Mohammad Helmy recalls that his favorite research experiences were when he and his faculty mentor performed statistical analyses of the data and brainstormed about an explanation for the results. Mohammad says that research affected him to such an extent that he no longer accepts scientific "facts" without first questioning the metho-dology used in accumu-lating the data. Mohammad recommends that undergraduate researchers realize at all times the contributions they are making to the community around them.
Cocaine is believed to exert its reinforcing actions by indirectly increasing activation of postsynaptic dopamine (DA) receptors (divided into five subtypes, D1 to D5). We studied the role of the D1 receptor in reinforcement by examining the effects of the D1-antagonist SCH23390 and the D2-antagonist eticlopride on self-administration of the D1-agonist SKF82958. Rats were surgically implanted with an intravenous catheter, then allowed to self-administer cocaine during daily sessions until response rates stabilized. On subsequent test days, rats were allowed to self-administer SKF82958 alone or in combination with either SCH23390 or eticlopride. As the SCH23390 dose was increased, self-administration of the low dose of SKF82958 decreased; responses for the higher SKF82958 doses initially increased before eventually declining. Eticlopride caused a decrease in self-administration of the lower SKF82958 doses, but caused no change in self-administration of the higher doses. SCH23390 disrupted the highly regular response patterns that are indicative of reinforcement, while eticlopride had no effect on these response patterns.
The rewarding effects of cocaine have been traced mainly to its enhancement of brain dopamine (DA) systems. With five DA receptor subtypes (D1 to D5), it is important to determine which subtype is affected by cocaine. This study replicated the finding that self-administration of D1-agonists produces well-timed, cocaine-like response patterns, and showed that D1-agonist self-administration is antagonized by blockade of D1 receptors, but largely unaffected by D2 blockade. These results support a role for D1 receptors in reinforcement, and suggest that cocaine's actions involve stimulation of dopamine D1 receptors�a fact that might help elucidate the mechanism of action of this important drug. More generally, UCI's undergraduate research program allows students to experience laboratory research in pursuit of scientific answers to real research questions.


LONDON (Reuters) - Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will delay heading off for their honeymoon, instead attending a birthday party for his father Prince Charles just days after marrying in a ground-breaking ceremony that blended the modern with the traditional.
After a day that saw the couple exchange vows in a medieval chapel at Windsor Castle under the gaze of royals, celebrities, and a global television audience of many millions, Harry and Meghan spent Saturday evening partying with friends in privacy.
They will head home to their cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace before attending their first official royal engagement as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex — the 70th birthday patronage celebration for Prince Charles.
The outdoor event marks the heir to the throne's milestone birthday - which falls in November - by recognising Charles' patronages and military affiliations as well as others involved in charities supported by the royal.
On Sunday, while the Queen attended church, there was no sign of the newly weds.
So far, the destination of their honeymoon is unknown, with some media guessing they might travel to Botswana, possibly to an exclusive safari camp which the couple visited in August last year, just a few months before they announced their engagement.
The marriage of Harry, 33, a former royal wild child and sixth-in-line to the British throne, and 36-year-old Meghan, a divorcee whose mother is African-American and father is white, was like no other the royal family has seen before.
"Kisstory" said the Sunday on Sunday newspaper. "Harry and Meg's historic change for monarch." "There is power in love," said the Sunday Times, referencing a passionate sermon by U.S. Episcopalian Bishop Michael Bruce Curry.
They crowned the day with a black-tie dinner and party where Meghan was expected to make a speech and the couple were expected to have their first dance.
Some media reported that Prince Charles had wedding guests rolling with laughter with his speech after cracking a joke about changing Harry's nappy.
At around 11:00 p.m., fireworks lit up the night sky.


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Jessica Ho (Queens, Nueva York, 17 de diciembre de 1988), más conocida como Jessi, es una rapera y cantautora estadounidense de origen coreano. Debutó como solista con el lanzamiento de álbum sencillo Get Up en 2005.

Carrera

2003-14: Inicios de carrera
Jessi pasó con éxito una audición para SM Entertainment. Sin embargo, optó por no formar parte de la compañía, ya que creía que el enfoque de la música del sello no coincidía con su estilo. Antes de que Jessi tuviera un hiatus temporal en la industria de la música, tuvo problemas para acostumbrarse a la cultura coreana. Ella no encontró éxito inmediato después de su debut, y algunas veces se vio obligada a dormir en saunas cuando no tenía suficiente dinero para pagar un lugar donde quedarse.

En 2003, Jessi audicionó con éxito para Doremi Media, y se mudó a Corea del Sur a la edad de 15 años. El 18 de septiembre de 2005, debutó con un sencillo en CD titulado Get Up, interpretando el sencillo homónimo en el programa musical, Music Bank. En 2006, sustituyó a Yoon Mi-rae en el álbum Testimony de Uptown. Su segundo sencillo en CD, titulado The Rebirth, se lanzó en enero de 2009. Después de ese lanzamiento, se retiró de la industria musical temporalmente y abandonó Corea para regresar a Estados Unidos. En 2014, después de estar inactiva por cinco años, Jessi regresó como miembro del trío de hip hop, Lucky J, integrado por J'Kyun y J-Yo. Lucky J debutó con el sencillo digital «Can You Hear Me» bajo YMC Entertainment en julio de ese año. Un mes después de su debut, Lucky J hizo una aparición en el programa de competencia de música de Mnet Immortal Songs 2. El 31 de diciembre, Jessi rapeó en colaboración con su compañera de sello Ailee y la exmiembro de Sistar, Hyolyn. El trío presentó la exitosa canción «Bang Bang» en el programa de música de fin de año MBC Gayo Daejejeon.

2015-presente: Apariciones en televisión y P-Nation
De enero a marzo de 2015, Jessi formó parte de la primera temporada de Unpretty Rapstar, un spin-off del programa Show Me The Money.  Unpretty Rapstar es un programa de supervivencia de rap femenino, donde las concursantes compiten por la oportunidad de aparecer en las canciones de un álbum recopilatorio. Jessi fue elegida como la ganadora del segundo lugar del programa, por votación del público. Después de su aparición en Unpretty Rapstar, Jessi apareció en el sencillo de J.Y. Park «Who's Your Mama?» y su vídeo musical, ambos lanzados en abril de 2015. La canción superó las nueve principales listas de música en Corea tan pronto como fue lanzada. A lo largo de 2015, Jessi apareció como invitada en varios programas de variedades populares, incluidos Running Man y Happy Together. Lanzó su primer sencillo de rap en solitario, «Ssenunni», el 15 de septiembre. La primera presentación en vivo de Jessi en los Estados Unidos se realizó el 16 de octubre. Actuó en el Teatro Belasco de Los Ángeles, con el dúo de hip-hop Mighty Mouth como su acto de apertura. Cuando Unpretty Rapstar 2 salió al aire, Jessi apareció en varios episodios como mentora. Ella y Cheetah, el ganador de la temporada anterior, cantaron en Unpretty Rapstar 2 canciones producidas por Verbal Jint. En diciembre de 2015, Jessi interpretó su canción de rap «Ssenunni» en los Mnet Asian Music Awards.

En 2016, Jessi participó como una de las miembros permanentes en la primera temporada del popular programa de variedades coreano, Sister's Slam Dunk. En 2017, Jessi lanzó «Gucci» de su primer miniálbum, titulado Un2verse, ambos lanzados el 13 de julio. En 2018, Jessi protagonizó Yo! MTV Raps. El programa se emitió en MTV Asia el 6 de julio. El mismo día, lanzó un sencillo titulado «Down». El contrato de Jessi con YMC Entertainment finalizó en octubre de 2018, y en enero de 2019, firmó un contrato con el sello discográfico de PSY, P-Nation. Su primer sencillo bajo el sello, «Who Dat B», fue lanzado el 23 de septiembre de 2019. Dos meses más tarde, lanzó «Drip» en colaboración con Jay Park. La rapera lanzó su segundo EP, Nuna, el 30 de julio de 2020.

Vida personal
Jessi asistió a Korea Kent Foreign School junto a Tiffany Young de Girls' Generation y Jessica Jung. Stephanie Kim, antigua miembro de The Grace, también asistió a la misma escuela.

En 2013, durante su descanso de la industria musical, surgió una controversia sobre la participación de Jessi en un presunto asalto. La víctima declarada retiró rápidamente los cargos contra la cantante, y la investigación se cerró.

Discografía

EPs
 2017: Un2verse
 2020: Nuna

Filmografía

Programas de televisión

Premios y nominaciones

Referencias

Enlaces externos

Raperas de Estados Unidos
Compositoras de Estados Unidos
Concursantes de King of Mask Singer
Jessi
Raperas de Corea del Sur

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


December 5, 2013. Uncategorized. Leave a comment.
All comedy aside, I can't help but think how this most recent racial flare-up provides an almost ritualistic purpose in society, especially during times of racial upheaval. Current circumstances brought about by legal and legislative proceedings surrounding the Trayvon Martin case, the SCOTUS in/decision on affirmative action, and Congressional reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act all provide the perfect kairos for electronic excoriation. This week's feeding frenzy was inspired by Paul Deen being "outed" as a racist.
It seems to me that public reactions to Deen﹣whether for or against﹣say far more about our collective national ethos than about the racial attitudes of one single individual in spite of all her deep-fried-celebrity-chef craziness. Is anyone seriously surprised by a 66-year-old white woman born and bred in rural Georgia finding occasion to use the n-word every now and again? Please oh please, say it ain't so.
You don't have to think too long and hard recalling the vast (and by no means exhaustive) list of media personalities saying (or admitting to saying) stupid, racist comments in public or quasi-public situations… and practically always within close proximity to electronic recording devices. John Mayer, Don Imus, Michael Richards, Jimmy "the Greek" Snyder, Marge Schott, et al. And just as one might expect, such behaviors are routinely chalked up to any combination of things ranging from stress caused by overwork, bad side effects from medication, excess alcohol consumption, or some other miscellaneous malady brought on by temporary chemical imbalance.
In Deen's case, poor insulin absorption is the culprit. Of course it was. I hope Deen finds the rest and relaxation needed for her recovery during the course of her time spent in rehab, which her publicists are undoubtedly scheduling and preparing for press release as I type this sentence.
I mean, the whole point of being American is getting other folk to do the dirty work — quick, easy (and for free if you're smart enough to finagle it)! And what could possibly be simpler and more sensational than symbolically heaping our latest cycle of racial sins on such a gorgeously fattened, butter-fed scapegoat as the fair Miss Paula Deen? It would be a terrible shame to pass on anything so lovely and plump. Verily, verily I say unto you, Lo! We shall search among the vast cloud of interwebs and be absolved. And in return we shall feed the trolls, granting unto them one million hits. In/dependence day is just around the corner and the beat down ain' over yet! Don't make me crack this whip on yo' @$$. We only got another week or so… better grab that stick and get to swingin! Do it! Right this wrong now, I say!
June 25, 2013. Uncategorized. Leave a comment.


*This post is sponsored by Kreg Tool and The Home Depot. I have been compensated for my time and provided with product or payment in exchange. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.
How many half-baked ideas do you have swimming around in your head? Even if we don't claim to be "creative", we all have little thoughts and potential ideas that motivate us. Ever since remodeling my master bathroom, my shower door is constantly filled with doodles and measurements written in steam. I finally got to build a project which incorporates TWO design ideas I've been brainstorming for a while.
I've had visions of a piece of furniture with a included a random-width, random-thickness pattern around the perimeter. Basically, either plywood or MDF of different standard thicknesses, cut into different sized strips and attached parallel to each other. I know it sounds kinda artsy-fartsy, but I kinda had the idea of a crowded downtown street, packed with buildings.
The second idea I've been dying to try is a coffee table, which opens into a hidden, folding bed. Sorta a hide-a-bed or Murphy bed from a functional table. I figured, I could design a project which could easily marry the two designs together. Short story- it works and I love it SO MUCH!
Check out the video below for the full process and keep scrolling to find out a few more tips and ideas.
Even though the convertible coffee table design is pretty unorthodox, the build was pretty straight forward. The legs and stretchers are made from my beloved poplar, but I chose MDF for the box portion. MDF is really stable (I won't have to worry about warping or shifting down the road) and it paints beautifully.
I bought two sheets of 3/4" thick MDF from Home Depot, then used my Kreg Accu-Cut guide track system to break the materials down into the smaller, project panels. I love this thing! If you watch a couple of my YouTube videos, you'll see I use it ALL. THE. TIME.
To join the pieces together, I decided to go back to my roots and use pocket holes. MDF drills so smoothly and makes beautiful pocket holes! I received a Kreg Foreman a few months ago, but you could build this whole table using a simple R3 pocket hole jig instead.
I made lots of little mistakes on this build, but it's okay.
For example, I placed the pocket holes on the inside of the box but after getting the first few sides up, I realized I should have placed them on the outside faces, where they would have been covered.
The signature design piece of this coffee table are the dozens and dozens of small strips attached around the perimeter. Traditionally, cutting that many narrow pieces of material would be really difficult without a table saw. Even though it took just a few more minutes to set up each cut, I was able to rip all 3 thicknesses of MDF (1/4", 1/2"& 3/4") into even the tiniest strips using my Accu-Cut.
With the strips ripped to width, I set up a stop-block on my miter saw and cut the veneer strips to length. I then used glue and a 23-gauge pin nailer to attach them to the box sides.
Cutting all those millions and millions of little veneer pieces (okay, more like 100-150) made LOTS of sawdust EVERYWHERE! One day I'll set up dust collection in my shop, but in the meantime, I had a big mess to clean up. Luckily, I just received a new 16 gallon, 6.5 horsepower Wet/Dry Vac from Ridgid.
The over-sized wheels made the whole vac really easy to move around the garage. And the on board storage for things like the hose and attachments helps prevent all the loose pieces from getting lost (I have a chronic problem with that).
Moving on the legs. I wanted them semi-chunky so they could comfortably support a person laying on the bed, but I didn't want to use 4 x 4's. Instead, I glued together three, 1 x 3 boards to create a "laminated" blank. Basically, I turned them into 2-1/2" x 2-1/2" x 8-1/4" solid blocks.
Thankfully, I build a pretty nice thickness planer set-up a few months ago and was able to run the legs through to knock off the worst of the uneven sides. However, they still needed a good sanding. The perfect job for my new DeWalt Cordless Random Orbital Sander.
DeWalt also makes a quick-charge 20V charger, which can re-power a battery in 95 minutes or less. In my experience, a 4ah battery will charge in about 30-40 minutes.
I attached the box to the table base simply by pre-drilling from the inside of the box, and drove 3" screws into the tops of the legs. I'm used to using a lot more fasteners to hold table parts together but with this project, it really wasn't necessary. This thing is solid as an ox (just watch the video to see how I tested it).
I'm so glad my crazy ideas actually worked! I'm in love with this one.
I originally thought the bed function would be reversed for overnight guests, but I built this table last week, we've had no guests, and this thing has already seen a lot of traffic. My kids had a three-day weekend and pretty much spend the whole time laying on the opened bed.
Admittedly, the layers of MDF are pretty heavy, so converting the coffee table into a bed probably requires two people.
In order to be able to fold the mattress in half, it needs to be all foam. Luckily, they are pretty easy to find these days. I picked up a twin sized, memory foam mattress from Amazon for cheap.
What do you think of the random-width, random-thickness side detail?
If you want a couple tips on how to evenly paint MDF, check out the YouTube video. I have a few techniques that helped me get a smooth and nearly flawless finish.
Oh, and if you're a fan of my three-way nesting coffee table from a while back, don't worry, it's not getting replaced. We use it literally everyday. This new murphy bed table is going in the game room (for now).
What do you think? Looking to build your own hidden bed furniture? Make sure to check out the >>>FULL BUILDING PLANS <<< over at BuildSomething.com and feel free to pin the image below to save the idea for later!


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Anna's Balearic Swim Challenge
Your share could raise £30
Before you go, did you know that simply by sharing this campaign, you could help it raise £30? It's an effective way to support the cause.
46% of £5k goal
By Anna Wardley
Colònia de Sant Jordi, PM, ES
Anna Wardley hasn't added a story.
What is Anna going to do?
In May 2016 I'm going to swim 37km from Menorca to Mallorca to raise funds for three great charities as the first leg of the unprecedented Balearic Swim Challenge. I'll be doing the swim solo and non-stop and it will take around 20 hours for me to swim between the two Balearic Islands.
Why would anyone want to swim for 20 hours?
That's a very good question that I get asked a lot! I've got a track record for completing gruelling endurance swims to raise money for good causes and I'm hoping to raise lots of money through these tough swims. There's a fine line between pushing the boundaries and madness, and I'd like to think that i'm just on the right side of it (most of the time!). This swim is part of my Balearic Swim Challenge and I'm doing it to raise important funds for three great causes.
Which charities is Anna raising funds for?
Click on the links below to find out more about the three great marine-related not for profit organisations I have chosen to raise funds for:
Marine Inspirations
Joves Navegants
Marine Animal Rescue Project
How will the funds raised be divided?
The monies will be split equally between the three charities with each of the three recieving 25 percent. In the absence of a sponsor, the remaining 25 percent will be used to cover the costs of undertaking this challenge safely.
Why should I make a donation?
I'm going to be doing the uncomfortable bit by getting wet and cold, but you can play a significant part in this challenge by making a donation to my charities. After all that is why I'm undertaking this massive feat. Every contribution counts - don't worry if it's small as we can use the power of the crowd. It's that kind of giving that has helped me to raise over £70,000 over the last nine years since I took up endurance swimming. After my 60-mile swim around the Isle of Wight in 2013 I was invited to the Queens' Garden Party at Buckingham Palace and, although I felt extremely honoured to be there, I wanted each and every single person who made a donation to be there with me.
Will my support make a difference?
Yes! The funds will be used wisely by the three charities but on a personal level your support is a huge motivator when I'm swimming. I might be in the water on my own but it's a huge team effort and your support keeps me going when the going gets tough. Please make a donation to my charities - together we can make a real difference. Let's make it count!
Anna Wardley hasn't posted any updates yet.
Do you believe in our cause? Join our team!
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Sign in to get your personal share link and see your position in our community.
To appear in our community, simply make a contribution to our campaign and show your name, or inspire a contribution from someone else by sharing your personal link (below). The more contributions you make or inspire, the higher you'll go and the more the campaign will benefit.
, take your place in our community!
, you're currently in position of
, you've helped raise a total of .
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Anna Wardley is managing the funds for this campaign. The campaign is for a personal cause.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Bitcoin: innovation of money and evolution of governance
All users play a crucial role in governance, as they are what ultimately gives Bitcoin value. People can choose to be equal under the law of mathematics.
Nozomi Hayase
Tree of knowledge of good and evil.Wikicommons/ Biblical Paintings - Dr. Lidia Kozenitzky. Some rights reserved.In its seven years of existence, Bitcoin has gained widespread attention with its disruptive potential in finance. Some see it as a form of digital gold, offering a safe haven against capital controls and asylum to people whose currency is debased.
The invention of cryptocurrency coincided with a global crisis of legitimacy in the 2008 financial meltdown, which was followed by bank bailouts and for the people, a cycle of austerity. In that seminal white paper, mysterious creator Satoshi Nakamoto described Bitcoin as a purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash that would allow "online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution". The core invention is distributed trust and Nakamoto stated that it was put forward as a solution to the "inherent weakness of the trust based model", where financial institutions act as trusted third parties.
Bitcoin, I will argue, is not just an innovation in banking and finance, but at its core, concerns a challenge to governance systems that can lead to an evolution of humanity. For so long, social progress has stagnated, with the selfish and callous sides of man taking the upper hand. Unprecedented levels of government and corporate corruption in recent years have signaled a breakdown of systems of accountability. This deep failure of democracy has exposed the existence of individuals who exhibit a total lack of conscience and empathy for others. They embody a dark side of individuality, with aggressive and narrow selfish desires that often come in conflict with the public good. Now, the destructive actions of this minority seem to have become a threat to civilization itself. We shall explore how Bitcoin provides a new model of governance that is resilient to these adversarial forces.
Security holes within representative democracy
In the US, the launch of constitutional democracy brought a significant departure from the monarchy of olden times, where the king acted as ordained ruler. Yet, the foundation of this governance has not fundamentally changed, as it still relies on authority, requiring people to trust those who claim to represent them in the form of elected officials.
Representative democracy has increasingly become a mask used by ruthless individuals to hide and gain a grip on the populace. Behind the veil of secrecy, corporate masters behind the charade of electoral politics sponsor political candidates, who with campaign promises keep people passive and manage down their expectation levels. With future faking, which involves making plans that will never happen, and gas-lighting, a tactic known to challenge one's memory, they deceive and gain power over others.
Money as a weapon of control
Money dependent on systems of representation requires trust to work. With the creation of the Federal Reserve and other central banks, private corporations began taking over the supplying of money. This centrally planned money production intermediates human relationship by dividing all into classes of creditors and debtors, where the former are masters, while the latter often become de-facto slaves.
The hidden captains of this managed democracy direct the flow of currency through financial engineering and have created incentive structures that are bent toward preserving their power. Stimulated by toxic asset bubbles, derivatives and quantitative easing, these incentives work like invisible hands of the market. They suppress democratic values by controlling information, which is the currency of democracy and suppressing free speech with economic censorship, as was seen in the case of the financial blockade against WikiLeaks. With radical deregulation, this system promotes fraud and depravity, exemplified in HSBC's money laundering and top bank's currency rigging. Through oppressive monetary policy and predatory lending that is presented as humanitarian aid, institutions such as the IMF and World Bank indebt developing countries, holding whole populations in poverty.
All of this has resulted in the creation of a two-tiered justice system and derisked capitalism, where those in power are never allowed to fail and are not held accountable either by markets or the legal system.
The 2008 financial crisis and the bailouts of Wall Street banks exposed this big monopoly game and the brazen double standard in these unfair rigged rules. At the onset of the Occupy movement, scholar-activist David Graeber spoke of how people had woken up to the fact that "money is a political arrangement" and is "a social set of promises that people make to one another". He noted how this crisis revealed that governments treat ordinary people's debts as sacrosanct with no one allowed to default, while bankrupt bankers are bailed out by those taxpayers, who are then just loaded with more debt.
This environment can also take advantage of honest entrepreneurs. The CEO of a Taipai-based shipping company, Nobu Su became a victim of this unregulated greed and perversion of free market capitalism. He filed a lawsuit against the Royal Bank of Scotland for losses on swaps. When asked by Max Keiser, host of the popular financial program on RT about a possible solution to this problem, he emphasized the need to timestamp documents so that people can't change figures, in order to hold these fraudulent activities accountable.
Bitcoin as a new security model
Bitcoin brings an elegant solution to this systemic parasitic rent-seeking and exploitation. As asset-based digital cash, it offers an alternative to the promissory system of value creation by decree from above. Currency is its first application and Bitcoin's underlying technology, the blockchain is a public asset ledger. This is a distributed database that records a history of transactions in the network without anyone in charge. Once data is verified, no one can undo it. This immutable timestamp goes beyond simple accounting of monetary transactions.
Bitcoin enables a new security model and it addresses the problem of security holes in the existing trust-based model of governance. Author and security expert Andreas Antonopoulos called this "trust by computation" that has "no central authority or trusted third party". He explained this form of trust as follows:
Trust does not depend on excluding bad actors, as they cannot 'fake' trust. They cannot pretend to be the trusted party, as there is none. They cannot steal the central keys as there are none. They cannot pull the levers of control at the core of the system, as there is no core and no levers of control.
With this trust by computation, the need to trust institutions or central authorities is replaced with mathematics. Human trust is easily exploited by those prone to act with little concern for others. In the Bitcoin network where there is no point of control, attackers cannot fake trust. In order to gain control over the network, they would have to compromise math.
Power corrupts, and the best way to check and balance power is to not have these points of control in the first place. Thus, decentralization is a natural progression of security models. In a decentralized system, there is no ladder of power that can be climbed to exploit others. Through distributing trust across a network and minimizing the necessity to trust a third party, the system removes the vulnerability that often leads to such concentration of power.
Rule of algorithmic consensus
So, how does Bitcoin distribute trust and secure this peer-to-peer network? Instead of top down rules, Bitcoin is governed by a consensus mechanism called proof-of work. Bitcoin's particular consensus algorithm reverse-engineers the current financialization scheme. Through using bitcoin as a token of value with a combination of cryptographic hash functions, game theory and economic incentives, a whole new economy is now being created. Bitcoin mining is the heart of the system. It is a broadcast math competition engaged by a network of computers around the world with clear rules, including the total number of bitcoin created, a predictable issuance rate and automatic adjustment of mining difficulty.
By using precious resources, miners work to solve difficult mathematics problems. Each 10 minutes, problems are solved and whoever solves the problem first wins a fixed number of bitcoins. This process leads to both creation of money and clearing of transactions and it is designed to create economies of scale, with rewards proactively incentivizing all to follow the network rules of consensus.
What makes the global Bitcoin heart beat and its ecosystem thrive is not just miners and developers, but everyone's participation in the network. This includes merchants, investors, entrepreneurs and users. Journalist Aaron van Wirdum describes how full nodes that relay and validate transactions within the network check and enforce Bitcoin's consensus rules. He explains how "not all full nodes are equal from a network perspective". The full nodes that miners, companies and developers run "all add weight to a set of consensus rules". Yet, he emphasizes how all users play a crucial role in governance, as they are what ultimately gives Bitcoin value.
By removing third parties, the inventor of this technology found a way to create a direct feedback loop among all participants, aligning the balance of supply and demand with the force of consensus, which is more democratic than the current oligarchic system that operates under a pretense of democracy.
In the current financially engineered market, monetary supply does not correlate with the real demands of people. Yet, with this new Bitcoin market, monetary supply is created through real demand with the feature of infinite divisibility (bitcoin can be divided into 8 decimal points and more if consensus is reached).
The only way miners and developers get paid for their work is to be on the side of consensus, so they are incentivized to respond to the demands of users. Instead of pumping money like a central bank printing press, this globally stretched heart is a receptive organ. It listens to the impulse to transact freely that comes from everywhere and the network self-regulates to develop its own immunity against both internal and external attacks.
Honest account of the darkness within
In these new cryptographic systems, attempts to cheat the system could manifest in covert chip fabrication, spam attacks and miners colluding in a mining pool to earn more than their fair share at the expense of honest miners.
Yet, the genius of this protocol is in the ability for a math-based network to enforce rules of consensus and fair play. At its foundation is Satoshi. The Chinese character of his name in Japanese is translated as history of philosophy. This philosophy is like wisdom gained through history; an understanding of the contradiction inherent in man as a being both corruptible as well as perfectible. This is at the crux of Bitcoin's game theory. Instead of naively assuming good intentions in everyone, the creator of this technology expected that some would try to cheat and attack the network. This expectation is shared by developers who are committed to Satoshi's vision of this particular security model. At the Hong Kong Scaling Bitcoin conference, developer Andrew Poelstra explained the mindset that Bitcoin lives in an adversarial environment and that the possibility of individuals acting selfishly and taking advantage of others' good will needs to be factored into designing its governance.
Bitcoin core developer Peter Todd also emphasized the necessity of adversarial thinking. In a Twitter interaction on the topic of security, Todd noted, "security isn't about people promising they won't do something, it's about people being unable to do something".
When greed and self-interests are condemned or denied, these aspects do not disappear, but are simply pushed out of sight and kept hidden. Efforts through law enforcement to regulate and punish selfish actors can just make them more cunning and deceitful. Bitcoin's security model is based on honest accounting of selfishness in our genes. Instead of trying to shun the darkness, it finds a way to bring what is often hidden in society out in the open and work with it.
Incentive structure
With this ability to think like an attacker, market forces are used to create a new law that can bring accountability without relying on the moral strength of any individual or external moral authority. Robert Wolinsky, senior manager of blockchain research, explains how "Satoshi introduces a cost equation to cheating/collusion via the proof-of-work protocol", making it clear to parties what the cost of attacking the network is and having them pay for it upfront. Furthermore, by making the rewards for playing by the rules higher than the value of attacking the network, it can proactively protect the system from the lack of impulse control of those who are instinctively programmed to act ruthlessly.
Bitcoin mining reintroduces risk into the market. Here, concrete rewards are used to channel risk-taking and self-serving inclinations, making all compete for honesty and truth. The competitive drive of survival of the fittest, fueled by this global math contest does not create ruthless bloodbaths or make a killing on the back of someone's misery, but instead is guided to serve the whole network. The fire of hashing power burns aggressive and violent parts of our humanity, transforming them into generating global level security for all.
Governance without central authority
Over the decades, democratic governments have become vehicles of control that have lost their fail-safe. Increasingly, people are held hostage by this corrupted political system. Satoshi's white paper published in 2008 cleared a path for evolution. This wisdom can help humanity solve the problem of a historic failure of accountability.
Bitcoin ungoverns people as well as unbanking them around the world. Proof-of-work distributes what used to be third party trust across a massive global decentralized network, fostering a kind of self-governance in each individual. People who till now have been blindly handing over their consent to institutions can instead choose to be equal under the law of mathematics.
Governance without central authority can at first seem inefficient. But it is more secure than the current system of representation. The more the system reduces the need to trust a third party, replacing it with a borderless network, the lower the security risk becomes. With Bitcoin, governance can be innovated to function as a platform of consensus. Rather than a system to govern others, it can be used as settlement; to work out disputes and reconcile conflicts. Distributed trust as its core technology enables the capacity to set up rules agreed to by everyone, which cannot be altered by one person or group. The Bitcoin blockchain opens a door into a pluralistic society where all can participate in creating governance models and currencies that manifest their values through the principle of mutual aid and voluntary association.
As Bitcoin gains more value, proof-of-work becomes a lightening rod, attracting malicious attackers. Now, a new civilization is emerging, one that does not try to enlighten others, but emanates light from out of our own darkness within. Man is fallible and each person alone can't account for themselves. But through our genuine efforts of working together, a spark can be created that shines on a path toward freedom. Each 10 minutes, the heart of the Bitcoin network expands, time-stamping out greed and antisocial impulses, while confirming our altruistic nature. Through a network of consensus built upon this virtue of selflessness, humanity that once was known as killer apes can now become a species capable of love.
Published in: openDemocracyUK
Blockchain revolution: open source democracy for the 99%
Written by: Nozomi Hayase All articles by: Nozomi Hayase
Blockchain versus vulture capitalism
Published in: digitaLiberties
The dawn and delusions of the 'Nerd Reich': BlockBusters #1
Written by: Jaya Klara Brekke All articles by: Jaya Klara Brekke
The conflict at the heart of modern money
Written by: Matthew Slater All articles by: Matthew Slater


Top 10 Mistakes Attorneys Make!
Whether you're an attorney, a CPA, a financial planner, a life insurance advisor or a trust officer, it is imperative that you recognize the common mistakes attorneys make while trying to protect their clients' assets from creditors. There are certain mistakes that are so commonly made that they are made by nearly every attorney on nearly every single estate or asset protection plan.
If even one of the ten common mistakes was one that you are guilty of making, then this teleconference will change your practice for the better and help you plan for your clients at a much higher level. After this teleconference, you will have the tools to be able to attract, and more importantly, keep higher net-worth clients.
Join us and nationally renowned estate planning and asset protection planning attorney, Steve Oshins, Esq. for an insightful, easy-to-understand discussion entitled "The Top 10 Asset Protection Mistakes Attorneys Make".


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Computerized office towers: hottest thing since air conditioning?
By Laurent Belsie Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
@CSMecon
It may be the era of the ''smart'' office building. This year in Chicago, Hartford, Conn., and a handful of other cities, technology is challenging the traditional view of what constitutes an up-to-date office building.
Here, workers are putting up an office complex at the southern edge of downtown that will house the Midwest Stock Exchange and the Chicago Board Options Exchange. But the innovation of One Financial Place will be its high-powered, inhouse computer that will provide tenants with everything from discount telephone service to a network of data bases. Tenants, most of them unable to afford such equipment on their own, will contract for services on a time-sharing basis.
It's a bit like making a large computer as available as central air conditioning. Since many tenants are expected to be brokers and traders, services will be tailored to their needs.
In Hartford, another company has just completed an even more comprehensive structure. The 38-story CityPlace will use computers not only for high-powered office systems, but also to control air conditioning, talking elevators, and lights that turn off automatically when workers leave a room.
It is what Anthony D. Autorino calls ''the world's first intelligent building.''
That claim by the chairman and chief executive officer of United Technologies Building Systems Company is disputed by Bernard Bishop, whose company will run the services at One Finanacial Place and already is operating a less elaborate smart system for the city's Merchandise Mart and Apparel Center.
In any case, the whole idea has attracted commercial developers. ''It's really a trend. We're seeing them coming up all over the country,'' says Craig Henrich, editor of ''Buildings, the facilities construction management magazine.''
Some experts are concerned about computer security. But both Mr. Bishop and Mr. Autorino are confident about the integrity of their systems and offer encryption as additional protection. But Dr. Sanford Sherizen, president of Data Security Systems Inc. in Natick, Mass., suggests would-be tenants ask some hard questions before deciding to move in. For those who don't know what the hard questions are, he suggests they contact their trade association.
The exact number of intelligent buildings is hard to pin down, says Gardner S. McBride, executive vice-president of Building Owners and Management Association International. But he estimates developers will experiment with one or two such buildings this year and, if successful, expand the number five or six times.
Autorino's two-year-old company, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation, is currently under contract to install systems for more than 28 buildings, representing a total of 18 million square feet.
And Autorino expects contracts for another 30 to 50 buildings this year.
''We're being asked to do many more buildings than we can handle,'' he says, which is one reason Building Systems is currently formalizing a joint venture with AT&T Information Systems.
The competition has a David-and-Goliath air about it. While United Technologies has linked the expertise of its communications, elevator, and other subsidiaries to support Building Systems, Mr. Bishop started out of his basement.
''At the time, no one had heard of the idea,'' says Bishop, who quit his job at GTE Corporation and started out on his own in July 1981. His idea was to install advanced computer and communications equipment that tenants could share at a savings. Staff would be on hand to develop services various tenants needed and show them how to use it. Gross sales soared from 130,000 in fiscal 1982 to 5 million last year.
One Financial Place will be the smartest of his smart buildings, he says. It will offer an information network as well as a message service and will answer a tenant's busy or unattended phones.
The building won't be completed until late this year, but nearly half the complex is rented.
While Chicago tenants pay $21.50 to $30 a year to lease and maintain a square foot of office space in new downtown buildings, One Financial Place is advertising rates of $27.75 to $30.25.
Meet the eviction defenders helping to keep tenants at home
The other people facing housing woes amid pandemic: Mom and pop landlords
Seven perish in Mass. apartment building blaze


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As the only point of contact between your vehicle and the road, it is essential that your tyres are always kept in roadworthy conditioning, adhering to the recommended tread depth. Not only is it an offence to be found driving with unsuitable tyres but it presents a significant danger to yourself, your passengers and other road users.
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Budget tyres are developed with a strict price point in mind, this is reflected in the quality of materials used in their construction to the technologies employed during their development. By contrast, a premium tyre will be developed with the intention of creating the best tyre possible, using superior materials and the latest technologies. The results often speak for themselves with premium tyres being harder wearing and better performing.
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While it's easier said than done, being organised is the key to staying on top of things, so stock up on all the essentials you might need for visitors. Biscuits are a good choice because they keep for a long time, so buy a couple packets and just try not to eat them all yourself! Dettol disinfectant wipes are another must have for new mums; when used as directed, they kill 99.9% of bacteria. Keep a few packets dotted around the house for disinfecting surfaces, cleaning emergency spillages or for a quick spruce before visitors arrive. Make the most of your time by ordering your shopping online, and sign up to Amazon Subscribe and Save for great deals on Dettol products.
Don't have time to clean the whole house? We don't blame you. It's easy for household jobs to build up when you are busy focusing on being a new mum. Rather than worrying about the cleaning, consider entertaining your guests in one room, or focus on a few quick and easy ways to get your home ready for visitors. Hoover the living room, and quickly wipe down any hard surfaces and the bathroom sink with a disposable disinfectant wipe to prepare for your guests in no time.
Preparing the bathroom for visitors requires a little more attention, especially if you have overnight guests, but choosing the right cleaning products can help make things easier. Use disinfectant wipes to clean your bathroom and kill germs at the same time. Dettol Power & Pure Advance Bathroom Wipes can be used to wipe down sinks, taps, tiles and the bathroom floor - just put the used wipes in the bin once you've finished with them.
Ask visitors to wash their hands when they come into the house. Newborns are much more prone to illnesses that may be going around because their immune systems aren't mature yet, so ask friends who may be ill to postpone their visit until they are better. Stock the bathroom with Dettol Hand Wash, which kills 99.9% of bacteria when used as directed, and try not to feel embarrassed about asking visitors to wash their hands. You are only trying to keep your baby happy and healthy and you won't be the first new mum to do this!
Hopefully, these cleaning tips will make preparing for guests quick and stress-free. Remember, visits are meant to be fun, so focus on cleaning the essential areas of your home efficiently, don't put too much pressure on yourself and enjoy the time introducing your new baby to your family and friends.


The study shows that for contactless merchants, growth in customer numbers (8.3%) was double that experienced by non-contactless merchants (3.5%).
The payments industry should now be almost ready to embrace the future of consumer technologies like biometrics, says Visa.
The deal will expand Visa's business suite of solutions serving the B2B payments industry.
More than three-quarters (77%) of New Zealanders own a contactless capable card.
Visa's Everywhere Initiative challenges startups to use Visa APIs to create consumer or business-to-business payments solutions.
Visa has announced expanded transaction processing capabilities in two new data centres – one in Singapore and one in the United Kingdom.
It might seem incredibly easy (or incredibly difficult) to figure out what millennials want. Visa reckons it knows how they like to pay for things.
Rush Digital has looked back on September with vigour, as the startup company celebrates some grand achievements in their progress in tech innovation.
The New Zealand Government is launching a new global impact visa that is designed to encourage entrepreneurs to set up shop in this country.
Visa lauches digital swipe product enabling shoppers to complete online purchases by sliding a virtual image of their credit, debit or prepaid card.
Visa has launched a new payment services that enables consumers to make secure online payments from an device.
"Visa Threat Intelligence removes the noise by assessing hundreds of threat indicators and serving up the most important and timely information."


text:
Pavlovci (Павловци) település Szerbiában, a Vajdaságban, a Szerémségi körzetben, Ruma községben.

Demográfiai változások

Etnikai összetétel

Források

A Szerémségi körzet települései


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For additional information on Snipping Tools, see: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/features/snipping-tool.
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There is something âbout the âromâ of â crock pot wâfting through the âir âs the snow fâlls outside your window. âm I right? Crock pots âre greât during summer becâuse they won't heât up your kitchen on sultry dâys, but they reâlly encâpsulâte the ideâlistic winter dây when â comforting meâl is spitting ând sputtering âwây in â bâth of bubbling broth.
âdd beef ând âll liquid/seâsoning ingredients to the crock pot ând set on high.
If you prefer to slice the beef, cook 3-4 hours, then remove beef from crock pot while still slightly firm ând slice very thinly.
If you prefer shredded beef (eâsier), cook for 5 hours ând shred with forks when tender, removing chunks of fât.


The caring personnel and all the entertaining stuff are quite remarkable. Ok, you've been cooped up too long, you've got to get out of the house, and Aspen Point in Oregon is exactly what you need.
This campground is one of the good places to camp here in the Southern Cascade Range. There is so much enjoyable stuff close to Aspen Point, and campgrounds like these are splendid.
The perfect variety of local attractions and such a perfect variety of outdoors recreation are guaranteed to keep you coming back over and over.
This part of Oregon has a splendid deal of outdoors activities on hand. As if Aspen Point wasn't enough, you can also go fishing, whitewater paddling, swimming, and hiking, so possibly you want to stay a while.
trail has a height variation of 434 feet. If you want a hard walk, Four Mile Lake Trail takes roughly five hours to walk.
Outdoors recreation in the vicinity of Klamath Falls, Oregon, the metro area neareast to Aspen Point. Find info on campgrounds, marinas, hiking trails, ski resorts, lakes, beaches, parks, whitewater, golf courses and more.


Get out and vote Tuesday.
But ignore the false rhetoric, and vote with your own heart and head.
In the greatest time of political unrest since the war in Vietnam — if not the Civil War — voters have more reason than ever to get to the ballot box and let their opinions be known.
Unfortunately, only about four in 10 Americans will vote No. 6. According to the website www.fairvoter.org, the average turnout across the nation for a mid-term election is about 40 percent.
That's shameful, because about 99 out of 100 Americans will be complaining Wednesday about Tuesday's results.
Aim Media, which owns the Galion Inquirer, is not endorsing candidates or issues for the general election. There is a story on the front page of today's Galion Inquirer. It is an analysis piece on the Ohio governor's race between Mike DeWine and Richard Cordray. On Wednesday, we ran an analysis piece on Ohio Issue 1.
In Crawford County, there is one countywide issue: The Crawford County Criminal and Administrative Justice Levy. It asks voters to say yes or no to a 0.5 percent sales and use tax for the purpose of supporting criminal and administrative justice. Although there are no "contested" races in Crawford County, several races do have write-in candidates.
The course of this nation will be determined by how Americans vote in congressional races and who they elect in numerous governor's races and who they send to their state legislatures.
If you love the way this nation is going, vote in a manner that helps to continue that trend.
If you hate the way this nation is going, vote for candidates that agree with your views.
Elections have changed in recent years. Today, most candidates don't advertise in local newspapers. They go straight to social media — which costs little to nothing. On social media, they also can say and do as they please with little chance that anyone will refute what they say.
Sadly, with the cuts in manpower at newspapers and other local media companies, local issues and candidates aren't covered as they were in the past.
Also, most large, national media companies are too "Right" or too "Left" to present unbiased election news.
That means most voters never hear two sides of political stories anymore.
And that makes life really difficult for voters who actually want to learn the facts before casting their votes.
On the plus side, I have a feeling most voters don't really care about hearing two sides of a story. Like the national media, they are either right or left and care little about the other side.
There is no middle ground in America anymore.
How else do you explain the last two years?
My only pre-election advice to voters is to ignore pre-election polls.
It became obvious in the last presidential election that you can't believe them. Polling companies — and the national media that hires them — are as partisan as voters. Pollsters develop questions designed to verify or reinforce whatever pre-planned conclusion they wish to share. The media reports those skewed results as fact.
How else do you explain Election Night in 2016?
It was strange to see the stupefied looks as pollsters and members of the national media watched the 2016 results roll in. It became comical to watch them become completely unhinged as the evening wore on and everything they had predicted — and hoped for — went awry.
The pollsters were 100 percent wrong.
And we're expected to trust them again?
The media was 100 percent wrong, and they didn't even try to hide their anger and disgust.
I have little faith pollsters will be any more accurate Tuesday.
I have even less faith that the national media will behave any better.
The problem in American is not Donald Trump, nor Hillary Clinton, nor Nancy Pelosi, nor Barack Obama.
It's the people who report on Trump, Clinton, Pelosi and Obama.
Until the pro-Trump media on Fox and the anti-Trump media on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and PBS admit their biases, the anger and hate-talk and violence in America is only going to get worse.
The role of the national media used to be one of a non-biased, non-partisan, non-political watchdog.
Today's national media has no interest in being a watchdog. The role of today's national media is to breed anger and mistrust and hatred, and it has ramped up that role since 2016.
There is the Fox way, or the CNN/MSNBC way. There is the "Right" way or the "Left" way. There is the right way or the wrong way.
I don't see that changing, which frightens me.
I fear our next Civil War is not far away.


Footwear for one of the toughest endurance events on the planet.
This was an exploration exercise aimed at creating a footwear concept that would answer the needs of swimrun (SR) athletes, specifically those taking part in ÖTILLÖ. The project was completed in 4 days, from initial ideation to mid-fidelity rendering.
Race photography by Jakob Edholm and Nadja Odenhage on Flickr.
Before going into any form of sketching or ideating, the first step was to understand the needs of the athlete and the context of the sport. Quick research was done via online articles and forums, those findings and my thoughts are laid out below. These then culminated in jump-off questions that I kept in the back of my mind while developing the concept.
Sketching alone was insufficient in figuring out different aspects of proportion and form: I needed to get hands-on with it. I taped together the midsole and outsole from an existing Nike Streak LT running shoe with a last to create a Frankenstein shoe form.
Wrapping over the taped up form with a layer of clear packing tape allowed me to quickly and easily have a clean slate after each sketch. This was crucial during my ideation process, where I would jump back and forth between sketching on the last and then back onto paper. Above are some intermediate iterations, while below is the final tape drawing I used as a sketch underlay for my renders.


text:
5 Things for Advocates to Know About Equitable School Nutrition
Access to adequate & nutritious food for students & their families is fundamental to education equity. @edTrust has 5 things advocates should know about access to #schoolmeals
Nov 30, 2021 by Ed Trust
Families Can Access Many Forms of Food Assistance
Summer Meals Can Reach More Kids
Breakfast After The Bell Increases Student Access to Breakfast
Local School Wellness Plans Can Engage Communities in Supporting Healthy Students
Schools Can Create Food Inclusive Environments
Access to adequate and nutritious food for students and their families is fundamental to educational equity. A critical part of reliable access to food is school meals, one of the best sources of nutritious food for students. Adequate school nutrition is linked to improve d literacy and math scores, improved cognitive function, reduced absenteeism, and long-term positive educational outcomes.
Yet too many students — especially Black students, Latino students, and students from low-income backgrounds — are still experiencing food insecurity in our nation. People of color are more likely to live in food deserts and, as a result, many students do not have access to the necessary nutrition for their physical, mental, socioemotional, and academic growth. During the COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity among Black and Latino households with children skyrocketed, leaving nearly 4 in 10 families struggling to feed their families.
Download the Full Factsheet
As state and local leaders look to address the inequities that COVID-19 shone a spotlight on, they must provide students access to nutritious food. There are ways that advocates can help ensure that schools are maximizing their resources to feed students, and that families know about the benefits that are available. This document provides advocates with five things they should know to help ensure that all students, including students of color and students from low-income backgrounds, have access to healthy meals both in and outside of school.
1 Families Can Access Many Forms of Food Assistance
During the 2021-22 school year, in response to the challenges facing families during the pandemic, all children are eligible for free school lunch and breakfast. Many families are eligible for afterschool meals as well. In addition, the Pandemic Electronic Benefits Program (P-EBT) is available to families when schools close for five consecutive days due to COVID-19 quarantining or outbreaks. Even when the current universal free meals expire, some schools and districts will remain eligible for the community eligibility provision (CEP). CEP allows schools and districts where 40% of students are eligible for Free and Reduced Price Lunch to provide free breakfast and lunch to all the students in the school or district. You can find out if your school is eligible on the Food Research & Action Center's CEP database. In addition, schools and districts can be critical partners in helping to connect families with other nutrition benefits including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
What ADVOCATES Can Do:
Ask schools how they are communicating to families and the surrounding communities about nutrition benefits, including free lunch and breakfast
Look out for whether your school is also disseminating information to other community organizations (e.g., housing providers and employment assistance programs) through multiple modes and in multiple languages
Encourage district and state officials to provide P-EBT benefits to children who are quarantining or whose classrooms are closed
Check whether schools or districts are eligible for CEP and encourage the district to enroll
Share this toolkit with your school and encourage to reach out to families who might be eligible for SNAP
2 Summer Meals Can Reach More Kids
States are currently eligible to apply for the Summer Electronic Benefits Program (EBT) . Summer EBT provides benefits directly to families during the summer months, which is the hungriest time of year for students who depend on school meals. Only 13.8% of the children who need nutrition assistance when school is out for summer vacation receive it.
Expanding Summer EBT has been shown to reduce food insecurity by almost 30% and increase access to healthy food including fruits and vegetables. Ensuring states take advantage of Summer EBT, and that the program is permanently extended, will provide critical nutrition assistance to families while school is not in session.
Ask your school and district how they are communicating to families about summer meal access.
Encourage your members of Congress to support permanently extending Summer EBT
3 Breakfast After The Bell Increases Student Access to Breakfast
Eating breakfast has been shown to improve academic performance. However, currently many students who are eligible for free or reduced-price school breakfast at school do not participate, meaning they are starting the school day without food. This is in part because of barriers to arriving at school early enough to eat before school starts. When schools provide students with breakfast after the bell, it increases participation in breakfast. For example breakfast in the classroom increases participation to as high as 88% . Other strategies include Second Chance Breakfast, when students eat breakfast during a break between classes in the morning, and Grab and Go Options.
Encourage your school to adopt breakfast after the bell policies
Share with the district research regarding the benefits of breakfast and breakfast after the bell policies
4 Local School Wellness Plans Can Engage Communities in Supporting Healthy Students
Local School Wellness Plans are meant to guide how schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program create a supportive environment that promotes students' well-being. The plans address a number of issues related to wellness, including how schools follow nutrition guidelines, encourage physical activity for students, and disseminate nutrition information about food and beverages available to students. These plans can also address the importance of local sourcing and reducing packaging and food waste. Many schools do not use these plans to their full advantage to promote the mental and physical health needs of their students.
Participate in your district or school Wellness Committee (or start one at your school)
Ask your school to share the goals of the Local School Wellness Plan, inquire about progress to goals, and encourage updates to the plan with community input
Ask for time at community meetings (e.g., School Board meetings) to talk about local school wellness plans, including mental and physical health, and school nutrition
5 Schools Can Create Food Inclusive Environments
School meals can contribute to creating inclusive learning environments for students — or serve to isolate or shame them. Our nutritional education and the food we serve in schools should reflect the diversity we see in schools. In addition, policies that punish children with meal debt — known as "lunch shaming" — humiliate students as well as taking away vital access to nutritious food. While all students can access free meals, schools and districts can rethink their policies moving forward to ensure that they end lunch shaming policies. Schools also can explore participating in community eligibility in the 2022-2023 school year now. Finally, schools can also take advantage of school gardens as a way to engage the community and bring families into schools.
Advocate for food that represents diverse cultures as part of the school lunch program and when schools host events, celebrations, or other gatherings
Find out the district and school policy regarding lunch debt and advocate for a clear public policy that rejects school lunch shaming
Encourage schools to start school gardens or build partnerships with existing community gardens programs like Slow Food USA's School Garden Network or Teens for Food Justice
BREAKFAST After the Bell
Research shows that breakfast after the bell reduces chronic absenteeism by up to 6% . Some states, such as Oregon , have passed legislation requiring schools to serve breakfast after the bell at no cost to students at schools where 70% or more students qualify for Free or Reduced Price Lunch. Advocates can follow this fact sheet to start establishing a Breakfast After the Bell program in their school or district.
For information on nutrition programs and eligibility, call the USDA National Hunger Hotline at 1-866-3-HUNGRY (1-866-348-6479) or 1-877-8-HAMBRE (1-877-842-6273). Information is available in English and Spanish. The hotline operates Monday through Friday, 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM Eastern Time
For more information on nutrition and education, visit edtrust.org/issue/ending-student-hungerhomelessness
Share Our Strength's Advocacy tips can help you find information and resources nokidhungry.org/ways-you-can-help/speak-kids
For information on opportunities to advocate on issues related to nutrition, check out the FRAC Action page frac.org/action
Local School Wellness Plans Advocate Guide has information about how you get involved schoolwellnesspolicies.org/lwp-advocate-guide.pdf
For more background on Community Eligibility, visit this guide frac.org/wp-content/uploads/Take-a-Fresh- Look-at-Community-Eligibility.pdf


There are arguments on who has responsibility for a matter.
For example, financial crisis from 2007, protection of environment, responsibility of nation's past activities, responsibility capacity of criminals who have mental illness.
My idea is that general form of responsibility can be abstracted as relationship of agent-community-destiny.
Here, agent receives profit by community, in return, agent has responsibility to maintain the community.
If agent doesn't take responsibility enough, agent is blamed for its ethical debt.
Destiny is set of factors that agent can't change, so agent has no responsibility for destiny.
The schema below shows the relationship.
I think that premise of scale of space/time in argument changes what agent/community/destiny is.
So the choice of scale is a critical point of argument for who has responsibility on a issue.
The chart below shows gauge of agent/community/destiny on scales.
To show what I want to say here, I introduce examples of discussion first, then propose a model for scale-based responsibility model.
If we see life time scale, we can say we are responsible for protection of ecosystem, because We depend on the ecosystem, and we can decide to change or maintain ecosystem of the earth.
So I could say that human is agent who has free for action, Ecosystem is a community that human depends and has burden to keep. Other environmental damage that human can't move is destiny.
But if we think more long time span, such as geological time scale in which life goes through extinction by natural forces.
In such scale, ecosystem is no longer maintainable for human, and changing ecosystem is natural. Human's activity is even one of the natural activity of a species.
So human don't have responsibility on ecosystem.
In the scale, human is no agent. Ecosystem is a agent if we assume that it is free for its trend, or both of ecosystem and other environment are destiny.
If you see a nation as a agent that can free will to act, the nation has responsibility for international community on the act of nation in the past.
In the scale, nation is agent, international community is community, and other condition is destiny.
But if you are in individual person, the burden of compensation from your nation's act in the past before your birth is irrational.
However, if nation is community that you depends on, and the profit from nation relates with nation's past, you may be responsible for the nation's past.
In the scale, agent is person, community is nation, destiny is the person's nationality.
In individual person's scale, protection of human right is important responsibility for persons and society.
In the scale, person is agent, society having human right is community, accident or environmental damage to human is destiny.
But in the time scale of human race or space scale of genome, human right is not a holy thing.
In this scale, violating human right can be recognized as selection pressure to mutation of human genome. In other word, value of human right becomes neutral.
In the scale, direction of gene pool might be agent, community is environment to make genome mutate, and destiny is also environment.
Discussions on responsibility of companies are very important for many social issues, for example, responsibility of financial crisis or pollution by companies.
In such discussions, one of common argument point is whether responsibility is placed on organization itself or persons in the organization.
Assuming company has corporate personality, corporation's responsibility for society or countries is valid.
And persons in company could be not guilty because they can't choose company's situation at their will.
In the assumption, it is valid that no arrested board member of companies after financial crisis.
In this scale, company is agent, society is community, and member of the company is destiny because they have no choice.
But if persons in company have free choice in a issue, the persons have responsibility for society.
In this scale, person is agent, company or society is community.
In more bigger scale –global scale, it is possible that neither company or person has responsibility.
In such scale, imbalanced economic status throughout world or nation's system is a driving force to company's act.
In other words, financial crisis or pollution is due to global or country wide issue.
In the scale, global community and country is agent, global community or environment is community, geopolitic condition is destiny.
If in person scale, criminals have responsibility.
But in organ or cell scale, nerve system or neurotransmitter has responsibility for the crime.
It is a type of common discussion about criminal capability of responsibility.
Legal irresponsibility due to mental illness is a actual consequence of the scale in reality.
In genome scale, tendency of criminal is reason of crime. So Genome or parents is responsible for that.
It is a matrix for recursive calculation for ethical debt that amount of agent's remain responsibility for community.
It lacks scale changing matrix.
The image above is a map of agent/community/destiny on time/space scale.
It shows what scales of agent/community/destiny are assumed in the argument. And if the scale is changed. responsibility range changes as well.
Since the nominal category of scale is arbitrary, the category probably should be fine-tuned for more general map.
The point of responsibility is generally high on scales close to individual person.
It provides a general form to describe and data format of responsibility.
In contrast to transcendency assumption of ethic, the scale-based model can show limitation of ethic by physical scale.
In the model, conclusion of responsibility changes as scale of concern changes.
Changing scale of agent/community/destiny, It can make new combination of element for responsibility.
So the model can be used as mind game to think ethics.
Test for adequate range of the model for discussion of responsibility.
I don't know whether the model can actually be the general form of responsibility. So it need to test for that in many kind of discussions.
Tagged Environment, Human RIght, Math. Bookmark the permalink.


text:
<?php
namespace backend\models\form;
use common\models\User;
use Yii;
use yii\base\Model;

/**
 * @author Gutsulyak Vadim <guts.vadim@gmail.com>
 */
class RemoveRoleFromUser extends Model
{
    public $userId;
    public $roleName;

    public function rules()
    {
        return [
            ['userId', 'required'],
            ['roleName', 'required']
        ];
    }

    public function remove() {
        $auth = Yii::$app->authManager;
        $role = $auth->getRole($this->roleName);
        $auth->revoke($role, $this->userId);

        return true;
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Thank you for joining our challenge & sharing your creations with us!
with 'Challenge #159. Winner' in the subject line.
Here is our DT Penny's Top 3 creations picks!
from the side bar and proudly display them on your blog!
and as always Anything Goes is our theme!
We are still lookin for a few designers.
Thank you for choosing my card in TOP selection. Congarts to other winners and of course great DT.


text:
First official "Wish List" entry: Catherine the Great
Over the past few weeks of Meryl news searching, I began to put some thought into certain characters or roles I would love to see her play. I posted several months ago that I'd be interested to see her in a film version of Jonathan Franzen's book "The Corrections," but I didn't speculate much further than that on possible other roles. Two years ago one of my choices would've been "Violet" from August: Osage County, but the gods went straight to work on that one for me, so cross it off. And since Into the Woods is already a rumored project for Meryl, I can't really include that in my "wish list," unless it eventually turns out that she does not in fact portray Sondheim's witch.
The role that has been particularly burning on my mind most recently would be a portrayal of 18th century Russian empress Catherine II, better knows as Catherine the Great. I'm guessing she occurred to me because one, this summer I listened to the audio book of Robert K. Massie's intensive biography of the well-known tsar, and two, I'm currently reading a book about the British monarchy. I swear it has nothing to do with Will and Kate's royal bun in the oven. I'm just a fan of biographical histories of world leaders (see my Hillary 2016 prediction from last week).
There are countless reasons Catherine the Great would be a compelling role for Meryl, and yet an actual film being made poses just as many real obstacles. One of the most juicy aspects would be the fact that Catherine was German but essentially usurped her husband's Russian throne. She also spoke and read/wrote in French. This would be an absolute accent tour de force for Meryl: speaking German, and Russian/French with German accents. The drawback however is that if Catherine did know English, she likely rarely used it. Therefore a film that were essentially a foreign language film with an American, English-speaking actress in the title role may be a tough sell. I wouldn't want to see another situation (i.e. The House of the Spirits) where events take place in a non English-speaking country and yet it's filmed in English. They would perhaps have to center the film around an event in Catherine's life in which she corresponded regularly with English speakers, again assuming she knew the language. John Paul Jones was a Scottish-American naval commander whom Catherine employed later in life during the Russo-Turkish wars. He and his relationship to the empress could make a fascinating focal point around which a semi-factual story could be feasibly based.
So, let's assume there's a screenwriter out there who desperately wants to write something about Catherine the Great, and even has Meryl in mind for the title role. Conceding the chances of that are dismal, the film, as alluded to above, would have to take place near the end of Catherine's reign. She died at the age of 67 in 1796. Meryl will turn 64 next summer, and although she can still believably portray characters in their early 50's, if she were to play Catherine now, we'd realistically need the film to take place no later than 1779. That would still encompass the majority of the events of the American Revolutionary War (during which she refused aid to British King George III) and the French Revolution of the late 1780's. Were a film to not be made for another ten years, the options would obviously become more limited. Portraying a woman 20 years her junior (which Meryl could certainly do) would pose a pretty daunting challenge. Although we're somewhat solaced with Sally Field's recent successful turn as Mary Lincoln.
From what I understand, there has never really been a memorable feature film about Catherine the Great. Catherine Zeta-Jones played her in a tv movie in the mid 90's (which I haven't seen), but other than that, nothing on a larger scale has been tackled in the last forty years. I think it's time. So, I release this idea into the universe. Perhaps the challenge will be taken up by an enterprising young screenwriter who wants to win Meryl a record-breaking fifth Oscar. Yes, fifth. I'm already counting the 2014 win for August: Osage County.
Labels: News, Wish List
Catherine the Great is a perfect role, but she had many lovers. How in the hell will Streep show it in a movie?
Jeff December 12, 2012 at 8:12 AM
That's assuming a film would cover the span of her entire life. That would be a very tall task and Meryl would only be a supporting role as she wouldn't be able to play Catherine in her 20-40's. However, if they used the John Paul Jones story as I suggested above, Catherine's male favorite around that time was likely the young Platon Zubov. How cool would it be to see Meryl opposite a 20-something love interest while in her 60's?!
Definitely what I'm daydreaming about, now you're talking! Don't forget Catherine's secret husband, Prince Potemkin.
How could I forget? He was around until 1791, and although he was no longer Catherine's lover in the later years, he was still closely connected with her, helped her find other lovers and was said to be jealous of John Paul Jones. I think we're rounding out the supporting cast pretty nicely!
I am envisioning that the movie starts with Catherine in her final hours, being given the last rites by the Orthodox church.
Then Potemkin starts the voiceover...
We have to see flashes of her miserable marriage to Peter III, and her relationship with Paul, the heir.
Yes to all of that, except no voiceovers. I wonder if this recipe might be a little too "Iron Lady"? But if it's a few years out yet, Hollywood memories are fickle.
It would be nice to see Meryl talking in Russian, which is a very difficult language to master (trust me, I went through this).
Another good thing to focus on is Catherine's roles in the Russo-Turkish wars and the Partition of Poland.
Suggestion for another dream role: Lady Macbeth, period.
Jeff December 12, 2012 at 3:11 PM
The second Russo-Turkish wars were also toward the end of her reign and her interactions with John Paul Jones. This. Must. Happen.
Yes. This must definitely happen, Meryl Streep as Catherine II the Great, Empress and Autocrat of all Russias.
So long, 2012
"August: Osage County" on The Guardian's list of t...
Meryl night #2 for the week
More evangelizing with Sophie
McGregor and Upham share thoughts on "August: Osag...
Meryl Streep receives Golden Globe nomination for ...
SAG nominations announced
First official "Wish List" entry: Catherine the Gr...
More critics' awards
Awards season really begins
Meryl bits and bytes


text:
« Coding a Game at 82
Prison Choirs Join an Opera »
Learning from Tribal Wisdom
Photo: Biosphere2.
Biospheres in Arizona gather ancient wisdom to aid future generations.
Now that we know human activity is the main reason for dangerous global warming, it's time to turn to indigenous tribes and learn to step more lightly on Plant Earth. That's the thinking behind a biosphere project in Arizona.
Samuel Gilbert reports at the Washington Post, "Indigenous peoples have known for millennia to plant under the shade of the mesquite and paloverde trees that mark the Sonoran Desert [in Arizona], shielding their crops from the intense sun and reducing the amount of water needed.
"The modern-day version of this can be seen in the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson, where a canopy of elevated solar panels helps to protect rows of squash, tomatoes and onions. Even on a November afternoon, with the temperature climbing into the 80s, the air under the panels stays comfortably cool.
"Such adaptation is central to the research underway at Biosphere 2, a unique center affiliated with the University of Arizona that's part of a movement aimed at reimagining and remaking agriculture in a warming world. In the Southwest, projects are looking to plants and farming practices that Native Americans have long used as potential solutions to growing worries over future food supplies. At the same time, they are seeking to build energy resilience.
"Learning from and incorporating Indigenous knowledge is important, believes Greg Barron-Gafford, a professor who studies the intersection of plant biology and environmental and human factors. But instead of relying on tree shade, 'we're underneath an energy producer that's not competing for water.'
"On both sides of the Arizona border with Mexico, scientists are planting experimental gardens and pushing the potential of an 'agrivoltaic' approach. Thirsty crops such as fruits, nuts and leafy greens — which require elaborate irrigation systems that have pulled vast quantities of water from underground aquifers and the Colorado and other rivers — are nowhere to be found. …
"Southern Arizona is an epicenter of the movement not just because of the intense environmental pressures that the region faces but because of the presence of the Tohono O'odham Nation southwest of Tucson.
"The Tohono O'odham have farmed in the Sonoran Desert for several thousand years. Like many Indigenous groups, they now are on the front lines of climate change, with food security a paramount concern. Their expansive reservation, nearly the size of Connecticut, has just a few grocery stores. It is a food desert in a desert where conditions are only getting more extreme.
"Since the early 1970s, a group of Nation members have run the San Xavier Cooperative Farm and grown 'traditional desert cultivars' in accordance with their ancestral values — particularly respect for land, water and plants.
"Sterling Johnson, a member of the Tohono O'odham Nation, has worked for the past decade to share that expertise broadly. His partner, Nina Sajovec, directs the Ajo Center for Sustainable Agriculture, a Native American-governed food justice organization that several years ago founded its own seed bank and already has distributed over 10,000 seeds to farmers.
" 'We're all about using what is out there,' Sajovec said. Among the center's heirloom varieties: 60-day corn, a fast-maturing desert-adapted vegetable, and the tepary bean, a high-protein legume particularly suited to the climate because of leaves that can fold to withstand direct sunlight during the peak of summer.
"Johnson captures precipitation during the Arizona monsoon season to sustain crops on his field in the desert lowlands. 'It's using the rainwater,' he explained, 'using the contour lines, using your environment and nature to grow food.' …
"Perhaps even more daunting than the rising temperatures of climate change are the water shortages that many parts of the world will confront. In Tucson, the Santa Cruz River is now dry because of too much diversion and burgeoning demand, according to Brad Lancaster, an expert on rainwater harvesting.
" 'The majority of the water that irrigates landscapes and Tucson and Arizona is not local water' but tapped from the Colorado River, Lancaster said. Unless severe drought conditions reverse and the river level improves, mandatory federal cutbacks mean farmers will lose a significant amount of that critical resource starting next year.
" 'The goal is how can we use rainwater and storm water, passively captured, to be the primary irrigator,' said Lancaster, who lives in a local neighborhood that has been transformed through passive water harvesting into an 'urban forest,' with wild edible plants such as chiltepin pepper and desert hackberry lining the sidewalks.
"He is planning a similar system at Tumamoc Resilience Gardens, using basins and earthen structures to spread water across the landscape and reduce channelized flows. Nabhan, who also is involved in the site's design, sees it as replicable and, more importantly, scalable. …
" 'We've had 5,000 years of farmers trying out different strategies for dealing with heat, drought and water scarcity,' said [Gary Nabhan, an ethnobotanist and agrarian activist who focuses on plants and cultures of the Southwest], walking around his own creation at his home in Patagonia, a small town about 18 miles north of the Mexico border. The fenced space holds 40 species of agave, three species of sotol, prickly pear and other varieties of cactuses and succulents.
" 'The key concept,' he said, 'is that we're trying to fit the crops to the environment rather than remaking the environment.' "
More at the Post, here. Lots of great photos.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged arizona, biosphere, global warming, indigenous, tribe | 5 Comments
on March 11, 2022 at 7:13 pm | Reply Rebecca Cuningham
Great environmental news: education from Native experts on growing local food locally!
Makes me want to grow something.
on March 11, 2022 at 11:07 pm | Reply Laurie Graves
Excellent! I hope other farmers are taking note and will follow suit.
Perhaps the Tohono O'odham Nation's seed bank is sharing seeds with the vault in Norway at Svalbard–although I've heard that one is in danger from global warming.
Earle sends related news from a board he serves on: https://myemail.constantcontact.com/District-News—-March-Edition.html