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TaiwanHong KongUnited StatesUnited KingdomMalaysiaJapanMacauAustraliaCanadaChinaFranceSingaporeGermanyItalyNetherlandsVietnamNew ZealandBelgiumSouth KoreaSpainThailandAustriaSwitzerlandPhilippinesPolandIrelandCzechiaBrazilIndiaRussiaSwedenIndonesiaHungaryCambodiaDenmarkUnited Arab EmiratesFinlandArgentinaPortugalSouth AfricaMexicoNorthern Mariana IslandsTurkeyNorwayGreeceSaudi ArabiaCosta RicaSlovakiaRomaniaPeruBurmaChileSri LankaIsraelParaguayBruneiEcuadorUkraineIcelandColombiaEgyptPakistanCroatiaSloveniaQatarLuxembourgLaosKenyaBelizeDominican RepublicEswatiniGuamJordanPanamaSao Tome and PrincipeMongoliaGeorgiaLithuaniaBangladeshSerbiaMaltaBulgariaNigeriaKuwaitNepalUruguayHondurasFijiGuatemalaVenezuelaLatviaTanzaniaEl SalvadorBurkina FasoTrinidad and TobagoNicaraguaThe BahamasBosnia and HerzegovinaEquatorial GuineaEstoniaMauritiusReunionMalawiPapua New GuineaPuerto RicoBotswanaBelarusSaint Kitts and NevisSurinameVanuatuUzbekistanKazakhstanCuracaoAngolaBoliviaTunisiaIraqIranNamibiaCyprusArmeniaOmanPalauMarshall IslandsUgandaBritish Virgin IslandsEthiopiaMaliAzerbaijanAlgeriaMicronesiaKiribatiSenegalMaldivesSaint LuciaIsle of ManKyrgyzstanMozambiqueMontenegroZimbabweNigerGhanaAlbaniaMadagascarBarbadosNorth MacedoniaMauritaniaNew CaledoniaHaitiGabonJamaicaThe GambiaLibyaPalestinian TerritoryGrenadaSolomon IslandsSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesTongaMoroccoGibraltarBahrain
Palau Population: 21,347
After three decades as part of the UN Trust Territory of the Pacific under US administration, this westernmost cluster of the Caroline Islands opted for independence in 1978 rather than join the Federated States of Micronesia. A Compact of Free Association with the US was approved in 1986 but not ratified until 1993. It entered into force the following year when the islands gained independence.
Westernmost archipelago in the Caroline chain, consists of six island groups totaling more than 300 islands; includes World War II battleground of Beliliou (Peleliu) and world-famous rock islands
Location: Oceania, group of islands in the North Pacific Ocean, southeast of the Philippines
Geographic coordinates: 7 30 N, 134 30 E
Size comparison: slightly more than 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC
Maritime claims: territorial sea: 3 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
Climate: tropical; hot and humid; wet season May to November
Terrain: varying topography from the high, mountainous main island of Babelthuap to low, coral islands usually fringed by large barrier reefs
Natural resources: forests, minerals (especially gold), marine products, deep-seabed minerals
other: 1.6% (2011 est.)
Irrigated land: 0 sq km (2012)
Natural hazards: typhoons (June to December)
Current Environment Issues: inadequate facilities for disposal of solid waste; threats to the marine ecosystem from sand and coral dredging, illegal fishing practices, and overfishing
International Environment Agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands, Whaling
Nationality: noun: Palauan(s)
adjective: Palauan
Ethnic groups: Palauan (Micronesian with Malayan and Melanesian admixtures) 72.5%, Carolinian 1%, other Micronesian 2.4%, Filipino 16.3%, Chinese 1.6%, Vietnamese 1.6%, other Asian 3.4%, white 0.9%, other 0.3% (2005 est.)
Languages: Palauan (official on most islands) 66.6%, Carolinian 0.7%, other Micronesian 0.7%, English (official) 15.5%, Filipino 10.8%, Chinese 1.8%, other Asian 2.6%, other 1.3% note: Sonsoral (Sonsoralese and English are official), Tobi (Tobi and English are official), and Angaur (Angaur, Japanese, and English are official) (2005 est.)
Religions: Roman Catholic 49.4%, Protestant 30.9% (includes Protestant (general) 23.1%, Seventh Day Adventist 5.3%, and other Protestant 2.5%), Modekngei 8.7% (indigenous to Palau), Jehovah's Witnesses 1.1%, other 8.8%, none or unspecified 1.1% (2005 est.)
Population: 21,347 (July 2016 est.)
55-64 years: 9.35% (male 697/female 1,299)
65 years and over: 7.67% (male 429/female 1,208) (2016 est.)
Death rate: 8 deaths/1,000 population (2016 est.)
Major urban areas - population: MELEKEOK (capital) 299 (2012)
15-24 years: 1 male(s)/female
Health expenditures: 9% of GDP (2014)
urban: 97% of population
Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Palau
conventional short form: Palau
local long form: Beluu er a Belau
local short form: Belau
former: Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, Palau District
etymology: from the Palauan name for the islands, Belau, which likely derives from the Palauan word "beluu" meaning "village"
Government type: presidential republic in free association with the US
Capital: name: Ngerulmud
Administrative divisions: 16 states; Aimeliik, Airai, Angaur, Hatohobei, Kayangel, Koror, Melekeok, Ngaraard, Ngarchelong, Ngardmau, Ngatpang, Ngchesar, Ngeremlengui, Ngiwal, Peleliu, Sonsorol
Independence: 1 October 1994 (from the US-administered UN trusteeship)
National holiday: Constitution Day, 9 July (1981), day of a national referendum to pass the new constitution; Independence Day, 1 October (1994)
Constitution: ratified 9 July 1980, effective 1 January 1981; amended 1992, 2004, 2008 (2016)
Legal system: mixed legal system of civil, common, and customary law
Executive branch: chief of state: President Tommy REMENGESAU (since 17 January 2013); Vice President Antonio BELLS (since 17 January 2013); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Tommy REMENGESAU (since 17 January 2013); Vice President Antonio BELLS (since 17 January 2013)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate; also includes the vice president; the Council of Chiefs consists of chiefs from each of the states who advise the president on issues concerning traditional laws, customs, and their relationship to the constitution and laws of Palau elections/appointments: president and vice president directly elected on separate ballots by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 4-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 1 November 2016 (next to be held in November 2020)
election results: Tommy REMENGESAU elected president; percent of vote - Tommy REMENGESAU 51.3%, Surangel WHIPPS, Jr. 48.7%; Antonio BELLS elected vice president
Legislative branch: description: bicameral National Congress or Olbiil Era Kelulau consists of the Senate (9 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by majority vote to serve 4-year terms) and the House of Delegates (16 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote to serve 4-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held on 6 November 2012 (next to be held in November 2016); House of Delegates - last held on 6 November 2012 (next to be held in November 2016)
election results: Senate - percent of vote - NA; seats - independent 9; House of Delegates - percent of vote - NA; seats - independent 16
Judicial branch: highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of the chief justice and 3 associate justices organized into appellate trial divisions; also within the Supreme Court organization are the Common Pleas and Land Courts) judge selection and term of office: justices nominated by a 7-member independent body consisting of judges, presidential appointees, and lawyers, and appointed by the president; judges appointed until mandatory retirement at age 65
subordinate courts: National Court and other 'inferior' courts
Political parties and leaders: none
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA
International organization participation: ACP, ADB, AOSIS, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, IOC, IPU, MIGA, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, WHO
National symbol(s): bai (native meeting house); national colors: blue, yellow
National anthem: name: "Belau rekid" (Our Palau)
lyrics/music: multiple/Ymesei O. EZEKIEL
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Hersey KYOTA (since 12 November 1997)
chancery: 1701 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036
FAX: [1] (202) 452-6281 consulate(s): Tamuning (Guam)
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Helen P. REED-ROWE (since 27 September 2013)
embassy: Koror (no street address)
mailing address: P. O. Box 6028, Koror, Republic of Palau 96940
telephone: [680] 587-2920
FAX: [680] 587-2911
The economy consists of tourism and other services such as trade, subsistence agriculture, and fishing. Government is a major employer of the work force relying on financial assistance from the US under the Compact of Free Association (Compact) with the US that took effect after the end of the UN trusteeship on 1 October 1994. The US provided Palau with roughly $700 million in aid for the first 15 years following commencement of the Compact in 1994 in return for unrestricted access to its land and waterways for strategic purposes. The population enjoys a per capita income roughly double that of the Philippines and much of Micronesia. Business and leisure tourist arrivals numbered over 125,000 in fiscal year 2014, a 13.4% increase over the previous year. Long-run prospects for tourism have been bolstered by the expansion of air travel in the Pacific, the rising prosperity of industrial East Asia, and the willingness of foreigners to finance infrastructure development. Proximity to Guam, the region's major destination for tourists from East Asia, and a regionally competitive tourist infrastructure enhance Palau's advantage as a destination.
GDP (purchasing power parity): GDP (purchasing power parity): $276 million (2016 est.) $276 million (2015 est.) $252.3 million (2014 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): GDP (official exchange rate): $296 million (2015 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 0% (2016 est.) 9.4% (2015 est.) 4.2% (2014 est.)
Agriculture - products: coconuts, copra, cassava (manioc, tapioca), sweet potatoes; fish
Industries: tourism, craft items (from shell, wood, pearls), construction, garment making
Industrial production growth rate: NA%
Labor force: 10,470 (2014)
industry: NA%
services: NA% (1990)
Unemployment rate: 4.2% (2005 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
expenditures: $97.53 million (2012 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2% (2016 est.) 2.2% (2015 est.)
Current account balance: -$16 million (2016 est.) -$1 million (2015 est.)
Exports: $19.1 million (2014 est.) $14.4 million (2013 est.)
Exports - commodities: shellfish, tuna, copra, garments
Imports: $177.7 million (2014 est.) $146.5 million (2013 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, fuels, metals; foodstuffs
Market value of publicly traded shares: $NA
Exchange rates: the US dollar is used
Telephone system:
domestic: fixed-line and mobile-cellular services available with a combined subscribership of over 140 per 100 persons
international: country code - 680; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) (2015)
Broadcast media: no TV stations; a cable TV network covers the major islands and provides access to rebroadcasts, on a delayed basis, of a number of US stations, as well as access to a number of real-time satellite TV channels; about a half dozen radio stations (1 governm (2009)
Internet country code: .pw
Internet users: total: 7,650 percent of population: 36.0% (July 2015 est.)
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2013)
Roadways:
Ports and terminals: major seaport(s): Koror
Defense is the responsibility of the US; under a Compact of Free Association between Palau and the US, the US military is granted access to the islands for 50 years, but it has not stationed any military forces there (2008)
Military branches: no regular military forces; Palau National Police (2009)
Disputes - International: maritime delineation negotiations continue with Philippines, Indonesia
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re: Private Lender Bentex Funding Group Ltd.
This AVIT Investment Authority is a long-time scam I started with and then escaped. Don't bother to even communicate with them.
Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) is currently (October 2014) undergoing a huge transformation. If you fly into AUH right now you would be forgiven for thinking that you were in the middle of the biggest construction site in the world. At the moment, you would probably be right. But by the middle of 2017 you will be arriving at the most modern airport in the world. The whole airport is being rebuilt, including the new beautifully designed mid-field terminal, a new runway, and infrastructure associated with the movement of a vastly increased volume of aircraft and passengers.
And, while all this is happening, the airport is still operating without disruption. It is a credit to those who are managing the home of the best airline in the world - Etihad Airways.


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UNE Library Services > About & Contact > About UNE Library Services > Library News & Events > Resources > Books (old and new) that we loved in 2022
We've been busy reading this year and would like to pass along a few of our favorite titles:
Recommendations from UNE's Library Services staff
Cadence Atchinson: Clair Keegan's Small Things Like These was shortlisted for the Booker prize and won the Orwell prize for political fiction in 2022. It feels like a classic Christmas tale but is also a gut punch; and it's a short quick read.
Laura Taylor: The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin – magical realism at its finest.
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi – short, funny sci-fi.
A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching: Getting to Know the World's Most Misunderstood Bird by Rosemary Mosco – I've always wanted to hold a pigeon. They are underrated!
Sonya Durney: Lungfish, A Novel by Meghan Gilliss. It is a stunning book! Longlisted for The Center for Fiction 2022 First Novel Prize. The author is a lovely person – I worked with her at PPL!
Beth Dyer: Lucy By The Sea by Elizabeth Strout (another Maine author!). This is the 4th novel featuring the character Lucy Barton. I did not love the others so was prepared not to like this one but was pleasantly surprised. A divorced couple from NYC moves to rural Maine at the onset of the pandemic to stay safe. Strout's spare prose captures the uncertainties of the first year or so with poignancy and care, including the tenuous relationship with their new community.
Cindy Stewart and Stew MacLehose: The Library Book by Susan Orlean. Fascinating non-fiction book about the 1986 fire that devastated the Los Angeles Central Library. A history of the library parallels the story of the suspected arson, Harry Peak.
Jenna Davis: Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica, translated from the Spanish by Sarah Moses. It's not for the faint of heart!
Barb Swartzlander: I love Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer! Also, for a good laugh, the Chet & Bernie Mystery Series by Spencer Quinn is fun. Heart of Barkness is one of my favs.
Zach Enright: My favorite read of the year was a reread of David Copperfield. Dickens' best in my opinion. Like being wrapped up in warm blanket with a cup of tea. And we have it in every possible format.
Kate Harold: For fun easy reads, I really enjoyed Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus and Taylor Jenkin Reid's new book Carrie Soto is Back. We have them both as ebooks.
Amanda Leen: The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. It's not new, but I just read it and enjoyed it; The Book Thief was the best book I read in 2022.
Cathleen Miller: The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings had so many of the things I love in a book: witches, queerness, magic, complicated story lines, issues of justice and equity. It's not for everyone, but I found it captivating. Follow it up with Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens, a book about a 14 year old ghost who falls in love with George Sand, and you have some very delicious reading ahead.
December 16, 2022 December 19, 2022 | Posted By Laura Taylor

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


According to Höök and Löwgren  "In the HCI field, the dominant approach to knowledge construction is to design innovative interaction schemes and to evaluate them empirically through more or less rigorous use studies". While theories are important input to the design artefact, they are at a level of abstraction that often requires further elaboration in design research. The idea behind the notion of intermediate-level knowledge is that the space in-between the instances and the theories is non-empty and can be filled with knowledge constructs that are more general than the particular instances but have a different scope and purpose than general level theories.
What is its relevance to IDC?
In 2017 several of the organizers of this workshop performed an analysis of all papers at IDC from 2003 to 2016, showing that 40 percent of those papers presented the design of an artifact accompanied by an evaluation . We will refer to such papers as artifact-centered papers. While exploring the design space in the form of artifacts is important and valuable, we argued that those artifact-centered papers generally make a smaller contribution to the field as a whole because it is hard for other designers to build further upon the kind of knowledge presented in such papers. This was also visible in the number of citations to artifact-centered papers in comparison to the number of citations to other kinds of papers. In the previous paper it was suggested that the child computer interaction field should try to abstract from the specific examples to generate knowledge that can be re-used across cases, so called Intermediate-Level Knowledge.
We made a first step towards the creation of one particular kind of intermediate-level knowledge, namely strong concepts. According to Höök and Löwgren , strong concepts are design elements abstracted beyond particular instances (or artifacts), which have a generative potential. A strong concept "resides at the interface between technology and people and concerns an artifacts interactive behavior rather than its static appearance. It is a design element, a potential part of an artifact, that also speaks of a use practice and behavior unfolding over time, and it carries a core design idea which has the potential to cut across particular use situations and perhaps even application domains". The construction of strong concepts begins from an instance (or possibly several related instances) by identifying the elements or principles in the instance that could be of value in other design situations within the same genre or domain as the original instance, or transgressing genre/domain boundaries, depending on the abstraction level of the strong concept identified.
Three possible strong concepts were proposed, namely Collective Storytelling, Head-Up Gaming and Remote Sensing. These concepts were based on an analysis of a set of relatively often-cited artifact-centered papers from the IDC conference proceedings. Although the focus in the previous paper was on strong concepts, there are many different forms of intermediate-level knowledge, such as Patterns, Critique, Guidelines, Methods and Tools, Bridging Concepts , and Annotated Portfolios . Each of these forms serves its own role in design. While guidelines and methods are well-established notions within both HCI and CCI, other intermediate-level knowledge forms like strong and bridging concepts were introduced rather recently. Our aim with this definition of three strong concepts was practically demonstrate that CCI design researcher can contribute to the field with intermediate-level knowledge, and to urge them to do so. We did not claim that strong concepts are the most useful form of intermediate level knowledge, nor did we claim that the particular strong concepts we defined were the only possible ones.
What are the aims of this workshop?
In this full-day workshop, we would like to build further upon the idea of creating intermediate-level knowledge in the CCI field going beyond just methods/tools, guidelines, or heuristics, which have been dominant contributions in this field. We therefore invite both designers and researchers who position themselves as producing intermediate-level knowledge and people in the field of design research who have not necessarily thought about their work as producing intermediate-level knowledge, to discuss how we can move forward to produce this kind of knowledge.


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Veena Malik and Neetu Chandra in Bigg Boss
By nirmal on September 16th, 2010
The house likely to include the biggest number of controversial faces under one roof. The buzz is that Indian tennis star Sania Mirza and her Pakistani cricketer husband Shoaib Malik may agree to become the inmates.
Rahul Mahajan'wife Dimpy Ganguly is likely to be part of Bigg Boss 4. The couple was in controversy in the past when Dimpy accused Rahul of assaulting her.
Pakistani actress Veena Malik, who has been in the news for bringing allegations against Asif in match-fixing scandal, may join the Bigg Boss 4.
Actress Neetu Chandra, who is the limelight recently for her alleged role in spot-fixing in cricket, too is one of the hot favorites for the show.
The focus will also on Shiney Ahuja who was arrested on charges of raping his domestic maid.
Some other names that are doing round as possible Bigg Boss 4 inmates are actresses Zarine Khan and Sneha Ullal, Bhojpuri Star Manoj Tiwari, Avika Gor of Balika Vadhu, Chunkey Pandey, Tarannum, Rajesh Khanna and Sara Khan.
Categories: Bigg Boss, Bigg Boss 4, Bigg Boss Season 4, Colors, Colors TV, Features, Salman Khan
Tags: Neetu Chandra, Veena Malik
One Response to "Veena Malik and Neetu Chandra in Bigg Boss"
kamlesh mohan on Oct 11th, 2010	at 4:17 am
veena ji,
be cool, calm and polite. either you or begam will be the winners of big boss.
you have every thing by the grace of god but one thing is lacking which is that you react very strongly in small things.
i do not say that reaction should not be there, it must be there but subject to the issue.
« Salman and Sangeeta Bijlani together in Bigg Boss? Sania, Shoaib not interested in Bigg Boss »


Not all judges are wankers, but 'Kim' is.
En route through the Mohave desert there were some interesting signs, as always on US roads. A local judge clearly wishes to be re-elected, as you can see from this real roadside ad. Who dares now disagree with the proposition that some judges are wankers?


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Cybersecurity Threats Keep Evolving, Research Shows
Sean Michael Kerner
Cybersecurity industry research is a great way to stay on top of the latest threats — and the controls that can keep those vulnerabilities from affecting your organization. Research released in November 2018 spanned the gamut of IT risk concerns, including identity, application containers, vulnerability disclosures, and the global threat landscape itself. Here are key takeaways from 11 reports released this month, along with cyber defenses organizations should consider implementing.
Distill Networks Bot Research
Fortinet Global Threat Landscape
Intelisecure State of Critical Data Protection Report
ObserveIT Holiday Travel Cybersecurity Risk Survey
Ping Identity:Attitudes and Behavior in a Post-Breach Era
Risk Based Security: 2018 Q3 Report
Sailpoint Annual Market Pulse Survey
Secureworks State of Cybercrime Report
2018 StackRox State of Container Security
Tanium Business Resilience Survey
Tenable Vulnerability Intelligence Report
Distill Networks – How Bots Affect Airlines
Automated processes known commonly as bots can have both good and bad purposes. In a report released Nov. 14 by Distil Networks, researchers reported that bad bots are particularly prevalent on airline websites, mobile apps and APIs, accounting for 43.9 percent of traffic.
While some bots are unsophisticated, Distil found that 84.3 percent of bots on airline domains are moderate or advanced, which are difficult to detect. Bad bots can be used to impersonate real users and steal credentials, among other malicious activities.
"In recent months, airlines have faced an uptick in nefarious activity by bad actors, a sign that this industry is ripe with information that can be used for monetary gain or to wreak havoc," said Mike Rogers, VP of Services at Distil Networks
Key Takeaway: Be aware of what is running on your network, and take steps to combat bots.
Fortinet Global Threat Landscape Report
The Fortinet Global Threat Landscape report released Nov. 14 takes a broad look at some of the trends in cybersecurity over the last few months.
Among the high-level findings in the report is that unique malware is once again on rise, with Fortinet observing a 43 percent year-over-year gain. Fortinet also reported that the number of malware families grew by 32 percent.
The use of HTTPS-encrypted traffic also achieved a new milestone, accounting for 72 percent of all network traffic, up from 55 percent in 2017.
"Cyberthreats are growing rapidly and every organization is feeling the impact, with daily detections and exploits increasing. Previously, ransomware was the talk of the day, and now cryptojacking, mobile malware, and attacks against business-critical supply chains are proliferating," stated Phil Quade, Fortinet's Chief Information Security Officer.
Key takeaways: Malware might seem like an old-school form of attack, but it's still growing and enterprises needed to have proper anti-malware, network and EDR technologies in place to limit risk.
Intelisecure
According to the 2018 State of Critical Data Protection Report released Nov. 15 by InteliSecure, there is a significant gap in how organizations think about and actually secure sensitive data.
The report found that 90 percent of surveyed organizations have policies that define how sensitive data should be stored and protected on employee systems. Despite those policies, most organizations do not have a programmatic approach to maintain them.
"While threats to organizations continue to grow in scale, sophistication and frequency, it's clear the cybersecurity industry skills shortage is failing most organizations, particularly those who choose to go it alone," InteliSecure CEO Steven Drew stated.
Key takeaways: Having a policy for sensitive data management is great, but having tools, processes and personnel to actually enforce policies is better.
Travel represents a cybersecurity risk, according to a Nov. 15 report released by ObserveIT.
Among the big risks that are exposed during travel, 77 percent of respondents reported using free or public Wi-Fi while traveling. Additionally, 63 percent admitted that they have used free public Wi-Fi to access work emails and files while traveling.
While holidays should be a break from work, 55 percent of respondents to the the ObserveIT survey said that they would be bringing a work device with them during holiday travel season.
"Not only does this research confirm that cybersecurity isn't top of mind while employees are traveling, but it also highlights a major gap in security awareness training around mitigating the threats posed by remote work," ObserveIT CEO Mike McKee wrote in a statement. "While technology has enabled people to be productive regardless of location, it's also creating new ways for hackers to infiltrate otherwise secure systems."
Key takeaways: Be wary of free public Wi-Fi and use a VPN to help secure and promote remote access.
Ping Identity: Attitudes and Behavior in a Post-Breach Era
What is the impact of a data breach on consumer loyalty and engagement? That's the key question answered by the Ping Identity 2018 Consumer Survey on attitudes and behaviors in a post-breach era.
78 percent of respondents to the Nov. 7 survey reported that they would stop engaging with a brand online after a data breach. Additionally, 49 percent said that they would not use an online service or application that recently experienced a data breach.
Data breaches are also impacting consumer behavior, with 47 percent of respondents indicating that they have made changes to the way they secure their personal data as a result of recent breaches.
"With the prevalence of data breaches and leaks, enterprises must have the proper controls in place or they become at risk of losing consumer trust and business," said Sarah Squire, CTO Office, Ping Identity. "In the same way that brands are expected to provide user-friendly experiences, they also must understand the value and importance of strong identity management strategies."
Key takeaways: Be prepared for and limit the risk of data breaches by securing identity and access management and consider taking advantages of Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS) technologies.
Risk Based Security 2018 Q3 Report
While Fortinet reported an increase in the number of unique malware families it found, Risk Based Security's Q3 2018 Vulnerability Report provides a different view.
The Nov. 15 report found that there was a 7 percent decrease in the number of vulnerabilities in the first three quarters of 2018 over the same period in 2017. Not all vulnerabilities are equal, however with varying severity and impact. Risk Based Security reported that 15.4 percent of vulnerabilities in the third quarter were rated as "critical."
Looking at the root cause of flaws, 67.3 percent of vulnerabilities are due to insufficient or improper input validation. Not all flaws have solutions either, a key challenge identified in the report. Just over a quarter (24.9 percent) of the reported vulnerabilities currently have no known solution.
"We continue to see vulnerabilities that are being actively exploited in the wild well before most organizations are aware of the issues. It is an unfortunate situation to find yourself in a position to learn about a vulnerability after the damage is done." said Brian Martin, VP of Vulnerability Intelligence for Risk Based Security.
Key takeaways: Have an active patch management strategy in place to deal with the remediation in a timely manner.
SailPoint 10th Annual Market Pulse Survey
The SailPoint 10th Annual Market Pulse Survey released Nov. 13 provides insight into identity governance practices.
Among the survey highlights is the finding that 75 percent of respondents admitted to reusing passwords across accounts, including both personal and work. That's a significant increase from 2014, when only 56 percent of respondents admitted to doing the same.
Not only are employees increasingly ignoring best practices for passwords, they are also ignoring other IT policies that are deemed to be inconvenient. 55 percent of SailPoint's survey respondents said their IT department can be a source of inconvenience. That inconvenience leads to employees ignoring IT policies and installing their own software.
"To secure and enable today's modern workforce, the users have become the new 'security perimeter' and their digital identities are the common link across an organization's IT ecosystem at every stage of its digital transformation," said SailPoint CMO Juliette Rizkallah.
Key takeaways: Make sure that IT is an enabler for employees and not an inconvenience that they need to go around. And to the extent possible, lock down company-owned devices to control what gets downloaded and to enforce password management.
Secureworks: State of Cybercrime Report 2018
Cybercriminals are increasingly organized and using ever more advanced techniques, according to the Secureworks State of Cybercrime Report 2018 released Nov. 13.
From July 2017 through June 2018, Secureworks Counter Threat Unit (CTU) researchers analyzed incident response outcomes and conducted original research to gain insight into threat activity and behavior across 4,400 companies.
One of the key findings in the report is that nation-state actors are increasingly using tools and techniques employed by cybercriminals, and vice versa. Secureworks reported that criminal cybergangs are now using advanced social engineering techniques alongside network intrusion methods with point-of-sale (POS) malware.
"Cybercrime is a lucrative industry, and it's not surprising it's become the arm of powerful, organized groups," said Don Smith, Senior Director, Cyber Intelligence Cell, Secureworks Counter Threat Unit.
Key takeaways: Be aware of the macro-security landscape and have controls that can deal with targeted and advanced persistent threats.
StackRox State of Container Security
On Nov. 14, StackRox released its inaugural State of Container Security report, taking a deep dive look into the nascent world of application container security.
Containers can run in multiple types of deployments, and StackRox found that 40 percent of its survey respondents are running containers in hybrid environments, both on premises and in the cloud.
Looking at container security, 54 percent of respondents said their primary concerns were about misconfigurations and accidental exposures of data. And 44 percent of organizations noted that they are more concerned with the runtime phase of containers than the building and deployment phases.
"The influence of DevOps and the fast uptake in containerization and Kubernetes have made application development more seamless, efficient and powerful than ever," StackRox CEO Kamal Shah stated. "Yet our survey results show that security remains a significant challenge in enterprises' container strategies."
Key Takeaways: Have technologies in place to be able to monitor and manage the runtime behavior of applications, whether they are running in containers or elsewhere.
Tanium Resilience Gap Study
While it's not possible to block all attacks, it is possible for organizations to build infrastructure and processes to make operations more resilient.
The Tanium Resilience Gap Study released Nov. 14 found diverging views in how resilient organizations are to cyberattacks. 96 percent of survey respondents indicated that they believe that making technology resilient to business disruptions should be core to their firm's wider business strategy.
The reality, however, is that only 61% of respondents claimed that their organizations are in fact resilient to disruption.
"The speed and complexity of technology has led organizations to purchase multiple tools to solve for IT security and operations challenges," said Tanium CSO David Damato. "In turn, this has created a fragmented collection of endpoint management and security solutions which is leaving the enterprise environment brittle, vulnerable and lacking the Business Resilience needed to adequately mitigate threats."
Key takeaways: Don't just look at threat detection and identification, also consider resilience and the ability of the enterprise to continue operations in the face of threats.
According to the Tenable Vulnerability Intelligence Report released Nov. 7, there will be an estimated 19,000 vulnerabilities disclosed in 2018, an increase of 27 percent over 2017. Tenable reported that enterprises are identifying an average of 870 unique vulnerabilities every day.
Not all vulnerabilities have the same severity, with only 100 or so on average every day having critical impact. Organizations overall are continuing to struggle with the volume of alerts and vulnerability activity and the associated remediation actions, according to Tenable.
"When everything is urgent, triage fails," said Tom Parsons, senior director of product management. "As an industry, we need to realize that effective reduction in cyber risk starts with effective prioritization of issues."
Key takeaways: Be sure to have a vulnerability management system in place and understand what the actual risks are to properly prioritize patching and remediation.
Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at eSecurityPlanet and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist. #
UEBA: Protecting Your Network When Other Security Systems Fail
IT Security Vulnerability Roundup: November 2018
Sean Michael Kerner is an Internet consultant, strategist, and contributor to several leading IT business web sites.
Hackers Use RMM Software ...
Threats January 27, 2023
Threat Groups Distributin...
Cybercriminals Use VSCode...


text:
Colonia plays with purpose bigger than a baseball game
The Colonia High School baseball team, playing with a purpose bigger than the game, rolled to a 15-0 victory over Bishop Ahr in the Autism Awareness Baseball Challenge finale on Sunday night.
The Patriots wore specially designed orange T-shirts during pregame in honor of 4-year-old Julie Hildebrand, a Colonia girl who is battling a rare form of pediatric brain cancer.
The words "Team Jules" in white letters with black spots were emblazoned on the T-shirts above the image of a Dalmatian, Julie's favorite animal.
"Team Jules" is the moniker established for those in the community rallying around Julie, who will soon undergo an autologous stem cell transplant and whose next round of treatment, including additional chemotherapy, will begin in May.
"It's awesome to be a part of this event, not only for the autism aspect of it, but we got approached because Jules is a Colonia girl," Colonia head coach Mike Scialfo said. "As a community, as a school, as a program we thought it was great for us to come out here and represent her. It's an honor to be here."
Prior to the game, Scialfo presented Julie's parents, Rachel and Bob, with a T-shirt all his players autographed for Julie.
With some help from her older sister, Lauren, who is a kindergartner at Lynn Crest Elementary School, Julie joined her parents on the diamond to throw out the first pitch before Sunday night's game. Colonia catcher Anthony Palmisano, who lives on the same street as the Hildebrands, was on the receiving end of Lauren's toss.
The Autism Awareness Baseball Challenge featured more than 800 players from 40 high schools, which competed in 20 games contested over three consecutive days at North Brunswick's Community Park.
The event showcased seven teams currently ranked among the Top 20 statewide, more than two dozen players who have signed with or committed to major Division I colleges and several professional prospects who are expected to be selected in the 2018 MLB First-Year Player Draft.
In the name of every player who homered during the 20 games that were contested over the weekend, the Teamwork Unlimited Foundation, an Edison-based nonprofit that sponsors the event, will make a donation to the Hildebrands to help defray the family's medical expenses and personal expenses associated with caring for a critically ill child.
A record 27 homers for the 11th annual event were hit over the weekend. Three players belted two homers apiece. They were Chris Shine of South Plainfield, Matt Alaimo of St. Joseph of Montvale and Mike Stanczak of South Plainfield.
"This is a blessing," Stanczak said. "It feels great to help the cause and help a family in need."
Julie has been undergoing intense chemotherapy treatments at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia since being diagnosed four months ago with pineoblastoma.
She has fought her valiant battle — including multiple transfusions, MRIs, CT scans and spinal taps — with a smile on her face and an army of support, according to her mother, Rachel, who said each day brings Julie one step closer to winning the fight. Rachel is grateful for the community's overwhelming support, which includes keeping Julie in its thoughts and prayers.
John Rodriguez, making his first career start, hurled a complete-game four-hitter against Bishop Ahr in a contest that was shortened to five innings via the mercy rule. Rodriguez fanned five and walked one.
Chris Michael, Tom Mitch and CJ Miller collected two hits apiece for Colonia. Jason Hilenski had two RBI and scored twice.
Nick Scherb, Rodriguez and Palmisano each plated two runs.


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Frederick Samuel Arnold
Date of birth: 28th August 1895
Place of birth: Mitcham, Surrey
Regiment / Division: New Zealand Machine Gun Corps
Battalion: No. 1 Company
Died: 4th October 1917 aged 22 years
Death Location: Ypres, Belgium
Before the War
Frederick's parents were Walter (b. 1864) and Elizabeth Arnold (nee Hooper b. 1859). They were married on 22ndJuly 1883 in Kingston Surrey.
Frederick's 8 siblings were:
Twins – Fanny Julia and Sarah Bessie (b. 19th January 1884)
Alice Mary (b. 1885)
Albert Edward (b. 1887)
William Arthur (b. 12th August 1890)
Harry (b. 1891)
Sophia Rosa (b. 16th April 1893)
Charles Wallis (b . 13th April 1897, d. 1898.
On the 1901 census Frederick is living with his father who is working as a baker. The census shows Walter's wife is Alice who he married in 1898, and they are living at 14 Waterfall Road, Mitcham with Sarah, Albert, William, Harry and Sophia.
The 1911 census shows Frederick living at 133 Haydons Road, Wimbledon with his father and sister Sophia. He is working as an assistant house decorator with his father. His mother, Elizabeth is working as a servant in Eltham for the Coutts family.
Frederick emigrated to New South Wales Australia and then to New Zealand. He was living at 28 Hohiria Road, Haitaitai, Wellington with his brother William Arthur, who owned his own business. Frederick worked for his brother as a tyre mechanic. William is on the 1911 New Zealand Electoral rolls.
William joined the New Zealand Army Reserve but appealed to be exempt from military service on the grounds of a good family record. One of his brothers, presumably Frederick, had been killed and another was serving in the Navy and one in the Imperial army. William was granted leave.
Frederick enlisted as a private in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force on 30th May 1916 and was posted to the Machine Gun Corps on 16th June 1916.
He was part of the 18th Reinforcements, Specialised Machine Gun Section which embarked on 16thOctober 1916 from Wellington, New Zealand aboard H.M.T. Willochra (transport no. HMNZT 66).
Willochra was a steel twin screw passenger ship and was requisitioned by the New Zealand Government 17thNovember 1914 for trooping duties. Another vessel, Tofua, also embarked the same day. Between them they carried a total of 2024 troops from the 12th Reinforcements 1st & 2nd Battalion NZ Rifle Brigade & 9th Reinforcements 3rd, 4th Battalion NZ Rifle Brigade. They arrived in Devonport on 28th December 1916.
The troops were sent to Sling Camp, which was an annexe of Bulford Camp in Wiltshire. At this camp there were also New Zealand troops who had served in Gallipoli. A giant chalk kiwi was created in the hill by troops who were still at the camp at the end of the war. It is known as the Bulford Kiwi.
Frederick left for France on 24thApril 1917. He was wounded in action 25thJune 1917. He was killed in the Battle of Passchendaele on 4th October 1917.
When Frederick died his next of kin was named as his mother Mrs. E Arnold of 36 Beech Road, Millbrook, Southampton and on his military records it states that his father is deceased (on Ancestry there is a death for a Walter Arnold in 1915).
He was awarded the Victory Medal, also called the Allied Victory Medal, and the British War Medal. These were sent to his mother.
He is remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial at the Tyne Cot Cemetery which is located near Passchendaele, Belgium.
The Battle of Passchendaele was one of the major battles of World War 1 and was fought by British, ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand), Canadian and South African soldiers. The aim was to take control of the village of Passchendaele and then advance to the Belgium coast to capture the German submarine bases. On two days in October 1917 in the farmlands of Belgium, New Zealand suffered two of its greatest tragedies. On 4thOctober 490 New Zealand servicemen were killed. Eight days later on 12thOctober there was an even greater loss. Of 3000 casualties on that day over 840 young New Zealanders were killed or wounded
In 1925 a proposal was agreed to name a steam locomotive 'in memory of those members of the New Zealand Railways who fell in the Great War' . Out of a total workforce of 14,000 there were more than 5000 railway men who served between 1914 and 1918. 450 were killed. The name Passchendaele was chosen from a list that included Somme, Ypres and Le Quesnoy. In summer of 1925 -1926 the locomotive starred in the New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition and in 1927 it was used to pull the Duke and Duchess of York's royal train in the South Island.


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text:
Retail Fulfillment
Kitting and Special Projects
List Your Warehouse
Warehousing and Fulfillment in Chula Vista, California
eCommerce Fulfillment and Warehouse Storage in Chula Vista with Flowspace On-Demand Warehousing
If you're a business in need of an eCommerce fulfillment center in Chula Vista or warehouse space for rent in Chula Vista, you need look no further than Flowspace. Flowspace is the best choice for warehousing and fulfillment services in Chula Vista and everywhere in California.
Month-to-month storage space with zero long-term commitments.
A free management system.
Cold storage.
Pick and pack.
Dozens of custom services.
Flowspace Certified Warehousing
Flowspace inspects and approves each of our warehouses to ensure they meet security and quality standards. Our warehouses are staffed with workers who are available to receive your inventory, palletize your goods, and perform custom services like kitting or overlabeling.
Wholesale Carton Pick
Item Labeling
Container Unloading & Cross-Docking Unload Containers
Kitting Projects
Amazon FBA Prep
Over 14 warehouses in LA
5,700 sqft facility in San Diego
147,000 sqft facility in Poway
500 pallet positions in Oceanside
20,000 pallet positions in San Diego
1,200 sqft facility in Chula Vista
100,000 sqft facility in San Diego
32,000 sqft facility in San Diego
2,500 pallet positions in Carlsbad
200 pallet positions in Carlsbad
7,000 pallet positions in San Diego
Why Outsource eCommerce Fulfillment in Chula Vista
Deciding to outsource order fulfillment to a third-party logistics provider is a challenge. There are hundreds of factors and data points to consider when choosing the right 3PL warehouse. Outsourcing your eCommerce fulfillment in Chula Vista may be right for your business if:
You are an e-retailer that ships more than 75 orders per month.
Your business relies heavily on imports from Asia, China and the Pacific.
Your eCommerce business is highly seasonal.
You don't have the resources to pack boxes and ship orders.
You don't have the space to store your inventory.
You don't have the resources to invest in the warehousing, labor, distribution and supply chain infrastructure.
If any of the above apply to your eCommerce business then it's time to outsource your order eCommerce fulfillment to Flowspace in Chula Vista! With over 10M square feet of warehouse space, our strategically located fulfillment centers in Chula Vista enable our clients with on-demand eCommerce warehousing and fulfillment service helping them save time and money. Logistically speaking, the faster an e-retailer can turn its inventory and deliver its product the more revenue it can make. That's why the preferred locations for eCommerce fulfillment warehouses are adjacent to consumer markets and within close proximity to intermodal ports and transportation arteries.
Preferred locations for eCommerce fulfillment warehouses are adjacent to consumer markets and within close proximity to intermodal ports and transportation arteries. From the Flowspace warehousing and fulfillment centers in Chula Vista, we empower e-retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers, and merchants to:
Manage and distribute inventory anywhere in the country.
Offer same-day shipping to Southern California customers.
Provide quick inventory turn around.
Speed up delivery times.
Reduce the cost of transportation.
Last-Mile facilities, such as those in Chula Vista enable quick inventory turn around and even faster delivery times. e-retailers in Chula Vista can also extend service to West region customers; deploy rabid distribution of same day orders and enable Just in Time (JIT) delivery to more than 24 million customers in Southern California.
Infrastructure & Space Availability
Chula Vista is a terrific location for eCommerce warehousing and fulfillment in Southern California thanks to the abundance of logistics infrastructure - beneficial to e-retailers looking to reduce the cost of shipping and delivery. Chula Vista is situated almost equidistant from Los Angeles and San Diego. As such, Chula Vista boasts premium access to the logistics infrastructure of both port cities. Chula Vista is less than 3 hours drive from the Port of Los Angeles and only 15 minutes from consumers in San Diego. The Chula Vista area is high in demand but there are a number of listings for small users who need warehouse space for rent near San Diego.
Getting started with Flowspace is easy. We just need to know a few details and we can get your product moved and stored often in as little as 24 hours.
Tucked in the heart of corner the South Bay, Carson sits on 19 square miles of premium Southern California real estate. Only 17 miles from Los Angeles, Carson is a gateway to the largest consumer market on the West Coast, accounting for nearly 25 million consumers. Carson boasts easy access to transportation arteries like the SR91, and Interstates 110 and 405, as well as close proximity to transportation hubs at the Port of Los Angeles and 13 intermodal terminals spread throughout the region.
Situated in the Northern section of Orange County, Brea sits on 13 square miles of premium Southern California real estate. Located only 30 miles from Los Angeles, Brea is a former Oil Town turned gateway to the second largest consumer markets in the country. Fulfillment centers and warehouses in Brea enjoy easy access to major arteries as well as close proximity to transportation hubs at the Ports of LA, and Long Beach.
What Do 3PL & Warehousing Services Cost in Chula Vista
The cost of 3PL warehousing services in Chula Vista are reflective of the total fulfillment cost for direct-to-consumer order fulfillment and fluctuations in market conditions. Industrial vacancies in Orange and Los Angeles Counties are at an all-time low. Vacancy rates in key transportation hubs and seaport cities such as Los Angeles and nearby Chula Vista are even lower. Industry experts attribute the current market conditions to the influx of eCommerce inventory, which now accounts for more than 1.5 billion feet of inventory space in Southern California alone. The eCommerce fulfillment and logistics industry in Southern California is expensive and growing at an exponential rate. Despite the high cost of rent, e-retailers are jumping in line to pay a premium for the right location that works for their network.
Some Of What We Offer
Priced Per Pallet
Ecommerce Fulfillment
Ambient, Frozen, Cool, Organic, and Food-Grade Warehouses
Never Any Long-Term Contracts
Why Choose Flowspace in Chula Vista
The fulfillment logistics industry in Southern California is expensive and growing at an exponential rate. Despite the high cost of rent, e-retailers are jumping in line to pay a premium for the right location that works for their network. Flowspace rates are immune to fluctuations in the real estate market - our on-demand warehousing model enables us to offer month-to-month storage space with zero long-term commitments. Flowspace owns and operates facilities in cities across the country, allowing you to efficiently ship to West region customers; deploy rabid distribution of same day orders to more than 24 million customers in Southern California. Flowspace is the premium On-Demand warehousing and fulfillment service in California. We offer month-to-month storage space, cold storage, pick and pack, and a free management system that requires zero integration, and zero long-term commitments. Flowspace makes eCommerce warehousing and fulfillment easy. Contact us today.
Book Your Warehouse Space in Chula Vista, California Now
Flowspace can get your product moved and stored in as little as 24 hours. If you're looking for space in Chula Vista, California, get started today.
Flowspace WMS
Flowspace
About Flowspace
Flowspace provides on-demand warehousing for businesses. We handle the storage, transportation, and service of your inventory on a month-to-month basis. Flowspace operates warehouses in every major metropolitan area with principal locations in Los Angeles, Ontario, Oakland, Pennsylvania, and Chicago.
Flowspace, Inc. © 2020


text:
Values and Guiding Principles
Income Supports
Competence to Stand Trial
Service Members, Veterans, and their Families
Consumers and Family Members
Systems Mapping
The Sequential Intercept Model
The Health Benefits of Strengthening Social Connections
Announcements,
Guest Post,
By Sara Martin, M.S., CEO, WELCOA
Researcher Susan Pinker studied lifestyles in communities around the world to understand why some communities and individuals are thriving and others are not. She was specifically examining why, in so many communities around the world (including America) women are living an average of 5 to 7 years longer than men. In her TED Talk about the secret to living longer, she drew the startling conclusion that men had significantly fewer relationships or connections than women, and that key difference could be a culprit behind the mortality gap.[1] Other research backs this up. Julianne Holt-Lunstad is a researcher at Brigham Young University who has been studying the impact of social relationships on mortality. Her research found that social support, social relationships, and social integration are more predictive of how long we live than smoking, drinking, or exercise.[2] Social isolation is one of the known public health risks of our time—and that was prior to the pandemic and the health-preserving isolation and quarantine activities now in place.
So, when WELCOA, in our mission to provide training, tools, and resources to support healthy people and healthy business, saw these data, we could not ignore them. There is clearly something going on with social support and isolation, and that something is negatively impacting our health. We dedicated an entire year to improving social connections in the workplace and here is what we learned.
The need for social connection is greater than we realized pre-COVID, and it will require some creativity for employers to create new opportunities for employees and teams to connect in pandemic times and beyond.
Inclusion, acceptance, empathy, and appreciation are key pieces to connection in the workplace. Employees are dealing with more uncertainty and volatility than ever. This year, the chronic endemic of racism was compounded by a global pandemic. Organizations must address this uncertainty with better tools, policies, and practices for equity, inclusion, safety, and trust.
Social isolation affects the brain in the same way that physical pain does. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans reveal the same parts of our brains are active when we feel the pain of isolation as when we have physical pain.
We have to be authentic in the ways that we communicate and connect with each other. Connection does not happen artificially. Foster connection by weaving it into the existing routine and culture of your company.
Connection equals protection. Social connection reduces the risk of depression and suicide. If you see someone who you think is struggling, ask how you can help.
When WELCOA deemed 2020 our year of social connection, it was because we were blown away by the evidence showing that social isolation has measurable physical and health consequences for humans. Feeling like we belong to each other and to our communities fosters better motivation to achieve our well-being goals. It is fuel. Fuel yourself in the new year by making it a point to create and strengthen your relationships at work, at home, and in your community.
For more about social connections, access the WELCOA Employee Education Toolkit: Connection, Empathy, and Compassion.
[1] TED. (2017). The secret to living longer may be your social life | Susan Pinker [Video]. YouTube. https://www.ted.com/talks/susan_pinker_the_secret_to_living_longer_may_be_your_social_life?language=en
[2] Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T. B., & Layton, J. B. (2010). Social relationships and mortality risk: A meta-analytic review. PLoS Medicine, 7(7), e1000316. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316
Aging at PRA
Announcing Awards for SAMHSA's GAINS Center's 2022 Trauma-Informed Responses Train-the-Trainer Event and Sequential Intercept Model Mapping Workshop
Two Sides to Every Bench: Utilizing Trauma-Informed Court Practices to Promote Dignity and Reconciliation
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Recently we had the opportunity to dine at the newest location of The Herb Box. This new location opened in Midtown's newest hot spot, The Colony. We have been to The Herb Box numerous times in the past but always for brunch (Smoked Salmon Hash anyone?). We decided to change it up a bit and try them out for dinner. It turned out to be one of the best decisions we've made!
As per the norm, we started our meal with a couple of cocktails. We ordered The Martinez (Bombay Sapphire gin, sweet vermouth, Luxardo cherry liqueur and Angostura bitters) and The Lemon Basil Martini (Deep Eddy Lemon vodka and fresh basil leaves). The Martinez felt very old school (in a good way) and was reminiscent of many classic cocktails. The Lemon Basil Martini was light and refreshing.
Along with our cocktails we ordered The Cheese Board of the Moment. The current Cheese Board of the Moment is comprised of pan-fried Crow's Dairy goat's milk feta, Mediterranean olives, lemon, honey, rosemary, aleppo chili, and dry aged salami. For starters, the presentation of this cheese board is absolutely stunning. Aside from that, it tasted phenomenal! The pairing of the salty feta and honey was ingenious! Also, the grilled bread added another level of flavor with its smokiness. All around, this was one of the best cheese boards we've had in a restaurant.
Unsure of what to order, we asked our server for a couple of suggestions. He went through his favorites and we ended up with the Thai BBQ Baby Back Ribs (served with apple jicama slaw and smoked gouda mac-n-cheese) and the Char Grilled Beef Tenderloin (served with ancho-bourbon demi, gorgonzola cream, warm green beans, fingerling potatoes, red onion, celery, fennel, blistered tomatoes, and smoky blue cheese). Both suggestions were spot on!
The sauce on the ribs was amazing (not going to lie, we already have discussed trying to make a copy cat recipe at home)! It was spicy and had that great sweet and cilantro-esque flavor you'd expect from an Asian style sauce. We also noticed that the sauce really brought out the gouda in the mac-n-cheese! The tenderloin was cooked to a perfect medium rare (which seems to be harder than you'd think). The ancho bourbon demi was out of this world! According to our server it takes 72 hours to make it and the flavors built are fantastic!
Trying out the dinner menu at The Herb Box was a great call. It is always great when you get to try something out of your comfort zone. What are some restaurants that you've always gone to for a specific meal and were pleasantly surprised when you tried a different meal there? We'd love to hear all about it! Leave a comment below or use the hash tag #GeekEats!


Young Angels is one of the leading publishers when it comes to delivering books for school children. Since from its inception, we have been delivering books that foster strong brain activity among children and promote reading habits. Keeping in mind the rapid growth of technology which has already given a digital aspect to reading, we formulate new ideas and strategies to encourage children to read more with eyes on books rather than sticking to attractive screens.
Depending on the interests and the requirement to build strong educational backdrop for young children, we have divided our books into different segments like educational, story books, book packs, activity, encyclopaedia, value books, fiction and novelty books.
The books are designed in a way to build and strengthen basic, academic, or trade skills among children from very early age. Irrespective of formal and informal education, these books are fabricated to develop a child into an all-round individual. To empower life skills among children, we deliver Empowering Life Skills(ELS) magazine which strengthens multiple intelligence through interactive activities and content.
Just to be more fun than a barrel of monkeys, we organise book fairs in schools in different regions.
· To provide a platform of uncovering knowledge and stories for children. It is our commitment towards expanding their thinking at a larger level by involving them.
· To aware parents about their role in the early childhood development of their children.
· To secure holding dialogues and sharing ideas between authors and readers.
Young Angels gives a fun-filled educational roller coaster ride to empower children's life skills.
· With the help of book clubs, it aims to cultivate a culture of reading among students to build a positive behavior.
· Not only it edifies the childhood of children with frequent readings, it helps them establish a strong base of literacy.
· It caters to the needs of children of all ages and help parents to understand their role better in the child development.
· It offers a wide range of creative books in their book fairs, which are organized worldwide.


text:
Making Menstrual Health a Global Issue
Girls education
Across the world, women are demanding access to feminine-hygiene products to lead full, productive lives.
Locally made biodegradable sanitary pads known as Makapads are disinfected at a factory in Kampala, Uganda, on July 13, 2017. (AP Photo / Stephen Wandera)
The next battlefront for gender justice is a bloody one: the culture and the politics of menstrual care. That's because the seemingly banal matter of menstruation is giving rise to a movement for "period equity," turning a bodily process freighted with social burdens into an economic-welfare issue intrinsic to women's enfranchisement.
There has been a surge of demands for investments in feminine hygiene, focusing on situations where women face financial and cultural barriers to obtaining basic sanitary products: New York City recently launched one of the country's first initiatives to provide period-product dispensers in public schools—so women can avoid the trouble of having to specially request pads during class—along with subsidized supplies for menstrual hygiene in the city's homeless shelters and jails. Congress is considering national prison-reform legislation focused on women that includes guaranteed access to products for menstruation, along with gynecological and personal-hygiene care.
Though such policies seem absurdly basic, talking about menstruation—an issue that got massive publicity when Princess Meghan Markle promoted period justice worldwide—disrupts deeply ingrained patriarchal taboos and amplifies the demand for women's dignity in every arena of life.
Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, a lawyer and advocate leading a national campaign for period equity, says starting with something as small as a period is an excellent segue into an array of gender-justice issues, because periods impact "all of the things that make it really hard just to live your life and be fully present and participatory in our society, whether it's school, whether it's just walking down the street, whether it's the ability to go to work…the real-life impact right here and now of managing that. For people for whom a lot of the things we take for granted are challenging, menstruation is an exponential burden."
What It's Like Inside a Border Patrol Facility Where Families Are Being Separated
Zoë Carpenter
Globally, from draconian menstrual-banishment rituals to a lack of decent hygiene in schools, period-inequity poses significant barriers to women's educational and social advancement across the Global South. A survey of Sri Lankan girls found that 60 percent of female students are kept out of school by their parents during menstruation. Reflecting gaps in gender-aware health education, three-quarters of girls in Nairobi's Mathare slum reported not understanding even when to expect their periods. But the real barrier is internalized, culturally ingrained shame. The majority of mothers in India, according to one survey, "consider menstruation dirty." Studies on girls in Afghanistan, Bolivia, and Iran indicate that because of widespread myths that link periods with contamination or disease, girls are often pressured to abstain from bathing and everyday social activities. Bangladeshi girls reported being deterred from sharing spaces with men and boys or exercising. Studies by Wateraid show that period bleeding triggers dietary deprivation in Pakistan, including "not eating spicy food, eggs, beef and fish"—taboos that, ironically, might precipitate real health risks.
Lack of clean water and basic sanitation facilities in communities is a common obstacle across the Global South, compounded by the desperate means girls resort to when they can't afford regular menstrual products—leaves and newspapers sometimes substitute for sanitary products; others just avoid public spaces lacking disposal facilities.
Despite the overlapping social and cultural complexities of period shame, often the solutions are surprisingly straightforward, fostered by a blend of community-driven education, cultural engagement, and small-scale production innovation. Research on schools in Uganda found that a targeted program to distribute reusable sanitary pads—a local social enterprise branded as AFRIPads—along with pairs of underwear and soap, could significantly boost girls' school attendance, compared to the status quo.
But beyond providing material aid, the most impactful interventions combine public-health initiatives for improved sanitation and safe water; menstrual-health education starting at younger ages, so girls are prepared for adolescence; and including male community members in building infrastructure and dismantling taboos. Some communities enlist boys as producers of menstrual-hygiene products—as demonstrated with a grassroots program based in Uganda to get youth involved in crafting homegrown washable pads—which is in turn fostering a worldwide trend toward more sustainable, eco-friendly menstrual care.
In the rich world, the persistence of period poverty shows that this most basic of reproductive rights issue is a First World problem, too. Just purchasing tampons and liners every month amounts to more than $2,000 altogether over a woman's lifetime—not including the costs of dealing with complications like cramps, hormonal problems and other health issues. Some recent reforms tackle burdensome period-care costs by abolishing the so-called "tampon tax"—the sales tax has been nixed on pads, cups, and tampons in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, and, most recently, New York, Illinois, Connecticut, and Florida.
Period activism is trickling into society's margins in campaigns to provide hygiene access to imprisoned women, who may struggle to even pee out of the sight of guards, much less change a tampon—part of a climate of discrimination that fuels the systematic abuse of incarcerated women. And period troubles spell agony for homeless women struggling every day just to maintain their sense of dignity and self-respect on the streets. As Alex, a young woman sleeping rough, reflected in a Bustlevideo documentary: "It's more money than me and my boyfriend spend on a meal, together…. I would rather be clean than be full."
With homeless women nationwide being forced to choose being dirty or malnourished, why isn't menstruation-related health care considered just as vital a part of women's reproductive-life cycle as pregnancy and maternal-health care?
Feel-good slogans aside, what really matters about the global rise of period politics is the potential to galvanize dialogue on intersecting social challenges, and shedding longstanding silence. Just as the #MeToo movement has raised public consciousness about sexual abuse, a problem previously relegated to women's private spheres is finally bursting out in the open.
"In this very polarized, toxic environment we're in," says Weiss-Wolf, "the idea that we can do something affirmative to address the economic, physical, and social well-being of women—in particular women we're usually loathe to talk about—incarcerated women, homeless women—I think, is an incredible step forward."
Periods might seem like a small issue. But the ripple effect reaches half the population and embodies a universe of challenges in women's health and work lives, from boosting civic representation to overturning age-old body myths. No one asked for periods to become a political matter, but sometimes, that uneasy silence surrounding women's bodies is exactly why we should make our most intimate affairs everybody's business.


text:
Q: Why pass by refrance makes notice message in php? I'm trying to use the following function in PHP to echo the variable if it's already been set or echo the alternate text:
function _echo(&$var, $alt = ''){
    if ( isset($var) ){
        echo $var;
    } else {
        echo $alt;
    }
}

And the following code to call the function. Note that $plan is not defined before:
<input type="text" name="test" value="<?= _echo($plan['program']) ?>">

But it triggers:

Notice: Undefined index: program in [file] on line [line]

I tried the following code to find out the problem and it was unexpected, $plan was defined when function is being called:
var_dump($plan);
<input type="text" name="test" value="<?= _echo($plan['test']) ?>">
var_dump($plan);

And the output was:

Notice: Undefined variable: plan in [file] on line [line] Notice:
Undefined index: program in [file] on line [line] >> Here NULL was echoed
array(1) { ["program"]=> NULL }

What is the problem exactly and how can I make such a function?

A: The problem is not in passing argument by reference, but rather in referencing array index that does not exist or variable that does not exist. You would have to use isset():
<input type="text" name="test"
value="<?= _echo(isset($plan['program']) ? $plan['program']: '') ?>">

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
HASTAC 1.1
The notes that follow are entirely my fault, and not at all the fault of the speakers. That said, I'm going to attempt to give a sense of what I take from various sessions at the conference. Various talks are available via webcast at HASTAC.
Jamie Boyle, "Creative Commons, Science Commons, and Open Source"
— digital technologies and relevance to learning in science: we don't know what we're doing
— recognition of our inability to predict the future should in fact be a positive
— we're incredibly bad at estimating the advantages of openness; we overestimate the value of closedness and control
— we'd have made a series of bad choices if we'd been presented with proposals for the current internet or wikipedia, opting for more closed systems
— knowing that we'd have made those mistakes, perhaps we need to operate under the assumption that we don't know, and that somebody else might have a better idea than we do
— open educational resources sites look like silos right now, separate from one another–CCLearn is devoted to making connections, allowing people to take content from different sources and recombine
— need to move from "this content is mine" to "this content is available for mining"
— makes no sense to spend millions of dollars creating balkanized islands of content
— science commons: creating a realm in which it's easier to get the content you need
— series of blockages in the scientific process that could be solved by private agreement
— the research cycle: first you have to find the relevant literature (not just finding MORE data, but finding the RIGHT data)–access is not the problem–our methods for generating data have gone digital, but out methods for finding and comprehending data have remained analog
— semantic web–the web in which the computer "understands" the concept rather than searching for the term–admittedly not perfect right now, but will get better (someone will have a better idea)
— what if people apply semantic web concept to science?
— biggest problems: copyright and contracts–journals and publishers want to control what can be done with the material they publish, because they know that the future of publishing this material is not in getting readers, but in processing data
— the research cycle: then you need to get the "stuff"–the raw materials on which scientific experiments are run
— in part because of the credit economy in science–scientists don't want to share the materials on which their work is based because it might take something away from their own work
— also being held up by legalities–tech transfer agreements are complex and arcane and slow
— uniform biological material transfer agreement can only go so far toward fixing the problem
— what if there were a creative commons-like form that handled all such transfers, in a machine-readable way
— what if you can get reputation for giving things away?
question: what about the unintended consequences of openness?
answer: there's lots of research that we do want to maintain some kinds of control over, however, in order to cure a disease, scientists must have access to the disease. (cryptography: anyone's smart enough to come up with a security system that he couldn't break)
question: credentialing, authenticity, accrediting are important features of closed systems; how to translate to an open system
answer: two modes: one is authoritative map; other is to use a form of metadata, to see usage patterns
Categories: conferences


text:
Friedrich Naumann (25 March 1860 – 24 August 1919) was a German liberal politician and Protestant parish pastor. In 1896, he founded the National-Social Association that sought to combine liberalism, nationalism and (non-Marxist) socialism with Protestant Christian values, proposing social reform to prevent class struggle. He led the party until its merger into the Free-minded Union in 1903. From 1907 to 1912 and again from 1913 to 1918, he was a member of the Reichstag of the German Empire.

Naumann advocated an imperialist foreign policy, laying out Germany's claim to dominate Central Europe in his 1915 Mitteleuropa plan. After the First World War, he co-founded the German Democratic Party and was elected to the Weimar National Assembly. Naumann is also somewhat controversial for his anti-Armenian statements. The Friedrich Naumann Foundation of the Free Democratic Party is named after him.

Life
Naumann was born in the parsonage of Großpösna near Leipzig in Saxony, being the son of the local Lutheran pastor. He attended school in Leipzig and the Fürstenschule in Meissen, whereafter he studied Protestant theology at the universities of Leipzig and Erlangen. In 1881 he was one of the founders of the nationalist student fraternity Verein Deutscher Studenten in Leipzig. From 1883 he worked at the Rauhes Haus charity institution established by Johann Hinrich Wichern in Hamburg, before in 1886 he took over the rectorate of Lengenberg near Glauchau in Saxony. From 1890 he also served in the Inner mission in Frankfurt.

During the 1880s, Naumann was a follower of the conservative-clerical and antisemitic Berlin movement led by Adolf Stoecker and his Christian Social Party. At the 1890 Evangelical Social Congress however, he became a spokesman of the liberal wing, distancing himself from Stoecker's conservatism and antisemitism. Later he became interested in the social theories advocated by his friend Max Weber, one of the most pronounced critics of Emperor Wilhelm II. His ideal was that of helping the workers, whose miserable life circumstances he had witnessed in Hamburg. His goal was to raise interest in this issue among the middle class, however, initially he was hindered by the German middle class fear of the proletariat, who were regarded as potential revolutionaries. Naumann later tried to involve Weber in politics, but this failed due to the bad health and temper of Weber.

Starting from 1894 he published the weekly magazine Die Hilfe ("The Help") to address the social question from a non-marxist middle class point of view. To this end he wrote the short book, Soziale Briefe An Reiche Leute ("Social Letters to Wealthy People") published in Göttingen in 1895.

Together with Rudolph Sohm and Caspar René Gregory, he founded the National-Social Association in 1896; an attempt to provide a social liberal, social Christian and nationalist alternative to the Social Democrats, who opposed nationalism and believed religion was a private matter. The Association tried to address the growing social rift between rich industrialists and the poor working class with social reforms rather than class struggle. In the same year, Naumann gave up his pastoral office, concentrating on his political and writing activities from then on. In his 1897 "National-Social Catechism" (structured in rhetorical questions and answers, following the model of Luther's Small Catechism) he explained the National-Social Association's fundamental conviction that "the national and the social (interest) belong together". By national(ism) he understood "the drive of the German people to expand its influence on the globe"; while he defined social(ism) as "the drive of the working masses to extend their influence within the people".

During the 1890s Hamidian massacres, Naumann became known for expressing anti-Armenianism in Die Hilfe including the famous "potter's quote" in which Naumann – without complete consent – quoted a German potter, whom he met during his journey to the Near East in Constantinople, as stating:

Historian Stefan Ihrig states that "Naumann had exposed a very broad audience to justifications for killing Armenians and had made Germany's ears deaf to the Armenian plight as well as anti- Armenianism 'morally' and politically more acceptable". But with regard to the Armenian genocide in 1915 Die Hilfe – still edited and led by Friedrich Naumann – wrote: Later in his life, Naumann worked for an approachment of German social democratic and liberal movements, but faced major opposition from conservatives. Industrialists like Freiherr von Stumm called Naumann and his associates "Allies of the Socialists". Naumann wanted to preserve Christian values, which he hoped would improve the fraught relations between workers and corporate businessmen. The National-Social Association failed in the German elections of 1898 and 1903 and was then dissolved into the Freeminded Union. Naumann became a member of the Reichstag parliament upon the 1907 federal election.

In 1907, he co-founded the Deutscher Werkbund association. On the eve of World War I, Naumann proved to be a monarchist, but his sympathy for  of the German emperor Wilhelm II had vanished since the well-known Daily Telegraph Affair of 1908. He espoused a kind of liberal imperialism, signing the 1914 Manifesto of the Ninety-Three, and still in 1918 backed the "Anti-Bolshevist League" of Eduard Stadtler. On the other side Naumann supported the Peace Resolution, with which the Reichstag offered peace negotiations without annexiations in 1917.

In 1919, Friedrich Naumann was among the founders of the social liberal German Democratic Party (Deutsche Demokratische Partei, DDP) with Theodor Wolff and Hugo Preuss. As a member of the Weimar National Assembly, he became one of the "Fathers of the Constitution" of the Weimar Republic, and, shortly before his death, was elected as the first president of the Democratic Party.

Reception
Naumann is often considered an advocate of German nationalism with militarist and annexionist ideals, due to his book Mitteleuropa (1915) on the geopolitics of a Central Europe under German leadership. The work had a great public impact, though it did not affect the military strategy of World War I. Like many scholars of his time, Naumann upheld the theories of Social Darwinism and Volksgemeinschaft. He shared his views with the intellectual circles he frequented, including not only Max Weber, but also Lujo Brentano, Hellmut von Gerlach, young Theodor Heuss, his wife Elly Heuss-Knapp, and Gustav Stresemann.

For Jürgen Frölich, historian at the Archive of Liberalism, Naumann is "a key figure in German liberalism in the late Kaiserreich", who saw his political goals mainly realized, when just before the end of war the Constitution of the German Empire adopted an amendment, which turned the state into a short living parliamentary democratic monarchy.

According to the historian Götz Aly, Naumann "distorted liberalism beyond recognition and completed the turn to nationalist power and popular welfare politics". While Naumann was not a forerunner of the Nazis' antisemitism, Aly accuses him of having "combined social, imperial, and national thought into a cohesive intellectual current that could eventually blend with the NSDAP's mindset".

See also
 Liberalism
 List of liberal theorists

Further reading
Jürgen Frölich (2015). "Naumann, Friedrich." In: 1914–1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, ed. by Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson, issued by Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin 2015-06-02. DOI: 10.15463/ie1418.10652.

Alastair P. Thompson (2000). Left liberals, the state, and popular politics in Wilhelmine Germany, Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.

External links

References

1860 births
1919 deaths
People from Leipzig (district)
People from the Kingdom of Saxony
20th-century German Lutheran clergy
National-Social Association politicians
Free-minded Union politicians
Progressive People's Party (Germany) politicians
German Democratic Party politicians
German radicals
Members of the 12th Reichstag of the German Empire
Members of the 13th Reichstag of the German Empire
Members of the Weimar National Assembly
Geopoliticians
Political party founders
19th-century German Lutheran clergy

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
China's Gender Imbalance
Study suggests one child per family rule is leading to abortions of female fetuses
FRIDAY, Dec. 5, 2003 (HealthDayNews) -- China's policy of limiting each family to one child may be leading to a gender imbalance as parents usually choose to have baby boys, says a study in the new issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
The ratio of boys to girls has steadily declined over the past few decades, but in China it has increased over the past 20 years. This study suggests families in China are using ultrasound to determine the gender of unborn children and selectively aborting female fetuses, even though it's against the law.
The study found the boy-to-girl ratio of Chinese couples living in Italy is lower than in China.
It tracked the births of babies born to Chinese couples who emigrated to the province of Tuscany over the past 10 years. The researchers used data collected from a screening program for cystic fibrosis between July 1992 and June 2002 and compared the boy/girl sex ratio of babies born to both Italian and Chinese parents in Tuscany.
During the study period, there were 265,502 babies born. The sex ratio at birth was similar for both Italian and Chinese couples, but was consistently lower than the published figures for Chinese couples in China.
The study says official Chinese census figures show the sex ratio at birth in some Chinese provinces exceeded 1.3 in 2000. The average ratio in industrialized countries is between 1.07 and 1.03.
The high number of boy babies in China is causing concern in China because of the social problems in may cause. The study authors suggest the problem could be resolved if China abolished its policy of one child per family.
Here's where you can learn more about the issue of China's sex ratio.
SOURCE: BMJ Specialist Journals, news release, Dec. 4, 2003
Consumer News Products Language News types Parenting Pregnancy Kids: Misc. Topics English News


text:
Overeating in Ramadan: Whose sunnah are we following?
LOOKING at the surfeit of food on our sufras, it never ceases to appall me how much time, energy, expense and effort is spent in preparing, consuming, serving and clearing up elaborate meals in the name of "maintaining Ramadan traditions."
It's no secret that harried housewives and working women have resorted to outsourcing traditional Ramadan fare, and rather than going through the elaborate ordeal of conjuring a multi-course homemade meal every single day, they simply pay someone to supply it. After all, Ramadan "traditions" must be maintained, never mind the cost.
It makes me wonder: Who taught us the tradition of the over-laden table and the distended stomach?
"The offspring of Adam fills no vessel worse than his stomach."
It was certainly not our Prophetﷺ whose Sunnah we are obligated to follow. Doesn't it strike us as hugely ironic, that even as we make Ramadan resolutions to improve our acts of worship, and strive to develop ittibaaʽ (practice/following) in other areas of our lives, we tend to conveniently overlook this aspect of the Prophet's life – his moderation to the extent of abstinence in indulging his appetite?
Are we the Ummah of the Prophetﷺ who said: "The offspring of Adam fills no vessel worse than his stomach. Sufficient for the child of Adam are a few morsels to keep his back straight. If he must eat more, then a third should be for his food, a third for his drink, and a third left for air?" [Musnad Ahmad]
Going by the statistics, which state that cases of acute indigestion and a host of other digestive disorders increase by almost 48 percent all over the world at the beginning of Ramadan, it certainly doesn't seem so.
For curiosity's sake, let's take a look at some of the things the Prophetﷺ is reported to have broken his fasts with:
• The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to prefer breaking the fast with dates, and if he did not find any, he would then break it with water.
• Anas Bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The Prophet ﷺ used to break his fast with fresh dates before he prayed. If he did not find fresh dates then he would use dried dates. If he did not find that also he drank a few sips of water. (Ahmad and Abu Dawood)
• Abdullah bin Awfa narrated: "We were in the company of the Prophetﷺ on a journey and he was fasting, and when the sun set, he addressed somebody, "O so-and-so, get up and mix sawiq (a coarse mixture of ground wheat and barley) with water for us." He replied, "O Allah's Apostle! (Will you wait) till it is evening?" The Prophet said, "Get down and mix sawiq with water for us." He replied, "O Allah's Apostle! (If you wait) till it is evening." The Prophet said again, "Get down and mix sawiq with water for us."
He replied, "It is still daytime." The Prophet said again, "Get down and mix sawiq with water for us." He got down and mixed sawiq for them.
The Prophet ﷺ drank it and then said, "When you see night falling from this side, the fasting person should break his fast." [Sahih Al-Bukhari]
There are many lessons to be learnt from these narrations that give us an insight into the sublime character of the Prophetﷺ and the intended spirit of fasting.
The Prophetﷺ preferred to break his fast with food that was easily available, and did not disdain to break his fast with a few sips of water if there was no food. It was his custom to follow a simple, macrobiotic diet and he did not order special dishes made to break the fast with – although there were some dishes which were considered delicacies in those days like tharid (meat mixed with bread), talbinah (a sweet), soups, vegetables, roasted meat and dishes prepared with cheese and refined butter – which he enjoyed occasionally.
The Prophetﷺ did not make a "tradition" of indulging his appetite – a fact which should give his Ummah plenty of food for thought. Whose "traditions" are we following when we sit down to our smorgasbords every day? And whose traditions are more worthy of being followed?
What Nullifies The Fast?
Question: What Nullifies The Fast? A: Sexual intercourse; Eating; Drinking; The emission of Mani (semen) due to desire; Whatever bears
Eid Al-Fitr 2014 Around the World
Afghanistan Kabul, Afghanistan: Afghans take part in morning prayers outside the Shah-e Doh Shamshira mosque. Photograph: Mohammad Ismail/Reuters Occupied Jerusalem
Ramadan in History
MANY Muslims today have a misconception about fasting and the activities of a fasting person. They go into a state
Muslim Battles During Ramadan
1. Battle Of Badr – 2H On the 17th of Ramadan two years after Hijrah, Allah established the truth of Islam
Sleeping & Resting While Fasting
Question: I spend my day in Ramadan asleep or at rest since I am unable to work due to my


George Maris effectively killed the game off for Cambridge United when he scrambled home their third goal in the second half against Leyton Orient.
But while he provided the final nail in the coffin for a spirited but limited young Orient side, Maris showed once more what he brings to the table for United.
The 21-year-old provided a real drive to home side's attacking play, not that he was the only one with Conor Newton and Harrison Dunk also both doing their bit to break down a competently organised O's line-up, while left-back Jake Carroll put in arguably his most confident offensive display since arriving in January.
It also says a lot that Maris has the responsibility of being United's primary set piece taker, whether it be a corner or a free kick, when he is in the side.
And United's second goal just before half time was as a direct result of one of the former Barnsley player's free kicks, swung in from the left perfectly for Liam O'Neil to flick a header home from 12 yards for his first goal for the club.
Manager Shaun Derry was certainly happy with what he had seen from Maris, who has bounced back strongly from an injury-hit start to the season.
He said: "What a season George has had. He's a young player who has come from a different environment and we're asking him to come and play men's football.
If Maris can keep supplying the bullets and maybe grab another odd goal here and there, he could well be a not-so-secret weapon during United's run-in.
But who did you think stood out for United? Why not rate the players using our special widget below.


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"Quiverz is an exclusive online Social connections service that allows members to connect with professional singles who are compatible with their own distinguished tastes, but also puts a romantic spin on the traditional idea of business networking.
We host a series of events every month ranging from wine tastings, soirees, gourmet dinner's, allowing our Members to enjoy one another's company in a luxury and intimate environment.
Be it online or in person, Quiverz makes it possible to mix business with pleasure".


text:
King Ashurnasirpal Gala raises money for Assyrians in Nineveh Plains
Mesopotamian art gallery is backdrop for exclusive fundraising dinner
June 2018 | By Joe Snell | Photos Contributed
Chicago – The Assyrian Aid Society of America (AAS-A) Chicago Chapter hosted the second annual King Ashurnasirpal Dinner Gala (KADG) on Sunday, May 27.
The black tie event, held inside the Mesopotamian gallery of The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, raised funds for projects directed towards rebuilding the Nineveh Plains as well as supporting the region's Assyrian education system.
"Throughout the time of ISIS, we ensured not only to support the IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons), but also to keep the Assyrian schools running," said Assyrian Aid Society of America Chicago Chapter President Renya Benjamen. "This was a struggle but we made it a priority."
The theme of this year's event was "Preservation." Guests were surrounded by museum artifacts as well as Assyrian recipes inspired by the world's oldest cookbook, preserved on ancient Assyrian tablets. Atorina Zomaya of the Assyrian Kitchen and Chef Dan Sarkis prepared meals for guests based off the recipes on these tablets.
The keynote speaker for the evening was Narsai David, a Chairman Emeritus of the Assyrian Aid Society of America. Narsai is also a Chairman Emeritus of the Board of the Berkeley Community Fund and a founding Board Member of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre.
Dr. Michael Rakowitz, an Iraqi-American Professor of Art Theory and Practice at Northwestern University, was the evening's guest speaker. Rakowitz is a conceptual artist whose work has appeared at galleries around the world including at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the British Museum. Most recently, his Lamassu destroyed by ISIS has appeared in London's Trafalgar Square.
Dr. Rakowitz held a special presentation titled, "The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist."
"I have followed Dr. Rakowitz's work for some time now," said Atour Sargon, who attended last year's inaugural gala as well as this year's event. "I had the great opportunity to sit next to him during the dinner and was able to get to know him and learn more about his work firsthand."
During an auction portion of the evening, Sargon was one of two winners of artwork from the Assyrian artist Paul Batou. A number of other art pieces and wine were also auctioned off.
The Mesopotamian Gallery of The Oriental Institute includes ancient artifacts as well as computer programs to help visitors learn about the collection. A 16-foot tall Lamassu is the centerpiece for a number of items dating back thousands of years including pottery, clay tablets, stone sculptures, and vessels made of stones and metals.
The event is named after King Ashurnasirpal II, who is known for having rebuilt the city of Nimrud and arranged a magnificent palace banquet for all city residents.
"Gathered here in The Oriental Institute, we aim to honor and commemorate the history of Nimrud and our Assyrian ethnic identity, which has survived for thousands of years and will continue for thousands to come," Benjamen said.
The Assyrian Aid Society of America is a 501(c)(3) founded in San Francisco in 1991. The organization is dedicated to helping Assyrians in need and promoting Assyrian culture and heritage. AAS-A works in collaboration with the Assyrian Aid Society-Iraq to fund a number of initiatives including reconstruction and education programs as well as irrigation, electrification, and medical projects.
"Our mission is to preserve the Assyrian heritage in the homeland," Benjamen said. "It is through our donor's contributions that we are helping rebuild homes and villages as residents return home."
To learn more about Assyrian Aid Society of America, visit their Facebook Page
Here is a slideshow of pictures from the evening:
Looting hits Assyrian businesses in Chicago
Joe Snell June 9, 2020 November 15, 2020
Assyrian empowHER series launches in Turlock
Joe Snell May 12, 2019 December 20, 2019
Assyrian Christmas tree joins popular Chicago exhibition