text:
This is a categories GB issue. Given two Categories called Category 1, and Category 2 with an item of the same name called Assignment 1, if you import, it will always import and overwrite to the last category that has the item name. So if I import Assignment 1 intending Category 1 to get the update, it will not work. In fact it will import/overwrite to Category 2 -> Assignment 1.
Gliffy Diagrams
Issue Links
- depends on
GRBK-834 Import seems to create multiple items for a imported item when it should not.
- Closed
- incorporates
GRBK-966 gradebook import of csv and xls fails
- Closed
- is depended on by
GRBK-983 Structure import for new gradebooks
- Closed
- is incorporated by
GRBK-1226 Notify user that conflicting duplicates exist and allow for deletion
- Closed
- is related to
GRBK-834 Import seems to create multiple items for a imported item when it should not.
- Closed
GRBK-1204 Determining what are duplicate item names should be case-insensitive
- Closed
GRBK-208 Attempted deletion of a duplicate named Item in a Category generates a Request Failed warning.
- Closed
- relates to
GRBK-1274 Full gradebook import (with or without structure) always gives warning that "An item with that name already exists....."
- Closed
QA VERIFICATION on:
Win XP with Firefox 3.6.6
GB2 import function: check if grades imported properly from spreadsheet when two categories contain items with the same name
in a Weighted Categories Points gradebook
in test26 and production:
1- setup two items with the same name (e1) in different categories. second e1 item has scores, and first e1 does not.
2- Export as ONLY GRADES, to an .XLS file.
3- in Excel, add grades to first e1 item (empty in exported spreadsheet).
4- Import the file back into the gradebook.
Prod- the first screen of the import process shows the second e1 columns scores for both the first and second e1 columns in the preview data screen. On completion of the import process, the first e1 column has no grades imported.
--test26 – the first screen of the import process shows both e1 columns in the structure side of the screen, but does not display the first e1 column (with either set of grades) in the preview data side of the screen. On completion of the import process, the first e1 column has no grades imported.
in test26 and production:
1- setup two items with the same name (e1) in different categories. second e1 item has scores, and first e1 does not.
2- Export as GRADES & STRUCTURE, to an .XLS file.
3- in Excel, add grades to first e1 item (empty in exported spreadsheet).
4- Import the file back into the gradebook.
Prod- all grades imported into the proper columns
--test26 – all grades imported into the proper columns
in the situation where a gradebook has multiple columns with the same name in different categories, grades for the last occurrence of the repeated name are the only ones imported – they are imported into the proper category item. This occurs in both production and test26, although the two processes/screen-arrangements are different.
Note, since everything works properly when the structure is included in the exported file, the workaround for getting grades imported properly when the same item name is used in multiple categories is to export the GRADES & STRUCTURE version, giving the import process more to work with.
For now let's change the UI that if duplicate names do exist that we warn the user to either change the
duplicate names or proceed via exporting structure as well. That way they won't end up
with a spreadsheet they cannot import.
There are no more errors produced for duplicate items in different categories, but the handling is still a problem:
what happens now is the values for the first item that are entered in the spreadsheet, are mapped over the second item:
- all the score go into the second item's column
- if the second item has a score, then the second item score is unchanged
- if the second item has no score, then score entered for the first is put in the second column
the order is determined by the order in the item tree
This is happening because there is not structure data in the file per the test plan added by David 02-Jul-2010 10:28
To handle this case I changed the code to push all items that have the same name into the Unassigned category for sorting out later
One suggestion was to change the name of assignements to not conflict (eg, Essay 1 ( 1), Essay (2), ...) ... but this doesn't help to find what category each belongs
Jon's approach as described in his "26-Jan-2011 19:09" comment seems reasonable. Also Kirk gave some directions in his "07-Jul-2010 14:40" comment:
"For now let's change the UI that if duplicate names do exist that we warn the user to either change the
duplicate names or proceed via exporting structure as well. That way they won't end up
with a spreadsheet they cannot import."
This seems reasonable too.
As discussed in other import/export related JIRAs and emails the solution to all of this is to include a complete gradebook structure with every export. We just need to figure out how to "hide" the structure for the use cases where user doesn't want to see the structure.
SmartSite@UCDavis - 22.214.171.124 - Sakai 2.7.1 - Server "ucddev1"
gradebook2 v1.5.0-a4 on smartsite-dev.rsmart.com
test on categories and weighted categories sites
site CHE 118A A05-A06, categories, points
1 – added item named fred to categories exams and homework, 100 points each
2 – graded 1st 4 people for each @ 90 for exams and 80 for homework
3 – exported grades only as xls
4 – graded next 4 for each @ 70 and changed 1st 2 to 60 for each
5 – imported back - @ preview, both freds show in correct category in Lframe
BUT in Rframe, where grades are listed, there is only 1 fred in exams, but with the homework scores
6 – continued w/import, no error message re: items of the same name
7 – homework fred scores are in exams fred and there are NO scores for homework…
so not only are the scores in the wrong item but the previously existing scores are gone
got no message as mentioned above.
quit here as it failed right off the bat
I think I got it this time.... there were a lot of 'hidden' codes in this part of the import (handleItemOrComment downward... eg, itemModel is null or categoryModel is null sort of thing) and by reworking it so that we can detect collisions and react a little better, I broke some of the covenants... this has taken a bit of time to work out, but as I said I think its ok now... I would vote +2 to rework this to make what it happening much more obvious.
adding dependency on
GRBK-834 because it is essentially an edit of this ticket's original changes
I don't see an estimate in here anywhere... so can't comment about how well that was done.
Original work was .5.... this time round was about 4.5
This latest change s going to require a re-test of import in all combo's each cat type, whether there is gb structure in file, adding new items, new cats, using existing names items in various cats for new items, renaming items
Importing throws an exception right now. I have attached the exception in
- removed gradebook structure processing from import file so the following are not read from the import file anymore:
gb name, gb category type, grade mode
- the major chnage here is that the gradebookGradeItem object that is used is the existing GB, so new items, changes and comments are added to that
- fixed bug in the handling of importing of no cat gb's (
- refactored some names (minor)
- removed some dead code and unused assignments
From Nancy
site CHE 118C A12-A13 sq11 no categories
1 – exported xls gb changed grades for 1st 5 students item 1 (added .9 to grade), added grades for next students 6-11 (also ending in .9)
2 – imported back to site. it caught my mistake of too high a grade.
grades imported – pass now
3 – check import structure to no cat points nw su11 which also previously failed
4 – exported xls and imported to no cat points nw su11 which has 6 of the same students. got "user not found" popup as expected. grades came in ok EXCEPT that one that was excused on the original site is not on the new one. is this expected?
5 – add new items and import – added new item new item 5-16 [25] and grades to current spreadsheet for 1st 5 students. imported. got error message "there is already an item named …" , closed the window and hit continue. it even thought there was already an item named what I called the NEW item - fail
6 – deleted all items and added another new one second try for new [10] w/scores for 1st 5 students and the item in 5 came in with no scores!!!. - fail
7 – repeat 6 with another item third try for new [50] w/scores for 1st 5 students. correct item shows in preview screen BUT it's the item in 6 that comes in, with correct scores.
- new item comments are showing up in preview as items
(had typo in header, this is following spec)
- farsi item is not matching existing item and then during final step, it is, throwing busniess rule error since it is a 'no cat' gradebook
(after checking this second case, the farsi item appears twice already in the above CHE gradebook (before import) probably due to GRBK-958, this is to spec)
the person with the excused item IS a member on both sites.
it's Anderson and the excused item on the original site is item 13.
the score is on the new site, it's just not excused.
in adding a new item in #5, I inserted a column to the right of section info,
added a title and [point value] and graded students.
re: item 6 – using the spreadsheet in 5, I deleted all the columns to the right
of section info, added a NEW item title and different point value. at import,
the new item in #5 came in, with no scores.
re: item 7 – using spreadsheet in 6, I gave another NEW name and new point
value. at import, the item in 6 came in, with scores.
I have all the spreadsheets, if you want to create the CHE 118C A12-A13 site
somewhere else and try importing them. log in as mdnasiri.
today, the item from 7 is in and I don't know how it got there? I'm wondering if
there is some sort of delayed action on things here at home between the time I
do them and when they appear on screen. I had similar issues with an extra credit
category a couple of days ago being editable for 10-15 minutes before the extra
credit check box greyed out.
As Dave has said, exporting of excused prop is not yet supported... if the grade is imported then it is the same as prod right now.
I'l try to reproduce the rest... thanks
I had to get
GRBK-979 fixed to further test this since I am using openoffice
All the imported new items I have tried so far following your instructions are correctly importing the items and the scores into no cats and cats gradebooks alike
Let's get Dave to test this to see what he can see
We may be seeing some browser differentials .... So Dave should try FF and IE 8-9
see comments in grbk-966 from me @ 17-May-2011 20:30 about issues bringing in items w/foreign characters in their names.
QA Test
firefox 3.6.17
site PHY 009B A01-A03 FQ 2011
added categories: cat 1 and cat 2
added item to each category with the same name: Item 1
exported xls file with structure
exported xls without structure.
import of xls file with structure properly synchronizes the item scores.
modified scores and added scores (including 1 score over max points) to file without the structure
imported the updated no-structure xls file.
preview of import grades shows:
the item name repeated 4 times in the structure assignment grid
the first grade column is repeated twice in the grade data import preview grid in front of the display of the second input column with the same item name.
the original first item column occurrence (in Cat 1) in the gradebook is updated with the grades from the first input column
the original second item column occurrence (in Cat 2) in the gradebook is updated to have no grades
a new item column occurrence with the same name is created (in the Unassigned category) containing the second input column of grades (that should have been matched to the item in Cat 2.)
QA Fail
screenshot images attached.
punt for 1.5.0 ... we agreed to restart this effort with a refactor tied to
Unmerged code:
~/src/gradebook2-svn/trunk/ # svn merge -r 74210:74209 .
— Reverse-merging r74210 into '.':
U server/src/java/org/sakaiproject/gradebook/gwt/server/ImportExportUtilityImpl.java
U server/src/java/org/sakaiproject/gradebook/gwt/sakai/Gradebook2ComponentServiceImpl.java
U server/src/java/org/sakaiproject/gradebook/gwt/sakai/GradebookImportController.java
~/src/gradebook2-svn/trunk/ # svn merge -r 74047:74046 .
— Reverse-merging r74047 into '.':
G server/src/java/org/sakaiproject/gradebook/gwt/server/ImportExportUtilityImpl.java
U client/src/java/org/sakaiproject/gradebook/gwt/client/gxt/view/ImportExportView.java
~/src/gradebook2-svn/trunk/ # svn merge -r 73805:73804 .
— Reverse-merging r73805 into '.':
G server/src/java/org/sakaiproject/gradebook/gwt/server/ImportExportUtilityImpl.java
~/src/gradebook2-svn/trunk/ # svn merge -r 72368:72367 .
— Reverse-merging r72368 into '.':
G server/src/java/org/sakaiproject/gradebook/gwt/server/ImportExportUtilityImpl.java
psl-247 : ~/src/gradebook2-svn/trunk/ # svn status 0u
psl-247 : ~/src/gradebook2-svn/trunk/ # svn status -u
M 74463 server/src/java/org/sakaiproject/gradebook/gwt/server/ImportExportUtilityImpl.java
M 74463 server/src/java/org/sakaiproject/gradebook/gwt/sakai/Gradebook2ComponentServiceImpl.java
M 74463 server/src/java/org/sakaiproject/gradebook/gwt/sakai/GradebookImportController.java
M 74463 client/src/java/org/sakaiproject/gradebook/gwt/client/gxt/view/ImportExportView.java
Status against revision: 74463
psl-247 : ~/src/gradebook2-svn/trunk/ # svn commit -m "
GRBK-414, GRBK-834, GRBK-966 : unmerging code."
Sending trunk/client/src/java/org/sakaiproject/gradebook/gwt/client/gxt/view/ImportExportView.java
Sending trunk/server/src/java/org/sakaiproject/gradebook/gwt/sakai/Gradebook2ComponentServiceImpl.java
Sending trunk/server/src/java/org/sakaiproject/gradebook/gwt/sakai/GradebookImportController.java
Sending trunk/server/src/java/org/sakaiproject/gradebook/gwt/server/ImportExportUtilityImpl.java
Transmitting file data ....
Committed revision 74464.
The only remaining issue here occurs during importing of grades-only files... why are planning to fix that while also planning to disallow grades-only import/export?
scantrons do not seem to have a problem AFAICT
The remainingg failure for non-structure gb imports will not be fixed since we will be deprecating that format.
QA VERIFICATION on: smartsite-test.rsmart.com
gb version 1.8.0 a6
QA ENVIRONMENT: Win XP with Firefox 3.6.6
QA TASK: GB2 import function: check if grades imported properly from spreadsheet when two categories contain items with the same name
the max points for the first item is set to 100 and the max points for the second is set to 50. two tests.
use export grades only for one file and export grades and structure for the other.
with a combination of students with a score in the first item and none in the second, other students with a score in the second item and none in the first, and a student with a grade in each. export and then import unchanged to see if the correct items are updated. When the no-structure spreadsheet is used, import attempts to put scores from the first item into the second item only for those students who had not been scored in the second item. Since the scores for the first item were too large for the max points in the second item they weren't used. all scores were removed from the first item. QA FAIL
@David... please re-read my comment on Feb 9th 2012
Revisit this in QA with the idea we will not fix any non-structure import issues unless they are scantron or clicker related. Pass this if the only issues you found are with non structure gradebook imports.
This needs to be fixed in 1.8. Use case for this problem is in RT HD0000000237979
On my [redacted site name] site, I tried to delete an item named "Quiz #4"
before uploading a spreadsheet named "quiz #4." Apparently the "delete"
didn't take, because after I uploaded "quiz #4" the other was still there.
When I tried to delete "Quiz #4" again, I got "Unexpected response from
server: 401." I tried deleting "quiz #4" so I could start all over, but I
got the same error.
"quiz #4" is worth 5 points under "Quizzes." "Quiz #4," with the capital
letter, should be deleted.
I don't understand why, when you fill out a gradebook with item names,
uploading spreadsheets into those item names is impossible. Instead you
seem to have to delete the dummy item first. Is there a way around this?
Every quarter I get in trouble.
Thank you,
Hi Jon,
Duplicates in scantrons seem to be working with flying colors, adding -# to each duplication, but while testing full gradbooks I encountered problems with duplicates. Basically, if you have two items with the same name in a category the second item (in fact it's the last duplicate item) is the only one that will import or update.
EXAMPLE and DETAILS
1. Created scantron item
2. Imported duplicate named scantrol item
3. imported as item name -1 as expected
4. Deleted items
5. Imported again and imported as expected with normal name; ie., scantron_dev, scantron_dev-1, scantron_dev-2, ...
- NOTE: see attached image and Excel doc: Scantron 4.20, scantron_dev.xls
1. Exported a full gradebook
2. Changed added duplicate items
- only last item in category was imported
- other duplicate items were ignored
*NOTE: see attached images and excel doc: XLS 4.20, Final Import 4.20, ANT_160_001_WQ_2012 dup.xlsx
Two items with the same name in the same cat are not allowed. So the observed behavior is one way of complying with that. Please, advise as to what the desired behavior should be.
Proposed correction:
USE CASE (Worst):
1 - Instructor creates several items and grades assignments (assignment-1, assignment-2, assignment-3), in gradebook.
2 - Then adds a new assignment item to the gradebook spreadsheet, accidentally names it the same as an existing item (assignment-1)
3 - Adds grades to the new assignment-1
4 - Upload spreadsheet to the Gradebook
5 - New assignment-1 scores overwrite the existing old assignment-1 scores
6 - There is no error or warning, but the wrong scores are now in item assignment-1
1 (preferred solution) - Halt import of full grade books if duplicate items are found in a category and describe the problem; "Duplicated item names, all item names must be unique. Please change item name(s) and import again.
2 (secondary solution) - Warning message, "Warning, you are importing a grade book with duplicated items names. The last duplicated item will be the only item imported."
We used to have a 'force overwrite' function that would ask the user if they wanted to overwrite the existing items.... this somehow disappeared...(I think the 401 errors we saw and changed the to be more user friendly were due to this error (401 was the chosen code to trigger the dialog)..... the code is all still there, for the most part... but it is just not used now. So we could re-enable that code. I estimate it would take 1/2 day to do it.
Per 4/24/12 T&S Meeting: Implement suggestion 1. Halt import of full grade books if duplicate items are found in a category and describe the problem; "Duplicated item names, all item names must be unique. Please change item name(s) and import again. Also show the affected category and duplicate item in a dialogue box.
added a check for already matched cat/item pairs and send user notification of duplicate.
This will be in B6
- Points based GB
- Weighted Categories (HW, LAB)
- Created two Lab 2 items in import file
- Import process detected issue and showed the following message:
"There are duplicated items in the file. If there are categories, there can be only one item per category with the same name. Names are case-insensitive. The following item has a duplicate, but there may be more items. Please inspect the file and remove all duplication, then try again: Category 'LAB' - Item 'LAB 2'"


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text:
Town Square
Obama's Afghanistan Decision
Original post made by Paul Losch, a resident of Palo Alto, on Nov 2, 2009
If it were me, I would tell our capable military leadership that the strategy is to focus on the mountains along the Afghanistan/Pakistan border, and eliminate Al Qaeda there.
The strategy is not nation building for Afghanistan. The strategy is not to eliminate Taliban, as awful as those people are.
Let's be honest with ourselves, Mr. President. This is a part of the world that has been inhospitable to other foreign intervention, in recent history: Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States. What can we learn from history?
Let's also acknowledge that the last 8 years of US military involvement in the country have been a confused and unclear effort. If the "War on Terror" has been what our country was fighting, the guns were focused on the wrong place—Baghdad.
There is a dysfunctional election process that leads to no credibility for President by default Karzai, the opposing candidate, Abdullah Abdullah, saying he would not participate in the re-call election.
Corruption in the current national government is rife, and I don't see that changing, it is part of the culture in that part of the world. The place does not really have a central government, rather it has disparate and dispersed number of local "townships" that are run by so-called "War Lords," who are in effect the Mayors in their localities. In many respects, this is no different from what goes on all over the world, including the States.
Defense Secretary Gates has stated that the resources and money he gets in his job overwhelms what the Secretary of State gets, and he is willing to throw some of that money over the wall, He is right, we need more conversation, not more troops.
Mr. President, here is my advice to you:
--Do not send more troops to Afghanistan
--Tell the leadership in Pakistan and Afghanistan that the US is defending its own interests, not theirs. But that the Taliban must be minimized, and we need to find a way to do that together.
--US Military resources will be focused on the border between your two countries and not a huge blanket like previous regimes have attempted and failed with. It will be there to take out Al Qaeda and minimize Taliban
--It is sad, but the US cannot intervene with cruelties all the time. We made a mistake in Rwanda, but a mistake should not be an example.
--Nation Building begins at home, to paraphrase NY Times columnist Tom Friedman, and there are many things domestically that will be your legacy.
--Put this national security matter in perspective. This is a threat mainly from thugs and unsophisticated people who buy into a marginal religious doctrine. It is more a police matter than a national security matter. The police in Afghanistan and Pakistan may need some help with their policing of these bad guys, but it is not a national mission for the United States military.
Thank you, Mr. President, for going to the Dover Air Force Base, and saluting the fallen who returned home last week.
Be brave, not bold, as you decide how our country and troops deal with the Al Qaeda and Taliban menaces.
a resident of Downtown North
on Nov 2, 2009 at 6:04 pm
"Either you are with us or you are for the terrorists."
Web Link
Now today we see Hamid Karzai defeat Obama after all the baloney about ballot stuffing.
End this madness!
a resident of Midtown
on Nov 2, 2009 at 7:10 pm
"Nation Building begins at home, to paraphrase NY Times columnist Tom Friedman"
Friedman supported the Iraq invasion, before he decided that the U.S. should get out, when the going got tough, but that was before the surge, which he opposed, before it worked, then he could see a possible liberation of Iraq, with all that portends, accourding to his original thesis in support of the invasion.
I have often wondered why anybody listens to Tom Friedman, but some still do.
a resident of Professorville
on Nov 3, 2009 at 4:14 am
Rubbish. Too many contradicting points to even start to consider this an argument. Back to remedial logic.
a resident of Midtown
on Nov 3, 2009 at 10:11 am
Our enemy is Islamic totalitarianism. Iran is the center of this. Afghanistan (and Iraq) should serve only as a military base for attacking Iran. Fighting in Afghanistan while leaving Iran intact would be like in WWII fighting in Italy and not touching Germany.
a resident of Downtown North
on Nov 3, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Al Qaida could have been neutralized without invading Afghanistan, but Bush had to have something to thump his chest over, as did his minions who rejoiced in the images of "precision" bombs flashing and booming over the Afghan landscape. As we all know, Al Quaida and Osama lived to fight another day, the Bushies' ADD got us into Iraq, and voila, twin quagmires.
Attacking Iran is a fantasy. It has a much larger and more capable military than Iraq, it's ready to fight, and the country is much bigger than Iraq so an occupation is out of the question, even if we had a military force to occupy it with (remember, they're in Iraq and Afghanistan). Draft, anyone?
Our real concern ought to be Pakistan, which the Bushies bumbling in the area quite effectively destabilized, and which has several nukes that Al Qaida and its cohorts would love to have and to use. Remember, nuclear nation states are pitiful helpless giants, unable to use their big firecrackers because another nuke state would hit them back with same. They got too much to lose. Non-state actors like Al Qaida, whose recruiting offices the Bush policies have benefited hugely, have no such restraints.
a resident of Midtown
on Nov 3, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Iran is no match for our military power. We could easily defeat them if we had the will. Maybe we will after they nuke a couple of our cities. Their desire is to become martyrs for Islamic power. We should oblige them. Much of the resistance in Pakistan and other places will collapse without Iran's support and model.
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Nov 3, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Attack Iran? Unadulterated madness. With what, with how many troops? Where would the troops come from?
That would be a four-front war. Impossible -- we're having trouble coping with a three-front war. And remember North Korea.
a resident of Downtown North
on Nov 3, 2009 at 1:50 pm
"Iran is no match for our military power."
Iran WAS no match for our military power. Then along came Bush, who tied down our military needlessly in two badly planned and worse executed operations, meantime providing a live-fire proving and training ground for state of the art guerrilla warfare, while obligingly handing Iraq over to the Shia who control Iran. There's a good reason Bush and his Chicken Hawks didn't send troops into Iran: there are no troops left to send.
Meantime, Pakistan festers and teeters from the insurgent tactics newly developed in Iraq. Iran won't nuke us. But someone else might, using bombs marked "Made in Pakistan" and with "Thank you, Mr. Bush" spray painted on them.
a resident of Midtown
on Nov 3, 2009 at 1:57 pm
"Our enemy is Islamic totalitarianism"
That is a redundant phrase. Islam is, via the Qur'an, totalitarian. Once Islam wins, it becomes a matter of local preference, according to the Islamic leaders, as to how hard they want to suppress the infidels. It is a complete myth that Islam is tolerant. For example, try to open up a Christian church in Saudi Arabia.
The secular West should not be fooled into thinking that it can persuade Islamic countries into seeing things its way. Islam will NEVER open up to infidel religions, nor to agnosticism, nor to atheism. Some Islamic regimes will open up to modern technology, but that will NOT change the underlying intolerance of Islam. It will just provide tools to defeat the infidels. Many Muslims may want more open societies, but they will always be led by Islamic leaders who will not tolerate it.
a resident of Professorville
on Nov 4, 2009 at 2:01 am
R Wray is Israel's foreign policy way. Let's just be open about it heh?
Obama has succeeded in diplomatic "shock and awe" and isolated Iran to a great degree from even it's former quasi supporters.
If we are forced to attack Iran someday it should be an act of desperation and not supposed inspiration. Who in the world would be our allies in such a premature attack? Oh yeah that country.
McChrystal, our general in Afghanistan, wrote a report describing how to win the war there. Many focus on the troop request but not on the description of the problem with the Afghan government. Without a credible and viable central government all attempts at "nation building".
Still one mus wonder if he McChrystal was being naive and blindly enthusiastic when he issued his recommendations to the public and not via the legitimate chain of command. I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt. He's spent a lot of time there and seen so many soldiers give their lives, exerted effort to figure out how in the hell the war could ever be won. Forgivable that blinders of sorts would develop.
But if I were Obama I'd sack his ass in a second. He needs to be made an example of in a career ending way.
It's time for civilian authority to re-assert itself over the military in a big way. Before it's too late.
a resident of Midtown
on Nov 4, 2009 at 9:07 am
"It's time for civilian authority to re-assert itself over the military in a big way. Before it's too late."
You mean like the President voting "present".
a resident of Downtown North
on Nov 4, 2009 at 11:40 am
"You mean like the President voting "present"."
Yes, Obama has been far too lenient with right wingnuts and other domestic enemies of America. He needs to realize that there can be no bipartisanship with those who want him and our form of government to fail.
However, I am pleased that he is taking a thoughtful, deliberative approach to Afghanistan. We'd be much better off today if Bush and the Chickenhawks had done the same.
a resident of Midtown
on Nov 5, 2009 at 9:49 am
Obama has been far too lenient with foreign dictatorial regimes--like appeasing Iran's theocratic dictators while ignoring the protesters.
Our military forces in Afghanistan are daily risking their lives while Obama is taking months of being "thoughtful" about our "approach".
a resident of Downtown North
on Nov 5, 2009 at 11:33 am
"Obama has been far too lenient with foreign dictatorial regimes--like appeasing Iran's theocratic dictators while ignoring the protesters. Our military forces in Afghanistan are daily risking their lives while Obama is taking months of being "thoughtful" about our "approach"."
So why do you think the solution is to risk even more lives on a hasty decision? Remember our former "decider"? He decided fast alright, and always wrong.
Appeasing Iran? What's your alternative? Bush showed Iran the limits of raw military power in Iraq and Afghanistan, where ten-dollar IEDs decimate our trillion-dollar military daily.
When our armed forces need to be deployed, they should be deployed intelligently. We owe our troops who risk their lives for us at least that much.
Ignoring protesters? Remember how Bush 41 incited the Kurds to rebellion against Saddam in 1991, promising support, and then just watched as Saddam cut them down? Did you cry appeasement then?
I thought not. I think your views have little to do with national interest and everything to do with partisanship. Face it, if Obama called himself a Republican and changed nothing else, you'd be worshipping everything he did.
a resident of Midtown
on Nov 5, 2009 at 1:49 pm
"Al Qaida could have been neutralized without invading Afghanistan"
While it is true that Osama bin Laden could have been killed by Clinton, if he ahd not treated it as legal affair, I am not sure that Bush could have eliminated Al-qaeda from Afghanistan without an invasion. Without eliminating their camps in Afghanistan, how could they be "neutralized"? Could you explain, Paul.
a resident of Downtown North
on Nov 5, 2009 at 5:28 pm
"While it is true that Osama bin Laden could have been killed by Clinton, if he ahd not treated it as legal affair, I am not sure that Bush could have eliminated Al-qaeda from Afghanistan without an invasion."
Why do you think Clinton could have eliminated bin Laden without an invasion, but that Bush couldn't? What could Clinton do that Bush couldn't? (OK, OK, it's a long list, but try to be specific.)
Do you suppose the Bush family's friendship with the bin Ladens had anything to do with Bush's failure to bring back Osama dead or alive? After all, Bush paled around with Osama's brother Salem, who bailed him out when he cratered his first business, Arbusto Energy. Bush then allowed the bin Ladens to leave the country right after 9/11 so the FBI couldn't question them. The bin Ladens could fly, but Americans could not. Does that pass the smell test?
"Without eliminating their camps in Afghanistan, how could they be "neutralized"? Could you explain, Paul."
Simple. Remember John Walker Lindh, the "American Taliban"? He walked right in and shook hands with Osama. Now suppose he had been a CIA agent with a super secret weapon. (Actually, the CIA wanted to do that, but it characteristically blew it. Lindh's real crime was making a monkey of the CIA by casually accomplishing what it never could. He'll rot in jail for his dastardly deed.)
a resident of Midtown
on Nov 5, 2009 at 7:05 pm
For the record, I am not a Republican. I don't hold Bush up as a standard. He made the biggest mistake of all--he attacked the wrong country, Iraq instead of Iran.
The alternative to appeasing Iran is to declare war on them and to do what ever it takes to win and eliminate them as a threat. We are 30 years too late, but better late than never.
a resident of Midtown
on Nov 5, 2009 at 8:10 pm
"A general who served in the Special Operations Command in the 1990s encountered "tremendous pressure to do something," he said, but at the same time, the requirement was for "perfect operations, no casualties, no failure." There were some "great opportunities" to strike at al Qaeda, "but you couldn't take any risk in doing so. You couldn't have a POW, you couldn't lose a man. You couldn't have anybody hurt." It was Catch-22. There were frequent "spin-ups" for SOF missions, but "in the end, the senior political and military leadership wouldn't let you go do it."
Web Link
Clinton pursued the 1993 bombing of the Twin Towers as a legal issue, not as an act of war. He had opportunities to get bin Laden in Sudan, but he backed off. He held off boming bin-Laden at a camp in Afghanistan, because it might kill innocents...the missles were sent too late.
Clinton was famous for holding his finger to the blowing political winds. He was much brighter than Bush, IMHO, but he lacked Bush's gut instincts and stubborness. I find it completely silly that someone could think that Al-qaeda could be put out of business by a single secret operative. Paul, have you been watching too many old Hollywood movies about having Hitler in the crosshairs by a single intrepid agent?
Al-qaeda has been seriously disrupted by the Afghanistan and Iraq invasions. However, jihadist movements tend to last for decades. There is no quick and easy answer. It will be a very long slug, no matter who is the president.
a resident of Professorville
on Nov 6, 2009 at 4:56 am
"Al-qaeda has been seriously disrupted by the Afghanistan and Iraq invasions."
As an organizational entity that is true. For Afghanistan/Pakistan anyway. Al-qaeda wasn't even in Iraq until we invaded. But even at that level there is a bit of "whatever doesn't kill makes stronger".
But as a world-wide movement the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan have only served the long term goals of Al-qaeda very well.
Al-qaeda started out with a pocket in Afghanistan and cells in Europe, Indonesia. Now they are a mesh of the Pashtun tribe (Taliban), Al-qaeda proper, Pakistani tribes and their Taliban, and groups from Yemen to Somalia to Inodnesia, etc.
If we had a formula to grow Al-qaeda as an international movement we couldn't have done better.
a resident of Midtown
on Nov 6, 2009 at 7:16 am
"If we had a formula to grow Al-qaeda as an international movement we couldn't have done better."
Maybe. However, that movement does not have the ability to pull off another 9-11. It is too diffuse, and it has many more enemies than it did previously. Iraq is an example where Al-qaeda moved into a vacuum, did well at first, then got itself nearly destroyed, including alienating the Iraqi population. Iraq was not part of the Al-qaeda problem, initially, but it has become part of the solution.
The jihadists, of various stripes, have been around as long as Islam has been around. Sadat was killed in Egypt by them. OBL got his motivation in the Afghan fight against the Soviet Union; he took on the USA when it stationed troops in the middle east to kick Saddam out of Kuwait (then to contain him). There will always be a reason for various jihadists to fight, until the world is completely Islamic. Until then, the fight will continue.
I find it silly to think that there is some magic bullet or some type of special understanding that will subdue the jihadists. It will be a decades-long fight, before it is temporarily defeated...then it will rsie again, a few decades later.
a resident of Midtown
on Nov 6, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Given the events at Ft. Hood, I would like to add that the jihadists can be an army of one. This is an example of the diffusion of the jihad. It is not capable of another 9-11, but it can cause local events.
It seems that some, in the media, want to make this guy into a nut case. I doubt it. He sounds completely rational to me, because he read the Qur'an, and follows its message. He is NOT insane. He is a proud soldier for Islam, within the U.S. military.
I suspect that this guy would be happy to deploy for a U.S. military effort against Russia, or against Cuba or any other war against non-Islamist states. However, when it comes to Islam, then Islam is supreme.
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Nov 6, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Kevin, at this point you have no way of knowing what his motives were or what his mental state, so please spare us your uninformed pronouncements until the facts are in. Beyond that, you need to do some research on the toll the stories of the warfighters have on mental and physical healthcare workers take.
a resident of Midtown
on Nov 6, 2009 at 8:40 pm
This guy, by public reports, was a devout Islamic. He made statements to the effect that Muslims, who kill innocents, with suicide belts, are the equivalent of soldiers who drop on grenades in the foxhole.
You have made assumptions that are not warranted, based on the public record. You seem to be desperate to protect Islam. Why?
a resident of Midtown
on Nov 7, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Among the voices trotted out to condition the various Islamic responses to the Ft. Hood attack, is Ibrahim Hooper (aka Doug Hooper). He is the face of Islam, in this country, when it is convenient for Islam to present a 'white face' to its strategic attack against western secularism. This guy has been all over the TV networks, explaining that Islam is peaceful, and only wants to express its sincere feelings towards those murdered at Ft. Hood. This is complete nonsence, of course.
Hooper is on record in favor of making the USA into an Islamic state.
"I wouldn't want to create the impression that I wouldn't like the government of the United States to be Islamic sometime in the future. But I'm not going to do anything violent to promote that. I'm going to do it through education." Web Link
This is the way that Islam operates. If it cannot win by pure military conquest, it will use whatever internal assets it can organize to promote its ultimate aim, which is complete world conquest.
9-11 should have been a wake up call, but it was not. A simple, honest reading of the Qur'an, as well as an honest respect of those who believe in it, would lead a rational mind to conclude that Islam wants world domination. This Major in the Ft. Hood attack was completely rational, from his own Islamic point of view. Why is it so difficult for Palo Alto residents to understand this essential fact?
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Nov 7, 2009 at 7:15 pm
I'm not a defender of any religion, let alone "desparate to protect Islam," so don't try to tar me with that xenophobic brush. I was just calling you on your readiness to condemn an entire people for the actions of one -- well before all the facts are in.
In addition, I made no assumptions, other than that you obviously had done no research on the well-documented effects of caring for warfighters on healthcare workers. Effects that might have some bearing on this case.
a resident of Midtown
on Nov 7, 2009 at 7:33 pm
You are all too ready to explicate why this Muslim Army major shot his comrades, due to some sort of pre-traumatic-stress syndrome. Short of extraordinary evidence, Occam's razor should prevail. This guy was intelligent, rational and Islamic. He made public statements to the effect that he opposed the US military attacking Muslim states.
What more do you need to know? Are you incapable of understanding that Islam is a cult of domination? I am not, personally, religious, but I follow these things. Islam is a real danger. The other major religions, at this point, are not.
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Nov 7, 2009 at 8:53 pm
I'm not all to ready to do anything...that's your assumption, based on nothing. All I have said is that we don't have all the facts so there is only fragmentary reportage upon which to base opinions.
What more I need to know, Kevin, is the facts. You have stated that you don't need the whole story to begin your condemnations.
a resident of Professorville
on Nov 8, 2009 at 6:41 am
Maybe we should start a Crusade to free the world of Islam?
Onward Christian soldiers,
Duty's way is plain
Slay your Moslem neighbors
Or by them be slain
God above is calling you
With evervescent swill
To rob and rape and kill
a resident of Midtown
on Nov 8, 2009 at 12:15 pm
"Maybe we should start a Crusade to free the world of Islam?"
The crusade should just be a crusade for free choice, and rational thought. It needs to start at home. Just this morning, there were U.S. Senators declaring that the Muslim Army major was, himself, the issue, not Islam...as if the guy was not following the Qur'an, to the letter ( "But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, an seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practise regular charity, then open the way for them: for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful" Web Link ).
Islam needs to be intellectually challenged, on all fronts, not placated.
a resident of Downtown North
on Nov 8, 2009 at 1:35 pm
The John F. Kendrick re-worded lyrics are representative of a fantasy that show the prior author is simply disconnected from the reality of the modern world.
My impression is that your dialectic plagiarism is not so cleverly linked to your personal extreme aversion to Christians.
Good Luck with that!
a resident of Professorville
on Nov 8, 2009 at 4:41 pm
"simply disconnected from the reality of the modern world."
Bush, generals, Blackwater head, Ann C, all calling for crusades, to Christianize, viewing their mission to kill Muslims, etc.
Hardly a fantasy. Rather the Islamic "Jihadists" and our home grown Christian Taliban merely opposite sides of the same coin. One that feeds off and sustains each other.
With the Soviet Union and "Red China" not as prominent as the big boogey man there needs to be another fear whipped up in order to feed the machine.
Beyond that, yes I think adults need for a make believe friend is a bit silly.
a resident of Midtown
on Nov 8, 2009 at 5:18 pm
[Post removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]
a resident of Professorville
on Nov 9, 2009 at 8:23 am
Jeff Sharlet related how some ultra Christian soldiers in Iraq drove a tank through Baghdad that had painted on it, in Arabic, "Jesus Kills Mohammed". Anyone expressing umbrage was fired upon.
"Christian aggression" is also all to real. More people over the centuries have suffered under it than Islamic (Christians just got "lucky").
"US Christianity and Islam"...hmmm why not also nationally isolate the Islam...."Turkish Islam"....etc. Or Ugandan Christianity vs. Sudanese Islam.....
a resident of Stanford
on Nov 9, 2009 at 8:57 am
[Post removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]


text:
'The old sorrow and desire tore at me again as fiercely as they had ever done...this man's body had been my heaven, and I loved him.' Esther Sieveking is nineteen, half French, half fox-hunting English. She lives in Surrey among people for whom books are a last resource for killing time, but for her literature holds the world; writing is her aspiration. Then she meets the young author Cullum Hayes, brilliant, plausible, glamorous. He tells her they have met in his dreams. She believes him, and falls in love. But Cullum is a romancer, a cheat, a weaver of stories and a seducer of women...On publication in 1928, many exclaimed over Cullum's extraordinary maturity, depth and sexual candour. For some, though, this story of first, obsessive and hopeless love, by a twenty-four-year-old author, was too much - as one reviewer remarked, 'It is all very well to be outspoken, but there are some things which are better left unsaid and Cullum is full of them.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
E. Arnot Robertson (1903-1961) wrote eight novels, of which Cullum was the first, launching her as one of the most popular English novelists of the 1930s and 40s.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Book Description Book Condition: Brand New. Book Condition: Brand New. Bookseller Inventory # 97801401620351.0
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Book Description Penguin Books, 1990. Paperback. Book Condition: New. Bookseller Inventory # DADAX0140162038
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Materials Needed:
What to do:
Step One: Sift out any small rocks or shells from the sand.
Step Two: Put some sand in each of the bowls.
Step Three: In each bowl, mix a different color of powdered paint with the sand.
Step Four: Using a spoon, add different layers of your colored sand to the glass jars.
Step Five: When you have added as much sand as you'd like, put the cover on the jar.


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Postgraduate Units of Study
EUST7010 - European Language Acquisition 1
Semester 1, 2014 | Credit Points: 6
Coordinator: Peter Morgan
This unit gives students an opportunity to begin or improve proficiency in a European language so as to deepen their understanding of the culture and society involved. Students will develop comprehensive linguistic skills. In addition, analysis of the structure of the language and it's sociocultural context will enhance their knowledge and understanding of the society in which the language is utilized. Students who are studying an area cognate with a European language are especially encouraged to take this unit.
quizzes and writing assignments (equivalent to 2500wds) (60%), oral presentations (equivalent to 2000wds) (40%)
3x1-hr seminar/week
A timetable is not available for this session.
Please refer to the list of Units of Study on the left-hand menu to view the units on offer for the relevant academic year.
The information displayed above is indicative only as online information is subject to change without notice. The Faculty Handbook and the University of Sydney Calendar are the official legal source of information relating to study at the University of Sydney


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A person who is handsome, smart, kind, hilarious and generally perfect. This title most often refers to a person with glorious hair that could be most accurately described as a mane. Gabryns are calm, cool and collected. They work hard, keep their wives and mothers from creating drama on the internet, frequently watch Game of Thrones, carry heavy stuff, cook really delicious meals and enjoy pancakes for breakfast.
My husband is a total Gabryn.
by lazel April 01, 2013


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The Indiana Commission for Women (ICW) is conducting a comprehensive research project titled Mothers in Transition. This research project is a state-wide community needs assessment focusing on women living the transition into single motherhood whether that is by divorce, domestic violence, death of spouse, or any other circumstance.
Our mission at the Indiana Commission for Women is to understand the needs of Indiana women and their families and work strategically to help bring about positive solutions. The results of this project will elucidate those needs, help inform policy, and open a productive dialogue to address the relevant concerns and challenges.
Goals of this Research Project:
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Here is a link to one of the small cell studies, and abstracts for the other two: http://beebehavior.com/small_cell_comb_varroa_mites.php
I wanted to discuss these because they are often mentioned in discussions about the use of small cell comb. This IS NOT a thread about the use of small cell comb in hives and pros and cons thereof. This thread is to discuss [small cell] studies only. The forum rules still apply.
For my own part, I don't want to be seen as someone who ignores scientific evidence and instead runs with disproved crackpot theories. So there are these three studies which seem to say that small cell comb is ineffective at controlling varroa mites and may in fact exacerbate the problem. But there is so much anecdotal evidence that says it works or at least has an effect.
To me, these studies are flawed. They take a complex issue, varroa parasitism, and distill it to simple variables, cell size and mite counts. But the issue of the varroa mite does not come down simply to mite counts and cell size. Ultimately there are many more issues involved. I don't know of anyone who's been doing this for any length of time who thinks that cell size is the only or even just the main issue. Dee Lusby said it was a third cell size, a third genetics and a third management. One thing I really want to know is were the combs they used treated before hand. Even more important than that is how well they survived even with the mite load they had. I do no mite drop testing whatsoever, my only metric is survival. If they survive, they get to move on to more nuanced levels of investigation.
Whether or not it can be proven that small cell comb helps with varroa, I have been keeping bees for years with no treatments whatsoever and with only small cell comb and whatever powers the bees have to keep the varroa to manageable levels. I'm interested in other's views of these studies in light of what they have seen and experienced.


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Self-Styled with Elliot Aronow: Rock That Fresh Denim
Take note. Our style guru, Elliot Aronow, gives us the lowdown on this spring essential.
Denim jackets are often thought of as being only a young man's game, but that doesn't mean they are unapproachable. If you can nail the fit, you are good to go. Pull it off right and you'll look like a member of the Smiths circa 1985, in a handsome and charming way.
This may come as a shock to the style council, but I never purchase casual jackets with the expectation that I should be able to button them. Only buy a jacket that looks fly unbuttoned. Even if you're in great shape, no one wants to see you in a buttoned denim jacket.
This next bit is the most important. Like a blazer or suit jacket, it's all about the fit of the shoulders. You can always make a small investment and get the sleeves shortened or the sides taken in, but not even a miracle worker can fix a bum shoulder.
Aside from that, do you! Worn-in/lighter colored jackets look killer with v-neck sweaters for a clean-but-mean mod look, not unlike the cover of John Mayall's Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton. Other recommended pairings include a darker denim jacket with a black t-shirt (not too tight) or a brightly colored gingham check shirt.
Oh, this should go without saying, but don't get anything with mismatched buttons, extra-wide collars, or any other arty embellishments. It's a denim jacket. You are a dude. Just wear it.
Get weird but stay fit!
About the Author
Elliot Aronow is a tv personality, editor and music and style hustler living in New York City. He is the host/producer/editor/publisher of OUR SHOW with Elliot Aronow and the Co-Founder of music site RCRD LBL. All of his hair and opinions are his own. Follow Elliot on Twitter @youngelz
The author with babe in Brooklyn, taking his vintage Levi's denim jacket out for a brunch date.


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Please help us! We opened up our hives yesterday (on a very mild day) to find one hive with very few bees and no stores (we've been feeding them for months though), and our second hive dead. Our dead hive looks just like the pictures dux posted on this thread: (except we have a langstroth style 8 frame hive. Like dux, there were some stores in this hive). We are sending off samples of our bees to Beltsville (actually, we're going to try dropping them off, as we live only a few miles away!) to check for any diseases.
Other pieces of information: both hives were moved on November 18. There was buzzing in both hives at that point and bees in and out of both on warm days after the move. The hive that died was the heavier of the two hives, and the stronger all year. They were both new hives, started from nucs in May 2012. For pictures of the hive through the summer, see our blog.
We have a few questions that we really hope you guys can help with:
1. Since people in dux's thread seem to think it was varroa mite collapse, should we treat the other hive for varroa? Is it too late in the year to do that? What's the best treatment since apistan seems to only work in some cases.
2. There were queen supercedure cells in both hives. Do you think there is a queen in the still-alive hive?
3. Since the still-alive hive has so few bees in it, should we consider trying to over-winter it as a nuc instead of a 8-frame hive?
4. In the dead hive, even the hive beetles were dead. Thoughts?


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CHAKULA Issue #17: Global Information Society Watch (GISW) - Africa reports
1. Democratic Republic of the Congo (Lina Gjerstad, Alternatives)
2. Egypt (Leila Hassanin, ArabDev)
3. Ethiopia (Abebe Chekol, EFOSSNet)
4. Kenya (Alice W. Munyua and Muriuki Mureithi, KICTANet)
5. Nigeria (John Dada, Fantsuam Foundation)
6. South Africa (Charley Lewis, LINK Centre)
7. Uganda (Julius Torach, Dorothy Okello and Goretti Amuriat, WOUGNET)
INTRODUCTION: What is GISW?
The Global Information Society Watch (GISW) 2007 report – the first in a series of annual reports – looks at the state of the field of information and communication technology (ICT) policy at local and global levels, and at how policy impacts on the lives of people living in developing countries.
The publication (which can be read online at www.globaliswatch.org) has four sections: 'WSIS in Review', 'Institutional Overviews', 'Measuring Progress' and 'Country Reports'. The first section critically examines the impact of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and the post-WSIS environment, while the institutional overviews look at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). 'Measuring Progress' discusses the challenges around understanding and developing appropriate ICT indicators. 22 reports are included in the 'Country Reports' section, and cover countries as diverse as India, Spain, Peru and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Besides Spain, all of the countries represented are developing countries.
GISW 2007 was produced by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and Third World Institute (ITeM).
GISW in Africa
This issue of Chakula focuses on the Africa reports. Links are provided to the seven reports covering the DRC, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda.
An 'African launch' of GISW will take place at 12h30 on the 18th July, 2007, at the SANGONeT 'ICTs for Civil Society' conference at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.
This will follow an earlier session on ICT policy in Africa. Panelists at this session will be: Natasha Primo, Executive Director of Women'sNet; Milton Aineruhanga, Programme Officer at WOUGNET; Coura Fall, Africa Manager of APC's policy programme; Sylvie Niombo, Africa Women Coordinator at APC; and Abi Jagun, African ICT Policy Researcher at APC.
1. Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
By Lina Gjerstad, Alternatives
See: http://www.globaliswatch.org/en/node/435
"New technologies are not part of any reconstruction or development plan for the country… As the first elected government will take power in 2007, there is an advantage in starting afresh."
The DRC is in a post-conflict reconstruction period at the moment. Up until now, ICTs have not been considered an inherent part of reconstruction and are not included in development schemes for the country. The four main ICT challenges identified are a lack of infrastructure, the lack of a broad-based ICT vision for the country, the absence of properly defined institutional roles and responsibilities, and a lack of public funds and human resources. This report was produced by Lina Gjerstad from Alternatives, a Canadian social rights NGO, which has been working in the DRC since 2002.
2. Egypt
By Leila Hassanin, ArabDev
See: http://www.globaliswatch.org/en/node/455
"There is, in effect, a dichotomous approach towards liberalisation in Egypt: liberalisation of services and technical applications, but limitations on the 'liberalisation' of expression…"
The Egyptian government has made ICTs a developmental priority and has modernised and upgraded the sector's infrastructure, services, regulations and human resource capacity. Egypt had an antiquated ICT infrastructure until the early 1990s. People waited sometimes for years to have fixed phone lines installed, and the old copper infrastructure made connections unstable. Phone lines outside major cities were failing. Mobile technology aided in the diffusion of phones, but the government also extended fibre optic connections throughout Egypt, upgraded the copper lines and data centres, improved the integration of applications and in general provided more fixed-line connections. Now it only takes a few weeks to have a fixed line installed. This report by Leila Hassanin from ArabDev.
3. Ethiopia
By Abebe Chekol, EFOSSNet
See: http://www.globaliswatch.org/en/node/460
"Although the situation is improving (from a very low baseline), the ICT sector in Ethiopia is still characterised by a low penetration of fixed-line, mobile and internet services, a state monopoly, and far from effective regulation."
This report by Abebe Chekol, from the Ethiopian Free and Open Source Software Network (EFOSSNet), provides a brief overview of the ICT situation in Ethiopia and the key stakeholders' roles in the sector, together with a concluding remark on key areas that need to be addressed. It describes key areas of progress in the ICT sector in Ethiopia, and presents the country's ICT policy-making bodies, implementers, and stakeholders that contribute to the development of the sector.
4. Kenya
By Alice W. Munyua and Muriuki Mureithi, KICTANet
See: http://www.globaliswatch.org/en/node/500
"[T]he Kenyan government is finally acknowledging the important role the various stakeholders play in the communications sector. There is now a more democratic space for participation in governance processes."
There have been significant changes in the ICT sector in Kenya over the last ten years, despite the lack of a legislative framework to guide it. While it is difficult to capture all the developments in detail, the formation of the multi-stakeholder Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) has been a remarkable achievement. Through the network, an inclusive policy process has been catalysed, resulting in the country's first draft ICT policy document, approved by cabinet in February 2006. This report by KICATNet's Alice W. Munyua and Muriuki Mureithi provides an overview of the ICT policy process in Kenya and the role of KICTANet in this process.
5. Nigeria
By John Dada, Fantsuam Foundation
See: http://www.globaliswatch.org/en/node/544
"When considered individually, the inherent ICT4D (ICT for development) credentials of the various initiatives discussed in this paper are clear. However, when viewed holistically, a lack of coherence and a lack of optimisation of resources become evident."
This report presents an overview of ongoing and planned ICT initiatives in Nigeria. Nigeria has the most lucrative telecoms market in Africa, growing at twice the African average. In spite of this obvious and significant progress, Nigeria's performance on a global scale is still far behind countries like Sweden, which has 100% access. This report by John Dada, from the Fantsuam Foundation, argues that one of the reasons for this is an ICT policy vacuum at the heart of the ICT sector in the country.
6. South Africa
By Charley Lewis, LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand
See: http://www.globaliswatch.org/en/node/622
"While civil society and its ICT NGOs remain vibrant and active – raising issues, mounting campaigns, building awareness – their lack of concrete impact on either formal policy and legislation, or on South Africa's input into global information society processes such as the WSIS, is something that needs to be addressed."
This report, by Charley Lewis from the LINK Centre, provides a bird's eye view of the status of South Africa's ICT sector and of progress made toward the development of the country's information society. The status and level of development of the various ICT sectors are described, and an overview of policy, legislation and institutional frameworks governing the sector provided. The final section of the report offers an overview of some of the institutions in the country with a specific information society/ICT focus, together with a summary of some of the issues and campaigns they have taken up recently. Their effectiveness is briefly assessed.
7. Uganda
By Julius Torach, Dorothy Okello and Goretti Amuriat, WOUGNET
See: http://www.globaliswatch.org/en/node/606
"[W]e can conclude that the required environment for the development of ICTs in Uganda is in place. This includes policies, legal and regulatory frameworks, political will, and public participation. However, implementation has been hampered by several challenges…"
This report assesses whether or not Uganda is on track to meet the ICT development objectives laid out in the WSIS Plan of Action. It provides an overview of the ICT status in the country, and presents some of the rapid changes that have happened within the country's ICT sector. It finds that although the policy and legislative framework is in place and the political will exists, ICT development is being constrained by a number of factors, including the rural/urban divide, a lack of awareness about the advantages of ICTs, and a low level of skills. The report has been compiled by Julius Torach, Dorothy Okello and Goretti Amuriat from Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET).
CHAKULA is a newsletter produced by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC)'s Africa ICT Policy Monitor which aims to mobilise African civil society around ICT policy for sustainable development and social justice issues.
We welcome your opinions about this newsletter. Send your comments, feedback or contributions to firstname.lastname@example.com. To subscribe or unsubscribe e-mail email@example.com or go to: http://lists.apc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/chakula


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One-Year Anniversary of NCLB Highlights Year's Successes
An Ideal Solution for Change
Close-Up: No Child Left BehindCharacter Education
Tips for Parents
New GuidebookEngaging Students in Service
One-Year Anniversary of NCLB Highlights Year's Successes
On January 8exactly one year following the signing of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act into lawU.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige joined President George W. Bush, school superintendents and principals, chief state school officers, several members of Congress and other education leaders in celebrating the anniversary of the historic legislation.
". . . [I]t's been a good year," said Paige. "Now all of our hard work has paid off, and we're off to a start, but only a start. The finish is when every American child has a great education."
President Bush and Secretary Paige marked the one-year anniversary by highlighting eight schools from across the country that are making gains in student achievement and five states whose accountability plans have been approved by the Department of Education.
At the White House event, the president announced his FY 2004 budget proposal for increasing funding for the Reading First and Early Reading First programs by $75 million more than last year, bringing the total to more than $1.1 billion. Using scientifically proven methods of instruction, these programs help children learn to read by the end of third grade and improve pre-reading skills in pre-school.
From FY 2000 to 2002, federal funding for programs in No Child Left Behind increased by 49 percent, with states and local school districts receiving more than $22 billion in this school year alone to implement the act's provisions.
For a full script of remarks given by the president and secretary, as well as a recap of the year's results following the enactment of NCLB, please visit www.ed.gov/PressReleases/01-2003/01082003a.html.
An Ideal Solution for Change
By S. Patrick McEvoy, St. Louis, Mo.
At Maplewood-Richmond Heights (MRH) Senior High School, character education has made an enormous impact on the school environment, and it continues to evolve. It influences everything we do at our school and has become a common language that informs our school culture.
When I started as vice principal at MRH six years ago, our school was struggling to survive. There were few, if any, building procedures in place, and discipline was sorely lacking. My first weeks were spent trying to handle serious non-academic problems. Students arrived at school with no schedules, and disorder continually threatened to overwhelm us. Student behaviors caused me to think that I had come to a place that I never imagined existed in public education. During my entire first year, I wondered why any of our dedicated staff stayed and how they survived.
When I started looking for a solution to the myriad problems our school faced, I decided to use a character education program to spearhead the creation of a new school culture. I decided that personalized services and relationships with students would drive our character education program beyond "word-of-the-month" posters or intercom announcements. Gradually the students took over much of the leadership and work involved. They now meet regularly to plan curriculum and activities, teach lessons, and make decisions concerning the direction of the program. Character education has transformed our school into one that bears little resemblance to the school of six years ago.
Although our demographics remain the same, our school culture does not. Statistics indicate that we have completely changed the climate of our high school. Ninety-seven percent of last year's senior class reported that their high school is a safe and well-disciplined environment. Out-of-school suspension days decreased by 75 percent from 1998 to 2002. Attendance has steadily increased, from 79 percent in the 1997-98 school year to 92 percent in 2001-02. The dropout rate has significantly decreased, from 15 percent in 1997-98 to 2.4 percent in 2001-02. Our improvement clearly indicates that character can be taught, learned and nurtured.
|"Some people think of education in terms of the 'Three R's'reading, writing and 'rithmeticbut another 'R' is essential: responsibility."
First Lady Laura Bush, in a speech given at the White House Conference on Character and Community, June 19, 2002.
A school once plagued with gang fighting and school violence is a quiet and peaceful environment, free of these distractions. The number of students attending two- or four-year colleges has risen steadily during the past four years. State-mandated testing shows signs of improvement in math, social studies and English. Our ACT scores have improved, and we have increased the number of students taking this test as well as those scoring at or above the national norms.
Earlier this school year we were honored by a visit from First Lady Laura Bush. She came to MRH to host the White House Conference on Character and Community, where she participated in a panel discussion on character education with several of our students.
All of this was not possible six years ago, before character education helped us articulate who we were, where we wanted to be and how we wanted to support each other along the journey. In keeping with the principles of No Child Left Behind, our high school no longer accepts failure. We have shown that you can change the culture, academic environment and instructional practices in a struggling urban/suburban high school.
S. Patrick McEvoy is the principal of Maplewood-Richmond Heights Senior High School in the St. Louis, Mo., area. Recently, he served as a panelist for the White House Conference on Character and Community, speaking about the benefits of solid character education in high schools.
Close-Up On: No Child Left BehindCharacter Education
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 sets high standards not only for developing students' academic skills but also for enriching their values. As President Bush said in his speech last year at the White House Conference on Character and Community, "Our children must learn to make a living, but even more, they must learn how to live . . . Schools should be safe and orderly; they should be decent and drug-free; and they should teach character by expecting character."
|67 percent of a national sample of fourth-graders received a rating of "Acceptable" or better when asked the following question:
Source: National Center for Education Statistics, The NAEP 1998 Civics Report Card Highlights, Grade 4 Sample Questions and Responses.
Title V of the lawwhich focuses on efforts promoting informed parental choice and innovative programsrecognizes parents, schools and communities as allies in the moral education of the nation's children. Through the Partnerships in Character Education program (Part D, Subpart 3), the Department of Education will provide grants to design and put into practice instruction about aspects of character such as citizenship, justice, respect, responsibility, trustworthiness, giving and caring.
Among the key requirements of this discretionary grant program is the extent of parent involvement: states and other grantees must consider the views of parents and students in selecting a character education program as part of their ongoing participation. Parental and community involvement is one of several factors for evaluating the effectiveness of the character education program.
Another requirement, which is distinctive from previous provisions of the program, is the element of research. Grantees must demonstrate that their character education programs have "clear objectives that are based on scientifically based research."
Furthermore, the adopted program must be integrated into the school's curriculum and teaching methods. Any curricula, materials and other activities developed under the grant must be linked with education reform efforts and state content standards.
For more information, call 1-800-USA-LEARN.
Tips for Parents
Rearing children of character demands time and attention. While having children may be "doing what comes naturally," being a good parent is much more complicated. Here are five tips to help your children build strong character:
- Be a good example. Face it: human beings learn primarily through modeling. In fact, you can't avoid being an example to your children, whether good or bad. Being a good example, then, is probably your most important job.
- Develop an ear and an eye for what your children are absorbing. Books, songs, TV, the Internet and films are continually delivering messagesmoral and immoralto our children. As parents we must control the flow of ideas and images that are influencing our children.
- Get deeply involved in your child's school life. Helping our children become good students is another way of helping them acquire the habits that build strong character.
- Make a big deal out of the family meal. Manners, rules and values are subtly absorbed over the dinner table. Family mealtime should communicate and sustain ideals that children will draw on throughout their lives.
- Do not reduce character education to words alone. We gain virtue through practice. Parents should help children by promoting moral action through self-discipline, good work habits, kind and considerate behavior to others, and community service. The bottom line in character development is behaviortheir behavior and yours.
New Guidebook! Engaging Students in Service
Calling on America's students to volunteer their time and talents, President Bush, in a radio address to the nation at the start of the school year, introduced a new guidebook to help engage young people in a lifelong habit of service and develop the habits of civic participation, responsibility and service essential to American democratic life.
Students in Service to America offers research and resources for planning service activities and service-learning programs to the adults who work with young people in schools, after-school programs and through community groups and organizations. The 31-page guidebook provides
- Ten steps for bringing service to the classroom;
- Examples of service-learning in action;
- Tools for designing and implementing service programs;
- A list of national organizations that offer funding and personnel assistance; and
- A list of recognition programs that award students with volunteer experience.
For an online copy, please visit www.studentsinservicetoamerica.org.
U.S. Department of Education
The Achiever is published by the Office of Intergovernmental and Interagency Affairs, U.S. Department of Education (ED).
Secretary of Education
Rod Paige
Assistant Secretary
Laurie M. Rich
Senior Director
John McGrath
Executive Editor
Sarah Pfeifer
Nicole Ashby
Contributing Writer
S. Patrick McEvoy
Linda McKay
Jason Salas Design
Questions or comments:
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Last Modified: 11/06/2006


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Pa. lawmaker wants answers for Upper Bucks power problem
After some residents in upper Bucks Co. spent almost two weeks in the dark after Hurricane Sandy, one state lawmaker is calling for a Public Utility Commission investigation. Rep. Quinn Marguerite, R - Bucks Co., claims that Met-Ed waited almost a week to even survey damage in the area.
One of those left without power for ten days was Elsie Heaney of Tinicum Twp. She relied on a propane generator to stay warm.
"Every time I wanted something hot to drink, I'd go out and turn the thing on, and then turn it off again," she said.
Now, local and state leaders are calling for a state investigation of MetEd's response.
"We're going almost two weeks after a storm, and it's simply unacceptable," said Nockamixon Twp. supervisor Nancy Alessi.
Alessi admits the area is sparsely populated, but she believes most of the problem is geography.
"We are like the state of Florida on a map of the United States," she said. "We are at the end of MetEd's distribution system."
Heaney's brother-in-law agreed.
"It seems like we're the last ones [to get power back]," said James Heaney. "We're at the end of the line."
Last year, the PUC brought MetEd and other utilities to Harrisburg to defend their response to Hurricane Irene. This time, the company insists that it sent crews to Bucks Co. immediately after the storm.
"There was severe damage," said MetEd spokesman Scott Surgeoner. "In one case, we had more than 50 poles down in a line right along Route 611."
Unlike Elsie Heaney, many of her neighbors without generators had to leave for nearly two weeks.
"[One neighbor] was lucky enough, her mother lived up above Stroudsburg someplace, and they had electric."
MetEd's regional president and others will meet with upper Bucks leaders Tuesday morning. There's no word if the PUC will actually launch an investigation.
Could MetEd have done anything different?
"It's a bit early," said Surgeoner. "We're going to do an internal critique -- an internal review -- as we always do after a major storm."
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Home in perfect Location
Size40 m²
Floor No.
- Kitchen
- Washer/dryer
- Smoking allowed
- Balcony/terrace
- Internet/WiFi
Accommodation summary
This is a perfect apartment for many people,especially travelers to İstanbul that are looking for a good deal in a nice apartment with easy access to the downtown areas like Taksim square and metro (5 min. by walking), Kabataş ferry (10 min. by walking), Karaköy ferry (15 min. by walking) Tram that takes you to the historical peninsula Topkapı palace, Sisterns and Haga Sophia again 10 min. time by walking. Perfect location and neighbourhood surrounded by very cozy cafes, restaurants and markets.
Great Kitchen with all amenities,turkish coffee maker, kettle and lots of pots and pans and cooking implements.
Clean Bathroom. Great water pressure.
Large selection of books and a number of movies to watch.
Complimentary towels and bed sheets/blankets.Also Washing machine and hair dryer and wi-fi for your private use.
Thanks for looking.
House rules
|Price for > 2 guests
|$ 92 HKD per guest/night extra
|Check-in after
|On arrangement
|Check-in before
|On arrangement
|Check-out before
|On arrangement
|Cancellation Policy
Reviews for this host's other properties
Sarifi is enchanting a spectacular hostess greeted us and helped with all our queries transport, visits to be made etc.
The apartment was nice and clean, spacious and very good location according to loo we were looking for.
We really enjoyed our stay in Istanbul
Sarifi es encantadora una anfitriona espectacular nos recibió y ayudo con todas nuestras dudas de transporte, visitas a realizar etc.
El apartamento era espacioso agradable y limpio y la ubicación muy buena de acuerdo con loo que nosotros buscábamos.
Hemos disfrutado mucho nuestra estancia en Estambul
lovely apartment conveniently located photos do justice all terrific
precioso apartamento bien situado las fotos hacen justicia todo fenomenal
Excellent apartment in a very calm area. Not far away from Taksim or trams to old town.
Zarifi is an exceptional host. I got us in the house and explain all the details of it. It has maps of the city where we pointed sites that could be of interest, such as specific restaurants, shops, etc. I also volunteered to help in anything we needed during our stay, providing us your telephone and address.
Regarding the house, it is located about 5 min. walk from Taksim Square. Very clean and fully functional. Perfect for a stay of a week or more.
Zarifi es una anfitrion excepcional. Nos recibio en la casa y nos explico todos los pormenores de la misma. Dispone de planos de la ciudad en donde nos señalo aquellos sitios que podían ser de nuestro interes, como restaurantes especificos, tiendas, etc. Además se ofrecio para ayudarnos en cualquier cosa que necesitasemos durante nuestra estancia, facilitandonos su telefono y dirección.
Respecto a la casa, se encuentra ubicada a unos 5 min. andando de la plaza Taksim. Muy limpia y totalmente funcional. Perfecta para una estancia de una semana o más.
Landlord is really friendly and helpful. Apartment is really hard to find, we have not found her several times. A few more fixtures sized companies, such as Wardrobe or shelves in the bathroom
and bedroom could not hurt. But the apartment is very quiet and very clean. We were very satisfied.
Vermieterin ist wirklich sehr freundlich und hilfsbereit. Wohnung ist tatsächlich schwer zu finden, wir haben sie mehrmals nicht gefunden. Ein paar Einrichtungsgegenständ mehr, wie z.B. Garderobe oder Ablagen im Bad
und Schlafzimmer könnten nicht schaden. Aber die Wohnung ist sehr ruhig und sehr sauber. Wir waren sehr zufrieden.
Zarifi's flat is a lovely 2 bedroom appartment that easily sleeps 4 people. It is very well equipped: with comfortable beds, a nice kitchen and a spacious living/dining area we had everything we could want for our stay in Istanbul.
The appartment is situated in the district of Beyoglu, close to Taksim square and shopping street Istiklal Caddesi. There are a few small supermarkets around for buying groceries, too, and nice cafes for a coffee or tea. A Metro station is close by which conveniently connects to the M1a to/from Ataturk airport, and also gets you to all the major sights of the historical district.
Zarifi is a lovely host: Not only did she give us a very warm welcome, she also had fabulous recommendations for us on dining, shopping, sight seeing, and for generally getting to know the city. We always felt that we could contact her should we want advice or help with anything.
Highly recommended!
Zafiri is a superb host. It gives you all the information of the city that ask, what makes your stay. The apartment is great. Everything is very clean, better than the pictures. The situation is perfect, 5 minutes from the tram. Strongly recommended.
Zafiri es una magnífica anfitriona. Te da toda la información de la ciudad que la pidas, lo que facilita tu estancia. El apartamento es genial. Todo está muy limpio, mejor que en las fotos. La situación es perfecta, a 5 minutos del tranvía. Totalmente recomendable.
Apartment well placed comfortable and very quiet. We were well received and we have a good stay. Only small criticism: the lighting is insufficient especially in the rooms.
Appartement bien placé confortable et très calme . Nous avons été bien accueillis et avons passe un bon séjour. Seule petite critique : l'éclairage est insuffisant surtout dans les chambres.
The apartment is really well located. It is rally nice and it has everything you can need.
Zarifi is great hoster,she answers you all the questions about the city you hace.
Thank you Zarifi.
We had a great stay for 10 days in the apartment Zarifi who very kindly we reçu.Très clean and well equipped, the apartment is located in a quiet street yet close to the town center; we highly recommend !!! Thank you again for the good reception of Zarifi.
Nous avons passé un excellent séjour durant 10 jours dans l'appartement de Zarifi qui nous a très gentiment reçu.Très propre et bien équipé, l'appartement est situé dans une rue très calme mais néanmoins proche du centre ville ; nous recommandons vivement !!! Merci encore pour le bon accueil de Zarifi.
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text: I'm running Apache 2.2.4 on SuSE 10.3... I have tried doing this every way possible, manually editing the apche config file, with webmin, and with YaST and still no luck. DNS is working fine, and everything is hosted on one IP, 192.168.1.1 and one domain, example.com I have one default server, example.com with riit directory /srv/www/htdocs and two virtual servers, www.example.com with root directory /srv/www/htdocs and server.example.com with root directory /srv/server/htdocs This was setup using YaST, now which ever host I browse to, example.com, www.example.com or server.example.com, it directs me to the /srv/server/htdocs directory What am I doing wrong here? Heres my /etc/apache2/httpd.conf and /etc/apache2/vhosts.d/yast2_vhosts.conf files Code: # # /etc/apache2/httpd.conf # # This is the main Apache server configuration file. It contains the # configuration directives that give the server its instructions. # See <URL:http://httpd.apache.org/docs-2.2/> for detailed information about # the directives. # Based upon the default apache configuration file that ships with apache, # which is based upon the NCSA server configuration files originally by Rob # McCool. This file was knocked together by Peter Poeml <[email protected]


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Directed by Raja Gosnell
Starring Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays, Hank Azaria, Jonathan Winters, Katy Perry, Alan Cumming, George Lopez, Anton Yelchin, Fred Armisen
Six tiny blue Smurfs, each standing just three apples high, are about to encounter the biggest apple of all: New York City. The movie, also playing in 3-D, is set in the Middle Ages, a time when sorcery reigns supreme. Gargamel (Azaria), the Smurfs's evil wizard enemy, has discovered the location of Smurf Village, and chases the little blue guys out. Before long, they end up stumbling into a magical portal that transports them from their world to present-day Central Park.
Luckily, the Smurfs make their way to the home of Patrick (Harris) and Grace Winslow (Mays), a married couple who agree to take in the Smurfs and help get them home safely. Now Papa Smurf (voiced by Winters), Clumsy Smurf (Yelchin), Grouchy Smurf (Lopez), Gutsy Smurf (Cumming), Brainy Smurf (Armisen) and Smurfette (Perry) must find a way back to their village before Gargamel catches up to them.
Did You Know?
The Smurfs began as a Belgian comic strip over 50 years ago. But it wasn't until 1981 that the characters launched to worldwide fame as a Saturday-morning cartoon series. This started a flurry of Smurftastic merchandise. There are more than 300 million plastic Smurf figurines distributed around the world.


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I am beginning to think that fall Re Queen is the best way to go for colder winter regions. Of course spring new queens for splits but generally August/ September to replace older queens.
Does anyone else share this idea?
I am beginning to think that fall Re Queen is the best way to go for colder winter regions. Of course spring new queens for splits but generally August/ September to replace older queens.
Does anyone else share this idea?
I have always shared that idea. Of course when you NEED a queen is one thing, but requeening is cheaper and just as effective and maybe more effective in the fall. Why go through the disruption of requeening in the middle of spring buildup?
That is what I started doing last year. Now I only have to decide wether to make walk away splits, or buy queens for my splits. I have two weeks to decide.
Speaking to Nancy Ostiguy this afternoon, her suggestion is that the colder winter regions look at requeening late June. The main reason being to requeen with queens raised in our own regions. There are many other good reasons too.
I canÂt help thinking of the Nike slogan ÂJust do it Raising queens isnÂt rocket science. This is where Bee Clubs members should work together to raise queens for club members. Somebody mention that a Beekeeper who had 10 000 hive raises queens. All good and well but what about you with only 10 hives? Raise your own and then give the rest away.
If a job is worth doing - Then do it well
How long can you bank a queen or several queens? I am getting 50 this month but only need 35 right away. then the rest a week later.
>How long can you bank a queen or several queens? I am getting 50 this month but only need 35 right away. then the rest a week later.
I haven't done this enough to speak entirely from experience, but I set up a nuc with a 3/4" thick shim and put the queen cages on that facing down so the bees would care for them and I had them there for about three weeks and they did fine.
I had read that you can't requeen a queen bank like this after they've had all those queens, so I just shook it out in front of the hives and put the frames in another hive when I was done. I don't know if you have to or not, but it was what people who have done it recommended.
I'm considering using frames like a picture box with an excluder on the face of it it splitting a frame into four sections and put a queen in each so she can be laying while in the bank. I built the frames, but haven't actually tried them yet.
>I am beginning to think that fall Re Queen is the best way to go for colder winter regions....
This has proven to be the case in Wyoming. The season is short. Early spring/summer weather is marginal. Major flows occur in the latter half of July.
Fall requeening allows queens to be raised during the better weather later in the season. Drones are more abundant then, and mating success increases.
No critical break in brood rearing occurs to the foraging populations that are being raised in June to work the major flows in July.
Fall requeening produces a break in brood rearing that mimics the natural slow down begining in July. The young queen has a chance to mature during that time without affecting colony strength or morale.
A fall queen will continue laying longer than an older queen at the end of the season. This results in lots of younger bees overwintering.
A swarm board is a handy way to raise a few queens above a colony. It's very easy to graft into a plastic cup using a Chinese grafting tool. A cheap headband magnifier, less than $10, can be useful. Press a couple of these cups on a brood frame in the small division above the swarm board. A month later you should have a mated queen.
There's enough time for a couple of batchs up North if the process is started toward the end of June.
>>think that fall Re Queen
One concideration when fall requeening with a mated queen.
You have to find the queen and at a time when there are thousand of bees usually under multiple boxes, which are usually full of honey. So this leaves you to requeen after the boxes are off, later in the season. I dont think I like the idea of a brood break late in the season.
You have fewer bees, boxes to work with in the spring. And if done with a good brood base, your honey crop is not compermised
<I dont think I like the idea of a brood break late in the season.
One potential benefit of a brood break in the fall is to break the varroa buildup. It's mid-to-late fall when varroa really explode in population... and if the hive survives, the varroa die out during the winter brood break, only the start the cycle over again. I think a brood break is an over-looked IPM management tool. Just provide 1:1 sugar syrup to get brood rearing going again after re-queening (keep feeding and they'll keep making bees). My strongest hives this year were hives that I fed sugar syrup all through the fall... they had lots of new bees to go through the winter with.


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A beautiful girl with brown eyes. Her laugh will warm your heart and her smile can't help but to make you happy. Very informative in logic and is incredibly smart with relationships. Loves the simpler things in life and doesn't take things for granted. She has a big heart and makes yours beat fast. All around an amazing and lovely girl. You'd be grateful to ever meet her. One to give you a sense of fulfillment and longing.
by Walk in the Park May 06, 2011
The vengeful act of crapping on a lover's chest while they sleep.Buy the plush


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Stay connected with us to get the latest health and fitness news, innovative workouts, healthy recipes and wellness tips.
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ACE Fit Share
Eggplant gives this pasta sauce a rich meatiness that complements the ground beef. Plus the eggplant allows us to use a little less beef but still have a generous and hearty serving.
Nutrition Profile:
Diabetes Appropriate
Healthy Weight
Heart Healthy
High Fiber
High Potassium
Low Calorie
Low Cholesterol
Low Sat Fat
Low Sodium
Serves 4
Prep Time 25 min
Total Time 35 min.
Step 1
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta until tender, 8 to 10 minutes or according to package directions.
Step 2
Meanwhile, cook beef, garlic and fennel seeds in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until the beef is browned, about 3 minutes. Add eggplant and oil; cook, stirring occasionally, until the eggplant browns, about 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and wine; cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes. Stir in oregano, salt and pepper.
Step 3
Drain the pasta; serve topped with the sauce and sprinkled with pine nuts and feta, if using.
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