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White paper: The Helix Pathogenicity Prediction Platform
This is an HTML reproduction of the white paper hosted on ArXiv.
Millions of human genomes and exomes have been sequenced, but their clinical application remains limited due to the difficulty of distinguishing rare disease-causing variants from benign genetic variation. Without clear lines of evidence that show that a missense variant is either benign or neutral, variants are deemed 'variants of uncertain significance', or VUS. The large number and rarity of these VUSes presents a formidable obstacle, as the interpretation of these variants is a difficult and time-consuming task, thereby severely limiting the actionability of diagnostic sequencing. Furthermore, the large amount of VUSes hinder the effective implementation of applications that require large amounts of genotype-phenotype associations such as disease association studies and patient stratification in drug development programs.
To deal with this ever-growing problem, a large number of computational tools have been developed that aim to predict the pathogenicity of novel variants. These tools are typically based on limited data describing evolutionary conservation and constraints, sometimes combined with the physicochemical characteristics of the amino acids and information about the structural domains in which these residues reside. The emergence of many 'meta-predictors' (or 'ensemble predictors'; predictors that take predictions of other predictors as inputs) has led to an increase in overall predictive performance. However, despite obvious progress, these tools leave room for improvement, especially in a clinical context.
At the core of missense variant prediction lies the problem of understanding the role of proteins and their constituent amino acids. A good understanding of this relation between sequence, structure and function is the ultimate goal that enables insight in the impact of missense variants.
Recently, advances have been made in closing this sequence-function gap by artificial intelligence (AI) methods, where contextual language models have been developed that can provide information about how proteins are formed, shaped and function based on protein sequences alone (Elnagger, 2020). Trained on billions of protein sequences, these models contain a wealth of information and can be applied to a wide range of predictive tasks with just one protein sequence as input. However, the predictive power of models solely based on these protein representations on explicit protein prediction tasks still fall short of predictive methods that include evolutionary information in the form of multiple sequence alignments (MSAs) or information derived thereof.
This evolutionary information (e.g., amino acid conservation patterns) can be used because functional and structural requirements lead to specific selective pressures on proteins. In turn, identifying these evolutionary constraints provides data and insights that can be used for missense variant effect prediction and interpretation.
The ability to detect and interpret these evolutionary signals is dependent on the quality of the data that is used. The application of deep and high-quality multiple sequence alignments integrated with protein structure data is commonplace in a number of fields that require detailed understanding of the role of individual amino acids. Protein optimization pipelines and drug development programs often critically depend on the availability of deep annotations and integration of protein sequence and structure data. Such high-quality protein annotation data has not been available at scale, and the lack of such data at large scale has hampered its application for missense effect prediction.
We present Helix, a missense variant effect predictor built on a resource of deep integrated protein data, in which over 30,000 protein family structure-based MSAs, over 50,000 protein structures and $\sim$60,000 human targeted sequence-based MSAs are combined to provide deep annotations for all human proteins at the level of individual amino acids. Helix incorporates this data in combination with Contextual Language Model representations that contain implicit information about how proteins are formed, shaped and function.
The features used by Helix describe proteins and their constraints at multiple levels. This includes extensive MSA-derived metrics describing selective pressures that act on proteins as a whole, on networks of residues required for specific functions and on individual positions. This information is integrated with features describing structural aspects, e.g. secondary structure, flexibility and solvent-accessible surfaces, both at the level of individual protein structures, as well as in the form of aggregated data across protein domains and families. Additionally, Helix uses descriptors of gene mutation tolerance, gene occurrence throughout the evolutionary tree as well as data describing protein-protein interactions. Best in class classification systems trained on this data are combined with state of the art AI methodologies to produce a predictor that offers the best of both worlds.
Helix was trained on a large set of well-annotated variants, using a strict training regime where circularity is actively avoided. We benchmark the performance of Helix using 10-fold cross validation datasets and two previously published, clinically relevant datasets. We show that Helix consistently outperforms existing predictors.
Predictions, however, are just that. For the effective use of these predictions more context is often required. To this end, Helix provides high-quality predictions together with detailed variant reports that contain references to relevant scientific literature, information about evolutionary constraints, underlying data quality assessment and interactive protein structures.
Helix is built on top of the proprietary 3DM platform. 3DM is a protein data and analytics platform that collects, combines and integrates protein data for protein (super-)families. Examples of data included for every protein family are protein sequences and structures, SNP data from whole genome sequencing studies, scientific literature and patents, and data derived thereof. Built around uniquely deep and high quality structure based multiple sequence alignments, the 3DM platform offers data and tooling that enable researchers to efficiently investigate the relation between protein sequence, structure and function. Details about the methodology behind 3DM can be found in Kuipers et al.(Kuipers, 2010).
Currently there are over 30.000 3DM protein family systems available. These are built using templates selected from a) the SCOP classifications of protein structures, and b) by clustering the structures in the PDB. Overall, these cover the complete structural space, and serve as an extremely rich data source with which to annotate all human protein sequences. In short, this resource contains high-quality MSA data integrated with protein structure data, scientific literature, SNP data, etc for all parts of sequence space that can be mapped to an existing protein structure. In terms of human proteins, this resource can be used to annotate any part of a human protein that can be aligned with a (not necessarily human) protein structure.
Annotating the human proteome
To enable predictions for the complete human proteome, it is necessary that every individual amino acid is annotated. Since there are many (parts of) proteins for which no structure information is available and therefore cannot be annotated with the data present in the 3DM platform, full-length sequence based alignments are a necessity to ensure full sequence coverage. Therefore, Helix bases predictions not just on a single alignment - where possible multiple alignments with different depths are used to provide optimal predictive power. All positions in the human exome are covered by full length, sequence-based multiple sequence alignments (MSAs). In addition, (PFAM) domains are extracted and covered by deeper, more specific alignments. In areas for which a mapping to a protein structure can be made, the deep structure-based alignments (and associated data) from the 3DM platform are used. In typical sequence based MSAs there is a very distinct tradeoff between coverage, alignment depth and alignment quality. In contrast, by using multiple MSAs the requirement for full sequence coverage is fulfilled, while maximising alignment quality and depth at the same time.
The features used in our tabular data models are hand curated and include a large number of descriptors of evolutionary pressure that are extracted from multiple sequence alignments. These include several indicators of evolutionary pressure, acting on proteins as a whole, on networks of residues required for specific functions and on individual positions. Metrics include measures of conservation and change, entropy metrics, correlated behaviour and where available, extensive structural data (e.g. solvent exposure, electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonding) that describe the structural aspects of individual amino acids. The feature set is expanded with a set of indicators of vulnerability on the gene level. Minor allele frequency is explicitly not used as a feature, as this would introduce a large amount of circularity and predictive performance on rare variants would be very limited as a result. Predictions from other classifiers are not used as a feature, meaning that Helix is built from the ground up without suffering from restrictions on the training data.
Datasets and data preprocessing
The reference variant dataset used in this whitepaper was composed of variants from ClinVar (Landrum, 2018) and gnomAD and a dataset maintained by the Dutch genome diagnostic laboratories (VKGL). ClinVar variants were included if the Clinvar review status was one star or higher, excluding variants with conflicting interpretations. ClinVar variants with "Benign" and "Likely benign" interpretations were included and labeled as benign variants, whereas those variants with "Pathogenic" and "Likely pathogenic" interpretations were included and labeled as pathogenic variants. gnomAD variants were selected and labeled benign if the minor allele frequency exceeded 0.1%.
10-fold cross validation was used to train and analyze model performance. In this process, the training data is divided into 10 partitions, where repeatedly 9 partitions are used for training and one for validation. The details of how this partitioning of the data takes place has important consequences for model performance and generalizability to real-world applications.
Most practical implementations of the 10-fold cross validation technique use a random split, where the selection of variants that end up in the training or validation set for each fold is performed completely random, irrespective of gene or residue positions. As we have shown in previous research(Heijl & Vroling, 2020) this leads to issues with circularity and artificially increases validation scores. In order to mitigate inflated scores, we use a gene split strategy, where variants present in training and validation sets are separated by gene; i.e. all variants for any given gene are either present in the training set or in the validation set. Variants present in the test sets (BRCA1(Findlay, 2020), Clinical (Gunning, 2020)) were excluded from the training/validation data and exclusively used for testing.
Ensemble prediction
Using a variety of models to predict pathogenicity and combining their predictions into an ensemble allows for better predictive performance than using a single classifier(Opitz, 1999). This process is used to combine all our models, while restricting the training and test set combination to prohibit any contamination between datasets.
Models used in the ensemble prediction include state of the art Gradient Boosting classifiers, custom neural networks that perform well on tabular data and proprietary contextual language models. The latter are trained on a multitude of subtasks to infuse the model with external data related to the pathogenicity prediction problem.
The primary metric that was used for performance assessment is Matthew's Correlation Coefficient. MCC is robust in the face of imbalanced datasets and will report low scores for naive results. Comparisons are made with a number of commonly used baseline, as well as newer predictors. The former includes SIFT (SIFT, 2019), CADD (Rentschz, 2019) and PolyPhen2 (Adzhubei 2010), while the latter consists of REVEL (Ioannidis, 2016) and VEST4 (Carter, 2013).
Figure 2 shows the Helix performance on the validation set. Helix predictions were obtained by using 10-fold cross validation. Prediction scores were obtained by testing on unseen genes, a more stringent way of testing compared to the evaluation of the other tools listed. To minimize training bias effects and ensure an as fair as possible comparison, variants were excluded from this analysis if present in the HGMD (Stenson, 2009) dataset or the PolyPhen HumDiv andHumVar training sets.
Two datasets that more accurately reflect variants that might require classification in a clinical setting were selected to independently assess and compare Helix predictions (Figure 3 and Figure 4). Variants present in these sets were excluded from the Helix training data. Overall, these datasets are composed of variants that are clinically relevant, have been reviewed recently, and where there is very limited overlap with training datasets of existing predictive tools.
The Clinical dataset (n=1729) contains variants from the Deciphering Developmental Disorders (DDD) study together with manually classified clinical variants and variants identified in Amish individuals. Figure shows
The BRCA1 dataset (n=1605) contains experimentally assayed BRCA1 variants using saturation genome editing.
Helix predictions can be accessed through the web application, where reports for every single variant in the human exome can be found. Reports annotate variants with structural information, literature and prediction data, with the ultimate goal of providing domain experts the data and information they need to make the best decisions.
Variant information
WIthin the reports information is presented about the individual variant. Known associated phenotypes for the gene are described, together with relevant information about the affected gene and links to external sources (e.g. ClinVar, gnomAD, UCSC, Ensembl). Furthermore, information about the conservation for the wildtype and variant type residue is presented, together with structural information (Figure 5 A, B). Literature associated with the variant is listed. Importantly, this is not limited to papers describing the exact variant but extends to variants described in homologous proteins (Figure 5, C).
The variant report provides details on various aspects of the predictions (Figure 5, D). Agreement between the different sub-predictors in the ensemble is shown, where a high agreement generally indicates more certainty in the prediction.
A diverse set of metrics is used to present an intuitive score indicating the quality of the data underlying the prediction. This score is an indication of the amount of confidence one should place on a given prediction. No matter how good the predictive model is, if the data that is provided to the model is of limited quality (i.e. small MSAs, no protein structures available), one should be careful in placing too much confidence in these predictions.
In addition, the report offers a visual indication of the factors that are estimated to contribute most to the individual predictions. Features are grouped into a few categories to simplify interpretation.
Helix is built on a unique resource of integrated protein data, and represents a state-of-the-art predictive tool that outperforms currently available predictors by a large margin. However, Helix is by no means 'finished'; many challenges remain open for the problem of predicting the effects of missense variants. In fact, despite offering impressive predictive performance, Helix is just getting started. Novel challenges lie in problem domains such as accurate modeling of protein-protein interactions and the integration of pathway information to be able to assess downstream effects of variants within the context of larger systems.
Helix offers an interactive platform that allows researchers to investigate both the variants as the predictions in great detail. The variant reports, in which variants and their associated predictions are presented in a coherent fashion to add context and interpretability, offer an important first step to help researchers make sense of all that data.
In the future, Helix will continue to integrate novel technologies and performance increasing features. Helix is supported by a longstanding bioinformatics company that is dedicated to its further development. As the AI field continues to provide new solutions that touch the variant effect prediction space, we envision including these technologies with even better performance and interpretability as a result.
The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 634935 (BRIDGES), No 635595 (CarbaZymes) and No 685778 (VirusX).


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Q: Is DbContext an expensive operation? In C# MVC EF framework, I saw lots of examples that simply creates a new DbContext whenever a insert or query is needed, and then close/release it (many use the "using" for auto close/release).
Did some search on this but couldn't find a good answer, but is creating a DbContext a very cheap and fast operation?
For example, thinking about a typical MVC application, on the page it has many "components", such as headers, sider bars, main content, etc., and in a non-trivial setup, each component will have its own individual logic and code -- do I suppose to create a new DbContext in each of these components? (if yes, will the system auto cache the query result? -- for example, an common use case is that, in each of these component, it needs to query the database for current site wide settings, which is the same row in a table).

A: As noted in "Performance Considerations for Entity Framework 4, 5 and 6" section 9.3 (emphasis mine):

Entity Framework's contexts are meant to be used as short-lived instances in order to provide the most optimal performance experience. Contexts are expected to be short lived and discarded, and as such have been implemented to be very lightweight and reutilize metadata whenever possible. In web scenarios it's important to keep this in mind and not have a context for more than the duration of a single request. Similarly, in non-web scenarios, context should be discarded based on your understanding of the different levels of caching in the Entity Framework. Generally speaking, one should avoid having a context instance throughout the life of the application, as well as contexts per thread and static contexts.

A: You could use injection, like through Unity, which would allow a single instance of the DbContext to be created when the request comes in and inject that where it's needed. With Unity I believe you can specify whether a single instance is created per request or whether a new one gets created every time.
It's not massively slow to create the DbContext wherever you need it, but this comes with a little common sense, so reuse one you already have if you can and if you're concentrating on performance in relation to database queries then there will always be an overhead to using any ORM. It's a convenience trade off.
I'd also suggest using something like Glimpse which allows you to see all the queries and connections  that were used rendering the page, including ajax queries and gives you a great overview of what's going on. Can be a bit scary sometimes!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Home Mobile How Mobile Technology Is Impacting Health Care Delivery In The U.S. !
In 2014, 9 out of 10 doctors will use a smartphone, with nearly the same percentage having access to tablets, Epocrates reports in their 2013 Mobile Trends Reports. With so many medical professionals using smartphones in their personal life, a large percentage have come to expect or prefer it professionally. This has led to some exciting new shifts around health care delivery. The rollout of the Affordable Care Act may showcase some existing new shifts. In the meantime, these three methods show some of the ways that the healthcare community has already been accommodating of mobile technology, while still respecting privacy mandates under HIPAA.
While HIPAA privacy concerns have kept doctor-emailing and texting from going mainstream, several apps allow you to check in with a doctor via text message. These include First Opinion, an iTunes and Google Play app that's free to download and $9 per month to use. First Opinion matches you with a medical provider, so you don't have to get bounced around a telephone line waiting for someone who can explicitly address your concern. Text back and forth with the doctor. Because you are going by first name only, there's no way for the doctor to access confidential medical information, so your private information stays private and HIPAA is upheld. First Opinion can be a great way to get a bit of information as to whether you should seek further medical attention for something or whether you can treat a condition like a sore muscle, without going to the doctor.
Other apps, like Mobile Doctor (available at the Google Play store), allow doctors to safely and securely interact with their existing patients via text message. The app integrates with Need Street's Virtual Practice, and allows providers who subscribe to Virtual Practice to schedule patent appointments, check in with patients, access patient health records, and reply to patient text or email queries through a secure mobile interface.
If you prefer a face-to-face consult with a doctor, MeMD's virtual doctor's appointment via webcam connects you to a healthcare provider who is licensed to practice medicine in your state. You can speak with a nurse or a doctor about your concerns. These individuals can call in a prescription for you, which you can pick up at a local pharmacy. This works very well when you have a minor medical concern and cannot get an appointment at your local doctor's office. Patients use MeMD (available at MeMD.com) for allergies, bronchitis, cough and colds, bee stings, dehydration, diarrhea, headaches, hives, nausea, pinkeye, skin irritations, and other conditions. Note that MeMD may refer you to a local facility should you need to undergo further medical testing.
You have a new rash on your arm, and want to know if you should be concerned. New app AppwoRx (MyAppWorx.com) lets you snap an image of your rash and send it to your doctor for over-the-smartphone analysis. The app can also be invaluable for before and after surgery photos that allow both the patient and doctor to monitor the recovery process and catch any side effects early on. The app was developed by a doctor, costs doctors $70 per month to use, and is free for patients.


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Power Ranch is the masterplanned community that has set the standard in the southeast valley of metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona. It offers a welcome oasis of comfort with an abundance of large scale amenities. Power Ranch is designed to celebrate diversity and foster the active Arizona family lifestyle with a wide variety of homeowner activities. Although Power Ranch is a growing community, it retains the small town feeling that is the hallmark of the best places to live. Just like the generation of the Power family that settled the area over 100 years ago, It is the perfect place to raise your family for decades to come. When you see it, you will know – your new home at Power Ranch includes so much more than just a house.
Regardless of your age or income or lifestyle – you will find a home by Power Builders to suit your needs.
Power Ranch is a multi-award winning community. It was selected as the Best Masterplanned Community 2003, 2004 and 2005 by Ranking Arizona and ranked in the top five communities since 2003. It was recognized as one of the five Best Master Planned Communities the Nation by the National Association of Home Builders in 2002. And savvy home buyers have earned Power Ranch the distinction of being one of the Top-Selling U.S. Master Planned Communities since 2001 by Robert Charles Lesser & Company.
Click here to view the Power Ranch community website.
For additional information on any home in the Power Ranch community, scroll down and submit a request for more information. Be sure to include any MLS numbers or addresses of the properties in question. I look forward to speaking with you!
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For more information regarding the sale of your Power Ranch home, please call me at 602-793-7755. I look forward to hearing from you!


If you live in Flagstaff, Holbrook, the Navajo Tribal Reservation, Tusayan, Verde Valley or Williams, you may find yourself in a situation where you need Bulk water Delivery Services. Right Water Hauling, a family run company that is fully licensed and insured, has the solution for you.
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text:
T-34M (A-43)
Medium Tank Project
The T-34M was an early-war attempt by Soviet engineers to shore up the limitations of the classic T-34 Medium Tank - the German invasion derailed all hope for it.
Manufacturer(s): Lokomotiv Works, Plant No.183 (Kharkov) - Soviet Union
Capabilities: Infantry Support; Tank vs Tank; Frontline;
Width: 9.02 ft (2.75 m)
Height: 7.55 ft (2.3 m)
Power: 1 x W-2-K 12-cylinder diesel-fueled engine developing 600 horsepower to track-and-wheel arrangement.
The Soviet T-34 Medium Tank of World War 2 (1939-1945) fame became a classic combat vehicle of the period for its wartime showing and its sheer availability in numbers. Its value was such that it continued to see service well into the Cold War period (1947-1991) and influenced a slew of tank designs emerging then. Despite this, the original version held inherent shortcomings to the point that the T-34M initiative was being drawn up even as the T-34 was in full-fledged service. However, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June of 1941 (through Operation Barbarossa) ended all hopes for this improved T-34 offshoot as production of the base T-34 proved the greater need - just five incomplete T-34M hulls were realized by the time of the project's close.
The T-34M was being developed by Soviet engineers at Lokomotiv Works , Factory No.183 at Kharkov as soon as 1941, this while Europe was already at war, and the modernized version was known internally under the project designation of "A-43". Chief changes in the M-model included a torsion bar/arm suspension system (instead of the original's Christie) for increased off-road mobility/performance, increased internal fuel stores for improved operational ranges, increased ammo storage, improved armor protection, and an all-new, roomier, three-man hexagonal-shaped turret enclosure complete with commander's cupola atop it. The running gear was revised to include a sixth road wheel to each hull side as well as a total of four track-return rollers to better manage the track-link sections. In addition to all this, a W-2-K 12-cylinder diesel-fueled powerpack of 600 horsepower output promised better efficiency and (as was hoped) reliability.
Road speeds were estimated at 60 kmh and the vehicle's combat weight reached 32 tonnes. Dimensions included a length of 5.9 meters, a width of 2.75 meters, and a height of 2.3 meters.
The tank increased the operating crew from four to five with the driver and radioman/ bow machine-gunner located in the front of the hull and the driver, gunner, and loader in the three-man turret over midships. Primary armament was to be the tank-killing 76.2mm F-34 in the turret's frontal face backed by the usual collection of supporting 7.62mm DT machine guns to combat infantry. The effective 57mm ZiS-4 anti-tank gun was also in consideration for the primary armament.
As soon as May of 1941, the T-34M was ordered into serial production so as to have combat-ready units available before the end of the year and immediately succeed the original in-service T-34 models. However, the German invasion derailed these plans and nothing more cam of the M-model project for the T-34 demand proved too great to unseat its own production.
1 x 76.2mm F-34 main gun OR 1 x 57mm ZiS-4 anti-tank gun in turret.
1 x 7.62mm DT machine gun in bow-mounting in hull.
• T-34M - Base Series Designation; five incomplete hulls realized.
• A-43 - Internal project designation.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


In this election year, the dysfunctional immigration system in the United States is back in the spotlight. While presidential candidates debate how to solve its problems, and state and local governments pass reactionary legislation, it is estimated that more than 1 million undocumented-immigrant children attend our schools every day. Yet we are failing these vulnerable children. Their achievement levels and school success are among the lowest of any demographic group, and their high school dropout rate among the highest. Regardless of the political wrangling on this issue, or anyone's personal politics, it's time that we acknowledge these young people, their needs, and their potential.
Most undocumented students are also English-language learners, and often come from families in extreme poverty. Though the education community doesn't yet have all the answers to these difficult issues, we are at the very least comfortable discussing them. But students who are undocumented immigrants face unique challenges which often go unnoticed, and unaddressed. It's almost as if we are afraid to bring it up at school, and in the classroom.
I've worked closely with undocumented students for more than 15 years in public school. I've shared their joys at academic success and college acceptance and their heartbreak at the deportations of family members. Such students have shared their undocumented reality with me, and what they've taught me can help all of us become better teachers and more compassionate human beings. With my help, some of my past and current students have written the following open letter to the education community explaining what they need for us to know about them, with the hope that it will help other students like them.
We are not responsible for our immigration status. Our parents brought us to the United States when we were small children. Many of us have grown up here, and we feel like we belong in America more than we belong in the countries we came from. We know that many Americans don't want us, so we feel like we don't really belong anywhere. We had no control over the decision our parents made to bring us to the United States without legal permission, so please don't hold our legal status against us.
We understand that going to school in the United States is a priceless opportunity, and we know that our families have sacrificed a lot for us to be here. But it can be difficult to focus on school. Sometimes we have family pressures that other kids don't have, like working to send money to family members in our home countries, or to make up for the income someone who was deported was earning. Because our families can't get the same kinds of government aid other poor families can get, life can get really difficult sometimes.
It's hard to live every day with the uncertainty and fear of being undocumented, too. Every day we're afraid that our parents won't come home and we'll have to take care of the rest of the family. Or that someone at school will find out our secret and that we might get in trouble with the authorities. We're not adults yet, but because of these constant worries and responsibilities, sometimes we are expected to act like we are. But we're mostly just like other kids. We're going to do things that don't make sense, and we'll make mistakes, so please just have patience with us.
At school, you tell us that education is the way to a successful life, and we want to believe you, but in our case it's not that simple. We know that most undocumented students don't make it out of high school. Even if we do graduate, our job prospects are limited because of our immigration status. It's difficult, sometimes, to stay motivated to finish school when we know it doesn't mean a better job, or a better life.
We dream of going to college and becoming engineers, teachers, and business owners. But these seem like impossible dreams. No one in our families has attended college in the United States before, and the whole process is really intimidating and complicated. Without government financial aid, college is practically out of reach anyway, and private scholarships are difficult to find. Even a college degree still doesn't change our employment options. Until the laws change in the United States, our only opportunity now to use the education we get is to go back to our home countries and try to get jobs there. That's a really long road to travel, and sometimes it just seems too far.
Most kids we know who are not undocumented look forward to the future. They have dreams about what they will do when they finish high school. They'll go to college, or join the military, or get a job. Maybe they'll travel the world, or start their own companies. They think about buying cars, renting apartments, and enjoying life. But it's different for us. The future is frightening for a student without legal papers. School provides some shelter from our reality, and we know that most of our teachers and counselors have done their best for us. But life gets a lot more challenging, and threatening, once we turn 18 and are out of school. Our family and financial pressures can get a lot more demanding, and the threat of detention and even deportation becomes very real.
But don't feel sorry for us. That's the last thing we need. We have enough things in our lives working against us. Expect us to succeed in school, and give us the support we need to meet your expectations. Understand when life is chaotic for us, but don't let us use that as an excuse to fail. Talk to us about college and careers the same way you would with your other students. Encourage our dreams and goals, please. Someday the politicians will figure out what to do with us, and we need to be ready.
Mary Jewell is a teacher at Mira Mesa High School in San Diego. She has worked with English-learners and undocumented immigrants in a variety of settings for more than 15 years. She wrote "Undocumented—With College Dreams," which appeared in Educational Leadership in April 2009. She can be reached at [email protected].
"Study: Children of Unauthorized Immigrants Face Education, Social Problems," Inside School Research Blog) September 21, 2011.
"College Help for Immigrants Passes," April 27, 2011.


text:
Het Demotisch was een schriftsysteem in het oude Egypte.

De Grieken verwezen er naar met  / dēmotiká, van demotikos of volks, en de Egyptenaren met 'het schrijven van documenten' (sš n šˁ.t): het Demotisch. Het kwam omstreeks 600 v.Chr. op als vervanger van het hiëratisch schrift. Het is afgeleid van zowel het hiëratisch als van het hiërogliefenschrift, maar dat wordt verhuld door de vloeiende vorm van dit schrift. Eerst werd het vooral voor juridische en bestuurlijke documenten gebruikt, maar later ook voor literaire en religieuze teksten.

Demotisch kan worden verdeeld in Vroeg-Demotisch, Midden-Demotisch of Ptolemaeïsch Demotisch, en Laat-Demotisch of Romeins-Demotisch. Het is een late variant van het Laat-Egyptisch en kan het beste worden vergeleken met Koptisch. Naarmate de tijd vorderde, kwam er een almaar grotere breuk tussen de literaire en religieuze schrijftaal en de spreektaal.

Het Demotische schrift was het tweede schrift dat op de Steen van Rosetta staat en werd al ontcijferd voordat de hiërogliefen waren ontcijferd. Antoine-Isaac Silvestre de Sacy leverde een grote bijdrage aan die ontcijfering.

Vroeg-Demotisch
Vroeg-Demotisch is ontstaan in Neder-Egypte, aan het eind van de 25e dynastie en wordt gevonden op stelae in Saqqara en Serapeum. Het schrift wordt gedateerd tussen 650 en 400 v.Chr, maar de meeste teksten komen uit de 26e en 27e dynastie. Demotisch werd gebruikt voor belangrijke administratieve en commerciële teksten, terwijl het hiërogliefenschrift voor de andere teksten voorbehouden bleef.

Midden-Demotisch
Midden-Demotisch of Ptolemaeïsch Demotisch is het Demotisch tussen 400 en 30 v.Chr. Rond 250 v.Chr. werd Grieks de officiële taal in Egypte.

Laat-Demotisch
Het Demotisch werd aan het begin van de Romeinse heerschappij haast niet in het publieke leven gebruikt en meer en meer door Koptisch vervangen. Toch zijn er een aantal teksten van tussen 30 v.Chr. en 452 n.Chr. Het Demotisch verloor veel aan waarde, en de laatste inscriptie is van 11 december 452, op de muur van de tempel van Isis, in Philae.

Oud-Egyptisch schrift

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Travis Scott Did Not Encourage Kid Who Injured His Leg to Jump at New York City Concert
Justin Ivey
A source close to Travis Scott says the rapper did not encourage a fan to jump off the balcony at his April 30 show in New York. A fan at Sunday's concert jumped from the third story balcony, injuring himself in a move that possibly left him with a broken leg and fractured back.
The "Goosebumps" artist told fans to form a net for other fans to jump off the second story balcony, but Scott never said it was safe to jump from the next floor. Scott's team is in touch with the fan and investigating the incident, according to TMZ.
"The safety of everyone is held in the highest regard and we are currently conducting an internal investigation to ensure that this does not happen again," a spokesperson for Scott tells XXL. "We are deeply concerned about the guest who was injured and intend to offer him our support."
The fan's injury might force Scott to tone down his antics on Kendrick Lamar's DAMN. tour, which is scheduled to begin this summer. Scott will join K. Dot and D.R.A.M. on the road in July for the 17-city tour. Check out all of the dates below.
July 12 – Phoenix, Ariz.
July 14 – Dallas, Texas
July 15 – Houston, Texas
July 17 – Atlanta, Ga.
July 19 – Philadelphia, Pa.
July 20 – Brooklyn, N.Y.
July 21 – Washington, D.C.
July 22 – Boston, Mass.
July 25 – Toronto, Ont.
July 26 – Detroit, Mich.
July 2 – Chicago, Ill.
July 29 – Denver, Colo.
Aug. 1 – Seattle, Wash.
Aug. 2 – Vancouver, B.C.
Aug. 4 – Oakland, Calif.
Aug. 5 – Las Vegas, Nev.
Aug. 6 – Los Angeles, Calif.
See Photos of Travis Scott's Different Looks Over the Years
Filed Under: Travi$ Scott


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Home Blog Drama, Espionage, Romance and a SciFi TV show?!
Drama, Espionage, Romance and a SciFi TV show?!
Cue the James Bond music and call the Geek Squad! If you like your espionage with thrills, romance and a touch of humor look no further! Lucy Monroe, internationally best selling author, brings us sensuality and sass with her new high-tech action romance called "Deal With This".
It's lights, camera, action as this novel brings the reader inside the Vancouver film industry. It's a fun look at the industry itself while taking you through a rollercoaster ride of spy action and hot romance. The book is lighthearted but intensely researched for believability. There's no doubt that the romance and sass will satisfy as much as the action and technology.
Michelle Buonfiglio of Lifetime TV's Romance: B(u)y the Book says Monroe "excels at creating alpha bad boys and authentic erotic romance." The love scenes sizzle and the characters are the highlight of every scene. Her "alpha bad boy" Alan goes undercover to find out who is trying to auction off international secrets and finds himself on the set of scifi TV show with the star of the show, Jillian, set to help him whether he likes it or not!
Monroe is especially pleased with this novel because of the character development of both the hero and heroine. The hero isn't a typical "alpha male", but he has layers of complexity to him that allows him to appreciate the heroine's independence and accept himself without having to be in charge all the time. The heroine is strong, sassy, fun and loveable. She isn't going to faint at the sight of a gun and she doesn't mind talking about sex, needs and what she really wants.
Throw in a scifi TV show, producers, spies, anti-gravity planes, costumes and great love scenes and you've got a formula for a best selling novel! Deal With This comes out November 27th!
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Press officer, 24, with severe allergies reveals she was once rushed to hospital after kissing boy who'd eaten nuts
Alexandra Thompson
Hannah Sherrard (pictured recently) insists she has a 'full life ahead of her' despite her numerous allergies. (Supplied: Hannah Sherrard)
A woman has described her severe food allergies as "almost a silent disability", but she "refuses to live in a bubble".
Hannah Sherrard, 24, from London, had her first "full blown anaphylactic shock" at just 10 months old.
The University of Birmingham graduate is allergic to "literally all nuts", as well as dairy, soya, chickpeas, lentils and spices, to name just a few foods that are off limits.
Sherrard almost died aged 11 after eating a fish cake rolled in peanuts, thinking the crust was breadcrumbs.
Five years later, she was rushed to hospital from summer camp when she kissed a boy who had eaten a cake containing nuts.
Read more: Faecal transplant in C-section babies could ward off asthma
Sherrard is speaking out to raise awareness of the seriousness of food allergies, which affect around 2 million people in the UK alone.
The press officer stressed, however, she is "not made of glass" and has "a full life ahead of her".
Sherrard fulfilled a lifelong dream of skydiving in mid-2019, raising £5,000 ($6,674) for the charity Anaphylaxis Campaign. (Supplied: Hannah Sherrard)
Sherrard has been hospitalised "many times" with her allergies, starting as a baby.
"From the minute I was born, I'd react to everything," she told Yahoo UK.
"If my mum ate something and breastfed me, I'd react."
Read more: Calls to allergy helpline surge as people struggle with face coverings
One of three children, Sherrard is the only member of her family to be "as unfortunate as she is", with no one entirely sure why her allergies are so severe.
"My dad just has an allergy to peas and has asthma," she said.
'Felt really funky' after kiss
Sherrard's most serious reaction occurred when she was 11 and family friends brought shop-bought fish cakes around for dinner.
"I had a couple of bites and immediately got this horrific taste in my mouth," she said.
"I can't really describe it – a bit metallic, a bit sour, a bit spicy.
"I told my mum, 'I think the fish is off'.
"A couple of minutes later I threw up and collapsed on the floor."
Sherrard was rushed to hospital, where she stayed for several days.
"Because I've got asthma, when my throat swells up it's always more serious," she said.
At one point doctors thought they would have to carry out a tracheotomy – when an opening is created at the front of the neck, allowing a tube to be inserted into the windpipe that aids breathing.
Read more: Cow milk allergy may stop children reaching growth potential
"Eventually they got me onto the right path [without the procedure]," said Sherrard.
Having survived the ordeal, a romantic encounter landed Sherrard back in hospital when she was 16.
"I was at summer camp," she said. "Someone had eaten a cake or something and I kissed him.
"It was a delayed reaction; an hour later I was in the shower and felt really funky.
"I got out the shower, and my lips and mouth were swollen. I had to be rushed to hospital."
Sherrard has been in a relationship with her brother's friend since the start of the UK's first lockdown, when the pair connected over FaceTime.
"Dating I have to lay out my allergies very early on," she said.
"My boyfriend thinks in a way that what I'm allergic to, he is also allergic to."
Sherrard is "very in control of her allergies", but despite her best intentions, accidents do occasionally occur.
Less than a week ago, the press officer endured a minor allergic reaction after eating a Middle Eastern takeaway.
"I always tell them I'm allergic to hummus, but I guess there was some cross reaction," she said.
"The corner of my lip swelled up. It went down with antihistamines."
Sherrard has to be "very selective" when eating out and has even been refused service as a result of her allergies.
"I went for dinner last year on my birthday to a pasta restaurant," she said.
"I said 'I'm allergic to nuts' and they said 'we have a policy that we don't need to serve anyone with allergies so please leave'."
The keen traveller has also accepted there are some parts of the world she will unlikely ever see.
"Thailand is just not safe because of the peanuts everywhere, but there's still hundreds of places I can visit," she said.
"I don't feel like I'm being held back from something."
Despite her optimism, flying itself has proven to be a risk.
"I had a reaction on a flight two years ago; someone had been eating peanuts in the vicinity," said Sherrard.
"It set off panic more than anything else.
"I was on a flight to New York and you think 'where will you [emergency] land?'."
Due to Sherrard not ingesting the nuts, the reaction was minor and could be controlled with antihistamines. She maintains, however, not enough is done to protect those with nut allergies on flights.
"They banned smoking on planes because it was harmful, but it's the same principle," said Sherrard.
"Allergies are almost a silent disability; just because you can't see them doesn't mean they don't affect your day to day life."
Sherrard therefore carries two adrenaline autoinjector devices – like an EpiPen – with her at all times, which help to stop a serious allergic reaction becoming life-threatening.
Despite the seriousness of Sherrard's allergies, the press officer (pictured recently) refuses to let them hold her back. (Supplied: Hannah Sherrard)
Despite the risk she lives with every day, Sherrard is determined not to let her allergies hold her back.
"I'm not going to live my life in a bubble," she said.
"I'm not made of glass. I have a full life ahead of me."
Sherrard even fulfilled a lifelong dream of skydiving in mid-2019, raising £5,000 ($6,674) for the charity Anaphylaxis Campaign.
When asked about her message to people with allergies, Sherrard said: "Everyone needs to be transparent about them; there's no point being ashamed.
"There's such a stigma about not affecting someone else with what you've got and being a burden.
"It's taken me a long time to realise my allergies are not a burden."
Sherrard is also behind people teaching their friends and loved ones how to administer an auto-injector device.
"Nine times of 10 people want to help," she said.
Watch: Study gives hope to people with multiple food allergies


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Investigating Photochemical Products in Saturn's Mesosphere
Presentation #306.03 in the session New Chemicals, New Clouds, New Toys for Giants.
by Zarah Brown, Tommi Koskinen, Julianne Moses, and Sandrine Guerlet
By sampling latitudes from pole to pole in 2016 and 2017, Cassini stellar occultations have provided a global snapshot of temperatures and densities in Saturn's upper atmosphere as a function of latitude and depth; this view is critical to understanding the dynamics, chemistry and energy balance of this region of the atmosphere. Here, we compare the distribution of the observed hydrocarbons (C2H2, C2H4, C2H6, and C6H6) to photochemical model predictions and investigate the impact of ion chemistry and seasonal effects (including ring shadow) on the results. With the exception of C6H6 and auroral latitudes, the observations and the model are generally in good agreement and follow an expected seasonal trend with an enhanced abundance of photochemical products near the subsolar point at 30 degrees north latitude at pressures less than 10 microbar. Models with neutral chemistry only and those that also include ion chemistry both underpredict the abundances of C2H2, C2H4 and C2H6 at auroral latitudes. In the absence of auroral production, both models also underpredict the abundance of C6H6 at all latitudes, in particular near auroral latitudes and at the equator. Including ion chemistry increases the abundance of benzene, but does not eliminate the disagreement with the observations. These findings suggest that auroral production may be an important component of hydrocarbon production. We previously reported a surprising trend in the depth of the methane homopause with latitude, which is much deeper at high latitudes than would arise from Saturn's oblateness alone, possibly from downwelling at high latitudes and upwelling near subsolar latitudes. The observed methane distribution implies suppressed mixing at high latitudes, represented by a latitude-dependent Kzz coefficient in the photochemical model. We discuss the impact of a latitude-dependent homopause at deeper pressures and compare the hydrocarbon abundances retrieved from Cassini/UVIS observations with Cassini/CIRS retrievals of C2H6 and C2H2 in the middle atmosphere.


School leaders said performance tables are 'long past their sell-by date', urging the public to take into consideration the data used to compile them.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: 'Performance tables can never tell the full story of a school and we urge parents and governors not to place too much weight on them.
'The secondary school performance tables are inherently flawed in that the headline measure of Progress 8 which is used to judge the performance of schools effectively penalises schools which have a high proportion of disadvantaged children.
He added: 'Current performance tables are long past their sell-by date.
Andy Ratcliffe, CEO of education charity Impetus-PEF, said: 'Today's figures show that disadvantaged young people continue to be significantly less likely to achieve crucial GCSEs in English and maths than their better off peers.
'The gap between the two has in fact widened this year.
School standards minister Nick Gibb said: 'Making sure that all pupils, regardless of their background, are able to fulfil their potential is one of this Government's key priorities and these results show that more pupils across the country are doing just that.
Here is a list of the 346 state-funded mainstream secondary schools in England that did not meet the Government's floor standard for performance in 2018.
The list is divided into regions, and the schools appear alphabetically by local authority.
Is YOUR secondary school on the list? All you have to do is type its postcode into the box below to see if it is one of the 346 state-funded mainstream secondary schools in England that did not meet the Government's floor standard for performance in 2018.


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TeamThe group of people who take responsibility for the project.
FoundersPeople who created the project. Does not imply any current participation or responsibility.
LeadsPeople responsible for making decisions about the project: timing of releases, inclusion of features, etc.
DevelopersPeople responsible for adding new features or enhancements.
DebuggersPeople responsible for fixing bugs.
ReviewersPeople responsible for reviewing patch submissions.
SupportPeople responsible for responding to community questions and issue reports.
MaintainersPeople responsible for maintaining the project: e.g., merging patch submissions and cutting releases.
ContributorsPeople who contributed code to the project. Does not imply any current participation or responsibility.
This page describes content relating to the Fiji distribution of ImageJ. Click the logo for details.
Manual tracking with TrackMate
The previous TrackMate tutorial - Manual editing of tracks using TrackMate is dedicated to manually correcting the results of an automated process. This small tutorial here shows how to do a fully manual annotation with TrackMate.
There is not much to do. We will use the same, simple dataset that for Getting started with TrackMate. You can find it in File › Open Samples › Tracks for TrackMate (807K).
As for the TrackMate plugin, you could start it up normally, selecting Plugins › Tracking › TrackMate in the menu, and then when offered to select a detector and a tracker, always pick the manual one. That would work well, but we offered another entry point that has a simpler GUI dedicated to manual tracking. Pick the Plugins › Tracking › Manual tracking with TrackMate menu item.
You should should get the layout pictured on the right. Notice that we are already displaying the Display options panel of the classic GUI, and that the previous button is disabled at the bottom. Notice also that the color scales for both spot and track features display a dummy range.
Creating spots one by one
The default view (the one that re-uses the HyperStack viewer of ImageJ) can readily edit the tracks. You just have to make sure that the TrackMate tool is selected in the ImageJ toolbar:
With this tool selected, you can now make the image window active and use the mouse of the keyboard to create spots.
To create (or add) a spot, press A with the mouse at the desired location. By default, the new spot will have the radius of the last spot you edited.
To move a spot around, press ␣ Space with the mouse over the target spot. Then move the mouse around. No need for mouse clicks.
To delete a spot, press the D key with the mouse over the target spot.
To change a spot radius, press Q and E over the target spot. ⇧ Shift + Q and ⇧ Shift + E change the radius by a larger amount.
And that's it for spot creation.
Create and removing single links
All we have done so far was to create single spots, that are not part of any tracks. Tracks are created on the fly when you link several spots together. You can do it in TrackScheme, as explained elsewhere. Here is how to do it directly on the image. To go on, create a few spots above the bright blob of the source image. We need at least a couple of them in consecutive frames.
We need to add spots to the selection. The selection in TrackMate is a very useful tool for inspection, particularly because it is shared amongst all the possible views of a session, including e.g. TrackScheme. When you click in a spot, the selection is made of this spot, and all views are centered on the target spot.
To create a link, we need exactly two spots to be in the selection. To add or remove a spot from the selection, use ⇧ Shift + Left Click. Selected spots are highlighted with a green, thick circle. To empty the selection, click on an empty (no spot) part of the image.
Once you have two spots in the selection, you can create a link between them by simply pressing the L key. It should be immediately displayed, as on the example on the right.
As you can see, there is nothing that prevents you from creating a link over many frames, between any two spots. A spot can have several link arriving or departing from it. The only impossible things is to create a link between two spots that belong to the same frame.
Removing a link is done the same way: Select exactly two spots that are connected by a link, and press the L key. The link will be removed.
The auto-linking mode
Creating long tracks this way would be tedious, as you would always have to select a spot before creating a link. There is way to simplify this.
Press ⇧ Shift + L to toggle the auto-linking mode on/off. When the mode is on, new spots will be automatically created to the spot in the selection (if there is only one). Then the selection is set to be the newly created spot, which allows you to quickly trace tracks by moving through frames and pressing the A key over the desired location.
Let's apply this to our data. First create a spot over the bright blob at the top of the first frame, and roughly adjust its radius. Make sure the selection contains this spot, and only it (it must be highlighted in green), and press ⇧ Shift + L to toggle the auto-linking mode on. Then move the second frame and place the mouse over the new spot location. Press A; a spot is created AND it is linked to the first spot by a track normally painted in red. Repeat until you reach about the frame 15 (the track branches, at some point, you have to decide what way you want to go). You should get - rather quickly - something like the picture on the right.
Tracks created this way do not have to be linear. You can create branching segments simply by remembering that in the auto-linking mode, links are created between the last selected spot.
Therefore, to create the branch that goes on the right, go back on the frame 9 (the frame just before the branching happens) and click into the spot that's there to select it. Then move to the next frame and create the spots that belong to the right branch, just like you did before. These spots will be added to the same track, and should get a inverted Y-branch like pictured on the right.
Tracks are updated live
Note that you do not have to worry about what track a spot belongs to when creating a link. Tracks are automatically managed on the fly. If you now create a second link between a pair of spots that are not connected with anything, a new track will be created automatically, and the color of the first ones will change.
The same is valid when you delete a link or a spot. For instance, let's create 3 tracks out of our inverted Y. Go to the frame 9, and delete the spot that is at the crossing. You now have 3 tracks.
Track and spot features are updated live
TrackMate uses computes and uses some numerical features for its spots, edges and tracks. You can use these features to color the TrackMate objects.
For instance this is what happened in the previous section, when you deleted a spot and created 3 tracks out of one. On the GUI panel, the tracks were configured to have their color set by the track index. When you removed the spot, the track index was recalculated and used to give the track a color that ranges from blue to red.
The track and spot colors are refreshed immediately in the HyperStack displayer. Note, though, that the color range in the GUI has not been updated. It still displays -Infinity - Infinity. This is by construction, to alleviate a bit the load when editing large models. If you want to refresh the color range, you have to click directly on it, and it will be properly repainted. On the right you can see what I get if I pick the feature Y for spot coloring, and the track index, after refreshing.
The semi-automatic tracking tool
Since v2.1.0, TrackMate includes a tool that can automatically find spots and automatically link them to build a track. This is extremely handy to annotate images for which the automated detection in bulk yields too much spurious spots. I wish I had come with the idea before I started doing C.elegans lineaging.
This tool is configured in the TrackMate tool option panel. It is not part of the classic GUI; to make it appear, double-click on the TrackMate tool in the ImageJ toolbar. You should see something like this:
We are interested in the Semi-automatic tracking panel. The bottom panel has just convenience buttons that allow you to select tracks or parts of tracks from the current selection (great to delete faulty tracks at once), and the right panel is a log. The semi-automatic tracking tool itself works as follow: It takes the single spot in the selection, and use its radius to build a neighborhood of this spot, but in the next frame. It then searches this neighborhood for a bright blob with a similar radius. If the found spot is close enough and have a quality high enough, it is linked to the first spot. The process is then repeated, until no suitable spot can be found or until there is no time-point to inspect anymore.
The Quality threshold and the Distance tolerance settings allow to tune the tool. A quality threshold of 0.5 means that the spot found must have a quality of at least 50% of the first spot to be accepted. A distance tolerance of 2 means that it must not be further away than twice the radius of the first spot to be accepted.
Let's put this in practice. Go to the frame 16 (or wherever you stopped annotating in the previous section), and select the last spot of the right track. You can start the semi-automatic tracking by either clicking on the purple button on the tool panel, or by pressing the ⇧ Shift + A key. The tracking process is updated live.
How far can it go really depends on the radius you set for the first spot, so results may vary. Here is how it looks on a movie:
Great, no?
These are the tools that should allow you to work very quickly. For fun: redo this tutorial with a TrackScheme window open. You should see that it works very well with manual annotation.
Jean-Yves Tinevez, January 2022


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Cate hits up city workers, pays another fine
Councilman concedes further ethical transgressions
By Matt Potter, April 17, 2018
Chris Cate — his people thought the list had been combed to get rid of city employee email addresses.
With investigators of the California Attorney General's office still looking into his leak of a confidential memo to lobbyist contributors, San Diego city councilman Chris Cate has agreed to pay yet another fine for breaking campaign law.
Per a stipulated agreement with the ethics commission, the Republican's 2018 reelection committee "sent a campaign email to a list of approximately 9,000 recipients that included 60 City employees (at their sandiego.gov email addresses)."
The February 7 email "included a solicitation for campaign contributions in the form of a 'Donate to my Campaign' button near the end of the message, which was linked to the Committee's campaign donation page."
The April 12 stipulation says that "the majority of the recipients were included on a campaign list generated in connection with the 2014 election cycle." Cate maintained that an unidentified representative "incorrectly assumed" that the solicitation list "had been previously combed to remove City employee email addresses," according to the document.
In levying a $1500 fine, the stipulation gave Cate redemption points for ineptitude. "Respondent's claim that the inclusion of City employees in the distribution list was inadvertent is supported by the fact the Executive Director of the Ethics Commission was one of the City employees who received the email."
Cate's "opinion-gate" case — in which he has admitted leaking a confidential June 15, 2017, legal document from the city attorney's office to his campaign contributors and SoccerCity lobbyists Craig Benedetto and Ben Haddad - had already cost him a $5,000 ethics penalty, imposed by the commission in December of last year.
"I agreed to pay a fine to put the matter to rest," said Cate at the time. "While the city attorney did not introduce the Soccer City memo in closed session, it became clear she did intend it as privileged information."
The state attorney general's office which has yet to issue its findings in the matter, entered the case after District Attorney Summer Stephan recused herself from the investigation following an October 13, 2017 report here that she and Cate both employed Republican campaign guru Jason Roe's Revolvis consulting outfit.
O.C. billionaire Samueli beats out Philip Anschutz for San Diego Sports Arena — Aug. 20, 2019
November's ballot looms, but June cleanup continues — Oct. 16, 2018
Cate's craft beer, cocktailing, and private jets — Sept. 8, 2018
Councilman Cate can use campaign cash for legal, PR costs — Nov. 8, 2017
Could Stephan surrender Cate investigation? — Oct. 13, 2017
JustWondering
April 17, 2018 @ 5:54 p.m.
Everyone one knows "combing" merely rearranges while culling removes. If Mr. Cate or is staff is just combing through these lists they have no intention of removing anything or anyone. Honestly, what politician removes names of potential source of free money to feed their campaign? But every politician hates getting caught!
dwbat
April 18, 2018 @ 8:03 a.m.
So when is this sleazebucket councilmember going to resign?
rplm
Their all sleazebuckets, city, state and federal. When are their pensions going to be taken away and replaced with 401k 's?
dynamicifiction
April 22, 2018 @ 10:18 p.m.
The only real qualification San Diego politicians and city administrators are required to have is ... sleazebucket-ness. Without enough sleaze, the good ones are filtered out, and the people are always dumped on with whatever slimy, goofy eight-balls are left over. And it's costing the people millions upon millions - money wasted on incompetence, money that should have gone to infrastructure improvements and a higher quality of living.
Potholes get deeper. The homeless population grows. Professional sports teams and fans find better stomping grounds in healthier regions. Glaring planning mistakes are made that cause serious business people to relocate. Technology companies turn away. For a city like San Diego to consistently thrive, competent workers are required at every level, not the city workers you see everywhere who spend most of their days driving around in their city vehicles, looking and chatting about what needs to be done by someone else, but real workers who plan and remain organized and complete the work they know they should be doing, the work they're being paid to do.
boemac
Why would anyone in their right mind vote for this clown again ?


Recommended to: Readers who are fans of deep historical fiction with elements of steampunk thrown in.
What an extremely interesting twist on time travel! I have to admit that, even though this book took some time for me to get into, once I was in it was hard to stop reading. Charlie is a boy who is utterly forgettable. Even his mother needs a reminder to call him by the correct name. I think this is really what drew me in the most. Watching young Charlie, a boy who has no idea that a fantastic adventure is in store for him.
That being said, the time travel part of this book is done very well. While the back story to Charlie's ability isn't really explained in detail, enough is given to let you know that there is one very big problem. Charlie can only travel backwards. Lucky for him he meets a girl traveler who can go forwards! Or is it luck? What ensues is a fast paced, rather dark romp through a story set in a much different time from our own.
Now it's important for me to let you know that Charlie's story is fairly gritty. I understood that by going back in time he was experiencing things that really happened. Of course he would be surrounded by drinks, loose women and even violence. Still, it turned me off a bit at first. I'm not against things like this in YA. In fact, I think it made it easier to accept because it was a different time period. Some of the things Charlie did and went through really bothered me though. I'm not certain how I'd feel giving this to a reader under the age of 16.
More than anything I think that my rating of this book was affected by the immense amount of history poured into it. I loved the steampunk addition, liked the time travel pieces, but felt so bogged down by trying to remember what these two had affected and were trying to fix that sometimes I had to go back and reread pages. It may well be that this isn't my genre, but I'm glad I gave it a shot nonetheless. Read this if you are a fan of historical fiction with a twist.
Happy Monday my bibliophile friends!
As you may have noticed earlier, today I posted a review of Notes From Ghost Town by Kate Ellison. A mix between paranormal romance and mystery. Here's the synopsis in case you missed it.
Now, if you're like me, this book is calling your name and you want to read it. Am I right? Well lucky you, I've been offered the chance to give it away! Huzzah!
One winner will receive a hardback copy of Notes From Ghost Town PLUS a paperback copy of The Butterfly Clues.
U.S. and Canada only please! Fill out the form below to enter, and good luck!
Recommended to: Readers who enjoy elegant prose and descriptive writing.
Evangeline is eighteen years old when her grandmother gives her the ultimate gift-a scent she has created just for her. From the moment Eva places a drop on her neck, her entire life changes. Previously unnoticed, she becomes the object of intense desire for everyone around her. Men dance close to her; women dip their noses deep into her hair; even the cats outside her bedroom cry to be near her. Gabriel, the quiet student Eva has admired from afar, falls head-over-heels in love with her. But soon the gift begins to control Eva's life: strangers follow her around, sniffing and touching her at every turn. When Eva meets Michael, an artist who barely registers her smell, Eva wonders if he is the one person who can love her for herself. Or is her scent impossible to escape? A bewitching, wildly imaginative novel steeped in the mythology of perfume, Scent of Darkness seduces the reader's every sense.
I'm really at a loss as to how to explain my feelings about Scent of Darkness now that I've finished. There are so many things that I completely loved about this book, and so many others that just won't sit right in my mind. If there was one thing I could say definitely at this moment in time, it's this: Scent of Darkness is more than what it seems to be. Let me try to break it down for you.
First off I have to praise Margot Berwin's writing. Without a doubt, this is what really kept me reading above all else. Her sweeping prose draws the reader into a world that is rich in color, texture, and of course scents. The blood of New Orleans runs deep through this book and, even though Evangeline's grandmother isn't in it for long, her character is the embodiment of her culture. Berwin weaves a dark and mysterious tale. It's hard not to be drawn in.
However, despite the elegant and prosaic writing, it was the story itself that kept me wavering between utter love and total despair while reading. Evangeline is not a very well fleshed out character, and really neither are any of the rest of the people who make stops in and out of her life. I understood her well enough. A girl who isn't wanted by her mother, and loses her only mother figure, Evangeline ends up on a path to self-discovery with no one to turn to for advice. I couldn't hate her for her naivety, but I also felt like she never grew at all either.
Then there are the two male interests. In an effort not to give anything important away, I'll simply let you know that these two men are like night and day. Gabriel seems to be the epitome of good, Michael that of evil, and we watch as Evangeline is torn between the two. I would have been fine with this, but neither of them truly spoke to me as compatible with her. It's like they were there to simply fill space. I wanted sparks, I wanted romance, I suppose I just wanted her to feel something.
So, as you can see, my feelings about Scent of Darkness ended up rather conflicted. I think that this was a great premise, with wonderful writing. The execution of it all is what threw me off. For those of you who enjoy literary fiction, this might be more of a hit. I can't deny that I don't usually read books like this, so it is entirely possible I'm biased. Point being, give this a shot and decide for yourself! If nothing else you'll be allowed to dive into the beauty that is Margot Berwin's writing, and that is a treat in itself.


text:
British imperial history and the Iraq war
This is a video highlighting the propaganda and lies told by the Bush administration in order to justify the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
These lies included :
– Iraq supported Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups
– Iraq was developing nuclear weapons
– Iraq had huge quantities of chemical and biological weapons
– Iraq had a fleet of unmanned vehicles to deliver these weapons
– Iraq has failed to destroy its chemical and biological weapons
– Iraq attempted to buy uranium from Africa
– Iraq was amassing these weapons to use against the USA and its allies
– The US security services knew where these weapons were
– The insurgency would be short lived
– The US military were wrong about the number of troops required and Bush/Rumsfeld/Cheney knew best
There were plenty of others …
By John Millington in England:
The Imperial Controversy
by Andrew Murray (Manifesto Press, £13.95)
The Stop the War coalition successfully mobilised millions to oppose the Iraq war and there's no-one better better placed than its chairman Andrew Murray to assess the imperial history leading up to the conflict and blow the pro-war arguments of the "left" unceremoniously out of the water.
Murray's book is a concise, hard-hitting account of the arguments surrounding the build-up to war and the resulting occupation of Iraq.
It provides both an easy to read historical account of British imperialism leading up to the war and counteracts justifications for the war.
Star readers will need little reminding of how the "existence" of WMD was the original justification for the assualt on Iraq.
But when peace campaigners and even Republican card-holding former weapons inspector Scott Ritter exposed this as a lie, justifications from media pundits began to circle around "liberal interventionism."
Murray points the finger at leading pro-war journalists such as John Lloyd and Nick Cohen and historian Niall Ferguson for dressing up imperial invasion under the guise of imposing "freedom and democracy" in Iraq.
Using direct quotations from a range of sources, Murray exposes the fallacy that empire was somehow a positive development for countries throughout Africa and the Middle East as well.
The historical revisionism of the British Empire by right-wing historians and pundits whom Murray quotes at length is at times shocking.
For historian Lawrence James, "Britain's empire was a moral force and one for good. None has been survived by so much affection and moral respect."
Such a statement might get the reader's blood boiling, but Murray also cogently demonstrates how such a rose-tinted view of British imperialism serves to justify modern 21st century imperialism.
"It is now more important than ever to rescue the real record of Empire from those who would like to bury it in obscurity and those who would like to use it as a model for contemporary world governance," he states.
And Murray goes on to break a taboo in British politics by direct comparison of the crimes of nazi Germany with those of the British empire. He challenges a comfort zone that the British empire's racist crimes can be offset by the notion that the building of railways and infrastructure helped to develop countries like India.
During the period of imperial plunder, life expectancy fell by 20 per cent and per capita income did not rise between 1757 and 1947.
The final chapters let rip at ex-PM Tony Blair and so-called left proponents of the war through scrutiny of the little-known Euston Manifesto – worth a read after this book.
Murray contends that Blair is not simply a warmonger but a product of a politics stretching back to Victorian times. "Blair tapped into a current of thought as old as the British empire – that a little imperialism in the right hands is good thing" he writes, along with the promotion of social improvements among the conquered.
One cavil in this otherwise excellent and essential read is that it perhaps strays into the realm of "my enemy's enemy is my friend" in commenting that the 2001 Twin Tower terror attacks were directed at reversing the policies of sanctions on Iraq and the repression by Israel of the Palestinians.
But this book is a must-have for anti-war activists. It puts fire in the belly and is an invaluable tool for exposing those who justify the Iraq war.
US troops and their proxy Iraqi security forces killed at least five people on Friday during a raid on a village near the Iranian border: here.
In Yemen the "Axis of Kindness" shows the True Face of the Empire and proves Lenin right
Leukaemia and birth defect babies in Iraq
Dick Cheney and torture, new Mark Fiore video
Iraq, from 2003 invasion to 2014 bloodshed
Don't Blame Islam
Supreme Court backs Theresa May decision to strip suspected Al Qaeda terrorist of UK citizenship
UK Spy Warns of Iraq War Disclosures (rinf.com)
The Toxicity of Everyday Survival in Iraq (jadaliyya.com)
This entry was posted in Crime, Economic, Human rights, Media, Peace and war, Racism and anti-racism, Social sciences and tagged history, Iraq, Tony Blair, UK by petrel41. Bookmark the permalink.
1 thought on "British imperial history and the Iraq war"
Administrator on February 22, 2010 at 8:16 pm said:
Six hurt in Green Zone attacks
Iraq: Guerillas have fired three mortar rounds into Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, injuring at least six people and damaging homes and cars, in the latest attack on government targets prior to March 7 elections.
A police officer in the nearby Kharkh police department said that he did not know whether Iraqi or US military personnel were among the injured.
On Sunday the US military reported that two US army helicopter pilots were killed when their aircraft made a "hard landing" inside a US base in northern Iraq.
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/87118


I already have to get up at 6 a.m. during the week. I don't want to do it on the weekend. And seriously - this is not a man dedicated to exercise. His attitude is that by signing up for races (and paying for them), he will be forced to train, to which I say, Really? You can't exercise unless it costs us money? Could you at least find a race that doesn't start at the crack of dawn?
BTW - I do not pay money to exercise. I force myself to exercise because I am vain and because when I am old, I want to be able to get out of a chair by myself. I hate every single second of it. I hate exercising. I don't believe the people who say they like it, but maybe they do. Or maybe they are liars. Whatever. But you don't have to spend money to exercise.
Perhaps we have learned to work together. It has not been a strength of ours in the past. Ever.
Primo: Would you come upstairs and help me, please?
Me: No. I am reading.
Primo: Please! I need to pick a photo for the campaign lit!
Me: Nope. I do not want to be involved. You ask my opinion and then you argue with me about it. It's exhausting.
Me: All I am going to do is give you a thumbs up or thumbs down on the photo.
Me: I am not going to explain why I do or do not like it.
Me: I am not going to defend my opinion.
Me: Because it's too much work!
Me: You have to promise not to ask me "why?" one single time. If you do, I am leaving.
Primo: Would you take some photos of me?
Me: No! I don't want to! I don't want to be involved.
-- and you can tell me how to pose.
Me: Fine. But if I do this, you don't get to argue with me about my decisions.
We walk over to the school and I take a bunch of photos and I tell Primo to do stuff with his hands and arms and he doesn't like what I say and I tell him that if he didn't want my opinion, he should not have asked me for it and I am telling him that the pose he wants looks stupid and he needs to try what I say. We argue about where the photos should be and what should be in the background and I explain that it is not a good idea to have a tree coming out of the top of his head. I tell him that he should not be wearing his striped shirt because it confuses the camera (it did for some but not for other photos). He wants me to use both my little camera and his phone and I just want to be done.
Primo: Oh! I forgot to tell you! At this campaign event today, I ran into Joan. She asked if I had hired a campaign manager.
Primo: I told her I was working with B. She said too bad, she could have recommended some people to me.
Me: Like who? Not T (his worthless campaign manager from his first campaign who has spiraled into disgrace and who has split with her husband - rumor is that he left her because of her drinking). She was awful.
Me: What? No! Not him! He was the kid just out of college who thought he could run a political campaign?
Primo: Yes! Joan said she thought he would be great!
Me: But- he was clueless and a pain in the neck.
Primo: Joan said he would push me out of my comfort zone.
Me: You don't need to be pushed out of your comfort zone. You just need someone to manage a campaign. Unless pushing someone out of his comfort zone means making him ask people for money.
Primo: That is it, kind of.
Me: You are not comfortable asking people for money.
Primo: Remember that guy who was interrogating me about how many doors I had done and how much I had gotten in contributions?
Primo: He wanted a ride to the event today and I didn't want to have him along, so I told him I had to run errands afterwards. He said that was fine.
Me: So you were stuck with him?
Primo: Yes, but he turned out to be great! We went to the event and he functioned as my helper! He took photos and got peoples' names and he was amazing.
Primo: Then I found out the reason he was asking all those questions is that he ran for the State House years ago!
Primo: But for the other party! And he wants to run again sometime, but now as a [Primo's party].
Primo: He's scared that people will turn it against him that he ran as X and now wants to run as Not X.
Me: Wow. He has missed one of the biggest aspects of American culture, which is that we love nothing more than a reformed sinner. All he has to do is to say that He Saw The Light and Has Changed For The Better and Will Never Sin Again.
Is there a sexier sight than a man doing a home repair?


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The contact person checks the analysis using a fixed protocol. Afterwards the teammate will also do this check. Your contact person checks everything on consistency (e.g. data), using a fixed protocol.
We deliver the cross-tabs in clear and easy to read tables same goes to the other statistical analysis. Usually the whole process takes between one or two days.


text:
Editorial. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Richard N. W. Wohns MD, JD, MBA
NeoSpine, Puyallup; University of Washington, Seattle, Washington; and Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal
https://doi.org/10.3171/2020.8.FOCUS20763
In 1888, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche first stated, "Out of life's school of war—what doesn't kill me, makes me stronger." This sentence has become an overused and often parodied aphorism that, in my opinion, nevertheless accurately portrays the picture of resilience and affirmation for overcoming adversity. I recommend that this concept be applied when faced with the formidable attack of a medical malpractice lawsuit directed at you personally and at your neurosurgical practice.
Gadjradj et al. aptly describe the repercussions neurosurgeons suffer in "Experiences of neurological surgeons with malpractice lawsuits."1 We are in the crosshairs of plaintiff attorneys and some patients due to the high liability associated with our specialty. When a lawsuit is filed against us, our responses range from adopting the practice of defensive medicine to referring difficult patient cases elsewhere and limiting the scope of procedures offered to leaving the practice of medicine due to the legal landscape.
Even though a medical malpractice lawsuit is an inevitability for 81% of neurosurgeons at some point throughout our careers, according to Gadjradj et al.,1 we respond as if the lawsuit is unexpected. If we change our mindset and recognize that this is simply an unfortunate reality of modern medicine, and apply Nietzsche's dictum, we can turn the malpractice case against us into an educational experience from which we learn to be even better neurosurgeons.
Furthermore, if neurosurgical residents were taught more about medicolegal principles during their residencies instead of learning through on-the-job training, when they first experience a lawsuit in practice, neurosurgeons would be better prepared to deal with the inevitable subpoena. In martial arts training, persons with white belts do not progress through the ranks and attain the level of black belt without years of incredible preparation, much of which involves parrying attacks. To "parry" is defined as "to ward off a weapon or attack with a countermove." The same approach should be taken with medical malpractice lawsuits. We need to be trained from the early days of residency that this type of attack is very likely going to happen during our careers, and therefore the best way to prepare for this attack is preemptive rather than reactive. The neurosurgeon's response to a malpractice lawsuit can be proactive instead of reactive, which may help us diminish the possibility of a lawsuit. Just like martial artists, we should be trained in defensive tactics and limit our scope of practice.
At the end of the day, we should remember Nietzsche, but in the modern words of Kelly Clarkson in her song "Stronger":2
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone
What doesn't kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even lighter
Dr. Wohns is a consultant for Medtronic, SeaSpine, and Alphatec.
1↑
Gadjradj PS, Ghobrial JB, Harhangi BS. Experiences of neurological surgeons with malpractice lawsuits. Neurosurg Focus. 2020;49(5):E3.
Gadjradj PS, Ghobrial JB, Harhangi BS. Experiences of neurological surgeons with malpractice lawsuits. Neurosurg Focus. 2020;49(5):E3.10.3171/2020.8.FOCUS2025033130609)| false
Tamposi AL, Gamson D, Kurstin G, Elofsson JK, songwriters. Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You). Song lyrics. Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group, Downtown Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management; 2011.
Tamposi AL, Gamson D, Kurstin G, Elofsson JK, songwriters. Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You). Song lyrics. Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group, Downtown Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management; 2011.)| false
https://thejns.org/focus/view/journals/neurosurg-focus/49/5/article-pE4.xml
Volume 49 (2020): Issue 5 (Nov 2020): Medicolegal issues in neurosurgery
in Neurosurgical Focus
Diagram from Larkin et al. (E2).
Articles by Richard N. W. Wohns
Article by Richard N. W. Wohns


text:
FCC chairman backs SpaceX plan for internet satellites
by Seth Fiegerman @sfiegerman February 14, 2018: 4:31 PM ET
See the SpaceX Starman's journey through space
Elon Musk's plan to deliver internet from space may be one step closer to reality.
The head of the Federal Communications Commission has called for the agency to approve an application from Musk's SpaceX to beam high-speed internet to earth from low orbit satellites.
"Satellite technology can help reach Americans who live in rural or hard-to-serve places where fiber optic cables and cell towers do not reach. And it can offer more competition where terrestrial Internet access is already available," Ajit Pai, the FCC chairman, said in a statement Wednesday.
There were about 24 million Americans without access to high-speed broadband as of the end of last year, according to the FCC.
SpaceX previously sought approval from the agency to launch 4,425 satellites to deliver broadband to users in the U.S. and worldwide. The initial satellite network would be smaller, however.
"SpaceX anticipates that an initial deployment of as few as 800 satellites will be capable of providing high-speed, low-latency broadband throughout the U.S. and anywhere on the planet," SpaceX said in one filing with the FCC.
Related: NASA is keeping tabs on Elon Musk's Tesla roadster
The company said in another filing it plans to include two demonstration satellites with its payload on an upcoming Falcon 9 launch.
SpaceX declined to comment.
Assuming the FCC moves ahead with the chairman's proposal, SpaceX would be the first U.S. company to get the green light for delivering broadband from low orbit satellites. It has previously approved requests from OneWeb, Space Norway and Telesat.
Google (GOOGL) and Facebook (FB) have also been experimenting with alternative internet delivery options, including satellites, drones and balloons. The investments have the potential to expand the number of internet users with access to their services.
CNNMoney (New York) First published February 14, 2018: 4:31 PM ET


text:
Q: Alternative updating of a dynamic expression I am looking for a solution to selectively update a dynamic expression expr which is dependent on multiple control variables {x, y, ...}. I need to update expr differently (using xUpdate and yUpdate) according to which controller is manipulated, i.e. which control variable triggers an update, but without including update code in any of the controllers! That is, Dynamic[expr] itself has to include the different update modes.
Question: Is there a method to update a dynamic expression differently depending on which parent-variable triggers an update?
1. Include update in controller
The easy way would be to simply include the different update codes in the controllers, but as I said, this is not the desired way. The code is included here only for reference:
xUpdate[xin_, yin_] := {"x-trigger", yin + xin, yin};
yUpdate[xin_, yin_] := {"y-trigger", yin*10, yin};

x = y = 0; expr = yUpdate[x, y];
{Row@{"update x: ",
   Slider[Dynamic[x, (x = #; expr = xUpdate[x, y]) &]]},
 Button["Update y", y = RandomReal[]; expr = yUpdate[x, y]]}
Dynamic[expr]

This works as expected, but in my use case I cannot update expr directly from the controllers. I have to do it in a way that is restricted to the last line, i.e. the expr itself has to do the updating according to which controller was manipulated.
2. Using $ControlActiveSetting
An alternative method is to rely on the global value of $ControlActiveSetting:
xUpdate[xin_, yin_] := {"x-trigger", yin + xin, yin};
yUpdate[xin_, yin_] := {"y-trigger", yin*10, yin};

x = y = 0;
{Button["Update y", y = RandomReal[]],
 Row@{"update x: ", Slider[Dynamic@x]}}
Dynamic[expr = If[$ControlActiveSetting, xUpdate[x, y], yUpdate[x, y]]; expr,
 TrackedSymbols :> {x, y}]

This correctly differentiates between the two update modes, but it incorrectly reverts to y-trigger whenever the x-slider is released. This is unwanted behaviour. A second problem with this is that $ControlActiveSetting cannot differentiate between multiple sliders (i.e. imagine a third z controller).
3. Intermediate solution a'la $ControlActiveSetting
A global flag (trigger, substituting $ControlActiveSetting) is set to either "x", "y" or "z", depending on which controller is being manipulated. This works as expected and can be extended to any number of controllers, but has the problem that I still have to set trigger in each controller, which I want to avoid.
xUpdate[xin_, yin_, zin_] := {"x-trigger", yin + xin, yin, zin};
yUpdate[xin_, yin_, zin_] := {"y-trigger", yin*10, yin, zin};
zUpdate[xin_, yin_, zin_] := {"z-trigger", zin*20, yin - 1, zin};

x = y = z = 0;
trigger = "x";
{Button["Update y", trigger = "y"; y = RandomReal[]],
 Row@{"update x: ", Slider[Dynamic[x, (trigger = "x"; x = #) &]]},
 Row@{"update z: ", Slider[Dynamic[z, (trigger = "z"; z = #) &]]}}
Dynamic[Switch[trigger, "x", xUpdate[x, y, z], "y", yUpdate[x, y, z],
  "z", zUpdate[x, y, z]], TrackedSymbols :> {x, y, z}]

But it brings me closer to my real question:
Question:
Is there a way to check globally which control variable is being actively manipulated/changed in the front-end? Surely Dynamic[expr] knows about it as it has the TrackedSymbols option, but I cannot access this information from inside the Dynamic. I think of something like CurrentValue["ManipulatedVariable"] or CurrentValue["ActualDynamicUpdatingTrigger"] (which are nonexistent).

A: Here is one way, which is probably not optimal, and also is kind of cheating, but. This is a generator for a "trigger":
ClearAll[makeTrigger]
SetAttributes[makeTrigger, HoldAll];
makeTrigger[res_, var_, updateCode_] :=
  Module[{varOld = var, trigger},
    trigger /; varOld =!= var := (
      varOld = var;
      res = updateCode
    );
    trigger];

now,
ClearAll[expr, x, y, z];
x = y = z = 0;
triggers = {
   makeTrigger[expr, x, xUpdate[x, y, z]],
   makeTrigger[expr, y, yUpdate[x, y, z]],
   makeTrigger[expr, z, zUpdate[x, y, z]]
};

and we can check, that this works:
{
  Button["Update y", y = RandomReal[]],
  Row@{"update x: ", Slider[Dynamic[x]]},
  Row@{"update z: ", Slider[Dynamic[z]]}
}

With[{tr = triggers}, Dynamic[tr ; expr, TrackedSymbols :> {x, y, z}]]


– Many-Me #3 General Assembly in progress!
Many-Me #3 General Assembly in progress!
Memebers of Many-Me Consortium gathered in Larnaca, Cyprus, to proceed 3rd face-to-face Partners Meeting. Attendants of the assembly are going to focus on marketing & business aspects of the project this time, as the project itself, in 17th month of it's life, enters a decisive phase.
So the Partner Meeting Agenda starts with road to market and dissemination issues. The Consortium is also going to present various aspects of project's marketing & business plan, subsequently, and open the discussion on it within entire gathering.
All Partners will also be able to discuss all issues connected with details of technological integration and system development of Many-Me platform. Then also first results on conducted 1st Pilot Testing, as well as End User requirements gathering and system specification definition will be discussed. The Meeting is prepared and organized (perfectly) by EKKOTEK, Cyprus, Many-Me Project Partner.


- Did you- Did you, and I repeat, DID YOU insinuate That these words were spilled from my veins in order to make clear to you - the reader what exactly I am communicating in verse and thought? Are you suggesting that me, the poet, has wrists that are enshackled, forbidden to choose obscurity since you no longer enjoy the subtle art of mystery and the game of uncovering secrets laid within these words? I know no rules, abide none but the ancient law of pen and consiousness. I challenge my fingers and the eyes of others- offering variety and color. Pabulum is abhorred by you and your kind, and I am left only to speak thus: My inkblade detests the lazy and those whose insight only glances upon the faces of words, which always require thought and penetrating vision to truly savour the poetic soup that I am known to boil and serve. Ah, and another thing: My inkblade adores bleeding those that encourage slavery. May you be blessed in being taught that words no matter how presented and crafted- can never fully communicate what a penmaster intends, since it is created usually for more than one pair of eyes. And many like you are comfortable in the common act of assumption. Which is why I am comfortably cantankerous- a cherished tradition among many who weild Titanium Pens. Amen.