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Alicia Vikander doesn't have time to see movies. The Swedish actress is currently in "It" Girl mode, parlaying acclaimed performances in "Pure" and "A Royal Affair" — as well as the new "Ex Machina," in which she plays a robot with revolutionary A.I. capabilities — into a stream of big projects. (In addition to Guy Ritchie's "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." there's "Adam Jones" with Bradley Cooper and Emma Thompson and "The Danish Girl" opposite Eddie Redmayne, and more.) While in New York promoting "Ex Machina" Vikander said she actually saw a movie for fun: "It Follows." And luckily she loved it.
What was it about "It Follows" that really struck you?
Normally you're supposed to be scared by things jumping out in front of you. But with those big panoramic wide shots, for once the filmmaker doesn't tell you where to focus. It's so open; you have to look everywhere. You felt like you were on the same journey [as the characters].
It's an unusual way to do a horror film. And "Ex Machina" is an unusual way to do a sci-fi film: It's very stripped-down, its effects organic to the narrative. At times, with its single digit characters, it plays like a play.
It's a chamber piece. To be able to have such long scenes is very rare. Very often you start a scene, you start to get into it, and then it's over. [Laughs] You find a certain path you hadn't taken in another take. In this film you really had the chance to execute whatever new influences or directions you found. Every single take turned out to be different. You try to open a new door and when you open that door you're going in another direction.
The question in the film is whether Ava, your robotic character, genuinely thinks and feels independent of her programming. How did you approach that as an actor?
With any part, even when you're trying to create a new character, you can at least relate to the fact that they're human. With this you couldn't even do that. I figured that because they were questioning whether she was real or not that her maker must have come very far [in programming her]. I wanted her to come very close to that idea. And I was wondering what makes people believe she is a real girl. Alex [Garland, the writer-director] was very open about it. I basically had a blank sheet. He let me try different ways of moving and different voices. It was one of those roles you really want because you're quite terrified and scared of taking it on, but you do get to try whatever you want.
How about how you physically portrayed her? She has a way of moving that every great now and then looks robotic, but is more often very elegant. And you have a history with dance.
I was probably unconsciously using my dance background. I had years of training, so that is a part of me. I grew up moving and knowing how physicality reads. That's what you learn in ballet school. We created our own pieces and choreographed them from the age of 12, so you know from an outside perspective what things read like. It was also a nice tool to have, once I found what Ava moved like. When I would get into that posture, that would be a great way to get into the character too. It's like using an accent. If you just learn that accent you become something quite different.
It's a film that gets at the heart of what defines consciousness: She's designed, but in a sense we're all created.
I could ask myself 10,000 questions. If I said something did I know that I said it? Did I have any intention of saying it? Was it something I was programmed to say or something I learned? It was scary [laughs], because the questions kept coming, one after another. But if you do believe she has a conscience then she's a girl being locked up. And if not then she's a machine in a space.
That's another angle in the film: It can be read as a feminist statement about a man, the scientist played by Oscar Isaac, creating and locking up a woman — and dismantling and destroying her if she doesn't fulfill her. There's a sense that she's being objectified, stared at behind thick glass.
It comes down to the general view of women, and sexualizing them, in our society. But then there's also the fact that she is an object. There's a double-side to it, depending on how you see it. Alex wasn't necessarily making a feminist film, but he was bringing up truths in our society.


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Job: Librarian for Japanese Studies – Duke University (Durham, NC, USA)
Posted by Sydney Sparrow. Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email
Job Title: Librarian for Japanese Studies
Posted by: Duke University
Location: Durham, NC, USA
Contract: Full-Time
Here's a job passed along to us:
Duke University Libraries seeks an engaged and knowledgeable librarian for Japanese studies.
The librarian for Japanese studies focuses on service, innovation, collaboration and professional leadership in Japanese Studies. The librarian serves as primary liaison to Japanese Studies faculty, students, visiting scholars and staff in a variety of departments and academic programs, manages and evaluates the Japanese Studies collection and provides instruction, reference and digital consultation services.
The ideal candidate will possess an understanding of research and teaching in Japanese Studies and should be familiar with the art historical, literary, historical, religious and social science disciplines that use the Japanese and East Asian collections.
S/he works in close consultation with the Chinese and Korean Studies Librarians in managing all aspects of the East Asian Collection. Depending on interest and background, this position is responsible for coordinating support for Asian American Studies at Duke.
Duke University Libraries' collection on Japan is the leading collection in the Southeast United States and among the best nationally. Both Duke and the University of North Carolina have active Japanese language/linguistics and graduate programs. Collectively, the universities in the NC Triangle have one of the most significant concentrations of Japan scholars in the United States. The Japanese Studies Librarian is an integrated member of the Duke Libraries and collaborates regularly with librarians and staff across a variety of library units, also working closely with many campus and external partners, such as the Asian/Pacific Studies Institute, regional consortia; and national and international groups to build collections in support of local research, teaching, and learning needs.
The position reports to the Head of the International and Area Studies Department and will become effective on/around July 1, 2020.
Application Process: For full job description and to apply see: https://library.duke.edu/about/jobs/japaneselibrarian.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Well, what a weekend we had at our Ladies Lunch which we hosted in the Grand Central Hotel this year in Glasgow for the first time!!!
Now I don't know about all you wonderful ladies, but we had a great weekend and you all looked fabulous - your outfits were amazing as we always know they are going to be! Here are just a few of your fabulous outfits...
Jenna started each day off with a wonderful welcome speech and made sure there were bubbles on each of our tables to get the fun flowing. Special Mum, Isla Elliot gave up both days to join us and tell us how much Calum's Cabin has helped her daughter, Zara and their family, showing you all what you contribute to and help us do. Fabulous entertainment was provided by The StereoBeats rocking the stage and of course that saxophone… just WOW! To the wonderful Feeva girls, the amazing Singer Swingers and of course the man who always makes the room light up, Mr Edward Reid – we would like to thank them all for making the weekend go out with a bang!
We hope you all enjoyed the famous Calum's Cabin games ensuring all tables won a prize and all of the fun things we had organised for you, including the raffle and main auction which have raised thousands to help our families.
We already cannot wait to start organising our Ladies Lunch for next year and hope to see you all there again, enjoying yourself, boogying away on the dancefloor or capturing all of the fun in our photo booth so don't forget to get in touch to secure your table now.
Special thanks to the Grand Central Staff, our sound technicians, all our entertainers, Nick Gilbert and his team, our amazing photographers Elaine McTaggart and Capelrig Photography and a huge thank you always to our amazing volunteers who we would simply be lost without on the day.


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Audit and Assurance Services
Audit and assurance services include the following:
- Audits
- Financial statement reviews
- Financial statement compilations
- Agreed-upon procedures.
These services assure you, your board of directors, grantors, donors, bank, investors, partners, and other stakeholders that information is being reported accurately and appropriately. When interpreted properly, they also act as a valuable tool to help you identify strengths and weaknesses within your operations so that you can quickly make changes where and when they are needed most. Whatever your audit and assurance needs, we can help.
We perform many different types of audits, including:
- Financial statement audits
- Compliance audits
- Audits under OMB Circular A-133, Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations
- Internal control audits
Financial Statement Audits
Financial statement audits provide a high level of assurance on the accuracy of your financial statements about which we give an opinion as a whole. An audit includes:
- Obtaining evidence regarding the numbers and presentation of the financial statements.
- Gaining an understanding of your internal controls and assessing how they are designed. Using this information, our auditors are trained to identify management advisory comments, which help to strengthen internal controls and assist with day-to-day problems of operating an organization and its accounting department.
- Reporting the results of our audit.
Compliance Audits
Compliance audits are audits performed to ensure that you are in compliance with laws, regulations, or terms of grants or contracts.
Audits under OMB Circular A-133, Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations
Some organizations may be required to obtain an audit under OMB Circular A-133, Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations. These are required for certain organizations receiving federal grants or other form of financial assistance. These audits consist of an audit of your financial statements and a compliance audit of your federal grants based on generally accepted government auditing standards. All of our auditors are qualified to audit using generally accepted government auditing standards.
Internal Control Audits
Internal control audits involve:
- Understanding the design of internal controls
- Assessing the design of internal controls
- Testing the effectiveness of internal controls
- Providing an opinion on the internal controls
Generally, we use the appropriate integrated framework of internal controls issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO). COSO issued a new integrated framework that becomes effective December 15, 2014. Accordingly, organizations and companies with a fiscal year end of December 31 should be using the new integrated framework for their December 31, 2014 year-end financial statements. If you would like to ensure you are in compliance, we can help.
Review of Financial Statements
A financial statement review provides limited assurance on the accuracy of your financial statements. We use primarily analytical procedures and inquiry to determine of any material modifications will need to be made to the financial statements. Our accountants are trained to identify issues based solely on analytical procedures and inquiries.
Compilation of Financial Statements
A compilation of the financial statements does not provide any assurance as to the accuracy of your financial statements. In a compilation, we gather the information needed and put it into the requested financial statement format. This could be based on accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, income tax law, cash basis, or any other basis of accounting.
Agreed-Upon Procedures
Agreed-upon procedures are just that—procedures that you would like performed that are not considered a full audit, review, or compilation of the financial statements. This can be a portion of the financial statements, a portion or your internal controls, or anything else on which you would like assurance.


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Jiggs pBone Mini Plastic Trombone for Beginners
The pBone mini is a fully functioning dual bore Eb alto trombone constructed in ABS and glass fiber. With all the benefits of the Jiggs pBone but smaller and lighter, the pBone mini can take knocks, bumps and scrapes in stride. At less than half the weight of a brass alto trombone, the pBone mini is ideal for those who find it difficult to deal with the weight and balance of a metal trombone. plastic 7 bell weighs 1.8 pounds bag included lockable slide pitched in Eb water key 34x9x8H imported
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text: TV A Word, The (BBC-1 2016-2017, Christopher Eccleston, Lee Ingleby) Published 3 years ago on April 5, 2017 The A Word is the story of the Hughes family, who work and love and fight like every other family. Then their youngest son is diagnosed with autism and they don't feel like every other family anymore. They realise that if their son is ever going to communicate, they are going to have to learn how to communicate themselves. It's a funny and thought-provoking series about parenthood and childhood. From the BBC's Press Release 5 April, 2017… Filming has started in the Lake District and at Manchester's Space Project in preparation for the return to BBC One's The A Word this Autumn. The story picks up two years on from where we left it and Joe, who is played by Max Vento is changing. Now age seven, he has begun to look at the world and find he doesn't fit in. Writer Peter Bowker explains: "Autistic is a word Joe has heard but can't yet understand. Different is what he feels, and fears might be something bad. It's up to the whole family to help Joe make sense of who he is and his place in the world. But to do that, they must first be honest about themselves…" cast Max Vento as Joe Hughes Lee Ingleby as Paul Hughes Morven Christie as Alison Hughes Molly Wright as Rebecca Hughes Greg McHugh as Eddie Scott Vinette Robinson as Nicola Daniels Christopher Eccleston as Maurice Scott Pooky Quesnel as Louise Wilson Matt Greenwood as Tom Clarke Thomas Gregory as Luke Taylor Daniel Cerqueira as Dr Graves George Bukhari as Terry Adam Wittek as David Nowak Tommie Grabiec as Pavel Kaminski Julia Krynke as Maya Petrenko Lisa Millett as Maggie White Ralf Little as Stuart key behind the scenes crew Keren Maraglit as Creator Peter Bowker as Writer / Executive Producer Patrick Spence as Executive Producer Jenny Frayn as Executive Producer Sara Johnson as Executive Producer Avi Nir as Executive Producer Lucy Richer as Executive Producer Peter Cattaneo as Director Marcus Wilson as Producer show type Drama broadcast from 22 March 2016 2 Seasons with 12 episodes in total network and production companies BBC One – Fifty Fathoms – Keshet – July August Share this post: Twitter Facebook Pinterest Reddit SMS BBCChristopher EcclestonDramaLee InglebyMorven ChristiePeter BowkerPooky QuesnelRalf LittleTV Advertisement You may like Mary, Mary (ITV Drama, Lynne Miller, Nigel Havers) The Norman Conquests (ITV Drama, Tom Conti, Richard Briers) Private Schulz (BBC Drama, Michael Elphick, Ian Richardson) Beautiful People (BBC Sitcom, Olivia Colman) Beau Brummell This Charming Man (BBC Drama, James Purefoy) The Barchester Chronicles (BBC Drama, Donald Pleasence)


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Funeral service for Elton Newman, 81, will be held on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. at Timrod Baptist Church with burial to follow in the church cemetery. The family will receive friends Wednesday 3:00-4:00 p.m. prior to the service at the church. Memorials may be made to Timrod Baptist Church, 4227 Timrod Road, Bethune, S.C. 29009 or to KershawHealth Hospice.
Mr. Newman passed away peacefully on the morning of Tuesday, November 25, 2014. Born in Bethune, he was the son of the late James Elmer and Hattie Evelyn Eubanks Newman. He retired from the United States Army National Guard with 30 years of service and also retired from DuPont after 31 years of service. He was a member of Timrod Baptist Church and enjoyed family time, hunting, fishing, and gardening.
Surviving are his wife of 61 years, Billie Huggins Newman; daughter, Donna Newman Tyner (Danny) of Lugoff; brothers, Milledge Newman (Jean) and Paschal Newman (Verna); sisters, Geraldine Davis, Rhea Knight (Jackie) and Lawann McCoy (Charles); grandchildren, Ashley Divers (Patrick) and Patrick Tyner (Hope); and great-grandchildren, Austin Divers, Parker Tyner and Isabella Tyner. He was predeceased by a son, Kenneth Glenn Newman; and a sister, Hope Norris.
Sign the online register at www.powersfuneralhome.net.


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Book Review: Black Like Me
Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Black Like Me is a well-intentioned book but also a hopelessly anachronistic one.
Today the idea of a white man darkening his skin to speak on behalf of black people might appear patronising, offensive and even a little comical. You really expect me to believe that no one noticed that he was just a 39 year old white man with oddly dark skin?
I am astonished that this book is often described as a great piece of anthropology and I strongly suspect that at least part of Griffin's story is phony. There are too many miracles, too many gaps, too many unexplained coincidences, and too many places where sentiment is used where facts would have been more helpful.
I'm also not convinced that every instance of racism he describes can actually be ascribed to racism. Taking on a "black" persona, he was seeing things through the prism of color and I think it was distorting his perceptions of reality, so much so that every instance of rudeness is ascribed to racism first, without ever considering the fact that maybe the other person is just an asshole. He also never once questions the conception of his project, and fails to confront the possibility that maybe casting yourself as a "white savior" would be inherently racist in and of itself.
Nevertheless, in a world with no heroes, we need to take what we can get.


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Blogging & Writing
Very occasionally, I blog on things that catch my fancy. Enjoy my blog. I also write in Bengali. Off late, I completed a piece on how separation walls, barriers accross the world dividing and discriminating the mankind mercilessly. Soon I will put a link of the write-up here.


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Electrical Maintenance Technician
A vacancy has arisen within Camerons Brewery Ltd for the position of Electrical Maintenance Technician.
As part of a multi-skilled engineering team, working a 3 shift rota, the successful candidate will need to be able to demonstrate an excellent team working attitude, be knowledgeable in 3 phase control systems & instrumentation and lean manufacturing.
Experience within the food and drink industry preferably small pack (bottling/canning) environment would be a distinct advantage.
A generous remuneration package is available to the successful candidate.
To apply for this position please forward your CV to: Mr Neal Breward, Engineering Manager at Camerons Brewery Ltd, Lion Brewery, Hartlepool TS24 7QS or email to the Operations Administrator, firstname.lastname@example.com
Closing date for applicants is Friday 28th December 2018.


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Primary school says parents of five-year-olds have reported worries about Momo 'suicide challenge'
PUBLISHED: 09:15 27 February 2019 | UPDATED: 16:14 27 February 2019
A Norfolk school has joined others around the world in warning parents about the dangers of the internet 'suicide game' Momo.
St William's Primary School, in Thorpe St Andrew, sent a message to parents about the viral 'game', which challenges young people to harm themselves and others and send them graphic images.
In a post on Facebook the school said it had received "worrying reports from parents" about the challenge, which features a haunting female doll-like avatar and is linked to various social media sites and messaging app WhatsApp.
The post said parents of pupils as young as five years old had reported that they had come into contact with the challenge, adding that it had been "hacking in to some very innocent sites" including Peppa Pig online.
MORE: Everything you need to know about the Momo challenge
The school shared a guidance document for parents on Momo, explaining how they can try and stop their children viewing content around the challenge and how to respond to them if they do.
It offers tip such as monitoring and talking to your child about their online activity, encouraging them not to bow to peer pressure or do anything they are not comfortable with, adjusting parental controls on devices and reporting or blocking any content which slips through the controls.
In comments on Facebook, parents welcomed St William's Primary's proactive response to the Momo challenge, with some saying their children had already been affected or scared by it.
MORE: 'Why do you want children to lose their innocence so soon?' - Readers react to the Momo challenge
The Momo challenge originated in Mexico more than two years ago but has recently hit international headlines.
It is most commonly linked to WhatsApp and YouTube, where images relating to the challenge have even been edited into videos designed for young children.
It has been linked to the deaths of teenagers in Colombia and India and has also surfaced in Germany, France and Argentina.
Some police forces have warned the challenge is being used as a conduit for stealing young people's data and blackmailing them.
Have you or your child experienced the Momo challenge? Email firstname.lastname@example.com.
If you value what this story gives you, please consider supporting the Eastern Daily Press. Click the link in the orange box above for details.


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Five Ways to Rock Performance Evaluations
Let's face it, performance reviews can be the bane of our existence. They may vary greatly by organization, but the basic objectives are often painfully similar. Managers need to set new goals, motivate employees, and assess rewards. Traditional performance evaluations were developed for this framework and worked well for a while, but as a leader you face a different reality today. Long gone are the days when human capital was so abundant that all managers needed to do was classify their staff as individuals they wanted to reward, keep, or let go. Things have changed. A complex talent shortage that affects many industries is pushing for a much-needed shift in that paradigm. Organizations now also realize that meeting their human capital needs requires investing in developing their talent. Leaders have come to understand that to grow, motivate, and engage their staff, developing their talent needs to be at the center of the performance evaluation process.
We asked our clients a few weeks ago how they make the best out of performance evaluations and what they find most challenging during the process. We have combined their great insights with some of our experiences and research to create our top five tips to set you and your staff up for performance evaluation success.
1. Provide the right kind of feedback
Quality feedback is key to development. "You do a great job" is not useful. Neither is "I think you can do better," especially if the conversation only takes place once a year. Provide ongoing and specific feedback. Isolated feedback that occurs only during performance reviews and is quickly ignored can be frustrating and demoralizing. It can also be seen as meaningless. Conversations that occur during the performance evaluation process need to continue throughout the year. Add this item to your standing one-on-one meetings, where rather than telling employees how to proceed, you can ask questions to understand their perspectives and explore growth opportunities. Deliver criticism with respect and be sure to point out what's working too. We are often too quick to notice what's wrong. Remember to point out progress, even if it's small, as this is a great motivator. Lastly, ask for feedback for yourself. As leaders, you are all growing and need to know what you can do better, exploring growth opportunities for yourself. Your staff may appreciate the chance to provide "bottom up" feedback regarding your managing style. They may also appreciate the opportunity to discuss how this affects their work, even if they feel apprehensive about it at first. If you need a great tool to help you open up lines of communication, try our Oil Change hack.
2. Focus on goal clarity and significance
When we asked our clients what they find the most challenging during the performance evaluation process, many pointed to goal ambiguity, or as one of them put it "not knowing what's expected of me." Effective performance goals are clear, concise, action oriented, and phrased in a way that leaves little room for interpretation. They serve a roadmap. The desired objectives need to be clear and specific because the process of setting goals is fundamental to determining your direction. Goals also need to be meaningful to the employee. This is what is often referred to as "task significance"—the extent to which our work has internal and external impact, making other people dependent on it and giving meaning and importance to the work. Our clients have several methods for setting goals: Goal Pyramid, BSQ (Think Big, Act Small, Move Quickly), Tiered Goal Framework, Locke and Latham's 5 Principles, Backward Goals, OKRs (Objective and Key Results), and SMART Goals (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, and Timely), among others. Whichever method you prefer should establish agreed-upon, result-oriented goals that are aligned with your overall objectives and the organization's strategy. Ask yourself: Do these goals help my employee effectively and clearly contribute to the goals of my department and the organization?
3. Build from strengths
We get it. It's important to talk about "areas of improvement" during performance reviews. Ignoring them can derail careers and organizations. Asking our staff to work on them allows them to get better at the tasks that don't come natural to them but may be inevitable. So, help them tackle their weaknesses. Provide good feedback and assist them in minimizing negative impact, but keep in mind that they are likely not going to reach excellence in their "areas of improvement." They may however excel in their strengths—the broader aptitudes that make them shine, inspire them, and motivate them to make significant impact. Spending time, money, and energy on learning how to use and develop their strengths will yield infinitely better results for them and the organization. As one of our clients wisely pointed out, assessments should be used to "mentor, coach, encourage, and build up natural talent and diversity."
4. Mind your span of control
How many subordinates do you have? If the answer is in the double digits, you may have too many, and your exhaustion and anxiety around performance reviews is well grounded. Your span of control (the number of subordinates you have) is an important factor to understand in organizational structures that is often overlooked during performance evaluations. If your performance reviews tend to be as described by a client "robotic and not individually structured to the employee," your span of control may be to blame. The need to develop and deliver numerous performance evaluations yields canned, impersonal, and meaningless results. While there is no quick fix to organizational structures with wide spans of control, it is something you should discuss with your leadership and Human Resources department, and not just for the sake of performance reviews. Wide spans of control can lead to role confusion, management distrust, and high turnover.
5. Make it a team sport
You don't have all the answers and that's OK. Others' perspectives, such as clients and peer managers across the organization, can be very valuable. If your staff works in partnership with other individuals in a variety of projects inside and outside the organization, use these sources. As companies become better integrated, employees collaborate more and can have more influence. Consult with other managers and gain a wider perspective on the impact of your staff. Offer to speak to other managers about the support other staff provides you and your team. It's a practice that can break up silos, strengthen relationships, and build trust.
Performance evaluations are among the most challenging tasks in talent management. So take a deep breath and know you are in good company! We hope these tips can help you navigate this process. For more information on talent management strategies, read about the WAG method, and if you need assistance, please give us a call. We are here to help!


text: I'm continuing to downsize my collection. While it hurts to do it, I'm selling off my Masterpiece Transformers next. The prices are open for negotiation, but I will only ship to the US and Canada. Pictures available upon request. For Sale Masterpiece Takara Ultra Magnus- MIB $80 SOLD! Masterpiece Hasbro Starscream- MIB $50SOLD! Masterpiece Hasbro Skywarp- MISB $60 SOLD! Masterpiece Hasbro Skywarp- loose $30 SOLD! Wanted DC Direct Deluxe Green Lantern DC Direct Deluxe Green Arrow DC Direct Deluxe Nightwing Revoltech Batman


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The Abbey is a Retreat, Education and Conference
Centre near Oxford. It offers opportunities for
visitors, coming as individuals or in groups, to
engage with spiritual development, personal growth, organisational inquiry and to celebrate significant life events. The Abbey offers a peaceful and reflective environment. The house itself is a beautiful Grade 1 listed medieval building, with an inner courtyard, set in four acres of mixed garden and woodland. The Abbey's architectural heritage links back to the work of the Benedictines in
the 13th century, and as such provides a welcoming and meditative atmosphere. The daily life of The Abbey is managed and run by a small residential lay community. This community is part of a wider body, The Abbey's Council and Company Membership, who are responsible for its care and stewardship. PLEASE DO NOT VISIT THE ABBEY WITHOUT MAKING AN APPOINTMENT.
© Diggers and Dreamers, care of Edge of Time Ltd., BCM Edge, London WC1N 3XX firstname.lastname@example.com


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Facebook could bring Messenger back to its main app as part of its strategy to merge all of its chat services into one.
Evidence of the change has been discovered in recent code. Facebook is yet to confirm the move, but it certainly looks like it is already making preparations.
Facebook split Messenger into a dedicated app back in 2014. Since then, you've basically been forced to download the second app if you want to read and reply to Facebook messages on iOS.
This does have some advantages, like the ability to use Messenger without using Facebook. But on the whole, most users don't see the point in having a standalone Messenger app.
And now it seems Facebook is finally starting to realize that, too.
Messenger on its way back to Facebook
Facebook has already confirmed plans to merge all of its chat services — including WhatsApp and Instagram — into one. It hopes that it will happen by 2020.
As part of that mission, it looks like Messenger will be coming back to the main Facebook app.
Facebook has already started making preparations for this move, according to code uncovered by Jane Manchun Wong. It hasn't yet been confirmed by Facebook, however, and it's unclear when the change might take place.
There are some caveats you should be aware of, too.
It won't be a complete merger
Wong warns that Messenger inside Facebook won't offer all of the features you expect from the standalone Messenger app. You'll still need to install the latter for things like voice and video calling, posting reactions, and even sending photos.
This could change later on, though. It's entirely plausible that Facebook will bring back the basics first, following by more complete Messenger integration further down the road.
Would you be happy to see Messenger brought back to the main Facebook app?


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Owning a franchise can be one of the best financial decisions you ever make.If you franchise with Experimax, you start your journey with a wealth of training and support that is guaranteed to jumpstart your franchising success.
Choosing Experimax
At Experimax Franchise we believe in providing our potential franchisees with all the information and assets they need to succeed. That also means that we are entirely upfront about the investment, costs and fees you should expect when joining us.
After we've taken you through the preliminary stages of becoming a franchisee, you will pay a Franchise Fee, which is only due after signing the Franchising agreement.
Welcome aboard
A major part of our business objective is not just selling franchises, but enabling our franchisees to become industry experts, which helps ensure their success, and also makes them the go-to business in their area. We realise this goal time and again by providing all our new franchisees with all the training and support they need to help ensure that they succeed.
World class training and support
The training is undertaken at our global headquarters in West Palm Beach in Florida, and takes place as a two-week training programme, which is one of the most intensive in the franchising industry. After this session, franchisees are also provided with one-on-one training at their new location.
The Experimax location guidance and training includes:
- Advice on store site selection
- Assistance for your store build out and setup
- Lease negotiation help
- Aid with training and hiring staff
- Assistance with marketing and advertising
- Financial assistance, as needed
And our support does not stop there. As soon as your new location is running smoothly, we continuously provide our franchisees with extensive support provided by our support staff at our corporate office, and in their local region.
Our continued engagement with our franchisees includes support in the form of:
- Established vendor relationships and mass purchasing power
- A private intranet with easy access to information
- Continuous online training
- Visits from our regional marketing staff
- Benefitting from our continuous research on technological advancements
- Regional meetings and franchisee group calls
- Relationships fostered with other franchisees gained through the World Expo
If you need more information about Experimax, or want to find out how you can become one of our successful franchisees, fill out our form and we'll be in touch soon!


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More than 50 military veterans recently attended educational sessions on resources that can help them start farming. Workshops in central Missouri near Fort Leonard Wood and at the Lincoln University campus brought those in the know together with active duty veterans and military retirees. They shared information on farm loans, assistance with disabilities, and markets for alternative crops.
Beef cattle and financing were topics of widest interest among the veterans. Other interests surfaced too. Timber, grains, honey, poultry, goats, vegetables, and grapes were among them. These enterprises represented the diverse, hilly and thin-soiled landscape and small farms common in that part of the state.
The veterans themselves were a major source of information. They represented war theaters from Vietnam through Afghanistan and experiences from around the country. Many found people in the room with experience in crops they wanted to learn more about, and set plans to meet again. "Networking at the meeting was awesome," said one participant. "Do more!" said another.
Several of the veterans were ready to jump in, saying they are now going to start a business plan, find an internship, and explore the loan programs to buy land or finance their first crop.
Many of the participants already owned land, and a few were actively farming. These veterans also came away with plans – to test their soils, plan out a market garden, plant winter crops, and try new markets.
Experts from USDA Farm Service Agency, MO Department of Agriculture, University of Missouri AgrAbility and Extension programs, Lincoln University Extension, and Pulaski County Sheltered Workshop were on-hand at the workshops.
More activities are planned for winter and spring, including a business planning course and farm tours. Funding for events has come from UNFI Foundation and from USDA NIFA, North Central Extension Risk Management Education Center.
The Center for Rural Affairs is organizing this series of educational activities for veterans. TheSustainable Ozarks Partnership, which represents many of the area communities, is a partner too.
Contact me, Wyatt Fraas (email@example.com, 402.254.6893) or look at our Veteran Farmers Project web page for more information.
Feature image: Prospective veteran-farmers hear from farmer Mike Duncan about farm startup resources and strategies at a workshop in St. Robert MO, next to Fort Leonard Wood. | Photo by Wyatt Fraas
- Posted on 2.17.2020
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Slim Striped Wallet
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Two German ships set off on Friday on the first commercial journey from Asia to western Europe via the Arctic through the fabled Northeast Passage – a trip made possible by climate change.
August 22nd, 2009
Niels Stolberg, president and CEO of Bremen-based Beluga Shipping, said the Northern Sea Route will cut thousands of nautical miles off the ships' journey from South Korea to the Netherlands, reducing fuel consumption and emissions of greenhouse gas. I had the chance to ask Stolberg a few questions about the Arctic expedition:
Question: What's the status of the voyage?
Stolberg: MV "Beluga Fraternity" and the MV "Beluga Foresight" have just started to sail from Vladivostok (on Friday) with the destination Novyy Port at the river Ob.
Question: When did they leave Vladivostok and when will they arrive in Europe?
Stolberg: They've just left Vladivostok. They are scheduled to arrive in Novyy Port around September 6th. After discharging, they will proceed via Murmansk to Rotterdam. Estimated time of arrival is still to be confirmed and up to further voyage development.
Question: How much time/fuel/money/CO2 will this northern route save?
Stolberg: The amount of time, fuel, money or emission saved will be significant by transiting the Northeast Passage instead of sailing the traditional way through the Suez. From Ulsan via the Suez Canal to Rotterdam it would be a roughly 11,000 nautical mile journey whereas the short cut between Asia and Europe utilizing the Northeast Passage is a 8,700 mile journey. The saved distance in detail always depends on the route, so the routes could be about 3,000 to 5,000 miles shorter. Savings of about three million euros by sending six vessels through the Northeast Passage per open time frame is realistic. Saving distance means saving bunker means saving money: That is the formula.
Question: Your company has been a pioneer in reducing costs/CO2 — is that why you're so eager to sail the northern route?
Stolberg: It is a hallmark of the corporate philosophy of Beluga Shipping to go off the beaten tracks whenever possible and reasonable: MV "Beluga SkySails", co-powered by a towing kite system, or many projects developed and driven by our own department "Research & Innovation" follow that principle with the overall intention and make shipping more efficient as well as into a greener business. In this sense, we reckon that the Northeast Passage offers unmatched chances for efficient sea traffic when as an effect of global warming in the summer there is the chance of using this seaway for a couple of weeks, thus connecting the markets in Europe and Asia
Question: Is drawing attention to global warming an aspect of this journey?
Stolberg: This is not our intention nor does it reflect our business. My personal opinion is that global warming and climate change, obviously, are developments with some negative effects. However, the melting ice in the Northeast Passage and thus the possibility to transit through this passage for commercial purpose has positive effects, too. This development enables shipping companies to reduce bunker consumption and as a consequence CO2 and other emissions as well which, in turn, are small factors to limit the scope of the global warming.
Question: Do you think many other ships will be taking this Arctic short cut?
Stolberg: The possibility to transit the Northeast Passage in combination with the cargo flow between Europe and Asia is a major reason and motivation why the Northern Sea Route will become even more attractive for shipping companies. So, it is our goal to utilize this seaway regularly, if possible, and we could imagine others will follow our example. You also have to have appropriate modern vessels, you have to have an experienced team of experts on board and all behind in the onshore offices and you have to be granted permission by the authorities.
Question: Why have no other ships tried this northern route yet? Why are you the first?
Stolberg: Russian submarines and icebreakers have used the northern route in the past. But it wasn't open for regular commercial shipping until now because there are many areas with thick ice. It was only last summer that satellite pictures revealed the ice is melting and a small corridor opened which could enable commercial shipping through the Northeast Passage. We're the first company to travel the route this summer because we have suitable vessels and are well prepared to master the challenge.
Question: What are the dangers of the northern route?
Stolberg: There are numerous challenges and some risks awaiting both vessel and crew. Even though the ice is melting in the respective time frame, cold temperature and ice, drifting ice fields or ridges can become a problem and produce a risk of injury to the crew as well as a risk of damage to the vessel. The look out is highly important. Also the ship material and not least the seaworthy and all lashings of the cargo have to be checked constantly under this even more rough and inhospitable conditions than elsewhere on the ocean. There is no expertise or field report we could rely on. However, we are well prepared and have been intensively working on this project for far more than a year now.
Question: When exactly is the "window"? Will it be opening wider soon?
Stolberg: The open window for transiting the Northeast Passage roughly is a six to eight weeks time frame in the Russian summer between August and September. This is when the sun powers up to 20 or even more degrees Celsius in Russia and the ice along the route is mostly melting. Thereafter the sun loses power again and the area refreezes. Whether or not the window will open wider soon is a question only climate experts can answer.


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Sep 10, 2018
Kevin Strauss wasn't born into a family that was outdoorsy. He didn't grow up in a place where it was common to hike for miles, or to go camping in the wilderness over the summer. But at some point in his life, he realized he wanted to reconnect with nature, to explore his adventurous nature and stretch out of his comfort zone. He did something he never thought he'd do, and that experience set him up for a future full of extreme outdoors adventures.
When we think about our lives and how we live each day, we have three concentric circles of our activities and behaviors. The innermost, smallest circle is our comfort zone, and most of us stay in there in the majority of our daily activities. The next circle is about double the size of the comfort zone, and that's our stretch zone. The majority of us spend about 5 percent of our time there on a daily basis. And then there's the huge, outermost circle - our "oh shit" zone. That's the place we avoid as much as possible, totally out of our control and beyond our imagination of our own capacity and drive.
When we take a leap like Kevin did, we stretch that comfort zone out a bit, but more importantly, we stretch our stretch zone out dramatically. What we thought we'd never do, suddenly becomes an option, a possibility.
Being in nature, really out there, beyond easy access to an escape route, we realize a) how little control we really have, and b) how little, in terms of "stuff" we need to survive. Being out there with no toilet, no toilet paper, and no access to prepared food leaves us with a complete understanding of exactly what is a necessity, and what is simply luxury.
That's when we can connect deeply with ourselves and the world around us. The best part of this kind of adventure is the return to "real" life, when we get to apply the lessons we learn on our adventures. We realize that gratitude changes our lives, improves our relationship with ourselves and others, and helps push us to try new things and set our priorities.


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Volume 1 Issue 4 - 2017
Limitations for Biotechnology Innovations in Brazil
CEO of Agriculture Biotechnology Consultant and Projects, Brazil
*Corresponding Author: Luiz Antonio Barreto de Castro, CEO of Agriculture Biotechnology Consultant and Projects, Brazil.
Received: October 24, 2017; Published: October 31, 2017
Four years ago I and others have published an Ebook for Bentham E Books: Opportunities and Limitations for Biotechnology Innovation in Brazil. Since 2011 I have contribute to the Bioentrepreneur Tradesecrets blog of Nature: http://blogs.nature.com/tradesecrets/author/lbarreto. To date thirty one contributions for the blog were produced mostly dealing with Biotechnology. The context move so fast that I feel stimulated to review the subject to analyze if Biotechnology Innovation in Brazil has progressed lately. We can start with the statement that Brazil has built intelligence in Biotechnology during the last half of century. In the seventies Brazil contributed with 0, 4% of the global scientific output. Today this contribution jumped to 2.6%. Nothing has been multiplied by six in Brazil during four decades and more important, this happened challenging political diversity that normally caused alternation in scientific policies for ideological reasons. As a National Secretary in Research and Development working for the Ministry of Science and Technology for fifteen years I experienced lack of continuity in our programs because new Ministers always wanted to introduce new ideas. It will be difficult for our Sc & Tech to survive if the selection of SC & T Ministers is not technical but political. Why this scientific intelligence has not been taken to industry? What limits yet this transfer? This is object of this Mini Review, that will summarize my Iatest Opinon Papers and contributions to the Bioentrepreneur Trade Secrets blog mentioned above I will try to demonstrate that not one but in fact many reasons contributed to this context.
Biology has been extremely rich in new discoveries in the last decade since RNAi [1], several versions of Gene editing particularly the one that uses Crispr Cas9 [2] and trascriptome mining [3]. Some countries even under developed ones like Uganda have progressed utilizing these techniques (Julius Ecuru Personal Communication). I feel stimulated to review the subject to analyze if Biotechnology Innovation in Brazil has progressed lately. We can start as I said in the Abstract with the statement that Brazil has built intelligence in Biotechnology during the last four decades. In the seventies Brazil contributed with 0, 4% of the global scientific output. Today this contribution jumped to 2.6%. This scientific intelligence is not taken to industry for reasons I will mention in this Article
Figure 1: World scientific output in Brazil. Source: www.mct.gov.br/indicadores
Biotechnology has not progressed in the area of Pharmaceuticals. We do not innovate we have never registered a block buster in FDA. Pharmaceutical companies funded nationally import formulate and sell. We do not have GMP facilities, do not scale up gene expression in bacteria, yeast and mammalian cell. The SUS (Unique Health System) linked to the Ministry of Health is in the hands of the Big Pharma. They do not invest in Brazil but have offices in São Paulo. Constitutionally they area Brazilian companies.
Import monoclonal antibodies for cancer therapy and sell to SUS as previously said. Competition is very difficult for technical and financial reasons unless we change paradigms expressing genes in plants which has not been attractive to nationally funded pharmaceutical companies so far. The Big Pharma of course does not want to switch from the technologies they exercise and invested for decades. The situation is not the same in agriculture Biotechnology as we will demonstrate later in this Article. Society has access to the advances in terms of products coming from the Big Pharma using legal mechanisms that oblige the SUS system to offer said products to users.
Public and Private Investments in Science and Technology
Brazil invest less than it should in the area of science and technology. Science and technology are not a priorities in Brazil and worse, when budgets are cut, science and technology comes first, even if reduction of investments in Sc & T do not contribute for the global economical demands of the Country. In 2017 the budget cut in science and technology in Brazil was 44% and the SC&T budget in 2018 will be less than the budget this year
Brazil invest less than it should in the area of science and technology. Science and technology are not a priorities in Brazil and worse, when budgets are cut, science and technology comes first, even if reduction of investments in Sc & T do not contribute for the global economical demands of the Country. In 2017 the budget cut in science and technology in Brazil was 44% and the SC&T budget in 2018 will be less than the budget this year
In an Opinion Paper in press [4] I called attention for the fact that Brazil invested recently, roughly 25 billion US $ in science and technology and should invest at least twice as much. I concluded that after comparing our investment to the investment in the US that is 16 times over what we invest in Brazil the National Growth Income in the US is 8 times bigger than the NGI in Brazil not 16 times bigger. Comparison with other Countries can be worse. The NGI of Brazil and Canada are comparable but Canada invests ten times more [5] in science and technology than Brazil. If the private sector invested in science and technology in Brazil twice as much the investment of the public sector as in most developed countries our investment would be comparable to said countries.
Why the private sector does not invest more in science and technology in Brazil?
Brazil as well known is going thru a political crisis that had strong effects in our economy. The economical crisis in Brazil is probably the worst in our history and at the root of it we have corruption. An operation called "car wash" (lava a jato) sent to prison hundreds but it is not over. We impeached one President and may impeach another one. The Supreme Court is very active to support a strong effort to reduce corruption but this whole scenario had a devastating effect in the investment in science and technology already below what should be as demonstrated above.
Brazil as well known is going thru a political crisis that had strong effects in our economy. The economical crisis in Brazil is probably the worst in our history and at the root of it we have corruption. An operation called "car wash" (lava a jato) sent to prison hundreds but it is not over. We impeached one President and may impeach another one. The Supreme Court is very active to support a strong effort to reduce corruption but this whole scenario had a devastating effect in the investment in science and technology already below what should be as demonstrated above.
Money from the private sector that could be invested in Sc & Tech is feeding corruption. Of course we could not expect that the private sector would increase the investment in Sc & Tech during this crisis but the worst part is that even the investments from the public sector is plunging. Public funds for Science and Technology this year is 13, 5 billion US$, [op. cited]. The consequence is that many scientists are leaving Brazil to work abroad.
One cannot however conclude that the historical lack of investments in Sc & T from the private is due to the recent political crisis. It has happened systematically during the last decades. The reason is that when one could buy governmental bonds that paid high due to the so called Selic rate, the investment had no "risk" and paid way above inflation after one year. Selic rate is being reduced during this decade and will be less than 7.0 % by the end of 2017. This will certainly attract private investments to science particularly if the political crisis comes to an end in 2018 with new elections. The second limitation is that Brazil has no venture capital compared with other Countries. In the US Venture Capital is in the magnitude of 40 billion US $ [op. cited]. In addition the US invests 5 billion US $ /year in the SBIR program that is governmental and stimulates the small business. We do not have a program of this magnitude in Brazil.
Figure 2: Brazilian investment in Sc & T: Public = publico, Private = Empresarial. 3.2 reais = 1 USD Source: www.mct.gov.br/indicadores.
It is important to verify that public investments by most countries are no much above 1.0% of the National Gross Income [Figure 3] but private investments are sometimes two to three times higher than public up to five times higher as it is in Japan. This happen because develop countries succeeded to transfer science and technology to industry which we have not to date. Even though it is important to consider that investments in Sc & T are plunging lately in most countries even developed ones which stimulated the Marches for Sciences in most countries since February of 2017.
This tendency is markedly prevalent in developing countries. Marches for Sciences have not taken place in Brazil. Our scientific "army" is too small to succeed this way. We have other efforts most of them linked to amendments to the Constitution in the Legislative (PEC). In September 2017, Deputy Roberto Freire entered the legislative with PEC 359. The goal is to add 1% of the GNP to Science and Technology. Compared to India where what is postulated is 3.0 % of the GNP PEC 359 is a good efforts because even if the GNP of India is larger than the Brazilian GNP the population of India is six times larger than the Brazilian population.
Additionally we are trying to convince the mayors of two hundred counties that house universities to invest 1% of the taxes received by the county in the universities they lodge. The name of this project is Save the University and may be included in the agenda of the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science.
Figure 3: Investments in Sc & T from several Countries. Yellow: Government, Blue: Private Sector Source: www.mct.gov.br/indicadores.
Figure 4: Where US leads and where it lags.
Source: Reprinted with permission from The American Association for the Advancement of Science (Mervis, 2014).
Source: Reprinted with permission from The American Association for the Advancement of Science (Mervis, 2014).
Why investments in SC & T are decreasing lately worldwide?
Science is not popular. Most people do not know much about the importance of science. They do not know that if not for science we would be dying before 40 years old out of flu. The worst part is that the Legislative does not know much about science either. When they receive a proposal from the Executive cutting scientific budgets as it is happening now during the Trump administration they end up approving reductions in scientific areas that are essential for society life quality. I see no satisfactory effort to make science popular.
Science is not popular. Most people do not know much about the importance of science. They do not know that if not for science we would be dying before 40 years old out of flu. The worst part is that the Legislative does not know much about science either. When they receive a proposal from the Executive cutting scientific budgets as it is happening now during the Trump administration they end up approving reductions in scientific areas that are essential for society life quality. I see no satisfactory effort to make science popular.
When the Legislative cut science budgets the voice of society that should be heard stay silent the bad part is that since the investment in science and technology is not more than 1, 5% of the NGI, the global economy does not benefit from these cuts as said previously. Two important examples can be presented to illustrate this statement the history of vaccine development started in China in the 10th century [6] with smallpox by the precarious inoculation of the virus.
The history of vaccine development is a continuous battle that lasts more than a thousand years with pending results such as the lack of a vaccine for malaria that claimed the lives of millions in history particularly in developing Countries. In addition to date there is no vaccine for cancer despite of recent efforts with neo antigens that contain multiple mutated proteins, that are specific to an individual patient's tumor. Giving patients a dose of their tumor neoantigens, which look foreign to the immune system, should help activate immune cells called T cells to attack the cancer cells [7].
The second generation of vaccines was introduced by Louis Pasteur in the 1880s who developed vaccines for chicken cholera and anthrax [op. cited]. During the nineties vaccines became a matter of national prestige in Brazil and compulsory vaccination laws were passed [op. cited] Vaccination despite of the laws were not accepted by society easily in the past and even today. Oswaldo Cruz a medical doctor, microbiologist and scientist was born in São Paulo-Brazil in 1872. In 1897 he studied two years in France. Back to Brazil during the early nineties his challenge to control smallpox, bubonic plague and yellow fever were huge. He attempted to control vectors of these diseases and was strongly opposed by Brazilian medical doctors.
The rise of smallpox in 1904 prompted his campaign to massively vaccinate the population. He had strong support of Rodrigues Alves, President of Brazil that by decree forced vaccination. The reaction of society against vaccination was strong and even the media, the Congress and the Army reacted against vaccination. A League was created against mass vaccination this was known in Brazil as the "vaccine revolt". The Government had to defeat the revolt that lasted for a week in Rio de Janeiro but Cruz had his life and the lives of his family menaced by ignorance.
In 1907 yellow fever was eradicated in Brazil and when small pox became epidemic in 1908 the population asked to be vaccinated. Oswaldo Cruz resigned some years later and died young with 44 years in Petropolis. Yellow fever is native to Africa and was spread in the Americas with the slave trade. Even if considered eradicated in Brazil by Cruz in 1907 it is in fact endemic in the Country. From December 2016 to May of 2017 792 cases were confirmed. [8].
Advances in immunology during the twentieth century turned vaccines much safer reducing side effects. It is surprisingly then that in the 21st century important Countries like Italy and France had to make several vaccines mandatory for children. Both countries are facing measles in recent years. The Italian Parliament last July 28th voted 296-92 in favor of a new law that will require parents to provide proof of vaccination against measles and nine other diseases. Thirty % of the Parliament voted against compulsory vaccination. In France Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced to the French Parliament last July 4th that childhood vaccines will be mandatory in 2018.
He said to Le Parisien previously that vaccination against 11 diseases were going to be demanded. Amongst 66 countries consulted the degree of confidence in vaccines pointed that France had the highest concern about vaccine safety. There are parents in Countries mentioned previously that are hesitant or decidedly against vaccinating their children [9].
The revolution in Medicine due to antibiotics started in the 20th century. Despite of many initial discoveries that led to the discover of antibiotics the major advance came with Alexander Fleming in 1928 when he identified penicillin from the mold Penicillium chrisogenum. His Nobel Prize came only in 1945 after he partnered with the chemists Chain and Florey who shared the prize with him. Together with vaccines and antibiotics nearly eradicated many diseases such as tuberculosis in the developed world and polio almost everywhere.
Different from vaccines however that were many times rejected antibiotics were overused. The World Health Organization classified antimicrobial resistance as a serious threat that is happening in every region of the world and affect anyone of any age in any country [6] The threat may have come to an end after Dale Boger in the Scripps Research Institute found a super Vancomycin, an advance that could eliminate the threat of antibiotic-resistant infections for years to come.
"Doctors could use this modified form of vancomycin without fear of resistance emerging," said Boger. In addition punching holes in the Vancomycin molecule, gives vancomycin a 1,000-fold increase in activity, meaning doctors would need to use less of the antibiotic to fight infection. [10]
The Regulatory Contex
The Biosafety legislations were paramount for the development of Biotechnology in Brazil. I elaborated the Biosafety Guidelines for the PADCT/Biotechnology** that became effective in 1986, very much using subsidies that were available in the Guidelines produced by the NIH after the Asilomar Conference during the seventies. We had no Biosafety Law in Brazil until the Law 8974 [11] was enacted in January of 1995.
The Biosafety legislations were paramount for the development of Biotechnology in Brazil. I elaborated the Biosafety Guidelines for the PADCT/Biotechnology** that became effective in 1986, very much using subsidies that were available in the Guidelines produced by the NIH after the Asilomar Conference during the seventies. We had no Biosafety Law in Brazil until the Law 8974 [11] was enacted in January of 1995.
The law called for the establishment of CTNBio – Technical National Commission of Biosafety. As National Secretary for Research and Development at the Ministry of Science and Technology I established the first CTNBio team and was President of the Commission from 1996 till 1999. During this period Brazil approved in 1998 the first genetically modified plant, the soybean RR presented by the Monsanto Company.
After this approval Brazil experienced the most aggressive campaign against GMOS that brought together NGOs like the Greenpeace to team with the Judiciary. That culminated with a decision to ban GMOs for eight years by a Judge called Prudente that sentenced that: GMOs utilize alien genes that will give rise to populations that will compromise the future generations in the Planet. Until 2005 Brazil could not legally deliver any GM plant but soybean RR entered illegally in the Country from Argentina and were largely cultivated in the border State of Rio Grande do Sul. More than one million hectares were soon cultivated with soybean RR from Argentina.
Those that were against GMOs wanted to burn these cultivations. President Lula da Silva prevented this and demanded a review of the legislation. He approved in March of the same year, the law 11.105 [12] that strengthened the power of CTNBio and created the Ministerial Council of Biosafety as the last resort for the decisions of the CTNBio. The Council never opposed technically decisions of the Technical Commission but accepted demands of other nature.
The decisions of the Council were final. Unquestionably during twenty years of the history of Biosafety in Brazil the Country went thru difficulties particularly until the law 11.105 was enacted. The most aggressive campaign was named: For a Country free of GMOS. During the last twelve years although many still oppose to GMOs no judicial attempts were made.
**PADCT means: Program to Support the Development of SC & Technology See the World Bank
After more than fifty years dealing with Biology I have never found a technology that has been more regulated than the so called Recombinant DNA. Since the Asilomar Conference in 1973 many scientist considered that these regulations were needed to avoid any undesirable impacts of the technology to human health and to the environment. In 1973 I was a PhD student at UCDavis and remember clearly that the most concern that the scientists had about the technology in San Diego was related to its use to gene therapy in humans.
After more than fifty years dealing with Biology I have never found a technology that has been more regulated than the so called Recombinant DNA. Since the Asilomar Conference in 1973 many scientist considered that these regulations were needed to avoid any undesirable impacts of the technology to human health and to the environment. In 1973 I was a PhD student at UCDavis and remember clearly that the most concern that the scientists had about the technology in San Diego was related to its use to gene therapy in humans.
United States declared a moratorium until NIH regulations that followed, and were adopted by most Countries. NIH rules were responsible for the fact that to date very few (2 in the area of gene therapy) undesirable consequences of the use of recombinant DNA technology occurred. Even though GMOs face an unbelievable opposition in many Countries particularly in Europe. Many examples can be presented to illustrate this opinion. I will mention a couple.
Four hundred protesters invaded IRRI in the Philippines and uprooted the genetically modified rice plants growing inside experimentally. This happened in July of 2013. The rice plants were endowed with a gene from corn and another from a bacterium, making it the only variety in existence to produce beta carotene, the source of vitamin A. Its developers Ingo Potrykus and Peter Beyer called it "Golden Rice." [13].
The destruction of the field trial, and the reasons given for it, touched a nerve among scientists around the world, spurring them to counter assertions of the technology's health and environmental risks. On a petition supporting Golden Rice circulated among scientists and signed by several thousand, many vented a simmering frustration with activist organizations like Greenpeace, which they saw as playing on misplaced fears of genetic engineering in both the developing and the developed worlds.
Lack of Vitamin A causes blindness in a quarter-million to a half-million children each year. It affects millions of people in Asia and Africa and so weakens the immune system that some two million die each year of diseases they would otherwise survive. In this case, many more millions will needlessly suffer blindness and death because Golden Rice is still not available to them. No group, regardless of its intentions, has the right to condemn a technology without evidence. It is an unconscionable criminal act to destroy a field trial conducted in accordance to international safety norms, stated a petition put together by Neidenbach. [14].
In 1992 Acquabounty approached the Food and Drug Administration about selling a genetically modified salmon that grew faster than normal fish. In 1995, Aqua Bounty formally applied for approval. More than 17 years later, the public comment period, one of the last steps in the approval process, was finally supposed to conclude. The AquAdvantage salmon is an Atlantic salmon that carries two foreign genes: a growth hormone gene from the Chinook salmon that is under the control of a genetic "switch" from the ocean pout, an eel-like fish that lives in the chilly deep and feeds normally during the winter.
Atlantic salmon produce growth hormone only in the warm summer months, but these genetic adjustments let the fish churn it out year round. As a result, the AquAdvantage salmon typically reach their adult size in a year and a half, rather than three years. Sources within the government of Barak Obama say that the White House debated the political implications of approving the GM salmon, and said this would likely to infuriate a portion of its base. Many years ago I published an Article saying that science and politics should never mix.
Recently I published this finding in the Bioentrepreneur blog at Nature [15] combing two important examples. Taking from the blog I said that GM salmon in the FDA constitutes the longest case in history of a GM organism attempting to be cleared anywhere in the world. The United States has a role as leader in the subject of commercializing GM plants as food. I wrote a letter to President Obama. Others have, as well. In mine, I essentially said that science and politics do not mix.
In the last century Stalin following Lisenko a young geneticist denied the Russian people the right to study in the schools the modern genetics of Thomas Hunt Morgan. Morgan won the Nobel Prize in Physiology in 1933 and established a Division of Biology at Caltech that yielded seven other Nobel Prizes. Russia today imports grains, a lot of it from Brazil, where the genetics of Morgan was fortunately widely disseminated amongst our geneticists. Finally in August 4th twenty five years later Acquabounty announced that the first GM salmon was sold in Canada [16] this is the first animal genetically modified to be used as food. It is clear that since 1973 when Herbert Boyer first expressed the insulin gene in E. Coli and despite of the fact that the responsible and safe use of this technology over more than fourty four years resulted in few impacts caused by gene therapy as the only negative effects of what now we call GMOs, the technology is not popular as in fact science in general is not popular [op. cited].
There is a myth that transgenic organisms are bad for you, even after many decades lacking scientific evidence to support this. At CENARGEN/EMBRAPA (Carlos Bloch personal communication) peptides could be genetically inserted into cocoa to prevent "witches' broom", a devastating crop disease. The cocoa industry did not accept this solution because the peptide was derived from the genome of a frog. We have a long-standing partnership with Elizabeth Maga at U C Davis to introduce by genetic engineering insulin and lactoferrin into dairy milk to reduce infant diarrhea that claims the lives of millions particularly in Africa but also thousands in the Northeast of Brazil.
The dairy industry, at least in Brazil (I cannot speak about Europe, where it may be worse), will never accept it because they believe that people will not consume a genetically engineered milk. One company in Brazil told me to produce insulin by my method and purify it, and said the company would then add it to the milk but would not say the method used was genetic engineering. This persists for many decades despite of a lack of scientific evidence as mentioned before. I think this will not change, and what is worse is that industry and some regulatory agencies will not accept GMOs.
The Golden Rice has never reached the market, while millions die due to the lack of Vitamin A. Even the GM sterile mosquito produced by Oxitec is waiting for approval at FDA that only recently cleared a genetically modified animal. Fortunately the same mosquito was released by CTNBIO in Brazil where the dengue fever affects hundreds of thousands of people. It was not however released by ANVISA (equivalent to FDA) so far.
Brazil is second to the United States in the cultivation of genetically modified plants. In 2016 Brazil retained this position with 49.1million hectares of biotech crops planted, representing 27% of the global world cultivation of 185.1 million hectares [17] Brazil's total biotech crop of 49.14 million hectares is an increase of 11%, from 2015. This 4.9 million hectare increase was by far the highest increase in any country worldwide in 2016 making Brazil the engine of growth in biotech crops worldwide.
Biotech crops planted include: 32.7 million hectares of biotech soybean; 15.7 million hectares of biotech maize (summer and winter maize); and 0.8 million hectares of biotech cotton. The total planted area of these three crops in Brazil was estimated at 52.6 million hectares of which 49.14 million hectares or 93.4% was biotech. From 2003 to 2016, Brazil has approved 57 events for food, feed processing and cultivation including 33 maize events, 12 cotton events, 10 soybean events, one bean event and one eucalyptus.
In 2017 the first genetically modified sugarcane resistant to herbicide was approved by CTNBio. Brazilian, multinational seed companies and the public sector research institutions are working on the development of various biotech crops. Currently, there are a number of biotech crops in the pipeline waiting for commercial approval, of which the most important are beans, sugarcane, potatoes, papaya, rice and citrus. Except for beans and sugarcane, most of these crops are in the early stages of development and approvals are not expected within the next five years.
My opinion is that we could have approved more than 57 events at CTNBio if the costs one has to pay to release an event for commercial use were not so high. These costs are easily affordable by multinational companies but not for the majority of the public institutions. Amongst the 57 events released by CTNBio only bean resistant to the Golden Mosaic was produced by EMBRAPA the largest public company working in science and technology for agriculture. Not one University in Brazil could pay for these costs.
I am not criticizing the presence of multinationals seed companies in Brazil. Since 1960 Brazil doubled its grain production that was 30 million tons in 1960. We expect to produce 240 million tons of grain in 2020. These results are due largely to the presence of EMBRAPA that was created in 1973 and the adoption of Brazil for investments by the multinationals after we passed a law deciding to produce seed by private and not by public institutions in 1965.
However even admitting that I was largely responsible for these regulations early in the eighties we have to simplify the process to release events at CTNBio because the history demonstrated that the technology is safe and no impacts to human health and to the environment occurred. Biology is complex and we were careful to do no mistakes The history of the biosafety in Brazil is getting close to ¼ of a century. We have to review the law and reduce costs to stimulate public companies to come aboard. One example is comparability studies that are expensive.
Biology like I said is complex and extremely rich in new discoveries that may turn recombinant DNA a technology of the past. I am specifically calling attention to the gene editing and CRISPR Cas 9 new technology that is being used largely to answer the majority of the questions in Biology. So far they have not faced regulatory hurdles because they are not transgenic. The regulatory agencies will now work to determine if rules are needed. Certainly this will be the case if human embryos are intended to be targeted with gene editing, but possibly not for plants and other animals.
The decision is not out yet. This may end up being the democratization of genetic engineering because the technology is in the hands of everybody. I discussed this issue in the Blog Bioentrepreneur published by Nature [18] unfortunately considering how agencies behave I am not optimistic. Biology is so rich that gene editing may not be the end of recombinant DNA because now we can express metabolic pathways [19] for biodiversity rich countries like Brazil this may be the technology of the future
Why invest in science and technology?
Twenty five years ago when the Christian Democrat President of Chile Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle invited authorities of the most prominent institutions in the world to visit Chile, or, as he called it, the end of the world. In the agenda one simple question: can less developed countries (LDC) perform long-term science at the same level that developed countries do? Most people attended from the World Bank, AAAs, Japanese and Korean authorities. Almost all relevant institutions were there.
Twenty five years ago when the Christian Democrat President of Chile Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle invited authorities of the most prominent institutions in the world to visit Chile, or, as he called it, the end of the world. In the agenda one simple question: can less developed countries (LDC) perform long-term science at the same level that developed countries do? Most people attended from the World Bank, AAAs, Japanese and Korean authorities. Almost all relevant institutions were there.
The President of Brazil then was Fernando Henrique Cardoso. The Minister of Science and Technology was Israel Vargas and I was his Secretary for Research and Development. He included me in his team. The unanimous answer of representatives from developed countries was positive. The route was to invest more in science and technology. Implicit in this answer was the fact that in LDCs, science and technology was not a priority in LDCs. as already stated.
When Representatives answered to President Frey that investments in Sc & T pay back is because they know that there is a link between these investments and income per capita. Laplane from University of Campinas proposed to double the income per capita in Brazil in fifteen years increasing investments in Sc & T. He showed that developed Countries invest at least 2% of GNP (some countries invest 4%). Compared these investments to show that the number of scientists and engineers/million people in these Countries were consequently very high. Technological development depend of these scientists and engineers particularly in the private sector; not a tendency in developing countries.
Other studies corroborate this relations. Albuquerque., et al. (2006) from the CEDEPLAR/UFMG showed that there is a correlation between GDP/capita and technological development (Log 10 P). (Figure 6) In the same Article we clearly identify three classes of Countries when we compare scientific production (A) and technology development (P). In the first group scientific output is too low to stimulate technological development. This group includes very poor countries (squares) the line representing these countries is horizontal.
A second group were Brazil is included scientific production is higher and stimulate some technological development, (represented by triangles). The slope of line representing these countries is slightly inclined Finally a group of developed countries were scientific production is very high and also technology development and it is the main determinant of economic growth The line representing these countries is more inclined (represented by losenges) The authors suggest more investments in SC&T for countries in group 2 to reach group 3.
I follow Biotechnology since its onset when Herbert Boyer expressed a gene coding for Insulin in E. coli in California. I was a PhD student at U C Davis then. We all saw that Biology was going to change dramatically. Brazil was not far from this advances. Scientists in Brazil repeated the Boyer experiment almost at the same time. Nevertheless after more than four decades Biotechnology has not innovated in Brazil particularly in the pharmaceutical industry.
The first reason is that we invest less in SC & T than we should. In addition we do not invest in Venture Capital and in programs like the SBIR that fund the small business initiative. In the same issue the private sector in Brazil does not invest in technology development like we see in developed countries. The third reason is that bureaucrats of the financial area in Brazil do not trust that SC&T is important to society.
There is a difference of procedure between developed and developing countries Developed countries protect SC & T budgets. Cuts are rejected in Congress. Developing countries do the opposite. They cut SC & T budgets and considering the size of these budgets cuts make no difference to the overall budget of the Governments. Bureaucrats cut as said because they do not trust SC&T is critical for the countries.
The bureaucrats of the Finance and Planning Ministry in Brazil believe that science is good for nothing. They do not know that when they cut the budgets of Sc & T they are destroying the intelligence of the country. They know nothing about Sc & T. Cutting Sc & T budgets is like eating foundation seed instead of planting it. Developing countries suffer from another syndrome: alternation of political power as we said when dealing with the increase of scientific output in Brazil and will emphasize here again.
New Presidents, new Governors, new Ministers interrupt long term projects. I was Secretary for Research and Development at the Ministry of Science and Technology for fifteen years. I worked with five different Presidents and four different Ministries They do not know what Sc & T mean for the Country. The Legislative does not know that either and unfortunately the population does not know how important Sc & T is for their survival. Finally the Regulatory Frame Work is not reliable. This includes intellectual property, biodiversity and biosafety. Investments need a trustful regulatory framework.
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- Ledford H. "CRISPR –The Disruptor". Nature 522.7554 (2015): 21-24.
- Christopher IK., et al. "Transcriptome mining, functional characterization, and phylogeny of a large terpene synthase gene family in spruce (Picea spp.)". BMC Plant Biology(2011): 11-43.
- De Castro LAB. "Graduate programs need a review to contribute for innovation in Biotechnology". Biotechnology Research and Innovation (2017):
- De Castro LAB. "Brazils plunging science investment Biotechnology". Trade Secrets (2017):
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- Law Nº 8.974, January 05, 1995 Brazil.
- Law Nº 11.105, March 24, 2005 Brazil
- Harmon A. "Golden Rice: Lifesaver?" The New York Times (2013):
- Asis M. "Golden rice as a way to prevent blindness in children gains public support". Cornell Alliance for Science(2015):
- De Castro. "Mixing Science and Politics". (2015):
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- Keith Edmisten. "Global Status of Commercialized Biotech /GM Crops: 2016". (2017): 1-125.
- De Castro. "Transgenesis vs gene editing". Nature (2015):
- Law W. and Sattely E.S. "Six enzymes from mayapple that complete the bioisymthetic pathway to the etoposide aglycone". Science 349.6253 (2015): 1224-1228.
Citation: Luiz Antonio Barreto de Castro. "Limitations for Biotechnology Innovations in Brazil". Clinical Biotechnology and Microbiology 1.4 (2017): 144-155.
Copyright: © 2017 Luiz Antonio Barreto de Castro. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.


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In 1988, when Kavout was just 3 years old, she and her family fled the Iraqi government's chemical bombardments of the Kurdish north. They walked for several days and nights through the mountains to reach Turkey, where they lived for three years in a tent that blew away in high winds and in constant fear of the Turkish government crackdowns.
Eventually Kavout's family were granted asylum in France, and she grew up in Toulouse. "I love the way they live in France. It's a really mixed culture in all levels." In 2013 however, she was drawn back to Iraqi Kurdistan, wanting to play a part in the reconstruction of her homeland.
Kavout is passionately French and Kurdish – one of many young people here trying to balance complex and often competing identities. When the frustrations of daily life become too much, she goes running in Sami Abdul Rahman Park, where people from all sections of Kurdish society come to exercise in the cool of the evening. "I see all kinds of people, covered and uncovered."
Kavout works hard to balance her day job in the government with helping charities like Rise Foundation in her spare time. When she visits the Syrian and IDP refugees, the sights and smells take her back to her earliest memories in the Turkish camps – of rats, heat, dust and open sewage. "I tell them not to lose hope – I was once where they are, and as terrible as it is now, they will come through it."


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Weasley's Canary Creams are a mild but yummy sandwich cookie that is a traditional British dessert. These appear in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire book as Canary Creams, a Weasley joke product. In the story, the biscuit looks like an ordinary custard cream but they cause whoever eats it to turn into a canary for a minute. See Pottermore for more information.
I was inspired to make this recipe based on Great British Baking Show Bake-Along group I belong to that challenges us to follow along the Great British Baking Show and bake one of the challenges from each week. For Biscuit week, we were challenged to make 24 identical sandwich cookies with biscuits that have a snap and a filling that doesn't ooze out. This was my first time making a sandwich cookie and we loved the result. I definitely go the snap in the biscuit and the filling doesn't ooze, however I only got 20 sandwich cookies instead of 24. I will have to increase the batch next time!
Weasley's Canary Creams Recipe
Weasley's Canary Creams
Weasley's Canary Creams (aka Custard Creams). A traditional British dessert that has a mild but enticing flavor. A wonderful dessert for anytime, and these will disappear quickly!
Custard Cream Biscuits
- 200 g (7 oz) plain flour
- 50 g (2 oz) Bird's custard powder
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 75 g (3 oz) caster sugar
- 125 g (4 oz) salted butter, chilled, cut into cubes
- 1 medium egg
- 1 tbsp. milk
Custard Cream Filling
- 75 g (3 oz) salted butter, softened
- 125 g (4 oz) powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp. Bird's custard powder
- 1 tsp. whipping cream
- Put the flour, custard powder, baking powder, sugar and butter into a food processor. Pulse until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.
- Add the egg and milk and pulse until the mixture just comes together. Tip on to a work surface, bring together with your hands, then wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 min. or up to 1 day.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment. Lightly flour a work surface and roll out dough until 3 mm (⅛in) thick. Cut using a biscuit cutter, re-rolling trimmings as needed.
- Put biscuits on prepared sheets and bake for 13-15 min until lightly golden. Cool on the sheet for 3 min, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Custard Cream Filling
- Meanwhile, put the softened butter into a large bowl and sift over powdered sugar and custard powder. Mix to combine. Add 1 tsp. whipping cream only if needed as the filling needs to be thick. Set aside.
- When the biscuits are cool, sandwich together with some of the filling, using a piping bag if you want a neater finish.
Pin for later!
More Harry Potter Inspired Recipes
- Wizarding World Butterbeer Ice Cream
- Snowflake Eggnog Coffee Cake
- Harry Potter Snow Owl Wreath
- Harry Potter Advent Calendar
- Harry Potter Yule Ball Cookie Tree
- Magical Gifts for Harry Potter Fans
- Wizarding World Roasted Potatoes
- Wizarding World Chocolate Trifle
- Wizarding World Beef and Guinness Stew
- Weasley's Canary Creams (aka Custard Creams)
- Blueberry Drop Scones
- Wizarding World Inspired Butterbeer Fudge
- Hogwarts Shortbread Biscuits
- Wizarding World English Ale and Cheese Soup
- Wizarding World Frozen Butterbeer
- Wizarding World Rotisserie Chicken Salad
- How To Throw a Harry Potter Hogwarts Tea Party
- Ravenclaw Blueberry Hand Pies
- Gryffindor Turkey Cranberry Crostini
- Hufflepuff Chilled Mango Soup
- Slytherin Snake Sausage Rolls
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McSeagulls Food & Spirits
A Boothbay Region favorite with locals and visitors alike.
McSeagulls has been considered to be one of the best and most popular restaurants in Boothbay Harbor for over 40 years.
Our casual waterfront dining and bar will provide you with some of the finest meals and the best atmosphere in the region.
Our covered deck area overlooks Boothbay Harbor Marina, where some of the largest and most famous yachts are docked just a few feet form our outside dining area.
Our first floor dining area features our full menu in a pub style setting. The view of the inner harbor is absolutely beautiful. This is a great spot to get your own photo of the famous Boothbay Harbor foot bridge.