text:
Home — David — Research — Publications — Poems — Ideas — Travel — Peavine creek
Questions - Information - Navigating by temperature - Creeping flow - Gamete evolution
Here are some of the results of my research, especially the analyses that generated some interesting graphics. I have long been fascinated by the question of good design to conveigh the results of quantitative investigations. A general theme is information—what is it, how do organisms obtain it, and how do they use it.
Up to menu
Questions to study
Even as a child, I remember the question: what do animals know? Does that ant know were it's nest is, or is it following a trail wherever it goes?
The training in physics taught me to think about the simplest system that had the properties I was interested in studying.
In graduate school looking toward what I would do next, like a lot of other molecular biologists at the time (late 1960s), I took the view that the big mystery of heredity had been solved by DNA. The next big mystery was what are the mechanisms connecting genes to complex organisms, and especially how does the brain work. Molecular genetics had prospered by the use of appropriately simple model systems for study by genetic dissection—primarily bacteria and their viruses. So some molecular biologists naturally asked what is the best model system for studying developmental process and brain function, and a remarkable variety of choices were made:
Julius Adler—chemotaxis of the bacterium E. coli, a single cell with intelligent behavior.
Max Delbruck—the response of the fruiting body of a fungus to light.
Sydney Brenner—a, self-fertilizing roundworm with a tiny, fixed nervous system.
Seymour Benzer—the fruit fly with well-studied genetics and a small brain.
George Streisinger—zebra fish with transparent embryos for studying developmental mechanisms.
François Jacob—mice for studying developmental mechanisms.
Similarly, I followed the information questions. First, with rotifers and then with nematodes. However, I found the genetic dissection approach very time consuming for the understanding gained. Even though the nematode became the only animal in which the complete wiring of the nervous system was described, understanding how it worked was stymied by the small size that made it impossible to stick electrodes into the neurons to see what they were doing. (The whole nematode was smaller than the neurons studied with microelectrodes).
Gradually, my attention shifted from inside the animal to outside. What information was available in the environment? What part of this was obtained? How? What was done with it? Although ecologists had been using some physics (conservation of elements and energy), like biochemists, they had not focused on information.
Frustrated with spending so much time and effort on unfunded grant proposals, I started a book with the working title Information Ecology. In the end, it was published as Sensory Ecology.
Information. What is it?
Trying to be logical, I had to think about what information was, in order to determine the scope of the book, as my goal was to be comprehensive with regard to both the kinds of information and the kinds of organism (bacteria to whales and plants). I was surprised to find an absence of sensible definitions of this basic concept. Here is my view:
Defining Information
Inputs and outputs between an individual organism (center), its environment (left), and its population or species (right).
The individual organism exchanges information with two entities—the environment in which it lives and the population or species to which it belongs. From each of these entities, it exchanges two kinds of effects—physical causes and information. The distinguishing feature of information is that it has consequences only if the organism has an appropriate detector and a means of amplification. Consequently, information is easily ignored, while causes are not. Information has value to the recipient only because it is associated with some causal input. Although not logically necessary, usually the distinction between information and causal inputs is clear.
For example, consider a flower and a pollinating animal. The color and scent of the flower provide information because they have no consequences for the pollinator unless it has appropriate sensory systems, and even then their value depends on their association with other features: nectar and pollen, and these provide direct nutritional benefits. In contrast, the color and scent provide no direct benefit and are useful only because of their association with the nectar and pollen.
On the other hand, plants usually produce chemicals that are toxic to animals and discourage eating of the plants. These chemicals are causal, because they directly disrupt physiological functions important to the animal, which would ignore the chemicals if it were possible. A further complication is that some animals adapt to certain plants by evolving systems that detoxify the chemicals produced by that kind of plant. These animals may then seek out this kind of plant, and the chemical that is a toxic causal agent to most animals may become an agent of information to help the specialist herbivore find its appropriate food plant. (This situation occurs in many butterfly/caterpillar species.)
Temperature can solve the problem of navigating in the darkness of soil
In the 1980's, my research group at Georgia Tech started trying to identify chemicals that were used by the infective juveniles of root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne incognita) to find the roots of host plants, such as tomatoes. While investigating this question, we discovered that the nematodes were incredibly sensitive to small temperature differences; they seemed to be able to respond to differences of only 0.001 degree, and such small differences are almost always present in the environment. In addition, when placed in a controlled temperature gradient, they accumulated at a temperature several degrees higher than the temperature to which they had been acclimated for several hours previously. Why did they do this?
Eventually, we explained the behavior by understanding the complex distribution of temperature in soil within a few feet of the surface. Sunlight causes dailey fluctuations of temperature at the surface, and heat is conducted from high to low temperatures, smoothing out any differences. The net result, is that the distribution of temperature looks like a temperature wave propagating down into the soil but losing amplitude as it goes:
Temperature in soil.
The temperatures are represented by red (high), green (average), and blue (low). The image corresponds to a depth of 20 cm or one foot (from the top down), and 4 days occur from left to right.
After measuring the rates at which the nematodes moved and adapted to new temperatures, we constucted a computer model of their behavior in this dynamic temperature environment and traced paths expected for nematodes that started out at different depths:
Nematode paths in soil
The white lines are the paths of nematodes starting out at depths differing by 2 cm (about an inch). Those starting out within the top 15 cm (6 in) move toward a depth of 5-10 cm (2-4 in). It is plausible that this is indeed the depth that they have the best chance of locating the root of a susceptible plant. So we concluded that they have evolved this sophisticated sensory capability and behavior because it makes them more successful in finding a suitable host—otherwise they die because they have no other way to get food.
Slime mold slugs
The other organism that has been found to be guided by very shallow temperature gradients is the slime mold Dictostelium discoideum. This interesting organism has been much studied because it forms organized communities. It feeds as single-cell amoeba-like organisms, but when well-fed but sensing that food is running out, it aggregates into a mass of cells, commonly referred to as a "slug" (although it is not an animal). For a few hours, the slug migrates through its environment and then reorganizes to form a "fruiting body" with a stalk that can release spores into air and away from the surface, where they can disperse into the environment to start a new generation at another location. It was discovered that the slugs are guided by very small temperature gradients, although (unlike the nematodes) they move away from a temperature several degrees below the temperature to which they have been adapted over several hours:
Slime mold paths in soil
The white lines are the paths of slime mold "slugs" starting out at depths differing by 3 cm (about an inch). Those starting out within the top 20 cm (8 in) move toward the surface. This makes sense, as the slugs are most successful if they move to a location where they can release spores that have a good chance of being carried to a new location by wind, water, or passing animals.
Reynolds number and Creeping flow
Engineers studying the movement of boats through water, or water through pipes or channels have found it indispensible to consider the Reynolds number of the flow. This dimensionless number is determined by the density and viscosity of the fluid, the speed of the flow, and some length representing the size of the solid surfaces confining the flow. In flows were the Reynolds number is far above one, the flow is dominated by the mass or inertia of the fluid, while at low Reynolds numbers the flow is dominated by the viscosity of the fluid (which measures its frictional resistance to moving).
Examples of Reynolds numbers
Shown above are examples of a molecule, virus, and nano-particle in thermal motion at room temperature in water; gravitational sedimentation of a raindrop, and clay, silt and sand particles in water; self-propelled bacteria, sperm, fly, fish, bird, automobile, and airplane; bullet and inkjet projectiles; solder flow; and continental drift with the high viscosity of the earth's mantel. In most familiar situations, inertia is important (Re >> 1), but at microscale it is usually not (Re << 1).
As seen in the figure, most familiar things operate at high Reynolds numbers, where flows tend to be chaotic and unpredictable. In contrast, single cells such as bacteria or sperm swim at low Reynolds numbers, where flows are smooth and predictable.
Coefficient of drag
As seen above, the simple Stokes' law accurately predicts the force observed on a sphere moving through a fluid at low Reynolds numbers but the drag (force) deviates dramatically from this model in a complicated fashion at high Reynolds numbers.
The simple flows at low Reynolds numbers are often called creeping flows. These flows are often important, as the motion of molecules, microorganisms, and nano particles is usually one of low Reynolds number. However, the physics of such flows differs in striking ways from that of the turbulent world that is familiar at human size scale. For example, flows are reversible, so mixing by stirring can be undone. And moving bodies carry a relatively large halo of surrounding fluid with them, so the shape of the body has relatively little impact on resistance to movement; no matter what the shape of the body, the resistance to translation in two different directions is always less than 2-fold. And even more surprisingly, it is cylindrical shapes rather than flat plates that have the largest differences in resistance to motion in different directions: consequently, microorganisms swim by means of cylindrical appendages rather than the flat paddles (think fins and wings) used at our size scale.
In the natural world, creeping flows occur in such diverse areas as geological flows of magma, hydraulic flows through porous substrates, meteorological movements of cloud droplets, thermal movements of molecules through liquids, biological flows of blood through capillaries and the swimming of microorganisms such as bacteria or sperm. In technology, creeping flows occur in lubrication, soldering, flow through porous filters, microfluidics, micro-robots, and some molecular properties of matter.
Much of my research of the 1990s exploited the predictability of flows at micro scale to make rigorous calculations of the behavioral abilities of various micro-organisms. My book Living at Micro Scale introduces the basic science of creeping flow and other physical relationships important at micro scale such as Brownian motion and diffusion. These physical relationships are then applied to microorganisms to gain a fundamental understanding of many of their observed features and behaviors.
Gamete evolution. Why male and female?
Male and female are defined by the type of gametes produced by the body. Males produce many small gametes specialized for transport by swimming (sperm), wind or insect (pollen), while females produce fewer large, immobile eggs. Biologists recognized years ago that sexual reproduction does not require sperm and eggs. Many species of algae and fungi reproduce by fusing gametes that look identical; sometimes there are even more than two mating types, with the rule that you can mate with anyone of a different type. But in all the large organisms familiar to us, reproduction requires the fusion of a large gamete with a small gamete, specialized for transport (swimming, wind, insect, etc.). Why?
A lunch-time conversation with my colleague Terry Snell inspired me to think that small organisms and cells might be too small to use pheromones to attract mates effectively. This led me to do some simple calculations and computer modeling of the process of getting two small animals or gametes together. The results are summarized in the following plot:
Encounter rates between gametes of various sizes.
The black and white lines trace the predicted evolution of gametes starting with nearly-equal (but various) sizes and selected for more likely encounters with the other type. This analysis predicts that the process leads to the evolution of two disticnct types of gametes—eggs and sperm. So here we have a fundamental explanation of why males and females exist—they helped the gametes of our ancestors find one another. Remember, you are the unique result of a particular sperm finding a particular egg, in each generation, going back a billion years—with millions of unique sperm-egg encounters in your heritage.
Last revised 25 June 2013.
E-mail me: SeekingIllumination@hotmail.com


Think you know extreme? Well get ready to have your mind blown! The awesome people at the popular YouTube channel HellthyJunkFood are taking some yummy treats to the next level. Here are three of their most popular videos featuring sweets.
What's your favorite sweet treat? Join the conversation!


text:
Sheila Dikshit: Delhi's Leader, Delhi's Loss
Written by Sidharth Mishra
Delhi has no full stops and it is not at all a static city – this was something which acted as the governing principle for Sheila Dikshit, the Congress leader who ruled the city for three consecutive terms as its Chief Minister from December 1998 to December 2013 and passed away on Saturday fighting a battle to revive the fortunes of her party as the president of its Delhi unit.
The first reaction of people on hearing of her demise was, the city is going to miss her. She closely identified with Delhi and carried out her work with an extra-ordinary passion, never ever distracted with any ambition to look beyond the precincts of the city government.
Development of Delhi for her were defined by two parameters – make Delhi into a World Class city but also get it the tag of the Heritage City.
"Development is not only about cement and concrete but also a definite change in the social ethos, which would make the society move towards a progressive thought process and open mindedness. Such thought process should also get reflected in the building of the infrastructure, and that was what my government tried to achieve. It needed a lot of effort and balancing act but we could manage it," the leader had recounted in recent personal tête-à-tête.
Born to an Army officer at Kapurthala, Dikshit was educated in Delhi at Jesus and Mary Convent and Miranda House. She took a Master's degree in history and married her college-time beau Vinod Dikshit, who was in St Stephen's College. Though Vinod Dikshit was son of noted freedom fighter, Union Minister and backbone of the Congress organisation Uma Shankar Dikshit, on joining the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) he remained aloof from Congress politics.
Vinod Dikshit was from the Uttar Pradesh cadre, which was also his father's turf but maintained a discreet distance. In fact Vinod was trusted greatly by the Lok Dal leader and former Prime Minister Chowdhary Charan Singh, who had also served as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for some time. As an officer of the government Vinod worked rising above ideologies. He remained close aide of another UP CM Chandra Bhanu Gupta, who was Uma Shanker Dikshit's political rival. Objectivity in governance was an article of faith with Vinod and for Sheila too, as it got reflected in her dealing with Delhi's bureaucracy, which works under multiple commands.
She was pitchforked into city's politics in 1998 when asked by party president Sonia Gandhi to contest the Lok Sabha polls from East Delhi seat. From almost a state of political hibernation, she now had a colossal task to perform. This huge constituency with 20 assembly seats for long had remained a pocket borough of Congress veteran Har Kishan Lal Bhagat before he lost in the 1991 polls. Thereafter, BJP managed to turn this seat into its stronghold winning it again in 1996 general elections and 1997 bypolls.
Dikshit was asked to test waters on the seat despite it having several claimants from Bhagat's political stable and the veteran himself not having given up yet. The media too did not give her much of a chance, with such screaming headlines as, "Sheila who, Dikshit or Kaul." Sheila Kaul was a Minister in the PV Narasimha Rao government and had remained in news for the scams attributed to her office.
Despite the adverse prevailing situation, and a definite pro-BJP mood among the electorate, she managed to give a run for his money to the sitting MP, Lal Bihari Tiwari. Dikshit mobilized a ramshackle organization and polled 517721 votes, till then highest ever by any Congress leader on any seat in Delhi. Though she lost the poll, the party leadership was convinced about having found the person to revive the Congress in the national Capital.
In less than six-month time she was asked to take charge at the dilapidated Talkatora Road office of Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee as its president with the almost insurmountable challenge to defeat the BJP in the assembly polls scheduled for year-end. Sonia Gandhi by now was in firm command of the party with leaders from erstwhile Congress (Tiwari) like Arjun Singh, ML Fotedar and K Natwar Singh playing important role. Since Dikshit too was part of Congress (Tiwari), there was no doubt in the mind of party workers that she enjoyed the leadership's absolute backing and they closed ranks behind her.
In less than three months, focusing on the issue of mal-governance of the city and spiraling prices of onion, she set panic in the BJP camp. The ruling party in the meanwhile was caught in infighting between the Madanlal Khurana and Sahib Singh Verma factions. Khurana had demitted office of the Chief Minister a few years back on being named in the Jain Hawala case. Now exonerated, he wanted the office back, which incumbent Sahib Singh Verma resented.
Caught in a cleft stick, BJP leadership brought Lok Sabha member from South Delhi Sushma Swaraj as the Chief Minister. They thought that they would kill two birds with one stone -- end the factional feud and pitchfork a woman against a woman in the polls which were getting near. "It proved counter-productive. In political battles it's important that you first and foremost have the confidence and the goodwill of the political workers. If they are with you, the voter too gets galvanized. Poor Sushma had nothing working for her, I felt bad for her. Though she was an opponent in the battle, but I respected her as an emerging woman leader in the party not known to be very favourably deposed towards the womenfolk," Dikshit had said.
On that December morning in 1998, when chill had just started to set into Delhi, BJP's candidate and sitting MLA from Gole Market assembly seat Kirit Azad, a burly former national cricketer, gave a hug to diminutive Dikshit at the Navodaya School counting booth saying, "Bua (aunt) you have won." Azad, is son of Congress veteran Bhagwat Jha Azad, a former Bihar Chief Minister, who had joined Congress (Tiwari) as had Sheila Dikshit, when it was formed in 1994.
Outside in the corridor, the Congress strongman from Outer Delhi Sajjan Kumar was talking loudly to reporters with a keen eye that his baritone voice would register with Dikshit too. "Mere 12 MLA to Sheilaji ke liye hein (My 12 MLAs are for Sheila)," he had said, setting the ball rolling for the appointment of the next Chief Minister. Having been trained in politics under the tutelage of her father-in-law Uma Shanker Dikshit, Sheila knew how to react in such situations.
On coming out from the counting booth, she took compliments from the workers and told her son Sandeep Dikshit, who had then taken a break from his work in Bhopal, to manage her campaign, "I am going to meet Soniaji, you please remain with the workers." The statement that morning reflected the fine balance she managed between the party leadership and political workers.
The victory had not come riding alone on the spiraling price of onion, though its role can't be denied. In the little time that she had in the Delhi Congress, she broke the stereotypes. She gave tickets to a mix of youth leaders, established workers, educated persons and a fair number of women. They made a very enthusiastic team, each trying to outperform the other on their respective turf. This enthusiasm paid rich dividends as the Congress turned tables on the BJP bagging 52 of the 70 seats and more than 47 percent of the vote share.
On taking over as Chief Minister, she gave a very positive message to the bureaucracy. She appointed S Reghunathan, who was an important functionary in the outgoing government, as her principle secretary. Reghunathan was to remain a very strong bureaucrat for the large part of her tenure rising to become the Chief Secretary. On her appointing Shakti Sinha, a private secretary to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as her government's powerful Principal Secretary of Finance and Power, she had interesting point to make.
"He (Shakti Sinha) had tremendous exposure working in the PMO and why I should have lost on utilizing his experience when I got the opportunity," Dikshit, who had worked as Minister in-charge of the PMO during Rajiv Gandhi's term as the Prime Minister, had said. Despite the cadre-control of the officers with the central government and the Lieutenant Governor, their personal loyalty to Dikshit remained legendary.
If the bureaucracy had not come along she would have not delivered on the Delhi Metro, the 75-odd flyovers including elevated roads, several underpasses, several kilometers long water pipelines, numerous hospitals including some world class, several college buildings, new universities, new fleet of buses, the social security schemes, cultural verticles and so on. The bureaucracy was integrated as part of her vision; She trusted them and they delivered.
Her famous citizen partnership programme -- Bhagidari (partnership) was not just the name of a government scheme but the driving force of her tenure. For those 15 years citizen groups did work as partners and got the best inputs for the city and delivered services in the best possible way. She achieved the unimaginable as the people and the bureaucracy worked together to convert Delhi into a city of hope and aspiration.
Her Bhagidari project earned accolades at the national and international levels getting recognition from the UN. She extended this partnership also at the level of inter-government interaction. She managed to get the best from Atal Bihari Vajpayee government at the Centre with LK Advani as Home Minister and Vijai Kapoor as the Lieutenant Governor. The BJP-ruled MCDs too really did not have much to complain against her government.
"There was also a concerted effort to convert Delhi assembly from being a debating society into a serious legislative body. I told my MLAs that if there was quality in debate, people would have to take us seriously. My stint as Parliamentary Affairs Minister in Rajiv Gandhi's government came in handy. I admired and patiently listened to speakers from Opposition bench like Jagdish Mukhi, Harsh Vardhan and later Vijay Kumar Malhotra," Dikshit had said adding, "Outside the house there were Sahib Singh Verma and Madanlal Khurana, always ready with their incisive criticism, which I took sportingly."
On what's remorse she carried from her long tenure, she had said that the successful organization of the Commonwealth Games did not get its due recognition. The foreign participants and delegates had said that a better game had not been organized in the history of CWG. It gave Delhi a major boost in infrastructure. But what followed was a campaign of slander, though she came out of it clean despite committees being set-up to investigate her. Delhi today survives on the infrastructure built for the Commonwealth Games.
What should have been celebrated got drowned in the cacophony created by Anna Hazare movement. Media went to town about the collapse of a small pedestrian bridge but none talked about the Barapullah elevated corridor. She too lost in the polls.
It was not that mere support of Gandhi family ensured a smooth ride for her within the party. Dissidence raised its head in the early years of her tenure. Fresh blood had been infused into the party; the old guard was reluctant to give space. A struggle had to ensue and Dikshit was prepared for it, and resolved it in her own manner.
Her rivals like HKL Bhagat, Jagdish Tytler and Chowdhary Prem Singh were virtually sidelined and slowly faded away. She held her ground in dealing with AICC functionaries like Ahmed Patel, Kamal Nath and Ghulam Nabi Azad. Dikshit steered Congress to victory in the two subsequent assembly elections in 2003 and 2008 on the basis of her image of a doer, which came to be recognized nationally. She also led the Congress to win six of the seven Lok Sabha seats from the city in 2004 and a perfect seven out of seven in 2009.
Last summer she was sent back to helm the Delhi Congress again and she immediately started to lead from the front taking on her rivals both inside and outside the party. Who knows she could have turned the fortunes of the Congress in Delhi in 2020 polls?
(First Published in www.News18.com)
Top News OPINION
Delhi polls – Kejriwal's dilemma and Modi's dole dominate campaign narrative
With nomination process having been completed, the roadmap of the ensuing polls for Delhi assembly has been unveiled. If someone thought that the rivals BJP and even the Congress were in any mood to give a walkover to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the battle at its start point suggest differently.
In their selection of candidates, both the BJP and the Congress have reposed confidence in the ability of the soldier at the ground level, that's the party candidate. On a close scanning of the list of the ticket allottees, it becomes quite evident that there aren't any seats where the two older parties have fielded a reluctant person.
The best case in point is the fielding of Delhi BJP Yuva Morcha president Sunil Yadav and former Delhi NSUI president Romesh Sabharwal from the New Delhi seat against chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. The selection of the two has stolen from the Chief Minister the opportunity of turning his personal battle with a prominent face into a 'Battle for Delhi', which he himself converted the 2013 polls into by taking on then chief minister Sheila Dikshit.
With Indications of AAP Retaining Purvanchali Votes, BJP On Difficult Turf in Delhi
Facing the wrath of anti-incumbency against the Congress government at the Centre, which was embroiled in several cases of corruption, in 2013 then Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit was looking for a panacea to overcome adversities and come to power for the fourth time in the row. The development agenda of Dikshit had brought her back to power in 2003 and 2008.
A visionary leader that she was, she planned an overhaul of the city during the Commonwealth Games 2010 and had believed that the fresh wave of development would see her getting another term from the people. However, her development drive was drowned in the cacophony let loose by the Anna Hazare movement, whose product is the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Then Congress member of Lok Sabha from West Delhi, Mahabal Mishra had warned Dikshit about an impending defeat and had suggested to her that she could gamble by giving a large chunk of tickets to the party workers from Purvanchal (east UP and Bihar). Dikshit, who was never comfortable with Mishra, saw it as a subterfuge on the part of the Purvanchali leader to create a claim for himself as rival to her.
In Obstructing Government, Opposition Questioning Sovereignty
Democracy is not a mere word nor a matter of convenience. It is a system that is based on certain values, certain ethos. The element of democracy is the empowerment of people through giving them a right to political choice. This itself is facilitated by arguments and counter arguments on matters of economy, governance, foreign policy, defence and the conditions of wellbeing of the society put by different political contenders and contestants for getting peoples' mandate to govern through elections held at intervals of time.
This opportunity of political choice is made easier when different political parties place their manifestoes before the electorate, exemplifying the future roadmap of policy and governance. The verdict of the electorate is taken as a mandate to the majority party or coalition to keep its promise with the people mentioned in the manifesto. The opposition is naturally expected to point out the failures on the part of the ruling party to implement their promises made at the time of election held.
The government is under obligation to govern according to the agenda it got mandate for. Opposition has a right to oppose policies of the government if they are against what it said at the elections. The government can take policy decisions even on matters not finding a place in its manifesto if it is considered of national interest or what can be said to be in the interest of the wellbeing of the people at large.
Campus Unrest: Thanks to inept vice-chancellors, DU joins JNU as discontent brews
Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has his hands full. As if the ongoing unrest in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) was not enough, discontent has now boiled over on the Delhi University campus with the teachers laying a siege of the Vice Chancellor's office.
In the present turmoil on the two campuses, there is one commonality, the utter failures of the two vice chancellors, Mamidala Jagdeesh Kumar of the JNU and Yogesh Tyagi of the Delhi University to encourage dialogue. In both the cases the charge against the establishment is of unilateral decision making without taking into account the views of the students and the teaching communities.
Without going into the merits or demerits of the decisions taken, let's take a look at what Nishank had to say in Parliament on the ongoing crises on the two premium education centres of the country. "All administrative and academic decisions, including fee revision are taken by the university with the approval of its statutory bodies, such as Academic Council, Executive Council and Court. However, no information is maintained centrally in this regard," Nishank had replied to a question in Parliament earlier this week.
In Belittling Savarkar, Rahul Doing Little Justice to Freedom Fighter
For those planning a holiday during the winters in the scenic Andamans, the gateway for them would be through the Veer Savarkar airport. One of the must destinations in the island is Cellular Jail, where the freedom fighters were incarcerated after being transported for life by the colonial government.
A very well-researched light and sound show at the gaol complex, where Savarkar was jailed twice, tells the Savarkar story in detail. A nation which recognized him as a freedom fighter, issued a stamp in his memory and named an airport after him is suddenly debating his antecedents.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi has done little service to the nation at large and to his cause in his ideological battle against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by belittling contribution of the legendary freedom fighter. Gandhi at a rally last week in Delhi had said that he was no Savarkar to apologize to the government for his political stand.
The debate on Savarkar in the past few months has been more entrenched in the effort of creating likes on the social media or TRPs on the creativity starved television news channels than any serious historical discussion. The whole debate on Savarkar's contribution unfortunately has got embroiled in a comparison with the Congress leaders.
More Than Farm Fires, Failed Public Transport System Responsible for Choking Delhi
The 'parali' farm fires in the fields of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh has been effectively put out under the directions of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court passed the order when for once the BJP-led Central government and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government decided to put their heads together and lay blame for pollution in country's capital at the doors of the voiceless farmers.
They did so to save their skin, lest the court come down heavily on them for allowing Delhi to turn into a gas chamber by a well-designed system of governance deficit, which over a period of time has turned into fine art of electoral politics. But the nature this time around has decided to teach a lesson. The pollution has refused to go and the Supreme Court has now ordered closure of schools in Delhi and surrounding areas till November 15.
Despite claiming through full-page government advertisements for days together in newspapers, the bills for which must be running into hundreds of crores of rupees, air pollution in the city continues to peak. The headline grabbing arrangement of car rationing, the two-week-long odd-even scheme, too is hurtling towards end, but pollution refuses to subside.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


No, I said it wasn't a Godzilla.
Stop it with the Godzilla crap! I'm trying to tell you the story and you keep interrupting! Now do you want to hear what happens, or do you want to continue this childish game?
That's it. You're on your own. Look the damn book up yourself.


text:
sudo apt-get install nginx
sudo cp NGINX_sites-enabled_default /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default
sudo service nginx restart
if [ "$(which node)"!="/usr/local/bin/node" ] ; then
    wget http://nodejs.org/dist/v0.10.13/node-v0.10.13.tar.gz
    tar xvzf node-v0.10.13.tar.gz
    sudo apt-get install gcc g++ make
    cd node-v0.10.13
    ./configure
    make
    sudo make install
    cd ./..
fi
cd ./../server
npm install
cd ./scraper
npm install

echo "======================"
echo "Configuration complete"
echo "======================"
echo ""
echo "Please be sure to configure server_name /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default, then restart nginx."
echo "config.js also must exist in the project root (see config-SAMPLE.js in project root)"

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


This essay is looking at the nature of Victorian Villains. In doing this I shall consider extracts from three pre twentieth century novels; Great Expectations, Oliver Twist both written by Charles Dickens and Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by R.L Stevenson. The Victorian Villains could be described as a stereotypical figure and this is what my essay will focus on, discussing the different aspects of atmosphere and setting, the appearance and behaviour of the male villains, their language and actions and finally there reactions of other characters to them.
Firstly, I will discuss atmosphere and setting and note how all extracts share common traits/elements. In the Oliver Twist, extract the setting is firstly described as "obscure" which states that it is unclear in the pub. Charles Dickens then says that the pub is "situated in the filthiest part of Little Saffron Hill – a dark and gloomy den" there is irony in this sentence as a Saffron is very expensive. A "flaring" gas-light also burns all day in the wintertime, besides this no ray of the sunshines into the pub in the summer.
The text above creates a startling atmosphere, inside the pub it would be dark unclear and the air would be strongly impregnated by the smell of alcohol. In the second extract, (Great Expectations) the atmosphere is rather different as it is outside and not inside. It is located in a marsh country, close to a river and twenty miles of the sea, Charles describes the afternoon as raw this would mean that it would cold and damp. It is then described as a bleak place overgrown with nettles.
The land beyond the churchyard is dark and flat but intersected with a few mounds. The wind is described as rushing from the sea, which would mean it is speeding up. This creates a supernatural feeling/atmosphere as it is plotted in a churchyard, which is very gothic and frightening. The weather is brutal as the wind is rushing. In the third extract, the setting is located in a city at night and inside a building, which happens to be empty, but the building happens to be nightly patrolled. All three settings are very different firstly; all of them are in very different locations with different atmospheres apart from they are all fearsome.
The physical appearance of Bill Sikes is that he is a physically strong man. Firstly, in the extract he is brooding which indicates he is in intense thought in a menacing way, which is rather emotional. His velvet coat is strongly impregnated with the stench of alcohol. He is not very hygienic as Charles Dickens mentions that he is easily recognisable to the police for the wrong reasons of course. He is usually in the same clothes, which do not help him out in anyway. He is of course a drinker as he is sat in a public house with a strong smell of liquor surrounding him. His dog is described as having faults of temper in common with his owner; he ends up having a bout with his dog the result of which his dog runs off. Bill Sikes is then disappointed in the dog's participation of the bout. Which then he transfers his share of disappointment on the newcomer that just entered the pub. Overall, his physical appearance is being a physical man who likes to throw his weight around and enjoys being feared by other men or even women.
The man in the second extract comes across as a man who has escaped from a prison or a ship as if he was a criminal. You can tell this as he is wearing bristly grey clothing and he has a great iron on his leg, which is surely a reference to him being a criminal. He does not wear a hat, hats were common in Victorian times it he would look rather odd as he didn't wear one. He has broken shoes; he has an old rag tied round his head. He was soaked with water, smothered in mud, lamed by stones, cut by flints, stung by nettles, torn by briars. This would mean he would be hurt. This is acknowledged as Charles Dickens says that the man limps, shivers, glares and growls. Which states his walking is effected, he is also cold as he shivers and his teeth are chattering. He comes across as a mean person who is rather cunning than more of a brute force kind of man like Bill Sikes.
Mr. Hyde's physical appearance is rather different as he looks rather like a beast more than a man. He has odd light footsteps, which alerts the man who patrols the building, which is odd, the man patrolling signalises that his footsteps do not match his appearance. Mr. Hyde is small and is very plainly dressed. He is also described as pale, dwarfish and malformed, also mentioned is his displeasing smile, which is a surreal image as a beast/man with a distressing smile. In addition he has a deep voice. Overall the physical appearances of the three characters are that they are alarming but in there own way. There appearances are all different with Mr. Hyde being the best presented and the man from Great Expectations being the least well presented as he as escaped from a prison or ship etc.
Bill Sikes actions in this extract are very violent to Mr Sikes firstly he is in intense thought, he gets so caught up in his thoughts that he kicks his dog. Then Sike's dog retaliates and bites Mr. Sikes. The dog is linked with having temper problems like his owner. Mr. Sikes then begins to attack his dog by throwing pewter at it and so on. Sikes shows signs of his animal qualities as he bites the poker between his teeth like a wild beast. He swears, strikes and blasphemes at the dog. When the dog escapes he turns his attentions at the new comer to the pub. The words used to describe him when he hears about his wife are savage, furious, angry and psychotic. Fire in his eyes is mentioned these words give the impression that he is an ill-tempered man and it doesn't take much for him to blow his fuse.
Bill also likes to keep his wife in his sight. He most probably has an anger problem. Further on in the extract he attacks his wife and ends up murdering her. He rudely awakes then he thrusts his hand before her, when he starts to strike his wife she clings on to him and starts begging him to spare her life. But he shrugs violently to release his arms, he grabs his pistol and he knew if he were shoot her it would mean immediate detection, so he beats her twice with the handle. She then prays to god to forgive Bill. Bill is shocked when Nancy actually dies. He can't believe what he is looking at so he covers his eyes. This burst of rage shows his lack of control and temper. To me he seems like he is not mentally stable obviously his lack of control is what has got him into trouble with the police.
The man in Great Expectations is very forceful he takes advantage of a child called Pip who happens to be on his own in the churchyard. He uses fear to take advantage. He turns him upside down to get a greater advantage. Later on he places Pip on a high tombstone by doing this Pip cant escape his questioning so the man is in full control. He eats the bread ravenously this shows animal like actions and states the obvious that he is starving. He shakes his head in a threatening manner to Pip this is a reminder of his power over Pip. He tilts Pip over, so to give him a greater sense of help ness and danger. He uses a story to threaten Pip; he does this to get his own way. When he walks off he hugs his body as if to hold himself together this makes you feel sorry for him. He walks off looking very uncomfortable as well. The repetition of sore feet is mentioned while he walking away.
The actions of Mr. Hyde in this extract are when he is talking to the lawyer he shrinks back with a hissing of breath. This is as if he is afraid. But this fear is only momentary. He answers the man coolly then. He grunts and hesitates this means he is not socially nice. He hides his face in shadow away from the lawyer. He later answers a question with a flush of anger, he snarls which is followed by a savage laugh he speaks inappropriately to the lawyer. Later on in the extract London is startled by a big crime, which seems to involve as he murders a pleasant old gentleman. Mr. Hyde brutally attacked this gentleman because of the stress of his insensate cruelty.
A maid she this horrific crime and she thought nothing of Mr. Hyde when she first saw him this means he is not noticeable. Mr. Hyde is carrying a heavy cane, which he uses to brutalise the gentleman, he said to have broke out in a great flame of anger, stamping with his foot and brandishing his cane like a madman. He clubbed him to the earth. Then in ape-like fury he tramples his victim under his foot. Hailing down a storm of blows. The maid said she could hear Hyde shattering the mans bones, because of this brutal beating the maid fainted. This shows that Mr. Hyde has many animal characteristics; he also has extraordinary quickness, which is another animal skill. He is practically a beast. His characteristics show us this.
The way Bill Sikes speaks is pretty roughly. He uses lines as "you born devil!" and "D'ye hear?" his lines are also described as very harsh. He speaks fiercely in some parts i.e. "Hells Fire" and "Get up". He threatens his dog. His language is not exactly upper class. It is common as he uses no big or posh words and he speaks very hoarsely.
The man in Great Expectations gives orders, commands and demands rather than speaking. His vocabulary is very forceful like "Tell us your name" followed by "quick" and "Show us where you live" "Pint out the place!" He reminds Pip of his authority by saying "who d'ye live with-supposin' you're kindly let to live". Ominously he replies "Blacksmith" which could help the man. He threatens to get his own way by saying "heart and your liver shall be torn out roasted and ate" and "comparison with which young man I am an angel". Overall his language is common and threatening he is always reminded Pip of his authority and power over him.
Mr. Hyde does not speak much, however when he does he speaks a little hoarsely "Common Friends" echoed Mr Hyde, a little hoarsely. And in one part he is like an animal that is frightened. He cries which reminds me of a wolf. Besides that he laughs very savagely. His language is somewhat higher class than the other two men. As under Mr. Hyde somewhere there is a certain Dr Jekyll.
Other characters feel threatened and scared by Bill example Fagin throws many threats by Sikes and his wife Nancy is happy to first see Bill but then become scared when she knows he is livid with her.
The Other character feels frightened by the man from Great Expectations. He threatens the young boy constantly. He trembles with fright around the man. The young boy thinks that the man has rose from the dead when he first sees him as he appears from behind a tombstone. At the end of the extract Pip thinks the man is a pirate ghost returning to his shackles as if to hook himself up again. He sees the cows lifting their heads to gaze at him, he wondered if they saw it too.
Other characters are puzzled when they see Mr. Hyde; the lawyer was puzzled, as Mr. Hyde's footsteps did not match his physique. But he was not scared of Mr. Hyde, which surprised me, as his appearance wasn't like the stereotypical human being. After meeting Mr. Hyde the lawyer is left unsettled. But the nurse sees Mr. Hyde assault a pleasant gentleman, which the nurse seems happy to see. Her reaction to this is she faints.
To sum it up all three villains are different, by the way they dress example the man from Great Expectations wears bristly grey wear and Mr. Hyde wears an presentable suit, there physical appearances are different as Mr. Hyde is dwarfish, Mr. Sikes is quite big and the man from Great Expectations is as if he has been in war with all his wounds, and actions as Mr. Hyde attacks a old man, Mr. Sikes beats his wife to death and the man from the second extract threatens a young child to get his own way but in their speech there is a slight link of them speaking similiar, as they all seem to talk a bit roughly.


text:
Okaya' set to become world's largest power tubular battery company from India by 2020
Delhi NCR, 13th October 2016: Okaya Power Limited, one of the country's leading power back-up companies which has been successfully dominating the non-conventional power supply industry for nearly three decades, has set an ambitious target to become world's largest power tubular battery manufacturer from India by the year 2020.
"Okaya has already drawn a strategic roadmap to most quickly achieve this aggressive goal in the next couple of years," said Mr. Rajesh Gupta, Director, Okaya Power Limited, adding that the company is currently focusing on strengthening its distribution network. "With our warehouses already present in 41 locations, we are covering 91% of the country and to make our distribution network more efficient, very soon we will be opening many more warehouses at different locations to achieve the target of setting up over 200 warehouses pan-India," he added.
"Affordability, reliability, continuous innovations and unmatched servicing ability set us apart from our competitors and thus we are witnessing robust demand for our product line, especially in power tubular battery segment," he informed. In the wake of rapidly growing power demand and to contribute in the growth story of India, Okaya is also working on manufacturing Solar Lighting System which it will soon introduce in the market.
'Okaya' is among the fastest growing battery brands in India with an installation base of more than 5 million batteries and a nationwide network of more than 40,000 dealers, 1400+ distributors, 41 branch offices and nine plants. Besides having a world-class manufacturing unit, it also has battery life testing equipments which give the company an edge in maintaining high standards in quality. 'Okaya' uses Japanese technology to produce durable and international-standard batteries. Okaya Power is one of the premier car, inverter & UPS battery manufacturing companies in India. The company has a vision to meet the power needs of modern India which is growing and developing fast.
Related Topics:Directornews realtyOkaya Power Limitedpower tubular batteryRajesh Guptarealty newsrealty news indiarealty news reportrealty sector news
House of Hiranandani's 'Anchorage' takes you to new heights in Chennai
CCPIT- Beijing Inks MoU with WTC Noida


text:
citati u SCIndeksu: [1]
citati u CrossRef-u:[2]
preuzimanja u poslednjih 30 dana:17
članak: 1 od 8
Journal of Regional Security
2020, vol. 15, br. 1, str. 7-38
The anxiety dilemma: Locating the Western Balkans in the age of anxiety
(naslov ne postoji na srpskom)
Cupać Jelena
WZB-Berlin Social Science Center, Germany
e-adresa: jelena.cupac@wzb.eu
Ključne reči: anxiety dilemma; ontological security; communitarians; cosmopolitans; Western Balkans
(ne postoji na srpskom)
The paper seeks to locate the Western Balkans in the current age of anxiety. By using the concept of ontological security as its overarching theoretical frame, the paper first develops a concept of anxiety dilemma. The anxiety dilemma refers to a situation in which a social order that provides one group of people with a sense of ontological security is a perceived source of anxiety for the other group and vice versa. The paper proposes that such a dilemma characterizes the present age of anxiety. Trapped in this dilemma are the proponents and the contesters of the liberal (international) order and globalization, often referred to in the literature as cosmopolitans and communitarians. The paper argues that the Western Balkan countries occupy an ambivalent position in this anxiety dilemma. Their governments combine liberal-democratic justification with autocratic tendencies. The paper discusses how the Western Balkans came to occupy this position. It singles out four reasons: (1) the region's authoritarian legacy; (2) ethnonationalism coupled with stateand nation-building projects; (3) search for external legitimacy; and (4) the EU's abandonment of the inextricable link between peace and democracy. The case of the Western Balkans yields another important observation: that local anxiety dilemmas are nested in global anxiety dilemma. The paper makes two contributions. The first one is theoretical, and it consists of furthering the concept of ontological security such that it theorizes ontological security as a systemic inter-group phenomenon. The second contribution is analytical, and it consists in locating the Western Balkans in the ongoing struggles over globalization and the liberal (international) order.
*** (2019) Montenegro Demographics Profile 2019. Mundi Index. Accessed February 15, 2020. https://www.indexmundi.com/montenegro/demographics_profile.html
*** (2017) Pripremaju NAM Krvav Božić-Isis Koljač Sprema Napade Na Srpske Crkve. Informer, Accessed on 13 February 2020. https://informer.rs/vesti/srbija/308775/ samo-informeru-pripremaju-nam-krvav-bozic-isis-koljac-sprema-napade-srpskecrkve
*** (2018) Welcome to North Macedonia: Parliament Votes for Name Change. Guardian, Accessed February 13, 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/20/welcome-to-north-macedonia-parliament-votes-for-name-change
Ackermann, A. (2000) Making peace prevail: Preventing violent conflict in Macedonia. New York: Syracuse University Press
Agius, C. (2017) Drawing the discourses of ontological security: Immigration and identity in the Danish and Swedish cartoon crises. Cooperation and Conflict, 52(1): 109-125
BBC (2015) Serbian PM Vucic Returns to Srebrenica Memorial after Attack. Accessed February 25, 2020. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34788014
BBC (2019) EU Blocks Albania and North Macedonia Membership Bids. Accessed February 10, 2020. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50100201
Bechev, D. (2018) The 2016 Coup Attempt in Montenegro: Is Russia's Balkans Footprint Expanding?. Foreign Policy Research Institute, Accessed April 14, 2020. https://www.fpri.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/BechevFinal2018.pdf
Bechev, D. (2014) Russia Sanctions: Balkan Countries React. LSE, South East Europe (blog). Accessed Jannuary 11, 2020. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/80501
Beramendi, P., Häusermann, S., Kitschelt, H., Kriesi, H. (2015) The Politics of Advanced Capitalism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Bieber, F. (2015) The Serbia-Kosovo Agreements: An EU Success Story?. Review of Central and East European Law, 40(3-4): 285-319
Bieber, F. (2018) The Rise (and Fall) of Balkan Stabilitocracies. Horizons, 10. Accessed April 14, 2020. https://www.cirsd.org/en/horizons/horizons-winter2018-issue-no-10/the-rise-and-fall-of-balkan-stabilitocracies
Bieber, F. (2020) The Rise of Authoritarianism in the Western Balkans. London: Springer
BIRODI (2017) Nalazi Monitoringa O Predstavljanju Vlade Srbije U Centralnim Informativnim Emisijama. Accessed February 3, 2020. http://www.birodi.rs/nalazi-monitoringa-o-predstavljanju-vlade-srbije-u-centralnim-informativnimemisijama
Blok, A. (1998) The Narcissism of Minor Differences. European Journal of Social Theory, 1(1): 33-56
Bornschier, S. (2010) Cleavage politics and the populist right: The new cultural conflict in Western Europe. Philadelphia: Temple University Press
Browning, C.S. (2018) Brexit, existential anxiety and ontological (in)security. European Security, 27(3): 336-355
Browning, C.S. (2019) Brexit populism and fantasies of fulfilment. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 32(3): 222-244
Browning, C.S., Joenniemi, P. (2013) From fratricide to security community: Re-theorising difference in the constitution of Nordic peace. Journal of International Relations and Development, 16(4): 483-513
Browning, C.S., Joenniemi, P. (2017) Ontological security, self-articulation and the securitization of identity. Cooperation and Conflict, 52(1): 31-47
Cupać, J. (2012) Ontological Security of International Organizations: NATO's Post-Cold War Identitycrisis and 'out-of-Area' Interventions. Sintezis, 4(1): 19-43
Cupać, J. (2018) It's Time for Behavioral and Emotional International Relations. Orders Beyond Borders WZB (blog). Accessed February 7, 2020. https://ordersbeyondborders.blog.wzb.eu/2018/09/18/its-time-for-behavioral-and-emotional-international-relations
Davis, S. (2020) EU Enlargement: Brussels 'Can Open Membership Talks' with Albania and North Macedonia. Euronews, Accessed March 13, 2020. https://www.euronews.com/2020/03/24/brussels-can-open-eu-membership-talks-withalbania-and-north-macedonia
Della, S.V. (2018) Narrating Europe: The EU's Ontological Security Dilemma. European Security, 27(3): 266-279
Dingott, A.T. (2015) The Political Psychology of Integration Strategies: The Case of the European Commission's Interculturalism. Journal of International Relations and Development, 18(4): 428-454
Dingott, A.T. (2018) Socio-psychological reactions in the EU to immigration: From regaining ontological security to desecuritisation. European Security, 27(3): 314-335
Džankić, J., Keil, S., Kmezić, M. (2018) The Europeanisation of the Western Balkans: A Failure of EU Conditionality. London: Palgrave Macmillan
Erikson, E.H. (1993) Childhood and Society. New York: WW Norton & Company
European Commission (2018) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of Regions: A Credible Enlargement Perspective for and Enhanced EU Engagement with the Western Balkans. Accessed February 13, 2020. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/betapolitical/files/communication-credibleenlargement-perspective-western-balkans_en.pdf
Freedom House (2019) Freedom in the World 2019 Map. Accessed February 13, 2020. https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/freedom-world-2019/map
Giddens, A. (1991) Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Cambridge, U.K: Polity Press
Gilens, M., Page, B.I. (2014) Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens. Perspectives on Politics, 12(3): 564-581
Gülsah, Ç.Z., Ayşe, Z. (2019) Turkey's Ambivalent Self: Ontological Insecurity in 'Kemalism' Versus 'Erdoğanism'. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 32 (3): 263-282
Hansen, L. (2012) Reconstructing desecuritisation: The normative-political in the Copenhagen School and directions for how to apply it. Review of International Studies, 38(3): 525-546
Hanspeter, K., Grande, E., Lachat, R., Dolezal, M., Bornschier, S., Frey, T. (2008) West European Politics in the Age of Globalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Hanspeter, K., Grande, E., Lachat, R., Dolezal, M., Bornschier, S., Frey, T. (2006) Globalization and the Transformation of the National Political Space: Six European Countries Compared. European Journal of Political Research, 45 (6): 921-956
Homolar, A., Scholz, R. (2019) The Power of Trump-Speak: Populist Crisis Narratives and Ontological Security. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 32(3): 344-364
Horwitz, A.V. (2013) Anxiety: A Short History. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press
Ilić, M.R. (2018) Putin - Braniću Srbe Na Kosovu. Republika: Portal Srpskog Telegrafa, Accessed on 17 February 2020. www.republika.rs/vesti/tema-dana/52252/putin-branicu-srbe-kosovu
Inglehart, R.F., Norris, P. (2016) Trump, Brexit, and the Rise of Populism: Economic Have-Nots and Cultural Backlash. Harvard Kennedy School-Faculty Research Working Paper Series
Jovanovska, S., Božinovska, Ž.P. (2017) Komparativna Studija Za Izbornite Nedostatoci Vo Makedonija I Iskustvata Vo Regionot. Centar za građanski monitoring, Accessed on 17 February 2020. https://www.mkd.mk/files/article/ 2017/11/17/studija.pdf
Kinnvall, C. (2004) Globalization and Religious Nationalism: Self, Identity, and the Search for Ontological Security. Political Psychology, 25(5): 741-767
Kinnvall, C. (2018) Ontological Insecurities and Postcolonial Imaginaries: The Emotional Appeal of Populism. Humanity & Society, 42(4): 523-543
Kinnvall, C. (2019) Populism, ontological insecurity and Hindutva: Modi and the masculinization of Indian politics. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 32(3): 283-302
Kinnvall, C., Manners, I., Mitzen, J. (2018) Introduction to 2018 Special Issue of European Security: 'Ontological (in)Security in the European Union'. European Security, 27 (3): 249-265
Kinnvall, C., Mitzen, J. (2017) An introduction to the special issue: Ontological securities in world politics. Cooperation and Conflict, 52(1): 3-11
Kinnvall, C., Nesbitt-Larking, P. (2011) The Political Psychology of Globalization: Muslims in the West. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Koneska, C. (2019) Ethnicisation vs. Europeanisation: Promoting Good Governance in Divided States. u: Džankić Jelena, Keil Soeren, Kmezić Marko [ur.] The Europeanisation of the Western Balkans: A Failure of EU Conditionality?, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 135-155
Krahmann, E. (2018) The market for ontological security. European Security, 27(3): 356-373
Kriesi, H., Grande, E., Dolezal, M., Helbling, M., Hoglinger, D., Hutter, S., Wuest, B. (2012) Political Conflict in Western Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Lyman, R. (2015) Tiny Macedonia Confronts a Supersize Scandal. New York Times, Accessed February 13, 2020. www.nytimes.com/2015/05/15/world/europe/tiny-macedonia-confronts-a-supersize-scandal.html
Maksimović, S. (2020) Montenegrin Law on Religious Freedom: Polarization That Benefits the Government(S)?. European Western Balkans 2020. Accesed February 15, 2020. https://europeanwesternbalkans.com/2020/01/13/montenegrin-lawon-religious-freedom-polarization-that-benefits-the-governments
Mälksoo, M. (2018) Countering hybrid warfare as ontological security management: The emerging practices of the EU and NATO. European Security, 27(3): 374-392
Mälksoo, M. (2019) The normative threat of subtle subversion: The return of 'Eastern Europe' as an ontological insecurity trope. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 32(3): 365-383
Manow, P. (2018) Die Politische Ökonomie Des Populismus. Berlin: Suhrkamp Verlag
Mccoy, J., Somer, M. (2019) Toward a Theory of Pernicious Polarization and How It Harms Democracies: Comparative Evidence and Possible Remedies. ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 681(1): 234-271
Mehta, A. (2020) North Macedonia to Officially Join NATO on Friday. Defense News, Accessed March 16, 2020. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/03/24/north-macedonia-expected-to-join-nato-within-days
Mitzen, J. (2006) Anchoring Europe's civilizing identity: Habits, capabilities and ontological security. Journal of European Public Policy, 13(2): 270-285
Mitzen, J. (2006) Ontological Security in World Politics: State Identity and the Security Dilemma. European Journal of International Relations, 12(3): 341-370
Mitzen, J. (2018) Anxious community: EU as (in)security community. European Security, 27(3): 393-413
Mouffe, C. (2018) For a Left Populism. New York: Verso Books
Mudde, C., Kaltwasser, C.R. (2012) Populism in Europe and the Americas: Threat or Corrective for Democracy?. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1-26
N1 (2014) Istraživanje: SNS Bez Vučića Bi Imao 80 Odsto Manje Glasova. Accessed on 18 February 2020. http://rs.n1info.com/Vesti/a21521/Istrazivanje-SNS-bez-Vucica-bi-imao-80-odsto-manje-glasova.html
Pavlović, S. (2016) Montenegro's 'stabilitocracy': The West's support of Đukanović is damaging the prospects of democratic change. LSEE Blog. Accessed April 13, 2020. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2016/12/23/montenegros-stabilitocracyhow-the-wests-support-of-dukanovic-is-damaging-the-prospects-of-democraticchange
Popović, T. (2017) Svaki Sedmi Građanin CG Ima Člansku Kartu Jedne Od Šest Partija Koje Postoje Najmanje 10 Godina. Vijesti, Accessed February 17, 2020. www.vijesti.me/vijesti/politika/svaki-sedmi-gradanin-cg-ima-clansku-kartu-jedneod-sest-partija-koje-postoje-najmanje-10-godina
Primatarova, M., Deimel, J. (2012) Bridge over Troubled Waters? The Role of the Internationals in Albania. Accessed April 17, 2020. http://www.cls-sofia.org/uploads/files/Bridge%20Over%20 Troubled%20Waters_The%20Role%20of%20the%20Internationals%20in%20Albania.pdf
Ristić, I. (2018) Serbia-a Regime That Only Seemed Gone. u: Florian Bieber, Solska Magdalena, Taleski Dane [ur.] Illiberal and Authoritarian Tendencies in Central, Southeast and Eastern Europe, Bern: Peter Lang, 150-166
Rumelili, B. (2018) Breaking with Europe's pasts: Memory, reconciliation, and ontological (In)security. European Security, 27(3): 280-295
Solomon, T. (2018) Ontological security, circulations of affect, and the Arab Spring. Journal of International Relations and Development, 21(4): 934-958
Somer, M., Mccoy, J. (2018) Déjà vu? Polarization and Endangered Democracies in the 21st Century. American Behavioral Scientist, 62(1): 3-15
Steele, B.J., Homolar, A. (2019) Ontological insecurities and the politics of contemporary populism. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 32(3): 214-221
Steele, B.J. (2008) Ontological Security in International Relations: Self-Identity and the IR State. London: Routledge
Subotić, J. (2018) Political memory, ontological security, and Holocaust remembrance in post-Communist Europe. European Security, 27(3): 296-313
Šelo-Šabić, S. (2017) The impact of the refugee crisis in the Balkans: A drift towards security. Journal of Regional Security, vol. 12, br. 1, str. 51-74
Teney, C., Lacewell, O.P., de Wilde, P. (2014) Winners and losers of globalization in Europe: Attitudes and ideologies. European Political Science Review, 6(4): 575-595
Toal, G. (2013) 'Republika Srpska will have a referendum': The rhetorical politics of Milorad Dodik. Nationalities Papers, 41(1): 166-204
Vachudova, M.A. (2019) EU Enlargement and State Capture in the Western Balkans: A Failure of EU Conditionality?. u: Džankić Jelena, Keil Soeren, Kmezić Marko [ur.] The Europeanisation of the Western Balkans, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 63-85
Vangeli, A. (2011) Nation-building ancient Macedonian style: The origins and the effects of the so-called antiquization in Macedonia. Nationalities Papers, 39(1): 13-32
Veljanova, H. (2016) The Republic of Macedonia's 2016 Parliamentary Elections Handbook. Skopje: Konrad Adenauer Stiftung
jezik rada: engleski
vrsta rada: izvorni naučni članak
DOI: 10.5937/jrs15-25359
metod recenzije: dvostruko anoniman
J Regional Security (2020)
Populism and foreign policy: An assessment and a research agenda
Lammers Wouter, i dr.
The vicious circle of corrosive capital, authoritarian tendencies and state capture in the Western Balkans
Prelec Tena
Populist communication in the post-truth age: A comparative analysis of treatment of journalists by Donald Trump and Aleksandar Vučić
Kulić Milica
prikaži sve [30]


To use Etherdelta to buy any coin, you need to have an Ethereum wallet. 5 Mistakes to Avoid if you are an ELSS investor.
Malaysia Bitcoin Trading Volumes Rise as Capital. providers have debuted in Malaysia, for example, Coin.ph. will enable investors to better manage against.
Coin name: AML Token: AKA. purchasers are not participating in or becoming a member or investor in any pooled. If the investors do not own ETH coins,. investors can easily buy the DENT coins.
Backed by some of the most prominent investors in Silicon Valley. Coinhako is the easiest way to buy and sell cryptocurrencies,.XRB Price Prediction 2018, 2019, 2020, Raiblocks. of holding XRB coin in their wallet and.
Everus Technologies is a blockchain technology company based in Malaysia. the Everus Wallet. BTC, ETH, REP, ANT, BAT, EOS, SALT, CVC, DNT, SNT, SUB, TRX, OMG, BTM, DENT. so you can exchange coins in the wallet.
Here is a curated list of websites where you can buy cryptocurrency in Malaysia, ranging all the way from Bitcoin and Ethereum, to others like LiteCoin and Dogecoin.Dent Price Prediction 2018, DENT Price Forecast. Wallet Investor., Dent price prediction, Dent coin forecast, Dent finance tips.
Tron Coin Price Prediction 2018, 2019,. and may be newly launched coin suffered more than old cryptocurrency. for coin as an investment then tron. CryptoCurrency Markets, Short-term and Long-term Price Predictions with Forecast Charts, CryptoCurrency Calculators and much more with Smart Technical Analysis.


At the JUMPING INTERNATIONAL de VALENCE event in the French Ratières, breathtaking equestrian sports took place in front of no less impressive scenery. We ensured that all bases were covered at the sidelines of the prestigious event with our designer furniture and comfortable lounges around the entire course. Timeless white was clearly the colour of the hour.
Elite show jumping riders met in the south of France over the course of two weekends in August. More than 1,200 spectators were also offered plenty to enjoy around the course. With six truckloads of equipment, we managed various areas around the entire equestrian centre, inviting guests to dine, relax and enjoy lively discussions. Premium designer furniture, including bar stools by About a Stool and Miura and tables from the Kranich or Brio series were combined to create these venues. A multitude of different lounge chairs, such as Endless, Hollywood and Granada and the Plateau swivel chair offered absolute comfort with the best views of the action and beautiful weather.
The organiser of the event, Haras de Grillons, has specialised in the purchase and sale of sport horses since 2010 and participates in tournaments around the world. The French company has also organised its own tournaments since 2015. We were commissioned by the agency Laurence B Events, based in Cannes. Our team from Paris, Nice and Luxembourg was involved in the entire planning process from consultation to construction and dismantling, ensuring a smooth process.


Insight: If you can beat your smoking habit, you can do almost anything.
The "Ex-Smokers are Unstoppable" campaign, running in all 27 EU member states, promotes the benefits of quitting rather than focusing on the dangers of smoking. In addition, it offers (ex-) smokers practical help and support through iCoach, a free online health coach. I was responsible for the online part of this campaign.
and app-based health coach, a website and a large range of digital advertising channels for each phase, the campaign is driven mainly through digital media. It recently won a gold EuroEffie and is now collaborating with FB Barcelona.
Team: The consortium, led by Saatchi, consists of media, PR & production companies of which I was the digital liaison.


Ever wonder why there are receivers with 120 watts per channel that cost $499.00, yet there are receivers with 110 watts per channel that cost $699.00?
One of the main reasons the lower wattage receiver costs more is the amplifier section.
The wattage specifications on paper say almost nothing about an amplifier's capability. The numbers and terminology after the wattage rating are more telling.
Now, I'm going to try to keep my explanation as simple as possible. The first indication that the VSX-1019 has a weaker amp section is the "1kHz" measurement. 1000 Hertz is the easiest frequency for an amplifier to drive and will yield a higher wattage number on paper. The VSX-21's amp section is measured into a 20 Hertz through 20,000 Hertz full-bandwidth signal; the same full-bandwidth signal associated with all of our music, movie, and gaming material. While the VSX-21 can deliver its rated power to a speaker system across the entire frequency spectrum, the VSX-1019 can only deliver its rated power into one single tone.
The second, and even more important, distinction between the two models is the "All Channels Driven" statement in the VSX-21's specs. This means what it sounds like. In order to come up with that wattage spec, all seven channels of the VSX-21's amplifier were driven simultaneously during testing. The VSX-1019, on the other hand, was only tested with one channel being driven, as stated in the detailed specifications page of its owner's manual. In a seven speaker system, the VSX-21 is capable of delivering its rated power to the entire system, where the VSX-1019 can only give that kind of power to one-seventh of it. Lastly, the VSX-1019 was recently bench tested by a leading audio/video magazine and revealed, when all channels were driven, the actual output was less than 30 watts per channel.
Further examples of how wattage specs can be "fudged" can be found in the receivers, or amplifier sections, of popular Home Theater in-a-box systems. While rated into 1kHz and with one channel driven, these amps are also frequently rated at a staggering 10%THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) and into 3 ohms. Any amplifier rated into a load less than 8 ohms will yield a higher power rating on paper, and the 10% distortion rating indicates that by the time that amplifier is putting out its max-rated power, 10% of what you are hearing is distortion.
To sum up, an amplifier that is rated with one channel driven, into a single frequency, at a high rate of distortion, or into a lower than 8 ohms impedance is not giving you all the wattage and performance you are expecting.
I know I've been hard on it in this comparison, but is the VSX-1019 a bad product? By all means, no. It is simply that the VSX-21 is a better one. Even though the VSX-1019's published wattage is overstated, as is the case with most budget-friendly receivers, it can be a great receiver option depending on your room size, desired performance at louder playback levels, and the speaker system it is driving.
The next time you are looking at a new receiver or amplifier, and the sales clerk touts the high wattage it puts out, ask for the real numbers so you may make an educated decision with your money.


text:
Le pacte è un EP di Black M, membro dei Sexion d'Assaut e Bakry.

Tracce
 Intro
 Moi cest
 La reussite feat straika d
 Le pacte
 Reglement dcompte feat kizito
 Mon son sevade
 Rap game feat reeno et templar (ulteam atom)
 Le coup final feat ad haplokia gims et anry

Collegamenti esterni

Album hip hop francese

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


As a special treat for the opening of the Jack Teagle show at our premises, we swallowed our pride and used our laserjet to print some zines. Guess what? They came out really well. The Small Things is a hilarious concoction of paranoia, insecurity and doubt fit for any self-respecting artist and here's the best part, it's dirt cheap. The comic was produced in an edition of just 100 copies, so make sure you get yours before they sell out.


text:
Stallworthy Campaign
The Jon Stallworthy Poetry Prize Campaign
Support the Jon Stallworthy Poetry Prize
Wolfson College, together with the English Faculty, runs the Jon Stallworthy Poetry Prize competition for postgraduate students at the University of Oxford. Established in memory of Professor Jon Stallworthy (1935-2014), the prize is awarded each year for the best poem in English verse not exceeding 40 lines in length and is open to all postgraduate students at Oxford.
A much-loved tutor, scholar and poet, Jon Stallworthy was a Fellow of Wolfson between 1986 and his death in 2014 and was twice Acting President of the College. Thanks to generous gifts from Old Possum's Practical Trust and the Derek Hill Foundation, the Stallworthy Prize was first awarded in 2016. We now want to endow the prize as a permanent tribute to Professor Stallworthy and hope that his many friends and admirers in the Wolfson community will give their support.
The Life of Jon Stallworthy
Professor Jon Stallworthy was a much-loved tutor, scholar and poet. Learn more about his life.
Sir Richard Sorabji's memoir of Professor Jon Stallworthy
Sir Richard Sorabji's recording of his memories of Jon Stallworthy from childhood.
Jon Stallworthy Poetry Prize Campaign | Self-Portrait in Snow
Thanks to everyone who has contributed in time and donations towards our Stallworthy campaign. We couldn't have done it without you!
Faculty of English Language & Literature
Jon Stallworthy Poetry Prize 2019 Winner Announced
Richard Sorabji reminiscing about his time with Jon Stallworthy


More National Senior Game Updates on YouTube!
Find Us On Facebook and Twitter!!!
A Look Back At 2012!
As 2012 comes to a close here is a look back at TV20 in 2012 in pictures! For more on these events check out our blog archives and stay tuned for more TV20 fun in 2013!
Dia De Los Muertos Day In Cleveland!
West Side Market 100th Birthday and More This Weekend!
Reel Cleveland at Karamu House!


text:
Melton secondary schools
I rise to talk about the desperate need for a new secondary school in my electorate. Parents in the city of Melton's eastern corridor are pleading for more secondary school places to prevent their children's schooling from being disrupted. Today I have submitted for consideration a petition with over 1000 signatures calling for the urgent establishment of a new secondary school in the Caroline Springs and Taylors Hill areas to cater for the unprecedented growth that has been further unleashed, with little resourcing for infrastructure, by this government.
Not one piece of land has been purchased or set aside for a new school in that area despite the fact that four different precinct plans, which are likely to deliver an additional 30 000 homes and which will bring about 78 000 new residents to the area, have now been released.
Not one piece of land has been committed for a school. The outer west requires ongoing commitment to infrastructure to keep up with growth, but this government's answer has been to rip $900 million from the education budget. A further $30 million was ripped out of education by the federal Abbott government. It is evident that education is not a priority.
Many local residents have expressed their concerns to me about their anxiety as to how their children are facing uncertainty when they reach year 9. With insufficient secondary school places available, many students are facing an uncertain future.


Opinions on what I could or should change and overall quality of the build?
This is my first PC build and that is why I am including the two monitors and the keyboard as well.
Edit: CPU changed. SSD changed.
The CPU cooler is rather poor for overclocking. If you don't want to overclock, why not get a cheaper CPU?
With that CPU and GPU you should be able to play games on 1440p @ 144 Hz.
Also, I'd get a 2nd SSD for software I want to access quickly (that's games for me -- my videos, pictures, etc still go to an HDD).
OK, I will look into that. I do not plan to overclock so it would be smart to get a cheaper CPU cooler. Thanks for the heads up on that! If I cut down on the CPU I'll look into putting that money toward a big SSD.
I do not plan to overclock so it would be smart to get a cheaper CPU cooler.
As Shakaron hints at, I'd either up the resolution on your primary gaming monitor, or back off the GPU. A 2080 is overkill for 1080p unless you're aiming for competition grade fps, in which case you should probably be putting out for an i9-9900K as well. The 2060 would match up nicely with the 144 Hz 1080p monitor.
The RTX 2080 is for running any single player games I want at 144 FPS while on ultra graphics. From benchmarks that I looked at, it looked like the RTX 2070 would only put me around 90-110 FPS on ultra graphics, correct me if I am wrong. Probably does not justify the price, but I do want to enjoy playing single player games on 144 FPS.
That's acceptable, I'll definitely look back at benchmarks and make sure that the RTX 2080 is really the best bang for my buck with the CPU I have right now. If it's not then I will look at the 2070 or 2060 because I mean, who doesn't want to save money?


text:
Ian McConnell: Those Tory brass necks meant we should have seen this Brexit twist coming
NOT seeing something coming has not been a significant issue so far in a Brexit saga that has, to date, dragged on for more than two-and-a-half years.
The overall situation has panned out largely as many people could have predicted at the time of the Brexit vote.
We have had the deeply divided UK Government's protracted and often shambolic negotiations with the European Union. The economy has been damaged significantly already as many, many businesses and consumers have reacted naturally to the reality that any of the exit options will have a major negative impact on them, and reined in investment and spending amid the diabolical Brexit uncertainty. And we sit, at the 11th hour, with the no-deal spectre looming scarily.
A fortnight ago, this column welcomed what seemed like a key defeat for the Conservative Government, when MPs voted to force Prime Minister Theresa May to return to Parliament with a new Brexit plan within three days if her draft withdrawal agreement with the EU was rejected by MPs. This deal was last week voted down in Parliament by a huge margin.
The forced return to Parliament was hailed here as a key, and rare, point of progress on the Brexit front: one hope being that maybe, just maybe, it might ultimately save the UK from itself by avoiding Brexit altogether. This seemed logical. After all, it had taken around two-and-a-half years to secure a Brexit deal which, as well as being unpopular with MPs, would cause huge further damage to the UK because it involves leaving the single market and ends free movement of people.
So what would Mrs May do? Would she, with the clock ticking fast and loudly and businesses justifiably more worried and annoyed by the second, put back the timing of Brexit as a first step? Might this open the door to a second referendum, one which some opinion polls have signalled could provide a very different result?
After all, surely she was in something of a corner, with the requirement, created by the cross-party vote two weeks ago, to return with an alternative way forward?
Read More: Ian McConnell: We should all cheer Government Brexit vote defeats - they may help save UK from itself
The thing that such analysis perhaps did not take sufficient account of, with hindsight, was the brass neck of Mrs May and other Brexit-minded Tories.
They show no embarrassment as they continue their determined effort to have Brexit, whatever the cost. They take defeat after defeat in their stride, banging on about the "will of the people" and so forth.
However, even an awareness of this bloody-mindedness would surely not have prepared many people for what was about to occur.
What became clear in the days following the voting down of Mrs May's draft withdrawal agreement with the EU was that the Prime Minister was not for turning. And we are not talking only about not being interested in a u-turn here. We are taking about a determination to plough on, headlong, in exactly the direction of travel that has proved so entirely fruitless up until now.
Read More: Ian McConnell: Consensus? MPs have duty not to fall in line with a damaging Brexit
Everyone expecting to see a Plan B was looking for the wrong thing. What we saw was Plan A, with some barely perceptible tweaks, such as the presumably publicity-seeking waiver of the £65 fee for settled status for people from other EU countries. The lack of any significant movement and utter refusal to even consider any alternatives to Mrs May's preferred deal was astounding, even by the spectacularly brass-necked standards of this UK Government.
Can you imagine a big company boss having a strategy rejected by her or his board and then coming back with the same thing a few days later?
Such a leader would, you would imagine, not be in their position for much longer.
Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston summed it up well as events unfolded on Monday, tweeting: "It's like last week's vote never happened. Plan B is Plan A." It sure was. It was incredible but yet perhaps we should all have seen it coming given the Brexit track record of Mrs May, the UK Government, and the noisy and troublesome band of arch-Brexiters in the Conservative Party.
The Institute of Directors was more low-key in its response, while sensibly flagging the possible need to put back the Brexit date, in a response entitled, 'The stasis continues'.
Citing the abolition of the settled-status fee, Federation of Small Businesses national chairman Mike Cherry declared: "This positive step cannot...act as smoke and mirrors hiding the lack of a clear plan to steer us away from a chaotic no-deal Brexit on March 29 that would be so damaging for many in the UK's small business community."
As businesses and households take fright, the Tory arch-Brexiters keep the humdingers coming.
International trade secretary Liam Fox told BBC's Today programme that delaying or cancelling Brexit would be worse than leaving the EU with no deal. How so exactly?
Surely he has read about the Bank of England's forecast that a no-deal departure could trigger a UK recession even deeper than that brought on by the global financial crisis around a decade ago?
We have seen former prime minister David Cameron, who ushered in the whole Brexit fiasco with an entirely unnecessary referendum, on television, discussing the current state of affairs. It is almost as if some people believe he has some key to ending the nightmare he has brought upon us.
We are living in a very strange world. Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union Stephen Barclay declared yesterday that he was taking a warning from plane-maker Airbus – about its UK factories being under threat in the event of a disorderly Brexit – "very seriously". You would hope so – Airbus employs more than 14,000 people in the UK and calculates that it supports in excess of 110,000 jobs through its supply chain.
And Airbus chief executive Tom Enders was certainly not joking when he declared, entirely justifiably, that it was a "disgrace" that businesses were still unable to plan properly, more than two years after the Brexit referendum. What is more, he was not kidding when he warned people not to believe "Brexiters' madness" which asserted that, just because Airbus had major UK plants, it would not move and would always be here.
In spite of Mr Barclay's words, all the signs are that the UK Government is not taking the consequences of its Brexit odyssey anywhere near seriously enough.


text:
/**
 *
 */
package net.wc3c.slk;

/**
 * Indicates an exception when parsing an SLK file or data stream.
 *
 * @author Deaod
 *
 */
public class SLKParseException extends RuntimeException {

    SLKParseException(final String string) {
        super(string);
    }

    /**
     *
     */
    private static final long serialVersionUID = 5956365208389996615L;

}


text:
Gov. Greg Abbott voices clear support for school voucher program - The Houston Observer
Home » Gov. Greg Abbott voices clear support for school voucher program
Gov. Greg Abbott voices clear support for school voucher program
May 10, 2022 0 By PATRICK SVITEK
Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday voiced support for a school voucher plan, offering his clearest embrace in recent memory of letting parents use taxpayers dollars to send their kids to nonpublic schools.
"We can fully fund public schools while also giving parents a choice about which school is right for their child," Abbott said during a campaign event in San Antonio. "Empowering parents means giving them the choice to send their children to any public school, charter school or private school with state funding following the student."
Abbott has long been a supporter of the broad concept of "school choice," but his focus on it has ebbed and flowed throughout his governorship. His commitment to the cause was thrown into question by a recent string of endorsements in Texas House primary runoffs in which he backed Republicans opposed by school-choice proponents, including U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.
Critics of vouchers say they hurt public schools, an argument that Abbott's Democratic challenger, Beto O'Rourke, quickly made after the governor's remarks.
"Abbott is for defunding our public schools," O'Rourke tweeted. "I'm for fully funding our kids' classrooms and fully supporting parents, teachers, and students."
Abbott sought multiple times to assuage concerns about public school funding. He insisted that a voucher plan "does not mean that public schools will not be fully funded — whether they are urban, rural, suburban."
"If you like the public school your child is attending, it will still be fully funded," Abbott said.
School-choice groups cheered Abbott's announcement that state funding should follow the student where they go. Mandy Drogin, the Texas director of the American Federation for Children, said in a statement that "thanks to Greg Abbott's leadership, the educational freedom movement in Texas has been lit on fire."
Abbott held the event as part of a focus on "parental rights" in his reelection campaign. Echoing Republicans nationwide, he has vowed to give Texas parents more say in their kids' education, including over the curriculum they are taught and the types of schools they can attend.
The Association of Texas Professional Educators said Abbott was "again attempting to capitalize on trendy political rhetoric by mislabeling vouchers as a 'parental right' and again ignoring the facts: Texas voters support Texas public schools."
"Texas voters elect lawmakers who support Texas public schools," ATPE executive director Shannon Holmes said in a statement. "And Texas voters know the truth about Texas public schools."
Vouchers have long been a tough sell in the Legislature, where the idea tends to draw bipartisan opposition in the House, partly from rural Republicans concerned about the health of public schools in their districts. The House speaker, Beaumont Republican Dade Phelan, said in a recent radio interview that he has "no problem with an up-or-down vote" on school choice issues but noted test votes have previously failed by wide margins.
"The delta's pretty large on school choice, on getting it across the finish line," Phelan said.
This article was originally posted on Gov. Greg Abbott voices clear support for school voucher program
Texas isn't ready to support more parents and kids in a post-Roe world, advocates warn
Colorado voters to decide on free school lunch expansion


If you spend a lot of time on IMDB.com, looking up random movies, researching the whole filmography of your favorite obscure actors, and looking for other trivia about any film and TV show that you can find, they assume that you wouldn't mind streaming videos from there as well. They have now officially announced Freedive, a free but ad-supported streaming service to add to the ever growing number of places where you can watch videos. This may also be the long-rumored free version of Amazon's Prime Video service, since they own IMDB anyway.
While they say that Freedive features "hit movies and TV shows", don't expect stuff that is still on air or that just recently came out in the theaters. But if you like looking for TV shows that ended a few years back, then this should be a treat for you. They mention Fringe, Heroes, Without A Trace, Duck Dynasty, The Bachelor, and even Quantum Leap. In terms of movies, you also have relatively "old" titles like Monster, Run Lola Run, Memento, The Last Samurai, The Illusionist, etc.
IMDB Freedive also includes their original video series like The IMDB Show, Casting Calls, and No Small Parts. You can also use X-Ray to dive deeper into the videos you're watching by finding out more about the cast, crew, trivia, soundtracks, etc. Just like a lot of free, ad-supported streaming services like YouTube, titles available aren't recent but their library is still interesting.
You can watch Freedive on IMDB.com/freedive on your laptop or computer. It's not yet available on their Android app for now but they're working on it. And since this is an Amazon company, it's also available on Fire TV devices under the Your Apps and Channels row. For now, it's only available in the US and no news yet if it will expand to other markets as well.


The Barra MacNeils — Canada's "first family of Celtic music" — herald the arrival of the 2018 holiday season by bringing their East Coast Christmas Tour to North Vancouver's Centennial Theatre on November 22, 2018. Win tickets from Miss604.
Vancouver Latin American Cultural Centre Society presents Aquarela do Brasil: An Explosive Celebration of Music and Dance at the Vancouver Playhouse November 8-9, 2018. Enter to win tickets from Miss604.
Surrey Tree Lighting Festival taking place November 24th. Miss 604 is proud to sponsor this free, family friendly event.


Cyber-attacks are nothing new to small and large businesses alike. Although hacking is illegal, talented hackers know how to break even the toughest security systems in the Internet world.
Small business owners often ignore the security risk or don't realize the power that hackers have and thereby panic when they get attacked by hackers. Maybe they think, "Oh it won't happen to me," or maybe they don't have enough time to think about their website security system. This way of thinking will only lead to costly misfortune, so make sure you take measures to keep your website secure.
They can steal your customer's confidential information by breaking into your database.
They can put inappropriate text and images on your website that can create a bad impression of your business.
They can submit malicious and harmful virus attacks on people who enter your site.
They can hack your email account and send spam through the servers.
This is a very short list, but there are plenty more. Your business may experience disaster if you don't take proper steps to protect your website. All of these could potentially impact your business, and in severe cases, you may even lose valuable customers.
Here are some tips to protect your website form the hackers.
If you are using a Content Management System (CMS) like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, or others, it's very important keep the CMS updated whenever the latest version is available. Check for updates regularly and install the updated version as soon as it becomes available so that it can patch your security system. This is also applicable for shopping cart systems or other plugins and scripts.
If your website allows the users to upload files, it is vulnerable to malicious scripts that can be uploaded on your server by hackers, which can break through security to your website. So, if you allow files, images, and text uploads from users, ensure their security by having a virus scan system in place before uploading to your website server.
Hackers can easily fill out your website's contact form and submit malicious code through it, so make sure your website forms are secure by investing in web form security to avoid hacking.
Never use simple passwords to access the admin panel. Set up a password that has a mix of characters, numbers, and special characters that make it difficult for hackers to attack. You should also set up several security questions during the login progress, which adds an extra layer of protection since hackers won't be able to enter your website server without the security question answer.
When your website is ready, it is very important to consult with an IT expert to review the security for the hosting server. If your hosting server is not secured, your website may be at severe risk of being hacked easily. Set up the maximum security to the server directories, and set the permission options to restrict read, write, and execution.
Generally, when you log in with an ID and password, an error page appears if the ID or password is incorrect. Very carefully decide what to share on this error page.
For example, if someone submits the wrong username, a safer error message is "Incorrect username and password combination. "This way, the hackers cannot see any clues to guess your username or password. It is recommended to limit how many times someone can attempt to log in so that imposters will not have enough opportunities to try several login combinations.
If you have a big website with a shopping cart system, membership, or online form, it is wise to protect your website with an SSL certificate.
A SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate protects the submitted data to your website by encrypting it so that it makes it harder for hackers to intercept and corrupt. You will get a small SEO ranking benefit from Google for websites with SSL installed.
If you are don't know how to assess your security system, just call an IT expert and ensure all of these measures are in place. It is essential to ensure website security no matter what your business is.


text:
Home András Schiff
Brahms centre stage
The piano recitals of Sir András Schiff
Sir András Schiff
(Photo: Peter Fischli)
"I'm only interested in the best and greatest music. And there's so much of it for piano. It's a real gift!" as pianist Sir András Schiff said in his interview for the Philharmoniker's magazine 128. The Berliner Philharmoniker and their concert series have benefited from this interest since 1989, when he made his debut with the orchestra under the direction of Seiji Ozawa with a performance of Brahms' First Piano Concerto. Since then, he has performed almost all of the major piano concertos of the repertoire in the Philharmonie – and much more! For years, the native Hungarian, who has been a British citizen since 2001 and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in June 2014, has continued to surprise audiences with unusual concert programmes.
New perspectives on well-known works
"I want us to breath new life into our concerts; this can be achieved educationally – in the best sense of the word – with good programming," says the artist, who captivates audiences with his well-articulated and analytical but at the same time deeply felt playing. "Putting the programmes together gives me enormous pleasure. There is a lot of thought behind them, because they should not merely be entertaining. It is important to me that people feel comfortable at a concert - but it isn't enough to play only a few popular pieces, as is very often the case."
In search of connections
In recent years, he has dedicated a series of concerts to the last Sonatas of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert in a highly exciting cycle, linking these works to piano works by Bach, Bartók, Janáček and Schumann: "My job is to seek out and find the connections between the pieces." In his two recitals this season, compositions by Johannes Brahms take centre stage. In the first concert, Schiff juxtaposes his Acht Klavierstücke op. 76 and Seven Fantasies, op. 116 with Felix Mendelssohn's Fantasy in F sharp minor op. 28 Sonate écossaise, Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 24 in F sharp major, and Johann Sebastian Bach's English Suite No. 6 – three composers who Brahms studied intensively. The programme of the second concert focuses on Brahms' late piano works, complemented by pieces by Bach and Beethoven. Plus, in addition to works by Bach and Beethoven, there are also Robert Schumann's Geistervariationen and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Rondo in A minor KV 511.
As guest of the Berliner Philharmoniker
2017: Sir András Schiff performs the second movement of Béla Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 3 (excerpt) Watch Video
Sir András Schiff in the Digital Concert Hall