text:
Home The News News Scotland's vote 'a model for Taiwan'
Scotland's vote 'a model for Taiwan'
Friday, 19 September 2014 11:36	Taipei Times
The Constitution of the Republic of China (ROC) is beset with problems when it comes to authorizing powers to central and local governments, Taiwan Society president and historian Chang Yen-hsien (張炎憲) said yesterday, adding that the nation needs a referendum on writing a new constitution and stressing that the existing Referendum Act (公民投票法) must be amended to do so.
Chang made the remarks as Scotland's historical independence referendum took place, to decide whether it would leave the UK and become an independent nation.
If Scotland votes "Yes" to independence, it would be encouraging for Taiwanese, Chang said.
When Scotland, part of the UK, could have an independence referendum, "why couldn't Taiwan hold one" when Taiwan is not under China's rule and is a different nation from China, Chang asked, adding that China would also be facing mounting internal pressure from the independence movements in Tibet, inner Mongolia and Xinjiang.
Even if Scotland votes "No," he said, the democratic experience is still a positive lesson for Taiwan.
Chang said as the "ROC" name does not work on the international stage and its Constitution is unfit for the nation, there should be a referendum for a new constitution, which would require amendments to the Referendum Act that currently does not allow changes to the country's name or for the writing of a new constitution.
A relative majority— simply more "Yes" votes than "No" votes — would be enough for Scotland to gain independence and there is no vote threshold, Chang said.
In contrast, Taiwan's Referendum Act limits people's rights to vote on independence and a new constitution and requires a simple majority (50 percent plus one) of approval votes from eligible voters, which Chang said should be changed to a relative majority.
Underscoring the essence of a referendum, which is the manifestation of the public's will, Chang said when Taiwanese strongly demand a referendum for a new constitution, the US could not object to it, let alone China.
He asked Taiwanese not to regard referendums as something menacing that must be avoided.
The public should have confidence deciding the fate of their own country, Chang said, including writing a new constitution and establishing a new country, which are much more vital than amending the Referendum Act.
Former representative to Japan Lo Fu-chen (羅福全) said Scotland's independence referendum has its own historical background, as does Canada's Quebec, where independence referendums have previously been held. Although Quebec's referendums failed to pass, Lo added, it still shows that the right to a referendum is a basic right of a democracy.
Taiwan is not democratic enough compared with other developed countries, as it restricts people's rights to propose an independence referendum and the threshold to amending the Constitution is too high, Lo said.
He seconded Chang's calls for amendments to the Referendum Act, which would bring the rules up to the standards of other developed countries.
Lo said Scotland's referendum experience would help Taiwanese understand what makes a developed democracy and help them realize that the nation's fate, be it independence, unification or the "status quo," could be determined by a public vote and without intervention by China.
Reporters ask Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam questions at a news conference in Hong Kong yesterday.
The government supports Hong Kong protesters in their pursuit of democracy and freedom, but would not intervene, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, urging the territory's authorities not to cause "regrets" by refusing to start a dialogue with residents.


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Home/Science/Chunk of popular Santa Cruz walkway falls into the ocean
Chunk of popular Santa Cruz walkway falls into the ocean
thaipriusclubNovember 29, 2022
A large chunk of sidewalk broke off a cliff in a popular walking area in Santa Cruz On Friday, causing a hazard for pedestrians and a bureaucratic headache for locals.
The sidewalk on West Cliff Drive caved in near Columbia Street, close to the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum. The incident took place on Black Friday, a popular day for pedestrians to stretch their legs after a Thanksgiving feast. It does not appear anyone was hurt when the sidewalk caved in.
The West Cliff Drive pathway just past Columbia caved in. Pedestrians have to walk in the street. pic.twitter.com/wXNWI7paon
— Kyle Kelley (@KyleRayKelley) November 25, 2022
With stunning beachside vistas, West Cliff Drive is a well-trafficked street that's used by walkers, bikers and drivers. Officials closed off the sidewalk around where the issue occurred, forcing pedestrians to walk in the street. But according to Twitter users, no car lanes were closed, creating a potential safety hazard.
Quick to close the sidewalk but not a car lane for pedestrians. West Cliff Dr where there are more pedestrians than drivers. pic.twitter.com/nq6edWyZS1
— Carolyn Kelley (@cs_kelley) November 26, 2022
One resident was remarkably blasé about the fact that a sheet of concrete had just fallen down a cliff.
"I think it's a natural phenomenon. This is something that happens all the time," said Santa Cruz resident Laurine in an interview with KSBW.
Others, though, see the erosion as an example of local government dragging its feet. In a lengthy Twitter threaduser @philboutelle declared, "Today's washout on West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz should be a call to action."
Erosion is not a new problem for the Santa Cruz's beachside cliffs, and it is expected to become more and more of a challenge as sea levels rise due to climate change.
Santa Cruz officials are aware of the issue with West Cliff Drive and say they have made progress in rectifying the situation. In 2021, Santa Cruz passed the West Cliff Drive Adoption and Management Plan. According to Santa Cruz Localthe plan "tries to give residents, city leaders and the California Coastal Commission an overarching framework for where re-armoring should take place and where erosion could be managed."
Solutions floated include making the street one-way for cars, which would free up room for pedestrians, and a bike lane. Proponents of this idea point to East Cliff Drive, which runs along the beach on the other side of town, and is partly one-way with a designated bike lane.
However, the process to make these changes can be slow. Santa Cruz Public Works Associate Engineer Josh Spangrud told KION that repairs may not even begin until 2023.
Santa Cruz resident Keith, who spoke to KSBW, hopes the sidewalk issue will hasten the city's response. "Sometimes," he said, "the people that make these decisions need a little kicking (in) the backside to get it going."
#Chunk #popular #Santa #Cruz #walkway #falls #ocean
Chunk Cruz falls ocean popular Santa walkway
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Bottlenose dolphins are now permanent residents of Yorkshire's coast
UPEI Climate Lab drones record 'unprecedented' damage to PEI's coastline from Fiona

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


It should not be a problem at all for foreign nationals that are financially independent and want to immigrate to South Africa to apply for their permanent residency permit.
Should you be planning on retiring in SA, especially in the beautiful city of Cape Town, you can start looking forward to living in the Second Best City on the entire planet.
Immigrants who are considering applying for a Financially Independent Visa will need to meet the following criteria.
• In order to apply for PR, applicants will need to prove that they own property that is worth more than R7.5 million and will need to deposit a minimum of R1.5 million into either a South African financial institution or a SA bank account. A minimum of R700 000 of the deposited money needs to be invested for a period of three years.
• People applying for Financially Dependent Visas will be charged a R75 000 (once-off) fee. If applicants apply abroad, the SA High Commission will then grant approval.
• Applicants will not be allowed to start up a business or be employed by anyone within South Africa unless they have received written consent from the Director of the Department of Home Affairs. Should applicants change their address within the three year period, they will need to notify Home Affairs as soon as possible.
SA Retirement Visas are issued to any person who can prove that they will have enough funds to support themselves while living in South Africa. Age is not an issue where this type of visa is concerned. Once a Retirement Visa is issued, there are no restrictions as to how long the holder may stay in South Africa.
Immigrants who are considering applying for a Retirement Permit will need to meet the following criteria.
• Applicants need to have a monthly income of not less than R20, 000. This money can come from either investments, pensions or a retirement account, which must come from abroad.
• If this is not possible, applicants can combine financial resources to make up the required monthly income.
• The other option is proving to the South African government that an applicant's net worth is not less than R12 million.
Every individual applicant will need to meet the above mentioned criteria for the duration of their stay. The assets and income of life partners are considered individually and not as a unit. What this means is that both partners need to qualify separately. There are some cases in which Retirement Visa holders will be allowed to look for employment.
For more detailed information regarding these types of visas and permits, it is advisable that you seek the advice of a trained professional, who deals with immigration laws on a daily basis.


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U.S. Attorney in St. Louis denies requesting civil rights investigation of St. Louis police | Law and order
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Members of the St. Louis Police Department detain Luther Hall, who later was identified as an undercover police officer, during racial injustice protests in St. Louis on Sept. 17, 2017. REUTERS/Lawrence Bryant
Three pages of the 11 page federal indictment filed against St. Louis police officers Dustin Boone, Randy Hays, Christopher Myers, and Bailey Colletta contains an exchange of some of the text messages the officers sent to each other. 3 of 3
St. Louis police officers (clockwise from top left) Christopher Myers, Dustin Boone, Randy Hays and Bailey Colletta in photos taken outside the Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse in St. Louis on Friday, Nov. 30, 2018. Post-Dispatch staff
ST. LOUIS — U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Jensen has denied a report that he'd requested a wide-ranging civil rights investigation of the St. Louis police department.
An Oct. 2 Reuters report, printed Monday in the Post-Dispatch, said that Jensen reached out to federal officials in Washington "to push for a pattern or practice case," an investigation handled by the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.
Reuters' source, who was only identified as "a government lawyer familiar with the matter," said Jensen "was shut down pretty hard."
Jensen rejected that: "That is simply not true. I never requested a pattern and practice investigation of the St. Louis police department," Jensen told the Post-Dispatch.
"I am proud to work with the St. Louis police department, and when officers engage in criminal misconduct, and we have sufficient evidence, we prosecute those officers," he said.
Reuters did not respond to questions about the report. The Reuters story used the St. Louis case to illustrate a move away from police reform by the Trump administration. The article said that only one pattern or practice case has been opened in nearly four years, versus at least 20 opened during the Obama administration.
Categories: InvestigationTags: attorney Civil denies investigation law Louis Order Police requesting Rights
OU President Joseph Harroz's contract promises $500,000 annually, post-employment faculty position | News
Law clinic aims to mitigate damage of COVID-19 – UB Now: News and views for UB faculty and staff


Toronto indie darlings Alvvays released their debut self-titled album in 2014, touring extensively in support of the record through 2015. Now they return with album number two and it's a flawless, charming and the must own Indie Pop album of 2017. On Antisocialites, Alvvays dive back into the deep-end of reckless romance and altered dates. Ice cream truck jangle collides with prismatic noise pop while Molly Rankin's wit is refracted through crystalline surf counterpoint. Through thoughtful consideration in basement and abroad, the Toronto-based group has renewed its Scot-pop vows with a powerful new collection of manic emotional collage. Every track is infectious, full of fuzzy warmth and melodic bliss.


Our UK compostable and biodegradable bags will decompose when bacteria or other living organisms act on them. Home compostable bags can be composted along with your garden waste, and sometimes food waste (depending on local kerbside collections) and will degrade quite quickly.
Every year approximately 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are used worldwide with a very small percentage being recycled, meaning a lot end up in landfill where they take many years to degrade.
Made from 30 micron NatureFlex ™ which is a compostable film made from wood pulp sourced from managed locations. This film has excellent properties and is made from renewable, sustainable sources – an environmentally friendly choice. Due to the nature of this film, the film manufacturer recommends that the bags are used within 6 months and stored in suitable conditions. In reallity our customers are reporting that they are actually lasting in perfect condition much longer, as long as they are stored correctly. Recommended storage conditions are away from local heat sources, out of direct sunlight, and ideally between 17 and 23 degrees Celsius.
The film manufacturer specifically recommends that the films should not be used in applications that would involve processing, treatment or storage at temperatures below −30°C (for example, blast freezing).
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Q: WholeFileInputFormat along with CombineFileInputFormat How WholeFileInputFormat can be used with CombineFileInputFormat? Assume, I have 10,000 small binary files and currently using WholeFileInputFormat. It's working fine but not efficient as it's creating 10,000 number of mappers. Again each map task takes only few seconds. That's why I want to pass more files to a single mapper to reduce overhead. One option is to use CombineFileInputFormat. I was able to run it and it's creating expected number of mappers but its running for infinite time. I think my implementation for getProgress is wrong and noticed that each of the map job is only reading the 1st file of the split, not moving to next files in the list.
Here is my custom input format:
public class MyCombineFileInputFormat extends CombineFileInputFormat<NullWritable, BytesWritable> {

public MyCombineFileInputFormat() {
    super();
    setMaxSplitSize(1048576);
}

protected boolean isSplitable(JobContext context, Path file) {
    return false;
}

@SuppressWarnings({ "unchecked", "rawtypes" })
@Override
public RecordReader<NullWritable, BytesWritable> getRecordReader(InputSplit split, JobConf job,
        Reporter reporter) throws IOException {
    return new CombineFileRecordReader<NullWritable, BytesWritable>(job, (CombineFileSplit) split, reporter,
        (Class) MyCombineFileRecordReader.class);
}

}
Here is my custom combine file reader:
public class MyCombineFileRecordReader implements RecordReader<NullWritable, BytesWritable> {

private NullWritable key = NullWritable.get();

private BytesWritable value = new BytesWritable();
private Path path;
private FileSystem fs;
private FileSplit filesplit;
private int totalNumOfPaths;
private static int processedPaths;

public static Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(MyCombineFileRecordReader.class);

public MyCombineFileRecordReader(CombineFileSplit split, Configuration conf, Reporter reporter, Integer index)
        throws IOException {
    this.totalNumOfPaths = split.getNumPaths();
    LOGGER.info("**** Total number of paths: " + totalNumOfPaths);
    this.filesplit =
            new FileSplit(split.getPath(index), split.getOffset(index), split.getLength(index),
                split.getLocations());
    this.path = split.getPath(index);
    this.fs = this.path.getFileSystem(conf);
    processedPaths = 0;
}

--- I think this is not right
@Override
public float getProgress() throws IOException {
    if (processedPaths == totalNumOfPaths) {
        LOGGER.info("**** Completed # of files");
        return 1.0f;
    } else {
        return 0.0f;
    }
}

--- I have found that this method is being called multiple times for the same file
@Override
public boolean next(NullWritable key, BytesWritable val) throws IOException {
    if (filesplit != null) {
        byte[] contents = new byte[(int) filesplit.getLength()];
        LOGGER.info("**** Reading path: " + path);
        FSDataInputStream in = null;
        try {
            in = fs.open(path);
            IOUtils.readFully(in, contents, 0, contents.length);
            value.set(contents, 0, contents.length);
            LOGGER.info("**** Processed path count: " + processedPaths);
            processedPaths++;
        } finally {
            IOUtils.closeStream(in);
        }
        return true;
    }
    return false;
}

@Override
public NullWritable createKey() {
    return key;
}
@Override
public BytesWritable createValue() {
    return value;
}

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Will receive exact item in photo in original shipper rare item feel free to ask questions size 7 3/8. The item "New era derek jeter hat set limited edition ORIGINAL BROWN BOX" is in sale since Friday, June 24, 2016.
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Club 50/50's Latin Dance Troupe is called Baila Conmigo. We can be booked for performances at private functions, exhibitions, corporate events and festivals.
Among the events we cater for are themed parties, weddings, birthdays, momentous occasions and many more.
A variety of performance packages are available, from 2 dancers to a full team including a live DJ.


text:
Peter Paludanus
(PETRUS DE PALUDE)
A theologian and archbishop, born in the County of Bresse, Savoy, about 1275; died at Paris, 1342. He entered the Dominican Order at Lyons, completed his theological studies at the University of Paris, and was made a Doctor and Master of Theology in 1314. Wishing to devote his life to teaching and writing, he avoided all offices of honour in the order, except those pertaining to the direction of studies. Twice, however, he was sent as definitor from the Province of France to the General Chapter. John XXII, wishing to organize a Crusade, sent him in 1318 as legate to the Court of Flanders, in the hope of establishing peace between the prince and the King of France. The mission was not successful, and his associates made charges to the pope against the legate, who, however, easily cleared himself. He was also a member of the commission appointed by John XXII to examine the writings of Petrus Olivi, whose books contained some errors of the Fraticelli ( Denzinger, 484-91, interesting account in Touron ). About this time he wrote "De causa immediata ecclesiasticæ potestatis" (Paris, 1506) against John of Poilly, whose errors were condemned 25 July, 1321 ( Denzinger, 491, 495). In 1329 the pope called him to Avignon, and consecrated him Patriarch of Jerusalem. The same year he journeyed into Egypt, to negotiate with the sultan for the deliverance of the Holy Land. The sultan was immovable. The accounts which the patriarch gave of the miserable condition of the Holy Land led to the announcement of another Crusade, but owing to apathy, and dissensions among the Christian princes, the project failed. Peter resumed his studies, composing at this time his commentaries on the Sentences of Peter Lombard , in which he combats Durandus. About 1332 he was appointed by the King of France to preside over the deliberations of a body of prelates and theologians whom Philip had convoked at Versailles to discuss the charge made against John XXII, of asserting that the souls of the just will not be admitted to the beatific vision until after the general judgment. The patriarch and his associates manifested consummate prudence in dealing with this matter. In a letter to the king they declared;
(1) their entire submission to the pope's authority, and their filial devotion to his person ;
(2) their belief, based on the testimony of trustworthy witnesses, that John XXII had not held, much less taught, the opinion attributed to him, but at the most, had mentioned it ( recitando ) and examined it;
(3) that since the death of Christ the souls of the just with no faults to expiate immediately after death, and the souls of other just persons after complete purgation, are admitted to the beatific vision, which will endure forever.
This doctrine was defined by Benedict XII, 29 Jan., 1336 ( Denzinger, 530). Besides the works mentioned, Paludanus wrote commentaries on all the books of the Bible , and "Concordantiæ ad Summam S. Thomæ" (Salamanca, 1552).
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text:
Who are British clubs playing in the Europa League this week?
Carlos Carvalhal and Jorge Jesus face British opposition this week (Anthony Devlin/Nick Potts/PA)
British clubs return to Europa League action on Thursday after last week's second round of group matches.
Arsenal and Leicester both have home games, against Molde and Braga respectively, while Tottenham go to Ludogorets. Rangers are away at Benfica and Celtic host Sparta Prague.
Here, the PA news agency takes a closer look at the opposition clubs.
Erling Moe, pictured, succeeded Ole Gunnar Solskaer as Molde boss (Donall Farmer/PA)
Molde: Erling Moe replaced Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, initially as caretaker manager, when he left for Manchester United in December 2018 as interim boss. Moe, a former Molde player, had been Solskjaer's assistant and was given the job on a permanent basis when it became clear Solskjaer would not be returning.
Ludogorets: Pavel Vrba was appointed last December. The 56-year-old has enjoyed success previously at Slovakian club Zilina, winning the league and cup in 2006/07, as well as Ludogorets' Czech rivals Viktoria Plzen, where he won three league titles and two domestic cups.
Braga: Carlos Carvalhal will be familiar to British fans from his time at Sheffield Wednesday and Swansea. The Portuguese returned to manage Braga for a second time this summer, signing a two-year deal, 14 years after his first spell at the club.
Benfica: Jorge Jesus, the club's most decorated manager of the 21st century, returned for a second spell in charge this summer after a hugely successful stint in Brazil with Flamengo where he won five trophies. His first spell at Benfica, between 2009 and 2015, brought 10 trophies, including three Portuguese championship titles in six seasons, and two Europa League final appearances, before he stunned by leaving for city rivals Sporting Lisbon.
Sparta Prague: Vaclav Kotal, 68, a former player for Sparta, was appointed manager in February, having been in charge of the club's B team.
European pedigree
OTD 1968: Two goals from @SirBobby helped @ManUtd beat Benfica 4-1 after extra-time to become the first English winners of the European Cup pic.twitter.com/L24dH8axLf
— PA Dugout (@PAdugout) May 29, 2018
Molde: The Norwegian club reached the Champions League group stage during the 1999/2000 season and the group stage of the Europa League in 2012/13. In 2015/16 Molde topped a group containing Fenerbahce, Ajax and Celtic to reach the round of 32 in the Europa League, losing 3-1 on aggregate to eventual winners Sevilla.
Ludogorets: Since winning the Bulgarian league for the first time in their history in 2012, Ludogorets have qualified for Europe every season since. They reached the round of 16 in the Europa League in 2013/14 after topping their group and the round of 32 in 2017/18 and last season.
Braga: Regulars in European competition since 2004, Braga won the 2008 Intertoto Cup. They qualified for the Champions League for the first time in 2010–11, and that same season reached the Europa League Final – losing 1-0 to Portuguese rivals Porto in Dublin.
Benfica: Historically, the club from the Portuguese capital has a strong tradition in European football, winning back-to-back European Cups in 1961 and 1962 and losing in finals in 1963, 1965, 1968, 1988 and 1990. Benfica have also reached three UEFA Cup/Europa League finals, losing on each occasion in 1983, 2013 and 2014.
Sparta Prague: Their best European showing came in the 1972/73 Cup Winners' Cup when they reached the semi-finals. They have been regulars in Europe since 1980 without reaching such heights, making the quarter-finals of various competitions on a handful of occasions.
Ludogorets defeated Levski at the end of the match https://t.co/1aFQvIkdPI #ludogorets pic.twitter.com/pQiTJsdRRh
— PFC Ludogorets 1945 (@Ludogorets1945) November 1, 2020
Molde: Second in the Norwegian Tippeligaen but 16 points behind league leaders Bado Glimt. Molde have won their last four domestic fixtures and, like Arsenal, both of their opening two games in the Europa League. They arrive in London on a six-match winning run.
Ludogorets: They are unbeaten in nine games in the Bulgarian top flight and top of the division on goal difference. Ludogorets are still looking for their first point in the Europa League after beginning with back-to-back defeats.
Braga: Third in the Portuguese Primeira Liga, Braga arrive in England on a six-match winning streak in all competitions.
Benfica: Second in the Portuguese Primeira Liga, Benfica saw their seven-game winning run in all competitions ended at the weekend by a 3-0 defeat at Boavista.
Sparta Prague: Have won all seven league and cup matches domestically this season and are top of the Czech table. Sparta arrive in Glasgow, though, on the back of successive defeats in the Europa League.
Bruno Fernandes craving trophies at Manchester United
A look at the key talking points as Celtic's 10-in-a-row bid falters further


North Dakota's Building Trades are comprised of several unions within the state, working to provide our customers with the safest, skilled workforce ready to help build a stronger North Dakota. We want to become known as the workforce of choice for both private and public work.
Advocating for Union members in the construction industry is the purpose of the North Dakota State Building Trades Unions. Involved in fifteen craft disciplines, our member organizations cover all aspects of a commercial, industrial and residential construction project. We do this by promoting Collective Bargaining for wages and benefits, Workforce Development through Joint-Apprenticeships, and safe and productive workplaces by continuing education and awareness.
Working together is always best, there are examples of this in everyday life. Whether on a construction site, on a football field or in a board meeting, when there is collaboration, there is success. We apply this concept when it comes to establishing rates of pay and benefits. By collaborating collectively, both employer and employees, to bargain salary, raises and benefits contributes to a successful business model that has been around for decades in North Dakota.
Another way we collaborate with contractors and industry is through the Joint-Apprenticeship model. Through private, jointly-managed, trade centered classroom education with on-the-job training, we build the next generation of craftspeople for the state of North Dakota. The benefits of this model is the ability to respond in real-time with feedback from employers of industry needs. It is through the Joint-Apprenticeship program the Building Trades Unions are meeting the challenge of a 21st century workforce. This education model extends into Journeyman upgrading and continuing education. We strive to set the example of a safe and productive workforce.
It is through advocation and collaboration the State Building Trades Unions are working to refocus the value of Trade Education, Safety Training, and Collective Bargaining within North Dakota. Check out our affiliates on the following pages for more information.
Each one of our trades has top-notch training programs, which we view is stronger and more comprehensive than other construction companies offer their employees. The union construction industry is starting to grow again in North Dakota. Thousands of men and women take pride in being a member of a North Dakota Building Trades Union.
The North Dakota Building Trades Union will be overseeing the Teamworks Project Contest at the ND SkillsUSA State Leadership & Skills Conference this year. Teamworks brings teams of students (4) together and each team will build elements of carpentry, plumbing, and electrical. Representatives from these three Unions will be judging the team's work. The Teamworks contest will be help April 15th at the Community Center in Wahpeton.
Copyright © NDBCT. All rights reserved.


The Area Health Education Center of Southwest Oregon (AHECSW) provides students interested in healthcare careers with opportunities for training, professional development, healthcare career education, mentorship, and support through programs. We help students build a strong network within their own community that consists of like minded students, healthcare professionals, and local leaders.
AHECSW works to identify students with a passion for healthcare and strategically guide them through our unique program system. We offer continued support throughout their professional journey. Our system will help groom students to work with healthcare sites and set them up to enter university with a strong history that shows a pattern of progression and professional growth relative to their interest in healthcare . Through rich experiences students will learn more about their options for a healthcare career, be connected to healthcare volunteer/training opportunities, have the chance to take on leadership roles, and the opportunity to make an impact in their community through presentations and health related projects.
AHECSW partners with healthcare and educational organizations to help fill the need for expanded opportunities on healthcare career education and experiences that staff may not have the time to facilitate. If you are a student or professional interested in exploring our programs and partnership opportunities please contact us.


Have you ever taken a moment to think about how your vehicle's tires are made? Probably not, yet doing so may help you better understand what goes into our tire repair service. More than just a few inches of thick rubber, your tires are actually made from layer after layer of fabric cords called plies. These plies sit atop steel belts that help to reinforce both the sidewall and the treads, which is formed from several layers of synthetic rubber. Steel cable loops called beads give the tire the strength needed to stay seated on the rim. Once those components are placed together, they are run through a curing machine which cuts the tread pattern and bonds all the components together. To learn more about tires, including tire repair cost, visit Meineke #1923 in Walled Lake, MI today.
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Ode to Urungus is a tribute to Dave Brockie, a.k.a. Oderus Urungus, a founding member of the mighty comic-metal band Gwar, who passed away in March. The heaviness begins at Geno's (625 Congress St., Portland) at 6 p.m. with a screening of Gwar movies and music videos, followed around 9 p.m. by metalsmiths Lord Earth, the masked madness of surf punks Thee Icepicks, and Boston band Psycho, who once toured with Gwar. Tix: $7 ($2 in Gwar-wear; 21+). 221-2382.


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CLASSICAL MUSIC ROCKS
WPAS - Maurizio Pollini - All-Chopin - 05/12/10
Chopin: Nocturne No 1, Op. 55, in F minor
Chopin: Nocturne No 2, Op. 55, in E-flat Major
Chopin: Mazurka No 3, Op. 56, in C minor
Chopin: Barcarolle, op. 60 in F-sharp Major
Chopin: Berceuse, Op. 57 in D-flat Major
Chopin: Polonaise-fantaisie in A-flat Major, Op. 61
Chopin: Nocturne No 1, Op. 62, in B Major
Chopin: Nocturne No 2, Op. 62, in E Major
Chopin: Sonata No 3 in B minor, O. 58
The Washington Performing Arts Society had obviously decided to conclude it Star Series with an (intellectual) bang in the person of Maurizio Pollini, the quintessential musician's musician, who was presenting an all-Chopin program on Wednesday at the Kennedy Center. As well-known for his impeccable technique as for being a cerebral Italian (not an oxymoron in this case), the illustrous pianist has been dazzling audiences all around the world for decades now, and I was really intrigued at the prospect of witnessing such a master of meticulousness handle Chopin's unabashed sentimentality.
The verdict is that not only did the two opposites attract, but they made beautiful music together as well. Starting a concert with not one but two Nocturnes may not be that common, but he of course got away with it by surreptitiously capturing our attention while carefully bringing out all their delicate nuances. The following Mazurka was a soulful display of Chopin's affection for his home country, the Barcarolle was as sweepingly romantic as it could get considering the soloist, and the Berceuse (lullaby) delighted the child and the adult in all of us. Then things got simultaneously intricate and intense with the Polonaise-fantaisie, but Pollini made sure to keep it all fun and clean, which is no doubt even harder than it sounds.
The second part of the program started with two new Nocturnes, and also featured Chopin's Sonata No 3 in B minor with its exciting mix of serenity and turbulence, which Pollini easily mastered by carefully balancing surgical precision and florid Romanticism.
Just as we were savouring what we thought was the end of our delightful evening, he came back for no fewer than three Chopin encores, concluding his performance as expertly as he had started it with Chopin's Ballade No 1 in G minor.
Posted by Isabelle at 5:39 PM
WPAS - The Philadelphia Orchestra - Glinka, Rachma...
WNO - Hamlet - 05/24/10
NSO - Britten, Adams & Stravinsky - 05/20/10
WPAS - Los Angeles Philharmonic - Bernstein & Tcha...
Millennium Stage - Adams - 05/17/10
Met - Lulu - 05/15/10
NSO - Copland, Adams, Barber & Elgar - 05/13/10
Millennium Stage - New England Conservatory of Mus...
NSO - Debussy, Connesson & Ravel - 04/29/10
BSO - Leshnoff, Stravinsky & Rachmaninoff - 04/29/...
Ohne Musik wäre das Leben ein Irrtum
Nietzche


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WrestleMania-related programming on the Network announced for WM weekend
Comments Off on WrestleMania-related programming on the Network announced for WM weekend
WWE announced the full schedule of the WrestleMania-related programming on the WWE Network for the WrestleMania weekend.
On Thursday, March 26, and Friday, March 27, WWE will be broadcasting WrestleMania Today, live, presumably from Axxess. A panel of WWE Superstars and analysts will be holding discussions and this will run from 6PM to 8PM EST.
On Saturday, March 27, the Hall of Fame red carpet will kick off at 7PM EST and then at 8PM EST the live Hall of Fame induction ceremony will broadcast till 11PM EST.
On Sunday, March 28, a two hour WrestleMania Kickoff event live from the Levi's Stadium will air starting at 5PM EST, followed by WrestleMania 31 at 7PM EST.
On Monday, March 29, the WrestleMania fallout starts on the Raw pre-show at 7:30PM EST.
Sting talks after Raw goes off the air
Raw rating for 03/16/2015
WWE 24: Empowered airs tomorrow after Raw focusing on women's Royal Rumble and Ronda Rousey
The next episode of WWE 24 will be titled Empowered and will air tomorrow night on the WWE Network immediately following Monday Night Raw. The topic of this episode will be the first-ever women's Royal Rumble and the arrival of Ronda Rousey. This is the second…
Superstars For Hope charity fundraiser falling short of expectations so far
When WWE launched SuperstarsForHope.com in association with Indiegogo.com, expectations were pretty high however after 4 days since launch date, the company has only managed to raise $6,945 from fans, far short of their $200,000 goal. While fans can donate any…
WWE Network adds only 31,000 subscribers since June 30
WWE Network subscribers reached a total of 731,000, an addition of just 31,000 subscribers from the end of June. The number represents also new subs from over 170 countries which started getting the Network in August, a number which is surely not what WWE wanted.…


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Pankaj Tripathi turns into a South superstar in Shakeela: 'Always wanted to bring out idiosyncrasies of artists on screen'
HT Entertainment Desk
Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Pankaj Tripathi plays an actor in Shakeela.
Pankaj Tripathi is all set to play a South Indian superstar in his upcoming film, Shakeela. The first look poster shows Pankaj decked up in a red suit, holding a mic in one hand and a trophy in another as if captured at a film awards event.
Pankaj says his role is that of a "colourful" character in the film. He said, "I am thrilled that our little labour of love Shakeela is all set to release in theatres this Christmas. I am so excited about the film because I have worked with the very talented friend Richa Chadha in this film. I have a beautiful part in the film. I play an actor for the first time in my career. I have always wanted to play an actor on screen and bring out the idiosyncrasies of artists on screen. It's an interesting and colourful character."
IN CINEMAS, THIS #CHRISTMAS… #Shakeela – starring #RichaChadha and #PankajTripathi – to release in *cinemas* on 25 Dec 2020… Directed by Indrajit Lankesh… Will release in multiple languages. pic.twitter.com/o9SPP001GM
— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) December 7, 2020
Directed by Indrajit Lankesh, the Shakeela biopic feat ures Richa Chadha in the titular role. She plays the role of the adult actor who was one of the biggest stars of the 1990s from Kerala and acted in several adult films in languages spanning Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. The film is set to release this Christmas on December 25 across cinemas in India in multiple languages. Shakeela also stars Malayalam actor Rajeev Pillai and is produced by Sammy Nanwani and Sahil Nanwani.
Also read: Kareena Kapoor pouts as she poses with the Himalayas for a goodbye pic, Arjun Kapoor shares his clicks too
Lankesh has said Shakeela has been his passion project after the actor's rags-to-riches story caught his attention. "I did some extensive personal interviews with her and came to know so much about the person that she is behind that image of a star. And I knew that it is only Richa who can nail the part."
"This film will help youngsters who aspire to be part of the film industry understand that there is more to the overlying glitz and glamour," the director said in a statement.
Follow @htshowbiz for more
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom review: 'Chadwick Boseman soars'
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Indian Navy to acquire 38 extended range BrahMos missiles for new warships soon


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This tune was requested for the tin whistle but when I checked it out I found it either went too high or too low for the whistle. I found the notes over at The Session website. Those who read sheet music will see that this version for 4 string banjo has a low C note which means it not suitable for whistle unless you fake it. I'll leave it here in case banjo players want to try it out. It's tuned GDAE.


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Nielsen India President Piyush Mathur: 'If We Can Keep Our Best People, It Will Be Very Hard for Us to Fail'
December 15, 2011 • 19 min read
Nielsen India president Piyush Mathur sees India as one of the fastest-growing markets, both as an economy and for his own business. But the problem, he says, will be retaining talent. Nielsen has put in place a system that motivates talent to stay with the company. The global information firm is now introducing its international products in India, he notes in this interview with India Knowledge at Wharton.
Nielsen India president Piyush Mathur sees India as one of the fastest-growing markets, both as an economy and for his own business. But the problem, he says, will be retaining talent. "India has an abundance of labor but a shortage of talent," he notes. "We have 400 million people in the workforce, but everybody's after the [same] 4 million."
Nielsen has put in place a system that motivates talent to stay with the company and garnered promising results. The global information firm is now introducing its international products in India. In the future, Mathur expects some launches to emanate out of India. Mathur expanded on this and other issues in a wide-ranging interview with India Knowledge at Wharton.
An edited version of the transcript follows:
India Knowledge at Wharton: Piyush, could you give us an overview of Nielsen's operations in India?
Piyush Mathur: Nielsen's history in India is one of joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions. The first organization was set up almost 50 years ago. It was called ORG — Operations Research Group. It was part of the Vikram Sarabhai Group and was essentially doing retail audits. After that, there was a merger between ORG and MARG. Then AC Nielsen came and bought a small company called MRAS. All of that is today Nielsen. It's a fairly large organization; we have more than 3,000 employees. We also use plenty of freelancers. We offer most of the services that are present globally in India. The cycle time of bringing these services is really coming down. For example, we had a joint venture with McKinsey — called Nielsen McKinsey Incite. Within 45 days of its launch in the U.S., it was launched in India. We believe that in the future, some global launches might emanate out of India. So we are excited. Things are growing rapidly for us.
India Knowledge at Wharton: Before taking over as president of Nielsen India, you oversaw the company's operations in the Middle East and North Africa region. What was your assessment of India's economy and how did that influence the way you formulated Nielsen's strategy for building a base in this country?
Mathur: When I moved to India, this was obviously high on the agenda. The fact is that this is one of the big markets; this is where our future growth lies. Still, I used to always debate in my mind that though [India's population is] more than a billion people, per capita consumption of most categories is so low in India. It was hard to imagine when it would catch up.
During the 10 years that I was away from India, a lot happened. I saw that during some of my personal visits back to the country. I realized that India was changing rapidly. Globally, most of our clients are now focusing on emerging markets, and India is one of the fastest-growing among the emerging markets. That kind of drove me; it was the homeland calling at the right time. I truly believe that the next decade belongs to India, and the country's growth story is a real one.
In India we have four pillars in our strategy. The first is portfolio management; the second is being an academy company; the third is cost leadership and the fourth is organic growth.
I wanted to bring the latest cutting-edge technology into India. We have a few examples of that. During the past 12 months, we have brought in a lot of solutions such as NeuroFocus, which involves neuro-marketing or getting to emotive responses of the brain. Also, we have some new global alliances with companies like Facebook, which we expect to be launching in India in the next few months. We also want to build alliances with some homegrown companies. We have an alliance in the mobile industry with a local organization to provide the kind of information our clients require. Our clients know, for example, that there are 500 million mobile subscribers in India, but they want to know what [those customers] do with their phones. Our strategy focuses on managing this portfolio of solutions and bringing them to India.
The second element is being an academy company. I think somewhere this industry lost out on bringing the best talent from the top institutes. We have just rejuvenated this in India. This year, we went to the top business schools and recruited students from there. At the same time, we are developing our own academy: We have a Nielsen Academy that we run in collaboration with the Northpoint Center of Learning [near Mumbai]. We have come together to run a one-year market research course that takes students to rural India, makes them live with the consumers, really understand those mosquito bites on the charpoy [a light cot made of wood and rope]. That is a perspective that most MBA students are unable to provide, which explains why some of the marketing strategies developed by those marketers are difficult to implement in rural India. Those are some of the key things that we've looked at as part of our strategy in India.
The third element is cost leadership. This involves looking at our processes end-to-end and bringing sustainable improvements. We have used Business Process Improvement (BPI) effectively to not only make sustainable changes within our organization but also to improve processes in our clients' organizations, making it a win-win situation.
Finally, the fourth element is about driving organic growth. We believe there are several opportunities one can pursue, given the growing macro-economic scenario in India. Despite the slowdown, we remain one of the fastest-growing economies and the most optimistic country in Nielsen's global consumer confidence index. I believe it's really about picking your spots and keeping your focus on them and delivering with excellence.
India Knowledge at Wharton: Could you describe the biggest challenges you've faced in building Nielsen's business in India? How did you overcome them and what lessons could other global firms learn from your experience?
Mathur: There have been plenty of challenges, but two of them stand out.
The first one involves prioritization. Everything in India seems to be a big opportunity. My team comes to me and they believe they have found the biggest opportunity for the organization – and there is a plethora of such instances. To cut this down and focus on the few things you really want to pursue is a big challenge. One question I often ask my team is, "What are we not going to pursue?" We have 700 clients in India. Our strategy is to focus on the top few priorities and build deeper engagements with our clients.
The second challenge we faced probably exists in many other organizations. In India, we have a legacy of not following a meritocracy. We tended not to have a performance-based culture; it's more around keeping things equal rather than differentiating between high performers and low performers. Building a culture that values meritocracy has been a huge learning experience and a challenge. I can see the needle moving, but obviously it's a journey, not a destination. It's going to take some time before we feel we've done something remarkable.
Within our organization, we now classify high potentials differently. We fast-track them, give them global assignments outside India and bring them back in senior roles. The goal is to retain our top talent. What other organizations could learn from this experience, simply put, is to retain your best people. That is the biggest lesson that's needed in India. If you succeed in retaining your best people, it will be very difficult for you to fail. That's the way we look at talent. India has an abundance of labor but a shortage of talent. We have 400 million people in the workforce, but everybody's after the 4 million. We feel good about what we've achieved in the past 12 months.
India Knowledge at Wharton: What are the key growth areas for Nielsen in India? Who are your competitors in the market and how do you position Nielsen vis-à-vis your rivals?
Mathur: At Nielsen, we are trying to be an ambidextrous organization. We want to significantly improve our growth and at the same time keep innovating for the future. Some of the growth areas I see are in the innovation space, like NeuroFocus, where we differentiate ourselves and we feel we add value to our clients' decision making.
There are other areas like the recently-launched online campaign ratings, which I believe will be a huge hit when we bring it to India because they bring TV and the online industry on the same platform. In the past, TV has been bought on gross rating points (GRPs) and the online industry has been running on impressions and click-through rates. We are bringing GRPs to the online industry, so advertisers can see how much they should spend on TV and how much they should spend on online media — because these are comparable now. The future belongs to a lot of media consumption moving online to PCs and mobile devices. We are preparing for that growth to happen.
You asked how we differentiate ourselves from our competitors. One way is by looking at the buy and the watch space — what consumers buy and what they watch. You have to take a holistic view and connect the dots between consumers' buying and watching behavior. If you see that the consumers are thinking in a particular way, they are behaving in a particular way and they're watching certain kinds of things, then you can develop that holistic understanding. We can really make marketing and sales come alive for our clients. That is our biggest competitive advantage: I don't think there is any agency in India or globally that has that kind of portfolio. We are not there yet in connecting the dots, but that's where we want to be, where we are able to establish links between what consumers buy and what they watch.
India Knowledge at Wharton: You referred to NeuroFocus — could you explain that?
Mathur: Yes. It involves the science of neuro-marketing. The way we do it is we wire respondents who opt in to be part of our studies…. You wear a baseball cap and you're shown a stimulus; we get 2,000 brain waves a second monitoring your mind as you react to what you have seen. Sometimes in research when you ask consumers questions they have several filters or attitude factors, and sometimes they are not able to articulate what they want to tell you. This way we monitor how the brain responds, taps into the subconscious and [we] analyze what that stimulus means to them.
A lot of global multinational organizations are adopting neuroscience and working with NeuroFocus. We help them build their advertising, packaging, and even their pricing. We work with broadcasters to get the right content in programming. We work with telephone companies and with banks to devise their strategies to see what their customers' reactions would be to different messages. That's NeuroFocus, and it's already alive in India. We are setting up a lab. We've done a couple of projects for a large Indian company and they want to set up a whole lab dedicated to them. That is being done as we speak.
India Knowledge at Wharton: Nielsen recently released a report about the growing popularity of Android among smartphone operating systems in India. Could you tell us what is driving this trend and what it means for companies like Apple and RIM that compete with Android and Google?
Mathur: Let me take a step back and say that this new venture that I was talking about is exactly in that area. We call it the on-device meter. We put a meter on the smartphone of people who opt in and monitor usage — everything that is being done with that phone. We look at voice, SMS, e-mails, browsing on the Internet, usage of apps, which apps for how much time, how often your phone is charged — just about everything that happens on the phone is metered and that information comes back to us. Through an alliance with this organization, we are going to get access to all this data, and then we will bring those insights to our clients. It will show what people are doing with Android and Symbian in India. We see lots of users are migrating to Android.
One of the startling facts that I saw – and which I was quite amazed to read – is that only a quarter of the time spent on smartphones is for communication. SMS, voice and e-mails together constitute only 25% of the total time spent on the phone. For the remaining three quarters of the time, people are engaged with consuming multimedia – activities such as browsing, listening to music, or playing games. This is amazing. This could completely change the way we lead our lives.
In India, especially, this will have a big impact because a typical home in India has one TV set and four mobile phones. When the TV is switched on, everyone in the family has to be aligned in what they watch – and so the general entertainment category is the largest viewed category or genre in India. If you believe that media content will move to mobile platforms, it will be all individual media consumption. We don't know when that inflection point will come but we know that it's coming.
India Knowledge at Wharton: In July, Nielsen released a global report on consumer confidence, concerns and spending intentions. Why is consumer confidence declining in India?
Mathur: Let me start with the good news. For the past 24 months that we've been tracking consumer confidence in 52 countries, in every quarter India has been consistently topping the charts. Lately we have seen a decline but despite that, we still remain the number one in consumer confidence globally. I think what is happening is that inflation has taken its toll. There are lots of concerns with inflation: How do I manage my increasing fuel and grocery bills? And for those who have bought houses, mortgage rates are going up. They are among the highest they have [ever] been – at 13% or 14%. These concerns are affecting consumers and they are trying to figure out how to manage their wallets.
India Knowledge at Wharton: How has online advertising and usage of social media impacted consumer behavior in India? Do you see the same trends worldwide or does India differ in this respect?
Mathur: That's a good question. We should treat online advertising and social media separately. Online advertising is fairly limited and, from my perspective, it's highly underleveraged. The reason for that is there are no measurements that I can put together with TV and, say, where should I put my money? Historically, the way online advertising has been bought is based on impressions and click-throughs and that has not really led to the levels that they would have been expected to reach in India. So bringing relevant measurements will help the cause for online industry.
On the social media front, what we're going through now is the demand revolution. We went through the industrial revolution, we went through the technology revolution, now we have the demand revolution. I lived in Egypt for a few years, and as we saw recently in that country, people got together on Facebook and started an uprising with Twitter and mobile technology all coming together. In 27 days they overthrew a 30-year-old regime. What does it look like in India? What the social reformer and activist Anna Hazare was able to do in part is because of social media. People were able to get together, get aligned. It was technology that helped them come together. What we are seeing now are indications of the beginning of a demand revolution, where social media is going to be key going forward. The way social media will impact organizations is still not clearly understood. All the CEOs are in their 40s and 50s, they are not the ones who are active users of Facebook, Twitter and this world will change very rapidly. It will have huge ramifications going forward. Today it's not at the level where it is in the U.S., but having said that, for Facebook, India will be the second-largest country in the beginning of 2012. Today, it's Indonesia but soon India will become the second largest.
India Knowledge at Wharton: What are some key challenges you face in analyzing consumers here in view of India's religious, economic and linguistic diversity?
Mathur: India is not a country, it's a continent. So there are 29 countries. How consumers buy and how consumers watch in each of these states is very different. And obviously, their religious habits, their parlance, their dialects, their viewership of different media, their food habits – all these are very different. India is a continent like Europe.
Let's take a long-term view. Let's crystal ball gaze 25 years from now and ask what will India look like? I would say some of the luxury product markets, premium product markets for certain products will be as big in India as they are in Europe. We are headed in that direction. But there are multiple Indias. There is still a very large and poor segment of the population that will take many years to rise. So it is challenging, because India is not a country, even though it might be treated as one. A lot of our clients are now saying, "I want granular information. I want a different strategy for Karnataka versus West Bengal." Those two markets are like chalk and cheese – like Germany versus Italy. That is why we have to make the right investments to be able to get that granularity into our products and services.
India Knowledge at Wharton: How do consumer buying patterns vary in rural versus urban areas? What changes or patterns do you see emerging in rural India?
Mathur: One big shift in rural India is a movement from commodities to branded products. In the past, most of the products that rural consumers bought were commodities. It was not branded atta [wheat flour]; it was not branded rice; it was not color or hair dyes; it was not sanitary napkins; it was not all of that. Over the past three years in rural India, we've seen this conversion from commodities to branded products. Obviously that is because of growing prosperity and the fact that people have more and more money in their pockets with the NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) scheme and several other schemes that have come up. That has led to rural India growing faster than urban India during the past three years, year on year. Even though it's a smaller market than urban India for fast-moving consumer goods, it is growing faster than urban India. That's a big trend.
This is challenging for our clients. You would have a different strategy for urban consumers since you can understand and empathize with urban residents. The rural market is 600,000 villages. Which village should you target? How do you reach there? How do you get your products there? A lot of innovation is needed. [Hindustan] Unilever is at the forefront of marketing products to the rural market by getting female entrepreneurs to work for the company. Godrej is doing something where they are jointly co-creating the product. The refrigerators are co-created and they're actually not front-door opening, but top opening because in rural India you don't have enough space to have a front-door opening refrigerator. Rural India is coming of age. The market is growing faster and that trend seems to be continuing.
India Knowledge at Wharton: Although women are the primary users of everyday consumer products, the household male in the rural community does most of the purchasing and is the key decision-maker. What are the challenges for brand names to capitalize on this market segment?
Mathur: That's very interesting. Even though the male in rural India is the purchaser in many cases, we still believe that housewives influence which products to buy. In urban India, it's either the maid servant or the housewife who goes to buy the products so the influencer and buyer are the same. In rural India if you have great brand equity, then you know that the housewife will tell her husband to go and buy that particular product. So influencing at the point of sales becomes critical for people in rural India.
India Knowledge at Wharton: What role do you expect Nielsen's India division to play in the global company over the next three to five years?
Mathur: Wall Street rewards growth, not size. In the developed world, we have large revenues and as a proportion of our total revenues, India represents a fairly small proportion, in single digits. But the way we are going to grow in the next three to five years, even next year we will be close to being a double-digit contributor to the global growth of Nielsen.
India Knowledge at Wharton: Could you describe the greatest leadership challenge that you have faced as the president of Nielsen in India? How did you deal with it and what did you learn from it?
Mathur: I spent 11 years outside India before returning to the country. My biggest challenge, as I said earlier, has been trying to build our organization as a meritocracy. How can you differentiate talent? The way I dealt with it was by using what we call the 'say-do-ratio' – can you do what you say you should do? I said 'we've got to deal with this because this is the right thing to do', and then I went out and started doing it. I selected the top 25 people from among 3,000 people in the company to differentiate them. Some of them were several levels below. I engage with them personally and I am virtually accountable for their success. I have a target of 100% retention for those 25 people. Then obviously it is cascaded – I have a senior team and now everyone is building their own top 25, and that culture is being built. We have faced other challenges but this meritocracy piece was the biggest one. As I said, if we can keep our best people, it will be very hard for us to fail.
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Cameron Lizotte
Aaron Vickers November 7, 2016
Lizotte is a big, physically imposing defender who has a nasty side to his game. He controls below the hash marks in his zone with cross checks, tight play to his man, and crushing checks into the wall, which make opponents think twice about entering the zone on his side. He is physically mature and has the power to really hurt opponents with his checks. His defensive game is still developing; he is relied on to kill penalties and shows very good coverage, but his even strength defensive game is a little spotty. He does a very good job of angling opponents into the wall, standing his ground and muscling the attacker off the puck. He often pulls himself out of position and can frequently drop to block shots, which pull him out of position. Skating is an area that he could improve: he has a solid base but is a little off-balance at times and shows choppy movements while taking extremely wide turns, due to a lack of agility. When moving north-south, he uses his power to generate speed and quickly get up into the play up ice or truck it back to pick up loose pucks. Has a solid shot but could use some work on his release. Passes are either right on target or too hot to handle. While he is a raw prospect, there is a lot to like with his natural aggressive attitude and willingness to get involved. (May 2015)


I've wanted to write an update on our son's development for some time. The Connecticut school shooting put that on hold… that violence was so immediate, so much more important than our relatively small issues. It also brought up alot of the feelings from our niece's murder a year and a half ago, she a victim of domestic violence: the gut punch, the disgust, the helpless "Why?". I will revisit this in future posts.
Today, Christmas Eve, I want to be thankful for something, and this Christmas, it's my son's words.
So, he's a happy, healthy 2 1/2 year old boy. His speech has been very delayed, and he has some other issues aroud social and communication skills. Our pediatrician has been concerned about possible autism for some time; his speech and behavioral therapists also.
BUT at least for over a month now, he's been talking!
His first real word? Really, consistently used word?
Every day there are new words.
We do notice that if there is alot going on, like all the people and kids we had over for Babygirl's first birthday party this weekend… he needs to escape, to be quiet… He ran upstairs and played by himself for awhile. We went to a dinner party last night, and even in 30 degree weather, at 7 o'clock at night, he wanted to go outside, and run around in the quiet garden. He was delighted to run from groundlight to groundlight, in the crisp cold, rather than be in the strange house with all the chatting people.
Is this normal? It may be. We have no idea. We're still waiting for an appointment at the Developmental program from the big fancy Children's Hospital in town.
Meantime, we savor his words, every one so sweet.
This is a wonderful update!!!! All the best to you and your family in 2013!!
I am so pleased to hear BabyBoy is doing so well with his words. Such a great breakthrough. December has brought you a great surprise. Good luck in the New Year!


Greigii tulips bulbs come from a species native to Turkestan. They are beautiful plants for containers since their stems are quite short and their blooms enormous. Greigii tulip varieties offer blooms in vivid shades, like bright reds and yellows. If you are interested in growing Greigii tulips, read on for additional information.
Greigii tulips are a joy to have in a sunny garden. With blooms very large in proportion to the size of the plant, they work well in rock gardens and borders as well as potted arrangements.
In full sun, the blooms open wide into cup-shaped flowers. When they are open, they can be more than 5 inches (12 cm.) across. As the sun passes, the petals fold up again for evening.
The petals of Greigii tulip flowers are often pointed. They can be shades of white, pink, peach, yellow or red. You can also find flowers that are colored in two tones or streaked.
The stems are not very long for tulips, averaging only 10 inches (25 cm.) tall. Each of the Greigii tulip bulbs will produce one stem topped by one flower. The foliage can also be striking, with purple stripes on markings on the leaves.
Greigii tulip bulbs were introduced into Europe from Turkistan in 1872. Since that time, many different Greigii tulip varieties have been developed.
The majority of the Greigii varieties produce flowers in reds and oranges, For example, "Fire of Love" is bright red with interesting striping in the leaves. Both 'Calypso' and 'Cape Code' flame in shades of orange.
A few come in unusual colors. 'Fur Elise,' for example, is an elegant tulip with petals in soft shades of amber and palest yellow. 'Pinocchio' is a Greigii tulip variety with ivory petals licked by red flames.
If you are ready to start growing Greigii tulips in your garden, keep your hardiness zone in mind. Greigii tulip bulbs do best in cooler areas, like U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 7.
Be sure to select a site with good sun and well-draining soil. The soil should be fertile and moist. Plant the bulbs 5 inches (12 cm.) beneath the soil surface in autumn.
When the Greigii tulip bulbs have finished flowering, you can dig out the bulbs and let them mature in a place that is warm and dry. Replant them in autumn.


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The Laura W. Bush Institute for Women's Health within the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center was established in 2007 to promote research specific to women's health, to provide advanced sex and gender specific education to health care professionals, and to enrich the lives of women and girls through community programs and cancer prevention.

In ten years, more than 60,000 women and girls have been served through inspiring programs, resources, vaccines, and cancer screenings.

Research
Over a period of 8 years, the Laura W. Bush Institute provided scientists over $2.5 million for groundbreaking research unique to women's health.  They award grants to faculty and students within Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center schools of Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Biomedical Sciences; as well as Angelo State University College of Health and Human Services.  Understanding that scientific research on women lags far behind men, they expect this new data to lead to more accurate diagnosis and treatments for women.

Education
As new information regarding women's health is published, online curriculum translate science into practice by updating students and practitioners with new data regarding sex and gender differences that are not common knowledge.  At their website www.sexandgenderhealth.org the Laura W. Bush Institute's slide library, teaching modules, and video library are tailored to health care professors to assi st in teaching sex and gender differences across many diseases.

Community Impact
The Laura W. Bush Institute for Women's Health hosts one signature fundraising event in these Texas cities each year:  Abilene, Amarillo, Dallas, Lubbock, Permian Basin, and San Angelo.  By 2018, over   $4 million had fueled important programs that meet the unique needs of each city.  For middle school girls there are messages of personal safety, anti-bullying, good nutrition, friendship and self-care through events called GiRL Power.  For college women, there are messages of self-defense, healthy relationships, self-determination, and mental and physical health at Girls Night Out and Women's Night at the Rec.  The Institute hosts coffees and luncheons for women that provide updates on cancer, heart disease, stem cells, mental health and many other topics. As of 2018, the community events have touched the lives of over 85,000 Texans across all regions of west Texas.

Multi-year Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) grants have provided over $7.5 million and directly affected more than 25,000 women with education and screenings.  By 2018, the Institute facilitated 8,000 mammograms and diagnostic services, which diagnosed 132 cancers and provided approximately 6,500 HPV vaccinations.

The Laura W. Bush Institute for Women's Health has become an integral part of the cities served, all of which have Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center medical, nursing, pharmacy, or biomedical science schools.  It serves the uninsured and the underinsured in many rural communities that have limited resources.

The Institute work continues thanks to the generosity of people who share their mission to improve the lives and health of women, girls and families.  The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center supports approximately eighty percent of expenses to allow the majority of funds raised to be directed to the mission.

"I joined this effort because of my advocacy for the good health of women worldwide and my lifelong affection for my home, west Texas." Mrs. Laura Bush

Leadership
Executive Director                Connie Tyne

Chief Scientific Officer          Marjorie Jenkins, MD

Co-Director of Curriculum    Cynthia Jumper, MD

Co-Director of Curriculum    Simon Williams, PhD

References

External links
 Laura W. Bush Institute for Women's Health
 Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
2007 establishments in Texas
Laura Bush

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Q: Doing clustering with some data points always clustered together Is there some R functions to perform clustering (hclust, kmeans, ect.) on n data points X_1, X_2, ..., X_n, with the constraint that some points X_i, X_j, ..., X_k are always clustered together? Or equivalently, is there some approach to perform clustering with given initial clusters {X_i1, X_j1, ..., X_k1}, {X_i2, X_j2, ..., X_k2}, ...

A: Found a solution: if using "hclust", set the "dist" values within the same initial cluster as 0, so that the points within each initial cluster will always be clustered together; if using the "kmeans", represent each initial cluster by a new point defined as the centroid of the cluster


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The Unknown Rebel
With a single act of defiance, a lone Chinese hero revived the world's image of courage
By Pico Iyer Monday, Apr. 13, 1998
Then, in the dark early hours of June 4, the government struck back, sending tanks from all directions toward Tiananmen Square and killing hundreds of workers and students and doctors and children, many later found shot in the back. In the unnatural quiet after the massacre, with the six-lane streets eerily empty and a burned-out bus along the road, it fell to the tank man to serve as the last great defender of the peace, an Unknown Soldier in the struggle for human rights.
As soon as the man had descended from the tank, anxious onlookers pulled him to safety, and the waters of anonymity closed around him once more. Some people said he was called Wang Weilin, was 19 years old and a student; others said not even that much could be confirmed. Some said he was a factory worker's son, others that he looked like a provincial just arrived in the capital by train. When American newsmen asked Chinese leader Jiang Zemin a year later what had happened to the symbol of Chinese freedom--caught by foreign cameramen and broadcast around the world--he replied, not very ringingly, "I think never killed."
In fact, the image of the man before the tank simplified--even distorted--as many complex truths as any image does. The students leading the demonstrations were not always peace loving and notoriously bickered among themselves; many were moved by needs less lofty than pure freedom. At least seven retired generals had written to the People's Daily opposing the imposition of martial law, and many of the soldiers sent to put down the demonstrators were surely as young, as confused and as uncommitted to aggression as many of the students were. As one of the pro-democracy movement's leaders said, the heroes of the tank picture are two: the unknown figure who risked his life by standing in front of the juggernaut and the driver who rose to the moral challenge by refusing to mow down his compatriot.
Nine years after the June 4 incident, moreover, it's unclear how much the agitators for democracy actually achieved. Li Peng, who oversaw the crackdown on them, is still near the top of China's hierarchy. Jiang, who proved his colors by coming down hard on demonstrators in Shanghai, is now the country's President. And on a bright winter morning, Tiananmen Square is still filled, as it was then, with bird-faced kites and peasants from the countryside lining up to have their photos taken amid the monuments to Mao.
Yet for all the qualifications, the man who stood before the tanks reminded us that the conviction of the young can generate a courage that their elders sometimes lack. And, like student rebels everywhere, he stood up against the very Great Man of History theory. In China in particular, a Celestial Empire that has often seemed to be ruled by committee, a "mandate of Heaven" consecrated to the might of the collective, the individual has sometimes been seen as hardly more than a work unit in some impersonal equation. A "small number" were killed, Mao once said of the death of 70,000, and in his Great Leap Forward, at least 20 million more were sacrificed to a leader's theories. In that context, the man before the tank seems almost a counter-Mao, daring to act as the common-man hero tirelessly promoted by propaganda and serving as a rebuke--or asterisk, at least--to the leaders and revolutionaries who share these pages.


Coming from a family lineage deeply rooted in successful musical endeavors and lush talent is a blessing that many envy. A legacy built upon that sort of foundation blossoms some beautiful souls, and Donn T is an embodiment of that. The Philadelphia native is the daughter of Jacqui and Lee Andrews of classic soul group Congress Alley. Her grandfather was part of The Dixie Hummingbirds, and she is the sister of Grammy-award winning musician, drummer, and producer Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson.
We got the chance to speak with Donn T, whose new album Flight of the Donn T drops April 21st. She immersed us in inspiration.
Rock On Philly: What's been your biggest influence while working on Flight of the Donn T? How do you feel it compares to your first studio album?
Donn T: Flight of The Donn T was strongly influenced by my heart, well, by my world being transformed by love. Love came. I stumbled on, tripped over and fell in it. It surprised me. If meeting and marrying the love of my life was no small life shift, meeting my love's beautiful 8 year-old daughter (now 12) was seismic. My heart exploded, expanded. I had a wider space to create from while at the same time feeling incredibly grounded on this album. I let each song occur, I allowed the idea of a full album to blossom. Kaleidoscopic, my first studio album took 7 days (and no sleep) to complete. Flight of The Donn T took 5 years. It simmered. But, there was still another big influence while working on Flight. I launched my label D-tone Victorious. Today, I'm at the helm of my career in a way that I had not been previously. I'm wearing every hat. If Kaleidoscopic was the outworking of my travels abroad, jetting back and forth to Europe and frenetic energy, Flight Of The Donn T is about homing, soulfulness, the place you go when you are preparing to launch, what nurtures, challenges and inspires you to soar.
ROP: What's your relationship with your brother like? Was there ever a (loving) sibling rivalry? Who played the best jokes?
DT: My knee jerk reaction is to say we're typical brother and sister but, there is nothing typical about us. We spend life on stages. We're private. We're fiercely protective of each other. We each have a wicked sense of humor and I think he's funnier but, he thinks I am. We were on our own a lot as kids. We've had experiences that only we know about. We come from this creatively-rich, musical family where the height of inspiration was often matched by its opposite. Growing up Thompson wasn't a soft experience. The gift, it carved into us was depth and story. There's a loyalty and a generosity we express with each other. We have a soft spot for each other. I also believe we have a pretty intense intuitive connection. My brother and I can make each other crack up without speaking. The way that would play out is we might be in a room full of people, observe something from different angles (not be facing each other), then face each other and have the same response. It's bizarre actually. We have a lot of private jokes that only we get. It might be a bit alienating if someone doesn't know us well. Humor is a big deal in our family. I don't identify with having sibling rivalry. I'm fiercely competitive but, not with him. I am his #1 fan.
ROP: When did you have that a-ha moment that told you have to be a singer? When did you decide to turn it up a notch?
DT: The a-ha moment was at nine and it was in regard to being a singer-songwriter. It was also when my first work was published–and then I went to recess.
ROP: While getting better at your craft and what you do, what's been the hurdles? What advice would you give to people trying to find their voice that you wish you had at the beginning?
DT: The most difficult hurdle is believing that if you are different or if you don't fit in "the box" as an artist that you should give up. Innovators and game changers are those who persisted. If doors aren't opening or if things aren't happening quickly become a better version of yourself so, you are prepared for when they do. Sometimes on the road to becoming a better you, you discover a way to build your own door. Afterwards, be courageous walk through it. Love what you do. Only do what you love. Be authentically you. Find out who that is. Additionally, some artists and musicians get stuck and have "getting signed" as their primary goal. Yes, it is every musician's dream to have the machine behind them. But, if God has given you an undeniable gift, bless it, use it, let it out. The internet has demanded the music industry recalibrate. Don't measure yourself against anyone else's journey or achievements. Einstein said, "The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen all at once." Be patient. Laugh a lot when it's funny and when it's not.
ROP: Last year was a great year for music. For Donn T, what was the most important album of 2014?
DT: Too hard. I so can't answer this question with a single answer. I don't experience music as having one definitive voice. For 2014 in no particular order, I liked Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings' Give The People What They Want, Sia's 1000 Forms of Fear, Gary Clark Jr.'s Gary Clark Jr. Live, Ed Sheeran's X, Mary J Blige's The London Sessions, Sam Smith's In The Lonely Hour, and Prince's Art Official Age. That's 7.
ROP: Who's the one 'celebrity'–musician or actor or whoever–that you think you might lose your cool if you got to meet them?
DT: First Lady Michelle Obama.
ROP: It's a Saturday and you're on vacation. You're taking a break from your projects and there's a hot tub. You get to pick three other people to be in there with you–absolutely anyone. Who's in your hot tub?
DT: Comedians are in my hot tub. Aziz Ansari and Hannibal Buress have to "rotate." Recording artist FKA Twigs and author Tony Morrison. That's 3, sort of. I think I'm breaking the rules in this interview.
ROP: Looking forward, what do you want to work on? What challenge is up next for you?
DT: Looking forward, folks should expect more releases (from me and others) on the D-tone Victorious label. Also, I am an artist whose songs show up on TV and in film.
I will tour this Spring and Summer beginning with The D-tone Victorious Flight Of The Donn T release party at Johnny Brenda's on April 21st with RES and Kate Faust. I am part of The Roots Picnic in Philly next month.
I head to LA for festivals and shows right after that. I also have an amazing writing project on the horizon and am teaming up with esteemed young adult author K. M. Walton for her next project. My greatest challenge will be wearing many hats and juggling to keep all the balls in the air.
ROP: Tell us about your experience at the Talking Heads/David Byrne Tribute at Carnegie Hall.
DT: It was inspiring to share the stage and be surrounded by so many artists who have such a high level of respect for music. 20 artists were featured in all. We each covered a Talking Heads song that most represented us. What an honor.
I performed "Born Under Punches." At the end of my performance I received a standing ovation. To experience that, on that stage, was entirely crazy. It was a very cool night.
ROP: Who's been the most eclectic person that you've gotten to work and/or perform with?
DT: CeeLo Green is pretty eclectic and he too, appeared on The Carnegie Hall show. Esperanza Spalding, Sharon Jones, Antibalas, The Roots, Santigold and David Bryne performed as well. I think that show could've been aptly renamed Night of The Eclectic Performer.
ROP: Philly is an up-and-coming city that's been plagued by the stigmas of bad neighborhoods, cheesesteaks, and the Fresh Prince theme song. Not many people (even those in Philly) see that it has so much to offer. Having grown up here, what would you say about Philly that you think most people don't know and should know?
DT: I'd probably take issue with anyone having just that perception of Philly. Philly is a cultural and culinary mecca. Philly is thriving, it's always thrived. In Jan 2015, the New York Times ranked Philadelphia 3rd in the Top 52 places to visit in the world just behind Milan and Cuba. Beyond that, I simply cringe a bit at the term "bad" neighborhoods. It's code. Poverty exists in the world for very layered and complicated reasons. In places where it is perceived that crime doesn't exist well, in "good" neighborhoods it exists behind closes doors and in different forms. I'd encourage anyone having a limited perception of Philly to expand their thinking, turn off the TV, leave their house and embrace what is amazingly rich, diverse and unique about our city.
My own family has made their mark on the music world for several generations. We've hailed from Philly, it's been our launching pad.
My new husband guitarist/producer Jake Morelli (a Philly import, from NYC) co-produced the lion share of Flight of The Donn T with me, from our studio in Philly (Jmotone). Jake's other performance credits include stints with Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Ne-Yo, The Roots, Roberta Flack, Jennifer Hudson, Grace Potter, Esperanza Spalding, and Hunter Hayes. We share additional writing credit with Mike McHenry (Miley Cyrus, Rihanna, Black Eyed Peas, Madonna), Ray Angry (Christina Aguilera, Mark Ronson, Mick Jagger), DJ Danophonic and Steve McKie (Bilal, Jill Scott).
Music has enabled me to travel the world. I've spent significant time in Europe and South America, I've traveled the US and have seen most of it. Having that perspective, I'd say Philly is an awesome city.
Be sure to catch Donn T at Johnny Brenda's on April 21st! Get tickets here. Pre-order Flight of Donn T before it drops on April 21st here!
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