Read parts one, two, three, four, and five of Zeke Emanuel's Africa diaries.
Six boys sit on green plastic classroom chairs in gowns with their clothes neatly folded on a side table. Cloth booties cover their feet and lower leg. They smile nervously.
They are waiting to be called for a medical circumcision.
Eduardo says he is 16 years old, as is his friend sitting next to him. Why are they getting a circumcision? "For hygiene, and for HIV," they tell us. And their classmates are getting one too.
This is the Military Hospital in Maputo, Mozambique. It serves civilians as well as soldiers and their families. Mozambique, which borders South Africa, Swaziland, Botswana and the other countries in the Southern Africa, is at the epicenter of the HIV/AIDS epidemic: Estimates suggest 2.4 million people, or 12.5 percent of its population, is living with HIV/AIDS. But the country's epidemic is not uniform: It has hit the southern region more than the north.
Three separate randomized trials have shownthat male circumcision is among the most effective interventions against HIV/AIDS, reducing transmission by about 60 percent. This is a huge impact. As one AIDS researcher has said to me, if we had a vaccine that effective, we would be sparing no effort to distribute and administer it.
But widespread deployment of male circumcision has not yet occurred. In South Africa the rate of male circumcision is 35 percent. In Botswana, Zambia, and Swaziland, the rate is around 15 percent. While Angola and Madagascar have rates over 80 percent. These are largely unchanged since the research definitively proved circumcision's potential preventive power.
The explanations for inaction are many. There is a shortage of trained manpower to conduct all the circumcisions. There are not enough facilities to perform all the necessary operations. The costs are too great. There are cultural barriers. Muslims in the north and west of Africa get circumcised at age 13. That's probably one of the reasons the epidemic has not made significant inroads into places like Ethiopia, Senegal and Mali. In southern Africa, which is more Christian, men do not get circumcised and will not accept it the argument goes.
But the waiting room in Maputo Military Hospital gives the lie to all these excuses.
It is true that many countries in Africa have few physicians. In Mozambique there are just 1000 to 1200 total physicians for a population of 21 million people. But you don't need a surgeon or general practitioner to perform male circumcisions. It is really a very simple procedure. In just two weeks—one of classroom study and one of supervised practice under a mentor-- a nurse or health officer is trained to perform male circumcision in Mozambique. And it may not even take anyone previously trained in a health field to do the simple procedure. The current complication rates (bleeding and infection) are below 1 percent at the Military Hospital.
In Mozambique, it is estimated that 800,000 to 1 million circumcisions of males from 15 to 44 are needed to alter the course of the epidemic. In Maputo, each trained nurse performs between 12 and 14 circumcisions per 8 hour day. Simple math shows that doing 10 per day, 4 days a week, requires just 400 trained personnel to conduct 800,000 circumcisions in 1 year. This is far from impossible.
Facilities? It would require just 400 surgical beds and they wouldn't have to be in fully equipped surgical suites. As has been shown in Kenya and Swaziland, male circumcision can be done sterilely in mobile units or field tents.
Cost? At the Maputo Military Hospital, with renovation of the surgical suite, the total cost, including surgical beds, lights, sterilization facilities, surgical instruments, needles, syringes, sterile gowns and gloves, bandages, and salaries, is $75 per case. For all 800,000 circumcisions this amounts to $60 million. Today, in Mozambique, the United States government is contributing over $200 million per year to fight HIV/AIDS, and the Global Fund contributes tens of million more dollare. Just $60 million one time down payment with a few million more dolalrs each year is not prohibitive.
Cultural barriers? That men have not gotten circumcision does not mean they are against getting circumcision. Eduardo and his friend suggest cultural barriers are more imaginary than real. As part of a large health survey in Mozambique in 2003, well before circumcision was proven to prevent HIV, 60 percent of men reported they would get a circumcision. The Maputo Military Hospital has a waiting list of 300 people for the procedure, and recently expanded to Saturday surgeries to respond to demand. And this is without one bit of advertising or mass mobilization. It's just word of mouth.
Four years delay in rolling out the most effective prevention strategy available is long enough. All of us working in HIV/AIDS must embrace circumcision with the same vigor as putting people on life-saving anti-retroviral treatment. Both interventions save lives.
This must be what the tuberculosis sanitariums of 19th Germany were like: Small buildings connected by covered walkways, on a hilly, quiet expanse of trees and gardens. But facility is on the northern fringes overlooking the hubbub of central Addis.
St. Peter's is the country's main TB hospital. It is striving to be a center of excellence in TB, hoping to do research while hosting and training foreign medical personnel. It has twenty-two physicians—eleven of them fully qualified physicians, another eleven in training—plus nurses and other support personnel. It also has a lab, an x-ray machine, and an HIV/AIDS clinic dispensing anti-retrovirals. St. Peter's has 250 beds right now. Forty-five are for in-patient multi-drug resistant TB patients and 150 are for regular TB patients. The facility treats an additional 150 out-patients per day.
Walking through the resistant TB ward is depressing. T.W. is a 13 year old double orphan (both parents have died) with a vacant look. Like so many of the patients, she has had multiple side effects from TB medications, including nausea, vomiting, and depression. Her room-mate, A. S. who is 18, has been re-admitted because she suffers from psychoses and could not cope outside the hospital. The medication lists of the patients are often 20 or 30 entries long.
According to Dr. Yared Tedla, the medical director of St. Peters, the average cost of treating each resistant TB patient at St. Peter's is at least $5,000. Of that, $3,000 is for an 18-month supply of the TB drugs. The other $2,000 is for room, food, lab tests, other medications for the hospital stays, which typically last 3 months. The costs are higher for patients who are co-infected with HIV and need ARVs, not to mention those, like A.S., who need to be re-admitted for adverse effects or some reason. For a regular TB patient the medication costs alone are $500 for the course of treatment.
This model seems neither scalable nor sustainable. The WHO estimates Ethiopia has at least 500,000 regular TB patients and 5,000 people with resistant TB. The doctors at St. Peter's tell me they think the real number is even higher. But even if the more conservative estimates are true, the cost for treating the entire TB population would be over $250 million per year. You cannot spend 1/6 of a country's health expenditures on 1/160th of the population, at least not if you are serious about addressing any of the country's other health problems. And it seems unlikely the money will come from abroad, given the world's limited enthusiasm for these sorts of investments and all of the other claims on global health money.
And money isn't the only issue. Ethiopia has less than 2500 doctors. It would require the services of every single one to treat the entire TB population on the St Peter's model. And many of the patients who leave the hospital never return to fully functional status. They frequently have no jobs—or, to use the language of the health system, no "income generating activity." They end up nutritionally deficient. Others, like T.W. and A.S., end up returning because of side effects. No one knows how many TB patients end up being cured and working again, how many drop out of main stream society, how many return requiring social services and on.
But we also cannot afford to ignore TB. Unlike many other communicable diseases, TB travels. And resistant TB is a threat to the whole world.
So what to do? TB is not my field of expertise. The WHO has suggested experimenting with new treatment models, like one from the Philippines in which people with resistant TB get outpatients care six times a week. But the program wouldn't lower costs that much because the drug costs alone are so high. And, in Ethiopia, where 85 percent of the population live in rural areas with both great distances and poor transport, getting someone to turn up at a health clinic or health post for medications 6 days a week for 18 months is completely unrealistic.
The truth is, I don't have the answer and, as far as I can tell, neither does anybody else. That is why my visit to St. Peter's left me depressed.


Lungo : 2h 33 min.
Version : FR, CA, EN, IT, IU, MD, IT, TA, WT, GB, MD, HD, XS.
. Scarica Approaching the Unknown.
. Guarda Approaching the Unknown.
Translation : FR, CA, EN, RU, LN, EE, KQ, AY, FO, RO, PL, ZU, OS.
Translation : FR, CA, EN, HU, OG, WL, YP, RJ, RS, JP, KN, WA, UZ.
Translation : FR, CA, EN, EL, UL, BG, QX, PW, UQ, AE, XI, HX, QW.
Version : FR, CA, EN, PL, BM, YY, MX, OT, JN, IV, WC, KV, LO.
Traduction : FR, CA, EN, HU, RB, ZG, QT, ZX, RL, KS, XT, BF, RT.
. Scarica Out of the Furnace.
. Guarda Out of the Furnace.
Version : FR, CA, EN, RU, LE, NP, WA, EG, MN, GG, CD, AY, IP.
Translation : FR, CA, EN, SV, HR, LF, KM, VB, GY, CC, HZ, WX, JO.
Lunghezza : 1h 55 min.
Translation : FR, CA, EN, PL, PX, TB, JH, AY, ZC, AX, QK, RF, AD.
. Scarica Body of Lies.
. Guarda Body of Lies.
Version : FR, CA, EN, IT, EL, KF, SN, XC, CH, PM, SD, WD, KW.
. Scarica Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
. Guarda Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Traduction : FR, CA, EN, NL, IG, WS, TH, HG, VL, LN, SA, SV, WW.
. Scarica Freaks of Nature.
. Guarda Freaks of Nature.
Translation : FR, CA, EN, CS, RH, XO, WW, MH, FJ, DC, PE, XM, KK.


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Guyana expects proposal from India for long-term crude purchases
Guyana expects to soon receive a proposal from India for long-term purchases of the South American country's oil, President Irfaan Ali said on Tuesday, a new attempt to reach a government-to-government deal potentially leading to better sale terms for Guyana.
Guyana's government is entitled to a share of crude produced off the nation's coast by a consortium led by Exxon Mobil Corp . In 2022, Ali's government received a total of 13 cargoes of crude, and it expects to receive and export 17 cargoes this year, the finance minister said earlier this week.
"India has made it very clear that they have an interest in being one of the purchasers of Guyana's oil," said Ali in a press conference at the State House residence in Georgetown. "The technical teams will work and see what proposals India puts forward."
Ali traveled to India earlier this month, where he met with India's Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and encouraged oil companies to participate in an incoming bidding round for crude and gas explorations blocks.
India's ONGC Videsh is considering a bid for some of the 14 areas on offer,and refiner Indian Oil Corp also is looking to work in Guyana in collaboration with ONGC Videsh, two people close to the talks told Reuters.
Guyana and India in 2021 failed to reach an agreement for direct sales of Guyana's sweet crude to Indian state refiners.
Guyana expects proposal from India for long-term c....

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Former Clay Center resident Roland Knox, 94, died April 28, 2015, at Ridgewood Care Center in Seward, NE. Roland was born March 25, 1921, to John and Flossie (Kirst) Knox ,near Clay Center, NE. He was united in marriage to Lorna D. Knox on August 25, 1946, in Fairfield, NE. They lived on their family farm southwest of Clay Center, NE, until 2008, when they moved to Seward, NE. Roland is survived by his children, Connie (Aubrey) Fitzke of Omaha, NE; Steve (Barbara) Knox of Seward, NE; one grandson, Jeff (Jennifer) Fitzke of Omaha, NE; four granddaughters, Alicia Knox of Denver, CO; Megan (Scott) Wilson of Omaha, NE; Lindsay Knox of Ridgway, CO; Lauren Knox of Lancaster, PA; and three great-grandsons, Jayden and Justin Fitzke, Samuel Wilson, all of Omaha, NE. He was preceded in death by his parents and wife, Lorna. Roland was a Master Mason of the Mid-West Lodge No. 317, member of The Scottish Rite, and a Shriner for over 50 years. He was active in the Nebraska Feeders Association and Clay County 4-H. He enjoyed working at the State Fair in the Nebraska Feeders Barbeque Pit for many years. He loved UNL Husker Football and was a ticket holder since the 1950s. His greatest love was farming, to which he devoted his life. Funeral services were held at 2 p.m., Saturday, May 2, 2015, at the United Church of Christ in Harvard, NE, with Pastor Dave Johnson officiating. Interment followed at the Clay Center Cemetery in Clay Center, NE. Visitation was Friday, from 4-8 p.m., with the family present from 4-6 p.m., at McLaughlin Funeral Chapel in Clay Center, NE. Memorial contributions may be directed to the American Cancer Society. Condolences may be left at www.mclaughlinchapel.com.


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Sam's Club & Costco Gas Quality: Pump or Pass?
https://firstquarterfinance.com/sams-club-gas-quality-costco-gas-quality/
William Lipovsky | Verified & Updated Oct 27, 2020
Short Answer: Both Sam's Club and Costco source their fuel from multiple suppliers instead of partnering with one major oil company. While Sam's Club gas comes with the company's Satisfaction Guarantee, Costco's gas is TOP TIER certified, meaning that it has more deposit control additives than the EPA requires. For more information on the gas quality at Sam's Club and Costco, as well as how to buy gas at both wholesale clubs, see below.
Sam's Club Gas Quality
How to Buy Gas at Sam's Club
Costco Gas Quality
How to Buy Gas at Costco
TOP TIER Gasoline Standards
Sam's Club operates independent, unbranded gas stations, meaning it does not source its fuel from a single oil company. The company assures the quality of its gasoline with the Sam's Club Satisfaction Guarantee.[1] However, Sam's Club gasoline is not licensed as TOP TIER (explained below).
Walmart operates Sam's Club; and while it does not disclose its fuel suppliers, we do know that Walmart cut ties with its long-time gasoline provider, Murphy USA, in 2016.[2] Note that while Sam's Club gas is not TOP TIER, the company may have its own additive formulation and testing process to ensure its fuel quality. Neither Walmart nor Sam's Club disclose much information about maintenance at their gas stations, but the companies are required to follow the minimum guidelines set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), state governments, and other regulatory bodies.[3][4]
You must have a Sam's Club membership to purchase fuel.[5] Previously, around 15% of Sam's Club locations did not require a membership to purchase gas, but Sam's Club no longer sells fuel to non-members.
Cost of membership: $45 per year for a standard personal or business membership; $100 per year for a "Sam's Plus" membership.[6]
Payment methods for gas: Sam's Club Mastercard, which offers 5% cash back on gas purchases; plus Walmart and Sam's Club gift cards, cash, checks, debit cards, most major credit cards, as well as the Walmart Rewards Card and Capital One Walmart Rewards Card.
Costco also operates unbranded gas stations, and while the company does not disclose much information about its fuel suppliers, its website states that its fuel comes from the same major refineries that supply all the gas stations in a given area.[7] The company follows strict protocols to ensure its gasoline is clean.[8] Costco is a licensed TOP TIER brand that sells its own formulation of Kirkland Signature Gasoline, which contains five times the deposit control additives required by the EPA.
Costco also boasts excellent station maintenance;[9] its trained attendants manage the fuel additives at each station, take regular take samples, and monitor nozzle flow rates.
Costco gas stations are open only to Costco members or those customers paying with a Costco Cash Card.
Cost of membership: $60 per year for a basic "Gold Star" or business membership; $120 per year for an "Executive" membership, which offers a 2% cash-back reward (including gas purchases).[10]
Payment methods for gas: Costco Visa, which offers 4% cash back on gas purchases; plus Costco Cash Cards, Visa, and most debit/ATM cards
In 1995, the EPA set a standard for the lowest additive concentration allowed in commercial gasoline.[11] However, in 2004, a group of automakers created TOP TIER gas, which includes a specific level and formulation of deposit control additives that exceed EPA standards.[12]
According to a study conducted by the American Automobile Association (AAA), engine carbon deposits are reduced by 19 times with TOP TIER gas. As a result, drivers may experience better drivability, better fuel economy, and fewer emissions. TOP TIER gas costs an average of three cents more per gallon than other brands, but it has become the standard for high-quality gasoline. In order for a retailer to be TOP TIER certified, it must include the proper additive formulation in all octanes, so you do not need to fuel your car with an octane rated higher than the car needs.
For more about TOP TIER licensees, see our articles on the gas quality at 76, ARCO, Mobil, Sunoco, and Valero.
https://help.samsclub.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/223/related/1[↩]
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/02/04/walmart-to-operate-own-gas-stations-going-forward/79809480/[↩]
https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2017-10/documents/2003-me-ch118.pdf[↩]
https://www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/all-codes-and-standards/list-of-codes-and-standards/detail?code=30A[↩]
https://help.samsclub.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/380/~/sams-club-fuel-center-details[↩]
https://www.samsclub.com/join?pageName=aboutSams[↩]
https://customerservice.costco.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9230/~/costco-gas-station-faqs#4[↩]
https://www.costco.com/gasoline-q-and-a.html[↩]
https://www.costcoauto.com/automotive_articles/fuel_economy/top_tier_gas_nozip.aspx[↩]
https://www.costco.com/executive-rewards.html[↩]
https://iaspub.epa.gov/otaqpub/display_file.jsp?docid=24516&flag=1[↩]
https://www.toptiergas.com/[↩]
See more articles about Automotive
Fred Meyer Gas Quality Standards: Pump or Pass?
Does Sam's Club Do Oil Changes? Sam's Club Auto Services Detailed
Is Mobil Gas Good? Is Mobil Gas TOP TIER? Mobil Gas Quality Reviewed
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Is Arco Gas Bad or Good? Is it TOP TIER? Arco Gas Quality Explained
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Is 76 Gas Good? Is It TOP TIER? 76 Gas Quality Reviewed
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MBRawls says:
Found a few Valero stations with Top Tier has tags on the pumps. Locations are from League City, Dickinson and Galveston. My 2002 Suburban purrs after drinking it. Can not believe the difference after the 1st tank. Have been using it fou about 2 months.
A. Young says:
I just spent $1000 on my Ford 2011 Taurus because of contaminants in gas from Sam's Club in Temple, Texas. I notified Sam's Club.
Rebecca Turley says:
Many times, the source of the contamination with the gas occurs at the pump and not with the gasoline itself. You can file a complaint with the Texas Department of Agriculture to have the gas at that station tested. You may be able to receive reimbursement from the gas station's insurer and recoup the cost of your vehicle repair.
I stopped by my Sam's club in Portage, Michigan and they were having fuel delivered at the time. The worker asked the truck driver what type of gas it was and he replied British Petroleum (BP).
Is Sam's Club a TOP TIER gas, as Costco is?
Lindsey Desmet says:
Hello, Stephen! Sam's Club gasoline is not licensed as TOP TIER. We have updated our article to include this information.
Does Sam's Club Do Oil Changes? Sam's Club Auto…


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Conflict, floods and COVID-19 push South Sudanese into extreme hunger
Children eat porridge their mother cooked with the food she received at a World Food Programme (WFP) distribution site in Pibor, South Sudan. WFP/Marwa Awad
Driven by insecurity, the effects of COVID-19, an on-going economic crisis, and the impact of flooding on livelihoods, three UN agencies called on Friday for immediate humanitarian access to eastern South Sudan's Pibor county, where people are facing catastrophic levels of hunger.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Food Programme (WFP) and other humanitarian aid organizations, are scaling up their responses to save lives and avert a total collapse of livelihoods in hard-to-reach areas.
"We call on all parties to stop the violence and to ensure safe humanitarian access in order to prevent an already dire situation from turning into a full-blown catastrophe", said South Sudan's FAO Representative Meshack Malo.
A grim forecast
A new UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report projects that from April to July 2021, an estimated 7.24 million people, or 60 per cent of the country's population, face either a state of official food crisis, or worsening acute food insecurity.
"The coming year will be extremely tough, but we are determined to do all we can to reach more people for longer periods of time", said Makena Walker, WFP's Deputy Country Director.
IPC figures – which estimate that between October and November, 6.5 million people in South Sudan faced severe acute food insecurity – follow two independent reports published by the IPC Global Support Unit last week, indicated that tens of thousands are likely to face famine conditions in Jonglei state's Pibor county, where many families are experiencing high levels of acute malnutrition and even death.
The independent analysis also found that some communities in Akobo, Aweil South, Tonj East, Tonj North and Tonj South counties, are confronting catastrophic conditions.
"WFP is extremely worried about the rising numbers of people suffering because of the lack of sufficient food and nutrition, intensified conflict, unprecedented flooding and high food prices", said Ms. Walker.
Meanwhile, in Pibor, some 1.4 million children between six months and five years old are expected to be acutely malnourished in 2021, according to the IPC report.
This includes 313,000 children experiencing severe acute malnutrition and more than a million moderate-to-acute malnutrition.
"These children need urgent treatment to prevent them from dying", said UNICEF's South Sudan Representative, Mohamed Ayoya.
"The data leave us with no doubt about the sense of urgency for all of us – Government, donor community and humanitarian actors – to join hands and ensure all these children get the treatment they need", she added.
Moreover, 483,000 pregnant or breastfeeding women are acutely malnourished and in need of treatment.
This year, UNICEF has treated 170,000 children affected by severe acute malnutrition, with a 94 per cent recovery rate and will further scale up its interventions supporting therapeutic treatment and stabilization centres in the most affected counties to protect and save children's lives.
"At the same time, we need to invest more in actions to prevent children from becoming malnourished in the first place", the UN official underscored.
Upping assistance
Over the past two months, WFP has extended food assistance to nearly 80,000 people in Pibor and has begun scaling up aid to critically food insecure areas there and other at-risk areas.
FAO has prioritized farming and agro-pastoral communities to assist in increasing their production and preserve their livelihood.
Among other things, this year it has supported over 100,000 farming families to grow their own food from seeds, and vaccinated and treated more than five million animals, which has benefitted 164,000 households.
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CAR: Displacement reaches 120,000 amid worsening election violence
Poll workers carry ballot boxes during the 27 December 2020 presidential elections in the Central African Republic. MINUSCA/Leonel Grothe
"Worsening" election violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) has forced 120,000 people from their homes, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday.
In an appeal for an immediate end to all bloodshed – which has included deadly clashes with UN peacekeepers – UNHCR also said that mass displacement has continued outside the country since the 27 December Presidential poll, reversing a trend of people returning to CAR in recent years.
"What is clear is the situation has evolved, it has worsened, we have seen that the number of refugees has doubled in just one week", said spokesperson Boris Cheshirkov, during a scheduled press briefing in Geneva.
Despite attempts by rebel groups to obstruct presidential and legislative elections, on 27 December, nearly two million Central Africans successfully cast their votes.
UNHCR and partners in CAR "are gathering reports of abuses by armed groups, including of sexual violence, attacks on voters and pillaging", Mr. Cheshirkov continued, underscoring the agency's call "for an immediate return of all parties to meaningful dialogue and progress towards peace".
"We were reporting 30,000 refugees last Friday, today it's already 60,000, and much of that is the increase we've seen in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This is coming with reports of intensified violence, people are being forced to move from their home and the situation has not calmed down for the moment."
'Fear and dread'
Echoing concerns for the deteriorating situation, the UN-appointed independent rights expert for CAR called on Friday for the arrest and prosecution of all those "who continue to fuel violence" there.
Because of them, the country's people live in "fear and dread", said Yao Agbetse, before deploring the fact that Central Africans "were unable to exercise their right to vote and that many were victims of torture or ill-treatment and death threats for exercising their right to vote in the first round of elections".
Calling out the so-called Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC), Mr Agbetse alleged that the group had "obstructed the country's electoral campaign in December, prevented the deployment of election materials, disrupted the mobilisation of voters to carry out their democratic right and burned polling stations".
The CPC had also recruited children for its work, the rights expert maintained, "a crime under international law".
Several localities were targeted, including Kaga Bandoro, Bossangoa, Batangafo, Bozoum, Bocaranga, Koui, Carnot "and other locations in the centre, west, and east of the country", along with the capital, Bangui on 13 January, said the rights expert, who reports to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
In his statement, Mr Agbetse noted that CAR's "already fragile humanitarian situation" had worsened, with "more than half of the population in vital need of humanitarian assistance".
Prices soaring
The premises of some humanitarian organisations had been ransacked, he added, while basic necessities "are becoming scarcer and their prices are soaring in Bangui because of insecurity on the supply routes to the capital".
Today, schools and training centres are closed outside the capital "and pastoralists and farmers can no longer carry out their activities because of insecurity and fear. Ultimately, food insecurity and extreme poverty are likely to worsen," Mr. Agbetse said.
10,000 cross in just 24 hours
On Wednesday alone, 10,000 people crossed the Ubangui river that separates the two countries, UNHCR's Mr. Cheshirkov said.
He added that in addition to the 50,000 refugees in DRC, another 9,000 have reached Cameroon, Chad and the Republic of Congo in the past month.
In an appeal for funds, the spokesperson said the inaccessible terrain and poor infrastructure along the Ubangui river where people have sheltered, has complicated aid access.
"UNHCR was already seeking $151.5 million this year to respond to the CAR situation. The needs of the recently displaced Central Africans are mounting, and we will soon face a substantial funding shortfall," Mr. Cheshirkov explained
Inside the Central African Republic, another 58,000 people remain displaced.
Ethiopia: Safe access and swift action needed for refugees in Tigray
Ethiopian refugees fleeing clashes in the country's northern Tigray region, rest and cook meals near UNHCR's Hamdayet reception centre after crossing into Sudan. © UNHCR/Hazim Elhag
The head of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) on Wednesday expressed his deep concern over the humanitarian situation in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, including its impact on Eritrean refugees hosted there.
The conflict between the Ethiopian Government and regional forces of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) began in early November, when the Prime Minister ordered a military offensive after rebels attacked a federal army base. Government forces reported that the region had been secured at the end of November, but TPLF resistance has continued amid accusations of extrajudicial killings and rights abuses.
Despite some positive developments in accessing and assisting vulnerable populations, since the start of the Government operation, UNHCR's repeated requests to access the Shimelba and Hitsats refugee camps have gone unanswered.
"I am very worried for the safety and well-being of Eritrean refugees in those camps", said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. "They have been without any aid for many weeks".
UNHCR continues to receive many reliable reports and first-hand accounts of ongoing insecurity and allegations of grave and distressing human rights abuses, such as killings, targeted abductions and forced return of refugees to Eritrea, said Mr. Grandi.
Moreover, the agency has learned of additional military incursions over the last 10 days that are consistent with open-source satellite imagery showing new fires and other fresh signs of destruction at the two camps.
"These are concrete indications of major violations of international law", the High Commissioner spelled out.
Doubly distressed
Ethiopia has long given refuge to people fleeing conflict and persecution.
The federal Government has provided assurances of measures are to minimize the impact of the conflict on civilians.
"I have impressed upon the Ethiopian leadership, the urgency of ensuring the protection of refugees, preventing forced return and keeping refugee camps safe from attacks and other threats from armed actors", said Mr. Grandi.
Equally distressing, he said, is that UNHCR teams have been unable to assist the thousands of Eritrean refugees who continue to flee the camps in search of safety and support.
"Refugees arriving on foot to Shire town in Tigray are emaciated, begging for aid that is not available", recounted the High Commissioner.
Against the backdrop that refugees who had reached Addis Ababa are being returned to Tigray, some against their will, he reiterated the UN-wide call for "full and unimpeded access" to explore "all options to safely provide desperately needed assistance".
Unwavering commitment
In line with the humanitarian principles of impartiality and neutrality, UNHCR stands committed to work with the Ethiopian Government in protecting and assisting those forced to flee.
"We remain available to seek solutions – together – to the current humanitarian problems in a spirit of collaboration and constructive partnership", said the UNHCR chief. "Safe access and swift action are needed now to save thousands of lives at risk".
Insecurity and bureaucracy hampering aid to Ethiopia's Tigray region
photo: UNFPA/Sufian Abdul-Mouty
Nearly three months after the start of conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region, hundreds of thousands of people have yet to receive assistance, the United Nations reported on Wednesday, citing information from its humanitarian coordination agency, OCHA.
"Humanitarian assistance continues to be constrained by the lack of full, and safe, unhindered access to Tigray, caused by both insecurity and bureaucratic delays", UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told journalists.
"The UN and its humanitarian partners in Ethiopia urgently call on all parties to allow the immediate safe passage of humanitarian personnel and their supplies to the Tigray Region to be able to reach all people who desperately need assistance."
Over two million in need
Mr. Dujarric said the UN continues to receive alarming reports of civilians being injured and killed in rural areas in Tigray, as well as of violations against civilians, though verification remains a challenge.
"Aid workers have been able to deliver assistance in some areas, mainly in cities, where access has been granted by the authorities. However, the number of people reached is extremely low compared to the 2.3 million people we estimate are in need of life-saving assistance", he said.
The situation is particularly critical for newly displaced people and refugees, especially those who were living in two camps that remain inaccessible, according to OCHA.
Humanitarians further warn that the majority of the 270,000 people receiving benefits through the Government's Safety Net Programme have also been without assistance as banks in most rural areas have been closed since before the crisis began.
"These are extremely vulnerable people who rely on monthly cash transfers to meet their basic needs," said Mr. Dujarric.
Health & Wellness3 days ago
Health experts arrive in Wuhan to investigate COVID-19 origins


On 17th March 2016 the European Court of Human Rights published the long awaited decision in the above case where GN Law represented the applicant.
The applicant, William Hammerton, is a British national who was born in 1954 and lives in London.
The case concerned his complaint about his committal to prison for civil contempt of court in family proceedings. In the context of child contact proceedings, Mr Hammerton gave an undertaking not to contact his former wife except through his solicitor and an injunction was issued preventing him from using violence against her. In July 2005, the County Court committed Mr Hammerton to prison for three months for breaching the undertaking and injunction. He was released in September 2005 after six and a half weeks' imprisonment and lodged an appeal. He had not been represented at the committal hearing.
In March 2007 the Court of Appeal overturned the committal decision and also the sentence imposed, finding that it was likely that he would only have served a week if he had been legally represented. It found that the County Court had violated Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. He subsequently brought proceedings for damages for wrongful imprisonment and for the violation of his Convention rights. Guile Nicholas represented him in this action.
The High Court dismissed his claim in February 2009. His request for leave to appeal was refused in August 2009. Mr Hammerton then took the matter to the European Court of Human Rights.
Relying on Article 5 § 1 (right to liberty and security), Mr Hammerton complained about his committal to prison, alleging in particular that his detention had been unlawful. Also relying on Article 6 §§ 1 and 3 (c) (right to a fair trial and right to legal assistance of own choosing) and Article 13 (right to an effective remedy), he complained that, although the UK courts had acknowledged that there had been a violation of his rights, they had failed to award him financial compensation and that domestic law had prevented him from receiving such damages.
The court found that Articles 6 and 13 had been breached but not Article 5. Mr Hammerton only lost the Article 5 argument by 4 votes to 3: the majority holding was that the deficiencies in the committal hearing were not so bad as to make his detention arbitrary, whereas the minority reached a contrary conclusion.
However, the court was unanimous in holding that a finding of a breach of Article 6 alone was insufficient to properly compensate Mr Hammerton for having spent six and a half weeks in prison when, had he been legally represented, he would most likely have only been imprisoned for one week. As he had been denied compensation in the UK for the Article 6 breach, this led to a breach of Article 13.
The court awarded 8,400 Euros for the extra five weeks spent in prison in order to afford Mr Hammerton adequate 'just satisfaction' for the purposes of Article 41. The award also covered the Article 13 breach which, they found, was likely to have caused Mr Hammerton some frustration. Undoubtedly, the lion's share of the award was for the five weeks detention. This was essentially what Mr Hammerton claimed was necessary to compensate him.
While it is disappointing that the court did not find a breach of Article 5(1), Mr Hammerton has now secured the damages he should have been entitled to in this country. The problem this case illustrates is that judges remain immune from suit to all intents and purposes in the UK. Section 9(3) of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) ensures that damages can only be awarded domestically when a judge acts in bad faith or where compensation is required under Article 5(5).
Article 5(5) establishes an enforceable right to compensation for any breach of Article 5(1). As the court did not find a breach of Article 5(1), the case fell short of becoming an authority to assist victims of judicial errors from claiming compensation in the UK against Her Majesty's Court Service. However, the judgment from the European Court of Human Rights indicates that the Human Rights Act 1998 does not go far enough because it should be possible to claim damages for a breach of Article 6 as well. At the moment, that will only be secured by taking a case to Europe, though it is to be hoped that the government will settle any further such cases rather than, as they did with Mr Hammerton, delaying him compensation until required by pay by the Strasbourg court.


text:
Breweries outside Twin Cities making waves in craft beer scene
Photo: Courtesy of Spilled Grain Brewhouse
The inside of Spilled Grain Brewhouse.
The Best of Craft Beer Awards honored six Minnesota breweries last month for being among the country's best.
The competition, which includes 90 different categories for Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) members to decide on, was held during the weekend of Feb. 8-10 in Bend, Oregon.
A total of 162 breweries from 33 states took home medals in 2019.
One of the breweries walked away with more accolades than most. Spilled Grain Brewhouse in Annandale captured two golds and one silver over that weekend.
It won gold in the 'American-Style Barley Wine or Wheat Wine' category for its False Hope beer, and another gold in the 'Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer or Aged Beer' category for its 2017 False Hope.
The many awards won at Spilled Grain Brewhouse.
Courtesy of Spilled Grain Brewhouse
The winning beers at Third Street Brewhouse.
Courtesy of Third Street Brewhouse.
Hardware on display at Waconia Brewing.
Courtesy of Waconia Brewing Company.
Waconia Brewing employees are all smiles while showing off what's on tap.
Co-owner and head brewer Jacob Schnabel said the business was started in a unique way.
"Some of the future owner's wives formed a mom's group and used to get together for dinners and get-togethers," he said. "Then one of the husbands had a building open up... the rest is pretty much history."
Jacob said Spilled Grain Brewhouse started to get the wheels turning in early 2014, and was open for business in July of that year. Since then, it has claimed many medals at numerous award shows.
"We brew very traditional styles to try and meet everyone's criteria. We like to keep it fun," Schnabel said. "Honestly, when you venture out (of the metro area), the craft brew scene is the next wave of success in areas like this.
"Tons of breweries all over the place."
Nearby Cold Spring is home to another brewery that claimed two silvers in the Craft Beer Festival. Cold Spring Brewery has a rich history dating back to the late 1800s, according to its website.
The company was sold in 2017 to the Brynwood Partners, a Connecticut-based private equity firm with exisiting investments in a variety of food and beverage companies.
"We have a very rich history here," said Maranda Theis, the taproom manager of the brewery's Third Street Brewhouse.
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'It's like a movement': Craft beer's rise in Twin Cities reflected at State Fair
Third Street Brewhouse is a branch off the bigger tree of Cold Spring Brewery, and medals were awarded for their 'American-Style Amber/Red Ale' and 'American-Style Cream Ale' in 2019. They opened the brewery in 2012.
Since 2017, the company has won seven medals in three different craft beer award contest. Among those, two golds, four silvers and one bronze was awarded.
"We have been brewing on this site since 1874," Theis said. "We expanded our brand to a larger manufacturing company. However, we established (Third Street) to continue our work in the craft beer scene."
Then there's the Wacona Brewing Company, who captured a gold medal for their 'German-Style Maerzen' or 'Oktoberfest/Wiesn.'
In early 2014, the company was started by the DeLange family. The brewery officially opened in October of that year. Head brewer Tom Schufman says the place has a nice "small town taproom" feel to it.
"It's only about a 30 to 40 minute drive from (the metro area) and presents a great small town vibe," Schufman said.
The taproom was created by two DeLange brothers (Bob and Pete) and their wives (Kay and Dee).
Schufman said many customers keep coming back for the traditional taplist and properly fermented brews, which takes about eight weeks. They possess five flagship beers and five or more rotating beers on tap that flow seven days a week.
"We also like to reach a greater audience by having a nice variety of beers," Schufman said. "Generally we like to keep 10 to 13 (beers) on tap."
Before Waconia Brewing opened for business, the city hadn't seen a brewery since 1890, when the last one closed down. Schufman said one of the most popular tap choices is the Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter, which was a 2017 and 2018 bronze medal award winner at the Best of Craft Beer Awards.
Two breweries in Minneapolis (Pryes Brewing Company and Indeed Brewing Company) and one in Duluth (Blacklist Artisan Ales) also won medals in the Best Craft Beer Awards event. Pryes Brewing won silver in the 'Berliner-Style Weisse with Fruit or Flavor Added' category for their Royal Raspberry Sour.
And Indeed Brewing took home gold in the 'Wood and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer' category for their Wooden Soul In The Thicket beer, going up against 46 other entries in the competition. Blacklist Artisan Ales took home a silver for their Classic Wit brew, winning in the 'Belgian-Style Witbier' category.


text:
Q: MySQL - Рекламные кампании и блеклист Есть 2 таблицы "campaigns" и "bl_sites"
campaigns        bl_sites
---------        ---------
id               camp_id
status           site

Данные в таблице "bl_sites".
ID кампании и перечень сайтов на которых данную рекламную кампанию показывать не нужно.

Имеем сайт "ajax.loc"
Нужно выбрать все кампании и исключить с выборки кампании у которых в блэклисте присутствует сайт "ajax.loc".
В данном случае нужно исключить кампанию с ID 21

Такой запрос не работает
SELECT * FROM camps
LEFT JOIN bl_sites ON bl_sites.camp_id = camps.id
WHERE bl_sites.site != 'ajax.loc'

Он просто исключает из объединенной выборки строки, у которых bl_sites.site = 'ajax.loc'
Мало того, он вообще не включает в выборку кампании у которых нет сайтов в блеклисте (нет записей в таблице "bl_sites")
Результат:

Такой запрос так же не работает
SELECT * FROM camps
LEFT JOIN bl_sites ON bl_sites.camp_id = camps.id
WHERE bl_sites.site != 'ajax.loc' OR bl_sites.site IS NULL

Он уже включает те кампании у которых нет блеклиста. Но все равно оставляет кампанию с ID 21
Результат:

Наверное я что-то делаю не так. Думал уже плюнуть и добавить текстовое поле в таблицу с кампаниями и писать туда сайты через запятую (для каждой кампании свой БЛ). При выборке использовать LIKE.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


It was politics, not music, which first inspired the daring blur of Arabic tradition, jazz improvisation and Caribbean groove that drives Insula, the trio who perform for the first time in Dubai and Abu Dhabi on April 14 and 16 respectively.
At the project's conceptual core is Martinican pianist Maher Beauroy and Franco-Algerian oud player Redha Benabdallah, whose distinct musical upbringings created the conditions for the project's fusions. But long before picking up their instruments, they bonded over shared socio-political beliefs shaped by the shadows of colonialism.
The pair, both aged 30 today, met in 2008 while studying musicology at the Paris-Sorbonne University. Beauroy had recently arrived from Martinique, a French territory in the Caribbean, while Benabdallah grew up in a small French city following his family's move from Algiers when he was three months old. They found an easy kinship in their experiences as minorities on the fringes of mainstream French culture.
Beauroy told Benabdallah about the book his father gave him before setting off for France, Black Skin, White Masks (1952), a study of racism and dehumanisation by Martinican philosopher, writer and revolutionary Frantz Fanon. A connection was struck. Fanon's second major work, A Dying Colonialism (1959), analyses the Algerian War of Independence. When Beauroy and Benabdallah got around to playing together, more than any musician or tradition it was Fanon they took as their intellectual stimulus.
Sitting around the piano, they soon discovered their sociological experiences were mirrored musically in ways they did not anticipate. The Creole scales and rhythms of Beauroy's youth often fitted intuitively with those of Benabdallah's Maghreb heritage. Very quickly, an explanation presented itself.
After a well-received debut as a one-off, unnamed duet at Martinique's Biguine Jazz Festival in 2015, the pair realised three things: they should do this again, but that they needed a third member to drive the groove – and they needed a name. Thus, Insula was born. Gigs on all five continents have followed – including a stint at the prestigious Blue Note Rio, the Brazilian outpost of the classic Manhattan jazz club.
While centuries-old traditions form Insula's backbone, the group's polymathy rests equally on the training and the modern, melodic know-how of its members. Before playing percussion, Tenorio was brought up as a bassist. As well as oud, Benabdallah formally studied western classical guitar and earned a PhD in musicology from the Sorbonne. And, after driving his teachers crazy with reggae-tinged interpretations of Bach, Beauroy quit classical piano studies at the age of 15 to embrace jazz – later going on to audition for Boston's Berklee College of Music, the world's largest independent contemporary music college, and a renowned incubator of US jazz talent.
During his three-year stay stateside, Beauroy took masterclasses from stars including Brad Mehldau and Robert Glasper – two of the most in-demand jazz pianists in the world – and Berklee alumni such as Esperanza Spalding and Christian Scott.


text:
"""Base classes for Model classes that can be internal-only."""
from __future__ import print_function
from __future__ import division
from __future__ import absolute_import

from google.appengine.ext import ndb

from dashboard.common import datastore_hooks

class InternalOnlyModel(ndb.Model):
  """A superclass for Models that have an internal_only property."""

  @classmethod
  def _post_get_hook(cls, key, future):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
    """Throws an exception when external users try to get() internal data."""
    entity = future.get_result()
    if entity is None:
      return
    # Internal-only objects should never be accessed by non-internal accounts!
    if (getattr(entity, 'internal_only', False)
        and not datastore_hooks.IsUnalteredQueryPermitted()):
      # Keep info about the fact that we're doing an access check out of the
      # callstack in case app engine shows it to the user.
      assert False

class CreateHookInternalOnlyModel(InternalOnlyModel):
  """Base Model class which implements a create hook called CreateCallback."""

  def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
    # TODO(https://crbug.com/1262292): Change to super() after Python2 trybots retire.
    # pylint: disable=super-with-arguments
    super(CreateHookInternalOnlyModel, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
    # This attribute is used to keep track of whether its the first time the
    # entity has been created, so that the CreateCallback is only called once.
    self._is_saved = False

  def _post_put_hook(self, future):
    """Invokes a callback upon creating a new entity."""
    if not self._is_saved:
      try:
        future.check_success()
      except Exception:  # pylint: disable=broad-except
        # check_success throws an exception for failures, but the reference
        # isn't explicit about what type of exception gets thrown.
        pass
      if callable(getattr(self, 'CreateCallback', None)):
        self.CreateCallback()
    self._is_saved = True

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Decorator adding arbitrary HTTP headers to the response.
This decorator adds HTTP headers specified in the argument (map), to the HTTPResponse returned by the function being decorated.
"""Decorator adding arbitrary HTTP headers to the response.
HTTPResponse returned by the function being decorated.


text:
mmigp@mmigp.org.au
Access & Support
Elder's PAG
Indigenous Women's Yarning Circle
Mullum Pantry
Ochre Program
Yeng Gali Mullum
Karen Milward
Aboriginal housing portraits
Karen Milward is the Chairperson and joined the Board as one of the founders of MMIGP in 2007. Karen is a Yorta Yorta woman who was born and raisedin Melbourne. Karen is a strong advocate for developing culturally- appropriate solutions to the issues confronting Aboriginal people, which empower individuals and communities so that they can confidently and effectively move forward.
Karen is the current Chairperson of Community First Development and Kinaway Chamber of Commerce Victoria Ltd as well as a Board Director for Yarra Valley Water. Karen has extensive experience in governance, management and leadership as she has served on many formal government committees and working groups, including the Victorian Aboriginal Economic Development Board, the Premier's Aboriginal Advisory Council and Indigenous Leadership Network Victoria.
Karen owns and operates Karen Milward Consultancy Services (since 2005) and has extensive consulting experience and networks across Australia. She has worked on a range of projects and initiatives with government, corporate and private sectors – especially those targeting the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Karen has been involved in Aboriginal affairs all her life – sharing her expertise and experience through senior policy and program management positions held in various organisations, not withholding government. Karen has been consulting in Aboriginal affairs for more than 25 years. She has worked in various areas of Aboriginal Affairs, specialising in community development through education, employment and economic development. Karen is involved in addressing issues concerning Aboriginal communities as well as promoting Aboriginal cultural heritage and competence.
Karen has worked with 35 Aboriginal communities and their organisations in Victoria and more than 100 Aboriginal communities and their organisations nationally across all issues relevant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Uncle David Farrall
Uncle David Farrall is the Deputy Chair, joining the board as one of the founders of MMIGP in 2007. Uncle David is a proud Arrernte man who has lived on Wurundjeri land all his life (Melbourne's Eastern Metropolitan Region). Uncle David calls this place home but his culture and stories come from Mparntwe, now known as the Alice Springs area.
He is a retired career firefighter and is now enjoying using his time to live and engage with the local community. Uncle David is an Elder under the Elders and Respected Persons program in three Koori Court jurisdictions (Children's, Magistrates and County courts).
He has held leadership roles in the EMR since the mid-90s, and is currently on several committees and boards of management for local community organisations where he is pleased to be a strong advocate for community needs and aspirations. He said being part of the MMIGP community has rewarded him with cultural and social connections to the EMR Aboriginal community, which has become his extended family.
Aunty Janet Turpie-Johnstone
Aunty Janet grew up in Portland, Gunditjmara country. She has family connections to Nunga Country at Old Yalata through her mother. Her Father's connection is Dja Dja Wurrung Country.
She is a lecturer in Aboriginal Art and Culture at the Faculty of Education at ACU and a High Degree Research Scholar at Australian National University researching human relationships to Country.
Aunty Janet has worked in training (Cultural Awareness and Certification), working in the Community Sector across Australia. She joined the Jim Baa Yer (Centre for Indigenous Education) at the Australian Catholic University in 2012. Restructures in 2014 to form 'First Peoples and Equity Pathways Directorate", whose role is to engage Aboriginal students, families, and school staff, to promote access to Higher Education in the state.
Aunty Janet presented her research based on human relationship with land and waters and briefly analysed the colonial impact on the colony of Port Phillip Bay (now Melbourne). During her presentation, Aunty Janet emphasised how we can learn from our ancient Aboriginal ways of life, which are highly philosophical and religious and are based on a relationship to land and all that is on the land. Aunty Janet strongly feels that people need to become more sensitive and humbler in the way they relate to the land and all the natural resources.
Michael Browne
Michael Browne is a proud Barkandji/Wamba Wamba man who grew up in Jerilderie, a small country town in NSW, and moved to the eastern suburbs of Melbourne in 2008. Michael joined the MMIGP Board in June 2019 with a background in Engineering, planning and project management. Michael previously worked at Sydney Water and is now working at Yarra Valley Water and has been for over 12 years. Michael would love to see First Nations people have a greater involvement in the management of the land and waterways. He joined the MMIGP Board because it gives him the opportunity to support the staff in developing programs for community members and also to learn from our Elders who sit on the Board of MMIGP.
Tiana Koehrer
Tiana Koehrer is a proud Yorta Yorta, Wurundjeri and Wiradjuri woman from the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Tiana joined the Board of MMIGP in June 2020. She is passionate about justice for Indigenous people in the prison system, and empowering young Indigenous people. Tiana said she is very excited to be a part of the Mullum Mullum board and to be able to connect back into the wonderful community she grew up in.
CEO - Elke Smirl
Elke Smirl has been Chief Executive Officer since July 2019. Previously she was an MMIGP Board member for about 10 years. While Elke was born and raised in Victoria, her family came from South Australia. She is a descendant of both the Kaurna and Nurrungga peoples of the Adelaide Plains and Yorke Peninsula. Elke has worked in the Australian and State government public sector for more than 30 years, most recently as Aboriginal Victoria's Assistant Director. About 20 years of her public sector career has been in Indigenous affairs, with most of her experience in governance and community development for Victorian Aboriginal communities. Elke has co-facilitated governance, community development and accredited and non-accredited cultural heritage training for both the Victorian and Australian governments, working with communities from Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.
Operations Manager - Henry Nguyen
I joined MMIGP in 2020 in full-time capacity after working on their finance team for approximately a year. The community at MMIGP have been very warm and welcoming, and I am grateful for the opportunities and learnings I have been provided by everyone. I am learning more about the Victorian Aboriginal everyday and enjoy listening to the wisdom of the Elders, community and staff here at Mullum.
My parents are Vietnamese and migrated to Australia around 30 years ago. I was born in Australia and have lived here my whole life with strong roots to my Vietnamese culture through family. My connection and experience with culture has shown me the importance of culture and my goal is to facilitate a safe space for people to build their capacity and learn about their culture.
I enjoy learning about different cultures, travelling, camping and being outdoors in my spare time.
I look forward to a busy and eventful 2023 and I hope everyone is keeping well and safe.
Program Manager - Kerry Williams
Kerry is a proud Kamilaroi woman from New South Wales, although spent all her life living on Naarm/ Melbourne, Victoria.
Kerry's vast experience and skills have come from 30years of dedication working closely with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Kerry has worked as a peer support mentor in the mental health field, working closely with Aboriginal people with mental health disorders. Kerry has started her bachelor's in health science Mental Health, and will continue through the following years.
Kerry also worked as a Indigenous Employment consultant for many years with Job Active Government services, and private Aboriginal owned Employment Groups. Kerry has also worked in the Mental health CRT (Cognitive remediation Therapy) program.
Priority is to support life skills, career planning and supporting individuals to re-enter and remain in the workforce and life in general.
Kerry worked on several programs including:
Ø Personal Help and Mental Service (PHAMS) program
Ø Cognitive Remediation Therapy programs (CRT's);
Ø Wise ways to Work delivering the Optimal Health Program.
Kerry is committed to working in partnership with individuals, communities; and Allies to design and develop new initiatives to assist and ensure a strong future, working towards eliminating challenges that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people face in their day to day lives.
Kerry has strong rapport building skills, using a holistic approach to the wellbeing and social challenges faced by people she works with. Kerry is passionate about identifying and implementing long term solutions above all, ensuring a positive result for Aboriginal clients.
Project Co-ordinator - Vanessa Thomson
Bula – Noa' ía – Talofa
I am Vee (short for Vanessa)
What a thrill it is to be part of the MMIGP Team as the Project Coordinator!
My role is to help support our Team manage our projects and funding.
I have volunteered and worked in the Neighborhood House Sector for over 20 years here in the beautiful Yarra Ranges.
I love working with our local community and empowering people.
Literacy and education for all is a passion of mine and I am a qualified Senior Library Technician. I worked in school libraries in Maroondah for over 10 years.
As reading and volunteering are my passions, I volunteer with Belgrave Survival Day and Fiji Book Drive.
I am a proud Pasifika woman of Fijian, Rotuman, and Samoan descent.
Connect with me anytime: projects@mmigp.org.au
Vinaka
Administration Officer/Receptionist - Tsyanne Duff-Rankine
"Hello! My name is Tsyanne Duff-Rankine and I'm one of the newest recruits at MMIGP. I'm a proud Ngarrindjeri woman from along the Coorong in Adelaide, South Australia and I've lived in Melbourne, on Wurundjeri Country, since I was 5. I'll be working alongside an already amazing crew as the Admin Officer/Receptionist. My family and I have been a part of the community at MMIGP for many years and I'm beyond excited to begin my journey with Mullum. I have a passion for my culture and am eager to learn more about and connect with our surrounding community. I look forward to seeing some new and some familiar faces around. Take care and stay safe!"
Men's Cultural Worker - Christopher Hume
Hello my name is Christopher Hume I am a proud Yorta Yorta man from the NSW and VICTORIA border where my people lived hunting and gathering for thousands of years. I was born on Gunai country in 1977 and I live and work on Wurundjeri country. I am the Aboriginal men's worker at Mullum Mullum Indigenous Gathering Place and also a cultural educator and I love my culture. From when I was a young fella I was lucky to be have my Elders teach me so much of our culture knowledge that I will hold and keep with me for ever. I will pass the cultural knowledge on to the next generation and the next till I have to go back to the dream time. I do love the work I do and I have a big passion to see all Aboriginal people be proud Aboriginal people and strong black and deadly.
Men's Worker - Dion Edwards
My name is Dion Edwards, I am a proud Wemba Wemba/Yorta Yorta man. My mother's family are from Moonaculla in Deniliquin and my fathers family are from Cummeragunja Mission; roughly about 28kms away from Echuca.
I started with MMIGP as the Men's Worker trainee and am now the Men's worker working closely with Chris Hume. Before joining the Mullum team I was working with Indigenous Employment Partners (IEP).
This role gives me a sense of pride knowing that I'm working towards helping our Elders and building the future generation of strong, proud Aboriginal people.
I believe my time at Mullum Mullum will be very rewarding with a positive experience and I look forward to where it takes me.
Planned Activity Group & Social Support Coordinator - Marc Williams
My name is Marc Williams. I am a proud Yorta Yorta and Gunai man born in Shepparton Victoria. My family come from Cummergunja (Mission) on the border of NSW and Victoria.
I have recently been appointed the position as the planned activities group/social support coordinator at MMIGP. I work closely with our Elders at MMIGP.
I have been apart of MMIGP for close to 15 years in various roles from Health Coordinator and Local Justice Worker to being on the Board of Directors.
I have always looked at MMIGP as one of the most important organisations for our people in the EMR. When my daughter was born in 2008, I was asked by an Elder to get involved with MMIGP as we were living in Burwood. I did not know of MMIGP at the time but since then I have never left this place. I live in Berwick (South/Eastern Suburb of Melbourne).
My background of employment over the last 25years ranges from Tourism/Health and Education and working in the Private Business Sector.
My vision for MMIGP is to build on the ability and capacity to address all the aspects of health and wellbeing for our people of our community. We need to be in a position of strength for significant change to improve outcomes across the whole organisation and community – we are getting there.
Finally, to note is that MMIGP community has rewarded my family with cultural and social connections to the EMR Aboriginal community, which has become an extended family.
Engagement and Prevention Team Leader - Merilyn Duff
I am a proud Trawlwoolway woman from Tasmania who has worked across the community health sector for the past 30 years. I am well known around the Mullum community having participated in many programs in the past most notably the Choir. I enjoy working in community to help people to feel strong and resilient. My passion is to support community in all areas of health, in particular social and emotional well-being. I have a love of art, cultural crafts, in particular possum skin cloak making and my other love is my three fur babies!
Engagement & Prevention Worker - Steve Beeby
Steve Beeby has been MMIGP's Family Violence Engagement and Prevention Worker for more than two years. Steve is also a volunteer Seafaring Chaplain with European Christian Mission, providing pastoral care to seafarers on ships docked in Melbourne ports. Previously Steve has worked with prisoners, as a Chaplain for the Metropolitan Remand Centre, and as a printer. Steve has a diverse cultural background, with his heritage a mix of Murri, Scottish and Dutch. He and his Vietnamese wife have four children between them. Steve said his drive to serve the community is at the heart of his commitment to his work at MMIGP.
Healing Support Worker - Elisha Diamond
Hello MMIGP Community!
My name is Elisha. I am so excited to be working in the role of the Healing Support Worker within the Ochre Program, Family Violence and prevention team. I grew up on noongar country in Western Australia and although I do not personally identify as Indigenous, I do strongly identify as belonging to an Aboriginal family, being the proud mother of two Yamatji/Noongar children. I am passionate about working with community and being able to walk alongside individuals during their healing journeys. I enjoy creating and providing a safe space for people to make positive changes individually and collectively for the community, that will ultimately benefit our future generations. I am currently enrolled in Bachelor of Psychological Science and Counselling at university. In the past, I have worked with remote Indigenous community in the Kimberly in a therapeutic space, supporting families in recovery from trauma, domestic and family violence, mental health and drug and alcohol challenges. This is a space that is close to my heart, as I am very proud of my own personal healing journey. I believe when we can shift our perception of our trauma and challenges of being something that isolates us from one another to a place of acceptance and connection we can start to stand in our own personal truth and growth with a sense of oneness.
Lead Youth Worker - Chloe Hope
Hey there! I'm Chloe I am taking on the Lead Youth Worker roll. I was born and raised in Melbourne's outer east, on Wurundjeri Country. I come from a Sri Lankan/Australian background and love being immersed in and learning about all different cultures and people.
I have worked as a secondary School Wellbeing Counsellor, leader for school holiday camps that offer respite for DFFH/ VACCA/Child Protection kids, Youth Mental Health Residential Care Worker and a Boarding House Supervisor at Worawa Aboriginal College.
I am passionate about harm minimisation, mental health, general humanitarianism, the environment, young people and culture. I am super excited to be part of the MMIGP team and hope to be able to help foster a safe, warm and inviting space for young people and their families to learn, grow, talk and be!
Feel free to get in contact or come say hi, contact me at: youthworker@mmigp.org.au
Youth Worker - Sami Ison-Johnson
My name is Sami and it is such a pleasure to be joining the MMIGP team as a youth worker. I am a proud Gamilaroi woman from NSW, but have grown up in the outer east, on Wurundjeri Country. I am passionate about working with and supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and I love to help empower our young mob and create culturally safe spaces for them to connect to culture and community. I am currently completing my Bachelor of youth work and youth studies and I am super excited to be doing that while working with you all at Mullum. Contact is aylp@mmigp.org.au
Youth Worker - Emily Mancell
Hey guys! My name is Emily and I am one of the youth workers at Mullum! I was born and raised on Wurundjeri country. I am
on my own personal and cultural journey to finding
my mob and whilst doing this I have been
supported and deeply connected with Mullum
since I was 5 or 6. I love spending time with
community and learning about culture either in
storytelling, dance or song. I love listening to Elders
tell their stories and my goal is to help our
upcoming leaders and younger generations in the
community blossom. Contact is ywt@mmigp.org.au
Mullum Creations Assistant - Olivia Pert
My name is Olivia Pert, and I am the Social Enterprise Assistant for Mullum Mullum Indigenous Gathering Place. I am a proud Kaurareg woman of the Torres Strait Islands, but I was born and raised on Wurundjeri Country.
I have almost 10 years of experience working in the hospitality industry and have also completed study in community services and community development strategies. I have completed student placements with the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA) and have a good understanding of the needs of community, specifically our young ones.
I am so looking forward to bringing my skills and passion into Mullum Creations' space to work towards establishing a sustainable funding source for the gathering place in years to come!
If you're interested in learning more about what Mullum Creations does, or our volunteering opportunities please contact me at mca@mmigp.org.au
Mullum Creations Co-ordinator - Stevie Thorpe
Stevie: Mullum Creations Co-ordinator
I am a proud Gunai, Gunditjmara and Yorta Yorta man
with ancestral links to India, China and Ireland. We celebrated the
birth of our newest member (Our first-born daughter
and sister). As our family grows, I am excited to join
MMIGP and serve my community working with the
Social Enterprise "Mullum Creations". My past roles
include a Youth Support Mentor and Chef at Charcoal
Lane Social Enterprise Restaurant and a facilitator at
"Dardi Munwurro" Family violence service. Having
experienced trauma and addiction cycles for 15 years and now recovered for 7 years I
am keen on giving my all to my work of MMIGP. I'd love to add that for wellbeing I am a
passionate and devoted practitioner of yoga and I have found much personal
transformation and energy on this journey since I started in 2020. Contact is
mullumcreations@mmigp.org.au
Mullum Pantry Co-ordinator - Vanessa Scales
My name is Vanessa, and I am so excited to be part
of MMIGP. I am the new appointed food pantry
coordinator and I looking forward to be part of
MMIGP team. I have been a community member
for MMIGP for 12 years and I am on the fundraising
committee and the NAIDOC committee and I am
also in the choir. I am a Barkindji women from
Mildura but have lived in the eastern region most
of my life. I love working with Aboriginal people and
I cannot wait to meet you all and if you have any
questions, please don't hesitate to contact me on
mullumpantry@mmigp.org.au
Community Driver & Foodbank Assistant - James Cusick
Hi I'm James and I am a proud Aboriginal man from Milikapiti, Tiwi Islands. I have been a part of Mullum Mullum since the beginning and I am an active and long term community member and volunteer. I recently joined the MMIGP team in February as the Community Driver & Foodbank Assistant to help our community access our Mullum Pantry and to support community participation in Mullum programs.
Mullum is like family to me and always has been. I have seen my own children grow up here and I enjoy learning new things and learn more about my culture. It is very rewarding and enjoyable for me to watch my children learn more about their culture.
3 Croydon Way
Croydon VIC 3136
47-49 Patterson Street, Ringwood East VIC 3135
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If you like to test the limits out on the water, a wave runner may be just what you need. On average, these jetski's can reach 60-65 miles per hour. The feeling of gliding over the water at incredible speeds is nearly indescribable. As you can imagine, a boat of any kind that can reach those high speeds may find itself in the repair shop at times. When it comes to wave runner insurance repairs in Minnesota, there is no better partner than our team at Anchor Marine Repair. * Body, Structural, Fiberglass, & Other Cosmetic Repairs Only. No Mechanical Work.
Over time, the constant crashing through wakes and avoiding debris in the lakes of MN can cause damage to your jet ski. Whether it be major structural or minor body damage, you need to have a reliable repair shop that works well with insurance companies on speed dial. Lucky for you, our expert repair staff does not shy away from working with insurance companies. In fact, we work with just about all of the insurance companies around. As a repair shop, our customers best interests are our top priority, so you can be rest assured that we will fight for you when it comes to your jet ski repair needs.
At Anchor Marine Repair, we make it as easy as possible to get your jet ski repaired. If your boat is within a 250 mile radius of the Minneapolis/St Paul MN area, we offer complimentary pickup and delivery services to our customers. How easy is that! With over 45 years of combined boat and jet ski repair experience, we've handled just about every type of bodywork damage on a jet ski. Your wave runner will be handled with care from the minute we pick up your jet ski until the time we drop it back off. Our goal is to repair your jet ski back to better than pre-accident condition.
If you have recently damaged your wave runner while testing its limits on the Minnesota waters, it is time to call our team at Anchor Marine Repair. Give us a call today at (763) 972-3540 or email service@anchormarinerepair.com to set up a free estimate from our insurance repair shop.


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Full list of news
Points of view: Jordi Cepa. "The challenge of Osiris made real"
When the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) sees first light next year, it will be the most advanced optical telescope in the world. The GTC will rely on OSIRIS, an instrument built in Spain, to allow it to work to its full potential during the first few years.
OSIRIS: The Mask Unit
OSIRIS: The eye in the sky
Masking the field of view!
Science with the GTC
Amongst other things, Jordi Cepa is Professor of the Astrophysics Department at the University of La Laguna and a Researcher at the Instituto de Astrof�sica de Canarias. However, he is also Principal Researcher for OSIRIS. In this edition of the bulletin we are going to tell you about the secret that makes OSIRIS such a powerful instrument: tunable filters.
OPINIONS: JORDI CEPA
In the coming year, we will start to test the alignment of the GTC's 36 primary mirror segments. The GTC's primary mirror will be 10.4 metres in diameter. When it takes its place in the array of telescopes at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, the GTC will work with almost ten times more light than any of the others. Only the giant Keck telescopes in Hawaii will come anywhere close.
A telescope's capacity for grasping light is enormously important to its ability to observe the weakest and farthest-away objects. However, the high-precision instruments mounted on the telescope are the tools that will deliver the kind of discoveries that will push back the boundaries of astronomy.
OSIRIS is a Spanish-built instrument that will be in operation at the GTC from first light. It will be the only Spanish-built instrument working during the GTC's first few years. OSIRIS is the product of collaboration between the Instituto de Astrof�sica de Canarias (IAC) - which controls the project and is the majority partner - and the Instituto de Astronom�a de la Universidad Nacional Aut�noma de M�xico (IA-UNAM). OSIRIS has received financal backing from GRANTECAN, the public company responsible for building the GTC; the Spanish Government Science and Technology Ministry's National Plan for Astronomy and Astrophysics; and the Instituto de Astrof�sica de Canarias.
With the construction of the GTC and of OSIRIS, Spain will join the league of big players in the field of astronomy, competing with the United States and the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Joining this exclusive club is not easy: the construction of an instrument for a 10 metre class telescope is feat of extraordinary complexity. The reason? Well, the size and weight of the instrument's components are in proportion with the size of the telescope, but the precision with which they are engineered has to be even greater. That is why it is much more difficult, and costly, to build an instrument for a 10 metre than for a 4 metre telescope, and it calls for very significant investments in terms of both effort and technology.
The construction of such an instrument also demands the total commitment of a team of astronomers and engineers for a period of several years - typically five or six in the case of OSIRIS, although the development of some instruments in other countries has been an adventure lasting eight or more years.
Spanish and overseas companies have been involved in the construction of the marvel of technology and precision that is OSIRIS, and they have all been working under the direction and supervision of engineers from the Instituto de Astrof�sica de Canarias.
The power of tunable filters
OSIRIS' power comes from its tunable filters, which make it a unique and cutting-edge world-class instrument, an example of the innovation and technological development demanded in instruments designed for large telescopes.
The concept of a filter will be familiar to all, whether it be a solar filter used to observe the sun through a telescope, the filter in a camera or even a pair of sunglasses. The filters used in astronomy are not very different: they select a part of the light arriving at an instrument so that each colour can be studied separately. The only difference between these and normal filters is the quality and precision that they bring to the job.
"Wide band" filters through just a single colour of the spectrum, in the same way as a colour filter. "Narrow band" filters let through only one of the tonalities of a colour. In more technical terms, they let through a smaller spectral interval. With narrow band filters we can look with total precision and spatial resolution at the gas emisssions of objects like the galaxies of Andromeda, planetary nebulae and ionised hydrogen regions like Orion. This would not be possible using other techniques like spectroscopy.
The gas from these objects is emitted in many different zones of the spectrum - these are what we call "emission lines". Each one of the chemical elements emits a number of these lines in different zones of the spectrum. Emission lines give us valuable information about the temperature, chemical composition and other features of young and massive gas ionising stars and other objects, so that it is vital for us to be able to observe as many of them as possible. Just to make things more complicated, galaxies exhibit "redshift", a phenomenon in which the emission lines are progressively displaced towards the red areas of the spectrum in proportion to our distance from them.
"Conventional" filters only let through a colour, tonality or a fixed spectral range. If we want to look at a different spectral range in order to study a different emission line, or the same line in another galaxy with redshift, then we need a different kind of filter.
To conclude then, in order to study phenomena like the evolution of galaxies, we would need a huge number of narrow band conventional filters to cover the whole range of the visible spectrum. This would allow us to look at any group of emission lines in any galaxy and to compensate for redshift. Of course, working with this number of conventional filters is not possible: no observatory has them in sufficient quantities due to the prohibitive cost. In fact, few observatories have enough filters even to allow accurate observation of nearby galaxies.
Tunable filters provide a solution to this problem. As their name indicates, they can be tuned at will to alter the wavelength, bandwidth or spectral range that they let through. They can do this because the laminates they are made of are extraordinarily flat and parallel, are very close together, and have a reflective layer within them. Three piece electric devices embedded between the laminates give precise and rapid control of their parallel alignment and of the distance separating them. To give you an idea of how accurate they are: if the tunable filter had the same diameter as Spain, its surface would have no bumps higher than 1 cm, whilst the distance between the layers of laminate could be adjusted to within a margin of error of just 2 mm. The part of the spectrum and the spectral range (bandwidth) that pass through the filter are determined by the distance separating the laminates, which can be altered by the piece electrics in just a tenth of a second.
Tunable filters are extraordinarily versatile: each one of OSIRIS' tunable filters has the same power as 19,000 conventional filters. If this number of filters were placed on top of one another they would reach a height of 152m, the same height as the Torre Picasso in Madrid or the Torre Mapfre in Barcelona, and 41 metres higher than St Paul's cathedral in London.
Narrow band conventional filters only let through a single fixed and unchanging colour in the visible spectrum.
Narrow band conventional filters let through just one fixed and unchanging tonality of a single colour in the visible spectrum.
One of OSIRIS' tunable filters. It is made of two layers of ceramic laminates with an internal reflective coating. Three piece electric devices (for greater clarity only two of them are shown) control the parallel alignment and distance separating the laminates with great precision. They are so accurate that, if the filter had the same diameter as Spain, the distance between the laminates could be adjusted to within a margin of error of just 2mm. By altering the distance between the laminates the part of the spectrum and bandwidth that the filter lets through can be altered at will (tuned) in just a tenth of a second. The extreme versatility of OSIRIS' tunable filter makes it as powerful as 19,000 conventional narrowband filters. In addition, because it can isolate narrower spectral ranges than conventional filters it allows us to observe much weaker objects.
CR�DITOS: JORDI CEPA
Text: Jordi Cepa, Principal Researcher of OSIRIS and the OTELO project, Professor of the Department of Astrophyiscs at the University of La Laguna and Researcher at the Instituto de Astrof�sica de Canarias. In addition, Jordi Cepa is currently Director of the Department of Astrophysics and Education Coordinator at the Instituto de Astrof�sica de Canarias. The development of OSIRIS has been made possible by the support of astronomers from a number of Spanish and overseas institutions, as well as by the dedication of an extraordinary team of engineers from the IAC and IA-UNAM.
http://www.iac.es/project/OSIRIS
Natalia R. Zelman


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New rule provides greater protection to retiree health benefits
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Wednesday announced a new federal rule aimed at protecting retiree health benefits. The new regulation allows employers that provide retiree health benefits to continue coordinating those benefits with Medicare without violating the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
By Tresa Baldas / Staff reporter | Updated on December 27, 2007
The original version of this story was published on National Law Journal


This article in the Environmental Enforcement and Crimes Committee Newsletter for the ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources provides background and insight into the Worker Endangerment Initiative. The Initiative was announced in December 2015 by Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Sally Yates to guide federal prosecutors to use environmental criminal statutes and Title 18 with relevant worker protection statutes to address workplace safety. Notably, the Initiative was announced on the heels of another 2015 memorandum by DAG Yates that requires the government to pursue individual culpability in corporate investigations. Following these two memorandum, corporations should expect that the government will initiate a preliminary criminal investigation into both the corporation and its employees after any major environmental or workplace accident.


By Harry Brockway. Bicester: The Primrose Academy, 1999. A signed limited edition with fourteen dramatic wood engravings produced as illustrations for Dostoevsky's novel by Brockway, printed from the block. Accompanying excerpts from the novel have been translated from Russian by William E Butler. Includes a brief Author's Note. Bound in attractive brown patterned boards with gold lettering on buckram spine. 135 numbered copies signed by the artist. Printed on Zerkall mould made paper. Slipcased. 26 x 15.5 cm. Individual prints available.


1.2inch. Protocol: Supported file type: Power requirements: Sannce 1500tvl. Bluetooth 4.0 vehicle speakerphone. Ad9959 dds. Panel fm. Jrfc02. Universal-qi wireless-ladegerät empfänger für android. Rj45 zu serial. V3.0 + edr.. Electronic car mp3 play. For honda accord / element 2003 - 2011. Arduino drahtlose 5 v. 48-320kbps. Selfie stick mit 360 rotation. Autlfq60414467.
5 v von auto. Car fm transmitter bluetooth handsfree(material) material quality: Fm transmitter mp3. As the pictures. Support tf card music play. 78.4 x 34 mm/3.09 x 1.34 in. 2.4-2.4835ghz. Dual port 2.1a. Sender antenne fm. Rated power: 5v/ 2.1a. Dc auf micro. :solar energy or car charger. Uart iic. Phone holder.


These chrome-plated metal buttons are rugged and look real good while doing it! Simply drill a 16mm hole into any material up to 1/2" thick and you can fit these in place, there's even a rubber gasket to keep water out of the enclosure. On the front of the button is a flat metal actuator, surrounded by a blue plastic LED ring. On the back there are 3 contacts for the button (common, normally-open and normally-closed) and 2 for the blue LED ring (+ and -). Connect 3 to 6V to the LED to have it light up nicely, there's a built in resistor! If you want to use this with a higher voltage, say 12V or 24V, simply add a 470 ohm resistor in series with the LED connection to keep the LED current at around 20mA.
This button is a momentary push button, when you press it the 'normally-open' contact shorts to the common contact. When you release it, the contacts open up again.
The switch and LED are separated, so you could wire it to turn on when pressed or vice versa or whatever you wish! Check the tech details for information!


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Our major funding programme is designed to help the community sector deliver on Council's vision.
The Strategic Priority Grants programme provides multi-year funding for community-led projects, activities or services. These grants are designed to encourage community leadership and ownership of programmes that seek solutions to local social, environmental and cultural issues.
We will fund community organisations whose outcomes directly contribute to Council's vision: small city benefits, big city ambition.
Our funding priorities are based on the Creative and Liveable Strategy (to achieve Goal 2: A creative and exciting city); the Connected Community Strategy (to achieve Goal 3: A connected and safe community); and the Eco City Strategy (to achieve Goal 4: An eco city).
Strategic Priority Grants 2019–22 results
In 2018 we invited applications from not-for-profit organisations and social enterprises that have a social, cultural or environmental mission.
On 1 March 2019, we announced the names of 39 organisations as first recipients of the Strategic Priority Grants. Council will partner with them over the next three years to further improve outcomes for our city. The value of the awarded grants is $1.3 million a year for three years, starting on 1 July 2019.
A full list of successful organisations and corresponding award value to each is available below.
Funding decisions were based on the assessment criteria outlined in Council's Community Funding Policy.
If you have any queries regarding the Strategic Priority Grants programme and support available for local community organisations, please get in touch with Joann Ransom on 06 356 8199 or email communityfunding@pncc.govt.nz.
Strategic Priority Grants 2019-22 17KB pdf
Strategic Priority Grants guidelines 433KB pdf
Community Funding Policy


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Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume XLI, Western Europe; NATO, 1969–1972
9. Memorandum From the Chairman of the Interdepartmental Group for Europe (Hillenbrand) to the Chairman of the Review Group (Kissinger)1
Washington, undated.
NATO Policy Review—NSSM 6
The IG/Europe has considered in detail and at length the requirement levied in NSSM–62 for a) a review of alternatives to policy in general toward NATO and b) a discussion of specific related issues such as US troop levels, German offset negotiations, US nuclear relations with the UK and France, consultations in NATO, and US attitudes toward intra-European defense cooperation.
We have not achieved a fully agreed paper though there has emerged a measure of consensus. Each member has problems with certain aspects of particular interest; for example, Treasury believes that the budgetary and balance of payments aspects of policy are not given sufficient weight. There remains also a divergence of view on the approach taken in responding to NSSM–6, and more particularly on the presentation of the main related issues.
I do not find the differences surprising: the US relationship to NATO involves factors extending across the entire spectrum of our relations with our Allies. Consequently, agreement either on definition of issues or on alternative solutions was not possible in the time allotted for the study. Moreover, I have resisted efforts to "paper over" policy differences by forwarding to you positions reflecting the "least common denominator."
Our difficulty in reaching agreement is also rooted in the fact that the objective situation has altered since NSSM–6 was received: the President has clearly affirmed his support of NATO. Thus, alternative institutional arrangements for accomplishing US policy objectives are not presently at issue. We assume, however, that modifications are not precluded to the present NATO structure and functions to improve the organization and to achieve a better balance of contributions between us and our Allies in both military and non-military sectors of Alliance activity.
Against this background, I am forwarding to you a paper3 that takes as its premise the continuation of US participation in NATO. It concentrates on the fundamental issues facing the Alliance, and explores alternatives arising from these issues.
These issues confront the Administration with the necessity for choice. Some will require early consideration, and others can be deferred somewhat. All, however, are important, and should be addressed before too much time elapses.
The presentation is organized into main issues requiring choice, and related lesser issues. Detailed background papers covering these questions have been prepared, and a measure of agreement on these papers also has been achieved. But because points of difference between agencies remain, and because some of these disagreements may be resolved through further IG/Europe discussion, the papers are not submitted at this time. However, they can be made available for reference if desired.
In approaching the issues set forth in the attached paper I would recommend that the NSC decide, in the course of an initial discussion, a) those issues which should be discussed further; and b) the preferred order of discussion. IG/Europe could then refine its studies of these issues for NSC use. I would appreciate your comments on this proposal.
Some members of IG/Europe favor exploring long-range alternatives to NATO, against the background of fundamental US interests and current US policies. This approach, in my view, might form the basis for a later study of possible future developments, whereas the immediate focus of our concern, it seems to me, should be on the real issues confronting us today in our relations with NATO.
Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–111, Senior Review Group, SRG Minutes Originals 1969. Secret.↩
Document 2.↩
Not attached. Davis forwarded the undated paper prepared by the Interdepartmental Group on Europe entitled "NSC Review—US Policy Toward NATO," to Pedersen, Nutter, Smith, Lieutenant General William Rosson, and Assistant Director of the Office of Emergency Preparedness Haakon Lindjord under cover of a March 17 memorandum. (National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–035, Senior Review Group Meetings, Review Group NATO Policy—NSSM 6 3/24/69)↩
Western Europe; NATO, 1969–1972
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Western Europe; NATO, 1969–1972 (Documents 1-358)
Western Europe Region and NATO (Documents 1-88)
Davis, Jeanne W.Hillenbrand, Martin J.Kissinger, Henry A.Nutter, G. WarrenPedersen, Richard
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As soon as we entered the hall, the children whose ages ranged from as young as 4 to 15 years were standing in rows and awaiting our arrival. With bags full of necessary material, we entered the hall and couldn't stop smiling when we looked at the innocent faces of the children while they shouted aloud "Good evening, teachers", unanimously. This group of 51 Children were given a home by AuxiliumNavajeevana Shelter for Street and Working Children. To conduct Child Sexual Abuse Awareness program, through project PANTS, to this group felt like a dire need, as those who are on the streets are more likely to experience incidents of child Sexual Abuse.Capturing the children's attention to the session which lasted for 2 and a half hours was a task that we all took as a challenge.
With a rapport building activity, the session took off. To help them realize the basic emotions that a human contains, an activity based approach was sought. Through this, the usual state of mind that a victim of Child Sexual Abuse could be in, was illustrated. In a play way Method, the children were told about their vulnerability and sought to empower them with knowledge of how to face a situation that puts them and their bodies in jeopardy. These children were taught what is a "good touch" and a "bad touch". A safe circle, i.e. a trusted group of people who are approachable, was made to be identified by the children. And the kids were made to understand their own vulnerability and the support system needed to fight against Child Sexual Abuse.Various role plays and enactments were conducted to enliven the process of learning. PANTS principle, an acronym, the expansion to which would help kids gain a tool to deal with Child Sexual Abuse, was made to repeat and let these kids familiarize with it. With many other ways of empowering each child to protect themselves, the session culminated by igniting these young minds on tackling the invisible crime- Child Sexual Abuse.


Created by Kim Meyers on Oct 1, 2018 10:17 AM. Last modified by Kim Meyers on Oct 1, 2018 10:17 AM.
Marketo sends us slides each month to go over with the group. They send them on the 1st of the month, but we meet at the end of the month, so I think it's best to share here because there's some time sensitive info in the deck. Some highlights include a link to sign up for Baltimore MUG updates(https://engage.marketo.com/usergroupsignup.html), upcoming Marketo events & advocate opportunities.