text:
Op-ed and media
Teaching & mentorship
Corps Habillés. Politique des métiers de l'ordre, dossier spécial de Politique africaine, n°128, décembre 2012, direction du numéro avec Joël Glasman.
Violent repression, mutinies, coups d'état: the "corps habillés" regularly appear on the news. With the multiplication of "security sector reform" (SSR) programs, law enforcement professionals are now the object of much international attention. Yet little is known about the military, police or forest guards who carry out their work in uniform or in civilian clothes, on the street or in an office. What knowledge, practices and conflicts are specific to this professional field? By moving away from the perspective of "professionalization" that marks SSR expertise, this special issues shows that the law enforcement institutions are central instruments of surveillance and repression as well as contestation of state power . Based on case studies in Senegal, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, this issue invites us to think about the relationship between law enforcement and the state by studying both their ordinary functioning and the most spectacular expressions of political action.
Academic articles and book chapters
"Biometrics and the disciplining of democracy: Technology, electoral politics, and liberal interventionism in Chad", Democratization, Vol. 28, n°8, 2021, pp. 1406-1422.
In a large number of countries in Africa, biometric identification technologies have become a key element of voter registration procedures. Based on an in-depth study of biometric voter registration in Chad, a country marked by a long history of political violence, the article explains how the technology has been construed as a "solution" to address a situation labelled as a political crisis. To make sense of the unlikely introduction of biometrics in Chad, two main elements are considered: the socially constituted belief in the potential of biometrics and – paradoxically – the unfulfilled promises and fallibility of that same technology. Combining the literature on biometrics, election technologies, and liberal democracy promotion, the analysis concludes that biometric voter registration is a disciplining technology. In addition to capturing the personal data of individuals, it fosters the framing of democracy in narrow technological and procedural terms.
For an op-ed based on this research: "The productive failures of biometric voting in Africa", Democracy in Africa, June 2021.
"Legible bodies and lives: How a biometric registration campaign reinvented the Chadian population", in Awenengo Dalberto Séverine, Banégas Richard (eds.), Identification and citizenship in Africa: Biometrics, the documentary state and the bureaucratic writings of the self, Routledge, 2021, pp. 65-75.
Biometric identification is not just a more technologically advanced form of identification: it implies a radically new conception of what constitutes a person's identity. Based on the case study of the first biometric voter registration in Chad, this chapter shows that such large-scale registration schemes are not a neutral operation. They reinvent the population and render lives and bodies more 'legible', even more so in a state that until recently had little interest in the population and no detailed, individualized information about it. I argue that lives and bodies have undergone two distinct, yet related, stabilization or fixing processes: on the one hand, the bureaucratic rationalization of names and biographies, and on the other, the capture of body features to meet standardized global norms. Ultimately, it shows that the collection of biometric and biographic data does not automatically strengthen the state's surveillance abilities and is not sufficient to radically modify the mode of government.
Video presentation of the chapter.
Video presentation of the edited volume.
"La France au Tchad, l'opération militaire permanente", in Borrel Thomas, Boukari-Yabara Amzat, Collombat Benoît, Deltombe Thomas (eds.), L'Empire qui ne veut pas mourir : Une histoire de la Françafrique, Paris, Le Seuil, 2021, pp. 543-552.
This chapter focuses on French policy in Chad in the 1980s. It shows that there was little to distinguish Mitterrand's foreign policy from that of his predecessors: a policy of containment of Libya, a nationalistic refusal of American interference in the country's territory, an attachment to the myth of French power, but also support for allies who governed through violence. Although the extent of the brutality of Hissène Habré's regime was not established until after his overthrow in December 1990, France could not ignore that widespread and systematic crimes were being committed.
"Colonial violence and resistance in Chad (1900-1960)", Mass Violence & Resistance, Online Peer-Reviewed Journal published by Sciences Po, September 2020.
Also in French: "Violences coloniales et résistance au Tchad (1900-1960)"
While Chad's period of colonization was relatively short – about 60 years, it was disruptive: the French ruled by force of arms, and the colonial order fuelled local tensions. Because the region was considered both difficult and unprofitable, the colony was left in the hands of colonial soldiers and administrators, who were often novices and adventurers. The aim of this article is to examine the colonial period in Chad, reviewing existing works as well as what is known (or not) about the various outbreaks of mass violence. Though some episodes of violent repression have been studied, and remain in the collective memory others have never been thoroughly researched. Some outbreaks of violence are mentioned in academic works and colonial reports – but if they are to be documented, much work remains to be done.
"Que faire des interventions militaires dans le champ académique ? Réflexions sur la nécessaire distinction entre expertise et savoir scientifique", 20&21 Revue d'histoire, 2020, n°145, with Thibaut Boncourt, Mathias Delori, Benoît Pélopidas, Christophe Wasinski, pp. 135-150.
Segments of the academic field are partly funded by the Ministry of Defence and the arms industries. This trend is currently reaching a new high in France, while regular funding is declining. This article discusses the impact of the militarization of research funding on scholarship. The general argument is that this dynamic continues to blur the distinction between two types of knowledge that draw upon distinct epistemological projects: research in the humanities and social sciences on the one hand, and think tank-based expertise on the other. Our argument is based on two case studies: American and British research on so-called "strategic" bombings, and French research on nuclear issues.
For an op-ed based on this research, "French social sciences go khaki under increasing military influence", Open Democracy, June 2019.
"La biométrie électorale au Tchad: Controverses technopolitiques et imaginaires de la modernité", Politique africaine, n° 151, 2018, pp. 101-120.
Biometric identification technologies are increasingly used in elections in Africa. They have been sold as a way to fight fraud. Based on the case study of voter registration in Chad for the 2016 presidential election, this article examines how a biometric imaginary has developed that pits the supposed rationality and neutrality of technology against the perversion of politics. It shows that while biometrics has been construed as a necessity and a "solution" to the political crisis, it has been repoliticized by controversies over the choice of the "right" technology, its uses, and the role of international actors, including French firms.
"L'autre pays des 'guerres sans fin' : Une histoire de la France militaire au Tchad (1960-2016)", Les Temps Modernes, n°693-694, 2017, pp. 222-266, with Nathaniel Powell.
This article traces the history of French military rule in Chad from independence to the present. It shows that Chad, as the "march" of the former French Empire and the "keystone" of the security architecture of post-colonial French policy, has been a privileged terrain for military France for more than a century. If the regional and global context, the motivations and justifications for military interventions have changed, one can identify recurrent logics of French policy in the country: little interest in the resources and economy, construction of the country as a "strategic space", as well as interference in conflicts in the name of the necessary "stability" of the region.
"Behind the cliché of the 'desert warriors': Militianization and impunity of the Chadian armed forces", African Politics, African Peace, Paper n°22, World Peace Foundation, 2016.
The military success of the Chadian military overshadows brutal practices and human rights violations. While Western supporters of the Chadian military, including France and the US, are aware of these violations, they turn a blind eye to impunity and injustice and their long-term consequences. Ultimately, they support the militarization of both domestic politics in Chad and the sub-region.
"La guerre des préfets : Répression, clientélisme et illégalismes d'État dans l'entre-guerres tchadien", Politix, n°104, 2014, pp. 47-66.
Studies of state administration have occupied a prominent place in social sciences. However, current literature offers little understanding of its functioning in states governed by violence. The article seeks to provide an analysis of the formation and practices of local administration in Chad. How does the local state govern the inter-war, i.e. the spaces and times which are affected by a violent mode of governing and where war remains on the horizon? The article shows how clientelism, state illegal practices and predation (as a result of impunity granted to local state officials) are a form of continuation of the war. State violence is all the more efficient that it is combined with the local state's firm grip on people's daily life. Such an administration is not simply dysfunctional; it is linked to a historically grounded mode of governing. Beyond the case of Chad, the article interrogates insidious forms of violence hidden by apparent stability or peace.
"Conflits armés", in Achin Catherine, Bereni Laure (eds.), Dictionnaire genre et science politique : Concepts, objets, problèmes, Paris, Presses de Sciences Po, 2013, pp. 103-114.
The field of studies on armed conflict has opened up to gender issues, first with the English-speaking literature and more recently with the French-speaking literature. While research in this field initially focused on violence against women and developed a radical critique of the links between male domination and the militarization of societies, the recent research also studies women not only as victims of conflict but also as combatants. In addition, this field of study has intersectional analyses crossing gender, race and class.
"Quand les 'libérateurs' deviennent des 'bandits' : Guerre et marginalisation sociale à la frontière tchado-centrafricaine", in Bazenguissa-Ganga Rémy, Makki Samy (eds.), Sociétés en guerre : Ethnographies des mobilisations violentes, Paris, Éditions de la Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, 2012, pp. 93-110.
While wars are organized by political entrepreneurs, they also mobilize a low-cost combatant workforce. This article contributes to the research on violence as labour. It is based on fieldwork conducted in a refugee camp in Chad with former "liberators" who were recruited as combatants in 2003 in the Central African Republic. It shows how war engagement is linked to different forms of marginality and vulnerability – not only economic, but also political – and how the experience of war can reinforce, in the post-war period, the marginality of those who live it.
"Milices et sous-traitance de l'(in)sécurité", in Badie Bertrand, Vidal Dominique (eds.), L'Etat du Monde : Nouvelles guerres, Paris, La Découverte, 2014, pp. 129-134.
Originally referring to citizens occasionally mobilized by the state, the term "militia" is now used to refer to armed groups that have little in common. After an analysis of the main approaches to militias in war-torn societies, this article examines the blurred boundary between regular forces and militias. The last part resituates the formation of militias within global modes of production and regulation of violence.
"Politique des corps habillés : Etat, pouvoir et métiers de l'ordre en Afrique", Politique africaine, n°128, 2012, with Joël Glasman.
"Living by the gun in Chad: Armed violence as a practical occupation", Journal of Modern African studies, Vol. 49, n°3, 2011, pp. 409-428.
This article explores men in arms' conceptions of armed violence in a country which has been prone to a violent cycle of rebellion and repression. Based on ethnographic research in Chad, it analyses combatants' life trajectories in an unstable political environment and a militarised economy. It moves beyond rebellion towards an analysis of the most mundane patterns of the activities conducted by men in arms, to understand what is at stake beyond times and spaces of war. It argues that armed violence is an ordinary way of expressing contestation, as well as a practical occupation or métier, a French word that indicates a non-institutionalised profession.
"Un système régional de conflits : Darfour, Tchad, République centrafricaine", in Durand Marie-Françoise & al., Atlas de la mondialisation, Paris, Presses de Sciences Po, 2010.
"Fluid loyalties in a regional crisis: Chadian combatants in the Central African Republic", African Affairs, Vol. 107, n° 427, 2008, pp. 225-241.
This article examines a neglected pattern of the regional crisis in Darfur, Chad, and the Central African Republic: the cross-border activities of combatants with fluid loyalties. The trajectories of Chadian 'ex-liberators' in CAR, which have been little documented, are used to illustrate the regional movements of armed men. The article explains how unemployed Chadian soldiers were recruited to fight with François Bozizé in CAR and why many of them joined other armed groups after Bozizé's takeover. The reconversions of armed combatants, who may easily shift allegiance and cross borders to carry on with their 'politico-military careers', is thus a structural characteristic of the current conflict, which has major implications both at the local and transnational levels. The article concludes that freelance military entrepreneurs' trajectories are crucial in understanding the unfolding of this regional crisis.
"Les limites de l'accumulation par les armes : Itinéraires d'ex-combattants au Tchad", Politique africaine, n°109, 2008, pp. 167-181.
War may be a lucrative activity. While opportunities to live from the gun are numerous in Chad, only a small group of men in arms who have access to the state achieve upward social mobility. This article analyses ex-combatants' paths of (non-)accumulation and shows that the men in arms' professonnial field is neither anarchical nor profitable for all those who are seeking opportunities for social advancement.
"La création de la Cour Africaine des Droits de l'Homme et des Peuples : Les dessous d'une ingénierie institutionnelle multicentrée", Cultures et Conflits, n°60, 2005, pp. 55-82.
The article studies the institutional engineering of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights and shows the central role played by NGOs: they gave the initial impulse, orchestrated the mobilization, played a key role in the negotiations and the adoption of the Protocol. A critical perspective on this mode of producing law reveals the logics of power pervading the "multicentric world". The professionalization of NGOs and the autonomization of this field go hand in hand with the marginalization of local activists. Law production is taken up by legal experts with close ties to state diplomacies and intergovernmental organizations.
"Les ONG et la fabrique de l'opinion publique internationale", Raisons Politiques, n° 19, 2005, pp. 63-80, with Alice Goheneix.
"A tribute to Roland Marchal", Democracy in Africa, with Tatiana Carayannis, Delphine Kemneloum Djiraïbé, Louisa Lombard, Didier Péclard, Sandrine Perrot, Enrica Picco, 2020.
"Regard sur le genre de la guerre : A partir des travaux de Cynthia Cockburn, Jules Falquet et Andrée Michel", Travail, genre et sociétés, n°41, avril 2019, pp. 198-202.
"Acheikh Ibn Oumar", Maitron Afrique: Biographic dictionary of mobilizations and contestations in Africa, 2016.
"International Interventions and the Human Cost of a Militarized Political Marketplace in Chad", Contribution to the blog "Reinventing Peace", World Peace Foundation/Fletcher School at Tufts University, 2014.
"'Hate' and 'security vacuum': How not to ask the right questions about a confusing crisis", Fieldsights: Hot Spots on the Central African Republic, Cultural Anthropology Online, 2014.
Research reports and policy papers
Politique des "crises" chroniques au Tchad, Birmingham, UK : GSDRC, University of Birmingham, 2018.
Déby's Chad: Political manipulation at home, military intervention abroad, challenging times ahead, Peaceworks n°136, United States Institute of Peace (USIP), 2017, with Jérôme Tubiana.
Tchad : Au-delà de l'apparente stabilité, Birmingham, UK : GSDRC, University of Birmingham, 2015.
State fragility in the Central African Republic: What prompted the 2013 coup?,
Birmingham, UK : GSDRC, University of Birmingham, with Siân Herbert and Nathalia Dukham, 2013.
Demobilization in fluid contexts: Coping with combatants' unstable political loyalties in Chad and the Central African Republic, Conflict Prevention and Peace Forum, SSRC, 2007.
Book reviews
"Débat autour d'un livre : The War Machines de Danny Hoffman", Politique africaine, n°130, 2013, pp. 225-247,
with Mariane Ferme, Paul Richards, and Danny Hoffman.
"La diffusion de la justice transitionnelle en Colombie", Institut Universitaire Varenne, LGDJ, Paris, 2014, Critique Internationale, n°69, 2015, pp. 189-192.
"Guichaoua Yvan (ed.), Understanding Collective Political Violence, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011", Revue française de science politique, n°7, 2013, p.133-135.
Caron Louis, Au Sahara tchadien : L'administration militaire au moment de l'indépendance, Paris, L'Harmattan, 2008", Politique africaine, n°117, 2010, p. 188.


Hydraulic hand pumps are available in different brands like Polyhydron , Dowty and Inter pumps . These brands have good variety for you to select for different applications.
Hand pumps series HPTS** are identical in specifications to series HP** pumps, except that, these pumps are meant for mounting on the side wall of oil reservoir / tank of a hydraulic system and therefore can be integrated into the main system as a stand-by pump or can be used as a power source for cylinders or jacks which need large volume of oil for their actuation by mounting them on side wall of suitably designed oil tank.
These hand pumps are provided with integrated Rotary Directional Control Valves with two outlet ports for switching of the hand pump power between the two sides of a double acting cylinder.
Dowty hand pumps are double stoke pumps suitable for material handling equipments . Working Pressure is 350 bar and 13 cc output per double stoke . Hand pumps can be supplied without tank also.


text:
Strategy Implementation: Staffing and Directing
Staffing issues can involve hiring new people with new skills, firing people with inappropriate or substandard skills, and/or training existing employees to learn new skills.
Staffing requirements are likely to follow a change in strategy.
Training and development can be especially important for organizations implementing an overall low cost or differentiation strategy, but not for those in retrenchment.
There is a very strong connection between strategy and training at successful organizations.
A dynamic industry expert is someone with an analytical mind who is highly knowledgeable in other industries and can manage diverse product lines.
IHOP's CEO, Julia Stewart, built a reputation as a turnaround specialist.
A professional liquidator was the executive type called in to Montgomery Ward when the company declared bankruptcy for the second time.
Chandler proposed that the most appropriate CEO for a firm remains constant as the company proceeds through its life cycle.
Analyzers tend to have CEOs with a marketing/sales background.
Executive succession is the process of replacing a key top manager.
Succession planning has become the most important topic discussed by boards of directors.
Firms in trouble seldom choose outsiders to lead them.
Downsizing refers to the planned elimination of positions or jobs; it is often used to implement retrenchment strategies.
Companies that pursue related diversification strategies through internal development make greater use of interdivisional transfers of people than do companies that grow through unrelated acquisitions.
A good retrenchment strategy can be implemented well in terms of organizing, but poorly in terms of staffing.
Research indicates that companies undertaking cost-cutting programs are four times more likely than others to cut costs again, typically by reducing staff.
To successfully downsize, companies must invest in the remaining employees.
To improve organizational learning, many multinational corporations are providing their managers with international assignments as long as five years.
Research indicates that a multinational corporation performs at a higher level when its CEO has international experience.
European multinational corporations seldom use people with an international orientation to staff their management positions.
Implementation of staffing involves leading through coaching people to use their abilities and skills most effectively and efficiently to achieve organizational objectives.
While an organization's culture can exert a powerful influence on the behavior of all employees, it can seldom affect a company's ability to shift its strategic direction.
Corporate culture does not necessarily have to support the strategy of the firm.
The key to the effective management of change is communication.
Assimilation involves the relatively balanced give-and-take of culture and managerial practices between the merger practices.
When Boeing created a separate unit to house the newly acquired operations of McDonnell-Douglas, they were managing the different cultures through separation.
Integration involves the disintegration of one company's culture resulting from unwanted and extreme pressure from the other to impose its culture and practices.
An action plan states what actions are going to be taken, by whom, during what time frame, and with what expected results.
One component of an effective action plan is the determination of the expected financial and physical consequences of each action.
TQM links organizational objectives and the behavior of individuals.
TQM is an operational philosophy committed to customer satisfaction and continuous improvement.
One objective of TQM is better, less variable quality of the product and service.
An essential ingredient of MBO is that an employee must be just as concerned with pleasing the internal customer as the external customer.
According to Hofstede's dimensions of national culture, uncertainty avoidance is the extent to which a society accepts an unequal distribution of power in organizations.
According to Hofstede's dimensions of national culture, long-term orientation is the extent to which society is oriented toward the long versus the short term.
The hiring of new people with new skills, firing of people with inappropriate or substandard skills, and/or training existing employees to learn new skills are included the process of
A) training.
B) staffing.
C) structuring.
D) operating.
E) financing.
All of the following reflect characteristics of a successful integration manager EXCEPT
A) a deep knowledge of the acquiring company.
B) a flexible management style.
C) an ability to work in cross-functional project teams.
D) a propensity to hire likeminded people.
E) a willingness to work independently.
Training is especially important in reinforcing the customer service culture at Zappos where
A) new employees are offered $4,000 to quit.
B) training lasts 7 weeks.
C) training includes tests.
D) trainees must graduate to be an employee.
According to the American Society of Training and Development, the average annual expenditure per employee on corporate training and development is
A) $0.
B) $362.
C) $748.
D) $1,182.
E) $2,361.
Executives with a particular mix of skills and experiences may be classified as an executive type and paired with
A) a specific personal characteristic.
B) a specific corporate strategy.
C) a certain educational background.
D) a specific experience background.
E) a specific industry.
Which of the following statements is true concerning the career life cycle for top executives?
A) During the early years of executives' tenures, they tend to experiment extensively with product lines to learn about their business.
B) It is possible that a current CEO may not be appropriate to implement a new strategy.
C) The harvest stage occurs when executives' accumulated knowledge allows them to reduce experimentation and increase performance.
D) There is an inverted U-shaped relationship between top executive tenure and the firm's financial performance.
Which type of chief executive officer with a great deal of experience in that particular industry would be appropriate for a corporation following a concentration strategy emphasizing vertical or horizontal growth?
A) professional liquidator
B) dynamic industry expert
C) turnaround specialist
D) analytical portfolio manager
E) cautious profit planner
Which type of chief executive officer who is highly knowledgeable in other industries and can manage diverse product lines would be appropriate for a corporation following a diversification strategy?
Which type of chief executive officer with a conservative style, a production or engineering background, and experience with controlling budgets, capital expenditures, inventories, and standardization procedures would be appropriate for a corporation following a stability strategy?
Successful prospector firms tend to be headed by CEOs with backgrounds in the areas of
A) research/engineering and general management.
B) accounting/finance, manufacturing/production, and general management.
C) marketing/sales.
D) human resources and strategy.
E) purchasing and logistics.
Successful defender firms tend to be headed by CEOs with backgrounds in the areas of
Successful analyzer firms tend to be headed by CEOs with backgrounds in the areas of
What did a study of 173 firms over a 25-year period reveal about CEOs of successful corporations?
A) They tended to have less loyalty than former CEOs, switching companies at a faster pace.
B) They tended to have the same functional specialization as the former CEO.
C) They tended to be more aggressive in their risk-taking than former CEOs.
D) They tended to rely more on skills developed through group decision making.
E) They tended to be turnaround specialists.
According to the text, the process of replacing a key top manager is called
A) executive succession.
B) executive placement.
C) executive strategy.
D) executive search.
E) executive outside succession.
Research suggests that boards of directors tend to look outside the firm for the next CEO under which following circumstance?
A) when the company is prosperous
B) when the company is having temporary difficulty
C) when the company is in trouble
D) when the company needs to follow a stability strategy
E) when the company needs to expand in order to continue growing
One study reported the percentage of senior executives that left a firm after a new CEO took office was ________ when the new CEO was an insider and ________ when the new CEO was an outsider.
A) 35; 10
B) 20; 34
C) 30; 30
D) 20; 10
E) 40; 20
What percent of large U.S. companies have CEO succession plans in place?
A) 10
C) 50
D) 75
E) 90
Which one of the following is NOT one of the activities and techniques typically used in an assessment center to evaluate a person's suitability for advancement?
A) leaderless group discussions
B) management games
C) in-basket exercises
D) IQ tests
E) case analyses
According to the text, assessment centers have been able to accurately predict subsequent
A) job satisfaction.
B) job performance and career success.
C) organizational commitment.
D) organizational attachment.
E) management longevity.
To ensure employees are gaining the appropriate mix of experience to prepare employees for future responsibilities, many corporations move people from one job to another utilizing the technique of
A) job design.
B) job specialization.
C) job rotation.
D) job enlargement.
E) job enrichment.
According to a study of downsizing in the automobile-related industry, all of the following are problems associated with inappropriate downsizing EXCEPT
A) outsourcing was eliminated.
B) blanket offers for early retirement prompted even valuable employees to leave.
C) surviving employees experienced decreased morale.
D) surviving employees had to do extra work in addition to their own.
E) the wrong jobs were eliminated.
Downsizing is often used to implement a(n) ________ strategy.
A) retrenchment
B) growth
C) stability
D) hold
E) integration
Which of the following is NOT a guideline proposed for successful downsizing?
A) Contract out work that others can do cheaper.
B) Plan for long-run efficiencies.
C) Make across-the-board cuts.
D) Communicate the reasons for actions.
E) Invest in the remaining employees.
According to the text, a complete package for an executive working in another country costs
A) $50,000 to $75,000 annually.
B) $100,000 to $200,000 annually.
C) $150,000 to 250,000 annually.
D) $200,000 to $500,000 annually.
E) $300,000 to $1 million annually.
One of the big common mistakes by corporations sending executives on global assignments is NOT
A) raising their salaries.
B) educating executives about customs and values in other countries.
C) providing training for the regulatory environment.
D) providing excellent health care.
E) giving executives the opportunity to visit home.
According to the text, which one of the following is NOT one of the dangers of using primarily foreign nationals to staff managerial positions in subsidiaries?
A) the increased likelihood of suboptimization
B) difficulty for the MNC to meet long-term, worldwide objectives
C) the ability for communication and coordination becomes increasingly difficult
D) promotes anger and jealousy within the nationalistic host government
E) problems in coordinating activities of several international subsidiaries leads to problems in operating in a global industry
The percentage of U.S.-based expatriate managers who fail to adjust to a host country's social and business environment is
A) 6% or less.
B) approximately 35%.
C) between 50% and 75%.
D) around 80%.
E) greater than 90%.
The percentage of European and Japanese-based expatriate managers who fail to adjust to a host country's social and business environment is
C) between 50% to 75%.
Which of the following practices was NOT identified by a study of 750 U.S., Japanese, and European companies that do a good job of managing foreign assignments?
A) When making international assignments they focus on transferring knowledge and developing global leadership.
B) They offer foreign assignments to people whose technical skills are matched or exceeded by their cross-cultural abilities.
C) They offer assignments to those who want to return home early to share their experiences.
D) They end foreign assignments with a deliberate repatriations process with career guidance.
E) They end foreign assignments with a deliberate repatriation process with jobs where the employees can apply what they learned in their assignments.
When managing corporate culture, the first question management must ask is
A) what the change in strategy means to the corporate culture.
B) whether a change in culture is needed.
C) whether an attempt to change the culture is worth the likely costs.
D) whether it is possible to manage around the culture.
E) whether stakeholders will be impacted.
Which CEO of Home Depot learned the dangers of attempting to change corporate culture?
A) Jack Welch
B) Robert Nardelli
C) Alfred Chandler
D) Julia Stewart
E) Antonio Perez
According to the text, what is the "key" to effective management of change in culture?
A) planning
B) operationalization
C) evaluation
D) staffing
E) communication
Which one of the following is NOT one of the characteristics possessed by companies that have made successful major culture changes?
A) The CEO has a strategic vision of what the company could become.
B) If the vision is difficult, the CEO immediately terminates the goal.
C) The vision is translated into objective, well-defined goals with appropriate incentives and recognition aides.
D) The CEO communicates to all employees where the organization stands in relation to the competition and its outlook on the future.
E) The CEO constantly updates the workforce as to the progress of the company in achieving those elements identified as important in attaining the vision.
Which one of the following is NOT one of the four general methods of managing two different cultures?
A) separation
B) deculturation
C) integration
D) assimilation
E) segmentation
Which method of managing disparate cultures involves a relatively balanced give-and-take of cultural and managerial practices between the merger partners, and no strong imposition of cultural change on either company?
When Renault purchased a controlling interest in Japan's Nissan Motor Company to form one successful auto group from two with particular sensitivity to Nissan's culture, which approach to managing culture was employed?
B) integration
C) deculturation
Which method of managing disparate cultures involves one organization's domination over another willing organization?
Which method of managing disparate cultures is characterized by a separation of the two companies' cultures because of their differences?
Which method of managing disparate cultures is the most common and most destructive method of dealing with two different cultures because one company imposes its demands at the expense of another company's culture?
When Admiral was acquired by Maytag Corporation, the Admiral employees were willing to accept the dominance of Maytag's strong quality-oriented culture because they respected it. This demonstrates which approach to managing culture?
A) integration
B) separation
When AT&T acquired NCR Corporation, the NCR managers were replaced with an AT&T management team. Which management strategy was employed in terms of culture?
The strategy implementation tool used to determine what actions are going to be taken, by whom, during what time frame, and with what expected results is called a(n)
A) mission statement.
B) action plan.
C) MBO.
D) TQM.
E) succession plan.
Strategic goals can be accomplished through defining an action plan. Which one of the following is NOT one of the components which make up an action plan?
A) the specific actions to be taken
B) who will perform the action
C) during what time frame the action will be completed
D) where the action will be done
E) what are the expected results of the action
Action plans are important for several reasons. Which one of the following is NOT one of these reasons?
A) If the action plan is implemented properly, it ensures that the strategy will be a success.
B) It serves as a link between strategy formulation and evaluation and control.
C) The action plan specifies what needs to be done differently from the way operations are currently carried out.
D) During the evaluation and control process, an action plan helps in the appraisal of the performance and identifying remedial actions needed.
E) Motivation may be improved with the assignment of specific responsibility.
What does "MBO" stand for?
A) Market Buy-Out
B) Mergers, Buy-outs, and Options
C) Multinational Business Organization
D) Manufacturing Backlog Order
E) Management By Objectives
Which one of the following is NOT part of the process of MBO?
A) establishing and communicating organizational objectives
B) setting individual objectives that help implement organizational ones
C) reinforcing rules and regulations
D) developing an action plan of activities needed to achieve the objectives
E) periodically reviewing performance as it relates to the objectives
Which of the following is NOT descriptive of the purpose of MBO?
A) MBO provides an opportunity for the corporation to connect the objectives of people at each level to those at the next higher level.
B) MBO operates independently and requires very little supervision or administration.
C) The goals at each level ideally contribute directly towards overall organizational objectives.
D) MBO provides a potential method of integrating the physical, financial and human resource plans of an organization as it relates to the goals of the individual.
E) MBO ties the corporate, business, and functional objectives together along with the strategies used to achieve them.
"TQM" refers to
A) Total Questioning Methods.
B) Terrible Quantitative Management.
C) Tremulous Qualitative Methodology.
D) Total Quality Management.
E) Total Quality Methods.
Which of the following is NOT one of TQM's objectives?
A) greater flexibility in adjusting to customers' shifting requirements
B) lower cost through quality improvement and elimination of non-value-adding work
C) increased alignment of employee goals with management's objectives
D) quicker, less variable response in processes to customer needs
E) better, less variable quality of the product and service
Which of the following is NOT an essential ingredient of TQM?
A) intense focus on customer satisfaction
B) internal as well as external customers
C) action planning
D) continuous improvement
E) accurate measurement of every critical variable in a company's operations
Approximately what percent of manufacturing companies have implemented some form of quality management practices?
One research study of TQM successes and failures concluded that a key ingredient in TQM programs is
A) effective communication in all levels of management.
B) excellent customer satisfaction.
C) top management.
D) formidable manufacturing practices.
E) respected lower level employees.
Which one of the following was NOT one of the cultural dimensions that Hofstede found which could explain the success or failure of certain management practices?
A) uncertainty avoidance
B) masculinity-femininity
C) individualism-collectivism
D) cultural diversity
E) power distance
According to Hofstede, which cultural dimension describes the extent to which a society accepts an unequal distribution of power in organizations?
C) power distance
D) individualism-collectivism
E) long-term orientation
Nations like Greece and Japan whose people want career stability, formal rules, and clear-cut measures of performance would score high on which of Hofstede's cultural dimensions?
D) power distance
According to Hofstede, which cultural dimension describes the extent to which a society values individual freedom and independence of action compared with a tight social framework and loyalty to the group?
According to Hofstede, which cultural dimension describes the extent to which society is oriented toward money and things or towards people?
According to Hofstede's cultural dimensions, which country scored among the highest on individualism?
A) Hong Kong
B) Germany
C) Pakistan
D) United States
E) Mexico
According to Hofstede's cultural dimensions, which country scored lowest on power distance?
A) Malaysia
B) Mexico
C) Germany
E) Great Britain
According to Hofstede's cultural dimensions, which country scored among the lowest on uncertainty avoidance?
C) Austria
According to Hofstede, which cultural dimension describes the extent to which a society emphasizes the importance of hard work, education, and persistence as well as the importance of thrift?
D) long-term orientation
Hofstede's work on national culture was extended to nine cultural dimensions by
A) RHR International.
B) Project GLOBE.
C) Alfred Chandler.
D) Nahavardi and Malekzadeh.
E) McKinsey & Company.
What is an executive type? What is their significance to strategy?
Answer: Executives with a particular mix of skills and experiences may be classified as an executive type and paired with a specific corporate strategy. A corporation following a concentration strategy emphasizing vertical or horizontal growth would probably want an aggressive new chief executive with a great deal of experience in that particular industry — a dynamic industry expert.
A diversification strategy, in contrast, might call for someone with an analytical mind who is highly knowledgeable in other industries and can manage diverse product lines — an analytical portfolio manager. A corporation choosing to follow a stability strategy would probably want as its CEO a cautious profit planner, a person with a conservative style, a production or engineering background, and experience with controlling budgets, capital expenditures, inventories, and standardization procedures. Weak companies in a relatively attractive industry tend to turn to a type of challenge-oriented executive known as the turnaround specialist to save the company. If a company cannot be saved, a professional liquidator might be called on by a bankruptcy court to close the firm and liquidate its assets.
Because priorities certainly change over an organization's life, successful corporations need to select managers who have the skills and characteristics appropriate to the organization's particular stage of development and position in its life cycle.
What is executive succession? Discuss the hiring of insiders versus outsiders.
Answer: Executive succession is the process of replacing a key top manager. Succession planning has become the most important topic discussed by boards of directors. Prosperous firms tend to look outside for CEO candidates only if they have no obvious internal candidates. Hiring an outsider to be a CEO is a risky gamble. CEOs from the outside tend to introduce significant change and high turnover among the current management. Firms in trouble overwhelmingly choose outsiders to lead them. Boards realize that the best way to force a change in strategy is to hire a new CEO with no connections to the current strategy.
What are some of the approaches a company can take to identify and prepare its people for important positions?
Answer: A company can identify and prepare its people in several ways. One approach is to establish a sound performance appraisal system to identify good performers with promotion potential. The human resource system should also be examined to be sure that diverse people are hired and promoted. Many large organizations are using assessment centers to evaluate a person's suitability for an advanced position. They use special interviews, management games, in-basket exercises, leaderless group discussions, case analyses, decision-making exercises, and oral presentation to assess the potential of employees for specific positions. Assessment centers have been generally able to accurately predict subsequent job performance and career success. Job rotation is also used in many large corporations to ensure that employees are gaining the appropriate mix of experiences to prepare them for future responsibilities. Rotating people among divisions is one way that the corporation can improve the level of organizational learning.
List the guidelines proposed for successful downsizing.
Answer: The following guidelines have been proposed for successful downsizing:
Eliminate unnecessary work instead of making across-the-board cuts.
Contract out work that others can do cheaper.
Plan for long-run efficiencies.
Communicate the reasons for actions.
Invest in the remaining employees.
Develop value-added jobs to balance out job elimination.
What three general practices were identified by Black and Gregersen in companies which do a good job of managing foreign assignments?
Answer: Black and Gregersen found that the companies which do a good job of managing foreign assignments follow three general principles:
When making international assignments, they focus on transferring knowledge and developing global leadership.
They make foreign assignments to people whose technical skills are matched or exceeded by their cross-cultural abilities.
They end foreign assignments with a deliberate repatriation process with career guidance and jobs where the employees can apply what they learned in their assignments.
What are the four general methods of managing two different cultures?
Answer: There are four general methods of managing two different cultures. Integration involves a relatively balanced give-and-take of cultural managerial practices between the merger partners, and no strong imposition of cultural change on either company. It merges the two cultures in such a way that the separate cultures of both firms are preserved in the resulting culture.
Assimilation involves the domination of one organization over the other. The domination is not forced, but it is welcomed by members of the acquired firm, who may feel for many reasons that their culture and managerial practices have not produced success. Separation is characterized by a separation of the two companies' cultures. They are structurally separated, without cultural exchange. Deculturation involves the disintegration of one company's culture resulting from unwanted and extreme pressure from the other to impose its culture and practices. This is the most common and most destructive method of dealing with two different cultures. It is often accompanied by much confusion, conflict, resentment, and stress.
What information should an action plan include?
Answer: An action plan should include the following information:
Specific actions to be taken to make the program operational.
Dates to begin and end each action.
Person (identified by name and title) responsible for carrying out each action.
Person responsible for monitoring the timeliness and effectiveness of each action.
Expected financial and physical consequences of each action.
Contingency plans.
What are the four elements of the MBO process?
Answer: The Management by Objectives (MBO) process involves the following:
Establishing and communicating organizational objectives.
Setting individual objectives (through superior-subordinate interaction) that help implement organizational ones.
Developing an action plan of activities needed to achieve the objectives.
Periodically reviewing performance as it relates to the objectives and including the results in the annual performance appraisal.
What is TQM and what are its essential ingredients?
Answer: Total Quality Management (TQM) is an operational philosophy committed to customer satisfaction and continuous improvement. TQM is committed to quality/excellence and to being the best in all functions. TQM's essential ingredients are:
An intense focus on customer satisfaction.
Internal as well as external customers.
Accurate measurement of every critical variable in a company's operations.
Continuous improvement of products and services.
New work relationships based on trust and teamwork.
What are Hofstede's dimensions of national culture?
Answer: Hofstede's dimensions of national culture are as follows:
Power distance (PD) is the extent to which a society accepts an unequal distribution of power in organizations.
Uncertainty avoidance (US) is the extent to which a society feels threatened by uncertain and ambiguous situations.
Individualism-collectivism (I-C) is the extent to which a society values individual freedom and independence of action compared with a tight social framework and loyalty to the group.
Masculinity-femininity (M-F) is the extent to which a society is oriented toward money and things (masculine) or toward people (feminine).
Long-term orientation (LT) is the extent to which society is oriented toward the long versus the short term.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


This is the second dress I chose from my collaboration with Eva Trends. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised with the quality when I opened the package.
I love this blue silk blue print shirt dress because I can dress it up or down depending on the occasion.


10% discount off of our Best Available Rate.
Experience new adventures off the beaten path! Only 17 miles to the Brunswick, GA/Golden Isles Airport, this brand new beachside hotel is easily accessible from route I-95 and US 17.


text:
Herd About It
Big Food makes Big Finance look like amateurs
ByAFarmer
Foodies, Get Thee to Occupy Wall Street
Because Big Food makes Big Finance look like amateurs.
—By Tom Philpott
The Occupy Wall Street protests grew out of anger at the outsized power of banks. But as they've expanded nationwide, the uprisings have evolved into a kind of running challenge to the way power is concentrated in all aspects of our economy—concentrated into the hands of people with an interest in maintaining the status quo.
No doubt, the financial sector is a stunning example. This MoJo chart shows how the 10 largest banks came to hold 54 percent of US financial assets, up from 20 percent in 1990. As big banks gobbled smaller banks and became megabanks, they managed to extract more and more wealth out of the economy. Even after the epochal meltdown and bailout, the financial sector now claims fully a third of US corporate profits. They've invested a chunk of that windfall in what is probably Washington's most formidable lobbying machine—which is precisely how they managed to slither away unscathed despite the economic carnage they caused.
But other economic sectors are similarly concentrated, and have a comparable grip on public policy. Consider the industry I cover. Our national food policy is both in desperate need of reform and utterly trapped under the heel of industry influence. So, as Occupy Wall Street evolves, food policy should be on the plate. Here are four reasons why:
1. The food industry is a big fat monopoly.
Agribusiness is concentrated to a point that would make a Wall Street master of the universe blush. Vast globe-spanning corporations, many of them US-based, dominate the industry.
Let's start with "inputs," the stuff farmers buy before they plant their crops. As of 2007, six companies owned 75 percent of the global pesticide market, and four companies sold half of the globe's seeds, ETC Group reckons. Here's the kicker: Three of them—Monsanto, Syngenta, and Dupont—are on both lists. The agrichemical makers have transitioned into seed barons, genetically engineering their major seed lines to resist their own herbicides.
Three companies process more than 70 percent of beef in the US; four slaughter and pack more than 58 percent of our pork and chicken.
Monsanto is an interesting case. In addition to being the planet's largest seed vendor, with 23 percent of the market, it licenses its patented genetically modified traits to other companies. Think of the physical seed as the hardware and traits as the software. In the trait market, Monsanto holds a near monopoly: By 2007, according to ETC Group, 87 percent of the acreage dedicated to genetically engineered crops contained crops bearing Monsanto traits.
Okay, so farmers rely on a small handful of firms for their inputs. But it turns out the same thing holds true when they harvest and sell their crops. Just four companies—Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge, and Louis Dreyfus—control up to 90 percent of the global trade in grain. In the United States, three of those firms process 70 percent of the soybeans and 40 percent of the wheat milled into flour. The bulk of corn and soy grown by US farmers ends up feeding animals in vast factories, and here, too, the consolidation is dramatic: Three companies now process more than 70 percent of all beef, and just four firms slaughter and pack upwards of 58 percent of all pork and chicken.
By 2002, just four companies produced 75 percent of cereal and snacks, 60 percent of cookies, and half of all ice cream.
Finally, let's look at the supermarkets. Walmart opened its first grocery-selling "superstore" in 1988. Today, it controls 2,750 superstores and more than a quarter of the US grocery market. As a result, the combined market share of the four largest grocery players has doubled, from less than 20 percent in 1992 to nearly 40 percent today.
And, despite acres of shelves groaning with thousands of products, only a few large companies stock supermarkets. By 2002, the USDA reported, four companies churned out 75 percent of breakfast cereal, 75 percent of snacks, 60 percent of cookies, and 50 percent of ice cream.
2. The food industry screws farmers, its own employees, and the environment.
In antitrust theory, when four players control more than 40 percent of a market, they're said to wield "market power"—that is, they can manipulate the prices they charge consumers and the terms on which they deal with their suppliers. So, rather than raise prices, the food industry has slashed costs—at the expense of workers, farmers, and the environment.
The meat industry provides a stark example. Today, you can grab a McDonald's McDouble burger or a McChicken sandwich for a dollar. As I noted above, just a few companies process the great bulk of meat consumed in the United States. How can they do that profitably, when McDonald's is practically giving burgers away? Simple: screw the workers.
Some 80 percent of the antibiotics sold in the United States go to livestock facilities, the FDA reports.
From 1976 to 2009, according to USDA figures, the inflation-adjusted average hourly wage of meatpacking workers plunged, as did union membership among meatpacking employees. Predictably, working conditions deteriorated. (See our recent Hormel Foods exposé: "The Spam Factory's Dirty Secrets.") In 2005, Human Rights Watch issued a damning report titled "Blood, Sweat, and Fear," which concluded:
Employers put workers at predictable risk of serious physical injury even though the means to avoid such injury are known and feasible. They frustrate workers' efforts to obtain compensation for workplace injuries when they occur. They crush workers' self-organizing efforts and rights of association. They exploit the perceived vulnerability of a predominantly immigrant labor force in many of their work sites. These are not occasional lapses by employers paying insufficient attention to modern human resources management policies. These are systematic human rights violations embedded in meat and poultry industry employment. [Emphasis added.]
Farmers, too, got the shaft. As a few big hog processors like Smithfield gobbled market share and began raising millions of their own pigs, pork prices tanked and tens of thousands of farms went belly up, despite an increase in the total number of hogs being slaughtered. In 1992, America had 240,000 hog farms, the USDA reports, but only 60,000 of them remained by 2007. Similar trends have hit the poultry industry.
Meanwhile, shunting livestock production into huge factory-style facilities has led to a massive concentration of toxic animal waste. Using data collected by the EPA, the Environmental Integrity Project recently showed that animal factories routinely emit levels of particulate matter, ammonia, and hydrogen sulfide that are well above acceptable health limits. A good deal of that manure ends up in groundwater, too, fouling drinking water supplies and fish habitat.
Finally, to keep their animals alive and growing fast under dire conditions, the meat industry laces feed rations with antibiotics. The FDA recently revealed that 80 percent of the antibiotics sold in the United States go to livestock facilities. Nearly every US public health and farm oversight agency has acknowledged that the practice contributes heavily to the rise of antibiotic-resistant human pathogens—vicious superbugs like MRSA, a resistant form of staphylococcus that kills now more Americans than AIDS does.
3. Wall Street's greed leaves millions to starve—literally.
One obvious reason that Occupy Wall Street should focus on food is that Wall Street itself focuses on food.
As I reported last month, two recent UN reports directly implicate commodities speculators for driving up the price of key food staples like rice and wheat—leaving tens of millions of people around the world hungry in order to make a buck. A new study (PDF) reaching the same conclusion has emerged from the New England Complex Systems Institute—and was reviewed by two Harvard economists and an official from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
Sure, these analyses note, US and European biofuel programs have played a role in all this by (foolishly) diverting key food staples into car fuel. But Wall Street took the biofuel craze to a whole new level. Olivier de Schutter, the UN's Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, puts it bluntly:
The promotion of biofuels and other supply shocks were relatively minor catalysts, but they set off a giant speculative bubble in a strained and desperate global financial environment. These factors were then blown out of all proportion by large institutional investors who, faced with the drying up of other financial markets, entered commodity futures markets on a massive scale.
And here's what the New England Complex Systems Institute team had to say:
The two sharp peaks in 2007/2008 and 2010/2011 are specifically due to investor speculation, while an underlying upward trend is due to increasing demand from ethanol conversion.
They illustrated this with the following chart.
From: "The Food Crises: A quantitative model of food prices including speculators and ethanol conversion," New England Complex Systems Institute, 2011.
To read the full article, and to get the benefit of imbedded links: Please read the full article here: Tom Philpott is the food and ag blogger for Mother Jones
Remembering Pork
Dinner and?
By AFarmer
Front Page Herd About It
What the Hayseed
Apr 27, 2022 AFarmer
Half your wood:(late reflections on Ground Hog's day 2019)
Mar 3, 2019 AFarmer
Gray Good News


The institute offers a full range of classic-parasitological diagnostic assays for the detection of protozoal and helminth pathogens, as well as the morphological identification of parasitic arthropods. Several serological and molecular diagnostic assays are also available. Analysis of the efficacy of antiparasitic drugs can be performed as well, for instance by the use of specifically developed in-vitro assays.


Creator: Unknown. June 2, 1972.
[Photograph 2012.201.B0091.0606], photograph, June 2, 1972; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc252207/: accessed April 25, 2019), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.


This week I have an article on the History News Network about why humanitarian aid is so critical for Syria. We have to look ahead too, with winter not too far around the corner.
If the conflict continues, humanitarian needs are only going to increase. When you add colder temperatures on top of this prospect, it is cause for great alarm. Winter clothing will be needed for refugees from the Syrian conflict, in addition to food and other basic items.
Here is some of the latest information from the UN World Food Programme (WFP) on its hunger relief efforts for Syrian war victims. In September WFP is feeding around 1.5 million people in 14 Syrian governorates affected by the conflict. WFP works through its partner the Syrian Arab Red Crescent.
WFP relies on voluntary donations from the international community. There have been generous donations already from the United States and other countries. But so much more is needed given the size of the emergency. That is why funding for the U.S. Food for Peace program, which is a major supporter of WFP, is so crucial.
WFP currently faces a $61 million shortage of funding in Syria. Another vital aspect of WFP's work is in the area of communications and logistics. These measures help connect aid groups so they can better coordinate operations and transportation.
In addition to relief activities inside Syria there is help needed for hundreds of thousands who have fled the country into neighboring Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey. WFP also needs additional funding for this operation.
Catholic Relief Services is also carrying on relief work to help the refugees, with their focus on Jordan and Lebanon. They are also urging people to contact Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to build support for helping the refugees and ending the conflict.
Article first published as Food, Clothing, Tech, and Logistics All Crucial for Syrian Aid on Blogcritics.


text:
package uk.co.exemel.disco.netutil.nio.hessian;

import java.io.InputStream;
import java.io.OutputStream;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.Set;

import uk.co.exemel.disco.core.api.transcription.TranscribableParams;
import uk.co.exemel.disco.netutil.nio.DiscoProtocol;
import uk.co.exemel.disco.transport.api.protocol.DiscoObjectIOFactory;
import uk.co.exemel.disco.transport.api.protocol.DiscoObjectInput;
import uk.co.exemel.disco.transport.api.protocol.DiscoObjectOutput;

public class HessianObjectIOFactory implements DiscoObjectIOFactory {

    private Map<Byte, DiscoSerializerFactory> protocolSerializerFactories;

	public HessianObjectIOFactory(boolean client) {
        protocolSerializerFactories = new HashMap<Byte, DiscoSerializerFactory>();
        for (byte b = DiscoProtocol.TRANSPORT_PROTOCOL_VERSION_MIN_SUPPORTED; b<=DiscoProtocol.TRANSPORT_PROTOCOL_VERSION_MAX_SUPPORTED; b++) {
            Set<TranscribableParams> transcriptionParams = DiscoProtocol.getTranscribableParamSet(b);
            DiscoSerializerFactory csf = DiscoSerializerFactory.createInstance(transcriptionParams);
            csf.setAllowNonSerializable(true);
            csf.addFactory(new TranscribableSerialiserFactory(transcriptionParams, client));
            csf.addFactory(new EnumSerialiserFactory(transcriptionParams));
            csf.addFactory(new FaultDetailSerialiserFactory(transcriptionParams));
            protocolSerializerFactories.put(b, csf);
        }
	}

	@Override
	public DiscoObjectInput newDiscoObjectInput(InputStream is, byte protocolVersion) {
        return new HessianObjectInput(is, protocolSerializerFactories.get(protocolVersion));
	}

	@Override
	public DiscoObjectOutput newDiscoObjectOutput(OutputStream os, byte protocolVersion) {
        return new HessianObjectOutput(os, protocolSerializerFactories.get(protocolVersion));
	}

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: DynamoDBLocal Fails on Credentials DynamoDBLocal is rejecting my credentials in spite of the documentation indicating that valid credentials are unnecessary:

The AWS SDKs for DynamoDB require that your application configuration specify an access key value and an AWS region value...these do not have to be valid AWS values in order to run locally.

In this case, I've set up my credentials ~/.aws/credentials as:
[default]
aws_access_key_id = BogusAwsAccessKeyId
aws_secret_access_key = BogusAwsSecretAccessKey

run DynamoDBLocal using:
java -Djava.library.path=./DynamoDBLoc_lib -jar DynamoDBLocal.jar

checked that it's working by hitting http://localhost:8000/shell/
then run my test Java app:
    DefaultAWSCredentialsProviderChain credentialProvider = new DefaultAWSCredentialsProviderChain();
    AWSCredentials awsCredentials = credentialProvider.getCredentials();
    log.info("creds \"{}\", \"{}\"", awsCredentials.getAWSAccessKeyId(), awsCredentials.getAWSSecretKey());

    AmazonDynamoDBClient client = new AmazonDynamoDBClient(credentialProvider);
    client.withEndpoint("http://localhost:8000");
    client.withRegion(Regions.US_WEST_2);
    dynamoDB = new DynamoDB(client);

    try {
        TableCollection<ListTablesResult> tables = dynamoDB.listTables();
        while (tables.iterator().hasNext()) {   // <-- exception thrown here
            log.info(tables.iterator().next().getTableName());
        }
    } catch (Exception e) {
        log.error("", e);
  }

which results in this output:

creds "BogusAwsAccessKeyId", "BogusAwsSecretAccessKey"
  com.amazonaws.AmazonServiceException: The security token included in the request is invalid. (Service: AmazonDynamoDBv2; Status Code: 400; Error Code: UnrecognizedClientException

Any thoughts on why it is concerned with the validity of the credentials?

A: In your code, you are calling withRegion() after calling setEndpoint(). The call to withRegion() is setting the endpoint to DynamoDB's us-west-2 endpoint and that's why your authentication is failing (because it's actually going to the DynamoDB us-west-2 region). Remove the withRegion() line.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Live updates as Jeremy Hunt visits Chelmsford to see small businesses as part of bid to be next Prime Minister
He is talking to businesses on the High Street
James GregoryMultimedia Reporter
Alasdair Hooper
Jeremy Hunt is in Chelmsford speaking to local businesses
Jeremy Hunt has arrived in Chelmsford on the campaign trail to become the country's next Prime Minister.
The current foreign secretary is engaged in a two-horse race with his predecessor and face of Vote Leave, Boris Johnson.
A Tory leadership contest was triggered after Theresa May tried and failed three times to get her Brexit deal through the Commons.
Party members will now vote on their preferred candidate, the winner of which becoming leader of the Conservatives and the country.
Chelmsford Riverside Leisure Centre: An honest review of the brand new £40 million complex
Before that crucial vote in July, both Mr Hunt and Mr Johnson will be visiting a number of different places in the UK to convince the public why they are the right man for the job.
Today, Mr Hunt is in Chelmsford where he'll be speaking to local businesses and market traders about his plans to reinvigorate the UK's High Street (Wednesday, June 26).
Our reporter is in the city centre following him on his campaign trail, where he will have the opportunity to speak to him directly.
For live updates, follow our blog below.
Watch as Jeremy Hunt answers our questions live on camera 11:50
Milkshakes, meetings and a walkabout
Within an hour Jeremy Hunt managed to meet with several people in Chelmsford as he visited the High Street, Acanteen and the market.
He even treated himself to a milkshake in Acanteen.
Jeremy Hunt with his milkshake in Acanteen (Image: Martine Xerri)
jeremy Hunt, Vicky Ford and their supporters take a selfie (Image: Martine Xerri)
Jeremy Hunt meets a resident in Chelmsford market (Image: Martine Xerri)
"This election is about who we trust..."
Now in Chelmsford talking about my plan to deliver Brexit. This election is about who we trust to go to Brussels and come back with a better deal. #HastobeHunt pic.twitter.com/NSqUtiCq5Z
— Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) June 26, 2019
Healing the divisions in the country and the party
Vicky Ford added:
"I think it's really important that this is a point of reconciliation.
"I want to have a leader that can take us through Brexit, resolve Brexit and also heal the divisions that we have across the country.
"The reason many people voted leave is because of the big divisions that have built up in the country, we need to sort that out.
"One of the reasons that Jeremy Hunt has been out talking to other members of the public is to really understand what those different points of view are.
"We've got to do that within the party as well. That's why we've had members of the party - from all sides of the party - here today."
"Essex is the home of the entrepreneur"
Jeremy Hunt's visit to Essex today was to visit small businesses as well as to push his message as he bids to become the UK's next prime minister.
MP Vicky Ford said:
"Essex is the home of the entrepreneur.
"There's so many small businesses, we have more small businesses starting up than I think any other county.
"But sometimes there's so many challenges like we've seen with the bar there (Abstinence Bar) about the business rates.
"We especially see it with shops facing the competition from online sales but they're having to pay the bricks and mortar business rates.
"So the plans that Jeremy Hunt has to take a whole swathe of small businesses out of having to pay business rates - to make sure they are on a level playing field with inline sales - is absolutely vital.
"We are in the middle of a digital revolution, the fourth industrial revolution, and we have to make sure our law and or tax system is fit for purpose in a digital age.
"That means that small businesses should be able to compete without having this threat of business rates."
Chelmsford MP Vicky Ford: "It was great to have Jeremy in Chelmsford today"
Chelmsford MP was also with Jeremy Hunt throughout his visit to Chelmsford this morning.
"Jeremy is very keen to be asked questions in public and not behind closed doors, which is why we doing a walkabout talking to members of the public as we passed.
"I was particularly pleased to bring him to the covered market here because I think it is a real gem for all of Essex.
"It's been closed for refurbishment recently and traders have had a tricky time and they were very keen when I went down this morning to encourage more people to come in.
"It was good for him to talk to them.
"He's been very keen to listen to small businesses, he set up his own business and he knows how hard it is.
"He knows that post-Brexit getting that extra boost to the economy is really important."
12:29 James Gregory
"Is there any danger in you saying that the October 31 deadline isn't fixed?"
I am far more likely to get us out by October 31 because I would be able to go to Brussels and negotiate with them, so if you want to leave quickly, I am your man.
"What's the key message you are sending people watching this as well as the party members who are voting?"
If you want a deal to leave the EU, send a business person to bring the deal home.
"What are the challenges and what are the things you are looking to change for small businesses in Essex?"
I never forget when I set up on my own very fresh out of university - I did not have any money.
It is tough, but what I see in Essex is tremendous potential but also business are struggling because of uncertainty over Brexit.
I want to help them so my plan is to take 90 per cent of High Street businesses out of business rates.
Business rates can be a killer because you have to pay it before making a penny in profit.
I want to relieve people of that burden. As an entrepreneur, the success of our country depends on the success of our small businesses in this country.
What did Mr Hunt have to say?
Our reporter Alasdair Hooper questioned Mr Hunt on a number of issues including Brexit, the High Street and small businesses.
Jeremy Hunt at Chelmsford Market
Jeremy Hunt outside Chelmsford Indoor Market
Jeremy Hunt on Brexit and the NHS
Hunt on TV debate: "I'm not a bottler"
11:50 KEY EVENT
Watch as Jeremy Hunt answers our questions live on camera
https://www.facebook.com/essexlivenews/videos/2297293617023361/
Vicky Ford joins Mr Hunt
MP for Chelmsford, Vicky Ford, has joined Mr Hunt this morning.
She is a well-known supporter of his to become the next Prime Minister.
"If we go to an election I don't think we'll get Brexit at all"
Mr Hunt has warned that he fears Brexit will not happen if the nation faces another General Election.
Crowds gather in the High Street
Crowds gather in the High Street as Jeremy Hunt meets local people
Jeremy Hunt in Acanteen
Milkshakes on the menu


text:
O ECW World Television Championship foi um título de luta profissional televisivo, disputado na Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW).

Originalmente, ECW era uma subsidiária da National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). O título foi criado para a ECW pela NWA, dona dos direitos do título, em 1992. ECW deixou a NWA em 1994, ganhando direito sob seus títulos. O título foi disputado até abril de 2001, quando a ECW foi à falência, sendo comprada pela World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) na metade de 2003. Em maio de 2006, WWE adicionou a ECW como terceira divisão, as outras sendo Raw e SmackDown. O Campeonato Mundial dos Pesos-Pesados da ECW foi o único título da ECW a ser revivido pela WWE.

O título poderia ser apenas defendido em programas de televisão ou evento em pay-per-view. O primeiro campeão foi Johnny Hotbody, que derrotou Larry Winters em um evento não-televisionado em agosto de 1992. Rhino, que conquistou o título em setembro de 2000, foi o último campeão. 2 Cold Scorpio possui o maior número de reinados, com quatro. O reinado de Rob Van Dam entre 1998 e 2000 foi o mais longo da história, com 700 dias. Os reinados de 1994 de The Tazmaniac e 2 Cold Scorpio foram os mais curtos, com menos de um dia cada. Houve 31 reinados diferentes.

História

Reinados

Lista de reinados combinados

Notas
  Essa mudança de título foi excluída da história oficial publicada pela World Wrestling Entertainment.

Gerais

Extreme Championship Wrestling
Campeonatos da Extreme Championship Wrestling
Listas de luta profissional

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


This directory includes 3 Wenatchee Hospice service providers. It is the goal of hospice care professionals to help seniors, who are dying, to feel peace, comfort and dignity. These services may also provide comfort to the families in this difficult time. Hospice care ranges from basic pain control to spa treatments, assistance with bucket list items, and other special service to help comfort the dying. Many nursing homes and assisted living facilities have a hospice program.
Results Limited to 3 for download speed reasons. See More Wenatchee hospice care providers.
1201 South Miller StreetWenatchee, WA 98801-7-87 Central Washington Hospital Home Care Services offers - in-home or residential senior care -Hospice care .
401 East Mountain View AvenueEllensburg, WA 98926-3795 Hospice Friends offers -Hospice care .


A delegation from Vietnam is visiting Prince Edward Island this week to learn about how we are improving our education and early childhood system, says Education and Early Childhood Development Minister, Doug Currie.
A visiting delegation consisting of 14 senior officials from the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training arrived in Prince Edward Island Thursday to meet with representatives from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. The two-day tour includes visits to kindergarten classrooms and three early childhood programs. Participants are also learning about early childhood education programs available at Holland College and the University of Prince Edward Island.
The Ministry of Education and Training Delegation of Vietnam is here to learn how Canada is developing and administering its Early Childhood Education (ECE) sector," said Ms. Ngo Thi Hop, Deputy Director, Department of Early Childhood Education, Ministry of Education and Training, Vietnam. "In particular, we expect to learn more about various policies the PEI government is using to promote early childhood education in the province. We are interested in hearing about financing policies for kindergarten and childcare services. Other areas of interest involve services available for children as well as teacher training and professional development." Meetings with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development are focusing on important projects such as the introduction of kindergarten to the public school system and the launch of the Preschool Excellence Initiative in 2010.
A delegation from Vietnam is visiting Prince Edward Island this week to learn about how we are improving our education and early childhood system. Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Doug Currie says the introduction of kindergarten to the school system and the launch of the Preschool Excellence Initiative are the main topics of discussion.
A visiting delegation consisting of 14 senior officials from the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training arrived in PEI Thursday. The two-day tour includes meetings with representatives from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. The group is visiting kindergarten classrooms and three early childhood programs. Delegates are being also introduced to the early childhood education programs available at Holland College and UPEI.


The clip below is from a fabulous video series on parenting teens, which has me feverishly taking notes--both as a teacher of--and mother to--teenagers! This one, about the importance of shifting from Manager to Consultant, is easier said than done--but an important lesson about stepping back (slowly!), allowing our teens to learn important life skills. This is a hard one in the Hughes Casa.
For our last term, the sophomores and I will be taking a look at the difference between wants and needs--and what happens when an imbalance exists between the two.
The unit starts with us asking, "Why do people acquire more than they need?" We will also watch THIS VIDEO about 14-year-old Hannah Salwen who convinced her family to sell their home and live on half of their income.
While we have studied many texts together this year in our online anthology (i.e., Pearson), we will be reading our first full novel together this term: F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby! Keep in mind, your student has already read at least seven books this year, so The Great Gatsby is his/her eighth! However, this will be the first time we are all reading one full-length novel at the same time, which is exciting.
Gone are the days when we English teachers showed movies to go along with the texts. (After all, it's tough to convince the Powers that Be that we are meeting standards while watching a movie.) However, there is something magical about watching students--nearly a century later--see the relevance of Fitzgerald's colors, characterization, conflict, and consumerism of the 1920s! We will view the 2013 film adaptation together in class. You can watch THE TRAILER here.
Report cards will go live in IPASS at 2:15 pm on Wednesday, April 11th.
Nevertheless, Parent/Teacher conferences are scheduled for Thursday, April 5th, from 6-8 PM. While teachers are happy to share snapshots with parents about student progress, final grades won't be available until the following week. So, grade-wise, the snapshot will be incomplete.
And if waiting in our deli-like line doesn't appeal to you, feel free to email me at beth.hughes@wpsk12.org for an update on your how your student is doing--beyond the numbers you can see in IPASS.
Most honors students enter my classroom in the fall with the ability to craft organized, error-free writing. Which is fabulous. However, most students don't have the tools to take their writing to the next level. (And based on the Traits of an Honors Student, taken from the Honors English course description in WMHS' Program of Studies, honors students are already supposed to be writing on a more sophisticated level than their college prep counterparts.) One of the tools we recently emulated is Repetition, which is a "rhetorical device writers use to make their point clearer and more memorable" (Your Dictionary).
What's outside the window? A thousand possibilities. What's outside the window? A land far away. What's outside the window? Anything but here.


text:
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Workshop - Improving psychological science by formalizing psychological theories: The value of computational modeling
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Most psychological theories are "verbal models": narrative explanations of a psychological phenomenon. Because of the vagaries of language, these theories are vulnerable to hidden assumptions and shortcomings. Moreover, they create fertile ground for questionable research practices. In this workshop, we provide an introduction to theory development through computational modeling. First, we review the advantages of modeling and show how it fosters transparent and cumulative science. We then propose ideas for how to develop and evaluate formalized theories. We provide examples throughout, focusing especially on a computational model of Panic Disorder. Our hope is that participants leave with an appreciation of the importance of formalized psychological theories and ideas for how to develop and evaluate formalized theories in their own work. We will illustrate the process of generating a computational model in R using difference equations. Although prior knowledge in these areas is not necessary to understand the main points of the workshop, it would likely facilitate understanding for parts of the workshop. Importantly, this is not a workshops were we will work hands-on in R, so no laptops are required.
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The President survived domestic disasters like chronic unemployment, massive and unrepayable federal debt increases, Obamacare, and Fast and Furious. He survived foreign policy fumbles like the Russian Reset, the Arab Spring, and Benghazigate. He was re-elected by catering to his base and by placing the fear of Romney into many minds.
Now the full effect of the President's leadership is about to hit the fan.
The markets seem to have had a Romney win baked in. With Obama's re-election, they're down to last summer's level—when it seemed Romney had no chance. The U.S. economy is trending towards recession; the fiscal cliff looms.
The federal debt had a very bad month. The federal intake was $184 billion, the expenditures, $304 billion. Do the math, Barry: it's the spending, stupid.
The President's CIA Director ex-CIA Director is in the throes of a total meltdown with huge cover up and criminal conspiracy implications. Along the way, the Administration may be violating its own guidance on underground prisons and interrogating and detaining enemy combatants. Even reliable lefties are starting to freak about Obama's persistent Stasi-like surveillance state.
Innovation that threatens the status quo/preferred narrative is at risk of being smothered in the crib of government.
The Harry Reidtard-led Senate is worried about polar bear carcasses.
Finally, a majority of voters in California appears to be just as stupid as a majority of voters in America. Dude, where's my bailout?
This will not end well (and technically, we're still in Broncobama's first term).
Posted on November 14, 2012, in Uncategorized and tagged Obama Fail, Obama Part Deux, Surveillance State. Bookmark the permalink.	Leave a comment.


text:
The Signs of the Times
The Sin of Eli
Eli was priest and judge in Israel. He held the highest and most responsible positions among the people of God. He had been appointed to govern the nation, and to minister in their behalf before God. As a man divinely chosen for the sacred duties of the priesthood, and set over the land as the highest judicial authority, he was looked up to as an example, and he wielded a great influence over the tribes of Israel. But although Eli was appointed to govern the people, he did not control his own family, or rule his own household. Eli was an indulgent father. Loving peace and ease, he did not exercise his authority to correct the evil habits and passions of his children. Rather than contend with them or punish them, he would submit to their will, and give them their own way. Instead of regarding the education of his sons as one of the most important of his responsibilities, he treated the matter as of little consequence. The development of their character was of the greatest importance, and God held Eli accountable for the way in which he allowed his sons to exercise the evil propensities of their nature. The priest and judge of Israel had not been left in darkness as to the duty of the father to restrain and govern the children that God had given to his care. But Eli shrank from this duty, because it involved crossing the will of his sons, and would make it necessary to punish and deny them. Without weighing the terrible consequences that would follow his course, Eli indulged his children in whatever they desired, and neglected the solemn and sacred work of fitting them for the service of God, and the duties of life. ST April 6, 1888, par. 1
The course of Abraham is a complete contrast to that of Eli. "I know him," said the Searcher of hearts, "that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment." There would be no betraying of his sacred trust; no sinful neglect to restrain the evil propensities of his children; no weak, unwise, indulgent favoritism; no yielding of his conviction of duty to the clamors of affection. Abraham's love for his children would lead him to correct his household, at whatever cost, for the good of their souls, and the honor of God. He was diligent in the cultivation of home religion, for he well knew that the blessing of Heaven rested on the habitation of the righteous. He determined that the law of God should be kept in his household, and he was called the "friend of God" and honored by God as the "father of the faithful." ST April 6, 1888, par. 2
Had Eli but followed his example, great and disastrous evils would have been avoided, and the blessing of God would have rested upon him and his house forever. God had said of Abraham, "I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him" "to do justice and judgment." But Eli allowed his children to control him. The family government was reversed. The father became subject to the children. There is no greater curse upon households than to allow the youth to have their own way. When parents regard every wish of their offspring, and indulge them in what they know is not for their good, the children soon lose all respect for their parents, all regard for the authority of God or man, and they are led captive at the will of Satan. Many an indulgent father or mother has reaped a harvest of sorrow from their own loose and careless government of their households, and they have regretted, too late, that they did not restrain their children in their youth. ST April 6, 1888, par. 3
Eli failed where many are failing today. He neglected to honor God in his family life, to teach his sons to reverence and obey God; and the consequence of this neglect was apparent throughout all the life of his sons. When the work of disciplining and training the children is not properly done, it testifies against the parents in the defective character of their sons and daughters, and will produce evil results, not only in their lives, but in the lives of others. The influence of an ill-regulated family is widespread and disastrous to all society. It accumulates in a tide of evil that affects families, communities, and governments. ST April 6, 1888, par. 4
Because of Eli's position, his influence was more extended than if he had been an ordinary man. His family life was imitated throughout Israel. The baneful results of his negligent, ease-loving ways were seen in the families that surrounded him. His evil ways were reflected in thousands of homes that were moulded by his example. If children are indulged in evil practices, while the parents make a profession of religion, the truth of God is brought into reproach. The character formed under the influence of the home is the best testimony to its Christianity. Actions speak louder than the most positive profession of godliness. If professors of religion, instead of putting forth earnest, persistent, and painstaking effort to bring up a well-ordered household as a witness to the benefits of faith in God, are lax in their government, sparing of themselves, and indulgent to the evil desires of their children, they are doing as did Eli, and are bringing disgrace on the cause of Christ, and ruin upon themselves and their households. ST April 6, 1888, par. 5
Eli did not manage his household according to God's rules for family government. He followed his own judgment. He allowed Satan to take the reins in his own hands; and Eli found, when too late, that his children had been hurried to destruction. The favor of God was removed from his house and the curse of transgression was apparent in the corruption and evil that marked the course of his sons. They had no proper appreciation of the character of God or of the sacredness of his law. His service was to them a common thing. From childhood they had been accustomed to the sanctuary and its service, but instead of growing in reverence, they had lost all sense of its holiness and significance. The course of Eli in bringing up his children had resulted in this state of mind in his sons. The father had not corrected the irreverence for his authority, had not checked their disrespect for the solemn services of the sanctuary; and when they reached manhood, they were full of the deadly fruits of skepticism and rebellion. ST April 6, 1888, par. 6
Though wholly unfit for the office, they were placed as priests in the sanctuary to minister before God. The Lord had given the most specific directions in regard to offering sacrifices; but these wicked men had carried their disregard of authority into the service of God, and they did not give attention to the law of the offerings, which were to be made in the most solemn manner. The sins of the people were transferred by figure to the sacrifice, which represented Christ, the Lamb of God that was to die for the sins of the world. The priests were commanded to eat in the tabernacle of certain portions of the peace-offering. By partaking of the sacrifice, and bearing their sins before God, they represented the work that Christ would do for us in the heavenly sanctuary, by bearing our sins in his own body. The sons of Eli, instead of feeling the great solemnity of this service, only thought how they could gratify appetite, and they demanded of the people whatever part they desired, even taking by violence the portion that was to be consumed upon the altar of sacrifice as a type of the great sacrifice of the Son of God on Calvary. This irreverence on the part of the priests soon robbed the offerings of their holy and solemn significance, and the people "abhorred the offering of the Lord." The great antitypical sacrifice to which they were to look forward, was no longer a thing of meaning to them, "wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord." ST April 6, 1888, par. 7
Eli made a great mistake in permitting his sons to minister in holy office. By excusing their course, on one pretext and another, he became blinded to their sins, but at last they reached a pass when he could no longer hide his eyes from the crimes of his sons. The people complained of their violent deeds, and he was grieved and perplexed. The indulgent father had never decidedly commanded their obedience, and as they grew up, they cast off all restraint. They had been brought up to think of no one but themselves, and now they cared for no one else. They saw the grief of their father, but their hard hearts were not touched. They heard his mild admonitions, but they were not impressed, nor would they change their evil course though warned of the consequences of their sin. ST April 6, 1888, par. 8
The child Samuel had been brought to Eli by the godly Hannah. He was to be devoted to the services of the sanctuary, and the responsibility of his education must now rest upon the aged priest. The sons of Eli, who should have been the instructors of the pious child, were wholly unfit for such a privilege. He had to be separated from their company, lest their evil influence should pollute his mind. But although Eli feared for their influence over Samuel, yet as a judge of Israel, he still sustained his wicked sons in the most sacred positions of trust. He permitted them to mingle their corruption with the holy service of God, and to inflict injury on the cause of truth, that years could not efface. Eli's sons were called the sons of Belial, for they knew not God. They were wholly devoted to the service of Satan; and yet because they were his sons, Eli did not deal with them as transgressors, but permitted them to dishonor God, and injure his people. But when the judge of Israel neglected his work, God took the matter in hand. ST April 6, 1888, par. 9
"And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house? and did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel? Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honorest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people? Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me forever; but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed... And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind; and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed forever." ST April 6, 1888, par. 10
God held Eli responsible for the actions of his sons, and charged him with honoring his sons above the Lord. Eli had permitted the offering appointed of God, as a blessing to Israel, to be made a thing of abhorrence, rather than bring his sons to shame for their impious and abominable practices. Those who follow their own inclination in blind affection for their children, indulging them in the gratifications of their selfish desires, and do not bring to bear the authority of God to rebuke sin and correct evil, which is corrupting other souls, make it manifest that they are honoring their wicked children more than they honor God. They are more anxious to shield their reputation than to glorify God; more desirous to please their children than to please God and to keep his service from every appearance of evil. ST April 6, 1888, par. 11
The promise had been made that the house of Aaron should walk before God forever; but these promises had been made on condition that they devoted themselves to the work of the sanctuary with singleness of heart, and honored God in all their ways, not serving self, or following their own perverse inclinations. Eli and his sons had been tested, and the Lord found them wholly unworthy of the exalted position of priests in his service. And God declared, "Be it far from me." He could not carry out the good that he had meant to do them, because they failed to do their part. Long had God borne with the perverse ways of the house of Eli. He had given them space to repent, but they repented not, and the delayed sentence was finally executed. They were made contemptible before the people they had oppressed, and in one day, Eli and his sons died before the Lord; and the priesthood was taken from the family of Eli. ST April 6, 1888, par. 12
The only way to be truly great is to be truly good. Those who are worthy will be trusted with important work, and will be placed in important positions. "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much; and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much." Had Eli been a wise and faithful father, he would have been a wise and faithful judge and priest. If he had restrained his sons at home, he would have restrained their evil practices in the sanctuary; and Israel would not have been corrupted by their abominations. If the sons of Eli had been dutiful sons they would have honored God and his service, and lived before him; but they dishonored their father, and brought contempt upon the service of God, and they suffered the reward of their evil; for God had said, "Them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." ST April 6, 1888, par. 13


I get a chance to play three sports altogether at once.
Slow and steady wins the race. So keep working without a second thought in your mind.
To complete in junior Asian championship. Bike course was a big challenge.
My first victory in Jaipur international Triathlon which made me believe that I can play this sport.
Not something particular but I try to keep a balanced diet, mainly protein carbs and proper hydration.