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Miami for the holidays
Posted on December 16, 2015 at 10:00 pm.
Written by Roshan Nebhrajani
Courtesy of gabe popa/Flickr Creative Commons
Of the 2.6 million people living in Miami-Dade County, residents hail from all over the world, from Cuba to Lebanon.* With such a diverse community, the winter holidays inevitably take many forms.
From latkes to lechón, food seems to play a pivotal role in any celebration. "At their most obvious, feasts … celebrate or commemorate special events," writes University of Connecticut anthropologist Natalie Munro in The Anthropology of Feasting. "Feasts, however, also play much more subtle social roles. In particular, they serve as the social glue that holds communities together by smoothing tensions, forging alliances, creating shared memories, and exchanging information." Dining together is one of the many rituals families engage in, especially during the holidays.
As a key component of culture, rituals can bring us together across differences — often sharing plenty of similarities. For example, a common tradition for many people from Spain and South America is las doce uvas de la suerte — the 12 grapes of luck. This centuries old tradition originated in Spain, with the 12 grapes representing the 12 months of the year. The goal is to eat all 12 grapes before the bells signifying the New Year begin ringing, promising good luck in the year to come.
Throughout the winter holidays in South Florida, people can be found cooking jerk chicken and pumpkin soup, eating grapes and baking cakes. We asked locals from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds how they celebrate their winter holidays, from Hanukkah to New Years. Here are some of the ways Miami celebrates.
Nativity scene. (Courtesy of Stefanie Delgado)
Lechón with red onions and Stefanie Delgado's grandmother's black beans. (Courtesy of Stefanie Delgado)
Cuban holiday desserts, including Spanish turrones of all different flavors, guava pieces soaked in a sugar syrup, and buñuelos which can be accompanied with sugar syrup with anise on top or sweet shredded coconut. (Courtesy of Stefanie Delgado)
Stefanie Delgado
Christmas Eve is our main day, and it is called noche buena, which means good night. We all go to my Grandmother's house and have a traditional meal, consisting of lechón pork, black beans, rice, sweet plantains, yuca, and a salad of avocado and tomatoes. We also eat buñuelos, which is a yuca donut. We have a Christmas tree and we listen to music like Andrea Bocelli Christmas music and of course "Feliz Navidad." We make coquito, which is like a Caribbean drink. It is basically a Latin eggnog made with coconut, condensed milk, and rum.
On Christmas day, my family comes over and we eat leftovers, make pig sandwiches on Cuban bread and just watch TV and relax. During New Year's Eve, we have a big family party. We drink and stay up with family members all night. We roast a 60-pound pig, which is something most Cuban families do for big celebrations. We also eat 12 grapes with champagne.
Ariel Pierre-Louis
Our big celebration is on Christmas Day. My whole family eats together, and we have rice, chicken, and plantains. We always call our relatives and say Merry Christmas. We don't really recognize Santa Claus, and most Haitians don't. It's not a huge celebration for us.
New Year's Eve is way cooler — like every family, we watch the ball drop. We all have to be together, and we pour champagne and say a small prayer for each other. The next day, on Jan. 1, every Haitian family will make soup joumou, a spicy pumpkin and beef soup. It is an important day for us, because Jan. 1, 1803, Haiti got independence from France. My mom makes a huge bowl of soup, we have bread, and around 3 p.m., we say a prayer and eat together. That's probably the most important holiday for my family.
Family gathering during Hanukkah. (Courtesy of Lillian Rosenberg)
Children gather and play. (Courtesy of Lillian Rosenberg)
Children gathering. (Courtesy of Lillian Rosenberg)
Lillian Rosenberg
Jewish people in Cuba celebrate Hanukkah the same way other Jewish people do around the world. I came to Miami when I was very young, but my parents lived in Cuba for quite a few years. My kids are older now, but when they were little we would get the whole family together, there were 11 cousins altogether and we would meet in our house have a big Hanukkah party. We'd light the menorah and sing Hanukkah songs like "Light the Menorah" and "Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel."
Then we would have a gift exchange where the kids would sit on the floor and open presents. We'd have a big meal with latkes, which are a traditional potato pancake; a brisket; and lots of sweets, like glazed carrots, donuts, and traditional cookies. The kids would play with a dreidel, which is a toy that has different sides with different Hebrew letters on each side. Depending on the letter it lands on, you can win gelt, which is like money. We would buy gold chocolate coins for the kids to use.
During Christmas, we go to our families' homes who celebrate it and celebrate with them. They have a Christmas tree and we participate in their traditions as well, and we'll have a traditional Christmas meal with turkey at the center. The kids got the best of both worlds — they were really happy to have both Hanukkah and Christmas presents.
On New Year's Eve, we always eat 12 grapes with my parents. The Jewish new year is called rosh hashanah and it happens earlier in the year. For this, we go to temple and pray to the book of life so that you can have another year of life.
A prayer before the meal. (Courtesy of Melina Rodriguez)
Presents (Courtesy of Melina Rodriguez)
The christmas meal. (Courtesy of Melina Rodriguez)
The whole Rodriguez crew. (Courtesy of Melina Rodriguez)
The big dancing family. (Courtesy of Melina Rodriguez)
Melina Rodriguez
Ecuadorian/Dominican
On Christmas Eve, we do a big dinner and play music. We usually eat pernil, which is pork and arroz con gandules, which is rice with peas. We also eat potato salad and other assorted salads. For dessert, we usually have flan. The tradition is that we open presents at midnight because that's when Jesus was born.
On New Year's Eve, we have a big party and with similar foods as Christmas. We eat 12 grapes along with the countdown of the ball drop. During both holidays, there's always a lot of dancing. We dance salsa, merengue, and bachata. The Dominican side usually dances more than my Ecuadorian side, haha. We like to play Anthony Santos, Raulin Rodriguez, Grupo, Mania, and Romero to dance to.
Rooben Schwartz
German/Croatian
For Christmas, the joke is that Jewish people eat Chinese food because that's the only thing open on Christmas Eve. So that's what we do — we eat Chinese food and rent a movie on Christmas Eve. On New Year's Eve, we just go out and drink alcohol.
Danny Tabet
Irish/Lebanese
We have a big family get together and have a very large feast. It's not so different from Western culture, really. For dinner, we eat a traditional ham and turkey, but we also have a white garlic sauce called toum, and hummus, with pita bread surrounding it. We also have kibbeh, which is a ball of wheat filled with beef or lamb, spices, olive oil, and onions, and cousa mashi, which is a squash hollowed out and filled with rice, meat, a tomato sauce bath, and garlic. For New Year's Eve, we just drink alcohol and watch the ball drop.
El hombre viejo. (Courtesy of Kyara Espinales)
A mariachi band during Christmas time. (Courtesy of Kyara Espinales)
Espinales, right, with her family. (Courtesy of Kyara Espinales)
Mom dressed as Santa. (Courtesy of Kyara Espinales)
The whole family. (Courtesy of Kyara Espinales)
Nativity scene. (Courtesy of Kyara Espinales)
Kyara Espinales
We don't do anything on Christmas day. Christmas Eve is when we celebrate. My mom starts cooking dinner at 1 p.m. She makes a gallina de relleno, which is a chicken stuffed with a green bean stew. But our meal is also blended with American culture — we have macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and relleno, which is like a wet stuffing made of tomatoes, bacon, pork, pieces of chicken, and corn. We do our big celebration at night, called noche buena. We eat dinner at 9 p.m., and say a prayer to praise the fact that Jesus was born. We open our gifts at night.
In Nicaragua, New Year's Eve is very festive. We build an effigy of an old man made out of old clothes, and we call him el hombre viejo. It is supposed to represent the old year. At midnight, we burn it and say a prayer. We also have other traditions like we eat 12 grapes with champagne. Even the kids get champagne. Then we drink and party late into the night.
Time to feast. (Courtesy of Dujon Edwards)
Christmas dinner in a Jamaican household. (Courtesy of Dujon Edwards)
Dujon Edwards
On Christmas Eve, we don't really do anything. It's just a regular day. But Christmas Day is a different story. We wake up and, of course, open presents. Then we have a big meal. The main difference between a regular American Christmas and a Jamaican Christmas is the food. Our meal is made up of turkey, jerk chicken, rice and peas, potato salad, and mashed potatoes. We also make a drink called sorrel, which is a tea made by brewing hibiscus flowers, ginger, and port wine. Christmas cake is also a big thing in Jamaica. We make like 10 different cakes, and the most important is a Jamaican black cake, which is made with rum, butter, flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. For New Year's Eve we also have a big dinner with champagne and fireworks, and we watch the ball drop.
Alfonso Durán
We typically celebrate Christmas Eve more than Christmas day. So on Christmas Eve, we eat hallacas, which are tamales with pork, chicken, olive oil, olives, and garbanzo beans. We only make those for Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. We also bake bread with ham inside of it. We make a drink called ponche crema, made with milk, eggs, sugar, and rum, which is like a Venezuelan eggnog. We have a particular type of music only played during Christmas time called gaitas, and it puts people in a celebratory mood. Most Venezuelan families don't celebrate Santa Claus — we usually celebrate Baby Jesus and that's who brings the presents.
On New Year's Eve, we have a huge party and celebrate all night. There's a bunch of good luck traditions we do. We usually eat 12 grapes with champagne, one for every month of the year. We also have to run around the block of our neighborhood with a suitcase so that we can have a year with a lot of travel. Then, on New Year's Day, we make and eat sancocho, which is like a chicken noodle soup.
Christmas tree. (Courtesy of Lauren Ramgattie)
Wine on Christmas. (Courtesy of Lauren Ramgattie)
Opening presents. (Courtesy of Lauren Ramgattie)
Lauren Ramgattie
Trinidadian
We don't do much on Christmas Eve, but on Christmas morning, we go to church and have a big breakfast with Trinidadian/Indian food like roti, callaloo, curry chicken, curry goat, and a big honey-baked ham. We listen to traditional American Christmas music, but there are also reggae versions of traditional songs. And of course, we open presents.
In Trinidad we call New Year's Eve "Old Year's," because you're celebrating the old year — the New Year's Day isn't here yet! We drink alcohol, dance, and play a lot of card games. Bailey's is a really popular holiday drink in the Caribbean.
What's cool in Trinidad is that there's a mix of Hindus, Muslims, and Christians, so when I'm there, Hindus and Muslims also celebrate Christmas, and we would also celebrate Diwali and Eid with them. Here, we don't really celebrate other holidays as much. There, everyone just celebrates everything because it's ingrained in the culture.
How do you celebrate the holidays?
*A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the number of Miami-Dade residents from select geographic regions.
By Roshan Nebhrajani
Roshan is a producer at The New Tropic.
Read more Little Haiti
Neighborhood spotlight on Little Haiti
The little bookstore that could — and did
Flavors of the Caribbean


All-new from the ground up, future 2019 Mercedes SL is already testing on the Nurburgring, ahead of its planned debut in the first part of 2019.
The Roadster comes on a new platform and with a fabric roof. Mercedes engineers are already testing a prototype of the next SL at the Nürburgring. The car is hiding under a shortened and modified S-Class Coupé.
For series production, the 2019 Mercedes SL uses a new platform (MSA, Modular Sport Architecture), dedicated to sports cars. This platform will form the basis for the next SLC too. It is therefore obvious that the two cars will have some similarities such as the suspensions or the engines.
For the SL, there is also a new roof design. To underline its luxurious character, Mercedes went back to tradition and installed a noble fabric roof. Such a solution has not been seen since the SL Series R 129 (1989 until 2001). This solution will reduce kerbweight by 100 kg to a minimum of 1,685 kg.
Engine-wise, the new family of three-liter straight-six units will play the leading role. In SL 300 the drive is good for 365 hp, while in the SL 400 will hit about 435 hp. Both versions will be combined with the new 9 speed automatic gearbox 9G-Tronic. The AMG range will consist from the SL 63 AMG with 4.0 liter bi-turbo V8 engine form the AMG GT and the SL 65 AMG with 6.0 liter V12.


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Q: PrimeFaces Warning about filteredValue in datatables not appearing anymore (version 7.0) Hey guys im migrating an application from 3.5 to 7.0, on 3.5 we have this warning whenever we have a datatable on our view (xhtml):
WARNING [org.primefaces.component.datatable.DataTable] (default task-8) DataTable frmAperturaCajaMasiva:dtbFrmCaja has filtering enabled but no filteredValue model reference is defined, for backward compatibility falling back to page viewstate method to keep filteredValue. It is highly suggested to use filtering with a filteredValue model reference as viewstate method is deprecated and will be removed in future.

It states that viewstate method is deprecated and will be removed in future, but I haven't done any changes to datatables methods while migrating neither added the filteredValue model reference and the warning dissapiared, im wondering if maybe they changed their mind about this warning or what happened? In the migration guide can't see anything about it https://github.com/primefaces/primefaces/wiki/Migration-Guide

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Pakistan's apex anti-graft body has approached Interpol seeking issuance of Red Corner Notices against jailed former premier Nawaz Sharif's sons Hasan and Hussain, a media report said today.
Pakistan's apex anti-graft body has approached Interpol seeking issuance of Red Corner Notices against jailed former premier Nawaz Sharif's sons Hasan and Hussain, a media report said today. Sharif's sons were declared as absconders by an accountability court after they failed to appear in either of the three cases launched against them along with their father following a Supreme Court decision on July 28, 2017.
The decision to issue Red Corner Notices was taken after National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal had asked the interior ministry to initiate the process of bringing back Hasan and Hussan, who have been living in London to take care of their ailing mother Kulsoom Nawaz, 'The Express Tribune' reported.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has submitted an application to the Interpol headquarters in France with the request to issue the red warrants of Hasan and Hussain, the report said, quoting sources.
The application submitted through the FIA headquarters states that Hasan and Hussain are wanted in Pakistan in corruption cases and court has already issued permanent arrest warrants against them.
Previously, the court had issued directions for separate trials of Hasan and Hussain from their father after they failed to appear before the court despite repeated orders to face the charges in line with the Supreme Court's direction in the Panama Papers case.
Earlier, while separating their trial and declaring them as "proclaimed offenders", the court ordered non-bailable perpetual warrants of arrest against them.
The court on July 6 had also sentenced former prime minister Sharif to 10 years in prison, his daughter Maryam Nawaz to seven years and son-in-law captain (retired) Safdar to one-year jail term.
The court also imposed a fine of 8 million pounds on Sharif and 2 million pounds on Maryam. No fine was imposed on Safdar.
Sharif was disqualified as Prime Minister in July 2017 by the Supreme Court following a challenge to his office by Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan on the basis of publication of the Panama Papers, which alleged that the Sharif family stashed away assets in London through offshore companies Nescoll and Nelson.
The companies are owned by Hussain. Assets in question are four expensive flats in London worth over 200 million pounds.


This wonderful home sits on a quiet street in a desirable Pasadena neighborhood. Great space for entertaining with a large, gourmet kitchen that opens to a family room with a view of a rose garden in a private yard with a pool. A fireplace in the living room and family room, hardwood floors, central air and heat, lots of closet space and more.
Interior Square Feet: 2,470 sq. ft.
Lot Size: 11,668 sq. ft.
Welcome home to this elegant California Ranch home in Chapman Woods, award winner of California Landscape Contractors Association 2007 Best in All Outdoor Lighting category.
Immaculate and recently updated, this home is sited on a very quiet and peaceful Pasadena cul-de-sac.
A formal entry with guest closet opens to a bright and cheery, light-filled living room.
The living room features gleaming wood floors, crown molding, fireplace, formal dining area and a slider leading to the back yard.
This residence offers a perfect home for entertaining with open flow from living room providing access to both kitchen, great room and outdoor space.
Formal dining area leads to kitchen and great room.
This gourmet kitchen will capture a chef's heart. An island with a prep sink, Viking cooktop, oven and also offers a great breakfast bar area.
Double size Subzero refrigerator and freezer, built in microwave, double Franke sink, picture window and tons of cupboard and storage space will make this kitchen the hub of the household.
There are recessed lighting and a tubular skylight making the space light and comfortable.
It offers plenty of space for an informal, large dining table and opens to a vaulted great room.
The great room has vaulted ceilings with recessed lighting and skylights. A brick fireplace perfect for the winter nights and cozy conversations. An arch window shows off the beautiful garden and pool area and provides a peaceful ambiance away from the hustle and bustle of Pasadena.
Sliding doors lead to an arbor covered private patio perfect for relaxation or entertaining.
The main house features 4 bedrooms. One of the bedrooms has floor to ceiling built-in bookshelves and can be used as a private office. Since it is on the living room side of the house, it can also make a wonderful guest room and is serviced by a full guest bath.
The master suite is expansive. With his and her closets and sliding doors leading to the outdoors.
Lots of light and privacy and views of the garden and fountain.
Master bath has both a jetted tub and a huge glass enclosed shower with 2 shower heads.
Good size 3rd and 4th bedroom are on the other side of the living area along with the master suite. Both are serviced by a full bath.
Covered patio area with easy access via sliding doors from the living and great rooms and the master bedroom.
A large back yard with a sparkling pool, grassy area and rose garden.
Many private hidden spaces like the jasmine covered arbor by the side of the pool.
Relax and enjoy the ultimate in the California lifestyle in this beautiful ranch home.
2-car oversize garage with utility sink and washer & dryer hookups.
For additional information, please call Irina at 626-629-8439 or email us.


There are many people who experience flat feet, and a common sign is the absence of an arch at the bottom of the foot. There is an obvious way of recognizing flat feet, and this is generally observed when the foot is placed on the ground and noticing if the arch is present. Research has shown that most babies are born with flat feet and the arch will generally fully develop at approximately 6 years of age. The majority of people who have flat feet may not experience any discomfort, and this may not interfere with daily activities. Treatment may be necessary if certain symptoms are experienced, including difficulty in walking or maintaining balance, or if you feel pain or stiffness in your feet. If you are afflicted with flat feet, it's advised to speak to a podiatrist who can offer suggestions on correct treatment options, which may include wearing supportive insoles or possible surgery.


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BREAKING; Nigerians jubilate As Price of kerosene falls By 7.9%
0 0 Friday, October 22, 2021 2021-10-22T10:20:00+01:00 Edit this post
The average price paid by consumer for National Household Kerosene (NHK) fell to N400.01 per litre this week. This represents a 7.9 percent ...
The average price paid by consumer for National Household Kerosene (NHK) fell to N400.01 per litre this week.
This represents a 7.9 percent decline when compared to N434.39 per litre recorded in September ending of this year.
Similarly, prices paid by consumers per litre of Automotive Gas Oil (diesel) fell by 0.16 per cent this week to N254.21 from N254.64 as of September ending 2021.
According to data from globalpetrolprices.com, as of this week the price per gallon of kerosene stood at N1,514.20 while price per gallon of Diesel stood at N962.29.
When compared to data from National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) NKH and Diesel watch for September, prices paid per gallon of NKH fell by 1.73 percent.
The NBS September report stated: "Average price per liter paid by consumers for National Household Kerosene increased by 8.6 per cent month-on-month (MoM) and by 24.8 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to N434.39 in September 2021 from N400.01 in August 2021.
"Similarly, average price per gallon paid by consumers for National Household Kerosene increased by 16.25 per cent MoM and by 25.3 YoY to N1, 540.82 in September 2021 from N1, 325.39 in August 2021.
"States with the highest average price per gallon of kerosene were Abuja (N2, 766.67), Bauchi (N1, 981.54) and Adamawa (N1,975.00).
"States with the lowest average price per gallon of kerosene were Delta (N1218.13), Imo (N1991.23) and Yobe (N1,080.00)."
On diesel, the NBS said: "Average price paid by consumers for Automotive Gas Oil (diesel) increased by 0.17 per cent MoM and by 15.9 per cent YoY to N254.64 in September 2021 from N254.21 in August 2021."

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5 Wheels to 5 Star
Tips for Traveling 5 Star on a budget
Our Journey to 5 Star
Just Cruising
Roman Baths, England
Jun13 by Keri
The Great Bath
When visiting London, there were several sites that I wanted to venture out to. Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and the town of Bath to name a few. We visited in December, which is very cold, rainy and cloudy, reflective in the pictures. Bath is where I first sampled the true form of cider. Do not make the mistake I did, thinking it was the American version of hot, apple cider. It looks and smells just like the American version of spiced apple cider. The United Kingdom has the world's highest per capita consumption of cider. The most notable difference between American cider and European cider is the alcohol content! In the UK the law states that cider must contain 35% apple juice whereas in the U.S. it must be 50% apple juice and in France, the cider is solely made from apples. The cider in Bath will knock your socks off, but anything hot was wonderful in December. A warm beverage is a fantastic addition to the Christmas caroling in the streets. The cider in Bath is served from a big copper pot, continually stirred. Perry cider, made from pears, is quite common in England as well. I would recommend grabbing a hot cup of cider AFTER touring the Roman Baths, just speaking from experience.
The town of Bath, pronounced both as in moth, is located 97 miles west of London in the county of Somerset, England. The town is well-known for Roman-built baths in 60 A.D., which were created from bath stone and feature four areas: the Sacred Spring, Roman Temple, Roman Bath House and the Museum. Over 1 million tourists per year stay in the town of Bath to visit the baths and the Grand Pump Room. 3.8 million visitors come for the day per year. Visitors are prohibited from entering the waters as they are considered unsafe for bathing. The waters pass through the original lead pipes. Bath stone has a warm, honey color and is easy to cut, square and shape without crumbling. It is interesting that the Roman Baths are actually situated below street level. The buildings above street level are from the 19th century. Bath has their own sports team called Team Bath.
The Water System
It is fascinating to view what the engineering was like 2000 years ago. This is a picture of the water system at the Roman Baths, which were naturally heated by use of warm water from the local springs that would enter through the water system. The Romans were able to design complex plumbing systems to provide hot water to run into their baths. Where does the water come from? The water comes from the rain in the Mendip Hills and then bubbles up from the ground at Bath Falls. The water then filters through the limestone between 2,700 and 4,300 meters, causing the water temperature to rise between 69 and 96 °C. The pressure forces the heated water to rise to the surface.
Bath Abbey
In the picture above, you are able to see a portion of Bath Abbey, also know as the Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, which is visible from all over the town. Bath Abbey was founded in the 7th century and rebuilt in the 12th & 16th centuries as one of the largest perpendicular structures in Southern Western England, seating 1200. While the abbey is a major tourist attraction, it is also an active church, concert & lecture hall inclusive of hundreds of members. At the outdoor market, vendors sold locally made items for tourist to browse. Christmas is a wonderfully festive time to visit Bath.
Stormy Day in Bath
Interesting Facts~
Jane Austen lived in the town of Bath in the early 19th century. The Roman Baths were featured in 2005 on the program Seven Natural Wonders as one of the wonders of the West Country. Bathing in Rome was considered a communal activity, not private as it is practiced in the United States.
Cheers, headed to Bath!
$$ Saving Tips~
If visiting Bath for the day, it is best to book a tour from your hotel. If you are not staying in a hotel, than you can still book a tour and can be picked up at a hotel in town. We booked a tour and the pick up location was the Sheraton Park Lane Hotel. Our tour had several stops which was a 12 hour day. Shop around, compare prices and decide what you want to see in the span of a day. We loved the convenience of being able to have a couple of drinks and not have to worry about driving, getting lost or viewing maps. In addition, the tour guide was extremely knowledgable providing historical facts along the way. It is about a 2 hour ride from London each direction. We chose a tour that included wine (of course) and lunch. Many of the tours allow free time as well, so not to feel smothered or restricted. Be sure to inquire where the drop off location is. We assumed that it was the same as the pick up and after a very long day, we discovered we were on our own for a cab ride back to our hotel from downtown London.
This entry was posted in England, London and tagged Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Bath, Bath Abbey, Bath Falls, bath stone, cider, England, Mendip Hills, perry, Royal Crescent, Somerset, Team Bath, United Kingdom, West Country.
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Fairfax, VA. December 18, 2017 — 2017 was a year of record-breaking disasters and the American Red Cross mobilized quickly to help people in need, providing more food, relief supplies and shelter stays than all of the last four years combined.
In just 45 days, the Red Cross responded to six of the year's largest and most complex disasters. This included back-to-back hurricanes — Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate — the deadliest week of wildfires in California history, and the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history in Las Vegas.
As 2017 comes to a close, the Red Cross is also now responding to devastating and quick-moving wildfires across much of Southern California, opening shelters and providing food, comfort, and a safe place for people forced from their homes.
Altogether, Red Cross emergency response vehicles traveled 2.5 million miles to deliver food, relief supplies and support to communities affected by disasters during 2017. That's the equivalent of driving around the earth 103 times.
HOME FIRES THE MOST FREQUENT DISASTER The most frequent type of disaster the Red Cross responded to in 2017 was a fire in someone's home. The Red Cross responded to nearly 50,000 home fires, and provided casework assistance to help 76,000 families recover.
Through its Home Fire Campaign, the Red Cross and thousands of local partners are working to help prevent home fires and save lives by installing smoke alarms, helping families create home fire plans and offering youth education programs. During 2017, more than 382,000 free smoke alarms were installed and 401,000 people were reached through home visits. Since the Campaign launched in 2014, 303 lives have been saved, more than 1 million smoke alarms have been installed, and 940,000 youth have been taught about the importance of fire safety.
INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE As part of the world's largest humanitarian network, the American Red Cross aided millions of people impacted by disasters around the globe in 2017. This included helping nearly 9,400 families search for loved ones who were separated during international conflict or disasters, and sending humanitarian aid to 26 countries to help in the aftermath of disasters. The organization also deployed American responders to disaster zones around the world 27 times this year—including to Nigeria, Mexico, and Bangladesh.
Red Cross volunteers also visited more than 2 million households to encourage families to vaccinate their children against measles in countries like Malawi and Indonesia and helped to save lives by mapping vulnerable communities —using only a computer and internet connection.
HOW YOU CAN HELP Help people affected by disasters like hurricanes, wildfires and countless other crises by making a donation to Red Cross Disaster Relief. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small across the United States. Please consider making a donation today. Visit www.redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
An average of 91 cents of every dollar the Red Cross spends goes to its programs and services, which includes providing food, shelter, relief supplies, emotional support and other assistance, as well as supporting the vehicles, warehouses, technology and people that make help possible.


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Global Opinions
The Opinions Essay
D.C., Md. & Va. Opinions
Cape Up
Post Opinión
Trump is leading a 'hate movement' against the media
The Trump administration blocked a CNN correspondent from attending an open media event. That's an assault on press freedom. (The Washington Post)
Greg Sargent
Opinion columnist covering national politics
August 1, 2018 at 1:41 p.m. UTC
THE MORNING PLUM:
When the owner of a Virginia restaurant asked the White House press secretary to leave out of dismay over the administration's policies, the civility refs threw a blizzard of flags onto the field. The refrain was that, no matter how deeply felt our political differences may be, keeping the litigation of those differences civil is essential to preventing our political life from spiraling into dysfunction.
On Tuesday, CNN's Jim Acosta — one of President Trump's favorite human targets — and other members of the media were abused and heckled by Trump supporters at a rally in Florida. Videos of the event — see here or here — show the crowd at one point loudly chanting "CNN sucks," with many angrily brandishing middle fingers in the direction of the living, breathing members of the press corps.
Trump's son, Eric Trump, tweeted out video of the "CNN sucks" chant, with the hashtag #Truth, while directly singling out Acosta. And the president himself retweeted his son. The president's son is actively encouraging Trump supporters to direct rage and abuse toward working journalists, and the president is joining in, helping to spread the word.
You might think it reeks of "whataboutism" to juxtapose this event with the expulsion of Sarah Huckabee Sanders. On the contrary, I'd like to argue that both these events belong in the same category: They both were the direct result of Trump's nonstop and very deliberate efforts to provoke as much rage and division as he can, in as many quarters as he can. The profound imbalance and asymmetry revealed by the juxtaposition of the two situations is the real story here.
After the Tampa rally, Acosta worried aloud that all this anger could result in "somebody getting hurt." We don't know whether it will come to that, but it is impossible to watch those videos without concluding that it's a serious possibility. The president commands an enormous megaphone. Instead of concluding that such an outcome is to be avoided, and recognizing a responsibility as the bearer of that megaphone to use his influence to make that so, he is actively stoking the anger, with nonstop attacks on the press for the simple act of holding his administration accountable, and now, by approvingly drawing attention to one of the most flagrant displays of it yet.
Trump's Tampa circus proves you can't reason with his base
Jay Rosen calls all of this a "hate movement against journalists" that is essential to Trump's political style, and urges them to recognize it as such. And Trump's approving retweet of his son does appear to confirm that he believes all this anger benefits him politically, probably by energizing and consolidating the base heading into the midterms.
But we should expand that point to note that Trump plainly sees political gain in provocation on as many fronts as possible. When Trump pardoned former sheriff Joe Arpaio despite his lawless and racist civil rights abuses, Trump had grown persuaded that it was "a way of pleasing his political base." When Trump refused to unambiguously condemn white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, choosing instead to stoke racial tensions further, Stephen K. Bannon candidly declared that those tensions would help Trump politically.
There can be no doubt that Trump sees benefit in riling up his supporters with decisions like those, regardless of the anger that it unleashes on the other side. Indeed, that anger, coming from the "right" people, the liberals and the elitists, is useful, because it further provokes the anger of his own supporters. At a minimum, we know Trump recognizes no institutional responsibility to try to dial down these tensions where possible. Indeed, it's worse: The deliberate goal, as Bannon has put it, is "to throw gasoline on the resistance."
The provocations, of course, also take the form of policy, with severe human consequences: Trump's hard-line immigration agenda is spreading fear and suffering in immigrant communities, and lest you think this is merely rooted in good-faith differences over how to handle immigration enforcement, Trump also layers the ritual dehumanization of immigrants on top of that cruelty. All this has crystallized in his horrible family separation policy, and even here, Trump reportedly claimed that "my people love it."
The asymmetry is the story
You cannot seriously assess the relative civility of both sides of the Trumpian divide without placing these full-scale and calculated provocations, coming from the very top, front and center. As acts of civil disobedience go, the Sanders expulsion was relatively restrained, a use of very limited clout to protest the powerful, that is, to protest a presidency and an agenda that is provoking widespread fury and deep, searing tensions along multiple cultural and racial fault lines — again, in many cases deliberately.
Indeed, when Sanders was asked to leave, the exchange was reportedly civil. The real tell came after, as Brian Beutler points out: The White House whipped up a campaign of retributive rage at the restaurant owner. Whether you agree with the expulsion or not, the White House took deliberate action to turn it into a major and divisive cultural event, in a manner similar to Trump's multiple other provocations.
The Acosta affair reveals that the asymmetry here is the story. Trump is now actively encouraging his supporters to direct their fury and abuse toward those whose institutional role is to hold the powerful accountable. Early on in this presidency, the savvy response to Trump's assaults on the press was to treat them as mere gamesmanship: Trump doesn't really mean any of this; it's all a big show; behind the scenes, our media and political elites are just as chummy as ever. That comfortable illusion stopped being sustainable long ago. Now the possibility cannot be dismissed that it could end up getting shattered more violently than we expect.
* TRUMP'S TRADE WAR SET TO ESCALATE AGAIN: Bloomberg News reports that Trump officials may ratchet up the tariffs on China:
Officials are considering more than doubling planned tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports, people familiar with the deliberations said. The U.S. had threatened an additional $200 billion with levies of 10 percent, a level the administration may raise to 25 percent in a Federal Register notice in coming days, one of the people said.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is in talks with Chinese officials to find a way out, but as Bloomberg notes, this represents "yet another increase in tension." Trump's totally got this.
* CHINA VOWS RETALIATION: Reuters reports on the Chinese response:
"If the United States takes further escalatory steps, China will inevitably take countermeasures and we will resolutely protect our legitimate rights," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular news briefing. Investors fear an escalating trade war between Washington and Beijing could hit global growth.
As it is, Chinese retaliatory tariffs are already directly aimed at industries with many jobs in counties carried by Trump. This is likely to get worse.
* TRUMP MAY SLASH REFUGEE LEVELS AGAIN: The New York Times reports that Trump administration officials are mulling a cut in refugee levels from 45,000 to as low as 20,000:
A "migration crisis" was gripping the country, [one] official said, and the administration was instead prioritizing asylum cases in which a person is already in the United States and claims a credible fear of returning home. … The official noted that there was a backlog of 700,000 asylum cases, asserting that "most asylum seekers are illegal immigrants," and that there were high costs and "enormous security challenges" in admitting people to the United States on humanitarian grounds.
A "migration crisis," eh? This rationale should come under intense scrutiny, and as always, it's likely the real rationale is just to keep as many refugees out as possible.
* TRUMP ISN'T TAKING RUSSIAN SABOTAGE SERIOUSLY: The Associated Press reports that Trump is facing increasing criticism for not taking the prospect of Russian sabotage of the midterm elections seriously enough:
Republicans and Democrats have criticized the administration's response as fragmented, without enough coordination across federal agencies. … Trump himself rarely talks about the issue. And in the nearly two years since Russians were found to have hacked into U.S. election systems and manipulated social media to influence public opinion, the White House has held two meetings on election security.
And in his refusal to take this seriously, Trump is in direct contradiction of his own director of national intelligence.
* DEMOCRATS ARE RUNNING ON HEALTH CARE: Margot Sanger-Katz has a good piece reporting that Democratic senators in tough races, and numerous Democratic House candidates, are relentlessly talking to audiences about Obamacare's protections for preexisting conditions:
After the Republicans' failed effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Democrats have detected a newfound concern that the consumer protections established under the law might go away. And that fear has turned into a potent campaign theme. … The issue is coming up in House races across the country. … Analysis of television ads through May from the Wesleyan Media Project found that health care was the most common subject of Democratic campaign ads.
But wait, didn't the pundits tell us that Democrats are running only on anti-Trump hatred?
* TRUMP LIES … AND LIES … AND LIES: The Post fact-checking team updates its grand tally, and now calculates that Trump has now made 4,229 false or misleading claims:
The average number of claims per day keeps climbing the longer Trump stays in office. In fact, in June and July, the president averaged 16 claims a day. Put another way: In his first year as president, Trump made 2,140 false or misleading claims. Now, just six months later, he has almost doubled that total.
Also important: There are at least 144 claims that Trump has repeated at least three times. The repetition of the lies is as important to Trump's approach as the initial lying itself.


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Q: Regression shows positive linear relationship. Then why this negative equation I am trying to get my regression right. I want to see, if subs increase how much increase in revenue is seen. The dependent variable is Revenue while the independent variable is subscribers.
Least squares method regression shows the following equation 24.4x - 189,883,443. I can't make sense of it. If subs increase means increase in revenue, then why this?
There is no 0 value and the lowest value for subscribers starts with 10 m while revenue starts with 180 m
How can i make sense of y = 24.4x - 189,883,443. Why is the intercept negative. Does it mean that one sub increase would mean a revenue increase of 24.4


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RCMP identify the man stabbed and killed in downtown Penticton as Tejindar 'Ted' Singh Randhawa. (Linkedln)
Penticton stabbing victim's name released
61-year-old Penticton resident Tejindar 'Ted' Randhawa was killed Dec. 17
RCMP have released the name of the man who was murdered in a stabbing incident on Martin Street on Dec. 17.
Tejindar Singh Randhawa is being named as the victim in the incident.
"As previously stated, our investigation is progressing, and we're confident in reassuring the public they're not at risk," said Const. James Grandy, Penticton RCMP spokesperson.
Randhawa was stabbed in the parking lot of the Gables Liquor Store in the 300-block of Martin Street at 5:11 p.m.
According to a witness statement, the victim was sitting in his vehicle when he was approached by a man, who stabbed him multiple times and then fled on foot.
Officers arrived on scene, and contained the area, however, the Police Service Dog was unsuccessful in locating a suspect.
Randhawa died in hospital a few days later, turning the crime into a murder investigation.
The stabbing occurred in a busy area of downtown Penticton, with several businesses open at the time and pedestrians in the area. Police are urging anyone with information to contact the Penticton RCMP, at 250-492-4300.
According to his obituary posted by Providence Funeral Homes, "Ted is remembered and missed daily by his wife Bira; children Esha, Zarina, and Ajay; mother, Jasmel; brother, Malvinder."
Randhawa graduated from Pen Hi Secondary School in 1980. He went on to complete his Doctor of Dental Medicine degree in the Philippines, Ted moved back to Penticton to unite with his family including his brother and parents.
He had many hobbies and talents but his pride and joy were his motorcycle he built from scratch and his powerful 1990 Honda CRX that he proudly took care of for 32 years.
Read his full obituary here.
READ MORE: Stabbing incident become murder investigation
Penticton murders
Perfect timing for Baby Georgia, New Year's baby born at Salmon Arm's hospital
B.C. government increases homeowner grant limit as home values rise by 12 per cent


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Bangladesh leading the way on Loss and Damage
Associated Organization: ICCCAD, IUB
Loss and Damage in the UNFCCC process
The least developed countries (LDCs) are both the least responsible for and the most vulnerable to climate change impacts." A lack of institutional, economic and financial capacity renders these countries less able to cope with climate change impacts# and more likely to suffer loss and damage as a result. The need for an international mechanism to address this inequity has long been acknowledged. In 1992, Principle 13 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development
proclaimed that, "States shall also cooperate in an expeditious and more determined manner to develop further international law regarding liability and compensation for adverse effects of environmental damage caused by activities within their jurisdiction or control to areas beyond their jurisdiction."
GEF SGP Community-Based Adaptation Project in Seychelles
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP) has announced the launch of a new small island developing States community based adaption (SIDS-CBA) project in Seychelles. The project will work with coastal communities to address adaptation to coastal erosion and salinity from saltwater intrusion into agricultural lands.
The Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) officially launched the project at an event held on 18 January 2013. AusAID is funding the project, which will be implemented by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and delivered by the GEF SGP. According to the GEF, the work will focus on the island of Praslin, where the most severe effects from climate change in the country are being felt.
Read more http://bit.ly/10hgLXX
AfDB Commits to Enhance Access to Safe Water and Sanitation in Nigeria
The "Innovative Funding of the Water Sector" Summit, hosted by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, concluded with the commitment of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group to enhance access to safe water and sanitation in urban and rural areas.
Organized by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, the Summit was held in Abuja, Nigeria, from 18-19 February 2013. Attended by over 300 participants, the meeting produced a strategic framework that recognizes the key role of water and sanitation for national economic growth and development. Read more http://bit.ly/13tczYj
Burundi, Rwanda Collaborate to Increase Climate Resilience and Water Security
Associated Organization: Global Water Forum
The Governments of Burundi and Rwanda are collaborating on integrated water resources management (IWRM) as part of the Water, Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP), a Global Water Partnership (GWP) project. WACDEP aims to increase climate resilience and water security in the Kagera water basin catchment, which is part of the Rwanda-Burundi Cyohoha transboundary catchment area.
WACDEP held a series of workshops to raise citizen awareness on: how the catchment area provides protection from natural hazards, including droughts and floods; and how human practices can damage lake resources and deplete fisheries. The workshops, which were held between August and December 2012, also aimed to change local perceptions of Lake Cyohoha as a state-owned resource by promoting local ownership and access to information. Read more http://bit.ly/XeKa4j
Adaptation Strategies in Kenya, Niger and Uganda
The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) has published three reports on climate risk management (CRM) in Kenya, Niger and Uganda, as part of the UN Development Programme's (UNDP) Climate Risk Management (CRM) Technical Assistance Support Project (TASP). The reports illustrate how different communities in high-risk countries may have to adapt to a changing climate across a range of sectors.
CRM TASP is led by UNDP's Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR) with inputs from the UNDP Bureau for Development Policy Energy and Environment Group (BDP/EEG). The objective of the project is to analyze risks to development associated with climate variability and change in order to define and prioritize risk management solution measures in both the short- and long-term. Read more http://bit.ly/13sIPdz
Communities in Uganda to adapt to drought through a gravity flow scheme
Associated Organization: IUCN, UNDP, UNEP and Kapchorwa District Local Government
The construction of a community gravity flow scheme covering three villages of the Kapchorwa district was officially launched on 11th April 2012 by IUCN, in partnership with UNDP, UNEP and Kapchorwa District Local Government. Funded by the German Government (Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety) and targeting Sanzara parish, the scheme is one of the nature based solutions being promoted by IUCN under the Ecosystem Based Adaptation (EBA) project to strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity of the communities to the adverse effects of climate change - in this case drought. Read more http://bit.ly/15MCae4
CARIAA/IRCAAA: Call for Concept Notes/Appel à notes conceptuelles
Associated Organization: IDRC, DFID
(Le français suit.)
CARIAA is a seven-year research program launched in 2012 and jointly funded by the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) and Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC).
CARIAA supports collaborative, interdisciplinary research in three climate change hot spots in Africa and Asia: deltas, river basins affected by glacial and snowpack melt, and semi-arid regions. Visit our website for more about our approach.
Zimbabwe's climate change policies need an urban focus
Associated Organization: IRIN
In spite of the political and financial turmoil that Zimbabwe faces, the country seems to be on the right track in adopting strategies to address the effects of climate change. But these strategies tend to have a strong rural bias, overlooking the fact that almost half of the country now lives in urban areas, according to a joint review of the country's climate change response by a think tank and leading NGO. Zimbabwe, like many other African countries, has begun to develop a national framework to respond to climate change, including efforts to identify authorities to process donor funds for mitigating and adapting to climate change, said one of the authors of the review, Shepard Zvigadza of ZERO Regional Environment Organization. [ http://www.climatenetwork.org/profile/member/zero-regional-environment-organization ] However, as in most other African countries, policymakers and researchers "ignore longstanding urbanization trends and continue to overstate the proportion of Zimbabwe's population living in rural areas." The ruling ZANU-PF party, which has dominated politics in Zimbabwe for decades, has been accused of appeasing their voters, who are largely rural, by developing policies that cater to them while disregarding urban residents. Taking into account UN statistics, the authors suggested that almost 38 percent of Zimbabwe's population lives in urban areas, but the number could be as high as 50 percent if national assessments are considered. Climate change adds to woes Zimbabwe's urban transition is a lot more advanced than most countries in Southern Africa, and urban problems such as water scarcity - prompted by sparse rains and a dropping water table - are not getting the attention they deserve, Zvigadza told IRIN in an email. "Research shows that the water table for boreholes used to be around 30m in the 1990s, but now water can be found around 60m or more below ground. This is true for cities like Bulawayo, whose water sources are various rivers. Such a situation has created long-term water and sanitation challenges, leading to health problems in cities like Chitungwiza and Kadoma," he added. Following severe water shortages in Chitungwiza and Kadoma in 2012, outbreaks of typhoid and cholera were recorded. In 2008, the country experienced one of the worst cholera outbreaks recorded anywhere in recent times; the outbreak killed at least 4,000 people and infected 100,000 others. The country's socioeconomic problems, combined with the effects of climate change, are likely to aggravate the situation in the coming years.
It has become obvious that climate change has not been politicized, thus civil society has been working and continues to work with communities without intimidation
Zvigadza explained that, "obviously, there are some other socioeconomic factors like poor waste management and service delivery that are most likely to be at play, but climate change is going to worsen this situation. For example, in [the] water and sanitation situation, nearby flowing sewer water is more likely to contaminate fresh piped water if there is a broken pipe. Water reticulation infrastructure has now aged and cannot cope with the rising population. This means they can break at any time where there is too much water in the system as a result of flooding." Evidence from climate change impact studies shows that Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, is going to experience heavy, frequent and prolonged rainfall leading to flash floods, said Zvigadza. A broken health infrastructure that cannot cope with the rising urban population is yet another driver of a potential crisis. "The health facilities may fail to cope with this demand, and climate change as an added stressor is most likely to increase this urban population's vulnerability," he added. Adapting to climate change The government should invest in the health, water and energy sectors to develop infrastructure that can adapt to climate variability, said Zvigadza. Zimbabwe's development policies should be related to adaptation, such as promoting water harvesting techniques at the household level. Education on climate change should be initiated at primary schools to create awareness at an early age and help people prepare. Zvigadza noted that the country "is obviously struggling financially", but there are "donors who are interested" in supporting the country, which "has advanced in its readiness to receive and use climate funds." A number of NGOs and research organizations have begun to emphasize adaptation to climate change in their development projects, particularly in drought-prone rural areas, noted the review. A community-based adaptation project was piloted by the UN Development Programme in Zimbabwe, for example. A growing number of NGOs has also becoming involved in Zimbabwe's Climate Change Working Group, a leading civil society network. While civil society has increasingly come under attack in the country for political reasons, Zvigadza said, "it has become obvious that climate change has not been politicized, thus civil society has been working and continues to work with communities without intimidation... Overall, what is only required is the sense of national belonging that is speaking with one non-partisan voice, and this has begun to happen. Read more http://bit.ly/VOPhpy
Mozambique's Strategic Programme for Climate Resilience
The Climate Investment Funds (CIF) have reported on the implementation of Mozambique's US$100 million strategic programme for climate resilience, which was endorsed in June 2011 by the CIF through its Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR) window.
The Government of Mozambique, together with the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the African Development Bank (AfDB), is developing climate-resilient projects envisioning policy and institutional change in several sectors, such as agriculture, coastal cities, transport, water management, forestry and learning.
According to CIF, seven pilot projects are planned with special emphasis on: the drought-prone Limpopo watershed; the flood-prone Zambezi watersheds; and the coastal city of Beira, which is vulnerable to rising sea levels, storms and erosion. Read more http://bit.ly/UsDgpj
Climate Change Implications on indigenous adaptation strategies; Case of Small Scale Farmers' livelihoods and food security strategies in Uganda
Associated Organization: Ben Twinomugisha
In Uganda, small scale farmers' adaptation to climate change is mostly based on local coping knowledge and understanding of seasonality. A typical Ugandan small scale farmer depends on the mercy of nature for agricultural production. Small scale farmers' accessibility to agricultural innovations is often limited by socio-economic institutional deficiencies. In a study that documented climate change impacts on small scale farmers, it was confirmed that indigenous adaptation is small scale farmers' option towards ensuring food security and income improvement approaches. Indigenous knowledge is an integral part of small scale farmers' lives. Local coping strategies provide the foundation for small scale farmers' own ideas on how to survive during harsh times. Adaptation to climate change that is occurring is based on past experiences, which are passed on from one generation to another. Read more http://twinoben.blogspot.com/
Models for a resilient future: Community based adaptation projects in Malawi provide template for local responses to climatic threats
Associated Organization: UNDP/AAP
In the area around Malawi's Mulanje Mountain, the felling of trees by informal settlers for use as fuel and in charcoal production has led to deforestation, erosion and landslides. But an AAP pilot project, implemented by the World Food Programme (WFP), is showing how an integrated approach can respond to the effects of compounding natural and man-made disasters. This is but one of a range of AAP projects and initiatives in Malawi that have been implemented in collaboration with the WFP, of which a series of pilot projects is designed to demonstrate small scale initiatives that can secure the livelihoods of vulnerable communities. Read more http://bit.ly/XfyahR
Senegal secures its sealine: AAP initiative finds solutions for key areas at risk of coastal erosion
Located 80 kilometres south of Dakar, the Saly seaside resort area is perhaps Senegal's most popular and profitable tourist attraction. Hundreds of thousands of tourists, mostly European, visit the country to holiday there, drawn by the year-round sunny weather and beaches of fine white sand. But in the last few years, the ocean that had been an accomplice in leisure became destructive; its waves began to swallow up sand from the beach and damage the hotels. In May, management of the Filaos Hotel, one of the largest in the area, had to evacuate guests from rooms closest to the sea when waves threatened to flood them.It soon transpired that the beach in front of 10 major hotels, beach the national beach soccer team trained on just three years ago, had widely eroded and even disappeared in some places. Read more http://bit.ly/P2jcd9
Rwanda on track to introduce early warning system: AAP Rwanda recently hosted a one-month training programme to build national capacity in meteorological forecasting and disaster preparedness.
AAP Rwanda recently hosted a one-month training programme to build national capacity in meteorological forecasting and disaster preparedness. The training was the third part of a four-step plan by AAP and the LCDF to establish an early warning and disaster preparedness system in Rwanda. It saw staff from the Rwanda Meteorological Centre tackle a huge number of meteorological science and forecasting topics ranging from receiving, processing and validating data to climate modelling, and seasonal rainfall and temperature predictions. A key part of the training focused on the use of early warning system information for disaster prevention. Read more http://bit.ly/PQnWE1
The many benefits of meteorological capacity: Equipment sourced by AAP Burkina Faso makes a range of national planning initiatives possible
To help Burkina Faso's national meteorological service provide reliable, detailed and up-to-date weather monitoring and forecasting, the AAP team there recently helped it acquire new automated weather stations (AWS). A total of 16 AWS were procured, comprising six agro-meteorological stations and 10 hydro-meteorological stations. The new equipment will double the number of weather stations in the country thereby strengthening the capacity of the Directorate General of Meteorology's (DGM) weather data collection network to provide real-time weather monitoring and more efficient measuring of climatic changes in Burkina Faso. Read more http://bit.ly/TaqZl6
Overcoming local vulnerability: AAP pilot projects in Niger chart a path to resilience
Niger ranks among the countries most vulnerable to climate change. People here have already noticed a shortening of the rainy season and higher average temperatures. These changes are resulting in smaller yields in the most widely cultivated and consumed crops. Read more http://bit.ly/TzrxaH
Mozambique: Finding Climate Smart Agricultural Solutions to Famine
Associated Organization: CSDI
Phipps Campira (Mozambique), Zipo Akinyi (Kenya/New Zealand), and Lenneke Knoop (The Netherlands) have been working for the past two months on a project in the community of Mezimbite, Mozambique. 566 households (3,400 people) are frequently suffering from constant famine caused by poor agricultural production capacity, a lack of knowledge improved agricultural practices and climate change related unpredictable rain and extreme weather events.
Famine takes away healthy live years from members of the community and can lead to food insecurity and malnutrition thereby reducing overall productivity, well-being, and social status. When children are under-nourished this will lead to a disturbed development, affected school participation, which could lead to a vicious circle. Malnourished and diseased community members are unable to produce sufficient food and income for themselves and to lead the productive, meaningful, prosperous lives they need to leave the cycle of poverty and contribute to the development of their communities. Read more http://bit.ly/R88526
Tanzania: Adaptation through Conservation Agriculture
Chris Enns (Canada), has been working for the past four months on a project in the community of Wagete in the Region of Mara, Tanzania. 4000 community members are suffering from and reduced crop yield due to unpredictable weather patterns related to climate change.
These challenges reduce children's ability to receive a sound education, leading to a reduction in their ability to develop and prosper as adults. These challenges also reduce the ability of adults to lead the productive, meaningful, prosperous and hopeful lives they need to leave the cycle of poverty and contribute to the development of their communities. Read more http://bit.ly/VcjCvx
Proposal Project Title: Climate change Radio Advocacy "Rethinking about the Future" in Liberia
Created by: momo | 2012-10-13 22:57
Associated Organization: Friends of the Earth-Liberia Inc
Summary: Liberia is one of the many countries where climate change and environmental education is a new concept. Despite the fact that climate change is posing a major threat to the livelihood security of most local communities, the majority of Liberian have little or no understanding about how to adapt or mitigate this problem. This is a country where majority of its population live in the rural areas and agriculture represents the major employer. Between 75% - 85% of the population are engaged in subsistence and cash crops farming. Liberia will be highly vulnerable to climate change due to limited adaptive capacities and widespread poverty. Over the past 40 years Liberia has experienced a number of climate-induced disasters, including floods in West Point Township (1965), Kakata (1983), Suakoko District, Bong County (1984), Jagaka town, Grand Cape Mount county (1997), Zoe-geh and Gbelly-geh districts, Nimba County (2001), and Gbarnga (August 2005). However, the intent of this project is to highlight the barriers to adaptation and propose strategies for sustain solution, help to reduce the information gap between policy makers and the general public as well as enhancing more public participation and engagement in climate change adoption and mitigation discussion in the country. We also envisage to sensitizer the public on environmental protection issues. The duration of this propose project will be for one year (12 months). This project will be implemented in our present project areas of Sinoe, Grand Bassa, Nimba and Montserrado Counties with replications in adjacent communities of areas just specified and possibly extended to other counties. In the process we intend to share impacts of this project with national and international partners for possible joint projects or programs as the case may be.
GENDER and COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN AGRIC TRADE FOR ECONOMIC CHANGE
Created by: aidfortradelogistics | 2012-08-31 10:45
Associated Organization: AID FOR TRADE LOGISTICS
The research proposal is addressed to stakeholders and donors on how the gender and communities are important to participate in macroeconomics activities, more emphasis being given to agricultural trade which contribute to the revenue and bring a change to the economy, there is no emphasis on agricultural trade and this has been left behind, this paper will show them how they are needed in agricultural participatory and production program that link to other different activities.
This research is being written to encourage gender and communities as a whole with no specification of particular area but addressed to Tanzania which is identified with a huge uncultivated fertile soil, the community and gender should understand their role and reason of participation of which the outcome will result in poverty alleviation, market access and contribute to government revenue.
There will be a happier Tanzania with a change in GDP as years goes on due to awareness of both participating in the program, the analysis shows that the GDP per capita is not growing so fast because gender and communities are not participating fully in different agricultural trade (cultivating and producing) anticipating that particular group or gender have to do it while everyone should take part.
Studies in this paper shows the performance in agricultural trade and participation of gender and community in the activity and their contribution to economy of the country, this study has got basic recommendations that provide the way forward and why the gender and community should be fully involved in agricultural trade no matter who they are and where they come from because even an urbanite can decide to move to remote area and be a farmer depending on what he/she is featuring on.
Guidelines provided in this research are much more important, it contain the structure, evolution and future expectation if gender and community participate fully in the agricultural trade for economic change, this include stake holders and government which can help/ contribute to their full participation and potential direction, it also assure that worry not about the startup.
MAINSTREAMING CLIMATE AND DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT INTO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN MADAGASCAR
Associated Organization: WMO, WB, UNDP, OCHA
Assistance to the Government of Madagascar and key stakeholders to best mainstream hazard risk management into key economic and social sectors, with special focus on prevention and adaptation:
a. Strengthening overall risk assessment at the regional and district levels, by carrying out hazard analysis of cyclones, droughts, and inundation and wind; and strengthening the analysis on losses, damages, vulnerability and risks and compiling a national risk atlas.
b. Risk mitigation by reviewing existing national construction codes and updating them with cyclone-proof standards for major sectors and areas at risk. Read more http://bit.ly/MHQe04
ADAPTATION AU CHANGEMENT CLIMATIQUE DANS LES SECTEURS DE L'AGRICULTURE ET DE L'EAU EN AFRIQUE DE L'OUEST
Associated Organization: CILSS/AGRHYMET
L'Afrique de l'Ouest fait partie des quelques régions du monde identifiées par le Groupe intergouvernemental d'experts sur l'évolution du climat (GIEC) comme particulièrement vulnérables au changement climatique. L'augmentation de la température et l'accroissement de la variabilité climatique posent aujourd'hui déjà de nombreuses contraintes pour la gestion des ressources en eau et l'agriculture, principal moyen de subsistance des populations. Le changement climatique risque ainsi d'amplifier les vulnérabilités socio-économiques auxquelles les populations de la sous-région font face.
Cities and Climate Adaptation in Africa
Associated Organization: ICLEI
The African Secretariat of ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability has recently launched a Climate Change adaptation project entitled "Sub-Saharan Cities: A five City Network to Pioneer Climate Adaptation through Participation Research and Local Action". It is supported mainly by the Climate Change Adaptation in Africa (CCAA) research and capacity development program, which is a joint program of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada, and the Department for International Development (DFID), U.K. In consultation with these development partners, ICLEI Africa has selected the following five cities in Southern Africa as key project beneficiaries:
• Cape Town – South Africa
• Walvis Bay - Namibia
• Maputo - Mozambique
• Dar es Salaam – Tanzania
• Port Louis - Mauritius
The project will address knowledge, resource capacity and networking gaps in the five selected sub-Saharan African cities over a three-year period, commencing in September 2009. The main aim of the project is to assist, equip and strengthen local authorities and cities in their ability to plan for, and adapt to, the threats and impacts associated with different variables related directly to climate change. We anticipate that this initiative will lead to a number of immediate and tangible results for each of the five participating cities during the initial phase.
Climate change is expected to have significant impacts on the physical, social, environmental and economic environments of cities in Africa. The threats posed by climate change include sea-level rise, variations in precipitation and rainfall patterns (which are projected to manifest themselves in the form of localised flooding and drought), increased wind speeds and incidences of cyclones, and increased temperature.
This project will focus on particularly vulnerable communities in each of the five cities and their livelihoods in different geographical, climatic and ecosystem zones. It will establish and/or add to Local Climate Adaptation Frameworks (LCAFs), taking into account relevant localised climate change impacts. Therefore each participating local government will take unique action during this process in order to assist with assessing and addressing their specific vulnerabilities to climate change.
For more information on the project download the summary report.
Should you require a brief overview of the project, download the following brochure in English and French.
For the Five-City Risk Assessment, download the following brochure in English and French.
ICLEI Adaptation Network Adaptation Solutions Brochure.
Integrated Coastal Management and Climate Adaptation in Morocco
The World Bank has approved a US$5.2 million pilot project to apply integrated coastal zone management in the coasts of Morocco through a Global Environment Facility (GEF) grant.
The project will test good practices for long-term maintenance and sustainability, providing tools to various sectors, such as agriculture, fisheries, environment, tourism, forestry. It will also assist the local government in participating meaningfully in local resource use planning, and integrating climate change and biodiversity preservation in the economic development processes in the project sites.
The integrated coastal zone management project will utilize a three-pronged approach to improve coastal zone management: an integrated approach to management in which all relevant government sectors work together in a transparent and decentralized way and in close cooperation with coastal residents and stakeholders; inclusive co-management focusing on women, youth and private sector by encouraging entrepreneurship of micro, small, and medium sized enterprises through capacity building and piloting public and private partnerships; and sustainability through strengthening the ability of local communities to adapt to the impacts of climate change and climate variability. [World Bank Press Release]
Supporting Adaptation of Productive Practices among Pastoral and Agropastoral Communities in the Rombou Rural Commune (Dakoro Department)
ONG Action pour la Gestion Intégrée des Ressources (AGIR)
The Rombou Rural Commune, the project site located in central Niger, is faced with frequent droughts as rainfall levels have steadily declined since the late 1960s, resulting in an extended dry season that now lasts for nine months. Recently, permanent and semi-permanent ponds have dried up and the water table has decreased. The village of Rombou is impacted by the degradation of the nearby Tarka Valley ecosystem, which has forced some residents into unsustainable and destructive practices, such as cutting firewood for sale, which exacerbate problems further. These maladaptive practices combined with future climate variabilities accelerate deforestation and desertification, and threaten the livelihoods of those who depend on the land.
The CBA project aims to foster sustainable water management, agricultural, and pastoral practices that help local residents better deal with current and future environmental challenges. With project partners on the ground such as AGIR, a local NGO specializing in sustainable resource management, the project supports the climate resiliency of the village of Rombou thru alternative crop production, increasing the communities' awareness of soil fertilization and regeneration techniques, and implementation of adaptive practices.
Read more http://bit.ly/Pj0EVx
Local development solutions for people, nature and resilient communities - Morocco
The Community-Based Adaptation project in Morocco "Land and Water protection, conservation farming and climate risk management to increase the resilience of the El Mouddaa High Altitude mountain ecosystem and reinforcement of the adaptive capacities of the local community, in the face of increasingly erratic and violent rainstorms and more and more frequent droughts" has been chosen as one of the winners of the 2012 Equator Prize (UNDP). The project was selected among 800 candidates for its remarkable demonstration of local development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities. Press Release (French) UNDP article (English)
This project is one of the UNDP's local level adaptation work spearheaded through the UNDP Community-Based Adaptation (CBA) global project. The El Mouddaa initiative was prepared and implemented through a comprehensive participatory and inclusive approach, with the objective of strengthening the resiliency of the El Mouddaa community to address the impacts of climate change. The project fosters sustainable land and water management, resilient farming practices, and community early warning techniques, which help the local community better deal with current and future climate challenges. The project is implemented by AMSING, the community-based organization (CBO) partner. Read more on the CBO partner.
Postcard from Dakar: insights from the IPCC SREX outreach event
Meet and Greet in Beta, Burkina Faso on December 2011
Expression of Interest - FR


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Q: Play Console - I can see crashes but no stacktraces I've never had this issue with the Play Console before. I can see crashes happening in the graph (and some users reported them too), but I do not see any details or stracktraces for them.
How can there be around 40 actual crashes in the past 7 days, but only 3 registered reports in the console in the same time.

My only guess is because I'm using the roll-out feature on 75%, so not all users received it yet and Google is withholding the data until it's fully released? Or is it because literally none of the affected users agreed to crash reports being shared?

A: I think @Pierre was right with his comment, it seems like after about 2 weeks, I suddenly could see detailed crash reports with stacktraces. But also only for a fraction of all visible crashes in the graph. So I'm still not 100% sure.
Overall it really could to be the case that detailed stacktraces are held back until enough users have been affected. Though in my case, one report showed up with 10 users affected, while another affected only 3. But they showed up on the same day.
So it could also very well be that it's dependent on something else.


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Trey Songz To Star In VH1 Dating Web Series, 'Tremaine The Playboy'
Just when you thought the celebrity dating show era was a thing of the past, here comes VH1 and Trey Songz to prove otherwise. It was just announced that the R&B star has teamed up with VH1 to star in his own reality dating web series, complete with a mansion, a house full of thirsty […]
KeKe Palmer Accuses Trey Songz Of 'Sexual Intimidation,' Plans To Press Charges
Last week actress KeKe Palmer and R&B star Trey Songz got into a heated battle of words over a video appearance, and in the days following things have taken a very serious turn complete with threats of legal action. Apparently, Trey Songz was filming a music video for his new single "Pick Up The Phone" […]
Trey Songz Defends Nate Parker & His Film 'The Birth Of A Nation'
One follower attacked Trigga, saying that he was "dense" for downplaying Parker's acquittal.
These Stars Celebrate National Underwear Day All Year Long
AM BUZZ: 'The Real' Hosts Speak Out About Tamar Braxton; Trey Songz Buys His First Home & More…
This is the first time we've seen the hosts together since Tamar's departure.
#ThristTrapTuesday: Ten Celebs Who Will Make You Want To Double Tap
Photos | majicatl Staff
PHOTOS OF THE DAY: Amber Rose, Trey Songz, Gwen Stefani, & More
Trey Songz Owed The IRS Nearly $1 Million In Back Taxes And He Doesn't Care
In today's edition of #RichPeopleProblems, we learned that R&B crooner, Trey Songz owed the IRS nearly $1 million in back taxes. According to TMZ, the singer chose not to pay $748,870.08 on his income from 2013 and was hit with a tax lien while in Miami last month. Ironically, Trey wasn't hurting for money because […]
Trey Songz Drops Surprise New Album, 'Intermission I &II'
The self-proclaimed sex inventor Trey Songz just dropped his seventh album, Intermission I & II. He released the Intermission EP last month, but decided to give his fans…
Music | majicatl Staff
MUSIC ROUNDUP: Trey Songz Drops Surprise Mixtape; Deborah Cox's New Single & More
Trey Songz Drops Surprise Mixtape Trey Songz just pulled a Drake, who pulled a Beyonce, and dropped a surprise mixtape "Intermission" while we weren't looking.…
Atlanta, Entertainment News, News & Gossip, Photos | majicatl Staff
Chris Brown & Trey Songz Bring Out R. Kelly, Keith Sweat & Others in ATL [PHOTOS]
Chris Brown & Trey Songz Bring Out R. Kelly, Jeezy, T.I., Future & Others in ATL [PHOTOS]


Inside concatenation brackets, blank or comma characters mean "column concatenation", semicolon and carriage-return mean "row concatenation".
Note : to avoid confusions it is safer to use commas instead of blank to separate columns.
Within multiple lhs brackets variable names must be separated by comma.


The Autism Alliance represent a number of charities across the nation. We urge all correspondence to be directed toward your local/regional charity who will usually be able to deal with direct public enquiries.
Charities near to you can be found here.
Interested in joining the Autism Alliance?


There's no need to worry, though. It's relatively easy to manually install the store on any supported Android device. The method outlined below can also be used by users who have the Play store already installed and are looking to manually update to the latest version. Unfortunately, this method won't work on Amazon devices. Head to Settings, click Security, scroll down to Unknown Sources and toggle the switch to the on position. You will get a message warning you about the dangers of installing apps outside of Google Play. Don't take this lightly. You should be cautious when sideloading an application and only do so from a trusted site. You should never attempt to pirate a paid app. Not only is this illegal, but it could also lead to malware being installed on your device.
I like to use the site APKMirror.com, which is from the people behind the blog Android Police, Moderators for the site check every app to ensure that it's safe to use, On APKMirror, search for and download the latest version of the Google Play store (as of October 16 that is version 5.10.29), The downloaded file will appear in the notifications pull-down menu at the top of your phone and in the Download folder in the app drawer, designer iphone x case Click on the file in either location and install it, If you are unable to install the store, you may have to download the latest version of Google Play Services, You can find a list here, be sure to download the version that corresponds with the Android version you are running..
Starting Friday, the iPhone 6S is available in India with a starting price of 62,000 rupees ($955). The iPhone 6S Plus starts at 72,000 rupees ($1,109). The new iPhones kicked off with a midnight sale at an Apple Store in Mumbai. A late Thursday tweet by Apple CEO Tim Cook thanked "all our customers in India who queued at midnight for the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus!"India, with a population of more than 1.2 billion people, is becoming a critical battleground for smartphone makers. It became the world's fastest growing smartphone market last year, research firm IDC said in November of 2014. And it's expected to surpass the US as the world's second-largest smartphone market behind China in 2017, Strategy Analytics said in July.
The Chinese smartphone market has become saturated with 95 percent ownership, leaving little room for first-time buyers, India's smartphone penetration is 30 percent, leaving ample room for growth, according to that July report, But Apple faces challenges in India, Though iPhone sales jumped by 93 percent in the region during this year's second quarter, Apple ekes out just a 2 percent share of India's smartphone market, Reuters said in July, The new iPhone may just be too expensive for designer iphone x case consumers in India, Much of the growth in iPhone sales so far has come from older models, Reuters noted, Smartphone players like Samsung and local vendor Micromax can sell phones at a cheaper price, winning over more buyers..
Apple has increased its marketing efforts to build its presence in India. It's cut more deals with distributors to expand availability of the iPhone and offer more appealing financing plans. The company is also looking to open a series of small stores. Apple has actually been preparing for a "blockbuster opening" of the new iPhones in India, the Times of India said in September. The new phones are expected to account for around 60 percent of total sales in India for the final quarter of 2015. Beyond India, the new iPhone 6S and 6S Plus are traveling to Malaysia, South Africa and a few other countries this Friday, followed by South Korea and the Ukraine on October 23. Apple plans to offer the new iPhones in more than 130 markets across the world by year's end.