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We go over the evidence given by the health secretary on the government's pandemic response.
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Health Secretary Matt Hancock spent more than four hours being questioned by MPs about the government's response to the Covid pandemic.
His evidence came two weeks after the prime minister's former adviser Dominic Cummings made a series of allegations – we've looked at several of the points Mr Hancock made at the latest hearing.
Mr Hancock cited a report from the National Audit Office (NAO) to support this claim.
The report says: "The NHS provider organisations we spoke to told us that, while they were concerned about the low stocks of PPE, they were always able to get what they needed in time."
But the next sentence says: "However, this was not the experience reported by many front-line workers."
It cites surveys by bodies such as the Royal College of Nursing (in April and May 2020) showing that a "significant proportion of participating care workers, doctors and nurses reported having insufficient PPE, even in high-risk settings".
It adds that "government structures were overwhelmed in March 2020" and that while the government did then set up structures to obtain PPE, that "it took a long time for it to receive the large volumes of PPE ordered".
There was also guidance issued by the government in April 2020 (and since withdrawn) telling front-line staff what they should do to cope with "acute shortages" of PPE.
Mr Hancock was asked whether failing to test people who were discharged from hospital into care homes early in the first wave, had contributed to the spread of coronavirus there.
The 1.6% figure comes from a recently published Public Health England report.
However, this estimate comes with some major caveats. It is based on positive tests of care home residents but we know that, early on in the pandemic, testing in these settings was limited.
So, the analysis misses people who spread the virus but hadn't been tested because they didn't show symptoms, or because there weren't enough tests available.
It also misses outbreaks triggered when someone passed it on to a care worker who then did a shift in another home and took the virus there.
As Mr Hancock explained, discharges may not have been the main source of care home spread.
There were far fewer hospital discharges going into care homes each day than there were staff or visitors, each of whom could have brought in the virus.
But Science and Technology Committee chairman Greg Clark told Mr Hancock it is a "stretch of the imagination" to say that the figure is as low as 1.6%, when the data can't properly spot all the seeding events.
Mr Hancock was replying to a question about why the government hadn't introduced the lockdown before 23 March 2020.
At a government press conference on 9 March 2020, England's Chief Medical Officer Prof Chris Whitty said: "There is a risk if we go too early people will understandably get fatigued and it will be difficult to sustain this over time."
But a report from the government's behavioural science advisers, SPI-B on 12 March – entitled 'insights on public gatherings' – suggests they thought people would accept restrictions.
It notes: "Expectations of how the Government will react will be set by media reports of public health strategies in other countries. This increases the risk of public concern if interventions that are perceived to be effective are not applied".
In a section on social distancing, the report says: "there may be concerns about the sustainability of adherence for difficult behaviours such as entering isolation".
Prof Stephen Reicher, who sits on SPI-B, disputes Mr Hancock's lockdown claim, saying "it was certainly not the behavioural science advice".
He has pointed to an open letter from behavioural scientists at the time questioning the evidence for "behavioural fatigue".
image copyrightEPA
In February 2020, the WHO advised that: "Travel bans to affected areas or denial of entry to passengers coming from affected areas are usually not effective in preventing the importation of cases, but may have a significant economic and social impact."
This was a recommendation – so non-binding – rather than part of the international health regulations. And a number of countries chose not to follow it.
Australia, New Zealand and India almost entirely closed their borders – and it has been noted that they were comparatively well protected during the first wave of Covid. Other countries brought in much more stringent restrictions than the UK, banning entry to all but their citizens or residents, including Singapore, Vietnam, Israel, the Philippines, Taiwan and Argentina.
Between January and March 2020, the UK introduced some measures including imposing quarantine on 273 people travelling from Wuhan in China.
Others from "high-risk countries" including China, Iran and northern Italy were asked to voluntarily isolate for 14 days (though the self-isolation requirements were withdrawn on 13 March).
One study found the virus was introduced to the UK "well over 1,000 times in early 2020", with a third of transmission chains brought in from Spain, followed by 29% from France, neither of which faced any restrictions. China accounted for just 0.4% of imported cases.
The UK strengthened its border policy earlier this year.
Mr Hancock's claim was interrupted by the former health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, who said that South Korea had not had a lockdown.
It's true that South Korea did not implement a national lockdown, but managed to control transmissions by rapidly developing a "test, trace and treat" system.
From 20 February 2020, all symptomatic people were tested, as well as their close contacts (regardless of whether or not they had symptoms).
Mass testing was also used in high-risk facilities such as hospitals and care homes, from mid-March. All confirmed cases were either isolated in a hospital, at home, or in a residential treatment centre.
South Korea implemented some lockdown measures including moving schools to remote learning in late February 2020 (they gradually reopened in May) and, in a region with a high rate of infections, asking people to refrain from leaving their homes for at least two weeks.
South Korea has had a much lower death rate than the UK – 39 confirmed deaths per one million people compared with 1,887 in the UK, according to Our World in Data.
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Sì may refer to:

 Sì (dessert), a traditional Chinese dessert
 Sì (operetta), a 1919 operetta in three acts composed by Pietro Mascagni
 Sì (album), by Andrea Bocelli (2018)
 "Sì" (Gigliola Cinquetti song), the Italian entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 1974
 "Sì", a 1985 single by Carmen Russo
 Si (surname) (姒), a Chinese surname

See also
 Si (disambiguation)
 Sí (Julieta Venegas album), a 2003 album by Julieta Venegas

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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OpinionCOLUMN DU JOUR
Why Republicans caved on debt ceiling
Chris Cillizza: 'Picking a spending fight with the Senate is a sound choice'
(WASHINGTON POST)
By Chris Cillizza
Days after President Obama held a press conference re-asserting his refusal to negotiate with Republicans on raising the debt ceiling, House GOP leaders announced Friday they would move to extend the country's credit limit for another three months.
Democrats quickly declared victory, insisting that Obama's hardline stance had cowed a divided GOP into a concession that just a few weeks ago they insisted they would not make.
But in conversations this afternoon with the Fix, Republican party strategists insisted that pushing the debt ceiling fight back to mid-April was a strategic gambit designed to maximize their leverage on several major budgetary fights between now and then.
"Republicans have to do a better job of picking our fights," said one prominent Republican consultant. "So, we need more concern about the impact of Obama's reckless spending before we fight with a guy who controls the bully pulpit."
As one senior House Republican aide explained it, putting the debt ceiling after the sequester the series of automatic, across the board cuts that will kick in unless Congress acts to cut spending on its own and insisting that the Senate produce a budget before April 15 or not be paid shifts the terms of the debate in a favorable way for Republicans.
"In the fiscal cliff fight, the president had greater leverage because current law was on his side," said the aide, noting that if nothing was done on the cliff taxes would have gone up on all Americans. By contrast, the aide added, "in the sequestration fight, we have greater leverage because current law is on our side" — meaning that if Congress fails to act the automatic spending cuts kick in.
It's an interesting — and smart — gambit by House Republicans who have done very little interesting or smart in terms of political strategy of late.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


A local car dealer is turning over the keys to a 2018 Subaru Outback to Metro Meals on Wheels today, and it will help the group serve 600 more meals each month. Score!
The donation is in celebration of Subaru of America, Inc.'s 50th anniversary, and to mark the moment they're donating 50 vehicles to select Meals on Wheels programs across the country. Boise's Larry H. Miller Subaru will handle the local donation at 10:30am today.
Metro Meals on Wheels says the donation will help them serve 20 additional seniors, with 600 more meals each month. And it will also increase service in that area from one day a week to three days a week. They're already serving 900-plus senior citizens in Boise and throughout Ada County each weekday, and over 700 every weekend. That takes a lot of volunteers!
Meals on Wheels is constantly cooking, wrapping, and delivering. If you want to volunteer, you can apply at MetroMealsonWheels.net . Some volunteers work one or two lunch hours per week, and others work more. They'll work it around your schedule.
And you might be driving those meals around in a brand new Subaru.


text:
Great Tyranny, Lay Thou Thy Basis Sure
Just what does gold toilet man need a Scottish golf course for?
This time period coincided with a major spending spree by the Trump Organisation. Indeed, in November 2008, as a global recession hit, the then Trump Organisation executive vice-president, George Sorial, told The Scotsman that Mr Trump had £1bn "sitting in the bank and ready to go" to finance his course in Aberdeenshire.
But The Scotsman later revealed that a month beforehand, Mr Trump wrote personally to a Bank of Scotland executive, asking the institution for a 15-year £23m mortgage and a construction loan of £15m in order to buy Hamilton Hall in St Andrews and turn it into a hotel. The bank refused, and the deal never came off, though that scarcely matters. What is important is Mr Trump repeatedly pursued external financing, despite the claims Mr Sorial would go on to make.


Pages: pp. xvii + 806, Illus.
The Title "APLS The Pediatric Emergency Medicine Resource 4th Edition" is written by Susan Fuchs. This book was published in the year 2005. The ISBN number 0763733164|9780763733162 is assigned to the Hardback version of this title. The book displayed here is a 4th Edition edition. This book has total of pp. 806 (Pages). The publisher of this title is Jones & Bartlett Publishers, Incorporated. APLS The Pediatric Emergency Medicine Resource 4th Edition is currently Available with us.


text:
Hero ISL 2018/19: Tim Cahill promises to put smiles on fans' faces ahead of debut with Jamshedpur FC
Jamshedpur FC kick off their Hero Indian Super League (ISL) campaign against Mumbai City FC at the Mumbai Football Arena on October 2 and the Everton legend could be all set to make his ISL bow
By Akhil Gangan
Tim Cahill is a name synonymous with aficionados of the Premier League, given his illustrious eight-year-long stint at Everton.
The Australian forward has since played in a variety of leagues including the Major League Soccer (MLS) in USA, Chinese Super League (CSL) in China, the A-League (Australia) and now is set to dazzle in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL).
"I have travelled and played world over, but truly it was amazing to experience the welcome in Jamshedpur. The drums, culture, people of the city… for me it gave great motivation and I am very proud to be here in the Indian Super League and to be part of the city of Jamshedpur," Tim revealed during the ISL Media Day in Kolkata.
"Jamshedpur has no distraction unlike we see in the bigger cities. No traffic blockage, we have great training facilities, apartments, gym, swimming pool everything is available within the complex… so yah, its good for the players."
When asked about his role in Jamshedpur FC, the star said, "For me and for a player like Subrata Paul who has the international experience, we would want to help the youngsters in the team. We have three players, Gaurav Mukhi, Mobashir Rahman and Vishal Das who graduated from the Tata Football Academy and have been promoted from the reserve side this season to the first team. I especially have taken these three youngsters under my wing. I have been watching their diet, gym, training, sleeping hours, everything to make them better players."
Also Read: Young Indian Players Have Improved: Kerala Blasters FC Head Coach David James
"We all are equal in the team. Leadership is about respect, it's about making everyone equal in the team. We focus heavily on discipline and respect. We focus on good work ethics and to help each other. With these ingredients, my experience, the coaching staff and also with Subrata Paul – we bring this together because we need to help grow Indian football, our local talent and do more in the community. This is the most important thing. We will be putting smiles on our fans faces."
Tim admitted that he rejected offers from various clubs from other parts of Asia before deciding to come to India.
"During and after the 2018 World Cup, I was approached by many agents. I had offers from the Middle East and Asian teams. But for me,the biggest thing was to understand the team and the league," said the all-time top-scorer of the Australian national team.
Tim CahillHero ISLIndian Super LeagueMLSPremier LeagueJamshedpur FCFootball
Young Indian Players Have Improved: Kerala Blasters FC head coach David James
Mumbai City FC end their pre-season campaign with a 2-3 win over Bangkok United FC
Mumbai City FC captain Lucian Goian signs off after three years at the club
Indian football team captain Sunil Chhetri beats Lionel Messi to become the second highest international goal scorer
Rustomjee-MDFA League 2019/20: KSA Ambitious score narrow win
Rustomjee-MDFA League 2019/20: Gaurav twin strikes in Millat Colts victory


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Effects of national ecological restoration projects on carbon sequestration in China from 2001 to 2010
Fei Lu, Huifeng Hu, Wenjuan Sun, Jiaojun Zhu, Guobin Liu, Wangming Zhou, Quanfa Zhang, Peili Shi, Xiuping Liu, Xing Wu, Lu Zhang, Xiaohua Wei, Limin Dai, Kerong Zhang, Yirong Sun, Sha Xue, Wanjun Zhang, Dingpeng Xiong, Lei Deng, Bojie Liu, Li Zhou, Chao Zhang, View ORCID ProfileXiao Zheng, Jiansheng Cao, Yao Huang, View ORCID ProfileNianpeng He, Guoyi Zhou, Yongfei Bai, Zongqiang Xie, View ORCID ProfileZhiyao Tang, Bingfang Wu, Jingyun Fang, Guohua Liu, and Guirui Yu
PNAS April 17, 2018 115 (16) 4039-4044; first published April 16, 2018 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1700294115
Fei Lu
aState Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100085 China;
Huifeng Hu
bState Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China;
Wenjuan Sun
Jiaojun Zhu
cQingyuan Forest Chinese Ecosystem Research Network, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China;dInstitute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China;
Guobin Liu
eState Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China;
Wangming Zhou
dInstitute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China;
Quanfa Zhang
fKey Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430074, China;
Peili Shi
gKey Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China;
Xiuping Liu
hCenter for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050021, China;
Xing Wu
Lu Zhang
Xiaohua Wei
iUniversity of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus, Kelowna, BC, Canada V1V 1V7;
Limin Dai
Kerong Zhang
Yirong Sun
Sha Xue
Wanjun Zhang
Dingpeng Xiong
Lei Deng
Bojie Liu
Chao Zhang
Xiao Zheng
ORCID record for Xiao Zheng
Jiansheng Cao
Yao Huang
Nianpeng He
ORCID record for Nianpeng He
Guoyi Zhou
jSouth China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China;
Yongfei Bai
Zongqiang Xie
Zhiyao Tang
kDepartment of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China;
ORCID record for Zhiyao Tang
Bingfang Wu
lInstitute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100094, China;
Jingyun Fang
bState Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China;kDepartment of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China;
Guohua Liu
aState Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100085 China;mCollege of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;nJoint Center for Global Change Studies, Beijing 100875, China
For correspondence: ghliu@rcees.ac.cn yugr@igsnrr.ac.cn
Guirui Yu
gKey Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China;mCollege of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;
Edited by F. Stuart Chapin III, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, and approved December 1, 2017 (received for review February 14, 2017)
China has launched six key ecological restoration projects since the late 1970s, but the contribution of these projects to terrestrial C sequestration remains unknown. In this study we examined the ecosystem C sink in the project area (∼16% of the country's land area) and evaluated the project-induced C sequestration. The total annual C sink in the project area between 2001 and 2010 was estimated to be 132 Tg C per y, over half of which (74 Tg C per y, 56%) was caused by the implementation of the six projects. This finding indicates that the implementation of the ecological restoration projects in China has significantly increased ecosystem C sequestration across the country.
The long-term stressful utilization of forests and grasslands has led to ecosystem degradation and C loss. Since the late 1970s China has launched six key national ecological restoration projects to protect its environment and restore degraded ecosystems. Here, we conducted a large-scale field investigation and a literature survey of biomass and soil C in China's forest, shrubland, and grassland ecosystems across the regions where the six projects were implemented (∼16% of the country's land area). We investigated the changes in the C stocks of these ecosystems to evaluate the contributions of the projects to the country's C sink between 2001 and 2010. Over this decade, we estimated that the total annual C sink in the project region was 132 Tg C per y (1 Tg = 1012 g), over half of which (74 Tg C per y, 56%) was attributed to the implementation of the projects. Our results demonstrate that these restoration projects have substantially contributed to CO2 mitigation in China.
ecological restoration
national ecological project
Terrestrial ecosystems play a critical role in the global C cycle and climate change mitigation. The annual net C uptake by global terrestrial ecosystems ranges from 2.0 to 3.4 Pg C (1 Pg = 1015 g) (1). Previous studies have suggested that the increased C stock in Asian terrestrial ecosystems can primarily be attributed to considerable afforestation and reforestation (2, 3), especially that implemented under China's national ecological restoration projects (4). For instance, due to the implementation of large-scale afforestation and reforestation practices beginning since the late 1970s, China's forest biomass C stock has increased by 40% between the 1970s and the 2000s (3). According to the recent predictions (5, 6), the forest biomass C stock could further increase to 9.97–13.09 Pg C by 2050, with a net C sequestration rate of 84–154 Tg C/y (1 Tg = 1012 g). However, due to rapid population growth and high demands for food and energy, the long-term stressful utilization of forests and grasslands has led to large-scale ecosystem degradation in China (7), resulting in considerable loss of biomass and soil C stocks (8, 9). The restoration of these degraded ecosystems is expected to improve C accumulation.
Since the late 1970s China has launched six national key restoration projects across the country to protect its environment and restore the degraded ecosystems (Fig. 1 and SI Appendix, A). The first project was the Three-North Shelter Forest Program (abbreviated as "North Shelter Forest"), which was initiated in the late 1970s. The project is known as the "Green Great Wall" because its massive area spans half of northern China. The fourth term of this project started in 2001 and ended in 2010. The next project was the Yangtze River and Zhujiang River Shelter Forest Projects (abbreviated as "River Shelter Forest"), launched in 1989 across the southern parts of China with the aim of battling floods and reducing soil erosion. The second term of this project also began in 2001 and ended in 2010. The Natural Forest Protection Project (abbreviated as "Forest Protection") was subsequently initiated in 1998 and has shown numerous benefits, including biodiversity conservation, reduction of soil erosion and flood risk, and prevention of other natural disasters associated with deforestation. The Grain for Green Program (abbreviated as "GGP," also known as China's Sloping Lands Conversion Project) was initiated in 2000 and has advanced the conversion of croplands in hilly areas to forests. GGP is regarded as the world's largest ecological restoration program in terms of scale and investment and is a typical example of ecological compensation (10). The Beijing–Tianjin Sand Source Control Project (abbreviated as "Sand Control") was initiated in 2001 to promote environmental conservation near the capital of China (Beijing) by controlling the risk of wind–sand and soil erosion disasters. The last project, known as the Returning Grazing Land to Grassland Project (abbreviated as "Grassland Conservation"), was launched in 2003 to reduce the impacts of overgrazing and promote grassland productivity. These projects together cover 44.8% of China's forests (refs. 11 and 12 and Table 1) and 23.2% of China's grasslands (ref. 13 and Table 1).
Location of six key ecological restoration projects in China. The figure shows the location of the Three-North Shelter Forest Program fourth phase (North Shelter Forest fourth), Yangtze River Shelter Forest Project and Zhujiang River Shelter Forest Project second phase (River Shelter Forest second), Natural Forest Protection Project (Forest Protection), GGP, Beijing and Tianjin Sand Source Control Project (Sand Control), and Returning Grazing Land to Grassland Project (Grassland Conservation).
Areas and ecosystem C densities (area weighted mean ± SD) at the beginning (PR-B) and in the year 2010 (PR-2010) and the reference sites (RS-2010) for six key ecological restoration projects in China
Recent studies have indicated that the implementation of the national ecological restoration projects has improved ecosystem services, such as soil erosion control (14), water retention (4), flood mitigation (4), and biodiversity conservation (15). Additionally, a series of management practices employed under the framework of these ecological restoration projects, including afforestation, reforestation (Shelter Forests, Forest Protection, and Sand Control), forest enclosure and tending (Forest Protection and Sand Control), transforming cropland to forest (GGP), reducing the timber harvest (Forest Protection), and fencing in grasslands (Grassland Conservation), can increase the forest area, prevent C loss from vegetation and soil, and subsequently enhance C stocks and C sinks (16, 17). However, the vital total C sequestration benefit arising from the six key restoration projects has not yet been systematically evaluated, although the C sequestration achieved in some individual projects has been investigated (4, 18).
In this study we investigated C stocks and their changes across the areas where the six projects have been implemented (referred to as the "project region" hereafter) based on a nationwide field investigation of the C stocks of China's terrestrial ecosystems, along with a detailed literature survey. First, we quantified the net ecosystem C accumulation for each project region by comparing the change in C stocks between the initial year of the project (or certain phase) and 2010. Second, we estimated each project-induced C contribution to total ecosystem C sequestration mainly by comparing the change in ecosystem C stocks between the project region and the reference area (i.e., the area where the project was not implemented).
Ecosystem C Sinks in the Project Regions.
In the first decade of the 21st century (13 y for Forest Protection, 11 y for GGP, 8 y for Grassland Conservation, and 10 y for all other projects), the ecosystem C density greatly increased in all project regions (Table 1). During this decade, the grassland biomass C density increased by 1.1 Mg C per ha in the Grassland Conservation region, and the forest biomass C density increased by 6.6–22.0 Mg C per ha in the other five project regions (Table 1). The soil C density increased by 9.7 Mg C per ha in the GGP region, followed by 5.6 Mg C per ha in the Forest Protection region, and by 1.0–3.2 Mg C per ha in the other four project regions (Table 1). Altogether, the ecosystem C density increased by 2.1–29.4 Mg C per ha across the different project regions, with the largest increment occurring in the GGP region and the smallest in the Grassland Conservation region (Table 1).
In total, the decadal C sink in the six project regions was estimated as 1,519 Tg C, of which 919.3 Tg C (60.5%) was stored in vegetation biomass and 599.5 Tg C (39.5%) in soils (Table 2). Among the six projects, 889.1 Tg C (or 58.5%) of the total C sink was due to Forest Protection, followed by GGP (270.8 Tg C, or 17.8%), and North Shelter Forest fourth phase (124.3 Tg C, or 8.2%) (Table 2). During the study period, the total annual ecosystem C sequestration rate was estimated to be 132 Tg C/y within the project area, with a relatively higher C sequestration capacity observed in the regions of Forest Protection (68.4 Tg C/y), GGP (24.6 Tg C/y) and Grassland Conservation (15.5 Tg C per y), partly because of the large areas of these projects (Tables 1 and 2). The Forest Protection, GGP, North Shelter Forest fourth phase, River Forest second phase and the Sand Control regions, which cover 44.8% of China's forest area, experienced a biomass C stock increase of 855.5 Tg C with an annual mean biomass C sink of 72.8 Tg (Table 2), which accounted for 63.4–71.2% of the national forest biomass C sink during this period (1, 19). Additionally, these five projects have also enhanced soil C storage (Table 2). Increasing soil C stock in the Forest Protection region from 1998 to 2010 suggested the important role of China's old-growth forests in the soil C accumulation (20).
Decadal and annual ecosystem and project-induced C sinks (mean ± SD) in the project regions
However, there was considerable spatial variability in ecosystem C sinks across the project regions. As key regions for the implementation of China's ecological restoration projects, occupying 25%, 12%, 31%, and 27% of the projects' total area, north (307.2 Tg C, or 20.2% of the national total), northeast (328.1 Tg C, or 21.6%), northwest (323.2 Tg C, or 21.3%) and southwest China (463.9 Tg C, or 30.5%), respectively, together represented 93.7% of the total ecosystem C sink (Fig. 2 and SI Appendix, B). South (65.0 Tg C, or 4.3%) and east China (31.4 Tg C, or 2.1%) together represented the other 6.3% of the total ecosystem C sink, differing from the findings of previous studies (6, 21). These differences may be attributed to the relatively small project area, long history of intensive agricultural development and high economic cost associated with these projects. First, although three of the six restoration projects (i.e., Forest Protection, GGP and River Shelter Forest second phase) were implemented in these two regions (Fig. 2 and SI Appendix, B), the project areas only accounted for 5% of the total project area and only covered 10% of the forests in these regions (12, 13). Second, despite only occupying 18.4% of the total national land area, these two regions currently feed 57.6% of China's population and provide 62% of the national GDP (22). Therefore, the higher population density in these regions increases the land demand for agriculture and housing construction and results in higher economic costs for the local implementation of large-scale ecological restoration projects (23).
Decadal ecosystem and project-induced C sinks in six geographical regions of China (north China, northeast China, northwest China, east China, south China, and southwest China). Detailed information is also provided in SI Appendix, B.
On average, the overall area-weighted annual C sink for all six projects was 0.86 Mg C per ha per y, with a rate above 1.5 Mg C per ha per y for the River Shelter second phase, GGP, North Shelter Forest fourth phase, and Sand Control, 0.94 Mg C per ha per y for the Forest Protection, and 0.26 Mg C per ha per y for the Grassland Conservation (Table 1). For grasslands, the C sequestration rate in the project area was much higher than the national average (∼0.04 Mg C per ha per y, ref. 20), partly due to the influence of human management on grassland C cycling (24). For example, medium- and long-term experimental studies have suggested that fencing management can increase the C sink of grasslands by 0.16∼0.47 Mg C per ha per y (25).
Project-Induced Contribution to C Sequestration.
All six restoration projects have made positive contributions to the C sequestration at the decadal scale (Table 2). During the study period, the project-induced contribution to C sequestration was 770.4 Tg C, with an annual sink of 74 Tg C, representing over half of the total ecosystem C sink for all six project regions and demonstrating the significant success of the restoration projects regarding C sequestration. Among the six projects, GGP made the largest contribution in terms of project-induced C sequestration, with 198.5 Tg C, accounting for 25.8% of the total project-induced C sink, followed by Forest Protection (181.7 Tg C, or 23.6%), North Shelter Forest fourth phase (119.7 Tg C, or 15.5%), and Grassland Conservation (117.8 Tg C, or 15.3%) (Table 2). These substantial project-induced C contributions were primarily attributed to the large areas of these projects (Table 1) and the considerable reduction in soil erosion resulting from afforestation (26). Other optimal management strategies, such as afforestation, timber harvest reduction, and soil erosion control under the framework of the projects, could also contribute to this C sequestration, as pointed out in previous studies (18). For example, concerning the total C sink induced by the Forest Protection, 138.5, 31.7, and 11.4 Tg C was due to new plantings, biomass C retention resulting from timber reduction policy, and soil C retention from soil erosion control, respectively (Table 2). In addition, although the projects of the Sand Control and River Shelter Forest second phase accounted for only 2.2% and 1.5% of the total project area, they contributed 69.7 (9.1%) and 83.0 Tg (10.8%) of the total project-induced C sequestration, respectively (Table 2).
The project-induced C sequestration also showed a great deal of spatial heterogeneity. More than 84% of the project-induced C sequestration occurred in north (248.4 Tg C, or 32.2%), northeast (97.7 Tg C, or 12.7%), northwest (185.2 Tg C, or 24.0%), and southwest China (118.3 Tg C, or 15.4%) (Fig. 2 and SI Appendix, B). Because of the relatively small project areas, the project-induced C contributions of south (56.0 Tg C, or 7.3%) and east China (64.9 Tg C, or 8.4%) were relatively small. Similarly, the proportion of the project-induced C contribution to the overall decadal ecosystem C sink differed significantly among the six project regions. In east China, the project-induced C sequestration was over two times the overall ecosystem C sequestration within the project area (Fig. 2 and SI Appendix, B), indicating that this region would act as a C source if without the implementation of key restoration projects. In addition, the project-induced C sequestration in north and south China accounted for nearly 80% of the overall decadal ecosystem C sink across these two regions (Fig. 2 and SI Appendix, B). In contrast, the project-induced C sequestration in northeast, northwest, and southwest China contributed less than 40% of the overall ecosystem C sink; these areas are relatively less affected by human disturbance and exhibit higher rates of the C sequestration.
Our findings show that the implementation of national restoration projects is the foremost factor leading to an increase of C stocks in the project regions, especially in east, north, and south China. The continued support of these projects is crucial for achieving national mitigation targets.
However, attention should be paid to the cost and possible leakage of project-induced C sequestration. To achieve the expected ecological and social benefits there will be technical, economic, and political costs. For example, the average cost of sequestering 1 ton of CO2 is $21.2 (SI Appendix, C), which is lower than the cost of most officially recommended industrial energy saving and emission reduction approaches in China. However, the most recent research has suggested that GHG leakage, or so-called carbon costs, may only offset up to 20% of the C sequestration (27), which is a relatively low percentage compared with mitigation measures reported in the agricultural sector (28).
Implications.
In the Paris Agreement in 2015 China promised that by 2030 it would cap CO2 emissions and increase forest volume by ∼4.5 billion m3 relative to 2005 levels. Therefore, China is positioned to make significant contributions to REDD-plus (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries) through its ecological restoration projects (29, 30) and sustainable forest managements (31). The annual ecosystem C sink for all six project regions was 132 Tg C per y, which is equivalent to 50–70% of the national total annual sink from all major terrestrial ecosystems in China and could offset 9.4% of China's annual C emissions from fuel combustion during the 2000s, according to the International Energy Agency Statistics for China from 2001 to 2010 (32). Notably, most of the forests in the project regions are young and show significant potential to contribute future C sequestration (5, 33), except for the Natural Forest project, which protects a major portion of China's natural mature forests. For example, in the regions of the other four forest projects (North Shelter Forest fourth phase, River Shelter Forest second phase, GGP, and Sand Control), which began in 2000–2001, the newly planted forests were less than 10 y old in 2010. Therefore, it will be expected that the forests associated with these projects could account for significant C accumulation in the future (31). Additionally, the storage of massive amounts of C in mature forests will also contribute to the global C balance, although the C sink may gradually decrease and reach a C saturation state as the forests grow (20). However, this considerable C sequestration potential could also be regarded as an approach for buying time before C saturation occurs. Finally, our study indicates that the implementation of national ecological restoration projects could be a quantitatively important component of national climate change mitigation strategies in China and thus should be continually paid a great attention.
Data Sources for Estimating the C Sink.
For estimating the C sink in an ecosystem in a given project area, data on the different land-cover and vegetation types and soil C density in the region from the beginning of the project and 2010 were used. The areas of different land-cover types (i.e., ALei and ALsi) were obtained from Wu et al. (34, data from 2000 and 2010) according to the reported land-cover classification (35). A dataset of C density in the ecosystems in the national ecological project regions and the reference sites was built mainly based on data presented by Tang et al. (36) by the 67 technical groups of the Ecosystem Carbon Sequestration Program. The six technical groups of the National Key Ecological Project Carbon Sequestration also provided data from other sites in typical project regions and from paired sampling in reference regions. The dataset included the spatial position of the plot, vegetation type, vegetation biomass and related C content, soil organic C content, and bulk density in various layers, to a depth of 100 cm. Biomass and soil C density values for 2010 (i.e., CDVei and CDSei, respectively) came from the field surveys and laboratory analyses performed in the present study [as reported by Tang et al. (36), 10,033 groups of data, see SI Appendix, D], from a field survey conducted using the same methods and criteria by Tang et al. (36), and from the most recent peer-reviewed reports (564 groups of data, see SI Appendix, D). Biomass and soil C density values recorded close to 2000 (i.e., CDVsi and CDSsi, respectively) were acquired from surveys of the published literature and peer-reviewed papers (1,653 groups of data, SI Appendix, D) as well as the National Forest Inventory and Soil database (for Forest Protection and River Shelter Forest). The sources for the C density data are described in detail in SI Appendix, D.
Data Sources for Assessing Contribution of the Projects to C Sequestration.
For the North Shelter Forest, River Shelter Forest, Grassland Conservation, and Sand Control projects, we investigated the enhancement of the C sink resulting from human management strategies and efforts, mainly by comparing the ecosystem C stocks between the project regions and reference regions where ecological stewardship projects were not conducted in 2010. In addition to the above-mentioned data for 2010, the biomass and soil C density values (CDBbe and CDSbe, respectively) of forests, shrublands, and grasslands were also taken from Tang et al. (36) (6,996 groups of data, SI Appendix, D), and additional field sampling was conducted using the same criteria employed by Tang et al. (36), producing 292 groups of data (see SI Appendix). AL values were obtained from Wu et al. (34) and from Landsat TM imagery (SI Appendix, D) and the China Forest Statistical Yearbook (37). For Forest Protection, the data for newly planted forests (ANFik) and the harvested volume reduction (RHVkl) were obtained from the China Forest Statistical Yearbook (37). CDVik was estimated based on the Forest Inventory of China (20, 38); the average annual rate of increase in soil retention was obtained from Ouyang et al. (4); and the topsoil organic C content (SOC0–30 cm) was obtained from the soil database of Shangguan et al. (39).
Estimation of Ecosystem C Sinks in the Project Regions.
The decadal C sink is the change in the C stock from project onset to termination in the regions of the key restoration projects. Estimation of the decadal C sink was first conducted at the province scale, and the results were then summed at regional and national scales. The C sink was derived from Eq. 1:C sink=CPe−CPs,[1]
where CPe is the total C stock in the project region in 2010 and CPs is the C stock at the start of the project. CPe and CPs were estimated based on different land cover types (AL) and areas, along with the average biomass and soil C density (CDB and CDS) of each land cover type, using Eqs. 2 and 3:CPe=∑((CDBeik+CDSeik)*ALeik)[2]CPs=∑((CDBsik+CDSsik)*ALsik),[3]
where ALei and ALsi are the areas of land cover i in the project region in 2010 and at the start of the project in province k, respectively; CDBeik and CDBsik are the average biomass C density values for land cover i in the project region in province k in the year 2010 and at the start of the project, respectively; and CDSeik and CDSsik are the average soil (0- to 100-cm layer) C density values for land cover i in the project region in province k in 2010 and at the start of the project, respectively.
During the project, the annual C sink (ASC) of each national key ecological restoration project was calculated using Eq. 4:ASCj=Carbon sinkj/tj,[4]
where ASCj is the annual C sink in the region of ecological restoration project j, and tj is the duration (in years) of project j. The value of t was 10 for the North Shelter Forest fourth phase, River Shelter Forest second phase, and Sand Control; 13 for Forest Protection; 11 for GGP; and 8 for Grassland Conservation (Table 1).
Estimation of the Contribution of Project Implementation to C Sequestration.
Estimation of the project contributions of North and River Shelter Forests, Grassland Conservation, and Sand Control.
If the ecological restoration projects were not implemented, ecosystem management and utilization practices would have continued as they were before the programs were designed and put into use. However, the previous management practices were quite different from those of the restoration programs, and notable differences would have been apparent during the first decade of the 21st century. For example, the North Shelter Forest and River Shelter Forest regions would exhibit substantially fewer forests and would be maintained as shrubland or grassland. Therefore, under these scenarios, the C stocks and flows in the project region ecosystems would clearly differ from their statuses under the restoration projects. The difference in C stocks between scenarios with and without ecological restoration project implementation (i.e., baseline or project scenarios) can be attributed to these projects. In this study, this difference is defined as the project contribution to C sequestration. This value was calculated using Eq. 5:Project contribution=C sinkp−C sinkb,[5]
where C sinkp is the increase in the C stock in the project region based on the project scenario, which can also be calculated using the C sink with Eq. 6. C sinkb is the baseline increase in the C stock in the same project region (i.e., without the implementation of the national key ecological restoration projects). Based on Eq. 1, C sinkb was calculated with Eq. 7:Carbon sinkp=CPe−CPs[6]Carbon sinkb=CPbe−CPbs,[7]
where CPbe is the total C stock in 2010 in the same region under the hypothetical baseline scenario (i.e., in the absence of the project scenario) and CPbs is the C stock at the project onset. Here, it was assumed that the C stock at the beginning of the restoration project and the C stock under the baseline scenario were equal (i.e., CPs = CPbs). Therefore, the project contribution was estimated using the following simplified Eq. 8:Project contribution=C sinkp−C sinkb=CPe−CPbe.[8]
Clearly, CPbe cannot be obtained via field investigations because it occurs under the hypothetical baseline scenario. Thus, we set the reference land-cover types to be consistent with the project targets, contents, and measures (Table 1 and SI Appendix, A). CPbe was estimated using Eq. 9:CPbe=∑(CDBbek+CDSbek)*ALik,[9]
where CDBbe and CDSbe are the average biomass and soil C density (Table 1), respectively, in province k under the baseline scenario (be) in the year 2010. ALik is the area of land cover i in the reference region in province k. For these two parameters, the C density values outside the project region were applied, but relatively high spatial similarities were present (adjacent to the project region and within the same province). Estimation was first conducted at the province scale, and the results were then summed at the regional and national scales.
Estimation of the project contributions of Forest Protection and GGP.
If the Forest Protection and GGP projects had not been not implemented (i.e., the baseline scenarios), the ecosystem would be in a different condition. For example, the natural forests would be further exploited, without planned reductions in harvest volumes, afforestation would be carried out in the project area, and soil erosion would continue to be serious. Furthermore, the GGP cropland in hilly areas would be maintained under cultivation, resulting in serious soil erosion. Due to difficulties in finding unprotected natural forests or hilly cropland adjacent to the project regions, the contributions of the Forest Protection and GGP projects were estimated as follows.
The project contribution of Forest Protection (Project contribution FP) included three parts: C storage in newly planted forest biomass (CPBN), biomass C retention (BCR) resulting from harvest volume reduction, and soil C retention (SCR) due to the reduction of soil erosion resulting from the project Eq. 10. Estimation was first conducted at the province scale, and the results were then summed at the regional and national scales:Project contributionFP=∑(CPBNk+BCRk+SCRk),[10]
where CPBNk, BCRk, and SCRk are the C storage in newly planted forest biomass, biomass C retention resulting from harvest volume reduction, and soil C retention due to the reduction of soil erosion in the Forest Protection project area in province k, respectively. The estimation of these contributions to C sequestration is shown in SI Appendix, E (formulas S1–S4).
The contribution of GGP also consisted of two components. One component was the increase in the biomass C stock because the reference scenario was croplands whose biomass C would be released into the atmosphere before the next crop was planted. The other component was SCR, due to the control of soil erosion attributed to GGP. Therefore, the contribution of GGP (Project contribution GGP) was obtained with Eq. 11. The estimation was first conducted at the province scale, and the results were then summed at the regional and national scales:Project contributionGGP=∑CDBei*ALC+∑SCRk,[11]
where CDBei is the average biomass C density of land cover i that was converted from cropland in the year 2010. The estimation method for SCR due to the reduction of soil erosion resulting from the GGP project is shown in SI Appendix, E (formula S5).
We thank Drs. Xia Zhao and Shuqing Zhao and Yafei Yuan for their constructive suggestions. This work was supported by Strategic Priority Programme of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Grants XDA05060000 and XDA05060700, National Major Research Program of China Grants 2016YFC0503403 and 2017YFA0604702, and the Youth Innovation Promotion Association, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
↵1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: ghliu{at}rcees.ac.cn or yugr{at}igsnrr.ac.cn.
Author contributions: F.L., H.H., W. Zhou, P.S., X. Wu, X. Wei, K.Z., S.X., W. Zhang, L. Deng, Y.H., and Guohua Liu designed research; F.L., H.H., J.Z., Guobin Liu, W. Zhou, Q.Z., P.S., X.L., L. Zhang, L. Dai, K.Z., Y.S., S.X., W. Zhang, D.X., L. Deng, B.L., L. Zhou, C.Z., X.Z., J.C., Z.X., Z.T., B.W., and G.Y. performed research; F.L. and D.X. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; F.L., W.S., J.Z., Guobin Liu, W. Zhou, Q.Z., X.L., L. Zhang, L. Dai, K.Z., Y.S., D.X., L. Deng, L. Zhou, C.Z., X.Z., J.C., N.H., G.Z., Y.B., and Guohua Liu analyzed data; and F.L., H.H., W.S., X. Wu, X. Wei, Y.H., N.H., G.Z., Y.B., J.F., Guohua Liu, and G.Y. wrote the paper.
This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.
This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1700294115/-/DCSupplemental.
Published under the PNAS license.
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You are going to email the following Effects of national ecological restoration projects on carbon sequestration in China from 2001 to 2010
Ecological restoration projects sequestered carbon
Fei Lu, Huifeng Hu, Wenjuan Sun, Jiaojun Zhu, Guobin Liu, Wangming Zhou, Quanfa Zhang, Peili Shi, Xiuping Liu, Xing Wu, Lu Zhang, Xiaohua Wei, Limin Dai, Kerong Zhang, Yirong Sun, Sha Xue, Wanjun Zhang, Dingpeng Xiong, Lei Deng, Bojie Liu, Li Zhou, Chao Zhang, Xiao Zheng, Jiansheng Cao, Yao Huang, Nianpeng He, Guoyi Zhou, Yongfei Bai, Zongqiang Xie, Zhiyao Tang, Bingfang Wu, Jingyun Fang, Guohua Liu, Guirui Yu
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Apr 2018, 115 (16) 4039-4044; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1700294115
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Cliff Trafzer (Wyandot)
Clifford E. Trafzer is professor of history at the University of California, Riverside, where he is also director of Graduate Studies. He holds the Rupert Costo Chair in American Indian Affairs and is on the board of the California Center for Native Nations. He has published several books, including Death Stalks the Yakama, Native Universe, and Renegade Tribe. He recently edited Native Americans/American Presidents for the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian.
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After American immigrants arrived in the Oregon Territory in the 1840s, representatives of the United States established policies for Indigenous peoples in northeastern Oregon. By that time, the government had honed its policies and protocols in dealing with Native people, which included treaties, war, removal, and concentration on reservations. In …
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The treaty council held at Waiilatpu (Place of the Rye Grass) in the Walla Walla Valley in May and June of 1855 forever changed the lives of Native Americans living in north-central and eastern Oregon. The fate of the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla Indians who lived in that part …


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Your ELi: Remembering an Extraordinary Council-Watcher
By Alice Dreger | October 8, 2020
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At Tuesday's City Council meeting, Mayor Aaron Stephens and Mayor Pro Tem Jessy Gregg took time to remember East Lansing resident John Kloswick, who died Monday afternoon due to complications from pancreatic cancer. John would have turned 77 this coming Saturday.
John was a native of Edwardsburg, Michigan, a rural community just over the border from South Bend, Indiana. He earned his bachelor's in English from the University of Notre Dame and thought about going into teaching but found that what is now called attention deficit disorder made that career choice too difficult.
Instead, he earned a master's degree in library science from Western Michigan University. He worked his entire career as a librarian for Michigan State University, at the main library. Raised in a conservative Catholic family and having become a steady political progressive and nonbeliever, the center of John's life was East Lansing.
I believe him to have been the only unaffiliated citizen who came to virtually every City Council meeting in the last six years. All the other regular characters were there for some kind of work: they were on City Council, or on the videography team, or on City staff, or on ELi's reporting team. John was there not because it was a job. He was there because it was his way of living an ethical life.
When I asked people who knew John for notes of encouragement when his cancer first landed him at Dobie Road, ELi Community Advisory Board (CAB) member Thasin Sardar wrote, "Kindly let John know that he will be in my thoughts and prayers, and his relentless service to the city is a source of inspiration for me and, for that, I owe him gratitude for any act of service I do, and will do in the future, for the city."
In his remarks, the mayor said something similar, noting that when he joined Council, "I wanted so much to have community input or just even eyes on the table when we were making decisions, but there was not many who could take the time. John was there. He was always there."
It was not surprising to me that when the nurses at Sparrow Hospital would ask John what day it was, he would figure it out relative to Tuesday – the day Council meets.
When I founded ELi's Community Advisory Board (CAB), John was the first person I asked to join. For years, he had been acting as a one-man CAB to the ELi government reporting staff, particularly me and Chris Root. John literally had our backs as we often sat in the front pew of the court room on Tuesday nights and he sat right behind us.
A meeting of ELi's Community Advisory Board in Feb. 2018.
From left, back row: Thasin Sardar, John Kloswick, Sam Hosey Jr., Mike Krueger, Ann Nichols, Margeurite Croft, Beth Scanlon, Alex Hosey. Front row: Chris Root, Alice Dreger, Barbara Ball McClure.
Before Jessy Gregg ran for Council, she was a government reporter for us, and she came to know John that way first. When I told her about John's terminal illness, she recalled about those Tuesday nights at City Hall together, "We would often meet in the hallway afterwards to compare impressions. These weren't long conversations but not infrequently he would call my attention to a significant detail that I had missed."
My experience was exactly the same – and in fact, I had the habit of asking John after every meeting, "Besides the obvious, what mattered tonight?" My reports frequently reflected his keen observations.
A newer Council member recently suggested in a meeting that some citizens need to approach Council with a better "tone" – with less suspicion and bitterness. When I heard this, I was reminded of something John wrote to me after the recent pair of Council resignations: "I have long noted our city council's success in socializing would-be reformers . . . into its own way of thinking."
It was that kind of smart, dry remark that made John such excellent company year after year, Council after Council. When I was left frustrated, bewildered, and even attacked by members of the government, John provided me a steady witness, a guiding hand, a true comfort.
It was my privilege to return that favor when he and his surviving sibling asked me to be his durable power of attorney and healthcare proxy as he faced the dual challenge of cancer and the pandemic.
As John's health worsened rapidly over the last two months, when he was in distress, I could often give him some comfort by reading to him from ELi or the City Pulse or by walking him verbally through the campus gardens and our city. We looked together at photographs he had taken over the years of the weeping cherries near the MSU library, and of the construction of the colorful parking structure downtown.
So many people helped me help John, and I am so grateful for that community generosity. When the pandemic hit and John was without a way to watch Council – he had always gone in person, and for internet access he always walked to a library – I tapped LightSpeed founder Jason Schreiber for help. Jason connected me with MetroNet's Tim Lebel, who not only brought an internet connection to John's apartment but gave him a computer and made sure it was set up properly.
When I needed help accessing John's apartment and collecting his mail, Colin Cronin of DTN connected me to the right staff. When I struggled to get the nursing aids at Dobie Road to hook up a radio I'd gotten John so he could listen to WKAR, a call to County Commissioner Mark Grebner quickly resulted in support.
My own staff took over work for me as I ended up spending John's last ten days at Sparrow Hospice with his very good friend Marillyn Owens and devoted sister Helen Kloswick. I am particularly grateful to Emily Joan Elliott, who seamlessly took over as Managing Editor for me as I became emotionally and physically spent by watching the cancer take him.
I kept thinking about whether I even wanted to go back to Council without him. It felt so much the end of an era of my life. In Mayor Pro Tem Jessy Gregg's words, "John was a steady presence at almost every meeting, quietly following the proceedings and providing the continuous observation that is sometimes needed to keep elected bodies accountable. When we are finally able to meet in person again as a Council, it will be shocking to look out into the public gallery without seeing him there."
Former mayor Mark Meadows recalled to me, "During my time on Council, I came to know John as a true gentleman and an avid citizen of our community. I would look for him in the audience every meeting and check on his expression after every vote. Sometimes an arched eyebrow would send a message! I knew there was trouble on the horizon if he shook his head."
A rare instance of public comment to Council from John came on May 7, 2019, after the City fired Troy Williams, who had blown the whistle on multiple health and environmental hazards at the City's wastewater treatment plant.
John told Council, "it is a disgrace that the reward for prodding our City to protect the health and safety of its employees by simply complying with the law could be the loss of one's job and even the loss of medical insurance that might help to ameliorate chronic conditions due to the City's misconduct."
John urged the Council "to pass a resolution thanking and commending Mr. Williams for his efforts to get our City to obey the law." He told the City Council that it would be more moral to pay people's medical expenses than to pay lawyers to challenge their rights, a reference to the City fighting nine workers who said they were harmed at the plant.
His words did not move that Council. But they certainly did move Troy and me.
Although he lived on a fixed retirement income that was not large, John was enormously generous towards nonprofit causes. He was among the top five donors to ELi, and I suspect he gave the highest percentage of income of any ELi donor.
I spent a lot of time at his bedside thinking about what moved him to do that. I ultimately concluded from our conversations that he understood it this way:
What local news does is unite and empower the people who believe that democracy is a moral act.
We need watchers to make democracy work. And we just lost a very fine one.
If you want to honor John's memory and what he did for this community, I know what he would say: Please, go vote. And then watch for yourself what those elected do.
About Alice Dreger
Alice Dreger is ELi's Publisher and Executive Director. She reports chiefly on city government for ELi and also serves as ELi's lead investigative reporter. Her national bylines include the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, WIRED Magazine, and The Atlantic. Click here to read more about our staff.
More by Alice
ELi Contributors Raise Over $132K for 2021 Reporting
By Alice Dreger | January 1, 2021
We bring you preliminary numbers on our 2021 Sustainability Campaign and tell you what some donors said as they helped last night!
Last Chance at a 2020 Tax Deduction for a Donation that Helps ELi Survive
By Alice Dreger | December 31, 2020
Here's an update as of 8:30 p.m. on New Year's Eve.
Fan of NPR's Peter Sagal? Well, We Have a Special ELi Campaign for You!
Hear Peter Sagal of "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!" explain why YOU should donate to keep ELi running! And, if you donate $50 to this special campaign, you'll get an autographed copy of Peter's memoir about running!
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Up in the mountains of northern Thailand is a beautiful little town called Pie. I'd been hearing about it for a long time and I finally made it here. This is a highlight of Thailand, so make it to Pie if you can, before it turns into something less than it is now, due to it's growing notoriety.
Dylan and I shared a bungalow across the river by the bamboo bridge surrounded by the scent of ever-blooming flowers. We spent most days at The Good Life cafe where Constantine prepared wheat grass shots and the most delicious tea with painstaking care. I've never met someone with such clear eyes and he's so enthusiastic about tea that you can't help but share in his passion. Stop by and say, "Hello" and tell him Dylan and Sonny send their best.
At night, we sat around campfires and met great people who've been lucky enough to find the time to spend here soaking up the relaxing vibes. And you can play music here. There's live music everywhere - the streets, the clubs, the cafes and along the river which runs through the middle of town.
We hung out with an amazing young jedi named David from Canada. If you get there soon, look him up before he heads off to Nepal. He'll play you a song and flash his glowing smile your way.


My friends and I recently attended Bushiroad's Spring Circuit tournament in White Plains, New York to play Weiss Schwarz. It's been a bit since then, but I meant to write about this at some point soon anyway, so it'll be nice.
I've wanted to write a post for weeks now. Please.
Blogging doesn't have to be a chore, a need-to-do, or something that should weigh on me or stress me out, but I think it's reasonable to want to keep up a decent posting schedule, too.


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Was the Passover Lamb Slaughtered at the Temple Before the Crucifixion of the Messiah?
Was the Passover lamb slaughtered at the Temple before the crucifixion of the Messiah took place?
The answer to this question is both yes and no. It should be kept in mind that there is a distinction between the first night of Passover and the first day of Passover. It is on the first night of Passover that all of the Jewish families eat the Passover meal, and Yeshua (Jesus) ate His last Passover meal on the first night of Passover. That is when He inaugurated the communion service. The next morning was the first day of Passover and at nine o'clock in the morning there was a special Passover sacrifice of which only the priesthood could eat. Yeshua was nailed to the cross on the first day of Passover at nine o'clock in the morning, which was the same time that the special Passover sacrifice was being offered up.
In the biblical practice, the lamb that was to be killed for the Passover was set aside on the tenth of the month of Nisan. It was then tested from the tenth day until the fourteenth day of that month to make sure that it was without spot and without blemish. On the fourteenth day the lamb was killed for the Passover meal. The next morning there was another lamb that was used as the Passover sacrifice for the nation of Israel. According to Exodus 12:46, the offering was slaughtered in a way that no bone of this lamb was to be broken.
Yeshua set Himself aside as the Passover Lamb. It occurred on the tenth day of the month, the same day that the physical animal was set aside. From the tenth day until the fourteenth day of the month, Yeshua was tested by the Pharisees, by the Sadducees, by the Scribes, and by the Herodians. By answering all of their objections and questions, He showed that He was without spot and without blemish. Yeshua ate the Seder meal on the first night of the Passover, the same night that all the Jewish people ate it, the fourteenth of Nisan. Yeshua died on the first day of Passover. He was crucified at nine o'clock in the morning and it was at nine o'clock in the morning that the special Passover sacrifice was offered in the Temple compound. Just as the Jews were very careful to make sure that not a single bone of the Passover lamb was broken, John 19:36 points out that not a single bone of Yeshua was broken either - not during the course of the crucifixion itself, nor by the Roman soldiers at the end of it all.


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Q: How To Find All Methods Returning Type in Javadoc? I am using a large and unfamiliar API and would like to find all the ways of obtaining a particular class or interface. Is there a way in Javadocs to find all the methods that return such a type? If not, what are some good ways? (I'm using IntelliJ.)

A: In the standard Javadoc layout, you cannot do that specifically.
However, you can find all usages of a particular class, provided you are on the javadoc page for that class: at the top of the page, you have a set of links; one of them is called Use (it's right next to Class). It will indeed list all the uses of that class, whether it be as a return value or as an argument.
In IDEA itself, if you have the cursor on the class you want, you can press Alt+F7, you'll have the option to search for the uses of a particular class in your project, or your project PLUS the libraries you depend upon.

A: If you are using IntelliJ, for finding a particular Class, you can use Ctrl+N to find any class you have in your project. To find all methods that return a type, I would go with Find Usages option, Alt+F7. You can refine your results afterward.
Additionally, if you have a lengthy class open in your editor, you can use Ctrl-F12 to open the File Structure view. Start typing the returning type you are looking for, you will get a shorter list of potential methods you want.

A: Other than javadoc, you can get the return type of all methods of a specific class by Reflection.

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