I haven't blogged in a while, but had to write and state that my heart and prayers go out to those at Sandy Hook Elementary. As I heard of this news, I looked out at my 2nd grade class, and it took everything within me to hold back the tears. These are babies. I am praying for peace for these families, teachers and children.
Oh my goodness...I cannot believe it is already November. I did a TERRIBLE job posting in October. I looked back, and only two posts ago did I complete the October Currently!! October was crazy, though so I don't feel as guilty.
Now on to November Currently from the one and only Farley.
My Crazy Life with Some Boo Time!
This month has seriously been CRAZY! My husband and I are currently looking for our very first home to buy together! :) We've been married about a year and a half now, and are definitely ready for our own home vs. renting!
The home buying process is a busy, hectic, nerve-wracking, and frustrating process [as I'm sure many of you know]. We've tried to just be patient...knowing we'll find the right place eventually. However..waiting is not a word that works well with my personality. I'm ready for it now! SO...thoughts and prayers would be greatly appreciated during this time!
ALSO...report cards go out in the next few days. Our district is starting standard based report cards where the students basically get a P (proficient) or a N (needs more time/not proficient) based upon each standard. I am realizing this is hard for teachers. I have to have SO much documentation to back up why a student received a P or a N. Grades don't reflect what they know anymore..it is definitely solely revolving around formative assessments, etc. It is a love.hate relationship.
Lastly, I have joined in on the network of Boo-ing going on! Amanda at Inspired in Second boo'd me, and I'm finally back to blogging to join in this fun linky.
3. Share 3-5 October activities, books, products (maybe yours or someone else's) or freebies that you love.
4. Share the boo love with 5 bloggers - make sure you check this link to make sure you don't repeat the "boo"
5. Link up [here] so that others can find you and read about your October ideas! While you are there check out the other great blogs!
1. I am so excited to be doing the pumpkin book reports from Second Grade Shenanigans. We tweaked it a bit to fit in with Common Core. My students chose a tall tale, fairy tale or fable to read and create the report on. We are then creating our character pumpkin based upon these tall tales, fairy tales and fable characters. Tomorrow we are spending some time creating our pumpkins so we'll see how it goes!
2. This doesn't necessarily relate to activities, etc. for the students or October, but I found a wonderful Common Core resource site! On this site you are able to watch demonstration videos of actual lessons relating to Common Core. You can also download lessons, ideas, formative assessments, etc. for each standard [no matter the grade level]. I explored around the site, and loved it. Go check it out. All you have to do is sign up and it is free!
http://www.wiki-teacher.com - I'm all about finding resources I can use with Common Core!
I do feel bad because I have joined in on this linky party so late that most of my good blogging friends have already been boo-ed! OH well...you guys get the point! :) It is a fun linky, and I love getting to share ideas and resources!
Like I've read so many people state...can you believe it is already October? This year is flying by!
My new favorite monthly tradition is linking up with Farley for her Currently's! They are so much fun to create, and even more fun to read through the different responses!
Listening: I have become obsessed with this new show...Revenge. It was placed on Netflix, and Season 2 has just started on TV. It is definitely a guilty pleasure!
Loving: Whew! I don't know about you, but I am LOVING the weather we have here in Arkansas! It is around 57, and feels amazing! I could have it stay just like this and be completely fine! :) Needless to say, I'm breaking out some leggings and boots in the next few days!
Wanting: Don't you just wish we could have a day off every now and then as a "Make It" day. I just have so many things I want to make and create for my class, but where is the time?
Needing: Nothing else needs to be said about this, but that I hate cleaning my house and something needs to happen for it to be clean!
Favorite [Halloween] Book: I am a big fan of Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book.
It is definitely a YA book as the beginning can be somewhat intense. The content is also something that I feel would need to be read in middle/high school, but I love it! Great Halloween read for young adults/adults! AND...It won the Newbery Medal!
One of my favorite things to teach in second grade truly has been fractured fairy tales. My students love comparing/contrasting the traditional fairy tale to the fractured fairy tale. We've had a lot of fun reading and analyzing these text to identify some of the similarities and differences as it relates to the characters, setting, problem and solution.
In writing, I wanted my students to write a fairy tale, but instead of just writing a plain 'ol "boring" fairy tale, we decided to change things up in a fun way!
Thus came about my new writing mini-unit on fractured fairy tale writing!
My students have LOVED this so far, and we are continuing to work through it! Basically, my students get to draw (out of a hat) a strip of paper that has a traditional fairy tale character (Cinderella, etc.) and a setting; however, the setting is not a traditional setting. You might see Sleeping Beauty at the pool or Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs in Hollywood. We had a blast laughing at all the different possibilities.
Needless to say, this has been a hit, and my students' stories are already taking off. I know they'll need some fine-tuning as we take them through the writing process, but anything to get my students motivated about writing works for me!
Come check out this unit on mine (and my great friend Little Miss Whimsical's) TN store! In it includes the character and setting choices for students, a brainstorming graphic organizer, published writing paper, and a rubric for grading. I want to add in some sort of cute craftivity with the students creating/drawing/coloring their character to hold up their story, but I'm not sure how to do that! I'll play around with it and see!


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Dubai Parking News
Dubai releases new COVID-19 guidelines
New guidelines on where, when and under what circumstances do we wear our masks
Dubai: The Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management in Dubai, headed by His Highness Sheikh Mansour Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, announced a set of guidelines on the use of face masks outside the house and in public areas for different age groups.
All members of the community should wear a face mask outside their homes at all times
Parents and guardians of the exempted groups to ensure a minimum physical distance of two meters from others.
Face masks can be removed only under the conditions outlined in the guidelines as below
The following categories have been exempted from wearing face masks under specific conditions
Children under the age of six
People of determination with cognitive, intellectual, or sensory disorders or any impairments that hamper their ability to breathe or communicate, as well as those for whom masks can lead to sensory triggering (This should be confirmed by a medical report).
Individuals who require supplemental oxygen or have severe respiratory conditions, who cannot breathe safely or have difficulty breathing with a mask, are also exempted (This should be confirmed by a medical report)
Temporary removal
The Committee also decided to allow the public to remove their face masks temporarily outside the house strictly only under the following conditions:
When driving the car alone or in the presence of the same household members.
While eating or drinking in indoor and outdoor settings, for example in restaurants. The public should maintain physical distance with others.
When engaging in strenuous indoor and outdoor exercise or high-intensity workouts, as it may exacerbate known or unknown health conditions. Physical distancing should be observed at all times.
While being alone with no people around – for example, in a private office setting.
When the risks associated with wearing the face mask outweigh the benefits, for example, while swimming or skydiving.
While undergoing specific treatments that require removal of masks, such as dental work and eye, nose, and throat examinations, as well as other related treatments or examinations including those involving hair and beauty.
The Committee explained that the exemptions are in line with the need to protect the safety of the community and remove risks faced by some segments from wearing the masks.
Tags:COVID-19Dubaiguidelines
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Lil Nas X Revealed The Story Behind His Real Name & It's Not What You'd Expect
Amy Sussman/BBMA2020/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
The world has fallen for Lil Nas X since he released "Old Town Road," but as you may have guessed, that's not his real name. The star is actually called Montero Lamar Hill, which he recently spoke about on TV. Lil Nas X revealed the story behind his real name during a Jan. 7 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and it's a delight.
While the Grammy-winning musician promoted his new children's book (C is for Country) and upcoming album on the show, Fallon asked what he should call him. "You can call me Nas or Montero," he responded, prompting the late-night host to ask why he didn't use Montero as a stage name.
Lil Nas X explained that he didn't use his real name since Nas was his longtime internet alias, adding that the story of his real name is "slightly embarrassing, but not embarassing."
"So my mom wanted the car, the [Mitsubishi] Montero, and she never got one," he told Fallon. "So yeah, I'm named after a car."
The star also noted that he took inspiration from other rising musicians when he came up with his stage name. "When I started doing music, I was like, 'I want to have fun with this," he added. "And every new rapper's name is Lil, Lil, Lil. 'What if I was Lil Nas? That'd be funny.' So I was like, 'Alright, bet. I'll be Lil Nas.' And I added the X later on."
During the interview, Lil Nas X shared some details about his big night at the 2020 Grammy Awards, noting that his favorite moment of the night was actually going to a strip club with fellow musician Lizzo afterwards. When Fallon asked if he would collab with the massively popular K-Pop group BTS again after performing "Old Town Road" with them at the Grammys, he immediately responded, "Of course! Of course."
Lil Nas X's 2021 is certainly off to a strong start, as "Old Town Road" officially became the highest certified song ever by the Recording Industry Association of America on Saturday, Jan. 9. He reacted to the single's 14-times platinum status on Twitter, writing, "OLD TOWN ROAD IS OFFICIALLY 14 TIMES PLATINUM! MOST PLATINUMS FOR ANY SONG EVER! LETS GOOO!"
Fans will have to wait until sometime later in 2021 to hear Lil Nas X's album, but no matter what happens this year, it's good to know that his yeehaw agenda is still going strong.
Remain Calm: Beyoncé Is Touring For The First Time Since 2018
By Adrianne Reece
The Jonas Brothers Are Back & Officially In Their '70s Era
Saint Hoax Will Take You Inside Spotify's Best New Artist Grammys Party


This Storm Panel is built to finished dimensions of 43.25" x 86". The panel will fit a window 37.25"-43" wide and 80" high.
Storm Panels are a cost-effective way to secure your home from hurricanes and storms. These panels are custom designed and engineered to fit each specific opening of your home. Storm panels are ideal for arched windows and doors, angled windows and other unique openings.


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Jonathan Ogden Armour, född 11 november 1863 och död 16 augusti 1927, var en amerikansk affärsman, son till Philip Armour.

Armour inträdde 1883 i familjefirman, och blev delägare året därpå, och chef för företaget 1901. Armour har utvecklade firman Armour & Co. till ett jätteföretag, som 1919 kunde uppvisa en försäljningsumma på över en miljard och en nettovinst på mer än 27 miljoner dollar. 1920 förbjöds Armour genom myndigheternas ingripande att fortsätta med den vidlyftiga affärsverksamhet utanför firmans egentliga område, som han sedan lång tid bedrivit, och ålades att avveckla ifrågavarande verksamhet inom två år. Firmans rörelse blev därmed begräsade till vissa livsmedelsprodukter.

Referenser
 Svensk uppslagsbok, Lund 1929

Personer inom USA:s näringsliv under 1900-talet
Män
Födda 1863
Avlidna 1927

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Festivals Monday Morning Matinee New York Film Festival New York Film Festival 2020 Reviews
[NYFF Review]: 'Nomadland'
Will Oliver | September 27th, 2020
Nomadland | Chloé Zhao | NYFF 2020
At the 2017 edition of NYFF I was completely caught off-guard by how affected I was by Chloé Zhao's The Rider. The director has a real talent for the way she is so meticulously able to blend the arena of feature and documentary filmmaking, bridging the gap between the two in a style that is completely raw and authentically lived in. She does this again in another moving fashion with Nomadland, which she wrote and edited along with directing, all based on Jessica Bruder's novel of the same name.
When we see Fern (Frances McDormand) she's packing up the remnants of her life into a van and hitting the road after the economic collapse of the small rural town of Empire, Nevada, which she once called home with her recently deceased husband. She embarks on a lonely journey of solitude out on the road, where she makes some money taking temporary gigs such as shifts at an Amazon warehouse during the holiday season, celebrating New Year's Eve by her lonesome, in her cold van with a Happy New Year hat sadly rested on her head. Even if we feel bad for her, she isn't throwing a pity party for herself, she is more than content with the freedom that this journey affords her.
Although life can be lonely, she also forms bonds with other nomads and gig workers that she befriends and forms a deeply rooted bond spanning state lines. They all exchange personal stories describing the pain of life that led them down this new road and the hardships that they now face living in their vehicles. Considering that all of these are non-actors outside from Dave, played by David Strathairn, these stories hit differently when you realize that they're likely real stories that these poor souls experienced that they bravely shared with Zhao.
Once again the talented Chinese director threads the needle beautifully between documentary and fiction, where in reality it feels somewhere in-between, creating a blend of the fantastical and sad reality that shines a spotlight on the forgotten people in America, the sort of thing that does more for these citizens than their supposed savior ever will do in D.C. A part of the power here, and as well as with all of Zhao's work is the way that she showcases these people as they are, never casting judgment in either direction. We become a part of their journey and get to see a side of America that not many directors even consider.
Credit to McDorman who plays off the actors perfectly, listening to their stories intently and showing that she is moved just as great in real life as we are. There's a power to seeing one of the titans of acting reacting so profoundly and honestly to these stories, which only makes it that much more impactful. It's a raw and unflinching performance from McDormand that is partly inspiring but also partly tragic. We see flashes of her previous life and family and see her play the domestic life when she needs to, yet in the end, she's pulled by the freedom that life out on the road allows.
Zhao reteams with her longtime cinematographer Joshua James Richards who captures the heartland of America in a gorgeous manner that will inspire even the stubbornest of homebodies to want to see these parts of America. The cinematography captures life on the road in a stunning fashion that isn't showy but a lovely observation of real-life America, unfiltered. Similarly impactful is the piano-led score from Ludovico Einaudi that is a perfect sidecar companion to the spiritual exploration at hand.
For those who find Zhao's previous work a bit too much of a slow burn with a Malick-like impressionistic spiritual journey too demanding, far astray from the traditional plot-based format. There's no big climax or Hollywood-esque moments. But if you buy into the journey that she and McDormand take you on, it's hard not to be moved by what they achieve here. It's not an easy watch, it's unflinching and doesn't always paint the prettiest picture of raw moments like having a bucket nearby in case of an "emergency" when you can't exit your vehicle in time.
Nomadland is another spellbinding effort from Zhao who transcends the medium, creating a spiritual like journey about the human condition, the idea of being where you're meant to be rather than where you're supposed to be. She captures it all, the beauty, the pain, the joy, the hope, and the defeat. It's all there, it's a mixed bag of uplifting, inspiring, sad, and joyous. That's life.
Nomadland played at the 2020 New York Film Festival both virtually and at drive-in theaters. It will be released by Searchlight Pictures on December 4th.


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Hello, Good Evening and Welcome: The David Frost Story
Frost/Nixon, Frost/Nixon (play), Radio Programmes
Frost/Nixon (play)
Frost/Nixon (Film)
A BBC Radio 2 documentary on the career of Sir David Frost; the journalist, host and entrepreneur portrayed by Michael Sheen in the 2006 West End and Broadway play Frost/Nixon, and later the 2008 film directed by Ron Howard.
Presented by Michael, this documentary features interviews with Sir David himself, Michael Parkinson, Ronnie Corbett and Robin Gibb among others. They talk about his ground-breaking satire shows in the 1960s, That Was The Week That Was and The Frost Report, and his global charity music concert for UNICEF in 1979.
More information on the original programme page on the BBC website
A clip of the Al Jazeera interview with Michael Sheen, as mentioned in the documentary (timestamp: 16:52)
Tags:David FrostUNICEF
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Dr. Andrew Newberg: WHAT IS NEUROTHEOLOGY?
Divine processes including revelation. neurotheology asks us to evaluate both the spiritual and/or consciousness perspective, as well as the neuroscientific perspective in helping us to better understand the true nature of these experiences. In this regard, neurotheology has much to contribute to consciousness studies. neurotheology takes a critical, yet open look at all of these phenomena. The principles of neurotheological scholarship remind us to try to develop studies with rigorous science, but also to be aware of the limitations of current scientific methods. New, multidisciplinary methods must always be considered and explored. And interpretations of any research or scholarship must also be carefully developed.
If I perform a brain scan on a deeply religious individual who has the experience of being in the presence of God, the scan does not prove or disprove God's existence. The scan findings only reflect what is going on in the brain when the person has that experience. Similarly, brain studies of various states of consciousness must be carefully interpreted. While we might ultimately be able to design studies that help us understand the true nature of consciousness, some of the current neuroscience methods may not be able to make such a distinction.
At the present time, a brain scan of a particular state of consciousness does not, by itself, prove whether consciousness is created by the brain or the brain is created by consciousness. The brain scan only shows what is going on in the brain when the person experiences that state of consciousness. This last point is crucial. Without knowing the subjective nature of any given experience, neuroscience is likely to be very limited. A brain scan might show activity in the visual cortex, but does not tell us what the person thinks he is seeing and does not tell us about the person's personal awareness of that experience. We must ask the person directly and then correlate that experience with scientific findings.
In the following series of posts, I hope to provide some background regarding neurotheology and consciousness with the goal of opening fruitful discussions for future research and scholarship.
Learn more about the intersection between data and the divine at THE FINAL WORD, the blog of The Final Words Project. By studying language, we are learning more about consciousness.


SF BETA: THE FUTURE OF FINANCE Join us for a networking mixer focused on the Future of Finance: from banking to the blockchain and beyond. Startups rocking the world of finance will join us to demo throughout the night. We welcome all who vie for a future that's almost entirely up for grabs: no altcoin is too big, and no bank too small. We believe that the future of finance is more open -- and more exciting -- than at any point in history, and invite you to participate in its rapid transformation by attending SF Beta as we celebrate the theme. Complimentary Early Access passes now available. ABOUT SF BETA Relaunched in September 2018, SF Beta is the premier networking mixer for entrepreneurs and innovators. Our quarterly gatherings bring together hundreds of pioneering spirits to discover (and sometimes come up with) the next big thing. Throughout the night, startups provide interactive, hands-on exhibits featuring their latest and greatest inventions while attendees network and interact throughout the room. We combine an open, unstructured format with a focused, interactive theme, in an atmosphere ideal for meeting new people, making great connections, and sharing ideas. DEMO DAY LINEUP Stay tuned!


The Associated Nexus of Galaxies (TANG) has been threatened by hordes of invaders bent on destroying the planet's Energy Crystals. As a last hope, the TANG calls upon four super dimensional cyborg soldiers known as the Tangibles, who have the ability to conjure up solid blocks out of thin air. These brave heroes will need to use their cunning, quick reflexes and Power Bolts to retrieve the Energy Crystals and push back the advancing armada. Do you have what it takes to conquer the evil alien nemesis?


EL PASO, Texas (Reuters) - A tent city in Texas for migrant teens will close, the U.S. government said on Friday, and the children held in what had become a controversial symbol of President Donald Trump's migration policy will be transferred to sponsors or other shelters.
The shelter in Tornillo, Texas opened in June to house migrant children, many of whom were Central Americans who crossed the border alone. Immigration advocates raised concerns about how long the minors were staying in the tents and some protesters had set up camp near the facility.
"As of this weekend, the last group of unaccompanied alien children will have been transferred or discharged" and the shelter was on a "path toward closure," said Lynn Johnson, Assistant Secretary of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF).
Johnson said the majority of the children were released to sponsors, usually family members, in the United States, while some were transferred to other shelters.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees the ACF, had said there were more than 850 migrants being held in Tornillo as recently as Jan. 6.
At its peak in December the sprawling field of beige-colored tents in the Texan desert near the border housed 2,800 teenagers, according to BCFS.
Trump has called the increasing number of children and families crossing into the United States a humanitarian crisis. This and his assertion that immigrants and drugs are streaming across the southern border have fueled his demand for a border wall, despite statistics that show illegal crossings are at a 20-year low and that many drug shipments are likely smuggled through legal ports of entry.
On Thursday Trump traveled to Texas to press his case for the wall, as the government remained partly shut down in a dispute with Democrats over funding for it.
The government is legally limited in how long it can detain immigrant minors who cross the border but a policy to increase vetting of potential sponsors has led to long delays in processing their cases, leaving some children languishing in government care for months.
As of Jan. 6 there were still approximately 11,400 unaccompanied children in HHS custody across the country, the government said.
Once minors are released, they can pursue their immigration cases while living in the United States, with many seeking to apply for asylum.
"Our goal is to close Tornillo as quickly but as safely as possible," Victoria Palmer, an HHS spokeswoman, said earlier this week.
Protesters who have been monitoring the camp said they have seen a steady outflow of infrastructure. BCFS confirmed to Reuters it was working to demobilize the facility and removing shelter trailers and tents.
"This tent city should never have stood in the first place but it is welcome news that it will be gone," tweeted Will Hurd, a Republican U.S. congressman from Texas.


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Legion Baseball: Sacred Heart/MACCRAY declines regional invitation
Scarlets look at Waupun, Wis., tournament as an invitational
Sacred Heart/MACCRAY's Jaxon Behm went 4 of 5 with four RBI and scored three runs to help the Scarlets defeat Tri-Town 11-0 in the 2021 Division II American Legion championship game on Sunday, August 1, 2021 at Sacred Heart Ballpark. Matthew Curry/West Central Tribune.
By Matthew Curry
The Division II American Legion State Champion Sacred Heart/MACCRAY baseball team announced Monday it has declined its invitation to travel to Waupun, Wisconsin, to compete in the Division II Central Plains Regional tournament.
Merely 24 hours after defeating Tri-Town 11-0 at Sacred Heart Ballpark, the Scarlets made the decision to withdraw from the regional tournament with the feeling that it was rather an invitational tournament than a regional.
The tournament will consist of four Wisconsin teams, three Minnesota teams and one team from North Dakota. In past years, teams from South Dakota, Kansas and Nevada have been in the tournament.
"If it was going to be a true regional with Nevada, Kansas, North Dakota and Wisconsin, I'd jump at it in a hurry," Scarlet coach Steve Agre said. "But I said to them, 'I can't justify spending the money on getting the bus, hotel and everything for basically an invitational tournament.'
"It's a lot of money to try and fundraise and expect people to drive that far for a tournament like that. I just couldn't justify doing that."
With states such as Kansas returning to school in early August, and fall sports beginning preparation for the upcoming season, Roger Mathison, a contact for the Wisconsin American Legion Baseball League, says the slight decline in teams began prior to the COVID pandemic.
"Kansas has dropped out the past couple years because their schools start the first of August in Kansas now," Mathison said. "So we've kind of gone down to Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota for this area."
In terms of the COVID pandemic, Mathison says the tournaments have functioned as they have in past years.
"After losing [the legion tournaments] last year, it got to be a little difficult with a lot of uncertainty, so our numbers are slightly down from last year. But overall it's been pretty good. We're running like we normally have," he said.
WIth Sacred Heart/MACCRAY declining the invitation, Tri-Town, the second-place team, was then invited to take its place.
Tri-Town declined.
"The three captains on the team, plus about four or five other players, and both coaches didn't think we should go out there after how we played against Sacred Heart," Tri-Town manager David Kingery said.
The regional tournament is scheduled to begin Friday, and concludes Sunday in Waupun, a city of about 11,000 located about 70 miles northwest of Milwaukee.
Sacred Heart/MACCRAY coach Steve Agre hugged his players after having received his 2021 Division II American Legion Baseball state championship medal on Sunday, August 1, 2021, at Sacred Heart Ballpark. Matthew Curry/West Central Tribune
Related Topics: BASEBALLLOCAL SPORTSSACRED HEARTWISCONSIN
Matthew Curry is a sports reporter and photographer for the West Central Tribune.
Teams compete at the Willmar Invitational on Friday, including Litchfield
By Macy Moore
The teams meet at 7 p.m. Feb. 2 and the winner likely will be the favorite in the Section 3AA-North playoffs
By Tom Elliott
State boys basketball poll: BBE remains in Class A top 10
Top teams: Class AAAA - Park Center, Class AAA - Totino-Grace, Class AA - Lake City, Class A - New Life Academy
By West Central Tribune sports report
State girls basketball poll: NLS, BBE, BOLD all in top 10
Top teams: Class AAAA - Hopkins, Class AAA - Benilde-St. Margaret's, Class AA - Providence Academy, Class A - Mountain Iron-Buhl


Gilets jaunes protesters across France plan to present an "ultimatum" to President Emmanuel Macron for "Acte 18", as the Grand Débat ends, and more protests begin.
The Acte 18 movement coincides with a number of other planned protests, including the "March of the century" on climate change, and a "solidarity march" against police violence and "State racism".
This Saturday also marks four months since the start of the gilets jaunes protests, as the 18th consecutive weekend of the movement.
The intention to send a clear message to Mr Macron comes after several weeks of declining numbers at the protests. According to official figures from the ministry of the Interior, there were 28,600 protesters out across France last Saturday, versus 282,000 counted at the start of the movement.
A number of Facebook Groups have been created about this weekend, including one named "Acte 18 – Ultimatum – La France entière à Paris (the whole of France to Paris)". However, there are also signs that protests will also be planned for Bordeaux, Lyon, Montpellier, Dijon, and Caen.
This weekend coincides with a number of symbolic marches, and the end of the national Grand Débat, which was launched by President Macron two months ago in an attempt to address gilets jaunes grievances.
The Grand Débat concludes today (Friday March 15), as young people and students across the country have called for a mass walkout and protest over what they see as a lack of action from leaders on climate change.
Large plumes of smoke covered Paris' skyline on Saturday as "Gilets Jaunes" (Yellow Vest) protesters started bonfires in the street, smashed shop windows, and hurled cobblestones at riot police in the 18th consecutive weekend of anti-government protests.
In response to the violence, police used water cannons and fired tear gas in front of the Arc de Triomphe monument in Les Champs Elysees. At least 30 demonstrators were arrested by late morning.
Todays protests were organised in an effort to reboot the Yellow Jackets campaign following weeks of declining participation. The movement started in November in response to a planned rise in fuel prices but has spiralled into a wider offence against President Emmanuel Macron's government.
Protests still remained small compared with the early days of the movement, with an estimated 8,000 people on the streets Saturday.
Saturday's protests were timed to coincide with the end of a two-month public debate launched by Macron, who traveled around the country to speak to communities in response to the protests.


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Coast to Coast for mountain bikers: St Bees to Ennerdale alternative route - better than tarmac!
by Local Rider
(Egremont)
Most mountain bikers are unintentionally misled into supposing that the ride from St Bees to Ennerdale must be ridden almost entirely on tarmac. This is not so. From the market town of Egremont, the Uldale Valley can be ridden off-road all the way to within 2 miles of Ennerdale Bridge.
Take the road from St Bees to Egremont. After a pleasant saunter through St Bees Village turn left (at map ref: 971116)and head up the steep climb called Outrigg. This will either get you in the mood for the legwork which lies ahead, or make you want to get off the tarmac and onto the trail asap.
At the top of Outrigg, on a nice day, you'll get a view of the Lake District which lies ahead.
Follow the road for a further two miles to the Market Square/War Memorial at Egremont (you can't miss it) and turn right at the junction. Proceed along the 'A' road which leads out of Egremont for a quarter of a mile, then take the gravel road to the left (heading east at ref 013102) immediately opposite Graham's Filling Station. If you start to climb a tarmac hill you've gone just-and-so too far.
On the gravel track, you will go under a road bridge then along a short stretch of tarmac past Florence iron ore mine and then a row of terraced houses, both on your right. Then you're off into the countryside.
From here on it's all trail.
Points to bear in mind:
There are gravel-road junctions not shown on all maps at 026108 just before Moss Dalts farm and 027110 just after the farm. Turn left at the first junction, (026108) which is a T junction, ride past the farm and then turn right at the second (027110)which is an offset crossroads (crosstrails really). If in any doubt, once past the farm, take the track furthest to the right and you won't go wrong!
Staying in the valley bottom, ignoring the climbs off to your left (although if you take them they all lead to the same place - so no problems), follow the trail past Uldale Farm (046122)to a forest/fire-road junction at 048124.
At this junction, GO THROUGH THE GATE, and continue along the valley bottom to Nannycatch Gate (056129) and turn RIGHT after the gate, along the singletrack. By this point you have joined the Coast to Coast walkers' path. Keep on climbing until you reach the tarmac fell road and turn left, down into Ennerdale Village... still on the walkers' route.
(If you turn left at Nannycatch Gate, along the marked bridleway, you'll still get to Ennerdale, though it involves a couple of extra miles on tarmac).
A couple of additional notes:
All of the riding is along bridleway or non-designated trails, not footpaths, so it's all legal.
A final note for the truly hardy who fancy even more off-road climbing and are heading for Black Sail Youth Hostel, or thereabouts. Turn right along the trail which runs parallel to the road at 060139 and follow for a couple of hundred yards. CROSS OVER THE ROAD and take the trail (all bridleway) which heads up the fellside. Keep on grinding. You'll cross a forest/fire-road around 078135. Take the steeper climb left, not the forest/fire-road which forks right. This takes you past Grike and Crag Fell. Then it gets a bit boggy before descending steeply (steep fellside rather than downhill trail) to the lake.
A final, final note for all. Having passed Ennerdale Water, at easting ref 130, cross over the River Lisa and take the forest/fire-road which takes you up the south side of the Lisa towards Black Sail. It's a bit more varied than the north side.
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The Top 5 Countries with the Most Coral Reef
Reef Area
km2 (square kilometres)
Percentage of World Total
1 Republic of Indonesia 51,020 17.95% Yes
2 Australia 48,960 17.22% No
3 Republic of the Philippines 25,060 8.81% Yes
4 France 14,280 5.02% No
5 Papua New Guinea 13,840 4.87% No
Coral reefs are one of the most diverse habitats on the planet. Although they occupy less than 0.1% of the world's oceans, they harbour between one and three million different species and represent some of the most biologically diverse ecosystems on Earth, providing critical habitat to approximately 25% of marine species. In addition, these ecosystems provide economic benefits through tourism and fisheries. One recent estimate valued the annual net economic benefits of the world's coral reefs at $30 billion. However, human activities including development in coastal areas, over-fishing, and pollution have contributed to a global loss of over 10% of these valuable ecosystems. An additional 15% have been lost due to warming of the surface ocean, and climate change will further contribute to coral reef degradation in the decades ahead. (a.)
The United States is the number one consumer of live corals and fish for the marine aquarium trade, and of coral skeletons and other dried animals for the curio and jewellery markets. American consumers are unknowingly contributing to the decline and degradation of coral reefs. As a major importer and world leader in both trade and coral reef conservation efforts, though, the U.S. can play a critical role in shaping conservation strategies, consumer awareness, and international trade policies. (b.)
"Coral reef" is a term used to describe both shallow limestone formations in tropical and subtropical waters and the biological communities that create them. Originally feared by mariners as a hazard to navigation, coral reefs are now valued for their beauty, biodiversity, and the products and services they provide to human society. (b.)
Authors Drs. Robert W. Buddemeier, Joan A. Kleypas, and Richard B. Aronson found in their report "Coral Reefs and Global Climate Change" that:
Increases in ocean temperatures associated with global climate change will increase the number of coral bleaching episodes.
Increases in atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) from fossil fuel combustion will drive changes in surface ocean chemistry.
The effects of global climate change will combine with more localized stresses to further degrade coral reef ecosystems.
Multiple environmental management strategies, from local to global, will be necessary to ensure the long-term sustainability of the world's coral reef ecosystems.
In northern Jamaica, it is estimated that almost all of the reefs are dead or severely degraded from overfishing and coastal runoff. Fish stocks have declined to a point where local fishers are now straining fish larvae out of the sea for fish soup. In the Philippines, degraded reefs and fish populations have led to an 18% decrease in the amount of protein in the average diet. Human impacts are also occurring on U.S. reefs, oftentimes for use as luxury items. For example, in Hawaii at Honaunau, the top ten aquarium fish species have decreased by 59% over the last 20 years, and at Kona the most popular aquarium fish show declines in abundance from 38 to 57%. Even under ideal conditions, it would take more than a lifetime for some reefs to recover. Asia and the Pacific coral reef system, which includes the world's two largest coral formations (the Great Barrier Reef and the New Caledonia Barrier Reef) and has the highest level of coral diversity in the world, has seen its extent of coral cover decline from 40 per cent in the early 1980s to approximately 20 per cent by 2003, partly owing to global-scale stressors such as climate change. (b.), (c.).
Top 5 facts sources:
Buddemeier, Robert W., Kleypas, Joan A., & Aronson, Richard B. (2004) Coral reefs & Global Climate Change: Potential Contributions of Climate Change to Stresses on Coral Reef Ecosystems. Retrieved December, 2010.
Best, B., Bornbusch, A. (2001). Global Trade and Consumer Choices: Coral Reefs in Crisis. Retrieved December, 2010.
United Nations Environment Programme. (2009). "State of Biodiversity in Asia and the Pacific." Retrieved December, 2010.
United Nations Environment Programme. (2001). World Atlas of Coral Reefs. Retrieved December, 2010.
Tags: Water, Threatened & Endangered Species, Top 5 Most
Sources: World Atlas of Coral Reefs. Image source: Wikimedia Commons (Copyrighted free use).
List Notes: Data is for the year 2009.
Related Top 5 Lists
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Outraged Bulgarians Launch Facebook Group Mocking Police
Society | October 31, 2012, Wednesday // 13:23| views
A picture from the Facebook group "Photograph a Policeman" shows a police patrol car parked at a handicap spot.
Bulgarians, outraged by the inactivity of the country's police, have launched a Facebook group "Photograph a Policeman" to collect discrediting information about the police authorities.
The news even made international headlines with the Russian news agency ITAR-TASS reporting that the group already has a number of damming pictures showing the policemen in embarrassing situations, such as parking on a handicap spot, using patrol cars for personal chores, stealing gasoline, drinking beer behind the wheel, playing cards when on duty, secretly dividing some money, and chatting in a friendly manner with a prostitute, among others.
The group was organized in the aftermath of the scandal, stirred by Kalinka Pencheva, official spokesperson of the police in the Bulgarian Black Sea city of Varna.
In July, Varna man Boyan Maximov took a picture of 3 police officers, apparently asleep in the patrol car, and spread it on social networks and later on TV, in what he says was a protest against the laziness and the incompetence of Bulgarian police.
In commenting on the case before bTV, Pencheva labeled Maximov "an idiot; a red neck idiot, who has nothing to do and is bored." Her comment provoked wide-spread indignation among the public and particularly in social networks, with demands for her dismissal.
The anger also skyrocketed over the fact Maximov insists that after publishing the picture he has been consistently harassed by the police with endless stops and fines on petty grounds, for example, not carrying an ID card when taking out the trash or walking his dog without a leash.
Pencheva was fired two days ago on the proposal of Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, and with the approval of Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, on grounds she had violated the Ethics Code of the police.
The group already has over 3 000 members, and they are expected to grow.
Meanwhile, Tsvetanov announced that the case "Maximov" has been concluded. He voiced gratitude about the picture of the sleeping policemen becoming public, but added he thought the whole affair has ended in the summer.
"Pencheva's comments were inappropriate and I fail to understand why she made them months after the incident," he said Wednesday in an interview for Nova TV. He stressed the Interior Ministry has acted coherently and with integrity in the case.
It also emerged that Maximov will be tried next month for inflicting bodily harm.
In the interview Tsvetanov reiterated the Varna man had been involved in criminal activities such as illegal drug possession and owning a dangerous dog, but rejected claims the police have targeted him.
Tags: Boyko Borisov, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Interior Minister, explanations, interrogated, policemen, duty, car, patrol, sleeping, officers, police, Varna, picture, discrediting, police, Photograph a Policeman, Facebook group, pictures, spokesperson, Kalinka Pencheva
Bulgaria: Authorities Detained a Police Officer while On Duty with more than 1.6 Promille of Alcohol
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Check out the students that were members of Collingswood Golf. Visit the registration page if you would like to be listed.
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There is a very simple way to help remember the order of the planets.
I'm not talking about a song or poem. There are a few of these, but then you're just memorizing a song instead of memorizing the order of the planets. You're still memorizing.
What I have in mind is a simple trick. It's a mnemonic device to help remember the order of the planets in our solar system.
Our solar system begins and ends with S-U-N.
The beginning is easy: The sun is in the middle.
But it also ends with S-U-N. The last three planets of the solar system are Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
Take the first letter of Saturn (S), Uranus (U), and Neptune (N), and you see how it ends with S-U-N.
As an astronomy teacher, I see firsthand that many (university!) students easily forget whether Uranus comes before or after Neptune, and whether Saturn comes before or after Jupiter.
I explain how the solar system both begins and ends with S-U-N. Students who remember this invariably get the order of the planets correct.
You naturally study the order of the planets from beginning to end. This way, students tend to learn the beginning better than the ending.
Also, earth is near the beginning (third planet from the sun). Since earth is the most familiar planet, it's easier to remember Venus and Mars because they are closest to the most familiar planet.
The biggest problem, in my experience, is how the solar system ends. Remember that it ends with S-U-N, and you'll know that the last three planets are Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
What happened to Pluto? Pluto turns out to be one of very many Kuiper Belt objects. There are many icy bodies in the Kuiper Belt, beyond Neptune, with comet-like compositions (in fact, many comets that we see from earth spend much of their time in the Kuiper Belt, or beyond that in the Oort Cloud). There is another belt, called the Asteroid Belt, filled with rocky bodies between Mars and Jupiter. Pluto is a large Kuiper Belt object, smaller than any planet. Pluto is one of the dwarf planets in our solar system. Pluto is not even the largest Kuiper Belt object. That honor belongs to Eris.
The Oort Cloud is a very large, spherical shape with occasional icy bodies that lies beyond the Kuiper Belt. The icy bodies that comprise the Kuiper Belt lie more in a plane that matches the solar system, whereas the Oort Cloud is spherical. The Oort Cloud is much wider than the Kuiper Belt.


Do your mornings need a makeover. Why not start your day with nachos (yes, nachos!)? Or pumpkin oat pancakes? French toast?
Many of the foods typically grown in the fall season are packed with nutrients.
When ranking the best things life has to offer, mac 'n cheese falls somewhere between puppies and cuddling.


A recent article in the South African newspaper Times Live reported that two poachers were sentenced to 29 years each in prison for killing a rhino and its calf in Kruger National Park. The severity of this sentence comes in reaction to the increasingly dire threat to the country's rhino population posed by the illegal wildlife trade.
According to WWF, there were 13 known cases of rhino poaching in South Africa during 2007, 83 cases in 2008, 122 in 2009, 333 in 2010, and 448 in 2011. At the current rate, the death toll of rhinos slaughtered by poachers may exceed 500 in 2012.
Wildlife crime throughout Africa and Asia poses an urgent threat to rhinos, elephants and tigers. With a global value estimated at $7.8 to $10 billion a year, the illegal trade in animal parts ranks right up there with drugs, arms, and human trafficking. In fact, the activities of international crime syndicates often encompass more than one of these areas.
Approximately 18,000 lbs of rhino horn is traded in Asia annually, with Vietnam as the main market. Ground and mixed with water or alcoholic beverages, it is believed to have powerful detoxifying properties, even to the extent of curing cancer. At extremely high prices, the trade in rhino horn caters to the wealthy and the most desperate.
While the South African judiciary is handing down more serious convictions as a deterrent to further poaching, international wildlife organizations are urging Vietnam to strengthen policing measures and penalties for those caught in illegal rhino horn trading, and to educate the public on the fallacy of ingesting animal parts to improve health. The turning point would be the universal appreciation for rhinos as the magnificent wild creatures they are, not as a perceived miracle cure for human ills.
Learn more about how you can get involved at WWF's Stop Wildlife Crime site.
Rhinos are magnificent creatures seen only in select places in Africa. Join Natural Habitat's Namibia Wildlife Safari, Kenya Migration Safari, or Secluded Tanzania Safari for a chance to view these amazing animals in the wild.


Written and directed by University of Michigan alum and writer on the former ABC series Detroit 1-8-7 Phonz Williams, Patty Cake is an eerie three minutes full of tension when Patty and her mother (Tiffany Snow and Tyler Lewis) can't seem to see eye to eye.
It's a solid short but suffers from pacing due to its time limit.
What I do dig about Patty Cake is its potential. I would love to see Williams develop this into something bigger. Patty Cake manages in a short time to bring up very universal themes between parents and their children while giving it a personal touch for Black women. This is the kind of stuff I remember being so enamored with in 80s horror. With some online mobilization, Patty Cake managed to win first place in the Create A 3 Minute Film, Hollywood Black Film Festival in 2014. And I think there's a brief scene shown from Abby. Nice call back!


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Studio Ghibli Is Not Dead Yet
Posted by Bryan | Aug 4, 2014 | News | 0
Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki recently said that his studio's demise was "inevitable." Today, there are quotes from Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki that are causing people to freak out, believing that the beloved animation house has decided to stop making films. People, stop freaking out. For now.
Because, really, why worry? Famed animator and Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki seems…Read more
Last night, Suzuki was profiled on MBS program Jounetsu Tairiku (情熱大陸). In one segment on the show, Suzuki discussed the future of Studio Ghibli, and made comments that are causing Japanese blogs and foreign sites to report that Studio Ghibli is closing down its production department.
The source for the story in English is a Ghibli fan Tumblr, which simply states that Toshio Suzuki "announces" the closure of Studio Ghibli. The Tumblr site has a series of images, featuring Suzuki and his comments. These comments, however, were not translated.
Catch the full report at Kotaku
PreviousStudio Ghibli closes its doors (temporarily)
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Art & Glamour
Mujib Barsho Celebration
Wednesday, January 20, 2021 ePaper
Tech Post
Wanderers could be my last home Test: Faf du Plessis
Published : 20 Jan 2020 07:30 PM | Updated : 05 Sep 2020 10:59 PM
Faf du Plessis has admitted that the fourth Test of the series against England at the Wanderers could be his final one on home soil, reports ESPN.
South Africa's captain has found himself under pressure after a difficult run which has seen his side lose consecutive Test series at home to Sri Lanka and in India, and now 2-1 down at home to England.
His returns with the bat have been underwhelming too. He has not made a Test hundred in over a year, and since the start of October's series in India, he has averaged 21.25, with 255 runs in 12 innings.
"I have committed until the T20 World Cup," said du Plessis. "There isn't a lot of Test cricket left this year: one massive Test where we need everyone to be as strong as possible, [and] afterwards there is quite a
big gap.
"I have said before, there is an opportunity to release some of the captaincy. Two Test matches in the West Indies [in July], and the rest of the year is white-ball stuff. Most probably after that, Test cricket will be something that won't see me.
"That's a decision I will make then. For me now it's to be as strong as possible."
Du Plessis said it was "a possibility" that the fourth Test at the Wanderers would be his last at home, but that "the worst thing a leader can do is pull the plug mid-series".
"I don't think that's what's leadership is about. I felt that the team has needed a leader to stand up and guide the ship through a difficult time.
"If you leave the team when they need you most, that's not my style. I have been under pressure a few times and I've played my best innings under pressure.
"I can't leave the team when they need me most. We are in a transition but I can't do it forever. It has been chipping away at your character. For now, that's what we need. I think it will make it worse if I say I'm out."
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I am writing to you to inform you about our move to our new Head Quarters (HQ) in The Netherlands.
At the beginning of June we moved into our new office at 3e Binnenvestgracht 23R, 2312 NR in the heart of Leiden. The move is more than just a change of address for ACCUCOMS, it is the start of a new chapter in our history.
We didn't just move into an ordinary office block. Our building is called New Energy! The building, dating 1941, is located in the historic mill of the former textile factory Clos & Leembruggen. It is also situated on top of the old Parrot stronghold, one of the historic defensive architecture of the 17th century fortified town of Leiden.
New Energy offers a creative business environment with many other communication companies such as Leidisch Dagblad (Leiden Daily). The west-wing where commercial companies reside is called "House of Communication'. The building also serves as a government project on its east-wing by offering housing to homeless people.
ACCUCOMS had a clear vision for its new HQ: It would be a building that embodied our values of trust, innovation, transparency and openness. Most of all, we wanted employees to feel engaged and inspired by the new surroundings.
We love it here and hope that all our customers and colleagues around the world will have a chance to visit us soon.
Here is to New Life and to New Energy!


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Going Forth: Dear Divine Daughters
By Margaret J. Sheffield ('23) in the Winter 2022 Issue
Sisters find women of the Bible.
Twin sisters Aubri Robinson (left) and Amber Corkin are passionate about teaching young girls the stories of Bible women. Photo by Brooke Whittaker.
"When my daughter was two weeks old, I held her and was overcome with the feeling that I was holding something divine," remembers Amber LeBaron Corkin (BS '14). Later that day while reading the scriptures, she suddenly felt a desire to share with her daughter the stories of women in scripture. Corkin called her twin sister, Aubri LeBaron Robinson (BS '13), who had an infant girl of her own, and shared the idea. Together, they immediately got to work.
Both mothers of three, Robinson and Corkin worked for several years to create a book they could give their children. "This was a very personal project for us," reflects Robinson, whose 6-year-old daughter had asked her, "Mom, how come there aren't any girls in the scriptures?" before the book was completed.
Illustration of Esther from the book Dear Divine Daughter. Image by Heather Ruttan.
As the sisters began researching women in the scriptures, they were surprised by how many stories they found. "Before this project," Corkin says, "we didn't even know that some of these women existed!" They ultimately narrowed their project down to the 34 Bible stories they found most inspirational and then picked multiple illustrators with distinct styles to emphasize the diversity of the Bible women. They called the book, published by Cedar Fort, Dear Divine Daughter: Inspiring Stories of Bible Women.
Now that the book is finished, the authors read the stories to their children at bedtime. "My daughters now love the women in the Bible," says Robinson. "As they turn the book's pages, they say, pointing, 'I get to be her!' or 'That one is my favorite!' One loves the story of the princess Michal, and the other Jochebed, who [loved] her baby so much."
The authors say working on this project gave them a new perspective on themselves and on women in general. "[This book] helped us realize that we have our God-given, divine characteristics, and we can make a difference," says Robinson." We are women of action, and our experience at BYU helped teach us to be just that."
SERVICE STORIES: In Going Forth Y Magazine shares stories of alumni making the world a better place by serving in their communities, congregations, and homes. Let us know when you see an alum going about doing good. Send your nominations (and any photos) to alumninews@byu.edu.
Going Forth: Giving 'Em the Boot
Pro soccer forward Ashley Hatch has created an organization that donates lightly used cleats to needy youth players.
Going Forth: A Mile in Their Shoes
An immigrant herself, Natalia Benjamin's Minnesota classroom is a safe haven for refugee and immigrant students.
Going Forth: City of Storms
Paul Solouki's love of service powers him through heat and mess while he cleans up after New Orleans's latest hurricane.


Energy and water systems face numerous challenges to resilience. These include technological and infrastructure vulnerabilities, institutional struggles, and supply-demand balance uncertainties. The interdependence of these systems can compound these challenges, particularly in communities facing severe energy and water insecurity. For instance, providing access to electricity can consume water to produce steam for power generation. It can pollute water with mining and power generation byproducts, and it also can alter aquatic habitats through water use, heating, and diversion. Providing access to clean water can use energy resources to divert flow and pump upstream. Water purification, desalination, and temperature control also use energy.
Highlighting the energy-water nexus as a critical area for future global growth and challenges, the 2016 IEA World Energy Outlook predicts that energy production will require more water due to the spread of advanced cooling technologies, as well as expanded biofuels, nuclear power, concentrated solar, and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). The report projects at least a doubling of the amount of energy used in the water sector by 2040, due to rising demand for desalination and wastewater treatment. This growing interdependence of energy and water systems can threaten the resilience of both. It also can offer opportunities to jointly improve both systems' resilience.
Absorption capacity barriers and high costs challenge the large-scale use of resiliency-enhancing technologies at the energy-water nexus. Newer technologies with reduced maintenance requirements and smaller scale applications offer solutions to concurrently improve clean water and electricity access. Hydropower micro-turbines provide one such solution. These turbines typically use the natural flow of water to produce 5 to 100 kW of electricity; pico-hydro systems produce less. Micro- and pico-turbines do not require large dams or other significant infrastructure that can increase greenhouse gas emissions, cost, and maintenance requirements. They do not consume or pollute water. This technology thus can overcome some of the challenges associated with trade-offs between water and energy system resilience.
Several types of hydropower micro-turbine technologies currently exist. Run of the river, small hydrokinetic turbines are available in various designs based on available flow and head. They require very little infrastructure to operate. However, since they rely on the natural flow from rivers, these turbines face limitations from seasonal or inconsistent flow. By contrast, in-pipe hydroelectric turbines can leverage storm water or drinking water system flow to promote potable water and storm water management, while concurrently bolstering local electricity supply. In-pipe turbines thus can simultaneously contribute to the environmental stewardship, sustainability, and resilience goals of storm water management and green power generation. However, these turbines require more infrastructure than run of the river turbines. Few options currently exist for in-pipe turbine technology, offering a market opportunity for innovation to address various challenges.
Successful application of hydropower micro-turbines requires understanding of the technical, ecological, geological, socio-economic, and institutional barriers to their use.
Examining existing projects reveals some of these barriers and potential solutions. Several U.S. pilots explore micro-turbine use in drinking water and storm water pipes, including Lucid Energy's projects in Portland, Oregon and Riverside, California. Some university projects use existing dams and weirs on rivers to produce power. Skidmore College, Notre Dame, and Bennington College serve as examples.
A number of international examples also offer lessons. One town's project in Japan's Kochi Prefecture uses irrigation flow to power turbines. A project in Sri Lanka uses run of the river turbines built, owned, and operated by the community through an electricity consumer society (ECS), a type of power cooperative.
These cases suggest several common barriers; the projects' designs also indicate some solutions. Technological barriers include a lack of technical knowledge needed for turbine and related equipment maintenance. Solutions include working with local partners to enable training and knowledge acquisition needed for long-term maintenance. Geographical barriers include the requirement of a reliable hydraulic head to keep turbines running, as well as erratic flow that poses technical challenges for conventional turbines. Solutions include development of turbines capable of harnessing both slow and rapid flow. Ecological barriers include physical and biological disruption of storm water management equipment. Solutions include regular turbine and pipe inspections and maintenance. Short-term socio-economic challenges include funding for construction of turbines and electricity production equipment. Long-term socio-economic barriers include turbine and related equipment maintenance and repair costs, as well as protection of turbine and electricity production infrastructure from theft and vandalism. Solutions include public-private partnerships and community ownership, education and employment. Finally, institutional barriers include lengthy, costly licensing processes, lengthy permitting processes, corruption, and community acceptance and support. Solutions, which overlap with those for other types of challenges, include local government support and community ownership, education and employment. Resolving energy and water system resilience challenges requires identification and resolution of all of these types of challenges.
Building on these collective lessons, a multidisciplinary project conducted by faculty from George Mason University's College of Science (COS) and Volgenau School of Engineering (VSE) develops a holistic assessment of barriers and potential solutions for hydropower micro-turbine use. The approach integrates energy and environmental policy with science, geography, mechanical engineering, water resources and environmental engineering, and international development. Seeded by a grant from COS, the project focuses on deployment in urban areas facing acute energy and water insecurity. The research team, led by Dr. Jennifer Sklarew of COS' Department of Environmental Science and Policy (ESP), includes ESP's Dr. Dann Sklarew; Dr. Paul Houser from COS' Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science; Dr. Colin Reagle from VSE's Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Drs. Viviana Maggioni and Celso Ferreira from VSE's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The project team also includes students in engineering, environmental science and policy, sustainability studies, physics, and global affairs.
The project tests three hypotheses. First, challenges to hydropower micro-turbine deployment vary by location. Second, institutional relationships can create, worsen, or mitigate these challenges, hindering or enabling turbine deployment. Third, addressing relationships and identifying solutions to challenges can enable hydropower micro-turbine features that foster energy and water system resilience.
To test these hypotheses and support micro-turbines' joint contributions to energy and water system resilience, the project team is first building and deploying two micro-turbines in storm water runoff pipes on George Mason University's Fairfax campus. Through the pilot, the team will identify any technical, geographical, ecological, institutional, and socio-economic challenges and assess potential solutions. The team will use the pilot's energy output to test and assess small-scale applications, such as emergency lighting and cell phone charging stations. An overseas pilot in a developing country will follow.
The project expects to find that institutional support plays a pivotal role in resolving the other types of challenges. Key institutional factors involve contributors to absorption capacity for the technology. These contributors include understanding and long-term commitment from local authorities and citizens; policy support; and overlap and differences within and between these two groups regarding energy and water priorities. This institutional support can foster solutions to technological, geographical, ecological, and socio-economic challenges. It can promote accurate assessments of geographical parameters that will enable technical solutions to variable or slow or low flow. It can encourage prioritization of potable water or storm water management in development of plans to deploy turbines. It can foster long-term financial stability and build community support for long-term operation and maintenance of the turbines and related equipment.
These findings will help to enable hydropower micro-turbines to play a key role in building resilience of local communities' energy and water systems. Findings from the U.S. pilot will be applied in a developing nation pilot to assess challenges and identify solutions for communities with limited resources.
Many less economically developed nations are striving to jointly improve access to safe drinking water and electricity. Many also struggle with management of storm water from seasonal flooding. These resilience goals can be perceived as conflicting. Hydropower micro-turbine technology can help to address this conflict, promoting clean water and electricity access, as well as storm water management. The Mason project's international pilot will aim to identify the necessary technological, geographical, ecological, institutional, and socio-economic features needed for deployment in communities facing severe energy and water insecurity. From these analyses, the project will generate best practices that will facilitate successful applications of micro-turbine technology even in these areas with the greatest electricity and water needs.
The Mason project team selected Ghana and India as potential candidates for the international pilot, based on these nations' solid progress in both electricity and drinking water access from 1990-2012. This advancement suggests that they may possess the institutional support for combined resilience-building across both systems.
During this period, Ghana increased electricity access from 24 percent to 63 percent of the population, while simultaneously increasing clean water access from 56 percent to 85 percent of the population. Ghana's government increased electricity and water access through separate initiatives. Electricity access improvements emerged from government-led initiatives for large-scale and small-scale grid connections. These include the government's 1989 Self-Help Electrification Programme (SHEP) to connect communities within 20 km of the existing network if these communities provide the voltage poles and a minimum number of households. Local advances came from NGO-led off-grid solar installations. The Ghanaian population's clean water access improved through use of groundwater technologies: boreholes, hand-dug wells, solar-powered water pumps, and community pipe systems.
During the same period, India's government implemented separate national-level initiatives that increased electricity access from 51 percent to 78 percent of the population, while concurrently increasing clean water access from 71 percent to 93 percent of the population. In 1989, the government introduced a single-point connection program for households below the poverty line. The Electricity Act of 2003 required the government to supply electricity to rural areas through grid extension and distributed generation. In 2005, the government implemented the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) rural electrification program, with the goal of providing all rural households with electricity access within five years. The government also employed national-level renewable energy projects, including large-scale wind power investment, family biogas plants, solar streetlights, solar lanterns, solar PV systems, and micro-hydro plants. The inclusion of micro-hydro plants as part of a national policy to improve electricity access signals that small-scale local projects for remote communities could receive institutional support. Arora, et al., cite the existence of "federal and state programs supporting small hydro as a means of supplying electricity to villages where providing access to the central grid is challenging." India's government improved clean water access through the Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission, implemented in 1991. This initiative focused on community participation. In 2005, the Bharat Nirman Program shifted from wells and boreholes to pipe systems to improve water cleanliness and expand access.
These programs and progress demonstrate Ghana's and India's commitment to cultivating energy and water system access and resilience. And yet, Ghana and India continue to face demographic, geographical, and economic challenges that inhibit their further advancement toward national and local level resilience in these systems. The Mason pilot in one of these countries can identify and test the parameters for successful hydropower micro-turbine projects in communities experiencing difficulty in achieving electricity and water access.
As nations across the globe strive to build energy and water system resilience, hydropower micro-turbines can offer a joint solution in certain contexts. National governments and local communities can benefit from a holistic perspective on lessons learned from existing projects. By identifying and addressing challenges in a developed nation pilot and a developing nation pilot, Mason's project will inform policies in both developed and developing nations. These pilots' deployment in a well-endowed community and a resource-constrained community also will enlighten a variety of local communities' efforts. The analyses of existing projects and the two pilots will generate lessons that can enable deployment even in communities experiencing the most severe water and electricity access, as well as limited resources and inadequate institutional capacity.
Building on 20 years of energy policy experience in the U.S. and Japanese governments and private sector, Dr. Jennifer Sklarew focuses her research on two areas: how institutional relationships and catastrophic events drive energy and climate policymaking; and integrative solutions to challenges at the energy-water-climate nexus. The Senior Fellow for Energy Policy at Mason's Center for Energy Science and Policy, she also teaches energy policy courses she developed for Mason's Environmental Science and Policy Department.
Dann Sklarew's research examines socio-ecological aspects of adaptive management of water-related natural resources at local through international scales. Building upon a career as an environmental consultant and United Nations/Global Environmental Facility project manager, Dr. Sklarew has been a sustainability leader, professor and practitioner at George Mason University since 2008.
 International Energy Agency, IEA World Energy Outlook (2016), https://www.iea.org/newsroom/news/2016/november/world-energy-outlook-2016.html.
 For more information, see LucidEnergy. http://lucidenergy.com/how-it-works/.
 Karen Kellogg and Caroline Hobbs, "A Case Study of Small Hydropower," The Solutions Journal 7, no. 1 (Mar. 2016): 46-54, https://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/article/a-case-study-of-small-hydropower/.
 Dennis Brown, "Notre Dame Finalizes Agreement to Construct Hydro Facility on St. Joseph River," Notre Dame News, Dec. 12, 2016, http://news.nd.edu/news/notre-dame-finalizes-agreement-to-construct-hydro-facility-on-st-joseph-river/.
 Jim Therrein, "Two Small Hydropower Sites Planned in North Bennington," VT Digger, Apr. 9, 2017, https://vtdigger.org/2017/04/09/two-small-hydropower-sites-planned-north-bennington/.
 Greenz.jp, "Micro-Hydro Power Picking Up Spead As More Rural Towns Want To Go Off-Grid," Treehugger, July 8, 2009, https://www.treehugger.com/clean-water/micro-hydro-power-picking-up-spead-as-more-rural-towns-want-to-go-off-grid.html.
 Kapila Subasinghe, "Grid Interconnection of Micro/Mini Hydro Mini-Grids: What Happens When the National Grid Arrives?,"Energypedia, Webinar presented on June 1, 2017, https://energypedia.info/wiki/Mini-grid_Webinar_Series#tab=2nd_Webinar:_Grid-Interconnection.
 The World Bank, "Access to Electricity", http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.ELC.ACCS.ZS?end=2012&page=5&start=1990; —, "Improved Water Source," http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.H2O.SAFE.ZS?end=2012&page=5&start=1990.
 Alix Clark, Mark Davis, Anton Eberhard, Katharine Gratwick, and Njeri Wamukonya, Power Sector Reform in Africa: Assessing the Impact on Poor People, Report Prepared by the Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2005), http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTAFRREGTOPENERGY/Resources/ESMAP_PowerSectorReform_in_Africa.pdf.
 United Nations Development Programme, 2012 Ghana Millennium Development Goals Report, http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/MDG%20Report%202012.pdf.
 World Bank, supra note 8.
 D.S. Arora, Sarah Busche, Shannon Cowlin, Tobias Engelmeier, Hanna Jaritz, Anelia Milbrandt, and Shannon Wang, "Indian Renewable Energy Status Report Background Report for DIREC 2010 NREL/TP-6A20-48948," (2010), http://www.ren21.net/Portals/0/documents/Resources/Indian_RE_Status_Report.pdf.
 Anita Nath,"India's Progress Toward Achieving the Millennium Development Goals," Indian Journal of Community Medicine 36, no. 2: 85–92 (2011), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3180952/.
 D.S. Arora, et. al., xi.
 Programme Evaluation Organization Planning Commission, Government of India, Evaluation Study on the Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission (Nov. 2010), http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/peoreport/peoevalu/peo_rgndwm.pdf.


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Home » News » News » Bridging gaps in radiotherapy support for cancer care
Bridging gaps in radiotherapy support for cancer care
On February 22, 2018 7:00 amIn Editorial, Newsby Emmanuel Okogba
RADIOTHERAPY is one of the major modalities of treatment and care for common cancers. On average, radiotherapy is recommended for 52 per cent of cancer patients. Inequality in access to prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care continues to make reducing premature deaths from cancer difficult.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, recognises that while at least 55 per cent of all cancers in Africa could respond to radiotherapy, radiotherapy is available to only five per cent of the African population.
The Union for International Cancer Control, UICC, says the biggest gap between radiotherapy machine availability and need in the world today is in Nigeria, a fact that is corroborated by the Society of Oncology and Cancer Research Nigeria, SOCRN. This is really another sad reminder that Nigeria is behind in most developmental indices.
A World Health Organisation, WHO, Cancer Country profile for Nigeria shows that radiotherapy is not considered generally available under the public health system. There are great inequities in access to radiotherapy services at the national and regional levels, coupled with shortage of trained personnel.
An equity gap case study on access to radiotherapy in Nigeria conducted by the IAEA's Directory of Radiotherapy Centres showed that there are only three functional radiotherapy machines in Nigeria.
This is equivalent to 0.016 radiotherapy machines per one million population compared to 1 to 250,000 population in the developed world. Worse still, a 2016 study of patients at the Radiation Oncology Department at University College Hospital, UCH, Ibadan in Oyo State, carried out by the IAEA, had observed that 80 per cent of patients were unable to afford radiotherapy without financial assistance.
Past attempts towards improving availability of equipment for cancer treatment include installation of radiation equipment in eight Federal Teaching Hospitals across the country.
In December 2017, the Federal Government announced a new machine for the Radiotherapy Department at the National Hospital, Abuja while a second machine is to be installed by June 2018 also at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH.
All this is but a drop in the ocean. Cancer in Nigeria has reached epidemic proportions and is increasing at an alarming rate. Quick and decisive action is required to make access to cancer management services more equal across the country if the goal of health for all is to be attained.
Nigeria should key into successful initiatives such as the widely acknowledged Africa Radiation Oncology Network, AFRONET, a pilot telemedicine project supporting professionals in radiotherapy centres within Anglophone Africa.
Nigeria needs to better implement curriculum to ensure quality control in radiotherapy centres. If there is to be progress in reducing premature cancer deaths, urgency is required in addressing the access, infrastructure and human resource gaps in delivering radiotherapy treatment to cancer patients in the country.
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