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TICKERS: PAND
Pandion Shares Get a Lift from Positive Top-Line Data in Phase 1a Autoimmune Disease Trial
Pandion Therapeutics shares traded 35% higher after the company reported positive top-line data from its Phase 1a clinical study of PT101 for treating autoimmune diseases including ulcerative colitis and systemic lupus erythematosus.
Clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Pandion Therapeutics Inc. (PAND:NASDAQ), which focuses on developing modular therapeutics for treating autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, today announced "positive top-line data from its Phase 1a single-dose, healthy volunteer clinical trial, demonstrating proof of mechanism of PT101, an engineered IL-2 mutein fused to a protein backbone, in development for ulcerative colitis (UC), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and other autoimmune diseases."
Pandion Therapeutics stated that in the Phase 1b clinical trial "PT101 selectively expanded total regulatory T cells (Tregs), with a mean maximal increase up to of 3.6-fold over baseline and that a subset of activated Tregs with high CD25 expression, known as CD25 bright Tregs, expanded, with a mean maximal increase of up to 72.5-fold over baseline."
The company reported that PT101 was observed to be well tolerated in the Phase 1a clinical study and that no serious adverse events were observed and pointed out further that there was no evidence of expansion of natural killer T (NK) cells and pro-inflammatory conventional T (Tconv) at any dose studied.
Scott Snapper, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at Boston Children's Hospital and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, commented, "Native IL-2 has been the subject of several clinical trials across a range of autoimmune diseases due to its ability to activate a normal immune regulatory response and improve disease activity. However, its therapeutic use has been hampered by native IL-2's undesired activation of the pro-inflammatory side of the immune system...PT101's high selectivity for and expansion of Tregs could allow for a fulsome exploration of the potential of this mechanism in autoimmune diseases, and I look forward to seeing its continued clinical development by Pandion."
The firm advised that the Phase 1a randomized trial studied 56 healthy volunteers who were split into seven cohorts who each received a single doses of PT101 ranging from 1-10 mg or a placebo. Patients were observed for 28 days with the objective of assessing the potency and selectivity of PT101 in order to establish proof of mechanism. Pandion stated that at dosage levels of 3.5 mg and above it observed the expansion of both total Tregs and the CD25 bright Treg subset after 8-10 days. The company explained that PT101 maintained selectivity for regulatory T cells at all doses tested during the Phase 1a blind study.
Pandion Therapeutics' Chief Medical Officer John Sundy, M.D., Ph.D., remarked, "These data show PT101 meaningfully expanded regulatory T cells while maintaining a high degree of selectivity...We believe this combined potency and selectivity could provide meaningful clinical benefit for patients with many different autoimmune diseases. Therefore, following the completion of the regulatory process, we plan to initiate a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial in patients with UC in mid-2021 and a Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with SLE in H2/21."
Pandion Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Watertown,, Mass. The firm is engaged in creating novel innovative modular therapeutics to meet unmet needs of patients with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The company noted that its "TALON (Therapeutic Autoimmune reguLatOry proteiN) drug design and discovery platform enables the company to create a pipeline of product candidates using immunomodulatory effector modules, with the ability to also combine an effector module with a tissue-targeted tether module in a bifunctional format."
The firm stated that PT101, its lead product candidate, is "a combination of an interleukin-2 mutein effector module with a protein backbone, is designed to selectively expand regulatory T cells systemically, without activating proinflammatory cells, such as conventional T cells and natural killer cells."
Pandion Therapeutics started the day with a market cap of around $438.4 million with approximately 29.5 million shares outstanding. PAND shares opened slightly lower today at $14.75 (-$0.10, -0.67%) compared to the previous trading day's $14.85 closing price. The stock has traded today between $14.75 and $21.99 per share and is currently trading at $20.12 (+$5.27 +35.49%).
Biopharma Appoints Adviser for Phase 3 COVID-19 Trial
Revive Therapeutics selects Dr. John Fahy, California-based pulmonary medicine expert and researcher, to join its team.
Biopharma Recaps 2020 Accomplishments in COVID-19, Idiopathic Pulmonary Disease
Algernon Pharmaceuticals reports that it is aggressively advancing its repurposed drug, Ifenprodil.
Biotech On Track for Trio of Drugs in Clinical Trials in 2021
The next steps for advancing Oramed Pharmaceuticals' oral therapy candidates are provided in an H.C. Wainwright & Co. report.
California Biotech Advances Two COVID-19 Products
Recent news concerning Sorrento Therapeutics' SARS-CoV-2 virus test and antibodies is discussed in a Dawson James Securities report.
Phase 3 COVID-19 Trial on Track for Independent Safety, Efficacy Review
Revive Therapeutics plans to apply for emergency use authorization of its drug Bucillamine as a treatment for the indication.
Myovant Shares Rise 25% on $4.2 Billion Development Partnership with Pfizer
Shares of Myovant Sciences established a new 52-week high after the company entered into an agreement with Pfizer to jointly develop and commercialize ORGOVYX� (relugolix) for advanced prostate cancer and relugolix combination tablet for women's health in the U.S. and Canada.
Positive Data from Phase 3 Adult ADHD Trial Lifts Supernus Pharma Shares 17% Higher
Supernus Pharmaceuticals shares reached a new 52-week high price after the company reported positive results from its Phase 3 Study of SPN-812 for treating adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Analyst: Differences Between Two Possible COVID-19 Therapies Noteworthy
The factors that set Athersys' stem cell product MultiStem apart from a competitor's therapeutic are provided in a Dawson James Securities report.
Life Sciences Company to Acquire Psychedelic Pharmaceutical Firm's Psilocybin Program
Revive Therapeutics reported it has submitted a non-binding letter of intent to acquire 100% of PharmaTher Inc.'s psilocybin program.
Agios Pharma Agrees to Sell Oncology Business to Servier for US$2 Billion Plus Royalties
Shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals traded 30% higher after the company reported that it has agreed to sell its oncology research business to France's Servier Group in a transaction valued up to US$2 billion in cash plus future royalties.
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Kate Middleton is well known for her classic, regal style — which typically features crisp lines and conservative, knee length skirts paired with smart looking shoes and a well matching coat. During a garden romp for her newest royal adventure, the duchess left all her fashion rules at the door in favor of rocking a pair of modern, trendy jeans.
Middleton, a mom of three, showed off her trim physique by rocking a pair of tight, skinny jeans. The casual pants were well fitted to the duchess's body, and while still looking regal, gave the royal a laid back look for the daytime stroll. She paired the denim bottoms with a snug-fitting tweed button down, which hit her hip line and was tailored short to add length to her torso, and show off her long, elegant legs.
Underneath the jacket, according to additional pictures provided by the royal family, Middleton wore a cozy, maroon knitted turtleneck that added to the laid back vibes of the visit. The top was perfect to show off her signature bouncy blowout, which fell over the top of her jeans, contrasting beautifully with her chestnut colored hair.
The duchess chose to keep the makeup and accessories light for the occasion. She went with a fresh-faced look, using minimal blush and eye shadow, topping the look off with a light, rosy lipstick. She wore a pair of pearl, drop style earrings, and, of course, her stunning sapphire wedding set that once belonged to her husband's mother, Princess Diana.
The duchess ran solo for the trip to the future home of the "Back To Nature" garden, which she was at the helm of creating and designing. As People Magazine reported, Middleton worked with landscape designers Andrée Davies, 55, and Adam White, 45, to put together the blueprints for the rich, earthy, public garden.
The family-centric open space will be a lush playground for families to gather and get back to nature. The area will feature a large tree house and several plush places to relax; the aim of the sprawling space is to have folks enjoy their surroundings and relax.
According to the plans unveiled by the duchess and her team, the "Back To Nature" garden will also have several areas for small children to stay active while learning about their environment. Kids will be able to play on swing sets, splash in a waterfall and stream, and learn about the several plants and shrubs planted around the park.
"To us, this is very much about childhood memories. We all spoke about our childhood memories, being outdoors and exploring nature. She was very open and has been hugely collaborative. This is very much about the three of us, as co-designers," co-designer Adam White said in a statement.


What Was Your Major and What Are you Doing Now?
Sometime what your degree is in isn't what you end up doing as a career.
While Stylz and Roman ended up doing jobs that are somewhat similiar to their degrees, but that's not always the case!
Check out what these US99 listeners went to school for and what they're actually doing now!
Does Your Current Job Match Your College Degree?


I love what I do. But sometimes inspiration is hard.
Another long day in the field without seeing dolphins. Another never-ending report that stubbornly clings to draft form. Another day of battling off emails from supervisors wanting results, students needing help, randoms requiring your time, and family / friends wondering why they haven't heard from you for weeks. It can wear down even the most dedicated of scientists.
This has been particularly hard for me over the last couple of months. My Grandad passed away in January, and for the first time I've been faced with a "writers block", finding it hard to draft blog posts, work on manuscripts, or prepare talks. Ironically, he placed great emphasis on writing and public-speaking skills, and would no doubt of had some words of wisdom on the topic of writers block. But it has been hard to focus through the grief and guilt – is it worth chasing dreams when they take you so far from your family?
Even more ironically, it was during this period that I was asked to give the occasional address at the Curtin University Science Students Awards ceremony. For some unknown reason I said yes (saying "no" has been a long-running issue, which I'm unsuccessfully working on). So I was then confronted with the task of writing a motivational speech when I was feeling the least motivated I've ever been.
Luckily, I had some old favourites to turn to. I am a creature of habit. When I am unwell, I read Terry Pratchett – I escape from my world to a world of magic. When I worry about the purpose of my research, I read Gerald Durrell – his beautiful descriptions of all the places and creatures he encountered feed my imagination, and his passion for conserving them motivates me. When I am stressed, I save it up for the weekly phone call home to my Mum – a remnant of our late-night cup of tea chat sessions from whenever I am home. And when I am angry at the world I go to the gym and run – I used to save it for martial arts, but too expensive in Perth.
But the week before the ceremony, I was thumbing through a collection of Gerald Durrell stories and found a perfect quote which summed up my approach to life decisions. Typically, after spending so long worrying about it, I then wrote the speech in about 20mins. The fact that this was on the weekend further illustrates my lack of a typical work-life balance.
There is one particular idea from Terry Pratchett's Discworld that stays with me: "Million-to-one chances happen nine times out of ten". The fact that no matter how low the probability, how much the odds are against you, there is still a chance that this might work. So don't be afraid to take a chance. And have faith in the strength of the narrative.
The Gerald Durrell quote that caught my attention was: "I have rarely, if ever, achieved anything I wanted by tackling it in a logical fashion … now I am speechless at my audacity". I never planned to be a scientist; I didn't dream of being a marine biologist as a child. Through a mix of seemingly random events that centred on my naturalist nature, I found myself on this path. I've bounced from one decision to another with sometimes worryingly little thought, but a vague belief that things will work out for the best.
I've done my share of newspaper rounds, check-out tills, and shelf-stacking type jobs, and I'm pretty happy where I am. My Mum always says "You either do the work you love, or work to afford the things you love". I'd rather be enjoying my work throughout the year with a few bad weeks than be hating my job throughout the year and saving up for a few good weeks of holiday. Everyone is different, but for me I choose to do what I love (even when I sometimes feel it doesn't love me back).
Our local gym has inspirational quotes scattered around the walls. Whilst I was suffering through a set of lunges one day, this one caught my eye: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit". The gym attributed this to Shaquille O'Neal, who Google tells me is a retired basketball player and rapper. But Google also tells me that the original sayer of this phrase was Aristotle. Which is concerning for the gym but a win for me because it makes me sound a bit smarter in my speech, whilst also giving encouragement to students to look beyond what they are wining today and start thinking about what they can do tomorrow.
If you are interested in reading the final product, you can download my motivational speech by clicking here. I think it went well – there were good questions and follow-up conversations at the drinks and nibbles afterwards, even though I had to refer to my notes more often than I would have liked.
But I think the person most motivated by my motivational speech was me. Explaining your life story and personal philosophy to a large room of people gives you a new perspective on what you do. It reminds you of all the things you have achieved, are still to complete, and why you are doing them. So I hope the students and their families had fun hearing about my adventures. And I also hope that Grandad was watching from a corner of the room, enjoying hearing once more about his grand-daughter's adventures, just like he used to.
This entry was posted in Personal, PhD Life and tagged Conservation, Inspiration, Marine biology, motivational speech, Nature, PhD, Research, Science, Science Communication on March 29, 2015 by Sarah Marley.


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Published By Freeman Injury Law
South Florida Injury Lawyers
Consumers: Check CPSC's Recall List to Prevent Defective Products Injury in Oakland Park
By Dean Freeman
With the holidays right around the corner, residents throughout the state are out and about combing store shelves for the perfect gifts for family, friends, business associates and others. With the purchase of these presents, however, comes the risk of potentially buying a defective product in Oakland Park. That's why consumers are urged to take a look at the Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) latest recall lists to make sure no faulty items sneak their way into your house this holiday season. Many household items are on the recall list and you may not even know it.
Our Oakland Park defective product attorneys understand that many common household items are found faulty every day. Residents should keep an eye on the latest recalls to avoid injury that could result from one of these items. Household cleaning items, children's toys, clothing, electronic devices and many other items that are deemed dangerous have been recalled by the CPSC. Do you know which ones they are?
Golf Cars recalled by Club Car LLC:
Nearly 1,000 Golf Cars have been recalled by the golf car manufacturer because the fuel tank seal is known to separate and cause a fuel leak that poses a fire hazard. All 2011 Precedent golf cars fall under the latest recall. The serial numbers are as follows:
CF1139-233925 – CF1147-250173
PR1139-233918 – PR1147-249956
PY1144-244648
The golf cars were sold at authorized dealerships across the country from April to May of 2011. If you own one of these cars, call Club Car at (800) 227-0739, extension 3580, to schedule a free inspection.
Schwinn Elliptical Exercise Equipment Recalled by Nautilus:
Nautilus Inc. has recalled approximately 10,000 Elliptical Exercise Trainers because the foot plates on the machine can fall off, posing a fall hazard to users. Nine incident reports have already been submitted to the company and one injury has been reported. The model name "Schwinn 460" is the item that is being recalled. They were sold at various sports stores from July 2008 through May 2011. If you have one of these elliptical machines, contact Nautilus at 800-259-9019 to receive a free repair kit.
Family Dollar Stores Recalls Kidgets Animal Sock Top Slippers:
Nearly 200,000 pairs of these children's slippers have been recalled by Family Dollar Services Inc. because the animal's eyes can come off the slippers and pose a choking hazard. Incidents have been reported. Item number "FD9619108020690611" is the style that's been recalled. They were sold at Family Dollar stores across the country from September 2011 until October 2011. If your child has a pair of these slippers, bring them to a Family Dollar store for a full refund.
Residents should always keep an eye on the CPSC's recalled item website. It's especially important to do so before heading out to pick up those holiday presents this year. Have a safe and Happy Holiday!
If you or someone you love has been injured because of a defective item in Oakland Park, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach or the surrounding areas, contact the personal injury lawyers at Freeman, Mallard, Sharp & Gonzalez. Call for a free and confidential appointment to discuss your rights at 1-800-529-2368.
Toy-Related Injuries and Defective Products a Holiday Concern for Parents in Coral Springs, Nationwide, South Florida Injury Lawyers Blog, November 1, 2011
Consumer Product Safety Commission Releases New Product Recalls to Reduce Risk of Injury in Fort Lauderdale and Elsewhere, South Florida Injury Lawyers Blog, September 20, 2011
Posted in: Defective Products
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Making back-ups of files is an essential element of data management. Regular back-ups protect against accidental or malicious data loss and can be used to restore originals if there is loss of data. These days it is accepted that remote backup is by far the best way to protect your company's data.
All backups are encrypted at source and your data can only be read with your own password. Online backup solutions from ITVET are now acknowledged as being the most secure way to backup your data.
We store your data at different locations in purpose built online backup data centres. As a result, it is impossible to lose data due to natural disaster so you never run the risk of losing any backups. ITVET can transfer data back to your PC or to any other system of your choice anywhere in the world.
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Weisskalt/Blauwarm is world's first myspace-netlabel. Quality music for quality listeners. No borders included. Pop, Electronica, Ambient, Intrumental Hip Hop or Big Beat. Maybe someday Minimal Techno or Techhouse.


Atomic masses shown in parentheses indicate the most stable isotope (longest half-life) known.
Electron configuration data was taken from Douglas C. Giancoli's Physics, 3rd edition. Average atomic masses were taken from Kenneth W. Whitten's, Kenneth D. Gailey's, and Raymond E. Davis' General Chemistry, 3rd edition. In the latter book, the masses were specified as 1985 IUPAC values.


If you're around I hope to catch you at one of our gatherings over the weekend.
On Good Friday we're meeting at 1pm to watch Prince Caspian together, then at 7pm we're going to have an hour reflecting on the cost of the cross.
Then on Easter Sunday we'll be gathering at 9am, 11am and 7pm to think about the resurrection and what it means for us today. We've got a great opener for the Easter Sunday meetings, so please get there on time as you won't want to miss it.
Please make it if you possibly can, and please be thinking about who else you can invite, as we reflect on three days which changed the entire course of human history.
And if you can't make it over the weekend I hope you still have a fabulous Easter, whatever you are doing and whoever you are spending it with.


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Environmental Health National Contingency Plan Left Gulf Inadequately Prepared for Health Effects of Deepwater Horizon Disaster
February 16, 2011 The Pump Handle 0Comment
By Elizabeth Grossman
Since release of its Final Report to the President on January 11th, the National Oil Spill Commission has released five additional papers (called "working papers") reviewing aspects of the BP/Deepwater Horizon oil disaster – three on February 3rd and two on February 8th. On February 11th, National Oil Spill Commissioners Don Boesch and Terry Garcia testified before two House subcommittees. The final report, the working papers, and the Commissioners' prepared testimony all take a critical look at the industry's preparation for such a disaster, examine the policies and structure of government agencies historically responsible for offshore drilling oversight, and make recommendations for how industry and government might move forward to restore and repair both damaged Gulf resources and confidence in offshore drilling.
All of these critiques focus overwhelmingly on the circumstances that led up to the April 20th blowout and how such an event might be prevented in the future. Only the Final Report examines response-worker and public health issues, and where the Commission's critique is most illuminating is in its analysis of how the National Contingency Plan structure set the stage for what became ongoing contentions over health and safety issues throughout the response. (My earlier post on the Final Report addresses the tangled government and industry structures that set the stage for the disaster itself.) As someone who covered the disaster extensively during the months-long clean-up operation, I found the report illuminating but, because there are so many outstanding questions regarding health of clean-up workers and Gulf communities, wish the Commission had delved more deeply into these issues.
Many responders, communication challenges
As the Commission describes pointedly, the offshore drilling industry and the oil spill response structures established by the National Contingency Plan (the guidelines for responding to an oil spill of "national significance" set out by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 passed in the wake of the Exxon Valdez spill) rely on a network of public and private players. Working with a web of contractors and subcontractors in tandem with government agencies that perform both oversight and various services is the norm in offshore drilling. So those familiar with the industry would not be surprised to learn that a diverse cast would be involved in the cleanup effort and result in a multi-layered authority structure. However, the extent of resources mustered in response to the unprecedented scale of the BP/Deepwater Horizon blow-out was unusual and clearly contributed to the subsequent communication and information gaps. As the Commission describes it:
At the peak of the response, more than 45,000 people participated. In addition to
deploying active-duty members to the Gulf, the Coast Guard called up reservists. Some 1,100 Louisiana National Guard troops served under the direction of Unified Command. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), NOAA, and other federal agencies shifted hundreds of responders to the region.
… [While] the Coast Guard oversaw the response at the surface, MMS [Minerals Management Service] primarily oversaw source-control operations…MMS and Coast Guard officials in Houston participated in the drafting process to help identify and mitigate hazards, including risks to worker safety. At Unified Area Command, Lars Herbst, MMS Gulf of Mexico Regional Director, or his deputy, Mike Saucier, would review and approve the procedures, before the Federal On-Scene Coordinator gave the final go-ahead. This hierarchy of approvals remained in place throughout the containment effort.
Where the Commission comments on problems created by the response structure regarding response-worker and public health, it focuses on problems of coordination between the Unified Command and state and local governments. Among those cited are difficulties in administering the Vessels of Opportunity program (the hiring for cleanup duty of fishing boat crews put out of work by the disaster), the demands from Gulf Coast officials for additional local protection from incoming oil, and problems in responding to public concern about health effects of chemicals associated with the oil and cleanup. What is not evident from the Commission's account, however, is what was so evident to those of us who reported on the event: the persistence of enormous information gaps that resulted from this multi-layered structure, particularly where questions of response-worker hiring, health, and safety were concerned.
Where it focuses on public health issues, the Commission concentrates on the NCP structure and policy provisions that informed how theses aspects of the response unfolded. The Commission homes in on the failure of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to adequately form plans for dealing with the likely health impacts of a massive oil spill. This had implications for the health of cleanup workers and Gulf residents. It also had implications for decisions about BP's responsibility for costs associated with health aspects of the response:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention represents the Department of Health and Human Services on the National Response Team and had participated in recent spill training exercises. The Centers for Disease Control, however, had not foreseen that an oil spill could affect the health of the broader population and had not fully considered the role health agencies might play in a spill response …Others in the Department, including the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, had not either. Consequently, the Department had to consider during the disaster how it would fund spill-related activities, because BP would have to pay only for those deemed response measures by Unified Command. The Department was concerned that neither the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund nor BP would reimburse it for activities such as long-term health surveillance, and negotiations over what costs qualified for reimbursement took time. At the request of Unified Command, Health and Human Services eventually, in June, sent a Senior Health Policy Advisor to support the National Incident Commander on public health issues.
Community and worker health concerns
The Commission notes that among the issues that became particularly contentious, particularly at the height of the response, were those of occupational and public health. As described by the Commission, among the causes were a combination of the multi-actor, public-private NCP structure and the fact that "human-health effects are the least-recognized fallout from the spill, and those least-well addressed in existing law and policies." In the Commission's analysis these factors also contributed heavily to the fraught relations between state and federal government agencies, BP, response workers, affected community members, and other civilians that surfaced particularly over issues of personal health and safety.
The report does observe that concerns arose regarding the health effects of response work and that government health agencies' insufficient preparation caused them to miss an important opportunity to gather baseline data on workers' health:
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) began working with Unified Command at the end of April; under the National Contingency Plan, all response actions must comply with OSHA's training and safety requirements. OSHA established rules regarding protective equipment and, because the response relied in part on untrained workers, a shortened training course. Residents were eager to take on cleanup jobs, but some worried that, notwithstanding OSHA's involvement, response-related work would affect their health.
… Though health agencies eventually issued personal protective equipment guidelines for response workers and created a registry of these newly trained personnel, they missed the crucial window for screening their baseline physical health before the workers were directly exposed to oil products.
Yet having spent months reporting on the Gulf cleanup, I found it a striking omission that the Commission report does not fully convey the sense of confusion and lack of clarity on response-worker and community health issues that existed throughout the response (several of my posts describe some of the issues). Also notable from my perspective is the fact that the Commission does not more closely examine the decision-making processes around response-worker health and safety – or how these details were communicated to cleanup workers, community members, or the public, including via the news media. The report does mention tensions that arose over the hiring of non-local residents for cleanup work, but it doesn't give a complete picture of the extremely disparate cast of hundreds and hundreds of civilians who participated in cleanup work across the affected states, hired and trained by networks of contractors and subcontractors in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida – often without clear communication to state, local or on-site Coast Guard officials.
Also absent from the report is discussion of the debates that arose over the adequacy of the shortened response-worker training course or about the availability and need for personal protective equipment. The latter is alluded to, but readers who had not followed the response closely would be unaware of just how contentious the issue of protective equipment became or that tensions surrounding it were exacerbated by poor communication about contaminant exposure issues and delays in responding to questions about environmental, accident, and illness monitoring.
It's notable – though not mentioned by the Commission – that no response safety plans have been made publicly available. I also found that when asked about Incident Command responsibility for specific aspects of response-worker safety, Coast Guard officers staffing the Joint Information Centers were rarely able to supply answers and private contractors generally would not provide any substantive information. The Commission singles out CNN for what it considers reporting that contributed to poor working relations between local elected officials and the Unified Command. The report does not, however, mention what I and numerous other journalists experienced: on-site response personnel (contractors, local law enforcement, clean-up workers among others) who said they could not speak with news media or how difficult it was to get information about health and safety issues that was not already posted to a website.
Occupational health issues for responders are simply not focus of the Commission's review: OSHA is only mentioned twice in the body of the report. The role of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) in the response is not described at all, nor is the health impacts roster maintained by the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. The body of the report mentions neither the National Institutes of Health nor the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Preventing future disasters
Not surprisingly, the Commission's recommendations focus on reform of the offshore drilling industry and government policies and practices that resulted in inadequate oversight of increasingly complex and risky technologies. Recommendations for improved risk management, safety and pollution-prevention measures, and increased oversight of all aspects of offshore drilling are all detailed in the report. The Commission also comes down hard on the need to strengthen state and local government involvement – as well as that of potentially affected community members – in oil spill contingency planning. It calls for increased safety protections for offshore drilling workers, but it does not detail recommendations for strengthening provisions for response-worker health and safety. Given the concern, frustration, and lack of clarity around these issues, it would seem an important addition to the Commission's recommendations to have articulated how oil-spill response planning could be improved to better address both civilian cleanup worker health and safety issues and the provision of clearer channels of communication around contaminant exposures for workers and affected communities.
Preventing future oil spills and oil extraction accidents is obviously the primary goal of the Oil Spill Commission's work. Among its other goals is to suggest changes that will better protect drilling industry communities – including those who might be called to response work – from the kinds of impacts resulting from the BP/Deepwater Horizon disaster. And while it may not have been a task the Commission gave itself for these reports, a closer examination of exactly how response workers were hired, how their workplace health and safety was considered (particularly in the context of local environmental health conditions), and how the many actors in such an environmental emergency response interacted around these issues would be of great value.
Elizabeth Grossman is the author of Chasing Molecules: Poisonous Products, Human Health, and the Promise of Green Chemistry, High Tech Trash: Digital Devices, Hidden Toxics, and Human Health, and other books. Her work has appeared in a variety of publications including Scientific American, Salon, The Washington Post, The Nation, Mother Jones, Grist, and the Huffington Post. Chasing Molecules was chosen by Booklist as one of the Top 10 Science & Technology Books of 2009 and won a 2010 Gold Nautilus Award for investigative journalism.
Global Health Journalism in Flux
Clean water and education could outperform vaccines at reducing Haiti cholera epidemic


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Becoming Human with Singer and Songwriter, Ella Vos
Ella Vos does not shy away from the reality of motherhood.
She just released her first solo record, Words I Never Said, full of deeply thoughtful songs she wrote after becoming pregnant with her now 2-year-old son. Making the record served as a form of therapy when she was learning how to navigate her new role; even more so when she was struggling with postpartum depression.
"I was kind of all in my head where I was setting these standards for myself that I would never be able to reach," she says about the time, which sparked the stark concept behind the music video for "White Noise," and a handful of lyrics on the gripping synth-pop album.
Before having her baby, Ella didn't feel that she could fully embrace her femininity through the music she played with others, but Words I Never Said says a lot more than many women are comfortable admitting. Below, we talk to the artist to see just how she was able to open up and share so much of herself, who inspired her to do so, and how it all plays out on the record.
How has becoming a mom changed your perception of the music business?
Well, I think it absolutely has to do with the way that I had to create my career. I started writing music when I was pregnant. Before that, I was playing in other bands and touring, but I realized that I wasn't going to be able to do that once I became a mom. So, I decided that I had to do it by myself and be a solo artist, and I feel like I really had to turn inward and be more alone in the process.
Can you talk us through the scope of the record?
The album is basically a journey. It begins with "White Noise," where everything is really unclear and dark and I'm feeling really suffocated. Through every song on the album, I'm getting more and more comfortable talking about how I feel. There's a middle point in the album with the song "Mother," which is a transitional song where I'm still holding on to my past life, but I'm trying really hard to embrace the life I have now as a mom; it's about having to change some of my relationships and think differently.
The journey ends with very last song that I wrote called "Suddenly," and that's more peaceful — there's a clarity to it. It wasn't intentional, but even in the production the instruments are much cleaner and crystal sounding whereas "White Noise" is kind of muddy. It's full of all this light, and it's me saying, "Oh, I get it now; this is where I'm supposed to be."
Tell us a story behind one of the earlier, more transitional songs on the record.
On "Rearrange," I write about this feeling of how I've been trying to change myself to fit in with someone else's expectations of me. I was writing that about an old band I had been in and left, just realizing how much I didn't accept myself for what I was, and seeing my feminine qualities as negative.
As a woman, it can be difficult to be forceful about your femininity.
Oh yeah, totally. When I first started writing songs, my producer gave me this book about creativity, and one of the first chapters was about how no one's going to believe in you if you don't believe in yourself. I always think about that, and how weird it is that I really believed in myself when I was like, 11 and 12. I wanted to be a songwriter and I was really confident in writing lyrics and telling my friends about this band that I was going to start. Then, all of the sudden when I was 13, I was completely embarrassed about it and stopped talking about it. If I could have just held on to that believe I had when I was younger that would have been so awesome, but it's just so hard as a teenage girl!
What's your advice for young women looking to take a similar path in music?
One of the most important things I learned is that you need to truly be honest with yourself in a really positive way. You really have to speak up about what you want, because no one is going to say it for you. I waited so long to become a songwriter because I think I kept hoping someone else would make it happen for me, or that I would need someone else's approval. Actually, it sucks, but I think I thought I needed a male figure to tell me I could do it. Just know that you don't need that, you don't need anyone's approval. You just need to be confident about what you want and how big your dreams are.
Listen to Ella Vos:
Interview by Nikki Volpicelli
Mandala Rose Gold Rectangular Pillow
by Nature Magick
Nature III Cactus Art Print
by El Buen Limon
Desert Baby Throw Pillow
by Wesley Bird
Saguaro Sunrise Floor Pillow
by Rick Crane
Desert Sunset Wall Tapestry
by Los Adventures
Car Horses Art Print
by Kevin Russ
Donut Reading Coffee Mug
by Sagepizza
Desert Rectangular Pillow
by Fernanda Schallen
Tagged as california, Ella Vos, Jon Chu, los angeles, musician, Nikki Volpicelli,
Spice Up Your Life With This Autumn-Spiced Wine-Poached Pears Recipe
Room So Bright You Gotta Wear Shades: The Power of Positive Decorating
Finding Balance Between Business & Creative Time


Players who subscribe to EA and Origin Access on Xbox One and PC will get the chance to play a trial version of Battlefield 1 starting on October 18. The full game releases three days later for... Making up the single-player campaign of Battlefield 1, the War Stories were effectively distinct, brief tales about the people and places of WWI. Short stories told as FPS stages, in other words.
Battlefield 5 BFV Stats! Check your profile, weapon and vehicle statistics. View the top Battlefield 5 players on our leaderboards and how you perform in the battlefield. Check your profile, weapon and vehicle statistics. how to make seasoned rice Making up the single-player campaign of Battlefield 1, the War Stories were effectively distinct, brief tales about the people and places of WWI. Short stories told as FPS stages, in other words.
15/02/2018 · 82 posts Member, Battlefield 3, Battlefield 4, Battlefield Hardline, Battlefield, Battlefield 1 Member February 13, 2018 8:25PM I'll take 10 bad BF4 matches over one good BF1 match any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
One of your latest projects has been to train a self-learning agent to play Battlefield 1 multiplayer. How did that project come about? How did that project come about? Upon learning how an AI created by DeepMind had taught itself how to play old Atari games, I was blown away.


According to the American Gem Society, the serene blue-green color of aquamarine, the March birthstone, is said to cool the temper, allowing the wearer to remain calm and even-keeled. If that sounds appealing in these turbulent times, perhaps we all might consider purchasing a piece of aquamarine jewelry — whether or not our birthday falls in March. Here are a few collectible aquamarine jewels from Sotheby's and Christie's to inspire us.
Aquamarine fans will be among those gathering in London on March 22 for Sotheby's Fine Jewels sale. Featuring more than 280 lots, the auction includes an important aquamarine brooch by innovative French designer Pierre Sterlé.
The aquamarine and diamond bird brooch by Sterlé is estimated at $29,000 to $39,000.
Aquamarines have been central to the designs of famed jeweler Cartier ever since the Art Deco period. Several important examples from the 1930s appeared at auction at Christie's in 2014.
Writing about the November 2014 Christie's London sale, jewelry expert Joanna Hardy praised a pair of Cartier Art Deco aquamarine and diamond ear pendants. "They are extremely wearable and speak eloquently of the period in which they were made; a time of elegance and decadence," she said.
Cartier Aquamarine and Diamond Ear Pendants. Photo Courtesy of Christies.com.
According to Hardy, at the turn of the 20th century, as a reaction to the somber palette of the 19th century, lighter colors suddenly became very fashionable. Aquamarine, with its liquid-like luster and icy blue color, was perfectly suited to the new tastes of the day.
Designed in 1932 by Cartier, this openwork aquamarine and diamond brooch was in the collection of H.R.H. The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowden. The brooch was estimated at $4,600 to $6,440 when it hit the auction block at Christie's London in 2016. Proving the power of a royal provenance, it realized $121,440.


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  ])
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Updated new prices for the new season.
Hire the ice for your event today!
Conditions for large groups apply. Please phone the Multisports Complex or message our Facebook page for more details and to book.


text:
<?php

namespace Cake\Chronos\Test\DateTime;

use Cake\Chronos\ChronosInterface;
use TestCase;

class GettersTest extends TestCase
{

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @expectedException \InvalidArgumentException
     * @return void
     */
    public function testGettersThrowExceptionOnUnknownGetter($class)
    {
        $class::create(1234, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)->sdfsdfss;
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testYearGetter($class)
    {
        $d = $class::create(1234, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9);
        $this->assertSame(1234, $d->year);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testYearIsoGetter($class)
    {
        $d = $class::createFromDate(2012, 12, 31);
        $this->assertSame(2013, $d->yearIso);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testMonthGetter($class)
    {
        $d = $class::create(1234, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9);
        $this->assertSame(5, $d->month);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testDayGetter($class)
    {
        $d = $class::create(1234, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9);
        $this->assertSame(6, $d->day);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testHourGetter($class)
    {
        $d = $class::create(1234, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9);
        $this->assertSame(7, $d->hour);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testMinuteGetter($class)
    {
        $d = $class::create(1234, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9);
        $this->assertSame(8, $d->minute);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testSecondGetter($class)
    {
        $d = $class::create(1234, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9);
        $this->assertSame(9, $d->second);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testMicroGetter($class)
    {
        $micro = 345678;
        $d = $class::parse('2014-01-05 12:34:11.' . $micro);
        $this->assertSame($micro, $d->micro);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testDayOfWeekGetter($class)
    {
        $d = $class::create(2012, 5, 7, 7, 8, 9);
        $this->assertSame($class::MONDAY, $d->dayOfWeek);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testDayOfYearGetter($class)
    {
        $d = $class::createFromDate(2012, 5, 7);
        $this->assertSame(127, $d->dayOfYear);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testDaysInMonthGetter($class)
    {
        $d = $class::createFromDate(2012, 5, 7);
        $this->assertSame(31, $d->daysInMonth);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testTimestampGetter($class)
    {
        $d = $class::create();
        $d = $d->setTimezone('GMT')->setDateTime(1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0);
        $this->assertSame(0, $d->timestamp);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testGetAge($class)
    {
        $d = $class::now();
        $this->assertSame(0, $d->age);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testGetAgeWithRealAge($class)
    {
        $d = $class::createFromDate(1975, 5, 21);
        $age = intval(substr(date('Ymd') - date('Ymd', $d->timestamp), 0, -4));

        $this->assertSame($age, $d->age);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testGetQuarterFirst($class)
    {
        $d = $class::createFromDate(2012, 1, 1);
        $this->assertSame(1, $d->quarter);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testGetQuarterFirstEnd($class)
    {
        $d = $class::createFromDate(2012, 3, 31);
        $this->assertSame(1, $d->quarter);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testGetQuarterSecond($class)
    {
        $d = $class::createFromDate(2012, 4, 1);
        $this->assertSame(2, $d->quarter);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testGetQuarterThird($class)
    {
        $d = $class::createFromDate(2012, 7, 1);
        $this->assertSame(3, $d->quarter);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testGetQuarterFourth($class)
    {
        $d = $class::createFromDate(2012, 10, 1);
        $this->assertSame(4, $d->quarter);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testGetQuarterFirstLast($class)
    {
        $d = $class::createFromDate(2012, 12, 31);
        $this->assertSame(4, $d->quarter);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testGetLocalTrue($class)
    {
        // Default timezone has been set to America/Toronto in TestCase.php
        // @see : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UTC_time_offsets
        $this->assertTrue($class::createFromDate(2012, 1, 1, 'America/Toronto')->local);
        $this->assertTrue($class::createFromDate(2012, 1, 1, 'America/New_York')->local);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testGetLocalFalse($class)
    {
        $this->assertFalse($class::createFromDate(2012, 7, 1, 'UTC')->local);
        $this->assertFalse($class::createFromDate(2012, 7, 1, 'Europe/London')->local);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testGetUtcFalse($class)
    {
        $this->assertFalse($class::createFromDate(2013, 1, 1, 'America/Toronto')->utc);
        $this->assertFalse($class::createFromDate(2013, 1, 1, 'Europe/Paris')->utc);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testGetUtcTrue($class)
    {
        $this->assertTrue($class::createFromDate(2013, 1, 1, 'Atlantic/Reykjavik')->utc);
        $this->assertTrue($class::createFromDate(2013, 1, 1, 'Europe/Lisbon')->utc);
        $this->assertTrue($class::createFromDate(2013, 1, 1, 'Africa/Casablanca')->utc);
        $this->assertTrue($class::createFromDate(2013, 1, 1, 'Africa/Dakar')->utc);
        $this->assertTrue($class::createFromDate(2013, 1, 1, 'Europe/Dublin')->utc);
        $this->assertTrue($class::createFromDate(2013, 1, 1, 'Europe/London')->utc);
        $this->assertTrue($class::createFromDate(2013, 1, 1, 'UTC')->utc);
        $this->assertTrue($class::createFromDate(2013, 1, 1, 'GMT')->utc);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testGetDstFalse($class)
    {
        $this->assertFalse($class::createFromDate(2012, 1, 1, 'America/Toronto')->dst);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testGetDstTrue($class)
    {
        $this->assertTrue($class::createFromDate(2012, 7, 1, 'America/Toronto')->dst);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testOffsetForTorontoWithDST($class)
    {
        $this->assertSame(-18000, $class::createFromDate(2012, 1, 1, 'America/Toronto')->offset);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testOffsetForTorontoNoDST($class)
    {
        $this->assertSame(-14400, $class::createFromDate(2012, 6, 1, 'America/Toronto')->offset);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testOffsetForGMT($class)
    {
        $this->assertSame(0, $class::createFromDate(2012, 6, 1, 'GMT')->offset);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testOffsetHoursForTorontoWithDST($class)
    {
        $this->assertSame(-5, $class::createFromDate(2012, 1, 1, 'America/Toronto')->offsetHours);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testOffsetHoursForTorontoNoDST($class)
    {
        $this->assertSame(-4, $class::createFromDate(2012, 6, 1, 'America/Toronto')->offsetHours);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testOffsetHoursForGMT($class)
    {
        $this->assertSame(0, $class::createFromDate(2012, 6, 1, 'GMT')->offsetHours);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testIsLeapYearTrue($class)
    {
        $this->assertTrue($class::createFromDate(2012, 1, 1)->isLeapYear());
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testIsLeapYearFalse($class)
    {
        $this->assertFalse($class::createFromDate(2011, 1, 1)->isLeapYear());
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testWeekOfMonth($class)
    {
        $this->assertSame(5, $class::createFromDate(2012, 9, 30)->weekOfMonth);
        $this->assertSame(4, $class::createFromDate(2012, 9, 28)->weekOfMonth);
        $this->assertSame(3, $class::createFromDate(2012, 9, 20)->weekOfMonth);
        $this->assertSame(2, $class::createFromDate(2012, 9, 8)->weekOfMonth);
        $this->assertSame(1, $class::createFromDate(2012, 9, 1)->weekOfMonth);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testWeekOfYearFirstWeek($class)
    {
        $this->assertSame(52, $class::createFromDate(2012, 1, 1)->weekOfYear);
        $this->assertSame(1, $class::createFromDate(2012, 1, 2)->weekOfYear);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testWeekOfYearLastWeek($class)
    {
        $this->assertSame(52, $class::createFromDate(2012, 12, 30)->weekOfYear);
        $this->assertSame(1, $class::createFromDate(2012, 12, 31)->weekOfYear);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testGetWeekStartsAt($class)
    {
        $d = $class::createFromDate(2012, 12, 31);
        $this->assertSame(ChronosInterface::MONDAY, $d->getWeekStartsAt());

        $d::setWeekStartsAt(ChronosInterface::SUNDAY);
        $this->assertSame(ChronosInterface::SUNDAY, $d->getWeekStartsAt());
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testGetWeekEndsAt($class)
    {
        $d = $class::createFromDate(2012, 12, 31);
        $this->assertSame(ChronosInterface::SUNDAY, $d->getWeekEndsAt());

        $d::setWeekEndsAt(ChronosInterface::SATURDAY);
        $this->assertSame(ChronosInterface::SATURDAY, $d->getWeekEndsAt());
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testGetTimezone($class)
    {
        $dt = $class::createFromDate(2000, 1, 1, 'America/Toronto');
        $this->assertSame('America/Toronto', $dt->timezone->getName());
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testGetTz($class)
    {
        $dt = $class::createFromDate(2000, 1, 1, 'America/Toronto');
        $this->assertSame('America/Toronto', $dt->tz->getName());
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testGetTimezoneName($class)
    {
        $dt = $class::createFromDate(2000, 1, 1, 'America/Toronto');
        $this->assertSame('America/Toronto', $dt->timezoneName);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @return void
     */
    public function testGetTzName($class)
    {
        $dt = $class::createFromDate(2000, 1, 1, 'America/Toronto');
        $this->assertSame('America/Toronto', $dt->tzName);
    }

    /**
     * @dataProvider classNameProvider
     * @expectedException \InvalidArgumentException
     * @return void
     */
    public function testInvalidGetter($class)
    {
        $d = $class::now();
        $bb = $d->doesNotExit;
    }
}


This is to let you know that the Leatherhead HelpShop is moving.
Our last day at our current High Street premises will be Thursday 21 February. We will then have a few days to get set up in our new home in the library in The Mansion on Church Street (so HelpShop will be closed on Friday 22, Saturday 23 and Monday 25 February) where we will re-open at 9am on Tuesday 26 Februrary.
Customers will still see the same friendly faces as before and the services we offer will not change. Our payment kiosk is also coming with us.
Between now and the 28th March, the Council is inviting views on its initial thoughts about reviewing the Green Belt boundary around Mole Valley's towns and larger villages which are set out in a consultation paper.
I am writing to you as you have previously made comments on, or expressed an interest in, our plan making work.
We hope the following questions and answers help you to understand why the Green Belt boundary is being reviewed and how you can take part in the process.
Some 75% of Mole Valley is within the Metropolitan Green Belt which surrounds London. The current boundary of the Green Belt in Mole Valley has been in place for around 30 years and in many areas over 50 years. The aim of Green Belt policy is to prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently open.
Why is the Council reviewing the Green Belt boundary?
Principally the need to review the boundary stems from the fact that the Council needs to make sure there is enough land available for 3,760 new homes in the period from 2006 to 2026. Around 1500 of this total have already been built, almost entirely within the District's towns and larger villages. However, it is recognised that even taking into account previously-developed sites, there is not enough available land within the built-up areas to accommodate the remaining number of homes that the Council has to plan for. Therefore land outside the boundaries of the District's towns and larger villages represents the only other major source of land in the District. This land is currently in the Green Belt.
The Council is acutely aware that using land in the Green Belt to provide new homes will be controversial and is not taking this work forward lightly, but there are exceptional reasons why it is necessary to do so.
Why this number of new homes?
The amount of new housing to be provided in Mole Valley in the period to 2026 was established by the previous government in its plan for the South East and then incorporated into the Council's strategic plan for Mole Valley (known as the Core Strategy). The current government is intending to abolish the regional plan in due course and requires local councils to set their own housing targets. However, this process will take some time to complete. In the meantime, it is clear that there is not enough available housing land in the District to meet the housing requirements in the Council's current plan.
The Council now needs to act swiftly to show where the remaining 2,200 new homes will be provided in the District. If this is not done in a planned way, led by the Council working in partnership with local communities, there is a risk that ad hoc planning applications for housing in the Green Belt may be permitted through the appeal process.
Land in the Green Belt around the District's towns and larger villages has been assessed against a range of criteria. These criteria are based upon the Government's National Planning Policy Framework. The results of this assessment are published in a consultation document called "Green Belt Boundary Review 2013".
This consultation document does not identify sites for development or land that should be taken out of the Green Belt. Rather, it is seeking to identify those parts of the Green Belt that meet the purposes of the Green Belt least well. It will be used to inform the preparation of a new plan that will identify sites for development. A draft of this plan will be published for consultation towards the end of this year.
We would welcome your views at this early stage in the process so that we can be sure that our assessment of the performance of areas of the Green Belt against its purposes can be broadly agreed. It is this that will form the basis of the work on identifying development sites.
The Green Belt boundary review document and related information is available to view and comment on by visiting our consultation pages, by visiting www.molevalley.gov.uk/localplans and following the links or by visiting the Council Offices (Dorking), the Leatherhead Help Shop and libraries in the District.
If you need any further help or explanation please do not hesitate to contact us on 01306 885001 or e-mail planning.policy@molevalley.gov.uk. Please also let us know if you no longer wish to be contacted in relation to planning policy work in Mole Valley.
Agenda LRA Open Committee Meeting, 4th Feb 7.30 p.m.
Agenda LRA Open Committee Meeting, Feb 7.30 p.m.
2. MINUTES OF JANUARY 7TH.


New York Department of Correctional Services (1993). Prerequisites: VTSC1101/1102/1200, BIOL1005/1006, CHEM1001/1002, and MATH1200. Sally Haslanger, Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, MIT. Although key statistical concepts are covered, the focus of the course is helping students gain a conceptual understanding of the components of sound research, and to understand the steps and procedures involved in ethical research of the content area.
The author signs for and accepts responsibility for releasing this material on behalf of any and all co-authors. Transfer of copyright to Springer (respective to owner if other than Springer) becomes effective if and when a Copyright Transfer Statement is signed or transferred electronically by the corresponding author epub. Essay by Nina Baym, Jubilee Professor of Liberal Arts & Sciences, U epub. They were even trying to top one another with puns about being "mall-contents." 1.1 Compare and contrast different organisational structures. In your opinion, what is the structure of Greenscape company? 1.2 Briefly evaluate the concept of organisational culture. What type of culture do you think Greenscape has? Explain how the relationship between an organizational structure and culture can impact on the performance of an organisation; relate to Greenscape. 1.4 Pro Se Guide To Using And Understanding Pacer.gov read online. But in the consciousness of our failures, we risk lapsing into boundless difference and giving up on the confusing task of making partial, real connection , e.g. The Current State of Domain read pdf http://vapenorth.lookbusydistro.com/lib/the-current-state-of-domain-name-regulation-domain-names-as-second-class-citizens-in-a. Southwest Metro Reverse Commute Project: Interim Reports and Preliminary Findings. Minneapolis, MN: Loring Nicollet-Bethlehem Community Centers, Inc. Thornberry, Terence P., Melanie Moore, and R Cyber Law in Italy, Second Edition http://www.cicekcirehber.com/books/cyber-law-in-italy-second-edition. The University of Arizona is an EEO/AA - M/W/D/V Employer. The goal of the Environmental Sustainability program is to promote sustainable engineered systems that support human well-being and that are also compatible with sustaining natural (environmental) systems. These systems provide ecological services vital for human survival online. The Catholic Church has long eschewed burning heretics in the auto-da-fé, and it never rejected Darwin's view of human evolution: already in 1868, John Henry—later Cardinal—Newman found it potentially compatible; positive acceptance has emerged gradually since 1950 , cited: Digital Copyright: Law and download here download here.
The epidemiological underpinning for this claim is NIJ-funded research showing that the risk of crime is extremely localized, even within high crime neighborhoods, varying widely from one address to another (Pierce, Spaar and Briggs, 1988; Sherman, Gartin and Buerger, 1989). 5. Like police patrol, arrest practices can be either unfocused or focused on crime-risk factors Multimedia Communications, read for free http://eatdrinkitaly.org/books/multimedia-communications-services-and-security-8-th-international-conference-mcss-2015-krakow. Your score ball forearms are busy of book but at (2.5 come such buy in too far and strain your back. click here Hold this for want commercials you workout those before without needing another person for spotting you What Is...Telemedicine? http://vapenorth.lookbusydistro.com/lib/what-is-telemedicine. Under this theory, the treatment boys had no greater rate of personal problems, but when they had problems they were simply more likely to seek professional help of the kind the program had taught them to seek Code of Practice for Legal read online http://eatdrinkitaly.org/books/code-of-practice-for-legal-admissibility-and-evidential-weight-of-information-communicated. He did not so much fear torture in this world as much as a life continuously reexamined and reappraised throughout the ages , cited: The Liability of Internet download here The Liability of Internet Intermediaries.
Jennifer Barnett (2011) provided a few tips in High-Tech Teaching in a Low-Tech Classroom. Among those are the following ideas: In the pass-it-on buddy method, students assist one another in creating the digital product epub. Potter A Patricia, Perry G Anne (1992) Fundamentals Of Nursing –Concepts Process & Practice 3rd ed , cited: The Impact of the Internet and read online The Impact of the Internet and New. Case studies include BGP routing, Bitcoin, eBay's reputation system, Facebook's advertising mechanism, Mechanical Turk, and dynamic pricing in Uber/Lyft. Prerequisites: CS106B/X and CS161, or permission from the instructor. Methods for modeling biomedical systems and for building model-based software systems download. In the above quotations it refers to single human beings, which is what we usually mean when we say "an individual". In this sense, sociologists later than Durkheim have spoken of "the self" in relation to society. One can, of course, speak of an individual society. Margaret Thatcher argued that it does not exist. It could, however exist but not be real in the sense that our bodies are real. Some theorists treat the individual as real and society is constructed by individuals Developing Effective Email read here Developing Effective Email Management. In general, authoritarian impulses have always advised rulers to keep their subjects' bellies full… and pressed firmly against the ground , cited: Physics and Politics: Or read for free http://aurelberger.fr/?ebooks/physics-and-politics-or-thoughts-on-the-application-of-the-principles-of-natural-selection-and. Its website explains exactly what the student must provide and how much the student will be charged download. The pressure felt by middle and working class families to 'keep up with the Joneses' has become pervasive throughout the world. The bold initiative of a poor farmer in rural India to dig a bore well and become prosperous could act as stimulus for the rapid development of ten surrounding villages because the competitive pressure of social authority compelled his neighbors to keep up with his level of accomplishment , e.g. Software and Internet Law, Third Edition http://eatdrinkitaly.org/books/software-and-internet-law-third-edition.
The probation officers work with police to send out the word that any shootings will get anyone even tangentially involved into a lot of trouble. This approach has apparently given some gang members a convenient excuse to opt out of planned conflicts, much as the police crackdown on drunk driving in Australia has given barroom drinkers an excuse to refuse extra drinks (Homel, 1994) download. Ronald Dworkin (1982), "'Natural' Law Revisited," University of Florida Law Review vol. 34, no. 2, pp. 165-188. Ronald Dworkin (1986), Law's Empire (Cambridge: Harvard University Press). Joel Feinberg (1985), Offense to Others (Oxford: Oxford University Press). Joel Feinberg (1979), "Civil Disobedience in the Modern World," Humanities in Review, vol. 2, pp. 37-60 , cited: Multimedia Communications, Services and Security: 8th International Conference, MCSS 2015, Kraków, Poland, November 24, 2015. Proceedings (Communications in Computer and Information Science) read online. The selected person should be aware of the mission and objectives of the unit, the nature of responsibilities and level of authority, the degree of accountability, and the systems and procedures followed to accomplish the tasks associated with the job Social Media and School download online eatdrinkitaly.org. For the purpose of this discussion, the main relevant difference is in ideology download. Each political system's philosophy impacts the policies that govern the local economy and business environment. There are more than thirteen major types of government, each of which consists of multiple variations Mass Media and the Laws http://eatdrinkitaly.org/books/mass-media-and-the-laws. First, the boundary between the monetarized and non-monetarized sectors is constantly shifting ref.: Cuba Information Strategy, Internet and E-Commerce Development Handbook - Strategic Information, Programs, Regulations (World Business and Investment Library) http://www.authentictension.com/freebooks/cuba-information-strategy-internet-and-e-commerce-development-handbook-strategic-information. Christoph Engel (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods) has posted The Solidarity Motive on SSRN Privacy and Data Protection read online www.jennifermacniven.com. The new Sciences of Networks and Complexity have opened new horizons in the understanding of how natural as well as human and social 'complex' systems behave with application to economy, industry, innovation, management, and sustainability, as well as, for example, the worldwide money & banking system, political decision making processes, etc OECD Studies on Environmental Innovation Environmental Policy, Technological Innovation and Patents http://hrabuilds.com/ebooks/oecd-studies-on-environmental-innovation-environmental-policy-technological-innovation-and-patents. Thomas Young (2002) stated that it "encompasses three interdependent dimensions--knowledge, ways of thinking and acting, and capabilities," with the goal "to provide people with the tools to participate intelligently and thoughtfully in the world around them" (p. 9). "Although technical competency is not the same as technological literacy, the development of skills in technology can lead to a better understanding of the underlying technology and could be used as a basis for teaching about the nature, history, and role of technology in our lives" (p. 11) ref.: Women Computer Professionals: Progress and Resistance (Distinguished Dissertations) Women Computer Professionals: Progress. In addition, certain minimum amounts are often reserved for jurisdictions of certain size irrespective of the formula, such as the requirement that half of all funding for the 100,000 police be allocated to applicants from cities of over 150,000 people Code: And Other Laws of Cyberspace, Version 2.0 http://www.sallywegner.com/library/code-and-other-laws-of-cyberspace-version-2-0. He underwent a plastic surgery 3 week before. CONTEXTUAL STIMULI: Known case DM for past 10 years. Was on oral hypoglycemic agent for initial 2 years, but switched to insulin and using it for 8 years now download. The farm operator has to be able to do everything from managing the farm to repairing its infrastructure, keeping its books and ploughing the fields. Fourth, it is a fact of life that the managers of most small businesses, not just farms, have not had the opportunity of formal education and training to develop their managerial skills and capability , source: Albania Telecom Laws and Regulations Handbook (World Law Business Library) read pdf.


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Norwegian Teachers Keeping God in the Classroom
By Widar Ursett
Adventist teachers from across Norway met from February 6-8 in Sundvolden, Norway, to learn the skills of sharing their faith within a world of globalization, postmodernism, and consumerism.
"The Christian narrative no longer appeals, because people today are influenced by the new Western imperialism: globalization, postmodernism, and consumerism," said Daniel Duda, education director of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Trans-European division, or region, in his keynote address at this year's teachers' conference organized by the Adventist Church in Norway.
"Instead of salvation from sin, the modern narrative promises that faith in science and technology will provide a better future," Duda said. "This metanarrative is reinforced by three trends: globalization, postmodernism and the rise of consumerism."
According to Duda, this is the global spread of the modern, liberal, humanistic story. In the 20th century, humanism, which began during the Enlightenment, developed into either liberalism or communism. With the fall of communism in 1989, and boosted by rising prosperity, liberalism went global.
Postmodernism emerged as a reaction to the negative aspects of the modern liberal, humanistic story; for example, environmental degradation, increasing poverty, nuclear weapons, economic challenges, and psychological and social disintegration. It challenged the optimism of modernity: Maybe we are not moving toward a better world. Postmodernism insisted that is was natural to question the notion of objective knowledge—also Christian knowledge.
Consumerism is the consequence of the economic growth that followed in the wake of globalization. Economic structures have enriched the West at the expense of all other countries. Postmodernism denied us the Christian metanarrative, and consumerism filled the void.
"We run Christian schools because God exists."
The modern narratives of globalization and postmodernism do not work. The material question forged from Duda's presentation must necessarily be: What can we do about it? The answer lies in returning to the central Biblical narrative, fostering discipleship, and a renewed focus on community.
"The only way to restore an abandoned narrative is to incorporate it into a larger one", said Duda. "God never intended for us to live as isolated individualists. We need each other, and the Christian community fills that role."
God in the Classroom
Another major theme of the teachers' conference was how to include God in the classroom, creating awareness of God in all subjects. Teachers often fail to realize or even see their opportunities, because they are conditioned to fulfill the curricular requirements defined by the government. However, the demand for emphasis on Christian values is a growing trend outside of the Seventh-day Adventist school system, underscored and enhanced by the work of people such as David Smith and his web site www.whatiflearning.com.
The Adventist school system must accommodate the holistic view of man included in God's own metanarrative of life in His universe, presenters said.
"We run Christian schools because God exists," said Nina Myrdal, education director of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Norway. "Life cannot be compartmentalized, and His existence must be recognised in every aspect of our lives, including school."


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Argentina vs Croatia 0-3, as it happened...
Argentina will soon be taking on Croatia in what should be a very interesting game indeed. Sampaoli's team need a win today but it won't be easy as Croatia have a ton of talent. Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala will once again start on the bench (like Biglia too) as Aguero will get the start alongside Lionel Messi. You can follow the game with us here on Calciomercato.com.
- This will be the fifth meeting between Argentina and Croatia, with the South Americans winning twice to Croatia's one (D1).
- Just one of the previous four meetings between Argentina and Croatia was at a World Cup, with Argentina winning 1-0 in a group stage game in 1998, courtesy of Mauricio Pineda's strike.
- Croatia have lost all four of their World Cup meetings with South American sides, once in each of the four tournaments they've played in.
- Lionel Messi has scored in each of his two previous appearances against Croatia, including his first ever goal for Argentina (March 2006).
- Argentina forward Lionel Messi attempted 11 shots in his first game at the 2018 World Cup finals; the most he has attempted in a single match at a World Cup tournament – he failed to score, however.
- Lionel Messi has now failed to score with 21 successive shots in World Cup finals tournaments for Argentina, since last scoring versus Nigeria on June 25th 2014.
- Argentina started their 2018 World Cup campaign with a 1-1 draw against Iceland – they haven't failed to win either of their opening two Group Stage games at a World Cup since 1974.
- Croatia won their opening game against Nigeria – they've not won back-to-back World Cup games since the 1998 tournament.
- Croatia have scored in each of their last five World Cup games, their longest such streak in the competition.
- Croatia defender Vedran Corluka has made 99 appearances for his country. If he plays in this game he'll be the second member of their 2018 World Cup squad to earn 100 caps for Croatia (after Luka Modric).
LIVE COMMENTARY:
Argentina: Sampaoli makes decision on Higuain and Dybala
Argentina, Maradona: "We need Higuain..."


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1. What is meant by the globalization of human capital? Is this inevitable as firms increase their global operations?
The globalization of human capital refers to the fact that employees are now spread out across the world by their employers. This including, the companies, employed, unemployed, stockholders, consumers, contractors, supply chain, firms and economies. Companies branch out because labor costs are cheaper and productivity is faster.
Clothes are an example, all things being equal, a t-shirt made overseas cost relatively the same as a t-shirt made in the US. Why should an IPhone be any different? I feel that although the profit from each phone would be decreased, they would sell the same amount of phones if not more.
6. How much extra are you prepared to pay for an IPhone assembled in China but under better labor conditions or pay? What kind of trade-off would you make?
This also deals with the question previously asked. I have not changed my stance on IPhone; however, if they were to charge more to have it assembled in China, why couldn't or wouldn't they just produce it in America. It would not make sense if they had to increase cost to better working conditions in another country. I believe it would be cheaper to bring some of the laborers here to the US and open a plant here.
7. To what extent do you think the negative media coverage has affected Apple's recent decision to ask the FLA to do an assessment and the subsequent decision by Foxconn to raise some salaries? What do you think will happen now?


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Q: How to filter out nonexistent parameter keys, before using them as attributes in an object assignment statement? I am passing a hash of optional keys, with object id values, as parameters to a rails controller.  So I need to be able to filter out the keys that do not exist on my params before storing the active record to my_object.  Next, I need to store my_object record as an attribute on my_model. However, I am getting the following error when attempting to assign my_object as an attribute on my_model (see last line in code below).  Is there a problem with how I am using a symbol as the attribute name?

ERROR Message: can't write unknown attribute key_1 excluded from capture: DSN not set
app_1         |
app_1         | ActiveModel::MissingAttributeError (can't write unknown attribute key_1):

my_mode = Reports::SomeModel.new
[  :key_1,
   :key_2,
   :key_3,
   :key_4,
   :key_5,
   :key_6
].each do |key| params.has_key?(key)
    my_object = ObjectClass.find(params[key])
    my_model[key] = my_object
  end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The Suspension Conundrum: Are Restorative Justice Practices Too Late? Can We Identify Students Prone to Committing Anti-Social Acts and Intervene Earlier?
From the presidential campaign to city politics, across the nation the "school to prison pipeline" is near the top of every educational agenda.
There is no question that zero tolerance policies can be counterproductive; however, suspensions in New York City do not bar students from school. The Department has a detailed 35-page Discipline Code that clearly and explicitly explains each violation and the appropriate action. Principal suspensions, from one to five school days, results in a removal from the classroom and the placement in what is usually called a SAVE room in the building; the student receives, in theory, academic services and counseling and the parent is required to attend a conference. Serious breaches of the Discipline Code: weapons possession, fighting, etc., can result in a superintendent suspension, which is usually 30, 60 or 90 days and can be up to a year. A disciplinary hearing is required, the student can be represented by an advocate; the parent is entitled to all the documentation and a hearing officer makes a final determination. Students who receive superintendent suspensions attend alternative sites with low class size and counseling.
.Read the suspension procedures in full here.
The number of city school kids suspended and arrested continues to drop, according to data released Monday.
Suspensions dropped by 15.6%, from 44,626 in the 2014-2015 school year to 37,647 in the 2015-2016 school year, the city Education Department said.
The drop is due to several factors, including the expansion of "therapeutic crisis interventions," as well as the addition of 250 guidance counselors over the last two years and 100 mental health consultants this year, DOE officials said.
The teacher union president, Michael Mulgrew and the Mike Petrilli, president of the Fordham Foundation, a right of center think tank are on the same page, criticizing the tightening of the suspension faucet without extensive counseling interventions at schools.
The Department, and just about everyone else has jumped on the restorative justice band wagon as an alternative school-based intervention. Both The Atlantic and the New York Times have lengthy articles praising, with reservations, restorative justice programs.
The restorative justice enthusiasm reflects a core issue – we intervene after the horses have left the barn. Much of system is based on identifying failing students or failing schools or failing school districts and providing some sort of, for lack of a better term, a restorative practice: We are teaching resuscitation techniques rather than identifying the non-swimmers and teaching them to swim.
Instead of harping on the pipeline let's take a deeper dive: Can we identify the characteristics of students who were suspended? For example, Kim Nauer and her team at the Center for New York City Affairs at the New School identified 17 poverty risk load factors; some in school and others in the surrounding community. Can we construct a predictive metric? Will students with 6 or 8 or 10 of the risk load factors be more likely to be suspended? Which particular factor most closely correlates with suspensions?
Or, we can ask the kindergarten teacher.
My wife, a kindergarten teacher used to say: by November she could trace out the life path of students, a few she could alter, too many she couldn't. In my union rep days one of my favorite schools was the annex to PS 269. A pre-2 building, about ten classes on a grade, run by an AP and the teachers. The staff was both dedicated, really, really smart and feisty. One year they worked out a plan: the kindergarten teachers would select the 10 most difficult boys on the grade and assign them to the teacher who designed the plan. The other teachers agreed to accept one extra kid – the program didn't cost additional dollars. At the end of the year the teacher, who has "the knack," had turned most of the miscreants into upstanding citizens. Master teachers create miracles – the staff simply worked out a plan to address what they saw as an issue. No grants, no superintendents, no staff developers, just empowered teachers and a smart assistant principal who trusted his staff.
The Pre-K for All program in New York City is an opportunity to identify and intervene when the kid is four-years old; community schools may have the resources to address the out of school, the community deficits that impact the poverty risk load.
An intervention that begins after the student has committed the anti-social act, the act that may require a suspension, is too late.
Restorative practices should be part of elementary classrooms, many teachers guide students in creating school rules, student courts and tribunals can be useful, whatever is comfortable for the staff, and has some sort of evaluation tool attached. Suspensions must always be an option; there are some actions that are so egregious that a punishment is required. Actions must have consequences. I have been in too many schools in which the line in the sand kept moving until anarchy was the norm.
A teacher told me a fascinating story: One kid was bullying another kid in a public space – the kid pushed and pushed; the second kid punched the bullier in the face, splitting his lip.
Neighborhoods that surround schools have cultures and neighborhood cultures impact the lives of the community. Schools have to acknowledge the culture, and work within the mores that surround the school.
The teacher who related the story said she learned to talk with kids, informally, every day. She learned that to bring the kids into your world you have to enter their world.
Headlines about declining suspension rates are lipstick on the proverbial pig.
In the week after the mayoral election the incoming de Blasio administration set up a transition tent on Canal Street and posted the events of the day, panels and workshops on a wide range of topics. I showed up for the education panel – the NAACP, ACLU, a minister (now running for Congress) from a Harlem church and a few others discussing an assortment of school issues. The panelists were outraged by the number and severity of school suspensions.
The 32-page NYC School Discipline Code (revised 2013) has been scrutinized and revised every few years, the Code describes unacceptable conduct in detail and lists the levels of discipline. Unacceptable conduct begins with "uncooperative behavior" and moves up the ladder to "disorderly" to "disruptive" to "aggressive or injurious" to "seriously dangerous or violent." The Code recommends "restorative approaches" with children and at each step there is an appeal avenue. Suspensions range from a few days in school to movement to an off-site suspension center and in rare cases to expulsion.
All "incidents" must be entered into the Online Reporting Student Suspension (ORSS) system with substantial backup information. The data is monitored by the superintendent as well as the borough safety team.
1. The suspensions are actually shorter in duration; the time the student is out of the school prior to the hearing is counted as time served.
2. Arrests require an infraction – not the whim of a department employee.
3. Most suspensions take place because the parent doesn't respond when called or show up for the hearing. Too often the parental response is "I have no control over my child" – the only option is a suspension.
Interrupted: The Growing Use of Suspension in New York City Schools, a report by the New York Civil Liberties Union demonstrating a drastic spike in student suspensions under Mayor Michael Bloomberg's watch. The report, based on an analysis of a decade of previously undisclosed suspension data, finds that New York City schools suspend nearly twice as many students as they did a decade ago and the lengths of suspensions are becoming longer — a trend that disproportionately affects black students and students with special needs.
The overuse of suspensions denies children their right to a public education. It's pushing students from the classroom into the criminal justice system. A study of secondary school students, published in the Journal of School Psychology, showed that students who were suspended were 26 percent more likely to be involved with the legal system than their peers.
The School to Prison Pipeline operates directly and indirectly. Schools directly send students into the pipeline through zero tolerance policies that involve the police in minor incidents and often lead to arrests, juvenile detention referrals, and even criminal charges and incarceration. Schools indirectly push students towards the criminal justice system by excluding them from school through suspension, expulsion, discouragement and high stakes testing requirements.
Schools are parts of communities and the pathologies of the communities impact the schools. When kids cross the threshold of the school building they do not leave their home and street experiences behind..
Two teen-agers were shot to death at point-blank range in the hallway of a Brooklyn high school yesterday morning, little more than an hour before Mayor David N. Dinkins was to visit the troubled school to tell students they had the power to break free of the world of violence and drugs.
"You have got to learn from this," Mr. Dinkins, his voice tense, implored several hundred students who were packed into the two-tiered auditorium when he arrived to speak about 70 minutes after the 8:40 A.M. shooting. "You must learn from this. So please help me. Help your principal. Help yourselves." The youths sat shaken, many holding their heads down in their hands.
Since then, students have been screened with metal detectors about once a week in spot security checks intended to weed out the hidden knives and guns that the youths say they carry to protect themselves from street violence — and now violence in the school. Their grim neighborhood, which they described as a terrifying turf of night gun fire and drug deals, had the second-highest homicide rate in the city in 1990.
There were no metal detectors in use yesterday, despite the Mayor's impending arrival. The detectors were to have been used Tuesday, the original date for the Mayor's appearance. But the principal, Carol A. Burt-Beck, had asked that the security check be postponed because it would set the wrong mood, school officials said.
Standing up for her kids, not allowing metal detectors stigmatize her kids led to the death of three of her students.
Almost twenty-five years later in the same police precinct homicide – handgun violence rates lead the city.
Our first obligation is to keep kids safe and to create an environment that fosters learning, an environment that is frequently at variance with the environment in the streets surrounding the school.
Gangs are a reality, when I hear a principal say s/he's going to rid the building of gangs I figure they'll be as successful as we were in ridding Afghanistan of the Taliban. Kids belong to gangs, their older siblings belong to gangs and their parents belonged to gangs.
An arm over a kid's shoulder, a stern look, a harsh reprimand, a phone call home, and, sometimes, a suspension, or, a call to the precinct, some principals have the skill to use the right intervention for each situation, and, others, don't, and, may never have the skills.
Grades on standardized tests determine student, teacher, principal and school success or failure. It was not surprising that the ATR pool was stuffed with over 200 guidance counselors; inexperienced principals used dollars for extended school days or Saturday tutoring programs ignoring the socio-emotional needs of kids. Schools are complex cultures, raging hormones in middle schools, proto-adults in high schools and elementary school kids often too hungry to do schoolwork or shuffled from house to house or simply plopped in front of a TV screen for hours every day or cared for by a sibling only a few years older.
Streets are dangerous places, the wrong comment, the wrong glance, the wrong "he said, she said," can easily lead to retribution – your protection – your gang brothers and sisters.
It would be wonderful for a school to have psychologists, social workers, guidance counselors and nurses to work with kids and families, it would be wonderful to have principals who set and enforce rules across an entire school. Reducing suspensions is meaningless without other means of creating a culture of order and discipline. Kids are really, really smart, they have been manipulating the system for years: the cop, the social worker, the guidance counselor and the teacher. Some schools, some school leaders have the skills to change the game – to begin to turn kids' lives around; unfortunately too few school leaders have the skills.
I worry that in the name of progress we will reduce suspensions, reduce the use of scanning and revisit the death of students at Thomas Jefferson.
The road to you know where is paved with good intentions.


It's that time of year again to submit your photos of the park for the 2013 Friends of Hickory Hill Park Calendar.
• All photos must be taken in Hickory Hill Park.
• Label disk with your name, address, and e-mail.
Our annual calendar (and fundraiser) would not be possible without the wonderful donated photos we receive each year. A specail thanks to those who make this fundraiser possible.


Have you considered that some people don't have the things to bring. Things that you obviously take for granted by assuming the issue is lack of planning rather than lack of wealth. People are being arrested, but camping in front of city hall is also a valid and important way of voicing complaint. What better way than being in front of the mayor's office all day. She can't look out of her window without seeing them. . . Some people don't have a stash of money to live off of. If you don't agree don't give them money. Its pretty simple. Infighting about what's more important isn't solidarity neither is it productive. . . Let's appriciatet our varying ways of protesting. If we all say the same things in the same way we're no longer thinking for ourselves.


text:
2036 Origin Unknown (2018)
2036 Origin Unknown DVD and Blu-ray release date was set for August 7, 2018 and available on Digital HD from Amazon Video and iTunes on June 8, 2018.
Rating: 3.0/5 (69 users) *Please help rate
Genre(s): Science Fiction
Katee Sackhoff
Ray Fearon
Julie Cox
Steven Cree
Noush Skaugen
Joe David Walters
David Tse
Neil Robertson
Hasraf Dulull
Anis Shlewet
James T. Ryan
Mack Wilson has a long history with the planet Mars. Her father died during the first manned trip to Mars and as a scientist she has spent her life hoping she can visit the planet. She gets her chance when she's sent to examine a mysterious cube that's materialized over Mars. While examining the cube, Wilson spars with Mission Control back on Earth as well as the ship's computer ARTi, which becomes convinced that mankind shouldn't survive. But everything changes when Wilson's ship crashes and she juggles exploring the mysterious object while still trying to survive a harsh and dangerous environment.
Digital HD
Release Date June 8, 2018
Release Date August 7, 2018
The Exorcist III