50 to $125 per hour. So, you really need to weigh if hiring an investigator is worth it," he stressed.
Vacant homes can be little more than an eyesore to becoming temporary residences for squatters. Some lenders — notably, Wells Fargo Mortgage — have an entire division whose task it is to maintain their foreclosed properties, while far too many others do nothing. A few cities have passed legislation requiring the owner record to look after these public nuisances.
Of course, even if my reader locates the current owner — be it an individual or corporate-this does not mean anything will be done in time to save the redwood fence. Ron's most appropriate remedy is what we call: self help. That's quite literally, taking the law into his own hands, without waiting for a judge to give permission.
All sates allow homeowners to trim overhanging branches, but in a way which does not damage the neighbor's tree. When we get into encroaching roots or huge limbs, caution is critical. California allows chopping off the offending roots if this does not injure the neighbor's tree. That's why it's generally a good idea to consult with a certified arborist before grabbing your chain saw. Courts can award triple damages for hurting or killing a neighbor's tree.
But Ron's isn't the typical "tree" case. While there may be some branches which overhang the fence, we've got "a hundred feet or so of shrubs leaning on the old redwood fence," as he explained. "As those oleanders grow, as they do every spring and summer, there is a point where the fence will no longer support the weight and will break," he fears.
While technically a trespass, in this type of situation, my legal opinion would be for the tree trimmers to go into the neighbor's backyard in order to save the fence. Practically speaking, if they do a good job and harm nothing else, there is a valid reason to be on the neighbor's property.


text:
Imports System.Windows.Forms

Public Class frmRain
    Public msProject As String = ""

    Private Sub frmRain_Load(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
        Try

        Dim sHeading As String = "CPID;Address;Total RAC;Percent;Rain Amount"
        dgv.Rows.Clear()
        dgv.Columns.Clear()
        Dim vHeading() As String = Split(sHeading, ";")
            PopulateHeadings(vHeading, dgv, False)
        Dim iRow As Long = 0
        Me.Cursor.Current = Cursors.WaitCursor
        dgv.AutoResizeColumns(DataGridViewAutoSizeColumnsMode.ColumnHeader)
        dgv.ReadOnly = True
        dgv.EditingPanel.Visible = False
        lblHeading.Text = "Contribution for Project " + msProject

        'Get the RAC for the researchers for the Project
        Dim surrogateRow As New Row
        surrogateRow.Database = "CPID"
        surrogateRow.Table = "CPIDS"
        Dim lstCPIDs As List(Of Row) = GetList(surrogateRow, "*")
        Dim dTotalRAC As Double = 0
            lstCPIDs = GetList(surrogateRow, "*")
            Dim sRecips As String = ""

        For Each cpid As Row In lstCPIDs
            Dim dResearcherMagnitude As Double = 0
            Dim TotalRAC As Double = 0
            Dim TotalNetworkRAC As Double = 0
            Dim TotalMagnitude As Double = 0
            'Dim TotalRAC As Double = 0
            Dim surrogatePrjCPID As New Row
            surrogatePrjCPID.Database = "Project"
            surrogatePrjCPID.Table = msProject + "CPID"
            surrogatePrjCPID.PrimaryKey = msProject + "_" + cpid.PrimaryKey
            Dim rowRAC As Row = Read(surrogatePrjCPID)
                Dim dCPIDRAC As Double = Val(Trim("0" + rowRAC.RAC))

                If dCPIDRAC > 0 And cpid.DataColumn4.Length > 12 And cpid.PrimaryKey.Length > 12 Then
                    If Not sRecips.Contains(cpid.DataColumn4) Then
                        dTotalRAC += dCPIDRAC
                        dgv.Rows.Add()
                        dgv.Rows(iRow).Cells(0).Value = cpid.PrimaryKey
                        dgv.Rows(iRow).Cells(1).Value = cpid.DataColumn4
                        dgv.Rows(iRow).Cells(2).Value = dCPIDRAC
                        dgv.Rows(iRow).Cells(3).Value = 0
                        dgv.Rows(iRow).Cells(4).Value = 0
                        iRow += 1
                        sRecips += cpid.DataColumn4 + ";"
                    End If
                End If

            Next
        dgv.AllowUserToAddRows = False
        dgv.Rows.Add()
        Dim dTotalPercent As Double = 0
        Dim dTotalExpense As Double = 0
        'Now calculate Rain Amount
        For y As Integer = 0 To iRow - 1
            Dim dRainPercent As Double = 0
            Dim dRainAmount As Double = 0
            dRainPercent = Math.Round((Val(dgv.Rows(y).Cells(2).Value) / (dTotalRAC + 0.01)) * 100, 4)
            dRainAmount = Math.Round((dRainPercent / 100) * Val(txtRainAmount.Text), 4)
            dTotalExpense += dRainAmount
            dgv.Rows(y).Cells(3).Value = dRainPercent
            dgv.Rows(y).Cells(4).Value = dRainAmount
            dTotalPercent += dRainPercent
        Next
        If iRow = 0 Then Exit Sub

        'Total
        dgv.Rows(iRow).Cells(0).Value = "Total: " + Trim(iRow)
        dgv.Rows(iRow).Cells(3).Value = Math.Round(dTotalPercent, 4)
        dgv.Rows(iRow).Cells(4).Value = Math.Round(dTotalExpense, 4)

            SetAutoSizeMode2(vHeading, dgv)

        Me.Cursor.Current = Cursors.Default

        Catch ex As Exception
            Me.Cursor.Current = Cursors.Default
        End Try

    End Sub

    Private Sub txtRainAmount_TextChanged(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles txtRainAmount.TextChanged
        Timer1.Enabled = True 'Allow user to type for 3 more seconds before refreshing the page...

    End Sub

    Private Sub Timer1_Tick(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Timer1.Tick
        Timer1.Enabled = False
        Call frmRain_Load(Nothing, Nothing)
    End Sub

    Private Sub btnSave_Click(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnSave.Click
        Dim dTotalExpense As Double = 0

        If dgv.Rows.Count < 4 Then
            MsgBox("Recipient list too small.", MsgBoxStyle.Critical)
            Exit Sub

        End If
        Dim sRow As String = ""
        Dim sSend As String = "<RAIN>"

        For y As Integer = 0 To dgv.Rows.Count - 2
            Dim dRainPercent As Double = 0
            Dim dRainAmount As Double = 0
            dRainAmount = Val(dgv.Rows(y).Cells(4).Value)
            If (dRainAmount) > 0 Then
                dTotalExpense += dRainAmount
                Dim sAddress As String = dgv.Rows(y).Cells(1).Value
                sRow = sAddress + "<COL>" + Num2(dRainAmount) + "<ROW>"
                sSend += sRow
            End If

        Next
        If Len(sSend) > 8 Then sSend = Mid(sSend, 1, Len(sSend) - 5) 'Remove the last ROW delimiter
        sSend += "</RAIN>"

        Dim bInvalid As Boolean = False
        Dim dOrig As Double = Val(txtRainAmount.Text)
        If dTotalExpense > dOrig + 5 Or dTotalExpense < dOrig - 5 Then bInvalid = True
        If dTotalExpense < 1 Or bInvalid Then
            MsgBox("Rain amount is invalid.", MsgBoxStyle.Critical)
            Exit Sub
        End If
        Dim sProjectMessage As String = "<RAINMESSAGE>Project Rain: " + Trim(msProject) + " (Amount " + Trim(txtRainAmount.Text) + " GRC )</RAINMESSAGE>"
        Dim sNarr As String = "Are you sure you would like to rain " + Trim(dTotalExpense) + " GRC?"
        sSend += sProjectMessage
        Dim mbrResult As MsgBoxResult
        mbrResult = MsgBox(sNarr, MsgBoxStyle.YesNo, "Verification to Rain")
        If mbrResult = MsgBoxResult.Yes Then
            'Send the GRC to the lucky recipients
            Log("Raining 2.0:" + Trim(sSend))

            Dim sResult As String = ExecuteRPCCommand("rain", sSend, "", "", "", "", "")
            MsgBox(sResult, MsgBoxStyle.Information, "Rain")
        End If
    End Sub
    Public Function Num2(sData As String) As String
        'Ensures culture is neutral
        Dim sOut As String
        sOut = Trim(Math.Round(Val("0" + Trim(sData)), 2))

        sOut = Replace(sOut, ",", ".")
        Return sOut
    End Function
End Class

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: How do you compare linear model vs non-linear (nls) model in R? I am trying to model some data, and as part of the modeling, I tried using a linear model (using the lm function) and a non-linear model (using the nls) function.

*

*Model 1: a linear model which has degrees of freedom (df), (AIC) = 2, 2130

*Model 2:  a non-linear model which has df, AIC= 4, 2128.

*Model 3: I took model 2 above and fixed a parameter to the estimated value in model 2. It resulted in df, AIC= 3, 2126.
My question is: how to select the best fitting model from the above candidate models? Can I simply use AIC (lower is better) and therefore select model 3?

A: The question is indeed rather theoretical. What is the best theoretical model by construction (i.e. how do the variables connect to each other? Is the theoretical dependence of linear or non-linear nature?).
However, if that is not possible, I suggest to compare the models using BIC and AIC as well and select some model inbetween those two. From my personal experience AIC is better for predictions and BIC better for fitting (explanatory).

A: You will find unending debates on the question. There is no good answer on that question.  Generally, people tend to prefer BIC rather than AIC. BIC selects more parcimonious models because the penalty for the number of parameters is higher.
If you are more interested in predictions, you might use other performance criterion. Especially root mean square error (RMSE).
I think you will find many interesting debates on this question on CrossValidated.

A: If you are interested in predictions:
The MAPE function in R, or mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), is a measure of prediction accuracy of a forecasting method in statistics.
install.packages("MLmetrics")
library(MLmetrics)
MAPE(predict(model),real_values)

A: Caveat-Infused Answer
Some of the others here are correct in stating that you can use AIC/BIC criterion for deciding between models, but I want to stress that it isn't the only thing to consider. I highlight a simulated example in R. Here I have made curvilinear data:
#### Load Libraries and Theme ####
library(tidyverse)
library(mgcv)
library(ggpubr)
theme_set(theme_bw())

#### Simulate Curvilinear Data ####
set.seed(1)
x <- rnorm(n=1000)
y <- cos(x) + rnorm(n=1000,sd=.1)
plot(x,y)
df <- data.frame(x,y)

Shown below:

Fitting Models
Since the data appears fairly curvilinear, I have fit two opposing models: one that just uses an exponential term in lm, and the other which uses a spline in a generalized additive model using gam in the mgcv package.
#### Fit Exponent Only Model ####
fit.1 <- lm(y ~ x + I(x^2))

#### Fit Spline Model ####
fit.2 <- gam(y ~ s(x),
             method = "REML")

Below are the output from summary(fit.1) and summary(fit.2):
> summary(fit.1)

Call:
lm(formula = y ~ x + I(x^2))

Residuals:
     Min       1Q   Median       3Q      Max
-0.50225 -0.10252  0.00233  0.09559  2.72887

Coefficients:
             Estimate Std. Error t value Pr(>|t|)
(Intercept)  0.900580   0.006674 134.931   <2e-16 ***
x            0.002338   0.005270   0.444    0.657
I(x^2)      -0.295418   0.003603 -81.993   <2e-16 ***
---
Signif. codes:  0 '***' 0.001 '**' 0.01 '*' 0.05 '.' 0.1 ' ' 1

Residual standard error: 0.1723 on 997 degrees of freedom
Multiple R-squared:  0.871, Adjusted R-squared:  0.8707
F-statistic:  3366 on 2 and 997 DF,  p-value: < 2.2e-16

> summary(fit.2)

Family: gaussian
Link function: identity

Formula:
y ~ s(x)

Parametric coefficients:
            Estimate Std. Error t value Pr(>|t|)
(Intercept)   0.5844     0.0033   177.1   <2e-16 ***
---
Signif. codes:  0 '***' 0.001 '**' 0.01 '*' 0.05 '.' 0.1 ' ' 1

Approximate significance of smooth terms:
       edf Ref.df    F p-value
s(x) 8.818  8.991 2233  <2e-16 ***
---
Signif. codes:  0 '***' 0.001 '**' 0.01 '*' 0.05 '.' 0.1 ' ' 1

R-sq.(adj) =  0.953   Deviance explained = 95.3%
-REML = -812.91  Scale est. = 0.010888  n = 1000

We can already see that the spline regression has a higher $R^2$ value than the quadratic polynomial model. So we would expect to at least some degree that it performs better in general.
AIC/BIC
If we look at the AIC/BIC of the models as prescribed:
#### Print AIC/BIC of Models ####
cat("----------------------",
    "\nModel AIC/BIC",
    "\n----------------------",
    "\nModel 1 AIC:",
    AIC(fit.1),
    "\nModel 1 BIC:",
    BIC(fit.1),
    "\n----------------------",
    "\nModel 2 AIC:",
    AIC(fit.2),
    "\nModel 2 BIC:",
    BIC(fit.2),
    "\n----------------------")

You will find that the gam fit is substantially lower for both criterion:
----------------------
Model AIC/BIC
----------------------
Model 1 AIC: -674.0088
Model 1 BIC: -654.3778
----------------------
Model 2 AIC: -1670.372
Model 2 BIC: -1617.155
----------------------

Do we throw out the first model? Let's check the plots first.
Plotting
To make sure we are getting what we asked for, we can plot both of the models directly with ggplot. I have also arranged them into one window with ggarrange.
#### Plot Models ####
p1 <- df %>%
  ggplot(aes(x,y))+
  geom_point()+
  geom_smooth(
    method = "lm",
    formula = y ~ x + I(x^2),
    color = "steelblue"
  )+
  labs(title = "Exponent Only Model")

p2 <- df %>%
  ggplot(aes(x,y))+
  geom_point()+
  geom_smooth(
    method = "gam",
    formula = y ~ s(x),
    color = "steelblue"
  )+
  labs(title = "Spline Model")

ggarrange(p1,p2)

Shown below:

You can see both have mapped a curvilinear trend, and it's quite obvious they would fit/predict better than a simple first-order polynomial trend ("linear"). However, you can see why the first model's $R^2$ was lower...it has overfit a global shape to the data and totally misses the uptick in data near the upper range to the right. Assuming we want to use this to infer the relationship outside of a laboratory, our predictions would be completely off regardless of any AIC/BIC criterion. We can see this if we check the residuals...
Residual Inspection
A quick look at the residuals will show that the AIC/BIC has done nothing to answer a much larger issue...the sheer volume of error in the first model. See the residual plots below as an example.
#### Check Residuals ####
par(mfrow=c(1,2))
hist(resid(fit.1))
hist(resid(fit.2))

We can see the residuals look quite normal in the second plot for the better performing GAM, but the residuals are bizarrely smooshed into two bins. Clearly the GAM model is more accurate.
Conclusion
In summation, the AIC/BIC criterion are useful tools, but like all things in regression, you should make sure you are looking at the whole picture first.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


"It is Summer in our Country"
with Family School and other Activities.
Hi sweetie...hope your Easter was a day full of blessings and that you had a lovely time celebrating with family and friends. Have yourself a beautiful new week. Take care and God bless.
Hi there, Tyla...it's been awhile since I stopped by and hope all is well with you and yours. I'm sure the Summer season has brought the wonders of beauty in your surroundings and it must be such a sight to behold!!
It's mostly hot weather here too, burning down in my parts of the world and the occasional rain tends to make up for the heat!! I guess all of us have our seasons and moments!!
Hello dear Tyla...I hope the week is going by well. Sorry that I haven't been around but real life got in the way so couldn't come by to leave you a St. Patty's Day greeting.


The trial pit used to obtain bulk samples for process testwork in 1996.
Grade control sampling in the open pit.
Ore mining during the pre-production phase.
Transporting one of the autoclaves to the mine site.
View through the giant fans at the Murrin Murrin power station.
Acid leach autoclave with the slurry heating tower behind.
The Murrin Murrin nickel-cobalt project, 60km east of Leonora, was commissioned by Anaconda Nickel Ltd. The project is now a joint venture between Murrin Murrin Holdings Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Minara Resources Ltd (60%), and Glenmurrin Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Glencore International AG (40%).
It is based on the mining and processing of lateritic ore for the production of up to 40,000t/y of nickel and 2,500t/y of cobalt briquettes with a design cash cost of $2.00–2.40/lb of nickel, making it one of the world's largest and lowest-cost nickel producers. Stage 1 of the project was commissioned in 1999 at a cost of A$1,030m. Total production costs for 2006 were around $8.25/lb of nickel..
Minara Resources has approx. 1,000 employees and contractors at its Murrin Murrin operations, making it one of the largest single-site employers in Western Australia.
The laterite-hosted orebodies are typically 20m in depth with 10m of overburden. At the end of 2005, the project had total resources of 334Mt and total reserves of 145Mt grading 1.07% nickel and 0.085% cobalt. Based on current reserves and resources, Murrin Murrin has sufficient ore for 40 years of operation.
Opencast mining at Murrin Murrin benefits from favourable stripping ratios, which allow low mining costs. The mining fleet consists of Hitachi hydraulic excavators and Komatsu haul trucks. The average grade of high-grade ore is 1.34% Ni, 0.091% Co and 4.6% Mg, allowing the mine to meet or exceed autoclave feed requirements.
Development of a new mining area – Murrin Murrin South – began in 2004.
Murrin Murrin is a world-class hydrometallurgical project, using sulphuric acid in high-temperature, high-pressure autoclave vessels to aggressively leach nickel and cobalt from low-grade lateritic (oxidised) ores. Hydrometallurgical processing offers significant environmental benefits compared to traditional pyrometallurgical processes, such as smelting, and much of the energy, heat and consumables used in the Murrin Murrin are recycled.
Sherritt International pressure acid leach (PAL) technology recovers nickel and cobalt in a Fluor Daniel designed and engineered plant. Slurried, crushed ore is pressure leached with sulphuric acid, and metals recovered by further leaching. The slurrying mill discharges into a classification screen and undersize is pumped to the autoclave feed slurry storage tanks. Oversize is stored in the tailings dam.
The PAL area receives slurried feed, heats it to 225°C and mixes it with hot concentrated sulphuric acid inside four titanium-lined autoclaves. Nickel and cobalt are leached into solution. Precipitated iron and aluminium tailings are washed and stored in the tailings dam. The autoclaves discharge leached slurry to the counter-current decantation (CCD) washing area, where it is mixed with flash-steam heated water, producing a clear solution of nickel and cobalt in preparation for hydrogen sulphide precipitation of mixed nickel/cobalt.
Locally produced finely ground calcrete is used to neutralise the residue before it is stored in the tailings dam. The nickel/cobalt sulphide produced is leached in an autoclave by pure oxygen, producing a metal sulphate solution.
Iron, copper and zinc impurities are removed, cobalt is separated and a concentrated cobalt solution feeds the cobalt hydrogen reduction area.
The remaining nickel solution feeds the nickel hydrogen reduction area. The metal sulphate solutions are hydrogen-reduced in parallel autoclaves. The resulting powders are dewatered, dried and packaged for sale or briquetted and sintered to form pillow-shaped briquettes.
Alterations to the plant since it was commissioned have included the installation of larger capacity pre-heaters and a third calcrete mill, upgrades to the neutralisation circuit, and modifications to the sulphide circuit equipment and the acid plant.
In 2006, Murrin Murrin produced 31,524t of nickel and 2,096t of cobalt, with nickel production considerably higher than the 28,240t produced in 2005 while cobalt output was just 63t higher. An output of between 32,000t and 35,000t of nickel is predicted for 2007. Constraints in the acid plant and ductwork corrosion affected the plant's availability during 2006, with a new acid demister being installed to help reduce corrosion.
An A$25m heap-leach demonstration plant was built at Murrin Murrin during 2006, with an output of 2,000t of nickel and 150t of cobalt anticipated for 2007 if the technology is successful. Some 75,000t of ore are being acid-leached in the trial. If this is the case, it provides the project with a separate source of output from low-grade ores that are currently uneconomic, as well as from low-grade stockpiled material.
Murrin Murrin's other major recent project has been the development of the Grey Mare borefield which, once operational, will supply around one-third of its annual water process requirements.


text:
Jihad's Nazi Connections
The Muslim groups which today threaten the West with terrorism, subversion and insurgency are not only "fascist" in the broad sociological sense, but can trace their literal historical origins to Nazism and its genocidal ambitions.
The ideology of the Islamists whose ranks today include not only al-Qaeda but also Hamas and Hezbollah, originated with Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, which was founded in 1928 by Sheikh Hassan al-Banna. The Muslim Brotherhood finds not just its roots, but much of its symbolism, terminology, and political priorities deep within the heart of Nazi fascism.
For al-Banna, as for many other Muslims worldwide, the end of the caliphate, although brought about by secular Muslim Turks, was a sacrilege against Islam for which they blamed the non-Muslim West. It was to strike back against these evils that al-Banna founded the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928.
Al-Banna's antipathy towards Western modernity soon moved him to shape the Brotherhood into an organization seeking to check the secularist tendencies in Muslim society and return to traditional Islamic values. Al-Banna recruited followers from a vast cross-section of Egyptian society by addressing issues such as colonialism, public health, educational policy, natural resources management, social inequalities, Arab nationalism, and the weakness of the Islamic world. Among the perspectives he drew on to address these issues were the anti-capitalist doctrines of European Marxism and especially fascism.
As the Muslim Brotherhood expanded during the 1930s and extended its activities well beyond its original religious revivalism, al-Banna began dreaming a greater Muslim dream: the restoration of the Caliphate. He would describe, in inflammatory speeches, the horrors of hell expected for heretics, and consequently, the need for Muslims to return to their purest religious roots, and resume the great and final holy war, or jihad, against the non-Muslim world.
The first big step in the international jihad al-Banna envisioned came in the form of trans-national terrorism during the Great Arab Revolt of 1936-39, when one of the most famous of the Muslim Brotherhood's leaders, Hajj Amin al-Husseini, Grand Mufti (Supreme Muslim religious leader) of Jerusalem, incited his followers to a three-year war against the Jews in Palestine and against the British who administered the Palestine Mandate. In 1936 the Brotherhood had about 800 members, but by 1938, just two years into the Revolt, its membership had grown to almost 200,000, with fifty branches in Egypt alone. By the end of the 1930s, there were more than a half million active members registered, in more than 2,000 branches across the Arab world.
To achieve that broader dream of a global jihad, the Brotherhood developed a network of underground cells, stole weapons, trained fighters, formed secret assassination squads, founded sleeper cells of subversive supporters in the ranks of the army and police, and waited for the order to go public with terrorism, assassinations, and suicide missions. It was during this time that the Muslim Brotherhood found a soul mate in Nazi Germany.
The Reich offered great power connections to the movement, but the relationship brokered by the Brotherhood was more than a marriage of convenience. Long before the war, al-Banna had developed an Islamic religious ideology which previewed Hitler's Nazism. Both movements sought world conquest and domination. Both were triumphalist and supremacist (in Nazism the Aryan must rule, while in al-Banna's Islam, the Muslim religion must hold dominion). Both advocated subordination of the individual to a central power. Both were explicitly anti-nationalist in the sense that they believed in the liquidation of the nation-state in favor of a trans-national unifying community. And both rabidly hated the Jews and sought their destruction.
As the Brotherhood's political and military alliance with Nazi Germany developed, these parallels facilitated a full-blown alliance, with all the pomp and panoply of formal state visits, de facto ambassadors, and overt as well as sub rosa joint ventures. Al-Banna's followers easily transplanted into the Arab world a newly Nazified form of traditional Muslim Jew-hatred, with Arab translations of Mein Kampf (translated into Arabic as My Jihad) and other Nazi anti-Semitic works, including Der Sturmer hate-cartoons, adapted to portray the Jew as the demonic enemy of Allah.
When the Second World War broke out, Al-Banna worked to firm up a formal alliance with Hitler and Mussolini. But the best known Nazi sympathizer in the Muslim Brotherhood was the Hajj Amin al-Husseini, Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, and one-time President of the Supreme Muslim Council of Palestine. The Grand Mufti was a bridge figure in terms of transplanting the Nazi genocide in Europe into the post-war Middle East and creating a fascist heritage for the Palestinian national movement.
Al-Husseini used his office as a powerful bully pulpit from which to preach anti-Jewish, anti-Zionist, and (turning on his patrons) anti-British vitriol. He was directly involved in the organization of the 1929 riots which destroyed the 3,000-year-old Jewish community of Hebron. And he was quick to see that he had a natural ally in Hitler. As early as spring 1933, he assured the German consul in Jerusalem that "the Muslims inside and outside Palestine welcome the new regime of Germany and hope for the extension of the fascist, anti-democratic governmental system to other countries."
The youth organization established by the Mufti used Nazi emblems, names and uniforms. Germany reciprocated by setting up scholarships for Arab students, hiring Arab apprentices at German firms, and inviting Arab party leaders to the Nuremberg party rallies and Arab military leaders to Wehrmacht maneuvers. Most significantly, the German Propaganda Ministry developed strong links with the Grand Mufti and with Arabic newspapers, creating a propaganda legacy that would outlast Husseini, Hitler, and all the other figures of World War II.
In September 1937, Adolf Eichmann and another SS officer carried out an exploratory mission in the Middle East lasting several weeks, and including a friendly productive visit with the Grand Mufti. It was after that visit, in fact, that the Mufti went on the Nazi payroll as a Nazi agent and propagandist. During the Great Arab Revolt of 1936-39, which al-Husseini helped organize and which Germany funded, the swastika was used as a mark of identity on Arabic leaflets and graffiti. Arab children welcomed each other with the Hitler salute, and a sea of German flags and pictures of Hitler were displayed at celebrations.
After meeting with Hitler on November 21, 1941, Husseini praised the Germans because they "know how to get rid of the Jews, and that brings us close to the Germans and sets us in their camp." On March 1, 1944, the Mufti called out in a broadcast from Zeesen: "Arabs! Rise as one and fight for your sacred rights. Kill the Jews wherever you find them. Kill them with your teeth if need be. This pleases God, history, and religion. This saves your honor." His own memoirs, and the testimony of German defendants at the Nuremberg trials later on, showed that he planned a death camp modeled on Auschwitz to be constructed near Nablus for the genocide of Palestine's Jews.
It was the Mufti who urged Hitler, Himmler, and General Ribbentrop to concentrate Germany's considerable industrial and military resources on the extermination of European Jewry. The foremost Muslim spiritual leader of his time, he helped in this effort by lobbying to prevent Jews from leaving Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria, even though those governments were initially willing to let them go. As Eichmann himself recounted: "We have promised him [the Mufti] that no European Jew would enter Palestine any more."
– Adapted from "The Nazi Roots of Palestinian Nationalism and Islamic Jihad," by David Meir-Levi (2007).
The Nazi Roots of Palestinian Nationalism and Islamic Jihad
By David Meir-Levi
Jew-Hatred and Jihad: The Nazi Roots of the 9/11 Attack
By Matthias Kuntzel
Haj Amin Al-Husseini — Nazi Collaborator and Model for Today's Islamists
By Emerson Vermaat
Hitler's Long Shadow over Israel
By Karin McQuillan
Shedding New Light on the Mufti's Alliance with the Nazis
By Steven Stotsky
From Al Husseini to Hitler: Radical Islam and the Nazi Connection – Pan Arabism to the PA
By Militant Islam Monitor
The Nazi Connection to Islamic Terrorism
By Chuck Morse


St. Irenaeus was a Bishop near Lyon, France and he was known for being an early church father and apologist. His writings were critical in the development of Christian theology. He is most famous for writing the book Adversus Haereses which translated means Against Heresies. This book was a detailed attack on Gnosticism which was a serious threat to the beliefs of the church during that time. One of the most quoted lines from St. Irenaeus' book goes as follows: "The glory of God is a human being fully alive." When you read that line what does it mean to you? Though St. Irenaeus was primarily associated with the Roman Catholic faith, the point he brings up with that line has a lot of truth behind it. In other words he is saying that we bring glory to God by living life to the fullest. We are going to take a deeper look into what it truly means to live life to the fullest, it may or may not be very different from what you perceive it to be.
Some people may consider the phrase, "living life to fullest," synonymous to the term carpe diem which is Latin for "seize the day." However, in God's perspective, fullness of life means something much deeper than that. When God created mankind, His goal and purpose was for His creation to bring glory to him. We as believers achieve and fulfill that purpose through five main avenues of our Christian walk.
We bring glory to God by worshiping him.
In this verse, it describes our body as instruments. When we think of an instrument, how does it produce music? It is based on the talents and skills of the musician! Our lives are compared in the same context. God has given us earthly bodies that can be used in either one of two ways. Either as a skilled musician that uses their instrument to produce beautiful music or that of an unskilled musician that produces meaningless sounds without any tune, flow, or rhythm. The instruments design stays the same in both uses but the output has a very different impact in the eyes of the concertmaster. God has designed us as instruments for the specific purpose of glorifying him, but how we live our lives will determine whether we produce a soothing sound in his presence or an indistinct mix of noises without any pattern or purpose.
We bring glory to God by loving other believers.
Think about it, how would our families, friendships, relationships, assemblies, and even communities be if we loved others as Christ loved us! It would be much more different from what we see today. There wouldn't be as much enmity between believers. There would be much more unity and understanding if Christ love was consistently shown. Looking carefully at the verse, it is not just limited to our fellow believers but the impact also reaches to non believers. When we treat others in the body of Christ with love, even those outside of the faith will both see and understand that there is something positively different about us!
We bring glory to God by becoming like Christ.
Just like we require a balanced diet of three meals a day added nutrition and exercise, our spiritual lives require the same. In order to grow into Christ's likeness on a daily basis we have to produce fruit on a daily basis. This fruit isn't the one you can grow in your backyard or buy from the grocery store either, it is the fruit of spirit that comes from practicing our faith.
We bring glory to God by serving others with our gifts.
Each of us has our own spiritual gifts that we excel in. If you are currently not using the gifts that God has given you, you are not fulfilling his will for your life. In order to truly glorify God, we must use the spiritual gifts that we have been given or as it is promised in God's word, it will be taken away from us. Our church NEEDS us to use the gifts that we have been given in order for it to function properly. If we see a gap within our churches, the first thing we need to ask is what WE can do to fill that gap.
We bring glory to God by telling others about him.
Last but definitely not least, we bring glory to God through evangelizing to others about the good news of the gospel message. One sign of a true believer is their passion to save lost souls. When we have received the free gift of salvation that has completely turned and transformed our lives, how can we keep that too ourselves? We should have internal desire to share the gospel with those who are close to us and haven't accepted Christ. Think about your closest family members, friends, or loved ones. Would you be okay with the thought that they would spend their eternity in a state of eternal separation from God with endless suffering? No! That's not something that we would desire for anyone! We read from 2 Corinthians that God receives so much glory when we as believers take the time to spread the good news of the gospel to others.
Think about the people you are the closest to, are there any among them that don't know Christ? If so it is OUR responsibility to reach out to them. God has placed us in specific locations among certain people so that he can use us to reach out to them. Don't think that just because you don't know the Bible as well as you should or that you lack communication skills that you won't be effective. Remember we are just vessels that God uses to reach out to lost souls. He will do all the work and he will receive all the glory! We are just the instruments designed with purpose to be used by him!
We were able to cover a handful of ways that we should bring glory to God. We may be strong in some and weak in others but the important thing to remember is the constant striving. When we build our entire focus of our life around glorifying God, we will be blessed for it. God created us for the sole purpose to live our life to the fullest through the means of service to him! Let's do what we were created for!


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Listen To HOT 107.9 On Your Alexa
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New York Women Arrested For Bomb Plot Against The U.S.
Sonya Eskridge
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Two women from New York have been arrested for their part in an attempt to wage jihad in the United States.
Noelle Velentzas and Asia Siddiqui were taken into custody this week on allegations that they were plotting to create explosives for an attack in the U.S. According to CNN, a federal criminal complaint states that Asia had propane tanks and instructions on how to turn them into bombs.
Asia had published jihad-inspired poems in an al Qaeda-affiliated magazine, and she kept in touch with a number of people from the terrorist group.
While speaking with an undercover cop about the case of two New York Police Department officers that were shot in retaliation for the deaths of Mike Brown and Eric Garner, Noelle made some damning statements. The complaint notes that for starters, she said, "Killing a police officer is easier than buying food because sometimes one has to wait in line to buy food."
MUST READ: #StayWoke: Boko Haram Just Kidnapped At Least 400 More Children In Nigeria
She called an NYPD funeral "an attractive potential target" for a terrorist attack.
The women will be facing serious scrutiny when they return to court next month because of the severity of the charges against them.
"As alleged, the defendants in this case carefully studied how to construct an explosive device to launch an attack on the homeland," U.S. attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch, a U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement. "We remain firm in our resolve to hold accountable anyone who would seek to terrorize the American people, whether by traveling abroad to commit attacks overseas or by plotting here at home."
Neither of the women entered a plea when they appeared in federal court in Brooklyn, and they are currently being held without bond. They are due back in court on May 4, and Asia's attorney Thomas Dunn told reporters that they plan to plead not guilty. "She and I will address everything in court," he said. "We're going to fight it out in court."
Noelle and Asia, who are both U.S. citizens, face up to life in prison if they are convicted.
Charlie Hebdo Shooters & One Gunman Who Captured Hostages At Supermarket Killed & Female Gunman Escapes
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70 Killed, 79 Wounded In Al-Shabaab Massacre At University In Kenya
New York Women Arrested For Bomb Plot Against The U.S. was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
Al Qaeda	, Asia Siddiqui	, jihad	, Noelle Velentzas	, terrorist attack
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Who Are The Music Police?
play on a manager's natural sense of protecting the organization.
artistic/peer review process works, the language is there nonetheless.
related action as dictated by the CBA.
in greater detail in a separate article.
examination at a later date).
two of the primary contact points Music Police use to ensnare managers.
why they want a private meeting.
hired in the past decade and then segue into Music Police issues.
recent performance, and conclude the meeting.
elected committees; a common target is some sort of artistic committee.
Music Police business on committee time.
resource is your own personal resolve.
will probably solve your problem for you.
quagmire, you – and your organization – will be better off.
What do you make of a musical director who tells the Board of Trustees that there are only a dozen or slightly more, members of his orchestra who could get a job playing in other orchestras?
What does that say about his leadership?
What would be his remedy, if the statement were true? Fire all the rest? How could he justify it?
What steps would he have to take? How would he deal with the union?
My first thought is "why would a conductor take a job at an ensemble he/she has such a low view of the players and does this opinion take into account how well the musicians sound cumulatively?" Nevertheless, regardless if the number is one or 100 any music director must abide by the artistic/peer review procedures as dictated in the master agreement. That pretty much answers the question of the steps he/she would take and how he/she would deal with the local musicians' union but some interesting points to consider are some contracts limit the number of musicians a music director can file artistic/peer review charges against in any given season.


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ACCEPTED

#### According to
The Catalogue of Life, 3rd January 2011

#### Published in
Philipp. J. Sci. , C 5:25. 1910

#### Original name
null

### Remarks
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This is simply one of the most magnificent properties in the New York metropolitan area.
Petra Island is an 11 acre, heart shaped private island with a Frank Lloyd Wright designed main home (the Massaro House) as well as guest house, an additional guest house, tea house and dock. It has a helipad on the roof and room for a pool, tennis court and whatever else you might wish to build.
It sits magnificently in the middle of Lake Mahopac, and is only a 15-minute helicopter ride from Manhattan or a 4.5-minute helicopter ride from Westchester County Airport.
There really isn't anything quite like Petra Island. It is an ideal family retreat – a true oasis.


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You are here: Home / Office & Commercial / Google leases space in Los Angeles mall for new campus; why others may follow
Google leases space in Los Angeles mall for new campus; why others may follow
January 11, 2019 by Urvashi Verma
Large, vacant retail spaces are being transformed into vibrant workplace campuses by big tech companies—and it seems this trend is just beginning.
Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, has signed a 14-year lease with Hudson Pacific Properties Inc. and Macerich to relocate its office to Los Angeles' Westside Pavilion Mall where it plans to develop a more than half a million-square-foot campus.
Similarly, WeWork which recently purchased Lord & Taylor's former flagship store location in New York City has plans to build out a future high-tech space to be leased to entrepreneurs and startups.
While retail spaces and malls may seem like unconventional spaces for tech companies to set up shop, they offer several advantages.
Undoubtedly part of lure has been the drastic decline in retail rents. Pressure mounting from e-commerce growth has reduced asking prices even in Manhattan, where the city's most popular retail corridors experienced widespread declines in the fall of 2018.
Fifteen out of the 17 high-profile retail corridors posted a minimum reduction of 15% in the per-square-foot asking price of ground floor retail spaces, according to a bi-annual survey conducted by the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY).
The year-over-year drop registered as the highest total number of corridors in decline since the year 2000.
But cheap rents aren't the only thing luring big tech companies to large retail malls.
Power supply and digital connectivity drive tech tenants to retail sites
A robust power supply, digital infrastructure and access to public transportation are among the most important features that tech companies look for when selecting office space according to JLL, a leading commercial real estate management and investment firm.
Malls are often pre-equipped with both the power and cellular infrastructure required to meet the growing demands for data storage and transmission necessary for tech operations and satisfy the expectations of a growing population of tech-savvy employees who demand robust digital connectivity.
Attracting and retaining top talent also requires a location which is easily accessible by public transportation. Time spent commuting is unproductive and offering a location which enhances the quality of life for employees has become critical to employee retention.
Large retail malls are often found in thriving locations that meet the requirements of millennial employees who are looking for access to off-campus amenities such as parks, health clubs, and trendy restaurants.
The use of existing retail shopping centers as technology campuses is a part of larger trend in commercial real estate sector known as adaptive re-use which re-purposes buildings for uses other which they were originally built or designed.
Adaptive re-use can be a more attractive alternative compared to new construction due to its inherently sustainable and economic benefits that are often alluring to eco-friendly technology companies and their employees.
Filed Under: Office & Commercial


Based on a recent FOI Act request by an ABD member, we know that Thames Valley Police are receiving over £1M a year from fees paid by AA Drivetech.
The Government stopped funding Safety Camera Partnerships. They are now dependent on local authorities to provide their funding out of road safety budgets. Offenders allegedly involved in speed-related offences are being offered "Speed Awareness Courses". Some Police forces have now arranged for some of the revenue from fees for "Speed Awareness Courses" (many of which are run by commercial organisations) to be diverted to finance the operations of camera partnerships.
For example, Thames Valley Police (led by Rob Povey, head of roads policing) have arranged to receive money from the payments made for such courses, thus enabling it to reactivate cameras in that county and maintain the operations of the "safety camera partnership". This has been widely reported in the press and Mr Povey even made it clear in a video posted on YouTube by Thames Valley Police.
We question whether this is legal (we have seen no evidence that it is), and we certainly suggest this is ethically dubious. In essence, in return for payments that at least part-fund the operations of speed camera partnerships, alleged offenders are diverted from the justice system.
Note that the ABD has no objection to the offer of speed awareness courses to lesser offenders, but we believe that it should not be associated with payments to the police.
Funding of police speed camera operations in this manner will result in more attention to generating income than to the promotion of road safety.
We urge everyone who has been offered such a course in the Thames Valley area (or anywhere else this arrangement is in operation) to complain to their Member of Parliament about this system.
Thames Valley Police (TVP) received income of £772,097 between January and August 2011 from AA Drivetech — equivalent to over £1 million per annum. It is likely that most of this income relates to fees paid by drivers for speed awareness courses where a proportion of the fees are diverted to TVP.
In the cases we are complaining about, some police officers are surely potentially conspiring with the organisations that run the training courses to divert drivers from the judicial system in return for payments that fund the employment of themselves, other police officers or other support staff. Hence they appear to have a direct financial interest in this matter.
The video posted by Thames Valley Police on YouTube.


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At the Wild Planet our team is made up of both full time and freelance staff plus a few tech advisors/guest instructors. Below is a little bit about some of our Key team leaders and tech advisors.
Robin Lloyd
FOUNDER, UK
Robin has been 'into' outdoor and adventure sports as long as he can remember, luckily his parents encouraged him in this sending him to try any sport he showed an interest in when he was young, and from the unlikely setting of Norfolk UK (very flat and benign) he developed a love for whitewater kayaking and surfing and spent his teenage years and college years kayaking, surfing, hillwalking, climbing, caving, diving and biking around the UK. After graduating as a construction engineer he spent a year in the Uk before leaving on a surf/paddle trip to Asia. Coming to Thailand 24 years ago for a party he got way laid and never really left. He began teaching diving in the Southern Island of Koh Tao and after a couple of years moved to Sri Lanka to set up a diving operation and adventure sports business working with the existing Thailand based dive school, 12 months later he returned to Thailand saw the opportunity for adventure sports here and The Wild Planet was born. Robin's first love is still whitewater kayaking and now at 46 finding himself 'the old boy" he is currently trying to master more play-boating moves in order not to get left behind by the younger paddlers. Robin has extensive experience expeditioning in Thailand and can be found paddling or raft guiding on any of our longer whitewater expeditions.
Dave Milne
OPERATIONS DIRECTOR, UK
Dave Milne has been actively involved in the outdoor adventure industry since 1988 From mountaineering in England, Scotland, Wales and Greenland to canyoning, scuba diving and white water rafting in Australia. He moved to Thailand in 1998 where he has been teaching scuba diving, as well as heading up outdoor adventure activity programs and IYA programs for International Schools in the region. Dave is a PADI IDC Staff instructor, an SSI Master Instructor, an Emergency First Response Instructor Trainer, a BCU Level 3 Inland Kayak Coach, a Swift Water Rescue Technician and has a BSC (Hons) in Environmental Science.. Dave is Bangkok based where he lives with his wife Ai (also a qualified Scuba Instructor) and his son Joshua. When not in Asia he is a keen skier, and thinks that the only thing missing from Thailand is snowy peaks.
Reto Kalberer
LOGISTICS, CSR & OUTREACH DIRECTOR
Reto is mostly found in the North of Thailand running our Mae Teng valley multi day expeditions where he lives with his wife and two daughters. A relative latecomer to adventure sports after a career in construction, his fluent grasp of the Thai language and culture coupled with younger years spent in the army and his passion for the outdoors means that in the last ten years he has become a skilled trip leader. Reto has a second role as our community liaison officer and is instrumental in our outreach programs throughout the North. Of course the fact that he is Swiss German means that everything he does is precise making him the ideal logistics organizer for our large group programs.
Nutthawat Boon-you 'Num'
LOGISTICS & GUIDE TEAM HEAD, TH
Num is responsible for the organisation and leading of all of our freelance Thai river guides. He has extensive experience with student groups and logistics involved with multi day raft trips. He has worked with the Wild Planet for almost 20 years years and been instrumental in developing the routes on some of our more strenuous outdoor programs. In addition to his water based skills Num is a skilled ropes facilitator and often instructs on our new staff training programs. In the off season Num can be found on the Nam Wa in Nan running multi day trips with his own guiding company Sabai Dee on Tour.
Witoon Boon-you 'Noo'
SENIOR GUIDE, TH
Num's younger brother and another skilled river guide and a great campfire cook. If Num isn't at the helm of a multi day whitewater trip, then Noo will be. Noo is also a skilled ropes facilitator and safety guide and also spends the off season in Nan rafting the Nam Wa with Sabai Dee on Tour.
Kenny Peavy
ECO EDUCATION SPECIALIST, USA
Originally from the USA, Kenny has lived and worked in Southeast Asia since the year 2000. He holds a Masters Degree in Science Education from Montana State University and has 20+ years experience as a classroom science teacher and expedition leader in the USA, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. He's ridden a bamboo bike across South East Asia to raise awareness for sustainability in the region and paddled around Phuket, Thailand with the GREEN Paddlers to teach people about marine conservation issues in the region. His book entitled As if the Earth Matters is recommended by the National Science Teacher's Association (NSTA) as an excellent activity guide and resource for connecting students with Nature. As a result of his dedication to the environment, environmental education and conservation he's been awarded Volunteer of the Year by both the Georgia Adopt-A-Stream Organization in the USA and the Malaysian Nature Society in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Most recently Kenny has been a keynote speaker at the ServICE (Inspire, Connect, Empower) conference in Bangkok as well as the Hong Kong Academy Global Issues Network and the Brunei Global Issues Conference. Nowadays, he leads 'Education Outside The Classroom' expeditions all over Southeast Asia to inspire students and teachers to make a deep connection with Nature and take action for a sustainable future!
Nate Keat
Jeab Chanmonjai
Toby Bell
PROGRAM LEADER, UK
Toby Bell has been a keen water sports enthusiast since growing up on the Red Sea. In his early teens kayaking, windsurfing and sailing became a weekly pursuit at the local water sports centre in the southwest of England. After joining the Army cadet force, shooting, trekking and climbing were added to his hobbies. He competed nationally in rifle competitions and was ranked 53rd in the UK, narrowly missing out on Olympic trials. After graduating from University he continued his passions while travelling through South and Central America, completing his Scuba Divemaster in the carribean. He travelled to Thailand in 2004 to complete his Scuba Instructor course and decided to settle permanently. Since 2009 he has worked with Wild Planet as Senior Instructor on expeditions and residential programs throughout Thailand.
Graham Wardle
TECHNICAL RESCUE SPECIALIST, UK
Jie Maninnat
CLIMBING GUIDE, TH
Abi Ridgway
GUIDE, UK
Ned Tutty
PROGRAM LEADER, NZ
Ned grew up in the scenic Nelson area of New Zealand where him and his four brothers were introduced to the outdoors at a young age. He landed his first "outdoors job" as a canoe instructor doing multi-day canoe trips with a scout summer camp in Canada. Upon returning home he enrolled himself in the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Center (OPC) in the Central North Island gaining a diploma in outdoor education. His OPC diploma covered not just hard skills in white water kayaking, climbing, mountaineering, mountain biking, navigation but also skills in group management, risk assessment and team building. After graduating he landed a job as a glacier guide in Franz Josef on the west coast of the South Island furthering his skills during the weekends exploring the world-class mountains and rivers in the area. After getting itchy feet he went over to Thailand for some work experience with the Wild Planet and fell in love with the people and culture and decided to stay on with the Wild Planet family. Ned is an IRF Raft Guide, NZMGA Hard Ice Guide, Rescue 3 White Water Rescue Technician, NZOIA Kayak Instructor, SSI Scuba Instructor, REACT RIGHT First Aid Instructor & WFR wilderness first responder.
Uncle 'Moo'
CSR PROJECT MANAGER, TH
Daeng Saksomboon
Tor Chanmonjai
GUIDE, TH
Fionn Kelly
PROGRAM LEADER, IRE
Fionn followed his passion for the outdoors. Leaving his native Ireland and relocating to Thailand, where he initially worked with our team in Koh Tao as a dedicated dive instructor before crossing over to The Wild Planet, where he now takes part in our wide range of outdoor programmes. Fionn is an all round outdoor guide covering water, jungle, caves and national parks. He is also a swim teacher trainer through SSI. When not guiding a raft or heading up an MTB program, he can be found at his laptop using his IT skills to develop our google based expedition mapping system.
Mosquito Dundee 'Sap'
JUNGLE SURVIVAL SPECIALIST, TH
Junior Fay
GUIDE, UK/TH
Nit Matchima


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Edward John Ryan DSO ED was born at Montreal Quebec (QC), son of William Ryan and Isabel (McMullen) Ryan both of Milles Isle QC. He was educated at Lachute QC and went to British Columbia in 1907 and in 1908 began a career in the general contracting business. In 1915 Ryan joined the 121st Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and in 1916 transferred to the 102nd Battalion and was promoted, first to Captain and then to Major.
In August 1918 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, 102nd Battalion. Ryan served on almost every front in France and Belgium and saw severe fighting, particularly at Vimy Ridge, Hill 70, the Somme, Amiens and in the Cambrai-Arras battle. Major Ryan was "Mentioned in Despatches" four times and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for conspicuous gallantry and able leadership in command of his 102nd Battalion during the whole of the operation from September 2nd 1918 to September 5th 1918 between Dury and the Canal du Nord. He and his battalion finally cleared the enemy out of their last stronghold, a wood on the western bank of the Canal du Nord. Ryan saw three years continuous service in the front lines and returned to Vancouver in July 1919.
In 1919 he incorporated his company as E.J. Ryan Contracting Company Ltd. In addition to managing his large general contracting business he became President, Harrison Hot Springs Hotel Company Ltd. which he organized and with which he built the large hotel and complex including golf course and swimming pool which is known all over North America as the Spa of Canada. He also became Vice President of Associated Engineering Company Ltd. in Vancouver. In April 1913, he married Lila May Wood, daughter of Reverend and Mrs. G.S. Wood of Algonquin Ontario. They had two sons and two daughters.