There are two cities which are convenient to Malpensa airport located on Lake Maggiore. Most people staying on Lago Maggiore stay on the west side of the lake because it's the easier to get to the airport from there. Closest is the village of Stresa which is 20km from the airport and offers a good choice of hotels ranging from one star budget accommodation to luxury villas. First and foremost Stresa is a tourist town with a good range of shops selling local Deruta pottery. A quieter and less touristy option is Arona which is 40km from Malpensa Airport and again offers a good range of hotels to choose from.
Lago d'Orta is situated to the west of the Maggiore Lake (between the Mount Mottarone) in the province of Novara. It is also called Lago Cusio and is more charming than Stresa, or you can travel a few more kilometres to Piemonte which is a gastronomes delight with its local chocolate, cheese and Italian risotto towns including Novara and Vercelii.
This modern hotel with a brightly coloured façade overlooks Ticino Park in Somma Lombardo which is close to the Exhibition grounds just 5km from Milan Malpensa Airport, 40km from Milan city centre and 8lm from Lake Maggiore. They offer a complimentary airport shuttle service.
Domina Inn Malpensa has 143 private guest rooms and has good amenities which include a restaurant, snack bar and lounge.
The First Hotel is a modern hotel located in the town of Somma Lombardo which is situated between Milan and Stresa, mid way between terminals 1 and 2 just 1km from Milan Malpensa Airport. It offers a private shuttle bus service between 04:30 and 01:00.
It has 58 soundproofed guest rooms which are well equipped with Wi-Fi internet connection, air conditioning, a minibar, satellite flat screen television, pay-per-view movies, direct dial telephone, a working desk and lamp. It is an ideal place to stay for travellers who like to combine their business and leisure travel requirements offering a restaurant, lobby bar and two meeting rooms.
The contemporary three storey Crowne Plaza Hotel is located in Somma Lombardo, between Terminal One and Two of Milan Malpensa Airport, just 40km from the city centre. There is complimentary shuttle running to/from Terminal 1 on a scheduled basis and Terminal 2 on request. Or the airport offers a 24hr free shuttle service between the two Terminals with a bus stop just 500 metres from the hotel.
The hotel was fully refurbished in 2005 and offers 133 single and double bedded guest rooms with satellite television, minibars, and direct-dial phones and bathrooms with bathrobes, bidets, and hair dryers, as well as parking for 100 cars, a restaurant, bar/lounge and health club.
The Holiday Inn Express Milan-Malpensa Airport is just 500 metres from Milan Malpensa International Airport.
It is a modern hotel with 124 contemporary and comfortable soundproofed bedrooms spread over five floors, all well equipped and offering WiFi internet connection.
The hotel offers a complimentary shuttle service on a scheduled basis to/from Terminal 1, extensive parking facilities, free Continental breakfast and a meeting room which can accommodate up to 40 people.
The modern Orange Motel stands in parkland in the Vergiate area just 2km from the town centre, 2km from Lake Maggiore and 12 kilometres from the town of Arona. Vergiate railway station is two kilometres from the hotel. Milan Malpensa Airport is about a 20 minute drive away (20 km).
The two storey Orange Motel is a modern building situated in parkland. It offers just 29 guest rooms which are well equipped with satellite TV, DVD players, internet access, a minibar and in room safe. The bathrooms have bidets and offer complimentary toiletries. Other hotel amenities include a lounge bar, buffet breakfast, sauna, laundry and dry cleaning services and secure complimentary parking.


It will be a battle of CONCACAF heavyweights when American outfit New England Revolution take on LD Alajuelense of Costa Rica in Bermuda on 22 February in the first leg of the 2006 CONCACAF Champions Cup quarter-finals.
MLS outfit New England Revolution will be hoping the tropical climes of Hamilton, Bermuda do them well as they take on historic Costa Rican powers LD Alajuelense in the first-leg of their CONCACAF Champions Cup quarter-final on 22 February. With a score of players currently in top form and doing their impressive all to sneak into Bruce Arena's squad for Germany 2006, the Americans will want to make sure their three-month lay-off without a competitive match will not hurt them too much as they take on La Liga - currently struggling for goals but still soaring strong in the Costa Rican Clausura.
The Revolution have yet to win an MLS championship in their 10-year existence, most recently losing out to Landon Donovan's LA Galaxy in last year's MLS Cup (the one-off 'Cup final' game which decides MLS' champion) after being one of the strongest teams in the US top-flight over the course of the 2005 'regular season'. Led by US internationals Taylor Twellman, Clint Dempsey, Steve Ralston, Pat Noonan and Matt Reis, the Revolution - like their LA counterparts - now face Costa Rican opposition in the quarter-final round of the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
The first leg will take place in Bermuda - site of New England's pre-season training camp - on 22 February. Foregoing traditional home-field advantage due to weather concerns and pitch condition in the middle of a hard New England winter, the club - based just outside of Boston in Foxboro, Massachusetts - will also need to quickly find some chemistry considering the Alajuelense clash comes five weeks before the start of the 2006 MLS season. Despite some players' lack of match fitness, head coach and former Liverpool standout centre-back Steve Nicol is hoping for the best in Bermuda.
"What we want is to look forward and try and get better and get in good condition for this game on the 22nd. The only thing that is important is to get through the first three weeks up to the 22nd, get there with no injuries and in good condition," the Scot recently remarked about the game that will be the first Champions Cup contest played in Bermuda since 1991 when Dandy Town Hornets (BER) defeated the Brooklyn Italians (USA).
"You start again in the preseason and you get nothing for what you did last year or the year before. The only thing you do is take confidence from last season, but if you don't put the hard work in, you won't do anything. You have to work as hard as you did the previous years," Nicol went on to add.
The coach is sure to be calmed a bit by a recent 8-0 hammering dished out by his boys against Bermuda's under-20 national team, and the five-goal performance put in by ever-improving midfield dynamo Dempsey.
The winner of the Champions Cup will go on to emulate last year's champion, Deportivo Saprissa, with a spot at the FIFA Club World Championship next year. Despite the long off-season (the last time the Revs played a competitive match was back in November 2005) Nicol will be bolstered by fine recent performances put in by Twellman, Dempsey and Noonan at the US national team camp.
In the last two US friendlies in California Dempsey looked a power in the centre of midfield while Twellman grabbed a stunning four-goal haul, including a hat trick against Norway.
Goal-shy Alajuelense in transitionKnown by their throngs of fans simply as La Liga, Liga Deportiva Alajuelense are the most-decorated team in Costa Rican history with 24 league titles to their name. They will be keen to keep up their tradition of success in the CONCACAF Champions Cup as they became the first Costa Rican team to win the competition back in 1986 before repeating the dose in 2004.
With a long and storied history dating back to 1919 and a comparable reputation to that of archrivals and San Jose super club Saprissa, Alajuelense are considered one of the major forces in Central American football and have never been relegated, spending 86 consecutive years in the Tico top flight.
The side have a brand-new head coach in former national team assistant to Bora Milutinovic, Rolando Villalobos, who took over from Javier Delgado last week. And with a score of national team players in the squad like Wilmer Lopez, Rolando Fonseca and Erick Scott and former youth international and talented standout Yosimar Arias, La Liga will be no pushovers after qualifying for the Champions Cup as winners of the UNCAF Club Championship in October of last year.
Two of Alajuelense's players, Carlos Hernandez and defender Luis Marin, both stared for the Costa Rican national team in a recent friendly win over Korea Republic and more than a few of the team's stars are expected to head to Germany with Alexandre Guimaraes' Tico team come June.
Minor Diaz currently leads the attack as La Liga are currently in a three-way tie for first-place in their section of the Clausura championship. However, with only 8 goals so far, Alajuelense will be hoping to get back among the goals in Bermuda.
The second leg of the Champions Cup quarter-final will take place on 8 March at Alajuelense's Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto in Llano de Alajuela. Unlike its sister competitions in other continents, the CONCACAF Champions cup employs a pure aggregate format with road goals counting no more than those scored at home.


The Obama Administration on June 13th announced a number of new initiatives designed to accelerate the modernization of the Nation's electric infrastructure, bolster electric-grid innovation, and advance a clean energy economy.
Aimed at building the necessary transmission infrastructure and developing and deploying digital information or "smart grid" technologies, these initiatives will facilitate the integration of renewable sources of electricity into the grid; accommodate a growing number of electric vehicles on America's roads; help avoid blackouts and restore power quicker when outages occur; and reduce the need for new power plants.
The White House also released a new report by the Cabinet-level National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) that delineates four overarching goals the Administration will pursue in order to ensure that all Americans benefit from investments in the Nation's electric infrastructure: better alignment of economic incentives to boost development and deployment of smart-grid technologies; a greater focus on standards and interoperability to enable greater innovation; empowerment of consumers with enhanced information to save energy, ensure privacy, and shrink bills; and improved grid security and resilience.
Holdren was among several high-level Administration officials who described the new initiatives and report at a White House event that also featured private-sector leaders and other innovators from across the Nation.
"America cannot build a 21st century economy with a 20th century electricity system. By working with states, industry leaders, and the private sector, we can build a clean, smart, national electricity system that will create jobs, reduce energy use, and expand renewable energy production," said U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu.
Smart grid technologies provide a foundation for innovation by entrepreneurs and others who can develop tools to empower consumers and help them make informed decisions. A first generation of innovative consumer products and services—such as thermostats that can be controlled from a smart phone, or websites that show how much energy a house is using—are already helping Americans save money on their electricity bills, and there is great potential to do even more. Similarly, the adoption of distributed energy generation sources (such as solar panels on rooftops), emerging energy storage technologies, and electric vehicles are all spurring changes in how and when energy is being used by businesses and consumers.
• $250 million in loans for smart-grid technology deployment as part of the US Department of Agriculture's Rural Utility Service, which is focused on upgrading the electric grid in rural America.
• The launch of Grid 21, a private sector initiative to promote consumer-friendly innovations while ensuring proper privacy safeguards and consumer protections. Grid 21 will help consumers get better access to their own energy usage information so that they can take advantage of new tools and services to manage their energy use and save on their utility bills.
• New commitments by the Department of Energy to focus on improving consumer access to their own energy information, including the development of a crowd-sourced map to track progress, a data-driven competition designed to harness the imagination and enthusiasm of America's students to encourage home energy efficiency, and new EIA efforts to measure progress. o Consumers deserve access to their own energy usage information in consumer-friendly and computer-friendly formats. The Administration is committed toworking with States and stakeholders to ensure all Americans can take advantage of new tools and services to manage their energy use and save on their utility bills. With proper privacy safeguards and consumer protections, a smarter electricity system can benefit all consumers.
• Expanded partnerships to continue working with States and stakeholders, including an initiative to share lessons learned from Recovery Act smart grid investments, a series of regional peer-to-peer stakeholder meetings, and updated online resources available at: www.SmartGrid.gov.
• The formation of a Renewable Energy Rapid Response Team, co-led by the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the Department of the Interior, and the Department of Energy, to improve Federal coordination and ensure timely review of proposed renewable energy projects and transmission lines, to ensure that renewable energy can power cities and towns across America, and to increase reliability and save consumers money by modernizing the grid.
These efforts build upon the historic $4.5 billion in grid modernization investments provided for in the Recovery Act—matched by contributions of more than $5.5 billion from the private sector—to modernize America's aging energy infrastructure and provide cleaner and more reliable power.
Even in today's information age, many utilities don't have real-time information about the state of the grid or know when their customers have lost power. A modernized electric grid can bridge these lingering information gaps while serving as a platform for innovation and helping to create jobs of the future. To secure our clean energy future, the Administration will continue to invest in transformational technologies and remove barriers for entrepreneurs to bring those technologies to market.
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text:
Wildlife Photographer Spends Three Years Photographing Swift Foxes
by Rebecca Bennett
Known for their playfulness and crafty intelligence, foxes have long been personified as the pranksters of the animal kingdom. But what many of us don't know—and what wildlife photographer Michael Forsberg has learned during his lengthy quest to photograph swift foxes—is that foxes are actually some of the most elusive mammals out there.
For the past three years, Forsberg has been traveling to and from South Dakota's grasslands with one goal: to create one heck of a portfolio of swift fox photos. By summoning up all of his patience, and some trickery of his own, Forsberg designed photo blinds and unique remote camera traps that allowed him to capture some truly amazing and totally unique images of the foxes:
When Forsberg received an assignment to photograph swift foxes in South Dakota's Buffalo Gap National Grassland, he expected that it might take some time for the timid little canids to emerge from their dens after they detected his presence. What he didn't anticipate was just how cautious the little critters were. Before sunrise, Forsberg would arrive at his camouflaged bivy tent blind, which he set up roughly 70-100 meters away from the swift fox dens. There, he would lay and wait until nightfall— often without spotting a single fox.
"It was difficult because they are mostly nocturnal, they live in holes in the ground, and their location changes all the time," Forsberg told National Geographic. "It's like playing 'Whac-A-Mole' at the county fair. It's failure most of the time. But you spend enough time and… you start to figure it out."
To boost his chances of photographing the foxes, Forsberg also set up three remote camera rigs around the dens—a wirelessly triggered GoPro and point-and-shoot camera, a "camera trap" with a passive infared remote trigger, and a full frame DSLR in soundproof housing that could be triggered via walkie-talkie.
Foxes are playful creatures, so naturally, Forsberg's remote cameras became mini jungle gyms.
Swift foxes are about the size of house cats.
Despite facing many difficulties—all of the planning and waiting and money spent and hours logged—Forsberg says that photographing the swift foxes truly changed his life. It forced him to slow down and appreciate the rhythms and power of nature and of life in the prairie, beyond our fast-paced society.
"As photographers, a lot of us don't get to spend deep time like that. We are always racing around to get shots," said Forsberg. "Having to be in a place like these wide open spaces of the prairie forces you to slow down. You are on nature's time. You are not on your time. Everything you do is dictated by the wind and the weather and the creatures that you are out there photographing."
And on his very last day of shooting, the foxes rewarded him for his efforts. Big time.
Forsberg was walking around the prairie and collecting all of his various rigs, when out of nowhere, the foxes began yipping loudly as one of their own attacked a prairie dog. Instinctively, Forsberg dropped to the ground, ready to shoot. He expected to have only one chance to get the shot he wanted, but instead, the victorious hunter leisurely carried his catch within 15 feet of Forsberg.
"The fox looked at me," said Forsberg. "It was the only thing I needed. I remember sending that picture to [my editor] and I had tears in my eyes because I never thought I would get it. It was a real gift on the last day of a couple year journey."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Being honest, I'm less worried about the working time and entitlement to holidays and more worried about the fact that the pay scales seem to be years out of whack.
At least when there was no 10% (it's more from what I can see) difference to the PDF, it was difficult to justify not noticing the difference.
The DF is exempt until the Organisation of Working Time Act is amended.
The High Court case was settled it wasn't found to be unconstitutional.
Either way, Auldsod seems to have identified a pay issue that has slipped us all by.
100% correct.PDFORRA have taken cases to the High court recently,and won, based on the working time directive. DF Management is still trying to work out how to implement it,but they have no choice.They must.
If this happens, will back pay have to be paid? also if thats the case, i assume that RDF will also be able to claim this back?
I didn't get a chance today but I'll ring the RDFRA tomorrow.
I've done some work on excel and worked out the % difference between RDF and PDF pay. It's particularly pronounced at the Corporal rank. 14% lower than PDF at the lowest scale! My last pay was exactly in line with the scale below taken from military.ie for the RDF.
If I'm right about the below, this will probably warrant it's own thread. (non sure if the below link will work).
Last edited by Auldsod; 6th November 2018 at 15:55.
I don't see this as something that'll get fixed seeing as the 10% cut is still there but I'd be interested to hear the reason there is such a difference.
- I've calculated line pay only. No allowances. All detail available online.
- I've made my calculation based on 14 days FTT. 7 days (or half the final gross amount) matched exactly the weekly pay per military.ie (which is definitely not 90% of current post 2013 joining PDF pay).
- Joined post 2011 and post 2013 for that matter so I'm on newer lower payscales (which seem to include some higher allowances to balance things out by stealth. Most of these only receivable by PDF of course).
Also, could a mod possibly move the 2018 posts plus into a new thread? Not really about recruit training any more.
So the real question is when can i call the Pay section to give out and claim the difference?
For anyone interested, I've received information confirmation on the pay per the DoD. RDF are indeed on a lower scale separate to the PDF. It is not the current PDF scale (either pre or post 2013) less 90%. It's a separate lower scale less 10% The pay section are just operating with the scale they've been given which is fair enough. The pay rates on military.ie are the current rates being paid to RDF.
It's something to be researched by the representative body now. Will be interested to see where it goes.
Last edited by Auldsod; 7th November 2018 at 13:58.
I think you are owed several pints for that Auldsod.
Are the pay rates in a DFR, AFC etc?
Last edited by trellheim; 7th November 2018 at 20:58.
on security duties provided for in paragraph 41.
Last edited by trellheim; 7th November 2018 at 21:28.
Interesting, where you would you get access to the above documentation? Online?
My reading of the above is that the rates of pay of members (AR+NSR) 'for personnel of the Permanent Defence Forces shall apply to reservists of corresponding ranks, grades and classes attending at any of the courses of training or R.5 instruction etc...' could either state that the payscales themselves are in the regulation OR that they should match those of the PDF (possibly reduced by 10% with another regulation). It's an incredibly badly worded from what I can see or maybe I'm just bad at reading legalese.
You wouldn't happen to know if this was raised or noticed before. If there is a decision made that the RDF are indeed on sub 10% of PDF pay; fair enough - let the RDFRA deal with it. The misconception that our pay is PDF pay less 10% needs to stop being touted around as I've heard it numerous times since I've joined.
I'm not sure what worries me more.
1. That this difference in pay was not noticed before.
2. It was noticed before but nothing was done about it for some reason.
Edit : Para 97 of the Act refers: http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1.../en/html#sec97 which deals with Pay etc.
(d) Every regulation made under this subsection shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by either such House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the regulation has been laid before it, such regulation shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such regulation.
Last edited by trellheim; 8th November 2018 at 12:04.
There is so much wrong with this sentence that I don't know where to begin.
Just a further update on the below considering the new LRA 2 pay scale for the PDF as of the 1st of October this year.
An RDF Corporal for example is now on weekly pay of EUR 512.07.
A PFD Corporal (before MSA) is on EUR 630.49 at the first point of the scale.
The RDF weekly rate is now 18.7% less than the full time equivalent.
I've added the sources for the data below. I can confirm the RDF scale is current as I was paid off these rates this month.
Last edited by Auldsod; 29th November 2018 at 08:22.


2019 DIY Classes Sneak Peek!
What is a High Performing Home?
I have been working more at my job lately as well as setting more time aside to volunteer for causes I care about, exploring the outdoors and squeezing in some self care activities including hiking, aerial yoga, soaking and massage. This year, my educational goals are to get more involved with the aerial arts, practice raft guiding (from my training last spring) and learn how to weld (all types). I'm so excited to do all of these things but I've still got one main component of the house to complete: electrical. I have been doing some planning like calculating all of my appliance and plug loads and also mapping out where I want outlets and switches via post-it notes in those locations. We have been building a utility shed which will house the yard sub-panel. That is where I eventually will be plugging my house in for power. My yardie has an electrician friend who is helping us with our plans so more on that to come.
I also have been talking to a friend who I met through Cycle Oregon this past fall about getting solar for my house. He had rigged up a solar charging trailer for the event so I figured he would be a great contact to help me design a portable system. I met with him today at his home to check out the components of the proposed system which was very exciting! The system will be stand-alone with batteries, not grid-tied, and I will be able to add on as necessary. Currently, I live in the middle of a city so I do not need solar for power but I like the idea of reducing my impact on the grid. I also plan to move to a more rural area in the next five years where I would like to be independent of grid power.
What else? I bought a small dehumidifier to help remove moisture (from breathing, cooking and from having a window cracked open for my extension cord) since I don't have my bathroom exhaust fan installed yet. Moisture hasn't really been an issue when it's just me spending time in the house but becomes more so when others are sharing the space. Guess I did a great job of air sealing and insulating! Anyway, the dehumidifier uses peltier technology, not a compressor, so it's barely audible. It can hold up to 16oz. of water before it needs to be emptied which I thought would be necessary every day or two but I can usually wait several days before it is even half full. I have it up in my loft at the moment which I think will actually be a good place to keep it.
Outside my front door, I added more dirt and set the feet of my steps on bricks so they are now level and not sinking into the ground at an odd angle. I scavenged the yard for random chunks of urbanite to use to make a patio of sorts in front of the steps which will hopefully help me drag less mud inside and also elevate that area so it's not a mud puddle when it rains. The ideal way to complete this process would be to dig out 4-6" of soil and create a level surface. Then lay down weed barrier, sand and/or gravel, the urbanite pavers and finally pebbles in between the chunks. Since I know what needs to go into that process and also taking into account the varying thicknesses of the urbanite, I decided to just set them in the dirt. This method actually took more time than I imagined it would since the pieces would rock if not packed tightly with soil. Eventually, I got them all in place and a few days later, I received a present of ground cover, Isotoma fluviatilis, from my yardie to fill in the spaces between the urbanite. It's a little bare at the moment but it should grow and extend to fill in.


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Senate Week in Review: September 6-10, 2021
SPRINGFIELD – Despite Gov. JB Pritzker extending the deadline by two weeks, concerns continue to mount for school officials who are scrambling to implement his COVID-19 vaccine-or-test mandate without any guidance from the Illinois State Board of Education, according to State Sen. Brian Stewart (R-Freeport)
The Senate is scheduled to be in session Sept. 13 after the House of Representatives returned to Springfield Sept. 9 to negotiate and pass controversial energy legislation.
Meanwhile, farmers and their families throughout Illinois are now eligible for a program that seeks to connect farmers with mental health providers and resources through a Farmer Assistance Helpline.
This weekend marks the 20th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, and a ceremony was held on the Capitol lawn Sept. 10 to honor Illinois' fallen firefighters.
Vaccine-or-test mandate deadline extended for schools
A new Executive Order issued by Gov. Pritzker gives schools two additional weeks to implement his COVID-19 vaccine-or-test mandate. Still, school administrators across the state are scrambling to meet the new Sept. 19 deadline.
On Aug. 26, Gov. Pritzker issued Executive Order 2021-20, which stated that all schools, public and private, must require teachers, staff, and administrators to either get vaccinated or be tested at least once a week. This order gave schools a deadline of Sept. 5 to implement a testing procedure for unvaccinated employees.
After school superintendents expressed grave concerns about the possibility of getting a testing process and system up and running in just 10 days, the Governor issued yet another Executive Order extending the deadline by two weeks.
Stewart said that while he appreciates the extra time given to schools, he fears that 24 days still isn't sufficient time for school officials to implement and turn around a testing program—something no superintendent has prior experience doing.
SHIELD, the University of Illinois' COVID-19 saliva testing program, is available for schools to use; however, SHIELD has said that it takes up to six weeks to onboard schools into its program.
School officials are also growing concerned that the Illinois State Board of Education has yet to issue guidance on the Governor's Executive Order, despite it being more than two weeks since the order was issued.
Stewart said the Governor needs to provide Illinois' valued community education administrators with more time, guidance and resources to get a compliant testing system up and running.
Energy legislation passes the House
On Sept. 9, the House of Representatives reconvened to continue to negotiate and debate the controversial energy legislation that was pushed out of the Senate in the early morning hours of Sept. 1.
Building off work done in the Senate the previous week, the proposal – now contained in Senate Bill 2408 – includes many of the same sweeping provisions from the original Senate legislation, Senate Bill 18.
Concerns with the energy package include:
Gives nearly $700 million in taxpayer funds to bailout Exelon.
Creates the largest utility rate increase in Illinois history.
Requires the closure of all private-owned natural gas facilities by 2045.
Requires the closure of all private-owned coal plants by 2030.
Gives private companies the power to invoke eminent domain in nine counties, stretching from Pike County to Clark County, to build out new transmission lines.
Excludes wind and solar from the same ethical standards that traditional energy must follow.
One of the most notable changes made in the House of Representatives includes moving up the closure date of the Prairie State Coal Plant in Southern Illinois and CWLP Coal Plant in Central Illinois by seven years, requiring a closure date of 2038 unless they hit a 45 percent carbon reduction target by 2035.
Senate Bill 2408 passed the House on Sept. 9 by a vote of 83 to 33. The Senate is scheduled to return on Sept. 13 to take up the legislation.
Mental health resources expanding for Illinois farmers
A pilot program started in 2019 is expanding to help farmers and their families facing stress-related mental health problems.
The Illinois Department of Agriculture recently announced during the annual Farm Progress Show that the Farm Family Resource Initiative pilot program, which currently serves six Illinois counties, will be expanded to all 102 counties throughout the state. The expansion was made possible through a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The expansion means famers across the state will be able to connect with mental health providers and resources through a Farmer Assistance Helpline. The hotline is also expanding to include text and e-mail communication options.
The program is administered under the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine Center for Rural Health and Social Services Development. Famers and their families seeking assistance can call 1-833-FARM-SOS. The line is open 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
20th anniversary of 9/11
September 11, 2021, marks the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people.
Americans across the nation were in shock and faced unimaginable fear. The devastation, destruction and loss that occurred two decades ago would go on to leave a lasting mark on the nation.
Stewart said he was working at his office when he heard about the first plane crashing into the World Trade Center. He said he turned on the television in the conference room and watched the tragic events unfold with all of his staff.
Now observed as Patriot Day, Sept. 11 serves as a yearly tribute to the victims, survivors, and first responders who were impacted on 9/11/2001.
Illinois Fallen Firefighter Memorial and Medal of Honor Ceremony
On Sept. 10, firefighters from across the state gathered for the 28th annual Illinois Fallen Firefighter Memorial and Medal of Honor Ceremony at the Capitol.
The memorial ceremony is held annually to honor firefighters who died in service and recognize those who went above and beyond the call of duty. As the ceremony was unable to be held last year, this year's ceremony will pay respect to firefighters lost in 2019 and in 2020.
Heroes honored in this year's ceremony include:
Captain Jacob Ringering, Godfrey Fire Protection District
Firefighter Kody Vanfossan, Christopher Fire Department
Firefighter Mario Araujo, Chicago Fire Department
Firefighter Dylan Cunningham, South Holland Fire Department
Firefighter Robert Reisinger, River Grove Fire Department
Firefighter Edward Singleton, Chicago Fire Department
Paramedic Robert Truevillian, Chicago Fire Department
The memorial ceremony began in the State Capitol Complex with the presentation of colors and an invocation at the Illinois Fallen Firefighter Memorial, followed by the Medal of Honor Ceremony at the Bank of Springfield Center in downtown Springfield.
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Christians are 'evil' for backing marriage, says Tesco R&D boss
Nick Lansley is the Head of Research and Development for the Tesco website.
Christians are "evil" if they resist the redefinition of marriage to allow for same-sex marriage, the Head of Research and Development at Tesco.com has said.
The inflammatory comment came as news emerged that the supermarket giant is selling a drink degradingly called "P***y Natural Energy", in a limited edition can exclusive to Tesco.
The company has already faced criticism for dumping its support for the Cancer Research 'Race for Life' and sponsoring London's gay pride festival.
If you won't be shopping at Tesco this Christmas, tell them so on their Facebook page: facebook.com/tesco or email CEO Philip Clarke: philip.clarke@uk.tesco.com
The "evil Christians" comment was made by Nick Lansley, Head of Research and Development for the Tesco website.
He wrote: "I'm also campaigning against evil Christians (that's not all Christians, just bad ones) who think that gay people should not lead happy lives and get married to their same-sex partners."
The comments appeared on Mr Lansley's profile page on the photo-sharing website, Flickr.com, where he lists his employment as "Head of R&D at Tesco.com". But following complaints to Tesco the remarks have now been removed.
Earlier this year, a Christian housing manager from Manchester was demoted and had his salary slashed by 40 per cent for posting a moderate comment on Facebook, saying churches shouldn't be forced to host homosexual civil partnerships if they don't want to.
According to the Tesco website, the offensively named drink "is a 100% natural light and refreshing Lychee & Grenadilla flavoured energy drink that contains no taurine, preservatives or synthetic caffeine."
It adds that the drink: "is supporting Cancer Research UK with a limited edition can exclusive to Tesco with five pence from each sale going back to the charity for its life saving research."
Director of The Christian Institute, Colin Hart, said: "I won't be shopping at Tesco this Christmas, and I am repeatedly hearing from other Christians who have already come to the same conclusion.
"Mr Lansley is entitled to his opinions, and Christians are entitled to choose not to shop at Tesco.
"The decision by Tesco to sell an offensively named drink shows very poor judgment, even if 5p from every can goes to Cancer Research. Come on, Tesco, you are meant to be a family-friendly store. Start acting like it."
Tesco funds Gay Pride but drops support for Cancer Research (15 November 2011)
Video: Tesco slow to refund Christian over Halal lamb (14 October 2010)
Tesco under fire for selling skimpy school skirt (22 September 2010)
'Respect traditional view of marriage'
Coalition for Marriage on threat of no-fault divorce


Posted on 01/22/2019 by Ari Strauss	in Live Review, Local Spotlight and tagged 19th Street Band, Americana, Arlington, country, The Hamilton Live, Virginia.
The 19th Street Band played at The Hamilton Live recently, opening for Town Mountain. Ari Strauss went along for the ride, and he captured some terrific pictures of the band.
On the 19th Street Band's website, the members recount their origin story! Caolaidhe Davis, guitarist and vocalist, moved to the United States from Northern Ireland in 2005. He met Meghan, a classical vionist, while she was working at an Irish pub and teaching music. Not too long later, Caolaidhe and Meghan married!
Meghan and Caolaidhe soon found themselves living on 19th Street in Arlington, writing songs, and they formed the 19th Street Band, recruiting drummer Patty Dougherty and bassist Greg Hardin.
Catch the 19th Street Band locally in a spate of dates around DC metro in the near future. See the touring schedule on the band's website.
Here are some photos of the 19th Street Band performing at The Hamilton Live on Jan. 18, 2019. All photos copyright and courtesy of Ari Strauss.


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Republican voters prefer 'new ideas' over experience
Republican presidential candidate, businessman Donald Trump holds up a bible that was given to him by his mother as he speaks during the Values Voter Summit on Friday, Sept. 25, 2015, in Washington.
Image: Jose Luis Magana/Associated Press
By Sergio Hernandez 2015-10-06 16:32:50 UTC
When it comes to presidential candidates, it turns out Republicans don't care much about what's on their resume.
A new poll from the Pew Research Center found that since March, more Republican and Republican-leaning registered voters prefer candidates with "new ideas and a different approach" to those with "experience and a proven record."
Back then, GOP voters preferred a strong track record 57% to 36%. Today, the trend has flipped, with voters preferring fresh ideas by more than two-to-one (65% to 29%).
That's a stark contrast to Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters, who are more evenly divided. Half of those those voters say they prefer experience and a proven record—up from 46% in March.
The preference for newly-minted politicians could could explain some of the recent poll numbers in the Republican field, which show businessman Donald Trump, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina and neurosurgeon Ben Carson beating their more politically seasoned rivals.
Topics: Election 2016, Politics, polls, U.S., U.S., World


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Language Schools in Spain
Do you want to learn Spanish in your new home? Our directory listing of language schools in Spain will help you find the class that's right for you:
Are you an expat service provider? Add your services to the Expatica Directory!
All Language Resources
All Language Resources is an online language course search platform. Whether you're looking for a language-learning app or a classroom-based course in your new home, they help you find the right program for you. So, whatever your language learning needs, check out All Language Resources.
Lingoda
Lingoda is an innovative online language school accessible worldwide. Their learning platform will ensure you're speaking like a local before you know it. Choose the language and time that suits you and join one of Lingoda's professionally taught classes from the comfort of your home.
3PHASE Lingua Group
3PHASE Lingua Group is a language course provider operating in Spain. Their popular 'superlearning' method helps students learn Spanish, English, German, French and Italian. The school has locations in Palma de Mallorca and Tenerife. Boost your language skills with 3PHASE Lingua Group.
Academia AIFP
Academia AIFP is a language school based in Málaga. For over 20 years, the school has been running Spanish courses for students with various backgrounds and abilities. The school is an accredited Instituto Cervantes school. Whatever your want from Spanish, you'll find it with Academia AIFP.
Academia CILE
Academia CILE is a language school in Málaga. Located in the historic heart of the city, the school offers highly-qualified teaching in small groups of up to 8 students. Accommodation is available across the city. Academia CILE offers a range of activities alongside their Spanish courses.
Academia Contacto
Academia Contacto is a language school based in Madrid. They specialize in teaching Spanish to foreign students and young professionals. They run a range of courses for all abilities alongside a roster of extra-curricular activities. These include everything from nights out to city excursions.
Be Canary School
Be Canary School is a Spanish language school located on the island of Gran Canaria. They specialize in conversational Spanish, with a range of programs tailored to various learning levels and speeds. So, boost your language skills in your new home with Be Canary School.
Berlitz is a leading provider of language training. With locations across Spain, their professional teachers offer effective tuition for all ages based on a program that works for you. So, whether you want individual business tuition or group conversation, find the right course with Berlitz.
Canarias Cultural
Canarias Cultural is a language school based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. They run a range of Spanish language courses for all nationalities and abilities. At Canarias Cultural, students can choose from a range of accommodation, ensuring a well-rounded Spanish education.
Cervantes Escuela Internacional
Cervantes Escuela Internacional is a Spanish language school in Malaga. They offer courses for all levels, focusing on classroom learning and lively activities where students can test their skills. Students can stay at the schools network of apartments, ensuring a welcoming stay in Malaga.
Colegio de España
Colegio de España is a leading language school in the university city of Salamanca. The school offers more than 20 different courses, each taught by experienced teachers. So, embrace both Spanish language and culture at the Colegio de España.
Don Quijote is a Spanish language school operating internationally. From their schools in Spain, they offer a range of language courses for all abilities and backgrounds. At Don Quijote, students follow interactive, innovative learning programs that include a lively calendar of social activities and events.
El Aula Azul
El Aula Azul is a Spanish language school in San Sebastian/Donostia. It prides itself on its fun and friendly learning environment, where students learn from qualified professionals. El Aula Azul is close to the beach, and students stay in the heart of San Sebastian.
Enforex is an international Spanish language school with locations across Spain and Latin America. They offer programs to suit every student, from DELE prep classes in Madrid to intensive courses in Marbella. So, learn Spanish in a way that suits you with Enforex.
Entrelenguas
Entrelenguas is a Spanish language school with a difference. Based in Ronda, they offer language tuition alongside activities that celebrate Spanish culture. These activities promote slow tourism, ensuring students and travelers experience the best of Spain, from cooking classes to micro theater.
Estudio Hispanico
Estudio Hispanico is an international Spanish language school with locations across Spain. Students choose from a range of classes and schools, and can combine cities. So, whether you want to learn in Seville or San Sebastian, find the right class for you with Estudio Hispanico.
Expanish
Expanish is a language school with locations in Spain and Argentina. The schools combine cultural immersion, real-world interactions, and classroom-based learning. Give yourself the best chance of advancing your Spanish skills by signing up for a class with Expanish.
FU International Academy
FU International Academy is a language school based on the island of Tenerife. With two locations on the island, they provide a range of language courses for all abilities and backgrounds. Students learn in a fun, relaxed atmosphere with cultural activities to improve your learning.
Giralda Center
Giralda Center is a language school based in Seville. They provide courses in several languages, specializing in culture-led Spanish immersion courses. Students stay in apartments and home stays in the city center, ensuring a fully immersive experience regardless of language ability.
Gran Canaria School of Languages
The Gran Canaria School of Languages is a language school in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Since 1964, the school has offered a range of Spanish classes all year round, either privately or in small groups. The school is located near the popular local beach.
Hispania is a Spanish language school in Valencia. They offer courses for a range of abilities, welcoming students from around the world to the lively city of Valencia. Students study in classrooms and enjoy cultural and social activities, fully immersing themselves in Spanish life.
Hola Spanish Courses
Hola Spanish Courses is a language school in the beautiful resort town of Sitges. The school is family-run and provides a friendly, welcoming learning environment focusing on the needs of students. So, wherever you are on your Spanish journey, get there with Hola Spanish Courses.
inlingua is an international language school with locations across the world. They combine effective classroom and online learning within a creative and innovative educational program. So, whatever language you want to learn, boost your skills with inlingua.
Instituto de Idiomas Ibiza
Instituto de Idiomas Ibiza is a language school based on the Mediterranean island of Ibiza. Part of the Instituto Cervantes network of language centers, the school offers a wide range of programs for all abilities. Students can also take part in a range of activities.
Instituto Hispánico de Murcia
The Instituto Hispánico de Murcia is a Spanish language center based in Murcia. Focusing on providing a fun, encouraging learning environment, the school offers a range of lessons. The school is based in the historic center of Murcia, an ideal place to learn Spanish.
K2 Internacional
K2 Internacional is a language school based in Cadiz. A Instituto Cervantes school, it offers a memorable Spanish language learning experience. Students can stay in shared accommodation within the city and take part in a range of social and cultural activities.
Kingsbrook Idiomas
Kingsbrook Idiomas is a language school based in Barcelona. They offer learners a range of Spanish programs, from beginner conversational classes to dedicated exam preparation. If you're looking for a culture language school in Barcelona, consider taking a class with Kingsbrook Idiomas.
La Janda Academia de Idiomas
La Janda Academia de Idiomas is a Spanish language school. Located in the picturesque village of Vejer de la Frontera, the family-run school offers various courses. Students can combine lessons with a range of activities, including surfing, flamenco and horse riding.
La Playa Escuela de Español
La Playa Escuela de Español is a language school on the Costa del Sol. Located in the lively coastal town of La Cala del Moral, the school combines proximity to nature with welcoming, relaxing learning. Make your language learning feel like a holiday with La Playa.
Meraki is an educational travel agency that combines unforgettable experiences with language tuition. They offer a number of combination holidays where students can learn English or Spanish alongside outdoor activities. These can range from hiking and mountain biking to a yoga retreat.
Olé Languages!
Olé Languages! is a language school located in Barcelona. From their central location, they offer a range of short-term and long-term courses for all ages and abilities. Courses include a range of cultural outings that help students practice their skills in real life scenarios.
Onspain School
Onspain is a Spanish language school located in Malaga. An Instituto Cervantes school, Onspain offers courses for all abilities and ages at two locations in the city. Students can stay at accommodation in the city, ensuring full immersion into Spanish life and culture.
Quorum Language School
Quorum Language School is a language school based in the city of Nerja. The school runs a range of affordable programs for all abilities and is accredited by the Instituto Cervantes. So, you'll get the quality education to take your Spanish to the next level.
Route 66 Idiomas
Route 66 Idiomas is a language school based in the heart of Valencia. The school offers courses for students of all nationalities, ages, and abilities, including exam preparation. Students can also stay in accommodation in the city, ensuring a truly cultural language learning experience.
Solbarcelona
Solbarcelona is a language school based in Barcelona. For over 20 years, they've been teaching Spanish to international learners from around the world. Students can choose from a range of courses to suit their ability, ensuring the right level of teaching at Solbarcelona.
Spanish Language Center
The Spanish Language Center is a language school in Marbella. It welcomes students from around the world to learn Spanish in its encouraging learning environment. Students can stay at accommodation in the city, so you'll get a fully immersive experience at the Spanish Language Center.
Speakeasy Language School
Speakeasy Language School is a language school based in Barcelona. The school offers courses that encourage their communicative immersion approach to learning. The school has state-of-the-art facilities ensuring students get the most out of their stay in Barcelona.
Tandem is a language school located in the city of San Sebastian/Donostia. At their city-center facility, the school runs language courses for all ages and abilities. Students stay in the city, and can enjoy the beautiful Basque Country through a variety of cultural activities.
Taronja is a language school located in Valencia. The school offers an innovative approach to language learning, with lessons taught by free-spirited teachers. For a fresh new way to learn Spanish, see what's on offer at the Taronja language school.
Tellus Languages Abroad
Tellus Languages Abroad is a leading provider of language courses across Europe. With their network of established schools, you'll learn your chosen language while immersed in the local culture. So, whether you learn Spanish in Madrid or German in Berlin, Tellus has the right school.
Swarthmore Centre, 78 Mutley Plain, Plymouth, Devon PL4 6LF
The Universitat de Barcelona is a leading higher education facility in Barcelona. Alongside a range of bachelors and masters programs, the university also runs a number of language courses for Spanish learners. Get a degree or boost your Spanish at Universitat de Barcelona.
Versión Original Barcelona
Versión Original Barcelona is a language school located in Barcelona. They specialize in small learning groups that encourage confidence and conversation. The school is located just 5 minutes walking from Plaça Catalunya. Students come from around the world to study with Versión Original.
Will Languages
Will Languages is a language school located in the heart of Girona. The school teaches students from around the world Spanish and Catalan, focusing on communicative, flexible teaching. So, for a different language learning experience, enrol on a course with Will Languages.


Carle Wheeler was doing what one does on a vacation in the sun, hanging with her 5-year-old daughter in the pool of the hotel in Pasadena, Calif., where they were staying, when a man approached them.
The two moved to the other end of the pool, but he approached again and she confronted him on what appeared to be "blatant racism," she said. He claimed he worked for the health department when she asked, Wheeler said in an interview with The Washington Post.
The incident, the end of which was captured on camera in a video that has been seen more than 2 million times, is the latest in a long line of episodes to draw scrutiny to the way black people are treated as objects of suspicion by others while engaged in seemingly quotidian activities in public. In recent months, episodes in which black people were questioned or had the police called on them — while renting an apartment through Airbnb, barbecuing, falling asleep in a common room at Yale or sitting in a Starbucks — have drawn wide attention, much of it fueled by strong emotions on social media and giving rise to the hashtag #LivingWhileBlack. Some of these incidents were resolved only after the people targeted were questioned or arrested by police.
The video of the confrontation at Wheeler's hotel begins as she and the man, who has not been identified, discuss the conflict with a woman who works at the hotel, the Westin.
"You didn't ask anyone else," Wheeler retorts in the video. She told The Post that there were other people in the pool area, including a white couple that had been in the hot tub nearby, whom the man had not approached.
As they were talking to the hotel employee, the man continued to taunt her young daughter, Wheeler said. The video shows the little girl being led away by a relative as the man says, "It's only a shower, young lady. Don't worry." Wheeler said the man said the phrase to her daughter twice.
A hotel manager arrives and threatens to call the police, before asking the man to leave. Wheeler said she was upset that the manager let the man walk away while asking her to step to the side to talk to him, though the manager did say on the video that he planned to talk to the man later.
"Only after speaking with the white bystanders who corroborated our story did [the manager] instruct the other hotel managers to review the tapes to find the man he had just let go!" Wheeler wrote. She said he does not believe that the man, who the manager said was another hotel guest, suffered any consequences for his behavior.
The hotel's manager, Carl Sprayberry, released a statement that expressed regret for the way Wheeler was treated by the man.
The Pasadena Health Department told the television channel KTLA that the man is not a health inspector and that no inspector had been at the Westin recently. And an inspector would not confront patrons if there had been any sanitation issues at the pool, a spokeswoman said.
The incident in Pasadena came at the tail end of a five-day trip in Southern California. The cost of the one night that Wheeler stayed at the Westin was refunded to her because of the incident.
But she says one of the worst parts was facing her daughter after the incident. Her daughter had many questions, the most pressing being why the man asked them about showering, she said.
Wheeler said she always knew that she would have to have a long talk with her daughter about racism one day but didn't think it would happen when her daughter was so young.
She was also left with the feeling that the hotel's management did not fully support her, writing on Facebook that it upset her that people in positions of power "will not stand up for us when they know it's wrong that we are treated that way." She said she hopes the hotel institutes sensitivity and diversity training for its staff.
Putin hoped his World Cup bid would improve relations with the West. They've suffered instead.


The Annual General Meeting (AGM), where the president (1), vice presidents (3) and treasurer (1) are elected, will take place on 28th May, 2019 at 4:30pm. The venue will be announced shortly.
Members will be electing representatives to serve a two year term as president (1), vice president (3) and treasurer (1).
Who can attend the board election meeting?
All members (including those who do not meet the requirements for voting and standing for election), have the right to participate. However, only members who meet the above mentioned criteria can vote or run for election.
Updates to the Articles of Association, approved during the 2016 AGM, have made voting easier by introducing the option of e-voting.
1) In person by secret ballot at the election venue. Please note that even if you have voting rights confirmed by the Secretariat of the Chamber, you must have registered for the AGM by 6pm on 27th May in order to exercise this vote.
2) Electronic voting by accessing a designated link using your European Chamber user account email. Please note that the voting information will be sent to the designated representative of your company once the candidates have been confirmed. E-voting will open following the announcement of candidates.
3) Assign a proxy to vote on your behalf by 6pm on 27th May. Please fill in the proxy form and send a scanned copy to Mr Graeme Wallace at gwallace@europeanchamber.com.cn, by fax to 010 64622067 or in person at the Chamber office located at Office C412, Beijing Lufthansa Center, 50 Liangmaqiao Road, Beijing.
2. Primary members based outside Beijing without an additional membership in Beijing.
In such cases, these members may give their proxy to another individual member/corporate member with voting rights.
How can I run for elections?
2) Fill in and sign the nomination form. The nomination form must also be signed by both the nominator and the seconder, who must be members of the sectoral working groups. In the case of candidates for the presidency, either the nominator or the seconder or both must be from a member state of the European Union different from that of the candidate.
3) Send the scanned and completed nomination form (click here) by e-mail to the Secretary General at secretarygeneral@europeanchamber.com.cn by fax to 010 64622067 or in person at the Chamber office located at Office C412, Beijing Lufthansa Center, 50 Liangmaqiao Road, Beijing.
4) Provide a short bio / motivation letter and/or 3-5min video (click here) by e-mail to the Secretary General at secretarygeneral@europeanchamber.com.cn by fax to 010 64622067 or in person at the Chamber office located at Office C412, Beijing Lufthansa Center, 50 Liangmaqiao Road, Beijing.
Please click here to download the election notice from Mr Ulrich Weigl, Minister Counsellor, Head of the Trade Section of the Delegation of the European Union, which officially opens the election period.


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ileezhun - Fotolia
Never mind the DevOps maturity model, focus on principles
Gary Gruver shares his thoughts on the DevOps maturity model and why focusing on DevOps principles of ownership and flexibility is more important than following a rigid roadmap.
Gary Gruver
There are few names in DevOps as big as Gary Gruver. He's an experienced software executive with a knack for implementing...
continuous release and deployment pipelines in large organizations. In fact, he literally wrote the book on the subject. His latest, Starting and Scaling DevOps in the Enterprise,'is an insightful and easy-to-read guide that breaks down DevOps principles by putting them all in a context enterprises can use to gain alignment on their journey to continuous delivery.
Gruver, president of Gruver Consulting, sat down with DevOpsAgenda to discuss the DevOps maturity model, core DevOps maturity principles, and how small and large organizations must take different paths on their DevOps journey.
What's your take on the DevOps maturity model? Can that stymie DevOps adoption in large organizations?
Gary Gruver: A lot of people come out with these maturity models and say, 'We had some success in DevOps, and now everybody has to do what we did.'
If you don't start with the changes that are going to benefit people the most, you're going to lose the momentum in your transformation.
Gary Gruverpresident at Gruver Consulting
And what I find when I go into different organizations, or even looking at different deployment pipelines within organizations, [is] that the things impacting productivity are fundamentally different. You look at a DevOps maturity model and it might claim, 'You need to have Infrastructure as code, automated deployment, test automation, and this and that.' I think that overlooks the actual problem each different deployment pipeline might have.
This is about organizational change management, and it's about getting people to work in different ways. If you don't start with the changes that are going to benefit people the most, you're going to lose the momentum in your transformation.
Therefore, I think it's important to start with DevOps principles so people can pick the changes that'll make the biggest difference to them, so they will take ownership for implementing the changes into their organization.
How does scale affect success in DevOps?
Gruver: If you're a small team and you have four or five developers, then DevOps is about just getting people to embrace and take ownership of code all the way out to the customer. It's making sure the code is meeting the needs of customers and stable in production. Then, it's responding to that feedback and taking ownership. It's a lot about helping these developers become generalists and understanding the operations piece of this puzzle.
But if you have a tightly coupled system that requires thousands of people working together, then there aren't that many people who are going to know the whole system and be able to support it in production. In these situations, someone needs to be responsible for designing how these complex systems come together and continually improve the process. It is going to require more specialists, because it is hard for everyone to understand the complexities of these large systems. The ways you coordinate five people are a lot different than coordinating a thousand.
Maturity models aren't the only models of use. Organizations can turn to the Pioneers, Settlers and Town Planners model to reach DevOps efficiency in the best, most organic way for them.
What are some of these difficulties applying DevOps practices from small- to large-scale organizations?
Gruver: What I hear a lot of people in large organizations do with DevOps is they look at what the small teams are doing, and they try to replicate that. They try to reproduce and figure out how to make the small-team strategy work in a tightly coupled system, instead of really looking at the issues blocking them from releasing on a more frequent basis.
They're not asking, 'What are the ways we can address this waste and inefficiency and take it out of the system so we can release more frequently?' They figure if they just do what the small teams are doing and try to replicate that and create a DevOps maturity model, by some magic, they're going to be successful. Instead of doing that, they should focus on principles to figure out what's going on in their system.
Large organizations should break it down as small as you possibly can, because smaller things are much easier to solve, maintain and manage. So, if you can break your system down into microservices and make that work, those teams are always going to be more efficient. That said, rearchitecting a large, tightly coupled system can be extremely complex and time-consuming, so it is typically not my first choice.
Additionally, there are a lot of DevOps practices that can be successfully implemented in large, tightly coupled systems. In fact, I would argue that applying DevOps principles in these complex systems will provide much greater benefits to the organization just because the inefficiencies associated with coordinating the work across large groups is so much more pronounced than it is with small teams.
To build or buy? That's the DevOps toolchain question.
The three types of DevOps work: feedback, triage and automation.
It's easier to train essential DevOps skills than to hire them.
Make people, not tools, the focus of DevOps initiatives
By: David Carty
How to prevent lingering software quality issues
By: Gary Gruver
Listen and learn about QA automation, built-in quality
By: Ryan Black
Why IT Modernization Can't Wait and What To Do About It –Dell Technologies
VMware Your Way With Kubernetes –Dell Technologies VMware
The DevOps roadmap for large organizations: Free ... – SearchITOperations
DevOps principles increase enterprise IT efficiency – SearchITOperations
Deployment pipeline diagrams expose process and tech ... – SearchITOperations


IT Manager - Maidstone, Kent - up to £40,000. The Ashdown Group has been engaged by a Maidstone based FMCG organisation to assist them in their search for an experienced standalone IT Manager to maintain, secure and implement system improvements.
Supporting a network of 60 users both desktop and mobile, within a Windows Server environment, the successful IT Manager will be responsible for the 1st & 2nd line support analyst and will work in close alignment with senior management. Our client is investing heavily in its infrastructure as part of their long term development.
A number of applications rely on Microsoft Dynamics with SQL Server. You must be comfortable offering daily support and liaising with the 3rd party vendor.
The successful candidate will be experienced across a Windows environment, with systems administration, systems design and will offer a strong working knowledge of Active Directory, Terminal Services and Hyper-V.
This is a senior level role, therefore is essential that you have previous experience operating at a similar level. Microsoft Office and proven experience in IT infrastructure planning, development and delivery is also essential.
Our client is offering an attractive salary up to £40,000 depending on experience. Working hours are 9.00am - 5.00pm. You will need to be a car driver as the site is not close to public transport links.
If applying directly via email, please add reference ASH16601ZK to your subject line.


Is your smile in need of a little extra cosmetic enhancement? At Cartwright Orthodontics, we recommend Simpli5 Clear Aligners as a fast and simple orthodontic system that can create dazzling improvements for your appearance and your self-confidence. Instead of wires and brackets, Simpli5 uses clear aligners that blend in well with your natural look to correct minor misalignment and spacing issues. If you're interested in learning more, contact our McMurrayoffice or Bethel Park office today to schedule a consultation with Dr. Gary Cartwright! Our team looks forward to meeting you.
After you've undergone your initial orthodontic consultation and we've determined that Simpli5 is the right choice for your smile's needs, we will capture impressions of your teeth so that customized, clear aligners can be crafted based on them. Each aligner in the series needs to be worn for a period of about three to four weeks – during this time, your teeth are gradually shifting into their ideal alignment! When the tray starts to feel loose, that means it's time to get the next one, and so on and so forth until all the trays have been worn for the recommended period of time.
Patients will also need to visit Dr. Cartwright for a brief checkup every six weeks to ensure that your treatment is progressing smoothly and without any hiccups. In most cases, you can expect your treatment with Simpli5 Clear aligners to last for around three to five months on average, with anywhere from three to five aligners worn during that time period.
What Are The Benefits of Choosing Simpli5?
Simpli5 aligners are completely clear, which means that they blend in well with your smile and will be difficult to notice by others. Instead, they let your natural, confident appearance shine through!
As stated above, the treatment process is exceptionally quick, and your smile's alignment will start to improve right away.
The Simpli5 aligners are easily removable, which allows you to eat your favorite foods without restriction and brush and floss like you normally would – no restrictions required.
After a very short adjustment period, most patients find it very easy to wear and talk with the aligners on.
There's no need for uncomfortable wires or painful adjustments with Simpli5. The aligners are custom-made for your unique mouth, and they should fit comfortably when worn.
Simpli5 aligners cost up to 20% less on average than other similar tooth alignment systems.
It's important to remember, though, that Simpli5 works best for patients with relatively minor orthodontic concerns, such as slightly crooked teeth or mild overcrowding. It can also be used to correct orthodontic relapse (cases where retainer use has been lacking and treated teeth have started to shift back to their initial position) in the early stages. If your needs are more complex, you'll need to explore other options like metal or ceramic braces with our team's professional guidance.


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_National News
HomeSocietyUK close to blackout, while 12% of Germany GDP pays for energy crisis
UK close to blackout, while 12% of Germany GDP pays for energy crisis
Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow - December 17, 2022
Last Monday in Great Britain the entire steel industry shut down because the wind stopped and wholesale prices reached £2,586 a megawatt-hour. As winter cranks up, British factories are getting ready to shutdown, as the threat of small, medium and blockbuster blackouts loom. In the fifth largest economy in the world, thousands of people are using communal warm spaces because they can't afford electricity any longer, and the largest North Sea gas producer has decided not to drill for more gas just when the country needs it. The government has slapped a new tax on it, thus achieving the exact opposite of what the government aimed for.
Meanwhile over in Germany one eighth of the entire national economy is now consumed with paying for the energy crisis of 2022. They tried to hold back the seas in 2100 but forgot to secure their own electricity a year in advance.
These are very expensive experiments
They aren't telling you this but UK is close to nationwide blackouts
by David Maddox , Daily Express
But the one nobody is discussing is the real possibility the lights could go out. Two stories this week should set the alarm bells ringing. The first was that Drax had been ordered to put its (mothballed) two coal-fired power stations in North Yorkshire on standby. The second came yesterday when a power cut left 2,800 homes in Shetland without electricity. In one of the coldest snaps in recent history where energy use has been peaking, they underpinned a briefing received by Express.co.uk that Britain is teetering on the edge of a catastrophe.
According to someone close to Mr Rees-Mogg [former Business and Energy Secretary], his conclusion was: "If the lights don't go out this winter or next it will be more luck than judgement."
His assessment, confirmed by a Whitehall source, was the margins of available energy supply to need were so low that "just one major problem would be enough for the lights to go out."
The reality is that Whitehall sources and former ministers have confirmed to the Daily Express the well-intentioned headlong pursuit for Net Zero carbon emissions has left the UK in a precarious position.
After becoming the minister Rees-Mogg apparently had to badger staff for two whole weeks just to get an inventory of Britain's energy supplies. Were they slow because they didn't want to give him the bad news, or because they had never added them up?
Britain braces for winter of factory shutdowns as freezing conditions strain energy crisis
Jacob Paul, Daily Express
Gareth Stace, director of industry association UK Steel, told the Telegraph that the eye-watering wholesale electricity prices on Monday forced all his members to shut down some production until rates went back to normal.
He said: "We're just priced out of the market. There would be no point in the energy companies telling our members to turn off, because they know that they will. You just couldn't keep going, you just lose money for every tonne of steel you make with [energy] prices at these levels."
Think of what €440 billion euro's could have done instead?
That's how much Germany has spent on energy bailouts and schemes since Russia invaded Ukraine. And it probably doesn't include another 100 billion euro money bomb that was just approved in the German lower house.
Germany's half-a-trillion dollar energy bazooka may not be enough
Michael Groemling at the German Economic Institute (IW) said… "The national economy as a whole is facing a huge loss of wealth."
The money set aside stands at up to 440 billion euros ($465 billion), according to the calculations, which provide the first combined tally of all of Germany's drives aimed at avoiding running out of power and securing new sources of energy.
That equates to about 1.5 billion euros a day since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Or around 12% of national economic output. Or about 5,400 euros for each person in Germany.
They could have bought 20 nuclear reactors and secured half their electricity supply for decades to come.
Trump warned about this in 2018, but this trainwreck has been coming for twenty years.
This article originally appeared at JoNova
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Electric motors give everything they've got from the first rpm, but there's not as much motive power on tap as in the standard Golf's 1.8-liter gasoline turbo four. Torque is about even (199 lb-ft for the e-Golf, 200 on dinosaur juice), but the gas engine has a big edge in horsepower, 170 versus 115. So while the e-Golf gets out of the blocks without hesitation, arriving at 60 mph takes a claimed 10 seconds or so. On the other hand, VW says the e-Golf can reach 30 mph quicker than a GTI, which would mean about 2.5 seconds.
I've just started working on these cars as part of my work as an auto locksmith nottingham. Lovely stuff!
Beep beep out of my way!


Johannes Almer teaches maths, physics, nature und technics at the Ludwig-Thoma-Gymnasium (LTG) in Prien am Chiemsee. In becoming a teacher he took a loop way as he first studied physics at the TU Munich and graduated on quantum optics at the Max-Planck-Institut. Inspiried by his own experience of being a researcher he also likes to mold his teaching lessons in an explorative way, also taking in the students' creative und innovative ideas. In 2015 he got awarded with the Deutscher Lehrerpreis for the school project 'Mission to Mars' together with some colleagues from the LTG. In 2014 he took part in the German Science on Stage festival in Berlin. Together with his colleague Thomas Gerl he made it to the national delegation teachers team and went to the international Science on Stage festival in London. At last he campaigend for Science on Stage as speaker at teacher trainings. Also in 2017 he took part in the European festival in Debrecen, Hungary and received for his project 'Who murdered Sir Ernest' the award 'Highly Commended'. Since 2016 he represents Science on Stage Germany as 'ambassador' in Oberbayern, Bavaria. Since 2018 he is also a member of the German Science on Stage BackStageTeam.
Simply to teach someone: To gain knowledge at something is the basis for students working in an independent, innovative and creative way!
You need to experience it on your own - the question will be put aside 'on stage'!


text:
Nowa Ruda  is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Serokomla, within Łuków County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. It lies approximately  south-east of Serokomla,  south of Łuków, and  north of the regional capital Lublin.

The village has a population of 140.

References

Nowa Ruda

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


By clicking "Join us!" you are giving Citizens' Climate Lobby and Citizens' Climate Education permission to send you email including information about CCL/CCE and how you can volunteer and support our work. You can unsubscribe at any time by emailing gro.y1555757515bbole1555757515tamil1555757515csnez1555757515itic@1555757515ebirc1555757515sbusn1555757515u1555757515.
The 2017 Oregon Stewardship Tour included two meetings with Rep. Greg Walden's district offices, including this one in Bend, Ore.
Citizens' Climate Lobby volunteer Brian Ettling and fellow chapter members recently wrapped up the 2017 Oregon Stewardship Tour.
They held 11 outreach events over the course of 12 days, including 2 meetings with district offices of Rep. Greg Walden, 2 editorial board meetings, and 2 radio interviews. They also generated 4 published articles in Oregon newspapers and 4 press releases announcing local tour events. Overall, they engaged well over 180 constituents during the course of the tour.
Below are just a few of Brian's highlights from the tour, which you can read in full on the tour's website.
Citizens' Climate Lobby (CCL) volunteers from Portland – Barry Daigle, Jason Lewis and I – met up in downtown Baker City at 3 p.m. to start planning for the evening event at the Baker County Library, We were thrilled to see the Baker City Observer announced the event on the front page of the newspaper.
We had 15 people attend. They really seemed to enjoy our presentation. They asked excellent questions to learn exactly how the dividend will be distributed to Americans and how it will impact working-class people who can least afford it. Jason, Barry, and I assured the audience that low-income and working-class people tend to be the biggest winners with carbon fee and dividend.
Nearly everyone filled out our sign-up sheets to learn more about CCL. Many were inspired to fill out constituent comment forms and special postcards to inform Rep. Greg Walden that we want him to act on climate.
It was an exciting start to the day of the tour's Sunday stop in Redmond. Klamath Falls newspaper, The Herald and News, published an article about the tour. I traveled with Russ Donnelly, Suzanne Butterfield, and other members of the Bend chapter to Redmond, 24 miles north of Bend, for the next tour event. We met at Round Table Pizza in Redmond.
Local residents and CCL volunteers discuss climate change and policy in Redmond, Ore., on Sunday, October 29.
We were very excited that 15 people showed up for our event on a beautiful and sunny Sunday afternoon in October, even with football season and other weekend events happening.
Some members of the audience immediately let us know that they did not accept the science of climate change.
Some audience members pointed out their beliefs on why they reject climate change or CCL's proposed policy, carbon fee & dividend. They brought up China's contribution to pollution, questioned the accuracy of weather stations, expressed doubts that coal pollution in the U.S. is bad, and skepticism that the dividend would truly be returned to the American taxpayers. Some questioned the reliability of solar, wind, and other clean energy sources.
The climate change skeptics in our audience may not have been persuaded by our talk or the answers the Citizens' Climate Lobby volunteers gave to their questions. But, we followed the CCL way by treating them with respect, admiration, and gratitude. Towards the end of Brian's presentation, Russ and Brian sincerely thanked everyone for coming to the event, even if we don't all agree.
On a beautiful and blustery day, members of the Bend CCL chapter, including Russ Donnelly, Suzanne Butterfield, Klaus Mager, Kathryn Cullen, and Emily Gibson, met with Nick Strader, District Director for U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (OR-02) in Bend.
At this point, we'd met with 100 constituents, ranging from retired senior citizens, professors, newspaper editors and reporters, former mayors, county commissioners, a city manager, college students, a Tea Party leader, conservative Republicans, liberal Democrats, progressive organizers, working professionals such as librarians, educators, firefighters, and high school and middle school students. We shared some key takeaways we'd heard from those constituents.
CCL volunteers met with Rep. Greg Walden's Central Oregon office director, Nick Strader, for a lobby meeting in Bend on Monday.
Nick seemed impressed with the report. He added that he and Rep. Walden do have a very positive impression of CCL. They do like to meet with us and the Congressman was looking forward to meeting CCL volunteers in Washington D.C. in mid-November.
As far as climate change, Nick remarked that people too often overlook what Rep. Walden doesn't say about climate change. Walden doesn't say that it's a hoax or that there haven't been more frequent and more intense weather events. He does think climate change is real and he does accept the science. Even more, he was an early adopter buying one of the first models of the Toyota Prius, even if he teased about this by his GOP colleagues to this day.
Rep. Walden's district is primarily a rural and agricultural district. Thus, he does take a big interest in sustainable agricultural for his farming constituents. CCL volunteer Klaus Mager gave a succinct report about the progress that CCL's Agricultural Action Team has made in showing the important role in improving farming practices (including incentives) could help with reducing carbon emissions. The CCL Bend chapter will provide Nick with up-to-date resource materials and webinars from the CCL Ag team with the hope that he will be able to provide some Farm Bureau contacts for further discussions.
The day started with a 30-minute meeting with Katelyn Pay, the Southern Oregon Director for Rep. Greg Walden, at his Medford Office. CCL volunteers Sherrill Rinehart, David Morse, Forrest Roth, and I attended.
I gave an update on the most recent cities visited on the Oregon Stewardship Tour: Lakeview and Klamath Falls. I shared my surprise while visiting Lakeview that they are a net exporter of clean energy. I emphasized Sherrill and I were amazed by all of the development and commitment to clean energy in Lake County. I shared with Katelyn that Lakeview represents a terrific model for the future for Oregon and nationwide how a community transition to clean energy while creating jobs at the same time.
Brian Ettling is originally from St. Louis, Missouri, and is a 25 year seasonal park ranger at Crater Lake Park, Oregon. Since 2012, Brian has volunteered with Citizens' Climate Lobby, and he is a Climate Reality Leader & Mentor.


text:
Savage se poate referi la următorii autori care au denumit cel puțin o specie:

 Jay M. Savage
 Thomas Staughton Savage