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Giant Tortoise Reserve
Eco Tourism / By The Green Organisation
First Reserva de Tortugas (Tortoise Reserve) in the Galapagos
QUITO, ECUADOR, Feb. 16, 2011 – Ecuador's leading hospitality company for active adventure, Red Mangrove Galapagos and Ecuador Lodges http://www.redmangrove.com/, is creating the first Reserva de Tortugas (Tortoise Reserve) in the Galapagos.
According to Hernan Rodas, visionary founder and owner, his company has purchased 20 acres adjacent to the Galapagos National Park, a short drive from the company's Aventura Lodge on Santa Cruz. Here animals have free and unobstructed movement. While there are a number of tortoise farms dotting the islands, Red Mangrove's will be the first actual reserve for these giant reptiles.
"We see this as a necessary step for the preservation of the threatened Galapagos giant tortoise," said Rodas.
He emphasized that the reserve is being created from a minimalist, least environmental impact perspective. Only guests visiting Red Mangrove Aventura Lodge may walk the grassy trails on the preserve. Although there will be washroom facilities and a rain shelter, there will be no gift stores.
"This reduced traffic and development will limit any impact on the tortoises and their environment," said Rodas, underscoring that conservation is the top priority. Red Mangrove Galapagos and Ecuador Lodges seeks to build alliances with local conservation organizations and the national park for the greatest benefit to the species. April or May 2012 is the anticipated completion date of Reserva de Tortugas.
At present the site harbors 30 to 40 giant tortoise, but the total number at any time will depend of how humid it is and how much water is in a small pond that attracts the tortoise. These reptiles weigh up to 880 pounds and in the wild can live for over a century.
The name Galapagos comes from the Spanish word for tortoise. Early explorers would have witnessed the species in numbers of over 250,000 in the 16th century. By the 1970s the number had dropped to around 3,000 and the species is classified "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
About Red Mangrove Galapagos and Ecuador Lodges
Red Mangrove Galapagos and Ecuador Lodges in 2007 introduced a land-based alternative to exploring the Galapagos that heretofore was a cruise-only destination. While it may be best known for its upscale lodging and dive operations in the Galapagos, recent expansion has made it a leader in mainland Ecuador hospitality as well. With upscale waterfront lodges strategically situated on Santa Cruz, Isabela and Floreana, it is the only company offering high quality, branded accommodations and services on multiple islands in the Galapagos and across mainland Ecuador. Because it is land-based, Red Mangrove can offer a more extensive roster of activities and more flexibility than traditional cruise options.
The customary way to experience Red Mangrove's Galapagos hospitality is to spend a number of nights on each island accessed by small boat and/or aircraft. With 14 guest rooms, Aventura Lodge on Santa Cruz is distinguished by its architectural design which blends its mangrove forest and seafront environments tastefully and responsibly. Separated from the ocean by a white sand, palm-lined beach, Isabela Lodge offers eight rooms outside the fisherman's village of Puerto Villamil on one of the most volcanically active islands on Earth. Red Mangrove Floreana Lodge is a gathering of 10 private pine cottages just a five minute walk from the village of Puerto Velasco Ibarra (population 150). Red Mangrove Divers Lodge Santa Cruz has 11 rooms near the Red Mangrove Dive Academy. Red Mangrove Isabela Divers Lodge features 5-rooms adjacent to scenic Puerto Villamil. On the mainland coast of Ecuador Samai Lodge with 11 rooms is an inn-and-spa suited for recollection, relaxation and wellne!
ss surrounded by the sounds of the jungle and crashing surf. The company recently announced an extensive dive program embracing novices to experts with over 45 dive sites and multi-island dive packages for varying length vacations and interests.


4.Friday is often a popular day of the week to close, but it may be a good idea to close a day or two earlier in the week. That way, if there are any small problems or mixups (e.g. someone doesn't bring the right documents, or someone gets stuck in a terrible traffic jam) you will hopefully be able to postpone till the next day. If problems arise with a Friday closing, you may be forced to wait 3 days (until Monday) since closings can't happen on the weekends.


"Townsville" finished the regular championship on the 1st position, but Melbourne could enter playoff from the 4th position. Both teams come to the match with the series of wins. Melbourne won thrice in three matches, but two of them were at home. Townsville lost once in 8 last matches, having lost to Sydney away. So, the home team must win, moreover, it lost to Melbourne only once in 10 personal meetings.
Here you will find the BASKETBALL prediction for the match of Townsville & Melbourne of the WNBL, Australia. The prediction is prepared by our analytical team and is based on the latest news of the WNBL, Townsville and Melbourne stats and lineups, insider news and our team's expert analysis. We publish our free betting tips and BASKETBALL predictions to help you win more. You can use the information from this Townsville - Melbourne match preview for your own purposes. The odds are valid at the moment of publication.


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Relatives of Martial Law victims appeal SC decision on Marcos burial
by MLC | Nov 28, 2016 | News | 0 comments
By Virgil Lopez
Source: GMA News
A group representing families of victims of enforced disappearances during Martial Law asked the Supreme Court (SC) on Monday to overturn its decision allowing the burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
In a motion of reconsideration filed by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, the families of the victims said the court's decision was a "veritable honor" accorded to a "disgraced" leader who was deposed through a people's revolt in 1986 over allegations of massive human rights violations and corruption.
Lagman said no less than the SC acknowledged that Marcos amassed ill-gotten wealth during his 20-year rule.
"His burial in the memorial of good men impedes on the continuing quest for illusive justice for the victims of martial law, perpetuates the impunity of his transgressions and mocks the unfinished task of recovering his hoard of ill-gotten wealth," the motion stated.
"It is not remote to realize that the Marcos burial in the Libingan ng mga Bayani is a gross distortion, a malevolent revision and a wanton derogation of Philippine history."
Lagman, counsel for the Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND), also invoked the following grounds to convince the high court to change ruling, which was settled by a vote of 9-5 on November 8:
Marcos' burial in the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB) will not lead to closure
AFP Regulations G 161-375 dated September 11, 2002 issued by the Department of National Defense is not effective and enforceable due to absence of registration with the Office of the National Administrative Registrar (ONAR) of the University of the Philippine Law Center as required by the Administrative Code of 1987
There are laws and SC decisions which militate against and effectively prohibit the Marcos burial in the Libingan ng mga Bayani
The message of the EDSA People Power Revolution is clear and resounding: Marcos was ousted for being a despot, plunderer and violator of human rights
When the totality of Marcos as a man is weighed in the balance, whatever achievements he has done for the country are completely nullified by his cardinal sins against the nation, for which he is not entitled to be buried in the LNMB
The Marcos family had waived his burial in the Libingan ng mga Bayani 24 years ago
The petitions do not involve a political question, which is an almost extinct invocation
Respondents committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction
Petitioners have legal personality to file cases, did not violate the "hierarchy of courts" doctrine, and did not have to exhaust administrative remedies
Marcos does not deserve the honor of being interred in the Libingan ng mga Bayani even as a former President and soldier
Addiction to deception
Marcos' remains were flown from Ilocos Norte to Manila in the morning of November 18 and were buried at noon of the same day at the heroes' cemetery.
Backed by President Rodrigo Duterte, the surprise interment was met with condemnation by several quarters who conducted protests across the country.
Lagman said the "speed and stealth" by which the burial was carried out by the immediate members of the Marcos family "showed their incorrigible addiction to deception, underhandedness and abuse, which the Supreme Court must never condone."
The lawmaker also renewed his plea for the exhumation of "whatever was interred as Marcos mortal remains" and subject these to forensic examination to determine what actually was buried at the military shrine.
Another motion is pending before the SC to hold the Marcoses and some military officials in contempt for proceeding with the burial.
The 15-man SC will hold its weekly session on Tuesday.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Home Business Legal
ACCC sues Optus for allegedly misleading customers about NBN
The consumer watchdog is concerned that it has yet again had to file legal action against Optus for alleged misleading conduct.
Written by Campbell Kwan, Contributor on June 26, 2019
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has filed an action against Optus alleging the telco misled consumers about the need to move to the National Broadband Network (NBN).
The consumer watchdog alleges that Optus sent an email on 24 May 2018 advising some of its mobile customers that their broadband service would be "disconnected very soon" and encouraged them to "make the switch, before it's too late".
The email was allegedly sent to 138,988 of Optus' mobile customers.
"Moving to the NBN is an important decision for consumers, and it can also be a confusing process," ACCC Commissioner Sarah Court said in a statement.
Since the ACCC filed the action, Optus has acknowledged it misled customers about the need to migrate to the NBN and apologised to customers who received the email.
It has also offered a costless exit for those who took out the offer, the telco said in an emailed statement.
"In October 2018, Optus committed to improving customer experience and customer service across our business and we continue to devote significant energy and resources to address issues like this and make the necessary changes and improvements so we can deliver great service to all our customers," Optus vice president of Regulatory and Public Affairs Andrew Sheridan said.
See also: ACCC ponders merger law revamp to stay relevant in the digital era
This is not the first time that the ACCC has called Optus out for misleading consumers, with the consumer watchdog taking the telco to Federal Court in May last year. This resulted in Optus being ordered to pay AU$1.5 million in penalties after it was found that the telco made misleading representations to its fixed broadband customers about their shift to the NBN hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC) service.
Optus was also fined AU$10 million earlier this year by the Federal Court of Australia after it admitted to misleading consumers and breaching the ASIC Act for its third-party billing practices. The telco admitted that it had knowledge from as early as April 2014 that customers were being billed for direct carrier billing (DCB) services that they had unknowingly or mistakenly signed up for.
"The ACCC has had to take action about Optus' advertising on several previous occasions, and it is concerning that we are again having to take them to court for alleged misleading statements about this issue," Court said.
"We are keeping a close eye on this sector and we will continue to take enforcement action where appropriate."
The ACCC is seeking declarations, injunctions, pecuniary penalties, compliance orders, and costs.
The ACCC is also set to go into a separate legal battle against TPG and Vodafone in September after it opposed the merger of the two telcos. At the time of the decision, the ACCC said the merger would reduce competition in the telco sector, explaining that TPG had a "commercial imperative" to deploy its own mobile network.
Updated at 4.16pm AEST, 27 June 2019: Added Optus comments.
Reported losses from NBN scams increase by nearly 300% in 2019: ACCC
Consumers lost more than AU$110,000 each month in the January to May period.
ACCC on TPG-Vodafone: Consumers need the benefits of vigorous competition
As the two telcos head to the Federal Court of Australia to push for their merger to be given the green light.
ACCC happy with competition level in NBN aggregation
Competition watchdog will not require dark fibre providers and NBN aggregators to report pricing data.
Optus: NBN should face 'real consequences for poor performance'
In its submission to the ACCC, Optus has joined Telstra, Vodafone, and Vocus in arguing that a AU$25 one-off rebate is not enough to incentivise NBN to repair faults in a timely way and stop missing connection appointments.
Optus cops AU$10m penalty for misleading customers
The Federal Court has levelled a AU$10 million penalty on Optus for misleading customers over third-party billing services, with the telco also already paying another AU$8 million in refunds.
TPG faces court action for allegedly misleading customers
The ACCC has alleged that TPG misled customers over a AU$20 prepayment term in its contracts, estimating that TPG likely retained millions of dollars in forfeited prepayments.
Australian law firms team up to seek compensation for Medibank data breach
Australian man given two-year jail sentence for $69K phishing scams


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ELDER BOARD
Matt Moorehead
Lead Elder
Matt has been married to Haley for 17 years and they have six beautiful daughters -- Taylor (16), Ashlyn (14), Hope (12), Aubrey (10), Payton (7) and Shelby (4). His family has salt water in their veins and they love spending time at the beach. He has embraced being the "lone testosterone" in his household. Matt enjoy's all things sports, music (from classical to hip-hop) and spending time with his queen and 6 princesses!
Matt played football and basketball in high school and college. After two years at the University of Evansville he transferred to the University of Northern Colorado (the "other" UNC :-) ) where he graduated with a finance degree. Shortly after surrendering His life to Christ in college, Matt and Haley became a part of Mountain View Community Church (the first Crossway Chapel) in Fort Collins, CO.
Matt served in student and small group ministry before being recognized as one of the pastors of Mountain View in 2006. Matt completed a two-year pastoral training program at Mountain View Community Church and is a licensed pastor with Crossway Chapel International. He and his family were part of the initial leadership team who planted Crossway Chapel of Wilmington. Matt worked for State Farm Insurance from 2001-2016 and served as a pastor bi-vocationally for ten years. In 2016 he went into ministry full-time and assumed the lead elder role at Crossway.
matt@crosswaywilmington.org
Chris magruder
chris@crosswaywilmington.org
JASON FAIRCLOTH
JASON@crosswaywilmington.org
Jordan Sbardella
Jordan@crosswaywilmington.org
Jim Desmond
Mike Scheffel
Visit our life group PAGE to LEARN MORE ABOUT our life group LEADERS AND THEIR FAMILIES.


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Sarkodie curates biggest Christmas party of 2016 with rapturous #Rapperholic2016 concert (+ photos)
BET laureate Michael Owusu Addo (better known by his stage-name Sakodie), probably staged both the biggest Christmas party this year, and the most memorable of his annual Rapperholic Concert on Christmas Day at the Accra International Conference Centre.
With an endless list of performances from industry colleagues and underground acts, as well as several surprise acts including Nigeria's Reekado Banks, Burna Boy, Shatta Wale among others, Sarkodie successfully curated perhaps the most remarkable Christmas party the year has so far seen.
Efya, Joey B, Ras Kuuku, 2 Fingers, Article Wan, Nii Funny, and CJ Biggerman, Edem, the stars on his single Trumpet, Bisa KDei Guru, Jupitar, A.I, Nigeria's Flavour and Runtown, Akwaboah, Joey B, and Stonebwoy all graced the stage to celebrate with the RNS hitmaker, who served from his extensive catalogue of hit songs.
Another vehement highlight of the night was his emotional tribute to highlife legend Daasebre Gyamena. Performing a a re-make of Kokooko, the 1999 classic which originally features rapper-turned-pastor Lord Kenya, Sarkodie could simply not hold back tears as he eulogised Daasebre Gyamena died of a heart attack back in July, and was reportedly working on a gospel album detailing his recent trials till his death.
The concert was hosted by Giovani Caleb, comedian DKB, and OgeeTheMC, with music from Live FM's Sheldon, and DJ Mensah.
Rapperholic is also the name of Sarkodie (born Michael Owusu Addo)'s sophomore album, and he's reportedly finalizing work on his fifth solo album "The Highest", which comes out early next year.
Recipient of several local and international awards including the prestigious BET Best International Act: Africa in 2012, Sarkodie has released Makye (2009), Rapperholic (2012), Sarkology (2014), Mary (2015), as well as the joint album TMG with producer Jayso in 2013.
See photos of the night courtesy Kwei Asefua:
Tagged Rapperholic ConcertSarkodie


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It was a perfect schnitzel in a perfect baguette, with one little star - voila! Food
Schnitzel's is a schnitzel restaurant on Achoza Street in Ra'anana, with a Mexican, American, Thai and Israeli version of schnitzel in a baguette. All the details and prices in the Walla article! Food >>>
Fresh baguette, crispy schnitzel.
Schnitzel's (Photo: David Rosenthal)
Apart from Ra'anana, there are very few cities in the world, if any, that consist of one street.
Everything related to this city is an extension of a mansion street, and woe betide you if you say there are more streets.
No, it's fiction.
Ra'anana is Ahuza Street, Ahuza Street is Ra'anana.
In fact, it's a city that doesn't really need navigation apps.
"You drive on an estate, turn right on an estate, third traffic light from an estate - and you've arrived."
very simple.
It was early afternoon and I was walking around Ajoza Street (but what?), looking for options for a nice lunch.
The truth is that Ra'anana is a very sympathetic city, but not exactly with a culinary reputation, and even in Volt the options didn't seem to beckon.
I stood helpless, and suddenly I raised my head and the sign was revealed to my eyes.
"Schnitzel's".
Hands are busy in the middle of the day.
It's hard to say that schnitzel has ever been my favorite option.
It's not a bad dish, and I've already experimented here and there with decent schnitzels, but it's a pretty boring animal, not to mention monotonous.
Still, the lack of choice and hunger closed the deliberation and dictated the process at the end of which I found myself inside the small and sympathetic eatery.
It turns out that Schnitzel's is a relatively old establishment, and as such it offers much more than the basic Austrian food.
There is a classic schnitzel, a Viennese schnitzel, an American schnitzel, a Mexican schnitzel, and a Thai schnitzel, and let's stop here and just order.
I chose the American, which was served in a baguette with a spicy seasoning and with potato flakes, with a side of chips - a meal that cost me NIS 50.
I also ordered a dish for my wife, which is an important detail, because the shipment arrived 40 minutes later, and a schnitzel loaded with everything and wrapped in dough is a serious test.
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Not recommended for delivery, still delicious.
Every second counts - arrive too late, and the sandwich will have no meaning.
It was a relatively comfortable hour in Ayalon, and still, it's Ayalon, you can't get there too fast
After a rather short wait (however, I'm not the only one for whom this place was one of the few options) I received my baguette cut in half.
It was fresh as if it had just come out of the oven.
The schnitzel itself was crispy.
I can't say that I felt the promised "potato flakes" - they were probably there, just didn't make any kind of impact, but it didn't really matter - it was good, tasty, satisfying, properly made and without the taste of a freezer as happened in so many Similar meals in the past.
The balance between texture, taste and quantity was almost perfect, especially in relation to the schnitzel, with the fries also being good and crispier than average.
My wife's dish was, as mentioned, full of everything - mayonnaise, tahini, cabbage salad and a variety of sauces.
On the drive to Tel Aviv I felt like an ambulance driver (hamsa hamsa, not about us, but my brain makes distorted associations).
It was a relatively comfortable hour in Ayalon, and still, it's Ayalon, you can't get there too fast.
I was waiting for the verdict.
The first bite arrived.
"T-Yam!", she declared and made it clear that this dish was just being shipped, but there was a "but".
It would have been better to eat it instead, because like any schnitzel, this dish also absorbed the liquids of the toppings and became less crispy.
The operation was successful, the patient is alive.
Barely, but alive.
It was delicious, but based on this impression I don't think I would recommend delivery.
It is difficult to say whether the amount of NIS 50 for such a dish is too expensive.
Wandering through the websites showed that it makes sense, i.e. not cheap, but that's what is taken today.
In the KMA index (quantity-price-quality) I am definitely satisfied and give the grade 8, with a whole point dropped because of the delivery, while the overall impression remains very positive. If you stumble upon Ra'anana and find yourself hungry, Schnitzel's is definitely a place to stop After all, you're still on
Ahozeh St. Schnitzel's - Ahozeh 117 Ra'anana.
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In order for Rotary activities to be covered by RIBI Insurance, clubs and Districts MUST sign up to the RIBI Safeguarding Policy and adopt the guidelines.
to give support and guidance to Districts, Clubs and Individual members on carrying out their Rotarian duties to ensure their well being.
Sian Lindo (Crowthorne & Sandhurst), District 1090 Safeguarding Officer.


We offer a priority business account, catering for all your business travel.
We would be happy to discuss and quote for all your travel requirements.
We work with several key clients with business contracts.


The University of Copenhagen aims to provide highly creative learning environments and to enhance the quality of degree programmes. Research must permeate all degree programmes, and students' commitment and active participation must influence and contribute to research. Developing learning environments through a stronger focus on the ties between research and education is therefore central.
The University provides education for a wide range of jobs, both nationally and globally, and must support students' career planning and clarify how the programmes can be used to allow individuals to realise their potential. We must develop the ties between programmes and practice to ensure that graduates bring analytical insight and academic skills to the job market.
The basic philosophy of UCPH is that its permanent academic staff should be engaged in both research and teaching. It is primarily through the interaction between lecturers and students that the connections between research and education are forged. We will strengthen the integration of research into teaching. Students should experience closer interactions with academic staff and contribute to creating intensive learning environments. Our point of departure will be the development of innovative and evidence-based teaching across the University.
More students should have a more active role in research as part of their education, so that, to a much higher degree, they experience being part of a research community; equally, academic staff must, to a much higher degree, experience the joy of developing and challenging different areas of research together with their students. In this way, we can harness the strength of new generations' ideas and visions for the future.
On the basis of research-based teaching, our students must be given the opportunity to work with challenges presented in practice. They must be allowed to apply their expertise and skills during their education – for example through case studies and other practical elements as well as the programme's own research practice. This is a vital part of developing students' academic expertise and interdisciplinary skills, and will strengthen their ability to translate research-based academic knowledge into resolving specific and often complex societal issues.
Closer ties to practice and concrete cases from the surrounding world will help equip students even more for tomorrow's job market. At the same time, it will allow students to raise awareness of their own skills as well as foster important networks that can be a valuable asset both before and after graduation.
In line with the overall ambition of enhancing the quality of teaching, we will develop and disseminate the use of digital teaching methods. Such methods must underpin the quality of teaching, increase learning intensity and help free up time for increased interaction between academic staff and students.
Develop and disseminate the use of digital teaching methods in order to link teaching and e-learning.
Strengthen lecturers' digital teaching skills and ensure knowledge-sharing across academic disciplines.


However, when the binary components are combined, the resulting mixture is an explosive material subject to all requirements of 18 U.S.C. Chapter 40 and 2/ CFR Part 555. Accordingly, all such exploding targets must be stored in an explosives storage magazine as prescribed in the regulations found in 27 CFR, Part 555, Subpart K – Storage, unless they are in the process of being used.
Further, mixing the binary components together constitutes manufacturing explosives. Persons manufacturing explosives for their own personal, non-business use only (e.g., personal target practice) are not required to have a federal explosives license or permit. However, individuals or companies must obtain a federal explosives manufacturing license if they intend to engage in the business of manufacturing explosives for sale or distribution, or for their own business use. Such business uses include manufacturing binary targets for demonstration or product testing purposes.
Licensed manufacturers of exploding targets are subject to federal recordkeeping requirements and must comply with regulation concerning records of manufacture or acquisition, distribution, exportation, use, inventory and daily summaries of magazine transactions found in 27 CFR, Part 555, Subpart G – Records and Reports.
In addition, a federal explosives license or permit is required for the transport of explosive materials. Therefore, a person must obtain a federal explosives license or permit if they mix binary exploding targets and subsequently transport them to a shooting range or to any other location.
For further information on this topic, please contact the ATF Explosives Industry Programs Branch at eipb@atf.gov or (202) 648-7120.
As of 2011, there were approximately 5,400 licensed firearms manufacturers and 950 licensed importers in the United States.
In 2009, the most recent calendar year for which information is available, manufacturers disposed of over 2.4 million handguns and more than 3 million rifles and shotguns into commerce.
Manufacturers' export volume for calendar year 2009, the most recent year for which complete data is available, reached more than 194,000 firearms. Compared with the 2000 export volume of 188,460 firearms, the increase in firearms exported is significantly less than the increase in firearms imported.
The federal firearms licensee population decreased from a high of more than 286,000 in April 1993, to a low of 102,020 in March 2000, likely due in part to the increase in license fees and requirements to comply with state and local law implemented in 1993 and 1994. Since March 2000, the licensee population has slowly increased to the 2010 level of 118,487 licensees. Trend analysis indicates overall decreases in the number of dealer FFLs and a significant increase in the number of collector FFLs – with approximately 48% now licensed as collectors, approximately 45% as dealers and pawnbrokers, and 5% as manufacturers and importers.
Each year, a significant number of licensees choose to voluntarily cease operations or fail to renew their licenses. For example, during FY 2009, ATF issued over 13,700 new firearms licenses. However, during the same period, the total number of licensees increased by only 2,452.
The FFL eZ Check allows an FFL to verify a license prior to transferring a firearm to another licensee. In 2010, FFL eZ Check recorded more than 850,000 license verifications, showing increased usage each year for the tenth consecutive year.
The top Republican leading the House investigation into Operation Fast and Furious has gotten a "bipartisan" floor vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, after his subcommittee already voted to do so.
"I believe they will (vote to hold him in contempt)," House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-CA, told Fox News Sunday just before the vote. Both Republicans and Democrats will vote that – I believe it will be bipartisan," Issa correctly predicted.
Issa kept his focus on the Justice Department, clarifying that he has no evidence the White House was involved in any Fast and Furious cover-up. But he repeatedly said Congress is trying to get to the bottom of why the Justice Department "lied" about the operation.
The comments underscored the apparent momentum among majority House Republicans behind the contempt push, following a committee contempt vote against Holder along party lines. That vote proceeded after Holder and Republicans were unable to reach an agreement over subpoenaed documents pertaining to the Obama administration's Fast and Furious discussions.
Issa said the vote could have been delayed or even "eliminated" if the administration produced the subpoenaed documents the House is seeking. He noted the entire schedule is at the discretion of House Speaker John Boehner. "But we have to see the documents first," he said.
With the lack of a resolution, Issa and his allies are teeing up a major election-year clash between the Executive and Legislative branches, and between Democrats and Republicans.
President Obama intervened; invoking executive privilege to protect the documents in question, but Republicans dismissed the claim and proceeded with the contempt vote. On the sidelines, minority House Democrats are pleading with Republicans to take a step back and work out the document dispute, despite the contempt. At the same time, both sides are antagonizing each other at the dais and in the press over what Democrats claim has become a political "witch hunt."
But Issa defended the escalation, saying the committee is trying to obtain critical documents to help explain why Congress was initially told – incorrectly – in February 2011 that the government did not knowingly let guns "walk" across the U.S.-Mexico border. The department later issued a correction to that statement.
"We, in fact, are simply trying to get to the truth when we were told a lie," Issa said. "It's about the cover-up. Ultimately, Justice lied to the American people on February 4 (2011), and they didn't make it right for 10 months."
ATK (Federal Ammunition) reported that fourth-quarter sales were up 12% in its Sporting and Security Group, which includes ammunition for law enforcement, military and sporting applications as well as optics, reloading gear and sport-shooting and tactical accessories.
For the full year, Security and Sporting Group sales were up 8% compared to the previous year.
Officials in Texas have adopted rules allowing hunters to use suppressors on their firearms effective Sept. 1, joining a growing list of states permitting this device on sporting arms.
Sportsmen still will have to apply for specific permits for hunting with suppressors in addition to going through ATF's procedure for acquiring the devices.
Turn-around times for ATF processing of a Form 1 or Form 4 is now stretching to seven months, reports the National Firearms Act Trade & Collectors Association. This is mostly attributed to the surge in suppressor ownership with suppressors taking up 70% of all transfer requests. ATF is said to be attempting to bring in additional staff, at least on a temporary basis to help ease the workload.
The buyer must personally complete Section A of the ATF Form 4473 and certify (sign) that the answers are true, correct, and complete. However, if the buyer is unable to read and/or write, the answers (other than the signature) may be completed by another person, excluding the seller. Two persons (other than the seller) must then sign as witnesses to the buyer's answers and signature.
ATF considers the term "seller" as any employee of the FFL. Therefore, no employee of the FFL (whether directly assisting the buyer or not) may assist the buyer with the completion of the ARF Form 4473 or sign as a witness to the buyer's answers and signature.
ATF has received questions from federal firearms licensees regarding the acceptance of an out-of-state driver's license that show a current in-state residence address. For example, a purchaser who is in the military may have an Oklahoma driver's license that shows a current Virginia residence address.
The Brady Act requires FFLs to identify the non-licensed transferee by examining a valid government-issued identification document that contains the photograph of the holder. 18 U.S.C. 922(t)(1)(C).
An out-of-state driver's license with the purchaser's current in-state residence address may be used to satisfy the Brady Act's requirement for an identification document, provided that the driver's license is valid and it contains the name, current in-state residence address, date of birth and photograph. However, if a licensee has reasonable cause to question the validity of an identification document, he or she should not proceed with the transfer until those questions can be resolved.
Dealers have questioned procedure when an unlicensed person wishes to purchase a firearm from a federal firearms licensee in a state that has adopted the REAL ID Act. For example, the unlicensed person presents a driver's license that is marked across the face of the license in capital letters, "This Driver's License Is Not Valid for Federal Identification Purposes." Is such license an "identification document" that an FFL may utilize for identifying the purchaser in accordance with the Brady Law, 18 U.S.C. 922(t)?
Please note that the identification verification requirement to transfer a firearm is not considered an "official purpose" under the REAL ID Act. The Act defines "official purpose" as accessing Federal facilities, boarding Federally-regulated commercial aircraft, and entering nuclear power plants. Additionally, a driver's license or ID containing a REAL ID Act compliant marking is not an alternative to NICS.
The Bureau of ATF has recently clarified its trade name policy to allow a single legal entity to maintain several different trade names on its federal firearms license (FFL).
Prior to this, it was ATF practice to allow only one trade name per legal entity on a FFL. Under the old policy, if a legal entity wished to brand its firearm product using multiple trade names, it would have to create several different firearms manufacturing or importing companies, each with a different trade name, Employer Identification Number, and FFL for the same location.
A legal entity must obtain FFLs for each location at which it operates a firearms business. For example, if your company has three different manufacturing facilities, you will need a manufacturing license for each location. If you manufacture and import, you will need both a Type 07-manufacturer and Type 08-importer license to be properly licensed, even if operations are performed at the same facility under the same trade name.
It is also important to remember that manufacturers and importers having licensed operations at one location under multiple trade names are still required to issue individual serial numbers when marking firearms pursuant to 27 CFR 478.92. For example, serial numbers and serial number schemes applied to firearms made or imported under trade name A must not duplicate serial numbers applied to firearms made or imported by the same company under trade names B, C, or D.
The only limit to the number of trade names that can be assigned to a single FFL is system capacity. ATF's licensing database cannot currently accommodate more than 50 characters in the trade name fields. The Federal Firearms Licensing Center (FFLC) can work with you to construct a multiple trade name scheme for your FFL that fits within these parameters. Please keep in mind that the FFLC or your local ATF office may request verification of your legal right to use a particular trade name before issuing a license bearing that name.
Firearms retailers have puzzled over whether a hunting license or permit issued by a retail store qualifies as a government-issued identification document that can be used as a supplement to another government-issued identification document.
An identification document is defined as a document containing the name, residence address, date of birth, and photograph of the holder and which was made or issued by or under the authority of the United States Government, a Stat, political subdivision of a state, a foreign government, political subdivision of a foreign government, an international government or an international quasi-governmental organization which, when completed with information concerning a particular individual, is of a type intended or commonly accepted for the purpose of identification of individual (27 CFR 478.11.
As outlined in ATF Rul. 2001-5, licensees may accept a combination of valid government-issued documents to satisfy the identification document requirements of the Brady Act. The required valid government-issued photo identification document bearing the name, photograph, and date of birth of the transferee may be supplemented by another valid, government-issued document showing the transferee's residence address.
Whether a hunting license or permit issued by a retailer meets the definition of an identification document is state-law specific. This license or permit meets the definition of an identification document if the state in which the retailer is located has authorized the retailer to supply state-issued documents. If the state recognizes the hunting license or permit as government-issued, then this license or permit would qualify as being government-issued for the purposes of supplementing another government-issued identification document.


A hybrid between Echeveria and Sedum, the golden-green rosettes grows on a trailing stem that winds along the ground or spills over pots, taking root on contact with soil. This plant will propagate itself by dropping leaves, which then sprout new rosettes. Perfect for starting a garden, beautiful potted display, or for individual pottings as gifts. They do best in warm dry climates, in porous, well-drained soil. They love full sun to a little shade. Provide shade in areas of extreme heat during the hot afternoon.
Flowers: Produces bright yellow flowers in the spring-autumn months.


A great value fabric for dressmaking, this simple black georgette is elegant and understated. Made from polyester, it is a good alternative to more expensive silk georgettes and for the price, offers great value for money.
Use for all types of dressmaking, but especially good for evening dresses, prom/occasion dresses and draped skirts.


A few details and images of the Jaguar E-Pace have been revealed ahead of its imminent unveiling, but some consumers are confused about what the smaller F-Pace is meant to be.
The Jaguar E-Pace is said to be a rival to the BMW X1 and Audi Q3, which means it is smaller than the F-Pace SUV but shares a similar look albeit in a smaller, more rugged package.
More than 150 prototypes were built during its 25-month test period, which took place across four continents with temperatures ranging from -40°C in the Artic to 48°C in the Middle East. It even lapped the Nurburgring more than 400 times.
The spy shots, released by Jaguar Land Rover itself, are designed to show the E-Pace is able to 'withstand a lifetime of use in the hands of the most active and demanding customers'.
The handling characteristic of the E-Pace is said to be somewhere between a driver's car and a 'dynamic and entertaining performance SUV', which means it should be rather like the F-Pace to drive.
Owing to the size of the vehicle, the E-Pace is likely to be underpinned by the LR MS platform, which is used in the Land Rover Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque.
Cheaper versions of the E-Pace may well be of the front-wheel drive variety (a move unseen since the X-Type) because of the lack of space and subsequent need to move to a transverse engine layout. Four-wheel drive will be an option on costlier models, no doubt.
As for the engines available, a DVLA check of a prototype car revealed a 2.0-litre diesel electric hybrid powertrain is in testing, which would pave the way for lower CO2 emissions and more miles per gallon. Ingenium petrol and diesels are also more than likely.
"Our team of world class engineers and dynamics specialists have meticulously tuned and developed a true Jaguar," said Jaguar E-Pace chief product engineer, Graham Wilkins.
"Months of intense testing on roads and tracks around the world have delivered a compact performance SUV that is true to Jaguar's performance DNA," he added.
Jaguar has been criticised in the past for its somewhat strange naming system and the E-Pace is no different. Some consumers think it is an electric car because of the 'E' bit, but that niche is actually being filled by the I-Pace.
A price of £28,500 for the entry-level model is expected, making it noticeably cheaper than the F-Pace and in line with the German equivalents.
The full reveal of the Jaguar E-Pace will take place on the 13th of July, 2017. We shall bring you all the news from the event so stay tuned.


Happy Fat Tuesday!! Every year I make a king cake for my family, and every year the kids get so excited! This year I actually remembered to buy a baby to put in! My oldest is pretty excited to maybe get good luck for a whole year. haha I know it's a little late for this year, or maybe not if you get cooking, but this was the best king cake I've made. It was more moist than the ones I've made in the past. Definitely a keeper!
Cook sour cream, 1/4 cup sugar, butter, and salt in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring often, until butter melts. Set aside, and cool mixture to 100° to 110°.
Stir together yeast, 1/4 cup warm water, and 1/2 tablespoon sugar in a 1-cup glass measuring cup; let stand 5 minutes.
Punch down dough. Roll into a 22- x 12-inch rectangle. Spread 1/3 cup softened butter evenly on rectangle, leaving a 1-inch border. Stir together 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle evenly over butter. Roll up each dough rectangle, jelly-roll fashion, starting at the top. Place dough roll, seam side down, on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bring ends of roll together to form an oval ring, moistening and pinching edges together to seal. Cover greased plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 20 to 30 minutes or until doubled in bulk.
Bake at 375° for 14 to 16 minutes or until golden. Slightly cool cakes on pan on wire racks (about 10 minutes).
While the cake is baking, make the icing. In a medium bowl, stir together sugar, butter, vanilla, and lemon juice. Stir in 1 tablespoon of milk and add more until you have the consistency you want. After the cakes have slightly cooled, drizzle creamy glaze evenly over warm cake; sprinkle with colored sugars, alternating colors and forming bands. Let cool completely before serving.


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Gabriel Harvey (1545 – 1630) foi um escritor e poeta inglês.

Obras em latim
Ciceronianus (1577)
G Hezrveii rhetor, sive 2 dierum oratio de natura, arte et exercitatione rhetorica (1577)
Smithus, vel Musarum lachrymae (1578),
G. Harveil gratulationum Valdensium libri quatuour

Leitura adicional
Virginia F. Stern, Gabriel Harvey: His Life, Marginalia, and Library. Oxford: Clarendon, 1979.
Kendrick Prewitt, "Gabriel Harvey," The Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 281: British Rhetoricians and Logicians, 1500-1660, Second Series, Detroit: Gale, 2003, pp. 118-129.
Robert M. Chandler, "Gabriel Harvey's Rhetor: A Translation and Critical Edition," dissertação, University of Missouri, 1978
Clarence A. Forbes, Gabriel Harvey's Ciceronianus, Lincoln: University of Nebrask Press, 1945.

Escritores do Reino Unido

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Even in an age of listening, systematic programs to monitor markets by asking remain a critical tool for performance measurement and course correction. The catch: tracking programs are often large investments with complex, potentially cumbersome research infrastructure. If not optimally designed, executed and analyzed, they can become "lead feet" that impede agile brand management rather than empower it.
Clients tend to bring us their high-priority tracking programs — often after concluding that what they have been doing for years is simply not meeting the strategic needs of their organizations. We have an impeccable track record for transforming those data pipeline programs from "statistics on tap" to vital nourishment.
One of the most common question asked of tracking program stewards is "How do these measures relate to the health of our business?" Our tracking program designs are guided by a focus on "metrics that matter" — a commitment to developing the right performance indicators, and understanding how they relate to customer behaviors and business outcomes. Because we begin with an understanding of the business issues and the market structure, our analyses are always set in context. And because we monitor carefully for landscape and buying process changes that can shift customer priorities, our tracking programs are dynamic management tools that aim to anticipate market evolution rather than simply follow it.
One consideration that inhibits change, even when tracking programs seem "broken," is the recognition that tracking is, by its nature, about measurement continuity – but there are ways to minimize disruption and accelerate forward momentum. Direct conversations with key stakeholders help set priorities and see upside opportunities, while creating a climate that manages the anxiety associated with change. Use of careful weighting procedures and calibration questions allows us to create sturdy bridges between existing programs and new tracking initiatives.
Our tracking programs span global geographies and a variety of customer types, from consumers to business customers. They support brand health and customer satisfaction. They can rely on existing panels or custom panels we develop and maintain. And they can encompass a range of products, from basic to high-tech, across a range of industries — financial services, healthcare, energy, construction, automotive, and digital technology, to name a few.
If you would like to know more about how we elevate the value of tracking, we'll be happy to put you in touch with some of our clients.


We are Christian moms who want to faithfully raise uP our next generation.
We know the nervous anticipation of a new school or a new grade, the hand-wringing during a difficult year, the hopeful gratitude when our kids have good days, and the sleepless nights when they struggle. Most of all, we know the joy of watching our kids grow in wisdom, kindness, and faith and we long for even more of that- for all of us.
From kindergarten to senior year, we believe Guilford County is better when moms are connected, encouraged, and supported. In turn, we are able to offer connection, encouragement, and support to our students, teachers, and staff in the name of Jesus. That's what Gathered is all about.
We know you get enough email from your schools already. We promise not to add to the clutter! We'll send one email a month including parenting encouragement, tips and tricks, and information on our quarterly gatherings.
Four times a year we gather for county- wide events designed to unite, uplift, and empower. At each event, we offer time to mingle, worship, learn, and discuss the Christian public school mom journey. We would love for you to join us!
You were created on purpose with purpose and your presence in the public school is not by default. If you'd like to learn how you can uniquely and intentionally live out your faith, right where He has you, click below.
Gathered for Guilford is an organization dedicated to unifying and empowering public school moms.
fellowship: In his last recorded prayer, Jesus prayed for unity among believers. To that end, we gather four times a year for an evening designed to build connections within our own school community and with others across the county. We are stronger together.
encouragement: The nearly 80,000 students in Guilford County public schools represent many moms with questions, fears, and hopes. Regardless of how you ended up on this public school journey, we want to lift you up and point you to Jesus along the way.
equipping: With children in schools all over our county, we are uniquely positioned to carry Jesus' love into those spaces through service, support, and generosity. Our hope is that, through Gathered, you are informed and empowered in what that could look like in the midst of your everyday life.
How are you connected to schools in our area?
Not directly connected, but want to follow anyway!
Below, please select the school(s) your child(ren) attends and/or where you work.
Don't forget to check your email for your free gift!


Brutalist architecture or Brutalism is an architectural style which emerged in the mid-20th century and gained popularity in the late 1950s and 1960s. It descended from the modernist architectural movement of the late 19th century and of the first half of 20th century. It is characterized by simple, block-like structures that often feature bare building materials. Exposed concrete is favored in construction, however some examples are primarily made of brick. Though beginning in Europe, Brutalist architecture can now be found around the world. The style has been most commonly used in the design of institutional buildings such as libraries, courts, public housing and city halls.
Brutalism's stark, geometric designs contrast with the more ornate features of some 1910s, 1920s and 1930s architecture. Brutalist designs have historically been polarising. Specific buildings, as well as the movement as a whole, have drawn a range of criticism and support from architects and the public. Many brutalist buildings have become architectural and cultural icons, with some obtaining listed status.
The term "Brutalism" was coined by the Swedish architect Hans Asplund to describe Villa Göth, a modern brick home in Uppsala, designed in 1949 by his contemporaries Bengt Edman and Lennart Holm. He initially used the Swedish term Nybrutalism (New Brutalism), which was picked up in the early 1950s by a group of visiting English architects, including Michael Ventris, and Alison and Peter Smithson. The Smithsons' Hunstanton School completed in 1954 in Norfolk, and the Sugden House completed in 1955 in Watford, represent the earliest examples of Brutalism in the United Kingdom. The term gained increasingly wider recognition when the British architectural historian Reyner Banham used it, to identify both an ethic and aesthetic style, in both his 1955 essay, The New Brutalism, and 1966 book, The New Brutalism: Ethic or Aesthetic?, to characterize a somewhat recently established cluster of architectural approaches, particularly in Europe. In the 1955 essay, Reyner Banham also associated the term New Brutalism with Art Brut and Le Corbusier's béton brut, meaning raw concrete in French, for the first time.
Brutalism began to be favoured by governmental and institutional clients, with numerous examples in English-speaking countries (the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia), Western Europe (France, Germany, Italy), the Soviet Union, the Eastern Bloc (Slovakia, Bulgaria), and places as disparate as Japan, India, Brazil, the Philippines, and Israel. Examples are typically massive in character (even when not large), fortress-like, with a predominance of exposed concrete construction, or, in the case of the "brick Brutalists," they ruggedly combine detailed brickwork and concrete. There is often an emphasis on graphic expressions in the external elevations and in the whole-site architectural plan the main functions and people-flows of the buildings. Brutalism became popular for educational buildings (especially university buildings) but was relatively rare for corporate projects, which largely preferred International Style. Brutalism became favoured for many government projects, rectangle tower blocks (high-rise housing), and shopping centres.
Brutalist buildings are usually constructed with repeated modular elements forming masses representing specific functional zones, distinctly articulated and grouped together into a unified whole. Concrete is used for its raw and unpretentious honesty, contrasting dramatically with the highly refined and ornamented buildings constructed in the elite Beaux-Arts style. Surfaces of cast concrete are made to reveal the basic nature of its construction, showing the texture of the wooden planks used for the in-situ casting forms. Brutalist building materials also include brick, glass, steel, rough-hewn stone, and gabions. Conversely, not all buildings exhibiting an exposed concrete exterior can be considered Brutalist, and may belong to one of a range of architectural styles including Constructivism, International Style, Expressionism, Postmodernism, and Deconstructivism.
Brutalism as an architectural philosophy which was often associated with a socialist utopian ideology, which tended to be supported by its designers, especially Alison and Peter Smithson, near the height of the style. This style had a strong position in the architecture of European communist countries from the mid-1960s to the late 1980s (Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, USSR, Yugoslavia). In Czechoslovakia Brutalism was presented as an attempt to create a "national" but also "modern socialist" architectural style.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, many North American universities constructed campus buildings in the Brutalist style due to their low cost and ease of construction, beginning with Paul Rudolph's 1958 Yale Art and Architecture Building. Rudolph's design for the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth is an example of an entire campus designed in the Brutalist style. Walter Netsch designed the entire University of Illinois-Chicago Circle Campus (now the East Campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago) under a single, unified Brutalist design. John M. Johansen and Evans Woollen III's Brutalist-style Clowes Memorial Hall, a performing arts facility that opened in 1963 on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis, was praised for its bold and dramatic design.
In 1964, Brigham Young University inaugurated the Franklin S. Harris Fine Arts Center, which features a largely Brutalist style of architecture. The University of Chicago's Joseph Regenstein Library, one of the largest libraries in the world, is designed in the Brutalist style. The Northwestern University Library is also designed in a Brutalist style and is a good example of this type of architecture. The University of Minnesota's West Bank campus features several Brutalist buildings, including the performing arts venue, Rarig Center, one of Ralph Rapson's most important works and the best example of Brutalism in the Twin Cities.
The University of Louisville Belknap Campus has several Brutalist buildings, including the Bingham Humanities Building and the Interfaith Center. The Andrews Building at the University of Toronto Scarborough was built in a Brutalist architectural style and completed in 1964. In 1965, Desert Modern architect E. Stewart Williams was commissioned to design a new campus for the San Bernardino Community College District. Construction of Crafton Hills College began a year later, and the last building that was part of his original campus plan was completed in 1976. Williams' Brutalist design contrasts with the steep terrain of the area and was chosen in part because it provided a fire break from the surrounding environment. The Iowa State Center at Iowa State University originally consisted of five buildings in the Brutalist style, including a theater, auditorium, coliseum, stadium, and events center, as well as connecting elevated promenades.
At the same period in the U.K., similar expansion of higher education led to the construction of many Brutalist university buildings, notable examples being the Boyd Orr Building at the University of Glasgow, the University of Essex, and Denys Lasdun's halls of residence at the University of East Anglia. The exterior of the University of St Andrews's Andrew Melville Hall was used as the set for Dover Recovery Centre in the film Never Let Me Go (2010 film).
Although the Brutalist movement was largely over by the late 1970s and early 1980s, having largely given way to Structural Expressionism and Deconstructivism, it has experienced a resurgence of interest since 2015 with the publication of a variety of guides and books, including the Brutalist London Map (2015), This Brutal World (2016), SOS Brutalism: A Global Survey (2017) as well as the lavish Atlas of Brutalist Architecture (Phaidon, 2018).
^ a b c d Meades, Jonathan (13 February 2014). "The incredible hulks: Jonathan Meades' A-Z of brutalism". the Guardian. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
^ Review, Architectural (15 May 2014). "The New Brutalism". On Architecture. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
^ Trounstine, Philip J. (9 May 1976). "Evans Woollen". [Indianapolis] Star Magazine. Indianapolis, Indiana: 18. See also: "Prominent local architect Woollen Dies at 88". Indianapolis Business Journal. Indianapolis. 19 May 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
^ Megan Fernandez (June 2010). "The Pillar: Evans Woollen". Indianapolis Monthly. Indianapolis, Indiana: 68. Retrieved 18 December 2017. See also: Philip J. Trounstine (9 May 1976). "Evans Woollen: Struggles of a 'Good Architect'". [Indianapolis] Star Magazine. Indianapolis, Indiana: 23.
^ Glancey, Jonathan (17 May 2004). "Life after carbuncles". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 27 April 2010.


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Home » July 2021 » Tesla grants $3 million to Dalhousie University for advanced battery research
Tesla grants $3 million to Dalhousie University for advanced battery research
July 6, 2021 admin 0 July 2021,
Dalhousie University researcher and lithium-ion battery pioneer Jeff Dahn has been cooperating with Tesla since 2016, and the partnership has already resulted in significant progress that Tesla hopes will lead to the development of its vaunted million-mile battery pack.
Now Professor Dahn, along with his Dalhousie colleagues Chongyin Yang and Michael Metzger, have received a grant of $3.1 million from Tesla, and another, for $2.9 million, from Canada's Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) to develop advanced batteries for EVs and grid energy storage.
The goals of the project include lowering battery costs, increasing battery longevity and energy density, improving safety and increasing the content of sustainable materials in the batteries.
"This will allow Chongyin, Michael and I to solve many remaining puzzles that will help improve battery lifetime and lower cost," says Dr. Dahn. "The students trained in this program are finding, and will continue to find, immediate employment in the advanced battery sector locally and around the world. Tesla is a wonderful partner and a world leader in electric vehicle, solar and electrical energy storage products."
Source: Dalhousie University via Electrek
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Submitted photo of a previous "Day on the Blackstone"
On Saturday, September 16, the Blackstone River Watershed Association (BRWA) will host "A Day on the Blackstone." This annual event is a leisurely paddle in the Blackstone Canal from Massachusetts Department of Conservation's (DCR's) River Bend Farm Visitor Center, at 287 Oak Street in Uxbridge, to Rice City Pond, where we will learn about the history of the pond.
Joy Trahan-Liptak, an aquatic biologist, will talk about invasive plants, the harm they cause to our rivers and streams, how you can help to prevent their spread. Paddlers will continue to Goat Hill Lock and back down the canal to Stanley Woolen Mills and return River Bend Farm Visitor Center. A hike to the Blackstone River will follow, led by DCR Ranger Kathryn Parent who will talk about the flora, fauna and topography of the area. Participants will then return to River Bend Farm for refreshments and socializing.
This event will be limited to 20 canoes/kayaks and is open to all from beginner to expert paddlers. Canoes will be available for use for an additional donation of $10. The cost is $25/person for non-members and $20/person for BRWA members. The cost includes pizza and drinks following the event (and a free commemorative t-shirt to participants who registered before September 1).
The Blackstone River Watershed Association (BRWA) has been protecting the Blackstone River and its tributaries for more than 40 years. The organization has been instrumental in protecting the health and continued improvement of the Blackstone River watershed. The BRWA's Watershed Education Program is an interactive, hands-on demonstration using the Enviroscape model and it is free to educators in the Blackstone River Watershed. The organization participates in the Blackstone River Coalition Watershed-wide Water Quality Monitoring Program, conducts shoreline surveys and cleanups, monitors waterways for invasive species, and organizes groups of citizens to pull these destructive weeds.
For more information about the BRWA visit www.thebrwa.org.


My Christmas cactus has been looking sickly for months. Actually up until just a few days ago, I thought, it's dying. Leaves fell off on the floor until there was hardly anything left. I tried a lot of things through the fall, to no avail then gave up. Today, I noticed a light green section protruding out of one of its shoots. Growth means life. I'm happy.
Like a plant, if in our faith walk we are not growing, it is an indicator that there is something seriously wrong. And it is critical.


text:
Overt Show of Rituals,Traditions and Absence of Essence Is Failing Us
I'm not a religious scholar and I don't want to be one. 'Religion,' to me, is a very personal matter.
It was not my choice to be born in a certain family and I've not studied enough to go through all contemporary religions to make a choice once again. What I am as in my birth certificate is the description of an accident of birth. Today if I'm to explore the deeper truths of creation and existence, one life or several lives won't suffice to find the ultimate truth. So, I'm contended with the set of beliefs I've received from my parents, relatives, neighborhood and the society I lived in. Good luck to deeply religious, passionate and sincere souls and no argument with those who believe otherwise. Everyone has to bear his own cross. I'm what I'm.
I know the religion sometimes motivates people to do good things, but that is far outweighed by the misery, death, and divisiveness produced by religions since it arose thousands of years ago. It was religion that crucified (or seemingly) Jesus and it was also religion that caused the martyrdom of KARBALA. Whose faith was the 'force of good' and who was following SATAN is an argument that is pregnant with the side you stand, by choice or accident of birth. And certainly, the argument continues. It is the religion that is causing bombs to explode in mosques, imambargahs and hospitals and it is religion that is dividing one human being from others. So, could we simply say – Religion is the cause, reason and effect of the negative developments today or yesterday or yonder?
No sir!
The beneficial effects of religion far outweigh the negatives it has caused. Let me be honest – I've no airtight case for it. If you look around, you will find that religion does indeed motivate people to do good things. If you can get people to behave better by making them believe in things that inspire them you are on the right track. You may call it religion. Isn't better to base your actions and philosophy on things you know? That defines your background. For if you participate in good deeds because your trust in a faith and you think that this is what God wants, you're a happy and contended man and in hopes of having a nice afterlife.
But many are not gifted with that deep, unshakable resolution. They are the victim of Universal Sense of CURIOSITY. It is often the scientific penchant for wanting to know what's true that makes one an atheist. It is what challenges the basics of life. Here are two diametrically opposite opinions:
Anon: "There can never be a conflict between true science and true religion, because they both describe reality." Excerpt from a posting to a religious mailing list.
Peter Atkins: "Science is almost totally incompatible with religion."
While, religious wars, barbarism, coercion, discrimination and nepotism, desire to subjugate fellow human beings and lord over others point towards the flip side of religion, the good side is that religion promotes charity, altruism, compassion, discipline and total surrender to Universal Power who is always RIGHT and that has been given different names.
With religions come the religious books and faith-soaked literature that wield their long term and short-term effects. One can't dare to question the claims of Holy Literature. Religion is out domain of criticism. The society and religion are too powerful to crush the dissent in any form slowly and surely without much ado. Religion, as a system of dictatorship was seen when Popes had total control over the lives of their subjects and the Arab countries where even today they exploit religion and religious book to perpetuate their cruel dynastic rules. Egypt, once a cradle of Islam, the oldest seat of religion is the latest example of failed understanding or no understanding of religion. There is bloodshed and death on either side of river Nile.
But, on the other side, if one goes to an Utopian society where all the better rules could prevail without religion, you would end up in a desert where even the psychological palliation is not available when you are in doldrums. All new ISMS have flopped. The best examples were the worsening social, economic and political conditions of Communist, Scandinavia and Western European countries that had, by and large, rejected religion but were certainly no better or worse as societies than the highly religious states.
One can't deny, if you're not a religious zealot that secularist societies in the West have often shown, in 20 the century more "well being" than religious ones. This reflects a negative correlation between the religiosity of a country and its well being. The sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East are places where many countries are both highly religious and deeply dysfunctional.
Let us go back to the fundamental question – What is religion and why do we need it?
"Religion is a divine law that enables people with intelligence to attain goodness and happiness in this world and the next with their own desire."
Here I am quoting some lines of Albert Einstein. The following article by Albert Einstein was appeared in the New York Times Magazine on November 9, 1930 pp 1-4.
Everything that the human race has done and thought is concerned with the satisfaction of deeply felt needs and the assuagement of pain. One has to keep this constantly in mind if one wishes to understand spiritual movements and their development.
A little consideration will suffice to show us that the most varying emotions preside over the birth of religious thought and experience. With primitive man it is above all fear that evokes religious notions – fear of hunger, wild beasts, sickness, death. Since at this stage of existence understanding of causal connections is usually poorly developed, the human mind creates illusory beings more or less analogous to itself on whose wills and actions these fearful happenings depend. Thus one tries to secure the favor of these beings by carrying out actions and offering sacrifices which, according to the tradition handed down from generation to generation, propitiate them or make them well disposed toward a mortal. In this sense I am speaking of a religion of fear. This, though not created, is in an important degree stabilized by the formation of a special priestly caste which sets itself up as a mediator between the people and the beings they fear, and erects a hegemony on this basis. In many cases a leader or ruler or a privileged class whose position rests on other factors combines priestly functions with its secular authority in order to make the latter more secure; or the political rulers and the priestly caste make common cause in their own interests.
The social impulses are another source of the crystallization of religion. Fathers and mothers and the leaders of larger human communities are mortal and fallible. The desire for guidance, love, and support prompts men to form the social or moral conception of God. This is the God of Providence, who protects, disposes, rewards, and punishes; the God who, according to the limits of the believer's outlook, loves and cherishes the life of the tribe or of the human race, or even or life itself; the comforter in sorrow and unsatisfied longing; he who preserves the souls of the dead. This is the social or moral conception of God.
The Jewish scriptures admirably illustrate the development from the religion of fear to moral religion, a development continued in the New Testament. The religions of all civilized peoples, especially the peoples of the Orient, are primarily moral religions. The development from a religion of fear to moral religion is a great step in peoples' lives. And yet, that primitive religions are based entirely on fear and the religions of civilized peoples purely on morality is a prejudice against which we must be on our guard. The truth is that all religions are a varying blend of both types, with this differentiation: that on the higher levels of social life the religion of morality predominates.
Common to all these types is the anthropomorphic character of their conception of God. In general, only individuals of exceptional endowments, and exceptionally high-minded communities, rise to any considerable extent above this level. But there is a third stage of religious experience which belongs to all of them, even though it is rarely found in a pure form: I shall call it cosmic religious feeling. It is very difficult to elucidate this feeling to anyone who is entirely without it, especially as there is no anthropomorphic conception of God corresponding to it.
We thus arrive at a conception of the relation of science to religion very different from the usual one. When one views the matter historically, one is inclined to look upon science and religion as irreconcilable antagonists, and for a very obvious reason. The man who is thoroughly convinced of the universal operation of the law of causation cannot for a moment entertain the idea of a being who interferes in the course of events – provided, of course, that he takes the hypothesis of causality really seriously. He has no use for the religion of fear and equally little for social or moral religion. A God who rewards and punishes is inconceivable to him for the simple reason that a man's actions are determined by necessity, external and internal, so that in God's eyes he cannot be responsible, any more than an inanimate object is responsible for the motions it undergoes. Science has therefore been charged with undermining morality, but the charge is unjust. A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hopes of reward after death.
It is therefore easy to see why the churches have always fought science and persecuted its devotees. On the other hand, I maintain that the cosmic religious feeling is the strongest and noblest motive for scientific research.
Let us move to the works of another famous philosopher Bertrand Russell.
The Wikipedia article on Russell describes his view on religion as agnostic or atheist, concluding: "For most of his adult life, Russell maintained that religion is little more than superstition and, despite any positive effects that religion might have, it is largely harmful to people. He believed that religion and the religious outlook serve to impede knowledge and foster fear and dependency, and are responsible for much of our world's wars, oppression, and misery."
He was often asked the question of whether he was agnostic or atheist. In his replies he typically said that he was an agnostic. I think the reason for that was that he had very high standards for knowledge. The atheist would be someone who claims to know there is no God. That for Russell would require a proof. He always said he denied that he could prove that God didn't exist, but he thought that there was no evidence whatsoever to support the view that God did exist.
Russell did think that religion was responsible for a great deal of harm. He was acutely aware of historical religious wars, he was acutely aware of religious oppression, of the horrors of the inquisition and the ongoing horrors of religious oppression in everyday life. He was living in the 1920s and 30s when religion was in retreat but it still had a very substantial hold on people's lives, especially on matters of sexual morality that he was concerned with.
From Bertrand Russell we switch over to our own backyard. According to the second Indian President, scholar and philosopher Dr Radha Krishnan, life of strenuous endeavor for human betterment is not possible, if we are not persuaded that life has a meaning. Many of our popular writers today seem to be possessed by the one desire to escape from the world of meaning and teach us the essential purposelessness of life. They make us believe, with a good deal of cleverness and sophistry, that life is infinitely complicated and totally inexplicable. Many of our students are taught to assume that free-will and personal responsibility are illusions, that human beings are conditioned almost wholly by their physical make-up and the society in which they live, and that the only sense that the religious statements make is emotional and subjective. This is a generation which knows how to doubt but not how to admire, much less to believe. This aimlessness, this indifference to basic issues, is to no small extent, responsible for the decline of standards, for the fading of ideals, for the defeat of human endeavor.
For Dr Radhakrishnan, religion was not about path to salvation.
Dr Radha Krishnan
He says, "For me the road to salvation is through incessant toil in the service of my country and humanity." Religion is neither about set of concrete dogmas defining its identity, as he argues that "There are some things which are more important that our particularistic allegiances: truth and humanity and that universal religious consciousness which is the common possession of all human beings by virtue of their spiritual endowment. Only such recognition of universal values can secure the fate of civilization and humanity on this earth, for a 'civilized society is possible only in an ordered community, where there is a rule of law before which the poor man and the rich, the weak nation and the strong are equal, which believes that the world belongs to all'
As a person who believed in evolution of religion according to changing times, Dr Radhakrishnan argued that there is nothing called "irreligion". Atheism is a quest for higher religion compatible with the increased knowledge. Secularism itself is a spiritual construct. He explains: "There is no state religion. All the different forms are given equal place, provided they do not lead to corrupt practices. Each one is at liberty to approach the unseen as it suits his capacity and inclination. If this is the basis of our secular state, to be secular is not to be religiously illiterate. It is to be deeply spiritual and not narrowly religious". Dr Radhakrishnan believed that religion and science can not only coexist but one is incomplete without the other. Acquiring knowledge involves devotion/discipline (Bhakti) and Faith (Shraddha). It must be complimented by other process like Hearing/Listening (Shravana), Reflection (Manana) and Contemplation (Nididdhyasana).
Today, many of the thinkers blame Islam's indifference rather its supposed hostility towards science. Let us remember that between the eighth and the 13th centuries, while Europe stumbled through the dark ages while science thrived in Islamic states. Irrespective of their style and antecedents, the Abbasid caliphs showered money on learning. The 11th century "Canon of Medicine" by Avicenna (pictured, with modern equipment he would have relished) was a standard medical text in Europe for hundreds of years. In the ninth century Muhammad al-Khwarizmi laid down the principles of algebra, a word derived from the name of his book, "Kitab al-Jabr". Al-Hasan Ibn al-Haytham transformed the study of light and optics. Abu Raihan al-Biruni, a Persian, calculated the earth's circumference to within 1%. And Muslim scholars did much to preserve the intellectual heritage of ancient Greece; centuries later it helped spark Europe's scientific revolution. Science and Islam were compatible.
In the last few centuries, while the other Christian states compromised between religion and science, the myopic rulers or Muslim world refused to change. While the science was taking the man to moon they were fighting about the sighting of moon. It was the political attitude and ignorance of Muslim rulers and not the set of belief that brought the down fall of once leading society of the world.
According to Rana Dajani, a Jordanian molecular biologist,
Rana Dajani
"The Koran is not a science textbook. It provides people with guidelines as to how they should live their lives." Interpretations of it, she argues, can evolve with new scientific discoveries. Koranic verses about the creation of man, for example, can now be read as providing support for evolution.
To me, the spirit of religion is to serve the mankind. Unfortunately, the new movements in Islamic world are closing the windows of fresh air of thoughts. The kind of freedom that science demands is not to be found in the fanatic fringes of Muslim world. With the rise of political Islam, including dogmatic Salafists who espouse a radical version of Islam, in such important countries as Egypt, some fear that it could be eroded further still. Let us pray God that the political storms shaking the Middle East could promote not only democracy, but revive scientific freethinking also. Amen
Posted in Post of the month, Religion	| Tagged Anon, barbarism, coercion, contemporary religions, discrimination and nepotism, effects of religion, force of good, imambargahs, martyrdom of KARBALA, Peter Atkins, Religion, religions, religious books, religious scholar, religious wars, Universal Sense of CURIOSITY	| Leave a comment |
A Day to remember Indra Priyadarshni Gandhi
Why I miss you Indra Priydarshni…..
Because you were the greatest leader Mother India has ever produced. You were the one who had given the new definition to the much touted word – 'Initiative.' You were willing to make decisions. You had made decisions that changed the course of history. Your decisions changed the destiny of millions. You didn't fall victim to 'ready-aim-aim-aim-aim syndrome.' You fired the salvo when it was the need of the hour.
Because you were the great Communicator. As a leader you listened a lot; you asked n –th questions; you considered options; you gave decisions loud and clear – unbiased, unclouded, pragmatic, practical and without prejudice. You understood the needs and desires of India. You knew your soil. You had the sagacity to gather every tremor on the lips of Bharat Maa. You felt her agony.
Because you were flexible and adaptable. You challenged the might of established leaders when they tried to push you down. You failed their nasty designs. You took away the privileges of nawabs and rajas; you made the lazy bones work in zones where ordinary poor waddled in vain. You made 'Gahraibi' a genuine issue'; You worked the hardest to 'Hatao' the curse.
Because you were Proactive and Reactive. You exploded at Pokhran the biggest hit and did it all without taking the credit; You made to Shimla when time was ripe.
Because you were always Respectful to your adversaries; you had the finest upbringing that reflected; you didn't call them names; you didn't make tall and false promises; you didn't lie. You treated every Indian with due respect;
You were and quiet and confident. You were sure of yourself and your humble intentions, You didn't insult the communities, leaders and parties; You didn't try to re-write history with fake stories; you didn't took the criminals under your wings and you crushed them down when they raised their heads. You didn't rub the salt on the wounds of victims; you reached them with love on impossible tracks – even when it was the uneasy ride on a elephant's back.
Yes, my leader ! You were an unflinching enthusiast. You presence gave confidence to fallen and down-trodden; You were there to fulfill what the Indians dreamed. You were there when the chips were down; You were there when no one there to wipe the tears; You were there when the sky was overcast; you were there when winds were hot; you were there when life was tough; you were there to make us laugh; You were there with a wand of love.
I miss you Indra Ji because you were both Resourceful and Rewarding. You utilized the resources available to you. You were a leader who knew the art and access to information. You were an exceptional leader who recognized the efforts of others and reinforced those in actions.
Because you were well educated, evaluative, organized and always CONSISTENT.
Because, you didn't believe in cheap rhetoric.
Yes, I miss you Indra Ji. I'm an unknown Indian.
This regime is ignoring you today. But V remember U. V LOVE U.
Posted in History, Politics	| Tagged Amroha, amroha.co.in, brotherhood, cultural, hindu, j p nagar, mohalla, politics, Religion, social, society, up, urdu	| Leave a comment |
The Cost of Courage
In my articles in 'Merinews' 'IndiaOpine', 'NewsKick' "All Voices' and other news portals I had described the complex barbaric situation developing in middle east where Kurds are murdered, terrorized and forced to flee from their homelands by Arab ISIS, double speak and double deed Turks, and this is happening with the connivance of West. What is happening in Iraq, Syria and their border areas is not clearly known and shown to the world. Aerial bombardment by US and other forces are not alleviating the situation for the hapless victims ISIS terrorists. The pother and the dust is helping clouding more than stopping the ISIS in their merciless march ahead.
Apart from ISIS, the dictatorial regimes in middle east and Turkey also have a history of suppression of Kurds. The earlier dictatorships in the region also had tried to silence those brave media-men and women who dared to expose the atrocities on ground.
Press TV's correspondent, Serena Shim, is the latest martyrs of freedom of press. She was killed on this Sunday in a suspicious car accident near the Turkey-Syria border. A US national of Lebanese origin, she was working on a mission to cover the ongoing war in the Syrian town of Kobani (The Eye of Arabia). Serena Shim was going back to her hotel from a report scene in the city of Suruç in Turkey's Urfa Province when their car collided with a heavy vehicle. The identity and whereabouts of the truck driver remain unknown. She was an American citizen of Lebanese origin. She has also covered Ukraine in past.
Turkey is only country that has the temerity to openly support ISIS despite its heinous crimes against humanity. As the bold coverage undertaken by Serena didn't go well along the Turkish government shameless plank to support ISIS, its intelligence agency had accused her of spying. As here stories were exposing the nexus between ISIS and Turkey, she had expressed fear, a few days back that she might be arrested. She was among the few journalists who succeeded in obtaining the stories of militants infiltrating into Syria through the Turkish border. She had probably managed to capture images from ISIS militants crossing the Turkish border into Syria in World Food Organization and other NGOs' trucks.
The city of Kobani and its surroundings have been under attack since mid-September, with the ISIL militants capturing dozens of nearby Kurdish villages. According to Press TV news director Hamid Reza Emadi "Serena told the stories how Ankara collaborated with those terrorists," and blocked Kurdish fighters from entering Kobani."Emadi called the "car accident" version of Shim's death an "infantile argument" by Turkey. "We are not going to buy that. We believe that the Turkish government has to be held accountable before the international community. It has to find out exactly what happened. Shim will not return to her children in Lebanon just because she criticized a certain country that is creating chaos in the region by supporting terrorists both inside Syria and Iraq."
In 2012, Press TV lost another correspondent, Maya Nasser, who was shot in the neck and the chest by a foreign-backed sniper in the Syrian capital Damascus. Mr. Emadi decried news blackout on Press TV correspondents' death "by those who control mass media" saying, "That's how they're sending a signal to independent journalists like Serena Shim."
Posted in International, Politics	| Tagged Amroha, amroha.co.in, cultural, j p nagar, killed, mohalla, politics, press, Religion, reporter, social, society, up, urdu	| Leave a comment |
The Return of ISIS Frankenstein
Say 'fly in the face' and the ISIS did it again! The Islamic militant group released a video on Tuesday showing the second beheading of an American hostage in two weeks and blamed President Obama for the killing. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria had posted a video earlier that showed the beheading of James Foley, an American journalist who was kidnapped in Syria nearly two years ago. The video was concluded with the masked fighter threatening to kill Steven Sotloff, another American freelance journalist, who was being held alongside Foley. The hostage, Steven J. Sotloff, is shown in the video kneeling like the Foley as a masked figure stands besides wielding a knife. Prisoner Sotloff is forced to speak before the camera and described himself as "paying the price" for Mr. Obama's decision to strike the group, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, in northern Iraq. The US administration has not yet authenticated the video. However, it is believed by members of Sotloff's family that he had been killed. Mr. Sotloff appeared almost completely bald and had only stubble on his face. He was made to wear the same Orange Uniform put on Foley and the Prisoners of barbed American Detention Camp at Cuba.
A masked fighter speaking in British-East London accented, similar to Foley video, declared, "I'm back, Obama, and I'm back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State. Just as your missiles continue to strike our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people." The video, titled "A Second Message to America." The ISIS was threatening to behead another captive, a Briton it identified as David Cawthorne Haines. ISIS is currently holding two Americans and three Britons, most of them aid workers.
The all times so-sure Americans in most of the matters are confused and have not yet formulated a clear strategy – Use military force against the militants in Syria or not? How long it will take for Pentagon to take a precipitated action against ISIS after appearance of these harrowing images of Americans with knives to their throats? According to Mr. Daniel J. Benjamin, a former State Department Counterterrorism Coordinator : "That pressure is often the enemy of good policy. There will be a clamor for the president to take military action, which may not be effective. If he conducts airstrikes and does not get the desired effect, there'll be pressure for more airstrikes, and then to put boots on the ground."
Mr. Sotloff, had been writing for 'Time' magazine and other publications, He had also covered the stormy days of the Arab Spring and his capture by ISIS was largely kept a secret for months at the request of his family. Last Thursday, Mr. Sotloff's mother, Mrs. Shirley, appealed to the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed Caliph of the Muslim world, to grant amnesty to her son. "I ask you to use your authority to spare his life."
Behind all this blood-letting in the Middle East, lies the hazy politics of the West. They want to induct Democracy and simultaneously they want to retain the most brutal dictatorships upon plant earth to serve as their vassals. They want to eat the cake and have it also.
Any student of recent history of Middle East knows well that the virtual inventor of the "ISIS" is none other than former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. In 2006, during the peak of the U.S.–Iran conflict, she prompted all Sunni states to set up a "Sunni belt" in response to the alleged "Shia belt" that Iran had supposedly created against Arab Sunnis. The Lebanese government was offered military to crush 'Hezbollah' in Lebanon. Then the Secretary-General of the Saudi National Security Council, the infamous Prince Bandar bin Sultan was assigned the task to create the brutal groups such as Al-Nusra Front and "ISIS" to fight the Assad regime in Syria.
The credibility of the humanitarian motives of the West can be measured by the fact that the same governments did not say a word about the atrocities of the Israeli government in Gaza against innocent kids and women. There is an absolute silence about the suffering of the Palestinians !
It is interesting to note that the U.S. neoconservatives have long been talking about a policy of "creative chaos" in the Middle East. The "creativity" of this chaos consists of the consolidation of U.S. hegemony in the region by causing area-wide instability and generating more "failed states" to keep their controls over BENZENE and Iron dome protection for their protégé – Israel.
Posted in contemporary, Current Affairs, International, Politics	| Tagged Iraq, ISIS, politics, Religion, saudi arab, seria, tafriki, terrorists	| Leave a comment |
Parents commit suicide after killing disabled son
The parents of Karandeep Singh Arora, a disabled student of Class 8 at Tamanna School, New Delhi had lost faith in society, in religion, in humanity and in future. For them every door of hope had closed.
TAKE THE case of the following four dead-end kids. One was spanked by his teachers for bad grades and a poor attitude. He dropped out of school at 16. Another failed remedial English and came perilously close to flunking out of college. The third feared he'd never make it through school–and might not have without a tutor. The last finally learned to read in third grade, devouring Marvel comics, whose pictures provided clues to help him untangle the words. These four losers are, respectively, Richard Branson, Charles Schwab, John Chambers, and David Boies. But these are the stories of lucky winners. They were not really the dead-end-kids.
I am discussing the real unlucky parents and unlucky kids.
No one can really feel the agony of the parents of a disabled child. Only if you are parenting a disabled child then only you could experience the emotional challenges and stress that lie ahead. But believe me, you are not alone. Many parents are unlucky or lucky to whom God in His infinite wisdom have saddled with these unique responsibilities. These parents experience the never-ending periods of stress.
Ultimately they learn to adjust to the demands of a situation though they had never been trained for in any school for this ordeal. It is not easy to bear the pain when you see your child being shunned, jeered, hooted or hit by the kids of the same age; it is not easy to be a witness of your own kid's universal striation. It is not easy to hear about your own close relatives making fun of your disabled kid when they think you are not near.
This family is in a very lonely compartment. What keeps them going is Hope. For consolation, society usually provides some lip-service and sham show of sympathy. Some would love to contribute to the private or government institutions which are established in the name of "Specialised Humanitarian Services" and see them minting money in the name of these hapless kids.
If you are the parent of a child with a developmental disability then you are fully aware of the constant struggle of raising a child, who is different. Raising a normal child is hard enough, and equally challenging is raising a differently able child. It is their luck. Here comes the religion, the belief and the faith in hereafter that gives strength. The priest says you are loved by God. He thought you to be trustable for his bounty. You can't understand His ways. You will be rewarded here and hereafter.
Perhaps the parents of Karandeep Singh Arora, a disabled student of Class 8th at Tamanna School, New Delhi had lost faith in society, in religion, in humanity and in future. For them every door of hope had closed The loss in business, the sickness of wife and disability of kid are undoubtedly gruesome challenges but these are not the end of the road. Human life is too precious to be destroyed without purpose. They killed their disabled son and thereafter jumped before the trundling wheels of a train thus putting an end to the their agony and the agony of the kid for ever.
But the story can't be given a full stop here. They don't deserve sympathy, because what they did was irrational, illogical, heinous and they had no right to do so. However, I still believe that, had our society been kinder to those, who are cornered by destiny these kinds of tragedies cane be averted. We are not doing enough. We have become too engrossed in enjoying our happiness and we do not have time to share the grief of others.
Posted in Uncategorized	| Tagged disabled child, humanity, kinds of tragedies, Parents commit suicide, poor attitude, Religion, responsibilities, society, Specialised Humanitarian Services, unlucky kids	| Leave a comment |