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Orientalism, Occidentalism and Cosmopolitanism: Balkan Travel Writings on Europe
Wendy Bracewell
When I was a girl I loved reading travel writing, but it was always a slightly doubtful pleasure. Travel writing was suspiciously fun to read for something that claimed to be non-fiction: it offered all the charms of escapism and vicarious adventure, but at the same time it purported to tell you facts about the real world out there. Yet even when the account was focused on the particularities of landscapes, cities, architecture, politics or food, these were seen through the eyes of an individual with very specific characteristics – and in reading these travels, you usually learnt as much about that person's opinions and prejudices as you did about the countries and customs described. And despite the ways these accounts were so loosely strung together, given a plot by the one-thing-after-another of the journey, they also seemed to be deliberately shaped to convey some more coherent message (something my own journeys rarely did). So what was travel writing? Was it just creative writing masquerading as non-fiction? A species of autobiography? How much could you trust the information it offered about the foreign parts it described and the people it pigeonholed? Wasn't the pleasure it offered concealing something else, more complicated than the excitement of the exotic?
More recently, I've been asking the same questions, but this time the hybrid nature of the genre is one of its pleasures – and the hidden work that it does in creating notions of home and the world is the source of my interest in it. For the last year or so I've been reading travel accounts as part of a research project on ways that people from the Balkans have written their travels and their own relations to ideas of Europe. Part of the impetus for this project came from work done on Western (mostly British and French) travel writing, and the ways this has both defined the world for a domestic readership and simultaneously set out what 'the West' is in explicit or implicit counter-distinction to these non-Western others. Eastern Europe and the Balkans have been among these 'Others' – ambiguous and hybrid, perhaps, but still different from the Western Self, within Europe but never 'properly' European or Western: 'Orientalized' in order to affirm the meaning of the 'Occident'.
But West Europeans haven't ever been the only ones travelling and writing – and defining the world and its divisions through their travel accounts. From at least the sixteenth century, travellers from Europe's eastern margins have done the same. They have produced a rich and diverse body of writing about Europe and the rest of the world, ranging from diplomatic reports, to letters, to travel journalism, to literary journeys, and more besides. Some are well-known, at least in national literary histories, some are more or less obscure. There is a great deal that is familiar in these accounts – not just the places described, nor even the excitement of discovery or the struggle to make well-trodden paths seem new and unfamiliar. This writing, too, is concerned with locating and evaluating the divisions of the world, and defining oneself – and one's society – with reference to these divisions. The strategies used are often strikingly similar: over and over travel writers from the Balkans pinpoint the traits of lands and peoples and characterize these as 'Western' or 'Eastern' – in order to make a point about themselves and their own societies as similar or different, positive or negative.
It's been argued that this sort of binary opposition is pervasive and inevitable, and that the moral geography that contrasts an abstract East and West goes back to the Greeks and Persians. It is hard to escape the impression, though, that travellers from Europe's margins have been constrained to orient themselves using a map with such coordinates, precisely because of the ways that observers from outside the region have used it to situate them. But some travellers have resisted this particular way of dividing up the world with other, more or less inclusive discourses of identity. 'Internationalism' has been one option that cut across East/West boundaries, though after the Second World War the political project that took this as its slogan only reinforced a new East-West division of Europe. In travel writing, discourses of cosmopolitanism have offered still other ways of seeing the world. As well as considering a range of Occidentalisms and Orientalisms in Balkan travel writing, I want to ask how far cosmopolitanism has offered travellers a way off this all-too-familiar map. In what follows, I'm going to cite a series of travel accounts published in Serbian/Croatian/Serbo-Croatian, partly because it's these literatures that I have been reading most closely. Judging by the selections made by my colleagues on the project, and by my own rummagings, these texts could easily be expanded with very similar citations from any of the Balkan literatures.
Is there anything distinctive about the ways Balkan travel writers use – and abuse – the mental maps of East and West? I need to stress that Occidentalism as a symbolic map of an essentialized West doesn't arise only out of non-Western perceptions, any more than Orientalism as a moral geography characterizing (and simultaneously constructing) a useful East has been the monopoly of Western philosophes, ethnographers, novelists, colonial administrators or travel writers. Every version of the Orient necessarily produces its own complementary Occident – and vice versa. It is tempting to try to list the characteristics of 'the West' as implied by Western Orientalisms. But to do this would be to succumb to the essentializing and totalizing logic of such definitions. Occident and Orient are defined in terms of selected features that claim to express the quintessence of each half of the pair – but only in contrast to the other. And because the definition is contextual, it changes along with the context.
Western Orientalism was not nearly as unified and homogeneous as Edward Said originally suggested, but rather imagined the Orient in contradictory ways depending on the circumstances. The corresponding Western images of the West have been equally diverse. Its characteristics often seem reducible to 'modernity' or perhaps better to priority – and power. But the ways particular aspects of this picture have been highlighted vary, both in terms of their content and in their valence. Is Western modernity mechanistic and impersonal, or a matter of individualism and spontaneous creativity? It depends what argument you are making about the East and – even more – to what end. It's also worth pointing out that Western discourses of difference may always have been self-affirming, but that they have not always been self-congratulatory. Western Occidentalisms could serve to criticize Western practices and patterns as well as to celebrate them. We can find any number of examples among British travellers who have sought out the backwardness and primitivism seen as characteristically 'Balkan', but who celebrate it in their vanishing-pastoral travel accounts as tradition, authenticity, 'organic' totality. Rebecca West, impatient with the modern, westernized Belgrade of the 1930s, finding in Macedonia a 'magic' and a sense of security that Western rational secularism had abandoned, is one of these. However irrational, constricted and lacking in choice this life may be, it is made to stand as a marker of what the West has lost in its rush to modernity (seen here in terms of anomie, materialism, instrumental human relationships).
Balkan Occidentalisms haven't been much different. There's no single 'Balkan Occidentalism', at least in part because there has been no single 'Balkans' as such. Each separate nation has had its own historically specific encounter with Western power. True, allowing for differences in timing and circumstance, the character of the encounter has been comparable. Mesmerized by Western achievement but also struggling to meet the prerequisites for Western recognition, in the nineteenth century the Balkan peoples built their nations and states (and opera houses and novels and railway systems) according to models and standards laid down elsewhere. This was a practical Occidentalism, and it had common elements in each separate national case. But though there may have been broad agreement over what was wanted – especially political sovereignty and economic development – there were major differences over how to get it, what the costs were, which models to follow.
The notion of 'Europe' could stand for progress or for oppression, and Balkan Occidentalisms could be positive or negative (think of the intellectual rejection of the West in twentieth-century populist movements, or the disillusioned anti-Western reactions that followed 1989). These differences weren't simply a reflection of the changing state of political or economic relations with the West European states, or even a measure of the degree of discrepancy between expectations and reality. The ways these ideas were formulated and put to use had a good deal to do with issues of domestic political power, social prestige and material advantage. Local purposes, as well as local conditions, shaped the ways the world was depicted. The point is that the Occidentalisms generated in the West and in the Balkans have been comparable, in terms of the range and diversity of form and of value attributed to the notion of 'the West' as much as in terms of the content of the idea. What is at stake may differ – authority over others at home, rather than colonial or imperialist power? – but in the end, what is important in determining their shape is the particular political context that these representations are embedded in.
There is, however, one apparent difference between these Western and Balkan geopolitical alteritisms that seems to me worth exploring, and it comes out particularly clearly in reading travel writing from the Balkans. This is the degree of freedom to manoeuvre available to travellers from the Balkans as they position themselves with relation to notions of East and West, Orient and Occident. Travellers from the developed West have little choice in the matter: they may like it or not, but their places and their identities are fixed in contrast to the Easts they deplore – or admire. (Is it different for travellers from other European peripheries: from Spain, say, or from Norway?) But travellers from Europe's Balkan margins can deploy a wider range of strategies. They align themselves with a version of the West; or they adopt a certain distance, in-between and ambivalent; or they embrace and celebrate their 'Oriental' stigmata. Is this a response to the ambiguities projected onto the region by Western imaginings? A result of adopting a map of civilization drawn up elsewhere? Perhaps – but when examined closely it becomes apparent that, while Western interests may help us identify the way the coordinates have been defined, Balkan manipulations of this conceptual map reflect concerns that are often closer to home. And this makes sense, for it is generally a domestic audience that is being addressed in such travel accounts.
How does this work in tales of travel? One way is through the technique that Milica Bakić-Hayden has labelled 'nesting orientalism'. In travel writing, it often looks like a game of Orientalize-your-neighbour. Listen to a certain Aleksa Stanojević, arriving in Skopje from Belgrade in 1898:
Sadly, the picture which Skoplje presents to you when seen from the train disappoints at first sight, and dispels the fond illusions you might previously have held about its significance. The Orient, the entire empire of today's Caliph, cannot – even in Asia – present a better picture of Eastern backwardness, negligence and repulsiveness than the European can see in Skoplje! The sooty ruins of the Skoplje fortress, planted on a rise above the town, right next to the Vardar river, on its left bank, glower darkly from a distance, and greatly increase the horror and inaesthetic quality of the panorama […] To the traveller who views Skoplje from the train, the town seems interred alive in the middle of an enormous cemetery which surrounds it on all sides and coverts all its life into an eternal silence. Poor Skoplje! It is a good five centuries that it has been lying in a cemetery… [Dve nedelje u Staroj Srbiji. Putničke beleške s jedne ekskursije, Belgrade, 1898.]
Stanojević sets himself up as a European and an arbiter of Europeanness – a representative of progress and modernity identifying the dead hand of the East as the cause of Skopje's funereal gloom. His independent Serbia is, by implication, an undisputed part of the West. This tactic of shifting the negative stigma of the Orient ever eastwards has been ably analysed by Aleksandar Kiossev as an aspect of Balkan nation-building, a response to the persistent Western conflation of the peoples of the region into a single, undifferentiated and chaotic whole, whereby national movements attempted to distinguish themselves from one another by elaborating incompatible national ideologies, to align their own nation with all that was identified as positive and Western, and to consign hostile neighbours and competitors to the undifferentiated darkness of the Balkans and the Orient.
But note that this is not solely a matter of convincing the Great Powers that your nation can and should be recognized on European terms. For one thing, the boundaries of East and West can be drawn within the body of the nation. The same traveller felt he was leaving Europe behind even before he arrived at the Ottoman frontier:
You know that for most of us, Niš is the last point of Europe; beyond that is the Orient, Siberia and God knows what. Who hasn't heard the lamentations over the 'demands of duty' that come from the greater number of our officials when they have to exchange Belgrade or Kragujevac for Leskovac, Vranje or Prokuplje? […] However, as far as we could see from the train station, Leskovac is quite an ordinary Serbian town; in all probability it is just as comfortable to live there as anywhere else, and it is certainly no different in Vranje, Prokuplje, etc. But that's how we are: the Frenchmen of the Slavs. And every Frenchman yearns most heartily for – Paris… [Dve nedelje u Staroj Srbiji. Putničke beleške s jedne ekskursije, Belgrade, 1898.]
So, while Belgrade's likeness to Paris is taken for granted, Leskovac's claims to being a part of Europe end up almost as dubious as Skopje's, once it becomes a matter of characterizing the differences between Belgrade and the provinces. This sort of operation may depend on having internalized Western discourses of difference and of value, but it does not need to be acted out before the gaze of the West for it to have significance or consequences. And legitimating Belgrade's claims as a modern, European city with a natural right to its central role, in a society divided socially and politically between city and countryside, did have consequences.
'Internal' Orientalizing can reinforce other divisions, and imply other Occidents – and it doesn't need to stay at home to do so. Moma Dimić has published several books of travels through Europe and the rest of the world: his persona is that of a knowledgeable, well-travelled, well-read, well-connected writer. In the early 1980s, in Germany, he cast a quizzical glance at some of his fellow-countrymen in the West:
Once, in nearly the same place [the Hamburg Eros-Center], I saw two of my countrymen. The farther north you go, the easier it is to pick them out. Lean, no longer quite so young, they wander indecisively through the voluptuous twilight, gaping and staring endlessly at the girls on display: the heart shapes formed by their unclad buttocks, the tender skin of their thighs, their uncovered shoulders. Anything above and beyond that would cost too many of their gastarbeiters' marks – carefully hoarded but never enough. They will go round all the courtyards and the streets with girls on display several times. They will approach, timidly, the doors of topless restaurants and variety shows featuring female mud-wrestling or boxing, but these too will be too expensive for them. They began their free Saturday night with such excitement and such luxuriant nakedness, but they end it alone, in a cheap Oriental café, with a piece of burek [Monah čeka svoju smrt, Priština, 1983].
Dimić's co-nationals have little in common with him but nationality. His account makes it clear that he can take for granted what they desire, but cannot afford. It implies that it is he who is the European, with experience, savoir faire, and economic power, while these emasculated gastarbeiters are doomed to stay mired in the Balkans, wherever they may travel, work and live. In such texts, Dimić – and other writers – underlines the social distinctions that persist at home, as well as abroad, between an educated elite and a working class. Experience of the world counts for nothing in this account unless it translates into understanding, discernment and the power to chose. The contrast helps Dimić stake a claim for the prestige and authority that ought to accrue to an intellectual such as himself (and, incidentally, allows him to assert a masculinity – self-assured, virile, well-off – that might not always be conceded to the intellectual in a society where a man-of-letters is not necessarily a proper man at all).
In short, characterizing domestic divisions, whether between the capital and the provinces, or between social classes, or men and women, in terms of European and less-than-European has often served domestic political agendas that have little to do with relations to the West as such. But even when the ostensible topic is the relationship with the West, the fact that the account is addressed to an audience at home has a specific effect. In the following passage the writer casts doubts on Bulgarian claims to a European identity, but the subject seems less Bulgarian behaviour than Serbian self-image:
In the ship [from Venice for Rijeka] it was buzzing like a beehive. Very many travellers of both sexes and various ages. We even found a few brother Bulgarians. They too had been 'vov Evropa'. They travel a fair amount and this is one of their pleasant characteristics. Girls, boys and students; the more intelligent and the better off all dash gladly off on extensive travels. Of course, they also put on a little outward affectation, with the intention of showing themselves, outwardly at least, as citizens of the world. Whether they are in the position of being recognized as such by European society – that is another question entirely. [Staniša Stanišić, Putnička pisma sa puta po srednjoj Evropi, Belgrade, 1925.]
But would his own self-valuation elicit any more satisfactory reaction from the Western arbiters of belonging? The way Stanišić phrased his scornful put-down somehow begs the question and reveals his anxiety, assuaged only by reassuring himself that at least the Bulgarians are less convincing.. An even more comforting reassurance could be derived from pointing out how far Western neighbours could fall short of their own standards. Ljubomir Nenadović, on a walking tour in Prussia in the 1840, described the filth and disorder of village taverns, and concluded his account by pointing the moral:
I am describing all this to you in minute detail so that you should understand how Germans live outside the towns. We are constantly hearing and reading them ridiculing and deriding the domestic life of foreign nations, and especially the Slavs, but they don't take into account their own poor. From this village to Stettin is less than two miles, and you can travel to Berlin by rail, through Stettin, in a morning. Everywhere that they travel through foreign lands, Germans censure the inhabitants and commiserate with their lovely, fertile lands for not being settled by a better people. When they travel through Serbia or any other foreign country and find nothing but soup, they raise their complaints to the skies, and trumpet to the whole world, through the papers, that such a country is worth nothing, and is even barbaric; and yet there is scarcely a one who asks himself what people, what misery and what poverty exists within that very nation that gave him birth. [Pisma iz Grajfsvalda, Belgrade, 1846]
Miroslav Krleža's description of Vienna takes this strategy only a small step farther. By making class divisions and moral geography coincide he condemns Vienna itself, with its slums and its poverty, to the world of the only dubiously European. The effect is to lift much of the burden of the Balkans from Zagreb (poverty and a rural economy, after all, can be addressed; civilizational differences are harder to erase):
The northern Danube quarter [of Vienna] is wretched and empty. There the swamps have frozen in the greenish-grey light of the late winter afternoon, and glisten dully in the smoke from the mouths of the factory chimneys. There the beggars and the slaves have their wooden huts, roofed with boards and tar-paper, the same as in Zavrtnica and Zaselka at home, and the windows in the dirty, terrible new blocks of flats sit askew in lop-sided parallelograms, as though drawn by some feeble-minded illustrator of Fedor Dostoevskii. Here the Danube flows, and one can see the scorched, fallow fields across which, in this same light, the cavalry rode in the battle of Austerlitz, as described by Tolstoi – with Stendhal's clarity – in War and Peace. Children slide on the frozen marsh, wretchedly, provincially, penuriously, on a single skate; geese honk and somewhere in a sty pigs grunt. This is where the village and the provinces begin, and they extend from here all the way to Linz and Passau with their straw thatch, accordions and pig-raising. At Passau the straw stops. By that point it is already Europe. [Izlet u Rusiju, Zagreb, 1926.]
It's not always the case that the traveller chooses to identify with the West that is held up as a mirror to the Balkan self. Self-Orientalization is another approach, with the traveller standing apart from the Europe that is being used as a standard of comparison. It might be merely a matter of degree, as for Desanka Maksimović in Paris 'wanting to forget that I was from the Cyrillic zone, in that sea of Latinity and the West – the real West, not the sort of West we represent in the eyes of those coming from, say, Siberia, or Azerbaijan, or from Bulgaria' [Praznici, putovanja, Belgrade, 1972]. Or the traveller might discover the shame of an Oriental identity through contact with the West. The public toilet as a marker of civilization or its opposite deserves an entire study to itself in this regard. Ivan Kušan creates a whole bathroom scale, in which filthiness acts as a moral-political and geographic indicator: 'I've had many toilet encounters with my drunken double in the course of my life and I remember all of them, just as I remember the state of the urinals and the toilet bowls, from country to country. On this scale Peščenica [Zagreb] is right at the sorry bottom, right next to Egypt and Scythian Asia [Russia]' [Prerušeni prosjak, Zagreb, 1986]. Depending on the purposes, this strategy might be tactical, challenging the reader with contrasts intended to provoke self-reflection; it might be lachrymose and self-exculpatory ('what chance is there for Orientals like us?'), or it might be celebratory, setting a critique of Western deficiencies against the values represented by the East. Listen here to Momo Kapor, fulminating against a Europe which has excluded his country from the civilized nations, but has also lost its ability to enjoy itself:
One morning in 1980 I read in the newspaper that Europe wasn't letting our trains in because they were dirty. They get have to halt, it said, on the western borders, and the passengers change into clean, sweet-smelling European carriages. This seemed to me the final personal insult from Europe; since if we ride in those carriages, then it means that we ourselves are dirty too! In fact, I was the most disappointed by the Danes, who shut down the direct train from Copenhagen for the same reason; and for years we fools had loved their Prince Hamlet, in spite of the fact that 'there's something rotten in the state of Denmark'.
After fifty years the famous Simplon-Express from Paris to Athens doesn't pass though our territories any more; they diverted it through Italy, because it ran seven hours late. Incredible – seven hours! […] Fine, what is it with Europe? Is it crazy? What's the big hurry that those seven hours are so important to it? It's not going to be able to see the countryside it's crossing because of its speed. And it won't have the chance to chat with the train dispatchers, who keep bees in the garden behind their houses and have a Saanen goat and where at the window above the ticket office there is a marriageable daughter. All this furious speed means that it won't have time to have a drink of water on the platform, or buy a paper, or stretch its legs at some unfamiliar station where the train has stopped. Haste makes waste! Quick-quick, round about, and back again. [Skitam i pričam, Belgrade 2001].
Freedom of manoeuvre between Orient and Occident – and a variety of political circumstances and positions. The end result is a proliferation of contradictory statements about the Balkan self in relation to the West, and a whole range of valuations, whether celebratory or stigmatic. Does this multiplicity of self-definitions mean that – in the ambiguous, in-between Balkans – the discursive strategies afforded by East and West made possible more flexible, more nuanced, more accurate representations of identity, ones that take into account the messy, complex and divided nature of Europe? I don't think this is entirely the case. In-betweenness or ambiguity is rarely seen as a quality to be sought after, let alone providing a space of freedom in these travel accounts. Instead it is something worrying, scandalous, unwelcome. These writers are constantly being wrongly identified on their European travels, and they don't like it. Resentment ('why won't they recognize us on our own terms?') and a sense of superiority ('we know them better than they know us') are the most common responses. And when it comes to observing Balkan others, pointing out the neither-one-nor-the-other quality of semi-Europeanization is even more damning than consigning a nation entirely to the Orient. Thus Marko Car, describing Sofia in 1898: 'The sharp contrast between the past and the future is evident in the town as a whole; centuries of Turkish rule have very apparently left deep traces in this nation, which is being forced to change into European dress willy-nilly, so that the Bulgarian currently presents the image of a ragged bumpkin who has pulled on a redingote and has stuck a top hat on his head, but whose feet are still shod in peasant opanci or who is – still worse – barefoot. […] In one word: the very Orient – but edged with Western decoration' [Od Jadrana do Balkana, Zadar, 1898]. (In this travelogue, evidence of the same processes of Westernization in Car's own Dalmatia simply pass unnoticed, while in Belgrade they are presented as symbols of progress…)
In the end, the alteritist discourse of Orient/Occident is bound by the rigid logic of the binary opposition. This binarism acts as a device for generating and evaluating difference, and it is the fact of difference that is important, not the particular character of the differences. East and West are opposites, the two ends of the earth. It is this that gives all the varied, heterogeneous manifestations of identity their unity, regardless of any specific content, and it is this that makes the ambiguous spaces in-between impossible and uncomfortable. The only alternative to Occidentalism – according to this logic – is Orientalism.
As I've tried to suggest through the examples of travels cited above, a good deal of travel writing from the Balkans accepts this logic and this framework for dealing with the world. But some travellers do not. One alternative is that of the consciously cosmopolitan traveller, whose travels trace broader versions of belonging that cut across conventional boundaries. Dositej Obradović is the exemplary eighteenth-century humanist cosmopolitan, who takes the whole earth as his fatherland, who delights in what he can learn from 'enlightened Europe', who expresses the same sympathies and hopes of enlightenment for the Albanians, Romanians and Greeks as he does for his own Serbs. Such cosmopolitanism is not about generating difference, but rather puts its emphasis on inclusiveness. Cosmopolitanism's universalist aspirations are set in contrast to other possibilities, yes, but these are not complementary and self-defining binary opposites. Dositej's inclusiveness is set against the particularism of religious creed, as much as anything; other cosmopolitanisms have been seen as alternatives to the particularisms of nation or of other partial and parochial forms of belonging. In much nineteenth and twentieth-century travel writing from the Balkans, the effect of a cosmopolitan stance has been to negate and to deny the salience of the East/West division of the European continent, redrawing the circles of belonging in ways which include our travellers. In this way cosmopolitanism acts as a counter-discourse, a means of resisting the binary opposition of Orient and Occident in a way that does not simply reverse the polarity of the opposition, and so accepting the terms already laid down by Western observers. Such a cosmopolitanism may be elicited by the prior existence of Western maps of inclusion and exclusion, but it also functions as a means of escaping from the ways that the Balkans are located on them.
However, it's worth pointing out that these cosmopolitanisms only rarely assume a cosmic or global scale. The criteria of belonging have been set in various ways at various times. One characteristic variety in travel writing is the Republic of Letters, which asserts a shared community of culture and learning. Here the stops on the traveller's itinerary are universities, galleries, salons, centres of wit, creativity and scholarship. Any number of 'travels among foreign writers' are underpinned by the same sentiments as expressed by Milan Begović, sharing his encounters with Italian poets and French critics in the 1920s:
Marvellous are the spiritual ties among intellectuals, foreign to one another in language, upbringing and way of life. […] But there is no doubt that there is something stronger in human relations than ethnographic and political boundaries, there is a spiritual homeland which is broad and vast, which encompasses much more than devotion and love for one's narrow domestic hearth. Here you cease to be the citizen of one country, no matter how dear and cherished, and become a citizen of the world. […] There is no place here for petty egoism, for haggard envy, for the wretched quarrels of the literary or artistic demimonde: here relations become strong and warm in shared success and recognition, become firm and unshakeable in joint conceptions and ideals, become close and sincere in the pure humanity which is so strongly marked in people of spirit and culture [Put po Italiji, Zagreb, 1942].
The ostensible purpose of these literary travels is to bring a readership back home up to date what is happening in the wider world of letters, with judgements underpinned by the authority and prestige of those whom the traveller meets (Begović again: his acquaintance, the French writer Valéry Larbaud, 'eliminated harshly the occasional personality whom Zagreb snobs have scrambled to praise to the skies. Do you remember, for instance, the fuss that was made in Zagreb over the premiere of Lenormand's Les ratés? How amused I was, when I heard from the oracle's mouth, in precisely what esteem this gentleman is held!'). But an important subtext is the assertion of the traveller's place in this community, and the traveller's prize is recognition by distinguished (Western) writers, poets and academics on equal terms. What is excluded from this cosmopolitan circle, by implication, is the irrational and the barbaric, the uncultured and Philistine masses, or anything that can be opposed to the values of 'true culture'.
Another, somewhat different variety is what might be called a 'Diners Club' cosmopolitanism of privileged mobility, independent means and savoir faire. Such a traveller often situates himself in class and gender terms as a 'man of the world' (as opposed to the older, more general notion of the cosmopolitan 'citizen of the world'). Moma Dimić, in the passage about the Hamburg sex scene cited above, is a good example: a traveller who admits no boundaries, whose resources permit him to make his own choices, as opposed to the gastarbeiters who cannot. But being a man of the world does not necessarily depend on economic privilege; a frequent version in Balkan travel writing is more raffish and Bohemian, not well-off, perhaps, but still enjoying a privileged mobility – and worldly, with consumption (of sex, consumer goods, popular culture) an important marker of this worldliness. (This cosmopolitanism isn't always coded as masculine: women write travel-and-shopping accounts too.) This is the traveller in pursuit of the 'good life', seen in more or less material terms, and with the taste and discernment to make the most of it; defying the assumptions of socialist morality, when that was still a factor, but also chafing against the narrow horizons and constraints associated with home: poverty, lack of choice, immobility.
How much do cosmopolitanisms such as these really represent a counter-discourse that can subvert East/West mappings of Europe and the Balkans? They clearly challenge definitions of belonging that exclude or disenfranchise the travel writer. The writer might invite readers at home to imagine themselves as sharing in a cosmopolitan culture that reaches out to include like-minded individuals. ('Do you remember the fuss that was made in Zagreb…?') But such cosmopolitanisms can also, at the same time, create or reinforce hierarchies within the traveller's own society. The (Western) recognition granted to the individual traveller-writer doesn't automatically extend beyond that individual to a wider class, nation, or society – far from it, since it depends on the wit, or creativity or other trait displayed by that individual. By lining up with (Western) cultural figures and movements or flaunting knowledge of (Western) trends and access to (Western) consumer goods, the cosmopolitan traveller can also consign those outside these charmed circles to the Philistine, uncultured, backward, impoverished … Balkans. Cosmopolitanisms of culture and of consumption can therefore conceal a covert Occidentalism, recreating East/West divisions (and hierarchies of value) under a different name. Perhaps this should be no surprise. After all, even Kant imagined his 'universal cosmopolitan existence' as the result of Europe legislating for all the other continents.
It's true that a focus on travel writing – a quite specific literary genre, generally produced by an educated and mobile minority – imposes a limited field of investigation into these discourses of belonging and difference. It's certainly possible to imagine other cosmopolitanisms. Travel, for Dimić's gastarbeiters and other migrant labourers, may not have been a matter of choice or of pleasure, but this doesn't prevent such travel, for such travellers, from being a source of knowledge, power, and prestige, and a means of seeing the world in new ways. (We shouldn't idealize non-elite cosmopolitanisms either, though. We could draw the same conclusions about trans-national criminal organizations.) Other types of travel and of travel writing – the exile memoir, the war diary, private letters, the tourist postcard? – might suggest other visions. More could unquestionably be done in analysing notions of the West and the self by looking outside the limited range of texts I've surveyed here.
But perhaps it is too harsh to dismiss the transformative potential, however modest, that even the travel accounts I have cited here can have. Travel writing's manipulations of Orient and Occident for a whole variety of purposes may have reinforced the concept of an East/West dichotomy dividing up the world, but especially by applying these labels within the writer's own society they have also helped detach notions of 'the West' from any geographical reference point. The Orient can exist within the very heart of Western Europe, its presence marked by burek, or the state of the toilets, while the Occident is everywhere by now. In this writing, 'East' and 'West' become the coordinates of a purely moral map, rather than a physical one, something which at least implies the possibility of choice and change. Similarly, cosmopolitan travellers may have denied the salience of the East/West divide in ways that only allowed a few to escape, but even such limited re-mappings of the world invite readers to imagine themselves as equal members of a more inclusive community. It's a starting point – modest, but real. Travel writing from the Balkans, in the end, is a hybrid genre in more ways than one. It has perpetuated systems of difference that operate at the expense of others, but at the same time it has opened up different ways of seeing the world, mixing up margins and centres, positive and negative, both to reinforce and to challenge the travellers' own societies' social and political practices.
Nationalism and the Other: The Making of Nation and Nation-State in the Balkans
Pan-Ideologies in the Ottoman Empire against the West: From Pan-Ottomanism to Pan-Turkism


The Twice Bitten: Elderberry and damson crumble - Where has all the time gone?
Elderberry and damson crumble - Where has all the time gone?
I guess our time is so precious here on this "pale blue dot". Death and change really are the only constants. I'm going to make the effort to be more aware of my time and then maybe I wont miss the damson season next year (and might actually do something useful with my evening).
This is a lovely little treat of a recipe. I've kept the crumble topping simple, almost like shortbread, to really show off the flavour of the fruit and berries. Elderberries are also a great way to get into foraging as they are easy to recognise and hugely common.
De-stone the damsons if you so wish.
Add the damsons, elderberries, sugar and a splash of water to a pan over a moderate heat.
Whilst the fruit is cooking make the crumble mix by rubbing the flour and butter together until you get an even, sandy texture.
Add the sugar to the flour and butter mixture and stir.
Stir occasionally till the damsons are soft.
Once the fruit has cooked add more sugar to taste as required.
Add the fruit mixture to an ovenproof dish and add the crumble topping to the top of it and gently pat down.
Cook for 15 – 20 minutes until light golden brown.
Serve with ice cream or crème fraiche.
This is such a powerful speech and one we should all take a little to heart - it's so important to remember what really matters in life and follow our dreams.
Your crumble looks delicious and perfect as the long nights (and dark mornings) draw in.
i'm liking those words. here's to quality time, and to being brave enough to make the most of it.
What a delicious looking crumble and words to remember.
Lovely post, Ruth and the crumble looks wonderful. I remember listening to his speech last year, it is so inspiring and life affirming.


Allinformation on fishing in The gravel pits Mota (the caves Gezove jame, Golnik and Siget), with licence C&R Siget, Golnik - 5-days. Get all new information about the fishing regime with licence C&R Siget, Golnik - 5-days!
Boat is allowed for finding fish, feeding, placing the rig and saving the fish. Fish landing from the boat is forbidden.
For sport fishing in the rivers managed by fishing families and the Slovenian Fisheries Institute, you need a valid fishing licence.


Wei Weng, member of the THESys Graduate Program, has published a paper in the journal "Land Use Policy". It deals with the increasing fresh water resources of Santa Cruz (Bolivia) by reforesting its upwind strategic areas.
In the face of increasing socio-economic and climatic pressures in growing cities, it is rational for managers to consider multiple approaches for securing water availability. One often disregarded option is the promotion of reforestation in source regions supplying important quantities of atmospheric moisture transported over long distances through aerial rivers, affecting water resources of a city via precipitation and runoff ('smart reforestation').
In this paper, the authors present a case demonstrating smart reforestation's potential as a water management option. Using numerical moisture back-tracking models, they identify important upwind regions contributing to the aerial river of Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia). Simulating the effect of reforestation in the identified regions, annual precipitation and runoff reception in the city was found to increase by 1.25% and 2.30% respectively, while runoff gain during the dry season reached 26.93%. Given the city's population growth scenarios, the increase of the renewable water resource by smart reforestation could cover 22–59% of the additional demand by 2030.
Building on the findings, the authors argue for a more systematic consideration of aerial river connections between regions in reforestation and land planning for future challenges.


text:
Florida Democrats: Ron DeSantis is Not All Bad
MIKE SYNAN
Democrats from the Sunshine State are offering some praise for Gov. Ron DeSantis after his first legislative session which ended earlier this month.
State Rep. John Cortes, D – Kissimmee, joined other lawmakers, state CFO Jimmy Petronis and a host of firefighters to celebrate DeSantis signing a bill that will give firefighters better benefits if they get cancer and death benefits for their family if that firefighter dies from that disease.
"The firefighters need it," Cortes said, "Cancer is….everybody is getting it, and they have to go through asbestos buildings and chemicals that I don't even know about. Then later they get cancer."
"This is a great thing," Cortes said before tipping his cap to DeSantis. "I want to thank him very much."
This type of event, with legislators from both sides of the aisle celebrating the governor helping first responders, would not have likely taken place just a year ago, Cortes told Florida Daily.
"He's a little better than Rick Scott. Let's just say that," Cortes said about DeSantis.
Patronis, a Republican, did not offer either the GOP or the Democrats more credit than the other when it came to passing the bill. While this probably does not signal a new day in Florida politics, it did get legislators like Cortes to at least admit things are not all bad.
"There was a couple of bills in there that he approved that I am happy about," Cortes said. With the next election right around the corner, don't expect praise from across the aisle to become the norm.
Freshman state Rep. Joy Goff-Marcil, D- Maitland, said there is much that DeSantis did not do. She is particularly unhappy that his education policies, including expanding school choice, were passed by the Legislature.
"I am not happy…because he is really promoting the private school vouchers and the expansion of so-called 'choice' which I don't see it that way," she said. "I see it as taking away from public schools. If we could fund public schools adequately and make the private and charter schools have the same accountability, that would be a different story."
Still, even Goff-Marcil had some nice things to say about DeSantis, telling Florida Daily there have been some good and bad aspects of his first four and a half months in office.
"I like his focus on the environment and putting more money in the budget for the environment," she said. "We do need to get some kind of water policy though…that is extremely important."
Both Democrats were disappointed with the implementation of Amendment 4 and the bill to punish "sanctuary cities".
Cortes said he is ready to work with Republicans in Tallahassee.
"We've got to get some language in there and correct them. I'm sure if we do a compromise we can get something done. It's all about talking to each other and not pointing fingers." Cortes told Florida Daily.
Goff-Marcil said DeSantis seems to be trying to build bridges.
"A start was his veto of the ban on the ban of the plastics," she said. "We are very passionate about local governments being able to regulate their environmental policies, especially with the plastics. We have a huge problem with that and we need to address it. That was a huge step."
The question is how much either side will be willing to give with November 2020 quickly approaching.
Reach Mike Synan at Mike.Synan@floridadaily.com.
jimmy patronis
john cortes
joy goff-marcil
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Florida Senators Want Army Corps of Engineers to Fully Fund Florida Priorities
Dustin McLochlin: Ted Cruz is Wrong in Comparing 2020 Elections to Rutherford B. Hayes Winning in 1876
Florida Delegation Reacts as Joe Biden Takes Over as President

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
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class PostModel extends CI_Model{
	public function postItem($name, $description, $category){
		$postDetails = array("name" => $name, "description" => $description, "category" => $category);

        $this->mongo_db->insert('posts', $postDetails);
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	public function readAll(){
		$allPosts = $this->mongo_db->get('posts');

        return $allPosts;
	}
}
?>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Sheppard Air Force Base
Search sheppard.af.mil: Search
Sheppard Cares
Sheppard History
82nd Training Wing
80th Flying Training Wing
Noncommissioned Officer Academy
82nd Medical Group
Digital Design Lab
Sheppard AFB Registrar
Share the Air
Voter Assistance Program
REAL ID Act & Base Entry
Welcome to the official site of Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas. This site is provided as a public service through the cooperative efforts of Sheppard AFB (82nd Training Wing Public Affairs) and the Air Education and Training Command Public Affairs offices.
363rd TRS student earns ACE Award
Col. Joshua DeMotts
F-16 crew chiefs
AETC Mission
Air Education and Training Command - "Recruit, train and educate Airmen to deliver airpower for America."
Air Education and Training Command, with headquarters at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, was established and activated in January 1942, making it the second oldest major command in the Air Force and its' training mission makes it the first command to touch the lives of nearly every Air Force member. AETC was formed in 1942 as the Army Air Corps Flying Training Command with headquarters in Washington, D.C. During World War II the command provided technical and flying training at more than 600 installations, factories and institutions of higher learning. Over the years, more than 25 million students have graduated from AETC training and education programs.
AETC includes Air Force Recruiting Service, a numbered air force and the Air University. The command operates 12 major installations and supports tenant units on numerous bases across the globe. There are also 16 active duty and seven Reserve wings.
AETC's mission is to "Recruit, train and educate Airmen to deliver airpower for America."
AETC's vision is "Forging innovative Airmen to power the world's greatest Air Force."
Air Force Mission
The mission of the United States Air Force is to fly, fight and win...in air, space and cyberspace.
To achieve that mission, the Air Force has a vision:
The United States Air Force will be a trusted and reliable joint partner with our sister services known for integrity in all of our activities, including supporting the joint mission first and foremost. We will provide compelling air, space, and cyber capabilities for use by the combatant commanders. We will excel as stewards of all Air Force resources in service to the American people, while providing precise and reliable Global Vigilance, Reach and Power for the nation.
The Air Force has three core competencies: Developing Airmen, Technology-to-Warfighting and Integrating Operations. These core competencies make our six distinctive capabilities possible:
Air and Space Superiority : With it, joint forces can dominate enemy operations in all dimensions -- land, sea, air and space.
Global Attack: Because of technological advances, the Air Force can attack anywhere, anytime -- and do so quickly and with greater precision than ever before.
Rapid Global Mobility: Being able to respond quickly and decisively anywhere we're needed is key to maintaining rapid global mobility.
Precision Engagement: The essence lies in the ability to apply selective force against specific targets because the nature and variety of future contingencies demand both precise and reliable use of military power with minimal risk and collateral damage.
Information Superiority: The ability of joint force commanders to keep pace with information and incorporate it into a campaign plan is crucial.
Agile Combat Support: Deployment and sustainment are keys to successful operations and cannot be separated. Agile combat support applies to all forces, from those permanently based to contingency buildups to expeditionary forces.
The Air Force bases these core competencies and distinctive capabilities on a shared commitment to three core values -- integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do.
The Department of the Air Force is headquartered in the Pentagon, Washington D.C. The service is organized in nine major commands throughout the world which provide combat aircraft, airlift, refueling, reconnaissance and other support to the Unified Combatant Commands.
The Air Force also has more than three dozen field operating agencies and direct reporting units which directly support the mission by providing unique services.
Together with Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard forces, the United States Air Force is the best in the world.
Acting Secretary of the Air Force - Matthew P. Donnovan
Chief of Staff of the Air Force - Gen. David L. Goldfein
Vice Chief of Staff - Gen. Stephen W. Wilson
Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force - Chief Master Sgt. Kaleth O. Wright
Mission: Train, Develop, and Inspire Warriors
Vision: Combat Capability Starts Here
Motto: Sustineo Alas (We Sustain the Wings)
Mission: To produce the world's finest NATO pilots with the skills and attitude to succeed in fighter aviation.
Vision: To Be the World's Premier Combat Pilot Training Program.
14 NATO nations participants:
• ABU or OCP uniform
• Physical Training Gear for Organized PT (Mandatory)
• Appropriate Civilian Attire (For Class Social and Community Events)
• Service Dress and Service uniforms not required for training
Note: In accordance with the AFI 36-2903, 10.4.6. When performing special duties or attending professional military education, wear primary AFSC occupational badge.
AF Sites
Strategic APR
SAPR
Official United States Air Force Website


text:
You are at:Home»Kochi 2»Startup Village ties up with LABX Foundation for internships
Startup Village ties up with LABX Foundation for internships
By Archives on	 January 12, 2013 Kochi 2
Kochi: Lab-X Foundation, a non-profit organisation and a participant of the MIT's Global Ideas Challenge, has launched a pilot programme in collaboration with Startup Village at Kochi, which will facilitate much-coveted internship opportunities and outreach programmes in some of the engineering colleges in the US.
"Most Indian engineering schools have a tremendous lack of R&D and entrepreneurial effort to build a robust high-tech environment. Save the IITians, majority of the students do not have any global exposure or hands- on learning experience," Sampriti Bhattacharyya, Director of Lab-X Foundation and a doctoral student at MIT, said from Boston. "However, there are some extremely bright students in these smaller colleges who do not get the right resources. Lab-X Foundation is set to address this problem by organising structured programmes to promote research, innovation and entrepreneurship throughout the country and build the next generation leaders".
Foundation was co-founded by Sampriti, Ketan Dande and Chris Garry with an objective to provide students in developing countries with opportunities to gain practical, hands-on experience. It has collaborated with scientists at some of the top notch national laboratories, like Fermilab, and will be mentoring students to avail summer internships at such places.
Ketan Dande, Associate Director of Lab-X Foundation who was recently in Kochi promoting Lab-X, is visiting engineering colleges in Kerala to create awareness about this opportunity.
Lauding the collaboration with Lab-X, Sanjay Vijayakumar, Startup Village Chairman, said this would give a tremendous fillip to students who have the ability and conviction to launch their own start-ups. He also announced that expenses of students chosen for the internships would be paid by the host institutes while Startup Village would foot the bill for their airfare and visa fee.
"We aim to give college students a global exposure of the best universities and labs in the world even while they are studying with an aim that our best minds can come back and use the knowledge gained for the benefit of our society. However the internships are extremely competitive and are meant for highly motivated students," he said.
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Kerala Startup Mission offers space for scale up startups in its facilities
MoU signed for setting up Aerospace Innovation Centre in Trivandrum
Government increases cap on direct purchase of IT products from Kerala start-ups
Kerala unique model for startup ecosystem, says CM @ Huddle Kerala
Kerala Budget 2018 gives push for innovation and start-ups
Ministry of Commerce & Industry launches the Startup India Hub
Kerala Startup Mission to host UN Technology Innovation Lab
Kerala to come out with a framework for funding of startups


Abich started and actively promotes collaborations and partnerships with Universities, Research Centres, Organizations and Companies.
Thanks to the collaborations with Universities and Research Centres, Abich exchanges knowledge and competences which bring to life inventions and innovations contributing to the mutual development and innovation, thus laying the basis for further research activities.
Partnerships with Companies allow to meet market needs better and faster, to offer integrated services to customers effectively, and to gain more competitive shares of the national and international markets.
University of Turin: Abich collaborates with the University of Turin on the Epatocare project, which aims to identify early biomarkers of liver fibrosis for a non-invasive diagnosis.
In particular, Abich, together with the Molecular Biotechnology Centre of the University of Turin, will study extracellular microvesicles (EVs) originating in the liver and present in blood, as a possible source of diagnostic markers.
University of Camerino: Abich has been contributing to the teaching programme of the II-level university specialisation course in "Science of cosmetic and dermatological products" since 2012.
Both Dr. Stefano Todeschi, CEO at Abich, and Dr. Elena Bocchietto, Director of the Abich Assay Facility, teach in the specialisation course and share their expertise with the students.
University of Ferrara: Abich contributes to the teaching programme of the II-level specialisation course in Cosmetic Science and Technology (COSMAST).
Dr. Elena Mordini, molecular biologist at Abich, teaches "Applied Microbiology" in the specialisation course, sharing her competences with the students.
San Raffaele Hospital in Milano: in collaboration with the Molecular and Cellular Immunology Laboratory of the Biotechnology Department (DIBIT) of the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, Abich created the spin-off company ALLTOX.
Thanks to this collaboration, innovative tests to detect skin allergies associated with finished products, cosmetic raw materials, medical devices, and consumer products have been created since 2003.
Kialab Srl: Abich and Kialab signed a partnership agreement to give a tailor-made integrated approach to their customers: cosmetic research and development and related testing.
Indeed, the two companies provide services that complement each other to customers in the cosmetic field.
Abich is partner and collaborates with Universities, Research Centres, organizations and Companies to develop and innovate in order to provide accurate and effective services to its customers.


text:
Q: Default token caching behaviour with ADAL library I have a UWP app using the ADAL authentication library and the default token cache.  When I log on the token appears to be saved and refreshed and I don't need to log in again, even if I close and reopen the app or restart the device, unless I manually clear the token cache.  This is the same for other users when testing with different accounts, devices and networks.
However some end users are seeing different behaviour where they are being asked to log in repeatedly, even when the app hasn't even been closed which suggests the token is not being refreshed automatically.  What I haven't been able to work out is what the difference is.  Has anyone else encountered this and know what might cause the difference in behaviour?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Now you know how I fell in love with Seville and what we did during our short break, let's end my Spanish sojourn with a suggestion of where to stay and eat in Seville.
There is plenty of accommodation for all budgets in the city and I think, as long as you stay within the historic centre, you won't go far wrong with location. Our hotel was near the Alameda de Hercules and that's probably as far north of the city as we would have wanted to stay, in order to see everything easily on foot. I had whittled down a list of possible hotels and sought the help of Scribbler in Seville, Fiona, to make the final choice.
As regards food, Seville loves its tapas bars. The easy, convivial tradition of sharing small dishes of food with friends and family is very popular here. But, like all modern cities, there is a wide variety of cuisine on offer. They do eat quite late in the evening here with restaurants opening around 8.30 or 9pm so make sure you stagger your eating throughout the day if your stomach is still in UK mode.
The Hotel Casa Romana is a very stylish, boutique hotel on the Calle Trajano. Near the Alameda boulevard, the property is in an area that has become a cool, hip place to hang out. In recent years many good restaurants and bars have sprung up, making it popular with the younger crowd: we did our best to blend in. Like many buildings in the old part of Seville, the size and scale isn't appreciated until you go through the main doors. Rooms are located around a central courtyard, providing a welcome respite from the heat in a Seville summer, I imagine. The décor was classy and cool with the bedrooms benefitting from wooden floors and high ceilings. Fully air-conditioned with supremely comfortable beds, we loved our room, named Caligula, and it was almost big enough to fit a horse if its namesake had ever wanted to pay a visit.
As this was the low season, the rooftop restaurant, imaginatively named Roof, wasn't open, however it wasn't hard to appreciate what a fantastic spot this would be in the spring and summer. A large space including a Jacuzzi and with wonderful views, particularly of the Metropol Parasol lit up at night. On our first evening we bought provisions from nearby El Corte Inglés department store and snuck up to the roof for a private impromptu picnic of tortilla crisps and local craft beer: the perfect way to start the holiday.
One of the main benefits of the hotel is its proximity to a number of excellent restaurants. Having walked for many hours during the day, we ran out of steam in the evening and were grateful (as you will see below) that there was plenty of good food a short stroll away.
Prices for the hotel vary wildly from season to season and from day to day. Keep an eye out on comparison sites but be sure to contact the hotel direct if it appears to be full online.
A strange name for a restaurant (literally meaning no place) and you could be forgiven for passing by, not realising it was a place to dine at all. In the window you can see an old range cooker, with a higgledy-piggledy assortment of chairs surrounding it and there's an upright piano in the doorway. It's situated virtually opposite our hotel and, ever the adventurers, we decided that was far enough to wander on our first night. What a stroke of luck – it was sensational. Large communal wooden tables, colourful crockery, masses of greenery and striking artwork on the walls, No-Lugar may appear too cool for school but its food is wholesome and comforting with a Mediterranean/middle-eastern slant. A yummy carrot and onion dip with bread was brought to the table and then we chose dishes such as quesadilla, moutabal dip with pitta bread, a hearty moussaka and a superb kebab which was wrapped in pastry, a bit like a calzone pizza.
We dined here twice: once when it was quiet and we had a large table to ourselves and another when it was so busy we were shown to an occupied table and spent a very sociable evening getting to know a couple from Ireland.
The owners of No-lugar also own the Red House Gallery on a parallel street, Amor de Dios. We popped in there to meet Fiona for a mid-morning hot chocolate. The cosiness and eclectic style of the café made this another favourite.
Situated just a few more metres away, the Al Sultan is a traditional hookah tearoom but with a separate restaurant if you aren't sampling the hubbly-bubbly. We stumbled across it one evening as it was open earlier than all the other nearby establishments, ideal for our British digestive system.
The food was very good and great value. Lots of small starters including stuffed vine leaves and an avocado cream dip. My main course of beef stew with yoghurt and rice, was delicious, and Dougie's lamb kebabs were excellent. The ambience was very relaxed, with friendly, efficient service. Complimentary mint tea was also a very refreshing way to end our meal.
Translated this means 'Sandra's chicken coop' so I recommend you don't translate it as it sounds far more sophisticated in Spanish. Top end dining this time but again within a few steps of the Casa Romana Hotel. Diners can choose to eat inside the restaurant or on the covered, heated terrace. We plumped for a table inside and spent the next couple of hours indulging in some very tasty dishes. We shared a divine sashimi and a fish salad with blue tomato and avocado. Dougie's main course of entrecote steak with mashed potatoes, baked apple and stilton was superb and my fish of the day (I've forgotten its name – apologies) with saffron sauce, was perfectly cooked.
El Gallinero is a very upmarket restaurant and there were many well-heeled locals dining. This was our splurge night but it was well worth it.
A big thank you to my Seville guru, Fiona, for letting us know about this market at the Triana Bridge. Perfect for lunch, this covered market has 20 stalls selling gourmet tapas including sushi, octopus and Iberian pork. Housed in a former fish market which looks incredibly modern with its glass and iron construction, it's an upmarket place to have a beer and a bite to eat. All the shops/stalls looked appealing and the whole place was clean and welcoming with a great buzzy atmosphere.
On our final day we nursed a local Cruzcampo beer and tucked into paella, enjoying a spot of people-watching before an afternoon of sightseeing. There are plenty of tables outside overlooking the river so if you want to take your time, like we did, you won't feel rushed.
The trendy place was actually more homely in its cooking than I'd expected. I don't think I have ever had such a tasty moussaka served in a large terracotta bowl.
This was a restaurant we passed a couple of times and then googled when we were back in the room. A great find, and I don't think we would have found it if we hadn't been staying so close.
Loved the market for our lunches.
We weren't sure whether communal tables might be a bit awkward but when you're seated next to a wonderfully animated Irish couple, you can't go wrong!
Thanks for this. I've always wanted to visit and I always get a recommendation before I try somewhere new. I've got it wrong too many times to do otherwise!
I think I just looked at a map and hunted out restaurants that were close to the hotel – a quick check of the reviews and it worked out brilliantly. Happy to recommend them.
We had the pleasure of visiting Seville during a trip to Spain and we just loved it. Seville has a wonderful ambiance that is so fantastic to enjoy. I bought some fruit tea there near the cathedral and every time I drink it I'm transported back to such a fantastic place. We always travel with the kids and they loved Seville as well. We took them to a flamenco show and enjoy sharing the culture with them. The world is a classroom!
I think I saw the fruit tea shop near the cathedral – how wonderful you took some home and you can have your memories in a cup of tea.
We didn't get to a flamenco show, unfortunately, but I remember going to one when I was with my parents many years ago – I adored the dresses and castanets when I was a little girl.
The tip about the Mercado was such a good one – gave us lots of choice and allowed us plenty of downtime, just chilling and watching the world go by.
It was a struggle keeping me up that late too, especially after long days sightseeing! I think families eat outside at bars and sample lots of tapas in the early evening and there must be some restaurants, though they might well be chains, that open all day.
I think that's why the tapas bars are popular. The restaurants open late but there is always something to nibble at a bar earlier on if you're hungry.
No-lugar sounds like a great place to have a meal. Loved your photos of the restaurant. Have a lovely 2017, Trish!
We were the first customers in the restaurant that night so I took the photos before others arrived. On our second visit it was crowded before we took our seats and a totally different atmosphere but just as good.
Happy New Year to you too, Ahila.
You're right – there are bars and restaurants everywhere and the quality is excellent.
I hope you get there – we were so glad we made the decision to visit.
I think all our travel wish lists are getting bigger and bigger and there's a lot of jostling for position each time we read blog posts. Hope you do get to see Seville, Elizabeth.


I hope Big Soda's politicians are happy. That was the Fat Nag's reaction to a recent news brief in the New York Times.
"Obesity is the Main Contributor to Diabetes in Blacks and Whites," it headlined.
"Type 2 diabetes is almost twice as common in African Americans as it is in whites. Obesity, rather than racial factors, is to blame," the Times reported, citing a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The study, released in late December, hasn't gotten much play. Too many of us have been too busy hanging on every idiotic tweet from a certain president.
The study followed a cadre of 4,251 black and white men and women ages 18 to 30 who were not diabetic. Researchers conducted periodic interviews and health examinations over an average of 25 years.
When compared with whites, black men were 67 percent more likely to develop diabetes over the period. Black women, nearly three times more likely.
The study controlled for "a long list of modifiable risk factors" — fasting glucose, body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure, location of residence, socioeconomic status, etc.
In other words, the fat is killing us. African Americans suffer from higher rates of diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses because we have bad diets, and suffer from proximity to food deserts and a lack of proximity to exercise options.
"There is no easy fix for this public health problem, which is driven by a combination of biological, neighborhood, psychosocial, socioeconomic and behavioral factors," Michael P. Bancks, a co-author of the study and researcher at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told MedicalResearch.com.
We just missed out on one big fix — the chance to curb our extreme sugar consumption. The politicians are still crowing about their decisive defeat of the late, great Cook County sweetened beverage tax.
In October, after a massive lobbying effort, the pusillanimous Cook County Board repealed the one-cent-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks. The tax would have reduced sugar consumption, particularly among blacks and Latinos, who suffer high obesity rates.
Adults who drink one soda or more every day are 27 percent more likely to be overweight or obese than those who do not, research shows.
Children who consume higher amounts of sugared drinks have a 55 percent greater chance of being overweight or obese compared with those who consume less, according to a study in the British Medical Journal.
The politicians who backed that repeal are aligned with the Illinois Retail Merchants Association and the Big Soda lobby.
Carbonated soft drinks are a leading source of deadly sugar. Their producers hauled in $80.6 billion in sales in 2016, according to Fortune.com.
The new study offers yet another, scientific argument that sugar-driven obesity is the enemy of black people. The County Board's vote to repeal the soda tax was a mortal mistake.
Most of those short-sighted politicians are running in the March 20 Democratic primary. Let's make them pay for that mistake.


Does the PEI College of Pharmacists set up a preceptor site for me?
The PEI College of Pharmacists does not facilitate a preceptor arrangement for students, however, we do provide a list of member pharmacies of the College on our website here. Prior to beginning SPT, an intern must obtain an eligible preceptor and practice site and submit the preceptor's information in the Preceptor/Site approval form to verify eligibility. The chosen preceptor will then be sent a verification email directing them to log into the member area of the PEI College of Pharmacists website and accept his or her role as the preceptor before the intern can begin their SPT.
What is the preceptor's role during SPT?
The preceptor is responsible for providing ongoing feedback during the required hours of SPT (280hrs for Canadian interns, 700hrs for International interns).
Preceptors will complete an assessment of the intern midway and at the end of their SPT using the assessment tool provided in the assigned workbooks A final assessment for International interns includes an additional 1 week of SPT, which is College appointed.
Determines the intern's level of competency and decides whether he or she has met or exceeded the required levels for completion of entry into practice.
Ensures that the number of required hours for SPT have been completed.
When Can SPT hours begin being logged?
The Intern must first complete their application for registration. This includes a preceptor site approval application, available in the member portal or the PEI College of Pharmacists website.
The intern will designate a preceptor from the drop down menu in the application.
The preceptor is notified that the intern has submitted an application and will be directed to log into their member profile to complete the preceptor portion of the application.
Once the preceptor and site have been approved, the intern will be notified via email.
Interns may not begin their internship unless the preceptor and site have been approved by PEICP.
Once they have approved eligibility and agreed upon a start date with the preceptor, the intern may then begin logging their SPT hours.
Do I need to write an English Proficiency exam?
Applicants must meet English language proficiency as outlined in the NAPRA Language Proficiency Requirements for Licensure as a Pharmacist in Canada or the PEI College of Pharmacists English Language Proficiency Requirements for Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians.
Canadian graduates, who have completed their pharmacy program in English, will have met the language proficiency requirements.
Can I begin my SPT before writing my PEBC Evaluating or Qualifying Exam?
Canadian interns can commence their SPT prior to writing PEBC Qualifying exams.
International applicants must also successfully complete the PEBC evaluating exam as a prerequisite to entry into the Qualifying exam.
How will I know my Internship Application has been approved?
Once the internship application has been approved the applicant will receive a confirmation email.
If you do not receive a confirmation email within a reasonable time frame, typically no more than 7 days after you have completed all of your application requirements, you should contact the PEICP at info@pepharmacists.ca to inquire.
If all of the application requirements have been met ie. proof of identity, proof of liability insurance, criminal record check, letters of standing, etc., your application approval should take about two to three business days to process.
Is there a manual to follow for my internship?
Both Canadian and International Internships follow a structured competency based training period that allows soon to be pharmacists registered to practice their skills in a supervised environment before assuming the responsibility as a pharmacist. Both Canadian and International interns will be provided with manual(s) to follow while completing their internships. The manuals are emailed to the intern once their application for registration as an intern has been completed.
Can I have more than one preceptor and site?
While the College encourages Interns to have only one site and preceptor to allow interns to build a working relationship with the site and preceptor, the College does allow interns to work with up to two preceptors. The Intern must have a preceptor/site approval form completed for each preceptor. Each preceptor will complete a Statement of Completion and complete an Intern Evaluation Form. The Intern will need to discuss with each preceptor what activities will be completed at each site or under each preceptor's supervision to ensure that all competencies have been met by the end of the program.
Can a preceptor have more than one Intern?
The PEI College of Pharmacists will allow a preceptor to oversee a maximum of two Interns/students at any the same time or overlapping periods of time. A pharmacist may act as a preceptor to a Pharmacy Student, Intern, or Pharmacy Technician Student. However, a Pharmacy Technician may only act as a preceptor to a Pharmacy Technician Student.


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Policy About News
Free Directory Websites Local Directories Best Search Engine List 2021
Best Search Engine List 2021
Posted on 2nd Dec 2019 10:41:43
Search Engines is a web application designed to search for information via the world wide web (internet). The search bases on the keyword that users input. It not only limited to information but can search for images, videos, etc. Search Engine and Web Directory have similar behavior which mines data. Still, the search engine maintains by real-time information by running an algorithm on a crawler while web directory data maintained by a human editor. Until now they already crawled and indexed a billion pages on their system
List of Major Search Engines
Today Google is most popular which created by Larry Page and Sergey Brin on 1996 when they still a student of Stanford University, there also some popular search engine which Yahoo, Baido, Yandex, Bing, AOL, Ask, etc. To make this easy, we created a Best Search Engines List, sorted and featuring them into our simple search engines list.
To understand search engine optimization more closely, we have to know why people use search engines. Search engines not only apply to information searching; it has many other roles to play. People use search engines for three typical uses: research, shopping, and entertainment.
Most people use search engines for research purposes. They search by a specific keyword or question and want the answer or data related to that keyword. These searches are done to gain knowledge, some time to write blogs and content in a research paper, and sometime before buying something. Companies use search engines to locate their potential consumers or clients and find their possible competitors. Wikipedia is an open-source online reference site that has lots of information on various subjects and hundreds of backlinks. But most of the search engines do not guarantee the user about the accuracy of information.
Many people use search engines to shop. There is a massive craze of online marketing in the new generation, and there are many e-commerce sites where people can buy things. Some popular sites are Amazon, eBay, and Shopping.com, etc. If a user does not directly go to the specified sites, then he can generally search what he is willing to buy, the search engine result will show the different websites selling the product and their prices.
The internet is a reliable, vast, and addictive source of entertainment. Anyone can pass hours watching online videos, films, reading jokes, and stories anything that makes him interested. If we consider it technically, then it also falls in the category of research, but this research is done strictly for entertainment.
Best Search Engines List
Bloggers search for various things on search engines. Sometimes they want a specific kind of search engine where they can find the answer to their query more efficiently. Other than Google, Yahoo, and Bing, we hardly go for any other search engines, though there are several search engines for professional and definite search. Most of us do not know that there are other search engines too, which are quite popular among the mass. When you type "Best Search Engines List," Google will show you various sites that would provide the Best Search Engines List. So, there are numerous search engines available in the World Wide Web ready for your query to be submitted, here is the list of Best Search Engines:
Google founded in September 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Today, Google Search Engine is the best world search engine outright the most popular search engine. It considers as one of the Big Four technologies company alongside Amazon, Facebook, and Apple. Google Search Engine always evolving and keep improving their algorithm to serve and provide results for the users.
Bing is Microsoft's product and an answer to Google, and it launched in 2009, They are always to provide an ecosystem to make a better search engine and but Bing has a long way to go to compete with Google Search Engine, Microsoft's web browser use Bing as default search engine, and it provides some services like Google, including Image, Web, and Video search, Bing also introduced a Bing Places (Google My Business) for small businesses to submit their services, details, and products to increase their relevancy in search engine results.
Yahoo founded in January 1994 by Jerry Yang and David Filo. It has left a mark in history as one of the pioneers of the early Internet era in the 1990s, it provides a search engine service and very well-known for a leader as a free email provider. Still, it is declining after their email service got hacked. It no more secret there is fierce competition between Yahoo, Bing, and Google since long ago, but later Yahoo and Bing formally sign the Alliance pact in December 2009.
Baidu, founded in January 2000 by Chinese Entrepreneur Eric Xu and Baidu, become the most used search engine in China, besides providing web search service it also provides audio files, images, maps, news, cloud storage, and much more.
AOL or American Online journey start in 1983 as venture called Control Video Corporation which founded by William Von Meister, and it is a product for online service called GameLine for the Atari 2600 video game, later they release another Online Service known as PlayNET which hosted for the Commodore 64 Multi-Player Games in November 1985 and shut down the service shortly thereafter, besides Yahoo, AOL is one of the early pioneers of the early Internet era in the 1990s, and become the most popular brand on the United States, their services include a Web portal, instant messenger, web browser, and email service provider.
Ask previously known as Ask Jeeves was founded in 1995, Ask is just another web search engine with the concept to have search results based on simple answer and question format, with this the dependency of the results on archived and users contributions makes the results will different with Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
Excite is not famous and popular compared to Google, Bing, or Yahoo, but it still made to the best search engines list, Excite provides web search, email service, news, weather updates, and instant messaging, there are latest trends and topics.
DuckDuckGo founded in 2008 by Gabriel Weinbreg and it is well-know as a search engine that protect the users privacy, they have partnered their self with Yahoo and Bing.
Yandex founded in 1997, like Baidu, Yandex is the most popular and most used search engine in Russia, it widely used in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Turkey, besides provides web search there are Yandex Maps, Translator, Yandex Money, Music, and more services.
5 Top Simple SEO Mistakes 2020
5 points of Top SEO mistakes that can help you to understand the five issues generally associated with that of the web development.
8 Open Source Programming Languages for You
We are going to talk about 8 open source programming languages that are for the use of Web developers that widely used in the task of web designing.
What does SSL Certificate Do?
SSL Certificate does ensure that all the data transferred between the user's browser and the webserver.
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Free Directory List
Social Bookmarking Sites List
Article Submission Sites List
Directory Submission Sites List
Good Quality Backlinks for Website
When an authoritative website gives a link to your website, then you earn good quality backlinks and its help your website ranking.
Simple TIps to Avoid Plagiarism
Plagiarism can cause your website to crash and even get punished, so with these tips, you can avoid plagiarism quickly and by yourself.
Niche Directories' Random
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Web 2.0 Sites work similarly like blogs but Web 2.0 in the list are the sites where you can create your blog free of cost and interact with your audience.
RSS Feed Submission Sites List
RSS Website submission is a brilliant SEO strategy, RSS feed creates a lot of free inbound links to the web site or web pages.
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UK Business Web Directory List
The UK business directory design for such a way that the people can access them quickly and all the listings of the businesses sort in alphabetically
Australian Business Directory List
The Australian Business Directory works differently as compared to the general directory of the website. All businesses will be categorized based on their region and area.
FreeDirectoryWebsites.com starts as a website directory since late 2013, later, we re-branding our business model to the list of websites and SEO multi-purposes site, and to facilitate our users in finding the crucial information, We begin to collect various types of websites, SEO Companies, Small SEO Tools, and Business then put them into a list of related categories, publish, and featuring them on our website.
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© 2013 - 2021, FreeDirectoryWebsites.com stands independently to summarize and make a list of various types of websites and services.


The wearable device market is arguably seeing the fastest and most exciting growth across the entire electronics landscape. Just look at the changes for unit shipment forecasts presented by IDC throughout 2015. IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker published in March 2015 predicted a total volume of more than 125 million units by 2019. The September 2015 update from IDC revised the forecast to be above 175 million units. Not to mention, the IDC report also indicates that from a form factor standpoint, wrist wear will remain dominant while new formats such as "smart jewelry" continue to emerge – which does doubly serve as a go-to gift idea for tech-loving married guys like me.
The expanding wearables market, while predominantly driven by consumers, will also include traditional industrial markets such as medical and military. So, in order to meet the requirements that these end markets demand, designers will need to also consider new and emerging technologies. Specifically, these include visual solutions comprised of displays and touchscreens, software, and wireless connectivity. Additionally, the designer will further need to consider secondary and tertiary implications such as infrastructure and services support to enable the overall user experience as wearables ultimately begin and end with the end user.
Data, data, how do I visualize thee, data?
The latest releases of smart watches provides a glimpse of the potential for "visualizing information and content" on a wearable device. The average size for a smart watch screen is between 32 mm and 40 mm (1.25″ and 1.6″).
The resolution range for the current smart watch offering goes from 320 x 320 to 360 x 290, depending on the shape of the display. Typical applications associated with a smart watch feature text, static pictures, and basic graphics. There are two primary display technologies used today for smart watches: active matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) and in-plane switching liquid crystal display (IPS LCD). That said, some enhanced specifications will certainly be expected to meet medical and military requirements.
The first consideration will be slightly larger screens to handle detailed graphics and images along with the potential for overlay applications such as augmented reality. Whether on military patrol or monitoring a patient, the wearer will want the ability to have clear visibility of a variety of information in rich detail. Displaying information on a screen that is around 3″ by 5″ with either 720p or 1080p high-definition resolution would certainly allow for such rich media and the ability to include streaming video.
Larger screens also open up the potential for multi-touch functionality, thereby allowing for more finger-controlled commands or image resizing. Another benefit of the larger, more sensitive touch space is the ability to remain responsive even when the wearer has gloves on. See, now Robocop is back in the game!
Display dimensions and functionality, however, will affect battery life, and as a result also factor in as a critical design consideration. Using solar collectors on the wearable or harvesting energy from the wearer's movements are potential solutions.
Ensuring the wearable is able to withstand a rugged or harsh environment is another critical consideration when it comes to the display. Today's smart watches are usually built to be splash-proof but not waterproof. Not only will wearables for medical and military applications need to be waterproof, but they will have to be sealed to protect against dust and exposure to chemicals, gases, and other contaminants found in a military operation, research lab, operating room, etc. The design will also need to account for extraordinary shock and/or vibration associated with such extreme use cases.
Other emerging display technologies that will benefit wearables in non-consumer environments like military and medical include flexible screens and high brightness displays. Flexible screens allow the device to more naturally conform to the wrist and lower forearm of the wearer. High brightness displays compensate for sunlight during daytime and can be adjusted for nighttime or dark environments if a lower light setting is needed. With the emergence of small, high-performance displays and enhanced touch capabilities, look for the use of wearables in non-consumer applications to grow significantly.
Similar to wearables in the consumer market, those used in markets such as medical and military must address security, user interface, and analytics from a software perspective. Some of these functions will be embedded within the wearable's code, whereas others will be processed in the cloud in conjunction with the device.
In the case of security, user authentication as well as data protection and integrity are critical. Using fingerprint recognition in conjunction with the touch display provides a biometric security element that can be coupled with retinal scanning, passwords, or other available methods used to create a multi-factor authentication process. Securing the data transport between the device and the cloud is accomplished using standard technologies. Data protection and secure processing can efficiently take place in the cloud. That said, careful consideration must be given to ensure that patient information privacy compliance standards are met in the case of a medical application. For example, guarding against man-in-the-middle attacks.
Encryption is similarly important for military applications in order to keep classified data classified and to make sure that data cannot be intercepted or manipulated when transported between device and cloud. Wearable OEMs can (and most likely should) work with software design partners for assistance in these areas if they do not have the expertise in-house.
User interface is another important consideration. This is particularly important if the application being run on the wearable is also delivered on other devices such as a tablet or flat panel display. In this situation there is need for the application to include responsive web design. Responsive web design accounts for screen size, operating system, and environment (fixed or mobile) to format content to match the context. Consider one physician who is consulting over a patient in a conference room and viewing the patient's information, while another physician in a remote setting is tending to the patient while viewing the same information on a wearable. This is just one example of why there is such great need need for consistency with displayed information. The issue of how the information is displayed is absolutely a top priority and responsive design is critical in addressing the requirement.
Analytics will almost always be processed in the cloud, or in an intelligent gateway where a "fog" computing environment exists. From a software design standpoint, the developer needs to be aware of the wearable's entire ecosystem. Additionally, if the analytics drive any operational instructions delivered to the wearable, the developer will need to ensure there is sufficient processing capabilities and memory to execute the run-time instructions.
The good news for software developers is the existence of many development platforms available today. These platforms encompass and integrate the various elements of the software stack. In some cases, the software tools are ported to reference design hardware to help accelerate the design process. Additionally, there are third-party software specialists to augment the developer's internal resources.
Currently, low power, wide area networking (LPWAN) – which includes the long range WAN (LoRA) and SIGFOX protocols – and LTE-M are emerging as competing IoT transport standards over long distances. They both offer low-cost and broad coverage in conjunction with Wi-Fi, GPS, and traditional cellular broadband.
Consideration should be given to the volume of data and how frequently it's transported. Also, one must think about the transmission power relative to the overall power budget of the device, and total cost of connectivity including components and data rates. For example, SIGFOX, which uses the ISM band, is available today but has limited coverage and supports relatively low data traffic rates. LTE-M, sometimes called 3.5G LTE, is not projected to be network ready until 2017 but offers greater coverage and can handle higher traffic volume. Clearly there is no one size fits all and developers should engage partners who can provide an unbiased assessment of which model fits best with their application.
Most of the discussion up to this point has examined the rather sophisticated application of wearable technology for humans. That said, we would be remiss if we did not mention those applications of wearable technology that extend out to a variety of new and exciting applications such as livestock tracking and health monitoring.
Up until recently, a farmer, shepherd, zookeeper, or really any other animal caretaker had to track the location of their animals using a very sophisticated process: getting in a truck and looking for them. And while such activity likely provided the occasional "excuse" for farmers who wanted to stay out a bit longer to catch a ballgame, wearables, through the combination of the technologies mentioned (software, security, connectivity, low-power efficient processing, cloud, and sensing), may also serve to enable devices to greatly assist farmers with tracking their valuable commodity.
The growth in the wearable devices market is significant and will occur in both consumer and non-consumer applications such as medical and military. The technologies that will play a pivotal role in this growth include visual solutions, software, and connectivity.
In addition to the technology considerations, wearable device OEMs will require additional support services. These services include design support for selecting the right display, integration support to affix touchscreens to the display, software development to augment internal capabilities, and partners to assist with the cloud related services.
Avnet Embedded is a proven partner with expertise across of all of these technologies and design support services. Additionally, Avnet Embedded has trusted relationships with leading technology innovators worldwide and can leverage them to create formidable ecosystems in order to support the wearable device OEM. Finally, Avnet Embedded support extends throughout the product life cycle including logistics, warranty, data plans, and call center services. Having a credible partner who is able to expedite time-to-market with the best solution for the business objective is the key to successfully harnessing new technologies in order to capitalize on the growing wearable device market.


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Socially Responsible Investment (SRI)
Sustainability Ratings and Rankings
Ratings and Indices
Evonik is included in the ESG Leaders
Indexes. MSCI awarded it an ESG rating
of AA.
MSCI is an American financial services provider providing services primarily for investment banking. This includes, international equity indices, including portfolio and risk analysis as well as research.
Evonik's sustainability performance was also analyzed by the Sustainalytics rating agency. Evonik is among the top 10 percent of the around 130 companies ranked in the chemical sector.
In 2021 Evonik received a grade of A- from CDP for reporting relevant data on climate protection (CDP Climate Change). For its water reporting (CDP Water Security), it was awarded a grade of B. For it's forest reporting (CDP Forest) it was awarded a grade of B.
Evonik's sustainability performance again received a B – rating from ISS-oekom. The company therefore has Prime Status, the highest level awarded, ranking it
among the top 10 percent of companies of the chemical sector.
As a founding member of the Together for Sustainability (TfS) initiative, Evonik drives forward transparency and sustainability in the supply chain and is subject to annual assessments. The EcoVadis rating agency, partner of TfS, awarded us in 2022 for the second time with a platin rating for our sustainability performance.
In the Euronext index family, which evaluates corporate ESG performance, Evonik was once again included in the Europe 120 and Eurozone 120 indices. The evaluation is based on up to 330 indicators covering 38 sustainability criteria.
Again, Evonik is included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index Europe.
Evonik is a member of the FTSE4Good index. This index family of the London-based FTSE Group rates companies in categories such as environmental management, human and labor rights, health and safety, sustainability in the supply chain, and corporate governance.
Evonik is listed in the STOXX® Global ESG Leaders Index. This index, which was launched by Deutsche Börse among others, lists the best 25 percent of sustainable companies in the investment universe on transparency in environmental, social, and governance performance.


By now I'm sure you've started receiving invitations to a multitude of holiday parties, and if not, they're definitely coming soon. It's time to start thinking about what we're going to wear to such events.
Androgyny. If you're a frequent reader, you'll know that I'm equally obsessed with menswear as I am with the girliest pieces possible. Suits have been a huge trend this fall/winter, and I thought making a few makeshift suit options for a holiday party would be a great way to stand out.
My first option consists of a black trouser and a tuxedo blazer. Classic and clean cut, appropriate for an office party.
The second option is bold. A sequined blazer and leather pencil skirt option gives you a suit-skirt option while still staying young and fun.
The third option is a combination of the two. A tartan plaid blazer screams holiday, and a palazzo pant is timeless, in my opinion.
What do you think, would you wear a suit to a holiday party?


UMUC is uniquely positioned to fill the increasing demand pipeline for cyber security jobs. There will be a 1.5 million projected global shortfall of cyber security professionals by 2019. Source Plus, opportunities are close by: The demand for cyber security professionals is expected to grow. Source When you study with UMUC, you'll be learning in the backyard of prospective employers!