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Tag: Jakarta
North Jakarta: Kampung livelihood responses to infringing infrastructures
Post author By Sophie Webber
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'Maybe, it's okay for the big people [rich/elite] to live by the sea. But, for us [kampung residents], our rights have run out.'
–Interview with Kampung resident, 11 July 2017, Kampung Kerang Ijo.
For traditional fishing kampung (urban villages) along North Jakarta's coast, there have always been livelihood uncertainties. Residents daily manage how many fish they will catch or how much they will sell for. They monitor the sea for the ebb and flow of tides, knowing that coastal floods are both common and sudden. Yet, kampung residents face new uncertainties about how much longer their way of life may be viable, as they are squeezed out and overshadowed by mega-projects.
Kampung cluster between large developments, open spaces, rivers, and formalised housing throughout Jakarta. They are usually high density, and are hubs of informal economic activity. In addition to encroachment from the increasing spread of high rise developments, residents in the north of the city are also subject to urban transformations that are intended to mitigate flood risks. One of these projects is the Great Garuda Seawall Project (GGSW; see this recent post), a partnership between Dutch firms and Indonesian ministries to construct a giant seawall that will close Jakarta Bay with the expectation that this will protect the rapidly subsiding North Jakarta from sea-level rise and floods. The sea wall is coupled with plans for thousands of hectares of land reclamation and subsequent property developments that will serve the city's elite.
Land reclamation projects have created significant environmental degradation in the bay and along the North Jakarta coast, at great cost to kampung residents. For example, fishing and green mussel cultivation practices in Kampung Kerang Ijo (see above map) have been irreversibly damaged. As stated by one fisherman, 'Since reclamation, instead of four miles, I have to go eight miles…And of course, the quality and result is way less than before reclamation, the sea has been disturbed'. Flood mitigation developments also bring with them the threat of eviction. In 2016 alone, the then-Governor oversaw the eviction of more than five-thousand families and businesses in his campaign to crack down on 'illegal' settlements. Many of these evictions took place in riverside or coastal kampung communities, similar to Kampung Kerang Ijo. The justification for these evictions is often flood mitigation efforts or public works to improve traffic conditions.
Fishmonger dries gutted fish outside Kampung Tembok Bolong.
Infrastructure projects, such as the Great Garuda Sea Wall, are pursued in the name of urban resilience, claiming to protect Jakarta from the physical threat of flooding along the city's rivers and northern coast. But these projects are also part of the spatially fragmented and intensely unequal process of remaking Jakarta as a global city. As described by Abidin Kusno, Jakarta has become a 'project' city, defined by leapfrogging developments in profitable sites that leave behind pockets of unprofitable areas to survive or die on their own. North Jakarta is a battleground in this process. Political and economic elites want to remake the city and its residents as modern and resilient through large infrastructure projects and urban green space, in a process labelled by Kusno as 'green governmentality'. Flood-prone areas of the city, like North Jakarta, were in the past seen as undesirable spaces, leaving kampung residents scope to eke out their livelihoods on the margins. Now, these Northern areas of the city are becoming attractive to middle and upper-class Jakartans as these infrastructure projects and modern apartment and mall developments promise ecological security. These transformations bump up against kampung residents' everyday livelihood practices and homes.
New malls encroach upon kampung and fishing infrastructure.
In general, the scholarly literature about resilience and adaptation assumes that residents manage risks and uncertainties from environmental threats within the constraints of their adaptive capacities. In Jakarta, residents must contend with how the state chooses to respond to these environmental threats or uses these threats for their own objectives.
Kampung residents do not only watch as these elite projects come increasingly close to their homes and destroy their communities, however. Kampung residents use collective strategies and social infrastructures to rebuild and maintain their livelihoods and home spaces in the face of these shocks. Kampung residents work to deflect and rework these political interventions through their everyday activities of working, living and organising in the city.
Forming inter-kampung alliances based on shared livelihoods and maritime identities is one form of strategising in North Jakarta. Residents in Kampung Kerang Ijo, for example, have mobilised and connected with other kampung across Jakarta to protest land reclamation and evictions. Groups involved in these protests include traditional fishing associations, community fishing groups, fisherman wives' associations and kampung community groups. These coalitions have formed due to speculation that mega-infrastructure projects, such as GGSW and river dredging, will lead to more large-scale evictions or obstructions.
Wall construction near Kampung Tembok Bolong
Residents in Kampung Kerang Ijo and Tembok Bolong have also pursued a political contract to protect their neighbourhoods from eviction and provide protections for street vendors and livelihood transitions for becak (pedicab) drivers. Two urban poor alliances based in Jakarta, the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) and Urban Poor Network (JRMK), brokered this political contract, which was conditional on delivering polling booth wins to the current gubernatorial team, Anies Basweden and Sandiaga Uno (Anies-Sandi) during the April 2017 election. The alliances can pool resources from different kampung and scale up their concerns through larger protest actions. But, it still remains unclear if Anies will honour election promises to freeze the land reclamation project in coastal areas: one month after taking office he has already recommenced riverside dredging projects across Jakarta.
In addition to forming new alliances that build social infrastructures across Jakarta, residents also rework physical infrastructures. In Kampung Tembok Bolong, the GGSW is not the only wall causing consternation and disruption to fishing practices. The North Jakarta local government has constructed two additional inland tidal flooding dykes near the kampung in the past year. These cleave access to the Muara Angke port area, where many residents work in fishing, fish mongering, or selling snacks to port workers. As with other large infrastructures, this project occurred with no prior community consultation and attempts to negotiate with the Maritime and Fisheries Authority were unsuccessful. After this failure, residents in the kampung built their own access door and bridge over an adjacent drainage canal to access the port more easily. Residents pursued this action because accessing the port by an alternative road would require both extra time and costs (for motorbike petrol). This involved speculation that creating a small passageway door was unlikely to be noticed by authorities or strategically placed to not cause issues with water flowing into the kampung. This action was considered a best-case workaround as residents were dubious any formal infrastructure upgrade would improve access to the port area for them.
Photo of 'mini door' to port
Infrastructures to prevent flooding are critically important, especially in a warming world. But they are linked to real estate developments for political and economic elites in Jakarta at the expense of kampung communities. For residents in Kampung Kerang Ijo and Tembok Bolong, their livelihoods not only depend on having rights to the city, but, crucially, a right to coastal access. Many kampung residents come from rural coastal kampung, and living close to the sea evokes strong memories and emotions. Equally, it is an economic necessity for those who fish, cultivate mussels and shell in these communities. Infrastructure in these communities is scarce, but when implemented, it exists for the amenity of middle- and upper- class Jakartans, while destroying traditional practices and threatening to displace kampung communities from North Jakarta. And, the so-called 'big people' drown out the voices of kampung residents when it comes to city-planning and infrastructure creation. Mobilisations in both Kampung Kerang Ijo and Tembok Bolong demonstrate the urban poor do not accept incursions silently, and have the capacity to form network responses to city development.
Brittany Betteridge and Sophie Webber, School of Geosciences, The University of Sydney
Tags Flooding, infrastructure, Jakarta, Kampung, Sea Level Rise, Urban, Urban Political Ecology
The politics of flood mitigation in Jakarta
Post author By Emma Colven
No Comments on The politics of flood mitigation in Jakarta
Jakarta is marked by a paradox: the city suffers from both too much and too little water. During monsoon season, heavy precipitation strains the network of canals and waterways that weave through Jakarta's urban fabric, threatening to overwhelm the city. Rivers swell, sometimes inundating housing constructed along their banks. Water collects in roads, bringing the city's traffic to a halt.
During the dry season, meanwhile, the city struggles to provide surface water to its residents. In the absence of a sufficient piped water supply, residents purchase water from vendors or bottled water at inflated prices, and extract shallow groundwater using wells. Public buildings, hotels, and industries meanwhile often pump deep groundwater. This is where water supply connects to flooding: groundwater extraction has contributed to rapid rates of subsidence making Jakarta one of the fastest sinking cities in the world. This has exacerbated the risk of flooding from the sea. The city's sea wall now sits only inches above the current water level. Subsidence also makes it increasingly challenging to channel floodwaters through canals and into the sea, necessitating the use of pumping stations.
The sea wall at Pluit, North Jakarta in October 2015
Flooding and flood mitigation have become highly politicized issues in Jakarta, particularly as Indonesia's civil society has expanded since the fall of Suharto. The support of the public can be won and lost on promises made and unfulfilled to solve Jakarta's flooding. Ahok, Jakarta's previous governor (2014-2017), earned himself a reputation early on as a man that got things done, making him popular with the middle class. Meanwhile, the city's urban poor and anti-eviction activists came to regard Ahok as a ruthless politician due in part to his aggressive eviction policy. During his time in office, Ahok oversaw the high profile evictions of Kampung Pulo along the Ciliwung River and publicly blamed the residents of informal riverbank settlements for flooding.
A narrative that places blame squarely on riverbank settlement residents, however, ignores the role of the urban development of water catchment areas (which violate the city's spatial plan) in exacerbating flooding. This illustrates the unstable distinctions between formality and informality in Jakarta. While world class shopping malls and luxury apartment buildings are "granted amnesty," to use Asher Ghertner's phrasing, those settlements that do not meet these aesthetic codes (informal settlements) are labeled as illegal, and treated as such.
Normalization of the rivers with concrete embankments
The state's response to flooding is characterized largely by large-scale engineering projects, in step with Dutch interventions during the colonial era. The city has sought to implement a number of what Maria Kaika and Erik Swyngedouw refer to as "technical fixes" to the threat of flooding. In recent years, the city has undertaken a project of normalisasi (normalization), partly funded by the World Bank, in an attempt to alleviate flooding from the rivers. This involves the dredging and widening of the city's rivers and reservoirs. Realization of these projects has been used to justify the forced evictions of residents from their settlements along the banks of the city's rivers and reservoirs. NGOs and residents have sought to mobilize against these evictions, which marginalize those already disproportionately impacted by flooding. These contestations demonstrate the close interconnections between concerns about housing and tenure rights, and flood mitigation.
Dredging work at Waduk Pluit, September 2014
As an alternative to large-scale evictions to facilitate river-dredging projects, community organization Ciliwung Merkeda have advocated for in-situ upgrading and have developed their own designs for kampung housing. These plans envision an alternative (and less binary) relationship with flooding, for example by designing buildings that can flood, and by increasing residents' interactions with the river to foster a sense of stewardship.
Also reflective of the city's preference for concrete-heavy projects is the plan for Great Garuda Sea Wall (GGSW) project, currently under consideration by the Indonesian government. Designed by a consortium of Dutch firms in collaboration with several Indonesian ministries, the ambitious master plan proposes the construction of a giant sea wall to enclose Jakarta Bay, transforming it into a freshwater reservoir. Pumping stations will facilitate the flow of the rivers into the ocean. The project will be funded through private-public partnerships: extensive land reclamation, property development and a new toll road are envisioned as adding value and enabling cost recovery.
Sunda Kelapa, North Jakarta.
Critics contend that if implemented the GGSW project could displace the coastal and fishing communities that have long occupied the northern area of the city. The city has already begun to forcibly evict communities residing in unplanned settlements in coastal areas as part of its urban revitalization plans.
Graffiti reads Hey Ahok, kembalikan rumah & hak kami (translates as "Hey Ahok, give us back our homes and our rights"). Kampung Akuarium, Penjaringan, North Jakarta, August 2016. Residents were forcibly evicted in April 2016.
As Kaika and Swyngedouw argue: "Whether we depict nature as a thing 'out there', to be saved, or as a frontier to be conquered or ignored, it becomes imperative to ask questions about what visions of nature and what urban socio-environmental relations we wish to inhabit […] What issues and whose voices are being silenced and who or what has the right to speak and to be heard?" As the contested landscape of flooding and flood mitigation illustrates, adaptation planning raises questions of socio-environmental justice: who will be protected against environmental threats? Whose bodies, livelihoods, and homes are regarded as collateral necessary to secure the majority? Whose urban-environmental imaginaries are prioritized, and whose are denied legitimacy?
The politics of flood mitigation in Jakarta points to contestations over who gets to decide how the city will approach, manage, and live with nature (in the form of flooding) into the future. Like Jakarta, many coastal mega-cities now face the question of how to respond to the challenges of continued urbanization and climate change. Rising seas, the increased intensity and frequency of weather events, and water scarcity necessitate that we question dominant conceptualizations of human-nature relationships, and reimagine the relationship between urban and environmental processes. In Jakarta, this process is already underway.
Tags Climate change, Jakarta, Sea Level Rise, Urban Political Ecology


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Healthcare Industry News: Vertiflex
Devices Orthopaedic Neurosurgery Personnel
News Release - September 22, 2008
VertiFlex Strengthens its Executive Management Team
SAN CLEMENTE--(HSMN NewsFeed)--Vertiflex, Inc., a private medical device company focused on developing percutaneous, minimally invasive and motion preservation products for disorders of the spine, announced today important additions to the executive management team:
Jack Carlson, appointed Vice President, U.S. Sales
Scott Lynch, appointed Vice President, Global Marketing
William Joseph, appointed Vice President, Operations
Earl R. Fender, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are pleased to have attracted individuals with such caliber into the Vertiflex organization. Their past experiences, specifically in spine, make them highly qualified to lead our developing company through its next phase of growth."
Jack Carlson brings to Vertiflex over 25 years of experience in the medical device industry. Mr. Carlson's responsibilities will include leading the U.S. distribution channel and strategy development, and to continue the growth of the company's revenue and customer base in the United States. Prior to joining Vertiflex, Mr. Carlson held the following positions at DePuy Spine, a Johnson & Johnson company: Area Vice President, Sales; Vice President, Strategic Accounts; and Vice President, U.S. Sales. As Vice President, U.S. Sales, Mr. Carlson managed a distribution network of over 500 sales representatives that resulted in revenue in excess of $600M. Mr. Carlson has extensive experience in leading both independent and direct sales forces.
Scott Lynch brings to Vertiflex over 15 years of medical device experience. Mr. Lynch's responsibilities will include developing the company's marketing strategy and assisting with the overall direction of the company. Prior to joining Vertiflex, Mr. Lynch served as the Vice President of Global Marketing at Northstar Neuroscience, a medical device company developing neurostimulation implants to treat neurological disorders. Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Global Marketing at Zimmer Spine, the world's largest orthopedic company. While at Zimmer, Mr. Lynch successfully developed a global strategy for sales and marketing efforts, overseeing numerous product launches of medical devices for treating spinal disorders. Prior to Zimmer Spine, he held product management positions at other medical device companies, such as Urologix, Inc. and SCIMED Life.
William Joseph brings to Vertiflex over 26 years of experience in operations. Mr. Joseph's responsibilities will include leading and managing the operational functions of the company while guiding the team towards operational excellence. Prior to joining Vertiflex, Mr. Joseph served as the Vice President of Operations for Innovative Spinal Technologies, a medical device company. Prior to that, he was the Director of Operations at Nuvasive, Inc., one of the leading medical device companies in the spine industry.
"The addition of these three team members continues to build on the successes that Vertiflex has achieved thus far. Scott Lynch's many years of experience in strategic marketing at one of the leading medical device companies will help us build a competitive edge in the market place. Jack Carlson's experiences in building sizable businesses make him highly qualified to lead our developing sales force, and William Joseph's expertise will enable us to meet the needs of our customers," remarked Mr. Fender.
About Vertiflex
Founded in 2005, Vertiflex, Inc. is a privately held venture-backed medical device company headquartered in San Clemente, California and operating in both the U.S. and globally. The company is dedicated to the development and advancement of minimally invasive and motion preservation technologies for disorders of the spine. The company recently completed a $28 million Series C round of equity financing led by New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA). Also participating in the financing were existing investors, Alta Partners, Aberdare Ventures, and Morgenthaler Partners. For more information, please contact Kathryn Larson, Marketing Manager at info@Vertiflexspine.com or 949-940-1400.
Source: VertiFlex
Search: VertiFlex

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Fountains make not only a sound pleasing to the ear but also are responsible for air hydration. This significant element of urban architecture is often seen in many cities. How to arrange such important space? Take advantage of the Flower Towers and set them to accentuate the beauty of the reservoir in the most interesting way. Properly chosen decorations draw attention to aesthetic values of a fountain and also provide greenery to your city.
The Flower Towers are made from hot-dip galvanised steel so they are resistant to corrosion.
Standing individually in the corners, in a row or in mixed groups – the various decorative Flower Towers arrangements allow to accentuate values of each fountain.
Water is a natural element in the heart of the city full of concrete and greyness. Add some flowers and thanks to our constructions create the best surroundings for an urban fountain.
Adjust the model to the size of a fountain. A small but modern reservoir, just like the one in Żary, has been decorated with H1200 models. Huge constructions like H200 or H2400 are better for the bigger objects.


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Media Must Raise, Not Lower The Bar For Palin For Thursday's Debate
Right now, as we speak, Sarah Palin is dropping off the radar… intentionally.
The governor is being sequestered at one of the seven estates in the McCain family stable, a rancho in Arizona, where the Republican presidential aspirant and his top aides are going to begin a systemic brainwashing that is supposed to produce a somewhat more articulate, politically savvy Sarah Palin for the Vice Presidential Debate against Joe Biden on Thursday, October 1, 2008.
Already the lemmings, sorry, pundits and journalists, are lowering the bar for sad Sarah to crawl across.
Her recent performances have been derided by the media, have been the source of calls by Republican pundits like Kathleen Parker for her to step aside, and have been the fodder of Saturday Night Live, where Tina Fey got big laughs by memorizing the candidate's Katie Couric ramble and dropping it into her parody during last Saturday night's opening sketch. Even the latest edition of the New Yorker sports a cover mocking McCain's V.P. pick.The spin of the week that seems to be rising from the press corps is that all of this mockery and slamming of Sarah works in her favor for this week's VP debate.
The bar has been dropped so low, regurgitates [insert your talking head here] from the talking points of some Republican operative who has been putting this buzz out there, that Sarah has little more to do than not fall directly on her face, or giggle hysterically when someone asks her if Gore V. Bush is a supreme court case or the name of a porn actor.
Let's raise the bar.
If Joe Biden puts on the kid gloves Thursday to avoid looking "mean" to poor Sarah, then he is no less sexist than the old white men who decided to drop her into the race in the first place.
He should treat her no differently than if his friend and colleague Joe Lieberman was standing over there, or Tom Ridge, or Christine Whitman, or even the gal who works down at the Capitol Laundry and made it through two rounds on Jeopardy!
To keep this debate from being a sham, he has to be fair, but get tough enough to showcase Palin's weaknesses.
Last Friday's presidential debate may not go down in the annals of these contests as one of the greats for quips, but it was a hotly contested, no-holds-barred exercise that clearly demonstrated for all to see the character of both Barack Obama and John McCain, if nothing else.
Governor Palin will need to stand up and give her contest with Biden everything that she has got, even if it isn't very much.
In that famed tape of her discussing the treatment of Hillary Clinton, she said that a female candidate should do no less. So I'm going to raise the bar to the level that she set it at.
Is it any wonder that the Republican spin machine is working hard to make her modest accomplishment of not screwing up a point of victory? It is a mirror of the spin that the Obama camp did, and should not have done, to cover bets in case Obama did not shine against the more "experienced" foreign policy expert McCain.
Obama not only held his own, but McCain, as I pointed out in a prior blog, laid an egg on foreign policy when his only real proposal was to create a democratic League of Nations, the Fantastic Four of politics beating up on bad guys and having lunch with Batman and the other Super Friends in the bat cave.
Anyone who hits the stage here has earned, by election or by pick of those elected, the inalienable right to be fed to the wolves. The governor probably has shot one or two. While the Republicans are going to complain that it is their media cousins returning the favor, sad Sarah can implode all on her own.
This not a historic match-up like Mohammed Ali and Joe Frazier. It is more like Ali and Little Orphan Annie.
The Governor of Alaska will take her mayoral term and her half-term as Alaska's Chief Executive and Russian early warning system and enter the ring with Joltin' Joe Biden, who has helmed two of the most powerful committees, Judicial and Foreign Affairs, in the United States Senate.A pivotal figure in the 9/11 hearings, Biden oozes so much gravitas that he could probably lend Mrs. P. a cup if she came next door from her lectern and asked.
Some pundits are advising the McCain campaign to let Sarah be Sarah, the affable, sweet-yet-tough hockey mom whose refreshing spunk and common sense will show up those rascals in D.C. and the always-biased liberal media elite, the bogeymen of the right-wing chat set.
In the war room of the campaign though, that will not set well. They will want to cram Palin's head full of factoids to make her look smarter standing toe-to-toe with Biden. They will brief her on campaign talking points to make sure that she does not accidentally agree again with Barack Obama, and flush all of that quality sniping that McCain has been doing about Obama's inexperience down the drain.
It is all putting cue cards under the nose of a pig, to mutilate the old adage that has become the "Where's the Beef" of 2008.
You can fill the governor's head full of wonderful talking points about pork barrel spending, have her deliver with delicious irony tomes about the inexperience of Obama, and pull out the batons for that patriotic yarn that right-leaning voters love about the duty to spread freedom to the freedom lovers of the world.
At the end of the day, though, a time period that Mr. McCain likes to harangue voters about, my friends, inarticulate is still inarticulate.
Mrs. Palin is a lovely woman, and may even be a very able governor for her state, but, if the recent interviews that the McCain campaign has allowed her to do are any indicator, she is ill-informed, inexperienced in life outside Alaska, foreign affairs, and the national economy. Even Mr. Scott could not use the U.S.S. Enterprise's transporter to beam her the light years across the galaxy that she would need to catch up upon to be ready for the Thursday night debate.
In a United States where George W. Bush has driven the ship of state on to an iceberg turned loose by global warming, the media's failure to hold Sarah Palin up to the same standards as any other vice presidential candidate, particularly as she is the back-stop to the man who would be the oldest first-termer in modern history, would be an act of gross irresponsibility.
If Sarah can't stand up, then she should sit this one out.
Permanently.
About Brian Ross
Brian Ross is a writer, screenwriter, political satirist, documentarian, filmmaker and chef. Ad hoc, ad loc, quid pro quo... so little time. So much to know!
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This entry was posted on September 30, 2008 by Brian Ross in 2008, Campaign 2008, Democrats, Huffington Post, Joe Biden, Media, Off The Bus, Republicans, Sarah Palin and tagged 2008 Vice Presidential Debates, Barack Obama, Biden, Brian Ross, Debate, Home News, Joe Biden, Joe Biden Vice President, John McCain, Mccain, Media, Media Bias, Media Censorship, Media Coverage, Media Self-Censorship, Presidential Debates, Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin Vice President, Vice President, Vice Presidential Candidates, Vice Presidential Debate, Vice Presidential Debates.
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KC Healthy Kids is proud to be a part of Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art's Fourth Annual Block Party. We'll be there helping artist Chico Sierra with sidewalk chalk games and giving away sidewalk chalk and game instructions. Come see us!
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art invites everyone to a FREE evening filled with food, fun, festivities, friends and film—it's the fourth annual Summer Block Party.
Kemper Museum docents will welcome gallery-goers throughout the evening and answer questions about works currently on display. The Museum Shop will join in the art-filled-festivities by hosting "Pop Up at the Museum Shop: Block Party Edition" where visitors can explore locally-made jewelry, ceramics, textiles and more.
There will be artmaking activities both indoors and outdoors, and at sundown (approximately 8:30 p.m.) everyone will be encouraged to find a spot on the Museum Grounds for this year's outdoor film screening of the 1984 hit, The NeverEnding Story.
Enjoy a bite to eat at some of Kansas City's favorite food trucks, including Jerusalem Cafe, Kona Ice, and KC Smoke Burgers stationed on the North side of Kemper Museum. Come early and enjoy complimentary items for a limited time. Café Sebastienne will host a cash bar with ice cold beer, wine, and cocktails available for sale.
Indoors: Enjoy an all-ages art-making activity inspired by the new Atrium installation by Paul Henry Ramirez. Choosing between a circular base or small canvas, add circles, circles, and more circles from a variety of materials to create your mixed media masterpiece!
Outdoors: Chico Sierra's expressive line work and bold colors reflect his sense of blurred borders and the cultures he experienced while living in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Germany and the Philippines. He'll be on-site for this year's Block Party, drawing and teaching chalk games from around the world, sponsored in-part by KC Healthy Kids. Through advocacy and youth programs, KC Healthy Kids rallies the people in our schools and communities to improve access to affordable fresh food and safe places to walk and play.
Now an annual tradition taking place as part of the Summer Block Party, the Kemper Museum Shop is excited to host area artists for "Pop Up at the Museum Shop: Block Party Edition" beginning at 6:00 p.m. Participating artists include: Cheryl Eve Acosta, copper and enamel jewelry; Jordan Crozier, hand-dyed silk scarves; Evie Englezos, ceramic pots, cups and jewelry; Anthony Pack, small sculptures; Gary Rockhold, printed pillows; Manda Wylde, ceramic jewelry. Museum members will receive DOUBLE their discount storewide, ranging from 20-40% off! Not a member yet? Join now online or in-person at the Shop to help keep the Museum free for everyone all year long.
Worlds Otherwise Hidden features the work of three international artists who interpret the complexities—both beautiful and challenging—of cultures shaped by migration, immigration, displacement and exile. Nevin Aladağ (b. 1972), Kimsooja (b. 1957) and Nari Ward (b. 1963) combine and transmute specific objects, designs and symbols from divergent cultural contexts in their video and sculptural installations. They explore issues of fractured geography, creating new space for dialogue and revealing worlds otherwise hidden.
Flaw(less) explores themes of identity, stereotypes and perception across cultures in works from the Kemper Museum Permanent Collection, curated by the Kemper Teen Arts Council. These works, dating from 1920-2013, present an opportunity to consider our shared experiences in the ways we present ourselves, how we are perceived and what we may consider to be flaws in our appearance as we are subjected to the gaze of others through generations.
Water Music, an exhibition of works from the Permanent Collection of Kemper Museum, is inspired by the poem "Water Music" by American poet and feminist literary critic Sandra M. Gilbert. The poem describes qualities of water—clear, shapeless, changing—and its connection to our bodies. Just as the words of Gilbert's poem elicit water's connection to people, the paintings on view expand on water's presence in the landscape. Both poem and paintings engage perception, particularly how we may see ourselves reflected in the world around us, and how water can be a metaphor for the fluidity of life.
Kathy Butterly: For its participation in Open Spaces: A Kansas City Arts Experience, Kemper Museum presents a combination of new and older works by New York-based artist Kathy Butterly. Since the early 1990s, Butterly (b. 1963) has created distinctly evocative sculptures that contribute to and expand upon the tradition of studio ceramics. Through her practice, Butterly engages with concepts ranging from scale, materiality and line to the history of the handmade vessel.
Sweet On is a site-responsive installation by Texas-born, New Jersey-based artist Paul Henry Ramirez. Over the past two decades Ramirez has embraced beauty in his art and has sought to bring joy to those who view it. In 2010, Paul Henry Ramirez coined the term biogeomorphic abstraction to describe his own bold style, a fusion of biomorphic and geometric forms. In his site-specific installations, Ramirez approaches architectural space as an empty canvas pushing the boundaries of painting and how the viewer experiences it. Sweet On is the third in a series of commissioned atrium projects, and will be on view August 17, 2018–July 28, 2019.


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De doop is een van de belangrijkste dagen in het leven van de Grieks orthodoxen. Het sacrament van de doop geschiedt gewoonlijk in het eerste jaar van het leven van de baby. Tot de doop wordt het kind moro (baby) genoemd, het krijgt bij de doop pas zijn of haar naam.

In de kerk wordt voor de doop de baby helemaal uitgekleed en in een handdoek gewikkeld. Dan zegent de priester het water van het doopvont en voegt olijfolie toe, dat door de doopouder (nonos of nona) is meegebracht.

Daarna dompelt hij de baby drie maal onder in het gezegende water, terwijl hij de gekozen naam van het kind zegt. De baby ontvangt het sacrament van de priester. De priester zegent de baby met "myrrh", olijfolie die gezegend is door de Patriarch. Ook de nieuwe kleertjes van de baby worden hiermee gezegend.

Vervolgens wordt de baby aangekleed in de feestelijke nieuwe kleding en de priester hangt een gouden ketting met een kruisje om het nekje van de baby. Dit kettinkje wordt volgens traditie door de peetouder gekocht, evenals de kleertjes van de dopeling. Dan ontvangt de baby de eerste heilige communie van de priester. Aan het einde van de ceremonie kussen de ouders de hand van de peetouders en ontvangen de wensen van de gasten. "Na sas zisei": een lang en goed leven voor jullie baby.

De ceremonie wordt gevolgd door een feestje bij de familie thuis of in een restaurant.

Oosters-orthodoxe sacramenten en gebruiken

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Star Columnists
St. Catharines vet case underscores weakness of Canada's animal cruelty laws: Walkom
Alleged puppy-bashing veterinarian had charges dropped on a technicality.
By Thomas WalkomNational Affairs Columnist
Mon., Nov. 20, 2017timer3 min. read
updateArticle was updated Nov. 21, 2017
How far have we come in protecting animals? Based on money spent in the pet industry, you might be forgiven for thinking we have come a long way.
Many owners spend handsomely on their dogs, cats and other pets. They feed them special diets, arrange to have them walked and in some cases take them each day to pet daycare.
But as the long and torturous case of a St. Catharines veterinarian shows, in areas where it counts we have not come far at all.
The story of Dr. Mahavir Rekhi began five years ago when surveillance video in his Skyway Animal Hospital captured images of him appearing to abuse animals in his care.
In one video, later aired on CTV, he appears to be swinging a cat under anesthetic against a cupboard.
In another, he appears to be choking a 6-pound Chihuahua and banging it against a table.
In yet another he appears to be beating a puppy on the snout with metal clippers.
Those who worked for him weren't exactly sure what to do. They knew they could lodge a complaint with the College of Veterinarians of Ontario, which is charged with overseeing the profession. But they also knew that the college would never act against Rekhi without hard evidence.
So in 2012 and 2013, some began to collect videos of their boss at work. In 2014, they submitted 12 damning videos to the college as part of a formal complaint.
Professional colleges exist to ensure their members meet appropriate standards. That is their stated raison d'être.
But in reality, they also exist to protect those members.
For whatever reason, it took the veterinarians' college two years to deal with Rekhi's case. In July 2016, he agreed to plead guilty to charges of professional misconduct. A month later, the college announced his penalty.
He would not lose his licence for abusing animals in his care. Instead, he would have it suspended for 10 months (later reduced to six after he took lessons in animal restraint techniques).
He would pay a $10,000 fine to the college and face three unannounced inspections each year for two years.
Otherwise, he was deemed fit to practice.
The employees (now former employees) who had laid the complaint were outraged. They called it a whitewash.
On Sept. 14, 2016, CTV aired the damning videos. On Sept. 15, the animal rights group Animal Justice filed a formal complaint against Rekhi with both the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Niagara Falls Humane Society.
Somewhere along the line, Kevin Strooband, an officer of the OSPCA and of the Lincoln County Humane Society opened an investigation.
This June, Rekhi was charged with eight counts of causing unnecessary pain and suffering to an animal and eight counts of failing to provide suitable and adequate care for an animal.
Five years after it began, it seemed that this case was finally on its way to the courts.
But the world of animals in law is rarely straightforward. Earlier this month, the Crown announced it was dropping all charges on a technicality.
This technicality, according to the Crown, was that the OSPCA had launched its investigation before formally receiving a complaint.
Believe it or not, the province's glacially paced animal welfare agency was accused of acting too precipitously.
Did the investigation in fact precede a formal complaint? Strooband told the St. Catharines Standard that he did receive a complaint from one of Rekhi's customers. He also said he was notified about the alleged abuse by the media.
Camille Labchuk, executive director of Animal Justice and herself a lawyer, points out that she made a formal complaint to the OSPCA the day after CTV aired the Rekhi videos. Was she seconds too late?
The finer points of Canada's animal cruelty laws can be argued for years. But the upshot is that they don't serve animals well — even the pampered pets that Canadians love to love.
The laws, as written, are weak and riddled with loopholes. Efforts to strengthen them are routinely defeated in Parliament. Politicians don't take them seriously. In too many cases, neither do judges.
Who knows what would have been the outcome if alleged puppy basher Rekhi had gone to trial? But it is an indictment of the Canadian justice system that we shall never find out.
Thomas Walkom appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.


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IPETRONIK Launches Test Bed Engineering Unit
Oct 5, 2010 1:00am
IPETRONIK GmbH & Co.KG, one of the world's leading suppliers of mobile measurement technology in the automotive industry, announced that it has expanded its range of services in the area of environmental simulation and test bed engineering by founding the "IPETEC test bed engineering" business unit, with headquarters in Hamburg, Germany. Kay Seidensticker is the general manager of the new unit, which launched in September. IPETEC test bed engineering develops and offers tailor-made test bed solutions for developing and validating components and systems used in R&D, testing, and production environment. The new business unit is backed by a team of experts with decades of global experience in designing, building, and commissioning customized test bed solutions, along with the complex systems engineering that accompany them.
IPETEC's solutions and products primarily focus on the area of thermal management. This developmental discipline has high priority around the world when it comes to energy optimization of conventional and electrically powered vehicles. The main emphasis here is on the efforts being made by automakers and by system and component suppliers to save money and continuously shorten development cycles by replacing expensive, time-consuming road tests with replicable simulations performed under highly realistic testing conditions in a lab facility.
"Despite the increased use of numeric simulation and the prototypes that they generate, the automobile industry's need for extensive testing programs for validating vehicles is on the rise. This kind of task is generally performed in road tests. Increasingly, however, it is also being accomplished on special test beds," says IPETRONIK CEO Andreas Wocke. "We have great expertise in the areas of test and measurement technology, software, and consulting/engineering services for installing equipment in vehicles and performing tests. That, combined with our experience with a well-established and successful portfolio of engineering services, has led us to add test bed equipment to our range of offerings."
The new IPETRONIK business unit offers the complete spectrum of test beds and media supply modules for applications in the area of vehicle cooling (for coolant, charge air, and oil coolers, as well as for batteries, electric motors, and exhaust gases). Complementary, IPETEC test bed engineering also develops and supplies test beds for vehicle air conditioning, such as system, component, and calorimeter test benches. This covers applications for refrigerant condensers, evaporators, compressors, and expansions valves. The test bed configurations consider the requirements for the R134a refrigerant being used today, as well as the future alternatives, 1234yf and CO2 (R744).
"Reliable technical solutions for testing and simulating all relevant climatic and road conditions are required for developing new cars and for testing vehicle efficiency, comfort, and quality," says Seidensticker. "IPETEC's test beds help to shorten development periods for new vehicles and to move expensive, time-consuming road tests off the road and into replicable test bed environments. From its central location in Germany, IPETEC delivers test bed technology to sites across Europe. In addition, we will increasingly be supplying high-tech testing systems to markets such as China and India, which have strong demands for installing state-of-the-art test bed facilities."
About IPETRONIK
Since its founding in 1983, IPETRONIK GmbH & Co.KG has had a profound impact on the technology that the automotive industry uses to perform mobile measurements. Today, IPETRONIK is one of the world's leading companies in this sector. Since 1999, IPETRONIK has been a subsidiary of INDUS Holding AG, with headquarters in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany. The group includes a total of 41 mid-size companies, from different segments of the economy. This provides IPETRONIK with a sturdy foundation and with financial backing for strategic projects and for investments in both new and existing locations.
For years now, nearly all car manufacturers have been relying on the high dependability, precision, and availability of IPETRONIK's products and services. The company's comprehensive portfolio of measurement modules, data loggers, sensors, and software combines modular measurement equipment of the highest accuracy with expertise in analog measurement technology and automotive data busses for commonly used automotive networks, including the relevant communication protocols for control units.
By continuously expanding its consulting/engineering division, IPETRONIK has increasingly been able to serve as a technology partner with a broad range of services for the automotive industry. These activities focus on vehicle test equipment, including general testing and both on- and off-road test runs, with an emphasis on vehicle air-conditioning and thermal management, as well as the development and production of test beds for environmental simulation. At company headquarters in the southern German city of Baden-Baden, about 100 employees develop innovative solutions that are then produced in Germany. A team of eight specialists develops and supports the IPEmotion software at the company's office in Dusseldorf. To ensure that it fulfills its commitment to provide global sales, backed up by local customer care, IPETRONIK operates subsidiaries in France, Sweden, and the U.S. and works with a growing worldwide network of distributors.
Electronics & Computers Automotive R&D


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Museums, archives and libraries
Museums in Modena's Historic Center
At the Palazzo dei Musei
Modena's Palazzo dei Musei is in the historical center and is home to a number of cultural institutes that include the History Archives, the Luigi Poletti Library of Art, and the Estense Library and Gallery.
The Palazzo dei Musei is ideal for enjoying fascinating moments among illuminated manuscripts, paintings, priceless documents, sculpture, and other unforgettable gems that tell the story of Modena's roots.
Galleria Estense
Biblioteca Estense
Archivio storico di Modena (Historical archives of Modena)
Museo lapidario romano
Gipsoteca Graziosi (Giuseppe Graziosi Plaster Cast Museum)
Museo Lapidario Estense (Estense Lapidary Museum)
The Civic Museum of Modena
Other Museums in Modena's City Center
In addition to the many exhibitions hosted at the Palazzo dei Musei, Modena's historic center is home to a number interesting cultural spaces.
Starting at the Museums of the Cathedral, the last stop on your visit to the UNESCO site, continue on to the home of the ninth-century Bishop, Ludovico Antonio Muratori, which is now a museum; as well as the Museum of the Military Academy of Modena, both of which offer a glimpse into Modena's history and culture. For the science-minded, the University Museums include institutes dedicated to paleontology, zoology, anatomy, astronomy, and other pursuits; and the buildings of the AGO Project, Modena's "culture factory," showplace the conversation between science and humanism. Finish your visit at the Museo della Figurina, a museum dedicated to illustrated and collectible cards, including stickers, postcards and sports cards, advertisements, matchboxes, calendars and more that will appeal to young and old.
Possibilities for every taste and interest: Find out which ones are for you.
cathedrals museums
FMAV - Museo della figurina collection
aedes muratoriana
UNIVERSITY MUSEUMS
ago modena fabbriche culturali
ducal palace
Thematic Museums
Modena and the surrounding area are full of museums dedicated to some of the achievements that have made this part of Italy famous: music, cars, local cuisine, and more.
Luciano Pavarotti's home museum
Visit the Enzo Ferrari museum in Modena and the other sites of the motor valley
Food & wine museums
Discover the ceramic museums and collections
Discover the "Museo al deportato" and other sites of Memory
Many are the archives of our territory
Discover the museums in the area


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New Covid-19 treatments strengthen medicine's fight against the pandemic | USA
Pharmaceutical companies have raced to produce medication and vaccines to counter the coronavirus pandemic, but until recently only vaccines have shown success in protecting large numbers of people. In the summer of 2020, hopes were pinned on drugs like hydroxychloroquine, until trials eventually showed that it was largely ineffective against the disease, and then remdesivir, which was only able to reduce the length of hospitalization of some patients from 15 to 11 days.
Vaccines have since shown great success where their uptake has been high, as developed countries undertook their biggest inoculation campaigns in history to protect citizens. Hundreds of thousands of lives have been saved, but the limitations are evident: poor countries have hardly received any doses, and even in rich countries significant portions of the population reject vaccines. In immunocompromised patients, vaccines fail to elicit the desired immune response.
As the world prepares to end the second year of the pandemic, the spotlight is once again on medication as an alternative to fight Covid-19. Two antiviral drugs, made by the pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Merck (which operates as Merck Sharp and Dohme or MSD outside the US and Canada), are now entering the market. Both are being touted as easy to administer and effective in combating the disease.
"The fact that the Pfizer and MSD drugs are orally administered is a substantial innovation, because it makes them much easier to use. They slow the progression of the disease at the beginning, when the patient is not yet in a serious condition, and this usually occurs outside a hospital setting," explained Juan Pablo Horcajada, head of the infectious disease unit at Barcelona's Hospital Del Mar, and general coordinator of Covid-19 at the hospital.
Pfizer has announced that its antiviral drug, marketed under the brand name Paxlovid, reduces hospitalizations and deaths by 89%, according to its own data. The course of treatment consists of 30 pills to be taken over five days. Ten of these pills contain ritonavir, an old antiviral once used against HIV. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced on November 19 that it has begun analyzing Pfizer's data with the aim of "starting this review to support national authorities who may decide on its early use for Covid-19, for example in emergency use settings, prior to marketing authorisation." The treatment now awaits a definitive authorization.
The EMA also gave advice on the use of molnupiravir (marketed as Lagevrio), another antiviral drug developed by MSD with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. That treatment consists of 40 pills to be taken over five days, and it halved the number of cases requiring hospitalization and deaths, according to data provided by both companies.
They slow the progression of the disease at the beginning, when the patient is not yet in a serious condition, and this usually occurs outside a hospital setting
Juan Pablo Horcajada, Hospital del Mar, Barcelona
"These two drugs come to fill an important niche as until now we had nothing. There are patients diagnosed in primary care who do not meet the criteria for hospitalization, but who are at risk of the disease subsequently progressing to very severe forms and even death. It was particularly frustrating for us," explained Santiago Moreno, head of infectious diseases at Madrid's Ramón y Cajal Hospital. Experts are convinced that the oral administration will help these treatments to reach more people more quickly, as the first five days of symptoms are key. In this way, the two new treatments have a great advantage over other recently developed drugs.
Another category of treatment known as monoclonal antibodies have also demonstrated some success. One is AstraZeneca's Evusheld, which the pharmaceutical company claims has an efficacy rate of 88%, and which the EMA has been evaluating since October 14. The other is Ronapreve, developed by Regeneron and Roche, which has already received EMA authorization and which helps to treat patients already hospitalized in a serious condition and who lack their own defenses against the coronavirus. "These antibodies are proteins artificially designed to attack a very specific part of the virus and nothing else, which makes them enormously safe, as well as effective," said Horcajada.
Jesús Sierra, a spokesman for the Spanish Society of Hospital Pharmacy, points out that monoclonal antibodies "are also very important and effective if they are applied in the first five days, but they have two caveats." The first is that they have to be administered intravenously in the hospital, and secondly that "they are drugs that replace the antibodies that a vaccinated person has. Therefore, they have been tested in the unvaccinated population over 50 years of age. And this population group is very small in Spain."
In total, the EMA has authorized, is evaluating or has informed member states about more than a dozen treatments against coronavirus. In addition to antivirals and monoclonal antibodies, there are immunosuppressants such as dexamethasone or tocilizumab. "What these drugs do is contain the body's immune reaction when it is excessive. From a certain moment, which occurs between the fifth and seventh day of the infection, the problem that puts the patient's life at risk is the excessive reaction of their immune system, and these drugs try to put a stop to that," explained Horcajada.
The United States has already made agreements with Pfizer and Merck to purchase millions of these new treatments for its citizens, in behavior reminiscent of the Donald Trump's administration's hoarding of remdesivir. The US has now acquired 10 million courses of Pfizer's Paxlovid, with a price tag of $5.3 billion (€4.7 billion), and another 3.1 million courses of Merck's Lagevrio for around $2.2 billion (€2 billion).
The final stages of development of both drugs have been accompanied by unprecedented announcements from the pharmaceutical giants. Merck said in October it will allow its new drug to be produced as a generic in the 105 lowest-income countries on the planet, and Pfizer made the same announcement for its antiviral last week. None of the major vaccines currently on the market are allowed to be produced as generics.
https://english.elpais.com/usa/2021-11-24/new-covid-19-treatments-strengthen-medicines-fight-against-the-pandemic.html
Tags: COVID19 fight Medicines Pandemic strengthen Treatments USA
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Council seeks court order for travellers to be moved on
Elmbridge council is again taking court action to remove a group of travellers from land in the borough
Charlotte Tobitt
Updated 14:09, 8 AUG 2014
Travellers on Cobbs Green open space in Lower Green Road, Esher (Image: TMS)
Council representatives will go to court next Friday (August 15) to gain a possession order for land currently occupied by travellers.
A group of six vehicles arrived at Cobbs Green, in Lower Green Road, Esher - an area of land surrounded by bollards - in the early hours of Monday (August 4), soon after moving on from an East Molesey health club.
At least one vehicle was seen gaining access under the railway bridge, guided underneath the height restriction.
Elmbridge Borough Council has now been given a court hearing date to get the possession order.
"The travellers will then be issued with the court order, which excludes them from the site," said a council spokesman.
"Should the travellers decide not to leave the site voluntarily, further legal action will be taken to remove the travellers from the land.
"A full clear-up of the site will be scheduled for as soon as the site is secured."
Esher councillor David Archer was concerned about the unsuitability of the site for six vehicles.
He said: "It is not really a site suitable for a domestic environment.
"That site clearly is not sustainable for six families, for sanitation and running water, there are no facilities at all.
"I am also worried, should there be any problems with the railway, about emergency access to the bridge."
The caravans moved from the Pavilion Club in Hurst Road, East Molesey, on August 3.
The travellers were previously on Weston Green Common, near Longmead Road, where they arrived during the early evening of Friday July 18.
The borough council obtained a possession order for that site on Friday August 1, but the group moved on before it was needed.
Tannia Shipley, councillor for Weston Green, said: "The council had provided them with bins and they did actually use them.
"The large bin was overflowing, which was good but there was still a lot of rubbish left on site, unfortunately."
Some green garden waste was also left on the site to be dealt with.
Police attendance
Cllr Shipley said: "It could have been a lot worse.
"I am full of admiration for the way the council dealt with it but they are now going through the same procedure again."
Thinking about the hectares of green spaces around the area, she added: "Weston Green is a prime example. With the common land and the conservation area, it is beautiful.
"You can't protect it or fence it off or put bollards there.
"It would be impractical, expensive and unsightly."
Police believe the same travellers had a brief stop in a field next to The Pavilion in Hurst Lane, East Molesey, on Sunday night, with residents arriving and setting up a rota to maintain a vigil in an attempt to stop any more vehicles arriving.
East Molesey councillor Steve Bax said: "Residents of Molesey showed they are a force to be reckoned with when they defeated attempts to build houses on the Pavilion site, and now by preventing an illegal occupation of the land."
He added: "What we need is for this land to be brought back into recreational use in accordance with the covenant on it."
Police said officers attended the Hurst Lane site on Sunday evening to speak to residents and travellers, and then Cobbs Green on Monday but there were no offences requiring police attention.
A spokesman for the force said: "Police will continue to conduct patrols of the area and provide reassurance to members of the community."
Elmbridge Borough Council


Acne may be known as a teenage issue, but it's also a major concern for many adults. To truly get acne under control and reduce the chances of recurrence, you need an experienced dermatologist like Holly Hanson, MD. At her group practice in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Dr. Hanson treats acne using both medical and cosmetic dermatology treatments for the best results. Use the online appointment tool or call the office to get acne help in the Minneapolis Twin Cities area now.
Blackheads and whiteheads, both called comedones, are irritating but aren't usually painful. Sometimes, they go away without treatment. However, for persistent comedones, papules, pustules, nodules, and cysts, you'll need professional help from Dr. Hanson.
With the right treatment approach, your acne can soon be a thing of the past. Dr. Hanson will work with you until you've got the clear skin you deserve.
How can I prevent acne breakouts in the future?
The first step in preventing future acne breakouts is getting the current problem under control through customized treatments. Once you've achieved treatment success, Dr. Hanson can design an acne prevention plan for you.
One of the key steps in keeping your skin clear is using high-quality products on it. Dr. Hanson may recommend medical-grade skin care products from SkinMedica®, EltaMD®, or SkinCeuticals® to help you maintain your results. You may need to spend a little extra time on skin care in the future, but clear skin is worth it!
You may also opt for periodic chemical peels, HydraFacials, or laser treatments. All of these treatments help slough away dead and damaged skin, improving the look of acne scars while uncovering unblemished new skin.
Book your appointment using the online tool or by phone now.


Angela V. Cook: The Grass IS Greener on the Other Side!
I'm in the process of setting up my new home here at blogger. I am liking it here SO much more than where I was before. Blogger is very user friendly, which I unfortunately can't say the same about my previous blog. I'm going to try and move some of my favorite posts over to this site, while others are better off being forgotten ;o) I'll probably leave the old site up for a few weeks to avoid any confusion--I don't have that many followers to begin with, so I don't want to lose any if I don't have to! In case you're stumbling across this blog for the first time, older posts can be found at http://www.thestarvingnovelist.weebly.com/ (for now). Hope to have a "real" post up soon!


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We Know Its July But Get ready To
New legislation passed by Massachusetts lawmakers and signed by Governor Charlie Baker encourages all voters to vote safely from home in the upcoming Fall 2020 elections due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
This legislation allows registered voters to request Vote-By-Mail ballots for the Tuesday, September 1 State Primary Election, the Tuesday, November 3 Presidential Election, and all other elections for 2020.
In addition to the State elections, Wellesley will be conducting a Special Election on Tuesday, September 1, 2020 on the same day as the State Primary Election to fill a vacated Board of Selectmen's seat. The Town may also hold a debt exclusion election on Tuesday, December 1, 2020 pending a Special Town Meeting approval. All election ballots will be available by mail.
Postage pre-paid Vote-By-Mail applications will be sent to all registered voters on July 15, 2020. Complete these applications and return them to request an official ballot.
Ballot requests may be returned to Wellesley Town Hall via regular mail, may be dropped in the Elections and Payment Drop Box outside of Town Hall (across from the bell), or may be scanned and emailed to Elections@WellesleyMA.gov. Please allow adequate mailing time for these requests to make sure your ballot counts.
Official ballots with pre-paid postage will be mailed three (3) weeks prior to each election. All ballots for the September 1 Elections must be received by 8 p.m. on September 1.
Ballots for the November 3 election must be postmarked by November 3 and received by November 6.


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Steep rise in NSW influenza activity
NSW Health has declared an early start to the influenza season after detecting a steep rise in influenza activity. This comes on top of unusually high influenza activity over the summer and autumn months.
Over 15,000 influenza notifications have been received so far this year, including 5,013 in May. There have been 37 deaths reported in people with laboratory-confirmed influenza and 38 influenza outbreaks in aged care facilities.
NSW Health has urged GPs to continue vaccinating high-risk patients, including young children, pregnant women, Aboriginal people, those with chronic medical conditions and all people aged 65 years and over (funded through National Immunisation Program).
Carers and household contacts of people in high-risk groups, including visitors of residential care facility residents, are also recommended to receive annual influenza vaccine (via private supply).
NSW Health also recommends that antiviral treatment should be considered for all patients with confirmed or suspected influenza at increased risk of complications. See full article here.
NSW Health Influenza website
Influenza Surveillance Report – NSW Health
Public Health Unit: 1300 066 055
Tamiflu article link


Medicare Supplement policies may cover all of your co-insurance and deductibles.
Medicare Supplement policies may cover health care bills not covered by Medicare.
Click here to view the current version of Medicare & You in Adobe .pdf format.
Click here to view the current version of Choosing a Medigap Policy: A Guide to Health Insurance for People with Medicare in Adobe .pdf format.
Every company offering Medicare Supplement insurance must offer Plan A. In addition, companies may have some, all, or none of the other plans.
Inpatient Hospital Care: Covers the cost of Part A coinsurance and the cost of 365 extra days of hospital care during your lifetime after Medicare coverage ends.
For medicare supplement plans, Medical Costs: Covers the Part B coinsurance (generally 20% of Medicare-approved payment amount) or copayment amount which may vary according to the service. For hospital outpatient services, the copayment amount will be paid under a prospective payment system. If this system is not used, then 20% of eligible expenses will be paid.
Blood: Covers the first 3 pints of blood each year.
* Plan F also has a high deductible option. If you choose this option, in 2017 you must pay $2,180 out-of-pocket per year before the plans pay anything. Insurance policies with a high deductible option generally cost less than those with lower deductibles. Your out-of-pocket costs for services may be higher if you need to see your doctor or go to the hospital.
Basic Benefits for Plans K, L and N include similar services as Plans A through G and M, but cost sharing for the basic benefits is at different levels.
**Plans K and L provide for different cost-sharing for items and services than Plans A through G and M. Once you reach the annual limit, the plan pays 100% of the Medicare copayments, coinsurance, and deductibles for the rest of the calendar year. The out-of-pocket annual limit does NOT include charges from your provider that exceed Medicare-approved amounts, called "Excess Charges". You will be responsible for paying excess charges.
***The out-of-pocket annual limit will increase each year for inflation.
As you approach retirement age, the ever rising cost of health care, makes understanding Medicare, its gaps in coverage and limitations, a very important consideration. Since 1965 Medicare has provided millions of American senior citizens with vital health care services. As good as Medicare is, it may not pay all the cost of being sick. Consequently, what Medicare does not pay becomes your personal financial responsibility.
Choose the Medicare Supplement plan that best meets your needs and your budget. Below lists four of the industry standardized Medicare Supplement plans and the benefits available under each plan. Additional plans may be available.
21 - 100 for medical approved stays in a skilled nursing facility.
Eligible Part B charges that exceed Medicare approved amount.
Emergency Care Received Outside the U.S. After you pay a $250 calendar-year deductible, Insurance Plans pay you 80% of eligible expenses incurred during the first 60 days of a trip up to a lifetime maximum of $50,000. Benefits are payable for health care you need because of a covered injury or illness.
Federal guidelines limit the amount a doctors can charge for benefits covered by Medicare. According to The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) almost 90% of all doctors accept "assignments". That means they accept the Medicare approved amount as full payment for services rendered. Some plans may not be available in every state.
You have the right to buy the Medicare Supplement plan of your choice during your medicare supplement open enrollment period. Your medicare supplement open enrollment period lasts for six months. It starts on the first day of the month in which you are both age 65 or older and enrolled in Medicare Part B. Once you enroll in Medicare Part B, the six months medicare supplement open enrollment period starts and cannot be changed. During this open enrollment period, an insurance company cannot deny you insurance coverage, place conditions on a policy (like making you wait for coverage to start), or change the price of a policy because of past or present health problems.
If you apply for a medicare supplement plan after your medicare supplement open enrollment period has ended, the medicare supplement insurance company is allowed to use medical underwriting to decide whether to accept your application, and how much to charge you for the policy.
There are a few situations involving health care coverage changes where you may have the right to get a medicare supplement policy after your medicare supplement open enrollment period has ended. In these situations, the insurance company cannot deny you insurance coverage, place conditions on the policy (like making you wait for coverage to start), or change the price of a policy because of past or present health problems.
If you lose certain types of health care coverage, you have the right to buy a medicare supplement policy outside of your medicare supplement open enrollment period. These rights are called "Medigap Protections." They are also called "guaranteed issue" rights because the law says that insurance companies must issue you a policy.
Medigap protections are important because without them, if you do not buy a medicare supplement policy during your medicare supplement open enrollment period, an insurance company can refuse to sell you a policy, or you may be charged more for the policy. In addition, if you drop your medicare supplement policy, you may not be able to get it back except in very limited circumstances.
You should not wait until your health coverage has almost ended before you apply for a medicare supplement policy. You can apply for a medicare supplement policy early (while you are still in your health plan) and choose to start your medicare supplement coverage the day after your health plan coverage ends. This will prevent gaps in your health coverage.
There are a few situations involving health coverage changes where you may have a guaranteed issue right to buy a medicare supplement policy.
5. A change in your circumstances gives you the right to leave (disenroll from) your plan.
In order to get these medicare supplement protections, you must meet certain conditions. All rights to buy medicare supplement policies under the following situations include Medicare SELECT policies since they are a type of medicare supplement policy. For more detailed on your rights and protections, you may want to read Medigap Policies and Procedures.
The medicare supplement protections in this section are from federal law. Many states provide more medicare supplement protections than federal law. Call your State Health Insurance Assistance Program or State Insurance Department for more information.
If you live in Massachusetts, Minnesota, or Wisconsin, you have the right to buy a medicare supplement policy that is similar to the standardized policies you have a right to buy in other states.
Note: There may be times when more than one of these situations applies to you. When this happens, you can choose the protection that gives you the best choice of policies.
If both situations #1 and #4 apply to you, you may have the right to buy any medicare supplement policy.
Situation #1 limits your choices to only medicare supplement plans A, B, C, or F that are sold in your state.
Situation #4 offers you the best choice by allowing you to buy any medicare supplement policy that is sold in your state.
Inpatient Hospital Care: Covers the Part A coinsurance and the cost of 365 extra days of hospital care during your lifetime after Medicare coverage ends.
Inpatient Hospital Care: Covers the Part A coinsurance.
Insurance companies are permitted to offer six additional riders that can be added to a Basic plan. You may choose any one of all of the riders to design a Medicare Supplement plan that meets your needs.
Insurance companies are permitted to offer additional riders to a Medicare Supplement plan.
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Investment advisory services offered through CPR Investments Inc.
CPR Investments Inc. does not offer legal or tax advice.
Investment advisory services offered through CPR Investments Inc. CPR Investments Inc. does not offer legal or tax advice. Insurance products are offered through various insurance carriers.
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MicroSoft Excel 2016Analyze and visualize your data in new and intuitive ways with a fresh user interface plus your favorite keyboard shortcuts. Leverage features like Analysis Toolpak, Slicers, and Formula Builder to save time, so you can focus on insights.
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MicroSoft OneNote 2016It's your very own digital notebook, so you can keep notes, ideas, web pages, photos, even audio and video all in one place. Whether you're at home, in the office, or on the move, you can take it all with you wherever you go while sharing and collaborating with others.
MicroSoft Access 2016Access is an easy-to-use tool for quickly creating browser-based database applications that help you run your business. Your data is automatically stored in a SQL database, so it's more secure and scalable than ever.
MicroSoft Publisher 2016Easily create, personalize, and share a wide range of professional-quality publications. Swap pictures with a simple drag and drop, or add pictures directly from your online albums. Use special effects to make your publications stand out.
OneDrive 2016 for BusinessSign in to Office 2016 and use OneDrive to easily access your recent documents on any device with seamless integration.
•	PROCESSORIntel processor •	OPERATING SYSTEMMac OS X 10.10 •	MEMORY4GB RAM •	HARD DISK SPACE6GB HFS+ hard disk format •	DISPLAY1280 x 800 resolution •	ADDITIONAL SYSTEM REQUIREMENTSInternet functionality requires an Internet connection. Microsoft account required.


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Mozart's concertos, for all their superb originality, show him most clearly in a line of succession from the Bach sons—and, in particular, show him as the heir to C. P. E. Bach's proto-Romantic empfindsamer Stil. Mozart's keyboard fantasias are even better evidence of this important line of descent. There are only four of them, representing the tip of a huge iceberg of improvised music-making for which they are, along with the concerto cadenzas, our sole precious written remains. The one in D minor, K. 397, composed early in Mozart's Vienna period, might almost have been conceived in emulation of C. P. E. Bach's C-minor fantasia (Ex. 8-4). Like it, the work begins with inchoate exploratory strummings (Ex. 11-7a) reminiscent of the old lute "ricercars", alternatively known, even in the sixteenth century, as "fantasias"—the remote but nevertheless direct ancestors of Mozart's keyboard improvisations.
Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 11 The Composer's Voice." The Oxford History of Western Music. Oxford University Press. New York, USA. n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2019. <https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume2/actrade-9780195384826-div1-11007.xml>.


Since the 1930s the Gallup polling organization has been asking Americans the following question: What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today?" This question is polled monthly. I'm quite surprised at some of the results. I think you might be also.
Just last month, 14% of Americans thought economic problems were the most important issues facing the country, while 84% thought non-economic issues were the most significant.
Read more about What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today?
Missouri's economy has lagged behind the rest of the nation for many years. My recent article in the Missouri Policy Journal examined how Missouri's economy, and its restrictions on labor markets, compare to other states. It's not a pretty picture, and the voters' recent approval of a minimum wage increase will only make matters worse.
(Oct. 19, 2018) – Governor Mike Parson wrapped up a 14-city Infrastructure Week tour promoting Proposition D for Safer Roads and Safer Streets by urging voters to "do the right thing" and vote YES On D on Nov. 6 to provide new resources to fix roads and bridges.
There is so much to talk about this week, I really don't know where to start.
I'm going to begin with Stan Musial. I've always been a huge Musial fan. If you grew up in the Midwest in the 1940s and 1950s, you'd understand.
I don't use many pictures in my column, but I thought the photo shown at right would be helpful in explaining the difference between liberals — the kind I had as teachers and mentors when in college and law school — and the modern socialist who will use any means to advance the cause of government.
Aaron Montgomery Ward was a traveling salesman who saw a need for a catalog store and in 1872 began such an operation with his "catalog" consisting of one sheet of paper listing 163 items for sale. Operating under the name Montgomery Ward, the company was to expand and prosper, although it never seemed to be as well received as competitors JC Penney and Sears & Roebuck.


Introduction: Cardiomyopathy may cause disruptions in the micro-vascular system of the stria vascularis in the cochlea, and, subsequently, may result in cochlear degeneration. Degeneration in the stria vascularis affects the physical and chemical processes in the organ of Corti, thereby causing a possible hearing impairment. The objective of this study was to assess the hearing profiles of patients with dilated and hypertrophic cardiomyopathies to determine the relationship between the degree of hearing loss and the degree and duration of the disease and to compare the dilated and hypertrophic cardiomyopathies as regards hearing profile.
Methods: In this case control study, we studied 21 patients (cases/study group/group 1) and 15 healthy individuals (controls/group 2). Six patients (group 1a) had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), and 15 patients (group 1b) had dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). The data were analyzed using the t-test, chi-squared test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and the Multiple Mann-Whitney test.
Results: The results of this study showed that 80% of those patients with DCM (group 1b) had bilateral sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), and 100% of the patients with HCM (group 1a) had mild to severe bilateral sloping SNHL. Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emissions (DPOAEs) were present in 14% of the study group and in 100 % of the control group. The results of the measurements of auditory brainstem response (ABR) showed that 50% of the study group had abnormal latencies compared to the control group, and there was no correlation between the duration of the disease and the degree of hearing loss or DPOAE. Fifty percent of the patients with HCM and 35% of the patients with DCM had positive family histories of similar conditions, and 35% of those with HCM had a positive family history of sudden death.
Conclusion: The results of this study suggested that the link between heart disease and hearing loss and early identification of hearing loss in patients with cardiomyopathy may reduce morbidity since hearing deficits sometimes precede heart disease.


The sixth step in the Eightfold Path is Right Effort. What are some of the attributes of Right Effort?
Applying right effort requires a dogged determination to follow the way especially during difficult times in our life. Plowing ahead towards our goal and using the Eightfold Path to lead us forward. You probably know people like this that are always moving forward with a positive attitude, not mired down in self pity. A Buddhist understands that life has its ups and downs, but by living with right effort they will ride out the storm and continue their journey down the path overcoming the causes of suffering.
Remember right effort will increase happiness, make you more effective in a non spiritual sense, and help attract the best things to your life. As you become more effective at practicing right effort you will notice that you are not only enhancing your own piece of mind but, you will have the power to positively influence others.
In my next post I will write about Right Mindfullness.


Welcome to the sounds of the far east. 50 Pounds of Rice is a show dedicated to playing Asian music. Every show features music from Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, and many more countries. Whether it's music played from albums bought off the back of a bicycle or from my family's private stash of music, you can be sure that this music is the very best of what the Orient has to offer. The music of the Asian continent is filled with thousands of years of tradition and culture. Sometimes we play pristine recordings of traditional folk music and other times we play a hybrid blend of east and western music to emerge. The only way to find out what is going on is to listen every Monday from 6 to 7 PM here on WREK Atlanta.