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[p.114] Within hours of Kleasen's arrest, it was apparent he was not rational. One police source told a reporter Kleasen was a "totally split personality." The U.S. magistrate who informed him of his rights concluded that Kleasen "may have been insane." He was moved to the Bexar County Jail in San Antonio for what was first described as medical problems, but was later disclosed as a preliminary mental evaluation.
Dr. Richard Coons, an Austin psychiatrist, was frequently called on to undertake competency evaluations for state and federal courts. Shortly after Kleasen's arrest, Coons was asked to do a preliminary screening of Kleasen. The psychiatrist was escorted to a room where he was left with Kleasen whom he knew almost nothing about. "He looked like someone who'd just crawled up out of the brush," he recalled. Not that he looked like he'd been roughed up by the police, he just seemed unkempt and surly. He looked big and muscular. And menacing. "His demeanor was frightening," Coons recalls. "He was scary." The doctor thought Kleasen was "somewhat paranoid" but didn't think there was any question he was competent to stand trial.
The first official action about Kleasen's mental illness came in federal court. On November 13, 1974, eight days after his arrest on the federal firearms charges, U.S. District Judge Jack Roberts ordered Kleasen committed to the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri. The hospital was given 90 days to evaluate Kleasen's competency to stand trial and sanity at the time of the federal offenses. District Attorney Smith lamented, "There's no way we can touch him," while Kleasen was in the federal facility. U.S. Attorney Jim Bock agreed that Texas officials could not contact Kleasen while he was hospitalized.
[p.115] Crazy or not, Kleasen kept up a steady stream of letters. He continued to write his Pentecostal friend, Linda Miller, describing his cell and routine while still spinning yarns of espionage in the CIA and big game hunting. Two days after arriving at the Springfield facility, he wrote Miller describing the trip, and in one cryptic sentence added, "If you reread my first letters I told you this might happen in a round about way."
His almost daily letters described a 6-by-12-foot white solitary cell. He mentioned a cold draft through a window, complained about the flu, the intrusion of flashlight checks of his cell every thirty minutes, and talking to other prisoners by way of a radiator pipe. He told Miller about the one small window in his cell through which he watched traffic on a nearby highway, observed a flag snapping in the wind over a small post office, and airplanes approaching a nearby airport which he could not see.
As with his letters to the Jensen family in Copenhagen, he again complained about the weight of the passing days. "You can't let it get to you, you have to be calm and take each day one at a time and lick it. The main thing is to know in 84 days I will go some place," he wrote after his first week. "And so I cross off the days one at a time day by day. A calendar is a must for a prisoner or you lose perspective as to time passing as it is a world without calendars or clocks."
If Kleasen sounded rational in his letters, he was not viewed that way by the Springfield mental health experts who examined him, several of whom prepared written reports in December. They apparently had no knowledge of Kleasen's earlier psychiatric hospitalizations.
On December 11, 1974, Dr. Clifford Whipple, a forensic psychologist, described Kleasen as a paranoid. "He reports during the interview a history of being persecuted for his political views," and that "the CIA and FBI have been after him for years and any time he surfaces they are looking for something to charge him with."
Whipple administered a battery of standardized psychological tests. They showed Kleasen to be "quite guarded in his responses, somewhat evasive, and engaged in some degree of paranoid ideation." He went on to describe him as "somewhat depressed, and in general is [p.116] rebellious and non-conforming." Kleasen would not take responsibility for his acts and saw "his difficulties as the result of other people persecuting him." The Rorschach test revealed him to be "quite constricted, somewhat explosive in nature, and [having] difficulty with interpersonal behavior." Other tests indicated Kleasen was "a person who has a very poor control of self and who is holding on to reality at the present time but with great deal of effort." In one likely important detail, Whipple wrote, "Especially significant on the House-Tree-Person [test] was a figure which was fairly well drawn with the exception of a grossly distorted left hand. One cannot help but speculate that there may be some guilt associated with behavior which the left hand has been engaging in."
As with anyone else who would listen, Kleasen made grandiose claims of post-graduate college education both in the United States and Europe. Whipple's WAIS testing revealed an IQ of 99, which, he wrote, was "not consistent" with Kleasen's claims. Nor was this consistent "with an organic disturbance," meaning a mental illness arising from a physically damaged brain. "They are consistent with an individual who has fairly high intellectual abilities but who is suffering from a psychotic reaction."
The psychologist noted that while Kleasen was "fairly cooperative," he seemed to have memory gaps and simply made up material to fill them. Kleasen reported "a history of blank periods" lasting "two or three days up to a week or more." Such blank spaces were frequently associated with his drinking, Kleasen reported, yet almost no one who knew him recalled his ever using alcoholic beverages. He could not recall what had happened during these lost days and weeks. Kleasen also "had difficulty in maintaining a coherent sentence and he frequently would forget what he was talking about."
Whipple diagnosed Kleasen as a paranoid schizophrenic with a possible psychomotor epileptic condition.
Dr. George S. Parlato, a consulting psychiatrist, reported that during his interview Kleasen said "he might have 'killed … two men.'" His December 30, 1974, report describes Kleasen as paranoid with sudden mood swings. "He is quite tense and restless. … At times he be-[p.117]comes very angry, talking about how he felt persecuted and then suddenly he becomes quite bland, staring vacantly past me, as if I wasn't sitting in front of him." Others who knew Kleasen would later recognize this description as similar to what they observed. Parlato felt Kleasen's grasp on reality was loose, his perceptions distorted.
Kleasen also expressed to Parlato a distorted personal identification with Joseph Smith:
He indicates that he was having interpersonal difficulties in western New York, where "people didn't like me and mom", who were living on a Williamson, New York farm near Rochester. He states that "Joseph Smith" had lived in the area (founder of the Mormon church) and that "people avoided me", to which he made the association that Joseph Smith [was treated?] that way too and for that reason made his "exodus" to the west. Mr. Kleasen then tells that "I fled" the United States of America and went to Sweden and later to Europe, after the "pigs" raided his house, apparently looking for firearms. He states that he went to Sweden in order to contact his wife, a Swedish citizen, to testify on his behalf. Apparently he took his wife to "twenty-eight countries and Lebanon", and it was there that he and his wife were allegedly fired upon. Upon his return to the United States, Mr. Kleasen states that his mother "went (off) mentally" at a time when he was taken to jail in Lyons, New York.
The problem with this description is that no one in Wayne County recalls his mother ever being at the farm.
Parlato agreed with the diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. He concluded: "Mr. Kleasen gives every indication of being actively psychotic, and I doubt whether he could fully understand the nature of the charges against him and whether he could assist in his defense at this time."
Another report, dated December 16, 1974, recording the observations of psychiatric staff members, noted, "He has shown indications of a thought disorder through grandiose and paranoid ideation." Psychotropic medications were ordered for Kleasen "only if he became agitated." All reports agreed that because of his schizophrenic illness, Kleasen was incompetent to stand trial and probably insane at the time of the Federal Firearms Act violations.
[p.118] The recognition and diagnosis of mental illness has never been an exact science. Some mental illnesses can be connected to what psychiatrists call impairment of brain tissue function—in other words, to something physical we know how to measure—but schizophrenia in general and especially paranoid schizophrenia are not among those. It must be diagnosed based on the behavior and apparent beliefs of the patient, and a subjective judgment as to whether those beliefs are grounded in reality.
In 1968 the American Psychiatric Association tried to bring order to chaos with its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The second edition, or DSM II, was published in 1968 and was the basis for the diagnosis offered by Kleasen's 1974 treatment team. The DSM II describes schizophrenia as "a group of disorders manifested by characteristic disturbances of thinking, mood and behavior. Disturbances in thinking are marked by alterations of concept formation which may lead to misinterpretation of reality and sometimes to delusions and hallucinations, which frequently appear psychologically self-protective." "Schizophrenia, paranoid type" is called a mental illness "characterized primarily by the presence of persecutory or grandiose delusions, often associated with hallucinations. Excessive religiosity is sometimes seen. The patient's attitude is frequently hostile and aggressive, and his behavior tends to be consistent with his delusions." That effectively described what nearly everyone observed in Kleasen as a patient, criminal defendant, and client.
Linda Miller had been saving Kleasen's letters. After his arrest for the murders, she agreed to talk to writers for Texas Monthly magazine. When their January 1975 issue hit newsstands, it carried the article "The Mormon Murders: Letters From The Accused." Above a picture of a grinning, rifle-wielding Kleasen, the article began, "Along with its resident legions of premier footballers and country western pickers, Austin seems to attract more than its share of vicious, brutal murderers." It went on to discuss Kleasen as such a killer, setting out the CIA, big game hunting, and paranoid fantasies contained in his letters to Miller.
Kleasen and the opinions of his Missouri treatment team were returned to Austin where a January 29, 1975, hearing was set regarding [p.119] his competency. Faced with the evidence of Kleasen's mental illness, by January 15 the U.S. Attorney's Office had concluded they could not prosecute and notified Travis County prosecutors of their decision. Assistant U.S. attorney Jeremiah Handy agreed to an indefinite postponement of the federal charges. Kleasen's court appointed lawyers did not oppose the continuance. On January 29 Handy wrote District Attorney Smith that this was done "in order that the state murder trial may proceed in an orderly fashion to disposition." Kleasen was brought to the Travis County Jail that same day.
Kleasen was now in the Texas state courts. One federal official told a reporter he doubted that the Federal Firearms Act charges would ever be prosecuted now that Kleasen had been turned over to local authorities. Meanwhile a justice of the peace inquest and the Travis County grand jury took up the case of the two missing missionaries.
On January 23 Justice of the Peace Jim McMurtry heard two hours of testimony, while Kleasen sat impassively, scribbling notes on a yellow legal pad with a pencil. Detective Colon Jordan, Ranger Wallace Spillar, and Texas Department of Public Safety crime lab scientist Leslie Smith were the only witnesses. Spillar told McMurtry he believed the missionaries were dead based on five pieces of evidence: the two watches found with human blood on them in Kleasen's trailer, the human substances found on the band saw in the Austin Taxidermy Studio, Kleasen's clothing found with human blood on it, evidence that the missionaries' last known meeting was with Kleasen, and the five tires from the missionaries' car found near Kleasen's trailer. "All the people in connection with the missionaries from the Mormon Church have all been contacted; people that they had appointments with after the date that they were reported missing, hasn't [sic] shown up to any of their—no knowledge of their whereabouts," he said on the witness stand. He felt suicides would have been impossible given the evidence they found. What became of the bodies, McMurtry asked. They'd been dismembered, Spillar said, then "deposited in a dumpster, trash barrel type commercial garbage dumpster, or possibly put in a fishing hole in a burlap bag." McMurtry ruled that Darley and Fischer had died "at the hands of another," officially homicides. More [p.120] importantly, he issued death certificates for both young men which would later cause Kleasen's defense considerable difficulty at his murder trial.
The grand jury heard evidence on January 21 and 22. In addition to witnesses who testified in the justice of the peace proceeding, the grand jury heard about the results of neutron activation analysis undertaken at the FBI lab in Washington, D.C. Investigators told reporters the tests had positively identified tissue samples found on the band saw as belonging to Mark Fischer.
"If the grand jury finds the evidence legally sufficient enough to indict," Smith told reporters, "we will place a hold on him and wait to see what happens on the federal charges and the mental competency hearing." Everyone still regarded Kleasen's competency to stand trial as an open question.
The grand jury did indict Kleasen on two counts of capital murder. A few days later, assistant U.S. attorney Handy asked that Kleasen be remanded to Travis County authorities. By January 29, Kleasen was in the Travis County Jail. That same day a justice of the peace formally notified him of the charges, informed him of his rights, and set bail at $100,000.
At a hearing the next day, Judge Tom Blackwell appointed two more psychiatrists, Drs. Stuart Nemir and Roger McCary, to examine Kleasen for competency. Prosecutors retained Dr. Coons to examine him as well. Coons was one of a small platoon of prosecution-oriented experts who testified often for Texas DAs on the controversial prediction of "future dangerousness" in capital trials. (Among others, the Nevada Supreme Court found this so strange it later commented in a published opinion that "an industry has developed supporting psychiatrists who specialize at this task" [Redman v. State, 108 Nev. 227, 828 P.2d 395].)
Armed with the federal mental health evaluations, Kleasen's lawyers began to develop a defense centered on his psychological illness. On February 4 they asked the 167th District Court for a trial to determine Kleasen's competency. By late February 1975, they filed pleadings to secure New York records of Kleasen's prior hospitalize-[p.121]tions and to depose people who had treated him. Kleasen lawyer Glen Wilkerson described the federal proceedings in his motion to Judge Blackwell and attached the reports of the Missouri treatment team.
Mental illness exists on a long, fuzzy continuum. The majority of mentally ill people never see the inside of a hospital or significant treatment. Yet courts and lawyers look for that bright line dividing the legally competent from the incompetent, the legally sane from the insane. A defendant may be seriously mentally ill and difficult to represent without being considered to be incompetent and insane.
One important aspect of mental illness is that the sick person often refuses to acknowledge his illness. He considers his state normal; it is the rest of society who is somehow mentally off. Acknowledging that Kleasen was mentally ill neither cured nor controlled it, and in the absence of a judicial determination of his incompetence, he retained the right to direct many aspects of his case. No matter what was done, he would remain difficult to work with.
Texas law states that a defendant is incompetent to stand trial if he does not have sufficient ability to consult reasonably and rationally with counsel, or does not reasonably understand the proceedings against him. Every accused person is presumed to be competent, and if he raises the issue the burden is on the defendant to prove otherwise.
When a Texas defendant's competence is called into question, a jury is selected to hear evidence and render a verdict of sane or not sane. This is not the jury which will sit on the charged offense, and they are not supposed to know what crime is at issue. If the jury finds a defendant sane, he proceeds to trial before the next jury. If they find him to be insane, they can direct him to the state hospital in Rusk, Texas, for further treatment. Once a trial judge has reason to question the competence of a defendant, such a trial must be held, even if the accused insists he is okay.
While everyone around him questioned his sanity, Kleasen and his paranoia seethed and finally exploded. Realizing that his three attorneys were preparing an insanity defense and would attempt to establish that he was mentally ill, temporarily avoiding the actual murder [p.122] trial, Kleasen rebelled. The result was that a workable attorney-client relationship no longer existed.
By March 13 Bob Gibbins filed a "Motion to Withdraw" on behalf of himself, co-counsel Sal Levatino, and Glen Wilkerson. The motion asked to be released "for the reason that irreconcilable conflicts have developed between the said attorneys and the Defendant … as to the mode and manner of the defense … making it impossible for said attorneys to continue to represent the defendant …" In court that day Gibbins told Judge Blackwell, "I don't get along with Mr. Kleasen"—as if anyone could—"we've reached an impasse."
Kleasen did not want to undergo the competency trial, and by then was just as anxious to fire his lawyers as they were to quit. He and Gibbins began to argue in court, with Kleasen insisting he was sane and that their problems really had to do with his inability to pay their $30,000 fee. Kleasen continued to stress that he had wealth but "it's tied up in New York" as part of the harassment he experienced because of his anti-Vietnam War politics. "I have no hard feelings with my attorneys, but the amount of money …," Kleasen said, letting the statement trail off.
During the hearing Kleasen kept referring to the judge as "Gen. Blackwell—the only general I see in the room." Blackwell was a general in the national guard. Some years later Kleasen would begin saying that Blackwell had been a general in Vietnam responsible for many atrocities, and that he rigged a conviction in order to silence Kleasen who knew about his activities through his CIA experiences.
The day after Kleasen fought with his attorney in court, he wrote a notarized letter to Blackwell which, in effect, fired his lawyers. "According to article six of the ten original ten amendments to the constitution I am entitled to the assistance of counsel in my jury trial," Kleasen wrote. "When the counsel I have—counsel who is not assisting me and/or my cause I ask they be discharged as my counsel and that I be allowed enough time to retain another." As this was not done at the previous day's hearing, he demanded that the capital murder charges be dismissed.
In a second notarized letter of the same date, which Kleasen called [p.123] a writ of habeas corpus, he complained that he was not being given access to legal materials, "with any attorneys who may represent me in the future," and "only limited access to the courts" by his jailers. He again insisted that his charges be dismissed.
Also at the March 13 hearing, Kleasen asked to be appointed co-counsel in order to control every aspect of his defense. Blackwell "reluctantly" granted his request, then thought better of it by the following Monday after hearing Kleasen testify at a motion hearing. He withdrew the order.
But Blackwell wouldn't let Kleasen or his lawyers off the hook. "There's no problem in allowing you to withdraw on a trial on the merits, but not on a trial on the competency hearing. If I did, then we'll be in the same boat further down the line," he said. Blackwell felt bound by recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions requiring that competency questions be resolved. Blackwell likely could see for himself that Kleasen was functioning other than normally.
After the March 13 hearing, perhaps trying to placate his client, Gibbins said Kleasen "is one of the most interesting people I've ever been around. He's a brilliant man with an interesting background, riddled with tragedies—and some injustices." Gibbins told reporters he would like to try the case because the state's evidence seemed so weak, but that he just could not get along with Kleasen.
A nine man, three woman jury was selected and began to hear testimony on March 18. What they heard was one-sided as Kleasen had "instructed" his lawyers not to ask any questions or undertake any defense. In the hall Kleasen and Gibbins had another heated argument. "You're going to need that insanity defense," Gibbins said. "I understand that, but I also understand that I'm sane," Kleasen shot back. "What you're trying to do is wrong."
Drs. Nemir and McCary both testified that Kleasen was mentally ill. Nemir felt Kleasen was not competent for trial. Kleasen was "delusional and persecutorial," Nemir said. "He sees the charges against him as part of a conspiracy of larger governmental agencies to do him in. I think he gets confused," he told the jury. McCray also said Kleasen was not competent but could become so. Gibbins and his [p.124] co-counsel did not ask any questions of these witnesses.
Dr. Coons, who had been retained by the district attorney, testified differently. "He has a personality disorder. He does not have a severe mental illness." Among these disorders is anti-social personality disorder, or, as it used to be called, sociopathic personality. These are not people who garner much sympathy from the public or the courts. Coons believed Kleasen could assist his lawyers in defending himself.
Gibbins did cross-examine Coons, telling the court, "I am pursuing cross-examination against the wishes of my client."
But Kleasen then insisted on taking the stand himself against the advice of his frustrated lawyers. Before he did so, Gibbins asked that the jury be excused and the courtroom cleared. "You want to be found competent so you can hurry on to trial and the electric chair, don't you?" Gibbins then said to Kleasen. "I'm anxious to face trial because I'm innocent," Kleasen shot back. "I know for a fact I didn't kill anybody. I don't even know if anybody has been murdered." Kleasen also said he wasn't afraid of any evidence the state may have, suggesting officers "planted" it at his trailer. When the jury returned, Kleasen was the most closely listened to witness of the proceeding.
District Attorney Smith asked Kleasen if he was the same man here charged with two murders. "If there were any murders, I guess that's a fair statement," Kleasen answered. Answering other questions, Kleasen told the jury who he was, where he was, why he was there, and insisted he was sane. He said he was anxious to stand trial and wanted a speedy one. He also testified that he had been denied access to law books in the Travis County Jail and began shooting questions at his lawyers. When Gibbins responded that he was the one who would ask the questions, Kleasen turned to Judge Blackwell and said, "Put him under oath or do something with him." Blackwell ordered the jailers to give Kleasen access to law books in the future.
Gibbins, again under orders from his client, did not make any closing argument to the jury, leaving the persuading to the district attorney. The jury was then instructed that they had to decide if Kleasen had "sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding of the proceedings against him." [p.125] Kleasen and every other defendant is presumed to be competent unless the jury is persuaded otherwise "by a preponderance of the evidence," meaning 51-49, a considerably lower standard than "beyond reasonable doubt."
The jury, which no doubt had observed the bickering between Kleasen and his lawyers, deliberated for only five minutes before returning a verdict of "sane." Kleasen told reporters he was "pleased" with the result and anxious to get on with the trial. "I have nothing to hide," he said. "I want to be perfectly fair with the jury and the judge and the people of Texas." He was on stage again.
Gibbins told reporters, "I would like to have brought out that he's been in mental institutions ever since he was eighteen years old, has claimed CIA activities, and all these other weird things. He thinks this is part of a government effort to get him because he was a member of the CIA." "It is an intolerable burden to try a case when your hands are tied," he said, then left the case with his two co-counsel.
One ironic twist was that the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, a story of one man's attempt to prove his sanity in a mental hospital, had walked away with several Academy Awards shortly before the Austin jury ruled Kleasen was sane.


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Photo credit: WILDLIFE RESERVES SINGAPORE
Community engagements will be held by WRS to name new panda cub
The panda cub, whose gender is still unknown, will be named before it is 100 days old.
Published: 27 August 2021, 12:12 PM
Community engagements will be held by the Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) when it's time to name the new panda cub born to giant pandas Kai Kai and Jia Jia.
This will allow Singaporeans to take part in the naming of the panda cub. The panda cub will be given a name before it is 100 days old, in accordance with Chinese traditions, WRS shared in a virtual media briefing on Thursday (Aug 26).
"There are so many good suggestions coming in, so there are a few possibilities, potentially we'll shortlist a few and people to vote," Deputy CEO of WRS and Chief Life Sciences Officer Dr Cheng Wen-Haur said.
Dr Cheng added that there will be a need to check with their partners from China, as a key consideration is to avoid any repetition of names with other giant pandas.
WRS also provided updates on all three pandas.
As Jia Jia cares and nurses her cub in her custom-made, climate-controlled maternity den, the panda team at WRS, headed by Animal Care Officer Trisha Tay, is focusing on supporting Jia Jia, who hasn't been eating, on her journey as a mother.
Panda moms do not eat while caring for their young, a trait exhibited by Jia Jia. PHOTO CREDIT: WILDLIFE RESERVES SINGAPORE
"Her not eating for this period of time is perfectly normal, because this happens in the wild as well as in the China panda bases," said Trisha.
Her carers have been providing her with electrolytes and glucose solution to ensure she's kept well-hydrated. She is also given a bowl of water and fresh bamboo leaves everyday.
Although the carers have not been able to examine the cub, the close relationship they share with Jia Jia has allowed them to observe significant details about the mother-cub duo, such as Jia Jia properly suckling the cub, licking the cub to stimulate defecation and cleaning the cub.
They have also been able to determine that the cub is growing well as it has been feeding, sleeping and defecating well.
Trisha said Jia Jia is a "very smart bear" who has been "efficient" in learning how to nurse, clean and care for her cub without external help.
There are no plans to put the cub in an outdoor exhibit as yet, as the panda carers haven't had the chance to medically examine it. This is because Jia Jia is still protective of the cub and will let it go only when the cub becomes more independent, which usually happens when it is four months old.
As such, the gender of the cub is still unknown.
WRS added that father Kai Kai is more interested in his food than the birth of his child. PHOTO CREDIT: WILDLIFE RESERVES SINGAPORE
It is likely that all three pandas will not be reunited, as pandas lead solitary lives and do not often mingle with the exception of during mating season.
WRS also revealed that they will try to breed Jia Jia again two years later, with help from the panda team in China who are more experienced with breeding pandas reaching or in geriatric age.
At around the same time, the panda cub will be moving to China to join the breeding population there after it becomes less dependent on its mother. This move is also partly due to "housing shortage" in the zoo, says Dr Cheng.
The cub has been growing bigger and black pigmentation is spreading on its fur. PHOTO CREDIT: WILDLIFE RESERVES SINGAPORE
Acknowledging the excitement of members of the public, WRS has launched Panda Sneak Peak, an hour-long video broadcast of Jia Jia and her baby in their maternity den.
Every day, a video will be uploaded daily at 4pm on YouTube for the public to watch the cub's growth in its mother's protective arms. This video will also be available at River Safari where a zookeeper will be explaining what is shown in the video.
Copyright 2022 National Youth Council, Singapore. All rights reserved. Last updated August 27, 2021

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Home Destinations South Africa Religion
According to the 2001 census, Christians accounted for 79.8% of the population, with a majority of them being members of various Protestant denominations (broadly defined to include syncretic African initiated churches) and a minority of Roman Catholics and other Christians. Christian category includes Zion Christian (11.1%), Pentecostal (Charismatic) (8.2%), Roman Catholic (7.1%), Methodist (6.8%), Dutch Reformed (Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk; 6.7%), Anglican (3.8%). Members of remaining Christian churches accounted for another 36% of the population. Muslims accounted for 1.5% of the population, Hindus 1.2%, traditional African religion 0.3% and Judaism 0.2%. 15.1% had no religious affiliation, 0.6% others and 1.4% unspecified.
African initiated churches formed the largest of the Christian groups. It was believed that many of the persons who claimed no affiliation with any organised religion adhered to traditional African religion. There are an estimated 200,000 indigenous traditional healers in South Africa, and up to 60% of South Africans consult these healers, generally called sangomas or inyangas. These healers use a combination of ancestral spiritual beliefs and a belief in the spiritual and medicinal properties of local fauna and flora, commonly known as muti, to facilitate healing in clients. Many peoples have syncretic religious practices combining Christian and indigenous influences.
South African Muslims comprise mainly those who are described as Coloureds and those who are described as Indians. They have been joined by black or white South African converts as well as others from other parts of Africa. South African Muslims claim that their faith is the fastest-growing religion of conversion in the country, with the number of black Muslims growing sixfold, from 12,000 in 1991 to 74,700 in 2004.
South Africa is also home to a substantial Jewish population, descended from European Jews who arrived as a minority among other European settlers. This population peaked in the 1970s at 120,000 though only around 67,000 remain today, the rest having emigrated. Even so, these numbers make the Jewish community in South Africa the twelfth largest in the world.


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Home Article More On The TSA.
More On The TSA.
Juliet Lapidos writes a good Explainer column over at Slate about the fact that the TSA has never claimed to have stopped a terrorist at an airport checkpoint. But this is the most salient point:
What these numbers don't get at is whether the TSA airport screeners prevent terrorist attacks through their very existence -- deterring plots by hanging around. This is quite probably the case, but it's not obvious that they prevent any more attacks than the private contractors who handled checkpoints before the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001 went into effect.
I think that the deterrence argument is pretty persuasive, but it has limits since a really determined terrorist can probably get by even the new security measures. The body cavity scenario for example, is far from unheard of. Which brings me to Nick Baumann's piece on this arguing that we have no idea whether this stuff is actually working:
It's not about doing something "instead" of the current system -- it's about not doing things that are wasting money and time and not making us safer. It's quite possible that we're already as safe as we're going to get -- and every subsequent airport security "improvement" is just reducing our freedom without improving security.
The problem isn't just that we don't know that; it's that the TSA doesn't either.


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Q: What is the value of the integral of gamma density multiplied by Gaussian cdf? I am wondering the value of the following integral
$$\int_0^{\infty} \frac{1}{\sqrt{\pi } \sqrt{t}} e^{-t} \left\{ \Phi\left( \frac{h}{\sqrt{2\rho t + 1 - \rho }} - 1.64\right) - \Phi\left(\frac{h}{\sqrt{(2t/n) + 1}}-1.64\right) \right\} dt$$
where $h>0$ and $\rho \in (0,1)$.
Is there any efficient ways to evaluate this integral? If analytical form does not exist, I really appreciate any alternative means for evaluating the integral. Especially in what region of $h$ and $\rho$ such that the integral above is positive and in what region it is negative?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Options Maintains Compliance Standards Of SSAE, SOC 1 & SOC 2
Managed Services Maintains Record of Excellence For Industry Accreditations
New York, London ― January 23 ― Options, the leading provider of cloud-enabled managed services to the global capital markets, has today announced full compliance (for the 8thconsecutive year) with SSAE SOC 1 Type II and SOC 2 Type II, further underlying the rigorous security controls and business processes governing Options' architecture and managed services solution.
SSAE SOC 1 reports on controls at a service organization which are relevant to the internal control over financial reporting. SSAE SOC 2 reports on the controls that directly relate to the design and effectiveness of the service organisation's security controls to its clients, management and user entities.
Options undertake Type 2 examinations which audit the operational effectiveness of controls over the previous 12 months.
Both examinations were passed without exception, providing clients with independent assurance that Options continue to operate at the highest levels of standards regarding security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy.
Options has maintained a record of compliance excellence for industry standards and best practices since its inception, being one of the first cloud infrastructure providers in the industry to achieve the inaugural SOC 2 Type II certification in 2011.
Options CSO, John Gracey commented, "Our participation and success in these annual audits serve as a testament to the Options Managed Platform continuing to meet the stringent information security and privacy controls required of the industry. Our 100% pass rate, year on year, validates the diligence of our technical and business operations teams and the effectiveness of the continued security technology investment across our platform to ensure system integrity and protection for our clients and their data."
The comprehensive examination was conducted by authorised independent auditors.
About Options (www.options-it.com): Options is the leading provider of cloud-enabled managed services to the global capital markets. Founded in 1993, the company began life as a hedge fund technology services provider. More than a decade ago, the company made a strategic decision to become the first provider to offer cloud services to the financial sector. Today over 250 firms globally leverage the Options platform, including the leading global investment banks, hedge funds, funds of funds, proprietary trading firms, market makers, broker/dealers, private equity houses and exchanges.


Episcopalians are strongly urged to conduct funerals in the church. Arrangements should be made with a priest as soon as death in the family occurs. Assistance will be given in planning the funeral service and making other arrangements such as burial in the churchyard or in the memorial garden. Any parishioner who wishes to make his or her own pre-arrangements may do so through the clergy.


Beautiful townhouse located in the area of Nueva Andalucia in Marbella. 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The fully fitted and equipped kitchen open to the dining room , Orientation South-East.
Townhouse, La Campana, Costa del Sol.
3 Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms, Built 120 m².
Setting : Close To Golf, Close To Port, Close To Shops, Close To Sea, Close To Town, Close To Schools, Close To Marina.


Dice, slice, shred, and julienne your favorite fruits, vegetable and hard cheeses. Simply attach to the hub of your stand mixer and get processing. The exclusive ExactSlice System allows you to slice from thick to thin with one slide of the lever.
Kindly refer the user manual for trouble shooting steps.


KUALA LUMPUR (BLOOMBERG) - Malaysian prosecutors charged a former Goldman Sachs Group banker on Wednesday (Dec 19), after an oversight earlier in the day delayed his extradition process to the United States.
Roger Ng pleaded not guilty to four counts of abetment of false statements to a financial regulator. Ng didn't show up for his extradition hearing on Wednesday morning as prosecutors weren't aware that his attendance was necessary, Deputy Public Prosecutor Shukor Abu Bakar said, adding a new date has been set for Jan 4.
Ng could be stuck in the middle of a tug-of-war between the US and Malaysia, as he is set to face charges in both countries linked to his involvement in 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) transactions arranged by Goldman. It is unclear how prosecutors on both sides will cooperate on charges relating to Ng and others in a scandal that allegedly saw billions of dollars siphoned from the Malaysian state fund.
Last month, Ng was said to be seeking a review of the order to extradite him to the US, where he would face money laundering and bribery charges linked to troubled state fund 1MDB. Malaysia's attorney-general said on Monday that Ng will "soon" be charged as part of a batch of criminal allegations against Goldman's units, former bankers and former 1MDB employees for his role in alleged false statements made to a financial regulator.
Goldman will "vigorously contest" the charges, which it said came without a chance for the firm to provide its view.
"Certain members of the former Malaysian government and 1MDB lied to Goldman Sachs, outside counsel and others about the use of proceeds from these transactions," the bank said in an e-mailed statement on Monday.
Ng was deputy to Tim Leissner, Goldman's former South-east Asia chairman, who has pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder money allegedly siphoned from 1MDB and paying bribes to Malaysian and Abu Dhabi officials.
In November, Ng and his family had agreed to surrender about S$40 million to the authorities in neighbouring Singapore, who would then repatriate the funds to Malaysia, according to people familiar with the matter.


text:
from ansible.module_utils.hashivault import hashivault_auth_client
from ansible.module_utils.hashivault import hashivault_argspec
from ansible.module_utils.hashivault import hashivault_init
from ansible.module_utils.hashivault import is_state_changed
from ansible.module_utils.hashivault import hashiwrapper

ANSIBLE_METADATA = {'status': ['preview'], 'supported_by': 'community', 'version': '1.1'}
DOCUMENTATION = r'''
---
module: hashivault_pki_url
version_added: "4.5.0"
short_description: Hashicorp Vault PKI Set URLs
description:
    - This module allows setting the issuing certificate endpoints, CRL distribution points, and OCSP server endpoints
      that will be encoded into issued certificates.
    - You can update any of the values at any time without affecting the other existing values.
    - To remove the values, simply use a blank string as the parameter.
options:
    mount_point:
        default: pki
        description:
            - location where secrets engine is mounted. also known as path
    issuing_certificates:
        type: list
        description:
            - Specifies the URL values for the Issuing Certificate field.
    crl_distribution_points:
        type: list
        description:
            -  Specifies the URL values for the CRL Distribution Points field.
    ocsp_servers:
        type: list
        description:
            -  Specifies the URL values for the OCSP Servers field.
extends_documentation_fragment:
    - hashivault
'''

EXAMPLES = r'''
---
- hosts: localhost
  tasks:
    - hashivault_pki_url:
        issuing_certificates:
            - 'http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/ca'
        crl_distribution_points:
            - 'http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/pki/crl'

'''

def main():
    argspec = hashivault_argspec()
    argspec['issuing_certificates'] = dict(required=False, type='list', default=[])
    argspec['crl_distribution_points'] = dict(required=False, type='list', default=[])
    argspec['ocsp_servers'] = dict(required=False, type='list', default=[])
    argspec['mount_point'] = dict(required=False, type='str', default='pki')

    supports_check_mode = True

    module = hashivault_init(argspec, supports_check_mode)
    result = hashivault_pki_url(module)

    if result.get('failed'):
        module.fail_json(**result)
    else:
        module.exit_json(**result)

@hashiwrapper
def hashivault_pki_url(module):
    params = module.params
    client = hashivault_auth_client(params)

    mount_point = params.get('mount_point').strip('/')

    desired_state = {
        'issuing_certificates': params.get('issuing_certificates'),
        'crl_distribution_points': params.get('crl_distribution_points'),
        'ocsp_servers': params.get('ocsp_servers')
    }

    # check if config exists
    changed = False
    current_state = {}
    try:
        current_state = client.secrets.pki.read_urls(mount_point=mount_point).get('data')
    except Exception:
        # not configured yet.
        changed = True

    # compare current_state to desired_state
    if not changed:
        changed = is_state_changed(desired_state, current_state)

    # make the changes!
    if changed and not module.check_mode:
        client.secrets.pki.set_urls(mount_point=mount_point, params=desired_state)
    return {'changed': changed}

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


What are the requirement's for doing imaging. Are they any year timeline requirements with electrical service equipment?
For recommended maintenance requirements (including thermal imaging) I would look at the manufacturers recommendations for guidance and in the absence of that perhaps consider the NFPA 70B "Recommended Practice for Electrical Equipment Maintenance".
Thank you Steve, I will review that.
I agree. NFPA 70B. It's a great standard to follow!


text:
Nikitas3.com
Political issues from the "right" side
Current Events (More than 1,500 previous editorials!)
← Hunter Biden Scandal Widens/ Trump Enthusiasm vs. None for Biden
US Economy Improves / Prez Must Call out US Army for Election Day →
Election Day Unrest Possible/ Complacency Hurting Biden
Posted on October 22, 2020 by Nikitas
Nikitas3.com has suggested that there may be urban unrest on election day itself. The Daily Caller reports:
The (Washington, DC) Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) refused to discuss how it is preparing for potential violence and protests leading up to election day, and D.C. Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser has not responded to requests for comment.
Protests and riots have occurred in major cities across the nation, including Washington, D.C., since George Floyd died while in the custody of former Minneapolis police officers in May.
MPD reportedly spent $130,000 on "less-lethal" munitions and "training kits" on June 1, WUSA reported. MPD Chief Peter Newsham said the purchase was made to prepare for post-election protests and possible riots, though the MPD would not confirm plans to confront post-election demonstrations to the Daily Caller News Foundation Tuesday.
Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) spokeswoman Alaina Gertz told the DCNF that "MPD members will provide special attention (increased patrols) to the areas around polling places to ensure that order is maintained."
Notice that it says that there may be unrest and violence on election day itself (increased patrols around polling places) or "leading up to election day". This comes on top of suggestions that there might surely be violence if/when Trump wins.
All are possible and this violence would come from the left like 'black lives matter' and 'antifa'. But unfortunately for those on the political left, violence on election day itself would be very bad news for Joe Biden and for all Democrats.
Why? Because this violence would be concentrated in cities where Democrats are strongest. And thus if urban voters stay home in significant numbers out of fear of violence, it is going to hurt Democrat candidates and not Republicans.
The old adage says that "you reap what you sow" and these violent leftists have sown some very bad seeds over the last few months that are going to come back to bite Democrats hard. It already has done so. Nikitas3.com believes that millions of Democrat and independent voters have swung to law-and-order Trump directly as a result of the riots.
Election-day unrest may come on top of urban voters who are fearful of the virus and who won't go out to vote in the usual numbers. This is more bad news for Democrats. At the same time, Trump voters are vowing to go out and vote in big numbers no matter what. These voters live primarily in suburbs, small towns and rural areas where the virus is much less prevalent and where conservative voters are vastly less afraid of it. There also is no likelihood of violence in those areas.
Obama Gets Pitiful Crowds while Campaigning in Pennsylvania
Barack Obama campaigned for Joe Biden in Pennsylvania on October 21. The crowd was pitifully small in Philadelphia – perhaps 200 people at most. At the same time, Trump supporters gather by the tens of thousands for every one of the president's rallies in Pennsylvania and in every other state.
This is certainly very disturbing to top Democrat operatives who know the value of political "enthusiasm".
But the big question is: Why is Obama even in Pennsylvania in the first place? According to the Fake News polls, Pennsylvania, along with rest of America, is in the bag for Biden.
But Nikitas3.com has said for weeks that Democrats themselves don't believe the polls and are in panic mode behind the scenes over Biden's horrible campaign. And the fact that Obama is campaigning for Biden in Pennsylvania where Biden was born, and considers to be easily in his camp, is very revealing.
In short, we should never believe these Fake News polls showing Biden way ahead. Nikitas3.com believes that Democrats have 'internal polls' (polls within the Biden campaign that are not public) showing Trump surging or ahead all over the country. Thus we should look at the actions of the Democrats when deciding what the truth is. And Obama's presence in Pennsylvania shows what is really going on.
To add to the Trump surge in Pennsylvania, a Trump rally in Erie, Pennsylvania had a huge video screen showing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris saying that they wanted to ban 'fracking' for natural gas, which is a major industry in Pennsylvania. This image is very bad news for Biden and all Democrats in Pennsylvania where 'fracking' directly and indirectly provides hundreds of thousands of high-paying jobs.
Nikitas3.com has always said that there are unspoken, subliminal signals going out in all political campaigns that have significant effects on the outcome of elections. And that the signals from the Biden camp are very negative, for instance Biden's mask-wearing and his absence from the campaign trail versus Trump's vigorous appearance and rallies. This projects a sign of strength for Trump that appeals to voters.
When president Trump contracted the China virus and promptly recovered, that sent a subliminal message to Americans that Trump is hearty and strong. These subliminal signals are vastly more important than Democrats will ever let on.
In another example, a political strategist named Frank Luntz talks to undecided voters in person. He arranges for voters to come to a studio, watch an event like the vice presidential debate with him, and then asks them directly what they thought.
Luntz found that undecided voters did not like Kamala Harris' personality at all, that they considered her to be "condescending" and "abrasive". This is another one of those underlying messages that candidates send out that can deeply affect a campaign.
The pitiful crowds – or non-crowds, really – showing up for Biden rallies are devastating optics for his campaign. When there is no enthusiasm for a candidate, it affects his voters. It dampens their spirits in unseen ways, no matter what they say on the outside or no matter what the polls say.
In Philadelphia Obama tried to put a happy face on his appearance. But we can just imagine how troubling it is for an allegedly popular Democrat like Obama – a former president and the head of his party – to appear in a super-liberal city like Philadelphia and have a tiny crowd show up to greet him. In another video from Philadelphia, Obama is seen talking to a group of sidewalk activists, and they don't seem very much interested in talking to him. It was bizarre. You would think that he would be swarmed with enthusiastic people thrilled to see him.
Obama clearly sees this lack of enthusiasm. After all, he got elected president twice and obviously knows what works and what doesn't. Nikitas3.com believes that Obama is probably very troubled about this lack of enthusiasm and is re-thinking his strategy. He may very well decide that it is not worth his time to make these appearances for Sleepy Joe. It gets worse for Biden. Newsmax.com reported:
Former President Barack Obama made his first in-person campaign pitch Wednesday for his former vice president, Joe Biden, urging voters in Philadelphia — especially Black men — not to sit out the election and risk reelecting President Donald Trump.
The significance of the roundtable was difficult to miss: The nation's first Black president urged Black men especially not to give into apathy. The host city, Philadelphia, is among the Democratic bastions in battleground states where Black turnout four years ago fell off from Obama's 2012 reelection in large enough numbers to flip key states to Trump's column and deliver him the presidency.
Obama, 59, said he understood young voters' skepticism and disinterest, recalling his own attitude decades ago. "I'll confess, when I was 20 years old, I wasn't all that woke," he said, adding that young Black men are "not involved because they're young and they're distracted."
This is another sign that Biden is in trouble with a group that should be in the bag for him. Democrats know darned well that old, white Biden has very little appeal to young black voters, and that Trump is reaching out to blacks of every age.
A black radio host named Charlamagne tha God says that Trump is successfully appealing to young blacks. This will probably lead to a significant shift in voters. If some young blacks are voting for Trump while other don't bother going out to vote for Biden, then that is a significant change in the electorate and a double-whammy for Biden.
This all comes under the heading of "complacency" and it can take many forms. For instance, Hillary Clinton was so sure that she was going to win after reading the fake polls that she didn't campaign in crucial states and she subsequently lost. This complacency also led many Hillary voters to stay home; they didn't think that their vote was needed.
Meanwhile there could be major complacency among Democrats in 2020. If Biden voters think that their candidate is going to win easily – as many fake polls suggest – millions of them may neglect to go out to vote. This is why Democrats and Hollywood celebrities are suddenly sending out panicked messages for everyone to go out to vote.
At the same time, Trump voters are enthusiastic and are vowing to go out and vote no matter what happens.
Complacency was shown in another form that hammered the Democrats. Left-wing Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg assumed that Hillary was going to win and so she stayed on the Court even though she was sick. If she had retired when Obama was president there would have been a liberal replacement. But then she died when Trump was president and we are seeing conservative Amy Coney Barrett elevated to the Court to replace Ginsburg.
Romney Did Not Vote for Trump
Famous Republican political jackass Mitt Romney, who is now a US senator from Utah, has said that he did not vote for president Trump when he cast an early ballot recently. Nikitas3.com believes that Romney's repeated anti-Trump behavior is going to sink him. When he runs for Senate re-election in 2024, Nikitas3.com predicts that he will face a Republican primary opponent and lose, to add to his long list of non-accomplishments. Here are Mitt's major failures:
They started in 1968 when his father George Romney, who was governor of Michigan where Mitt was born, ran for president and was run out of the campaign for saying that he got "a brainwashing" from the US military over Vietnam.
Mitt moved to Massachusetts and ran for US Senate against Ted Kennedy in 1994 and lost. After he got elected governor of Massachusetts in 2002, he served one term and quit to run for president. He lost the Republican primary in 2008 to McCain and lost the general election in 2012 to Obama.
He then believed that Trump would pick him to be secretary of state, but that did not happen. So he settle for the US Senate where he won a seat in 2018 after carpet-bagging to Utah. Since then he has turned into an anti-Trumper. He even voted for one of the articles of impeachment against the president.
Virus Deaths Appears to be Massively Exaggerated Again
Nikitas3.com has said repeatedly that the China virus deaths, 221,628 listed as of October 22, are massively exaggerated and that the number of virus deaths of healthy people under age 60 is probably less than 10,000. The Gateway Pundit reports:
A recent report in Florida shows that over 40% of the state's Covid-19 deaths may not merit that classification.
According to Dr. Andrew Bostom at AndrewBostom.org a Florid House of Representatives report covered an investigation of the COVID-19 deaths reported in Florida:
The Florida House investigators stressed that "nearly 60% [8,058/13.920] of the [COVID-19] records classified by the Department of Health," had "errors," or were "recorded in a manner inconsistent with state and national guidance." They also provided evidence, as noted earlier, that ~10% [1,256] of these alleged Covid-19 deaths were misclassified.
I maintain this latter ~10% estimate is far too conservative, and moreover, reflects compliance with the CDC's April, 2020 Covid-19 death certificate coding guidelines which destroyed the logical firewall between Part 1 "specific cause" of, and Part 2 "contribution(s)" to, individual deaths. Accordingly, to these 1,256 records where Covid-19 is not even listed as the final cause of death, one could add the 175 listing non-Covid-19 immediate and underlying causes, 1,345 occurring in hospice care, and the [3,697-246=] 3451 that somehow classified Covid-19, alone, as both the immediate and underlying cause of death despite acknowledging contributing co-morbidities, or "conditions". This aggregate mortality total indicates, plausibly, that up to 45% (6,227/13,920) of Florida's death certificate recorded "Covid-19 deaths" may not merit that classification.
The pro-virus, pro-mask, pro-lockdown media do not want anyone knowing the truth about this virus. Just look at president Trump. The media assumed that he was going to die from the virus but he recovered fully within one day. This was a major blow to the pro-virus Democrats.
This entry was posted in Current Events (More than 1,500 previous editorials!) and tagged antifa, Barack Obama, Black Lives Matter, China virus, election day, Florida, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Mitt Romney, Philadelphia, president Trump, voter enthusiasm. Bookmark the permalink.
Artworks by Nikitas
Dems Irrational Fear of Trumpsters/ Virus Debunked Again/ 'Greenies' Target Oil
Parler Back Online/ Massive Liberal Over-Reaction to Capitol Protest
Trumpsters Fight Back/ Virus Narrative Shifts/ Migrant Caravan Coming
Another Warning about Jan. 6 Protest/ Will We See Trump News Network?
FBI was Warned of Capitol Protest/ 'Greenies' Kill Energy Independence
Impeachment Mania/ Global Freezing/ Trump Hatred is Sick/ NY 'Green' Energy Fraud
Empty Impeachment/ Biden's Racist Pledge/ Why Some Republicans are Anti-Trump
Don't Worry – Biden Agenda Won't Pass/ Ex-Mich. Gov Hounded
Why China Virus is Still With Us
Capitol Protest vs. BLM Riots/ Amazing China Virus Stat
Elon Musk is World's Richest Man
Pence Will Never be President/ 'Global Warming' Hoax/ Bill Clinton's Terrorist Pardons


Shannon Cason has shared his stories all over the country. A graduate of Michigan State University, he has worked with big names like Spotify, Uninterrupted, and Henry Ford Health Systems. Shannon is a host, MainStage storyteller and GrandSlam champion with The Moth. He is a regular on NPR's Snap Judgment and has spoken at events like TEDx, Third Coast Festival, and Podcast Movement. He may be known best for his personal podcast, Shannon Cason's Homemade Stories.
Shannon started small. He gained his footing with small groups, and slowly his following and career grew to the point where he was performing in front of large audiences.
Shannon has been podcasting for over 10 years, and the best way he has found to grow his audience is to ask for it. When he is a guest on other shows, he is sure to give the audience a place to find him. When he gives talks, performances, or is a guest at an event, he's always sure to get the chance to get or make a shout out for his platform. A place, such as social media or a website, works as a platform—somewhere people can find you and connect with you. Your platform makes you more than just a name mentioned on a podcast, during an event, or in an article.
Watching other people tell stories has been Shannon's greatest asset in becoming the great storyteller that he is today. From his father, to pastors, salespeople, or even strangers sitting at the bar, he has mastered his skills through observation and "mimicking" other great storytellers. His father, one of his greatest influences, guest starred on an episode of Shannon Cason's Homemade Stories, which has shown to be one of the most popular episodes he has released.
Being transparent. The stories and experiences you don't want to talk about usually end up being the best stories to tell. Two of his most influential and popular stories, he says, are the ones about his own failures—such as the stories he tells about gambling and infidelity. People relate to failures and honesty, raw stories told without a spin on them, that reveal his true vulnerability. Be transparent, he says, if you "build a house that isn't real," you'll have to play it out. So when you go to build your story, choose honest materials to craft with.
Tuning into your natural awareness and intuition. Some things you learn and some things are gifts, Shannon says. Awareness is something some people are just born with: an awareness of the people and things around them, and a knack for understanding them.
Cross over into your memories. The best stories are the ones that are true and authentic, things that have or could have happened. Think about the people around you, about their past as well as present, think about the insecurities of others and how they relate to you. Reflect these qualities onto your stories and characters.
Move forward. Accept your failures and embarrassments, they will happen, learn from them and keep going.
Be comfortable. Everyone has a style or way of doing things. It's important to find your own in order to be comfortable in what you're doing and how you're doing it. Additionally, be comfortable with sharing your story. People need storytellers. They either need to hear stories to learn lessons, or they need someone or something to relate to.
Shannon is currently working on courses to teach storytelling and podcasting skills. He's starting out this project by doing things his way: growing from something small, at home in Detroit.
Buy a journal or record on your phone. Record your family and important moments in your life. Time passes, things change, and to be able to go back and look at the life you've documented is very important.


text:
Eric Reid injured against Titans
Oct 20, 2013 at 3:53 PM • --
San Francisco 49ers safety Eric Reid stayed on the ground grabbing his leg after a collision with Tennessee Titans wide receiver Kendall Wright in the fourth quarter of today's game.
Reid was able to walk off of the field with a little help.
Reid, a rookie, was drafted by the 49ers in the first round of this year's NFL Draft. Prior to leaving the game, he had one tackle and one assist against the Titans.
Eric Reid returned to the game late in the fourth quarter.
49ers' Jimmy Garoppolo on throwing with an injured thumb: 'F--k, it hurts'
Jimmy Garoppolo threw the football on Tuesday, trying to see where he is in his recovery from a torn ligament and chipped bone in his right thumb. The San Francisco 49ers quarterback spoke with reporters before Wednesday's practice and was asked how his hand feels after that throwing session. "It's sore," Garoppolo responded. "It was a pretty good throwing session yesterday, just trying to get the motion back and everything, get it feeling where I want it to feel." Garoppolo will participate in Wednesday's practice. Although, he will be limited. Rookie Trey Lance will get the majority of the reps, with Garoppolo receiving as many as he can endure. He'll also have an opportunity to evaluate the "tape job" the training staff has done around his injured
49ers-Cowboys: Jimmy Garoppolo provides an update on his injured thumb
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo played through a significant amount of pain during Sunday's 27-24 playoff-clinching overtime win against the Los Angeles Rams. He is dealing with a torn ligament and chipped bone in his right thumb, making throwing a football a challenge. Garoppolo could require offseason surgery. Right now, he is focused on the 49ers' playoff opponent—the Dallas Cowboys. Garoppolo spoke with reporters via Zoom before Wednesday's practice. He was asked how his thumb felt after Sunday's thrilling game and how it felt on Wednesday as the 49ers start preparing for the Cowboys. "The thumb held up pretty well,"
49ers-Cowboys: Fred Warner injured late in the game
It didn't look good for Fred Warner. The San Francisco 49ers linebacker went down in the fourth quarter and was clutching his left leg in obvious pain. It was a non-contact injury on the Cowboys drive that followed the interception thrown by quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. Dallas ended up scoring on the drive. San Francisco still leads 23-17 at the time of this post. Warner played in 16 games this season, racking up 137 tackles, seven tackles for a loss, three quarterback hits, 0.5 sacks, four passes defensed, a forced fumble, and three fumble recoveries heading into this playoff game, per Pro Football Reference. Update: The 49ers announced that Warner is "questionable" to return due to an ankle
49ers' Trey Lance discusses improvement since last week, preparations for possible start against Rams
By Kirk Larrabee
If Trey Lance has to start at quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers this week in their pressure-packed showdown against the Los Angeles Rams, he'll at least have a good idea what he's getting into, along with a little more improvement under his belt since his previous start. Lance's status for Sunday's game in Los Angeles (4:25 p.m. ET/1:25 p.m. PT, FOX) remains up in the air due to the lingering uncertainty surrounding Jimmy Garoppolo, who was sidelined in favor of Lance against the Houston Texans last week due to a thumb injury. Head coach Kyle Shanahan has yet to announce who will start the game at quarterback, but Lance has been staying ready this week, in part, by splitting reps with Garoppolo after getting all of the first-team reps last week. "Obviously


Government has stepped up the allocation for its flagship programme rural employment scheme NREGA by over 65 per cent to Rs 26,500 crore (Rs 265 billion).
The provision for additional Rs 10,500 crore (Rs 105 billion) was made in the first batch of supplementary demands for grant, which was approved by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The amount has been provided, 'to meet the additional requirement of the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme,' stated the supplementary demand for grants.
The government implemented the Act in 200 districts in the country in the phase I of its implementation launched on February 2, 2006. It was to cover the remaining districts within a period of five years.
Under phase II, 130 additional districts were notified and brought under its ambit with effect from April 1, 2007.
Earlier, while speaking in Parliament, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said the government had already stepped up the public expenditure in anticipation of a slowdown, which would now act as an 'important part of the solution' for the crisis.
"I am happy to note that it is now widely acknowledged that increased public expenditure is an important part of the solution. Our expenditure on education, health, NREGP, NRHM, AIBP, JNNURM and other programmes will, I believe, stand us in good stead in these difficult times," Singh had said in Lok Sabha.
The entire Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana would be subsumed in NREGA in the year 2008-09.


Register Here For 2019 Spring & Summer Tryouts.
All players: Must Pre-Register - see link below!
pre-registering. Please also plan to complete an availability questionnaire within the registration.
MUST PRE-REGISTER: "MUST" = "would be better for all of us, so please do this." It will only take a few minutes, and there is no cost to pre-register – we need your player's height and experience information to prepare and numbers for how to contact you.
COST: There is a $10 fee to attend Try-outs, due at try-out check-in.
ARRIVE EARLY: please arrive 15-20 minutes prior to their scheduled tryout time to check in.
BRING: a Reversible Jersey, a Basketball, and a Water Bottle.
LOAD DOCUMENTS: Report Card, Birth Certificate - these will be required to be uploaded when registering.
Please Arrive 15-20 minutes early to allow time to check -in.
Please wear Shorts, Reversible Jersey and Tennis Shoes.
Please bring a Ball and a Water Bottle!
Teams will compete in tournaments in April, May, June and July.
Teams that are playing at the 5th grade (11U) level or higher may have an opportunity to travel to out of state tournaments.
Each team will practice twice a week. Practice will begin at the beginning of April.
14U-17U teams will be off most of June in order to participate with their high school teams.
B&B Basketball Academy is dedicated to the improvement and advancement of all basketball players, regardless of age, gender, and skill level.
We recognize that our athletes are the future stars of Colorado, thus our mission is to help every Academy athlete become a better basketball player and, more importantly, a better person.
Fees will be a minimum of $1,100 per player for the season, which runs April through July. (Fees Includes: Uniforms, Gym Time, Min. of 2 Tournaments, 2 Practices per Week & B&B Basketball Academy Gear).
Fees will increase for older teams as they will have the opportunity to travel to more out of state tournaments.
1st payment is not due until the start of April. (Flexible Payment plans are available).
All B&B Basketball Academy Middle School & Under Teams will be coached by current and/or former college basketball coaches.
All B&B Basketball Academy High School Teams will be coached by former college basketball coaches.
All practices and skill sessions will be organized around the concept that "Competition Breeds Success".
Each practice has a huge emphasis on player and Basketball IQ development.
We stress the importance of discipline, while keeping a positive learning environment so that all athletes can reach their full potential.


text:
Steve Bracks receives honorary degree from Victoria University
Chancellor George Pappas, Dr Steve Bracks, VC Peter Dawkins
Former Victorian Premier Steve Bracks – whose strong commitment to Melbourne's west helped it become one of the fastest growing and most vibrant regions in Australia – was awarded an honorary degree by Victoria University on 12 December 2017.
Dr Bracks was admitted to the degree of Doctor of the University, Honoris Causa, in recognition of nearly 30 years of distinguished service to Victoria, in particular to VU's heartland of Melbourne's west.
Dr Bracks' contribution to Victoria
Dr Bracks served as Victoria's 44th premier from 1999 to 2007, and as the member for Williamstown from 1994 to 2007. He led the Labor Party to a minority government in 1999, defeating Jeff Kennett's Liberal and National Coalition government, and to a landslide victory in 2002. He won a third election in 2006, but resigned as Premier in 2007.
A longstanding advocate of Victoria University, Dr Bracks is chair of the VU-led West of Melbourne Economic Development Alliance (WoMEDA), a collaboration of local governments, businesses, and the community. WoMEDA recently released an economic development strategy focussed on creating high-skills job clusters in the region, especially in Footscray, Sunshine and Werribee.
As Premier, Dr Bracks invested heavily in education and skills, driving Victoria's retention rate to Year 12 to one of the highest in Australia. He also helped rebuild Victoria's infrastructure and services while maintaining strong budgets and managing a growing economy.
Dr Bracks was educated at Ballart's St Patrick's College and the Ballarat College of Advanced Education (now Federation University). He began his career as a Commerce teacher at Ballarat's Sacred Heart College. During the 1980s, he worked in Ballarat government before being appointed executive director of the Ballarat Education Centre, then manager of the Victorian Government's Employment Policy and Program Division. Dr Bracks later became an adviser to former Premiers, John Cain, and his successor, Joan Kirner.
A leading advocate for inclusion
Dr Bracks is a leading advocate for multiculturalism and Aboriginal reconciliation. He is patron of the Victorian branch of the Australia Lebanon Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and a director of:
Balibo House Trust
Burnet Institute
Eureka Democracy Centre
Hadassah Australia Foundation
Western Health Foundation
Western Melbourne Tourism Board.
He is also a pro bono adviser to the government of Timor-Leste, and worked alongside its first Prime Minister, Xanana Gusmão.
Ann Marie Angebrandt
+61 3 9919 5487 or mobile: +61 401 100 576
Information about graduating from VU, including ceremonies, academic dress and how to obtain academic records.
For more than 100 years, Victoria University (VU) has provided tertiary education opportunities to hundreds of thousands of students from the west and beyond.
Economic Development Strategy for the West of Melbourne


Nominated for the 2017 International Prize for Arabic Fiction.
The North Africans follows the central character, Mohammed al-Ghafaqi and his relationships with his grandfather, the Pasha, his military brother and the neighbors' servant girl whom he loves. It tells of how he is struck by blindness and of the broker who betrays him and steals his wife. Interwoven with this central narrative are the stories of the grandfather, the graveyard of skulls and other tales interlinked with political and social resonance.
يروي الكاتب المغربي عبد الكريم جويطي في هذه الرواية حكاية "محمد الغافقي"، بطلها وشخصيتها المحورية، لترصد علاقة الأخير بجده الباشا، وشقيقه العسكري، وإصابته بالعمى، وتعلقه بخادمة الجيران، ثم قصة السمسار الذي غدر به وخانه بأخذ زوجته منه. وفي خضم الحكاية الرئيسية، تدور حكايات تتداخل بحكاية البطل "محمد الغافقي"، الضرير، ومنها حكاية جده الباشا، وحكاية مقبرة الجماجم، وحكايات أخرى لها وظائفها ومضامينها وامتداداتها وتشابك خيوطها الاجتماعية والسياسية..
Abdul-Kareem Jouaity was born in Beni Mellal, capital of the Tadla-Azilal province of Morocco, in 1962 and currently works as director of the Ministry of Culture for this region. He is the author of six novels: Night of the Sun (1992) winner of the Moroccan Writers' Union Prize for Young Authors, Pomegranate of the Insane (1998), City of Brass (2004), Celebrations of Death (1996) translated into French, Yellow Morella (2002) and Platoon of Ruin (2007), IPAF-longlisted in 2009.


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Coordinates: 18°27'N 70°44'O
Elevation: 83 m a.s.l.
Distance: 97 km to Santo Domingo
The Dominican city of Azua de Compostela, or simply Azua, is the head municipality of the Azua province, on the south of the country, about 5 km north of the Caribbean coast. It is also called sometimes Compostela de Azua.
Azua is the Taíno name of the region where the old city was founded. In this place, Pedro Gallego (or Pedro Mariscal), a Spanish colonist, developed a farm and he gave it the name of Compostela after Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, nortwestern Spain.
The town was founded in 1504 by Diego Velázquez, who later went to conquest the island of Cuba; the Spanish governor of the Hispaniola island at that time was Nicolás de Ovando. The town was in the original region of Azua, where there was a Taíno town and Pedro Gallego had a farm. This place is called now Pueblo Viejo (in English, Old Town), at about 8 km to the soutwest of the modern city.
The first secretary of the town was Hernán Cortés. He lived in Azua from 1504 to 1511, when he left to Cuba and, later, to conquest México.
Several sugar factories were established around the town and pirates came here to get the sugar and other products.
In 1751 there was a strong earthquake that destroyed the old town and a new one was founded on the right (western) side of the River Vía, where the modern city is now.
Because Azua is on the road that goes from the western part of the island to Santo Domingo, the city was destroyed several times during the Dominican-Haitian War (1844-1856). Two important battles (the Azua Battles) were fought in the city; the first was on 19 March 1844 and the second on 1849.
Real Estate Offers in Azua
Here: Comercial Objects (0)


Between September to December 2015,an epoch will come to an end.Started by the US Federal Reserve and Alan Greenspan's post 9/11 attempt to lift the economy and then the subprime crisis that hit the US harder than any cyclone,the printing presses of the Fed will most likely come to a halt.
Rates will inch up.Fourteen years is a long time to print money to boost the economy.Those who were for it and those against both have some positives to draw from this era.
However this is not the end of such measures.Central Bankers of Japan and China have taken over the baton as they attempt to keep their respective systems buzzing.Europe looks undecided.Temporarily stocks,real estate will benefit.
"You can fool all of the people some of the time. Some of the people all of the time. And most of the people once in a while. You can obstruct price discovery and you can disguise and distort the real value of things. But Mr. Market will get even some day. He always does."
The Commodity bubble built over the decades is winding down.For countries like India that import 80% of their energy requirements its a heavensent.For Russia,Venezuela,Nigeria and the middle east its a worrisome factor.
China is at an uncertain period in its economy that ran a sprint for over one and a half decade.Soft landing.Withering of its manufacturing behemoth?Stock price bubbles finally catching up(as predicted by yours truly for past One Year!!).
Too early to write an epitaph.The spread of terrorism,the nucleur deal with Iran,the continuing uncertainty over Greece.
Domestically the frozen Parliament and deferment of GST and Land Bill delays our recovery.The Government focus on non core issues - beef ban,moral policing,is not adding anything to aid the much touted 'Make in India'The Industrial Production figures look too good to be true at times.
On the ground except for high flying PE deals which look crassly overvalued,as I write a local firm that sells Indian-chinese dim sum called WOW MOMO has been valued at 100 Crores....?There is a real bubble in these ecomm firms and I hope we dont have a deluge of housing.com kind of stories...!!
The real economy is not seeing any pickup in investments,agriculture still monsoon dependent,infrastructure poor.The strength of the Indian Rupee versus the $ has been an exception and when the Janet Yellen raises rates it will hopefully not lead to a too severe repercussion in indian markets.
Even if India grows at 5-6% we will still be better than most of the other countries.The long term holds out a lot of hope.


text:
Q: lambda expression vb.net for max value in a datatable I have a datatable called table1 with a column called column1 that is an integer.
How can i get the max value of the column with a lambda expression in vb net?
thanks!

A: Dim max As Int32 = table1.AsEnumerable().
    Max(Function(r) r.Field(Of Int32)("column1"))

or in query syntax, what is often more readable in VB.NET:
Dim values =  From row In table1.AsEnumerable()
              Select row.Field(Of Int32)("column1")
Dim maxValue As Int32 = values.Max()


Bariloche Hostel has 9 rooms with private bath. Five in double, three dorms for 4 people and one dorm for 6 people.
The rates include sheets and blankets, hot water 24 hours ,breakfast, internet Wi-Fi, and the use of our fully equipped kitchen.
We also have cable TV, library, board games, individual lockers and luggage storage.
We add the laundry service and tourist information.
Everything surrounded by a warm and quiet atmosphere, to make your vacation and step through Patagonia unforgettable.


text:
Il passaggio di Agate è uno stretto passaggio caratterizzato da una forte corrente di marea, situato nello stretto di Puget, nello stato americano di Washington, nella costa nordoccidentale degli Stati Uniti d'America. Collega Port Madison con la Contea di Kitsap.

Caratteristiche
È situato tra Bainbridge Island e la penisola di Kitsap, nelle vicinanze della località di Suquamish. In direzione sud conduce verso Bremerton, estendendosi linearmente per circa 1,5 km in direzione sudovest con una profondità media di circa 6 metri.

Le sponde sono abbastanza ripide e coperte di alberi. La costa è per lo più rocciosa e contornata di alghe brune chiamate "kelp", fino a Point Bolin. Le correnti di marea possono raggiungere la velocità di sei nodi; la corrente montante è in direzione sudovest, mentre la corrente scendente è nella direzione opposta, nordest.

Il tradizionale insediamento invernale della popolazione Suquamish era situato sul passaggio di Agate. Qui si trovava la Old Man House, la più grande casa lunga dello stretto di Puget, e il masso erratico con incisioni rupestri chiamato Haleets. Il passaggio era ignoto ai non nativi fino al 1841, quando fu scoperto durante la United States Exploring Expedition, nota anche come spedizione Wilkes dal nome del suo comandante. Fino ad allora gli europei avevano ritenuto che Bainbridge Island fosse una penisola.

Nel 1950 fu costruito il ponte del passaggio di Agate, per collegare Bainbridge Island alla penisola di Kitsap. Il ponte è ora incluso nel National Register of Historic Places, il registro dei luoghi di importanza storica degli Stati Uniti.

Etimologia
Il passaggio di Agate ricevette l'attuale denominazione dal Lt. Charles Wilkes della U.S. Navy che lo chiamò così nel 1841 in onore di Alfred Thomas Agate, uno dei membri della United States Exploring Expedition di cui Wilkes era il comandante.

Note

Bibliografia

Voci correlate
 Lista di stretti

Altri progetti

Collegamenti esterni
Charles Wilkes and the first U.S. Navy expedition to explore Puget Sound
 Agate Pass Bridge

Agate

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Age Sector organisations make joint statement on DNA-CPR form decisions
OLDER PEOPLE BEING PRESSURISED INTO SIGNING DO NOT ATTEMPT CPR FORMS – JOINT STATEMENT FROM AGE SECTOR ORGANISATIONS
We are seeing shocking examples where blanket decisions seem to be being made about the care and treatment options that will be available to older and vulnerable people, who have felt pressurised into signing Do Not Attempt CPR forms.
Alongside this, many of the people affected have experienced fear and anxiety, and feel that their lives and wishes do not matter. This is shameful and unacceptable.
Difficult and painful decisions will need to be made in the weeks ahead, but these must be made on a case-by-case basis, taking account of the risks and benefits, and people's own wishes, through honest discussions between patients, doctors and families. Whether or not to sign a DNA-CPR form is an individual's decision, and they have a right to make that decision without feeling pressurised.
We do not underestimate the significant pressures being faced by all staff working across our health and social care sectors at this difficult time, but it is crucial that we continue to protect people's fundamental human rights. It would be completely unacceptable to abandon these rights in favour of taking blanket, discriminatory decisions.
It is also crucial that governments and health services across our four nations carefully consider the ways they can provide stronger leadership and guidance – to ensure that people's rights are upheld and communication with vulnerable people is handled in a far more sensitive way to avoid further worry and upset as we navigate the difficult path ahead of us.
Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director Age UK
Deborah Alsina, Chief Executive Independent Age
Jane Ashcroft, Chief Executive Anchor Hanover
Helena Herklots, Older People's Commissioner in Wales
Victoria Lloyd, Chief Executive Age Cymru
Eddie Lynch, Commissioner for Older People in Northern Ireland
Donald Macaskill, Chief Executive, Scottish Care
Linda Robinson, Chief Executive Age Northern Ireland
Brian Sloan, Chief Executive Age Scotland
Age Northern Ireland
Age Scotland


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F-Gas CO₂ EQUIVALENT CALCULATOR
The F-gas Regulations came into force on 1st January 2015. These Regulations are concerned with the phase down of F-gases and preventing their release into the atmosphere.
One method of preventing F-gas release is through periodic leak checking of equipment containing F-gas.
The F-gas Regulation follows two tracks of action:
Improving the prevention of leaks from equipment containing F-gases. Measures comprise:
containment of gases and proper recovery of equipment;
training and certification of personnel and of companies handling these gases, and
labeling of equipment containing F-gases.
Avoiding the use of F-gases where environmentally superior alternatives are cost-effective. From 2015 the volume of HFCs which can be placed on the EU market will be subject to quantitative limits which will be phased down over time. In addition, measures include restrictions on the marketing and use of certain products and equipment containing F-gases.
Refrigerant (F-gas or Freon) CO2 equivalent calculator - enables you to calculate the CO2 equivalent of any refrigerant, depending on the Freon number and it's respective weight.
Pursuant to Regulation (EU) 517/2014 of the European Parliament.
Substance in system*
Halotron II B/FS49C2 / FS49C2R116 -CFCR125 -HFCR134a -HFCR134 -HFCR143a -HFCR143 -HFCR14 -CFCR152a -HFCR152 -HFCR161 -HFCR218 -PFCR227ea -HFC/(R-114 replacement)R227me -HFCR236cb -HFCR236ea -HFCR236fa -HFCR236me -HFCR23 -HFC/(replaces R-13,R503)R245ca -HFCR245fa -HFCR245mf -HFCR254pc -HFCR3110 -PFB (Decafluorobutane)R32 -HFCR347mccR347mmy -HFCR365mfc -HFCR404A -HFC blend /(replaces R22,R502)R407A -HFCR407B -HFCR407C -HFC's zeotropic blendR407D -HFCR407E -HFCR407F -HFCR410A -HFCR410B -HFCR413A -HFC/(replaces R-12)R417A -HFC(replaces R-22)R419A -HFCR41 -HFCR421A -HFC/(replaces R-22)R421B -HFCR422A -HFCR422B -HFCR422C -HFCR422D -HFCR423A -HFCR424A -HFCR425A -HFCR426A -HFCR427A -HFCR428A -HFCR4310mee -PFCR437A -HFCR452a -HFO/(replaces R404a, R507)R507 -HFCR508A -HFCR508B -HFC/PFC blendR513a -HFORC318 -PFCRE125 -Pentafluorodimethyl etherRE143a -Methyltrifluoromethyl etherRE170 -Dimethyl etherSF6 -Sulfur hexafluoride
Ammount of substance*
Equivalent CO2 metric tons*
equivalent CO2 m.tons
NEW F-gas REGULATION FROM 2015
Many refrigeration and air-conditioning (RAC) systems used in the food and drink manufacturing sector use HFC refrigerants. The most commonly used HFCs are R-404A, R-134a and R-410A. These refrigerants all have a very high global warming impact if they are released to the atmosphere (e.g. a 1 kg release of R-404A is equivalent to 3922 kg of CO2). The 2014 EU F-Gas Regulation (517/2014) controls the use of fluorinated greenhouse gases in Europe and it has significant impacts for users of HFC refrigerants. Owners of RAC systems located in the EU need to ensure that their existing systems are in compliance with the F-Gas Regulation and that the Regulation is taken into account when selecting refrigerants for new equipment. In October 2016 international controls on the use of HFCs were put in place via the Montreal Protocol – these will lead to a global phase-down in HFC use.
The original F-gas Regulation, adopted in 2006, is being replaced by a new Regulation adopted in 2014 which applies from 1 January 2015. This strengthens the existing measures and introduces a number of far-reaching changes by:
Limiting the total amount of the most important F-gases that can be sold in the EU from 2015 onwards and phasing them down in steps to one-fifth of 2014 sales in 2030. This will be the main driver of the move towards more climate-friendly technologies;
Banning the use of F-gases in many new types of equipment where less harmful alternatives are widely available, such as fridges in homes or supermarkets, air conditioning and foams and aerosols;
Preventing emissions of F-gases from existing equipment by requiring checks, proper servicing and recovery of the gases at the end of the equipment's life.
These measures will build on and benefit from the successful phase-out of ozone-depleting substances which was achieved in the EU 10 years ahead of the internationally agreed schedule.
Thanks to the new F-gas Regulation, the EU's F-gas emissions will be cut by two-thirds by 2030 compared with 2014 levels. Though ambitious, this reduction is achievable at relatively low cost because climate friendly alternatives are readily available for many of the products and equipment in which F-gases are commonly used today.
While the new Regulation repeals the original Regulation from 2006, the 10 implementing Regulations adopted under the original Regulation remain in force and continue to apply until new acts are adopted.
The Commission has prepared guidance documents outlining the new obligations for users and technicians of refrigeration, air conditioning and heatpumps under the new regulation (EU No 517/2014).
As the thresholds for obligations in the new Regulation are given in CO2 equivalents, a calculation tool is being made available to translate tonnes CO2 equivalents into metric tonnes.
HFC phase-down – the "2018 big cut"
The quantity of HFCs that can be placed on the EU market will be cut in a series of steps as illustrated in Figure 1. By 2030, only 20% of the quantity of HFCs that were sold in 2015 will be available. The HFC phase-down is the most crucial aspect of the F-Gas Regulation and will have a major influence on use of refrigerants in all end use markets including food and drink manufacturing. The first really big cut in HFC supply comes in 2018 – when there will be a cut of around 40%. It is likely that HFC refrigerant prices will rise sharply in 2017 / 2018 as there is potential for a significant refrigerant shortage.
The phase-down is based on "GWP-weighted" quantities of HFCs. GWP is the global warming potential of a substance. The adjacent table illustrates the GWP of various refrigerants. During the HFC phase-down it will be important to avoid using the refrigerants with the highest GWPs such as R-404A. The advantages of using ultra-low GWP refrigerants such as ammonia, CO2 or the recently introduced HFOs1 (e.g. R-1234ze) are self-evident. For existing HFC refrigeration plants it is important to avoid leakage – this will reduce your demand for HFCs. When buying new equipment, you must avoid very high GWP refrigerants and, where possible, move to the ultra-low GWP options.
service ban that affects existing refrigeration equipment
In January 2020 there will be a ban on using HFCs to service refrigeration equipment that uses a refrigerant with a GWP above 2500. This mainly affects R-404A equipment, but is also relevant to plants using refrigerants such as R-507, R-434A and R-422D. There is an exemption for very small equipment (e.g. containing less than 10 kg of R-404A) and for plants that cool a product to below -50oC. If you own equipment that is affected by the service ban you need to make plans based on one of three options:
a) Licensed engineer can retrofit the existing plant with a lower GWP refrigerant (it must have a GWP below 2500). For example, R-404A systems can be retrofitted with R-407F, R-448A or R-449A. This usually requires very few modifications to the existing plant and there is good evidence that energy efficiency will improve after a well-executed refrigerant retrofit.
b) Technicians can service the existing plant using reclaimed refrigerant. However, there is no guarantee that reclaimed refrigerant will be available.
c) A system can be replaced with a new system that uses a lower GWP refrigerant.
It is important to recognise that the big phase-down step in 2018 comes 2 years before the service ban. High GWP refrigerants such as R-404A are likely to become very expensive by 2018 – retrofitting or replacing such equipment before 2018 is worth strong consideration.
refrigerant choices for new equipment
The main driver to use low GWP refrigerants in new equipment is the HFC phase-down. Most refrigeration equipment used in food and drink manufacturing has a life of well over 25 years. Buying plant with low GWP refrigerants helps "future-proof" your new systems.
In addition to the pressure created by the HFC phase-down, the F-Gas Regulation bans the use of HFC refrigerants with a GWP above 2500 in all new stationary refrigeration equipment from January 2020. However, the timing of this ban hides an "implicit ban" that is already in place. It makes no sense to purchase new industrial refrigeration equipment with a GWP above 2500 in 2016 – as such equipment will need to comply with the service ban in 2020!
In the food and drink manufacturing sector there are many options for using ultra-low GWP refrigerants in new equipment.
Very high GWP refrigerants such as R-404A should be avoided with immediate effect and you should seriously question anyone giving you advice to use "medium-high" GWP HFCs such as R-134a or R-410A. Ammonia has been widely used in the industry for many years and is an excellent option, especially for large refrigeration equipment. For liquid chillers (e.g. for cooling a glycol secondary refrigerant) there are good alternatives with low GWP e.g. the HFO refrigerant R-1234ze (GWP = 7) is becoming widely available as an alternative to R-134a.
Ammonia is well suited to large liquid chillers. CO2 is already widely used in supermarket refrigeration systems and is now available for a range of industrial refrigeration applications.
A number of new refrigerant blends are being introduced by refrigerant manufacturers – around 20 new blends have been launched during the last 3 years.
Most of these new refrigerants are blends of HFOs and HFCs. They have been designed to mimic the properties of the high GWP refrigerants that they are replacing. For example, some blends have properties similar to R-404A. Two of these (R-448A and R-449A) have the advantage of being non-flammable but the disadvantage of still having a fairly high GWP (around 1400).
Some more recently introduced blends (such as R-454A and R-455A) have much lower GWPs (239 and 148 respectively) but have the disadvantage that they are very slightly flammable. Lower flammability refrigerants are referred to as category 2L in the latest refrigeration safety codes. They are very difficult to ignite and can be used safely in many applications if the correct design rules are applied. It is worth noting that ammonia is also a "2L" refrigerant and has almost never been ignited following a refrigerant leak.
When purchasing new equipment, you should always give adequate consideration to energy efficiency. Over the life of the plant the use of energy is the most significant contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The F-Gas Regulation only relates to avoiding the GHG emissions from the refrigerant itself.
Refrigerant list and properties
F-gas Number:
IUPAC Chemical Name:
F-gas Number
IUPAC Chemical Name
Boiling / Dew °C
Critical T °C
Critical P bar(a)
Atmospheric Lifetime (y)
GWP (100y)
1 PCC R-10 Carbon tetrachloride (Tetrachloromethane) CCl4 76.64 56-23-5 283.35 45.60 153.8 26 1,400 0.73
2 CFC R-11 Trichlorofluoromethane CCl3F 23.77 75-69-4 197.96 44.08 137.4 45 4,750 1
3 CFC R-12 Dichlorodifluoromethane CCl2F2 −29.8 75-71-8 111.97 41.36 120.9 100 10,900 1
4 PFC R-12B1 Bromochlorodifluoromethane (Halon 1211) CBrClF2 −3.7 353-59-3 153.8 41.02 165.36 16 1,890 7.1
5 PFC R-12B2 Dibromodifluoromethane (Halon 1202) CBr2F2 22.8 75-61-6 198.11 41.30 209.8 2.9 231 1.7
6 CFC R-13 Chlorotrifluoromethane CClF3 −81.5 75-72-9 28.73 38.77 104.5 640 14,400 1
7 PFC R-13B1 Bromotrifluoromethane CBrF3 −57.75 75-63-8 67 39.64 148.9 65 7,140 16
8 PFC R-14 Tetrafluoromethane CF4 −127.8 75-73-0 −45.64 37.50 88 50,000 7,390 0
9 HCC R-20 Chloroform (Trichloromethane) CHCl3 61.2 67-66-3 262.35 54.80 119.4 0.51 16 0
10 HCFC R-21 Dichlorofluoromethane CHCl2F 8.92 75-43-4 178.45 51.80 102.9 1.7 151 0.04
Type F-gas Number IUPAC Chemical Name Molecular Formula CAS no.
© PMV PROJEKT LLC 2019. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
error: Dont be so cold! Protected content.


Sort of. My yesterdays Youtube clip ended up linked in a newspaper article related to the videos contents. So far, about 26 thousand views on that small clip.
You can see the article, and a longer version of the video, here.
The links are in the embedded Twitter -posts.
This one is for the Finns out there.


Every Book Ever is a parlor game about literature, creativity, and lying to your friends. Players are presented with real books and have to convince other players that their fake sentences are in fact the real first sentence of the book.
Ben and I started working on ebe in February of 2014. The game has an html5 web client, with a ruby on rails back-end. Within 2 weeks, we had a fun, entertaining, and working prototype. We hired a contract artist to revamp the ui around 5 months into development. At 8 months, Polygon wrote an article about us. At around 9 months of development, we stopped working on the game.
This project continues to today to be a viable business opportunity. There were several factors together that caused us to stop working on the project, but the biggest was motivation. Who knows what might have happened if our book-selling affiliates had ever kicked us back some money.
Create an account at everybookever.com. Bring some friends!