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Phone House University, dare to know
The Phone House University, which is part of the Dominion Commercial division, is an initiative that was born three years ago with the aim of facilitating the workers learning through technology, thus favouring flexibility and enabling students to learn where and when they want.
Under the slogan of 'Dare to know', the university empowers the employees so it's themselves who choose what they want to learn from the different options offered, which are not few.
"Phone House University is segmented into schools, such as the School of Clients & Sales, the Leadership Club, School of Welfare, School of Languages, School of Development... All the schools have their objectives and seek to provide solutions in each area to employees, uniting what the students need with what we think they need", explains Carlos Rubio, Head of The Phone House University.
These schools, on the other hand, have training programs that are composed of different courses, such as, for example, the Skills Development Program, which usually lasts between two and three months and where there are more than 600 students enrolled, having already completed it about 120 people. "We also have a Nutrition and Healthy Eating program at the School of Welfare with more than 4 000 visualizations; or product courses of all the brands we sell", adds Carlos.
Last year, the figures of the university spoke for themselves of the success of the short journey of the centre; not in vain, 10 315 courses were completed, giving an average of 3.85 courses per student. "We are a very talented company, which wants to maintain and increase it. With an average of fifteen new employees per month, we must always be up to date, and for this to be achievable, you need technology, a platform to which any employee can connect from any of their devices at any time", says Carlos.
A tool to empower the worker
The main objective of The Phone House University is to empower the worker in a global way, so that he finds knowledge and tools to be able to better develop his performance (something especially relevant, for example, when making a demonstration to a client in a store in Madrid or while attending a Russian customer in Malaga).
"Where we focus more is in the School of Sales & Clients; We always allocate a large percentage of the resources here. We work a lot on the 'Sales Style', which is our internal process of selling and serving our customers, a lot of product training, process training...", comments Carlos.
And the students' response to this offer is very positive, since year after year the platform is hosting more users and activity. "It is true that we have courses that are mandatory by regulation, such as internal Code of Ethics, or Compliance courses (Regulations) that all employees complete, but most are not mandatory. We do not like to order that you have to learn. You learn if you decide, if it's the time or if you want", explains Carlos.
And among the courses that have more acceptance are, for example, financing or mobile insurance courses, made by about 1 500 employees at the point of sale.
Awards and future goals
The Phone House University is formed by schools, which house most of the content in the online platform universidad.phonehouse.es. But the possibilities are not only referred to the web environment, since there are also face-to-face training actions, with courses that are taught throughout Spain, or other resources, such as mobile training (mobile learning) thanks to technology partners such as Snackson, or video games. In Phone House innovation has always been sought, in order to reach efficiency, and since 2011 they've been working with the Gamelearn company. "When nobody did it, we were already training with video games; We worked on time management, conflict management or negotiations", says the head of Phone House University. "In 2017 we worked in a video-game course called '2100'; it is a simulation course for sales and customer service, and for this course we have been nominated for five national and international awards", Carlos points out.
In fact, thanks to the videogame, Dominion Commercial has won in Spain the prize for the best innovative solution given by the Association of E-learning Providers, as well as the Brandon Hall in Miami, where the Silver category has been received as 'Best Advance in games or Simulation Technology', being this recognition the most important of the world in the sector. In addition, they have recently been named finalist in the International Customer Experience Awards in the category of 'Best Digital Strategy', an appointment that takes place on November 20 in Amsterdam in which Dominion Commercial will face Saudi Arabia, Austria, South Africa, England, Finland or Singapore, to name a few.
"The year always stars with many challenges, because we always want to do our best. We want to have quality content that contributes to the business on the one hand, and the development of the students on the other. It does not matter how we get to these, whether it's by mobile, computer, face to face in a store, on video, playing or with post-its; we will continue looking for continuous improvement", concludes Carlos Rubio.
The Phone House University is a good example of how the companies' acquisition has given Dominion knowledge and best practices in the field of education; In fact, the platform is expected to be available to the entire company in a short period of time.
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Frank Privitera, President of Mobius, was nominated for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) prestigious "Contractor of the Year" award for the second year in a row. Out of several thousand contractor employees eligible for the Contractor Honor Roll, one hundred individuals were nominated and only fourteen individuals were inducted, including Mr. Privitera.
All of the Mobius nominees and award recipients share this honor with their MDA teammates, industry partners, and fellow Mobius employees and executives.


The Media Giving Out The Wrong Message?
I went on a course last week about 'safe recruitment' in my role as chair of a local pre-school.
Even as volunteers, we're expected to develop a knowledge of safeguarding children – a sentiment I applaud.
The course on the whole was good and highlighted to me the importance of working hard to keep paedophiles away from children. It's all about reducing risk – not eliminating it, as that's impossible.
All of this in the light of the Panorama about the mis-treatment of vulnerable adults in a setting in South Gloucestershire.
During the course though, one of the speakers put up images of two newspaper articles about court cases involving paedophiles. The headlines used words like 'predator' etc with pictures of two men staring madly.
The speaker said that the media had got it wrong when it came to dealing with paedophiles, their language was wrong and articles such as these don't give the real truth.
The real truth being that paedophiles don't look like monsters, are rarely strangers and often look like the nice guy who lives next door, the helpful guy round the corner or the lovely lady who always helps you out.
Unfortunately for the speaker, this was not something I could just leave without comment. It's such a yawn to hear that well worn phrase 'the media has got it wrong' as if that excuse covers all ills.
Over coffee, I tackled her. She said that I must agree with her and I said I completely disagreed.
The law around reporting sexual offences is very strict, so the only cases the media can report in any detail are those few (often the most terrible, and the most lurid) which reach the courts.
Most journalists know that there are far more sexual offenders out there than the public realize and often they are very close to home.
Also one of the biggest barriers to reporting these disturbing facts are social services departments.
These departments often run scared of the press and, even when given lots of assurances, won't trust a journalist to protect the identity of vulnerable victims or witnesses (even though the law says we must).
But when these professionals allow quality journalism to take place – things can be changed, sometimes very quickly.
I've overcome this media fear a couple of times in my career and produced films which I'm deeply proud of – where police officers, professionals have all cooperated in order to tell a story which would not have seen the light of day otherwise.
Last year, I tried to get permissions in place to tell the story of the lives of a small number of dysfunctional families in Swindon and the massive investment that was being made to help them. The police were all for it – given that the then head of Swindon police knew I would honour my promise to protect those who needed protecting. But social services said no – and that was the end.
So when told last week by someone from social services (who does a wonderful job each day I'm sure) that it's the media getting it wrong, sending out the wrong message – I did feel a little smug in pointing out that actually her profession was part of the very problem she was complaining about.


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German Coverup Scandal: Ministry Urged Erasing "Rape" From "Monstrous" Cologne Migrant Attack Report
May 3, 2016 by Infinite
– German Coverup Scandal: Ministry Urged Erasing "Rape" From "Monstrous" Cologne Migrant Attack Report:
A key turning point in German public sentiment (and subsequent anger) against the unprecedented refugee wave swarming the nation took place during a NYE celebration in Cologne, when multiple reports suggested that as many as 1,000 men "of Arab or North African origin" participated in "monstrous" coordinated attacks on German women in Cologne. "About 90 women have reported being robbed, threatened or sexually molested at New Year celebrations outside [the city's] cathedral," Reuters wrote, adding that the men were "between 18 and 35" and appeared to be "mostly drunk" as well as of foreign origin.
This led to an outpouring of anger across Germany, and even Cologne mayor Henriette Reker chimed in calling the incident "unbelievable and intolerable" while Justice Minister Heiko Maas described the attacks as "a new scale of organized crime."
It also resulted in a prompt reversal in Angela Merkel's notoriously liberal immigration policy, the result of which was a dramatic slowdown in refugee flows using the "land corridor" entering central Europe, and leading to the infamous deal with Turkey which promised Erdogan billions if he manages to contain the millions of Syrian refugees within his borders.
Now, according to local press reports, it turns out there was more. Germany's The Local reports that a high-ranking police officer has alleged that his seniors tried to strike the word rape from an internal police report after the mass sexual assaults in Cologne over New Year.
The local media outlet reports that a chief superintendent in the Cologne police told the investigative committee established in the wake of the attacks that the interior ministry in North Rhine-Westphalia had sought to influence the investigations.
According to the officer, the government attempt to intervene in the narrative took place when an official from the ministry had called about a rape charge mentioned in an internal police report. "That isn't rape. Get rid of it. Delete the report," the ministry official said, according to the chief superintendent.
The rape report was made by a young woman who alleges she was surrounded by a group of around 50 men, some of whom pushed their fingers inside of her. When he complained about the caller's angry and abrupt tone, the official replied "these are the orders from the ministry. I'm simply passing them on."
While the 52-year-old chief inspector said that he had never in his career experienced an intervention of this nature from the ministry, he was quick to add that he did not believe it was part of a cover-up, even though that is precisely what it appears to have been.
"They didn't understand what is meant by rape," he suggested.
The government was unsuccessful in its cover up attempt, however, when hundreds of women filed similar complaints in the days and weeks after the attacks with police, alleging that they had been sexually assaulted or robbed by groups of men around Cologne's central train station.
The superintendent's report corroborates unconfirmed rumors made in the days after the attacks, when allegations were made that the police had sought to cover up the crimes, due to the fact that they appeared to have been committed by men with a migrant background.
The Local also notes that in March police conceded that they had almost half the number of officers on duty during the assaults as they had originally claimed. A police report published the day after the attacks claimed 140 officers were present at the scene, when in fact at most only 80 were present. The sexual assaults on New Year's Eve have brought stronger calls for reforms to Germany's law on rape. Proponents for change say the law doesn't sufficiently protect victims because it does not mention consent and courts often place too much emphasis on whether a victim physically resisted.
Whether Merkel's cabinet had intended on toning down the nature of the Cologne attack in order to maintain the illusion that her refugee adoption ideal was without fault remains to be seen, however as a result of these allegations one wonders if Merkel's standing with the public will be further adversely impacted, and providing another boost to the suddenly ascendant AfD which as we reported yesterday has been increasingly targeted by the local media in attempts to discredit its "conservative" agenda and its anti-Muslim rhetoric, an onslaught which we speculated may only boost the AfD's popularity and will certain lead to even more vote for the political organization if the Cologne coverup scandal grips Germany's national attention.
Categories Global News, Politics Tags Abuse, Crime, EU, Europe, Germany, Global News, Government, Migrant Crisis, Politics, Rape, Sex Post navigation
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[ African Jazz, Hip Hop Kwaito Reggae & more... ] 16 July 2019 SA Time:
Fassie, Brenda
15 May 2004: Thinking of Brenda - Njabulo Ndebele - PART 1 (1 of 2)
Thinking of Brenda - Njabulo Ndebele - PART 1 (1 of 2)
www.music.org.za 2004
By Njabulo Ndebele 2000
Brenda Fassie is without doubt one of the dominant icons of contemporary South African popular music. From about twenty years ago, when she broke into the musical scene in the early eighties with "Weekend Special", she has continued to evoke strong reactions. Whether she is adored or disliked, she is always there to react to. It is in reacting to her that we discover we are actually reacting to ourselves. We are compelled to confront in ourselves the implications of the ups and downs of her life: marriage and divorce; drugs; homosexuality; and healing. Stages of her life are reflected in her songs with a candour that approaches pure innocence. We ask: how is it to be innocent in a dangerous world?
e world demonstrates the notion of slowness. There was the blue haze in the horizon, rural smoke rising slowly against the sky until it seemed as if the sky was floating. I remember the distant kra-a-a-k of a white-necked raven gliding somewhere in the sky, and the trees so still as if they had sucked in through their leaves, all the motion there ever was. That is the scene I saw when I finally got out of bed after waking to the sounds of "Weekend Special" on Radio Lesotho somewhere in the house.
The music had reached me while I was hovering between the states of waking and sleeping, suspended between re-emerging consciousness and the continuation of sleep. I had not heard the song before, nor did I know who was singing it, but I will never forget the pounding thrill of it, the rhythms that I felt certain could keep a party going endlessly. And that is exactly how it turned out at many parties in Maseru those years. Much later, Elliot Makhanya was to capture what many felt: "Brenda Fassie is a unique creative energy and an overwhelming talent. ...Fassie has been singing for just over two decades, but every time you listen to her, it seems as if she has just begun" (Sowetan. November 5, 1999). It is of personal significance for me that I remember my first experience with "Weekend Special" so vividly. Over the years, I have accumulated a repertoire of songs that first came to me at precisely that time of the morning, in that same floating state of being. That is how "Jesu, joy of man's desiring" first floated towards me from the dining room of our four-roomed home, where my father played his vinyl of classical music records on a gramaphone, on a Sunday morning as he typed away a school Inspector's report on a Royal typewriter.
Some songs invaded my home from outside, and found their way into my ears, particularly on Saturday mornings. There were neighbours who loved to show off their hi-fi sound systems by turning on the volume so high that I would wonder if they could hear one another from where they were, being so close to their booming sets. Only now I know why they shouted so much when they spoke, especially when they greeted people passing by in the street. It is such neighbours who would be the subject of many disapproving sermons in township churches. "The devil comes in dancing into your house through your loud hi-fi sets," many a preacher warned. " And as you fry in the flames of hell, the hi-fi sounds ringing in your head and driving you to unfathomable madness, you reap the terrible fruits of showing off your worldly possessions. "
But many neighbours loved their sets and their music too much to be intimidated. In that way, 'Rosie my girl' of the Dark City Sisters, floated into my mind, to stay there to this day. So did "Darlie Kea Lemang" by Miriam Makeba and the Skylarks. So did "My Boy Lollipop" by Natalie Cole. So did Jim Reeves of the �Distant Drum?also wake me up to his cruel lover who was the �judge, the jury all in one.?
Many years later in Duduza, visiting my sister's home, I would wake up, on Sunday mornings, to other sounds. A few houses away, a Zionist Church held its all night service of prayer through singing, dancing, clapping, and the beating of drums. The drums had pounded away until I could not hear them anymore, as my mind succeeded in fusing their rhythms with the general background of life inside and outside, filtered out until unheard, as such, and I could fall asleep. But something happened in the morning: the rhythms shook me awake, when the worshippers finally came out of the house of worship at first light of dawn, to perform the grand finale to the nightlong service. This they did in the street. They come out in single file, and once they are all out in the street, quickly form into a fast spinning, whirling, and frenzied circle of prayer in movement and song. And then they break up for the day, ready for the next week.
The mornings and the particular state of waking have given me many musical epiphanies. They remain as lasting memories, capturing the manner in which vital bonds were established between myself, the songs, and where they were first heard. To remember songs is to remember time and place and circumstance. In the same way, memories of place can trigger memories of song and circumstance. Memories of events can bring a flood of songs associated with them and the places where they were heard. Thus, music can become one of the vital ways by which we connect with the world. How we map the trajectory of our feelings about where we have been, and where we are; about personal and historic events that we live through. Music yields us a complex of intuitions about being there in the world. It connects us to our neighbourhoods, be it through blaring hi-fi sets, or singing and drumming in the streets, or the quiet of the home where we listen to the gramophone and the typewriter (which evokes the world of work, beyond). Music connects us too, to far away places across the seas from where we hear their plaintive voices, evoking familiar joys and pains of bonding and loss, striking intimate chords that link people across unimaginable distances.
So, my conception of the world has grown partly as a result of the intangible worlds of sound, which formed vivid impressions in my mind of the possible social worlds from which those sounds originate. Through my imagination, from my still position in bed, I have travelled extensively: first to other rooms in my home, then out into my neighbourhood, and through the music floating towards me from these sources, on to distant places far beyond. I will not be surprised that many of us have most probably encountered music in a similar manner. Not necessarily lying in bed in the morning and emerging from sleep. Time and place and circumstance will be different, for each of us, but the impact, if we have been receptive to those special sounds coming at us, will have been profoundly similar. Time and place and events converge in sound and rhythm. In this way we have another means by which we accumulate memories that define our journeys through the world.
And so do we become members of musical communities distinguished by rhythms, voices, and instruments. Sometimes these kinds of musical communities will coincide with national communities and become a part of how national communities define their identities. It is this difficult question of identity, within the context of our own unfolding national identity, that I am struggling with as I try to unravel my intuitions about why I have found the phenomenon of Brenda Fassie so particularly intriguing. It turned out not to be a particularly easy task to undertake.
There are few controversial characters in contemporary South Africa, who stand out like Brenda Fassie. Besides her musical talents, she has some highly marketable qualities. For example, there is an unmistakable outrageous brazenness about her that newspapers are bound to love. That they quickly recognized what a musical catch they had in their hands comes through in many headlines. At first, the headlines reflected a genuine discovery of a major musical talent: "There's no stopping Brenda", says `Bona' magazine in April 1984, soon after Brenda's dramatic entrance into the entertainment industry through her hit song "Weekend Special".
But even back then, there were signs of another media prize: Brenda's mouth. "I have been through a lot of difficulties paving my way to success," she says. "Now that I have reached this stage in my career, I am not going to turn back. My ambition is to become a number one musician in this country and....well...make a lot of money" (2 Bona. April, 1984). Here was a rags to riches story that landed on the press's hand like a bird. The profiling of Brenda as a musician shifted dramatically towards the drama of her private life.
There is a telling sequence of pictures in the supplement to "Drum"' magazine of December/January 1991 entitled: ?951 to 1991 Then and Now. A 40 year perspective of township Life as seen through the eyes of Drum.?There are many pictures of musicians and dancers, particularly in the fifties and sixties, who are shown performing on stage. Dancers, in particular, are captured in dramatically frozen motion. In contrast, Brenda Fassie, a dynamic contemporary performer, is shown in her wedding dress, on her wedding day, with Yvonne Chaka Chaka, her senior bridesmaid, mopping the brides' brow on a "steaming hot Durban day" (3 I am grateful to my research assistant Megan Samuelson, for making this observation). Chicco Twala is shown leaning against his Mercedes Benz with his huge double-storey house in the background. At the bottom is a shoulder and head picture of Mbongeni Ngema, accompanied by a comment on how he "is now a wealthy playwright and music producer who counts among his friends Quincy Jones and Oscar-winning actor Denzyl (sic) Washington. "AFFLUENCE AND CONFUSION STRIKE A CHORD IN THE 90�S" goes the summative headline. The music and performance of these artists are downplayed in favour of gossip about their private lives.
Indeed, in 1987, three years after Brenda has broken into the musical scene, she is on the cover of Drum with half of her picture, in which she is seating on the floor, dominated by her exposed right thigh, knee and boots. The other half is her smiling face. Her face radiates a mix of innocence and calculated sexuality. "BRENDA- I CAN'T BUY ME LOVE" goes the cover headline. The story inside has a juicy heading: "SHE'S LOOKING FOR A LIFETIME SPECIAL. Brenda tells all on Chicco, a lesbian fling, and one-night stands." And Brenda, the star of "Weekend Special", rises to the occasion and rattles off about men and love, building on what is to be her characteristic style of self-exposure: "I know that most of them are just lusting after me. They don't love me. They just want to go to bed with me". And then follows her characteristic sudden shift in focus as something strikes her mind: "I can also seduce a man if I want to."
Later on in the same interview, she pronounces: "it was a good experience," referring to what the article calls 'a lesbian fling.?"I was just curious. I wanted to know how they make love to other women." Just an experiment, which, it turns out later, has been a defensive method to maintain self-respect. If the public have a problem with lesbians, Brenda was merely experimenting. She was not one herself. But because a part of her really is, she has to protect herself against her self and maintain her self-esteem to herself: "I am always nice to the lesbians. I don't snub them. I hope I will never become a lesbian." A verbal distancing effect for the public designed to facilitate and maintain an internal coherence. And so, Brenda keeps "telling all" to the thrill of the magazine and many shocked readers whose appetites are whetted for more stories, more of Brenda's musical hits, and more appearances at festivals, where they will endure long hours waiting for her to appear.
"One malicious columnist," complains Brenda, "wrote that I look like a horse. And some people say that I am ugly. I don't want to be beautiful. My ugliness has taken me to the top. I have proved that I have style, and all that glitters is not gold," she says, revealing another talent for the art of reversal. Once she was asked why she hasn't been to the United States where she could build on her fame. She retorted that Michael Jackson did not come to South Africa to be famous. Very early, Brenda firmed up her mouth as one her best assets.
Covering the next major episode in her life, "Drum" magazine is later found standing diligently on Brenda's side in March 1989 when she does indeed, find her 'Lifetime Special' in Nhlanhla Mbambo. "MASS HYSTERIA AS BRENDA SAYS �I DO? announces the cover of 'Drum' with a picture of the smiling couple dressed in white. 'Drum' dubs it the "pop wedding of the year". However, in August 1990 "Drum" announces a dramatic end of Brenda's marriage with another cover story. It shows us another picture of the couple. This time they are dressed in black leather clothes. There is no smile on Brenda face. She is looking pained and sad, but also decidedly petulant. Her husband is trying to smile, while the headline goes: "BRENDA AND HUBBY 'OUR MARRIAGE BASED ON JEALOUSY AND INFIDELITY'. It is not long after this announcement that the couple makes up. But marriage bliss is not for them. After a separation announced in November, `The Sowetan' later announces on December 10, "Curtain falls on Brenda's marriage". And so it does.
Since 1984 when she broke into the musical scene with "Weekend Special", Brenda Fassie, Ma Brr, and her music have lived through some of the most significant changes in the history of South Africa. Today, she still 'wows audiences,' as a typical Sowetan headline may put it. In that time, she floated into our personal and public lives as sound and rhythm. As sound, she has come at us in two ways: as music and as speech. In a way, whether she has been on stage or off it, hers has been a continuous performance. That is why, in this connection, it seems inappropriate to separate her public from her private persona. They are one.
It is useful to recall some of the major public events through which we travelled with Brenda Fassie, and during which, for sixteen years, she has been at centre stage. Some of these events are captured so well in a book called Mandela, Tambo, and the African National Congress. We were listening and dancing to "Weekend Special" when a:
"new pattern of protest grew throughout the South African summer of 1984-85. It consisted of stay-at-homes, roving demonstrations challenging the police patrolling the townships, and attacks on the businesses, houses, and persons of African charged with collaborating in the new Community Council system. Local grievances became the vehicle for protest against the apartheid system as a whole, spreading from township to township through a population thoroughly mobilized by student participation in school boycotts and broader involvement in the anti constitution campaigns. At the same time, the existence of national bodies such as the UDF provided new means for coordination or protest, epitomized in the Transvaal stay-at- home of November 5-6, 1984, in which an estimated 800,000 participated" (Sheridan Johns & R. Hunt Davis, Jr. (eds.). Mandela. Tambo and the African Nationa/ Congress. (New York: OUP, 1991), p. 198.)
Beyond that, the struggles progressed through several other phases. We witnessed the state of emergency, necklace killings, economic sanctions, rent and rates boycotts, the calls for "liberation now, education later," increasingly successful ANC guerrilla attacks against the apartheid state, the release of Mandela, the constitutional negotiations, and the historic elections of 1994, tens years after `Weekend Special'. And now, we have entered the phase of democracy, governance and delivery. Brenda is still there, continuing to make an impact.
In that time she hungered for love, made money, got married, divorced, confirmed her bisexuality, wrecked her life through drug addiction during which she experienced one of the painful moments of her life: the death of her lover Poppy, seemingly from a drug overdose. Through a difficult struggle, thanks to her producer Chicco Twala, she recovered and is falling in and out of love once more, while continuing to make new music, which continues to enjoy enormous popularity.
As Namibian interviewer, Immanuel D'Emilio observes: "controversial songstress Fassie has an honours degree from the University of Hard Knocks, but she never let traumatic life events get in her way having a good time. Now that she has made peace with her odious past, she's embarked on a mission to regenerate her reign as the inimitable queen of the South African music industry. Her Highness spoke to me about love, drug addiction, loss and power of fame." (The Namibian, August 14, 1998. 6 Sowetan. February 7, 1997.) Although the tone of D'Emilio's writing is exploitative and disparaging, it shows how the media, in reflecting the ups and downs of Brenda's life, took advantage of her. But it is Brenda's own words than ring loud: "I am a born again musician."
Remarkably, these ups and downs are reflected in many of the lyrics of her music. Her life and her music are inseparable. What could it all mean?
For one artist to remain at the centre stage of South African popular music for sixteen years is a phenomenon that necessarily has to resonate with special meaning for the times. Allister Sparks makes an interesting observation of crowds at political rallies in the eighties:
Here the anonymous individuals of a humiliated community seemed to draw strength from the crowd, gaining from it the larger identity of the occasions and an affirmation of their human worth. Their daily lives might seem meaningless, but here on these occasions the world turned out, with its reporters and its television cameras, to tell them it was not so, that their lives mattered, that humanity cared, that their cause was just; and when they clenched their fists and chanted their defiant slogans, they could feel that they were proclaiming their equality and that their strength of spirit could overwhelm the guns and armoured vehicles waiting outside. (Allister Sparks. The Mind of South Africa: The story of the Rise and Fall of Apartheid. (London: Heinemann, 1990). P. 341.)
Similarly, in the apparent futility of daily life under oppression, Brenda seems to succeed in giving meaning to the daily details of life by affirming them in song. When her audiences recognise those social facts, and sing along, imprinting them anew in their minds, and dancing to the rhythms that carry the picture or message-bearing words, they participate in a vital process of self-authentication and regeneration.
"Zimb' izindaba ..." Begins the song "Kuyoze Kuyovalwa" in the CD "Abantu Bayakhuluma. " Mina Ngihamba no- Kuyoze ku clozwe Izikhiye zilahleke, bese bayavula vele kuyoze kuyo valwa-ke
Sihamba ngo (Allister Sparks. The Mind of South Africa: The story of the Rise and Fall of Apartheid. (London: Heinemann, 1990). P. 341.
Thina siyalala la
Thina siyahlala la
We're not leaving this party. We'll be here until daybreak. They may close and lose the keys, but will surely open again until daybreak. This mock defiance of hosts is partly a result of known characters who never take hints, and over stay their welcome. But is also an expression of pure pleasure: just how fun it is at the party. However, hosts must be warned, the partygoers may just stay until daybreak. The popular format of 6pm to 6am festivals (dusk to dawn) replays this potentially anarchic social game at an immensely grand scale.
"Lyrically, Fassi's (sic) songs are a mish-mash of the latest township lingo, sometimes barely comprehensible even to locals, but they stick in the minds of her listeners", (Kim Burton (ed.). WorldMusic (The Rough Guide). (London: The Rough Guides, 1994) says a report on Brenda Fassie "World Music: The Rough Guide". "Mish-mash" suggests confusion. Not necessarily. What Brenda does, and this seems a part an ingrained pattern of behaviour, as we shall see later, is bring together unusual, apparent unconnected juxtapositions that make sense only in context. For example, the bumper sticker on her car reads: HULLO BU-BYE KOKO COME IN (Vrye Weekblad. Desember/Januarie 1993)
This may look like incomprehensible "mish-mash" to the socially uninitiated. But it is a free spirit expression of the social energy in the endless comings and goings in the township, the meetings and the partings, and the opening and the closing of doors. It is a dramatic validation of common experience.
Perhaps the most controversial act of validation is Brenda's outspokenness on the taboo subject of sex. The problem, for society, comes precisely at the point where, for Brenda Fassie, the wall between the private and the' public totally collapses. What could be more outrageous in public, coming from a popular star than: "Some men cry... (8 Abantu Bayakhuluma. CDBREN (WL) 94 CCP 1994.)
Because I sing... I sing when I make love... I sing for them." This obliteration of the divide between the private and the public is at the bottom of her verbal ungovernability. Indeed, if the state is to be rendered ungovernable, and if that ungovernability IS a factor of not only of the intention to be free, but also that the act of rendering the state ungovernable is itself an act of freedom, then Brenda's voice enters the public arena as ungovernable, the ultimate expression of personal freedom. While she may shock, she is at the same time admired, not for her courage (for this is not courage at play), but for being representative of the value of expressiveness. She made real in the personal dimension, the political quest for an abstract notion of freedom. She brought the experience of freedom intimately close.
........ continues >>>>
|THINKING OF BRENDA - ?Njabulo Ndebele 2000 - END OF PART ONE |
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These treehouses are made entirely from reclaimed materials, and are stocked with wine, baskets of delicious treats, and twinkling fairy lights to make your stay truly magical.


text:
Expression and roles of regulatory B cells and T cells in patients with chronic hepatitis B
Author(s): YANG Hong-lin, JIN Jie, JIANG Ting-wang, School of Medical Science and Laboratory Medicine, Jiangsu University, Department of Clinical Laboratory, the First People's Hospital of Wujiang, Institution for Laboratory Medicine of Changshu
Journal: Journal of Zhenjiang Medical College
Keyword: regulatory B cells; chronic hepatitis B; regulatory T cells; IL-10;
Abstract: Objective: To investigate the expression and roles of IL-10+CD19+regulatory B cells( Breg) and CD4+CD25highregulatory T cell( Treg) in patients with chronic hepatitis B. Methods: A total of 28 patients with acute hepatitis B( AHB),31 patients with chronic hepatitis B( CHB) and 25 normal subjects( HCs group) were enrolled in this study. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells( PBMC) were isolated and stimulated with CpG ODN 2006 and PMA. The expression of IL-10+CD19+Breg and CD4+CD25high Treg was analyzed with flow cytometry. The level of IL-10 in culture supernatant was analyzed with ELISA. CD4+CD25+T cells were removed with Immunomagnetic beads to analyze the interactions between Breg and Treg. Results: After stimulation with CpG ODN 2006 and PMA,compared with the AHB group and the HCs group,percentages of Breg and Treg in the CHB group increased significantly( Breg: P = 0. 003,0.001; Treg: P < 0. 001,< 0. 005),and no difference was found between the AHB group and the HCs group( Breg: P =0. 796; Treg: P =0. 227). Spearman correlation analysis found that in the CHB group,Breg and Treg was positively correlated( r = 0. 50,P = 0. 004),but in the AHB group and the HCs group,there was no such correlation( r =- 0. 15,P = 0. 462; r = 0. 09,P = 0. 669). IL-10 expression in the CHB group was higher than that in the AHB group and the HCs group( Z =- 6. 596,- 6. 373,P < 0. 001),and the difference between the AHB group and the HCs group was not statistically significant( Z =- 0. 952,P = 0. 341). Spearman correlation analysis showed that in the CHB group,IL-10 and Breg were positively correlated( r =3. 303,P =0. 005). Before and after removal of CD4+CD25+T cells,in the CHB group,the difference between Breg and IL-10 expression was not statistically significant. Conclusion: The expression of Breg and Treg increased in patients with chronic hepatitis B,Breg might play a regulatory role by IL-10 secretion.


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Offered at our Sonoma Winery and Downtown Sonoma tasting rooms, enjoy a tasting of your choice of five reserve wines from our tasting menu. This includes our reserve Chardonnays, reserve Pinot Noirs, reserve Merlot and Cuveé Genevieve. Reserve Tasting also includes the tasting of our futures wines directly from the barrel.
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text:
Галерея сакрального мистецтва (Картинна галерея) — структурний підрозділ музею «Дрогобиччина».

Історія
21 вересня 1996 відбулося відкриття першої за всю історію існування міста картинної галереї — художнього відділу музею Дрогобиччина. Поштовхом до цього стало у 1992 році рішення міської влади про передачу будівлі міського «Палацу щастя» (Дрогобицького РАЦСу) для потреб музею «Дрогобиччина». Відтоді будівля по вулиці Січових Стрільців, 18 стала музейним об'єктом, де було відкрито експозицію Картинної галереї. Внаслідок чергової музейної реорганізації у 2010 році тут було відкрито відділ сакрального мистецтва.

Експозиція галереї
Експозиція знайомить відвідувача із творчістю провідних майстрів краю, висвітлюючи, насамперед, здобутки Дрогобицького мистецького осередку, як важливого центру малярства, різьбярства і золотарства у XVII–XVIII ст.
Головною метою створення експозиції було бажання належним чином представити для широкого публічного огляду високохудожні твори майстрів-іконописців, які жили і творили у Дрогобичі і для Дрогобича.

Сьогодні Галерея сакрального мистецтва музею «Дрогобиччина» представляє пам'ятки іконопису кін. XVI — I пол. ХХ ст., скульптури ІІ пол. XV–XIX ст., декоративної різьби XVIII ст., кованих виробів XVII–XVIII ст., рукописів, стародруків та священичого релікварію XVII–XIX ст.

У шести експозиційних залах демонструються роботи народних, невідомих майстрів, а також твори фахових художників, таких як Стефан попович Медицький, Іван Медицький, , о. Петро Метельський, Ян Квятковський. Окремо представлені твори дрогобицького золотаря Івана Черніговича і різьбяра Лукаша Зайдакавича, художників кола Станіслава Строїнського та Теофіла Копистинського, Осипа Куриласа, Антона Пилиховського (Володимирського).

Усі представлені в експозиції пам'ятки є освяченими, тобто сакральними й такими, що стосуються релігійного культу й ритуалу.

Будівля музею
Відділ сакрального мистецтва знаходиться в будинку палацового типу, спорудженому на поч. ХХ ст. у стилі пізньої сецесії. Першим власником палацу був дрогобицький магнат і віце-бурмістр Дрогобича Якоб Файєрштайн (Jakob Feurstein). Є відомості про те, що Я. Ф. використовував цей палац для урочистих прийомів високоповажних гостей міста і, зокрема, гостей заводу «Галіція».

Від часу створення екстер'єр споруди залишився практично незмінним. Чого не можна сказати про інтер'єр будинку, який втратив первинний вигляд у повоєнні роки, через те, що тут поселилися члени родин офіцерів радянської армії. У цьому будинку від 60-х функціонував міський РАЦС. Із 1996 року будівля стала музейним об'єктом і там було створено екпозицію Картинної галереї.

Див. також
 Музей «Дрогобиччина»
 Дрогобицький музей «Тюрма на Стрийській»
 Музей Бруно Шульца (Дрогобич)

Джерела

 Інформаційна сторінка про сакральний відділ музею «Дрогобиччина»
 Бервецький З. Картинній галереї у Дрогобичі — 3 роки // Європейське мистецтво XV–XX століть. — Дрогобич, 1999. — С.3.
 Сакральне мистецтво «Бойківщини». П'яті наукові читання. — Дрогобич, 2001. — 212 с. — ISBN 966-7379-30-2
 Сакральне мистецтво «Бойківщини». Шості наукові Драгановські читання. — Дрогобич: Коло, 2003. — 306 с. — ISBN 966-7996-35-2
 Сакральне мистецтво «Бойківщини». Другі наукові читання пам'яті Михайла Драгана. — Дрогобич.: Видавнича фірма «Відродження», 1997. — 142 с. — ISBN 966-538-085-0
 Сакральне мистецтво Бойківщини. Треті наукові читання пам'яті Михайла Драгана. — Дрогобич.: Видавнича фірма «Відродження», 1998. 234 с. — ISBN 966-538-111-3
 Сакральне мистецтво Бойківщини. Четверті наукові читання пам'яті Михайла Драгана. — Львів: Видавництво «Логос» Львівського музею історії релігії, 1999. 188 с. — ISBN 966-7379-15-9

Посилання
 Вебсторінка Музей «Дрогобиччина»
 Про Галерею сакрального мистецтва на офіційному сайті Музей «Дрогобиччина»
 Музею «Дрогобиччина» — 70! Відділ сакрального мистецтва
 Яків Фаєрштайн на Дрогопедія

Музеї Дрогобича
Музей Дрогобиччина
Засновані в Україні 2010

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Christian Writers Groups
Seal of God
Posted by TCL Staff | Feb 7, 2013 | Features | 0 |
"I want to become a Navy SEAL."
Dad didn't say anything immediately, but his facial expression did.
Are you really serious?
Dad is the studious type. He considers all the options, then makes well-thought-out, informed decisions.
I definitely didn't inherit that trait from him.
Dad wanted me to spend another year in college and take more time to think about what I wanted to be when I grew up. He pointed out the reasons why he believed I was rushing into my decision:
"You didn't stick with baseball."
"You didn't stick with skateboarding."
"You didn't stick with sport fishing."
"You're not good with authority—and you want to go into the military?"
I didn't tell Dad that I had known I wanted to become a SEAL for all of a few days now. Or that I had reached my decision while spinning my truck in 360s across an empty parking lot at my college, where I had started the morning by drinking and smoking marijuana.
That conversation with Dad ended like most conversations with my parents—on my terms. I marched out of his bedroom and down the hallway, dismayed once more that I wasn't being trusted. I needed to do something big. And nothing sounded bigger than becoming a Navy SEAL.
THE WORKOUTS BEGIN
I anticipated that becoming a SEAL would be the most difficult thing I would attempt in my life, but I had no doubt I would make it. SEAL candidates vow they will die before they quit, and most wind up quitting anyway, but I just knew that wouldn't happen to me.
Each day for the next few days, my dad brought up the topic. I sensed that mostly he wanted to see if I was still serious about becoming a SEAL, and each time we talked about it I did my best to convince him I was. … One day, however, Dad surprised me. He told me he had made contact with a former SEAL, who had agreed to meet with me.
I was confused. Why was Dad suddenly interested in helping me learn more about becoming a SEAL?
"If you're really serious about this," he explained, "I figured you might as well have a good idea of what you're getting yourself into."
What I didn't know, was that Dad had asked this guy to put me through a workout so difficult that it would completely beat the idea of becoming a SEAL out of my mind.
WELCOME TO BUD/S
"Look at the guy to your left. Look at the guy to your right. Look in front of you. Look behind you. Take a mental picture."
"If you make it through BUD/S," the instructor resumed, "chances are, all those other guys you just looked at didn't make it."
That moment was a reality check for me. Many of those guys looked tough and, as far as I could tell, no different than me. I knew I wouldn't quit, but those around me seemed like the type who wouldn't quit either.
Wow, I thought, where are those quitters going to come from?
It turned out that they would come from all over the room. About a year later, at the end of our training, only thirteen of the original 173 would have persevered all the way through to our SEAL class's graduation.
It was five o'clock in the morning, still dark, with a chilly, damp wind blowing off the Pacific. We stood outside our barracks.
Many of our instructors rode motorcycles, and we could hear their engines roar ahead of their arrival. One voice piped up from within our group: "The demons have arrived, and we're about to go through hell."
"BUD/S Class 254, get over here! On the grinder! Now!" an instructor barked through a bullhorn.
We immediately dashed to the grinder, a large concrete-asphalt area where calisthenics took place. That's the nice way of putting it. To be more descriptive, the grinder is where we went to get "ground."
On the grinder, the instructors sprayed us down with water hoses before ordering us to "Hit the surf!"
At the beach, the instructors had all of us line up with our backs to the water and gave us the order, "Link arms!" We linked arms with the guys on either side of us. Then we had to do an about-face and link arms again. The next command was, "Forward march!" Arms linked in one long chain, we marched into the water as waves crashed into us.
We continued marching until the water was chest high and the instructors ordered, "About-face. Take seats!" We brought our legs up into a sitting position. The waves gradually carried us back to shore until our bodies were scraping the sand. The waves continued to slap us in the face, and with our arms still locked, there was nothing we could do to block the slaps.
Sand got into our eyes, up our noses, into our mouths, and inside our ears. When we came out of the ocean, instructors made us roll along the beach until we wore a thick coat of sand from head to boots.
With the cold air and water, the annoying sand, the seemingly endless surf tortures, and the constant yelling, the instructors tried to weed out the weaker trainees within the first hour.
"We just want three quitters," the instructors told us. "Three quitters, and we'll take you out of the water." That was one of the psychological games the instructors played with us, and the games worked. Two or three guys gave up right off the bat.
Those who quit during BUD/S don't just walk away. They are required to return to the grinder, where a brass bell hangs outside First Phase office. Each recruit must give three solid tugs of a short rope to ringthe bell loud and clear, then place his helmet on the grinder and head off for a lesser Navy assignment. As the days of training accumulated, so did the number of helmets on the grinder.
Forty-six of us graduated from BUD/S Class 254. Almost twenty months after leaving for boot camp I became a Navy SEAL!
LIVING RECKLESSLY
Upon graduation, I had been assigned to immediately report to SEAL Team 1. I was glad I had landed on a West Coast team. That meant I'd be able to see my family and Aubrey often. It also meant I could maintain my high-octane partying with both my old friends and my new SEAL buddies. I threw a lot of energy into doing just that.
The next weekend I returned home, ready for more drinking and partying.
"We have to talk," my dad told me. "We can't have you stay here anymore if you're going to keep going out and doing these things," Dad said.
I became furious.
I knew I could easily find a friend to stay with when I came home, but I did have one problem that needed an immediate solution. I had a keg, hidden under a blanket in the garage, that I planned to use that night. Dad and Mom seemed pretty serious about kicking me out right away, so how could I get to that keg?
"Hey," I said to them. "You guys are going to some church thing tonight, aren't you?"
"Yeah," they responded, obviously wondering where that was headed.
"I'll go with you."
Shock covered their faces.
My intentions were completely disingenuous, but I did have a plan. Going to church with my parents would probably buy me one more night at home. And I would be back in plenty of time to get the keg and leave for the party.
I called Aubrey to fill her in on what was up and tell her that I wanted her to go to the service with us. I also gave her a heads-up about what to expect at church.
"When we get there," I told her, "there's going to be people playing music up on stage. And then there's this guy named Greg Laurie. He'll share a message about God, and then he'll basically ask everyone in the audience to respond in a certain way if the message has affected them.'
"Do not raise your hand. If you raise your hand, he's going to ask you to stand up. But it's a trick. Because once you stand up, he's going to get you to walk down to the front. Then once you're up front, they'll take you into a back room where someone will talk to you. And we don't have time for all that."
There had to be at least a thousand people under the tent when the service began, and the script followed exactly what I had told Aubrey would happen. At one point during the singing, I gave Aubrey a told-you-so look. She gave me her sweet little smile. She was doing exactly as I had advised. My parents were pleased I was there, so everything was going perfectly according to my script too.
But if you have heard Greg Laurie, the widely known senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California, you know what an engaging speaker he is. He has such a down-to-earth personality that it's difficult to listen to him speak without actually hearing what he's saying.
Gradually, I started paying more attention to his message. He was talking about this guy named Naaman from the Old Testament. The man was the successful commander of an army—he was a soldier—and he had an interesting story. Naaman was revered by his men and had a lot of power. But Naaman also had a problem: leprosy.
Naaman heard about a prophet named Elisha who could potentially take the leprosy away from him, so Naaman and his men decided to pay Elisha a visit.
I was totally into the story now.
Naaman and his servants went to Elisha's house, but Elisha wouldn't even pay him the courtesy of meeting him at the door. Instead, Elisha sent a messenger to talk to the commander. "Go to the river," the messenger toldNaaman, "and dip yourself in the water seven times."
It ticked Naaman off that the prophet hadn't come out and healed him. It ticked me off, too, because I was now imagining what it would be like to be Naaman. I was sitting forward in my seat, wondering what would happen to my new friend, Naaman.
Even though Naaman was upset, his servants convinced him that he had nothing to lose by dipping in the river as Elisha had prescribed through the messenger.
Pastor Laurie described how it must have felt for Naaman—big, strong, powerful military leader Naaman— to have to strip off his armor and, perhaps for the first time, allow the people who revered him to see the sores on his skin. But still, Naaman decided to dip into the river. He dipped once and nothing happened. He did it a second time and still nothing happened.
Was Naaman feeling like a fool? I would be.
Then came a third time, and a fourth, and so on until Naaman finally walked into the river for the seventh time. When he came out of the water that last time, all the leprosy had disappeared.
At about this point, it seemed as though Pastor Laurie stopped telling a story to a thousand people and started relating it one-on-one to me.
Sin, he said, is a lot like the leprosy Naaman suffered from in that it causes decay.
"Maybe you're a person," he continued, "who puts on this tough, outer shell, but inside you know things aren't right."
A sense of conviction immediately came over every square inch of my body. All of a sudden, a door seemed to open in my soul, and I began to feel so sorry for a list of things running through my mind—things I had done wrong. Along with that came a sense of urgency, a feeling that if I didn't walk through the door that night, it might never open for me again.
Right there in my seat, for the first time in my life, I was finally getting what the gospel was about. I realized that all the sin in my life was just like Naaman's leprosy, and the reckless lifestyle I had been living was decaying me.
But I also realized that if I got humble before God, he could instantly and completely forgive me for all the horrible things I had done. God could do for my life what he had done for Naaman's skin. I believed I could be given a new start through God.
"Those whom Jesus calls, he calls openly and publicly," Pastor Laurie said. "If you really want to make this commitment real," he said, "raise your hand."
It happened just like I'd told Aubrey it would. But I wasn't trying to see through his words any longer.
I raised my hand.
"If you raised your hand," Pastor Laurie continued, "stand up…"
I quickly stood and immediately was hit by what felt like a radical transformation taking place within me.
"…and walk on forward," Pastor Laurie concluded.
I hesitated momentarily. All I could think was, Wow! Wow! Wow!
Before I had even taken a step toward the front, I already knew I was on a countdown clock as a Navy SEAL. What had been my life's mission—what had consumed me through those two-plus years of training—had been replaced.
I'm going to do what that guy up there on the stage is doing.
That is a thought I would never have created on my own.
Up until that point, I couldn't even imagine being a regular churchgoer. As for actually getting up in front of others and talking about becoming a Christian? No way. Wouldn't happen.
And yet I knew that's what I was supposed to do.
I turned to Aubrey on my right.
"Come with me," I urged her.
"No!" she told me with a you-must-be-crazy look.
So I walked to the front alone.
I had already felt a complete transformation inside of me, but when I started down the aisle, I experienced yet another new feeling: humility. I felt exposed, like Naaman must have felt. And I felt like a quitter—but the good kind of quitter. I was ringing the bell on my way of doing things and enlisting to live life God's way.
Such an attitude doesn't come naturally to a SEAL, who typically possesses an "I can do it all on my own" mind-set.
Aubrey and my parents were waiting for me back in the make-do sanctuary. My parents wore humongous smiles.
Aubrey's face, however, wore a different expression.
"What's going on?" she asked me.
"We're not going out tonight," I told her, thrilled.
That night was the end of partying for me. The keg wound up sitting in my parents' garage, under that blanket, for at least two years, until the day when Dad and I were moving things around in the garage and uncovered it.
"What is this?" he asked.
"Oh, man," I told him. "That was from the night I got saved."
For Naaman's story, read 2 Kings 5.
Taken from Seal of God by Chad Williams. Copyright © 2012 by Chad Williams with David Thomas. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. For more information go to www.SEALofGodBook.com
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 Turpan Tour Introductions, Turpan Travel Guide.
The climate of Turpan climate is very harsh as it is very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter with little rainfall year round. July is the hottest month while January is the coldest. This very heat and dryness in the summer, however, combined with traditional methods of irrigation, allow the area around Turpan to produce many high-quality fruits. Turpan is most famous for its seedless grapes and the world's finest grapes are produced here.
In recent years, Turpan has attracted tourists domestic and abroad not only because of its interesting weather and sweet grapes, but also its natural wonders, historic and cultural sites. Turpan is a pearl along the Silk Road. The natural wonders there include Lake Aydingkol (the second lowest-lying lake in the world, after only the Dead Sea), Flame Mountain (the hottest place in China), and so on. Other famous tourist spots are: Astana Ancient Tomb Complex, Turpan Museum, Shashan Park, Gaochang and Jiaohe Ancient City, Karez, and Grape Valley, etc.
With a cold drink or a basket of grapes in hand, one can appreciate the pleasure of traveling around Turpan. The local Uygur music, dancing, dressings, food, customs and architectures are all fascinating and worthy of appreciation. Also, the annual Grape Festival in August has attracted thousands of tourists to participate.


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Waco officers arrest teen for smuggling of persons
Waco, Tx (FOX44) – A 17-year-old from Irving has been arrested in south Waco and is being held on a charge of smuggling of persons.
Bertin Lopez-Jimenez was booked into the McLennan County Jail Thursday following his arrest.
Waco Police Department spokesman Bryton Johnson said that about 9:30 a.m. Thursday members of the Waco PD Street Crimes unit were sent to a south Waco area to investigate reported suspicious activity.
Officers observed a vehicle with a fictitious license plate leaving the area and conducted a traffic stop.
With the help of a K-9 officer discovered that four persons were apparently being smuggled across the country after having been brought across the border illegally.
Officer also recovered $19,500 in cash.
Homeland Security Investigators assisted with this investigation and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents took custody of the four passengers.
Indiana man dead in Bell County crash
Bell County / 5 days ago
Mortgage on Killeen home of Gold Star Family paid …
Bell County / 24 hours ago
New Harker Heights High School principal announced
Teen Isabeau Levito wins U.S. women's figure skating …
Building damaged in Temple shooting
Man sentenced to 99 years for Burglary of a Habitation


While we don't like to think about it, last night's bad weather in Minnesota with tornados, loss of power and general destruction of building sites should be a good reminder that every production unit needs to have an updated emergency action plan in place.
Many producers think of emergency action plans as having to do with lagoon spills, manure pumping issues, etc. However, the best action plans include provisions for such things as power failures, facility damage, etc. While you aren't going to read the plan when a catastrophe occurs, if you've thought about it when you created (and reviewed) your emergency response plan, chances are your reaction to events will be better.
As readers of this blog are aware, I am always 'harping' on the issue of emergency systems in the event of a ventilation failure at a site. That is, are the curtain drops maintained and/or the generator and transfer switch functioning so heat removal can happen when the system fails. For big pigs, my models of heat transfer in facilities suggest you have no more than 30 minutes to begin removing heat from a facility full of pigs before death loss begins to occur due to hyperthermia. In nurseries and wean-finish facilities with smaller pigs, you've got up to 1 hour before deaths begin occurring.
In addition to emergency ventilation, does the emergency plan include details of dead animal disposal in the event of a catastrophe? If you were to have 500 pigs die due to a ventilation failure, fire, gassing associated with pit pumping, etc., what would you do with the carcasses? In most states, the general requirement is disposal in an approved manner within 24-48 hours? If you use a rendering service, can they deal with this many pigs in this time frame? If you are going to bury the dead animals, what are your state and local requirements for the burial pit? How many feet above ground water does the bottom of the pit need to be, how much dirt must be on top of the burial pit at closure, what about distance to any water sources, long term record keeping requirements, etc.? Is composting approved for disposal in the event of a catastrophe? If yes, how much residue will you need to source to make an effective compost pile or windrow?
In the event of a tornado or fire, how will you dispose of the ruined structural components? Can you bury/burn on-site or do your state and local regulations require disposal at an approved landfill? Must you separate recyclable materials such as metal gating, roof tin, crates, etc from wood components? What about any hazardous materials such as asbestos floor tiles in an old office area or asbestos cement board in old buildings?
There are commercial firms that specialize in site clean-up following a catastrophe. Have you checked them out for location, costs, etc? Better to have an idea of who to call and what it will cost prior to an event than be stuck calling around to see who is available, etc. What about insurance to cover the cost of disposal?


Become a member and download the pattern and instructions for this perfect burrow friendly dog bed today! My dog Enzo is part dachshund, so he is quite the burrower. Some people in the studio like referring to him as our resident burrito dog! He's always diving into a pile of blankets and wrapping himself up so you can barely see his little face popping out. This adorable habit led to the inspiration for making a DIY burrow dog bed. Ever since sewing this up he has barely left his new bed!
Print 3 copies of the template at the bottom of the post, one for each piece of the pattern. Following the diagram, cut out and assemble the pattern with tape.
Once you tape together the DIY burrow dog bed template, find guidance for cutting your fabric in the printable instructions below! Then follow along and use the photo tutorial for visual reference.
This project is a bit more advanced, so we recommend that more seasoned seamstresses take on this DIY. It can also be a welcomed challenge for anyone wanting to explore their sewing machine's potential! Head to your local fabric store or browse online to find a fabric that matches your dog's personality. We chose the Kaufman Sevenberry Canvas Cotton. We added a zipper to the side of our homemade dog bed so that we could easily remove the cover to throw it in the wash at any time. For tips on how to sew a zipper into the fabric, you can watch our instructional video on how to sew a basic zipper pillow.
That's a great tutorial for Burrow dog bed. This Burrow dog bed looks comfortable and hope little pups enjoy and warm. I have little ones cute breed and I hope this bed suitable for him. Can two or more pups share it just one bed?
Hi, this is a great tutorial! Could you tell me what is the diameter of the bed? I'd like to use an orthopedic foam insert for my older fury lady and was wondering if this would fit a 26" diameter and 3.5" height. Thank you!
Lisa , my baby looks just like yours, mine is a mix , dachshund and not sure what else, what is your breed? Reece is a rescue..love the bed.
Will this lovely dog bed be big enough for an 18 lb. dog? Thank you.
Does the pattern include a size to fit a 65 – 70 lb golden retriever? Say, 42 inches diameter?
Hi Mary! No, we only created this burrow bed in a small size. We hope to expand to larger sizes for other pups that enjoy burrowing sometime soon!
I cant wait to make this. As I'm typing this my miniature pinscher is on my lap under the blankets. Shes ALWAYS under blankets even when it's 90 degrees outside.. shes my cuddle baby!!!
I love to make things for my Dog too!
Has anyone made this but larger? 🙂 Any tips?
My dog liked this a lot ! It keeps her really warm but the only funny thing is that she just sits on top of the cover.
This is really great. It's a very helpful tutorial. It has a very unique design for your dog to snuggle up in and feel protected and warm. These nesting dog beds are ideal for pets that enjoy tucking themselves away in enclosed spaces.
My dog is a little bigger than a Doxie but he absolutely loves to burrow and snuggle under blankets. Do you have a modified version for medium sized dogs?? I know he would absolutely love this!
I'm sorry, we only have the one size! Because of the complexity of the project, we decided on just this one.
What about just scaling the pattern up? will that work to make it bigger? I have frenchies.
That works if you are able to print! It may only work on 11×17.
Hi,I just got the pattern, but I can't seem to get the PDF to"email" to my hubby at his job to print for me. It just says "print"as only option ..so I'm stuck for now. I am long time experienced with pet sewing though,and can answer your question. You can take the pattern pieces and hand draw on them in smaller sections. Play around with printer,and do some percentage increases, providing your printer has the feature to resize..just by centering on each smaller section. start at least with a 20% increase. you will have ALOT of piecing to do, but the sky is the limit,and you can get many sizes..going way up for a big dog. As far as the band with the zipper,you don't have to run that again…just make it to fit around your new top and bottom pieces,and add equal height to top and bottom of strip only if you want a taller bed.of course you would add more fleece. I plan on doing mine with no clump filling,in seperate washable pillow inserts,instead of quilt batting. yorkies and shih tzus like lumpy bumpy..ha!! Section off your flappy hood part also,if you want to keep it exactly proportioned as it is, or make it even bigger,so dog has more opening to get into…have fun,Rose in NJ.
Thank you Rose, I appreciate your help with this!! As for the PDF trouble– make sure you're downloading it to your desktop. If you're downloading it/opening it in a browser window, it likely won't give you the option to email.
This is such a clever idea with a win win solution to my couch always looking like a pile of unfolded blankets. I have a Min Pin and 2 Chiweenies that spend 1/2 their Life (lol) under blankets. I'll let you know how the beds turn out.
I am going to make this for my cat! He will love it.
He loves to burrow and he loves beds. I am also going to make a matching pillow as he always uses a pillow when he sleeps on our bed, or on the sofa. He thinks he is a person!
Absolutely darling idea!!!! If my four poodles would even consider them, I'd make them. However, they now prefer our bed with our warm bodies and lots of pillows to sleep on or under or next to depending. Yes, they're unbelievably spoiled, but that's what they're here for. At 75 they keep me moving and are great company and entertainment!
Love this Lia! ❤I have 2 dachshunds, so I guess I will be making 2 beds. So excited about the new Cricut Maker.. hoping you will be part of the sewing designs in design space!
Love this. My little shih tzu loves burrowing under blankets, cushions, you name it. Going to make this my weekend project.
This is such a great tutorial. I will have to try it out! I have a dachshund and he LOVES to burrow under anything warm and comfy. I know he would be very happy with a bed like this!
Love, love, love all of your creations and ideas. You help keep me busy and HAPPY! Thank you so much.
I'm sure cats would like this as well. Thanks.
the pattern for burrow dog bed won't download for me instructions did suggestions?
The pattern will download as a zipped folder– check your downloads or desktop?
I thought it was just a funny trait of my part dachshund mix Homer. He is a real burrower, too, and it isn't just with a pile of blankets. Anything can be a target as evidenced by the scratched up (and ruined) carpet in my bedroom. I love this, thanks so much!
Yes both our doxies did that too take care of yours we love them so much and even spent money for a back surgery on them NO jumping down off couch the vet said that's the worst on their backs!


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Harvesting Creativity, Life & Good Health
Should Dragon Boat Racing Be The Next Craze?
4. February 2015 18:02 / Jay Walker / Comments (0)
Sport of Dragon Boat Racing Continues to Gain Popularity
Dragon boat racing, an ancient sport which originated in China thousands of years ago, continues to gain popularity as an international sport with membership flourishing. Tournaments and races are scheduled in some of the world's most intriguing settings including Israel's legendary Sea of Galilee, the floating city of Venice in Italy, and Freeport, the resort center of Grand Bahama Island in the Caribbean.
Often recognized as a professional tournament sport, dragon boat racing is branching out in other areas as well. Festival hosts invite racers of all ages to join in on the fun and festivities by registering individual teams to race for a cure, raise funds for a cause, or simply paddle together as a team-building experience.
Whether the crew is professional or amateur, dragon boat racing is an ultimate team sport which requires the crew to work together in harmony, strength, and endurance. Crews are typically made up of twenty paddlers, one drummer, and one steerer each with unique yet unified functions.
The drummer acts as the team's captain and calls out needed pace changes to keep the crew in sync. The steerer keeps the boat on course and the paddlers (the pacers, the engine room, and the rockets) propel the boat forward. After training together for weeks or even months, crews of adrenaline-charged paddlers set sail on race day.
Local waterways spring to life as colorful parades of dragon boats drift into view. Ominous-looking carved dragon heads perched high at the bows lead crews of paddlers quietly to allotted horizontal racing lanes along the waterway. Team chants arise from the boats as crews connect with themselves, each other, and possibly the divine in preparation for the day's competition. Then the horn sounds and the race for the finish line begins.
While celebrations today are commonly referred to as Dragon Boat Festivals traditional and statutory festivities are known also as Duanwu Festival and the Double Fifth. Duanwu Festival honored Qu Yuan, a great patriotic poet who was exiled for 20 years in the latter part of the Warring States Period in China thousands of years ago.
Legend has it that on the fifth day of the fifth month, Qu Yuan felt hopeless over the future of his country and drowned himself by walking into the Milou River carrying a heavy rock. Countrymen made attempts to retrieve the poet's body from the river and fed the fish pyramid-shaped zongzi (dumpling) to keep them away from Qu Yuan's body. However, the poet's body was never recovered but his patriotism left an indelible mark for generations to come and Qu Yuan's memory is honored annually through the Duanwu Festival.
Other legends state that Double Fifth festivities were timed annually on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month based on the traditional Chinese calendar. The timing of festivities also had ties to the summer solstice which occurs annually around June 21. The mythical dragon was purported to be a revered deity and of great importance in ancient Chinese culture. Dragons were customarily thought to be the rulers of many things including rivers, lakes, seas, clouds, mists, and rains.
The Dragon Boat Festival began as a ritual for honoring the dragon at the onset of the agricultural season and at the time rice seedlings were transplanted to rice paddies, around the fifth of May. Ritual festivities were designed to garner goodwill from the dragon, gain protection against pestilence and disease, and prevent misfortune.
Festival traditions included cutting shapes from red paper in the shapes of lizards, toads, snakes, centipedes, and scorpions. The paper shapes were placed in the mouths of carved dragon heads in hopes that the shapes would lure evil spirits away. Traditional food prepared for the festivities included zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) wrapped in bamboo leaves or reed and shaped into triangles. Many varieties of zongzi are shared today including zongzi stuffed with dates, walnuts, meat, eggs, rice, and fruits.
Another interesting tradition known as the awakening of the dragon may be performed at the beginning of the dragon race by VIPs who dot the dragon's eyes with a paint brush dipped in red paint to awaken and re-energize the dragon in preparation for the day's races.
Today, the international sport of dragon boat racing has gained popularity for a variety of reasons including celebrating cultural diversity, dragon boat racing's corporate team-building qualities, opportunities to modify racing events as fundraisers allowing most anyone to participate, and as simple family fun activities. Dragon boat racing also offers a new avenue to raise public awareness of breast cancer as crews of breast cancer survivors paddle in competitions worldwide.
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Q: Does Google App Engine Flex support Pipfile? For App Engine Standard the explicitly state that they do not support Pipfiles and immediately block you from pushing your project if it contains a Pipfile. In searching the documentation, I don't see anything that mentions if Pipfile is supported or not for App Engine Flex.

A: App Engine Flexible (and App Engine Standard) do not support Pipfile/Pipfile.lock.
https://cloud.google.com/appengine/docs/flexible/python/using-python-libraries says:

Dependencies for python applications are declared in a standard requirements.txt file.

and https://cloud.google.com/appengine/docs/standard/python3/runtime#dependencies says:

Dependency specification using the Pipfile/Pipfile.lock standard is currently not supported and your project must not have these files present.

A: I ran a few tests, and, while the presence of a Pipfile file in the deployment directory of a GAE flexible app does not generate any errors, the file itself is completely ignored, along the dependencies specified in it.
Moreover, when attempting to replace the requirements.txt file with the Pipfile, a sample Python app deployment in the flexible environment errors out, asking for the gunicorn dependency which I had specified in the Pipfile instead.
Therefore, the short answer is unfortunately no, same applies for the flexible environment and thus, dependency specification using the Pipfile/Pipfile.lock standard is not supported at the moment.

A: You can just include Pipfile and Pipfile.lock in the .gcloudignore file and run pip freeze > requirements.txt after any library changes.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Home / Links / The MANAA Video Guide / The MANAA Video Guide – What's Not in the Guide?
WHAT'S NOT IN THE GUIDE?
First of all, all works must be available on VHS video. Sadly, this forces us to omit some important titles. Many of Anna May Wong's starring vehicles aren't available, particularly, Daughter of Shanghai (1937) and Dangerous to Know (1938) , films that would provide a rare glimpse of an Asian American leading lady in "golden age" Hollywood. James Shigeta's co-starring roles in The Crimson Kimono (1959) and Bridge to the Sun (1961) are–alas–nowhere to be found in the video stores. Also unavailable are some television films with strong Asian themes and Asian American casts: If Tomorrow Comes (1971), Judge Dee and the Monastery Murder (1974), Farewell to Manzanar (1976), Hot Summer Winds (1991) , and the Vanishing Son and All-American Girl series (both 1994-95). We look forward to adding these titles to the guide as soon as they come onto the market.
Because the guide is designed to spread awareness of video titles that resist the stereotyping of Asians, there are certain kinds of Asian-themed films that have been intentionally omitted:
Films that limit Asia or Asian America to an "exotic" backdrop for a non-Asian lead ("You Only Live Twice," "The Year of the Dragon," "Big Trouble in Little China," etc.)–unless it has some redeeming feature.
Films that fall back on the over-used cliché of pairing a white male lead with an Asian female love interest–or "white knight" movies, for short ("The World of Suzie Wong," "Come See the Paradise," etc.). Romances between Asian women and white men are only included when they cast a critical eye on such a relationship or when the love story isn't the central focus of the film.
Films with white actors in lead Asian roles ("The Good Earth," "Buckaroo Banzai," etc.)–unless, again, it has some compensating value. This is not to disparage the many talented white actors throughout the world, but to protest the lack of equal, commensurate opportunities for recognizably Asian American actors to compete for white lead roles.
Films with ethnically Asian stars in non-Asian roles (Lou Diamond Philips in "La Bamba," Jason Scott Lee in "Map of the Human Heart," Brandon Lee in "The Crow," Pheobe Cates in "Princess Caraboo," etc.). The guide makes one historically significant exception: Merle Oberon in "Wuthering Heights."
Films from Asia (Bruce Lee's Hong Kong movies, Japanese samurai films, etc.).
Asian productions that are shot in the English language just to break into the American market ("Shadow of China," "Fire," etc.).
Films where the Asian talent is kept off-screen (movies photographed by James Wong Howe, directed by John Woo, etc.).
3 thoughts on "The MANAA Video Guide – What's Not in the Guide?"
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But real life is different. Both Charlotte (Philadelphia) and Ben (Louisiana) find themselves alone. Charlotte's discovering that her best friend is moving on to a different group of girls. Ben has always been a loner. And both of them are dealing with big life changes. Charlotte's dad is in the hospital after having a heart attack and Charlotte's ridden with guilt over how they've been growing apart. Ben's parents just told him they're getting a divorce, his home life will never be the same.
Over the course of a week and many narrative turns back and forth (mimicking the turns taken at Scrabble), Charlotte and Ben will come to depend on each other much more than they ever had before. With no one else to turn to, they turn to each other as they start to navigate the muddled, confusing waters of middle school.
Oh, this one got me in the feels. It's not overtly heartbreaking, but it's heartbreaking in its way of describing exactly how it feels to be in middle school and be totally flummoxed by how others are acting. The small (and big) actions of the other kids are so cruel, but so commonplace. As I was reading, my heart ached for these small, confused kids just beginning to grow up.
Erin Entrada Kelly is a master of showing her characters rather than telling you all about them. Sometimes the things she leaves out are even more important than the things she leaves in, letting readers discover Ben and Charlotte as they read the novel. This book reminded me so much of the Judy Blume books I read as a kid - books I read when I wanted to meet characters like me dealing with middle school life.
This is a great followup to Kelly's Newbery-winning Hello, Universe (Greenwillow, 2017). Readers who loved her character development in that book will find much to love in You Go First.
The tone of the book reminded me a lot of Goodbye, Stranger by Rebecca Stead (Wendy Lamb, 2015), which is another character-driven book that explores middle school through the eyes of several characters.
You Go First by Erin Entrada Kelly. Grades 4-7. Greenwillow, 2018. 304 pages. Reviewed from ARC snagged at ALA Midwinter.


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Architecture:
Architecture | 4 Nov 2021 | By Ellie Stathaki | Photography: Hufton + Crow
Doha's M7 design and cultural hub celebrates creativity in Qatar
M7 in Doha – a new hub for fashion, design and tech entrepreneurship – sees architects John McAslan + Partners bring together environmentally conscious design, dramatic minimalism and vernacular architecture
Doha's newest cultural destination, M7 design and cultural hub, opens this week. The venue, designed by London-based John McAslan + Partners, is a flagship in the Qatari capital's new, ambitious and currently in development 31-hectare Msheireb mixed-use neighbourhood. The project, which aims to highlight creativity in Qatar's fashion and design industry, has been central to this scheme – its minimalist architecture standing serene and confident at the heart of this brand new part of town.
Architect John McAslan and his team drew on the region's vernacular architecture and the needs around its specific climatic conditions for their design, aiming to create a building that is in tune with its surroundings and modern, sustainable architecture and technology. A generous atrium becomes the building's core space, surrounded by grand processional stairs that zigzag upwards in an elegant spatial dance. The top is lit by a large-scale opening, artfully shaded by an intricate screen that helps filter the heat. Off it, offices, exhibition halls and multifunctional areas unfold, with a restaurant housed at the very top.
M7: new addition to Doha's Msheireb district
'In essence,' says McAslan, 'we have striven to design a building that radiates a sense of shared discovery. Taking as its inspiration the traditional Qatari courtyard house, the building quality of presence and internal atmosphere is conceived as a massive stone block from which spaces and courtyards are carved.' He continues, 'This light-dappled environment, reminiscent of the neighbouring historic Souk Waqif, offers a vibrant marketplace of the arts in which Islamic and modern architecture come together.'
Doha's Msheireb district has been designed as a 'walkable city', composed of a tight-knit complex of residential architecture and office design, dotted with museums, a mosque, and shopping arcades. Among this rich urban mix, M7 is a key piece of the puzzle, sitting by the central Al Baraha square, and opposite the new Mandarin Oriental hotel, also designed by John McAslan + Partners.
The impressive M7 design and cultural hub will celebrate its soft launch this week with a Dior show, and is then set to host a Christian Dior retrospective (6 November 2021 – 31 March 2022), as part of the Qatar Creates programme. §
mcaslan.co.uk
CULTURAL ARCHITECTURE NEWS


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Trey Yarbrough
Melvin "Trip" Wilcox
Competence • Experience • Determination
Specializing in Civil Litigation, Serious Personal Injury and Wrongful Death.
Representing East Texas Families & Businesses
AttorneysPractices
Yarbrough Wilcox is an East Texas law firm specializing in civil litigation in state and federal courts. Based in Tyler, Texas, the members of the firm are seasoned trial lawyers who represent individuals, small businesses, and large companies in civil trials and arbitration proceedings. Our attorneys have extensive courtroom experience in a wide spectrum of litigation, ranging from complex business and commercial cases to serious personal injury and wrongful death.
Specialized Practice Areas Include
Our attorneys have significant experience representing individuals and businesses in a wide spectrum of commercial and business disputes.
Injury at the hands of another, whether it is due to negligence, a defective product, or intentional conduct, gives rise to a rightful claim for damages.
Employment litigation encompasses a diverse spectrum. Our attorneys have a successful history of representing employers in high-stakes cases.
Our expertise as mediators is achieved through many hours of training combined with an extensive number of successful mediations.
Serving as local counsel for national firms and companies.
With strong ties to East Texas, the firm also serves as local counsel for national firms and companies in patent and other complex suits filed in the Eastern District of Texas. Our attorneys can ably assist national firms in navigating the local practices and procedures unique to the federal courts of this district.
Trip Wilcox
(Of Counsel)
Trey Yarbrough and Trip Wilcox each have more than forty years of experience representing clients as lead counsel before juries and courts throughout East Texas and other jurisdictions. In addition to their courtroom experience, our attorneys have successfully argued cases on appeal before various state and federal appellate courts.
Yarbrough | Wilcox, PLLC Attorneys at Law | 100 E. Ferguson St., Suite 1015, Tyler, Texas 75702 | 903.595.3111
Yarbrough | Wilcox, PLLC Attorneys at Law
|100 E. Ferguson St., Suite 1015
| Tyler, Texas 75702
Yarbrough Wilcox, PLLC, an East Texas law firm, tries cases in the areas of Business Litigation, Personal Injury and Wrongful Death, Patent Litigation, Insurance Defense, Employment Litigation, Trademark Infringement. Principal Office: Tyler, Texas
© 2023 Yarbrough | Wilcox, PLLC Attorneys at Law
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Forging a regional alliance for the future of Melanesia
Written by Faranisese Ratu	on September 16, 2013 . Published in Contagion on Australasia, Fiji.
In our fragmented world, one important question that needs to be asked is whether economic imperatives can force nations to overcome their political differences and act in unison to tackle the pressing global challenges of today, such as human rights and climate change? Such goals may seem unrealistic or unachievable – but they are not entirely beyond reach.
In the Pacific Melanesian region, an array of regional agreements have been made to strengthen the political and economic clout of many island nations. They include such platforms as the Pacific Islands Forum, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER). But something else is also brewing in the Pacific.
The idea of 'regionalism' has worked very well for some nations and this has prompted others to develop sub-regional agreements – like the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) which consists of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and the FLNKS of New Caledonia, and is a much smaller body than the 16 nation Pacific Islands Forum. Founded in 1988, the MSG is designed to help member states grow through trade agreements, tariffs, tourism, security, and to help nurture respect for each other's cultures.
Melanesian Spearhead Group, by AKRockefeller, on Flickr.com, CC BY SA 2.0
The Pacific Islands would be better placed as part of a small, tight-knit regional grouping with cultural kinship and more strength and economic resilience against the fall out of financial disasters.
This part of the world is rightly celebrated for its tremendous cultural diversity. From Vanuatu to Papua New Guinea, Melanesians find themselves speaking different languages, acting out different customs and tackling the problems associated with their remote communities which have little or no access to telecommunications and the global market.
Not only does sub-regionalism foster better economic relations but it will also have the effect of improving human rights and governance.
Take the case of West Papua, a region seeking independence from Indonesia. Reports produced by Human Rights Watch are testament to the long-standing history of tension between the Indonesian authorities and West Papua political activists who suffer brutal abuses from the Indonesian military on a regular basis.
There have been moves, however, to raise the issue of West Papua through economic forums.
Late last June, delegates from West Papua went to Fiji to meet the Prime Minister and head of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, Frank Bainimarama to ask for full membership to the MSG. This is expected to be a lengthy process and has already suffered significant delays.
While the issue of West Papua is a political hot potato in the region, its involvement in regional economic and political matters will mean a more inclusive and ultimately more successful regional group in future. The fact that it is even being discussed as a possibility and that West Papua has shown interest in joining a regional group shows that there is indeed faith and hope in partnerships.
Free West Papua protestors, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY SA 3.0
The reports of violence and abuse coming from West Papua are gut-wrenching. A solution needs to be found sooner rather than later, and perhaps an economic platform is the best means of achieving this. Economic agreements between these countries will hopefully not only make them more economically resilient but will also address some of the long-standing tensions within the region.
If the Spearhead Group accepts West Papua, it will mean positive developments for the people of West Papua. However, we can't rely solely on the MSG to liberate West Papua. Most Melanesian countries want a free West Papua too, but the dilemma is that in the effort of trying to free it, they may put their own country at risk as well since this may be seen as "an act of war." At least it's something to hope for because this kind of brutal military repression has gone on long enough.
Tags: bainimarama, brutality, economics, Fiji, globalization, independence, Indonesia, melanesian spearhead group, MSG, Pacific Islands, regionalism, sustainable development, trade agreements, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, west papua
Faranisese Ratu
I am from a small province called Tailevu in the Fiji Islands.