EDITOR'S NOTE — Troops and families at home count the many milestones missed and made. Third of a seven-part series on the longest deployment of the Iraq war.
The Ferris wheel at the Minnesota State Fair offered a bird's-eye view of an end-of-summer, mid-American ritual. From the top, you could see the places where 4-H kids showed off their prized hogs and cows, where farmers ogled gleaming tractors, and where throngs lined up for food-of-every-kind-on-a-stick.
Robert and Kathy Hanson had walked the Midway, had seen the sights. And they were on their way home, in their car, when the cell phone buzzed.
It was the military, and what the officer would not say spoke volumes about their son, Josh, on duty in Iraq. Something was terribly wrong.
Robert knew if Josh had just been injured he'd get details on the phone. But the caller had news that had to be delivered in person.
Gripping the wheel, Robert didn't know whether to hurry home, or slow down and delay the inevitable.
Finally, the Hansons reached their house deep in the woods outside Dent, Minn. They didn't have to wait long.
Within minutes, two officers in dress uniforms knocked on the door.
It was their sad duty to report the death of Staff Sgt. Joshua Robert Hanson.
On Saturday, Sept. 9, 2006, several hundred people filed into the gym of Pelican Rapids High School for Hanson's funeral, paying tribute to him with prayer and song.
Classmates, teachers, friends and family remembered the high school linebacker whose football team won the state's 1997 AA championship. The duck, pheasant and deer hunter who loved the outdoors and tubing on the Otter Tail River. The taekwondo black belt who collected a row of trophies. The happy-go-lucky guy who was always smiling and got a kick out of making up funny words. "Truly an unfairity," was a favorite phrase.
The funerals mounted (eventually, there would be 21, in all), as did the happy occasions the soldiers missed during what's been called the longest deployment of the Iraq war.
Proms and graduations. Recitals and soccer tournaments. Holiday dinners and anniversaries. Small events, maybe, in normal times but magnified to those closest in a time of war.
As fall approached, Sgt. 1st Class Janelle Johnson scheduled home leave so she could take her 5-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, to her first day of kindergarten.
It was a two-week chance to be a mother again. She shopped with Elizabeth for a pink jumper, curled her daughter's hair and watched her step aboard the yellow school bus. She marveled that her 18-month-old daughter, Emily, who had no hair and blue eyes when she last saw her, had blossomed into a blonde-haired, green-eyed, walking, talking toddler.
Her husband, Chad, was doing a great job.
But in the blink of an eye, the two weeks were over. Before Janelle could begin to settle in, she was back in Iraq — and, strangely, at a school that made her think of the kindergarten back home.
Her unit was delivering soccer balls and backpacks stuffed with school supplies, another mission designed to give an Iraqi community a helping hand.
The school was little more than a collection of desks in a mud building surrounded by a dirt yard and a fence; children who couldn't attend because they didn't own shoes watched forlornly outside as the soldiers arrived with their offerings.
Later, when Janelle received a photo scrapbook of Elizabeth's first months at school, she thought about what she had seen and she was grateful for her daughter's fortunate life at Knight Elementary School in Randall, Minn. She sent a thank you note to Elizabeth's teacher with a special gift: an American flag that had flown over her base.
Seth Goehring had prepared for fatherhood, as best he could from a war zone.
He had monitored his wife's pregnancy with photos she had sent by e-mail, storing them chronologically in computer folders. The doctors even obliged by providing ultrasound images — with labels for the boy parts.
In another era, a father-to-be would have to wait weeks for letters and, if he was lucky, a snapshot or two. But Seth and Alicia were in constant, electronic contact. They mulled over possible names for their son. Alicia sent a list of possible of strong "cowboy" names before they settled on Kolton.
On a November afternoon, returning from patrol, Seth got the word from his platoon sergeant: The Red Cross had relayed the message that Alicia had gone to the hospital.
He quickly dialed the cell phone of his mother, who'd proxied for him at his wedding and now proxied for the delivery room doctor.
Within hours, Seth had e-mail photos of his new son taken by Alicia, who held black-haired Kolton in her arms and snapped pictures with her cell phone.
On Nov. 22, Col. David Elicerio turned 49 — and the commander of the 1st Brigade, along with a small group of his soldiers, journeyed to a remote spot in the desert for a special treat.
He also handed Elicerio an Arab headdress, a shawl, a robe — and a shotgun. Elicerio had confided to the sheik earlier that he loved the outdoors and hunting wild game. And so here they were, in the middle of a war, chasing wild rabbits. It all seemed unreal.
When they were done, a sheep in the back of one of the trucks was slaughtered, and there in the desert, Elicerio sat at a campfire, eating the roasted meat with flat bread, tomatoes and onions.
The year before, he had spent his birthday with his family, in Las Vegas.
A few days later, an Army convoy rolled up in a swirl of dust toward a concrete slab of a building on the edge of Qaryat al Majarrah, a village of squat yellow brick houses.
The answer to their questions could be glimpsed in the vehicles, which looked like a movable flea market bearing piles of medical supplies, clothes, soccer balls and Beanie Babies.
Stepping from one truck was Dr. Joe Burns, a North Dakota emergency room doctor who had arrived weeks earlier for a six-month stint with the 1st Brigade Combat Team. He was in this village to join Iraqi Army personnel in a goodwill mission — a daylong health clinic.
Burns, a colonel, had been to war before, serving in Bosnia. But everything about Iraq was different, including his new home, a dusty metal storage container.
With his wire-frame glasses and rosy complexion, Burns was a man comfortable in his own skin. He had a healthy dose of Midwestern common sense and an unflappable manner.
He'd need it. His temporary clinic was a building with no heat, electricity or water. It was surrounded by a concertina wire perimeter unfurled by U.S. troops. Visitors were searched for weapons and explosives.
in exchange for several thousand dollars.
As patients filed in, Burns felt like a frontier doctor. He knew what was wrong, but couldn't do much to help.
When a 7-year-old Iraqi girl born with her heart on the right side asked, through an interpreter, if the Americans could do anything, Burns told her no, regrettably he couldn't.
When she said her 15-year-old sister, frail and bundled in a long coat and a head scarf, was tired and cold all the time, Burns felt the girl's neck for a pulse. Her heart rate was 110, about 50 percent above normal, even when she sat still.
Checking her heart with a stethoscope, Burns heard an incredibly loud sound: Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh, like a washing machine.
He suspected the girl had had rheumatic fever that had scarred her heart valves so the blood didn't flow as quickly at it should. He drew the girl a picture on a scrap of paper showing her the valves and explaining her illness.
Burns knew she needed surgery, but her family didn't have money. He also knew she wasn't likely to get help.
His final visitor was a father in his 30s, dressed in white flowing robes, his face creased by the sun. He was clutching CAT scans.
He said his 15-month-old daughter had become ill months earlier. The symptoms — stiffness, a high fever, aching head — sounded like meningitis to Burns.
By the time the father had arrived with his daughter at an Iraqi hospital, she was blind and having seizures. The Iraqi doctors told him she needed a brain wave test and a brain scan. They also prescribed medicine.
Burns studied the CAT scans, holding them up to a dust-caked window for light. He saw no abnormalities. He assured the father the medicine she was prescribed was good.
But the father had a request: Could they fly his sick daughter to America for the brain tests?
The Iraqi doctor, who was treating another patient, said nothing. He and Burns shared a knowing glance — no tests would change the daughter's prognosis now.
Burns put a comforting hand on the man's shoulder. No father wants his children to suffer, he said, adding that he had four children himself. The best thing to do, Burns said, is continue giving her the medicine.
The father thanked him, took the CAT scans and left.
Had the day's mission done any good? Burns wondered.
Joe Burns hoped so, but that was about all he could do.
And in the weeks to come, hope became much harder to sustain.


text:
North Carolina Self-Insurance Security Association
Updated May 28, 2019 at 9:03 am ET
AASS
Annual Meeting Notice
Insolvencies
Member Assessments
Plan of Operation
Proof of Claim
The Association may assess member self-insurers in four instances:
Association Aggregate Security System ("AASS") assessments are made each year that the Commissioner of Insurance approves the an AASS to provide aggregate security for eligible member self-insurers in lieu of the posting of individual security by each member self-insurer. Please click on the Association Aggregate Security System tab to read a complete description of the current AASS.
Group Assessments – The Association may annually assess each member group self-insurer in an amount not to exceed two percent (2%) of the group self-insurer's annual gross premiums for the preceding calendar year, as determined under G.S. 105-228.5(b), (b1), and (c).
Special Assessments are made in the event that the assets of the Association are not sufficient to pay covered claims against one or more insolvent member self-insurers. In the event of a Special Assessment, each member pays an assessment that is based on the proportion of the individual member self-insurer's workers' compensation liabilities to the aggregate total of the workers' compensation liabilities of all member self-insurers.
A newly licensed member self-insurer pays an initial assessment to the Association. The current New Member Assessment Policy follows:
(NEW MEMBER ASSESSMENT POLICY)
RESOLVED, THAT, pursuant to the Plan of Operation, the following policy governs the initial assessment of member self-insurers that licensed by the North Carolina Department of Insurance ("Department") and become members of the North Carolina Self-Insurance Security Association ("Association") on or after January 1, 2008
Individual self-insurers that are admitted as members of the Association on or after January 1, 2008 will pay an initial assessment to the Association based on the total outstanding North Carolina workers' compensation liabilities ("Workers' Compensation Liabilities") reflected on its application to the Department and its credit rating at the time of its application. Start-up companies without a prior loss history will pay an assessment based solely on their credit rating because they would not have incurred any actuarially determined outstanding liabilities.
For all those self-insurers that have the equivalent of an A3 rating or above will be assessed as follows: Under $3 million in Workers' Compensation Liabilities – $25,000.00; Between $3 million and $6 million in Workers' Compensation Liabilities – $50,000.00; Between $6 million and $10 million Workers' Compensation Liabilities – $75,000.00; and $10 million and greater in Workers' Compensation Liabilities will be assessed $100,000.00.
For all member self-insurers that have the equivalent of a B3 rating up to and including a Baal rating will be assessed as follows: Under $3 million in Workers' Compensation Liabilities – $37,500.00; Between $3 million and $6 million in Workers' Compensation Liabilities – $75,000.00; Between $6 million and $10 million in Workers' Compensation Liabilities – $112,500.00; and $10 million and greater in Workers' Compensation Liabilities will be assessed $150,000.00.
For all member self-insurers that have the equivalent of a credit rating lower than B3 will be assessed as follows: Under $3 million in Workers' Compensation Liabilities – $50,000.00; Between $3 million and $6 million in Workers' Compensation Liabilities – $100,000.00; Between $6 million and $10 million in Workers' Compensation Liabilities – $150,000.00; and $10 million and greater in Workers' Compensation Liabilities will be assessed $200,000.00.
Group self-insurers pay an initial new member assessment deposit of $10,000.00 that is due and payable on the date that the group self-insurer is admitted as a member of the Association. During the first partial calendar year of membership, new group self-insurer members are assessed at the rate of 1.28% of the group self-insurer's estimated first year Premium. The estimated first year Premium is determined by pro-rating the Premium for the portion of the year that the group self-insurer is a member to produce an estimated Premium for the entire calendar year. The assessment deposit is credited against the assessment due. Any excess deposit is applied to the second year assessment. For the remainder of the first full calendar year of membership, the group member self-insurer is assessed at the rate of 1.47% of the Premium and the second year assessment is due and payable at the end of the first full calendar year of membership.
Initial assessments are due on the effective date of the license to self-insure. The policy set forth herein is applicable only to the collection of initial assessments from new member self-insurers. In addition to the initial new member assessment, new members will pay all additional assessments made by the Association for the period the individual or group self-insurer is a member of the Association.
Adopted by an affirmative vote of a majority of the Board of Directors of the Association on April 24, 2008.
North Carolina Department Of Insurance
North Carolina Industrial Commision
Events are coming soon, stay tuned!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: how select the greatest value to the smallest in the database mysql How select the greatest value to the smallest in the database mysql?
This is my code :
$query1 = "SELECT MAX(total_view) FROM tb_data WHERE display = '1' GROUP BY total_view" or die(mysql_error());

$sql = mysql_query($query1);
$resnum = mysql_num_rows($sql);

if ($resnum == "")
{ echo '
data not found
';}
else
{
while ($result = mysql_fetch_array($sql)):
........
endwhile;
}

I've tried many times but always failed. I want to find data from db,
id  name  total_view display
1   abc      50        1
2   bcd      80        1
3   ccc      20        1
4   ggg      90        1

like this:
id  name  total_view display
4   ggg      90        1
2   bcd      80        1
1   abc      50        1
3   ccc      20        1

Someone know how fix this?

A: Your query need to use Order By like
$query1 = "SELECT * FROM tb_data WHERE display = '1' ORDER BY total_view DESC";

A: ORDER BY is your buddy in that case.
$query1 = "SELECT MAX(total_view) FROM tb_data WHERE display = '1' GROUP BY total_view ORDER BY total_view DESC" or die(mysql_error());

//Untested, but should do it.

A: try this
$sql = mysql_query("SELECT MAX(total_view) as maxview FROM tb_data
                    WHERE display = '1'
                    GROUP BY name ORDER BY maxview DESC")or die(mysql_error());
$resnum = mysql_num_rows($sql);
if ($resnum == 0)
{ echo '
data not found
';}
else
{
 while ($result = mysql_fetch_array($sql)):
       echo $result['maxview'];
 .......

here some notes on your code:
1- add ORDER BY
2- you should group by name
3- dont make or die after string , but after mysql_query query.
4- you should switch to MYSQLI or PDO instead pf mysql
5- you should compare with the integer 0 not empty string in if statment

A: You don't need a group by clause nor a max function as you want all the records from the table. Just use order by as
SELECT id, name, total_view, display FROM Table1
WHERE display = '1'
ORDER BY total_view DESC

fiddle

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


 The Department has requested for slots on Radio and ZBC-TV for the Government Entomologist to create awareness on pests of economic importance and their management.
 The awareness information will also be translated into Shona and Ndebele. The Government Entomologist will co-present/ share presentations with AGRITEX to allow for adequate translation into extension messages.
 Of particular interest are the various caterpillars of the Lepidoptera group that have surfaced on cereal crops, particularly maize. The information will also be availed to the Herald and the Sunday Mail for publication.
 The awareness targets farmers, agricultural extension staff, academia, private companies and the general public in Zimbabwe.
 Some of the pests, with pictorial illustrations to show the differences, are listed below.
 Fall Armyworm is a new armyworm pest in Zimbabwe.
 The Alien invasive moth is native to tropical and sub-tropical regions of the Americas.
 The pest was first reported on the African continent in several West African countries.
 The pest can wreak havoc on crops, if left to multiply.
 Caterpillars of Fall Armyworm seem to be much more damaging to crops such as maize than most other African Spodoptera species.
 Fall Armyworm has a remarkable dispersal capacity of over 2 000km per annum.
 Now present in West Africa, but is likely to spread and colonize most of tropical Africa in a short space of time because of its high dispersal capacity.
 It is important to choose and use selected insecticides. Indiscriminate non-selective use of pesticides will lead to resistance in the pest populations.
 Therefore, alternated application of insecticides such as pyrethroids, carbamates and organophosphates are recommended as an immediate measure.
 For example, control of Fall Armyworm with Carbaryl 85% WP at high dosage rates of 300-400g/15 L of water at full cover spray would effectively control the pest. Test apply the Carbaryl and if it does not work effectively, the other option is to use Lambda at 150 ml/200 L of water or 15ml/15 L of water (knapsack sprayer) full cover spray.
will usually control the ordinary maize stem borer.
body and a reddish head.
 African Armyworm is effectively controlled using Carbaryl 85% WP at normal rates as a full cover spray.


text:
Q: Display HTML formatted text from Rich Text multi-line column in SharePoint list column formatted with JSON In SharePoint Online modern page I am trying to remove the styling that causes a white overlay and hides most of the text using the following JSON column formatting, so that the column height will be adjusted to display the full text of the column.
When previewing the changes with the following JSON formatting the full text is displayed and the background is removed but the text is not displayed with the applied formatting and all the HTML tags are displayed as if the text area's HTML has been encoded.
Is there any way to format SharePoint column with JSON and retain the formatted display of the text?
{
   "$schema": "https://developer.microsoft.com/json-schemas/sp/v2/column-formatting.schema.json",
   "elmType": "div",
   "txtContent": "@currentField",
       "style": {
        "background": "none",
        "display":"initial",
        "overflow": "visible"
    }
}

A: Currently, rich multiline text fields are not supported within json column formatting. You could read this article: https://github.com/SharePoint/sp-dev-list-formatting/issues/88
The only workaround is using "plain text" instead in column settings.


text:
What to Know in Washington: Budget Official Questioned Aid Hold
November 27, 2019 6:58 AM	 By Zachary Sherwood and Brandon Lee
A White House budget official said he warned his superiors that a hold on security assistance for Ukraine could be illegal, and he waited months for an explanation for the delay he described as unusual, according to transcripts released yesterday.
Mark Sandy, who was responsible for national security programs at the Office of Management and Budget, testified to the House impeachment inquiry that budget officials were told in mid-July that President Donald Trump had directed that the Ukraine aid be held up. Despite questions from OMB officials, no explanation was given nor was any time frame for the hold set out.
Sandy, a career official, said that as he and others raised questions about the delay responsibility for releasing the funds was taken from him in July and given to a political appointee, Michael Duffey, to whom he reported.
"As the hold was extended, we continued to express concerns about the potential implications vis-à-vis the Impoundment Control Act," Sandy said in his Nov. 16 testimony. "We expressed those concerns to Mike Duffey, and, on every occasion, we advised him to speak to the general counsel."
Under the 1974 law, the executive branch is legally obligated to spend the money that Congress approved in a bill the president signed into law.
Sandy said it wasn't until September — after members of Congress began questioning the delay and a whistleblower raised an alarm about Trump's phone call with Ukraine's president — that an explanation for why the nearly $400 million in aid for Ukraine had not yet been spent.
The three House committees leading the impeachment inquiry released the transcripts from Sandy and Philip Reeker, a State Department official, as part of the evidence collected behind closed doors and in public hearings over the past two months. The two documents provide additional accounts of two events central to the allegations against Trump: the motivation for withholding aid for Ukraine and the dismissal of the U.S. ambassador in Kyiv. Read more from Billy House and Nick Wadhams.
Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images
Sandy arrives for a closed door deposition at the Capitol on Nov. 16.
Trump Denies Sending Giuliani to Ukraine for Biden Probe: Trump denied directing Rudy Giuliani to go to Ukraine to look for dirt on his political rivals, in an interview with former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly. "No, I didn't direct him, but he is a warrior, he is a warrior," Trump told O'Reilly in an interview streamed on the internet yesterday. Giuliani has said publicly that he conducted an investigation "concerning 2016 Ukrainian collusion and corruption" on Trump's behalf.
Asked by O'Reilly what Giuliani was doing in Ukraine, Trump said "you have to ask that to Rudy."
"Rudy has other clients, other than me," the president added. "He's done a lot of work in Ukraine over the years." Read more from Justin Sink.
Committee Opposes Hold on McGahn Ruling: The House Judiciary Committee urged a judge yesterday to deny a Justice Department request to put on hold her ruling compelling former White House Counsel Don McGahn to comply with a subpoena for his testimony. In a federal court filing in Washington, the committee said the requested hold would "undermine public interest" and thwart the committee's ability to conduct an impeachment inquiry based on all of the relevant evidence, "which in turn could compromise the public's faith in the process."
The administration told U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson if she didn't rule by this morning, it would ask the appeals court in Washington to put her ruling on hold — a move the committee said was wholly unnecessary since it agreed to wait for seven days to let the judge decide before taking any action. If the judge denies the administration's request, the committee said it would also give the appeals court seven days to consider the issue, Joe Schneider reports.
Warren Loses Momentum in 2020 Race: Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (D-Mass.) steady rise in the polls has shifted into reverse as attacks from her Democratic rivals over her Medicare for All plan take a toll. A Quinnipiac poll released yesterday found that Warren has dropped by 14 points since October, when she topped the field in the same poll. Joe Biden now has a clear lead and she is in a three-way statistical tie for second place with Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Every other candidate had 3% support or less.
Other surveys like Economist/YouGov show Warren's support dipping in recent weeks, and her standing in the RealClearPolitics average of polls has fallen by 9 points since early October. There's no obvious beneficiary of her struggles — Biden, Sanders and Buttigieg have each risen by a few points since then. Read more from Sahil Kapur.
Incomes Boom in Swing States: Personal income growth has been surging in some political battlegrounds, including a third of the counties in Pennsylvania, which Trump narrowly flipped in 2016 and may need to win re-election next year. In Trump's first two years in office, a total of 325 counties representing nearly 6% of the U.S. population experienced their best annualized income gains since at least 1992, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. And 127 of those are located in perennial swing states, including Ohio and Iowa. Bloomberg News analyzed per capita income growth in all U.S. counties going back to Bill Clinton's first term. Read more from Alex Tanzi and Wei Lu.
Bloomberg Says He Should Pay More Taxes, Opposes Wealth Levy: Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg pledged to support "taxing wealthy people like me" but dismissed a wealth levy tried in other countries and supported by rivals including Warren and Sanders because "it just doesn't work." Campaigning in Phoenix on the second day of the rollout of his campaign, Bloomberg didn't offer a tax plan, but said one would be forthcoming. Read more from Mark Niquette. Bloomberg is the majority owner of Bloomberg Government's parent company.
Zeldin Gets Democratic Challenger: Bridget Fleming (D), a legislator in New York's Suffolk County, announced a campaign and filed FEC papers to oppose three-term Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin in the state's 1st congressional District. "For too long, politicians like Lee Zeldin have prioritized President Trump at the expense of our priorities," Fleming says in a campaign video that emphasizes environmental protections and health care. She joins a Democratic field that already includes Nancy Goroff, a chemistry professor who's endorsed by EMILY's List, and Perry Gershon, who's seeking rematch after losing 51%-47% to Zeldin in the 2018 election. Read more from Greg Giroux.
Trump Says China Deal in 'Final Throes': Trump declared yesterday that talks with China on the first phase of a trade deal were near completion after negotiators from both sides spoke by phone, signaling progress on an accord in the works for nearly two years. "We're in the final throes of a very important deal," Trump told reporters at the White House. "It's going very well." The president said later in the nterview with O'Reilly that he's holding up the trade deal to ensure better terms for the U.S. "I'm holding it up because it's got to be a good deal," he said in the interview for O'Reilly's website. "We can't make a deal that's like, even. We have to make a deal where we do much better, because we have to catch up." Read more from Mario Parker and Shawn Donnan.
Trump to Designate Mexican Cartels as Terror Groups: Trump said the U.S. government intends to designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorist groups in the near future, and declined to say whether he was considering taking military action like drone strikes against the groups. "I don't want to say what I'm going to do, but they will be designated," Trump told O'Reilly. Trump said that he had already offered Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador assistance but that his counterpart had declined the offer. "I've actually offered him to let us go in and clean it out," Trump said. "He so far has rejected the offer, but at some point something has to be done. Read more from Justin Sink.
Kim Jong Un Advances Nuke Threat: It's been about two years since Kim Jong Un launched a missile capable of hitting the entire U.S., declared his nuclear weapons program "complete" and halted all ICBM tests. In that time, the North Korean leader has also become an even bigger threat to America. Kim's testing freeze ushered in unprecedented diplomacy with Trump, leading to historic meetings in Singapore, Vietnam and the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas. But at the same time, Kim has been busy churning out fissile material for bombs and developing new missile technology that could make the next big launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile even more concerning to Pentagon military planners. Read more from Jon Herskovitz.
Merkel Defends NATO Alliance: German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a spirited defense of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, saying Europe is currently too weak to defend itself without the support of the U.S.-led military alliance. Merkel's comments in a speech today to the Bundestag were clearly directed at French President Emmanuel Macron, who has cast doubt on NATO's future by suggesting the 29-nation organization is "brain dead." NATO heads of state are scheduled to meet in London Dec. 3-4. Read more from Arne Delfs.
Corbyn Says U.S. Targeting NHS: British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused the Conservative government of concealing secret negotiations between U.K. and U.S. officials on the future of Britain's National Health Service in any trade deal. U.S. pharmaceutical companies want to force up the price the NHS pays for drugs as part of a U.S.-U.K. deal, Corbyn said, noting that Trump frequently complains about "unreasonably low prices" other countries pay for medicines. Corbyn said both sides have already finished initial talks on lengthening patents for medicines in the U.K. Read more from Alex Morales and Greg Ritchie.
Around the Administration
Regulatory Chief Documents Sought: Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee are demanding more documents in advance of a hearing scheduled for Dec. 4 on Paul Ray, Trump's nominee to be the next regulatory chief. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the ranking member of the committee, was joined by five panel Democrats in requesting the records from the White House Office of Management and Budget about the activities of its Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Read more from Cheryl Bolen.
SCOTUS to Confer on Tax Appeal: The Supreme Court indicated yesterday that it will use its Dec. 13 private conference to consider taking up Trump's bid to block a New York grand jury subpoena for his tax returns. The court could say as early as that day whether it will hear Trump's appeal. The case is one of two fights that are testing the court's willingness to shield the president from investigations into his personal and business affairs. Trump is separately fighting a subpoena for his financial records by a House committee. Read more from Greg Stohr.
FAA Rebuffs to Scrutinize All 737 Max Deliveries: U.S. aviation regulators will conduct the final approval of factory-fresh Boeing 737 Max jets rather than allowing company employees to handle routine sign-offs before the planes are delivered. The plan amounted to the latest signal from the Federal Aviation Administration that it intends to retain full control over all aspects of the grounded jetliner as Boeing prepares to finalize fixes and restart shipments to customers. The Max, the company's best-selling model, has been banned from flying since March after two deadly crashes killed 346 people. Read more from Alan Levin and Julie Johnsson.
Editor's Note: Bloomberg Government's What to Know in Washington will not publish on Thursday or Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday. We will return Monday, Dec. 2.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Giuseppe Macri at gmacri@bgov.com; Loren Duggan at lduggan@bgov.com


text:
Researchers crack the secrets of Native American astronomy
The discovery in southwest Colorado, US, suggests the Pueblo people had a firm grasp of the Sun's movement across the skies. Located in the Mesa Verde National Park, the Pueblo people carved incredible settlements into the bare rock of Colorado's numerous canyons.
Researchers warn plastic pollution in Great Lakes growing concern to ecosystem
Research from a leading international expert on the health of the Great Lakes of North America suggests that the growing intensity and scale of pollution from plastics poses serious risks to human health and will continue to have profound consequences on the ecosystem.
Researchers use AI to discover ancient drawings in Peru that can be seen from space
A cultural anthropology team at Yamagata University in Japan recently announced the discovery of 143 huge ancient drawings etched in Peruvian soil known as "geoglyphs."
Over-60s exercising an hour a week face a lower risk of heart disease or stroke: South Korean researchers
It's never too late to start exercising, according to a major study which found active over-60s cut their risk of heart attack and stroke.
Researchers receive $12 million grant to develop flu vaccine against many viral strains
Patrick Wilson, PhD, professor of medicine and rheumatology at the University of Chicago, and a group of researchers from three other institutions have received a Grand Challenge for Universal Influenza Vaccine Development grant — a $12 million initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Flu Lab.
Iranian researchers planning to grow human pancreas
Iranian researchers at Royan Institute are working on a project to grow a human pancreas inside the body of a goat.
Researchers refine guidelines for pediatric brain injuries
When a child suffers a head trauma, medical professionals are in high gear to prevent further damage to a developing brain. Measuring and regulating the child's level of carbon dioxide is critical to ensuring the brain is getting enough blood oxygen to prevent a secondary brain injury. High carbon dioxide can increase intracranial pressure, while a low level is associated with poor brain circulation.
Researchers study impact of consumption trends on biodiverse regions
One quarter of the world's tropical land could disappear by the end of the century unless meat and dairy consumption falls, researchers have warned.
Researchers say pioneering emergency eye care trial leads to quicker treatment times
A trial virtual emergency consultation program for eye patients has led to quicker treatment times and removed the need for follow up hospital appointments in more than half of cases, according to researchers.
Starvation deaths of 200 reindeer in Arctic caused by climate change, say researchers
About 200 reindeer have been found dead from starvation in the Arctic archipelago Svalbard, an unusually high number, the Norwegian Polar Institute has said, pointing the finger at climate change.
Ancient bird fossil fascinates researchers
A team of researchers is fascinated by the remains of an ancient bird with an unusual feature: Its middle toes are longer than the lower legs. The fossil was recovered from an amber deposit in Myanmar.
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La ludification, couramment désignée par l'anglicisme , est l'utilisation des mécanismes du jeu dans d'autres domaines, en particulier des sites web, des situations d'apprentissage, des situations de travail ou des réseaux sociaux. Son but est d'augmenter l'acceptabilité et l'usage de ces applications en s'appuyant sur la prédisposition humaine au jeu et le système de récompense.

Il s'agit d'une manière nouvelle de gérer une équipe, de saisir les problématiques, d'éveiller une motivation chez autrui et d'installer une ambiance de travail. Une forme novatrice de management, qui s'inscrit dans de nombreux domaines de la société, si bien que comprendre le concept de ludification est une façon d'analyser les fonctionnements des milieux de l'entreprise, de l'éducation, du sport, des relations sociales, ou encore de la santé.

Plus clairement, la ludification doit permettre de motiver une équipe à atteindre ses objectifs. Ainsi, il ne s'agit pas d'une fin en soi mais des procédés à utiliser pour parvenir à cette situation, ce but. Plusieurs méthodes sont donc proposées au sein de la ludification et adaptées en fonction du contexte, de la demande et des besoins. Ces méthodes offriront chacune un résultat différent mais permettront à l'équipe de changer son regard sur l'objectif à atteindre et sur la façon d'y arriver.

Cette technique de conception permet d'obtenir des personnes des comportements actifs et impliqués sur des tâches que l'on ne voudrait pas faire car on pourrait les considérer comme sans intérêt ou rébarbatives : remplir un questionnaire, acheter un produit, regarder des publicités ou assimiler des informations. Bien que le terme soit effectivement récent dans la recherche, il est nécessaire de rappeler que des processus de ludification ont existé avant l'introduction massive du jeu vidéo dans le quotidien des individus. Ainsi, comme exemple de ludification, nous pouvons citer les systèmes de « bons points » utilisés dans les classes de petites sections et de maternelles. Ces récompenses s'obtenaient par la participation des élèves aux exercices mis en place par l'enseignant et s'échangeaient, à la façon d'une monnaie, contre des images ou autres lots. On peut aussi évoquer les bons de réduction, qui s'apparentent pour partie à ce processus du jeu, dans une activité de consommateur.

Méthodes

D'une manière générale, la ludification peut intervenir dès lors que la « réalité » ne correspond plus à ce qui motive le plus les acteurs. Pour permettre à ces derniers de recouvrer ou de conforter une envie et une force d'agir, la mise en place d'un système « ludifié » apparaît comme optimale. Une idée surprenante mais qui témoigne de résultats du fait d'une dizaine de mécaniques adaptables aux différentes conditions. L'engagement, le plaisir, l'envie, et l'attention sont fortifiés par des principes structurants basés sur la logique des jeux. C'est d'ailleurs ce qui apparaissait dès 2010, dans des interviews aupres des  nouveaux producteurs de serious games. Leurs motivations se trouvaient dans la nature numérique du serious game, leur attractivité, l'acquisition des informations et certains de leurs aspects universels.

Comment fonctionnent ces mécaniques ?

La dynamique de la ludification s'exprime à travers quatre grandes dynamiques que sont les émotions, les contraintes, les relations et l'idée de progrès.

Pour faire émerger une motivation dite « extrinsèque »,  et répondre à des objectifs précis, ce sont les mécaniques des points, des classements et des badges qui sont le plus souvent utilisées. Ainsi, la personne se voit immergée dans une logique de gain de points ou de badges, et une mise en importance de sa place par le biais de classements. Elle en ressentirait alors une motivation spontanée d'action, permettant de répondre aux objectifs donnés, du fait même de vouloir l'obtention de ces gains. Ces techniques démontrent notamment leur efficacité pour des faits ponctuels ou des relances de motivation mais n'exercent généralement pas de réelle influence sur le long terme.

Pour une efficacité plus ancrée, les adeptes de la ludification utilisent davantage les idées d'objectifs, de défi et de progression ou d'amélioration, sollicitées par des « passages de niveau » qu'il est possible d'effectuer à travers ses actions. C'est l'idée du progrès en général et de tous les domaines qu'il touche chez l'individu : estime de soi, favorisation du lien social, maîtrise, sentiment d'accomplissement. L'ensemble de ces principes atteindrait davantage la motivation dite intrinsèque, qui se procure « par l'intérêt et le plaisir que l'individu trouve à l'action, sans attente de récompense externe », que la motivation extrinsèque vue précédemment et qui ne serait provoquée que par une circonstance extérieure à l'individu, telles, ainsi que nous l'expliquions, une pression sociale, une récompense, une obtention de l'approbation d'une personne tierce...

Néanmoins, un procédé peut avoir un impact différent en fonction de l'intérêt de la personne pour cette récompense. Il est possible que l'une y porte une attention considérable tandis qu'une autre ne le voit qu'avec une indifférence absolue en fonction de ce qu'il valorise personnellement, de ce qui a de l'intérêt véritable dans sa conception intime. La motivation, en ce sens, n'est pas stimulée avec la même « force » selon les personnes.

Pour Amy Jo Kim, la ludification se résume à cinq caractéristiques :
 collectionner
 gagner des points
 intégrer un mécanisme de rétroaction (ou « boucle d'engagement »)
 encourager les échanges entre joueurs
 permettre la personnalisation du service

Il existe bien entendu d'autres caractérisations, par exemple en cinq points (intrigue, défi, récompense, statut, communauté).

Historique
La diffusion du terme de « ludification » ou de « gamification » commence à la fin des années 2000, à la suite d'une intervention du professeur Jesse Schell à la conférence DICE (Design, Innovate, Communication, Entertainement), rassemblement annuel de concepteurs de jeux vidéo, où il partage l'idée d'un avenir dans lequel toutes les activités du quotidien seraient soumises à un système de points et de récompenses.

À partir de cette conférence, le terme de "ludification" fut associé à toutes les sphères de la vie sociale qui transposent les mécanismes du jeu dans un domaine dit non-ludique.

Intérêt
La ludification a non seulement pour but d'augmenter l'efficience de projets en tout genre mais également d'améliorer notre quotidien. L'extension du jeu dans la vie quotidienne ne s'arrête pas aux tâches de loisirs vécues comme « plaisantes » telles que passer du temps sur les réseaux sociaux (Facebook, Twitter). La ludification s'étend désormais vers les tâches considérées comme moins plaisantes comme les tâches ménagères. Le jeu en ligne Chore Wars est un exemple de ludification appliqué à l'entretien d'une maison. Fonctionnant un peu sur le mode de World of Warcaft, Chore Wars propose une série de quêtes à réaliser entre colocataire ou en famille sauf que ces quêtes correspondent à des tâches ménagères. À chaque corvée effectuée, le joueur gagne des points et peut faire évoluer son avatar au niveau suivant.

De la ludification à la ludicisation de l'apprentissage
Étymologiquement, le vocable ludification est construit sur le latin facere qui traduit l'idée qu'il est possible de « faire le jeu ». Ludifier relèverait alors d'une activité de transformation automatique et non problématique se traduisant par une approche essentialiste des phénomènes ludiques. Ainsi, en s'appuyant sur Henriot , Genvo  et Sanchez proposent d'utiliser le terme ludicisation pour les contextes d'apprentissage. Ce terme permet d'insister sur l'importance de prendre en compte non pas le jeu (ludus), l'artefact qui est utilisé pour jouer, mais la situation de jeu. Selon ce modèle, il n'existe pas d'éléments à proprement parler mais des éléments qui, combinés, peuvent constituer une structure ludique, un jeu, et des interactions qui, lorsqu'elles se mettent en place (lorsqu'un joueur accepte de jouer) permettent le développement d'une situation de jeu.

Le terme ludicisation paraît alors plus approprié. En effet, le suffixe « icisation » ne renvoie pas à l'idée que l'on puisse « faire » un jeu comme le laisse penser le suffixe « fication » (facere) de ludification mais plutôt à l'idée qu'il est possible de transformer une situation en jeu. Comme le soulevait déjà Jacques Henriot en 1989, c'est l'intention qui fait le jeu et non l'objet en lui même. Ce n'est pas « dans la matérialité des objets, dans la factualité des gestes, que l'on a des chances de détecter la présence de l'élément ludique » . Cette approche conduit à définir le jeu par le sens que le joueur donne à la situation plutôt que par les actes qu'il est amené à effectuer.

Entreprises ludifiées
Dans le cadre de la formation, les entreprises investissent de plus en plus dans des programmes de formation numérique qui permettent à leurs collaborateurs d'apprendre de manière ludique. Les plateformes de formation en ligne dites « ludiques » sont de plus en plus utilisées par les entreprises.

Au-delà du jeu sérieux, qui est régulièrement utilisé pour susciter l'engagement au sein d'organisations déjà établies, certaines organisations se construisent directement autour de règles de jeu. C'est le cas par exemple de 2PS, une société de service-conseil basée sur des consultants autonomes mais qui collaborent grâce à un système de points et de récompenses.

Application à la société

Au-delà de l'entreprise, la ludification est présente dans tous les domaines de la vie sociale tels que le commerce, l'enseignement, l'écologie, l'armée, l'information et la vie quotidienne… Son but est de rendre le plus efficient possible les actions et démarches prioritaires présentes dans chaque domaine de la vie sociale. Par exemple, la « Green gamification » aurait l'avantage d'accélérer les « bons » comportements en les intégrant de manière plus durable dans les modes de vie par le biais de la gratification immédiate. Afin d'améliorer le système de tri collectif, la Suède a transformé en 2009 un conteneur de tri de verre en machine à jouer. Les six trous du conteneur furent agrémentés d'un dispositif visuel afin que chaque trou s'allume de manière intermittente. Le but pour le joueur était alors de jeter le verre à recycler dans le trou qui s'allumait. Le dispositif connut lui aussi un franc succès car le volume de verre trié fut multiplié par 2.

En regardant du côté des défenseurs de la ludification, l'on s'aperçoit que cette idée va bien au-delà de la seule application du jeu dans des sphères non-ludiques. En effet, la ludification revêt pour certains une manière de penser la société dans son ensemble.

Jane McGonigal : « Si nous voulons résoudre des problèmes comme la famine, la pauvreté, le changement climatique, les conflits, l'obésité, je crois que nous devons viser à jouer en ligne au moins 21 milliards d'heures par semaine d'ici dix ans »

Pour transformer le monde et trouver des solutions aux problèmes de la vie réelle, il y aurait besoin de 21 milliards d'heures de jeu par semaine contre les 3 milliards d'heures que passent les joueurs actuels à jouer en ligne. Son idée est de transposer ce temps de jeu virtuel à celui d'un jeu qui aurait des conséquences et des bienfaits sur la réalité. « À ce jour, les joueurs de WoW ont collectivement passé 5,93 millions d'années à résoudre les problèmes d'Azeroth »

Dans sa rhétorique, le jeu apparaît comme la solution pour l'avenir de la planète et de l'humanité en s'appuyant sur les capacités du joueur à devenir le super-héros qu'il incarne dans les jeux vidéo, à devenir acteur de son quotidien pour le bien de tous. McGonigal porte ainsi le projet d'une société améliorée à travers ce support et elle nous dévoile sa posture, pro-ludification, tout en essayant de nous convaincre de la nécessité de jouer pour transformer le monde. « Mon but pour les dix prochaines années est de faire en sorte qu'il soit aussi facile de sauver le monde dans la réalité qu'il l'est dans les jeux vidéo. Pour cela j'ai un plan, qui implique de convaincre plus de gens, y compris à passer plus de temps à jouer à des jeux plus grands et meilleurs. «  Nous ne voulons pas prédire le futur. Ce que nous voulons est inventer le futur. Nous voulons imaginer le meilleur résultat possible. Et nous voulons embarquer tout le monde pour rendre ce résultat réel. (…) Eh bien j'espère que vous serez d'accord avec moi pour dire que les joueurs sont une ressource humaine utilisable pour effectuer des tâches dans le monde réel, que les jeux sont un moyen puissant pour le changement. (…) J'espère vraiment que nous saurons nous réunir pour jouer à des jeux utiles, pour survivre encore 100 ans sur cette planète. Mon souhait est que vous me rejoigniez pour créer de tels jeux et y jouer ».

Critiques
Pour les pro-ludification, le phénomène va prendre de l'ampleur dans les années à venir en s'appuyant à la fois sur les nouvelles générations où le jeu vidéo est devenu une référence et qui portent de nouvelles valeurs ainsi que sur « l'exode massif vers les mondes virtuels et les environnements de jeux en ligne » selon les mots d'Edward Castranova, prononcés par Jane McGonigal.

Une autre critique apportée à la ludification est qu'il arrive souvent que le jeu devienne plus important que le message ou l'utilité dégagés par l'application ludifiée. Par exemple, pour les gestes écologiques, que le sens du jeu disparaisse (trier ses déchets) pour laisser place à ses mécaniques (acheter plus de produits, marquer plus de points) alors que la meilleure façon de ne pas polluer est de ne pas consommer.

Notes et références

Articles connexes

 Jeu sérieux
 Controverse autour du jeu vidéo

Terminologie du jeu vidéo
Économie comportementale
Marketing
Technologies de l'information et de la communication pour l'enseignement
Ludification

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Heeeeere's Amputation. This time with poor little Keiko and Haruko's Brother again.
Why would you cut off her cute little hands and feets!
She's been through so much, poor Keiko, don't worry, this isn't canon! You'll be fine soon!!


Theme park devoted to the popular mobile application Angry Birds will be opened in China in February of 2013, reports Geo Meridian portal.
This small entertainment park with a tentative capacity of about 400 visitors a day will be located in the Chinese city of Haining, about 125 kilometers to the west of Shanghai. The cost of a ticket will be 60 yuans, which is equivalent to about 10 U.S. dollars.


I just received a request from Andrea Dias to be in her network of friends on Facebook! How exciting.
The correct IP address according to Google is "http://www.facebook.com/r.php"".
Note too that the fake address just adds some stuff onto the facebook address, which isn't an uncommon trick. The unwary user–one step up from completely uneducated–can be completely faked by something like this. This was just useful as an example. Real one, too. I got it about 20 minutes ago or so.
Entry filed under: computers/tech, current news, internet, internet security, psychology, social networking, writing and lack of thought.


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Home TV/Cable News Florida downturn taking its toll on Media General
Florida downturn taking its toll on Media General
Adding the contribution of the four new NBC affiliates purchased from NBC Universal, April revenues for Media General were up 7.7% to 93.3 million. But excluding those newbies, total company revenues were down 2.6% for the month. One big factor is the company's big media properties in a place that used to be a hot growth state: Florida.
"The Florida economy is reeling from the impact of higher homeowners' insurance premiums, property taxes and energy prices," said CEO Marshall Morton. At The Tampa Tribune in April, classified advertising revenues declined 34.8%. At the same time, national and retail advertising revenues at the paper increased 11.4% and 1%, respectively. Lower help-wanted advertising in the Tribune reflected an ongoing slowdown in job creation locally, especially in the construction industry. Decreased real estate classified advertising was due to the significant slowdown in Florida's housing market, as well as comparisons to last year's exceptionally strong level of advertising. Lower automotive classified advertising in Tampa reflected national trends associated with ongoing spending reductions by domestic automakers. Earlier this month, Media General announced staff reductions for both the Tampa Tribune and WFLA-TV (4/11/07 TVBR #71).
While publishing revenues were down 6.5% to 53.7 million, with ad revenues down 7.2%, the broadcast division fared better. Including, the four new stations, revenues were up 34.9% to 37 million, including a one million sales gain by the company's TV equipment subsidiary. Same station ad time sales were down 0.3%, with local down 1.8% – blamed mostly on the auto sector – and national up 1%.
Interactive Media Division revenues shot up 33.7% to 3.3 million, including the websites for the new stations, with local ad sales up 63.2%.
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'Connections & Cocktails,' Courtesy of Synthax


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SI, son booked for jubilatory fire
The Newspaper's Staff ReporterJuly 06, 2019
ISLAMABAD: A sub-inspector of operation wing and his son were booked for jubilatory fire at the marriage ceremony of the latter, sources told Dawn.
So far no arrest has been made, they added.
Earlier, the residents of the G-9/2 informed the police about massive firing in the air and use of fire crackers at a marriage ceremony of the police official's son.
When police patrolling team reached there the violators had left the scene.
The residents of the area informed the police that prohibited bore weapons were used in the firing.
Besides, fireworks were also continued for more than half an hour.
Later, the police left the place without arresting anyone. Karachi Company Police has registered a case.
Spokesman for the police said the SI was posted at Sabzi Mandi police station and after registration of the case he and his son disappeared. Police teams are searching for them.
Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2019
Hameed Haroon files case against Jami in Sindh High Court


text:
Marco Rubio: Advancing Women's Role in Peace and Security Globally is Important
On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla, the chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women's Issues, convened a hearing titled "Women in Conflict: Advancing Women's Role in Peace and Security." Rubio said the following in his opening statement:
Good morning. I'd like to welcome everyone to today's hearing on the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights and Global Women's Issues. We're going to have to come up with an acronym, this is way too long. It does not fit on letterhead, no.
Today's hearing is on an important topic, "Women in Conflict: Advancing Women's Role in Peace and Security." We will have one panel today, but a great panel.
Ms. Andrea Bottner is the Senior Advisor to the Independent Women's Forum and Founder of Bottner Strategies; Ms. Jamille Bigio is the Senior Fellow for Women and Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations; and Ms. Palwasha Kakar is the Senior Program Officer for Religion and Inclusive Societies at the United States Institute of Peace.
I want to thank you all for taking the time to be with us today to discuss an issue of critical importance to our national security and international stability.
I'd like to thank first my colleagues here today for their partnership and their individual work as well, on issues affecting women and girls around the world. The chairman of this committee Jim Risch, has been a great leader in the Senate and chairing the committee on this topic, as well as the Ranking member Senator Menendez.
I also want to note the work of Senator Shaheen, who has been a tireless advocate on ensuring women around the world have equal opportunities to succeed. She led the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017 that was signed into law by President Trump last year– two years ago.
Earlier this week, the Trump administration rolled out the new "Women, Peace, and Security Strategy" as required by law. And the strategy seeks to ensure women's meaningful participation and leadership in political and civil life and empower them to play key roles in decision-making and peace processes. It rightfully recognizes the critical role that women play in enacting change, resolving conflicts, counterterrorism, and advancing peace.
The United States is the first country in the world to enact a comprehensive law on this issue. I think this is an achievement we should be proud of and I look forward, now along with all of the members of this committee, of supporting its implementation in the years to come.
As we look at the map of the world today, unfortunately we have ongoing conflicts in almost every continent. From South Sudan to Afghanistan to Burma to Syria to the major humanitarian disaster in our own Hemisphere, Venezuela, it seems no region is untouched by conflict.
Though conflict inflicts suffering on everyone, women are particularly and uniquely affected by conflict. Women and girls are the most vulnerable when conflicts erupt, and are often targeted with violence, specifically sexual violence. These gender-based assaults are used as a weapon of war. The accounts are heartbreaking and harrowing.
In Burma, during the 2017 violence, Rohingya women were subjected to unspeakable horrors. They were lined up and brutally raped by Burmese military forces and in some cases their babies taken from them and murdered.
In Iraq, under ISIS, Yazidi women were forced to endure years of torture and rape. Girls were separated by eye color and sold as sex slaves, often sold multiple times, to ISIS fighters based on the ISIS fighters personal preferences.
In Nigeria, Boko Haram militants kidnap girls, forced them into marriages, and committed sexual violence, and deployed women and girls as "suicide bombers."
I could go on for hours, unfortunately. But women are more often than not marginalized during the end of conflict. They are left out of discussions to find political solutions and peace-processes. They are barred from making decisions about their own future.
However, thankfully there is a growing recognition by international organizations, backed by research, by policymakers, and others of the links connecting economic, social, and political stability and security with the well-being of women.
The protection of women and girls in conflict and humanitarian settings should be a top priority for the United States and our partners, especially since this is where the risk of sexual and gender-based violence is highest.
But as we focus and prioritize the protections that must be in place, we need to also focus on ensuring that women are involved in preventing conflicts from breaking out in the first place and that they are active participants in resolving them. Because women play a key role in the prevention of conflict, during, and also post-conflict. Research has proven that when women are able to meaningfully participate in peace negotiations and processes, there is a higher likelihood of lasting stability.
Just to provide a few examples, one study found that "peace agreements are 20 percent more likely to last at least two years, and 35 percent more likely to last for more than 15 years when women are involved."
Another study investigating 82 peace agreements in 42 armed conflicts between 1989 and 2011 found that peace agreements with women signatories are linked with durable peace. Research by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security finds that women from civil society help craft more comprehensive agreements in support of both ending war and building peace.
So the research is clear, we need women to play a role at the negotiating table not only exchanging ideas and leading discussions, but also as implementers of peace agreements.
Women in civil society tend to prioritize larger social issues beyond the cessation of hostilities. These include reconciliation, development, education, human rights, gender equality, justice, and democracy.
Even with all of this evidence, significant gaps remain in both the protection of women and girls in conflict as well as support for women's involvement in peace initiatives and security.
It has been 19 years, since the U.N. Security Council adopted the landmark Resolution 1325, which calls on member states to increase women's participation at all levels of decision-making. Sadly, we have not seen significant progress on women's participation in those 19 years. Acknowledging that women should be part of these discussions is easy, but we have struggled to implement it.
It is in the national security interest of the United States to have stable partners around the world who respect the fundamental rights of their citizens, including women.
Gender equality, according to the Belfer Center, is associated with a lower propensity for conflict, both between and within states which is directly linked to U.S. security and global stability.
Currently, the ongoing peace talks in Afghanistan provide us with an opportunity for the U.S. to prove its dedication to women's participation in negotiations. And I hope we do all we can do ensure that women have a seat at that table.
In March 2019, more than 700 Afghan women gathered to advocate and make clear that while they support peace, they are fearful of losing the rights they have gained. The empowerment and equality of Afghan women are key to a more stable and sustainable Afghanistan.
So I look forward to discussing the role of women in the peace talks in Afghanistan further during this hearing.
But the bottom-line is if 50 percent of your population is left out of peace processes and is left out of key leadership and decision making roles, you are setting yourself up for failure.
Women are the backbone of society and must play an active role in securing long term peace and security.
andrea bottner
bottner strategies
independent womens forum
jamille bigio
jeanne shaheen
jim risch
palwasha kakar
religion and inclusive societies at the united states institute of peace
u.s senate foreign relations subcommittee
women and foreign policy at the council on foreign relations
women peace and security act
women peace and security strategy
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Dr. Buck Blodgett: Is It Time To Treat Violence Against Women As A National Emergency?
Party Lines Hold in Florida Delegation Over Resolution Condemning Trump's Tweets as 'Racist'
Marco Rubio Backs Higher Education Financing Reform


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Schumer 'very hopeful' cut in highway aid can be averted
House Ways and Means Committee plans to vote Thursday on a proposal to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent through May 31
Schumer 'very hopeful' cut in highway aid can be averted House Ways and Means Committee plans to vote Thursday on a proposal to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent through May 31 Check out this story on lohud.com: http://lohud.us/1lSisCi
TJN Published 8:14 p.m. ET July 8, 2014 | Updated 8:20 p.m. ET July 8, 2014
Sen. Charles Schumer (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File) (Photo: Jacquelyn Martin,ASSOCIATED PRESS)
WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Schumer says he's very hopeful Senate and House lawmakers can reach a bipartisan agreement this month to come up with the $8.1 billion needed to keep the federal Highway Trust Fund solvent through the end of the year.
"Obviously there's got to be a compromise, but I am very hopeful that we can get that compromise," Schumer, D-N.Y. said in a conference call with reporters. "Signs are looking good that we can come to that compromise.''
The House Ways and Means Committee plans to vote Thursday on a proposal to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent through May 31 of next year using two revenue sources Senate Democrats had proposed to pay for their unsuccessful legislation to renew of long-term unemployment benefits.
A change in a federal regulation involving interest rate calculations made by pension plans would produce $6.4 billion and an increase in customs fees would generate $3.5 billion. A third revenue measure would transfer $1 billion from the Leaking Underground Storage Tanks account that's funded by federal fuel taxes.
The two major revenue measures have been supported by 155 House Democrats and 50 Senate Democrats to pay for long-term unemployment benefits, according to Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich.
Schumer, who is No. 3 in the Senate's Democratic leadership, was unavailable Tuesday evening to comment on the House Republican proposal.
States face an average 28 percent reduction in federal highway and transit aid beginning next month, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx estimated on his official blog Monday.
Timothy Hens, president of the New York State County Highway Superintendents Association, expects there will be "significant disruptions in federally funded construction projects'' if Congress does not resolve the shortfall.
"There is a significant potential for projects to be halted and work planned to be delayed,'' Hens said in an email Monday. "The disruption of these projects would occur during the middle of the construction season, which would have dire consequences for northern tier states that already have a limited construction season due to weather.''
The federal transportation secretary announced last week his department will begin using "a new process of cash management'' that will reimburse states on a percentage of their annual allotment every two weeks instead of making daily reimbursements.
"We believe this is the most equitable and most prudent approach,'' Foxx said.
The Obama administration estimates the Highway Trust Fund – which has separate highway and transit accounts -- faces a $63 billion shortfall over the next four years. Created in 1956, the trust fund derives 90 percent of its revenue from an 18.4 cent-per-gallon federal tax on gasoline and a 24.4 cent-per-gallon federal tax on diesel fuel. The remaining revenue comes from other fees, including truck registration fees and a truck tire tax.
Revenues have not kept up with the construction needs, however, in large part because motorists are driving more fuel-efficient vehicles.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO have endorsed an increase in federal fuel taxes to keep the highway trust fund solvent, former Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell, co-chair of the advocacy group Building America's Future said Monday. "We think that's a step that has to be taken certainly to fund a six-year bill,'' Rendell said.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office recently estimated that a 6 cents-a-gallon increase in federal gasoline and diesel fuel taxes for the final five months of the year would generate only about $4 billion in added revenue – or about half of what's needed.
Many congressional Republicans, however, oppose any tax increase.
Rep. Chris Collins, R-Clarence, described a short-term fix as "imperative.''
"While I do not support raising taxes at the gas pump for hardworking taxpayers, I am interested in looking at creative ways to secure the trust fund on a long-term basis – including using foreign-earned dollars to fund the Highway Trust Fund,''Rep. Tom Reed, R-Corning, said in a statement Monday.
Similarly, Democratic Rep. Sean Maloney of Cold Spring is a co-sponsor of legislation that would allow multinational corporations with overseas profits to bring that money back to the U.S. by either buying bonds to finance transportation projects or at a lower tax rate with the revenue replenishing the highway trust fund.
"It will allow massive new investments in America for a generation,'' Maloney said in an interview.
Democratic Rep. Louise Slaughter of Fairport supports legislation that would make it more difficult for U.S. corporations to move their legal headquarters overseas under a process called inversion that lowers their taxes. "This bill is a win-win-win,'' she said in a statement. "Stopping corporate tax cheats, using the money to fix our crumbling infrastructure, and creating jobs in the process.''
Twitter: @NYinDC
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Impact of Built Environment on Active Living: University of Hawaii (12/06/11)
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Building Communities Around Healthy and Responsible Food: MA`O Organic Farms (07/21/11)
New and Emerging Tobacco Products: Legacy (06/28/11)
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Sharing Strategies for Smoke-Free Air: Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaii (04/26/11)
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Addressing Tobacco Disparities through Leadership and Policy Change (06/05/08)
Reducing Tobacco Disparities through an Innovative Community Leadership Program


Who owns neurofeedback (or any therapy)? Psychologists, psychiatrists, non-licensed NF practitioners, or everyone?
elegated to a licensed monopoly? This is the question elegantly raised by Siegfried Othmer, PhD, founder of The EEG Institute, in the guest post below.
Dr. Othmer is currently Chief Scientist of the EEG Institute and President of the Brian Othmer Foundation.
BSC 2014: Who owns neurofeedback?
During a business lunch at the conference the regulation of neurofeedback was a topic of discussion because of the effort of the Nevada Psychology Board to extend its control over biofeedback and neurofeedback within that State. A "cease-and-desist" letter had been sent around to neurofeedback practitioners who are not psychologists. Apparently such initiatives are underway in other states as well. The term regulatory capture has been used to describe industry control of the very agencies in Washington who are ostensibly doing the regulating. What we have here is 'regulatory capture' of another kind. It needs to be nipped in the bud.
John LeMay attended the conference from Nevada, and related his personal story. He did in fact shut down his office in response to the officious correspondence, but then became engaged on the issue. For the moment, matters have returned to status quo ante, and he is back in practice, because the Deputy Attorney General became persuaded that the initiative lacked merit. But the Attorney General position is an elected office, and policies can change.
Apparently a new initiative is under consideration in which the psychology board gets to regulate the practice of BF/NF even among non-psychologists. This is simply preposterous. Psychologists had their chance forty years ago to adopt biofeedback and to shape the development of the field. Many if not most university psychology departments even had their own biofeedback labs. Eventually those just fell into disuse and gathered dust. There was no groundswell of interest in working with physiological measures, regardless of how helpful they might be in providing relief to clients and in support of psychotherapy. Insurance companies did not make it any easier. The separate coding for biofeedback made it difficult to integrate these technologies smoothly into psychology practice.
When Joel Lubar first made the case for the use of neurofeedback in connection with conditions of interest to neuropsychologists, he was attacked more bitterly by psychologists than by anyone else. The neuropsychologists have never shown up in any great numbers over years. In the early years we were consistently fighting the psychology boards who were bringing psychologists up on charges of practicing neurofeedback under the umbrella of psychology.
This did not end until the mid-nineties, when the APA ruled that neurofeedback constituted a special competence within psychology, one for which special training was required. The intention here was to stop the state organizations from proceeding against individual psychologists simply because they were doing neurofeedback. I was involved with this change of policy within the APA at that time. The moving force in that effort was a psychologist in Colorado who had trained with us and was using our instrument, and another such psychologist in Cleveland.
Subsequently, there was an initiative to set up course requirements that would then lead to a setting of standards against which competence could be appraised. I was involved on that committee. The APA abandoned that effort, which can be taken to mean that the decision was made not to incorporate neurofeedback into the field of psychology.
Some years later, there was a proceeding in the State of Vermont by the Psychology Board against a non-psychologist practicing neurofeedback. I participated in that proceeding, and the outcome was that the Board decided neurofeedback did not constitute the practice of psychology. The vote was not unanimous, however.
A number of states have made it illegal for psychologists to touch their clients. It is obvious, then, that no one anticipated a need for psychologists to touch their clients in order to do their work. After all, these laws were established with the support of the respective psychology boards. It is difficult to imagine how psychologists could now claim to be the custodians of both biofeedback and neurofeedback. If protection of the public is the issue (the usual argument), then that need has existed for forty years. More than likely, the impetus comes from seeing a commercial opportunity.
Finally, it must be said that the leading psychologists within our field objected to the encroachment of neurofeedback into the core concerns of psychology. The claim that neurofeedback could be used effectively with anxiety and depression was fiercely resisted for years, and the controversy about working effectively with Bipolar Disorder using neurofeedback has yet to subside. The existence of such controversies even among those psychologists who have the greatest affinity for neurofeedback indicates that neurofeedback and psychology occupy distinct domains and represent distinct competences.
Both biofeedback and neurofeedback range over many concerns that are not encompassed within the field of psychology. One might well ask what would qualify psychologists uniquely to work with chronic pain syndromes and sleep disorders, seizure management and brain injury, fetal alcohol syndrome and cerebral palsy, reflux and constipation, asthma and migraine, bruxism and TMJ, bulimia and anorexia, autism and Down Syndrome, Tourette Syndrome and OCD, mental retardation and dementia, dyslexia and speech deficits, Parkinson's and essential tremor, ptosis and blepharospasm, enuresis and encopresis, Raynaud's and carpal tunnel syndrome, hypoglycemia and Type II diabetes, POTS and PANDAS?
What has developed over the decades is a body of knowledge that is perhaps best described by the term "applied psychophysiology." This clinical domain is intrinsically cross-disciplinary. Members of several professions can justly claim that their own professional training has given them a perspective on BF/NF that they find indispensable to their own work. That is to be expected. They each came to neurofeedback with an established worldview, and they all incorporated neurofeedback into that existing framework.
Their current "working knowledge" of BF/NF can no longer be separated from their own professional background. Of course the same can be said—and has been said to us frequently—about a number of the health professions. Indeed, they do each bring something to the table that contributes to the quality of BF/NF practice. However, none can claim exclusivity or even priority in that regard. They each bring something different, and each element is seen as indispensable by the people involved.
One might say that biofeedback and neurofeedback are intrinsically integrative disciplines, drawing on a variety of perspectives and in turn impinging on the entire realm of health care. This requires an interface with all of the health professions, which raises the question of how such an interface might be facilitated. Would a new licensure in "applied psychophysiology" now be an adequate response to the challenges starting to confront us? Or would that merely aggregate all of the pathologies that go along with the licensure regime and replicate them all over again?
I try to approach this question by asking another: If licensure is to happen, would it be better if it happened sooner rather than later? With the unsettled state of the field, it seems clear that licensure presently is premature. It would lock things into place while matters are still in creative flux. But I also expect the field to remain in an unsettled state for some while. Neurofeedback is not like acupuncture in that regard. So the farther off licensure can be pushed, the better. The threat of the established professions trying to nail down proprietorship of BF/NF could certainly change that calculus. We will do what we have to do.
If there is any health discipline that deserves to be unencumbered by licensure it is ours. We fish in all waters. We need an open "Law of the Sea" for mental health. Consider once again the perspective of those who have adopted neurofeedback while being thoroughly grounded in their own discipline. No doubt they hold the view that the addition of BF/NF has enhanced their professional competence and clinical reach as neurologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, MFTs, OTs, PTs, nurses, LCSWs, DOs, naturopaths, acupuncturists, practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine, chiropractors, etc. Most likely they would agree that their own discipline would benefit from the knowledge that BF/NF has afforded them, and that the lack of a perspective on our self-regulatory capacity is a constraint on thinking within their respective disciplines.
It follows that what is really needed here is a thoroughgoing transformation of healthcare through an appreciation of the brain's capacity for self-regulation. This understanding needs to be infused into the DNA of the other professions. The thrust toward licensure would lead instead to locking up the technology within yet another class of professionals that stands in competition with all the others for the healthcare dollar.
Indeed licensure represents the life raft for the unlicensed professional, and I am sympathetic to their cause. They should not be shouldered out of the field. Licensure also formalizes and legitimizes independent practice, and thus enhances the status, of applied psychophysiology. But we are seeing the pace of innovation exceed the capacity of the regulatory institutions to keep up. It may well be the case that we are coming to the end of the licensure regime because it can no longer measure up. In that case, it would be a mistake to align ourselves with regulatory frameworks that apply to another age.
The core pathology of our existing system of health care is its grounding in the disease model. The compartmentization inherent in this model is breaking down, however, with increasing awareness of such issues as the gut-brain connection, toxic influences on brain function, epigenetic factors, de novo mutations, nutritional influences, etc. The crisis atmosphere enveloping the DSM-V testifies to the breakdown of the disease model in application to mental disorders. The contradictions are largely internal to the model, and yet they are likely to be fatal to the DSM regime over the longer term.
The evolution of the disease-based model will necessarily be in the direction of integrative medicine, which already serves to breach the boundaries of the existing professions. Our own field of BF/NF, however, is inherently oriented to the improvement of our regulatory functions. It therefore fits into a wellness model. It is less concerned with diagnostic distinctions and not concerned at all with diagnostic thresholds. This essential thrust makes it unsuitable for licensure simply because the usual standards of the disease model are not applicable. It is unclear at present which will happen first, the definitive demonstration of efficacy of neurofeedback in application to ADHD (one that satisfies the mainstream), or the abandonment of ADHD as a valid nosological construct.
The organic evolution of our health care regime also requires that the lay public become knowledgeable in self-regulation skills. Biofeedback has always been about empowering the individual through skill development and enhanced awareness. Licensure would instead set up barriers to the diffusion of knowledge to those who need it most. And if the boundary between professional and home practice is diffuse and permeable, it is hardly possible to set up rigid boundaries elsewhere, such as among the professions themselves.
Siegfreid Othmer is more than eloquent and savvy about the pros and perils of licensure.
One long-term solution may be legislative action to get neurofeedback included within the scope of what non-licensed practitioners can do in states such as California (CA SB 577, codified in California Business & Professions Code Section 2053.5 – 2053.6), and, distinguish its scope from practice of psychology. Practitioners should find a legislator who has benefited from and believes in the therapy and will champion a bill.
Note that we use the term licensure to cover a multitude of situations. At the low end is simple registration; and below that, practitioners doing what they want so long as they provide disclosure, and, so long as this activity does not constitute unlicensed practice (which is a bit of a tautological definition). This may avoid some of the perils of mandatory licensure, which often comes with stringent regulation of practitioners.
Practically, it may be difficult to gain acceptance for use of neurofeedback by non-licensees to treat diagnosable diseases (such as bipolar disorders); the moment one mentions a disease, one runs the risk of unlicensed practice issues (either medicine or psychology).
There is a slippery linguistic slope (epistemological chaos) – the legal structure simply doesn't know how to deal with this dichotomy that goes back to the late 19th century between disease treatment, and whatever else remains in holistic health.
At the very least, it would be useful to look at the actual evidence of neurofeedback's application and benefits, and attempt to differentiate ways of using NF that could be applied by non-licensees (or individuals self-regulating at home), in a registration or disclosure model of regulation, from the kind of specific, therapeutic use that may require additional training which results in licensure as a clinical psychologist or other mental health care professional.
Until legislation is in place that protects unlicensed practice of neurofeedback in any given state, non-licensed practitioners remain at legal peril. This does not necessarily mean that enforcement is widespread, though. By way of analogy, life coaches have managed by the thousands, to operate notwithstanding that psychology licensing laws could, theoretically be applied to them–though every once in a while a case comes to light.
From a policy perspective, encouraging cross-disciplinary exploration of neurofeedback (or any similar therapy) may well require loosening the licensing regime so that licensed and non-licensed practitioners can more freely collaborate, without fear of prosecution.
See also Neurofeedback Laws & Licensing: Unlock Brains' Potential But Be Legally Safe.
The issue is whether NF will be considered within the scope of practice of that profession (or intrudes into practice of psychology).
You can look at definitions for the relevant state and profession – (1) statute, (2) Board regulations, (3) cases if any exist (doubtful).
A broad legislative strategy would have to include both non-licensed practice, and scope of practice for licensed practitioners.
For more information about neurofeedback training, contact Dr. Othmer's EEG Institute.
NFB and Biofeedback have an interdisciplinary certification board. Other organizations trying to get a monopoly can be seen as poaching. Maybe the answer is for AAPB-BCIA board certification to be seen as the standard for qualification – and AAPB fight to get this recognized state by state. I believe this is true in Australia, where massage therapists are considered competent in NFB provided they've done BCIA approved training. (and get health insurance payment for it).
Please also see our discussion board at https://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=6924298.


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